A/N Just the prologue to a random idea I had.

There will be three more chapters, and I hope you guys can guess what they'll be about based on the title haha

Let me know if your interested in a continuation so I know whether you guys want it haha

Ghosts of Birthdays Past

Henry yawned audibly and tried desperately to focus on the fractions he was set as homework, even despite the thing that was nagging at his mind. His grandmother gave him a curious look from the kitchen, and he just smiled at her by way of assuring her that he was alright, before turning back to his work.

For the past week he had been trying to put aside the little fact of what tomorrow was, it wasn't as if anyone else even knew, or cared, that tomorrow was a special day for someone.

He gripped his pencil tighter, the sound of boots hitting the stairs serving as a much needed distraction.

"You need help, kid?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow, and if she were honest a bit of anxiety. It was still odd to think that he would want her to help with homework, and she was genuinely nervous about being able to do so. The worst thing was that she knew exactly who would be happy and able to help, but the boy had seemed to want to pretend that she didn't exist since the curse broke.

Henry smiled up at his blonde mother and shook his head, "I'm fine," he assured.

Emma tilted her head and came to stand next to the table that her son sat at, "are you sure? You look like something's on your mind."

Henry smiled unconvincingly and replied, "I'm fine, fractions just aren't fun."

Emma furrowed her brow and just decided to accept his explanation.

The blonde went over to the kitchen and accepted the cup of coffee from her mother, "why is he doing homework on a Saturday morning?" she whispered.

"Shouldn't you be happy about that?" Snow retorted with a smirk.

Emma nodded, still staring at the boy who was heavily writing on his worksheet.

"He's usually playing videogames," she replied.

Snow nodded in agreement, and said, "well he's probably thinking about Regina."

Emma turned away from her gazing position and spun to look at her mother, "why would he? He hasn't even mentioned her in weeks."

Snow looked at her daughter for a moment, Emma always reacted in a similar way when someone mentioned the mayor, and she tried not to look too far into that fact. But the mix of hope and fear on the saviour's face made the fact that everyone was aware of, hard to deny. The sheriff had a crush on the Evil Queen, and it was certainly not something that Snow White was going to enlighten her daughter about, at least not yet.

"Well...it's her birthday tomorrow, he probably feels guilty for leaving her alone."

Something resembling guilt passed the blonde's face, and Snow guessed that she felt bad for not knowing that it was the mayor's birthday or for the fact that Regina probably wasn't even expecting company, much less presents.

Emma seemed to consider her options for a moment, before she just went with her initial plan and marched over the brunette boy with her mother's faint protestations in her ear.

"What did you get your mom for her birthday?" she asked.

Henry looked up in shock for a moment, and replied in as even a voice as possible, "I thought your birthday wasn't until May."

Emma narrowed her eyes at Henry, and to his credit, he didn't seem to want to back down from his retort.

"You know what I mean, Henry," she replied after a moment of silence.

"She's not my mom, why do I have to get her anything?"

Emma pinched the bridge of her nose, and was about to respond, only to be stopped when Snow put her hand on the blonde's shoulder and gave a look that said 'stop'.

"I think what Emma means, Henry, is that Regina deserves to have someone with her on her birthday."

For a split second, pain flashed across Henry's face, before he promptly shook his head, "why? Evil people don't deserve to have happy birthdays."

"Henry..." Snow began to weakly protest, she seemed completely unable to think of something that would convince him that he was wrong, and after the silence stretched, Emma rolled her eyes.

The blonde turned away from her mother, and said, "you have to, because I say so."

Henry shook his head and replied, "you can't force me to get her a present."

Emma thought this through for a moment, and finally scowled, "fine," she sighed, and then turning to her mother, "watch him."

"Where are you going?" Snow called when her daughter was already halfway across the room and about to grab her coat.

"To get Regina a present," she replied, and then walked out of the front door before she had to listen to anymore reasons that the woman she loved was evil.

A/N Reviews would be much appreciated and as always I need to thank my beta QueenApples XD