Big Sister Material
by misscam
Disclaimer: Not my characters, just my words.
Author's Note: Written to the following prompt: "set a couple of years in the future : Snow becomes pregnant angain and Neal didn't take kindly to the news. So Emma will have to teach him to be a big brother."
II
Emma never thought of herself as big sister material. Not in the orphanage where most of the kids were older, not in her foster home since the moment she learned they were having a baby, they didn't want her anymore. No. Emma Swan was not cut out to be a big sister.
And then baby Neal was born. It was odd at first, and slightly heartbreaking to see her brother being raised by her parents as she should have been and truly know what she had lost. But even so she quickly fell in love with the kid, who over the years have reminded her both of Henry and of herself and made her realize just how much she is like her parents as well.
So somehow, she became a big sister after all, to a precious four-year-old boy Emma couldn't love more if she tried. Still a kid, and like all kids, prone to childish reactions.
His door is open and he's sitting on his bed, looking petulant.
"Knock, knock," she says, and waits. He doesn't reply, just stares down at his feet. "No 'who's there' routine?"
He still doesn't reply, so she sighs and walks inside, closing the door behind her. This is the room belonging to a very beloved boy, with plenty of toys and books as well as wooden swords and a small bow, and a mobile of carved dragons. It reminds her slightly of the nursery that was meant to be hers, and how seeing it was the first time she really realized that her parents had actually wanted her, and wanted her so very much.
Neal shuffles slightly to give her more room as she sits down next to him. He's holding the game Henry got him for Christmas, and she smiles slightly at that. Henry might love being a sort of big brother even more than she enjoys being the actual big sister.
"Did mom and dad send you?" Neal finally asks, his tone sullen.
"No," she says. "I asked if I could talk to you first when I heard what happened."
He seems to consider that, still radiating hostility and anger, but she knows that reaction quite well. Hell, she's had that reaction, and knows what's buried underneath.
"You said some mean things to mom and dad, didn't you?" she asks quietly, getting her confirmation when he shifts uncomfortably. She had a hunch that was the case when she saw the look on Mary Margaret and David's faces when they opened the door. "You hurt them, you know."
He fiddles with the game in his hands, clearly trying to look like he doesn't care about that. She sighs. He is about as stubborn as she could be.
"They're having a baby." he finally says, voice sullen.
"Yeah, they are," she agrees lightly, remembering the happiness radiating from them both when they told her yesterday.
"I don't want them to," Neal says darkly.
"So you don't want to be a big brother?" she asks, making sure to keep her voice really surprised. "I thought you'd be a great big brother, looking after your little sister or brother. I was even going to give you the secret big brother thing."
"What thing?" Neal asks, looking for a moment less sullen.
"Doesn't matter now, you clearly don't want it," she says casually, and Neal looks torn.
"Did you get the secret thing?" he asks. She smiles at him.
"Of course. I'm your big sister, aren't I?"
She is, she thinks with a strange touch of pride.
He nods. Neal accepted her as a big sister happily and readily, and even now, they spend at least one night every week together, while David and Mary Margaret get some alone time. She supposes she'll get to watch this new child of theirs eventually as well, and she finds herself actually look forward to that.
"I was a bit afraid, though," she tells Neal, who looks up sharply. He seems to find the idea of her, his cool big sister, being afraid as hard to believe. "I used to think mom and dad didn't love me enough to want me."
Neal looks horrified. "Mom and dad love you lots!"
"Yeah, they do," she says, the truth of it making her smile happily. "And they didn't love me any less when they had you."
He looks as if the idea of her having been in the same position as him hadn't occurred to him at all. "Were you afraid they would?"
"A little bit," she admits. "They were going to have a baby and I was all grown up. But I was very wrong. Mom and dad loved me just as much when they had you, and they'll love us both just as much when they have this new baby."
He looks thoughtful, then drops the toy and crawls up on her lap and hugs her. She hugs him back, feeling quite touched by the gesture.
"I'm glad you're my big sister," he says seriously.
"Me too, kiddo," she says, ruffling his hair when he pulls back. He chews his lower lip thoughtfully, looking far less sullen now. "This kid is going to love having you as a big brother."
His lower lip quivers. "I told mom and dad I hated them and didn't want a stupid brother or sister."
"That was quite mean to say," she says, and Neal looks crestfallen. "But sometimes, we say really stupid things when we're afraid. Mom and dad knows that."
"I'm not afraid, I'm brave," Neal says stubbornly, but his lower lip quivers again.
"You can't be brave if you're not afraid," she says. "If you're not afraid you're just fearless. If you're afraid but don't let that stop you, then you're brave."
He fidgets again, and she lowers her voice.
"I'll tell you a secret I never told anyone."
"I won't tell anyone," he promises seriously.
"I was so afraid mom and dad didn't really love me I couldn't even call them mom and dad for a long, long time," she tells him, and his eyes widen. "But you know what? I'm not afraid anymore."
He considers all that, and she lets him. Getting used to the idea of another sibling can take some time, she knows.
"You're smart," he finally says.
"Comes with being a big sister, kiddo," she says lightly. "You'll get to be the smart older one with this new baby."
He perks up at that idea. "I could teach her everything you taught me!"
"Her, huh? You want a sister?" she says, raising an eyebrow.
He nods. "Sister is best. Because I could teach her to be as cool as you and she could use a bow like mommy does and help me slay dragons."
Emma bites back a laugh. Growing up as the child of Snow White and Prince Charming has certainly given Neal an interesting perspective on women as well as everything else.
"I'm sure a younger brother would be cool too," she says. "I love having a younger brother."
He considers that. "Maybe they could have a boy and a girl so I could be a big brother to both!"
From not wanting their parents to have a baby to now wanting them to have two, Emma thinks and has to smile at it.
"They could have twins," Neal goes on, now sounding quite excited. "I could be the best big brother in the world."
"Sure, kiddo," she says warmly. "Let's just wait and see what this one will be first though, and take it from there, huh?"
He nods, then looks down. "I was afraid they wouldn't love me anymore if they had a new baby."
"I know," she says, careful to keep her voice as understanding as possible. "But you were brave and told me about it. Do you think you could be brave and tell mom and dad about it too?"
He looks down, then straightens his back and looks determined, such a mirror of David it makes her swallow. "Yeah."
"Good," she says, then reaches into her pocket and pulls out her sheriff's badge. "You know what this is?"
He nods. "Means you protect people."
"Yeah," she agrees. "Like a big brother does. This is your secret big brother badge, okay? Means you're a protector now too."
"Like you," he says in awe, carefully reaching out and touching the badge. "I can really have this?"
She nods. She can always have a new badge made, and quite frankly, her brother's pride in having it is worth a thousand badges.
Neal closes his hand around it, then jumps off her lap and walks over to his dressed, pulling out his box of treasures. Emma has seen it plenty of times, and knows it's full of all the little things Neal considers important. It even includes a rock he used to throw at a troll and actually saved her life with.
He puts the badge into the box quietly and then closes the dresser again.
"I'm going to talk to mommy and daddy now," he says, voice quivering just slightly.
"I'll come with you," she offers, and he looks grateful. Gently, she takes his hand and they walk downstairs. David and Mary Margaret are sitting on the couch, huddled together and talking with quiet, worried voice. They look up the moment they notice having company.
"Mom," Neal says, his voice now quivering a great deal. "Dad. I'm sorry about what I said, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm..."
"Oh, honey," Mary Margaret says softly, and Neal climbs onto her lap and begins crying. She hugs him, kissing his head over and over while whispering soft reassurances that they love him very much and nothing will ever change that.
"Thank you," David says, standing up and hugging Emma. She leans into it, smiling as he pulls back and presses a lingering kiss to her forehead. He smiles at her too, then sits down on the couch and lets Neal move onto his lap and hug him as well. Emma places herself on the couch as well, finding some space next to Mary Margaret, who takes her hand and holds it.
Neal and David have a hushed conversation before shaking hands quite seriously, as if they've made some sort of agreement. She's pretty sure Neal looks up to his father just as much as he loves him, just like Henry does. David has been a very good influence in Henry's life in the current troublesome teenage years, and she'll forever be grateful for that.
Neal moves back to Mary Margaret, touching her stomach curiously. "There's really a baby in there?"
"Yeah, honey, there is," Mary Margaret says, smiling. David smiles at her as well, stealing a kiss while Neal is busy staring quizzically at his mother's still fairly flat stomach.
"How did he get in there?" Neal asks, and David and Mary Margaret both splutter, while Emma tries not to laugh. Hoo boy. She's glad she doesn't have have to have that particular talk with her brother – until it occurs to her that David might get back at her for making him do that talk with Henry by having her have to do it with Neal.
Oh no. No, no, no. He better not get any ideas in that direction at all. Big sister responsibility better not come with that attached.
"It happens when a mommy and daddy love each other very much," David finally manages to say.
Neal looks curious at that. "Will Emma have another one then?"
This time Emma splutters and feels her cheeks grow hot. Another baby, that, that...
"Let's focus on this baby for now, huh kiddo?" she manages to say. That luckily seems to deter Neal for the moment, as he gazes down on Mary Margaret's stomach again.
"Could you have twins?" he asks hopefully, and Emma has to laugh at her parents' expression. "I want twins."
II
What Neal wants, Neal gets, as it turns out, and Mary Margaret give birth to a baby boy and a baby girl with David managing to stay calm through it all with only the greatest effort. Neal couldn't be a prouder big brother, and Emma, Emma couldn't be a prouder big sister, especially when Neal gives her two small sheriff badges he's made himself, one for each baby she'll now be a big sister to. Just like she is to him.
The best big sister in the whole world, he tells her, and Emma doesn't even care who sees her cry slightly while hugging him.
Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a big sister, but somehow, she's managed to shape herself into one anyway, one that her brother loves, one that the two twins might come to love too.
Emma Swan. Not just a mother, not just a daughter, but also a big sister, and three times over now.
Proudly so.
So she takes Neal's hand and walks in with him to see David and Mary Margaret, who are holding one baby each and looking as happy as exhausted.
"You want to meet your little sister and brother?" David asks softly.
"Yeah," Neal says. "Hi babies. I'm your big brother."
"Hi babies. I'm your big sister," Emma says, and means it with all her heart.
FIN