"Well," he says, taking a long breath to make sure he didn't sound too eager about the suggestion he was about to make. "I think that maybe I could take care of you, for a while," he says, trying to make it sound like a suggestion instead of something he's already decided will happen, no matter what, because he's missed out on so many years of taking care of her. He needs to make up for them somehow.

David settles them on the couch, giving Emma the chance to stand on her own two (very small) feet. "You and your brother, I can handle two kids. Right? I mean, I handled seven dwarves, several faeries, a wolf, and a kingdom. How bad can this be?"