We've come to the end of this story. Thank you to all of my loyal readers. I hope that you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for all of the follows, favorites, and reviews. It really means a lot to me. And we'll see what comes out of my brain next. Until next time...

Chapter 5 - All I ever Wanted

The apartment was dark. After I followed Charming up the stairs, I stood leaning against the doorjamb to watch him as he snuggled into Emma's old bed next to the small boy. Although he was sound asleep, when Neal felt the bed shift under the weight of his father, he rolled a little closer to the man cuddling the crook of his arm. He looked so peaceful, they both did. This was actually the most peaceful that I had seen David look in weeks. I watched as he began to run his fingers through the blond hair that was layered upon Neal's head; blond hair and green eyes, just like his sister and the very best of both of us.

David watched the boy sleep for a couple of minutes, before he finally reached over to turn off the lamp that was on the nightstand. "Sleep tight, kiddo, we have a big day tomorrow," I heard him whisper.

I took that as my cue to check on our other child. Killian had finally made it to the loft in the snow storm that was currently pounding the small town. I had heard him come in, but I stayed upstairs with my husband and son to give the couple below the privacy that they needed, but I promised myself to check on them one last time once I heard their whispers die down, which they had.

The entire apartment was dark, save for the nightlight that was plugged into the outlet in the island. I stared at it for a half of second, wondering when it had arrived. I shook off the thought thinking that it must have been something that Emma plugged into the outlet just in case someone was up late for some reason. As I reached the bottom of the metal staircase I looked over my shoulder to see that the curtain separating my room from the rest of the loft hadn't been drawn; definitely an open invitation to check on my daughter and her pirate.

And there they were, sound asleep. I wanted to just stand there and watch her sleep. She looked every bit as peaceful as the two sleeping above. I always tried so hard not to stare at her while she slept, especially when the curse was first broken. It was an action that she would always call creepy. Until one day, she was standing at the island helping me make dinner; it was a day that Henry was coming down with a cold. He came home from school and fell asleep as soon as he hit the couch. As she was chopping up a salad, I noticed that her eyes kept drifting to the boy's sleeping form, until the moment that they stopped drifting and stayed focused on him instead of the salad. I knew what she was feeling, it was the same thing that I felt with her so many times. I reached up and rubbed my hand lovingly up and down her shoulder, letting her know that I knew and that it was ok. "It's what parents do," I told her. She never called it creepy again. So here I stood, watching her sleep. She was curled up in the crook of Killian's arm just as her brother was curled up in their father's arm in the room upstairs.

The sight of a duffle bag discarded at the foot of the bed caught my attention. I didn't go through it to inspect the contents, I didn't need to; it was obvious that it was a bag that Killian had packed for them. I was certain that it was an extra set of clothes and some sleep wear. I only say that it contained sleepwear because Emma wasn't wearing anything that belonged to her. And my heart warmed at my revelation, she was wearing one of her father's pocketed t-shirts, which was way too big for her, and a set of his pajama pants were evident on the leg that was poking out from under the covers. If I was a betting woman I would have wagered that Charming was never going to get those items of clothing back. They now ranked up there with her baby blanket; subconsciously they were a device to remind her that she is always safe with her Dad.

When I stepped a little closer to the bed I noticed that her long curly hair was caught beneath Killian's arm. Instinctively I reached down to gently pull it free. The thought that I couldn't touch anyone didn't cross my mind until the hair came free from its bounds.

"Well that's different…" I said in a loud whisper. "How can that be?" When I reached out again to run my fingers through her hair, I felt the strands wrap around my digits. I didn't get the tingly feeling I had before and my hand didn't seem to go through her like a ghost. I reveled in being able to run my fingers through her golden locks and now I wanted to do the same to my son, but I had one last test. I leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her head then whispered in her ear. "I love you, Emma."

I froze when I heard her mumbled response, "I love you too, Mom." I looked to her eyes, they were still closed. But in her subconscious state, she could hear me. And she returned my sentiment.

I was anxious to run upstairs to do the same to my husband and son and I was excited to find the similar results. Charming repeated my sentiment and Neal smiled at my words, suddenly I couldn't ask for more. It was then that I decided to lie down on the other side of the bed, sandwiching Neal between myself and my husband. It all felt so right. I tousled the little boys blond hair as I watched him and his father sleep. It was so peaceful and relaxing that I didn't notice that my eyes, too, went shut.

"She's crashing..." I heard bustling all around me.

"Get a crash cart, NOW."

There was a sound of steady beep. "Come on, come on….Finally…"

A loud bang rang through my ears.

"Don't you dare die on me."

"Charging…."

I was cold.

"Dammit, come on…."

Oh so cold.

"Clear…"

My body jolted into the air.

"Again…charging…"

What was that sound?

"Clear…"

The steady beep turned to a timely ping.

"Oh thank god."

The bustling that was happening around me seemed to stop. I tried to open my eyes, but it was as if they were glued shut.

"She's stabilizing….Call the family. Have them come in, I need to update them."

"Yes, doctor."

That was a voice of a woman, I was in the hospital. How did I get to the hospital? They were going to call Charming. What happened to me?

Again I tried to force my eyes to open, but they did not want to cooperate. I began to feel the rest of my body. It was like it was there, but it was dead weight. Each limb felt like it weighed five hundred pounds and I was destined to never move again. I tried to move my legs and arms but I couldn't. I tried to wiggle my toes…nothing. I tried to lift my hand…it was stuck. I tried to wiggle my finger…it moved.

It moved. My index finger moved. I wiggled it some more. It was slow and it was hard but it was moving nonetheless.

"Doctor?" I heard the woman yell. Who was this woman, it wasn't my Emma. "Doctor, I need you in here, now!"

"What is it, Nurse?"

"She moved her finger."

"She did?"

"Yes. Check the monitor."

"Well, I'll be damned. Get the family in here ASAP; it looks like the princess is waking up."

After what felt like a million times of trying to open my eyes and failing, I let out a soft groan. I still felt like a lead weight lying in the bed, but now my hand felt different too; it felt full, like someone was loosely holding on to it.

"Snow?" No, was that really him? Was it Charming who was holding my hand. I gave one more fleeting effort to open my eyes. This time, it worked. They cracked open. I could see the blurry figure sitting by my bedside.

"Charming?" I squeaked out. He lifted my hand to his lips, kissing the top multiple times.

"Yes…yes…It's me…" His image was becoming less blurry as I was able to open my eyes a little wider with each passing minute. I could see that he stood and was beginning to lean my direction. I tried to smile when I felt him place a kiss on my forward. "Welcome back."

"Ki…kids…" it stumbled from my mouth but he understood the question that I was trying to ask.

"They're here. They are in the waiting room. Whale called us in hours ago and Neal was getting antsy so Emma took him to get something to eat and a change of scenery."

"I…I…wa…"

"Ssh…." He interrupted. "Ssh…Don't push yourself. Ok? I'll get them. I'll be right back." He slowly back out of the room, I could tell that he didn't want to take his eyes off of me for fear that I might not be awake when he returned. And just as much as he didn't want to go, I didn't want him to leave, but I also wanted my children with me.

My eyes went closed again when he left, but my rest was short lived. As soon as I heard the door open I pried them open to see my two beautiful babies enter behind their father.

"Momma…" Neal called out. He was holding tight to his sister's neck but release her when he reached out toward me. Emma couldn't move fast enough for the little guy; she was only half way across the room when he leaned over, still in her arms, trying to give me a hug and kiss.

"Easy, Squirt. Mom's still not feeling well…just give her a kiss." I was impressed at how well he obeyed his older sister and did just what she asked by giving me a light kiss on the cheek.

"Miss you, Momma…" he said as he moved to latch his arms around Emma's neck once again.

Aw, my little boy told me that he missed me. After a little bit of effort, I was finally able to croak out an "I missed you, too."

"Hey, Mom," she held her brother tight as she also leaned down to give me a gentle kiss.

"Here, give me him," David reached to take Neal from Emma's arms. That was when I tried to motion that I wanted to hold him. I slowly made a whole between my arm and my body and was able to point to it to indicate to charming to put him down.

"Mom, you're still not…" I shook my head to cut her off. When she stopped talking I pointed back to the little place on the bed between by arm and body that was the perfect size for Neal. I didn't miss the concerned look that Emma and David exchanged. It only made me point again.

Charming finally relented to my demand and set the boy down on the bed next to me instructing him to be very careful; once he was set, I looked from my daughter to the chair next to the bed.

"Looks like Momma wants her kiddos near," David said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I gathered that," Emma said as she pulled the chair closer to the bed to sit down next to me. I reached my hand out to her and she took it without a fight.

"Well, while you two are with your mother, I'm going to find Whale to let him know that she has awoken."

"K…Daddy…" Neal answered before anyone else.

"How are you feeling? She's still asleep?" Charming lifted one of his bag filled hands to indicate Emma who was sound asleep on the chair that was in my room. She had fallen asleep right before he left to make a food run to Granny's and hadn't moved since.

"Coming down from a stressful few weeks makes a person pretty exhausted."

"Yeah, I'm afraid that I didn't make it any easier on her either." I knew that he was talking about his depression that he fell into while I was in the coma. But I decided that it was probably best for him to talk about it. Maybe that would alleviate some of the guilt that I knew he was feeling. So I pressed him.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

He let go of a heavy sigh as he looked around the room; his eyes finally settling on Emma. He pulled a chair closer to the bed and set the bags on my tray before he finally started to speak. "I was awful to her, Snow." He nervously ran his fingers through his blond hair.

"I don't believe that…."

"No, no…I was. Somehow I managed to reverse the roles. I depended on her to be the parent instead of the child. When I should have been comforting her and telling her that everything would be okay I wasn't. I pitied myself and pushed Neal off on her. She needed me to be her father but instead I pulled away from both of them. I made both of them face this alone. I'm a horrible father." He let a single tear escape his eye but looked away from me again.

"I seriously doubt that she thinks that of you." I reached out to wipe away the tear from his cheek and took his hand into mine. "You are being way too hard on yourself."

"She yelled at me." I laughed at the way that he said it. It sounded like a little kid who was looking for sympathy.

"Her tough love worked." I winced when I saw the questioning look on his face. I still hadn't told them about my out of body experience while I was in the coma; which reminded me that I still needed to speak to Regina. But thankfully he let the comment go.

"Yeah…" He finally smiled as he looked over to our sleeping daughter, "she has a way of doing that."

"Hi guys," Oh it was such a welcome sight to see Henry enter my room with little Neal holding his hand while he walked beside him. "How are you feeling, grandma?"

"Even better now that all of my favorite guys are here, come here" I reached out to pull Henry into a hug; one that I could tell he was aching for just as much as I was.

"That's good," he said as he pulled away and lifted Neal to cuddle next to my side on the bed. "I was worried, but I'm glad you're awake and will be home soon."

"Me too, honey. Me too."

"Mom said that she would be here in about an hour to see you and she said to tell you that she can take Neal for the night so that Gramps and Mom can stay here."

"Oh, that's so nice of her, she has come a long way," is what I said, but what I thought was 'so this must be what it is like to have a parent in your adult life.' And the more I thought about it, the more I was enjoying having her around not only as my stepmother but as my friend too.

"Hey Henry, why don't you wake sleeping beauty, over there?" Charming motioned toward Emma with his head as the pulled out the food from Granny's. "Her grilled cheese is getting cold."

"Sure thing…" I could see the mischievous smile that Henry attempted to hide.

"Oh mom," he said in a barely audible voice. "Moooom…" he sang out again only slightly louder. "Mom," was said one more time not even a decibel louder.

"Brace yourself…" I said to Charming "Here it comes." David laughed. He also knew what to expect in the next seconds.

"MOM!" Henry yelled as loud as he could. The teen held is stomach in fits of laughter as his unsuspecting mother jumped so high from the chair that she landed on the floor.

"Uh…What?" She looked at Henry, who was laughing so hard that he could barely breathe. "HENRY, WHAT THE HELL?" She jumped up from the floor and began to smack the boy on the shoulders, like you would see a sister do to her annoying brother. He pulled his upper limbs in tight and guarded his face with his forearms as he continued to laugh hysterically at his mother.

"Gramps said to wake you up," he tried to defend between laughs and smacks.

"Yeah, he said wake me up! Not scare the ever loving shit out of me." She took a minute to readjust the bottom of her shirt down over the top of her jeans; but then suddenly turned an accusing finger to her father. "And you! Mister 'I knew what he was doing and didn't stop him' you better have brought me a grilled cheese and onion rings. I'm starving!" She didn't wait for him to answer. She opened each box until she found the food that she was looking for and snatched it from the table to retreat with it back to the chair.

"Geez, not even a 'thank you'?" David said with mock hurt in his voice.

"I'm your kid," she sharply retorted. "It's your job to take care of me and you have 28 years to make up for."

"Well, you got me there," I knew he would give in to her, she's was Daddy's girl, he always gave into her. "You're hot chocolate, princess." She reached up and snatched the cup from his hand. She took a sip of the hot liquid before putting the cup down on the table next to her.

"Thank you," she finally said to him.

And then I saw the grin. It was the grin that he gave her when he was about to do something that she didn't expect. "I have a bear claw for you, too, for later."

"Really?" And with one mention of her favorite pastry her anger from being rudely awaken had dissipated.

"There you go with the spoiling again…" We all looked toward Regina as she entered the room, but it was only I who knew what she was talking about; which also confirmed my suspicions that Regina remembered our encounter at the loft too.

"What?" Charming and Emma asked simultaneously.

"Mom, you're early?" was Henry's response to her entrance. But it was enough to move the conversation away from Regina's entering comment.

"I finished up early at the office, so I came straight here." She said as she moved further into the room while she removed her coat and gloves.

"Good," David said as he reached for a box of food to hand to the woman, "I brought you a Kale salad. Henry said that you offered to take Neal tonight?"

"Oh yeah…" she took the box from his hands and sat in the chair that was next to the table that was in the opposite corner of where Emma sat. "Thank you…for the salad. You and Emma should stay here tonight; I'll take Neal and Henry. I'm certain that Neal will keep Roland entertained giving Henry a break for one night."

"Thank you, Regina." I said it with utmost sincerity. "You're helping really means a lot to us."

"Well, it's the least that I can do, you are family."

"Well, I should take the kids home now, I'm sure that Henry has some homework that needs to be finished." I wasn't ready for Regina to leave, I had wanted to speak with her alone for a minute, but I never really found the right time.

"Hey Regina," Emma called as she pulled herself up from the chair and away from the game that she was playing on her phone, "can you wait a couple of minutes, I wanted to take the boys to the gift shop to pick something out for Mom…" Oh my ever perceptive daughter. I understood where Henry got it and I was grateful that she did pick up on the hints that I had dropped throughout the afternoon of my wanting to talk to Regina. Now I just had to ask Charming to give us a minute. "That means you too, Dad," she finished as she linked her arm around his to pull him along while Henry lifted Neal into his arms.

"Why me?"

"Because I need money…just come on."

"Ah…sure."

"So what do you want to talk to me about?" Regina beat me to the punch as soon as the door closed behind my exiting family members.

"How'd you know?"

"You said it before…Emma's 'subtle as a chainsaw' approach."

"Ah, yes. Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Ah…" Regina nodded her head showing me that she understood. The older woman used the chair that was next to my bed to get a little more comfortable.

"First," I started, "I wanted to say thank you."

"Thank you? For what?"

"For being there for them…I know it wasn't easy for any of you. But also, your eye opening chat that we had…I'm glad that you remember."

"You remember too?" It was more like a statement rather than a question.

"Yes. I didn't tell them…About any of it."

"Ok."

"And I don't want them to know. Especially David, he doesn't need to know that I saw him at his worst. I still don't think that I understand what I was meant to learn or take away from that experience, but I'm thankful that you were there to help me through it. I know that our relationship has been tumultuous, at best, for many years."

"Tumultuous…Mary Margaret…I…" I put my hand up to stop her. This was my time to talk to her.

"We have come so very far passed it all. Let's not go back there. Let's just be a family."

She closed her eyes and nodded in acceptance. We agreed and in my mind there would be no going back. "You know, when Henry came in today and told us that you offered to take Neal for the night, being grateful was not the first thought that came to my mind."

Regina arched her brow in confusion, "It didn't."

"No…" I emphasized the word by shaking my head. "No the first thought that came to my mind was that 'this is what it must feel like to have a parent present in your adult life.' Regina, too many times I said that you WERE my stepmother or Henry's Mother. But the truth is that you ARE my stepmother; you always have been. We just had a rough time with the awkward teenage years." We both laughed at that last comment. "So thank you."

"You're" her voice cracked when she started to speak and I could tell that she was trying to hold back the emotion as she cleared her throat. "You're welcome."

I smiled at her and she returned it with a smile of her own, "And just to be clear, there is no way in HELL that your kids are going to call me grandma." She looked away to wipe the moisture away from her eyes. This was the Regina that I knew was always in was in there. It was the Regina that I wanted to have as my stepmother.

"It looks like the trip to the gift shop was a little faster than I thought it would be." When she saw my look of confusion she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb toward the hallway. "The rest of the…family…is standing in the hallway," she summarized with a smile. "I'm going to collect the boys and get them home."

"Thank you, Regina." She gave me a smile and a nod as she exited the room.

Not long after Regina left, Emma entered. "Hey, Mom…" she seemed hesitant. "Can I get you anything?"

I lifted my hand to wave her further into the room, "No, honey. I'm fine. Where's your father?"

She quickly peeked through the window but then answered, "He's getting Neal ready to go with Regina. You need him? I can…"

"No." I said quickly; maybe a little too quickly. "No, honey, come here." I patted the open space on my bed, telling her that I wanted her to sit close to me. "Are you ok?" I inquired when she finally sat in the designated spot.

"Seriously? You're the one in the hospital…"

"I know exactly where I am and how I am. What I don't know is how my daughter is doing, so I'm asking, are you ok?"

She looked back at the door, I wasn't sure if she was hoping that someone would enter and interrupt my questioning, if anyone was in earshot, or if she was just checking to see if the door was closed. "Emma?" I pulled her attention back to me.

"Yeah…" she finally answered a little sheepishly. "I'm fine."

"Ok, so now that you've told me what you think that I want to hear, how about telling me the truth."

"Really, I'm ok….now…" I didn't push her, when she used the word now I could tell that she was going to elaborate, I just needed to give her the time that she needed to collect her thoughts.

"I was worried, frustrated, scared, you name it...I went off on Dad."

"I know…"

"You do?"

"He told me that you yelled at him."

Emma signed. "Yeah…"

"But from what I understand, it was what he needed."

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I didn't know how else to get through to him."

"Don't be sorry…I seem to remember someone telling her father regarding myself…and correct me if I'm wrong…'I think it's time to give the hot cocoa and foot massages a rest. It's time to haul her ass out of bed and get her to move past this.' Was that right?"

"Yeah…"she said behind a laugh as she looked down at the floor.

"See there, your tough loved worked then and it worked now. And sometimes, it's just the kick in the ass that a parent needs. Now, come here…" I reached my arms up to pull her into a hug. I held her tight, I didn't want to let go and for a couple of minutes she let me hold her.

As the evening progressed on, Charming and Emma spent some wonderful quality time with me. We watched a movie, play some cards, and David went on a much needed hot chocolate with cinnamon run. It was about 11 pm when Emma gave into sleep and curled up on the chair in the corner. David and I both tried to convince her to go home but she was having none of it. He gently climbed on my bed and settled down next to me. He put his arm around me and pulled me near.

"How are you feeling?" he asked again. It was probably about the 100th time that night.

"Sore…but on the mend."

"Yeah…well, I have to tell you that you ruined our plans for the day?"

"I did? How?"

"Well, I had it all planned out to take the kids, Regina, and Killian out for breakfast and to cut down a Christmas tree. But you went and woke up from your coma," he joked.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry."

"Don't be…" he said as he kissed the side of my head.

"Wait, Christmas tree? What day is it?"

"December 19th, why? Was there something that you needed?"

"Well…" I stopped to pause as a thought crossed my mind. "No…I have everything that I ever wanted…Hope, Family, and love." That was what my experience had been about. It was showing me that I had the three most important things with the six most important people in my life…David, Emma, Neal, Henry, Regina, and Killian…My FAMILY!