Keeping Secrets

Week 10: June:

The body: Good news, Savior! The rollercoaster of nausea may almost be over, but unfortunately that's not the case when it comes to the emotions. The hormones raging through your body can wreak havoc on your emotional sanity, so be prepared to spend the next few months swinging from one end of the emotional pendulum to the other. Tiredness will still be bothering you. Take naps, and go to bed early, and though you're not a fan of it, consider giving some of your tasks to either your father or pirate. Right now, your uterus is the size of a grapefruit. Even if you're not there yet, your regular clothes are probably feeling uncomfortably tight. You'll slightly start to gain more weight, and slowly, but surely, the baby bump will begin to grow.

The baby: Your baby is finally starting to look more like a baby than a tadpole. The face is beginning to look more human-like, and the 'tail' from the developing of the spinal cord has disappeared, and fused into the spinal column. Your baby now has discernible fingers and toes, which will explain the steady stream of kicks and punches that you'll feel later down the road. The vital organs; the kidneys, the intestines, the brain, and the liver are all in place now, and they'll begin to function, but will still continue to develop. The baby is now at the size of a kumquat - about 1 1/4 inches long, and weighs 4 grams - less than a quarter of an ounce. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size - nearly 3 inches.

At Emma and Killian's, midnight:

The dream would start out as it always did;

The sky above her was a beautiful sunset, gradient with orange, pink, purple and yellow. In front of her a beautiful, and great jade-green Chinese palace stood. She would be standing outside at the entrance. Turning around, she was faced with the most magnificent sight she had ever seen. A valley spreading far out as her eyes could see. Laughter and happiness filled the air around the small village she could see, but then, the dream would change to almost nightmarish scenarios. The beautiful sunset above her would turn into a blood red night. Around her, people surrounded her. They were crying for her to help them, and she would ask what they needed. She would never get the answer, instead someone from the crowd would give her a small bundle in her hand, when opening her hands to see what it was given to her, a golden, but broken bird was lying in her hands.

And then she would wake up.

The dream that had appeared now had been the same appearing in her sleep for the last two week, but she couldn't help feeling that she was missing something important from that dream, or vision if you will, and it would show after the mechanical bird was given to her, but she would always wake up before that.

Night had fallen upon the small town in Maine hours ago, and though there had been yet another robbery in Storybrooke, the night was calm, and both Emma, and Killian were lying in their bed, having David on the shift for the night.

Emma sat up slightly, careful not to wake Killian up. Taking a deep breath, she ran her hand across her face, and took of her covers. Even though it was in the middle of the night, and the recent days had been hell with her usual sickness, but also now with a case that included two robberies and one attack on her, Emma knew that falling asleep now would be quite the challenge, and she would be tired as hell the next day. The warmth of early June was coming through, and the heat certainly didn't help either.

Slowly, she swung her legs from the bed and onto the wooden floor, and slowly stood up, and went to the bathroom. She wasn't sick, but she needed just a moment to collect herself.

After letting the cold water running enough for her to wash her face, but silent enough to avoid waking Killian, she splashed some water onto her forehead and rubbed her face. Letting the water run, she leaned onto the sink, and looked at herself in the mirror. Even though it was still dark, it was light enough for her to find her way around, and get a somewhat good look at herself through the reflective glass.

Letting her head drop, she lost herself deep in thought; The dream would always leave her in this state after it would wake her up. What did it mean? Was it yet another vision of the future? The dream was far as troubling as the visions about Gideon she had before the final battle, but it was still somewhat worrying.

She stopped the water, and lightly dried her face with the towel hanging by the mirror. Slowly she went back to bed, and silently laid back down again. She took a deep breath, and tried to fall back asleep which wasn't successful at all. She tried to lie on both sides, then on her back, then on her stomach, but nothing helped!

Groaning in frustration she gazed towards her husband. He was fast asleep lying on his side towards her, not sensing a thing. Smiling slightly, she reached over, and gently caressed his cheek, carefully not to wake him while she caressed her stomach with her other hand.

She knew she should tell him. They had long ago agreed on not keeping any secrets from each other, or at least, secrets that even unintentionally would harm one another.

Taking her hand back, she simply just laid there, watching him as she caressed her stomach with her other hand. Her little family, and how he was going to be the perfect father, she thought to herself as she took back her hand, and looked up towards the ceiling, taking a deep breath again, and closed her eyes.

As she was slowly drifting back to sleep, she couldn't decided whether it was in her mind, or not that she could hear a bird singing so beautifully that it calmed her down enough for her to slowly drifted her off to a peaceful, and dreamless sleep.

At the Charmings, Sunday morning:

After having fed the horses, and letting them out in their paddocks, Snow had just went inside, and had got out of her morning shower when she heard the sounds of Neal beginning to wail. Knowing that David had been up all night on shift, she quickly dried herself, got dressed, and took Neal up, cradling him, and humming to him while she carried him out to their bathroom to change his diaper.

"There, all cleaned up. I guess the prince is hungry now?" She whispered to him, smiling brightly as the baby laughed right back at her as if he understood her perfectly. "I guess that big sister is showing her genes right through you, mister," she told the baby as she lifted him up after changing him, and slowly went downstairs.

"So, what is the prince up to now?" Snow asked her son when she was finished feeding him with her own homemade oatmeal baby porridge. Neal began bumping in his seat as he began wailing again though he had just been fed, and Snow could tell that he was still tired. "Alright then, come here," she whispered, and lifted him up after putting his small bowl, and spoon in the dishwasher.

While giving Neal his outerwear on, Snow cringed as he was still fussing a bit, and she tried her best to calm him down as she put on her own coat. "Shh, shh, honey," she shushed him, and hoped that David wasn't disturbed in his sleep by the sounds. As she was about to go outside with him, Neal began wailing even more, and she feared that his cries could be heard even from the outside. Quickly, she made her decision, and grabbed the babylift, and laid him in, and tucked him in the small blue cover. That made him calm down a bit more, but his cries was still loud, and Snow grabbed the handles, and the carriage, and went outside to the car. A car ride, and a walk in the park would be for this morning walk, and then breakfast at Granny's, she decided.

It was still early in the morning, and the sun shone brightly through the trees in the park by the pond. The dew left drops on the grass, and when shone upon, it looked like small diamonds glinting in the ground.

Walking along the dirt pathway with Neal in the baby carriage. Snow breathed in the fresh air of the morning as she closed her eyes for a bit. Neal was almost falling asleep again, was only making small noises.

Despite the surrounding areas at their farm was beautiful in the morning as well, Snow would always love the calming sensation the small pond brought upon her. The water was completely still. It reflected the trees beautifully, and only a few ducks broke the picture as they came swimming by to see if she would have something for them to eat. Stopping up, she laughed a bit at the sight of them. "Sorry, guys," she called out to them, laughing again when she got some quacks in return.

She stood there for a while, enjoying the view. Her gaze caught a white bundle out in the pond, and she realized, she was staring at a beautiful mute swan as it lifted its head out of the water, and gazed towards her. Snow couldn't help, but awe at the sight as it spread its wings out, and stretched them by flapping them out in the air. The majestic waterfowl collected its wings again, and began swimming towards her slowly, hissing at the ducks on its way.

Snow didn't know if it was going to attack her, and became a little unsure in whether to keep standing, but the swan simply just looked at her as it neared her, and inspected her to see if the human was of any danger, but then it turned around, and slowly swam back.

Breathing out relieved, Snow looked down towards Neal to see that he finally was fast asleep again. Snow looked at the clock on her phone, and could see that Granny's would first open in an hour from now.

Snow considered for a moment if she should just go home, and make some breakfast for both David, and her instead of waiting. She was about to turn around to walk back towards her car when a figure sitting on the bench on the other side of the bond caught her eyes. Snow glanced between the road back to the parking lot, and the woman sitting on the bench with her own bundle in her arms. Making her decision, Snow turned the carriage, and began walking around the pond.

"Good morning," Snow called out as she neared the red-headed woman, and smiled when Zelena looked up, and greeted her back. "So, I can see I'm not the only one who got up early today?" Zelena asked kindly, and patted the seat beside her for Snow to sit down after she had parked the carriage beside the bench. "Apparently not. His Highness decided to make quite a fuss this morning, so to avoid waking up daddy, we came by here," Snow explained as she sat down, and looked towards baby Jade in Zelena's arms. "Oh, she's growing so much," Snow whispered, and reached out to nuzzle the baby girl's cheek. "Yeah, and she's making her mommy quite busy," Zelena answered, and smiled at Snow's gesture.

A small awkward silence filled the air as both women sat in silence. Snow was looking out at the view of the pond, and Zelena cradling her baby, and it seemed like none of them knew what to say.

"So, is there anything new about the robbery the other night?" Zelena asked, breaking the silence. Snow shook her head shortly to get out of her small trance, and blinked a few times to let the question sink in. Leaning back, she crossed her arms; "both no, and yes, it depends how you look at it. It appears that nothing was stolen from Geppetto's shop, but they haven't been able to find the thieves," Snow explained. Nodding, Zelena bit at her cheek, "I see," she muttered, and went her attention back towards Jade. "It was quite the night, though," Zelena commented as she looked up from her now sleeping baby. "Oh, don't remind me," Snow sighed while scratching her forehead, and closing her eyes tightly. Spending almost the entire night last weekend by Emma's side as the after effects from the pepper spray showed was not something Snow wanted to repeat any time soon.

"It's still weird though, and there hasn't been a single trace from them?" Zelena asked turning her attention back towards Snow. "There actually was one at Rumple's shop. They found a pink scarf, and David took it back to the station, but it was lost at Killian's hospital room the day after," Snow explained looking back at the redheaded woman.

"Emma made out the voices of two males, and one female of the four from Geppetto's shop, before the attack, so that's a minor trace, I guess," Snow shrugged before continuing; "all we know is that they want to duplicate a magical object. What it is, we have no idea, and even Geppetto doesn't have a clue of what they needed from his shop," Snow explained further which made Zelena raise her eyebrows a bit in surprise. "It seems weird though. This town had faced far more threatening situations before, including me, so it seems quite weird that a bunch of teenagers are able to set the whole sheriff's department on standby," Zelena commented as she looked towards Snow again after gazing at little Jade.

"I hear you, but things haven't been going smoothly for them either. First David, and Killian were sick, then Killian broke his foot, and is still in the healing process, and now, Emma is pregnant," Snow listed, smiling brightly at the last mention. "Aren't you worried? I mean being attacked with pepper spray is one thing, but they could have done far worse, and still can as they seem to be pretty offensive," Zelena wondered a bit worried as she looked at Snow.

Snow had to mentally pinch herself on the arm. Zelena asking about that, and with that tone just seemed so unfamiliar, but incredibly touching at the same time. What a progress that woman had made. Collecting herself quickly, Snow closed her eyes for a moment and nodded; "of course I am, I mean, what kind of mother wouldn't? She has been very tired lately as she's still battling her morning sickness, and this case here is certainly not helping either, but at the same time I know that she wouldn't stand for someone to take over for her, so I don't know, honestly" Snow told her, and stared out in the air as she thought about it.

"It's weird though. It seems it was only days ago that I wouldn't have doubted in revenge on Emma after speeding up my pregnancy, but now I see that back then she was actually saving Jade. I guess when I became a mother, and got to take care of Jade, I just understood right away the unconditionally love that you have for your child, and you would give up anything for it," Zelena explained as she cradled her sleeping baby. Snow only nodded along, it wasn't easy hearing people openly admitting that they wanted to hurt her daughter, but at Zelena's last part she only smiled, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Do you feel alone here?" Snow asked suddenly, knowing she was changing the subject, and getting quite intimate with Zelena.

Zelena shot her gaze back into Snow's at that question, and was about to snap back, but when she saw the honest concern in Snow's gaze, she leaned back, and took a deep breath; "Kind of," she admitted, and sighed a little; "I mean, with the wedding coming up, I can't help but feel that both Regina, and Robin are 'leaving' me. Not that I don't want them to be happy, I do now, but still.." Zelena trailed of as she tried to explain; "I know what I did to them, and to everyone here was terrible, and I know they have somewhat forgiven me enough for them to have Regina opening her home for me instead of that abandoned house, but still...I can feel the way people are staring at me like I'm still a villain even though I'm literally powerless," Zelena explained further, and looked out in the air.

Snow only nodded along, listening as the woman beside her opened up.

"I don't know if I will ever fit in here, I mean, I have done horrible things to a lot of people here. Even you! Heck, I stole your baby when he was just born," Zelena spoke out more loudly as if she just realized that.

"Trust me, I know, and thinking back, I just remember thinking that it apparently would be my curse. That I would never have more than a few minutes with my newborn children before they were taken away from me," Snow answered, and looked towards Zelena, and grabbed her arm; "but I still mean what I said the other night, before we were interrupted by the robbery. I believe that people can change, and they should have the chance. My own, grown up daughter helped me realize that, and as I said that night: look at me! Here I am helping the same woman, who had spent centuries trying to get rid of me, with her wedding! And now we are really, really good friends as is she with a lot of the same people she considered enemies years back. Everyone has their expiring date for their crimes, and so do you, Zelena," Snow explained, and smiled dearly at Zelena as she could see tears glistening in the redheaded woman's eyes.

"If you feel alone, Zelena, don't hesitate to come by, and talk. Our home will always be open for you," Snow assured, and gave Zelena's arm a soothing squeeze. "T-thank you," Zelena whispered back honestly, and tried to calm herself down by breathing slow. Sensing the air was getting a little tense, Snow decided to lift it up again; "so, Granny's should be open now, and I'm starving! You want to come along? Breakfast is on me," Snow smiled at Zelena, and stood up to look inside of Neal's carriage to see the baby was still sleeping.

"What about your husband?" Zelena asked smirking a little when she got up as well, and put Jade in her carriage. "Either he can come if he's awake, or he will have to figure it out himself," Snow winked at her before both women began walking alongside each other, pushing each baby carriage in front of them.

Zelena smiled widely as she for the first time felt the power of a strong friendship slowly blooming.

At the station, before lunch, same day:

Ever since arriving to the town, and being face with the one crazy event after the other, including a trip to the Underworld, Killian knew to expect the unexpected here, and even with that in mind, Killian still caught himself in lifting his eyebrows, and feeling his eyes go wide as a pink scarf landed in front of him. Looking up, his eyes widened even more when he saw the person in front of him.

"Bloody hell, lass," he finally spoke out shocked as he looked at the younger girl.

"I-I need to talk to you," Violet finally let out as she felt a little bit of tension leave her. Ever since the night with the attack on Emma, Violet had felt a guilt so deep, and yesterday she had yet another broken down in front of her father, so today she knew she had to confess, regardless of who was on the shift today.

Killian had to shake out the shock before he sat up. There was no doubt. This was the very scarf that they had lost five weeks ago, and now it was back, but with an very unexpected owner.

He gestured for Violet to sit down, and stood up to close of the doors to the office to give them some privacy in case someone came in.

Sitting back down, he decided to take it easy with the young girl. She was clearly nervous and slightly shaken, and he could sense the innocence she hold despite the pink fabric being hers. Leaning over the table, he folded his hands and nodded at Violet for her to explain.

Violet had to clear her throat a couple of times before she began explaining the same way that she told her father at the night two weeks ago. About what she had told Mei, about what seemed to be a setup, and what she knew so far about Mei's situation and how it was possible that it was all connected.

"-, and I tried to tell you and other people besides my father for a long time, but I don't know, either I got interrupted, or the environment for talking about something like that wasn't right. I'm so sorry for having kept this all this time, and I feel like it was my fault the other night with Emma being attacked by them, if I had known what they were capable off -." Violet stopped in her speech as Killian interrupted her by holding his hand op. Violet obeyed immediately and stayed silent.

"I think I have heard enough, lass," Killian spoke out, and laid his hand down on, and Violet had to sink a huge lump. Was he going to arrest her? Maybe it had been a stupid idea coming to the one of the sheriffs like this, and not have a backup like Henry, or her father. Oh, dear, Henry! She hadn't told him! What was she going to do if -.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Killian clearing his throat. "Allright, listen, Violet," he began and sat back as he could sense the young girls fear, and he wanted to show her that there was nothing to fear.

"While I must say that should've indeed told us what was going on, I can also understand that fear of committing something you regret deeply, and fearing the outcome when telling people about it. Trust me, I have been there, a lot people in this town has, and I certainly don't blame you for what happened the other night. Could it have been prevented if you had told us? Probably, but who knows? The most important thing is that you, my lady, has certainly given us a very strong clue on a case that we have been bothered with for weeks now," he told the young girl, and smiled at her as he could see her relax a bit more.

"You're free to go, lass, I'm not going to hold you back, but I will ask you for the address of this Mei-girl, and her family, and me, Emma, and David will take it from there," he told her, and handed her a piece of paper and a pen for her to write things down, which she did immediately.

Violet could not quite comprehend how easily this had been. She was sure that she would have been in way bigger trouble. Killian watched the young girl, and it was almost like seeing himself when he had faced David not long ago after waking the Charmings up from their sleeping curse. He smirked a bit of the small flashback, and decided to give the young girl some words on the way. Clearing his throat as he received the paper, and looked at the young girl who still sat on the chair, clearly unsure of what to do or say;

"Violet, listen. It's not that long ago that I was faced with the very same dilemma, and if there's something that I learned from that is that in this world there two kinds of secrets. There are the ones that makes you happy, and smile when thinking about them. Those are the ones yous should keep, but those that make your stomach hurt, and keeps you awake at night are the ones you should talk to others about, and by coming here like that, and alone, I can tell that you haven't told close people like Henry yet, and I highly suggest that you do, and I'm 100% sure you'll have his support. Don't worry about Emma, and David, I will tell them for you," he told her, and winked at her to tell her that everything was allright.

Nodding, she bit her lip, and looked at him. "Thank you, Killian, I will, I promise," she assured him, and stood up. Killian stood up as well, and opened the door for her, and went out after her, and said his goodbyes before closing the front door after her, and went back to his seat in the closed of office.

While he knew that he should contact both Emma, and David right away, he wanted to sit for a moment, thinking about the situation, and how to break the news to them, especially Emma.

Lately, she had been very tired, and sick. He had been told by Dr. Whale, after a check up on his healing foot that the tiredness, and the mood swings he was faced with recently, were all natural parts of the pregnancy, and that Emma should get used to take things more easy as high stress could be dangerous for both her, and the baby. Today was her day off, and he knew that she was home resting.

Making his decision, he duck his hand into his pocket, and fished out his phone to dial David's number.

At Granny's, at lunch, the same day:

"Hey, Violet!" Henry greeted happily from the middle booth as she entered the small diner. Shortly after Violet had left the sheriff's station, she had decided to come clean with Henry too, and had texted him, asking him if he could meet her at Granny's. It turned out that he was already there, but he was not alone, unfortunately.

Regina, Robin, Snow, and Zelena + kids had joined too, and Violet couldn't help but feel quite irritated. How was she going to do this now? It would be too awkward for her to ask him to talk with her outside in front of the group, and she was working desperately to come up with another plan.

"Man, I'm so hungry, can we order now that everyone's here?" Henry asked enthusiastically as he made room for Violet to sit down beside him. Everyone else at the table laughed at Henry's outburst. Violet only laughed along half-heartedly as she could feel the need to come out with her knowledge to Henry rising up, especially with what Killian told her in mind.

"Before we order, can I tell you guys something?" Violet asked out unsurely. Sensing the seriousness in the girl's tone, everyone in the booth turned silent and eyed Violet with both questioning and worried glances.

"Sure, is everything alright, sweetie?" Snow asked, and reached with her hand underneath the table to give the girl's knees a squeeze as she sat right across Violet.

"Is this about what you wanted to tell me at the other party the other night?" Zelena asked Violet quietly, and shortly had to sit back a bit when got everyone's attention in the booth. "Yes, it is, and while I was going to tell you privately, Henry, I've decided to tell everyone here now as I've just told it to Killian back at the station," she started out, and looked at Henry nervously.

"The station? My, honey, what is going on?" Regina asked, and tried to stay as calm as possible. What could a girl like Violet have gone herself into that would be so serious that she would go to the station with it? Regina feared for a moment that something had happened to the girl.

Violet cleared her throat before she began explaining the same way she had done with Killian earlier. When she was done, she looked down at her hands, too nervous to look them in the eyes.

A hand suddenly reached over behind her, and she knew it was Henry's. He grabbed her shoulder, and before she knew it, she was pulled into a somewhat awkwardly hug as there wasn't much space for them. "Thank you for telling me, for telling us," he spoke into her ear and released her again, but still hold his grip on her shoulder, and smiled at her, honestly, and just like with Killian earlier, Violet could feel herself relax even more when she got the confirmation from the others that she was not blamed.

"Thank you, I know I should have told you earlier, but -" -you didn't know how, and honestly, I think, I would have feared the same," Zelena finished of for her, and winked at the young girl to let her know that she understood perfectly, and Violet smiled back thankfully at her.

Squeezing her shoulder tightly, Henry turned to her, "listen, Violet, I have seen this family being torn apart by them keeping secrets from each other time, and time again, and what I have learned from them is that the most hurtful is when they had to find it out themselves, and I'm truly proud of you for telling us all," he told her, and rubbed his hand on her shoulder before taking his arm back.

Nodding her thanks to everyone as they each told her that there was nothing to worry about, Violet felt so safe among them, and made everyone laugh when she finally looked at Henry and asked, "should we order then?"