"Bae?" his mother questioned, her eyes wide and wet with tears.
Neal nodded, dropping his gaze, the adrenaline rush leaving as quickly as it had appeared. Fuck, he really didn't want anything to do with these two. "Leave Mama and Tiana alone. They didn't do anything wrong."
"Eudora is not your - "
"Yes she is!" Neal snapped, raising his head. "She's been more of a mother to me than you were in thirteen years! They didn't kidnap me. I escaped from you!"
Milah frowned. "I gave you everything, Bae! Food, clothing, shelter - "
"You know what I wanted more than any of those," Neal replied. "I wanted my father. I wanted a life! And not on a boat!"
"Your father was a dangerous man, Bae. We just wanted to protect you from him," Killian said. Neal had almost forgotten he and Adam were there.
He shook his head, eyes narrowing. "That's not true. I've met him myself. He's nothing like you described him. "He's a good man!"
Milah stared in horror. "Why would you ever meet with him?"
"I needed the truth, and I got it. You kidnapped me. Mama saved me from starvation and disease. She loves me and spent Thanksgiving with me, and in Storybrooke with Papa, his wife, and my little brother! It was the biggest, loudest Thanksgiving I've ever been to and it was awesome!"
"You ran away?" Uncle Adam questioned with a raised brow. "And Killian, you kidnapped him? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Adam, I - "
"You know I have to call this in."
"I'm your brother!"
Adam slowly shook his head and took out his phone, beginning to scroll through it. "No. You lied to me for over a decade. You kidnapped a child and have been on the run! I can't consider you a brother after this. I can't put my career on the line for you when it comes to this. I'm calling the F.B.I."
"You don't have to," Emma said, sauntering into the room with an air of superiority about her as she looked at Milah and Killian. "My dad already has. They're on their way here now."
Adam frowned. "And… who are you exactly?"
"Emma Nolan. I'm the Storybrooke sheriff's daughter."
Milah blanched again, as if she was hoping she would manage to escape despite everything she and Killian had done. For once, they were trapped without an escape route, and Neal felt tension ease as he sagged onto the couch. Emma followed, wrapping her arms around him and grounding him in the moment.
It was over. It was all over.
"Baelfire - "
"It's Neal!" he snapped, then winced. His uncle hadn't deserved his anger. "Sorry, Uncle Adam. What is it?"
Adam's eyes were heavy as he spoke. "Does Alice know who you are?"
"Yeah. She knows. I asked her to keep it quiet from you because I didn't want to risk Milah and Killian showing up before I was ready to reveal myself to Papa and the rest of the town," Neal said. "Turns out her girlfriend is Emma's cousin of sorts. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it secret for long."
Adam took a slow breath, then exhaled it. "Neal, I'm so sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn't talk to me about this. I would have been willing to help you - " he seemed to deliberately ignore the sounds of protest Killian and Milah made - "if I'd known."
Neal nodded slowly. "I know. I'm sorry, Uncle Adam. I just didn't know who I could trust. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, although I guess that plan blew up in my face. Mama, I'm so sor -"
"Don't you dare apologize, Neal," Eudora said firmly. "None of this is your fault."
It sure felt like it was. If he'd never come here, Eudora would have no reason to meet Killian and Milah, which would have spared her the awful things Milah had been spouting at her. She would have been safe from all of this chaos.
But he wasn't one to argue with his mother, so he swallowed back any argument, and instead dropped his head into his hands.
"I just can't believe Alice picked now to keep something secret. She's never been good at it," Adam joked, which broke some of the tension in the air.
"Maybe she's learning from Margot. She used to keep secrets from Aunt Zelena all the time," Emma replied with a small smile.
Adam shook his head in disbelief before he looked at Eudora. "Ma'am, I am so sorry we barged into your business like that. We very clearly had no reason to."
Eudora wrinkled her nose. "You I suppose I'll forgive, since Neal always spoke so highly of you and your daughter. But I cannot or will not say the same for your brother and his wife."
"I understand. I'll get them both out of your hair. Mr. la Bouff, if you could lend me a hand?"
Eli looked more than ready to haul the two out of the apartment, and grabbed Milah's arm. "It would be my pleasure."
"Bae - please," Milah pleaded. "I want you to know everything I've done has been for you. I just wanted to keep you safe!"
Neal shook his head. "I'm safer away from you than I was with you."
Milah looked devastated as she was dragged from the apartment, the sound of her footsteps fading, but Neal couldn't feel anything but relief.
"I can see why you ran away, Neal," Tiana said. "That woman's a little intense."
"I'm sorry. I didn't want any of this to happen."
Eudora sighed and moved to the couch to pull him in for a hug. "What's done is done. We can't take back the past… but I hope you know this means you're going to have to go to court and explain everything, and trials can take a while."
"It's okay. I'm ready to do whatever it takes to keep them away from me, and from Papa and Belle." He didn't want to imagine what might happen if Milah got wind of his father's second wife and son. "But uh, hey Emma, where are the others?"
"Downstairs. Charlotte's with them."
"Neal, how'd you even know to come back here?" Tiana asked. "You guys had a full day planned out…"
"Tamara called." When Tiana pulled a face of disgust, he sighed. "Look, if she hadn't called, I wouldn't have known what was going on. I wouldn't have known that you needed help."
"Ugh, from her of all people though?"
"What exactly is wrong with her?" Emma asked with a frown. "It's not like you to seem so disgusted by someone."
"She only cheated on Neal the night of prom," Tiana said with a roll of her eyes. "So yeah, I don't exactly like her."
"Oh. Uh. I see." Emma paused to chew her lip again. "Neal, are you sure you're okay?"
He nodded slowly, feeling the adrenaline leaving his body. "I'm okay. I promise. Better now that it's finally over. I hope this didn't ruin the trip for you guys."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Come on, Neal, do you really think that's our main concern when Storybrooke's two most notorious criminals have actually been caught? And our friend was hurt by them? You didn't ruin anything. They did."
Eudora nodded, rubbing a hand along his back. "That's right. Now, how about I make us some lunch, hm? You all said you wanted to try my homemade dirty rice."
"Yes, we did, that's right!" Emma said with a bright smile. "Do you want us to help or anything?"
It had been one of the rare food-related things the group had been able to agree on.
Eudora smiled and reached to put her hair out of her way. "Alright then. Emma, get your friends up here and we'll have a celebration of your freedom."
Emma grinned. "Yes ma'am."
Neal sighed and leaned back against the couch, withdrawing his phone from his pocket. "I guess I should tell Papa and Belle what happened."
"You want me to be there with you?" Eudora asked.
Neal nodded and rose to his feet, going into Eudora's bedroom with her while Tiana began to get ingredients for lunch out.
"Oh Bae, are you alright?" his father asked after the first ring. "That woman didn't do anything to you, did she?"
"I'm fine. You knew she found me?"
"Of course I did. David was at my shop when he got the call from Emma, he thought it best to tell me instead of me finding out on my own and taking my own flight to New Orleans."
The threat in Papa's voice was clear, and he tried not to make the shudder obvious. "He's right. I wouldn't want both of my biological parents to be in prison."
"Milah would not be in prison, Baelfire."
"Right, of course not." That was even worse to imagine. He would still be losing his father far too soon after finding him, and the thought made his stomach turn, even if Milah didn't deserve nice things anymore.
His father sighed. "You're sure you're okay? They didn't hurt you?"
"I'm sure. I think Mama and Tiana are more shaken up about it than I am. I feel awful that I wasn't here to intercept them."
"It's not your job to protect them, Bae. Besides, they're strong women, and beloved in their community. No one would believe them capable of kidnapping you," he said with a soft laugh. "Now that they've finally been caught, I feel like I'm going to be able to sleep tonight."
"Yeah. Me too. But Papa, there's something else I need to tell you. You know Margot's girlfriend Alice?"
Papa made a noise that sounded like he was trying to think of who Neal was talking about. "Ah, yes, the girl that seems to be obsessed with marmalade. She's at the Nolan farm quite often. What about her?"
"She's my cousin. She's Killian's niece. Please don't be mean to her. She didn't know until I told her a couple months ago," he explained. "She was the only one in the family I really felt I could relax around, and she's really important to me. And her dad… I just found out he didn't know anything either."
Papa sighed on the other end of the line. "Alright. For you, son, I won't start treating her poorly."
"Thank you. I'll see you when we get back to Storybrooke."
"Baelfire, now that this is over, I want you to enjoy the rest of your vacation. You deserve to relax now that she's been captured."
Neal didn't correct his use of his birth name, and instead smiled though his father couldn't see it. "Thank you, I will Papa. Bye."
Ending the call, Neal let out another sigh before he turned to open the door, stepping into the living room feeling more free than he had in years. It was an odd feeling, but it felt good. He didn't even care what happened during the trial, and pushed it from his mind as he helped Tiana and Eudora get lunch started.
"Neal."
He turned in surprise. Their trip had come to an end and they were waiting for their flight back to Maine. Mama and Tiana had dropped them off not too long ago, and there was no way either of them were waiting for them now.
"Uncle Adam…" he said. He could sense the others behind him tense up, their conversations ceasing immediately as they followed his gaze. "What are you doing here?"
Adam held up his free hand, the other busy clutching a duffel bag. "I'm not here to try and convince you to call your mother in jail."
Milah, of course, had been unable to reach Neal since she was taken away by the federal agents, and Neal suspected she had been calling Uncle Adam instead.
"Then what are you doing here? Especially with a bag?" Neal asked.
"Alice invited me to Storybrooke. I'll be there until the trial is over. This was the first plane that had a seat to Augusta still available," he explained. "Don't worry, I'm not here to cause any trouble for you and your friends. We're just flying on the same plane together."
Neal felt, rather than saw, his friends' eyes narrow, but he waved them off. "I believe you. And I believe that anything you say won't get back to Milah." They hadn't exactly had time to talk after Milah and Killian had been dragged downstairs at the restaurant. "Come on, you can sit with us until it's time to board."
Though Lily kept glaring at him, Adam took a seat at the end of the benches. "So you're all from Storybrooke then? You're all friends?"
"Yeah," Emma said. "We've pretty much known each other since we were born. You're Killian's brother? How couldn't you have known what happened?"
Adam shrugged. "Killian has always loved the sea, so him living in a houseboat made the most logical sense. When Milah said she was hiding her son from an abusive father, I didn't think it was my business to question it. I realize now that I should have."
"I'm not mad at you, Uncle Adam. I never would have met Mama and Tiana otherwise, and wouldn't have ended up in Storybrooke when I did. For all I know, they would have dragged me to Florida or something. I know Alice's mom wasn't exactly great, so you'd be more willing to believe in someone saying someone else was abusive," Neal said. "But you aren't going to testify for them, right?"
Adam shook his head, looking more exhausted than Neal had ever seen him. "Of course not. If I'm called, I'll tell them the truth, nothing more, nothing less."
"Er… what happened regarding Alice's mom?" Emma asked with a frown. "I mean, my cousin is dating her so I just wanted to know if there's something Zelena needs to watch out for in the future."
Adam laughed softly under his breath and shook his head. "No, I doubt Eloise will go anywhere near Storybrooke or Alice at all. She never really wanted a child, but thought she could turn Alice into a miniature version of herself. Alice, well, you've met her. She's a free spirit who can't be anything she doesn't want to be. Eloise hated it and left when Alice was a few years old. Alice still visits her sometimes, but… they don't exactly have a picture perfect relationship."
"Ugh, that's terrible! Alice doesn't deserve that!" Emma said with a frown. "But… that does explain why you would be reluctant to question anything about Milah and your brother. I know I wouldn't believe my brother was capable of doing something stupid until he actually did. Like when he went into the Storybrooke Mines and got trapped. Because he's an idiot."
Adam relaxed a little. "Alice told me about that. I'm glad he's doing better."
"You know, uh - that was actually Neal's first call with the SFD," Roland said. "My dad said he handled it like a pro."
"Of course he did," Adam replied, putting a hand on Neal's shoulder and squeezing it gently. "He's my nephew after all."
Neal smiled. "Yeah. And nothing's gonna change that."
Despite everything, despite how he might have wished he'd been able to be raised in Storybrooke with Papa, and eventually Belle and Gideon, that wasn't his life, and he couldn't be mad at the whole way it turned out. Despite living on the run, he'd had Uncle Adam and Alice, two people he couldn't imagine his life without. And that life had led to him meeting Eudora and Tiana, and life without them sounded awful.
Neal exhaled, feeling his shoulders relax as the others seemed to warm up to Adam more, and wrapped an arm around Emma's shoulders.
He didn't know what his life would bring next, but now that Milah and Killian were in jail for their crimes, and probably not likely to get out any time soon, he was actually looking forward to what the future would bring.
I need to talk to you. It's important.
The text had Neal's stomach plummeting worse than it had the day his mother found him at the restaurant, and when the verdict had come in during her trial. While that had turned out to be fine (Milah and Killian had gotten life in prison, and weren't up for parole for thirty years), there was something about this text from Emma that had his stomach rolling uncomfortably.
Okay. I'll be at the park in ten.
The very same park where they'd had that ice skating date two years ago. It felt like a lifetime ago now, but that park had become almost a hiding spot for the two of them, when they wanted to get away from the pressures of their family or from work or school, in Emma's case.
He took a seat on one of the benches and scrolled through his phone, trying to look calm as he waited for Emma to arrive. One of the things he'd learned in his two years of being in Storybrooke was that people caught on quickly to suspicious activity, so he tried to look as normal as possible as he waited for Emma.
"Let's go for a walk," Emma said as she approached him. She looked pale and very, very worried.
"Are you sure you don't want to just go home?" he questioned as he stood and began to follow her along the quieter, less-used walking path. "You really don't look good, Emma."
"I don't feel good and I don't exactly have good news," she said, stopping when they were alone and sitting on a bench. "I don't even know how to start this conversation…"
Neal frowned and took a seat next to her, an arm wrapping around her shoulder again. "Sometimes it's easier to just… blurt things out."
Emma ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."
It felt like the ground gave way despite him sitting down. "You're - I - are you sure?"
"I took three tests. I'm sure."
Neal sighed deeply. Fuck. How could that have happened?
Wait.
The day the verdict had come in, and they'd gotten confirmation that Milah and Killian were going away for good, Lily had thrown a party at her new apartment. He and Emma had managed to sneak away and -
Oh.
"Shit," he said, exhaling slowly. "Okay, uh. So what do we do?"
Emma shrugged weakly. "I don't know. Um. What do you want to do?"
"I don't want to leave you, obviously."
"You don't?"
"Of course not!"
Emma swallowed thickly. "Okay. Good, because I don't want to leave you either. So then… what do we do?"
"Well… we have to tell our families first and foremost. Even if they'll kill us," he said. "And I guess… we should get a place together. I wouldn't feel right about forcing my brother or your siblings to live with a baby since they're still in high school."
Emma nodded. "Yeah, you're right. But how are we supposed to tell them?"
"I… don't know."
They sat together in silence, the chilly late November air washing over both of them and doing nothing to help their nerves.
"Well… Thanksgiving is tomorrow, right? We could tell them then," Emma suggested. "And then pray they're too full or too tipsy to be too mad at us. And your mom and sister will be there too, so you don't have to worry about calling them later."
She had a fair point, even if the thought of telling every single member of his family at once was absolutely terrifying. On the other hand, nothing about this was exactly something he thought was going to happen - not now, when he was only twenty - so he never actually had any idea of how he would handle a situation like this.
"Okay," he agreed. "We'll tell them tomorrow."
Thanksgiving came, and after the chaos that was the parade through the main square, everyone made their way to the large Nolan farmhouse for dinner. It was odd to think that this time next year, there would be a baby with them. They could actually get in line to get a picture with Santa and do the crafts that had popped up all over the town before the holiday, and would show up before Christmas.
"Emma, are you okay?" he heard Mary-Margaret ask. "You've hardly touched your food."
"I'm just not very hungry I guess."
"That's surprising. What, are you pregnant or something?" Bobby joked. Laughter erupted from he and Eva, but Emma remained quiet.
"Oh come on, Emma, you always laugh at that joke," Eva said. "Wait. You're not actually - "
"Yes, I am!" Emma snapped. "I'm pregnant!"
Neal desperately wished for a portal to another dimension would swallow him whole with the look David shot him, the room falling into a stunned silence.
"Wait - what?" Mary-Margaret asked, face even more white than it naturally was. "Emma, you're pregnant?"
Emma nodded weakly. "I found out yesterday."
"Neal?" his father asked, and Neal felt himself unconsciously shrink down in his seat. "Did you know about this?"
"She told me yesterday, yeah," he confirmed. "We - we talked about it though, and we've got a plan."
"Is that so?" David questioned.
Emma took a deep breath. "I don't wanna make things hard for Bobby and Eva when it comes to school, so Neal and I are gonna move in together. I started looking at places last night."
David pressed his lips together. "And you're sure this is what you really want?"
"Yes dad! I love him, and I want to raise this baby with him."
"I want it too. I want to be the father I didn't have. I want the baby to grow up with a huge, loving family, and I want to be there for everything," Neal said. "We know we're young, but we really do want this baby."
The older adults at the table were silent, until -
"Walsh is setting up an internship at his lab. Paid, of course. I'll put your name in, Emma," Zelena said, taking a sip of wine.
"I'll see what I can do about your pay, Neal. See if you're on course for a raise," came Robin's voice, a warm smile on his face.
"Wait - what?" Emma asked, sitting up straighter in her chair. "Aunt Zelena, really?"
"Of course. Babies are expensive, you know, and as much as I like Granny's onion rings, her wages won't be enough."
Robin nodded. "Zelena's right. You say you don't want to make things hard on the family, Emma, but helping people is what we do."
"Well then," Papa said, apparently having found his voice. "I would like to propose a toast to Emma, Neal, and their little bundle of joy."
Neal looked around as everyone raised their glasses. Papa, Belle, Gideon, Mama, Tiana, Uncle Adam, Alice, Margot, Zelena, Robin, Regina, Roland, Eva, Mary-Margaret, David, and Emma. People who had taken him in and embraced him as one of their own, even when he had been a complete stranger to them. How lucky he'd been, to run into people like that, to find a place to call home after everything he'd been through with Milah.
The baby wouldn't have to worry about that though. Neal vowed that no matter what happened, the baby would always have a place to call home.