The Hearth's Heart (Charming/Emma)

[Mary Margaret Blanchard]

Mary Margaret counted the amount of flour needed for the homemade pasta. 1... 2... 3.. No wait, was it 4 cups? She quickly checked the cookbook and smiled. It was only 3. Mary Margaret invited Emma and David for a more proper dinner tonight. She had allowed David to take Neal out for a stroll in the park as she made preparations for tonight's meal. She had anticipated more bonding with Emma and really wanted it to be perfect. She felt upset that it wouldn't be this nice every night. With the laid out tablecloth and pasta that took hours to make. She wanted to be able to do this in their castle, but her small home here was what she had. 

Snow quickly put the flour onto the board and began to roll it out, cutting the arranged dough in pasta like strips. She would either be making lasagna or spaghetti, whatever came out first. The first time she'd had something of the sorts was in Storybrooke. In the Enchanted Forest, eating bizarre foods wasn't abnormal, such as dragon's tongue and ogre flesh. The abnormality here was making pasta. She never usually cooked as a royal, but enjoyed doing it when she lived with the dwarfs. Mary Margaret wanted the meal to be perfect for her family, as this was how it was supposed to be. She loved David and Emma and wanted them to understand that. Mary Margaret put the pasta in the water and boiled it. She then opened up the cupboard and pulled out a glass of red wine. She smiled and carried the bottle to the table. The table was already set as perfectly as she wanted it to be. The tablecloth, the arranged silverware and even the wine glasses. Tonight's family dinner was going to be perfect.

As she finished cooking the pasta, she smiled as she served the pasta to the empty table. Snow wanted everything to be prepared ahead of time, especially for the busy family that she cared so much about. As she finished setting the table, she smirked and put her hands to her side. Emma and David both walked into the door and had smiles on both of their faces. It seemed as if they walked together back home. Emma was finished with her workday, being the sheriff. David was finished taking out Neal for a stroll in the park. He had allowed Regina to babysit Neal as she was deemed trustworthy to do so. Mary Margaret knew that Regina had evolved to become a much better motherly figure and she wanted Regina to know that she recognized that. She still had some paranoia, but shook it off as her two loves walked inside the door.  "David... Emma..." She began as both of them walked inside. Tonight would be the perfect family night.

David Nolan Emma Swan

[Deleted]

It had been a long...boring day. Emma had spent the entire day at work, doing mostly nothing. Luckily for her, she had an amazing boyfriend who had brought her lunch while she was working earlier, otherwise she would have been starved. ..much like she was now. What? It had been a few hours since lunch! She had told Killian that she would be having dinner with her parents tonight, and he seemed to be excited for her. In fact.. Emma was pretty excited too. She hadn't really gotten a lot of time to just sit with the two of them to talk. Everything was a little fast paced in Storybrooke..but there was finally a lull in drama for awhile. She had just arrived home, when she saw David standing by the door, about to go inside. "Perfect timing," she spoke with a small grin. She sniffed the air, and let out an 'mmm' sound. "Wow.. what is she cooking in there? It smells amazing.." And they hadn't even walked in yet. 

The two of them stepped inside, with Emma going in first after David offering her the 'ladies first' thing. So charming. She pulled off her jacket and smiled at Snow who was waiting for them. The house looked, and smelled, so pretty. It was gorgeous. She went through a lot of work for this meal, and it definitely wouldn't go unappreciated. "It smells great in here, mom."  It was still strange to call her 'mom'. It felt right though, somehow.. but it was weird, since, well, they were pretty much the same age. She hung up her jacket, letting David greet Snow as well. Emma then took her turn, and hugged her mother. It was the least she could do with how much work Snow obviously put in to this dinner tonight. "I'm staaarving." 


Mary Margaret Blanchard
David Nolan

[David Nolan]

A family dinner should not make him nervous. But it wasn’t the entire family and that was what made him nervous. After spending the afternoon with his little son, he had to give him to someone he really did not want to give him to. Yes, Regina was deemed trustworthy now, but he’d have Neal much rather with Granny. That woman was less likely to be attacked and more likely to protect Neal first above anyone else. Whatever happened, he had full trust in Granny, but still a bit of respect of Reginas past. He did not want to leave his baby with her, despite knowing she had done a great job with his grandson. He saw too much. As it happened, it was Snows wish and so he had to follow it, if he wanted to or not. That did not mean he couldn’t ask for a back up plan. That back up plan was a pirate utterly wrapped around his children’s little fingers. On his way home he had texted Killian to ask him to casually swing by Reginas to check on Henry and Neal.

He was still standing in the hall, checking once more if the text was clear enough, before he wanted to go in. But before he could so much as put the mobile phone away, he hear his daughters voice. 

“Perfect Timing indeed. How are you, Emma?” With a gentle squeeze of her shoulder, he grinned at her reaction to the smell. With his worry about the baby, he hadn’t even noticed it. But it did smell good. “Hopefully not lasagna.” He chuckled before stepping back to let Emma in first, not so much due to his manners, but more because he just adored his girls. Emma especially deserved to be treated every bit the princess she was as she had been deprived of being treated as such when she was younger. As he pulled of his own coat, making sure Emmas hung properly as he put his own up as well, he grinned. Emmas announcement to be starving actually reminded him a bit of their grandson.

“Did I miss the part where my daughter is the ever hungry teenager and not my grandson?” With said grin he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him to kiss the top of her head lovingly. “She is right. It does smell great in here.” 



Mary Margaret Blanchard
Emma Swan

[Mary Margaret Blanchard]

Mary Margaret smiled at her two beautiful loves and walked to both of them, taking their coats to put on the hanger while they walked to the table where they sat. The food was previously laid out and she smirked with their passing compliments. "It's spaghetti or lasagna... Not exactly sure which... I'm sure you'll like it regardless!" She smiled and eyed Charming. Mary Margaret was still a bit nervous giving Neal to Regina, but wanted to prove that she accepted Regina as part of the family regardless of their past. She wanted equilibrium between everyone. Acceptance started with being able to show that you trust someone.

"And Neal is safely with Regina I can hope?" She smiled at Emma and sat down with them, beginning to eat the food that she made for both of them. She wanted to be able to have a normal family dinner for once. Mary Margaret dreamed of events such as these in the Enchanted Forest, where she could teach Emma how to sew, teach her how to hunt, and much much more. It made her upset that she couldn't do any of this now, as Emma was more developed as a person, but she still loved her daughter regardless of the situation. She could do that with Neal. It saddened her that Emma wasn't raised with the manners that Snow had been raised with, but the fact that she still developed as a wonderful person made those thoughts pass. She saved all of Storybrooke and helped reform Regina as a person. Even though the life she lived wasn't desirable, it definitely was better than what she lived in the Enchanted Forest, running away from Regina most of her life. Running water, electricity, even the solid pavement were all wonderful things.Sure, Mary Margaret still reminisced about time spent in the Enchanted Forest, but life in Storybrooke seemed to be what the future held for her.  "I hope the food is okay... I haven't cooked this type of food before. I'd cook some Dragon's Tongue, but there are sadly no dragons to kill here."




David Nolan Emma Swan

[Deleted]

All of the hugging and the love in the room felt nice. It was something that she always wished she  had growing up. Well..better late than never, right? She got hugs, and kisses on her hair from her father, and hugs from her mother. It had been something she'd craved for a very, very long time..sometimes it was hard to believe that she had it now. It was even harder to believe that her doting parents were Snow White and Prince Charming, but the more she thought about it, the harder it was to grasp the situation clearly. So, to her.. they were mom and dad.  At least in moments like this when the town didn't need saving from something evil. She glared playfully at David at his remark. "Hey.. you should have seen me when I was a teenager. Think i'm bad now? It was horrible." She grinned. 

She then focused on her mother. It was some sort of pasta.. how did that get confused? Well, Snow didn't really cook a lot... so she definitely wouldn't hold it against her. At least she was trying. "It sounds.. great already mom!" She said enthusiastically. She then crossed the room to sit at the table, and she started to dig in. Sure enough, after the first bite, she was hooked. "Mmm.." she hummed, closing her eyes. "These are the best noodles I've ever had.. Did you make these?" It certainly didn't taste like anything from a box. And the sauce! It was incredible. She got lost in eating for a few minutes, and then she realized that this dinner was probably meant for them to talk, and to bond. "So," she spoke after wiping her mouth with a napkin. "I stopped a cat burglar today. ..Like..really a cat burglar." She then looked at David. "Remember the cat who stole the food? Caught him. He's back with his owner." She smiled proudly. That..was the excitement of her day. 


Mary Margaret Blanchard
David Nolan

[David Nolan]

“He is with Regina, yes.” He refused to say the word safe in context to that. He’d see about safe once Hook reported back to him- actually maybe they should officially employ the man, he was running errands for them all the time anyway. Might as well have him paid with real money, not just Emmas love. But Emmas love was a pretty damn good payment already. At the very least he adored those small moments with his beloved daughter – he was lost to her charms anyway. “I have the feeling we will get a taste of it soon. Henrys appetite is getting more and more every day.” And given that he seemed to have a lot from his mother, Henry might mimic those habits of Emmas and he was grateful of it. He had missed so much of her life, yet not willingly. He wanted to enjoy every single moment with her and her son now.

“I prefer pasta over dragons tongue any day, to be honest.” He grinned at that. “Your cooking is great with that, but the tongue just isn’t mine.” He had been raised a shepherd, he wasn’t used to fancy food, never really needed him. Drop a bit of common meat like beef and sheep on his plate and he’d be happy. But dragon and what not? Not his world at all. Snow had a way with spices that made it bearable, though. Somehow he felt like that was something Emma might even share with him. He had seen her appreciate the simple food often. And what she made was simple enough to have him dig in. On top of it, it tasted perfectly and it was far enough from lasagna to not leave a bit of a bitter taste in his gut. He just ate, fully intending on making his compliments heard after he finished. Until his daughter spoke. 

“You caught him? He stole other stuff as well?” Honestly that cat had been the source of a bit of wonder in the entire town so far. It turned out if really stole stuff then. “Real cat or shape shifting human?” He looked up at his wife. “Remember when I told you someone bugged us to investigate the case of a stolen cake? We were convinced it was just his own cat eating it from the windowstill. Now though…”



Mary Margaret Blanchard
Emma Swan