Her Name Is Emma

Two months later David was completely frustrated and going out of his mind. He had exhausted all the resources he had. It was as if Mary Margaret Blanchard had dropped off the planet. No cell phone, credit cards, or any large purchases in her name came up. No applications for driver's licenses, identification cards, or car registrations could be found in any of the fifty states. He had called in a favor and gotten a detective friend of his to go with him to check out her apartment, and just like Kathryn had told him, all of her belongings were still there, including her purse with her ID and all of her credit cards, but they could find no clues to her whereabouts.

It was the first day of school and Mary was almost as nervous as she had been her first day of teaching just out of college. She told herself that she was being ridiculous. She had five years of teaching experience and kids were the same everywhere. She just wanted things to go well. She rubbed her hands across her belly. She needed them to go well for her baby girl, her little Eva.

She still missed David and occasionally got caught up in daydreaming that things had been different, but she has had some happy moments here in Storybrooke. That was something she wasn't sure she would find again. In less than two months the people of this small town have befriended her and made her feel at home. She found a loft apartment that she could actually afford on a teacher's salary. Ruby helped her to furnish it, and it turned out quite nice. She went to dinner several nights a week with friends that were beginning to feel more like family the way they took care of her and worried about the baby. It was really everything she'd always wanted...well almost.

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone at the door delivering flowers. "Mary Swan?"

"Yes."

"These are for you." He handed her a large arrangement of mixed wildflowers.

She took them from him, "Thank you, they are beautiful." He nodded and left. Mary picked up the card - Hope your first day isn't too "wild" ~Victor.

Mary sighed out loud. Dr. Whale had been hinting about the possibility of asking her out, after the baby was born of course. She was a little creeped out about it considering he was her doctor, and she was currently carrying someone else's baby. But she hadn't emphatically told him no. How was she supposed to tell him she was still in love with her baby's father, and probably always would be? Especially when everyone in town thought she was a victim of domestic abuse by said father.

Before she had time to contemplate it too much, the bell rang and twenty ten year olds came rushing in. Here we go she thought as she put on her best smile. "Hello class, I'm Ms. Swan."

Thomas put his hand on David's shoulder, "You really shouldn't be here."

They were standing in Mary Margaret's apartment, or more accurately her former apartment, since the building owner had gotten a court ordered eviction for non-payment of her lease. Officially the sheriff's office was in charge of the removal of her belongings, but David wanted to be here. He wanted to protect her stuff. It made him feel like he was doing something for her.

"I have to be here. The least I can do for her is to make sure everything gets packed up and stored properly."

"David, she's gone. You understand that right? It doesn't make sense for you to pay for a storage facility. She is not coming back for anything here."

"I can't believe that. I have to believe that she's coming back. She's carrying my baby, Thomas. She will come back."

"Only she thinks that Kathryn is also carrying your baby. She doesn't know it's not true. She probably assumes you two are married by now. She doesn't know that you even know about her pregnancy. She doesn't know that she has anything to come back for."

David looked up at his friend, who was looking at him with such pity and sadness, and for a second he almost broke. He almost lost hope. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw as the movers pulled something out of her hall closet.

"Do you want us to keep this?" The man held up a broken mess of brightly painted wood. David quickly moved and snatched it out of his hands.

"She kept it, he says laughing. I can't believe she kept it."

Thomas raised an eyebrow in question, "What in the world is it?"

"It's a birdhouse, and it's just reminded me of something."

He headed for her bedroom with Thomas following behind him. He was looking for the glass bird he had bought for her that day on the boardwalk. She had placed it on her bedside table that day when they got back to her place. She had said it was the perfect spot because it would catch the morning sun. He wanted it. He began to look for it everywhere. In her drawers, under her bed, her closet, everywhere.

Thomas had been watching him curiously. "David, what are you looking for? Maybe I can hep you."

He couldn't find it, but he knew she wouldn't have thrown it out. She loved it. She must have taken it with her. His hope returned. She took a little piece of him with her.

"You're right Thomas, she doesn't know there's anything to come back for, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up. I will just have to keep looking until I find her. David tucked the broken birdhouse under his arm to take with him. He was filled with such certainty that Thomas almost believed he would find her.

Mary Margaret collapsed into her chair as soon as the last student left her room. Six weeks into the school year and she was already looking forward to a break. She had been feeling off all day. I sure hope I'm not coming down with something, she thought to herself as she rubbed her hand along her belly. These last weeks of her pregnancy were turning out to be more tiring than she thought.

"Hang in there little girl, only a few weeks left," she said out loud as she continued to rub, hoping it would help the pain and unease she was feeling. She sat there for several more minutes until finally the pain seemed to subside. She stood up to prepare to go home when a sharp pain caused her to suck in her breath and double over. This didn't feel right. Her fears were confirmed moments later when she felt a trickle of wetness between her legs.

The tears started during the ambulance ride. She was so scared. The paramedic wouldn't answer any of her questions. She needed David. She didn't want to do this alone. What if something went wrong? She was in near panic by the time she got to the hospital. She leaned back and closed her eyes, willing herself to breathe deeply and calm down. She had to be strong for the baby. She imagined David next to her, holding her hand, whispering encouraging words in her ear. She could do this.

Hours later Mary was still crying, but now they had turned into tears of joy. She had already catalogued and memorized every fascinating feature of her tiny daughter. Ten strong fingers...ten adorable toes...soft pink skin...the faintest wisp of blonde hair. "Oh David, she's so beautiful," she whispered under her breath. Oh how she wished he could see her. He would be so proud. Even as a newborn, Mary could tell how much she took after him. She had her mom's eyes, and maybe her chin, but everything else was David. The baby fine strands of blonde hair, her small ears, her long fingers and toes, the perfect pink lips, all were reminders her of her father.

Ruby interrupted her thoughts before she could get too melancholy, "knock, knock... can I come in?"

"Of course."

Mary handed the baby to Ruby who gently bent down to kiss her cheek. "Hello little Eva, I'm your aunt Ruby."

"Emma."

"What?"

"Her name is Emma...Emma Ruth."

"I thought you were naming her Eva, after your mother."

"She doesn't look like an Eva. She looks like an Emma," Mary explained, while thinking of a beautiful, blonde girl she saw once in a dream.

The name change was a spur of the moment decision to feel closer to him. Emma, for the child she had dreamed of being hers and David's, and Ruth for the mother he loved. Maybe it would ease the jealousy that she couldn't quite shake knowing Kathryn's baby would grow up having David and this precious one wouldn't. She knew her jealousy was partly her own fault. She was the one who gave in to her fears and chose not to tell David about the baby. She also knew realistically a name wasn't going to make her daughter any closer to a father she would likely never meet. She didn't even know if David would have wanted her to have the name. Still, it's the only thing she had to offer Emma from her father, his mother's name. That and a small glass bluebird that she would give her when she was older and ready to hear the story of how a crash meeting and a birdhouse sparked the love that gave Mary Margaret the most precious gift of her life.

"Ok, then," Ruby interrupted her thoughts. "Hi Emma, I'm so glad to finally meet you."

Ruby looked back at Mary. "But you're the one telling Granny about the name change because she's already put Eva on her blanket."

"Mary laughed and reached out to touch Emma's cheek. "If I know Granny, one look at Emma and she would do pretty much anything for her."

"I think we are all going to have trouble with that," Ruby agreed.