II
Chapter Nine
II
Belle drifts in and out of sleep as people fuss over her; not for her sake, she is pretty sure. No. She's just a barmaid, and has always felt like just a barmaid, like nothing.
She hears whispers about the Mayor's orders and knows who she has to thank for this. The Mayor who she's hardly ever interacted with and who is not the kind to look after a citizen just out of the goodness of his heart.
Mr. Gold. Regina kept talking about him, saying things that sounded too crazy to be true, but now... Now Belle really wonders.
Especially when he walks into her room, his gaze seeming to caress her as it lingers and lingers until finally, she falls asleep.
II
Graham walks into the waiting room to see that Emma, Henry and David are all engaged in conversation. David and Emma seem slightly awkward but friendly, and Henry seems happy enough for all of them.
David looks up as he approaches, putting a hand on Henry's shoulder.
"Mary Margaret would like to see you both," he informs father and son, and Emma gives them both a smile as they walk away.
"A happy ending," Graham remarks as they watch the door close behind David and Henry, but Emma shakes her head.
"Not until we've found who did this," she points out. Tenacious, Emma Swan. But then the information he dug up on her confirmed that, back when he wondered if she had anything to do with Mary Margaret's disappearance.
"We?"
"You," she corrects, then seems to think. "Me. I promised Henry I would find who did this. You have any leads?"
"I can't tell you," he says, and she makes an annoyed face. "But I can tell Deputy Swan."
"You offering me a job?"
"Yes. It comes with a badge, a shirt, donuts and the official permission to annoy people."
She considers that for a long time, and he lets her. He's learned a long time ago – he just doesn't remember quite when – that pushing people can just make them push back. Sometimes, you have to be the one to give.
"Okay," Emma says finally; he tries to keep his smile merely polite appreciation and is fairly certain he fails.
II
"Hey mom!" Henry says cheerily, and Mary Margaret offers her son what David can see is a very tired smile. He makes a note not to let this visit be overlong. His wife needs rest and he intends for her to have it.
"Henry," she says warmly, smiling as Henry walks up to her and she touches his face gently. Her eyes tear up a little, David notices, and she bites her lip. "I love you."
"I love you too, mom," Henry says. "You're going to come home soon, right?"
"Very soon," Mary Margaret promises, looking at David with a little steel in her gaze. She'll insist on coming home too soon, he just knows, and looks forward to losing that particular argument.
Huh. That didn't quite sound like them, that sounded like...
Snow and Charming.
"David!" Mary Margaret calls out as he doubles over from the sharp pain to his head, like an arrow shooting through.
II
FTL, the past
II
A daughter.
Snow knew she would have one, of course. Ruth's pendant told her as much. But that was a future event, a promise. Now it is a given, a certainty she's about to make even more real by telling Charming.
"What is it?" he asks again, looking at her with such bright, blue eyes. She wonders if he already knows, or if she'll just confirm his suspicions or if he really has no clue.
Very gently she takes his hands and puts them on her stomach. He looks down, swallowing lightly.
"You're going to be a father, Charming," she tells him. He swallows again, then looks up at her with such joy that she beams at him. Laughing, he picks her up, spinning her around and around.
"Charming!" she protests, then just laughs too until he gently sets her down again.
"We're going to be a family," he says in wonder, kissing one of her hands and then the other. "Snow, I..."
Words seem to fail him a little, but she can still tell what he would have said simply from the tone of his voice, the expression on his face, the way he leans forward and kisses her. Soft, open-mouthed kisses along her lips and then down her neck as she puts her arms around him and clings to him.
They're going to be a family. Him, her and a daughter.
He pulls back suddenly, looking worried. "You should be resting."
"David, I am pregnant, not a frail old woman," she tells him sternly.
"Snow, you're pregnant. You will have to get used to me worrying."
"You will not treat me as if I am made of glass. I insist. No matter how much you worry."
A smile tugs at his lips. "I look forward to losing that argument."
She smiles as he leans forward and kisses her again; she wishes they could be this happy ever after and beyond.
II
"It was just a sudden headache," David protests, but Dr. Whale pays it no heed, shining the light into his eyes.
"It wasn't nothing," Mary Margaret says and Henry nods in agreement. Their son has crawled into the hospital bed alongside Mary Margaret and they're both regarding him with worry.
Truth be told, he isn't sure he is right and Mary Margaret isn't, but he doesn't want to worry her, not now.
"I think it is best you stay overnight for observation," Dr. Whale says. He holds up a hand when David wants to protest. "It is best not to take any chances. I will get the nurses to put another bed in here so you can stay with your wife. You're glued enough at the hip already."
"What about Henry?" David asks, but Henry just lights up.
"Emma can look after me tonight!"
"Henry..." Mary Margaret starts, but he turns to look at her. "She helped look for you. Dad, tell her she helped look for you."
"She did," David confirms, Mary Margaret looking at him intently. He can see worry fight with her desire to give Henry what he so clearly wants, to get to know his birth mother. He can see the hurt lurking behind it too.
"If she agrees to it, Henry, then you may," she finally says, smiling bravely.
She always was the bravest person he knew, he thinks distantly, and feels a vague echo of the sharp pain again.
II
The knock on the door is insistent, so Regina gives up ignoring it and finally walks to the door. Somehow, she is not surprised to see Mr. Gold outside as she opens.
"Bit early to start soliciting campaign donations already, don't you think Mayor?" she asks bitingly.
"What is your name?" he counters.
She raises an eyebrow. "My name? Alzheimer's striking so soon?"
"What is your name?" Gold asks again, an edge to his voice she knows all too well. Well, well, well.
"The name my mother gave me or the one I was often called?" she counters calmly. "Which one do you prefer, Rumpelstiltskin?"