PARENTHOOD

Chapter Fifty Six

The morning sunlight brightened the room while Koschei sighed and gently rolled onto his side. His hair had been slowly changing back to its normal brown color but it still had a blonde look to it and was longer than it was from the time he first came to the Doctor's universe. Living in a tiny cell for centuries as the prisoner of the Rani, he wasn't used to sleeping on a large bed as he gently kicked his legs side to side and wiggled the duvet up under his chin.

"Cheepa, Baba, cheepa," came from the baby monitor as he opened his eyes and smiled, rolling onto his back. Looking over at the lights moving on the baby monitor, he sighed then moved the duvet back and got out of bed. Shuffling across the floor, he opened the door then walked down the small hallway and stopped at the rows of picture frames. The hologram photos of him, his wife, Julie, and their daughter, Aderyn, made him smile and the picture frames were hung on the wall in the shape of a triangle. Aderyn was ten months old and could say a few words in English, Gallifreyan and Amos. The Doctor has taught them how to speak Amos and Aderyn now had white feathers with just a tinge of blue on the tips. "Cheepa, Baba, cheepa!"

"Coming," Koschei said when he walked down the hallway to her room and opened the door. The room looked like a forest due to the holograms on the walls and the carved branches rising from the floor to the ceiling. A changing table was to the right of the room with a nappy pail next to it and small wardrobe was to the left of the room. Under the window at the back of the room were a rocking chair and a small bookcase and the baby monitor sat on the top of the dresser next to the wardrobe. At the center of the room was a small nest made of twigs, feathers and mud and Aderyn was sitting in the middle of the nest. She was wearing a backless pink nightgown with a pink bunny on the front and her small wings were folded against her back. He remembered how she cried for hours while they were growing in and the Doctor had given them a cream to rub on her back to ease her pain.

"Cheepa, Baba!" Aderyn said as he walked closer and picked her up, rubbing the tip of his nose against her beak.

"Good morning, Genji," Koschei said as she giggled and he placed her on his right side, walking to the changing table. Genji meant daughter in Amos and he sat Aderyn on the changing table then looked down at the shelf, looking for the baby wipes.

"Ah, there you are," Julie said as she came into the room and stood next to him while he changed Aderyn's nappy, placing it in the nappy pail.

"Sorry if I woke you up," he said as he gave Julie a quick kiss on the lips and Aderyn blinked her grayish blue eyes at them.

"Oh, that's ok," Julie said as she watched Koschei picked Aderyn up and gently stroked the feathers on the top of her head. "Good morning, Genji."

"Mooma," Aderyn said as she reached out for her and Koschei handed her to Julie. Aderyn made soft cooing sounds as Julie hugged her and Koschei smiled at them. After losing his family when his Gallifrey was destroyed, he never thought he could find someone to love again but Julie had made it so easy and being able to adopt Aderyn was an added bonus.

"You ok, Love?" Julie asked as he blinked then blushed, feeling embarrassed.

"Yeah, just thinking about how lucky I am," he said as she smiled and kissed his lips.

"Mooma and Baba kiss-kiss," Aderyn said then giggled and Koschei gave her a slightly stunned look.

"Mommy and Daddy can kiss-kiss if they want to, Little Peep," he said as she pouted and shook, giving him a sad eyed look. "Oh, don't look at me like that!"

"I suggest you give her some snuggles then," Julie said as he took Aderyn from her and hugged Aderyn, sending love into her mind.

"Baba silly!" Aderyn said as he smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"So, what do you want to do today?" he asked Julie while she walked to the changing table with the things she had picked out for Aderyn to wear and placed the clothes, undershirt and socks on the changing table.

"Well, seeing that it's a nice day out, I was wondering if we could go on a picnic," Julie said as Koschei sat Aderyn on the changing table, placed the backless undershirt on Aderyn and snapped the snaps closed. Wiggling, Aderyn unfolded her wings as they flapped up and down and Koschei smiled, rubbing her beak with the tip of his nose.

"Nic-nic!" Aderyn said as she lightly bounced up and down and waved her arms in the air.

"Sounds to me like someone wants to go on a picnic," Koschei said as he lifted Aderyn's arms up and placed the blue, backless t-shirt over her head. She wiggled on the changing table as he gently placed her arms into the sleeves and snapped the snaps.

"Then we better go to get some food then," Julie said as he nodded and finished dressing Aderyn.

The doors slid open while Koschei pushed the trolley and Aderyn sat in the child's seat. Julie had placed the seat cover over the child's seat as Aderyn held onto the handle bar and looked around. The people of Gallifrey City were used to seeing Aderyn in her Amos form so she didn't have to wear an imager and they had been stopped a number of times as women gush over how cute she was.

"Right, we need some fresh veggies for a salad," Julie said as she looked at the list and Aderyn sucked on the dummy the Doctor had made for her. Rose had explained to Koschei that a dummy was a baby pacifier and Aderyn's favorite dummy was her Stitch one. Nodding, Koschei pushed the trolley as they went into the fruit and vegetable section and Julie placed the fresh vegetables in the trolley basket.

"Want to get some bananas?" Koschei asked as he held up a bunch of bananas and she smiled.

"Only if we were taking the Doctor or Alan with us," Julie teased.

"Nana!" Aderyn said as she bounced in the seat and Koschei looked at Julie with a "Well, are we getting them or not?" look on his face. Sighing, Julie placed the bananas in the trolley basket and they went down the aisle.

Koschei made faces at Aderyn while they waited in the queue at the meat counter and Julie smiled at them. She never knew that in all her time as a Time Lady that she would find a man as wonderful as Koschei nor be a mother but she never regretted one say with them and smiled. The queue moved until they came to the counter and Julie looked at the selection of ham and roast beef. She wanted some for sandwiches as she tried to decide when Aderyn's eyes went wide and she screamed.

"What's wrong?" Julie shouted as Koschei looked at what Aderyn was looking at and his hearts froze in his chest. Hanging upside down on hooks were pre-plucked chickens, ducks and geese and their dead eyes looked right at him.

"Bugger," he said when he picked Aderyn out of the trolley and walked away, hushing her and sent love into her mind. Julie looked at the man with balding blonde hair standing behind the counter and he gulped, seeing the anger in her eyes.

"I am so sorry," he said softly as Julie walked away and went to find Koschei. She found him near the seafood counter as he showed Aderyn the large lobsters in the tank and she cheeped softly, blinking her eyes.

"Is she ok?" Julie asked as Koschei turned to her and nodded. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"No, go get the trolley and we'll go to the pre-made food counter and get the sandwiches," he said as she nodded and went to get the trolley.

The sunlight shimmered off the leaves while Julie carried Aderyn and Koschei carried the picnic basket. They headed for a quiet spot in Tennant Park and a few of the people walking by waved at Aderyn. She would shyly turn her face into Julie's neck and Julie smiled, kissing Aderyn's fingers.

"Well, hello," Jenna said while she and Jamie walked closer and Jamie's dog, Wee Jock, walked beside Jamie.

"An' where are you three going?" Jamie asked as Wee Jock sat next to his leg and Aderyn looked down at Wee Jock.

"Baba, wooga," she said as she pointed to Wee Jock and Jamie tilted his head to one side.

"What did she say?" he asked.

"Wooga means dog in Amos," Julie said as she knelt down and Aderyn looked at Wee Jock.

"She is getting so big!" Jenna said and Koschei nodded.

"Seems like only yesterday that she was a tiny baby," he sighed and Jamie smiled.

"Aye, they grow up so fast," he said as Wee Jock walked over to Julie and sniffed Aderyn's hand. Anderyn made little whimpering sounds as Wee Jock titled its head side to side and its tail wagged back and forth.

"Nice wooga," Julie said as she helped Aderyn patted Wee Jock's head and Wee Jock panted. Chirping, Aderyn placed her head on top of Wee Jock's head and patted him.

"I think someone's made a friend," Jamie said as Julie nodded then stood up. "Well, we better let you get on with your fun."

"Yeah," Julie said when Jamie whistled and Wee Jock ran to catch up with him. Shrugging, she took Koschei's hand and they walked down the path. After a few minutes they found a spot as Koschei placed the picnic basket down and Julie handed Aderyn to him. Julie unfolded the blanket that was on top of the basket while Koschei spun Aderyn in the air and she held her arms out. "Oi, stop that or she'll get sick."

"Ah, she likes it!" Koschei said then scooped Aderyn into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"Fly, Baba, Fly!" she said and he looked at Julie. Both of them knew that the Rani had given him electrical powers, which he could fire out of his fingers, but she had also given him the ability to jump straight up into the air and he had been spending time with the Doctor and Cameron, learning how to come down after he flew into the air. Cameron was also using his telekinetic powers to help Aderyn learn how to fly and the Doctor teased them about how soon it will be before they'd be chasing after her when she decides to fly off on her own.

"After we eat, Little Peep," he said as Aderyn nodded and Julie smiled at them. Koschei helped Julie set up the food, cups, plates, forks and knives while Aderyn sat on the blanket and looked at the grass. She saw something moving in the grass when she blinked and crawled to the edge of the blanket. Koschei watched her when she seemed to fall face first onto the grass and he gasped. "Are you alright, Sweetie?"

Koschei picked her up when he saw the worm squirming in her beak and he felt his stomach churning. With a snap of her head, Aderyn swallowed the worm and giggled.

"Oh well," he sighed as he wiped her beak with his hand and Julie glared at him. "What, did you think I was going to take it away from her?"

"Yeah, I did," Julie said with a smile and shook her head.

"Worm good, Baba," Aderyn said, looking up at him and they laughed while she blinked her eyes, looking confused.

"What do you mean you can't find her?" Julie said as she placed the plates into the basket and Koschei sighed. He and Anderyn had taken a nap after they ate and Julie had been reading the book she had brought with her.

"She was here when I fell asleep," Koschei said when Julie felt the fear in his mind and crawled to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Mooma," Aderyn's voice called out and they looked up, seeing her sitting on one of the branches.

"How did she get up there?" Koschei asked, standing up.

"Fly," Aderyn said as her wings flapped and she giggled.

"Well, you fly right back down here, Young Bird," he said as she shook her head and he folded his arms over his chest, giving her a stern look. Suddenly Aderyn started rising into the air as she cheeped and squeaked and Koschei held his arms out as she sailed down to him. Wrapping his arms around her, he hushed her as she sobbed and Julie tapped him, causing him to turn to her. Pointing, she smiled as Cameron walked out from behind the tree and leaned against it.

"An Amos in the hand is worth two in the tree, eh, Brother?" he teased and Koschei laughed. Cameron walked to him when he went to pat the top of Aderyn's head but jumped when she snapped at him. "Oi, don't snap your beak at me!"

"Unca Cam-Cam bad," she said then placed her head against Koschei's chest, pouting.

"Well, listen to Baba the next time he says to come down so I don't have to do that, ok?" he asked as she nodded and he walked away. Julie placed the blanket on top of the basket as she picked it up and Aderyn looked up at Koschei. Giving him a sad look, she started chirping as he felt his hearts melting and Koschei kissed the top of her head. Taking Julie's hand, they headed down the path and Julie placed her head on his shoulder.

The night was quiet when Julie woke up and reached her hand across the mattress. Koschei wasn't in bed as she sat up and turned the light on. Moving the duvet back, she got up then went to check the bathroom but he wasn't there and she pouted. Walking down the hallway, she looked inside Aderyn's room and smiled. Softly walking toward the rocking chair, she looked at Aderyn sleeping against Koschei and Koschei's head was bent to the right. He was asleep as Julie looked at the duvet on the back of the rocking chair and slowly moved it out from behind him. He moved but didn't wake up as she covered them with the duvet then kissed the top of his head and he smiled. Sighing, she walked to the door when she turned and looked at them. She walked down the hallway while Koschei opened one eye, looked down at Aderyn then kissed the top of her head, closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

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