CHAPTER SEVEN
"Henry! Breakfast!" Emma hollered, slipping the plate of waffles onto their round kitchen table – just the finishing touch to their 7:30 Saturday breakfast feast – and taking a seat on the chair closest to the stove. This was her chair; it had been deemed hers shortly after they moved in when she realised that she could reach the stove and the refrigerator if she tilted backwards far enough and thus she didn't have to get up if she forget anything when setting the table.
Henry came trodding into the kitchen in his Frozen pyjamas; they were light blue and covered in pictures of Elsa with her golden hair, and perhaps they were a tiny bit too small now, but Henry wasn't ready to part with them yet. The Frozen obsession had been long and tiring (Emma never thought she'd be able to hear Let It Go again without cringing), but thankfully it had now turned into the firetruck obsession. Even though he was talking more and more about Disney and fairytale characters again. Especially The Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was interesting to him, and Emma really didn't understand why.
Climbing onto his chair, Henry reached for his glass of orange juice, clumsily taking a sip as the liquid slushed onto the table. "Hot cocoa, Ma?" He said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he reached for his fork. His waffles were already pre-cut so he was mostly handling his eating by himself at this point.
Emma pushed the top of her french press down, savouring the scent of the freshly brewed coffee. "It's in your cup, Kid," she replied, plucking a berry from her mountain of whipped cream and popping it into her mouth.
Henry stared at her like she was crazy. "You forgot the cinnamon," he simply stated.
"Well duh, how stupid am I?" Emma chuckled and reached backwards, grabbing the cinnamon shaker from the kitchen table. She leaned forward and drizzled the hot chocolate with cinnamon for him.
Stabbing pieces of waffle with his fork, Henry said, "You can be very stupid, Mamma," as he nodded his head and swallowed. "What are we gon' do today? The park?"
Emma placed a finger on her chin, making her usual thoughtful face at her son; this was the first Saturday in a while where they had woken up together in their own apartment, and she wasn't tired or worn out from working, and she sure as hell was going to enjoy this with him. "I dunno, what do you wanna do, Kid?" She poured herself a steaming cup of coffee.
Shrugging, Henry bent his head and tried to drink from his cocoa without lifting the cup. This resulted in his nose coming back with whipped cream on it, and he giggled. "Can we hang out with R'gina?"
The mere sound of Regina's name caused a ruckus inside of Emma's body; not only had she not heard from Regina since their kiss on Thursday, but she herself had made no attempt to contact the other woman. Not that she didn't want to, because she sure as fuck did, but she didn't even have Regina's number (and yes, there were ways to get that, she knew), but she was seriously doubting whether or not it was a good idea.
Regina just… confused the heck out of her. And yes, that kiss had been mind blowing, and not just because it had been a while since Emma had kissed anybody, but simply because the surge of chemistry she had experienced had been unlike anything she had ever tried before. She'd thought a lot about kissing Regina, she knew and admitted this, and she'd thought about those brown eyes and especially those red lips, but she also knew that what she'd imagined hadn't even come close to the real thing – that kiss. Damn. She'd been thinking so much about it that she'd hardly been able to sleep the past two nights.
But Regina had run off. Emma was pretty certain that the other woman had enjoyed their kiss just as much as she had (because such an experience could not ever be one sided) and yet she had still run off. Sure, Emma had called her out on her bullshit, but that didn't change the fact that she'd left anyway. Emma didn't understand why – it was actually really confusing to her – and she'd spent the better part of her Friday trying to figure out what could have possibly gone through Regina's mind the night before. Actually she'd spent so much time contemplating this that she'd had a hard time focusing on the prick she was trying to catch for skipping bail.
Emma was aware that Regina was closed off and had walls up all around her; that much had been evident from day one. But she also knew that Regina cared a great deal, she had experienced that in the way that Regina had taken to Henry immediately, without even knowing whose son he was. She remembered Henry returning home from his day at The Hills with Mulan and talking about this great R'gina he had met there and how she had read from his book and done voices for all of the characters. Of course at that point Emma had thought it was one of the employees at The Hills who'd taken care of him that day; she hadn't been aware that it was the woman whose lips she couldn't stop thinking about.
It was presenting to be some sort of a problem that Henry was now asking for time with Regina. They'd only met two times, but apparently the other woman had made quite an impression on the kid. And his mother too, Emma guilty admitted to herself. What the heck was it with Regina Mills and her power over the Swans?
"Sorry Kid," Emma said as she lifted her cup to her lips and took a long sip. Henry was staring expectedly at her. "I don't think we're gonna be able to see Regina today. How 'bout Granny instead, huh?"
Dejected, Henry hung his head and slurped a bit of his cocoa. "R'gina is just really nice, Ma," he whispered, picking up pieces of his waffle with his fingers, which Emma did not have the heart to correct him for right now.
Emma bit her lip. "I know you think so, Kid, and let me tell you, I think so too," she honestly said, meeting his eyes – so much alike her own – across the table. "I'm just not really sure how much time Regina has for the two of us, yeah? She's a real busy worker, not like me. She's got a very important job and lots of people who depend on her."
It was a little, white lie. Even though she hated lying to Henry, about anything, even the small things, it was a necessary lie, because she did not want him involved in this kiss-and-run debacle. And most important – she did not want him to get attached to Regina (more than he already was, it appeared) if the brunette was going to run away like that. Emma couldn't afford to let people into their life who were just going to disappear on them.
She realised it was a bit too late with Regina though, because she was already there, and Henry was already attached. Emma had had no say in that; Henry and Regina had met without her knowledge and she somehow had to deal with that despite how much Regina's actions on Thursday had hurt her feelings, how much the other woman was confusing her to no end.
"That's stupid," Henry simply replied, before he turned his attention towards the berries on his plate. He bit into a blueberry and immediately made a discomforted face. "Ew, that's sour, Mamma!" He whined, before reaching for the glass of orange juice and gulping down the remains of the blueberry with it.
Emma chuckled. She could not contain her enjoyment of sharing this morning with Henry, something that happened far too little without the rush of preschool and work speeding them along. Those moments were precious, both to her as a mother, but also to Henry as the child. She remembered wanting such moments desperately when she was a kid and no one had time for her. Ever since having Henry she'd vowed to make his childhood great and full of love and care, and all those other things that she herself had not been privy to. She'd also always thought that at some point she'd be giving Henry a bigger family; another mother, perhaps siblings. A steadier family life. Not that she'd ever really worked hard in doing exactly that, because her life did not leave many moments for dating or socialising.
It'd just been her and Henry, and it had always been really good. Except now she was starting to actually see and perhaps even more importantly believe that it could be more than just them; it wasn't just a far-fetched fever dream, it was an actual possibility. And she hated this, but goddamnit, she was starting to picture Regina fucking Mills as someone who could be part of that.
Even if she'd run off. God, why had she run off?
—
Granny's was bustling with life and activity when Emma and Henry made their way into the diner for their afternoon snack. They'd had quite the day so far; they'd been to the park, they had run errands, they even went to get Henry a new pair of sneakers, because his other pair was spotting a giant hole in the sole.
Ruby greeted them both with a huge smile as they approached the counter. "Big Swan and Little Swan," she cheered, popping her gum and sticking her pen behind her ear. "Hot chocolate and cookies?" She arched an eyebrow, already familiar with Henry and Emma's preferences.
"What kinda cookies do you have today, Aunt Ruby?" Henry demanded to know as he stood on his tippy toes and practically glued his face onto the glass display with today's cakes and other sweets.
Dorothy – who had her head buried in books by the other end of the counter – chuckled. "Try the carrot muffin, Kiddo, the frosting is really great."
Henry's eyes were wide as he turned to look at Emma, "Can I have one, Ma?"
Emma pretended to think about it for a second or two, "Oh, why the hell not?" She turned turned to Ruby, not able to hide her smile. "It's my day off, the sun's out. Give us both a muffin, why don't you?"
Ruby punched it into the cashier and leaned over the counter, urging Emma closer with a crooked finger. "Mulan's in the far corner," she whispered, her brown eyes shining with mirth, "She's got some kid and a woman with her. I think she's on a date," she finished, her mouth forming a perfect 'o' as if that fact alone was disturbing. Mulan having a date? When had that ever happened before? Emma could practically see the wheels turning inside her head.
Emma angled her body slightly as she handed over a few bills. "Yeah, that's Marian," she explained, eyes trailing over the now-familiar woman before they landed on the kid next to her. He appeared to be Henry's age, maybe a year younger, and he had a mop of curly brown hair and was drawing eagerly on a piece of paper.
Handing Emma back her change, Ruby said, "Please go disturb her," with pleading eyes, "please, please, please go disturb her, Swannie!"
The blonde tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and as she looked around the room, she had to admit that perhaps the only way they were going to be able to get a seat was to disturb Mulan. Besides, her friend kind of owed her after spending an entire shift holed up at Marian and Regina's table in the lounge. "We will," she promised, winking at Ruby, "Henry, come on, Kid, let Kansas do her studying or she won't ever let you play with Toto again."
Henry immediately slipped his hand into Emma's, "Nuh-uh," he retorted, jumping slightly up and down as they made their way towards the booth in the back where Mulan and Marian were having their date. "Toto loves me, Ma."
"Are you sure about this?" Emma questioned him seriously, a teasing smile playing around her lips. There was nothing better than to mess with her kid; it was one of her favourite pastimes. She was sure Henry was going to be an excellent bullshitter too, when he grew up, because that shit was just genetic.
When Henry's eyes landed on Mulan, he let go of her hand and rushed across the floor. With a screeching "Aunt Mulan," he let his presence be known, and Mulan only had a moment to compose herself enough to meet his excited hug. His little arms wrapped around her neck eagerly, and Emma laughed when Mulan's panicked brown eyes met hers.
"Henry," she whispered, pressing a short kiss to his forehead.
"Hi lovebirds," Emma greeted as she smoothly slid into the booth next to where Henry had flung himself at Mulan. She wriggled her eyebrows and looked at the drawing that Marian's kid was making. It looked like a dragon. "That's one cool dragon, is it gonna blow fire?"
Huge brown eyes met hers, "I can't draw fire."
Emma reached for the red crayon, "That's perfect, Kiddo, because I can draw fire," she explained, before she pressed the crayon to the paper, giving him plenty of time to stop her if he didn't want her to participate.
Marian ran a hand through his curly hair, "Roland, say hello to Emma and Henry."
"Hi," Roland replied, looking up briefly before he turned to watch as Emma drew fire out of the dragon's mouth.
Mulan sighed. "Not that I don't love your company, Emma, but what are you doing in our booth?"
Emma didn't look up from the paper, "Everywhere's full."
Henry rolled his eyes at her. "Ruby wanted Ma to interrupt your date," he innocently explained, bopping his head up and down as he looked at Mulan.
"I wanted no such thing," Ruby defended herself as she appeared at their table, setting two mugs of hot cocoa and two different muffins in front of them. "Also, Toto is out back, Henry, why don't you go check on him?"
Henry eagerly turned to look at Emma with questions in his eyes.
Nodding her head, Emma said, "Do that, Kid, and why don't you take Roland? Toto's a dog," she said the last part to Roland, her eyes shining as they met his freckled face. God, that kid was a cute one.
Roland turned to his mother then, his entire face alight with joy. "May I, Mom?"
Marian nodded, and Roland and Henry were out of the booth quicker than one could say 'dog', Ruby following after them with waving arms and high heels to make sure that everything went smoothly. Emma leaned back in her seat, picked up her cocoa and took a long sip of it. She ignored – for just a second – how both Marian and Mulan were looking at her questionably, no doubt wondering if she planned on staying there for long.
Emma groaned, "Just pretend I'm not here, do your date stuff," she said.
"As if," Mulan retorted, before taking a sip of her coffee.
Marian rolled her eyes. "So Regina was in a pissy mood yesterday," she commented, reaching for her own cup of coffee and nursing it between her fingers.
Emma didn't take the bait. "When's she not?"
"Stop that," Marian argued, and Emma would have been offended at the audacity if she didn't respect the shit out of Marian's attempt to rattle her. "I know you guys hung out on Thursday, because Regina texted Kathryn in her tipsy state, demanding that she stepped in for a meeting with a client Friday at eight."
Raising an eyebrow, Emma still didn't bite. "And Kathryn texted you immediately, did she?"
Marian said, "Regina's our friend, excuse us for looking out for her." She sighed heavily, placing her cup back on the table and sitting up straighter in the booth. She slid over slightly, so she was more directly in front of Emma, whereas before she'd been sitting directly in front of Mulan. "Just stop with the defences, yeah? I know you hung out and I can't for the life of me figure out why that would leave her in such a sour mood," she paused, brown eyes far off in thought for a second, "I swear, I thought that she liked you."
Groaning, Emma realised that she was not going to get out of this one. She might be incredibly hurt by Regina's actions on Thursday, but that wasn't Marian's fault, and who knew, maybe the other woman could provide some kind of insight for her. It was worth a shot anyway. She bit her lip in thought. "I think maybe she does," she acquiesced, shaking her head slightly to herself, not quite daring to meet Marian's prying eyes. "We… kissed."
"What?" Mulan breathed, her eyes turning wide as her head flipped to the side. So far she hadn't really participated in this conversation, but apparently this information was enough to draw her in.
Nodding, Emma continued, "Yeah, like… really kissed. But then uh, then she… ran off?"
Marian's forehead wrinkled slightly as both Emma and Mulan turned to look at her in unison. The brunette's eyes flickered back and forth, mouth hanging slightly open. "She… ran off?"
"Yeah," Emma agreed.
"That's…" Marian paused, "unfortunate."
Rolling her eyes, Emma retorted, "Unfortunate?"
Mulan snickered, "I didn't know you were such a bad kisser, Swan."
Nudging her friend in the side with her elbow, Emma's eyes never left Marian's. "It wasn't a bad kiss, I swear," she whispered, tongue darting out to wet her lips, "It was a real great kiss actually. It was… heated. And uh, there was, like, electricity and stuff."
Marian arched an eyebrow in disbelief, "Electricity and stuff?"
Emma nibbled a piece of her muffin, popping it into her mouth and chewing carefully as she looked at the other woman. "She feels the same, I know it. She said so-"
"She said so?"
"-before she ran off," Emma finished, swallowing loudly. "I mean, I called her out on her bullshit, but she still ran." That was the confusing part. The part where Emma said 'bullshit', and yet Regina still grabbed her things and left.
Marian blinked. "Oh yeah, sounds like Regina," she whispered almost breathlessly. "She can be hard to read, and even harder to get close to," she paused, "Do you really like her?"
Emma took a long gulp of her cocoa, whipped cream staining her lips, which she licked off with a swipe of her tongue. "Are you asking me if I wanna fuck her, or if I really care for her?" She fired back, but it wasn't hostile, actually she was more amused by Marian's question. Of course if Marian had known her better, she would have never had to ask, because all of Emma's friends knew that she didn't do just fucking. Not after Henry.
A crooked smile appeared on Marian's lips. "Yeah?"
"Of course I wanna fuck her," Emma said, leaning slightly forward and lowering her voice; this was a family establishment after all, and Granny would have her ass if the children heard. "I mean, have you looked at her? She's, like, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, but do I just wanna fuck her?" She continued to question, eyebrow raised and smile dangling at the corner of her lips, "No. I don't. I feel like I wanna get to know her and stuff. And that shit doesn't happen often, not when you have a kid," she finished as she leaned back in her seat, motioning towards Roland's discarded drawing. "I figure you'd know."
A soft look overtook Marian's features then as she looked from the drawing towards Mulan, who was sitting silently next to Emma, drinking her coffee and watching the exchange between the two of them. "I do know," she honestly whispered, before her eyes met Emma's.
Trying the other muffin by breaking off a piece (and getting cheese frosting on her fingers, thank you very much), Emma said, "Yeah so that's what concerns me, you see? I like Regina, but I don't have the life for this bullshit, you know? I have Henry to think about, so if Regina doesn't know what she wants, then I can't just… I have to think of Henry," she repeated, licking off her fingers one by one.
Mulan's warm eyes met hers. "She really hurt your feelings, didn't she?"
Emma hated that Mulan was so perceptive, because why couldn't she just be like Ruby and not notice that Emma was trying to hide the fact that Regina's kiss-and-run had dug up a lot of very buried emotions from Emma's past. "Nope," Emma replied, swiping a bit more of frosting off the muffin, just because she could, and Henry would get a stomachache anyway, if he ate it all.
Placing a warm hand on Emma's free arm, Mulan said, "Yes, she did. Emma, you can be honest with us."
Marian nodded eagerly, "Sure Emma, I think you should be honest with us. We are having a date after all," she wriggled her eyebrows, "Which you ruined by the way."
Rolling her eyes, Emma gave in. "I might… feel slightly rejected," she said. That was as good as they were going to get it from her.
"Don't give up on her," Marian quickly said next, and Emma swore that there was a brief look of panic in her eyes. "Regina likes you, Emma, I know she does, and more importantly you feel the same! It'd just be stupid not to give it a bit more time. It was one kiss, perhaps she just needed some time to think things over."
Emma bit her lip. "Look, I'm not gonna go beg on my knees for someone who ran out on me like that," she said to Marian, well aware that this was her friend she was talking about and that it might very well get back to Regina if she said the wrong thing; not that she didn't trust Marian's concerns, because she was pretty sure that they were true. "Like I said, there's Henry in the picture and for some reason he's already way too fucking attached to Regina."
Marian licked her lip and reached out her hand. "Give me your phone," she demanded as she snapped her fingers. When Emma just stared at her, she continued, "Just give it to me!"
With a groan, Emma pulled out her cell phone from her pocket. She unlocked it before handing it over to Marian, who typed in something – her fingers moving swiftly over the touch screen – before handing it back to Emma with a smile.
"There," she said, "now you have Regina's number, and you should text her."
Emma glared at her. "Or she should text me."
Mulan sighed heavily. "You're both stubborn mules," she brushed a piece of her long, straight hair behind her ear and turned to Emma with an encouraging smile. "I get it, you want to protect Henry, so he doesn't get attached to someone. It makes sense, but Emma," she padded her arm, warm fingers brushing over Emma's elbow, "what if this could turn out to be exactly the kind of family you've always wanted for Henry? Didn't you say he seemed to really like Regina?"
"And the feeling's very mutual," Marian added, nodding her head eagerly. "As well with you. I swear Emma, if Regina ran, that means she likes you. Otherwise she would have spent the night with you and ditched you after," she offered a soft smile, "She's just not that comfortable with emotions."
Emma huffed, "That's me and her both."
Dropping her hand to the table, Mulan added, "Just think about it."
Emma reached for her cup of cocoa and excused herself to the other two woman, intending to go check on the kids in the back. She could hear Henry's excited squeals, and some giggles that could onto erupt from Roland, and she sipped her cocoa as she passed Granny to find the kids. Perhaps Marian and Mulan were right, perhaps she just needed to reach out to Regina again. At least to talk about what had transpired on Thursday. She couldn't keep dodging Henry's questions and requests to spend time with Regina, and if Emma was being totally honest – and decided to see past herself and her hurt pride – she didn't want to let go of Regina so easily. The other woman still intrigued her, and she could still taste her on her lips, feel her grazing touches.
She stared at the number in her phone, which Marian had saved simply under Regina, and mentally began composing a text she could send to the older woman. Just, if, perhaps maybe, she actually wanted to. She still had to decide that, but at least if she did want to, she'd have an idea of what to text her. Just then, her phone started ringing, and with a groan, Emma realised that it was her boss' name flashing across the screen – oh God, he probably wanted her to work tonight or perhaps tomorrow. It was probably a lead on her current bail case.
"Henry, Roland," she said, catching the attention of the two boys, "go inside. Your cocoa is getting cold," she added to Henry, when her son opened his mouth to object to her.
Roland obeyed immediately and brushed pass her, Henry running after as Toto found its place in the corner on a pillow, where it always spent the days when neither Ruby nor Dorothy was home. Emma discarded her cup of cocoa on the nearest counter and swiped her phone to answer her boss.
"Hey, Emma speaking."
"Emma," her boss greeted her with a happy sigh, "I've got some intel for you…"
—
Hey Regina. It's Emma. Emma Swan. I got your number from Marian, I hope that's okay. I just wanted to say that I've been thinking a lot about you after last Thursday. If you want to meet up and grab a coffee and maybe talk about it, that would be cool. Or whatever. It's up to you really. Now you've got my number, use it if you want.
—
Hesitantly, Emma stared down at the phone in her hand, eyes trained on the words she had written there – sent to Regina hours ago, last night, after she'd tucked Henry into bed and retired to her couch with a bottle of beer and a trashy tv-show.
Regina hadn't answered yet, and Emma was starting to regret putting herself out there. At least she'd tried, and that was something. Then it was all up to Regina; Emma had voiced her thoughts, given her two cents, and then the other woman had to choose what she wanted to do with that information. Or in this case, Emma's number.
"Ma," Henry whispered, tucking himself into her side and wrapping his short arms around her middle and burying his head in her armpit.
Emma pressed a kiss to his forehead, "What's up, Kid?"
Henry lifted his chin, his eyes landing on her phone which was still open on the message that she'd sent Regina. "Who you texting?" He yawned slightly, squinting his eyes as his bangs fell into them; they really needed to get them cut soon. Perhaps they could both use a trip to the hair dresser.
Her eyes were still trained on the name on top of the screen. "It's uh…" she swallowed, pausing, "I was just writing to Regina actually," she honestly told him. Her heart was beating fast inside her chest, and she savoured his warmth as he cuddled against her. Soon she'd have to get his bags ready, get him dressed and driven to David and Mary Margaret's. Oh, she wished she'd just be able to spend another evening with him curled up the couch with Disney movies and popcorn.
Tilting his head back, Henry's green eyes met hers. "Oh yeah? And is she writing you back?"
Emma cleared her throat and tilted her head too, her eyes meeting his as she swept his hair back. "No Kiddo, she's not," she replied. She didn't want to get into just how much that worried her, because Henry didn't need to know that. He didn't need to worry about that.
"That's stupid," he said to her, as a matter of fact. "Tell her, I want to see her."
Breathing out a chuckle, Emma discarded her phone next to her on the couch. "Yeah okay," she said, and she pushed him gently off the couch, giving him a pad on the butt, "Now, go and pack your toys for tonight, we gotta get moving soon, alright?"
Henry trotted towards his room, "M'kay!"
Tumbling back into the soft cushion of the couch with a sigh, Emma's eyes strayed towards her cell on their own accord, involuntarily landing back on thoughts of Regina as well as Henry's words and his childish way of problem solving something Emma had been gruelling over since last night. Perhaps there was something about that though.
With a sigh, she pulled herself off the couch and went to go make sure that Henry also packed his toothbrush and his pyjamas.
—
Oh. And Henry wants to see you. He said to tell you that.
I am a bit on the fence about this chapter, but I hope you like it anyway! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing the last chapter.
