Emma feels different when she wakes up the next morning; Killian's still sleeping peacefully beside her, bare chest and all and she turns to him, looking at his face and leans down, kissing his cheek. Killian smiles, turning his face to kiss her good morning and he grabs her, pulling her body on top of him.
"Good morning beautiful," he teases, opening his eyes finally and looking at her.
Her blond hair's a mess, with curls falling around her bare shoulders but he doesn't care because she's his and the best sight in the morning. "Do you look like this every morning, with your hair so perfect and beautiful in general?" he asks.
"I guess, sometimes I do," Emma muses, "although some days, I wake up and there's an awful mess up there, I don't know what the hell happened,"
"Something tells me, even if your hair is a mess in the morning, you would still be beautiful," he muses.
Emma smiles at him and then leans down, kissing him and then relaxes beside him "We need to enjoy this," she whispers, "nine months is going to go by so fast and then, before we know it, the curse will be here,"
"I thought you were going to say, before we know it, our baby will be here,"
Emma doesn't say anything and he turns her to look at him. "Hey, no crying now, alright lass? The future is not inevitable," he assures her.
"..but if I'm pregnant now, that starts the countdown to..."
"If you are pregnant now, we will wait three months and then travel to Neverland and then, hopefully, find a way to stop this curse from happening," he reasons, "but first, we need to know if you are,"
Emma rests her chin on his chest, looking up at him. "Any chance you might be able to come with me?" she wonders.
He smiles. "I would love to pet but there's some things I need to look into, concerning our trip to Neverland," he reasons, "but as soon as I'm done with that, I'll be back to celebrate with you,"
"You really that confident that we made a baby last night?"
"You had the vision love; I'm just here to make sure that part of it comes true," he says.
Emma can't help but stare at herself in the mirror, wondering if she is really pregnant, how the pregnancy will affect her body. She will have to wear more loosely fitted clothes and probably no corsets at all, which isn't a bad thing in her opinion but being pregnant will definitely change hers' and Killian's life, at least for nine months. What happens after that when the curse hits is anyone's guess.
Killian comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kisses her bare shoulder. "You know you will look beautiful to me no matter what," he whispers, "there's no need to be so conscious,"
"I know," she muses, "but this baby will definitely change our lives, Killian; even if for a short while,"
He turns her around and braces his hands on her waist. "Then we will make the best of our short time together," he reasons, kissing her forehead, "Come now, we both have places to be this morning,"
Emma's still feeling uneasy about seeing Doc by herself but luckily fate knew she did not want to be alone and she spots Red down the hall talking quietly with a man both her and Killian recognize; he's also the same man Killian was planning to seek out but neither of them expected that he would be still at the castle and had become surprisingly close to Red.
Starkey notices them staring and he clears his throat, and Red turns around, smiling foolishly at them. Red glances once at Starkey and the pair walk towards them. Emma's still not sure what to make of the situation and
she doesn't want to ask anything intrusive, her godmother is a private person.
"Starkey," Killian greets. "I was going to look for you; there's something I needed to discuss..."
Emma smiles at Red. "And I was hoping that you would join me this morning; I was going to see Doc..." she says.
"Oh of course, about that problem," Red says and looks wearily at Starkey. "I'll see you later Captain,"
"Bye Felicia..." he says and as soon as her name escapes her mouth, Red's face reddens and Emma's eyes bolt open but she doesn't want to say anything inappropriate but now, she has so many questions.
"I think it would be a good idea to – I really need...Just come with me," Emma manages, pulling Red away from them.
Once Emma and Red are a safe distance away down the hall, Killian looks at his former first mate skeptically.
"I am seriously a bad influence on you," he observes.
"It's less complicated than it looks," Starkey assures him.
"Emma," Doc greets, "and Red, I suppose I don't have to guess why you're here this morning, Princess,"
Emma smiles warmly at her godfather, walking into his room. There's elixirs, potions and books scattered about his little quarters. That's the thing about Doc, he's always in research mode and finding new ways to make things work. "I think I might be pregnant but I need to be sure, especially since I was definitely pregnant in my vision when the curse came," she explains.
"Let's take a look then," he says and gestures that she lay down. Red's standing by, watching him. Doc places his hands on her stomach, feeling for anything that be out of the ordinary and then looks at Emma. "When was the last time you bled?"
"Maybe a month ago, but that was before the wedding," she reasons.
Doc goes over to his work bench and picks up a necklace with a green jewel and places it over Emma's stomach. She notices that the necklace is similar to her mom's but this one probably does not tell her the gender of the baby. "This green jewel is enchanted, the Blue Fairy sprinkled some magic dust on it years ago..."
Emma looks wearily at him. "The Blue Fairy enchanted that necklace?" she asks.
"I know she should have told you earlier about what she did and she was wrong to keep it from you princess, but she's always had the best intentions when it comes to helping people," Doc assures her, "Would you like me to continue?"
Emma glances at Red and she smiles at her reassuringly.
"If it glows a bright green, then yes – you are pregnant; if it doesn't, you and your husband need to try again," he says, holding the necklace over her belly.
Red and Emma watch in anticipation; suddenly, Emma sees a small green light start to flicker from the center of the crystal and then grows bigger until the stone illuminates the whole room.
"I can't believe that you got Emma to go along with your plan to take her and the child to Neverland," Starkey admits, "I was sure that she would be adamant to stay here until the curse hit; when will you come back?"
Killian lowers his head, sighing. "That's just it Starkey," he says, "after we leave, we're not coming back,"
Starkey frowns. "What about Emma's family? Killian, she loves them all; you can't expect to keep her safe in Neverland for six months. Or keep her grounded, period,"
"I have to do what I can to protect them both, Starkey,"
"I understand that but Emma – she doesn't know about this part of the plan, does she?" he wonders.
"She doesn't but you know how time works in Neverland; or lack thereof," Killian reasons, "We stay there a month or more, and you don't notice the difference until you come here and then you realize, you've been gone for longer than that,"
Starkey sighs, looking seriously at him. "But there's still no guarantee if we bring Emma to Neverland that the curse wouldn't affect her, or us," he reasons, "Killian, you have to reconsider this,"
"I am not reconsidering anything," he fumes, "and I thought that you would support me on this, Starkey?"
The other man raises his hands. "Of course I will, I'm you're friend and first mate but you also have to consider that this may not work," Starkey offers.
"What other options do I have?" Killian counters, "I love her Starkey and all I want to do, is be able to protect her,"
He sighs again. "I will help you Killian but you can't keep this part of the plan from your wife," he says, "eventually, you will have to tell her the truth,"
"Then I will deal with that when the time is appropriate," Killian argues, "but until then, you keep this trip a
secret. No one else knows about it; no one, Starkey. You promise?"
"I promise,"
Killian straightens his vest, looking at him. "Good. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to meet my wife and see if she is in fact pregnant now," he says.
This is it.
The one moment Emma has been hoping for and dreading at the same time, the kick start or official countdown to the witch's curse which starts with her being pregnant.
And now she knows that she definitely is, it is a bittersweet moment because even though she will carry the baby to term, she will beg her husband to take her to a magical wardrobe and she won't see her again for who knows how long – and even then, Emma won't recognize her until she breaks the witch's curse and restores all their happy endings.
Still, Emma is pregnant with Clare, her baby girl; she is sure of it and curse or not, she is determined to be happy even for a short time.
"This is really the start of things to come, isn't it?" Red asks, bringing Emma out of her reverie. "The witch's curse, it's coming in nine months and it'll rip away all our happy endings,"
Emma shakes her head. She wishes it weren't so, but it is. A curse this powerful to steal everyone's happy endings, it's probably next to impossible to save them all but a lot can change in nine months.
"If my vision is right, then nothing can stop this curse but maybe, someone else can break it?" Emma offers, raising an eyebrow.
"That's one way to be optimistic," Red says, smiling, "but there is one bit of good news: you and Killian are expecting,"
Emma smiles back at her, cries and she hugs her godmother. And her little Clare is by far the best news and Emma can't wait to share it with her husband.
This maybe the beginning of the end but Emma has hope and faith that good will win.
tbc