A/N: This is the chapter that red lighting prompted. I'd love some more of you to prompt me some scenes/encounters. I don't bite, I promise. But otherwise, this story will be cut short, I'm afraid, as I only have about four chapters left in my head.
Parents Together
"Yes, Mr G-Rumplestiltskin, I'll see what I can do about your son," Emma promised, trying to sound cheerful and willing to help, but it was difficult. Rumplestiltskin was the fifth person that day who had called her with a problem that needed her help to be solved, and it was still morning and only one day since the breaking of the curse. "Okay, thanks for calling."
Emma sighed and hung up the phone. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned, fatigue seeming to fill her every pore. She wanted nothing more than to return to her bed and get a good night's rest instead of the nightmare plagued sleep she'd had the previous evening. She just couldn't stop picturing Henry's lifeless body, the machine flat-lining and the nurse removing all the medical equipment from when they'd tried to resuscitate him. The fact that she knew Henry was very much alive and always full of energy didn't do much to stop the images filling her subconscious mind.
Checking her watch, Emma stood, tidied away the file she'd begun making on Baelfire at Rumplestiltskin's request and switched off her computer. Her keys were already in her pocket, so she surveyed her desk for a moment, making sure she had everything she needed, before leaving the station and locking up. She knew she shouldn't leave the station unattended, but she had yet to find a deputy. She had just pocketed her keys and turned when she walked into someone.
"Sorry!" she immediately exclaimed, before looking up and seeing Ashley Boyd.
"Oh, Emma, just the person I wanted to see," Cinderella said in surprise.
"Hi…what can I help you with? I've got a bit of a backlog of curse effects to take care of but I'll see what I can do," she began, giving Ashley-Cinderella-Whatever-Her-Name-Was the same spiel she'd had to give all the other fairytale characters who wanted her help with finding lost friends or possessions.
"No, I don't need your help. I just came to say thank you!"
"Really I didn't do anything – it was all Henry-" Emma tried to say, feeling awkward and embarrassed. Cinderella wasn't the first person who had come to find Emma. All morning and the previous evening she'd had people phoning and dropping by the station and the apartment to give her their thanks.
"-When I remembered, I was so glad you talked me out of selling Alexandra to Rumplestiltskin. I'd have never forgiven myself."
"It was no trouble and I didn't do anything. You made the decision yourself." She checked her watch again. If she didn't hurry, she'd be late. "I'm really sorry but can we hurry this up a bit. I'm actually on my way out – I said I'd pick up Henry from school since he's not feeling too well today," Emma explained, feeling guilty for trying to get rid of the girl. It wasn't exactly polite.
"I hope he's alright."
"It's just a headache, I think. He was fine this morning. Anyway, I'd better go."
"Right, sorry for keeping you," Ella replied brightly.
"No problem. Thanks for stopping by." Emma looked over her shoulder and saw Ella still stood there as though she was waiting for something or someone. "Do you need a lift anywhere?" Emma offered.
"Thomas took Alexandra shopping and he's not going to be back for at least twenty minutes," Ella admitted. "I don't suppose I could accompany you to the school, could I? I need a good catch-up with Snow. How is she, Snow, I mean?"
"Happy, I guess," Emma answered with a shrug. If Snow White was anything, it was happy. She had her memories back and she'd been reunited with the man of her dreams, her very own Prince Charming. She was practically buzzing and the fact that her daughter and grandson were now living with her only made her more cheerful.
Emma unlocked her yellow Bug, thinking again that she really should take the Sheriff's car to the mechanic and get it fixed. She didn't even know if Hansel and Gretel's father would remember enough of his life as Michael to fix it after Sidney cut her brakes. So much was still uncertain in the aftermath of the curse and magic returning.
Ella got into the passenger side. "I'm Ella – Cinderella, by the way…"
"I know. Henry told me when I first met you," Emma replied with a smile at the memory.
"I heard about the apple turnover and everything…has he recovered okay?"
"He's fine. If you looked at him, you wouldn't know anything had even happened. What about Alexandra?" She was doing her best to make it sound like natural conversation, but Emma didn't think she'd ever had to force herself to talk more. She had always been the kind of person who preferred a bit of silence rather than idle chatter. And with only a day gone by since curse, Emma still hadn't quite accepted the fact that everyone she was talking to was a fairytale character. Then again, she was one too. Technically.
Whilst Cinderella talked, Emma was ashamed to say she zoned out, too wrapped up in thoughts about what her life would have been like if she'd grown up in the Enchanted Forest. Finally, she blinked, realising that they weren't far from the school at all.
"I never thought about how odd it was that our lives here seemed to follow our lives in the Enchanted Forest too. I'm just glad that I still have Thomas here, though. I think that's the only good to come out of the curse."
Emma resisted the urge to butt in and say how Henry was something good that came out of the curse too.
"I don't know what I'd do without him – he's my true love. I know from my time in the Enchanted Forest that life without your true love is awful."
Emma swallowed. She understood a lot more than she did before, enough to know that the kisses she had shared with Graham had only allowed him to remember because they were true loves. Emma's reaction hadn't gone unnoticed.
"Oh, Emma, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean… I didn't think…I just completely forgot about Graham-"
"-It's fine," Emma said, cutting in and clearing her throat. She sounded far too upset which was ridiculous when you thought about it. How were she and Graham true loves when they barely knew each other? She'd never told him anything about her personal life; all they talked about was the job and his personal life.
Ella nodded, feeling guilty for bringing up the topic though.
When they pulled up outside the school, Emma saw Henry sat beside his grandmother on a bench, looking pale and unhappy.
"Hey, Kid," Emma greeted, walking over and taking his temperature with the back of her hand. "How'd you feel?"
"Cold," Henry replied, pulling his school cardigan tighter around him.
Emma shrugged off her leather jacket worriedly and wrapped it round him. His head felt anything but cold.
"He's been cold and hot on and off all morning," Snow supplied helpfully to Emma.
From the sounds of things, he had a fever. Hopefully, it wouldn't last too long. Henry was an energetic kid. Lying around the apartment all day, sleeping, would not keep him happy.
"Hold on, I think I might have something for your headache in the car," Emma said, turning.
"I'll get it," Ella offered. She had been stood beside Snow, the two of them conferring over what they thought was wrong with Henry.
"It's in the glove compartment," Emma muttered.
Henry tried to smile as Cinderella handed him a pain relief pill. Snow had already dug through his school bag and pulled out his water bottle, handing that to him too.
As soon as Henry had taken the medication, Emma helped him up and into the car.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Snow said, seeing Emma's worry. "One of the other kids had something the other week, so he's probably just caught that."
Emma nodded, but she couldn't help fearing that Henry's illness was related to the poisoned apple turnover he'd eaten.
"Alexandra was feverish last week too," Ella added. "She wouldn't stop crying. I'm surprised she's still got a voice. Thomas and I have only just managed to catch a reasonable night's sleep."
Henry's infant years were something Emma regretted missing. Seeing Henry grow up, learn to talk, read and write, ride his first bike, have his first haircut. They were all things she'd never see. She tried to console herself with the fact that Henry had yet to go through his teenage years and that there were many things she would still get to experience with him – his first girlfriend being one of them – but it wasn't the same.
"How is she now?" Emma asked, smart enough to guess that fever in infants could be very serious.
"Much better, thanks. But we took her to the hospital as a precaution. It's just some type of bug or virus doing the rounds. Don't be surprised if you get it too. Or Snow. Just let Henry rest and he'll be right as rain soon."
"Keep him hydrated," Snow advised.
"Yes, lots of water," Ella agreed.
Emma felt out of her depth, nodding along. She'd only just become a mother again and she felt so unprepared. Compared to her, Mary Margar-Snow and Ella had to be the best mothers in the world. They obviously knew exactly what to do with sick children; despite the fact that neither of them had much mothering experience since Emma had been taken away from Snow when she was minutes old and Ella had only been a mother for a few months.
"Maybe give him something he likes – ice cream?" Snow suggested.
"If he starts throwing up, give him crackers."
The two of them went on and on, making Emma feel more and more overwhelmed. Finally, she threw up her hands, thanked the two friends for their advice and got into the car with Henry. If it came to it however, she knew she could always phone Mary Margaret and she'd be able to help.
A/N: If you're wondering about the title, for some reason I had the parenting group from About A Boy in my head (Single Parents Alone Together) and this chapter had a lot of parents in it, so that's where it came from. Thanks so much to you all for reading. Special thanks for those of you who have reviewed and/or started following the story and added it to your favourites. It really, really means a lot. I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter and how well I did with my characterisation of Ella, so leave a review if you've got time.
A timeline for reference so you can hopefully avoid confusion:
Reunion (Chapter 2) – Same day as the breaking of the curse
Parents together (Chapter 6) – 1 day later
August Chapter (Chapter 8) – 2 days later
The Big Bad Wolf (Chapter 4) – 2 days later
Jack and the Beanstalk Chapter (Chapter 7) – 1 week later
Hiking Chapter (Chapter 9) – 1 and ½ weeks late
Huntsman (Chapter 3) – 2 weeks later
Storming (Chapter 1) – 1 month later
Whole town Chapter (Chapter 11) – 1 month later
Dreaming (Chapter 5) – 5 weeks later
Grumpy Chapter (Chapter 10) – 5 weeks later
Much love, SabreDae
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