A/N: Part of this I wrote out as an idea I had that I wasn't intending on posting, and the other part hit me at 4am when I couldn't sleep. Just thought I'd throw this out there and see what you think. Daddy Charming moments plus a bit of Captain Swan, just because I can't help myself.
"That child needs to go!"
Emma could hear them arguing from downstairs. She jumped from her bed and into her closet, wrapping her arms around her legs and pressing her face to her knees. Her foster parents had been arguing for weeks since their biological daughter, Charlotte, had arrived. Emma always hid in her closet when they argued. It felt safe, like closing the door could shut out the noise. Of course, it couldn't.
"That child needs to be with someone else. I can't take it anymore!" Her foster mother, Stephanie, had been in a constant state of tears since Charlotte was born. Rich tried to explain to Emma once that Stephanie had post...something, but all Emma knew is that Stephanie cried more, argued more, and almost seemed in pain. Emma couldn't believe that out of the two of them, her foster mother wanted her gone the most. "Charlotte keeps crying and crying and that child doesn't do a thing! I need help when you're at work!"
"Steph, the child is only five. She might not understand. Just ask her. She loves Charlotte. I'm sure she'd love to help," Rich said. Rich wasn't really an overly loving parent, but he was always good to Emma. The new baby definitely had an effect on her daddy. He was completely wrapped around her finger. Emma covered her ears tried to picture her real father. Was he brave? Would he protect her? Emma called out in her mind for her father to come rescue her, but even at five, she knew that was just false hope.
"It's not just that! The county is constantly calling, waking up Charlotte, and demanding all these random spot checks. I don't have time for it! It's stressing me out and I can't take it anymore! We need to focus on Charlotte, not that child."
That child? That child? What happened to 'Emma'? Emma suddenly realized Not once in this whole argument that she heard her own name. Tears filled Emma's eyes and fell to her knees. That child. "They've already forgotten my name," she sobbed to herself. "Why don't they like me anymore?"
Emma thought back to what felt like an eternity ago. Rich wanted to do one more thing for Stephanie before the baby arrived, so he took Stephanie and Emma on a boat ride. It was only about an hour and it was a boat tour for tourists who came to Lockport, New York, but it was Emma's favorite day since she was taken from the foster home. Rich scooped her up and placed her on the small wooden boat, right by the captain. Emma giggled and whispered to Stephanie that the captain was driving the boat with his feet. Rich steadied her as Emma poked her head out the window, feeling the gentle breeze as they floated up and down the lock. Emma would get a bit scared at first when the locks would close and water would come pouring in their now caged boat, but the captain explained to her that the locks helped the boats get up and down the river, and that it wouldn't take long for them to continue on their adventure. Emma squealed with glee whenever the locks opened and she could feel the gentle movement of the boat as it glided down the water. The captain pointed out all sorts of things Emma had never seen before- an upside-down train track, a bridge that raises and lowers like an elevator. Then the captain pointed out a church by the side of the river. He explained that the owner of the lock wanted to get married in the church he had grown up in, but it had been torn down. So the owner took leftover stones from the construction of the lock and rebuilt his childhood church exactly as he remembered it- all for his bride. Emma sighed as she imagined a princess getting married to her prince in that very church.
"Rich, either we take her back to the foster system today, or I'm taking Charlotte and you can raise that child by yourself!" The last statement broke Emma out of her temporary escape to a happier time. Once again, the tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Emma just simply stood up, opened her closet door, and picked up her little torn backpack.
"Come find me," she whispered into her baby blanket, as she always did when she held it, before gently tucking it away. She could hear slow, steady foot falls on the steps, and she quickly threw her backpack under her bed. Rich opened the door, and Emma quickly jumped on the bed.
"What are you doing?" Emma shook her head 'no', giving Rich big innocent eyes. Rich knew that she had been doing something, but didn't have the energy for discipline. "Listen, kiddo, Donna from the foster home is coming in an hour..."
"It's okay," Emma whispered sadly, much to Rich's shock. "I'm almost packed." Rich's heart sunk as he watched the little five year old pull a half-packed suitcase back out from under the bed. He felt like the worst father in the world, giving up a child so easy. And Emma's acceptance of the fact only made his heart sink further into his stomach. Emma hopped off the bed and put the few items of clothes that she had gotten as hand-me-downs. Since she had lived there for two years, the clothes she came with were too big. Rich silently got off the bed and tried to hand her some other clothes that still had tags on them. "You gave me those. You can give them to Charlotte."
"Don't you want them?" Emma shook her head no.
"I don't have room in my bag," Emma lied. Rich nodded and put them back in the drawer. Emma was soon packed and resumed her seat on the bed, clutching the bag tightly. Rich pulled a book off the shelf and sat down next to Emma, handing it to her.
"I want you to have this," Rich said. It was the book that Emma asked Rich to read to her every night. It was a bit long for a five year old, but Rich read it in stages- which made Emma all the more excited to read it the next night.
"Won't you want to read it to Charlotte?"
"I'm sure Charlotte and I will have many books to read. This one is ours," Rich said, tucking the book into the front zipper pocket of our back pack. Emma nodded and patted the zipper. Rich leaned over and gave Emma a hug, which Emma struggled not to give back. She just clenched her backpack harder. "I know it's hard to understand, kiddo. It's just...you'll understand when you're an adult."
"Then I don't want to grow up," Emma said. Rich swallowed the huge lump in his throat and released the small girl in his arms. He slowly got off the bed and put his hand on the door knob.
"I hope you don't, kiddo, I hope you stay young forever." Rich closed the door behind him and Emma pulled the book close to her chest, letting the tears flow once again. She wanted to disappear into the book. She secretly wished that she'd hear a gentle tap at the window and be whisked off to Neverland. No grown ups, no disappointment- just pure fun and pure magic. She got lost in her dreams until she heard a knock downstairs and a somber "Hello, come in" could be heard from downstairs. This is it- she's going back to the foster home.
"Emma. Emma, wake up!" Emma sat up abruptly while taking a sharp inhale of breath. David sat next to her on the couch and rubbed her shoulder as she came back to reality, a concerned look on his face. "You fell asleep watching the movie. You were crying." Everything started to come back to her. Movie night with Killian and her parents, Henry was at a sleepover. She remembered a vague detail of where she left off in the movie, but the TV was currently rolling the credits. Emma brought her knees to her chest and wiped the moisture from her cheeks.
"Yeah. Nightmares," she said. David moved his hand to her back. It might have been her sleepy state, or her recent determination to let her walls down, she leaned onto David's shoulder and let him comfort her, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to let her Daddy take the nightmares away. David kissed her temple and put his arm around her.
"Must have been some nightmare," he said softly. "You want to talk about it?"
"It wasn't so much a nightmare as a memory," Emma confessed. David nodded, not pushing her for details, just letting her tell what she needed. "Where's Mary-Margaret and Killian?"
"Snow's doing some laundry, and your cell phone rang about twenty minutes ago. Apparently, August snuck one of Marco's scary movies and was watching it with Henry. Henry got scared and wanted to come home," David explained. "Killian went to pick him up." Emma nodded into his shoulder, not moving away from her father's hold.
"Dad?" David looked down at his daughter as she looked up at him with sad yet still sleepy eyes. "What would you have done if I had nightmares as a kid?" David's eyes softened and he rubbed her back in comfort.
"Would you like me to show you?" Emma shrugged, but the corner of her lip had a small smile tucked there. David nodded and gestured for her to lay back on the couch. Emma closed her eyes as he grabbed a few things from the kitchen and returned to her side, sitting on the coffee table. Emma heard a small crack of a match and her eyes popped open. He lit a candle on the end table behind her and fanned the flame. The candle danced in the dim light of the living room and Emma looked up at him in question. "It'll keep away the nightmares."
"Does it work?"
"It did for your Mother," David said. Emma pulled the blanket on the back of the couch over her and David smiled and tucked her back in, putting his hand on her head and gently rubbed her hair. "I love you, sweetheart." A tear formed in Charming's eye, which made one also appear in Emma's. "I wish I could have done this for you growing up."
"Me too," she said. Mary-Margaret appeared with a basketful of laundry and froze at the scene. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of her husband and daughter bonding, and they were alerted to her presence as she let a small sob escape her lips.
"Nightmares?" David nodded to Snow in response. "You're good hands, Emma." Emma smiled as she looked back and forth at her parents. They loved her, she could feel it skipping around the room, consuming the tiny flat in comfort. All three of them exchanged gazes, all thinking the same thing- it should have always been like this, but were happy they could at least have it now. The moment was broken as Killian came back into the flat, leading a sleepy and pajama-clad Henry by the shoulder. Henry immediately went to Emma and jumped into her arms.
"Sorry I got scared, Mom," Henry said into her shoulder.
"It's okay," she said, rubbing his hair. "Everyone get scared sometimes." Henry nodded into her hair. "Maybe next time, you and Pinocchio will stick to more age appropriate movies."
"Okay," Henry said softly. Killian tapped Henry on the arm and gestured for him to go upstairs. Henry gave Emma one last hug before letting Killian lead him upstairs. Emma sat up on the couch and watched as Killian pick Henry up halfway up the stairs and carry him the rest of the way. She felt truly blessed at how quickly he and Henry bonded. Killian had slipped into a father figure role with such ease that it was almost hard to believe that his main occupation was a pirate.
David rose and turned off the TV and helped Mary-Margaret clear away the movie snacks and drinks. Emma slowly rose off the couch, blew out the candle, and ejected the DVD from the player before tucking the case back on the shelf. She sighed as she watched her parents move around the kitchen as they cleaned up. They were always taking care of her, in small ways and in all of those Storybrooke encounters. Emma went next to David and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Dad," she said, giving him a pat on the back. Snow reached her arms out for a hug, which Emma sleepily fell into. "Goodnight, Mom." Snow gave her a tight squeeze then Emma went up to bed. She found Killian stretched out on their bed, Henry cuddled up next to him on Killian's chest asleep.
"You must really like him," Emma said, observing the choice of movie. Killian had put on the movie "Hook" for Henry, another one that Killian complained about the inaccuracy of his portrayal. However, he admitted that it was a bit of an entertaining concept- Peter Pan wanting to grow up so he could be a father. Emma would muse at the fact that it was so much like him- he changed from Captain Hook back to Killian Jones because he wanted to be part of something bigger. He wanted what both of them lacked for a long time- a family. Emma thanked whatever star granted her secret wish that he wanted to be a part of hers, to love both her and her son. Killian hit the power button with his hook, turning off the TV and letting the room go dark.
"The lad was still a bit scared, so I told him I'd watch a movie with him in bed. I didn't expect him to fall asleep so quickly. I can move him back to his room if you wish," Killian said. Emma shook her head and went to the bed to give them both a kiss before getting ready for bed. After she changed to her pajamas, she slipped into the bed with her boys. Emma ruffled Henry's hair and Killian wrapped his good arm around both of them.
"Goodnight, Emma," Killian whispered. Although he didn't know about her nightmare, she let her name on his lips bathe over her like a healing balm. She wasn't "that child" anymore. Here, she was loved, where she was meant to be. Emma looked contentedly between Killian and Henry and mused at her life before falling asleep. Her 11 year old son was being comforted by her boyfriend, Captain Hook. They lived with her parents, whom she didn't know until a year ago, were Prince Charming and Snow White and were asleep on the floor below her. Surreal would be the word she used a year ago. Now, she thought the word 'perfect.' She was no longer the lost child that felt unwanted. She was with her family- that's all that mattered.
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