Snow unpacked her last box in her vast Victorian home, placing the last glasses into the kitchen cabinet. She didn't have much to bring from her small apartment. Charming gave his house to Abigail and Frederick, and came with very little as well. Luckily their new home was fairly well furnished: Rumplestiltskin offered them the house next door to his with a protection spell around it — for his normally hefty rent, of course. Snow knew the real purpose was to keep an eye on them — and convince them to be his allies.
Emma had not been gung ho about her family having anything to do with Rumplestiltskin. In fact, she wanted out of Storybrooke altogether, especially now that magic was back. But Henry was adamant that they stay.
"Just for two weeks," he pleaded, just as he had done to get her to stay originally. "Your parents are here. Haven't you always dreamed of meeting them? Haven't you always wondered what they look like and why they left you?"
She rolled her eyes at his sentimentality. "Kid, my name's Emma, not Little Orphan Annie." But she fingered the talisman around her neck as if it were Annie's gold locket. And in the end, she reluctantly agreed to stay.
She and Henry moved into Snow and Charming's house: three generations under one roof. Henry took the big front bedroom on the second floor and Emma relegated herself to the third-floor attic.
Emma was having trouble adjusting to life with parents. Henry was in seventh heaven. Snow White was his grandmother and Prince Charming was his grandfather — and they spoiled him like grandparents should. But in Emma's eyes, they were acting like his parents — and she was the one left out. She didn't know how to approach them and they didn't know how to approach her. They were her age — her peers, not her parents. Henry was trying to help, but in the end, she found herself reverting to a sullen teenager, escaping to her third-floor hideaway when situations became too uncomfortable.
Snow stepped off the step stool and folded the box she had just emptied. She watched her daughter and grandson eating Cheerios while her husband read the newspaper at the kitchen table.
"Emma and Henry," she diplomatically began, "I wanted you two to know that we're having a few couples over for dinner tonight — the ruling families of kingdoms adjacent to ours — to discuss next steps now that magic is in Storybrooke."
"Why those people specifically?" Emma asked with her mouth full of Cheerios.
Charming folded his newspaper down so he could see his daughter. "With the curse broken, we should have been transported back," he explained. "And for some reason we weren't. We need to discuss next steps — plan for how we can get back and what we will do once that happens."
"It's only good for all kingdoms if we have camaraderie," Snow added, desperate for Emma understand her motives. "Tonight we meet with the ruling families, tomorrow we go to the convent to see the fairies, and tomorrow night we reunite with the dwarves."
"Cool!" Henry noted with enthusiasm.
But Emma was skeptical. "Ah, so this is the first move in a political strategy," she surmised, shrugging. "No big deal. I can make myself scarce. With magic in town, it seems like I'm always working 24/7 anyway."
Snow frowned. "Oh Emma, no. Please come. You're always welcome at our table."
"But I'm not a ..." She paused. She meant to say that she was not a member of a ruling family, but she indeed was. She changed her tactic. "… part of a couple."
"You're Henry's mother. You and he are a couple of people we sure care about," Snow offered.
Emma raised her eyebrow. Snow understood her message and looked down at her hands. Charming poured himself a glass of orange juice.
"Fine," Snow sighed with resignation. Then in an attempt to connect, she looked at her daughter teasingly. "You can be Rumplestiltskin's date."
"Ew!" Henry responded.
Charming choked on his juice and pointed at Emma. "Hey, no daughter of mine is ever going to have anything to do with HIM romantically! Don't even joke about that, Snow."
Emma folded her arms and teetered on the back legs of her chair, uncomfortable at Charming's protectiveness.
Snow laughed and kissed her husband tenderly. "Dating is the last thing on Rumplestiltskin's mind right now, I'm sure."
"He did care about it at one time," Charming mentioned offhand. "He had a True Love, but she died."
Emma sat forward and the chair plopped to all four legs.
"How do you know that?" Henry asked.
Charming's eyes twinkled. "He told me."
Snow looked at her husband skeptically. "When did you two find time to confide in each other?"
Charming swirled his orange juice in his glass and looked thoughtful. "You women have slumber parties. We men have sword fights."
Henry shook his head and sighed. He sometimes didn't understand adults. He tried to steer the conversation back to the dinner party. "So Rumplestiltskin is coming. Who else?"
Snow counted the couples on her fingers. "Ella and Thomas, Ariel and Eric, and Aurora and Phillip."
"Ella — as in Cinderella?" Emma scratched her head. "Isn't that Ashley — the one who made a deal with Rumplestiltskin and then reneged?"
Snow nodded.
Emma scoffed. "Yeah, like that's not going to be awkward."
"We are all adults," Snow stated. "I'm sure it will be fine."
At six o'clock on the dot, the first guests, Aurora and Phillip, arrived. They were an elegant handsome couple in their late 40s, early 50s.
"Aurora and Phillip," Charming greeted. "So nice to see you." He offered Phillip his hand. "How are you doing?"
But Phillip looked perturbed. "We can't leave the house without running into some young man who comments on my wife's fabulous cougar exploits. That's how I'm doing."
Aurora rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you? It was the Curse! I didn't know you existed. Are we really going there again? Haven't we talked this topic to death?"
Phillip grumbled, "I would have thought so too, except the men keep coming out of the woodwork."
Aurora sighed in exasperation and turned to Snow and Charming. "He is exaggerating. Hello Charming, and Snow, darling," she kissed both on their cheeks. "How are you doing? Hopefully better than I am."
"Oh, hanging in there," Snow smiled.
Phillip kissed Snow on the cheek and then eyed Charming. Charming knew what he was nonverbally asking.
"Hey, don't look at me," Charming defended, putting his hands in the air. He led the group into the living room. "I was in a coma. And married to someone else. And I was faithful. Well, until I met Snow…"
The awkwardness worsened as Charming's voice trailed off and they sat down. Thankfully the doorbell rang again to distract them. Snow and Charming stood.
"I'll get it," Emma offered, sprinting down the stairs. "Please — let me — spend time with your guests." She offered Aurora and Phillip her hand and they both shook it. "Hi, I'm Emma. Snow and Charming's …" the next word caught in her throat, " … daughter."
"Yes, our Savior," Phillip noted with a slight smile.
"It's so nice to meet you," Aurora beamed.
Emma nodded and smiled in return as she walked to the front door. She opened it only to find a redhead standing next to Dr. Whale. Her jaw dropped at the implication.
"Oh God, you have got to be kidding me. YOU are Prince Eric?" Emma asked aghast.
Emma turned to her mother, who looked equally uncomfortable standing behind her daughter.
"Something wrong?" Charming asked, stepping forward to greet his guests and offering Eric his hand to shake.
"No," Snow responded softly, patting her husband's arm. "I'll … tell you another time," she whispered. She smiled as she greeted her friends. "Come in, come in." Then she hastily retreated to the kitchen.
Aurora stood and adjusted her dress. She tried to look as dignified as possible, but as Eric approached, she looked at the floor. "Hello, Eric," she mumbled.
"Aurora," he nodded and mumbled in return, barely able to glance at her.
Phillip noticed the interaction and raised his hands in the air. "Oh gods, not him too!"
"Eric," Ariel asked in confusion, "what's going on?"
Eric rubbed the back of his neck and shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably. "I'm just thinking that maybe we shouldn't have come."
"Why?" Ariel asked.
"Emma!" Snow called from the kitchen. As much as Emma wanted to stick around to hear Eric's explanation, she reluctantly retreated to the kitchen.
Henry was sitting at the kitchen table. Snow was taking the roast out of the oven and needed Emma's assistance.
When they placed the roast on the carving board, Emma couldn't help cracking a smile. "Well, I guess this explains why he wanted to watch Splash on his Betamax before sex, doesn't it," she snickered.
"What?" Henry asked incredulously.
"Emma!" Snow chided her daughter.
"Nothing, Henry," Emma replied singsong, trying not to laugh. "Something adult that you're grandmother told me that you weren't supposed to hear."
Snow glared at her and grabbed the carving knife.
"Hey, if we don't laugh, Regina wins," Emma defended, grimacing at the thought of angering her mother when the woman held such a sharp instrument.
"I'm glad someone finds this funny," Snow noted as she harshly started carving. "Then you can be the court jester tonight. Alleviate this tension."
Emma grinned. "Happy to help."
The doorbell rang again. Snow glared at her daughter and Emma understood what her mother was trying to tell her.
"Yes, I'll answer it. And I'll behave," she promised.
Emma answered the door for Ella and Thomas. Rumplestiltskin walked up the path as they entered and Emma held the door for him.
"Sorry we're late – our babysitter Grace was late," Ella explained. She and Thomas greeted everyone warmly, but eyed Rumplestiltskin suspiciously as she nodded at him.
"Hello," they grumbled.
He nodded back at them. "Hello."
Aurora and Phillip were oblivious to the interaction because Phillip was glaring at Thomas.
"Stop giving him that look, Phillip," Aurora chided. "I did NOT sleep with Thomas. Tell him, Thomas."
Thomas looked completely befuddled.
Emma shook her head and exhaled slowly. Oh, this party was getting interesting. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Henry exiting the kitchen to enter the living room. She stopped him in the doorway.
"Henry, go introduce yourself and distract them. But after that, you and I are going to eat in the kitchen."
"Why?"
"Because I suspect copious amounts of alcohol are about to be consumed."
Henry looked at his mother in confusion.
Emma stepped forward and tested her theory. "Who wants a drink?" she asked.
Everyone replied in the affirmative in various different ways at once.
Emma smiled, finding her purpose for the evening: bartender. She began taking drink orders and tried to be jovial and cordial to put everyone at ease. As she mixed the drinks, Henry diffused the tension by talking about himself and the things he was doing at school.
As Emma returned with the cocktails and the guests started settling into the living room, the doorbell rang yet again. However, instead of distracting everyone positively, everyone froze in fear. The only movement occurred as their eyes darted to each other nervously.
Everybody who had been invited was here. Who could that be?
"It can't be …?" Ariel began in panic.
"She would not be able to even make it to the front door," Rumplestiltskin answered confidently.
"Unless she found a way to," Ella offered, glaring at Rumplestiltskin suspiciously.
Rumplestiltskin glared right back in offense. One could say whatever one wanted about him as a man, but one did not insult his magic.
Snow finally popped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. "Charming, you aren't going to get that?"
Charming stepped forward. "Snow, wait …"
But it was too late. Snow opened the front door. The guests inhaled sharply in anticipation.