Epilogue
Five months later
The new flat above the bar was practically unrecognisable from the place it had once been before the fire. It was the last part to be renovated; with the bar and the box office necessary to the day to day running of the theatre they were naturally first in line. The bathroom, Granny and Gold and Belle's rooms were in the same place as before, but Ruby's room had been knocked out to create a large open plan kitchen and living room area. The place that had been the Milliners' little garret above was now three small bedrooms and a separate bath that would be inhabited by Emma, Ruby, and Henry if Emma was still at the theatre when he required his own room. Jefferson had decided that it was time to make use of the little money he and Alice had been saving and they had moved out into their own flat. As much as Grace was sad to no longer be living in the theatre, Emma knew that her parents were relieved that she could have some semblance of normality in her life again.
It had taken a while for the theatre to be restored to its former glory, even with all the donations from the people around the town and on the Internet who had contributed to Archie's funding page. They had done a lot of the work themselves, and since their priority had been getting the shows started again so that they could reclaim income, they had very little time in which to work on the building. Now though, it was all but finished and the family was back in residence. Emma had spent the last few months living in Mary Margaret and David's spare room, and although she had never felt unwelcome there, the theatre had always felt more like home to her, and since they would finally be welcoming their own adopted child in a month or so, they would need the space. Granny and Ruby had managed to use the insurance money to rent a little place for the duration; and Belle and Gold had stayed with Marina and Bob, which had been very entertaining considering Bob's veganism and Marina's attempts to smuggle sausages into the house.
The only melancholy thing in Emma's opinion was Bae's absence. He had hung around for a few months whilst the details of the insurance were being worked out and the theatre needed his support, but come April he had left them again, itchy feet getting the better of him, and Emma was sad to see him go. They had become such good friends during their time together over Christmas, and she'd thought that perhaps they'd had the potential to be more than friends.
Emma had lived in her new room in the newly refurbished Maison Rouge for all of one week, two days, three hours, thirty-six minutes and twenty-three seconds before Henry decided that he wanted in on the action. She had finally got everything sorted for the imminent arrival the previous evening, and her waters broke at half past three in the afternoon in the kitchen, whilst she was attempting to make herself a fried egg and bacon sandwich to satisfy a particularly strong craving. Thankfully, it was a Thursday and there was no performance to worry about. However, to make matters worse, the only other people in the theatre were three men.
In their defence, Gold and David, who were putting the finishing touches to the lighting in what would be Henry's room, were perfectly calm about the whole thing. Emma had never known David be unsettled by anything and Gold was no stranger to women in labour having witnessed the birth of his own child, and they quietly took charge of the situation, something for which Emma was extremely grateful considering the reaction of the third member of the present company. Philip, usually so sensible and stoic, was doing a very good impression of a headless chicken as the four of them congregated in the kitchen, brought together by Emma's shriek.
"Shall I boil some water?" Philip asked, wringing his hands.
"Philip…"
"What about pillows?"
"Philip."
"Towels! They always say you need lots of towels!"
"Philip!"
David, who was leaning on the fridge, raised an eyebrow as Gold guided Emma to one of the chairs at the kitchen table. She was too terrified of the prospect of childbirth to be embarrassed at the wet patch that was pooling beneath her.
"Just breathe, Emma," he said. "Have you had any contractions?"
Emma took a deep breath to steady her nerves and shook her head. That was why her waters breaking had come as such a shock and caused such a torrent of profanity.
"So what should I do?" Philip asked, still wringing his hands.
"Calm down for one," Gold said gruffly. "If you keep hopping about like that I've a mind to put you on the stage doing a tapdance act." He focused his attention back on Emma. "Is your hospital bag packed?" he asked. Emma shook her head, she'd only just un-packed. "I'll put some things together for you."
Emma shook her head, grabbing his hands. "Please don't leave," she said. He was being so good to her and she was so scared, and she didn't want him to leave her alone even though she knew, practically, that David was perfectly sensible and could probably handle Philip.
"I can do it," David said. "Just tell me what to pack."
Gold pulled out his notebook and Emma made a quick list; once David left the room Philip gave a small squeak of fear.
"Right. Philip," Gold began. "You can make yourself useful too and phone the maternity ward. The number's by the phone in the bar. Ask for Cara Mallory, or if she's not available, Dawn Stephens. Say that Emma Swan's water has broken and ask if she should come to the hospital."
Philip nodded. "Cara Mallory or Dawn Stephens. Right. Got it. Ok." He stood still for a minute.
"Were you waiting for something in particular?" Gold asked politely.
"Erm, no." Philip left the kitchen with slumped shoulders and Gold rolled his eyes.
"You were very restrained," Emma said with a weak laugh.
"Well, I can't judge too much," Gold replied. "I was a wreck when Bae was born. It's a miracle that the midwives didn't sedate me too." He patted her knee. "You'll be fine. We'll get you through it. Ruby will be there, I'm sure. She's dying to be an auntie." His brow furrowed. "Where is she?"
Emma shrugged. Ruby and Granny had gone off early that morning in Archie's car, citing some kind of secret mission that only they were privy to. Before she could think too much on it, however, she felt her first contraction pull through her abdomen, and she clenched all her muscles involuntarily, screwing her eyes tight shut. She felt Gold's warm, rough hands come and cover her balled-up fists. When the pain passed she opened her eyes to find the older man's fixed on the kitchen clock above her head.
"Over?" he asked. She nodded.
"Ok." He made a note of the timings. "We'll keep note now. Don't worry, love. Remember everything that Cara told you."
Emma nodded, trying to remember her midwife appointments and pre-natal classes that Granny and Ruby had steadfastly attended with her. In the midst of the panic of it actually happening, she was having trouble remembering her own name, let alone how to breathe through her contractions.
"Cara wants to know if your waters broke with a gush or a trickle?" Philip rushed into the room, the cordless phone cradled against his neck.
"Gush," Emma managed. Philip relayed this into the phone and listened carefully before making a few noises of assent and closing the call.
"Cara says to go in. She's getting a room ready now. She's got a feeling that this might be a quick one."
The words didn't reassure Emma at all.
"All right then," Gold said. "Let's get you some dry clothes and go to the hospital."
David came back into the kitchen with an overnight bag and a couple of pillows, and the stuffed penguin that Ruby had won for her friend at the fair a month prior. Gold appraised him of the latest developments, and that talked quietly for a couple of minutes.
"Emma," David said, coming over and sitting in the seat that Gold had just vacated. "As it stands, Gold or I will come to the hospital with you; the other's going to stay here and let everyone else know what's going on and hold the fort."
Emma risked a glance at Philip. In his current state she didn't trust him to take charge either.
"We can't really wait for Alice and Belle relying on the vagaries of public transport and we don't know where Ruby and Granny have gone, but if you want another woman with you, we can call Mary Margaret or Astrid, or someone. None of them would mind."
Emma shook her head. She was closest to Gold and David, and she trusted them to take care of her. Gold was practically family, and David had been keeping an eye on her ever since she'd had to move out of the theatre. She looked over at Gold, seeing how calm he was with her now compared to how skittish he had been all those months before when she had first come to the theatre.
"Will you come, please?" she asked.
Gold gave a twitch of a smile.
"Of course. Let's get going. Philip, you're with us."
"Me?" Philip squeaked.
"I'll need someone to drive," Gold pointed out.
"Drive?" Philip repeated, his voice still the same falsetto.
"Unless you'd rather time Emma's contractions and offer her various parts of your body to crush?" Gold asked mildly. "I'd rather not have to concentrate on both. Besides, she might need a strong, chivalrous young man to lean on."
"Right…" Philip sounded as if he was going to faint, and Emma sniggered.
"Are you all right with that?" Gold asked her as he handed her off her chair and they left the room. "I can send him home again as soon as we get in."
Emma shook her head.
"It's ok, just as long as he doesn't keel over. Mind you, he might wake up to find lots of pretty young midwives nursing him."
Gold snorted, and waited outside her room whilst she changed her sodden leggings and knickers. She'd just managed to get herself decent again when another contraction started.
"Gold!"
He poked his head around the door and looked at his watch.
"Nine minutes," he said. "Nothing imminent, don't worry."
Emma nodded. She knew she didn't have anything to worry about yet, but all the same, she was still scared.
When the pain had passed, she stood up a little shakily and she and Gold made their way down to the little yellow VW. Philip was waiting with Emma's baggage, and Gold handed him the keys with a raised eyebrow, a look that plainly said 'one scratch and you're dead'. David came out after them and gave her a hug.
"I've just started ringing round," he said. "Ruby and Granny are going to meet you at the hospital. You'll be great, don't worry."
Emma nodded and got into the car a little awkwardly. Gold put his arm around her in a friendly grip and she leaned against his shoulder. Everything was going to be fine. Her family would see her through.
X
Philip got them to the hospital without incident, and he seemed to have resigned himself to the role of bag carrier. Emma squeezed Gold's free hand and he returned the pressure. If he and Belle ever had a baby together, Emma thought, Belle would be in excellent hands.
"Emma Swan," she said to the receptionist of the maternity unit. "My midwife is Cara Mallory."
"Ah yes, Cara told us to expect you. And this is?" she asked, looking Gold up and down and frowning at him. "Your birth partner is listed as a Mrs Diana Lucas."
Emma felt a sudden surge of anger. Ok, so they weren't a conventional family by any manner or means, but they were as close as any other.
"I'm…"
"He's my father," Emma snapped.
"Name?"
"Erm." Emma stumbled. For all she'd been part of their lives for so long, she still didn't actually know Gold's name other than 'Rum', which she assumed, since only Belle used the moniker, was an injoke.
"Raymond Gold," he said. "Mrs Lucas has been held up so I've brought Emma in instead."
"Emma! There you are."
Cara came down the corridor towards them, beaming, with Dawn trotting along behind her.
"Come with me, I've got a room all ready for you. Thank you, Imogen, I'll take it from here."
She plucked the papers form the receptionist's hands and motioned for Emma to come with her.
"God, that woman's a piece of work," she muttered. "I've reported her twice but she's still here. Honestly, the last thing an expectant mother in labour needs is the Spanish Inquisition about which kind soul brought her in."
Emma wasn't paying much attention to Cara's words, and she looked at Gold.
"Raymond?" she said. "Seriously?"
"Where do you think 'Rum' comes from?" he asked with a little smile.
"I don't know, I suppose… I'm pregnant and I won't be for much longer, I'm allowed to be incredulous!"
"Of course you are."
Philip put Emma's bag down in the corner of the room.
"I'll just… I'll go and get a coffee," he finished lamely.
"Thanks Philip," Emma said. "You're a hero."
The young man's chest puffed out in pride.
"I'll show you the coffee machine!" Dawn said eagerly.
"That would be great."
Emma would swear forever after that Dawn's obvious interest made Philip turn bright red, and Philip would forever after deny it, but Emma knew a not-quite-love-but-certainly-attraction at first sight moment when she saw it, and this was one. The trainee and the unexpected chauffeur left the room together and Cara rolled her eyes.
"Well, that's them out of the way. You get changed and get yourself comfy and I'll come back in a couple of minutes and examine you."
As they were unpacking from the bag - David had packed well - Emma looked over at Gold.
"Hmm. Raymond doesn't suit you. I'm still going to call you Gold."
"Well, everyone else does." Gold sat down in the chair beside the bed and stretched out his leg. "Just let me know if I can do anything,"
"Just don't go," Emma pleaded. When she had first found out that she was pregnant, the idea of giving birth without a hand to hold was one of the most terrifying thoughts she'd had. Of course, she still had several other terrifying thoughts, but at least she knew that this one was not going to come to pass.
Cara returned and after an uncomfortable examination, proclaimed her four centimetres dilated.
"With any luck, you'll be holding Henry before midnight," she said cheerily.
"Midnight!" Emma exclaimed. "You said it was going to be quick!"
"Some women spend over two days in labour," Gold mused. "Eight and a half hours is lightning speed compared to Bae. Seventeen hours ten minutes, and his mother almost dislocated my thumb."
"On the other hand, you might speed up," Cara said. "I had one lady once who went from first contraction to holding the baby in just over three hours. I'll get you some pethidine for the pain and if you want any gas, just let me know. Now it's just a waiting game, but at least it gives Granny and Ruby time to get here."
Emma looked down at her bump angrily. "Will you hurry up in there?" she hissed to Henry. "You're five days early so it's obvious you're in a hurry to get out, you can't start hanging about now!"
Gold gave a snort of laughter and Emma glanced over at him.
"Never change, Emma," he said.
"I'll try not to." She paused, and gave a laugh herself. "Sorry, I was just thinking about my first morning at the theatre and the second time we met, and you were only wearing a towel. And now here we are, seventh months later, and I'm the one not wearing underwear."
Gold raised an eyebrow. "Yes, funny how these things come around."
"We've come a long way since then." Emma rubbed her stomach, grimacing as another contraction hit and grabbing Gold's offered hand, not letting go until the pain had passed. "All of us," she finished eventually. "You know, I'm seriously wondering how long Ruby will still be living in the theatre for. She and Archie have been going steady for a while now."
"Yes. It's good to see her spreading her wings," Gold said. "The theatre means so much to her and it always will, but I think that Granny was beginning to get worried that it would consume her entire life and she would feel like she couldn't move on."
"Yeah." Emma sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
"You can stay for as long as you want to," Gold said. "You and Henry can stay forever if you want. Don't feel that this is me trying to get rid of you, far from it. I just want you to know that you don't have to feel indebted to us if you want to spread your own wings when the time comes."
"I like living in the theatre. I've never felt safer than when I'm in there."
Gold smiled. "That's a sentiment I can well understand," he said. "I hope that you continue to feel safe here."
Emma nodded. "Yeah. Henry's going to love it."
"We'll have him running the spotlights before you know it. Philip can take him up the lighting gantries, he'll be fine."
"Provided Philip's not fainted in the waiting room," Emma pointed out.
"Oh, I don't think we'll need to worry about that." Gold chuckled. "I think Dawn will be taking excellent care of him."
"Indeed," Cara said dryly. "Well, that would certainly be a story for their grandkids. So how did you meet? Well, we were in hospital after I fainted and hit my head on the coffee vending machine in the maternity unit and then ended up in A&E."
"Yes, at least if he does inadvertently injure himself he's in the best place," Gold mused. The three of them in the room fell into silence for a while, Emma trying to anticipate her next contraction and using the time to count the ceiling tiles in the room.
"Well," Cara said presently. "I'm glad that's all come to a satisfying conclusion."
She was holding up the copy of the Storybrooke local paper that she'd been perusing, and the headlines were showing the results of the mayoral election. Since coming under new editorship in the wake of Sidney's incarceration, the paper had suddenly become a lot more sympathetic to the theatre and had started hosting adverts for the show free of charge.
"Yes, I think Kathryn's up to the job," Gold said. "She's got a sensible head on her shoulders and she's a friend to us without being too closely involved. A nice, happy balance."
The town had rallied around the theatre now, and there was no longer the same stark divide between them that there had been encouraged by Regina and Fae. Although Regina had escaped prosecution for her part in the accident, the incident had cast enough of a cloud over her reputation that she had vanished from the town, giving up her post and leaving quietly. No-one had really realised that she had gone, until Kathryn had casually announced that she was running for mayor and Ruby had almost dropped the bar's new ice bin on Granny's foot in shock at the revelation.
Emma's thoughts came full circle to Granny and Ruby. Where were they? It was almost two hours since everything had kicked off, and if they didn't get a move on then Emma was worried that they were going to be too late. Still staring at the ceiling, she wondered if she could try and doze off to save her strength for the hard part later, but then the contractions kept coming, putting paid to any chance of respite.
"Where's Granny?" Emma gave an exclamation of frustration. Granny always gave the best back massages when Henry was being particularly trying, and she needed the older woman's firm hands more than ever now. It wasn't that Cara didn't know what she was doing, far from it, but it just didn't feel right.
"She's on her way, love," Gold said. It was supposed to be reassuring, she knew, but the fact that she had been on her way for so long and had still not arrived was beginning to worry her. Emma had visions of Archie's car careening off the road and into the sea as he drove frantically to try and get Ruby and Granny to the hospital in time, and when she heard the wail of an ambulance siren outside she began to think that her terrible imaginings had come true.
"Breathe, Emma," Cara said soothingly as the machine monitoring Henry's heartrate spiked. "You're making Henry worried."
"I want Granny," Emma mumbled. Cara smiled and squeezed her shoulder.
"I'll go out and see if she's in the waiting room. Maybe there's been a mix-up, or the receptionist's decided to be a pain in the posterior again. Gold's still here to keep you company."
Considering that Emma had not let go of his hand for the past twenty minutes, it wasn't likely that he would be going anywhere fast, not that he could move all that fast at the best of times. Cara had only just stepped outside the room when Emma heard her voice exclaiming: "There you are! I was coming out on a search and rescue mission!"
The door opened again and Granny and Ruby rushed inside; Emma didn't think that she'd ever been so relieved to see two other people in her life before, and she finally let go of Gold to accept Granny's warm hug.
"I'm sorry love, the traffic's been a nightmare. Still, we're not too late, and I'm sure that Gold's been taking good care of you."
Emma nodded. "I'm not sure he has any feeling left in his hands though."
"I've survived worse predicaments," Gold said with a laugh.
There were a few minutes of kerfuffle as Ruby and Granny got themselves settled, Gold took his leave of them and went to see if he could prise Philip away from Dawn long enough to get the car keys, and Cara examined Emma again. Things were progressing steadily, and all they could do was wait.
X
Henry Swan came into the world at one minute to midnight on the last day of May, weighing in at seven pounds seven, with a hearty pair of lungs on him and a full head of hair, and Emma had not been able to stop crying with happiness for about half an hour afterwards.
It was the small hours of the morning; Ruby and Granny had gone to get some early breakfast in the cafeteria and Emma was enjoying some peace and quiet, exhausted but completely unable to sleep, unwilling to miss a moment with her son. Henry had been weighed and measured and cleaned up a bit, wearing a blue bobble hat on top of his shock of dark hair, and Emma didn't think that she ever wanted to put him down again. He was hers, and he was absolutely perfect. Whilst she couldn't give him everything that she'd never had, and she would probably never be in a position to, she knew that she could give him love, and that was a big step towards making up for her own childhood.
There was a knock on the door and Emma looked up from Henry's face.
"Come in," she called, expecting Cara to come around the door. Her jaw dropped when she saw who her visitor actually was.
"Bae?"
He nodded. "The one and only."
"What are you doing here? Wait, no, that makes it sound like I'm not happy to see you, which I am. But I thought you'd gone to Peru?"
"I had. Then I realised that I didn't actually want to be in South America any more, and where I actually wanted to be was, well, home. I missed everyone." He paused. "I missed you."
Emma smiled. "I missed you too."
There was a long silence, and then Emma realised that Bae was still waiting in the doorway, and she waved him over to sit beside her.
"How did you get here?" she asked.
"I drove. I swear, Philip did something weird to the gearstick when he brought you here, it almost came off in my hand."
"No, I mean to Storybrooke," Emma said. "None of us knew you were coming. Well, I don't think your dad did. He's not that great at hiding his enthusiasm when you come home."
"No, he didn't know. It was meant to be a surprise for him. Only Granny and Ruby and Archie knew. That was what they were doing this afternoon, coming to collect me from the airport."
"They were acting a bit cagey when they came in," Emma mused.
"Then, of course, this one decided to make an appearance and ruin my entrance." Bae grinned and peered over at Henry. "He's fantastic, Em."
Emma beamed. "I know he is."
They sat in companionable silence for a while, and then Emma spoke again.
"So, are you home for good now?" she asked tentatively.
Bae nodded. "Yep. I think it's time to put some roots down, you know? Dad's going to teach me to follow in his footsteps in the gantries. Showing me the ropes, literally."
"I'll bet he's pleased."
"He's thrilled, won't stop going on about it."
They fell into silence again, and Bae leaned over as Henry opened his eyes with a huge yawn.
"Hey there," he said. "Welcome to the family." He touched Henry's tiny palm and watched the little fingers grip automatically, and Bae shook Henry's hand solemnly. "We'll take good care of you, don't worry. Especially your mum, she's amazing and really brave."
He looked up at Emma.
"Do you really mean that?" she asked, a lump in her throat.
Bae nodded. "Of course."
"Bae…" Emma began, not quite sure where she was going to go from there. "You're really staying for good, right? You're not going to get cabin fever and take off again in October, or whatever?"
"I'm ready to stay put now," Bae said. "I think I was ready before, but I needed to go away again to be absolutely sure that I wanted to stay, you know? But now I know. I'm sure. I've definitely got something I want to stick around for."
Emma didn't even need to ask if she was the thing he was sticking around for; it was written all over Bae's earnest face.
"I really missed you," he said. "And not in the same way that I miss the rest of the family when I travel."
Emma smiled. "Well, I'm not going anywhere."
"Neither am I."
Henry gurgled, as if to add his sentiments to the conversation, and Emma looked down at him.
"You know that Henry's not going anywhere either," she warned.
"I wasn't expecting him to," Bae replied firmly. "Like I said. He's part of the family. Your family."
Emma smiled. In the space of just a few short months she'd gone from having no family to having more family than she knew what to do with, and she wouldn't change it for the world.
She wasn't really sure who initiated the kiss, but both she and Bae were grinning like idiots when they broke away.
Life wasn't going to be plain sailing - Emma had experienced enough in her nineteen years to know that - but she had Bae, and she had the rest of the family, and moreover she had Henry. The Maison Rouge's walls were sturdy and would endure for as long as they were needed, protecting those who sought its sanctuary. She would be all right in the end.
She was home.