Regina knocked on the old white door, flakes of paint falling off on her knuckles. She shook her head and brushed them off, she needed to talk to Snow about that, it was no doubt lead paint from the time the curse was cast. Now that she thought about it, the whole town probably needed new paint, she told herself to look for it in the budget the next time she got the chance. The brunette waited a minute before knocking again, no one answered. She could vaguely hear Neal crying in the apartment, so with a flick of her wrist, she unlocked the door, letting herself in. What she was faced with when the door opened, was nothing short of utter chaos. Snow was in the kitchen, cooking as fast as she could, Charming and Henry were trying to play a video game, while simultaneously trying to calm the screaming toddler that was sitting between them.
"Oh Regina!" Snow shouted over the noise of her son crying. "I'm sorry, I got off work late, so dinner will be in about a half hour," knowing the older woman didn't like to wait for anything. She sounded frazzled as she practically ran around the tiny kitchen, trying to do everything at once. Regina nodded her understanding, but Snow had already turned around to take care of something on the stove.
Closing the door behind her, Regina placed her purse on the table next to her, making sure it was within reach of the door if, for whatever reason, she needed to leave in a hurry. You never knew what could happen at these "family gatherings" Snow insisted on doing every couple of weeks. Her son had to practically beg his grandmother to let her come, and for the first few times, Regina knew her every movement was being watched. But after a while, the guards had pulled back the dogs, allowing her to roam free within the apartment.
She called over to Henry, letting him know she had arrived, but he didn't answer her, instead he had picked up his uncle to hand over to his grandfather, telling him to make him shut up. Regina opened her mouth to tell him to watch his language, but realized it was fruitless, he couldn't hear her over the loud sounds around them. At some point, the TV had been turned up loud, in order for Charming and Henry to hear the video game they were playing. That just seemed to make everything worse.
Walking over to where Snow was running her hands through her hair, looking more hectic than usual, Regina straightened her jacket before asking, "Where's Miss Swan?" Snow's eyes snapped to her's, trying to understand what she had just said. "I was under the impression that she was going to be here." Regina demanded after a moment, growing frustrated with her former step daughter.
An almost visible light went off in the pixie-haired woman's head, "Oh, upstairs," she opened her mouth to continue, but was interrupted by an alarm for something in the oven going off. She turned shouting, "she's not feeling very well," over her shoulder.
Figuring it would be less chaotic upstairs, Regina turned on her heels, going to check on her secret girlfriend. She and Emma had been dating for nearly a year, no one knowing, save for their son of course. Every Friday evening, Henry was shipped off to his grandparent's house, always staying the night, and most of the day on Saturday, giving Emma and her the perfect time to escape for a while. This was the only time the two of them really got to be themselves. Sometimes they would book a hotel room outside of Storybrooke, spending the time sightseeing, and holding hands, like a real couple. Other times they would just curl up on Regina's couch, watch some movies, or just talk, enjoying the presence of the woman their arms. It had been a good ten months. They each felt loved, and accepted, like they were…home.
By the time the brunette had reached the now-guest bedroom, since Emma had found her own place, the noise was considerably quieter. Regina looked around the barely furnished room, finding Emma face first into the pillows of the bed. She crept closer, slipping off her heels and blazer in the process, and crawled on top of the covers, gently stroking her girlfriend's back.
Emma moaned, turning her head to face Regina. "Hey," she whispered, bringing up a hand to lazily scratch at her nose.
"Hey sweetheart," Regina answered, placing a small kiss on Emma's lips. "What's wrong?" she had fear written all over her face, not liking it when her lover wasn't feeling well. She waited for an answer while Emma burrowed herself into Regina's chest, resting her ear against her so she could hear the steady beat of her heart.
"Cramps," was all that was said into Regina's black tank-top, embarrassed about feeling so weak.
"Are they bad?" a perfectly manicured hand coming up to rub over pale skin, knowing her girlfriend liked to be touched a lot during that time of the month. Blonde hair nodded, before a small girlish hand reached up to fist her tank-top, needing as much physical contact as she could get. Emma had always been clingy, which Regina never minded of course, it gave her another excuse to be near the woman she had fallen in love with all those months ago. "We need to get you some meds if they're going to continue like this," she pleaded, not wanting the blonde to feel like she couldn't even get through a family dinner.
Emma shook her head, saying something about not liking to go to the doctor, which was understandable, Regina didn't like it either. The two of them laid like that for a while, wrapped up in each other's arms, before Regina placed a kiss on the crown of her princess's head, trying to gain her attention.
"I need to go help your mother, dear."
"No." Emma stated, grabbing her lover tighter, making sure she couldn't escape.
Regina laughed, making Emma's ears perk up, she loved the sound of her Queen's laugh, it reminded her of all the good times they had had together. "If I go help, the sooner you can eat," she told her, sitting up, forcing the blonde to do the same. Emma rolled off her girlfriend, only to land face first into the pillows again.
"I like food," Emma mumbled, grabbing Regina's wrist, trying to get her to stay in bed.
Regina giggled, knowing how much food her girlfriend could shovel in. "Come on, don't leave me alone with your idiot parents," she slapped Emma's butt, smiling when she moaned into the bedspread.
"No."
"Then I won't kiss you for a week." A smirk formed on her face as she put her shoes back on, and picked up her blazer deciding it wasn't worth redressing for.
Emma said something incoherently about Regina, before practically falling out of the bed onto the floor.
When the two women had made it down the stairs, after a quick make-out session that may have gotten a little heated, and ended with Emma doubled over in pain with a cramp, the apartment was surprisingly quiet. Neal had stopped crying, and was laying against his father's chest while he slept, Charming and Henry were still playing a videogame, but had turned down the sound down so they wouldn't wake the toddler, and Snow was in the kitchen cooking calmly. Emma and Regina looked at each other, pausing at the bottom of the steps, things were quiet, too quiet. Each of them knew nothing good ever came out of things being this silent.
Regina locked pinkies with her lover, only for a moment, gathering the strength she needed to walk over to Snow. "Can I help you with anything?" she politely asked, silently praying that everything was almost ready.
The former white queen pointed to the carrots in front of the not-so-evil queen, "Peel those," she tried to say through whatever she was eating.
Regina nodded, quickly washing her hands and setting off to work Emma had taken a seat at the kitchen's island, her head resting on the surface, trying to keep her uncomfortable moaning to a minimum. She had started grabbing at her stomach when Charming and Henry walked over, wondering if they could set the table, the smell of food had become too tempting to not try and hurry things up.
Emma shifted on the bar stool, making Regina wonder how much pain she was actually in. The two of them had been through this various times, and nothing had ever been as bad as her love was experiencing right now. A small frown covered her face, making a mental note to ask Emma later if she had ever seen a doctor for her cramps at all. She never wanted her to be in any pain, and watching the young princess struggle to find a comfortable position, broke her heart. All she wanted to do was walk over to her, pick her small body up in her arms, and take her to the bedroom where they could snuggle until the pain went away.
But Regina couldn't do that, because no one knew they were dating. The two of them wanted nothing more than to tell everyone, but they were afraid of what the town was going to think. The "perfect" savior dating the former Evil Queen. They hated the fact that they shared a son together, let alone a bed. Things could go downhill very fast if the town took it the wrong way. Although Regina didn't really care what the town thought of her anymore, she cared very much about what they thought of Emma. She loved her, more than she would say out loud, and in private, things could only go up for them.
"Are they still hurting sweetheart?" Snow asked her daughter, breaking Regina out of her reverie. It annoyed her that she called Emma 'sweetheart', knowing it was something that she called the younger woman, but she wasn't going to tell her that, no matter how much she wanted to.
Emma nodded, trying to mask as much pain as she could when Henry looked over to see what they were talking about. "I'll be fine Mom," she said into the counter, her head refusing to look up.
Henry's eyes flashed to his adoptive mother's, trying to decide what was going on. Regina shook her head, mouthing for him to go back to his game, before she looked back to her lover. Charming had abandoned his grandson at the video game, and was now running his hands, fatherly, over his daughter's back. It was a little awkward, due to the fact that Emma was actually older than he was thanks to the curse, but they didn't seem to mind. The blonde haired woman flinched when a surprisingly strong cramp came on, unable to hold back the moan as much as she tried.
Charming started rubbing her lower back, trying to help in some sort of way, but was pushed back when Emma sat up abruptly. "Fuck it," she muttered, slipping down from the bar stool, and over to her girlfriend. Emma snuck under Regina's arms while she was peeling the carrots, not caring that her parents saw her hanging on the mayor. Snow turned around to yell at Emma for her language, when she stopped dead in her tracks, the spoon she was holding, went clattering down to the floor.
Time seemed to stop as Regina put down the last carrot, and wrapped her arms around Emma, understanding that she needed her at the moment. The pain had been bad enough to break the longest secret she had ever kept, except for the curse, and was the least of her worries as her princess cried into her chest. Without looking at either of the idiots, Regina bent down slightly, putting one arm around Emma's knees, lifting her effortlessly up, and carrying her to the couch. They both sat next to Henry, who barely shot a glance in their direction before going back to his game, Emma never getting off of Regina's lap.
Rubbing small circles on her lover's back, she pushed her t-shirt up so Emma could feel the skin-on-skin contact. Regina could hear the tiny whispers in the kitchen, not too far away, as Snow and Charming were obviously trying to figure out what happened. It had been nearly five minutes when a loud alarm went off, scaring everyone. A tiny Neal came wandering into the room, oblivious to the tension forming around him. Snow had rushed to take the chicken out of the oven, trying to distract herself from the news.
Charming brought everything to the table, the sound of the two adults busying themselves behind the small family on the couch had them wondering what was going to happen next. Emma had fallen asleep in Regina's arms, soft snores coming from her as she relaxed into the random designs her lover was drawing on her skin.
Henry turned off his game, trying to ignore that his grandparent were upset with his moms being in love. He thought it was the best thing ever, because he got to spend time with the both of them, and they could just be a family. Family time was his favorite times, and he would trade everything just to spend time with both his moms. "Is dinner ready gramps?" he asked, rolling his eyes as Charming looked over to him to answer, but looked away quickly, seeing his moms curled up together.
"Uh, yeah Henry. Come on over." He looked down the silverware in his hands, trying to erase the image of Emma asleep on top of his wife's former enemy.
Snow, her husband, and grandson were all sitting down at the dining room table, when Regina stood up, and placed Emma down on the couch, letting her sleep. Neal climbed up into his chair as Regina sat down next to him, not looking anyone but Henry in the eyes. Things around town were going to get really interesting from here on out.
All through dinner, the only sounds were the sound of their forks cutting across the ceramic plates, and Neal's inconsistent babbling. It was as if he didn't have a care in the world. At one point he asked what was wrong with his sissy, looking over to see one of Emma's feet peaking over the edge of the couch, and wondered why she wasn't eating dinner with him. Snow spouted off something about her not being hungry, which he didn't really buy, but turned to Henry to tell him about this amazing new game he played at preschool the other day.
Regina lasted all of fifteen minutes, pushing food around her plate, not really interested in the meal in front of her. Emma moaned from where she was resting on the old couch, waking from her sleep. The brunette woman stood, telling Henry that she was going to take his mother home, and that he could stay with his grandparents if he wanted.
"No, I'll go with you," Henry answered after he glanced back and forth between Snow and Charming, not liking the way they were currently looking at his moms. She nodded, understanding his reasons, and bent down to tell her nephew that she would see him later. He waved goodbye, placing a big sloppy wet kiss on her cheek before she stood up, and walked over to her girlfriend.
"You ready?" she whispered, ignoring the attention from everyone else in the room. Emma nodded, wrapping her own arms around her torso.
Henry met the two of them at the door after grabbing his backpack, and held his purse out to his mom. "Bye mom, bye dad, bye Neal" Emma said as she closed the door behind the three of them, a loud sigh popping from her lips the second the door closed. It was only going to be a few minutes before the town was bubbling up with the new news of the mayor and sheriff dating. As soon as Charming and Snow finished eating, there was no doubt that she was going to call Red, letting her know of what just happened, leading her to spread it all over town. They might as well get out of dodge while they can.
The trio made their way towards Regina's car, deciding that Emma's could be left there, and heading back towards the mansion Emma had tried to argue that she should just be dropped off at her home and she would be fine, but her lover wasn't having it, and refused to turn down her street. They were going back to Regina's house so she could take care of the blonde no matter what she wanted. As soon as they were home, Henry trudged up to his bedroom, telling them he was going to read his comics, and left the two women alone. Tonight had definitely not gone according to plan.
Regina guided Emma to her bedroom, instantly helping take off her boots and jacket while she sat there on the bed, trying not to groan. The second Emma was free of all her unnecessary clothing, she flopped down onto the mattress, pulling her girlfriend down with her. The brunette wrapped her arms protectively around her princess, knowing she would give up anything to help her. The two of them laid there, eventually falling asleep to the steady breaths of the other woman. They would talk about what happened that night later, right now it was just about making Emma feel better.
The next morning, Henry found himself alone in the kitchen, puttering around as he tried to make himself a lunch for school. His moms weren't up yet, and he was starting to dread going to school with his grandmother as his teacher. She was most likely going to ask him a bunch of questions about what was going on last night, and he only had one answer; they loved each other. It didn't matter that they were both women, that they were the Savior and Evil Queen, it didn't matter that they were the sheriff and mayor, they love each other, and that's it. After making himself a lunch that would make his adoptive mother proud, he trudged to the bus stop, keeping his eyes down, and his music up high, not wanting to talk to anyone. By the stares he was getting the second he stepped out the front door, everyone knew. Which meant that today was going to be a long day. He sighed picking up his feet, making sure he made it to the bus stop on time.
It was nearly ten o'clock when Emma woke, stretching like a cat, pushing the woman next to her off her chest. Regina scooted away from her girlfriend, pulling the covers over her head to hide the small yawn that had snuck out of her mouth. Emma turned, smiling at how cute the queen could be, and pulled her closer, noticing her cramps felt a lot better and were almost inexistent. She watched as her lover stretched under the blanket, trying not to smile at the little dinosaur noises she made when something popped. Regina was adorable when she was allowed to be herself, there was no denying that.
After a few minutes, Emma got up and decided to get ready for work, knowing she wasn't going to go to the station due to her father working there, she set off for her cruiser, kissing her not-so-secret girlfriend goodbye. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma, whispering for her to text her if anything happened, and that she was taking the day off since it was Friday and she had already missed so much of work. The blonde nodded, placing a small kiss on Regina's nose, loving the way that she pinched her sides and squealed as she did so.
"I love you," Emma uttered into the brunette hair in front of her, taking a deep breath.
"I love you too, baby." Regina kissed her neck, sucking slightly, knowing the mark would show the rest of the day. It would show the whole town that her girlfriend was taken, and no one could change the fact.
Neither of them had brought up the topic of the blonde's parents knowing yet, but they were in silent agreement that they would pass that bridge when it happened, right now they just liked knowing they could show affection outside of their homes, where everyone could see.
By the time the clock hit one, Emma was sitting the back, corner booth in Granny's, just trying to keep her head down. She was wearing a sweatshirt, which gave her the chance to just slip her hood over her head, and disappear into a crowd, which had came in handy a couple of times that day. She was sitting, eating her fries, trying to ignore the conversation happening a few feet away from her, talking about her and Regina. She would protect that woman with her life, and loved her with all her heart, why couldn't people understand that?
The Sheriff was almost finished with her meal when Ruby walked over, throwing Emma's check down on the table and walking away in a huff. Everyone seemed to be upset with her today, it's not like she did anything wrong really, it's just people didn't like her girlfriend. Pulling out her wallet, she put a couple bucks down the table, and fished for her badge she had taken off and put in her jacket pocket. Standing up, she kept her eyes downcast as she walked through the busy diner, silently praying that no one noticed her.
On the other side of town the Mayor was having the opposite problem of her lover. She seemed to gather the attention of everyone in town and their children. It seemed as if over half the town was sitting on her front lawn, chanting something or another. She didn't know, she wasn't paying that much attention. It was nearly time for Henry to get out of school, when the phone rang, the caller ID saying that it was her son.
Picking it up, she wondered why he was calling her when school was still in session. "Henry, sweetheart, what's going on?"
She heard him sniff on the other side, and she could only imagine him crying. Henry took a deep breath, calming his sobs, before he answered, "Can you or ma come pick me up?"
Regina had already picked up her keys and purse, and was heading towards the back door, not wanting to go through the mob. "Of course honey, what happened?" She started the car, and backed out of her garage, forcing the crowd to move unless they wanted to be run over. She put her phone on speaker so she could drive and talk at the same time.
"I got beat up," he whispered, a loud crash coming from his side of the phone.
The older woman flinched, wondering what it was. "I'm on my way, okay sweetheart?"
Henry mumbled something she didn't understand before he hung up on her. Regina forced her foot down on the gas pedal, not caring that she was going over the speed limit, the only thing that mattered was her son. Whatever had caused the loud crash on the phone sounded very close to her baby, and she was going to do everything she could to make sure he was okay.
Climbing out of her Mercedes, she sent a quick text to Emma telling her that she had picked up Henry early, and that she had decided he wasn't going over to his grandparents for his weekly Friday night sleepover. His grandmother was his teacher, and she hadn't even tried to stop him from getting beat up it sounded like. Marching into the school, Regina put on her mayoral mask, scaring the secretary into telling her where her son was. She didn't know.
Huffing, she turned on her heels, making her way towards the idiot's classroom. Whatever had happened was Snow's fault, and no one could tell her otherwise. The door was open when she reached the room, and Regina wasted no time in pushing it open, finding it empty. Shaking her head in annoyance, she walked over to the outside door, seeing the whole school playing out at recess. She scanned the playground for her son, coming up empty, her heels clicked against the pavement as she walked over to her son's teacher.
"Mrs. Blanchard," Regina inquired, saying nothing else to her girlfriend's mother.
Snow's eyes were angry and upset when she looked at Regina, not even caring that her students were seeing her like this. She took a step towards her former stepmother, and put a finger to her chest. Unaware of the crowd starting to form, she growled at the other brunette, "What do you want?" Regina had to force herself not to laugh as the shorter woman's nose flared as she talked.
"Where is my son, Mrs. Blanchard?" Mayor Regina asked, wanting nothing more than to grab her son and head home to where she felt most comfortable, and wait for her girlfriend to get off of work.
The pixie-haired woman's eyes flashed to the playground, pointing as she said, "He's over…" she trailed off, unable to find him. Snow spun in a circle, looking around at the small crowd that had surrounded them, looking for her grandson. He was gone. "I swear he was just here." She said, not looking at the older woman, unable to say that she had lost her son.
Regina scoffed, talking to her was always a waste of time. She pushed her way through the students, and back to the classroom she had come out of. Dialing Henry's number on her phone, she waited for him to answer, but he never did. She called him again, her foot tapping nervously as she silently begged for him to pick up. Where ever he was, he was in trouble, and she knew it.
Holding her phone in her hand, she stared at the screen until it went black, hoping her son would call her back. He never did. Quickly calling Emma, she took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, knowing it wasn't going to help the situation. She quickly told her lover what was going on, and told her that she needed to get to the elementary school right away. Something was wrong.
In the forest just outside the school's backdoor, Henry was laying on the ground, a small pool of blood coming out of his mouth from when he had been hit in the jaw. There were two boys kicking him in the sides every time he tried to get up, causing him to cough. Everything hurt, and all he wanted was his moms.
"Stupid fag," one boy he didn't know yelled at him as he kicked Henry's shoulder.
"Stop," Henry cried out, but over the noise of the other boys, he didn't think they heard him.
"He's probably as weak as his mother," another boy spat at him.
"Yeah, his mothers probably turned him gay too." The first boy agreed, before kicking Henry in the head hard enough for him to blackout. The last thing he remembered was praying for his mothers to find him quickly, it was as if he was back in Neverland again. All he wanted was his moms, both of them.
Emma arrived at the school, her cruiser lights on, going full speed. She stopped herself in the parking lot just before her car crashed through the fence. The blonde popped out of her car, making her way across the playground to her mother, where she was standing, straining her eyes to find Henry. Emma kept her hand on her sheriff badge, forcing herself to remain calm, and tell herself that it was probably just a misunderstanding. Henry was fine.
Snow opened up her mouth to tell Emma what was going on, when a loud, "Emma!" came from just outside her classroom door. She looked over to see Regina running at the two of them, her heels almost falling off of her in the process. Before she could even blink, strong tan arms had wrapped around her daughter's neck, and were hugging her tight.
"Regina, what happened?" Emma questioned her girlfriend, pulling back, but leaving her hands on tan hips.
The brunette swallowed thickly, ignoring her son's teacher and grandmother a couple of feet from them. "Henry called me crying and said he had gotten beat up, and when I got here no one can find him."
Emma nodded, leaning forward to hug her again, whispering in Regina's ear, "It'll be fine, I'll find him."
Regina nodded, putting her mayoral mask back on, unaware of when it had come off. She heard Emma say something to her mother, when she tried to argue back and say something about the two of them dating, the blonde pushed past her going in search of her son. All her mother wanted to do was talk about how wrong their relationship was, when in reality she should be out looking for her grandson, who could be badly injured by this time.
It took nearly a half hour before anyone had found him. Snow had waited a few minutes after her daughter and former step mother had rushed off, looking everywhere they could find, before she called the rest of the adults over, telling them to spread out and help. She didn't like it that she was helping Regina, but she didn't really like knowing that Henry was out somewhere where he had gotten beat up. Especially when she was supposed to be watching him, that did not just happen.
Another teacher, had followed the little trail the boys had made when they had pushed Henry off the playground, and out of the sight of others. He found Henry laying on the ground, propped up against a log, facing away from the trail. The man looked around for whoever had done this to him, but found the sight empty. Pulling out his phone he called the Sheriff, telling her that he had found him, and wasn't sure if he was awake or not.
When Henry's mothers arrived, the teacher was checking his pulse, it was weak, but it was there. The poor boy had blood coming out of his mouth, various bruises on his head and torso, and was his arm was twisted at an awkward angle. The other boys who had done this were going to pay, that much was clear to the two women.
As the small family was leaving the playground, Henry in his birth mother's arms as she carried him to her car, still unconscious, Snow rushed up, wanting to know how the young boy was. "Emma, I'm so sorry, I swear he was just on the playground, and then he was gone," she cried, hanging on her daughter's arm.
Emma pushed her away, trying not to jostle her son, "No, mom. There is no excuse for this." Regina and Emma walked over to where their cars were parked, promising each other to meet at the hospital. Neither of them knew what else was wrong with Henry, but by the looks of it, Doctor Whale was going to have to set his arm in a cast. It looked badly broken. Emma set Henry down in Regina's car, knowing it was going to be a more comfortable ride for him, and pulled out her phone to tell the hospital to have a room ready for him.
Three hours later, Regina was pacing Henry's hospital room, her bare feet cold against the tiled floor. Emma was sitting next to their son, holding his good hand, watching her girlfriend make a whole in the floor with her pacing. The nurse had given Henry something to knock him out for a few hours, after he had woken up when they were setting his arm, and had a panic attack.
Henry's arm was in a green cast, various needles sticking out of his arm running to his IV and other medical things that neither mother knew what they were. If it had been any other Friday evening, Henry would be at his grandparent's house playing with his uncle, while Regina and Emma would be snuggling at some hotel, waiting for their room service to arrive. But this week had taken a strange turn last night, their whole family turned upside down.
By the time Henry woke up for the second time, it was dark, the moonlight shining through his curtains. He found his blonde mother in the chair next to him, her legs thrown over the side arm, sitting like a teenager would, asleep. He smiled, before searching the room for his adoptive mother, she wasn't there. He waited for a moment, hearing the toilet flush in the adjoining bathroom.
He watched as Regina straightened the t-shirt she was wearing, and looked up to see that he was awake, "Hey baby," she whispered, walking over and running a hand through his hair. The smile she shone at him was one he barely got to see, unless he was alone, or with Emma. She hardly ever pulled out, what he called her, "family smile," thankful for all the times he had seen it.
"Hi, mom," henry whispered, his throat dry and painful from when he had been screaming for help.
The older woman leaned over her son, smacking her girlfriend on the arm that rested on top of her son's blankets. Emma jerked, her body sitting up quickly, her hand reaching for where he gun was supposed to be on her belt. "Oh," she said as she turned the see Henry awake, stretching her back, Regina flinched as everything popped. "How are you feeling kid?"
Henry looked down at his arm, "I've been better, I guess." He shrugged, noticing the pain in his collar bone from the bruise there.
"What happened Henry?" Regina asked, running her hand down the side of his face, stroking his cheek.
"I don't really know. I was on the playground with the rest of the school, and then these two boys were pulling me towards the forest. The hit me and said some mean things about you guys. That's all I remember." He looked down in his lap, playing with the light blue blanket that covered him. He heard his mother sigh, and looked up to see her mouthing something at Emma. She stopped the second she saw him look up. Whatever it was, they didn't want him to know.
Emma grabbed his good hand, gaining his attention, "Do you know who it was kid?" He could tell she was having a hard time fighting between being the sheriff and being his mom. Eventually she just sat there awkwardly sitting in her chair, looking as if she might run at any second.
He shook his head, looking up to see his grandparents walking towards the sliding glass door to his hospital room. Emma and Regina looked up to see what he was looking at, when they both froze. Neither of them wanted to be talking to Snow or Charming, but they had the right to know what had happened to Henry. Regina nodded at Emma, excusing herself as her former enemies walked into the room. Henry watched as his adoptive mother walked over to the nurse desk outside, and asked for something, the nurse then led her away down the hall.
Emma sighed, not wanting to talk about what had happened last night, but not wanting to just ignore it either. And she was still mad at her mother for not watching her son like she was supposed to during recess; it was partly her fault that he was like this. "Hey mom," she said, still sitting in the uncomfortable chair next to her son.
"Hi sweetheart," Snow replied, holding Neal in her arms, who was struggling to try and get down on the ground to see Henry. She put him down, taking a long look at what had happened to her grandson. "How are you feeling Henry?"
Emma zoned out, vaguely listening to what the kid had said, instead was wondering why Regina would leave her alone with her parents at a time like this. All she wanted was to reach over and grab her girlfriend's hand, gathering all the strength she would need to physically tell her parents that she was dating the person they hated most. She tried to hide her smile, this is always how it ends right? Your parents tell you that you can't do something, and the kid always ends up doing it. It was as if she had been told not to reach her fingers into the cookie jar when Snow and Charming weren't looking, but she didn't listen. She loved Regina with all her heart, and would defend her until the day she died. Which might be soon if her parents decided to chew her out about how 'wrong' dating Regina was.
She felt Henry slap her against her chest, jarring her out of her thoughts? "Hmmm?" Emma asked, trying to determine what everyone was talking about.
Snow rolled her eyes, picking up Neal again. "Your mother asked you why the three of you left so early last night," Charming said, trying to defuse the tension in the room.
Emma took a deep breath, turning so her feet hung over the side of her chair. "I wasn't feeling good." Short and simple. She could hear Snow sigh as Emma's eyes trained down to the fingernail she was picking at.
"We know that honey, but what was that other thing?" the teacher hinted at, as if no one else knew what they were talking about. Emma could hear Henry scoff next to her, and she smirked, even he didn't want to hear about it.
There were a few minutes of awkward silence as Neal tried to play some hand held game with Henry, but couldn't due to his cast being in the way. Emma knew both her parents hadn't taken their eyes off of her, but she couldn't bring herself to look at them. Charming started to tap his foot impatiently, if Emma had learned anything over the past few years about him, was that he could get very frustrated and angry, very fast.
Emma stood up, gathering her jacket from the back of the chair, and told Henry to watch Neal, he nodded, knowing she needed to talk to her parents alone. She walked out the door, not even caring if Snow and Charming were going to follow, if they wanted to talk, they had to do it on her terms. She exhaled when she heard their footsteps behind her, trying to make up a speech in her head. Emma guided them into a waiting room down the hall, thankful that there was no one there. She sat down next the window, watching as her parents sat on the other side of the room, next to the door, guarding the door if she tried to escape. They knew her too well.
"Okay," Charming said, grabbing his wife's hand, steadying himself. "Talk."
"I love Regina."
The room went silent, Emma swore if there were any crickets in there, you could have heard them. Snow swallowed, taking in the news. Charming flinched as she gripped his hand tighter, and refused to let go. "How long?" she croaked out, on the brink of tears.
"Ten months."
Her father's eyes shot up, "Really?" she nodded. "How did we not know?" Emma shrugged, they did go through extensive precautions so people wouldn't know, it was no surprise that they weren't really aware.
The three of them sat like that for a while, none of them talking, but wanting to say everything. Snow's eyes would every once and awhile flicker over to her daughter, looking at her with disappointment on her face. It wasn't the first time Emma had seen that face, in fact it was the first in a long line of many from her foster homes growing up. Every time the foster parents decided they didn't want her, they would tell her how disappointed they were in her for doing something that she didn't actually do, and then call her social worker telling them that she was no longer fit to live there. One family had even gone as far as convincing their children to get in on it, and all told the social worker the same story, word for word, which the social worker just excused, and put her into a group home, where she stayed until she ran away with her first boyfriend, Neal.
Her mind drifted off to her brother, who happened to be thirty years younger than her, and named the same as Henry's father. She wondered why Snow had decided that is was socially acceptable to name your daughter's brother the same thing as her ex-boyfriend. It was beyond her, but she was just glad they focused more on him than on her. It was how she was able to date Regina all these months, and not have them notice. She had always deflected the topic of her dating life onto her brother, leaving Snow and Charming in the dust.
"Is it true love?" her mother asked after a while, picking at the invisible lint on her jeans.
"Yeah, mom, it is." Snow hummed, leaning into her husband and closing her eyes.
Emma took this opportunity to stand up slowly, giving them ample time to say something else if they wanted to, and left the room. If they wanted to talk, they would have spent the last half hour talking, instead of sitting in their chairs across from her, and not looking at her.
When she reached Henry's hospital room, she found him and Regina curled up on the small bed, trying to make things work. He had grown a lot in the past two years, making him almost taller than his mom, but he didn't care. Henry's head was resting on her collarbone, keeping his cast away from her, so he didn't hurt her. It was a sight to see. Both of them had their eyes closed, so Emma took out her phone as silently as she could, and snapped a picture. Her family might be a different than everyone else's, but it was her family, and she loved every single moment with them.
Sliding into the same chair as before, Emma reached across the plastic siding of the bed, and kissed her girlfriend's temple; just like she did every other night they were together. Regina smiled in her sleep, knowing what her lover was doing, and blindly reached for her hand to hold. Emma took it without thought, and settled down in the leather chair for the night. Neal had been taken by Ruby a couple of minutes before she had walked into the room, leaving her mind blank and care free.
The next morning was hard, a few nurses refused to check Henry's vitals, in order for him to go home, making the former evil queen angry. Emma stood in the corner of the room with her front to Regina's back, her arms wrapped around her middle, trying to calm her, as Doctor Whale went over everything with Henry. The doctor was trying to help his patient feel like he was all grown up, but the two women could see him glancing over at them every few minutes, making sure they were paying attention to what he was saying. Emma silently thanked whatever god there was that he didn't seem to care that her and Regina were dating, and he had agreed to help their son.
Two hours later, the trio was making their way back to the mansion, hungry and restless. The sleep in the hospital had been lacking, and had Regina waking up every several hours when someone came in to check on her son. Guiding Henry to his bedroom, Emma threw herself into the bathroom, taking the fastest shower she had ever taken. Regina was downstairs making brunch, and by the time her girlfriend was out of the shower, she had a buffet of several fruits, and a small batch of pancakes sitting on the table. Making sure their son took his pain meds for his arm, they dug into their meal, trying to ignore the conversation they all needed to have.
By noon, Henry was asleep, the medicine taking more out of him then he thought. Emma and Regina were snuggled up on the couch, staring at the blank TV screen, neither of them turning it on, forcing themselves to talk about what had happened a few days prior. Except both of them weren't talking, they were just sitting there, waiting for the other to start talking. The brunette sighed, pushing her nose into Emma's chest, trying to decide how she wanted to start the conversation.
"So…" Regina finally settled on, unable to finish the rest of her sentence.
"So…." The room was silent, what else was there to say? Everyone knew they were dating now, there was nothing to hide.
Emma felt her girlfriend place a small kiss on her chest, before sitting up regretfully. "Everyone knows." Dark brown eyes focused on green as she rubbed small circles down her back,
"Yeah."
"We don't have to hide anymore."
"Yeah," a smile flittered across Emma's face, appreciative that she could tell Regina that she loved her at any moment. Sighing, she continued, "I told my parents it was true love today." Her eyes downcast on the sliver of skin that shown from where her girlfriend's shirt had ridden up.
"Okay," she took in a deep breath. "So what now?"
The blonde cocked her head to the side, she didn't know. The whole town of Storybrooke knew what was going on between them, they would most likely get some weird stares for a while, but then what? "I don't know."
"What does this mean for Henry? I mean he can't keep going out and getting beat up because of us?"
Regina cupped her girlfriend's cheek, forcing her to look at her. Things were going to change around there, whether they like it or not. Before they were just able to sneak around, but now everyone knew, and it affected not only them, but their son.
"I guess we just wait for the storm to blow over." The brunette nodded, accepting the answer for now, before leaning back into the woman in front of her, and claiming her lips passionately. Everything was going to be okay, as long as she had Emma by her side.