Ok, I'm still not happy with it but I've had enough of my perfectionistic tendencies. So, I am pleased to finally bring you the end of the story. Thanks for reading and the kind reviews!

David saw Emma check the clock and decided that distracting her was as good an excuse as any to get to hold his newly little daughter. He quickly grabbed her and pulled her up onto his lap before she had a chance to realise what was happening.

"Daaad!" Emma exclaimed, surprised and annoyed at being man-handled.

But then he pulled out her food and handed over her grilled cheese with a pleading look that seemed to say, 'just let me have this moment'. She sighed and settled back against him with a reluctant smile, her stomach grumbling at the promise of food. That feeling of warmth and safety she'd experienced with her mother earlier returned at being snuggled against her father's larger body.

David grinned and kissed the top of her head, and was rewarded by a light blush on Emma's cheeks as she shifted closer against him. He knew his daughter well enough to know that she was comfortable with the present company and wouldn't be overly embarrassed at his actions, but he had expected more of a fight.

Snow and Killian made themselves comfortable around David's desk as well and they all tucked in to their lunch, but none as enthusiastically as Emma.

"Looks like you ladies had a nice morning giving each other makeovers," David chuckled, tugging gently on one of Emma's neat french braids.

"Mom wouldn't feed me unless I let her do my hair," Emma responded between massive bites of her sandwich.

"Emma Swan, you dirty little liar!" Snow gasped, a disbelieving smile spreading across her face as she shook her head. "I agreed to give her leftover pie in exchange for letting me braid her hair. I think it was a fair trade!"

David gave a dramatic mock gasp. "Snow, you bribed our innocent little girl? She's only five!"

"Four, actually. I'm missing the scars from when I had chicken pox on my fifth birthday," Emma corrected.

"She's only four, Snow!"

Snow rolled her eyes and shook her head again at their antics, while Emma stuck out her tongue at Snow. Both parents exchanged a heartbroken glance at hearing their poor baby had chicken pox on her birthday, especially knowing she most likely didn't get the care she deserved at whatever foster home she'd been in at the time. But this wasn't the time to dwell on that; what Emma needed right now was laughter to help her get through the last few hours in this body.

"In hindsight, I should've done her hair before I held up my end of the bargain. She was so sugared up she couldn't sit still. Took me forever to do those braids," Snow put in.

Emma shrugged defensively. "I was just trying to give you a more realistic experience of what it would've been like when I was actually four."

Killian, who had been listening in amusement, gestured to Snow's nails and addressed Emma with a smirk, "Well, you certainly did that, love."

Emma shrugged again. "That was revenge for calling me cute last night."

In reality, the eye-catching mani-pedi was Emma's attempt to shift some attention onto Snow and away from herself. A fact that was obvious to all present company, but noone pointed it out.

Emma turned serious, watching Killian's face closely. "How are you feeling for tomorrow? Belle was right, you know, you're going to crush it!"

Killian hesitated before answering softly. "Excited. I'm looking forward to finally getting an opportunity to make something good from the mistakes of my past."

Emma reached for his hand across the desk. "You mean more good. You've already made plenty of good, not the least of which was helping your little brother face those very same demons. You've got this."

Killian squeezed her hand and gave her a broad smile that made her wish this stupid potion would wear off right now so she could kiss that gorgeous grin right off his face. It was strange, she reflected, having an adult mind inside a child's body. The only thing keeping her from the usual displays of affection was the discomfort it would cause Killian, and everyone else in the room for that matter.

They ate in comfortable silence for a bit, the only sounds being the crunch of Emma's onion rings as she tore into them like they were her last meal.

"So, love, is there anything you want to do before you... grow up?" Killian broke the silence. "To take advantage of your small size while you can?"

Emma thought for a moment. "We could buy a bunch of helium balloons and see how many it would take for me to float off?"

"Absolutely not!" Snow and David in unison.

Killian evidently found this much more amusing than her parents and he gave a big belly laugh imagining the small child in front of him tying herself to a bunch of balloons, her parents frantically chasing after her.

"Lame," Emma chuckled teasingly at her parents as she swallowed her last onion ring and licked her fingers for good measure.

"Oh, is that so?" David challenged.

"Yep." Emma stuck her tongue out at her father this time.

"Are you sure?" David raised an eyebrow and gently poked her in the side, prompting a squeal as Emma tried to squirm away. "Say it again, I dare you!" he grinned.

Emma was way too stubborn for this fight. And, okay, maybe her mind wasn't completely adult right now after all. Or maybe she was just caught up in the moment. Without any concious thought she was looking straight into David's eyes and retorting, "Lame!" despite being stuck in his arms.

"Alright, you're in trouble little miss!" David carried her over to the couch where he dropped her and began tickling her mercilessly on the ribs.

Emma squealed and scrambled trying to escape, but David caught her. He was too strong. Before long the sounds of childish laughter filled the station.

David paused his attack. "Are you ready to apologise to your parents?"

Emma was starting to feel sick from her recently finished meal in her stomach, but she wasn't about to concede. She just shook her head and attempted to protect herself with her arms again. Not long after David's assault continued, however, the nausea worsened and she knew she had to surrender. "Okay, st-stop!" she spluttered between bouts of laughter. "I'm go-gonna... be sick!"

David paused again and allowed her to catch her breath, but he still kept her trapped, hands poised ready for round three. "If you wanna get out of this, you know what we need to hear," he teased.

Emma rolled her eyes, prompting David to start to move his hand back toward her ribs. "Wait, I'm sorry!" she screamed as laughter started to overtake her in anticipation.

David grinned triumphantly. "And?"

"You're not lame," Emma giggled, her arms finally allowed to cover herself defensively. "You're super cool, the coolest parents ever!"

"Aw, stop it, Emma, you're embarrassing me," David teased. He held his hand out to help her up, which she cautiously accepted, still looking at him suspiciously.

"How did you even know I'm ticklish when I'm not as an adult?"

The guilty look exchanged between David and Snow was subtle, but Emma caught it. Quick as a whip, her hand shot out and stole David's phone out of his pocket before she darted away.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, going after her.

But Emma was too quick and was already reading his messages from Snow that morning aloud. "She was so adorable at breakfast having to use both hands to hold her mug." Emma cringed and darted away from David again as he approached her.

Snow just shrunk back in her chair and smiled guiltily, a light blush on her cheeks at being caught.

"I'm gonna see if she'll let me paint her itty bitty fingernails and itty bitty toenails," Emma continued, her own face reddening. She squinted her eyes at her mother. "Okay, you fully deserved the rainbow monstrosity I gave you."

Snow had no words of defence, all she could do was look at her daughter with that guilty smile.

Emma turned on David. "And don't think you're off the hook, mister, with all the 'awws' and heart eye emojis in your replies."

"Ok, we get it, and we're sorry, now hand it back. You don't wanna read too far down, trust me!" David chuckled, again trying and failing to snatch his phone back.

"I think not!" Emma grinned, backing away, and finally reading the message she'd been looking for. "Don't tell her I told you this but she's ticklish and has the sweetest little giggle ever. Also, I've managed to take a few sneaky photos. I'll show you later." Emma was blushing furiously now. "Mooom!"

Her eyes scanned over her father's reply, which asked if they were the 'Emma being cute' kind of sneaky photo, or the 'naked wife' kind. She promptly chucked the phone back to her dad with a screwed up face and an exclamation of, "Guys, gross!"

"I did warn you, kiddo," David laughed.

After lunch, Snow and Emma decided to wait out the potion back at Emma's house. It was one-thirty when they walked in, an hour and a half short of twenty-four hours. Emma remembered that Regina had said it might not take quite that long.

"Any time now! I'm gonna go change into something bigger so I don't hulk out in my favourite jeans."

Upstairs in her closet, Emma searched through the lower draws for some clothes that wouldn't rip when her body grew. She slipped on some recently-purchased boxer shorts that only fell down slightly, thanks to the new elastic, and a T-shirt that fit like a dress. Placing her previous outfit in the hamper, she noticed her bra from the day before already in there. Huh, so that's where it went. Thanks, Regina.

"This last stretch is going to be torture, especially since I don't know exactly when it'll wear off," Emma complained as she came back downstairs.

"I know what'll distract you," Snow smiled mischievously, gesturing to the pile of blankets and pillows she had apparently gathered on the couch.

Just that morning she had reminisced with her mother about when Henry was younger and they would make a pillow fort to watch movies in together, and how she missed doing things like that with him.

Emma laughed. "At least you don't think you're too cool to build a pillow fort with me. Let's do it and send Henry a photo, I bet this is way more fun than whatever he and Regina are up to."

The pair got to work hanging and fastening large blankets until they had a huge fort surrounding Emma's couch, the front open so they could see the TV. It was slow work given the combination of Emma's reduced armspan and her stubborness. She ended up trapped under a blanket more than once, much to her frustration and Snow's amusement. But with Snow's patient assistance a cozy fort was soon complete, with pillows and blankets covering the floor.

Shortly after, they were lounging comfortably in the fort watching another movie-from-the-missing-year that David wasn't interested in, a big bowl of popcorn and melted milk duds between them. Emma was content and not thinking about the clock at all for the first time since she got downsized. She was actually kind of exhausted, probably due to her young body. As she finished the last of the popcorn, she set the bowl aside and lay down with her head in her mother's lap. Snow automatically started playing with her long locks.

"Thanks, Mom," Emma mumbled sleepily.

"What for, honey?"

"For showing me what it's like to have an amazing mother. I'm so happy Neal has you." She had barely finished her sentence as she drifted off to sleep, her loving mother smiling down at her with teary eyes as she stroked her head.

The sensation of soft kisses trailing down her neck woke Emma from a deep, dreamless sleep. She smiled and hummed, automatically reaching to tangle her hands in her pirate's dark hair. I'm big again, she noted absently, the thought barely registering due to the distraction currently snaking his hand up under her shirt.

"I've missed these," he grinned, caressing each one of her bare breasts in turn.

"It's good to be back," Emma sighed, pulling him down by the shirt to claim his lips.

When they broke apart they took a minute to look appreciatively into each other's eyes, their foreheads resting against each other. The pillow fort seemed a lot smaller now, but there was still plenty of room for them both to lay down in.

"What time is it?" Emma asked breathlessly.

"Three-thirty, love. Your father and I finished preparing the Jolly and got here just in time to see you transform back before your parents left. It was quite the sight, your body growing up like one of those... uh...," he screwed up his face in thought before continuing, "'time lacks' on that plant movie Henry watched."

Emma took a moment to absorb this, chuckling at his description of a time lapse showing plants growing on a nature documentary. "You mean... my parents got to see me grow up?" she whispered in wonder.

He smiled that irresistable smile of his. "Aye, love."

Emma barely had time to appreciate that news before Killian's smile promptly cleared her mind of thought. As she hungrily claimed his mouth again, she couldn't help but think that she'd never be too old for pillow forts.

Emma sighed as she distractedly opened another email, not really paying attention to what it said. It was hard to stay focused on mundane administration tasks when what she really wanted to be doing was supporting her husband on the first day of the youth program. She knew it was for the best that David helped out on the first day though, since it was an all-male group of kids and they were likely to feel more comfortable expressing themselves in the company of men. She could help out at the next session, she reminded herself. This was good for Killian, seeing that he was more than capable of doing it without her presence.

She was torn from her thoughts by an irritated voice at the door. "One bag of diabetes, as ordered, Miss Swan."

Emma looked up with a grin as Regina placed the bag on her desk. "That will be all, thank you," she said as she shooed her away with her hands.

When Regina rolled her eyes and turned to leave, Emma laughed. "I'm kidding! You're clearly about to eat as well, care to join me?"

Regina considered. "Well, I suppose I should be a good role model and teach you what a decent meal looks like," she jibed as she took the seat across from Emma, her own take-out from the fancy Italian place in hand.

It was Emma's turn to roll her eyes affectionately. That was Regina's way of expressing appreciation for the offer of company, she knew.

As she unpacked the bag, Emma noticed an extra box at the bottom that she didn't recognise from her usual order.

"What's this?" she asked in confusion.

"Now, you can only have that after you've eaten every bite of your meal. Wouldn't want you spoiling your appetite for that pile of grease, now would we?" Regina retorted, dripping with sarcasm.

Emma opened the box and quickly broke into a grin at its contents: a huge slice of apple pie.