"Secrets, Lies, and Blessings" (A SwanFire FanFic)

Chapter XI

~Present Day~

The moment Bae had settled in, gotten used to things and to where things were Charming had kept him extremely busy in learning how to 'be a royal', as he liked to put it. The first thing that had to be done, Charming said, was to get rid of that "awful mop he called hair" because, "a ragamuffin appearance like that will greatly insult any princess". They both had rolled their eyes at that - or at least Emma did... Baelfire rolled his eyes mentally in order to be respectful and to keep himself from getting into any more trouble. But Emma actually seemed more upset about him having to cut his hair than he did:

"Your hair..." she said mournfully after Baelfire had sought her out to show her his new look.

"I know..." he responded. "It's definitely going to take some getting used to..."

Emma almost looked like she was going to cry as she reached up to touch his significantly shorter hair. It wasn't finger-length anymore... "It's so short..." she said slowly and sadly.

"You don't like it?" there was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"No, it's - it's not that, it's just..." she touched his hair again as she trailed off for a moment. She looked at his eyes again and made an almost pout face before continuing, "Well... what am I supposed to run my fingers through now? And, what am supposed to grab when things..." she shyly looked down for a brief second and looked around to make sure no one was around before she proceeded, "When things... you know... intensify...?" she flirtatiously twirled the strings at the neck of his shirt.

"Ohh..." he finally caught her implication and grinned sheepishly as he played with one of her blonde curls before bending to gently kiss her. "You'll have to find something else to grab then..." Emma giggled at his response and he kissed her again as he ran his hand slowly down her arm, he was going to drag it to her stomach when they suddenly heard someone clear their throat behind them.

"I thought you two had things to do." It was Charming. Surprise surprise.

Emma and Baelfire quickly pulled away from each other and looked at Charming with guilty expressions. Charming delivered a cold hard stare to Baelfire then switched his glance to Emma. "I believe your mother is looking for you, Young Lady..." Emma nodded and shot Bae a quick look of support before she headed off to find Snow. Charming resumed his cold hard stare. "And because you can't seem to keep your hands to yourself these days..." he gestured toward the castle exit. "I have an even bigger list of things for you to do this afternoon."

After a few days and with much discussion and contemplation, Snow and Charming decided that Emma and Baelfire would wed in 6 weeks' time. They would marry privately and six weeks would give them (mostly) enough time to prepare but would also be soon enough before Emma would start showing. Or, at least that's what they hoped... most first-time pregnant girls won't start showing until they're well into their second trimester and Snow and Charming only hoped that Emma would be the same way. After they informed the young couple on how things would go, they were then instructed not to see each other without a chaperone until after their wedding. That annoyed Emma... she didn't see the point, the damage had already been done. What more could they do? It's not like a girl can get pregnant twice. She actually dared to say that out loud the following evening and her parents seemed almost horrified. Did she not pay attention during all the times they had strictly and explicitly explained how such sexual intimacy was sacred and to only be done under the cover of marriage because that is how God intended it? Her question led to another lecture... much to her dismay. She wanted to argue that she justified it because she knew he was the one she would marry but decided against it; she knew her parents were right and that what she did was wrong... which was why the conversation was making her so mad so she just decided to be quiet. As usual, her parents were right. She sighed heavily as she got up and with great annoyance exited her parents' bedchamber.