Sudden death

Jade Star asked for a oneshot of Henry's family helping him with fatherhood after Violet's unexpected death. Trigger warning for head injury related deaths, or, deaths in childbirth.

Nobody had seen it coming. Not even the doctors and midwifes who brought Gareth Baelfire Mills into the world. Apparently Violet had an aneurysm that ruptured during Gareth's birth causing a haemorrhage. It had all happened so fast. One minute, Henry was celebrating the birth of his firstborn son with the love of his life. The next, she was convulsing on the table uncontrollably. Then she was dead.

A month on and Henry had not nearly recovered from the shock. He loved his little boy dearly, Gareth was all he had left of Violet, but he found it hard to look at him, let alone take care of him, knowing it was during his birth that Violet had died. Of course Henry didn't blame his son. How could he? It wasn't his fault. He didn't ask to be born. He didn't give his mother the aneurysm that ultimately caused her death. He was doing his best to be the father that Gareth deserved, but he knew he was failing.

That was when his family stepped in. They knew how much Henry was hurting, and how he was struggling to cope. So they made sure he had the support he needed to both be able to grieve and be a good father to Gareth. They couldn't completely take over the baby boy's care, that wouldn't help either of them. Gareth and Henry still had to bond, but they could ease the burdens off of him somewhat. For instance, Snow and Charming agreed to look after their great-grandson for the morning so that Emma could go with Henry to visit Violet's grave.

"Talk to her." Emma suggested. Henry looked at her like she was crazy. Violet was dead. What good would talking to her do? "It helped me with your dad." Emma told him. "It doesn't need to be anything emotional. Tell her about Gareth. She would love to know how he's getting on." Emma prompted him. Henry sighed, but it was worth a shot.

"He looks a lot like you." Henry said quietly as he crouched down and brushed the browning leaves from her gravestone. Emma stood back and let Henry have his moment with her, telling Violet all about their beautiful boy. It didn't take long for Henry to begin to really open up, about how terribly he missed her and how he was scared he wouldn't be good enough for their son, but how he would try for her. When he was done, Emma pulled Henry into a hug.

"It's ok." She said gently as Henry wept into her shoulder. "It's ok. You did good, kid. It's ok to cry, it's ok to be sad. It's ok." Henry didn't stop crying for a good ten minutes. So Emma just stood there, allowing her son to weep into her jacket. He needed to let this out for him to have any chance of moving forward. Emma had every faith he would begin to move on with life, knowing Violet was watching over him and Gareth. He would do it for that beautiful boy of theirs.