Chapter 9

Emma took a deep breath and knocked on the familiar door. Seconds later David answered it.

She didn't know what to say – or how to explain that she was his daughter when he wouldn't remember her and she looked like she was the same age as him. "Hi. Don't close the door. I- my name is-"

"Emma," David said with a smile.

It turned out David remembered her. That was new…Regina's curse had wiped everyone's memories and given them fake memories. This time they apparently remembered everything that had happened right up until Pan's curse.

"But if you can't remember, then how do you know it's been a-"

Emma had her answer when Mary Margaret appeared in the doorway next to David. The sight of her very pregnant mother took her by surprise. Maybe she shouldn't have been surprised…Mary Margaret had said she wanted another baby in the Echo Cave in Neverland…she had said what she had with Emma wasn't what she wanted - it wasn't enough for her. In spite of that, it still caught Emma off guard.

"Year…" Emma finished. She didn't even try to sound like she was okay with it…she was too – what was she…bitter…resentful…hurt? She didn't even know…she just knew she wasn't okay.

David put a protective arm around Mary Margaret's shoulders. "As you can see, a lot's happened."

Emma knew she wasn't reacting the way they wanted her to…she knew she should be happy for them, but she just…couldn't be.

"A lot happened while we were in New York, too. You know I had Henry when I was in prison, right?"

Mary Margaret scrunched her face up in confusion, but she nodded anyway. "You gave him up to give him his best chance."

"It wasn't just him I gave up…I had twins."

"Emma…" Mary Margaret sounded shocked and hurt. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why would I?" Emma realized how harsh that might have sounded after she said it. "I gave her up. I never thought I would see her again."

"Her?" Mary Margaret turned to David. "Did you hear that, David? We have a granddaughter!"

"I heard," David said with a soft chuckle.

"Don't get too excited…she doesn't know I'm her mom."

"But you found her? That is why you're telling us?" David questioned.

"I did. She's in the car with Henry and Hook."

"Wait, she's here?" Mary Margaret looked like she was torn between excitement and confusion…confusion won. "Then - when are you going to tell her that she's your daughter?"

"I can't…not until Henry gets his memories back."

David nodded, realization washing over him. "Of course, Henry doesn't remember. Then he thinks…"

"He thinks I kept him. And the only thing she knows about her mom – about me – is that I gave her away. That's the problem."

Mary Margaret stared at her in disbelief. "So you're just going to keep the truth from her until the curse is broken?"

"What do I tell her? I gave her and Henry up…Henry just doesn't remember because Peter Pan cursed everyone and the Evil Queen gave us fake memories?"

"That would be hard to believe," David acknowledged.

"Right…so until I break the curse, she can't know. Now who the hell could have cursed everyone…again?"

They got a room with double beds and a pull-out couch at Granny's. The kids fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

Henry had never really woken up…he stumbled out of the backseat in a zombie-like state and passed out fully clothed on the first bed he saw. Emma took his shoes off and pulled the covers up over him as best as she could when he was dead weight on top of them.

Mia brushed her teeth and washed her face in the bathroom and then promptly curled up on the couch without even pulling out the bed.

"Nope, you're sleeping in the bed. I'll take the couch," Emma told her.

Mia was apparently too tired to argue because she just dragged herself over to the bed and practically threw herself into it.

It took Emma longer to fall asleep. Her mind wouldn't shut off for the night. She was running through all of the possible fairytale characters in her mind, trying to figure out who would have brought them all back here. After she broke the first curse, they all wanted to go back to the Enchanted Forest. It just didn't make any sense that one of them would have brought them back here intentionally.

Her parents didn't think it was Regina, but Emma didn't know… This new curse forced Emma to bring the thing Regina loved the most back to Storybrooke…Henry.

Granny's Diner was just as busy as Emma remembered in the mornings. She managed to find an empty booth. She slid in next to Henry and Mia plopped down across from them. Ruby brought their usual drinks and an extra hot cocoa for Mia over right away.

David and Mary Margaret came into the diner before Henry and Mia had a chance to look at the menu. They came over to the booth and looked at Emma expectantly.

"Hey, guys, this is David and Mary Margaret."

"Are you helping my mom with the case?" Henry turned to her and lowered his voice. "Or are they the ones who jumped bail?"

Mia was leaning forward from the other side of the booth, trying to hear what they were saying.

"No, they are…they are just old friends."

"Friends? From where?"

"Phoenix," Mary Margaret said before Emma could answer.

"Well, Phoenix and here," Emma said quickly…but it was already too late. She could see the little wheels turning in Henry's mind.

"But I thought you were only in Phoenix for being in…that place." Henry was trying to be sensitive, but everyone except Mia knew what "that place" was…

Emma shot Mary Margaret a warning look, but Mary Margaret didn't see it. "Right…we were cell mates."

Great…Mia didn't even know she was her mom, but now the girl would know she'd been in jail. Emma hoped it wouldn't scare her off.

"Cell mates?" Mia turned to Emma. "Wait, you were in jail?!"

Emma stilled, closing her eyes for a second. "Yes."

Mia stared. "For what?"

"It was a minimum-security prison." Emma tried to downplay it. "I didn't do anything…my boyfriend set me up to take the fall for his crime."

Mia's eyes were wide. "What crime?"

Emma winced ever-so-slightly. "He, uh, stole some watches."

Henry was studying Mary Margaret. "What about you? What were you in for?"

"Banditry." Emma stifled a groan…Mary Margaret was really on a roll.

Mia turned to Mary Margaret in complete disbelief. "Banditry? Seriously?"

"People make mistakes. The important thing is to keep moving on."

"Right…" Mia said slowly.

"Did you know my dad?" Henry asked.

Thankfully David changed the subject before Mary Margaret could answer – or try to answer anyway...because all her answers so far had just raised more questions for Henry and Mia…questions Emma knew she would have to answer later. Who knew what Mary Margaret would have said about Neal?

They heard a loud crash from across the diner. Emma looked over to see Regina standing there, staring at Henry. There were broken pieces of what had been a ceramic coffee mug on the tile floor in front of her.

Emma got to her feet and practically dragged Regina to the back of the diner to talk privately. Regina was pretty convincing when she said she did not have anything to do with the curse. Emma could see how much it hurt her to see Henry when he didn't know who she was.

Emma took a deep breath. "I need to tell you something before you hear it from someone else." Or saw Mia and figured it out herself…Regina wasn't stupid – far from it.

"What?" Regina demanded impatiently.

"Henry's not the only kid I had." Emma watched Regina carefully to gauge her reaction…there was none. She couldn't tell if Regina already knew. If Regina knew and she took away Emma's memories…

"I fail to see how any other children you may have running around out there concern me, Miss Swan. The only child I'm concerned with is Henry."

"It doesn't concern you, but it does concern Henry because the only other kid I have is his twin."

Regina looked taken aback. It took her a second to process. "Henry's a twin?"

"You didn't know?"

"Of course not," Regina said in an irritable tone. "Had I known, I wouldn't have separated them."

Emma studied her, looking for any sign that she was lying. "You wouldn't have?"

"In all the time you spent with Henry, did you never once read his book? Hansel and Gretel?" Regina looked at her like she thought she was a complete idiot…and she probably did knowing her. "I was going to let both of them to stay in my castle with me."

Realization washed over Emma as she remembered the story of Hansel and Gretel from Henry's book. "That's right…you did."

"Why would I suddenly be in the business of splitting twins up now?"

"You wouldn't," Emma acknowledged softly. "They never said anything when you adopted Henry?"

"Not a word." Regina's expression changed…it was almost wistful. "Henry always wanted a sibling. He was lonely. Maybe if he'd had one…"

Emma stared at her with a knowing expression…she knew Regina well enough to know what the woman had stopped herself from saying. "What, he wouldn't have found me?"

Regina didn't seem to think that was worth responding to…but she didn't really need to - they both knew the answer.

"Well, he has one now…or he will. I found her and brought her here…I just haven't told her – or him – yet."

"But you're planning to?" Regina surmised.

Emma nodded. "When Henry gets his memories back."

"Well, Miss Swan, it seems we have a common goal."

"Mia!" Henry called in a whisper from in between the shelves of books in the library.

Mia walked over to him. "Why are you whispering? Mary Margaret found a section on babies…"

Mary Margaret was their designated babysitter. She had talked about babies non-stop until she offered to take them to the library. They now knew more than either one of them had ever wanted to know about newborns.

"Oh. She was lying about how she knows my mom."

"I know…she said she was arrested for banditry." Mia rolled her eyes and let out a short laugh.

"She does know my mom though…she has to…she knew my mom was in jail in Arizona."

"That was true?"

Henry nodded. "So…why would she lie?"

"Because they don't want us to know how they really know each other. But where could they have met that's worse than jail?"

They stared blankly at each other…neither of them could think of anywhere Emma and Mary Margaret could have met that would be worse than jail. How the hell did they know each other…and why were they lying?

"It's kind of weird that my mom has all these old friends she's never mentioned," Henry said after a few seconds.

Mia stared at him. "All? Isn't it just Mary Margaret and David?"

"And Killian."

"Killian was at your apartment the first night I was there. Remember…someone came to the door and it wasn't the pizza guy?" Mia felt a little guilty for telling something she knew instinctively that Emma did not want Henry to know, but she couldn't bring herself to feel too badly since Emma was lying to both of them.

Henry's eyes widened. "That was Killian?"

Mia nodded. "Only they didn't seem that friendly. Your mom threatened to punch him in the face."

"That sounds like my mom," Henry said with a laugh.

Regina didn't know why she let Swan talk her into this…it had been bad enough to see her son in the diner and have him look right through her like she was nobody to him. She wasn't prepared to talk to him and have him treat her like a virtual stranger. He wasn't a stranger…he was her son.

"Come on, I want you to meet someone." Regina arched her eyebrows when Emma appeared with both children…she supposed it would have seemed strange if she only spent time with Henry, but he was the only one she wanted to spend time with. She already had to share one child with Emma Swan…she didn't want to make it two.

Regina eyed the girl with her son critically…the girl looked like Henry - well, of course she did...they were twins. But the girl also looked like a complete ragamuffin…her clothes didn't fit her at all and her sneakers were practically falling apart. It didn't even look like she'd made any attempt whatsoever to tame her wild hair that morning.

"This is Regina Mills. She's the mayor of this town and she wanted to meet you…two," Swan said awkwardly. She gave Regina a pleading look and glanced at the girl with a small, helpless shrug.

Regina resigned herself to the girl's presence, but she was focused solely on Henry.

Henry shifted uncomfortably under the intensity of her gaze. "Is something wrong?"

Regina snapped out of it and gave him a tight, forced smile. "No, nothing's wrong. Your mother just told me a lot about you. I heard you like school and that you're good at English."

"Yeah? Why did she tell you all this?" Henry asked, looking confused.

"Because she couldn't be more proud of you," Regina said, speaking for herself more than for Emma.

Regina offered to give him a tour of the town and take him for ice cream, grudgingly including the girl in her plans.

The conversation was awkward and stilted, but it was a start. It was better than nothing.

At least the girl didn't attempt to insert herself into the conversation…she seemed to sense her presence was neither needed nor wanted.

Regina was going to hug Henry goodbye, but he awkwardly offered her his hand instead. It felt like a slap in the face. She reluctantly shook the girl's hand as well…though she couldn't help but wonder how clean it was.

"Swan, if I'm going to be seen in public with your daughter, see to it that she's dressed appropriately…and by appropriately I mean in clothes that actually fit," Regina said as Emma walked her out.

At first Mia thought the shopping trip to Modern Fashions, which was probably one of the only clothing stores in the small town, was for Emma. She only realized the woman was shopping for her when Emma guided her over to the juniors section. She felt her face grow hot and knew she was blushing furiously.

"I have clothes."

"You have, like, three shirts."

"I have enough," Mia said defensively.

"Look, we're going to be here for a little while and I just want to make sure you have enough to get you by."

"Well, I do."

"Okay…what about jeans? Your jeans didn't exactly survive your trip down the fire escape."

Mia knew she couldn't really argue with that. She picked a random pair of jeans from the rack in the section for her size and looked at the price tag. She immediately put them back…they cost more than everything she owned combined.

"Can we go to another store?"

"Uh, Storybrooke? Not really the shopping capital of Maine."

"Is there a thrift store?"

Emma sighed. "This is about money, isn't it?"

Mia nodded, still staring at the floor. She wished it would open and swallow her.

"How about you don't worry about the price? I got this."

Mia looked up at her in surprise. Okay, maybe Emma had paid for food and little things like that for her, but that was different than buying her clothes. None of her foster parents bought her clothes from places like this…and they were getting paid to take care of her. She thought of the sixty bucks in her backpack back at the bed and breakfast…she really didn't want to spend it all on clothes.

"I have money – just…not enough for this kind of store." Mia tried to explain.

"It sounds like you're still worrying about the price. Stop," Emma said gently. "I said I got this."

"You're not, like, my foster mom. You won't get a government check to pay for it," Mia mumbled.

A strange look crossed Emma's face. It looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself. She smiled weakly. "You hurt yourself falling down my fire escape. I feel kind of responsible."

Mia gaped at the woman. She hurt herself falling down the fire escape because she was running…it was her fault, not Emma's.

"Besides, you've been my assistant in the kitchen for the last couple days. I figure I owe you for that. Think of it as an allowance."

"It's too much." Mia tried to explain. She didn't know of anyone who got that kind of money for their allowance.

"No, it's not. Come on, Mia…try these on." Emma gave her the jeans she'd picked up earlier. "We're not leaving until you do."

Mia took the jeans back to a dressing room. They weren't tight like her old jeans were, they didn't drag on the floor like the yoga pants she was borrowing from Emma, and the denim was the softest she'd ever felt. She liked them. She decided to let Emma buy them for her since the woman really wanted to, but she still felt a small pang of guilt at the thought of anyone spending that kind of money on her.

Emma thought pre-teen girls liked shopping. She wasn't much of a girly-girl, and she remembered having fun trying things on at that age, even if she couldn't actually buy any of them. Mia acted like the shopping trip was the absolute last thing she wanted to do.

It didn't help that Storybrooke didn't have a mall…even though Emma wondered if Mia would have been just as difficult in an actual mall. It wasn't the clothes she had a problem with...it was the price - or more specifically letting Emma pay for it. Emma knew it would be a problem going in...she just thought the girl would get past it.

Emma had been planning to buy Mia a week's worth of clothes to get her started. Instead, they left with two pairs of jeans – and even that felt like a cause for celebration. It wasn't enough, but Emma had a new plan…she would come back minus Mia and buy the girl the essentials. Mia wouldn't be happy, but she would have clothes that actually fit her and were warm enough for March in Storybooke. The girl needed new clothes, even if she didn't want them.