prompt: Henry's reaction to when he and Graham have a one-on-one talk about Emma's pregnancy.
prompted by: xXLoveSong-ForNo1Xx

"Uh... Henry? Can we talk?"

Henry looks up at sound of the Sheriff's voice from the door of his room. The man has his hand on his neck, looking uncomfortable. He's not sure why - Graham is a cool guy. He likes him, he always has. And he makes Emma happy. They're learning to be a family.

"Yeah Graham, sure," he nods, pausing his video game and setting aside the controller, "What's up?"

Part of him expects the Sheriff to ask him if it'd be okay to propose to Emma or something. His mom is out of town, trying to help Mr. Gold find Baelfire, and Henry figures that Graham would think asking when she got back would be good.

"You... Um, you've seemed pretty withdrawn, lately, and... I wanted to make sure you knew that... That your mom and I won't love you any less once your sister is born."

That is the last thing Henry expects to hear. He's excited for his little sister, looking forward to being a big brother.

"Yeah, I know," he nods, thinking, trying to figure out why this is coming up. Maybe he has spent a lot of time in his room playing videogames since they got the new house, but that's mostly because his only real friend is Grace, and she's been spending a lot of time with her dad, since they were separated for a long time.

"You- okay. Good," Graham nods, "I just- Wanted to make sure. Doctor Hopper mentioned something in passing about how maybe you'd be afraid because- Because I'm just your step-dad, and the baby is- And also because your mom gave you up, and she's raising- So- yeah. Thought I'd make sure you knew that how we feel about you isn't going to change."

"You're not my step-dad," Henry shakes his head; technically, it's true, since Graham and Emma aren't married, but there's an even more important reason that Henry is thinking of, "You're my dad. I know she's not going to replace me."

The Sheriff looks shocked at his declaration, and he doesn't understand. He thought Graham knew he considered him to be his dad. He just never called him that because... well, he wasn't sure that it would be okay. He'd known Graham forever, Graham had always been the closest thing to a father in his life. They'd gotten a lot closer since November, when Graham had started dating Emma and remembered his real life.

"You know- You- You can call me that, if you want," Graham says, still seeming almost stunned, "I know- I know that what your mom told you about your real dad probably made you not want one at all, but-"

Henry frowns at the memory of Emma's story about his real father. A jerk who left her, got her sent to jail. Made it so she basically had to give him up.

"No," he shakes his head quickly, "I mean... Yeah, he's my father. But you're my real dad. Dad," he smiles as he tries using the title. It feels right.

"Good to know… Son," Graham grins back at him. He hops off his chair, heading over to the man and giving him a hug.

"My sister's gonna be lucky," he says, "She is gonna get you and mom for her whole life. But she's also gonna have the best big brother ever."