· Sweet Home, Tallahassee || AU || Emma & Neal

^{If anyone from his past had asked Neal (or Baelfire, as he had been called back when he’d been a mere street-rat) what he thought his future had in store for him, he honestly wouldn’t have been able to tell anything that would even slightly resemble the truth. Back then, he was convinced his life would either fully consist of living day by day, thieving his way around—or that he would somehow get in trouble and die young, despite his exquisite survival instincts. He had never figured life would cut him some slack, or that he would catch a break. Yet that was exactly what would ultimately happen to him.}

^{Leaning his head forward, his lips touched the silky type of golden blonde hair and caught a whiff of strawberry shampoo as he moved back up again; it had been the only scent that hadn’t made her stomach churn during her pregnancy, for some reason. He took a few steps back to gaze upon the sight before him, a mother slumped in her comfortable chair, arms wrapped safely around the newborn boy that rested against her chest. The blanket that was draped over them was his doing, yet he peeled it back this time around, slipping his hands under the boy’s still fragile little body, and leaning in to kiss his wife once more.}

^{Yes, he had a wife now, and a gorgeous baby boy, only two weeks old. Who could’ve known? Had anyone confronted him with this outcome at a previous time in his life, he surely would have laughed and brushed it off. He had never really seemed the type to settle down…yet here he was, his little slumberous family within half an arm’s length reach.}

^{“Hey—Ems? Let’s get you two to bed.”}

^{He couldn’t blame her for being tired, really; though Henry wasn’t overly loud for a baby, the young couple still had to get used to the idea of having a child to take care of, and it was wearing them both out, Emma most of all, since she was the stressy type of person. Neal had attempted to make up for it with shoulder massages and sweet little nothings whispered into her ear, but the last few days, she had been too exhausted even for that. Even waking her up now felt wrong, but she needed to sleep in an actual bed, the boy in his crib. This time, Neal would place the crib by his side of the bed, so Emma could finally get some well-deserved rest. Not that she wouldn’t stir from her sleep the moment Henry even so much as sighed in his sleep, but at least he would try to prevent her from getting up for anything other than regular feeding times.}

^{“You need a good night’s rest, promise me you’re not gonna get up in the middle of the night to cradle the kid?”}