A (Deaf) Christmas to Remember

Chapter 5: December 12th

To Emma's surprise, she had a great day at work. The students were getting used to her and no longer saw her as a substitute, but as their teacher. Emma had come into the school year during the last week of November as a permanent replacement for their original teacher, who had gotten into a car crash and decided to take the opportunity to retire. The students had had on and off substitutes before Emma had gotten the call from Mary Margaret about the position. With all that in mind, her students seeing her as their teacher was reassuring. It made Emma feel as though she was slowly becoming a part of Storybrooke's community.

She blew through her day without breaking a sweat and was excited to get home. Ruby was coming over again to give her more lessons. Today, Ruby would be coming later because she had to help Regina with some important meetings. They were finally sent the pictures taken of Regina and her many pieces that were supposedly taken two months ago and they were supposed to be going over the pictures that Regina wanted to be used in January's edition of Art in America Magazine.

(That gave both Emma and Henry plenty of time to do some work. )

The second the key turned in the lock and Emma pushed open the door, Henry wasted no time rushing past her and up the steps to his loft. One of the few rules Emma had for her son was that the second he got home, he needed to start on his homework, unless he wanted a snack or she knew he really needed a break.

With her ever energetic son working on his homework, Emma took the opportunity to clean up their apartment. Emma let out a loud grunt when she looked around and noticed that the apartment was starting to get messy. Henry's toys from last night were sprawled almost everywhere. He had toys on the couch, the floor, the counter, even some on the stairs, which Emma told herself to bring up later.

She made her way throughout the small apartment, hitting each room one by one and picking up last night's mess. Though it was technically her fault since she chose to put off cleaning immediately, that fact didn't stop the string of curse words leaving her mouth at every opportunity. She loved Henry with every ounce of her being but man could that kid make a mess.

After about an hour and a half of Emma bending over backwards picking up toys, removing various stains from their sofa, and picking up mysterious food items, she decided the apartment was as clean as it would ever get. (Truthfully it could get cleaner but Emma's lazy.)

Partially exhausted, she lifted her arm up and wiped at the sweat starting to coat her forehead. Henry could be a serious handful sometimes, and after dealing with rowdy kids at school, then coming home to a hyperactive Henry, she just didn't have the energy or the time to clean like she wished she could.

The blonde ended up finishing just in time, and she smiled as Henry bounced down the steps, running towards her, excitedly telling her he was finished with his homework.

"Good job buddy!" She offered the boy a small high five before taking his hand in hers, leading him back upstairs to check his homework. "Let me double check your work okay? Then you can play your video games."

A switch immediately flipped in her son's brain at the mention of video games and he pulled his hand away from hers, racing up the steps.

"Come on mom!" Henry groaned. Evidently, Emma's pace wasn't fast enough for Henry, who bounced up and down at the top of the steps until his mothers face appeared in the loft.