It was so different this time. Not the beeping of the heart rate monitor she was forced to wear, or the glow of the fluorescent hospital lighting. No, those would never change. But this time, she had someone with her. Someone's hand to squeeze, to almost break, as she gave birth to their child. He joked that she needed to take it easy, he only had one, and the moment's respite wouldn't be worth a lifetime of changing diapers herself. It brought a smile to her face despite her agony. Not the bad joke, but the thousandth reminder that she was not alone.
She turned to look at the sleeping face, and her smile again grew wider. Refusing to leave her side, insisting that their neighbors could bring the boys over later, he had curled up and fallen asleep almost as soon as the nurses left them. Emma was wide awake, despite being exhausted to her core. But she couldn't sleep. All she could do was imagine the baby's future. A mom and a dad, two brothers, food, clothing, shelter, stability. Everything she didn't have. More than Henry had ever known.
Mewling disturbed her thoughts, and she turned to the perfect, perfect little creature at her side, and spotted the wide eyes searching for something. She knew the baby couldn't really see, didn't really know what was going on, but she knew that it would know her voice, and understand calming words.
"Hi there, kid," she said, as she lifted it from the bassinet at the side of her bed."I bet you're hungry. The nurses said I should call them when you woke up so they could show me what to do, but I think I've got this one." She lifted the baby to her breast, and worked to get the pink lips latched. It wasn't smooth, and took a few attempts, but nature took its course. Babies had been nursing from their mothers since the dawn of man, and this one was no different. "There you go, kid. You've got this." She looked down and noticed those blue eyes, so like the baby's father's, were starting to drift closed, and she reached up with her hand to smooth down some of the blonde, fine curls on its forehead. "There you go, kid. Eat up. Sleep. We've got you."
"You're a natural." She was a little startled to hear Killian's voice, not realizing he'd woken up.
"It's like riding a bike. You don't forget." She turned and looked at him, and was taken aback by the look of absolute adoration on his face. "What?"
"Nothing, love. I've just never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life as you holding our child. I just want to remember this." He leaned over and kissed her, trying not to disturb the baby.
There was a soft knock at the door, and it cracked open. "You guys okay for some visitors?" Snow's head poked in, and two young boys shot past her before anyone had a chance to respond.
"SOOOOOO? No one would tell us. Do we have a sister or a brother?" Henry had hopped up on the foot of the bed, while Liam came up to the side, peering over at the baby as Emma held it.
"Well, lads, excuse us if we wanted you to be the first to know about your new baby brother," he announced with a grin.
I SWORE I would never revisit ItNotB, but I'm doing follower ficlets at tumblr, and someone very kind asked ( PS her name is Nighships and you need to IMMEDIATELY go read her story Tradition. DO IT NOW.) I also swore I would never reveal if the baby was a boy or a girl, but here I go. Anyway- I hope you don't mind the addition of this short little chapter. If you do - yell at me and I'll keep these to tumblr.