She stood stiffly, lips pressed in a thin red line as her younger self clung to her legs and buried her face into the Mayor's hip. Regina watched as Emma regarded them nonchalantly.
"What's wrong?" Emma asked in response to Regina's apparent discomfort.
"Sorry, still new to all this. I'm guessing this doesn't usually happen in the Enchanted Forest?"
Regina's withering look was answer enough.
"Take that as a no, then," Emma grunted, slinging her hands into her pockets, "Great, well, then, that's fantastic. I'll leave you two be then."
Regina's head snapped up.
"What? You're just going to leave me?" The Mayor demanded, incredulously, "Emma!?"
"Yup," Emma turned on her heel and began making her way to Regina's front door, "That's the plan."
Regina lurched toward the retreating form of the Savior, knocking her younger self over who let out a startled yelp as Regina caught her. In a fluid, practiced motion, Regina swung the child into her arms and ran toward the door where Emma was sliding her boots on, one hand already sliding the door open a crack.
"No you don't, Miss Swan, you do not get to run from this!" Regina roughly slammed the door shut with her body, coming face to face with a scowling blonde sheriff. She shifted the child's weight on her hip and spared her left arm to grab and twist the deadbolt shut, securing it with magic.
She watched Emma's face fall and snarled, "What the Hell was that?"
At the use of such foul language, younger Regina covered her ears adorably.
"...I...uh," Emma stuttered.
Regina shook her head and advanced, pushing the blonde back into the house.
"What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't-"
Regina let out a barking laugh.
"Clearly!"
Then, she shoved the weight into the Sheriff's arms. The blonde struggled with the transfer of bony limbs and young Regina let out a squeal of discomfort during the process.
Regina stomped off to the kitchen, combing fingers through her dark hair out of apparent stress.
Emma was, if not entirely weirded out by the fact that she was holding a tiny version of her evil step grandmother, highly uncomfortable with dealing with small kids. Particularly ones who appear to be abandoned. Her only experience with children, Henry being the only exception, had been during her years as a foster kid, and memories of those dark and unpleasant days were welcome not into her already very emotionally overworked brain.
Admittedly, she had been more than a little blown away upon finding the 5 year old evil-queen-to-be running around Storybrooke's sidewalks in a sundress. It was a legit 'what the fuck' moment well deserving of some slack-jawed gawking and a few rounds of beer. Note to self, Emma thought. Maybe she was still in shock, or maybe it was because after just finding out that her parents are THE prince charming and snow white of legends, it's difficult for life's curve balls to top that one, but finding young Regina appeared, at least to Emma, to be less of a jolting experience to her as it was the child's older counterpart.
Small Regina wiggled restlessly in the savior's not so maternally engaged grip, so the blonde let the child slide limply to the floor where she immediately pouted and demanded to be picked up again in an adorable mockery of the sovereign authority her older double exuberated on a daily basis. Emma groaned inwardly and plucked the child from the floor with a little less reluctance than she expected, and stomped towards the kitchen where older Regina had disappeared into and made sounds of opening and closing cabinets.
"Alright, Miss Swan," the Mayor greeted Emma as she entered the kitchen, child still squirming uncomfortably in her arms.
The wickedly smirking brunette had a tumbler of cider in her hand and looked decidedly dangerous with it.
"Welcome to motherhood 101.".