Hello All - Well I wanted to have this story wrapped up before Christmas but, it didn't work out that way, since I lost my internet connection during the holidays. But now that it is back up and running, I plan to finish this up in about 1 or 2 more chapters. Now that being said, this story has turned out to be a little darker than I had originally outlined, but as I put it down on paper, I couldn't help but to like how it was turning out. Don't overthink it. The chapters are designed to focus on a particular message rather than a particular person or people. So things may not be exactly what you would like them to be from canon. Just keep that in mind.

Chapter 3 - Family

I left Henry and Violet to enjoy their afternoon together. As I meandered around Storybrooke, eventually making my way toward my apartment, I thought about Neal and Emma. I thought about their years together and the fact that if not for Neal, I wouldn't have my beautiful daughter in my life. I have her because of him and that brought a smile to my face; a smile that quickly faded when my mind moved to Emma and her father. David was taking this so devastatingly hard and Emma was left to pick of the pieces and glue them back together.

I turned the corner to the street of my apartment building. Only being a couple of blocks away, I could see that David's truck was parked outside. He must have left Emma to finish out the shift at the station. I paused for a minute, but when I started to walk again I felt an arm hook around mine.

"Mother?" I couldn't believe my eyes. I stopped again and just stared at her in open-mouthed shock.

"Hello, my dear." She said with a smile; a smile that I hadn't seen since I was twelve years old. Oh, I missed her so much. She looked as young and as beautiful as the last time that I saw her. Her raven hair was pulled back as I remembered. It was then that I noticed the features that my Emma shared with my mother; the most prominent of all; her chin. Or rather, our chin.

"Wh…what are you doing here?" I stammered. I didn't know what else to say.

"Well, it was my turn." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You didn't think that I was going to let Neal be the only one to be able to see his family, did you?"

"You…You know Neal?" I don't know why I was shocked, maybe because I never really knew what to expect of the afterlife. If there was, in fact, an afterlife and this wasn't just a dream.

"Of course," her response was so matter of fact. Like I was insane for suggesting otherwise, "He is the first love of my granddaughter and the father of my great-grandson. He is family."

I felt the smile on my face widen at her mention of my daughter and grandson. I often dreamed that my family would have been able to know my mother; but I knew that it would never be. But hearing that she knew of my family; it was the next best thing. I felt my annoyance with the situation begin to fade away. Maybe it was because I was seeing my mother for the first time since I was a child or maybe it was because I was beginning to understand what Neal meant about satisfying the curiosity that comes with the 'what ifs.'

"I see your smile, but I can tell that you are troubled, my dear." She didn't give me time to react. With her words and a snap of her fingers we were suddenly transported to my apartment.

The loft was quiet; too quiet and dark. Toys were strewn about throughout the living room. An abandon bowl of cereal sat on the table next to a cup of coffee that was half full. My heart broke for my husband. It had been several days since he and Emma sat in Dr. Whale's office to discuss getting back to their normal lives. He was going through the motions, but he wasn't happy about it.

I scanned the apartment looking for the man that I loved. His truck was parked outside, he had to be here. "Snow…" my eyes fell to my mother when I heard her softly say my name. She had a sympathetic look on her face and I followed her gaze to a sleeping form on the couch.

"Oh, Charming…" I outwardly sighed at the sight. He was lying on his stomach with one arm hanging to the floor while the other was tucked under his head being used as a hard pillow. He had one foot resting on the arm of the furniture while the other leg was dangerously close to falling off. His clothes were a disheveled mess and he looked like he hadn't eaten in days. I wondered if days had passed since leaving Henry on the pier and arriving at the apartment, for the plain fact that he looked infinitely worse than when I last saw him walking away from Emma at Granny's.

I knelt down beside him. I tried to run my fingers through his hair, but my hand seemingly went through his body. Oh how I hated that tingly feeling. I felt a tear slip down my cheek. All I wanted to do was hold him. I wanted to tell him that everything would be ok. I wanted him to know that I had no intention of leaving our family. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to break this curse that had a hold on his heart and his life.

"Don't do this to yourself, Charming. You need to pull yourself together. I need you to see that everything is going to be alright." With each plea, I grew more frustrated with the fact that he could not hear me. But I couldn't give up, "They need you, David; Emma and Neal; they need their father."

I looked at my mother for guidance. "I don't know what to do for him." What was she here to show me?

She didn't give me a verbal answer; instead, I felt her hands on my shoulders. Before I knew it, she had turned my body into hers and held me as I cried. I cried for husband, I cried for my children, and finally I cried for me.

"How long has it been?" I finally asked my mother. I didn't have to elaborate, she understood that I was asking the question that I had been wondering about, how long had it been between Neal's visit and hers.

"Several days," was her quiet answer. It was an answer that I knew but was hoping was different. The lives of my family members were moving on without me, but from my perspective I was being forced to watch them seemingly fall apart.

When there were no more tears to be shed, I sat I watched over him as he slept on the couch. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to sleep in our bed; unless he had Neal with him; then he would sleep in the bed with the little boy tucked into his side. But more and more he was leaving the toddler with his older sister. He was pulling away from our children and I was powerless to stop it; but I knew that it was only a matter of time before my eldest wouldn't be able to take it anymore.

"Grandpa?!" I jumped when the door flew open. With a thud, when it slammed against the table behind, it nearly hit Emma in the face when it rebounded from Henry's carelessness of not holding onto it. I didn't bother to stifle my laugh at my grandson's adolescents, they couldn't hear me anyway.

"Henry, you could at least hold the door open." Emma walked into the apartment with her little brother in her arms. His head was lying on her shoulder and his little arms hung to the sides as he slept soundly.

"Oh, sorry, Mom." She just shook her head as she carried Neal through the apartment to my bedroom. I followed her. There was just something so beautiful about my daughter looking over my son. I always had such a hard time tearing my eyes away from them.

"Snow? Is that…" my mother did not need to finish her question. I looked at her quickly and nodded with such proud enthusiasm.

"Those are my children, Emma and Neal. Your grandchildren," the corners of her mouth curled up towards her ears.

She held her hands in front of her mouth in a manner that made her look as if she were praying. With a quick swipe of her right hand across her cheek, she wiped away a single tear. "Snow, they are beautiful, the very best of both of you," she said as she looked back towards the couch at a sleeping charming.

"And the young man?" she turned back to take in the site of the inquisitive boy. "Is that…"

"Henry," I cut her off with my words but my eyes stayed fixated on my daughter. "…my handsome grandson, the boy who brought my baby home." My mother moved to my side and wrapped her arm around my waist. In her comforting embrace I laid my head on her shoulder as I watched my daughter lay my son on my bed and cover him with my quilt. My heart swelled and broke at the same time when she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his little forehead.

"Take a nice long nap, squirt…" I heard her whisper. "That way you can stay up to the wee hours of the morning for Dad, instead of me tonight." I let out a huffed laugh and rolled my eyes at that comment. I straightened up when I caught my mother's pointed look, "sarcasm and a gun…it's what makes my baby girl tick."

"A gun…?" I ignored her quiet question as I turned and walked away.

"Is grandpa even here? Why is it so dark?" We all turned at the sound of Henry's voice. It sounded so much deeper than I remembered. And he looked so much taller. It was hard to believe how quickly he was becoming a young man.

"I'm guessing…" Emma shrugged as she pulled the curtain to my bedroom closed. "He wasn't at work today, he texted me this morning saying that he wanted to get some things done around the house that he had been neglecting." She moved to the kitchen a flicked on the light that was above the island. "Dad?"

"Right here," he responded through a muffled yawn. Emma stopped cold when she saw him slump out of the corner of the living room. His hair was a mess and sticking up on one side. He was wearing a pair of pajama pants with an old t-shirt. His robe hung loosely off of his shoulders. He used his right hand to rub his eyes in an attempt to get them to adjust to the light but he still squinted as he tried to look in Emma's direction.

"What the hell…" Emma stopped herself when she came out of her shock long enough to remember that Henry was in the room with them. "Ah…Henry…"

"Yeah…"

"I called an order into Granny's can you walk down the block to pick it up?" She tossed her keys to the kid who caught them with one hand. "There is money in the glove box of the bug. There should be enough for the food and a tip."

"But I thought that we were…"

"Just go, Henry!" she snapped. It wasn't like Emma to get so short with Henry. I could tell that he wanted to argue with her, but he obeyed. He knew that his mother was about to have it out with his grandfather. I watched my grandson leave the apartment without another word. He only stopped for a second to look back at his grandfather and then his mother giving them both a sympathetic nod.

"Emma…" Charming started but was abruptly stopped by the very angry gesture of his daughter holding up her index finger in his direction, while she dialed her phone with the other hand.

"Ruby…it's Emma. Henry is on his way to pick up an order, can you have our usual ready for him and a couple of chicken strips for Neal?" After a small pause, she said thanks and hit the end button on the phone before slamming it down on the counter. She turned her attention to her father, who just stood there.

She looked him up and down for a minute then disappeared into my bedroom again. I thought that she was checking on Neal, but she returned with a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, clean underwear and socks.

"You need to snap the hell out of this!" She yelled as she threw the clothes at her father.

He caught the clothes and held them loosely over his arm, "Emma…"

"No, don't Emma me! In case you haven't noticed, you have a son in there," she pointed to my bedroom as she yelled "who needs his father. You have a grandson, who just walked out that door" she then pointed to the green door that gave entrance to the loft, "who is missing his grandfather. And a daughter right here," she turned her finger to her own chest "who is going through the same thing as you. The only difference between me and you is that I am fighting like hell to keep it all together and you're having a pity party for yourself."

"Em…" Charming tried to interrupt her rant, but she just continued.

"No! I'm having a hard enough time trying to explain to Neal why Mom isn't home, but now I'm fielding questions on 'where is Daddy?' How can I answer his questions when I have the same exact question? Where the hell is Daddy?"

Normally he would have jumped for joy at hearing Emma call him Daddy, sarcastic or otherwise; but not this time. "Don't I get any time to grieve my wife? My true love?" he finally yelled overtop of her to get her attention, but his choice of words could have been better.

"Grieve? Are you serious right now?" Emma's voice got louder and angrier, "You're acting like Mom is dead! She's not! She is in the hospital doing what she needs to do to heal after her accident. I am NOT giving up on my mother." Her face was red with anger and her fists were clenched tight with only one figured poking out and shaking with enraged irritation at her father , "I refuse to give up on Mom and damn it…I want my father back too!"

I stood there and watched as my daughter unloaded on her father. I expected a reaction from him, but he didn't give it. He only looked at the floor while he played with the hem of the shirt that Emma had thrown at him. What was happening to my Charming? Apparently it wasn't the reaction that Emma was expecting either. It was a long minute before she finally took her eyes off of him. Her face fell in defeat as she pulled her red leather jacket from the bar stood and slipped it over her shoulders, "I'm going to meet up with Henry," she said in a less harsh but still cold tone as she made her way to the door.

I wanted to hit something. Slam something. I wanted to do anything to relieve this anger that was building up inside me. I didn't know how to help my family; for all intents and purposes I was nothing but a spirit. I was being forced to watch my husband self destruct and my daughter try to pick up the pieces. None of this was fair to them or me. I settled for yelling at my husband with a small hope that he would somehow here me, "Charming" I said in a warning tone, "don't you dare let her walk out of that door!"

I felt my mother's hands on my shoulders giving me the support that I needed to watch my daughter walk away from my husband. "TALK TO HER," I yelled as Emma got dangerously close to the door. If he let her leave their relationship would begin to break. "CALL HER BACK, DAVID! EMMA…DON'T WALK AWAY FROM YOUR FATHER!"

Why wouldn't either of them listen to me, why couldn't they hear me? "Snow…" I heard my mother say.

"No, mother, no…he can't let her leave." I shrugged my shoulders away from my mother's grip and tried to grab a hold of Emma's wrist. I had to try to stop her from leaving, but my hands just when through her arm. I ran around her desperately trying to throw my body against the door to push it closed but in my current state, I had no leverage. I felt relief wash over my body when I noticed that she stopped. But then I saw why she stopped.

"Daddy…Memma?" The voice of her little brother stopped her dead in her tracks. She looked at him briefly but quickly looked back to the door. Her hand was still on the knob. My heart broke at the site of the tears that were pushing to fall; the tears that she was trying so hard to hold back.

"Neal…" her voice cracked as she said his name. She paused to give herself a minute to pull it back together before she spoke again, "I'm sorry, buddy, did we wake you?"

"Why were you yelling at Daddy?" His voice was so sweet and innocent. She finally let go of the door and went to scoop him up in her arms.

She swallowed hard, "Dad and I were just having a little disagreement." She explained as she held him tight. She used her hand to push his head to rest on her shoulder. She glared at David over the little boy's own shoulder. "Hey Neal, what do you say to going to Granny's for dinner? Henry is already there." She set the boy down long enough to reach for his coat and pull it over his arms. In a sweeping motion, she perched the boy back on her hip and headed for the door, leaving their father alone in the living room. She looked back at the man one last time before she exited the loft.

"Emma…" My eyes flew right to David when I heard him whisper her name. I willed him to say it louder. "Emma," he said again this time loud enough to stop her before she reached the stairs. He dropped the clothes and ran to the door to see that she had stopped at the top of the landing with her little brother still in her arms. Both of his children looked at him as he approached.

As he drew closer to the siblings, he lifted his arms to reach for Neal. The little boy instinctively reached back for his father. David pulled the toddler from his sister's arms and hugged him tight. When David shifted Neal to one arm, I saw the tears streaming down his face. He used his free arm to pull his daughter close to him.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to them. He held his children just as tight as they held him as he cried. "I'm so so sorry. I love you two so much. I can't lose you."

"You won't lose us, Dad." Emma's voice was finally calm. She kept her eyes closed as she held onto her father. She had the tails of his shirt wrapped in her hand. "As long as you don't push us away, you'll never lose us."

Those were the only words that needed to be said in that moment. Charming pulled his head back enough to put a kiss on the head's of each of his kids, first Neal and then Emma. I stepped aside to allow him to pull them back into the apartment. I smiled with pride at my family; my husband and my two beautiful children. I looked back to share my joy with my mother, but she wasn't there. My smile fell a little, but I quickly realized that she was there to give me the support that I needed. I knew in my heart that I didn't want to leave my family. They were my life and as much as I missed my mother and wanted my mother back in my life, I wasn't ready to leave my husband and my children. Although my family was different than what could be considered normal, we still had our up and downs as all families do and through all of the trials and tribulations, my family, like all families, could work through anything. Now, all that I had to do was figure out how to get back to them.