Not like Neal

Torie714 asked for a oneshot of Neal teasing Emma about being in foster care. Emma won't tell Snowing because she fears they won't believe her and Snowing shows they love them equally.

Neal didn't really understand what he was saying, or the impact of his words. He just knew it got a reaction from Emma the first time it happened. Sometimes Neal couldn't help but feel jealous of his big sister. She had cool magical powers which he did not. If only he knew that Emma would trade her powers in a heartbeat for what he had: the love of their parents from the get-go.

Neal knew that Emma didn't grow up with mommy and daddy like he was doing. He had seen the storybook and knew all about the Evil Queen's curse and how Emma had broken it. That all just made him more jealous. He wish he could have broken a curse. Only cool people could break curses. So when he casually mentioned to Emma one day that mommy and daddy never brought her to school like they did for him and saw that it clearly got to her, he carried on. Neal might not be meaning to upset Emma as much as he was, but he wasn't stupid. He knew what he was saying was upsetting his sister and wasn't very kind, so he never said anything in front of anybody else. Especially mommy and daddy.

Emma never told their parents the things Neal was saying. Every time he did anything with them, he made sure to let Emma know about it. Emma wasn't exactly sure why her little brother felt the need to wind her up about it all, but she hoped it would pass as quickly as it started. If Emma was completely honest, she wasn't entirely sure their parents would believe her if she told them that Neal was bringing up her childhood differences to upset her. It wasn't like him at all. So instead she decided to keep quiet and hope it all passed.

Emma and Neal both didn't realise that they were more observant than either gave them credit for. They had noticed the little jibes Neal was making at his sister's expense, and weren't happy about it. There were a lot of things to take into consideration. Neal was still very young, and they knew he sometimes got jealous of his sister's powers. However, that did not excuse his actions in the slightest. Plus, they knew how much Emma adored Neal and wouldn't like to see him punished on her account. Again, this did not mean Neal could get let away with his actions. So Snow and Charming came up with a plan.

They decided to take Emma out for more independent activities that didn't involve Neal. Neal of course questioned this, and he was told that when he was being kind to his sister, then he could come too. It took Neal a little while to understand what they meant, but as soon as he did, the comments stopped. As soon as the comments stopped, Neal was welcomed on the little outings Snow and Charming had been taking with Emma, and the little jibes were never heard again.