Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time belongs to ABC. This fan fiction, however, belongs to me.
James woke up to the sound of something shattering in the kitchen. Carefully slipping out from beside Snow, he padded into the kitchen.
Emma was kneeling on the hardwood floor, swearing softly under her breath as she swept up the shards of a broken mug.
"Emma?" he whispered.
Emma's head shot up and she smiled ruefully. "Hey Dav - James," she said. "I didn't mean to wake you up." She gestured to the shattered mess around her. "I was just making some hot chocolate, and when I went to grab a mug, it slipped."
While Emma finished sweeping up the ceramic pieces, James grabbed two mugs and poured some hot chocolate. He smiled when he smelt the cinnamon wafting from the drink. Like mother, like daughter. Snow had nearly bankrupted the kingdom when her pregnancy cravings meant she needed more than three cups of the hot drink every night.
He expertly added a dollop of whipped cream to both drinks, and handed one to Emma.
After enjoying a sip of the hot chocolate, James put his cup down to find Emma staring aimlessly at the wall. He covered her hand with his and she jumped slightly.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
After the curse broke, there had been utter chaos and confusion as everyone tried to figure out what was going on. James and Snow had been busy trying to reconvene the old council, and to make plans for capturing Regina and figuring out a way to get back home. In all that time, James had not had a single moment to talk to his daughter.
She shrugged. "It's just…it's a lot to take in,'' she said. "All my life, I've never stayed long in one place, moving from family to family. I've always believed that the reason I was left on the side of the road was because my parent didn't want me. Everything in my life was so…laid out. Everything was exactly what it seemed. The only time I had ever believed in fairy tales was when I was a little girl, and I wanted to be Cinderella or Belle or…" The corners of her mouth twitched, "…Snow White. Then I got here, and everything started changing. I mean, I was making real friends, and actually had a permanent home, and everything was nice and normal. I had just started getting used to everything and now…now everything's different."
The last part had dropped down to an almost whisper, like she was talking to herself. James noticed that she looked so…lost. He remembered feeling that exact same way, in his first few days acting as King George's son. He didn't know how he was supposed to behave, or how to feel. At least then he had a dragon to slay and a princess to not marry. There was no time to dwell on how he felt being a shepherd-turned-prince.
"You know, if we could have, we would have done everything in our power to stay with you."
She nods, but the lost look doesn't fade from her face. He racks his brain for something to say, something other than words of comfort and would-haves or should-have. His eyes alight on the embroidered baby blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
"Did you know that your mother spent two whole weeks trying to decide what color the ribbon should be in your blanket?"
Her interest was piqued, and so he continued on.
"Almost every single color had a reason as to why it wasn't good enough. Pink and blue were too normal. Red was too dark. Green was too earthy. She spent days staring at fabric swatches and colors until she finally chose purple."
For the next hour, James regaled Emma with tales of the palace. The time Snow had bested the Captain of the Guard in a sword fight. The time he had given Snow a blue unicorn mobile to hang over the crib. The sheer amount of toys and other gifts that Red and Ella had brought over when they first heard about the baby.
Bit by bit, the lost look disappeared until she was softly laughing at his accounts of his great misadventures.
They lost all track of time, and it was only when Emma glanced at the clock that she noticed how late it was.
"I have to go to bed," she announced, rising from the table. "Ashl – Ella wants me to babysit Alexandra so she and Thomas can spend the afternoon together."
James stood as well, and he impulsively crushed Emma into a hug. She tensed at first, then she melted, and her arms came around to hug him back.
"Good night Emma."
She pulled away and gave him a soft smile, which he answered with a wide smile of his own. She has my smile, he thought to himself, and Snow's chin.
"Good night James," she said.
That night, they had stopped being awkward acquaintances that had only truly known each other for a little while. That night, they became something more.
Like a family.