Longer wait, but longer chapter. I'm celebrating today because I love the holidays, but not the craziness that results, and it's finally behind us. Also, I'm caught up on open orders for my Etsy store, the theater has slowed down, and I scheduled THE appointment to have my braces removed. YES! 'The one with the braces' will no longer be my identifier at work when customers are looking for me. That's right - I wear a name badge, and it will finally be used! :) 2013 is behind us! For me, a bad, bad, bad year full of badness with tiny patches of awesome that I can't even describe. My New Years resolution this year is for it simply not to suck. Things are looking up! This chapter isn't as fluffy, but should still make you smile once or twice. Thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites! I will never tire of saying thank you, thank you, thank you! They are forever appreciated!

Holiday Spirit

Chapter 5

David went to put his phone in his pocket, but looked down in irritation when he couldn't find one – he was still wearing pajamas.

"Damn it," he cursed. "I need clothes."

"What's going on?" Regina asked as he brushed past her, heading for the stairs.

"Something's wrong – Emma doesn't know where Snow is. I'm going out."

Regina started to follow him up, but felt a tug on her leg as small arms wrapped around them. Looking down, she found Ellie staring up at her. "Where's daddy going?" she asked.

"He has something important to do," she told the toddler, not able to bring herself to use the word Daddy in reference to David. She could accept these children - had already accepted them - but thinking of David as their father was still too much. "He'll be back." She hoped. She frowned at the thought that she actually wanted David to return, but five children was a handful, especially when she was only used to caring for one. "Let's go find your brother," she said, extending her hand. The girl latched on easily, allowing Regina to lead her back to the living room.

"Mom?" Henry asked, coming over to her. "Where's David?"

"He's upstairs changing. Emma called and he's going to meet her."

"I should go, too," he decided, moving toward the stairs, but Regina released Ellie's hand and caught his wrist, shaking her head.

"I think it would be best if you stayed here."

"But...wait...why?" He'd noticed her expression and suddenly understood that something was wrong. "What's happening? Is everybody okay?"

"Everything will be fine, but I need your help here, Henry."

"This is my fault!" he cried. "Everything that's happening is because of that stupid wish I made. I should never have opened my mouth. I want to go with David and help. It's my job to fix this."

"Henry..." she said softly, and sighed, feeling the weight of everything starting to settle on her, "There is nothing you can do right now. Except hold your brother for me so I can go talk to David. And look after the other three for just a minute."

They looked at each other then, realizing how absurd it all sounded. And Regina wasn't fond of the idea of leaving an eleven year old in charge of four young children for even a few seconds, regardless of the age of the body he was trapped in. But she was starting to feel trapped as well, and she needed to take a second. "Please?" she added. "It's just for a minute."

He finally nodded and reached out awkwardly to take Benjamin from her.

"Put your hand under him like this," Regina instructed, showing him how to hold the baby and making sure he had a good hold on him before letting go. "There. Just like that."

"This is so weird," Henry said, repeating the words from earlier. He looked at Benjamin. "He looks like you guys. You and David, I mean."

"I know," Regina nodded, her voice sounding a little strained.

"I think I must have wished wrong or something. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. But we'll fix it, right? And then grandpa will be with grandma and it'll be like nothing happened, right?"

Regina glanced at where Ellie and Oliver were playing on the floor with Isabella and even though she tried to stop it, the thought hurt her heart. She had to remember that none of this was real. She nodded, smiling tightly at Henry. "Of course. I'll be right back."

With one last glance, she followed after where David had gone. She'd expected to find a whirlwind of activity as David rushed out to meet Emma, but when she knocked softly before pushing open the door, she instead found him standing frozen in the middle of the walk-in closet, still clad in his pajamas. "David?"

"I live here," he said simply.

She moved to join him and found the focus of his current stare; his clothes organized neatly on one side of the closet. "It would appear that way, yes."

"This can't be real," he emphasized. "How could Henry's wish have been so grossly misinterpreted?"

Despite the fact that she agreed with him, she found herself feeling defensive. "Well this is certainly not what I wanted, either," she snapped. "I'm just as stuck as you are." She grew angrier at the fact that he was acting the part of sole victim. "I didn't have anything to do with this, you know - and I didn't ask for it to happen. Like you, I'm eager to fix this, but you don't see me whining and insulting you."

That grabbed his attention and he turned his head to look at her. "I'm not whining!" He defended. "I just don't understand how any of this is possible! And of course you're not complaining - you're getting a family you'd never have otherwise." He regretted the words immediately, and he saw her expression falter a bit, but she held it together and he swallowed back his apology. He needed to keep perspective. "You don't seem too eager to me. Seems more like you enjoy what's happening."

"I'm plenty eager," she said, her expression darkening. "The sooner we fix this, the better." In that, she was being honest. She was already attached to the children, and she'd only spent a few minutes with them. She could only imagine how much she could grow to love them if she spent much time with them, and that would only make it more painful when it ended. She didn't think she'd be able to distance herself from them - they were innocent children, just as she'd explained to David - but she was going to have to be more careful about being around them.

"It didn't look that way earlier," David told her skeptically. "I saw the way you were looking at Benjamin."

"Yes, the way you were looking at Ellie," she shot back.

They both stewed in silence, angry with each other, with the situation, and that they weren't able to do something about it.

"I have to go," David said.

"Fine with me."

"I need to change."

"Whatever." She slammed the door to the closet as she moved out into the bedroom. She bit her lip for a moment, not wanting to ask the question, but after a moment of deliberation, deciding she needed the answer about the same as she knew it would hurt her pride. "Are you coming back?" she asked loudly enough to be heard through the door.

There was only the sound of rustling clothes for a minute, and then the door opened, revealing a fully dressed David. "What?"

"When you..." she waved her hand, "When you find Snow or whatever...will you come back so that we can work this out and find a solution?" He was staring at her and she felt self-conscious, so she continued. "I don't think I can look after five kids and solve this, and the sooner I can do that, the sooner we'll be done with all of this."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can watch them when you need it. When I find Snow, I'll..." he scrubbed a hand across his face. "Well, I'll tell her something. She's going to hate this as much as I do, but she'd help children no matter what. I'm sure she'd agree to taking them in and..." but he trailed off as he caught the expression on Regina's face - murderous - and he replayed the words in his head, realizing how they sounded; she couldn't be trusted with children and they'd be doing a charity taking them into their house to get them away from Regina. He cursed inwardly at his complete lack of tact thus far, and this time, felt the need to say something. "Regina, I-"

"I'll be fine on my own," she said, her tone dangerously low. "You go find Snow and Emma, and don't worry about coming back. You'll get what you wanted. I'll let you know when I find something."

"Regina-"

"You should go now." Her tone left no room for argument, and he immediately recognized the woman in front of him; this was more like the Evil Queen he'd known in the Enchanted Forest. He'd said the wrong thing one too many times that morning, and she'd run out of patience. He wasn't afraid of her, but he recognized that saying anything more at this point would do nothing to help - it would only make the already bad situation worse, and he had to think about the children he was leaving with her. She wouldn't hurt them - he was almost positive about that, but he knew she wouldn't be pleasant to be around if he darkened her mood any further.

Nodding, he brushed past her and left without a word.

"David!" Henry called, hurrying down the path after him, Benjamin still in his arms. David didn't stop until he'd reached the street, looking for his truck, but it wasn't there. In fact, he realized, he didn't even have keys.

"What?" he snapped, spinning on his heel to face him. His face softened as Henry took a small step back. "I'm sorry Henry, I just...This has been quite the morning."

Henry opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally being able to speak, and the sudden watery shine in his eyes didn't go unnoticed. "I'm really, really sorry," he said miserably.

Benjamin seemed to pick up on the change in the atmosphere and let out a small whimper, his eyes tearing up and his face starting to crumple and redden. He put a balled hand up to his face, rubbing his eyes as he finally let out a wail.

Henry tensed immediately, looking at David in absolute panic. "What do I do?"

"Here," David said, reaching for the baby, and Henry eagerly handed him over.

"I'm sorry," David sighed, bouncing Ben and rubbing his back. "I'm sorry, buddy. Everything's alright." As the child's crying ceased, David wished it were all as simple as saying everything was fine. He looked over to the other hurt child. "Henry, stop blaming yourself. I don't blame you; your mom doesn't blame you. We know you didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Henry nodded, but didn't look any better about any of it.

"Come here." David pulled him in with his free arm, hugging him tightly and giving his back a firm pat. "It's going to be okay." He felt Henry nodding, and deciding to lighten the mood, he chuckled. "You know, you're almost as tall as I am now."

Henry let out a small laugh. "Everything looks really small now. Even mom. I never noticed how much shorter she was than everyone else."

Letting him go, David gave his shoulder a nudge. "Your mom will have this figured out in no time, just you wait. Now..." he looked around the street. "I just have to find my truck. First we'd better get this little guy back inside," he said, looking down at Ben. "It's freezing out here and he's not bundled up." As they walked back to the house together, David glanced over at Henry again. "I know you want to come with me, but I need you here. Regina can't look after these kids on her own - she'll need your help."

"Yeah." Henry slouched. "That's what mom said."

"Your mom's right on this one."

"Are you gonna come back?" he asked nervously.

"I'm going to help." It wasn't really an answer, but David didn't want to lie to him - he hadn't decided exactly what he was going to do yet. He wasn't going to abandon the situation all together, but that was as far as he'd gone in the decision making process. He wanted to continue seeing these children, but he was afraid, and the argument that had taken place upstairs reminded him that he was not the only one. Regardless of how he – or Regina, for that matter – felt about it, they were going to have to work together on this, which meant they were now faced with the seemingly impossible task of making something work.

David shivered as he closed the door behind them. "It's definitely still December." He was still holding Ben tightly against him, sheltering him from the brisk winter air, and as he began the search for his keys, he rubbed his back, making sure he warmed up from the few minutes outside.

"I thought you left."

David turned to look at Regina, standing in the foyer staring down at him.

"I have to find my keys."

Coming down the few steps, she wordlessly pulled out the drawer in the small table by the door. He stepped closer and leaned over, seeing a pile of car keys. There were two sets definitely not belonging to his truck, and he suddenly wondered if he even had it now, but then he spotted the familiar keyring tucked under one of the other sets. Pulling it out, he glanced at Regina. "Thanks."

She nodded. "You're going to be late."

He started a bit, realizing that with all of the distractions, his ten minutes was probably more than up, and he needed to get going. He put his hand on the doorknob, but then remembered Ben. Turning around, he found Regina a step ahead of him, arms already out to take the baby from him. "Right," he said awkwardly. He couldn't avoid his arm brushing against Regina as he leaned toward her, passing Ben over, and he straightened immediately. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye, Daddy!"

He looked past Regina to where the three children had spoken simultaneously and were waving at him.

"Um. Bye." He smiled at them before hurrying out the door. The first thing he noticed was the van in the driveway and he shivered at the thought of driving such a vehicle – of being domestic in any form with Regina, but then he spotted his truck, and for the first time that morning it was something familiar. He smiled. Emma was going to kill him for keeping her waiting, and he was worried about Snow, but he allowed himself to forget about the events of the morning for a few short minutes in the familiar comfort of his truck.

He needn't have worried. David arrived at the diner twenty minutes late, but there was no Emma in sight. There were plenty of others, however. In fact, Granny's was unusually packed and full of noise, and once he'd determined his daughter was not among the crowd, he began to notice that the din was the sound of panicked citizens. Tuning in more carefully to the conversations going on around him, he made his way toward an empty corner to wait.

It appeared the Mills' house was not the only that morning to have had its occupants wake to a different life.

"Oh my god, there you are!"

Before David knew what was happening, an obviously frazzled Ruby was pushing him behind the counter and back toward the kitchen. When they'd rounded the corner, blocking them from the curious stares of the diner's occupants, she let go. "What the hell is going on?!"

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently. He was beginning to think that whatever Henry had done had affected the whole town, not just the immediate family, and he wasn't about to rat his grandson out.

"This, David!" she cried, holding up her left hand and pointing to it with her right. "Do you know anything about any of this?"

He blinked at the ring circling her ring finger and looked up at her. "I'm still playing catch-up," he said lamely. "What exactly is happening?"

"Nobody knows! That's just it. I woke up next to Dr. Whale this morning...Whale! I thought I just got way, way too drunk last night, and he figured the same thing until Granny came to get me to help with the diner because it had exploded with people. Everyone's been using this as the central base for crazy town. The things that are going on are so beyond having a Vegas moment. Some people have kids, David. Like actual, look like them, call them Mommy and Daddy kids. Overnight. It's impossible. I mean, I know magic does things – crazy things – but this seems a little far-fetched even for us, don't you think?"

David nodded a little absently, his mind trying to work out why Henry's wish had affected everyone and wondering how they were ever going to figure it out – especially now that they'd have the whole town breathing down their necks. But he realized that it wasn't to that point yet. No one knew what was going on, and they didn't have to know the exact details…

"What about you?"

"Huh?" he looked up at her, not having heard the question.

"Anything weird happen to you and Snow?"

"Uhhh…"

"Has anyone seen David?"

David breathed a sigh of relief when Emma's loud and desperate question broke through the crowd, keeping him from having to answer Ruby's question.

"Over here," he called back, stepping back out into view. As he moved closer, he noticed her arm was pulled back at an awkward angle and he followed it down, stopping in his tracks when he saw why. A small hand was wrapped tightly around hers, tugging at her arm as they moved through the crowd. A second later, the child attached to the arm appeared and he knew instantly that it was Emma's daughter. She looked four or five with wavy blonde hair past her shoulders. It was clipped back in little pink barrettes, pulling it away from a face that bared a striking resemblance to Emma herself.

"Grandpa!" The girl exclaimed, letting go of Emma's hand and running up to David, wrapping her arms around his middle and hugging him tightly.

He hesitantly returned the hug, keeping his eyes on Emma. "This is your—"

"Yeah, I know," Emma said. "Neal is totally flipping out, so I had to bring her, and she wasn't exactly willing to stay behind anyway, but I—"

"Neal?"

"Yeah…I know." She exhaled heavily, closing her eyes for an extra second. "Believe me, I know. But right now I'm worried about Henry and Mary-Margaret. Neither of them are at the apartment, and their stuff is gone. I don't just mean clothes, I mean everything. The bed, the couch – there are still a few framed pictures of us, but other than that, it's like they never existed!"

"Henry's okay," David told her, immediately feeling guilty. "I should have told you on the phone. He was with me."

Emma's shoulders dropped in relief even as she clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes at him. "Yeah, you should have. I've been completely freaking out!"

"But Mommy," her daughter piped up, "I told you Henr—"

"Yeah, he was at Regina's house, I know. But I needed to know for sure, and look – he was with David instead." Her face softened when she looked down at the girl. "I'm sorry. I was just worried." She bent down when her daughter continued to frown. "I'm really sorry, Olivia. I've had a very weird morning, but it's not your fault, and I shouldn't take it out on you. I'm still worried about Mary Margaret."

"Grandma?" Olivia asked, brightening immediately. "But I know where she is, too!"

"You do?" Emma asked. She cursed herself for not having taken an extra second to listen to the little girl sooner, but Olivia had her full attention now; David's as well.

"Yeah…" she said, looking between them with growing confusion. "She's home."