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Acceptance

Summary:

There's something Mary Margaret and Emma did that gave the orphan a feeling of loved. Now that the curse is broken, Snow keeps it up, but David is about to catch on to the whole thing.

Notes:

I currently have no inspiration for my one shot series, so here's a one off that came to mind. Takes place in season 2, obviously an AU of the timeline. I'm setting this as though Tamra and Owen didn't start terrorizing the town.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

David couldn’t help but notice that Emma and Snow seemed to have a deeper bond, despite only just being reunited. Snow tried to remind him that they had been friends for that first year, best friends actually. She and Emma had become family without realizing that they actually were. But he suspected there was more. Emma seemed very jumpy at times. If he came home from work, he would find her curled up into Snow, but then his daughter would instantly sit up straight. She seemed awkward with affection when it came from him, yet from Snow, it didn’t seem to matter.

 

Emma knew he was getting suspicious and tried to bring it up with her mother. “He doesn’t believe us.”

“Emma,” Snow said, softly as she ran a brush through her daughter’s curls. “What does Mommy tell you?”

“Mom…”

“Emma.”

Emma sighed. “Mommy worries, baby stays calm.”

“That’s right. He doesn’t know the truth, but I wish you would let me tell him. I don’t think he would mind.”

 

Emma shook her head, putting a thumb in her mouth. She had only just gotten a father in her life, she didn’t want to scare him off. The whole thing with Mary Margaret and Emma had come about in a weird way when she discovered a box Emma had brought when she moved in. She felt bad for the woman she at the time thought was her roommate and wanted to let her feel loved. Once they realized they were mother and daughter, nothing had changed between the two. Snow hated keeping the secret from David, but she wasn’t going to blow Emma’s confidence.

 

“Okay Angel,” Snow cooed. “Whatever my baby wants.” She found it hard to deny Emma anything. After all, she had been through so much. “Does my baby want to change into her jammies?” Emma nodded. “Good, your hair’s all sorted.” She pulled out the box and removed a pair of footie pajamas with little moons and stars all over them. She helped Emma change and laid with her in the bed, cuddling her close.

“Mommy stay,” Emma whined.

“Shhh, Mommy’s not going anywhere. Ever.” Emma nodded into her shoulder and allowed Snow to sing her a soft lullaby. Soon, she was drifting off to sleep.

 

David walked through the door of the apartment and looked around the first floor, the girls were nowhere to be found. He knew that Henry was back to living with Regina (though he visited them every other weekend) and Emma’s bug was parked out front, so they had to be home. He bounded up the stairs and pushed open the door, pausing at the sight. Emma, dressed in footie pajamas, cuddled up with Snow and sucking her thumb. While his daughter was asleep, his wife was wide awake. She caught his glance and sighed, gently letting her daughter out of her grasp and lead him back down.

 

“I can explain.”

“You can?”

“Yes. Look, before the curse broke, I as Mary Margaret found out that Emma sometimes needed to be little. Before coming here, she’d do it on her own but since she was with me…I guess even a part of me back then knew I was her mommy and would tend to her. We kept it up after it broke, it seemed even more natural, I was doing what I should’ve been able to do all those years ago…”

“And you don’t think that I would want to?” David asked, hurt.

Snow raised an eyebrow. “That’s not the reaction I was expecting…”

“I’ll admit, it is a little overwhelming but from what you’ve told me, it all makes sense. She deserves to get to have bits of a loving childhood. You’ve gotten to care for our daughter and I haven’t. It’s not exactly fair.”

Snow put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t my idea, Emma is just scared of how you’ll react. And to be honest, if you go to her like this, she’ll feel even worse.”

David sighed. “I don’t want that.”

“Let me talk to her, okay? I want to have this time with all three of us, we’ve missed out on so much. But I don’t want to spook Emma.”

 

The next morning, Snow gently talked with Emma about it, letting her know that David was indeed okay with all of it. Emma, who wasn’t much for mushy talks, agreed to it so long as it was just natural. No big talks on the subject, it would just be a thing, such as their own arrangements had started. Snow reported back to David, who agreed. The next time Emma was little, Snow got her ready and texted David, who got off work early. He returned to the apartment and found Emma sitting in a pretty blue dress with a white smock, cuddled up against Snow, sucking on a pacifier, her hair in pig tails. David couldn’t help but smile as he walked over, sitting down.

 

“Hey Emma.”

Emma looked up at him and curled closer to Snow, who stroked her hair. “Why don’t you go say hi to Daddy? I’ll be right here.”

Emma sighed but pulled away and set her eyes on her dad. “Hi.”

“You look very pretty in your dress,” he said, that got a small smile on her face. “Did Mommy do your hair.”

“Uh huh.”

“They make you look so adorable. Can I get a hug?” He held out his arms and Emma shyly hugged him. He cuddled her close, kissing her temple. He couldn’t believe he finally got to cuddle his little girl. She was just so adorable. “There’s some ice cream in the freezer, would you like some?” That got such a full smile, her pacifier fell out.

“Yes, Daddy!”

“Aw, that’s my girl! Come on, let’s go.” He stood up, holding out his hand to Emma, who happily accepted and followed. Snow smiled after them. They were so sweet together. There was no doubt about it, Emma Swan was definitely a daddy’s girl.

Notes:

If you all have prompts you'd want to see, let me know and I'll gladly fill them.