Two days later, Emma's release day came. She'd be leaving the hospital and have to finish up her last few months in jail. She already knew she had to go back, she'd planned on it, she'd known it throughout her entire pregnancy. That wasn't going to be the hard part. Just a few minutes from now her son was going to be taken by social services, who had a family lined up for him. She didn't want to say goodbye but she loved her baby enough to walk away. She had the thought in the back of her head that maybe, someday, if it was meant to be, he would find her again. The way he had found her the minute she saw him. He gave her hope, he gave her something to believe in, some possible confirmation that love did exist.

"Ms. Swan?" a woman said coming into the room, "My name is Olivia Anderson. I'm here to take the baby."

Emma nodded, glancing over at her son lying in his bassinet. Her heart was ready to shatter into a million pieces.

"I have some things to go over with you. Is that alright?"

"Yes, that's fine."

"Okay, let's get started, shall we? First off, I wanted to reassure you that we've found the infant a great home."

"Can you tell me anything about them? The parents, I mean. Do they have other children? Do they have time for him?"

"That's what I wanted to talk about next." Ms. Anderson answered. "The thing is, you've agreed to a closed adoption, meaning you are giving up 100% of your parental rights. You don't get to know anything about his new life."

Emma was sure her mouth dropped open. She wasn't allowed to know anything? The last thing she wanted was for that innocent little boy to grow up all alone and unloved like she had.

Emma closed her eyes and nodded, attempting to trust the social worker in front of her who was convinced the baby was going to a good home. "I just want to know if he'll be loved."

"Yes, I can assure you, he will."

The woman continued asking her questions; things like who the baby's father was, if Emma had any medical conditions, and if she was absolutely sure she was ready to give her son up. She gave Emma a few papers to sign; relinquishing her rights and agreeing never contact the child. She couldn't breathe as she pressed the pen to the paper and scribbled her signature. This was it. He was someone else's now.

"Thank you," Ms. Anderson said, taking the papers from Emma once she had signed them. "We should be on our way now."

She walked over to the bassinet that held a tiny infant swaddled in a baby blue blanket. Gently, she picked him up and carried him over to the baby seat she had brought in with her. He grunted as he set her down, fighting with all his might not to be strapped into the confinements of the carrier.

"Wait-", Emma said. The woman paused, holding the baby over the seat. "Can I say goodbye?"

The woman seemed slightly impatient, but she carried the baby over to Emma, who took him willingly.

"I'll give you two minutes, then we must be leaving."

Emma nodded as the woman quickly backed away towards the door. She looked down into the baby's deep eyes and knew why she had to let him go.

"Hey, kid." Emma said, her voice cracking as the tears began to fall down her face, "So, I know you don't understand this now, and you may not even understand it when you're my age, eighteen years from now, but I have to do this. You know?"

The baby whimpered in her arms and she could barely hold it together as he looked up at her like she was the only person that mattered in the world.

"I wish I could know you, teach you to walk and talk, but I can't. You deserve a family, someone who can take care of you. I want you to have what I didn't. I want you to have what I can't give you. I'm not cut out to be responsible for someone else's life. I hope someday you might understand why I have to do this, why I have to let you go."

She was nearly choking on her tears at this moment, the little life she held in her arms was one of the only people who had ever torn down the tough walls she had built up over the years.

Emma attempted to blink the tears away then whispered what she believed would be the last words she ever said to her son, "I have to give you your best chance."