A/N: Wow. I am SO sorry for making you wait until today. I planned for this update to be quick to satisfy my wonderful readers in the beginning of the week, but writer's block got me BAD.
A few mornings ago, on the radio on my way to school, this is what I heard:
"It is now official: The king is now a father!" Something like that. The first thing that popped in my head was Charming.
I swear, I am obsessed.
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"Snow," David practically shouted, standing over her to wake her up.
Snow groaned in protest, waking up out of her dreams. "Why now?" She forced her eyes to open, which didn't stay that way for long. They shut again.
"Because," He slowly knelt down over her, both knees on each side, straddling her. He whispered, "If my beautiful wife doesn't wake up right now, she will have to be punished."
She barely squinted an eye open to see David grinning down at her. Punished? She wouldn't mind being punished, especially if it was him punishing her.
Her eye fell shut after staying open for too long. "Mm, what does Charming have in mind for me if I'm a bad girl?"
It went silent. Emma was wandering around behind them in the forest, collecting berries and other sorts of fruits she could find. Even though she wasn't near enough to watch, she was pretty sure she should stay her distance until it was safe to return. Besides, with the silence finally floating around her, she didn't know what they were doing, and she didn't want to find out either. She rolled her eyes at the thought as she picked a few berries off a bush in front of her.
But the silence that screamed at them, just him staring at her almost-sleeping form, only remained for about half a minute until David's hands roamed to Snow's sides. He moved his fingers across her sides and stomach as a laugh bursted out of her. He kept tickling her as she screamed and laughed, his fingers dancing all over her stomach.
"Charming!" Snow begged, laughing so hard. Her eyes were finally wide open, but forced. "Char- Charming, stop!"
He grinned, adding his other hand to the other side of her stomach. "What's the magic word?" He asked in a sing-songy voice.
Snow could barely answer with her laughter filling the forest around them, but she tried her best. "Charming, stop! Please! I- I surrender!"
With a few extra seconds added for him, David took his hands off her, leaning back up. "Now are you awake, princess?"
Remembering the nickname he used on her before they were married their second time in the castle, she grinned up at him, linking her hands behind his neck and pulling his mouth down to hers. Their lips locked leisurely, but it turned instantly to passionate once he deepened the kiss. Their tongues dueled to be inside each other's mouths.
"Yes, I am now," She murmured into his mouth once she got the small chance to catch her breath. But with the intensity, it didn't look like there would be anymore chances.
"Snow," David whispered, eventually pulling apart from her after a couple minutes later of a very fervent kiss. She stole an extra kiss from him when he paused. Oh, how he really wanted to carry this further. "Snow, we have to stop."
"What if I don't want to?" She stole another kiss again, neither wanting to stop.
He cupped her cheek with one hand and did a sort of half push-up, still straddling her on his knees, down to her lips, stealing another kiss. "Well, if we don't, who knows what Emma would walk into?"
"What about Emma?" They heard from the forest. David looked up and saw Emma looking down at them, rolling her eyes. She walked away with a full-looking basket to her tree beside theirs. David rolled off of Snow and to the side, letting Snow lean up too.
Cling.
"Good morning, Emma," She said, leaning against the tree.
"Morning," She replied, opening the picnic basket to all the berries inside. "I got a lot of food, so there's plenty for all of us."
David stood up, going over to Emma and the basket.
Cling.
Snow definitely heard it that time. She heard it the first time coming from David when he rolled off of her, but she ignored it, thinking it was her imagination. Now she knows that it's definitely not her imagination. David ignored the metal noise, she noticed.
A small rumble came from David, and she heard it that time for sure, but it wasn't the same sound.
"Sorry, I'm really hungry right now," David announced, grabbing an orange from the basket. He walked back to Snow and sat down beside her against the tree.
Cling.
Snow looked at him at the sound, which sounded like it was coming from him. He seemed like it was just something natural, because he wasn't responding to it like she was. "Charming..."
He looked up at her, still peeling his orange without looking down at it. "Hm?"
"What was that noise?"
David looked all around him, suddenly alert. But there was nothing. He hadn't heard the specific noise yet.
"Snow, it's nothing. We're the only ones here in this particular area. I doubt Regina's soldiers are out to get us."
They heard Emma try to stifle a laugh over where she was, but no luck to her. She looked up from her orange with a grin on her face. "That seems just like Regina."
Snow smiled at her daughter. Yes, that definitely sounds like Regina. But she trusts David, so she turned back to him. "I suppose we are the only ones here, but then what was that noise I kept hearing?"
"I haven't heard anything," He said, popping a piece of orange into his mouth. Snow reached down towards his lap and peeled another slice from the fruit in his hand, popping it into her mouth like it was no big deal. Then something came to David's mind. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "Did you hear it when I was moving?"
Snow nodded, knowing something was up. He grinned, picking a small area at the top of his shirt, trying to grasp something inside, and shaking it. They both heard the cling again. It almost sounded like a chain. A necklace chain.
Snow finally realized there was a necklace chain on the back of his neck, going into the front of his shirt from around. She carefully reached around his neck with both hands on each side and hooked a finger underneath the chain on the back of his neck. She trailed her fingers, each hand on both sides of his neck, around his neck, keeping the chain hooked on her index fingers, bringing her fingers around to the front of his neck, dragging the rest of the chain out of his shirt. All this time, David was staring right into Snow's eyes, hers staring back at his.
She sucked in a breath as she pulled out the rest of the chain. It felt heavy at the end, so there was definitely something on the end of it. Finally, she forced her eyes from David's and looked down at the pendant that had just slipped out from the top of his shirt. The chain was still around his neck.
She gasped, and he grinned, seeing her reaction. Snow was holding a heavy, circular pendant, outlined boldly with a beautiful pattern. In the very center was a dove.
By this time, Emma made her way over to them, standing over them and looking at what she was holding in her palm. Gracefully, Snow dragged her finger over the dove, and then looked up at David.
"Charming," Snow whispered, though Emma could hear. "Is this-?"
"Yes," David's grin faded to a smile.
"What is it?" Emma asked, confused. Then she remembered their story, and what King George did to Snow. What her grandfather did to her mother.
God, her family was messed up.
"Is that what I think it is?" She asked, kneeling beside Snow, getting a closer look at the pendant.
Snow looked up at Emma and nodded. Emma saw a few tears barely starting to form in her eyes.
"This is the pendant that told me you were going to be a girl," Snow smiled, blinking away tears that were trying to escape. She turned back to David. "Where did you find this?"
"I remember arriving at my home after our wedding and stashing it in a secret stash outside, in my stash of valuables, and I wanted to check if it was still there. It was, so I put it on right before we left."
Snow grabbed his face with her left hand, her right hand holding the necklace, and pulled him in for a short, but leisure, kiss. Knowing Emma was patiently waiting for them to stop, they broke apart.
"Do you know if it still works?" Emma asked, carrying on like there was no pause.
Snow looked back at the necklace - the pendant in the palm of her hand with the chain draping over the sides of her hand - and looked back up at David.
"I don't know," He answered for her. "My mother told me this was to find out what your first-born will be, but she didn't say anything about seconds.
An idea popped into Snow's head. She turned to Emma, but talking to David. "Let's try it and see. Emma, hold out your hand."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't think it'll work. I already had Henry, so it'll be kind of awkward when it doesn't move."
"Let's test it," Snow said again.
Finally, Emma held her hand out flat, palm facing upwards. Snow put her left hand underneath Emma's, keeping it still. With her right, Snow slipped the pendant through her hand and held onto the chain, hovering it over Emma's hand.
It immediately reacted, swinging straight in one direction, back and forth. North to south, David noted. He knew the directions of these woods still, but he still forgot which direction meant what. He looked up at his daughter, not liking the outcome of the necklace.
"I thought it only works for first-borns-" he murmured, staring back at the pendant silently swaying with no force whatsoever.
Snow looked up from the pendant and to David. She was in awe with him. "I think it just swings what you had before... it says boy."
She stopped the pendant from swinging anymore, snatching it up into her hand. She handed it to David, who took it from her and slipped it into his pocket. Emma was still sitting there, unsure of what to do.
"Maybe it swings for second children besides your first-born," Emma suggested. David immediately turned his attention to her.
"Emma, is there something you need to tell us?" He questioned. Emma's eyes went wide, realizing how she worded it.
"No! No, no, no, that's not what I meant," She stuttered. "You know me, I haven't done that stuff in... a while. I meant I could possibly be having another boy in the future."
He still didn't like her admitting that, but it's too late now. Snow gave him a look.
"Okay," David sighed. He pulled the necklace out of his pocket, looking back at Snow. She was looking back at him, staring into his eyes. "Snow, do you want to see if it truly works or not? It will either swing for girl, because of Emma, or none at all."
She looked down at the pendant. Slowly, she held her right hand out towards him, her palm facing up. He took her hand onto his, and raised his other hand over her's, dropping the pendant and holding onto it with the chain above. They stared back into each other's eyes. She sucked in a breath, remembering the last time he did this. David noticed her reaction, but he felt the same way.
A second later, the pendant started to move. At the noise, all three of them looked down, startled by the sight of the swaying pendant.
North. South. North. South.
"That's-" David slowly looked up at Snow. Her mouth was slightly open in awe. She looked back up at him. "That's not the direction for girl, is it...?"
"No," She said slowly. "Maybe it's- it's probably broken? Maybe it's stuck going north and south." She guessed. Emma stared at the pendant, still swaying over her mother's palm which was being held by her father's hand.
"No," He stated confidently, looking back down. "This isn't broken. My mother told me it was spelled by a gypsy."
Watching the swinging necklace, she remembered what Ruth told her. He's right, this was spelled by a gypsy, which means it should always work. But it was also to predict what your first-born would be. Emma did not come out to be a boy. If the pendant isn't possible to be broken, and it does not work just for your first-born, then...
"Charming, what do you think this means?" She asked, meeting each other's eyes again.
He swallowed, and then answered.
"Snow, I don't think this works just for first-borns."
"What are you saying?" She asked.
"I know this swung for Emma to be a girl before she was conceived, but I think the next time it swings, the second child has to be conceived already," He paused for a moment, deep in thought. Yes, he now remembers his mother telling him that very briefly.
"So this means..." She spoke to herself, thinking it out. Could it be true?
"I think I know exactly what this means," He followed.
"This means... I'm pregnant," Snow stated, a smile slowly appearing on her face. David grinned down at her, grinning with her. Emma watched the two go in for a kiss, probably forgetting their own daughter was there.
"And," David continued into her mouth. "It's going to be a boy."
Snow grinned against his lips, deepening the kiss. David stopped the chain and put it back in his pocket, his lips still attached to Snow's, his tongue fighting her's to enter. He then brought his arms to go around her waist, while her arms linked behind his neck.
It's going to be long time before they start for the castle, Emma thought.
A/N: I'm sorry if this was very confusing. Even I was getting confused and off-track with all that.
If anyone is wondering, EMMA IS NOT PREGNANT. I wondered how I could squeeze that explanation in, but I couldn't find any way to. I might have to in the next chapter though. For her, it just swung for Henry, because he was a boy. But it swung for Snow a boy because he was already conceived. There haven't been any symptoms yet, like morning sickness and moods and hunger (well, a few chapters ago, I did let Snow say she was starving, but I let that slide into normality because I planned something else after that was posted), but remember the night before? Keep that in mind ;)
Thank you for reading! I LOVE your reviews! They keep me going and encourage me when I see that you REALLY want updates! And ask questions if you're still confused. I'm more than happy to help! I take requests, questions, statements, ANYTHING! You can even criticize something like grammar, punctuation, statements, etc. ALL REVIEWS ARE HELPFUL.
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