Chapter 33: Darling, Let's Be Adventurers!
The ceremony was beautiful. It was filled with declarations of undying love and always finding each other. There was also more than one stolen kiss between the bride and groom. Even a few quips from Regina did not spoil the mood. It appeared that some things never changed and she still found their unwavering love a little too sentimental for her tastes. Still, no curses were thrown about, so that marked a change from their last wedding. The reception was catered by Granny and consisted of cheese fries and burgers. Once all of the well-wishers were escorted out of the doors, Charming collapsed onto the couch and let out a long breath. He pulled Snow onto his lap and kissed her fiercely.
"I would say that the day was successful." He moaned. "But right now all I want to do is get you out of that dress."
Snow returned the kiss with vigor. "I would love to have a long soak in that claw footed tub I noticed in the master bath." She sighed wistfully.
"What is stopping you?" He asked.
She looked down at her stomach.
"In my condition I don't think that I would be able to get out of the tub on my own and in your condition, I don't think you would be much help." She answered truthfully.
He abruptly stood up, which forced her off of his lap.
"Thank you for reminding me just how useless I have become." He stated angrily.
He then turned and walked out of the room. Snow sat on the couch for a few moments, stunned, holding back tears. She took several deep breaths and followed him out of the room. She found him sitting on a gliding rocking chair in the unfinished nursery. He was holding on tightly to a stuffed toy raccoon. Snow looked around the room. In the rush to get ready for their vow renewal, her husband had only had a chance to give her a quick tour of their new home. The nursery had not been on the tour. She now saw that it was as they had discussed. The bank of windows was in the perfect place so it would not interrupt their child as he slept. There was a crib set up against one wall and the rocker, but little else in the way of furniture. A bright bird mural was painted on one wall and a mobile of forest animals hung over the crib.
"Why is this only room in the house that isn't finished?" Snow asked.
Her husband looked up and she wondered if he hadn't heard her enter the room or if he had been ignoring her.
"Our son is going to spend the first few years of his life in this room; I thought you would like to help me finish it." He stated with feeling.
Snow felt tears well up in her eyes. There were so many reasons why she loved him, but at the moment she could think of no greater reason than the fact that he would do this for her, that even while she was gone he instinctively knew what she would want and need.
She pulled him to his feet and hugged him fiercely.
"Thank you for not being useless." She whispered into his hair.
"I got one thing right." He stated sadly.
"Charming, you are the mayor of this town. People voted for you because you are a good leader." She reminded.
"People voted for me because they felt sorry for me." He countered with a voice filled with self-pity.
"You think you got elected because you are blind and people felt sorry for you?" She gave him a puzzled look.
"People felt sorry for me because Regina ran a smear campaign against me. There was a new paper article." He sighed.
"Emma mentioned it." His wife sighed as well.
He led her back to the bedroom where he produced the offending document.
"I knew you would want to see it for yourself." He said sadly as he handed her the newspaper.
"Oh Charming, this is bad." She replied firmly.
"I know, Henry saw it and I had to give him the talk." He admitted. "I think it went pretty well."
Snow had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "I think we might need to leave town." She swallowed a giggle. Her husband was at a disadvantage because he could not see the mirth in her eyes.
"That was my first thought as well," He replied seriously, "But where can we go? If we cross the town line we risk losing our memories!" He started to pace.
"I have one bracelet that I can use to cross the town line. If you love me and our child, you will let me be the one to use it." She answered sternly.
"Of course, you have to be the one to go." He swallowed hard.
She punched him in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" He asked as he rubbed him sore arm.
"For being so noble that you are stupid! Do you really think I want to cross the town line and have this baby all on my own?" She felt like swatting him again.
He started to open his mouth.
"Don't you dare say that I am on a roller coaster of emotions because I am pregnant!"
She wouldn't let him say it, even though she felt. One moment she wanted to grab him and kiss him and the next moment she wanted to push him in a lake. Of course if she pushed him in a lake he would just come out all wet and she really found him hard to resist when he was all wet, so that probably was not the solution to her problems.
"Ok." He replied meekly.
She unclasped the necklace and started to put it on the dresser when she noticed the back had turned green. It wasn't her mother's necklace at all. Regina had given her the fake necklace that Charming had made to replace the one that Regina had refused to return.
"That witch!" Snow seethed through clenched teeth.
Charming's face grew agitated with concern. "What is it?"
"The back of the necklace turned green, Regina gave me the fake." She replied softly.
He gave a hearty laugh. "Thank goodness, the thought of nice had me on edge. It is just not natural for a mortal enemy to become a friend overnight." He shrugged.
"You don't think she can change?" Snow asked sadly.
"I think she can change, but a few months ago she was trying to take Henry away from Emma and you saw what she did during the election. I don't think that anyone can change that quickly." He took both her hands in his and helped her to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Then you are not going to like what I am about to say." She sighed.
He sat down beside her and urged her to continue.
"Charming, I can't have this baby alone. I will not have this baby until you can see it being born." She stated with determination in her voice.
He looked down at her stomach and touched it lovingly.
"Snow, it isn't like we have a choice. We can't kiss this away. There is nothing in this world that I would rather have than the chance to see my son being born, but there is nothing in this world that is going to make that a possibility." He replied lovingly.
"Exactly and that is why you are not going to like what I am about to suggest. Regina thinks that the answer to restoring your eyesight can be found in OZ." She said with excitement in her voice.
He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Didn't we just decide that we can't trust Regina?" He reminded her.
"This makes sense though. You lost your sight in OZ, there has to be something there that will act as a cure." She replied.
"Fine," He agreed, "As soon as you have the baby and you are strong enough, we will go to OZ and look for a cure."
She crossed her arms in defiance. "I told you, I am not having this baby until you can see it being born. We go to OZ tonight."
"How exactly are we supposed to get there? I doubt that Jefferson will enjoy being dragged out of bed in order to take us to OZ." He insisted.
"I happen to have the two portal rings that Gold gave to King George. She reached down and took off one of her shoes and handed him the rings. They were her "something borrowed."
"Snow, it is our second wedding night and I really was looking forward to getting you out of that dress." He said with disappointment in his voice.
"We can do that later." She insisted.
"What are you going to do about that necklace?" He asked.
"I am not going to worry about the necklace. It may not be the family heirloom my mother wanted to pass down to me, but it is the necklace you gave to me and we will use it to start our own family traditions." She stated with enthusiasm.
"It turns green when you wear it." He reminded her.
"I'll put clear nail polish on the back or something. It will be fine." She gave him a quick kiss. "Charming, be a dear and go put on some leather. We are going on an adventure." She pulled him to his feet.