Early Spring.
The pre-dawn sunlight filtered in through the stained glass of the window, the colours playing a rainbow on the face of the woman who lay in the canopy bed. Her face was round, and startlingly pale, surrounded by a flowing mane of ebony black hair, which at this time was slightly damp with sweat. She felt the warmth of the light on her face and awoke, stretching her arms over her head, and inhaling deeply, the smell of fresh linen under her cheek, when she felt a twinge of pain. Her hand flew to her stomach, but there was nothing there.
That can't be right, she mused. Something's missing. Or someone, she realized. She pulled up the covers, and she began to panic- the bump that she had cried about making her unable to fit into a ball gown, laughed about hiccupping inside her at state functions and fretted about late at night was gone. Trying to quell the feeling of dread, she looked about feverishly, but then she spied her husband, slumped on the chaise longue in the corner, one hand on the edge of a toffee-coloured bassinet.
And just like that, the panic dispersed.
She heaved herself up out of bed, ignoring the stiffness in her body and gingerly made her way over to the bassinet, letting her fingers glide over the edge. Her face broke out into a smile as she looked at the baby, who had the most beautiful eyes- they were a perfect mix of hers and Charming's- a kind of turquoise, just like the colour of the sea near Neverland from Emma's storybooks. She was enthralled; those eyes seemed to capture her soul. She jumped as his tiny fingers deathgripped around her own pinkie finger and she heard Charming chuckle behind her.
"Looks like he's going to be just like his big sister, don't you think?" he questioned as he rose, stiffly as she, yet not so much. She rolled his eyes as he cracked his back.
"You need to quit doing that, if you want to keep up with the rest of the kids I plan on having," she teased, and it did the trick- his jaw dropped open and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"W-w-what?" he stammered, lost for words once again at his wife, "Are you serious? After the amount of "Charming, if you ever do this to me again, I swear, you can go live in your own special cell with Rumplestilskin", that you screamed at me last night, I didn't think you were up for much more!"
She turned to face him, her hands on her hips. "That was just in the heat of the moment, Charming," she mocked, "And, besides, I don't mind trying to get pregnant, it's just the whole giving birth thing that I'm not so hot for."
"You're still hot, though," quipped Charming, scooping her up but laying her gently down on the mattress, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. He pushed away, but Snow grabbed his collar and pulled him in for a more intense moment, now that there was no tiny human in between them, but Charming, ever the gentleman, pulled away again.
Snow stared at him, pouting slightly, her lips redder after the kiss. "What?" she stated, "You can't just say that and leave me hanging- I have needs!". She laughed. "Oh I love it when you get that look on your face, it's priceless."
"Yes, but, you did just deliver this morning, or have you forgotten already? You have to take it easy." He smiled, getting up to leave. "Shall I get Emma? She's so excited; Red had such work getting her to sleep last night. Apparently she was trying to smuggle some of her toys into his section of the nursery so she could teach him how to use them- including the swords."
Snow nodded and laughed- typical Emma, trying to find adventure, even with someone she didn't even know yet.
"Oh, and by the way," Charming added, turning around as he opened the door, "Maybe next time you go into labour, is there any chance that you can swing it so that it doesn't happen when we have a dining hall full of people? I actually think you might have re-animated the roast geese, the shock you gave us all."
She fired a throw pillow at him as he ducked into the hallway.
She slumped back in the canopy bed, drained of all her strength, in a state of disbelief. That had been harder than Emma, she thought, but then she stopped. Nothing had been as scary as the day Emma was born, nothing could ever equivocate the terror, the fear of the unknown.
The feeling of desperation as she had known, just as she was kissing Charming, that her baby girl would decide to come early, which had been a dread she hoped never to experience again. It was physically harder this time, sure, but that was only because she was slightly older now, and more likely to fret than she ever had been.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a quiet scuffling at the chamber door; she could hear high-pitched squeaks of excitement, and she couldn't help but smile. Emma had waited so long to become a big sister, and she had asked Snow every single day when the baby would be here.
The door opened, and she heard little footsteps make their way over to the foot of the bed, where her petite round face peeked over, her green eyes wide with wonder. Her little cheeks were rosy from running about, no doubt keeping Ruby on her toes as she did so. Snow smiled at Emma, watching her drum her finger gently on the footboard, just as she had with the bassinet.
"Mama? Is the baby here now? Can I see it?" her voice, as always, was full of questions, impeded slightly by a problem with her "r's". Just like she herself had been at that age. She hoped Emma would never lose her curiosity.
"Sure, sweetie. But be careful, okay? Like I told you, treat the baby like-"
"-Like a baby bird. I know Mama, I just really wanna see it."
Snow sighed, and smiled again. "Emma, honey, it's not 'it'. He has a name, and-"
"HE?" Emma practically shrieked, her eyebrows shooting up as her eyes brightened, "I gots a bruvver? CAN I TEACH HIM TO SWORDFIGHT WIV ME?"
Snow made hurried flappy shushing motions with her hands when Emma picked up on the pronoun, worried that she'd wake the baby. By this stage Emma was practically spring-loaded; Snow couldn't ever remember her getting so excited, not even when Charming had announced that they would start sword training last Christmas.
As if he had sensed her hand-flapping, Charming entered, and he swept down dramatically on one knee in front of Emma. "Your Highness," he said in a deep baritone, "I see that a little bird has told you that you now have a sibling."
Emma put her hand out in a "puh-lease" gesture. "Daddy, I don't "have a sibling", I gots a bruvver!" Charming's head jerked up questioningly at Snow, quirking a brow at her. She shrugged nonchalantly, clearly enjoying the spectacle. "Aand," Emma ploughed on, "I told the birdies, they didn't tell me."
Not for the first time, Snow's gift of speaking with animals had, reared its head, so to speak, in Emma. Snow wondered if her son would be the same way. Would he be like her, or Charming? These thoughts raced through her head, as they had countless time before. She waited patiently for Emma to stop describing the bird she had told the news to; probably the version of the local gossips, judging by the birdsong outside.
She pointed to the bassinet over Emma's head to Charming, catching his attention.
"Emma, do you want to meet your brother?" she asked gently, as Charming stood. Emma swung around, clapping her hands, her curls bouncing, light from the window shining a pattern on them, just as it had on Snow's face. She went to climb on the bed, but stopped, her fingertips going toward her mouth.
"What, honey?" Snow sensed Emma's trepidation.
"Are you still dek-kul-luht? Like, can we bear-hug now?" her voice was anxious, yet impatient. Snow laughed- no matter how much she had told Emma otherwise, she was a firm believer that the word was not "delicate", but rather "dekkuluht". That was the word they had used when Snow was pregnant- they had to break it to Emma gently that Mommy wouldn't be running after her for a little while. The bear-hugs went hand-in-hand with the whole "delicate" deal too.
She had never been denied hugs, but Emma's definition of a bear hug wasn't the kind her father would give- the lung-crushing, lift-you-off-your-toes kind, but rather the kind where Emma would throw herself into Snow's arms and proceed to hug her like a baby monkey; one which Snow, being "dekkuluht" had escaped for the past nine months.
"Uhmm…" Snow paused, thinking about how to put it simply, but Charming cut in, saving the day, as he swathed the baby in his blankets, "How about you hold out a little bit longer on the bear-hugs, Ems, and we keep to baby hugs?"
Emma nodded, and clambered up to the side of the bed where Snow had smoothed the covers back just so. Emma climbed in as Snow tucked the duvet around her. Emma gasped, holding the duvet up, just over Snow's stomach. She looked at the stomach, then at Snow, then back at the stomach again, her jaw dropped in an exact replica of the expression her father had worn moments before.
"But, how can I give you a baby hug when there's no baby inside to hug?" Emma asked incredulously.
"That's cause he's right here, sweetie. Sit back up into the pillows and we'll show him to you, okay?" Charming cruised over the question; it would just lead to more, uh, inquisitiveness. The stork had sparked enough queries.
Emma scooted back into the pillows, eager to meet her little brother. Charming handed the bundle to Snow, who couldn't help but be caught up in his eyes once again. She wrenched her eyes away from his, and waited for Emma's reaction.
Emma's mouth was slightly open as she peered over the edge of the blanket Charming had peeked back for her. Snow never would've thought that she would see such a range of emotions come pouring out of her little girl's eyes; love, wonder and awe, and above all, protection.
She reached out her hand, and her fingers brushed his cheek, using the same hand to firmly but gently remove his fingers from his mouth. Snow blinked back tears- Emma's hands had been that small not so long ago. Emma giggled as his dark lashes brushed her palm, and looked up at her mother and father.
"What do I call him?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper.
"Emma," said Charming, "say "hello" to your little brother, Leo."