Lately, the weather had been bleak, full of rain and dampness after a sweltering mid 80s heatwave that felt out of place for Maine. Luckily, things cleared up to partially sunny while the community complained about how 'schizophrenic nature was', but Emma didn't mind. The wild variation in temperature spread across oaks and maples overturned Storybrooke into a landscape of maroon, auburn, and gold. The chill of the morning air made the freshly roasted caffeinated liquid necessity in her paper cup all the more soothing for her soul. Emma closed the door to the bug as she got ready for the day ahead of her at the sheriff's station. Definitely a lot of paperwork to be sorted through, she thought with a sigh. Complaints kept filing in from people casually missing items like wallets and glasses as well as the dwarves over the magic beans needing better protection from random looters.
Although there was central heating at the station, the bare open space and outdated thinly insulated walls meant the place felt like a refrigerator. Emma turned on the space heater near her feet and blew warm air onto her hands before putting her leather gloves back on. She almost wished there were more people around to make work feel less daunting, but Storybrooke was a small town and it was decent pay for the simple routine when there weren't strangers and villains causing trouble. It was preferable to being stuck on a stakeout for hours. Besides, she was used to working alone, better off not getting attached to people that could go, Emma persuaded herself. Remnants of Graham still remained in old boxes in the corner of the office, his brass lined leather jacket and various shirts from when he stayed overtime gathering dust. She smiled nostalgically seeing the old beige sheriff's deputy uniform she turned down for her usual red leather jacket.
Trying to prevent herself from being lost in her thoughts, Emma turned back to typing up a DUI report on Goldie, who got a bit intoxicated and nearly drove over the townline, prepared to return to the Enchanted Forest to gather more special honey for her spa creams. Fortunately, there wasn't an accident as David was on patrol doing an overnight traffic stop and had handled Goldie staying safe inside a cell until she'd sobered up enough to return home. A magic bean harvest wouldn't be ready for another few weeks, but Emma felt certain that the 'everything's peachy' gal would easily treat Storybrooke like a laidback suburban vacation until then.
Emma chuckled imagining how Goldilocks's fairytale would explain the current situation, considering how the girl started with a humorous breaking and entering of the bears' cottage and eating of the porridges. As she finished typing up the bit about Goldie's misdemeanor being a first offense and not much of note, she got startled as she heard a knock on the open door as someone entered.
"Oops, sorry," Snow said, grimacing. "Didn't mean to scare you when you were busy."
"It's okay. I could use the break," Emma replied as her shoulders eased. Her mom may have gone through a curse or two, but her steps remained stealthy as before. "But what are you doing here, Mom? Isn't school almost in session?"
"I'm sure the kids won't mind if I'm a little late. We just got to the formation of rocks and canyons. Some of them fell asleep last week during plant genetics. Thought it would be interesting once I showed them how fun punnett squares were, but that'd be too advanced for their grade level."
"Right… I'm sure everybody's positively dying to know why plants grow to be beanstalks or peapods," Emma noted, half of it going out her ear.
Snow shook her head, realizing she'd been rambling, so she strutted up to Emma's desk. She placed her gift bag onto the surface
"Almost forgot. I brought you something," Snow announced, joy exuberating from her like a cherub.
Emma messily dug into the gift bag, tissue paper scattering across the porcelain floor. Her eyebrows raised with dubious amusement as she pulled out the item.
"A gray beanie?"
"Mm hm. David said he needed to wear extra layers in here and I noticed how your ears always turn red when it's cold, so I thought why not get you something warm for your head. If it was up to your dad, you would have gotten fuzzy pink earmuffs."
Emma laughed, thinking how impractical and huge a change in aesthetic the earmuffs would be. She loved his intentions, but he had to ease back on how much he wanted to see her dressed like a princess he knew she was.
"I'm glad you got the final say then."
She plopped on the knitted beanie, carefully tucking in the top of her ears. Feeling the coldness of the autumn air dissipate, Emma found tears welling up in her eyes. Even though it had been a year and Emma thought she had gotten used to her parents being around, she found herself overwhelmed with appreciation and shock. Everything she had ever owned prior to coming to Storybrooke was either a hand me down or something bought with her earnings. She wasn't used to people going out of their way to think of her and put her needs first. Emma sniffled and felt a lump in her throat grow as she realized that having family and friends who cared about her would be her new normal, maybe even a partner in a pirate who'd take anchor for her.
"Oh, Emma! Are you okay?" Snow asked, her eyes widening with concern. "Is the hat too tight? I could get you a new one."
"I'm fine, Mom," Emma replied with a shaky breath, rubbing the fallen tears off her face. "I love it. Thank you."
She put her arms around Snow and squeezed tightly, taking in the smell of vanilla and cinnamon from her mother's cream trench coat. Snow smiled and her eyes welled up, overcome with motherly contentment. It wasn't often that Emma hugged first. Not wanting to ruin the moment with her excitement, Snow stayed silent and hugged her back until Emma let go.
"Well, would you look at the time? I better get going," Snow said, glancing up at the clock on the wall above Emma's head and pointing her thumb back at the exit.
"If you bump into Henry in the halls, tell him I said hi for me?" Emma asked with a smile, glad that her mom didn't make her feel more awkward by asking her for the cause of why she was crying.
"Will do. Are you going to be at Granny's tonight? I heard there's a get-together at 7 pm to celebrate the autumn equinox and watch the partial lunar eclipse."
"Count me in." Emma paused as she imagined the festivity. "However, only if we leave before Grumpy gets wasted and Granny starts hollering about taking home leftovers."
Snow laughed and nodded. "Absolutely. Well, I'll let you get back to it."
Her mom left and Emma got back to filing the paperwork, a smile plastered on her face. Maybe this fall wouldn't be something to wait through, but look forward to.