A/N hey guys, so as a CS shipper (for those of you who haven't looked at the rest of my works in the OUAT verse) An avid one, this is turning out to be a bitch to write. So while I plan on seeing this through, I might end up taking a break on this story. So please bear with me, because I am starting to catch myself on this story. I hopefully will make the next couple of updates, I will keep you posted. The Whovian is sorry in advance if she has to step back from this for a bitty bit

disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or any of the characters

Chapter 4

Neal and Emma had been married for three years. Three years, of ups and downs. They celebrated their anniversary by going dancing, leaving Henry with a young girl, that lived next door, that Emma and he had grown fond of. Emma was dressed in a soft red dress, that fell in waves around her. She had her hair half up, and half loose around her face.

"I love you." He whispered, as he twirled her on the floor.

Emma beamed at him. "I love you" she responded, as she spun away from him.

He pulled her back. "How did I ever get so lucky?" He asked softly.

Emma snorted. "I would hardly say you're the lucky one, buster. I'm no prize."

Neal leaned in and kissed her. "That's just because you're getting the wrong perspective. Where I'm standing? I won the gold metal." He told her gently. "and it gave me the best family, an orphan could ask for." He dipped her low, and Emma's eyes were damp.

"And from my perspective, I finally found my knight in shining armor, complete with yellow bug, and noisy two-year-old." She told him.

Neal swept her back up, and the continued to dance, late into the night, until Emma decided that they should return home to their son. Their son, who was more likely than not, convincing his babysitter to give him sugar, and let him stay up past his bedtime.

When they got home, it became clear, that their assumption was right, when they walked in and found Henry running around the living room, singing Hakuna Matata at the top of his tiny lungs.

"What's going on here?" Emma asked Megan, who was sitting on the couch, holding her nose, clearly Henry had been doing this for some time.

She looked up. "He wanted ice cream, and then he just started running, and then the singing."

Neal chuckled. "What ice cream did you give him?" He asked, though from the way the kid was running he could wager a guess.

Megan sighed. "There was only Coffee in the freezer, he told me you guys let him have it."

"and you believed him?" Emma asked trying to hold back her own laughter, as their son had yet to realize they were there, and was still passionately singing the song from The Lion King.

Megan shook her head. "I mean, I thought I heard they didn't use real coffee somewhere, and that there wasn't any caffeine in it." she admitted. "I realized my mistake, about when he began running."

The little boy seemed to realize then, that they were home. "Mommy! Daddy!" Henry cried, when he finally noticed them. "You're home!" He ran forward, throwing his arms around their legs.

Emma laughed, scooping the squirming almost three-year-old up from the floor. "Hey kid, are you getting into trouble."

Henry gave her an innocent look, then shook his head. "We had ice cream!"

Neal laughed, and shook his head. "We know kid. We know."

~~If I Never Leave~~

Time passed quickly, before he knew it, their little man was turning three, and he realized this was all he wanted in his life. His wife by his side, their son, running with some of the kids from his daycare. He had started his job as a window salesman the other week, and realized that they couldn't make it work without some form of childcare. It had been a hard task, trying to get any form of job at all. It turned out his past had truly caught up with him. They were all leery of hiring someone caught with their hand in the cookie jar as many times as he had been. He fought to get this job, because he hated relying on Emma to provide for the family. Emma always smiled at him, when he brought it up and simply told him. "It's just part of what I signed up for, with till death do we part."

Emma on the other hand, was swiftly growing in her career. Putting away more people in a month than the Boston PD did, though he would never tell them that.

Neal would never say he was jealous of Emma's success, but he did regret the fact that he couldn't do more to help her. Couldn't provide for his family, the way that he was supposed to. The way that he vowed, when he married Emma.

Soon after, they moved into their upper Boston apartment. Once there, Neal was offered a building maintenance position. He had thought long and hard on it, then decided, that since it paid better than the job he had as a salesman, he would take it. Plus, since it was with the building manager of their building, they got a few perks when it came to their own apartment.

The only downfall, was the hours. Meaning there were no strict hours. Sometimes he could go a week without working, and other times, he was pulled out of bed at two in the morning to fix a leaky faucet. He kept up with his work, and still made time for his son.

One of those times, was bedtime. He always tucked Henry into bed at night, even if he had a call, he would put it off, until he told Henry his story.

He pulled the covers over the toddler, tucking them under his chin. "Okay, Spinner. What kind of story should I tell tonight? A story of a lost princess? A story about a brave prince?"

Henry grinned up at his father, "Spinner!" he declared in his clear childish voice.

Neal smiled. "Alright, alright, I think I got a Spinner story, for my little Spinner." He told his son. "Once upon a time, there was a man, or he used to be a man, that had left his spinner lifestyle long behind him. He had become a king in his hovel. A coward turned hero: the hero of the Ogre's war. If only a hero, was all the spinner had become. The Spinner had become a monster. The Dark One was never a hero. He was the wolf in sheep's clothing. He was an imp, and he wielded the most dangerous power, known to man.

"The Spinner's son, was the only one who saw this. The rest of the village was enthralled. They were under the spell of the Dark One. His son however, was too close to him, to turn a blind eye, to the darkness. He saw it building inside of his father. Over the short amount of time, that the Spinner had become the Dark One, he grew cold, and cruel. He would rather punish, than protect. This was proven, when the Spinner's son was hurt while playing in the square. The man had apologized quickly for his blunder, in causing the boy to fall, but the Spinner wouldn't hear it. Corrupted by power, the Spinner used his newfound dark powers, to transform the man into a snail. A form, that proved easily vanquished. Despite, his son's pleading, the Spinner was merciless, and he ended the man, that he thought had harmed his child."

Henry ducked his chin under the blankets, brown eyes peering at him with sparks of fear, at the Spinner. "Daddy, was the Spinner a bad-guy?"

Neal shook his head, and sighed, thinking of his father, before the darkness. "Not always, not always, Spinner. He used to be a very good man, but as you will learn, evil isn't born. It's made. The most heroic soul, could become a bad-guy."

Henry's eyes stayed big. "Could I be a bad-guy?"

Neal shook his head. "I don't think you will be, Spinner. Any more, than I think Mommy, could be a bad-guy."

Henry satisfied nodded, and settled back into his blankets.

"Alright, kiddo, time to get back to the story." He told his son, as he settled back into the story. "Feeling fear of his father, the Spinner's son, grew desperate, he despaired his father's magic, refused to allow it to touch his skin. Refused to allow his father to help the way his father sought to help. He decided to do something about it, so the Spinner's son, made a deal with the Dark One. He made a deal with his father, that if he found a way, the Spinner would give up the dark magic he relied on, if only his son could find a way.

"And find a way, he did. He heard whispers about an ancient power, that could help him in his quest. A power called, Reul Ghorm. The Spinner's son, went to the woods at midnight, and he called to the Reul Ghorm, and pleaded that she help him. Reul Ghorm, was a kind little, fairy, and she promised to help him. Only not in the way he thought. She couldn't make the Spinner the man he once was, but she could send them to a place, where the Spinner had no choice, but to be a man without power. A place, where they had a chance to be a family, a place where the Spinner could be a better man.

"She gave the boy a magic bean, that could take them away from this place. So excited with his discovery, was the boy, that he ran home and told his father. The Spinner, however, wasn't excited at the idea, and fought his son, before he finally gave in, and told his son he would go with him. The boy overjoyed at the thought of getting his father back, the boy readily led his father outside, and threw the bean to the ground, opening a swirling portal." Here again, was another point. He could stop here, tell Henry that the Spinner went with his son, and they lived happily ever after, or he could tell the story how it truly went. After a final moment of indecision, he decided to tell it the way it was.

"Once the portal opened, the Spinner grew fearful, trying to pull his son away from the portal, but his son was determined, the boy pulling him towards an uncertain future. The spinner fought, and his son slipped, falling towards the portal, being pulled by the wild winds, towards the portal. Still the boy urged his father on, and as he let go, and slipped into the portal beyond, he left his father with the same parting words as his mother had before him. He declared his father a coward, before it became clear, he would never see his father again."

Henry blinked at his father. "Is there a happy ending, for the Spinner, Daddy?"

Neal smiled a sad smile, and shook his head. "Not one, that I've seen, Spinner. Not one, that I've seen."

Henry yawned. "Does he ever see his son again?"

Neal bit his lip thoughtfully. "Not yet, but that doesn't mean he won't someday." He told his son. "Now, it's time for little boys to go to sleep." He said, pressing a kiss to Henry's head. "sleep tight, Spinner."

"Sleep tight, daddy."

Neal got up and moved to the door, looking back at his son one last time, before he flicked off the light. Leaving a history wrapped in a bedtime story behind him.

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