Whenever you think about a mother giving birth, you usually think of the words push, breathe, and then it's just joy at bringing a new life into the world. That's all you read about or watch on telly, too. They never include the other parts.

I'm here to tell you first hand- my first thought right now isn't rainbows and unicorns, and simply pushing and breathing isn't the whole story.

What they don't tell you is that not only is it difficult, it's also painful. Really. Think about it. A small child, usually about six pounds and about a foot long, is supposed to go through a very small amount of space to get into the world.

I'm pushing on command and squeezing my mother and husband's hand so hard that I'm cutting off circulation. Thankfully, they're both wise enough to suck it up. Dad is trying hard to not look at my lower body, but he does anyway when they announce they can see the head. Not that I care about it at this point.

The Doctor's whispering Galifreyan words of comfort and how amazing I am, and Mum's more or less doing the same thing in Gaelic Scottish. Dad's nodding awkwardly and telling me I can do it, and for some reason, that's what makes me try harder. Call me a daddy's girl.

Rory's always stood up for me when I was Mels. Always. They'd make fun of me about the Doctor, and I'd roll my eyes, and Rory'd go tell them off. He may have been short, but he could be intimidating. Besides, if anyone touched him, they knew that I'd come beat them up. Amy couldn't do much about it, because they usually made fun of both of us at the same time. She'd tell me to ignore them, and that one day they'd be sorry because the Raggedy Doctor would give them a talking-to. But Rory's always been someone I can talk to without feeling judged. I used to love history class, and I had memorized the textbook the first time I read it. I made terrible grades on purpose, and for some reason, Rory was the first one to notice. He came and asked why I would do that when I was so smart. I was thrilled that he was acting like a dad, and just shrugged. He told me I could do anything if I set my mind to it.

I ground my teeth and put all my effort into it.

Then I hear my daughter (my daughter!) crying.

I make out my husband declining to cut the umbilical cord. Thank God. Not really something I want him to do. I finally exhale.

Mum and Dad are watching quietly as they clean her, with expressions of awe on their faces. The Doctor looks absolutely amazed and bewildered and happy, much like when I told him who I was.

I'm getting my breath back under control when she's handed over to him.

Doctor's POV

I just watch numbly as my child is finally delivered into the arms of the awaiting nurses. The small life is one if the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

"Would you like to cut it?" The nun gestures towards what I remember is the umbilical cord. I shake my head. "Um, no, I think you should do that." Thankfully, they do it, and then wash her gently. River looks tired, but I can see the pride on her face as she looks on at our baby.

Then she's handed to me, and I vaguely remember Rory telling Amy about how he was 'going to be cool', and how that completely failed. I guess I did, too, because I'm starting to cry, and the amazing thing that is my daughter is stretching her pretty, strong little legs.

She's just so beautiful. She's got her mother's curls, except they're darker, and my nose and River's chin. Her ears resemble Amy's, and her jawline is Rory's.

This is a piece of the woman I love and myself wrapped together. Proof of us.

Happy crying.

I hand her over to River after my quick moment, and I don't miss the way that her eyes start to literally glow (a time lady thing when processing the regeneration energy the baby gave off) when near her child. She looks so happy, and I wonder if this is really what she's always wanted. Her own little Song.

She leans her neck down and presses a lingering kiss to her forehead, and I finally see that she's crying as well. I look up to my in-laws when I see her studying the ears, only to find that they also have streaks down their cheeks.

"Wow." Rory's the first to speak, an Amy smiles at him.

"What're you going to name her?"

River catches my eyes, and I nod. We talked about it not long ago, and have decided on both the Galiifreyan and human name.

"Brooke. Brooke Jessica Song."

Amy smiles and sniffles. "I guess we did promise to name our kid's after each other."

River brushes back a curl out of our daughter's face.

"You want to hold her?"

She's addressing Rory, and my eyes widen in surprise. I always knew she was attached to him in a fatherly way more than she was motherly with Amy, since she regarded her as more of best-friend.

He swallows and nods slowly. "Yeah."

He leans over and scoops her up, and a grin quickly goes across his face.

"Hi. I'm your Grandad."

I don't know if it was just me, but Brooke seemed to turn her head slightly farther into his chest.

"I'm a bit young, but I'll try my best."

He passes her to Amy then, and I can see the same motherly love River had just been looking at the baby with on her face, too. "Well then. You've gotten yourselves a little Melody, looks to me."

A tear strays down my cheek, and I brush at it quickly.

"Good luck, Raggedy Man."

Then Brooke is passed back to her mother. I lean closer to my wife and nuzzle in her curls by her ear. "I love you."

She turns her head, probably to tell me the same, but I kiss her before she does.

"Kissing and crying, eh?" Rory says, and I pull away just to look at my daughter again.

"River, we made her."

She rolls her eyes fondly. "I know, honey."

"It's just...." I struggle to come up with the right word in English, and end up using a Galifreyan one.

"She needs a lot of rest now." A nurse says from the side. "Once she feeds the child."

River nods, and I'm about to ask if she wants me to go get a bottle or something.

She ends up surprising us all, pulling the baby slightly under the cover, and begins breast feeding. Rory clears his throat awkwardly, and Amy slaps his thigh. "Shut up. She's a mother, and she's got a blanket over her." She scolds him lightly, a fond smile on her face.

I make a point not to stare at my daughter too long now, since Rory's right there, but I do notice how she turns in so easily to River, nestling her small fingers gingerly between them.

The nurses are cleaning everything up, and I'm about to ask for a bottle of water for River when a familiar face pops up. Scratch that, two familiar faces.

Jack grins when he enters the room, and Martha offers a small wave.

"TARDIS came and got us. Took the psychic paper to get us in, and there's still a guard after us." Jack explains. I nod. "You're going to have to wait to see Brooke. Sorry, she's eating." I make a point to gently tug the blanket down a little more.

Martha comes and engulfs me in a hug. "Congratulations." She whispers, and pats me on the back.

"Thank you. It's all River, though. She was- she's strong." I turn to her, only to find that her head is leaned against the side rail, and eyes closed.

"Who appears to have fallen asleep remarkably quickly." I observe.

Amy scoffs. "You've never given birth. It's not exactly an easy process. She deserves it."

Rory nods. "That she does."

I check on Brooke momentarily, just to make sure she's still eating.

"Yowzah." I lean back into my chair and sigh. Martha grins at me and gets a blanket from underneath the hospital bed. Then she hands it over.

"You know, I never thought I'd see this day." Jack  says. "Martha handing someone a blanket that isn't sick, seeing so many hot people in the same room, and you making a little Time Lord."

Rory snorts at that, but gratefully accepts the blanket Martha hands them and spreads it over him and Amy.

We sit in silence a while, with me processing my fatherhood and staring at River. Amy and Rory eventually fall asleep leaning against each other. Jack is surprisingly patient, just sort of sitting there, but eventually he and Martha fall asleep. I wonder what happened to that guard that was after them... 

River's eyes finally open after about 30 minutes.

"Oh. Hey, honey." She sends m a sleepy smile and leans her head into a pillow. Then she freezes, and her nose flares. "Did I just..." She trails off, then looks under the cover.

"Oh my God, I just had a baby!"

I chuckle and kiss her cheek. "Yes, you did."

She bites her lip and sets her gown back in place, pulling the baby gently away. We both stare at the little creation. "I'm..." She searches for a word, looking at the ceiling. "Oh, wow. How did I do this?"

"Well, you mostly ate chocolate frosting."

She narrows her eyes at me, but leans forward and kisses me anyway. "Shut up, you idiot."

It's about that time when Brooke's eyes open.

[A/N. Ok, fine. It's the crappiest ending ever to a chapter. That's because I ended up making this one 3000 words, and like I said, I'm not going to spoil you ;D. This is definitely not a cliffhanger... but we found out that River is actually somewhat good at this. And I brought back Jack and Martha! Yay! This is part one of chapter 27, and part two is already finished. I guess I'll upload part two in a couple days. Also: I'm pretty sure that part two is going to be the next-to-last chapter. Now, again: SEQUEL!! What should I name it? I want something good... just comment or message me if you have an idea. Thanks! :) ] 

[A/N. If you even remotely liked it, vote! :) ]