a/n: so writing this chapter brought me to places i didn't want to be but i finally pinned the scenes down to how i wanted them. ha. my own heart broke a bit too. oh well. this is a mix of snowing, mama snow and daddy charming fluffy scenes. ;) enjoy!


As it turned out, it took more hugs and kisses from Emma before Neal was assured that his big sister isn't mad at him anymore for ruining her baby blanket. Emma felt another tug in her heart as she realised what an impact her reaction made on Neal. She never wanted to see the devastated look on his sweet little face ever again.

Emma had finally settled Neal in his bed for a nap before checking on her baby blanket which she had managed to soak in between reassurances. The solution she made to remove the paint was working somehow. She rinsed it out and put it in the dryer. There were still some faint stains on it which the solution didn't get to remove, but Emma let them be, especially the tiny handprints beside her name which she left out to dry completely.

Snow and David have already arrived by this time and Emma filled them in on what transpired during their absence.

"I'm just sorry that I didn't take care of my baby blanket enough," Emma finished.

"It's your blanket, honey." David said. "Sure it may look different now, but that doesn't change the fact that it was something you held onto all those years we weren't there for you. And now, you've got another reminder on it that there's somebody else who loves you as much as your mom and I do."

"Yeah, I know that now." Emma hung her head. "It's just that when I saw it the first time, all I could think about was that Neal had no business getting into my stuff. I just snapped at him like that and I scared him so much. The light just went out of his eyes. Oh, it's even worse than seeing my blanket dipped in paint. I messed up. We were having such a good time making those shirts for you and all, and then..." She hid her face in her hands.

Snow took Emma in her arms. "Oh, sweetie, please don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure Neal has forgiven you, hasn't he?"

"Yeah." Emma mumbled into her mom's shoulder.

"And your baby blanket, were you able to remove the stains?"

"Not all, but I don't care anymore. I'll leave them there to remind me what an ass I was to my sweet baby brother."

"No, don't say that, Emma," Snow said reproachfully. "Think of it otherwise, that it was made with love."

"And that's what makes it harder for me to wrap my head around what I did to him." Emma eased back. "To be honest I felt like one of those mean foster parents I've had growing up. If I could just turn back the clock, I would." She buried her face in Snow's shoulder again.

"Oh, baby..." Snow and David were at a loss for words. All they could do was wrap Emma in their arms and just let her lean on them for now.


Two days after.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" Snow turned from her book to look at Neal. She raised an eyebrow at the shirt in Neal's hands. "What are you doing with Emma's old t-shirt?"

"I want to paint on this with my hands. Emma didn't like what I did on her blankie so maybe she will like this one," Neal said. "I got this from the box. Can you help me, please?"

"Oh, baby," Snow's heart broke at her son's words. "Of course I will. But you must remember this always, Neal. Emma will never stay mad at you forever for something that you did. She loves you as much as daddy and I do. Okay?"

"Okay, mommy." Neal nodded. "That's what she told me too. But I don't want her to feel bad anymore so I want to make another painting for her here."

"Will doing this also make you happy?" Snow asked carefully.

Neal's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

Snow smiled. "So are you ready to have some fun?"

"Yeah!" Neal jumped up and down.

"Then let's paint!" Snow led her son to the living room.

Unknown to the two at home, Emma was also busy with a project of a similar tone down at the station. It was a slow day, so David and Emma were just at their desks doing paperwork. Or at least David was. Emma on the other hand was painting on a small-sized t-shirt. The palms and fingers of both of her hands were coated with different colours of paint which she pressed carefully on the shirtfront. Her left cheek and chin were smudged with red paint.

"Knock-knock."

"Come in!" Emma didn't look up from what she was doing.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Em." David sat on the edge of Emma's desk. "Can't you just play along?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Okay, who's there?"

"Orange."

"Orange what?"

"Emma!"

"Okay, orange who?" Emma exhaled dramatically.

"Orange you gonna tell me why my daughter is having an arts and crafts session here at the station?" David looked at Emma pointedly.

Emma mirrored David's look. "You gotta lay off the corny jokes, dad. It's very un-Charming of you. Ha! See what I did there?" she waved her paint-coated hands at David. "Oops! Sorry wet paint." She carefully smoothed out the small t-shirt on her desk. "I did all my paperwork already, honest. I've got some time so I figured I'll just do this here so Neal won't see it. Don't worry, I'll clean up after this, I'm almost done anyway."

David chuckled at his daughter's rambling. "Okay, I got it." He leaned over to kiss the top of Emma's head. "I think what you're doing is sweet. I'm sure Neal will love that."

Emma looked up at her dad. "I hope so. It's my way of making it up to him. I still cringe whenever I remember what I did. What if he stays afraid of me forever? I can't have him be like that. He's the only sibling I've got."

"You're overthinking this, Emma. It's been what, two, three days? Neal is just four, but he already knows when he's done something wrong and is sorry for it."

"Yeah..."

"So let's have some hot cocoa with cinnamon delivered from Granny's, yes?"

"Yeah!" Emma grinned widely.

"Great. Let's get you cleaned up first. Don't want anybody seeing my girl looking like she'd had a run-in with Leatherface." David gently wiped the smudges off Emma's cheek and chin with his handkerchief.


tbc