A/n: I am so sorry for the wait...I couldn't bring myself to write no matter how hard I tried. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I did add a little bit of a reference to the cast's awesomeness a week ago. You're awesome if you catch it.
Emma was usually thrilled on sundays because she didn't have to stay late at the office. After 5pm on Sundays she could go home and her pager would be on just incase there was an emergency, but there usually wasn't.
But this Sunday, she was actually dreading it. When Neal turned up at the apartment drunk last night she didn't know what to think. In giving him her address she expected a fuming Neal, maybe even a broken Neal who needed a shoulder to cry on and she'd give him a few hours to talk to her and then she'd send him on his merry way to Granny's Inn. What she did not want was for him to pass out in her bed and spend the night there in the eyes of their son no less. Granted, Henry wasn't aware of Neal's relation to him but she was and that was more than enough to upset her.
And what was worse she knew David was dying to ask her about it. She could feel his stare on her all day and she always gave him some excuse whenever he did attempt to bring it up.
Having her father as her deputy was exactly how she expected it to be. She did love having a deputy and David was really helpful but there were times that his actions reminded her that he was indeed her father. But thankfully he seemed to eventually get the message and stopped trying to ask but she knew it was constantly on his mind.
He was already proving himself to be a bit of an overprotective father and she didn't want to think about what he'd do to Neal when he found out the truth about their past. (though honestly, a part of her did get pleasure out of thinking what David would do to Neal...if she couldn't make him pay than somebody would.)
But it was bound to come out sooner or later especially because Emma knew Neal would want to get to know Henry as his father. And she wasn't sure how long her mother could keep her mouth shut either.
And now she sat behind the wheel of her yellow bug, her father in the passenger seat, an awkward silence falling on them as she drove home. She could feel David's stare on her and she frowned, quickly becoming very uncomfortable.
"What?" She eventually snapped, quickly turning her head to look at him and his brow rose silently and her lips twitched in a slightly apologetic smile.
"Sorry, what?" She asked more calmly. "You've been staring at me all day and it's getting kind of weird."
David sighed quietly, shifting in his seat as he turned to face her more. "It's just...I know you're sheriff and you probably inherited your mother's gracious heart but I am finding it a little hard to believe you'd just let Rumplestiltskin's son into our home. I know you aren't really aware of our past with him but you've been around Gold enough to know-"
Emma cut him off with a sharp look. "Just because he's his son doesn't mean he's evil." Emma had issues with Neal and for a long time thought he was a no good thief but the truth being revealed about everything made her rethink her stand on Neal. She was still angry with him but she hardly would consider him evil, he was just another innocent victim of the Dark One.
David crinkled his brow curiously. "There's something more, isn't there? Your mother knows something and she's not telling me."
Emma turned an inquisitive look on him and he smiled fondly, lightly shrugging his shoulders. "Snow never has been very good at keeping secrets. She hasn't told me yet but I know when she's hiding something from me."
Emma frowned, clenching her jaw. "You have to promise you won't freak out."
David narrowed his eyes slightly, eyeing her carefully. "Alright..."
She gave him a look. "I'm serious. No going protective father prince charming on me."
"Emma..." In all her life Emma never thought she'd hear that warning fatherly tone.
Emma sighed heavily, making sure to avoid his gaze. "I know him." Her fingers tapped anxiously against the steering wheel. "He's my ex."
David's brow shot up as his eyes widened. "Ex..."
"Boyfriend." She confirmed and heard him let out a breath.
"You dated Rumplestiltskin's son?"
She chewed softly on her lower lip. She could already hear the tension in his voice and he hadn't even heard the worst of it all.
Emma pulled into the parking lot near the apartment building, put the car into park and then turned to her father with a sigh. "Yes, I did. I didn't know who he was, I didn't even know who I was so back then we were just Emma and Neal."
David pressed his lips together. "There's something more isn't there?"
Emma once again let out a heavy sigh and nodded reluctantly, her face scrunching up as she confessed. "He's Henry's father."
"He's what?" David leaned toward her, his eyes wide.
Emma held out her hands. "Remember, no protective father prince charming."
"Emma." He groaned, leaning back and ran his hand over his hair.
Emma eyed him carefully. "It's not that big of a deal."
He lifted his head and looked her in the eye. "Not that big of a deal? Do you have any idea what this means? Henry is Rumplestiltskin's grandson." He groaned again as the realization suddenly hit him and he rubbed his temples. "Henry is Rumplestiltskin's grandson." He repeated.
Emma undid her seat belt and turned to face him all the way, hesitantly reaching out to touch his shoulder. "If it helps, I don't think Gold knows yet. I know Neal had a talk with him yesterday and that's most likely the reason he showed up last night drunk off his ass but Neal only just found out himself."
David dropped his hand and turned to look at her, his eyes flickering with a hint of anger. "Neal didn't know about Henry?"
Emma could see where David's mind was heading and she jumped quickly to reassure him. "Yes but its not his fault. Well that's not entirely true, it is his fault but it's not just his fault." She sighed. "It's complicated."
David narrowed his eyes skeptically and she could tell he wanted to know more but she was not about to tell her father her crappy life story in her car. "I'll tell you everything, I promise. But not right now."
She smiled hesitantly and squeezed his shoulder before climbing out of the car without another word. She heard him release a loud sigh and then he followed her out.
She leaned across the top of the car, gazing over at him seriously. "Neal is no doubt still there, so can you please act like this conversation never happened?"
He gave her a look. "How do you expect me to do that, Emma?"
"I know it won't be easy just don't tear his head off. He's having enough issues with his own father, he doesn't need mine on his tail."
David's face softened, Emma referring to him as her father always had that affect on him, and he nodded. "Alright." He relented. "But for you, not for him."
Emma let a small, gracious smile cross her lips. "Thank you."
He returned the smile and then they both headed into the building and up the stairs toward their apartment.
As they neared the door, they could hear the sound of low chatter and laughter. David instantly recognized his wife's and grandson's but the other was unfamiliar but to Emma it wasn't. Neal's laughter resonated down to Emma's core, back to a place she had found herself a lot lately, a place where she was dumb in love and too young to care. She pushed that unwanted fluttering in the pit of her stomach back and shared a look with David before opening the door.
The scene before her made her breath catch in her throat and the fluttering in her stomach increase tenfold. Henry and Neal stood side by side in the kitchen over a large pot on the stove, both with matching smiles on their faces, Henry putting various chopped up food items into the pot as Neal stirred.
For a brief moment the domestic scene played out as a could have been in her head. Neal and Henry preparing dinner as she came home late from work in their home in Tallahassee.
It was only broken when she heard the tinkling laugh of her mother who was standing near by, watching them in amusement.
"You two have no idea what you're doing, do you?"
"I can cook!" Neal protested, not looking up from the pot.
"It's just soup, grandma." Henry added, turning his head to look at her and thats when he noticed Emma and David and a bright smile lit up his face. "Mom!"
The word caught Neal and Snow's attention and they both turned their head to the doorway where Emma and David stood in shock.
Neal's lips twitched in a small smile as he eyed Emma and her father, who he now realized was staring at him like a predator and he was his prey. And Neal doubted it was just because he was wearing his clothes.
Henry jumped off the chair he was standing on and ran over to Emma to hug her hello. Emma shook her head slightly as her son's arms surrounded her and she gently hugged him back.
"How was your day, kid?" Emma asked after their hug broke.
"Great!" Henry beamed. "Neal and I had lots of fun. He's a cool guy."
Emma swallowed thickly and briefly glanced over to Neal who had a small but warm smile on his lips as he watched them.
"Yeah." She murmured quietly, neither confirming nor denying Henry's statement. But her response caused a small grin to light up Neal's face as he leaned against the island.
Emma rolled her eyes slightly and then went to take off her jacket and hang it up, catching her father's eye as she turned around caught how he was eyeing Neal. She brushed her hand up against his arm as she passed him to go to the coat rack and he broke his stare off Neal to follow her and she gave him a subtle glance. He pursed his lips and huffed quietly before hanging up his own jacket.
"Nice outfit." Emma remarked dryly, shooting Neal a slight smirk as she walked over.
He narrowed his eyes playfully, giving her a smirk in return. "My actual clothes are still in your trunk. Henry was nice enough to lend me some of your father's clothes." Neal's eyes roamed over to David who was slowly walking over to them. "I hope you don't mind."
David forced a small smile to his lips. "It's just clothes, right?"
"Right." Neal echoed with a nod.
Emma glanced between them, she could practically hear the tension rolling off of both of them. She was glad David was respecting her wishes and not ripping Neal's head off but she knew it wouldn't be long before Neal said something that made him.
Snow cleared her throat and walked over to them, slipping her arm around her husband and smiling at them, trying to break the awkward tension. "So how was work?"
"Boring." Emma sighed, mostly out of relief and sent her mother a grateful look and Snow sent a small, curt nod in return.
"Yes." David agreed and his shoulders visibly relaxed as he smiled down at his wife. "Storybrooke is small enough to barely have any trouble...which is both good and bad."
Emma smirked as she looked at her parents. "Truthfully I don't know how he was a prince. He is absolutely terrible with paperwork."
"Hey!" David pretended to be offended but was not so secretly thrilled with his daughter's teasing. "First of all, I grew up as a shepherd. I'm used to doing work all hours of daylight."
"And second of all," Snow piped in with an affectionate grin, "I handled the political aspect of ruling a kingdom."
"Some of it." David corrected and Snow shot him a look and he grinned sheepishly down at her. "Mostly all." He continued and she beamed up at him, humming quietly.
"That's better." She placed her free hand over his chest and perched up onto her toes, leaning up to meet his lips in a kiss.
Emma groaned loudly but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Can you not do that while children are around?"
Snow and David parted with laughter and Snow rested her head against his shoulder, both smiling at their daughter.
Neal watched the scene before him, the family who had seemed, if only just for a minute, to forget he was there. He smiled sadly, watching Emma's face, how it lit up with a smile whenever she looked at her parents. He knew it was something she always wanted and he was so happy that she finally found it.
Once upon a time they were pair of thieves, a pair of kids who had no one but each other. Now Emma had found her family and was more than happy with them. But he had found his father and almost wish he hadn't...because being alone was almost better than facing the man who had hurt him so long ago.
Neal looked down at the counter, scratching his nails lightly along the surface trying not to intrude on their family moment. He didn't belong with his father that much was certain in his head and Emma wanted nothing to do with him and Henry didn't even know about the truth of their relationship. He felt an uncomfortable twisting in the pit of his stomach as he realized, though he had found his father and though he had found Emma, he was still alone.
Neal quietly turned back to the stove and gave the soup a good stirring though it hardly needed so much. Emma and her parents continued a light conversation while he stared into the yellowy broth.
He jumped slightly when a mop of brown hair popped up beside him and Henry's smiling face peered down at the soup. "Is it done?" He asked, looking eagerly up to Neal.
A smile instantly returned to Neal's face. "Why? You hungry?" He asked in amusement.
Henry nodded quickly and Neal let out a rumble of a laugh before lifting the spoon up and moving it slowly toward Henry. "Taste it and see."
Henry's brow lifted in surprise and Neal gave him an encouraging nod and lifted the spoon close to Henry's lips. Henry gave him one last glance before pressing his mouth the spoon and slurping up some of the soup. His little brow furrowed as he tasted it in his mouth and swallowed and looked up to Neal with a grin. "It tastes good to me!"
"Yeah?" Neal returned the grin and took the rest of what was in the spoon into his mouth and nodded in agreement. "You're right, very good." He placed the spoon down beside the stove and switched off the boiler.
He turned around and his face fell as he saw all three of the Charmings staring at him. David was eyeing him curiously with slightly narrowed eyes as if he was deciding whether or not to like him. Snow's eyes also held curiosity but more of a light curiosity and a small smile on her lips as if she was happily surprised by his actions. And then Emma, who way back when he could read easier than anybody, was almost completely unreadable. But if he looked hard enough he thought he saw traces of affection in her eyes.
Neal's lips twitched in a small smile as he motioned to the pot. "Soup's ready."
Dinner was only a little bit awkward, a lot less than any of them would have expected. It was quiet at first, with everyone sharing looks and not much else. Henry sat confused, not fully understanding why everyone was so awkward but thinking it must have to do with either the fact that Neal was Mr. Gold's son or that he was Emma's friend a long time ago.
It was finally Snow who broke the silence and started to ask Neal about his life in New York City and both Neal and Emma relaxed in relief that the topic of conversation was generic.
After that the tension started to dissipate and for that brief time it seemed like it could be normal. Neal charmed the whole table but even he knew it wouldn't last but he wanted to enjoy it while he could.
After dinner, Snow and David collected all the bowls and glasses and went over to the kitchen to do the dishes. Henry went off to use the bathroom, leaving Neal and Emma alone at the table.
The two sat across from each other and the awkward tension that had disappeared through their meal was suddenly back. Emma played with the edges of the table cloth, trying to avoid Neal's gaze as best as possible.
The whole weekend had been a whirlwind of feelings for her and she did not particularly like the feelings she was getting now. Neal had charmed her son, their son, Neal had charmed her parents, or at least her mother, Emma knew her father would need a little bit more convincing than just a nice dinner together, and she hated him for it. But what annoyed her the most was that it wasn't the hate she had felt for ten years. It was a different hate, it was a hate for making her feel something other than hate towards him.
She wasn't sure how much longer she could stand being in his presence and what that would do for her sanity.
So after a few dreadful minutes of silence between them, Emma cleared her throat and stood up, catching everyone's attention.
"Well, uh, that was some good soup." She nodded uncomfortably, flickering her gaze down to Neal and sending him a half smile. "Thanks."
Neal smiled slightly in return and nodded his head. Emma bit down on her lip and shared a look with her parents before looking back at Neal. "Can we talk?"
Neal nodded and rose quickly from his seat and Emma walked with him over to the other side of the apartment, speaking quietly.
"Look, I know I gave you an invitation to come here but..."
"I overstayed my welcome, I know." Neal finished with a small smile. "It was stupid and rude of me to come here and I really appreciate that you let me. But I know I have to leave."
Emma crossed her arms lightly over her chest and nodded. "Yeah, uh, right. Um...Granny has an inn, I can drive you over there if you want."
"That'd be great, thanks." He smiled warmly and their eyes met and locked. Emma's eyes widened slightly and she felt her mouth go suddenly dry and swallowed over the the lump in her throat.
Quickly, she turned to the sound of the bathroom door opening and moved away from Neal to address Henry. "Hey kid! Neal is leaving, you wanna say goodbye?"
Henry's face fell as he jogged over, looking up at Neal and Emma's heart broke at the look in his eyes. Henry didn't even know Neal was his father and hadn't even known him for a day and was already attached. "You're leaving Storybrooke?"
Neal's eyes widened slightly as he realized what Henry had thought and he reached over instantly, ruffling his hair to reassure him. He wanted to tell him that he'd never leave him, not for anything but he went with a simpler answer for now. "No, kid, I'm not leaving Storybrooke."
"He'll be at Granny's." Emma said and Henry's face lit up in relief and he nodded.
"Oh alright! See you around, Neal?"
Neal affectionately rubbed the back of his head and sent him a quick wink. "You better believe it, kid."
Henry grinned and the two shared a fist bump before Henry ran over to help his grandparents. Emma waved to her parents, grabbed her keys and coat off the hook and then left with Neal.
They got into the car silently and Emma let out a sigh as she took off in the direction toward Granny's.
"You were right." Neal broke the silence a minute later and Emma turned to look at him, raising her brow silently and he smiled. "Henry's a great kid."
Emma smiled to herself and nodded. "Yeah he is." She licked her lips before looking back over to him. "And you two seem to really hit it off."
A brighter smile lit up his face. "I love him already, Emma. I never knew how much I wanted to be a father until I got to spend time with him."
Emma swallowed thickly and forced her eyes to focus on the road ahead of her. She felt no guilt about Neal not being able to be there for the first ten years of Henry's life because it was Neal's fault that he left her. What she did feel guilty about was lying to Henry about Neal. She was going to tell him, she had to, Neal had a much of a right to Henry as she did and seeing how well they interacted with each other, she couldn't keep that from either of them.
Neal didn't understand Emma's silence but he didn't mention it and for the rest of the five minute trip, they were completely silent.
Emma pulled up in front of Granny's inn and they both got out of the car. Emma opened the trunk and pulled out Neal's suitcase and handed it to him silently. He thanked her and she nodded and started to walk towards Granny's.
Neal furrowed his brow as he watched her go. As far as he thought she was just going to drive him there. He followed after her, caught up with her and looked down at her inquisitively. "What are you doing?"
Emma pressed her lips together and sighed. "I need to talk to you." She answered tensely. "And I figured you'd want to be in your room to do it."
Neal frowned heavily, narrowing his eyes as he followed her inside. He didn't like the sound of her tone and whatever she was going to talk to him about was serious.
Emma walked over to the desk and Granny immediately smiled at seeing her. "Emma." She greeted sweetly. "What can I do for you, darling?"
Emma smiled at the nice old woman and then motioned to Neal. "Not for me, Granny. Neal here needs a place to stay for a couple weeks."
Granny eyed Neal skeptically and Neal tensed his jaw wondering if this woman would refuse him a room because of his biological roots. Emma must have been thinking the same because she smiled reassuringly and shook her head. "He's okay, trust me. He won't do anything."
Granny let out a soft sigh but nodded and reached for a key. "Your room is number 10." She said to Neal as she handed him the key and Neal smiled slightly and then reached for his wallet. Granny held out her hand and shook her head. "We'll worry about payment tomorrow."
"Oh." Neal lifted his brow in surprise but tucked his wallet back into his pocket and smiled gratefully as he took the key. "Thank you."
Granny nodded and Emma smiled at her before looking over to Neal. "Come on."
They hiked up the stairs and found Neal's room as one of the last ones on the floor. Neal opened the door and stepped inside, observing his surroundings and nodded in approval. "I think this is actually nicer than my apartment." He said, tossing the suitcase onto the bed and then turned to Emma with a smile.
Emma only half smiled and nodded. "You can always count on Granny."
"Now is this the same Granny from Granny's diner?" Neal wondered.
Emma huffed a laugh. "Yeah, she and Ruby run both the diner and inn. I honestly have no idea how they did it."
"Well cursed town, right? Not many people coming to use the inn."
"Right." Emma muttered and shifted uncomfortably. Neal furrowed his brow and took a few steps toward her. Emma's eyes widened slightly as he approached and she crossed her arms but didn't pull away.
"What's going on, Emma?" Neal asked softly.
Emma resisted an eye roll at the concern in his voice. She most certainly did not need Neal's sweetness right now.
"I have something to tell you...about Henry."
Their son's name caused even more of a concern to enter his eyes and she sighed, throwing her arms to her side and moving past him.
"I lied." She confessed, turning slowly to look back at him and Neal's face fell and it almost looked like she had physically punched him.
"Lied?" He whispered, fearing the worst.
Emma saw where his mind was heading and jumped quickly to reassure him. "He's your son, Neal. It's not that."
Neal breathed a sigh of relief and ran his fingers through his hair. "Jesus, Emma. Don't scare me like that."
Emma frowned heavily. "Henry has captured your heart just as easily as he captured mine. And..." She sighed.
"Emma..." Neal walked over to her. "Whatever it is you can tell me."
Emma looked up at him, meeting his eyes and then quickly looked away, knowing she'd lose her nerve the longer she stared into those chocolate brown eyes.
"I hated you, Neal. I really did." She said and out of her peripheral vision she could see Neal's face drop again. "And one day...Henry asked about you." She sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed, twiddling her thumbs on her lap and staring at the ground. "I was trying to reunite this pair of twins with their father and Henry asked about his. And so I lied to him."
Neal frowned and came over to sit next to her on the bed. "You lied about me? What did you tell him?"
Emma scoffed, shaking her head. "I told him you were a fireman."
"A fireman." Neal snorted. "That's reaching a bit."
"A bit?" Emma quickly glanced up at him and he smirked slightly. Then she shook her head and looked back down and let out another deep sigh. "Henry knew what I was. When I came here, the mayor, who is also Henry's adopted mother, didn't want me around. So she dug into my past and found my juvie record and posted it in the Storybrooke newspaper for everyone, including Henry, to see hoping that would drive him away from me. It didn't, thankfully but now he knows that I'm not a spotless lamb. And I just...I wanted him to think his father was something greater even though, at the time, I thought you were the scum of the earth."
"Oh thanks." Neal scoffed but he didn't blame her for it. After he left her, he thought of himself as the scum of the earth too.
Emma let a small smirk tug at her lips and she nudged him lightly. "You're not so bad now."
A small smile graced his features and he nudged her back. "Thank you."
"Don't think too highly of it Neal, I'm still pissed at you." She gave him a look and he raised his hands.
"I'll take pissed at over scum of the earth any day."
Emma rolled her eyes at him but couldn't help the slight smile tugging at her lips.
Neal smiled and laughed softly. "So that's it? My son thinks I'm some fireman?"
Emma's smile dropped and she ducked her head, chewing on her bottom lip softly. "Not exactly..." She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to avoid his perplexed expression and she shook her head before continuing quietly. "I told him you were dead."
"What?" He cried. "You told him I was dead?"
"I know it was wrong of me but I didn't want him to go looking for you. For my own selfish reasons more than anything but I know he wouldn't be able to let it go."
Neal shook his head as he rose off the bed and started to pace the floor. "My son thinks I'm dead..."
Emma watched him, her face scrunching up in remorse. "I'm sorry, Neal."
He sighed heavily as he ran his fingers through his hair and then turned to face her. "What did you tell him?"
Emma let out a soft sigh. "I told him that you were a fireman and that you died saving someone from a burning building."
"Oh god." Neal shut his eyes and turned away from her for a moment. He turned back to her, exasperated. "Henry thinks I'm some hero." He shook his head, leaning up against the wall and shook his head as he stared up at the ceiling. "He's going to hate me now."
"No..." Emma got up and walked over to him, hesitantly reaching out to touch his arm. "Neal, he won't hate you. Listen," She gently squeezed his arm and he looked down at her with a frown, "He didn't hate me after he learned the truth about me. And he's not going to hate you, either. This father that he thinks he knows doesn't exist. But you do and Neal that kid is so attached to you already. He wants a father, Neal and he doesn't care who he is."
Neal kept his eyes on hers, staying silent for a few moments. "You're going to tell him, right?"
Emma bit her lip and nodded. "Yes, of course I am. Tomorrow. I promise, tomorrow." She could see his beginnings of a protest and she cut him off before he could say anything. "It's been a hell of a weekend for all of us Neal and I think we all need another day."
Neal sighed but agreed. "Alright, tomorrow."
The corners of Emma's lips turned up in a slight smile and after she realized she was lingering her touch on Neal she quickly pulled away and took a few steps back.
Neal immediately felt the lack of her touch and longed to reach out to her again and pull her close. He'd forgotten how much he loved Emma's touch, how much he loved having her in his arms. When they were together they were constantly touching, Neal always had his arm around her at every possible moment, they'd kiss and hug whenever they could and though Neal had had a few flings here and there over the last ten years none of them made him feel the way Emma did, even after all this time.
And he knew he should have been mad at her for lying to Henry but he left in such a state that he gave her no other choice. Hell, before Emma came along and anyone asked about his father he lied through his teeth. He didn't want to be associated with such a man, he wanted to forget all together what his father had done so he didn't blame Emma for thinking Henry would want to do the same.
He just hoped Emma was right and that Henry would accept him despite his past. And if he didn't, Neal would stop at nothing to convince Henry of the man he actually was.