Authors note: Aww come on friends, let's be nice to Neal. Haha I swear I didn't have him act that way for you all to hate him. But form my experience, sometimes when a kid develops resentment for a parent, it really takes a little more than a single apology to make everything better. I think he just reacted that way because he always thought that the curse was just something that Emma had to do with, and once that was done she could be happy with him, so it does kinda hurt that his dad was responsible for that. So let's not be too hard on Neal (lol maybe that's just me because I love him). Anywhoo here is the next chapter, I hope you all like it. It's kind of short and sucky, next one will rock.

Chapter 7- Surprise!

There was a knock on the door, and Emma blinked a few times. What was going on? They had fallen asleep after she had told Henry the truth. But when she turned to look at the spot next to her, it was empty. She panicked, where was Henry? She looked at the clock, it was midnight, where was her kid at midnight. Panic started to seep in, what was she going to do? Just as all of these thoughts were rushing through her head, there was another knock on the door.

"Miss Swan?"

Emma bolted to the door, and when she opened it, it was Mr. Gold, and thankfully Henry was with him. She felt a huge weight off her shoulders, but she was also mad at Henry for leaving the room.

"Henry, where did you go? I was about ready to have a panic attack!" she scolded.

"I caught him trying to sneak out of the motel" Mr. Gold said calmly.

"Henry?"

"I wasn't going to be gone long, I was just going to go find him, talk to him"

"Kid, this isn't Storybrooke, you can't just leave in the middle of the night it could be dangerous" she said as she pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to talk to him for a little"

"Kid, I don't think that's a good idea. He's made it clear he wants nothing to do with Mr. Gold, and so, we are going back home in the morning"

"It's true Henry, we should return to Storybrooke"

Henry looked a little disappointed, and Emma knew that he wished that he could go talk to Neal. But it would have been pretty difficult to explain why he was there, and Emma wasn't ready to let Neal know he had a son. She just wanted out of Manhattan, and to go back home. She looked up at Mr. Gold, for the first time grateful that he was there.

"Thank you, for making sure he was okay"

"It was the least I could do Miss Swan. Now if you'll excuse me I will retire for the night. I think we can leave around six am tomorrow, and arrive at Storybrooke at a decent hour?"

"That sounds like a plan" she said as she closed the door.

"Please promise you won't leave again" she said.

"I just want to know him, mom" Henry said.

"I know kid, but I just don't know if he's ready. How about I make you a deal. We go back home, and then we'll write him a letter, you got the address off the building we found him outside of, right?"

When Henry nodded, she smiled, "Well we'll write him a letter, and then see what happens. Does that sound good?"

Emma wasn't sure if the letter would get to Neal, given they didn't have the apartment number, but maybe it would. She didn't want to deny Henry the possibility of knowing his father, but she wasn't ready to face him, or to tell him the truth. It was bad enough that Neal had betrayed her, but he had also left her pregnant and even though she couldn't imagine life without Henry now, she didn't want him to know just yet. When Henry nodded she smiled and ushered him to bed, and then she settled in for the night herself.

Five hours later, her alarm went off, she quickly shut it off so that she wouldn't wake Henry. She was still a little bleary eyed, she would definitely need coffee to drive all the way to Storybrooke on only six hours of sleep. But it didn't matter, they were going to go home today. She got out of the shower and was dressed by five thirty, and it was then that she heard a soft knock at the door, not wanting to wake Henry up she tiptoed to the door and opened the door to find the last person she expected to be standing there.

"Neal? What the hell are you doing here?" she mentally cursed herself, they had been so close.

"I wanted to talk to you before you left, he told me you were leaving this morning"

"Neal, it's too damn early to deal with this crap" she said.

"Mom?" she heard a groggy voice, "Is that Mr. Gold? Do you think he'll let us stop for breakfast before we go back home"

Damn it she thought, as she looked over at a bleary eyed Henry who was rubbing at his eyes. Well so much for the letter idea.

"You have a kid?!" Neal asked.

"Yeah, Henry is my kid"

"But he looks like he's what, eleven. How can you..oh" it seemed like he made the connection.

With a sigh she pushed open the door the rest of the way, making it clear that he could come back in. It wasn't like she was going to get rid of him now, and Henry was going to get his wish.

"Hey kid, why don't you jump in the shower? And then when Mr. Gold comes, we'll talk to him about taking you to breakfast, while Neal and I talk a little?"

"Okay" he said, as he jumped from the bed and ran to the bathroom.

"He's, ours?"

"Yeah"

"But when, how? I mean" he seemed at a loss for words.

"I can't tell you when, but you don't need me to explain how it happened" she said pointedly.

"Emma, if I would have known, I would have told August to go to hell. I never would have abandoned you, or our baby"

"Right"

"You have to believe me, I thought I was doing what was best for you. August told me that this was best for you. I'm such an idiot"

"Well that's something we can both agree on"

There was a knock on the door again, and she could only guess that it was Mr. Gold. He was about to open his mouth when he noticed that Neal was in the room, but Emma shook her head. She really didn't need to be in the middle of a shouting match between Neal and Gold, she had enough problems already.

"Would you mind taking Henry to breakfast? He's in the shower right now, but he should be out in a few minutes. I don't' want him being hungry half the way back home"

"Yes, I'll just wait for him out here, do send the boy out when he is ready. And I'll bring you something as well"

"Thank you"

It was then that Henry bounded out of the bathroom, fully clothed and his hair completely wet. Emma shook her head as she reached for a towel to dry off his hair a little, the last thing she needed was for him to go outside so early in the morning and catch a cold. Not only would she have a sick kid, but she'd also have to deal with the wrath of Regina.

"I'll see you in a bit, all right?" Emma said.

"Yep, see ya dad" and with a little wave he bounded out the door with Mr. Gold.

She turned to look at Neal, who had a look of surprise on his face. She was pretty sure she had the same face the first time Henry had referred to her as his mother. It was weird hearing that word from a kid, and it had to be weirder for him, given that he didn't know about Henry up until twenty minutes ago.

"Em, I'm sorry, I just, I don't know how to even begin to fix this"

"Just stop Neal, there isn't anything to fix. All I need from you, is your promise that if you plan on being his dad, that you be there for him, no matter how uncomfortable that makes you"

"Meaning?"

"That either you deal with the issues you have with your own father, or you can't see Henry. Because like it or not, Henry and I live in the same town as your father, and we aren't moving any time soon. So it's up to you to decide what you want to do"