Sorry I didn't post this earlier today! I totally forgot about it! Here it is, to hold you over until next week when OUAT is on again!
Chapter 10
Graham wasn't overly happy, but he didn't complain. He even helped by packing Henry's backpack with his stuff while I got Grace's together. They were coming with and I only hoped it wouldn't be bad for them.
"If you decide you can't stay give me a call. I'll come get you," Graham promised as we pulled up outside of the inn. I smiled at him and got out, as did Henry and Grace.
We barely made it to the stairs before Ruby was outside, dragging us in. When we got to the room Ruby had for the sleepover, it was obvious she didn't do anything halfway. About every type of chocolate imaginable was in sight, and there was a pile of chick flicks and Disney movies by the TV.
"Come on! Let's start on hair!" Milah said excitedly. I was nowhere near as excited as everyone else.
However, it didn't take long for us to all be settled down, doing hair and watching movies like we were all the best of friends.
"You know, I used to always have the biggest crush on Daniel," Regina said in the middle of a Disney movie they were watching for Henry and Grace's benefit. Or so they said.
"Really? I always liked Hook!" Milah exclaimed.
"Wow. I kind of liked David," Mary Margaret said quietly.
"And I've had a thing for Archie for three years now," Ruby admitted, excited. They all turned to Emma.
"Hey, don't look at me. August is an ass," Emma said automatically.
"Language," I piped up.
"But he's a hot ass," Milah said with a giggle.
"What's an ass?" Grace asked, eyes tearing from the TV to look at the girls.
"It's a bad word we shouldn't say," Henry told her, eyes still on the movie.
"Exactly," I told them.
"If you all liked them, why did you have me date them?" I asked them, confused.
"They are cheaters. If we like them, it won't do us any good. This way, maybe they'll get over it and we can go for them," Milah said, as if it were obvious.
"I can't do it anymore, guys. It's too stressful. I have enough I'm dealing with," I told them quietly.
"With the kids?" Regina asked.
"Her father," Emma corrected, eyeing my neck.
"It's…not that easy, juggling all of this stuff," I admit.
"Why is Graham always around you?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Yeah. I was wondering that. I know he's gay and all, but he had been acting suspiciously straight these last few days," Milah added, looking at me accusingly.
"He's still gay. He's helping me out. He views me as a younger sister, and I see him as an older brother. Trust me," I told them.
No one seemed to believe me, but thankfully they dropped it.
"We should share secrets. You know. Since we're kind of bonding. Isn't that what people do at sleepovers?" Milah asked.
"You've never been to a sleepover?" Ruby asked, shocked. Milah shook her head.
"Girls don't tend to like me," Milah said quietly.
"Me too," Mary Margaret added.
"Have any of you been to a sleepover before?" Ruby asked. No one said a word. Ruby sighed.
"Yes. We do. And we will. Because this is a sleepover," Ruby declared.
"What kind of secrets?" I asked suspiciously.
"Something no one else knows. No one will tell anyone. It's a secret that never leaves the room. We'll let the children watch our laptops with headphones," Ruby added with a wink. She set the laptops up and the children's eyes were glued to the screens instantly.
"Who's going to start?" I asked as we sat in a circle. Ruby motioned to Milah, who was sitting next to her. Milah sighed and thought for a moment.
"I was a virgin until freshman year of high school," she finally said.
"No way!" Regina scoffed, eyes wide.
"Yes way! That rumor you started about me is what got me where I am," Milah shot back. Regina at least had the decency to look chagrined. Ruby waved slightly.
"I'll go next. I just didn't want to start because I had to think of how to say what I'd say. You know how my granny raises me?" she asked. We all nodded. Because we did.
"My father used to raise me. And I used to know Graham slightly. We were together when the wolves attacked and killed his parents. And they killed my father too. Only Graham ran off and hid, and they found me. They didn't find him for a few weeks," Ruby admitted. We were silent. Because what do you say to that?
Mary Margaret was next. She looked thoughtful for a moment before glancing at us.
"When I was younger, my mom had cancer. They didn't think she would make it. I was at a store and I saw a display for duct tape that said it could fix anything. So I stole a roll of it and brought it to my mom," Mary Margaret admitted.
"No way! You stole something?!" Emma asked, shocked. Regina nodded.
"I never would have thought you'd steal," she said as well.
"Mom was so disappointed in me. It's because of that that I always follow the rules," Mary Margaret said quietly. We all nodded. I knew that feeling. Emma was next. She looked slightly uncomfortable. As if she was trying to come up with anything else to say about herself than what she was thinking.
"When I was younger, I got pregnant," Emma finally said.
"What?!" Ruby cried, shocked. Mary Margaret and Milah looked shocked as well, but Regina looked as if she already knew.
"I'm a year older than the rest of you. I was twelve when it happened. I had an older boyfriend. It was before I moved here. I knew Regina then," Emma admitted.
"We were actually friends then, too," Regina said, almost wistfully. Emma nodded.
"What happened?" Milah asked, intrigued.
"We decided to go through with it. I couldn't fathom killing them," Emma said.
"Wait – them? There were more than one?" Mary Margaret asked for clarification.
"Yeah. I had twins," Emma said. My eyes went wide. No. That was just a coincidence.
"What happened to them?" I asked hesitantly.
"I don't know. I couldn't raise them. I was in and out of foster care. And the boyfriend dumped me soon after that. I think they both got put up for adoption. I didn't even name them," Emma admitted sadly.
"I know what happened to them. That's my secret," Regina said, breaking the silence. Attention was focused instead on her.
"What?" Emma asked.
"The father took the girl. And I was able to find your older birth sister and she adopted your son," Regina said. My blood ran cold. My head snapped to Emma.
She did sort of resemble my mom. But…no. That was crazy. I couldn't believe it.
Regina saw me and nodded.
"Henry and Grace are your children," Regina finally said. Everyone's heads snapped towards the children. As if sensing we were talking about them, the two pulled the headphones out.
"Is everything okay?" Grace asked cautiously.
"Is your father's name Jefferson?" Emma asked, sounding almost choked. Grace nodded, puzzled.
"Why?" she asked. We all exchanged a glance.
"Emma is your and Henry's mother," I said quietly. The two stared at me for a moment and then at Emma.
"No way," Henry breathed in shock. Grace stared at her and tilted her head before pulling a tiny piece of paper from her pocket and unfolding it.
"What's that?" I asked her, curious. I hadn't seen it before.
"Daddy gave it to me. He said it was him and Mommy. You do look like the girl in the picture," Grace finally said.
"So Jefferson – the crazy Jefferson I've been dealing with all my life – was your boyfriend? He dated a twelve year old? That's sick!" I sputtered, completely confused.
"I didn't tell him I was twelve," Emma muttered.
"So you're really our Mommy?" Henry asked. Emma nodded.
The two of them ended up rushing her at once, hugging her tightly.
In all the drama, they forgot to ask me for a secret.
I guess you could say the sleepover was fun. I felt included, almost as if I had friends. The feeling was one I wasn't used to. I was only tempted to call Graham to pick us up twice the entire night, which was less than I thought it'd be.
Grace enjoyed it more than I did. Apparently, she was used to sleepovers. She happily informed us that Jefferson had allowed her to have friends spend the night a lot and they did all sorts of girly friends.
Emma had particularly liked hearing about Jefferson. It worried me slightly to see just how much she was interested in Jefferson. He was still much older than her. And far from sane. But it was her life, and I had a feeling that no matter what I said, she wouldn't listen if she saw him again.
Unless she got together with August.
The girls didn't bring back up what I'd said about not wanting to do the dating anymore. I assumed they'd forgotten about it in all the drama. But I wasn't planning on having any more dates. I just didn't think I could handle it.
I was the last one asleep. The girls had passed out, one by one during the last movie we'd watched. Henry and Grace had barely made it through the first Disney movie before crashing.
When I did wake up in the morning, I had no recollection of going to sleep the night before. But I knew I had work, so I got up and got the children ready while the others slept.
We snuck out quietly and over to the diner, where Granny was just putting the coffee on. The place wasn't even open yet, I noticed wryly. Granny smiled at me gratefully as I tied an apron on and settled the still- halfway-asleep children into the back booth.
"How was your sleepover?" Granny asked teasingly.
"It was…nice," I admitted as I helped her get ready for the morning to start.
Around eight in the morning, it started snowing. The snowflakes fell in large clumps and it took all of my control to keep Henry and Grace in the booth and not pressed up against the windows. Granny was bemused by their behavior.
"Have you never seen snow before?" Granny asked them with a smile on her face. Both children shook their heads.
Father hadn't had us live in a place so far north since Mom died. Mom had loved the cold, the snow. Consequently, Father hated it. He hated anything that reminded him of Mom.
I didn't know where Jefferson had been living, so I had had no clue that Grace had never seen snow either.
Within that hour, Graham showed up, hair all mussed and looking as if he just rolled out of bed. The children lunged at him, begging for him to take them to the park to play in the snow.
They took off and I couldn't help but laugh as I watched both children stop in the middle of the sidewalk to try to catch the fat snowflakes in their open mouths.
"You should go play with them. They only get to experience snow for the first time once," Granny said.
"I'm working. I need to work," I told her, although the offer was incredibly tempting. Much too tempting. But Granny shook her head.
"You work enough. Go play with them. Even if they aren't your children, you raise them as if they are. You can come back with them when you're done and I'll treat you all to hot chocolate before you get back to work," Granny said with a wink, pulling the string on the back of my apron so that it fell off.
I hugged Granny tightly before grabbing my coat and the rest of my things.
"Leave those here. You'll be back," she pointed out. I smiled at her and nodded, slipping my coat on as I ran outside to catch up with Graham.
Snow was slippery. That was something I'd forgotten in the years I'd spent with no snow. And unfortunately, my foot caught a patch of ice and I was flung forward.
Right into someone.
"Careful there," a smooth voice said. My heart faltered slightly.
Rumplestiltskin.
I looked up, wishing my cheeks wouldn't turn red. But they did. Naturally.
"Thanks," I murmured quietly before disentangling myself from him. Graham had the door held open for me and I dove in the car, shutting it quickly.
When Graham climbed in the other side, his expression looked torn between amusement and irritation.
"Were you flirting?" Graham asked, sounding amused.
"What's flirting?" Grace asked.
"Something you shouldn't do," Graham told her automatically. Her nose scrunched up.
"Daddy used to tell me that all the time. About a lot of things," she said. I couldn't help but laugh.
"You should probably listen to him about those things," I told her. Pointedly ignoring Graham's question.
And why he'd looked slightly angry.
I was going to pretend that was a misinterpretation on my part.
The park was empty. Most children, I guess, either had their own yards to play in or had seen snow enough that they didn't care to brave the cold for it again. I could care less.
We all bailed out of the car and the children took off running for the snow-covered equipment. It hadn't been snowing for too long, but there was already a healthy layer of snow covering all the surfaces.
"What's stopping us from acting like them right now?" Graham asked me with a smile on his face.
"Dignity, maturity, and responsibility?" I offer before beaming at him and taking off running for the equipment. His laugh echoed as he almost instantly overtook me. The children looked overjoyed to see us playing in the little snow with them.
After the initial enjoyment wore off, Grace and Henry were left just staring at the sky.
"Why haven't I seen snow before?" Henry asked.
"Father doesn't like snow. It reminds him of my mother. She used to love the snow," I told them.
"Your mom was our mom's sister?" Grace asked. We were all laying on the ground at that point.
"Yeah. She was," I told her.
"How did she die?" Graham asked quietly.
"She had cancer," was all I could get out. Graham nodded.
"You know what I love the best about the snow?" Graham asked the kids. Both sat up, staring wide-eyed at him.
"What?" Henry asked.
"It's so much fun to catch in your mouth," he said with a wink.
And we spent the next ten minutes with our mouths open, running around like idiots.
It didn't take too long for them to get over the snow enough to be cold. And cold it sure was. Graham drove us all back to the diner, where it was just starting to pick up the pace for lunch. Granny served us all hot chocolate and I left the kids in the booth with Graham while I got back to work.
The day passed quite pleasantly, with the girls stopping in at one point after they'd all woken up to say hi.
When I got off work, it was near eight. Graham picked me up, since he'd taken the kids out again earlier to keep them from being bored.
We got back to the house and, thankfully, Father wasn't home. Graham set up a temporary bed for himself in the closet using some blankets of his he'd brought from his house.
And just like that, a beautiful day ended.
How was it? I liked this chapter. Don't be too harsh. :) I hope you enjoyed it and please leave me a review! I didn't get too many last time haha.
Andi