Chapter Four
"So, I was wondering," Emma began as they drove over to her parents house. Henry and Ella were following in their own car. "Those coupons you gave me," she gave him a little smirk. She'd had chance to read more of them now and as well as date nights, they included personal favours like foot rubs and massages as well as more intimate favours and positions she'd prefer. "Can I cash them in at any time?" she finally asked.
"Aye," he replied, grinning to himself.
"Good," she nodded. "Because I could really do with one of your amazing massages tonight. I've..."
"Hold on," he interrupted her. "I thought you promised me," he paused as his eyes flicked to the back seat where Hope was strapped into her baby seat. "I thought you said we would, you know, tonight?"
Emma laughed and checked the rear view mirror where she could see the baby in the mirror attached opposite her car seat. She was perfectly happy, babbling away to herself and chewing on her skirt. "You can say the word sex in front of her you know, she has no idea what we're discussing!" she chuckled again, yet found him endearing all the same. "And yes, we will. I mean, when have you ever known us to end things with just a massage? I've just been so tense the last couple of weeks with this Grinch case and...I need your hand!" she turned to smile as they paused at the intersection.
"Fine," he gave in. "So long as that's not the only part of me you need tonight."
"Oh, I have plans to make good use of every last inch of you!" she winked and continued on their way.
Snow came hurrying out to meet them when they pulled up at their farm, slowly followed by David. "It's about time you got here!" she said as soon as Emma opened the car door.
"What?" she glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "You said to come over at about three, it's only 20 past, that is about three!" she sighed and climbed out, pushing her seat back to reach in and unstrap Hope from the car seat.
"There's my sweet little Grandbaby," Snow cooed, taking Hope from Emma's arms the moment she stepped from the car.
"Okay then..." she muttered, rather taken aback as her Mom practically ignored her and instead prattled away to the baby, already heading inside with her. Shaking her head, Emma instead turned to help Killian bring all the gifts and the diaper bag in.
"Where's Hope?" he asked.
"Mom stole her!" she rolled her eyes. Of course it was wonderful that the family doted on little Hope so much and that they all loved her, but sometimes she wanted to remind people just who's child she actually was.
"Better get used to it," David said, holding out his had to take some of the packages. "She's been waiting all day to get her hands on the baby," he chuckled as they all trooped into the house.
"EMMA!" Neal yelled, racing towards her. "Yay! More presents!" he threw a fist in the air and had a wide grin on his face.
"Merry Christmas to you too buddy!" Emma laughed.
"What did you get me, what did you get me?" he asked, dancing around them and trying to find any presents with his name on them.
"Hey, calm down and wait your turn, young man!" David told him.
"Eurgh!" he groaned and returned to the new toys already scattered all over the rug in front of the fire.
"Well, someone is a little high on sugar!" Emma commented, setting the gifts down.
David heaved a huge sigh. "Tell me about it," he muttered.
"What time did the lad have you up this morning?" Killian asked, amused.
"Half past five!" Snow answered from the sofa where she was removing Hope's coat and giving her granddaughter cuddles.
"What time did your little one wake you?" David asked.
"Not until about half past eight, wasn't it love?" Killian asked Emma, whilst giving David a smug smile.
"Yeah, she slept in a little this morning."
"Huh!" David grunted.
"Tough break, mate!" Killian laughed and slapped his arm.
"Yeah, give it a couple of years and you'll be woken at the crack of dawn to see if Santa has been too!" David grumbled.
"I'm looking forward to it, mate." Killian smiled fondly at his daughter where she sat with her Grandma.
"Oh, look," Snow smiled. "You two are standing under the mistletoe."
"They really don't need any encouragement, Grandma! They haven't stopped all morning!" Henry complained as he and Ella stepped into the house.
David pulled a face as Killian leant over and shared a short, sweet kiss with Emma.
"Oh stop it, David!" Snow swatted him. "They're cute, besides you put the damn stuff up there. Now, dinner won't be ready for a little while yet, but can we get you a drink?" she asked.
"Can I be of any help Mrs, erm...Charming?" Ella asked, unsure of what to call her.
Snow smiled. "Oh, no sweetheart, it's all in hand. But thank you. Just take a seat and David will get you a drink."
"Me? You're the one who offered!"
"And I've been busy in the kitchen all morning whilst you had a nap!" she threw back, much to everyone's amusement.
They spent an enjoyable hour or so chatting, passing the baby around and entertaining her, playing with Neal and his new toys and opening presents, at Neal's insistence. Snow had wanted to wait until after they had eaten.
"We didn't really know what to get the pair of you," Snow began as she handed an envelope to Emma. "So, this is for you both, it's not an actual physical gift, but I think you will like it," she smiled and sat down to watch them open it.
Emma read over the note in the envelope and then looked up at her parents. "Wait a minute? You're giving us babysitting?"
"Yes," she nodded with a happy grin on her face. "Once a month, we promise to take Hope for the night so you two can have some time to yourselves. Go out to dinner, have a quiet night in, whatever you desire."
Killian smirked at that, until he caught David's glare. It was highly possible that her father told himself that Hope was the product of magic rather than sex between his daughter and his best mate!
"Thanks Mom, Dad. That's really generous of you. I'm sure Killian and I will love it."
"Aye love," he kissed her cheek as she passed him the note to read.
"Well, heaven knows I would have loved someone to take Neal for a few hours when he was Hope's age. Although I know our situations were very different."
"Hmm, you mean no trips to the Underworld or other realms and no Snow beasts, Evil Queen's or Black Fairy's threatening us right now?" Emma mused.
Everyone laughed and it felt good to be able to laugh about all of that now, given that it had been such a traumatic time. Snow went to the kitchen to check on dinner after that and half an hour later they were all sitting down to eat.
The meal was delicious. Snow had prepared roast turkey and all of the traditional Christmas fixings to go with it – the dining table was positively heaving with the abundance of rich food. Conversation flowed as easily as the wine, although as Emma knew she'd have to drive home later, she made sure only to have the one glass. The children kept them entertained and seemed to tuck in just as hungrily as the adults.
It was a beautiful image of the quintessential family Christmas, surrounded by those you love most and something neither Emma or Killian thought they would ever have. The pair of them both glanced around the table, before sharing a look with each other as she squeezed his knee under the table – they both knew what each other was thinking, how incredibly blessed they were.
They were just finishing up eating and Neal was telling some daft joke he had obviously picked up from school. "Hey, Dad…have you ever been to a duck do?" he asked.
"What's a duck do?" David frowned. Emma was trying to hide her smirk, already guessing the punchline.
"Quack quack!" he replied and fell about laughing.
Almost everyone else chuckled too, mostly at the look on David's face as he still didn't get it. And then Emma's phone rang. Internally she groaned - she'd instructed her deputies to only call her if it was a real emergency and hoped it was nothing important. Pulling the phone from her pocket she sighed and got up from the table where Snow was trying to explain the joke to David. "Sorry," she told everyone, "I'd better take this," she added as she headed into the kitchen, glaring at August's name on the caller ID. "This had better be important!" she told him when she answered.
"Hey Emma, Merry Christmas!"
"Yeah, Merry Christmas. What is it?"
"Right. I am really sorry for interrupting your day and your time off, but the thing is...I think I just solved the Grinch case," he explained.
"You have? Do you have the suspect in custody?" she asked.
"I'm pretty sure I know who they are, I'm with them now. But...I really think this is something you need to see. Can you come over?"
"What? Now? But we've only just finished dinner, haven't even had dessert yet. Can't you handle this?"
"Well, sure, I can bring them in. They seem quite amenable. But, I still think you need to see this for yourself. And if you don't come now, well...it will be gone tomorrow."
Emma frowned and pulled the phone away from her ear to glare at it. "Fine, where are you?" she asked and listened as he gave her an address. "Wait? You're not in Storybrooke?"
"No. It's a town about an hour away. I'll text you the directions when I hang up. So, can you come?"
Emma sighed, her sense of duty fighting with her love for her family. "I'll have to talk to my family first. This is their day too."
"Okay, fair enough. I'll text the info anyway and just let me know if you're able to get out here."
"Yeah, fine. Speak to you soon," she said, looking up as Killian came through the door and she ended the call.
"Everything all right love?" he asked, coming to her side and rubbing her shoulder.
"Yeah, I don't know. August thinks he's solved the Grinch case. He wants me to come out there and oversee things or something. But, I should talk to you all about that first," She gave him a smile, pocketed her phone and took his hand as she headed back to the dining room.
"Is something wrong?" Snow asked, immediately picking up on Emma's mood.
"Maybe, I don't know. That was August on the phone," she began as she took her seat again and then relayed everything that he had told her. "He is quite insistent that I should drive out there and see for myself whatever is going on, but he didn't say much more than that." She looked around the table at everyone, waiting for their reaction.
"He wants you to go out there right now?" David asked, checking he had the facts straight.
"Yes," Emma nodded.
"But we're in the middle of dinner, we haven't even had dessert yet!" Snow exclaimed.
"Yeah, I want ice cream!" Neal shouted and banged his spoon on the table. Hope shrieked and copied him before David took the spoon from Neal – he was old enough to know better!
"I know, which is why I am discussing it with all of you before I make any decision on what to do. I don't want to spoil your day because of work."
"What do you want to do, love?" Killian asked her, throwing his arm around the back of her chair.
She smiled gratefully at him. He was the only one who seemed most concerned with what she needed to do. "I think I need to go. I can't explain why, but my gut is telling me I should be there."
"Well, you know that I have learnt never to doubt your gut. So, I'll come with you."
"Thank you," she reached for his hand.
"Why don't we all go?" Henry suggested.
"But, dinner..." Snow wailed.
"We can have dessert later, honey," David told her softly. "I mean, we could probably all use a break after that sumptuous meal anyway. We'll enjoy it more when we're not so full."
"All right, fine. I guess we're all going then." She gave in.
"Yay! I get to go on a Christmas Day quest!" Neal jumped down from the table and raced off somewhere. He returned with the plastic swords that he still played with occasionally. "I might need to slay a dragon!" he said, slashing his sword expertly.
"That you may, son." David chuckled proudly and patted him on the head. Everyone began to get ready to leave then as Emma texted August back.
'On our way, be there in just over an hour. This had better be good!'
"So..." Killian began as they were well on their way to the address August had sent through. Emma was concentrating on the road since snow was falling heavily and impairing her vision. "That gift your parents gave us, the babysitting, think we can use one of them tonight?" he wondered.
She shot him a quick look. "Are you honestly suggesting that we banish daughter from the house on Christmas day?"
"I would never suggest such a thing!" he looked at her rather horrified she'd even think that. "We're not banishing her, love. She'd simply be spending the night with her Grandparents."
"On Christmas night though? No. I want her at home with us." Emma glanced quickly in the rear view mirror where she could barely see her daughter in the darkness of the car, but Hope seemed perfectly content enough playing with and chewing on the new toy baby smart phone that her big brother had given her.
"Yeah, I know. You're right. I just thought you might like some peace tonight, after today and whatever we're about to face." He tried to insist that was his only reason.
"Don't give me that, buddy," she laughed. "I know what this is about, your incorrigible! But don't worry, I intend to keep my promise. Hope will sleep tonight, I know she will – she's had a hectic day. And we'll get to enjoy some time alone. Besides, I still want that massage!"
"Then let's hope that whatever we're driving into is over with quickly!" he sighed.
Emma thoroughly agreed with him. She put the radio on then and they enjoyed some festive music on their drive, wondering all the time why the address August had given her seemed vaguely familiar. Thankfully the snow was slowing by the time they pulled up at the address.
"What the hell?" Emma hissed to herself as she switched the ignition off and just stared out of the windscreen.
"Swan?" Killian asked after a moment of silence from her.
Emma turned to him inhaling deeply. "This is a children's home," she told him. "The very same children's home that August and I were taken to when we first arrived in this realm," she explained. "What the hell is he playing at?" she muttered to herself.
She didn't have much time to contemplate why August had brought her out here, because he was suddenly there, knocking on the car window, which made them all jump and Hope burst into tears. Killian turned in his seat to comfort her as Emma wound the window down.
"Hey, glad you could make it," he smiled. "Oops, sorry, did I scare her?" he asked, hearing the baby's cries from the back seat.
"August? What the hell is this?" she demanded.
"Right, I thought you'd remember this place." He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked up at the building.
"I don't remember it from being here, I was a newborn at the time. But, I tracked it down and came to visit when I was trying to find out who I was and anything about my family," she answered. "Are you ready to tell me what the hell is going on?"
"You'd probably best come inside," he said, taking a step back from the car.
Emma huffed, glanced at Killian, who nodded – knowing exactly what she was asking of him, for him to grab the baby before she wound her window back up and stepped from the car. The rest of her family were joining her as she followed August up the path and into the house.
"What made you come out here?" she wondered. If he had found the Grinch thieves out here, how on earth had he known where to look?
"I come back here every Christmas. I bring the kids some toys and treats. I just didn't expect to run into this when I paid them a visit this year."
"Wait a minute..." she paused as they headed into a large hall; noisy and busy with excitable kids running everywhere. Christmas music was playing and an old man dressed as Santa sat in the corner where a long line of the younger kids were waiting to talk to him. "Aren't those Leroy's snowmen that were stolen?" she asked. And before she had an answer she was turning around, looking everywhere. "And they're Granny's tree's – I'd recognise those hideous baubles anywhere! And...everything that was taken is here?" she asked August.
He nodded. "I assume so."
"And the toys that Santa is giving out?" she asked, watching the old man reach into a red velvet sack and give something to one of the children.
"Are those that were taken from the Nun's toy drive, yes," he answered.
Emma gave a snort of indignation. "So, where are the culprits?" she asked, looking around. And then spotted two familiar faces. "No!" she whispered.
"Everything all right, love?" Killian asked finally joining them with a now calm baby.
"It's about to be," she said and headed towards the back wall where she had spotted two people she knew. People who had been one of her first successful happy endings and two people she would never have suspected. "Ava? Nicholas? Care to tell me what's going on here?" she asked the two youngsters, who now appeared to be around Henry's age, even if they were technically much older. She folded her arms across her chest as she waited for an answer.
The pair of them grimaced, still as close as they had been when she'd managed to track down their father and thus prevent them from being sent to a children's home, just like this one. "A Christmas party?" Nicholas asked, cheekily.
Emma gave him a look, one most people knew well, that she wasn't in the mood for any bullshit.
"Ava? Nick?" Henry recognised them too. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting busted, I think." Ava answered with her head bowed. Her attitude did seem genuinely sorry. "Are you going to arrest us, Sheriff?" she asked.
Emma looked around at her family who were all watching here expectantly. Right now she didn't know what to do. "Why don't we have a chat first?" she suggested, ushering them from the hall to somewhere it was a little quieter. August led them to an empty room down the hall and once inside everyone took a seat. "Okay, firstly, was it the two of you who have been stealing the Christmas decorations and everything from town?"
The siblings looked at one another and then nodded. "Yes," they confessed.
Emma visually deflated, not wanting it to be them. They were good kids, currently attending the college in town and seemed happy living with their dad. So, why would they do this? "Okay, why?" she asked. "What on earth would compel you to steal Christmas ornaments and toys for kids?"
"Because of the kids here!" Nick looked up at her. "This was one of the places that we were threatened with being sent to, back before you found our father, before the curse was broken. We went to see it a few years back and we felt sorry for the kids, so we started volunteering a bit. But when we found out that the home had some major financial problems this year and that the kids living here weren't going to get any kind of Christmas at all, we wanted to do something." He told them in one long breath.
"We just wanted to help," Ava sobbed.
Emma closed her eyes and heaved a great sigh. Having grown up an orphan herself and knowing what it was to be alone for Christmas with nothing to celebrate, she couldn't find it in herself to be too mad with them – their intentions had been good, even if their actions hadn't.
"Daddy! Dad!" Neal was whispering loudly and pulling on his father's jacket sleeve. "DAD!" he finally shouted to get his attention. "Can I go and see Santa?" he asked when David finally looked at him.
Snow smiled. "Why don't I take both children back to the party?" she suggested, noting that Hope was a little restless too and Killian was doing everything to keep her quiet. She plucked Hope from her father's arms and took Neal by the hand.
"Thanks Mom," Emma gave her a smile. "Now, why didn't you speak to someone about this?" she asked the two youngsters. "Talked to me?" she asked. "We might have been able to help out a bit, raised some funds in town or something."
"What's the point? Everyone was too busy helping out the kids and that in our town, why would they help kids in another town too? Most people in Storybrooke still don't cross the town line, even though it's perfectly safe to do so now."
"Well, I would have. I came here as a baby, when I first came to this realm. This was my first home here...and for August," she looked up at him and he held a guilty look on his face. They both knew how he'd ran off with some other kids and left her alone – but he'd only been a young boy himself.
"We didn't know," Nick replied. "You were here?"
"Yes," she nodded and shared a look with her Dad, he looked as though he wanted to hug his daughter, as both of her parents did every time they were reminded of just how much they'd missed of her life.
"What's going to happen to us?" Ava asked, looking absolutely terrified.
"Look, I know why you did what you did, you just wanted to make the kids happy. But in stealing stuff and how you went about it, you made the residents of your own town miserable and rather irate – people took their decorations down because they were afraid they would be stolen, you broke their Christmas spirit. There were probably some very sad kids this morning who didn't receive the toys that were donated for them. Not to mention the huge headache you gave me in dealing with all this and the harassment I got from the townsfolk or the long hours I spent working on it, having to spend more time away from my family."
"We're sorry, we didn't think. It was rather stupid of us." Nick finally realised.
"Are we going to go to jail?" Ava began to cry again.
Emma looked around at everyone, wondering how they would react to the idea she'd just had. She shared a look with Killian, who gave her an encouraging smile – she knew he would be on her side no matter what decision she made now. "No," she finally answered. "No one is arresting anyone today. But, there will be punishment. First thing in the morning, before the children are out of bed, I want you both back here to collect everything that you took from Storybrooke, apart from the toys, I'm not taking those away from the children. Then I want you to return everything to each person you stole from, with sincere apologies. And, after the Christmas break, I want the both of you to come in to the station in your spare time. You can do some community service. I have a huge store room full of old files that need sorting."
"I'd rather take the jail time," Henry whispered to Ella.
Emma ignored him. "You can work there, sorting files and tidying up the place for as long as it takes to raise enough money to cover the cost of all the toys you took and to buy the children here their own Christmas tree and decorations. Got it?"
"Yes Sheriff," they both replied, contritely.
"Right, well, I trust that you can get them back to town?" Emma asked August.
"Of course," he nodded. "And I'll come out here with them in the morning to collect everything. Although I'm not sure how we'll get some of the bigger items back," he mused.
"You can borrow my truck," David answered.
"Great. Thanks."
"Well, if that is everything, then I think it's time we collected our daughter and try to salvage what is left of our Christmas." Emma held her hand out to Killian, who took it and together they left the room.
"Emma, wait!" August raced after them. "I am sorry for interrupting your day. I hope I didn't ruin things. I just, well I thought you should see what was going on."
"It's fine," she smiled graciously. "You were right, I needed to see it for myself, which made my decision easier. And I think Neal and Hope have enjoyed seeing Santa," she smiled as she spotted Snow heading towards them with both children.
"Emma, you have to see the most adorable photos I got of Hope with Santa. She loved him!" she enthused as she let go of Neal's hand and rummaged for her phone to show her the photos.
"I'll leave you to it," August patted her shoulder and left them to go and speak to the director.
Snow showed everyone the photos of the children with Santa – she was right, they were adorable! After she had sent copies to everyone's own phones, the family filtered out of the home, heading back to their cars to continue with their own Christmas celebrations.
"That was very generous of you, love. What you did for those siblings," he told her as she strapped Hope into her car seat, who was protesting now and not wanting to sit still.
"Well, it's Christmas. How can I arrest kids on Christmas day? Besides, I know what they did was wrong, but their hearts were in the right place. They were just a bit stupid about it."
"There's my soft hearted Swan," he smiled, taking her into his arms now that she had Hope safely in the car.
"Me? I think you have me confused with someone else, Mr!" she laughed.
"Nope, I have exactly the right woman. The only thing is, there's only me who really gets to see this softer, vulnerable side of you, a part of you I happen to love just as much as the rest of you."
Emma looked up and smiled at him. "And I love you too," she told him, pressing her lips against his for a sweet kiss.
He wrapped his arms around her, almost picking her up off the floor as he deepened things slightly. "Come on," he breathed harshly as they parted, foreheads pressed together. "Let's get back to your parents, have dessert and then make our excuses to leave. I have a feeling our daughter will be ready for bed soon," he winked.
"One track mind," she laughed and kissed him again, before parting to climb into the car.
"Miss, Miss! Wait!" The old man dressed as Santa came limping out of the building. "You forgot something," he told her.
"What? But I didn't have anything..." She looked around, feeling confused as she climbed back out of the car again. Besides themselves, the only thing they had taken inside was Hope's diaper bag and that was on the back seat. "What did I forget?" she asked him, thinking him perhaps easily confused.
"This," he smiled, handing her the huge red, velvet bag she had seen him with earlier.
"That's not mine," she told him.
"No, it's not. But, the gifts inside are for the children in your town. I heard some of them didn't receive a gift today and I think every child deserves a gift of some kind on Christmas day, don't you?" he asked.
"Well, yes. But, I can't take those. They're for the children here now."
"Oh, don't worry about that. Every child here has been given a gift. These are left over and I want them to go to your town."
"Right, well in that case, thank you." Emma was a little hesitant as she took the bag from him, but gave him a smile all the same.
"You're very welcome my dear. And I must say, it is delightful to see you and your husband on the nice list these days." he added, curiously.
Emma frowned and then opened the sack to have a look how many toys were left. Hopefully there would be enough to go around. And then she looked closer when she noticed that the children's details were already attached to each gift. Names of children and their address' that she recognised from town. She knew that wasn't something the Nun's had done before they were stolen.
"Wait a minute, how did you..." she faded off as she looked up and the old guy had completely vanished. She glanced up and down the street and back towards the home, but he was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't have moved that quickly, not considering how he'd been limping before.
"Emma?" Killian asked, opening his car door. "What is it?"
"I...I don't know," she replied in a daze as she was still looking for the old man, but there was no trace of him.
"What is that?" he asked, nodding to the sack she held.
"That old guy, the one dressed as Santa. He gave me all these toys, said they were for the children in our town. But they have all our kids names and address' on them. How would he know that? And, now he's just disappeared. I don't..."
Killian gave her a funny look, thinking perhaps the stress of the last couple of weeks was getting to her and she was overtired. "Well, perhaps we had best head home now, love. Everyone else already left," he pointed out.
"Right," she shook her head and went to put the toys in the trunk of her car. She'd drop them off at the convent and the nuns could sort them out.
Climbing back into the car again, she gave Killian a convincing smile and started the car. Just as she was pulling away from the curb, she saw the old man again. He winked at her and then, with a nod of his head, he once again disappeared.
Emma stopped the car abruptly and stared. What the hell! It couldn't be, could it? No, that was ridiculous. Every adult knew that Santa Claus wasn't real.
Or was he?
