Finding You Always

Outsiders

Finding You Always

Chapter 66: Outsiders

When Emma arrived home with the takeout from Granny's, her family was all gathered in the family room, watching one of Henry's superhero movies. It was a warm scene, as usual, as laughter and banter could be heard.

"Mom's right. He does look like you, Daddy," she heard Eva say.

"I don't know," her dad disagreed.

"He does...you could be twins," her mother agreed, as she sat practically in her father's lap with her head resting in the nape of his neck.

"I had a twin. His name was James and he was a..." he said, trailing off for a moment.

"Jerk," he finished, using that description rather than the more colorful one he might have used if Summer and Henry weren't in the room.

"Maybe grandma Ruth had triplets," he brother suggested as a wisecrack.

"She may not have told me about James, but I think she would have mentioned a brother named Fandral that ascended to Asgard at some point," her dad joked back.

"Oh...the food's here," Leo called, as they paused the movie and piled into the kitchen.

"Thanks for grabbing dinner, honey," Snow said, as she started getting silverware out.

"Anytime Mom," Emma replied, as she looked at her father, who was giving her a curious look.

"What?" she asked.

"What are you up to?" he asked. She blanched.

"I'm not up to anything, except grilled cheeses, burgers, and onion rings," she deflected, as she pointed at the food.

"Uh huh...you have that look on your face that says you're up to something," he replied in amusement.

"I do not," she protested.

"Yes you do, because it's the same look your mother gets when she's up to something," he replied. She opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it again.

"Okay...but you can't flip out," she warned. He chuckled.

"Yeah...this should be good," he mused, as he grabbed a couple beers from them out of the fridge.

"I might have hired Hook to do a job for me and let him out of jail," she said, wincing as she watched her father's face. His eyes widened and then to her surprise, he sighed.

"Okay...I'm assuming you have a good reason, at least I hope you have a good reason for letting stab happy pirates go free," he said, with slight exasperation.

"I hired him to tail August," Emma explained.

"You don't trust him," David deduced.

"Do you?" she asked.

"No...he's definitely nothing like the little boy I remember," he replied.

"He's hiding something else...I can feel it," Emma implored.

"Okay," David said simply.

"Okay?" she asked and he smiled.

"I trust you, princess. If you think this is the right move, then I support you one hundred percent," he said. Emma smiled. Now she didn't even know why she was initially worried about his reaction. Her father was always in her corner and she hugged him.

"Thanks Dad," she said. He smiled and kissed her hair.

"Now come on, let's go eat before your brother scarfs all the onion rings," he joked. She smiled and they grabbed their drinks, before joining their family at the table.