I do not own OUAT, Captain Swan or anything like that. I own absolutely nothing except for like... three characters in this story and two of them are AWFUL!
Title is from the song Orphan by John Waller, good to listen to when reading this.
But I personally recommend When Love Takes You In by Steven Curtis Chapman
All For One Little Girl
3rd Person
Emma Swan has worked at the Prince Charming Hospital since she was forced to do community service at seventeen years old, the judge choosing to send her here instead of prison due to her age and the fact that the watches she'd had on her person were Neal's- the scum leaving her to take the fall for his crimes as he left her penniless and with a criminal record.
She had found that she loved working there, meeting all of the other workers and young children that came in- seeing as it is a children's hospital- and she'd found that she wasn't alone anymore when she met David Nolan and Mary Margaret, the couple who started the hospital in the first place and named it after her nickname for him. But that's a whole other story.
When she turned twenty one years old she met the new doctor, who had started only seven weeks beforehand, Killian Jones and she'd immediately closed off from him- making sure to keep a healthy distance.
This worked for half a year before she'd somehow managed to create a friendship with him which developed into a romantic relationship after he asked her on their first date at twenty two. She'd said yes, not expecting much from it and knowing it would end in heartbreak.
Until it didn't.
To her shock, he dodged all of her attempts to push him away and made it through her defense system, eventually winning her heart and asking her to marry him when he was twenty six and her twenty four. Again, she'd said yes.
One year later, the pair married with his brother and sister in law, Mary Margaret, David, his friend Robin, his wife Regina, her friend Ruby who's married to the surgeon in their section (Victor Whale) and lastly his friend Belle who worked in the library nearby and she gave books to the hospital so that the children could read them if they were staying overnight- Killian putting each and every book in a separate room and alternating them every two weeks, adding to the collections as he went.
Emma is now thirty and Killian's thirty second birthday was in four months, and all they wanted to do was to have a child.
It seemed to be happening for everyone they knew. Regina and Robin already had Roland but she was currently expecting and in six months they'd have a baby in their arms, Mary Margaret and David had had baby Daniel four months ago even Ruby and Whale had a child one month ago.
It just wasn't happening for Emma and Killian, and they'd decided to quit trying and adopt a child, seeing as they'd both had horrible childhoods growing up in the system and wanting to give a child the life they never had, however had not had any luck as of yet.
That is, until the thirteenth of November four months (as I'd explained) before Killians birthday when a little girl was brought into ER during a night shift at eleven twenty four PM.
She'd come into ER with a ruptured appendix and had been crying for her 'mommy and daddy' but neither one of her parents (or so everyone thought were her parents) seemed to respond to her pain.
Emma had taken notice after about an hour of her calling, only because it seemed she was alone behind an open counter after both of her parents had left her there, with one nod at Killian she had gingerly walked in to greet the little girl.
She felt like crying when she'd walked in to find her with red, blotchy skin where big, fat tears had been running down her face as she cried for her parents and Emma approached her carefully, looking over at her clipboard for her name.
Fallon Ashford, the chart read, only four years old and has had issues with her kidneys and bladder so they couldn't take her into surgery until they knew the full extent of her injuries- Whale was always very thorough when it came to surgeries, especially when there were other health problems surrounding the current issue.
Fallon is tiny, not just in length either, she's physically skinny and there are tubes going from her into machines that Emma hates- but she knows they need to stay. She has a button nose and errant blonde curls that reach down to her shoulders, messing up further as she thrashes around on the bed in what could be classed as the beginning of a tantrum, and the most beautiful green eyes Emma has ever seen in her entire life.
"Hey there, missus." Emma greeted with a smile on her face, gently adjusting the sheet around the little girl's feet so her legs weren't cold. The little girl's crying ceased at the attention she received but her whimpering remained. "What's with all the tears, huh?"
To her surprise, the little girl just held out her arms pathetically and sniffed a few times with her whimpers. "Hug?"
"You want a hug is all?" Emma asks and the little girl nods, Emma looks over to Killian through the open curtain who just shrugs and Emma gently take the little skinny (too skinny for her liking) girl into her arms.
As she goes to pull away, the little girl just curls into her further. "Where are your parents?"
"Haven't got..." She coughs once and whimpers in pain. "A mommy or daddy."
"What about those people with you?" Emma asks, finally releasing the girl and laying her gently back on the sterile, clean, white bed while still keeping a hold on her hand.
"I have not mommy or daddy." Fallon has tears filling her eyes, and she looks down at their hands. "I want one."
Emma feels something in her heart break or tug or something because she wants to cry and take this little girl home herself- screw the law or anything else, she knew Killian would be on board and they'd just be her parents. She sees so much of herself in this girl, wanting a mom or dad so bad she'd cry every night into her pillow and beg for someone, anyone, to want her like she wants them.
"Well one day you will." Emma tells her, tears in her own eyes and she sees Killian's look towards them of worry.
"Do you promise?" Emma nods, squeezing her hand.
Killian finds her crying while making them some coffee half an hour later, a sippy cup by her for Fallon after Emma offered her some juice and she'd been so eager to say yes Emma had to run to grab it.
"Swan," He takes her by her shoulders and pulling her to his chest, allowing her to cry into it for a few minutes before she seems to snap out of it and just stands with her face buried into his chest. "Sh, it's alright."
"No, Killian, it's not alright." She cries, hands bracing his shoulder as he begins to rock her back and forth where they're stood in the middle of the office, in a room where nobody can see in. "She's just like me, Killian, all she wants is a family, she's just another little lost girl like me."
He kisses the top of her head, glancing over to where the little blonde girl is and sighing when he sees her tiny, frail, body shake as she whimpers in pain or loneliness- he isn't sure which. "It will be okay, love, I promise."
"She's me, Killian." Emma sniffs, hugging him closer and breathing in his scent to calm her- the sea and the distinct smell of the aftershave David got him last year for Christmas (rum and sea salt). "A little girl who cried herself to sleep at night because she wanted her parents so bad and she could never understand why they gave her up..."
Killian hates hearing about her sordid past, hating the fact that the woman he loves so deeply could go through much pain and still be fighting every day. He rubs her back and hugs her even closer then he ever thought was possible. "History won't repeat itself, lass, we'll figure something out if we can."
She knows she shouldn't, but hearing the words from Killian- the man who never stops fighting for her or her needs and who jumped through hoops to get her to allow him to shatter her walls- the love of her life and the man who's suck by her after all this time.
Emma believes him.
Fallon has to be put under full anesthetic, crying because of how scared she was and there was nobody to calm her down- not even Emma or Killian could help her further then getting her to stop thrashing around.
She wakes up just as Killian is placing some books into the room she'll be occupying for two weeks as she recovers- due to her age and the fact they'd found out she was staying in a care home and shared a room with three other children- and she whimpers for a hug again.
Emma is just stepping in to check on her and she finds Killian holding one of her little hands as he reads Room On The Broom to the four year old, barely conscious, little darling girl who seems to have him wrapped around her little finger. He has The Gruffalo by his side, preparing for when he finishes his current book, and she has to grin at his determination to educate the young child on what he deems is perfect reading for children.
"It's nice to have met you, but now I must fly, and he spread out his wings and was off through the sky." Killian reads and Emma smiles as the little girl giggles at the rhyme
Emma sits down on a seat at the foot of the little girls bed and smiles at the pair of them when he finishes. "Isn't Killian good, Fallon?" The little girl nods, one hand still grasped tightly against Killian's while the other is being shoved in her mouth to suck on her thumb. "I think he should do this for a job, be a reader!"
Killian releases the little girls hand as her eyelids droop and removes her thumb from her mouth, pulling the covers up to her chin and tucking her in gently- careful not to hurt her and she smiles sleepily at them. "Night, Fallon, try get some sleep, okay little love?" Killian asks and she nods, he places a gentle kiss on her forehead and lets Emma do the name.
"Will you be here when I wake up?"
"Try and stop us." Emma tells her, walking to meet Killian at the doorway to Fallon's private room. "Night, sweetie, have a nice sleep."
"Night mommy, night daddy." Both of their eyes widen and they agree with their eyes not to say anything, knowing she wasn't coherent and didn't know what she was saying.
Emma and Killian visit her every day, sometimes they're late or one goes alone, but at night they both come into her room and read to her until she falls asleep- smiling at whatever she dreams of.
She never calls them mom or dad again. (Not that they were expecting her too.)
Fallon leaves the Prince Charming Hospital two weeks after her surgery with a promise to come to see them at her next check up in two months, yet it doesn't help fill the hole in either of their chests when they go into her room expecting to see her grinning, manic face-with her blonde curls flying around and hitting them when they kiss her forehead goodnight-only to find it empty or another child has taken their residence there.
Two weeks later, on a particularly dreary night in December (the eleventh if you were wondering) Fallon is back in hospital complaining of stomach ache.
Killian, one of the only doctors who was there at that current moment in time, went with Emma to help her and he hadn't found anything wrong- neither had Whale when they'd called, since they didn't know much about the surgery he performed, and he'd come in only to find nothing wrong with her.
"I'm sorry," Fallon interrupts Killian's very imaginative reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and both adults snap their heads toward her face, where her eyes are filling with tears that Emma reaches to wipe away with her thumb. "I just," She sniffs and buries her face into Emma's chest, where she'd been sat with her on the hospital bed for the last ten minutes. "I didn't-I-Christmas is coming and I didn't want..." She trails off, tears falling down her face and onto Emma's nurses uniform- leaving a large wet patch on her chest, but Emma doesn't mind.
"Little love," Killian begins, voice soft and caring, not at all annoyed. "Did you want to spend Christmas here? That's why you feigned being ill?"
"With you two." Those three words make Emma's heart leap and Killian's breath quicken. "Please..."
After a five minute conversation with the upset and tired little girl whom they've both come to develop a fondness for, Killian keeps her in for overnight observation as its the best he can do. They finish their book from earlier and sit there for a while after she's fallen asleep, Emma sat on the edge of the bed while he's perched in a chair next to them, just watching her little chest rise up and down from her breathing pattern.
"She didn't want to be alone at Christmas," Emma whispers. "She timed it so that she could stay for two weeks like before, spend Christmas with us." He nods, hand grasped gently in Fallon's tiny one, thumb grazing over her dainty fingers with a sigh. "Her carers left her here alone within an hour of being here, like she meant nothing to them. And she probably doesn't."
"Swan," He begins, using his other hand- the fake one- to hold her own that isn't wrapped around Fallon. "We can't keep her in, it is against the law and there is nothing wrong with her. This could be taking away a chance for a family to adopt her, love, we can't do that to her-"
"Emma, Killy," Both of them turn to find the four year old little girl staring at them with her wide, gorgeous green eyes and sheepish look on her face. "Adopt me."
Both of their eyes widen and Emma's arm tightens around her involuntarily. "Sweetie, we-"
"Please? I..." Fallon's little face grows hot and Killian notices it becoming red like she'll cry, and his theory is confirmed when hot tears burn her eyes. "We can be family."
"But Fallon, as much as it would be great to adopt you, it may never happen even if we tried." Emma tells her, gently as though not to upset her further but she cries anyway.
Fallon cries harder then, safely tucked in Emma's welcoming embrace, when she was sobbing on her first night there and it kills both adults to know it's their doing. She's crying because- "You don't want me for a baby." She announces and Killian's hold on her hand readjusts as he squeezes it.
"Fallon, little love, you know that isn't the reason. We'd be your mommy and daddy if we could but you," Killian is shocked to find himself out of reasons and glances up at Emma, who has wide eyes filled with tears as she looks at him over the top of the girls head, burying her face in her blonde curls. "We want you in our family, of course we do, who wouldn't, lass?"
Fallon giggles and it makes him grin to see her beaming at his comment. "So... you will?"
"We'll talk about it." Killian tells her, smiling as she lays down to go back to sleep. "Goodnight, little love, have sweet dreams to tell us about tomorrow."
Emma smiles happily as he plants a kiss on her forehead and she does the same, stroking her soft hair out of the way of her eyes gently. "Night, sweetie."
"Night mommy, night daddy." This time they don't ignore it, instead they look at each other with a grin and kiss softly as they leave. "Love you."
"We love you too."
They finally adopt her after months of forms and painful lectures, however they were lucky enough to have the help of Regina- who had adopted Roland from Robins previous marriage- and Belle's husband Gold- who had influence in a way they didn't want to know, three months later a week before his birthday.
Fallon was celebrated for coming into their now three person family more than his thirty second birthday was, and he found that he didn't care at all- they were both just so happy to finally have a child of their own after spending so long trying and then getting to know the little girl who captured their hearts in all ways possible.
Two years later and they both still work at the Prince Charming hospital, Emma now training to be a doctor whilst Killian became a GP months earlier (only because he started earlier, she knows that) and Fallon is now a big sister.
They moved into their four bedroom home with the white picket fence like they'd always dreamed of, right next to the docks so Killian could take them all sailing on his ship- his brother left it to him when he died years before Fallon was even born- The Jolly Rodger (Killian had been undecided on what to name the boat for years until after they'd adopted Fallon they learned how she loved Peter Pan, yet hated Peter whilst loving Hook because 'he reminds me of daddy with one hand' and to honor her he'd named his ship just for her, pride be damned).
Emma discovered she was pregnant a few weeks after they moved in and both Fallon and Killian were extatic while Emma held the worries that Fallon would be pushed aside for the new baby- but he had assured her that no matter what, Fallon Jones (they changed her name when she'd asked after only five months of being their daughter) would always have a place in their family.
Liam David Jones was born two months ago and Fallon was already the best big sister in the world, if you were wondering, which made both parents extremely happy.
Emma supposes she owes that judge who sent her to do community service when she had those watches stolen by Neal, because if that man hadn't taken a slight leeway with her she wouldn't have a home, a husband who adored their family, a baby boy and most of all, she wouldn't have her little girl who she managed to keep from becoming her.
There would be no more lost girls in her life.
So this made me cry while reading because I'm a sucker for sweet one shots and I hope this lives up to my expectations! :)
This may help those of you suffering with what I like to call 'The Captain Swan Separation feels' that mostly commonly occur when Killian dies, any of the times, they kiss, they're true love, Emma cries (more often the case, normally around about the same time as Killian's dying... interesting) or they get separated.
:) Sorry if that's too spot on. "If I had a mic, I'd drop it."