Chapter 24

Disclaimers: I don't own "Once Upon a Time." Also, this is a sequel to the original "Thicker than Water" written by La Lisboa. Furthermore, I don't own the song "Thank you" written by Dido in 2001.

Emma spent part of Sunday at the gym at the university. She ran, she cycled, and she punched the punching bags. It felt great. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this good. She was still upset over Neal's death, of course. But as she thought about how Neal would never bet the father to Henry that he had wanted to be, or kiss her again, or make her laugh, she would punch the punching bag. She would run and cycle as hard as she could. It made a huge difference to have something to concentrate her anger on. It gave her a better perspective.

Emma decided maybe she'd jog home from the police station instead of walking to the bus stop, as well. It would be a great way to continue channeling her anger into physical exercise without spending so much time away from home. She had been neglecting Henry lately, after all. While teaching him how to play baseball yesterday had gone a long way toward making it up to him, Emma knew she still had a ways to go. She didn't want to spend any more time away from Henry that wasn't necessary.

As she finished up her work out and was ready to go to the bus stop, she realized she had a call from Ruby. It was a little strange, since Ruby usually waited for Emma to call her. Still, maybe Ruby needed help with her situation. If that was the case, Emma was more than happy to help. "Hi, Ruby," Emma answered. "Is there something you need help with?"

"Hi Emma," Ruby responded. "No, not really. I've been doing…about the same, but I'll be alright. Knowing that the man has been arrested really helps."

"I told you it would help," Emma agreed. "Although I recently found a lot of physical activity really helps with my anger. Yesterday my family and I played baseball, and today I spent some time at the gym at the university. I think I might start running or jogging home from work instead of taking the bus, as well."

"That's something to think about," Red replied slowly. "I've been doing a lot of walking since I started taking care of the dogs at that kennel place. But I haven't done any running recently. When I lost Peter…running helped my anger a little, although most of my running was done in wolf form. Maybe I could try it in human form."

"Good idea," Emma agreed, happy to help be helping Ruby. Usually it seemed Ruby was helping Emma these days.

"But…ah…Emma, I actually called to talk about something else," Ruby continued, sounding a little nervous.

"Oh?" Emma replied, curious.

"Your mother called to tell me about this 'Thanksgiving thing,'" she began.

"Oh, yeah she told me about that already. I told her I'd come. It's not a problem," Emma replied causally. Was that what Red had been nervous about?

"Yeah…well she also managed to get me to tell you what your problem was," Ruby admitted, slowly.

What? Didn't Ruby understand she'd told her that in confidence? "Really?" Emma snapped. "I thought you would understand I didn't want you telling anyone about my problems!"

"I did," Ruby sighed. "And I tried not to, really I did, but Snow pushed pretty hard. And with all due respect, Emma, Snow isn't just anyone. She's my best friend and she's your mother."

"I see," Emma replied, still not happy about this development.

"The good news is now that Snow knows the reason, she's agreed that you can talk to me anytime you want, and she won't get in the way."

Emma shrugged. "Well, that's good news, I guess. I just wished she would have trusted me to know what's best."

"I can see why you would think that Emma, but I don't think it was about that. She was just so desperate to find a way to help you, because you're her daughter. And…I think maybe she's found a way. She wants to hold a memorial for Neal, in your back yard. For Henry, too, if he wants. She did one for me for Peter, too, and it did help, Emma. Is it okay with you?"

Emma thought about the idea for a few minutes. "Yeah, that might be okay. I'll talk to Henry about it as well."

OOOOOOOO

Emma came home and found Henry in his room, reading one of the detective novels she'd bought him. She loved that he was enjoying those books. Maybe she could find another one to buy him for Christmas. Of course, his biggest Christmas present would be the new fairytale book, but it couldn't hurt to have an extra one, as well.

"Hi Henry, how are you doing?" she greeted him as she sat next to him on his air mattress.

Henry shrugged. "Not bad. This is a pretty good book."

"Good to hear," Emma replied, smiling. "Listen, I know it's been a while, but," Emma sighed. She knew she had to approach this topic with him carefully. He didn't know Neal's death had affected her so much, since Emma was trying to protect him from her pain. "…but your grandma realized we never really said goodbye to Neal. Your father. She'd like to have a memorial for him, in the backyard. She said…we could say anything we wanted to him there."

Henry looked thoughtful for several minutes. "Yeah, that might be nice. I mean Mom's funeral was hard...but it helped, I guess." Then he looked at the floor. "I haven't thought that much about Dad in the last few months. Do you think…he's mad at me about that? I mean, if he's still able to see us somehow? Did he know that I was happy to find him...To have a dad?" Henry's voice sounded choked up at the last sentence.

Emma hugged Henry. She'd been worried about this. That bringing up Neal would only make him upset all over again, after he was getting over Regina. It was one of the main reasons why she had been pretending she was okay around Henry lately. Still, she had to say something to comfort him now. "No, Henry, I'm sure Neal isn't mad that you haven't thought about him. He would want you to be happy. That's what he told me before he fell through the portal you know. That he didn't want you to grow up alone like we did. Because he wanted you to have a happy life. And I know he knew you were happy that you found him. Because you told him. And he told me he was happy to have found you, too."

Henry nodded. "Alright." Then he hugged her back.

XXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOOOO

After Snow finished her phone conversation with Red, she continued went back to working on dinner.

Now that things were going a little better with Emma, Snow had decided to make ham with blueberry sauce and homemade bread tonight. The bread had finally risen, so she put it in the oven to bake. After all, Emma had missed the family dinner the first time she'd made it. Snow tried not to make a big deal out of that, considering how many other problems she had been having with Emma. And she certainly didn't want to make an issue out of it now that she knew what had been bothering Emma. For a second, she tried to picture how she'd live if Charming died, and Snow's heart skipped a few beats.

But, the truth was ham with blueberry sauce was the first dinner she had ever learned to make, and it had always been special to her. It was something she wanted to share with her whole family (or at least everyone who lived together now). Since Emma had planned a family outing at the park, and really seemed to enjoy playing the "baseball" game yesterday, would she enjoy a family dinner as well? Snow hoped so. She really loved cooking dinners, especially nice dinners for her family. Cooking was something she'd enjoyed for a long time, after all. But more than that, it was a great way to take care of her loved ones. She hadn't forgotten what Emma told her shortly after they left the cave. "Cooking isn't for me," she'd said. At least this way, she could be Emma's mother.

She really hoped Emma would let her have a memorial for Neal as well, Snow thought to herself as she made the blueberry sauce. She just wanted to do something to help her daughter's pain. It should help, after all. She remembered how much it had helped Red with Peter. But would Emma be willing to admit that, Snow wondered.

OOOOOOOOO

A couple of hours later, the dinner was ready, and their family sat down to eat. Snow's heart soared as she saw Emma eat along with everyone else.

And then it got better. After swallowing a piece of ham, Emma looked at Snow and said, "Ruby told me about your idea about having the memorial. I think..."Emma paused for a minute and took a deep breath. "I think it's a good idea." Then Emma looked at Henry and they exchanged a sad smile. "We both think it's a good idea."

Snow's heart soared so much she thought it might have wings. "Thank you, Emma," she told her, looking tenderly at her daughter. Then she gave a similar look to her grandson. "Thank you to both of you."

Charming nodded, accepting that this was important to their family. Then he looked at Snow. "What memorial? What are we talking about?"

Snow had forgotten she hadn't mentioned her plan to him. She had wanted to see if Emma was okay with it first. She just didn't expect Emma to announce her decision at dinner time. "Well, Charming, Emma has been bothered because Neal died. He was Henry's father. So I thought of how I helped Red by giving a memorial for Peter. I thought I'd do the same for Neal. We could have it in our backyard." She reached under the table and took his hand. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I wanted to see what Emma thought about it first."

Charming nodded, squeezing her hand under the table. "It's okay. It's a good idea. I'm glad you thought about it." He gave her his special smile. Then he looked at Emma and Henry. "I'm sorry you lost Neal. Was he your husband?" he asked, confused. Snow was a little confused about what Emma and Neal's relationship was as well. Emma never implied she'd been married, but she certainly cared a lot about Neal.

Emma sighed as she finished eating a piece of bread. "No. We were together for about a year, when I was sixteen and seventeen years old. I had just gotten out of the foster system and was completely on my own for the first time. I met Neal, who was in a similar situation, and we just…connected. Then we got…separated for a while." Emma sounded like she was leaving a lot of things out of this, but Snow supposed it was okay for now. At least Emma was talking. "I didn't find him again until last year, after the Curse broke. I was looking for Rumplestiltskin's son. Henry was with me, so he started to get to know his father."

"And you…started seeing him again?" Charming asked, obviously uncomfortable with Emma having a boyfriend, but trying not to show it. Snow squeezed his hand again. He shoved a piece of ham in his mouth. Snow knew it was an effort to keep from screaming at the thought of Emma having another man in her life.

Emma shook her head. "No. He and I still had…some difficulties from when we separated. Besides, he was engaged by then. To that woman who blew up Storybrooke, actually. She was just using him," Emma's voice still sounded quite angry as she talked about this woman. It was understandable, though. After all, King George still made Snow angry, and he hadn't actually killed Charming. Emma continued, "But just before he died,…I realized I still loved him." She looked down at her plate.

David leaned over and hugged Emma from the side. "I'm sorry you lost him, Emma. Especially since you only just realized how much you cared about him right before he died."

"I wish you would have worked things out earlier," Henry, piped up. He had been unusually quiet until then. "I would have liked to have seen my parents get back together."

Emma sighed. "I would have liked it too, Henry. We could have raised you together." Then she looked straight at Snow. "I'm sorry I pushed you away so much the past few weeks. I thought all you could do was pity me, because you've never had to go through it. It never occurred to me that you could have…had such a great idea, like a memorial."

Snow felt her heart choke up at Emma's apology. "Thank you for letting me help, Emma. But I'm sorry for insisting that I be the one you turn to, as well, when you felt more comfortable with Red. That wasn't fair, either."

Then Emma turned to David. "And thank you for respecting my wishes and not pushing me. I really appreciate that, too."

They all nodded. "So what do we want to do for this memorial anyway?" Snow asked. "Do you want to prepare what you want to say before hand? Is there anything you'd like us to say? Do? At both my parents' funerals, there were people playing music. Is that something you'd like to do? I just want it to be perfect."

Emma shrugged. "I don't think you need to say anything." She thought for a few more minutes. "But there are some songs we used to like to listen to when they came on the radio on the Bug." Bug? What? At Snow and Charming's blank look, Emma explained, "Volkswagen Beetle. It's the kind of car we had. It's called a Bug for short." They all nodded. "Anyway, they were songs that made Neal and I think of us. If I write them down, do you think you can find one of them?"

Snow nodded. "Definitely. Either at one of those discount stores, or maybe one of the girls at work has one of the songs."

"Can I play something, too? On a harmonica or a drum or something?"

They all nodded. Of course, Henry."

"How about flowers? Or candles?" Charming asked, after keeping quiet for a few minutes. Snow loved that he wanted to help plan the memorial as well. "When we buried my mother, we had flowers and candles." Snow squeezed his hand under the table, remembering helping him through that.

Emma shrugged. "I don't think Neal is…was really a flowers guy. But some candles…that might be a good idea."

Henry nodded in agreement.

OOOOOOOOOOO

As Snow and Charming got ready for bed that night, he put his arms around her. "I'm proud of you, you know. For not giving up on finding a way to help Emma. I thought she just needed space. But I guess she needed us to help her, after all."

Snow smiled at him and gave his shoulder a kiss. "Yeah, but you were right, too. She did need space. She told you that at dinner tonight. Space I wasn't ready to give her, and you were."

Charming pulled her tighter to him. "Well, between the two of us, I guess we can take care of Emma, then."

Snow pulled herself onto his lap. "That's exactly how it should be. Because we're both her parents." Then she gave him a long kiss that ended with a sigh. "It's sad that Emma is never going to have what we have with Neal. The chance to raise Henry together. To be together permanently."

Charming's smile faded. "I know. But at least she still has people who love her. She has us, and Henry, and Red, too."

"Yeah." Snow rubbed his chest and kissed him again. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he murmured, as he kissed her again and pulled her more fully onto of him. Things continued from there until they made love.

XXXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOOOO

They decided to have the memorial for Neal late Wednesday afternoon, at 5:00PM. Emma had gotten out of work a little early, since Thanksgiving was the next day. Ruby came as well, since she finished her day at the kennel at 4:00.

Emma couldn't decide what to wear. It was a memorial, right? Kind of like a funeral? So should she wear black? She certainly felt like she was mourning. But still…Emma wasn't' sure that was the message she wanted to give her son. She didn't want him to think he had to wear black and spend all kinds of time mourning his father. They hadn't worn black to Regina's funeral after all. Of course, they hadn't really had a choice in that instance. In the end, Emma decided to wear her black skirt and a blue shirt. Dark colors, but not all black.

Her mother, however, did wear all black. Emma wasn't entirely comfortable with that, but she knew her mother was only trying to respect her and Henry. And given how much she'd hurt her mother by pushing her away for the past month, Emma decided to let it go. David wore brown. Emma really appreciated that, and tried to smile at him to show that.

Ruby wore black pants and red top. "I wore red to Peter's memorial," she explained, to everyone. "Besides, wearing red has always made me feel more confident. Almost everything I wear these days is red," she added softer, to Emma and Snow specifically. Emma and Snow nodded. Since they knew about her situation with her creepy ex – boss, they understood why Ruby would need to wear that color even more often these days.

Henry also seemed to think for a long time before he decided on an outfit. In the end, he also wore black pants and a blue shirt. Actually, Henry's outfit looked almost identical to hers, Emma thought to herself. She wondered if that was on purpose or not.

When everyone was ready, they all stepped outside to the backyard. Near the edge of the house, there was a large rock. That was where Snow had decided the memorial should take place. Henry began playing an old kazoo he'd found, which was the instrument he'd chosen to play. Snow picked up as small, sharp rock and scratched "Neal" on the bigger one. David pulled some matches out of his pocket and lit the candle they'd placed on the rock. Ruby held on to Emma's hand.

Henry played the kazoo for another few minutes, and then he stepped forward, as Emma had insisted he speak first. "Hi Dad", he began trying to sound strong. Emma was glad he was trying, at least. "I was only getting to know you when you died. But while you were here…you were already becoming a great dad. You showed me around New York, you were always interested in me and what I had to say, you took me to the park, and you even played swords with me. I wish we'd had more time together, Dad. I wish we'd found each other sooner, or better yet, that you were still alive now. I wish we had enough time for you to tell me more about your life in the Enchanted Forest. I wish I had shown you how to play my favorite video games. I wish…you and Mom could've gotten back together. Goodbye, Dad," Henry finished, sounding choked up as he finished.

Emma motioned for her mother to play the music she'd picked out. One of the women she worked with had lent them an iPod for the occasion. Emma looked down so everyone else, especially Henry wouldn't see the tears well up in her eyes as the song began to play. It was "Thank you" by Dido

"Thank You"

My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all
the morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all
And even if I could it'd all be grey, but your picture on my wall
it reminds me that it's not so bad
it's not so bad

I drank too much last night, got bills to pay
my head just feels in pain
I missed the bus and there'll be hell today
I'm late for work again
and even if I'm there, they'll all imply that I might not last the
day
and then you call me and it's not so bad
it's not so bad and

I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life
Oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life

Push the door, I'm home at last and I'm soaking through and
through
then you handed me a towel and all I see is you
and even if my house falls down now, I wouldn't have a clue
because you're near me and

I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life
Oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life

Then Emma stepped up to the rock. "Do you remember when we used to hear that song on the radio, Neal? We used to think it was about us. We didn't really have anything, after all. Our lives pretty much sucked. But as long as we were together…it wasn't so bad, just like the song said. You were all I needed to be happy, Neal. You understood my loneliness and abandonment so well, because you had experience them too." Emma took a deep breath and blinked away her tears. She really didn't want to cry in front of Henry.

"And then…some things happened, and we got separated." Emma was still a little angry at Neal for that, but she didn't want to concentrate on those memories at his memorial. Especially considering most of her family didn't know the whole story of how she and Neal broke up, and she'd like to keep it that way. "But you gave me the Bug that we had lived in. And I kept it. I told myself it was just because I needed a car. But really…I kept it because it reminded me of you. Of us. And I waited for you for two years. In Tallahassee. You were my Tallahassee, Neal. You and Henry. We could have been happy.

And when I finally found you again,…I wasn't ready. Too much time had passed, I thought. You were engaged to someone else. But I remember looking at the dream catcher you kept at your apartment. It was something we were going to use in our place in Tallahassee. I didn't understand why you kept it, unless I still meant something to you. And you were really great with Henry. I noticed that right away. And you helped us with all of our family problems, like Cora and Regina. We were working together again, Neal. And you told me you were sorry about what happened. That if you had to do it over again you would have done it differently. And I realized we had something else in common, Neal. We really didn't belong in either world. You grew up in the Enchanted Forest, but you had to leave because of what happened to your father. So you lived in this world. But you never really felt comfortable with it, did you? It was never really home. All my family comes from the Enchanted Forest, but, I never really lived there myself. So I don't know what to call home, either. But we could have had each other, Neal. We could have been home to each other. Goodbye Neal. I love you," Emma finished, blinking back her tears again as she stepped away from the rock.

Her mother and Ruby put their arms around her, while David held Henry. "Well, I guess that's that," Emma commented, trying to sound like she hadn't just bared her soul.

Everyone else nodded. David blew out the candle and Snow picked up the IPod. As they turned to go back inside the house, Snow commented. "That's not really true you know, for what's it's worth. You do have a home. With us."

"Always," David agreed.

Emma shrugged. "I guess," she replied. She knew what they meant. She loved her family and she knew they loved her, but she didn't think they realized how out – of place she still felt with them sometimes. "Thanks, anyway. For the memorial," she told her parents, squeezing her mother's hand.

"Yeah, thanks," Henry agreed.

XXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOO

Red, Abigail, and Fredrick all got ready to go over to Snow, Emma, David, and Henry's place the next day. They would all wait there to be taken to the apple orchard for this "Thanksgiving." "We appreciate you inviting us as well, Red," Abigail commented as they walked to the other house, since the buses were out of service for the holiday.

Red shrugged. "It's no big deal, she replied. "I just figured, since you two didn't have any other family in this world, and you're living with me anyway, that you might like to come, too."

Fredrick nodded. "We don't have any other family in this world. So we really appreciate being included in yours." Fredrick had been doing that lately, Red noticed. He'd started telling her more how grateful he was for helping them. Not that he'd ever been rude or anything. Abigail and Fredrick were very polite people. But Fredrick had…an air about him until recently. Like he expected people to help Abigail automatically, simply because she used to be a princess. And Abigail should only have to do "dignified" work. It was a little annoying. For all of Red problem's with Snow and David's public affection, she always appreciated that they were so down – to – earth. Now, Fredrick was becoming much better.

"I'm glad," she told Fredrick, appreciating his new attitude.

Abigail smiled at him, too. "I'm just glad I still have you, Freddie."

"I'm always glad to have you, Abigail," Fredrick replied.

Within a half hour they arrived at the other apartment. "Hi," Snow greeted them.

"Good to see you guys," David echoed.

Emma simply nodded from the background.

Henry brightened immediately at seeing the three of them. "Great, you're here! This means we get to eat soon, right?" Everyone laughed. Henry was special in some ways, but in other ways, he was a typical preteen boy. Everything took a backseat to food.

When Snow finished laughing, she explained to Henry that they still had to wait for their rides. Even when they got to the orchard, she was going to help Granny with some of the cooking, so they wouldn't be able to eat right away.

"Yeah," Henry replied. "I know, but them being here still means we can eat sooner than if they weren't here."

Eventually their rides arrived. Red was glad she had worn an all red dress, since the outfit gave her the most courage. She was pretty comfortable around the men in her surrogate family. None of them would ever stare at her like Mr. Jenison and the customers at the restaurant did, after all. But the man driving the car, she didn't know him. Would he look at her like some men did? She sat as far away from as she could, just in case.

OOOOOOOOOO

Everyone sat around talking as Snow and Granny finished up the feast. "Well, the apple harvest is all done," Grumpy commented. "It was alright, I guess," he grumbled as usual. "But the owner found us a new job, working at the lumber camp. It took some convincing, at first. Seemed to think just because we were short we couldn't do the job." Grumpy scoffed. "We're not that good at everything, and there's a lot of things we don't understand, but we'll always be able to do hard labor. We used to mine diamonds, for goodness sakes."

"But Mr. Gungeon vouched for us, and we proved ourselves, so we can start on Monday!" Happy exclaimed, cheerful as always.

Everyone else congratulated the dwarves on their new job.

"I got a new job myself," Red commented, trying to sound casual. She was really happy about her new job at the kennel and was eager to share her news. However, she didn't really want everyone to know why she'd left her other job. The shame of what happened that night and of what she'd allowed her ex – boss to do for so long, was too much. "I'm working at a dog kennel. People leave their dogs there for a while if they're going out of town or something. I really enjoy it. I feed them, walk them, wash them, and play with them every day," Red could feel herself grinning, literally glowing with happiness, as she talked about working with the dogs.

Emma nodded, although she knew about Red's new job already, since they talked so often these days. "I'm glad you're enjoying it, Ruby," she said as she smiled. It appeared like it might be a real smile. Red hoped so. It had been a while since she'd seen Emma with a genuine smile.

"Sounds like a great opportunity for you," David agreed, nodding.

Abigail also talked about how much she enjoyed her job at the dress shop.

Eventually Granny and Snow brought the food in, and they all sat down at the table. There were foods that Red recognized from the Enchanted Forest, like stuffing, and rolls, and cranberry sauce. There were foods that she had started eating since living in this world, like potatoes. And there was a big bird that looked like a goose, but everyone had told her that people ate "turkey" on Thanksgiving, so that must be what it was.

Snow stood up. "I'm glad we could all be together for this meal today. But I'd also like to take this time to remember those of us who are missing, as well. Because we've all lost some people, although some more recently than others. I'll start. I remember my mother and my father, and how they planned feasts at the palace."

Then Snow turned to David, squeezing his hand as she did so. (At least there affection wasn't that bad today.) He stood up and commented, "I remember my mother as well. She did everything she could to provide me with food, even when it was difficult. I thank her for that."

Then David turned to Emma. She sighed, obviously uncomfortable with this ritual, but accepting it as well. "I remember my boyfriend, Neal. We never really had a nice meal together like this, but we always had fun when we were eating together."

Emma sat down and turned to Henry, hugging him from the side as she did so. He stood up. "I remember my adoptive mother, Regina." Red was pleasantly surprised that no one groaned when they heard Regina's name, at least for Henry's sake. "She always insisted everything be so formal when we had dinner. It was…hard to please her. But I think I was able to," he finished softly

Then Henry sat down and looked at Red. "I remember my boyfriend, Peter. We never really had a chance to share a fancy meal like this, but I looked forward to doing it when we were together."

Red looked at Grumpy. He stood up and gestured to the rest of his brothers. "We all remember our brother, Doc. He liked to keep everyone healthy, and was always making sure we ate right at a big feast like this." Red noticed that even Sleepy and Sneezy nodded along with the other dwarves. What did that mean?

Granny stood up next. "I remember my daughter, Anita. She enjoyed all the meals I cooked for her. I wish we could have enjoyed more before she died." Red nodded, remembering the hurt she felt when she found out Granny lied about her mother. But there was also the hurt and the guilt when she realized she would have to kill her mother in order to protect her surrogate sister.

Abigail stood up last. "I remember my father. Eating was difficult for him, because of his golden curse." She looked sadly at Fredrick as she said that, implying there was some history between her father's curse and Fredrick. Red would have to ask what it was later. "But he made it work and he had wonderful feasts to show his love for me."

Snow nodded, now that everyone had said something about a loved one as it related to this feast. "Okay, let's – "

"Eat!" Henry finished, already digging in. Yep. He was almost a teenage boy, all right.

Of course the dwarves were pretty quick to start shoving food in their faces as well. Red remembered how much they ate now, from when they'd lived in the palace together.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

They finished their dinner a couple of hours later. The turkey was actually quite good. They also had pie for dessert. Mr. Gungeon, the owner of the apple orchard, had insisted they have an apple pie for desert. However, many of their family had… problems eating apples, so Snow had baked a blueberry pie as well. After they finished and got ready to leave, Snow asked Red softly, "I was wondering if you had worked on any of the stories from our land for Henry? Particularly the story of how we met? Did you want to write that one, or should I?"

Red hadn't thought about writing that story at all. It may have been the story of how she'd met Snow, but it was also the story of how she'd lost Peter. She hadn't thought about losing Peter in a while, but after talking about it with Emma so much in the last few months, it was fresh in her mind again. She didn't want to write about it. "No, Snow, I know that's how we met, but there are some painful memories in there as well. I don't want to write it. You can if you want."

Snow smiled. "I thought you might say that. But Red, I recently wrote the story of my mother dying, even though I never thought I would enjoy writing that. I wrote it for Henry, so he could understand that I lost my mother, as well. But…it helped, Red. Writing that story doesn't bring her back, but it helped bury demons I haven't acknowledged with my mother's death. It might help you if you write about Peter, too. Just think about it, okay?"

Red shrugged. "Maybe."

OOOOOOOOOO

On the way home Red sat next to Emma and Henry in the backseat. (She still would rather sit far away from strange men.) "So how did you like Thanksgiving Dinner, Henry?" Emma asked.

Henry shrugged and mumbled something.

Emma leaned closer to him and told him, "You can tell me, Henry. You don't have to be ashamed of what you're thinking. I know, remember," she told him meaningfully.

Red wasn't sure what Emma was referring to, but it did get Henry to talk. "I liked it, Mom, I really did. It was great for everyone to be together like that. And it was even better that we still talked about everyone that was missing. But," he sighed. "I just wondered if I'd be there next year."

Emma hugged Henry. "I figured you might be feeling something like that. But Henry, you will be. I promise you. You're going to stay with us, for good."

Henry nodded. Red thought about what he'd just said. Was Henry really worried his family wouldn't be able to keep him? Emma had told them that's why she wanted them to make the book for Henry about the Enchanted Forest. She thought it would help him find hope again. Red had agreed, of course, to help the Charmings. But she never realized how badly Henry really did need something to believe in. She did now. As soon as she returned home, she was going to start on the story Snow suggested. If it would help that sweet boy, Red would do it, no matter how much it hurt her.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOOO

David had discretely given the pages he and Snow had written for Henry's book to Abigail since the last time they'd seen each other. They included David fighting the first dragon; the death of Snow's mother, Queen Eva, and the story of how he saved Snow from herself by taking an arrow in his shoulder. Tonight, after Henry went to bed, they decided to write about their big wedding and the wedding feast.

"So we were standing in front of all our friends in our ballroom, and they were all so happy…" Snow was saying as she wrote the story down. David nodded, sitting next to her on their cuddly couch.

David nodded, remembering how happy everyone was that day. Even more importantly, he remembered Snow. He picked up the pen. "And you looked so gorgeous with your white sleeveless dress and flowers in your hair," David continued as he wrote that down.

"You looked just as gorgeous in your brown leather suit with the cape," Snow continued, writing that down as well.

"But as nice as your wedding outfit was, the most gorgeous part of you was the look on your face," David finished, smiling right at Snow.

"– the look on your face," Snow finished at the same time, referring to him. They both burst out laughing. Then David leaned over and kissed her, feeling her warm lips on his. "So, yeah we were both full of joy and happiness on the day of our big wedding, and it showed on our faces," Snow finished a minute later, writing it down.

"But then…Regina interrupted the wedding," David continued, a little nervous about writing this part. They were writing the book for Henry, after all, who was still grieving for Regina. Emma had assured them that he'd be okay with Regina's negative acts being in the book, but it still didn't make David comfortable with it. Especially considering there was a part of him that was still pretty angry at Regina for what she'd done to him and Snow that day. How was he going to write this accurately? "Maybe you should write this part," he said handing the pen to Snow. Snow might be able to write this without letting too much anger show. She was always better at seeing the best in Regina than he was.

Snow nodded and took the pen from his hands. "Regina told us she wanted us to have a happy day," she began as she wrote. David nodded, glad that he'd given the pen back to Snow. That was the kind of thing he'd forgotten about. "And then she told us the next day she would begin preparing to cast a curse. The Dark Curse that would rip all of our happy endings away. And then she left."

"Everyone was horrified," David continued, taking the pen at this point. "There were screams of 'What are we going to do?' and people were panicking and trying to run out of the ballroom. We weren't sure what to do, but we knew we had to calm everyone down."

"So you" Snow continued taking the pen and patting David's arm in appreciation. "Had the great idea we should tell everyone to at least stay for the wedding feast we'd had prepared, which we did. The people continued to grumble about Regina, but at least they weren't panicking or trying to leave." She put the pen down again and looked at him. "How did you know that would work, anyway?"

David shrugged. "Whenever I was upset or overwhelmed about something, my mother would offer me a small piece of bread and a glass of water to calm my nerves. This was just the same thing…on a much larger scale." He picked up the pen and continued himself. "So we served everyone the feast we'd planned. Some of it was like the Thanksgiving feast we ate. Cranberry sauce, rolls, and stuffing. But there were also granula fruits, wild torakas (which were vegetables), and roasted lamb as the main course. It was a wonderful meal, and it put people in a much better mood."

Well, there you have it! Emma is talking to her parents again.

Granula fruit and wild toraka were written like that on purpose, even though they sound like nonsense words. I try to focus on food in the Enchanted Forest, because it seems obvious to me they would have some very different food in that world. Anything that is considered a "new world crop" for example, would not be available there. Since they have animals like chimera available to eat as well, I would also assume they had some fruits and vegetables that are unavailable here, although I also think they would have some of the same foods (like blueberries and apples, for example).

Okay, so I never expected to have such a negative reaction to the introduction to Captain Swan in this story. I'm sorry it bothers some of you. I will tell you, that until I saw the finale, I was a Swanfire shipper, and I agreed with you. (In many ways, I still am a Swanfire shipper, actually. I simply accept that he's dead, now. In canon and in this reality.) But after I saw the finale, I couldn't picture Emma with anyone other than Hook/Killian (since Neal is gone). And I do think it's important for Emma to have a romantic relationship, eventually. Plus, it gives good plots for having Snowing deal with her involved with someone.

I will tell you, as I've said before, it will be a while before the Captain Swan plot will be a part of this story. And there will be plenty of straight Snowing and Charming family plots for you to enjoy, in the meantime. I do hope you continue reading, at least until then, but of course it's up to you.

Now I will give some individual responses.

Guest – Snow did not hit the ball because I was trying to show she was better at it than David was. The fact is, when Emma was pitching, she was channeling her anger, and she threw the ball way too fast for almost anyone to hit it. When Snow ways at bat, Henry was pitching, and he threw the ball at a normal speed, so Snow hit it easily.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say David/Charming isn't as awesome in this story as canon David. He's supported Emma in almost every decision she's made, he goes out of his way to include Henry in their family, he told Snow not to worry about a possible relationship between him and Abigail without getting angry at her, he makes sure Henry knows it's okay to cry about Regina when he needs to, and he's helping make a new fairytale book for Henry (which is something he enjoys, but it is a very big project to take on.)

The only times David has made mistakes in this story was when he ignored Henry in chapter 22 because he was angry at Snow, and he's promised never to do that again. The other time was when he wanted to attack the lawyer from the opposing side at the custody hearing. But David was doing that out of a desire to protect Emma and Snow from insults, so I think he's easily forgiven for that.

Is there something else you would like to see David do or say? If there is, please let me know. Like I said before, I don't mind constructive criticism. I'd love to make the story more enjoyable for you.

Nan – I'm sorry that you have a problem with Emma's attitude. But as I've said before, it's important to me for Emma to really spend some time grieving for Neal. It's what I would have liked to have seen on the show. I will tell you Emma is not angry at her mother; she's angry at the fact Neal is dead. The fact is, she acts angry when she talks to everyone right now (except Red/Ruby). She was angry at her parents when Henry ran away for awhile, because she believed it was all their fault. But then she realized it was more complicated than that, and she actually should spend more time with Henry herself.

As far as Emma's decision to talk to Ruby instead of Snow, that decision isn't because Emma doesn't accept Snow is her mother or because she doesn't love her mother. It's because, as Emma and Red explained, Red has lost a boyfriend before. She's empathic to Emma's feelings, and that's what Emma needed right now. (Although, as you can see in this chapter, Emma was wrong that there was nothing Snow could do to help, and Emma acknowledged that after they decided to plan a memorial.)

I love my mother, and I'm glad she's always there for me if I need to talk to her about a problem. But the fact is, I don't always want to talk to my mother. Sometimes, I'd rather talk to someone else about a problem. Every parent has to realize there are times their child would rather talk about a problem with someone else. That is what Snow is learning in this experience.