Birthdays

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.

"Hello, Johanna," Snow White greeted her old nursemaid as the older woman answered the door.

"Queen Snow White!" said Johanna. "Are you certain you're not too busy to see me, with your family and your kingdom?"

Snow chuckled and wrapped the older woman in a hug. "I'm never too busy to see you, and neither are Charming and Emma."

Snow turned around to see Charming wading through the knee – deep snow with Emma in his arms. "Hello Johanna," he finally said as he entered the woman's cottage.

"Hello King David," Johanna curtsied to Snow's husband. "And Princess Emma," Johanna reached over under her woolen blanket and shook her little hand.

Snow White carefully brushed all of the snowflakes off Charming and her baby girl. They both smiled in response to her touch.

"Well come in," said Johanna with a bright smile, moving so they could enter her home fully. The cottage was only one room, with a table and fireplace on one end, and a bed on the other. But it was warm and cozy, especially on a such a cold day. Snow and Charming loved coming here almost as much as the sheep farm.

Snow took off her thick fur coat and David unwrapped Emma from her blanket. "Da – da," she babbled at him. Snow's heart melted at the look of pure joy on her husband's face.

"Would you like some tea? It would warm you up from that cold ride," Johanna suggested.

"Of course," Snow replied. She preferred the hot cocoa at the palace, but Johanna's tea was almost as good. More importantly, her teas were one of the ways Johanna showed she cared.

Charming put Emma down in a sitting position and then took off his own fur coat.

"Look at you, Emma, sitting by yourself, like a big girl!" said Snow.

Emma grinned and waved her hands in the air, showing her three teeth.

"In fact, she'll be a year old in another month. Can you believe that, Charming?"

David hid his face behind his coat again for a moment before peeking his head up. "Peek – a -boo!" he announced to Emma.

Snow smiled, and Johanna chuckled as she mixed the tea.

"Da – da," said Emma again with delight.

"Are you sure she'll be a year old soon?" he turned to Snow, his eyes widening and his forehead wrinkling, like he couldn't believe it could be possible.

"Yes, I'm afraid she will be." She shared a look with her husband, understanding his excitement and simultaneous sorrow that their baby was starting to grow up. Because she felt the same way. "We should plan a party for her for the whole kingdom. After all, she's a princess."

"Our princess," Charming agreed, still staring right into Snow's eyes. His head moved a little until their lips touched.

"Actually, you should hold a party for you and Emma at the same time," Johanna announced, after she finally put the tea on to boil. "After all, your birthdays are only a couple of weeks apart. It would be a wonderful way to begin celebrating your birthday again."

The happy, innocent day shattered like a broken china plate. How could her former caregiver bring this up? Snow stood up with a scowl on her face as she stared at the older woman. "No, Johanna, you know I can't celebrate my birthday."

"That was a long time ago, Snow," said Johanna, trying to sound reasonable. "Can you just –"

"No," Snow replied as firmly as she could. Hadn't they been through this already?

"Why wouldn't you celebrate your birthday?" Charming asked, sounding hurt and confused. "I thought all royals celebrated their birthdays. I'd love to celebrate yours and Emma's at the same time. Or perhaps it would be better to observe different days for each of my girls…"

Snow sighed. She explained this to him when they were engaged, but she hadn't gotten around to explaining it again since he'd lost his memories. * It wasn't a subject she liked discussing.

"I just can't." All at once, Snow White was a ten – year old girl watching her mother take her last breath. Then came her mother's funeral. Snow could still feel the black cashmere gown clinging to her skin and hear the somber music in her ears.

"Snow?" Charming's soothing voice suddenly cut through the memories. "I'm sorry; I don't want to upset you." His arms enveloped her into a hug of love.

"Yes, I'm sorry, too, Snow," said Johanna, full of remorse. "Would you still like some tea?"

OOOOOOOOO

That night, Snow tried to focus on all the wonderful things in her life. She had an adorable baby girl who was growing and learning every day. She had a wonderful husband, something she was extremely grateful for, considering how many times she'd almost lost him. And she and Charming had found a way to expose Emma to the palace and court life as well as the quite life with the farm and the sheep.

But the dark memories of her mother's death haunted her.

"Can you speak about what's bothering you?" Charming asked gently, after they had put Emma to sleep. "Because it seems that trying to focus on other things hasn't worked."

Snow sighed as she looked into his deep blue eyes. How could she begin to explain this? "I just don't have good memories of my birthday," she said finally. "I hate thinking about it. I'd much rather focus on Emma's." She looked over at their princess, who was curled up in her crib with her wool blanket wrapped around her.

Charming looked at Emma sleeping in her crib as well. "I'd love to focus on Emma's, too. His eyes shone, and Snow knew he was picturing Emma's face as they gave her birthday cake and presented her with gifts. But then his smile slowly faded. "It would be nice if you would consider celebrating your birthday as well. Such a day is a gift for me and for you. I wish I knew when mine was."

"It's easy for you to say that," said Snow, snapping as she walked out of the nursery. All her bottled emotions were now exploding out of her as anger. "To you, a birthday would be a gift. But to me, it can never be a gift. It will always be the day my mother died." With that, she stormed off as far as she could from the King and Queen's chamber.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Snow roamed all over the castle for who knows how long, alternating between being a broken – hearted girl who had just lost her mother and an angry woman because neither Johanna nor Charming would try to understand her. Still, she could never stay angry at her Charming for very long.

Just as she had begun to head back to their chamber, Snow bumped into her husband. Literally. "I still always find you," he teased gently as he wrapped his arms around her again.

"I guess you do," said Snow, wrapping his arms around her as well.

"I thought maybe you need time to calm down, but I had to try to find you eventually," Charming whispered into her hair, pressing her closer to him. "I'm so sorry, Snow. It never occurred to me that your mother could have died on your birthday. Of course, your memories of that day would be too painful to celebrate."

Snow looked up at him and was overwhelmed by the love he had in his eyes. "Yes, but I should have told you it earlier, rather than getting angry at you for not understanding. It's just so hard for me to talk about." She kissed him and tasted the love on his lips.

"Well, I'm here if you ever do want to talk about it," said Charming when they drew apart. "But I promise you, I'll never try to pressure you about your birthday again."

"Thank you," said Snow, pulling him even closer. Her heart swelled with even more love for him. Would it break out of her chest?

"Now, why don't we plan Emma's birthday?" Charming asked, as his face lit up.

Snow nodded, her mood immediately improving at the thought of the wonderful party they could plan for their daughter. "I love that idea. We could start with commissioning her first gown. And the food. What do you think we should have for food?"

"Chocolate," Charming replied immediately.

"And cinnamon," said Snow with a grin.

*Reference to my story "Charming Who?" which takes place before this one.

Also, a quick note in case anyone is confused. Charming didn't forget when his birthday because he had amnesia in the previous story. The only memories he lost in that story were the last couple of years. (AKA, after he took his brother's place as prince and then met Snow.) He never knew when his birthday was, as peasants usually didn't.

Than you for the reviews for "Blankets." Here's some responses. Please consider giving a review for this one as well.

Dream 1990: Yes, it is nice. I always head canon Snow and Charming planned on having a big family, so Emma will have a few siblings here.

Baratta Jennifer: Thank you again.

Austenphile: Thank you. We all know how important Emma's blanket is to her in canon, and I liked the idea that it could still be important in this universe. And yes, it's nice for her to have such an important role in getting ready for her new sibling.

Bloomandgrow: Thanks again for reviewing this. :) I'm glad you thought I wrote well from a little girl's perspective on preparing for her new sibling. And I do like to write fanfictions about characters knitting. :)