Emma Swan walked down the stairs and smiled a little to herself as she saw her parents holding hands over their breakfast. "Emma!" Mary Margret (a.k.a. Snow White) called out with a grin when she spotted her daughter. "What are you doing up so early?" David (Prince Charming) asked sounding pleased, but cautious when he noticed the hesitation in her expression.
"Henry made a request last night," Emma answered. "Despite all the craziness going on he wants to have a real Thanksgiving this year," she announced.
"That's a great idea!" David immediately agreed.
"Yeah," Mary Margret echoed, "we should celebrate. We can cook a feast and have a nice quiet dinner together."
"Henry wants his – whole – family there," Emma added, still sounding a little hesitant.
"That means Regina," her mother guessed.
"And a few others," Emma sighed as she sat at the table with them. "Yes, he wants Regina there but also Neil and Mr. Gold. His whole family," both David and Mary Margret paused obviously anticipating the inevitable disaster. They shared one long look and turned back to Emma in unison.
"What do you want to do Emma?" Mary Margret asked.
"Hey, I think it's a terrible idea," Emma replied with a grimace, "but it's what Henry wants" she added with a shrug.
"Alright, then we'll have Thanksgiving dinner together," her mother stated enthusiastically. "Where should we have it? I suppose we could squeeze everyone in here, but there wouldn't bee much room . . ."
"What about Granny's?" David suggested.
"For Thanksgiving?" Mary Margret asked sounding disappointed in him for even thinking of it, let alone suggesting it.
"What about Regina's? She has plenty of space, and Henry would probably love it," Emma suggested.
"That sounds great! I'll talk to her about it," Henry suddenly stated from behind them. All three of them looked over to see Henry standing there at the bottom of the stairs, dressed and ready for his day.
"Good morning Henry," Mary Margret greeted him with the same smile she had given Emma. "When you talk to Regina ask her if there is anything we can do to help," she added with another smile.
"I will," Henry promised and exited the apartment with a grin.
"This is going to be a disaster," Emma sighed to herself.
"I'm sure we can all be civil for one evening," Mary Margret objected optimistically. David and Emma just smiled at her indulgently.
Henry made his way to the Mayor's office hoping to find Regina (the Evil Queen) there, and for once, she was. Henry entered with a smile and immediately asked, "Can we have Thanksgiving dinner at your house?"
"Henry," Regina greeted her adopted son with a smile. She paused a moment processing what Henry had asked. "Of course we can have Thanksgiving at home."
"Great! When should everyone come over?" he asked pleasantly.
"Everyone?" Regina's brow furrowed with confusion.
"Yeah, you know Emma, Mary Margret and David, Neil and Mr. Gold," Henry listed with a smile still on his face. "Everyone," he watched as Regina carefully considered letting five of her least favorite people into her home.
"Five o'clock should be fine," she finally answered with a grim smile.
"I'll let them know," Henry turned to leave, but paused to relay Mary Margret's message, "Mary Margret wanted to know if she could do anything to help."
"I've got it covered," Regina answered swiftly. Henry smile once again and left before Regina could say another word. Henry's first stop in the invitation list was the Sheriff's station to tell Emma that everything was settled. She was still worried, but when she saw how happy Henry was she put on a brave face. His next stop was Granny's. He immediately went up to his father's room, smiling when Neil answered the door. "Hey Henry," Neil greeted him, "I was just about to come see you."
"Good, because I wanted to ask you something," Henry replied with easy confidence. "I was hoping you would come over for Thanksgiving dinner, it will be at five on Thursday at my mom's house."
"Emma's place?" Neil asked.
"No, Regina's," Henry clarified.
"I don't know kid, I don't think Regina likes me very much," he hedged.
"Well, it won't be just the three of us, Emma, Mary Margret and David are invited too," Henry conveniently forgot to mention that Neil's father was also invited.
"I'll think about it," Neil promised. "Do you want to hang out for a while?"
"Yeah," Henry agreed, "I've got plenty of time." The two of them went to the beach and spent several hours together. They separated at Granny's, Henry was confident Neil would come to the dinner. His next stop was Mr. Gold's shop. Mr. Gold (Rumplestiltskin) was behind the counter when Henry entered, "What can I do for you today young man?" he asked obviously surprised by Henry's visit.
"I came to invite you to Thanksgiving dinner," Henry announced. "My mom is going to host it at her house, at five o'clock."
"Well, that is very generous of you, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline," Mr. Gold replied smoothly.
"That's too bad," Henry sighed, "my dad will be sorry to hear that."
"Bae is coming?" Mr. Gold asked, his tone betraying his interest.
"Yeah," Henry replied. "We were hoping that the whole family could be there, but if you have other plans that's okay," he shrugged and left before Mr. Gold could say another word.
The next few days were tense for everyone but Henry. Regina was planning, Emma was worrying. Neil and Mr. Gold both finally agreed to come, rounding out the party. Mary Margret tried to stay positive, and David tried to be supportive, but really he was dreading it. Thanksgiving day itself was nerve-wracking for everyone. Henry, Emma, Mary Margret and David all arrived at Regina's together. "Welcome," Regina greeted them.
"Thank you for having us," Mary Margret replied for all of them. "Henry, you know the way," she prompted when the silence lasted just a little too long. Henry led them into his old home, talking about his favorite parts of the house. Emma was the last one through the door. She and Regina shared a polite nod as they passed each other. Henry was giving a ground floor tour of the house when Emma heard an argument by the front door.
She discreetly left the group to investigate when she recognized the voices outside. "I wouldn't have come!" the younger of the two voices almost shouted. Emma opened the door, effectively cutting off the argument, "Mr. Gold," she called to the oldest of the pair. "Can I talk to Neil for a minute, alone?"
"Of course, Ms. Swan," Mr. Gold replied. He stepped into the house and Emma took his place on the porch.
"What is he doing here?" Neil demanded to know.
"Henry invited him," Emma immediately replied, "didn't Henry tell you?"
"I'm not staying." Neil objected and started walking away.
"Wait!" Emma chased after him a few steps, "It's just a couple of hours. Can we all just pretend to get along for a couple of hours?" She saw Neil hesitate, "Henry wants his whole family here . . . for Henry?" she asked. Neil gave Emma a hard look, but followed her into the house.
"Well, now that we're all here, let's eat," Regina suggested as Emma and Neil joined the group. They all silently agreed and followed her to the dining room. Regina and Gold took the seats at the ends of the table. Mary Margret and David took one side, while Henry, Emma and Neil took the other. Neil managed to maneuver it so he was sitting in the middle with Henry next to Gold and Emma next to Regina. "Bon appetite," Regina said with a forced smile.
After a small pause Mary Margret picked up the potatoes and put a portion on her plate, the others followed suit with the other dishes, "This looks great," she complimented Regina.
"Yeah, I didn't know you could cook," David added.
"Well, there are a lot of things you learn how to do when you're a single mother," she remarked pointedly. Emma and Mary Margret shared a significant look. They both knew that Regina was trying to make them feel guilty, Mary Margret for not raising Emma, and Emma for not raising Henry.
Meanwhile at the other end of the table Mr. Gold was carving up the turkey and putting a portion on everyone's plate. Henry accepted his with a smile and asked Mr. Gold, "Do you usually celebrate Thanksgiving alone?"
"I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving before," Mr. Gold replied, "I never had anyone to share it with, so I didn't see the point." A significant look was shared between Mr. Gold and Neil, neither of them stating the obvious. He didn't have anyone to share the holiday with because he'd abandoned his son.
"So, Emma, you never told us how you and Neil met," Regina prompted from the other end of the table.
"It's not that interesting," Emma argued.
"She stole my car," Neil answered with a grin, and Emma shot him a sharp look.
"If you remember, it wasn't actually your car," she reminded him. "You were sleeping in the back because you had just stolen it yourself." Mary Margret and David shared an amused look on the other side of the table. "What?" Emma asked defensively.
"It appears crime runs in the family," David answered jokingly. "That was how we met," he took Mary Margret's hand.
"I stole the ring he was going to give his fiancé," she continued.
"And I chased after her," he concluded.
"Wonderful," Regina grumbled, "Henry is descended from a family of thieves." Another awkward silence filled the room. They all went back to eating in silence for several minutes.
"So what was my dad like when he was a kid?" Henry asked Mr. Gold to break the silence.
"Cam we please not talk about my childhood for once?" Neil requested before Mr. Gold could answer.
"Sure," Henry answered easily. "So, how is Belle doing?" he asked turning back to Mr. Gold. There was a sharp, almost silent, intake of breath from several people.
"She's doing much better now, thank you for asking Henry," Mr. Gold replied stiffly.
"What is she up to these days?" Regina asked with a small smile.
"I'm sure you already know the answer to that, dearie," he replied coolly. Tensions were rising in the room, a fight was brewing and Mary Margret made a last ditch effort to keep it from crumbling into disaster.
"So, Regina, what are we having for dessert?" she asked pleasantly.
"Apple turnover," Regina answered blandly.
"Are you serious?" Emma demanded her voice incredulous. "After poisoning Mary Margret, trying to poison me, and actually poisoning Henry with an apple, you're going to serve apples for dessert?"
"This is my house, and I will not be spoken to that way," Regina growled, "if you have a problem with that you are free to leave." That statement opened the floodgates. Mary Margret and Neil came to Emma's defense, and when Regina started in on them David joined in and Mr. Gold threatened to roast Regina alive is she ever came near his son. Neil argued with Gold, and everyone else argued with Regina. It was so loud you could hardly hear what anyone was saying, and as their emotions ran high so did their magic, until all the plates on the table were rattling, threatening to go flying across the room.
When Henry couldn't stand it anymore he climbed up onto the table and shouted, "STOP IT!" at the top of his lungs. Everyone froze. "Today is supposed to be about what we're thankful for, and all of you are just blaming each other!" Henry climbed off the table and left the house. Emma followed immediately, hoping to make things up to him. The others slowly made their way home, leaving Regina with a table full of food, and more dishes than she really wanted to clean.
Emma caught up with Henry quickly and took him to the beach, "I'm sorry about dinner Henry," she apologized.
"It's okay," he replied quietly. "I knew it probably wouldn't work out," he added sadly. They were quiet for a few minutes before Emma stood up.
"Come on kid, let's go home," she suggested, and Henry joined her without a word. When they arrived back at the apartment they shared with David and Mary Margret they found everyone, including Regina, waiting with a pumpkin pie, ready to eat. "Happy Thanksgiving Henry," they all greeted him. He grinned and Emma closed the door behind them.
The End