Just a fluffy little one-shot written to cheer myself up after the feels explosion of watching OUAT.
Song at the end is To Show You My Love by Mike Schmid. If you've never heard it, listen to it, it's a beautiful song. :)
The tiny whimper awoke Emma from her light sleep in an instant. At first she groaned inwardly and rolled over to bury her head under her pillow. He just ate twenty minutes ago! Surely he's not hungry again already!
She was tired to the bone, as she knew everyone else in the small apartment was. The place just wasn't conductive to sound-proofing, and as soon as the new baby started to cry everyone knew it.
But no one complained, because he was a miracle, a most cherished miracle. Even when it was 3:15 in the morning and he was wailing like a banshee.
But he was Emma's banshee, damn it, and she couldn't love him more if she tried.
Still, his whimpers were getting a little louder and any minute now it would be a full-on cry. He wasn't normally a fussy baby, in fact he was quite good as far as any of them knew, not that Emma, Snow or David knew a whole lot about infants, parents though they all were. But there was something about the night, unfortunately. Something about the dark that brought out the brave little knight's fears and made him cry out for someone to protect him.
It made for a house of tired, cranky adults, (and one tired, cranky twelve-year-old on the nights he didn't escape to Regina's house,) but it was worth it.
He was worth it.
Emma lay awake, counting down the seconds before Evan would need picked up, and then she made a decision.
She jumped out of bed and went down the stairs as quietly as possible, before peeking through the curtain leading to her parents' bedroom.
They were both laying half-hazard across the mattress, one of David's legs sitting across both of Snow's, and one of Snow's arms draped over David's face while he snored around it.
Emma had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. The poor kids. Being new parents was a little more exhausting than they initially believed, Emma thought.
Evan was starting to really tune up, so Emma tip-toed into the bedroom and scooped him up before hurrying out again.
"Shh, shh," she whispered, bouncing and rocking him. She'd heard Snow get up to feed him a little while ago, so she knew he wasn't hungry just yet, and his diaper was dry. He just needed some love, and Emma could well give that. "Hey, hey, kid, none of that…"
Evan's tiny little face was scrunched up and Emma almost held her breath, willing him not to scream. "Come on, your big sister's got ya, don't cry. Let's let Mommy and Daddy get some sleep, huh? That's it, that's my Little Banshee."
She continued to bounce around the living room, but Evan continued to tune up. Snow and David were completely exhausted, which was the only reason Snow hadn't popped up the moment Evan even considered crying. Emma hoped to rock him back to sleep, sneak him back into his crib, and let the couple think he'd slept through the night.
"I know, you like lullabies, but singing is more your mom's thing, kid, um…Ohhh – ooo – oh sweet child of mine…" Evan cried louder. "No? Okay, how about we make a deal, then, huh?"
Suddenly Evan quieted, and looked up at her with wide blue eyes. "Oh, you like deals, huh? Grumplestiltskin has been talking to you, hasn't he?"
"Grumplestiltskin" was a pet name for Gold that Henry had adopted, and that the ancient sorcerer pretended to despise though Emma caught the pleased glint in his eyes every time Henry called him that.
The almighty Dark One also had the most amusing soft-spot for Evan. At first he showed it in gifts; protection spells that warded away anyone who would try to harm Evan with magic. And then came the day that Snow, much to David's chagrin, all but shoved Evan into the imp's arms while Belle laughed in delight. From that moment Gold was, as anyone else was when confronted with the sweet little boy, lost. He doted upon Evan as he doted upon his own grandson, as he would undoubtedly dote upon the baby girl currently growing in Belle's belly.
But Emma didn't blame him. Evan was a calm, rollie-pollie little angel with happy eyes and an easy smile. He knew no stranger, and was content to be passed along to the many Storybrooke residents who were anxious to get their hands on the little prince. Even Regina wasn't immune to his…well, "charm," though Emma had kept her word and told no one of the time she caught Regina talking baby-talk to Evan when no one was looking. She would tell one day, of course, she was just saving it until the perfect moment.
Emma sat down on the sofa, keeping eye-contact with her baby brother. "A deal then. How about, you let Mom and Dad sleep, and…um…" what did one promise a baby? Because Emma was reasonably sure that despite him being only three months old Evan would remember this deal somehow. "And I…I will always be here if you get scared in the night, how 'bout that?" she reclined further into the cushions. "No matter how old you get, you can always come to me. Sound fair?" Evan cooed in agreement.
"You're a lucky kid, you know that, Evan?" she felt a little silly, she'd never talked to a baby like this before, but it was clearly soothing him. "Not only do you have the best mom and dad in the world, but you have this great, big, huge, dysfunctional family who loves you lots. Especially your big sister. And you always will, Evan. I'm going to protect you. I'll never let what happened to me, happen to you. I missed out on getting to be raised by them, but you won't. I would die before I let anyone take you away, before I let you get lost. We may always find each other in this family, but it won't be necessary in your case. You, sir, are going to grow up strong, and happy, and spoiled rotten. You're never going to know what it feels like to be alone, or to think you're unwanted, cause kid? You're definitely wanted. We both are. Mom and Dad love you…love us, so much. You will never need to doubt that."
Evan was closing his eyes, but Emma kept talking softly. "I guess we're both lucky. We're the children of Snow White and Prince Charming," she chuckled breathily. "I've never said it like that before, but we are. We're the product of True Love," she laughed some more, trying hard not to jostle him. "We're what happens when those two make tacos," Evan's face scrunched up, so Emma immediately quieted. "Ugh, my thoughts exactly. We're powerful, Evan. I wonder if you'll have magic like me? Well, if you do, I'll help you. If not, who cares? I have enough for the both of us."
Emma pressed a feather-light kiss to his head, fuzzy with the beginnings of black-as-night hair. "I love you Evan," she whispered.
A touch on her own head made her jump slightly, and she looked up to find a pair of sleepy green eyes smiling at her.
"Hey," she said. "We were trying not to wake you up."
Snow smiled drowsily and moved around the couch to sit beside her. Emma was sitting long-ways, and didn't want to turn lest she wake the baby, so she debated for a second between lifting her feet and letting Snow sit there, or raising up and letting Snow sit behind her. When Snow didn't seem inclined to move toward Emma's legs, Emma sat forward and waited until she made herself comfortable before slowly leaning back, finding herself resting against her mother's chest, while Evan slept on her own.
Snow didn't speak, just lazily twirled a lock of Emma's hair around her finger while her other hand came around to adjust Evan's blanket; a replica of Emma's.
Warm and surprisingly comfortable, Emma found herself starting to doze off. She winced when Evan whimpered again, but patted his little behind while Snow started to hum.
Except for patting Evan, Emma remained still. Lullabies were definitely her mother's thing, as she was a far better singer in Emma's opinion. Also…and she would be damned if she ever admitted it aloud, Emma just liked hearing her mother sing to Evan. It let her imagine what it would be like if she had been sung to that way, and it always made her smile.
Snow's humming became words, but it wasn't one of the old lullabies from the Enchanted Forest that she normally sang. In fact, Emma thought it might actually be a modern song. Snow's hand didn't stop caressing Emma's hair, lulling her farther to sleep, though she strained to stay awake so she could hear the words. Because she was quite certain, in the way she would only be certain of such a thing when she is half-asleep, that they were aimed at her.
"I wanted to write you a verse,
Of all of the things that I love in you,
Of your beautiful smile, and the truth in your eyes,
And the way you always knew…
That you…deserved…something better…
If I could make all the mountains spell your name,
And all the old streetcars dance in the rain,
And promise to hold you for all my days,
It wouldn't be enough…
To show you my love…"
Emma and Evan were sound asleep, and Snow wasn't far behind. Though eternally grateful to her daughter for getting up with the baby for them, once she awoke and heard the things Emma was saying to him, Snow just couldn't resist getting up to join them.
She'd never felt more happy in her life. She was safe at home, and in her arms were the two people she loved more than anything else in the , two of the people she loved most. Her husband was snoring peacefully a few feet away, and her precious grandson was doing the same upstairs.
Everything was right, for once in her life. So she closed her eyes and slept…happily ever after.
To anyone who would like to know, I chose the name Evan because it's a male version of Eva, and also because Emma and Evan sound cute together and I feel like Snow would totally take that into consideration when picking his name. :)
