The blonde groaned as she leaned against the door and peeled off her heels, taking a moment to massage her feet. Screw that guy for making her run. She picked up the small white box from the floor and hobbled into the kitchen; Emma hardly wore heels so when she did it messed up her feet to no end.

Placing the box on the counter, she rummaged through the cabinets until she found her pack of small, multi-colour, star shaped candles. She picked the blue star and opened the little box, removing a simple sponge cupcake with vanilla buttercream icing. Pushing the candle into the cake and carefully lighting it with a match, Emma sighed. Alone on her birthday, again. She squeezed her eyes shut and made a wish, blowing out the candle, with her arms leaning on the counter.

"Here's to another year of crippling loneliness and-" She stopped mid-sentence, interrupted by a small knock at her door. The blonde eyed the candle suspiciously for a moment before making her way around the central island and heading towards the knocking. There was another knock just as Emma made it to the door. "Alright I'm here, wait a second" She opened the door and couldn't see anyone standing there. Just before she shut the door, her gaze dropped down to see a short mousy haired little boy with a grey and red striped scarf. "Er..can I help you?"

"Are you Emma Swan?" The boy asked, shifting from foot to foot.

"Yeah, who are you?" She inquired taking in his round cheeks and dark eyes.

"My name is Henry, I'm your Son" He gave her a toothy, hopeful smile as her head swam trying to place this young boy.

He pushed past her and headed towards her kitchen. Emma shut the door and followed her supposed son.

"Kid, where are your parents?"

Henry rounded the kitchen island and pulled out the chair, climbing up to take a seat. "Ten years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption?"

Emma didn't say anything; she kept her focus on the boy, as realization hit her.

"That was me" he concluded.

She eyed her son, a wave of emotions washed over her. How did this happen? How did he get her name? And how did a 10 year old manage to navigate his way around Boston alone? "Give me a minute".

The boy nodded and played with his scarf.

Emma marched herself towards the bathroom and locked the door behind her, placing her hand on the wood for support. A son, she actually had a son. Of course she hadn't forgotten him, but she had always tried to push this part of her as far down as she could possibly get it. It wasn't exactly a time in her life she was proud of and the arrival of Henry had dredged all of those suppressed memories back.

"Hey do you have any juice?" Henry's voice carried from the kitchen to the bathroom.

Emma pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath before unlocking the door.

"Never mind, found some" When Emma re-entered the kitchen the boy was drinking her juice, straight from the carton.

"Where did you grow up kid, a farm?"

He shrugged, "a mansion"

The blondes eyes widened. "A mansion? So your rich huh? Must have been cool growing up with a rich family to give you anything you wanted." She knew it wasn't his fault where he ended up, but she couldn't help being jealous that the system favoured this kid, whilst she spent her years bouncing from family to family.

"Actually, I just have a Mom and she doesn't know how to love me very well." He busied himself screwing the lid back onto the carton.

Emma pulled out the stool next to her son and tentatively perched next to him. "What do you mean?"

Henry turned to face her. "She never tells me that she loves me. She never tells me anything."

Emma saw the pain behind his eyes and recognised truth in his words, remembering how it felt without a parent. "Well at least your mom is there for you"

Henry plopped down from the stool and walked towards the book case in the adjoining lounge. "But it's like she isn't there" he picked up a wooden ornament; a swan with a crown, and prodded it with his fingers.

Emma opened her mouth and closed it again.

"You'll see that when you come home with me."

The woman almost fell off her stool. "Woah kid, I'm not going anywhere. Your mom is probably worried about you. I'm calling the police"

Henry threw the ornament down on the bookcase causing Emma to inwardly wince. "No! Please don't call the cops. Please?"

Emma sighed, "I'll take you home, but I'm not staying. You already have a mother, you don't need two."

He launched himself at her waist "Thank you Thank you Thank you!" Emma patted him on the back awkwardly.

"Kid, let me breathe!" She allowed herself to laugh. Henry smiled and peeled himself away from her. "Where do you live?"

"Storybrooke, Maine"

"Storybrooke? Seriously?" She put her hands on her hips, debating whether or not to believe a town with a name like that could exist.

"Yeah" Henry replied, serious as ever.

"Okay, Storybrooke it is"

The drive to Storybrooke was filled with silence, not uncomfortable, not comfortable, but bearable. What were you supposed to say to your biological son whom you haven't seen since he was a day old? What do you say to a mother you have never known?

"So er, how did you get here kid?" Emma glanced sideways at Henry before focusing her eyes on the road, gripping the wheel.

"I came on the bus" He studied the woman, intrigued to know more about the mother he never knew. "How did you get here?"

Emma gripped the wheel harder. "The bus from Maine to Boston? That would be expensive, how did you pay for it?" she hoped the latter question would be forgotten if she avoided it long enough.

"My teacher Miss Blanchard helped me out a little.." He trailed off, fiddling with the ends of his scarf.

"Henry, does Miss Blanchard know she helped you pay for this road trip?"

"Not exactly…" The boy sounded nervous, as if worried Emma was going to scold him for bad behaviour.

Emma made a sound in the back of her throat. "Definitely my son" she smiled to herself.

"You didn't answer my question" he piped up, his question was ever so innocent. If only he knew.

"Kid, I'm not sure.." she took a breath.

"It's okay, we just met. But you can trust me." He smiled at her encouragingly and she knew he would persist until she gave in.

"Okay. You see I was sort of like you, my parents couldn't look after me." Lie. "So they decided to give me my best chance." Lie. "They gave me to people who they thought would love me". Lie. " I have never known my real parents. I did look for them, but I gave up. They clearly moved on with their lives without me, so well, here I am."

"Is that why you gave me to mom?"

Emma sniffed. "What?"

"To give me my best chance?"

"Yes, I knew you weren't going to get that with me." The blonde tried to hard to focus on the road, to block out all of those intrusive thoughts she had buried for years.

"Oh" Henry sat back in his seat. Somewhere along the road, Emma heard his breathing even out and his head rested against the window.

Oh wow, it is real.

All the doubts Emma felt about this town were erased as she drove past the sign welcoming her to Storybrooke. Upon driving across the town line, she felt a strange tugging sensation in her gut, like something was there, bringing her in, drawing her closer.

She drove further and further into town, until she came to the centre; littered with small shops, a café on the corner and surprisingly a lack of people.

"Hey kid..kid?" Emma placed a tentative hand on the boys shoulder and shook him gently to bring him out of sleep.

Henry stirred slightly and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Mom?"

Emma stumbled over her words for a moment. "I'm- it's- we are here; Storybrooke, like you said."

"Oh yeah" he studied the clock tower on the other side of the window, as if he expected something to happen.

"So where's your mansion?" Emma followed his eyeline and allowed green eyes to settle on the clock also.

"44, Not-Telling-You Street" The ten year old looked proud with himself. Arms crossed, taking a stand.

This pained her. "Fine." She unlocked her car door and climbed out. "Stay here" she ordered her son through the open window. He only shrugged and continued staring at the clock.

She looked around the square and picked the first shop she saw. "Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiques Dealer" she read aloud from the sign above the door. If anyone has a hand in everyone's business, it's the pawnbroker.

The bell above the door tinkled as she entered. Emma drank in her surroundings, trying to get a feel of the place. Various objects were littered on shelves, cupboards and on the walls; Goblets, cloaks and even a sword. Strange choice of merchandise for a small town. She walked towards the desk with the cash register. "Hello?"

"We're closed" came a gruff voice from what Emma assumed was a stock room.

"I'm sorry, I'm not here to buy anything. I'm just looking for directions, I'm new here and I'm afraid I'm a little lost, could yo-"

"Strangers in Storybrooke?" A man appeared through the curtain, he had on a black suit and carried a cane as he walked. He was smiling, it unsettled the blonde, it wasn't a friendly smile as such, a more devious, meddling smile. "What's your name dearie?"

"I'm Emma, I was just looking for someone's house, you see Henry came and found me and he wanted me to-"

"Henry?" The mans smile grew wider. "you're looking for the Mayor's mansion."

"Great, where can I find-"

Mr Gold interrupted her yet again, Emma silently prayed that not every person in this town was so goddamn rude. "Mifflin Street, you can't miss it."

"Right, thanks.." Emma made towards the door, before he called out to her again.

"What did you say your name was dearie?"

"Emma, Emma Swan" She didn't look back, eager to leave before he threw yet another question her way.

"You're the Mayor's kid?" Emma slammed her door shut, making Henry jump slightly.

"Yeah, about that.."

"We are taking you straight home, right now." Emma started the engine and sped off, faster than normal.

"When we get there, you'll see. You'll see why you have to take me back home with you. She doesn't love me." Henry pleaded with her.

"I'm sure she does, kid." She sighed. "Look, here we are" Half of her almost felt bad for him as she watched him sink into the seat.

"Come on, she can't be that bad." Emma tried to convince him, and herself; she knew she couldn't bring herself to leave him if he was in a bad situation, she was too involved now. Damn feelings. The blonde lead her son down the path towards the large black front door, checking behind her every couple of seconds to ensure Henry was still following.

Before the pair could reach the end of the path, the door flew open and a tall, slender, brunette woman launched herself towards Henry. She knelt down level with him and looked into his eyes, to which he lowered his head. The woman straightened his collar and tapped him on the shoulder twice.

"Bye Emma" Henry threw a look at the blonde before disappearing into the mansion.

She watched this whole encounter, her eyes on the woman. She hadn't said a word the whole time.

"Hi" She tested the waters a little bit, sticking her toe in at the deep end, offering the other woman a smile.

The Mayor simply returned the smile, if not a little sarcastically, followed Henry into the mansion and closed the door behind her.

Jesus, this woman was either incredibly shy or incredibly rude. Emma reserved judgment as her stomach rumbled, deciding she wasn't going to get anymore out of the two for this evening. She realised that she hadn't eaten since brunch this morning and the drive was too long to take back and eat later. Emma decided to stay for one night. To get some food, find a B&B and to check that all was okay with her son.

One night.