As always, a big thank you to all of my readers.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters they are the property of ABC
Chapter 10 It Hurts so Bad
The next morning Snow and Charming were a mess. They could both hardly move, they had numerous love bites on various parts of their bodies and he had scratches on his back from her nails. She reached over to the bedside table to turn on the lamp and noticed that it was lying in pieces on the floor. She reached into a drawer and brought out a jar of lavender cream to put on the scratches on his back.
He winched in pain as her fingers smoothed the cream over the marks left by her nails.
"I don't think I can move." He groaned.
"I never remember being this sore before." Snow commented.
"We got pretty vigorous." He laughed.
"It was pretty great though." She sighed "Would you do it again?" She asked as her face flushed from pink to red.
"Hell yeah!" He whooped "If I could move I would do it again right now!" He grinned salaciously.
He leaned over and kissed her. Even that hurt. She tasted like lavender though and he enjoyed how the flavor lingered on his lips.
He looked up at the ceiling, "Do we have to get out of bed today?" He asked more than half serious.
Snow thought for a moment and remembered that she and Emma were going to visit the clinic in order to confirm that she was pregnant. They had to get there early or they would have a long wait.
She practically pushed him out of the bed, "Yes we do have to get up, now!" She grabbed her robe and pulled open the curtains so sunlight spilled into the room.
He squinted against the light and pulled the covers over his head. She pulled the covers back, saw his naked body and almost lost all of her resolve.
"Why do I have to get up?" He moaned "When all I want to do is spend the day holding you!"
"That cabin is not going to renovate itself!" She insisted in a snappish tone.
"The crew is very good. I don't have to be there to oversee every step of the renovation." He tried to give her a seductive look and tried to pull her back against him.
"Charming, I am not a wind up doll! I can hardly walk this morning! My body needs a rest." She pulled the belt on her robe tightly and walked out of the room.
All he could do is watch her leave and laugh happily.
"Snow White, I adore you most ardently!" He called after her retreating form and was rewarding with a beaming smile from his lady love.
He put on his robe and followed her out of the room.
Snow barged into Emma's room and pulled open the curtains. Her daughter groaned and pulled the covers over her head just as her father had done.
Snow pulled the covers down and sat on the edge of the bed. She had her arms full of shoes.
"Emma, why is it that none of my shoes fit?" She dropped them on the floor and they made a loud thump.
Emma groaned. There was no way she was going to get back to sleep.
She looked towards the door and heard the water running and figured that her father was in the shower.
Still, she spoke softly, "Probably because you are pregnant and your feet are going to be one of the first places to swell, followed by your breast and then every other part of your body until you will feel like the cousin of a bloated whale!" Emma groaned at the memory.
A look of horror crossed Snow's face.
"That did not happen in fairytale land!" Snow stated emphatically. "Pregnant women in fairytale land just kind of get a cute little bump in front and that is pretty much it. Nothing swells or spreads and our shoes do not stop fitting!"
"You have to be kidding me?" Emma asked as she threw back the covers. "I guess that is why they called it fantasyland." She said sarcastically. "Here things are going to be very different."
"I will not stand for my feet to swell!" Her mother stated firmly.
Emma laughed, "You don't have much choice. Just borrow some of my shoes." She told her mother.
Snow went to Emma's closet and started looking through her shoes.
"Why do you have so many pairs of boots?" She asked as she started to throw shoes behind her until there was a small pile on the floor.
"Maybe Ella has some shoes I can wear. She was pregnant in this world." Snow stopped to ponder this idea for a moment.
"As far as I remember, Ashley didn't have much." Emma commented.
Snow finally found a pair of shoes that she liked.
"Oh good, your father is out of the shower." She took off for the bathroom.
Emma pulled herself out of bed and stumbled downstairs, "I need coffee." She said to no one in particular.
After a long shower that eased some of her aches and pains, Snow quickly dressed. Henry was sitting on the stairs with a pensive look on his face. The sound of a heated argument between Emma and her father drifted through the air.
"Will they ever get along?" He asked with a concerned look on his face.
Snow sighed and sat down beside her grandson and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"They are so much alike, both of them are so headstrong and reactive." Snow sighed.
"I just wanted us to be a family." Henry shook his head sadly.
"Henry, we are a family. It is going to take us all a while to get used to our new roles. Your grandfather and I are trying to get used to the idea that our daughter is as old as we are. We still think of her as our little girl. Your mother is still getting used to the idea that she has parents, that they are fairy tale characters and that they have not aged in 28 years!"
Snow frowned. Now that she said it out loud, it was a bit strange.
"Maybe you just need to accept that she is not a child and then move forward?" Henry suggested.
Snow thought about what he had just said. There was no way for them to possibly get back the lost years of Emma's life. They had to accept the fact that their daughter had grown up without their parental influence. Never-the-less, she had become a strong, smart and capable young woman.
"Henry, I think you might be right. Instead of trying to recapture the past, all of us need to look towards the future."
Instinctively her hand went to her stomach where the newest member of their family was growing nurtured by the love that emanated from the people around him or her. She could almost feel the life energy emanating from her unborn child. She shook her head and decided it must be her imagination. The child was only a few weeks old, there was no possibility that she could feel it already.
"Let's go and see what we can find for breakfast." Snow suggested, "I am starving!"
When Snow walked into the kitchen the first thing her husband did was look at her feet.
"Are you wearing Emma's shoes?" He asked with a confused look on his face.
"Yes, we are girls and we borrow each other's clothes. Deal with it!" She snapped.
A goofy grin crossed her husband's face.
"This is starting to feel very familiar." He hinted cryptically. "Please be a boy." He said under his breath and then could not help but smile again.
Emma shot him a shocked look. Snow and Henry seemed to have missed the exchange all together.
"That reminds me," Emma turned to Henry. "Mary Margaret and I have an appointment this morning. So you are going to get to go to the cabin with David."
"What kind of appointment?" Henry asked "Can I come?"
"It's at the clinic, you would be bored, Kid." Emma informed him causally.
"You are going to the clinic today, is everything alright?" Charming asked with grave concern in his voice.
"Yes, everything is fine. It is just girl stuff." Snow assured him.
"Does this have anything to do with last night?" He asked worried.
"No!" She assured him.
"Was I too rough?" He asked sincerely.
Emma groaned and Snow's face flushed red with embarrassment. Henry did not seem to understand what they were talking about.
"It has nothing to do with last night!" She snapped impatiently.
"Can I stay here alone?" Henry asked in a pleading voice.
"Under no circumstances will you be allowed to stay home alone. It is far too dangerous!" His grandfather informed him with a serious tone in his voice.
"I am almost 11!" He pointed out.
"He's right," Emma stated, "He was born 2 days before my birthday."
Snow and Charming exchanged a surprised look. They did not even know when Emma's birthday was.
"You were the best birthday present I never got to keep." Emma stated with a slight sadness in her voice.
"Well, you have me now!" Henry beamed "So, can I please stay home alone? The evil queen let me stay home alone all the time." He added.
"Yeah and we all know how well that worked out. You were always sneaking out of the house to see me!" Emma reminded him sternly.
"Emma, maybe we should let him stay home if that is what he really wants to do." Snow said, thinking about the conversation she had with Henry about letting her child grow up. "August installed that new lock and he knows better than to go out alone or let anyone in the apartment."
Emma conceded. "Do not open the door to anyone, do not let anyone in the apartment, and do not take gifts of combs or apples from scary old women!" She instructed sternly.
"Why should he be afraid of combs or apples?" Three voices asked in unison.
"The apples should be self-explanatory and the combs come from the same story, just a different version." Emma sighed
"Can I play on the computer?" Henry begged.
"Just until David leaves," Emma instructed, "then I want you to do something productive."
Henry ran upstairs.
Charming threw his wife a, "I think we need to talk look."
She shook her head, "Not now!" she mouthed.
"Maybe I should leave you two alone?" Emma asked.
"Yes!" Charming almost knocked over the table.
"No!" Snow protested. "Come on Emma, we are going to be late for our appointment."
Charming grabbed her wrist lightly and pulled her to him.
"Is everything really alright?" He asked urgently.
"Yes," She smiled "I love you Charming and we will talk. As soon as Emma and I are finished we will pick up Henry, grab lunch at Granny's and come out to the cabin."
"It's a date!" He gave her a slow, smoldering kiss before letting her go with Emma.
As soon as they were out the door he sat down on a chair and stared into space. Clearly something was wrong. Maybe Snow really didn't want to have another child so soon after the curse was broken? Maybe she really did not want to raise a child in this uncertain land? Maybe she suspected that he was not the father? The last idea nearly broke his heart. He needed to do something to keep his mind off of all the questions.
"Henry, I'm leaving for the cabin. Come lock the door behind me!" He yelled up the stairs.
As soon they were in the hall Snow turned to Emma.
"I think your father suspects something." She said with a wide eyed look.
"What would make you think that he suspects something?" Emma asked in a sarcastic voice.
Emma helped her mother change into an examination gown in one of the patient rooms at the clinic. Emma's face registered shock when she saw all of the purple marks on various parts of Snow's body.
"You should see the other guy." Snow smiled in a guilty fashion.
"Do they hurt?" Emma asked wide eyed.
"Not really, unlike the nail marks I left on your father's back. I feel slightly bad about those." Her face flushed red.
Emma put her head in her hands and groaned.
The nurse came in and did a quick examination and took some blood. They waited silently for the results, which only took about 10 minutes.
"Well, you are not pregnant!" The nurse casually informed the two stunned women.
Snow's face registered genuine pain.
"Check again! Emma angrily demanded and she stood face to face with the nurse.
"I beg your pardon? The test is 99% accurate the first time." The nurse insisted.
"Run the test again and send a doctor in with the results this time." Emma stated angrily.
When the nurse left Snow started to get dressed again, but Emma stopped her with a restraining hand.
"The doctor will need to perform an exam on you before we leave." Emma said gently.
One tear escaped from Snow's eye. "It is okay, Emma. Maybe this is just not a good time for your father and me to have another child." She sighed.
Emma gave her a serious look.
"Even David thinks you are pregnant. The two of you are having another child regardless of what you think about the timing, you need to deal with it!" She glared at her mother.