Authors Note: Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I'll hopefully be able to post at least two chapters a week from now on (thanks to school and work). Hope you enjoy, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks Guys :)


Chapter 4

"Charming, I think something is wrong with Emma," Snow ran into the war room with their daughter at her hip.

"Snow, I don't think anything is wrong with Emma. Just calm down." He took a quick glance at his wife and resumed to reading his paper work.

"NO, David, listen to me!" This got his attention, Snow never called him by his real name, unless he was in trouble or it was a serious conversation. "She won't eat, she doesn't want to play, she won't stop crying and it's not like any crying I've ever heard before, it sounds like she's in pain, Charming." She kept on looking down at her daughter in her arms rubbing her back trying to keep her calm.

"Well, she's not crying now." He took a look at his daughter and began to notice something was wrong. Yes, Emma was not crying at this very moment, but she wasn't the same. This wasn't his usual happy and playful daughter, her cheeks were tear-stained and her face was flushed.

"I just spent the longest time getting her to calm down." Snow didn't take her eyes off Emma who just leaned her head further into her mother's body.

"Alright, let's head back to the room and see what's wrong." So they walked to their bed chambers and Snow gently placed Emma on the bed and she instantly started crying again and Charming could hear the pain that Snow had spoken of. "You were right. Hey, Em, what's the matter, princess?" He knelt down but felt as if he wasn't getting a good enough look so he sat on the bed.

"I think she has a temperature, she's warmer than she usually is." Snow placed a small kiss on her daughter's forehead to read her temperature. "Maybe we should get Doc?" Charming nodded and ran out of the room. Almost as soon as he left Snow had picked her daughter back up in her arms and gone to the washroom to get a cold towel to cool her baby girl down.

Once Charming had returned with Doc, the dwarf started to check the baby. After a good couple of minutes of checking her temperature and doing some small tests here and there he looked up at the worried parents, who hadn't taken their eyes off their baby girl. "She has a fever. It looks like Emma has caught her first cold. Keep on doing what you're doing with the towel to keep her temperature down and I'll come back and give you something to give to her while she's eating." He packed up all his gear and with a nod from both Charming and Snow he darted towards the door to get the medicine.

"Charming, I don't like this." Snow sunk into his chest trying to hide her fear and her tears to look strong in front of Emma.

"I know, but I assume every parent goes through this." He started to rub her back trying to ease her pain. "Is it bad that I'm surprised that it took this long for her to scare us?" He held her tight and felt a small giggle leave her throat.

"I know, but I was hoping that it just wouldn't happen." She looked up at him and then back at her daughter who was laying on the bed. Not liking the distance between herself and her daughter Snow crawled onto the bed and took her place next to Emma.

Emma seeing her mother beside her started to cry and held up her arms. "Mama," she whimpered over and over again. She wasn't happy about being sick and poor thing probably didn't understand why she was feeling so awful.

"Oh I know, Emma." It took an entire two seconds for Snow to have her baby in her arms. She rubbed her back and tried to sooth her. "I know that it hurts but Doc is going to give us something to make us feel better and mommy and daddy are going to be here the entire time." She kissed the top of her head again and looked at her husband.

"That's right, princess, because being alone when you're sick isn't fun at all." He sat back on the bed leaning against the headboard.

Emma had started to calm down a little but still whimpered. Her nose was getting all stuffy and Snow could tell that it was not something that Emma liked. She reached over and grabbed a hold of a hanky and tried to clean the little girl's nose but she protested. "Come on, Emma, if you let me do this it will let you feel a little better." It took a couple more tries but Emma finally allowed it.

"Our daughter is as stubborn as her mother," Charming chuckled as Snow struggled to clean her daughter's nose.

"Not helping, Charming." She placed the hanky down and let Emma lean into her hold. "See, Emma, isn't that better?" Snow let her fingers run through Emma's growing hair. It didn't take long for Emma to fall asleep in her mother's arms. Even though she was sick she couldn't fight off the sleep that came with her mother's soft and reassuring touch.

"I think she fell asleep," Charming noted.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Snow pulled Emma in closer to her. "And for your earlier comment, I am not stubborn."

"Oh really? Not stubborn?" Charming just gave her a 'seriously' look.

"Ok, fine I might be a little stubborn," she admitted.

"A little?" Charming pushed.

"Ok, you know what? I may be holding our sleeping daughter in my arms but I can still find a way to-" He silenced his stubborn wife with a kiss.

"How's her temperature?" He placed his arm down to see if his daughter's forehead was any cooler.

"Well, at least she's asleep. Maybe she can stay with us tonight?" Snow looked hopefully at her husband. "I know we're working on her being in her nursery and all, but I would feel better knowing that she's close"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He closed his eyes as he rested his head against the headboard again. "Maybe this was all a trick, maybe Emma just wanted to sleep with us in here again and she's not really sick."

"Honestly, Charming." She shook her head. "Yes, I believe that our one year old daughter is faking her illness all to have her sleep with us again." She rolled her eyes.