11/29/22 Edit: Again trying to tighten things up!
October 23, 2011 Continued
"Were you expecting someone?" Emma asked Ada, who shook her head.
"I was planning sugar-filled girls' night with just us. Maybe it's the building supervisor or something."
Emma shrugged and went to open the door. Not immediately seeing anyone, she looked down and noticed a boy- brown hair, brown eyes, looking up at her. Assuming he was lost, she asked, "Um…can I help you?"
"Are you Emma Swan?" the boy asks. And, ok, weird. But it's just a kid, so maybe her mail got mixed up with some neighbors and he's checking to make sure he's got the matching name for an envelope. But still, weird.
"Yeah. And you are?"
"I'm Henry. I'm your son." She's standing, frozen in the doorway, and the kid just freaking slips under her arm and walks in like he lives here.
"Woh- hey," she's managed to get her voice back at least, "Hey, kid."
"Hello," Ada says, eyebrows skyrocketing as the kid walks into the kitchen. "You lost?"
"Nope," the kid answers after examining her briefly. Emma interrupts again.
"Kid! I don't have a son. Where are your parents?" Seriously- what is going on here?
"Ten years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption?" he pauses and makes eye contact with her. Emma's too stunned to do much, even notice Ada's widening eyes as what's going on seeps in. "That was me."
"Gimme a minute." With that, she dashes into the bathroom and shuts the door behind her.
Faced with a small child she knows a lot and yet nothing about, Ada slowly releases a breath. Emma's not going to be able to deal with this. At. All. She remembers a few years ago, when the wine had been liberally poured and Emma actually talked about her past a little as they drunkenly psychoanalyzed themselves for each other.
"There was never anything I wanted more than him," she had said when Ada asked if she would've wanted the kid provided she hadn't been in jail at the time, "I wanted him more than Neal, more than finding my family, I wanted him more than life itself. But I knew he deserved more than me. So I guess there was just one thing I wanted more than him."
"For him to have everything you didn't," she had finished for her friend, looking at Emma as she downed the last of her wine glass.
"Yeah."
Now, Emma's trying to get a grip on herself in the bathroom as this baby- the one she wanted more than anything in the world, including finding out the truth about her parents (which, for Emma, was HUGE), has shown up on their doorstep, not full grown, but grown, and casually strolled into the apartment while Emma's birthday cupcakes still sit on the counter, the last tendrils of smoke just dissipating from the blue birthday candle. And Ada has no idea what to do.
"Who are you?" the boy asks, his voice level and even as he keeps his tone relatively emotionless, it's a sweet voice. Ada can't help but stare at this child, looking for traces of Emma in him. There's not much, he obviously got a lot of his looks from his father.
Hopefully that's all Neal passed on, and this won't be another boy who breaks Emma.
"I'm Ada. Emma's best friend. We're roommates," Not seeing anything else to do, she looks down at the counter and says, "You want some cupcake?"
The boy shrugs and sits on one of the bar stools, "Sure. You think she'll be long?"
"Well, she's had a bit of a shock, here," and she gives him her cupcake, "Hope you like chocolate."
"I do," and he gives her a smile and there. That's Emma's smile. Ada would recognize it anywhere.
"How about I go check on Emma while you eat that, hmm?" The little boy nods (god, he's sweet and cute and it's breaking Ada's heart because this boy, this child, he is everything to Emma in a way no one else can be, and she knows for a fact this is the first time Emma's laid eyes on him. "I couldn't look, if I saw him I knew I'd cave, and I'd be selfish, and I'd keep him.") and Ada walks over to the bathroom.
"Emma," she says with a knock, "C'mon, open up. It's just me."
And those are the magic words because the lock clicks and the door cracks open and Ada slips in quickly then closes and locks it behind her. Emma needs that feeling of security right now, and Ada's going to make sure her sister has whatever she needs right now as much as is in her power.
"Ok, I have no idea what to say because Hallmark so does not make a card for this."
Emma nods slightly but gives Ada an obligatory quirk of the lips that might, in 300 years or so, grow to be a smile.
"Not that I get all my wisdom from Hallmark cards," Ada continues, "But you'd be surprised how applicable they often are."
Emma's leaning up against the sink, hyperventilating slightly, so Ada takes a seat on the toilet (not much room in here, but they've shared this bathroom during rushed mornings when they're both running late, early morning hangovers when they're fighting half-heartedly for hugging the toilet, flus that spread too easily, and more than one emotional crisis, so they know how to make it work) and grabs her friend's hand.
"I'm here," she says, "I'm not going anywhere, I'm not leaving you. You're my sister, I love you."
Emma's breathing is beginning to slow and her eyes finally make contact with Ada when the boy's voice echoes to them:
"Hey- you got any juice?
"Never mind- found some."
With that, Emma exits the bathroom and Ada takes another deep breath before following.
"You know, we should probably get going," Emma's son (god, that's so bizarre) says to her.
"Going where?" Emma has regained some of her equilibrium, but she's still got her arms crossed tight against her in an effort to keep it together, Swan.
"I want you to come home with me," the kid says with no small amount of excitement and all Ada can think is "oh, god."
Emma's reaction is appropriate, trying to keep the emotions safely untangled for all parties involved as she dashes to the phone, "Ok, kid, I'm calling the cops."
"Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me," the boy shoots back just as quickly. Ada's just watching everything unfold at this point, unsure what she can contribute other than silent, supportive back up for Emma, but damn- that was something that Emma would do. Quick thinking.
"And they'll believe you because I'm your birth mother," Emma says, deflating slightly.
"Yup," the boy returns, clearly thinking he's ahead, but Ada knows that look on Emma's face- knows it well, because this is the look Emma gets right before she whips out a royal flush in a poker game, or right before she snags whoever she's finding, or right before she tells some drunk ass at the bar that she can always tell when someone is lying and that he'd better go home to his girlfriend now if he likes the way his face is arranged.
"You're not gonna do that," Emma smirks.
"Try me," he shoots back, steady, not a sign of nerves on him. He's good, Emma thinks, but her superpower is better.
"You're pretty good, but here's the thing. There's not a lot I'm great at in life, but I have one skill, let's call it a superpower," she says, tilting her head and raising her eyebrows slightly, before lowering her voice and finishing this game of cat and mouse, "I can tell when anyone is lying. And you, kid, are." She goes to dial the nine on the phone before the kid interrupts.
"Wait. Don't call the cops," and, god, if he is not freaking adorable, "Please. Come home with me." And Ada can see Emma cave. Damn- that kid is going to have to teach her how to do that because Emma Swan does not cave easily.
Sure enough, Emma says sternly (no doubt attempting to maintain some level of authority) "Where's home?"
"Storybrooke, Maine," the kid says, without a hint of gloating. Oh, he's good, Ada thinks.
"Storybrooke? Seriously?" But Ada knows Emma will go- if only to make sure that when she gave her baby up for his best chance, he actually got it. Emma wants to make sure all her heartache was worth it.
"Mm hm."
Emma sighs, "Alrighty, then. Let's get you back to Storybrooke."
It's as soon as Emma's back is turned that Ada sees the smirk cross the boy's face.
Damn, he is good.
"Ada-" Emma begins, but the redhead immediately cuts her off.
"There is no way you are leaving me behind on this one. Go get changed, I'll clean up in here. Don't bother arguing because you know you won't win."
Emma doesn't bother arguing, just goes into her room to change.
"It's OK, you don't need to come," the boy tells her as Emma leaves the room, "I'm ten years old, I'm not exactly dangerous."
Ada smirks, oh, kid, you're the most dangerous person Emma's ever met, "I'm coming," she replies, voice steady, entire body language screaming no-nonsense.
The kid doesn't bother arguing again.
A few minutes later, they're all piling into Emma's yellow bug, the two women sitting in the front seats while the boy has the back to himself. He quickly puts his backpack in the space next to him and clutches a book in his lap as they begin to move.
The drive is largely silent until he pipes up. "I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?"
Emma is immediately shutting that down, she doesn't want to spend any more time than she has to, for fear that she'll only spiral further and further once the kid is gone.
"This is not a road trip; we're not stopping for snacks."
"Why not?" Emma rolls her eyes. Ada reaches across and grips her upper arm briefly as the bail bondsperson struggles to remain aloof with her long-lost child in the car.
"Quit complaining, kid. Remember I could've put your butt on a bus, I still could." Ada's already reaching into her purse and pulls out a snack bag filled with trail mix, handing it to the kid. She shrugs at the look Emma gives her.
"Thanks. And I have a name," the boy continues to complain despite Emma's warning, "It's Henry." Ada watches Emma absorb that. She knows that her friend never dared name her baby. During the whole pregnancy. She refused to even give the baby growing inside her a nickname, for fear she'd be unable to do what was best when the time came. For fear she'd grow selfish. To have his name, a name she never felt qualified or worthy to give, was hitting her hard.
Ada looks at the little boy, Henry, sitting in the backseat and notices how he's got his book opened and seems to be casually reading it. The way his eyes skim it gives the impression he's read it many times before.
"You like reading?" Ada asks softly, hoping to give her friend some time to recover and hoping this topic won't give the blonde next to her any more wounds.
"I like reading this book," Henry replies. At this, Emma sneaks a peak at him in the rear view mirror.
"What's it about?" she asks, clearly glad for the safe topic.
"I'm not sure you're ready yet," the boy replies. Ada's amused, Emma's just confused.
"Ready for a bunch of fairytales?"
"They're not fairytales," Henry says emphatically, clearly serious, "They're true. Every story in this book actually happened." Even Ada, without Emma's superpower, can tell that Henry believes every word he's saying. She's not sure what to do here- is he too old for fairytales? No kid she knew at age ten still believed- but she grew up an orphan, surrounded by other orphans- they were disillusioned fast- and then she went to work in child advocacy, meaning she still almost exclusively worked with kids who were orphans or in bad situations. For kids who weren't alone was this normal? Her prickings have been going insane since Henry showed up, so she knows this boy is monumentally important- but he's her sister's long-lost son, of course he is.
"Of course they did," Emma answers softly after sharing a wide-eyed look with Ada.
"Use your superpower," Henry challenges, "See if I'm lying."
Emma actually turns around to gape at the kid before turning back to the road. "Just because you believe something doesn't make it true."
Both women have had more than enough experience in believing in something (or someone) only to find that what they thought was true, was nothing but smoke.
"It's exactly what makes it true," Henry returns. Ada can't help but smile, albeit sadly, for the boy's sentiment. She hopes Henry is able to hold onto that- she and Emma lost that kind of belief ages ago. "You should know more than anyone," Henry continues and Ada and Emma are back to exchanging bewildered looks. Well, Ada thinks, He's not dull.
"Why's that?" Emma asks, playing along.
"Because you're in this book."
At that Ada can't help but worry- an adopted kid connecting his birthmother with a fairytale story. Emma sighs "Oh, kid, you've got problems."
"Yup," Henry replies almost cheerfully, if he wasn't so serious, "And you're gonna fix them."
At this both of them go silent, at a loss of what to say. They can understand the want for your parents to swoop in and fix everything, but that unfulfilled want has made them two very damaged people- how can they carefully break to this sweet boy that Emma is not saving him and without making him just as jaded as them?
The rest of the car ride was spent largely in silence- Emma and Ada have known each other long enough that they could be silent together for hours, and Henry reads his storybook peacefully in the back. Finally, they come to a sign: Welcome to STORYBROOKE.
The town is incredibly small, and they drive down the main street to see lights here and there, but it's empty, deserted really.
"Ok, kid, how about an address?" Emma asks.
"44 not telling you street," Henry snarks.
Emma pulls to a sudden stop. Ada, who had been lightly dozing, jerks forward and gives her friend a glare, but it goes unnoticed as Emma puts the bug in park. Clearly more than a little angry, she steps out of the bug and Henry and Ada both exit the vehicle as well, Ada ducking as an electrical wire sparks.
"Look," Emma begins, "It's been a long night and it's almost…" she trails off, looking at the massive clock tower, "8:15?"
"Well that's accurate," Ada says dryly.
"That clock hasn't moved in my whole life," Henry tells the two women, unfazed by Emma's frustration. "Time is frozen here," he adds softly, shaking his head slightly.
"Excuse me?" Emma is starting to wonder if she'll be a broken record of "excuse mes" and "whats" by the end of this night.
"The Evil Queen did it with her curse," Henry explains, "She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here."
"Hang on," Emma says, leaning against the bug, "An Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairytale characters here?" the skepticism is tangible in her voice.
"Yeah, and now they're trapped."
"Frozen in time stuck in Storybrooke, Maine," Emma's eyebrows meet together, "That's what you're going with?"
"It's true!" Henry finally seems to be getting a little frustrated with repeating his story.
"Then why doesn't everybody just leave?" Emma asks, clearly trying to help poke holes in the boy's theory. Ada leans up against the bug and wishes for sleep. She had had a long day at work, and while she had been planning to stay up late for Emma's birthday, she hadn't exactly counted on a long-lost son and exhausting drive to Storybrooke.
"They can't. If they try bad things happen." Henry's very emphatic on this point.
Suddenly, a man's voice comes across the street, "Henry!" the three turn to see a taller man with curly hair, an umbrella, and glasses walking towards them with his Dalmatian. "What are you doing here?" He looks to Emma and Ada. "Is everything alright?" Emma opens her mouth to begin the explanations, but Henry cuts in.
"I'm fine, Archie," he says, like it's normal to be seen with two strange women late at night in the middle of the road.
"Who's this?" Archie asks, with a glance at both Emma and Ada.
"Just someone trying to give him a ride home," Emma replies with a quick nod and a tight, tense smile.
"She's my mom, Archie," Henry again explains. Ada and Emma exchange uncomfortable looks.
"Oh," the man says with a sudden understanding, "I see." And Ada clears her throat, searching for the appropriate words in this situation.
Yeah, Hallmark so does not make cards for these things.
The man's attention had turned to her when she cleared her throat and Ada, for lack of a better thing to do, stuck out her hand to shake it with the man, Archie. "I'm Ada. This is Emma. Henry kinda just…showed up on our doorstep tonight. We're trying to get him back home. You know where he lives?"
"Yeah, uh- just, right up on Mifflin Street, the Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block." Emma and Ada's eyebrows both rise in unison.
"You're the mayor's kid?" Emma asks incredulously.
"Maybe," Henry mumbles, scuffing his shoes on the street.
"Hey, where were you today, Henry? You missed your session," the man continues.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," the kid is clearly lying, "I went on a field trip."
Archie clearly can tell as well. "Henry," he says slowly, drawing out the name a little, "What did I tell you about lying? Giving in to one's dark side, never accomplishes anything."
"Ooookkayy," Emma interrupts, both girls just wanting to get home at this point. "Well, I really should be getting him home." Emma trails off, shrugging a little.
"Yeah, sure, well listen, um, have a good night, and, uh," he turns to Henry, "be good." As the man and his dog walk away, Emma turns back to Henry.
"So that's your shrink."
"I'm not crazy."
"Didn't say that. Just," she shrugs again, "He doesn't seem cursed to me. Maybe he's just trying to help you."
"He's the one who needs help," Henry insists, "Because he doesn't know."
"Alright, well, there's no help to be had tonight," Ada cuts in, "Let's get a move on. Back into the bug, kiddo."
"They don't remember who they are," Henry insists.
"Convenient," Emma scoffs with a smile.
"Alright- who's he supposed to be?" Ada asks as Henry slides in the back.
"Jiminy Cricket!" Henry sort of cheers.
"Right, the lying thing," Emma says.
"Thought your nose grew a little bit," Ada teased.
"I'm not Pinocchio," Henry sounds almost offended.
"Of course you're not, because that would be ridiculous," Emma puts the bug into gear and shares a small smile with Ada.
"There it is, one oh eight" Ada points out the house. "Wow- that is big."
They park the bug and Emma opens up the front gate, leading Henry up the walk.
"Please don't take me back there," Henry asks in a soft voice, one that almost breaks Ada and Emma's hearts, but the walk him up to the house regardless.
"I have to," Emma says on a sigh, "I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you." Ada can see the pain on Emma's face- she doesn't know what it's like to have someone worried sick about her.
"I don't have parents," Henry continues to argue. "Just a mom, and she's evil."
At this, Emma, who would've given anything to have a mom, has had enough with the "evil" nonsense. "Evil? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"
Henry's head droops, "She is. She doesn't love me. She only pretends to." He's pretty much muttering the final sentence. Emma and Ada are both remembering all the kids in school, kids who had parents, who complained about them, how strict or how harsh or how unfair they were, and remembered feeling such a longing for someone, anyone, wondering why these kids who didn't appreciate the parents they had were so obviously loved, while they were left alone and abandoned, when they would give anything and love dearly anyone who would give them a chance.
Emma sighs and kneels before the boy she tried to give the very best of chances to, "I'm sure that's not true," she begins, when the door bursts open and a woman dashes out shouting "Henry?" in a voice that is simultaneously panicked and relieved. She is followed by a man, a damn attractive man, Ada has time to think, before the woman in question has Henry wrapped up in her arms and Ada begins to feel a little ill.
"Are you ok?" the woman questions, "Where have you been? What happened?" she stands up straight again.
Henry's face has gone cold, and he brushes her off with a "I found my real mom," before dashing into the house.
The awkwardness that settles over the four adults standing outside is tangible. The man and Ada don't quite know where to look, while Henry's adoptive mother stares at Emma, who looks so contrite and guilty Ada just wants to take her back to their apartment, rewind time, and give her a better birthday. Unfortunately, time travel is not in her skill set.
"You're Henry's birth mother?" the dark haired woman questions in a daze.
"Hi," Emma says, so clearly uncomfortable.
"I'll just go," the man says with a slight accent, trying to escape the situation, "Check the lad, make sure he's alright." Ada, however, can't escape quite so easily and she casts an envious glare at the stranger. She begins to fiddle with the hem of the dress she was wearing, shifting foot to foot on her heels.
The brunette straightens herself and then gives a cool smile, "How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?" she asks Emma.
"You got anything stronger?" Emma returns, only half-joking.
The woman merely smirks, and gestures towards the house.
"I'm not feeling so hot, Emma, I'll wait in the car," Ada says, seeing a chance to escape. She really does feel ill, like she might barf, so Emma nods and follows the mayor into the house. Ada goes to sit on the hood of the bug and takes deep breaths. After a minute or two, the man walks out of the house. Spotting Ada, he walks up to the bug.
"Well, interesting night?" he says with a small smile, before holding out his hand to shake, "Sheriff Graham Humbert."
Ada returns the gesture, "Ada Ward. I'm a friend of Emma's."
"Ah, I see," he says, "So how did you manage to escape the mayor's questioning?"
Ada shrugged, "Not too hard, she was so focused on Emma I doubt she even noticed I was here."
"It's understandable."
"It is."
"I mean, single motherhood is never easy," he seems to be trying to excuse the Mayor. For what, Ada's not sure, but she knows that the woman gives her some seriously bad prickings.
"I wouldn't know," Ada inserts.
"No kids?"
"It's just me and Emma- we take care of each other. We don't really need anyone else."
"Oh," he says, his eyes widening.
"Oh," Ada inserts, suddenly realizing what conclusion he's drawing, "No! No! Not that there's anything wrong with, you know, but Emma and I…we, I mean, we're really actually more like sisters, not…you know. Again, not that there's anything wrong with."
"I understand. I apologize-"
"No need, totally understandable, I didn't really realize how it sounded until it was out of my mouth and, you know, no. It's fine." They both give awkward chuckles.
"Well, it was nice to meet you," the Sheriff says, "Goodnight."
"Nice to meet you as well, Sheriff. Night," Ada returns as he walks away.
Ada hears the keys clinking as Emma comes down the walkway. She looks deep in thought, as though something is bothering her.
Ada has a sinking feeling she knows what it is.
They both exchange a wordless glance before Ada settles into the car.
She's not going to bring it up. She's not. It's none of their business. It'll only cause Emma heartache. Her prickings are not infallible, she might just actually be ill. She'll take a nap while they drive back to Boston and feel better by time they're home. She's not going to say a single word until tomorrow night when they pull out the wine bottles or the cocoa mugs and hash it out so Emma won't have nightmares or doubts and Ada won't say a word that wouldn't prove her to be a fully supportive, caring, sister.
She takes one look at Emma, who seems determined to drive out of Storybrooke. Ada closes her eyes and leans against the headrest. It'll all be clearer after a few hours of sleep. She turns her head once again to look at Emma when something catches her eye.
Henry's storybook.
"Sneaky bastard," she says, unable to keep from smirking.
"What?" Emma asks, and then looks in the backseat herself. She's shaking her head as Ada tries to bend around the seat to grab the book when suddenly Emma gasps and jerks the wheel. Ada turns around to see, but by time she reacts they've already crashed into the Welcome sign and the world goes black.
And that's Chapter 2! I'm currently working on Chapter 3 and I'm hoping to have that up not tomorrow, but the next day. And I wanted your opinion on something- do you guys want flashbacks like they have in the show, only flashbacks to Emma and Ada's various shenanigans? Because I feel like Chp 1 covered all the important milestones so I'm not sure if I want to go back and go into more detail with things there or plow ahead with the main plot. Thoughts?
