Okay, I've been really struggling with my perfectionism as the clock ticks forward on the potion. Random ideas keep popping up and it's hard to decide which ones to go with before time runs out! But at last, here we have the second-last chapter.
Emma awoke to the aroma of pancakes and hot cocoa drifting up into the loft. In her sleepy state, it took her a moment to remember she didn't live there anymore and start wondering what she was doing there. But as she swung her legs over the bed and promptly fell onto the floor when her feet didn't connect as she expected, she remembered the events of the previous day. She was still wearing the same clothes, and she saw that the other side of her old bed had been slept in as well.
Damn it, I fell asleep watching the movie, she realised. Killian must have decided they would stay over and carried her up to bed. He was probably at the station with her father by now.
"Emma, are you okay? I heard a noise!" her mother's voice called up from the kitchen.
Emma sighed and called back a frustrated "I'm fine!" before going to carefully descend the staircase.
As she approached the kitchen, her mother fixed her with a questioning expression as she dusted cinnamon over two mugs of hot cocoa.
"I forgot I was short and fell out of bed," Emma grumbled by way of explanation.
Snow smiled sympathetically and stroked her hair. "Hang in there, sweetheart. You'll be back to normal in about... seven hours," she soothed, checking the clock on the wall. "In the meantime, your father and Killian already left and Regina's taken Neal so we can have a girl's day! Just the two of us, like old times."
Emma couldn't help the smile that broke across her face, her bad mood lightening. As wonderful as it was having a family now, she sometimes missed the one-on-one time her and Mary Margaret had shared under the first curse. Apparently the feeling was mutual, so much so that Snow had organised a babysitter for little Neal so she could focus entirely on spending time with Emma. "That sounds nice," she smiled up at her.
Snow beamed back and helped her up on the stool by the island. A cocoa was placed in front of her along with a couple of large chocolate chip pancakes, before Snow turned back to the stove. By the time all the pancakes were cooked, Emma had polished off an impressive number with ease.
After breakfast, she felt a little awkward sitting and watching while Snow cleaned everything up by herself.
"Sorry I can't help, Mom. Maybe if I get a step stool?"
"Don't worry about it, I got it!" Snow smiled. "Why don't you go take a shower and get out of yesterday's clothes? I'll give them a quick wash and dry and you can wear one of my shirts in the meantime."
Emma wasn't about to argue with that, she could still detect the faint odour of Regina's potions from the day before clinging to her shirt. It smelt a little like newt mixed with burnt sugar, not the most disgusting stench but certainly one she would like to wash off. But there was no need to borrow a shirt, she realised as she looked down at her shrunken clothes. She thought about the clean outfit at the top of her folded basket of laundry sitting in her closet at home. She imagined the items in her mind's eye, minus the bra, and a moment later she was holding them in her hands. Then she shrunk the clothes down just as Regina had done the day before. I'll have to ask Regina what happened to the bra I was wearing yesterday, it was expensive, she thought.
Her mom smiled at the subtle smirk and twinkle in Emma's eyes that she always got when she did cool magic. "See, you are helping. You just saved me from doing laundry."
Emma chuckled as she climbed down from the stool.
"Just please be careful getting into the tub and with the hot water, okay?"
Emma barely suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Sure, Mom."
In the bathroom, Emma dragged a step stool over to the claw foot tub and carefully climbed in. Only just able to reach the taps for the shower, she made sure to turn the cold on before the hot. Despite how annoying her mom's reminder had been, Emma knew she was right. She had to be careful with this small body, as she'd discovered multiple times already. It wasn't until she was finished and reaching for her towel that she realised she wouldn't be able to climb out of the tub. Getting in was one thing, she'd just used the step stool to get up on the edge and slide down the side of the tub. But from the inside, the edge was too tall to get over.
She sighed and wrapped her towel around herself. "Mom?!" she yelled.
The door opened immediately. "Do you need helping getting out, honey?"
"Mo-om, you were waiting at the door?" Emma tried to sound irritated but the laughter in her voice betrayed her. Of course her mother would be fretting about her slipping or burning herself. She should've known, really.
"I was just... walking past when you called?"
"Uh-huh," Emma rolled her eyes. "As much as it pains me to ask, can you lift me out? I don't really want to add 'bath tub' to the list of things I've fallen from."
"Of course, honey." Snow grabbed her under the arms and pulled her up while Emma held her towel with one hand and hooked the other arm around her mother's neck for stability. As soon as she was held against Snow's chest, Emma let out a little gasp. She'd never been held like this before, not really. Sure, she'd been picked up as a kid, but there was something different about the way Snow held her. The feeling of love and safety was overwhelming.
"What is it, sweetie?" Snow asked softly, but she was pretty sure she already knew the answer. She felt it too, the moment Emma was cradled against her, wrapped safely in her arms.
"I... " her little voice quivered and trailed off, then suddenly all four limbs were wrapping tightly around Snow, her head tucking itself into the side of her neck.
Snow squeezed her tighter in return. "I know, baby."
Emma smiled in wonder against her neck. Was this what she had missed out on when she was small, or did it only feel so good now because she'd missed out on it?
After a moment, Emma remembered she was naked and awkwardly untangled her limbs. "Um, you should probably put me down so I can put some clothes on."
"Right!" Snow set her gently on the floor, making sure to hold her towel securely until Emma put her hand back onto it.
A few minutes later Emma emerged from the bathroom in her fresh outfit. Snow was already in the living room, setting her nail polishes out on the coffee table. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Snow had planned for Emma next, along with her motives.
"If you wanted to hold my hand all you had to do was ask," Emma smirked.
Snow beamed at her, ignoring her sarcastic comment. "What do you say? Will you let your mother paint your tiny little nails? Please?"
Truthfully, Emma kind of liked her gushing, as embarrassing as it was. At least they were alone now. So she gave her an easy smile. "Sure. But I wanna choose both our colours."
"Deal!" Snow patted the couch next to her.
Emma went over and hopped up on the couch, choosing a royal blue polish and handing it to her mother. Snow paused as she took Emma's hand. It was so small in her own, and it made her ache for everything she'd missed with her daughter. She'd somehow held it together when she was holding Emma, but for some reason, this little hand in hers was too much. A tiny finger reached out and caught a tear she didn't know had fallen down her cheek, and she looked up into Emma's eyes. Her perfect little face looked so much like Snow's own.
"It's okay, Mom. I'm here now," she whispered, her own unshed tears shining in her eyes.
Snow reached out for a hug, and to her surprise, Emma climbed over onto her lap and curled into her, squeezing her tightly. Snow enveloped her in her arms and held on just as tight, tucking Emma's head underneath her chin. And Emma felt just as warm and safe as before. They stayed like that for a while, silently crying as they both mourned the past that was stolen from them.
"If you tell anyone about this I'll deny it," Emma muttered, making Snow giggle.
They slowly, reluctantly parted and Emma shuffled back over onto the couch. Snow reached for the tissue box on the coffee table and dried the tears off both their faces. Then she grabbed the nail polish and reached for Emma's hand again, this time with a loving smile.
Predictably, Snow wanted to do Emma's toes as well. But she didn't expect the giggle she elicited as Emma suddenly jerked her foot out of her grasp.
"You were ticklish as a child?" she asked with a soft smile.
"My fingernails are still wet, so unless you want nail polish smeared all over your couch I suggest you don't try to test that theory," Emma warned before warily giving her foot back.
A little while later, Emma was finishing her mother's first fingernail while sporting freshly blue fingernails and black toenails of her own. But when she replaced the brush into the deep red polish, to Snow's confusion, she screwed it closed instead of just dipping it in. As Emma reached for the purple polish with a smirk, Snow caught on.
"Emma, what are you doing?" she groaned with a laugh.
"Oh you know, just being cute," Emma responded, quoting Snow's words from the night before. Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "You like rainbows, right?"
Snow just shook her head with a broad smile and accepted her fate.
After she was all finished with her rainbow mani-pedi, the ladies spent some much-needed time just chatting and catching up while they waited for their nails to dry.
"Your hair is so beautiful," Snow said wistfully. "I would've had so much fun with it while you were growing up." Then she gasped. "Can I braid it for you?"
Emma wrinkled her nose in response.
"Oh come on, you've let me do your hair before!"
"Yeah, but anything you do to my hair right now will make me look like a little girl."
Snow raised an eyebrow. "You are a little girl right now."
Before Emma could reply, she was interrupted by her stomach growling loudly.
"How can you possibly need MORE food?" Snow asked incredulously.
"You just said it, I'm a growing girl!" Emma grinned. "Leftover apple pie with ice cream?"
Snow laughed. "After how hyped up it made you last night? No way. How about an orange and some trail mix?"
Emma pouted. "I wasn't hyped up."
"No more sugar. I already gave you pancakes for breakfast."
Time to pull out the big guns. Emma turned pleading eyes on her mother and said in her sweetest voice, "Please, Mommy?"
"Oh that is low, Emma," Snow laughed as she put her hand on her heart. "Tell you what, I'll get you some apple pie and ice cream-"
"Yes!"
"‐if you let me braid your hair."
Emma groaned. "You drive a hard bargain. Fine."
By eleven-thirty, Emma's stomach started complaining again.
"All right, we've kept your stomach waiting long enough," Snow laughed. "Shall we go get Granny's and have lunch at the station with the boys?"
"Sounds good," Emma happily responded. Then her eyes widened. "Wait, but I don't want anyone to see me like this."
Her mother smiled reassuringly at her. "It's really nothing to be embarrassed about, but if you want you can wait in the car while I go in to Granny's. I'll call ahead with our order so I can just duck in to grab it."
Emma reluctantly agreed.
Her eyes darted around anxiously as they made their way out to the car. In a small town where her family was royalty and had saved everyone countless times, it was way more likely than Emma would've liked that they could be spotted by someone that knew them. Even if they didn't figure out who she was, she would rather just avoid those interactions altogether.
She had to sit in the middle seat of the truck since it was only a two-point seatbelt, and the strap of the passenger side seatbelt would've gone right in front of her face. Neither of them voiced the fact that technically Emma should be sitting on a booster seat. It wasn't like they always followed the law to the letter in this town anyway, and no serious accidents were going to happen on the slow main streets.
Outside Granny's, Snow returned to the car with their lunch to find her daughter laying flat across the floor of the truck. As guilty as she felt for it, she couldn't help the hearty laughter that escaped.
"I saw Whale walk by. Is he gone?" Emma hissed up at her.
Snow glanced around. "I don't see him, honey."
Emma heaved a sigh and got back up on the seat. "Let's go before someone else sees me!"
"Alright, alright, hold these," Snow chuckled, passing her the take-out bags. She rolled her eyes as Emma immediately stole an onion ring out of one of the bags.
Upon arriving at the station, Emma all but ran for the doors before anyone could see her. Rounding the corner into the offices, her relief was short-lived when she saw her father and husband were not the only people in the room. Belle had her back turned as she placed a small box of books in front of Killian.
Emma did the only thing her panicked mind could think to: she bolted underneath the desk closest to her, which her father happened to be sitting at. He jerked back in surprise at the unexpected intrusion, but before he could say anything, Emma was sending him a pleading look with a finger to her lips. He gave her an amused smile and a slight nod.
Snow had entered the room just behind Emma and observed the whole ordeal with an amused smile of her own. She made her way over to David with the bags of food. "Belle, I didn't know you'd be here. We... I... brought lunch. How's the prep going?"
David was helping Killian prepare for an at-risk youth program starting the next day. With everything having settled down in Storybrooke, Killian had decided he wanted to do something to help people heading down a dark path. Emma couldn't be any prouder of him.
Belle smiled. "Hey Snow, I'm not staying, I was just dropping these books off. I hand picked some classics to send the kids home with. Stories of heroism, redemption... hope. I've always found reading to be a helpful way of coping with a world that doesn't always make sense. I thought maybe it could do the same for them."
Killian had been too focused on the books earlier to notice Emma coming in and promptly hiding. His eyebrows were now creased in concern at her apparent absence, until he saw the way David was sitting awkwardly to cover the small child hiding under his desk. He quickly repressed his smirk and looked away, not wanting Belle to follow his gaze.
"Aye, and a day at sea will surely soothe their souls. From what I'm reading in their files, they seem like a decent bunch just in need of a little guidance. Some of their parents could use a stern talking to as well. But the preparations are going well, I just need to get the Jolly Roger ready for her voyage."
Emma smiled at her husband's words from her hiding place, falling a little more in love with him, if that was possible. He was really so excited for the next day, and maybe a little nervous. She hoped Belle would leave soon so she could give her man a hug and some encouraging words. Not to mention get out from under this dusty old desk. We should really clean under here, she thought, drawing a line in the layer of grime that had accumulated in the corner and inadvertently stirring some dust into the air.
Meanwhile, Belle had noticed Snow's rainbow mani-pedi. "Nice nails... interesting choice of colour," she giggled. The look was completed by the fact that Emma had trouble painting neatly with her small, uncoordinated hands. So it really did look like a child had done it, albeit an older one.
"Oh, ah... I was... babysitting this morning," Snow stammered, and cringed as she realised Emma would not appreciate hearing that.
But Emma never heard it, because she was too distracted trying to hold back a sneeze. In the end, she couldn't stop it. Belle's face crinkled up in confusion as she bent down to find the source of the adorable noise.
"And who's this little cutie? It's ok, you don't have to be scared," Belle smiled at the little girl and offered her hand to help her up, completely oblivious to the fact that she was actually looking at a thirty-one-year-old Emma.
Emma reluctantly took her hand as she felt a blush creeping over her cheeks and wondered how she should play this. Was it more embarrassing to play along or come clean?
"What's your name, sweetie?" Belle smiled sweetly.
Playing along was definitely more embarrassing, she decided.
She sighed, staring at the floor and turning red just like she had the night before upon entering her parent's loft. Might as well rip off the band-aid. "It's me, Emma. I had a little... accident with one of Regina's potions."
Belle took a second to process before recognition sparked in her eyes. "Emma? Oh of course, I see it now!" It was Belle's turn to blush as she stood up. "Sorry about that. Should I call Rumple for help?"
"NO!" Emma grabbed for her hand before it could reach for her mobile phone, startling Belle. "We have it under control, just please don't tell Gold about this!"
"Okay, okay," Belle chuckled. "I'll, uh... leave you guys to your lunch. You know where to find us if you need anything."
"Thanks, Belle," David smiled as Emma let out a breath in relief.
"Good luck tomorrow, I know you'll do great," Belle addressed Killian. "And Emma?The pigtails suit you," she grinned as she quickly turned and left the room.
Emma groaned and looked at the clock on the station wall as Belle took her leave. Three hours to go.