Part 4

Disclaimer: I wish, but no, I don't own the characters/show.

Author's Note: So here be the final part! Thank you to everybody who reviewed/favorited, it means a lot. Enjoy!

They file into the apartment like squires after their knight, and equally as kowtowed. But he notices Emma can't stop herself from pulling a face at Henry who watches the proceedings from the kitchen island, and he hastily he bumps her arm with an elbow just as Snow spins to face them, pinning them both with her glare.

"So help me you both better have a good excuse for not answering your phones!"

"Snow, please-" he starts.

"Oh no, don't you 'Snow, please' me! I heard the cruiser siren! Henry and I were worried sick! So I say again, this better be good!"

"Would you believe me if I said James came across a fire breathing dragon on main street and I was helping him kill it?" Emma jumps in before he can speak, and he gapes at her. Just what was she-

"Emma-" Snow warns.

"No really! Huge fangs and everything!"

"Oh cool!" Henry exclaims, running past Snow to cling to Emma, "Did you slay it? Can I see?"

"Henry!" Snow tries, but fails to get a word in edge wise as Emma artfully depicts his and her "amazing heroism" to her son.

And suddenly he understands just what she's done. There'll be no interrogation now, Emma has seen to that, and quite masterfully if he does say so himself.

"Charming, please tell me whatever happened to you two out there wasn't that dangerous," Snow sighs, walking up to fit in the niche his arm creates for her. A perfect fit every time, he marvels, but forces himself to focus on her question.

"Do you want the truth?" He asks, catching her eye, ready to tell her everything if she wishes it.

"Honestly, I can tell I'm probably better off not knowing the details by the way you've avoided the subject. But are you okay? Is she?" Snow gestures.

Emma and Henry have since devolved into a dragon battle all their own, Emma playing the fierce beast as Sir Henry fought valiantly against her with his wooden sword.

It's a scene that makes him smile, but he can't completely enjoy the moment while Snow's worried energy hangs in the air. Moving to wrap his other arm around her, he pulls his wife closer, breathing her in as he presses a kiss to her temple.

"We are okay. There was some danger tonight that we were preoccupied with, and we'll all have to be more cautious from now on, but it's nothing we can't handle together."

"As a family?" Snow smirks, pushing back just enough to meet his gaze.

"As a family," he smiles back, leaning in to press a soft kiss to her lips.

"Ew! We're right here you know!" Henry shouts, breaking the spell they've fallen under and making Snow laugh as she looked to their grandson and daughter. The boy is currently in a headlock thanks to Emma, but he'd still been able to see enough to comment. And James also has to laugh, because for as much of a believer in true love as he is, Henry is most definitely still a boy.

"You better mind your words, Prince Henry," Snow grins, moving to sidle up to Henry, "You never know when true love will find you one day!"

As if in mutual agreement Emma releases Henry just as Snow attacks, tickling the kid for all she's worth. But his helpless flailing to get away only sends both him and Snow to the floor in a pile of laughter, and in-between the giggling and grinning, Emma's gaze meets his from the sidelines, her small smile saying it all.

And he easily smiles back, but much more mischievously as he asks, "So, does Henry get his ticklishness from you?"

"Oh no, don't you dare-!"