Storybrooke was a small neighbourhood in the city of Hyperion Heights and by all accounts it was a quiet neighbourhood, it was full of young families and retirees, a place where people were born and raised and when they were old enough they would escape it to find something more , eventually though they would always find their way back to Storybrooke though, whether it be to have their own families or if it was to die in the same place they were born.

It was a place where superheroes and supervillains alike ignored and they did not come from there, simply because neither would come from somewhere quite so boring.

Of course many people had some low level powers; the pharmacist who always poured the correct amount of pills into his hand without having to correct an error, a fisherman who fish flocked to when he whistled, a woman who believed she had no powers but was still alive for her 150th birthday and was particularly good at Gin Rummy, the six year old who was four grades better at mathematics than he was supposed to be despite only just learning numbers, and the baker who never burnt any pies but always burnt bread.

No, nothing bad ever happened in Storybrooke.

So when Mary Margaret and David found themselves pregnant at the young age of eighteen they put off their escapes to colleges in more exciting places to stay at the local college and live in the house which had once been Mary's mother's, they married, and eighteen months later they were in the hospital once more.

David had always been strong, more so than others, it had always been helpful growing up on a farm, but even he winced as his wife squeezed his hand as she screamed and pushed.

Outside the windows windows birds gathered, singing and screaming along with Mary Maragret, who had always been able to communicate with them, they heard her pain and fear and joy, and would be prepared to sing good news to each other, or to attack what scared Mary, should she give them the word.

"One last push." The nurse promised, her voice sounded like a song even if she spoke normally, and David and Mary felt their fear almost completely wash away.

Two hours later and David was squeezed on the hospital bed beside his wife in his arms was their newborn baby girl, cleaned and in a baby grow and not long fed she looked at them with greyish/bluish eyes, they both looked down at her with the same amazement they had shared when their son had been born.

"She's perfect."

Mary's lips tugged into a smile at the way his voice was soft but nearly broke at the start of the word perfect. He was right, of course, the same way he had been right when he had said the same thing looking at newborn baby Neal nearly two years previously. She loved him all the time, but she especially loved him in this moment, she loved seeing how in love with his kids he was nearly to breaking point, she loved him. "She is." She ran the back of her finger down the baby's cheek, the skin was soft and warm under it, her cheek twitched as the baby let out a small hiccup in return.

"What should we call her?"

"Emma."

"Emma?" He echoed trying out the name in his mouth. "It's perfect. What do you think Emma? Do you like that name?" The baby wiggled slightly in David's arms. "I think we have a winner." He grinned that carefree smile at his wife which always made her knees go weak and had resulted in their two children in less than two years.

"Emma Ruth Nolan."

David sucked in a breath, he felt a lump form in his throat, and he could see tears threatening to fall in the bottom of his eyes. "Are you- are you sure? We could name her after your mom?"

"Your mom did a lot for us, anyway Neal already has Ezra after my grandfather, we need your family names to be passed down too."

David didn't have the words to express what it meant to him, so he kissed her instead, slowly and gently, he had seen her give birth not long ago and was scared of hurting her, even if that fear was not logical. "You astound me, Mary Margaret Hannah Nolan."

She let out a small laugh and rolled her eyes, she scrubbed one of her hands over her face as though trying to hide, she let out a small groan. "I look like a mess, I just had a baby, and I get to leave this place in a diaper ." She pointed out with a grin.

David tilted his head to the side, he was holding the baby carefully but his attention was currently on his wife, purely out of confusion. "Snow," he said using her nickname, "you are so beautiful. You amaze me, my love, especially now."

Mary was about to make another joke but her eyes were stuck looking into his. She could see the love shining out of the stormy sea blue eyes as clearly as she would be able to see lightning. "I love you."

"I love you more."

"Impossible."

Eventually David passed the baby, Emma , over to Mary Margaret and got ready to leave. "I'll be back as soon as Granny lets me finally leave." He said for the millionth time.

"I know, go, don't worry we'll be fine, and I want our family together, all of us, for the first time."

David smile, he leant down and kissed her again. "I know, me too. Neal is going to be over the moon."

"If the books we read stuck with him, otherwise he'll be expecting me to do this every Friday."

David chuckled and kissed his wife again, there was no containing his smile, he hadn't been able to stop since the second he heard his daughter's cry. He carefully kissed the top of Emma's head where some darkened hair was stuck up like ducklings' feathers, he was glad he had time to shave that morning before Mary Margaret had started to go into labour. He was terrified of hurting her, or being the reason for her crying. He hesitated before leaving, he didn't know why, he wanted his son there as much as Mary did but there was just something in the back of his head whispering for him to stay. He ignored it, he wouldn't be gone for long.

-WCBH-

The nurse seemed surprised to see Mary Margaret still awake and staring down at Emma who was now in the clear plastic crib. The nurse had red hair, not ginger 'red', no her hair was scarlet, and it looked like it was natural, or it would if that were not biologically impossible, and a shock of freckles splattered on her face, otherwise she was unremarkable, average.

"It's time for Emma's tests." She stalked silently to the crib and fished Emma out into her own arms.

"Why?" Her green eyes widened in worry. "Is she okay?"

"It's nothing to worry about all just standard things, she was born a couple of months early so we have to do a few more tests. And she wasn't given her hearing test yet. I'm sure she's absolutely perfect."

The kindness in the nurse's smile was enough for the exhausted mother to let out a small, relieved sigh.

"I'll bring her back when we're all done with her hearing test and the other ones. You should get some rest while you can, I have a feeling you'll be needing it."

Mary nodded her head and leant back against the hospital bed, certain even as she watched her baby being carried out that she would stay wide awake.

She lasted all of five minutes before succumbing to sleep.

-WCBH-

David arrived back at the hospital ladened with his toddler son and with bags, some were of things they had forgotten to pack into the hospital bag, but most were stuffed with food and treats from Granny, the grandmother of their friend Ruby who they had known since they had turned into teenagers half a decade previously.

"Mama!" Neal shouted wiggling in David's arms as soon as he caught sight of her sleeping reclined against the upright bed and a couple of pillows. David chuckled, he shouldn't be surprised, Neal had always been a mama's boy, David was fine with that, he wondered if Emma would take after Neal or if they'd have one each.

Like a kiss from a fairytale Mary Margaret awoke hearing her son's voice. Her eyes were glued shut with sleep but even before she managed to pry them open she was smiling. Neal was pretty good at talking, he seemed to hesitate to consider them so they would come out clearer, but Mary was certain one of these days her son would come out with a complex sentence he had been saving for precisely the right moment. She held her arms open towards Neal in David's arms, and David surrendered him.
"Hello my sweetheart." She attacked his face with kissed as she finally woke fully herself, laughing as she heard his infectious laughter.

David was laughing at them too. He placed all the bags down on a side table and perched on the side of the bed watching them. When Mary stopped kissing her son she looked to her husband, tilting her head back expectantly.

David more than happily obliged. He kissed her slowly, carefully, not too deep. "How are you feeling? Are you in much pain?" His brows were furrowed in worry.

She cupped his cheek with the hand which wasn't hooked around Neal's stomach. "I'm okay, a little sore but I'll be fine. How was he?"

"Granny made sure he ate about twice as much as he usually does, but that's not surprising, Rubes took him out for a ride which he loved, but he loved the bath she gave him even more." The pride for his son shone out through his voice and through the sea blue eyes his son had inherited.

Mary gave a small giggle. "Granny does the same to us, sweetheart."

"There's about three tupperwear containers of meals and two of cakes and cookies in that bag." He nodded his head towards a heavy duty plastic bag for life. He said it flatly but he couldn't stop himself from smiling as they shared a look, they didn't have biological grandparents anymore, Granny had always been happy to step into that role.

Neal crawled over Mary and onto David, he cuddled up to him and David smiled, dropping a kiss onto the top of Neal's dark wavy hair. "I love you too, Squirt." He mumbled.

Neal placed his hand onto Mary's stomach, as he hand since they had explained that she was pregnant. "Hiya baby!"

"The baby's not in mommy anymore Neal," David explained gently, "it's baby Emma." He looked to his wife. "Is she in the nursery?"

Mary shook her head then hesitated. "Maybe; she was going for a hearing test and to have some others, nothing to worry about, just procedure, a nurse took her. Maybe they brought her back while I was sleeping and they took her to the nursery instead?" She suggested.

David was frowning neither of them had wanted her to go to the nursery, they wanted to be beside her all the time, they didn't want her stuck in a room without them. He stood with Neal in his arms ready to ask at the nurse's station or go to look through the nursery window at his daughter then ask for her to be brought back to his wife's room.

A nurse came into the room, her dark hair the same colour as her dark eyes which were full of kindness, as was the kind smile on her face. She had been on duty since just after Emma had been born, and had been there to help get Emma to latch on for her first feeding. Her name was Nina, she had told them, along with the other nurses, maybe she had been the nurse to take Emma to the nursery after the tests.

"Oh hello!" Her face lit up seeing Neal, and Mary Margaret didn't blame him, the toddler with his bright blue eyes and wavy dark hair always had a smile upon his face, she had nicknames David 'Charming' at their first meeting and Neal had certain lived up to that name. "Aren't you beautiful."

Neal grinned and waved his hand, David found it both cute and a little worrying that he had no fear whatsoever of strangers. He kissed Neal's cheek then smiled back at Nina. "Hey, erm Emma, our baby, our other baby I guess-"

"Yes!" She said as though suddenly remembering. "I came to take her for her hearing test, I know we didn't do it earlier."

David frowned in confusion. "No, no she was already taken for that while I was gone-"

Nina looked over at Mary, her face blank and calm. "Did you see the nurse? Do you remember their name?"

Mary frowned pushing herself upright and to her feet despite the pain and discomfort. She slowly shook her head. "No, she, she didn't give one. She had red hair, the colour of David's shirt, and erm, freckles, lots of freckles."

There was only a second of silence but in it Mary ran through the scenarios, she had not practiced Judaism since her mother had died but she began to silently beg G-d that Nina would laugh and say that she knows which nurse that was and that Emma was in fact in the nursery.

The colour drained from Nina's face.

Fear as cold and clear as a winter storm stood out against the nurse's dark brown eyes.

Mary Margaret noticed it.

Their worlds' flipped upside down.