Giving them a chance

EmmaMeline asked for a oneshot of a six year old Neal hearing about how Emma didn't grow up with their parents. He feels bad for her and uses his own magic to turn her back into a four year old. She has her adult memories but the feelings of a four year old come first. Her parents get a glimpse of her childhood.

Emma just sat there on the floor, dazed and confused. What had just happened?

"Neal!" She heard her father gasp. "What did you just do?" Emma looked at her parents. Why were they suddenly so big? Neal just shrugged.

"She didn't get to be a kid with you guys, now she can." Emma opened her mouth horrified. She was a little girl.

"Neal!" She squeaked. She placed a hand to her throat, her voice sounded funny. "I can't be a kid anymore!"

"Blue can change you back if you really want her to." Neal pointed out. Both her parents were just staring at her. Her golden curls messily around her head. Her little velvet dress going just past her knees. White tights and tiny purple shoes with straps with butterflies at the end of the clip. And her big green eyes...now filling with tears. Emma didn't know why she was crying, she just was. Snow rushed over and picked her up purely on instinct. She gently rocked Emma back and forth, hushing her. Snow placed her head against Snow's shoulder as Charming moved over and rubbed soothing circles on her back until her wails calmed into a soft whimper.

"I'm sorry Emma." Neal said, now feeling bad. "I didn't mean to upset you. I thought this would make you happy."

"S'ok." Emma mumbled into her mom's shoulder. Snow looked up at her husband, both sharing near identical smiles. Maybe a bit of a strange situation, but they were with their little girl. Charming held his arms out hopefully. Snow carefully passed Emma over to him.

"I'm not a bag of crisps. You can't just pass me about." Emma grumbled, her adult self shining through. Both parents chuckled.

"Oh don't worry. We won't be sharing you with anyone." Charming promised her, pressing a kiss to the side of Emma's head.

"Well except Blue. You'll need to bring her here to change me back. I am not stepping foot outside this house looking like this." Emma said sounding disgusted. Snow and Charming's hearts fell. In all the joy of seeing Emma as a child, they'd forgotten it was only temporary. Emma could feel the shift in mood. She knew how much this meant to her parents...maybe one night wouldn't hurt.

"But she'll probably be doing her nun stuff before bed just now. I wouldn't want to be responsible for disturbing her. Henry's not back till Sunday anyway. It can wait." Snow and Charming felt like high fiving each other. They did their best to keep their cool.

"Alright then." Charming said, fighting to keep his voice calm and collected. "Say, what do you guys say to a game of sorry?" He asked. He figured a board game was something they could all do together. Neal excitedly nodded whilst Emma shrugged, at least not saying no.

"Great." Snow grinned before leaving the room. She came back a moment later with the board and got it set up. But by halfway through the game, both parents could see Emma drooping. They smiled at each other before Snow picked her up. "Come on you." She murmured into Emma's hair. "Bed time."

"What?!" Emma complained. "I'm thirty four! I don't have bed times!"

"When you have the body of a four year old you do. Come on, I'm sure some of Neal's older pyjamas will just about fit you." Emma wanted to put up a fuss, to argue that she was an adult, but all that came out was more tears. Her mom again tried to soothe her, but Emma was still crying even as her mom tucked her up in bed. Snow gently rubbed soothing circles on her daughter's belly until she fell asleep. Snow leaned down and kissed her baby girl's forehead.

"Sleep tight baby girl." She whispered, tip toeing out. She smiled as she saw Charming waiting at the door. He went in and kissed Emma's forehead as well before backing out and turning the light off. Neal would be getting an extra big ice cream tomorrow for this.