Title: Love is Strength
Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine!
Warning: K+ (Mentions some child abuse from Emma's past)
Author's Note: Chapter 9! Sorry this took forever! I have been so busy lately with work and school! Also I liked that Josh Dallas was in Thor so that is why they are watching it. :) And I thought Henry would probably love Superhero movies! Hope you guys like this chapter! :)
A Little Bit of Family Time
Charming went back to eating his dinner. Emma was pushing her food back and forth trying to make it look like she was eating. Charming could tell that she wasn't feeling good because she would have been eating seconds by now. She had her head resting on her hand again; the frozen corn lay on the table forgotten.
"Got it!" Henry said as he raced down the stairs nearly giving Charming a heart attack. One day that boy was going to hurt himself if he didn't slow down on those stairs.
"Henry, why don't you go set it up while we finish up in here." Snow said as she stood up to start clearing the table by bringing the dish of chicken alfredo back to the kitchen.
Henry headed over to the TV while reading the back cover of the movie. Charming looked over at Emma who had closed her eyes. He isn't sure if it is her exhaustion or her headache that is causing her to close them. He is hoping it is more the exhaustion from the day and from telling them about her past with the Browns then her headache. He was so angry and sad about her story. His poor little girl had gone through so much and now is hurt and exhausted because of King George. If she woke up to see him looking at her so intently, she would be telling him that she is "fine." The fact was that she wasn't fine and she really should be in bed, but both Snow and him know that she wouldn't go for that.
His flannel shirt was a little big for her, but it seemed to help her keep warm even though she kept shivering every once in awhile. It surprised him how she looked so young and vulnerable right now. This is probably what she looked like when she was not feeling good when she was younger. She probably would have been stubbornly sitting at the table like she was now, practically asleep, but refusing to go to bed. It brought a smile to his face, she was stubborn, but more stubborn then Snow or him. He grabbed his plate and cup to bring them to the kitchen leaving Emma at the table.
"She really should be in bed, Charming." Snow said as she took the dishes from Charming as she looked over at Emma.
"I know, but I have a feeling she is not going to go for that." Charming said with a smile. "She probably will fall asleep on the couch anyway."
Snow nods, but is still worried about Emma.
"Are you okay after hearing that?" Charming asked knowing that Snow was thinking about their conversation with Emma about her past.
Snow choked back tears as she said, "I hate that she went through all of that and she was so young, David. She shouldn't have been treated that way. She should have been with us, protected and loved." Snow whispered as tears began to fall down her face. "I hate that we sent her over here to a world that was so cruel to her. It's my fault. I decided that we should send her through the wardrobe. It's my fault." Snow said as she cried harder.
Charming wipes away a tear from her cheek and makes her look at him. "No, Snow. It is not your fault, we made that decision together, and it was her best chance at surviving. I wish that she had been with us, but because of the curse everything was messed up. I believe that if we did not send her through the wardrobe, Regina would have either killed her or at least kept her separated from us. I wish we could have protected her from everything she went through, but we couldn't and now we have to just help her deal with the past and let her know we are here for her." Charming finished as he brought Snow in for a hug.
After a moment, Snow said "Thank you, Charming. You always know what to say when I need it." Then Snow kissed him.
"Ughhh, Come on guys, there are kids in the room!" Emma groaned as she motioned towards Henry. She used Henry as an excuse because she didn't want to see that, especially because they were her parents! She did NOT want to see them making out!
Charming forced back a laugh because Emma's expression was priceless. "Henry is in the other room and you were sleeping at the table." Charming said with a smirk.
"I wasn't sleeping, I was just resting my eyes." Emma quickly responded.
"Mmhm. What ever you say...princess." Charming chuckled as he went to the living room to sit on the couch.
"I am serious. And don't call me that!" Emma said as she put her head back on her hand. Princess, she knows she really is a princess, but that is just too much to think about especially with her headache.
"Emma, put the frozen corn on your head, it will help your headache." Snow said back in her overprotective mom tone. Snow waited for Emma to put the frozen corn on her head before she grabbed Emma's plate and cup. Emma had stopped eating a while ago and she was sure that she was done.
Emma groaned, but grabbed the frozen corn to put on her head. She had actually forgotten about it and it had been helping her headache. Plus Snow kept standing there with that mom look.
Snow swallowed a chuckle as Emma groaned, yet did what Snow had asked. She can definitely see Emma as teenager. Snow finished cleaning up the dishes and then made some hot chocolate with cinnamon to drink as they watched their movie.
Emma decided that she probably should head to the living room before she fell asleep again. She got up with her corn still to her head and walked over to the couch where Charming was sitting on one end. She normally would just sit on the opposite side, but tonight she wanted to be by him so she sat down in the middle of couch.
Charming was surprised when Emma sat by him on the couch, maybe she was feeling like he was and need to be close by. Charming chuckled as he said "You aren't going to fall asleep on me are you?"
"I didn't fall asleep at the table!" Emma said with a tired annoyed tone, but then smiled as she settled in by her father. She could probably fall asleep right then, but was determined to watch Thor.
"Yeah, you did. You had your eyes closed for a couple minutes." Henry said with a mischievous grin and then winked at Charming.
"Hey kid, you are supposed to be on my side!" Emma said slightly offended, but couldn't help but smile at Henry, his smile was contagious.
"Well, you are outnumbered princess, 2 to 1, you were asleep." Charming smirked at Emma.
"Will you stop calling me that?!" Emma said as she hit Charming with arm in the ribs. It was a pretty weak attempt. Charming just chuckled and Emma knew he wasn't going to stop calling her princess. She wouldn't admit it, but she liked that he gave her a nickname; she just wished it wasn't princess. "Is it ready Henry?" Emma changed the topic as she put the corn back to her head remembering why she was holding frozen corn in the first place. Geez that was cold, Emma thought as she shivered.
Charming noticed her shiver and reached over to get a blanket for her. He handed the blanket to her.
"Thanks, it is pretty cold in here, is the heat on?' Emma asked seriously as she put the blanket on her.
"Yeah, it's been on all day." Charming replied with a worried expression. She is partially in shock, which is making her cold still because it wasn't that cold in the apartment.
"Oh." Emma said. She was really hoping Snow forgot about icing her ribs and she wasn't about to remind her because that would make her colder! She wasn't going to volunteer for that even though they probably need to be iced.
Snow came over a moment later with four cups of hot chocolate and some chocolate chip cookies.
"Awesome!" Henry said as he grabbed a hot chocolate and a cookie. He then went and sat at Emma's feet.
Charming grabbed one for Emma and handed it to her while taking the bag of frozen corn from her.
"Thanks." Emma said as she took the mug with her good hand hoping that it would warm her up some more.
Snow and Charming got their cups and Snow sat down on the other side of Emma. "Henry, we are ready for the movie. You want to start it?" Snow said with a wink and a soft smile. Family time has officially started even if they were about to lose one of their members soon to sleep.
"Yeah!" Henry said as he jumped up to push play.
Charming put his arm across the back of the couch and rested it on Snow's shoulder.
"Hey, no funny business on the couch, especially when I'm here between you two!" Emma said with a disgusted look and then sighed when he made no move to move his arm.
Charming and Snow exchanged an amused smile and Charming chuckled, but kept his arm on Snow.
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It was about ten minutes into the movie and Emma had been trying really hard to keep her head up, but it felt really heavy especially after the hot chocolate. So she laid her head on Charming shoulder, once again. She was passed caring about what she was doing. She was worn-out and her head was killing her. She liked knowing he was there and having that contact with him. She may feel differently tomorrow, but tonight she needed her Dad.
Charming knew Emma was starting to lose the battle with sleep when she started to nod off during the first couple of minutes of the movie, but he didn't expect her to lay her head on his shoulder again, maybe Snow's, but not his. He was ecstatic about it and loved being able to have that connection with her. He didn't even really think of what he was doing when he put his arm that was draped over the couch on her shoulder. Then he leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead. He just loved her so much and didn't like that she was hurting. He wanted to protect her and love her because she was HIS princess. He felt her tense up for a second, but then she relaxed even more under his touch.
"You know Gramps, Fandral looks a lot like you." Henry said thoughtfully.
"You think so?" Charming said with a chuckle trying to see the resemblance.
"You actually do look a lot like him, are you sure David Nolan never was an actor?" Emma asked with a grin knowing that couldn't have been possible.
"I was in a coma, of course David Nolan couldn't have been in Thor." Charming said as he shook his head slowly.
"That's your excuse for everything!" Henry exclaimed. "Oh, what if your mom really had triplets and Gold sent one of them to this world? It could have happened!" Henry said thoughtfully.
"Kid, I think that might be a little far-fetched." Emma said with a laugh.
"And I think my mother would have know if she had triplets." Charming said with a chuckle.
"Okay, okay." Henry resigned with a grin turning his attention back to the movie. "So it had to be you."
Charming, Snow, and Emma just laughed at Henry's persistence.
Family time, just what Snow wanted. He was thankful that King George did not ruin their happiness and if Charming had anything to do with it, he would never ruin their happiness. When he finally found King George, he would pay for hurting his daughter. Charming unconsciously held Emma a little closer as he thought of King George, keeping her protected. Charming loved her so much and was not planning on letting King George put a finger on her or letting anyone else hurt her, for that matter.
He could hear that Emma's breathing slowed which probably meant she had fallen asleep. Snow must have noticed because she fixed the blanket on Emma so that it was covering her better. Charming and Snow exchanged a glance, knowing that she was finally asleep. Charming smiled as he realized she did fall asleep on him like he predicted, but he didn't mind, he wouldn't ever mind when it came to his daughter. He would do anything for his little princess.
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