Regina's POV

When I hear a crash I just about jump out of my chair. I try to simply ignore it and wonder how I'm going to survive this wait. Henry and Emma had pushed me into my study as soon as we got home. Henry had made me promise him that I would stay here until dinner was ready and Emma had threatened to handcuff me to my chair. As much as I protested, I was appreciative of the time it gave me to think, which I desperately needed.

Yesterday seemed like eons ago. In the course of 24 long hours I've found out Emma is, well, I'm not sure what she is. Bisexual I suppose. Doesn't matter. Emma had a girlfriend in Boston, and now said girlfriend is trying to get Emma to leave me. No, leave us.

Also a new development: these feelings for the Sheriff. Well, if I'm being honest, they're not exactly new. I've always felt a burning in my core whenever we fought and inevitably ended up in each other's personal space. Yet I never would have thought about acting on these wanton desires. Dreams didn't count as thoughts, did they? Because there had certainly been dreams. So maybe, this was anything but new. The jealousy was new though. I had never been jealous of whatever had transpired between Miss Swan and Sheriff Graham. I had simply killed him because he was staring to remember. I couldn't have that. It was most definitely not jealousy. But this Charlotte person, she needed to be taken down.

Good. Those feelings were easy enough to deal with. Except, of course, when Emma needs help taking her clothes off, or sneaks up behind me. Then it gets infinitely harder to quell the burn. But these other feelings. The fear, and the hurt. They were more complicated. Seeing those pictures Sidney had brought over, it felt like my chest had been torn wide open. They made me doubt everything Emma's ever said, ever promised. I've never lost my composure the way I did with her earlier. It was frightening, the things that woman could make me feel. But the way she held me helped me regain some semblance of trust and hope. My goodness, I'm a mess.

There's a knock at the door and I'm thankful for the interruption. My head is too ruinous of a place to deal with at the moment. The door opens and I see Emma standing there in a tight red dress. My dress.

"Is that my-" I begin to say before the blonde cuts me off.

"It sure is. Thank you for letting me borrow it."

"I never said you could."

"That's okay." She walks towards me and holds out her hand. "Your dinner is ready, my lady." She does a little curtsy and I curse my brain for thinking about how adorable it is.

I take her hand and let her lead me into the dinning room, which we only use for special occasions. Henry's standing beside the lavishly decorated table wearing his good clothes, complete with a tie and the biggest smile I have ever seen on his young face.

"What's all this?" I look around, stunned. There are candles on the table and the nice china is out.

"We wanted to have a special dinner, with the three of us." Henry says as he beams at Emma and pulls out a chair. Emma nudges me towards it.

"Thank you, Henry." I say, sitting down and tucking in to the table.

"My pleasure." Emma pulls out the chair at the head of the table for Henry and pushes him in. I get distracted watching her the muscles in her arms flex. Perhaps she should go sleeveless more often.

"I'll be right back." She breezes past me, lightly brushing my shoulder. There's a glass of wine in front of me, so I take a sip.

"What are we having for dinner, dear?" I ask Henry.

"You'll see!"

Just then Emma walks in with a large, covered serving platter. The one I usually use to house the turkey on Christmas or Thanksgiving. She sets it down in the middle of the table and whisks off the lid.

"Burgers?" I scoff.

"Hey," Emma chastises. "Don't knock 'em 'till you try 'em. Henry and I made them from scratch." She smiles at him, then disappears back into the kitchen.

"They have apples on them!" Henry looks so proud.

"Well, they do smell delicious, dear."

Emma's back again with another tray, this one full of french fries, which also appear to be homemade.

"Now you don't have to steal mine." Emma jokes as she walks around the table and takes a seat across from me. I feel her foot bump mine.

We all load up our plates, after I warn them to be delicate with the china. We're about to start eating when Henry clatters his fork against his crystal glass. He sends me an apologetic look in return of my cautionary glare.

"A toast." I want to roll my eyes, but he looks so happy, and Emma's already raising her glass, egging him on, so I raise my glass as well. I can't look like the bad guy all the time. It's clear by the look on his face that he doesn't know what to say next. Perhaps he didn't think I'd let him get this far.

"To family?" I suggest.

"To family!" He and Emma repeat back.

And then we 'dig in'. I'm reluctant to admit it, but it's all very good, however unhealthy it may be. I can see Emma and Henry staring at me, waiting for my reaction.

"Mmm. Henry, Emma, this is wonderful. Thank you." They both cheer and high five each other before they start eating their own meals.

The conversation flows easily between mouthfuls. I can't help but compare this dinner to the dinners with Henry just a few days ago, when having dinner with just the two of us was a chore for him, and they were mostly silent. Now there is laughter and plans being made for other dishes they can learn how to make. The most surprising thing however, is the way I'm included in the conversations. I always knew Henry and Emma had an easy rapport, one that I was never quite able to build with Henry, despite years of trying. It was one that used to make me seethe at the way it came so naturally between the two of them. But sitting here now, easily joining in on the conversation, I'm thankful for Emma's presence.

I take another bite of my burger. It really is delicious with the apple on the top. I look up to see Emma watching me, and something in my stomach stirs. I finish chewing and wipe my face delicately with a cloth napkin. They really did go all out.

"I do hope you procured these apples in a more dignified manner than the last time, dear."

A faint blush creeps across Emma's features. "Of course. I picked them with the upmost care."

Now I feel a warmth spread across my face as I continue to gaze at Emma.

Henry clears his throat, snapping us out of our staring competition. "Can I have another one?"

"May you have another one." Emma corrects him before I can. We all looked shocked, and then Henry turns to me and laughs.

"Oh no, you're rubbing off on her."

If our faces were rosy before, they're scarlet now. Emma takes a hasty drink of her water to hide her face and I use my napkin. We're lucky Henry's too preoccupied with getting another burger to notice. I look across the table and catch Emma's eye, but quickly look away, afraid to make things any more awkward. Her foot gently bumps mine again and I look back to her. There's a sparkle in her eyes and a shy smile on her lips. I run my hand through my hair and give my head a shake to clear it.

"Don't eat too much, kid. You've got to save room for dessert." Emma adds with a wink towards Henry.

"You made dessert too?" I'm impressed, and slightly worried about the state of my precious kitchen.

"We sure did. In fact, if you're done, I'll clear this up and go get it." She stands up, grabbing her plate and walking around the table to collect mine.

"You don't have to clean up too, you've already done quite enough." But she just takes my plate and stacks it on hers. "Thank you." I say quietly.

"Hey, it's no problem, tonight's for you Madame Mayor." Henry nods in agreement, but does speak due to the large amount of food in his mouth.

Emma comes back in a minute later with yet another plate, this time it's full of cookies, which smell amazing. She offers me one from the plate before setting it on the table and walking back over to the seat.

"They're apple cinnamon cookies!" Henry exclaims before grabbing two.

"Fresh from the oven." Emma says, taking one for herself.

I bite into the cookie. "Mmm…"

"Good?" Emma asks through a mouthful of her own cookie.

"Amazing." I reply, earnestly. "We might have to keep you around if you keep cooking this well."

"Sounds good to me." Emma smiles.

"And me!" Henry adds, reaching for another cookie. I dart my hand out and move the plate from his grasp.

"That's enough for tonight, I think."

Henry pouts, but soon realizes neither Emma nor I are giving in. "Can we at least watch an episode of Batman before bed?"

"That's fine. Why don't you go start it with Emma? I'll clean up here and then go see what state you've left my kitchen in."

"No way. I already told you, Regina, I'm cleaning up. We'll all go watch Batman together."

I find it hard to argue when she smiles at me the way she does. Well that's a first. We all get up and I follow Emma into the family room. I run my eyes down the back of her, she should really wear dresses more often. I have to pry my eyes away from her, ah, assets once we get into the family room.

Emma sits down on one side of Henry and I take the other. I can't remember the last time Henry asked to spend time with me after dinner. He picks up the remote and turns Batman on and then tugs at his tie. I give him a hand taking it off.

"Did you tie this yourself?"

He glances quickly at me before turning back to his show. "No, I tried, but it just fell apart. Emma did it for me, I did up her dress."

"Teamwork." Emma adds.

I turn back to the show and try to watch but I don't understand a thing that's going on, and Henry's given up trying to explain it to me. Instead, I take advantage of his good mood, and swing and arm around him, reveling in the fact that he doesn't tense or pull away. I feel Emma run her arm along the back of the couch, pressing it against mine. Near what I think is the end of the episode, I feel her fingers brush some loose hair away from my face and tuck it behind my ear. My eyes flutter closed and I enjoy this moment. After such a tiresome day, I welcome the calm.

Once the show ends, Henry flicks off the tv and turns to me. "Will you put me to bed, mom?" I'm so shocked it takes me a few seconds to respond.

"Of course, Henry." I look over his head at Emma, I have a feeling she has something to do with this, but I'm so thankful I don't say anything.

"I'll tidy up everything down here, go on." Emma says.

I follow Henry up the stairs and help him out of his suit and into his pajamas.

"Thank you." Henry says.

I finish hanging his suit in his closet before sitting down next to him on his bed. I resist the urge to smooth down his hair that Emma has obviously had her hands in. It actually looks cute like this, but I'll never admit that to either of them.

"For what?" I ask.

"For letting Emma stay this weekend."

I knew that was coming. "You're welcome, Henry. I know how happy she makes you. And whether you believe it or not, when you are happy, I'm happy."

"I don't want her here just because I like having her here, mom. I want her here because I like spending time with the two of you together. Don't you see? We're all happiest when we're together. It's what makes us family."

His words leave me speechless. Of course it makes perfect sense, I just don't understand how he figured it out before I did. "You're too smart for your own good, you know that?"

He throws his hands up in front of him in a very Emma-like fashion and lies down on the bed. "Hey, you raised me."

"I sure did." I laugh. "Would you like Emma to come up to say goodnight as well?"

"Is that okay?" I smile at his excitement.

"Of course. Let me go get her."

I walk out of his room and walk to the top of the stairs. "Emma?" I call down.

A couple seconds later she's standing at the bottom step looking up. Her cleavage is amazing at this angle. Stop it.

"Come say goodnight to Henry?"

She doesn't respond, just flies up the stairs as fast as the dress will allow. She takes my hand when she reaches the top, only letting go outside Henry's room.

He's almost asleep by the time I get back, but it's clear he had been trying his hardest to stay awake. I resume my position on the edge of the bed and Emma kneels down in front of Henry.

I speak first. "Thank you, to both of you." I look first Henry, then Emma in the eyes. "For an amazing night." I lean over and press a gentle kiss to his head. "Goodnight, Henry."

"Night, mom." I stand up and give Emma some room to say goodnight.

She leans over and gives him a kiss on the head as well. "Night, kid. Sleep tight."

"Goodnight… Emma. I'll see you in the morning." She straightens up and walks over beside me.

"You sure will."

We both turn to leave but stop when Henry starts talking again.

"I really need to find a name for you, Emma. I can't call you both mom."

Emma looks like her heart is about to burst, I give her hand a squeeze.

"We'll figure it out. Goodnight, dear."

We walk out of his room and I close the door behind us. I still have Emma's hand in mine. Now what? The fact that we're alone now both excites and terrifies me. My mind quickly runs through different scenarios for how tonight is going to play out, but when I catch sight of an odd look in Emma's eyes I stop short.

"Are you okay?" I ask, looking up at her.

"Yeah. Just… happy."

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Me too."

"I'm glad. Uh, everything's cleaned up downstairs. I was thinking we could watch a movie if you want? Or we could talk…"

"No. No talking. A movie sounds fantastic."

"Awesome. I'm going to change out of this dress first. I'm sure you want to get out of that, uh," Her eyes run down my figure, lingering on my chest. I knew this blouse was a good idea this morning. "That outfit. I'll meet your downstairs?"

I nod and turn to head to my bedroom.

"Wait." Emma's hand grabs hold of my forearm and gently pulls me back to face her. I raise a questioning eyebrow and glance down at her hand still on my arm.

Emma lets go and turns her back to me. "Help me with the zipper?"

Here we go again. Is she truly incapable of removing her own clothes? She reaches up and sweeps her hair aside, leaving me with a full view of her neck. I swallow hard, trying to keep my hand as steady as possible as I reach out and quickly unzip her dress. I don't allow my fingers to trace down her spine, or to tug the rest of the dress down like I so badly want to. Instead, I turn and walk back to my room only stopping when I reach my door. When I look back, Emma's still standing where I left her. I let out little laugh before I push the door open, step into my room and lightly kick it shut behind me. I lean back against the door for support.

This is moving far too quickly. Just a few hours ago I was shouting at her to leave this town, and now I've just essentially told my son he can call Emma 'mom'. That damn woman gets under my skin far too easily. It's dangerous. I think back to those repulsive pictures Sidney brought over earlier. I still have that little problem to deal with as well. And right now, getting rid of a pest sounds a lot easier than dealing with whatever is going on here. But that can wait until tomorrow. I always like to plot revenge after a good night's sleep.

Emma's POV

Once the sound of Regina's door banging closed has snapped me out of whatever haze I was in, I walk back to my bedroom, mentally kicking myself for whatever that was. You idiot. You've probably scared her away. I pull off the dress and sink down onto the crazy soft bed. It's going to be hard going back to the hard mattress at Mary Margaret's after this. I swing an arm over my face and think back on everything I've put Regina through today. I got her to let me in and then I completely lost any traction I may have gained when Charlotte kissed me. Then I promised I wasn't leaving, and she seemed to believe me, and now I'm trying to what? Seduce her? I've got to stop fucking with her feelings and just prove to her, and Henry, that I'm not going anywhere. To do that, Charlotte needs to go.

Regina's POV

After searching my closet for appropriate lounge wear, which I do not have a lot of, as I'm not a fan of lounging, I settle on a red tank top and black yoga pants that I used to wear when I went running. I check myself out in the mirror. That'll do.

I leave my room and look down the hall. Emma's door is closed; she must still be in there. Perhaps she is having difficulties getting out of the rest of her dress. I resist the urge to offer my services, instead I go downstairs, finally getting the chance to survey any damage from earlier. I brace myself before walking into the kitchen, but I'm pleasantly surprised. There is no mess. In fact, it looks the exact same as always, save for the dishes drying on the rack in the sink and the plate of cookies on the counter. Perhaps I misjudged the Sheriff's cleanliness. I grab two cookies and head for the family room, taking a seat on the couch to wait for Emma.

I shift in my seat, trying to get comfortable. Eventually, I abandon that endeavor as I'm simply too nervous to relax. It's baffling to me that I'm so nervous. We've spent all day together. Except for when she was kissing that bothersome woman. I push that thought aside and try to plan out what's about to happen. It's always important to have a plan. Excitement ripples through me when I think about the fact that it's going to just be her and I down here on this couch. Part of me wants to jump her as soon as she walks through the doorway, but a larger, more dominant part of me is terrified that if I do, she'll get scared and leave. Or worse, she'll decide she doesn't want me and she'll go find Charlotte. I try to focus on the cookie to distract me but it's no use. Luckily, Emma shows up and my mind goes blank when I see what she's wearing.

"Hmmm," I mumble through a mouthful of cookie. Not my most shining moment, I must say. But those legs. She's wearing green boxer shorts and a tight black tank top. I hold out the other cookie I got for her. She smiles and walks over to take it, but doesn't sit down. She looks just as nervous as I feel.

"What would you like to watch, dear?" I ask, getting up and pulling out the expansive movie drawer.

"Wow," Emma remarks, running her fingers over the titles. "That's quite the collection."

I shrug. "It's something to do after Henry goes to bed."

She gives me a knowing smile and looks back down. "Nothing superhero related please." She says with a laugh. "How about something funny?" She asks.

"Funny is good. Bridesmaids?"I pull the case out of the drawer.

"Sounds good to me."

I pop the DVD in and then go join Emma on the couch. I keep a respectable distance between us, not trusting myself to keep my hands from wandering, but somehow we end up side by side under a blanket with her arm around me and my head resting on her chest. She's drawing loose circles on my exposed shoulder and her bare legs are tangled with mine. I've never felt closer with anyone than I do with Emma right now. Not in this world, or the one before. I slink my arm across her waist and hold tight, because for now I have her, and I'm not letting go.

Eventually, the long day gets the better of me and I find my eyes starting to close. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, given how comfortable I am. The movie's not even half over when Emma pauses it.

"You're falling asleep." She looks down at me and it abruptly hits me how close our faces are. "Why don't we go to bed, hm?"

I can only nod, and tonight it's Emma who supports me up the stairs. Feeling emboldened by my sleepy state I grab her hand and pull her in the direction of my room once we reach the top.

"Why don't you join me in my room tonight, dear?" I lean close, whispering in her ear with my best seductive voice.

"Regina," She says pleadingly, pushing herself away. "I can't."

It feels like she's punched me in the stomach. It's happening. What I've been dreading, she's going to tell me she doesn't want to stay here. I try to push her away some more, but she holds on and places a hand on my face, caressing it softly and tilting it gently towards hers.

"I want to. Please don't think that I don't want to, but I want a real shot at making this, making us, work more. I want to do this right, 'Gina. So I can't spend the night with you, not yet. Does that make sense?" Her eyes are so genuine it leaves no room for doubt, no matter how hard I look.

"Yes."

"Good." She leans down and places a kiss on my cheek. "Goodnight, Mayor Mills. I'll see you in the morning."

I rest my hand on my cheek where her lips just were. "Goodnight, Sheriff Swan." I turn away and walk quickly into my room without looking back. Once safely behind the closed door I smile wickedly, a plan already taking shape. Operation: Woo Emma Swan has begun.