A/N: So, here's the next, long-awaited update. I'm probably going to be updating my stories on weekends, though since I have two on the go at the moment, it may mean that they have to alternate and each get updated once every two weeks. I don't know. It's still only been my first week of lectures, so I'll just have to see how it plays out.

This chapter was prompted by Obsessive-Gal. I hope you guys like it! If you do, it's all down to Obsessive-Gal who asked for both of the main parts of this chapter.

Fathers

Emma picked up her keys and left the office, mentally preparing herself and running over what she was going to say.

Mr and Mrs Miller, I do apologise for any inconvenience. Could I come in?

Over and over it she went, trying to get it to sound right. She had to get it right. If she didn't, the little girl would be separated from her father.

When she turned up outside the small house, she was still thinking it over. Up the front steps, fingers hovering over the doorbell as she continued to internally dither. Finally, growing sick of her own indecision, she dived in and pushed the doorbell, hearing it ring inside the hallway.

Her foot tapped as she waited for them to answer, eventually seeing the silhouettes of two people coming towards her through the frosted glass pane in the door.

As the door swung open, similar expressions of surprise appeared on both Mr Miller and his wife's faces.

"Sheriff Swan? What can we do for you?" Mr Miller asked, frowning ever so slightly.

"It's a…delicate matter. May I come in?"

"Of course," Mrs Miller replied, stepping aside and admitting Emma into the homely hallway. "The living room is right on through here, do take a seat. I'll just fix you a drink."

Emma nodded gratefully and headed into the room Mrs Miller had indicated, feeling awkward as she spied Paige, the girl in question, sat at the table in the adjoined dining room, dutifully doing her homework.

She shot Mr Miller a small smile as the two of them waited in silence for his wife to return before beginning the conversation.

Mrs Miller, a short woman with mousy brown hair, entered with a warm smile, bearing three steaming mugs on a tray. Emma accepted her coffee with a thank you and took a sip, glancing again at Paige and wondering how much of their conversation she would hear.

Following her gaze, Mr Miller cleared his throat and said, "Grace, perhaps you could take your things upstairs and work up there for a while."

Nodding obediently, the girl gathered her notepad, her books and her stationary before getting up from the table and vacating the room. For a girl who didn't look any older than Henry, she was the source of a lot of trouble. Emma had already spent hours on the phone with Jefferson, the Millers and even Mr Gold, all of them trying to work out whether Jefferson or the Millers had custody rights. Yet, no conclusion could be reached.

"I'm here to discuss again who should have custody of Paige," Emma began, setting her coffee aside and looking intently at the Millers.

Mr Miller nodded, the nature of Emma's visit fairly obvious.

Mrs Miller, on the other hand, was less understanding. "You can tell Jefferson he's not having Grace. We may not be her biological parents, but we've been looking after her for over twenty eight years. Our lives in Storybrooke are real, and we've looked after and raised Paige her whole life. She is my daughter."

In a comforting gesture, Mr Miller took his wife's hand and squeezed it tight.

"I understand-"

Emma never finished her sentence, losing her train of thought as Jefferson forced the front door open and burst in, calling for his daughter.

"Grace! Grace, where are you?"

Hearing him, the young girl ran down the stairs and threw herself into her father's arms.

Laughing in relief, Jefferson hugged her tight. Tears of happiness leaked from his eyes as he held his daughter for the first time in years, lifting her off the ground.

"How dare you break into our home?!" Mrs Miller demanded, looking angrily at her former neighbour.

Both Emma and Mr Miller stood and moved to intervene as Jefferson set down Paige and moved to stand protectively in front of her.

"She's my daughter and she's coming with me," he declared.

Wincing, Emma prepared herself for the argument she knew would follow, wishing Jefferson could have left it to her. He was only getting in the way and making things worse.

"Your daughter? You abandoned her!" Mrs Miller accused.

"I had to!" Jefferson shouted back.

"That doesn't excuse your behaviour-"

"-I thought I was coming back. It was only meant to be a couple of hours. How was I to know the Evil Queen would trap me in Wonderland?"

"Well, it would hardly have been a surprise, surely," Mr Miller muttered. "She is the Evil Queen, after all."

Not you too, Emma thought as Mr Miller was embroiled in the argument.

The three fairytale characters continued to rant and rave until finally Emma had had enough.

"Stop! All of you! Jefferson, I need to see you outside."

Giving her a moody look, Jefferson stomped out of the house with Emma at his heels. The instant they were out of earshot, Emma started.

"Will you please stop. You're not helping yourself or the situation."

"That's my daughter in there," Jefferson vehemently protested, gesticulating in the direction of the front door hanging off its hinges.

"I know, but if you keep acting like this you won't get to see her at all. No sane person is going to let you have custody if you continue to act like a madman," Emma said, doing her best to stay calm and not poke him in the chest whilst she reasoned with him.

"Have you forgotten? I am a madman," Jefferson replied, whipping a top hat from nowhere and placing it on his head. "The Mad Hatter, to be precise."

"Again, not helping. Could you just, you know, rationally discuss it with them?"

"Fine," Jefferson sighed, his manic grin fading as he removed the hat and threw it away. Emma's eyes followed it until the hat winked out of existence, disappearing into thin air. A week before she wouldn't have believed her eyes; but on that day she didn't even question the phenomenon.

As they re-entered the house, happening upon Mr and Mrs Miller sat on either side of Paige and consoling her.

"I want to be with all of you," she sniffled.

"Grace," whispered Jefferson, looking tortured and desperate.

"Perhaps it would be possible to arrange a custody agreement," Emma suggested hopefully.

The Millers shared a look before Mr Miller announced, "I think we could manage that. What do you say, Hatter?"

Jefferson nodded and took a seat opposite the Millers.

"How are we going to do this then? Alternate weeks?"

Job done, Emma allowed herself a smile and slipped out of the house. Checking her watch, she decided to look in on Henry, still stuck at home with flu. The drive in her yellow bug was short, but as she cut the engine, she couldn't help noticing the figure waiting at the end of the path to the front door.

Frowning, she stepped out and froze, recognising him the instant he turned to face her.

"Emma," he said, his voice filled with feigned fondness.

"Shouldn't you be with your wife?" Emma asked quietly.

"Who? Rachel?"

"Francis," Emma answered, quietly wondering what number Rachel was. When she'd met Marcus, he'd been with Francis and enjoyed having Emma on the side. Marcus had always seemed to have a few conquests on the go, getting bored every few months and marrying someone new.

"Francis is long gone," he replied seriously. "I came to see my son."

"I'm not letting you anywhere near Henry, Marcus" Emma told him frankly, looking distastefully at his dyed beard and hair. Emma considered herself lucky to have escaped Marcus before something terrible had happened to her. She knew what he'd done to the women before her, and likely the unfortunate ones after her. The vision of the room still sickened her.

"I think we can drop the name now, don't you? I'd have thought you'd have figured me out by now, the curse being broken and all…"

Emma said nothing. In truth, she hadn't considered Marcus for months, not since she'd lied and told Henry his father had been a fireman, a hero who'd sacrificed his life for someone else.

A timeline so you can hopefully avoid confusion:

Reunion (Chapter 2) – Same day as the breaking of the curse

Witch Hunt (Chapter 12) – Same Day as the breaking of the curse

Parents together (Chapter 6) – 1 day later

Wooden Man (Chapter 8) – 2 days later

The Big Bad Wolf (Chapter 4) – 2 days later

A Bug's Life (Chapter 13) – 4 days later

Fathers (Chapter 14) – 6 days later

Up Goes the Beanstalk (Chapter 7) – 1 week later

Hiking trip (Chapter 9) – 1 and ½ weeks late

Huntsman (Chapter 3) – 2 weeks later

Regina chapter (Chapter 15) – 3 weeks later

Storming (Chapter 1) – 1 month later

Dance with Somebody (Chapter 11) – 1 month later

Dreaming (Chapter 5) – 5 weeks later

A Fairy Mystery (Chapter 10) – 5 weeks later

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'd really appreciate some thoughts on this. I'm also willing to bribe you with the knowledge that it's my birthday in two days' time. I've left a few clues as to Marcus' fairytale counterpart so I'd love to hear some of your guesses. (It's not anyone previously introduced in the show.) If no-one gets it, I will find a way to either include it in another chapter or just say in the next author's note. I'm still looking for prompts since I've only got one more chapter planned, so if you've got any ideas, let me know either by review or PM.

Many thanks for reading. Much love, SabreDae.

xxxxxxxxxxx