A surprise visit

lynnebug01 asked for a oneshot of An old foster brother of Emma's coming to town and them telling Snowing about the part of their childhood that they shared and some of the mean foster parents they shared.

"Come on, we're already late." Snow said, as Charming parked the car outside of Granny's. Emma had recently moved into her own flat, and her parents were feeling her absence. They had arranged to have lunch with her and Snow was anxious that they were late. Charming let her have her little panic. He knew she couldn't help it. As soon as the car stopped moving Snow was out like a flash. Charming chuckled, following behind her. They made their way into the diner- and were confused by seeing Emma sitting in a booth with a man neither of them had ever seen before. Curious, they made their way over. Emma spotted them.

"Oh hey!" She greeted merrily. "Guys, this is Ryan. We were in a lot of foster homes together growing up. Is it ok if he joins us for lunch?"

"Sure." Charming said, sliding into the booth. Snow slid in beside him, both curious with Emma's old foster brother. Was this an opportunity for them to learn more about their daughter's past?

"So how long have you two known each other?" Snow asked, getting the ball rolling on probing into Emma's past. Ryan and Emma's thought for a moment.

"We first met about twenty two years ago, the Finnegan place?" Ryan suggested. Emma nodded in agreement, nose wrinkling in remembrance of the horrible home.

"Yeah, they were right stinkers." Emma turned to her parents. "Very strict. Eight pm bedtime, no exceptions. If you were late they would…" Emma stopped, remembering who she was talking to. She didn't want to have to explain to Ryan why two people her own age were going into a protective rage. "Well, let's just say they weren't very pleasant." Snow and Charming desperately wanted to ask more, but sensed that now was not the time.

"Didn't take us long to run away though, did it?" Ryan said with a cheeky grin. Emma returned the grin.

"We bumped into each other in the middle of the night about a month into staying there." Emma explained. "Bags packed, ready to run. We decided to go together, in the hope that with two brains working together, they wouldn't be able to find us. We were wrong. Less than a day later we were shipped to another place together." Snow and Charming couldn't deny their relief that their daughter hadn't been on the run for very long. They didn't like the idea of her being out with only another child to watch over her very much. The next set of foster parents weren't much better it seemed, or the set after that. Emma could see her parents faces paling. She knew this was maybe a little too much for him.

"Why don't we meet up later and have a proper catch up?" Emma suggested. Ryan worked out the present company was making Emma uncomfortable talking about their past, but he obviously didn't know why. He smiled.

"Sure. That'd be nice. Shall we say six back here?" Emma nodded. "Great, I'll see you then. Enjoy your lunch folks. I'll go do some sightseeing." Ryan got up with a last wave to Emma and left the diner.

"Sorry about that." Emma said sheepishly. "He obviously doesn't know you're my parents. I know that can't have been easy for you."

"No, don't apologise." Charming insisted.

"We want to know everything about your past- the good and the bad." Snow added. Emma shrugged, a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, well, that's enough past for one day. I fancy some mac and cheese." Emma got up to let Ruby know they were ready to order. Charming turned to his wife.

"I know." He said, knowing what she was thinking. "But we still did the right thing. Regina would have killed her, Snow." Snow nodded gloomily. It seemed having to put Emma through the wardrobe would be a decision that would hover over them like a rain cloud for the rest of their lives.