Welcome to this second story in the countdown. This one features Emma and Hope. FYI this story mentions getting your period.
Emma Jones sat at her desk in her office at the sheriff's station. She was working on the seemingly never ending paperwork. It was after eleven when her phone rang. She assumed it was Killian, who was out on patrol, calling about lunch. Instead it was the school, and Emma sighed, wondering which one of her kids had gotten in trouble. They were generally good kids, but the boys could get into some fights, and Hope was a teenager now.
"Emma Jones," She answered.
"Good morning, Mrs. Jones, I'm Mrs. Rivers. I'm the school nurse, and Hope is here with stomach pains. I think it's best if you could take her home to rest."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right there. Thank you, for letting me know. Tell her I'm on my way."
Goodbyes were said, and Emma called Killian as soon as she was off the phone with the nurse. She filled him in, and he insisted on coming along. Apparently he wasn't far from the school, but Emma persuaded him otherwise. If Hope's visit to the nurse was for the reason Emma suspected, then Hope would not want her dad around right now.
Emma closed the front door of their home, and Hope had already plopped down on the couch.
"Are you sure you don't want to go upstairs? The best thing to do is to take a nap, and your bed will be comfier." Emma asked her as she sat down next to her on the couch.
"I don't want to move, Mom. I just want it to go away." Hope replied with tears in her eyes as she curled up further.
Hope was fourteen, and she had gotten her period a few times. But it was sporadic and hard to track, and the cramps had never been this bad. Emma felt sorry for her baby girl, but she knew from experience the best thing to do was to wait for the ibuprofen to kick in and sleep it off.
"I know. I know." She said quietly as she rubbed Hope's back, and then she got up to get her a blanket. "Try to sleep and I'll be in the other room if you need me."
Off the living room was a small room that served as an office/library/homework room for the Jones family. It was close enough that she could hear Hope if she needed her, but far enough away that she wouldn't disturb her daughter.
Emma checked her phone, and she wasn't surprised when she saw several texts from Killian. She gave him an update that things were fine, but she didn't mention the exact reason Hope needed to leave school early. Hope loved her dad, and he was usually the one she preferred when she was sick. But she would want to crawl under a rock if he knew. Which he did of course, Killian Jones knew his wife and daughter well, but he didn't want to make her feel more awkward or uncomfortable. There was an understanding between Emma and Killian that he knew, and she knew that he knew.
For several minutes Emma heard the occasional groan. It eventually stopped, meaning the pain had subsided enough for Hope to doze off, and Emma was thankful for her sake. Being as quiet as possible, Emma snuck into the kitchen and made a quick sandwich since she never ate lunch. She brought it back to the side room to eat and then worked out some household stuff. Her part of the desk was a mess, the mail needed to be sorted, and some bills needed to be paid. People in other realms of story could use cell phones, but Storybrooke utilities still had to be paid by a check in the mail instead of online.
"Mom," Emma heard her daughter call her a couple of hours later.
"Hey, do you need something?" Emma asked as she sat on the edge of the couch by Hope's feet. "Are you feeling better?"
"My stomach isn't trying to kill me anymore, but I have a headache." Hope replied.
Emma pulled out her phone to check the time. It was too soon to take anything for the headache. Hope still looked really tired, so hopefully the headache was just from waking up too soon.
"Do you want to lay down upstairs? It would be comfier. Besides, you're brothers are going to be home soon anyway. It's about two o'clock."
"Can they stay over at Grandma and Grandpa's tonight? I don't feel like dealing with people." Hope sighed and rivaled Leroy for the title of Grumpy.
"Don't worry about them. I'll tell them to be quiet when they get home, and when your dad gets home he'll take Port and Starboard to the Jolly Roger or Granny's or something." Emma assured her as she helped Hope unravel herself from the blankets.
"You didn't tell him did you?" Hope cried it outrage and humiliation.
"I called him and told him he should have a boy's night with your brothers." Emma answered calmly and didn't take offense to Hope's accusation.
Hope didn't reply, but instead made her way upstairs. Emma heard her stop in the bathroom and then a few minutes later her daughter's bedroom door slammed shut. Hope always had a flare for the dramatic, which Emma usually blamed on Killian. Most of the time, Emma was the one to put a foot down when Hope went overboard. But right now Emma had more sympathy for her. She remembered being a teenager, and she wouldn't want energetic twin boys around either. Paul and Stephen, nicknamed Port and Starboard, could be well behaved one minute and trouble-making scoundrels the next. As soon as they got off the school bus the twelve year old boys were crazy balls of energy until it was time to sit down for dinner and homework. Being twelve also meant they enjoyed pushing their older sister's buttons, and that was on a normal day.
When the bus came, and the twin twisters entered the house, Emma immediately sat them down for homework. They protested at first, but when they heard about a visit to the Jolly Roger and Granny's, they quickly complied. Cheeseburgers and milkshakes were strong motivators. So was pizza.
Hope was still grumpy and unhappy when she came down for dinner. Emma had popped some frozen pizza in the oven since it was just her and Hope at home. After dinner though, a completely different teenager was sitting across from her.
"I take it you're feeling better?" Emma asked even though she had a pretty good idea of what the answer was. "Enough time has passed, if you need to take anything."
"I'm actually good, for now anyway." Hope replied with a small, happy smile.
"Well, if you want to go back upstairs, I'll be down here if you need me." Emma told her and started to straighten up the table.
"Actually…can we watch a movie together with popcorn?" Hope suggested. "I mean the boys get to have fun. I think we deserve something too."
"Yeah, that sounds great. I'll get the popcorn and milkduds, you get the movie started." Emma nodded, she was really glad with Hope's suggestion.
Ten minutes later they were sitting on the couch together, and the main screen for The Princess Bride was on the TV, but Hope hadn't pressed the 'play' button yet.
"Hope, are you sure you're feeling okay? Or is there another movie you want to watch?"
"No, I'm fine. And I love this movie, but I…I wanted to talk first." Hope replied.
"What about?" Emma asked and turned towards her a little more.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I was a whiny jerk earlier. I felt terrible, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You left work to pick me up and take care of me. I didn't appreciate what you did then, but I do now. I'm also sorry for getting mad about Dad and the boys."
"Thank you, for the apology, and of course you're forgiven." Emma began as she thought of a reply to her daughter. She hadn't seen that coming. But it was good to talk about it instead of brushing it under the rug. "I know this is rough. I'm your mom, I know what it's like, and I want to take care of you. But you need to trust me. I can take care of you no matter what, as well as the rest of the family. Like your dad says 'things will be a lot smoother if you do'. Right?"
"Right." Hope smiled and nodded. "He probably knows, doesn't he?"
"I didn't tell him, but he has enough experience that he can put two and two together." Emma told her and laughed a little, thinking about some of the things Killian had to put up with sometimes when it was her time of the month. "I did tell him though that we need to replenish the supply of chocolate covered pretzels."
"The sticks or the traditional kind?" Hope questioned very seriously. Hope loved chocolate covered pretzels the way other people in the family loved cocoa with cinnamon.
"The traditional kind." She confirmed.
"I was just testing you. You're the best, Mom!" Hope leaned in for a quick hug. "I really mean it. Thanks, Mom, for everything today."
"You're welcome, Little Miss Pirate Princess." Emma replied with her childhood nickname and returned the hug. "Now, let's watch the movie and get to this popcorn."
"As you wish." Hope stated and bowed dramatically before pressing the 'play' button.
"As you wish." Emma whispered and put her arm around Hope to enjoy the movie.
The End
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this one. Fun Fact: I chose the names Paul and Stephen for their twin boys in reference to John Paul Jones and Stephen Decatur. Both were Captains in early American history. In my mind, Killian spends his free time studying naval history of this realm. Maybe we'll see them in another story.
Next time on "Thanks, Mom": Our mom will be Snow (again). I was hoping to write other people and give variety, but time ran out. This one is still different though. The one saying "Thank, Mom" will actually be Killian. Come back tomorrow to see how that plays out.