DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the wonderfulness that is Once Upon A Time and their characters or other later-mentioned characters (non-related to OUAT).
This is my first fic therefore, there is obviously no prequel but if you'd like a reference as to what I'm going to use as canon for most of Emma and Jeff's past then I'd recommend "Happily Never After" by L3ftOfCent3r. Plus, I think it's a rather brilliant fic in general so you should just read it anyways if you haven't.
As I said, I apologize for the relative shortness of this chapter but the next one should be a giant so that will make up for these past two! But I hope you still enjoy it and if you get the chance, please review! ENJOY!
Chapter 5: Princesses Aren't Supposed To Be This Abusive
"Now you boys be off to do whatever it is you boys do." Snow said towards James, ushering him, Frederick, Jefferson, and Thomas away.
The knights from the earlier festivities had accompanied their families back to their respective homes in the village leaving the normal castle-dwellers and their few guests that were staying there to themselves. Young Edgar had been put to bed and although Henry and Grace were sent to their rooms and wished 'goodnight' they were far from asleep as they imagined all their adventures to come in Wonderland. Granny had volunteered to stay in Alex's room, just in case she woke up, to give Ella and Thomas a chance to spend time with their friends. The dwarves had decided to head off to their quarters to settle down a bit early after their tiring day but the rest of the party-goers now stood in the expansive hallway that housed the majority of the guest rooms.
Emma stood pressed against Jefferson's side with her fingers laced in his not wanting to leave the warmth of his body touching hers. She watched as her mother let go of her father's hand as she went to join the group of women heading in the other direction then she stared up at Jefferson.
"Go join them," he encouraged. "We can talk later. Besides, you never get nearly enough girl-talk time."
"Yes, and there's a reason for that." She replied, glaring towards him. "If you couldn't tell, I'm not really the 'girly'-type. Sleepovers with late-night girl talks were never really my thing."
"No." he gasped, jokingly astonished.
She placed her free hand to his chest and let out a small laugh, "Please! Save me from the talk about the latest ball gown designs and the news on what's in style in each realm."
"Come on, I'm sure it can't be that horrible," he speculated. "Honestly, I cannot see your mother going on for hours about the fashion in different realms."
"My mom may be a bad-ass at times but when she's with certain friends she goes to the dark side," Emma explained, rolling her eyes. "They get so into it, they even are able to pull Red into it."
"Well maybe you should loosen up a little bit and simply enjoy time with your friends. It doesn't hurt you just to sit there and listen. Maybe it's not the most stimulating conversation but you do get to be with friends and that should be enough." He insisted. "Now go have fun with your mother and friends." He ordered, pulling away from her as he gave the hand the held one quick kiss. "And we will talk later." He finished, just before turning and quickening his pace to catch up with the rest of the men.
Emma let out a sigh of defeat as she allowed her shoulders to slump and feet to drag as she slowly made her way to the room the women had turned into.
As she slumped into the room she noticed an open seat on the couch next to her mother and plopped down. She pulled her legs up onto the couch to crisscross them as she crossed her arms over her chest and sat all the way back into the couch.
"Snow, the celebration was lovely! I cannot believe how wonderful everything was. Thank you for putting on such a fantastic event." Abigail exclaimed to Snow.
"Oh yes, it was so great Snow. I thought all of your ideas were brilliant and I know the kids definitely had fun." Ella added with a smile.
"You really did a fabulous job." Red agreed.
"Well thank you very much. You have no idea how much work I put into it." Snow boasted proudly. "But if you think today's festivities were great, you are going to love what I have planned for Christmas!"
"Christmas?" Ella questioned as Emma rolled her eyes. "It isn't even summer yet."
"Well it is never too early to plan ahead." Snow replied with a small smile and a wink.
"Oooh, I am intrigued," Abigail confided. "Please do make sure there are four seats saved at the dinner table for my family."
Emma seemed to be the only one who noticed that Abigail had said 'four' for her family which caused Emma's eyes to widen then sit forward slightly as she filled with curiosity. Surely, King Midas would not be coming, considering how he chose to never accompany Abigail to any of her friend's holiday celebrations in the neighboring realms, so who could the fourth person be?...
"We certainly will." Snow replied to Abigail, oblivious to the subtle hint her friend had just given.
"Wait a second; did you just say 'four'?" Emma butted in, curiosity now overwhelming her.
Abigail nodded eagerly as a grin spread across her face with her lips tightly pressed together. Emma's question caused the others to finally catch onto what Abigail's statement had implied and Ella quickly questioned, "Does that mean—"
"That you're—" Snow continued.
"Pregnant?" Red finished.
Abigail let the grin spread across her entire face as she vigorously nodded her head and Ella pulled her friend into a tight hug from the side, possibly squeezing so hard the air went straight out of Abigail's lungs. Emma let a smile slip across her face as she grew happy for her friend.
"Congratulations!" Red and Snow exclaimed in unison.
Ella pulled back to let Abigail breathe and quickly added, "When did you find out?"
"Last week." Abigail replied with the cheeky smile still stretching from ear to ear.
"Aaaaww," Snow squealed. "Did you tell Edgar yet?"
"Oh yes, of course. He was so excited to hear he was going to be a big brother." Abigail informed her giddy friends.
"That's so great Abigail." Emma finally added, a bit more calm then the rest of her group. "When are you due?"
"My doctor said sometime in September." Abigail answered as her smile somehow continued to grow.
"Oh my goodness!" Red suddenly declared, "We need to start planning the baby shower now!"
"Well Giselle already called dibs on having it at her palace. But besides that, as far as I know, no details have been planned so feel free to start sorting out the details." Abigail explained.
Ella then chimed in and starting deciding upon the decorations as her other friends joined in, growing more excited with each new idea. Emma started to grow wary of her slightly overzealous friends and decided to excuse herself and wish them a goodnight. They all took a quick moment to wish her a restful sleep as she walked towards the doorway but then quickly got back to their eager planning.
She walked up the two flights of stairs that led to the floor of the castle that housed hers and her family's bedrooms. As she walked past Henry's and Grace's doorways she took a moment to poke her head in the doorway of each of their rooms to check on them and smiled as she found them both sleeping soundly with bright smiles on their faces.
She approached her bedroom expecting to find an empty room, assuming that the men were still having their 'guy time' but instead found her husband sitting in their bed, legs extended in front of him, arms crossed, and eyes staring off into nowhere.
Emma stopped at the doorway before asking, "So, did you guys finish your 'guy-talk' early or something?"
Taking notice of his wife Jefferson snapped out of his trance and smiled in her direction as he replied with a small laugh, "No, I merely, excused myself… I can only take so much talk about kingdom politics and sword fighting techniques."
"And you said I was bad when it came to bonding with my friends…?" she questioned teasingly as she entered their room, walking to where Jefferson sat on their bed and leaning her upper body forward towards him, placing one hand on each side of his waist.
"Because you are," he whispered just before he leaned in an inch to plant a slow, chaste kiss upon her lips. After a moment he pulled away slightly then still whispering he finished, "you didn't seem to stay with them for long."
"Well I was doing relatively well until Abigail announced her big news, then they started going crazy with planning a shower and I could only take so much." Emma explained, rolling her eyes as she changed into a simple, white night-shirt and a pair of shorts.
"And what 'big news' would that be?" he questioned as his interest peaked.
"Oh, Frederick didn't tell you guys?" Emma asked confused as she climbed over to settle herself against his side, wrapping one arm through his, placing her free hand on his chest, and nestling her face in the crook of his neck.
"No… at least not while I was with them. Now what is this big news?" he questioned again impatiently.
"Geez, impatient much?" she teased, turning her head to look up into his eyes. "Abigail is pregnant," she finished with a smile.
"Oh, well I guess should have guessed that when you said 'shower'..." He replied with a smile as Emma gave a small laugh.
They both sat for a moment of silence, enjoying the peace and quiet and simply being in one another's embrace as Jefferson gently took hold of Emma's hand that lay on his chest with his free hand and began tracing small circles on it with his finger. The moment lasted until he took in a deep breath before he reluctantly started, "So, about earlier…"
Emma slowly closed then opened her eyes as she glanced up at him then back down to stare at their laced fingers and frantically replied, "Like I said, I am so sorry, honestly. I just couldn't take the pressure and I didn't—"
"I told you," he cut her off as he looked down to her and cupped her cheek, "do not apologize Emma. I simply meant we need to figure how and when we're going to go."
Jefferson smiled as she finally looked him in the eyes, "Are you sure you aren't mad?"
"I already said this princess, I could never be." He confided before leaning towards her to give her a quick but loving kiss.
Emma smiled back at him and she felt his heart beat faster at the sight of her grinning face. "Well I have 'royal duties' to attend to for the next couple of weeks but I think I get a day off on the fifteenth."
"Then the fifteenth it is. We will take the hat in the morning and spend the afternoon there and be back in time for dinner." He responded with a semi-forced smile.
Letting it all sink in Emma stared off for a moment before questioning, "How did we even get ourselves into this?"
"You're too much of a pushover." He replied all too quickly causing her to swat at his chest, making him do a fake wince of pain and laugh, "I really think we need to take care of your violence issues. Last I checked, princesses aren't supposed to be this abusive."
"And last I checked, you weren't a comedian so quit making fun of my issues." She quipped.
"Fine, but only because you asked so nicely," he replied sarcastically. "Now goodnight my princess," he wished her, gazing at her lovingly as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before nuzzling his face in her hair.
"Goodnight Jefferson," she said smiling and closing her eyes as she curled even further into him, "Love you."
"And I love you too Emma," he conceded, pulling her as close possible and drifting off to sleep with his love in his arms.
As always, I hope you like this chapter and please review if you liked/loved/hated it or felt anything about it, I love any and all feedback! I cannot even begin to thank you all who have followed/favorited and reviewed and I hope you all who have are still enjoying this and I hope any new readers have enjoyed this as well! The next chapter is the trip to Wonderland and I should have it up by Sunday night so get excited!