Anonymous asked you: Prompt! Henry and Regina work on their relationship (it breaks my heart in the show how he just seems to hate her; she's his MOTHER, at least for the first 10 years), and as they become more comfortable with each other, Regina also becomes more tolerant of Emma. Henry encourages this, eventual Swan Queen (obviously). I just feel like Henry giving her dating advice would be really entertaining...I don't know. ;)

"Mom?" Henry asked as he tentatively walked into her home office.

Regina didn't look up from her work, "Yes, Henry?"

"Umm… You know how Dr. Hopper said that we needed to spend more time together?"

"Yes…" This caused the woman to put her pen down and look to the boy.

"Well, I was wondering if you would teach me how to play basketball?"

Regina knit her brows, "What makes you think I know the sport?"

"I was looking through that old scrapbook next to the one that's got all my stuff in it and I saw pictures of you playing…" He looked to her, "Emma plays with David, Sheriff Graham, Ruby, Frederick, Sean, Ashley, Jefferson, Dr. Whale, and August. And she told me that she'd teach me and we could play together sometime, but something always comes up and I don't want to wait to learn. So, I figured that maybe you could teach me?"

Regina smiled at her son. Despite it being for Emma, he wanted to learn how to play the game and he came to her. She stood, "Of course I'll teach you."

"Great! Wanna go to the park now?"

~0~0~0~0~0~

Emma was walking the park; 'patrolling' if you will, when she came across two figures she never thought she'd see on the basketball court. She kept her distance for a while watching as Regina would take the obviously newly purchased, bright orange basketball and show him things before he would try to mimic.

She strutted up to the base line and leaned against the pole. Regina was guarding Henry at the top of the key and Henry was trying to get passed her when he looked over, put the ball under his arm, smiled wide and waved, "Hi, Emma!"

"Hey, kid. What's going on?" She smiled to Regina as she turned and gave a nod in greeting.

"Mom's teaching me how to play basketball!"

Emma bit her lip to keep from laughing, "I'm sorry… The mayor knows how to play a team sport?"

"I'll have you know Deputy, I was an All-Star champ in my day."

"Really?" The blonde was disbelieving.

"Mom's really good Emma. You should play her."

"Nah, I don't think your mom would like that very much."

"You honestly think I can't tolerate you for a game, Deputy?"

"I think you won't be able to tolerate losing…"

Regina took the ball from Henry and chest passed it over to Emma, "Your ball. Henry?"

"Yeah, mom?" Henry watched wide-eyed and excited while his blonde mother shed her coat.

"Would you mind sitting on the sidelines a few minutes?"

"Yeah kid, keep score." Emma gave him a wink. When she got to the top of the key she turned to Regina, "First to ten. Each basket's a point. Call your own fouls. Make it take it?"

"Whatever you prefer." Regina swung her arm across her chest to stretch a moment.

"Let's play the regular way then." Emma grinned as she bounced the ball between her legs to the brunette, "Check."

Regina smirked, "That was a cute move…" She passed it back before leaping into a defensive position intimidatingly in front of her, "But cute's not going to beat me."

Emma tucked the ball into triple threat away from the brunette, "I can see that all-star." She pushed into the brunette, charging hard, but Regina was quick to recover and ran with her to the basket.

They matched each other basket for basket and defensive move for defensive move before Regina finally prevailed.

"Mom! You won!" Henry ran over and hugged her, "Good thing I picked you to teach me instead of Emma."

"Hey!" Emma gave her son a playful glare, "I could teach the crap out of you. Just because I let your mom win does not mean that I'm a bad player or a bad teacher."

Regina nodded along, but stopped when she heard the words 'let,' 'mom,' and 'win' in the same sentence, "Excuse me, you did not let me win." She turned back to the boy still in her arms, "The rest is true, but she did not let me win."

Henry nodded accepting that Emma could teach if she wanted to, "Can we go get cocoa, mom? It's cold."

"Of course, Henry."

"Could Emma come?"

Regina's chest tightened but when she saw the puppy eyes on her son, she nodded, "If she wants."

Emma stared at the brunette in surprise before looking to Henry, "Oh, kid, I would but I have some stuff I have to do at the station. You go with your mom though."

~0~0~0~0~0~

A few weeks later, Henry walked into the living room to find his mother reading, "Can I watch a movie?"

"Oh, of course." Regina nodded.

"You wanna watch with me?" His tone was timid, just as it was when he asked her to teach him how to play basketball.

She smiled a wide smile, "What are we watching?" Henry held up The Avengers, "I should have known."

Henry grinned as he moved to open the cabinet that held the 80" HD TV. After he opened it up, he stopped.

"Is everything alright, Henry?"

"Yeah. I just… Could I call Emma and have her come watch too? She's never seen it and I told her we could watch it sometime."

Regina looked down, "I suppose that she could come for the movie, yes." She kept hold of her book and stood, "Shall I order pizza for you two?"

"Well, us three, mom."

"You still want me to join you?"

Henry smiled, "Yeah mom! Of course I do."

Emma came about seven minutes after Henry called her. Regina opened the door for her, "Ah, Deputy. I can see you had big plans for the evening, coming as soon as you get the call."

"Hey, if the kid calls me to watch a movie on 'the biggest TV ever' then I will make time to be here." She smiled kindly as she walked into the house.

Regina led her to the living room, "Oh my God!" She said excitedly, "It's the biggest TV ever!" She turned to the woman, "How are you not here instead of work all the time?"

Regina rolled her eyes, "It's not that amazing, Deputy, it's just a television."

"It's a big ass HD television… Man, if I had the money…" She trailed off staring at it before looking back to the woman before her, "You ever think of having movie nights?"

~0~0~0~0~0~

Emma had been weaseling her way into Henry and Regina's life for the last six months. Not just into Henry's life because she 'just wants to make sure Henry is okay,' but into both Henry and Regina's lives separately and the one the mother and son were working on together.

Regina was standoffish to begin with she'd noticed even though she tried so hard to act casually. She could tell during that first game of basketball that she would have beat Emma by a lot more than a point, but she was stiff and wary. And then that next time with The Avengers…

God, Emma was uncomfortable every time she caught a glance of the woman on the other side of the couch. It was like she was playing piano at a recital. Her back was arched it was so far beyond straight and she sat on the edge of what Emma had dubbed the comfiest couch ever.

The blonde had decided from that night on to try and make the woman comfortable. She would stop by and smart talk the woman, try and trick her to playing basketball with everyone, and most importantly she would bring her coffee. And at some point in the conversation, she would try to make it a point to tell her in some way that she didn't have to hate her and they could have a relationship that was not despising the other.

She walked into Regina's office unannounced as per usual with her coffee to find… Nothing. No one was in there. She let out a sigh in a little pout and shlumped forward to put the to-go cup on the Mayor's desk.

"Deputy…?"

Emma perked immediately, "Mayor Mills." She smiled as she turned around to see the mayor walking out of a hidden room in the wall of the office, "A secret room!" She walked over and tried to pass the mayor, but the hand on her sternum stopped her, "I wanna see with my eyes."

Regina opened her mouth to retaliate then stared at her a moment, letting the blonde's choice of words sink into her brain, "You want to see my restroom with your eyes?"

"Yeah. What else would I see it with?"

Regina shook her head, "What are you doing here, Deputy?"

"Just came to say hi. You know… see if you and Henry were doing anything tonight?" She kept staring at the wall behind her.

Regina rolled her eyes and opened the door behind her. She stepped aside and let the blonde woman in.

"Shwanky." She looked around at all the fancy things inside the secret bathroom, "Oh! Little tiny soaps!" She picked up one of the rose shaped soaps to show the other woman.

"Yes." Regina nodded, trying to be polite and let the blonde be excited, but it was hard since it was just her personal bathroom.

"Oh… Right… You've been in the secret potty before." She put the soap back down and looked around again, "Oh!" She picked up a small basket of potpourri, "Smell good stuff." She inhaled, "Apple cinnamon… Why am I surprised?"

They exchanged a grin before Regina answered, "Made it myself actually."

Emma tilted her head to the side. A grin spread to her face as she considered her words and she nodded.

"What? Why are you giving me that look?"

The blonde now shook her head, "No reason," She put the potpourri down and crossed her arms, "You and Henry doing anything tonight?"

"I don't believe so…"

"You wanna get dinner at the diner and rent a movie?"

"Emma you don't have to ask me if you can come over and watch a movie with Henry. I've told you that you can come watch them if you want to."

"I want to watch with you too. Come on… You wanna?"

Regina looked to the side in consideration, "I suppose that might be nice."

Emma grinned, "Excellent. I'll come by at 7? We can walk to the diner? Get the movie after?"

~0~0~0~0~0~

"Ooooh! The Breakfast Club! Let's get this one." Emma said as she turned to her son and his mother.

Henry looked unimpressed, "No way."

"Deputy, that is rated 'R'."

Emma laughed, "So, he's allowed to watch 'R' rated movies…" Her tone was full of 'duh'.

"No he can't. He's eleven. Just barely eleven…"

Emma stood straight for a moment and looked to her son before looking back to the brunette woman, "Right, so no rated 'R' movies until when?"

"17 is the legal age."

"Bullshit… I was on my own at 17—Hell! I was knocked up at 17." She looked back to Henry cleverly avoiding the slightly repulsed and completely annoyed look the mayor was giving her, "Kid, you can watch 'em as long as one of us is with you, like we've been doing."

"Like you've been doing?" Regina stepped into the blonde's line of vision.

Emma pursed her lips and looked away, "So, Breakfast Club is a no-go?"

"Correct."

"Hey mom!" Henry had walked three rows away from his mothers, "Can we get this one?"

They turned and Emma was the first to answer, "Oh yeah!" She walked over to him and after swiping the jacket from her son, she looked at the back cover of the movie and started singing, "All my bags are packed. I'm ready to go. I'm standing here outside your door. I hate to wake you up to say, 'goodbye'. So kiss me and smile for me. Let me know you'll wait for me. Hold me like you'll never let me go…"

She looked up to find the mayor with raised questioning brows. She gave said mayor a blank expression in return, "You've never seen this movie." That much was obvious from the brunette's confusion; her tone turned disbelieving, "You've never seen this movie?!" She shook her head before she started singing again and made her way up to the register, movie in hand, "'Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again. Leavin' on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again—Hey Vinny." She cut off to greet the storeowner.

"Deputy Swan." He smiled, "Ah, I see why the song was necessary now."

Emma smiled then turned to the two people following her, "See? If you've seen Armageddon, then you know why that song is so important."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Henry sprawled out on the floor. He made a pallet for himself and cocooned up for the movie. Regina sat in her usual seat, and Emma plopped next to her like it was an everyday occurrence after finding a box of tissues—Puffs Plus because their noses would deserve Puffs indeed—and setting it on the end table next to the brunette.

"Trust me." She patted the mayor's lower thigh before giving it a gentle squeeze and caressing it with her thumb. She grinned at the reaction she got.

Regina stared undividedly at Emma's hand and after a moment, she crossed her legs, only to have Emma's hand stay on her thigh. She bit her lip and looked to the blonde who only clung tighter to her leg and grinned.

"Mom can you turn off the light?" Henry asked after he pushed play.

Regina jumped and looked down at him only to find that he didn't turn around. She reached to the lamp's switch and turned it off only receiving a grunt of a thanks in return.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Henry sat across from his biological mother at the diner. They stared at one another and mirrored each other's motions, both sipping their cocoa, licking their lips clean of whipped cream and wiping the whipped cream from their noses with the backs of their hands. They waited for the other to speak first.

Henry's patience ran out before Emma's though and he relented, "So, Nicholas is having a sleepover on Friday. I won't be at home."

Emma sat back and nodded, "Oh, that's okay, kid. You need to have a social life…"

"So do you." Henry said under his breath as he took another sip of cocoa.

"Whoa, hey.. What does that mean?"

"It means that my mom isn't doing anything either."

Emma stared at him a moment before grinning, "Henry… Listen. You're mom—"

"Likes you too. She just doesn't know why or how because of—"

"The curse?"

"No… because of her first love. Daniel. He died and she hasn't ever loved or liked anyone since. She doesn't know what she's doing just like you don't."

Emma laughed before arrogantly stating, "I know what I'm doing."

"I'm sure you do." His tone anything but believing.

"I do!"

"Then how come you haven't asked her out yet?"

"You think I can't ask your mom out?"

"I think you're chicken."

"I am not a chicken!"

"Then prove it. Start dating my mom."

Ruby was walking by, luckily she was empty handed but she did have to catch herself on the table as she tripped after hearing the words, "You're dating the mayor?"

Emma gave her son a look before blinking a couple times appearing bored as she looked to the waitress, "No."

Ruby looked to Henry, "You'll let me know when it happens?" She smiled when Henry nodded and walked on.

"Kid. You're mom is a sophisticated, classy, elegant, intelligent lady. I'm… not."

"And she's still falling in love with you. I know you can't see it yet, but I can. Bring her coffee and open your eyes, Emma. Then ask her on a date… for Friday… because I'll be at Nicholas's."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Emma walked into the mayor's office. Regina again was nowhere to be found. She set the coffee down on the desk and took a post-it and pen from their holders.

'I like you. A lot. Wanna go on a date with me? ~Emma' She wrote on the post-it, stuck it to the protective sleeve of the to-go cup and stalked to the door.

"You're an idiot." The deputy said to herself then started back to the cup before shaking it off and heading back to the door.

This happened a couple more times before Regina walked in from the hallway, "Deputy…?"

"Hi!" Emma darted back to the coffee cup and tore the post-it off in hopes that the brunette didn't see any of it.

"What is that?" Regina asked as she set the file in her hands on the desk and looked to the green post-it.

"This?" Emma flashed the post-it, "Nothing. Just reminding you that it's hot so be careful."

Regina put her hand out, "Deputy…?" She didn't need to ask for the post-it, the hand was enough.

"Please don't make me…" Emma stared at the proffered hand.

"Deputy…?" She said again. Emma reluctantly handed over the post-it then ran out of the office.

Regina read and reread the note about twenty times, each time a wider smile growing on her face before she stood and left her office to chase down the deputy of the town.

Emma heard the mayor's heels long before she reached the doorway. She looked to Graham, "If she asks, I'm not here." She darted into the observation room attached to the interrogation room.

Regina took a quick survey of the main office to find the deputy gone. She walked to Graham's office doorway, "Sheriff Graham?"

"Yes, Madam Mayor?"

"Is the deputy here?"

"No." Though instead of shaking his head, he nodded 'yes.'

"Where is she?"

Graham pointed behind him and said nothing.

"Thank you, Sheriff." She smiled that winning smile before starting down the hallway.

"Madam Mayor, before you go…" He stood up and walked over to the mayor, putting a hand next to the woman's head against the wall and leaned into her, "You haven't called me in quite some time…"

"I've been busy." She started away.

"I have needs too, you know? When will you not be busy?" His tone was low and full of sexy.

"I don't think I'll be free for quite some time, actually."

Graham knit his brows, "Are you saying that our arrangement…?"

"Is no more. Honestly, Sheriff, I would have thought that after eight months, you'd have moved on."

"Well, I have… But that doesn't mean I don't want you, too."

Regina knit her brows, "You're a bit of a man-slut, Sheriff, you know that?"

"You picked me because I'm pretty and discreet and good in bed. I'd have to be a bit of a man-slut for you to know the third one before… knowing the third one."

"Right." Regina nodded and turned slowly, but kept her face directed to the man-slut, "I'm going to walk away now, Sheriff."

"You're really ending this?"

"Yes." Regina smiled, which she knew would be a dead giveaway to the man before walking down the hallway. She bypassed the first door on the left and went for the second. "Deputy, how nice to see you again."

Emma hit her head against the glass wall and closed her eyes. "Madam Mayor."

"You like me a lot and you want to go on a date with me." Regina walked over to the deputy and lifted the blonde's face to her own, "Really? Out of everyone in this town? All that have treated you with kindness, you like me?"

"You've been kind." Emma said, unconsciously wrapping her arms around the mayor, "You've been real kind." She suddenly realized that her arms had in deed made their way around the other woman's waist and started to retract them, but Regina only pushed into her form more.

"I like you a lot as well, Deputy."

"If you like me so much, you can call me Emma."

"Emma." Regina smiled, "Would you like to come to my house Friday evening? I can cook for you and we can have a movie marathon? You can make me watch the movies you've been trying to make Henry watch because they're your favorite… And we can have a late night…"

"Yeah 'cause Henry is gone at Nicholas's… We'd have the whole place to ourselves and I'm sorry, but all I'm thinking about is the many ways I'm going to try to get into your pants and the many kisses that I hope we'll be sharing and I know I'll be stealing."

Regina smiled, "So… Friday. You could come over right after work?"

"Well… 5:30? I'll want to change and stuff…"

"5:30. So you can change and stuff." Regina confirmed. She walked to the door before stopping herself and walking back to the blonde, kissing her for all she was worth and walking out once again.

"Damn…" Emma sighed as she stared at the door.

~0~0~0~0~0~

At 5:20, Emma was standing outside the mayor's mansion, movies in hand. She paced back and forth before walking down the stairs and sitting down. She sat on the top step and looked at her phone for the umpteenth time.

"Emma?" The door opened and Regina stepped on the porch.

Emma turned around and smiled as she stood up, "Hey." She walked back up the steps.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Well, I got here early, and I didn't know if you were doing something. So, I decided to wait."

Regina smiled, "You didn't have to do that. It's alright if you arrive early, dear."

"Dear…" Emma nodded with a smirk, "You don't got another nickname? Perhaps one that you don't use with everyone in town?"

Regina stepped aside and let the blonde inside, "Would you prefer something like 'Darling'? 'Honey'? 'Baby'? 'My Love'?"

Emma smiled wide, "You know?... I actually like all of those names." She looked to the brunette's hand and intertwined their fingers. They stayed in the foyer a moment staring at each other like love struck teenagers before Emma smelt what was cooking in the kitchen. "Oh my God." She turned and walked through the doorway leading her to the greatest feast ever, "Is that just a giant huge thing of spaghetti and meatballs?"

"Yes. Henry told me it's in your top three favorite meals."

"It is." Her stomach grumbled right on cue, "Can we eat?"

"Of course." Regina nodded and dealt out their meals before sitting at the table, "So, what did you bring for me to watch?"

"Well… I brought Pitch Perfect—Don't look at me like that. It's hilarious." She gave Regina a wide grin, "The Breakfast Club, which… We need to watch before Pitch Perfect for… reasons…" She took the next DVD from her stack, "Fried Green Tomatoes—"

"I love that film." Regina said, which caused Emma to stop and stare, "What?"

"Baby, that is the greatest thing you've ever said to me." Emma said with a wide smile.

Regina only smiled in return, "What else?"

"Well, I brought Arma-get-it-on again… Not necessarily to watch so much as to remind you about the animal cracker scene and tell you that I would like to replay it."

"Arma-get-it-on? Really, darling?"

Emma gave her a smile after hearing the term of endearment then shook her head, "That's what you got from that all of that?"

"That was the only part that seemed wrong." Regina raised her brow in challenge.

"Damn…" Emma dropped the movies and looked down at her pasta.

Regina only smiled before taking a bite from her dish.

"So, you think you'll play basketball with me and the gang now? You can get up in my business in public and stuff… And you'll… you know… be sweaty and delicious—at least that is what I'm going to assume and sort of know." Emma looked up to Regina.

"Oh, Emma…" Regina shook her head as a blush crept to her face and turned from the blonde.

They continued a silent meal as Emma wolfed down two large helpings and Regina… tried not to look directly at the manner-less girl that took her heart.