Chapter 19: Like Father Like Daughter

Charming and Emma were out riding and had come up with an informal game for getting to know each other. They were taking turns asking each other personal questions.

"Okay, it is my turn." Emma informed him. "When and where did you kill your first dragon?"

Her father laughed, "It was in the kingdom of King Midas and I was pretending to be my dead brother, Prince James, at the time. He stated light heartedly.

"Mine was underneath the town library, with your sword." She informed him.

"What was your favorite subject in school?" He asked.

"Ironically, it was fencing. It was part of one of those programs to help underachieving and troubled kids. Give them something pointy and let them have at it!" She laughed.

"Nice!" He commented sarcastically.

"So far, I have given you easy questions. Now for a hard one, have you thought about names for the baby?" She asked.

"Snow and I have not had a chance to talk about it." He reluctantly admitted. "If we have a boy I would like to name him Leo after Snow's father though." He smiled wistfully.

"I think she would approve." Emma nodded and then she asked, "What were your parents named?"

"That is two questions in a row," He teased, "My mother was named Ruth and my father was named James, I always wondered why I wasn't named after my father and then I found out that he already had a namesake." He sighed.

"Of course your twin brother was named James." Emma nodded.

"Everyone called my dad Jack." Her father informed her.

"Like from the story about the Beanstalk and the Giants?" Emma asked curiously.

"Maybe, I never knew for sure. There were no giants left by the time I was a little boy" He let the information sink in.

"What were your parents like?" She asked with enthusiasm.

"I barely remember my father. He died when I was very young. My mother told me that he never forgave himself for giving away my brother. Ruth was a bored member of the royal family when she met my father and fell in love. Her family disowned her when she ran off with my father and they had to struggle as farmers. That was when Rumpelstiltskin approached them and offered money for one of their twin boys. The King and Queen of a far off land were childless and they needed an heir." He explained.

"Back up a minute, your mother was a princess?" Emma asked shocked.

"She was until she married my father, then she became a shepherdess." He stated ironically.

"But you are always being referred to as nothing but the son of a shepherd. You are royalty!" Her voice rose in pitch.

"My mother did not see it that way. When her family turned their back on her, she found a life that was much more fulfilling with my father. Even though, their life was hard, he was her true love." Charming explained wistfully.

"But you are a Prince!" Emma exclaimed.

He laughed, "I became a Prince when I married your mother. Because of the man that she made me not because my mother was born to a king." He shrugged.

"Does mom know about this?" She asked cautiously giving him a sideways glance.

"Your mother and I have no secrets from each other." He promised. "Now it is my turn to ask you a question."

"Nothing in my life could be that interesting, but go ahead." She shrugged

"Where did you learn to ride a horse so well?"

"I told you I was in the mounted police."

He gave her a skeptical look.

"Okay, it was actually a security firm that I worked for one Christmas. We patrolled the parking lots of malls to make sure that cars were not broken into. We did it on horses though. I had always loved ridding though. One summer, while I was in elementary school, I took part in an equestrian camp for troubled kids. That was where I learned to love horses."

"Teaching kids to ride makes more sense than giving them pointy sticks and having them go at it. A love of horses is something we have in common. My mother and I were too poor to have horses, but the daughter of the tavern owner used to take me out ridding. Bessie was my first." He sighed nostalgically.

A look of shock crossed her face, "That is way too much information!" She stated in disgust.

"Bessie was the horse, Emma." He laughed.

"Okay." Emma said cautiously.

"Your mother was the first woman I was ever with in that way." He informed her.

She looked surprised. "Are you serious?" She asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Yes, your mother is my one and only." He smiled. Technically, it wasn't true. David had been with Kathryn, but somehow he didn't feel that it counted.

They rode along in silence for a while before Emma blurted out, "Henry's father was my first. Wow! I have never even told Mary Margaret that!" She looked slightly embarrassed.

"Did you love him?" He asked softly.

"I was 17, of course it was love." She said sarcastically.

"I mean, did you really love him?" He clarified.

"Maybe, it is hard to tell since he didn't stick around." She shrugged. "I love Henry though and that is what is important right now."

"My turn," She reminded him.

"Go ahead and ask me anything." He grinned.

"Tell me something you learned on your wedding night and remember this is your daughter you are telling." She remarked dryly.

He thought for a moment.

"I learned that it is a bad idea to fall sleep on your wedding night." He stated boldly.

"You fell asleep?" She asked him with shock in her voice.

"In my defense it had been a long week. Fairy Tale wedding last at least a week. There are feasts and parades and pageants. Then Regina showed up right after the ceremony was complete and we had to deal with that. The wedding was at our palace, the one we had taken from King George, but we were scheduled to spend a week alone at the Summer Palace that been built for Snow's mother. It was a long carriage ride between the two places."

"You fell asleep?" She repeated in an accusing tone.

"I am trying to explain. By the time that we got to the Summer Palace it was late. A few of the servants had waited up for us, but your mother sent them to bed. Then she went to change and that was when I fell asleep. Your mother was not amused." He admitted.

"I don't blame her." Emma shrugged.

"When I woke up I discovered she had tied my hands to the bedposts with the ribbons from her wedding dress. Things got interesting after that." He laughed.

"You're telling this to your daughter, remember?" She scolded.

"Right, so the really important thing I learned that night was to trust your Mother."

Emma looked at her watch and realized they had been out ridding for two hours.

"We should be heading back." She suggested.

"There is something I want to check out over by the town line if that is okay?" He asked.

"Lead the way." She answered.

As they approached the town border, they saw movement and as Charming suspected, it turned out to be Gold again.

"Is that Gold?" Emma asked with surprise in her voice.

"Yes it is. Snow and I saw him out here last night as well." Her father explained.

"Why is he putting ankle monitors on deer?" She asked as they watched Gold attach the white device to the leg of a deer and then send it across the town line.

"Is that what those things are?" Her father asked.

"They use them for criminals that are under house arrest to keep track of their activities and movements. I guess they could be used to track animals, but why bother? They are expensive for one thing."

"I talked to the raccoons this morning and they told me that he is only putting them on animals that came from the Enchanted Forest. He sends them across the town line with those devices attached and then lures the deer back across with food or a treat. He is testing whether it is safe to cross the town line as long as a person or animal is wearing the monitor." Charming informed her.

"Gold wants to leave Storybrooke?" She asked, in a shocked tone.

"It would appear so." Her father grimaced.

"That is a very bad idea! Can you imagine what it would be like to have a magic able Gold running around the outside world?" Emma exclaimed.

"It would be bad!" Her father agreed under his breath. He turned his horse around and started back for the stables.

Emma caught up with his horse, "Wait a minute! You can talk to animals?" She asked with mild amusement on her face.

Her father just laughed. "I'll race you back to the stables and then I can drop you back at the station. There is something important I need to do in town."

Emma gave him a worried look and then followed him back to the stables.

Snow gave Henry a hug.

"You were very helpful today." She told him. After lunch they had stopped by Regina's to pick up the tests. She hadn't been at home, but Henry had a key and was able to easily retrieve the tests.

He gave her a worried look.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" She asked.

"Will your nausea and throwing up hurt the baby?" He asked seriously.

"No, it is a normal part of being pregnant. Some women get dehydrated and have to go to the hospital, but most of the time the nausea passes in a month of so." She told him in a reassuring voice. "If you have any questions about this, you are free to ask. I will try and answer anything." She told him truthfully.

"Well, I do have another question." He admitted.

Snow steeled herself and smiled encouragingly.

"Go ahead, you can ask me anything." She said.

"Did you mean what you said this morning about not letting Gramps touch you ever again?" He asked, with confusion and concern in his voice.

"No, of course not." She admitted.

"Good, because I have noticed that he really likes to touch you and I think that he would be sad if he could never touch you again." He said with feeling.

Snow kept smiling, "What exactly have you noticed?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you know that he likes to hug you and hold your hand and sometimes he rubs your back if you are stressed out." Henry shrugged.

Snow relaxed and said, "He can keep on doing those things."

Henry lowered his voice to a whisper, "I think he also likes to kiss you. Even though I don't understand why anyone would want to do that? Not that there is anything wrong with you. I just don't understand kissing." He shrugged.

She hugged him, "That's okay. It isn't something you need to worry about yet." His grandmother hugged him. They both squinted as they stepped out of the dark school and into the bright summer day. Henry's eyes adjusted first.

"Gramps!" He called out and rushed down the steps and stopped in front of a bench where Charming was sitting.

"How was school?" He asked Henry.

"Well, it wasn't actually school." He replied as he looked across the school yard. "Grace is over there, can I go talk to her?"

"Stay where we can see you!" Snow requested, but Henry was already out of earshot. She wondered how long it would take before her grandson understood kissing.

Charming smiled at his wife, "Hello gorgeous."

"I feel anything but." She sighed as she sat down on the bench beside her husband. His hand went instantly to her back and started rubbing in circles that melted the tension from the day. She found it amusing that Henry had noticed the ways that charming touched her and yet she never had. Maybe she just took it for granted.

"You are always gorgeous as far as I am concerned." He pulled her to him and kissed her long and slow before she could protest.

"If you only knew what has gone past my lips today. I have been kneeling on the floor of a public restroom and I need a shower and to brush my teeth and probably to burn these clothes" She finally protested.

"I don't care. Have you forgotten the time we made passionate love on the forest floor on a cushion of pine needles? We had been running around in the trees for three days and our supplies had been cut off. We had been eating whatever we could find on the forest ground? " He cheekily reminded her.

"How could I forget? It was during the Troll uprising. I was picking pine needles out of some very delicate areas for weeks" She grinned.

"We didn't mind kissing every inch of each other's bodies that night." He grinned. " We really needed to burn our clothes by the time we made it back to camp." He laughed as he moved to kiss her again.

"Eww! You two should get a room!" Henry shouted.

Charming laughed against his wife's chin.

"Do you even know what that means?" He called over his shoulder at their grandson.

"No," Henry admitted, "But whatever it means, I think it applies to you two!" He replied back.

"I thought I was going to have to have the sex talk with Henry today." Snow quietly told her husband.

"I had the sex talk with Emma last night," He proudly informed her, "You can thank me later." He grinned in a teasing fashion. "And I told her about our wedding night." He added and waited for her reaction.

Snow just shook her head in disbelief, "What exactly did you tell her?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"I told her that I learned that night to trust you implicitly." He said with feeling in his voice.

"I am so glad because there are a few things in our life that I would rather not have to explain to our daughter." She admitted.

"Well, she saw that security tape from Granny's so she has probably figured out a few things."

He handed her a takeout bag from Granny's.

"Speaking of Granny's, I come bearing gifts." He handed her a cup. "Chamomile tea is in the cup and chocolate doughnuts are in the bag. He handed her the bag. "I know that no matter how bad you feel you will never say no to a chocolate doughnut."

He was right and she dug into the doughnuts and sipped the tea. She instantly felt better.

"There is something else that I need to say yes to. I think there is a pressing question that you asked me last night?" She shyly reminded him.

He gave her a serious look, "Are you saying what I think you are saying?" His face broke into a grin.

"Yes, I will marry you, again." She said as he kissed her again.

"Excuse me, your majesties; may I have a moment of your time?" A voice asked.

They both looked up and saw a dark haired man standing in front of them. Neither of them recognized the man. Charming held his wife a little tighter in protective embrace. The man must have noticed, because he quickly introduced himself.

"We have never met. My wife and I are Paige, I mean Grace's adoptive parents." He indicated the little girl talking to Henry.

Recognition dawned on Snow's face. "Right, I have seen her in school." She smiled warmly.

"We were the neighbors of her and her father before the Curse. Even while we were under the Curse, my wife and I always felt that our relationship with her was off somehow if you can understand?" He asked timidly.

Charming did understand and he said as much, "I know exactly what you mean, she was supposed to be a part of your family and yet the pieces of that life did not fit together perfectly." He gave the man a reassuring look.

"Now we know why the pieces didn't fit. We love Paige and we want to be a part of her life, but we also know that she belongs with her father." The man shrugged.

"These are confusing times for a lot of people." Charming admitted.

The man nodded his head in agreement, "My wife and I were hoping that the two of you would intervene and help us to come to some kind of arrangement with Jefferson?" He had a pleading look on his face.

Both of them seemed momentarily stunned.

"Of course, we would be honored to help." Snow informed him.

"Thank you." His voice was heavy with gratitude.

Henry ran up to the adults.

"Grace just invited me to go to Granny's with her for dinner. Can I go?" He begged.

Snow and Charming exchanged a look and then looked towards Grace's adopted father. He nodded in agreement.

"Sure, but have Ruby or Granny bring you home when you are finished." Charming told him sternly.

"Thanks, Gramps!" He called over his shoulder.

"Should we be worried?" Snow asked.

"Probably not, but he is growing up. How did it really go today go today?" Charming asked his wife.

"We made some progress," She admitted. "Henry was a big help. He actually reminded me a lot of you." She gave him an appreciative smile.

"How do you mean?" He asked.

"Henry saw that there was a problem, listened to all sides and he presented a logical solution that not only solved the problem, but also addressed everyone's concerns. It is exactly the way you would have solved the solution. It made me realize it is the thing that will make you a great mayor. I think you should run against Regina." She informed him.

"I met with Jasmine this morning and I think she could help me win. Is it really what we want though? Because I think you would make a much better Mayor, Snow." He insisted.

"Sometimes I think that people see me as too nice. That would work against me in this case. This town needs someone who can take decisive action. Regina has spent 29 years basically not taking care of this town. We need infrastructure and improvements and how about a daycare center?" She insisted.

"There you go proving my point. You have all of the good ideas, Snow." He replied.

"You have the voice to carry them out though and the sword to back it up if the need arises. Don't worry though, once you become Mayor I am going to make sure you listen to all of my good ideas." She teased. "Charming you did a wonderful job organizing people when we were looking for Henry." She insisted.

"Well, I did spend a lot of years herding sheep." He admitted sheepishly.

Snow smiled, "There you go. You have all the experience necessary to be mayor. Although, you probably should not let people hear you call them sheep if you want their votes." She teased.

"Are you ready to go home?" Her husband asked. "Emma should be at the station for a couple of more hours and with Henry at Granny's we might actually get to spend some time alone." He happily stated.

"How would you suggest we spend this alone time?" She asked with interest.

"I was thinking about running a nice, hot, bubble bath." He grinned.

She furrowed her brows in concentration. "Was this proposed bath for you or for me?" She asked.

He gave her a sly look, "I was thinking it could be for both of us?"

She smiled happily, "Good answer."