American Girl
Soprano Pixie asked for a oneshot of Snow buying her mom an American Girl doll that looks like her when she was about seven.
"I can't believe you didn't show us these earlier!" Snow squealed in delight. Emma laughed slightly at both of her parents' delight at the few pictures she had recently found.
"I forgot I had them." Emma explained.
"Well how old were you in them?" Charming asked, not taking his eyes off the picture he was holding. Emma peered over his shoulder to try and give as accurate an answer as possible.
"I think that's from when I was staying with this family in Saint Paul up in Minnesota. They were nice. Only had a couple of their own kids and me. Got my own room and everything. So from that, I'd say I'm probably about seven. I remember starting the second grade when I was with them. Snow ran her finger down Emma's cheek in the picture.
"I'm glad you were with loving people, I'm just sorry it wasn't us." Snow sighed. Emma reached over and squeezed her shoulder.
"I know." She said sympathetically. "I wish I had been with you too."
Later that evening, Emma had come down from her room to get a glass of water. She had left the photographs in the living room, but didn't expect to come down and find her parents still looking at them. She stopped on the stairs when she heard them having a hushed conversation. They sounded a little upset.
"…I love these Charming, but they're so…"
"Bitter sweet?" Charming suggested, knowing how Snow was feeling. Snow nodded, resting her head against his shoulder.
"Exactly. It's like having to watch our little girl through some sort of window. We can't talk to her. We can't tell her how much we love her. We can't hold her…It's hard." Emma could understand her parents pain. She felt the same way when she saw old pictures of Henry. But she did have an idea that might help if only a little. So without her water, Emma crept back up to her bedroom to get googling…
4-6 business days later
"Emma!" Snow called as she thanked the delivery man. "You have a package from Boston!" Emma came out into the hallway, a strange looking smile on her face.
"Actually, you do." Emma corrected her mother. Snow looked back at her, puzzled. "I know it's addressed to me, but it's something I got for you and dad." Emma explained. Now Snow was very curious. She went into the living room where Charming was so they could open the box together. They opened it up to reveal a doll with long blonde waves and striking green eyes. Beside it, was one of the old photos of Emma.
"I overheard you both talking last week." Emma told them. "I can't change what happened, so this was as close as I could get to letting you actually hold little me. American Girl are a companymake dolls from pictures of you. I know it's not the real deal, but I thought it might at least make you both smile a bit." Emma said sheepishly. Snow and Charming looked at the Emma doll in shock. They didn't know that anything like this existed. "If you don't like it I can have it shipped back…"
"Don't you dare!" Both of her parents shouted at once, startling Emma. Snow took the doll out its plastic case and held it properly, like it was some delicate jewel before handing it to Charming, who gave it the same treatment. Emma smiled, relieved they were happy with her gift. She then left them in the living room with the doll so they could let out their emotion, if they so wished.
Snow and Charming couldn't believe what they were seeing. This doll looked exactly like Emma had. It was perfect. They would keep it safe for those all too frequent occasions when the weight of what happened with their daughter became all too much to carry. Then this little doll might just provide some much needed comfort.
