Hi guys! As promised I've taken your reviews into consideration, and SamFanFirst, who suggested that Emma should take Henry on sightseeing, and ''guest'' who wanted to see bonding stuff between Emma and Henry, here you go! I hope you're happy with it, and you other readers as well! Please keep on sending your suggestions and comments :))
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, just this profile :)
''Henry. You, me taking over the city tonight. What do you think?''
Emma's proposal sounds like music to Henry's ears. ''You mean getting out there and explore New York?!''
''Yeah, why not? We're here now, better to make the best of it right?''
''That's so cool! But it's almost 9pm, and what if Mr Gold finds out?''
''Well that means we're being irresponsible for one evening only, and Mr Gold is not going to find out. He's probably already asleep,'' grins Emma.
''Emma, you're the best!'' Henry runs over to Emma and wraps his arms around her.
The blond is quite surprised with the sudden close contact. ''Just benefitting from the opportunity to show my kid something that's outside Storybrooke,'' she smiles as she's returning the embrace.
Henry pulls back and takes his jacket from the chair he casually left it when they arrived.
''Don't forget your scarf,'' says Emma, ''it's cold outside.'' She puts on her own jacket and then the two leave the hotel room. ''Where do you want to go first?'' she asks her son as they're standing outside.
''Can we go see Times Square?'''
''Times Square it is! Taxi!'' she calls out as she beckons a yellow cab. ''Times Square please,'' she says as they've got in.
It's like when they arrived: Henry is constantly looking outside the car window, impressed by everything he sees.
Emma enjoys the view of her son. Him being so happy, so carefree for that one perfect little moment, makes her feel whole.
Merely fifteen minutes later, having struggled through the heavy traffic that the city is known for, they've arrived at their destination.
While Emma's paying the cab driver, Henry already jumped out of the car and is almost literally jumping up and down next to the vehicle. He can't wait to go. ''Emma, hurry up!''
''Yes, yes I'm coming,'' she grins as she takes her son's hand.
There they are, standing in the middle of Times Square, surrounded by all the billboards and neon lightning. Henry runs up the stairs that are part of the TKTS pavilion. ''Now you've to take a picture of me with the billboards in the background,'' he requests.
''I've a better idea. Move over,'' says Emma as she gently pushes Henry a bit to the left. She takes her phone from her jacket pocket and holds it in front of them, so that they both will be in the picture. ''Shoot. I moved my hand,'' she says when she's inspecting the first, blurry, picture. She tries it again. This time it's a clear picture. ''Perfect,'' she smiles. ''Henry, I want to show you something. Two things actually,'' she says mysteriously.
''What is it?''
''Wait and see. Wait and see…''
Henry follows his mother to the other side of the square. He almost bumps into someone while looking up at all the neon advertisements. ''Excuse me,'' he mumbles.
Emma is enjoying the night out with her son to the fullest. It's the best moment she has had in a long while, maybe even the best moment she has had in her entire life. To see the boy, her son, so happy fills her heart with love. For ten years she didn't think that she would ever see her baby boy again. She remembers the day she gave birth to him like it was yesterday.
It snowed heavily outside she saw through the prison cell window, and she already had contractions for hours during the night. Only once, a guard came into the cell with a glass of water and a wet towel. Only once. Emma smothered the cries of pain in her pillow, afraid that one of the other girls in the cell block would hear her and take it out on her the next morning. In the time that Emma had spent in jail, she had noticed that the other girls were quite… touchy, so to say. Waking them in the middle of the night, for whatever reason, was bad. Very bad.
Once, she saw a new girl being beaten up because the others suspected her of stealing a sandwich from one of the regulars. She had to be taken to the sickbay immediately and almost died of her injuries. That kind of touchy.
So Emma stayed as quiet as possible and went through the suffering in silence. A doctor came to check on her in the morning, when her water broke, and not long after that, she was taken to the prison sickbay. After another three hours of complete misery, the baby was born. Immediately, the nurse took the baby with her to check on him, and Emma didn't lose sight of him for one second. Even though she knew that she agreed on giving him up for adoption, and that the time with him was scarce, she couldn't help the immense feeling of love that was going out to that little miracle that was lying on the bed next to her.
''Congratulations, it's a boy,'' said the doctor who delivered the baby. There was no joy in his voice, nor sadness. It was a blank tone that he produced.
Once the nurse had undertaken all the standard procedures for newborns, she wrapped the baby in a blanket and took him outside.
''Hey, where're you taking him?'' cried Emma anxiously. Although she was in pain, she managed to sit up straight.
The nurse pretended to not have heard the question and left with the baby boy in her arms.
That's when the doctor turned to the blonde. ''She's taking him to his parents,'' he stated as in matter of fact.
''But I want to hold him!'' Frustrated, Emma grasped the sidebars of the hospital bed. ''I've the right to hold him!''
''It's for the best that you don't get too attached to the boy. Holding him would contribute to the bond between you and him, and that makes parting even harder.''
''You can't do this! I wanna see him! I want to hold him!'' Emma's voice sounded louder with each syllable she produced.
''Miss Swan, I suggest you to stay calm. It's not healthy for you to get agitated after the heavy delivery you've experienced. I give you an official warning.''
''I don't care! I want to see him. NOW!'' She was trying to get out of bed, but the pain in her lower stomach was too intense, and she fell back.
''GUARDS!'' yelled the doctor. He picked up a syringe from a container and a bottle of anesthetic. He did that all with the calmness of a trained physician.
In the meantime, two guards had arrived and used restraining ties to tie down the arms and legs of the blonde to the bed.
''NO! NO! LET ME GO!'' Emma screamed. She twisted and turned, but the two guards were too strong for the exhausted new mom. One of them held down her arms and the other professionally applied the ties to her hands and the bed.
The doctor walked over to them and ejected Emma's upper arm with the anesthetic.
''YOU SON OF A B… Let me go… No….'' Emma's voice lowered until only a soft whisper remained. She fought for her life to stay awake, but the anesthetic made her so extremely tired. She couldn't help but to close her eyes. Everything else she saw after that was turned into infinite blackness.
Emma woke up the next morning in her own cell. A plate of food was shoved through the cell door hatch she saw. Her head felt fuzzy and weird and a splitting pain went through her stomach, which reminded her instantaneously about the horrible events that had taken place the day before. ''Noooo…'' she sobbed. ''My baby…'' Tears ran over her face. Her hands moved up to her head and she held it in frustration. ''My baby…'' she repeated. ''My… Henry… Henry.'' She rocked from front to back and tears kept on coming. ''Henry…'' She sat like that for almost an hour. ''Hey!'' she finally cried out. ''Hey!''
One of the guards opened the cell door hatch and looked at her with disinterest. ''Yeah…?''
''My son, his name is Henry. You've to tell that to the adoptive parents. They have to call him Henry.''
''I don't think that that's something you can dec…''
''HIS NAME IS HENRY!''
''Okay, okay, I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise you anything,'' replied the guard, who didn't feel the need to have a verbal fight with a freaked out inmate. Before you know it, things turned ugly here in prison and there was a coffee break in ten minutes.
''Thank you,'' answered Emma in all sincerity, and a sigh of relief escaped her mouth.
But that was eleven years ago. Everything was different now. And although Emma and Henry spent quite some time together in Storybrooke, Emma didn't feel that she has had enough time to make up for lost times, not to mention that the precious moments with her son often were brutally interrupted by Henry's adoptive mother. ''Well, here we are!'' she says to her son as they've arrived at their new destination.
''Emma these are the largest M&M's that I've ever seen in my life! The boy cries out in wonder and excitement as he sees the large M&M statues outside of the shop.
''Welcome to M&M's World Henry. Let's go inside, shall we?''
Once inside, the boy falls from one amazement in the other. ''Look at all the tubes Emma, they really have every color of the rainbow in M&M's.'' He points at metershigh transparant tubes that hold M&M's in every color you can think of. A tap at the bottom of each tube allows people to get the M&M's out and in a plastic candybag. ''Oh and look at these pajamas and backpacks, with M&M prints all over them. This is great!'' Henry is so distracted, that he doesn't notices Emma sneaking up behind him.
''Boo!'' Emma calls out as she holds a plush red M&M behind Henry's back.
The boy is startled by it and quickly turns around. ''Oh that's so cute, can I have it?''
''But Henry, you're eleven now, aren't you a bit too old for stuffed animals?'' she answers teasingly.
''Not for this one!'' he laughs.
''Fine, than this one's yours. Oh look Henry, there's a M&M in the form of the Statue of Liberty. Shall we take a picture?''
''Yeah!''
Emma walks over to one of the shop assistants and asks if she can take a picture of her and her son.
They both stand in the same position as the statue, with their right arms up in the air, like they're holding a torch. 30 Seconds later, the job is done and the picture is taken.
''Shall we buy something for Mary and David as well?'' asks Emma.
Henry's already ahead of his mother and comes back with a mug. ''This can be gramp's mug for at the sheriff's station, since you already have one,'' he smartly states.
''Perfect,'' his mom agrees. ''So now he never has to steal mine again. And shall we buy this wine bottle filled with M&M'S for Mary? Maybe she leaves a few for us…''
''Great thinking,'' grins the boy. A yawn escapes his mouth.
Emma notices it. ''Shall we go pay for all of this?'' she asks.
They turn to the cash register and let the gifts be wrapped in with a colorful wrapping paper.
''What's next?'' Asks Henry as they're outside.
''I think it's time to head back to the hotel kid. It's almost midnight.''
''But I'm not tired yet!'' Henry lies. ''And you said you wanted to show me two things. What is the second thing?''
''I know you're not tired,'' Emma plays along, ''but I really think we should go back.'' A secretive smile appears on her face. ''But not before you've had the chance to see the lights of the city from a spectacular location…''
''What's that, what's that?''
Emma has called a cab. ''To the Empire State Building please.'''
''No, Emma, are we really going inside the Empire State Building?!''
''Not only inside… We're going to the top, because that's where you've the best views of New York.''
Henry is jumping up and down in his seat.
As they step in the elevator that will bring them to the 102nd floor of one of New York's most famous landmarks, Henry takes Emma's hand.
The blonde gently squeezes it. Her face is glowing with pride. ''Yes people, this is my son. He's the best kid on earth,'' she thinks as she's looking around at the faces of the other people who're with them in the elevator. No one really seems to notice it, but Emma doesn't care.
As expected, Henry is full of excitement when they step out of the elevator. He points at every sight he knows and drags Emma up and down the observatory deck.
An hour later, they're back in their hotel room. Emma takes off her jacket and casually throws it on a chair.
Henry does the same. ''That was the most amazing night I've ever had! Thanks mom!''
Mom. He said mom to her. Emma freezes and looks at her son. ''You're welcome kid,'' she manages. He called her mom! She never would've thought that this moment would overwhelm her so much. She had constructed the walls around her for over the last 28 years and impenetrability had become her second nature. But Henry's words had such a huge impact on the blonde, that she almost could literally feel the bricks of the walls crumbling down around her. Her eyes turn watery, but she stays strong and doesn't let one tear escape.
After they both have brushed their teeth and put on their pajamas, they settle down in the Queen size bed.
Henry is so extremely tired that as soon as his head hits the pillow, he falls asleep.
Emma moves towards him and presses a gentle kiss on his temple.
Her son is slumbering peacefully and breathes softly.
The blonde casts one last look at him, puts her arms around him and closes her eyes. This was the most perfect night she'd ever had. For sure.
Okay guys what do you think? Did you like the bonding stuff between Emma and Henry? And what about the bit of Emma's backstory? What else would you like to see? I'm open to suggestions. PLEASE leave a review :))
P.s. It's not that I wanted to advertise for M&M's world, it's just that I visited it in New York a couple of years ago, and last year when I lived in London I visited the shop MULTIPLE times ;) And even though I'm 20years old, I still love it! Can only imagine what it must be like for an eleven-year old who's almost never been out of Storybrooke to visit it. So that's the reason for including it.