Hey everyone, I am taking part in 12 Days of Charming Family Christmas (started by the amazing loboselinaistrash). This is my Christmas mini-fic, switching it up from last year where I just wrote a one shot. I am re-using the basic curse plotline from a story I deleted a little while back. This will probably only be about 3 chapters. I hope you all enjoy.

This is based off a prompt submitted to me by loboselinaistrash: Charming Family and hospital visits.

Emma would rather be found outside getting dirty and playing wooden swords with her daddy. She pitched a fit any time she had to get dressed up for anything. Emma was quick to learn to crawl and walk. She had the entire kingdom wrapped around her little finger at only 4-years-old, despite not being what would be considered a typical princess. Snow and David wouldn't have her any other way.

Though sometimes, Snow had to get creative to get her into a dress. That was especially clear on her 8th birthday. Emma was putting up a bit of a fit over her dress, wearing a white dress with a blue ribbon around the waist.

"Emma, it's just one day," Snow tried to bargain. She rarely made Emma wear a dress, normally she had suits made for her, however the one she had planned hadn't panned through. Emma had said it was fine until the actual night of.

"No, Mommy!" She whined. "I don't want to wear it!"

David entered the room just as Emma was dressed. None of his girls noticed his presence, so he coughed a bit. Both turned around, Emma beaming at her daddy merely being there, though Snow was grinning at how handsome he looked in his new suit.

"Now, where could my little girls be?" David asked.

"Right here, Daddy!" Emma said.

David shook his head. "I don't think so. My daughter is itty bitty, she's not this big."

"I am!" She argued. "I'm 8!"

"You are? I thought you were 2!"

She giggled, suddenly forgetting all about her dress. "Silly Daddy."

"Well, is not-so-silly little girl ready for her party?"

Emma nodded, running out of the room. Snow and David linked arms, following close behind her. It wasn't long before the ball was in full swing. Regina made her way over to her step-granddaughter once she arrived.

"GiGi!" Emma said, excitedly. Regina wasn't too much older than Snow and didn't feel like she was old enough to be a grandma quite yet.

"Hello lovely," Regina said, cupping her face.

"I don't like my dress." She made a face.

Regina chuckled. "Of course you don't."

"Don't hog my goddaughter," Red said as she made her way over, swooping her into a big hug, showering her face with kisses.

Snow and David watched on with a big smile. They were truly blessed over how loved their daughter was. Both sets of their parents had long passed on, but Emma didn't lack for family. Outside Regina and Red, there were the dwarves and Granny. Even Ella and Thomas had become like surrogate aunt and uncle, their daughter, Alexandra was very close with the her. Yes, they felt very blessed.

Suddenly, there was a chill throughout the air. Snow was going to ignore it, until she saw a cloud of green smoke. In the center of the room stood someone they hadn't seen in quite some time.

"Zelena," Regina seethed.

"Sorry I'm late," she said with a smirk. Her skin was green as the grass growing outside, her usual broom in hand.

"Leave, now!" David demanded, drawing his sword from his belt, causing Emma to curl into him. She didn't like the scary lady. She had been fortunate enough to never meet her. Zelena had been banished after Snow and David fought to get their kingdom back.

Zelena merely let out a tsk. "Now, now, is that any way to talk to a guest?"

She stepped closer to the royal couple. Regina went to throw a fireball at her sister, but was frozen in place. Zelena reached out to stroke Emma's cheek, but Snow protectively stepped in front of her.

"So innocent, so pure," Zelena purred.

"You touch my daughter, I will end you," Snow told her, her voice firm.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to harm a hair on her little head," she replied, condescendingly. "I have just come to give the little one a gift."

"We don't want anything from you."

"That's too bad," Zelena's eyes filled with fury as she looked around at the packed ballroom. She could see the fear written all over Emma's face as they cowered into her parents. "My gift to you is a curse, one that will make you all pay for banishing me."

From her spot, still frozen, Regina gulped. "No. You can't…you've been working with Rumple."

"One of us had to, sis." She smirked. "You were too weak to go through with it, but me…" She let out an evil laugh. "Well, Mother is going to be quite proud of me."

"You won't hurt our family or any of our kingdom for that matter," David told her, his eyes narrowing.

"There's not a thing you can do about it, Prince Charming," Zelena taunted. "The curse is coming whether you like it or not. So, I'd cuddle that precious angel a little tighter, because soon, you'll have lost that luxury."

David threw his sword in her direction, ready to end her, but she disappeared before it could even graze her. He and Snow looked from each other and down at the little girl in their arms. What the hell was going on?

After Zelena had left, everyone attempted to get back to the festivities to distract Emma, but the mood was definitely different. She had been tucked in bed early, but knew that Regina was still there, waiting to talk with her parents. She didn't want to miss a word of it, so she pressed her ear to the other side of her father's office door, listening to the conversation going on.

"What exactly is this curse?" Snow asked Regina.

"It's to send all of us to a faraway land, in another world. It's a place where our lives are merely stories," she explained.

"What does that even mean?" David asked.

"It's hard to explain."

"Well how do we stop it?"

"We can't."

"You said she was working with Rumpelstiltskin, he's locked in our dungeon," Snow pointed out. "Doesn't that mean that she can't cast it?"

"She was his prodigy, I'm sure he's taught her everything he knows."

"Well, how does the curse get enacted?"

"She has to crush the heart of the one she loves the most, which may buy us some time. I'm not sure that Zelena loves anyone," Regina replied, lowering herself into a chair. "The thing about this curse is, we wouldn't remember who we were, we'd have new identities and all."

"All curses can be broken," David said. "Look at the infertility one that George placed on Snow. We were able to break it with the water from that lake."

"This curse is a bit more complicated. We'd need a savior."

"Well, who's the savior?"

Regina sighed. "That I wouldn't know."

Snow and David exchanged a look, lacing their fingers together.

"We won't let her hurt our daughter, our kingdom," Snow said, firmly. "We'll do what we can to stop it."

David nodded. He wasn't sure how they were going to do it, but they'd figure something out, somehow. Together, they walked to the door to see Regina out. On the other side of the door, they found Emma standing there, clutching her blanket.

Snow raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing up?" She asked.

Regina partially smiled. "I can see myself out, good evening." She descended the staircase, ready to head back to her own castle to game plan.

David and Snow lead their daughter back up to the nursery, tucking them into her bed once again. Snow sat on one side of Emma, David sitting on the other.

"What have we told you about eavesdropping?" Snow asked.

"Not to do it," Emma mumbled.

"Exactly."

"Is that mean lady coming back?"

David sighed, wrapping an arm around her. "No, sweetie. Never again."

"What's a curse?"

"It's just…it's not something we have to worry about."

"GiGi can't fix it, though. She said so," Emma pointed out. "And GiGi can fix everything." She had always fascinated with her step-grandmother's magic, she thought she had the answers to everything, much like she did with her parents.

"Listen," Snow said, rubbing her back. "We're going to fix this. We'll always be a family."

"Even if we ever were separated, we'll always find each other," David promised them, kissing the top of Emma's head. "That's what we do in this family."

Snow nodded. "We love you more than anything in this world. We won't let a thing happen to you."

Emma gnawed on her bottom lip. "Promise?"

"Promise."

They gave her a soft kiss to her forehead and began to sign a lullaby.

Blacks and bays, dapples and greys,
Go to sleepy you little baby,

Way down yonder, down in the meadow,
There's a poor wee little lamby.
The bees and the butterflies pickin' at its eyes

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby,
When you wake, you shall have,
All the pretty little horses.

hey didn't have as much time as they thought they did. For just a mere two days later, Regina realized that the mirror she had once used to force her mother into Wonderland had been stolen. She scoured the kingdom for it, before she came about an old farm cottage. Inside, she found a cauldron, bubbling. Beside it was…her mother.

"Mother," she whispered. "How are you here?"

"That's what I would like to know," Cora replied, an eyebrow raised. "I thought you banished me to Wonderland."

"I did," Regina looked around for a minute until she saw that all too familiar broom. She gulped after a moment. "Zelena."

"How do you know who that is?"

"She returned years ago, Mother." Regina couldn't even meet her eye. She would never forgive Cora for all she had done to her over the years. To top it all off, she had ruined Zelena's life as well, causing her to become so screwed up.

Zelena suddenly appeared in her trademark cloud of green smoke. "Well, well, well, isn't this a lovely family reunion," she said, smiling from Regina to Cora.

"Zelena," Cora breathed. "You turned out so beautiful."

"Flattery will get you zero."

"Why are you doing this, Zelena?" Regina asked. "She's dangerous."

"Oh, she can't harm me. I made sure of it." She stepped closer to her mom, staring down at her. "You see, ever since I found out what you did to me, I had to wonder why. Didn't you love me? How couldn't you?"

"Of course I love you," Cora tried to say. She was putting on a good front, but Regina was beginning to wonder if, for the first time, her mother was afraid.

"That doesn't matter. What does…is that I do you. All children love their mommies. And since I don't have anyone else in my life…"

Regina caught onto just what Zelena was doing. She hated Cora and had pictured doing the very same thing many times over in her life, but had refrained. Despite how awful she was, she was still her mother.

"Zelena, don't!"

Regina was once again frozen before she could do anything. Zelena picked up a box, smirking from it to Cora.

"I found your most prized possession, Mother," she told her. She flipped it open and removed the beating heart, the one Cora had taken out all those years ago. "Rumple told me what you once said and you were right: love is weakness."

The heart glowed and pulsed in her chest. She held it over the cauldron and focused on it, her lip trembling as she crushed it, causing Cora to go limp in her chair. The cauldron bubbled over and Zelena grinned over at Regina, who looked pain stricken.

"Toodles, sis," Zelena said, flicking her wrist and disappearing.

There was nothing Regina could do. She stared at her mother, becoming the curse's first victim.

Back at the palace, Snow looked out the window and in the distance, she could see the looming green clouds taking over everything. One by one, she could see the people she once knew disappearing as it touched. She quickly ran to where Emma played with her father. David met her eyes and they had one of their silent eye conversations. He quickly grabbed hold of Emma and Snow clutched his hand. Emma held her baby blanket tightly to her chest.

hat are you doing, Mommy?" Emma asked.

"We're going to play a game," Snow improvised. "We're going to run, as fast as we can, to the carriages outside, alright?"

Emma nodded and clung tightly to her dad's shirt. There was no time to say "I love you" or even continue to hold hands. They had to try to outrun the curse, protect their daughter. They had failed their kingdom, they wouldn't do the same with her.

As they got outside, Snow hopped into the carriage, holding Emma close on her lap. David wasn't far behind, until suddenly Zelena appeared. Snow was about to go after her, when the horse unexpectedly took off. Snow screamed and held on tight to Emma, who was now sobbing.

"Mommy! Daddy's over there!"

"I know, angel, I know, we'll find them," she shouted over the loud clomping of the horseshoes. Before she could say anything more, they were engulfed by the curse.

David watched the carriage take off, his heart hanging heavy in his chest. His girls were gone, but at least they were together. He drew his sword, pointing it towards Zelena.

He carefully drew his sword. "Emma is with Snow, we're going to beat this."

"That's what you think," she told him. With a flick of the wrist, she sent him flying against a tree. He let out a moan on impact before falling out of consciousness.

A green cloud of smoke over took the two, a sick smile on Zelena's face.

Long gone was the shepherd turned prince who had to adjust to a grand castle. No more was the husband of Snow White and the father of a little girl. He was no longer the hopeful man he had been.

In his place was David Nolan. The son of a wealthy business man, who had passed on his company to his son. David had been married to Kathryn in this universe, as far as he knew, she had died in childbirth with their daughter. He lived alone in a beach front mansion in a small town in Maine. 36 years of fake memories had replaced the real ones. He wore stuffy suits and only really smiled for business purposes

When he woke up for the first time in Storybrooke, he was laying in his king-sized bed. He was wearing Yankees pajama pants and a white t-shirt, his hair a tangled a mess. He had just lived through a terrible nightmare, reliving the night he lost his wife and child. They had been stolen from him and there was no way of ever getting them back. Running his fingers through his hair, he let out a long sigh.

"It was just a dream," he muttered, before slipping back to sleep.

In another part of town, laid the former princess, Snow White. Except in this new land, she wasn't her, her name was Mary Margaret Blanchard. Her long curls had disappeared and she had a pixie cut. Any signs that her body had once bared a child, from the stretchmarks to the tiny bits of baby weight that never went away, had disappeared. Unlike her husband, she wasn't living in a mansion. Instead, she slept in the small loft that hung above the orphanage that she ran with the help of a few others.

She could hear the rain falling outside as her eyes flickered open. Nearby, she could hear Jefferson snoring. A man that she had once considered a friend, now just a fellow employee. Both had their child ripped from them in this new curse. However, unlike David, she was closer to her daughter, just not in the way she'd like.

Mary Margaret tied her robe around her waist and headed down the stairs. The twin beds were arranged in neat rows, all the children soundly sleeping. 36 years of fake memories were on her brain. She was a woman who had lost any family she had, one who couldn't have any children of her own. So, she had taken a job at the orphanage to help find families for the orphans. Just as Jefferson would find himself moved to Grace and Robin had a close bond with Roland, Mary Margaret found herself checking on Emma.

The young child laid in her bed, curled up in a ball. In her arms was what she believed to be the only thing left of her parents, a baby blanket with her name on it. As far as she knew, her parents had dropped her off at the orphanage in the middle of the night, never to return. Mary Margaret had been the one to find her on the doorstep and taken her in. She was the closest thing she had to a mother.

Emma woke up a bit when she felt someone looking down at her. She blinked a few times. "Mary Margaret? Is it morning' time?"

"Not yet, sweetheart," Mary Margaret whispered. "Go back to sleep. Tomorrow will be a brighter day."

Emma nodded and let out a yawn before drifting off to sleep. Mary Margaret frowned, wondering how no one could want such a sweet little angel.

2 Years Later

Emma stood outside, her legs planted firmly apart with her baseball glove in hand. She looked behind Roland, to her best friend Grace, who winked at her.

"Throw the ball," Roland complained with a small whine.

"I'll throw it when I'm damn good and ready."

"I'm gonna tell Mary Margaret and Jefferson that you cursed," he threatened.

"And I'll tell them that it was you that stole Jefferson's wallet last weekend," she countered.

Emma was honestly just bluffing. She found herself having a soft spot for Roland, along with all the older kids in the orphanage. They were all in the same spot, less likely to be adopted the older that they got. Well, Emma didn't really have that problem. It was just that the people that wanted to adopt her, weren't the families she wanted. She wanted one person to be her mother, it just didn't seem to be possible.

Roland rolled his eyes and adjusted his hold on the bat. Emma threw the ball, which he missed. Grace giggled, holding it up in the air.

"Strike three!" She announced. "You're out!"

"Aw man," Roland mumbled, stomping off.

"Who's next?" Emma asked, looking over at the other children that were lined up to bat.

Suddenly, a window above them could be heard opening, followed by Mary Margaret's voice. "Emma! What are you doing playing out in the dirt? I told you we have that meeting today!"

"We're kicking the boys, butts, Mary Margaret!" Emma tried to explain.

Mary Margaret shook her head, taking in the little girl's dirty overalls and messy hair. "Come on! We're gonna be late!"

"Five more minutes!"

She was fixed with a look, one that made her let out a long sigh and toss her glove over to Grace.

"Guess I'll be back later," she said dramatically.

"Hey, good luck," one of the other kids called out.

"She doesn't want to be adopted, dummy," Grace told them, folding her arms over her chest. She knew just how Emma felt. She wanted Jefferson to adopt her, but that didn't seem to be happening.

"I don't know why you two are so stubborn about that."

"Mind your own beeswax," Emma told him, heading back into the orphanage.

A borrowed pair of clean jeans and a quick brush through her tangled hair later, Emma was sitting in the passenger seat of Mary Margaret's station wagon. She kept glancing from the older woman to the road.

"I don't want to do this," she mumbled.

"I heard that the Spencers are very nice people," Mary Margaret said.

"Why can't you just adopt me?" Emma said, looking up at her with narrowed eyes.

Mary Margaret sighed, focusing her glance on the road. She would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it. Actually, she had done more than just "think". She'd gone to the head of social services in their town, Sidney Glass, and done all but begged to adopt Emma. She loved her, she had been looking after her for so many years. However, Mr. Glass, was heavily influenced by the town's mayor, Zelena Greene who hated Mary Margaret for a reason she never understood. She said that given her salary, she could never provide for Emma properly, the same excuse she gave Jefferson when he wanted to adopt Grace. They weren't exactly flowing with cash, but they made enough. It didn't seem to matter, though. Whatever Mayor Greene said, went.

"I already told you, they won't let me," she replied after a few moments of silence. "Plus, you deserve a mother and a father."

"So get a husband."

Mary Margaret laughed, shaking her head. "It's not like buying a car, ya know."

"So you keep saying."

Soon, they pulled up at the Spencer's residence. Emma took it in, sighing. She knew all about Albert Spencer and his wife, who went by the nickname of Blue. They were pretty shady in her book and she was only 10. As she got out of the car, she folded her arms over her chest.

"Come on, the house looks nice," Mary Margaret tried to tell her. Truth was, she had also heard of the Spencer's reputation, but they were well liked by most of the public. Blue and Zelena seemed to get along very well, the latter of which had really been pushing this match. "Just give them a chance, Em, please. You don't want to be an orphan forever."

"I already told you who I want to be my mom."

Emma stomped up the steps of the house, while Mary Margaret let out another sigh. She followed close behind her and rang the bell. The door opened and Emma found two of the coldest people on the other side. They were smiling, but not with their eyes. She looked from them to Mary Margaret, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," Blue said, coolly. "Isn't she just precious."

"Very," Albert agreed. "Come on in, both of you."

Emma had been through a few meetings that she could remember. They all went the same, for the most part. Most of the time, they didn't realize just how old she was and she'd head back to the orphanage. Every time, Mary Margaret would promise her that she would find her a real family one day.

This was different, though. As cold as they seemed, they were also interested. They showed them both a room they had set up for a child. It had about as much personality as they did, but Mary Margaret tried to stay optimistic for Emma's sake.

"What sorts of things do you like to do, Emma?" Blue asked as they settled down at the kitchen table for a snack.

"Baseball, watching T.V, I dunno," she shrugged.

"Baseball?" Albert raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that's appropriate for a girl to be playing."

"I play better than any of the stupid boys at the orphanage," Emma mumbled.

"A proper young lady doesn't mumble," Blue corrected her with a stern look.

Mary Margaret sighed. This wasn't the family for Emma and she knew It. They just had to get through the meeting. She'd talk some sense into Sidney, even he had to see that these two were just off. There was no way she was going to send her there.

The rest of the meeting was just awkward. Emma wasn't saying much, outside the occasional sassy remark. Albert and Blue didn't seem to be that interested anyway.

"Thanks for meeting with…" Mary Margaret tried to say as they walked out, only to get the door slammed in her face.

Emma scoffed as they walked back to the car. "Can we just go back home now?"

"I'm sorry, Em. You know I'm really trying here…"

"Everyone wants the puppy, no one wants a mutt."

"Hey," Mary Margaret knelt in front of her, taking Emma's chin into her hand, "You listen to me, Emma Swan, you are not a mutt. One day, you'll have more family than you know what to do with. I promise."

"I thought you didn't make promises," Emma told her, biting her lip.

"I don't make promises I can't keep. You'll get a family. Here, look. I was going to wait to give this to you, but…"

Mary Margaret reached into her glove compartment and pulled out a book. She had found it at the bookstore where a sullen Lacey French worked. She mostly ran it for her father (when she wasn't getting drunk at the Rabbit Hole). She said the book had just come in and she couldn't help but think it'd be perfect for Emma. She wasn't a princessy type person, but she remembered fairytales helping her when she was young.

"Once Upon A Time?" Emma asked, looking at the cover. "Like fairytales?"

"Yes. I want you to have it, maybe you could read it to the little kids, or yourself." She gave her a soft smile. "Think about the classics, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, what do they all have in common?"

"That they were all stupid damsels in distress that needed a guy to save them?"

Mary Margaret shook her head. "They had hope, even in the darkest of times. All happy endings start with hope, Emma. You just have to believe."

Emma gave her a look. She felt like Mary Margaret had said a lot of crazy stuff over the years, this seemed to take the cake. A part of her wanted to believe, though. She held the book to her chest and shrugged.

"Thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome. Now come on, I think we'll just make lunch. Jefferson arranged for Granny's to cater today, we're having grilled cheese."

That got Emma smiling again as she climbed into the passenger seat, the book not leaving her lap.

Zelena strode up the steps of the Spencer household. She had the misfortune of knowing both George and Blue back in the Enchanted Forest. They could've actually been allies of her, if George wasn't an insufferable man who preferred to work alone and if Blue had actually been up front and honest about her shadiness. Zelena didn't have patience for fake people…or fairies. It only made sense to pair them in the curse and make them both more than willing to work with her.

Except apparently, they didn't want to follow her plan to adopt Emma Swan from the orphanage. It was the next phase of her plan. The girls were getting older, the only ones that actually aged within the curse. In order for her to permanently freeze the town, she needed them to lose all the hope they had inside them. That started with Emma being adopted by ghastly Spencers. Once and for all, Snow White would lose everything that mattered to her. Soon, she would wake her from the curse, allowing her to watch as her husband was miserable and mourning a woman who never existed, while her daughter was being raised by others. There would be nothing she could do and eventually she would end up in asylum.

Albert opened the door, giving her a polite smile. "Madam Mayor, how may I assist you?"

"I heard you and your wife met Emma Swan this weekend," she said. "Yet Sidney said you told him you weren't interested."

"Blue doesn't even want children," Albert explained. "Emma was a stretch. Plus, as I told you, I need a son, an heir."

Zelena rolled her eyes. "Do not be so prehistoric, Albert. A girl can just as well be an heir as a boy, if you train her right. I'm sure with proper redirection, Emma would be an amazing heir. Plus, I could more than make it worth your while."

Albert raised an eyebrow. "Isn't usually the parents who are looking to buy the children?"

"I'm a modern woman. So, do we have a deal or not?"

He sighed, knowing that the mayor was not going to back down. "I'm sure I can talk to Blue. Last we checked though, the paperwork is complicated."

"You leave all that to me, darling. You just convince that wifey of yours that all's that missing in your life is a precious little girl."

Zelena turned around and headed back to her car, driving to the orphanage. She wasn't completely cruel to the children, she always made sure that it had enough money. She had once been an orphan herself and though each of these children actually had cursed parents they were separated from, she didn't want them to suffer. Well, not all of them anyway. She made her way through the crowd of little ones that were playing outside under the aide of Jefferson. He looked away from her, clearly still bitter from the last time he pleaded to adopt Grace.

She made her way inside and found Mary Margaret in the kitchen, cooking. There was something funny to her to watch the former princess now forced to do housework. She put her hands on her hips.

"Miss Blanchard."

Mary Margaret looked up, offering a polite smile to the mayor. "Hello Madam Mayor. How may I help you today?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about Emma." She saw the woman's eyes light up. "It seems that Albert Spencer has had a change of heart. He believes he might actually want to adopt Emma." She could see her face instantly fall at that news. "What is it? I thought the idea behind this orphanage was to find all the children homes."

"I know that and I do want that, for all of them," Mary Margaret tried to clarify. "It's just…I don't think that's best for Emma. Not with the Spencers, I mean."

"Albert is quite wealthy, he can provide for her plenty."

"With all due respect, Madam Mayor," she put down the spoon she was holding. "Money isn't all that a child needs. They need love, stability."

Zelena let out a sigh. "Here we go again."

"Please, at least just consider it," Mary Margaret pleaded. "I did the numbers. I make enough to support Emma and myself. I know it's not a luxurious mansion or anything…"

"Not to mention you are single," Zelena reminded her. "A child needs two parents."

Mary Margaret let out a sigh. "Come on, wouldn't you rather allow her with someone who actually wants her?"

"Miss Blanchard, this conversation is highly inappropriate. I do not like what you are insuating about the Spencers. How do I know that you're not spewing this around Emma?"

"I'm not, I swear…"

"Do I need to move you to an orphanage out of town? Because I will."

"No, no, please, I'm sorry!"

Zelena smirked. This was the one main difference between Snow White and Mary Margaret Blanchard. Snow would've never allowed anyone to speak to her in such a way. Mary Margaret was a shrinking violet and didn't want to step on toes.

"I won't ask you again," Mary Margaret whispered. "Please, just let me keep your job."

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood, Miss Blanchard. Next time, please watch your mouth. Now, I would prepare Emma for probably another visit with the Spencers." She dipped her finger into the bowl of mashed potatoes that the care worker was making and licked it. "Needs more salt."

Mary Margaret let out a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair. What was she supposed to do now? There was no way she could let Emma end up with the Spencers. There had to be another way, any other way.

The door to the kitchen burst open once again and Grace ran through. She let out another sigh. "Grace, dinner will be ready…"

"Mary Margaret, something's wrong with Emma!"

She instantly dropped the spoon and ran into the room with the beds. She found Emma curled up on her bed, pushing away Jefferson who was trying to figure what was wrong. Sitting next to her, she quietly shooed him away to try to get the other kids from crowding Emma. Putting a hand on her forehead, she frowned.

"Emma, you have a fever."

"I'm fine," she whined, despite the look on her face.

"I don't think you are." She noticed Emma was clutching her stomach, more specifically the right side. "Okay, Jefferson, I need you to call an ambulance."

Jefferson had managed to get all of the kids, barring Grace (who was clinging to his leg), out of the room. "Why?"

"I think she has appendicitis." Mary Margaret ran her fingers through Emma's hair. "It's going to be okay Emma, you're going to be okay."

Emma whimpered, looking up at Mary Margaret, for the first time in a long time, appearing to be afraid. The ambulance came quickly and the paramedics were rushing Emma into the ambulance. Mary Margaret started going after them, but then paused, turning back to Jefferson and Robin.

"I…"

Robin waved her off. "Go, it'll be fine. We can handle the kids, you take care of Emma."

She nodded and got into the back of the ambulance with them. She held tightly onto Emma's hand, answering as many questions as she could as it sped down the streets to Storybrooke General. Upon arrival, Emma was taken away from her and she was left alone, standing in the middle of the waiting room, her heart beating heavily. She couldn't stand being alone in that moment.

She couldn't call Robin or Jefferson. One person couldn't handle all the kids alone. There was only one other person that came to mind.

Digging through her pocket, she retrieved her cell phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Mary Margaret?" David asked.

"I…I need you. One of the kids is in the hospital…I can't do this alone."