Happy Holidays, limbomonkey!
Title: Playing Happily Families
Recipient: limbomonkey
Author: Anon
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Emma, Henry, Snow, Charming, Neal|Baelfire, Ruby|Red, Rumpelstiltskin, Belle, Hook; Emma/Hook, Rumpel/Belle, Snow/Charming, Neal|Baelfire/Ruby|Red
Word Count: ~3,700
Warnings: possible spoilers for Season 2 if you haven’t seen all of it; mildly adult content by way of suggestive comments but nothing about a PG-13 rating
Summary: (Futurefic) Now that everyone has returned to their rightful place in the Enchanted Forest, Queen Snow declares there will be a Thanksgiving celebration, and her whole family (blood-related or otherwise) is invited to dinner!
Author's Notes: I was a little worried about how this was going to turn out, but then I started writing and it just kind of happened. It’s mostly based on one of the prompts given by my giftee, but I think I managed to squeeze elements of the other three in there too! Really hope it is well received by limbomonkey!!
Thanksgiving was not celebrated in the Enchanted Forest before the Dark Curse. When everyone was transported to Storybrooke, their cursed selves were given knowledge of the festivities that took place amongst the average American family, as well as the history that came before. It was a happy family occasion for most people, and they all had fond memories of that time of year, albeit they were mostly manufactured.
When the general populace of Storybrooke returned to their homeland, Thanksgiving ought to have been quite forgotten, but it was not. Queen Snow White sent out a proclamation, and so it was that Thanksgiving was stated as a feast day and general holiday. It was not to celebrate the same things as the other world’s Thanksgiving, as those no longer applied, but for the Enchanted Forest residents to give their own thanks for being back where they belonged, with their own minds and their own loved ones.
On the occasion of the first Enchanted Forest Thanksgiving, Snow and Charming were determined to have a real family affair. All those related to them were to be a part of the dinner and festivities in general. It was lucky really that the rooms of the Royal Castle were so large, and the tables significantly sized to take all those in attendance, because there were many!
Henry was very much enjoying the experience of having his whole family around him. For a boy that had dreamt of returning to the Enchanted Forest and taking his rightful place as prince amongst his people, it had been a genuinely thankful day when they arrived here. He had no problem at all with celebrating, especially when his family had become so large and full of joy.
It had been decided that Henry should sit at the head of the table. This would usually be the privilege of Queen Snow herself, but she felt today was not a day to be reigning over others, especially given the twisted histories between so many at her table. Nobody could argue with Henry being centre of attention, since he was most of the reason they had been brought together like this, most of the reason they had managed to get home at all.
To Henry’s right sat his mother, Emma. She had not quite adjusted to the formal wear of the Enchanted Forest yet, preferring the pants and leather jacket she often wore in Storybrooke. For such an occasion as this, she had been coerced into a dress, and she was shifting uncomfortably every two minutes because of it. Maybe it was more her style than some of the flowing frilly numbers her mother favoured, but Emma still felt she really had to introduce strapless bras to the land of fairytales, if nothing else.
“Sure you’re alright there, love?” her boyfriend asked from beside her.
“Wardrobe issues, that’s all,” she muttered, shifting again and giving Hook rather too good a view of her bosoms.
“Anything I can help with?” he asked with a look that spoke volumes and was almost dirty enough to even make Emma blush.
“I would say not unless you can get me out of this stupid dress,” she smiled back at him. “But since I know that’s already you’re plan for later, no,” she said softly, only glad to note Henry was not paying attention but was in rapt conversation with his father on the other side of the table.
Emma thought it should feel more weird than this, being as she was next to her boyfriend and opposite her ex, the father of her child, no less. Maybe it was just that she had started to see Neal as Baelfire now, more as Rumpelstiltskin’s son and less as her ex-boyfriend. Maybe it was just because no matter how odd her own situation was, it had to be all the more strange for the two men in question. After all, Hook had dated Bae’s mother, and gone on to meet Bae when he was a teenager, and yet the pair of them, centuries old as they were, both looked like similarly aged men of thirty-something. Emma shook her head and decided not to think about it anymore, concentrating instead on her meal which was delicious.
“This is wonderful,” she heard Belle say from further down the table.
She was on the other side of Rumpelstiltskin, her fiancé, of all wacky things. The little imp himself, who still looked like Mr Gold in the face and yet was dressed in the oddest style Emma had ever seen, had his future daughter-in-law to his other side who seemed oddly unfazed by her position.
“I know, right?” she said, leaning across Rumpelstiltskin to answer Belle’s remark. “I mean, my Granny can cook, I didn’t think anything could be as good as her food, but this sauce!” she enthused.
“Ladies, if you’d be so kind,” Rumpel said carefully, mindful of upsetting Belle, or Red for that matter since she was soon to be family too. “If you could just try to stay in your own space, at least whilst we’re eating.”
“He’s so grumpy today,” his fiancé rolled her eyes at her friend, even as she did as asked and sat back more properly in her seat. “You don’t normally mind so much when I’m practically sitting in your lap,” she told Rumpel with a sly smile that sometimes reminded him of the highlights of her Lacey persona.
“Not in front of company, dearie,” he told her with a tight smile, looking to his son who turned wary eyes upon him.
The relationship between himself and Baelfire was improving, the old grudges thawing over time, predominately thanks to the efforts of the ladies in their life, plus little Henry. Rumpelstiltskin wanted to be a family man, a good father, husband, grandfather, and the like. Unfortunately, the pull of magic was sometimes a little overwhelming, especially now they were back in the Enchanted Forest. He could only do his best, it was just that days like today had a tendency to try his patience. A family gathering was all well and good, but when one’s extended family included not just those you loved but those you loathed... Rumpel looked daggers across the table at Hook, smiling like the crocodile he had once been known as.
“Something bothering you, Dark One?” said the pirate, tossing a piece of food into his mouth and chewing slowly, just daring Rumpel to make a scene.
“Nothing I can’t crush like a bug later,” he smiled amiably, despite the threat he hoped only Killian Jones had heard - no such luck.
“Hey, no in-fighting,” said Charming from his end of the table.
“And that’s by order of the queen,” Snow threw in with a smile that proved she was at least half-joking. “C’mon, you two. You said you’d try for everyone’s sake.”
“Oh, I’m trying,” said Rumpelstiltskin. “Just not quite so trying as him.”
“Rumpel!” Belle admonished him sharply. “Please. It’s Thanksgiving. This day is supposed to mean something special, for all of us.”
“Yes, dearest,” he nodded once, trying to focus on his food - it really was rather delicious.
“That goes for you too, darling,” Emma over-emphasised, sticking an elbow in Hook’s ribs.
The smirk slid off his face immediately.
“You want to play rough, sweetheart, save it for later,” he teased her, but ultimately did as he was told.
Everyone continued eating, through a lull in conversation, until suddenly Henry surprised the whole table with his declaration of happiness.
“I love that we’re all here together,” he grinned widely. “I never thought I’d get this. Not just the castle, and the sword, and the horse, and everything, but a family like this,” he said, looking to Emma and Bae then down the whole length of the table.
“It is pretty special, kid, I’ll give you that,” agreed Emma, looking around herself.
This had to be the weirdest set-up ever. Not a person in this land would’ve pegged this bunch of people as ever being able to get along at all, never mind crowd around the same table for dinner as a family. It was too much for her brain to take to consider all the mixed up connections. Technically speaking, Hook was unofficial step-father to Henry after having the same title to Henry’s own father, Baelfire, once upon a time. Poor Belle was now a step-grandmother thanks to her relationship with Rumpelstiltskin, despite the fact she was actually physically younger than Emma! Then there was the fact that Emma was a very similar age in body to her Mom and Dad. She shuddered at the confused thoughts and immediately regretted it when her dress rode up again. Damn it. And why didn’t this land have pantyhose? Stockings and suspenders should have gone out with the ark in Emma’s opinion.
“I’m sorry, hon, what was that?” she asked when she realised Henry had spoken again and she hadn’t been paying any attention.
“I said, can we do this again at Christmas? Please?” he requested.
“Oh,” Emma wasn’t sure what to say to that, looking to Neal for help.
“Uh, I don’t know. It’s not really my decision....” he floundered.
All eyes went to Snow and Charming, and both seemed ready to agree, when Belle spoke up instead.
“Oh, we should have Christmas at our castle!” she enthused, much to Rumpelstiltskin’s shock, evidenced by the way he started choking rather spectacularly on his food.
More than one person chuckled behind their hands at the display. Dear sweet Belle, she meant well in all things and Rumpelstiltskin loved her without question. The trouble was, she was so very kind and willing to do anyone a good turn. Her beloved Rumpel was just now learning to be a good man, and really would rather only be seen to be so caring when it came to Belle herself or Baelfire.
Extending his kindness to this whole table full of people and possibly beyond, it clearly didn’t thrill him, especially when it meant letting them all into his home for a festive occasion!
“Are we having Christmas?” Baelfire checked. “I mean, in this world... It’s not the same, is it?”
“I grew up with Christmas,” said Emma thoughtfully. “It’d feel weird not to celebrate at all.”
“But we have to have it!” Henry chimed in, looking panicked at the idea of such a thing being taken away from him.
He had been born and raised in the land without magic, and under the curse everyone just celebrated Christmas as a matter of course, as they did Thanksgiving and the 4th July. It would be too weird not to have the traditions of the tree, the gifts, and the meal, whether everybody believed in the point of the day or not.
“I don’t see why we can’t have Christmas,” said Charming as he considered the idea. “We all celebrated it in Storybrooke, under the curse, and it was... fun,” he recalled, looking to Snow who nodded her agreement.
“I didn’t,” Rumpel pointed out, getting everyone’s attention, which honestly he would rather not have right now. “I don’t know if it was Regina’s idea of a little joke, but my alter-ego as it were, our Mr Gold did not celebrate Christmas. He was what the land without magic called a Jew.”
“Mr Gold was Jewish?” asked Henry with some wonder. “So, did you celebrate Hanukkah?” he checked.
He knew different people celebrated the holidays in different ways. Henry wasn’t totally clear on what Hanukkah was about, but he did know it involved lighting candles on the days leading up to Christmas.
“The first year or two, I believe I did,” Rumpel told his grandson thoughtfully. “After that, when my real memories had completely leaked through, I saw very little point in it. It’s a tradition of that world, based on beliefs that I don’t hold,” he shrugged.
The same could be said of Christmas, of course. Life, beliefs, religion, they were very different in the Enchanted Forest to what the people around this table remembered of their cursed selves in Storybrooke. Maybe it was wrong to celebrate things they didn’t understand or that bore no relevance to their lives.
“It doesn’t have to be Christmas, exactly,” considered Belle. “I mean, we can choose a day, even that very day, but it can be our own celebration, just like we’ve made our own Thanksgiving.”
“That makes sense,” Red agreed with a grin. “I mean, all different kinds of people have celebrations at that time of year. We can have something of our own, right?”
“I don’t see why not,” agreed Snow. “What do you think Emma?” she asked her daughter, determined to keep things on an even keel with her and Henry.
It had to be that much harder for those amongst them that were brought up in the land without magic. Though this was where they belonged in a sense, where Emma and Baelfire had been born, much of their lives had been spent in another world. This place was foreign to them in so many ways. Taking Christmas from them, from Henry, reinventing it as something else even, it might not please them.
“I don’t know, I guess we can make it our own thing,” Emma shrugged. “Make it relevant to our world?”
Snow smiled the biggest smile of the day when she heard her daughter refer to this land as ‘our world’. It proved without a doubt that she was starting to feel she really belonged, and that made Snow, and Charming too, the happiest they could ever be.
“I think in the old days they had Winter Solstice or Saturnalia in that world,” said Baelfire thoughtfully. “Actually, a lot of the traditions that people associate with celebrating Christmas actually come from before Christ was even born.”
There were vague memories enough between those gathered here to agree he was right. There was no reason why they couldn’t pick one of those names for their December celebrations or even something else entirely. There could be decorations, gift giving, a family meal, nobody would argue with that.
“We’ll figure out the details, consult with the court, and I’ll send out another decree,” said Snow with a firm nod. “You will have some form of Christmas, Henry, I promise.”
Understandably, the boy looked like a kid at Christmas at the sound of such news, and readily tucked into his food before it went cold.
The rest of the meal passed quietly as all enjoyed the traditional feast. Some parts were less traditional than others, as it turned out. There were certain things that just couldn’t be purchased or easily manufactured in the Enchanted Forest that had been easily accessible in the land without magic. The small supplies that the people had brought over were fast diminishing, so it was a marshmallow substitute on top of Henry’s sweet potatoes, and a berry very similar to the cranberry in the sauce on each person’s serving of turkey. All in all, it had turned out well, and there were no complaints.
When the meal was over, everyone retired to a large living room down the hall, and sat comfortably around the fireplace. Here a discussion started up about what they were all thankful for. Snow asked that each person name at least one thing in turn, eliciting some eye rolls and groans at the prospect of having to think when they were all so full and generally relaxed.
“Well, we would’ve done it at the table, but I couldn’t even see everyone properly at that thing,” Snow complained. “I did say we should use the round table...”
“I’m sorry,” Charming cut in, knowing she was about to get at him for his decision. “I just didn’t think it was appropriate to have a celebration of Thanksgiving around the table from the War Room!”
“He does kind of have a point,” muttered Emma from her spot practically in Hook’s lap.
“Wouldn’t involve yourself in the parents domestics, love. Never worth it,” he advised her in a whisper, as Snow and Charming continued to bicker.
“I don’t want to be anywhere near that table,” Rumpelstiltskin grumbled. “As it is, contaminated with fairy dust and grasshopper droppings...”
“Rumpel!” Belle admonished him for being so mean, trying not to smile at how silly he sounded.
“Hey, I like Archie, and the Blue Fairy too,” said Henry definitely. “All the people that sat at the round table were good, and I know you can’t understand because back then you were kind of bad, but it’s important. That table, the War Room, it’s all important.”
The room seemed to quieten in a general sense when the youngest amongst them gave his opinion. Emma smiled at her son’s attitude, sharing that look with Baelfire. Immediately she felt Killian’s grip tighten around her. For a tough pirate guy, he could be so very insecure.
“It was important,” Red agreed with Henry. “We all really bonded in those weeks and months before the curse came, more than we ever had before.”
“So, this was you, your grandma, Snow and Charming...” said Bae, prompting Red to fill in some blanks on who else was there.
“Jiminy, Blue Fairy, Gepetto and Pinocchio, Grumpy represented the dwarves...” she said thoughtfully, as she counted each person off on her fingers.
“Here’s one thing I never get,” said Emma then, looking to her parents for an answer to the question that came next. “You had all the support against Regina, and against King George, but where was Abigail and Frederick in all this?” she wondered aloud. “I mean, you pretty much saved them both, reunited them, but what? They just turned their back? Disappeared?”
“They did what they had to do,” Snow said sadly, clasping Charming’s hand within her own as they shared a look that nobody else really understood.
“I’d bet my castle that it all came down to Midas,” said Rumpelstiltskin without concern for the deal he was potentially making.
Belle knew he had to be right, not least because he usually was. There was no way he would make even a joking bet if he was not definite in what he said.
“Probably right,” Hook shrugged. “Never met the bloke myself, but I heard the tales. He had a temper, and he very much liked to have his own way.”
“So do most men,” his girlfriend remarked, with a smirk he couldn’t help, a look she seemed to have learnt from him and he didn’t mind at all
“Midas was no ordinary man,” said Rumpel knowingly. “He had plans for his daughter to marry the Prince here, and when that fell through, he was doubtless unhappy.”
“That might be true,” Charming admitted. “But Frederick had once saved Midas’ life. He owed him a debt, and so the marriage had to be allowed to happen,” he explained to the assembled company who all gave their rapt attention. “Unfortunately, King Midas was also worried about the kingdoms falling like dominoes when we began our war against Regina and King George,” he said sadly. “He declared their kingdom neutral, and Abigail and Frederick were forbidden to become our ally or our enemy.”
“We never saw them after that,” said Snow, looking genuinely hurt. “Not until Storybrooke and... and I can’t even think about that right now.”
The mood of the day shifted in a moment. Gone were all the happy faces replaced by vicious memories of the horrors they’d all faced in Storybrooke, whether cursed or not. Each couple seemed to close in on each other, hold on a little tighter, try to find a little warmth and comfort. Henry stood in the middle of all this, feeling not just like a spare wheel suddenly, but also like it was his responsibility to make things better for once, to save the day as his family members so often did for him.
“Hey, maybe we can invite Abigail and Frederick to our Winter celebration at the Dark castle!” he suggested with real joy and enthusiasm. “And what about the dwarves and the fairies? Archie, Pongo, Marco, Pinocchio. We could make it a real party!”
Rumpel turned pale at the suggestion but Belle was so excited, he at least tried to smile. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad just for the one day, and he had his magic if things got out of hand. Henry’s face was alight with joy, and Baelfire looked enthusiastic enough at the idea of such a gathering.
“Please say we can, Rumpel?” said Belle, getting his attention. “I know you’re not much for parties, but think how happy it would make Henry, and we’d be like a family.”
The light in her eyes, the sight of her smile, it never failed to warm his cold, badly beaten heart, and it was true enough that his boys looked well pleased with the idea of a party. The saviour and the pirate, the royals, the wolf girl, they were all grinning like Cheshire cats, and honestly, Rumpel actually had reason to believe it was genuine joy rather than pleasure at his probable discomfort. After all, these were the good guys... for the most part.
“If that is what you wish, Belle, Bae, Henry,” he said looking around each of them.
“Yeah, Papa,” his son told him with a soft smile. “Let’s be the family we always should’ve been.”
“Yes!” Henry literally jumped for joy, talking a mile a minute right after as he started to make plans.
It seemed the talk of what everyone was thankful for had gone completely out of everybody’s mind, all but one anyway. Emma lounged against her lover and watched her son practically run circles in his joy. She grew up in a broken system, learnt to be a saviour and a whole new person when she was grown. Now she had found family, blood and chosen both. She had a man she could love and respect, parents she wouldn’t trade for the world, a son she adored, and the most unlikely friends who she was learning to trust with her life. She was thankful for all of this and so much more. Emma was thankful to realise she had finally found a real home.
The End
Recipient: limbomonkey
Author: Anon
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Emma, Henry, Snow, Charming, Neal|Baelfire, Ruby|Red, Rumpelstiltskin, Belle, Hook; Emma/Hook, Rumpel/Belle, Snow/Charming, Neal|Baelfire/Ruby|Red
Word Count: ~3,700
Warnings: possible spoilers for Season 2 if you haven’t seen all of it; mildly adult content by way of suggestive comments but nothing about a PG-13 rating
Summary: (Futurefic) Now that everyone has returned to their rightful place in the Enchanted Forest, Queen Snow declares there will be a Thanksgiving celebration, and her whole family (blood-related or otherwise) is invited to dinner!
Author's Notes: I was a little worried about how this was going to turn out, but then I started writing and it just kind of happened. It’s mostly based on one of the prompts given by my giftee, but I think I managed to squeeze elements of the other three in there too! Really hope it is well received by limbomonkey!!
Thanksgiving was not celebrated in the Enchanted Forest before the Dark Curse. When everyone was transported to Storybrooke, their cursed selves were given knowledge of the festivities that took place amongst the average American family, as well as the history that came before. It was a happy family occasion for most people, and they all had fond memories of that time of year, albeit they were mostly manufactured.
When the general populace of Storybrooke returned to their homeland, Thanksgiving ought to have been quite forgotten, but it was not. Queen Snow White sent out a proclamation, and so it was that Thanksgiving was stated as a feast day and general holiday. It was not to celebrate the same things as the other world’s Thanksgiving, as those no longer applied, but for the Enchanted Forest residents to give their own thanks for being back where they belonged, with their own minds and their own loved ones.
On the occasion of the first Enchanted Forest Thanksgiving, Snow and Charming were determined to have a real family affair. All those related to them were to be a part of the dinner and festivities in general. It was lucky really that the rooms of the Royal Castle were so large, and the tables significantly sized to take all those in attendance, because there were many!
Henry was very much enjoying the experience of having his whole family around him. For a boy that had dreamt of returning to the Enchanted Forest and taking his rightful place as prince amongst his people, it had been a genuinely thankful day when they arrived here. He had no problem at all with celebrating, especially when his family had become so large and full of joy.
It had been decided that Henry should sit at the head of the table. This would usually be the privilege of Queen Snow herself, but she felt today was not a day to be reigning over others, especially given the twisted histories between so many at her table. Nobody could argue with Henry being centre of attention, since he was most of the reason they had been brought together like this, most of the reason they had managed to get home at all.
To Henry’s right sat his mother, Emma. She had not quite adjusted to the formal wear of the Enchanted Forest yet, preferring the pants and leather jacket she often wore in Storybrooke. For such an occasion as this, she had been coerced into a dress, and she was shifting uncomfortably every two minutes because of it. Maybe it was more her style than some of the flowing frilly numbers her mother favoured, but Emma still felt she really had to introduce strapless bras to the land of fairytales, if nothing else.
“Sure you’re alright there, love?” her boyfriend asked from beside her.
“Wardrobe issues, that’s all,” she muttered, shifting again and giving Hook rather too good a view of her bosoms.
“Anything I can help with?” he asked with a look that spoke volumes and was almost dirty enough to even make Emma blush.
“I would say not unless you can get me out of this stupid dress,” she smiled back at him. “But since I know that’s already you’re plan for later, no,” she said softly, only glad to note Henry was not paying attention but was in rapt conversation with his father on the other side of the table.
Emma thought it should feel more weird than this, being as she was next to her boyfriend and opposite her ex, the father of her child, no less. Maybe it was just that she had started to see Neal as Baelfire now, more as Rumpelstiltskin’s son and less as her ex-boyfriend. Maybe it was just because no matter how odd her own situation was, it had to be all the more strange for the two men in question. After all, Hook had dated Bae’s mother, and gone on to meet Bae when he was a teenager, and yet the pair of them, centuries old as they were, both looked like similarly aged men of thirty-something. Emma shook her head and decided not to think about it anymore, concentrating instead on her meal which was delicious.
“This is wonderful,” she heard Belle say from further down the table.
She was on the other side of Rumpelstiltskin, her fiancé, of all wacky things. The little imp himself, who still looked like Mr Gold in the face and yet was dressed in the oddest style Emma had ever seen, had his future daughter-in-law to his other side who seemed oddly unfazed by her position.
“I know, right?” she said, leaning across Rumpelstiltskin to answer Belle’s remark. “I mean, my Granny can cook, I didn’t think anything could be as good as her food, but this sauce!” she enthused.
“Ladies, if you’d be so kind,” Rumpel said carefully, mindful of upsetting Belle, or Red for that matter since she was soon to be family too. “If you could just try to stay in your own space, at least whilst we’re eating.”
“He’s so grumpy today,” his fiancé rolled her eyes at her friend, even as she did as asked and sat back more properly in her seat. “You don’t normally mind so much when I’m practically sitting in your lap,” she told Rumpel with a sly smile that sometimes reminded him of the highlights of her Lacey persona.
“Not in front of company, dearie,” he told her with a tight smile, looking to his son who turned wary eyes upon him.
The relationship between himself and Baelfire was improving, the old grudges thawing over time, predominately thanks to the efforts of the ladies in their life, plus little Henry. Rumpelstiltskin wanted to be a family man, a good father, husband, grandfather, and the like. Unfortunately, the pull of magic was sometimes a little overwhelming, especially now they were back in the Enchanted Forest. He could only do his best, it was just that days like today had a tendency to try his patience. A family gathering was all well and good, but when one’s extended family included not just those you loved but those you loathed... Rumpel looked daggers across the table at Hook, smiling like the crocodile he had once been known as.
“Something bothering you, Dark One?” said the pirate, tossing a piece of food into his mouth and chewing slowly, just daring Rumpel to make a scene.
“Nothing I can’t crush like a bug later,” he smiled amiably, despite the threat he hoped only Killian Jones had heard - no such luck.
“Hey, no in-fighting,” said Charming from his end of the table.
“And that’s by order of the queen,” Snow threw in with a smile that proved she was at least half-joking. “C’mon, you two. You said you’d try for everyone’s sake.”
“Oh, I’m trying,” said Rumpelstiltskin. “Just not quite so trying as him.”
“Rumpel!” Belle admonished him sharply. “Please. It’s Thanksgiving. This day is supposed to mean something special, for all of us.”
“Yes, dearest,” he nodded once, trying to focus on his food - it really was rather delicious.
“That goes for you too, darling,” Emma over-emphasised, sticking an elbow in Hook’s ribs.
The smirk slid off his face immediately.
“You want to play rough, sweetheart, save it for later,” he teased her, but ultimately did as he was told.
Everyone continued eating, through a lull in conversation, until suddenly Henry surprised the whole table with his declaration of happiness.
“I love that we’re all here together,” he grinned widely. “I never thought I’d get this. Not just the castle, and the sword, and the horse, and everything, but a family like this,” he said, looking to Emma and Bae then down the whole length of the table.
“It is pretty special, kid, I’ll give you that,” agreed Emma, looking around herself.
This had to be the weirdest set-up ever. Not a person in this land would’ve pegged this bunch of people as ever being able to get along at all, never mind crowd around the same table for dinner as a family. It was too much for her brain to take to consider all the mixed up connections. Technically speaking, Hook was unofficial step-father to Henry after having the same title to Henry’s own father, Baelfire, once upon a time. Poor Belle was now a step-grandmother thanks to her relationship with Rumpelstiltskin, despite the fact she was actually physically younger than Emma! Then there was the fact that Emma was a very similar age in body to her Mom and Dad. She shuddered at the confused thoughts and immediately regretted it when her dress rode up again. Damn it. And why didn’t this land have pantyhose? Stockings and suspenders should have gone out with the ark in Emma’s opinion.
“I’m sorry, hon, what was that?” she asked when she realised Henry had spoken again and she hadn’t been paying any attention.
“I said, can we do this again at Christmas? Please?” he requested.
“Oh,” Emma wasn’t sure what to say to that, looking to Neal for help.
“Uh, I don’t know. It’s not really my decision....” he floundered.
All eyes went to Snow and Charming, and both seemed ready to agree, when Belle spoke up instead.
“Oh, we should have Christmas at our castle!” she enthused, much to Rumpelstiltskin’s shock, evidenced by the way he started choking rather spectacularly on his food.
More than one person chuckled behind their hands at the display. Dear sweet Belle, she meant well in all things and Rumpelstiltskin loved her without question. The trouble was, she was so very kind and willing to do anyone a good turn. Her beloved Rumpel was just now learning to be a good man, and really would rather only be seen to be so caring when it came to Belle herself or Baelfire.
Extending his kindness to this whole table full of people and possibly beyond, it clearly didn’t thrill him, especially when it meant letting them all into his home for a festive occasion!
“Are we having Christmas?” Baelfire checked. “I mean, in this world... It’s not the same, is it?”
“I grew up with Christmas,” said Emma thoughtfully. “It’d feel weird not to celebrate at all.”
“But we have to have it!” Henry chimed in, looking panicked at the idea of such a thing being taken away from him.
He had been born and raised in the land without magic, and under the curse everyone just celebrated Christmas as a matter of course, as they did Thanksgiving and the 4th July. It would be too weird not to have the traditions of the tree, the gifts, and the meal, whether everybody believed in the point of the day or not.
“I don’t see why we can’t have Christmas,” said Charming as he considered the idea. “We all celebrated it in Storybrooke, under the curse, and it was... fun,” he recalled, looking to Snow who nodded her agreement.
“I didn’t,” Rumpel pointed out, getting everyone’s attention, which honestly he would rather not have right now. “I don’t know if it was Regina’s idea of a little joke, but my alter-ego as it were, our Mr Gold did not celebrate Christmas. He was what the land without magic called a Jew.”
“Mr Gold was Jewish?” asked Henry with some wonder. “So, did you celebrate Hanukkah?” he checked.
He knew different people celebrated the holidays in different ways. Henry wasn’t totally clear on what Hanukkah was about, but he did know it involved lighting candles on the days leading up to Christmas.
“The first year or two, I believe I did,” Rumpel told his grandson thoughtfully. “After that, when my real memories had completely leaked through, I saw very little point in it. It’s a tradition of that world, based on beliefs that I don’t hold,” he shrugged.
The same could be said of Christmas, of course. Life, beliefs, religion, they were very different in the Enchanted Forest to what the people around this table remembered of their cursed selves in Storybrooke. Maybe it was wrong to celebrate things they didn’t understand or that bore no relevance to their lives.
“It doesn’t have to be Christmas, exactly,” considered Belle. “I mean, we can choose a day, even that very day, but it can be our own celebration, just like we’ve made our own Thanksgiving.”
“That makes sense,” Red agreed with a grin. “I mean, all different kinds of people have celebrations at that time of year. We can have something of our own, right?”
“I don’t see why not,” agreed Snow. “What do you think Emma?” she asked her daughter, determined to keep things on an even keel with her and Henry.
It had to be that much harder for those amongst them that were brought up in the land without magic. Though this was where they belonged in a sense, where Emma and Baelfire had been born, much of their lives had been spent in another world. This place was foreign to them in so many ways. Taking Christmas from them, from Henry, reinventing it as something else even, it might not please them.
“I don’t know, I guess we can make it our own thing,” Emma shrugged. “Make it relevant to our world?”
Snow smiled the biggest smile of the day when she heard her daughter refer to this land as ‘our world’. It proved without a doubt that she was starting to feel she really belonged, and that made Snow, and Charming too, the happiest they could ever be.
“I think in the old days they had Winter Solstice or Saturnalia in that world,” said Baelfire thoughtfully. “Actually, a lot of the traditions that people associate with celebrating Christmas actually come from before Christ was even born.”
There were vague memories enough between those gathered here to agree he was right. There was no reason why they couldn’t pick one of those names for their December celebrations or even something else entirely. There could be decorations, gift giving, a family meal, nobody would argue with that.
“We’ll figure out the details, consult with the court, and I’ll send out another decree,” said Snow with a firm nod. “You will have some form of Christmas, Henry, I promise.”
Understandably, the boy looked like a kid at Christmas at the sound of such news, and readily tucked into his food before it went cold.
The rest of the meal passed quietly as all enjoyed the traditional feast. Some parts were less traditional than others, as it turned out. There were certain things that just couldn’t be purchased or easily manufactured in the Enchanted Forest that had been easily accessible in the land without magic. The small supplies that the people had brought over were fast diminishing, so it was a marshmallow substitute on top of Henry’s sweet potatoes, and a berry very similar to the cranberry in the sauce on each person’s serving of turkey. All in all, it had turned out well, and there were no complaints.
When the meal was over, everyone retired to a large living room down the hall, and sat comfortably around the fireplace. Here a discussion started up about what they were all thankful for. Snow asked that each person name at least one thing in turn, eliciting some eye rolls and groans at the prospect of having to think when they were all so full and generally relaxed.
“Well, we would’ve done it at the table, but I couldn’t even see everyone properly at that thing,” Snow complained. “I did say we should use the round table...”
“I’m sorry,” Charming cut in, knowing she was about to get at him for his decision. “I just didn’t think it was appropriate to have a celebration of Thanksgiving around the table from the War Room!”
“He does kind of have a point,” muttered Emma from her spot practically in Hook’s lap.
“Wouldn’t involve yourself in the parents domestics, love. Never worth it,” he advised her in a whisper, as Snow and Charming continued to bicker.
“I don’t want to be anywhere near that table,” Rumpelstiltskin grumbled. “As it is, contaminated with fairy dust and grasshopper droppings...”
“Rumpel!” Belle admonished him for being so mean, trying not to smile at how silly he sounded.
“Hey, I like Archie, and the Blue Fairy too,” said Henry definitely. “All the people that sat at the round table were good, and I know you can’t understand because back then you were kind of bad, but it’s important. That table, the War Room, it’s all important.”
The room seemed to quieten in a general sense when the youngest amongst them gave his opinion. Emma smiled at her son’s attitude, sharing that look with Baelfire. Immediately she felt Killian’s grip tighten around her. For a tough pirate guy, he could be so very insecure.
“It was important,” Red agreed with Henry. “We all really bonded in those weeks and months before the curse came, more than we ever had before.”
“So, this was you, your grandma, Snow and Charming...” said Bae, prompting Red to fill in some blanks on who else was there.
“Jiminy, Blue Fairy, Gepetto and Pinocchio, Grumpy represented the dwarves...” she said thoughtfully, as she counted each person off on her fingers.
“Here’s one thing I never get,” said Emma then, looking to her parents for an answer to the question that came next. “You had all the support against Regina, and against King George, but where was Abigail and Frederick in all this?” she wondered aloud. “I mean, you pretty much saved them both, reunited them, but what? They just turned their back? Disappeared?”
“They did what they had to do,” Snow said sadly, clasping Charming’s hand within her own as they shared a look that nobody else really understood.
“I’d bet my castle that it all came down to Midas,” said Rumpelstiltskin without concern for the deal he was potentially making.
Belle knew he had to be right, not least because he usually was. There was no way he would make even a joking bet if he was not definite in what he said.
“Probably right,” Hook shrugged. “Never met the bloke myself, but I heard the tales. He had a temper, and he very much liked to have his own way.”
“So do most men,” his girlfriend remarked, with a smirk he couldn’t help, a look she seemed to have learnt from him and he didn’t mind at all
“Midas was no ordinary man,” said Rumpel knowingly. “He had plans for his daughter to marry the Prince here, and when that fell through, he was doubtless unhappy.”
“That might be true,” Charming admitted. “But Frederick had once saved Midas’ life. He owed him a debt, and so the marriage had to be allowed to happen,” he explained to the assembled company who all gave their rapt attention. “Unfortunately, King Midas was also worried about the kingdoms falling like dominoes when we began our war against Regina and King George,” he said sadly. “He declared their kingdom neutral, and Abigail and Frederick were forbidden to become our ally or our enemy.”
“We never saw them after that,” said Snow, looking genuinely hurt. “Not until Storybrooke and... and I can’t even think about that right now.”
The mood of the day shifted in a moment. Gone were all the happy faces replaced by vicious memories of the horrors they’d all faced in Storybrooke, whether cursed or not. Each couple seemed to close in on each other, hold on a little tighter, try to find a little warmth and comfort. Henry stood in the middle of all this, feeling not just like a spare wheel suddenly, but also like it was his responsibility to make things better for once, to save the day as his family members so often did for him.
“Hey, maybe we can invite Abigail and Frederick to our Winter celebration at the Dark castle!” he suggested with real joy and enthusiasm. “And what about the dwarves and the fairies? Archie, Pongo, Marco, Pinocchio. We could make it a real party!”
Rumpel turned pale at the suggestion but Belle was so excited, he at least tried to smile. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad just for the one day, and he had his magic if things got out of hand. Henry’s face was alight with joy, and Baelfire looked enthusiastic enough at the idea of such a gathering.
“Please say we can, Rumpel?” said Belle, getting his attention. “I know you’re not much for parties, but think how happy it would make Henry, and we’d be like a family.”
The light in her eyes, the sight of her smile, it never failed to warm his cold, badly beaten heart, and it was true enough that his boys looked well pleased with the idea of a party. The saviour and the pirate, the royals, the wolf girl, they were all grinning like Cheshire cats, and honestly, Rumpel actually had reason to believe it was genuine joy rather than pleasure at his probable discomfort. After all, these were the good guys... for the most part.
“If that is what you wish, Belle, Bae, Henry,” he said looking around each of them.
“Yeah, Papa,” his son told him with a soft smile. “Let’s be the family we always should’ve been.”
“Yes!” Henry literally jumped for joy, talking a mile a minute right after as he started to make plans.
It seemed the talk of what everyone was thankful for had gone completely out of everybody’s mind, all but one anyway. Emma lounged against her lover and watched her son practically run circles in his joy. She grew up in a broken system, learnt to be a saviour and a whole new person when she was grown. Now she had found family, blood and chosen both. She had a man she could love and respect, parents she wouldn’t trade for the world, a son she adored, and the most unlikely friends who she was learning to trust with her life. She was thankful for all of this and so much more. Emma was thankful to realise she had finally found a real home.
The End