It was two months too soon. Whale had warned them that if she didn't take a break from the stress of saviour duties, this might happen, but of course she hadn't listened. And now here she was, sweat plastered to her forehead and legs clamped shut as contractions wracked her body.
"Emma, you can't keep it in at this point. Your water already broke, so this baby has to come out now." She shot Whale a terrified look and he seemed simultaneously wary of and amused by her panic. "It's going to be okay, we'll do everything possible for the baby, but I need you to cooperate right now." She shook her head stubbornly, eyes wide with fear.
"Where's Killian?"
"He's fine, just a small cut on his forehead. Needs stitches, but no permanent damage. My guess is that its taking longer because he's fighting the nurse and trying to get to you." Just as Whale finishes his sentence, Killian comes bursting through the door with a slightly manic look in his eyes.
"Emma," he sighs with relief, brushing the hair out of her face, and she feels immediately calmed by his presence.
"Hey, you two, we don't have a lot of time. This baby is coming now, so I need you to get it together and work with me, okay?" Killian swallows hard and Emma nods, taking his hand in hers as she turns her attention to Whale.
They have a little girl - the tiniest little girl you could imagine and the perfect mix of them both, with Killian's eyes and mouth and Emma's nose, and a layer of light blonde fuzz on top of her head. She's so different from Henry, who was every bit Neal's son and much bigger. She squirms a little and lets out a little cry that sounds more like a mewl, but its there and the sound of it makes the fear gripping Emma's heart relax a little because she's moving and breathing and crying and doing everything that healthy babies are supposed to do when they're born.
Until she's about four hours old and she stops breathing and her soft pink baby skin turns mottled blue and purple and the nurse comes running and wakes Emma and Killian and the fear squeezes Emma until she is crying and Killian is trying to soothe her and simultaneously get more information from the nurse. It's almost an hour later that Whale comes to explain that their little girl's heart wasn't fully developed yet, but she's stable for now, and they can go with him to see her if they want, and of course they do. So they follow him down the hallway and stand outside a window looking at their precious daughter, covered in wires and tubes and things that are keeping her alive.
It's a week until Whale says that she is going to be okay. She still has to stay in the hospital a little while longer, and she'll need to have frequent cardiology appointments for a while, but she's going to be okay. Emma's crying again, this time with happiness and relief, and every good feeling she could possibly imagine all at once. They name her Maura, because that was Killian's mother's name and it's all he has left of her, all their little girl will ever have of that grandmother, and somehow it just seems right. And they stand inside the window now, Maura's little hand wrapped around Emma's finger as Killian strokes the fluffy blonde hair on her head. He smiles a smile that Emma has never seen before, one she thinks will be reserved only for this little pirate princess.
"She's a survivor, Emma," he says, not taking his eyes off their little girl.
"Just like her dad," she answers, flashing him a grin that he returns, reaching out his hooked arm to wrap it around her waist.
"Aye," he responds thoughtfully, returning his gaze to their daughter.