Work Text:
~~~?~~~
Nothing ever quite worked out the way she planned. Mary Margaret never asked her for anything, not a damned thing. She gave Emma everything she had without question; if Emma a night alone, Henry was always welcomed at her parents home. If Emma needed help with something, Mary Margaret was the first one on her feet, making sure whatever was needed was done. If Emma needed an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, a friend to pass time with, her mother was there for her without hesitation. So when Mary Margaret asked Emma to spare just a single day for her, Emma didn't have it in her soul to say no.
Her parents arrived late Saturday night with the baby. It took the prince three trips up the stairs to usher inside all the things she'd be needing over the next day. Diapers. Pre-filled bottles. An uncountable number of onesies. Baby soap. Baby shampoo. Bum cream. Baby powder. Bassinet. Baby blankets. Toys. Even a padded foam square for the floor if she wanted to lay her brother down. Her little living room, already cluttered with video games, school books, a sextant that had appeared out of nowhere a week or two back, files she'd brought home from the station, coats that were slung over a sofa, amongst other day to day stuff, seemed miniscule now packed with her brother's extra things.
“Jeez, guys, I thought I was keeping him for a night, not raising him for you.” Emma chuckled nervously as she picked at a new package of diapers.
“Babies need a lot of stuff, Emma. This is a big thing you're doing for your brother.” David laid a hand on her shoulder, frowning slightly. “If you're not ready to do this, we can wait till another weekend.”
“David... Dad... no! We'll be fine. I mean, really, the kid eats, sleeps and poops... how much different can it be than taking care of Killian?”
Of course the pirate picked that exact moment to walk through the open door, Mary Margaret's sudden burst of laughter alerting the room to his presence a mere second before his half wounded, half amused, “My thanks for that, Swan,” floated across the room.
“Of course,” Emma muttered, but the grins that passed between them were without accusation.
“Not to change the subject from Swan's ability to properly care for the young prince, but Henry and I have made plans for the evening. Where is the lad?”
A slow, wicked grin crossed Emma's face as she lifted a single eyebrow. “Henry got a call from Regina a few hours ago who asked if he'd spend the weekend with her. Looks like your attempt to avoid baby duty just blew up in your face, pirate.”
Killian tried to keep the smirk controlled, to school his face into a look of shocked disappointment, but he failed when his eyes began to sparkle with amusement. “His betrayal cuts me deeply.”
“If you two are finished with whatever this is...” David gestured between them, his face a mask of displeasure as he kissed his young son's forehead and began manoeuvring his wife towards the door.
“You have our numbers if you need us. Rumpelstiltskin assured us that there would be cellular reception at the cabin so we're less than a half hour away if something happens.” Mary Margaret fussed with the infant nervously before handing him gently over to his sister.
“Go. Relax and be young. I have this. Neal's a smart little guy; he's not going to give his big sister a hard time, are you, kid?” Emma cuddled the infant to her chest, kissing her mother's cheek as she purposely turned away from the over protective woman and settled into the corner of her sofa, turning her attention entirely to the baby.
Killian saw her parents to the door, closing and locking it behind them before turning back to take in the train wreck that was their living room. “I've seen houses full of children with less than they expect us to use in a single night.”
Emma chuckled softly, stroking a gentle finger down her brother's cheek. “Cut them some slack, they're nervous. It's their first night away from this little guy, isn't it, baby?” She cooed to him softly, rocking him in her arms.
She felt more than heard the soft hum that came from him as he stood to the side watching her with her brother. A strange tension radiated off of him, something she'd not felt in him before. From the corner of her eye she watched as his throat bobbed slowly, his fingers clenching and unclenching rhythmically, his eyes dark with something unreadable. She cocked her head to the side, keeping her voice gentle as she caught his gaze. “What?”
He shook his head slowly, forcing the tension to fade as he came to sit beside her, stroking one of the baby's tiny feet with a single finger. “It's a good look for you, Swan,” he murmured softly, avoiding her eyes.
She instantly stiffened, her heart picking up pace, her breathing strained as she struggled to find a reply. She was saved by the bell, however, when her cell phone rang in from one of the station's forwarded lines. Shifting Neal to Killian's arms was easier than she would have expected, his damaged arm more than capable of cradling the child leaving his hand free to catch the tiny fingers that reached for the whiskers on his face.
The news wasn't something she wanted to hear. Something had driven a docked ship through one of the boathouses, the wall collapsing inwards, ship and structure heavily damaged with no explanation. She glanced between the phone and Killian, hesitating in her duties as the sheriff as she was forced to consider her promise to her parents to care for her brother. Killian met her concerned gaze with one filled with patience and tolerance.
“Go, love. The prince and I will be fine for a few hours. Contrary to what you may believe, I am fully capable of ensuring that no harm will come to the infant.”
It took Emma a full five seconds of consideration before she nodded and confirmed she'd be on her way to the docks momentarily. As she darted around the apartment, gathering a go bag for the investigation, she rattled off her brother's feeding schedule and quickly explained the idea behind baby wipes, diaper cream and baby powder. He chuckled through the entire explanation, but even in her rush she could tell he was paying complete attention.
She took one last look back at the pirate and her brother before she closed the door behind her, lips pressed together nervously, eyes uncertain, until she watched as he tickled the baby's tummy, his attention fully captured by the cooing gurgles escaping her brother's lips. She melted for a full minute against the door frame before coming back to herself, shaking her head softly.
“Hey, Killian?” He looked up at her, a gentle smile on his lips, love in his eyes. “Thank you.”
“We're just a couple of men getting to know each other, nothing to thank me for.” His wink was saucy, his eyes dancing with mirth. “Go to work, Swan.”
~~~?~~~
She wasn't sure what she expected to find when she came back to the apartment long hours later. Killian's confidence in his capability of caring for her brother went a long way in easing her nerves over leaving them alone. The adoration for the infant he showed in his gentle touches to the baby's soft skin helped to lessen the guilt she felt at abandoning her brother so soon after she'd offered to watch him. Still, the fact that she'd left a centuries old pirate alone with a helpless newborn left her on edge.
Had he managed to change Neal's diapers with out incident? With having only one hand it couldn't have been an easy task.
Did she tell him what temperature the bottles should have been heated to? She'd been gone long enough that her brother would have eaten two.
Oh, God! Did she tell him he had to burp the baby after every meal, or did the poor thing have to cry through the pains of unrelieved gas?
Emma silently chastised herself for leaving them even though it had been an emergency and with David at the cabin there was no one else that could have helped. It's not that she doubted Killian's heart was in the right place, but his time and hers were so completely different, how could she expect him to just know what the baby would need? She half expected to open the door and find her apartment destroyed, bottles exploded on walls from too much heat exposure, diapers both clean and used strewn across the apartment from frustrations in completing the changing, pirate and infant alike covered in baby vomit when the kid exploded from gas build up.
What she found, however, when she opened that door, stopped her heart the way nothing else ever could.
She closed the door silently, slipping out of her shoes and coat, moving closer to where they lay asleep, desperate to not make a sound. Tears came unbidden to her eyes, her hand clenched tightly over her aching heart as she looked down at them. Killian lay sleeping quietly on the sofa, his hook removed and resting on the table a few feet away. Neal lay across his chest, sleeping just as deeply, his little fist wrapped around Killian's finger, his tiny lips wrapped around the very tip, his fragile body held in place by Killian's bare stump. At some point her pirate had not only removed his hook but the brace he used to hide the scarring from anyone's curious eyes. He'd obviously not wanted the rough leather and cool metal to disturb his tiny ward, instead leaving himself bare and vulnerable to ensure the baby's comfort.
The apartment was in no further disarray than it had been when her parents left. Two bottles were washed and drying in the dish rack in the kitchen. A burping towel lay across the diaper disposal bin her parents had thoughtfully brought with them. The very low strains of classical music filled the room, just loud enough to hear, lulling her boys into an even deeper sleep.
She didn't know how long she watched them; long enough for every emotion she'd ever suppressed in her life to come flying to the surface, splitting open her heart, filling her with an ache so bone deep she wasn't sure if she'd ever stop feeling it. Her throat closed tightly, the tears that burned her green eyes since the moment she walked through the door fell freely, her breath came in soft pants that terrified her even more than the desperate emotion that enveloped her.
She wanted this. She wanted this so badly that she wasn't sure she'd be able to find the words to say as much. Every single regret she'd had since the day she let Henry be carried out of her life bubbled up, and with sudden clarity she understood what her mother had been trying to say in that cave so very long ago. She had an amazing son, who she couldn't be any more proud of and that she loved very much, but she'd missed out on his first steps, his first words, his first day of school, his first everything. She'd allowed that to be taken from her because she didn't think she had the love, the foundation, the ability to give him what he needed.
She was so very wrong.
She'd found love. She was building a foundation. She'd proven to herself time and again that she had the ability to be a good mother to Henry, and to any child that came along. She wanted them to come along, and more than that, she wanted the pirate who held her brother to his chest so gently to have that experience with her. She wanted black haired, blue eyed babies with an inexplicable love of the sea; she wanted blonde haired green eyed babies that brought him to his knees; she wanted a mix of both that would spend their lives driving their parents insane with the stubborn, mischievous antics they'd come by honestly.
She wanted it so badly that it physically hurt and damn near knocked her feet out from under her when she could see their faces so clearly that they may as well have already been born. She must have made some kind of sound of which she wasn't aware; Killian's blue eyes shot open, instantly alert as he first checked the infant asleep on his chest and then unerringly found her in the darkness, trembling and tear stained as she looked down on them.
“Swan?” he whispered softly, ever mindful of her brother, “Are you all right?”
She nodded in the darkness, wiping away her tears as she came to sit beside him, resting her head against his shoulder, softly stroking the baby's cheek.
“Are you sure, love, because you look as though you've been crying.”
She shrugged silently, still not trusting her voice, closing her eyes and just breathing them in, pirate and baby, sea salt and powder.
“Emma, you're scaring me, love.” He'd have struggled to get up if the little prince weren't so soundly asleep; he had to make do with twisting just enough to run the edge of his stump against her cheek, feeling her tears even through the damaged flesh that remained.
“Don't. It's nothing.” She finally managed to whisper, shaking her head softly, pressing her lips to his scars in a gentle kiss. “It's just...” she breathed in deeply once more, steadying her voice, calming her emotions, letting the peace of the night settle her into the life she suddenly saw before her. “It's a good look for you.”
The way his breath caught in his chest, escaping long moments later in a stuttering, drawn out gasp, punctuated by the suddenly rhythm-less beat of his startled heart, she knew he understood.
After all, he'd felt it earlier in the night himself. As usual, she just needed a while to catch up.
~~~Fin~~~
Much like magic, all muses come with a price. My muse's price is that little box down below. Please don't make her chase you for payment, it's such a bloody awful waste of her time. Especially since I signed her up for doing this once a day now... she's already ready to mutiny! Please help her understand, it's all worth while!