A friendly face

Codi asked for a oneshot of Emma's old Social Worker coming to Storybrooke and is happy to see Emma and how she's doing. She unknowingly meets her parents.

Emma sighed contently as she inhaled the scent of her grilled cheese. Granny's were a close second to her mom's homemade ones.

"You always did like your food." Came a warm, parental sounding voice. A very familiar voice to Emma. Her head snapped up from her plate, not quite believing that it was her- but it was. Before Emma stood a slightly plump woman, the tolls of life shown clearly on her face along with lines under her eyes only years of smiling could produce.

"Claudette!" Emma squeaked excitedly. "You're here!" Only then did it occur to Emma that she really shouldn't be able to get here. "How did you find Storybrooke? I mean, it's not exactly a big town." Emma questioned her, taking the old lady's hand and guiding her to sit opposite her in the booth.

"Well it's quite curious really. I was just driving to an old friend's house, I planned to stay there for the weekend. I began thinking about some of my old charges, and you popped into my mind. I began thinking about you and what you were up to and found that my car was running out of petrol, which is really weird because I was sure I had just filled it, but I obviously hadn't done it properly. I saw the sign for this town and thought I'd pop in to fill my tank up and grab a bite to eat and here you are."

"Oh it's so good to see you." Emma said warmly to one of the few adults she had relied on during her childhood. Claudette had been Emma's social worker for three years. Just then, her parents came into the diner, obviously also wanting to grab some lunch. Snow went up to the counter with Neal in his pram to order. Charming spied Emma at a booth with someone he was sure he hadn't met before.

"Hello there." Charming greeted the pair. "I don't believe we've met. I'm…"

"David. This is David." Emma cut in quickly before her dad could introduce himself correctly, it would be too weird for someone from outside of town. "He's the other sheriff at the police station, we're colleagues." Emma said. Charming was baffled, why wasn't Emma telling the woman he was her dad?

"David, this is Claudette Maxwell, she was a social worker of mine for a few years. She was just thinking about me when she came in here to fill her car up with gas, isn't that strange?" She said with a pointed look. Charming now understood why Emma hadn't properly introduced him. Just then, Snow came over with Neal.

"Oh Claudette, this is my wife Mary Margaret and our son Neal." Charming said quickly, not giving Snow a chance to speak. "Mary Margaret, this is Claudette, an old social worker of Emma's." Now this did interest the parents. It wasn't often chances appeared to delve into Emma's childhood. Snow squeezed in beside Emma in the booth.

"Oh is that so?" She said, her voice portraying her interest. "I bet you have some interesting stories about Emma you could share." She said hopefully. Emma grimaced as Claudette laughed.

"Oh I do, but unfortunately my friend will be expecting me and I don't like driving in the dark. The eyes aren't quite as eagle sharp as they used to be. Emma, it was lovely bumping into you dear. I'm so glad to see you've found a place to call your home. It was lovely meeting you as well." Claudette said as she hugged Emma and shook the hands of her parents (though she did so unknowingly). Emma watched her go with a sad smile, she had been one of the good ones.

"You know, you could always share those stories too…" Charming hinted. Emma smiled.

"Yeah, that'll be right. Give you that much leverage over me?" Emma said with a grin. No, some stories were best left in the past. Her parents would have plenty chances to create some embarrassing stories with her in the future they had together.