Title: Anything For Our Daughter
Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine!
Warning: K
Author's Note: Just an idea I had the other day when I thought I was going to get a migraine. I thought it would be cute to see Emma's parents take care of her while she had a migraine. Hope you like it! :)
Anything For Our Daughter
Emma was working on the third file of the day. Both Emma and her father had been working on paperwork all morning and from the looks of it, they would be doing paperwork for the rest of the day unless they were called out on business.
She was writing a description of the incident when the words she had just written disappeared, but she kept writing, but it was like someone was coming behind her and erasing what she wrote. "What the..." Emma started.
"Emma? What's wrong?" David said as he looked up to see Emma concentrating on her file with a confused look on her face.
Emma looked up to look at her father and then back down at the page, seeing only part of what she had written. "Nothing, it's nothing." Emma said a bit distracted.
David was unconvinced and stood up to go look at whatever Emma was concentrating so hard on.
Emma hadn't noticed her father had got up and walked over to stand behind her till she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine."
David was looking at the file she was working on which was about a fight that happened in the Rabbit Hole a few nights ago. The only thing that stood out to him was that his daughter's handwriting was overlapping and almost unreadable. "Are you feeling okay, Emma?" David asked as he squeezed Emma's shoulder.
"I'm fine." Emma said stubbornly, not wanting to admit to what she just had experienced because she didn't understand what was happening to her.
David knew something had to be wrong, but knew his daughter was not going to explain what was wrong so he headed back to his desk, but not until he glanced once more at the file she was working on.
Emma could feel her father's gaze on her as she continued to work on her file for the next ten minutes. Whatever had been going on with her eyes cleared up, but she was starting to get a headache. She was trying her best to avoid her father's gaze and was starting to get annoyed by it. She decided that some coffee might help her headache and hopefully show her father she was fine, so she got up to go get some.
David had been keeping an eye on his daughter and noticed that she was pinching the bridge of her nose and squinting at her paperwork. He was beginning to wonder if she had a headache, but she would normally just tell him if she had a headache.
Emma walked over to the coffee pot, but she started to feel nauseous and her headache just seemed to get worse. She poured a cup of coffee as she tried to control the growing nausea. She closed her eyes for a second before turning around with her coffee, but she had to set it down before she ran to the bathroom.
"Emma!" David said as he got up when Emma rushed from the room. He waited outside of the bathroom door as he heard Emma vomiting. He was contemplating whether he should go in and help her when she came out of the bathroom.
"Oh my goodness, you heard that?" Emma said with a grimace.
David didn't reply, but he raised his hand to feel Emma's forehead.
"Dad, I'm fine." Emma said with a groan and then started to walk back to her desk.
"Emma, you are not fine." David said as he followed her to her desk. Emma started to work on the file again, but David took it out of her hands. "Do you have a headache?" David asked as he looked at the file he took away and noticed that all of Emma's handwriting was practically unreadable.
Emma rolled her eyes and then winced at the pain it caused to move her eyes. "Yes." Emma answered.
"Were you having some problems with your vision earlier?" David asked as he put the file down on the table.
"Maybe." Emma said stubbornly.
"I think I know what's wrong. Come on, let's get you home." David said as he touched Emma's shoulder.
"It's just a headache after I take some medicine I'll be fine." Emma replied grumpily.
"If it was just a headache you wouldn't be throwing up. Have you ever had a migraine before?" David asked softly.
"No." Emma answered, but hadn't made a move to leave.
"I think this may be your first then. Come on, I'm taking you home." David said as he put his hands on each of Emma's arms to help her up.
"I'm..." Emma started, but then felt nauseous again and just barely made it into the trashcan that her father managed to grab for her.
David held Emma's hair back as she threw up and offered her words of assurance. After she finished he took the trashcan and put aside before grabbing Emma's phone and keys. "Come on, Em." David said as he led her to the door.
"Dad." Emma said in a whiny voice. "I don't need to go home."
"Yes you do." David said with a small smile at his daughter's whiny voice and that she called him Dad twice in the last five minutes. Although, she had been calling them mom and dad for the most part for the last couple of months, he still hadn't gotten use to it, but he loved it everytime she called him dad.
"Can you not yell so loudly?" Emma asked with another whine and grimace.
"Ok, princess." David said and then chuckled quietly as he led Emma to his truck.
Emma groaned as she heard that nickname, well it wasn't really a nickname since it was true.
David unlocked and opened the door while supporting Emma with his other arm. "Up you go, sweetie." David said as he helped Emma into his truck. When Emma made no effort to buckle her seatbelt, David buckled it for her and then patted her leg before closing the door.
Emma closed her eyes as they drove home and only opened them when she heard her dad dialing a number on his phone.
"Hey Snow." David said into the phone.
Emma groaned as she realized what her father was doing, of course he would call her mother they told each other everything.
"Emma has a migraine so I'm taking her home, but I was thinking you might want to get a sub for the rest of the day to teach your class." David said to his wife.
"She doesn't need to do that, I'm fine." Emma said, but then grimaced from the pain.
"Ok, honey. I'll see you soon." David said as he hung up his phone.
"Why did you do that?" Emma whined as she squinted at her father.
"Because she is your mother and she knows what to do for migraines, believe me I know." David said without any remorse for calling Snow.
Emma groaned and closed her eyes again.
David smiled and reached out his hand to lightly touch the back of Emma's head before resting his hand on Emma's shoulders. Before he knew it, Emma unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted over in the seat to rest her head against his shoulder. He smiled and tightened his arm around his daughter.
David could feel the a little bit of heat coming from Emma's head and knew it was just from the headache. It didn't take long for them to get to the apartment building and David figured Emma had fallen asleep.
He parked his car and turned off the engine. He looked down at Emma to see if she was asleep, but found that she was still awake, but she looked like she was in a world of pain from her headache. "Come on, baby. Let's get you inside." David said as he opened the door and slide out so he could help Emma out as well.
They were almost inside when Emma threw up just outside the building. David quickly held her hair back with one hand and supported her with the other. "It's alright. I've got you, Em." David murmured as his daughter vomited.
"I'm sorry." Emma mumbled after she had finished vomiting on the grass.
"There is no need to be sorry, Emma. It comes with having a migraine." David said as he started to lead Emma into the building.
When they got into their loft, Emma started towards the downstairs bed, which her and Henry had been using lately to give Snow and David some privacy.
"Emma, you can sleep in your mother and I's room. It will be quieter and darker than in here." David said softly as he directed Emma up the stairs.
Emma was beyond caring at this point and just wanted to lay down and not open her eyes again. She let her dad led her into the room and help her take her shoes off. She then laid down on the bed, not even bothering to get under the covers because her head was pounding.
David quickly shut the blinds and the curtains to make the room as dark as possible for Emma. Then he went over to Emma to help her get under the covers. He gently lifted Emma up as he pulled the covers down and put Emma down before pulling the covers over Emma.
"Too hot." Emma mumbled.
David understood and pulled the comforter down, but left the sheet on Emma.
"Thank you, Daddy." Emma mumbled almost incoherently.
David hesitated for a second after hearing that word, she had never called him 'Daddy' before and he honestly never thought that she would call him that, but he had always wanted to be called Daddy. "You're welcome, sweetheart." David said as he kissed Emma lightly on the forehead. "I'll be right back." David added before leaving the room for some aspirin.
Snow would be home in about a half an hour. She said that she had fifteen minutes till her break and then she could get a sub for the rest of the day. David knew Snow had a couple tricks up her sleeve when it came to migraines and he knew Emma would appreciate her help.
David quickly found some Excedrin that Snow always kept just in case someone got a migraine and a glass of water before heading back up to his daughter. He walked quietly into the room and put the glass of water and medicine down on the bedside table before sitting on the bed next to Emma.
"Emma, sweetie. I have some medicine that will help with your migraine." David said as he cupped the side of Emma's cheek with his hand.
Emma opened her eyes to squint at her father. "Ok."
David helped Emma sit up a little before handing her the medicine and then the glass of water. After she took the medicine, Emma laid back down.
"Migraines suck." Emma murmured as she closed her eyes.
David held back a chuckle at her statement. "They do Emma, they do." David agreed with a sympathetic, yet slightly amused smile.
David stood up, getting ready to leave Emma so that she could get some rest when Emma grabbed his hand.
"You can stay if you want." Emma said as she looked at her Dad with pain-filled eyes.
"Ok." David said, hearing the request hidden in her invitation. David sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard. He started to gently stroke Emma's hair as she closed her eyes again.
***OUAT***
Snow quietly walked up the stairs to her and David's room where she knew both her daughter and husband must be. She had gathered some needed supplies to help Emma through this migraine that she was now juggling as she tried to open the door. She managed to open the door to find David sitting on the bed running his fingers through Emma's hair as Emma lay next to him in the middle of the bed.
Snow made eye contact with David as she went and put the supplies on the bedside table. Snow soaked a rag in the cool water she had brought up and then carefully got on the bed and placed it on Emma's forehead.
Emma opened her eyes to see Snow looking down at her.
"How are you feeling, Sweetie?" Snow asked quietly with a gentle smile.
"My head hurts." Emma mumbled with a frown.
"I know, honey. I'm going to help you feel better." Snow said with a sympathetic smile. Snow looked up at David with a smile at how cute their Emma was being before asking, "Did she take any medicine yet?"
"Yeah, about ten minutes ago." David whispered back.
Snow nodded before looking back at Emma who had closed her eyes again, but couldn't seem to fall asleep even after having the cool cloth on her head for ten minutes. Emma would grimace every once a while from the pain of her headache and couldn't seem to relax enough to fall asleep.
"Emma, where does it hurt most?" Snow asked quietly as she took the wet cloth off of her head.
"Here." Emma pointed to her right temple with a grimace.
"Whenever your father got a migraine, I would do this for him." Snow said as she started to rub Emma's temples with her fingertips.
Emma looked up at her father with a curious look, "You get these?" Emma asked.
"Yep and unfortunately, I think I past that down to you, kiddo." David said softly.
Emma had to close her eyes as her mother messaged her temples because it was helping a lot and making her feel better.
"Just relax, Emma. The best thing for you right now is to sleep." Snow said quietly as she continued to rub Emma's temples while sitting against the headboard on the other side of Emma.
David and Snow continued to stay with Emma for a while longer taking turns massaging Emma's temples or running their fingers lightly through her hair and anything that they felt could help relieve Emma's searing headache.
It took a little while, but Emma finally fell asleep with her parents on either side of her. She was so grateful for not only their presence, but the way they relieved some of the pain of her pounding headache. She couldn't have asked for better parents then they were and briefly wonder how life would have been with two loving and caring parents that were willing to take time out of their day to sit with their daughter and nurse her back to health.
After Emma had fallen asleep, David and Snow continued to sit with Emma until a little after two when they both realized neither of them had eaten lunch. Emma was sound asleep and seemed to be sleeping peacefully as her parents carefully got off of the bed being careful not to jostle Emma. They both placed a kiss to Emma's forehead before slipping downstairs to the kitchen.
"Was she that cute all day?" Snow asked with an amused smile.
"Well she is always cute, but at first she was just stubborn and cranky. It wasn't till I got her here did she start being down right adorable." David said with a grin.
"That's our Emma." Snow said with a grin as she hugged her husband.
"It sure is." David said as he looked at his wife lovingly before leaning down to kiss her gently on the lips.
"What was that for?" Snow asked with a smile.
"For taking care of our daughter and the many times you took care of me when I had a migraine." David replied softly.
"I don't do that much." Snow said with a confused smile.
"Oh what you do makes the world of difference when you have a migraine." David said seriously.
Snow gave David a soft, touched smile before kissing him. "I'm glad it helps, I hate to see you or Emma in pain." Snow said with a frown at the memory of Emma's pain-filled eyes.
"I know what you mean, but Emma will be fine now that she is sleeping it off." David said with a relieved smile. "Now, I am starving. What is there to eat around here?"
Snow chuckled as she went to make her husband and herself a late lunch. They got to do something today that they weren't able to do for 28 years, take care of their daughter. They were both happy to have been able to finally be there for Emma when she wasn't feeling good and to make her feel better again. It was a bittersweet moment, but they would cherish it forever.
***OUAT***
Emma woke up to a pitch-dark room with her stomach growling at her because of the lack of food she had eaten during the day. She started to remember why she ended up in her parents' room and how her parents had taken care of her until she fell asleep. She smiled as she thought of how they took care of her and how amazing it felt to be loved and cared for by her parents. It meant so much to her more than she would ever admit.
She still had a headache, but it was not nearly as bad as it was before she fell asleep. She stayed a little bit longer in her parents' bed as she thought about her parents and continued to rest her eyes.
After her stomach growled again, she pushed herself out of bed to make her way downstairs to get something to eat. She glanced at the clock as she got up to see it was already 7:30 p.m. "I can't believe I slept that long." Emma whispered to herself and wondered why she still felt tired after sleeping so long.
She made her way downstairs to see her family on couch watching TV with the volume down low so they didn't disturb her as she slept.
"Emma." Snow said as both David and her got up from the couch to walk over to Emma.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" David asked as he came over to Emma and rubbed the side of her arm.
"Hungry." Emma said in a tired voice.
David chuckled, thinking that Emma was always hungry.
"Does your head still hurt?" Snow asked as she looked worriedly at Emma.
"Yeah, but only a little now." Emma replied truthfully.
"Good. I'll get you something to eat." Snow said with a soft smile as she tucked a lock of Emma's hair behind her ear.
"Come on over here and sit on the couch. We are watching TV, but we were thinking about picking out a movie to watch." David said as he guided Emma over to the couch. Emma sat down in the middle of the couch as her Dad sat down on her right. Henry was camped out on the floor in front of the TV. He had a bunch of blankets like he was planning on camping out there all night.
"Are you feeling better, Mom?" Henry asked as he looked up to his mom with worry evident in his eyes.
"Yeah, kid. I am." Emma said with a smile. Although she did feel better, Emma was feeling tired and had to lean her head against something as it continued to feel heavier. Before she knew it, her head was leaning on her father's shoulder, which happened to be at the perfect spot.
David put his arm around Emma, knowing what it was like after waking up from having a migraine. You were drained even though you just slept for a long time and you still had a headache even though it wasn't as bad.
It wasn't long before Snow came over with a tray for Emma. Emma sat up as she saw her coming and couldn't help the smile that came to her face at what her mother had brought for her. Macaroni and cheese with a sandwich. "This is perfect, mom." Emma exclaimed before she dug into her food.
David and Snow shared an amused glance over Emma's head at her excitement over such a simple meal.
It didn't take long for Emma to finish her food and take the aspirin that her mother had thoughtfully got for her. Henry put in one of Emma's favorite movies, Remember the Titans, as Emma tried to get settled in between her parents. She hadn't been surprised when her parents flanked her after she sat down on the couch. Most days it was a little too much for her, but today it felt nice to have them close by. She could feel her head starting to get heavier as the movie began, but she's didn't want to fall asleep even though she felt rather tired. She kept her head up and tried to shift around to stay awake, but with her parents on either side to her she couldn't move much. Her father reached back and got a blanket to spread over her and her mom. Great, make me more comfortable so that I'll fall sleep. Well I'm not going to fall asleep, not right now at least.
David and Snow looked over at each as they saw Emma trying hard to keep herself awake and then start to nod off in the second scene of the movie. They smiled briefly at each before turning their attention back to the movie that Emma was obviously going to sleep through. They were enjoying the closeness with their daughter that they normally wouldn't get.
Emma without even realizing it linked arms with her mom, which caused Snow to smile. Then David and Snow watched as Emma's head slowly drifted towards David and ended up lying against her father's shoulder.
David glanced over at Snow with a soft, touched smile as Emma moved her head a little, but didn't move it from his shoulder. Snow exchanged an amused smile with her husband as Emma finally settled down and fell asleep. Snow adjusted the blanket to cover more of her daughter and David turned his head to place a kiss to Emma's head. They would always cherish this day when they got to take care of their daughter.
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