David's arms were full with his son and four shopping bags as he kicked the truck door closed and looked with exasperation at his son-in-law. "You could help, you know?" he muttered.
Killian sighed and held up the bags and packages he was holding, including three that were looped over his hook. "We could also have taken two trips, but you were the one who wanted to do this all in one."
Huffing, David led the way up the stairs to the Jones's apartment with a grumble about this being Killian's fault anyway. Emma, who had moved on from her craving of all things chocolate to cravings involving salt and vinegar, had been complaining that the cupboards were bare of her favorite foods. Even Mary Margaret, who was usually more even keeled than her daughter, was irritable in the summer heat and complained that she too was hungry for something different than the selections offered. While David was hoping to let the moment pass, as many of the pregnancy induced whims often did, Killian had jumped up and volunteered both husbands for shopping duty. David had assumed that it was to avoid the other jobs that Emma had assigned them that day, including the finishing touches on the nursery and a new bed for the dog. Assembly projects seemed to be the least favorite task of the pirate.
"I'm sure they will be very thankful," Killian commented, managing to get the door open without dropping any of the items. He immediately shivered upon entering the space. As usual, Emma had cranked up the air conditioning as she and Mary Margaret were seated in front of dueling fans with ice cold drinks in their hands. Dropping the bags on the table in the kitchen, Killian moved to drop a kiss onto his wife's temple. "Comfortable?" It was a loaded question since she rarely said yes, always complaining of some ache or pain or the heat in general. She smiled pleasantly though and told him she was fine. Dropping the bag of salt and vinegar potato chips that she had requested toward her, he flinched as she grimaced.
"Not the right kind?" he asked, slightly hurt that she pushed them away.
"No, it's what I wanted, but I'm kind of thinking barbecue now." Killian and David did not miss a beat as Killian picked up the bag and David replaced it with the barbecue ones that they had picked up as well.
It was Henry who tossed both men sweatshirts to wear in the apartment, the battle lines over the thermostat already drawn long before. Emma shot death glares at anyone who went near it and whined incessantly when someone dared to question the temperature. So while she wore shorts and sleeveless shirts over her pregnant form, Killian and others donned extra socks, sweatshirts and the occasional overcoat.
David settled his son down with a game and Henry as Killian put away the groceries. He was trying to ignore the obviously Nicholas Sparks inspired movie on the television screen. Emma's lower lip was already trembling and Mary Margaret was dabbing at her eyes with tissues to blot out her silent tears. He knew it was a matter of moments before both women were emotionally spent and he would spend hours convincing Mary Margaret that he was not going to head off to war and leave her with two small children and neither of the women were going to die in childbirth.
Leaning in conspiratorially toward Killian, David chuckled. "We did buy more tissues, right?"
"Aye," Killian answered in a low whisper. "It might have been more efficient to buy a bucket and a sponge. I don't understand the crying. It isn't just sad things either. Henry got the answers right while playing along with some game on the television device and Emma cried for 15 minutes over how smart he's become."
David nodded empathetically. "Snow's gotten to the point that she cried the other day when she slept through the dryer buzzing. She was upset that the towels might be wrinkled."
"What are you two gossiping about?" Mary Margaret called, uncharacteristically testy. She craned her neck back to look at them upside down. "I don't want to hear any complaints from the two of you about anything."
"Just thinking about what to make you ladies for lunch," Killian said, sliding easily into a lie as Henry bit back a laugh. "Any requests?"
***KECS***
Killian had been around enough celebrations to know that Granny's was the one and only locale for such events. If it was not at Granny's then people met there before or after. If the food was not from Granny's then at least dessert was a part of it. So the joint baby shower for Emma and Mary Margaret was no exception. The proprietress closed early, claiming she didn't know why since the whole town was planning to show up anyway.
While Emma was not fond of the crepe paper and overly girly decorations for the shower, she had admitted to Killian that the gesture was nice. Such events were not part of his past, nor were they something that Emma was really familiar with either. "I usually wasn't close enough friends to bother going to these things," Emma told him when he asked what exactly were they getting themselves into. "There will be food and presents."
"Your father said men are not always included." He was not actually trying to get out of the situation, but he had heard his father-in-law's complaints. "I'm not going to be the only man there, am I?"
"Dad will be there. Henry said no way in hell. I think Philip is coming with Aurora and Thomas with Ashley. I'm not sure. There will be other guys."
She could tell he was worried though when they entered through the door into a pink and blue wonderland with ribbons, bows, stork decorations, presents with hug bows, bowls of mints and nuts, punch in two different colors and flavors, cupcakes with either pink or blue booties, Ruby's stork cake that stands a little crooked, and a plethora of other items. His jaw dropped a bit and he looked at her for reassurance and confirmation, which she gave with a squeeze of his hand before people descended upon her.
Even people who had just seen her the day before were hugging her, winking and telling her that she looked ready to pop. Whoever decided that anything was appropriate to say to a pregnant woman was a rude and inconsiderate person. People touched her stomach, made comments about the puffiness of her face and asked about names.
"Should I try to dissuade the next group?" Killian asked during a quiet moment. He was not without his own throng of questions about how he was holding up and even if he was planning to be in the delivery room. "I might could distract them while you get away."
"They brought presents," Emma's mother declared with a bit of a sour tone. "You can't ignore them and pretend like they aren't here."
Killian watched his wife's face carefully, knowing she would likely burst under the strain of polite conversation with people who were hugging and touching her as though she was someone close in their lives. Her voice was tight as she told him it was fine and he should save himself while he still could.
"Nobody is escaping anything," Ruby declared, placing oversized buttons on both Killian and Emma's shoulders. Reading mom and dad, the buttons seemed a bit obvious, especially in Emma's case, but Ruby was insistent and chased down the other two parents with matching ones. "I put too much work into this."
She truly had. There were three four tier diaper cakes for the babies lining the tables with appetizers. Games were set up to play, including dropping clothes pins into baby bottles while standing in chairs and something crazy with cotton balls, a blindfold and a bowl. There were tea lights and glittery rocks on the tables and pastel colored table cloths with lacey overlays. Even the youngest guests were being cared for with a box of toys that had been overturned and spread out on a colorful rug that was designated as the children's area. In yet another area guests were decorating onesies for the new babies.
David seemed to be eyeing these games with a competitive eye, whispering in hushed with Robin who had been dragged there by Regina. Pushed away by Emma who was trying her best to remain cheerful and open to the guests' questions and comments without him, Killian joined them and they began challenging each other in a way that only men who are both bored and forced into a situation can do. When Emma and Mary Margaret were served their punch and cupcakes, both women giggled as they watched their husbands and Robin turn the clothes pin game into a near death match. The men had to be persuaded to join their wives again as the presents were distributed.
David struggled to keep Neal from opening each of his mother's presents, as the boy was convinced anything in bright paper or a bag was for him. Killian felt useful when a guest used too much tape since he could cut through it with his hook. There are plenty of comments about him learning to use things like baby slings and diaper genies. Emma smiled sympathetically and loudly announced that she would be learning along side him.
The mothers stacked their gifts of blankets and outfits that made everyone squeal from the cuteness. There were toys and pacifiers, strollers that would hold two babies or toddlers, sheets for the cribs, hand stitched needlework for the walls, photo frames for those milestone moments and bath sets that were bigger than most people's bathtubs. Killian and David were not left out of the gifts. Robin and Regina gave the men identical digital cameras. Granny provided them with recipe books of baby friendly foods. There were even hats and t-shirts proclaiming their roles in the babies' lives from grandfather and father to ones for Emma and Killian that called them brother and sister of the Nolans's new addition. Some people brought toys and stuffed animals for Neal and Regina said that she had bought a new gaming system for Henry to avoid any jealousy on his part though she suspected none.
"We have to fit all this back at the apartment," Killian said, marveling over the modern accessories that were said to make it easier with two babies. He still wasn't sure how this was supposed to work or even if he was up to the task. Emma swore they could do it, but each day his doubts remained.
***KECS***
Emma felt as though she had been pregnant for more than year, her back ached and she had not seen her feet in months. Simple things that she had taken for granted seemed impossible. Killian had found her in tears over the task of reaching a glass in the cabinet when she was on her tiptoes but her stomach did not allow her to get close enough to the shelf. When he easily completed the task, she practically threw the glass at him.
Then there was her magic, which had never been completely under control. A simple sneeze may have tested her bladder control, but with her magic it could make rain clouds appear in the apartment or in one case made a fire burn in the fireplace.
Even her dreams seemed out of control. She dreamed such vivid hallucinations that she woke up crying because she had left the babies some place and couldn't find them. She dreamed that she and Killian had a fight over something and woke up so angry at him that she refused to speak to him for a good hour before she realized it had been just a dream.
"Your mother seems to want our daughter to have the name Ava or Ruth," Killian said, thumbing through the book that Belle had loaned them from the library. While they had been throwing out baby names for weeks, the urgency seemed to be growing.
"Henry seems to like the idea of Henrietta so she'll be named after him," Emma said, shifting again as a pain in the lower part of her back began to gnaw at her incessantly. "We could go with something that isn't a family name though. Maybe Rachel or Kimberly." She grimaced. She didn't like those names either.
"Perhaps the name for the lad will be easier," he suggested, frowning at her grimace. "I rather liked your idea the other night."
"You just liked it because it was your name for a little while," she teased. She had thrown out the name Charles, which had made both of them smile at the memory of an unknown prince and princess dancing at a royal ball in the past. "We could name him after you, you know. It isn't a bad idea."
"I would prefer our son have his own identity and not be tied to mine and my mistakes." He groaned as he stretched and then pulled her closer to him as they both stared at the book's pages. "I want them both to have strong names."
She settled against his side, looking down at her stomach as though the unborn babies might pipe up and give their own suggestions. "Something strong?" she questioned aloud. "Like Maximus or something? Hercules?"
"Maybe we should name her Emma," he said. "You're the strongest woman I know."
"Don't," she said with a roll of her eyes. "You're not going to get on my good side."
***KECS***
David fell against the bed and rubbed his hands over his face with a dramatic exhale of breath. "Tell me again why it isn't a good idea to drug the kid so he'll fall asleep?"
"Rough one?" Mary Margaret asked, her back against the stack of pillows and some novel that Belle had recommended open on her protruding belly. "I guess you're regretting that statement that you could handle it."
"I've handled plenty of things," David said, looking at her though his splayed hands. "I can slay a dragon, take on dark knights, chase down a jewelry stealing bandit, but our son is a menace when it comes to bed times."
"You have to show him who is boss," his wife said, clucking sympathetically as she placed a bookmark in her book. Emma had shown her the latest in tablets and e-readers, but she still preferred the old fashioned way of reading.
"I'm thinking we should probably stop after this one," David said, looking pointedly at his wife. "Any more kids and we'll be outnumbered."
"You say that now," she said, adjusting a pillow and sinking down into the bed. "But think how great it is going to be to have another little baby around."
"We're grandparents," he argued.
"The curse," she shot back.
"Doesn't change the fact that our children are both younger than one of their nephews."
"We can't change that," Mary Margaret said. "And it doesn't really matter. We're a family. We love each other."