SORRY IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE. I HAD TO TAKE ANOTHER TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL. JUST SO YOU GUYS KNOW, I'M TOTALLY OPEN TO IDEAS!
DON'T OWN IT.
"I'm hungry." Henry says as he and James exit the stables to join the rest of their family.
"But you just ate." Emma points out. That elicits a chuckle from Snow.
"Emma, he ate nearly four hours ago. It only feels like he just did because you just did."
"Fine." The blonde rolls her eyes. "How about we go to Granny's and get some pancakes or something."
"I already had breakfast." The boy says.
"Yeah, well, they're not serving lunch yet. I'm sure Mary Margaret can make you a grilled cheese."
"Or," Snow interjects, "I'm sure Ruby will be glad to make you a grilled cheese. Not that I don't want to, I just know hers is better."
"It's not." Emma and Henry say at the same time, throwing each other a wink.
"Okay you two, that's enough." James laughs. "No need to gang up on her."
"Leave them alone, Charming. They weren't ganging up on me. In fact, they were complimenting me." Throughout the conversation, Graham made himself a silent observer. He's still getting used to the whole 'I have a family thing', much like Emma. For that, he's grateful. At least he has one other person who has no idea how to belong. In fact, he's so caught up in his own thoughts that he doesn't hear Emma until she pokes him.
"Huh?"
"I said, are you okay with going to Granny's?" Emma's face turns from concerned to irritated.
"Uh, yeah, that's fine. Sorry." Graham apologizes.
"Great. I'm cold, so let's go."
Of course, nothing is simple for the Charming Family, ever. Even a simple trip for brunch at Granny's turns into a big ordeal when they see Neal sitting at the counter, his back to them.
"Everyone be really–" Emma starts.
"Dad!"
"Quiet." The blonde say a sigh as Henry launches himself at Neal.
"Hey, Kid." The man beams, wrapping an arm around his son. Beside him, Graham can feel Emma fuming. He grabs her hand in an effort to keep her calm.
"That's my name for him." The blonde grits out. Snow and James exchange a worried glance. "I just get my son back after ten years and then Regina has to keep him half the time, then Nealfire, that son of a bitch, accidentally finds out about him and now I have to share Henry three ways. It's not even my fault I had to lose him in the first place! It's Neal's!" Her voice was growing louder by the sentence, and by the end, everyone's staring at them, especially Neal, since he doesn't have the sense to look away. Graham wants nothing more than to throttle the man for continually causing his girlfriend pain, but he knows it'll end up with him getting throttled, too. Instead, he settles for,
"Okay, let's go." She allows him to steer her out of the diner before she personally strangles Henry's biological father. This leaves Snow and James standing there like two idiots, something Regina would probably agree with, not knowing what to do. Staying would be awkward, especially since James would love nothing more than to put his sword through Neal, but following their daughter and future (maybe) son-in-law would not be a wise choice either. Thankfully, Ruby saves the day. She ushers them out back, away from the crowd.
"I am so glad I don't have your family tree." The brunette says, her eyes apologizing for whatever God decided to wreak havoc on them.
"Yeah." James scoffs.
"Thank you." Snow smiles. "I don't think I've ever felt more like a deer in the headlights than I did then, all encounters with Regina and Mr. Gold included."
"I can't believe Henry's okay with Neal, I mean, considering he knows Emma enough to know that if she's acting like this, it's for a reason, and it's due to Neal."
"Well, we're trying to steer him more toward Graham–"
"You are, I'm not having any part of your evil plans." Snow says. "And Red, you're Emma's godmother/surrogate aunt; that means you're part of the family tree."
"So… you guys wanna stay back here till the coast is clear or do you want to go out the back?" Ruby deftly sidesteps the fact that she's technically part of the craziness.
"Deep breaths." Graham instructs.
"He has no right to him." At least she's not yelling anymore. "I don't mind sharing Henry with you cause it's not really like sharing… you actually love him."
"You don't think Neal does? Don't get me wrong, I love Henry, but Neal's his biological father…"
"Screw biology! Neal is going to hurt him one of these days and the poor kid's gonna be blindsided by it."
"He's resilient, Emma, he'll be fine." Graham does his best to soothe her.
"That's the thing Graham, he shouldn't have to get over anything. He shouldn't have had to go through any of this. I had a hard life and I got hurt a lot, which is why I am the way I am. I'm not innocent. But Henry is. He's barely eleven years old and he should choose to be who he wants to be. I don't want him to end up like me unless he wants to. If his own father leaves him, I guarantee he'll start becoming like me. Look, I had the option of applying to get him back after I got out of jail. They couldn't tell me much about his condition, if he was with a good family. All the people told me is that he was safe and loved. And I knew he was because the social workers, they know if a kid isn't safe or loved. With me, when I was in abusive homes or people who were only fostering kids for the money, my social workers knew. The thing is, they didn't give a crap! So I knew that they were telling the truth about Henry, cause they would have told me if it wasn't true."
"Aren't there laws about child safety?" Graham doesn't doubt Emma, he just knows that that's through the blonde's perspective and things might actually be different.
"They're better now, but even eleven years ago… Graham, the system's corrupted. Social workers get paid off to pretend everything's fine."
"How did you know they weren't lying to you?"
"My lie detector." Emma laughs at Graham's perplexed face and wraps her arms around his neck. "And I saw the adoption papers. It said he was adopted. If I wanted to know who or where, I could've…" she trails off.
"But you chose for a closed adoption." He finishes softly.
"He was better off without me. At least, I thought he was." Emma sighs. "If Neal had stayed… Hell, even if I hadn't gone to jail, I would have kept him. But because I knew he was better off with whoever he was with, I let him go. I'm sorry I freaked out in there, I just… he doesn't have a right to Henry. I looked for him after I got out, I wanted to tell him so at least he'd know and then maybe we could get him back if we wanted, but I couldn't find him. So twice, he screwed me out of my son."
"You're right, Emma. He shouldn't have a place in Henry's life because, even though it was unknowingly, he gave up his right to you and to Henry. But Henry has the right to know his father."
"That's the only reason I haven't gotten a restraining order for a five hundred mile radius." At this, the two laugh. As if the other three knew, Henry, Snow, and James all but run out of the diner.
"I think we're eating at home." Snow says.
"Sorry about what happened back there." Emma says sheepishly as the five try to pile through the door together. It takes a few tries, but eventually they manage to get through one by one. "Especially to Henry."
"Are you ever gonna tell me what he did?" The boy questions, looking up at his mother with adoration.
"Someday, Kid." The blonde says softly. Then, in her normal Emma voice, "I still can't believe you ate two hotdogs in less than five minutes."
"He has your appetite." Snow quips, steering the conversation away from out-of-bounds topics for her daughter. Emma shoots the brunette a grateful smile. "Speaking of which, you want anything?"
"No, thanks. Your breakfast sufficed, plus two hot chocolates. I'm good."
"Charming? Graham?" Snow turns to James.
"I'm good, too."
"Me, too." Graham smiles.
"I guess we're all good then." Henry returns the smile. "So, what do you guys wanna do?"
"We could play a game." Snow suggests.
"No!" The word comes out of Emma's mouth before she has the chance to think it over. She shifts her weight from foot to foot, "I mean, I'm not really much of a game person. I'd make it un-fun for the rest of you."
"Or… maybe we can tell stories?" The boy asks sheepishly. "Mom –I mean Regina, not Mom, Mom– never really told me stories. I can see why, though. She doesn't have many good ones to tell. Most of them are sad or about killing people. She did always tell me that the happiest day of her life was when I was put into her arms." At this, Emma thinks, damn, she really did try to love him. Emma would much rather play a game, and she's about to say as much, but the hopeful look in her son's eyes stops her.
"Okay, Kid. I call the nice, sunny spot, though."
"Mom?"
"What?"
"Are you a natural blonde?"
"Yeah… why?" Emma looks perplexed.
"I'm just wondering, cause Gramma and Gramps are both brunette. And Gramps is definitely your dad, so–"
"It's called recessive traits, Henry." Snow is quick to cut off her grandson.
"How would he know that David's definitely… it wasn't in the book, right?" Emma grabs her mother's arm while the rest take their spots in the living room. "I mean, how I was, you know…"
"Oh, I have no idea how detailed the book is." Snow manages to keep a straight face while shaking her head, her voice serious. With that, the brunette heads into the living room.
"Mary Margaret!" Emma yells. "Hey!" It's times like these that make James the happiest, seeing his wife and daughter interact like a normal mother/daughter duo.
"Mom!" Henry calls in a sing-song voice. "I want you and Graham to tell the story of how you guys met!"
