A really short fluffy Charming family fluff piece. Alternate ending for 03x17. This is a Hook-free story. Birthday present for leighann415!
"So, how was your magic lesson with Regina?" David asked his daughter from the floor in his apartment. He was still trying to get the crib up. Mary Margaret and Henry were with Regina in the kitchen, talking and laughing. Emma had watched them for a moment, unable to grasp it all. They were a family; all of them. Henry may not remember it (and she still wasn't sure she wanted him to), but the familiarity between them could not be denied. Emma sat down next to her father, among the still unassembled pieces for the crib.
"Educational." Emma replied and David gave her a long look. She couldn't tell him what Regina had done to teach her. "I bet Henry would tell me the same about his driving lesson." She added to change the subject. The boyish grin on her father's face was a novelty. What he'd done for Henry tonight gave her an inkling of what he would have been like had she grown up with her parents. He probably would have taught her all kinds of mischief. In those moments Emma felt a now familiar tug at her heart. Her baby brother or sister would get to experience all of this. She stared down at the pieces of wood. Strangely enough, her father needed her help with this.
"Who built my crib?" She asked as she put two more pieces together. They fit perfectly. David sat still for a moment before he picked up two pieces himself.
"Gepetto – I mean Marco did. It was hand crafted. Not like this thing."
"Why didn't you let him do this one, too?"
"I wanted to do this – and do it with you. I know this isn't easy for you." Emma felt David's eyes on her and deliberately looked away. Putting the crib together was much easier than dealing with the pieces that were her family.
"I always wanted a brother or a sister." Just not like that, she added mentally. The only other time she'd almost had a sibling her foster parents gave her up. She had never talked about this with her parents and she wasn't about to start now. She saw the guilt in their eyes every day. As much as they both wanted another child, they still mourned Emma's childhood.
"Thank you for your help." David's hand gently touched her back, which gave Emma all the reassurance she could have asked for in that moment. Despite having spent the year apart, she understood her parents better now. She, too, had conflicting memories in her mind that newly defined who she was. Emma knew that all the pictures, all the feelings of having raised Henry weren't real. They were like a dream etched into her heart and mind. Real or fictional, they constantly reminded her what it meant to be a parent.
"I never built one of these either. But I used to have furniture from IKEA." In one of her lives anyway.
"IKEA?"
"Never mind. You know there's an easier way to do this." Emma said looking over at Mary Margaret, Regina and Henry. The three were trying to cook something and they were failing. Emma could see as much. But at least it gave her and David some privacy. Her idea made her feel giddy. "I've got a reckless, carefree fun side," David had said earlier with that grin. Now he had to prove it.
"Like what?" He was intrigued and put down the pieces he'd been holding.
"Magic." Emma almost whispered. She suddenly saw herself with David in the Enchanted Forest. She was about four or five and holding a sparing sword. It was still too big for her tiny frame, but she loved it. In her fantasy, her father had been teaching her in her room – against her mother's clear instructions not to use it inside. Of course neither had listened and of course they'd broken a vase. Emma wielded her arms with confidence (because she didn't know any other way) and repaired the vase with just her thoughts. A small secret between father and daughter, shared with a grin.
The fantasy burst like a bubble when Emma heard Henry laugh in the back.
"Are you ok?" David asked with concern in his voice. Emma nodded. She concentrated on the present and not on some fictional dream that had never had been – and never would be.
"Yes. So what do you say? Wanna be fun and reckless again?" Emma couldn't help grinning at him. At first he looked surprised, startled almost. Then he grinned, too.
"What if your mother sees – or Henry." Emma looked over at them. Her fingertips tingled in anticipation. How easy it could be… but he was right. She couldn't risk Henry seeing her use magic.
"I have an idea." David suddenly said. He reached for Emma's hand and pulled her back up. Together they walked over to the kitchen. Henry turned to his mother and the disgusted look on his face told her everything she needed to know. She tried not to laugh.
"I honestly don't know what went wrong," Regina said. "I told you we should have made lasagna."
"I thought we could have dinner at Granny's." David said and Emma realized this was part of his so called 'plan'.
"Yes!" Henry said. Some things never changed, Emma thought. Mary Margaret sighed and threw the remainders of what they'd tried to cook for dinner into the trash. David helped her into her coat and whispered something in her ear. She nodded, looked at Emma and smiled.
"So Henry, how about you tell us about your driving lesson again?" Mary Margaret put her hand on the boy's back and gently ushered him out the door. Henry hardly noticed that his mother wasn't following, because he was too busy telling in his story. His voice hitched and she listened to the strange sound as the three of them left until she couldn't hear it anymore.
"Now come on, let's get this crib together before they miss us." Emma nodded. She gazed at David, who looked at her encouragingly. The use of magic was still so new, the feeling raw. But she understood it so much better now. She'd never tried it without force or without Regina there to help her. Breathing deeply, she envisioned the crib and what it was supposed to look like. Instead of using fear or hate, she chose love. Her hands tingled again as she felt the power drip from them. The pieces danced before them like little dolls and assembled themselves perfectly. In the end it took less than a minute before the crib stood before them.
"Wow." David said and strangely enough, Emma felt a sense of pride. And exhaustion. Regina should have warned her about that.
"It was just some magic."
"Just some magic," David huffed, "be careful with that." Emma rolled her eyes and to her surprise it made David laugh.
"You let my son drive a car and tell me to be careful." She said with a grin on her face. They both put on their coats and left to follow the others to the diner.
"It's what fathers do." David told her gently. "I'll always worry about you. That won't change no matter how old you are. Or how many siblings you'll have." Emma startled for a moment. She could make peace with one more addition to the family, but several?
"I know, dad." Despite her almost ironic use, David felt tears of joy prick his eyes. He linked his arm with Emma's; something he knew she was comfortable with. This moment, he decided, didn't need any other words.
THE END