Once We are Descendants

Chapter 3: Life as Usual

Storybrooke, Maine (Post-season 6 and into Season 7 where Regina came back with Emma and Hook instead of staying with Henry)

"You know she's going to hate it right?" Crystal says on the phone as she heads towards Granny's diner.

Rumpelstiltskin's daughter walks through the quiet streets of the tiny Maine town on her way to get coffee and doughnuts before starting taking care of her baby brother for the day. The new mother, Belle had agreed that she couldn't keep Gideon with her all the time and allowed some breaks where her step-daughter would take over. After all, nothing had happened to Storybrooke in almost a year and Gideon's half-sister was a qualified Early Childhood Educator and caregiver, so there was no reason for panic. She's on the phone with Mary Margret who wants to throw her newly pregnant daughter a baby shower. It didn't make sense to the young adult to start planning so early. Emma was barely two months pregnant and since baby showers usually occurred towards the end of the pregnancy, Crystal was befuddled as anyone. Plus, Emma was not one to particularly like parties or being the centre of attention.

"All the more reason to do it," the teacher says.

"Why don't we just give her a gift card and call it a day? You know she won't like it," the younger girl groans as she pushes the door open into the diner. A few people are already inside, but the restaurant was just opening for the day. A sleepy waitress sits behind the counter, waiting for her customer to get off the phone and place an order. Despite how nice this waitress is, Crystal missed Ruby. She missed Ruby's spunk and her snappy one-liners as well as exchanging the usual gossip between friends. Instead, the beloved werewolf waitress was out having adventures in Oz with her true love Dorothy, and while she was happy for the two of them, the daughter of the Dark One missed her confidante.

"Because I missed her first pregnancy and I'm not going to miss out on celebrating the birth of a new grandchild. Besides we've never actually thrown anyone in Storybrooke a baby shower before."

Which was very true. Ella never got one because everyone was still cursed at the time, it didn't happen for Aurora because she was in the Enchanted Forest and a flying monkey for awhile and Snow herself never got one because of Zelena's threats. They didn't throw one for Wicked Witch either because she was still very evil and had cruelly taken advantage of Robin Hood to get pregnant, which gave no one a reason to celebrate. They could've thrown one for Belle, but since the Evil Queen half of Regina had sped up her pregnancy, they never got the chance. So in turn, it made sense to give the Saviour one.

"Okay, I understand," Crystals says. "Look, I've got to go, I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, bye."

Once she's off the phone, the young adult turns to the waitress to order. "Two teas, three coffees, two Bear-Claws, two Danishes, and one fritter please,"

"Coming right up," the woman says. As the waitress goes about getting her order together, Granny comes out from the back kitchen.

"Oh Crystal, just the person I want to see,"

"That's a first," she jokes as the elderly restaurant owner comes over to her.

"You're going to your father's shop, today aren't you?"

"Would you expect his daughter and son to be anywhere else?"

"I was wondering if you could ask him if there's a way to communicate to some of the other realms..."

"How come?"

The woman adjusts her glasses, stares down at the floor for a few moments before looking up again.