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It happened in the most unexpected of ways, over the smallest thing. It was truly a sign that Emma’s walls were crashing down, that she was becoming more and more vulnerable. The town already suspected something was up, the family was never far from each other, but they put it off as they had been separated too many times to ever be again. That was majorly true, but of course there was Emma’s little side as well.
Emma was starving and in a hurry to get to Granny’s. Typically, she would be holding onto the handle of Neal’s stroller or have her arm linked through her father’s but she was walking ahead that day. She was going so fast, she missed a fallen tree root and tripped over it. Her knee skidded across the pavement, tearing her jeans and causing a small cut to go across it. Snow instantly left the stroller and ran to her side. That’s when she noticed Emma was whimpering, tears in her eyes.
“Mommy,” she whined.
Snow knew that Emma was slipping into her little state, but she didn’t even care. She just reached into her bag and pulled out the first aid kit she always carried. “Don’t worry baby, Mommy will make it all better.” Emma saw the wipes and inched away.
“No! Mommy, sting!”
“Baby, I know but you have to let Mommy do it or else it gets all yucky.” Emma pouted, her lip quivering. “Come on baby, if you let me do it, you can get hot chocolate with your meal.” The blonde sighed but allowed her mom to clean out the scrape and then put a band-aid over it. Snow leaned down, kissing the covered knee. “There, all better.”
Emma sniffled. “Otay, Mommy.”
David had been so entranced on making sure Emma was okay and that the scene hadn’t distressed Neal, he hadn’t noticed that a few people had also viewed the scene. When he looked over, he saw Ruby, Whale and Robin among the many. Emma, thankfully, didn’t notice. The co-sheriff knew there had to be an explanation so he gently lead the crowd away before his daughter looked up and snapped out of all of it. Snow saw everything out of the corner of her eye but also didn’t want to upset Emma in any way.
“Pumpkin, why don’t we go back to the house? Mommy will make you a grilled cheese there and some hot chocolate.”
Emma nodded, looking around. “Where Daddy go?”
“Daddy had to go talk to someone, he’ll meet us there, come on. Can you hold onto Neal’s stroller for me?”
“Yes, Mommy.” She stood up, holding on tight to the handle. Snow patted her cheek.
“There’s my good little helper.”
When they got back to the house, Emma agreed to play with Neal in the kitchen while Snow cooked lunch. David returned home not much later.
“Well?” Snow asked.
“They understood. She’s been through so much, just like when Regina and Henry found out, they said they were happy it made her happy.”
“That’s good.”
“Maybe we don’t even need to hide it anymore, they all wanted to see more of little Emma.”
Snow smiled. “I would like that. I get to dress her up but then we’re the only one who sees it. We just need to talk to Emma about it….well, Big Emma.”
Emma was at first really freaked out over what had gone down. She refused to let herself slip into her little side for about a week. But after realizing that the town wasn’t laughing at her, that they wouldn’t treat her differently, she agreed to publicly go out when she was in her little headspace.
Snow helped Emma dress into one of her favorite dresses: a pink and white gingham dress and did her hair into two pig tails. She could tell Emma was nervous, she could be so shy in her little space. Snow gently put her pacifier between her lips and gave her a soft smile.
“You wanna go to Granny’s?”
“Mommy stay.”
“I’m gonna stay with you the whole time, pretty girl, don’t worry. Daddy will too.”
Emma nodded and stood up, holding her hand and walking with her out the door. David was finishing settling Neal into his stroller as well when he saw his daughter.
“Hey sunshine,” he cooed. “Look at how pretty you look.” Emma giggled, but also blushed, burying her head in her mom’s shoulder. David chuckled, kissing her forehead. “Let’s go. I’m sure you’re starving.”
“Cheese, Daddy! Cheese!” Emma insisted.
“Mac and Cheese?” His daughter nodded happily. “Then that’s what we’ll get. Do you want to hold Neal’s stroller or Daddy’s hand?” David smiled as she slid her hand through his. “Let’s go, cupcake.”
With that, they walked the few blocks to Granny’s and Emma buried her head deeper and deeper into her dad’s shoulder. Once they walked inside, Ruby greeted them. It was so weird for her to see Emma like that, but she looked so adorable. She would’ve been her godmother had she gotten to grow up properly.
“Hey Emma,” she said in a sweet voice. “I have some crayons if you want to color?” Emma buried her head deeper into her dad’s shoulder. He smiled and wrapped an arm around her.
“It’s okay, sunshine. You don’t have to be so shy.”
“Why don’t we go sit?” Snow offered and they headed to the table. They sat down, with Emma clinging to David’s side until Ruby brought over crayons and paper. Emma slowly began drawing a picture of her baby brother. David smiled, he knew eventually she would get more comfortable. Ruby returned soon with coffees for her friends, but had a Shirley Temple for Emma. The blonde’s eyes lit up.
“Cherries!” She squealed.
Ruby chuckled. “That’s right, Emmy. Cherries.”
“What do you say, Em?” Snow asked.
“Thank you, Auntie Ruby,” Emma said, happily.
“It’s no problem, sweetie.”
When the food came, David fed Emma her mac and cheese and it only improved her mood. Ruby and Granny loved spoiling her by giving her tons of cookies and other treats. It was safe to say that the diner was going to be their new hotspot whenever Emma had little time. She was having far too much fun.