A/N: Another old fic from the tumblr archives. Takes place around season 2/season 3.
Emma was so glad to finally have a night to herself.
Neal took Henry for a father/son fun weekend and as much as she loved her son, she did need a little alone time.
She had to work all day, as usual, but the nighttime was all hers. Her parents would still be there but she knew they wouldn't bother her and would be all too glad to spend time with only each other.
Henry went straight to Neal's after school so when she got home for dinner it was only her and her parents. She enjoyed a dinner with them, talking with them about adult things she couldn't really talk about with Henry around and then they went their separate ways. Her to her room upstairs and them...well Emma didn't quite want to think of what they would be doing.
She first took a nice long hot shower to get rid of all the dirt and stresses of the day of sherrifing. Then she sat on her bed and took out a book that both her mother and Belle had highly recommended. She had been putting reading it off, making excuses like she didn't have time or was too tired but now she actually did have time and she was honestly looking forward to it.
It was a little after 10 pm and she had gotten a few good chapters in when her cell phone rang.
She groaned as she was pulled out of the fantasy land the book had pulled her into and reached over to grab the phone.
Neal's name and picture flashed on the screen and she sighed. She knew he was still new to the whole parenting thing but Henry had spent alone time with him before.
But then a part of her told her that Neal wouldn't have called her if it wasn't something important and she picked up. "Hello?"
"Emma," He spoke her name and immediately she knew something was wrong. She sat up, placing the book on the bed beside her and clutching the phone closer to her ear in concern. "I'm sorry, I know you wanted this night to yourself but..I don't know what to do Em..."
"About what?"
"Henry's sick." He answered and something in his voice was telling her it was more than just a cold. "He was fine earlier then after dinner he started to get a little fever so I took him to bed and he fell right to sleep. I came in to check on him and...Emma, he's burning up." He let out a shuddering breath. "He's breathing is off too. God, I'm freaking out here, Emma."
Immediately Emma was off the bed and pulling on the nearest pair of shoes. "Stay calm, Neal, okay? I'll be right over. Just watch him, make sure he's breathing and get a cool washcloth for his forehead."
"Alright." Neal responded breathily and she could already hear him moving around. "Emma, hurry."
"I will."
She hung up the phone and raced down the stairs, catching the attention of her parents who were cuddled up on the couch.
Snow snuck a look over at the clock and then back to Emma who was grabbing her coat off the rack. "Emma? What's wrong? Where are you going?"
"Neal called me and said Henry's sick." Emma answered, quickly slipping on the coat. "I'm going over there."
"Oh no." Snow gasped in concern, watching her daughter as she grabbed her car keys. "Call us to let us know how he is."
Emma nodded quickly and gave them a short wave before running out the door. She practically sprinted toward the bug and hopped inside, wasting no time in heading over to Neal's apartment.
Within five minutes she was pulling up in front of the apartment building and quickly grabbed the keys out of the ignition and ran out of the car and up to Neal's apartment.
She knocked on the door and within the minute, Neal was opening the door, sighing in relief at her presence. He looked frazzled and worried as he beckoned her in and led her to the guest bedroom.
Emma felt her heart drop at the sight of her little boy. He was in bed the blankets up to his neck, his face was terribly pale and covered in sweat, the washcloth resting over his forehead and just as Neal had said his breathing was labored.
"Is he asleep?" Emma asked as she ran over to the side of the bed.
Neal nodded, pressing his brow together in concern as he stood behind her. "He hasn't woken up."
Emma gently removed the washcloth away from his forehead, brushed the strands of damp hair away and pressed her palm against his skin. Even with the cool layer of water against his skin, it was still hot and she pulled her hand away with a low hiss.
She looked up to Neal and shared his concerned gaze. Henry had gotten sick under her care before but never this bad. The first time it happened Emma got a little panicky and thankfully her mother knew exactly what to do. She got him the cool wash cloth and the children's motrin and even made him soup. After that, Emma felt more confident every time Henry got sick (which wasn't that often anyway) but she could feel the panic growing inside her again.
This was different, he didn't just have a tiny fever and a little cough, he was scorching hot and struggling to breathe.
"We have to take him to the Emergency Room." Emma decided and Neal's eyes widened. She swallowed thickly and nodded, just as scared as he was.
She gently reached over and pulled the blankets away from his body, wincing at the amount of heat that radiated off of him. His pajamas stuck to his body with sweat and as soon as the cold air hit him he started to shiver uncontrollably.
"Can you get him?" She asked Neal.
"Yeah, of course." He quickly responded and Emma moved over to let Neal in and carefully he scooped the boy into his arms.
Henry let out a low whimper as he was moved and his head fell against his father's chest. Neal frowned down at his sick son and gently pulled him closer.
"Get him down to the car and I'll call the hospital, let them know we're coming in."
Neal nodded and tightened his grip around Henry before carefully moving out of the bedroom. The weight of the limp 12 year old was heavy in his arms but his concern for his boy greatly out weighed his muscle strain.
Once he boarded the elevator and it started its descent, Henry let out a soft moan and his eyes started to flutter open. He blinked, dazed, as he looked around, his eyes squinting as they fell upon his father's face. "Dad?" He whispered, his voice hoarse.
"Hey buddy." Neal forced a small, comforting smile down at him.
Henry was quiet for a few seconds as he tried to catch his breath and then he looked up at his father weakly, his brown eyes full of fear.
"You're going to be okay, Henry." Neal told him confidently though the doubt tugged at his heart.
"Wha's happenin'?" Henry managed to get out.
Neal pressed his lips together before answering, "You're sick, bud. We're going to get you some help."
The elevator dinged open and Henry took a few more sharp breaths before letting out another whimper as his eyes closed and his head fell back against Neal's chest.
With all the cunning of years of thievery, Neal managed to get the door to the bug open while still holding onto Henry. He carefully slid into the passenger seat and hugged the boy to his chest, closing his eyes for a moment as he pressed a kiss to his son's feverish head.
He closed the door and just looked out the window, waiting for Emma to appear and gently rubbed his hand up and down Henry's back.
Just a minute or two later, Emma came running out the door and hopped into the driver's seat, stealing a lingering glance at her son wrapped up in his father's arms and then starting the car.
"He woke up." Neal said on their way to the hospital and Emma quickly snapped her gaze over to him.
"He did?"
"Yeah, for a minute. He was very dazed but he recognized me and he knows there's something wrong."
Emma frowned deeply, looking over at Henry, still shaking and breathing heavily and then quickly returned back to the road.
In record time, Emma pulled up in front of the hospital and ran over to the passenger side to help Neal out of the car.
At seeing the bright yellow car pull up outside, a few nurses ran out to assess the situation. They guided Neal into the hospital and led him over to where a few other nurses were waiting with a gurney.
"Lay him down here, gently." One of the nurses instructed and Neal carefully laid his son down on the gurney. At the loss of contact, Henry's eyes opened again and met his father's as he weakly reached out his hand. "Dad." He whimpered and Neal quickly reached out to grab his hand.
"It's okay, Henry. They're going to take care of you." He gently squeezed his son's hand and then reluctantly let go as the nurses started to roll him away.
Emma came up beside Neal, deep concern written on her face and met her little boy's eyes before they disappeared beyond the doors.
Neal glanced down at Emma and quickly wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against his side and pressing a kiss to the side of her head.
Emma closed her eyes for a moment at the comforting gesture and then rested her head on his shoulder.
After another minute or so, Emma slipped her hand onto his chest and turned to face him, letting out a sigh. "I should probably call Regina to let her know and my parents, too. You okay on your own for a few minutes?"
Neal nodded, giving her a small smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
"Okay." She whispered and lightly patted his chest before moving away to pull her phone out of her pocket and walked off to make the calls.
Neal let out a heavy sigh as soon as Emma disappeared around the corner and he walked over to one of the chairs and plopped himself down.
He didn't even know what had happened or how things had gone from fine to bad in a matter of hours. He remembered the slight concern when Henry told him he didn't feel very well and he felt his forehead to feel that it was slightly warm. He had hit all the major parenting moments in the last year he'd known his son...except for that one. He told himself to remain calm, that it was just a little fever and Henry would sleep it off and the next day they'd get back to their father and son weekend.
He let him sleep for a few hours and then decided to check on him just in case. As soon as he entered the room he knew something was very wrong just by the way his son was breathing. He felt his forehead and became immediately alarmed by how hot it was. He panicked for a few minutes, pacing around the room, stealing glances at his sick son before it finally clicked in his head to call Emma.
Neal let out another sigh as he leaned over, closing his eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair. Of all the things he had been preparing himself for as a father he had never considered this one. And it had happened under his care.
"Bae?"
Neal lifted his head sharply and found his father and Belle walking towards him. He furrowed his brow as he pushed himself back into an upright position.
"Is everything alright? What are you doing here?" His father asked in concern and Neal frowned.
"Henry's sick. Really sick." He answered, his voice full of worry.
Belle gasped and immediately left Rumplestiltskin's side to sit next to Neal and reached out her hand to comfort her future step son. "Oh no. With what?"
Neal shrugged helplessly. "I don't know." He let out a soft sigh. "He just has a really high fever...he can't breathe very well..." He trailed off, shaking his head.
"Oh..." Belle wrapped her arm around his back, giving him a one armed hug. "I'm so sorry, Baelfire."
Belle had taken to calling him by his birth name much like his father did and oddly enough he didn't mind it so much. She always said it with the upmost love and care in her voice and it didn't make the name so painful.
Neal just nodded once before changing the subject, looking between the two. "What are you two doing here?"
"We were on our way home and we saw Emma's car parked out front." Rumplestiltskin answered. "We wanted to make sure everything was alright."
Neal's lips curled up in a small, gracious smile, silently thanking him for his concern and Rumple sent a curt nod back.
"Is Emma in with him?" Belle asked.
Neal shook his head. "She's calling Regina and her parents. They took Henry in alone." He clenched his jaw and rubbed his hands together nervously.
Belle frowned and reached over, placing her hands lightly over his and he slowly looked over to her. Then she gave him a small, encouraging smile. "He's going to be alright."
Neal smiled weakly and truly hoped she was right.
A few minutes later, Emma returned and looked surprised to see Rumple and Belle standing by Neal.
"Did Neal call you guys?"
"They were passing by and saw the car." Neal explained for them.
"We wanted to make sure everything was alright." Belle added. "I'm sorry to hear about Henry."
Emma's lips twitched as she walked over to sit on the other side of Neal. "Thank you." She let out a sigh and Neal reached over to take her hand in his. Emma squeezed his hand and laced their fingers together, sharing a look with him.
A few minutes later, Regina came storming into the lobby, searched the room to find them and narrowed her eyes as she walked right toward Neal. "What the hell did you do to my son?"
Neal stared up at her, furrowing his brow as he met her glare head on. Then he frowned and stood up. "I didn't do anything and he's my son too."
Regina huffed and continued to glare at him until Emma stood up between the two of them. "Regina, he's just sick. It's not Neal's fault, its not anyone's fault."
Regina narrowed her eyes as the two stared at each other. Neal was a gentle soul but he proved that when he wanted to be he could be his father's son.
Regina eventually broke the stare and crossed her arms over her chest, staring at the ground and shaking her head slowly. Then she looked back up to Neal, her gaze slightly softer and said with a sigh, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you...I'm just worried."
Neal relaxed and nodded quietly. "It's alright. I think we're all a little high strung right now."
"So what is wrong with him, exactly?" Regina asked.
"High fever, chills, struggling to breathe." Emma answered and then shrugged. "That's all we know."
Regina let out a heavy sigh and let her arms fall to her sides and looked around for a place to sit. She spotted Rumplestiltskin and Belle sitting together across from Emma and Neal and pursed her lips deciding to sit on the same side as Emma and Neal a few chairs away.
Not too long after that, Snow and Charming arrived and immediately rushed over.
"How is he?" Snow asked in concern.
"We don't know." Emma sighed. "They took him in about ten-fifteen minutes ago...we haven't heard anything."
Snow frowned and reached out to gently squeeze her daughter's shoulder and Emma smiled softly.
"I'm sure he's going to be fine, Emma." David tried to assure her and Emma could only nod in response.
After another fifteen minutes of not a word, Emma started to become restless and went over to the coffee machine to grab herself a coffee. Snow and David followed after her going to try and attempt to distract her from the worry.
Neal let out a sigh as he kept his eyes on the doors, resting his head in his hand miserably. The longer they stayed in there the more worried he became. He started to wonder if it was indeed his fault...if he had fed Henry something that was making him sick. As far as he knew he didn't have any allergies and he didn't feed him anything out of the ordinary.
He knew it was stupid to think like that, that almost anything could have made him sick but Henry was in his care and if anything happened to him...it'd be on his head. The guilt of what could be started to eat away at him until he felt sick.
He was pulled out of his self destructive thoughts when his father came to sit down in the seat next to him. He lifted his head and looked over to him curiously.
"You were very sick once too, do you remember that?" His father asked and Neal frowned as he shook his head.
Rumplestiltskin nodded. "You were probably about Henry's age, a few years younger, and much like Henry, your sickness seemed to have come out of nowhere. You were fine during the day but come dusk you were terribly ill."
Neal pressed his lips together and sat up, turning to his father to listen to his story.
"I stayed with you all night just to make sure you stayed alive. In the morning I debated heading into the market to see if there were any remedies but I could not leave you...not in that state."
Neal frowned, pressing his brow together, trying to remember. He had tried for so long to forget what happened in his past and he had very few memories of that time.
"I did the best I could under the circumstances. I tended to your fever, made you soup which you refused to eat most of the time."
A small smirk tugged at his lips as his father smiled pointedly.
"And it took a few days, a few very terrifying days, but you did get better." He cast a warm gaze at his son and reached over to place his hand over his. "It's perfectly normal to worry about your son but don't you go beating yourself up about it. You'll feel helpless, you'll feel horrible watching your child suffer but he will get better. There are medicines here that work better than any magic. Bae...Henry will be fine."
Neal let out a soft sigh and a small smile crossed his lips. "Thank you, Papa."
He had just recently taken to calling him that again and it still felt weird to his ears but it was at times like these where Rumplestiltskin did truly act like his Papa.
Rumplestiltskin gave his son's hand a squeeze before returning back to his seat next to Belle.
It was not too long after that that Dr. Whale came out from the doors, an unreadable expression on his face. Emma, Neal and Regina all rushed over to him asking him how Henry was while Snow, Charming, Rumple and Belle stood behind.
Dr. Whale held out his hands to silence them and once they were all quiet he spoke. "Henry is stable."
There was a collective sigh of relief among the family.
"So he's alright?" Neal asked hopefully. "He's going to be alright?"
"Henry is stable," Whale repeated, "But his condition has not changed. His fever has not gone up but it also has not come down. We've got him on oxygen to stabilize his breathing and that seems to have returned to normal. We're doing everything we can to try and reduce his fever but we may need some background information. What was he doing today?"
Immediately all the attention was on Neal and he swallowed thickly, feeling that guilt creep up again. "He went to school." He shrugged lightly. "I picked him up right after. We went to the docks and rented a boat because he wanted to learn how to sail some more. Then we went to Granny's for dinner and then went back to my apartment. He was watching TV when he started not to feel well."
"And what was he like then?" Dr. Whale asked.
"To me he didn't seem that sick. A little worn out, maybe a bit pale and a very low fever. I thought he'd be able to sleep it off."
Dr. Whale could already see the panic and guilt written all over the poor father's face and he lightly reached out to touch his arm reassuringly. "It's not your fault, Neal. It could have been nothing, you had no way of knowing what it'd turn into. The most important thing is that we try to figure out what is causing it so we can fix it. Now you say you were at the docks? Did he inhale any water? Touch anything he wasn't supposed to?"
Neal let out a soft sigh, slightly relieved at the doctor's kind words and shook his head slowly as he tried to remember. "I don't think so...he seemed fine out on the boat...didn't really touch anything, oh..." He frowned as he looked up. "The boat hit a rock and Henry slipped, cut his arm. I took a look at it when we got home, it seemed fine."
Dr. Whale nodded. "It is probably nothing but we'll look at it. Thank you."
"When can we see him?" Regina asked.
Dr. Whale looked nervously at the mayor and also back at Emma and Neal. "We would like to run a couple more tests on him before we let anyone see him."
Regina looked like she was about to protest but Emma stepped forward with a nod. "That's alright, thank you. Just let us know as soon as we can see him."
"Of course." Dr. Whale nodded and gave them all a small smile before disappearing back behind the doors.
Emma slipped her hand back into Neal's and looked up at his worried and guilty expression. Then she gave his hand a gentle squeeze and led him over to the other side of the room.
He raised his brow curiously as he stood in front of her and she slid her hands onto his chest, looking up at him meaningfully. "Neal, its not your fault."
He let out a sigh, dropping his head. "I was supposed to be taking care of him...I'm his father, Emma and I just let him..."
"Let him what, get sick?" She cut him softly. "You have no control over that."
"I should have known that something was wrong."
Emma shook her head slowly. "No, look, even Dr. Whale said you couldn't have known it would turn into something like this. These things happen, Neal. No one blames you for this."
Neal sniffed and looked down, biting on his lip softly. "I just...he looked so helpless and I couldn't do anything to help him. He was looking at me and he was scared and all I could do was tell him it'd be alright when I wasn't even sure of it myself. I don't want to let him down."
"Oh, Neal." She lifted her hand to rest against the side of his face and caressed her thumb against his cheek. "You're not letting him down. You're a wonderful dad and he knows that and you know that. And you should know better than anyone that all he wants is for you to be there for him. To reassure him that he'll be okay. And you are, you always are. And I know you'd be in there with him right now if they let you." A hint of a smile tugged at his lips and she smiled as his eyes lifted to her. "So don't you dare think for a minute that you are letting him down. You're his hero, you're his father and he wouldn't want you to think this is your fault."
Neal stared down in awe at the woman in front of him. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"
Emma smiled softly. "I could say the same thing about you."
He smiled back and leaned over to kiss her forehead. Emma let out a soft sigh at the feel of his lips against her skin. Then they shared another smile and joined hands again as they walked over to join the rest of their family.
It was a little while later than Emma began to grow antsy and really let her worry show. "What is taking them so long?" She was frustrated but she was more nervous than anything, she just wanted to see her little boy and know if he was okay.
Neal squeezed her hand gently taking his turn to be the calmer one. "I'm sure they'll be out soon, Em."
Emma sighed heavily and rested back in her chair, tapping her foot nervously while Neal comfortingly rubbed his thumb in circles against the back of her hand. She cast a little smile at him and his lips twitched up in return.
"I hate waiting." She said. "I just want to know."
"Me too." He sighed and she leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder. Across the way her parents looked just as nervous but at catching her eye gave her a reassuring smile.
Rumplestiltskin was his usual cool, calm and collected self, the only concern for his grandson evident in his eyes as he watched his own son. Belle was obviously concerned but was calm and gave a smile to anyone who looked her way.
Emma eventually started to get antsy again and got up from her chair to pace around the room. Snow got up soon after and walked over to calm down her daughter, distracting her with light conversation.
It was about a half an hour longer before Dr. Whale once again exited through the doors and the family flocked over to him.
He met all their anxious stares with a reassuring smile. "Henry is doing very well."
There was a collective sigh of relief and then Emma asked, "So you found what was wrong?"
Dr. Whale nodded. "Indeed. It was not from the cut on his arm," he looked pointedly to Neal who looked very relieved, "but something he inhaled. It's something anyone down at the dock could have gotten. Once we located the source we were able to treat him and he is responding. His fever dropped significantly. We would, of course, like to keep him overnight for observation but I strongly feel he'll be almost back to normal by the morning."
Emma smiled up at Neal and squeezed his hand gently as he smiled back at her, a weight lifting off his chest.
"Thank you, Dr. Whale." Emma said and Dr. Whale nodded once, a small smile on his lips.
"He is still sleeping," Dr. Whale went on, "And he might be all night because of his fever and the medication we gave him but you are welcome to see him."
The family then followed Dr. Whale to Henry's room and his parents rushed over to his bedside, Regina on one side and Emma and Neal on the other while his grandparents stood outside the room watching quietly.
Neal reached out gently to brush the hair away from his head and let out a sigh of relief as he smiled over to Emma. "He is much cooler."
"Thank God." Emma whispered with a smile as she stared down at her sleeping son. He was still pale but not incredibly so and he looked a lot more peaceful than he had just hours ago.
She wished she could talk to him, hear his voice, make sure he's feeling better but she knew it was good for him to sleep it off.
After a few minutes, Snow came into the room and walked up beside Emma, smiling softly down at Henry. "I'm so glad he's alright."
Emma smiled over at her mother. "Me too."
Snow rubbed her daughter's shoulder lightly and then pointed towards the door where David was waiting. "We're going to go, okay? Let us know he is in the morning?"
"I will." Emma nodded and Snow gave her one last smile, wishing Regina and Neal goodbye and then returned to her husbands side. They waved once more and left.
Neal left Henry's side to give Regina some alone time with him and walked out of the room and up to his father and Belle, giving them a warm smile.
"Thank you for staying...you didn't have to."
"Of course we did." Belle responded earnestly, reaching out to touch his arm. "Henry is our family as much as he is yours."
"Belle is right." Rumple agreed with a small smile. "We had to make sure he was alright and that you were too."
Neal let out a breath and looked down, a hesitant smile tugging at his lips.
Rumple chuckled softly and placed his hand on his son's shoulder, squeezing gently. "Don't be ashamed about worrying about your boy. I spent three hundred years worrying about you."
Neal looked up at him and smiled softly, nodding slowly before letting out a sigh and then moving in for a slightly awkward but warm hug with his father.
Rumple lightly patted him on the back and they pulled away a few seconds later. "I am truly glad to see he's alright."
Neal smiled as he looked through the glass to his son and then met Emma's gaze and his smile widened. She smiled back and walked out of the room coming up to Neal's side and smiling warmly at Rumple and Belle.
Belle smiled at them and then was overcome by a yawn and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
"You should go," Emma said softly, nodding to them. "It's getting late. Henry's alright...we'll call you in the morning to let you know how he is."
Belle nodded in agreement as she yawned again and Rumple smiled down at her.
"Give Henry our love." Belle wished as she slipped her arm through Rumple's.
"We will." Neal said and waved to them as they said goodbye and started down the hall.
Once they disappeared, Emma turned to Neal with a sigh. "Fun night."
He let out a low laugh. "An absolute thrill."
She smiled as she took a step closer to him and slipped her arms around his neck, looking up into his eyes. "Are you feeling better?"
"Much." He nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Your first real sickness scare as a father. Big moment."
He hummed, pressing his lips together. "Yes...one that I don't ever want to relive."
She shook her head slowly as she ran her fingers along the back of his head. "I told you everything would be alright."
He raised his brow. "You were pretty worried there too."
"I was." She agreed. "My son's life in danger, of course I was. I just wasn't blaming myself for it...and like I told you, it was not your fault."
He gave her a little smile. "And yes you were right." He let out a deep breath, his smile fading. "I just didn't want to think about losing him."
Emma frowned slightly and tightened her grip around his neck gently. "He's alright, Neal. He's going to wake up tomorrow and he'll be good as new."
"I know." He said quietly with a small nod and then smiled at her. "Thank you for calming me down. If I had to do that alone..."
She suddenly leaned in and pressed her lips against his softly and then pulled away before he had a chance to respond. She grinned at the expression on his face and then shook her head slowly. "You never have to do anything alone."
A slow smile spread across his lips. "And that is why I love you."
She hummed and met his lips in another short but sweet kiss. "I love you too." She whispered once they parted, their foreheads pressed together gently.
They were broken apart a minute later by a soft clearing of the throat. They looked over and saw Regina standing in the doorway, raising her brow, a slight smirk on her lips.
Emma pulled away from Neal and smiled sheepishly at the other woman. Regina pointed over her shoulder toward Henry, "He's awake and wants to see you."
Emma and Neal both snapped their gazes to Henry who was indeed awake and smiling at them weakly through the glass.
Together they moved into the room and went to opposites sides of the bed.
"Hey Buddy." Neal said softly as he leaned down toward him.
Henry glanced weakly over to his father and smiled. "Hi dad." He whispered.
"How are you feeling?" Neal asked, once again reaching over to brush his hair.
Henry shrugged lightly. "Okay." He then turned his attention to his mother who smiled down at him, reaching over to take his hand gently. "Why am I in the hospital?" He asked quietly.
"You were very sick, Henry." She said, gently squeezing his hand.
Henry's eyes widened slightly as he looked between his parents. "Am I gonna be okay?"
"Oh Henry," Emma sat down on the bed beside him and gave him a warm smile, "You're going to be fine. Dr. Whale has taken good care of you."
Henry nodded weakly, smiling in relief. "When can I go home?"
"They want to keep you overnight, bud. Just in case." Neal told him. "But you're going be fine in the morning and then we'll take you home."
Henry frowned. "Can you stay with me, please?"
Neal nodded. "Of course, I wasn't going to leave you."
The smile returned to Henry's face and he turned his head, blinking to fight to keep his eyes open.
"Go to sleep, kid." Emma said, rubbing her thumb against his hand. "Neal and I will be here when you wake up."
"Promise?" Henry murmured sleepily.
"Promise." They both answered together.
His lips twitched in a small smile before his eyes closed all the way and he fell right back to sleep. Emma leaned over to press a kiss to the top of his head. "Sweet dreams." She whispered and then looked over to Neal. They shared a small smile and then Neal rose to his feet. "I'll go see if they have anything for us to sleep on."
Emma nodded to him and turned her attention back to their sleeping son as Neal left the room.
He came back a few minutes later rolling in an old looking cot with some clean sheets folded on top.
"I know." Neal said at the look on Emma's face. "But this is a hell of a lot better than sleeping on the chairs."
"Good point." Emma nodded and Neal quickly set up the bed next to Henry's and it wasn't until she started looking at the bed did she realize how tired she was. She wasn't sure of the exact time but she knew it had to be past midnight.
She gave Henry one last kiss on the head before moving over to the other side of the room. She kicked off her shoes and Neal did the same and they both climbed onto the cot.
They laid down on their sides, facing each other, Neal gently resting his arm over her. She blinked and smiled tiredly at him. "Long day." She murmured.
"The longest." He muttered in agreement with a sigh.
She hummed quietly, closing her eyes for a minute as she curled her head into his chest. He shifted his position so he was lying on his back and she moved her head onto his chest, her arm sliding across his middle.
"Neal?"
"Hm?"
"You're a really great dad."
Beneath her she felt his breath hitch and she smiled, snuggling further against him.
"Emma?" He said after a few moments of silence.
"Yeah?"
"You're a really great mom."
Emma tilted her head up to see him smiling down at her as his fingers gently combed through her hair.
This was always how it was meant to be, them together with Henry, being there for him when he was sick. It may have taken twelve years to get there but they were finally there. She had the family she always wanted, including Neal.
She settled her head back down on his chest, listening to the soothing sound of his heart beating.
The worry and stress of the last few hours faded from both of them as they fell asleep in each other's arms, their son resting peacefully beside them.