Disclaimer: I do not own the Once Upon a Time franchise.
Chapter Five
Portland, Maine
Emma and August watched as Henry happily munched on pancakes and bacon at a diner just off the highway. Once they were done eating, they were going to caravan up to Storybrooke. It looked like it was about a five-hour drive. Emma was so excited to get on the road and find a place where they could build a new life. One that wasn't running around the entire country on a bus. In fact, she'd be happy to never be on a bus again.
Thirty minutes later, Emma was strapping Henry into the booster seat in the back seat of the yellow bug August had gotten her. They consulted the map one last time before August hopped on his bike with a wink, "Race you, Ems!"
Five hours later, after three stops along the way for gas, the bathroom, and food, Emma and August pulled up in front of a sign that read "Granny's Diner and Inn." Putting the car in park, Emma got out and unbuckled Henry. When the three of them were standing on the sidewalk, Emma and August looked at each other and then Henry. They squatted down to be eye-level with Henry before Emma spoke, "Now Henry," Emma paused, watching as her son hopped from foot-to-foot impatiently, "we need to tell you something before we go inside." When Henry sighed and nodded she continued, "Your last name is no longer West." She watched his brow furrow adorably as he took in her words. "Our names are Emma and Henry Swan now."
"Swan. . ." Henry repeated slowly.
Emma nodded and continued, "We are not from Arizona," she wasn't sure Henry understood that, "we are from Texas and we've never met your dad before." Earlier in the morning, before Henry was up, August discussed the backstories he'd created for them with Emma. They were from Austin, Texas. He decided to use their track records as bail bonds people, knowing that Walsh didn't know the tales of their bail bonds days. Emma would need to find a job in Storybrooke, but August could keep writing since he wrote under a pseudonym and could freelance from anywhere.
"You mean Walsh." Henry corrected. "Not my dad."
Emma was slightly startled by Henry's reaction, but nodded, "We just can't mention Walsh ever again."
When Henry nodded again, August stepped in, "I think he's got it, Ems. Let's get something to eat now."
"Food!" Henry agreed, latching onto August's hand and dragging him towards the white picket fence.
"Food." Emma and August laughed as they followed him toward the gate. When they walked into the little diner a hush fell over the crowd. Emma glanced down at her watch, "It's lunch time." She murmured to August. It seemed like the entire town was in there for lunch on a Friday. All of the eyes on them made Emma nervous. It felt like they had some neon flashing signs over their head that indicated they were on the run.
August eyed the clock on the wall, "Yup, looks like the entire town knows we're here now."
"Table for three?" Emma, Henry, and August turned at the light female voice. Emma's brow rose at the tall woman in front of them who had on leather pants, a white crop top, and red streaks in her hair. August, for his part, just grinned shamelessly at the woman.
"Yes, please." He winked at her, "And a kid's menu?" He eyed the name tag on her chest. "Thank you, Ruby."
Emma smacked August in the chest at his flirting. "Come on, let's sit." She followed the waitress to the table, guiding Henry with her.
Henry nodded and grabbed August's hand, "Yes, Uncle Auggie, let's sit!"
Once they were settled in the booth with menus and had given Ruby their drink order, learning that she made the most fabulous lemonade known to mankind, which Henry ordered, August and Emma both took a chance to glance around the room.
"Well, Ems," August finally said after a moment, "what do you think? Is this our town?"
Everyone looked nice enough, and it was so small and quaint that she didn't foresee Walsh even wanting to set foot in Storybrooke, Maine for a moment. "Yeah, I think so." She pointed to a sign over the back door, "It looks like the inn's in the back. I'll go see about rooms. Grilled cheese and onion rings." She requested, pressing a kiss to the top of Henry's head before rising and moving to the back of the diner.
When Emma exited the small hallway, she suddenly found herself in a small, but nicely decorated living room with a little desk by the front door. Behind the little desk stood an older woman with a stern look on her face and glasses perched at the end of her nose. "Yeah?" She asked brusquely.
Emma bristled a bit at the less than warm welcome before she settled in front of the desk, "Yes, I'd like two rooms please. One with twin beds if you have it." She requested.
The woman finally looked up. Her eyes settling on the blonde with green eyes and shoulder length hair. There was a cut on her temple and it looked like she was trying to cover up a bruise with make-up, and only barely successfully so. The woman frowned, but nodded. "Yes, I have a room with twins and a room with a full. What name should I give?"
Emma adjusted her hair slightly at the woman's appraising gaze. "The room with twins is for Emma Swan. The one with the full is for August Booth."
The woman jotted down the names in a book in front of her and reached under the desk, pulling out two keys. "You can pay when you check out." She eyed Emma, "Diner is that way, you should go eat something."
Emma tugged her sweater a little more firmly around her body, the woman seemed to note she was bit on the thin side, even for her. "Yes, we're in there now. We just ordered." Emma murmured softly before turning and fleeing back into the diner.
Just as Granny shut the register to the inn she heard the door between the inn and diner open and close again, "She checked in?"
Granny looked up and found Mayor Regina Mills standing in front of her, "Yeah, she checked in. Two rooms." She opened the book once more. "Her name must be Emma Swan. She also checked in an August Booth."
"That must be the man at her table in the diner. There's a little boy too. He referred to the man as 'Uncle Auggie.'" Regina tapped her fingers against the desk top.
Granny let her glasses drop around her neck, "What are you thinking, Regina? Do you think we have trouble in town again?"
Regina let out a sigh as the phone in her hand buzzed, "I don't know, all I know is that I don't want a repeat of what happened when the Golds came to town."
Granny let out a snort, "No one wants that. It's too bad he didn't leave when she did."
"He did leave." Regina rolled her eyes as she typed out a text, "He just came back."
"Unfortunately." Granny grunted. Moving around the desk, Granny patted Regina's arm lightly and graced the woman with a small smile, "I should check on Ruby and make sure she's working and not flirting or gossiping."
"She's flirting." Regina rolled her eyes, "Victor is here for lunch."
Granny shook her head, "That doctor is a womanizing troublemaker."
"And your granddaughter is pretty much the same." Regina pressed a kiss to the older woman's cheek, "That's why they work and why we love them, though."
Granny smiled in spite of Regina's words, "You better bring my boys around for dinner one night tonight." She told Regina sternly. "It's been too long since I've seen Roland or Robin."
"Yes, Granny. We'll come in tomorrow night for dinner." Regina promised before returning to her table in the back of the diner.
Emma looked up from her grilled cheese sandwich as the swinging doors banged open. Her green eyes connected with the brown eyes of a dark-haired woman who was dressed smartly in a gray dress with a black belt and black heels. Emma knew in that moment that the she had been talking about them. The woman gave a simple nod before going back to her table with a blonde woman and a man with dark curly hair.
August seemed to read her thoughts and gently kicked her underneath the booth table to get her attention. "You knew we were going to be the talk of a town in a place like Storybrooke." He murmured. "Let's just eat our lunch, drop our bags off upstairs and then maybe wander around and find a park for Henry to run in. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He asked Henry. Henry nodded as some ketchup slid out of his hamburger and onto his fingers.
Picking up a napkin, Emma wiped off of his chin and then off of his hands, "Okay, finish up and we'll head out to a park."
Handing Emma his wallet, August stood. "I'll go get your bags and my bag and head upstairs." Before she could protest, he scooped up the two room keys and was out the door of the diner.
It took nearly twenty minutes for Henry to finish eating, get him cleaned up, and pull him away from Ruby's lemonade. It did appear to be the best lemonade known to mankind. Once they did though, they discovered that Robert Gold owned most of the properties in town, they knew where his shop was, and they knew where the park was.
"Are we going to the park first?" Henry asked as he held both of their hands and swung them as they walked.
"Not yet, Kid." Emma replied, "First we're going to see this Robert Gold and set up a time to view some places to live, then we'll go to the park."
They found Gold's Pawn Shop without a problem. When they opened the door, a little bell tinkled pleasantly and they heard someone moving around the back room. "Just a moment!" The voice that called out was accented with a lovely lilt. Emma, August, and Henry browsed around the shop a bit until an older man walking with a cane appeared. "Ah, and I how may I help you all?" He asked with a slightly crooked smile.
"We need a place to live." Henry piped up. The older gentleman's eyes swung down to Henry and a mournful look seemed to cross his face.
Coming around from the counter, the man squatted down as best he could. "Is that so, lad?" He asked, "I'm Mr. Gold, and I bet I can help with that." He held out his hand, which Henry shook enthusiastically.
"I'm Henry Swan." Henry introduced himself proudly. Emma and August shared a look and a sigh of relief that Henry remembered what his last name was supposed to be now.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Henry." Mr. Gold stood up slowly, "This must be your mum and papa?"
Henry shook his head, "This is Momma, and this is Uncle Auggie!"
August stepped forward, "August Booth, and this is Henry's mother, Emma Swan. We just moved to town and we're looking for a place to live." He and Emma had decided that for the moment they would pool their finances and stay in the same place just until they were sure they were in the clear. That way if they needed to get out of town fast it would be easier.
Mr. Gold nodded without a question regarding their unusual situation and went back behind the counter. "I do have a few places available. Do you want somewhere furnished or unfurnished? And are you looking for a house or an apartment?" He asked
"Furnished." Emma responded, "Three bedrooms."
Mr. Gold slowly flipped through the binder to find a couple of suitable options. "I have one three-bedroom apartment." He told them, his eyes lingering on Henry for a moment. "The house I have is unfortunately not furnished, but we can help with that if you'd like."
Emma glanced through the pictures of the apartment before pushing the binder to August to look at. It seemed to be an open floor plan with a downstairs bedroom and then a spiral staircase that led to two separate rooms, connected by a bathroom. There was one full bathroom downstairs.
"I'll take the downstairs room." August murmured, "You and Henry should be in the connecting rooms. I think this works fine for now. It'd be too much of a pain to furnish things this last minute. We'd have to stay at Granny's and I can't eat diner food for every meal. I need a kitchen." He grumbled.
Emma nodded, it was honestly perfect, they didn't need a lot of space. "When can we see it?"
Closing the binder, Robert Gold wrote the address on the back of one of his business cards. "I close up at 5pm. Would you like to meet me at 5:15pm?" He asked. "I'll bring a contract and if you like the place you can review it and bring it back tomorrow with ID. Then you can move in whenever you'd like."
With basic directions from Mr. Gold to the apartment, the three left the shop and walked down to the park for a couple of hours. When they stumbled upon the park, they found it filled with children. Emma glanced over at August with a question in her eyes. Glancing around, August shrugged, "Maybe it's Spring Break." He surmised.
Before either August or Emma could say another word, Henry was on the playground running towards a pirate ship in the middle of the park. They watched as he introduced himself to a boy who was playing on the wheel. "I swear, August," Emma led them over to a picnic table, "he's the most resilient kid ever."
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, August pressed a kiss to her temple, "You've done a good job with him, Ems."
Emma corrected, "We've done a great job." She paused, "You've been there for everything." She murmured, "And I'll be forever grateful that." She rested her head on his shoulder as she watched Henry run around with his new friend.
A small dark-haired woman flitted over, "Welcome to Storybrooke!" She greeted them. "I'm Mary Margaret Nolan." She introduced herself, "That is my son, Leo." She motioned to the boy playing with Henry. "It's Spring Break." She explained. "That must be your son" She motioned to Emma and August.
Emma held out her hand, "I'm Emma Swan, that's my son, Henry. This is our friend, August Booth."
August stood to shake the woman's hand, "Henry calls me 'Uncle Auggie.'"
The woman laughed lightly, it was a bit of a musical sound, "I love that." She sat down next to Emma, "Have you all just moved to town?" She asked.
Emma wagered to say the woman already knew the answer to her own question, but she nodded anyhow, "Yes, we all just moved up from Texas."
The woman's eyes widened a bit, "Wow, that's quite a move, but we're happy to have you here." A group of figures running through the park stopped her from saying more. "Oh my." Her hand flew to her mouth.
"I told you, Scarlet, give it back." A short, stout man was chasing after a taller, skinnier, younger man.
"Oi, I will not!" The older man grabbed the younger man by the shirt collar and reared back.
"Not so fast!" August was up and moving swiftly, latching onto the older man's fist.
When the younger man wriggled free he took off into the dense trees lining the park. Emma turned and looked at Henry, "Stay, Henry!" She took off into the woods, chasing after the fleeing man, certain that August had his eyes on Henry.
It only took her a minute to find the fleeing man. He was stomping through the woods loudly, snapping every dry tree branch in his path. When she grabbed his wrist he protested loudly, "Oi, lass, I was the victim!"
Emma raised her eyes in disbelief, "I certainly do not believe that for one moment." She dragged him behind her, "Let's go find out what this chaos was all about."
She found August still holding onto the older man who was glaring impressively at everyone along with a newcomer. "Oh, Emma!" Mary Margaret floated over, "This is my husband, David Nolan. He's one of the deputies. I called him about this little disturbance."
Emma nodded and glanced at August. She could see by the tense set of August's shoulders that he was a bit nervous to test out their new IDs in front of the police too. The deputy, David, took the man from her. "It's nice to meet," he hesitated.
"Emma, Emma Swan. This is my friend, August Booth." August nodded his hello. "And that's my son, Henry." She paused as David took in the information. "He's seven. We all just moved here."
"Well," David smiled easily at her, "it's nice to meet you both. Welcome to Storybrooke." He tightened his grasp on the man when the man tried to get away. "I see you met our 'Welcome Wagon.'" He motioned to the two men. "Meet Leroy White and Will Scarlett, our local troublemakers." He glanced over at Scarlett, "Now, it's time to give Leroy back his wallet, Scarlett."
Scarlett grumbled under his breath, but grudgingly handed over Leroy's wallet.
"Thanks, Nolan." Leroy shoved his wallet back in his pocket and wrenched his arm away from August. "I gotta go to work. Later, Scarlett." He spat out.
Emma and August shared a look as the man ambled off before Emma replied, "Charming."
"I should get Scarlett to the station." David tugged on his arm. He dug in his pocket for his wallet and pulled out two cards, "My numbers on there in case you all need anything. Just let me know." And with that he was off, yanking a grumbling Will Scarlett behind him. "Oh, and if you're looking for a school for Henry, Mary Margaret teaches at the local elementary school!" He called out.
Emma glanced down at her watch, "August, we should get Henry. We have to go meet Mr. Gold and view the apartment." She glanced down at the card in her hand and then over at the tiny woman, "If it's okay, I'll call David later to talk about enrolling Henry in school with you"
Mary Margaret Nolan gave Emma a bright smile, "Of course! In fact, maybe we could just all have dinner tonight at the diner? I can stop by the school and pick up the paperwork. The principal is a friend, he'll let me in."
Emma hesitated, glancing up at August for confirmation that this wasn't a bad idea. He gave her half a nod and Emma finally agreed, "Okay, 6?" She asked.
"6 is perfect!" Mary Margaret beamed at them. "Good luck at the apartment!" She called out as August wrangled Henry to lead the three of them out of the park.