Emma didn't bother with her car. She'd left her keys in her jacket pocket which was still in the booth at Granny's, but she'd worry about that later. The park wasn't too far and she could get there almost as fast by foot. She quickened her pace as she got reached the dirt path to the park, nervous about seeing Henry – she had no idea what she was going to say.
It was a Sunday, and since Regina had built the fancy playground, it was quite a popular hangout for the children of Storybrook. While Henry had a few friends at school, he was shy and not exactly the type to start a game of Grounders, or whatever it was kids these days played on playgrounds. So, rather than searching the playground itself, Emma scanned the benches. Most of the benches appeared to be taken up by parents watching their children though. Finally she spotted Henry sitting down under a tree, caught up in his book just as she suspected. Slowly, timidly, Emma approached Henry.
As she got closer Henry suddenly looked up and closed his book. She gave him a chance to speak first, taking a seat on the grass in front of him.
When he realized she wasn't going to say anything, Henry looked into her eyes. He looked miserable and Emma felt a pang of guilt in her chest.
"I don't want to see you Emma. I really thought I could trust you and then you went and lied to me about something as important as my dad? Just go away, please. I'll carry out Operation Cobra on my own from now on."
"I thought this might be about that. Listen Henry if it helps, I swear that's the only thing I've ever lied to you about, and I hated doing it. I just knew that if I didn't give you an answer you'd go looking for one, and I don't think either of us is ready for that right now. We're still just getting to know each other and your father is…well he's a long story. How did you even find out?"
"Regina left her office unlocked yesterday. I went inside and managed to find my adoption record in her filing cabinet. She walked in before I got to read it and got angry. I had to explain that I only wanted to read more about my dad. She said why would I even care about him and I said I wanted to be a firefighter like him, that he was a hero but had died before I got to meet him. She laughed and told me that my father was no firefighter or hero for that matter and asked if you were the one that told me this lie."
He looked down at the book, closed on his lap. He wasn't crying but Emma suspected he was close to tears. She couldn't bear it; the fact that she'd been responsible for his pain nearly brought her to tears and this was saying something as she wasn't someone that cried often.
"Henry I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the truth, but honestly you asked me so suddenly and it caught me off- guard. The truth is: I'm not ready to tell you the truth yet."
Henry gave her questioning look.
"Kid, I'm sorry. I've grown real fond of you ever since you turned up on my doorstep and forced me to come to this strange town and I don't regret a moment I've spent getting to know you. The fact of the matter is, I've never really had any close friends or family and you are the only person I've really come to care about. I'm just not that great about opening up to people. It will take some time, but I promise, I will tell you the truth someday, maybe when you're a bit older. Until then, I'm begging you to stick with me. I will do anything it takes to gain your trust again."
Henry considered this. He did that adorable thing where he tilted his head whenever he was thinking deeply. "Anything eh?" He grinned mischievously, all hurt feelings forgotten for now.
Emma looked at him and couldn't help but smile back. His happiness and hope was contagious, even though she knew what was coming.
"Well then you're going to have to spend your weekends digging deeper into Operation Cobra. I have a few hunches I'm working on and I could your helping looking into them, Sheriff."
Despite her misgivings about Henry's obsession with fairytale characters, it was what he wanted to spend his time doing with her. And Emma had come to realize she'd do whatever it took to keep her relationship with Henry. She was growing rather attached to this kid.
She stuck her hand out. "Deal." Henry put his small hand in hers and shook it, grinning broadly.
"I better get home now before Regina gets back, but you should know that she has meetings with the Town Council every Sunday from 11am-1pm. That's where she is now."
"Okay, then I'll see you every Sunday here at 11am from now on. And I'm sure we can find other times, Regina is a busy woman, after all."
"Sounds good to me. And for the record, Emma, my birthday is coming up – I'll be 11 soon, that's pretty old right..?"
Emma smiled and shook her head at Henry's persistence.
"Ok I know I might not win 'Mother of the Year' but kid, I know when you were born. April 30th, 2002 at 11:59pm. You just didn't seem to want to be born in May. "
"11:59pm? I never knew that." He bent his head and pulled his sleeve up to look at his watch. He pressed a few buttons and looked up with a smile. "Set my alarm, so I'll be awake at the exact minute of my Birthday."
Emma pulled out her phone and set her alarm as well. "Me too, I'll be thinking of you. Now come on, let me walk you home before Regina gets mad". She fell into step beside her son.
