Teddy fatality
Ouat Prisky0731 asked for a oneshot of Emma (having broken the curse early) accidentally breaks something important to her little brother. She hides it, thinking she'll be sent back into the system if found out.
Emma couldn't believe she'd been so careless. Her brother loved Mr Snuggles. He wouldn't sleep without the stupid bear. Emma had tried on her mom's heels (something else she wasn't supposed to do) and the teddy was in her parents room from Neal's nap earlier that day. It must have fallen off the bed and onto the floor. Emma hadn't noticed and trod right through the bear, leaving it looking like the prize from a hunt. Emma didn't know how to sow, and since her parents' were having dinner at Granny's while Ella babysat (she had fallen asleep in front of the TV with Neal), Emma had nobody to tell without getting into trouble. She ended up hiding the teddy under her bed, hoping nobody would notice. After all, Ella didn't know about Mr Snuggles and the kid was too young to talk. If he cried when she tried to put him down in his crib, she would just assume he was being grizzly.
As luck would have it, Neal didn't wake up when Ella carried him through from the living room to his crib. Emma breathed a sigh of relief. She might just get away with this. She might just get to stay with her parents.
Emma's luck ran out the next day when her mom tried to put Neal down for his mid-morning nap. Emma heard her asking her dad if he had seen Mr Snuggles. She panicked. She closed the door to her room tightly, hoping neither of her parents would come up and ask her. She was a lousy liar at the best of times, because she was so scared she had no chance of pretending she didn't know where Mr Snuggles was. Emma's heard began to speed up tenfold when she heard her dad coming up the stairs.
"Emma?" He called. The nine year old whimpered at the sound of her own name. She sat on her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest and her back pressed hard against the wall. She began to shake as her door opened. "Emma honey, have you seen your brother's bear?" He asked. Emma didn't answer. "Emma?" Charming repeated, beginning to notice that something wasn't right. "Emma, sweetheart, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing." Emma lied. "I'm fine." Charming frowned. She certainly didn't look fine. Emma could tell she wasn't getting away with this. She suddenly burst into tears. "Please don't send me back!" She pleaded. Charming was alarmed. Where had this come from? He came and sat on the end of her bed beside her.
"Honey, we're never sending you back, not ever." He first assured her. "Why would you think we would?" Emma couldn't give him a verbal answer, but Charming saw that she kept glancing down towards the underside of her bed. He figured there was a good place to look.
"No, don't!" Emma called, but it was too late. Charming pulled out the punctured bear.
"Ah." He said. "So we've had a slight fatality." Emma's crying only intensified.
"Snow!" Charming called as he began to comfort Emma. "Mr Snuggles is with me in Emma's room. I think you'd better join us!" Curious, Snow came upstairs bouncing Neal on her hip to try and soothe him. When she came in and Charming was holding Mr Snuggles out with the hole in his belly in one hand and Emma crying into his shoulder, she put two and two together.
"Right." Snow said. "Emma, what happened?" Emma wiped her wet eyes on her sleeve.
"I was trying on your heels." She admitted. "Mr Snuggles must have been on the floor. It was an accident. Please don't send me back." She repeated, more pitifully this time. Snow came over and sat on the bed as well.
"Emma, I'm sure your father has already told you that's never going to happen." Snow said calmly. Emma nodded against Charming's shoulder. "I believe you that this was an accident. However, it was a preventable one. You know you're not supposed to wear my heels, Emma. Not only have you accidentally torn a whole in Neal's teddy and then hidden it from us, but you could have gotten hurt. I am disappointed in your choices." Snow admitted. Emma nodded glumly.
"That doesn't mean that we're going to send you away though." Charming added, kissing the side of her head. "We're never doing that again, Em. Neal's bear can be sowed up by Granny. You can pay for the materials with your allowance. Then I think a week with no TV ought to cover it, would you agree, mom?" Charming asked. Snow nodded, she agreed that was fair.
"Really?" Emma asked, astounded that was it. "I can stay?" Charming squeezed Emma into his side.
"You ain't going anywhere, kiddo. You're staying here forever and ever." Emma smiled. Even without TV, that was alright with her.
