Birthday

A guest asked for a oneshot of it being baby Neal's first birthday and the whole family are going out for it. They forget it's Emma's birthday as well. At the party Emma can't take anymore and runs out. Henry remembers and tells his grandparents and they feel terrible. I found this a hard one to write as it wasn't something I could see Snowing doing so I hope people don't mind the way I tweaked things!

"Emma, where are you going?" Snow called after her daughter as she saw her storming out of the party they were throwing at Granny's for Neal's first birthday. Practically the whole town had showed up. Charming and Henry came over when they heard Snow calling Emma's name. "I don't understand." Snow said as she stared at the door Emma had just slammed behind her.

"Neither do I." Charming added. "Is she upset that Neal's getting a first birthday party with us and she never got one? Because we talked to her about that. She told us she was ok with it…" Charming stopped when he heard his grandson gasp and saw him gently slap his forehead. "What's up buddy? Do you know what's wrong with your mom?" He nodded, grimacing. He wasn't sure how to tell his grandparents. He didn't want to hurt their feelings. "Come on bud, spit it out. We can't help her if we don't know what's upsetting her.

"In all the excitement of planning Neal's party I totally forgot. It's the twenty second of October." Henry stated. He could tell by the blank faces that they didn't understand. "She didn't want to say anything last year after all the Zelena stuff, but she'll be pissed nobody said anything this year. Emma and Neal share a birthday." Henry pointed out. Snow and Charming shook their heads.

"No. Emma was born on the twenty second of the eleventh month, not the tenth." Charming said. Henry was very confused.

"No, definitely October, not November. It's the day I went and got her, remember?" Snow and Charming now realised the problem.

"The eleventh month in the Enchanted Forest." Charming said quietly. "There's thirteen there, not twelve." They couldn't believe they'd been so stupid and not converted the date. Now Emma thought they'd forgotten her birthday. Snow quickly passed Neal into Henry's arms.

"We'll go explain to her. Stay here with Neal." She quickly instructed him before she and Charming ran out of the diner.

After an hour of searching the pair still hadn't found their daughter. Where could she be? What if she had done something reckless? They were combing the beach when they eventually spotted her sitting at the end of the pier. She had her knees curled up against her chest, not caring about the freezing cold wind whipping her hair around her face.

"Emma!" Charming called out as they ran to her. Emma made no attempt to move. She was far too furious and hurt. Charming took his jacket off and wrapped it around Emma's shoulders, ignoring the way she tried to stop him. "No, you've been out here for ages and you're bound to be freezing. I'm surprised your skin hasn't turned blue. Please, just let us explain…"

"There's nothing to explain." Emma cut him off coldly. "You value Neal more than me. That's the end of it." Snow and Charming felt stabbing pains in their hearts. Emma really felt like that?

"Emma, that is so far from the truth." Snow said, placing a firm hand on Emma's shoulders, noting the way she was shivering violently. "The Enchanted Forest has thirteen months, not twelve. To us your birthday was the twenty second of the eleventh month, not the tenth. We didn't forget at all, we just forgot to convert." Snow sighed, they had been planning a massive surprise for Emma next month, but maybe it would be better to spoil it so Emma knew they didn't forget. "We had your own party planned for you next month. Well, less a party and more a formal Ball. We had a dress made for you and everything. I've been trying to gauge your size for months…"

"Snow!" Charming squeaked. They'd worked so hard keeping this a secret! She shook her head, it would be better if Emma knew they cared.

"I thought you didn't care." Emma said in such a quiet voice that her parents only just heard her. "I thought you were deliberately trying to forget about it being my birthday too, just focus on Neal. I know missing my childhood wasn't easy on you guys either so I thought you were just ignoring it as it was a reminder of the day you gave me up…"

"Oh Emma honey no." Charming said as both he and Snow dropped to their knees beside Emma. "No we would never do that. Yes, your birthday was the day we lost you. But more importantly it was the day the most amazing baby girl was born. Our amazing baby girl. Come on, let's get you home…"

"Home?" Emma repeated. "But the party's still going on."

"We don't want you feeling any pressure to go back if it's going to upset you." Snow said, cupping Emma's cheek. Emma allowed herself to lean into the warmth of her mother's hand. Her father's warm, secure arms wrapped around her. She shook her head. "No, I'd like to go back. I don't want to miss baby bro's special day."

"Both of your special days." Charming corrected her. "From next year we'll make sure we get that right. For this year unfortunately the Ball will have to be held in a month because that's when we've booked everything but we can make sure when the cake comes out tonight you get sung to as well." Charming promised. Emma rolled her eyes, blushing slightly. It was such a small gesture, but it meant to much to Emma.