Side Note: please pretend like the scene in the first episode where Emma gets herself a cupcake for her birthday never happened.

Snow crept into Emma's room, a sly smile on her face. She brushed the door open lightly, hoping it's slight creek would not wake her sleeping daughter. Her grin widened as she surveyed her daughter, was not-so-gracefully draped over the entire bed, stretched out and folded over like a deep sleeper, snoring slightly. She had to suppress the urge to laugh.

For a moment she just stood in the doorway, looking at her beautiful baby girl. She looked so peaceful. Snow could not express how happy she was. She may have missed twenty-eight of them, but finally, finally, she was going to be able to celebrate her daughter's birthday with her.

"Quite the little angel, isn't she?" came Charming's strong voice in a whisper from behind her as he joined her in the doorway. He scoffed a bit at the sight of his daughter spread out on her mattress, the covers twisted and nearly falling from the bed. Snow looked down at the cake he was holding gingerly in his hands, the spattering of candles lit so that the delicate flames cast a subtle orange glow under his chin. "Ready?"

Snow smiled up at him brightly and nodded. The pair shuffled their way into the room as silently as possible. Emma did not stir. Even when Snow and Charming sat gently on either side of her, she only let out a light grunt and readjusted herself slightly in her sleep. Snow and Charming looked up at each other and drew a simultaneous breath.

"Surprise!" they both said, loudly and brightly.

Emma shot from her bed, her eyes bouncing open, wide and fearful. She pulled something violently from behind her pillow as she sprung upward. As she straightened, her elbow caught under the platter Charming held, sending the cake tumbling into his face and chest, the candles snuffed out. By the time she was fully sitting, only a split second, she was brandishing a knife. Snow had jumped back defensively, while Charming just blinked at her through the frosting now dripping from his face.

"What the hell?!" she sputtered, blinking blearily. "You guys scared the crap out of me! Wha-?" She took a few moments to calm her breathing and take in the scene in front of her. He eyes traveled over Snow and onto Charming's frosted face before she realized what had just happened. "Oh crap, I'm sorry!" she said, dropping the knife and reaching to wipe some of the sugar off of her father's face.

"You sleep with a knife under your pillow?" Snow asked, her breath caught in her throat.

"Old habit," Emma said absent-mindedly as she and Charming worked at the frosting.

"It's fine," Charming smiled kindly at her. "Still tastes good." He comically stuck his tongue out and licked a bit of frosting from the tip of his nose. "I'll just go and clean up a bit..."

Once Charming had vacated the room, Emma looked at her mother.

"Happy Birthday," Snow attempted weakly with a hesitant smile. Emma gaped at her for a moment. "What?"

"It's my birthday?" Emma asked.

"Yes," Snow said, laughing at first, but when she saw the true and utter confusion in Emma's face, she frowned. She sank to sit next to her on the bed. "You didn't know?"

Emma avoided her mother's glance for a moment before meeting it shyly with her sleepy brown eyes.

"You never knew when you're birthday was, did you?" Snow said sadly, the realization dawning on her.

"Not officially, no," Emma admitted. "I knew I was another year older whenever the day rolled around that they told me I had been found on the side of the road, but I didn't know for certain if that was the day I had been born, and I never celebrated it. Partially because I wasn't sure if it was actually my birthday, and partially because, well…" she looked up guiltily through long lashes at her mother, "because it wasn't a day I wanted to celebrate. The day my parents decided they didn't want me anymore."

Snow blinked back tears as she looked at her daughter, covered in the debris of the ruined cake, her protective knife lying on the pillow beside her.

"Please don't be sad," Emma said, reaching out and taking her hand. "I know that's not true now."

Snow nodded, trying to suppress the guilt she felt as she swallowed hard. She looked back up at her daughter, pulling on her best smile.

"Well, then I am happy to be the one to tell you that this is in fact the day you were born," Snow said. "And it was the happiest day of my life."

Emma smiled and pulled her mother into an embrace. When they broke apart, there was a good humored glint in her eye.

"Leave it to me to destroy my first birthday cake," she said chuckling and untwisting herself from her bedding. "Come on, let's go see if there is anything left of it to salvage. I'm hungry."

Snow indicated that she would follow her daughter, but for a moment she stayed perched on the bed and watched her walk out the door and down the hallway. She took a deep breath and looked at her hands before she stood to follow. The morning hadn't gone exactly as planned. Then again, when did anything?