"I don't have a brother."

"Yes you do. I'm prince Leopold White, son of Snow White and Prince Charming. You're princess Emma White." His chest puffs up and Emma has to resist laughing at him, because who the hell names their son Leopold? From behind her, Regina makes a strangled little sound of disgust because she knows exactly where the horrid name comes from.

"Uh, no, kid." Emma's lips twist into an irritated smile. "First of all, my name is Emma Swan-Mills."

She can feel Regina's fingers gripping her shirt with a vengeance and reaches back to grasp her mother's arm reassuringly.

"Secondly, where's your mother?"

The question is so patronizing that Leo immediately scowls, his grip tightening on his sword again. "She's your mother too." Emma glares at that. "And she's not here. They can't leave Storybrooke. No one can."

"Oh, good." Emma smiles, her lips a hard, forced line. "Go home, Leopold."

"Not without you." He levels the sword in their direction again, glaring over Emma's shoulder to where dark brown eyes regard him wearily. "The Evil Queen comes too. She needs to pay for her crimes."

Regina narrows her eyes while Emma scoffs.

"Wow, okay. This isn't the Dark Ages, kid. She is my mother and you will not treat her like this." Going off the assumption that this boy is really her brother and means her no harm, Emma steps forward and slaps the flat of the sword aside, yanking the weapon from his hands and shoving him back at the same time. He stumbles but doesn't strike back, familiar green eyes wide with uncertainty.

"Emma," Regina says quickly, concern in her voice as her daughter readjusts the sword in her own hands. She recognizes the weapon; it's Prince Charming's. Emma holds her father's sword as if she's naturally wielded it her entire life. The sight is strange and disconcerting.

"Give me the scabbard," says Emma, holding out her hand. Leo holds his ground, expression stubborn. "Leopold White, give me the scabbard or so help me god."

Regina almost wants to laugh with pride. Emma sounds so much like her in that moment that Leo actually shrinks a little in place, looking like a thoroughly scolded puppy.

"She's got you under a spell," he tries, shooting another glare in Regina's direction.

"There's no magic in this world. Try again."

"But there is magic!" he blurts out, which has Regina's brows furrowing with confusion.

"Where?" she asks, which is the first time she's addressed the boy directly. He falters under her piercing gaze.

"In Storybrooke. Rumplestiltskin brought back magic."

Emma shoots a questioning glance at her mother. "The Evil One that made you cast the curse?"

"The Dark One," Regina corrects, frowning. "And now he has magic. Why hasn't he broken out of Storybrooke himself?"

"The curse isn't truly broken, so they're all still trapped." Leo's eyes flicker back to Emma. "You couldn't break it fully until your twenty eighth birthday. It's in the prophecy."

"Prophecy," Emma repeats, deadpan. "Right. Okay. Well, sorry I didn't fix the curse or whatever. But there's no magic out here, she doesn't have me under a spell, and I'm not going to ask you again. Give me the scabbard."

Reluctantly he hands it over, pouting like a petulant child as Emma quickly sheathes the weapon and uses the bit of cord attached to the scabbard to tie down the sword by its guard. Assured that he can't easily yank it free of the sheath, she wearily steps a little closer and glances past him out to the front field. Regina remains safely within the house, frowning in silence.

"How did you get here? You're a long way from home."

"Drove," Leo mutters, jerking a thumb back towards an old brown truck parked haphazardly behind the parade of her family's various vehicles. Emma squints at it.

"You know how to drive?"

"Dad's been teaching me," he defends.

"He lets you drive?" Regina pipes up, always a stern mother first. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen," he sneers, puffing up again. Emma gives him a little shove to the chest, deflating him with a hard glare.

"Don't you use that tone on my mother, kid. Why the hell did your parents let you drive all the way out here on your own?"

He opens his mouth, sucking in air to argue back, but guilt flickers through his eyes and his jaws snap shut again. Emma and Regina both arch an eyebrow, so perfectly in sync that he winces.

"You need to go home. Like, now."

Leo is ready to fight her on it, but Regina speaks up first. "Emma, he shouldn't drive."

"He drove here, he can drive himself back," she argues.

"Emma."

"Mom."

"Emma."

Emma sighs heavily, glaring and squinting at Leo as if cursing his very existence at that moment. She holds out her hand again. "Give me the car keys. You open your mouth to argue and I will slap you upside the head, kid. Don't think I won't."

Regina actually has to stifle a sigh. Pearl's no-nonsense attitude and willingness to spank a misbehaving child has clearly rubbed off on her daughter. The threat of actually getting smacked has clearly never been part of Leo's upbringing, however, because his eyes widen with fear and he quickly dumps the keys into Emma's outstretched hand.

"Get your ass in the car," Emma orders, then turns towards Regina, ready to apologize for having to leave her own birthday party to deal with this. She knows her mother will fret over her stepping back into Storybrooke and wants to alleviate her concerns before she goes, but the sight of Daniel plodding down the hallway towards them has her faltering.

"Hey, kid," he says, quirking a brow as he comes up next to Regina. His eyes lock onto the sword in Emma's hand but he smartly says nothing of it in the moment. "You two were takin' a while; hope I'm not interrupting. Who's this?" He smiles kindly at Leo, who doesn't seem to know what to make of the carefree cowboy in jeans and a red flannel.

"Uh…" Emma's green eyes flicker to Regina for assistance. Breathing in deeply, the brunette manages a soothing smile.

"Emma's younger brother. He'll be staying for the night. We can drive him home in the morning." Emma opens her mouth to argue and Regina cuts in, "You are not leaving your own birthday party when everyone's already come all this way to see you, young lady."

Daniel's brows shoot up into his hairline and he seems to process the information for a long few seconds before simply nodding along, knowing better than to question his wife or daughter in front of a stranger. "Huh. Okay." To the teenager he says, "Welcome to the Swan Ranch! I'm Daniel, but everyone calls me Danny."

He offers a hand and Leo wearily shakes it. "I'm Leo. Who are you?"

"Uhm…" Daniel seems baffled by the question he'd just answered. "I'm Danny?"

"No, I mean who are you to them." Leo points a finger at Emma and Regina. Daniel's mouth forms a small 'o' of understanding and he gives a kind smile.

"I'm Regina's husband, and uh, kind of-"

"My dad," Emma finishes, which has both Daniel and Regina glancing at her in surprise. She's always treated him like a father figure - and loves him as such - but has never used the term 'dad' or 'father' in regards to their relationship. He clearly takes this declaration to heart because he seems to melt a little in place and Emma just blushes and rolls her eyes at him. "Don't get sappy on me now, Danny."

"Love you too, kid," he teases with an audible sniff. He bodily drags Emma towards him to trap her in a three-way hug with Regina, and Leo watches in utter disbelief. His sister - despite the embarrassed scowl on her face - is willingly being squashed between the Evil Queen and a cowboy. The Evil Queen and a cowboy.

"What the hell is going on?" he blurts out, immediately regretting his choice of words because Regina pierces him with a stern look that isn't unlike the one his own mother gives him whenever he curses. Emma wiggles out from between her parents with a little huff.

"You're meeting my family, apparently."

"Your family?"

"All of them." And for a moment, Emma feels a little bit of sadistic glee because ho-boy, he's in for a goddamned ride. He's going to be begging to escape them by the time this is over.

"Emma, take it easy on him, he's your little brother," Regina warns gently. Emma wants to be surprised - and maybe she is, just a little bit - but Regina has long since let go of her hatred towards Snow White. Twenty-some years of happiness with a large, loving family and a good life will do that. Still, her hospitality towards Snow White's son is baffling.

"We can just stick him in a guest room for a few hours and I'll drive him back tonight," Emma says, not wanting to drag this out for much longer than necessary, but Regina shakes her head at her.

"Take him out back, get him something to eat, and we'll set him up in our house for tonight."

"But-"

"Give me the sword."

Emma frowns as her mother holds out a hand for it.

"I'm not going to ask you again," Regina says, and Emma feels like she's Leo's age now as she resists a pout and hands over the weapon. "Now go. Outside. Both of you. Play nice."

The two blondes grudgingly slink away down the hall for the back door while Regina examines the sword in her hands with vague amusement. She'd been on the pointy end of it one too many times in the past. Charming would have a conniption if he knew she was holding it now.

"Did Leo bring her a sword for her birthday?" Daniel asks after a moment, trying to make sense of what's happening. Regina chuckles.

"Not quite. This sword belongs to their biological father. It's a long story."

"Ah." He nods, scratching at the back of his neck. Random sword in the house, no big deal. "So… Emma's little brother, huh?"

Regina chews gently on her lower lip. She and Emma had agreed on a 'cover story' of sorts, back when they'd left Storybrooke for good. If anyone ever asked, Emma's biological parents - though well intentioned - had not taken kindly to Regina, and so they decided to simply cut ties and never see each other again. It was simpler that way.

Up until Leo arrived to "rescue" Emma, anyway.

"He doesn't understand why Emma isn't a part of his family," she says after a pause, which is close enough to the truth that Daniel's 'superpower' to detect lies doesn't go off. "He came here in a misguided attempt to bring her home."

"So you send him out to meet the entire family?" Daniel asks, his eyes crinkling with amusement. "That's just cruel, sweetheart."

"Some people actually find your family quite charming," Regina says with an affectionate roll of her eyes. "I did. I even married one of them."

"Craziest decision you've ever made," he teases, dropping a gentle kiss on her lips and looping an arm around her waist. "Let's go make sure Emma hasn't left him to the dogs, hm?"


"This is your family?" Leo asks, looking mortified as he scampers quickly after his older sister. He hadn't expected this many people; adults, teenagers, children, and at least half a dozen dogs running around the yard to a cacophony of chatter, laughter, and music. Emma leads him towards the barbeque and food table where her uncle William is working the grill.

"Yeah. Big family, I know. You hungry?"

"Well-"

"Who am I kidding; you're related to me, apparently. Of course you're hungry."

Leo grimaces as Emma grabs a large paper plate and begins filling it with snacks and finger-foods, snagging bread buns from a bowl and taking them towards the grill.

"Hey, uncle Will." She holds out the bun and William transfers over a sizzling patty.

"Hey, birthday girl. Who's this?"

"My brother Leo. I just met him today. Long story. Leo, this is my uncle William, Danny's eldest brother." She shoves the burger and plate of snacks into Leo's hands and is already walking off. Leo gives William an awkward little nod before hurrying after her.

"Can you slow down?" he grouches, trailing after her towards a pair of unclaimed lawn chairs a little further away from the rest of the party. Emma drops down into one and reclines back without acknowledging his request, closing her eyes against the afternoon sun as if to tan. Disgruntled, Leo sits in the other, balancing the plate on his knees. He can feel eyes on him; it's obvious he's the only stranger here and the attention makes him nervous.

"All these people are your… your family?"

Emma just grunts an affirmative.

"And you chose to stay here?"

Another grunt.

"So you're okay with the fact that the Evil Queen stole you?"

Emma's eyes snap open and her lips twist into a snarl. "Stop calling her that. Her name is Regina."

Leo grits his teeth, jaw shifting. "She stole you from your real family, Emma."

"No. You listen to me." Emma sits back up, elbows on her knees as she leans towards him almost aggressively. "This, all these people here, they're my real family. Regardless of how I got here, these are the people I grew up with. Regina is the one who raised me and cared for me and provided the best life she could for me. Yeah, she's made mistakes, she cast the curse and took me away from Snow and David - but I grew up happy and loved, and I wouldn't change that for anything. She's my mother, I love her, and nothing you say will make me feel otherwise, so please, if you know what's good for you, kid, you'll let it go."

They sit frozen, staring at each other, Emma's chest rising and falling with her impromptu speech. Leo swallows down the lump in his throat.

"Everything okay here?" The interrupting voice comes from a willowy redhead who approaches with care, her hazel eyes narrowed on Leo with suspicion. Emma glances up and relaxes with a smile as the redhead joins her on her chair.

"Yeah, we're fine. Ted, this is my biological brother Leo. Leo, this is my cousin Teddy."

Teddy crossed one long leg over the other, still giving the teenage boy a somewhat suspicious look despite forcing a smile to her lips. "Hi, Leo."

He just nods, mute.

"Sure you're good, Ems?" Teddy asks quietly, which has Emma grinning and leaning into the redhead's side. Of all her cousins, she's closest to Teddy, who's a few years older than her and has acted like her big sister since the first day they met. Teddy's also immensely overprotective and it's showing clear as day now as she slings an arm around Emma's shoulders and gives Leo her most intimidating stare.

"I'm sure. Just setting a few facts straight with Leo. He showed up unannounced trying to bring me back 'home' with him."

"To your spegg donors?" Teddy mutters, wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah."

"Spegg donors?" Leo repeats, frowning.

"Sperm and egg donor," Emma explains with a dismissive flick of her hand. Leo looks immediately offended on his parents' behalf and though Emma can't blame him for it, she's also not going to apologize for it.

"They're your parents."

"No, they're not. You met my parents at the door." Emma gives him a warning glare. "You need to accept the fact that I have my own family. Teddy's more like my sibling than you are."

Emma puts her arm around Teddy's waist and Leo sets his jaw at the display, looking like he's conflicted between snarling with jealousy or bursting out in tears. Maybe both at the same time.

Of all the ways he'd imagined this meeting would go, being rejected by his own big sister was not one of them. He'd grown up hearing stories about her; about his Savior sister, the one who took a portal to another realm as a baby, the one who brought back everyone's memories, the one who was spirited away by the Evil Queen against her will after finally finding Snow White. She's basically a war hero in his eyes, constantly suffering for the greater good. His prodigal sister, his exemplary role model, his White Knight.

And she wants nothing to do with him.

Gritting his teeth until his jaws hurt, he turns away from them and tears into his burger, feigning hunger to cover up his hurt. Teddy and Emma chat and catch up with each other, happy to ignore his presence while he fills his belly with food. When his plate is empty, he silently sulks away from them and heads back towards the food table in search of more snacks. Much like his father, his stomach is an endless pit.

"Are you okay?"

He glances up sharply at the husky voice, recoiling away when he realizes that the Evil Queen is standing right next to him. Regina's temple twitches with her frown but she allows him to reclaim his personal space without taking offense. She can only imagine the stories of her that he must have been raised on.

"What do you care?" he spits out, keeping his voice low to avoid making a scene. Regina averts her gaze to look at the table and picks up a celery stick for herself, dipping the end in the bowl of ranch dressing.

"Regardless of your parentage, you're my daughter's little brother." Her shoulder lifts in a delicate shrug as she nibbles the vegetable. "Believe it or not, everything I do, I do with her best interests in mind. I think she would like to get to know you, once she's done being angry."

Leo busies himself by transferring potato chips onto his plate, one chip at a time, his green eyes focuses on the task at hand. "She wants nothing to do with me."

"You took her by surprise, that's all. Give it a little time, she'll come around."

He glares at her from the corner of his eye but says nothing. Regina returns the steady gaze, her expression unreadable.

"You look just like her," she says after a moment, offering a small smile. "You have her chin and her eyes. Even her dimples."

"We get it from our mother," he says pointedly. Regina's head tilts in a very slight nod.

"I know. I raised your mother for a time. She looked much the same in her youth."

That takes Leo by surprise, somewhat. His mother had told him vaguely of her childhood; of when Regina had rescued her from a horse and became her mother in law by marrying the King. She never went into much detail - she would get misty eyed, which quickly turned to bitterness and anger - but he knew the gist of it. What he didn't expect was for the Evil Queen to remember such a thing.

"Back before you killed the King?" he asks, his tone accusing. Regina stiffens and glances around them with a grimace.

"Please keep your voice down, Leo. No one here knows about my old life. They don't even know that the Enchanted Forest existed."

"That explains why they don't hate you," he spits out. "They don't know who you really are."

Regina's brown eyes are sad when they regard him, her expression resigned. Before she even opens her mouth to respond, however, he can already tell that she isn't going to argue the fact with him.

"I only ask that you keep our secrets so that Emma doesn't lose her family. They love her."

"And do you?" he asks, mockingly. "Do you love her?"

Regina goes still, a flicker of anger flaring in her dark eyes at the mere assumption that she would not love the beautiful young woman she'd raised from infancy, but it fades just as quickly and she gives a tight smile, brown orbs turning sad once more. "Of course I love her."

She leaves him alone after that, retreating to a corner of the yard to be with Lauren and Pamela. Leo lingers at the food table and munches on chips, warily watching the going ons around him as a silent spectator. On the far side of the backyard, Emma and Teddy have joined a few other cousins near their age to sprawl out on towels over the grass, lounging in the sun.

"You play American football, kid?" Daniel appears at Leo's side, a football clasped in his hands. Leo dusts his fingers off on his jeans and shrugs a shoulder.

"I've played some." He doesn't regard Daniel with the same amount of suspicion as he does Regina. The man has a genuine warmth and kindness about him, with his emotions on his sleeve and his personality as transparent as a window. Leo can't help but wonder how Daniel got tricked into marrying the Evil Queen.

"Come on," Daniel says, thumping him on the shoulder as he trots out towards the open fields next to the yard. Leo finds himself following, hopping the fence after the rest of the joining cousins. They have a sizable group growing and Leo gets dragged over onto Daniel's team along with some teenagers near his age. He doesn't know anyone's name except for Daniel and William, but as the game progresses and he allows himself to enjoy the activity, he finds himself making friends.

"Pass, Leo!" one of the boys shouts. Leo ducks under William's arms and spirals the football at his teammate seconds before one of the cousins' sons - Aiden - collides into him. He stumbles and flails, but the other boy manages to grab him by a shoulder and steady him as his team touches down in enemy territory. Aiden grins and pats him on the back before returning to his side of the field.

"Nice throw," Daniel calls out as he trots past, thumping Leo on the back.

"Thanks, Danny," Leo laughs, flushed from the excitement. He glances towards the fence to realize that some of the others are watching their game at this point. Regina and Emma lean against the fence next to each other, the former smiling while the latter looks mildly impressed. Leo throws himself back into the game until even Emma starts to cheer for him.


"No! Not allowed! Gimme that." Emma snatches the stick from Leo's hands, laughing even as he pouts fiercely. There's a chorus of snickering and giggling around the campfire as some of the cousins playfully duel with their marshmallow-tipped sticks over the flames.

"Emma is the self-proclaimed master of s'more-making," Regina explains from where she sits wrapped up in a quilt and nestled between Daniel's knees.

"I am the master of s'more-making!" Emma insists, toasting the marshmallow over the flames and swatting Leo's hands away. "Hand me the graham crackers and the chocolate, kid."

Leo leans over to snatch two crackers and a square of chocolate from the pile of supplies, holding them out as his sister expertly sandwiches them together over the browned marshmallow and slides it off the end of the stick in one go. With a grunt of approval, she hands the treat over to him.

"Tell me that isn't the best s'more you've ever had."

Leo hesitates, the treat halfway to his mouth when he lowers it again and flickers his gaze up at her. She's sitting on a log while he leans against it from the ground. "I've never had a s'more before."

Emma looks affronted. "Wait, really? Your parents never took you camping?"

He wrinkles his nose slightly, but doesn't start up the argument about 'their' parents again. They've been getting along for hours and he doesn't want to ruin it. "No," he answers simply, biting into the s'more and withholding a groan as the chocolate and gooey marshmallow melts in his mouth. "Oh wow."

"See?" Emma points at him, looking pleased with herself. "Best s'more ever."

"Of course, dear," Regina teases, patting her knee. Emma laughs as she makes another s'more for her mother and Daniel.

Leo finishes his treat and licks his fingers, then scoots himself a little closer to the fire for warmth as a cool night breeze brushes over them, quickly cooling his skin as if his T-shirt weren't even there. He gets a second of warning before Teddy throws a quilt at his face.

"The nights get cold around here. Didn't you bring a jacket?" she asks.

"Didn't think I'd need one," he replies with a shrug, wrapping the quilt around his shoulders in relief. Next to him, one of the cousins' daughters - Andrea - shifts off of the log to sit on the ground next to him. She's two years younger than he is and tiny in size, and to everyone's amusement, she seems to have taken a shine to him.

"So where are you from, Leo?"

"Storybrooke," he says, at the same time Emma says, "Maine."

"That's far," Andrea notes with large eyes.

"Half a day's drive," Leo admits.

"You drove here?" One of the uncles blurts out in disbelief. Leo purses his lips, glancing to Emma as if seeking her guidance. She jumps in with a teasing voice.

"Little bugger stole his father's truck. I'm driving him back tomorrow."

Laughter ripples over the large group, devolving into multiple conversations scattered around the fire, Andrea claiming Leo's attention again among the soft rumble of voices. He's content to simply answer the younger girl's endless questions, but the others around his age also call out his name on occasion to strike up a conversation as if they had been friends for ages instead of just one day, and eventually the night becomes a giant blur of laughter and chatter to him, punctuated every so often by the s'mores that Emma places in his hand.

The younger cousins are the first to drop out, sent off into the main house by their parents to brush their teeth and set up their sleeping bags in the living room. When Andrea is sent inside for the night, Leo moves to sit on the log next to Emma, scooting closer until their shoulders are almost bumping. Eventually he's the only kid left in the group, which is when William and Daniel bring out the coolers of alcohol and start passing drinks around.

"Can I try some?" Leo whispers when Emma is handed a beer in a dark bottle. She shrugs and passes him the cold beverage.

"Emma Swan-Mills, he is not legal drinking age," Regina says sternly from where she's currently sitting in Daniel's arms, wrapped up in a quilt like a burrito. (Her tolerance for the cold gets worse as she grows older, and Emma thinks it's hilarious the way Regina now pads around the house at night in a giant fuzzy robe and thick woolen socks.)

"What? It's just a beer. It's like, four percent alcohol."

"Let the boy have a drink," Walter laughs, his weathered face creased with amusement as he hovers his large hands against the warmth of the fire. Pearl nods her agreement from where she sits leaning comfortably into Walter's side.

"A bit of alcohol never hurt a child. Heck, I used to rub a dab of rum on Emma's gums when she was teething as a baby."

"Pearl!" Regina complains, clearly not aware that such a thing had happened.

"Ma," Daniel laughs, giving Regina a reassuring hug. "That doesn't actually work. In fact I'm pretty sure giving babies a taste of rum is a bad idea."

"I did it to all of you and you all turned out just fine," Pearl scoffs, which has all her children chuckling in amusement. Leo peers up at Emma and she nods her permission at him, grabbing a new beer for herself while he sips at the one she gave him.

"What do you think, boy?" Walter asks from across the campfire. Leo licks his lips with a little scrunch of his nose.

"It's bitter. But not bad."

The men laugh and lift their bottles in a toast while the women roll their eyes a little in fond amusement. Leo listens in content silence as the adults talk about work and life and their families. By the time he's reached the bottom of his beer bottle, he's feeling a little bit fuzzy and pleasantly sleepy. His parents have never allowed him even a drop of alcohol before.

"You ready for bed, kid?"

Emma nudges him with her elbow and he finally realizes he's been leaning heavily against her side for some time now. Leo nods his head and feels his chin bump against his chest when his head proves heavier than usual.

"You've got a little lightweight on your hands," Daniel chuckles, which turns into full-on laughter when Regina slaps him on the chest. Emma rolls her eyes and grins, standing and dragging Leo with her.

"I'll go get him settled in. Come on, Leo." She leads him towards the second house after he mumbles a polite 'goodnight' to the group and is waved off by the amused adults. Once inside, he toes off his sneakers and trails after Emma as she grabs blankets and pillows from the closet and pulls out the couch into a makeshift bed. "Right, well. There you go. If you need anything, I'll be out at the fire with the others for a while longer."

Leo nods, sitting down gingerly on the edge of the couch and rubbing at the back of his neck. His head is down and his free hand rests in his lap, fingers curling and uncurling in a small fist. After a moment he says, "You're driving me back tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that's kinda the plan."

He finally lifts his head to meet her gaze, his green eyes shiny in the darkness of the living room. "Am I ever gonna see you again?"

Emma hesitates. He looks younger than ever, eyes wide, his dimpled chin quivering slightly. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't warmed to him throughout the day, but their family situations are undoubtedly difficult. "Kid, it's complicated…"

He jumps up and closes the distance, throwing himself at her in a koala hug that has her stumbling backwards a step to keep her balance. With his head jammed in under her chin and his arms squeezing her tightly around the middle, she can do nothing more than pat him on the back.

"I don't want to lose you, not when I finally found you," he warbles against her collarbone, voice quiet and wavering. Emma wonders how buzzed he could have possibly gotten from a single beer.

"This is the age of technology, kid. You can always call me, you know."

"It's not the same." He squeezes her a little tighter. Emma lifts one hand to gently rub at his back in a soothing motion.

"Hey, it'll be okay, Leo. I can, uh… I can visit you or something. I'm sure you'd always be welcome to visit us, too."

He sniffles loudly. Emma gently detaches him and coaxes him down onto the couch again, tucking him in under the blankets and fluffing up a pillow for him. Leo wipes at his eyes and pouts pitifully at her even as she gets him to lie down and pulls the blankets up to his chin.

"You won't forget about me? You won't replace me?" His question is so uncertain and full of yearning that she finds herself stroking a hand through his blonde hair with a soft smile.

"I'd never forget you. You're my one and only little brother, I promise."

His eyes shine again and he ducks his face, snuggling himself into the pillow to hide the blush on his cheeks. Emma chuckles.

"Get some sleep, kid. I'll see you tomorrow." She gives his hair a good ruffle, coaxing a laugh out of the boy as she rises and pads away. "Night, Leo."

"Goodnight, Emma," his soft voice calls after her. Emma slips from the room and to the main door, finding Regina standing still wrapped up in her quilt, tears in her eyes. The brunette startles momentarily at being discovered, wiping the wetness from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, you were taking a while and I just wanted to check…" her whisper trails off. Emma leads her back out of the house, gently shutting the front door behind them.

"Come with us tomorrow?" Emma asks instead, putting an arm around her mother's shoulders. "You can follow us in your Benz? That way I won't have to take a cab back when I drop off Leo and the truck."

Regina hesitates. "I don't know…"

"Maybe we can make peace with them," Emma offers softly, not having to specify who them entailed. "Then Leo and I can visit each other without starting any wars or whatever." She feels the tension in Regina's shoulders and gives her a squeeze. "Aww, c'mon. I'll protect you if they get aggressive. Nothing will happen, I promise. Worst case scenario, I punch Snow White in the face for you on the way out."

Regina finally lets loose a chuckle, relaxing against Emma's side. "Oh, alright. We'll go together." They amble back towards the campfire, arm in arm. Before they reach the group, Regina mutters under her breath, "I can't believe he used that ridiculous 'I found you' phrase," which has Emma bursting out in laughter.