Once Upon a Time 1. Dinner with the Charmings

''God, this is _seriously good._''

Snow laughs, biting into a slice of garlic bread and watching her teenaged daughter put away her second plate of pasta, showing no signs of discomfort – or slowing down – whatsoever. Snow could vaguely remember a time when she herself could eat the richest, heaviest things with gusto and retain slenderness with little effort, a long time ago. But that was the one saving grace of being a teenager, she supposed – you could eat nonstop but at the end of the day, you'd still be hungry. Emma was small, and it wasn't entirely down to good genes or her age, however nice a thought that would be. Her daughter's past was dark, darker than the past of any sixteen year old girl had the right to be, and Snow barely knew anything of it.

''I'm glad,'' Snow replied, finishing the bread. ''You're going to be fighting your father for the leftovers tomorrow.''

From her right, Charming groaned. ''It _was _delicious, Snow. I'm never eating again, though, I don't know if I can even _move_.''

Snow snorted. ''Until you remember about the ice cream in the freezer in three hours.''

Emma looked up. ''There's still ice cream?''

Shaking her head in mock exasperation, Snow smiled to herself, and began clearing empty dishes. Emma finished her last bite and stacked her salad bowl onto the plate, standing and stretching, putting a hand over her stomach. ''Thanks for dinner,'' she said as she lifted her plate, heading towards the kitchen, ''and for reminding me about the ice cream.''

''Don't eat it too late,'' Snow called to her retreating back, ''you won't sleep. And help me with dishes, please?''

''Yes, _mom_,'' was Emma's sassy reply, though not without genuine affection. The sounds of clattering dishes echoed from the kitchen, though Snow hadn't moved to follow her daughter, standing frozen at the edge of the table with a spoon in her hand.

This made the third time she had called either of them by their titles – and the only time that it hadn't been while they were in peril.

Charming was gazing up at her. Snow sat the spoon back into the bowl and sighed, beginning to move again. Warmth filled her chest and a smile tugged at her lips, and she shared a look with her husband – he was the only other person who could truly understand the significance of Emma's chosen names for them at any given time, and as he reached out to squeeze her hand, she felt the tendrils of hope that always seemed to spring forth whenever these sorts of moments were shared with the three of them.

''Hey, are you guys doing that silent gaze thingy again?''

Emma was standing in the doorway, towel in hand, eyebrow raised. Snow blinked a few times, smiling up at her daughter as Charming kissed her hand and dropped it to the table, standing up.

''First one who finishes the dishes gets the half baked!'' he said, and no other words would have Emma hustling as fast as she was before the sentence was even finished.

Snow snickered, and shook her head as Charming made to take over the task of filling Tupperware. ''Go help Emma,'' was all she said, before smirking. ''I know I'll be comforting one of you later tonight. God help anyone who withholds Ben and Jerry's from you two, honestly...''


	2. My First Kiss (went a little like this)

**This is just ludicrous, fun fluff, because I wanted to write overprotective!Charmings, and throw some Hook in there as well. Just FYI, these oneshots are going to be out of sequence, and some might not match up with 'forever and a lifetime' completely. But I like writing them, so there we are. Thank you for all the reviews, and keep them coming - I love to know what everyone thinks/wants to see in my stories!**

* * *

''I'll kill him.''

''Charming, be reasonable.''

It was a testament to how strange life was that Emma was even in the middle of this scenario in the first place. She never thought she'd have to worry about talking her overprotective parents down from the edge, but there you had it – weird.

She hadn't even brought home a boyfriend, for god's sake – _how_ her parents had found out about the brief makeout session she'd had with Hook just outside the _Jolly _was anyone's guess, but Emma hadn't exactly been able to deny her father completely when he'd burst into Granny's rambling furiously about how he'd just heard from a source (whatever _that_ meant) that the princess and the pirate were sleeping together.

''Oh my _god _no!'' Had been Emma's first response, after choking on her coke for a good minute or so – rumors spread like freakin' wildfire in Storybrooke, it was really quite ridiculous, almost as bad as any school Emma had been in. Yet she'd been unable to lie and say that she _hadn't _been with Hook last night, although she certainly hadn't been _sleeping with him_. A heated kiss on the docks, and that's all it had been.

Granted, a couple of centuries _was _quite an age gap, so Emma could understand where her parents' outrage as coming from, but really, he _looked _young, and so Emma was going to push for age being just a number in this case. A good ten odd years in physical age wasn't _too _bad, was it? Emma didn't even know. She was the daughter of fairy tale characters for crying out loud, _age gaps _in a nonexistent relationship was the most normal thing she'd encountered thus far.

''Guys, you _need _to calm down.''

They were pissed. Whether it was at her or at the pirate – probably both, hopefully more at him – Emma wasn't entirely sure. But her mother looked very much ready to shoulder her crossbow and embark on a Hook themed manhunt, whilst her father's dead serious threats against Hook's life and limb were rapidly escalating.

''It was just a kiss,'' Emma said, trying for her most placating tone, ''we weren't even on the ship.''

''That's not what Sleepy says - ''

''Sleepy was probably just that. We _weren't _on the ship, Dad. I swear.'' Never let it be said that Emma Swan was afraid of breaking out the big guns in any situation. The 'D' word was becoming more frequently used but it had never yet failed to bring a surprised, but completely paternal tenderness to her father's face. It had the same effect now, though to a lesser extent. David stopped muttered (finally, thank _god, _it was starting to actually creep her out) and sighed, placing his face into his hands.

''Emma...you don't think he's a little...old, for you?''

Mary Margaret appeared to have gotten a hold on her inner mama bear, at least enough to utter the reasonable sounding, tentative question.

''Um...'' Emma took a sip of her coke. _Age is just a number._ ''Maybe if this were the real world,'' she conceded, propping her elbow on the table, ''but we're in Storybrooke. You guys are from the Enchanted Forest. Can you _please _give me _some _leeway here?''

Any rebuttal from either parent was postponed as the bell above the diner's door jingled, and Emma glanced away from her parents' equally fierce expressions for the barest moment, taking another sip of her coke, and nearly choking on it again as she did a double take, realizing just _who _had walked in.

''Swan,'' Hook greeted, smirk firmly in place, approaching their table with apparently no concept of just how screwed he was, ''lovely day we're having, isn't it?''

He was an idiot. An idiot with no sense of timing.

''_Hook,_'' David ground out, making it sound like an expletive, ''you - ''

''Hook,'' Emma said, talking loudly over him as she slid from the booth,''if I were you, I'd make a run for it.''

A unified ''Don't you _dare_!'' came out of her parent's mouths, and Emma winced. But one look at Prince Charming and Snow White's faces was all Hook needed, apparently, for he turned neatly and hustled back out the way he'd come, nearly tripping over poor Dr. Hopper in his haste.

Before Emma could even blink, Mary Margaret was after him, David on her heels, both of them beginning to yell after Hook incomprehensibly as soon as they were out of the diner.

Everyone was staring at her. Emma rolled her eyes.

Luckily for her, Leroy came crashing through the diner door moments later, panting, and all eyes shifted to him. ''The Prince is chasing Hook down Main Street _with a_ _sword!'' _he hollered, ''and Snow White has a crossbow!''

With that, the diner emptied, save for three: the bemused looking Granny, gleeful Ruby, and horrified Emma.

''I'd get out there as fast as you can,'' Ruby advised her, throwing a rag down onto the counter. ''Snow can hit _anything_ if she tries.''

''Even if it's moving?''

''Especially.''

''Damn it.''

The much abused bell jingled again as Emma crashed out of the diner and promptly began running in the direction of the show.


End file.

Once Upon a Time, Family, Hurt-Comfort