There were moments where Regina regretted not having adopted a girl. She loved Henry more than anything in the world, but it was obvious that the boy had reached his teenage years— And I thought us women were the only drama queens at this age, the woman thought to herself as she watched her son rant about how tired he was of everyone telling him he was too young to do mature stuff and too old to behave like a child. "Whatever, I'm going to my room." he ended up muttering, leaving the salad half eaten and his mother with a frown on her face.
"Henry Daniel Mills, come downstairs and eat your dinner!" she yelled, strutting behind him but stopping at the bottom of the stairs. With a sigh, she rolled her eyes and went back to the kitchen, taking her phone and deciding to dial Emma's number. "Hey. I hope I didn't interrupt anything with Hook… Oh, okay. He wasn't worth it anyway. Uh, do you want to have dinner with me? Yeah, Henry is here, but he did not even eat his salad… Yes Emma, salad again, he has to eat healthy." she sighed. "Okay, I'll get you some more salad then. Or a grilled cheese sandwich, okay..."
Knocking on the door, the blonde woman waited for Regina to open it. Instead, the young teenager walked out of the house, bumping against her. "Hey, Kiddo! Where are you going?" she asked with surprise, hearing a soft mumble in response, informing her that the boy was going to a party. Frowning, the woman walked inside the house and closed the door after her, entering the kitchen. "What the hell is going on?"
"He's been like this all week. Like, an hour ago he said he wasn't hungry anymore, then went to his room and an hour later he devastated the fridge!" Regina was infuriated, her grumpy mood being obvious not even a second after the savior entered the room. Letting out a huff, Regina crossed her arms. "Couldn't you have a girl."
"As if girls were better than boys at that age." Emma laughed, rolling her eyes and then walking to the table, smiling at the perfect dish on the table. "Come on, let's have dinner and figure out what the hell is going on with our son." she smiled, moving to take the chair and sit. Sighing, Regina did the same, starting to eat the remains of her salad in silence. In her mind, the many reasons Henry could be behaving like this for. It could be hormones. Or a girl, maybe. There is no need to panic, Regina. Wait, what if he's on drugs? "I'm going upstairs." she spoke, standing up and rushing towards the hall.
"Regina, come on!" Emma quickly stood up and followed, knowing that the protective— almost obsessive— motherly side of Regina was making an appearance. Dear god, not again. Running upstairs behind the woman, Emma finally reached the teeenager's room, seeing how Regina carefully opened and closed drawers and closets, checking through shelves. Damn, not even the CSI would do such a good job, she laughed internally as she saw Regina— or her rear, since it was the only thing that she saw in that moment— kneel under the bed.
"I knew it!" the woman exclaimed, taking out a box and pursing her lips as she sat on the bed. Please don't let it be drugs, please don't let it be drugs… Regina chanted internally, hoping that she hadn't raised a stoner. "What the—" the woman muttered, observing the contents of the box with wide eyes and a confused face. "Playboy?"
"Oh wow…" the savior walked towards the bed with a smile on her face, hiding the relief it was that their son was not doing drugs. Sitting next to Regina she took the magazine from the box, raising a brow at the woman on the cover. "Damn, I had one of these when I was sixteen!" she laughed, opening it and giving a look to the pictures— next to her, the former mayor pursed her lips even more now. If only Emma was a bit more observant, she'd realize that Regina was jealous of her sudden attention for the random brunette woman on the magazine. Regina coughed, starting to feel awkward. She had no idea of what this magazine was, but the cover had made her know that it wasn't something she wanted her son to look at.
"What exactly is this, Miss Swan?"
"This is a Playboy magazine. It's basically…" she tried to find a way to tell Regina that it was a magazine that had naked women in it without having her get enraged with her or Henry. It is a magazine about female anatomy. No, it is a magazine that has various contents, which include hot naked women too. It is.. "Well, you see what it is." she ended giving up— there was no way the teenager would not be in trouble for this.
"Emma Swan, your child is looking at porn and you aren't concerned?!"
"Not really… What concerns me is that this kid has a magazine. Seriously, doesn't he know that there are web pages for this?"
"Emma!" the woman pursed her lips and snatched the magazine from the woman's hands, taking a look through the pages. Yes, these women were quite attractive, she had to recognize it. But this was not the appropriate content for a teenage boy. Soon she had stood up and walked out of the room, leaving a concerned savior still sitting on the bed. Standing up, Emma walked to the door and smirked.
"Are you stealing your son's porn, Regina? Do you want me to give you some privacy?" she teased as she walked downstairs, following the woman to the kitchen. Suddenly she realized how different they were, herself joking about the magazine while Regina seemed to be overwhelmed by the situation. With her palm on the kitchen counter, the magazine hanging from the other, Regina had closed her eyes and was trying to breathe normally. "Hey, Regina… What's wrong?"
"I have no idea of how to do this, Emma."
"What do you mean?"
"I come from a different world, I don't know about this kind of stuff… In the Enchanted Forest there is nothing like this, and I don't know how to do this. Is this normal in teenage boys in this world? Do I have to yell at Henry, or do I have to act as if nothing happened? Do I take this away or do I leave it where it was? I have no idea of what to do."
It was shocking, Regina always seemed to know what to do. She always seemed to know her son perfectly, she always knew what to do or say to make things okay. But now, Emma could see nothing but a worried mother who did not know how to handle a situation. With a sigh, she walked towards Regina and wrapped her arms around her. "Listen, Regina." she whispered, feeling the other tremble. The woman was obviously scared. "He's a teenager. Teenage boys are in a constant state where they only think of this kind of stuff, and in this world they've got the resources to find what they want. Still, it's nothing bad, you know? Henry is a good boy, this doesn't mean anything else. He just has his mind in... other things."
"So this is normal?"
"Yes, Regina. Completely normal."
"And I don't have to worry about him, right?"
"Not more than you already do." the savior smiled and rubbed the woman's back with her hand, comforting her. Regina was not trembling anymore, she noticed. She just needs to calm down a bit… she thought to herself, slowly starting to pull back. "Come on, let's finish dinner."
