The Villain Got The Happy Ending

Chapter Sixteen: The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

"Robin, why are we doing this? My mother could find us or try and hurt-" Robin kissed me mid-sentence and sat me down in front of our large Christmas tree. "We are doing it because this is our first Christmas with the babies, and the first Christmas we've had married, I'd like people to know that we have had a pretty eventful year, and a Christmas Card is the way to do it, now darling you look beautiful, no one is going to try and hurt us because of a beautiful family picture we are sending out." He said setting the camera up in front of me. I sighed and adjusted my red dress, which was fitted against my adjusting figure, I was almost the same size as before, it had been two weeks since I had Matthew so I was still recovering. My red lipstick was smudged so I went upstairs to fix it and change the babies into their Christmas outfits.
"Let's get you two changed!" I said pulling a frilly red dress that Mary Margaret had bought Emmy, her gift for being her godmother. I slipped it over her her head and buckled her black shoes and wrapped a black bow around her head then grabbed her and placed her in the swing. David had bought an outfit for Matthew, being his godfather, he wanted to represent himself in the picture. I pulled his pants up and his little vest on over his head and pulled his socks on. "Let's go." I said smiling, grabbing Emmy and carrying them both downstairs. Robin came downstairs with Roland and he was dressed in the outfight I had bought him. "Well aren't you handsome munchkin?" I said handing Matthew to Robin. I sat down and laid Emmy back on my arm and moved Roland so he was next to me so Robin could set up the equipment, he had started pursuing photography with Belle shortly after he returned from the Enchanted Forest, he was fiddling with the camera when the doorbell rang. I opened the door and Henry came in along with Emma, Hook, her parents and brother. "Oh, uh hello?" I said holding the door open for all of them. "We wanted to see our godchildren in their Christmas outfits!" Mary Margaret said picking up Emilia and holding her out to examine her dress. David grabbed Matthew from Robin and straightened his green vest. "Looking sharp!" He said holding him out as well. Emma walked over and stood by David. I took a picture of them, capturing the moments of everyone's first Christmas officially together. They all stood in a row, Emma closer to David and Matthew, and Mary Margaret held Emmy close to her face, smiling. "Okay, Henry is here, let's get this picture taken!" I said grabbing my daughter from Mary Margaret. I sat down next to Robin and he held Matthew, Emma arranged all of us and stood behind the camera, Mary Margaret stood next to her making faces so the kids would smile. Emma snapped the picture and showed it to Robin and I, "there you go." She said handing him the camera. "I think we need another one, a family photo." I said moving over for the others to scoot in. The three of their faces lit up with excitement, David picked up Neal and led Mary Margaret to stand next to Robin. Emma stood next to Henry and I, wrapping her arm around his. Robin ran up and set the timer, trying to move quickly without waking the baby. He sat back down and kissed my hand. "How about we all make a funny face!" Mary Margaret said cheerfully. "No." Everyone said in unison. The timer went off and everyone smiled, giving their best "can we please finish this" smile. I stood up and started moving the chairs away from the tree. "So the Christmas Eve party is tonight at six, everyone be back here by then, we have to celebrate this year!" Robin said grabbing the remaining chairs and put them back at the table. I walked into the kitchen and started bringing out the food platters and arranging them on the counter when Emma walked in and swiped a cookie from the tray. "Swan." I said in a warning tone, fixing the uneven line of cookies on the plate. "So this is our first Christmas where we aren't trying to kill each other, steal our son from each other, or fighting some sort of beast. What did you and Henry do while it was just the two of you?" She said popping the last piece of cookie in her mouth. I wiped the crumbs off of the counter and sat down on the stool. "Well, his first Christmas was when he was only three months old, but I made sure to make it special, in case he ever asked. He had gifts, not many, I was still trying to manage money, but I got him what I could, then we went out to the town line, and I had timed it perfectly so we saw the fireworks being displayed a couple towns over. As he got older I had to work more, trying to play Santa costed a lot. So on Christmas I'd make us dinner and we would just spend time together. Nothing too elaborate." I said fidgeting with the plate, uncomfortably shifting my weight, thinking about the time when it was just the two of us, a happy family. "The one thing I regret the most about giving up Henry was, I missed him growing up, I look at my parents and I see myself, and after losing him, I wish I knew him, I wish I knew what he looked like, his behavior as a baby, I wish I had him as a baby." She said, a singular tear rolling down her cheek, she quickly wiped it away and smiled. "Come with me." I said, getting an idea. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up the staircase into our bedroom, she sat down in the chair near the window and looked at her hands while I opened the cabinet under the night stand and pulled out an album and a DVD labeled "Henry 2001". "Come on, let's go watch this."