DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the wonderfulness that is Once Upon A Time and their characters or other later-mentioned characters (non-related to OUAT).

This is my first fic therefore, there is obviously no prequel but if you'd like a reference as to what I'm going to use as canon for most of Emma and Jeff's past then I'd recommend "Happily Never After" by L3ftOfCent3r. Plus, I think it's a rather brilliant fic in general so you should just read it anyways if you haven't.

I terribly sorry it took me so horribly long to update this but I hope you all are still interested in it and continue to read and review. Here's yet another (long) chapter for you wonderful Mad Swan shippers so, ENJOY! =D

Chapter 3: I Am Simply Making Up For Lost Time

"Mom! Papa!" Grace cried as she shook the bed her parents were just a moment ago, sleeping peacefully in. "Come on! Wake. Up." She shouted giving their comforter two quick tugs.

In an attempt to stay in bed for just a little longer and get his daughter to stop trying to wake them, Jefferson pulled Emma right up against him with the one arm he had wrapped around her torso and used the other to pull the covers up over their faces. Emma merely tried to shut her eyes tighter hoping that would somehow make her magically fall back asleep.

"Come on you guys. Please!" Grace pouted, in a much softer voice, holding the sound of the 'e' making her sound even more desperate.

Jefferson knew at that point, even though he could not see her, that she was making her perfect "puppy dog eyes" and he could not resist the urge to do whatever his daughter commanded, he only ever wants her to be happy.

He breathed out a heavy sigh as Emma glanced up at him from under tired eyelids and muttered, "Well, apparently it's time to wake up."

Jefferson flashed a quick smile before giving her a light kiss and whispering to her, "Good morning," then pulling himself out from under the covers and sitting back up against the pillows, leaning against the wooden headboard. As he did Emma yanked the covers back over her face, rolling to face the opposite direction of her husband and daughter.

"Papa, you have to see all the eggs. They are all over the castle halls and Henry said he even spotted some in the garden." Grace exclaimed, grabbing her father hands with a bright smile on her face and almost bouncing with excitement.

"Well that is wonderful my dear Grace. Now why don't you go help Henry scope out some more. You can put that nose of yours to good use." He replied lovingly as he cupped her cheek with one hand and bopped her on the nose with his thumb causing her to giggle.

"But Papa, you both need to wake up so we can have our Easter egg hunt. We don't want to do it without you." She replied as her excitement dwindled and her voice almost came back to a pout.

"Don't you worry, I will get Emma to wake up and we will be down in no more than twenty minutes." He assured her.

"Do you promise Papa?" Grace said with the bright smile returning to her face.

"Promise! Now you go search for those eggs with Henry." He soothed as he took her face in both his hands and pulled her to him to kiss her forehead right before she ran out the door and down the hall to catch up with her step-brother.

Jefferson now turned his attention towards his wife who obviously wanted to continue sleeping but he didn't want to break his promise to Grace so and leaned down to her and whispered to her, "I thought you were the one who said it was time to wake up."

"That was just so I could take more of the comforter for myself," She retorted, her voice muffled from being under the covers as she refused to move from her position with only the back of her head and one ear peering out of the comforter.

In one quick motion Jefferson was able to pull the entire comforter off the bed leaving nothing around Emma and causing her to spring from her curled up position and shout, "Jefferson! What the..." Letting out a large groan she pushed him off the bed but he was quick and with little effort gathered his feet under himself to stand up before he had the chance to fall to the ground. He stood on the floor at the far-end of their and replied, "I am very sorry but we must be off to the egg hunt princess." He now held the sheets in the air as high as he could with one hand and gestured towards the door with other hand, giving a slight bow.

"Very funny!" Emma scoffed at him as she swung her legs off the bed and started marching around to the other side. "That's not going to work!" she stated as she reached up to grab the sheets out of his hands with one hand, the other planted firmly on her hip, then yanked them down to her hang by her waist.

"Ah, but it got you out of bed, didn't it?" Jefferson teased with a smirk as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her body against his.

Emma resisted, not giving up on this just yet, although she knew she was bound to lose. She made a sharp turn around to face their bed, giving a groan of frustration, but just as she put one leg on the bed to crawl back into it Jefferson took her by the waist with both hands now and whipped her to him, pulling her close and crashing his lips to hers.

Surprised but not completely shocked Emma gave in and chose not to fight anymore as she let the sheets slip from her hand to slowly tumble to the ground as she deepened the kiss, leaning up into him. Just as she clasped her arms around his neck he pulled back and with smug grin said, "Good morning."

"Oh you think you're just so clever, don't you?" Emma said with a teasing grin.

"Aren't I?" he stated matter-of-factly, despite the fact that it was a question as he gave her one last, quick kiss. "Now princess, we must get to the egg hunt," he teased as he pulled her over to her dresser, dragging her behind him. She slipped into a pair of tight, tan riding pants (because that was unfortunately as close as they got to jeans in The Enchanted Forest) and a loose, almost-sheer light blue half sleeve shirt as Jefferson put on his black leather pants and white, long-sleeved, puffy undershirt with a gray leather vest on top.

They walked through the many halls and down many staircases then made their way into the kitchen. Jefferson prepared tea for himself and coffee for his wife as she sat leaning on her elbows with her back against the counter, watching him as he got their typical morning drinks. The majority of their staff was given the holiday off so it was rather odd being in their without the normal crazy amounts of workers running every which way and shouts spreading across the expansive kitchen.

"Your coffee princess," Jefferson said, handing her a mug of coffee.

"Why thank you," she replied with a roll of her eyes.

Jefferson had strategically placed his teacup behind her so as he went to reach for it he didn't bother to walk around her; instead he leaned into her as he reached for it. "How's your coffee?" he inquired with a devilish grin, taking a sip of his tea.

"Mmmm, perfect." She mused as she took a sip of it, slowly closing her eyes and leaning up to kiss him. Jefferson in return, snaked his free arm around her waist to pull her closer to him, leaning down towards her.

"Emma!" Alex squealed running in from the doorway causing Emma and Jefferson to quickly pull apart with embarrassed looks on their faces. Emma took a moment to compose herself before realizing the little girl who had just run in was at her leg reaching up for her so she knelt to the ground to scoop up Alex in her arms and settle her onto her waist as Alex wrapped her little arms around Emma's neck, giving her a tight squeeze.

"Good morning Alex." Emma laughed as the little girl started to pull back, now resting her hands on Emma's shoulder.

"It's Easter!" Alex exclaimed to Emma with as large of a grin a two-year could muster up.

"Why yes it is." Emma replied with a warm smile and bopping the two-year old on her nose with a light tap of her finger. "Have you seen you the eggs all around the castle?"

"Yessie, yes, yes!" she squealed almost jumping up and down in Emma's arms.

Jefferson merely stood leaning against the counter across from his wife, sipping at his tea and admiring how she interacted with Alex. It amazed him how wonderful she was with children. She had only technically been a mother for a little over two years now but it was as though she had raised Henry his entire life. Everything she did when it came to parenting both Henry and Grace seemed so natural and it showed whenever she interacted with any children whether it was her own or family friends'.

"Jeffie see Easter eggs?" Alex questioned as she looked over her shoulder to Jefferson.

"Of course I have Alex." Jefferson smiled as he took a step closer to Emma and Alex. "But the better question is, are you ready beat the older kids in the Easter egg hunt?" he asked leaning towards her and tickling her stomach.

She squealed and giggled with delight as she responded, "Yes Jeffie!" causing Emma and Jefferson to let out a laugh at her adorable reaction.

"I'm so sorry. I hope she didn't bother you two." Ella apologized coming to stop at the doorway to the kitchen.

"Mama!" Alex yelled with a smile, turning towards her mother.

"Don't worry," Emma laughed. "Alex is never a bother."

"Never." Jefferson added, smiling at Alex.

"Well I'm glad," Ella laughed, walking into the kitchen. "Alex told me she was running off to the kitchen but she apparently knows this castle better than I do and can also run faster."

"Mommy, Jeffie and Emma saw eggs!" Alex exclaimed to her mother.

"I'm sure they did sweetie," Ella laughed at her daughter's fascination in the obvious.

"We get eggs now Mama?" Alex questioned as she reached her arms out for her mother.

"Well I don't know Alex, it all depends if Jefferson and Emma are ready," Ella laughed, taking her daughter from Emma's arms, "because Henry and Grace absolutely refuse to start without them."

"Well if Emma has 'officially' woken up then I say we are absolutely ready." Jefferson laughed, taking his attention away from Alex to look over at his wife.

"Off to the egg hunt we go." Emma laughed as she looped one arm through her husband's and walked out of the kitchen with him at her side and Ella and a squealing Alex just ahead of them.

As they reached the foyer, they were greeted by the sight of a large crowd talking amongst themselves that consisted of Henry, Grace, Thomas, Snow, James, the seven dwarves, Red, Granny, and a handful of their kingdom's knights with their families. Henry and Grace ran up to Emma and Jefferson wishing them a good morning but Henry quickly stole away his mom from her husband and pulled her over a few feet to whisper something in her ear as Grace excitedly explained to her papa how the egg hunt was going to work.

After Grace finished her explanation Jefferson questioned, looking over to his wife and son, "Do you know what that is all about?"

A sneaky grin spread across Grace's face as she replied a simple "Yes," but then skipped away to chat amongst a few of her friends from the knight's families.

Jefferson eyed his wife questioningly as she smiled and rolled her eyes at whatever Henry was whispering to her. Henry pulled Emma to a small room connected to the foyer as Jefferson joined the rest of the adults on the far wall, still eyeing them as they disappeared through the doorway.

Snow stepped out in front of the rather large crowd and hushed everyone as she began to give her small speech that greeted everyone, explained the rules and precautions, and laid out the itinerary for the day. Just as Snow was about to tell the children to start Jefferson noticed that Henry had rejoined the group of kids which left his eyes scanning the room for Emma but she was nowhere in sight.

"Hey there." Emma whispered directly in his ear, coming up behind him, causing him to jump. Emma choked back a laugh as a devilish grin slipped across her face in delight that for once she was actually able to sneak up on her husband and scare him as he had done so many times before to her.

"Not funny." He pouted as his eyebrows set into a stern look.

"Eh, I like to call it payback… for earlier." Emma teased as she stood up on her toes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

It wasn't until then that Jefferson noticed what Emma held in her one hand, a variation of the Easter baskets the kids had in their hands. As he looked down at it then back up at her and teased, "You have got to be kidding me."

"What? I am simply making up for lost time!" Emma said rolling her eyes towards Jefferson.

It was right then that Snow called the beginning of the hunt and Jefferson merely let a laugh as his wife ran off to join the now running small mob of kids with Easter egg baskets. She was a mystery to him. One moment she would be terribly uptight and rolling her eyes at even the mere idea of just having a good time like this but there she was running off with a bunch of kids as though she was still one. Despite his fascination with her mysteriousness he was incredibly happy to see her let loose and have a bit of fun with the family and friends she'd never had and enjoy something frivolous and child-like she had never been able to experience before.

Jefferson took his attention away from his wife and kids for a moment to walk towards James who stood with his arms crossed amongst the other parents, staring off at their kids. "Was this your idea?" he questioned.

"Actually Henry's, but I was more than willing to go along with it." James replied still looking off towards the children. "Emma rarely celebrated holidays as a child not to mention being able to participate in something such as this. I want her to get everything we weren't able to give her. I know we can't take back the time we lost with her but we are going to try our absolute hardest to make up for it," James confided.

"You made the right decision you know," Jefferson assured, taking a pause before continuing to see if James would interject but he didn't so he decided to continue, "She knows the choice you had to make and she would have done the same thing if she was in your position. Honestly, she doesn't hold any resentment."

After a few moments of looking off into the crowd Charming turned his head towards Jefferson and replied, "Thank you." He paused for a moment, glancing away, then continued, "And I know that, but it doesn't mean I don't wonder what things would have been like if we didn't make that decision. All the things we could have done with her… Everything we could have given her…"

Taking James' quick moment of silence as an opportunity Jefferson added, "But if you hadn't made that decision the curse would have never been broken. You probably would not have even been together. We certainly would not be where we are today. And where we are is a good place. She's happy and she has Henry and is with her parents, she has everything she ever wanted and as you said, you can use times like this to make up for that lost time. In retrospect, you only missed twenty-eight years… that is not a lot when you think about it, she has a whole lifetime ahead of her that you get to be apart and I know you will embrace every second of it." Jefferson finished taking a breath and letting a small smile pull at the corners of his mouth as he thought about his wife and how much she enjoyed her life and the perfect smile that almost never seemed to leave her face lately.

James, now looking off again at the egg hunting kids took a deep breath before replying, "I hope you realize that you are a part of her happiness as well." He then turned back towards Jefferson to place his right hand on Jefferson's left shoulder and continued, "Grace too… And I am glad to have you both as part of my family. As much as I used to hate to admit it, you are good for her… No, not good, perfect. You have made her so happy and I could not have asked for a better match for her. So thank you Jefferson, honestly."

"You're welcome." Jefferson said quietly but earnestly.

After a moment he and James turned their attention back towards the children and to break the silence James teased, "So at this point who do you think is winning, my daughter or yours?"

Jefferson let out a small laugh as replied, rolling his eyes, "Absolutely yours."

At this point the kids had started to spread out beyond the halls connected to the foyer and parents began follow their children as they made their way throughout the castle. James and Jefferson followed suit as James went in the direction of the garden, where Henry was headed, and Jefferson in the direction of the grand ballroom, where Grace was headed.

Once Jefferson reached the ballroom he stood leaning up against the archway leading from the hallway and found Emma clearing one side of the room of all the eggs that could only be reached by someone over five feet, two other children running through to get to the adjacent hallway, and Grace bending down to pick up Alex who was struggling to grab an egg on a shelf that was just out of her reach. He noticed how his daughter had only two eggs in her basket whereas, Alex had at least a dozen but her selflessness did not surprise him in the least. What did surprise him though was that when he looked back to where Emma had been piling eggs in her basket, she was now taking those same eggs out of her basket and placing them all at much more accessible heights and hiding places for even the smallest of children to reach.

Emma then tried to casually walk away, pretending not to notice the now low to the ground eggs. Grace now looked to the side of the room Emma had just been on, saw all the easily accessible eggs, and quickly ran towards the wall with Alex in tow, clinging onto her right hand, overrun with giddiness. Emma stopped at the archway leading into one of the connecting hallways and leaned up against it, watching her daughter help her dear friend's daughter, as a proud smile slipped on her face.

Jefferson took this opportunity to sneak up on his wife so he made his way through the many hallways and within a minute stood behind his wife who was still leaning under the archway, watching their daughter enjoy herself.

"I don't think this was exactly Henry's plan." Jefferson teased, whispering within a centimeter of her ear.

"Dear god!" she yelled as she jumped up in shock. After a moment she took a breath and let her heartbeat slow down, leaning a hand up against the wall to steady herself, then turned to Jefferson and gave him a punch on the arm hard enough to leave a bruise.

"Ouch!" he pouted, clasping his one hand to his injured arm.

"Oh shut up, you deserve it!" she replied rolling her eyes at him then returning her attention to her daughter.

Jefferson rolled his eyes and leaned down to place his chin on her shoulder, looking to his daughter, as he whispered, "Seriously. Why no basket full of eggs?"

Still staring off, she replied coolly, "You honestly think I would be that cruel as to take away any of the fun from these kids?"

He paused for a bit too long of a moment then teased, "Well…"

"Oh shut up, Jefferson!" she shouted as she turned back towards him to slap his already 'injured' arm.

"Ow!" he whined. "You know, you can really pack a punch."

"What else are princesses for?" she teased, rolling her eyes. "Honestly though, you think I would be that mean to the kids? This is their 'thing' and I wouldn't want to intrude on that because you know, I want them to—"

"No," he said, interrupting her rant. "I would never think you would do that," he continued, wrapping his hands around her waist. "But you do deserve to have a bit of fun today as well."

"But this," she said, gesturing towards where Alex and Grace were hunting for eggs, "is fun for me. Seeing the smile on Grace's face and Alex's as well and hopefully Henry's too, when I go to check up on him, are more than enough to make me happy therefore, I am having fun. Simply having any time with my friends and my parents and our kids and you is all need to have a good time." She finished, smiling that perfect smile of hers, looking up at him shyly.

Jefferson overwhelmed with love and passion leaned to her with a genuine smile on his own face and kissed her. He could not begin to describe his love for her and it was times like this when he didn't understand how he was lucky enough to have ended up with her. He would do anything for her and follow her to the ends of every universe there was if she wanted him to.

Like I said before, I am beyond sorry it took forever to update this, I had planned on finishing it within a few days of the last chapter but then my old laptop starting smoking so I had to not use it until I could get a new one and get all of my files on there. But no worries now because I have a beautiful, new laptop and I should be cranking out chapters MUCH quicker (and if I don't, feel free to bother me incessantly). ;D I'm not really sure how much I like this chapter but I certainly hope you enjoyed it and thank you again so so so so sooooooo very much to all of you that have read and even more to those of you who have reviewed and followed/favorited! Your great responses mean everything to me! =D