Thank you all so much for following my story. Thank you especially to those who have reviewed I do appreciate every one of them :)

Unwanted Surprises

Emma bit her lip nervously as she kept looking over at clock. Each second that ticked past meant it was getting later and darker outside.

She could feel her stomach churning with worry. Please let Henry be OK, she prayed silently. If anyone had hurt her son she would kill them.

"Calm down Emma. We will find him." Snow said as she gently rubbed Emma's shoulder. She was trying to reassure her worried daughter.

Emma could kick herself for losing track of time. Maybe Regina was right. She wasn't ready to be a mom. Maybe Henry was better off with her.

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have been late." Emma muttered as she paced up and down the front room, burning a hole in the floor.

Emma slumped down onto the sofa putting her head in her hands. She kept crossing and un-crossing her legs several times unable to keep still.

"I can't just sit here and await I'm going to go look for him." Emma could not stand waiting any longer. She needed to do something.

"I'm coming with you." Charming said reaching for his jacket.

The sound of the door creaking open made all three of them stops in their tracks.

"Henry!" Emma gasped. She rushed over him wrapping her arms around him tightly nearly knocking him off his feet.

Breaking the hug Emma knelt in front of her son. "Where were you… you know to wait at the gates for one of us… Anything could have happened."

Henry's eyes fell to the floor, "I'm sorry, you weren't there and I just wanted to clear my head." He sadly answered .

"I'm sorry too kid, I shouldn't have been late." Emma replied apologetically, it was her fault as well.

"I'll go and call Regina, let her know he's home safe." Charming said. He picked up the phone and disappeared into the bedroom.

"Henry. You can't just walk off again without telling one of us ok? It's not safe." She said as she took his face in her hands. She made Henry look into her eyes. Emma wanted to make sure he understood how important her words were.

"And it saves me get a lecture from Regina about my lack of parenting skills." She quickly added. Henry smiled and nodded his head.

"Go get yourself cleaned up before dinner." Emma ordered and pushed him towards the stairs.

"Ok…" Henry huffed, walking to the stairs. "Oh Emma, before I forget… can we get a dream catcher?" He asked.

Emma's breath caught in her throat. If felt like she could not breathe.

"What?" She choked out. This was the only word she could manage to say. She tried to hold back the tears that stung her eyes. She had pushed all her memories of him to the back of her mind but now she could picture him clearly as if he was standing in front of her. Her reaction did not go unnoticed by Snow

"A dream catcher its…"

"I know what it is." Emma interrupted. "Why do you want one?" Her voice was no more than a whisper.

"Too help with my nightmares." Henry replied slightly confused by Emma's reaction.

Emma took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Ok kid." She answered finally gaining her composure.

Once Henry had disappeared upstairs, Snow turned to her daughter.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"What?" Emma replied trying to pretend nothing had happened.

"With Henry?" Snow asked, she was not going to let Emma shrug her off.

"Nothing." Emma saw Snow raise her eyebrow. "It just reminded me of something."

"Something or someone?" Snow knew she was prying but she could not stop herself. She was worried about Emma.

Emma rolled her eyes. She knew her mother would not drop it and she was not in the mood to have this conversation.

"I'm heading back to the station; I need to do something for Gold." She replied picking up her car keys.

"Gold?" Snow raised her eyebrows again but this time in surprise.

"It's nothing to worry about trust me… I don't know how late I'll be so go ahead with dinner."

"Emma… Just go careful." Snow warned.

Emma shared a warm smile with Snow. Emma let out a deep breath she did not know she was holding as the door closed behind her.

Neal groaned he could not think straight due to the continuous thumping in his head. He had been unable to shake off the headache that had driven him crazy all day. All he wanted to do was to clear his head and make sense of his feelings for Emma.

He had spent most of the day trying to put into words how he felt. But even in his own head none of it made sense. He got up from his bed and shrugged on his coat. He had to get out of his room.

He slammed the door behind him and walked out onto the street. Neal did not know where he was going. It was strange but he felt like something was pulling him along. It was if he could sense something drawing him. With no idea where he was headed. Neal decided to let his feet carrying him.

Neal shuffled along the path, not caring about where he was heading or how late it had become. He still had this strange feeling that he was being lead somewhere.

Neal came to a stop when he reached the end of the road. He looked up in surprise. He was standing outside the Sheriff's office. Neal stood there silently staring at the light coming from the window.

It was almost 10pm and Emma was becoming restless. She had been working on Mr Gold's file for hours and was no further forward from when she stared.

She picked up the file again and read it for the hundredth time. Emma sighed heavily and brushed her fringe from her eyes. Whoever this person was they had made sure it would be almost impossible to find them. But she knew she couldn't give up.

Maybe her mind just wasn't on the job. Emma could not stop thinking about Henry. She had been apart from her son for hours now. She could not stop worrying about him. His nightmares were getting worse and there was nothing she could do to help him. She felt powerless. All she could do was be there for him and she wasn't ever doing that at the moment.

She jumped a little when her phone beeped in her pocket. Emma pulled her phone out. She had one new message .Her fingers hovered over the buttons for a moment before opening the message.

I've been to Granny's and got you something to eat; I'll pop it into the office on my way home. And Henry is fine so stop worrying Snow xx

Emma leant back in her chair and smiled at her phone. Emma felt relieved that her son was safe with her parents. Her stomach began to rumble a little, she did not even realise that she was hungry. She wondered if perhaps Snow knew her a little too well.

The office door slowly began to open.

"Wow that was quick," Emma laughed as she looked up from her phone. Her smile instantly dropped and her whole body froze.

"Hello Emma…"