Emma Swan

It's been six months since Neal blurted out a proposal in the middle of screwing on the kitchen table (which she has scrubbed several times since then, to make sure it's clean), and he never took it back as just something he'd said in the heat of the moment, so now they're actually going ahead with this. She would have been happy with just going down to the courthouse, but Neal had wanted something more than that, and eventually she'd agreed, although she didn't see the point.

Neal had chosen the venue, since it was his idea anyway, and they put together a small guest list. Mainly just coworkers and neighbors, since neither of them has any family to invite. Once the wedding is over, they can start saving for a bigger place, and Henry can have a room of his own.

She found a simple dress that didn't cost too much, and as she hears the music play, she starts down the aisle to where Neal and Henry are waiting for her.

The day she had never expected to have is here.

It's almost time for this to be over, she can tell. Any time now, really, and she's been ready for that for days. She waddles like a penguin anytime she goes anywhere, she can barely reach her own feet to put shoes on, and even sleeping has been uncomfortable lately. She's still unsure about what comes next, but at least Neal seems to think that they'll know what they're doing.

At least she'd found a different job, as the receptionist at a salon down the street. Answering phones is something she can do, they don't care if she sits all day, and since she'd started out as a client, they already knew her when they hired her. They also said they could manage without her for awhile after the baby's born.

Which she's really hoping is what's happening now. She's had twinges all day, irregular but unrelenting, and although she hasn't mentioned them to Neal, she knows that he probably knows something's up. She's been wandering around the apartment since she got home, even when he tried to insist that she should sit, because the book and the doctor both said not to go to the hospital yet, and that being active could help the process along. Besides, she's just restless and doesn't want to sit down.

She's in the kitchen getting a drink of water when it happens. There's a release of pressure, like popping the top off a bottle of champagne (or so she imagines, having never actually had champagne), and wetness down her legs. It's a good thing she's wearing a dress.

It's time, there's no doubt about it now, and she grips the edge of the sink as another contraction, a real one now, moves over her. "Neal!"

If someone had told her even a few months ago that this was what her life would become, she would never have believed it. She would have told them that she didn't want a life like this. Yet here she is, living in an actual apartment with an actual boyfriend, with an actual job. It's not the nicest apartment, of course, but it's what they can afford right now. Her job as a morning-shift waitress at the diner down the street isn't the nicest job either, but what kind of job was she expecting with a history like hers? At least she has a job, and it pays her in actual money and she and Neal can start a life together.

She's been at the job for a few weeks now, and she feels like she's starting to get the hang of it. She had thought at first that the job was the reason she was so tired all the time, but when she does the math in her head and adds in a few other things that she's noticed, she doesn't think that's the reason for it. She stops by the drugstore on the way home from work, and when she gets home, she's glad that Neal isn't home yet. She doesn't want to explain until she knows there's something to explain.

It's only a matter of a few minutes until she has an answer. Positive. She leaves the test sitting on the sink when she goes back to the living room to sit on the couch and wait for Neal to get home. She doesn't know what to think about this. She has no idea what to do with a baby, and she doubts that Neal does either. The topic had never come up.

What are they going to do now? They've only just gotten settled into this life, and now it's going to change again.