Troubled Water

2. mother

moth·er : a female parent : : maternal tenderness or affection

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It is only two hours later that Mary Margaret came home. She seemed so happy, Emma wondered where she was and what caused her to smile like that.

"I got us some food." Emma said and her mother came to sit down. She cut the bread in two halves and gave her mother one. "Where were you?" she asked.

Before going on with the story, there is one important detail that you shall know. Mary Margaret, Emma's mother, was forced to marry a man a few years ago, a man with more money than she had. It seemed like the end of the world back then, since she was madly in love with a simple shepherd, David, living in her village. After her marriage, she secretly snuck out often to meet with David. It lasted for a few weeks, even months, but she got pregnant. Mr. Swan, her husband, found out that the child was not his, so one night, he followed his wife and surprised the two of them. Two days later, David left town and Mary Margaret was left with only sadness, but still one part of him was still with her, the child.

Emma only has a few memories of Mr Swan, the man she knew as father. He died of sickness when she was 4. Mary Margaret was a little relieved when it happened. She faked to be sad, but all she had to do to convince everyone was to think of her real true love, the real father of her child and how he left. David never came back and Emma never met her father.

Now, shall we continue?

"I was... I just bumbed into an old friend." she said, well lied. Emma knew it wasn't true, or not entierly.

"And who was that old friend?" Emma asked.

Mary Margaret sat down. She hesitated to tell her daughter. She was happy, so happy of seeing him again, but what about her daughter? What would she think, now that she was not a child anymore? "David." she finally declared.

Emma dropped her piece of bread. "David as in my real father?" she asked.

"Yes." her mother said.

"Wow. I was not expecting this." she said after a little moment of silence, but then the absence of sound stayed for a little while. Mary Margaret could not figure out what to say to her. David had never really been Emma's father, but she always had loved him. What was she going to do? She had not thought about any of this when she was with David, in her little bubble of happiness. So, she decided to change the subject. "How was your day? What did you do?" she asked Emma.

"I almost got caught stealing that bread." Emma said and got up. She grabbed her hood and left the house, leaving her mother alone. She followed a path for a while, until she reached the end of the village and then just kept going. She did not follow anything, her feet just knew exactly where to go, because she had been at this place so many times. She arrived at the edge of the forest, where she had found, probably the most beautiful view of her village. She would see everything from above, the houses, the docks, the small market and even the castle a little bit further. It was beautiful, but also calming and for a moment, it made her stop to think about who her father was and that she would have to meet him very soon.

Emma heard leaves rustling and a branch crack, so she turned her head and saw her friend, wearing her beautiful bright red riding hood.