The shuffling of keys awoke Emma from her daze. After attempting to sleep for almost a half hour she'd given up and settled on letting her mind wander. She's first thought of food, which made her stomach churn, so she quickly jumped to people. Which lead to people she knew, and then to her family, and then ultimately to whomever this new little person would be. It seemed she was unable to avoid these thoughts.
She hadn't faced this problem with Henry. Maybe it was because she had known she wouldn't keep him or because she had, at that point, shut herself so far down emotionally that she kept her mind steadily vacant of any thoughts whatsoever. Either way, this daydreaming about her child thing was definitely new. Maybe Snow would know about it, if only she could get up the nerve to ask.
At the moment, Emma was still splayed out contentedly on her back across the expanses of the bed. Embracing the isolation, she bravely slid up the bottom of her shirt and pressed her hand onto her bare stomach. Heat radiated between each surface and she shut her eyes tight, almost trying to send a message. She knew that her child couldn't really hear her thoughts, and it was too early for him or her to kick back, but something told her they were connected. For the first time she felt like they really were meant to be.
With a jostling of keys, the front door swung open and Emma quickly shuffled her shirt back down and waited, still lying on the bed.
Heavy footsteps plodded across the living room and made their way toward the bedroom. Snow shuffled through the doorway, removed her jacket, a scarf, a hat, slipped off her boots, and procured her purse from the depths of her ensemble. Sliding her socked feet across the wooden floor she made her way to the bed and plopped down in her usual spot. She swung her legs gracefully up onto it and set her purse in her lap and waited patiently.
Emma quickly got the message and sat up, mirroring her mother's position and stifled a laugh at how confusing the situation had become. The rather serious and determined look on Snow's face suddenly made her apprehensive. She moved to speak but her mother began to instead.
"Sorry I took so long. Gold took some convincing. Which was odd. I mean it's not like he has a use for it." Snow played with the purse in her lap as she said the words that were almost directed at herself. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, "Anyways…" She looked directly at Emma, "I got you something. From my…from our…land."
She dug into her purse and pulled out what started as a chain and soon became a necklace. The pendant, well it wasn't exactly a pendant, was a large circle, mostly made of a metal or an alloy and rather rustic in appearance. Emma tried her best to not appeared too confused by the gift as she asked,
"What…is it?"
"Oh it's—" Snow suddenly stopped as she realized what the necklace truly meant and what it could do. Of course, as she had set out to buy it she'd had all of this in mind, but she hadn't thought about what Emma's opinion on it would be. She's just gotten herself overly excited and now she was left feeling ashamed of herself.
"You know what, it's stupid. I shouldn't have even gotten it. I didn't think about it really, I should've realized you might not want—"
"A necklace?" Emma laughed lightly. "It's just a necklace… what's there to be worried over?" Emma paused, a thought creeping forward. "It is just a necklace right?"
Snow looked up sheepishly, "Well…not exactly. It's kind of charmed."
Emma tilted her head and spoke cautiously, "Charmed how?"
Her mother's expression looked even guiltier, and her voice came out small and slightly mumbled, "To tell you the sex of your child."
Emma sat back. She couldn't decide if what she was feeling was anger that her mother had assumed she'd want to know, or seemingly forced it upon her, or excitement at the fact that she could know at any moment. Or maybe it was that fear again? Fear of the reality of it all.
"I…uh…" she stuttered.
"I know, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'll just take it back." Snow began to put the necklace back in her purse but a hand grasped her wrist and stopped her.
"No," Emma commanded lightly. "Wait."
The blonde inhaled to steady her nerves. "How does it work?"
Snow's eyes immediately lit, and she explained exactly what Charming's mother had told her before, all those years ago. More like lifetime ago, to be honest.
Emma listened intently, fairly astonished at the fact that the pendant had belonged to her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother. And who knows how many other generations before that. Suddenly, she had a thought.
"Well, if it can both tell you while you're pregnant and tell you about a future child, why don't you use it on yourself?"
Snow froze. "Oh, no. I wouldn't want to know. If it turns out that your father and I can never have another child I would rather figure it out over time and not abruptly in the moment. Not again. It was painful enough when it happened before you."
Emma smiled sadly. "I understand. But I have faith, besides…the universe wouldn't want me to be a spoiled only child right?"
Snow's face softened and she chuckled softly. "I suppose you're right."
Emma took a few calming breaths and extended her hand. "Go ahead."
Snow's eyes sparkled and she looked at her daughter with harbored excitement. "Really?" She finally understood at least some of what Ruth had felt when she's asked her to do the same.
The blonde nodded. Gently, Snow untangled the chain and loosely dangled the circular mass over her daughter's palm. Silence fell and it was almost like the room itself was holding its breath.
A moment passed and then the necklace began to sway. Snow took once glance at its orientation and beamed.
Emma took a minute longer and did her best to calculate the direction she was facing in relation to a compass. Looking down at it once she did her eyes widened.
"Is that saying what I think it's saying?" she asked softly, looking desperately at Snow for confirmation.
Her mother looked back warmly and smiled. "Yes. Yes it is."
There you have it. I hope you all enjoyed it. I've gotten a lot of requests to continue however...is that something you all would be interested in? I wouldn't be able to continue until next week at the earliest, but if it's something you want, I might consider it. I adore writing for these characters.