Snow's mind was reeling as she walked along by the harbour, trying to get her mind around the previous day's events. The fresh air had always helped to calm her, something that she had passed onto both of her children. Therefore when Belle had told her that Neal had been fussing since David had dropped him off, she knew what they both needed. The effect on Neal had been almost instant and he was now happily babbling away to himself in the buggy. Snow was glad that at least one of her children's problems could be fixed so easily. She wished she could just keep Neal this way, keep him close to her so that no-one could hurt him. Emma has experienced so much pain in her life, most of which her daughter would never tell her about. Snow wished that she could know every detail of her child's existence, but knew that that wasn't going to happen. She could only hope that Emma shared her deepest secrets with Killian, if no-one else. Snow let out a long sigh which got cut short as her eyes fell on a familiar looking vehicle. For a split second she thought it was the truck she knew so well. She shook that thought from her head and made her way towards it, noticing the pretty shoddy parking job. No, it definitely was her husband's truck. It had the same dent in the side from one of the numerous battles it had been involved in. Snow tried not to let herself get consumed with confused panic as she looked around for David. Coming up short, the queen pulled out her phone to speed-dial her husband. The few rings that it took him to answer only made her anxiety grow.
"Snow, I-" David's voice sounded how Snow felt, so she decided to get straight to the bottom of what had happened.
"David, why is your truck down by the docks?" Snow asked a little harsher than she intended to.
"What… I…" Snow heard rustling through the phone, and was about to demand an answer to her question when her other half's voice returned. "She's taken the truck." The statement was spoken quietly, as if David was talking more to himself.
"What? David who's taken the…" Snow trailed off and her heart seemed to stop all together. "Emma…?" She managed to croak out her daughter's name, hoping she was wrong.
"Snow she isn't here. I don't know where she's gone. I must have fallen asleep, I mean I did fall asleep, I woke up to your call. My keys are gone, she must have taken them. Oh god, Snow I'm so sorry. This all my-" The prince was sending himself into a frantic spiral, one which his wife couldn't let continue.
"Don't. Don't you dare say this is your fault. It's not."
"But, Snow-" Snow's heart broke upon hearing devastation in her husband's voice.
"I said stop." Snow paused to wait to see if he would continue to argue.
"What do we do now?" David sighed in defeat, although Snow knew he was still blaming himself.
"Now…" Snow blinked away the tears forming in her eyes as she tried to think clearly. "Now I find our daughter. Your truck's here, so she must be too."
"I'm on my way."
"No, you need to stay there. Just in case she comes back." Snow shook her head as her husband began to object. "Look, I know it's unlikely but we need to cover all options. Just let me try."
"Fine." David sighed. "Should I tell Hook?"
"I don't think so. He's got enough to deal with right now and he needs to be with his daughter. Hook will…" Snow heard a bird squawk and instinctively looked up, watching the creature as it landed on the sail of a ship. A ship that she knew well. The Jolly Roger. "Um David, I'm going to call you back. I think I might know where our daughter is."
"Let me know if you find her. If you don't, I'm sending help."
"Charming, she's going to be ok. Love you." Snow hoped that she sounded convincing, even if she wasn't convinced herself.
"Yeah I know. Love you too." Snow hoped she had sounded more convinced than her husband did. Hanging up the phone she leant over to check on Neal, who looked up at her with big eyes sucking on his favourite toy. She gently removed the toy from his mouth and kissed his forehead, earning her a giggle in response. Snow's heart calmed ever so slightly at the sight of her happy baby boy. After a moment, she straightened up and made her way to the Jolly Roger. Hopefully to her baby girl. Snow unstrapped her son from his pushchair and took him into her arms. Neal squealed with delight as they bordered the ship. He had been on the ship a few times before and, much to David's dismay, was always excited to spend time there.
"Mama! Mama! Luk!" Snow smiled at his enthusiasm while scanning the deck for her daughter.
"I know, sweetie." She sighed as he squirmed in her arms.
"Down pease. I wanna down, Mama!" Neal pleaded as he continued to try to free himself from her grip. His mother knew that bringing him on her own wasn't ideal, and that she'd never find Emma if he went into a full blown toddler tantrum.
"Ok, but stay where I can see you. Promise?" When Neal nodded his head in response, Snow planted a kiss to his head before reluctantly lowering him down. As she expected he was off like a shot, toddling around babbling to himself about what he could see. Snow kept an eye on him as she headed up the stairs to the wheel of the ship, thinking it would be a good vantage point. Seeing no sign of her daughter brought tears to her eyes once again and this time she couldn't stop them. She grabbed hold of wheel and tried to steady her breathing.
"Emmy!" Snow's head shot up in time to see her son making his way towards the entrance to the Captain's quarters.
"Neal. Wait for Mama." Snow wiped her eyes as she ran down the steps and to her son; who luckily decided to wait patiently for her.
"I wait Mama." Neal clapped his hands together as a sign of approval at his good behaviour.
"Thank you. You're such a good boy." Snow gushed as she picked up Neal, holding him slightly tighter than before. Her eyes widened when she remembered what her son had said. "Sweetie, what did you say about Emma?"
"Luk Mama. Is Emmy!" He turned and pointed his finger down to the room below. Snow stopped breathing as she slowly descended the steps, keeping her boy close to her chest. She let out a sob at the sight of her daughter, lying on the bed looking even paler than she did in the hospital. Emma's chest was heaving up and down, letting her family know that she was breathing. "Why she sleep? It light." She set Neal down on the bed, her heart warming as he immediately made his way to cuddle up to his older sister. Snow knelt by the head of the bed stroking her daughter's hair.
"Emma, sweetheart. Can you hear me?" Snow let the tears fall down her face as she heard her mumble incoherently. When Neal reached up and started to play with Emma's cheeks, the saviour's eyes fluttered open. Her face lit up at the sight of her baby brother cuddled up with her. The moment of bliss was short lived as her mind caught up with recent events. "Oh, Emma." She hadn't noticed her mother's presence until that point, and it caused her sit up straight.
"I…um…what are you doing here?" Emma croaked out, trying to ignore the wave of nausea coming over her.
"I could ask you the same question. Emma what were you thinking! You need to be in the hospital. You've been through a lot. You need to rest and let yourself heal." Despite her raised voice, Snow pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're ok." Snow spoke softly into her daughter's hair, rocking her back and forth.
"Emmy ok." Neal said with such conviction as he joined the hug. That was the final straw for Emma. Her little brother's presence broke through her walls like a dam bursting. She clung to her mom as the sobs came hard and fast. She was exhausted, she was terrified and she was lonely. Her need for comfort finally overcame her need to shut herself off. Emma had no idea how long they stayed like that, her mom shushing her and telling her it was ok. Eventually she felt like she couldn't cry anymore and she released herself from the hug. The loss of contact saddened her, but thankfully her mother seemed to sense this as she entwined their hands. The little boy looked up the pair with tears of his own glistening in his eyes. "Mama? Emmy? Ok?" Emma pulled him into her lap and smiled down at him.
"Yeah, baby bro. We're ok." She looked deep into his eyes and gave him a wink. He still seemed worried so she used her free hand to tickle his belly, sending him into a fit of giggles. Snow smiled at her children; she loved having them both in one place, with her to look after them. She sent a quick text off to David letting him know that she'd found Emma and that they'd take the truck back to the hospital soon.
"Ok. Ok." The little boy managed to get out in between laughs, so Emma stopped her onslaught and just held him close to her instead.
"How did you know?" Emma whispered and Snow tried not to wince at how breathless she sounded.
"That you left, or that you'd be here?" When she got no reply, Snow decided to tell her everything. "Well I saw the truck was here so I phoned your dad who told me that you were missing. He realised that his keys were missing so we worked out that you'd taken the truck. As soon as I saw the Jolly I knew this is where you would have come."
"Was pretty obvious, I guess." Emma looked up with an attempt at a smile, but it didn't anywhere near reach her eyes.
"What I don't know is why…" Snow squeezed her hand reassuringly as held her gaze. Silence fell between them for so long that a lot of people would have given up on getting an answer, but she knew her daughter.
"I… I can't be a mother." Emma looked down at Neal who had once again put his toy in his mouth. As if subconsciously she gently took it out of his mouth and grazed her lips over the top of his head. Snow smiled knowingly at the sight, her daughter's statement being contradicted by her maternal actions. She knew that wouldn't be enough to convince her. "I know what you're going to say. That I'm already a mom, Henry's mom. And he is an amazing kid… but…"
"But you didn't raise him from the beginning." Snow added softly seeing the blonde struggle for words. She reached out to cup her cheek, using her thumb to rub away a lone tear. "I get that, sweetheart, I do. More than most I think." She shot her daughter a watery smile before continuing. "Emma, do you remember what you said to me all those months ago. When you told me you were pregnant?"
Emma looked across the loft at Killian, noticing that his fingers drumming against his thigh had only gotten more intense since the llast time she checked. If she had been nervous about telling Henry, he was on a whole other level now that this day had come. The day to tell her parents. He understood that they had to, after telling Henry they only had so long until he let it slip; or wrote about it in his book for everyone to read. However he had been on edge since they woke up that morning, and Emma couldn't help think how adorable it was to see this side of the fearsome Captain Hook. Her mother snapped her out of her thoughts by asking her to get a bottle of wine for the table. She smiled when she found that her parents had got in her favourite red for the evening; trying not to be too disappointed that she couldn't have any. Shaking it off she popped open the bottle, ignoring Killian's watchful eye, and got out four glasses. She set them down on the table just as Snow called the boy's over to eat. Emma made sure to sit next to Killian, with her father sitting across from her so he was as far away from her true love as possible. She grasped Killian's hand on the table, giving him a reassuring squeeze before letting him tuck in to his meal. Snow had to contain herself from gushing at them two sharing little loving moments like that together. The four of them started eating and a gentle flow of conversation began. However Killian barely said a word and Emma didn't seem interested in having the food in front of her. David noticed that something seemed off, something tangible in the air, but he couldn't hazard a guess at what. Living in Storybrooke, it could be anything.
"So it's a shame Henry couldn't make it tonight." David mused as he finished up his meal. "It seems a lot quieter without him." Snow glanced at her husband, knowing exactly where he was going with this. "Why couldn't he come again? I mean he's never missed one of our Sunday dinners before."
"Actually… we asked him if he minded skipping this one." Emma was trying to casually approach the subject, which was proving hard with Killian's leg constantly jittering against her own.
"Why? Is something wrong? What's happened?" David went into full on Prince/Sheriff mode, ready to protect the people he cared about from whatever problem they were facing. This only made Killian shrink into his chair further, and Emma had to bite on her lip to stop the laughter bubbling up in her chest.
"No, Dad. Nothing's happened. Well nothing bad anyway. Um… you see…" All planning that she had done for this moment went out of her head, her mind blindly searching for the best way to say this. Killian grabbed her hand but didn't make any move to take over from her, not that she expected him to. Snow, in the meantime, was going through the possibilities in her head: Moving in together? Done. Getting married? No ring (also Hook would probably ask for David's permission first). Having a Baby? She looked down at Emma's glass, and saw that she hadn't even poured any for herself. And she hadn't eaten much of her dinner, so a change in appetite. Oh. My. Goodness.
"Oh, Emma!" Snow gasped as tears welled in her eyes. She clasped her hand over her mouth, silently berating herself for not letting Emma say what she wanted to say first. She couldn't help it. Her little girl was going to have another baby. "Is it true? Are you…" Emma nodded her head in response, feeling a tear slip down her cheek at her mother's reaction. Killian, however, was still on edge waiting for David.
"You're what Emma?" The prince asked cautiously, as he too checked for a ring on her finger. "Women, am I right Hook?" He chuckled as he looked over at his mate, who was doing all he could to avoid eye contact. Suddenly all of the pieces slotted together. His little girl was going to have another baby. "Please tell me the ring is at the jewellers." Killian looked as if to go to speak, but then thought better of it. David clenched his fists. A baby. Out of wedlock. With a pirate. "Hook." David repeated the moniker with much more bite, forcing the man in question to meet his gaze.
"Dad, I-" Emma reaches over to lay a hand on her father's arm, attempting to sooth him.
"Emma, don't." He didn't look at her eyes cause he knew he crumble to her wishes. Instead he kept his glare at Killian, who had always maintained eye contact. "Hook, please explain to me why-"
"Why what Dad? Why he got me pregnant? Cause that's what you're thinking isn't it? That he did this to me? Well I thought being a father of two children would have given you some inkling into how babies are made, and that it takes two to make one. We are both consenting adults who love each other and want to have a future together." Emma had gotten out of her chair and was staring down at her father.
"Emma don't get upset. I just want to make sure he'll do right by you. That this is what you truly need. That you're ready for this." David stood up so he was on level with his daughter.
"What because I wasn't last time is that it?" Emma felt tears stream down her face but she didn't care. Killian went to grasp her hand but she yanked it away. In her mind he hadn't been much help either.
"Princess, you know that wasn't-"
"Save it. We have proved time and time again that we will do anything for each other. Killian's sacrificed himself for me god knows how many times and I literally went to hell and back for him. But if all that's still not enough for you then fine. We're having a baby whatever you think so it's your choice." And with that Emma stormed upstairs, collapsing on the bed in a fit of angry sobs. Killian went to go after her but Snow laid a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back into his seat.
"David Nolan, what the hell was that?" Snow turned to her husband, who sank back into his chair under his wife's gaze.
"Look Snow, I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand. She just my little girl and I want to make sure –"
"Don't make excuses, David. Now I'm going to go and check on our pregnant daughter, while you share a drink with the father to be. Who happens to be her true love, not to mention one of your closest friends. And if you even try to give him a hard time, you will become closely acquainted with the couch indefinitely." Snow waited for him to nod shamefully in response before she got up to leave. Killian followed her to the bottom of the stairs.
"Are sure this is wise, love? He still doesn't seem best pleased and to leave us alone in the kitchen, which has a wide array of sharp objects, might not be the best idea." Killian whispered to Snow, trying not to imagine the various ways David could kill him.
"You'll be fine, Killian. My husband may be many things, but he isn't a murderer. Trust me just win him round with some of that pirate charm." And with she went upstairs to leave the men to sort it out between them. Sitting up against the headboard beside her daughter, she began to run her fingers through her hair. "You know your father is just trying to protect you right?" Snow felt Emma tense so before she could object, she continued. "And I know he was wrong, I have told him as much and I think he knows it too. Of course he doesn't have to protect you from Killian. It's just hard for any father to share their little girl with another man in her life."
"I know that, I do. But I don't see why he can't just be happy for me, for us." Emma sighed deeply as she moved her head into her mother's lap.
"Oh, sweetheart. He is happy for you, I promise." She laughed slightly at the skepticallook that was shot at her. "I know it may not seem like that right now." They sat in silence for a moment, Emma finding calmness in the embrace. "And it probably goes without saying, but I'm ecstatic about having another grandchild."
"Oh I know." Emma smiled as she sat up against the headboard, wiping away any stray tears. Snow grasped her hand, which had the saviour smiling again at the contact. "Thanks you know."
"For what, baby?" She turned to face her daughter, who decided to let that particular pet name slide for once.
"For reacting like this. For being the kind of mom who is excited to hear about their kid's lives. For just wanting me to be happy." Emma blinked back tears, she'd done enough crying already.
"You don't have to thank me for anything. I'm just hoping that I'm making up for all the times I wasn't there."
"Oh come on, we're not going there today. Ok?" Emma looked over at Snow sternly, who gave her a watery smile. "And for the record, you've already made up for that a thousand times." She left a pause, but it was clear there was more to say. "I… yeah… um… so when I found out I was pregnant… you know the first time, with Henry." Snow gave her hand a gentle squeeze, knowing how hard it still was for her talk about her past; especially her pregnancy with Henry. "Well, when I couldn't sleep… most nights actually… I used to think about how I would tell my parents. You know if I'd lived with you my whole life, and Neal was some boyfriend who knocked me up. I used to imagine what you'd say." Emma laughed in spite of herself, keeping her gaze on their joined hands. "I used to think that my dad would probably kill Neal for stealing my virtue or whatever, and be cross with me for ruining my life so young. And then my mom would come over to hold me, dry my tears and tell me that she was there for me no matter what." By this time both women had tears running down their faces, but neither bothered to bat them away. "Talk about predicting the future, right?" Emma attempted to make the atmosphere lighter but couldn't bring herself to laugh.
"Then what happened?" Snow whispered, cupping her daughter's face in her hands.
"Um… then my dad crumbled. Said he just wanted what was best for me and… and he would protect me against anything." Emma blushed as more tears fell from her eyes.
"Well I think it's time to move on to that part then." Snow smiled as she got up from the bed, wiping away her tears as she did so. However, Emma didn't move from her place. "What is it? Still angry with your father?"
"No. Well kind of, but it's not that. It's just so different this time. Before this family setup was something I concocted in my head, what I wished would happen. Now it actually has, I… I can't believe it's real."
"It's very real, sweetie. I promise you, you're not going to be left alone this time. You'll get to raise this baby with the man you love by your side and your family to support you every step of the way."
"I really need to get used to that." Emma lifted herself of the bed. "Now let's make sure Dad hasn't taken Killian's other hand." She meant it as a joke, but let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her pirate still fully intact. David jumped up as soon as her foot touched the floor and she didn't hesitate to run into his arms. Her world seemed right again the moment his hand cradled the back of her head, as it always did. He was repeatedly apologising into her hair but she didn't listen. She'd already forgiven him. She knew that this was part of being a parent. You mess up and you get things wrong, but as long as you always have your child's best interests at heart there is nothing you can't come back from.
"I say a lot of things." Emma mumbled as she set her brother down on the floor.
"You talked about how when you were pregnant with Henry, you used to dream of what it would have been like to have family there for you. And how it's different this time."
"I remember." Emma whispered, looking up at her mother's face and seeing the pure maternal love in her eyes. Up until a few years ago she never thought she would have someone look at her like that. Someone who loved her unconditionally. Now she had countless people.
"And I meant what I said. You're not alone, Emma. Not now, not ever." Snow saw a glimmer of something in her daughter's gaze. Something that made her heart leap. Amongst all of the pain and anguish was a small glimmer of hope. "Your baby girl won't be either."
"I know. She has all of you who I know care so much about her already. That's why I can…" Emma quickly stopped herself, knowing she had already said too much.
"Can what Emma?" Snow reached over to cup her daughter's face in her hands. She gasped softly as she realised what her little girl meant. "Leave? Oh sweetheart, this baby – your baby – needs you more than anything."
"But I-" Emma meekly protested.
"But nothing. Yes she has me and your father for grandparents. Yes she has Killian for a father. Henry for a brother. I'm sure Neal will be a good uncle in years to come. Yet you know what's missing? She needs a mom, Emma. She needs you."
"What if I fail her?" Emma confessed her deepest fear as fresh tears welled in her eyes.
"You won't baby. We'll be there with you every step of the way." She laid a kiss to her daughter's forehead before moving to pick up her son, who was attempting to climb up the stairs. Turning back she saw her daughter biting her lip, a nervous habit she'd had for as long as Snow had known her. "There's a little girl lying in a hospital waiting for her mommy. What say we go bring her one?" Emma's eyes widened at her mother's words and suddenly the pang she had been hiding came back in full force. Seeing her brother snuggled up to her mother, just made her ache to see her child. So much so that she could barely.
"Yeah. I'm going to meet my baby girl." Emma pushed herself off of the bed, ignoring the pain that rippled from her stomach at the movement. Taking a deep breath she followed her mother up to the deck and then off of the ship, much to Neal's disappointment. Emma promised him that they'd come back soon, her heart warming at the thought of her and Killian bringing their daughter on board the Jolly Roger. First of all she needed to get back to them, back to her family, back to her happy ending. She just hoped Killian would forgive her. Even though she knew she'd probably never forgive herself.
