Chapter 12
Searching that room at the bed and breakfast did not go as planned. She did not manage to find any sort of proof. There was nothing hidden in the loose floorboard and it seemed the only thing Emma managed to prove, at least to everyone else, was that she was looking for a reason to get Tamara out of Neil's life.
"It's okay you know?" Henry offers as he buckles his seat belt. "We'll find another way to get rid of Tamara."
"Henry…" She grumbles as she puts the car in to gear. "That is not what we are doing. Will you just listen to me? I am not trying to break them up." She says quite exasperated.
"Sure." Henry says with a nod and does nothing to hide the smirk on his face.
"Look, we are not talking about this anymore okay? I shouldn't have brought you with me. Your grandmother was right and I should have listened to her. I don't want you getting your hopes up for something that IS NOT going to happen okay? Even if it were possible that is not something any of us need to be thinking about right now." Emma offers quite defeated.
"If it were possible?" Henry repeats with bright eyes and a hopeful smile. "You just said…"
"Henry! Just drop it. I get enough harassment from Mary Margaret and David. I don't need you pushing me. You got that?" She asks him but the boy says nothing and simply stares ahead as they drive back to the apartment.
When they make it back Mary Margaret and David are sitting at the kitchen table. Henry greets them both as he makes his way over to sit down while Emma plans on heading upstairs to her room.
"Emma? I made some lunch do you want anything?" Mary Margaret offers.
"No thanks." She grumbles from the stairs not bothering to turn back around.
"What's wrong with her?" David asks eyeing Henry.
He shrugs and grabs a plate and a sandwich. "We went out on a stake out but I think she's upset that we didn't find any proof… about Tamara being evil."
"What? She… you didn't… she took you with her?" Mary Margaret finally manages to ask through all her sputtering. "I specifically told her to keep all of this to herself." She says looking over at David.
David's eyebrows shoot up in surprise and he clears his throat before getting up from his seat. "Let me… go… talk to her." He says in a stutter as he makes his way up the stairs.
The bedroom door is wide open and Emma is lying on the bed, her feet hanging off the side touching the floor, and her hands folded together over her stomach as she stares at the ceiling. "I don't want to talk about it."
He only shakes his head and chuckles at her. "You know… you say that a lot." He says as he stands close enough so that he can meet eyes with her. "Mary Margaret just about had a heart attack down there. Henry told us you went to search Tamara and Neil's room. Judging by this current display of… what is that… defeat… you didn't find what you were looking for?"
Emma rolls her eyes. "No. I didn't. You know what the worst part about all of this is? For being the son of two rather resourceful people my son is terrible at being inconspicuous. He must get that from his grandmother." She finally concludes aloud.
David laughs at hearing this. "Well there's no argument there."
"I know Tamara has something to do with August's warning. She has to be somehow. I mean how do you just come to grips with magic and fairytales overnight? I didn't even do that and I have magic. If she's not involved in some plot then she's definitely crazy."
David crosses his arms over his chest. "That's possible… but do you know what else is possible? She might just love Neil enough to take his word for it." He says with a tilt of his head.
Emma, with almost a Regina like snarl, rolls her eyes and scoffs rather disgusted at the thought. "Look… Mary Margaret thinks that I'm doing all of this because I'm so blinded by how I feel about Neil. I don't have feelings for him. I don't know how many times I have to keep saying that to everyone. He's just some guy from my past." She says spreading her arms in the air like something should be displayed before her. "I'd love to come out and just say… We were cursed! It's wonderful how you two seem to get by with that excuse." She says leaning up on her elbows.
David laughs once again before making his way to sit down on the bed beside her. "Well if you're done… not talking about it…" He smiles and looks down at her. "You mind explaining how you got Henry involved in all of this?"
"Oh… that… Well you know he's a sneaky kid. When I came in earlier to talk to Mary Margaret he might have overheard me talking about Tamara and he was pretty set on helping me find proof. You know very well that once he's set on something you can't change his mind. I had to bring him with me at that point. I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't fun but he's not as skilled as I'd like him to be. He wasn't up for the challenge." She says smiling now. "He's a terrible lookout he let Neil right in."
"Well… I still think he had fun with you today regardless of the outcome."
"Yeah, the outcome that Mary Margaret predicted. Henry now thinks that I am trying to break up Tamara and Neil simply to have a shot at him." She offers with a shrug then she grimaces. "You know? When I was picking the lock Henry was talking about…" She laughs uncomfortably. "Well he suggested that once Neil was single again that with a little wine and moonlight something might happen between us. Who knew that ridiculously cheesy and romantic side of you would show up in my son?" She says slapping a hand on his shoulder.
"Wow. Thanks so much for that wonderful, not insulting, compliment." He says as he gets up and offers a hand to her. "Do you want to come down for some lunch now, or do you need some more alone time?"
She stands and stuffs her hands in her pockets looking around. "Well… I'd love to avoid an 'I told you so' from my mother." She says with a small smile.
David nods, "Well… we're headed back out to the bean field so you'll have plenty of time without your parents here to harass you." He says and then realizes that now is the chance to ask his question of Emma but she doesn't give him that chance.
"You know? Uh…" She frowns and stares at the space in the floor between them. "Henry… I sort of accidentally gave him the idea that we might be going back to… well to where we came from. He seems really excited but I don't know what that means exactly." She says turning around to absentmindedly pace. "I don't know if he's just excited because he wants it to be all magic and rainbows or if he wants to go because we'll be there together."
"So… we'll be there together then?" David tries to sound casual about this.
"If Henry goes… I don't have much of a choice do I? I can't give him up a second time. What kind of parent would I be if I did that? I can't just abandon him for another ten years." She says widening her eyes.
"How about for twenty eight years?" David says and he sees the way Emma tenses up before turning back around to face him.
"I didn't mean it to come out like that. You didn't abandon me." She says shaking her head sternly. "You were protecting me. We're here now… stop bringing that up." She says pointedly.
"It doesn't change the fact that we all had choices to make then… and now we have new ones. I don't want you to feel pressured in to going to another land but we'd like to keep you with us. I understand we can't make you do anything. We have no right to tell you what to do…" David offers. "I just don't want this to be where we go our separate ways. We've only just started to be a family but I want going back to be your choice."
"I know and I want the same choice for Henry. I won't make him stay behind for me. I actually really doubt that I can make him do anything." She says with a chuckle. "Let's hope though that we can manage to find the time to actually discuss all of this for once and not have to jump in to action."
David nods. "Alright well… you can stay up here in your fortress of solitude." He says with a smile. "After we finish lunch we're meeting up with Grumpy and headed over to the bean field. I tried to get them together this morning but I think the dwarves overindulged in celebratory drinks last night. I'm surprised we didn't get called in to make a couple of arrests actually." He says laughing.
"Well it did seem a bit too quiet last night... but at least that made it easier for you two to eavesdrop on my story to Henry." She says and then grins as David's face reddens slightly with embarrassment. He clears his throat and makes his way out of the bedroom leaving Emma to bask in her now cheerful mood.
**I feel like my comments are for naught at this point but I still want to say thank you for the reads, reviews, and follows. :)**
