"You thought about the kid anymore?" Lorelai asked as she spent her break the next day in Emma's back room.
Emma shook her head, "honestly I had more important things on my mind."
"Than the fate of your kid?" Lorelai asked in surprise, twisting on the bed to get a better look at Emma. "What could possibly be more important?"
Emma sighed and looked up at her, "It's Dad showing up?"
"Oh, my god," Lorelai breathed, wide eyed. "He did, what? How did he find you?"
"He didn't say," Emma shrugged and then glanced up at Lorelai. "The bloke who gave you that necklace. What did he look like?"
Lorelai frowned at the change of subject but scrambled to answer none the less.
"Tall, dark and handsome or maybe more tall, dark and mysterious," she joked but then caught sight of Emma's expression. "Sorry. He was tall. Brown hair, gorgeous brown eyes, bit of stubble. Good looking bloke…wait, oh, my god. Is that him?"
"Sounds like it," Emma shrugged one shoulder, eyes now focused on the necklace in her hands.
"Bit old for you, isn't he?" Lorelai asked.
"7 years," Emma defended though she realised that wasn't helping much. "He's 24."
"Whatever," Lorelai waved a hand, flopping back down on the bed. "So he came back?"
"Yeah," Emma breathed, "wanted Pumpkin Pie. He loves Pumpkin Pie."
Emma felt Lorelai gazing at her in concern but couldn't look up to see it. She didn't want to see pity, not when Lorelai didn't know the whole story, "what do I do, Lor?"
"You gotta tell him," Lorelai said. "It wasn't so important when he wasn't around but if he is. You have to tell him, it's his kid too."
"I was afraid you'd say that," Emma complained and Lorelai hugged her from the side.
Emma spent the rest of the day rationalising reasons not to tell Neal about the baby especially convincing herself that he wouldn't be back. That she was pretty confident about since he had just disappeared last night.
She was sorely disappointed and incredibly surprised when 2 hours into her shift (making it 1am) Neal strolled confidently back into the diner. She tried to send him an amused look but she was sure that was how it came up since he winced as he looked at her face. She quickly changed her expression.
"What can I getcha today, Neal?" she asked pleasantly despite the war going on in her brain.
"Pumpkin Pie," Emma sighed.
"We don't have Pumpkin Pie, Neal," she explained calmly again.
"This is place is a disappointment," he frowned seriously and Emma rolled her eyes.
"Then why keep coming back?" she meant to ask playfully but even she heard the honesty and desperation in her voice. Why wouldn't he just leave her alone? He'd already broken her heart enough.
"I dunno," he grinned fondly at her.
"Do you want anything or not?" she questioned, not wanting him to start flirting. His expression dropped but he kept it at a pleasantly happy level after a moment.
"Got anymore of that pie from last night?" he asked smiling at her once more.
"You have a problem, Neal," Emma sighed going to get it but she didn't give it to him. He frowned up at her curiously but she had learned last night not to give him pie till she got answers and she needed to hear this from him. "Did you consider leaving me when August asked?"
Neal's face fell to blankness instantly after Augusts name. In a way Emma was surprised she remembered it. Neal swallowed carefully, clearly thinking through his answer.
"Don't lie to me, Neal," Emma warned. "I will call you out on it."
He chuckled, "I know that.
"I want to love you, I do love you," Neal told her confidently but then he trailed out and Emma put a hand on his arm to make him continue, "and for a moment that night, I thought, just a moment, that I should leave you…I was scared to love you, you had to break the curse. It was a moment, I knew that, if I did, there'd never be a day that I didn't regret it; that I wouldn't regret letting August talk me into leaving you but yes I did consider it. I'm sorry."
Emma gave him a tight smile, putting his pie down in front of him. It would have been a good speech – if he hadn't mentioned that god-damn curse he believed in so much. At least, she knew he loved her. It wasn't a plan.
The bell rang then announcing another customer and Emma could feel Neal's disappointment as she walked away from him.
She ignored him for the rest of the time he was there, talking to Edward and serving the other customer. Once again he dumped money on the counter and disappeared when her back was turned.
When the last customer left, Emma sunk to the floor behind the counter and rested her head on it, allowing Edward to sit down and comfort her as a few tears slip out from under her lashes.
"Take it's that's your guy?" Edward said, rubbing her arm and Emma nodded. "Want me to kick him out next time?"
Panic settled over Emma's heard and she quickly shook her head, "I can deal with him."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely."