A/N: I'm so happy to be seeing all these reviews from readers, old and new alike! I love communicating with you guys and try to reply as fast as I can. So thank you to each and every one of you for your support.
"Hey, what do you guys know about Doctor Mills' husband?" Emma asked as she sat down beside Ruby and Rose in the staffroom on Monday morning.
"He's stinking rich," Ruby replied.
"And handsome," Rose added.
"Really?" Emma and Ruby frowned in unison.
"You've met him?" Rose said.
Emma nodded. "I spotted her outside that massive house they live in on the way home from school on Friday. And then he came out and basically ordered her back into the house to cook him dinner. It seemed a little, I dunno, off."
"Off?" Ruby asked.
"I can't describe it," Emma sighed, "but something wasn't right."
"She's got a PhD from Cambridge," Rose reminded her. "I think she's got her head screwed on straight enough to not be with someone who doesn't treat her well."
"Perhaps," Emma nodded. "I just thought -,"
She stopped abruptly as Regina herself entered the staffroom and their eyes locked. Emma gave a little wave and received a small smile in return before the brunette headed towards the coffee machine.
"See, she's fine," Ruby said. "What I want to hear about is how Rose's date with Killian went on Saturday night. So, spill the beans."
Rose blushed slightly as she leaned in to tell her friends about her new romance.
Considering so many people warn against getting involved with coworkers, Emma had been surprised to learn just how many of the teachers at Storybrooke Secondary School were in relationships. It wasn't just David and Mary Margaret Nolan but also P.E. teacher Jim Midas and his maths teacher wife Kathryn. Science teacher Ashley Boyd was dating the school's mechanical workshop instructor, Sean Herman. Head of art, Phillip Morris, was married to a French teacher named Aurora. And the librarian, Belle, was married to the headteacher, something which had apparently caused quite a scandal considering their significant age gap.
As a young teacher, Emma had received her fair share of attention from male colleagues and older students, despite her married status. Now however, she had been alone for nearly a year and was beginning to feel ready to get back out there again. Well, almost. She had already rebuffed a blundering request for a date from Sebastian Jefferson, an English teacher with wide, staring eyes, the previous week. As she was listening to Rose recounting the events of Saturday night, Emma saw Sebastian walk into the staffroom. Smiling at her, he headed their way.
"I'm gonna get a coffee," Emma muttered, springing to her feet and walking quickly in the other direction. Disheartened, Jefferson decided to take a seat beside David Nolan instead as they waited for Gold to arrive for their morning briefing.
"Hi," Emma said as she reached Regina who was adding some milk to her coffee.
"Good morning, Ms Swan," Regina smiled, her confidence and composure from the previous week back in place. "How was your weekend?"
"Great thanks. I finally finished my unpacking," Emma said, reaching for her own mug. "What about you? Did you and Robin do anything fun?"
Regina bristled slightly at the name of her husband and a splash of milk landed on the counter. "Not really," she said, reaching for a cloth to mop up the spill. "I had a lot of marking to do."
"It's the first week back," Emma pointed out, ignoring the reaction Robin's name had caused. "How evil are you?"
Regina laughed throatily. Emma's heart beat a little faster at the sound. "Oh I work my students pretty hard from day one. It lets them know what I expect."
Coffee in hand, the two teachers made their way back across the room and took their seats next to Ruby and Rose who both greeted Regina warmly. The three women had been teaching at the school for years and had built up a friendship of sorts. Well, Ruby and Rose were close friends but they had never managed to convince Regina to join them outside of school for social occasions. In fact, in the end they'd stopped even inviting her. Regardless, the trio had been very welcoming towards Emma during her first week and she was already thinking of them as friends.
"So, Ms Swan. One week in and how are you liking Plymouth?" Regina asked, sipping her coffee.
"You know you can call me, Emma. There aren't any kids in here," the blonde pointed out.
"Will you stop calling me Doctor Mills?" Regina asked.
"Do you want me to stop calling you Doctor? I get the feeling you quite like knowing you've got a few more letters after your name than I do."
Regina laughed. "That might be true but I turned down a lecturing position from Cambridge and chose instead to teach children for a reason."
"A lecturing position huh?" Emma grinned. "So should I call you Professor Mills?"
"Regina will be just fine," the brunette laughed. "I was reading Henry's homework on Sunday and I was impressed by his -,"
The arrival of Mr Gold brought their conversation to a close but Emma was already beaming with pride. Whatever had gone wrong in her life, at least her son's school work was still great. Well, she assumed it would have to be to impress Professor Mills. Still smiling, Emma turned her attention to her new boss as he began to talk about upcoming field trips and the endless amounts of forms associated with off-campus activities.
"And that's when we get …" Emma paused, waiting for her class of Year 7s to chant the answer back to her.
"Rain!"
"Excellent," she said, proudly looking at all the young faces before her. "So once more all together."
"Air rises. Air cools. Condensation. Rain," thirty eleven year olds recited to her.
"Perfect. And for your homework I would like a four-step illustrated diagram of that process. The best ones will be displayed up on the wall too so lots of colour and good use of labelling please. That will be due next Monday."
Just as the children finished making a note of their homework in their planners, the bell rang to signal the end of the school day.
"Bye, 7T," she smiled. "See you on Thursday. Don't forget your coloured pencils so we can start our project."
"Bye Ms Swan."
"S'laters, Miss."
"Bye," Emma said as she stood by the door watching them all file out.
When she was at last alone, she turned back to the classroom and started straightening up the area. Tucking the chairs under tables and picking up scrunched up balls of paper, Emma didn't hear her son enter and jumped slightly when she finally noticed him sat on her desk, staring at his phone.
"When did you sneak in here?" she asked, her heart still racing a little.
"Just now," Henry answered without looking up from whatever he was doing. "Can I go over to Peter's? You have a meeting so I'd be home alone anyway."
"Peter Panner?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, he's waiting for me outside."
Emma walked over to the door and pulled it open. "Good afternoon Peter," she said, calling him into the room.
"Afternoon, Miss," Peter said as he walked in and stood awkwardly by the door. This was why it was not cool to be friends with the teachers' kid.
"Where's your house?" Emma asked Peter.
"Nearby," Peter said.
"I think you're going to have to be a little more specific if you want my son to come over and spend time there. Not least because I am going to need to pick him up in a couple of hours," Emma pointed out.
"Mifflin Street. Number 100."
"Mifflin Street?" Emma asked, eyebrows raised. She had not been expecting that.
"Yeah. So can Hen come over?"
Emma turned to look at Henry, whose cheeks were flushed with obvious embarrassment from his mother's interrogative tactics.
"Yes, you may go Henry. I should be with you around half five but I'll call if the meeting runs longer than that."
"Thanks Mum," Henry mumbled, standing up and joining Peter by the door. "Can we leave now?"
"You may," Emma said, smiling slightly at the two boys. "Have a good time."
The meeting did run longer, as they always did near the start of the school year. When at last the new government requirements had been explained and re-explained to the staff, everyone was ready to tear their hair out, groaning and complaining about the endless reams of paperwork they were now required to fill in, paperwork which would in no way reflect the quality of their teaching practices nor the children's learning capabilities.
The shadows were lengthening as Emma, Rose and Ruby walked down to the car park together, already discussing their weekend plans. Regina had said goodbye and hurried on ahead as soon as the meeting was dismissed.
"I was going to go down to the promenade on Saturday," Emma said. "Henry loves rollerblading so I thought I'd take him."
"Enjoy that," Ruby said, giggling.
"Why are you laughing?" Emma asked. She had read online that the large, flat area which ran alongside the seafront was the perfect place for skateboarders and rollerbladers to hone their skills, as well as a pleasant place for parents to sit and enjoy the fresh sea breeze.
"The promenade is where literally every child over the age of fourteen who goes to this school hangs out at weekends. It's a nightmare for us teachers because we'd all quite like to stroll by the sea too but we can't do it without walking into our entire GCSE cohort," Ruby explained.
"It's true," Rose nodded. "Although I did once see a group of Year 10s rehearsing one of our drama productions down there so at least they were studying."
"Yeah right, that's what they're doing down there," Ruby laughed.
"It's a rough area?" Emma asked.
"Not any more. Not in the early evenings anyway. It's most families and little groups of teenagers trying to be cool. But you'll always see one kid doing something you know you have to discipline them for. When it gets to three thirty on a Friday, I like to not have to think about being a teacher until nine o'clock on Monday morning."
"Agreed," Emma said. "Maybe I won't take him."
They'd reached their cars by now and were standing around.
"No, take him. I'm sure he'd like the space. It's perfect for roller blading Just, be prepared to run into some kids who'll recognise you and decide to say hello," Rose said.
"Ok, thanks guys. See you tomorrow," Emma smiled as she unlocked her car and stepped inside with a small wave.
When Emma pulled up outside Peter Panner's house ten minutes later, she realised at once that he lived just a few doors down from Regina and Robin. Glancing up the street, she noticed movement in their front garden but, from where she was standing, couldn't work out what it was. Turning, she rang Peter's doorbell and waited.
"Hey Mum," Henry said, opening the door a few seconds later.
"Hey. I'm sorry I'm late. Did you have a good time?" Emma asked as Henry reached for his school bag which was leaning against the wall.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Pete's dad cooked us fajitas."
"Nice," Emma smiled, peering curiously into the ornate entrance hall of the Victorian house. "Can I meet Peter's dad?"
"He's out," Peter said, appearing at that moment from a room off the hallway. "But Henry already said thanks for dinner."
"I'm sure he did," Emma said. "Right, we'd better be leaving now as I'm sure you have lots of homework to do, young man."
"S'laters, Pete. And thanks," Henry said as he headed down the steps.
"Bye Peter," Emma smiled. "See you for registration tomorrow morning."
As they reached the car, Emma glanced once more at Regina's house and her eyes locked on brown orbs.
"Hey!" she called out, waving at the other teacher.
"Stalking me again?" Regina asked with a slight smile, resting her forearms on her gate.
"Yep," Emma nodded, leaving Henry to wait in the car and walking the few yards up the street.
"Henry's friends with Peter Panner?" Regina asked.
"So it would seem. Are you gardening?" Emma asked, noting the faded, muddy jeans and ragged gloves the brunette was wearing.
"Robin wanted these rose bushes dealt with before autumn truly sets in," Regina said, waving her secateurs towards a small pile of wilting rose heads at the base of one of the plants which lined the pathway.
"Then why doesn't Robin cut them himself?" Emma asked.
Regina's cheeks pinked. "He's busy. It's my job to maintain the garden." The defensive tone did not go unnoticed by Emma.
"Ok, well Henry's waiting for me in the car so -,"
"Regina!"
Even Emma jumped at the bark but not as much as Regina who dropped her gardening clippers and gasped.
"Sorry, Robin. I've almost finished," she said, turning to face her husband.
"It will be dark soon and I want these done today. Stop chatting with your teacher friend and get back to work."
"Yes, Robin," Regina nodded, bending down to pick up the secateurs and kneeling back down beside the rose bus. "Emma," she said in a hushed tone, "please leave."
Emma hesitated for a fraction of a second before heeding the whispered plea.
"See you tomorrow, Regina," Emma said in a voice loud enough for Robin, still stood on the porch, to hear.
By the time Emma had returned to her car, Robin had disappeared back inside the house but Regina remained on her knees, carefully trimming the rose bushes and studiously avoiding looking out of the gate as Emma's car drove past.
