This actually brought a little tear to my eye. Having either/both end up fostering children is quite fantastic. So far we’ve seen the foster system as this evil entity. It would be nice to see the positive side. Based on their background I think they’d be wonderful foster parents.
They’d be the most wonderful parents because they know what it’s like to grow up feeling totally alone. Emma’s first family sent her back to foster care and rejected her and she had who knows how many other horrible experiences, being tossed around between homes. She’d make sure any foster child of hers always felt safe and secure and wanted. Neal’s family abandoned him and he had to go it alone. Any foster child of his would know without question they could depend on him to be there always, and would give them anything they needed.
It’s not surprising that Emma isn’t sitting around bemoaning the tragic fate of Neal’s untimely demise and Henrys’ kidnapping. Although Emma is heart-broken, she doesn’t have the luxury of time or the experience to know how to deal with these vulnerable emotions. She has always kept her head down so as not to get hurt. Emma is a survivor. The few times we’ve seen Emma let her walls down are with her parents, like just after Neal went through the portal and David comforted his daughter. Yet, now that Henry is missing, Emma once again has to close off those emotions and bring her son home so that Neal’s sacrifice won’t have been in vain. Emma can’t let Henry grow up without his parents, just as Neal said before he let go. Emma has a job to do and she’s a woman on a mission.
THIS! Especially like how you said that she’s gotta lock out her vulnerabilities so that Neal’s death won’t have been in vain. If she doesn’t get this job done, then she loses her son, and as a bonus, Neal’s life was a waste. She can’t let that fate befall either of her boys! She’s gotta go into machine mode for both of their sakes!