Summary: Henry works on his family tree, and ruminates on an old saying.
Note: Baumkuchen translates literally as 'tree cake', as when cut the layers resemble growth rings on a tree.
Baumkuchen (German Layer Cake)
It was all very well asking students to map their family tree for a history project, Henry thought with a sigh, but for some students, this was a lot easier said than done. He was sitting at the kitchen table doing his homework, which consisted, currently, of two names on a blank sheet of paper joined by a vertical line.
Emma Swan
Henry Swan
It took less than five seconds' thought for him to add Graham's name next to Emma's, because after all, Graham was his dad in everything but blood. He could have asked Emma about his real dad, but it did not feel right. He had never had any desire to find out about his real dad and it seemed ridiculous to put him on a family tree just because he was a biological relation. Obviously, once he had Graham on there, he could then add Graham's mum and dad and aunts and uncles and all his many cousins, which took a while. But even after he had finished, the paper still did not look quite right. Emma's side of the sheet was still incredibly empty, and in all honesty, they did not have all that much contact with Graham's extended wolf pack family.
Henry sighed again. This was one of the most difficult pieces of homework he'd been given since starting at the secondary school, and that included algebra.
"You all right kid?" Emma asked. She was sitting on the floor in front of the oven, watching the contents intently. Their oven was in dire need of replacement and would often burn things to a crisp in a fraction of their recommended cooking time, so the only way to ensure that their meals did not end up completely charcoaled was to watch everything like a hawk if it had been in the oven any longer than about seven minutes.
"I'm fine," Henry said. He looked again at the title of the sheet in front of him. My Family. "Mum, what is a family? I don't mean in terms of relations and stuff. I mean, what makes those people a family?"
Emma cast a quick glance over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow at her son before hastily returning her attention to the fish fingers.
"Family is family," she said. "You can't really describe it. I suppose it's all the people who are there for you and help you out."
"They don't need to be related to you to do that," Henry said. "I mean, if you and Graham needed help, who would be the first people you would call? It would be Granny or Graham's dad, and Granny isn't related to us at all. And then there are people who are related to you who don't really fit that description of family."
The words were left unsaid, but they both knew to whom Henry was referring - his father, Emma's biological parents…
"Oh Henry…" Emma got off the floor and came over to sit beside her son, putting her arm around him. "I suppose family is a pretty loose term. You and I have never really had a family in the traditional sense of the word so our definition of it is very different to everyone else's. Our family is made up of all the bits and pieces that we've collected over the years. When you don't have any biological family, you kind of have to make your own."
"I think that's the best kind of family," Henry said, doodling on the edge of his paper. "Graham's stuck with all his cousins whether he wants them or not, but we can choose our friends, and sometimes they're better than a load of unwanted cousins would be."
Emma gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair, before leaping out of her seat with an exclamation of alarm as smoke began billowing out of the oven.
Henry looked over at the fridge, and there, stuck to the white metal door, was something that answered all his worries in one simple piece of fridge magnet wisdom. Emma had owned the magnet for as long as he could remember, and he had never thought anything of it until now. He grinned and began drawing more lines on his paper. He had an excellent idea.
The next evening found Henry sitting at a different kitchen table - Belle and Gold's to be precise. Belle was still mass-producing treacle tart to satisfy her cravings, and Henry, who loved treacle tart almost as much as Belle's unborn baby seemed to do, was more than happy to come over and help her eat it.
"Have you decided on a name yet?" he asked, helping himself to another slice of the pie on the table. Belle shook her head.
"No, we're keeping our options open. I think we need to see what she looks like first. There's no use in calling her Cordelia only to see her face and realise she doesn't look like a Cordelia at all."
Henry, who thought all babies looked the same, declined to comment. "I thought you didn't know if you were having a boy or a girl."
"We don't, but I'm sure she's a girl. Knowing my luck, I'll be wrong."
"If it's a boy will you name him after your dad?" Henry asked.
Belle laughed. "No. I think he would turn in his grave to know that we'd cursed our child with a name like Moe." Belle paused. "I understand wanting to honour and remember your relations by passing on their names, but I really think it works best as a middle name. I think everyone needs to have their own name, their own identity, rather than having to share their name with a relative."
Henry laughed. "I was named after the doctor who delivered me. What about Gold's dad? Would he turn in his grave to have a grandson named after him?"
Belle shook her head sadly. "Gold and his dad didn't get on very well. I don't think it would be a good idea." She smiled. "But if she's a girl then maybe Miriam, after his mum."
Henry took another large bite of treacle tart, still making mental notes.
X
Belle was a little surprised when Emma came into the library at closing time, about a week after her conversation with Henry. Her friend was wearing a slightly shellshocked but nonetheless incredibly happy expression and seemed to be in a kind of trance.
"You've got to come over and see this," Emma said. "Henry's got the best mark in the class for his family tree project. It's incredible."
Belle, who had not realised that Henry was doing a project on his family tree, just shrugged, and pondered. Something in the back of her mind made her wonder. After all, Henry had been asking her about her family when he'd come over for treacle tart that evening… Could it be that she was part of the family tree? And Henry and Emma would be the first to admit that their family was not exactly the most conventional…
About an hour later found everyone in Granny's, gathered around the table where Henry was sitting with his family tree. The paper was absolutely covered in names, linked haphazardly by wobbly lines coming out in all directions. At the top of the page was a single sentence that summed up the relationship between all the people around the table perfectly.
Friends are the family we choose for ourselves.
Over the course of the week, Henry had talked to them all about their various familial relationships and the people that they considered to be their family. And since Henry considered Belle, Gold, Archie and Ruby to be his family, their extended family became his by default.
Everyone from their little circle of friends was on there, even Pongo. Belle found her name, linked with a single line to Moe and a double line to Gold, who in turn had lines coming off him to link with Miriam and Elvira, who was also linked to Maisie the poodle.
"Look Connor," Ruby crooned to the one-year-old in her arms. "You're on Henry's family tree!"
Connor was naturally still far too young to be able to read his name on the page, but he understood that they were talking about him and he beamed beatifically.
"Oh look, Gold…" Belle looked down at the line that sprouted off between her and Gold.
A new addition to the family who we can't wait to meet!
"They're still part of the family, even if they haven't been born yet," Henry said. Belle looked around at the people who were, without a shadow of a doubt, her chosen family just as much as they were Henry's. With impeccable timing, a firm kick under her hand where it rested on her stomach showed that the baby agreed.