Chapter 34
Another time jump here. It's late April now and there are still a few surprises in store before I bring the baby girl into the world.
"Will you please tell me where we're going?" Emma groans. She has a blindfold over eyes as she's being led by her best friend down the street.
...
The family had just finished a session with Dr. Hopper when Mary Margret met them outside the office. She gleefully winked at Killian and Henry before putting a blindfold over the pregnant mother's eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?" Emma had asked, as Mary gently pushed her friend into the front seat of the car and climbed into the driver's side.
"It's a surprise," the teacher had said, deciding not to use the word "kidnapping." She turns to the two men, she leans out the window.
"David's down the street with Jacob and the truck. Go have some fun," she whispers. Everything was planned perfectly. While the ladies did their own thing, the men were going to go down by the docks and go fishing. The warm spring weather meant a perfect day for such activities and it kept the men away for a few hours.
"Can I at least say goodbye to my son?" Emma sighed. She wasn't sure what her friend was planning, but she knew it was hopefully going to be fun, as long as it wasn't complete torture.
"I'll be fine Mom," Henry said, going around the side to kiss her through the open window. "Go have fun."
"I don't know if I call this fun," Emma muttered. She's hiding the fact that she hates blindfolds now after she spent more than a few days in such a position in the trunk of a car.
"The lad will be safe with me," Killian added. "Now enjoy your day." He leans down and kisses her lips. Emma, with the blindfold still on, tries to memorize the taste of his lips, knowing it will a long day before she felt them again.
"I love you both," Emma said before the car pulled off from in front of Dr. Hopper's office.
...
"I'm sorry Emma, it'll spoil the surprise. "Mary Margret insists as she stops at a stop light.
"This better not be what I think it is…" Emma groans. She puts her hand on her very swollen belly. She was less than a month from popping this kid out and the sooner the better. She couldn't sleep very well anymore because she had to sleep on her back, her feet were swollen beyond belief, she was sweaty and hot all the time and she was having more mood swings. Her hormones were driving her crazy and with the trauma of what she'd endured, she was more aggressive than before. She ended up picking fights with Killian more and more, making her feel guilty and she tended to snap at Henry at the slightest mistake. Dr. Hopper talked to the family about this situation and told them not to worry. As long as Killian and Henry didn't forget what she was going through and that they all said sorry afterward, everything would be fine. They just needed to talk through how they were feeling and then come up with solutions to cope with the imminent birth.
Mary Margret gives a small giggle before pulling up at the location.
"We're here…" she says. "You can take it off now."
Emma removes the blindfold and sees that they are at a large luxury spa.
"I think I want to put it back on," she mutters sarcastically.
"Emma, trust me you need this. Regina took me to one a couple of weeks before I had Jacob and it made a world of difference. It also kept our minds off of what was going on at the time."
The blonde swallows and just nods.
"Plus, this will be the last girl's night we have for a little while…"
"Please don't remind me."
"Well, let's go then."
She knew how much her back hurt and maybe a massage would do her some good.
"Okay," she sighs, knowing that her friend was right.
…
Over the next few hours, Mary Margret and Emma have a fantastic spa day. They get manicures and pedicures as well as facials and have a warm mud bath. Emma has several back and foot massages, taking all the stress from her body and allowing her to feel some relief from everything. She managed to forget the ordeals that still haunted her every day and the fact that she's about to become a mother again. The masseuse even knew a way to massage her belly to relax the baby inside. She'd never felt so much at peace in a long time.
When the women are done, they feel refreshed and so much at ease that Mary Margret almost crashes the car from falling asleep.
Eventually, the two make it back to Emma's house. Once they stop, Emma turns to her best friend.
"I can't thank you enough…" she says. "And I'm sorry about my attitude before."
"It's okay Emma, I know what it's like to be pregnant."
"It's not just that," the blonde says, her eyes filling with tears. "For everything you've done. Your constant support and hope, the love you've given me… I couldn't ask for a better friend than you. I love you so much."
Mary Margret is following suit with the tears. "I love you too Emma, and I will always be here for you."
The two embrace for a long time before getting out of the car.
"You know you don't have to walk me to the door," the blonde says. "I can still walk and I…"
"SURPRISE!"
Emma nearly jumps out of her skin when she sees that her house has been decorated and all her friends are there smiling. There are pink balloons and streamers everywhere, there's a buffet of food on the dining room table and a large pile of presents sits in the living room. Lacey holds her camera and begins snapping pictures She couldn't believe that they had thrown her a baby shower. She looks over at her best friend.
"Did you plan all this?" she asks.
"Maybe," the teacher smirks.
Everyone surrounds Emma with hugs and happy words.
"I'm so happy for you," Elsa says.
"You're glowing," Regina says.
"You look so beautiful," Ruby adds. "You don't look that fat…"
Emma rolls her eyes.
"It's so great how far you've come," Anna says, still clinging to Emma's arm.
"I hope you don't mind the pictures," Lacey adds.
"It's going to get even better after this," Aurora practically sings.
The pregnant woman is so overwhelmed that she doesn't even listen to the words, they all blend together. It doesn't matter either way. They are all words of love… words of support and hope for a brighter future. Words of the family that she'd always wanted.
The group of women bring Emma over and the party begins. Every one of her friends is there including Regina, Ruby, Elsa, Anna, Aurora, Mey Ling, Lacey, Mary Margret and even Granny is there to provide food and some of the entertainment.
The party starts off with a few silly games. One is known as Baby's First Portrait where everyone gathers in a circle and those who are not pregnant are given an index card and a marker. In 60 seconds, the women must put the card to their forehead and "draw" what they think the baby will look like, then Emma would have to pick the best. Most ended up being completely unrecognizable, but the mother-to-be chose Ruby's because she was the best artist, even if she couldn't see what she was drawing. They did some artsy activities including writing funny quotes on diapers and decorating onesies. There were a few other games to play including Guess What's in the Bag, where the women had to guess what was in the diaper bag without looking, the one who guessed the most correctly won and writing a list of what their wishes would be for the coming baby. They all ended up laughing and not caring who won in the end.
Afterwards, everyone ate the assortment of foods available, including grilled cheese and onion rings from the restaurant, Emma's absolute favourites. There were fruits, vegetables, chips, pretzels and sweets, almost all of them being chocolate. Emma had to literally fight Anna to get some of her cravings under control.
Then it was time for presents. Everyone bought Emma something that she would need or want. Elsa bought Emma several icy teething rings and a set of CDs containing lullabies. Lacey gave her a set of books that were perfect for reading to the little one and another stuffed lamb, this one with a pink ribbon tied around its neck. Mey Ling bought a little hockey jersey for the baby and several soothers. Anna presented her friend with a multitude of stuffed animals, one that looked like a reindeer and another a snowman. Aurora gave the mother-to-be a set of baby monitors and several sets of bottles that were different colours.
"Trust me, it'll be easy to tell which is a night bottle and which is a day."
Granny bequeathed a hand knitted blanket to the baby, one that was not unlike the one Emma had kept since she was a baby. It would have the baby's name stitched on it when she was born. Ruby gave some very cute outfits for her to dress the baby in and an ABC book which she illustrated herself. Regina gave her friend a baby book to capture the precious memories, a bassinette and a framed picture of her, Killian and Henry to hang in the baby's room.
"So, she'll always have her family there,"
"Thank you, Regina," Emma says. She had not stopped crying the entire time, mostly because of the hormones, but also by how touched she was by everyone's generosity.
There were gifts from some of the men too. August gave the baby a little raincoat and boots for when she was older as well as a handcrafted toy chest, courtesy of his father the carpenter. Robin gave a set of toys and a very functional diaper bag. Several other presents came from friends at work, including Leroy, who sent some baby booties and other friends who couldn't make it sent gift cards.
When Emma reached for another package, she found a card with it. Her heart pounded as she opened it and recognized the handwriting.
I hope Baby Jones/Swan enjoys this as much as Henry did.
Emma opens the package and finds the music box that used to belong to Henry. It was decorated with stars on the front and when someone opened it, it plays All Through the Night while a silver moon spun around in the centre. It was Henry's favourite song when he was young and for a long time could only fall asleep when it was playing. She couldn't believe that Neal still had this, she thought it was lost during one of their many moves, but that was not the case.
She let the tears fall freely as she listened to the beautiful song several times. Everyone had gone fairly quiet to listen to it.
The next presents were from David and Mary Margret. Both were quite big and heavy to hold. When Emma opens the first one, she gasps. It's the mobile of glass unicorns that she'd been looking at in the store so long ago. The little ornaments glitter in the afternoon sun.
"Oh, Mary…" Emma says, very speechless.
"I knew you wanted it when you kept coming back to it at the store," she says, leaning over to give her best friend a hug.
"It's so beautiful," the blonde whispers. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome."
The second present from the Nolan's was a small rocking horse, painted white and looked like a true work of art.
"David's mother made it," Mary Margret explains. "She made one for Jacob when he was born."
"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," the pregnant woman whispers.
The two friends embrace for a long time.
The final present was from Killian. When she rips off the wrapping, she finds a hand-carved sailing ship, complete with a pink mast and a small starfish as the figurehead. There was also a blue velvet box with a necklace made of silver with a locket shaped like a heart on the end of it and a note.
I had a little help from August's father with the ship, but the necklace once belonged to my mother. She said she felt beautiful when she put it on. So always wore it so she would feel that way all the time. I managed to keep it after all these years. I want our little girl to wear it so she will feel beautiful and have that connection to her grandmother.
Emma sniffled a bit and smiled widely at the beautiful gift. She then hangs the chain around her belly to make it seem like their little girl was wearing it.
The final thing in the package was a teddy bear that looked a bit worn and part of its nose was missing. It had a big bow wrapped around its neck and there was another note.
This belonged to Liam and then he gave it to me when I was born. Always kept me safe and went everywhere with us. Hope he can have a new set of adventures with her.
Emma can't stop smiling and she wipes away the tears. She places the teddy bear on her lap, knowing that Liam would be happy to give it to his niece.
"Thank you, everyone," Emma says loudly. "This means so much to me."
"You're welcome Emma, we're happy to share this day with you, now let's have cake."
The women gathered around the cake that was shaped like pink baby booties and everyone mingled and talked for what seemed like hours.
Regina is helping clean up the present stuff when she sees her sister walk through the front door. Not wanting Emma to see her, she stands in Zelena's way from approaching the guest of honour. She notices that her sister is not in her usual slutty attire and high heels. Instead, she wears a coat that covers her completely and is wearing sensible shoes. She also looked bigger than the last time she'd ever laid eyes on this woman,
"What are you doing here?" the brunette says angrily.
"Well hello to you too sister dear," the red-head says. "I came to see Emma and give her a gift."
"I don't think she'll want to see you after all the stuff you pulled with the house and Robin."
"Water under the bridge now. Nice party. So when are you going to throw me a baby shower, Sis?" Zelena smirked.