Life was pretty much the same in Storybrooke. Regina missed Henry most of the time; some days it was tolerable, others she could barely stand it, but all in all it was Emma's efforts that kept her sane and happy.
Regina loved escaping from town's urban scenario to do it inside Emma's atrocious car, and she loved the quick runs to do it in the adjoined bathroom in her town hall office. It was all very absurd, considering they had a house full of rooms, but she gathered it was Emma's version of having fun – to do it anywhere they could get caught.
Henry had left a month ago, and sometimes Regina wondered whether Emma was desperate to distract her from their son's departure or just worried that they were in a route after four years.
Either way, her motivations were valid and welcome. Start the day looking forward to a 'surprise' of that nature was making Regina feel ridiculously young and giddy; that routine had her catching herself smiling more often than not, and this gesture knew no boundaries – it happened both when she was alone and when she was pretending to listen to some dull citizen complaining about potholes.
Council Meetings were the worst. Emma usually attended those, being Sheriff and all, and she would keep on sending the most obscene proposals via text to Regina's phone – which was on top of the table, vibrating like hell, making people frown a little.
"Sorry. It's our son. He's in New York," she would say with a proud smile, only to discreetly turn to Emma and shoot daggers at her with her eyes. Emma would smirk and turn to their interlocutor, ignoring Regina all through the rest of the meeting, making her angry and turned on.
Regina was still reading the last text she got from Emma. It was literally written pornography, and she groaned out loud when the speech she prepared last night simply disappeared. The public session was about to start, and all she had in mind now was the very graphic suggestion Emma came up with that early in the morning.
"Are you ready for them, Madam Mayor?" Kathryn asked, popping her head inside the office.
Regina was about to answer, when a wave of foreign nausea hit her stomach. She grimaced instead, and that had her secretary enter the office looking worried.
"Regina?"
Her voice seemed to come from a distant place as she sank into her chair and passed out the second Kathryn hurried to her side…
XXX
"Let me through!" Emma barked, trying her best not to elbow some people standing on her way. "Where's Regina?" she spat once she reached the counter.
The nurse in charge looked bored; you could always count on Sheriff Swan to make a huge fuss as though the former Queen was dying.
"She is in the recovery room. She is fine," she said.
"It's Swan-Mills," Emma grunted before she turned on her heels and hurried to the right wing of the hospital, missing the nurse's face of utter surprise.
Emma burst into the room and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Regina scold Whale.
"I am not dying, Victor! Unfortunately for you."
"Oh, you're fine!" she breathed, waving at Katheryn, who was sitting on a chair next to the bed where Dr. Whale unsuccessfully tried to keep Regina still. "Hi," she smiled at the brunette. "How are you, honey?"
"I'm fine!" Regina rolled her eyes. "It's probably low blood pressure, I don't know why everyone is making such a huge event out of this!"
"Maybe people were placing bets on the cause of death," Katheryn suggested as she went flippantly through a magazine.
"Are people this bored?" Dr. Whale asked, taking notes on his clipboard, and then turning to Emma. "I wanted to make a few more tests, but she won't let me. It's most likely low blood pressure, but I wanted to rule out other conditions. That's really up to you, Sheriff."
"Oh, so now you're going to ask permission to her as though I am not in the room?"
Emma tilted her head to look at Regina around Whale. The brunette was fuming.
"Could you give us a second?" Emma asked to the room at large. Whale nodded shortly and left. Kathryn stood up and took the magazine with her, muttering Good luck under her breath as she passed by Emma.
"I heard that!" Regina snarled, and then folded her arms like a spoiled child when the blonde sat down on the mattress.
"Gina? What's wrong?"
As absurdly mad as Regina was, she couldn't help softening when Emma sounded so worried like that.
"I felt nauseous and weak. I lost consciousness for a second. I am okay."
The Sheriff frowned, not looking convinced that that was it.
"I miss him too," she said quietly. "We don't need to wait until Thanksgiving to have him over. We could go to New York visit him this weekend. You should have said something."
"Emma."
Her voice was soft and loving again. Emma loved to hear her name like that. She smiled fondly at the brunette, who looked absurdly emotional for someone who was spitting fire a second ago.
"We're a team, dumbass. You have to talk to me," Emma scoffed playfully, hugging her to give her privacy as she cried. She knew Regina hated to feel vulnerable like that.
"Oh, where's the Mind Reader Savior when we need her?" Regina grumbled in a thick voice, squeezing Emma's middle. "Can we go home now?"
"Yes, we can go home," Emma grinned, texting her dad to take over and call if there was any emergency. "I'll talk to Whale so he can discharge you, okay?"
"All right," Regina nodded, appreciating the fact that the blonde just knew to let her be for a minute. She put her shoes back and collected her purse, leaving the room after wiping the tears away. She took a deep breath and joined Kathryn on the corridor. "Thank you for bringing me, Kat. Clear my schedule for the day and you can go get some rest too. I'll work from home, people know where to find me anyway."
"Call if you need help," her friend smiled and turned away to leave.
Regina was about to look around for Emma when a clipboard blocked her view.
"You have to sign this."
Regina took it and turned to see who the petulant nurse was. She rolled her eyes at the sight.
Red hair. Green eyes. Ridiculously tall and thin.
"Hello, dear," Regina muttered, snatching the pen out of Nadia's hand and signing her release form. "My name is Swan-Mills, now," she said, squeezing the middle name with her neat handwriting, even though that was not necessary. Everyone in that hospital knew who she was, Swan hyphen Mills or not.
"I know," Nadia grunted, snapping the clipboard and the pen back from Regina's hand. "Have a good day, Madam Mayor."
Regina scoffed and swore under her breath the moment Emma stopped next to her. The blonde threw a knowing look to her wife.
"You shouldn't let her bother you this much."
"As Sheriff, I am positive you would find yourself in a conflictual situation if I threw a fireball right to her face and destroyed her pretty little nose, Emma."
"It's been four years!" Emma said, hurrying to keep up with Regina's pace. She was a lot fast for someone who was in ridiculously high shoes. "And I didn't mean you should act on it, I meant ignore her."
"She's still acrimonious after four years!"
"Are you gonna stoop to her level?"
"Do you know what acrimonious means?"
"Did this conversation go four years back in time and you're just being plain mean to me because you want to?" Emma snapped.
Regina sighed. They were standing next to the bug in the parking lot. "I am sorry. I... I'm feeling weird today."
Emma opened the passenger door for her and then kissed the top of her head. "Let's get you warm and fed, Madam Mayor. Hop in."
XXX
"Hey, mom."
Regina smiled when his voice sizzled on the other end of the line.
"Your overzealous mother is a helpless case. She shouldn't have bothered you while you are in class just because-"
"You were at the hospital," Henry cut her. "Of course she had to let me know!"
"Yes, side with her," Regina rolled her eyes, feeling oddly hurt even though she completely understood he was being more rational than she was.
"You know I don't take sides anymore," he chuckled, unaware that his usually sensible mother was feeling oversensitive. "How are you? Better?"
"Yes, honey, I feel fine," she smiled in spite of things. "Thank you for calling. It means the world to me."
"Listen, if you feel up to a roadtrip, you and Ma should totally come visit me this weekend. I have a friend, Amy, she's eager to meet you two because we're… huh… the cutest family she's ever seen or something."
Regina's heart melted every time he sounded awkward. He sounded just like Emma…
"That's very sweet of her, but I don't want to ruin your weekend plans, honey. We'll see about that on Friday."
"Okay. You won't ruin anything, though." He made a brief pause, and Regina felt his uncertain words lingering before he actually voiced it. "How's Violet?"
She sighed. He was obviously hurt but trying to sound neutral, and that was a trait he got from her.
"We saw her at the drugstore the other day. She looked a little put off."
"You don't need to lie just to make me feel better, mom."
Regina wished she could hold him in her arms.
Violet was picking lipstick colors while her new boyfriend had one arm around her shoulders. He wore leather and reeked of cigarettes, like a younger version of Hook.
"It's okay, mom. I have her on Facebook, I know she's with someone. I just wanted to know if she's-"
Happy. Regina knew her son, and she knew he was far more comprehensive than any boy of his age.
"I think she was just embarrassed to run into us."
"Yeah… okay, so… I gotta get back. Call me if you need anything, alright?"
"You do know that's the other way around, right?" Regina asked.
"It works both ways, mom. Love you."
"I love you too, honey."
Regina kept her phone pressed against her chest as she stared blankly at the TV. Emma was dealing with Leroy in the kitchen, because what was a simple remodel turned into broken tiles and leaking pipes.
She remembered noticing Henry and Violet looking distant during his farewell party, and when she asked later that night, he told her they had decided to split up since she was not following his academic pursues and would be staying in Storybrooke with her father until she decided what to do.
Maybe he felt alone, leaving home and losing a girlfriend along the way. Maybe a visit from his moms would cheer him up, in fact. Feeling slightly better with the perspective, she stood up from the couch and decided to tell Emma they should go to New York.
When she arrived at the kitchen, however, she saw three dwarves standing in half circle, arms folded as they tried to comprehend the muffled explanation that was coming from the sink drain.
Regina approached them and met Emma's jeans clad ass, her head stuck in the cabinet under the sink as she spoke.
"If she's is going to do your job, you can leave," Regina told the dwarves, who offered non-committal shrugs and got out through the back door.
Emma crawled out of the sink with a few smudges on her tank. She tucked the wrench on her back pocket as she cleaned her hands on her pants, frowning at Regina's look of astonishment.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick again?"
"No… I feel good. I just didn't realize my kitchen would need plumbing services."
"Huh, well, that's what happens when the only tools they can handle is a pickax."
"Did you fix it?"
"Huh, yeah."
"It's too bad I don't have any cash-"
Emma's jaw fell open. So Regina was into the role play for real. So Regina had watched porn at least once in her life even though she never admitted it.
The blonde bit her thumb fingernail, as if considering it. Then she looked up at Regina with the most serious expression she could manage.
"I'm sure you can think of something, ma'am."
She could feel the air electrify around them as Regina moistened her lips slowly.
"You. Bedroom. Now."
XXX
Henry sneaked in back to his seat as the professor continued his speech as though he had never left. His mother had sounded different, even though she said she was okay. He wrote a quick text to Emma.
Keep an eye on her. She sounded off. Love you.
He didn't get a reply, but he was used to his ma's inability to answer right away. He put his phone back into the pocket of his jacket and turned around, sensing a pair of eyes on him. Amy was smiling when their gaze met. He smiled back goofily, glad that he had at least one friend taking Literature with him.
The professor's voice was monotonous and even, and as he always felt like he was dying slowly in his classes, at least Amy was there to pass notes the old fashioned way, because she refused to purchase a cellphone.
She threw a piece of paper at him.
Is your mom okay?
He wrote quickly under her scribbling.
I think so. Prepare the canvas. They're coming this weekend, probably.
Her reply came quicker than Violet's texts used to come.
Awesome!
Grinning, Henry turned around, taping his pen at his notebook as he decided it was time he started taking notes.
XXX
Emma tossed her last dart and it hit the target a millimeter from where David's was. He took a few steps forward and collected them from the board, splitting them between him and his daughter.
"So, I heard you are a very skilled plumber too."
Emma gasped, throwing the dart recklessly with the surprise; it ricocheted off the wall and fell inside an empty glass vase.
"What?" she asked in a squeaky voice.
"That wasn't your best shot, Em," he chuckled. "Leroy was telling everyone last night. He's a bit upset you took his and the other dwarves' jobs," David said absently minded as he tossed another one.
"Oh," Emma sighed, horrified for a second with the possibility of the dwarves discussing their private life with the rest of the town. That game of being reckless finally took its toll on her. "Well, his job is not done yet. He hit a pipe with a pickax, and I had to fix a leak before my kitchen flooded. He's still got lots to do," she said, throwing another dart to the center of the dartboard.
"Well, you better tell him, because he doesn't know that," he went to retrieve the darts again.
"I'll talk to him later. How's mom? Neal?"
"They're okay," he smiled, hitting the target for the third time. "What about Regina? They were talking about her at Granny's last night, too."
"Low blood pressure. She's not eating well with that pandemonium going on in our kitchen, she can't cook. And of course, she misses Henry a lot."
"I bet she does," David nodded comprehensively. Even though he hated that Emma had to grow up alone, he had no idea what he and Snow would have felt in case they were not oblivious about their daughter's existence for twenty eight years. It would probably be pure agony.
"We don't need to bring up the curse again, Dad."
He looked at her with a frown. "I didn't bring it up."
"But didn't you just…" Emma's voice trailed off as she looked confusedly at nowhere in particular. "I could've sworn I heard you just now…"
"Can you read minds?" David let out a nervous chuckle. "I was thinking about it, about it not being so terrible for your mother and me because we didn't remember until you broke the curse."
"Well, I guess this is just too much familiarity," Emma shrugged, trying to sound unimpressed. "I mean, we are family, and I stay with you all day, every day. Our minds connected, somehow. It's actually science."
"Sure," he smiled reassuringly. "That must be it. If you wanna come over for dinner tonight, we can cook actual food for Regina. Cooking is also science."
Emma grinned, feeling her stomach actually grumble in anticipation. "I'll ask her if- oh, she just texted me-"
She slid her lock screen and tapped the pop box to read the message. She chuckled.
I was wondering whether you could bring something delicious but fat-free from Granny's to my office. I feel hungry.
Emma grinned at her Dad. "I'm going out for lunch. See? Synchronized minds. Science."
"Your stomach should be science. I saw you eat a box of donuts not even ten minutes ago!"
Laughing, Emma grabbed her car keys and waved at him. "I'll talk to her about dinner tonight. See ya!"
"Later, kid," he waved back, winking at her.
XXX
Emma made a quick stop at Granny's to pick up food, then she drove to Town Hall, getting a parking spot almost at the front of the building. She felt lucky that she made it all in fifteen minutes, and that was why she was so surprised when Regina looked at her with her eyes narrowed.
"Why did you take so long?"
"I… I went to get food-" she said with a frown. "What-?"
Regina sat on top of her desk, and Emma was confused at first when she kicked off her shoes. Then it became clear when she rolled her tights and her underwear down her beautiful legs...
Emma dropped the paper bags on the nearest chair and walked unceremoniously around the large desk.
"So… You were hungry."
"Starved," Regina muttered with a devilish smirk that had Emma standing on her toes. "We have ten minutes before Kathryn's back. Lock the door."
Emma snapped her fingers and heard it click behind her back.
For a second, she actually considered talking some sense into her wife, but the way Regina was looking at her when she hooked a finger on the belt loop of her uniform and pulled her closer…
Screw caution.
XXX
Snow White hummed happily as she crossed the front walk and entered the Town Hall building. She had a basket with fresh pears for Regina, and she was glad she finally had some free time to do that. She had spotted the yellow bug parked a few feet from the entrance, and well, that would be a double surprise.
She thought it was strange when she didn't find Kathryn at the front desk, and then she noticed the Gone for Lunch note she left pegged onto the back of her computer's monitor. Still humming, she went past her desk and reached out to knock at the door.
There was a muffled, strangled cry and then a low thud.
"Regina?" Snow asked with a frown, turning her face to put her ear against the door. She heard hurried steps and fast breathing, then metal sliding, the rustle of tree leaves and a distant groan. And then finally soft but hurried steps.
Regina's face was flushed when she flared the door open.
"What?" she asked impatiently, only then noticing it was Snow.
Her pencil skirt was slightly rolled up above her knee, and she was not even wearing panty-hoses as usual. Not to mention that she was barefooted. And there was a leaf on her disheveled hair.
"Bad time?"
Regina sighed. "I'm sorry. Get in," she beckoned Snow to follow her inside her office. "I was, huh, exercising a bit. You know, some Yoga. And Pilates."
Snow hated herself sometimes, but she couldn't help her observant nature to ridiculously obvious facts– yellow bug, three paper bags from Granny's and a person escaping through the window and falling painfully on the bushes outside while Regina was still panting inside.
Emma, obviously.
Having sex with Regina inside her office during lunch.
Obviously.
Snow ruining people's happiness.
Typically.
"I thought I'd drop by and give you this," she pushed the basket awkwardly towards Regina. "I used to eat those to help with nausea. Actually, I was pregnant with Emma when I did, but… It helped. I thought it might… you know. David told me Emma left the station in a hurry yesterday because you were at the hospital."
"Oh," Regina slumped down at her chair very ungraciously, wincing slightly at the sudden impact. She was deliciously sore, but it didn't feel that good now that she was tense. "That was… lovely. Thank you, Snow."
Regina looked somewhat bashful, and that was a word Snow never thought she'd use to describe her daughter-in-law. There was something else different about her, but she could not quite place it just yet…
"Well, I don't want to… interrupt your work out any more than I already have, so… You and Emma should come by and have dinner with us, if you want," Snow said, getting up from her chair to leave.
"I'll talk to Emma about that. I'm waiting for her just now so we can have lunch together," she added. "But I might stick to those," Regina eyed the pear basket guiltily.
Smirking, Snow nodded and waved, leaving the room as quickly as she could. In the front lobby, she ran into Emma. She was panting slightly; there was a tiny tree branch poking out of her awful hair, and she had a smudge of dirty on her cheek.
"Hi, mom!" she breathed out, smiling awkwardly as she placed her hands on her hips. "I was going to-"
"Have lunch with Regina?"
"Yeah!" she nodded with an even bigger and forced smile. "Lunch!"
"Well, enjoy it. I noticed paper bags from Granny's," she smiled fondly at her juvenile daughter, patting her shoulder as she walked away.
XXX
When Emma re-entered the office and noticed Regina biting a pear, she sighed in relief.
"That was close-"
Regina rolled her eyes but grinned at her adorably clumsy wife. "You have mud on your face, dear."
Emma sighed. "Shit."
