Work Text:
Emma closed the door to the nursery, shutting out the sounds of laughter and smattering of voices from just a few rooms away. It was a Godsend having her family with her on the day that both she and Leia came home from the hospital. It had only been a few hours as of yet, but having the presence of family greet her and want to consume her and the new baby made her feel completely overcome with feelings of happiness.
And yet, after putting her newborn daughter down for a nap, she craved for just a moment to be with the gift that she was given. The gift that was bestowed on both her and Killian. A daughter.
Emma leaned against the door briefly. There was this feeling of peace that seemed to fall over her then. And she knew where that peace had come from.
She took in a deep breath and pushed herself away from the door. Her bare footsteps were soft and quiet against the carpeted floor. She walked over to the crib and peered down.
And her breath left her body in a gasp.
Three days old, and she was amazed by the beauty of the little girl that was curled up in her little ball. Leia.
“Leia.” The name of her daughter left her mouth broken. Carefully- oh so carefully- Emma let her fingers run over the softness of that rose-colored cheek. “Leia, my little girl.”
Emma’s head turned, looking at the little beauty quizzically.
Her children. They tended to take after their father’s, she observed. But she didn’t mind.
Where was she in this little girl? Her head was covered in soft curls of black hair. She was a creamy and fair-skinned baby with just stains of peeks at her cheeks and her chin.
Well, there! Emma smiled as she let her hand trace over that small chin. The chin that was a miniature version of hers, dimple and all.
She watched as Leia began to stir. Her movement so tiny. A breath escaping her own tiny mouth- a mewl that was almost too adorable!
Emma almost didn’t mind. A part of her was so ready and willing to see those gorgeous blue eyes again.
Her own eyes squinted down at her daughter. She was Killian. Leia was Killian through and through. And it made her smile. What was life going to be like with a little female Killian running around? Oh, God, what was that going to do to her heart?
Suddenly, the need to hold Leia in her arms became too great to ignore. Emma leaned into the crib and gently raised the baby up into her arms.
She was all of seven pounds! This seven pound baby, with eyes and hair like her father and a dimple like her mother, was all hers.
“Leia,” she whispered quietly, rubbing her cheek up against the baby’s arm. Her eyes closed and she felt the tears stinging in the back there. “I didn’t have this with Henry. I didn’t have this with my own parents.”
Emma hugged her closer against her chest. It was true: she hadn’t been able to be a mother to Henry for more than ten years. Just remembering the fake memories that Regina had planted in their minds only made that fact hurt all the more. At the time, Emma had been grateful. But now, remembering the truth again, it only made her heart break all over again.
She had watched Neal grow up with their parents. She had watched the way their mother held him and cooed with him and the way she never wanted him out of her sight. She had watched the way their father put a protective arm over him and the way his eyes stayed guarded in hopes of keeping his child safe. She had watched her brother live the life that had been meant for her.
Did it make Emma jealous? No. But it hurt. It hurt to see what her life could have been but never was.
“Leia.” And this time it was strong and firm. Emma held the baby out so that she could look her in her face. “I don’t care if you are still curled up in your most perfect tiny ball and looking so adorably like your father. You need to hear this.”
It made Emma laugh. God, she was so attached to this baby already! She was a mother again. She had a baby girl.
“You look like your father, but you have just as much of me in you as you have him,” she told her conspiratorially. “And that also means you’re going to have a lot of your grandmother in you as well. You see, Leia, you come from a long line of strong women. So you have an amazing lineage. And you’re going to be just as strong and amazing as us.”
“So we will always question if that comes from…”
Emma’s turn was swift and quick at the sound of his voice.
Killian’s shoulder lifted with a shrug. “The bit of pirate in you or the tough princess in you. You’ll see, princess, that that title does not condemn you to sitting prettily at your thrown, but could also mean that you pick up the most apt weapon at wield it to your best and most unbelievable skill.”
Emma’s eyes narrowed on him as she watched him saunter up to them.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked, tossing her head back to eye him even closer.
“I was just checking,” Killian told her with a smile. “What are you doing in here?”
Emma looked from him to Leia. And she felt her heart melt just a bit more at the soft similarities between the two.
“I missed her,” she admitted in a whisper. “I love this little girl so much, Killian.”
“I know.” And he came to stand behind her. His arms wrapped around her waist and he rested his chin to her shoulder.
Emma blinked her eyes into focus, staring down into that face.
“I’ve never done this before,” she reminded him. “I’ve never been a mother to an infant. Or a toddler. I’ve never… experienced this part of it.”
“Neither have I, love,” Killian said matter-of-factly. “Are you worried?”
Staring down at her daughter and thinking about that question, she felt that peaceful feel filling her once again.
“I’m not worried.” And she smiled at that thought. “I know that I have so much to give to her.”
“Aye. We both do. We all do, love. All those people who are crowding our tiny living room and kitchen? They’re up for the task as well.”
Emma gave a small smile. It was all a foreign concept to her. She knew of everything she had experienced since finding her family and finding home. But this was the first time she would experience this. And they would be there for her. Leia would have everything that she didn’t have. She would have everything that Killian had not had.
If there was ever one singular thing that bridged all those disconnects of past lives to these new lives, it was Leia Jones.
Emma cocked her head to the side once more.
“She looks just like you.”
She could feel the rumble of laughter in Killian’s chest.
“I know. Thank you.”
“Um… you’re welcome.”
Killian’s arms tightened around her waist.
“Well maybe that means we’ll have to have hope that next time it’ll look just like you, hm.”
Emma felt the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Next time.
She gave an easy shrug. “Maybe next time.”
Her lips found Leia’s forehead and she planted a kiss there.
If there was ever a gift that she had been bestowed with, it was right there in her arms. And it was a gift that she knew would keep on giving.