I know fanon—if not canon—puts Emma's birthday as sometime in October, but this is an AU, so I hope no one holds it against me if I drop hers in early summer for purposes of fluff, especially after the angsty twist with this week's episode. Aye?
Also, I'd planned this as ten chapters but, while I'm really not planning on adding on to what I've outlined in terms of plot, the fluff keeps getting away from me, so I may chop up these last few chapters for pacing, and so you're not waiting six months for me to post some 10k word monstrosity. I'm expecting at least another two chapters at this point.
Chapter Ten: Call Number
Tink may not have had the life-consuming pirate obsession that Killian had, but she none-the-less ran a tight ship. As long as Killian behaved himself Monday through Friday, working on their manuscript at the apartment (when he wasn't teaching, of course), his weekends were his own. Tink even used the GPS to monitor his location. Fridays, she was more lax; kicking Killian out of the apartment promptly at 5pm and locking the door on him until Monday morning.
All this worked fine for Emma. The new circ position kept her plenty busy. With the end of the school year looming, the library was packed with kids cramming for exams or working on final presentations.
It happened to be a Friday afternoon when the boy with the fairy tale book came back, this time with his sister and father. His name was Nicholas; he and his sister needed to put together a family tree, plus a presentation on a contribution from their cultural heritage. Nicholas figured he had the one base covered with Germanic fairy tales (hence the book), but they both needed help with the ancestry bit. Emma sent them to Belle because that kind of stuff was literally her job, but also because experience proved that Emma had no talent for finding family. Still, Emma couldn't help but glance over from her desk while Belle showed the children websites to trace their lineage and books of heraldry to study their family name. As an orphan, it haunted her—that utter mystery of her own origins—made worse by the unease in her gut at the thought of another little boy out there, perhaps doing the same project, unable to answer the most basic questions. Not even if Emma had kept him.
If Emma had kept him…
She was so lost in that thought that she didn't notice Killian had come through the door until he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You alright?" he asked.
"What? Yeah, fine." She checked the clock on her computer to realize she was almost ten minutes late clocking out. "Just lost track of time."
-0-
Emma probably spent twenty minutes studying the specials menu at Granny's—a list of only three items—before Killian cleared his throat.
"All right, you're clearly preoccupied with something. What is it?" he asked, tilting his glass to take a sip of his drink.
"My son," she stated automatically, before her verbal censor could kick in. Her eyes flicked up to his drink. She expected him to spit it out, spill it on himself or something, but he only paused, his mouth full of rum, set his glass down, and swallowed thoughtfully.
"So what happened?"
"When I was in Florida... I was not parent material, trust me. I gave him up before I even had him." Her eyes dipped down to the table and she picked up one of the paper napkins, rubbing her fingers against its rough texture. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drop that kind of bomb like that."
"Is this the part where I'm supposed to balk and run for the door because you have functioning reproductive organs?" Killian sat forward, leaning on his elbows. "Now if you tell me you're secretly a snake-headed dragon or a crocodile or something, I might have to reconsider."
She laughed at that because why would she expect the guy surrounded by orphaned kids to be freaked out by another orphaned kid?
"At the time, I thought it was the best decision," she continued.
"From what you've told me, it doesn't sound like your life was particularly safe for a child."
Emma started to tear the napkin into pieces, bit by bit."It didn't bother me so much until I got this job. Now, being surrounded by kids all the time, I can't help but think about him. Wonder if…"
"He's as mad at you as you are your parents?"
"I just want to know he's okay."
"And if he's not okay?"
She balled the rest of the napkin in her fist. "I'll make him okay."
Killian put a hand over her balled fist. "Then I'll make some calls. Maybe someone at the boys' and girls' homes can give us somewhere to start."
-0-
Encouraged by Killian's support, Emma let Mary Margaret and the others in on their plan. Mary Margaret immediately took the job of head cheerleader, Belle started reading anything she could find on adoption law, and Ruby turned to her social media connections, launching a campaign to #findbabyswan. Comments flooded in—from sympathetic well-wishers to internet trolls to support from birth parents across the country—but precious few turned up any viable leads. Emma tried to keep her hopes low, but couldn't quench that defiant spark of excitement every time Killian's phone buzzed with a call from one of his legal connections. They had checked in with several adoption registries, but so far no luck.
Finals came and went, releasing Killian from the university for the summer. Tink, taking pity on an emotionally exhausted Emma, let Killian have an extra night off to celebrate Emma's birthday. Killian tried his hardest to distract her with a night on the town, and for the most part, he succeeded, but when he presented her with the most adorable birthday cupcake, all she could think about as she blew out the little star-shaped candle was pink skin and howling cries.
Not three seconds after the tiny flame turned to smoke, the wick still glowing with a golden ember, Emma's phone pinged for her attention. She snapped it up and slid the screen open to check her mailbox.
Clearance sale at Victoria's Secret.
She unsubscribed out of pure spite, then started on her cupcake. She ate mechanically, smiling as if she enjoyed it, but she tasted nothing.
Emma was in the shower later, trying to wash away the sense of failure, when her phone rang. She shut off the shower and stumbled out, wrapping a towel around her despite the fact no one could see her over the phone. She grabbed the device up from her discarded clothes—it wasn't a number she recognized, but Killian had forwarded her number to a few family law firms that came highly recommended, so she hit the pickup button.
"Emma Swan," she said in her best attempt at a mature, put-together woman despite the fact she was mostly naked, dripping wet, and a little irritated at the interruption.
"Miss Swan?" a deep but feminine voice on the other end replied. "My name is Regina Mills. I believe I have your son."
-0-
After a blood test, a hefty stack of paperwork, and about a week of phone calls, Emma sat in her bug outside a meticulously manicured mansion, trying her best not to chew her fingernails. Her son had been adopted by a small-town mayor, which not only explained the paperwork but the unsettling question of how Regina had found her number in the first place. The contract's language had been a little above Emma's comprehension, but the gist of it, she surmised, indicated that A.) Emma would not seek custody and B.) should one Emma Swan cause any harm—emotional, physical, or otherwise—to come to one Henry Mills, one Regina Mills would be held blameless should Emma turn up in a ditch somewhere, possibly on fire.
That wasn't actually the part that made her nervous, the figure getting out of the driver's seat in the shiny rental behind her was. She watched the door slam shut through the rear view mirror and Neal, still tan from the Florida sun, turned to face the bug.
Her knee warmed as Killian, in the passenger seat next to her, rubbed strength into her leg. "I suppose that's our cue?"
Emma nodded and leaned in for a quick kiss before climbing out of the car. Killian hung back at the car per her request until they'd exchanged their pleasantries. She gave Neal a hug and a warm greeting because, while she still had her hurts, this wasn't the time or place to have it out. Today wasn't about them. Killian slipped in behind her as they made for the door, setting a hand on the small of her back.
Emma had barely knocked before the white door flew open to reveal a sandy-blond man holding a dark-haired little boy. Emma immediately knew the boy to be too young to be her son, but anticipation leapt in her gut anyway.
"Hello," the man greeted with a warm smile, and propped the door open with a shoulder, extending his hand. "I'm Robin. You must be Emma."
Emma took his hand, something about the man's cheery demeanor already put her at ease.
"And Neal?" Robin asked, offering Neal a hand, which he took. "And…? Robin furrowed a brow as the question drifted toward Killian.
"Moral support," Killian replied.
"Ah, well, then," Robin smiled again. "This is Roland, my son and Henry's adoptive step-brother. Regina is still talking with Henry, but you're welcome to come in while they finish up."
Emma turned to Killian. "Are you okay to wait here? All of this is probably going to be crazy enough for Henry to deal with without..."
She wanted to say "adding a boyfriend to the mix", but felt a little awkward labeling something so new to begin with, and solidifying it in front of Neal and Henry's step-father, whom she had known for all of three seconds made her insides squirm.
"You know me, Swan," Killian swept in before she even had to finish the sentence. "I'm always armed with a good book. I'll wait in the car."
"You most certainly will not," echoed a voice from inside the imperious mansion. Mayor Mills herself walked up to the door at a fast clip. At a look from Robin, she hesitated, then relaxed slightly. "Robin was about to sit down for his soccer game and has more finger foods than a band of scavengers could eat. You're more than welcome to wait with him while we do this."
"Football, dear," Robin corrected with a forced smile.
Regina's lips twitched up almost imperceptibly and Emma got the feeling the mayor knew full well what the sport was called.
Regardless, Killian looked up at Robin with a long-suffering look in his eyes, like he understood a great, unspoken burden. Robin only clapped a hand over Killian's shoulder and led him down the hall while Regina waved Emma and Neal inside.
Emma turned on her heels to face Regina as the woman closed the door. "I want to thank you, Regina, for letting us do this. I just want to reiterate that I don't mean to be a threat in any way-"
Regina lifted a hand to stop her.
"It's alright, Miss Swan. Truthfully, a few years ago, I may not have let you but," Regina's eyes lingered on the doorway through which Robin and Killian had just disappeared. "I've since come to understand the value of family."
-0-
He was perfect.
If Henry Mills had an angry thought in his head regarding his adoption, he hid it well. He was far more interested in Emma and Neal and their lives than in hashing-out the circumstances of his birth. He was smart, too, picking up on the distance between Emma and Neal without a word being said about it. If he was disappointed at that, too, he said nothing of it. When Emma mentioned she worked in a library, Henry got so excited, she might as well have admitted she was a superhero, and the four of them spent the next hour or so discussing his favorite books.
(Emma made a mental note to read them all as soon as she got back).
He'd been adopted only days after he'd been born, and that filled Emma with relief. He hadn't had to go through the system as she had. He'd grown up with far more than she could have given, and Regina truly cared for him as if he were biologically her own. In light of the circumstances, she couldn't have wished for a better home for him.
The afternoon ended too quickly for all involved. Killian and Robin bonded so quickly that she nearly had to elbow him into the passenger seat and strap him in, lest Regina revoke their visitation privileges for fear of the pirate professor taking over their spare bedroom.
As for Emma, she had meant it when she said she didn't want to interfere with Regina's custody—Emma had lived long enough with the absence of a Henry she'd only carried nine months, she couldn't imagine the sense of loss after knowing the full package for the better part of a decade. However, now that she had met him, she wasn't sure she could go back to work tomorrow, business as usual, either.
Emma Swan finally had a family, and she had no idea what to do about it.