A/N – This is my remake of the story 'You Might Find You'll Like It' which was my own story. I hope people gives this story the chance it deserves, and people respond better to it than that of the last version. There are some big differences in this story, but it is still a Swan Queen Babysitter story. This story is written from Emma's point of view at all times. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think.
It had been a really long year. Everything just decided to happen at once. Neal deciding to leave me. Leave Henry. Mom and Dad choosing to give the company to me. Henry reacting badly to Neal walking out on us. It just felt like the whole world was against me right now. Like everything was out to get me. And I just couldn't handle it. I was so glad I had the help of my friends. Without them, I think I might have already crumbled and died a slow and painful death. Ow, what the fuck?
"Are you even listening to me?" Henry had come storming into the living room, complaining about something new, like he did every other ten minutes. This time I just wasn't in the mood, so I zoned out.
"I might not be listening, but that is no reason to kick me in the shin, kid."
"Don't call me that. I'm ten now. You can't keep treating me like a little kid." He was starting to scream, and as always, I screamed back, and it turns into one big screaming match, of who can scream the loudest.
"I'll stop treating you like a kid, when you stop acting like one. Until then, deal with it. This is my house and you will-"
"Actually Mom this is Dads house. But you kicked him out. So I think seeing as how this is his house, I'll act by his rules. But wait, he doesn't have any. Looks like I can do what I want." I jumped up from couch, and looked him square in the eye. Now when I was screaming, he knew I was mad, angry and just generally irritated with him. It was when I got quiet he needed to start worrying.
"Don't you dare, use your Dads leaving us as a reason to try and get back at me. And you know very well, that he left on his own accord. I never kicked him anywhere. As much as I may have wanted to, I never did anything to push him out that door." He never looked away, and neither did I.
"You did everything you could to push him out the door." His voice was quiet and broken. I could see the tears beginning to swell up in his eyes. I knew he missed his Dad, but there was nothing I could do about it. He turned away from me, picked up his coat and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Anywhere you're not." He slammed the door behind him, and I was alone once more. I slumped down into the couch, and just started to cry. Everything just made me cry lately. I couldn't control Henry. I didn't have a clue what to do with the company. I am twenty-nine. How the fuck was I meant to know how to run my own company? There was a knock at the door which made me jump out of my skin. Henry has his own key. And I wasn't expecting anyone round today. I wiped my tears away, and straightened myself out. I stopped just before opening the door, trying to gather my thoughts. I took a calming breath and slowly opened the door. And I was so happy to see who was standing on the other side of it. Her blue eyes, were hard to miss.
"Belle." I let out a breath I didn't even realise I was holding.
"What did you do this time?" My eyes shot wide open at the accusation.
"What are you talking about?"
"I passed Henry on his way out of the house. He did not look happy Emma. So come on, what happened?" I stood aside to let Belle into the house. I was going have to tell someone, and I knew Ruby would gossip about it, so it was safer to tell these things to Belle. We went to the kitchen, and Belle took up a stool at the counter. I got the coffee machine ready and turned back to explain the situation to Belle.
"We got into another argument again."
"Well I could have told you that." I glared over at her, and didn't even bother trying to hide the growl that escaped me. "Sorry. So what was it about this time?"
"The same as always. Neal." I turned back around, and poured two cups of coffee. I passed Belle hers and leant against the surface she was sat at. "I just don't know what to say to him. He thinks I pushed Neal out the door. But he left on his own. I woke up one morning and just found that damn note on the dresser. I just can't keep living this lie anymore. Tell Henry I will always love him. And no matter what I say to him, he doesn't believe me. I even showed him the shitty note."
"Language Emma."
"Not the time Belle." She dipped her head, and I continued to explain. "We just can't even have a normal conversation anymore. And to top it all off, my babysitter for Henry, Tink?" Belle nodded to say she knew who I was referring to. "Yeah, she has up and left. She ran away with some pirate boy. She left me a voicemail, saying something like she was going to sail the seven seas, or something like that. So now I have no babysitter, a child that hates me, and a company that is crumbling in my hands. Honestly could things get any worse?" I dropped my head into my palms trying to push back the tears that were threatening me once more.
"Yes actually. You could be losing your home, or you could…" I split my fingers to look through at Belle. "Oh, it was rhetorical wasn't it?" I nodded slowly, and made the movement as clear as possible just to emphasise the point. I leant back and stood back up straight. Just as I was about to continue speaking there was another knock at the door.
"I seem to be popular today." I left Belle in the kitchen and went to answer the door. Those long brown locks, combined with the wide toothy grin could only be coming from one person. "Ruby!"
"Emma!" We dove into each other for a tight embrace that was long overdue. "Long time no see stranger."
"You're telling me. What are you doing here?" We broke apart but before she could answer we both turned to the kitchen where we heard a ruckus coming from. We saw Belle, lying flat on her back with the chair fallen to the floor. She must have fallen off the chair.
"Hi Belle." Ruby had stepped inside slightly to get a look at what had happened.
"Hi Ruby." Belle gave her a small wave from the floor, and quickly tried to pick herself up. It wasn't the most graceful thing to watch, so I decided not to. As she was doing so I was trying to think of why she might have fallen off the chair, and then I registered the fact that from where she was sitting she couldn't get a good look at Ruby. Belle had been crushing on Ruby for god only knows how long, but had never done anything about it.
"Please come in Ruby." She stepped inside fully and made her way to the kitchen where Belle was straightening out her clothes.
"I can't stay for long. I am only on my lunch break. God I hate working Saturdays. You guys are lucky. Belle, you only work weekdays, and Emma you run your own company so you get to choose when you want to go in. I on the other hand, get stuck working all week and Saturday, and I still get asked to work over time during the week. And then the boss never pays me for it. I swear to god, my boss hates me or something." Ruby took the seat next to Belle, and I could see so easily that Belle became very tense. One of these days, that girl is going to buck up the courage to ask Ruby out.
"So why don't you just quit. Or just say no to the extra time, if he doesn't pay you for it." I know Belle wasn't going to say anything, so I might as well ask her something.
"Have you ever tried to say no to Mr Gold? It is like writing your own death wish." I set Ruby's cup of coffee down for her. She took a quick sip before continuing. "No thank you. I am more than happy to just complain to you guys." She turned to Belle and smiled. Belle returned the smile, but it was more of a squiggle across her lips. She needed to get some serious confidence. "So what's new with you guys?" Belle looked over at me. I knew if I didn't saying anything then she would. At least about this particular topic.
"I had another argument with Henry." I deadpanned. Ruby had been with me through it from the start so she knew all the issues I was having with Henry about Neal.
"Neal again?"
"Yeah. But, don't worry, he is just going through a phase, and I just need to let him sort things out on his own." The room went silent for a second, before something else popped into my head. "Also, I now have no babysitter for Henry. Tink…left." Ruby didn't quite understand the whole situation, but she wasn't going to bother asking.
"So what are you going to do?"
"Well, you wouldn't be able to look after him occasionally would you?" I scrunched up my face as I asked the question. I knew it was a long shot, but I figured it wasn't going to hurt to ask her, right? Ruby looked shocked that I even thought to ask her.
"Are you kidding? Considering the extra time I am putting in, and the only time you ever really go out, is if it is with myself, Belle or Blue, which isn't very often since she spends all her time helping people and doing all this charity work. So sorry, I can't be your babysitter." I slumped into the counter behind me, and tried to think of someone else. "But I might know someone that would be willing to do it." My ears perked up at hearing the small glimmer of hope that Ruby was holding in front of me.
"Really? Who?" I was almost bursting with excitement.
"Well, it's a woman I work with. Her name is Regina. She loves kids from what she has told me. She doesn't work nearly as many hours as I do. And she seems like a reasonably responsible person. She is only about twenty-two, twenty-three. I could ask her if you want."
"Yes. Please." I was leaning over the counter Ruby was resting on. Nearly entering her personal space. I hadn't gone out for a while. Tink had been busy before leaving, which meant I couldn't get out the house. And I didn't like to leave Henry alone for the nights. He might think he is already an adult, but he still has the fears of a child.
"Okay. No problem. Shall I give her your number if she says she is up to doing it?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Cool." She downed the rest of her coffee, and hopped off the stool. "And on that note, I had better get back to work. If I am late, Mr Gold completely bites my head off. So I shall see you lovely ladies around, and I will ask Regina and see if she wants to help you out."
"Great. Thanks Ruby." She started heading for the door, and I just stayed in the kitchen with Belle.
"Bye Ruby." Belle finally spoke once more. She said all of four words to Ruby while she was here.
"Bye guys. See you later." She was gone in an instant. I turned back to Belle. I looked at her like she was some sort of idiot.
"What?!" She raised her hands in defence, and I straightened myself up, and tried to do my best impression of her. And over the years, I had gotten pretty good at it.
"Hi Ruby. Bye Ruby." I returned back to normal, and leant back into the counter glaring at Belle. "You know one of these days, you are going to have to tell her how you feel."
"No. I can just admire her from a distance," She slumped onto the counter. "And act like a goofball when we're near." She dropped her head against the counter, and just stayed there. I moved around the counter and patted her on the back. I pulled her up off the counter and looked her dead in the eye.
"Love is never easy. And when you finally have it, it gets even worse. Just try talking to her. She doesn't bite. And unless I am blind, I think she actually kind of likes you. But you talk so little around her, she probably thinks you don't like her or something." Belle gasped at the realisation of her actions.
"I think you're right. I keep pushing her away, and I don't even realise I am doing it." I checked the time and saw it was almost one. I needed to go into the office, I hadn't been in since Thursday, and I hate to think of what might be happening at the moment.
"Belle, I need to go into the office. Are you gonna be alright? You're not going to have a meltdown if I send you back home are you?" Now she was looking at me like I was the idiot. "Had to ask." I went round the house and grabbed all my stuff for work. I probably could have done with changing clothes, but I didn't have the energy or the patience to do that right now. My clothes were clean, and that was good enough for me. So I pushed Belle through the door, and locked the door behind me. Good thing Henry does have his own key. I just needed to try and work on one chaos at a time. And right now, Henry wasn't the one that needed looking at. And as bad as that sounded in my head, it was the truth. He was so desperate to prove he is a grown up. And if I tell him otherwise, it will just spur him on to try and prove it even more. It is sometimes just better to leave him to his own devices, and wait for him to call for help.
A/N – Okay so that is the start to the new story. I hope people like it, and that it gets a good response from everyone. I would prefer it if people were to not make any comments about the old story, I would rather we just let that go now. That being said, I would just like to thank the people that PM me, and said that they liked the last story. And to make it clear to all, I did speak with Chrmdpoet about the stories issues, and apologised for any problems it may have caused them. Anyway, please comment and review what you thought, and I hope to post again soon. Goodbye my lovelies.
