The Parent-Teacher Conference
A/N: This story was originally written as one of my "follower appreciation" gifts on Tumblr. I gave followers a list of prompts to choose from, and those who sent me one got a cameo in their story. This one was requested by TutorGirlml here on ff . net (snowbellewells on Tumblr), so she's the Marta in the story. Her prompt was "You're a terrible spy, you know."
CS genre: Future fic
"What do you think is going on with Henry?" Emma asked as she and Killian walked hand in hand through the halls of Storybrooke High School.
Killian smiled. "Emma, we've been over this. Henry's a good lad. You've no need to fret."
She sighed, her hand absently rubbing her distended belly as the child within kicked merrily. Liam David was due to greet the world in two and a half weeks' time and Emma couldn't wait.
"I know," she said. "I've never had a moment of trouble from him, but, I mean, he is a teenager now, and with everything that's happened…"
"You fear the trauma of the last few years—between being dragged to Neverland, and then being cursed, and then watching both you and then me become the Dark One and then accompanying you down to the Underworld to save me—will eventually manifest in truant behavior in the lad?"
"Exactly," Emma said. Honestly, it was more than any fourteen-year-old should have had to deal with. He'd been so strong, her rock, through all of it, but…who knows what might happen?
She'd been so incandescently happy for the past year. She and Killian had married almost the moment they'd returned from the Underworld. The two of them and Henry had set up a life for themselves in her house by the sea—the house her boys had hand-picked for her. Storybrooke had been blessedly-villain free for a full year. Then, eight months ago, they'd found out they'd be adding a new little pirate or princess to their family. It was the cherry on top of her perfect future with her true love.
But Emma didn't quite trust perfect. Seems like perfect never lasted. For a while now she'd been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
So when Henry suddenly became evasive, when he was suddenly late coming home from school on a regular basis—with no explanation, when Emma knew, just knew he was lying to her, she naturally jumped to the worst conclusion.
"Swan," Killian said, stopping her near a bank of lockers and placing his hand and hook on her shoulders, "relax love. I've all the faith in the world in our lad. He has the heart of the truest believer, after all. Whatever he's been up to in the past month, I'm sure there's an innocent explanation."
"I hope you're right."
He grinned—the mischievous grin that never failed to make her stomach swoop in the pleasantest way possible. "Of course, love. I'm always right."
She rolled her eyes, chuckling as she playfully swatted at his shoulder. "You're so full of it."
He laughed, stole a quick kiss, and then began walking once again.
Killian was probably right—there was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation, something—but Emma wasn't taking any chances. Today was the day she got some answers, whatever she had to do to get them. She and Killian were nearing the end of the parent-teacher conferences for the year. They had just one more conference to go—with Henry's favorite teacher, his English teacher, Marta.
It was kind of weird how Marta ended up in Storybrooke. Just before Emma had led her family to the Underworld to save Killian, Marta had simply shown up. Even she didn't know how she got there. She insisted she'd gone to sleep one night and then just inexplicably woken up in Storybrooke. Well, this being Storybrooke, they'd yet to find a reliable way out, so Marta had taken up the position as the English teacher at Storybrooke High.
Killian rapped on the doorframe of the English teacher's door, and then ushered Emma inside. Marta got to her feet and came forward to meet then. "So nice to see you, Mr. and Mrs. Jones."
"Come, love," Killian said, shaking the teacher's hand, "I'd thought we'd gotten beyond that formality. You dine with our family nearly every weekend. Killian and Emma is perfectly acceptable."
"Alright then, so nice to see you Killian and Emma," Marta said with a smile. "I've really been looking forward to this conference. I probably shouldn't say this, but Henry's one of my favorites."
Emma laughed. "The feeling's mutual. Other than my mom, you're probably his favorite teacher ever."
"Aye," Killian agreed with a nod. "I'm amazed at the interest you've engendered in our lad. Who'd expect a teen to show so much willingness to engage in study and homework? You're bloody brilliant, love."
Marta blushed, shooting Killian a furtive, admiring glance. Emma grinned to herself. Her husband tended to have that effect on women, and she fully understood. When Killian turned up the full charm on a person, how could she possibly keep from melting?
The meeting went well. Marta talked about Henry's exemplary grades, class participation, developed writing style, and intelligence. Fifteen minutes later things were wrapping up. It was now or never if Emma was to get any answers.
"So, Marta," she said, as they all got to their feet, "do you happen to know what Henry's up to?"
"Swan," Killian said under his breath, "are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Yes," Emma insisted.
"I'm not quite sure what you mean," Marta said slowly. "What makes you think he's up to something?"
"It's just," Emma said, "Henry has been really evasive. He's been late getting home more days than not. He insists he's got a project going on at school, but he won't tell us about it. I'm just…worried, I guess that he's getting himself mixed up in something bad."
Marta chuckled. "Trust me, you have nothing to worry about."
"You know something, don't you?" Emma pressed, one step away from interrogating sheriff mode.
"Yeah," Marta said, still smiling. "I might, but I can't say anything. I've been sworn to secrecy. Just…you can trust Henry. He's not up to anything troubling. You'll know everything soon; you just need to be patient."
Emma looked closely at the other woman for long moments. She wasn't lying—evading a bit, just like Henry, but not lying. Emma should drop it; she knew she should, but something about her just couldn't. Still…it was clear if she was going to get answers, she needed to take a different tack.
She let out a deep breath and then offered her hand for Marta to shake. "Thanks. I'll do that."
Five minutes later Emma and Killian found themselves back in the hallway. Killian turned toward the double doors that led to the parking lot, but Emma grabbed his arm and pulled him into a nearby, empty classroom.
"Emma? What the—"
"Sh!" she said, covering his mouth with a hand. "Do you want us to be discovered?"
Killian quirked a brow at her. "Well, darling, I'd be more likely to have an answer to that question if I knew what we're doing that we wish to not be discovered."
"We're going undercover," Emma said, stepping close (well, as close as she could get with her nearly 9-month pregnant belly) and dropped her voice further. "Killian, we need to find out what Henry's up to. Now, from what Marta told us, he's somewhere in the building; whatever's going on it does have to do with school, so all we have to do is case the joint and find him."
Killian chuckled under his breath, shaking his head. "Love, Marta just told you, you have nothing to fear in what Henry's doing. Give him a little credit, Swan."
She glared at him. "Are you seriously trying to argue with your extremely pregnant wife?"
"I wouldn't dare," he laughed again. "So darling, what's the plan?"
"Stick with me, Jones," she said, looking furtively down both sides of the hallway before beckoning him forward. "We've been down all the main academic halls. Now it's time to check the fine arts wing. Just…don't get caught!"
"Aye, aye, love," Killian said, giving a precise salute which she greeted with an eye roll.
During the first ten minutes, they managed to entirely avoid detection. Unfortunately they also managed to entirely avoid answers. Henry wasn't in the music hall way, nor was he in the art all. They were running out of options. If they didn't find him in the drama and audiovisual rooms Emma was officially out of options.
"Swan, there!" Killian said, pointing with one ringed finger toward a room labeled 'filming studio.' "If I'm not mistaken, that's the lad's voice I hear."
Emma listened carefully for a moment, and a smile draped her face as she heard her son's rapidly deepening voice. "Got him! Let's go!"
They crept quietly into the room through the partially opened door, careful not to make a sound. Emma peered around a curtain to see Henry sitting before a video camera, his storybook and a photo album sitting on a small table behind him. A hand-made sign reading 'Operation Stork' hung proudly against the plain black background.
"I know this family can be confusing," Henry said to the camera, "but I'm your big brother Henry, and I'm going help you every step of the way."
There was a muted crash, and Emma whirled (awkwardly) to find her husband standing over an overturned stool, face red and hand already going to scratch behind his ear. "Sorry love. Must have bumped the stool."
Emma took a deep breath, preparing to give her clumsy husband a piece of her mind when…
"Mom? Killian? What are you doing here?" Henry stepped behind the curtain and glared at his parents.
Emma felt her face flush, and turned back toward Killian. "You're a terrible spy, you know? Keeping absolutely silent is stake-out 101."
Killian glanced aside, grinning in evident embarrassment. "I seem to have missed that particular course, love."
"Seriously," Henry said. "Why are you here?"
"Aye Swan," Killian said, righting the stool, taking a seat, leaning back and grinning in amusement. "Why is it that we're here?"
Emma sighed in defeat. They were caught fair and square. "We wanted to know…"
Killian cleared his throat.
"Fine! I wanted to know what you've been doing after school every day," Emma said. "You were being suspicious as hell, kid. Can you blame me for wondering?"
"You're supposed to trust me, Mom!" Henry said, crossing his arms and scowling. "I'm not gonna do bad stuff. Last thing I want to do is let you and Killian down after all you've been through. You're finally happy again, and I don't want to mess that up."
Emma felt about an inch tall. Of course her son, who'd never done anything to cause her problems wasn't starting now. She should have known better.
"I'm sorry, kid," she said in a small voice. "I guess I messed up. You're right; I should have given you the benefit of the doubt."
Henry continued to scowl for another minute or so, and then deflated. He pulled the curtain back and gestured toward the make-shift stage he'd created. "I guess the cat's out of the bag now, so I might as well tell you. I was making a video. For the baby. I just…I don't know, wanted to let my little brother know that he has a big brother who's got his back. I was trying to, you know, introduce him to our family. I've got the storybook and pictures of everyone and videos I've been making on my phone. I know how overwhelming it can all be and I just…" he shrugged self-consciously, "I wanted to be a good big brother."
Emma felt her eyes fill. She had the best son in the world. "Henry…" she said in a watery voice, "kid, that's perfect. Your little brother is going to love it!"
Killian got to his feet and a moment later, Emma felt his arm around her waist. "Aye, lad, as a man who knows the value of a good older brother I can assure you, our family's newest member is blessed indeed."
"It was supposed to be a surprise," Henry said with a small pout. "I was going to give it to you guys in the hospital just after the baby was born."
Emma surged forward and wrapped her son in her arms. "I'm so sorry for ruining your surprise. Surprise or not, though, there's no question. This'll be one of my absolute favorite gifts ever."
"You mean that?"
"Yeah, I do," she said. "It might have taken us a long time to get here, but I think we have the best family in the world. I can't wait for this little guy to discover it for himself."
Notes:
-Well, we survived the midseason finale, even if Killian didn't. (Too soon? Lol. But I totally wouldn't even joke about that if I thought there was any chance my favorite pirate was truly dead for good.) I actually really liked the episode, despite the pain, and thought it was far less traumatizing than 5x8 or 5x10. And now that Emma's planning to literally go to hell (okay, more like purgatory) to rescue Killian and give him half her heart so he can live, I think "Prince Charles" will finally know that, yes, "Princess Leia" is as willing to go to the ends of the earth or time for him as he is for her.
-And my apparent inability to write anything but Emma and Killian expecting a baby continues! I really think these two deserve a chance to just be happy and in love and all domestic and everything for a while. Seriously, Killian's had to temporarily die three times in the space of a few weeks (Storybrooke time). Surely that's enough angst for any couple for a good long time!
-Up next: I'm not entirely sure. I have a nice long list of fluffy ideas, so I might pull from there. Then again, I might throw in a holiday-themed fic or two over the next few weeks. As always, if you have any "deleted scene", "canon divergence" moment or au idea you really want to see turned into a Fluffy Friday chapter, send them my way! Given the way the arc ended—and the direction it looks like they're going for 5b, it looks like the need for Fluffy Friday fics will continue for the foreseeable future.