A big thank you to all of my readers.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters they are the property of ABC
Warning: Contains Snowing Smut
Chapter 9 Motherhood
Five weeks later.
Snow stood in the doorway of the bathroom, leaning against the frame, holding onto it for support. She was alone in the apartment, where they had all been living since the curse had been broken. They had kept the room at Granny's, but only used it when they desperately needed privacy or when it became clear that Emma needed space. Charming was checking on the progress of the additions to the cabin. Henry was on a highly supervised visit with Regina. King George, who represented the judicial branch of government, had allowed the restraining order filed by the Evil Queen against Emma and her parents to remain in effect. So, they could not be anywhere near the supervised visits. Regina was allowed to attend one of Henry's Little League games a month and then they could go to dinner at the diner, accompanied by Archie Hopper or another member to the Child Welfare Board. Snow decided that she would love to be a fly on the wall during the supervised visit chaperoned by the mad hatter, but that was not likely to happen.
"Mary Margaret are you ok?" Over a month had passed since the curse had been lifted and Emma still insisted on calling everyone by their Storybrooke names.
"Yes, no…I'm not sure. I'm pregnant." Her voice was barley a whisper and then she broke into a sob.
"Well, gee you two have been going at it like rabbits in heat, what do you expect to happen? If it turns out to be a girl and she was conceived on that table at Grany's are you going to name her Dinah"
Emma was the only one who laughed at the joke.
"Emma, you know that what occurred on that table could not result in the conception of a child." Her mother said softly.
"I thought it was rather clever. Dinah and diner, get it?"
"Can you please not joke right now." He mother pleaded. Emma noticed that she was more pale than usual.
"Wait a minute, David is the father?" Emma asked.
"Of course he is the father. The only other person I have been with in nearly a year is David!" Snow insisted adamantly.
"What about Dr. Whale?" Emma cringed.
"Dr. Whale is not the father of this child or any child I have ever or will ever conceive!" Snow stated angrily.
"Ok, no need to bite my head off." Emma gave her mother a sympathetic look.
"Besides, it has been over a month since the curse was broken, so Charming is without a doubt the father." Snow looked like she wasn't sure.
"Exactly, since you broke up with David a long time ago. Before he was suspected of killing Kathryn" This was the type of strange conversation that Emma had grown accustomed to having over the past month.
A guilty look crossed Snow's face.
"When did you last sleep with David?" Emma narrowed her eyes at her mother.
"Not that it matters, since they are the same person. If you must know, it was right before I was arrested for killing Kathryn, who was not dead at all need I remind you." Snow looked down in order to avoid looking her daughter in the eyes.
"What exactly do you mean by right before you were arrested?" Emma asked with a heavy sigh.
"We were together during his lunch hour that day in his room at Granny's!" Snow admitted grudgingly. Although, she was not sure why she was having to explain this to her daughter.
That is it! I am buying you a copy of "Women who love too much!" Emma looked appalled. "How could you even think about being with him when he was being investigated for murdering his wife?"
"I knew he had not hurt Kathryn and he was so lost and sad. I loved him and I wanted to be with him and we could not deny the connection between us. Did I really need to have any other reason? How about the fact that he was my husband!" Snow crossed her arms defiantly.
"You didn't know that he was your husband. You had known him for less than a year, during which time he had not done a single honorable thing. He could have killed you. Do not give me any crap about the curse either. Besides the fact that you being pregnant would have been a disaster if I hadn't broken the curse. Did the two of you ever stop to consider the effects that relationship would have had on some poor hapless child?" Emma gave her an angry look.
"David and I were always careful! I know you have trust issues, but you father is a good man. In time you will see that to be true."
"Then why are you crying about having another child with him?" Emma softened her voice. "You should be shouting it from the rooftops!"
"There is so much evil in this world."
"There always has been and probably always will be evil in the world. It didn't stop you from having me though. At least you don't have a curse hanging over you this time around. That should make everything easier."
"Emma, nothing is easy where love is concerned. The fact that your father and I love each other so intensely makes things so complicated sometimes." Snow sighed.
"David says that you feel things more intensely than other people. I can hardly believe that I am about to defend him, but could it be that you let your emotions make things more complicated than they have to be?" Emma gave her roommate a concerned look.
"What do you mean?" Snow asked defensively.
"Everything that happened between you and David over the past year, have you thought about the fact that maybe it was not all a result of the curse. Some of the drama might have been avoided it you had just relaxed and allowed yourself to be happy. "Emma shrugged.
"You were the one that just told me that I loved David too much." She glared at her daughter.
"No, I told you that you trusted a man who you hardly knew too much. You have been trying to convince me that the man you are with now, the father of this child and my father is a far superior man to David Nolan. Maybe life would be easier if you just trusted that man to take care of you?"
She braced for some kind of a defensive come back from the woman who she thought she had gotten to know pretty well over the past year.
Snow just stared at her and that was completely unnerving for Emma.
"Ruby told me that you two were having trouble when you were pregnant with me?" Emma continued.
"Emma, a lot happened between the time that your father awoke me from the sleeping curse and when Regina cast the other curse. Some of it I am not sure you are ready to hear." He mother had a far off look in her eyes.
"I don't have to hear all of the sordid details of your life before you became Mrs. Charming. Just make me understand what was going on at the time of my conception. Maybe it will help me understand your reluctance to have another child with this man."
"Do not mistake my initial reaction over finding out that I am pregnant as anything near reluctance to have another child. I love your father and I know that he loves me and we always planned on having a big family." Snow gave Emma a serious look.
Emma took a step backward. She silently cursed every storybook she had ever read. Clearly, the happily ever after that ended most of those books was a little more complicated in real life.
"Sorry, I am trying to understand the problem. Other than the fact that we are going to have to put up with David strutting around like a bantam rooster for the next 8 months, but what else is new?" Emma shrugged again.
"You father, as much as I love him, has one flaw. He always wants to be the hero. Now that is a fine trait most of the time, but sometimes it skews his priorities." Snow had a look of contemplation on her face.
Emma took her hand and led her out of the bathroom. They sat on the edge of Emma's bed and she brought out a cardboard box which had been under the bed. She opened lid and Snow saw the mobile for the first time in 28 years. Tears sprang to her eyes and she fingered the delicate pieces as if they were made of the most precious substance on earth.
"This is all that remains of your nursery." Snow held back sobs.
Emma was surprised at her reaction and she moved to cover the box, but her mother stopped her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that seeing it would upset you so much." Emma apologized.
"Right now everything seems to upset me." Her mother laughed. "I am glad you have it. Please don't feel you need to put it away."
"Can you tell me about it? Besides, the blanket, it is all I have from my childhood." Emma said in a matter of fact tone.
"Your father had it made by a group of fairies who lived in the far north. The dwarfs went personally to retrieve it from the ferries and bring it to the castle. They insisted that they had to be the ones who placed it above your crib personally. Your father was so excited that you were coming. We both were, but it might have been the one time in his life that he showed more emotion than I" A wistful smile crossed her face.
"He was happy when he thought he was getting son" She said sarcastically.
Her mother frowned, "We both always knew instinctively that you were going to be a girl."
"I read in the book that he claimed I was a boy." She tried to keep the shock out of her voice.
Her mother rolled her eyes, "Another one your father's grandiose ideas on how to keep you safe. Keep as much information about the baby secret as possible. "
"Clearly that secret did not last long." Emma stated under her breath.
"Some secrets are more important than others." Snow had that faraway look in her eyes that tended to worry Emma.
"Well, I'm sure that David will be ecstatic about this baby." There was a note of regret in her voice that did not go unnoticed by her mother. This baby was their second chance to be the parents they couldn't be for her. Coming so soon after they had found their daughter made things so complicated.
"Oh I am not going to tell him about the baby. At least not yet." Snow stated simply.
"It is hardly something that can be kept secret, especially considering how amorous the two of you are." Emma shuddered at the thought. They all lived together and they were all adults, it was hard to ignore what she knew went on between her parents.
Snow nodded her head in agreement, "You would be surprised to learn how much men, even one as intuitive as you father, miss unless it is pointed out. Of course, I will not be able to keep it from him for very long. If this is anything like when I was pregnant with you, I will be so sick from morning sickness in about 3 weeks that I will hardly be able to stand upright!" She shuddered at the thought.
"Tell me about it!" Emma remarked, "When I was pregnant with Henry I was so sick I thought I was going to die!"
A look of regret crossed Snow's face. "I am so sorry. I would give anything to go back in time and be with you during your pregnancy."
"Not your fault." Emma said simply. She handed the box to her mother "I want my brother or sister to have this." She stated with feeling. "I also want to support you in any way I can." She promised.
"Will you go with me to the clinic tomorrow?" Snow asked.
"Of course, even if this were not my brother or sister we were talking about, I would go with you." She gave her roommate a hug. "I still don't understand why you are keeping this from David though."
"First of all, I think you need some time to process this."
"True, but it shouldn't really be about me." Emma insisted.
"That is only part of it and maybe I am being selfish, but I would kind of like a couple of weeks to enjoy being pregnant before I have to deal with the over protective father- to- be that my husband will surely become." She sighed
"It couldn't be that bad." Emma said sarcastically
"When I first told him that she was pregnant with you, he had made her stop riding horses!" She exclaimed.
Emma gave her a strained look, "When was the last time you rode a horse?" Emma could not remember the last time she had seen a horse in Storybrooke.
"Before I was pregnant with you. That is hardly the point though! I may want to ride a horse." Snow pouted
"Sure." Emma stated in a disbelieving voice. "I'll start looking for you a horse to ride just so you can challenge his authority." She rolled her eyes.
"It got worse!" Snow continued, "Also, Charming declared that he was moving out of our shared bedchamber because he was afraid that he might roll over in bed and crush me and the baby. I quickly put a stop to that nonsense by sending him to Doc for a very uncomfortable talk about how we could not only continue to share a bed, but we could also continue to be intimate nearly up until the baby was born. Now, normally sex with him is sublime, but for some reason the hormones churning around when I am pregnant make everything so much better." Snow stated victoriously.
Emma's eyes widened in horror, "Ok, if you really want me to start thinking of him as my father. You are going to have to stop sharing that kind of information." She said seriously.
"I am sure he is going to find new ways to protect me," Snow ignored the horror written on her daughter's face, "He will probably stop me from drinking tap water and forbid me from crossing the street on my own." Snow stated sarcastically.
"What do you need to be protected from? Am I missing something?" They both looked up to see Charming standing in the doorway.
Emma rolled her eyes. "So it begins! I have a town meeting to attend. I will probably be late. I'll pick Henry up from the diner on my way home. Play nice kids!"
Charming watched Emma leave the bedroom. He looked down at the mobile and frowned in concentration.
"Emma really did have it?" He asked.
Snow put the top back on the box and sat it aside, "I was just telling Emma about how you sent the dwarf's to the far north to pick the mobile up from the fairies."
He smiled at the memory, "Remember how they fought over who was going to hang it up over the crib?"
She smiled and he pulled her into his arms and gave her a deep and lingering kiss.
"I missed you," He whispered into her ear.
She smiled.
"How is the cabin renovation commencing?" She asked
"It is coming along great. A few more months and it should be ready for us to move in. I'm glad we have Gapetto as our foremen, I hardly need to be there at all," His face fell. "I am afraid it is hardly a castle though."
"If Henry has any say in the design, it will have turrets," She laughed.
As wistful look crossed her husbands face, "I have actually found that I am pretty good with a hammer and saw though."
She brushed sawdust out of his hair, "I am glad that you are able to help. I know how much you like to be useful.
He had a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was not really hearing what she was saying.
"Charming, is there a problem?" She gave him a concerned look.
"My darling Snow," He took a deep breath as if he was having a hard time finding the courage to continue. "I always dreamed that we would have a big family. Yet, the Queen and her curse seemingly robed us of that opportunity"
She nodded in agreement and tried to keep the expression on her face calm. Was it possible that he knew that she was pregnant?
"Oh Snow, I was looking at the plans to the cabin today and I think the northeast corner would be perfect for a nursery. The sun would not come directly in the window, so the baby could sleep later in the morning. No pressure or anything."
He gave her a heart melting smile and she almost broke down and told him then and there, but she wanted to be sure first. She kissed him lightly on the lips.
"Are you sure you want to have another child?" She asked.
"Of course, I want to have lots of them, we are still young." He winked at her.
"Things are so uncertain in this land." She sighed.
He took both her hands in his and looked directly into her eyes.
"Snow, nothing is uncertain as long as we are together. Our love is certain, our family is certain; that we will have a home together is certain. These are fixed things no matter what realm we are in. Now if there is some other reason that you can think of for us not to have another child, you should probably let me know now." Because you know how I am once I get an idea in my head, I follow it through to the end.
He gave her a powerful look, one that reached out and tugged at her heart and pierced her soul. Emma's advice to trust her husband ran through her head. Not that they had much choice anyway, but the fact that Charming wanted another child elated her.
"I think it is a wonderful idea. In fact, I think we should start practicing right way." She gave him a titillating look.
"Now?" He gave her a puzzled look and looked around the room as if he expected Emma and Henry to jump out of the closet at any moment.
"Unless you have other plans," Her cell phone beeped and she saw that she had a text message from Red, "The game just went into extra innings. I just saw your prince headed your way. Have fun on your play date"
Even though they had to stay away from Regina when she had her visits with Henry, they had a network of friends that kept them updated. Snow had often wondered how they had gotten along in the their kingdom without cell phones. They had the birds or course, but they had nothing on Twitter.
"Emma will be at the town meeting for a while and Henry's game just went into extra innings," She gave him a smoldering look and pushed him towards the edge of the bed.
Saw dust fell out of his hair.
"However, you are filthy!" She teased.
"I will go take the fastest shower known to man." He promised and got up from the bed.
She smiled at him in an enigmatic fashion, "I have a better idea."
She took his hand and led him to the bathroom. She ran water in the claw footed tub.
She filled the tub with water helped him undress and helped him into the tub. She took a cloth and lathered it with the most masculine body wash she could find.
"Are you going to join me?" He asked hopefully.
She considered for a moment. In a month or two she would not be able to bend over the tub, much less get in and out. But that was not what she had in mind at the moment.
"No," She stated firmly, "I also have a rule that you are going to have to follow. For the next 10 minutes you can not say a word. You can only listen."
He started to protest, but she raised a finger to his mouth to shush him.
"The 10 minutes starts now." She bent over and kissed him just long enough to make him want more. Then she pulled away.
She took the cloth and gently washed his neck, shoulders and chest.
"I love how strong you are and how you have scarified yourself so many times to protect your family. You are royalty not by birth, but by the deeds you have done. The scars you carry on your body are a testament to your bravery and loyalty. I love the way I always feel safe when I am ion your arms."
She ran the cloth over his hands.
"I love your hands. I love the way you use them to gently caress me. I love the way you hold them out to our daughter and grandson to lead them down the right path in life. I love the way you use them to weld a sword. I love the way you are using them to build us a home.
She moved to his face.
"I love your face. I love the way you set your jaw when you are determined. I love your lips, which have saved my life more times than I can count. If the eyes are the windows to your soul, yours is beautiful. I love the fact that the area behind your ears is one of your trigger spots and I am the only one who knows that secret."
She continued to bathe him and tell him what she loved about ever inch of his body. It took more than 10 minutes and he didn't say a word. The truth of the matter was that he was left speechless after about a minute. By the time she was finished and he was clean, he had to have help standing. He was also so turned on that once she helped him out of the tub he nearly threw her down on the floor and made love to her on the spot. Snow was pretty turned on as well. The room was filled with steam and she was not certain that all the heat had been generated by the cooling bath water. Still, she managed to find a way to make her legs mover her out of the bathroom and into the hall. The cool air hit her body like a cold shower, but it did not cool her desire for her husband. In fact, if he did not follow her to their bedroom in less than a minute, she was going to have to take a cold shower.
"Snow," He moaned her name and it sounded like a wounded animal. He wrapped a towel around his dripping wet body and followed her into the hall. The same cold air hit him, but it had no effect on his body temperature because he noticed that she was leaving a trail of her clothing leading to the bedroom.
She was trying to kill him. That was the only way to explain why she would do what she had been doing for the last 20 minutes and then leave him to fend for himself and make it to the bedroom. He could hardly stand up, he felt drunk, intoxicated by her touch. He was pretty sure that if he was not able to have his way with her in the next 10 seconds he was going to died from delayed gratification.
She was nearly naked when she reached the bedroom. She caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the full length mirror that hung on the closet door. Her stomach was flat and there were no tell tale signs of the changes she knew were going on in her body. She ran her hand over her stomach and she was sure that she could feel the life growing inside of her. The life created by their love. First it had been Emma and now this new child would be just as strong, because their love was so strong. She saw him appear behind her as if he had materialized from thin air.
"Snow White, you are in so much trouble. You can not do what you did to a man and then walk off and leave him." He had a wicked, sultry gleam in his eyes.
She looked down at the floor and saw the white towel hit the floor as it puddle around her feet she had one though. She could not remember that last time she looked forward to getting into trouble as much as she did that night.