A/N: Exactly what it sounds like! Read and Review please!
Disclaimer: My bank account is proof of the fact that I don't own any part of Once Upon a Time :(
Thanksgiving in Storybrooke
Note: This chapter takes place after Season 4—Emma is still the Dark One but other than that, everything is fine (Gold is out of his coma and everything) :)
When Emma heard the doorbell sound (yet again), she thought she would collapse from exhaustion. Who could it be now? She thought everyone had already arrived—there couldn't possibly be someone else they were somehow related to. To be fair, everyone in Storybrooke was related somehow, so Emma wouldn't be surprised if Aladdin was her great uncle twice removed or something. (Honestly, anything was possible here).
"Emma!" chirped her mother from the kitchen. "Are you going to answer that?"
"Got it," she replied in a less-than-pleased mumble. Emma twisted the doorknob and let the couple inside. To her surprise, it was none other than Kathryn—David's curse-ex-wife, if you could call her that—and her husband, Fredrick.
"Hi, Emma!" greeted the blonde warmly.
"Wait a minute, how are we related again?"
"I'm technically David's ex-wife under the curse," replied Kathryn, raising an eyebrow. "So I'm technically family, aren't I? Or at least I used to be..."
Emma was much too tired to process any of that, so she simply sighed and let the woman and her husband in. The couple happily joined the rest of her large family in the kitchen. If she had known beforehand how much work hosting a thanksgiving dinner was going to be, she would have tried infinitely harder to talk Mary Margaret out of it. Unfortunately, her mother was quite adamant on the fact that their 'family' should have at least one proper dinner together.
She was just about to go and sit with the rest the crowd, when the doorbell rang...again. Emma groaned and moved to answer it; sincerely hoping this would be the last one. When the door swung open, she was instantly on her guard, hands raised in preparation to use her magic to blast the woman in front of her into oblivion.
"Calm down, dear," purred the woman at the door. "You know very well I can't perform magic with this dreaded cuff. Besides, you wouldn't hurt a woman carrying a child, would you?"
Emma sighed, dropping her arms and glaring at the witch warily. "Zelena."
"That's me!"
"Why are you here?" she spluttered. "How did you even get out of your cell?"
"I have my ways," said Zelena softly. "And you didn't think you could have a Thanksgiving dinner without inviting me, did you? I'm a very important part of this family, don't you agree?"
Emma thought for a moment.
"Come on in," she said eventually, allowing the happy redhead to burst through the doorway and strut gleefully into the kitchen along with the rest of them. As Emma had expected, the witch was greeted with an uproar of shouting and flying food (it was a shame too...she had worked so hard on that pudding).
They calmed down eventually, allowing Zelena to join them on two conditions—she would go right back to the cell once the night was done and she wouldn't hurt anyone. The witch had happily obliged, although Emma suspected she wasn't past breaking any of those rules.
Emma would be surprised if the night ended without a single mishap (seriously, someone could die with the Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin, the former Evil Queen, and the Wicked Witch of the West in a room together).
Dinner began without any casualties (although, Henry did drop his juice on Regina, much to the woman's displeasure). Emma laughed at the growing stain on Regina's blouse and soon regretted it when the former Evil Queen threw a bowl of pudding at her. Emma growled angrily and threw a glare at Gold, who was smirking at her current state. An idea niggled at the corner of her brain and without thinking, she raised her arms and concentrated.
There was a warm glow, and all the food on the table rose off the surface, suspended in the air. Regina stared at her. "No, you wouldn't..."
Emma laughed. "Yes, I would." And with that, she threw her arms forward and the armada of food went straight toward Regina. The woman barely had time to erect a shield, and when she did, at least half of the food broke through and splattered her head to toe. Henry and David fell to the floor laughing, while Rumpelstiltskin merely smiled.
Regina glared at her. "Don't think this is over, Swan," she hissed, before marching to the bathroom to clean herself up.
Emma smiled at the sight of Regina's food-stained clothing (it may have been the Dark One inside of her, but she enjoyed the look on Regina's face nonetheless). She helped her mother serve dinner when a fuming Regina returned, and Henry was the first to pounce, gobbling up the food like it was the last meal he'd ever taste.
"Slow down, kid!" she laughed. "At this rate, you aren't going to have any room for dinner!"
"What can I say," mumbled her son in between mouthfuls, "I'm a growing boy!" The food was cleaned out in no more than a few minutes, and Emma didn't get a single bite.
"Looks like you'll have to make more," smirked Regina, still sore over her recent attack. The Queen and Gold seemed to be enjoying her frustration. David offered her a half-eaten cracker after a moment of thought, to which she declined and went to join Mary Margaret back in the kitchen. She saw her father shrug and toss the rest of the cracker in his mouth.
Emma hadn't even reached the kitchen when he doorbell rang once more. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes momentarily before opening them and storming towards the entryway, her irritated and food-deprived self, shouting all the way. "I SWEAR, THE NEXT PERSON TO COME THROUGH THAT DOOR, FAMILY OR NOT, WILL HAVE HELL TO PAY! I AM NOT MAKING ANOTHER BITE OF FOOD FOR ANY OF YOU, SO HELP ME—"
She stopped mid-sentence as the door opened, her mouth hanging open slightly. "Hello, love," smirked the man in front of her, touching a finger to his lips. "I do hope I'm not too late."
"K-killian," she stuttered.
"Not happy to see me?" teased the pirate. "I am affiliated with your family greatly, Swan. I think I deserve to be here, at this family 'Thanksgiving'."
She could only stare.
"I did nearly become Henry's step-grandfather," he continued, "and I think I am soon to become his step-father..." Killian winked and stepped over the doorframe, walking into the room. "Oh, and I hope you don't mind—I brought some friends of mine."
And through the door, came traipsing none other than Robin Hood, Roland, Ruby, Granny, Archie, August, Jefferson, Will Scarlet, Grumpy, Dr. Whale, Marco, and practically all the citizens of Storybrooke. Emma could only stand there, staring dumbfounded at the steady stream of people entering their loft.
"Hey, now—" she began, but was drowned out by the loud chatter of the other countless people gathered in the room. The 'Dark Swan' inside of her threatened to rear up, but she pushed it back down, instead making her way angrily toward her pirate boyfriend.
"Hello, Swan," he greeted, grinning.
"What. Is. This," she hissed, gesturing wildly to the tight crowd packed in her family's loft.
Killian shrugged, rubbing his head sheepishly. "You see, love, I was on my way to your residence, when Robin Hood and his son happened upon me. I, of course, being the gallant fellow that I am, invited them to join me. Then came the wolf-girl, then the dwarf, and it all kind of...er, how do you say it...snowballed from there..."
Emma sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. At least Killian had the decency to look somewhat guilty. She opened her mouth to say something to him when she was interrupted by a shout coming from across the room.
"HEY!" yelled a voice she recognized as Henry's. "HEY!" Her son had climbed up onto the kitchen counter and was now waving his arms wildly, attempting to get everyone's attention. When the room quieted, Henry sighed and took a deep breath. "I propose," he began, "we move this party to Granny's!"
There was a roar of approval (and Granny's indignant "Well, nobody asked me!"). In an instant, people were streaming out the door, leaving as quickly as they had come. Henry came and hugged Emma quickly before leaving with the rest of them, following Regina out the small entryway.
Emma saw her mother gaze sweep the room, slightly daunted at the mess she would have to clean up when she got back. Emma nodded reassuringly at Snow, and the woman smiled back before picking up baby Neal and joining David at the door.
Now it was just her and Hook.
The pirate grinned at her. "Well, love? What do you say we go join them?"
She didn't say anything for a moment.
And then she smiled.
"That's a great idea," she replied, a sudden torrent of warmth rising in her chest.
For twenty-eight years of her life, Emma had had no one to rely on but herself. For twenty-eight years of her life, Emma had been completely alone. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine this. Now she had a bigger family than she knew what to do with...and she loved it.
Fin