Author's Note:

Hello! I am excited to get another chapter up! Shoutout to my amazing co-writer, Andromeda2000 :D

Neal ran his hand down his face; he had not expected the ambush he'd received from Emma's dad. When they had started dating, she had no family, so he didn't have to worry about what they felt about him. Now it appeared that the whole town was her family, or in some way connected to her. It was slightly unnerving. He noticed Emma talking to Ruby, obviously just about to leave, so he hovered, trying to look inconspicuous.

Emma turned to leave and saw him, saying a few words to Ruby before walking towards him. "Hey."

Neal smiled softly. "Hey, Emma." He said. "How are you?"

"Good, thanks." She replied with a smile, stopping a few feet from him. "Are you heading back to Granny's?"

"Yeah… I want to check out houses in the area and I left the newspaper in my room. Wanna come with?" Neal asked, more than slightly hopeful.

Emma smiled and, after a second of hesitation, nodded. "I'd love to!"

Neal smiled, not saying anything about her hesitating. "So… ladies first, I guess." He said, waving his arm in the direction they were to go.

She bowed her head in gratitude and walked past him, only to open the door a second later. "After you, Sir."

Neal laughed and grinned slightly at her as he walked through. "Why thank you, my lady."

Emma laughed with him and soon joined him. "So, which houses are you looking at?" She enquired.

"I have them highlighted in my newspaper - that's why I need to pick it up," Neal explained. "There are three… they're not big; two of them only have one room, and if Henry wants to stay over I'll have to get one of those sofa beds. At least he'd get a TV in his room, though." He laughed.

She nodded with a smile. "I'm sure Henry would be happy with any of them. Let's go check them out."

Neal laughed. "I sure hope so," he said with a slight grin as he kept walking.

Neal had just finished speaking with the owner and was now walking around, observing the creamy-white walls of the living room. There was no furniture, so he was carefully measuring the space with his eyes.

"It's pretty," Emma informed him, joining him from somewhere else in the house. "And there's some attic space - with a bit of work, that could be another bedroom," she suggested.

Neal nodded. "It seems nice… plus the balcony's got a great view." He pointed out, poking his head out a bit towards the window.

She nodded in agreement, walking out to look at the view from the balcony.

Neal walked into the bathroom, looking around carefully. "It has a tub, too… I mean, it's an awesome house." He paused for a moment. "I'm just not completely sure it's the right one for me."

Emma pulled her hair up into a casually neat ponytail and checked the time, seeing that she still had ten minutes before Neal was due to arrive. She was shocked when he texted her earlier asking for a date - especially as they had seen each other an hour before the text came through. But, it added to the mystery. If there was one thing about Neal that Emma loved, it was how he always managed to surprise her.

Neal was actually early, he realised that, but he was honestly so impatient to see her that he still walked up to the door and knocked lightly, holding a single white orchid in his hand. He waited silently, his heart beating fast in his chest, and he lightly scolded himself for being so silly- it was like being a teenager all over again.

Emma opened the door, smiling when she saw him, and her grin only widened when she noticed the orchid. "Oh, that's beautiful - you remembered." She commented, standing to one side. "Come on in."

Neal smiled at her and held it out for her to take. "Of course I remembered," he said softly. "You look great." He told her truthfully as he stepped inside.

"Thank you. You look pretty handsome yourself." Emma said with a smile and accepted the orchid, putting it in a vase and putting it on the counter. "So… where are we going?" She enquired curiously.

Neal smiled his most charming smile. "I suppose you'll have to find out... I have a surprise for you."

She grinned; she loved surprises, but was always too curious and tended to ruin the surprise. But she loved knowing where she was going, too. "I hate surprises." She grumbled. "Can I at least know if a dress is appropriate?"

Neal laughed. "If you hate them, why are you grinning like that?" He asked amusedly. "And you're perfect the way you are."

Emma quickly tried to hide her smile. "Shut up." She said playfully, lightly hitting his arm before hooking her arm around his. "Thank you. You're too sweet. Can we go?" She asked impatiently, wanting to know what the surprise was.

Neal laughed again, very aware that she was only telling him to shut up because he was right. "Of course. Do you have everything you need?"

She quickly grabbed her bag, glanced into it ensure she had everything she would need - she did - and headed for the door. "Let's go."

"After you," Neal said with a smile.

Returning his smile, she allowed him to lead her out of her house and down the sidewalk. Turning left, curiousity got the better of her and she couldn't help but question him. "So… where are we going?"

"Just trust me," Neal told her with a bit of a grin. "You'll like it."

"If we end up at your place, you could have warned me - I wouldn't have gotten dressed up," Emma replied. Even though she didn't spend hours getting ready for this 'date' Neal had planned, she had put in quite a bit more effort than normal.

Neal laughed. "It's not exactly my place." He said, although he didn't explain what he meant with that. "But it's not exactly not my place, either."

She couldn't help but send him a dumbfounded look. "Okay," she hummed. "Oh, before I forget, Henry's free tomorrow if you two wanted to hang out."

Neal nodded without hesitation. "Yeah, in the afternoon - I actually may have found myself a job here."

"A job?" Emma asked with mild surprise, shocked that he hadn't brought it up before now. "Where? Doing what?"

"Well, don't look so surprised," Neal teased. "It's at the Storybrooke Animal Feed. I mean, it's not much, but it's all I could find on such short notice."

"Not much? That's great!" Emma replied, taking his arm in hers. "Looks like things are coming together."

Neal couldn't help but smile at that. "Yes, they are. So in the afternoon I can plan something with him- in the morning I have my very first shift. So wish me luck with that." He said as he reached a front door and took out the keys to open it.

"Good luck," Emma said before turning her attention to his door - so they were going to his apartment?

Neal laughed as he opened the door. "Ladies first." He said with a light smile.

After climbing up two flights of stairs, Neal did not stop at his apartment door, but went up another two floors. He fumbled with his keys as he approached a door, which had obviously once been painted white, but now the paint was peeling off and was mostly just bronze-coloured, and rusty. He unlocked the door and went inside - or rather, outside. The terrace was not too big, but it was not small, either, and there were vines on the walls of the building. Just a few steps from the ledge there was a small, plastic green table, maybe large enough for a total of three or four people. On the table, there was a picnic basket, though its contents were covered by a white piece of cloth. Beside the picnic basket was a small lamp. "So those chairs don't look particularly comfortable… but I promise they're better than they seem." Neal assured her with a bit of a nervous laugh.

Emma had actually forgotten how romantic Neal was - even their first date had been better than she could imagine. He wasn't boring at all - he was pretty amazing. "This is… amazing!" She breathed, almost shocked into speechlessness.

Neal couldn't help but smile widely, clearly relieved. "I'm glad you like it." He said as he walked towards the table. "Now I must warn you, this light is not nearly bright enough once it gets darker but I didn't have time to buy a better one… so I am sorry for that."

"It's perfect," she replied honestly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Neal smiled as he sat down on one of the chairs. "By the way, I got pizza. Because, well, it's pizza."

Had Emma thought this evening couldn't get any better, she would have been wrong. She stepped in front of him, their eyes met, and she pulled him into a kiss. He just knew her too well! "Perfection," she commented upon pulling away.

Neal grinned slightly when she pulled away, and looked at her a bit breathlessly. "Good, because you deserve no less than that."

She briefly wondered how different things could have been had Neal not run off; Neal was a great dad and would have been at the time, too. A lost opportunity. Although, she was happy now that they had another chance. The rest of the date continued with the same light tone and didn't technically end until the following morning.

Henry wasn't used to having a father, which was why he couldn't quite fathom how every moment with him was so natural, so easy.

The roads of Storybrooke were almost deserted. The car proceeded slowly, though his father was clearly taking his time in taking him home.

Suddenly, on the side of the road, the car stopped completely.

Henry looked at the older man curiously and Neal sighed softly, needing a moment before looking at him. "Son..." He began, his voice full of hesitation. "I'm sorry."

Henry furrowed his eyebrows. "For what?"

"Listen, bud... I grew up without a dad, too. I lost him when I was your age and there was a hole in me after that. A hole that I could never fill and I don't want to think... no, I can't stand to think that I caused you that kind of pain."

Henry shook his head. "I'm okay, Dad. And even if I wasn't, it wouldn't be your fault."

Neal looked at the little boy, achingly similar to a much younger version of himself. He wasn't sure whether he believed it or not. "I love you, Son."

"I love you too, Dad." Henry smiled.

Neal remained silent for a moment; he didn't make any attempt to start the car. "Do you like pizza?"

Henry laughed. "Everyone likes pizza." He reminded him.

"Are you able to leave Storybrooke?" Neal asked curiously, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Err... Yes..." Henry answered hesitantly, not sure where this conversation was going.

"When's your bedtime?"

"Nine-thirty, generally," Henry told him, trying to figure out what his father was thinking.

Neal glanced at his watch. 4:05 PM.

He took his phone out and handed it to his son as he restarted the car. "Text your mom. Tell her I'm taking you on a road trip to eat the best pizza in the whole of Maine."

Henry grinned. Yes, he really liked having a father and could definitely get used to it.

Thank you very much for reading!