"He looked so happy there," Snow said with a smile. "He definitely seemed to have an easier transition than you two thought he would." She gave a little laugh. "I told you he would be fine. But, being the overprotective moms you are…"

Emma closed her eyes with a sigh as she felt Regina stiffen next to her. Mom, couldn't you just keep your mouth shut for once?

"Yes, Snow," Regina said scathingly, interrupting the petite woman. "You don't need to remind us once more that you were right and we were wrong. Now will you two hurry up and finish your disgusting excuse for a 'homemade' pie so we can get to the hotel and I can get some peace and quiet?" she snapped.

At the mention of the hotel, Emma's eyes widened with realization. "Uh, Regina, can I talk to you for a sec?"

The blonde led the pair to the women's restroom which was, thankfully, empty at the time.

"We have a problem," Emma stated.

Regina arched an eyebrow. "You think? Your mother may be involved in our son's life, but that does not give her any of the parental rights she seems to think she—"

"No, not that," Emma interrupted. "Well… I mean… that is an issue, but there's something else."

Regina's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"So you know how I booked our hotel rooms months in advance so we would be guaranteed rooms since we knew it would be packed because it's Parents and Alumni Weekend?"

"Yes."

"And you told me to book us each separate singles because there was 'no way in hell' you were going to share a room with me?"

"Yes."

"Which you said was because I am too messy and whatnot, but we both really know you just don't want me to see you get emotional about Henry being so far away from us and—"

"Miss Swan!"

"Anyway, the issue is that, while I did books us each a single room…" Emma paused, biting her lip. "I only booked each of us a single room."

Regina looked more confused. "I don't understand what you're trying to tell me. What's the issue?"

"I booked us rooms six months ago. Last week, my parents decided to join us on our trip to visit Henry."

Realization dawned on Regina's face. "No…"

Emma nodded meekly. "Yep. And I'm pretty sure they just expected to crash with us, but that's going to be a little difficult when there are only two beds."

Regina paced to the mirror as she muttered, "She knows how to ruin everything, doesn't she?" She composed herself and turned to meet Emma's eyes. "Well then, what are we going to do about it?"

Emma shrugged and looked down, but then slowly lifted her gaze to meet Regina's. "I might have an idea, but I don't think you're going to like it very much."

This was definitely a bad idea, Emma thought to herself as her mother dragged her by her elbow to the other end of the poorly lit, gaudily decorated hallway of the hotel.

"You're sharing a room with Regina?" her mother hissed.

"Yeah, I am," Emma said somewhat defiantly. "We only have two rooms because we thought it would only be the two of us, but then you and Dad decided to join in so we had to come up with a new plan." She took a deep breath and sighed. "Look, it's fine. It's only one night. I think we can handle ourselves."

Snow, for her part, rightfully looked guilty. "I'm sorry, Emma."

Emma ignored her apology as she started to walk away. "Remember to be ready by 8:30 tomorrow."

An hour later, Emma was fully settled on her side of the bed with the novel she had picked out of the Storybrooke Library the previous day.

Two paragraphs in, the door to the adjoining bathroom opened and Regina stepped out, towel drying her hair as she walked. Emma's gaze drifted from the pages of the book to the drops of water trickling down Regina's neck…

Her eyes quickly snapped back to the book, clearing her throat as she shifted lower under the covers. "Did you have a good shower?"

"As good as a hotel shower can get," Regina said somewhat disdainfully. She put away her bag of toiletries before going back into the bathroom to put her towel back. There was no hesitation in her movements when sat down on the bed next to Emma with a bottle of lotion.

Emma put her book down on her lap. "Henry did seem pretty content today."

Regina nodded, her hands moving gracefully up and down her legs. "Indeed he did." She paused in her movements. "I just— never mind." She switched to her other leg and continued with the lotion.

Emma moved the book to the bedside table and shifted to face Regina. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

Once more, Regina nodded, capping her lotion and slipping under the covers. "I'm fine." She burrowed in turned her back to Emma.

Not knowing what to do, Emma shrugged to herself and slipped in further, pulling up the sheets. She turned off the lamp as she went, casting the room into darkness, with only a thin shred of light coming from the place where the curtains met.

Emma turned so she was facing Regina and closed her eyes. She wasn't all that tired, but she knew the earlier-than-usual wake-up call was going to kick her in the butt if she didn't go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Silence, surprisingly not an uncomfortable one, descended upon the two for a few minutes, before Emma heard Regina's soft voice.

"I just feel like Henry's going to forget about me," she whispered softly, so soft that it took a minute for Emma to decipher what she had said.

"He's not going to forget about you," Emma whispered back. "Why would you think that?"

"Because, as you and your mother both pointed out, he… he fits in so well here," Regina said. "He has friends here. He loves the location, his classes, his professors…" She rolled over to face Emma. "He told me today that he found a job in town that he can work when he's not in class. I told him he should be more focused on his schoolwork, to which he responded, 'Mom, I'm an adult now. I can make my own decisions'." She sighed, and Emma saw her eyes were starting to glisten. "I don't think I'm ready for him to grow up."

Emma scooted closer and placed a hand on Regina's arm. "I know. Neither am I." She sighed. "But we both knew that this day would eventually come. He wasn't going to stay as the ten-year-old with an affection for comic books and chocolate bars." She smiled. "Now he's an eighteen-year-old with an affection for comic books and chocolate bars."

Regina gave a small smile, which slowly faded from her face. She shifted a little closer to the blonde. "I don't know… what I'm going to do…"

"With what?"

"With myself."

Emma moved her hand down Regina's arm to grasp the brunette's hand in her own.

"I've been a mother for eighteen years," Regina said quietly, her voice cracking. "I've watched him go from a crying infant who needed me to feed and care for him, to a clumsy toddler who needed me to teach him, to a boy who… who needed me to love him." She let out a small sob as the tears started to flow. "What am I going to do if no one needs me?"

"I need you," Emma whispered. She pulled Regina in close and tucked her head over Regina's, rubbing her back soothingly. Within five minutes, the brunette had quieted down and was breathing deeply as sleep overtook her. Ten minutes later, Emma joined her.

"I thought they were coming to get us at 8:30…" Snow muttered as she noticed the digital clock on the bedside table read 8:53.

"Maybe they're not ready yet," David suggested.

Snow gave him a look. "Regina? Not ready?" She gave a small laugh. "The only way Regina wouldn't be ready at exactly 8:30 is if something big happened."

David nodded. "True, but what if Emma's the one that's not ready?"

"Now that is a more plausible idea," Snow said with a smile. "I'm going to go knock on their door."

She took one of the room keys and walked out of the room to the door across the hall. She knocked three times and waited.

Nothing.

She knocked three times again. This time, she heard muffled voices and a couple thumps.

An exclamation of "Fuck!" could be heard coming from the inside, and seconds later the door opened.

Emma stood there, red faced and in her pajamas. "Hey, Mom!"

"Are you okay?" Snow asked, noticing how Emma was bent over slightly and had a hand on her knee.

"Yeah, I just bashed my leg on the table," Emma said. "No biggie." She stood up a little straighter to try and prove her point. "So what's up?"

Snow raised her eyebrows. "Regina told us to meet at 8:30 and it's almost 9…"

"Oh!" Emma exclaimed. She looked behind her. "Well, she's uh… she's still sleeping."

"She is?" Snow asked, growing concerned as she thought of her earlier statement. "Is she okay."

Emma nodded. "Yeah, she's fine. Last night we… well…" She tilted her head as she thought of what to say. "She had a pretty tiring night. She probably needed more rest than she thought after… what we… did. You know, gotta charge up for today and whatnot."

Snow's jaw slowly dropped as her daughter awkwardly stumbled through a rather astonishing explanation. "You… last night?"

"Yeah, I… it's not my place to talk about, but we did go through some emotional stuff last night," Emma said. "If you know what I mean."

Snow just stared at her.

Emma awkwardly nodded. "So… yeah. I'm going to go wake her up so we can get going. I think we can be ready by… like, 9:45?"

"Okay," Snow squeaked out.

"Alright, we'll see you then— for sure, this time," Emma said with a smile as she closed the door.

Snow slowly stepped across the hall to her room, thoughts whizzing through her brain as she scanned the door key and let herself back in.

"Are they ready?" David asked as she walked through.

She shook her head in response.

David furrowed his eyebrows. "Are they… going to get ready?"

She nodded.

"Are you okay?"

She shook her head.

"What's wrong?" David asked as he walked up to stand directly in front of her.

She looked up at him. "We should've just booked our own room."