The nurse brings baby Sophie down the hall to her mother's room.
"How are we doing this morning Miss Swan?" the woman asks, cradling the new baby.
"Just fine thank you," Emma says.
"Are we ready to try nursing?"
"I guess so," the blonde shrugs. She hadn't breastfed a child since Henry and she remembered how painful it was. Mary Margret had given her tips to cope with the soreness, but Emma knew about the inevitable pain.
"I'm going to the cafeteria," Henry says, jumping up, not completely comfortable with his mom nursing his new baby sister in front of him.
Killian looks at Emma and then her son. Even though he should get used to the fact that his girlfriend will be breastfeeding their daughter, he felt like he should give her the privacy, plus he hadn't eaten since the other day.
"You don't mind if I join the lad do you Love?"
Emma can understand their discomfort. "No, I don't but keep in mind both of you that I'll be doing this as often as Sophie needs, so you better get used to it now."
"We will, just not this second," Henry says in a practically whiny voice.
"Okay, go and eat something," she says. Killian gives her a kiss before exiting with Henry.
The nurse then approaches the new mother with the infant. Emma prepares to receive the baby, happy to feel the tiny warm load in her arms again. Sophie looks up at her mother with bright blue eyes and makes a few soft noises. Emma smiles down at her little girl and begins to try and feed her.
What the blonde learns right away that the little girl is stubborn... much like herself. She refuses to turn towards the food and won't open her mouth. She cries a little bit and continues to squirm, much to her mother's worry. Emma could see the fiery personality already shining through. The nurse told her not to worry as some babies take longer to learn to nurse.
It takes a while, but eventually, Sophie's hunger wins out and she looks for a source of food. Once she latches on, she becomes content and quiet again. Emma is a bundle of sensations and in a bit of pain from this, but it feels...unusual... in a good way.
The nurse lets the mother and daughter bond for a little while, leaving them alone.
However, down the hall, heavy boots punish the tiled floor as someone begins walking towards the Swan room. He has a mission in mind, he did not feel certain of himself, his stomach turned multiple times in anguish. His heart threatened to break his ribcage as his shadow was cast over the room door. The fluorescent lights shine overhead, casting shadows across this person's face. He takes a deep breath, preparing to face her...
The door opens.
"Oh God I'm sorry," Neal says, turning away immediately when he sees what Emma's doing.
His ex-girlfriend reacts by pulling her knees up to cover herself. Her face turns red.
"I...I'll come back when you're done," he says before shutting it again.
Emma swallows a large lump in her throat and once he's gone, goes back into a more comfortable position for her daughter.
...
Once Sophie is asleep, there's a knock at the door.
"Is it safe to come in now?" he asks, only leaving the door open a crack so he doesn't see anything.
"Yes, just quietly please," Emma says.
Both take deep breaths as they prepare to face one another.
Neal comes into the room and stands there for a few moments, locking eyes with Emma. His mind goes back to when he saw her like this, only seventeen years old, him twenty-four, her cradling their newborn son. How terrified he was about what was to come, and he could see the fear in her green eyes too. Her face looked exhausted and full of uncertainty. What he had done at that moment was to try and be supportive in any way that he could. He smiled at her, went to her side and said that he loved her. It was partially impulsive, but it was something that he meant. He admired little Henry, asleep in his girlfriend's arms, and some of that anxiety subsided. Of all the dishonest things that both he and Emma had done, this was not one of them. The tiny infant was a surprise, never a mistake. He let Henry grab his finger and he kissed it gently. He then looked at Emma, tired, skinny, and scared, he kissed her and then spoke these words;
"No matter what happens after this, I promise that I will always look after you and Henry. I love you, Emma."
Emma tries to smile, but she's still afraid. Her mind is reeling from the past year with Neal, how exhilarating it was and how she felt so in love with him now... She did love him, but she was nervous that he would leave her as so many foster families had done before. Her trust had been broken so many times, it was hard to put the pieces back together and yet, looking at Neal and then her son, who looked a lot like his father, she felt that she believed Neal, she was reassured despite how unsure she was about their future. She took a deep breath;
"I love you too. I think that for Henry to have his best chance in life, something that we never got, we don't repeat the past,"
"I agree," Neal nods and kisses her again.
Now, flashing to the present, they are no longer together, that promise long since broken. They were different people now, they were adults and not as afraid of their futures as they once were. Emma had certainly moved on, created the best life possible for herself, Henry, Killian, and their new baby. It took a lot of risks, but Neal couldn't help but approve of her decisions. While he hated his own, he was happy Emma had made something of herself, found love again and managed to bring new life into the world.
He steps a bit closer, still holding a package in his hand. He peeks over to see the face behind the blanket.
"She's beautiful," he says, giving a warm smile. "She looks just like you."
"Everyone keeps saying that, I still see Killian in there."
"He most definitely is, but she takes after you in beauty."
Emma's cheeks turn red. Neal takes another step closer, afraid that the new mother might snap at him or spring like a poisonous snake. He'd been there the first time she had given birth and that was not pleasant. He knew better than to try and annoy a mother with her child.
"It's okay," the blonde says. "I'm not going to bite."
"Try telling that to when you nearly bit off my head in the delivery room with Henry."
"Yeah, I nearly took a piece of medical equipment and bashed you upside the head with it," Emma smiles. "But I've learned from my mistakes."
"I'm sure Killian has a different story to tell," Neal says. He gets a few steps closer and looks at the baby and then at her mother.
"What's her name?"
"Sophie Milah Hope Swan-Jones,"
"That's quite a mouthful," he jokes.
She smiles and gazes lovingly at her daughter again.
"I like the name Sophie, we never tossed that name around did we?"
"I think we were too busy freaking out to really think of names for our baby."
"I always thought that if we had a girl, we'd name her Victoria,"
"We really went for royalty names, didn't we?" Emma smirks. "Do you remember what made us choose Henry?"
"I guess because it was too perfect for our little prince, especially after he developed his love of fairy tales."
Emma nods in agreement.
"And now we have a little princess," Neal says, cooing at the baby.
"We?"
He swallows and steps back. "Sorry, didn't realize what I was saying."
Emma pauses, taking a long hard look at Neal. Her feelings toward him had changed, there was still the feeling of affection and some love, but not what she felt for Killian now. She'd always be connected to Mr. Cassidy, she was his partner in crime and they have their son. He'd also devoted a lot of his time trying to find her, even destroying his engagement to do so. She knows she truly does want to start a new chapter in her life and that means to tie up all loose ends. She takes a deep breath and grabs his hand.
"Neal... I don't want you to think that you have to be afraid of me anymore... I don't want any more bad blood or for you to think that I hate you... because I don't... I still have feelings for you and I probably always will, but I don't want us to avoid each other. We'll always have our memories, the good ones, and we'll always have Henry. I don't want you and him to be distant, I want him to still know and trust his dad and... I want you to be a part of Sophie's life too, as one of her godfathers..."
Neal feels tears come to his eyes, his mind spinning in infinity with emotions, he squeezes Emma's hand tightly and kisses it. He'd never felt so honoured and happy since Henry was born, he felt as if everything was slowly falling back into place like the world was being fixed for the right reasons.
"Do...Do you really mean that?"
"Of course, I do, I guess it took me a little longer to realize that I shouldn't be avoiding my past or building up those walls, I need to embrace it and make peace with it. If you can forgive me for being so angry..."
"Oh Emma, you don't have to apologize for anything and I know things can't be the same for us. I just hope that you can forgive me for everything that I did to you."
She squeezes his hand. "I promise I will if you can finally forgive yourself."
Neal swallows a lump in his throat. He knows that she's right, he can't spend the rest of his life beating himself up over his mistakes. They have all made them, some cut more deeply than others, but he couldn't let his demons continue to haunt him. He smiles at Emma and gently leans forward, leaving a small, light kiss on her lips, mirroring the one they'd had over fifteen years ago. She kisses back and feels much comfort at this moment, happy to have finally had closure, she could start anew with her new family and life.
The moment changes something in him too, Neal knows what he will have to do soon... the inspiration and the support Emma was giving him meant that he had to make amends with everyone... including his father. It was scary, terrifying even, like coming face to face with a King Cobra, but it had to happen, he couldn't spend the rest of his life running from the man who certainly wasn't perfect, even more, flawed than him it seemed, but still gave him love and respect as any parent would desire. He knew that it would not be easy, but seeing as he had support from everyone, even Ruby now, he could do this.
"Do you want to hold her?" she offers.
Neal pauses and then pulls the wrapped package he had forgotten about.
"How about I trade you?" he asks. He places the present in Emma's lap and slowly, she hands her newborn daughter to her ex. He struggles a bit at first as it had been fifteen years since he'd last held a baby like this, but with her help, he's soon cradling her. He looks down, admiring her beauty and the small patch of blonde hair peeking through her tiny hat.
Emma watches as Neal sobs quietly, holding this little miracle. She then looks at the package in front of her and then slowly opens it.
"I didn't see the point in getting you flowers seeing as you already have so many,"
"Which will probably die within a week anyway," she jokes.
She opens the small box and gasps.
Inside is a swan pendant... actually, the swan pendant that he'd given her all those years ago. Her mind flashes back to the first time that he'd given it to her. He'd actually stolen it from a gas station they were stealing from, which they had to run out of when she was ironically pretending to be pregnant and someone saw them shoplifting. The pendant was the only thing that they kept from that "heist" and it was originally a key chain for the car, but he decided to turn it into a necklace for her for her seventeenth birthday. She remembers his gentle touch as he hung it around her neck and how she kissed him passionately as a thank you. Her birthdays had never been really all that special before, it was just a day that reminded her of the fact that her parents didn't want her, but he made it a little bit better at least, giving her a real meaningful present.
Her eyes well up with tears as she stares at the necklace.
"I must've accidentally grabbed it the night I left," he explains. "I didn't realize I had it until a couple of months later, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it out. It stayed on the mirror of my car for a long time, bringing good luck and I was afraid I'd never been able to give it back to you..."
Emma smiles and reaches over to hug him tightly, which is kind of awkward considering the baby.
"Thank you," she whispers, kissing the side of his head.
"Maybe one-day Sophie can wear it," he suggests gently.
"Well she is a Swan now," Emma grins.
The two talks for a little while until Henry and Killian come back. Emma tells the two everything and then asks Killian to put the necklace on her. He agrees.
A shiver goes up against her spine and his cool fingers touch her skin and she feels the chain go around her neck, she treasures the happy moment, her heart swelling with joy. She turns and kisses him passionately, unleashing that fire and desire again. The four of them then sit to talk for a little while longer, to pass the time and start a new and better chapter in their lives.