Chapter 25

Disclaimers: I don't own Once Upon a Time. Also, this is a sequel to the original "Thicker than Water" written by La Lisboa. I also don't own the words to the song "All I want for Christmas is you"

I'd like to thank Lisboa for betaing this and for letting me use her stories as a starting point.

Before the chapter, let me say something about my past reviews and responses. I hope I didn't offend any of you the way I responded, because it wasn't my intention. Let me repeat I am totally okay with constructive criticism. I know my readers are not always going to agree with the decisions I make in this story, and you are more than welcome to tell me that. I will, however respect the write to explain why I need that particular scene, chapter, etc. if I need to. On the other hand, I will also be more than willing to take some constructive criticism into consideration, if I think it's a good idea. (I would still love to hear what the past "Guest" from chapter 23 thinks I need to make David more "awesome.") Please give some reviews on what you think of the story/chapter, whether they are positive or negative.

Emma continued jogging home from the police station instead of taking the bus after Thanksgiving for a few days. But she had begun to notice…her anger over Neal's death wasn't really there anymore. Between channeling her anger into physical activity for the past week and a half and being able to "say goodbye" to Neal, she'd finally put it behind her.

"So I guess I'm okay now, Ruby," Emma told her the Tuesday after Thanksgiving on the phone. "The memorial Snow – er, Mom, suggested really helped."

"That's nice to hear, Emma," Ruby replied, in a tone that was hard to decipher. "But maybe that's something you should tell Snow instead of me," she added gently.

Emma looked at the floor in her bedroom. She had gotten used to confiding in Ruby for the past month and a half, so telling Ruby what was on her mind felt natural. But Ruby was right. It was something Snow should hear. Especially since her mother was so bothered by her not talking to her before. "Yeah. I'll tell her." Then she paused for a second. "But I don't want you to think I didn't appreciate what you did for me, Ruby. You listened every night as I talked about Neal. I moaned and complained about everything we did when we were together, and everything we would never do. And you never once told me that you were tired of it or you were too busy with your problems for me." When Emma was younger, people would always say they were tired of her or too busy for her problems.

"I didn't mind, Emma. Really," Ruby's voice sounded sincere. "Like I told you before, I remember going through that when Peter died. And I remember wishing I had someone who understood how much it hurt to lose a boyfriend. Someone you'd thought about marrying."

"Yeah," Emma agreed. It had really made a difference that Emma knew Ruby was empathic. Otherwise, she would've never had the courage to talk to her the way she had. "But speaking of your problems, how are you doing?" Emma didn't want Ruby to think she'd forgotten about her sexual assault.

"About the same, I guess," Ruby replied. "I'm glad I'm working at the dog kennel now. And I'm really glad Mr. Jenison," Ruby spat out the creep's name, "will be going to trial. But I still feel so guilty for letting him get as far as he did. I didn't say anything while he touched me for months! And I can't stop thinking of how many other strange men are looking at me the way he did."

Emma nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry about that. But I am really glad you got that pervert arrested."

"Yeah." Ruby paused for a couple of minutes. "I've been running, too, when I get the chance. That helps, too. Thank you for the suggestion."

"No problem."

Emma hung up her phone and took a deep breath. She still wasn't completely comfortable with talking to her parents, but she also knew she really needed to try. She remembered how it felt when she'd found her mother in the mental institution and she hadn't recognized Emma at all. She had really wanted Snow to be her mother, then. She also remembered when her mother told Emma she knew what it was like to feel lost. Emma needed to show her what it was like to feel found, now.

She carefully came out of her bedroom, hoping her parents were sitting on the couch tonight, instead of being…occupied in their bedroom. Fortunately, they were sitting on the couch, although they were laughing and giggling about something. At least seeing them together didn't make Emma angry anymore.

"Hi, Emma," said David cheerfully as he looked up and saw her.

"Hi, Emma!" echoed Snow, grinning from ear – to – ear. "Is there anything we can help you with?"

Emma shook her head. "No. I…just wanted to thank you again for doing a memorial for Neal."

"Of course," David replied, nodding.

"I'm just glad we could do something to help," Snow replied, still smiling.

"Yeah, well, it helped a lot," Emma continued. "Between the memorial and all the running I've been doing lately, I'm not angry about Neal's death anymore. I guess I've put it behind me."

Snow smiled. "That's great, Emma. That's really great that you're not so bothered by his death anymore."

Emma nodded. "Because of you," she whispered. "That memorial was your idea, and you guys put it together for me. It made the difference."

Snow and David stood up and hugged Emma from each side. "We love you, Emma," they whispered at the same time. Eventually, they pulled apart and Snow and David returned to the couch.

For the first time, Emma noticed they were holding pens and paper. Paper she'd bought so they could make Henry a new fairytale book. "You guys are still working on that book?" she asked, a little surprised. It wasn't as if she thought her parents would stop making the book for Henry. But since she hasn't talked or spent a lot of time with her parents in the last month, she didn't really know if they were still working on it.

Snow and David nodded. "Of course we're working on it, Emma! You asked us to make something to help Henry, so we're doing it," Snow told her firmly.

"And after Henry ran away a few weeks ago – we're still really sorry about that, by the way – we knew how much he needed it," David added.

Emma nodded. She knew her parents were trustworthy, for the most part (despite their one big mistake). But the idea that they would work on a project of that magnitude, just because she asked them to…just because of Henry, it was mind – boggling. "Thank you, so much" she told them sincerely.

David and Snow smiled at her. "You're welcome, Emma," Snow replied. "We just like being able to help you and Henry."

"Besides, it's fun!" David added chuckling. "Reliving old memories, reading Snow's childhood stories that I've forgotten, writing our memories with your mother," he gave Snow one of those gooey smiles, "it's become one of my favorite things to do, Emma."

"Me too," Snow agreed.

Emma shrugged. "That's great. Well, that's all I wanted to tell you guys. I think I'll go back in my bedroom and study. I have finals in a couple of weeks, after all."

OOOOOOOOOO

Emma had thought she was over Neal's death. After all, her anger ways gone, right? She'd bragged to Ruby that she had "put it behind her," and thanked her parents for helping her. But by the weekend, Emma realized she had another problem. She felt numb. She didn't feel angry, but she didn't feel happy, either. She didn't feel anything at all.

It used to make Emma so happy to see Henry smile. But now, when she looked at him, she felt nothing.

A few days ago, she'd felt so grateful her parents were still working on a new fairytale book for Henry. But last night, when she'd seen them working on it again when she'd gone to the bathroom, it felt like it didn't matter.

It was beyond frustrating. And what made it worse is she couldn't even talk to Ruby about it, the way she'd talked to her friend about her anger. After all, Emma told Ruby she had "put Neal's death behind her." So she couldn't very well call her up and say, "Well actually, that's not true, Ruby. Now I have another problem," could she? Of course not. Emma had way too much pride for that.

Henry's social worker was coming to visit today again, since it was Saturday. She wanted to see how Henry was adjusting to living with their family. Emma knew these visits were important. After all, this was the woman who would make the recommendation of whether Henry would live with them permanently or not. But Emma couldn't bring herself to care about the visit.

"Hello, Henry," the social worker said cheerfully to him, as he opened the door.

"Hi," Henry replied, in the cheerful manner Emma usually associated with her son. Emma supposed she should be thankful at least Henry seemed happy. Should be of course. Because Emma still felt no joy from that knowledge.

"Hello," the social worker added, turning to the adults.

"Hello," Snow and David replied civilly, obviously having realized they should treat this woman nicely if they wanted Henry to live with them permanently.

Emma simply shrugged in the social workers direction. She just couldn't summon up any enthusiasm for this visit. She couldn't even pretend to be happy about it, the way she'd pretended not to be angry at the last visit. Because nothing mattered anymore now that Neal was dead.

"So, can you tell me about what you've done in the past month, Henry?" the social worker asked as they all sat down at the kitchen table.

Henry nodded. "I did go to the costume party," he began. "It was fun –

"That's great, Henry!" the social worker replied, believing he was done talking about that. "I knew it would be."

Henry glared at her. "Well, yes but I was going to say I'm not so sure I should have gone. I felt horribly guilty about it when I got home. My adoptive Mom…didn't like Halloween very much, you see." Henry still looked pretty upset that the woman had interrupted him and didn't pay attention to the reasons why he might not want to go to the party.

The social worker nodded at that, not sure what else to say. Emma wanted to feel angry at the woman for interrupting her son and not paying attention to him. But she really didn't feel anything.

Fortunately for Henry, his grandparents took care of that. They both glared at the social worker. "David and I made sure Henry knew it was okay to feel guilty about that," Snow commented. "My husband is really good at making sure people know whatever their feelings are, those feelings are okay."

The social worker nodded at that after a few minutes. "Well, I guess that's good then." Then she wrote something down.

"Last week, we went to this apple orchard for Thanksgiving dinner," Henry continued, sounding more cheerful.

"Oh really?" the social worker replied, perking up. "How did that go? Who did you eat with?"

Henry shrugged. "It went pretty well, I guess. We went with a couple of friends of ours and we met up with Gr – Aunt Mary Margaret's surrogate brothers over there. Then, before we ate, we all said something about someone we loved who died. Some of them died recently and some of them didn't, but we acknowledged all of them."

The social worker nodded again as she wrote something down. "That sounds very nice, Henry."

Henry smiled. "It was Aunt Mary Margaret's idea."

"That's good," she replied, nodding at Snow in approval.

"Oh! And we had a memorial for my dad, in the backyard," Henry added after thinking a few minutes.

"Your father?" the social worker asked, confused. "I haven't heard anything about his father at all. I assumed he wasn't in Henry's life," she directed the last comment to Emma, obviously hoping Emma could explain.

Emma sighed. Neal was really not a topic she wanted to discuss right now. But she supposed she'd have to tell this woman something. "His father and I hadn't been in contact for a long time, and Henry never really knew him. But recently, a couple of months before Henry's adoptive mother died, I found him again, and he started spending time with Henry. He died a couple of weeks before Regina Mills did."

The social worker nodded and wrote something down again. "Well, I guess it was nice that you had a memorial for him, then," she commented, obviously not sure what else to say.

"That was Aunt Mary Margaret's idea, too," Henry added, smiling at his grandmother.

"So how are you three doing?" the social worker asked the adults. "Any problems with your jobs or anything?"

"Not really," David replied nonchalantly. "I love my job."

Snow gave David the goo – goo eyes and then replied, "I haven't had any problems."

Emma was having problems, but she wasn't about to tell this stranger that. So she just shrugged.

After the social worker left, Henry looked at Emma for a minute. "That didn't go too bad," he commented, shrugging. "I really wish she didn't have to keep coming, though. She reminds me I might not get to stay with you guys."

Emma nodded. She knew Henry expected her to give some kind of speech on how he would be staying with his family. But finding the energy to do that was difficult right now, since she still didn't feel anything. A part of her didn't want to bother answering. But then she remembered what Hook had told her a few weeks ago. About how she should let being a mother be the most important thing in her life. She needed to say something to Henry. "I think you'll be able to stay with us, Henry," Emma finally replied, hoping that would be enough.

Henry nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOOO

Christmas was celebrated differently in this world than it was at home, Snow was beginning to realize. In the Enchanted Forest, they'd celebrated Christmas at the palace with a big holiday ball. Families also exchanged presents. Some of those traditions were common here as well. At the hospital where she worked, a Christmas party was being planned for all the patients. Not exactly a ball, but still a party. And people here exchanged presents, too. But they seemed to do it a little differently.

"So I think I'm going to get my mother some earrings for Christmas," Wendy said one morning on their coffee break.

Cindy nodded. "I'm still trying to find that Lego Legends of Chima set for Timmy. They're just so expensive, and they sell out so fast." She shook her head. "I don't know how I'm going to get it."

Snow nodded as she sipped her water. (She had switched to cinnamon cocoa at home, but unfortunately, they didn't have any cocoa in the break room at the hospital. So she stuck to water.) She wasn't sure why it was so important that Cindy find a particular toy for her son. Especially a particular type of toy. "Why does it have to be the Legends of Chima Lego?" she asked, confused. "Couldn't you just buy him Legos?" Whatever Legos were.

Cindy laughed. "It's obvious you don't have kids, Mary Margaret," she commented as she patted Snow on the back.

Snow looked at the floor. Yeah, she supposed it was. She was supposed to have had a child in the Enchanted Forest, where she knew all the rules. Instead, she had an adult daughter and a grandson in this world, where she still didn't understand things sometimes.

"Timmy already has regular Legos," Cindy continued, as if nothing was wrong. Of course, to her, there wasn't anything wrong. "Now he wants the newest designer Lego set. I need to find some way to get it for him, or he won't be happy this Christmas."

Snow nodded, still feeling confused. In the Enchanted Forest, gifts were handmade and either bought at the local market or commissioned, if you were royalty. It wasn't necessary to "find" the perfect toy for your child, either way. Christmas was different here, all right.

"So what are you getting your family for Christmas, Mary Margaret?" Wendy asked.

"I haven't decided, yet," Snow replied, still trying to absorb this new information. Would Henry expect these "designer toys?" Of course, he was a little old for toys, but… She just felt so overwhelmed, suddenly.

Another thing that was different was the way they decorated for Christmas here. The downtown was covered with electric lights, on the wooden and metal poles, and on many of the stores. Some of them were colored lights and some of them were white lights. It was pretty, Snow admitted, but it made the city really bright at night.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Emma, I'm going to make some cinnamon cocoa, would you like some?" she asked her daughter a few nights later. It had been a delightful surprise for Snow that Emma like cinnamon cocoa as much as she did. Emma had even bought them each personal mugs at the yard sale a few months ago to enjoy their favorite beverage. They had enjoyed a cup together last week, after Thanksgiving.

"No, sorry, I have to study for my finals," Emma replied, from inside her bedroom.

Snow nodded. Emma's finals were coming early next week, so she'd spent more time than usual studying. "Okay, but remember, don't overdo it, Emma," she warned her daughter, opening her bedroom door to talk for a few minutes. "You have to take breaks, too."

Emma just shrugged and returned to her reading.

"I've been meaning to ask you about something," Snow commented, remembering something, before she shut Emma's door. "Cindy was saying she needed to get this designer Lego set for her son for Christmas this year, even though it's really expensive and hard to find. Would Henry expect something like that? I mean, I want to make him happy, but we don't really have a lot of money and…" Snow threw up her hands. "I just don't understand this world sometimes, Emma. Why would we need to buy something like that?"

Emma looked up at Snow briefly. "Don't worry about that. The book you're making for Henry will be more than enough for him." Then she returned to her reading.

Snow nodded, returning to the living room to enjoy her cinnamon cocoa. Emma seemed to be sure Henry would be happy with just receiving the book, so she supposed she shouldn't worry about designer presents. Still, she wished she understood why those other presents were important to some people.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Can we get a tree this weekend?" Henry asked the next week, during breakfast. That was another thing this world was really big on, Snow had noticed. Christmas trees. Fortunately, it was something she, David, Red, and the others understood, since Christmas trees were a tradition in the Enchanted Forest as well. In fact, Snow still remembered the trees she and Red decorated in the forest for Christmas, when they had both been on the run. They hadn't decorated them nearly as extensively as the Christmas trees in the palace, because they didn't have many materials, and neither had wanted to call attention to themselves. But Snow had some scraps of fur and feathers the birds had given her that they happily hung on one of the trees. It had been one of the few times they'd felt happy after Peter and her father's death.

"Sure," Snow replied. "That sounds like a great idea, Henry." After all, Emma was done her finals now, so there was no reason why they couldn't all decorate it together. Maybe Red would come as well.

"I love that idea, Henry," David replied, nodding and smiling at him.

Emma just drank her coffee and said nothing. Snow didn't think much of it, though. Emma didn't really talk that much first thing in the morning if she could help it.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The Charming family went to the local tree farm that Saturday, just as they'd planned. Snow had realized that many of the people in this world bought fake trees in the stores. But Snow couldn't imagine doing that. After spending several years living in the forest, she really loved trees. She'd really looked forward to having a tree in the palace during Christmas last year…or the last year she remembered, anyway. If they bought a pretend tree to put in their apartment, it just wouldn't be the same.

Fortunately, Henry agreed with her enthusiastically. "Yeah! Let's get a real tree! That would be so great!"

"Of course we'll get a real tree, Snow," Charming agreed as well. "I remember how much fun it was to have a real tree in the palace last ye – well, when we were in the palace, anyway." Snow smiled at him and squeezed his hand. Charming always loved the fact that she was so "in – tune" with nature. She supposed part of it came from loving the outdoors so much himself, since he was raised a shepherd. But it always made Snow's heart swell, anyway.

They offered Red the chance to pick out the tree with them, but she said she was busy. Snow hoped that was really the case. Red seemed to have a problem with being in places with strangers, particularly men these days. Still, it wasn't really the time to talk to her about that. They'd promised Henry they'd get a Christmas tree, and that's what they were going to do.

Wendy from work had agreed meet them at the tree farm so she could put the tree they selected in her father's truck. (Snow was going to try to get Wendy a Christmas present this year. She was such a good friend and was constantly hauling things around for them with that truck. She really deserved a big thank you.)

"So how about this one?" Henry suggested, pointing to the tallest tree in the lot.

"Sorry Henry, I think that might be a little too expensive for us," Charming replied as he looked at the price tag.

"I don't think it will fit in the truck, anyway," Wendy added from the background.

"Oh, okay," Henry replied, sounding a little disappointed, but still accepting. "How about this one?" He pointed to another tree, which was much shorter than the first one he'd picked out. Unfortunately, it was still too expensive.

"Sorry, Henry," Snow replied, after looking at the price tag. "That one's cheaper than the other one, but it's still out of our price range."

"Okay," he replied, his tone showing he wasn't sure what he should do next.

Then Snow saw another tree in the distance that she'd like to get a better look at. It looked kind of like…she ran up to the tree to make sure. Yes! It looked like one of the trees she'd decorated back in the Enchanted Forest. And since those trees weren't anything to look at back then, it wasn't too expensive, either. "How about this one?" she asked the rest

The rest of the family inspected the tree. It was neither tall nor short. However, it was rather oddly shaped. She could see them staring at the tree uncertainly because of that. Snow hoped they could understand that the tree's odd shape was the reason she liked it so much. It really reminded her of a tree from home.

Charming understood it first. That wasn't all that surprising, considering how well he always understood her and her attachment to nature. He looked right at her and said, "I think it's perfect. It probably reminds you of your old home in the woods, right?"

Snow nodded, squeezing his hand as a way of saying thank you again. She loved the way he tried to explain to the rest of the group why she wanted the tree without giving too much away about their past in public (and Wendy with them as well). "That's right."

Henry nodded as well. "Then I think it's great, too, Gr – Aunt Mary Margaret. Can you tell me more about the old tree you used to have after we get it home?"

"Of course, Henry," Snow replied smiling. Henry was always so eager to hear about their pasts.

Wendy shrugged. "Okay," she commented, sounding surprised. She probably didn't understand why they wanted this tree. "If this is the tree you want, go pay for it and I'll load it up in the truck." At least she was still willing to take it back to the apartment for them.

OOOOOOOOOO

When they got the tree set up in their apartment, they began stringing popcorn on it, as an alternative to ornaments. They didn't have the money for ornaments, after all, so Henry had suggested they use popcorn instead. "I've heard people do that sometimes," he explained. "It sounds kind of fun." It was fun, although they had to remind Henry not to eat the popcorn.

"Henry!" Snow explained again as he snuck another kernel into his mouth. "If we're going to use those for the tree, you have to stop eating them!"

"But they taste so good, Grandma!" Henry protested. "One kernel won't hurt, will it?"

"Henry…" Snow warned as she went back to placing the stringed popcorn on the tree. As she did so, she happened to notice Charming sneak a popcorn kernel in his mouth as well. "Charming!" she exclaimed slapping his hand. "I thought Henry was the reason why we're losing so much of the popcorn. But now I find you're just as guilty. If you guys want to help decorate the tree, you have to stop eating the decorations!"

Charming laughed. "You're right, of course. We'll stop, won't we,Henry?" Snow sighed and smiled a little. She supposed it was nice to see her husband goofing around. Usually he had so much responsibility on his shoulders, he didn't act silly. But now he was acting like a boy, right along with their grandson.

"Grandma, you said you'd tell us about the tree you used to have in the Enchanted Forest! If you tell us about that, we'll stop, won't we, Grandpa?" Henry asked, pleading her with his eyes.

"Yeah, Snow. I'd love to hear about the tree that this one reminded you of," Charming agreed.

Well, she couldn't very well say no to both of them, could she? "Alright," she smiled at her favorite men as they all strung popcorn on the tree. "The tree that looked like this one was outside of one of my hideouts, after Red returned to live with Granny, but before I met you." Snow smiled at Charming. "I think I was about twenty – two or twenty – three at the time. I always tried to find a tree to decorate for Christmas, even though I was living as a bandit. I had to have…some hope, you know? Red and I had begun the tradition when we were both running, because we didn't want the other to miss Christmas."

Snow paused and Charming and Henry nodded for her to continue. So she strung up another popcorn string and began talking again. "I didn't want to decorate it with anything too extravagant, because it would attract attention. The black knights may not have been as vigilant in looking for me in the winter, but they still patrolled the forest enough to make me nervous. So I used some rabbit fur scraps I'd saved as ornaments. The birds were also always lending me their feathers, so I had quite a collection of those, too. So this odd tree in the middle of the Enchanted Forest was decorated with rabbit fur and bluebird feathers. Not really Christmassy, but it's what I had at the time." She chuckled at that, thinking how silly it sounded now.

"That's wonderful, Snow, that you took the time to do that," Charming commented as he strung popcorn on the tree as well. (He hadn't eaten anymore kernels; she'd been watching him and Henry like a hawk.) "I know how hard it was for you to find hope at that time, but you still decorated a tree. I'm glad we can remind you of that with this one."

"Can we put feathers on this tree, too, Grandma?" Henry asked, his eyes lighting up. "I think that sounds like a great idea!"

Snow smiled at his enthusiasm. "I appreciate you trying to recreate the tree for me, just to feed my nostalgia, but I don't think they're any birds around this time of year. When I did it then, I had to save them for months so I could have them for the winter."

Henry nodded. "Couldn't we use something else that's kind of like the feathers, though? I really think that's a neat idea. It's so different. Besides, you did want this tree because it reminded you of the other one, right? So why shouldn't you try to use some of the same decorations?"

Snow shrugged. Henry had a good point. She thought for a minute. "I wonder if Abigail might have some fabric scraps we can use. She does embroidery and needlework, so she might. I could cut them up so they looked like feathers, how's that?"

Henry nodded eagerly.

"I love the idea, Snow," Charming agreed. "Feathers on a Christmas tree, it's so…you," he smiled at her and kissed her cheek.

OOOOOOOOOO

"So how did your finals go?" Snow asked Emma later that night after Henry had gone to bed. She realized she hadn't gotten a chance to ask her yet.

Emma shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't have any idea how you performed, honey?" Snow asked, confused. "You've been studying for them so hard. I would think you would know you'd done well."

Emma shrugged. "I guess."

"When are you going to get your results?"

Emma shrugged. "They might be up now. Or I might have to wait until Monday."

"So are you going to go to the university on Monday to see?"

Emma shrugged again. "Maybe. I don't know." Then she retreated to her bedroom.

Snow was confused. Emma sounded like she didn't care how she performed on her finals. But after how hard she'd been studying in the past couple of weeks, how could that be? Besides, Emma had told Snow doing well on those finals would help her keep her job at the police station.

Snow thought further. She hadn't noticed it, because she'd been so excited to be getting a real tree for this apartment. And the tree they'd found was a wonderful reminder of her life in the forest. Plus, Henry had been excited enough for everybody. But Emma hadn't talked all day. That was extremely unusual for her, especially on a day where Henry was so excited. Emma hadn't said anything about the tree they'd picked out, or their decision to decorate the tree with popcorn, or Henry eating the popcorn. It was like…she was going through the motions of her life without really living it.

Now the question was, what should Snow do with this revelation? Snow wanted to be able to help Emma; she always did. But pushing Emma to talk had served no purpose the last time Emma had a problem, and Snow had learned her lesson. Emma didn't always want or need her mother's help, as much as she hated to admit it. But at the same time, the last time Emma did have someone to talk to. This time, she showed no indication she was talking about her problem with Red.

"Charming, do you think there might be something wrong with Emma again? She hasn't talked all day." she asked him as she sipped another mug of cinnamon cocoa.

He looked up from reading the paper. "I noticed that. I don't know, Snow. I hope not, but, something is probably bothering her, yeah"

"So what do we do about it? I was wrong to push her last time, I know that. So do we just wait until she wants to talk to us?"

Charming sighed. "I don't know. You may have been wrong to push her, but you ended up helping her, too, remember, by knowing what the problem was."

Snow nodded and took another sip of cocoa. "Plus, last time she had someone she was talking to. I don't see her talking to anyone this time."

Charming nodded. "True."

"What if I just go tell her we're here if she wants to talk? Or I could offer to call Red for if she'd rather talk to her."

Charming beamed at Snow. "I think that's a wonderful idea."

Snow smiled back. Then she approached Emma's bedroom door and carefully knocked. "Emma?" she asked gently. She opened the door slowly. Emma was lying on her air mattress, starring at the ceiling. That didn't look good.

"Emma would you like some cinnamon cocoa with me?" she asked trying to ease into the topic.

"I guess," Emma replied, like it didn't matter either way. Still, Snow considered it a victory.

"Great!" she replied. "I'll get the kettle started right away." As Emma got up, Snow tried to nonchalantly bring up what she had come into talk about. "Emma, I know you're not able to talk to me about everything, and I'm trying to be okay with that. But…I'm here if you want to talk. So is your father. Or if you'd rather talk to Red, I could even call her for you. Because I think something is bothering you again."

Emma shrugged. As the kettle warmed, she mumbled something about Red.

"What was that, Emma?" Snow asked as gently as possible. She picked up her phone. "Do you want me to call Red for you?" Snow tried to keep the hurt out of her voice that Emma was choosing to talk to someone instead of her again. At least she wanted to talk to someone.

"No," Emma replied, staring at the floor. "I said I can't talk to Ruby because I already told her I was okay. And I thought I was. But now…I don't know what's wrong with me! I'm not angry about Neal's death anymore, but I don't feel anything else, either. I've gone numb. Things that used to make me happy…like seeing Henry smile or hearing him laugh, don't anymore. I can't bring myself to care about my grades, either, even though I know they're important. I don't know what to do!"

Snow was sad that her daughter was going through so much, but she couldn't stop the joy that welled in her heart that Emma had confided in her this time. She leaned over and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, but I'm here for you," she told her.

Emma nodded. "Yeah, but I need to find a way to start feeling again! I need this numb feeling to go away, pronto! I hated being angry all the time, but at least I was feeling something.

Now…I know how I should feel, but I just…don't."

The kettle whistled and Snow went over to prepare Emma's hot cocoa with cinnamon.

Charming came over and sat at the table. "Are you feeling guilty about your emotional numbness, Emma? Because you shouldn't. It's hard, I know, but it can be just as much a part of grieving as your anger was." Snow smiled to herself as she mixed the cocoa into the hot water. It was nice that Emma heard about dealing with emotions from her father. Charming had a philosophy that Snow really admired about emotions, that no one should feel guilty about the way they were feeling.

"What do you know about it?" Emma grumbled.

"We'll I've never lost a girlfriend, but I did lose my mother. I may not have grieved the same way, but I did have to go through it. And I had a friend lose his father, too. He went through a period like this. You just need to give yourself time, Emma."

"I don't want time," she grumbled as she sipped her chocolate Snow had handed to her. "I want to move on now!"

Charming nodded, giving Snow the look that clearly said "she gets this from you." He wrapped his arm around Emma. "I know, Emma. I have very impatient women in my life. But some things, you do have to wait for, and getting through grief is one of them. Someday, you'll just realize you're happy again."

"Whatever," Emma replied, obviously not believing him. "Can you be patient for me?"

Charming smiled, even though he had to know she didn't mean that sincerely. "Of course," he replied, his eyes showing how much he really meant that. "I'll give you anything you need." Snow's heart swelled at the scene of her husband lending his strength to their daughter. She'd be okay.

XXXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOOO

Henry laughed as he, Teddy, and Eddie boarded their bus. "No way!" told Teddy. "You really made Sam eat a worm!" Teddy had been telling Henry a story about when he had been nine years old and he'd caught another boy eating his favorite snack.

"Yep," Teddy bragged. "He deserved it after taking my cupcake! I covered it with chocolate frosting and made him think it was candy! The look on his face when he bit into it…" Teddy laughed.

"Oh, it was priceless, Henry!" Eddie agreed. "People talked about it for months!"

Henry smiled as he sat down. Then he heard the next song come on the radio and his smile disappeared. The radio on the bus had been playing Christmas songs for a couple of weeks. Some of them were pretty good. Some of them were funny. Some of them were a little dorky. But this song…Henry didn't know how to deal with it.

"All I want for Christmas is you," the radio crooned. "…I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree…" Henry suddenly couldn't stop thinking about his dead mom. He wanted Mom back more than anything! Forget about all the fun he was having with his new friends. Forget about all the fun he had with his family. Forget that he was being raised by heroes, which is exactly what he wanted when he realized his mother was the Evil Queen. Forget about whatever presents he would get for Christmas this year. Henry would give it all up if he could see Regina again. Hug her again. Tell her was sorry when he told her she wasn't his mom.

Henry struggled to keep from crying as the song continued. He blinked several times and wiped his eyes. Grandpa may have told him it was okay to cry, but that didn't mean he felt comfortable doing it around other kids, especially his new friends. Would Teddy and Eddie think he was weak? Would they make fun of him? Maybe they would even beat him like Evan and Tim did. Not that Henry thought Teddy and Eddie were like Evan and Tim in anyway, but you never know how someone might react to a twelve – year old boy crying.

Eventually the bus stopped in front of his house and Henry jumped off the bus as fast as he could. He was hoping that if he couldn't hear that stupid song anymore, he wouldn't feel like crying anymore, either. Unfortunately, he wasn't that lucky. As he went inside, Henry could feel wet tears running down his face.

He looked at their odd – shaped Christmas tree which was covered with popcorn kernels and fabric that Abigail had brought over for Grandma to cut into feathers. Just this morning, Henry thought it was great. It was so unique…so perfect for his family. But now, Henry thought about how much his other mom would dislike it. She wanted everything to be so formal and proper. Henry wished he could trade the Christmas tree and all his presents (Henry had already noticed there was one with his name on it underneath it.) for more time with Regina.

He ran into his bedroom, so he didn't have to look at the tree anymore. But his bedroom wasn't much better. This was still a room that showed a life without Regina. Without his mom. He finally broke down and sobbed.

"Henry?" Grandma asked knocking at the door. "What's wrong? Is it Regina again?"

Henry nodded, still sobbing. "I can't believe she won't be here for Christmas! I know it sounds horrible, but I'd rather have her here than you guys. I just miss her, so much! I don't even want my presents this year!"

Grandma simply wrapped her arms around Henry.

XXXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOO

Christmas morning finally arrived. Red, Granny, and Abigail and Fredrick had come over as well to celebrate the holiday, although the dwarves were unable to get away from the logging camp, since it was so far away. Snow had sent them some axes as presents, anyway.

Snow had been a little nervous about how Henry would react to the book they'd all put together for him. "What if he doesn't like it, Emma? I mean, I know you said the book meant a lot to him in Storybrooke, but…he told me earlier today that he didn't really want any presents. Did we do all that work for nothing?"

Emma had shrugged. She wished she could give Snow the perfect encouragement, but that had never been her strong point. And it had only gotten worse since she still couldn't seem to feel anything. "We'll just have to see what happens when he opens it," Emma told her as they bound the book together and wrapped it.

"At least we tried, Snow. That's all we can do. But I believe Henry will love the book, just like Emma said he would," David had commented, annoyingly optimistic, as always. "He was just upset about Regina that day, Snow. It doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't want his gift."

So that morning they would all find out if their work had been worth it. Emma wished she could say she hoped it would be worth it. In a way, she did. Because Emma did want Henry to be happy and she wanted her parents to be happy. She just knew it wouldn't make her happy as well.

"Henry," David said stepping forward. "We'd like you to open the first gift." He picked up the book, wrapped in red paper.

Henry shook his head. "No, I don't really care what I got. Besides, I'd kind of like Mom to open this gift," he commented pointing to a big soft gift with Emma's name on it.

Emma shrugged. She supposed it didn't really matter one way or the other.

But David shook his head and handed Henry the book. "No, this gift is special, Henry. It's from all of us." David's eyes looked at everyone in the room. Emma supposed that was true. Everyone there contributed something to Henry's book. She'd provided the paper, pens, and paints. Abigail had painted the pictures. And everyone else had written at least one story for it. Her parents had written several.

Henry sighed. "All right, I'll open it," he said like it was a big inconvenience for him. So he did. Slowly. Then, when he saw the cover, Henry's expression changed completely. "I thought this book had been destroyed!" he exclaimed as he began looking through the pages.

"It was," Snow replied, with her voice full of joy. "Your mother thought we should make you another one."

"Everyone here helped with that book, Henry," Ruby commented smiling at him. "We all wrote stories, your mother bought the materials, and Abigail painted the pictures."

Henry nodded, still examining the book. He finally stopped when he found a particular story. Emma wasn't sure which one, because she'd made the mistake of not paying attention to the stories before. But apparently, it meant something to him. He caressed the pages. "Thank you for putting this story in, Grandma," he looked at Snow, like she would understand why it was so important.

"Of course, Henry." The expression on Snow's face showed she did understand.

Then he put the book down and gave Emma a hug. "Thank you, Mom, for suggesting a new fairytale book. I thought I was okay without it. I mean, there was nothing I could do about the fact that it was destroyed. But…I guess I still need it more than I thought." Emma nodded. She was glad he was happy. And her parents were happy that all their work had paid off, of course. She just wished she could share in the joy. But she still felt nothing.

Henry smiled up at Emma. "Okay, Mom, now please open this gift." Henry picked up the gift he had pointed to before, the one that was big and soft. It was from Granny. Did she get Emma a bedspread? Whatever. Emma opened it anyway.

She couldn't believe what was inside. It was a white baby blanket. An exact replica of the one Emma had lost when Storybrooke blew up, right down to her name embroidered in purple ribbon. She kept staring at it and running her hands up and down the fabric for several minutes. "How – how – how did you know?" she finally stammered, looking up at Granny.

Granny smiled at her. "Henry told me you'd like to have another one. It really should have his name on it, too. It's just as much from him as it is from me."

"So how did you know?" she asked, turning to her son. Emma had always known Henry was perceptive. But knowing that Emma would like to have another baby blanket went beyond even what Henry was capable of, considering she never talked about it.

Henry smiled. "The kids at the foster home that I was at all had stuff they held onto. I realized that blanket…was probably what you held onto."

Emma nodded, still upset that Henry had to go through that experience. Then she realized what she'd just thought. She was upset that Henry had to go through foster care. Not just because she knew how she should feel. Because that's how she felt. And right now, she was feeling joy because she could hold her blanket again. Granny and Henry hadn't just given her back her most prized possession. They'd given back her ability to feel emotions.

"Thank you so much," she said, looking from Henry to Granny.

Her parents finally came over and felt the blanket as well. "This really is almost exactly like the one we had you wrapped in. The blanket…it meant a lot to you?" Snow asked, hopefully.

Emma nodded, smiling at both her parents. "Everything. It was the one thing that made me believe that someone loved me once. More than that, it gave me an identity. I wasn't just an abandoned baby," she saw her parents wince at that so she moved on quickly, "I was Emma."

Snow nodded, joy filling her face again. "Then I'm really glad I asked Granny to make you the first one, then."

Henry was also happy with the new decretive novel Emma had bought him. Emma felt guilty she'd only bought her parents clothes, not putting much thought into their gifts because she hadn't really cared at the time. Especially when she saw the beautiful dream catcher they'd bought her.

"I remember you'd said Neal had one, and that you two had planned on using it when you had a home together," Snow explained. "We thought we'd get it for you to have something to remind you of him. Is that okay? I mean, I wish I had something to remind me of my parents, and so did your father, but if it's too painful for you, we can get you something else…"

"No," Emma replied holding it up. It wasn't gold like the one Neal had, but it was still beautiful. It actually looked more like a traditional Native American dream catcher. "I love it." And she did. If she was still feeling angry about everything that reminded her of Neal, she might feel different, but she was over that now. Her parents were right. It was nice to have something that reminded her of him. "I just wish I'd gotten you guys something better."

"That's okay," they replied.

Granny, who had found her own apartment and a job at nice restaurant since the dwarves left, received cookware as a joint gift from all of them. In addition to the baby blanket she'd made for Emma, she also made everyone hats and mittens, which would come in handy because the weather was really cold now. Henry also gave them each a picture with him and the respective person in it. Emma remembered the day Henry had brought Eddie over to take their pictures, but she hadn't really thought much of it then. After all, until today, nothing really had really mattered to her for a while.

Snow gave David a pair of jeans. "I know you said you need them to work on the farm," she explained. "So I thought I'd give you something you could use for a job you love," From the way her mother said it, that sentence seemed to have a special meaning.

David smiled at her, showing he understood. Emma had no idea what it meant and she wasn't really sure she wanted to. Then he gave Snow his gift, a package of some kind of seeds. Snowdrops, David called them. Emma figured they were just supposed to be a pun on her mother's name, until David said, "I guess you have something to remember your mother, after all." Apparently there was more to it than that. Maybe she'd ask Snow about it later.

Abigail gave Fredrick some mittens Granny had knitted with his name embroidered on them. When they got home, they, along with Ruby, would also have a new table that Emma, David, and, Snow had all pooled their money to buy.

First, here's a response to my "Guest" from chapter 24: I'm very glad you think this is a nice story. But as far as Charming's outfit during their formal wedding, I looked up a picture of them during that wedding before I wrote that. It is true Charming wasn't wearing the "classic" brown leather suit we're used to him wearing. But the fact was, he was wearing a brown suit with a small cape in the back. I admit, I really don't know if it was leather at all, but it looks a lot like the red leather suit Rumple gave him to me. Besides, almost everything Charming wore as the Prince in the Enchanted Forest had was some leather in it!

As for the outfit that he wore when they went on their honeymoon, I figured that didn't happen until much later (possibly even the next day). Because as I illustrated, in a formal royal wedding, they would have had a feast, a ball, etc. to celebrate first. (Once everyone stopped panicking about Regina's threat, anyway.)

Second of all, let me tell you I can't believe I actually wrote a Christmas chapter in July! Usually I have a problem with doing anything involving Christmas until the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I kind of see it as a part of Christmas commercialism. But cultural differences between US and Enchanted Forest are one of my main focuses for this story, and there were a lot of cultural differences for them to notice with Christmas. There were also some important scenes to write involving Christmas Day (particularly between Henry and Emma). And I wasn't willing to wait four months to write this chapter, so it would be the Christmas season. (Wasn't that nice of me?) So…season's greetings a few months early!

Also, I realize there is a bit of a debate in the fandom about whether they have Christmas in the Enchanted Forest. But, it worked for me that they did, so I decided they did, they just didn't have all the same traditions within Christmas.

Oh, and I also wanted to say I made the idea that David is "really good at making sure people don't feel guilty/bad about what they are feeling" (as Snow said). I realize this isn't really something that is established in canon. But I do think that it makes sense that he would be, based on what we know about him. 1. He's patient. 2. He's very honest. 3. He's more sensitive than a lot of men are (that's one reason why I believe he was almost entirely raised by Ruth). All of those traits add up to a man who's very honest about his emotions, and is willing to work through them instead of bottling them up. And he wants to make sure the other members of his family do the same thing. (It's also a philosophy I believe in very strongly myself.)

Emma, of course, wants to bottle/push past her emotions, because she's grown up believing emotions are to be manipulated, teased, or beat for. She also has very little patience to "wait something out."