Thicker than Water Part II

by Sara K M

Sequel to the original Thicker than Water. The Charmings' have found each other (again), after Storybrooke was destroyed. Now they face even more challenges as they adjust to life in the real world. Pairings: Mostly Snowing and also minor Abirick. Eventual Captain Swan and Red/OC

28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

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

I'd like to thank Lisboa for betaing and letting me use her story as a starting point.

Henry woke up the next morning and remembered that he told Michelle he'd ask Grandpa and Grandma about teaching them to ballroom dance. They all sat down to Grandma's pancake breakfast (she liked to make them on Saturdays whenever possible). As soon as Henry finished taking a bite of pancake, he asked them, "Are you guys doing anything next Saturday?"

Grandpa shrugged.

"I don't think so, Henry," Grandma replied.

"Why do you ask?" Mom commented as she drank some coffee. Mom was a lot more talkative at breakfast on Saturday (although she still needed coffee) because they ate later than they did on the weekdays.

"I told Michelle you guys (Henry focused on Grandpa and Grandma), could teach us how to ballroom dance. She seemed interested, so I thought maybe next Saturday…" Grandpa and Grandma looked uncertain. Henry sighed. "I thought it would be fun to do something like that with her, that's all."

Grandpa looked at Grandma "Actually that might be fun, to be able to do that with you again." Then he looked at Mom, hopefully. "Would you be interested in learning as well, Emma?"

Mom looked at Grandpa nervously. "I don't know. I did okay with the waltz in the park, but I'm not so sure about anything more complicated. Especially in front of a stranger," she added, referring to Henry's desire to invite Michelle.

But Grandpa chuckled. "That's okay. It took me a while to learn the complicated stuff, too."

"And Michelle won't care that your dancing isn't perfect, Mom." Henry reassured her. "She didn't care that I didn't know any of the complicated dances last night. She just wants to have fun, and she thought learning ballroom dancing might be fun, that's all."

Mom stuffed some more pancake in her mouth and chewed for a few minutes. She looked at Henry and Grandpa's hopeful faces. "Well, maybe," she finally replied.

Henry and Grandpa exchanged a look that said "she may as well have said yes!"

"We can all switch off partners," Grandpa explained. "That way no one has to feel left out all the time."

Mom nodded. "Well…it will be just fun?" she asked Grandpa again. "No one will laugh at me if I keep tripping?"

"Of course not," Henry and Grandpa promised at the same time.

"Wait a minute," Grandma protested, finally speaking up. "We'd need special music for ballroom dancing. It's not something I can just ask one of the women at work if I can borrow their music device again. And it's the wrong time of year for birds."

Mom shrugged. "Well, if the three of us pool or money together, maybe we can buy a CD player and a CD for the type of music we'd need."

Henry and Grandpa's eyes lit up. Mom wanted to help make this possible!

Grandma shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, maybe that could work. We could try that "Wal – Mart" place this afternoon."

OOOOOOOOO

So they did. They quickly found a CD player that was on sale, and then Grandpa and Grandma searched for CDs that would have the kind of music they were used to dancing to. (There was a lot of "dancing music" available," but most used modern instruments. Grandpa and Grandma apparently wanted the old -

fashioned music they were had danced to back in the Enchanted Forest.) Finally, they found some instrumental music that featured a harp and said "dancing music" across the front. "I think this would fit what we need," Grandma commented.

Grandpa nodded, agreeing.

"Okay," Mom replied. "Let's pay for it then."

XXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOO

The next Saturday they were all ready to do ballroom dancing in the living room. Snow previously checked the music device, and both the player and the disc worked fine. She also put on the dress she was married in this world. It was the longest dress she owned, and some of the dances they would be doing really required a long dress for mixed company. Besides, wearing that dress on a day she would be dancing with Charming gave her a warm feeling.

Charming apparently had the same idea, considering he wore the same outfit he wore when they married in this world as well. Henry, who apparently still wanted to be just like Grandpa, wore the suit he'd worn to their wedding as well. Emma looked at Snow's dress and commented, "Please tell me I don't have to wear a dress today! When I agreed to this, I didn't know wearing a dress was one of the requirements!"

Snow smiled at her daughter. "Don't worry about it, Emma. I feel more comfortable dancing in dresses, so that's what I'm wearing. But that doesn't mean you have to wear a dress, or even a skirt. We're doing this in the living room, not the grand ballroom! It would probably be easier for you to learn the steps in something you feel comfortable in, actually."

Emma sighed in relief. "Okay, then," she replied as she disappeared into her bedroom to get dressed. Snow smiled to herself. She was glad that Emma was still getting along with her and Charming. Especially after what happened last week. Emma hadn't mentioned the Valentine's cards she had received at all. On the other hand, she hadn't thrown them away, either. (Snow had checked the garbage thoroughly, so she was certain of that.) So over all, their relationship was going well.

"What time will Michelle be here, Henry?" Snow asked, turning to him next.

Henry shrugged. "Pretty soon, I think."

Henry was right. Within ten minutes, Michelle and what looked like her older sister arrived at their door. "Hi, Michelle!" Henry greeted smiling at the young lady with his eyes shining.

"Hi Henry!" the young lady greeted him back, as he opened the door. "This is my sister, Amy," Michelle said, gesturing to the older girl next to her. Amy looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old. She had the same light – colored hair as her sister, although Amy kept hers shorter.

Amy walked inside behind Michelle. "This is my mom, Emma," he introduced to Michelle and Amy.

"Hi," Amy said nonchalantly.

"Hi," Emma replied to Amy, a little less friendly. Then she studied Michelle for a couple of minutes, probably trying to decide if this girl was worthy of Henry. Finally, Emma sighed and nodded.

"And this is Gr –" Henry stopped and paused for a second. It seemed he could never get used to calling them "aunt and uncle" instead "Grandpa and Grandma." Snow had to admit there was a part of her that hoped he never got used to it. "My Aunt Mary Margaret and my Uncle David," he finished.

"Hi," Michelle said to them, smiling, a little shyly. She was wearing a pretty purple blouse and a pair of black pants. Even though Snow couldn't imagine ballroom dancing in pants, she had to admit it was probably better to practice in pants. It would be easier to practice the footwork without a dress getting in the way. Besides, like she told Emma, it wasn't as if it really mattered, because no one could see them.

"Hello, Michelle," Snow greeted her warmly, hoping to make her feel at ease. She still wasn't all that comfortable with Henry "keeping time"? Dating? Having a girlfriend? But, this young lady seemed nice enough, and she wanted her to feel comfortable with them if she was going to spend the day with their family.

"Hi," Amy greeted them as well.

"Hello, Amy," Charming greeted her, holding out his hand. "I'm David Nolan." He stressed his last name, probably because he was still getting used to calling himself that. Snow rubbed his back gently to give him support as he shook the girl's hand.

Then Snow shook her hand as well saying, "And I'm Mary Margaret."

Amy nodded. "Okay, well, I'm going to spend most of the day at the library. I'll pick her up when I'm done, which should be just in time for dinner. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Snow and Charming replied at the same time.

"Sounds great," Henry agreed.

"Okay," Emma agreed finally.

After Amy left the apartment, Snow set up the music device and selected the song she and Charming had decided would fit a simple waltz.

"So, we'll start with the basics," Snow explained. "Do you know how to dance a waltz?" she asked Michelle.

Michelle shrugged. "Not really. I may have been shown once, but I don't remember much."

Snow smiled. "That's okay. Do you remember, Henry? I taught it to you a few months ago."

Henry shrugged. "Some of it."

"Don't worry about it. You can practice today. The basic waltz has your feet go in a triangle, like this." Snow demonstrated the proper foot motions.

Henry nodded and took Michelle's hand. "Do you want to try it?" he asked her gently.

"Sure," Michelle nodded, smiling at Henry, with her eyes shining

"Emma why don't you dance with David first," Snow suggested, stepping aside for Emma to take her place next to Charming. Snow knew he loved dancing with her, but he was really looking forward to dancing with Emma today.

Emma shrugged. "All right."

Snow hit "play" on the music device, and the harp began to play. She watched as Henry and Michelle tried to waltz. They tripped over each other's feet several times, but they laughed the whole time, so it was obvious they were having fun.

Then she turned her gaze to Emma and Charming. They seemed to be doing quite well. Snow didn't notice how well Emma had done the last time she danced with her father, but it this was how well she did considering she hadn't practiced; she had nothing to worry about. As she watched the movements a little closer, Snow noticed something interesting, and very endearing. They danced exactly the same way. They moved their feet the same way and at the same time. They kept their arms locked exactly the same way.

Snow supposed it made sense. After all, Emma and Charming had similar builds, so it would be easy for them to pick up the same dance movements. Still, it was fascinating that they seemed to have the same dance mannerisms as well. She smiled. Charming was always telling her she and Emma were so much alike. But here was a perfect example of how much she was like her father, as well.

They practiced the waltz for about half an hour before deciding to change dances.

"All right, now let's try something completely different," Charming suggested. "This isn't really a 'partner' dance, it's a group dance, so we can all do it."

Snow nodded, understanding which dance he was talking about. She picked the song that would best fit this type of dance and stood in the middle of the floor with everyone else.

"So everyone stand together, sort of in a circle," Charming began. "That's right, like that. Now you dance with people back – to – back, like this." He and Snow demonstrated. "Okay, let's all try it. Remember to keep changing partners."

It took a couple of tries for everyone to dance and switch without running into each other and stepping on feet. But eventually, everyone flowed as they all performed the dance. While dancing back – to – back with Emma, Snow noticed how similar it was to dancing with Charming. They really did have similar dancing styles.

"This dance kind of reminds me of a square dance," Michelle commented as they finished. "Only it's not done in a square and it has more…pomp, I guess."

Snow shrugged, not quite sure what a square dance was. "You can do this dance with hand motions, as well." She demonstrated how to move her arms gracefully as she danced back – to – back with Charming.

The others tried to do the dance with the hand motions as well. Michelle had a hard time concentrating on her hands and the other movements at the same time. Emma couldn't seem to relax her hands enough to make them look "graceful."

Snow smiled. "That's okay. You don't have to do it that way. We're just here to have fun, remember."

Michelle shrugged and nodded. "Of course. I…ah…like dancing with you, Henry," she told him, looking at the floor as she did so.

Henry nodded. "Me, too," he told her softly. It was nice to see both of them were nervous around each other, at least.

Emma sighed. "I don't think I'll ever be graceful. I mean, I know I'm supposed to be a princess – " she stopped short for a second, as she realized what she said with an outsider among them. But fortunately, Michelle was concentrating on Henry, and didn't seem to take the comment literally, because she didn't ask about it, or even make a face. "But it's just not me," Emma finished.

Charming shook his head. "Just because you can't do fancy hand motions right now doesn't mean you'll never be graceful, Emma. You're just learning, remember."

Snow nodded. "And you were really good when you were dancing with David." Then she leaned in and whispered, "I think you're not very graceful because you dance just like your father, Emma. He's a great dancer, but he's not very graceful, either. He's too strong."

Emma looked at Snow and shrugged. "Maybe. Why don't we take a break and have some sandwiches?"

Henry nodded automatically. "Sounds great!" Then he paused and looked at Michelle. "As long as that's okay with you, that is."

Michelle nodded. "Yeah, I could eat some lunch."

Snow nodded. "I'll get out the stuff, then" she told everyone, going into the kitchen and pulling out bread, cheese, ham, and turkey. She also pulled out a gallon of milk for everyone to drink.

OOOOOOOOOO

They finished their sandwiches about a half – hour later and returned to the living room. "I was thinking we'd try the pavane next," Snow told Charming as they cleaned up lunch.

Charming nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. Are you okay with sitting this one out again? I like dancing with you, but dancing with Emma, it's…" His voice trailed off, but Snow knew he was trying to say "everything I ever dreamed."

Snow smiled and patted his shoulder. "Sure. Don't worry about it. Besides, I'm enjoying watching you two dance together. Did you know both of you dance exactly the same?"

Charming shrugged and smiled. "You really think so?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

"I know so," she replied firmly, smiling at him tenderly. Then she walked over to the music device and selected the music they had decided fit this dance the best. "Okay, so now we're going to try something called a pavane dance," she announced, to the rest of the group.

They all stood in the middle of the living room floor, just as they had before. "This is another 'partner' dance," Charming began. "Emma, will you dance with me again?"

Emma shrugged, "Yeah, I guess." Charming smiled and took her hand.

Henry stood next to Michelle and took her hand as well.

"So with this dance, instead of making a triangle with your feet, you make a pentagram." Snow demonstrated the foot motions by herself. Emma and Charming began dancing after that. Emma slipped once or twice, but on the whole, she was a wonderful dancer for someone who hadn't practiced this type of footwork before. As she watched them continue to dance around the living room she couldn't help but think "like father, like daughter," again.

Henry and Michelle seemed to be having a little trouble, but they were laughing the whole time, so at least they were enjoying themselves. "I slipped again," Michelle chuckled as she put her hands on the ground to keep herself from falling completely.

Henry held out his hand so she could get up again. "Let's try it again," he suggested to her.

"Sure," Michelle replied.

Eventually, everyone agreed it was time to move onto a new dance. "So this is the last dance we're going to be doing today, and it's the most complicated," Snow began, as she picked out the music that would fit this one.

"Actually, if you guys don't mind I'm going to sit this one out," Michelle announced. "I'm not very good at the normal dances, so I can't imagine I'd be good at something even more complicated."

"Don't worry about that, Michelle," Henry told her. "We're just here to have fun, remember," he smiled at her with his eyes shining again.

"That's right," Snow agreed.

"And I've been having fun. Really," Michelle told them, smiling in a way that showed she was sincere. "But my feet are tired, and I'd just rather relax and watch everyone else dance for a while."

Snow shrugged. "Okay."

"I guess that's fine," Henry agreed. "Mom will you dance with me, then?"

Emma shrugged. "Sure, kid."

Snow smiled at Charming. "I guess that means you're stuck with me then," she teased him as she bumped his hip.

"I guess I can handle that," he teased her back. "So it starts out with a simple waltz again," Charming began as they began dancing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Emma and Henry do the same.

"But in the middle of the dance, you do some leaps," Snow continued. Charming let go of her and Snow did a small leap, about a foot off the air. This was one dance that Snow found she could do better after she had lived on the run. Running, jumping, and leaping had been a survival skill back then, after all.

Snow was pleased she could still do it moderately well, although it had been a while since she'd done any running or jumping.

Emma nodded. "Ah, okay, I'm really glad I'm not wearing a dress for this," she commented nervously.

"Give it a try, Mom," Henry encouraged, letting her go just has Charming had with Snow.

Emma ran a little, to get a start, and then did a very nice leap, (although it wasn't very graceful). "Well?" she asked the rest of them, wondering how she had done.

"That was great, Mom!" Henry told her enthusiastically. "Almost higher than Gr – I mean, Aunt Mary Margaret."

"It really was wonderful, Emma," Snow assured her daughter.

"But it didn't look as nice," Emma protested, uncertainly. "I mean…."

"Emma, gracefulness isn't everything," Charming told her gently. "You did a wonderful leap, especially for a first try."

"I liked it," Michelle added, from the background.

Emma shrugged. "All right, I guess."

"Okay so then you do some more basic waltz steps," Snow continued, returning to Charming's arms. Emma and Henry began dancing again as well.

"Now this last step, I think you're going to have to just watch," Charming warned Henry and Emma. "Henry, I know you're big and strong, but I don't think you can lift Emma."

Henry sighed but nodded. "You're probably right."

"He's definitely right, Kid," Emma agreed firmly.

"This move really should be done with someone you're very close to," Snow warned them. "It brings you quite close together, and you have to have a lot of trust in each other to be able to do it."

Everyone else nodded.

"Ready?" Charming asked her.

"Of course," Snow replied. With that, Charming picked her up by the waist and lifted her over his head. (This was the move Snow knew she needed a long dress for. She was totally okay with Charming seeing her underpants, but everyone else…not so much.) As Charming brought her back down to the ground, he brushed their chests together, and Snow closed her eyes for a second, enjoying the sensation.

Finally, they turned back to the others, and everyone clapped. "That was great!" Henry exclaimed.

"Can we see you do that dance again?" Michelle asked. "From start to finish?"

Snow looked at Charming and he shrugged. "I guess. As long as you guys," he pointed to Emma and Henry, "don't mind watching again."

Emma shrugged, and Henry nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Do it again!"

Snow shrugged and fixed the music device so it would play the same song again. "Just remember you're going to have to go home soon, Michelle," Snow warned the young girl.

Michelle shrugged. "Yeah, but I should have time to see it one more time."

"Okay," the others replied.

Then Snow stepped into Charming's arms and instinct took over as they began to waltz and leap. With the type of music playing, Snow could almost believe they were back in their ballroom in the Enchanted Forest. Then came time for the lift again, and it felt wonderful to be raised in his arms and then brought back down, brushing against his chest.

Everyone clapped again. Even though this had really Henry and Charming's idea, it had turned out really well. She was so glad they decided to do it.

XXXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOOO

Henry was working on his homework the next Saturday afternoon. He and Mom were home alone today, because Grandpa and Grandma had gone to the grocery store. He and Mom had decided not to go this time, because they had too much school work to do. Henry sighed as he looked at his Science textbook again. This was so boring! He wondered what Michelle was doing this afternoon. Would she be interested in coming over to do their homework together? She was fun. And she was pretty smart, too.

"Mom?" he asked as he knocked on her door.

"What is it, Henry?" she replied through the door.

"Can I use your phone to call Michelle? Maybe she'll come over and do some homework with me. This is so boring!" he asked as he opened her door.

Mom paused for a few minutes. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather ask Teddy or Eddie? They live closer, after all."

Henry shrugged. Mom had a point, and Teddy and Eddie were a lot of fun to hang out with. But he felt like seeing Michelle today. Besides, Michelle was better in school than they were. That was the argument that would convince Mom, Henry was sure. "Michelle is better at school than they are. She'll probably be more willing to do homework than Teddy or Eddie," he told her as he smiled at her.

Mom sighed. "Alllll riggiht," she agreed, pulling her phone out of her pocket and handing it to him. "Don't be surprised if she's busy though. It is kind of last minute, you know."

Henry nodded as he dialed Michelle's number. "Hi Michelle!" he greeted her when she answered. "It's Henry. I was wondering if you might like to come over and do some homework with me this afternoon. I mean, it's really boring, so I thought if we did it together…I don't know, maybe it wouldn't be so bad," Henry commented, a little nervously. What if Michelle thought it was a stupid idea?

"Well, I'd like to, but Henry…" Michelle began slowly.

"Or I could go over to your place if you'd rather," Henry suggested, hoping that was the problem. "I'm sure my mom would take me. Where do you live?"

Michelle sighed. "I would like to, but Henry,… Carl asked me if I'd watch him play his basketball game today. I'll be leaving pretty soon, actually."

Carl? The basketball player with the attitude? "Why would you want to spend time with him?" Henry asked, struggling to understand. "I thought…you liked me."

"I did…I mean, I do, but Carl…he plays basketball…and he's so good – looking…"

"I see," Henry snapped. "I thought I looked good too, but I guess I'm not good enough for you. You know what? I don't want to see you anymore." With that, Henry slammed the phone shut. How could Michelle do that to him? She was so nice! And he always had so much fun with her! Now suddenly Michelle would rather spend time with Carl ? Just because he played basketball?

Henry shook his head. Things had been going so well with Michelle for the last couple of weeks. Henry had hoped, someday he and Michelle would be like Grandpa and Grandma. And now…she'd chosen someone else! What was he supposed to do about that? Henry sighed and sat on the couch, staring at the wall for a long time.

Eventually Mom came out of her bedroom to get a drink. "Hi, Henry," she commented causally as she walked past him. "Didn't work out with Michelle, huh?" she said as she took some juice out of the refrigerator. "Want some?" she asked, before putting the juice away.

Henry shrugged. It really didn't matter one way or another.

Mom took another look at him. "Hey, Kid, are you alright?" she asked, walking over to him. "Can I have my phone back?"

Wordlessly, he handed the phone back to her. Mom studied him for a moment. "Look, I'm not really good at the 'comfort' thing, Henry, so you've gotta work with me, here. What is it?"

Henry sighed and looked at his shoes. "Michelle decided she'd rather hang out with someone else instead of me."

"Well, I told you that might happen, Henry –" Mom began.

But Henry interrupted her. "It's not really that," he grumbled. He'd be okay if Michelle had decided to hang out with Sally or someone like that. "She wanted to watch Carl play basketball, Mom! Carl! He's a jerk. But just because he plays basketball, he's better than me." Henry folded his arms across his chest.

Mom sighed. "I'm sorry, Henry. I thought she was a nice girl. If I had known she was that shallow, I would have never let her in the door," Mom commented angrily.

Henry nodded. "Yeah, me too. I thought she was so nice, and so fun to be with. And pretty, too. I thought…I mean when we were dancing…someday we might be like Grandpa and Grandma."

Mom was quiet for a few minutes. "I'm glad you had fun with Michelle for a while, Henry. And I'm sorry she turned out to be so shallow," Mom still sounded pretty angry about that. "But Henry…as far as a relationship like your grandparents, that's not going to come for you for many years."

Henry snapped his head up to look at Mom in the eyes. "How do you know that? I could have a love like they do! Just because you don't have one doesn't mean I can't!" The words were out of his mouth before he could take them back, and from the look on Mom's face, they hit her hard. "Mom," he tried to explain, "I didn't mean it that way! You have a lot of love in your life already."

Mom sighed "Yeah, but I still don't have your father, Henry. That's hard for me to deal with sometimes. But I will remind you that Neal and I were a few years older than you are. And your grandparents were several years older than you when they met. That's all I meant when I said it wouldn't happen for many years, Henry. You have plenty of time to find love."

Henry looked at the floor. He supposed that made sense. He just thought that when he started spending time with a nice (well, he thought she was nice), pretty girl,…maybe it was happening for him. "Yeah," he grumbled.

"And in the meantime, I'll remind you what you just told me," Mom added. "You have a lot of love in your life already."

Henry nodded. "I guess."

Mom smiled. "Would you like some juice?" she asked, pointing to the jug, still sitting on the counter.

"Okay," he replied, following her to the kitchen. "Mom?" he asked as she poured the juice.

"Yes?"

"Did it feel this bad when Dad rejected you?"

Mom sighed. "Something like that, yeah," Mom agreed.

Henry thought about that for a second as he took a drink. "Then I think I know why you didn't want anything to do with him. I don't want to see Michelle again for a long time."

Mom nodded as she took a drink of juice as well. "Thanks. But Henry, remember what happened with your father and me as well. We ended up reconciling, and if he'd lived, we'd have gotten back together. Maybe that will happen with you and Michelle someday, too."

Henry shrugged. He didn't see that happening, but he also knew nothing was impossible. (After all, he had a fairytale book of his family history to prove it.)

"But in the meantime, remember, Michelle isn't the only girl in the world, either," Mom added. "Although…maybe you could hold off on seeing other girls for a while?"

Henry nodded. "Okay."

They both finished their juice and returned to their homework.

XXXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOO

A couple of months ago Emma, Snow, and David had all filled out tax forms. In the second week of March, they finally received their return checks. Emma received $400. "What do you want to do with it?" Snow asked her as she looked at it that night. Emma shrugged. "I don't know. I could buy some stuff for Henry. Or I could buy a computer for my school work. I'll have to think about it for a while."

But in the end, Emma decided she'd pay off the dept they owed the lawyer. "That way, they whole family won't have to worry about paying for it anymore," she explained her plan the next night.

Snow and David nodded. It sounded like a very good plan. Only…"Emma, are you worried the rest of us have a problem paying that bill?" David asked concerned.

Emma shrugged. "I don't think about it much but…Henry is my son. I should be the one paying the bill not everyone! I know paying that bill means you can't buy some of the other stuff you wanted. And the same goes for Ruby, Granny, and the dwarves."

David sighed. He'd been afraid that was the problem. "Henry may be your son, Emma, but we're all more than happy to pay for someone that helped him come home. He's part of our family. And this family, we all work together."

Snow nodded. "Besides, Emma, we like being able to help you with Henry. It…kind of makes up for not being able to help you when you were growing up."

David nodded in agreement.

Emma sighed. "Yeah, I know. Sometimes, it's just hard for me to accept help from others, even from you guys. But I still think I'm going to pay the bill. I'd rather not worry about it anymore."

Snow nodded. "That's fine, Emma. Just as long as it's what you want to do, not what you think you have to do."

Emma nodded. David wanted to give her a hug, and he was pretty sure Snow did, too. But he wasn't sure Emma really wanted one right now. So he settled for squeezing her hand instead. After a couple of minutes, Snow did the same.

When Snow and David's check arrived, they received $500.

OOOOOOOOO

The family automatically agreed to buy Henry a new bed with some of the money. After all, he'd been sleeping on an air mattress for months without complaining, but he was a kid. He should have a real bed. Besides, Henry was still a little bit upset that Michelle had "dumped" him. (David was pretty upset about that, too. How could such a nice girl end up being so callous?) They went to a store that sold furniture, and Henry picked out a nice twin – size bed, which they arranged to have delivered to their apartment later. He also picked out a new sheet set and blanket with pictures (Emma called it a comforter.) David didn't know what "Donkey – Kong" was, but Henry seemed excited about it.

Then came the complicated issue of what to do with the rest of the money. David thought the answer was pretty obvious. They still had enough money to buy Emma a nice bed as well as a new sheet set, so that's what they should do with it, right? Snow agreed with him whole – heartedly. Emma, however, did not. "You guys need a real bed a lot more than I do," she protested. "I'm just one person, after all."

David and Snow shook their heads as they walked through the store that sold blankets. "Yeah, but you're the most important person in the world to us, Emma," Snow tried to explain. "We want you to have the new bed." In his mind, David pictured all the things he'd wanted to give Emma back in the Enchanted Forest, and he was sure Snow was thinking the same thing.

Emma shook her head. "I'm perfectly happy with what I have now," she replied firmly. "I'm inside, with my family, and I'm laying out flat. That's more than I can say for what I had for most of my life."

David's heart broke at that comment. That wasn't the life he wanted for his little girl. "That's all the more reason why you should have a nice bed now that we can get you one, Emma," Snow tried again, obviously agreeing with him.

"But I'm used to sleeping in less than ideal situations," Emma tried to explain again. "You're the ones used to sleeping in," Emma paused, probably trying to come up with an appropriate word to say in public. "Fancy places," she finished.

David and Snow looked at each other and burst out laughing. She was kidding right? No, she wasn't kidding. "Emma," David tried to explain, "I may have slept in…fancy places…right before we left, but I grew up in a poor farmhouse, sleeping on hay. You have read our story by now, right?"

"And I've slept in…fancy places before as well, but also slept in logs and in trees sometimes," Snow added, referring to her time on the run.

Emma sighed. "Yeah, I know that now. Sometimes I just have trouble remembering it. But I still think you guys should buy the bed for yourselves. Remember how much higher you needed to sleep when you were sick a couple of months ago?"

David sighed, hating remembering how sick Snow had sounded when she had to sleep so close to the ground. Still, that didn't mean a bed for Emma wasn't important. "Yeah, that wasn't pleasant, but Emma you were sick, too. What if you get a cough and a sore throat next time, and you need to be elevated?"

Henry sighed, holding his bag of blankets they had bought them. "We're obviously not going to decide this today, and I'm getting tired of this argument. Let's just go home and wait for my bed."

All three adults sighed and nodded. It sounded like the best plan for now.

OOOOOOOOOO

Monday night, when everyone came home, Snow announced she finally had a solution to their bed problem. "Cindy told me she's been looking for beds for us in something called a 'buy – swap, and sell, and she's found two full - sized beds for only $175 dollars. Wendy even said she'll help us pick them up, whenever we can get the money."

"Sounds good," David replied, nodding.

"I guess this will make everyone happy," Emma agreed. So they all agreed that they would help load up the beds into Wendy's truck that weekend. After paying for them, they even had enough money to buy two new sheet sets. Emma chose red and Snow and David chose green.

OOOOOOOOOO

When they finally got the new beds in the apartment, and the sheets on, the all stopped to admire them. "It looks really nice, Emma," Snow commented.

"I like it, Mom," Henry agreed.

"Your looks great too, Henry" Emma told him.

OOOOOOOOO

That night, he and Snow admired the new sheets on their new bed. (Neither Emma nor Henry were interested in seeing the new bed in Snow and David's bedroom. David wondered if it was because they knew what the bed was used for.) David had to admit it looked really nice.

Snow clearly agreed, as she ran her hands over the bed. "I know we wanted Emma to get a nice bed first, and I'm glad she did. But I have to say…I'm glad we got a new one, too. There's so much more…possibilities with a bed like this."

David nodded, understanding what she meant. "Definitely." He pushed her onto the bed, chuckling as he began kissing and undressing her at the same time. When he got to her (shirtless) stomach, he smelled something wonderful. "Mmmmhhhm," he moaned as he nuzzled her waistband. "I love the way you smell when you're aroused. Have I told you that?"

Snow chuckled. "I think I've heard that before, yes," she replied as she looked down into his eyes.

David decided she was thinking too much if she could still speak that much. He reached to take off the rest of her clothes to show her why he loved it when she smelled this way.

In case you are interested, the dance that I described where they all "stand in a circle and dance back – to – back" is similar to the dance they did in "The Price of Gold." The hand motions that I pictured that could be used for that dance (although they weren't used in "The Price of Gold") were similar to the hand motions some of the dances were doing in the season 3 finale.

The other two dances besides the basic waltz (which were called the pavane and the Galliard) were dances I found when I looked up "Ballroom dancing in Early Modern Europe." (I figured that was close enough to the Enchanted Forest.)

Thank you for the favorites, and follows, and especially thank you for the reviews. Reviews really help me understand what is working and what I need to explain a little more. Sometimes I also incorporate ideas based on reviews, so feel free to tell me something you'd like to see, or see more of.

Guest : Glad you enjoyed the Snowning Valentine and Henry's date. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.