Author's Notes: This is (hopefully) the first of several stories involving Emma and her family and friends. I really wanted to explore her relationships with her family, as well as a few other people. I apologize in advance if there are some mistakes found within the story. I'm beta-less at the moment.
I also do not own these characters, but deeply enjoy the chance to explore their universe with fanfiction.
"So, kid, why don't you tell me about what happened with you while I was gone?"
Henry looked at his birth mother sitting on her bed in her pajamas, motioning for him to join her. He grinned widely and jumped on her bed, cuddling into her side. He wasn't really used to this kind of open affection from a parent as Regina was never the sort to cuddle at bed time. Emma helped him snuggle with her under the covers, waiting patiently for him to begin speaking.
"Emma…mom…er, what do you want me to call you now?" He asked her earnestly, looking up at her surprised face. Henry had called her mom earlier when she had climbed out of the wishing well with Mary Margaret, but he was uncertain if she wanted him to continue calling her that.
"Well, kid, you can call me whatever you want," she replied with a smile, giving him a quick kiss on the top of his head. "Considering how hard your grandmother and I worked to get back to you, I think my issues with you calling me mom are gone."
Henry looked up at her, beaming a bright smile. "I think I'd really like to call you mom."
"Mom it is," Emma whispered, sounding pleased at his choice. "So are you going to tell me what you and your grandfather got up to while we were gone?"
"You already know about the major things that happened here in Storybrooke," said Henry. This was true, as Henry and James had filled Mary Margaret and Emma in on what had happened while they were stuck in the Enchanted Forest. And of course, Henry and David had asked about what the Enchanted Forest was like for Emma and Mary Margaret. Henry was especially eager to hear about their adventures, and was absolutely thrilled to hear about meeting Aurora, Mulan and Captain Hook. He had asked questions all throughout the dinner, until finally Emma had gently told him more stories would have to wait until later.
"Kid, I want to know about the everyday things you left out, like how you and David got along, and how school went," she explained, looking down at him. "Everything you do is interesting to me."
Henry looked at her closely for a few seconds, and then decided to begin telling her about his adventures with his Gramps. He started emphatically explaining his sword practice with David, jumping out of bed a few times for a few demonstrations.
Emma couldn't help but recall her own recent sword fighting adventures, and prayed that Henry never found himself in such a situation. She realized that trying to shelter Henry completely from these things probably wouldn't be possible. Between Henry's desire to be involved with all the action, and all the dangers constantly happening to her family, there was no way he could be protected from it all. However, she found herself sitting up in bed when he casually mentioned the horse David had bought for him to learn responsibility.
"David got you a horse?" She croaked, a look of shock crossing her face.
"Uh huh," Henry nodded, looking up at her. "Do you want to come with me out to the stables in the morning to meet him? I'm supposed to clean his stall and brush him every day morning and afternoon to build a bond between knight and steed, according to Gramps."
"Maybe not tomorrow morning, Kid," Emma sighed, silently vowing to speak with David later about the horse thing. "I'll need to go into the station first thing with your Gramps to get caught up, but maybe I'll stop by in the afternoon. So horse riding and sword training, anything else happen?"
As tired as she is from the adventure in the Enchanted Forest, Emma can't help but be enthralled by Henry's stories. She listened and made the appropriate comments when she heard about how school was without Mary Margaret as a teacher, and how happy Henry will be to have her back again. He then went on to tell about all the fairy tale characters in Storybrooke who were looking for loved ones, and who managed to be reunited with whom. Emma sat up when Henry mentioned talking with Jefferson.
"Did Jefferson find Grace?" she asked, curious to see if the Mad Hatter had finally reunited with his long lost daughter.
"He didn't want to find her at first," Henry explained, looking a bit sad. "Paige—Grace put up a flier to look for him. She was really upset when he didn't come to find her right after the curse broke. I found him down by the pier to try to talk with him using his hat to find you and Mary Margaret, but he couldn't do anything because Gramps destroyed it accidently trying to jump into the portal, and Jefferson didn't have any magic to make a new one."
Emma vividly recalled Jefferson and his need for magic to get his hat to work again. "The hat was destroyed?"
"Completely," Henry nodded, and then added to Emma's dismay, "And then Mr. Spencer, who was David's adopted dad in the Enchanted Forest, burned it to get back at Gramps."
Emma frowned as she heard this bit of the story. Apparently this was another thing she was going to have to talk to David about. She also made a note to herself to pay a visit to Jefferson soon. While she was leery of his actions after his kidnapping attempt of her and Mary Margaret, she felt she at least owed him an apology for not believing him when he tried to convince her of the curse. And maybe she could do something about his destroyed hat, now that she had discovered her own magical abilities.
Emma looked down at Henry, noticing that he was getting sleepier by the minute. However, she had to address one final thing before he drifted off to sleep. "Henry…"
"Mmm," he murmured, his eyes closed as he snuggled against her body.
"Henry," Emma continued, shaking him slightly to wake him. Opening his eyes, he looked up at her. "What do you want to do about Regina?"
Henry looked pensive for a long moment then replied honestly. "I don't know. Right after you had disappeared I wanted nothing to do with her, but now… I know she's trying hard to stay away from magic for me, but it's hard to forget all the things she did, you know?"
Emma thought about her answer carefully before responding. "She does love you, Henry. I may not like her much, but she's still been your mother for the past ten years. As long as she doesn't hurt you in any way, I don't have a problem with you wanting to see her."
"Are you sure?" he asked. "You and Mary Margaret just got back."
"I'm sure, kid," she replied, kissing him on the forehead. "We'll all make time to spend with you: me, David, Mary Margaret, and Regina. We're the grownups here and we'll figure something out. Now why don't you go to sleep?"
"Mmm-kay," Henry sleepily murmured, his eyes already closing. He snuggled deeper into Emma's side and soon she could hear the regular deep breathing of sleep.
She watched him for a short while, thankful to finally have this opportunity with him. However, sleep was creeping up on her as well, so she soon joined him in his slumber, happy that she was back in Storybrooke, and with her family at last.