Chapter 4

Henry slept over his friend Hansel's house that Friday night allowing his mom to not worry about having to rush home simply because he was on his own. He noticed how quiet the house was as he entered, which was odd because his mother was a morning person, and it was nearly noon. He figured she was probably just up in her room.

Still disturbed by the silence he trampled up the stairs and knocked on his mother's bedroom door. Without waiting for her to answer, he poked his head in, surprised that the room was dark. The curtains were drawn and he could barely make out his mother's small frame still in bed from what little light that came in.

His heart skipped as he thought perhaps he had intruded on a private adult thing between his moms but then heard his adoptive mother sniffle. He looked harder and noticed she was indeed alone.

"Mom?" Worry started to flood his senses as he walked around his mother's bed to see the tear-stained mascara that ran down her cheeks. "What happened?"

"Operation Swan Dive was a bust. She is not interested," his brunette mother mumbled with a deeply strained voice.

He shook his head and knit his brow in disbelief, "No, she is so! She said-"

"Henry!" His mother closed her eyes trying to keep back the ocean of hurt she felt in order to convince the boy his juvenile dreams of his mothers being together wasn't going to happen.

"No! She is your happy ending, mom! And you're hers!"

"That's enough!" his mother snapped loudly. "The Savior could never love the Evil Queen! You're wrong!" A lifetime of sorrow filled her voice and he tried his best to reassure her, "Mom… You're not-"

"Go. I want to be alone," she mumbled in a congested voice, then rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head. Henry quietly took the hint.

His heart broke as he heard his mother's soft sobs as he closed the door behind him. He went into his room, unsure of what else to do; pacing and reevaluating his blonde mother's words. Unable to reason why Operation Swan Dive could have possibly failed, he decided to go to the source. If his adoptive mother wouldn't tell him what happened, perhaps his birth mother would. He poked his head back into his mom's bedroom and asks permission to go to the park out behind their house. She granted his request with a low grunt from under the blankets.

He, of course, got on his bike and headed downtown toward his birth mother's apartment.

Emma answered the door, her hair is disheveled, and she is in a tee shirt and underwear. "Hey, kid."

"Hey, Emma. Remind me to buy you a bathrobe for mother's day," he said as he pushed past her. He immediately saw the dishes in the sink and the glasses of wine from the night before. Two of them.

"Who was here?" he accused, not caring how blunt he was being. His mom was in pain, and it was Emma's fault.

"Killian came over and…"

"Hook? You were out with Hook? No wonder! Oh, you idiot!" He cut her off, anger evident, storming past her and out the door before she got an explanation out of him or being able to reassure him it wasn't a thing with the pirate. Henry stomped off leaving her stunned in the middle of her kitchen.

He returned home and rushed up the stairs to go comfort his mother, but when he entered her bedroom, he saw she was up and dressed. She had a power suit on and a thick layer of makeup that hid her upset poorly.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't know Emma was a moron," he said in a weak, pitiful little boy voice.

"Henry, no matter how much I agree with your assessment, I can't in good conscience allow you to call your other mother a moron."

He rushed over to her and hugged her. "You're not the Evil Queen! You're my mom and I love you!"

She returned his embrace coolly, still feeling every bit of the broken mess she was before. "Will you be alright for a couple of hours? David has called a meeting that I must attend." The little boy nodded against her midsection and then pulled away from her.

"I'm sorry," dark hazel eyes looked up and he could see the damage that'd been done by this operation and wanted nothing more than to reassure her but also had the understanding to know that wasn't something he would be able to do.

Emma Swan sat at the conference table next to her two deputies; Hook choosing to sit closer than she was entirely comfortable with, and Ruby across from the pair on the other side.

She saw her son's mother enter the quickly crowding conference room, and she called out a friendly greeting with a dimpled smile, "Hey Gina!" She noted the woman's power armor was on that afternoon, and despite the massive amount of makeup she had applied, Emma noticed her red puffy eyes immediately. Her smile fell as she got a cold, "Miss Swan," in acknowledgment. Her brow knitted up in confusion, thinking back over the last few days if she had done something wrong to upset the Mayor, but came up empty. She was brought out of her contemplation by her father's voice starting their meeting.

She could barely pay attention to what was going on as Killian kept leaning in and whispering things to her during the briefing, comments about the subject matter, and the townsfolk.

She finally whispered back to him, "Clamp it Killian, or I'm going to clamp it for you." He chuckled and shot a look in Regina's direction that Emma missed in her irritation. In defeat, he stretched his arm around the back of her chair and settled down to listen to what was being discussed.

It was painfully boring, but when it finally concluded they got up and adjourned the meeting. Regina, much to Emma's dismay, was one of the first to make it out the door. She, on the other hand, got stuck behind the shuffle and next to Killian who had the gall to ask her out again.

"Killian..." she warned, "Just stop." Before he could continue his persistent advances, she slipped through the crowd and made it out into the hall. She turned the corner that led to the elevators but turned the other way and headed down to the Mayor's office. She knocked on the door and opened it before Regina gave her permission to enter.

The Mayor was leaning over her desk shuffling paperwork into a briefcase. "Hey, Regina? Are you alright?" she asked as she walked closer.

"How I am is of no concern to you, Miss Swan." The curt answer surprised the blonde, and she immediately went on the defensive.

"Oh, so we are back to Miss Swan are we?"

"Yes well, I am your boss, am I not?"

"Well yeah, sorta I guess-"

"Well as your boss, I choose to keep our relationship professional." The brunette regally lifted her chin, crossed her hands over her midsection defensively, and pinned the blonde with a fiery stare. She decided that she couldn't very well tell the Savior what the actual problem was, so she chose to nitpick about something insignificant and laid into the Sheriff over proper managerial procedures, ending finally with, "If you can't handle your subordinates in a professional capacity, I'm sure we can find someone who can!"

Emma opens her mouth to say something in response to the extensive chastising she just received but had no idea where to start. She wanted to bark back at the Mayor and ask her if she needed a Midol, but the look in those dark eyes was pain, and Emma refrained from saying anything that she would later regret.

"Have your pet deputy turn in his weekly report on my desk by Monday morning, or he can go get a job down at the docks and put that hook of his to good use gutting fish!"

"My pet deputy?" Emma shakes her head in disbelief, "Hook didn't do his report? Damn it. I'm sorry Regina, I reminded him, but-"

"Monday Sheriff. Good day," the Mayor said dismissing her.

"Regina…" Emma tried once more, but the darker woman was clearly over the conversation.

"I said, good day!" The warning that flashed across her face was enough for Emma to take the hint and she quietly left the Mayor's office.