Home is the Hunter

Chapter 2

After probably the most miserable fucking years I've ever lived, I'm finally where I belong. Snow White and my cubs are my home. I can smell their scent on her. And then there's her own. No amount of smoking in the world could ever drown it out, but now I don't ever want to. I could smell her from miles away from the farm, and now that she's holding my arms, right under my fucking nose, it fills me up and makes me lightheaded in the most wonderful way. I want to hold her tightly and kiss her to make up for all of the years we had to spend away. But I can't. Not yet.

We didn't exactly part in the best terms when she refused to run away with me, and though I've found a solution to our dilemma, there's still a part of me that's unsure if she's going to want to live with me now.

"The Valley of the Big Sleepers couldn't be used for anything as long as it was filled up with sleeping giants and dragons." We stand on a cliff with miles and miles of hills and trees spreading out in front of us. "But it's empty now, and pretty roomy as it turns out. Lots of untouched forest."

"Which means the dilemma keeping us apart no longer applies," I say. "I wasn't allowed to ever visit the farm, and because of the nature of the children you weren't allowed to live anywhere but the farm."

"But you can live here, and now that it's officially separate from the farm, so can I."

"Not so fast Bigby," she says. "Since we're in this area, I want you to accompany me to one of the caves. There's something you need to see."

"Uh, Ghost?" Snow smiles at the empty air. "Can you wait here for a little while? Mommy and Daddy need to do something just for grownups. But we'll be right back, okay?"

Is it lovey stuff? Daddy always made me leave the cabin when he wanted to do lovey stuff with the Sarah lady.

Snow's smile falters, and she crosses her arms over her chest, a look I am well acquainted with.

I silently curse Ghost for bringing it up; it's not really how I wanted her to find out, and I've grown used to walking on eggshells with the mothers of my children. After all, she's used every excuse in the past to reject my affection.

"Okay," she says simply. "That's a conversation we need to have real soon. But first things first."

She leads me away from Ghost and toward a cliff side peppered with rocks and nooks. Our trek is silent until we arrive at a roomy cave littered with boxes and boxes of stuff.

"You have some work to do before I let you see the kids-- our other kids."

She picks up the first dusty box and sets it on a table in front of me.

"First some reading. This box is full of all the letters they wrote you. Each one has a copy of your reply paper clipped to it."

"Then you can unwrap all the presents they sent you for Christmas, Birthday and Father's Day." She points to a large box full of wrapped packages of different sizes. "Make damn sure you memorize who gave you what."

"And finally, we'll go over every gift you sent them, so it doesn't come as a complete surprise to you when they mention it."

"Got it," I say.

Momma Snow is not very different from Deputy Mayor Snow. I would find it more amusing if it wasn't so heartbreaking to see all of the gifts and correspondance I missed from my children over so many years.

"Thank you, Snow," I whisper, though I still feel coldness radiating from her. "For not letting me be a deadbeat father."

"Well, I know you didn't want to be."

She walks out of the cave, and I follow. I'll have to return later tonight to catch up on years of good parenting before I can see my cubs, and I can't wait much longer.

As we near the top of the hill where we first reunited, I pull her hand to stop her for a moment, ready to talk about the elephant in the room so we can finally put it behind us. Because I know Sarah was just a mistake, and every second I spent with her was a painful reminder that she wasn't who I was meant to be with.

"We can talk about her in detail if you like, but the gist is this: Sarah is one of the ways I tried to forget you." Snow looks at me and sighs. Though I'm sure the news bothers her, I can sense she's trying not to hold it against me. "I also tried booze and solitude. Nothing worked. How could it?"

Nothing over the past few years was ever a good enough distraction from losing my family.

"So here it is one last time, and then I'll leave you alone forever if that's what you decide," I tell her. She's rejected me before, and I'm well aware of that as I prepare to bear my heart out to her one last time.

"I love you Snow, and have since the hour we first met. Hell, I wanted you even before then. Even before we existed. As if every movement of every star and planet, every tick of creation's clock occurred only so that we could someday find each other."

"Bigby, I--"

But I can't let her stop me now, because I'm in too deep, and I need to make her understand that we are meant to be together. Because after centuries of trying my fuckign hardest to forget her, and after getting rejected time and time again by the only woman I've ever loved, I am still helpless against her. She's the only person that can control me, and the only one I would ever want to. She's the reason I try to be a better person, someone worthy of her affection. And I knew this from the first second I lay eyes of her all those years ago when I was nothing more than a bad wolf feared by every fable.

"I'm certainly no handsome prince come to steal you away from all the cares in the world."

I grab her shoulders gently and pull her closer to me, because I want her to meet my eyes and believe how serious I am about all of this.

"I can never offer you riches or palaces or any sort of luxury," I say. "But I think you've had your fill of such things by now."

Snow's brows are furrowed, but she doesn't look away, and I can hear her heart fluttering inside her chest. I can see the conflict within her.

"What I can offer you is a home in our valley, where we can raise our children." Her lips twitch ever so slightly. "And I'm old-fashioned enough that I think we should be married to do it."

She watches me silently, and I swear I'm going to lose my mind if I have to wait another second for her response.

"I think that's your cue to say something now."

"Okay, you've defeated me," she sighs. "You win."

She places a soft hand on my neck, and we kiss. After centuries of begging and hoping for a chance to prove myself to her, I finally get to taste her lips, and I swear every miserable second was worth it.