A (Deaf) Christmas to Remember

Chapter 1: December 8th

It was the second week of December, and Emma was just now doing her Christmas dinner shopping that evening. After getting off of work she and her six year old son Henry had initially gone home to do their usual routines which purely consisted of homework and dinner, but shortly after dinner Emma remembered that she hadn't bought a turkey to cook (let alone anything) for the upcoming holiday.

Now, she was in a grumpy mood because there was almost nothing left. This was the third store she had been to that didn't have any turkeys. Normally, Emma bought her turkeys well before the holidays and kept them in the freezer until it was time to bring them out, but not this year.

They had just moved to Storybrooke late that November and were still trying to get used to the small town. They had only just finished unpacking all their belongings the day before, and there were too many things on Emma's mind that she completely forgot about Christmas dinner.

For starters, she had started her new job as a First Grade teacher at Storybrooke Elementary last week and was still adjusting to her new schedule.

Then they had the whole moving and unpacking.

The Swan family moved into the same apartment complex that her best friend Mary Margaret and her husband lived at and her old apartment couldn't compare to her new one, not that she wasn't grateful but it had a more modern look to it, and came fully furnished, with the color palette being made up of whites and neutrals.

This new apartment was lofted, and had an open floor plan that Emma loved. Her bedroom was downstairs, along with the dining room, kitchen, living room, and bathroom.

While Emma absolutely hated anything to do with cooking or dishes, she did really like her kitchen. The cupboards and drawers had a sleek look to them and the counter tops and kitchen island were made of marble, which had to be her favorite part of the entire kitchen. She even had stainless steel appliances which was a big step up from her Goodwill appliances and broken fridge. On top of all of that, it was incredibly spacious for how small the apartment actually was.

Their living room was the exact opposite of the kitchen. It was small and couldn't hold much furniture without making the room look too compressed. Against the window sat an entertainment center that held their TV, beside it, a lone lamp. Then in front of the entertainment center was a small coffee table, behind it a small brown couch. Emma had to go out and buy two small arm chairs before they moved because if company came over, there'd be no place for them to sit. That's all the room could really hold, but she did display lots of photos, books and plants to make the room feel less claustrophobic.

The only thing Emma didn't really like about the apartment was the bathroom for the sheer fact that it was larger than it needed to be. The bathroom was located in the corner of the apartment sandwiched between the kitchen and living room. While the shower bathtub combo and the marble countertops were definitely nice, when you walked inside you were greeted with so much unnecessary space that she felt could've been used for the living room instead (or at least a personal washer and dryer).

In the middle of the apartment was the dining room that also served as the main entrance to the other rooms and only consisted of a small brown table and chairs, but truthfully she didn't mind. She would much rather eat at her kitchen island.