Stocking Stuffers (1/2)
Title: Stocking Stuffers (1/2)
Author: penguinspy42
Summary: A collection of short Christmas-themed stories with the Doctor, River, Amy, and Rory.
Rating: PG
Characters: Eleventh Doctor, River Song, Amy Pond, Rory Williams
A Christmas Melody
“Dear Santa,” the little girl began, kneeling by her small battered bed in a dingy room. “Thank you very much for the bear and the book. I know it’s almost Easter, so I’m sorry for bothering you. But it’s important, honest.” She paused as she looked over her shoulder at a dresser covered with framed photos, most of herself but one of a ginger-haired woman holding a baby. “It’s about my mum. I really want to see her. They always say if I’m good, if I do what they want, maybe I can see her. But they never let me. They say they’re going to start training me in a suit tomorrow. I don’t know what that is, but I’m scared. So please, please could you make it so they let me see my mum this time? Or just bring her yourself? I won’t ask for anything ever again-”
“-I promise.” The girl’s words crackled over a speaker embedded in the TARDIS console. With his head hanging low, the Doctor reached toward it and ran his hand over around its silver edging. As soon as he figured out who River was - who Melody was-he set up ways to keep watch over her. The weight of the guilt was crushing; to know he caused this, to know he couldn’t do anything to save her. So he tried to do things as he could without changing anything too much. He left gifts for her birthdays and Christmas, little things she wished for, anything to see her smile even if just for a moment. But he knew what this request meant. It was time. His lip trembling, he whispered, “You’ll see her soon. I promise.”
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Lost Time
For Speckles.
Rory and River entered the gate and were transported to a land of pure magic. What was usually an ordinary park had been transformed into a spectacular winter wonderland. A snow machine was off to one side of the path, adding giant drifts to the light blanket already on the ground while sculptors were on the other side, creating elaborate fantasies of ice. A line of candy-cane striped signs promising free cookies, sweets, and hot cocoa drew them into a life-sized gingerbread cottage where Santa waited to hear wishes. After the two stood on either side of the jolly old elf for a picture, River whispered her wish to Santa, causing his rosy cheeks to become even redder.
Outside, they sat on a bench with their treats watching the nearby carolers singing under the glow of Christmas lights. As the song ended, Rory handed River a small bag and said, “I-this is for you.”
In the bag, she found an old stuffed bear that clearly had been very loved and repaired multiple times. The toy had numerous bald spots where the fur had been rubbed off, rough stitching along the seams, and mismatched button eyes.
“I don’t even remember getting him I’ve had him so long," Rory said, "But every Christmas morning I’d find him under the tree, all fixed up. One year he lost an ear and I couldn’t find it. Mum promised that Santa would fix him, and he did.”
“Are you sure you want to give this to me?” she asked, her voice quiet and awed.
“’Course I am. You may not be so little, but you’re still my little girl.” He paused before he remarked, “In that strange sort of way that only happens when the Doctor is involved.”
River laughed but Rory continued seriously, “You can think of Amy and me when you’re in St-well, it’ll remind you of us.”
“I always think about you, Mum, and the Doctor,” she replied, placing her hand on his. “You’re my family. Always.”
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Paradox Bear
This story connects to Christmas Melody and Lost Time
River came out of the shop to examine the bear in the daylight. It looked like she had just purchased it though it had simply been repaired. She chose this planet and its people because they were renowned throughout the universe for their masterful tinkering abilities. With just a few scraps of an item, they could make it new again. Repairing the bear was easy for them. She had taken excellent care of it since Rory had given it to her all those years ago. But she no longer needed it; she had her pardon, she was just named the newest professor at Luna University, and it was time for the bear to both end and begin its journey.
-
With a crack and a flash, River appeared behind a tall man with spiky brown hair and a long coat. “Hello, sweetie.”
He turned at her voice, “Ah! Professor River Song!”
River smiled at the sound of her name, ignoring the odd shadow that passed over his eyes briefly. She held the bear out toward him. “Doctor, I need you to give this to someone for me.”
“’Course, but who?” he asked, accepting the toy.
“Spoilers, but you’ll know when the time comes.” She glanced down at her vortex manipulator but the Doctor stopped her, placing a hand on her wrist.
“River? May I ask you something?”
“Sure, sweetie,” she replied, “but you know I probably can’t answer.”
“Time can be rewritten.”
“Yes,” she confirmed slowly.
“How do I know what will change things and what won’t?”
“Is there something you’d like to change?”
“Well,” he drew out the word as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Spoilers, as you would say. I suppose I may do something about it in my future, but then it wouldn’t actually be changing anything because it’s something I will have done anyway. So not sure, really.”
“Follow your hearts, my love,” she replied, patting his chest. “You’ll know what to do.” She fiddled with her vortex manipulator and with a flash, she was gone, leaving the Doctor standing there with a surprised look mouthing the words my love.
-
Centuries earlier in the universe’s timeline, but later in the Doctor’s, a blue box materialized on Christmas Eve in front of a seemingly abandoned orphanage in Florida. A man with floppy brown hair, a tweed coat, and a bow tie stepped out holding a stuffed bear and a book in his hands. Though he looked different from the man who received the bear, maybe felt a bit different too, he was still very much the same.
The Doctor tiptoed up the stairs, past the foreboding red words splashed across the wall while ignoring that all too familiar feeling that he was forgetting something important. He peeped cautiously into the only occupied room, or at least, the only one occupied by a child. It was close to midnight and the girl was fast asleep in the dingy bed. His hearts ached as he slipped the bear under her arm and placed the book on her nightstand. The girl was woken minutes later by the sound of an odd wind, and her eyes lit up at the sight of the gifts. She hurriedly looked out the window, first at the sky then at the empty yard. With a smile, she curled up under the blanket, hugging her bear as she fell back to sleep.
-
Decades later the girl found her way to Leadworth, looking much different but appearing to be few years younger. It was just before Christmas and the playground was covered with a muddy mush of snow and dirt. It was her first day so she mostly kept to herself until she came across a small mousy haired boy crying, his pants ripped revealing a badly skinned knee.
“Here,” she said, holding her bear out to the boy. It was a demand, not an offer.
He looked at the bear then up at her tearfully. The sun was offset slightly behind her head and he couldn’t quite make out her features.
“Take it, or I’ll punch you.”
With a shaking hand, he took the toy and hugged it close as he wiped his nose on his sleeve.
“If you ever tell anyone I gave that to you, I’ll punch you.” She glanced up to see a ginger-haired girl dragging a teacher their way and darted off behind the slide.
“Here he is! Here’s Rory! See? He’s hurt. Where’d you get the bear?”
“I don’t know.” He glanced at the reindeer knitted into the girl’s sweater then mumbled, “Santa.”
“You’re weird.”
He automatically nodded in agreement, staring off where his mysterious benefactor disappeared behind the slide.
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Christmas Pyjamas
This connects to the Paradox Bear stories.
It was just before midnight Christmas Eve somewhere on Earth, and River was lying on her bunk waiting for her annual big blue gift to arrive. A slow smile crept across her face as that familiar wind echoed through the curved corridor of the prison and she rose to meet her holiday guest. The TARDIS had barely materialized completely when the Doctor bounced out the door wearing bright red pyjamas with footies, a blue bow tie, and a broad grin.
“What is that ridiculous outfit?” River asked, staring at him as he used his sonic to open her cell door.
“Merry Christmas to you, too! It’s Christmas morning and there are gifts to be opened! PJs are required! And these happen to be extra comfy,” he remarked as he wiggled his toes in the footies. “But something seems to be missing here.”
The Doctor retrieved a green paper cone from the hand warmer pocket stitched into the red flannel of his pyjamas. Pointing it toward the floor, he pulled the string on the pointy end and with a loud POP a two foot Christmas tree decorated with bow ties and a top hat appeared in the middle of the cell. “Perfect!” he exclaimed with a clap as he flopped down on the bunk.
“We aren’t honestly going to spend Christmas here, are we?” River asked, settling herself next to him.
“No! Of course not,” he replied, tapping her nose. “But first, I want to give you your present!” The Doctor produced a small gift from his pocket wrapped in such a way that made it painfully obvious that it was a gun. With a happy little giggle, he placed it in her hands.
She turned the package over a couple times before she asked with some disbelief, “You got me a gun?”
His face fell. “But…you haven’t even opened it!”
“Lucky guess,” she shrugged. She stripped the paper, revealing a small silver pistol with a smooth black grip, just the right size to tuck in a small handbag. “How thoughtful, sweetie. Surprising, but thoughtful.”
“Try it, River! Shoot it!”
River glanced at the weapon in her hands. “It’s not that I necessarily mind doing things that add time to my sentence, but usually they’re more fun than shooting a wall.”
“Do it! Go on, I promise you won’t get any time added. If you won’t do it, I will.”
“All right, I’ll try it. You don’t need to be in here too, although that does open up some interesting possibilities.” She raised the weapon and took careful aim at the wall directly in front of her. Bracing herself for the inevitable alarms and swarm of guards, she pulled the trigger. Instead of a blast, bubbles burst out of the barrel in every color of the rainbow, and shapes ranging from stars to hearts.
The Doctor giggled again. “See? Told you! Try again!”
River pulled the trigger again, this time releasing a flurry of miniscule clusters of bubbles that drifted gently to the ground like snowflakes. “Oh, I like that one.”
“It’s also got a flame setting to it, with that switch,” the Doctor explained, pointing to the side of the gun. “But I like the bubbles better. So, now that you have that, we can go! But first, we need to get you out of those clothes!”
“So it’s going to be that kind of Christmas, is it?” River asked silkily, tracing a finger around his bow tie.
“I didn’t mean like that! Not as though I’m saying I wouldn’t like that, but I didn’t mean it like that! I meant we need to get you into something more comfortable.” Her grin broadened, and he babbled on. “No, but what I really mean is, you need to change into your favorite Christmassy Morningy pjs, so we can go to Amy and Rory’s for Christmassy Morningy stuff.”
“Oh, all right. Turn around while I change,” she winked at him. “Or not, if you like.”
The Doctor looked away as she went to her wardrobe. Something inside him stirred, warmth spreading through him. It grew stronger until he almost had to look. But something equally as strong was preventing him. She invited him to, he tried to reason with himself. But should he? Just as he had decided to turn, River said, “Okay, I’m ready.”
He turned to see her in a slinky little black slip with pink flowery edging. “River! You can’t wear that to your parents’ house for Christmas! You have to at least put on a robe or-or something!”
“I will not,” she replied stubbornly. “You said my favorite. This is my favorite.”
After pressing the point but ultimately losing the robe battle, they returned to the TARDIS where the Doctor also lost the right to fly it to the Ponds’ home. “I really don’t know where you get the idea that you’re better than me at flying her,” the Doctor grumbled sulkily.
“Because I just am.” She grinned at him, not looking as she pushed the final button that landed them silently in her parents’ backyard.
A gentle dusting of snow flurries were drifting to the ground as they exited the TARDIS. The Doctor’s entire face lit up like a small child having their every wish granted. He spun around the yard with abandon, his head back toward the sky and his mouth open, catching the crystalline treats on his tongue. River simply leaned against the TARDIS and watched him. This man, this impossible man, so filled with pain and guilt, witness to so much suffering, could still positively burst with the giddiness of a child. And she loved him for it.
When the Doctor was nearly ready to fall over from dizziness, he started to stumble toward the porch. He made sure to quietly open the lock with his sonic and pushed the door open, being as noiseless as possible. Once inside, however, all attempts at being silent were pushed aside by his complete excitement. He bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time before River hushed him.
“Shh, sweetie, they’re probably still asleep.”
“I know, that’s why we need to wake them by jumping on their bed.”
“Jump-what? Doctor, really. Small children wake their parents that way. We’re adults, we should act like it.”
The Doctor stopped suddenly at the top of the stairs and turned to look down at River. “Oh, you really don’t want to do that.”
“What?”
“Act like an adult,” he winked. “No fun at all.”
The Doctor burst into Amy and Rory’s room without even knocking. “Happy Christmas!” he exclaimed as he bounced up on the foot of the bed and began jumping. River stood near the door, her arms crossed, torn between embarrassment and amusement.
Rory was first to sit up, rubbing his eyes. “It’s 4 in the morning, it’s not Christmas yet.”
“Sure it is! Get up! Get up! There are presents! Put your robes on, let’s go!”
Amy reached for her silk robe but Rory glanced at River then turned back to the Doctor. “You let her come in that? Why isn’t she wearing a robe?”
The Doctor glanced at River and turned back to Rory. “I tried,” he mouthed, shaking his head. “Did not go well.”
“I’m not-” Rory began before Amy interrupted him.
“Stop arguing you two and come on, I want to open presents. And Rory, you better have gotten me something like what the Doctor gave River.”
“What?” the Doctor and Rory asked in unison.
“The nightie, of course,” Amy replied.
Both Rory and the Doctor babbled over each other, objecting emphatically. It was impossible to make out what they were saying over each other. Rory was going on about how could she possibly even think about wanting that when River’s their daughter and the Doctor babbling on that he didn’t actually get it for her.
When they finally stopped carrying on, River winked at the Doctor and asked, “Are you sure you don’t get it for me?”
The Doctor blushed and looked quickly around the room for a distraction. He grabbed the Roman helmet from the night table and jammed it on Rory’s head. “Okay, we’re all fine. Presents now, let’s go!”
Downstairs they all exchanged gifts. Amy got her usual overabundance of clothes and Rory received accessories for his beloved car. The Doctor was overenthusiastic as he ripped the paper from River’s gift; a grey felt fedora with a deep blue band. The hat was shorter lived than usual, being consumed by sparks like a sparkler as soon as he placed it on his head and leaving his hair slightly singed. River leaned over with a loving pat on his cheek, whispering assurances to him that she’d have something better for him later.
After all the gifts had been opened and paper was strewn across the floor, Rory moved over to sit next to River. “I think there’s one more, way in the back under the tree.”
With a quizzical glance at Rory, River went to the tree and kneeled by its base. Peeking out from behind the trunk as if it were trying to hide was a stuffed bear. She retrieved the toy, examining it with an expression of surprise and awe. “But how? I left this in-”
“Just a little Christmas magic,” Rory replied.
“No, no. It’s more than that. I just…thank you. Again.” River gave Rory a hug and kissed his cheek.
The Doctor just shrugged at Amy, “Father daughter thing, I suppose.”
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Rory and the Mistletoe
Rory tried to slip the package in the trolley without his mother noticing. But mothers have a special talent for noticing everything, especially the things their children don’t want them to.
“Rory, what’s that?”
“Er, it’s just a Christmas decoration. For Christmas,” he replied, shifting from one foot to the other nervously.
She reached in and retrieved the small package. “Mistletoe? You’re getting this for Amy, aren’t you? Oh, just look at my sweet baby boy,” she beamed at him. “All grown up and wanting a little peck from his girlfriend under the mistletoe.”
“Muuu-uum! It isn’t like that, really! She’s not my girlfriend! We’re just friends, how many times do I have to tell you?”
“Whatever you say, sweetie,” she replied, tossing the package back into the trolley.
-
Rory stood back to admire his handiwork in the entryway. The sprig was hanging at just the right height; not so low to be obvious but not too high to be unnoticeable. He jumped at the loud knock on the door and hastily positioned himself beneath the mistletoe before shouting, “Come in!”
Amy burst through the door and immediately began rambling. “We’ve got loads to do! Test tomorrow! I don’t know a thing about it, but I know you do so it’ll be fine. And the paper! We’ve got to work on that. I did some research. I doubt Mels did any even with all that time in detention. Ooh, I smell hot chocolate, is your Mum making hot chocolate?” She shoved her book bag in Rory’s hand and walked right past him into the kitchen.
Mels strolled in and immediately noticed the mistletoe. She gave Rory a quick peck on the cheek and said, “You’re gonna have to be less subtle with her than that.” With a wink, she handed her bag to him and followed Amy into the kitchen.
Rory glanced up at the mistletoe and sighed, “Someday.”
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Advent Calendar
For DQBunny.
“I have something for you, sweetie,” River purred into the Doctor’s ear as she leaned over the back of the library sofa and placed a flat box in his lap.
The Doctor was momentarily excited until he examined the box more closely and saw 24 numbered rectangles. “A calendar? River, you know I hate calendars! Or do you? Spoilers? But anyway, I do because they’re just so-so linear!”
“This is a special calendar. It’s an advent calendar,” River replied. “I thought it would be fun for us to count down to Christmas.”
“Oh, Christmas!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet enthusiastically. “You want Christmas? I’ll take us to Christmas! Which one-“
“I want the one that’s coming up in 24 days,” she interrupted. “It’s fun to look forward to things.”
“Is not. Waiting is never fun. How could you say waiting is fun?” The Doctor stared at her sulkily, but the combination of hopefulness and stubbornness in her eyes forced him to give in. “Okay, we’ll try it your way.”
River smiled brightly at him, taking the calendar and placing it on the mantle. “We’ll start tomorrow.”
-
The next morning, River woke alone. She padded softly through the corridors poking her head in rooms until she turned a corner and spotted light flooding the hall from the open library door. She entered just in time to see the Doctor pop the last piece of chocolate into his mouth. “Doctor! You’re supposed to open one a day, not all in one day!”
“But the doors all had chocolates behind them! Good chocolate! What's the point of chocolate if not for eating?” He ignored her eye roll as he pressed on. “Well, we'll just get another for tomorrow! I like this one. We’ll get another one just like it!”
“No, I have one in mind for you,” she said with an unreadable twinkle in her eye. “I’ll get it.”
-
The Doctor was waiting in the library when River returned the next day. “What did you get? Custards of the Universe? Or a cookie calendar? Cookies would be good! Mmmm, chewy cookies, and oh, Jammie Dodgers!”
“I got you something different, and remember you only get one a day. But since we’re a couple days in, you can open two doors today,” she said handing him a bag with a mysterious smile.
Inside was another advent calendar with writing all over it that the Doctor recognized to be from the Planet of the Hats. “River! Really?” he squeaked in delight. Without waiting for a response, he opened the first door to reveal a small tan capsule with red tabs on each end. He yanked on the tabs harder than necessary and with a loud POP it became a full-sized floppy sombrero. With an obscenely over-excited giggle, he immediately put it on. But as he opened the second door, a flurry of ash drifted down around his head.
“River!” he yelped, frantically patting the top of his head. “My hat! What happened to it?”
“One a day, sweetie,” she replied with one of her infuriatingly innocent smiles. “When you open the next door, the hat you got the previous day disintegrates. Can’t really open all the doors at once, now, can you?”
“You tricked me.”
River took the calendar from him and placed it on the mantle of the fireplace. “I did not. I just want to teach you a bit of patience.”
Although the Doctor was sad to lose his hat each day, every morning he seemed eager to see what the calendar had in store. It produced a magnificent variety of hats including a shako, a puffy chef’s hat, and even a flowery lace-edged bonnet. His pith helmet disintegrated as he opened the final door on Christmas Eve and found a small red capsule inside. He yanked the tabs and with the now familiar POP, it burst into a fez.
“A fez! I have a fez! River, look, it’s a fez!”
“I can see that.”
“Hah! It’s Christmas Eve! No more doors!” he exclaimed, waggling his fingers at River. “I get to keep my fez! I win! The calendar can’t destroy my fez!”
“No,” River said, sauntering over to him, raising her arms to drape them around his neck. “But I can.” With those words, she knocked the fez off his head into the fireplace behind him.
“River! How could you! I-I loved that fez!”
“I had to, sweetie, you commit enough crimes against fashion as it is,” River said, tickling his chin until a smile threatened to break through. “Besides, there’s always next year. You can be patient, right?”
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
O Christmas Tree
“Lighting of the universe’s tallest Christmas Tree! Think of the very tallest Christmas tree you’ve ever seen, and then stack at least a thousand of them on top of each other,” the Doctor exclaimed, spinning around the console.
River arched an eyebrow. “You’re exaggerating.”
“We’ll see,” he said with a wink and fiddled with a few more controls. With a jolt, the Doctor announced, “We’re here!”
“Here?” River checked the scanner. “Doctor, we’re at least 100 kilometers above the planet’s surface. How are we going to see anything from here?”
He just grinned in response and practically skipped to the door. “Come take a look.”
The tree was of such scale that even the most infinite of imaginations could barely begin to describe it. It appeared to stretch all the way from the planet’s surface to well above where they were floating. The way the stars glittered through the gaps branches made the tree look like it was already lit. Ornaments the size of small asteroids both hung from the boughs and orbited around the massive tree.
The Doctor plopped down on the floor, letting his legs swing in open space. He patted the spot next to him and motioned for River to sit. “Wait ‘till you see what’s next.”
River settled herself next to the Doctor and looked at him questioningly when she heard the barest hint of a tune from far below. The gentle sparkling melody curled up the Christmas tree, wrapping around like garland. Once the music was emanating from the entire tree, it swelled in a great crescendo and one of the nearby floating spheres exploded in a great shower of fireworks. One by one, each of the orbiting ornaments exploded in turn, firing out sparks in all colors that covered the entire thing with tiny glowing orbs.
River leaned into the Doctor and tugged his arm around her waist as they watched. “Best Christmas ever.”
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Tree Trimming
For gidget_zb.
The Doctor was positively bouncing with excitement. He had dragged River across space and time looking for the perfect tree before finally finding one he liked on a small snowy planet. It was similar in appearance to an Earth Fir, but its needles were much softer like giant green pipe cleaners.
“What do you think? Perfect, eh?” he asked.
“I think it’s fantastic, sweetie,” River replied.
“Just you wait until we’ve got it decorated!”
Christmas melodies played in the background as they sorted through the boxes of decorations and started adding them to the tree. River teased that the amount of lights he wanted was a fire hazard. The Doctor joked that with how little she wanted, they may as well have just left it bare. Stories were told as each ornament was hung and laughter rang out through the library. All went well until it was time to add the final touch.
River found a beautiful angel tree topper at the bottom of one of the boxes. Its porcelain face and curly hair all were exactly like a doll she’d seen in a toy store window when she was young. That doll meant more to her than anything, but she never had any chance of getting it. She turned to the Doctor who was already placing a star on the top of the tree and asked, “Can we use this instead?”
“What? But River, we have to use the star. I always use the star. It’s tradition!”
“Maybe for you,” River retorted. “But some people haven’t had the luxury of building holiday traditions.”
The Doctor’s face fell at her words and he looked like he had been punched in the chest. “River… I-I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I-“
“Wait!” The Doctor interrupted. “I have an idea.” He grabbed a handful of foil-wrapped chocolates from a bowl nearby and shoved some in River’s hand. “Here, eat these. Give me the wrappers. Don’t tear them!” After he had a small stack of silver sheets, he dashed from the room.
River settled herself in the comfy chair by the fire and gazed at the tree as she waited for him to return. A star wouldn’t be so bad, really, she decided. It would likely be better than whatever crazy idea he had come up with. Knowing him, he probably went to get a hat.
“Close your eyes!” the Doctor shouted from the hall. She did as she was told, listening intently to the quiet footfalls that made their way to the tree. After some rustling and the tinkle of a breaking ornament, the shuffling steps moved over by her chair. He placed his hand on her arm and whispered, “All right, open your eyes.”
River’s eyes fluttered open and moved upwards along the branches until she saw it. Affixed to the top of the tree was the mobile from his cot, except tiny foil origami angels had been added to flutter among the dangling stars. She turned to him, but found herself suddenly unable to come up with any words at all.
“It’s you and I,” he said quietly, running a hand over her curls. “Our beginning and the beginning of new traditions. And I hope we make many more.”
¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤
Adipose Christmas Vacation
The Doctor and River were sitting together in the TARDIS library, basking in the warmth of the fireplace and the glow from the Christmas tree. Just as he was reaching in his pocket to retrieve a small box, a rustling came from the evergreen’s branches. A tiny white blob tumbled from the tree and took off running. In a blink, River produced a gun and was taking aim.
“River, no! Don’t shoot!” he exclaimed, grabbing her arm. “It’s just a baby! It’s an Adipose!”
“What on Earth is an Adipose?” she asked, dropping her arm just as the Adipose dove head first into the pool and began doing the backstroke.
“Well, they aren’t on Earth anymore,” the Doctor replied, pacing along the edge of the pool, trying to head the creature off. “They have nursery planets. Earth was one, only it shouldn’t have been.”
“And you just had to get our tree from one of them?”
“I didn’t know it was a nursery planet!” the Doctor protested. “And it is a fantastic tree, you even said so!”
Without warning, the Adipose leapt from the pool and dodged between the Doctor and River then started climbing the shelves. When it was halfway up to the very high ceiling, it lost its grip and fell with a terrified squeak. River dove and caught it just before it hit the floor. “I think,” she said as she cradled the shaking creature, “we should get this little guy home.”
When they opened the doors, they saw a small group of Adipose huddled around the tree stump. As soon as he saw his friends, the creature jumped from River’s arms and bounded through the snow. Happy sounds of greeting filled the air as they piled on top of their newly returned friend in a group hug that resembled a living snowdrift. As they waddled toward the tree line, one stopped and gave a wave of thanks back toward the TARDIS before continuing on with the others.
“You’ve saved Christmas, Doctor,” she observed, leaning against him.
“What? No, I haven’t.”
“Of course you did-for them. You reunited that Adipose with its family. Isn’t that what we all want? To be with loved ones for the holidays?”
The Doctor wrapped an arm around her and hugged her tightly, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
(Continue to Part 2)