The girls were worn out after their eventful horseback riding adventure with Hook and Neal. David had been a little broken hearted when they made it very clear they just wanted to hang out with their friends… not their father. David and Snow watched them with affection as Rumple and Belle seemed just as taken with the boys.

It warmed Snow's heart to see Belle so willing to take Neal under her wing, and even Hook. Rumple seemed happy to have his son back, but there was still a mutual distaste between Hook and himself. No one was willing to question it when things seemed to be going so well.

Rumple casually brought up how much the girls had grown over the last year or so and it shook Snow a little. David probably was shaken as well, but Snow hated herself for not knowing it was her babies the moment they walked into her life. Cursed Mary Margaret treated them like gifts, but Snow would have pulled them into her arms and made them promises of how they would never be torn from her again.

But they had grown, Emma especially. She was now a good two inches taller than her sister, looking more like a woman every day. It seemed Rose was taking on more of her mother's features, but her grandmother's small stature. Granted, Snow was fairly petite herself, Rose was proving to just be shorter. Still, her daughters were so completely beautiful. So beautiful in fact it was easy to tell boys were very much taking notice. Especially Hook and Neal.

Perhaps violence beginning a romance ran in the family. Emma had a hell of a sword fight in the enchanted forest with Hook while Rose reintroduced herself to Neal through a hell of a few punches.

David was not particularly happy about the boys' interest. There were plenty of good farm boys or even just regular teenagers out there, but his daughters were being wooed by a pirate and the son of the dark one. His daughters were princesses and they deserved to be treated as such.

The rain had drew their exciting day to a stop. The teenagers said their farewells and climbed into the back of vehicle with Timber in tow. It wasn't more than a fifteen minute drive back to town, but Emma's head already rested against the window with her eyes closed as Rose seemed to be doing her best to keep her eyes open.

Snow and David exchange humored glances as they peeked at them in the rearview mirror. "You're not falling asleep on us, are you?" David asked his girls.

"No!" Rose said firmly, startling her sister into opening her eyes. Emma groaned and rested her head against the window again. Rose also went back to relaxing against her seat. "Maybe a little."

"Well we're almost home," Snow told them as they passed Granny's.

The girls nodded vaguely, but even their fox pup yawned in response. The long day of riding horses, sword fighting, and chasing horses had left all parties exhausted. Snow and David had to wake them again when they actually arrived at the loft. Their feet dragged up the steps so much that David walked behind them just in case.

As they finally made it into the loft Rose and Emma moved toward the bar.

"Girls, why don't you go up and take a nap?" their mother suggested as she redirected them toward the stairs.

Both girls turned into her and surprised her with a hug. Their faces rested on either side of her neck and she sigh contently. "Or you can come cuddle with me," she suggested not wanting to break contact either.

David shook his head as he watched his wife and daughters move toward the back curtain. The three girls kicked off their shoes and both of Snow's shoulders were occupied. One with blond curls, the other with raven. It was times like these Snow had dreamed of. Perhaps she hadn't gotten as far as seeing them as teenagers do this, but definitely as little girls.

"Mom?" Emma said quietly in a hoarse sleepy voice.

"Yes, love?" Snow replied closing her own eyes as she felt her husband come to sit at the edge of her bed.

"Will you tell us what it would have been like? If we were with you all in the enchanted forest?"

Snow's eyes popped back open as she caught her older daughter's eye. She seemed nervous about the question, but she was asking it. The question was more expectant of Rose, but not today.

She took a deep breath as she relaxed deeper into the pillows of her bed and thought of all the plans she had for her daughters. David run his hands up and down her shins as though reminding her he was right there with her. It wasn't easy to think of all they lost, all the plans they would never happen, much less speak of it.

"I had so many plans for you when you were young. I would teach you both to track, to defend yourselves with the bow-"

"And I would teach you both to horseback ride and use a sword," David added smiling gently at his daughters who looked over at him. Rose moved off her mother and crawled over to where her father could wrap her up in his embrace. If Snow hadn't been so overjoyed to see her daughter in the arms of her father, she may have missed the contact on her left side. However, she took the moment to wrap Emma up just a little tighter.

"But first we would introduce you to the kingdom, announce your names. I had made your goans for the introduction, with a lot of Granny's help may I ad," Snow told the girls with a light chuckle. "Needle work was never my strength."

Both girl smirked at each other, having their own bought with needles in a home economics class at school once. However, that was a story for another time.

"They were beautiful. White lace, but no bonnets. I cannot stand bonnets," she continued.

"So like… Christening gowns?" Rose asked remembering the times when her foster parents would drag her to things like their friends baby Christening. Snow actually smiled at the reference.

"Yes, actually. A lot like christening gowns. Your name was supposed to kept a secret, but that didn't work out exactly. Rumplestiltskin knew. But I embroidered your name on those blankets, even with my poor stitch work." That was hours upon hours of frustration. She would never admit how many times she ripped the stitching out and started from scratch.

"Would you have been there with us?" Rose asked. Both David and Snow seemed very confused but Emma explained for her.

"Or would we have had a nanny like on the movies? You know, kids with important parents never actually see their parents, but were raised by nannies."

"Actually, you would probably have Johanna as a governess, but for the most part you would be sticking very close to us. That was an agreement your father and I had agreed on a long time ago. We were your parents. No one was going to take our spots."

The irony of their mother's statement caused a knot in the girls' throats. All their parents ever wanted was them, and all they ever wanted was their parents. But fate was cruel and they things they wanted most, their dreams, their wishes, they desires, they were all right there nearly fifteen years too late.

Rose's chin quivered as she sucked in a breath a quickly wiped a tear from her eye. David tighten his hold on his hold and kissed her hairline while Snow stroked Emma's face. Pain was not a family trait Snow and David ever wished to pass on to their daughters, yet it seemed obvious that it was the one trait they all could most relate to.

"What you had is not what we wanted for you, we will never let you go now," David promised his daughters as Snow nodded to emphasize.

Snow rested her head against Emma's head and held her hands in her own. "We will always find each other, but I hope we never have to look again."

The next morning, Snow woke to the sounds of giggles in the kitchen. She could hear the soft hum of her husband's voice talking followed by her daughters. "Shh! We're going to wake, Mom," Emma hissed and it was punctuated by the sound of a slap.

"Ow! Hey!" Another smack.

"Girls, no fighting," Charming told her sharply but with his ever gentle undertone.

Snow stretched as she pushed her covers off. She could see her girls dancing around the kitchen with plates and setting the table. Their backs were to her and she decided to take the opportunity to sneak up on her husband and wrap her arms around his white t-shirt and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck.

"What's all this?" she asked as the girls still seemed not to notice them.

She could feel her husband tense and her mind immediately caught onto what he was doing. "David…" slowly she back away from him and shook her head. "You didn't."

The horror in her voice stopped her children in their tracks as they turned to look at their parents. They had been to enough foster homes to be able to spot a spousal dispute from miles away.

"Snow, we want to celebrate with you," David explained as the girls slowly stepped further away from them.

She tossed a glance at her daughter but then did a double take. She was scaring her them. The nervousness and the fear was written all over their faces. But she was still angry. How could her husband so blatantly disregard her displeasure of celebrating her birthday? "David, you know how I feel about this."

"I thought that maybe you'd feel different since you have your daughter's to celebrate with you!" He didn't mean to sound so harsh, but the girls were already slowly moving as far away from them as possible and they were excited to share in their mother's birthday.

"Don't bring them into this!" Snow snapped back. "They have nothing to do with this."

"Snow-"

"Don't fight!" Emma yelled suddenly as Rose still stood on the opposite side of the table, holding on the chair. The girls had seen their parents have arguments, but they had never seen them yell and snap at each other like this. It was scary to them. It brought back too many memories.

"Don't fight…" This time her voice was softer as in realization that she had just interrupted the adults. Her history reminded her that was a bad idea and all the color started to drain from her face as she stepped back next to her sister.

Both parents looked at their petrified daughters. The way they were looking at them did not resemble their usual smiles and trust, but as though they vicious animals. Their fox pup seemed confused by their actions, but stayed in his spot just next to the door. Whatever was going on, Timber would just cuddle with his friends as a final result.

When Snow took a step toward them, her facial expression forcibly softening, the girls took a step back. So then her husband tried. "Girls, it's okay. We're just having a disagreement," he tried to assure them.

"It sounds like a fight," Rose said pointedly, crossing her arms for good measure. Her fear was quickly becoming aggravation and Emma was right alongside her. "Do you not want to celebrate your birthday with us?"

Snow blinked in shock then shook her head. "No! It's not that. It's-" Snow hugged and tried to figure out where she wanted to go with her words. "There is no one else in all the realms I would rather spend my birthday with, but-"

"We know your mom died," Emma jumped in, surprising her mother. "But we want to make it better."

"Because you're our mother," Rose added. "And we want to celebrate you."

Tears welled in Snow's eyes as she quickly crossed the floor to them to pull them both into bone crushing hugs. There was a lot of things she had learned with being a mom just in the short time she was blessed with her girls. Children can break your heart, they can say words that will cut deeper than anything you've ever felt. But they also had this amazing ability, that all those cuts and scars that left a heart sore and wounded, they could take some of that pain away.

"I love my girls," Snow whispered into their wild curls as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Good. Cause we love you too."

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