So, I was lurking around through my old stories, and I found this ol' thing. Could it be? Chapter 13?! Yes, yes it is. Keep in mind that this is unfinished, though. I found all of this already written, and even though it's unfinished, I didn't think it was fair to make you wait until I could finish it. I made a few edits here and there, and this was also beta'd by my old friend (who I can't find, unfortunately :( ) at the time of when I wrote this years ago.
Enjoy!
Emma coughed loudly, bringing Snow and David back to Earth.
They pulled apart, a little embarrassed about their daughter watching them. David sat right back down to the side of Snow as she straightened up, smiling a little.
"Mary Margaret," Emma said, lacking the happiness her parents radiated. "Are⦠are you actually pregnant?"
She beamed, looking at her daughter. "I think I might be. I mean, it would be the only explanation I could come up with. It's the only explanation, right?"
Emma's face fell, nodding slowly. She didn't want it to be true, though.
Snow saw the disappointment spread across Emma's face, and her grin disappeared.
"Emma? What's wrong?" She asked with a concerned voice.
"It's nothing, I'm fine. Don't worry about it," She couldn't hide the disappointment in her eyes. She refused to make eye contact with her mother. David could see that she was troubled by something.
"No," He said softly, looking into his daughter's eyes. Her blue-green eyes darted everywhere except into his blue eyes. "I know something's up. Are you okay?"
Emma looked down at her fidgeting fingers, not wanting to upset them. How could she tell them that she doesn't want a sibling already? "No, I'm not okay," She finally looked up, right at her father. "I- the curse- it just broke... I finally found the people who I was looking for, and they're fairytale characters and we're all together, and I- we were just getting used to this when this happens."
She did not want the words "parents", "family", or "child" to spill out of her mouth. Who knows what would happen when she finally chooses to let her walls come down.
Snow looks over at David beside her, who looks right back at her. Their expressions revealing pain and hurt.
"Plus," Emma continues. "You two sent me away before you could even be there for me. I still can't understand why you chose that fate for me."
"Emma," Snow says. "We sent you away to give you your best chance-"
"And that's what you guys keep telling me!" She blurted out. "But do you have any idea what I had to go through?! No, you don't. You weren't there for me. Neither of you were."
"Emma-" David starts.
"Don't 'Emma' me," She turns to him. "I was back and forth between several foster homes, and most of them didn't want me! I was confused. I was angry. I was lonely. Finally, I ran away, only to fall in love with a thief who turned me into the police for the watches we both stole!"
Both her and Snow were almost on the verge of tears. Snow was saddened and pained from hearing her own daughter tell them a little about what she went through.
"I found out I was pregnant with Henry," Emma continued, her voice starting to crack. "And I had to give birth to him, in jail, only to put him up for adoption. A closed adoption. I had to live the rest of my life alone, with no one there for me! But this little guy you've created will get everything he needs, and more, because he will not have to grow up without a family like I did!"
Tears were now streaking down both Snow and David's cheeks. Emma tried to hold hers in, but couldn't keep one from falling.
"I had no idea," Snow murmured, wiping her eyes. She really hated these moments when Emma was being this way.
Emma rolled her eyes, grabbing the still-full picnic basket and standing up. "Forget it," She grumbled, walking away from them. She noticed they weren't following her. "You coming?"
David and Snow sighed. David stood up, his hand reaching down to Snow to help her up. They followed Emma in the direction of the large castle.
Why couldn't they leave a meaningful place as a family on the happy side?
-o-o-o-
As they walked down the now-familiar paths of the Enchanted Forest, Snow and David pointed out a few areas of memories of the first day they met each other. Emma paid attention, but she grunted in return. Sure, she did care about her parents, but she didn't feel like going mushy again after what had just happened.
It only took half an hour until Emma noticed where they were too, and she remembered their story. It was there on the troll bridge where I'm pretty sure our love was found, David had said as he was describing their troll incident to her. In front of Emma was an arc of rocks formed as an entrance to a stone bridge ahead. Behind her, Snow and David noticed and stopped behind Emma.
"So this..." Emma mumbled. That's all she said. Her parents nodded beside her. Snow took a deep breath.
"Yep," She said, taking it all in. It didn't really look like much, but this was a special place for her and David. This ratty-looking bridge is where she first rescued him from getting killed by trolls. She remembers falling in love and getting lost in his deep, blue, sapphire eyes, thinking she could never get lost in those eyes a million times more in the future. Oh, really? 28 years later, and here she is, back at their landmark with him, who is now her husband.
"There aren't any trolls left, right?" Emma asked, making sure.
David chuckled. "No, there aren't any trolls left. We don't know how many there were back then, but I got rid of a few."
They stepped forward and continued walking towards the bridge, carefully stepping on the loose boards of wood before reaching the stone. Emma couldn't get over the fact that she was actually here in this land, but also the fact that her roommate and the town amnesiac were here way before she was.
Snow watched her daughter ahead of them. She could tell that Emma was secretly looking out of the corner of her eye at all the scenery of the bridge. David squeezed Snow's hand, as if he was reading her mind. She placed her right hand on his right arm and rested her head on his shoulder, taking in everything.
"Wasn't this your little spot in Storybrooke during the curse?" Emma called to her parents behind her. Snow smiled as she turned her face into her husband's shoulder. Oh, the days at that bridge.
"Yep," David replied, grinning at Snow's reaction.
"Do I want to know what went on there?"
"Nope," Snow replied into his neck. David chuckled in response.
-o-o-o-
The family of three hiked through the Enchanted Forest, Snow and David behind the leading Emma ahead. It had been half an hour since they crossed the troll bridge, and finally, through the bushes on the side, they could hear the running water of a river.
"Let's stop and get a drink, because I'm too thirsty to move on without," Snow commented. With a hand on her back, David lead her and Emma towards the bushes. He pushed some of the bushes out of the way so Emma and Snow could go through before him. Ahead, a free-flowing river flowed over rocks between banks of sand.
"I remember this place," Snow winked back at David as they watched Emma go through the bushes to the open space. He turned to her with a grin.
"Is it even safe to drink from river water?" Emma asked as she waited for Snow to go through next.
"Yeah, I mean, as long as there's nothing living in the water you drink," Snow answered. David followed them towards the river.
David leaned down towards the river before Snow did and cupped his hands together, gathering a reasonable amount of river water and held it up to Snow, who happily drank from his handful. Emma watched uncomfortably, then leaned down and got water from the river for herself. David drank last.
