A/N: So sorry it took me so long to update this. The author's note at the end of the chaoter will explain why that was. But for now, I'd like to thank ALL of you! Nearly 100 reviews before the 3rd chapter. That's never happened to me before and I've been posting fan fic since 2009! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Also, I've already received so many follows and favorites for this story. You all make it that much easier to smile on a daily basis. Maybe you can keep it up? :)
That Holiday Magic
Chapter 3
Regina tossed and turned in bed after she tucked Henry in. She had to assure her son that Emma would come back for him, that she'd come to get him in Neverland, but Henry sadly shrugged it off. It was obvious to Regina that Henry had started to lose hope that Emma actually wanted him.
Regina remembered a few things Emma had confessed while they were in Neverland. She remembered that Emma said she used to count her days in each foster home until she just gave up. Emma had been shuffled between homes and each time, the families had tossed her aside, given her back, left her to find a home somewhere else. She saw what it had done to Emma and she hoped it wouldn't happen to Henry. She refused to let that cycle continue.
She closed her eyes and tried to think of something else, anything else, other than Emma Swan and her reckless aloofness. If there was even the smallest of chances for Regina to get some sleep, it vanished as soon as she heard rustling coming from downstairs.
Her eyes shot open and she sat up before she listened intently to familiar, but out of context sounds, beyond her bedroom door. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and quietly ventured into the hall. She stopped in front of Henry's room and opened the door. She stared into the darkness and made out her son's form as his chest rose and fell with evened out breathing while he slept.
The noises downstairs persisted and Regina snapped into protective mode. She quickly but quietly closed Henry's door with a soft snick and swiftly descended the staircase. She set her bare feet on the hardwood of the first floor and looked around. She spotted a soft light come from the kitchen and faintly spill into the foyer.
Regina crept toward the light and hid behind the separating wall between the kitchen and foyer. She brought an open palm up to her stomach just below her chest and conjured a fireball that gave her face an orange glow in the mostly dark house. She took a deep breath then quickly spun around and barreled into the kitchen with her fireball at the ready.
With the intruder's back to her and their head buried in the refrigerator, Regina only saw the person's silhouette.
"I hope you realize the danger of breaking into my house," Regina threateningly growled.
The intruder jumped and turned to face Regina. Their ponytail whipped around as they defensively shot their hands in the air by way of surrender.
"Whoa," a familiar female's voice exclaimed. "What is that? Is that a fireball? Put that thing away!"
"Emma?"
Regina stared at the blonde for a long moment as the light from the refrigerator allowed her to look over the younger woman's odd choice of outfit, glasses included. Though she'd seen it earlier in the day, Regina still hadn't expected it when she saw the blonde.
"Seriously," Emma said with wide eyes as she extended a hand and motioned toward the fireball still balanced in Regina's palm. "Do you want to kill me? Get rid of it!"
Regina closed her eyes and shook her head before she closed her fist and made the fireball disappear.
"Thank you," Emma breathed out and dropped her hands to her sides.
Regina disbelievingly stared at Emma while she reached back and turned on the kitchen light. When she turned back to look at Emma again, she nearly gasped at how much younger she looked. Still not used to the woman's new look, or old look considering she looked eighteen again.
"You're still wearing that dress."
Emma smiled.
"For an Evil Queen, you seem to be focused on all the wrong things."
"Former Evil Queen," Regina corrected her.
"Right," Emma slowly said.
"What are you going here?"
"Getting some food. I didn't really eat much at...Mary Margaret and David's."
"You went there for dinner?"
"I didn't have much of a choice, did I? They said they'd tell me about, well, me. I figured they were things I needed to know so I went home with them."
"And why aren't you there now?"
Emma just stared at Regina.
Regina looked into Emma's eyes and saw Emma Swan she knew in them, not the younger version that stood before her.
"How old are you," Regina asked after a moment.
Emma furrowed her brow and cocked her head to one side. She remembered seeing Regina at the diner when she'd magically transformed herself so she didn't understand why the brunette had asked that question.
"Eighteen."
"So old enough to know how to close a refrigerator door?"
Regina raised her eyebrows and nodded toward the refrigerator.
Emma's expression changed. She understood then and looked over her shoulder. She saw the door still wide open, reached out, and closed it.
"Sorry," Emma said as she turned to face Regina again.
"It doesn't seem like you found anything you like," Regina took notice of the empty counter tops and unoccupied hands.
"No, I didn't. Do you have anything other than yogurt and lettuce? For a mom with an eleven year old son, you sure are depriving the kid of good food."
"What would you deem good food, dear? A bag of Skittles and a chocolate shake?"
"God, no."
Regina looked impressed.
"You should never have Skittles with a chocolate shake. The flavors contradict each other," Emma said. "One overpowers the other and you can't enjoy the chocolate or the fruit. They just...blend."
Regina rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Look, I know it's kind of last minute, but...can I stay here," Emma shyly asked before she clarified. "Just for the night. I'll be out of your hair in the morning. Promise."
Regina critically looked Emma over.
"Why did you come here? You could have just gone to your apartment."
Emma dipped her head and stared down at the floor, crestfallen as she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket.
"Got it. No need to wait until morning. I'll go now."
Emma kept her head down as she started to walk past Regina on the way to the front door. Before she could pass the woman, Regina reached out and gently gripped Emma's arm.
"That's not what I meant," Regina started. "You can stay here."
Emma innocently smiled, warm and infectious.
It was the only form of a "thank you" Regina received and it was all she needed.
"I'll...prepare the guest room and you can help yourself to a snack," Regina said.
"I don't consider apples a snack."
Regina grinned and swayed her hips as she moved past Emma to reach a box of Special K with Strawberries.
"Another helpful hint when it comes to me, dehydrated strawberries aren't a favorite either," Emma said and pointed at the cereal.
Regina looked over her shoulder at Emma with what appeared to be a salacious grin, which surprised Emma at any age. She opened the cereal box and reached inside like a child digging for the prize inside.
"You forget I know you. Even at twenty-nine you still have a poor appetite."
Regina pulled a chocolate bar out of the cereal box and walked back to Emma, the cereal forgotten. She held the chocolate bar out to Emma and continued to grin when Emma accepted it.
"Mayor Mills has a secret stash in her cereal. Odd place to keep candy."
"Henry's found all the other hiding places."
Emma smirked.
"Maybe I'll teach you a few tricks," Emma said. "If you ask nicely."
For a moment, Regina was stunned by what sounded like an eighteen year old girl flirting with her. And not just any girl. Emma Swan, Henry's biological mother, the Savior who broke her curse, the daughter of her arch-nemesis Snow White.
Taken aback, Regina wondered if it was just flirting or if that had actually been a come-on. In any case, Emma was eighteen for the time being and barely knew who the Evil Queen was let alone all the unspeakable things she'd done. Unlike the older version of Emma who knew all of that and seemed to accept, and at times even defend, it; defend her. Once she reminded herself none of that mattered since Emma stood before her as a teenager, she shook herself out of her shocked state and briefly smiled.
"Perhaps," Regina played along, but her voice held less lust and innuendo than Emma's had.
Regina walked around Emma and headed toward the staircase without so much as a single look over shoulder at the blonde.
Emma smirked as she stared after the other woman who just expected her to follow. Usually she hated people like Regina, people who were entitled and haughty. Yet, with Regina, it put a smile on her face and pulled her in to every mystery about the brunette. The younger version of Emma hadn't known much about Regina and had spent even less time with her than she had knowledge of the woman. But there were things she felt toward the other woman, things like intrigue and allure and possibly something else, but she was unable to name it.
She stuffed the chocolate bar Regina gave her into her jacket pocket, walked the same path Regina had and made her way upstairs. She caught up to the brunette when Regina pushed open the guest room door. It was only then that Regina turned to acknowledge her.
"Are you sure you want to stay here," Regina asked as she remained poised in the doorway with enough space left for Emma to walk into the room should she choose to do that. "I could always drive you to your apartment."
"Look, if you don't want me here-"
"I'm asking for you, not me. There's a reason you transformed yourself, which is no small feat by the way, and I don't want to push you."
"Why," Emma curiously asked with an incredulously furrowed brow.
Regina quizzically stared at Emma with her head tilted to the side. She turned the rest of her body to face Emma and leaned against the door frame.
"Because something happened at the diner. As far as I could tell, you were angry and I think your mother pushed a little too hard."
"How could you tell," Emma sarcastically asked with a hint of laughter in her voice.
Regina grinned, but still questioningly regarded Emma.
"Is there something you're not telling me, Miss Swan?"
Regina's tone was full of teasing, though she did want an answer to her question.
At first, Emma looked nervous about the question, but she quickly adopted a playful smirk and kept up their previous banter.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Emma said it as a statement, not a question, when she passed by Regina and stepped into the guest room.
Regina slowly followed her inside to ensure she settled in.
Emma felt the other woman's presence as she shrugged out of her black leather jacket and haphazardly tossed it onto one side of the queen size bed. She turned around, her back to the bed, and plopped down on the edge of the mattress. With a devious smile, Emma scanned over every visible inch of Regina.
"Planning on watching me sleep?"
"Not at all, dear. Just making sure you don't sneak out."
Emma shrugged.
"I'm eighteen, I'm not your kid, and I don't live here," she casually rattled off facts. "Unless I'm here under contract as your prisoner or something, I can come and go as I please."
"You make it sound like you plan on staying a while."
"Can you tell me when my little spell's gonna wear off? Because I sure as hell can't. Hell, I still don't think any of this is real. Magic? I live in the real world, not this delusional town that lives every day like they're characters in Disneyland."
"That's not what I meant. You seem to be under the impression that you'll be here, in this house, longer than just for tonight."
"Oh."
Emma lost a considerable amount of her confidence then.
"If you want to stay longer, we can discuss it in the morning," Regina calmly said. "And, although I'm sure you wouldn't care if you slept in your dress, I have something I can lend you."
"Uh, sure."
Regina flashed her politician smile.
"I'll be back in a minute," she said as she turned to leave.
After two steps toward the door, Regina stopped herself and spun back around to look at Emma.
"Oh, and if at any time you decide to leave in the middle of the night," Regina started. "I won't stop you, but a text letting me know you're okay would be appreciated. You already have my number in your phone."
"I'll let you know," Emma only slightly contained the surprise in her tone, her eyes a little wider than usual.
Seemingly satisfied with that reply, Regina left the room to retrieve sleepwear for the blonde.
Momentarily alone, Emma slipped out of her boots and looked around the monochromatic color scheme of the room. She pulled herself backward on the bed, toward the headboard, and folded her legs underneath herself as she sat between the foot and head of the bed, a little off-center.
Neither one of them had bothered to turn on the room light so as Emma took everything in, she sat in darkness with the shadows in the room to keep her company. The only light came from the hallway and a slit in the curtains that covered the room window, which allowed moonlight into the room.
Though she'd already seen all there was to see in the room, Emma continued to look around with an obvious nervousness and uncertainty. It only lasted for another couple of minutes before Regina returned with a shirt and running shorts. When she saw Regina, she instantly perked up and hid her uneasiness.
"Even as a teenager you're still a little taller than me," Regina said as she walked into the room and handed over the clothes. "The shorts stop just above my knees so they'll probably be a little shorter on you."
"Thanks," Emma said as she accepted the clothes.
Without thinking about it, Emma set the clothes down beside her on the bed and peeled off her dress.
"Miss Swan," Regina exclaimed as turned away from the blonde with her hands raised to block Emma's body from view. "You can wait until I leave the room."
Emma laughed as she pulled the white T-shirt over her head.
"That idea completely slipped my mind," Emma said then pulled on the shirt to adjust the way it covered her. "We're both women. Besides, I change in the backseat of the Bug all the time and Neal's usually in the front seat, occasionally stealing a glance. So modesty isn't really a thing with me. Street kid, remember?"
Regina guiltily looked down at the floor, her body still turned away from Emma.
"Yes, I remember," Regina quietly, slowly said.
Emma walked around Regina and stopped in front of her.
"I'm dressed now," Emma teasingly smiled.
Regina forced her own smile to diminish her embarrassment, but the smile was awkward and Emma saw right through her.
Emma didn't comment on it, however.
"Thank you for not looking though," Emma said. "It's nice to know someone respects me enough."
"I take it not many people care about you and how things effect you."
"No one," Emma sadly admitted.
"Not even your boyfriend?"
"Neal? I..."
Emma stepped back a few steps and frowned. She looked hurt and Regina immediately wanted to fix it. Though why she felt compelled to do so was beyond her.
"I'm sorry," Regina swiftly moved closer to Emma. "I shouldn't have mentioned it. You don't have to talk about him."
Emma's eyes shot up and she instantly met Regina's gaze.
"Why do you care?"
Her tone wasn't entirely harsh, but Emma didn't mask her irritation.
"I..." Regina shook her head, taken aback. "Things...changed because of Neverland."
Emma furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Neverland?"
Emma realized after a few seconds why Regina had mentioned what she thought was only a make believe world in a Disney movie and relaxed her features in recognition.
"Right. Fairytales are real and it's completely possible I was in Neverland."
Regina gulped when she saw Emma try to piece together the reality shattering information. She'd seen Emma like that once before after the curse broke. When Emma wasn't pissed about the truth that fairytales existed and that she was a part of them, the blonde was thrown for a loop and greatly overwhelmed.
"This is too much too fast, isn't it," Regina asked, though it sounded more like a statement. "Get some sleep and we'll talk in the morning."
Emma awkwardly, almost sheepishly, nodded and allowed Regina to head for the guest room door without any argument.
Once Regina was gone and Emma was alone again, the blonde teen settled into the bed and removed her glasses. She placed them on the nightstand to her left and sank into an uncomfortable sleep.
A loud thud followed by a groan woke Regina in an instant. She threw off her covers and flew out of bed. She checked Henry's room out of habit and sighed with relief in the doorway when she saw him safely curled up in bed. She frowned when she saw his fists tightly clutching his sheets and pillow and his brow furrowed in what appeared to be deep concentration or unrest.
But the sound of a door opening and rapid footfall alerted Regina to a more pressing issue.
Regina looked at Henry one last time before she quietly left his room, closed the door behind herself, and looked for the one other person in her house. She didn't have to look far because Emma almost collided with her when she tried to turn from Henry's room to the guest room.
"Oh, sorry," Emma said as she defensively lifted her hands and pulled away from Regina before their bodies could ever touch.
"What are you doing," Regina asked, shocked but also a little concerned.
"I...had a bad dream," Emma replied, slightly breathless.
"And that got you rush out of the room because...?"
"I don't... I can't stay here."
"Why not?"
"I just want to go to my car. I don't...I don't do well in new places," Emma timidly averted her eyes and pulled at the running shorts when she felt the lack of pockets for her to tuck her hands into.
"You can't go to your car," Regina apologetically said.
"What? Why?"
Emma looked absolutely panicked.
"It's in the shop."
Emma looked devastated.
"But what can I do to make you comfortable here," Regina asked.
"Nothing. It's just..." Emma trailed off.
"Henry..." Regina slowly started as she racked her brain for a solution. "Usually likes hot chocolate after a nightmare."
Emma shook her head.
"That's not... It won't help."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, well...why don't you go back into the guest room. Just sit and...talk to me about it?"
"I want to go home," Emma exclaimed with wide eyes.
"To your apartment?"
"No, to my car. I need to get out of here," Emma panicked and started to hyperventilate.
Emma rushed forward and tried to pass Regina, but the brunette stopped her.
"It's okay," Regina soothingly assured her. "Whatever it was, it was only a dream."
Emma shook her head again, her eyes filled with tears that threatened to fall.
"It was real," Emma said. "They always are."
"Okay. You can't get to your car so...what else will calm you down?"
Emma gulped and a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Nothing," Emma quietly said.
"I'm sure that's not true," Regina said as she gently touched Emma and turned her toward the guest room, careful not to startle the younger woman in any way. "Go back to bed. I promise you're safe here."
Emma took a few ragged breaths as she tried to collect herself on the way back to the guest room.
"You know, what you're doing now? I think you make a great mom," Emma confessed with a voice thick with tears. "The kid's lucky to have you."
Regina smiled when her heart soared at the compliment.
"Thank you."
Regina guided Emma into the guest room and eased the blonde onto the bed.
Emma slid up to the head of the bed and leaned against the headboard.
Regina sat on the edge of the bed beside Emma and an awkward silence swept over the room. After a moment, she cleared her throat and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Since you're awake," Regina started. "Will you tell me something about yourself?"
"Don't you already know me? It's me who should learn something about you."
Regina thought about that for a moment.
"You're right. You're staying here in this town, in this house, and yet you really don't know anything about me. How about I tell you how we met?"
"Or you could tell me your favorite color and a childhood memory," Emma suggested and forced a teasing smile that looked nothing short of nervous and timid.
Regina chuckled.
"Okay. My favorite color is black, although I do like purple and red as well," Regina appeased the other woman. "As for childhood memories, I don't have many good ones and all of them have references to what you believe to just be fairytales."
"Tell me anyway," Emma shrugged.
Regina took a deep breath and began.
"I love horseback riding. It was the only time I felt free. I rode frequently and took lesson after lesson. I didn't start to excel until I was about your age, though when I was fifteen I started to develop an affinity for it. Agility came within the next year, and complete confidence in my skills by the time I was eighteen."
"Do you still ride," Emma curiously asked.
"No," Regina sadly admitted. "Not in many years."
"Why not?"
"I...loved someone once. He was a stable boy and, when I was eighteen, he and I would use my lesson time to be together in secret. I no longer ride because I lost him that same year."
"Lost him?"
"He...died," Regina struggled to say.
"Oh. I'm sorry," Emma sincerely said.
Emma waited only a few seconds as she looked over Regina's saddened features before she attempted to lighten the mood.
"My favorite color is green, but I kind of like yellow too. Only because of my car. I don't usually wear yellow."
Regina slowly smiled at Emma's attempt to keep her from her own morose and troubling thoughts.
"What shade of green," Regina asked.
"More emerald."
"Like your eyes," Regina said without thinking. "When the light is just right, usually when you're inside a room, they're green. But if you're out in the sun they almost look blue."
Emma's lips curled into a slow forming smirk.
"You pay that much attention to me? Or...the older me?"
"Of course not," Regina quickly said and looked away, seemingly upset.
But, after a moment, Regina smiled and looked at Emma again.
"You like me, don't you," Emma asked with a hint of smugness, a hint of teasing.
"I merely tolerate you, dear," Regina casually said.
"Right," Emma sarcastically said. "Not even Neal could tell me what color my eyes are let alone go into detail like you did."
"That's because Neal is a blind fool. Most men are," Regina quipped.
Emma chuckled.
"You got me there."
"Think you're ready to go back to sleep," Regina said.
"Yeah. ...Thanks," Emma sweetly smiled.
"You're welcome," Regina said as she stood up.
Emma removed her glasses for the second time that night and set them down on the nightstand to her left then slid down the bed to lay on her back.
Regina tried to say something else, but a terrified cry caught both Regina and Emma's attention.
"Mom? Mom?!"
"Henry," Regina called out to him. "Sweetheart, it's okay. I'm here."
Regina hurried to the door and stepped out into the hall.
The second Henry saw her, he ran straight into her at full speed.
Regina grunted under her breath when he crashed into her and tightly wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I thought you left me," Henry cried into Regina's chest.
"I would never leave you," Regina said as she stroked his hair.
"You weren't in your room," Henry said.
"Emma had a nightmare."
"Emma's here?"
"Yes, but...something's happened," Regina warned him as he let go of her and cautiously went into the guest room.
Henry stood stunned halfway into the room when he saw her.
"Mom?"
Emma, the younger Emma, blinked in confusion.
Regina inched closer to Henry as she reentered the room.
"Henry, Emma accidentally cast a spell on herself," Regina explained, her body rigid as though telling him the truth was equivalent to walk barefoot over broken glass.
"A spell? She used magic?"
"Yes, but I don't think she meant to."
"Why," Henry asked Emma.
Emma shrugged.
"You got me, kid. I don't even know what happened. I barely even know where I am right now."
"So..." Henry slowly, timidly started. "You don't know me?"
Emma looked to Regina for help. The brunette gave a slight nod, a little unsure of her own decision to allow Emma a chance to explain herself. Without anything more to go on, Emma looked at Henry again.
"Henry," Emma answered.
Henry took a step closer to the bed.
"Regina's son by adoption, mine by birth," Emma continued.
Henry smiled.
"Yeah. Do you remember Operation Cobra?"
Emma apologetically looked at him.
"Sorry, that I don't remember."
Henry's face fell and he frowned down at the ground.
Recognizing that sad, almost lost, look in his eyes she'd seen plenty of times in the mirror, Emma sprang into action.
"Hey," Emma said as she put her glasses back on and threw her legs over the side of the bed. "Regina's gonna help me get back to my normal age, but that doesn't mean you and I can't make a few new memories before then, right?"
Henry smiled again.
"Yeah, we can."
"Okay, why not start now?"
"Um, it's almost one in the morning. I have school today."
"And yet you're not in bed," Emma pointed out. "How come?"
"I had a nightmare."
"You too, huh?"
"Yeah," Henry looked down, sheepish and embarrassed.
"What was it about?"
"What was yours about," Henry asked with a smile that Emma saw for what it was though she knew he hadn't wanted her to.
Henry was avoiding his problems. Emma knew that all too well from experience.
"How about we tell each other at the same time," Emma asked as she shifted on the edge of the bed to face him.
Henry scrunched up his face in thought and after a moment, he nodded in agreement.
"Okay," he said.
Emma patted the space next to her on the bed and Henry sat down beside her. He turned to face Emma and tucked his legs under himself.
"Ready," Emma asked.
"Yeah," Henry replied.
Regina leaned against the door frame with a curious, wondering expression on her face. She watched with rapt attention how Emma dealt with Henry. She'd never heard the blonde say it, but she figured the tough woman she met the night she brought Henry home had been ill-fit as a mother at eighteen. As she watched Emma then, however, she wanted to know why Emma seemed so comfortable around the son she once gave up. More comfortable than Regina had been the first three or four years of Henry's life.
"One, two..." Emma slowly counted.
Emma stared at Henry for a few seconds to gauge the boy's actual readiness then continued.
"Three," Emma said before she waited a second with baited breath to ensure they spoke at the same time.
Simultaneously, Emma and Henry spoke over each other.
"Being left alone and having to fight for my life," Henry said.
"Being abandoned by everyone because no one wants me," Emma confessed at the same time.
Henry's face broke out into a large smile.
"You think about that stuff too," he asked.
Emma flashed a faint smile in response.
"Yeah," she quietly admitted before she decided to focus on the only real child in the room. "What about you? Left alone to fight for your life?"
"Yeah," Henry looked down, ashamed.
"What happened to make you think like that," Emma asked.
"Um," Henry said as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "In...Neverland I thought I was going to be stuck with the Lost Boys because nobody had come to get me yet. It...it wasn't all bad, but...I really just wanted to go home."
Emma frowned.
"Hey," Emma said as she hooked a finger under his chin and lifted his head to make eye contact with him. "You have a mom who loves you and clearly, will do anything for you. And you're home now so it looks like you got what you wanted."
Henry halfheartedly smiled.
"Yeah," he shrugged.
"Were you remembering Neverland," Emma asked. "Or were you just dreaming about a what-if situation?"
"Kinda both?"
"Okay," Emma nodded as she thought about his answer. "Well, you got scared because you were alone, right?"
Henry sadly nodded.
"I got scared for the same reason so...do you think you'd want to keep me company tonight?"
"You mean, like, stay in here with you," Henry asked.
"Yeah," Emma smiled. "I don't...I don't know how to not be alone, but I can try."
Henry beamed and crawled over to the other side of the bed. He lifted the sheets and slid under them.
Emma watched him with a smile as he moved into the bed and chuckled when he made himself comfortable under the sheets.
Regina smiled as well from her place in the doorway. She knew Emma had given Henry the best gift the boy could have ever asked for because since Neverland, he often worried Emma would leave him again like she had after he'd been born. She was happy to see Henry happy and stood in awe at what Emma had done. Eighteen years old and she hadn't seemed to remember much about her life in Storybrooke, but Emma had done something Regina thought was out-of-character for the younger woman. Apparently, there was more to Emma's story then she initially realized.
"Do you want to ask your mom to stay too," Emma asked as she situated herself in the bed.
"You mean my other mom," Henry asked.
Emma cringed.
"Yeah. Sorry, I just... It's all still a little new to me," Emma explained. "Forgive me?"
"Yeah," he proudly smiled up at her.
"Cool," Emma smiled back.
"Um," Henry nervously said as he looked from Emma to Regina. "I would, but..."
"It's okay," Regina shook her head and stopped him. "I understand. If either of you need me, I'll be in my room."
Regina walked toward the bed and bent down. She leaned in and gave Henry a kiss on the forehead.
"Goodnight, sweetheart," Regina said.
"'Night, Mom," Henry smiled up at her.
"Can I get in on that goodnight kiss thing too," Emma teased with a smirk.
"Ew," Henry laughed.
Regina chuckled at Henry's reaction.
"Goodnight, Emma," Regina grinned as she warningly pointed at the teen, no kiss given.
Emma smiled in a way that made it look like she had suppressed a giggle then removed her glasses yet again. She set them on the nightstand when Regina reached the doorway then turned in bed to face Henry.
Regina looked over her shoulder one last time before she left the room and felt a warmth in her chest she hadn't felt in years. Though she knew Emma had some issues to work out for as long as she remained eighteen, seeing her do for Henry what she hadn't been able to do all grown up made Regina momentarily pleased.
Regina closed the door and smiled her way down the hall into her own bedroom.
Henry watched Emma lay down and a few seconds after she pressed her head on the pillow, he asked a question that had started to eat away at him; one that lead to the real questions he wanted to ask.
"Do you think you could be a mom at your age?"
"At eighteen or at twenty-nine?"
"Eighteen."
"No. Hell no."
"Why not?"
"I'm not... I can't give a kid what they need."
"You're giving me what I need right now."
"That's different."
"How?"
"You're older and I'm not providing for you. Regina is."
"But you're comforting me after a nightmare," Henry said as though that should change everything.
"Because I understand how you feel," Emma casually said. "It's not even half of what a mother should do for their kid. Not that I'd really know anything about mothers. All I know is, I'm not it."
Henry seemed to accept that answer, no fuss and no disappointment.
"Well, so far I think you're doing a great job," Henry said.
"Thanks, but I'm not doing anything," Emma said before she yawned. "Now get some sleep, kid. Tomorrow will be hell if you're drop dead tired all day."
Emma started to drift off and Henry slowly smiled.
"I'm sure you being eighteen again isn't supposed to be a good thing...but I think it will be for us," Henry confessed.
Emma only hummed in response. Within a matter of minutes, mother and son fell asleep in the same queen sized bed for the first time since his Neverland nightmares had started.
Regina turned off her alarm clock at six forty-five the next morning, went to her walk-in closet, and dressed herself for the day. She made herself presentable, as she did every day for the last two – almost three – decades with makeup, heels, and tamed hair. She proceeded with her routine and went to wake Henry – because her son had apparently inherited Emma's internal clock and never woke up on time for anything without his mother's help – and checked his room before she remembered last night's events.
When she opened the guest room door, Regina immediately saw Henry curled up against Emma's side with his cheek pressed to the blonde's stomach. He had an arm draped over Emma's waist just above the waistband of the running shorts Regina had lent the younger woman.
Emma just laid on her back, one of her arms casually on the bed behind Henry and the other bent at the elbow with her hand close to her own head. Her face was twisted up in a troubled expression, but for the most part she seemed peaceful, calm.
Regina suddenly felt the need to capture the moment so not only did she commit the sight to memory, but she grabbed her cell phone and snapped a picture. For some reason, she thought Henry might need to see it sometime. For the days he worried Emma didn't love him as much as he loved her, she would have that picture and she'd prove him wrong. At least she hoped that if she showed him the picture it would convince him Emma really did love him.
She slipped the phone back into her blazer pocket, which she'd later transfer into her purse on her way out the door like she normally did, and crossed the room. She leaned over Henry's side of the bed and brushed her fingers through his hair.
"Henry," Regina whispered, careful not to wake Emma because she honestly had no idea what to do with the blonde. "Henry."
Regina gently shook him, which also shook Emma due to Henry's position across the woman's stomach, and finally got him to stir.
Henry grumbled and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he sat up in bed.
"Time for school," Regina said, barely above a whisper.
"Already," Henry asked with a frowned.
"Yes. Come on. Get dressed, brush your teeth.
"I know the drill," Henry sleepily groaned as he slid off the bed and walked out of the room.
"Just think, it's your last week before Christmas break. A few more days and I'll finally let you sleep in for a month."
Regina watched him leave then turned back to look at Emma. The blonde shifted in bed and rolled onto her side.
Emma groaned and then desperately, sadly whimpered.
Regina frowned and intently stared at Emma as the blonde started to tangle herself in the sheets.
So much for peaceful.
Emma balled up a fist and tightly clutched the sheets as she tucked her chin to her chest with a pained expression on her face.
Regina sympathetically looked down at Emma, but struggled to find the right thing to do in that situation. Without a solution to whatever Emma's problem was, Regina sighed and went downstairs to fix a quick breakfast for Henry in the kitchen.
Ten minutes later, she had two pancakes on a plate with toast and a glass of orange juice set out for Henry, who had impeccable timing when it came to food, as he walked into the kitchen seconds after she prepared his plate.
"Good morning," Regina smiled when she turned to Henry as he grabbed his plate.
"Morning," he said before he headed into the dining room.
Regina followed him into the dining room with a bowl of oatmeal and a travel mug filled with hot tea.
"Are you tired," Regina asked.
"A little. But..." Henry paused when he took a seat at the table then smiled up at Regina. "I slept really well after the nightmare."
"Really," Regina asked, only partially shocked to hear that.
"I know she's not exactly Emma, our Emma, but for now I kinda like her this way," Henry confessed. "She seems less distant."
"Well, she's only been here one night," Regina said to ensure Henry didn't get his hopes up.
Then Regina realized just what exactly Henry had referred to Emma as.
"And she's not our Emma. She's yours. Saying she's ours implies that we're..." Regina paused as she tried to get the words out. "A family or something to that effect."
Henry rolled his eyes at Regina's argument about our Emma versus his Emma. When he replied, however, he chose not to comment on that part of their conversation.
"I know she's only been here one night, but last night was better than any night I've spent at her place in the last two or three months."
"It's been that long since you had a good time at her place," Regina asked, sad and surprised.
"Yeah," Henry frowned before he took a bite out of a pancake. "But being eighteen again might be the way we can connect."
"I hope that's the case," Regina softly said.
"You're going to look into the spell she cast, right," Henry asked as he started to devour his pancakes.
"On my lunch break. Storybrooke isn't going to run itself."
"I'm glad you were re-elected. What would you have done if the town didn't want you to be Mayor again?"
"I think the only reason I am Mayor again is because no one else could handle the job."
"Still, what would you have done?"
"I'm not sure. I probably would have forced my way back into office."
Henry laughed.
"Yeah, I can see you doing something like that."
Regina smiled at him then looked at the time.
"Five minutes," she warned him.
"Can you drop me off today?"
"You...you want me to take you to school?"
"Yeah. You know, 'cause I didn't let you sleep with Emma and me last night. And I really did want to ask you to, but because Emma–"
"I told you last night I understood. Emma's got a lot of work to do to prove herself to you, doesn't she."
Regina hadn't even bothered to say that as a question. She and Henry both knew the answer.
"I think you know too much about my Emma problems," Henry said.
"I'm your mother, I'm supposed to know more than you'd like me to."
Henry smirked.
"True. It's probably better than you not caring about me or what I do."
"Have I told you how happy I am to have you back," Regina asked.
"Only every day."
"Well, I mean it. I don't want you to think for one second that I don't love you because I do."
"I know."
"What about Emma?"
"What about her?"
"You know she loves you too, right," Regina asked.
Henry shrugged.
"I guess."
"I know she doesn't always show it, especially lately, but I can assure you she does, Henry."
"You're defending her," Henry said like it was the strangest thing to happen.
"And?"
"It's weird."
"It's not bad, is it?"
Henry shook his head.
"No, I just...I guess a lot really has changed since Neverland."
Regina looked at the clock again.
"Time to go," Regina said as she stood, clearly avoiding the topic Henry had seemingly unwittingly brought up.
Henry lifted his plate and carried it back to the kitchen. He scraped the leftovers into the trash then rinsed off the plate. He left the plate in the right side of the sink, which was reserved for dirty dishes, to let it soak then made his way to the front door and grabbed his backpack on the way out.
Regina followed him to the door and looked over her shoulders at the stairs. Thoughts of Emma filled her mind. She hoped, after what she'd read in Emma's public records when she had Sidney Glass look into them, that Emma wouldn't do anything foolish or crazy while the proverbial cat was away.
Note: Leave a review and let me know what you think because I absolutely love your feedback and could always use a smile. Also, since a few of you were really kind and said you'd be there for me if I needed someone to talk to and others were sympathetic that my life wasn't very happy the last time I posted, I thought I'd give you an update on that as well.
My grandpa passed away a short time after I had posted chapter 2. I had to rush up to my home state of Ohio and stayed there for a week for the wake and the funeral. After that, school became a nightmare and I'm on the verge of failing a really important class. If I fail that class, I won't be graduating in June as planned. So, things got hectic and I had to take the time to work at it. In fact, I'm STILL working on it.
BUT, I thankfully am on holiday break so for the next four weeks, expect nothing but updates from me. :) Though I still have a few film school stuff to finish up over the break, I'll mostly be updating if I'm not out enjoying time with family and friends.