So, here we go.

prompt: Mother's Day (any verse, curse broken or unbroken)

prompted by: arianakristine

Verse: A Dream's No Crime (NY AU)

(The verse title is, of course, a reference to Once Upon a Time in New York City by Huey Lewis from Oliver & Company, because I am a dork and Once Upon a Time in New York City. Plus because in the only other piece I've done in the verse, I mention that Graham's been dreaming about the way things really were.)

A/N: So, I tend to assume May for the season one curse breaking. And then we've got the what, two months of season two? So, for it to be Mother's Day in the NY AU here, it's been almost the full year between 3A and 3B. Gremma are definitely together by this point, their memories restored by TLK. ANYWAY, my point is, almost to the end of the year in NY.

He and Henry have done their best to try and make this day special for Emma. She may have false memories of having raised Henry, having had him the whole time, being able to celebrate this holiday for the last decade – but those memories weren't real. Even the previous year, with the curse not yet quite broken, or so he's told, and Henry still with Regina, she hadn't had anything. She'd spent far too many Mother's Days alone. And they wanted to give her a great one.

So they'd planned for an entire month in advance, the meal, the gifts, the flowers. And she'd been smiling all day long – he would have sworn she was happy.

Until, that night, she retires to their bedroom early, claiming exhaustion. Henry seems to buy it, but he- He sees something in her eyes. A flash of sadness that he doesn't understand. So, after spending a few minutes helping Henry clean up the game they'd been playing, he follows.

She's sitting, silent, on the edge of the bed, and he joins her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "What's wrong, Em?"

"It's- It's my first real Mother's Day as a mother," she starts, slowly, leaning her head into his shoulder. "It was supposed to be my first Mother's Day as a daughter, too."

Oh. In truth, he hasn't thought about Snow and Charming, stuck in that other world, in a long while, now. Things are- Things are better in this world than they ever were in that one. Especially for him. Here, he somehow has his heart back, his life back. And he has a family in Emma and Henry and his brother. Friends in his co-workers at the precinct. He prefers this world to the other. Only thinks about that one when he has to. But he should have realized that Emma's mind would be on the parents she had found only to lose so quickly, on a day like this.

She reaches over to her bedside table, opening the drawer, pulling something out.

"I bought her a card," she laughs, weakly, showing him an envelope. It's not a real laugh, it's- She's laughing at herself, talking like it was stupid of her. In response, he pulls her tighter, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Em, I'm sure she's missing you just as much. I don't think- I don't believe that Mother's Day was something we had back there. Holidays and such- They weren't the same, I know that much. But I bet she thinks of you every day, and- She thinks you don't even remember her, you said. This?" he takes the envelope from her hand, "Maybe we can't get it to her, because there's no… Inter-realm postal system. But I know that if she knew she would appreciate it."

"Your mother may not be here. And come father's day, your father won't be either, I know," he continues – he needs to reassure Emma, to let her know that what she did was understandable, not stupid at all – "But if you want to honor them- We will. Any way you want, be that- Buying them cards they'll never receive or doing something you think they would want to do or- Anything."

"Thank you." She leans in, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He does not know if his words were truly helpful, but at least she seems to have cheered up some.

"My pleasure," he smiles anyway; hopefully this sort of thing will get easier with time. But for now- He will do what he can to just be here with her, and hope that helps to ease her hurts. He will do his best to make sure that she is never alone the way she was before again.