The worst part is the way Killian is looking at her, concern marring his features and worry buried in his eyes. She shouldn't have fought him about getting checked out, should have just gone along with his insistence she go to the ER before returning home.
But she didn't. When she came to, the first thing she saw was the endless blue of his eyes, frantic and wide, the sound of her name being repeated in a strangled voice. The courtroom was chaos, reporters trying to take a photograph of the overcome detective, Killian savagely trying to protect her against the onslaught.
Graham and Ruby ushered her through the crowd, Killian practically holding her up. She was still wobbly from the unexpected blackout, and confused as to where to had come from.
Emma is not, has never been, the sort of woman prone to fainting spells.
Which is all the more reason why Killian fought her so hard to go to the ER. So here they are, waiting for the doctor to return to discuss test results after hours of waiting. She's exhausted, and she's tired of pacing, and the stress of the day has been enough to make her want to collapse.
She's tried convincing Killian to go home. She's tried insisting if it were anything serious they would have come back by now – or they'll call.
He's as stubborn as she's ever seen him. "I need to know all's well," is his reply, his voice low, pleading. He wants her to understand, he needs a medical opinion – not Emma's stiff upper lip – to quell the anxiety that won't leave him since he watched her crumple right before him.
He doesn't want to frighten her by putting it into words, but seeing Emma pass out in front of him is the most terrifying experience of his life. So even if they come back and tell them it was nothing more than stress, or that she had a drop in blood sugar, or any of the other routine reasons she could have blacked out, he needs to know before they go home.
Killian is positive he would never forgive himself if they left and something were to happen.
Emma jumps when the door opens, the doctor entering holding some paperwork and a smile. The smile does more for Killian than he knows, and he feels every cell in his body relax. Doctors with bad news don't smile.
"Well?" Emma's her usual no-nonsense self, her arms crossed over her chest, her weight bouncing from foot to foot with her impatience to be gone. She glances at Killian, her expression halfway between annoyed and indulgent. "Can you convince him I'm perfectly fine so we can go home?"
The doctor, a petite woman with short dark hair, smiles in a motherly fashion. Emma doesn't know what to make of the gentle expression, but then the words come.
"You're both perfectly fine. You just need to be careful with your stress levels, make sure you're eating enough."
Emma stares at the doctor, then back to Killian. "Both? He's fine. Healthy as a horse." She smacks his arm lightly with a wink, relief flooding through her. Between the nausea and the blacking out, she was a tiny bit worried Killian may have been right.
The doctor frowns, glancing at the chart and then back at the pair of them. "I'm so sorry, I thought you knew."
"Knew what?" Emma's mirth disappears in an instant, fear gripping her heart. She reaches blindly for Killian's hand, because now the doctor is frowning, and that always means bad news.
Killian is staring at the doctor like he's seen a ghost, and that isn't helping Emma's racing heart.
"Miss Swan, you're pregnant," the doctor says gently, glancing back at the chart before meeting Emma's stunned expression. "You said you've been feeling nauseous a lot lately. Well, it wasn't the stress, at least not entirely. You're about six weeks along." She glances between Emma's pale expression and Killian's look of utter shock. "I'll give you two a minute. I can give you a reference for a good OB before you go."
The woman smiles, patting Emma's arm gently before slipping away.
"Killian….I can't be…"
"Aye, well, be that as it may, the doctor says you are." He wants to grin at her, to kiss her until he can't breathe, to show her the ring he's been carrying around in his pocket for weeks, but she's so pale, and the look in her eyes isn't one of joy. So he holds his breath, threading their fingers together, and waits to see which side of the fence Emma will land on.
"But I've been taking my pills…"
He only raises his eyebrow at her, because they've been living together long enough that he's witnessed Emma's attention to detail when it comes to taking care of herself. He knows she's forgotten to take her pills – he knows because they had a conversation about it, where he asked if they should be doing something else as a result. She assured him it was fine.
"I'm pregnant." She whispers it, more to herself than anything, turning glassy eyes to face him. Her hands flutters to her still perfectly flat stomach, and the wonder and awe is slowly creeping over her expression.
It's quickly replaced by fear, and she turns her eyes to the floor. "Killian, I'm so sorry…I…."
It's the apology that's his breaking point, and he can't listen to it, can't listen to another word. He pulls her close, pressing a kiss to her lips that can't be misinterpreted as anything other than what he is – delighted.
"Never apologize to me, Emma." He cups her cheeks, smoothing away the stray blonde hairs falling into her eyes. "This is a gift. Perhaps a tad sooner than expected, but it seems our child will have the patience of his father."
"Or her father." Emma smiles, a tiny, uncertain smile, but the color is returning to her cheeks, and her gaze is less troubled. "You're really okay with this?" she whispers, the words still uncertain.
It isn't the right moment. It isn't the romantic scene he's been planning on the rooftop on a warm spring evening. It's too soon, and it's the same day that Emma has faced Neal in a courtroom filled with reporters, but he doesn't give a damn.
Besides, if he doesn't do this now, doesn't prove to her he's been carrying this around with him already, well before he knew about the life growing inside her, she'll never believe he wants her for herself, wants her purely for love and not from duty.
So he doesn't say anything, because with Emma, words aren't what matters. Instead, he reaches into his pocket and withdraws the ring, a single round stone set in a band of white gold. No fuss, just a beautiful, simple piece that he knew would suit her the second he saw it.
Even in the florescent, harsh light of the hospital, the ring sparkles on his open palm, and Emma is staring at him in shock and wonder.
"Killian?"
He swallows, forcing his throat to function even though it feels like sandpaper has been wedged among his vocal chords. "I had a plan, you know. Lovely plan. Very proper. But I've been carrying this 'round with me for weeks now, waiting for my plan to be ready, waiting for this Neal nightmare to be over, waiting for the perfect moment."
He takes a deep breath, pulling her left hand to his lips to gently kiss her knuckles as he sinks down on one knee, because he'll be damned if he doesn't at least get that part right.
"I asked you this question once before, the night we met, and you turned me down with nary a pause, so, think about it this time, love." He grins, that cheeky grin that she loves, and she can feel tears welling in her eyes. "Marry me, Emma. Not because you're pregnant, but because I love you and should have asked the day I purchased this ring."
"Get up," she insists, the tears spilling over as the ring slides onto her finger, the metal warm from Killian's pocket. "Get up and kiss me."
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes!" she almost shouts it at him, tugging so hard on his hand they almost fall over together, but he catches her, keeps her upright, just as he has since the moment they met.
Emma's laughing and crying, and for the brief second she has to glimpse his eyes, Killian's are shiny with tears. But then they're kissing, sweet, soft kisses filled with promise and love. His hand drops to her stomach, lightly caressing under her shirt the soft skin. "God, I love you."
"I love you, too," she whispers, the rush of emotions nearly overwhelming. But standing in the harsh light of the hospital, wrapping in Killian's arms with a ring on her finger, Emma knows her days of too much are long gone. She's never going to get enough of this man.
Sometimes, you start writing and the characters just take off with minds of their own. Or back to my original plan of 25 chapters, either way. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this tale that has now come to a close. I love all of you who left comments or reviews or sent me messages. Thank you so much for reading!
And if you liked this one, I do have another AU Captain Swan project in the works, so stay tuned ;)