Emma woke up with a start, her heart pounding from a terrible nightmare. She felt the bed next to her, instinctively looking for her husband. When she felt the cold bed, she sat up, running her fingers through the tangles in her hair with a sigh.
Despite the time that had passed since she last spent the night next to Killian, she still wasn't used to waking up alone. As of today, it had been a year since she'd last slept wrapped in his arms. Knowing she wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon, Emma got out of bed and moved down the hall to check on their daughter.
Charlotte was standing up in her crib, bouncing slightly. "Mama!" She smiled sleepily when she spotted Emma, rubbing her eyes.
Emma brushed her hair back and kissed her head. "What are you doing up, little one? It's three in the morning.."
Charlotte just reached her little arms towards her mother, and Emma lifted her to rest against her hip. She couldn't believe how fast she was growing, she was now 18 months old, and Emma hated that Killian wasn't there to watch her grow up. Emma grabbed Charlotte's stuffed duck and went back to bed, being with their baby helped keep Emma from falling into her depression.
"How about we read a book, huh?" Emma asked softly, settling them into her bed. She had grabbed a book Killian made, where he recorded him reading so Charlotte could always recognize his voice.
Charlotte cuddled into Emma as they listened to Killian's voice read the book. When it was finished, Emma kissed the top of Charlotte's head.
"Your Daddy loves you so much, Charlotte. He only wanted the best for his Lottie, and I know you don't remember him, but he adored you and you used to only quiet down for him.."
Emma spoke softly, she always tried to talk about Killian with her. She never wanted her to question whether or not her father loved her. Emma felt Charlotte nod against her chest.
"Dada.. Where?" She asked softly, sticking her thumb in her mouth.
"Daddy's away for work, Baby.. He's protecting us from bad people.." Emma tucked the blankets around them. "I know he misses you very much.."
"Miss Dada.." Charlotte breathed, clutching her duck tighter in her little fingers.
"I miss him too, Baby.." Emma turned on one of Charlotte's favorite movies and held her tightly as they tried to go back to sleep.
Both of them eventually fell back to sleep, Emma after Charlotte, cuddled together in the middle of the bed. Emma woke up only an hour after she had finally gone back to sleep, to little hands squishing her cheeks and a knocking on the front door.
"Mama! Up!" Charlotte giggled.
Emma opened her eyes, a soft smile on her face when she saw her baby. "Good morning, Beautiful. Let's go see who's come to visit huh?" She slipped on her glasses and set Charlotte on the floor.
When Emma opened the door to find her brother and sister-in-law standing there with groceries in their arms. She hadn't been awake long enough to let herself realize again what day it was, but she knew she was happy to see her brother anyway.
"Davey!" Charlotte hugged David's leg, she adored her uncle. He had been a father figure to her in Killian's absence.
David easily lifted her to his hip as Emma let them into the apartment. Mary Margaret set the groceries on the counter and immediately started making breakfast for them all. Emma settled at the counter with David and Charlotte.
"Um, not that I'm complaining, but.. Why are you here so early?"
"We figured you would want some help with this munchkin today, and I didn't want you to be alone today of all days.." David said as he tickled his niece gently.
"Today.." Emma sighed, cutting herself off when the weight of the day finally got through her still sleep addled brain.
Emma shook her head, she missed her husband more than anything, and hated that it'd been a year since he'd been home, and six months since the worst day of her life.
David wrapped his arm around Emma's shoulders, pulling her in closer. He was with her six months ago, when her life when to shit, and he would do anything to protect his little sister.
Emma buried her face in his shoulder, taking a deep breath. It had been a year since Killian left for his deployment, and six months later, two naval officers showed up on her front porch, changing her life forever.
Killian, her husband, the father of her little girl, was missing in action. His unit was ambushed, and without a definitive I.D., he had been labeled Missing in Action. The Navy assumed he had been killed, and gave her back all of his personal items they had. Among them had been a set of his dog tags, which she hadn't taken off since that day.
"I appreciate you coming, I do.. I.. I had a nightmare last night, and I barely slept.. I think I got an hour of sleep after I brought Charlotte to bed with me.. I guess I just miss him." Emma sighed, moving to get herself a cup of coffee.
"It's okay to miss him, Sweetie. And since it's Saturday we are yours all day, as long as you want us here." Mary Margaret rubbed her back gently, wanting to comfort her sister-in-law.
She nodded, leaning against the counter. "Thanks, and thank you for making breakfast.."
Emma sipped her coffee, watching Charlotte giggle with David. Charlotte looked so much like her father, she had his bright blue eyes and dark hair; even her ears had slight points to them like Killian's. Mary Margaret placed the pancakes on plates for them all, and helped Emma cut up some fruit for Charlotte to pick at.
They settled at the table to eat, and Mary Margaret made small talk, telling stories about her class to keep Emma distracted. Emma made sure Charlotte didn't make a huge mess with her breakfast, and listened as Mary Margaret chatted with her. They spent the next hour or so just catching up and playing with Charlotte in Emma's living room.
"I had planned to take Charlotte to the park today.. It's a beautiful day, and it's just across the street.." Emma spoke, after having been quiet most of the morning.
"That sounds perfect, Sis.. Do you want me to get her changed and ready to go so you can shower?" David asked.
Emma nodded. "Yeah, that would be great." She gave him a smile before calling to her daughter. "Baby, Uncle David is going to get you dressed and then we're going to go to the park, how does that sound?"
Charlotte grinned at her mother, clapping her little hands together excitedly, she loved being outside. "Yeah!"
Emma couldn't help but smile as she kissed her baby's cheek. "Good. Be good while I get ready, okay?"
Charlotte nodded, toddling back to her uncle. Emma got up to make her way to her own room. She took a shower, letting herself take the time to think about Killian and how much she missed him.
The hot water ran over her, taking a little bit of her pain. Emma knew she needed to be as happy as she could so Charlotte wouldn't pick up on her mood. When she felt relaxed enough she got out and got dressed. All of Killian's belongings were still spread over the house, his clothes still hanging in the closet. She pulled one of his Navy t shirts from the stack and slipped it on with her jeans, pulling his dogtags back over her head and tucking them beneath the shirt.
When she was ready, she went back downstairs to find Mary Margaret just finishing putting Charlotte's hair into little pigtails. She started packing a few snacks and some water into Charlotte's bag, planning to stay at the park for a while. Emma let her brother carry Charlotte as they headed out of the apartment. They'd barely gotten downstairs when Emma remembered her phone.
"Crap, I left my phone upstairs.. You guys go ahead and I'll be right behind you." Emma stopped them.
"Of course, we've got Charlotte. We'll play a little and you take your time if you need a minute, okay?" Mary Margaret gave her a soft smile as Emma nodded. Mary Margaret could see that Emma was still feeling overwhelmed, missing Killian, and wanted her to have the chance to take any moments she needed.
Emma's apartment building was across the street from a nice park where she and Charlotte liked to spend their time when the weather was nice. They picked the apartment when they found out Emma was pregnant, wanting their child to get to play outdoors while living in the city.
Emma thought about the day she told Killian she was pregnant as she made her way back to the apartment. She didn't remember where she'd left her phone, so she looked for it as she let her mind wander. Just after finding her phone in her bathroom, there was a knock on the apartment door.
She opened it without seeing who it was, thinking it was Mary Margaret or David. She was looking at her phone, checking for messages. "You know you don't have to knock.." She spoke as she looked up.
When she saw who was standing there, she froze, her phone dropping to the floor with a loud thud.