Visiting hours.
Emma sighed as the other prisoners were allowed out of their cells, going to the room to talk with their family members or friends.
No one ever came to see her. Not that it mattered – she didn't have anyone that would come see her. She shouldn't even be here anyway – she hadn't been the one to steal those watches, her ex-boyfriend had. She had just gotten caught. Neal had turned her in. Neal had thrown her under the bus, even though he should be the one behind bars rotting.
She never should have put her guard down. Once she had, she had felt happy, and that had just made her heartbreak all the more painful because as much as she wanted to build those walls back up and forget about him, she knew she couldn't.
She still loved the smug bastard.
"Hey, Emma…" she heard a voice say from outside her cell. Emma's head lifted, looking at Kathryn, a prisoner that had, essentially, become a friend of hers. Never in her life did Emma think she would be able to make a friend in prison. Or even be in prison at all.
"Yeah?" she muttered, looking at the miniscule bump that had begun to spring from her stomach.
"The warden let my mother bring something to you… I told her that you were pregnant and… she got you this book…" Kathryn said, holding the book through the bars of her cell.
A book? She was getting a gift?
Emma stood, taking the book from Kathryn, looking down at the title. It was a pregnancy book.
"It's to help you out…" Kathryn said. "Since, well… you don't have much."
That was an understatement.
"Thank you," Emma whispered, not really knowing what to say. She hadn't decided much of anything when it came to the baby. She wanted to keep it, she did, but on the other hand… as Kathryn had pointed out, she didn't have anything she could give the child. No money, no job, no family or friends outside the walls to help…
But it was Neal's. The last piece of Neal she had, no matter who it looked like.
Kathryn smiled at went back to her cell. Emma went to the board with a pillow she called a bed and put the book under it, before a guard suddenly showed up.
"Swan… you have a visitor."
Emma stared, before bursting into laughter. "Yeah right," she replied. "Who would ever want to come and see me?"
"A man," the guard replied, unlocking her cell. "I'm not sure of his name – the warden didn't say."
Man? Emma felt her heart leap into her throat as she got back off the bed. Could it really be Neal? Wait, no, she wasn't supposed to be excited about possibly seeing Neal. Neal had hurt her. He'd done so many awful things to her that he didn't deserve to see her.
But, it was an excuse to get out of her cell, so Emma followed the guard to the visitors room. She was a non-violent criminal, she got to be able to see him in person rather than through the glass on the telephone.
She wasn't sure that would be good for him though, considering the fury that was pounding through her veins as she took each step toward the room, the guard keeping a watchful eye on her.
"Be good, Emma. I know you've never done this before," the guard said. "But I know you're hormonal right now so just… try to keep calm."
"I'll try," she muttered as they entered the room, her eyes scanning for whoever it was that had come to visit her.
Her heart sank into her stomach when her eyes found Neal's. Her legs felt like lead as the guard helped her over to the table, sensing her discomfort. Neal looked up, his eyes filled with pain as Emma's gaze hardened. His pain was nothing compared to hers – and she was going to make sure he knew it.
He couldn't do it. He couldn't stay away from her. He'd promised August he would, but he just couldn't. Thankfully, with some digging through old newspapers, he had been able to find out where Emma was serving her time. Everything had been turned legal, the Bug, and he'd pawned off the watches, the twenty grand in an account for the both of them to start their lives with… if she wanted anything to do with him. Even if she didn't, the money would go to her. She deserved it.
But he wouldn't be his father. He couldn't. Even if Emma never wanted to see him again, he would still try to stay with her, to make sure she was okay.
He watched her as she entered the room, and frowned a little. Something was… different about her. Her hair was longer, she looked as tense and guarded as she had the first time they met, but there was something more. Something he couldn't place.
Eventually, she sat down in front of him, and they could finally be able to talk.
"Emma," he whispered. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you again."
Her face was hardened, full of fury. "Hello Mister Cassidy. I am glad to see that you aren't rotting in prison too."
"You're not rotting…" he murmured. "Emma, I'm so sorry. I had a moment of weakness, I never meant to – "
"Bullshit!" she said, and Neal could tell she was struggling to contain the volume of her voice. "Because if you never meant to, you wouldn't have Neal!"
"Emma, please –"
"You left me here Neal. You left me and your child here to rot like we mean nothing to you! You let me take the fall for your crime!"
He let her rant, knowing she needed to get all of this out of her system before he said anything, but something she said slammed into him like a train.
Child.
"Emma," he cut in, staring at her with wide eyes. "Are you… are you pregnant?"
The words shut her up quickly, and she looked down at herself. Neal looked more closely, and he could just make out the miniscule bump that was beginning to form.
Oh God. He was like his father. He'd left his child and the woman he loved because he was scared to see the man again.
And now Emma was suffering in here, with their child because of it.
"Yes," she finally whispered. "Yes Neal. I-I'm pregnant."
"Oh my God… oh my God Emma," he whispered. "I am so sorry. If I'd known you were pregnant I never would have left you."
"So why did you?" she asked. "I thought you loved me, Neal."
"I do, Emma. So much," Neal said. "I just… it's a long story, and not one for here."
He saw the walls go up again. "I don't need you, you know. I can take care of this baby just fine on my own."
It was a lie – he knew it. She didn't have any money, or anyone else out there. He supposed there was August, but the chances of the other man helping Emma out for anything was probably not going to happen. Neal was glad that he'd realized this before he gave the twenty thousand dollars to August to give to Emma, like had been his original plan.
"Emma please… where are you going to go after you get out of here? How will you care for the baby and for yourself… I have money now. I can take care of you. Please let me make it up to you. I want to be here for you, and for our child."
She wanted to stand up to him, to be strong, but damn it, she knew he was right. There was no way she could take care of the child the way the baby deserved to be raised. It deserved to have more things that she did.
"Neal, how can I trust you won't leave me again?" she asked. "If I trust you… how do I know I won't go back to prison for something else you did? How do I know that the baby won't be taken from me?"
She was scared. She wasn't scared before she saw him and she suddenly saw a way to be comfortable in her life, and she wanted to take it, but she didn't know if she could trust him.
"They're giving me other options you know. Adoption," she told him, wanting to gauge his reaction. If he seemed to want to care, then she would consider going back with him. If not… then maybe she'd have to give the baby up for adoption.
"Adoption?" he whispered. "Emma, you can't let them convince you of that. Now that I'm here… willing to help you. I have money now Emma… it was a stupid moment of weakness, that's all. I swear. Please… please come back to me when you get out of here. Please let us be a family. I want to give that to you."
Tears formed in her eyes. He cared. She could hear it in his voice.
"Okay," she whispered. "I trust you… but if you betray me again, I'll tell the judge everything and you'll be the one in prison."
Neal nodded, reaching for her hands. She allowed him to, and felt a tear slide down her cheek. "I missed you," she whispered. "Please don't leave me again."
"I won't Emma… I will not be like my father," he whispered, kissing the back of her hand gently. "I'll never be like him."
Emma wanted to know what he was talking about, but all too soon, the guard was walking over to her again, telling her that visiting hours were over, and she had to go back to her cell.
She supposed most prisoners went back to their cells filled with depression at having to leave their family or loved ones, but Emma was filled with joy, because she had Neal back, and she knew that she would eventually have the family she had always wanted.
As soon as she got out of here.