Title: Love is Strength
Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine! Needtobreathe songs: A Girl Named Tennessee and Something Beautiful. Eminem/Rihanna- Love the Way you Lie. The last song however is mine:).
Warning: K+ (Mentions some violence/kidnapping)
Author's Note: Chapter 35! Sorry this took forever! I had a major case of writer's block lately. It took be about a week and half to get this chapter done, but I have been busy too! :) The italicized parts normally are thoughts, but in this chapter a lot of it is music lyrics as you will see (songs are cited under disclaimer section). Hope you like this chapter! I wasn't sure about it, but my sister liked it so here you go! Thanks for the continuing support with your reviews, favorites, and follows - it means a lot to me! More reviews the more motivation I have to write more! :) Anyway, I'll stop rambling! Enjoy! :)
A Cooking Lesson, Cookies, and Some Music
"Why did you want us back by four?" Emma asked as she tried to steal another cookie when her mom's back was turned.
"Put the cookie down." Snow said, before turning to look at Emma who indeed had a cookie in her hand with a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face.
"How did you know? Your back was turned?" Emma said stunned, but hadn't put the cookie down.
Charming and Henry chuckled in the background as they watched the exchange between mother and daughter.
"I'm your mom. I just knew." Snow said with a smirk. "Now, put the cookie back." Snow added.
Emma sighed and reluctantly put the cookie back.
"To answer your question, Emma. We are all going to make dinner together." Snow said with a grin at Henry.
"Wait. You're going to let us cook?" Emma replied pointing between her Dad and herself. They had tried before to make dinner together and Snow ended up kicking them out of the kitchen.
"Hey, I'm not as bad as you are." Charming defended his cooking skills.
"It was your fault the potatoes exploded in the oven!" Emma said, giving her Dad a knowing look.
"I didn't realize you had to poke holes in them, but that was nothing to you burning the chicken!" Charming argued with a cocky smile.
"How was I suppose to know that you had to watch them and put in a little oil with them? Anyway, you ruined the pie." Emma said with a little laugh at the memory of their little ruined meal.
"No the pie was fine, just a little funny looking and it would have tasted fine if you hadn't of burned it." Charming said with a chuckle.
"How was I suppose to know it was under all the potato pieces?" Emma replied with a cheeky grin.
"Ah, you two aren't cooking anything without supervision, not ever again." Snow said as she shook her head at the memory of what a mess her kitchen was after her husband and daughter decided to do something nice for her.
"But, I thought you said..." Emma began.
"You are going to help prepare it. The difference between that time and this time is that I'm here to make sure you three don't destroy my kitchen." Snow said eyeing all three of them.
"Why me? I didn't help with the dinner, Grams!" Henry said with a confused expression.
"Kid, do you remember the time you tried to make everyone breakfast?" Emma said with a grin as she looked at her son.
"Yeah." Henry said slowly as he remembered what a mess he made and how the smoke alarm went off.
"As I remember correctly..." Charming started thinking about that particular morning, "you were helping him make breakfast." Charming said as he looked at his daughter.
"Only at the end, to help him cook everything." Emma said slowly.
"Ah yeah and if I remember correctly the smoke alarm went off because you burnt the eggs, the bacon, and the pancakes." Snow said with a giggle at Emma 's expression of bewilderment.
"Yeah, she wouldn't let me cook anything. I only prepared everything." Henry added with a grin.
"It is not my fault, I can't watch everything at once!" Emma defended.
"Yeah, but you weren't watching them at all." Charming says with a sly grin.
"Okay, okay. So I'm not the greatest cook." Emma said as she lifted her hands up to stop their harassment against her cooking skills, or lack of cooking skills.
"It's okay, sweetie. You won't burn the pizza tonight." Snow said with a sympathetic smile towards her daughter.
"Pizza?" Emma asked with excitement in her voice.
"Yep. We are all going to create our own pizzas and then we are going to make homemade breadsticks." Snow replied. "It was Henry's idea."
"Sweet idea, kid!" Emma said with a grin at her son. "But what are we having for dessert?"
"Is that all you ever think about?" Snow asked with a look of bewilderment on her face at Emma's sweet tooth.
Emma shrugged her shoulders and grinned at her mother.
"Dessert is a surprise mom." Henry replied with a wink at his Grandma.
"Ok. Ok." Emma said with a chuckle. "So what do we do first? I'm hungry."
"First, we have to make the dough." Snow said with a chuckle.
Charming grabbed three cookies when Snow was busy getting the ingredients ready. He slid one to Henry and one to Emma than kept the last one for himself.
Emma eyes brightened at the gesture and smiled at her dad before quickly starting to eat the cookie.
Snow turned to her three helpers to see them all with a cookie, "Seriously?"
Emma stuffed the rest of the cookie in her mouth before her Mom could take it away.
"How'd you get those?" Snow asked slowly, eyeing the three of them.
Emma finished swallowing her cookie before saying, "Get what?" Emma gave her mom her most innocent look.
"Yeah, Grams. What are you talking about?" Henry added with his own innocent smile, having finished his cookie as well.
Charming just chuckled as his daughter and grandson covered for him.
Snow gave Emma and Henry her mom look, but knew the real culprit of this crime. She thought it was cute that they were trying to protect him so she just sighed as she gave up.
Emma turned and winked at her Dad after Snow relented.
Charming smiled back, but then got a glare from his wife, which he returned with a 'charming' smile.
Snow rolled her eyes at her husband, but couldn't help the smile that came to her lips.
Emma looked from one parent to the other as they interacted. They really were her parents, it was just weird that they were her age, yet they acted older which technically they had to be older to be her parents anyway. Her father walked over and lightly put his hand on her mother's back. It amazed her how well they fit together. They moved like they were one. In fact, everything they did, seemed to be as one. As if they have the same brain or the same heart. She knows that they are able to have silent conversations with each other. They had done it many times the last week when she had been hurt and sick. It was a bit frustrating because she couldn't tell what they were saying, but it was also kind of cute how in sync they were with each other.
Charming and Snow were totally unaware of their daughter's thoughts. Charming kissed Snow not even thinking about how his daughter and grandson were in the room. Not till he heard a groan from his daughter and an "eww" from his grandson.
Emma put her head down on the counter after she groaned from her parents' kiss, well if you could call it just one kiss, it was a long, lingering kiss that she would have preferred not to witness, but unfortunately did.
Snow and Charming looked over to see Emma with her head on the counter. Snow rolled her eyes and Charming chuckled at their daughter's actions.
"Are you feeling okay, Em?" Charming asked with a chuckle.
Emma lifted her head with a glare at her Dad because she knew that he knew exactly why she had her head on the counter. "Seriously?" Emma replied.
Charming chuckled.
"Ok, ok. That's enough. Let's get this dough started. Okay, Henry can you get a bowl for us. Emma, can you measure out 1 1/2 cups of water from the kettle it should be warm." Snow said as she handed Emma a glass-measuring cup. "And don't even think about getting another cookie!" Snow added.
Emma bit her lip and seriously wondered if her mother could read her mind because she had just been thinking about sneaking one. "But, I'm hungry." Emma complained with a puppy dog look directed at Snow.
Snow turned around and got out some carrots from the refrigerator and put some on a plate to hand to her daughter.
"But this is rabbit food." Emma complained with a little frown coming to her lips as she took the plate from her Mom.
Snow just gave her a look before going back to the task at hand. Emma brought over the plate of untouched carrots and the warm water for the dough to stand in between her Mom and Dad at the counter.
Charming gave Emma a sympathetic smile at her plate of carrots. She slid them over to him with a smile, which he returned with a roll of his eyes. She hated vegetables and normally would refuse to eat them so he ate a couple of them to help her out.
"You know what we are missing? Some music." Emma said as she grabbed her iPod and speaker. She searched through her iPod and found exactly what she wanted. "Here is some Needtobreathe, prepare to be amazed." Emma said seriously with a smile.
"Some what?" Snow asked as she compiled the ingredients for the dough after the yeast had set.
"It's a band called Needtobreathe. They are amazing!" Emma said before she started the playlist on shuffle.
Snow and Charming shared an amused expression before continuing with the dough as the lyrics to the first song started.
They say this lasts forever
That's just what I'm afraid of
I'll never dance like this again
She smiles like the Georgia summer
She laughs with the sound of thunder
I wanna dance like this again
I'm not the marrying kind
I've said it a thousand times
I've never danced like this before
She's got the prettiest shoes
And I love the way she moves
I wanna dance like this again
After the dough was mixed, Snow put it aside to rise. As the dough was rising, Charming started getting the ingredients for the pizza sauce as Snow started making the breadsticks.
"Emma, you want to learn how to make pizza sauce?" Charming asked his daughter.
Emma hesitated. "Are you sure? I have a tendency to burn things." Emma replied with a frown.
"Yes, I am sure and you won't burn it this time. The trick is to keep stirring the sauce ever once in a while." Charming replied with a wink and a smile. "So what do you say? Are you going to help me?"
"Yeah, I will." Emma said with a soft smile, although she wasn't completely convinced she wouldn't ruin the sauce.
As Emma helped Charming, Henry helped Snow make the breadsticks. The family worked side-by-side enjoying each other's company as they made dinner with a little music in the background.
Let us love
Like we were children
Make us feel
Like we're still living
In a world I know that's burning to the ground
Give us time
To beat the system
Make us find
What we've been missing
In a world I know that's burning to the ground
"Okay, the dough is ready to knead!" Snow said excitedly as she brought it over to the island. The sauce was done and the breadsticks were ready to go in the oven at the right time.
"Can I help?" Henry asked.
"Of course!" Snow replied with a huge grin at Henry's excitement.
Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful
To touch me, I know that I'm in reach
'Cause I am down on my knees
"I'm waiting for something beautiful. Oh, something beautiful..." Emma sang as she kneaded the dough after Henry had stopped, but then suddenly stopped as she realized everybody had quit what they were doing to look at her. Agh, I sang out loud. Crap. Crap. Crap.
"You have a pretty voice, Emma." Snow said in awe, but then snapped out of it and she turned back to what she was doing. Everyone else seemed to take the hint to not make a big deal out of it and returned to their work as well. "You know, your father can sing too." Snow added, trying to draw the attention from Emma.
Emma turned to her Dad, who was on the other side of her, with a curious expression on her face. "You can sing?" Emma asked. She didn't really think she was that good of a singer, but her father didn't seem like a person who would sing either.
"Well, I use to sing to the sheep and then later to you when you were still in Snow, but I wouldn't say I'm a good singer." Charming replied modestly.
"What did you sing?" Emma asked still curious.
"A couple of different songs." Charming said as he enjoyed Emma's interest in their past.
"He made one up too." Snow added with a giggle at her memory of Charming singing to her pregnant belly.
"Gramps! You should sing it!" Henry exclaimed.
"Oh I don't know, Henry. I don't even know if I remember it all." Charming said with a chuckle. He actually did remember a majority of it, but he didn't think Emma could handle it. "And I don't have the guitar I use to play when I sang it." Charming added.
Emma had mixed feelings about whether she wanted to hear this song, but she knew in her heart she was truly curious about what he sang to her before she was born. The little girl in her wanted to hear it, but the adult wasn't sure she wanted to deal with those feelings or the awkward situation it could cause.
"Hold on..." Snow said as she walked to the door and left the loft, leaving three confused family members in the kitchen.
Emma looked at her father, thinking he would know what his wife was doing, only to get a shrug from him. "I thought she wasn't going to leave us unsupervised?" Emma said before glancing back at the cookies, but she was a little busy with the dough.
"Are you that hungry?" Charming asked with a chuckle. "I'll take over, but you will have to be quick. I'm guessing your Mom will be back soon, she looked like she was on a mission."
"Thanks!" Emma said as she washed her hands and went to grab a cookie then threw one to Henry as well. "Eat it quick, kid!"
"Emma!"
"Busted." Emma said as she held her cookie in her hand halfway to her mouth.
Snow walked over with a guitar in one hand to Emma to take the cookie out of her hand.
"Mom! I was going to eat that!" Emma exclaimed.
"I know." Snow said as she put the cookie back on the plate. "Now, your father is going to sing your song." Snow said as she turned to her husband with an encouraging smile.
"I am?" Charming said as he looked to Emma wondering if she wanted him to. If she wanted him to, he would, but he had a feeling she wouldn't want him to sing it.
"I...I would actually like to hear it." Emma said surprising herself and everyone else.
Charming shared a touched smile with his daughter for opening up a little and wanting to know more about the song. "Okay, I'll sing it, but should we finish the crust first?" Charming asked, but couldn't keep the sparkle out of his eyes because he was finally going to get to do what he always thought he would do, sing to his daughter the song he made for her.
"Yeah, we should and it will need to cook for a half hour before we can put the sauce and toppings on it." Snow replied, remembering that they still had dinner to finish.
As Snow and Charming started to roll out the dough for the two pizzas, Emma went back to her iPod and switched it to a different playlist and pushed play. Snow and Charming listened to the song for a little while before exchanging a worried look and then looked at Emma with disapproving looks at the content of the song.
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
But that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
"What?" Emma asked as she realized her parents were practically glaring at her.
"What kind of song is this?" Charming asked with a frown.
"You can't possible like this?" Snow said right after Charming.
"I do like it." Emma said a little offended, but also a little amused by their reactions to the song.
"You agree with this, Emma?" Charming asked a bit horrified.
"No, I didn't say that, I just like it." Emma said quickly.
"I don't think you should listen to this song." Charming said in a stern tone.
Emma rolled her eyes. "I don't agree with it, I just like listening to it, especially when Eminem sings." Emma explained.
"But, why would you listen to it if you don't agree with it?" Snow asked in a confused tone.
"I don't know. I just like it." Emma replied with sigh.
Charming started walking towards Emma's iPod. "How do you delete a song?" Charming asked seriously.
"Dad!" Emma exclaimed as she went to grab her iPod, but was stopped by her father's arm keeping her back. "Mom!" She started to struggle against his arm, trying to reach her IPod that her father was trying to figure out.
"Charming, don't delete it." Snow said with a giggle at the struggle going on in front of her.
Charming hesitated and looked over to his wife. "Ok, I won't. I just don't like the idea that you would think that would be okay for a guy to treat you that way." Charming said as he turned around, but didn't let go of Emma. "You deserve to be treated with respect."
"I know. I told you I don't agree with it. I would never put up with a guy like that." Emma explained with a soft smile on her face.
"Good because I would be coming after him with my sword if he treated you that way." Charming said seriously before he let her go.
Emma chuckled, but was touched by her father's concern that she be respected and treated right.
"Okay, the pizza crust is in the oven. Get ready Charming." Snow said with a huge grin.
Snow grabbed the guitar to hand to her husband and then she grabbed Emma's hand to lead her to the couch. "Come on, I haven't heard him sing in 28 years." Snow said with a giddy grin.
Snow sat down and pulled Emma down as well. Henry sat done beside his mother as Charming sat down in the chair beside the couch with the guitar. He strummed the strings a few times before looking up to his family. "Now, remember that I haven't sang this in 28 years and I'm not a song writer." Charming gave his disclaimer before starting his song.
After an encouraging smile from his wife and grandson, he started his song.
I can't wait to meet you.
Do you have your mother's eyes?
Do you have my smile?
I can't wait to meet you,
My little girl.
No matter where we are
No matter what comes our way
I will always love you
I will always protect you
I will always find you
Because you are mine
My little girl.
Remember you are loved,
Remember you are precious,
Remember you will always be my little girl.
I can't wait to meet you, my little girl.
"Snow, you didn't join in like you use to. I'll sing it again, but you have to sing too this time." Charming said with a grin at his wife. Charming and Snow sang together the little song that Charming had created for Emma, but they added in a few other lines that they use to sing as well.
Will you be stubborn like your mother? – Charming
Or will you be stubborn like your father? – Snow
Will you be courageous like your mother? –Charming
Or will you have your father's faith? - Snow
Will you want to shoot a bow like your mother? – Charming
Or will you want to wield a sword like your father? – Snow
No matter who you end up being,
No matter what you choose, little girl
We will always love you
We will always protect you
We will always find you
Because you are our little girl.
Remember you are loved,
Remember you are precious,
Remember you will always be our little girl.
We can't wait to meet our little girl.
Emma didn't realize she was crying until she felt a drop hit her hand. They really had loved her and wanted her before she was even born. It was a beautiful song although it was a bit cheesy at times, but their voices fit together so well it was absolutely beautiful to listen to them.
She was a bit mesmerized by them; she hardly realized they had stopped singing until they were looking at her lovingly and all at once it was too much to handle. She got up and left the apartment not listening to the voices calling her name.
Charming and Snow exchanged a concerned look, before deciding that Charming would go after her.
He ran after Emma knowing that it had just been too much for her. He found her leaning against his truck with tears streaming down her face.
"Emma." Charming said quietly as he approached her not wanting to scare her or cause her to run again.
Emma looked up to see her father with concern swimming in his eyes. She hadn't meant for them to worry. They were just showing her how much they loved her and had always loved her. It just was too much to handle and she didn't want them to see her so emotional. "I'm sorry." Emma said after a moment.
"Emma, you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry. I know that was a little too much for you. I should have stopped after singing it once." Charming said as he walked up to Emma putting his hands on her shoulders.
"It's okay. I liked it a lot. It just brought up feelings that I have never felt before and I didn't know how to handle it." Emma said as she tentatively went to hug her Dad and as she did, he reacted instantly and pulled her to him. "Thank you, I really love it." Emma mumbled softly.
"I am glad you liked it. You know I recently added to it." Charming said after he kissed the crown of Emma's head.
"I am not sure if I can handle much more, but maybe later." Emma said with a chuckle.
Charming sensed that the moment was over so he let Emma go and started walking towards the loft with her.
Emma actually missed her father's contact as he let go, but still remembered the words that both her father and mother had sung just minutes before and it caused a smile to grace her face and a warm feeling to bubble up in her to make her eyes sparkle with joy. She loved her family and they loved her, maybe this family time would be good after all.
Please Review!