Meant to Be

by The Shipping Queen

Post-Season 3, but not delving into Season 4's work with time portals and Frozen characters (AU). Introducing new characters and answering the show's mysteries with head-cannons. Because happiness comes in many forms. More on the fairies, Disney (and non-Disney) characters not previously mentioned, and experimenting with mythology- among other things. Come join the fun!

1. Henry the Hero

Title: Meant to Be

Alternate Title: There is no Excuse for This

Summary: Post-Season 3, but not delving into Season 4's work with time portals and Frozen characters. Introducing new characters and answering the show's mysteries with headcannons. Because sometimes, things just happen differently.

-

Chapter One: Henry the Hero

Chapter Summary: Henry's done so much for the residents of Storybrooke, so I decided to throw him a grand party in this chapter.

-

"I'm beginning to think I've failed as a teacher,"

The statement from Mary-Margaret was almost sudden. If she hadn't sat down to grade several students' final essays only moments before, it would have shot through the otherwise quiet, peaceful air that existed for only a few short minutes during the day. David immediately paused in the kitchen, where he was cutting up potatoes to make breakfast, to look over at his wife. Emma, likewise, set down the coffee cup she was drinking from and looked over with interest.

"Why's that?" the blonde was the first to ask.

Mary-Margaret had to peer over the newborn in her arms to look at the paper in her hands. "For our final project, I had the kids write creative stories with analogies," she explained; "these are just...really bad,"

"I'm sure they're not," David offered with a smile; he returned to cutting the potatoes.

"Oh, they are, trust me. Here, I'll read this one to you. 'Her eyes were like brown circles with big black dots in the middle.' I don't think this is even punctuated properly,"

Emma smiled and scoffed a little in amusement. David looked over at her as he scraped the food into the pan; "More coffee?"

"No, thank you. I've had three cups already since I've been here," she turned her attention back to the woman nursing a child in the living room. "Was it just that one person?"

"No," Snow shifted little Neal around and skillfully used her only slightly-free arm to find another page. "Here. 'John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met,'"

David tried not to laugh while Emma did nothing to conceal her grin.

"That's not even the worst one," she shifted the baby around. "'He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree,'" her voice shook and fell away towards the end as she looked down. Her infant son was asleep in her arms, prompting her to gently pull him away. "I didn't get to burp him," she mumbled with concern.

"Remember what Dr. Whale said," David reminded her; "don't worry too much if he falls asleep. Just lay him down,"

She was clearly still hesitant, but Snow relented. Her husband was right. Sighing, she placed the baby in his car seat and struggled to strap him in without disturbing him.

"Are you sure you want to cook everything? I could help," Emma lowered her voice so she wouldn't disturb her sleeping brother.

"I am making breakfast for my family," David smirked, adding eggs to the pan; "There is no greater honor. Now, go sit down,"

She impatiently headed to the table and sat down.

"You've gotta hear the last one," Mary-Margaret's voice was barely audible from where she still was in the living room. She picked up the paper and cautiously moved the car seat so she could sit near Emma at the table. That got her daughter's attention. "'The lamp just sat there, like an inanimate object,'"

"Well, the good news is," her husband told her from the kitchen; "they at least seem to have a good idea of what an analogy is- right?"

"Yes,"

"Then you did just fine as a teacher. It was probably their first time, Snow. They'll get the hang of it," there was more clanking and stirring about in the kitchen.

She smiled and sighed with relief simultaneously. "You're right, David,"

"In the meantime," Emma joked; "I'd stash those away for a rainy day,"

"Breakfast is ready," mother and daughter both got wide-eyed and stared down at the baby as dishes clanked together. "Ah, sorry," David chuckled, moving more slowly. Neal stretched, but seemed to still be asleep- probably adjusting to the noise. Within the next couple minutes, all the plates were on the table, and both Emma and Mary-Margaret had orange juice to drink.

"Thank you, David," his wife thanked him, her tone thick with gratitude.

"This looks delicious. What is it?"

"Breakfast hash," he answered, picking up his fork; "Eggs, bacon, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach- we didn't have much of it in the Enchanted Forest, but from what I understand, I'm supposed to remember my parents having cooked it for me as a kid,"

"How do you know that if you don't remember?"

"...ah..." he paused his eating; "Kathryn told me,"

The brief look of jealousy that flashed across Mary-Margaret's face was the reason he hadn't mentioned it in her first statement.

"Sorry,"

"No, no, it's okay. You didn't know," a few seconds of awkward silence; "Anyways, this is delicious,"

"Thank you," he wiped his face and took a drink of coffee. "How are the RSVP's coming?"

"Good, I think," Emma answered. "Most of the people we sent invitations to called this week,"

"Speaking of," Mary-Margaret got back into the conversation; "where's Henry today?"

"He's with Regina," the blonde replied.

"Of course," she shook her head at herself.

"...you know, you don't have to come with me today," the sheriff swallowed her food; "I mean, if you want to stay home and rest, I'll understand,"

"No, no, of course not," it was her mother who responded. "We wouldn't miss it for the world,"

"Our grandson's very own..." David stopped. "What should we call it?"

"I don't know. I'd just call it 'A Celebration in Henry's Honor,'"

Emma smiled to herself as the two of them talked.

"And I'm sure Neal won't be giving away any of our secrets," she looked down at her son with a sly grin as she said that, to find the sleeping infant making sucking motions with his mouth, and had to stifle a giggle.

"Is everyone done eating?" David asked, standing up as he spoke. The girls both nodded. When he reached for their plates, Emma stopped him;

"I can get my own, you know,"

He looked directly at her and grabbed her plate anyways. "So can I,"

Mary-Margaret laughed softly at her confusion. "Just let it happen, Emma,"

"A man who does dishes. I like it," she conceded, letting him take care of the clean-up.

"I figure, if my daughter can be the sheriff and hunt down bad guys, I can do the dishes," with that, he dried his hands off. "It's after ten, should we go?"

"Yeah, we have a lot to do today,"

And, with that, the three of them (plus one) all piled out into the yellow Volkswagon.

-

"My castle!" Henry exclaimed as he came upon the playground. It was the new one the mayor had built, and still didn't have quite the feel that the old one did, but it was 'home' nonetheless. "It's exactly the same,"

"We didn't exactly have much time to remodel," Regina told him. "I did add some monkey bars, though. See? If you want a new one, we can work on new blueprints,"

"No, no, it's perfect," he chucked lightly. "So, what do you wanna do?"

"I don't know. What do you normally do at the playground?"

"Um. Plan out Operation Cobra,"

"Really?" she laughed; "That's it? Every time?"

He nodded. "I don't have much to plan, right now, though,"

"It'll be a nice day off,"

"Sure, sure," he looked around, trying to figure out what a boy his age would be doing on a playground like this. Sensing this, his adoptive mother lightly tapped his shoulder with her elbow and said;

"Hey," it came out a little awkward and hesitant at first, "dare me to try the monkey bars?"

That made Henry laugh. "Yeah! I dare you to do the monkey bars," as she approached them, he climbed up on the playground set that led to them to watch. Regina didn't bother to climb up, she just stretched up her arms and jumped until she grabbed a hold of the first one. Her shirt rose up on her, revealing a small part of her stomach, and it occurred to her that the mayor of the town was doing the monkey bars on a playground.

And she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was that Henry was enjoying himself.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" he encouraged; "You won't finish them if you just keep hanging there,"

She smiled at him, although he was behind her and couldn't see, then gradually began moving her arms the way she saw the kids do when they were up here. Right arm first, then left. With that, she was hanging from the second bar.

"Bet'cha can't do it again," he said it playfully.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do," she smirked, moving right and then left again, her tongue plastered to her upper lip in concentration. Regina was just tall enough that, if she straightened her legs out under her, she could just barely touch the ground. Her shoulders were starting to ache and the metal on her hands was painful, but Henry noticed as she started to unbend her legs.

"No cheating!"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Okay, okay,"

"It'll be easier if you go faster. Come on! Right!" she jerked and hurried to move her right arm. "Left! Right! Left!"

"What is this, military school?"

Henry laughed at that and Regina made it to the last monkey bar.

"Good job, you did it,"

When she let go, she forgot to straighten out her legs and fell from that height onto her knees. Shock and concern crossed her son's face, and he practically jumped down to help her. "Mom! Are you okay?"

She laughed at his concern and brushed mulch off her clothes. "No worse for wear, Henry,"

He still stuck his arm out to help her. "Can you stand up?"

"Yes, I can," she pulled herself up on his arm, careful not to put too much of her weight on it. He helped her get the rest of the mulch off her clothes. "Well, that was a fun little adventure. "Maybe we should just...go to the movies, instead?"

It was hard to take that her son was a whole year older. She briefly wondered what it would have been like if, instead of twelve, Henry was twenty-eight, and she had left him at birth.

"A movie sounds good,"

"Okay," she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "You pick,"

By the time Emma, David, Mary-Margaret and Neal returned home, it was already 2:00pm. They had a car full of party supplies and decorations, not to mention gifts, and a rather large cake. The hard part would be putting everything together, especially with a very disgruntled infant. Snow bounced with him on her shoulder, patting him on the back.

"Come on, it's okay, just relax," she tried in her most soothing voice. After a few more bounces, he burped, getting spit-up all over her shoulder. That seemed to calm him down. His mother, on the other hand, started laughing at herself as soon as the shock wore off. "David, come get your son for a minute,"

"Why?" he asked, taking the baby from her arms gently; "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just got him to burp and he spit up all over my shoulder, I need to go change my shirt,"

"Maybe you should have used a burp rag," it was playful sarcasm.

"You know what, David?" she replied with a smile and an equal amount of sarcasm; "Shut up,"

"I'm feeling the love here, guys," Emma joked, pulling various items out of plastic bags. Party plates, napkins, utensils, cups... "Where are the banners?" she wasn't really asking either of them. Snow wasn't even in the room, and David wouldn't know either. She was talking to herself. "Oh, here,"

"Emma, you can relax. The guests aren't gonna be showing up until six,"

Snow emerged from the bedroom with a different shirt on. "Okay, what did I miss?"

"I found the banners,"

"Neal made a spit bubble,"

"Oh, he did?!"

"Yes," he didn't seriously expect her to react that way. "Why don't I spend some time with Neal, and you two can get the decorating done?"

"That sounds like the best idea," she turned to her daughter, who was looking at her right then only by chance; "He's a terrible decorator,"

He didn't respond to that, he just sat down with the baby and began playing with him.

"What should we write?" the question came from Snow as they shuffled spray paint cans around.

"I was hoping you'd have an idea," she answered, situating a cloth under the banner and grabbing the stencils with clumsy, rushed hands. Mary-Margaret reached over and grabbed them as they fell. "I, uh, I...don't know,"

David looked up. "Henry the Hero,"

Emma and Mary-Margaret looked at each other tentatively, then to David, who was blissfully unaware of their hesitant confusion while he played with Neal. After a few seconds, they found themselves looking at each other again.

"...what do you think, Emma?" the tone of the question indicated her acceptance.

Eventually, she nodded. "Yeah. That's...that should be fine," she was worried that it might come off a little too childish for him, but she also had to remember that this was the kid who told her that Snow White and Prince Charming were her parents. They took the stencils and traced out large letters, then cautiously sprayed within the lines, inevitably getting droplets of paint in places they weren't supposed to be. Hopefully, no one but them would notice.

"Okay," Emma didn't want to take a pause. "The presents. We have to get everything wrapped,"

Snow nodded, and stood up to go retrieve said gifts, but was quickly distracted with her baby. She just had to go give him a kiss, which quickly led to her playing with his feet and making faces at him. Emma gave a lopsided, half-hearted grin as she watched.

-

"You don't want to go anywhere for our honeymoon?" Belle asked Rumple as she searched through the closets for something reasonable to wear.

"Well, sure," he answered, relaxing himself against the headboard of the bed. "We could go to Storybrooke, Maine. Or, if you're feeling really adventurous...Storybrooke, Maine," so far, no one was willing to test the town-line boundary. They had no memory elixir to retrieve their memories.

"I've heard Storybrooke, Maine, has lovely weather this time of year," she pulled out a shirt, finally, the speech and shift in motion leading on that she wasn't breathing normally. Rumplestiltskin narrowed his gaze at her, but said nothing.

"We could go to the next city," he mentioned; "I'll fumble around like a blibbering idiot with no memories at all, and you can take me to a bar,"

She smirked, pulling out a pair of pants. This, evidently, required another deep breath. "Aren't you going to get dressed, Rumple? We're supposed to meet Emma at Granny's in twenty minutes,"

"I suppose I should put pants on before going out in polite company," he agreed, looking down at the big shirt he was wearing crookedly on his body. "It's a good thing we won't be in polite company,"

"Hoh!" she half-laughed, half-exclaimed, buttoning the last button on her shirt. "Rumple!"

He gave her a soft grunt and got up, leaning heavily on his cane. The air was tense with unspoken words, but neither relented to say what exactly they weren't saying. The tension may have been preferable; either that, or there was just no point in discussion. Nevertheless, they both changed.

"Come on, we'd better go," he heard barely a hint of self-consciousnes in her voice, though her hair still gave way to frizz in spite of (or maybe, because of) the brushing and any other girl would demand at least the next few minutes to put their make-up on. Although his face hadn't changed much in the course of he conversation, and he hadn't said anything telling, she gripped his hand and told him; "Stop sulking, Rumple,"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

She didn't use words to respond. She used a facial expression, a hard yet humored smirk, as if to say 'don't even try that.' There were moments when it seemed that he wasn't even wearing his skin around her, when she could see straight into his inner workings. It wasn't what he would consider 'often,' but it was certainly more often than other people could. "Really, Rumple," she finally used words. "You're worse than a woman, someti-" Belle didn't finish what she was saying. She stopped herself there and put her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, that was such a stupid thing to say right now- you know what I-"

"Yes, I know what you meant," he left his tone and expression neutral, purposely inflecting his voice with a hint of frustration to see how she'd react. While she was shaking her head at herself, he couldn't stop the smile of amusement creeping up on his face.

After a moment, she couldn't help but laugh at it. "Alright, alright," they made way down the stairs. Belle kept her mouth shut this time until she knew exactly what she was going to say. "Anyways, what I was going to say..." out the door; "it's fine. Okay? I won't...take it personally,"

"Thanks for that," it was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic.

She sighed and rested her head against the window with a coy grin. Weren't men supposed to be brutally honest and confused when women keep secrets? ...did that make her the man in this relationship? "You don't have to hide anything from me, you know,"

"Yes, I know," dogs didn't have to smell each other's butts, but it was in their nature.

"...okay," she conceded, grabbing his right hand with her left, although his was on the steering wheel.

The "closed" sign was up on Granny's door when they got there, but they opened the door anyway.

"Thank god you're here," Emma was on top of a ladder, trying to fasten the banner correctly on the ceiling.

"Relax Emma," David was on another ladder; "we've almost got it,"

"'Henry the Hero,' how cute!" Belle was pretty excited by that.

"There," David announced; "looks like we've got it. How's it look from down there?"

Rumplestiltskin's pause was most likely to come up with some smart-ass response to that. Belle, on the other hand, just answered;

"It looks just fine. What's that cooking?"

"Ruby's trying her hand at making a pizza for Henry," Emma answered, turning her head slightly. She tentatively stepped down.

"Is there something we can help with?"

"Honestly?"

"...yes,"

"Yeah, there's plenty you can help with," she looked relieved; "The dishes aren't done yet, the presents still need to be situated, and...and I need help getting the cake out of the car," she looked back to find Charming, and saw that he was now pre-occupied with helping Mary-Margaret keep him from getting too fussy. They were muttering to each other about what the problem would be, but she was too frazzled to hone in and pay attention. "Belle, can you-"

"Of course," she looked to Rumple, who seemed content to just stand there over his cane and scowl. "Why don't you start on the dishes, Rumple?" it was clearly not a question.

He chuckled almost menacingly and shifted the weight on his legs. "Shouldn't I be the one telling you to take care of menial task work?"

Her back was to him as she was already walking out the door, but the comment made her pause and turn to face him. Again, she didn't respond verbally, she just gave him a mischevious sort of expression. With that, the two of them were out. It seemed, for a moment, that Rumplestiltskin wasn't going to move. No one tried to make him- in fact, they hadn't even acknowledged his presence- but he looked out the door, scoffed, and limped into the kitchen without saying a thing.

It seemed the baby was intent on fussing. David had to stop about then so he could move the ladders out.

"What time is it, David?"

He checked his watch. "Five-thirty,"

Snow sighed, desperately trying to get her son to calm down. After another couple minutes, she bent over and laid him down in the car seat. "I just can't do this, Neal," she said, her mouth turning up slightly. "Come on, what's the matter?" nothing seemed to work. She sat back on the seat.

Within a few minutes, the baby had fallen asleep. His mother looked over at him and tried to keep herself from laughing.

"Well, I guess that was the problem," she said; then, she lowered her head into her arms and closed her eyes.

-

After Henry and Regina went to the movies, the two of them had somehow ended up back at her house, playing together on a two-player videogame.

"How do I shoot?"

"Press the 'X' button," a pause, and then he laughed. "Mom, that was me! You shot me!"

"Sorry!"

"It's okay, it doesn't do anything,"

They clicked around fervently on the remotes. A look of glee came across Henry's face. "We did it! We did it! We got him!"

Regina still had no idea what the goal of this game was supposed to be (or, for that matter, why it took so much effort to kill these characters), but it sure made Henry happy- and that was the only thing that mattered.

"You wanna...pause the game and go get something to eat?"

"Yeah, just let me save it," he clicked around on the controller. Regina nodded. It took an inordinately long time for the game to save, but once it had, he took the game out and put it in the case. "Now, we can get back to it later,"

She was surprised by this statement; a happy surprise that brought a real, genuine smile to her face. "Later?"

"Yeah, later," he nodded casually, as though he hadn't just made the sun rise after a year of darkness. To her, it meant that he actually wanted to spend time with her beyond today, beyond the time that Emma shoved him off to go spend the day with her so they could put the party together. "Oh, uhh, by the way..." he slipped his feet into untied shoes; "would it be alright if I stayed over tonight?"

"Henry- of course it would!" she knew he was a twelve-year-old boy, and that he probably didn't want to get all touchy-feely with his mother, but she couldn't resist at least giving him a hug. He didn't resist, although he wasn't expecting it. Once his shock dissolved, he returned the gesture.

"I thought you'd say that. I'll call and ask...'Emma...' after dinner," it was strange to call her by her first name after calling her 'mom' for a year; he was going to need to figure out a way to differentiate the two of them.

"That's-that's- wonderful!" she still hadn't let go of him. All he did was laugh, his chest rising and falling against her ribcage.

"Well, it has been a year since I've seen you. I mean, I didn't know, but I'm sure 'I' missed you,"

She didn't say anything, because she was sure that if she did right then, he would hear the wavering in her voice and it would give her away. The sniffeling did, though, and she buried her face in his head.

"Aww, mom, come on..." he knew she wanted to keep her arms around him, so he didn't pull away yet; "I didn't mean to make you cry,"

Regina laughed. "I can't help it. I thought I would never see you again," she held her sob down so she could still be comprehensible.

He let them both stay like that for a few more minutes, until she started pulling away. She ruffled his hair. "Alright," the mayor composed herself. "I'm sorry,"

"Don't be," he grabbed her hand. "It's fine," then let go. "Let's go get dinner now,"

She nodded and walked out the door, one arm wrapped around her son's shoulders.

-

Snow was still dozing at the table. It was Granny who approached her, cautiously shaking her shoulder. She jerked and shook her head.

"Pardon me, but we thought you might want to get Neal out of here while the foghorns are going off,"

She smiled dizzily and grabbed the car seat, fumbling out the back exit. David, noticing her awkward gait, came up beside her and offered some stability.

"You definitely need to get some rest tonight," he said softly. "Tell you what- I'll stay up on baby-duty and you get some sleep,"

"But you have to work tomorrow,"

"So? You need to get some rest," he sat down beside her on a path of sidewalk. "I won't take 'no' for an answer," David took charge of the carseat. "Starting now. Get back inside and enjoy the party- if you can walk," she rolled her eyes and huffed a little, then stood up.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Just needed a minute,"

Right then, from inside the diner, there came a blaring sound- the sound of a foghorn going off. "Go on!" David chuckled, making an ushering motion with his hand. Mary-Margaret considered for a moment, then relented and ran inside just as everyone was shouting "Surprise!"

Henry was both surprised and delighted. "It-it's not my birthday,"

It was right about then that Snow realized David was supposed to make a speech, and halted. Everyone was looking around. Ruby approached her with an inquisitive look on her face, holding a microphone attached to some speakers that were hooked up specifically for this. "Here, I got this," the girl let her take it. "Ahem," she cleared her throat and got their attention. In the blink of an eye, the royal princess took over; she relaxed her shoulders and raised her head. "Ladies and gentlemen," they jerked to see her, both because someone was talking and because that voice was not the one they were expecting to hear; "we are gathered here on this wonderful day to celebrate Henry- without whom this momentous occasion would not be possible," Regina clutched his shoulders. Emma stood beside her, but didn't interfere. "Henry," she looked directly at him; "the people of Storybrooke know there is no possible way we can ever show you the gratitude we owe to you, but please accept this celebration in your honor as a token of our thanks,"

The whole room- which was pretty crowded- clapped and cheered. Henry was now even more shocked and delighted than when they first walked in; he had on a full-mouthed grin. "W-Wow! Really, guys?! That's-that's-" he faltered.

Snow gracefully handed the microphone to Ruby, and Regina bent down to her son's head as she gave him a hug from behind. "You're our hero, Henry,"

"Hah-" the grin turned into a laugh, as the pre-teen boy no longer knew how to express exactly what he felt. "I don't..." it seemed like everyone's attention was on him. "I don't know what to say...thanks guys,"

"No, Henry," Emma looked down at him; "thank you,"

There was another small roar of clapping and cheering. Again, he was out of words. Regina, seeming inclined to help him out, let go of her grip and guided him to a booth to sit down. Emma set a large, round, silver stand on the table; Ruby disappeared behind a door into the kitchen, and came back out with a waitressing tray.

"I decided to try my hand at making a...'New York' pizza, the way you like it,"

His face lit up. "R-Really?!"

"Yeah, I put on all your favorites..."

"Should be just the way he likes it," Emma joked, sliding in beside Regina (who did her best not to react) and sitting down. "It's delicious, cheesy, and doesn't lie,"

No one understood the reference aside from Henry and Rumple, but it did serve to make the boy laugh again. Ruby, sensing that this was an inside joke, set the pizza down on the tray and handed the pizza cutter to Henry.

"I wasn't sure what you'd want to drink with the pizza- do you want soda or hot chocolate?"

Henry chuckled. "I'd like a soda with my pizza, thanks. Maybe Dr. Pepper?"

"We have plenty, I'll be right back," with that, she scattered to the back. Henry started cutting the pizza eagerly. Right then, Sister Astrid finally started making her way around with all the dishes on a cart, passing them out to all the dinner guests. Henry seemed surprised to see that she was here, since he didn't really know her that well. Ruby came back out with his drink and served him.

"Is there anything else I can get you?"

"No,"

"If there's anything else you need, call me,"

With that, she left to get the pizzas for all the other tables. Belle, realizing there was nothing else going on for her right then, followed her. Emma took the pizza cutter and cut slices for both herself and Regina, who responded with pleasant surprise.

"Thank you, Emma,"

Henry smiled while he was chewing, obviously happy to see his two mothers getting along.

"You're welcome,"

"Mm- hey," he struggled to swallow.

"Chew, honey," they both reminded him in unison.

"Whatever it is, it can wait," Emma said.

He went ahead and paused to finish the bite he had in his mouth. "Emma," even she seemed disoriented to be referred to by her first name with him; "I was wondering if I could spend the night at Regina's tonight- sorry, I just don't know what else to call you when you're both here,"

"It's alright, Henry," Regina was the one who answered.

Emma nodded without hesitation. "Yeah, I think that's only fair. I got the last year with you, and tonight is your night, anyways,"

"I thought you'd say that," he grinned; "Thanks!"

Some of the noise died down to a low muttering that encompassed every table. Dinner dishes clanked together from time to time. Snow took a slice of pizza to David outside and enjoyed it there with him, rather than bringing the child in and risking waking him.

"Your speech was wonderful," he complimented her. She smiled sardonically, but the expression quickly softened.

"Thank you. I just wish there was something more we could do for Henry- he's done so much for us,"

He nodded in agreement.

"When you go back inside, tell Red this pizza is delicious. I almost don't believe it was her first time making a 'New York-style' pizza,"

Mary-Margaret picked some of the banana peppers off her pizza. They had all been made to suit Henry's tastes, which consisted of pepperoni, bacon, and banana peppers. The peppers weren't really her cup of tea. David, on the other hand, wasn't picky at all. She handed him a glass of Pepsi. They were about halfway through when Granny opened the door and looked out at them.

There was a pause as each of them tried to decide what to do. Finally, Snow asked; "Is something wrong?"

With that, the diner's owner noticed that there was a sleeping infant and pieced together what was going on in her head. "Just wanted to tell you to make sure you bring your dishes back in,"

Both nodded. "Of course, no problem,"

She left them alone, then.

"Is Henry enjoying himself?"

"Yes, very much," Mary-Margaret glanced at her sleeping infant. "Maybe we should have gotten a baby-sitter,"

"And miss the exciting time I'm having with Neal? Don't think of it!" he was clearly joking, and it made her smile again. She covered her face, trying to make sure her mouth didn't open.

Back inside, Ruby was waiting on the last table before she could sit down. That table happened to belong to Rumplestiltskin, who was sitting alone and couldn't look less interested if he tried.

"I wouldn't expect to see you here," she said, and he opened his eyes. He didn't respond, at least not verbally.

The only thing he said was "Thank you" as she set the pizza down on the stand and placed a glass of Pepsi in front of him. He appeared to want to be left alone, so Red left him to it. By the time she got back into the kitchen, the last pizza had been taken out, as had the last glasses, and Belle was nowhere to be found. Confused, she leaned back out the door to see if she could find the girl, and did within a few seconds. She had taken the pizza and drinks over to a table already. Ruby smiled to herself, wiped down the waitressing tray, and made way for the food.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked jokingly, taking a seat anyways.

"Yes, I'm waiting for someone," it took her a second to realize this answer was also in jest.

She cut herself a slice of pizza and took a drink of soda. "I figured you'd want to sit with your date,"

"I would," she answered, fondling the pizza with some hesitance; "but I've spent the whole last two days with him and I think it's time for some different company. And I haven't seen you in a while,"

"You don't think he'll-"

"Get mad? Be upset? Nah," she paused to take a drink of her iced tea; "Even if he does, it can't possibly be worse than the mood he's in right now,"

"He doesn't seem much different to me, to be honest. ...you just bite it," she explained, holding up her slice of pizza; "like this,"

Belle got the hang of it quickly. She responded with instantaneous excitement. Once she swallowed, she said; "Now I know why Henry likes this so much!"

Ruby grinned and giggled slightly. "So, how's the honeymoon going? Should I assume there's been...turbulence?"

"There's always turbulence with Rumple," she turned around, gauging the distance between her mouth and his ears. He was quite a ways back. "But the honeymoon is going fine,"

"...should I ask?"

Belle considered the question. "Yeah, you can,"

"Well, then, what's the problem?"

In another booth at the diner, Sister Astrid looked out at the guests, the empty cart still beside her. In another few minutes, she decided, she'd go pick up the dirty dishes. Leroy was sitting at the booth directly behind her. Without turning around, he said;

"Are you still involved with the convent?"

She was startled by his voice, so much so that she jumped and missed the question without having to think hard to remember it. Her first response was "Dreamy!" and she immediately turned around in her seat to see him. "Uh, well, I'm still working with the Sisters,"

Blue, who was sitting with her at the table, tensed up at the conversation.

"Do you like it?" he added; "Being a nun,"

"Ah...it's alright," it felt almost perfectly natural, since she'd been a nun for so long. It was clear he was trying to find something to talk about, though, so she filled in. "How have you been?"

Before he could answer, Blue intervened. "Perhaps now would be a good time for you to start gathering the dishes, Nova,"

"Oh, okay," she was uneasy. Leroy, not wanting to end the conversation in spite of Mother Superior's indignance, said;

"I'll help you,"

"Oh, really? Thank you," as usual, she was sincerely grateful. It must have been unusual for someone to offer her help. He got up from his seat and placed his glass and plate on the tray.

"I wouldn't expect to see you here, Leroy," Blue told him with her tone of cold professionalism.

"Henry did help me get my memories back, too, you know,"

Neither of them said anymore, but Nova sensed their tension and, of course, became a bit nervous. As she started picking up the dishes, she dropped a plate- fortunately not breaking it. Grumpy came to her aide and grabbed it.

"Here. I got it,"

The low muttering kept going with the clanking of dishes. A few people asked Nova for refills, which she willingly fetched as soon as it was requested, slowing her down a little- but it wasn't like she was being timed. Henry had both of his mothers laughing and Mary Margaret chatted with David about Emma and Neal being siblings. As far as everyone was concerned, everything was right with the world. Within a few moments, Snow came back in, balancing all the dishes they had been using. Sister Astrid had already taken the others into the kitchen, so she took them back herself.

"Knock, knock," although she said it softly, she still startled the girl. "I brought in my dishes. Sorry," her eyes drifted over to a familiar dwarf, and she smiled. "Grumpy- glad you came, I didn't-"

"Expect to see me here?" he interjected with a grin. "Here, I'll take that for you," there were very few people he'd offer to help so willingly. She responded with an overly-sincere smile.

"Thank you," she let him take her dishes. "And, thank you for helping out Sister Astrid with the dishes. That was very kind of you,"

She left before he could come up with anything to say, taking the cake slicer with her.

"You...don't think it has anything to do with you?" Ruby was empathetically concerned. Belle just shrugged and relaxed in the seat, satisfied with the amount she'd eaten, drinking her re-fill of iced tea.

"With Rumple, I sort of have to understand what's my problem and what isn't," her eyes briefly drifted towards Snow. "I mean...he's...he's been through a lot, lately. Maybe we just need to slow things down and...that was the way he said it,"

Mary-Margaret's voice cut through the noise in the diner as she approached Henry; "Come on, Henry!" she held the cake slicer out; "You have to cut the cake!"

"There's cake?" he clearly didn't notice the thing on his way in. That was hard to believe, since it was pretty big- it had to be enough to feed everyone in the room. Without hesitating, Henry got up, took the slicer, and made way for said cake. Sister Astrid rushed about, trying to make sure the dessert dishes made it to the tables. "What kind is it?"

"It's chocolate cake with vanilla-cinnamon frosting. Your mom thought you'd like it,"

"Which one?"

"Both of them," Henry laughed. "Now, time to cut the first slice. You'll be serving everyone, so be careful,"

He nodded. Snow waved for everyone; "Come up and get your cake!"

And everyone did. Henry got the hang of things after a while and started asking them how big of a piece they wanted, since not everyone was a fan of this particular combination, nor did they necessarily want a large piece.

"You're a natural, Henry," Snow told him, again putting on her "royal queen" attitude. "I'm pleased,"

When everyone was finally served, he took a piece for himself and rejoined the table he came from. Ruby, unexpectedly, came over to him with a mug of hot chocolate, complete with cinnamon sprinkles.

"I thought you might like this with your cake,"

"Thanks!" he smiled and nodded. Granny came behind, spooning ice cream onto everyone's plates.

Everyone eagerly enjoyed their desserts. The diner was significantly quieter. Even Henry had lost some of his energy. As the dishes clanked together and Nova made rounds to pick them up once more, Snow reminded everyone that it was time for gifts by handing the mayor the microphone from earlier. Regina stood up and took the microphone from her non-forcibly.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," she spoke cordially. "As you all know, we are here to celebrate our hero Henry," the whole room cheered. "Henry, at first I wasn't sure what to get you as a gift, but I've come up with something I think you'll enjoy," everyone in the room turned to her with interest. Their skepticism, while not completely erased, was placed on the back burner for now. "As Mayor of this town, I declare that this day- June 17th- shall become a regional holiday in recognition of Henry's bravery,"

It was about the hundredth time that night that the boy was left ecstatic but speechless. Regina handed the microphone back to Mary-Margaret.

"Don't expect free food every year," Granny jabbed in good fun. A few laughed.

David, having been told by Snow that the gifts were being opened, cautiously entered. Neal seemed to be coming out of sleep, but wasn't quite awake yet; most of them noticed this and stayed quiet. He picked up a rectangular box and handed it to Henry.

"What is it?"

"Snow put wrapping paper on it so you could open it and find what's inside,"

Henry grinned and opened it. "Oh! Oh-cool! A real sword! My very first real sword!"

David nodded. "About the only thing you can do with it right now is hang it on your wall, but I thought it would be a nice surprise,"

"It is! It is!" he hugged his grandfather; "Thank you!"

He was, unfortunately, so loud he awakened Neal, who was not happy about this disruption. David hurried back outside with him.

Emma handed him her own gift. It was a game of darts. "I figured," she explained; "it would make good target practice,"

"Target practice? For what?"

"For this," Snow set another long box down in front of him. Opening it, it was a package of arrows. The next item was completely unwrapped, as it was quite difficult to wrap an archery bow. His face lit up yet again.

"This-this is great, guys!"

Regina and Emma were both quietly displeased with the idea of their son learning to fight with those things, but David had made the very real point to them that no one could guarentee Henry's complete and total safety. He would be a lot better off if he learned to.

The next one to come around was Blue. She offered the box to him. When he opened it, he found a watch. "This watch is made from a charm that's been blessed with good fortune. It used to be a necklace, but we thought you'd like this better. Here," she motioned for him to stick out his hand and put it on him. "Fortune favors the bold. So long as you are kind and brave, luck will be on your side,"

The gifts went on. Belle grabbed a box from the wrapped stack and handed it to him. She didn't say anything, but she certainly looked uneasy about it. Once he opened it, he saw that it was a book. On the cover was written "Mythology: Fairytales of Ancient People."

"The only thing I knew you really liked is that book, so I got you this one,"

"I love it," he set it down and scooted over to give her a hug. It was intended to calm her and show his appreciation, though it was a little awkward.

"Rumple, did you get him anything?"

"Check the book," he answered. Given the context, it almost seemed that he was referring to being in on the gift Belle got him, but he pointed his finger towards the counter. They turned their heads to find the "Once Upon a Time" book. Regina, being the closest to it, picked it up and handed it over to her son. Curiously, he opened it, and found his own story on the pages that followed Emma's past-altered story- pages that hadn't been there before- detailing how he was the only one who could make the savior believe in herself.

"I-I'm in here?!"

"It's about time," Emma commented.

"Did you write me in, Mr. Gold?"

Rumplestiltskin took a bit of a pause, disguising the fact that he needed a moment to think of a response with a deep breath, and then said; "Those pages only appear to tell stories about heros, Henry,"

"So...the book wrote me in?!" the question was more rhetorical than anything.

"Don't sound so surprised," Snow told him. "Heros come in many forms. Sometimes, the hero is the person who steals his teacher's credit card to trek across the country and find the one person who can help," a few of them, including Henry, laughed at that one.

Regina, however, realized that this wasn't a direct answer from the town gold-spinner. She was relatively certain that he didn't have the power to add more to the book, but typically, the stories would show up in their places immediately as the actions were taking place. Besides that, they only reflected the events that took place in the Enchanted Forest. There weren't any stories of Storybrooke here except for that one. Yet, those pages were authentic. She approached the booth right next to Henry's, which was where his paternal grandfather sat, and placed both arms on the table.

"Well-played, Gold,"

"What exactly are you referring to, Madame Mayor?" he said the last part with a heavy deal of sarcasm, though it would be hard to tell, since his sarcastic voice wasn't much different from his regular voice.

"Oh, I think you know,"

"...perhaps I do,"

And that was the end of it.

Belle turned towards him; "What was that about?"

"Nothing important, I'm sure,"

"Oh, um," Emma reached for a box she'd stashed under the table. "Killian couldn't make it tonight, but he wanted me to give you this from him,"

"He got me a gift?"

She nodded. When he gave it to her, he told her he didn't think he should go, but that he thought it was the right thing to do to get the boy a gift- so he did. Henry opened it eagerly. Inside was a fishing pole and a bait-and-tackle box Hook put together himself. "He says he wants to take you out fishing and get you used to the sea,"

"Cool!"

"Was that all the presents?" Mary-Margaret looked around. The stack of presents had pretty well disappeared. "Okay. Then we just have one more thing we'd like to do. Come here, Henry," she picked up his first real sword from the table and motioned for Emma and Regina. The made their way out of the crowd, and the crowd allowed it. "Henry, we need you to get down- kneel, with one knee," she instructed.

Regina turned to face the others. "No, it's not a proposal,"

"Don't move, okay?" Emma told him; he nodded. Both of his mothers grabbed the hilt of the sword in addition to Snow.

"Henry," his grandmother took care of most of the talking; "do you hereby swear to defend anyone in need, to speak the truth and the full truth, to remain loyal to those whom you love, to conduct yourself with bravery and honor, to behave prudently and keep yourself protected whenever this does not conflict with your other vows," Regina glanced at her, clearly disapproving of this clause; "to not let your fear determine your behavior, and to tell us of your grand adventures whenever you happen upon them?"

His face may break from the big smile across his face as she spoke. "I do!" he answered enthusiastically.

"Then, it is hereby acknowledged," she raised her head to look at the crowd; "that Henry has become a knight, and is worthy of the title 'Sir,'"

They gently pulled the sword back, careful not to nick him. In excitement, he practically flung himself up and became the starter of a group hug; Snow was careful with only one arm, since she was the one left holding the sword.

"We've been planning this for weeks," Regina told him, squeezing him tightly.

"Yeah. Actually, it was Regina's idea," evidently, a year away from Henry did a lot to show her how much she appreciated him.

"Aren't knighting ceremonies supposed to be comemorated with some sort of games?" Belle asked.

"Yes," Snow answered; "but we didn't have the armor, and his horse is in the shop,"

She grinned as she realized it was a joke.

"Now, for the fun part," Emma sighed, looking around the room. "Clean-up,"

Regina took Henry back to her house for the night. Dr. Hopper (who had been among the guests for the night) stayed behind among the rest to help clean up. It wasn't as bad as they thought with so many of them there.

"So, what else are you guys planning to do on your 'honeymoon?'" Ruby asked, making airquotes around the word.

"There isn't a whole lot planned. Just spending time together, really," she answered. "He closed his shop down for a few days and some of the volunteers are helping out at the library,"

Emma cut the cake down for those who really liked it and wanted to take it home. Snow came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. "Here, let me help you,"

"Thanks, but I think I've got it,"

Nevertheless, she insisted on giving her daughter the much unneeded- but still appreciated- help. They ended up taking the most of it home, but with everyone who had attended, there wasn't that much left. Blue and Nova (and, to Blue's distaste, Leroy) took care of the dishes. Jiminy helped clean up the bars and counters.

Finally, Granny said; "Well, I guess that's about it. This place looks just about good enough to open tomorrow morning," she opened the door; "David, you can come in now. The cleaning's done,"

He chuckled and grabbed the car seat. Baby Neal was resting against his shoulder, so he tried not to jostle him around too much as he came in. The sun had set by now- it was already passed 9:00pm.

"Bring me my baby!" Mary-Margaret demanded at low volume.

"He isn't sleeping," said David, handing him over. "He wanted to be held,"

"I'm sure he needs to eat, too,"

"Nah, I gave him a bottle," just as he spoke, the motion of being situated on his mother's shoulder made him burp. Her face went completely deadpan as he got spit-up all over the back of this shirt, too.

"You just can't keep doing that, Neal,"

"Are you guys ready to go?"

"Yeah," Emma grabbed their helping of the cake and some left-over pizza. Ruby, noticing that she was having trouble balancing them, came to her aide.

"Here," she smiled. "We have some 'to-go' containers in the back, you know. I'll go get them,"

"Yeah," Emma nodded; "Thanks,"

David grabbed his pen and check book, and started writing on a piece of paper. "How much would cover it?"

"It's my gift to Henry," Widow Lucas brushed her hand through the air as if pushing the idea away. "It's about time someone showed that boy some appreciation,"

"Thanks," David put the check book back in his pocket, noting from her tone that she probably wouldn't be willing to do this again. "Have a good night,"

"Good night. Now, go home," she said it lightly enough that he wondered if she was joking. Ruby looked to Belle.

"Have a good night,"

She leaned over and wrapped her arm around Rumple's. "We will,"

They disbanded on that note.

"Hey, Emma," Mary-Margaret situated Neal in the vehicle; "since you have to drop us off, anyways, why don't you just spend the night?"

"Do you have room?"

She nodded. "We keep Neal's crib in our room, so the spare room is still set up for you...if you want," she got in beside her infant son, leaving David in the passenger seat up front. As Emma started the car, she grabbed her arm. "I've really missed having you around,"

Hesitantly, the blonde nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, okay,"

The car ride on the way home put Neal back to sleep. It was nearly ten at that time. David took him to bed immediately, and Snow walked with Emma to the spare room.

"We haven't had much time to remodel since we've been back," she said, sitting down on the bed and eagerly patting the space of mattress beside her.

"Don't you want to sleep?" her daughter asked, sitting beside her.

"I will, but right now I want to spend time with you,"

"...alright. Um..." conversations were a lot less strained before they realized they were family.

Mary-Margaret came to her aide. "You know what? I've been reading Neal bedtime stories every night. Well, except tonight," a strike of realization crossed her face. "Hey, here's an idea, why don't I read you one?"

"..." Emma was stunned at the suggestion. "I'm...I'm an adult,"

"Is there an age at which people stop enjoying bedtime stories? In fact..." she bent over so that her arms could reach the spot just under the bed. "You read them yourself, don't you?"

The book she pulled out was her Winnie the Pooh book. "How did you know about that?"

"Is it that strange to keep your favorite book under the bed?"

She didn't even ask why a grown adult woman owned, and frequently read, Winnie the Pooh stories. There was no judgment at all.

"Winnie the Pooh, huh? I don't know this one. I'm sure I'll love it. Okay, now, lay down,"

Emma was hesitant to do so, and it showed on her face.

"It's okay. Just get comfortable,"

Eventually, she relented, though she didn't completely relax. She sat with her upper body propped up on the headboard. Mary-Margaret didn't push her, she just opened to the first page.

"...In a little house deep in the Hundred-Acre Wood, a very round bear named Winnie the Pooh was doing his slimming exercises. He was breathing deeply when, all of a sudden, he felt his tummy rumble..." she smiled at the pages as she read; "'Oh my,' said Pooh," the blonde couldn't conceal the grin that came when she gave him a different voice; "'This up-and-downing is making me hungry...ahaha, I love 'Winnie the Pooh' already!"

As the book went on, Emma couldn't help herself. She relaxed on the bed and watched as her mother got involved with the story she was telling. Pretty soon, she'd fallen asleep.