Guest: Hey there! Thanks so much for reviewing! I know I've been updating rather sporadically, but I think what you're looking for (Emma's reunion with her parents) is in Chapter 3, Coincidences.

Title: 5 Times Emma Thought About Getting Married

Summary: Exactly as the title states.

Note: Prompted by both skagengiirl and BossLady, how Graham and Emma got engaged.

The first was when they were down at the bar on 84th.

They both tended to think of the bar as "theirs," since it was the first place they talked in this timeline. Besides which, the majority of the precinct breaked there, so it was full of people that they knew and were comfortable being around. Andie, especially, was their surprising champion. She was absolutely tickled at the idea of the two together, after serving them both for so long. Of course, she had only really been their bartender for three months, as opposed to the two years Andie recalled, but she was a friend for both of them.

"Hey guys! Bad day or celebration?" the petite bartender asked, perked up from behind the counter. She was already pouring shots for two rowdy guys at the end of the bar. She grinned, pushing back the new red streak that weaved through her black hair.

"Just unwinding. Beer?" Emma said, sliding onto a stool. Graham stood behind her, waiting for another to open up and rested his hands along her waist in the meantime.

Andie nodded, sliding over two bottles. "Happy hour," she said glibly. The woman always liked to claim happy hour for the two, even though the slightly divey bar didn't exactly have a happy hour.

Emma smirked, handing over one of the bottles to Graham. He took it with a shake of his head, before reaching over to entwine their fingers. She had never been one too big on public affection, but Graham's unobtrusive gestures were worth every moment of brief minor discomfort. Besides, at this point in time, Emma was feeling too good to care about how their proximity was viewed by others.

Suddenly, there was a slap as someone's hand came down on Graham's shoulder. He turned, and his face brightened. "Simmons! Off already?"

The older man half-grunted, leaning his weight against the bar. "What's another three hours of overtime, right, Humbert?"

"Whiskey, old man?" Andie called, sliding two more drinks to two more patrons.

"None of that well stuff this time, young'un," he said sternly, to which the brunette snorted. She rattled something off in Vietnamese then disappeared behind the double doors.

Graham chuckled, tightening his hold around her waist. She sighed, leaning against his chest comfortingly.

Simmons nodded to the couple. "You two. The more often I see you, the more you look attached at the hip."

"That's because they have that FFL, Pops," Andie cut in bluntly, pushing over his shot.

Emma's eyes widened, and Graham choked into his drink. "Andie!" she admonished.

"What? Don't try to deny it. I can always tell by your hair." Emma's hand raked through her tresses before noting just how unkempt his were. The bartender began stacking glasses nonchalantly before gesturing to Emma's outfit. "Besides: top button done up in this heat? You're fooling no one, Bounty Hunter."

"And you just came from work. Animals," Simmons said sternly, but smiled into his drink.

Graham swallowed, and turned his head as he took a pull from the longneck. A blush was creeping up his neck as he blatantly avoided eye contact.

"You're no help," she muttered, elbowing him in the side. Andie winked at her as she did so. Emma huffed. It wasn't like she was going to confirm that they had had sex in the breakroom before heading over.

"You act like it's a bad thing! The early stages are the best. Sex all the time, everywhere …," Andie's eyes shined over for a second before she reached out to swat at Simmons. "Why don't we do that, anymore?"

Simmons knocked his head on the counter with a groan. "You two are bad for my health. Couldn't you just settle down and get married already? Take some pressure off me?"

Emma felt Graham's hand tighten around hers. She felt the breath stolen from her lungs at even the suggestion. "It's only been three months," Graham said weakly. But almost unconsciously, his thumb brushed over her left ring finger delicately. A tremor coursed through her body as she tried to stamp down the sudden fear that had nothing to do with Graham himself and everything to do with her issues from previous relationships.

"Three months and you're still this nauseating? Must be in for the long haul," Simmons joked, finishing off his whiskey.

Andie leaned across to swipe a hand over the ring on his finger. "Don't be pressuring other couples to get married, too, just because you're sick of hanging around my parents. Idiot," she said affectionately, then whisked back her hair to get back to work.

"You'd think after two years she'd understand that I'm none too bright with this sort of stuff," Simmons said, but his dark eyes were soft as they trained on his wife. He shook off. "You two do realize we have security tapes, right?"

Emma felt her face flush, and Graham pulled her closer. "Taken care of," he said smugly.

He rolled his eyes and stood with his drink. "Just don't let it happen again. Chief'd have your head." He paused, thinking a moment. "Lucky there's no policy on detectives intermingling with bail bonds people, Humbert."

"Don't I know it," Graham replied simply.

Later, when they got back to the apartment, Emma felt like she should bring the marriage thing up. Because as flushed as it made her, she isn't entirely put off to the idea. She thinks they should have a real conversation about it, exactly what her concerns were, exactly what he thought about it.

But as soon as the door shuts, his lips were back on her neck, his nimble fingers unbuttoning her blouse, and all thoughts of talking flew out of her head.

XX

The next time is barely a next time.

They were walking down the street, all three of them. It was their day off, and they were enjoying the sunshine. Hot dogs were in hand as they made their way to the park. Graham was teasing Henry, pretending to grab up his food, and Henry was protesting with equal amounts of jest. Graham was smiling down at Henry, and the kid was grinning back up at him, adoration plain on both their faces.

And her heart twisted because she could imagine them as a family. All of them, together. Always.

Her finger burned with the want of an extra weight.

But then she realized after a beat that they were already a family. There's no need for legalities.

XX

It doesn't come up again for almost another month.

She had woken up in the pre-dawn hours, Graham's lips against her forehead lovingly. He had roused her only briefly, with the promise to be back early from work to celebrate. She had kissed him a little more fully, a happy birthday spilling from his mouth before he left the room.

Henry had been smiling widely all day long. He made pancakes that morning, packed her a lunch, and even bought a bouquet of bright, sunny-colored buttercups in a hand-painted vase.

It was a great beginning to a fabulous birthday, if she ever had one.

She went into work only briefly, sorting through piles of new cases and doing some research minimally. She was slightly distracted by the anticipation. She had never had a real birthday. The only thing that came close was her last one, when she had had a small cupcake and a tiny boy knock at her door.

What a difference a year made.

She left earlier than she had planned, but she knew she had some extra time before Henry left yearbook and before Graham came home. She browsed windows, surprised each time she caught her smiling reflection. She couldn't remember a time she felt so light and happy on her birthday. She stopped in one of the little boutiques, picking up a dress she had passed enough times in the window to actually envy. She even stopped to get a pedicure, something she rarely indulged in.

She came back to the apartment feeling relaxed and comfortable, eager to see her son and live-in boyfriend. She twisted the knob to open to a dark apartment, and had a burst of realization.

It was too cliché. It had to have been Graham's idea.

She sighed, dropping her purse and bags to the side. "Okay, where are all of you?" she asked with an eyeroll, hands on her hips.

At that, the lights did indeed click on, a verifiable crowd in the room exclaiming a loud, "surprise!"

She laughed out loud, finding Graham's twinkling eyes amidst the crowd. Henry reached her first, hugging her around the waist. "Were you surprised, Mom?"

"Very. Thank you, Henry," she replied, brushing her hands through his hair.

Graham reached her next, pressing a lingering kiss to her lips. "Too much?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "No. Thank you, really. I've never—" she cut herself off, feeling a build of tears form behind her eyes that was so sudden it even caught her off guard. "Thank you."

"Don't let him get all the credit!" Gia declared, popping up to hold her face. "And besides, he still has to outdo my party last year."

She smiled tightly. Of course, she did remember Gia giving her a twenty-eighth birthday party, with a fancy dinner and lots of wine and great friends. But at the same time, she remembers a cold and lonely Boston apartment, and a single blue candle. Graham seemed to recognize the turn of her thoughts as he squeezed her upper arms.

"Well, it's not going to top anything without some champagne for the birthday girl," he professed, tugging her along to the table. It was filled with bottles of wine and champagne, canapés, and the biggest cake she's ever seen for an adult. "More food, don't worry," he murmured with a grin. He handed her a glass, then turned her toward the group.

She stood awkwardly, looking over at all the friends she had made in New York. Andie and Leo, cuddling in a corner and pretending not to. Gia, Emilia, and Ritu with their partners, their kids with Henry on the other side. Garcia, Lazo, Richards, and even Assistant Chief Miller grinning in plainclothes that looked alien on the detectives.

She raised her glass and took a sip over the rapidly forming lump in her throat. It didn't often strike her, the differences between her first life and the one she made in New York. But this was almost too much. It wasn't real, but it was. These people weren't just made up lives that were built to care about her; she could still talk to them about real things and they will listen and pay attention, but will also have their own problems and screw up and be nice and funny and rude and short and just … real.

Graham's hand found hers and she looked up at his grinning face fondly. He's her touchstone; him and Henry. They were reminders that both lives were real, no matter what.

"I love you," she whispered below the din of everyone talking.

He looked down at her, his gaze softening. "I love you so much, Emma."

"Birthday girl kiss!" a new voice cut in, weaving through the crowd to plant a loud kiss on Emma's cheek. She pulled back, and Emma's eyes widened.

"Maggie, what are you doing here?" she asked. Maggie had been a friend from her Boston memories, before she moved to New York two years ago.

"I couldn't miss out on meeting this one," she said fondly, pointing to Graham. She grabbed her elbow. "Excuse me, boyfriend, need to catch up with my girl, here!"

"I thought the point was meeting the boyfriend?" Emma pointed out.

She waved her hand. "What do you think I've been doing the past hour waiting for your lazy ass?" She pulled on her harder.

"Have fun," Graham said with a bemused smile, turning back to the table with a shake of his head.

"Maggie," Emma started, than couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. Her memories of the girl were full of laughter and good times.

"God, girl, now I know why you haven't been back to Boston! I can't believe you thought you could keep a man like that to yourself," she admonished with a bright grin that split her ebony face. "He is gorgeous, hon."

Emma sneaked a look back at Graham, who was currently showing Henry and Michael how to properly swirl their grape juice in the wine goblets. "That's me. Keeping attractive men I'm dating away from your bad influence."

"I'm an excellent influence. Just ask Henry," she sniffed, picking up her glass delicately. "Now, tell me: it looks serious. Is it serious?"

Emma looked away, pulling on the ties of her bracelet. "Yeah. Yeah, it's serious."

Maggie nodded. "Thought as much just talking with him. So, when do I have to buy my plane ticket for the wedding? Those things get expensive last minute."

"Mags!" she exclaimed, feeling the heat pool in her belly. The thought didn't seize her up, though, she found. Not like last month. "I—you know me," she finished lamely.

Maggie tossed back her hair. "Yeah, I know you. That's why I'm asking. I've never seen you like this with a guy. And the way he's into you and Henry? Keeper written all through him, babe."

She didn't get a chance to respond as Andie pulled her in for a hug. "No hogging the birthday girl," she exclaimed, her voice tinged with just the barest hint of drunkenness. "We're supposed to be talking super pretentious things and then once the kids get bored and go next door, play Cards Against Humanity and get you plenty drunk."

"I like her," Maggie said, eyes shining.

"Straight and married," Emma pointed out.

She twisted to look at her. "And? I can still like her."

"She sure can!" Andie cried back, not noticing how her husband's eyes widened as she threw her arms around the taller girl.

"Well, that settles that. Are we eating?" Emma asked.

"We were talking about Graham and Emma's wedding plans," Maggie said, ignoring her completely.

Andie squealed while Leo only smirked. "Real or figurative? Because I've started down the figurative with them."

"We'll see. But I want to hear about these plans," Maggie said, wrapping an arm around Andie and directing her to the drink table.

Leo knocked her shoulder. "I'm not sure if you two are going to walk down the aisle or be dragged attached to those two," he teased.

"Emma doesn't get dragged by anyone," Graham cut in, tucking his chin onto her shoulder.

"I believe that. And no one will have to drag you to marry this one," he replied and then walked off toward the liquor.

"Sorry," he murmured into the skin of her shoulder.

She shook her head, nudging his head with hers. "No, it's okay. It's kinda nice to have, you know, friends speculating on this sort of thing."

Slowly, a smile crossed his face. "Yeah, it really is."

She took a moment to consider the fact that he, too, never had friends before. This curse … it had its downsides, to be sure. But there were a lot of good things to even it out. "Would you … would you ever consider—"

"Your glass is empty!" Emilia broke in, using a bottle to pour another glassful. "Sweetheart, I know you like him, but you should not be in the corner with your boyfriend all night. Come, join the party!"

She let herself be dragged into the crowd, and didn't let the notion enter her head any longer.

It was only the morning after, when she laid half on top of his chest, her head pounding from a hangover, that she realized that she would be perfectly content waking up like this every morning if it meant being in his arms.

She doesn't bring it up again.

XX

She thought about it briefly on a trip up to Hewitt.

They had found the jumper quickly, dropped him off with local police, and then decided to stay an extra day. He had spent time explaining how it used to be, in the other world. They had gone exploring in the forest under her suggestion, wanting a visual of what he was expressing. Something about being out there, though, ignited their blood and they didn't talk for long.

Later, she was lying on top of him in the middle of the woods, breathing him in. His hands were threaded in her hair, brushing them down in long sweeps. She felt safe in his arms.

It felt perfect.

Of course, feeling perfect sent warning signs all through Emma. She didn't believe in perfect, or at least didn't believe in perfect lasting. But he kissed her brow and held her tighter and she could forget her worries for a second.

She briefly wondered about asking him to marry her right then and there, so that feeling would last longer.

She let the moment pass by.

XX

It's a long time before the subject is broached again.

It was the day after they told Henry and two days after she told Graham about the baby. It was a lazy Sunday, intimate and calm. Dishes were stacked high in the sink to be tended to at a later date, the smell of chocolate and bacon still lingering in the air. Graham laid behind her with his arm draped protectively over her stomach, swirling soothing circles over where their child lay.

Henry's flicking channels absently, but she could tell his heart was not really into it. "So, the baby's due in August?"

She nodded, leaning up to see his face a little more clearly. "Doctor says August 20th. We've definitely got some time to prepare."

Henry dropped the remote, looking thoughtful. "At least you have memories of raising me, so you're not going in blind."

Her heart plummets. "Henry—"

"No, it's okay. I didn't mean it like that. I just … this is good. It feels right," Henry clarified. "It's real, too, right?"

Emma swallowed at hearing their mantra. "Right," she agreed tentatively. There were some things she definitely thought was real in this life, but somehow claiming Henry didn't feel as real. Not when she knew another side to it. She thought it was mostly her concern about how Henry thought of it all.

"You and me, kid, we're going to have to learn. You'll help me out, right?" Graham asked, his palm flattening against her belly comfortingly.

He grinned, and it mollified some of Emma's worries. "Right. Glad I won't be the only amateur."

"I'm not exactly a professional," Emma grumbled, shifting against Graham.

Henry sniggered. "Yeah, I guess it has been twelve years now."

"Or half a year, depending on your understanding of the space-time continuum," Graham replied dryly.

Henry groaned, tossing a hand over his eyes. "Yeah, whatever." He looked up. "Y'know, I know I've said it before, but ... it's really cool getting to know you this way, Graham. I mean, I've always known you. But this is cool."

Graham's eyes softened. "Likewise, Henry. It wasn't quite the same back them, was it?"

Emma worried her lip a little. They had both told her before how it was growing up in Storybrooke. How Graham had been the closest thing Henry had to a father figure until his therapy sessions, but even then he had to keep his distance. A few discreet school projects together, a few talks after tracking him down when he would run away … it wasn't the same with Regina isolating him. Now, her two men were actually able to interact on a level that tugged on her heart each time she saw them.

"No, it wasn't. I wish it could've been different," Henry murmured.

When they settled into bed that night, Graham looked more pensive than usual. He lowered his head onto her stomach, making hieroglyphics on her skin. She pulled her fingers through the strands of his curly hair, watching them bounce into place, relaxing in others. His breath alternated between hot and cool against her belly, stirring her hormones even as she attempted to tamp them down. They really had things to talk about.

"Do you ever think about the legal side, Graham?" she asked tentatively.

"I want to adopt Henry," he replied in a whoosh.

She stilled. He took a shaky breath, turning to meet her eye. "You want to adopt him?" she asked curiously.

He nodded seriously, his eyes shading. "I mean … I know he has his father. But not here. Everyone we knew from before is in a place we'll never see again. And … and I really want to be his father," he admitted.

Her eyes filled with tears, her palm cupping his jaw lovingly. "I would love that, Graham. But it's not just up to me."

"Of course not. I'd want his permission. But … but you wouldn't mind?" he asked timidly.

She shook her head, leaning up to pull him close. "Not at all. We're a family already. You, me, Henry, the baby … we're all a family. And if you want to officially make Henry your son as well, then there is no argument from me."

He shuddered into her skin, arms surrounding her. "Thank you," he said, kissing her shoulder. Then, he leaned forward, grabbing something from a drawer.

"I know it might be too soon," he began, opening a small box. She couldn't help a sharp inhale as she saw a small velvet box fall out into his hand. "But know I have these when you're ready."

She watched, hypnotized, as he opened it. Inside lied two rings, nestled next to one another. Each were platinum and simple, one delicate to the other's thick. He grabbed her hand and she let him have it. He kissed her wrist lovingly before pulling the thinner one out.

"It's nothing flashy. I know you wouldn't want that." He picked it up and angled it for her to see the engraving around the inside, a simple heart in its center. He slipped it onto her finger, where it fit snugly. "But it's yours, whenever you're ready."

She felt the sob build within her chest as she looked at the band. In her first life, she had never thought about this. She never imagined that after a little over six months in a relationship that she'd even be considering it. Now, she couldn't wait for that band to find permanent residence on her finger, and the same with the matching band on his. "Well, it'll be easier for you to adopt him," she said hoarsely.

He frowned. "That didn't sound like a real yes. We don't have to be married for me to adopt him."

She smiled. "Yeah, I actually think we do. But it's not because of that, Graham. And it's not because of the new kid," she swore, pulling her arms around his shoulders. "It's because I love you. Legally or not, I love you. So let's just make it official."

"Officially?"

She huffed a dramatic sigh. "I guess I really, really want to marry you, Graham Humbert."

He grinned, leaning his head against hers. "Good. Because I really, really want to marry you, Emma Swan."