Prologue: Mistletoe Trap


Emma was complacent in how the evening turned out.

When the girls were off to themselves it had mainly been Ruby to tease Emma about her date with Neal as she had been one of the many people in town to witness their heated kiss near the nunnery.

On occasion Emma would catch Neal looking at her much in the same way she saw David look at Snow a few times. It made her excited and nervous at the same time.

There was laughter and smiles throughout the night. It was peaceful and the kind of Christmas had only head and often dreamed about.

Last year she had shared a simple Christmas with Snow and Henry however this one was different because now she knew, as did Snow and everyone else; that they truly were surrounded by friends and that the dynamics had changed. Snow had gone from being Emma's best friend to being her mom.

Emma now had the kind of family she had been envious over the years. She had gotten good at hiding said envy but each year especially around the holidays it did sting a little to not have a traditional Christmas or any other holiday experience for that matter.

Things had changed. They were better.


Later in the evening Emma sat in the middle of the couch with Henry leaning into her right side, her arm wrapped around him, and Neal on her left, his arm draped around her.

Snow and David sat on the adjoining love seat.

Ella and Tomas had left a couple hours ago to put Alexandra to bed and the dwarves followed them shortly after. The only ones to stay were Ruby and Granny.

Emma could feel the weight of Henry's head as it began to tilt.

She looked down at him and smiled.

"Okay kid," she said to him. "I think it's time for bed."

"I'm not tired," said Henry.

"Sure you're not, come on let's go. I'll be there in ten minutes to tuck you in."

"Okay, goodnight everybody."

"'Night."

""Night kid."

"Goodnight Henry."

Henry did stop in front of Neal. "Are you going to be here tomorrow?"

Neal looked at Henry, "I don't know, I guess that's up to your mom," he said turning to look at Emma.

Emma smiled and tightened her grip on Neal's hand and then looked at Henry. "He'll be here."

Henry smiled and made his way upstairs.

"Guess I should probably get going," Neal said to Emma. "It's getting late."

Ruby looked at Granny, "We should probably get going too."


Everyone said their goodbye pleasantries and Emma then walked Neal to the door. Ruby and Granny hung back a bit to talk with Snow and David.

"So we usually open presents around ten," said Emma, "but come by an hour before just so we can spent time together for breakfast. Snow usually goes overboard with the food. She did last year anyways."

"Sure I'll do that. So what do you think, does tonight count as a second date?"

"You've been with my family before."

"I have but that was pre-boyfriend status."

"Boyfriend," Emma repeated.

"I'm sorry, too weird? Too soon?"

"I don't-," Emma said. She could think of several other terms but she wasn't quite ready to say them out loud yet.

Before Emma could contemplate it any longer Ruby came up to them.

"You two might want to watch where you stand," she said pointing up.

Neal and Emma looked up to see a bushel of mistletoe hanging above them.

Neal placed his hands in his pockets and Emma looked away trying not to blush.

"We don't have-," Neal began.

"Yes you do," Ruby demanded, "And besides, what's the big deal? The whole town saw the two of you making out last night anyways."

Emma could think of several reasons, the main one being how awkward it would be to kiss Neal in front of her parents.

Ruby couldn't help but laugh when she understood Emma's own hesitation as it was fairly obvious.

"You had a kid when you were eighteen. I can't imagine it gets any more awkward than that. Do us all a favor and just get it over with."

Emma looked at Neal and he looked at her and smiled.

Emma then looked over to her left, "Mind giving ups some space Ruby?"

"Wow, it's gonna get heated," she asked, "Guess I'd better go find the fire extinguisher."

Emma looked down and laughed and then up at Neal with guilty eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said to him.

"I'm not. Besides, how else was I going to find an excuse to kiss you tonight? And after all it is a Christmas tradition. Don't want you to arrest me for breaking that law officer."

"You're right and it's not like I can arrest myself."

"Your father could do the arresting for you," Granny shouted.

Emma laughed as did Neal as did Neal. Smiling he leaned in, smiling as their lips met. They shaped around each other's perfectly as they had last night.

Everything about this kiss was exquisite: The smell, the taste, the texture, the overall sensations.

The two of them could hear muffled laughter's and people clearing their throats.

Neal was the first to pull back. "Think we should put this on hold?"

Emma looked over her shoulder and smiled despite her blushing and then turned to Neal.

"We've been on hold for ten years. I think we've waited long enough," she said going up to kiss him again not caring about their onlookers.

Though they still had Christmas to look forward to tomorrow this had been the seamless end to their first Christmas Eve together.


~END~


Author's Note: Okay so I'm leaving this up to you all- In this short series the first part took place December 23rd. Then this one took place December 24th.

What do you think, should I go ahead and write a continued story for Emma & Neal spending December 25th together? Let me know either in a review or a PM :)