Chapter 9

Jefferson sat on a bench. His life was over. He couldn't deal with the fact that he gave Grace away when he should have been home with her. It was just because Regina didn't live up to her end of the bargain. She should have granted his part of the deal.

Jefferson sighed. "I don't know why I do this to myself," he told himself. "I should have known better than to trust Regina to deliver."

"Lesson learned well?" a male voice asked from behind him.

Jefferson looked over and was surprised to see a man made of wood. "Pinocchio, right?" he asked.

August smiled at him. "Being made of wood gave it away, didn't it?" he asked. "Though I prefer August."

"Then August it is," Jefferson replied. "How do you know about the curse?"

"I was transported through the same wardrobe Emma had been transported in twenty-eight years ago," August told him.

Jefferson stared at him. "You're the reason she doesn't believe," he replied, "when she should have."

August paused and became melancholy. "This world is full of temptations," he argued, "but our savior believes now."

Jefferson stared at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Emma broke the curse," August said and looked at his watch to calculate, "about three hours ago."

"How did I not know?" Jefferson asked. "How did you know that I didn't know?"

"Henry," August replied. "He believed you to be Mad Hatter and Paige's real father."

"Grace," Jefferson said.

"Excuse me?" August asked.

"My daughter's name is Grace," Jefferson replied.

"Grace, then," he said.

"Henry's the mayor's son, right?" Jefferson asked. He remembered seeing her son on the hospital bed when he went to talk to her, and he believed that he wasn't going to wake up.

"Emma's," August corrected without thinking and then grinned when he did. "If the townspeople have anything to do with it, he'll continue to be."

"Which they probably will be," Jefferson replied.

"Are you going to reunite with your daughter?" August asked.

Jefferson stayed quiet for a moment before he answered. "I abandoned her when she needed me most," he replied.

"Do you want to know what I think?" August asked.

"I suppose," Jefferson replied.

"I'd do anything to grow up with my father," August replied. "I would wager Grace would feel the same way. You get to have the twenty-eight years with your daughter; the same twenty-eight years I missed out on with my father."

"Are you saying that Grace will forgive me?" Jefferson asked absurdly giving him a wary look.

"She would," August said with confidence. "I would give anything to have spent the last twenty-eight years with my father."

Jefferson looked at him. "I can see that you would," he replied. "Are you going to see your father?" He looked at August curiously.

"He would see me made of wood," August replied sadly. "He would be disappointed in me that I didn't keep my promise to him."

"Which promise was that?" Jefferson asked.

"To keep Emma safe and to make her understand her destiny," August replied, "and on top of that, I wasn't a very good boy or man or-"

"You wouldn't have turned back into wood," Jefferson concluded. "Want to know what I think?"

August gave him a slanted look. "I suppose," he said with a hint a smile.

"Disappointed or not," Jefferson replied. "I believe your father would like to know you're okay. Even though you are made of wood, he would like to see you're okay."

August's eyes lit with hope. "You really believe that?" he asked.

Jefferson smiled at the childish answer. "I'm a father," he reminded him. "I know that." He got up and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" August asked.

"To find Grace," Jefferson replied without turning, and then he continued walking.

August smiled as he watched Jefferson walk toward the school and then he stood up from the bench. He wondered if he should have told him that Henry has a crush on Grace. He was glad he hadn't because Henry had told him about that in confidence.

Might as well, he thought as he went off to go find his own father.