Champion

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time. Also, the way Neal gets his name in this universe was originally an idea from shelizabeth's story, "Wake Me Up."

Snow gripped Charming's hand tighter than a bandit's knot as another pain swallowed her. He put a cup of cool tea to her lips, much of which ran down her chest.

Doc reached between her legs to examine her progress. "All right, push, Snow," he said.

Snow pushed as hard as she possibly could while Doc reached underneath again. Immediately, he pulled his hand back. "Oh," he said, with his eyes wide.

Snow and Charming's faces found each other right away, both reading the other's fear. What was wrong?

"Snow, the baby's in the wrong position," said Doc. "The feet are coming out first. I'm going to try to switch the baby around."

She felt Doc's chubby hand reach inside her and the pain increased 1000 times. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed. He was killing her. In the worst possible way. At the moment, Snow thought having her heart cut out by the black knights would have hurt less. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed again.

"Careful, Doc," Snow vaguely heard Charming say, in her haze of pain.

It seemed like forever when Doc finally pulled the baby out. But Snow's relief quickly turned to horror as she saw her baby's cord was wrapped around the neck. Her baby was being strangled. "Doc… " Snow pleaded as she stared at her baby.

Doc released the baby from the cord as quickly as possible. "Come on, little fella," Doc told the baby gently. "We need you to grow up to be a great prince."

"It's a boy, Snow," Charming whispered to her as they watched Doc with the baby. Their precious baby boy. He'd be all right. He had to be.

"Please, little prince," said Doc. "Breathe."

Perhaps they should ask the fairies for assistance? Snow wondered, desperate for some way to help her son.

But before she could mention the idea, Charming carefully picked the baby up and began massaging his tiny body. "This works with the lambs when they have difficult deliveries sometimes. Please, son, breathe."

"Let me try," Snow asked, reaching for her son at the same time. She placed the baby against her chest and did her best to massage him, just as Charming had done. And suddenly a miracle occurred. Snow felt a teeny breath escape from the little boy. And they didn't even need fairy dust.

"That's it, son" Snow said as her eyes filled with happy tears. Then she felt two more breaths. "You're going to be fine," she exclaimed as her smile spread over her entire face.

Doc smiled and carefully picked the baby boy up to examine him again. "Yes, you're right, Snow. He's fine now. He's apparently a strong little man."

"Like his father," said Snow, smiling as Doc handed their son to Charming. "Who's not only strong, but smart as well. I'm so glad you're a shepherd, Charming. You knew exactly what to do to help him."

"Yes, thank you for the help, David," said Doc as he assisted Snow with the afterbirth.

David smiled as Doc left the room. "Maybe, but he's the real champion. In fact, I think that's what we should call him. I heard somewhere that 'Neal" means 'champion.' I think that would be the perfect name for our prince."

Snow looked down at their son as he sucked on her breast. "I agree. He is a champion, after all."

After several moments of peaceful silence, Charming took a deep breathe. "As much as I don't want to leave either of you, I think I should see how Emma is doing. Perhaps she'll be ready to meet her brother."

By the time Charming had returned with three – year – old Emma, Neal had fallen asleep, snuggling against Snow's chest. She could feel his precious little breaths against her skin.

"Hello, Emma," Snow greeted her daughter, trying not to fall asleep herself. "Are you ready to meet your brother? His name is Neal."

Emma walked over to the bed slowly, like she wasn't certain whether this was a good idea or not. Then she looked at her parents with a frown on her face. "But he's already sleeping. I thought I'd be able to play with him and everything!"

Snow and Charming exchanged a look, and Charming responded. "Being born was hard work for Neal. You'll be able to play with him eventually. But, I'm certain he'll be glad he's met his big sister as soon as possible, someday."

Emma stared uncertainly at her brother for several moments, before she finally picked up one of his tiny hands. "I suppose it's nice to meet you, Neal." Snow's heart melted into butter at that image, despite her own sleepiness.

"You can help Mommy and Daddy take care of him, too," said Charming. "After all, he's your brother. But for now, I think we should let Neal and your mother rest." He gently picked up Neal and placed him in his cradle. "Today was hard work for her, too. Would you like to see the horses?"

Snow smiled and closed her eyes in relief as Emma and Charming disappeared from the room.

Here's some responses from the last chapter. I hope you'll give me a review for this one, too.

Baratta Jennifer: Thank you.

Austenphile: Thank you

Guest: Well, as I said before reviews are my favorite birthday presents, and the best way to get them is to post new stories or chapters, so I do that every year on my birthday. Glad you thought it was so sweet.

Dream 1990: Thank you. Don't worry I've got a lot of other ideas for these, although I don't know how often I'll be able to update over the summer.

Ravenflame: Glad you thought it was cute and adorable. As for David's thoughts about Snow's breasts, many men enjoy watching their wife breastfeed for that reason. And it's such a great comment about his love for both Snow and Emma at the same time, which are my favorites, so they'll be a lot of those in this story.