Author's Note: Hey everybody, sorry for the long time between updates. Let's just say life got real busy there for a while mixed with some major writer's block, but here is chapter fourteen! :) And good news: I have the next couple chapters planned out in my head so it shouldn't be as long for fifteen.

Disclaimer: I do not own OUaT

Fourteen

"Mom…" Emma whined as her mother hugged and kissed her goodbye for the fifth time in ten minutes. "Mom, Henry and I will be fine." She whined again. "You and August will only be a few hours away. I will call if we need anything, and we will visit every other weekend. We already went through all of this." She smiled. "Mom, you're suffocating me."

"I know." Snow replied, finally pulling away from the hug. "It's just that-"

"I promise you, everything will be fine, okay?" Emma told her mother reassuringly.

"How did my baby grow up to be so wise?" Snow asked herself out loud.

"Your 'baby' is almost twenty two now." She reminded her mother. "Now come on, if you don't start the drive now it will be dark when you all arrive, and you hate unloading anything in the dark."

"Fine." Snow agreed. "Goodbye, I love you." She told her daughter before kneeling down to her grandson. "Bye Henry." She cried as she pulled him into a hug. "Grandma loves you." Snow added.

Emma walked over to Pinocchio who was sitting in the moving truck as her mother said goodbye to Henry. "Hey kid."

"Hey." He replied coldly.

"Oh come on," She moaned at him. "You can't still be mad at me for this?"

"No."

"August, I had no choice." Emma tried to explain. "My credits wouldn't transfer properly to any other college near you all. I would have wasted all that work."

Emma had enrolled in the local college soon after they moved in with the hope that her credits would transfer when it came time to move again.

"I know." He continued his cold spell.

"Whatever." Emma stood there, equally as cold until Pinocchio started to warm up to her. "I'm sorry." She smiled sheepishly.

"I know." He smiled back this time. "I'm going to miss you and Henry."

"You know the plan." Emma laughed a little at her mother's deal for her and Henry to stay. "A phone call every other day at least and a visit every other weekend." She smiled.

"Stick to the plan." Pinocchio told his sister.

"Don't worry. I will." Emma told him, pulling him into a hug before adding something. "If you take care of mom for me, okay?" She felt him nod.

"Ready?" Snow walked up to her kids.

"See you two soon. Henry can you say goodbye?" Emma said as she scooped her son into her arms. "We'll stick to the plan August, I promise, just as long as you hold up your end of the deal." She warned him before the door shut.

Emma held Henry and watched the moving truck drive off down the street.

"Alright Henry." Emma said as she looked at her three and a half year old. "Looks like we have some unpacking of our own to do still before dinner."

"Okay!" Henry answered his mother before the two walked into the new townhouse Emma was renting.

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"Henry!" Emma yelled up the stairs. "Henry! Come on, we're running late as it is!" She yelled again, looking at the clock on the stove as she finished packing her son's Super Man lunch box. "Why are we always late on Tuesdays?" She asked herself. "Henry I swear if you don't get your tail end down here right now-" She yelled upstairs again.

"I'm coming mom." He yelled as he reached the top of the stairs. "Stop yelling please."

"Get your shoes," Emma shoed him along as she grabbed her bag and his backpack as soon as his lunch was thrown inside. "I'll meet you in the car." She said as she grabbed her keys before racing down the town home's stairs to the garage. "Henry!"

Henry grabbed his shoes and ran barefoot after his mother. As soon as he was buckled in his mother was driving out of the garage and down the street.

This had been the normal mornings for Emma and Henry for the last eight months. Henry had to be at school by nine and Emma had a class at nine thirty half an hour away from his school.

"This is my last exam and then I swear tomorrow we can take our time to school, okay?" She told him. "Thank god we can stop all this rushing around after this weekend right kid?" Emma asked as they drove towards his elementary school. "After all the hard work, I finally get to graduate." She said out loud, more to reassure herself than to tell her son.

She began to think about all the late nights and early mornings she had endured. Every nightmare and fever that Henry had at two in the morning, keeping her up all night, then fighting exhaustion as she sat through her classes the next day. Emma couldn't believe she had made it, survived everything life threw at her. She thought about how many times she had considered sending Henry to live with her mother and brother, she was glad she hadn't though. Emma thanked her lucky stars that everything was turning out the way it had.

"Yea." Henry replied, still fixing the Velcro on his sandals. "When are Grandma and Uncle August coming?"

"They will be here when I pick you up from school on Friday, and then Grandma Sarah and Grandpa Jeff will be here Friday night." Emma answered as they pulled into the school. "Eight forty, awesome." She smiled as she looked back to see her son swinging his backpack over one shoulder. "Bye, I love you." She said as he opened the door.

"Bye mom! Love you too!" He yelled over his shoulder, fixing his backpack.

Emma watched him walk into the school before pulling away. She couldn't believe that she was graduating from college this weekend and her son was finishing kindergarten. It made her wonder where the last almost six years had gone.

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"Here's to it all being over!" Emma raised her wine glass at the dinner Saturday night. "Thank god." She added.

"Congratulations honey." Mrs. Hendrix raised her glass, followed by Mr. Hendrix.

"I'm so proud of you Emma." Snow added, raising her glass as well, being followed by the boys raising their plastic cups. "We all are."

"Now, Henry, you and I get to sleep in." She smiled, taking a sip of her wine and smiling as her son drank his soda in unison.

"So when does this new job I hear about start?" Mr. Hendrix asked after a while.

"July first." Emma smiled at the thought of her new job.

"What is it again?" He asked her as the food was being served.

"I got a job with the U.S. Marshalls." She beamed. They all talked about it for a while before Emma felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

"Excuse me everyone," She looked up to see her good friend Nathan standing there.

"Hi Mr. Nathan!" Henry said excitedly.

"Hello Henry. I just wanted to offer my congratulations to your mother." He looked down at her again. "I didn't get to see you after the ceremony today."

"Thank you, and congratulations to you too, Nathan." She replied, smiling at him.

"Well I'll let you all get back to your dinner now. I'll see you soon Emma." He smiled, pulling his hand away slowly before walking away.

"Who was that?" Mrs. Hendrix asked as soon as he was out of earshot.

"That was mommy's boyfriend Nathan." Henry answered for Emma, causing Emma to blush at the way he made it sound like the two were together.

"What?!" Snow choked.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Emma let out quickly. "Just my friend, that happens to be a boy." She tried to hide her face.

The rest of the dinner was relatively uneventful after that.

"Emma?" Snow called out as she walked into the kitchen, seeing the light on later that night.

"Hey, what are you still doing up?" Emma asked her mother.

"I needed some water." She said, walking to a cabinet for a cup and filling it with water before speaking again. "Emma, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Emma answered, not really thinking much of it.

"How long have you and Nathan been together?" Emma froze.

"We are not together." She stated simply. "We are just friends. Henry didn't understand what he was saying when he said Nathan was my...uh...boyfriend."

"Okay." Snow said skeptically.

"We aren't, mom." Emma said again, noticing the skeptical look on her mother's face. "We aren't'!" She reiterated.

"Okay, well goodnight." Snow said before returning to the guest room.

Emma sat in silence for a minute before making her way up to bed as well.

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