I thought the world needed more Gremma fluff; I regret nothing.
Disclaimer: I still don't own OUAT. I'm pretty upset about it. I also don't own a porch swing, the song this fic's titled after, or other cool things like that.
They were sittin', they were sittin' on the strawberry swing...
"Promise me you won't open your eyes."
Emma resisted the urge to do just that when she felt someone's familiar weight beside her lower the swing closer to the porch. She could smell the strawberries growing up the side of the house, and the promise of rain lingering on the horizon.
"That depends. What's in it for me?"
"What's it in for you?" Graham scoffed like he was annoyed. She knew he wasn't. "I think I missed the memo that said everything had to be about Emma Swan."
"It does on her birthday." Emma said, looking away so he wouldn't see her smile.
"You're right," He murmured, kissing her forehead before she could move away from him completely. "How could I forget?"
She opened her eyes at that, turning to look at him full in the face. "You forgot?"
Graham's smile was about as wide as the sky when he asked her if she'd ever doubted he would. She told him no, but that she could never be completely sure.
"Close your eyes again." He said, the smile still lingering in his voice.
Emma closed her eyes. "Why? Should I be worried? Did Mr. Gold try to beat you over the head with his cane again?"
"No, not today. I made sure to come home in one piece for you." It sounded like he was fiddling with something at his side, something that sounded a lot like the rustle of tissue paper and a gift bag.
"Graham, don't tell me you got me something."
"Okay, I won't tell you I got you something." More rustling. "But don't get upset with me for lying."
Emma groaned. "But you promised you wouldn't!"
"Yeah, well." Something snapped closed, like he was shutting the lid on a jewelry box. "I lied about that too."
After what felt like the longest minute of her life, Graham told her she could open her eyes.
When she did, she saw that he was leaning towards her with an embarrassingly pink gift bag in his lap, and a card of a similar shade in his hand.
"It was all they had," He said when she arched an eyebrow at his color choice.
"Well then I guess I'll forgive you for it." Emma said as she took the bag from him. When she started to open it, his hand shot out to cover what she'd nearly freed from the mess of pink tissue paper.
"Most people open the card first."
She shot him a dark look at his comment and he held his hands up in surrender. "But I mean, it is your birthday. You could light the card on fire and I'd be okay with it."
"Really?" She tipped her head to the side in mock-thought.
"No, not really," He handed her her card. "I'd like it if you read it first."
"Well then I will," She said as she tore open the envelope. The card itself was simple enough, a solid white affair with a birthday cupcake on the front and a simple "Hope your birthday's just as sweet as you are" on the inside flap. But what he'd wrote in the empty space where a name should've been beat Hallmark's words by a mile.
He'd written that she'd never have to spend another birthday alone as long as he was by her side.
Emma looked up from reading with a smile on her face and tears welling up in her eyes. "Graham, I-"
"Are not done opening presents yet," He finished, pushing the pink bag towards her.
She swallowed the last of her tears - it was her birthday, dammit, and she would not cry - and finally pulled away the last of the tissue paper with both hands. Graham waved her on, murmuring to take out the gift. She did as she was told and then gasped when she realized what she was holding - a box of instant cinnamon hot chocolate mix.
"I didn't know you remembered I liked cinnamon on my hot chocolate," She said quietly, afraid her voice would break if she spoke up any louder.
"I did. I thought it was kind of a lame idea, but Mary-Margaret said it was a nice gesture."
"It was," Emma said as she threw out her arms to grab him a hug. He pretended to cough like she was squeezing too tight; she got the hint and let him go to bury her hands in the gift bag again.
"Is there anything else?" She asked, shifting her attention away from her presents and back to his face.
He shrugged. "I don't know. Try looking harder."
"How do you not know if there isn't anything else in here? You just wrapped it all up a few minutes ago!"
Emma thought he was smiling at her, but she couldn't be sure. She'd turned her gaze back to the bag in her lap - she thought she could feel one last thing sitting at the bottom. She grabbed at it with both hands, pulling it out of the shadows of the bag and into the light of the sun.
She'd thought it was a photo album by the shape and feel of it. When she set it down in her lap to really look at it, she froze when she saw the front cover. It didn't feature an obnoxious smiling couple as the default picture. It didn't feature a picture at all, but a title.
Once Upon A Time.
"What'd you do, steal this from Henry's room for me?" Emma asked, punching him lightly in the arm. "I thought we were done with all this fairy tale stuff."
"Well then maybe you'll change your mind when you see what's inside," Graham said, a smirk playing on the edge of his lips.
"Ooo-kay," She opened the book to play along, half-wondering if Mr. Gold had hit him hard enough to scramble some of his brain cells when they'd gone out to dinner with him and his wife the week before. "I already know what's inside. I've probably read the story a hundred times by now, why did you-"
Emma lost her voice when she turned to the first page, because she didn't see her parents' age-old love story staring back at her. She saw their story, a story that started soon after she'd arrived into town. She flipped through the book slowly, marveling at the brilliant sketches that accompanied every chapter.
The book featured every moment they'd ever had together, from the painfully awkward time she'd thought he was flirting with her over a mug of hot chocolate at Granny's, to the surprisingly intimate moment they'd shared on the sidewalk outside the mayor's home. The tale even included the moments Emma would've rather forgotten, like the night she'd thought their first (real) kiss would be their last. The paramedics had gotten to Graham just in time, and they'd started their relationship with tentative steps after he'd recovered from the heart attack. He'd made sure to include all the small details in the story, like how he'd bit his lip on the first date to keep himself from kissing her, or how they made forts out of blankets even on the nights when it wasn't her weekend to spend with Henry.
When Emma turned to the last page with tears in her eyes, she stopped short. There was nothing written there. "What?" She asked, laughing through her tears. "Did you forget to write an ending or something?"
"No," Graham said gently, wiping away a stray tear with the pad of his thumb. "I thought I'd ask you."
"Ask me what?" Emma asked, face scrunching up in confusion.
Graham pushed himself off the porch swing, and then moved to stand on one knee in front of her. "I thought I would ask you if you'd like to help me create one."
"No, no, you are not asking me that," She put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile, knowing that he saw it anyway.
"Well I would if you would give me a moment, here, love," He said, pulling her free hand into his hand.
She fell quiet enough that she could hear the drum of rain on the roof above them and distantly wondered when the storm had rolled in. He took a deep breath like he was gathering his thoughts before he spoke.
"Do you remember that day in September when I told you I was looking for my heart?"
Emma nodded.
"I didn't realize it then, but the wolf from my dreams - from my past - was leading me to you. And even though I never got back the heart Regina took from me, it's okay." He paused, looking up into her face. "Because you've given me a new one, and the strength to feel something again. And what I feel for you is the most beautiful thing I've ever felt in my entire life. Love. The truest, most unselfish love there is."
"And I was just wondering if you would…" Graham paused again to take a jewelry box (the one she thought she'd heard him closing, earlier) out of his pocket, flipping the lid open to reveal a silver band wrapped around a glittering sapphire. "Well, if you would do me the honor of allowing me to spend the rest of my life with you."
"I will," She said around a smile.
He smiled back and clasped her hands in his own. "Will you marry me, Emma?"
She could barely find the breath to speak now that he'd finally asked but managed a quiet "of course" before springing up from her spot on the swing to hug him. He pulled away only to slide the engagement ring over her finger. She didn't get to look at it for long, though, because after a moment or two he moved his lips over hers in a kiss that made the sky spin. She closed her eyes and weaved a hand through his hair before moving to whisper "thank you, Graham" in his ear.
He rested his forehead against hers as he tried to catch his breath. "For what?"
"For making sure I wasn't alone on my birthday," She said before she pulled him down for another kiss.
"You don't have to be, anymore," Graham whispered against their lips. "I just wish I had been there for every birthday before this one."
Emma grinned when they broke apart, saying, "What's twenty-eight years when you've got eternal love?"
Now the sky could be blue...I don't mind; without you it's a waste of time.
fin