Chapter 15

Back in Storybrooke, Grumpy was just letting himself back into his apartment when Cinderella stuck her head out of her own apartment with her daughter, Alexandra, on her hip. "There you are, Grumpy," she said.

Grumpy rolled his eyes. "Here I am," he said. "What do you want, your highness?"

"I'm just relying you a message from Snow," Cinderella replied hastily.

"Well, what's the message?" he asked. "I don't have all damn day you know."

"She's looking for you," Cinderella replied. "Her grandson was with her." Everyone in town knew who Henry is and his connection to Emma and the Charming Family.

"Prince Henry was with her?" Grumpy asked with surprise.

"Yes," Cinderella said and bounced Alexandra in her arms a little without even thinking about it when her daughter got a little restless. "It's about getting home."

"As you can see," Grumpy grumbled, "I am home."

"Why are you so dense?" Cinderella asked with frustration. "No, the Enchanted Forest is home."

Grumpy's eyes widened at the thought of that. "It still exists?" he asked amazed.

"According to Snow, it does," Cinderella replied.

"Do you have any idea where she and her family might be?" Grumpy asked.

"At the apartment or they could be at the Sheriff's station," Cinderella replied. "Though I would lie my bets on the latter rather than the former."

Grumpy sighed. He didn't want to take that bet, but he would rather know where they were at. He pulled out his phone and dialed the Sheriff's station.

"Swan," Emma said when she picked up the phone.

"I hear you're looking for me," Grumpy replied.

"Yes, we are," Emma said. "Can you come by the station?"

Grumpy evaded the sheriff's question by asking one of his own. "Is this about getting home to the Enchanted Forest?" he asked.

"It is," Emma answered. "I can give you the details when you get here."

"Then I'm on my way, your highness," Grumpy replied and then hung up.

Cinderella smiled. "I don't think she likes her new title," she told him.

"She's going to have to get used to it," Grumpy told her. "She broke the curse; she's going to have to deal with it because I'm not calling her anything else but your highness." He opened his door to his apartment and then closed the door behind him.

Still having the baby on her hip, Cinderella looked down at Alexandra. "You know what, Alexandra?" she asked. "He's right."

An hour later, Grumpy walks into the Sheriff's station on his own free will, something Leroy would have done on his own free will. Just thinking about the irony, Grumpy smiled. "Should I appreciate the irony of this?" he asked when he sat on one of the chairs in Emma's office making himself at home.

Emma smiled understanding him. She lost track the number of times she had arrested him for drunk and disorderly and add on the number of times Graham must have arrested him for the very same thing. "You should," Emma replied, "because that's not what you're here for."

"Then why am I here?" Grumpy asked and then looked around to see that neither of the princes were in the station either. "And where is Prince Charming and Prince Henry?"

"They are at Granny's having lunch," Snow answered.

"My mom was telling me that you have a talent for drawing," Emma said conversationally.

"I do," Grumpy confirmed, but he wasn't even fooled for a second. "What do you want me to draw? How is it going to help us get home?" He looked from Snow to Emma.

"We're looking for Rumpelstiltskin's son," Emma told him.

Grumpy stared at him. "His son!" he exclaimed.

Snow knew that this was going to happen. "Grumpy, please," she pleaded, "listen to all of it before you disagree."

"It's the only way to get home," Emma replied.

"After hearing that, why should we even go home?" he asked.

Emma stood up from her chair and walked to a window. She did this to give herself more time on how to answer him. "You do know he's the only one who could have created the curse, right?" Emma asked him as she turned toward him.

"Not many people did know that, but I was one of the few who did," Grumpy answered.

Emma walked back to her desk. "Then you need to know that the people who died here are still alive in the Enchanted Forest," Emma replied.

Grumpy stared at her for minute before her words hit home. "The former sheriff," Grumpy replied with complete understanding. He looked at Snow when he realized who Graham was in the Enchanted Forest. He had heard of the Huntsman and then looked over at Snow. "The one who spared you and helped Prince Charming escape."

"Yes," Snow said.

Grumpy started thinking back to several months ago, and he looked over at Emma. "The argument at Granny's the night before he died," he said, "feelings were starting to surface. Yours and his." He really looked at Emma, and just what his heart did with Snow when they had lived in the Enchanted Forest, it softened towards Emma. "He's your true love."

"He's also Henry's father," Snow informed him.

"Mom," Emma said in protest.

Snow looked at Emma and smiled. "Honey, he needs all the facts," she told her daughter.

"Well, I guess that's okay then," Emma said sarcastically.

"That does explain a lot," Grumpy replied.

"So I've been told," Emma replied as she looked at Snow. She sighed and looked back at Grumpy. "Are you going to help or not?"

Grumpy looked from mother to daughter, and he thought how could I win? "Count me in," he said.