Hello Readers!

I don't know if any of you have seen the sneak peak for Season 6 Episode 8 but there is this cute montage of how Charming and Snow are trading off time being awake and time being asleep and I thought it would be interesting to think about how Emma could take advantage of both parents barely able to communicate. This first chapter is just to build the background for understanding and then we will see Emma get into her regular mischief :) This will be more of an AU with Emma being about 15/16 and still living with the Charming's (obviously).

If you guys like it and would like me to keep going let me know and I will see what I can do :)

As they stood there with Snow finally woken up and Charming fast asleep on the ground. Emma stood their in shock, not knowing how to react to what she had just seen. She had witnessed her parents love break a curse only to cause another and her father was laying lifeless on the ground.

"Mom..." She managed to squeak out in her panic.

Snow was able to read Emma so well and she took her daughters face in her hands and spoke calmly. "Emma, everything is going to be okay. Your father and I always find a way to make things work and we promise you and your brother are going to be just fine. We won't let anything happen to you, do you understand?" Emma simply shook her head and Snow embraced her.

"Emma, I'm going to get the dwarfs here to help us get your father home. I want you to go with Regina and I will meet you at the loft. Understand?"

"Yes Ma'am"

"Good Girl. Regina..." but Emma didn't hear the rest of what Snow was saying as her head began to swim. What were they going to do?

"Emma" Regina said placing a rental hand on her shoulder causing Emma to slightly jump. "It's okay. It's just me. Let's go get your brother and get you guys home okay?" Regina wasn't normally the sweet and understanding type but this situation had really caused her motherly side to come out. Emma followed her silently to her car and they headed to Grannies to pick up Neal.

Once they arrived at the Loft the Dwarfs had already helped Snow to get Charming into their bed and Snow was working on making Lunch. "Mom what are you doing?" Emma said looking from her mom to her dad laying in their bed.

"I'm making us Lunch" Snow said in her usual upbeat way. "Emma, your dad would want us to carry on like Normal. After we eat I will wake him up and we will just have to take turns, we are going to make this work"

"Well I will leave you all to it, let me know if you need anything. In the mean time I'll be seeing what I can do" Regina said letting herself out.

"Mom, you and dad are cursed!" Emma finally lost it.

Snow calmly walked away from the sandwiches and stood facing Emma. She placed her hands on her shoulders before speaking in her soothing voice and Emma normally only heard her use with Neal. "Emma. I promise you, your father and I are not going to let anything happen to you. we will find a way to make this work until we can find a way to break this curse. We always find each other and we always find a way to be together and this time will be no different."

A few tears started to roll down Emma's face before she quickly wiped them away and simply nodded. "Okay, I"m going to finish Lunch and you go play with your brother okay?" Emma nodded in return and went over to the crib to pic up her brother but not without quickly stealing a glance at her father asleep in the bed next to him.

Snow decided that her daughter needed her father more than she needed her right now. Once she finished making the sandwiches she quickly wrote a note to her husband and snuck into her bedroom to wake him.

David awoke a bit confused and looked over to see Snow when he noticed the paper that had fallen off of his chest. He quickly grabbed it and read "Emma is having a really hard time with all of this and she needs her daddy. I just got done making sandwiches that are in the kitchen and Regina is trying to find a way to break this curse. I love you" Charming smiled to himself. He and Snow had always found a way to make things work, even in the hardest of circumstances. He also loved just how much she put their kids above every other circumstance.

He started to hear the kids in the living room playing and it brought a joy to his heart. He quickly got out of bed and went to the kitchen to grab the sandwiches before making them aware of his presence. He looked down at the three sandwiches of which Neal's was already cut into tiny pieces to make it easier for him to eat. He grabbed the plates and headed into the living room.

"Hey there kiddos!" Both children stopped and immediate looked at their father. Neal ran to him with arms wide open but Emma just sat on the floor staring at him like he was a ghost. He quickly set the plates down before picking up Neal and then making his way over to where Emma was and sitting on the floor next to her.

"Hey Em" He said touching the side of her face and moving a piece of her hair out of her face. Emma immediately threw herself into her dad's arms. It was so unreal to see him sitting next to her when she had just seen him laying lifeless on the bed in their room just a few moments before."It's okay baby. I've got you" He said wrapping his arm around her and using his free hand to coddle her head.

After a moment Emma quickly looked up and the realization hit her "Mom..."

"She's okay, she's just sleeping. We are going to figure this out Em. I know it's going to be hard with only one of us being able to be with you guys but we are going to make it work until we can figure out how to break this sleeping curse. Okay?"

Emma simply nodded and David used the pads of his thumb to wipe away a few stray tears. "Now, your mom made us all sandwiches, how about we make sure the they don't go to waste okay?"

Emma smiled and David reached over and grabbed a sandwich which she readily took from him. Neal had already found his and was eating up the tiny pieces in a hurry. Once their sandwiches are finished and they had snuck a few cookies from where Snow had hidden them up in a cupboard they all settled down to watch a movie which caused both Neal and Emma to fall asleep on David which he wasn't complaining about. He loved these rare moments when both of his children were together and he got to hold them. Once the credits started to roll he figured it was probably time to get them both to bed. He was able to sit Neal down on the pillows and then he shifted Emma to lay on the other stack of pillows. He figured Neal would be the easier of the two being he was easier to move so he quickly scooped him up and put him down in the crib.

When David returned to the living room he saw Emma sitting up with the remote in her hand scanning through the channels. She had definitely inherited his stubbornness. She was barely keeping her eyes open but he knew that she desperately needed sleep.

"Hey Kiddo" he said sitting down next to her and taking the remote out of her hand before it hit the floor "I think it's time to get you to bed"

"I'm not tired. Let's watch another movie" Emma said getting up and go toward the video cabinet but Charming caught her arm and put his hand under her legs effectively pulling her into his arms.

"Not fair!" Emma protested in her fathers grasp

"Hey, I never said I was a fair parent" David replied with a wink.

"But Daddy!" Emma said jetting out her lip and giving him the puppy dog eyes

"Emma..."

"Daddy!"

"Alright I'll make you a deal. I'll read you a story and then you have to go to sleep"

"Okay" Emma said a bit bummed that she didn't get her way but liking the fact that she was going to get to spend a little bit more time with her dad.

David got Emma tucked in and picked up the storybook and began to read he and Snow's story. It made him feel happy that Emma liked her parents love story and he secretly hoped that she would have a similar experience some day...well...just not some day soon. Within a few minutes Emma was sound asleep on Charming's chest. He stayed with her for a few more minutes soaking in his time with his daughter before setting book back on the night scan and shifting Emma over to lay on the pillows and exiting the room.

He made it down stairs and started cleaning up the house. He knew that Snow would need to be awake in the morning to make sure Emma got off to school and that lunches were packed the way that she would want them. He was told that his lunches were too much like a child had packed them and he had been banned.

Once everything was picked up and the had checked in on both the kids to make sure they were still asleep he grabbed the remote and started scanning through the channels. If he was honest it was a rarity that he actually had full control over the remote between the kids and Snow, he didn't have much of a say.

About an hour before he knew the kids were going to be needing to be up and going he decided to make breakfast for everyone. The eggs and pancakes came together quickly. He then noticed a notebook sitting on the edge of the counter and decided to write Snow a note

"Kids went to bed without a bus and slept through the night. Emma was a little upset and didn't want to go to bed at first so I'm sure she'll give you a bit of a hard time going to school but I know you can handle it. Enjoy the breakfast. Love you!"

With that he made his way over to the bed and got under the covers before kissing Snow and going back under the sleeping curse.

Snow awoke to see her sleeping charming next to her. It made her heart hurt knowing that he wasn't just sleeping but she knew they would find a way to be back together again. She lay staring at him for a minute before the smell of breakfast wafted into the room. She got out of the bed and made her way to the kitchen to find a full breakfast already for her and the kids. A few tears were shed at the small act of love from her love. She then saw the notebook with his note. This was going to have to be the way they communicated for a while.

Just then Neal started to cry pulling Snow's attention back toward her room. She walked over to Neal's crib and picked him up "Hey buddy! Momma's here. Did you have fun with daddy last night? yea? Should we go wake your sister up? I think so" and with that she was up the stairs to wake Emma.

If Snow were completely honest she hated waking up Emma in the morning because Emma was NOT a morning person. Snow hoped that seeing her little brother may soften the blow for her.

"Emma" Snow said sitting down next to her on the bed and letting Neal down to climb on his sister.

"Neal!" Emma groaned as her little brother straddled her and put both his hands on her face

"Emmy!" Neal shouted before leaning down and giving her a very sloppy kiss.

"Gross!" Emma said sipping off her face "Mom! Why did you let him do that?"

Snow pulled herself together to answer her daughter as she tried to contain her own laughter. "He loves you Emmy!"

Emma rolled her eyes but sat up. "Look squirt, that's not cool. You don't wake people up like that got it?" She said adjusting him on her lap. After a moment of silence and playing with Neal Emma finally spoke up. "So if you're awake..."

"Yes, but your dad did make us breakfast so why don't you say we go down there and eat it before it gets cold okay?"

"Sounds good" Emma said "Let's go little bro" and with that Emma got out of bed holding Neal and the pair followed Snow down to the kitchen.

Once they all had plates and were eating Emma's wheel's started to turn. Her parents couldn't talk to one another so if she said that her dad told her she didn't have to go to Schoo, her mom would never know.

"So mom dad told me to to ell you that I don't have to go to school today" Emma said very mater-a-factly.

"Did he?"

"Yea, he said that with everything going on that it would probably be a better idea for me to stay at home with you and Neal"

"Well Emma you dad left me a note and said you probably would try to get out of going to school. But I think right now the best thing we can do is maintain a sense of normalcy. Now please go upstairs and get ready"

Emma was not pleased by the fact that her parents had found a way to communicate and if she was going to make this work she was going to have to find a way to write in what she needed the other one to believe. Until then she decided to go ahead and get ready for school.

Snow was a bit shocked by Emma's out right lie but also had to laugh at the attempt. She was going to have to include this in her note to David and find a way to make sure that it got to him without Emma interfearing due to the fact that there was just enough time between one falling asleep and the other waking that Emma could easily destroy any note that Snow or Charming left for the other.

She finished up clearing the table and got Neal ready to go so that She and Emma wouldn't be late.

"Mom are you sure I have to go?" Emma said sulking down the stairs.

"Yes. The best thing we can do is continue living our lives as normal. Granny is going to watch Neal while you and I are at school and then when we get home your father will help you with your homework. Understood?"

"Fine" Emma said with an eye roll

"Emma do not roll your eyes at me" Snow said while buttoning up Neal's coat.

"How do you do that?"

"I'm your mother, that's how. Now let's go" and with that the little trio was out the door.