Little Emma was watching TV while waiting for her new foster mom to pick her up. She sighed sadly, she had been with the previous family for five years before the mother had gotten pregnant and dropped Emma back at the foster home.
The little six-year-old had been devastated when she got back and her social worker worked hard to find her a new home quickly.
A woman arrived at the front desk. "Hi, my name is Regina Mills. I was asked to foster a little girl, Emma Swan?" The woman behind the desk nodded and called for Emma's social worker.
A young man soon arrived in the lobby. "Miss Mills?" the brunette woman nodded. He smiled and showed her to his office. "I'm grateful you could do this so quickly. Emma is a very easy child, I assure you. She just has a little bit of an abandonment issue, but that'll probably go away soon. Do you have any questions?"
Regina thought about it for a second. "Does she have any family I need to worry about?" She asked seriously.
"No, Ma'am. Emma was found on the side of the highway. The only thing we knew about her was her name "Emma" was written on a blanket." Regina nodded understandingly.
"If that's all the questions you had, I can show you where she is." Regina nodded and followed the man into the children's playroom. There she was, sitting on the floor by herself. The little blonde looked up as the social worker called her.
"Emma, this is your new foster mother, Regina Mills. Regina, this is Emma Swan," the social worker introduced them.
"Hello, Miss Mills." The child said politely. She looked rather shyly at the woman and was looking around for somewhere to hide.
"Good morning, sweetheart. Are you ready to go to your new home?" Regina's smile was making Emma more comfortable and the child relaxed. She looked up at her social worker expectantly, not sure what she needed to answer.
He grabbed the box with Emma's things, letting Emma know it was time to go. The little girl held out her hand to Regina, who gladly took it and guided her to her car.
After saying goodbye to the social worker, Regina helped Emma into the car. She fastened her seatbelt, before getting in herself.
The drive to Storybrooke was long and mostly silent, until Regina got tired of it and broke it. "So, Emma, would you like to stop at Granny's for ice cream on the way home?"
Emma's eyes lit up, making Regina smile. "I love ice cream!" the girl exclaimed excitedly.
They sat into a booth at Granny's waiting for their ice cream, when Regina noticed Emma getting uncomfortable once more. She looked around and noticed everyone staring at the little girl.
"All right," she got up, "everyone this is my foster daughter, Emma. Now that you've seen her, you can stop staring at her as if she were an alien." Everyone instantly turned around and Regina sat back down, smiling satisfied.
Soon after, the waitress arrived with their treats. This made Emma relax once more. She grabbed the spoon and took a big bite, instantly regretting it as it was too cold and to big to swallow at once.
Regina chuckled at the child's panicked face. "Emma, you should take smaller bites. You'll enjoy it more."
The girl smiled embarrassedly at her foster mother. "I'm sorry." She said, looking down at her plate, this time taking a smaller bite.
Once she'd finished eating, Emma's face was covered in ice cream. "All done!" She smiled proudly at Regina.
The brunette kneeled next to the blonde and took a napkin. "Here, you have ice cream all over your face." She smiled, helping the little girl.
As she was done, she put the napkin down. Seconds later, Emma was hugging her tightly. "You're not going to leave me, are you?" She asked, just as Regina was going to stand.
"No, my dear, I was just going to pay before taking you to your new home. Why do you think I'd leave you?" Regina instantly regretted the question, seeing Emma's sad face.
"My last foster mom took me for ice cream before dropping me off at the foster home." Regina picked up the child and took her to the counter, where she would pay for their treats.
"Well, I'm not going to do that, okay?" Emma nodded at her foster mother.
"Promise?" She asked in her childlike voice.
"I promise." Emma hugged Regina tighter and waited for her to finish. She was getting tired and eventually fell asleep in the brunette's arms.
