Night time confessions
Victoria asked for a oneshot of Emma telling someone how much she loves her parents and Snowing overhearing. Trigger warning for mentions of averted SIDS.
Neal's little health scare had really rattled her parents. Heck, it had rattled Emma as well. Seeing a baby turning blue is never a pleasant sight. Luckily, Neal was a fighter. With a little CPR from his dad and an emergency trip to the hospital, he was fighting fit again. Although neither of his parents were sleeping much, terrified it might happen again despite being assured it was a one-off. So when Emma came back late one night from a backshift and heard him beginning to stir, she peeked her head around the curtain that separated her parents' room for the living space. She saw that both of them were still sound asleep. She knew how exhausted they both were after the whole ordeal, so she decided she would sort Neal for them. She quietly tiptoed into their room and took Neal out his crib, carrying him through to the couch.
"Hey there, big guy." Emma whispered, gently patting his back. "It's been a rough couple of weeks, huh? I bet you're picking up on all that stress." Emma felt Neal beginning to settle down. "Well, you don't need to worry anymore. It's all over and done with. You're lucky, kid, you know that? Mama and daddy will always look out for you. They're going to always make sure you're ok. They do the same for me too, you're just getting it a little earlier. I hope you grow up knowing how lucky you are, little bro. We've got some pretty fabulous parents. They're always going to love you, me too. I'd never really had that before they and Henry came along. It took me a while to warm up to them, ya know? But I'm glad they didn't let me run away. They were the first people not to. I really do love them, kid. More than I could ever say. Just like I love you…" Emma looked down and chuckled gently. It seemed she'd bored her baby brother to sleep. "Well, I guess it is kinda cosy here, ain't it Neal?" Emma said with a yawn as she snuggled down with Neal still snoozing on her chest. "Maybe we can just rest our eyes. We'll keep this a secret between you and me, shall we? Don't want mama and daddy getting all mushy." Emma murmured as her world grew dark. But it was too late for worrying about her parents getting too mushy over her confession. They had woken at Neal stirring, just to see Emma taking him through. They had heard every word, and they loved her all the more for it.
