Title: The Guilty Ones
Author: snarkysweetness
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Emma/August
Summary: Set in the future: When August discovers the depth that magical interference has had in his and Emma's life, he begins to lose it.
Warnings: Angst.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: If you don't know my crazy headcanons and theories about this already, then I don't even know what to tell you. I'm still not convinced this can't happen in canon eventually, so I am loathe calling it an AU. Also, IDEK what this drabble is other than more feels because I'm a masochist?
"So he's really our son?"
August slid his hands over his face as he looked up at his current, and he supposed, past, girlfriend. She was the light and love of his life and now he came to find out that she was also the mother of his child. A child who was now a teenager and who's entire life he'd missed, not because she'd kept it from him, but because of outside, magical forces pulling them apart.
Emma, who stood leaning against a wall, just shrugged. He was proud of her, the Emma he'd 'met' in Storybrooke would have completely fallen apart, but she wasn't that Emma anymore. She was a mother now and had truly grown into her role as savior.
For the first time in his memory, he was not the one doing the calming down.
"Yeah. He…" She smiled. "I can't believe we never saw it. He has your eyes and nose and…" She looked down and shook her head, amused.
Well, he wasn't amused.
"Why do you look so happy? Our son grew up without me because of fucking Regina! And my mom…" he groaned. "Henry had to grow up with that evil…" He sat up and slammed his hand onto the table before pacing.
"We should have raised him! Not her! She did nothing but emotionally manipulate him and abuse him and…goddammit, he's ours."
He'd been a mess most of his life but despite all of his failings he would have never voluntarily abandoned his child; or Emma. He knew now that his failings concerning hers hadn't been his own, but the fucking curse at work. He hadn't failed to track her down, he'd done it, and they'd made Henry, but because of Regina he'd lost them both.
Well, he sure as Hell wasn't going to lose them again.
"August…"
She took his hands and led him to the sofa.
"I'm happy because even though it's really late in the game, we're finally going to be a family." She sighed. "And it's my fault that we weren't a family; I ran. I couldn't handle having someone love me the way you did and none of this is your fault. I could have tracked you down but I wanted him to have a better life and I didn't think we could handle it…
I tried to tell myself for a long time while I sat in that jail that Neal was his father but I always knew the truth. Until…I didn't.
I made the decision to give him up before Regina erased our memories. If anyone is to blame, it's me."
"Hey, it's not your fault either. I shouldn't have left you when we were kids. If I hadn't, you would have known everything and wouldn't have been jaded enough to run." And run to another man.
"Are we playing the blame game now?" She whispered.
August raised their joined hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
"Does Henry know?"
She shook her head.
"He's…" she sighed. "I didn't want to tell him without you and…how are we supposed to explain this to him?"
They'd barely found out themselves, with the help of the Blue Fairy, his mother, for all intents and purposes, who had known the truth but kept it from them in order to 'protect' them. August wasn't sure he bought it, but when True Love's Kiss had returned their memories and brought on a million questions, she'd been there to clear it all up for them.
August wasn't sure how to explain it to Henry but he did know where to starts.
"Well, I say we tell him the truth the way we'll do everything, together, and then take it from there. Knowing our kid, he's probably used to all of this weird crap and won't question it."
Emma smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as she squeezed his hand.
"That sounds like a good plan," she whispered.
August kissed her temple and held her against him. He didn't know if their lives would continue to be a mess of complications or not but he felt confident that no matter what happened, they'd all be together, as a family, and together they'd manage to endure whatever fate decided to throw their way.
