A name – Captain Swan Drabble
It's in those last moments that she knows.
When the doctor told the two of them the news, she hadn't wanted to know the gender, hadn't wanted to set any expectations. Killian's face had been so breathtakingly happy, and it was all she needed. Everything else could wait.
They'd planned and prepared, talked through the past months up to the early hours in the mornings getting ready. He'd shared his childhood with her, the darkness, the painful moments, the support of a brother he missed more than he could ever fully put into words. She let out her fears and pain, her worries for the future of this child and how she was afraid she might not be enough. Through it all, they are there for each other. Family.
And when the final contraction hits her, the cry of the baby breaking up the quiet, early hours of the morning as Killian stands beside her gripping her hand, she just knows.
It's one of those moments when everything suddenly seems to fall into place effortlessly. A swell in her heart pushes her emotions into her throat, choking her with happy tears as the baby is lifted up and into her arms.
He's on edge too, in that same place with her between tears and joy, kissing her forehead as his hand caresses the tiny head of their child. They take a moment together, savoring the peace as the nurses help her through the last of her labor. When they're both ready, he'll call in Henry and her parents, but for now, this moment is just the three of them.
"Emma," Killian's voice breaks on her name, so much love in the dark, raspy way he says it that it makes her heart flutter, "he's perfect."
And he is, large blue eyes searching as he studies the two of them gazing down at him with adoration.
"Liam."
His hand is caressing their son's tiny head, cradling it in his hold so tenderly. He'd move heaven and Earth for their child if need be, she knows this, and her stomach flips, her heart overflowing with love for this man who has given her so much. Her pirate.
For a moment, she thinks he hasn't heard her. When he glances up at her, a shine to his eyes bringing tears to hers, he looks at her as though she's given him the world. If she could, she'd fall in love with him all over again for the way he looks at her so adoringly.
"Are you sure?" His voice is hesitant and awed, and she blames the pregnancy hormones for the way her tears escape down her cheeks. His gentle caress wipes them away, then curves to hold her cheek tenderly. She nods into his palm. They hadn't discussed names, but she's so sure, looking into the blue of his eyes, that this is perfect.
"His name is Liam."
"Emma…"
His voice says so much with that single word, all the love he's shared with her and all the pain he's survived through nearly breaking her heart. But it belongs to him now, and he's protected it and cushioned it to make it survive anything so long as he holds it.
"It's perfect."
He kisses her tenderly, then kisses the forehead of little Liam, and she can feel the way his breaths deepen and his hand shakes ever so slightly as he lifts their son into his arms. His left arm cradles him, his hook a safe distance away, and his right holds his head as he sits beside her on the hospital bed. He curls around her with their son between them, and they stay that way together until she can feel herself drifting off to sleep.
But it's okay, he says as he holds her and Liam starts to fall asleep between them. He's not going anywhere. And she just knows, they are stronger together, as a family. She falls asleep with a smile on her face and Killian's warmth surrounding her.
And when her parents and Henry get worried, sneaking into the hospital room to see her cradled in his arms with Liam between them, he places a finger over his lips and they understand.
They'll meet Liam properly a short few hours later, in the dawn of a new day.