Regina sat back in her office chair and sighed. She was exhausted. She'd spent the better part of her morning dealing with patients experiencing phantom limb pains, while spending her afternoon doling out weekly treatments to those dealing with healing burns and wounds. The looks of relief she'd received from her patients when their treatment began taking effect made Regina's heart burst with joy. Despite the emotional and physical exhaustion she'd endured in the six years since opening her private practice for veterans, the contentment and relief her patients felt when they left her office made it all worth it.

Stretching out her arms above her head and rolling around her neck and shoulders to loosen the tension, Regina looked up at the clock on her wall and saw that it was already 5:30 PM; she'd officially completed her ten hour shift. Like clockwork, her phone buzzed on her desk with a message from David.

David Nolan: Henry is all packed up and waiting for you to get here. So is MM.

Regina rolled her eyes.

Regina Mills: Let me guess….she has another hope speech prepared for me?

David Nolan: ….Henry may have mentioned your attraction to Birdy. Hypothetically speaking, she may have also given me a three hour lecture on why we shouldn't allow you to let this opportunity go to waste.

Regina huffed. Her son, while smart and the light of her life, was definitely a loquacious one. Mary Margaret had been watching him since he was an infant; it was only a matter of time before one of her traits rubbed off on him. Unfortunately, it just had to be a trait that Regina loathed.

Regina Mills: Tell your wife that I will hypothetically kick her ass if she so much as tries to make me sit through another one of her speeches.

David Nolan: Noted. I'll wait with Henry on the front porch so you can dodge her.

Regina Mills: Good. Be there in twenty.

Regina rose from her seat and shrugged out of her white lab coat, folding it over the back of her chair. She rubbed her palm over the creases in her black blouse to get rid of the wrinkles and used her free hand to pull her hair free from its ponytail. She ran her fingers through her hair – attempting to untangle the knots that had formed over the course of her shift - and bent down to retrieve her purse from under her desk, carelessly dropping her phone and scrunchie into the open bag as she placed it atop her desk.

Satisfied with her hair and overall appearance, Regina swung the strap of her purse over her shoulder, grabbed the office keys from her desk drawer, and made her way toward the door of her office, flicking off the light switch as she exited the room. She closed the door behind her, clicked the lock into place, and made her way down the corridor.

She walked by several open doors, her fellow doctors and nurses packing up their things for the day, and wished them a goodnight as she passed. By the time she reached the reception area, she could feel the tiredness seeping into her bones.

"Goodnight, Dr. Mills," said Mindy, her receptionist.

Mindy was nineteen, soft-spoken, and one of the kindest people Regina had ever come in contact with. She was also the daughter of two military veterans. She seemed to have a passion for the job, much like Regina, and Regina admired that.

"Have a goodnight, Mindy. See you tomorrow."

"Bright and early!" The girl chirped, eliciting a small chuckle from Regina.

"Take care, dear."

Regina walked out of the building and moved toward her reserved parking spot, retrieving her car keys from her purse as she approached her car. Just as she got settled inside the vehicle, the key already in the ignition, her phone buzzed in her purse. Regina grabbed her phone from her bag and stared at the new message with annoyed astonishment.

David Nolan: On second thought, I'll just drive Henry to your house. MM is being, well…..MM.

"Why am I not surprised?" Regina muttered under her breath, throwing her phone haphazardly into the passenger's seat. Turning the key in the ignition and pulling out of her parking spot, she gritted out a low, "stupid pixie" under her breath.

Regina parked in her driveway, beside David's pickup truck, and shut off the car. She took the keys out of the ignition, grabbed her phone and her purse, and got out of the car, locking the door behind her with the back of her heal and the click of the lock button. She sauntered up to her front porch, where she saw David and Henry standing, and approached the pair.

"I am so sorry," David said upon seeing Regina, holding Henry in front of him as a shield.

Regina ran her fingers through Henry's unruly curls and leaned down to give him a kiss on the forehead, ignoring David completely. "How are you, my little prince?"

"Great!" the eight year old exclaimed. "Boxing class was so much fun!"

Regina smiled warmly at him and turned to open the front door. "And I would love to hear all about it after we've both showered."

Henry dashed into the house as soon as she opened the door, and Regina walked in after him, rolling her eyes as David's unwelcomed footsteps sounded behind her, the front door clicking shut behind them.

Regina walked through the entryway and strolled into the kitchen, dropping her purse and keys onto the counter. David stood under the kitchen's archway and eyed her warily.

Regina huffed. "What?"

"Nothing," he shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to apologize on Henry's behalf. Mary-Margaret asked him how his boxing lessons were going and he mentioned Birdy and how much she seemed to like you and how you obviously found her pretty and…Mary-Margaret got a little carried away."

"I met the woman once," said Regina, her voice breathless with exasperation. "Tell your wife that life isn't a damn fairytale. We talked once; we're not going to fall in love and get married after one encounter."

David smirked. "So, you're hoping it'll happen after several encounters?"

Regina grabbed the car keys off the counter and chucked them at David's head. David dodged the keys and guffawed as they clanked against the tiled floor.

"Get out of my house," Regina demanded, only partially joking.

David grinned and raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Fine, I'll go. But do yourself a favor, Regina, and just call her. She's an amazing woman and I know you have her number." Regina opened her mouth to ask how he knew that but David just smirked. "Henry told me about it last week."

Of course he did, Regina thought to herself. Her son was becoming a Mary-Margaret 2.0. As much as Regina (sometimes) liked the woman, she definitely would never want her son to become anything like her. It was bad enough that Henry started picking up David's dorky sense of humor; the last thing she wanted was for him to pick up Mary-Margaret's lack of filter.

"I'm just saying," David continued, much to Regina's annoyance. "Think it over. Or, better yet, take Henry to his class tomorrow. Tomorrow's Friday, and I know you get off at noon every Friday. I think Birdy might be just what you need. She'll make your heart soar and sing and-"

Regina cut him off by throwing her office keys at his nose, successfully hitting her target this time. David sighed and reached down to pick up both sets of keys. He walked further into the kitchen and placed the keys on the countertop, looking at Regina with a seriousness that hadn't been there moments earlier.

"It's been eight years, Regina. Let yourself be happy. Maybe Birdy will make you happy, maybe she won't. You won't know unless you give yourself a chance to explore that."

"David-"

"No one is saying you need to jump into a relationship with her," he assured her. "Be friends with her. She's the most amazing friend a person can have. Plus, since Kathryn moved away and Mary-Margaret annoys you more than she comforts you, I'm sure making a new female friend couldn't hurt, right?"

Regina looked into his eyes, the sincerity in his words crumbling her resolve, and nodded. "Okay."

David smiled. "Okay. Well, I guess I'll get out of your hair and let you shower. You smell like sweat and sterile latex."

Regina threateningly reached for her car keys and David dashed out of the kitchen with a laugh. "See you later, Regina."

Regina and Henry sat side-by-side at the dinner table, Henry talking excitedly about his day while he stuffed his face with peas. Regina smiled down at him - nodding occasionally to let him know she was still listening – and affectionately ran her fingers through his unruly curls. His hair was getting long; his bushy, brown curls now falling into his eyes. Regina made a note to take him to the barber over the weekend.

"Birdy said I've improved a lot since last week!" Henry told her, a proud smile on his face.

Henry became an official member of Emma's class four days ago. He loved the class so much that after his first two (free) lessons, he'd begged Regina to continue with it. Regina sent him to class with a check to cover the monthly fee the very next day.

"Is that so?"

"Yep! She said I could be the next Rocky if I work really hard."

Regina smiled. "I'm sure you could be, sweetie."

"I like Birdy."

That much was obvious. "Why do they call her Birdy?" Regina asked. She'd been wondering that since the woman introduced herself as Emma, and not Birdy. Was it a name she willingly went by or nickname chosen for her that just sort of stuck?

"She said it was a nickname David gave to her when they were younger."

David did mention something about knowing Emma from high school. Regina had only heard mentions of her here and there throughout their twelve years of friendship, but Regina wondered why she hadn't met Emma until now.

Regina sent Henry up to bed a few minutes later with a kiss and a whispered 'goodnight'. She placed their dishes in the dishwasher and made her way up to her bedroom, intent on preparing for bed. She went through her nightly routine and settled into bed, her exhaustion starting to catch up to her. As she pulled her silk comforter up to her chin, she looked at the clock on the nightstand and saw 9:30 blinking back at her. It was still early.

She looked at the small, white card resting beside the clock, the glowing, green numbers illuminating the words on the card. Her hands itched to grab the phone from her nightstand and dial the number on that card, but her arms and eyes suddenly felt like they were being weighed down by lead. One thought crossed her mind as exhaustion set in and she gave in to slumber.

Tomorrow.

They walked into the gymnasium and approached ring 5, where Emma sat on the steps leading up to the ring's platform, a clipboard resting atop her knees and a pen twirling between her fingers. The platform was empty, and Regina checked the time on her phone, seeing that it was only a quarter to three. The class started at three. Maybe she had been too eager to get there on time (or too eager to see a certain boxing instructor, but Regina would deny that if anyone asked).

"I'm guessing we're the first ones here," Regina voiced, watching Emma's head whip toward her, a surprised expression on her face. "Hello, Emma."

"Regina, hey." Emma sputtered, placing the clipboard and pen on the top step. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Regina furrowed her brow. "Why wouldn't you? My son is a student here, is he not?" She said, not unkindly.

Emma nodded, her eyes wide. "Yeah, no, that's not what I meant," she said, before looking to Henry. "Hey, kid. Grab a jump rope and warm up. We'll be working on speed and agility today."

Henry, who had his gloves thrown over his shoulders and his head guard in his hands, nodded excitedly and jogged toward an open door in the back of the room, throwing his gear onto the platform as an afterthought. Regina shook her head in amusement at her son's antics, before looking back at Emma, who had moved from her spot on the steps to stand before her.

Regina avoided looking at the woman's glistening neck and torso, and instead held her gaze. "So, what did you mean exactly?"

Emma cleared her throat and brought her hand to the back of her neck, rubbing at the slick skin nervously. Regina's eyes zeroed in on the woman's flexed arms, the swell of her bicep distracting her from the conversation.

Emma continued, oblivious to Regina's leering, her attention focused everywhere but the brunette. "I just meant that David's been the one bringing him lately, and I figured that after our last conversation, I had overstepped my boundaries and made you uncomfortable."

That caught Regina's attention. "Why would I be uncomfortable?"

"Because I asked you out within a few minutes of knowing you?"

"You were very respectful in your approach, Emma. You're not the reason I haven't come in," Regina assured her. "I'm a doctor and I work long hours. David only brings Henry in when I can't."

Emma nodded, her arm falling back to her side and her shoulders sagging in relief. "Oh. Well, I'm glad I didn't upset you. That was never my intention."

Regina smiled reassuringly. "I know. So," Regina began, "I hear you think my son will be the next Rocky Balboa."

Emma snickered. "Well, he certainly has the potential to be. Like I told you last time, he has a lot of potential. He's a very quick learner. His hand-eye coordination has improved a lot in the last six days," Emma praised.

"How's his offensive and defensive stances?" Regina asked, recalling the lesson Emma gave her class the last time she was there.

"It still needs a bit of work, but with time he will get there," Emma told her.

Regina looked toward the back of the gymnasium, where Henry had disappeared to a few minutes earlier, and saw her son skipping rope at an average pace, his face one of concentration.

Emma followed Regina's line of sight and smiled. "He's a hard worker, that one."

"Oh, I know," said Regina.

Kids started filtering into the gym in that moment, several of them greeting Emma as they made their way to the back of the room, per Emma's instruction. Emma looked at Regina apologetically.

"I guess I should get going."

"Of course," Regina agreed.

"So, I'll see you later?" Emma asked, her tone hopeful.

"You will."

As Emma began to turn away, Regina called out to her. Emma halted her stride and turned back to face her.

Regina dug through her purse, retrieving the business card she'd brought with her, and held it out for Emma to take. Emma took it with caution, her eyes questioning. "Here's my business card. You can call my personal cell if you need medical advice, want to refer a friend to me or one of my coworkers, or just need a person to chat with. I'm not quite ready to date just yet, but I could always use a friend, if you're interested?"

Emma grinned and placed the card in her red sports bra, a move that left Regina's breathing slightly haggard. "Okay, you're on. I look forward to this prospective friendship, Dr. Mills."

And then she was gone, jogging to join her class at the back of the gym, her red sports bra and red gym shorts leaving her bare back and legs on display for Regina to drink in.

So, she had a new friend. And a hot one - that she most definitely was not ready to date - at that.