Charming led the way for his family. They didn't have to go farther than a couple of rooms down the hall to reach Henry's room. Charming opened the door and the family walked in after him. Emma briefly looked around the room then uncovered Henry's eyes.
"Whoa!" Henry exclaimed as he both looked and ran around the room. Emma smiled at her boy's excitement. This time she really looked around the room and for the most part it was normal other than the few home made and magical toys. Emma wished she would have had all this when she was growing up: love, toys, a family. "This is just like-right out of a fairytale book." Henry ran up to his grandparents and hugged them one by one. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
They beamed back at him and Snow was the first one to talk, "You're welcome, Henry. We are glad you like it!" She hugged him back. Charming was still standing next to his wife with a smile. Emma didn't know why, but she felt tears trying to escape from her eyes and she held them back. While Henry continued to search his room for new wonders with her parents watching him, she decided to leave the room before those tears would escape.
Emma sniffed and ran the rest of the way to her room where she sat on her bed and started crying. "Why am I crying?" She asked herself. She knew the reason. Seeing Henry interact with her parents and seeing what she could have had was actually making her sad she missed that with her parents.
Snow and Charming watched Henry literally bounce around the room. Snow leaned into Charming and smiled before she looked over to where Emma stood before. She tried looking around from her position, but couldn't see much. She got Charming's attention, "Did you see Emma leave?" Snow asked with concern.
Charming started to look around clearly confused, "No, I thought she was with us…" Snow began to think of the places that Emma could have gone and she decided it couldn't have been far.
"Stay here with Henry," She said as she kissed him and started walking down the hall. Snow walked quickly past Emma's bedroom and stopped, crooking her head to the side. She backed up slowly and saw her baby girl who was now lying on the bed. Snow hesitated at first not wanting to disturb Emma. I'm not Mary Margaret, I'm Snow. Emma's mother, She thought. Snow walked over to Emma's bed and sat down beside her.
Emma was awake just thinking and occasionally crying when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. She decided to face the window, so that she could cover her face. She wasn't sure who it was until she smelled the perfume as the person sat down next to her and started rubbing her arm. "I'm just tired," Emma mumbled to her mom to cover up the fact she'd been crying.
Snow reached out and pulled some of Emma's hair behind her ear, so that she could see her little girl's face. "Okay," was all that Snow said as she stayed by her daughter's side just rubbing her arm and back.
Emma felt more calm whenever Snow did this, but in that moment she just felt pure irritation. She rolled over onto her back, "Why are you still here?"
Snow flinched a bit at the irritation in her daughter's voice, "Do you want me to go? Because I can leave you be." Snow noticed the tear stained face, but didn't say anything not wanting to push her. When Emma didn't say anything, Snow got up and slowly started walking towards the door.
Emma sighed knowing she did not want to be alone right now. She turned her body to watch Snow go out the room, "Mom!" She felt more tears coming and she cursed at herself for being so emotional.
Snow was walking down the hall when she heard Emma call for her. It made her heart soar because Emma rarely called her 'mom'. She walked back and layed down beside her daughter, facing her. "Are you okay?" Snow asked in her always calm and caring voice. Emma looked her mom in the eyes and shook her head. Before Snow could say anything else and before Emma would talk, she curled up next to Snow hiding her face. They didn't say anything for minutes just layed there in each other's company. Snow wanted so badly to know what was wrong, but knew better then to ask. Instead, she held Emma soothing her like she should have done all those years ago.
When Emma finally calmed down, she rolled over onto her back. "I'm sorry," She didn't know why she was apologizing really, but she did it anyway.
Snow was confused, "Why are you sorry, Emma?" Emma tried to think of something, anything, but couldn't. She shrugged as a response. "Don't be sorry for wanting me. I'm your mom," She smiled, "It's my job to be here and I want to be here for you."
Emma briefly caught her mom's eye, "Just seeing you guys with Henry—all the things he's able to have—I don't know I just-"
It pained Snow to also know that she could have shared these experiences with her, but she smiled despite the pain. "Emma, honey, I also wish you could have had all these things, but we can't change that. I wouldn't change who you've become: a strong, brave, maybe even stubborn woman."
Emma smiled at being called stubborn, "I blame you and David for that last part." Snow also smiled knowing that was true. Stubbornness ran in the family.
"At least we know you got more than just my chin," Snow grinned as she wrapped her arms around Emma. Emma just laughed and reluctantly hugged her mom back.
Author's Note: Sorry it's been taking so long to update, but I'm still writing! Hope you guys are still liking the story!