Everything
"David."
Charming looks up from the arm-wrestling match with Henry to look at his wife. They're all at the diner, eating a delicious meal courtesy of Ruby. It's more like a large party, with everyone talking together and laughing and buying drinks for one another. No one in town can remember being this happy in a very long time.
Charming faces his wife, who looks amused. She nods her head discretely to the right, and David follows the gesture to see Emma, white-faced and slumped, dozing in her seat.
"Emma?" Snow inquires gently, approaching the blond carefully. A gentle hand is all it takes to startle Emma from her near sleep. "I-what?" she gasps, nearly formed sentences still fuzzy in her brain.
Snow smiles in amusement. "You were about to fall asleep in your salad."
"Mm," Emma rubs one eye sluggishly, still looking dazed.
David smiles fondly and tucks some blonde behind her ear. "I think it's time to go home." He looks meaningfully at Ruby, who has been watching the scene unfold. She nods as if to say Go. I'll explain to everybody.
"Henry!" calls David while Snow guides Emma out of her seat. The boy bounds up, looking happier than any of them can remember seeing him. "C'mon buddy, we're leaving," Charming says, ruffling the boy's hair.
"What? Why? The party's just getting started!"
"Your mom's pretty exhausted, she needs her rest. Plus, portal or no portal, you have school in the morning, mister."
Henry looks woeful for a moment as he inwardly curses his elementary school status, but quickly gets over it. "Can we watch a movie when we get home?" He asks hopefully.
Snow joins in then. "Only if you change into your pajamas and brush your teeth first."
"Uugh," groans Henry in classic little boy fashion, clearly disgusted by the idea of hygiene. "Fiiiine."
They slip out of the diner discreetly, and Emma holds Henry's hand on the way home. The boy is surprised by this development, but not altogether displeased. He squeezes her hand reassuringly, and smiles when the gesture is returned.
When they get home, Henry has just finished brushing his teeth to find his mother pouting like a child.
"I'm too tired," she moans dramatically.
"You'd think we had two children in the house rather than one," chuckles David.
"Several weeks in Fairy Tale Land with no running water; you'd think the first thing on your mind would be a shower." Snow crosses her arms, baffled.
"The first thing on my mind is sleep."
"Emma." Henry almost laughs at the stern tone his grandmother uses, thinking Please, as if that will get my mom to listen to you-
"Fine," groans Emma despondently, and she marches off to the bathroom, leaving a room of thoroughly surprised Charmings behind.
"She listened to me," breathes Snow, the shock evident on her face.
"She did," agrees Charming, smiling.
"I can't believe it," states Henry, looking thoroughly startled. "She doesn't listen to anybody. Ever. I thought she didn't know how."
"Looks like you're more powerful than you thought," says Charming flirtatiously, putting his arms around her waist. They kiss.
"Eurgh!" howls Henry.
"Emma?" Snow calls, rapping gently on the bathroom door.
Emma has been in the shower an awfully long time, and though it's silly, Snow is a bit worried. She spent a lot of time within mere inches of the blonde whilst in the other realm, and being without her daughter for even a few minutes makes her anxious.
She assumes this is how all new mothers feel, although she thinks her situation might be a bit…. Well, special.
She hears no answer and begins to panic. She tries again. "Emma? Are you okay in there?"
Still no answer.
"I'm coming in!" declares Snow in her no-nonsense voice, and when Emma doesn't argue, she feels the worry solidifying in her chest.
What sounds like sobbing greets her from behind the shower curtain.
"Emma?" she calls once more, fear rising in her. She hears Emma give a mighty sniff, as if to collect herself.
"I'm so tired," comes the Savior's small, defeated voice.
"Oh, Emma. Come on out. Let's get you dried off."
Emma opens the curtain, and Snow immediately wraps her in a fluffy white towel, guiding her to sit on the edge of the tub. She then begins to towel-dry the already curling blonde locks.
"This is silly," says Emma bashfully, wiping the water from her nose with a towel-wrapped hand.
"Nonsense," Snow disagrees. "You nearly had your heart ripped out. I think that calls for some coddling, don't you?"
Emma doesn't have a rebuttal, and Snow just "mm-hmm"s to herself in triumph.
She helps Emma into a tank top, mainly because the blonde can't lift her arms over her head. "My chest hurts," she says in surprise, as if she hadn't expected having someone's hand closed around her heart to leave her so sore.
"I bet," Snow murmurs with a small sputter of a laugh.
Later, Snow enters the living room to find Henry has gone to bed, forgoing the movie in favor of his own exhaustion. David is watching the old Snow White cartoon on some unknown channel.
"Really?" asks Snow with a laugh.
"It happened to be on," defends Charming, a playful twinkle in his eye. "Besides, it is my favorite movie."
"Oh yea?"
"Yea."
"Well, Charming, our Savior is all clean and ready for bed, but I think she might be in dire need of some tucking in. Would you like to do the honors, Dad?"
David's whole face becomes lighter at the name as he finally realizes he is a father. That after all this time, they get a second chance with their little girl – even if she isn't so little anymore.
"I would be honored," he says.
Emma is asleep, otherwise she probably would have beaten them both up for getting all weird and cheesy and trying to treat her like she's five. David is grateful for the little things.
He tucks the comforter around Emma's curled body, then picks up the baby blanket from the end of the bed. He lets it unfold in his hands, and taking in the embroidered fabric has him choking on sentimentality. He drapes the blanket over his daughter's sleeping form, then leans in to kiss her forehead.
"Sleep well, my Princess."