I AM SO INSANELY SORRY IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE. SCHOOL HAS GOTTEN IN THE WAY, AS WELL AS LIFE. THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME!
DON'T OWN ONCE UPON A TIME. DARN.
"I want hot chocolate." Emma announced, plopping herself down on the stool next to Graham's. Smiling, he reached over to her and grasped her hand.
"Coming right up, Princess." James smiled, too. As he passed them, he placed a kiss to her hair.
"And Mom will probably want you to help paint. And Henry, too, wherever that little twerp is."
"You sure you trust him with paint?" James chuckled.
"Actually, I don't know." Emma responded, laughing as well. "As long as he doesn't destroy anything, I think it'll be okay." She looked lost in thought for a moment before saying, with a small, nostalgic smile, "There was this one foster family I had when I was six. I kept bugging them to let me paint these iron railings we had. They set me up with this water bucket and paint brush. I thought I was actually painting it cause the water made the railing darker."
"I bet you did a great job." James smiled. "I painted your nursery, so I think I can supervise him."
"Are you kidding me?" The blonde scoffed. "If anyone's gonna be doing the supervising, it's Snow. She seems like the type of person that would just stand there and tell everyone what to do."
"She does like to direct." James agrees with a nod. "Although, she's said she prefers action to words, so… anyway, what're you two planning on doing all day?"
"I dunno." Emma shrugged. "Sleep."
"I might actually agree." Graham said. "She keeps me up all night with her tossing and turning."
"Because your daughter makes me!" The blonde was quick to defend herself. "She thinks my bladder is a soccer ball and my stomach is a punching bag."
"Your mother used to say the same thing about you." James said with a sigh. After squeezing his daughter's shoulder, he went off to help Snow paint the nursery.
"I think she's gonna have your eyes." Graham said, staring at Emma intently. "You have Snow's, and Henry has yours, so I think they're dominant."
"Oh yeah?" She leaned in closer to him, enjoying the privacy.
"Mhm." He nuzzled her cheek. "She's definitely going to have curly hair."
"Definitely."
"But I don't know what color. I'm still trying to figure out where your blonde came from…"
"My dad's is sort of blonde."
"It's brown. Your mom's is black."
"Maybe they both have the recessive and I got it."
"Maybe." He agreed. "So the only way our daughter will have blonde hair is if I have the recessive. So she'll probably be a brunette."
"Why are you so curious?" Emma laughed. She began toying with one of his curls.
"I just am. I want to know everything I can about my daughter, even if that means guessing before she's born."
"Well, I can tell you one thing. If this one gives me stretch marks, I'm not gonna be happy. Henry's lucky he didn't, otherwise I'd still be holding it against him."
"W-wait…" Henry stammered. His eyes flitted from Johanna to looking around the field, and back. "What do you mean 'it's over'?"
"I'm sorry, Henry." Johanna said, her voice pained. "It's just that I don't think things are working out. I like you, I do, it's just… you haven't had me over to meet your parents yet and you won't come over my house, so I don't know how committed you are. I want someone who is planning on spending the rest of their life with me."
"Johanna, we're sixteen. I can't believe you're even thinking about getting married."
"You grew up in the Land Without Magic. I didn't. And I get that your mom and your dad were old when they met–"
"Twenty eight and thirty's not old. And yeah, now they're thirty three and thirty five, but–"
"And your grandparents were those ages, too, so you're used to the adults in your life starting relationships late in life, but that's not how things in the Enchanted Forest –here– work. I'm sorry, Henry, but I can tell that you aren't looking for a long term relationship right now. We just don't want the same things anymore." She pushed the box that contained a charm bracelet back into his hand, closing his fist around it. "Thank you for the amazing time I did have with you." As she walked away, Henry called,
"I hope you find what you're looking for, Johanna!" with all the sincerity in the world.
The front door slamming was the first clue that Emma heard telling her that Henry's date had not gone well. The second was the way he stomped into the kitchen. Pausing mid-makeout on the couch, she rolled off Graham. "Henry?"
"I want pizza."
"What did she do to you?" Emma waddled into the kitchen, followed by a disheveled Graham.
"Broke my heart into a million pieces and stomped all over it." The teenager responded with a huff, shoving the frozen pizza into the microwave. Graham gave the blonde a knowing look.
"Fine." She put her hands up in surrender. "My parents kick me out of my own daughter's room, and now you two are kicking me out. I'll go find someone else to play with. Hell, at this point, I'll take the dog. Boston, come!" The little fur ball happily bounded over and allowed Emma to put a leash on him. Henry and Graham watched as they exited the castle.
"That bad, huh?" Graham leaned on the doorframe, careful to give Henry his space. He watched as the kid led a one man rampage to find the pepperoni Emma had all but forced James to pick up on his way back from a fishing trip with Thomas a few weeks ago.
"I had just given her the charm bracelet and she dumps me." Henry said, his voice laced with anger. "I mean, who does that?"
"Did she give you a reason?" Graham chose not to answer the rhetorical question.
"Something like, 'you're not ready to be in a commited relationship'. She was talking about getting married to someone. At sixteen."
"I'm sure she was just thinking about the future." Graham said in a measured voice, being careful not to take sides. "It is customary to get married younger here. But it was till rude of her to break up with you right after you gave her a present." After Henry didn't reply, Graham sighed. "Look, I'm not gonna stand here and lecture you. I think you understand why she broke up with you, okay? You're smart. So just… if you have questions, ask them. If you want to talk, then talk. If you want a hug, I'll give you a hug. I'll do whatever you need or want me to. Just tell me."
"I think I'm just sad and hurt because I liked her and I thought things were going great and I feel blindsided. But I'm doing what my moms do and let the anger hide the pain. I think… if you want to go horse riding really fast, then that would be nice. Maybe play catch." Henry shrugged.
"Okay." Graham smiled. "Let's do that. Just do me a favor?"
"Yeah?" Henry pushed 'stop' on the microwave.
"Your mom's walking Boston. Just please don't run them over with the horse or hit them with the ball, whatever you do. You grandmother will kill me."