Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.
AN: Mama Bear Snow asked for a one shot of Snow remembering holding Henry as a baby during the curse. I set this in the future, as Henry prepares to leave Storybrooke for college. I'll say this is AU, because it probably won't follow what they do in season 7. This is a short one, but I feel it still conveys Snow's feelings quite well.
Once Upon a Snowing
The Reason
Snow sighed, as they enjoyed dinner at Granny's. But this wasn't one of the normal family dinners they had come to enjoy together weekly. This would be the last family dinner that Henry would attend for quite some time. Tomorrow, Henry would leave for college. He was all grown up and ready to set off into the world to experience what it had to offer. Snow was happy for him, but also sad that she wouldn't see her grandson every day. She had watched him grow up, even if she was cursed for the first ten years of his life. He looked so grown up and was so tall and handsome now.
She knew they still had Neal growing up to look forward to, something they were both taking great joy in. She smiled at her four-year-old son, as he sat in Henry's lap. When they told Neal that Henry was going away to college, their little boy had cried. But Henry had promised him he would be home on holidays and they could Skype on the weekends. That seemed to appease Neal for the most part, but he had been clinging to Henry all evening.
Snow recalled the first time she had seen Henry. She had been cursed and he had been just a few months old at most. Regina had been overtired and desperate enough for relief that she had placed the tiny baby in her arms. And for those few moments, Mary Margaret had been in complete awe. For a moment, the fog in her mind created by the curse had lifted ever so slightly when she looked at him. She hadn't realized what she was feeling in that moment at the time. But looking back, she knew her mind was recalling giving birth to Emma. Her real memories had been straining to get through to her, even if only slightly. Without even knowing it, Henry had been the catalyst to breaking the curse since day one. Emma may have been the Savior, but Henry had made it possible for her to be. His belief had saved them all. His belief was the reason she got her daughter back, the reason she got her husband back. He was the reason the curse was broken and the reason they were all a family. She shuddered to think about what would have happened if Henry had never come to them or Regina hadn't reconsidered taking him back to Boston and leaving him with social services.
She felt David squeeze her hand and she met his eyes, as he gazed at her lovingly. He likely knew exactly what she was thinking, for they never really needed words for that.
Henry going to college was a bittersweet event, indeed. She was just glad they had many, many years before Neal was ready for the same. She knew it would fly by in a blink of an eye, like years often tended to do. But the future no longer frightened her. For no matter what happened, this family would always find each other...