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cianmars · 7 years

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Kiddo Chapter 23

AO3

Emma woke up a few hours later, her name being gently called by her mommy, she woke slowly taking her eyes minutes to open.

This time when she woke she was cuddled up on her mother's chest, she could smell her mix of shower wash and perfume. Sometimes when she woke it took her a while to come back to herself and remember how she had gotten there, but not today, she remembered it all: The emotions she felt, the memories, being held by her father even as she tried to hit out at anything, including him, and the comfort and love her mother had shown her when feeding her – something she would have been mortified even thinking about a couple of months back, but now it felt natural and comforting, she knew she was safe. She felt as though she should be embarrassed, or ashamed or something, but even that was gone as though her parents had taken the feelings away. She had never had that feeling before, not fully, the feeling any child had when they knew that their parents would take care of all of the monsters in the world.

"Morning sleepy head." Mary Margaret greeted fondly.

"Hi." Emma said quietly. She kept her head close to Mary Margaret's chest as she felt her mother stroking her hair. "I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"Hey, hey, hey." Mary Margaret soothed. She kissed the top of her head as she sat them both up, she manoeuvred her so that she was still lying against her chest but she could see her face. "You don't have to say sorry about anything, you did manage to give your daddy one hell of a bruise where you clipped him though." As she joked she saw the look of worry on Emma's face and frowned. "Don't worry, baby, that was just a joke, your daddy's fine."

Emma looked around and realised David was not in the room, she bit her lip and felt bad, despite her mother telling that it was all okay. "Where is he?" Her voice was quiet and sounded like she was close to crying, though she wasn't sure why. More and more recently she started to feel as though her emotions were quicker to change and just so much more.

Mary Margaret kissed her head again and stroked her thumb down Emma's cheek. "He's just making you some lunch, that's why I had to wake you up, you need to eat something before we have visitors." She began to run her hand through her hair she automatically started to rock her from side to side. "I'm worried about you, we both are, me and your daddy."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you, I won't do it again."

Mary Margaret sighed and turned Emma on her lap to face her, she noticed David walking into the room to see if Emma was up yet, he saw his wife's face and he settled down on the bed beside them. "Emma," she said both lovingly and concerned, "please stop apologising to us. You don't have to say sorry for what happened. But you do have to tell us what happened, you really scared us, we don't want to have to see you that upset again."

Emma bit her lip not sure what to say or how to say it.

David took hold Emma's hand, he stroked his thumb over her knuckles, then he dropped a quick kiss onto the top of her head. "Emma, you can tell us, it's safe to tell us anything, we'll believe you."

"I…" She sighed frustratedly. "I used to live with a foster family, they were supposed to be really nice, they were for a couple of days… but then they weren't… Y'know peas are yucky?"

David and Mary Margaret both chuckled, weakly, they knew that any story about Emma's foster parents (especially one which had followed Emma's mini-breakdown) would not be a happy one, but they knew how much Emma hated peas. Emma's wording of her hatred was also adorable.

"Yeah, I know your hatred of peas, or anything green."

"Unless it's candy." David added fondly.

A ghost of a smile appeared on her face, Mary Margaret had only once asked her if she wanted peas, when Emma had told her firmly that she hated them Mary Margaret had never offered her them again. Even when the curse broke and David had been cooking them dinner, he had made sure not to give Emma any, just because they accepted that it was something Emma didn't like. "I told them that I didn't like them." She said quietly. "But they didn't listen to me… they told me I wasn't allowed to leave my booster 'til I ate them, or they said so. I was in there for a long time… They didn't let me out for two days…" Her voice got quieter and quieter as she talked, outlining the break synopsis of what had happened, and her eyes watered until she was sniffling.

"Oh baby." Mary Margaret breathed out. She pulled Emma closer to her and led her head upon her daughter's. She shook her head wordlessly, she didn't know how to make it right, what words could magically fix everything. There were no words as she felt her daughter shuddering breaths as she began to cry and after only a couple of seconds she began to cry too.

David balled up his fist, on the hand which wasn't holding onto Emma's still, his nostrils flared, and his heart ached. He knew that this was only the tip of the iceberg. There was more hurt to come that day when they would watch her memories. He unclenched his fist and wrapped his arms around his girls. Tears began to roll down his cheeks and he started to cry along with his wife and his daughter.

They sat on the bed in an almost perfect huddle for ages, until the tears ran out, and dried. Eventually they pulled away so that they could see one another but they stayed close.

As Emma rubbed her eyes David and Mary Margaret shared a look above her head about something they had talked about while Emma had been sleeping.

"Em," David said as gently as he possibly could, "me and mommy need to talk to you about something else too; you're not in trouble or anything, it's just something which is important, and we need you to tell us the truth."

Emma's eyebrow's furrowed, she was never really a huge fan of serious talks and they seemed to have a fair few nowadays, still she nodded her head. "Okay." She said quietly.

David looked at Mary Margaret, and nodded his head, letting her lead.

"You don't feel five anymore, do you?" She asked knowingly, outright, they had realised this for a while but they didn't want to voice it.

They were too worried that if they voiced it they would come true, but it was coming true anyway, so why would that matter? After Emma had fed without hesitation or complaint Mary Margaret and David knew it needed to be addressed. It was not uncommon for children to be breastfed until they were about three or four in the Enchanted Forest, that had carried through to a lot of people in this realm too, Mary Margaret had realised when she started to go to the mommy and me group with Neal. But five was definitely too old for Emma to be so accepting of it, and physically and mentally Emma was acting younger, much younger than she had when she first deaged.

Emma slowly shook her head, her nostrils twitched and mouth wobbled as she was forced to admit it, she had realised more recently but she had buried it away not wanting to think what it meant. "No." She whispered.

David cupped the side of Emma's face with his hand, he was a product of his very loving and affectionate childhood, he brushed his thumb along her cheekbone underneath her eye. "You feel like you're two ages, right?" He watched her slowly nod. "How old is the youngest age you feel? Do you … do you know?"

They knew her only too well, Emma realised. She would usually try to pull away, to not look at him, instead she leant into it her head firmly against it and looked into his sea blue eyes. She shrugged her shoulders a little. "Three, I think… I know that I'm three, but I feel littler like two."

David nodded his head as he digested that information. "Maybe like a young three year old." He suggested sharing a look with Mary Margaret.

"That makes sense." Mary Margaret agreed. "I've heard it happens a fair bit in children who had a rough childhood."

A rough childhood seemed to be an understatement, David thought, but he and his wife were trying particularly hard to not show the full extent of their heartbreak over Emma's past so she wouldn't feel guilty over them knowing her past. "Okay, I think that it's time you had some breakfast."

"It's lunch." Mary Margaret pointed out with a smirk, she glanced down as Emma moved about and settled into place on her lap so that she was comfortable. Mary Margaret smiled gently down at her as she cuddled up to her, she liked seeing her so unguarded and loving.

Emma smiled at her mother's snark, though she was surprised that most of her day had been taken up sleeping and she still felt sleepy, when she was feeling much better with her cold than the day before when she was also sleeping all the time. "Uh huh, mommy's right."

David playfully rolled his eyes and glared at Emma, he tickled her sides, and couldn't keep up his playful glare when he heard her giggle. "Mommy's girl." He teased. "Well, it's breakfast for lunch, with really really chocolatey pancakes… unless you'd rather have a sandwich or something boring…."

"Pancakes please!" Emma shouted eagerly.

David and Mary Margaret chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"Pancakes it is." David smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, he stood from the bed and checked on Neal before heading out to the kitchen to finally put Emma's pancakes on.

~OUAT~

Mary Margaret and David sat on the couch overjoyed at the sound of their children's laughter which was filling the entire loft. Emma was sat on David's lap sideways facing Neal who was sat supported on Mary Margaret's lap.

"Peek-a-boo!" Emma pulled her baby blanket off of her head and erupted into giggles as her brother did the same thing.

After they had had their lunch together, Emma's breakfast for lunch while her mother and father had a salad and grilled cheese respectively, then David sat in the living room with the two kids – he stared down at the kids lovingly as Emma played and put on a show for Neal with a couple of the new toys – after Mary Margaret finished putting away the new clothes and some of the toys both upstairs and downstairs she joined them on on the couch.

David chucked the blanket over her head as he smiled. "Oh no, where's Emmy gone?" He said playfully for the benefit of both his son and daughter. "Is she under the table?" He looked under the table, making Emma giggled and wiggle, and Neal giggled just as much but at the sound of David's silly voice and Emma's giggling. "Noooo…. Is she behind the curtain?... No… Oh no Nealy, I think I might have lost her, what will I tell your mommy?" He and Mary Margaret forced themselves to hold their laughter as Emma giggled hysterically and Neal joined in. David suddenly pulled the blanket up off of her head, making her hair static a little and follow the blanket into the air before dropping back down. "Ohh, there she is! " He pretended to be surprised. "Thank goodness, I thought that I'd lost you, I didn't know what I'd do…"

Emma wasn't sure why she found it quite so funny, it wasn't exactly live at the Apollo, but to her it was hilarious. "You're silly." She managed to get out through her giggles. "You'd be in trouble with mommy if you lost me." She told him.

"Too right he would." Mary Margaret agreed.

David shrugged his shoulders pretending to be breezy, and pushed back the memories of all of the times he had lost her, in a way he had again but he had also gained a new Emma he wasn't sure he wanted to go. "I'd have to go to the shelter where I used to work and find a puppy and name it Emma."

Emma sat bolt upright as excitement ran through her like electricity. "Can we get a doggy?"

Mary Margaret winced, she wasn't against dogs, not in the slightest – she had fond memories of seeing her family's hunting dogs when they were puppies, and she knew David had grown up with dogs on his family's farm. But her eyes darted around the loft, the living room and dinning room were both filled with Emma and Neal's things, along with the few things she and David had which weren't packed away. It was already looking crowded, and was only set to get more so, they had negotiated that Emma needed something to keep her at level with the table which wasn't a booster seat so were having a highchair delivered. If Emma stayed a toddler, and with Neal growing more every day, the loft was only going to get more crowded. It was only really built for one or two tops. "I think a doggy," she picked up on Emma's use of the word, "needs a lot of room to run around in and to play, and they'd need to be able to go outdoors. We'd have to wait to have a bigger house to get one." She spoke carefully she didn't want to rule out ever having a dog, she knew how much her husband loved them and Emma seemed to be the same way with Pongo, but she also knew that the loft was Emma's first home. They would have to move of course, whether Emma was big or small, but it would require a careful conversation with Emma about it.

"Oh," Emma felt torn between really wanting a dog of their own and never wanting to leave the loft, "okay."

Mary Margaret ran her hand through Emma's hair. "You know, Henry's really looking forward to seeing you." She told her with a smile. "I spoke with him earlier this morning, he misses you."

Emma smiled but then frowned and looked worried. "If I can't be big again will he hate me?"

David and Mary Margaret shared a look, it was such a young way of wording and thinking about it, and there was an insecurity which Emma would never have voiced through a question. David rubbed soothing circles onto his back while Mary Margaret stroked her hair, her brother cooed in their mother's arms, he kicked his legs and tried to reach for her as though copying their parents.

"He could never hate you." Mary Margaret told her honestly. "He knows that if it does happen, if you change completely, it wont be your fault."

Emma brought her thumb to her mouth to her mouth, she caught herself at the last moment and didn't put it in like she usually would, but she did start to chew on her hangnail. "He'll be sad." She said quietly.

David shared a look over Emma's head at Mary Margaret. "He might be," he said cautiously as she was too smart to lie to, "but he knows that no matter what happens he loves you and that you love him. You'll be in each other's lives no matter what." He pressed a kiss to the top of Emma's head. It was hard to try and figure out how they would all feel and react if the change was permanent, they would all still love her of course but everything would change, especially for Henry. But the more time passed it was hard to imagine Emma ageing up again, and if she did if she would there be lasting effects? Though judging from all the research, they had done so far, there was only one way to change back and that had only worked once, it was too big a chance to take and they would not risk her life.

There was a knock at the door and Mary Margaret stood up with Neal in her arms and walked over to open the door. David stood up, swinging Emma onto his hip, ready to greet their guests.

Emma led her head down on David's shoulder, her stomach fluttered as the door slowly opened and the downstairs of the loft was filled with the noise noise of her mother and her mother's step mother saying hello to each other.

David glanced down at Emma's blonde curls cascading down to her shoulders and his own as she led her head, with his free hand he rubbed circles onto her back. "It's okay, kiddo, I'm here. You wanna just stay with me?" He asked her quietly, he both watched and felt her nod, he smiled gently and kissed the top of her head. With people who weren't Mary Margaret, himself, or Neal, she was obviously even more shy. He hoped she would warm up to them a little, especially Henry, but he didn't mind holding onto her for as long as she wanted or needed it. "Okay, that's no problem. I'm gonna say hi to them, if you don't want to it's okay, they'll understand."

Mary Margaret glanced back at over at David and Emma, when she stood back to let Regina, Henry, and Elsa inside, and shared a small smile when she realised her daughter was being shy. She turned her attention back to their guests knowing that David could handle the toddler.

She wrapped her arm around Henry, being careful of Neal, the teenager was fast becoming taller than her but like any grandmother she could still see the child he had been. "Hello sweetheart."

"Hey grandma." Henry grinned as he felt her press a kiss to his cheek. "Mom brought pie."

Regina smiled and nodded, in greeting, and indicated to the two pies in her hands. "Don't worry, only one of them is apple, the other is berry."

Mary Margaret narrowed her eyes jokingly at her. "Uh huh, I think I play it safe and go with the berry, I'm not sure if I've annoyed you recently."

"Yeah, I wouldn't chance it grandma." Henry grinned the charming, and cheeky, smile he inherited from David.

Regina rolled her eyes. "You're both terrible." She turned to Elsa who seemed to find the family's jokes endearing. "Don't listen to them Elsa." She placed the pies down on the table. "Elsa, this is Mary Margaret, my stepdaughter I was telling you about."

Elsa smiled and shook hands with Mary Margaret. "It's very nice to meet you. You have a lovely home here." She said glancing around the loft, even though she was a stranger to them she could still feel how homely the place was, she felt welcomed immediately.

"Thank you very much, it's small, and a little crowded… but it's our home." Mary Margaret smiled back, with more people there and all of Emma and Neal's things it suddenly seemed smaller. "My mother had some relatives in Arendelle, she and my father visited sometimes, on diplomatic missions and to visit relatives, I always wanted to see it." She saw the genuine smile on Elsa's face at the mention of her home, but she also saw the sadness in her eyes, she wasn't sure how she was going to get back – Mary Margaret remembered how that felt when the first curse had first broken. She lifted Neal up slightly to introduce him. "This is my son Neal. And my husband David." She held her hand out to gesture to her husband.

David smiled, showing his pearly whites, he held out his hand to shake the queen's cold one. "It's a pleasure to meet you. One of my friend's from back home lived in Arendelle, I met his fiancé once, she was from there too- though I doubt that you'd know them."

"You will have to tell me about them later, perhaps I will know them, I try my best to know as many people as possible." Elsa smiled kindly. She looked to Emma who was shyly looking back at her, she was tucked incredibly close to her father, they were obviously close she had never been that close with her own father. "Hello." She smiled gently as Emma hid closer against David.

David cuddled her closer and smiled back at Elsa on Emma's behalf. "This is our daughter, Emma."

Emma stayed half hidden against David, she raised her hand in a half hearted wave to the visitor to their home, she seemed to be nice enough but she felt safer the closer she was to David. "Hi." She managed to squeak out, only just audible.

David and Mary Margaret shared a smile at their daughter's behaviour. Their look changed and Mary Margaret led Regina and Elsa over to the kitchen to talk to them about Elsa's story, David threw his arm around Henry to hug him. "Hey there, my favourite grandson." He smirked at his own joke, he thought it never got old, despite how many times he said it.

Henry rolled his eyes, without jest or irritation, his eyes kept flickering to Emma as David led them to the couch and they sat down, Henry on one side, David with Emma on his lap on the other.

Emma glanced at Henry when she realised it was just them (and David), she relaxed some, but bit her lip remembering their conversation about how Henry might feel in the future they had been having shortly before Henry, Regina, and Elsa had arrived. Her nerves swelled in anticipation of what was to come.

Henry felt a little unusual seeing how his mother was acting, it was unusual enough before when she was clearly much more of an adult, now she wasn't. Regardless, she was his family, he loved her. "Hey Emma." He smiled at her, it was clear that he was related to David and Emma from the trademark Charming smile he had inherited, the one which put people at ease – it worked on Emma as he watched her look at him and stop trying to hide herself against David. He shrugged his shoulders apologetically. "It feels a bit weird calling you mom." He admitted.

Emma gave him an understanding smile back. "It's okay, I get it." She didn't say it but it would have felt weird being called mom right then, when her mind was mostly younger, she had felt guilty over it, she gave Henry a small understanding and embarrassed smile which she hoped showed him what she was thinking.

Henry reached out and gently squeezed her hand. "Me too.' He told her, and he meant it, they still had enough of a connection to be able to know what the other was thinking through a look.

David carefully stood up and moved Emma to sit on the couch beside Henry in one fluid motion. He placed his hand on the top of her head when she looked up at him, worried about where he was going, he smiled gently down at her. "I'm gonna help mommy make everyone drinks and talk to Elsa, you and Henry stay here, I'll get you both drinks." He watched her nod her head when she understood that he wasn't going far. He looked at Henry who was staring at Emma, luckily Mary Margaret had told Regina how Emma was acting before they had got there to make sure Emma's behaviour wasn't a complete shock, but seeing one of his mother's act like a toddler was something no one could prepare for. Henry was holding strong though. He always did. "You want a soda, kid?"

Henry looked at his grandfather and smiled. "Sure, I'm not sure that mom will let me, you know what she's like with sugar."

"I'll sneak it around her." David promised with a wink, he knew Regina wouldn't really mind as it was going to be a hard day for all of them a soda was the last thing on any of their minds'.

When David left them Emma and Henry started to talk, Henry talked to her about his school and friends, and some things he had done with Robin and Roland whilst spending time with him and the Merry Men. And Emma talked to him about anything and everything, when he told her that the unicorn hoodie she was wearing was cool she opened up a lot more, she began to talk to him about the toys Ella and Thomas had brought her.

Henry noticed her sounding more and more like a kid, a toddler even younger than Roland, but at least she still had her memories so he happily talked to her about movies and some cartoons he had watched when he was younger. He told her that he had been visiting his horse more often too, and that he was hoping to go riding with David soon, and that perhaps Emma would be able to go with them one time.

"Are you sure you wanna see the memories?" She asked him eventually, she grown very serious all of a sudden, or as serious as she was currently able to get.

Henry nodded. "I wanna know about your past, about your life, I know some of it but I… I wanna know more, I wanna know it all… In case you can't tell me one day. There's So much I don't know about my dad…" He told her gently. He hesitantly placed his hand on his hand on her back when he saw her look guilty. He wasn't sure what to say to make it all better, he knew that she knew that he was aware of the feeling of inevitability that things were about to change, irrevocably. He was probably more aware than she was, he saw his other mom working hard to try and find a way, Elsa had been trying to help too, she had read all the books in Arendelle about magic in her own search to control hers… but even she seemed to be stuck on how to help Emma.

Emma leant against Henry, before long she was curled up against him, he had cuddled her back – they hadn't always acted like a conventual mother and son, but now they seemed more like brother and sister, or uncle and niece (which was technically true, Henry was her step-uncle, as well as her son).

"I've gotten really good at riding my horse." Henry told Emma, he beamed as she looked at him with great interest. "You'll have to come and see him sometime."

"Yeah!" She knelt up with excitement in her eyes, but the excitement was shadowed with nervousness. "…But they're really big…"

Henry realised suddenly that Emma was nervous so he smiled reassuringly at her, it was second nature to him to want to help her feel better, and he was good at it. "I'm sure Gramps could come with us? He taught me how to look after mine, and he has his own, maybe he could teach you how to ride it too?"

Emma's nervousness disappeared and she grinned back at him nodding her head. "Yeah, okay, and we can get ice-cream sundaes too."

"Sounds good to me." He grinned back. "Hey, Em?" He picked at the skin around his left thumb nail. "You know if you get changed to stay like this forever… you know I'll still love you… right?"

Emma threw her arms around Henry's torso and buried her head against him. "I love you too, Henry." She felt him wrap his arms around her and squeeze her gently. "I don't wanna leave you," she told him quietly, "or to forget who you are. I don't wanna lose you."

"You're never going to lose me," Henry promised looking down at her face, "I'll always be here for you even if everything changes. You're my family, just as much as my other mom is, and Grams and Gramps and Neal."

Emma nodded her head as she continued to lean against him while David, Mary Margaret, Elsa, and Regina walked in. In their hands were mugs of hot chocolate, the smell of cinnamon drifted up from the mugs, both Mary Margaret and Emma had passed on their love to it to the rest of their family, even Regina had given in to drinking it, and Henry had made Elsa try it as soon as they had met. David had hold of his and Henry's mugs, Henry's was in the mug with marvel superheroes on as they all knew his love of comic books, and David also had the sippy cup Emma had been using this time full of hot chocolate and cinnamon.

David sat beside his daughter and grandson, he looked at them in concern as Emma climbed onto his lap, he held up the mugs and cup so that they were way above her head. "Careful kiddo, I don't want to get you burnt." He told her gently. He handed Henry his drink as Mary Margaret strapped Neal into his bouncy chair. "Are you kids okay?" He asked them, passing Emma her drink, he tilted his head to the side as he looked at his grandson wanting to make sure that he was okay.

Henry smiled, he could see his grandfather trying to play it cool but the concern was obvious, he nodded his head to him to show that he was getting that his grandfather was actually worried about both of them. "We're okay Gramps." He promised. "Hey can we go to the stables one day? Me, you and Em? I wanna show her my horse."

"I don't see-"

"And ice cream!" Emma chimed in, interrupting him, with a big smile which turned a little bashful when her family started to laugh.

David chuckled and squeezed his arm tighter around her for a second. "Okay, I don't see why we can't go do both one day." He grinned knowing that both Henry and Emma wanted to spend time with him – he was glad of it, especially now he could remember how heartbroken he (and his wife) was not to have them around when they were in the Enchanted Forest and Henry and Emma were in New York.

They all chatted as they drank their hot chocolate, David figured out that Elsa knew his friend Kristoff and Anna who he had known as Joan, was her sister, he offered to help in finding her, starting with the next morning when he promised to start a search party, only for the morning so he could get back to his family – he didn't want to have to leave Emma for too long, or for Mary Margaret to be stuck with a baby and toddler/adult Emma for too long.

Eventually Regina crouched down in front of Emma and David, she looked intently into Emma's eyes and held onto her hand, she glanced down at the yellow cast which was starting to look a little grubby but she knew that it would be off by the end of the week so she didn't say anything. "Emma?"

Emma knew what was about to happen now, she bit her lip, and spoke quietly. "Yeah?"

"Are you certain that you want to do this? I need to make sure, because once we start this we all have to watch it through from start to finish, as we do it'll copy it onto another dreamcatcher which can be replicated," she noticed Emma look a little confused and realised that she should probably amend her vocabulary around her, "we can make more of them – that way if you or your parents or someone else needs to see it again they can."

Emma could feel her heart beating faster in her chest, she squeezed Regina's hand slightly without meaning to, and she felt David rub circles onto her back. She nodded her head, willing herself to be brave, as her parents had taught her to be. "Okay. I'm ready."

Elsa volunteered to watch Neal, she didn't want to intrude upon the family, Henry moved from next to David and Emma to sit cross-legged next to his other mother. Mary Margaret scooted over to sit beside David and Emma, she gently took hold of Emma's hand when Regina let go of it. David pressed a kiss to the top of Emma's head and wrapped his arm around her waist to give her extra security as Regina pulled out the dreamcatcher, he shot an encouraging smile to his grandson, he gave him a look to let him know that he didn't have to watch if he didn't want to, but he nodded his head and smiled bravely to show that he was planning on watching it all the way through.

"Okay, I altered this so that we'll all be able to see Emma's memories so long as we hold onto this, but it will feel as though we're there – we'll see her and her memories from an outside view watching her, but we'll smell what she smell, hear what she hears, I've managed to block any pain she feels but we'll still see it." Regina explained carefully she waited for them all to acknowledge that they heard and understood before she let them all take hold of the dream catcher. She waved her hand over it.

They stayed sat in their places, David and Mary Margaret on the couch, Regina and Henry on the floor, and Emma cuddled on David's lap. But their minds were transported.

~OUAT~

They were in a room about the size of Regina's office in the town hall, but it was very different. The floor was just wooden floorboards there were a few thin rugs dotted around but they were as shabby as they were thin. There were about seven beds piled into the room which smelt of cheap shower gel and disinfectant. They found they were following a small boy without actually moving.

"Pinocchio." David realised. He stood holding Emma on his hip and his other hand was clutching his wife's, beside them was Regina and Henry.

"He looks how he did when you went through the wardrobe." Henry said to Emma as he took hold of Regina's hand. He had been in the foster system, if he hadn't been adopted by Regina he could have ended up in a place like this.

Mary Margaret suddenly gasped as August climbed up to look down at a baby in a crib. "Emma." She breathed out as she looked down at her baby wrapped in her baby blanket, she looked like a tiny new born which meant she was probably around three or four months old. She looked back at her older version of her baby in David arms and smiled at her. "You look like a smaller version of Neal."

David smiled too and squeezed Emma as he looked down at baby Emma who stopped crying as August pulled faces down at her. "Just like him, but with your mommy's eyes, just like now."

Emma smiled gently but she held tightly to David. "I don't remember this." She said confused.

"We're going through all of your memories," Regina told her gently, "even the things you don't remember or you've remembered wrong." She continued looking around the room, clutching Henry's hand, she felt immeasurably guilty that Emma ended up there because of her, and relieved that Henry did not have to.

They watched as the foster home man, Mr Raskin, told August that nothing there belonged to him or any of the foster kids.

"He was just trying to fix Emma's crib." David growled. "He had to live in this 'Home', he didn't get a choice, this is the furthest thing from a home there is. He has nothing. He looked down at Emma, already heartbroken at what he had seen, he cuddled her closer to his chest. "You… You had nothing."

Emma shrugged her shoulders, she didn't want to make him too sad, she knew this was one of the highs of her childhood. They watched August talking to another boy from the Home, and Emma found herself wishing that they weren't watching her memories, she couldn't make her family any sadder or guiltier than they were right now. But they were stuck. So she buried her head against her father as they watch August leave Emma.

None of them could blame him. He was a kid. He didn't deserve that level or responsibility.

By the time Emma looked up, they were with the family who had adopted her. Other-Emma sat on the ground playing with a doll she looked only a little younger than she was now, maybe six months younger. On the two couches were Susan and Bill Smith and Emma's social worker Petunia was on the other. Susan was obviously pregnant.

"It's okay, we understand, sometimes these things just happen." Petunia was soothing the couple.

"We would keep her… but with this new baby, and all of Emma's health issues, and she's at a difficult age…"

Mary Margaret's eyes narrowed as the woman trailed off. Emma was simply sat on the ground playing, angelically, she noticed that the house was in pristine condition – it wouldn't surprise her if the lady just meant that Emma didn't put everything in its perfect place in the house.

"It's okay," Petunia was saying, "it's easier to move her now before you finish the final stages of the adoption, plus this way you can relax a little before your baby's born." Her voice had turned excited and Emma's prospective adopters had joined in looking excited. "Do you know what you're having yet?"

"We don't know yet, we wanted it to be a surprise, but Bill is hoping it'll be a girl."

Bill was beaming as they all continued to ignore Emma. "What can I say, I want a daddy's girl." And they all laughed.

"Emma." David said quietly looking down at her.

Emma was watching herself on the floor. "I thought that they adopted me." She said quietly. "They… they didn't… they didn't want me."

Mary Margaret was blinking back her tears, she wrapped her arms around Emma, and by extension David. "Emma, I'm so, so, sorry. They're the ones who missed out. They didn't deserve you."

Henry recounted a conversation he and Emma had had when they first met. His eyes didn't leave the Emma who was sat upon the floor. "It all gets worse after this," he asked Regina quietly, "doesn't it."

Regina wrapped her arm around Henry's shoulders and pulled him into her side. "I think it does." She said gently, she knew it would hurt Henry, but she wasn't going to lie to him.

They all watched as a confused Emma was ushered into a car with a backpack with just a couple of outfits inside of it, some pullups, and no toys.

Next they were in a house which had them all, bar Emma, recoiling at the smell of the place.

They all heard the whimpering as they stood in the dirty, run down, living room.

"Shut up!" A deep voice bellowed.

A man came storming out and through them, literally through them, he was the source of the bellowing. They would have expected some man with a cartoon villain vibe – a moustache, an evil smile, pretty much any villain from any movie ever. But he seemed just like anyone else, he was obviously drunk, and very angry – but otherwise he looked just like anyone else.

Emma whimpered.

David's head snapped down at her and quickly placed his hand on the back of her head to pull her close to his chest to hide her face from having to look at the place. "It's okay kiddo, it's not real, you're okay baby." He soothed.

Mary Margaret looked up at David with worry, her hand went to Emma's back and David moved his, so Mary Margaret could rub circles onto her back. "It's okay baby," she said in an equally soothing tone as they were drawn forward, "mommy and daddy are here."

Henry took a breath in as he saw Emma sat in a booster seat at a messed dining room table, a plate of peas sat in front of her. "Mom." He realised that she must had been sat there for at least several hours, judging from the smell of urine from near her.

Mary Margaret automatically moved to the toddler, who was maybe six month older to the Emma she knew as her own who David was currently holding onto, she moved to try and get Emma out of the booster but her hands passed right through her and the Emma in the booster continued to sit in place whimpering quietly.

"You can't touch her," Regina placed her hand on Mary Margaret's back, "I'm sorry."

Mary Margaret nodded her head and tried to blink away her tears, but she couldn't, so she went back to her husband and daughter she went back to rubbing Emma's back and David wrapped his arm around her.

They carried on watching Emma go through foster family after foster family, each one more abusive and neglectful than the last each one lasting a few months before Emma was taken from the place. By the time she was five she had been in more foster homes and group Homes than any of them would have thought possible, the group Homes were anything but homely, and they tended to specialise in emotional abuse, bullying, and neglect, but they couldn't get the sight of Emma being beaten to a pulp, hit with a belt, and having various bones broken, out of their heads.

Emma kept her head hidden against David, but she still had her other senses, and the memories played out in her mind. She just kept her eyes squeezed shut, and so long as David's hand stayed on the back of her head, and Mary Margaret's hand carried on rubbing her back, she could keep herself from crying. They could all feel how scared she was in all of the memories.

By the time they hit Emma's 7th year of life they could feel her hopelessness. They watched her being abused in her children's Home and her running away. As Emma sat shivering around a trash can, burning a picture book to stay warm, Mary Margaret took Emma from David's arms.

"I'm so sorry baby." Mary Margaret whispered to Emma as Emma buried her head in the crook of her neck. She found herself rocking Emma slightly as David stroked her blonde curls and the husband and wife carried on watching as Emma talked to a teenager they recognised as August.

"Mommy." Emma whispered in a whimpering way, she wanted to say that she didn't have to say sorry, or that she loved her, but she couldn't say anything more than her mother's name. She just hoped that she got that, and judging from the kiss her mother pressed to her brow, she did.

They watched as Emma went to the police and changed her last name to Swan after August's hope speech.

Then they watched the rest of her memories, both good and bad, many more bad than good. And many, many, many more abusive and neglectful homes than good ones. They watched the rest of her childhood play out, up to Emma living in her car at the age of eighteen, and buying herself a cupcake for her birthday, one of the very, very, very few birthdays Emma had ever celebrated.

"Happy Birthday Em." The new adult said to herself.

When she blew out the candle they were all transported back to their bodies in the loft.

~OUAT~

The loft was silent, even Elsa and Neal who were sat at the table were silent, Mary Margaret took a loud and shuddering breath breaking the spell.

Henry stood up, unable to hide the tears in his eyes at his mother's pain, he quickly left the room. Regina placed her hand on Mary Margaret's knee, comfortingly, before she left to follow Henry.

"Emma?" Mary Margaret said gently when her daughter didn't move a muscle, she placed her hand tenderly on her cheek.

As soon as Emma heard her mother's voice full of love Emma couldn't control her emotions anymore. She burst into tears.

"Oh, Emma, baby." Mary Margaret couldn't stop herself from crying any longer either, she felt her husband wrapping her up in his arms, his strong and safe arms. She was not surprised when Emma twisted to cling onto him, she knew Emma felt just as safe in his arms as she did. She ran her hand through Emma's hair as she tried to soothe her crying while crying herself.

"I'm so, so, sorry Emmy." David said through his tears, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head then one to Mary Margaret's forehead ignoring the tears which were streaming down his cheeks onto her pale skin.

The three of them sat there, entangled into one person by their closeness and shared emotions, until all their tears ran out.

~OUAT~

Regina found Henry out of the barely used fire escape. She paused for a moment not sure what she was about to say to him. Then she stepped forward, placing her hand on his back, as he stood holding onto the railing looking out onto the surrounding rooftops. She knew it was probably a bad sign that he wasn't sitting down, his jaw was clenched as he was lost in his thoughts, it reminded her of what she had seen of Baefire, or The Original Neal as she had taken to calling him in her head.

Henry quickly wiped his eyes on the sleeves of his hoodie then looked over at his mother.

"It's cold out here, you need a coat, you'll catch your death." She told him she waved her hand and suddenly Henry's coat and scarf was on him, she couldn't help but wish that magic had been in the town when he was younger, and much harder to wrestle into a coat.

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips at the totally maternal comment. They both stood there looking over the town. It was so much prettier, the windows were frosted up, and there was frost making the rooftops sparkle. He knew that she was giving him time to sort out his thoughts but he didn't mind it, he actually quite liked being able to talk things through with her, there was no pressure to talk if he didn't want to.

"You always made sure I had amazing birthdays." He said eventually. "Even when I didn't have loads of friends, you made sure I had presents and we sometimes went to places, and there was always plenty of food and a big chocolate cake which lasted weeks."

"Of course." Her brows furrowed, it was the least she could do, but she knew what he was going to say next.

"Emma, my other mom, she… She never had that. She had like three cra- rubbish birthdays where she got a cupcakes with half of a wax candle on them. She had toys which had been used by like eighty different kids before she got to sometimes play with them. She was hit, and called names, and just abused! She didn't get a childhood. She was only a couple of years older than me when I was born. She was still a kid."

Regina brushed her hand through his hair. "Henry, she wouldn't change a thing if it meant she wouldn't have you. She loves you."

"I know, but…" he took a deep breath, he shook his head as he tried to get rid of the memories in his head, "….She has a chance now. If she doesn't change back she can have that with Grams and Gramps. She can have birthday presents, and will always know that she's loved, and she won't have to keep food hidden under her bed which she thinks I don't know about."

Regina frowned. "Why does she do that?" She hadn't noticed Emma having particular problems with food, other than it being the diet of a toddler… which was fitting now.

"It's not like that, it's in case she suddenly is not allowed food, she knows that Grampa and Grams would never do that but it's an old habit I guess." He shrugged.

They stood in silence for a moment. Digesting what they had seen and what they had talked about.

"But Henry, sweetheart, if she does stay like this, she won't have her memories of you. They'll be completely different. You'll probably still have a relationship with her in the fake memories, and your grandparents would always make sure that you're always in her life, none of us would have anything else…. But you'd have lost her. You lost your father not long ago." She said gently.

"I know… but I'd still have you, I always do."

"You always will." Regina wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. "We're still going to look for ways to help her turn back, but if she doesn't, if we can't find anything then we'll all make sure you're in her life. You'll always be her family."

"…I mean technically I'm her step-uncle."

Regina sighed deeply looking a little pained. "Please, don't remind me."

"Hey, I didn't mention that you're her step-grandmother too." He joked lightly before growing serious again. "She's always trying to get people their happy endings, maybe this is her chance to have her happy ending, it's not like she doesn't deserve one."

~OUAT~

The evening was a rather quiet one. They made pleasant conversation but the gathering was far from jovial, Henry was quieter than usual, and Emma was extremely quiet and clung onto David at all times, she only let go of him so that he could go the bathroom and at those times she clung onto Mary Margaret.

Elsa managed to bring a small smile to her face by showing her her magic. Magicing up kickass ice cream for dessert, after Regina's famous extra-cheesy lasagna, and apologising for the cold and snowy weather as it was her fault – Emma told her that she enjoyed the snowy weather – which was really as much unprompted conversation they could stir up from her.

Eventually Henry, Regina, and Elsa left, it was Monday the next day so Henry had school. Emma let go of her father long enough to give Henry a sleepy hug before curling back up against David's chest. David hugged his grandson and promised that they would meet up in the week after school one day to go riding – just the two of them, and that they'd sort out having a day of riding with Henry, David, and Emma – though Emma would have to ride with David due to her size. Mary Margaret made Henry promise to visit in during the week as she didn't get to see him in school as she wasn't working there with Neal being so young, he agreed so long as there were cookies for him. Mary Margaret naturally agreed, she told Elsa that she'd do some research to try and find Anna, and promised to call Regina as soon Emma went back into her young mindset so they could capture her fake memories.

By the time Mary Margaret closed the door behind their family/guests, and checked to make sure Neal was still fast asleep, Emma was half asleep curled on David's chest. She bent over a little and met David's lips with a soft kiss when he looked up at her. "You go take a shower and I'll get our girl ready for bed, I think we could all do with an early night, and this way you won't be rushing to grab a shower in the morning." She stated quietly.

" 'm not sleepy." Emma mumbled jerking her head up. She felt the vibrations of her father chuckling against her ear so she moved her chin was resting against his chest so that he could see her pout at his laughter.

"Of course you're not, kiddo." He smirked and kissed her forehead. "But I'm sure you'll want to be getting into some comfy jammies. You can sleep in our bed with us."

Emma bit her lip but nodded her head. She didn't want to be upstairs on her own in her gigantic bed. "Okay."

Mary Margaret smiled and took Emma into her arms, she couldn't resist smiling when her husband quickly pecked her on the lips once more, before darting into the bedroom to grab some pyjamas and then take control of the bathroom.

Mary Margaret cuddled Emma close to her chest then kissed her forehead before she sat down on the ground with Emma. "How's that cold of yours, missy?" She asked with a smile.

"It's fine," Emma told her frowning when her mother sat her on the ground, not because she was sat her on the ground so that Mary Margaret could sort out the pull up to help her into, but because she was no longer in her arms. "It's better with ice cream."

"Uh huh, sure it is." Mary Margaret giggle. "I'm sorry you had to relive all of that today baby. I'm sorry you had to go through it at all." She told her softly as she helped Emma into the thick pullup.

"It's not your fault mommy." She said genuinely as Mary Margaret pulled on some blue and red star socks which matched the bottoms of the Minnie Mouse pyjamas Mary Margaret had dug out for her. "You're not like them."

"We never would be like them sweetheart. Ever. I promise."

"I know." She watched Mary Margaret's face disappear as the bodysuit was pulled over her head, then the rest of her pyjamas were put on her. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore… please."

"Okay." She picked her up into her arms again and stood up and started to walk from the living room to the master bedroom.

"Wait! Where's my…?" She trailed off looking around the living room from her mother's arms.

"Your blankie and lion are in the bed still sweetie." Mary Margaret told her knowingly. She resumed her walking and sat down on the bed with Emma still in her arms. She passed the lion to Emma and wrapped her blanket around her. "So, your daddy's going to be working tomorrow, what do you want to do?"

"Erm…. I don't know." She shrugged leaning heavily against Mary Margaret. "Eat cookies?"

Mary Margaret chuckled. "Well I'm sure you can do that, but how about we actually make them first?"

"But you said I can't cook and I'm not allowed to cook ever, ever, ever."

"You can't cook on your own, but you can help me, I'll teach you how to make some cookies. Ones which will go perfectly with hot chocolate."

Emma smiled. "Is Elsa gonna make it snow more?"

Mary Margaret smiled down at the excitement in her tired eyes. She reclined back against the pillows, still able to hear the shower running, she was fairly certain Emma would be asleep before David finished showering and shaving. "I think she doesn't have to, it's winter time anyway, but I think it might snow soon." She knew from being in Emma's memories Emma had had a few snow filled winters but she had never even had warm clothes let alone a warm coat. But she still seemed to adore the snow. Mary Margaret couldn't help but be amazed at how Emma hadn't been turned dark against the world after all she had been through.

Emma led against her mother's chest fighting sleep for some minutes. "Is daddy gonna be at work all day and night?"

Mary Margaret smiled, she supposed it might feel like that sometimes when there were things going on. "No sweetie, just the morning time, he has plenty of people in the station to help him he's just starting everything off. We'll have our girls' morning together then we can go to Granny's for lunch all together."

"Nealy can be in our girls' mornin' too." She said through a yawn. "You can teach him to bake too."

Mary Margaret smiled at Emma's need to include baby Neal. "A morning with my perfect babies sounds perfect to me." She started to run her hand through her daughter's hair and hum a lullaby her own mother used to sing to her – on the occasions her mother would be able to settle her to bed not Johanna.

David walked into the master bedroom running his hand through his hair, curls had already settled into the damp hair despite his best attempts to dry it before that happened. He smiled at the sight of his wife rocking their daughter and humming to her, as though sensing his eyes on her she looked up, ad his smile turned even more loving. "Is she out?" He asked but didn't reach the end of his sentence without Emma shaking her head no.

" 'mm 'wake." She mumbled bliking her eyes hard to keep them open. She missed the look between her parents but looked at David as he lifted her into his arms.

"Stubborn girly." He said fondly.

Mary Margaret stood up and kissed Emma's cheek. "Night baby."

"Not sleepy."

"Uh huh, well, if you're not I'll see you once I've gotten out of the shower. If you fall asleep before that then I'll see you in the morning baby."

Emma reflexively curled up on David's chest as soon as he reclined back against the pillows on his side of the bed. "Mommy said we get to go to Granny's to get lunch."

David smiled down at his daughter. He knew she was just trying to force herself to stay up to prove her mother wrong now. He started to rub circles onto her back, he could feel the scar from where she was hit with a belt, it had been horrific then, but now that he had seen it all happen it was even worse. He had been helpless to stop it in Emma's memories, all he could do was hold Emma tight. "That sounds good, maybe Ruby will make you a chocolate milkshake."

"You have to stop working for lunch then come home with us."

David paused rubbing her back for a half second. But continued before she noticed it. "Emma, I promise you that I'll only be there in the morning. I'm not going to be gone all day. I'd miss you way too much to do that." His words must have alleviated any anxiety she was feeling about him being gone as he felt her relaxing more against him.

"I'm gonna miss you too…. I don't want you to go." She whined.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh. It's okay." He said soothingly to make sure she wasn't about to cry. "I'm going to miss you too, and I don't want to leave you, and Nealy, and mommy either. But Elsa's looking for her little sister, I know you'd be very upset if you lost Nealy, and I know that when we find Anna you'll love her- she was my friend before I met your mommy, she loves chocolate too."

Emma nodded her head then yawned loudly "Chocolate's s'good." She mumbled.

"It is." David agreed soothingly knowing that she was close to sleep. "I'll go to work and you can play with mommy and Nealy, then we'll all have lunch together, then I need my girl's help getting groceries because you're the best at remembering what treats are the yummiest."

Emma yawned again but couldn't find the energy to speak so just nodded.

David started to quietly sing a lullaby his own mother had sung to him when he was young, which had come back to him when he had heard his wife humming not long before, knowing it would be enough to tip her over to sleep.

Mary Margaret re-entered through the curtain not ten minutes after Emma had fallen asleep. She stopped at Neal's crib and finished the baby out, he was awake and ready for his next feeding, but she didn't want him waking Emma up. She sat down on the bed beside her husband and settled Neal into position as David turned the television which was still in their room on and flicked the volume to low before he found the latest episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine.

"Has she been asleep long?" Mary Margaret asked looking down at her daughter and husband as lovingly as she did her son.

"Nah, about ten minutes, but she's completely out of it." He gently tugged Emma's thumb out of her mouth but it found it's way back in there almost immediately. "I had to reassure her again that I'm only working in the morning."

Mary Margaret tutted in sympathy. "Aw, poor thing." She shook her head lovingly and received a confused look from David. "She's such a daddy's girl."

David chuckled gently but didn't even want to say otherwise. He was very proud of Emma being a daddy's girl, especially as she was very close to killing cursed him, not that he blamed her – he did hurt her mother after all. "Well, I told her I'd take her to get the groceries with me – I figured we could pick up some things she needs now she's acting younger."

"That's a good idea, I'll write you a list." She carefully moved Neal over to the other breast, quickly and efficiently, Emma might be fast asleep right then but his screeching could easily wake her. "Though I know why you're really going."

David heard the teasing in her voice and couldn't help but grin. "And why's that?"

"Because Emma's cuter and is much more charming so she can get treat around me better than you can."

"I think I'm pretty charming." He smirked knowing exactly what her response would be, it would set up his next line perfectly.

"Uh huh, and what gave you that idea?"

"Well… I did charm you into having two kids with me."

But Mary Margaret didn't miss a beat as she smirked down at him. "That's only two times."

"I also have countless death threats from the dwarves who seemed to have a knack for walking into our tent when we were at battle…"

Mary Margaret couldn't stop the laughter from spilling out then. "My favourite time was when they chased you around the camp stark naked."

"Hmm, how bizarre, that's definitely my least favourite time." He countered but continued to smile.

Once Neal finished feeding Mary Margaret placed him back in his crib then climbed into bed. Her husband wrapped his arm around her and she led her head on his chest in it's usual place – luckily Emma had decided she was most comfortable on David's right side not his left, she didn't think that she would be able compete with Emma over this, Emma would certainly win.

They watched their show until the episode had finished, then David clicked the screen off, the two led in the dark but neither could sleep. Emma was on their minds, both her past as present, but her future seemed to be dominating both of their thoughts.

Mary Margaret eventually broke the silence. "That time portal was about having a second chance at things, maybe this is Emma's second chance, maybe she stays a toddler and we get to raise her."

"She wouldn't be constantly putting herself in danger, or feeling the need to hide things about herself, she wouldn't have to put everyone else's happy ending's in front of her own." David agreed. "I'd miss adult Emma, but it's not like she'd be changed completely."

"No." Mary Margaret agreed though neither one of them wanted to lose either Emma. "I guess we just have to figure out which would be best for her…."

"Elsa's not?" He trailed off, bringing his hand up to stroke her short black hair.

"No, she's only heard what Regina has… she doesn't know of any way…." She sighed gently as she fought to keep her eyes open. "We'll have a meeting with any magic users we know here, or people who might have heard of ways to help, I think we have to decide from there: Regina, Elsa, Belle, Gold, Blue, Nova."

"We should ask Hook and Grumpy too – Grumpy knows a whole lot about fairy dust, and Hook's about a thousand years old so he might have heard something in his travels." David agreed. "But there's nothing we can do about it right now." He kissed her crown.

Mary Margaret smiled softly at the sensation of his warm lips on her cold skin. "You're right." She yawned before tipping her head back to kiss his lips. "Goodnight honey."

David responded in kind to the kiss before settling down and closing his own eyes. "Goodnight my love."

#charming family #charming family feels #the charming family #Daddy Charming #Mama Snow #emma swan #David Nolan #Prince Charming #ouat fic #mary margaret blanchard #snow white

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