Emma's package
Codi asked for a oneshot of Emma getting a package from the Swans containing a bunch of her old things. Inside is a stuffed lamb. Emma seems really happy to see it. Snow notices that Emma is carrying it around the apartment. When Snow brings it up, Emma gets embarrassed.
SeaWeedBrain: Sorry, I don't write Emma ships.
Emma was confused when she received a package that morning. She hadn't ordered anything, not that she could remember, anyway. She was even more baffled when she saw that it had a handwritten label on the packaging.
"What have you got there, Em?" Her dad asked, seeing her staring intently at the package.
"I don't know." Emma sighed. "I didn't order anything. Someone sent me this. I don't know how though. Hardly anyone knew my address in Boston as it was. I didn't exactly have friends to give a forwarding address to when I moved to Storybrooke." Emma told him. Charming frowned at this.
"Could it be dangerous? Maybe from someone in town?" He asked, just wanting to cover all bases. Emma shook her head.
"No, the stamp says it's from out of state, see?" Emma said, showing him. Charming observed it carefully before nodding in agreement. He still didn't like it. Clearly someone had tried very hard to get whatever this was to his daughter.
"Why don't you come open it in the living room?" He suggested, not wanting Emma to be alone when she opened it. He still wasn't fully convinced there wasn't something strange afoot.
Emma brought the package into the living room, following her dad. She didn't see the worried look he gave her mom, who was playing with Neal, alerting her to the fact there was a problem. Potentially, anyway. Not wanting to make Emma more tense, Snow continued to play with Neal, whilst keeping an eye on what was going on with her peripheral vision. Emma sat down and placed the package on her lap. Carefully, she ripped off the brown paper. On top, was a piece of lined paper containing a letter. When Emma picked up the letter to read it, she saw everything underneath. Without even reading the letter, the contents of the package told her who it must be from: the Swans. Emma froze. She hadn't allowed herself to think about them in so long. She had found her real parents, what good did it do to dwell on the past?
"What's wrong Em?" Charming asked, worried. He looked at the items Emma had received. He was immediately drawn to a stuffed toy; a lamb. He picked it up and examined it more closely. "What's this?" He asked. "Why would someone send you an old toy?"
"Because it was mine." Emma croaked. Now she had both her parents' full attention. She sighed. There was no point in holding back now. She would have to tell them everything. "These were some of my favourite things when I lived with the Swans." She added quietly. Both Snow and Charming felt their breaths hitch slightly. It was a period of Emma's life they rarely heard about.
"Oh?" Snow prompted subtly. Emma nodded. She quickly scanned the letter.
"The letter is from Paul, Mr Swan. He's kept hold of this stuff ever since I left. He's wanted to write to me for years now, ever since he knew I had turned eighteen, but hasn't built up the courage until recently. He left Diana, Mrs Swan, a couple of years after I…left."
"After they had another child." Snow grumbled bitterly. Neither she nor Charming could ever really forgive the Swans for that. Emma nodded.
"He said he never agreed with me being put back into the system, but couldn't leave Diana while she was pregnant. He tried to get me back, but the state wouldn't allow him to get his fostering licence back."
"Good." Charming growled. He had no sympathy for him.
"Anyway, he thought I should have these, and he wanted me to know how sorry he was. He hopes I got everything I deserved in life. In the end, I did, and that's all that matters to me. Being angry at the Swans won't make things any better. I've got things pretty good here, and that's good enough for me." Emma said. Charming leaned over and kissed the side of her head. He smiled down at the little lamb. Emma followed his gaze.
"I couldn't sleep without this." She told them. "It was a nightmare when I didn't have it with me when I left their house." Charming felt his heart sink for his little girl, all alone without her favourite toy. He gave her a gentle squeeze.
"Well, nobody's taking it off you now." He promised her. He grinned. "I guess you can't do nothing about your genetic makeup, can you, my little shepherdess?" He teased her. Emma laughed lightly, looking down at her little lamb, along with the other little trinkets from her early childhood. She was glad Paul had sent her everything, and explained himself in the letter, but she was even more glad she hadn't been sent back to live with him. Sure, it meant large stretches of her early life were painful. But without that pain, she would have never have found her real family.
