JUST SO YOU GUYS KNOW, I STARTED WORKING ON THIS CHAPTER RIGHT AFTER I POSTED THE LAST ONE.
DON'T OWN ONCE UPON A TIME OR ITS CHARACTERS.
"Giavanna." Graham tried the name out, too. "I think it's perfect." They stared down at the sleeping baby for another few moments. "I told you she'd have your eyes."
"I can't tell if her hair's brown or not yet. Or if it's curly."
"Well, since I was right about the eyes, I'd be willing to bet I'm right about her hair, too. And of course it'll be curly. We both have curly hair."
"I guess we'll find out." She craned her neck to kiss him again. As if Giavanna sensed her parents weren't giving her their undivided attention, she cooed. "It's alright, Sweetie. We didn't forget about you." Those five words brought a surge of emotion on Emma that she wasn't expecting. It never occurred to Graham until he felt the shift in the atmosphere that choosing to bring a child into the world would be emotional for Emma.
"Do you want a minute?" He asked quietly.
"Yeah."
"I'll be right back. I'll run down to her room and bring back the onesie Henry had the dwarves help make." She watched as her husband left, then looked back down at the baby.
"Hey… so… I'm gonna try not to get you wet, okay? I promise that you will be loved and protected. And when I said that we didn't forget about you –I meant that. And we won't ever forget about you, Giavanna. We won't forget to play with you or anything. I won't let what happened to me happen to you. Ever. And I will never, ever abandon you." She placed a tender kiss to the infant's hairline. With that promise, she felt a sense of peace wash over her as a tear trickled down her cheek. She wiped it away with her free hand as Graham came back. "Hi." She smiled shyly.
"Hi." He smiled back, goofily though. He held up the onesie. "It might be a little bit big, but Henry luckily made it smaller than Sleepy suggested."
"She'll grow into it."
"Yeah. And your mom's really anxious to find out her name, so can we let her and your dad and Henry back in?"
"Yeah, absolutely." He held her gaze for a few seconds. "You okay?"
She nodded, "Yeah, I just, I needed to tell her something, and I did. So I'm good."
"Okay." He went over to the door and opened it. "Where's Regina and Daniel?"
"Making dinner for you guys. I don't know if you realize it, but it's past 9:30 at night." James pushed past him and smiled at Emma. "So, I won the bet with Daniel. She was born at 9:21 pm on August 19th, 2018. Snow, we should write the announcement to have the dwarves make the posters."
"Or," Emma cut in, "we can let it be."
"Or that." Snow agreed, slipping past James to look at her granddaughter. "What's her name, Emma?"
"By the way Graham was talking, I was thoroughly convinced you were about to have a hernia you were so impatient. It's Giavanna."
"That's such a beautiful name!" She exclaimed, ignoring her daughter's comment. The baby seemed to agree, expressing it with a little shout. "Can I hold her?"
"Of course." Snow bent down and gently scooped her up. Tears formed in her eyes.
"We're still working on a middle name. By the way, she already punched Doc."
"Well, we definitely know Doc didn't mix her up with another baby somewhere." Snow laughed. "I haven't held a baby since you."
"Don't expect to take her from me, she's mine." Emma joked.
"Did you say you're still working on a middle name?"
"We wanted something meaningful, like after someone to honor them, but Emma said there's just too many people who've helped this family or died."
"Yeah." Emma nodded. "Her middle name would end up being Eva-Ruth-Regina-Snow-Mary Margaret-Augusta-Ruby. And I'm sure there's more we just can't think of. I was seriously thinking about Regina, but that's not fair to everybody else."
"And I said Emma, but someone doesn't want to have a namesake." Graham said.
"Emily." James suggested, taking Giavanna's hand. She squeezed his pointer finger.
"No." Emma said, watching her parents interact with the baby. "Where's Henry?"
"Eating."
"Again?" Graham asked in bewilderment.
"He's a growing boy." James answered. "She has your eyes, Em."
"And Emma has mine." Snow said, mock-hurt that Emma got to take the eye credit.
"She's still awake?"
"She's very alert." Snow said. Then added to Giavanna in a high-pitched voice, "Aren't you? Yes you are, yes you are."
"Oh God stop doing that now. It's annoying." Emma grumbled. "And give me my daughter back." Pouting, the brunette handed the baby over to her mother. A knock on the door caused them all to look over. Henry peered through the window and slowly opened it.
"Is she sleeping?" He whispered, so quietly they almost couldn't hear him.
"No." Graham said.
"You wanna meet your sister, Henry?" Emma asked.
"Yeah." He nodded made his way to the bed. "Wow. She's adorable." Emma shared a loving look with Graham. She felt like her heart was about to burst with the amount of love she had for every single person in the room.
"Do you want to hold her?" She asked. At a loss for words, Henry simply nodded. Graham took Giavanna from Emma and walked around the bed to Henry. He suddenly realized that he and Emma had never held a baby before, yet it was an instinct on how to cradle her and keep her safe. He was a little more concerned about Henry.
"Just put your arms like mine." Graham instructed. Henry did as told. "Good. The most important thing to remember is to support her head." Emma felt her heart flutter at watching her son –one she had, up until a little over six years ago, never thought she'd see ever again – hold his new sister for the first time.
"So… do I have something to call her yet, or…?"
"Giavanna." Graham replied.
"I thought a few months ago Mom was stomping around saying she didn't want something princess-y."
"I–I um…" Emma stuttered. "I just… I was looking through a book and it kind of stood out." With a slightly annoyed sigh, she said, "It's pretty, okay?"
"I love it, Em." Graham pulled her in for another kiss.
"Mom, I don't think she likes being wrapped in the blanket. I keep tucking her arms back in and she keeps pulling them out."
"We have her pj's, but we just don't know how to put them on her." Graham said. "It's the one you made her."
"Well, it's true. She does have the best big brother."
"We don't know much about that stuff, either." Snow said sadly. "It's a very weird dynamic since we should be able to help you, but– Regina's a grandmother, too. In fact, she's a great-grandmother, and she's raised a baby, and I'm sure she'll be happy to help."
"I'll go get her." Henry said, nearly taking off with Giavanna. "Oops, I think I should leave her here."
"I'll take her." Snow said quickly. Henry handed her off to Snow and went to fetch Regina.
"So, Giavanna Swan-Humbert? How's it going?" She played with Giavanna's hand.
"She's going to be one of those annoying people who melt every time they lay eyes on a baby, isn't she?" Emma said to James.
"For everyone's sake, let's hope not." He quipped back.
"Shh!" Snow snapped.
"The poor thing's only been alive for fifteen minutes and my mom's attached to her."
"I would be, too, if I could get a chance to hold her." James said.
"You already did." Snow retorted. "In fact, you got to carry her back in after Doc checked her out." The debate was cut short when Henry returned with Regina in tow.
"Daniel's finishing up the mac and cheese. I think he can handle that by himself." She smiled. "And Henry was saying something about changing her?"
"Yeah." Emma nodded with a grateful smile.
"I'm glad to help. I admit, the first time I had to change Henry's diaper or feed him or change is clothes, I was terrified I'd break him, and Giavanna –at least that's what I believe it is, I couldn't tell since he was talking so fast– is a lot smaller, so I can only imagine." Snow transferred Giavanna into Regina's arms, this time without as much of a pout. Holding a newborn for the first time in sixteen years had an effect on Regina, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Do you have the onesie?" She asked.
"It's on the shelf right there." Emma pointed to it.
Finding it easily, Regina said, "I'll need a changing table."
"Uh… she has a crib, but it's in her room." Emma said.
"A crib won't work." Regina said with a kind of patience the blonde wasn't used to. "I mean, it could but it'll be easier on a changing table."
"That's in her room." Graham said.
"Hold on." Snow chimed in. "Doc might have one here. It won't be as nice as the one in her nursery, but it'll work."
"Speaking of which, is she sleeping in there tonight?" Emma asked.
"I think that's up to Doc, Sweetie, but considering he's not going to the dwarves' quarters here in the castle, I think he'll be okay with it." Snow, not able to fuss over her granddaughter, decided to play with Emma's hair. She brushed a few locks off of the blonde's forehead.
"Do you want me to get Doc?" Henry asked.
"Nah." Emma smirked. "He gave me a call button for a reason." Emma pressed it over and over again like an impatient child until the dwarf in question ran into the room, breathless.
"What happened?" He panted. Emma felt guilty, realizing she may have given him a mini heart attack.
"Nothing. We just need a changing table." Snow smiled an apology.
"Of course." He nodded. He dashed off down the hall and came back a minute later with a clear table. "If you need anything else, I know you know what to do." With a smile, he left.
"So, here's what you do." Regina said after a beat. "First, you lay a blanket down. Henry, can you hand me one?" Being careful not to tip the entire stack over, Henry did so. "Thank you. Then you lay her down and unswaddle her."
"I don't think that's a word." Emma pointed out.
"Says the queen of making words up." Regina retorted. "I figured since your language consists of stuttering, incoherence, and made-up words, you'd be better able to understand if I made up words." Regina quipped.
"Haha very funny." Emma replied sarcastically with an eye roll, even though the brunette couldn't see it. "You are being careful with my daughter, right?"
"Aren't you tired, Em?" Snow asked as it hit her for the first time that a little over fifteen minutes ago, her daughter had given birth. Yes, it was true that only five minutes after having Emma, she had staggered down the hall to see if Emma was safe and to see Charming one last time before being cursed for twenty eight years, but that was a mix of adrenalin and a mother's protective instinct, and a tiny bit of True Love.
"After almost eight friggin' months of waiting, I finally get to see my daughter. No way in Hell am I tired." But Snow recognized it. She recognized the sheer terror of having your baby taken away from you, and that's what Emma was feeling. Logically, the blonde knew that no one could or would take Giavanna, but it was still a nagging little fear in the back of her mind. Given the track record of the family, no one could really blame her. So, of course Emma wouldn't want to sleep. It made perfect sense. After Regina's little demonstration, Snow was going to insist that Giavanna go down for a nap.
"As I was saying," Regina said, her mayor voice on again, "You take her out of her swaddling blanket, like so. You scrunch the one sleeve up and gently guide her arm through, like this." Giavanna started waving her other fist around, and Regina said quietly, "It's okay, Giavanna. You're fine." Though everyone knew Regina had truly changed, it was still a shock to see her being so… sweet. No one let on, though, because they knew she was still trying to keep a little bit of her reputation intact. "After you've done that, open up the neck of whatever you're trying to get on her, like you did for the arm. Pick up her head a tiny bit and put the neck of it under her head, sort of like a halo." An apt description, Graham thought. "Then, I'd do this quickly because this is the part Henry absolutely hated, pull it over her head." The baby made a sound of disapproval, and Henry chuckled.
"She's just like me."
"Kid, if she ends up just a tiny bit like you, me and Graham and I did a great job." Emma said, her eyes trained on what Regina was doing. Her back to everyone, the former queen smiled a bit. Besides thanking her for raising Henry, that was as close as a compliment Emma had ever come to giving Regina on raising their son.
"There, it's all over, Sweetie." Regina said in a soothing voice.
"Sweetie?" Snow laughed. "I'm her grandmother, you're her great-grandmother."
"I still have all the grandmotheral rights." Regina said. It took them by surprise that she wanted a part in the baby's life.
"That's another made up word." Emma said to defuse the situation. After throwing a good-natured smirk to Snow, Regina turned her attention back to Giavanna and ignored Emma.
"After you get her head through, do the same thing with the other sleeve as you did to the first. This next part might be a little scary for the first few times because you might think you're going to break her, but I promise you won't. The buttons here." She pointed to them, "meet by her legs. You pull this flap from under her bum," as she did so, she took Giavanna's leg and pulled her up a little bit with it.
"What are you doing!?" Emma yelled.
"She's fine, see?" Regina said calmly, having lowered the baby back down by the time the last word flew out of Emma's mouth, and snapped the buttons. "There, all dressed."
"Thank you." Graham said. "And you're sure her leg didn't get dislocated?"
"If it did, she'd be screaming, but I know what I'm doing." Regina replied while Snow squeezed past her to pick the baby up.
"B-but, she was picked up by her leg." Poor Graham was so terrified of hurting his precious baby girl, he couldn't even form a coherent thought. Regina identified with that, remembering how small Henry was when she first held him, even though he was nearly nine pounds by the time she got her hands on him.
"Babies aren't fragile little things, Graham. They're a lot tougher than you think."
"They are." Snow agreed, her eyes shooting to Emma then back to Giavanna. "I think somebody needs to go to sleep."
"I wanna hold her again." Emma protested.
"Okay, then give her to Graham, Sweetie." While placing her granddaughter in the blonde's arms, she brushed a gentle kiss along the latter's hairline. "I love you." She whispered. Then, she almost ran out of the room like it was on fire. James sighed, Regina looked guilty, Henry looked confused, and Graham and Emma were too absorbed in their daughter to notice any of it.
"Henry, why don't Daniel and I play a game with you?"
"Okay." The teenager chirped. "But I still want macaroni." He said on the way out.
"Honey?" James said quietly.
"Yeah, Dad?"
"I just want to say that I'm so proud of you, and you too, Graham. Giavanna's beautiful. If you need anything at all tonight, your mom and I are just down the hall." He kissed her on the forehead. "I love you." Then, in a higher voice, "Goodnight Giavanna."
"Love you, too, Dad." Emma called after him. Once they were alone, Graham leaned down and kissed her lips tenderly but fiercely, trying to communicate all the love he was feeling for her in that simple gesture.
"I love you." He murmured.
"I love you, too." She said. "And I love you, Giavanna. I guess you have to go to bed now, so… your dad's gonna tuck you in, okay Sweetheart?" She kissed the baby's forehead before handing her up to Graham. She then rolled a little bit and sat up.
"Em, what are you doing?"
"Tucking my daughter in." She grunted as she pushed herself all the way to standing.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Damnit, Graham, I'm coming with you."
"If your dad kills me, I'm blaming you." He said quietly while making his way around the bed. He grasped Emma's elbow to make sure she didn't fall over, but she shook him away.
"You can't blame me if you're dead, for one, and two, I'm fine. Just focus on holding Giavanna."
"Alrighty then." He smiled. If she was sassing him, then she really was fine. His two girls were okay, and that was enough for him to finally relax just a little. The whole way down the two hallways, Giavanna held onto his pointer finger.
"Snow?" James pushed the door to their room open. What he saw tore him to pieces. The brunette was curled into a ball on their bed, tear tracks staining her fair cheeks. "Honey, what's the matter?" He rushed over to the side of the bed and knelt down, stoking her cheek.
"It's silly, I should be happy for them. Which I am, it's just… they get to tuck their baby into her crib, in her room, and that's something we'll never get to do with Emma."
"That's true, but we have her now. At least we didn't lose her forever." He said quietly.
"James, she told me that she's over it. She's over what happened. How can she… she's the one who suffered the most because of our decision, yet she's the one who's okay with it?"
"Because," James kissed a tear away, "she's our amazing Emma. And I think we have a lot to learn from her."
"We should have been the ones teaching her." Snow insists as she sits up and swings her legs over the edge of the bed. James stands up and mimics her position.
"You're right, but you're living in the past. I'm not happy about what happened, but there's nothing we can do about it now, and even if we could, I wouldn't change a thing. Look at how happy she is, Snow. That's enough peace and closure for me." He said, entwining their hands.
"Yeah." She sighed. "I had been feeling better about it, too, but then… I don't know, seeing Emma with Giavanna, it just made me realize yet again that we only got one moment of pure joy at seeing her and then… then we had to send her away."
"Hey, you know, if this is about wanting another child…" He started cautiously.
"I know we want one and I know Emma wants a sibling. I really do think she does, I mean, she said so, but she also says things and... I don't know. But for some reason, I just know she does. I know she'd be okay with it. Especially now that she's okay with what happened."
"I say…" He nuzzled her cheek, "that once Giavanna gets a little older, we can have one."
"Emma would be a good big sister." Snow purred.
"She'll be a great one." James agreed.
"How 'bout for now," she roughly pushed him away, making him fall flat on his back on the bed, "we just practice."