HOT CHOCOLATE
SO sorry about the delay! For those who don't read my other story Once Upon a Time…and Again or who follow Twitter, I had a lot going on in my life of late. My grandma passed in February so writing wasn't something I was up for for a while, and work has kept me busy. But I'm back, hopefully I won't be having too many long stretches of no updates again, but we'll have to see what life has to say! :-) Thank you, all, for the messages, tweets, faves, alerts, reviews and support! :-D Here it is my dearies and darlings! :-D In memory of my grandmother. I miss you, Grandma! BIG thanks and hugs to my lovely dartie! :-D You're beyond awesome! O~U~A~T Of Mobiles and Poker Faces Snow never knew why but she found folding clothes soothing, the rest of the process of doing laundry wasn't her favorite–she and Emma and James had actually worked out a deal with this chore where the blond pair would do the actual washing, which they preferred, and she'd fold–but the rhythmic movements helped her think and organize her thoughts. A few weeks had passed since Snow's memories returned and it was obvious that Emma was still torn about how to deal with the implications of recent events, that "Mary Margaret" and "John" really were her parents. However, she'd at least gotten back into the habits of coming home at a normal hour and eating dinner with them, sitting around and talking with Snow like normal and joking around with James as she'd done before. The couple breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Emma opening back up to them and were beyond grateful that their daughter wasn't going to pull further away. Tucking a lock behind her ear, the raven-haired woman moved over to her dresser, opening her underwear drawer and shifting things around to make room for the items she'd just gotten out of the dryer. Her fingers brushed something that was sharper and harder than her underclothes, frowning she removed the item; the moment she could tell exactly what it was her eyebrows flew to her hairline. Where...? she wondered. "Is that all that it is?" "What do you mean?" "Maybe there's another reason for you throwing up." "Ruby," Snow murmured to herself. Her friend must have bought it and left it for her to find while Snow had been with Charming at the jail that evening. Meanwhile, another part of her mind was counting back, tallying the days she'd been sick at some point during the day, the last time since her period... Her eyes grew wide. Without another thought she threw the underwear carelessly into the drawer and dashed to the bathroom, small box in hand. O~U~A~T Opening the door to the apartment he shared with his wife and daughter, James let out a weary breath. It'd been a long day, dealing with mostly minor incidents, however getting the involved parties to calm down and completing the paperwork had all been extremely exhausting. Technology aside, Storybrooke was remarkably similar to the Enchanted Forest when it came to some things, among them that he spent the majority of his days smoothing ruffled feather and slogging through paperwork. Some days he almost wished for dragons… His gaze was caught by the vision of his wife standing before the unicorn mobile, one hand playing with a glass figurine and the other pressed to her stomach. The sun spilling through the window over her gave Snow an ethereal glow. Fingers tracing the unicorn's features, a soft smile graced her face. "Snow?" She turned and met his questioning gaze with a bright grin. "Charming." Her hand extended to him invitingly, James more than willingly complied, his larger hand enenveloping hers. James wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing his wife's cheek before settling his chin on her shoulder. "Contemplating a new place for the mobile?" he asked teasingly. "Actually I was thinking," she began nonchalantly, "if Emma's alright with it once we tell her, it would look perfect over a crib." His heart seized in his chest, freezing him on the spot. "What?!" he managed to gasp out. "We could put the crib by our bed for now, though we probably need to look into getting a larger place eventually–" He grasped her waist spinning Snow around to face him, eyes wide, searching hers. "Snow...wha–are...?" Blue eyes went to her flat stomach. Her fingers carded through his short blond hair, biting her bottom lip nervously. "Apparently we weren't being as careful as we thought." A choked sound that sounded a cross between a laugh, sob and yelp escaped her husband before he swept her into his arms, holding her tightly as he spun her around. "Gods," he gasped. "You're sure?" Snow pulled back enough to meet his questing gaze. "Beyond the positive pregnancy test, I've had too many of the symptoms and missed my period for too long for me to believe otherwise." His palm pressed to her tummy, above where their baby was growing, the emotions flickered behind his eyes at a dizzying speed, torn between joy and terror, elation and despair. "This is...I mean I'm..." Her hand cupped his cheek, prompting him to once again meet her emerald orbs. "I know...and the timing...sucks," neither could help the chuckles that escaped them at her using the very Storybrooke slang, "but...we'll make it work." Her lips trembled. "I–I've wanted this so badly for us, Charming." Finally James couldn't help it and caved to the green eyes pleading him to be happy about this wonderful miracle. A smile curved his mouth and he strok her earlobe with his thumb as he nodded. "We'll make it work..." He sank to his knees before her, hands stroking her sides as he pressed his lips over her womb. "Hey, little one. I'm your daddy." He nuzzled the spot. "I love you and your mommy so very much." A small sob escaped Snow, drawing his gaze back to her watery smile, offering her a grin of his own before pressing another kiss to her stomach. O~U~A~T Snow felt like dancing around the kitchen, but at the same time also wanted to run in fear, watching as Emma set the dinner table out of the corner of her eye. Things had been slowly returning to normal in their home and relationship, and Snow was leery of possibly upsetting things between all of them again. While Snow and James wanted their daughter to be the first one they told about the baby, they feared that it might push Emma away again. There just wasn't a manual for how to tell your grown daughter, who was struggling with the idea that she actually was your daughter, that you're going to have a baby… James took the tray of tacos from Snow's hands before she could take it to the table; she shot him a mild glare for the overprotective hovering, to which he responded with a half-grin and a kiss to her temple, before she relented and pointedly picked up the salad bowl. The three of them settled into their usual seats around the small table, each serving themselves from the dishes on the table and exchanging happenings of their days. When Snow opted for a glass of ginger ale rather than the Syrah Emma and James had selected, the blonde's eyes narrowed. "Is there a particular reason you're abstaining, Mary?" Her gaze flicked between her parents. Snow and James looked at each other. Guess it's time to let the cat out of the bag, she thought. "Seriously?!" The couple's gazes flew to their daughter, whose eyebrows had relocated to her hairline, and was staring in the direction of Snow's stomach. Emma then shut her eyes and shook her head. "You know what, never mind. Why am I even surprised? You two have been together for months now and engaged and all that." Neither seemed to know what to say for several moments. "Well," James finally began, turning to Snow, "I guess we don't have to actually tell her seeing as neither of us has a poker face." Snow swatted his arm before turning her attention back to her daughter. "I just found out today and we wanted you to be the first to know." She bit her lip nervously. Emma turned the stem of the wineglass between her fingers. "Do you need me to move out?" "No!" The answer was immediate, emphatic and simultaneous from the anxious parents. James reached out and squeezed Emma's hand briefly, quickly releasing it before she could become uncomfortable. "We're planning on having the baby sleep in our room for quite a while, so we're not really worried about space just yet." "We want you to stay, Emma," Snow assured her. "For however long you want to. You're our family, the only family we have." The blond woman continued to glance between their expressions, still fidgeting with the glass, before finally nodding, a smile slowly lifting her lips as she raised her glass towards them. "Congratulations, you two." Matching grins spread across the couple's faces as they lifted their glasses as well, to clink against their daughter's. "Thank you." O~U~A~T So there you are! :-D Charming and Snow are going to be parents again and they've told Emma! :-D How was it? O.O I hope it didn't feel OOC! O.O Thank you for reading and let me know what you think!
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