Chapter Twenty-Three
Emma's heartbeat entered her ears, deafening her to all other actions in the diner, not that there was any other sound in the establishment.
There was great interest among the patrons towards the saviour's drama, but Emma was only aware of the reaction of the dumbstruck boy opposite her.
His lips moved but her mind took a second longer than usual to register what Henry had said:
"Emma? What is he talking about?!"
Emma flushed, looking right passed Neal glowering over them and to Regina across the diner, inexplicably standing beside her bewildered mother.
If this were any other situation, Emma would have questioned how they could be so close without the world ending but she had other priorities right now, searching Regina for an answer to her panic.
Her True Love had thus far helped with all of her other issues, but she saw nothing but a mix of surprise and disdain radiating from her.
"I…don't…" Emma verbally stumbled, eventually dragging her gaze back to her son.
By this point, Henry's confusion had morphed into the kind of anger that the saviour had only seen aimed at the Evil Queen before she had stopped lying.
Pointing at Neal forcefully, Henry demanded, "Is he my…dad?"
Emma's eyes flicked to the man, never before wishing so strongly that she had fallen pregnant with the child of a firefighter.
Not only had he left her in prison but he apparently was aware of all of this?
How could he have claimed that he was in love with her and not once mention the Enchanted Forest?!
Wishing that she could lie, she reluctantly replied, after swallowing hard, "Yes he is, but…"
Henry didn't stick around to hear her feeble attempt to justify what she had told him.
Seemingly given extra speed through his genetics, he grabbed his backpack and was out of the diner before anyone cold think about blocking his path.
Again, Emma's attention was drawn beyond Neal to Henry's real parent who was snapped out of her shock by the ringing of the bell.
Regina maintained eye contact with her for a second before tearing away to go after the fleeing boy, at least giving Emma the peace of mind that he had someone in this moment of crisis.
Regina's departure left her a clear view of the indecisive Snow White.
Emma expected her to come and demand a full explanation of al of this, to know everything about Neal Cassidy.
Instead, with what appeared to be a great deal of self control, the princess turned and went to the counter. She was close enough that Emma could call her over if needed but not inserting herself into the fray under the guise of 'protecting' her adult daughter.
Emma cleared her throat, deciding that she could unpack that after when she was not being stared down by Neal and being smirked at by Rumplestiltskin.
Of course the bastard was enjoying this, most likely revelling in the bargaining power that came with being grandfather to the savour and Evil Queen's son.
Neal was dedicating all of his energy to scowling at her like he had the right to be the angry one and he growled, "DIdn't you tell him about me, Emma?!"
"No, I didn't, why would I…" Emma shot back, her voice rising with each word until she was cut off by the wolfish waitress.
"If you guys need to talk, you can use the backroom," she offered tentatively.
Neal crossed his arms but nodded, becoming aware of their extensive audience at the same time as his ex-girlfriend.
Emma wanted nothing more than to refuse and go off in search of Regina and Henry, but ultimately she had no idea what to say to them.
Perhaps getting some answers from this man would aid her in that endeavour?
She did hesitate though, realising that there was something she was about to reveal that wouldn't help the scowl the petulant man was wearing.
Unless he left before she had to get out of the booth, though, it would be impossible to hide.
With a resigned sigh, Emma slipped out of the booth and Neal's arms slipped down and he blanched as she revealed the round of her stomach.
"What…who…" he stammered.
"That is none of your business, son of Rumplestiltskin," Emma grumbled as she passed him on the way to the diner's backroom.
Neal rolled his eyes deeply but ultimately followed her.
S
Regina Mills couldn't decide what she most wanted to dwell on.
The first contender was the manner in which the complete stranger had called Henry his son. The second was unadulterated smugness with which the irritating imp was watching the scene with.
Of course, it would be Rumplestiltskin who would arrive to implode the perfection that had been slowly building over the last day.
She should have known that something bad was afoot when Snow White came to her for advice.
She would have been tempted to point out that he'd broken the terms of their contract to not harm her family if Henry running hadn't presented her with a more urgent matter to deal with.
Besides, if this Neal man truly was Henry's biological father, he technically was part of that family that Gold had agreed not to harm.
Regina could vividly imagine his elation upon discovering this connection that afforded him certain protections.
Ultimately, she had to focus on the third and most important result of what occurred in the diner: her worry for her son.
Her confused emotions towards Emma could be handled later once she had the answers to her litany of questions.
Hopefully it would be enough to dissuade the multitude of plans that came to her to get the interloper to leave. It wasn't like any of these were effective against Storybooke's last newcomer.
This could be figured out after she found her distraught soon, which was an exceptionally easy task now that she'd been making more of an effort to understand him, it didn't take much to guess where the boy would be.
She arrived at his Castle roughly five minutes after him, but this was plenty of time for him to climb up and begin sniffling lowly, probably overthinking every aspect of the recent revelation.
Above all, Regina had to assume that the tears were born from being lied to by the saviour.
Never before had Regina seen him look so betrayed as when Emma admitted that the angry man was his father.
Unable to stand the sad sniffles from her child, Regina climbed up to slot in next to him, grateful that she was no longer in the habit of wearing high heels.
Henry didn't react to her presence until she said, softly, "I had hoped we were passed this instinct to runaway, Henry."
He stiffened, but his shoulders relaxed upon registering which mother had joined him, not the one who had lied to him; at least not recently.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled, leaning into her, "I just…"
He trailed off, unable to verbalise exactly what instinct had carried him away from the diner, he just knew that he couldn't be there anymore.
"I understand," Regina assured, untwisting the knot in his chest, "It must be overwhelming."
Henry nodded, clearly relieved that she was on his side and he lamented, "She lied."
"As did I," Regina pointed out.
Henry hunched his shoulders, getting the implication that the saviour deserved a chance to explain herself.
"That's different," he defended.
"Is it?" she asked, "You believed I was your biological mother for much of your life."
Henry frowned deeply.
It was difficult to think back to a time before he'd found the adoption certificate, that portion of his life had been eclipsed by the contents of the storybook.
At that point, he didn't understand how she could have hidden something so important about his origins, but the last few months had afforded him insight that he hadn't realised was necessary to understand the Evil Queen.
His eyes firmly on his knees, he said defensively, "Well…I get that you couldn't tell a kid that and I was kind of a brat when I found out."
"And you did also have to contend with the storybook," Regina reasoned, more calmly than he would have imagined her to be in this situation. Of course, there was always the chance that the rage was brewing under the surface as she attempted to register what this could all mean, "It was a lot to deal with in a short amount of time."
Henry blinked and looked up at her, "Is this where you tell me that Emma has had a lot to deal with? And that's why she lied to me?! I mean…she told me he was a firefighter."
Regina shrugged, "I do not know why she told you that but I of all people cannot judge another person for being untruthful. I am sure that for whatever reason, she believed it was the right thing to do."
Henry remained silent, trying to sort out his feelings while taking in how much the woman hugging him had changed.
Finally, he landed on another question that was bothering him about this new found lineage, "So…You're not angry that my…that he is here? That Mr Gold is my grandpa?"
Regina considered this for a long moment before replying, politically, "I know nothing about him, I am not quite sure how I feel about his presence. As for the second part, I have made peace with your grandmother being Snow White, I believe I can learn to live with this."
Henry let out a laugh, leaning more into her.
Ironically, she had become the least complicated parental relationship he had, so he revelled in the chance to hug her.
The temporary lightening of the mood didn't last though as he felt the need to ask, "Do we have to go back and talk to Emma?"
"Yes," Regina replied and he sighed as she ran her fingers through his hair, "But we can wait until you feel ready, there is no rush."
Henry relaxed against her and mumbled, "About what we talked about last night…" Regina's fingers paused until he continued, "It's still true. You're my mom and him and Emma can't change that. You know that, right? I love you, mom."
Regina's fingers renewed the soft strokes and he was certain that she was smiling in spite of whatever else she was feeling after their perfect morning being ruined.
"I love you too, my little prince," she promised, "Nothing will ever change that."
Despite everything that still needed to be figured out, Henry allowed his mother to hug him, with no plans to leave her embrace anytime soon.
S
Emma sat as far away from Neal Casey as she could, every fibre in her being hating that she was in the same room as him.
She could have gone her entire life quite happily without laying eyes on him, satisfied that her first child's father was a fallen firefighter.
It had been perfect when she came up with it.
As disappointed as the boy was to hear that he would never meet his father, it saved her from having to see his reaction if he was to find out the truth.
The story hardly held a candle to that of Snow White and Prince Charming that Henry was bound to measure all romance against. Hell, it couldn't even compare to the intensity of whatever she had with her True Love.
Neal had left her to be apprehended while Regina poisoned herself and fought a dragon just for a chance to talk.
Never before had Emma been so acutely aware that it was illy to have failed to tell Regina exactly what she wanted.
How difficult was it to just kiss the woman's he shared a bed with every night?
This feeling soldiered further the longer that Neal talked, explaining his actions back then.
How he could have promised her a future and failed to deliver.
Despite all that had happened since becoming a resident of Storybrooke, the words that tumbled out of her mouth as he stopped talking were perhaps the most unbelievable yet:
"You left me because Pinocchio told you told to?!"
There were other things that she could have dwelled on, like his age or the fact that he'd greeted his father by inquiring about her wellbeing. Apparently it was some kind of difficult decision to confide in his father to get a chance to see her again, only for Rumplestiltskin to put the dots together and realise the truth about Henry's parentage.
All of those details didn't matter now that she knew how much of her life had been connected to this Enchanted Forest nonsense.
"You didn't tell me you were pregnant?!" Neal bit back, apparently not seeing his own mistakes in all of this.
Emma instinctively cupped her bump as if she was eighteen again, worrying day and night if her son was going to have a crappy childhood like she had.
Luckily, that was not something she had to worry about when it came to Tamsin. She undeniably had one parent who would know what she's doing.
Neal eyes the action, so Emma dropped her hands and shot back, "What would have changed?"
"I would have…done something," Neal stammered, unconvincingly, "We could have…it doesn't matter! You've obviously moved on!"
Emma flushed, rage spreading through her at his clear indignation.
What had he expected after over a decade?!
"What are you accusing me of, Neal?" Emma demanded, for once certain that the uptick in her irritation was not related to her hormones as the man pursed his lips.
Neal took a moment, as if centring himself and then said, "I'm not accusing you of anything, I want to know…I'm asking…this affects my son!"
"Henry is not your son!" Emma bit back an he sucked in a breath to argue so she swiftly cut him off, "And he's not mine either, not legally. Henry is Regina's son, she adopted him and took care of him better than either of us could have."
Neal thinned his lips, crossing his arms as he mulled this over before he asked, "So how do you fit into this picture?"
Emma let out a long sigh, her instinct to once again tell him that it was absolutely none of his business.
Ultimately, though, she couldn't hide this particular truth without feeling shame for her instinct to not tell her first love.
"Regina is…my True Love," she admitted, reminded how ridiculous that statement would have been to her just a few months ago.
She expected Neal to object how stupid that was, which would lead to her having to explain the identity of her parents proving that True Love was just part of reality now for her; however, he went back to eyeing the bump, this time suspiciously.
Emma involuntarily held it again as he asked, "That baby is made from…magic?"
"Are you judging me? Seriously?" Emma hissed, subconsciously glad that Tamsin was not currently moving. Hopefully that meant that she wasn't awake to hear any of this? "I don't know what you thought but we're not…"
"I'm engaged!" Neal cut her off with a huff, "I didn't come here for you. Meeting my son is the only reason I even considered coming back with papa."
Eleven years ago, Emma may have been compelled to mock him for the name he designated to his father, but she was currently too busy trying to figure out whether the gut punch could be a result of hormones rather than how she actually felt.
Not even for a split second did she suppose that she and Neal would ever get back together, so why would it bother her that he had someone else?
Could it be that she was squandering the multitude of chances that she had to be with her True Love? Or maybe it was the undeniable fact that she was staring back at the first love she had never planned to see again.
She could have a moment to feel confused without it having to lead to guilt, right?
How was it possible that things in Storybrooke could have been even more confounding?!
"How paternal of you," Emma scoffed.
Neal rolled his eyes, but kept the edge from his voice as he said, "I don't want to argue. I…can I meet him? For real?"
Emma puffed out her cheeks and shook her head.
She wanted to say 'no' and tell him to get the hell out of here where he could live whatever life he had built for himself over the last decade, but she knew, deep down, that wouldn't help.
"That's not up to me," she said, "I'll…ask Regina."
Neal bit his lip but nodded. It wasn't as though he had any way to discredit the parental rights of someone he had never met, especially not now that Henry was firmly pro-Regina, probably even more than before after the earlier fiasco.
Silently, he stood to leave, seeming to understand that there was nothing more to be said for the moment.
This left Emma to sit alone in the backroom of Granny's where she had the privacy to throw her face into her hands and sigh deeply.
She was not looking forward to talking to her True Love for the first time in a while, not when the topic was going to be her first love.