Chapter Text
It wasn’t the cold seeping through the edge of the poorly insulated windows in his tiny New York City apartment that alerted Henry Mills to the severe winter storm sweeping across five states. It wasn’t the weather reports on TV or the alert on his phone. No, Henry found out about Winter Storm Fisher when his best friend and neighbor came stomping into his apartment. Just entering his apartment wasn’t sufficient, however. No, she burst into his bedroom, startling him awake. She was a petite, auburn tornado of irritation; a burst of fiery temper in his freezing apartment.
“My flight was cancelled!” she shouted, pacing his room agitatedly. “Did you hear me, Henry? Cancelled!”
“Um,” he mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes wearily, “yeah, EJ, I heard.”
“Well, why are you still sitting there doing nothing?”
“Because I’m only wearing my boxers.” It was way too early for a scene this bizarre. It wasn’t as if EJ didn’t come over unannounced on a regular basis; she did. She'd just never marched straight into his bedroom at . . . 6 am.
“Then get dressed and help me fix this mess!” She stood there, still in her pajamas, her arms crossed and her foot tapping his bedroom floor. Her auburn hair was in a messy pile on top of her head, and she hadn’t yet put on makeup. He knew this because her freckles were more pronounced, and her light eyelashes made the blue ring around her irises seem darker. Or perhaps it was her anger. EJ’s eyes were the most fascinating mystery Henry had encountered in this city. Her license said they were hazel, but that didn’t really do them justice. Besides the unique ring of blue, they were a dark hunter green with flecks of gold. In short, they defied classification.
Henry gestured at EJ before swinging his legs over the side of the bed, but she just challenged him with an arch of her brows. He sighed as he flung the sheets aside. So apparently their friendship had reached this level of comfort; her seeing him in nothing but his underwear. As he opened his drawer for a pair of jeans, EJ turned and headed for the living room, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. The news anchor was talking about the hundreds of flights that were cancelled up and down the east coast. EJ gave a small whimper as she collapsed on the couch. Once he was dressed, Henry came up behind her and rested his hands sympathetically on her shoulders.
“Daddy had tickets this year to see the lights at Lake Lanier,” EJ told him in a quiet voice, her southern accent coming out stronger than normal, “and Mama and I were going to make fudge. She was waiting for me to do it. And my sister and I were going to take her kids to ride the pink pig at Lenox Mall.”
“The pink pig?”
EJ chuckled even as her eyes welled up with tears. “It’s a thing in Atlanta. I don’t know why; don’t ask.”
Henry came around the couch to plop down next to her. She collapsed against his chest, and he put his arms around her. “The airports will open back up. You can get another flight.”
But that didn’t seem likely when the meteorologist began explaining his weather map. A second front was set to come in directly behind the first, larger and stronger. This one was named Gia.
“It’s only four days until Christmas, Henry,” she whispered, “let’s face it, I’m stuck here.”
He didn’t quite know what to say. He himself wouldn’t want to be all alone in the city away from his family at Christmas, but for EJ he knew it was worse. Her family was a lot farther away, and driving down through several states all in the grips of a severe winter storm wasn’t possible for her. And he couldn’t think of anyone who did Christmas bigger than EJ’s family. EJ herself had decorated her apartment the week before Thanksgiving, had started baking around the same time, and had been blaring Christmas music 24/7 despite the complaints of grumpy Mr. Gregory and the constant pounding of his broomstick in the apartment above her. She had been talking about the Christmas traditions of her family for weeks now, and he knew nothing could have devastated her more than missing this trip.
Get dressed and do something she had said to him. But what could he do? He was perfectly capable of killing bugs for her (she had an intense fear of cockroaches), cleaning out the vent above her stove when the thing started smoking, and watering her plants when she was out of town for work. It was part of the reason they had exchanged keys. But unless he could get a magic bean to work in the Land Without Magic so he could contact Queen Elsa, there was little he could do about a snow storm.
Oh, and not to mention the fact that EJ knew nothing about that part of his life. The magic beans, curses, Disney princesses are real part. Which meant he also couldn’t invite her to Storybrooke for Christmas either. He’d have to load up his car later that afternoon and leave her here in a lonely New York City apartment, probably listening to Josh Groban crooning I’ll Be Home For Christmas while she wept into her hot cocoa. Oh wait, she couldn’t do that either because he had gotten her addicted to the way only Henry Mills could make hot cocoa. Her words.
His phone rang, and Henry extricated himself from EJ’s limbs. She absentmindedly leaned over and started sorting through the Christmas cards on his coffee table as he stood to take the call. His screen said Mom-Emma, and he smiled as he swiped his thumb across it.
“Hey kid,” she said happily, “you packed yet? Cause I’m hearing stuff about a big storm coming -”
There was some mumbling and a shuffling noise, and then his stepfather’s voice was on the line. “This old pirate can feel it in his bones, lad. This storm will get worse before it gets better. Your mom and I would feel better if you were already heading out.”
“Well, good morning to both of you, too,” Henry chuckled.
Killian laughed in response, “I know, I know, you’re a grown man now.”
There was shuffling again, and Henry thought her heard a snap to his mother’s voice. “Killian Jones,” she admonished in the background, “I don’t care how old he is, I don’t want his car wrapped around a tree.” There was a muffled sound and his mother was back on the line. “Henry, it isn’t that I’m trying to be overprotective -”
“No, it’s okay Mom,” he assured her, “I know it just means you care. And Killian’s right, I should get going soon.” He looked over at the couch where EJ was slumped. She was holding the Christmas card of his mom and Killian with his little sisters and brother. Her thumb ran over the images of the children, and he couldn’t help thinking of the day they had gone shopping together to buy toys for her nieces and nephews. He let out a sad sigh.
“Henry, is something wrong?” his mom asked.
He moved across the apartment to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. “EJ’s here. Her flight to Atlanta got cancelled because of the storm, and she’s really upset. I hate that she’ll be here alone while I’m with family in Storybrooke.”
“Then bring her along,” Emma said without hesitation.
“What?”
“You heard me. It’s not like Regina doesn’t have the space. And there’s that big party every year at Granny’s on Christmas Eve, and the snow carnival tomorrow. She'll have a lot of fun. It’ll at least keep her mind off home.’
“Mom, are you crazy? She knows nothing about what Storybrooke . . . is. How am I supposed to explain the Jolly Roger to her? What if Hope, Charlie, and Leia decide to bring their snowman to life like last year? What if Lily and her mom decide to go for a flight? Oh god – when’s the next full moon? If Ruby -”
“Henry please, everyone will be . . . discreet. We can put a cloaking spell on the Jolly Roger, and I will give the kids a stern talking to. Are you really going to let her spend Christmas all alone?”
Henry ran a hand through his hair. “She can get another flight once the storm passes.”
“Killian says there’s worse weather on the way. He has an uncanny sixth sense about these things, you know.” He could hear a slight tremble in her voice as she spoke again. “Your stepdad and I know what it’s like to spend holidays alone. Don’t do that to her.”
Henry ran his hand over his chin. He was still nervous, but he knew his mother was right. “Okay,” he told her, “but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“Sure you do, Han Solo,” his mother chuckled. “I’m telling you, it’ll be fine, kid.”
“You’re probably right. See you tonight, mom.”
“See you.”
He hung up and walked back into the living room. EJ still held the photo card in her hand, but she was staring blankly at the TV where Christmas tree Reese’s cups danced across the screen. He cleared his throat, and she turned to look at him. Her cheeks were stained with the tracks of her tears. He knew she must be really upset if she wasn’t trying to rub them away.
“My mom just invited you to have Christmas with us,” he told her. “My birth mom, I mean. Emma. And Killian. My stepdad. They both want you to come.” He shuffled his feet as he stumbled over the words. God, could it sound like a more hesitant invitation? Killian would chastise him for his bad form
Sure enough, EJ’s brow wrinkled. “They offered?”
He nodded, forcing a smile. “Of course. My mom hated the idea of you being away from family on Christmas.”
She looked back down at the Christmas card in her hand. “Christmas just isn’t the same without kids, you know.”
He sat down next to her. “Yeah, I know what you mean. “
She turned to him finally and smiled. “Do you think your little sisters and little brother will like me?”
He grinned broadly at her. “I know they will.”
She squealed then and threw her arms around him. He was happy that she was happy, really he was, but he was also nervous. Because the question wasn’t if Hope, Charlie, and Leia would like EJ or not – everyone loved EJ. The question was, would the little pirates behave themselves?