Reunited at Last

Giving Thanks

"Happy Thanksgiving, sweetheart," Daddy said, kissing Mary Margaret's cheek as he stepped into her house.

She smiled, feeling more relaxed than she had in weeks. "Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for coming."

"Of course," he replied, grinning. "There's no one else I would want to celebrate with other than my daughter and granddaughter."

Mary Margaret closed the door behind him as she said: "I also invited Ruby and Graham to join us as well. Ruby may bring a guest as well."

"Billy? That's his name, right?" Daddy asked, taking off his coat and hanging it up.

"They broke up," Mary Margaret replied. "I think it might be Archie. She said they were seeing each other, though not seriously yet."

He paused, rubbing his chin together. "Ruby Lucas and Archie Hopper. That's an interesting combination."

Mary Margaret shrugged. "I think it would be good for both of them. He would ground her in a way she hasn't had in a long time and she can bring him out of his shell a bit more."

"True, true," Daddy replied. "Well, if she does bring him, I look forward to talking to him. Though are you worried it might be awkward since you and Diana both see him?"

"I was," Mary Margaret replied, "but I think it might actually be good for him to observe us interacting outside his office. Maybe it'll give him some new insight."

She didn't say how she vowed that she was going to be on her best behavior that day to show Archie that she was a good mother. It was her hope that by the time he left that night, he would see that she only had Diana's best interests at heart and would really start to help guide Diana back toward Mary Margaret rather than encouraging her to continue what he mistakenly believed was asserting her independence when it was the parts that were Regina trying to drag her down a dark path.

Mary Margaret would not let that happen.

"That sounds like a good idea," Daddy said. "How are things between you two now?"

"They're a little better but I worry that Halloween may have caused a setback," Mary Margaret admitted.

He nodded solemnly. "How are you feeling after that?"

She sighed, feeling the irritation and fear creep into her again. "Can we not talk about it? I'm trying to put it behind me."

"I know, sweetheart, but the town is still talking about it," he told her. "I thought you were going to issue a statement."

"Wouldn't that just give the rumor mill more ammunition?" she asked. "It was nothing and everyone is treating it as if it was such a big deal."

Daddy frowned. "It was a big deal, Mary Margaret. You blew up at a constituent in the middle of a party with some serious accusations. You accused Regina Mills of poisoning the candied apples. Of course people are going to talk and it's only going to get worse, not better, the longer you stay silent."

"It was just Regina Mills," she argued, hurt that even he was against her and worried that he was being drawn back to Regina in a possible weakening of the curse.

Regina couldn't win him back.

"That doesn't mean you can just blow up on her like that," he replied. "Even more so. Look at everything she's been through."

Everything she had been through? What about everything Mary Margaret had been through - not just in her entire life but in the past three months alone? Didn't that warrant some sympathy for her?

She blinked a few times, letting her eyes fill with tears before she turned back to her father. "I know, but it was just all so much and everything just got to me."