As Emma entered the restaurant, she walked confidently, despite the wary and nervous expression she wore on her face as she looked around for her date. That expression was replaced by a relieved smile when she found the blonde haired, handsome man, sitting at a table near the balchony. He caught sight of her as she walked towards the table, looking just as relieved as she did.

"Emma." He breathed, standing up and holding out his hand.

"Ryan?" she smiled back, shaking his hand before they sat down. "You look relieved."

"Well, it is the internet. Pictures can be - "

"Fake. Outdated. Stolen from a Victoria's Secret catalogue." Emma laughed awkwardly. "So..."

"So... Um... Tell me something about yourself, Emma."

"Oh." Emma murmured, gently touching her locket absently. "Ah, well, today's my birthday." She decided on.

Ryan smiled in surprise. "And you're spending it with me? What about your friends?"

"Kind of a loner." She shrugged.

"And, you don't like your family."

Emma hesitated. "No family to like."

"Oh, come on. Everyone has family."

"Technically, yeah. And everyone knows who they are?" Emma said awkwardly, embarassed that she was spouting out this rubbish. Her birthdays were always a sore point - they had been a cause of great heartache for many years and she always ended up thinking about the past - although she enjoyed them a lot more now then she did back when she was in the system. "Ready to run yet?"

"Oh, not a chance. You, Emma, are by far, the sexiest, friendless orphan I have ever met." Ryan said, giving her a charming, almost seductive smile as he leaned across the table towards her.

Emma pursed her lips, struggling to keep up with the act. This guy was seriously unbelieveable. "Okay. Your turn. No wait, let me guess." She eyed him, pursing her lips as he waited, cocky as ever. "Um... You are handsome, charming..."

Ryan's smirk was growing by every passing second. "Go on." He urged.

"The kind of guy who - and now, stop me if I get this wrong - embezzled from your employer, got arrested, and skipped town before they were able to throw your ass in jail." She said casually. Ryan froze.

"What?"

"And the worst part of all this is your wife." Emma continued, watching as the realisation of what was actually going on began to hit Ryan and he shifted in his seat, clearly beginning to panic. Emma was glad she didn't pull her chair right in to the table; many of her cases tried to run as soon as they found out who she was. "Your wife loves you so much that she bailed you out, and how do you repay that loyalty? You're on a date."

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"The chick who put up the rest of the money."

"You're a bail bondsman."

"Bail bondsperson." Emma corrected automatically, having had to correct people multiple times. She jumped when the guy suddenly stood up, flipping the table over and running. "Really?" she sighed, standing up. She looked down and grimaced at her dress, wondering whether or not she would be able to get the red wine stains out or if she would need to invest in a new dress. Again.

She calmly grabbed her bag and followed Ryan out of the restaurant at a steady pace, knowing that he wasn't going anywhere soon. She smirked in amusement as she watched his frantic attempt to escape. He had barely even noticing the boot on his back tyre as he jumped in his car and tried to drive off.

"You don't have to do this, okay?" he said pleadingly when she caught up. "I can pay you. I got money."

Emma scoffed. "No, you don't. And, if you did, you should give it to your wife to take care of your family." She said, fully aware that he had left his wife with three children, all under the age of ten, to support on her own. Ryan glared at her.

"What the hell do you know about family, huh?" he snapped maliciously, in one last attempt to get the better of her. She just smirked back before grabbing the man by the back of his head and slamming it into the steering wheel.

"A lot more than you, apparently."

...

By the time she got home, she was exhausted and it was a relief to take off her six inch heels. While they made her legs look gorgeous, and completed the 'date' look, they were hell after wearing them for several hours. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her wedding ring, silently slipping it on with ease. She always felt wrong without it, but she had made the mistake of wearing it during one of her first cases and her guy had got away.

Her apartment was dark and silent, so she went out of her way to make sure she was silent as she walked down the hall towards the kitchen. She frowned when she saw that it was pitch black - usually the light was kept on incase anyone - namely Teddy - needed a drink during the night. She flicked on the light and startled when she was met with a yell of, "SURPRISE!"

She stared at Neal, who was balancing their five year old son on his hip - both wearing cheshire sized grins - with a cake in front of them, along with a small pile of presents off to the side of the kitchen island.

She smiled. "What's all this?" she asked, letting her bag fall to the floor as she walked further into the room.

"Come on, did you really think that we were going to ignore your birthday?" Neal asked, moving around the island to give her a kiss, never once letting go of little Teddy, who looked quite happy being carried around. And, to be honest, she had thought that her birthday was going to be ignored. There had been no mention of her birthday all day; she had thought, or rather hoped, that Neal had forgotten. Stupid thing to hope, Neal never forgot. "How was the date?" he asked, a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Lovely." Emma replied dryly, with a pointed look to the stain on her dress. "Can't you tell?"

Neal let out a breath, shaking his head as he looked at the stain. "Tell me he atleast paid?"

"He's a felon. Of course he didn't." She laughed as he have her a mock-offended look.

"I always pay when we go out for dinner."

"I pay my fair share." Emma protested as Neal grabbed her by the waste and pulled her closer to his free side.

"Oh yeah? When?" he asked, leaning down slightly to place his lips over hers.

They were interrupted by a disgusted cry. "Ew! Daddy, the cake!" Teddy cried, wriggling slightly as if to get away from his 'gross' parents. The couple chuckled in amusement, but parted from each other anyway.

Teddy was five years old, and was going through the stage where he thought that any affection shown between his parents were gross, girls had cooties (except for mommy), and Batman was the solution to every problem. That morning Neal had spilled his coffee over the table, all over his college assignments, and while he and Emma had been rushing around trying to save everything, Teddy had grabbed the phone and tried to call Batman.

Emma looked at the table. It wasn't anything massive, given the fact that it had only been done by her husband and son - Clara, her ten month old daughter, obviously wouldn't be able to help - but it was more than she could ever have imagined growing up. "Wow!" Emma said, a little too overdramatic, but it made Teddy's eyes light up everytime. "Did you do all of this for me?!"

"Yep!" Teddy said, grinning proudly. "Daddy helped a little." He added charitably.

"Yeah, Teddy did most of it." Neal lied convincingly, watching silently as Emma place a single, star shared candle on top of the cake and lit it. Once it was lit, he turned to Teddy, "Ready?" he asked. Teddy nodded excitedly, his expression serious.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," they sang together slowly.

As they sang, Emma leaned against the kitchen island, watching the two of them over the top of the cake with a light feeling in her chest. The last ten years with Neal had been the best; a little rocky at first, he had to do a lot of grovelling before she finally forgave him for letting her take the blame and go to prison for eleven months, something she knew he still felt guilty for. But she didn't hold it against him, he was only human and an idiot back then (a little more than he was now). They had spent many good times together, which had only gotten better after the birth of Teddy and, more recently, their baby girl. Emma finally had the family she had always wanted, though she knew someone was missing.

Her smile faltered slightly as Neal and Teddy's song came to an end. She looked down at the candle and closed her eyes, before blowing it out after making her wish. Neal and Teddy cheered.

Emma smiled widely at them as she opened her eyes, only to frown when the doorbell rang. "I'll get that." She told Neal, who placed Teddy back on his feet. "You, cut the cake. And be generous."

"I'm always generous." Neal protested.

She laughed. "Yeah, I meant to me." She said before walking back down the hall to open the door.

"Um... Can I help you?" she asked, frowning down at the young boy standing in front of her, hardly noticing Neal come up behind her. The boy looked to be around ten or eleven, a large backpack on his back and an excited gleam in his eyes. He seemed to be practically bouncing with excitement, yet appeared to be more mature than his age. He was eyeing her, apparently taking in her appearance just as she was taking in his. He seemed familiar, Emma just couldn't place it.

"Are you Emma Swan?" the kid asked.

"Yeah. Who are you?" she asked. His reply made her freeze.

"My name's Henry." He said, grinning. "I'm your son."

"What?" Neal blurted out, staring between the two of them. Emma continued to stare at the boy, unable to believe what she was hearing. Henry, unconcerned by his biological mother's reaction, nor Neal's, edged his way into their apartment.

"Whoa!" Neal protested, walking after him. Emma took a moment to follow, closing the door silently behind her. "Hey, kid! Kid! How old are you? Where are your parents?"

The boy just glanced back at Emma. "Ten years ago, did you give a baby up for adoption? That was me."

Neal froze, looking between the two of them. Teddy remained completely oblivious to everything as he licked icing off his fingers, wondering whether he was going to get into trouble for eating with his hands, while being propped up the kitchen side in his spiderman pyjamas.

"Ten?" Neal murmured, his accusing eyes turning to his wife who had apparently kept this from him for all of these years.

"Give me a minute." Emma whispered, turning on her heels and walking briskly to the bathroom.

"No, wait." Neal quickly followed her, closing the door behind them. He turned to her, ignoring the fact that she was extremely pale, and seemed to be staring off into the distance. "Emma, is that my son? Emma. Emma!"

"Yes." Emma snapped, finally looking at him, tears in her eyes.

"How?!" Emma eyed him. "Okay, I know 'how'! But... I don't..."

"I had him while I was in prison."

"And you gave him up for adoption?"

"Yeah."

"You never told me."

Emma shrugged. "We weren't together."

"You never told me! It's been ten years. You never thought that there may have been a good time to let me know that I have a son out there?! I still had a right to know, even if we weren't together!"

"You were there!" Emma screamed. "You have no right! You let me take the blame, you let me go to prison! I knew that I couldn't do that, I couldn't raise him by myself so I gave him up!"

"Erm... Hey," the kid called from the other side of the door, "do you have any juice?... Never mind, found some."

"This is not over." Neal said before opening the door and walking out.

Emma followed, glaring at his back. "You're damn right, it isn't."

Neal stopped suddenly when he came to the kitchen, and all he could do was stare at the boy in front of him. Now that he looked at him, it was so clear that the boy was theirs. The boy looked like a miniture version of him; he had his eyes, his hair, and his smile. Although a lot of his features Neal could point out and say they were Emma's aswell; he looked like an older version of Teddy. As he watched him, a smile stretched across his face. Henry was pouring Teddy a small sippy cup full of orange juice, slipping into the elderly sibling with ease.

"So, I guess I'm your son too, then?" Henry asked, looking up at him with a smile, though with some aprehension, a bit change from his reaction to meeting Henry.

Neal grinned back easily, hoping to put him at ease. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"You know, we should probably get going."

Emma frowned. "Going where?"

"I want you to come home with me." Henry said simply, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Neal and Emma stared at him for a moment.

"Okay, kid. I'm calling the cops."

"Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me." Henry shot back.

"And they'll believe him because we're his birth parents." Neal pointed out.

Henry nodded. "Yep." He said, popping the 'p'.

"You're not going to do that." Emma said, narrowing her eyes at the boy.

"Try me."

Neal looked between the two of them, amused, but he knew who would end up winning the battle of wills in the end. His eyes turned to Emma, who's face now held a smirk as she observed the ten year old, and he knew that she had caught him out. It was the same look she had when Teddy had done something wrong, or when he had had a little too much to drink and he promised that he had only had water...

"You're pretty good. But here's the thing... there's not a lot I'm great at in life." Emma said, causing Neal to roll his eyes. "I have one skill, let's call it a superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying and you, kid, are." She picked up the phone and began dialing the cops.

"Wait..." Henry groaned, making Emma smirk wider and Neal sigh. "Please don't call the cops. Please, come home with me."

"It shouldn't do any harm." Neal said. Emma looked between them, both with pleading looks on their faces, and relented.

"Fine."

"Road trip it is. I'll get Clara." Neal said, heading for the hall.

"What?" Emma frowned.

"I'm not staying here." Neal replied, without stopping. "And there's no way Mrs Mitchell will be willing to look after the kids at this time of night. Teddy, get your shoes on!"

"Okay, Daddy." Teddy, glancing up from his cake, licked his fingers as he climbed off the kitchen seat and ran into his bedroom.

Emma sighed, turning to Henry. "Where's home?" she asked.

"Storybrooke, Maine." Henry answered. Emma's eyebrow shot up.

"Storybrooke? Seriously?"

"Mmhmm."

"Alrighty, then. Let's get you back to Storybrooke."

...

"I'm hungry." Henry complained, three hours into their trip. "Can we stop somewhere?"

The road trip, as Neal and Henry liked to call it, had so far been good. Emma had spent most of it quiet, while Henry entertained Teddy in the back and even managed to calm Clara down when she got fussy. Neal, on the other hand, was just content in watching his newly found son interact with his other children, hoping that they would have the opportunity to do this more often, and hopefully in the near future rather than after the kid turned eight-teen.

Emma sighed heavily. "This is not a road trip. We're not stopping for snacks."

"Why not?" Neal and Henry asked together, sharing a grin.

"Quit complaining." Emma said lightly, but sent a glare at Neal, whe stared blankly back. "Remember - we could have put your butt on a bus. I still could."

Henry rolled his eyes. "You know I have a name? It's Henry." He looked down at the book in his hand, one which he had been showing Teddy before the younger boy had finally dropped off to sleep just over ten minutes ago.

"Henry." Neal repeated quietly, running the name through his head over and over. He had never considered naming one of his children Henry, the name had never had a significant meaning beforehand and, while the name wasn't terrible, he would've had other choices if he had been the one to name him ten years ago. It did, however, suit the boy who seemed to be an old soul. "Good name." He mused.

Emma silently agreed, peering into rearview mirror at the ten year old. "What's that?" she asked, to make conversation.

"I'm not sure you're ready." He replied, making both Emma and Neal more curious. Neal leaned back, recognising the title of Snow White at the top of one page.

"Fairy tales." He mused, eyeing the boy suspiciously. He couldn't possibly know...

"I'm not ready for some fairy tales?" Emma questioned, confused.

Henry sighed heavily. "They're not fairy tales. They're true. Every story in this book actually happened." He said firmly, looking up to meet Neal's gaze. It was almost like Henry was daring Neal to call him a liar, to call him crazy and act as if he was a silly little boy believing in stories. But Neal couldn't, because he knew the truth. He supposed it helped that he had been born and raised until the age of fourteen in the Enchanted Forest.

"Of course they did." Emma said.

"Who told you that?" Neal asked.

"Nobody." He said to Neal. He turned to Emma. "Use your superpower. See if I'm lying."

Emma hesitated for a moment, before meeting Henry's gaze in the mirror. "Just because you believe something, doesn't make it true."

"That's exactly what makes it true. You should know more than anyone."

"And why's that?" Neal asked, though he knew the answer already. Emma was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming; but only two people were supposed to know that, especially with the rest of the resident of the Enchanted Forest trapped in a small town with no memory of their former life. How could Henry?

"Because," Henry stated, seemingly aware of his biological father's interest in his book, and quite pleased with it as well. "Emma's in this book."

Emma frowned. "Oh, kid. You've got problems." Neal frowned at her, not quite sure comments like that would help even if the boy was making all of it up.

"Yep." Henry just replied happily, as if he was used to those sort of comments. Neal wondered how many times he had heard them. "And you're going to fix them."

"Where exactly are we going?" Neal asked.

"Storybrooke, Maine." Henry answered, turning back to his book.

Neal, having already expected the answer, slumped back against his seat. "Storybrooke." He sighed, closing his eyes. It was happening, just like August had said it would. He had just hoped that it wouldn't, that August had made the entire thing up to split him and Emma up for good. He had considered that frequently over the years as he and Emma built a life together - it had all seemed too good to be true, but none of it showed any signs of leading them towards Storybrooke and closer to breaking the curse. Until now.

"We'll just drop him off and then we can talk." Emma told him quietly, looking at him almost nervously. "Properly, this time."

"Yeah," Neal sighed. "Something tells me that it won't be that easy." He said, sending the car back into silence for the rest of the journey.

...

"Okay, kid. How about an address?" Emma asked, as she drove through the streets of Storybrooke. She glanced at Neal, noticing that he had gone completely silent, and almost nervous, since the moment that they had passed the sign saying 'Welcome to Storybrooke'. She wondered how he was going to take leaving Henry behind when they got him back home to his parents - something told her that nothing was going to be the same ever again after this, she just hoped that, like everything else in their lives, they would be able to get through it and only grow stronger.

"Forty-four Not Telling You Street." Henry replied.

Neal smirked as Emma stopped the car and got out, closing the door quietly rather than slamming it shut like she wanted to. Clara and Teddy were both asleep in the back next to Henry, and she knew that, if she woke them, it would take them hours to get them back down again. Teddy thought of this little trip as an adventure, or a holiday, and would be more than a little excited when he woke up. Both Henry and Neal got out just as quietly.

"Look," Emma said, since she was getting no help from Neal, who simply leaned against the bug with his arms crossed. "It's been a long night, and it's almost..." she looked at the town clock and frowned, "8.15?"

"That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Time's froze here." Henry explained.

"Excuse me?" Emma asked, looking at Neal to see whether or not he was planning to support her at all during this. He was watching the two of them silently, but with a look of what she thought was dread in his eyes. Every now and then he glanced over his shoulder, as if expecting someone to pop out from around the corner.

"The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here." Henry continued.

"Okay, the Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy tale characters here." Emma said slowly. Henry nodded.

"Yeah, and now they're trapped."

"Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine. That's what you're going with?" Emma asked incredulously. "Neal and Teddy have come up with better than that!"

"I was almost recruited by the CIA." Neal nodded seriously, remembering one of their argument when they had first gotten back together, not long after they had moved to Tallahassee, when he had been struggling to get a job.

"It's true!" Henry looked between them pleadingly, relaxing slightly when he recieved a small wink from Neal.

"Then why doesn't everybody just leave?" Emma asked, trying to catch him out.

"They can't. If they try, bad things happen."

"Henry!" The three of them looking around to see a ginger haired man with glasses, walking a dalmation, heading towards them looking rather worried. Neal moved from leaning against the car to stand next to Emma, putting his hands in his pockets. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

Henry smiled warmly at the man. "I'm fine, Archie."

Archie looked at Emma and Neal. "Who's this?"

"Just someone trying to give him a ride home." Emma replied quickly.

"His birth parents." Neal told him firmly. Archie's eyes widened.

"Oh... I see."

"Do you know where he lives?" Neal asked.

"Yeah, sure. Just right up on Mifflin street. The Mayor's house is the biggest on the block."

Neal and Emma froze, though for completely different reasons. Neal knew that Henry was right; this town was full of fairy tale characters. But it didn't take a rocket scientist to work out who would take over the role of the most powerful person in the town.

"You're the Mayor's kid?" Emma asked Henry. You're the Evil Queen's kid?! Neal wanted to ask.

"Um, maybe." Henry replied nervously, looking at his feet.

Archie looked at Henry with a concerned frown. "Hey, where were you today, Henry? Because you missed your session."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went on a field trip."

"Henry." Archie began, kneeling down so that he was more at the ten year old's level. "What did I tell you about lying? Giving into one's dark side neer accomplishes anything."

Neal stared at the man incredulously; in his opinion, he didn't think that giving small white lies as every child did - God knows he had when he was a child - would deserve to be described as giving into someone's dark side.

"Oookay." Emma smiled awkwardly. "Well, we really should be getting him home."

Archie smiled back. "Yeah, sure. Well, listen, have a good night and, uh, you be good, Henry." He said before walking off.

"So, that's your shrink." Emma stated, rather than asked.

"I'm not crazy." Henry said firmly.

"Nobody's saying that." Neal assured him, giving Emma a warning look. He knew what she was like when she got an idea in her head; now that she knew that Henry was in counselling, she would assume that everything he was saying was starting to make sense. Although, not in the way Henry wanted it.

"It's just..." Emma trailed off, seeing Neal's look and trying to find the words that didn't upset the boy. "He doesn't seem 'cursed' to me. Maybe he's just trying to help you."

"He's the one who needs help because he doesn't know."

"That he's a fairy tale character."

"None of them do. They don't remember who they are." Henry told them.

"None of them?" Neal asked, relaxing slightly. "None of them remember, at all?"

"I think my mom does," Henry admitted. "But all of the others don't."

Neal nodded. "Good to know." He muttered.

"That's convenient. Alright, I'll play." Emma said, getting back in the car. "Who's he supposed to be?"

"Duh. Jiminy Cricket." Neal answered instead.

"How did you know?" Henry asked, looking at him in surprise. Neal shrugged.

"Who else is going to be the town shrink?"

"Thought your nose grew a little bit." Emma smirked at Henry.

"I'm not Pinocchio!" No, he's an idiot, Neal thought to himself as he buckled himself in.

"Course you're not. Because that would be ridiculous."

They drove in silence upto the big white house and Neal felt really intimidated. Of course his son would be given to someone who lived in a mansion while he and Emma were in a small flat, which they could barely afford with both of their wages and that's with Teddy's day care.

"Please don't take me back there." Henry pleaded when they came to a stop in front of the house.

"I have to." Emma sighed. Neal glanced at her, wishing that they didn't have to. Regardless of whether or not his mother was the Evil Queen, she had still adopted him and there was nothing any of them could do about it. "I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you."

"I don't have parents. Just a mom and she's evil."

"Evil? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

"She is. She doesn't love me. She only pretends to."

"I'm sure that's not true." Neal sighed. She must have wanted him at least; must have loved him enough if she was to risk bringing someone into the town she cursed. She must've known that, sooner or later, he would realise that he was the only one that was aging.

"Henry!" A black haired woman, in a grey dress hesitated at the front door, narrowing her eyes at the bug. Henry groaned, before grudgingly getting out of the car. Emma followed, while Neal, after glancing back at the sleeping children in the back, stood by his open door watching as the 'evil queen' ran down the drive and embraced the ten year old in relief. "Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?"

Henry pulled away from her harshly. "I found my real mom!" He snapped before shoving past her and running into the house, passing what seemed to be the town's sherrif on his way.

The mayor, who had frozen when Henry had pulled away from her, turned slowly to face Emma. Neal resisted the urge to run over to her but knew that Emma was in no great danger, there was nothing that the Mayor could do to her, there was no magic here. He felt that he couldn't get involved, despite Henry being his son. Emma had started this on her own when she gave him up ten years ago, he felt like he was intruding on these moments too much and they were something she needed to go through by herself. That didn't stop him from wanting nothing more than be by her side and standing up to the woman who had adopted Henry, and would, therefore, be extremely threatened by their presence.

"Y-you're Henry's birth mother?" the woman gasped, tears drying on her cheeks.

"Hi..." Emma said awkwardly, looking at the woman with sympathy.

"I'll just go... check on the lad." The sherrif said with an Irish accent, looking between them nervously, before backing back to the door. Neal couldn't blame him. "Make sure he's alright."

"How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?" the woman asked, her face suddenly expressionless.

"Got anything stronger?" Emma asked, earning her a small, obviously fake smile from the Mayor. "Can you just give me a moment?"

"Of course. I'm Regina, by the way."

"Emma Cassidy." Emma introduced, walking back to the car. "This is my husband, Neal." Neal nodded at Regina before turning to Emma when she appeared in front of him, on the other side of the car. "Come in with me. Please, don't let me do this by myself."

Neal looked at her; his anger and resentment still bubbling under the surface. The childish part of him wanted to tell her that he thought it was funny that she thought they needed to do this together now, ten years after they should've done. But he knew that wouldn't be fair - he was an idiot back then, letting his fear of his father overpower his love for Emma. He had almost lost her. And, as he had now found out, he had lost his son. As he looked into Emma's big, green eyes he couldn't bring himself to be angry at her for any longer.

"We'll do this together." He promised after a moment.

"Thank you." Emma breathed a sigh of relief. That breath of relief made Neal's heart clench; did she really think that he would've never forgave her?

Neal closed the passenger side door before the two of them moved to the back, each other them picking up a sleeping child before making their way back to a waiting Regina. Regina looked at Teddy and Clara curiously before turning and leading them into the house.

"This house is really nice." Emma whispered as they waited for Regina to return with the glasses she had went into the kitchen for. Neal knew that she was feeling as intimidated as he was.

Neal shook his head, trying to make her feel more at ease. "Feels a bit too cold for me."

"Must've cost a fortune."

"Everything's a bit showy though, isn't it? Nothing personal. No pictures of Henry growing up, no drawings on the walls."

"It's better than our flat."

"That's a matter of opinion."

"Stop that." Emma scolded, slapping him on his arm.

"What?"

"Stop trying to make me feel better."

Neal opened his mouth to protest that there was no reason for her to feel bad but closed it again when Regina returned with three glasses. She barely looked at them as she walked over to the table and began to pour them drinks.

"How did he find me?" Emma asked.

"No idea." Regina muttered. "When I adopted him, he was only three weeks old. Records were sealed. I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact."

"You were told right."

"And the father?"

"That would be me." Neal said, making Regina freeze.

"You stayed together after all this time. How lovely." She said with a tight smile, obviously thinking it was anything other than lovely, handing him a glass of cider. "Do I need to worry about you?"

"I guess not." He said, though he knew that there was no way he was leaving his son's life now that he knew he existed. He knew what is was like growing up without his parents, he knew what it was like to be let down by a father - there was no way he was going to let his son go through that.

"And do I need to be worried about you, Mrs Cassidy?"

"Absolutely not." Emma said firmly, glancing around the house again. Regina nodded.

"Madam Mayor." The sheriff said as he walked down the stairs with an easy smile. "You can relax. Other than being a tired little boy, Henry's fine."

"Thank you, Sheriff." Regina said as he left, and Regina lead them into the other room. "I'm sorry he dragged you both out of your lives. I really don't know what's gotten into him."

"The kid's having a rough time." Emma said as she sat down, adjusting Clara into a more comfortable position while Neal did the same with Teddy. "It happens."

"You have to understand. Ever since I became mayor, balancing things has been tricky. You have jobs, I assume?"

"Yes." Neal said, a little shortly. The way Regina spoke made it sound like she was sceptical about whether they actually did - Emma was already feeling bad about the large comparison between the two of them, she didn't need to feel even worse.

"Imagine being on your own, and having another one on top of it." Regina said, sitting down opposite them. "That's being a single mom. So, I push for order. Am I strict? I suppose. But I do it for his own good. I want Henry to excel in life. I don't think that makes me evil, do you?"

"Depends on who's eyes you're looking at it from." Neal said, making both women turn towards him with frowns. He shrugged. "He's a kid, coming up to becoming a teenager. Everything is exagerated; it puts a strain on relationships."

"I'm sure he's just saying that because of the fairy tale thing." Emma reassured the mayor, turning away from Neal. Regina's eyes narrowed.

"What fairy tale thing?" she asked, an edge to her voice which Emma was oblivious to.

"His book, full of fairy tales." Neal said, though he wondered whether or not they should draw attention to the fact that Henry was aware of the curse.

"How he thinks everyone's a cartoon character from it." Emma added. "Like his shrink is Jiminy Cricket."

Regina's eyes hardened, and she hesitated. "I'm sorry. I really have no idea what you're talking about." She said brightly.

Emma nodded hurridly. "You know what? It's none of our business. He's your kid. And we really should be heading back."

"Of course." Regina said, relaxing by an incredible amount now that she knew that their family was getting out of her hair. Emma and Neal shared a glance as they walked back through the house, clearly both of them were getting the same feeling about the woman who seemed to turn her nose up at them.

"I think it's lovely," their son's adopted mother said suddenly, just before they reached the door. The two of them stopped, turning to look at the woman - who was standing behind them with her arms crossed - properly.

"What's lovely?" Neal asked.

"The fact that the two of you stayed together all of these years. You have two beautiful children, and have clearly turned your lives around." She said, though, from her expression, Neal couldn't help but think that she didn't think it was 'lovely' at all. She was feeling threatened. She had assumed that Henry's biological parents were never going to be in the picture; and, if there was ever a situation where they were, she had assumed that it would only be Emma, someone she could easily overpower. Not a couple, not a family that Henry could be welcomed into. "It seems that you're family is complete."

Neal clenched his teeth, but smiled politely. "Goodnight, Madam Mayor." He said, reaching out to grab Emma's hand before he said something which he would later regret.

The moment that they were out of the door, it slammed shut behind them. Emma looked back at it, completely dumbfounded.

"Well," she said, letting out a breath. "That was pleasant."

"Yeah, it sure was." Neal muttered, walking back to the bug.

"She seems to be a bit of a hardass." Emma continued, as they put the - miraculously still sleeping - children into the back.

"Poor kid." Neal said in reply, glancing up at the house only to freeze when he saw Henry in the window. Emma, following his gaze, turned back and stared at the window aswell. Henry backed away from the window and out of sight, making Neal's heart clench painfully.

"I don't care what you say, Emma." He said, getting into the bug. "I can't leave him behind."

Emma sighed. "Neal - "

"No, Emma. I understand why you gave him away. I really do, and I'm not mad." And, truthfully, he wasn't. He didn't want to argue with her anymore; it was too hard, especially since he knew that it was only a matter of time before she found out the truth. August had told him that Emma would break the curse when she was twenty-eight - he had less than a year before she broke the curse and found out about her background. Less than a year before she found out that he knew all of this time. He wondered how many arguments they would have then. "It's just... now that I know that he exists, I can't just leave him behind and forget about him."

"Is that what you think I did?" Emma asked with a frown, glancing at him from the corner of her eye as she drove towards the exit. "Do you think that I have never thought about him in all these years?"

Neal closed his eyes, sensing that, despite his best intentions, Emma was going to take offence to anything he said because of her own emotions on the current situation. "I didn't say that." He said calmly.

"Because I have!" Emma cried in a low whispered, glancing back at Teddy and Clara.

"I know."

"No, you don't. You've known about him for five hours, I've known about him for ten years. I've had to deal with the pain of giving him away, regretting it when it was too late to do anything about it. Why did you wait for me to leave prison?!" She demanded.

"I wanted to give you space - "

"If you had gone to visit me, maybe none of this would have never happened! Maybe, we would have kept him. It's not all my fault!"

"Emma." Neal tried gently, watching her carefully as tears began to fall down her face.

"I gave him away for nothing." Emma continued.

"Emma - "

"We could've been a family. We could have surprised ourselves, like we did with Teddy."

"Emma!" Neal yelled when he turned his eyes back to the road and saw a white wolf standing in the middle of it. Emma let out a shocked gasp when she saw it and swerved out of the way, sending them straight into the town sign. Neal's head swung sideways, hitting the window hard, and everything went dark.

...

Emma blinked hard as she slowly came to, looking around confused before her eyes handed on a scruffy looking man.

"What are you lookin' at, sister?" he snapped.

"Hey, Leroy! Manners." A grey haired man, with an Italian accent, scolded from outside the cells. "We have a guest. So, you are Henry's mother? How lovely for him to have you back in his life."

"Actually, I was just dropping him off." Emma said quickly, sitting up on the old cot. Leroy smirked.

"Tch, don't blame ya. They're all brats, who needs 'em."

"Well, I'd give anything for one." The Italian man shot back. He looked at Emma sadly. "My wife and I, we tried for many years. But it was not meant to be."

"I'm sorry." Emma said sympathetically.

"Well cry me a river." Leroy said dryly.

The sheriff which Emma remembered from last night walked in and Emma shot up off the cot. "Leroy!" He said, frowning at the man as the Italian looked down. "If I'm going to let you out, you need to behave. Put on a smile and stay out of trouble." He said, unlocking Leroy's cell.

Leroy gave him a sarcastic smile before leaving. The sheriff turned to Emma with a smile.

"Where are my family?" she asked instantly. "Are they okay?"

"They're fine. Your husband needed to go to the hospital to get a few stitches, your son seems to think that it was an adventure." He told her, making her smile. His next words, however, completely changed her mood "Regina's drinks are a little bit stronger than we thought."

"I wasn't drunk." She protested. He gave her a look which clearly said, 'of course you weren't'. "I wasn't! There was a wolf standing in the middle of the road."

"A wolf. Right."

"Graham! Henry's run away again. We have to..." Regina cried out desperately as she rushed into the room, freezing when she Emma. "What is she doing here? Do you know where he is?"

"Honey, I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house. And, I have a pretty good alibi."

"Yeah, well, he wasn't in his room this morning."

Emma thought for a moment. "Did you try his friends?" she asked. Regina rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't really have any. He's kind of a loner."

"Every kid has friends." Emma mused. Teddy made friend's with everyone he met, including their regular pizza guy. "Did you check his computer? If he's close to someone, he'd be emailing them."

Regina narrowed her eyes at her while Sheriff Graham looked impressed. "And you know this how?" the mayor asked.

"Finding people is what I do. Here's an idea. How about you gues let me out an I'll help you find him."

...

Emma: Henry ran away, please tell me you had nothing to do with it.

Neal rolled his eyes when he saw his wife's text. Her faith in him was so reassuring.

Neal: Yes, I kidnapped him and we're on our way back to Boston. Do you think he'll mind bunking with Teddy?

Neal smirked, putting his phone away before continuing to make his way down the street. "Teddy," he said, pulling the little boy away from the ice cream shop, where his nose had been practically stuck to the window. "We're not having ice cream today."

"But why not?" he whined, dragging his feet and looking back over his shoulder at the extremely tempting shop.

"Because, we can come back tomorrow." Neal decided; the idea that Emma wouldn't decide to stay after today not even a posibility.

His phone buzzed, making him smirk even more.

Emma: Very funny. Keep an eye out x

Neal turned to Teddy. "Come on, buddy. Let's go and find Henry." He said, turning away from the direction they had originally been going in order to pick up Emma from the sheriff's station. "Do you remember Henry?"

"My big brother." Teddy said happily.

"Er... yeah, mate. Best not say that in front of mommy when we see her, okay?"

...

They walked through half the town looking for Henry, but it wasn't until they got near the docks when Teddy caught sight of him sitting on a wooden castle playground.

"Hey," Neal said, sitting down next to the boy with Clara in his lap. Teddy, despite seemingly overjoyed to see his recently found big brother, chose to run away from them to the slide on the side of the castle. "Heard you ran away again."

"I was waiting for you to come back." Henry just said, looking at his father curiously. "So, what's your story, then?"

Neal shook his head with a smile. "Nothing special about me, I'm ordinary."

"No you're not." Henry said almost instantly, adding when Neal looked at him confused, "You haven't questioned me, not once. You haven't challenged what I said about the curse. You believe me. There must be a reason."

Neal hesitated for a moment. Could he tell Henry the truth? He had kept his secrets for so long, from everyone he loves, he didn't know if he could explain everything again. Not even to the boy who was looking at him with so much trust - the one person, other than August, who he could talk to about it all and not be called crazy or risk losing everything he had built. "I know that Emma is the saviour, and I know about the curse. But I can't say how."

"Would it be dangerous? Knowing, I mean?" Henry asked. Neal thought about his father and instantly knew the truth; he knew that it very well could be, so he nodded.

"Well," Henry sighed, looking back out to the town clock. "It's nice to meet you, and I'm glad you're here."

"I'm just sorry it took so long." Neal said sadly, but Henry smiled.

"It's okay. You didn't know."

"Hey," Emma said brightly as she walked over to them, looking between them warily. Neal gave her a small wink, trying to put her at ease. She sat down on the other side of Henry, glancing over at Teddy who was fully content in going down the slide before running around the castle to do it again, repeatedly. Neal smiled, his son could go on for hours like that.

"Still hasn't moved, huh?" she asked, nodding towards the clock tower.

Henry spoke sadly. "I was hoping that when I brought you back, things would change here. That the final battle would begin."

"I'm not fighting any battles, kid." Emma sighed.

"Yes, you are. Because it's your destiny. You're going to bring back the happy endings."

"Can you cut it with the book crap."

"Emma." Neal muttered, shaking his head. Henry, on the other hand, was unoffended.

"You don't have to be hostile. I know you like me - I can tell. You're just pushing me away because I make you feel guilty." He said, making Emma turn away, swallowing hard. Neal smiled, knowing that his kid had hit it on the head. "It's okay. I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance."

"How do you know that?"

"Because it's the same reason Snow White gave you away."

"Listen to me, kid. I'm not in any book. I'm a real person. And I'm no saviour." Emma said. Henry and Neal shared a glance. "You were right about one thing, though. I wanted you to have your best chance. And, at the time, I didn't think it was with me."

"I know. Dad told me." Henry said, making both of the couple turn to him in surprise.

"Neal..." Emma trailed off, looking at him with wide eyes.

Neal gaped. "I didn't - I was just - "

"Come on, let's get you back to your mom." Emma said quickly when Neal couldn't come out with anything. Henry's new title for Neal, while a complete surprise, almost made him smile. It felt natural, despite only knowing the boy for less than twenty four hours.

"Please don't take me back there." Henry pleaded when Emma and Neal got off the castle. "Just stay with me for a week. That's all I ask. One week, and you'll see I'm not crazy."

"Nobody thinks you're crazy." Neal assured him, knowing for a fact that he wasn't. "Teddy, come here!"

"We have to get you back to your mom." Emma said firmly.

Henry refused to move. "You don't know what it's like with her. My life sucks!" He said. Emma let out a laugh, which was overtook with a sob. Neal, who had been standing at the bottom of the slides, looked up nervously.

"Oh, you want to know what sucking is?" Emma sobbed. "Being left abandoned on the side of a freeway. My parents didn't even bother to drop me off at a hospital. I ended up in the foster system and I had a family until I was thee, but then they had their owo so they sent me back. Neal's mother left the family for another man and his dad went off the deep end and abandoned him in the middle of nowhere. Neal was taken in by his step-father before getting dumped again, he spent years in foster care before sleeping in the back of our car." Neal bit his lip; it had been the closest thing to the truth that he could manage at the time. He hadn't wanted to keep secrets from her, so he told her little pieces of the truth, but without the details. Yet another thing he would have to own upto when the curse broke. "Look, my mom is trying her best. I know it's hard and I know sometimes you think she doesn't love you, but at least she wants you."

Henry sighed, looking between his parents sadly. "Your parents didn't leave you on the side of a freeway. That's just where you came through." He protested, making Emma frown.

"What?"

"The wardrobe. When you went through the wardrobe, you appeared in the street. You parents were trying to save you from the curse."

Emma looked at Neal, pleading for him to help. Neal sighed sadly, picking Teddy up when he eventually got tired of waiting for his dad to move so that he could use the slide and had just gone for it.

"Okay, that's enough curse talk for one day." He said firmly, ignoring the look on Henry's face when he realised that Neal wasn't backing him up. "We need to get you back to your mom."

...

Neal ignored the helpless feeling he got as he watched Henry walk away, past Regina and into the big, white house.

"Thank you." Regina said once he was gone.

"No problem." Emma answered with a smile.

"He seems to have taken quite a shine to you." Regina smiled, though her hands were clenched tightly - which went unnoticed by Emma, but not to Neal who prepared to put himself between the two women if he needed to.

"You know what's kind of crazy?" Emma began. "Yesterday was my birthday and when I blew out the candle on my cake, I actally made a wish. I was looking at my family, and it felt like something was missing. I wished that, one day, he would be a part of it again. That I would spend a birthday with him as well. And then, Henry showed up."

"I hope there's no misunderstanding here." Regina said, all pretenses of politeness gone. Emma reared back, as if struck.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, confused. Neal stepped closer, glaring at the woman who's entire focus was on his wife.

"Don't mistake all this as an invitation back into his life."

"Oh..." Emma gasped, but stopped when Neal placed his hand on her shoulder. She glanced back at him as Regina continued.

"Mrs Cassidy, you and your husband made a decision ten years ago. And, in the last decade, while you two have been building yourself another family, I've changed every diaper. Soothed every fever. Endured every tantrum. You may have given birth to him, but he is my son."

"I wasn't - "

"No!" Regina snarled. Neal took a deep breath, practically radiating with anger. Emma, on the other hand, barely noticed as she backed into him, his presence soothing. "You don't get to speak. You don't get to do anything. You gave up that right when you tossed him away. Do you know what a closed adoption is? It's what you asked for. You have no legal right to Henry and you're going to be held to that. So, I suggest you get in your car with your husband and your children, and you leave this town. Because, if you don't, I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do. Goodbye, Mrs Cassidy, Mr Cassidy." And, with that, she turned back to her house.

Neal had finally had enough and gently moved Emma to the side. "Madam Mayor." He called after her, making her turn back to him, a sneer on her face. He ignored it. "You've had your turn, now it's mine. I've just found out about that boy less than a day and I can't help it that he has got into my head; I thought that dropping him off would be easy once I saw that he was happy and safe. You may have the big, expensive house, and the lavish lifestyle, Madam Mayor, so Henry is in no fear of starving to death. But you treat him like an object rather than your son. He is miserable, and you don't even seem to care. Well, I do and so does Emma, so I feel less than happy leaving him when I know that he has to suffer being brought up with you."

Regina stared at him, silently seething. He held her gaze, unflinching. "You can't take my son away from me." She hissed.

"I wouldn't dare." He simply said. "But that doesn't mean that I don't want to be a part of his life. We're staying in Storybrooke, Regina. And, let me tell you, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for my children."

...

"You're out all night, and now you're going out again!" A woman's voice echoed through the hall as they walked into Granny's Inn. Neal and Emma shared a glance as they walked further into the bed and breakfast.

"I should have moved to Boston!" A dark haired girl, with red streaks, snapped back as the two of them came into view.

The elderly woman scoffed. "I'm sorry that my heart attack interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the eastern seaboard."

"Excuse me? We'd like a room." Emma said, making their presence known. 'Granny' and the young girl stared at them in shock.

"Really?" Granny said faintly, before brightening up when it became clear that they weren't joking. "Would you like a forest view or a square view? Normally, there's an upgrade fee for the square but, as friends do, I'll wave it."

"The square would be perfect." Neal told her, knowing that the forest would just remind him of a time that he would rather regret.

"Now, what's the name?"

"Cassidy. Emma Cassidy." Emma said before Neal could.

"Emma." A voice said from behind them which made Neal freeze. No, no this couldn't be happening. He turned slowly, his heart sinking when he saw his father - no longer looking like the Dark One but the smirk on his face stopping him from looking like the father that he knew. He waited for his father to realise who he was, to look at him and instantly know, but his attention was on Emma, who stared back at him confused. "What a lovely name." He said.

Emma smiled, her brow furrowed. "Thanks." She murmured.

Granny, who didn't look any pleased to see him than Neal felt, handed over a large roll of bills. "It's all there." She said shortly, before he could dispute it.

His father barely looked at it. "Yes, yes, of course it is, dear. Thank you. You enjoy your stay... Emma." He said, turning to leave before stopping when his eyes met Neal's. Neal stopped breathing but tried to keep his expression neautral as Rumplestiltskin studied him. "Have we met before?" he asked finally.

Neal shook his head. "Don't think so."

After another moment, his father nodded and walked out. Neal let out the breath that he was holding.

"Who's that?" Emma asked, noticing her husband's reaction to the mysterious man. Granny answered instead.

"Mr Gold. He owns this place." She said.

"The inn?"

"No, the town." Neal rolled his eyes, of course he did. "So, how long will you be with us?"

"A week. Just a week." Emma replied.

"Maybe longer." Neal said.

"Maybe less." Emma threatened, though they both knew she didn't mean it.

"Great." Granny said quickly, before they could change their mind completely, handing over a key. "Welcome to Storybrooke."

...

"The evil queen sneered at the mirror, the image of Snow White - so innocent, pure and beautiful - still replacing the image of the usual face in the mirror." Neal read, Teddy's eyes flickering as he struggled to stay awake. "'Snow white is the fairest of them all?! There must be some mistake!' She roared in disbelief. 'There is no mistake,' the mirror replied, 'Snow White is, by far, the fairest of them all.'"

"Don't you think we've heard enough stories today?" Emma asked dryly, placing Clara in her car seat.

"I don't think we've heard enough, don't you think Teddy Bear?" he asked grandly, but when he looked down Teddy's eyes were closed and his breathing heavy.

Emma chuckled quietly. "That worked out well."

"Yeah." Neal chuckled, gently placing Teddy on the bed. "I don't think he found it as good as Henry's version."

"Yeah, I've never heard that version of the story before." Emma said, as the two of them lay down on the double bed in the middle of the room and Neal turned the light off. Automatically, as they had every night for eleven years (minus Emma's stint in prison) they turned to face each other. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?"

"Staying?" Neal asked. Emma nodded. "Yes. I think, Henry's in a bad place right now, and his mother is no help at all. We don't need to be his parents, but we do need to make sure he's okay."

Emma was silent for a moment before she smiled. "He called you dad." She whispered. Neal smiled at the memory.

"I haven't felt like that since Teddy's first word was dada."

"Okay, don't rub it in." Emma said and the two of them giggled quietly.

Emma took his hand gently. "Everything's going to be okay." She said, almost as if trying to tell herself that. Neal nodded, trying to assure himself of the same, but when Emma finally dropped off to sleep, and Neal glanced out of the window to see that the clock's time was 12.30, he felt a lump in his stomache that he couldn't shake.