Chapter 12
Hi everyone! I know I said it might be awhile, but I got so many reviews that I just had to get the next chapter written for you! I worked really hard to get it done for you and I hope you like it! Thanks again for all of the reviews, they make my day! Enjoy :)
Mary Margaret sighed. "Oh, Emma…I don't think that will…"
"What?" Emma asked as she looked up at her mommy.
Mary Margaret didn't know what to say. She looked into those bright green eyes staring up at her…they were so innocent and full of hope. How could she tell her that reading those stories to John Doe wouldn't wake him? He'd been in that coma for as long as Mary Margaret could remember. He was seriously injured and reading him stories wasn't going to make a difference. How could she tell Emma that though? Mary Margaret could tell by the look on Emma's little face that she really hoped and believed that she could wake him and Mary Margaret didn't have the heart to take that hope away from her.
"Nothing sweetie…I think we should maybe give you a bath before we start your homework though. You are a mess," Mary Margaret said with a laugh when she noticed the spaghetti sauce that covered Emma's face.
"I am?" Emma asked with a giggle. She didn't notice the mess she had made. She was too busy enjoying her yummy spaghetti and meatballs.
"Yes you are," Mary Margaret said as she picked Emma up and carried her to the bathroom.
"I wanna see! I wanna see!" Emma said excitedly.
"Okay, okay. Look," Mary Margaret said as she stood Emma on the counter in the bathroom, so she could get a good look in the mirror.
"Woah, I am a very messy little girl," Emma laughed as she looked in the mirror at herself.
"I'll say. Did you even get any spaghetti in your tummy, you little sauce monster?" Mary Margaret asked as she tickled Emma's belly.
"Yes…yes…I did…I did," Emma said in between her giggles.
"Well good. Let's get you in the tub then missy."
Emma watched as her mommy filled the tub up. She loved bath time, especially when she got to take a bubble bath. Emma realized she hadn't actually had a bubble bath in a while.
"Can we put my bubbles in tonight?" Emma asked as she went to the cupboard to get her bottle of pink bubbles.
"Of course we can," Mary Margaret said with a smile.
"Mmmm, they smell so good," Emma said as she took off the cap and sniffed her strawberry scented bubbles. "Here, you smell!" she said as she held up the bottle to her mommy.
"Oh they smell delicious!" Mary Margaret said as she smelled them.
"Can I pour them in?" Emma asked.
Mary Margaret thought for a minute. The last time Emma poured the bubbles in, she nearly emptied the entire bottle. The bubbles practically spilled over the top of the bathtub, but Emma couldn't learn if she didn't get a chance to try.
"Yes, you can, just remember what I told you last time…really slow and only a little bit."
"Okay," Emma said as she nodded her head. She held onto the bottle tightly with both hands. She tilted the bottle just a little bit and watched some of the liquid plop onto the water. Emma quickly titled the bottle back up. "Was that good?" Emma asked as she looked up at her mommy for approval.
"That was perfect," Mary Margaret said as she gave Emma a high-five.
Emma got herself undressed and let her mommy help her into the tub. Emma played with the bubbles and some of her bath toys for a little bit before her mommy started washing her hair. Emma could wash her body herself, but her hair was a little tricky. She always had to wash her own hair at her other foster homes and she always got soap in her eyes, which really hurt. Now, her mommy washed her hair for her and she liked that. Once Emma was all clean, she got out of the tub. She loved it when her mommy wrapped her up in the big bath towel. Mary Margaret always snuggled her close until she was nice and warm. Once Emma was dressed, her mommy brushed her hair. She didn't pull her hair at all, she was very gentle and it felt nice. Then, Emma brushed her teeth and went out to the table to do her homework.
Emma brought her book bag over to the table and gave it to her mommy. Emma loved it when she got to show her mommy all of the stuff in her folder from the day. She always had lots of pretty pictures to bring home. Anytime she had a free moment, Emma was into her crayons and was drawing a picture. She loved making pictures for her mommy. She especially loved it when she hung the pictures on the fridge.
"Okay, Miss Emma, what do you have for homework tonight?" Mary Margaret asked. She already knew. Emma's homework was pretty much the same every night. She had some sort of small story to read and a paper to practice writing the letter of the week. Every once in a while there would be some math for her to do as well.
"I have to read this story," Emma said as she held up a little book with a picture of a bright colored bird on the front. "It's about this parrot who lost his mommy in the jungle. I already read it two times at school, but I'll read it again to you. You'll like it!"
Mary Margaret tried to hold back a laugh. Emma said all of this very seriously. She was always very serious when it came to doing her homework. She often came home already having read her story that was meant for homework. It was typical for Emma to give Mary Margaret a full synopsis on the story before reading it.
"Then I have to do my "S" paper," Emma said as she held up her handwriting paper that contained their letter of the week. All Emma had to do was write one line of the letter S. This was her last night of homework for the week, so she had to fill in the last line on the paper and then come up with three words that started with that letter. She didn't have any homework over the weekend.
"Okay, let's get started then. No math tonight?"
"Nope," Emma said with a shrug of her shoulders as she started in on her handwriting paper.
Emma finished her paper and chose Snow White, Sneezy, and storybook to write for her words this week. Mary Margaret should have guessed that Emma would pick words that had to do with her favorite book. She did that very often actually, she absolutely loved that book of hers. Emma read her little story about the parrot and put all of her stuff away. Mary Margaret let Emma stay up for a little while and watch some TV before putting her to bed. Mary Margaret spent the next hour or so grading papers before going to sleep herself.
She rolled her eyes when she heard the princess in the carriage complaining. "What a nag," she thought to herself as she clung to the tree above. Her plan was working. The tree was blocking the road and their carriage was stopped. Now was her chance. She had to get those jewels. She hopped down from the tree and landed on top of the carriage. She jumped down and reached in to take the satchel that held her ticket to freedom. The princess screamed in her ear just before she made her escape. She climbed onto one of the horses and road off. She could hear someone following her. It was the prince, she knew it. He was getting closer. She nudged the horse to get him to move faster, but the prince was catching up to her…he was practically right beside her. The next thing she knew, he was jumping at her and tackling her off of the horse. She nearly got the wind knocked out of her from her fall, but she kept her composure. She smiled as the prince pulled back her hood, she knew he would be in for a surprise. "You're a…girl," the prince said in disbelief. "Woman," she corrected as she reached for a rock and hit him over the head. She quickly picked up the jewels and rode off again on her horse. "Wherever you are I will find you," she heard the prince exclaim. All she did was smile. He would never find her.
She had just successfully sold the jewels and had the gold she needed to get out of the kingdom. Nothing could stop her now…or so she thought. All of a sudden she felt herself being hoisted into the air. She moved around, trying to figure out what had just happened. She looked down. She was stuck in a net, and was hanging above the ground. She groaned in frustration. This could not be happening. She heard laughter coming from below. She looked down. It was him…the prince. "I told you I'd find you. No matter what you do, I will always find you," he told her smugly.
The prince "Charming" as she decided to call him, would only let her down if she returned the jewels she stole from him. She tried to play it off like she didn't have them—saying she wasn't the jewelry type. Then she told him, the truth…that she'd sold them. After some arguing back and forth, she still refused to get his jewels back for him. She wasn't going to give this "Charming" price what he wanted. He had a palace full of jewels anyway. It wasn't until he held up a piece of paper that she changed her mind. It was the wanted poster. The one with her face plastered on it. Her evil stepmother had them made up and spread throughout the kingdom. They infuriated her. The claims on the posters weren't true. They were all lies. That didn't matter now though, he knew who she was and he was threatening to turn her over to that evil witch. She couldn't have that, so she agreed to help. She watched as he pulled out his sword. "Surely he's not going to just cut the rope and let me fall", she thought. That's exactly what he was going to do. She let out a scream as she fell towards the ground.
Mary Margaret sat up with a start.
"What's wrong?" Emma asked her mommy when she heard her scream.
Mary Margaret looked down at Emma in confusion. "Wh-what are you doing in here?" she asked as she shook her head. She remembered putting Emma in her own bed last night.
"I had a bad dream last night and I came to sleep with you," Emma said as she looked down.
"Are you okay?" Mary Margaret asked as she lifted Emma's little chin.
"Mhmm," Emma said as she nodded her head.
"Come here," Mary Margaret said as she pulled Emma onto her lap. "Want to talk about your dream?"
"No," Emma said as she shook her head. "I don't really remember it anymore."
"Are you sure?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Uh huh…what was your bad dream about?" Emma asked as she looked up at her mommy.
"Why do you think I had a bad dream?" Mary Margaret asked with a laugh.
"Because you screamed and sat up really fast," Emma told her.
"I did?" Mary Margaret asked. She remembered screaming in her dream, but she didn't realize she had done it out loud.
"Yeah, what did you dream about?"
"Oh it was silly. I was dreaming about Snow White and Prince Charming. I think I've been reading those stories of yours too much," Mary Margaret said as she wrapped her arms around Emma and gave her a hug.
"Which part did you dream about? Why did you scream?" Emma asked curiously as she looked up at her mommy.
"Well, I was Snow White, and Prince Charming had me trapped in a net. He cut me down, and I fell to the ground. I must have screamed on my way down. I woke up right after that," Mary Margaret told Emma.
"You were Snow White?" Emma asked, her eyes wide in amazement.
"Yeah, it's silly isn't it?" Mary Margaret said. "How about we lay down and go back to sleep. We don't have to get up for school for a little while." Mary Margaret didn't want to think about her dream anymore, but she couldn't help it. That's all she could think about as she tried to go back to sleep. It felt so real…just like the last one. She wasn't just dreaming about the story…she was in it. She was Snow White again and it all felt so familiar.
Emma just laid back down and snuggled up next to her mommy. As she closed her eyes, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Her mommy was starting to have dreams about being Snow White. Maybe reading the stories was finally starting to work after all! Maybe her mommy would start to remember soon!