CHAPTER 7

Emma sent Regina upstairs to lay down since she had become tired after having lunch. Then she and Henry became embroiled in a video game playoff. So when the doorbell rang Emma had to run to get it before it woke up Regina.

She opened the door and shouldn't have been surprised by what she saw. Of course her parents would try and find some way to ruin things as they always did.

Snow pulled back the curtains that separated their bed from the rest of the loft apartment. She found Emma passed out on the sofa fully clothed.

Snow clucked and began to collect an errant shoe that Emma had slipped out of before passing out. It looked like she'd thrown it across the room. She placed it beside her. Emma didn't even stir.

David came out and joined her. They stood looking down at their daughter sprawled out on the sofa. David smiled. "Ever thought we'd get to this place?" He reached out and pulled his wife into an embrace kissing the top of her head.

Snow returned his kiss upon his lips and his embrace. "Why don't we go out for breakfast? That way we won't wake her up." Thankfully Henry had spent the night with Neal. He wasn't expected home until later that night.

Snow had invited Neal over to dinner with them. Henry enjoyed having all of his family around him just as his grandparents did. He had taken to giving Emma a wide berth anyway. She tended to get angry anytime he made a disparaging comment against Regina.

The Charmings had been concerned about this ever since they found out that the two of them had been intimate. They just couldn't figure out how to deal with that information. I mean, Regina was their sworn enemy. She'd tried killing Snow repeatedly. Although the fact that she never succeeded was always a little strange even to them. Still, they couldn't allow their daughter to be anymore involved with her.

So they'd enlisted the help of their best friend and ally, the Blue Fairy. She'd been able to help put Emma's mind to rest. And Emma had been drinking more but at least she wasn't around her anymore. They would help heal their daughter's heart. Then maybe Neal, Henry, and Emma could try again at being a family. They couldn't have planned a happier ending.

They got dressed and were on their way out when Emma began to stir. "Emma, honey, Dad and I were going to get breakfast. But if you wanted to come along then we'll wait for you to get dressed."

Emma just stared at her with venom in her eyes. If Snow wasn't so naturally oblivious she would've recognized it as a danger sign. "No," she growled.

"Oh. Well, we'll just bring you something back then honey. You might want to take a shower and brush your teeth while we're gone. You should really clean yourself up."

Emma picked herself up from the half lying position she was in and stood working the kinks out of her body. Her head was pounding and that didn't bode well for what she knew had to come next. "Don't bother. I won't be here. I just came to get Henry and our things. And then we're leaving." She made her way on unsteady legs into the kitchen and began fumbling around for some headache meds.

Now Snow and David were alarmed. "Emma what are you talking about? You know you live here."

"Not anymore we don't." Emma finally found what she was looking for and dry swallowed 2 of them. Then thought a second and took 2 more. "We're going to move into Granny's until I can find a place for us."

Now David stepped forward. "Emma what's going on with you? If this is all about Regina again - ."

Emma pounded her fist on the counter, "You're damned straight this is about Regina! And you two. And MY baby." Her parents exchanged an anxious look. "Yes, I know all about you and that blue mothball conspiring to keep my child away from me. Telling me that Regina cheated on me! Lying to me!" Emma yelled. Her body was vibrating from pure rage.

Emma rounded the counter and stood shaking in front of her parents. Her fists were clenched as she continued yelling, "Just because you two don't mind abandoning infants doesn't mean I ever would! This is a whole new low for you all! And I thought your previous lows were into uncharted depths."

Her parents flinched. "Emma, we did this for your own good. I know it's hard to understand but you shouldn't be tied to that woman. I know you think she can be reformed but we've known her longer. You just don't understand what she's done like we do," David put his hand on his daughter's shoulder who promptly shrugged it off.

Emma shook her head and stared at them with revulsion all over her face. Unfortunately for her, her parents weren't the type of people to notice other people's feelings or pain. They stood there as if their pathetic explanation made perfect logical sense. They honestly expected her to walk away from her own child as if it was just a minor inconvenience to them.

"Regina was right about you two. How in the hell did I ever miss that?" Emma threw back her head and laughed. "She's always right. I should've known. You two are the most oblivious, selfish, entitled, self-righteous, judgmental people I've ever met in my life. If it doesn't correlate to what you want then for the two of you it just doesn't even exist. No wonder you're so happy all the time. Ignorance is bliss was designed specifically for you two!" Emma shook her head and turned to go upstairs.

"What are you doing Emma?" Snow asked in outrage as if she was the one who had been wronged here.

"I'm going to pack our stuff. I told you, we're moving over to Granny's. And hopefully we'll be able to find our own place soon."

"And how do you think Henry's going to feel about that?"

Emma turned back and marched up to them. "Here's the thing. He's a kid. And he's going to learn that to be a fact. As soon as I get him away from you two I'm hoping he'll go back to being that sweet little boy who came to me on my birthday. Instead of the mini monster you two have been pushing him to be. Because right now he's really liked about as much as you two are."

"Just because you love her," Snow spat the words out. Emma just cocked an eyebrow at her, "that's no reason for you to destroy our family. We're your family. She can only cause you pain and misery. This baby is just one more thing for her to use to hold over your head. She's not capable of love."

Emma got into Snow's face. "And yet we created a life out of that love. Wasn't it you two who said True Love can't lie? Explain that one will you?!" At Snow's hesitation Emma smirked, "Yeah, I didn't think that you could." She turned and went upstairs. She began packing her stuff quickly. She still traveled light from her nomad days. Then she set to work on Henry's stuff before jumping into the shower and cleaning herself up.

She put their stuff in her car while her parents stood watching. They were just waiting for her to say one word to them but Emma wouldn't give them the pleasure. She ignored them completely. She took Snow's key off her chain and left it on the table before walking out forever.

"What do you two want?" Emma narrowed her eyes at them. She was still angry over their manipulating her and her life. They were always making selfish decisions for her and she was tired of their interference in her life. First they abandoned her as an infant so that she could be their Savior. Now they had tried to separate her from her own child. Once having parents was all that she'd ever wanted. But since having them in her life, things hadn't improved at all for her. No matter how hard she worked at being what they wanted, one, both or all three of them were left unhappy. Emma was tired of that being her. She had now had to go to extreme lengths to correct their screw-ups.

"We came by to check on you and see how things were going. We are still your parents Emma even if you are angry with us," Snow had already invited herself inside. She walked into the living room and took a seat. "Hi Henry," she smiled over at her grandson.

Henry looked uncomfortably between his Mom and grandparents. He wasn't sure what was about to happen but the tension in the air was so thick it was hard to breathe. They hadn't really sat and talked for a while. "Hi," he answered uncertainly. He turned off the game console and excused himself, "I'm going to go to my room for a bit."

David walked in and sat beside Snow.

Emma walked into the room with her arms defiantly crossed. "I meant what I said. If you can't accept this as the way things are then you can just leave now."

Snow and David exchanged uneasy glances.

David cleared his throat, "Emma, we're family. Small disagreements can't change that. Or our love for you. We're going to be here for you no matter what." He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Even if that means you and Regina - ," David threw his hands in the air at a loss for how to describe the situation they'd found themselves in.

Emma let out a big sigh. She sank into the armchair across from them. "We are together. And we're staying that way. I'm moving in here and we're going to be a family. The way we should've always been," Emma wasn't completely ready to forget. But she really did want all this tension between them gone. She just wanted everyone to be happy.

Snow chewed on her bottom lip. "And what if Regina regains her memories? Have you thought about that?"

Emma averted her face. "Gold swore that wouldn't happen."

"This is Regina," she tried explaining to her parents once again. "This is who she'd be if there wasn't all that fighting and crap between everyone. I haven't changed her. Just what she remembered about the bad times."

David and Snow exchanged distressed glances, "Emma we are the sum of our experiences. You changing them, changed her."

Emma shook her head, "She's happy now. We all are. And no one's going to change that. Because this is the way it always should have been. If you two could grow up and let go of the past, we could've come to this place a lot sooner."

"She's the one who cursed us!" Snow protested.

"And you abandoned me!" Emma threw back at her. "That was almost 30 years ago. We all have our crosses to bear. I got over it. It's time you did too."

Snow looked like she wanted to continue arguing but David placed a supportive hand upon her knee remind her of what they'd agreed upon before coming here. She took a deep breath and nodded, "Then we'll support you. But know that we don't like any of this one bit."

Emma smiled at her parents, "All I ask is that you try." She was just happy to have gotten over this hurdle. She would let the rest sort itself out in time.