Chapter 3: What Now?

By late evening Henry sat on the steps outside on the terrace with his book. Emma was helping Neal clean up from the take out they had ordered. Overall the day had not been quite so bad.

Henry and Emma had arrived back at Neal's apartment around 10:30 AM or so. Emma still felt awkward having her belongings with her. She would have much rather have stayed at the hotel but Neal had insisted that she and Henry stay with him and Henry was excited that his father had let him. Any time the boy could spend with Neal and he was happy, happier than Emma had seen him in a while and so she tried to convince herself that this was a good thing.

They had gone to a local bistro for breakfast and after that they had spent a while seeing some of the local sites. One of the first things Henry had asked Neal was if there were any comic book shops.

"You like comics," Neal said.

"Is it a surprise I have a thing for heroes," Henry asked smiling at his mom.

Neal smiled, "Guess not. Then I know the perfect place."

They made their way to Midtown Comics in Time Square. Henry had never seen a comic book shop as big as that one. It was easy to get lost in it for hours, not just because of the two floors but because of all of the merchandising. They truly had everything in it.

Neal let Henry get a few things. Emma was reluctant in him paying but Neal had insisted. Still it bothered her. She knew that all of the spoils couldn't make up for anything. It had been her fault and she took responsibility for that but even though Neal and Henry knew the truth they were still strangers to each other, they all were, her included. She had known him eleven years ago and he had known her but now they knew next to nothing.

"He's a good kid," Neal said taking a seat next to Emma as they had finished cleaning that evening.

"Yeah he is." Emma took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I lied to you," she shook her head and wasn't sure whether to laugh or remain stoic. "I seem to be doing that a lot lately. I may be bothered by the fact that the truth is out in the open, I may hate you and hate that you left me sitting in jail and pregnant-,"

"Emma had I known I would've-,"

"It doesn't matter now. Earlier when you wondered if something good came from us being together and I said no- for those months I was there I hated you and I hated this thing inside me because it was a constant reminder of you but when Henry was born and I saw him- I may have been his mother for only five minutes but I realized that he wasn't a burden. Something good did come from us being together and it was him."

Neal smiled at Emma's confession but Emma didn't return it. She exhaled and stood up.

"I never wanted this to happen and it's completely turned our lives around."

"Yeah I get that, what's your point?"

"Henry's been through a lot, more than a kid his age should go through."

"I think that can be said for all three of us."

"Yeah well unlike the two of you I don't remember any of it. Look, I just don't want Henry to get hurt okay? We're here now but soon Henry and I are gonna have to head back to Storybrooke. That's where our home is, it's where his grandparents are. Mary Margaret and David have been amazing to him and I'm not going to uproot Henry from that."

"I'm not asking you to."

"I know you're not but I have to ask you. I know I screwed up. I thought lying to Henry was the best thing, maybe the best thing for me but I can't change what happened. What I have to ask is do you want to be a part of Henry's life?"

"What kind of question is that, of course I want to be a part of his life."

"Are you sure," Emma asked, "because we can make a clean break right now. We can leave and forget this all happened."

"What is it with you people, first my father asks me if I want to forget who I am and now you're asking me to forget my son?"

"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that we don't have to disrupt each other's lives any longer. We can move on and that can be the end of it."

Neal stood up. "I don't want it to be the end. I want a chance to get to know my son and I want to be in his life."

"So what do we do?"

"I'm not sure but we can figure it out. I just need some time to figure it out."

"Right," said Emma.

"I need to figure out what I'm going to do, if I'm going to move to Storybrooke, if I'm going to move out. I don't know and there's another personal matter."

"What personal matter?"

This time Neal took a deep breath, "Emma I'm engaged," he said to her.

Emma didn't know what to say. After eleven years of course he had a life beyond her. It's not like she had ever hoped he would wait for her. She never even considered that fact. Other than a two year stint in Tallahassee after she had gotten out which she considered as a momentary setback of a young girl's fantasy, she had never really thought Neal would be in the shadows waiting.

She wouldn't have found out now if he hadn't turned out to be the long lost son Gold had been searching for. For a second the word 'fate' entered her mind but like before she brushed it off. There was no such thing as fate. Gold may have toyed with her to break the curse but beyond that none of it was in his control or anyone else's.

"Oh," said Emma, "That's…that's great."

"Her name is Tamara. She's an artist. I met her at a gallery."

"Where you meet artists," said Emma. "How long have you been together?"

"Four years but we've only been engaged for a year."

Emma smiled, "I'm happy for you."

"You're gonna be okay with this right?"

"Neal it's fine. You moved on, so did I. I don't expect anything from you but since we are back in each other's lives we're gonna have to adjust to that, somehow. The important thing is we put Henry first. I'll do whatever it takes to protect him and keep him safe. At this point I'm just not sure if I need to protect him from you."

"He doesn't need protecting from me Emma. I am not my father I swear. Now that I know the truth I won't ever abandon Henry. I promise."

"I can't trust your promises anymore."

"I get that but let's just try to work things out for Henry. Like you said, he's been through enough maybe the last thing we should be doing right now is causing the boy stress over his parents arguing."

"Fair enough."

"Good so we'll figure this out. When do you leave?"

"Not sure yet, that depends on your father."

"What the old man can't get home on his own?"

"Not unless he plans to threaten people at the airport."

"How typical of him," said Neal.

"And there's the matter of the shawl."

"What about it?"

"It's how he's here Neal. The people of Storybrooke, my family, they can't leave there. If they do their memories get lost. Gold found a way to stop that from happening."

Neal shook his head, "Why does that not surprise me. He says he's here without magic but he still continues to use it. He tries to use it to fix all of his mistakes. He tries to use it on me. Magic is as much a part of him as that damn crutch he leans on. Only difference is the magic is a lot worse."

Emma looked into Neal's eyes. It was the first time she saw him. For a moment she no longer saw the man who had broken her heart, the thief she had fallen in love with. For the first time she saw a man struggling with his past, a man in pain.

"He really did a number on you didn't he?"

"He's the Dark One, Emma. Are you really that surprised?"

"I wish I could say I was but I've seen what Gold is capable of so I'm not but what I do see is a man who is nothing like his father." Neal looked up at Emma surprised by her remark, "I mean that. Maybe Henry having you in his life might not be such a bad thing."

Neal smiled, "Thank you."