1. Occasionally, even great parents have a little moment of fail.

Entering the house after an early morning walk, Jefferson was surprised to be greeted by the

sound of silence. Emma's car was in the driveway, so she, Henry and Grace should have all

been up and about, clattering around and looking for breakfast.

Instead, he found Emma quietly sipping coffee in the kitchen, looking only half awake.

"Good morning, Princess," he greeted her, earning a small grunt at the nickname. "Where are

the kids hiding?"

"Out with…Charming," she mumbled, still having issues as to how she should refer to her

parents. "He's good with them."

That was true. It wasn't the first time James had taken the kids out, but it was the first time both Jefferson and Emma had been free for the day.

A whole day with the house to themselves.

Neither of them gave any further thought as to what Henry and Grace might be doing with James. If pressed, they would have assumed fishing or playing soccer.

It wasn't until quite a bit later that they discovered the kids were getting swordsmanship lessons. Grace was a natural, according to James, and Henry was coming along nicely too.

Emma and Jefferson had exchanged looks of horror, but neither of them could deny their children something they so obviously enjoyed…even if that something involved sharp and pointy weapons.

2. Helping build a science fair project.

"Okay, so that didn't go as planned."

Head tilted back to stare up at the ceiling, which was now splattered with pinkish, foamy goo, Jefferson sighed. "How did that happen? We followed the directions, didn't we?"

"Yup," Henry said, peering out from where he and Grace had taken cover under the kitchen table. "I've got the paper right here."

"Papa, it's bubbling again!"

Paige's warning came in time for Emma and Jefferson to spin away from the paper mache volcano, which spit even more pink foam on them. As they hunched away from the spray, Emma sighed. "Next year, they're growing beans in a paper cup or something."

He couldn't help but agree.

3. They don't have microwaves in The Enchanted Forest.

One of the first things Emma had done upon moving into Jefferson's house was to buy a microwave. As lovely as the huge mansion was, most of the appliances were quite old fashioned and since her cooking skills were…a little questionable, she thought a microwave was a great idea.

Heck, even Henry and Grace knew how to use it to zap snacks for themselves.

Jefferson however had peered at the small appliance distastefully, given a sniff and ignored it…until he tried to use it to heat up some leftovers.

A shout from the kitchen brought Emma running and she entered the room to find Jefferson staring at the microwave, which was spitting sparks. Thankfully, a fuse blew and the power went out as she snagged a fire extinguisher and doused the machine.

Once she felt the small kitchen fire was out, she turned to face Jefferson, who was blinking in a sort of dazed surprise. "Maybe you should stick with the regular oven."

4. Pets…yeah, they had to talk to Snow about that.

The first time Snow had bestowed a pet…excuse me, animal companion upon Grace and Henry, neither Emma nor Jefferson had any objections. After all, the bluebirds were small and cute and really weren't that much trouble to take care of.

Next came the bunnies, but since they lived outside in a hutch James had built, they couldn't see any harm in having them around. The skunk that hung out with one of the bunnies was a bit worrying, but they hoped it would go away.

Emma started to wonder what her mother was up to when deer became a common sight on the grounds. Deer were in no way, shape or form pets and neither was the moose that made an occasional appearance.

When bears began patrolling the grounds, that was where Emma drew the line.

"No bears," she told Snow. "They might hurt the children."

"Oh, they wouldn't do that," Snow assured her airily. "They're my friends. They've even agreed not to fight with the wolves Charming had Red ask to keep an eye on the place."

Jefferson, the bastard, was biting his lips, trying not to laugh at her flummoxed expression.

Apparently, Snow talked to animals and had assigned them as sentries.

Yeah, this was a normal life.

5. Surprisingly, there are some things apartment buildings and cottages have in common.

"Turn it off!"

"How?"

"You've lived here almost three decades, shouldn't you know?"

"I never turned off the heat in this part of the house, so the pipes never burst. And I never had to deal with indoor plumbing in the forest."

"One thing I miss about living in an apartment is being able to call the super to fix things…."

"Maybe if we put a bucket under it…."

Watching their parents try and fail to deal with a burst pipe, Henry and Grace exchanged a look and a sigh before Henry pulled out his cellphone.

"Hi, James, it's Henry. Do you know anything about burst pipes?"

+ 1. Sharing a meal with family and friends.

Sometimes, Emma looked back on her life before Storybrooke and couldn't believe how much things had changed during such a short period of time. Two years ago, she'd been alone on her birthday until Henry had appeared and led her down the rabbit hole (okay, not the best turn of phrase, all things considered), into a world that included magic, monsters, family, friends and love.

After a delicious meal, everyone retired to the sitting room to chat before cake.

Amongst the crowd were, Snow and James, her mother and father, sitting on a nearby couch, chatting easily with Henry and Grace about their school lessons. Red and Jiminy were deep in conversation with Grumpy and Granny while others milled about.

Jefferson sat beside Emma herself, looking at her with a warm smile.

"Having a good birthday, Princess?" he asked, long fingers brushing a lock of hair back from her cheek.

Before answering him, she glanced around the room at her loved ones, then met his gaze and said, "The best."

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