True to his word, David did indeed find a small clearing about fifty yards off the access road, which everyone deemed suitable for a campsite. Before Emma and her father even had a chance to set the cooler down, Henry took off like a shot for the path through the woods they were going to take on their hike. "Henry!" Emma called after him. "You need to stay where I can see you!"
The boy skidded to a stop just before the tree line and sent a wildly impatient look over his shoulder. Upon seeing his mother and grandfather just now setting the cooler down with a clunk, he heaved a sigh and pulled a water bottle from his backpack. In a classic example of childlike eagerness, he'd taken his water out of the cooler before helping his mom and grandfather get the thing off the bed of the truck.
Snow opened the cooler and grabbed water bottles for herself, David, and Emma. She distributed them with a calm smile before hurrying to catch up with her grandson, who was on the verge of impatiently tapping his little foot.
David chuckled and started to follow his wife while beckoning his daughter to join him. Emma hesitated, throwing a look over her shoulder at the cooler. "Are you sure we can leave this here?"
She'd locked all their valuables in David's truck before leaving for the woods, of course. Unfortunately, there was no way to lock up their cooler. A lifetime of protecting what little she had lest someone take it from her had left her largely unaccustomed to the notion of leaving something unattended and expecting it all to still be there when she returned.
"Who's going to find it?" David asked, giving her a little shrug. "And even if someone did find it, why would he or she want it?"
Emma gave a shrug in return. The only answer she could have given was that this world didn't generally work that way.
"It'll be fine," he assured her. "We shouldn't be gone that long anyway. Just a little hike and then we can get to the fun part, okay?"
"I hope you mean dinner and dessert."
"Of course I mean dinner and dessert."
A tiny smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Okay."
When David reached down for her hand, Emma actually let him take it. She didn't pull out of his grip until they caught up with Snow and Henry, who had started along the path ahead of them. As she lightly shook her hand from her father's, she resisted the urge to once again call out to Henry to stay within her line of sight.
He was with her mother. Nothing could happen to him if he was with her mother.
Not to mention that Henry was certainly old enough to walk a little bit ahead of his family on a hike through the Storybrooke woods. He was old enough to understand that he shouldn't stray from the path they'd chosen.
She trusted the kid, she really did. It was everything else she didn't trust. Regina. Gold. The fact that to a child, every area of the woods looked exactly like every other area of the woods.
It was highly unlikely that this hike would turn out to be anything more than a simple hike through the woods. Still, if life in Storybrooke had taught her anything, it was that nothing was impossible and anything could happen.
As the foursome walked, David narrated their hike. This plant was poison oak, so be careful, and that bird was some kind of woodpecker, and hey, look at that baby fox darting through the brush. Emma was suddenly very glad they were sleeping in the back yard and not in the woods with baby foxes and woodpeckers.
At some point, the walking partners changed and David was now walking next to Henry while Emma and Snow brought up the rear. Emma glanced over her shoulder and was equal parts amused and horrified to find two robins, four sparrows, and a singular blue jay flitting from tree to tree, tagging along after the family. "That is the weirdest thing I've ever seen," she muttered. Which was saying something, considering all the weird and crazy shit Emma had seen recently.
Snow frowned at her before following her gaze to the tree they had just passed. A light flush of pink colored Snow's fair cheeks when she spotted the birds. "Oh, yes. You get used to that after a while."
"Having a feathered entourage?" Emma asked, choking back a snicker. "That is not something anyone should get used to." Snow smiled at her daughter, clearly pleased to see that the walk was loosening her up a little bit. "Is it just birds or is it all woodland creatures? Because if a parade of little critters starts following us, that would just weird me the hell right out."
"It's mostly birds," Snow assured her with a little giggle. "I do get the occasional woodland creature, but I wouldn't worry about it. They're very gentle."
Left unsaid was the fact that the woodland creatures were gentle with Snow because they knew she meant them no harm. "That's just so freaking weird," Emma said, shaking her head.
Maybe alongside that cooking show, Snow could also have her own program on Animal Planet. Snow White, Animal Whisperer.
Snow chuckled. "Like I said, you get used to it."
Emma smiled back.
A comfortable silence felt between them as David continued to narrate their hike. "Whoa, wait a sec!" Henry cried, halting in place on the trail. "There's a climbing rock over there!" He turned to Emma and fixed his best Stage One Puppy Dog Eyes on her. "Can I go? I mean, may I go? Please?"
All of a sudden, Emma had a flash of memory. Another little boy telling her about a climbing rock he'd seen, telling her no one would miss them if they split off from the group for a little while to go climbing. That same little boy taking her small hand in his own and leading her off the path.
She shook herself free from the memory and back to the present, though judging by the concerned look on her mother's face, she'd been lost in the past longer than she thought. "Yeah," she shakily answered. "You can go as long as you don't mind one of us going with you."
"Fine by me," Henry shrugged. David offered to take him to the rock, leaving Snow and Emma alone on the trail.
"Are you okay?" Snow asked as soon as the boys were out of earshot.
"Fine," Emma replied a touch too quickly. She walked to the edge of the path, plopping down on a rock the perfect height for a makeshift bench to wait for her father and her son. As she uncapped her water bottle to take a sip, Snow sat down beside her. Emma half-expected the birds that had been following them to fly to the tree above their heads, but they stayed sentry in the tree across the path.
Snow rested her hand on Emma's knee, stilling the leg Emma hadn't even realized she was bouncing in her anxiety. "Henry's going to be fine, you know."
"I know," Emma replied. "I just don't like having him out of my sight right now."
Though Snow gave her a nod of understanding, Emma could tell that she knew her concerns over Henry's safety were not the only things on her mind. Still, she didn't push it; she just let the fact that she knew speak for itself.
Damn it, Emma thought. How much longer would she be able to keep this to herself? Her mother would worm it out of her sooner rather than later. Even as Mary Margaret Blanchard, the woman had had the most irritating ability to make Emma spill her guts – whether she wanted to or not. With nothing more than a kind and understanding look, Mary Margaret had pulled more secrets out of Emma than anyone else ever had. With Snow, it was worse. Because Snow was hermother.
Thankfully, before Snow had a chance to try to worm anything out of her, Henry's thrilled giggle reached their ears.
A split second later, Emma heard the crunching of leaves underneath her son's and father's feet. They were returning from the rock, she realized as she pushed herself to her feet.
At least she was off the hot seat for the next little while.
"Mom, you should have seen it!" Henry cried when he and David emerged from the trees. "The rock was maybe twenty feet high–"
"More like ten," David interrupted, catching his daughter's eye before she could pitch a fit over his allowing the boy to climb a rock that high without proper safety gear. Emma released a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding.
"Well, it looked like it was twenty feet high," Henry huffed. "Anyway, I climbed up and then back down all by myself!"
"That's great, kid." Emma grinned despite her kid's enthusiasm was certainly infectious.
Snow stood up as well now that the family was ready to resume their hike. The birds, Emma noted with amusement, began stirring on their perches at Snow's activity. "That's so weird," she murmured.
"What's weird?" Henry asked.
"It seems your grandmother has a fan club," she replied, pointing up at the tree.
It took Henry a moment to spot the small flock of birds grouped together on one of the low branches. "Okay, that is awesome."
"Oh, it gets better," she murmured as the family started heading down the trail. "Just watch."
As soon as Snow passed the tree, the birds took off from their perches and flew as one to the next tree. "Whoa," Henry whispered, a smile of wonder on his face. "You were right. That was so much better!"
Snow looked back over her shoulder, trying to figure out what was keeping her daughter and grandson. "Is everything okay?"
"Yep," Henry grinned. "We were just talking about your new feathered friends."
Snow sighed and shook her head but she was smiling.
Emma allowed a smile herself when she saw Snow unconsciously reach out for her husband's hand and David just as unconsciously slip his hand in hers. "All right, you two," she teased, winking at Henry, "the holding hands thing is cute but just keep in mind that there are children present."
Henry clamped a hand over his mouth to muffle a giggle that grew into a belly laugh when David winked at Snow before pulling her close for a kiss. Emma jokingly made a gagging noise while Henry laughed, "Ew!"
"Ugh, and I have to share a tent with you people tonight," Emma groaned. "This is going to be oh so much fun, isn't it?"
Though everyone was clearly joking around, Emma thought she saw a blush creep up her mother's cheeks. Her father, on the other hand, simply grinned at her. "A joy beyond words, darling daughter."