For Jare :D - Captain Swan Secret Santa
"You've not been sleeping" He mumbled. He noticed that her dark circles were growing worse every morning and he was worried.
"I guess I still haven't gotten used to Liam sleeping through the night" Emma shrugged and took a sip of her coffee.
"Henry!" She shouted up the stairs. "Breakfast is ready and you have school in ten minutes, hurry up!" Her attempt at changing the subject was pointless.
"Emma, darling, Liam has been sleeping fine for over a year now. What's the matter?" She put Henrys plate on the table and shook her head.
"I'm fine." She huffed. He grabbed her hand before she could leave and pulled her toward him. He looked into her eyes.
"This is about last week when I took him to the hospital isn't it?" Her gaze flickered away from him, telling him he was right.
"I'm sorry, love. It was an accident! He just wanted to have a little fun!"
"Well it wasn't fun for me!"
"He didn't even need stitches, he was laughing the whole way home. Relax, love, we'll make sure it never happens again."
"It's not that easy..." She opened her mouth to say more but nothing came out.
"Emma." He was going to say something about her needing to trust him more, but he was still trying to find the words. Everything was so much easier before Liam. With Henry, from what he'd seen, he was already a fine young lad. Polite, loving and responsible. They got along great. He became a son to him over the years and that didn't change with Liam. He just didn't know how to do all the baby things. Henry didn't need to be changed and fed constantly, he never had the practise. Both he and Emma had never done it before. And they both tried. However, the constant care and the worrying and crying, made it hard. It had taken a toll on both of them but he seemed to be handling it a lot better than she was.
She started to pull away from him.
"Emma, love-"
"No! No, I can do this on my own, I don't need you trying to make me forget my anger just by saying my name!"
"That's not what I'm trying to do." He reasoned. "Emma, just tell me what's going on. I know this is about more than just the accident now. You're not meant to do this on your own and i'm not going to let you." She had fight in her eyes, a constant battle between wanting to let him reassure her and pushing him away.
"We're not going to fight love."
"What are we doing now then?"
"That's you trying to not to trust me, because you know you do, and you think that your love for Liam means you can't. But you can. I will protect both of you and Henry, from whatever evil comes at us next. I promise." He looked at her earnestly, trying to get her to understand that this is it. Her family. She doesn't need to be the Saviour anymore.
"This isn't a fair fight" She almost whined. "Anything you say makes me feel like I can trust you. I can. But I know you! I know adventure and pirate quests are in you're blood. You and Liam are always going to play dangerous. I can't stop that. But I also can't stop worrying that something terrible is going to happen the next time." She reached for him absentmindedly and started playing with his hair.
"You think you're the only one who worries?" He whispered back. "I am continually worrying about you and Liam and Henry. Emma it's okay. This is what a normal parent feels like. And if it makes you feel any better, we'll only play with the toy swords from now on." He flashed a grin. "All you need is hope. Hope that you can trust me. And to trust yourself. Even if something does go wrong, you're not the saviour anymore. It's not your duty to fix everything. We're a team. We'll do it together. As a family." Her eyes shined with tears.
"Thank you."