"Sweetie?" River called out quietly. "That you?"

The Doctor grinned sheepishly in the dark. "Yeah. Give me a second." He reached over and slipped off his shoes and socks, pushing them under the bed so he wouldn't trip in the morning. Then off came the shirt and trousers, dropping to the floor with a small rustle.

He lifted the covers and slid in, sidling up next to his wife and putting an arm around her. "I take that I wasn't gone long?" He whispered, breath ghosting her ear. She shivered. "If you think you're smart and that you landed in the same night, I'm going to have to disappoint you. You left yesterday night."

He rolled his eyes. "It's the TARDIS's fault."

"Sure it is." She murmured, already drifting to sleep with his arms encasing her waist.

He couldn't help but smile at her sarcasm. He'd missed that.

With a kiss to the back of her neck, he snuggled his head into a comfortable position by her hair and let his eyes flutter shut.

***********

There was a nightmare this time. Even with River there beside him, he sometimes had them.

"River." He'd said numbly. "Please, no!"

But she hadn't listened. There was just that painful teary-eyed flash of teeth, her reaching for the cables, connecting them, and then whiteness.

He screamed her name the entire time.

He woke, sweaty, with a pair of hands on both shoulders and something on top of him. He panicked for a moment, thrashing around, when he processed there was a voice, and that voice was River's, and she was in fact alive, here, and talking.

He calmed, and blinked the tears away, to see all of them standing there in the darkness of the room- Anthony, River, Georgia, and Brooke looking at him with worry in their eyes.

"I-" He began, trying to think up a plausible explanation and get around the catch in his throat.

"I didn't mean to wake you up. Sorry."

River raised an eyebrow, then slipped off of his waist and back onto the space beside him. Anthony and Georgia exchanged glances. Brooke seemed to raise one of her barely-existent eyebrows as well.

"If you'll excuse us," River said, "I think we need to talk."

They left without a word, Georgia carrying Brooke on her hip.

Her gaze was hot on his face. He avoided eye contact and instead focused on his hands.

He was surprised when he felt a warm pair of hands on his shoulders, massaging him. "You know," River said quietly, "you could always just tell me what you're so afraid of happening to me. I'm not planning on committing suicide. And I'm pretty sure this body'll last another couple hundred years. Maybe more, since I can age backwards a little bit."

He stayed silent, and she continued to smooth her calloused hands over his bare shoulder.

After a moment, she pulled them away and sat, her thigh brushing his, and pulled him into her embrace.

"Just tell me." She whispered quietly. "Tell me why you were screaming for me. Tell me why I didn't come."

The Doctor swallowed and moved his hand up to trace her cheek. "Spoilers." The word came out almost reverently, and he kicked himself for the angry look that surfaced on her face.

"I don't give a damn about spoilers." She spit out venomously, pulling away. "I want to know what you were so afraid of."

He shook his head and pulled her back to him. She sighed.

There was silence.

"I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault. But I won't tell you that I don't want to know."

The Doctor bit his lip. "It's nothing. You know how it is. Just a nightmare. I don't really want to talk about it." That much River could understand. The nightmares. It was a plague that haunted her almost as badly as it did him. It was the talking about it that had her confused. They almost always shared the nightmares that woke them up. Sometimes he didn't, and she'd never asked why. Then again, he'd never been screaming her name in his sleep, either.

"I'm going to go put Brooke back to bed. It's three in the morning." She said, and got out of bed.

His eyes darted to the clock. It was indeed three in the morning.

************

The next day was when he really panicked.

She'd told him she needed a little break. That she had to get back to her teaching, because otherwise who'd teach the little hooligans? It made sense, really. He'd left a couple times to try to get back to his normal routine. She deserved that, too.

Still.

It was their child. He felt a little helpless, standing in the TARDIS with his baby girl, watching his wife walk- no, stride, into her lecture hall.

Being a father was something he'd done before. But it'd been a while. Taking care of a life was a big responsibility-especially if said life couldn't even lift their own fork.

He did well enough, managing to find a kid-friendly place on a faraway planet for the day. It was made of marshmallows. And there were nurses and care-takers at every station. But hey. He'd stayed away for a full 8 hours and made sure their child was safe and fed. That was something, at least.

The brakes were on when he materialized into her flat, rushing out with Brook, both covered in a sticky white goo-they'd ridden on the MarshFountain roller coaster.

River laughed at the sight and grabbed Brooke, kissing her on the forehead and striding into the TARDIS past her husband. He pouted, of course, and ruined her shirt by grabbing the back of it to turn her around and kiss her.

She licked her lips thoughtfully afterwards. "MarshFountain, I'm guessing?" She said as she walked to their bathroom, not making it sound much like a question.

"Brooke's idea." He insisted.

"I see." River gently sat her down into the baby bath the TARDIS had supplied beside their own.

Brooke gurgled and splashed water, appearing quite pleased with herself when the Doctor spluttered and swiped the bubbles off his face.

That night, when Brooke was asleep in her room and they'd both showered, they slipped quietly into bed. The Doctor curled around his wife and she made a noise when he kissed the back of her neck.

"I think," River said, just as he began to think she'd fallen asleep, "that I need to do this more often. Just go to work. It's something I like doing. You can keep on with what you're doing, of course, maybe I can watch her the days you go off adventuring."

He decided to pretend to be asleep. It was a lot easier to handle it that way.

"And I hope you know that I can tell you're awake. I can feel your hearts beating."

He sighed and wrapped his arms more tightly around her. "Okay. We can do that."

"Really?" She said, sounding surprised.

"Really."

River gave a hum of approval. "Goodnight, sweetie."

"Goodnight."

***************

He found that he enjoyed their arrangement over the next few weeks. She went to work for two days, he went on an adventure the next day. They even had weekends, where they both took a break together.

Normal.

He'd always though normal was boring. That he'd never be able to handle it. But this is a different kind of normal. It just felt right for her and Brooke to be there at the end of every day. Maybe, he thought, this is what he'd always wanted. Maybe he'd always wanted a family to come home to. A family to call home would be a better description.

They visited Craig and Sophie from time to time, and Anthony and Georgia. The latter of the couples were expecting a child of their own. They'd congratulated them, and the Doctor grinned when Georgia showed them a black and white picture of his new nephew.

Life was good. Life was great.

Clara was fun, too. Most recently, he'd taken her and the children she babysat (that's what he called it, anyway) to a world that was an amusement park. He'd taken Brooke there. Turns out he arrived too late, and there was a fight with the Cybermen. It was a little more challenging than usual, but still fun. Still adrenaline filled running.

The problem came shortly after he picked River up at her flat. He was on time, since River and the TARDIS had reached some agreement that She'd take him when he needed to be for her child.

River and Brooke had greeted him, as usual, with hugs and smiles. Brooke showed him her developed intelligence by doing a trick River taught her involving building blocks. Really, he argued teasingly, does a 3 month old child really need to be able to disarm a Sontaran with a square inch block?

But, he admitted it was impressive.

The problem was during dinner. Yes, he did that now. It wasn't at a table, it was usually watching some Earth sci-fi show on the telly, or watching a live duel, or watching a star collapse, but it was still considered dinner. This time they were watching a planet turn purple. It didn't really turn purple, of course, the atmosphere was just programmed to change designs, but it looked purple.

She was casually munching on a jammy dodger when she said it. "I've been offered a place on an expedition."

His breath caught for a moment, but he reminded himself she'd been on several expeditions after she had Brooke.

"Oh?" He replied nonchalantly. "What is it?"

She shrugged and wiped some jam off her mouth. "Investigating. Man I know, Mr. Lux, is looking to go into the Library-"

The Doctor's tea flew out of his mouth.

March 23, 5184. 6:09 PM.

I don't know why he reacted the way he did when I told him I was going on an expedition. He knows how it is. I've been on several already after I had Brooke. Besides, it's not exceptionally dangerous. It's been empty for 100 years, so whatever came and made it empty is long dead and gone.

He spit his tea all over me, and he looked a little insane. He looked more like my mad man than my mad man with a box. His eyes just unfocused a bit. I may have imagined them getting a little watery.

I don't know, though. It was just weird. He just said we could go to the Singing Towers tomorrow, and then said he felt sick and left. Which was obviously a lie. Not only is he a rubbish liar, there are few illnesses he could have possibly contracted from the places he's been with Brooke. And it'd be very unlikely.

I'm not sure why he's acting so odd.

One day, I've got to meet a version who doesn't know me yet. Is that why he's acting that way? Did he meet me there, and he looked right through me? That's the explanation that makes the most sense to me. But I know that I'll be able to come right back here. I'm not saying it won't hurt to meet him that way. It will, I'm sure. It'll hurt like crazy.

But knowing that I've got the real him and our beautiful daughter to come home to, it shouldn't kill me.

[A/N. Hehe. Have I ever expressed my love of cliffhangers? I don't like reading them, of course, but making them? Oh yes. Diary entry from River this time, if you couldn't tell. I think someone requested it earlier. Anyway, the next few chapters will be Library-related! They'll include- timey-wimeyness, complicatedness, and angst!! yay! Don't know when I'll have it uploaded, but it's coming!

VOTES AND COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED.]