ALICE SAVES WONDERLAND
PROLOGUE
"Just push a little more m'lady. You're almost there."
Snow screamed – she was being turned inside out; she had never felt so much agony, so much pain internalized.
"Push!" the doctor was yelling at her as she lay on the bed. "Push!"
"I can't!" she wailed.
"Yes you can," Charming whispered in her ear, stroking her hair. "Yes you can. You're going to give us a beautiful baby girl, honey. Just keep going a little longer."
And so she did, during another knotted contraction Snow focused on bringing her baby into the world. Again and again pain rippled through her body until it felt like an anchor had unspoiled with in her and she heard the cries of baby fill the air.
Snow leant back in the bed, panting yet laughing out loud. She'd done it.
The dwarf bundled the baby up in blankets and showed him to her. She saw the wide eyes – suspicious of this bright light and new world – and the red-purple of her skin. She held out her index finger and the baby curled its little hand round it.
"Do you have a name for her?"
Snow smiled, looking up at Prince Charming as her heart seemed to physically swell with love. "Emma," she whispered. "Her name's Emma."
And just as the dwarf moved to hand her her child she let out a cry of pain. She gasped, bolting upright as pain ripped through her abdomen.
"What is it?" asked Charming, his face slack with worry as he glanced between her and the doctor. "What's wrong?"
Snow shook her head, letting out another scream of pain.
The doctor's face was white as he settled back at the end of the bed. "There's another baby coming," he said, his voice shaking. And then he moved back into his precise professionalism. His voice turning soothing. "You're going to have to push again m'lady."
"What?" Snow said, fighting. Her voice was tight with panic and fresh tears. "What? No – no! It's not –"
"Push now! M'lady if you want this child!" shouted the doctor, firmly. And Snow wailed, grabbing James' hand as her mind went blank and she concentrated on bearing down to push.
The contraction finished, and she faltered, panting. "I don't understand," she was crying now. "How can there be another baby?"
"Sometimes the babies are just laying in such a position…" the dwarf at her side murmured, consolingly. "There could be no way of knowing…"
"The next contraction is coming soon," the doctor warned her and Snow shook her head again.
"But the wardrobe only takes one," she sobbed. "The wardrobe only takes one."
"Push!"
She screamed again, and this time the pain was stabbing through her heart as well as her body.
"No," she cried. "No, no, no, no."
"One more time, m'lady."
And Snow pushed and her second baby came into the world.
And she would never forget the depth of her grief as they handed her the other little child. A girl.
"Do you have a name for her?" asked the dwarf, tentatively.
No, thought Snow, as tears streamed down her face. She watched as baby stirred in one of her arms; Emma curled in the other. I had a name for one child. Not two.
Charming stroked her cheek gently. "Let's name her after your cousin."
She let out a choked laugh that bubbled in her throat thanks to her crying. "What, Glinda? No!" She looked up at him, a thousand emotions warring in her. Fear, love, sorrow. "Let's call her Alice."
"Alice?"
"Yes," she whispered. "Alice." And then she bit her lip as her whole body shuddered with sobs. "Take…take Emma now," she said. "You have to go."
"Snow-"
"No, you need to. What Rumplestiltskin said about the curse – her being the savior. I'll stay here with Alice..."
His eyes watered slightly, but he took Emma gently from her arms. He looked at the baby for a second before placing a kiss on her forehead. "I love you," he murmured, and then he looked down at Alice and kissed her gently on the forehead too, "and I love you."
Alice squirmed slightly and Snow gave a watery smile. "She knows."
He nodded, gave one more, lingering look at Snow and then drew his sword and ran from the room.
She watched him go as long as she could and then Alice began to cry in her arms.
"Oh," she whispered, looking down at her. "My little baby. Shhh. Mommy's here. Mommy's here." She rocked Alice in her arms a little, but the comforting effect was marred by the fact that she was now crying again too. "Mommy's here," she kept choking out, tears streaming down her face. "Mommy's here."
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