Chapter Five
Mary Margaret Swan was working hard to keep herself together, but Dr Whale's words rebounding around her head were not helping.
'I can confirm that the pregnancy test is positive'.
This led to other tests and checkups that gave them the pleasure of spending hours at Storybrooke General.
Dr Whale seemed to understand that Emma couldn't handle waiting for a routine appointment and so agreed to do all of this in between his more urgent patients.
It was for this reason that the trio did not arrive home until 2 am with the knowledge that Emma was growing a child and that they were both as healthy as they should be.
Emma had dashed by them as soon as the door opened to get to the bathroom and Mary Margaret and David followed her swiftly in time to see her retching over the toilet.
The married couple shared a strained look until Mary Margaret dropped down to move her hair and rub her back as she whispered reassurances.
It was exactly what David did during her bouts of morning sickness so she hoped that it was also comforting for their daughter.
Presumably, she would be doing a lot of this in the coming months?
"It's okay, sweetheart," she had cooed as the teen slumped against her and she held her close.
"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" Emma asked, her voice cracking.
It was this that led to Mary Margaret staring at the ceiling as she waited for her daughter to clean up and get ready for bed.
Now that she was finally alone, she pinched the bridge of her nose and took in a ragged breath.
She quickly adjusted the position as the door creaked open timidly to reveal Emma hugging her flat stomach, now in her PJs.
She must have washed her face, but it was still marred by the signs of the tears she'd periodically shed throughout the night.
"Are you sure I can stay in here?" Emma asked.
Mary Margaret sat up and extended her arm, "Of course you can, come on."
Emma licked her lips and rocked back and forth on her heels before she approached the bed cautiously. After some hesitation, she crawled across the mattress and dropped heavily against her mother.
Her sigh of relief as she was pulled into a hug almost broke Mary Margaret's heart.
The way that Emma was feeling was surely punishment enough for all of the rules that she had broken, but Mary Margaret wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.
Only yesterday, she had been under the impression that she and David had lucked out with the perfect daughter and it was hard to believe that she should see her any differently now.
All she wanted was for her to feel better but she had no idea how to go about making that happen.
"I'm sorry, mom, you must think I'm such an idiot," Emma mumbled against her collarbone.
"We love you, Emma," Mary Margaret reassured, dropping a kiss to her forehead, "We'll figure this out, you know that. Right now, all I want you to worry about is sleeping."
"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?"
Mary Margaret turned her head so that she could cringe unseen, that shouldn't be the first question that came from an expectant mother.
She recovered, though and replied, "Of course not, I'll talk to the principal."
"Do we have to tell him?" Emma asked vulnerably.
"I'm afraid so," she replied, "But don't worry about that. Just try and sleep, okay?"
"Okay…" Emma mumbled, her eyes slipping shut, "I love you, mom."
"I love you too," Mary Margaret said automatically as her eyes returned to the ceiling.
It took a few minutes for the exhausted girl's breathing to even out and Mary Magaret ran a hand through her hair.
The weight against her was more significant than the last time they'd done this since her small child had a nightmare that only her parents could soothe.
Somehow, she still felt tiny against her.
Her bedroom door was pushed again and she didn't even have to shush her showered husband who faltered to take in the most important people in his life.
Finally, David dropped down to his side of the bed and whispered, "Is she okay?"
"No, she's terrified," Mary Margaret admitted.
"Do you blame her?" David replied, laying his hand against his daughter's back, no doubt picking up on the distress exuding from her even as she slept, "How is this possible? She's way too young."
"She's sixteen, David," Mary Margaret pointed out, though she knew that he wasn't referring to whether it was physically possible.
"Exactly!" David whispered back forcibly, "She was a baby not that long ago! Our baby can't be a…"
He scrambled so Mary Margaret supplied, "A mother?"
David winced and started making circles on Emma's back, successfully calming the sleeping girl as he had so many times since she was born.
"Whale suggested that she doesn't have to keep the baby and she looked even more scared, David. I don't think she sees any other option than to go through with this," Mary Margaret said.
"I know," David sighed, they'd made it clear that Emma could change her mind at any point or could explore other options later on, but as it was right now, it seemed that the teen knew what she felt she needed to do.
"She's scared and heartbroken over Regina, we need a way to make sure that she knows that everything will be okay no matter what she decides."
"Maybe I could collect some of the baby things from the basement? We kept the crib, right?" David asked.
"That is a wonderful idea," Mary Margaret replied, lovingly laying back with Emma snoozing close.
David also lay back and mused, "You know, we are far too young to be grandparents."
Despite everything, Mary Margaret laughed.
S
Killian Jones thought he would be relieved that the truth was out in the open but that was not the case.
He was just worried.
Emma had only been back for one day and now she was 'sick' again, so he wasted no time in calling her as soon as her text message hit his phone.
Weaving through the student body of Storybrooke High, he asked, "Are you okay, Em?"
"Dr Whale said everything is fine," Emma replied after a long pause.
"You know that's not what I mean," he whispered, "You told your parents and your girlfriend…"
"My parents are disappointed but they at least care enough to try and hide it," Emma sighed before adding brokenly, "And I don't have a girlfriend anymore."
Killian halted just shy of his locker but was carried over to it by the relentless flow of his peers.
Leaning against the metal, he said with pure sympathy for his best friend's plight, "I'm sorry, Emma."
"It's my own fault," Emma replied resignedly and Killian couldn't think of a way to defend her actions.
She may not have technically cheated on Regina, but what she did was certainly a betrayal. What followed hadn't made it any better.
If she had only told her what happened at the party, before they got back together, perhaps it would have made things more bearable.
It would have softened the blow of the much bigger news.
All the same, Emma Swan was his best and closest friend so he had to be on her side even when she had screwed up so royally.
This meant that he couldn't think of anything that could be of comfort at this moment but he could at least keep talking to her.
It was for this reason that he changed the topic.
"Did your mom call the principal?"
"I have an appointment at ten," Emma said heavily.
"Do you think you'll be pulled out of school?" Killian asked, chewing at his lip.
Sure he had other friends to interact with, but Storybrooke High somehow felt emptier without his best friend around.
"My parents don't have the time or money to homeschool me, you know that," Emma said, "Maybe I'll get out of gym if I'm lucky?"
Killian smiled as the crowded hallway started to thin out, "Trust you to find the silver lining, Swan."
Emma laughed but it wasn't quite the hearty kind that he was used to from his years of experience with her.
He was also distracted now that the hall was less packed.
Across the space, he saw evidence that Regina Mills would indeed never sully her perfect attendance record, even under these circumstances.
During the days when she was worried out of her mind about her girlfriend, she would have come straight over to him to enquire about her condition.
On this day, she was flanked by her friends as she organised her locker listlessly.
Daniel Colter appeared to be trying to cheer her up with some joke that Mal Page was rolling her eyes at.
Regina, on the other hand, barely reacted to his words.
"Let me call you back, Em?" Killian asked his stomach flipping and telling him that there was something he needed to do.
"Sure, I'll be here," Emma sighed as the line clicked off.
Kilian's arm flopped to his side and he crossed the hall before he could change his mind.
Daniel stopped mid-sentence at his approach causing Regina to turn around to find out what had granted her the silence.
Killian wasn't at all surprised by her deep-set scowl, so he didn't let it deter him.
"Hey, Gina, can I get a second?" he asked.
Both Daniel and Mal also scowled at him.
Closing her locker, Regina said, "I'll meet you both in homeroom."
Daniel and Mal shared a look but eventually made their way down the hall as asked and Regina crossed her arms as she looked at Killian expectantly.
"You told them?" Killian huffed, trying to discern just how deep their anger had been.
"I told my friend that I broke up with my girlfriend," Regina replied curtly.
"Did you tell them why?" Killian asked.
He couldn't imagine that Emma was ready for everyone to know just yet, she still hadn't told Neal what she was planning to do.
"Do you honestly think so little of me, Jones?" Regina asked her lips in a thin line.
"You're right, I didn't…" Kilian said, trailing off as he scratched the back of his neck nervously.
"If you expect me to forgive her…" Regina warned.
"No, that's not it at all," Kilian replied hastily, "I wanted to apologise."
"Because you knew all along?" Regina asked, looking away no doubt to hide the tears pricking at her eyes.
Killian was certain that she didn't want anyone in these halls to know that she was capable of crying.
"Yeah…I'm so sorry…"
"It's fine, she's your friend. Emma is the one who should have told me," Regina said, her eyes shining adamantly as she met Killian's.
With that, she made to walk in the same direction as her friends but Killian grabbed her arm to stop her escape.
"You know, she's terrified," he offered, searching for any sign of the girl who was unconditionally in love with his best friend the day before.
Regina allowed that girl to pass over her face for a split second before she schooled it away.
"How terrible for her," she bit back, wrenching her arm back and heading to homeroom.
Killian blew out a breath, imagining how awkward it would be to detail that to Emma. Still, he brought out his phone to call her back as promised.
S
It had been one of the longest days of Emma's life, even though most of it had been spent waiting.
As suspected, the meeting with the principal resulted in her being excused from gym but little else would change in her day-to-day schedule.
Eventually, they would need to have another review to discuss whether the pregnancy affected her GPA but until then, he just encouraged her to try her best.
He assured her that she would have plenty of options to make sure that she graduated, but he didn't want her to worry about that until later.
Right now, graduation was the last thing on her mind, she was sitting in Granny's diner waiting to be joined by someone that she desperately needed to talk to.
There was one other person, of course, but whenever she tried to call her ex-girlfriend the number always conspicuously came up as unavailable without even ringing.
The conversation that she was about to have wasn't going to be easy, but it still felt much more doable than figuring out what to say to Regina Mills.
She couldn't think of a defence that didn't involve admitting that she was scared out of her mind and she didn't think she could do it without the girl she loved so deeply.
She had no right to expect anything but ire from Regina though. She'd hardly signed up for accidental teen pregnancy when she agreed to go on a date with Emma Swan.
This was why she had given up on her second attempt to call her and instead clicked on 'Neal Cassidy' in her contacts.
As promised, he was just walking through the diner's entrance as she nervously fidgeted with the menu while trying to put Regina out of her mind.
Her ex didn't exactly factor into what they were about to talk about, but as he came over to the secluded booth, a rather childish notion occurred to her.
How could the chance to be with him ever be worth losing someone as beautiful as Regina?
Neal was nice enough but he didn't feel nearly as at ease with him as she did with her ex-girlfriend.
Obviously undeterred by the thoughts that he couldn't hear, Neal slipped into the booth and smiled at her tightly.
Taking her lead, he pulled the other menu towards himself to distract from the only thing that they had in common.
"Do you want something to eat?" Neal asked.
Emma shook her head and replied, "Nauseous."
"Oh…right," Neal mumbled, deflating into the worn leather.
"My mom said it happened to her, we need to figure out what I can stomach, at least for the first trimester," Emma replied quietly.
Neal gulped, officially abandoning the menu to give Emma his full attention.
"So you really told your parents?" Neal asked.
"I know I should have talked to you first but…"
"Hey no," Neal reassured swiftly, "You don't have to run anything by me. This is just…a lot…"
The words filled Emma with immeasurable relief, the kind that made her feel bad for comparing him to Regina.
Perhaps what she was about to say wouldn't be so mad? He did seem to be the only one who really understood how he felt about the entire situation.
"There is one thing I should probably tell you…Dr Whale…he spent a long time going through my options but…I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep it."
Neal nodded but did breathe sharply, "I figured."
Emma tilted her head, "You're…okay with that?"
The boy inclined his head, "Well, you know…it's your choice."
It was the perfect response and Emma once again regretted doubting him. She couldn't ever feel for him what she did for Regina but she could envision a future where they could be friends.
That wouldn't totally mess up their kid, right?
"You can still have an opinion, though," Emma assured, giving him an encouraging nod.
Neal blinked and Emma waited the moment that he needed to process the life-changing bomb that had just been dropped on him.
"I…think my opinion is that…I want to help…tell me how I can help?" he asked, leaning forward expectantly.
"Well…my parents are being super supportive but I can't expect them to pay for everything. That's not fair, Granny gave me a job," Emma replied cautiously, examining him carefully to make sure that she wasn't asking too much of him.
He was excited, though. He finally knew what he should be doing.
"I can get a job too!"
"Are you sure?" Emma replied.
Laying his hands down on the table, he said, "Look…this is all terrifying but…you don't have to do it alone."
This shot anxiety through Emma and she swallowed hard against a sudden doubt, she had to make sure that he knew what to expect even if it shattered any chance that she would be getting the support he was offering.
"Even if I tell you that I'm gay?" she whispered.
Neal looked around as if anyone was listening to the teens' conversation.
"Everyone knows that, Emma," he replied.
Emma huffed, she'd done the coming out ordeal years ago and it had all gone smoothly, but she got the distinct feeling that this would confuse it.
While her hand brushed over her flat stomach, she said, "Well when this gets out, there will be lots of…theories…"
"I was there too," he reminded her, "It was just two drunk idiots, attraction had nothing to do with it. I'm sorry I shouldn't have…"
"You didn't take advantage, Neal," Emma cut him off, "Right now, I'm kind of glad it was you if it had to happen."
"You may be talking too soon there," Neal laughed nervously.
"You're doing great," Emma said, "But I would suggest that you tell your parents, it helps."
"I will," Neal replied, covering his face with his menu, "How about we figure out what won't make you throw up?"
"Good luck with that," Emma snorted.