The next few months seemed to fly by in a blink of an eye. Mary Margaret's stomach continued to expand and the loft seemed to get smaller by the day. However, David was working hard on making sure that they'd have a new home before the baby came or shortly thereafter. He had hired Leroy Jenkins to be the contractor on the project and helped out whenever he could, though he also spent a lot of his free time searching the best places for animals and making sure that they'd arrive by the time Mary Margaret would be off maternity leave. He had already made sure that Regina could find a replacement for him in time and felt that Graham would be suitable for the job.

Mary Margaret spent the summer searching for the perfect furniture to fill their new home. While she had been able to sneak in some of her own pieces in the loft she rented, most of its own furniture came along with it and she had never been a fan, so it was time to really get into it. She and David had decided on a lot of soft blues and whites. George and Leopold had kept their childhood homes dark, sterile. They didn't want that for their family, they wanted it to feel warm and inviting. For Emma's nursery, she had decided to go with a swan theme. Ever since she got pregnant, she just felt a calling to them, like it was meant to be. It'd be simple, with grey walls and all white furniture. She had picked up a plush swan rocking horse for when her daughter got a little older. Belle had helped her build the perfect library, filled with books for all ages.

They had Mary Margaret's baby shower in August and all of their friends attended. Neither of them had any biological family anymore, but they didn't lack for a family period. Their friends helped them stock up for their daughter and were clearly so happy for her arrival. Even Kathryn and Jim came (the former sporting a baby bump of her own), with a swan mobile as their present. Regina was kind enough to help them store everything until their new home was ready to move into.

Before they knew it, leaves were falling off the trees and a familiar chill had come over Storybrooke. It was October again and it was hard for David to believe that it had been over a year since they had begun the process of becoming parents. Emma was due to be born in 5 weeks and it felt like the pregnancy had gone by so fast. The box for her bassinet was in the corner, since they knew the house wouldn't be ready until the first week of December. Before David left for work that morning, he had promised Mary Margaret that he'd get it done by Halloween, which was still 8 days away.

Mary Margaret walked around the loft, trying to keep herself busy. It was a Saturday, which meant no work and all of her friends were busy. She was going through her nesting phase, where everything had to be just so. As she folded up some more onesies she got, she felt a stab of pain and frowned. That morning, she had woken up feeling weird, but brushed it off to Braxton Hicks, her doctor said she'd start feeling those. However, they were starting to get worse. Slowly, Mary Margaret rubbed her stomach.

"What's going on in there, hmm? You doing okay?"

There was another sharp stab and she lowered herself down in a chair, rubbing her stomach. It kept up for a few more minutes, with Mary Margaret moaning in pain until finally it subsided. After it passed, she realized that she was wet, which made her frown. Pregnancy had screwed up her bladder, but normally she had at least a feeling that it was coming. She managed to work her underwear down and then realized something.

That wasn't pee.

She knew that water breaking wasn't like in the movies, with a huge gush of water or anything, but she hadn't expected it to be so subtle either. She noticed that she had also lost her mucus plug, which only meant one thing.

She was in labor, 5 weeks too early. Instantly, panicked settled in. At her last appointment, the baby had been 4 pounds. That was far too small. There was no way that she could be going into labor so early!

Trying to collect herself, she grabbed the phone and quickly dialed David. He picked up on the fourth ring, which didn't help her anxiety.

"Miss me already?" He asked with a chuckle.

"David," she panted, her voice filled with fear. "My water broke and I…I lost my mucus plug."

"But it's…it's too early."

"I don't think she cares about that. Please, come home, we need to get to the hospital."

"I'm on my way."

David had gotten back to the loft in 5 minutes, a scary thought considering the station was 10 minutes away on a day with no traffic. Mary Margaret didn't have time to think about that though. David's eyes went to the bassinet in the corner, why had he insisted on waiting so long to set it up? They didn't even have a hospital bag packed or anything.

They drove to the hospital in no time, calling Mary Margaret's doctor along the way. While she was being examined, David stepped out of the room to phone Gold.

"Mary Margaret's in labor."

"But she's only 35 weeks."

"I know." David frowned. "We didn't have anything ready, we rushed here with just her purse. Would it be possible for you guys to go and get a bag ready for her?"

"Of course, of course." Gold paused for a moment. "It's going to be okay."

"It's too early. I'm trying to be brave for Mary Margaret, but I'm scared."

"Gideon was born 8 weeks early and look at him now," he pointed out. "Healthy as can be. Emma's going to be fine."

David took a deep breath. "I sure hope you're right."

"Keep us updated and we'll bring the bag once the baby is born."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Just keep breathing. Emma is Mary Margaret's child, she's a fighter, she'll be fine."

"I know." He sighed. "I know."

David hung up and headed back into the room, finding Mary Margaret looking panicked.

"I'm 8 centimeters dilated."

"What?!"

"Those Braxton Hicks I thought I was having all morning…they were the real deal."

"Oh my God." He looked over at the doctor. "Will the baby be okay?"

"As of right now, she looks to be in upper 4 pound range. We'll have to monitor her once she's born, but we'll see. I'll be back in a half hour to check on you."

Tears fell down Mary Margaret's face. "David, this is all my fault."

"Hey." He lowered himself onto the bed. "No, it's not."

"If I had figured it out sooner, maybe they could've stopped it…if I ate better, maybe she'd be bigger…"

"You are the healthiest eater I know. You took your vitamins, none of this is your fault." He squeezed her hand. "It's going to be okay, our daughter is going to be just fine."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're her mother. You are the toughest person I know." He pecked her lips. "She's a fighter. In 13 years, she'll be scaring the shit out of us, in 16 we'll be arguing over when she's old enough to date-which isn't until she's 50 by the way…"

Mary Margaret couldn't help but smile at that. "I think 16's a good age."

David playfully rolled his eyes. "We're going to watch her graduate high school, go on and get an amazing career, eventually fall madly in love and start a family of her own or maybe she'll adopt a bunch of cats. Either way, we are going to get to see her grow up. Our daughter is too tough to let some stupid odds get in her way."

Slowly, his girlfriend nodded. "Thank you," she whispered.

"What else am I here for?" His lips brushed against her forehead. "Now come on, let's get ready to meet our little girl."

It only took another hour for Mary Margaret to reach 10 centimeters. She clung to David's hand, sweat pouring down her face as she pushed. She was in so much pain, yet that couldn't even be her main focus. She wanted her baby girl to be born happy and healthy. Her mind drifted to her mother for a moment, who had often spoke of Mary Margaret's own birth. Eva had gone into labor unexpectedly during one of the worst snowstorms that the East coast had ever seen. The roads were closed and there was not enough time for her to get to the hospital. Eva said it was the scariest moment of her life, but thinking about her daughter's bright future had kept her through it. Mary Margaret knew she had to do the same and unlike her mother, she'd be there to watch her baby girl grow up.

"One last push, Snow!" The doctor called out.

Mary Margaret dug her fingernails into David's palm as she let out another scream, pushing as hard as she could. She felt a moment of relief, knowing the baby was out. Yet, there was suddenly silence. Mary Margaret held her breath, knowing that wasn't a good thing.

Cry, sweet girl, cry. She thought to herself, as if she could will the baby into doing it.

After what felt like an eternity, finally cries filled the delivery room. David and Mary Margaret let out simultaneous sighs of relief and soon, the baby was being placed on Mary Margaret's chest. She looked down at her, tears pouring down her face.

Mary Margaret had held plenty of babies in her lifetime, but none that were as tiny as her daughter. Emma squirmed on her chest, covered in gunk and all that, but Mary Margaret still thought she was the sweetest thing in the world. An overwhelming sensation of love filled her heart as she looked into her eyes. This was her baby, her daughter. The child she had fought so hard to conceive and waited on, prayed for. Finally, she was here and it wasn't what Mary Margaret had imagined, it was more.

"Oh my God." Tears fell down Mary Margaret's face. "She's perfect."

"She's an angel," David whispered.

His finger stroked his daughter's tiny cheek and he felt tears fall down his own. He was a father, a father to the most precious baby girl there ever was. His heart was swelling up with love and protection, he would never let a single bad thing happen to this tiny being, who now depended on him for everything in life. This beautiful baby girl would depend on him, look up to him. If she preferred men, he would hopefully be the role model that she looked at. He had dreams for them, daddy/daughter dates, sneaking ice cream and having serious talks about the future. All his life, he had dreamt of having a son, but now he had his daughter and he wouldn't trade her for the world.

David kissed Mary Margaret's forehead. "Thank you for her," he said, softly.

"No, thank you. I couldn't have done any of this without you."

Eventually, a nurse came and took Emma to clean her up. The new parents were left feeling suddenly empty and nervous, not wanting her out of their sight. They were briefly distracted by her delivering the afterbirth, but then they were back to waiting for her to be returned to them. Emma was cleaned up and weighed, before being wrapped up in a blanket and walked back over.

"Well, I'd say you have a miracle baby here," the nurse said. "She's 4 pounds, 10 ounces and seems to be breathing fine on her own. As long as things stay this fine, I don't think she'll need any NICU time."

Both let out another simultaneous sigh of relief and the nurse gave the baby to David to hold for the first time. He carefully held her, clearly scared.

"You're not going to drop her," Mary Margaret assured him.

"What if I break her? She's so tiny, I've never held a baby so tiny before."

"You're fine," she assured him. "Look at her, she's not crying, she's completely happy in her daddy's arms."

"Daddy," he repeated. "I'm a daddy. I…I still can't believe this is real."

"I know. We've been talking about this for over a year and finally…well…here she is."

"She's amazing." He sat back down next to her and his eyes returned to his daughter. "She's definitely an Emma."

"Emma Ruth Nolan," Mary Margaret agreed. "Her name means whole…and that's what I feel right now."

"So do I."

Soon, Mary Margaret and Emma were moved to a new room where they'd stay for the next few days for observation. They had plenty of visitors, the first being Gold and Belle. They had swung by the store and got Emma a few preemie outfits since they doubted she'd be able to fit into her newborn right away. Kathryn and Jim came not long after, with news that they were having twins, a boy and a girl. Ruby and Dorothy followed Ashley and Thomas. One person they hadn't been expecting…Granny. She didn't come until long after everyone else had and smiled at the two as soon as she entered the room.

"She looks like the two of you," she mused.

"All newborns look the same," David said.

Granny shook her head. "Well, she looks like the both of you. Anyway, I came here to bring you two a gift."

"Granny, you already got us all those clothes," Mary Margaret protested.

"Oh hush, this is something I do for all the babies."

David took Emma from Mary Margaret so she could open the present. She gasped at what she found inside, a beautifully woven baby blanket. Most of it was white, but it was trimmed in royal purple ribbon. "Emma" had also been stitched in the corner, in the same color as the ribbon.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Every child needs a proper baby blanket."

"Granny, thank you so much." She leaned up as much as she could without feeling any pain to give her a hug. "I have a feeling that Emma is going to love this when she's older."

Granny nodded, taking in the picture before her. "You two fit," she said, finally. "You flow well together. I'm just glad you stopped being idiots in time for the baby to be born."

Mary Margaret and David laughed, supposing she was right. Soon, Granny was gone and it was just the two of them again. Emma began fussing in her father's arms and Mary Margaret held out her own to take her, knowing she was ready to eat.

"I don't think she'll have a problem gaining that weight," she said. "She's always hungry."

David smiled, sitting back down beside her. "A chip off the old block."