You're going where?
A guest asked for a oneshot of Snowing going out of Storybrooke for a few days. They're nervous that when they leave Neal he's going to freak out and cry. Instead it ends up being Emma who cries when they leave. I've lowered the age gap for this chapter.
"Snow, Neal will be fine with his auntie Red." Charming assured Snow. Although, truth be told, he was just as nervous as she was. Neal was only six months old. It would be the first time they left him alone. It was the first time either of them had left Storybrooke. Regina had only just worked out how to take down the barrier preventing them from leaving. Charming was taking advantage of the world around them to take Snow away for the weekend. Not too far, just to a spa in a nearby town. Either way, they were both excited. They were both also apprehensive about leaving little Neal alone.
"I know." Snow sighed. "I just get worried. I know he couldn't be in better hands, but he's still so little. What if he gets upset? What if he misses us? It's not like we can just pop home…" As if right on cue, Snow and Charming heard shrieking coming from downstairs. Both were alarmed. They'd never heard Neal cry like that before. "See!" Snow shouted, as they both began to make their way downstairs. "I knew this wasn't going to work out. I'm really sorry, Charming, I know you put so much effort into this, but I just don't think that Neal is…Emma?" Both Snow and Charming were stunned to see that Neal seemed quite content in his playpen, seemingly completely unaware of the shrieking being done by his five year old sister. Emma was screaming blue murder, as Red did her best to comfort the distraught little girl.
"Baby, what's wrong?" Charming asked, going over. He went to just rub Emma's back, but Emma reached out and latched onto him.
"No-no!" Emma sobbed. "No!"
"Emma, you need to use your words, princess." Snow said, bewildered. Emma hadn't cried like this since she was two. Emma seemed incapable of explaining further.
"I was just talking Emma through the plans I had for us over the weekend." Red shouted over Emma's crying. "How her, me and Neal were going to hang out for the weekend while mommy and daddy were on holiday. Then she lost it." Red explained. Now Snow and Charming had a better understanding. They had told Emma they were going on holiday and that she and Neal would be staying with their Auntie Red, but that was a couple of weeks ago. It was only now that it was happening that Emma fully understood, it would seem. They hadn't expected Emma to get upset at all. She had stayed over with Red plenty of times as her goddaughter for some bonding time. Red had also babysat Emma at their house loads of times, as well as spent the day with the family, so was very familiar with Emma's routine. It seemed knowing mommy and daddy would be gone for two whole sleeps was too much for the little girl.
"Don't worry princess. You're gonna have lots of funny with Auntie Red and baby bro…" Emma shook her head.
"Baby." Snow cooed, taking Emma from Charming. She rocked her gently until Emma stopped wailing. They both felt dreadful for not thinking she would get upset. "It's only a couple of days. You always do lots of fun things with Auntie Red. You'll have to tell us all about them when we come back. Daddy and I will be expecting biiiiig cuddles from our favourite girl."
"Promise?" Emma whimpered, her thumb slipping into her mouth. Charming leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
"We promise angel." He assured her. Snow and him then had one of their silent conversations. Although they were now slightly apprehensive about leaving both their children, they agreed Emma (and Neal) was going to be just fine at home. They would call Red as soon as they arrived just to make sure they'd both gone down ok. They each gave her a final kiss before handing her back over to her Auntie Red.
"I'll look after both your little munchkins." She promised them. "I'll make sure this little one is all hyped up on sugar for your arrival." She joked, tickling Emma's belly. Snow and Charming smiled warily before slipping away, not wanting to make a big deal in case Emma got upset again. They knew the kids would have lots of fun this weekend, and it was nice for them to be able to get away for a little while. But still, they looked forward to those cuddles when they got home.
