A/N: Sorry it has taken me awhile to get this chapter out, I got caught in writing a oneshot and then my best friend, whom I haven't seen in a year because she moved to Holland with her girlfriend, came to Denmark for a few days, so a lot of those were spent drinking too much wine and hanging out. I'm back writing though, wee!


CHAPTER NINE – FEELS LIKE HOME

Regina sat up in the couch when she heard the key turn in the lock in the hallway. She'd been half-asleep, tired after having been up with Alba once and fallen asleep with Henry's boring book on top of her, and now she glanced briefly at the clock on the wall – thinking that it had to be at least three o'clock – but was surprised to see that it was barely one.

Was Emma coming home already?

She heard the tell tale sound of Emma's heels clicking down the hallway, and she rubbed her eyes as the book fell to the floor besides her with a thump. Emma's head poked around the corner, green eyes settling onto Regina immediately, a goofy smile plastered across her shimmery lips.

"Hi," the blonde softly said, and she leaned herself against the wall as she used it for support to slip out of her heels.

"You're home early," Regina commented, arms coming up to rest on the back of the couch as her tired eyes once more took in the sight of Emma in her black dress. She had not gotten less beautiful since she left earlier in the evening, she looked a bit more spent, but there was something cute about the curls slightly dishevelled and her bare feet on the wooden floors.

Emma disposed of her jacket and bag on the kitchen table and came to Regina's side, falling into the couch with a happy sigh. "I missed home," she replied, her fingers landing on the couch, stuck in the middle, between their two bodies as Regina twisted herself to face Emma.

She drew her legs underneath her body and said, "Well, it's not easy to leave your kid for the first time. I think you managed well considering."

"That's not even it," Emma breathlessly answered, and her green eyes trailed over Regina as she sat there next to her. "You look good in my clothes," was her next comment, and Regina realised at once that Emma was tipsy. There was a flush in her usually pale cheeks and her breath smelled of gin and something sweet.

Regina tugged at the t-shirt, "Alba spit up on mine."

Emma sighed, "I don't mind."

A silence erupted between them at that, comfortable but weird, and Regina wasn't sure if she was supposed to gather herself and head back home to her apartment, but something held her there; made her want to linger just a little while longer to see what was going to happen if she did.

"You're really sweet," Emma said next, suddenly, the words hitting the space between them with brute force as brown eyes snapped up to find clouded green ones. Regina's breath hitched in her throat, something warm settling like a blanket around her heart, "I think you're like the sweetest, most beautiful woman I have ever met," Emma continued, and her eyes were shimmering with want and honesty and too much alcohol.

Regina bit her lip. God, she had wanted to hear those words cross Emma's lips so many times, and it did wonderful things to her heart, like make it warm and fussy and feel too tight inside of her chest. "I think you're really great too, Emma," she managed to whisper, and was it just her, or was Emma tilting just a little bit closer?

Pale fingers trailed over the grey cushion of the couch. "Where did you come from," she mused, "how did you end up in my apartment? It feels like," she stopped, fingers on Regina's knee, sending waves of longing and absolute want through the brunette's body, "it feels like I know you from somewhere, but I don't know you, because I would've remembered, I would've." She furrowed her brow, eyes trailing over Regina's body unabashedly, "But you're in here all the time," she flicked a finger to her temple with a stiff smile, "and I think," she added, an even more conflicted look on her face as her hand came to rest on top of her chest, "in here too."

Oh goodness, how was this fair? Her Emma, her sweet and wonderful Emma who hadn't had a drink in months and was tipsy and cute, and absolutely beautiful, and Regina was supposed to be able to tell her no? She knew she couldn't do anything with Emma, not in this state, not even kiss her, because that would feel all kinds of wrong. She wanted to, desperately, but it was never going to be fair to the other woman, who said things that made Regina realise that no matter how much Emma fell in love with her here, now, it was never going to be fair to her. Regina herself had so many memories, so much information, and if Emma ever woke up – and gosh, Regina wished desperately that she would – she was going to feel violated and lied to and absolutely horrible. And Regina couldn't do that to her.

"You're in here, too," Regina whispered as she reached for Emma's hand and placed it on top of her own chest. "I care about you so much, Emma," she whispered as she locked her gaze to Emma's, "You don't even understand how much."

Emma smiled, tilting slightly forward as her eyes fell closed. "You can show me how much," she suggested with a shy smile, and Regina wanted to, so much, but no. No. She couldn't. Not right now.

Placing a hand on Emma's shoulder even if it nearly killed her, Regina said, "I'd love to, but," she arched her eyebrows, trying not to let Emma's confused and defied face deter her, "you have two kids in this apartment, you're slightly drunk, and… I'd like you to be sure. I don't want to be anything that you'll regret."

That would kill her. If turning down Emma's tipsy self wouldn't kill her, Emma regretting her most certainly would.

The blonde deflated, shoulders sagging and lips turning down. "Why must you be reasonable on top of sweet," she grumbled, and Regina couldn't help but let out a throaty chuckle, because at least Emma wasn't mad at her.

"I'm glad you see it that way," Regina replied softly. Reaching an arm out, she urged Emma closer, "Come here for a second."

Emma's smile could have outshone even the cutest of Alba's baby-smiles, and the other woman slipped closer on the couch and snuggled into Regina's side, nestling her head in her armpit and draping a tired arm across her stomach. She sighed happily. "I'm pretty sure we must've known each other in another life or some shit," Emma breathed as she tried to stifle a yawn, "it just feels so good with you. Like natural and nice and damn you're so good with my kids. Do you know what that does to a mother's heart?"

Smiling down at Emma – whose eyes were so open and honest as she looked up at her – Regina wanted nothing more than to tell her everything. Absolutely everything. But she knew Emma – oh god, did she know Emma – and she remembered clearly the first time around; how much Emma's damaged heart and faith had kept her from believing; what it had taken for her to finally see the truth right in front of her eyes. And she knew that if she did tell her everything, Emma would push her away and reject her, because she was not a ten-year-old kid with a book full of stories. She also knew, more than anything, just how much a mother's heart could take when it regarded her children, and just how another person could worm their way in there as long as they loved her kid more than life itself. She didn't say any of that though, she simply said, "I know."

"You could be Alba's mother, too," Emma murmured into her chest, and Regina felt her heart skip a beat, "like, in a year or so, you could be. She'd call you mom, and Henry – it's probably, maybe, too late for him for that, but he'd love you like one, and we could just," she ran a finger across the fabric of the t-shirt, absentmindedly drawing a pattern that Regina could not make out, "we could just be happy."

"Perhaps," she whispered, but she tightened her hold around Emma's body all the same. "If you're still so inclined in a year."

Emma stared defiantly up at her, "I will be," she firmly said as she jutted out her jaw. "Alba even looks like you, and hell, I can't even remember half the decisions I made leading up to her, and does that make me a terrible mother? I don't know, but when I was pregnant with her, I remember feeling so lonely, like…" she trailed off once more, eyes returning to her fingers on Regina's stomach, "like I was supposed to be sharing all this stuff with someone else."

With a throat as dry as parchment, Regina managed to say, "You never said."

Continuing, Emma crept even closer somehow; body flung around Regina's like a koala even in the black dress that made it somehow difficult. "It felt right to be pregnant with her, god, I'd never regret that, she's like, the cutest little spider-monkey, but damn if it didn't feel wrong to be there alone…" she trailed off, and all of a sudden it seemed like a light went on inside of her, and she sprang back, green eyes round, "Get this," she added, and she was off the couch before Regina could even question her, retrieving her purse from the kitchen, and Regina barely had time to miss the feel of her body pressed against hers, before Emma was back on the couch and pulling out her cell phone.

"What is it?" she softly questioned, eyes regarding Emma as the blonde scrolled on her phone.

"This!" Emma eagerly said and practically shoved the phone into Regina's face.

Staring down at the screen, Regina wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking at; it was her text messages with Emma, she could tell, small conversations regarding the planning of tonight and the picture that she had sent her of the sleeping Alba. She paused, finger on screen as she stared down at something she did definitely not remember sharing with Emma. "What's this-?" she croaked out, raising her eyes to find huge green ones staring back at her.

"That," Emma said and pointed towards the phone, "that's some kind of fantastic serendipity or some shit. Stuff made of soulmates, Henry would say. See," she pointed towards the picture and Regina's eyes followed her – it was one of the horse mobile and the crib, clearly before Alba was born. "I sent that fucking picture to a number, almost on instinct, while I was pregnant with Alba, eager to share that with… I dunno, somebody, and… all these months after," she ran a tired hand through her hair, "you have this number. What's that mean, Regina, huh?"

Staring down at the picture on the screen once more, Regina didn't know what to say. Emma was breathing heavily next to her, wired from all that excess energy, but Regina could do nothing but stare at the picture and the message beneath it – This number is no longer in service – and then the message beneath that which simply said Regina. So many things hit her at once with this information, and the most prominent feeling of all was the fact that Emma had missed her; Emma had needed her, even if she hadn't known it, and she'd tried to contact her unconsciously.

"Emma," Regina breathed and she looked up at the other woman, only somehow aware of the fact that tears were welling up in her eyes.

"If that doesn't mean something," Emma whispered, eyes so honest and open, "then I don't know what does, Regina, I-" she stopped talking, voice fading into nothing as she realised that Regina was crying, "Hey," she breathed, and her thumb was on Regina's face instantly, stroking away the tears, "don't be upset."

Regina let out a throaty chuckle, all too confused about all of her emotions at the moment. At how sweet Emma was being, and how this message made her feel, and god You could be Alba's mother, too and she wanted that. She wanted Emma to remember everything, so she could gather up the three of them – her family – and take them back to Storybrooke, take them home. And she'd be Alba's mother, she'd be her mother like she was Henry's, love her everyday and protect her forcefully and make sure that she never felt as alone as Emma or she had ever felt. "I'm not upset," she smiled through her tears, raising a hand to tug Emma's away from her face. "I agree with you, it's a… coincidence," the word tasted ugly on her tongue, mostly because she knew it was a huge lie, "but I just got this number, so…"

Emma stared at her, eyes moving swiftly over her features, but she didn't say anything.

"You should probably go to bed," Regina said next and forced out another smile. She needed Emma to go to sleep, to fall into a slumber, so she could think about all of this information and make a plan as to what she was going to do next. She couldn't stand this much longer, she needed them to remember.

Confused, Emma said, "What-?"

"I'll stay here," Regina added as she slipped off the couch and reached for the throw blanket on the chair, "in case Alba wakes up. I'll uh – I'll get her. You should just sleep it off."

Emma watched her, clearly not comfortable with leaving this conversation as it was, but clearly also realising that Regina needed time to herself. She pulled herself off the couch and padded silently towards the door to her bedroom. "Regina?" she breathed, one hand on the doorknob, back still turned to her.

Regina was fussing with the throw blanket and her couch bed. "Yes?"

"I'd never regret you," Emma whispered, still not turning to look at her, "No matter how drunk I was."

Warmth immediately filled Regina's chest, and she turned to find Emma still standing by the door, doorknob twisted down. "Goodnight, Emma," she whispered, brown eyes trailing down the other woman's body in fondness. How she longed to go with her, to curl up next to her and sleep – just sleep – with her by her side. But she couldn't. Someday, hopefully. Not yet.

Emma breathed, "Goodnight, Regina," before she slipped into the bedroom and closed the door.

Emma woke up to the wonderful smell of coffee, bacon and frying dough streaming through her closed door and into the bedroom. She was confused for a second – did Henry make breakfast again? His M.O. was usually eggs – but then she realised that she was inexplicably uncomfortable and looked down at herself to see that she was wearing her little black dress.

Oh right. She'd been out the night before.

And Regina was still in her apartment. That explains the smells.

Emma grinned to herself and rolled over, straining her ears to figure out what was going on in her kitchen, and she was pretty sure she could hear the radio playing softly behind the excited chatter of Henry. Small babbles were to be heard as well, which meant that Alba was up – and oh, she'd slept through the entire night. Regina was seriously amazing.

Fumbling with her zipper as she was still laying down, Emma squirmed to get out of her dress and tried to recall the night before. She hadn't consumed that much alcohol, but it was a while since she'd even had a beer, so she had been pretty tipsy (which reminded her that she needed to pump again). What had happened when she got home? She's pretty sure she'd talked with Regina on the couch, but the memories were honestly a little fussy right now.

She rolled over on the bed and checked the time. 10:42am. Damn, she'd slept in. She grinned into her pillow. Regina was just… so freaking incredible. She somehow remembered talking to Lily about Regina last night and coming to this conclusion also, which had prompted her to leave early. She sighed at the bubbling feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was an entirely strange feeling, but she was crushing so hard on Regina, and she wasn't quite sure what to do about that. She didn't crush anymore, not since before Henry, yet there she was, truly enamoured by the beauty currently moving around in her kitchen.

Emma rolled out of bed and rummaged around for a pair of fluffy socks and a big sweater. Her hair wasn't too bad, so she just pulled it into a bun and quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Looking at herself in the mirror – and yes, she was wearing nothing but panties underneath that sweater, but that was her usual attire, and Regina would just have to live with that – she decided that she was presentable. She creaked the door open and looked towards the kitchen, sneakily taking a glance at the two people she loved the most in the world along with the third one she was quickly growing way too fond of, too.

Henry had his nose buried in his notebook as he shovelled pancakes into his mouth – so that was the fried dough smell – and Regina was nipping at a cup of coffee while she bounced Alba on her knee and juggled a spoonful of stewed apples.

"Come on, Alba," she murmured, pressing her nose into the baby's dark hair, "your Ma will be so happy if you're fed when she wakes up, hm?"

"Bah, bah!" Alba replied, brown eyes round as she opened her mouth to accept another spoonful.

Emma entered the room at that, way too happy with the scene in front of her. She almost didn't want to interrupt it, but at the same time she wanted to be a part of it. "I'm pretty sure she's very pleased," she joked, and two heads turned to look at her as she padded across the floor.

"Ma," Henry greeted and she bent down to press a kiss to his head.

Regina's eyes trailed up Emma's bare legs – score, Emma thought – as she said, "Good morning, Emma." There was a fond smile on her face, and her brown eyes shone happily as she looked back down at Alba, "Say good morning to your Ma, baby."

Alba grabbed a lock of her hair, "Maaah!"

Emma took a seat by the table at that, tucking her legs beneath herself on the chair and reaching forward to kiss Alba's cheek. "Is this decaf?" she asked as she pointed to the cup in front of the spare plate – undoubtedly set out just to be ready for her – where there was a spoonful of black powder at the bottom.

"Yes," Regina replied, while she guided another scoop of food into Alba's mouth.

"You're amazing," Emma replied as she poured water from the kettle into the cup. She stirred the spoon around and sighed happily. This was… so comforting. Domestic almost. Emma liked it. "How are you still here? You're like an angel or something. Did you spend all night on the couch?"

Regina offered her a shy smile, lips barely tugging upwards to form it. "Yes," she said, and her brown eyes ran over Emma's face, searching it almost involuntarily. "After you came home and we had quite the talk, I decided that perhaps there was still a need for a babysitter."

Emma glared at her playfully and reached forward to fork up some pancakes and bacon. She was hungry, famished, after all that alcohol last night. "Well, you could've helped me out of my dress. I'm pretty sure I'll have indentations on my back for weeks from the zipper."

A soft gasp escaped Regina's mouth at that, and for a second Emma was confused because what she'd said was plainly normal, but then she recalled what had happened last night – Emma almost confessing her stupid, silly crush on the other woman, and Regina reciprocating? Really? – and then her suggestion wasn't so plainly normal and innocent after all. Regina's cheeks were flushing slightly. "You didn't ask," Regina softly replied, almost apologetic.

"Drunk," was Emma's retort as she smirked and scooped a giant forkful of pancakes into her mouth. She held Regina's eyes for a second longer, before she turned to look at Henry, who'd been blatantly ignoring their conversation in favour or scribbling in his notebook. "Hey, what are you writing, Kid?"

Henry looked up, a faint moustache of hot chocolate marring his upper lip, which reminded Emma that he was still mostly a child. Good. "Regina was telling me about the town that she was mayor of. Storybrooke," he explained, looking to Regina for validation.

"Storybrooke," Emma tasted the word on her tongue. It sounded like something out of a fairytale.

Nodding eagerly, Henry continued, "Yeah! And so I couldn't help but think that if my fairytale characters ever came to our land… they'd live in a town called Storybrooke." He glanced at Regina again, who was positively beaming at him. "So that's what I'm writing now," he finished, before stuffing his nose back into the notebook.

Emma nibbled on a piece of bacon, the salty goodness great for the thrumming in the back of her head. "So I could get used to this," she joked, eyes settling back on Regina and Alba across from her (and fuck, they really did resemble each other quit a lot. Those eyes), "Do you perhaps wanna be a live-in nanny? I can't afford you, but I'll repay you with sarcasm and hugs."

Rolling her eyes, Regina said, "What an offer, you truly know how to woo a woman."

"I should probably change her and pump," Emma sighed, motioning towards Alba who appeared to be done having breakfast.

Regina offered her a strained smile and carried Alba towards the nursery, Emma quickly following after her. Regina settled Alba onto the changing table as Emma carried the pump – still tucked inside her giant purse from yesterday – into the room. She settled into the rocking chair, wanting to get started, because Regina was already getting Alba out of her rompers.

The blonde watched her for a second as she hummed and cooed down at the baby. "Hey," she whispered at that, pump settled and making slight noises against her chest, "are we OK?" She paused, eyebrows furrowed as Regina turned to look at her, "I feel like I tried to hit on you last night?"

"You did," Regina softly replied, eyes turning back to Alba.

Emma continued, "I have a feeling that I should apologise. I can get very affectionate when alcohol is involved…" she trailed off, wishing desperately that she could know what was going on inside Regina's head at the moment; her shoulders had stiffened and her motions when cleaning Alba were almost robotic.

Regina sighed as she lifted Alba's butt to slide in a new diaper. "Your actions," she replied, still not looking anywhere but at Alba as she did up the diaper, "were sweet and not unwelcome. Although the timing might be a little lacking."

She sighed heavily in relief – she hadn't meant for it to be that loud, but it was kind of involuntary, and Regina turned to look at her with an amused sparkle in her eye. Emma groaned. "Yeah, I'm glad to hear you say that, so what?" She paused as she tried to convey to Regina that she wasn't just fucking around. "I kinda think you're really awesome, so."

"So?" Regina tried, arching an eyebrow.

"So I still want to kiss you," Emma replied, trying to ignore the sound of the pump and the fact that she was even pumping while she was having this conversation with the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. "Even sober," she added, for good measure.

Regina hummed in response. "Hm," she said, as she turned around to lift Alba off the changing table; done and ready for the day. "I'll go put her in the playpen and say goodbye to Henry. I need to get back home," she explained, brown eyes affectionately settling on Emma's face. "I'll call you later, OK?"

Emma nodded and bit her tongue, not wanting to say something stupid like why don't you stay for a bit or perhaps you can just hang out with us all day or anything else entirely. Instead she finished pumping, getting ready to dump everything into the sink, as she heard Regina disappear from the apartment with a goodbye to Henry. Not only did she physically leave them, but she left a sort of hole behind as well, something that Emma was starting to realise was distinctly Regina-shaped.

—-

Henry spent the day texting Troy and writing about Regina, the Evil Queen, and he thought a lot about Regina's advice from the day before. He hadn't really planned on talking to her about it, but he also knew that he'd never be able to talk to Ma about it, because ew, that was just weird and Lily was great and all, but she would probably end up teasing him more than giving him usable advice. He still wasn't sure he was ever going to tell Troy about how he felt, because it kind of seemed like Troy might have a crush on Aisha, so Henry wasn't really sure he wanted to get into it.

But he felt better after what Regina said, because he knew now that even if he couldn't be with Troy, someone else would want to be with him eventually. Perhaps that's why Ma didn't just decide to be with Lily, even if Lily was right there and wanted to be with her; maybe Ma was just waiting for someone else instead.

Someone like Regina maybe.

Which was kind of why he decided to talk to Regina in the first place, because he could kind of tell that she was crushing really big on his Ma. Grown-ups never thought he knew these things, they always thought that they could hide it, but he knew. He could tell. Regina was crushing on his Ma, and his Ma was crushing back, even if she was being stupid and slow about it. But Regina knew what she was talking about, right? Liking his Ma and stuff, so that was why he'd decided to just talk to her.

He really wouldn't mind if Regina started dating Ma. It'd be like a real family maybe. And Henry was pretty sure that Ma would be happier than ever if Regina became a part of their family.

It was kind of weird what had happened with that song yesterday though, because Ma wasn't really a singer at all, but Henry remembered a beautiful singing from when he was a kid. Almost like Regina's. But that was impossible, right? It was probably just someone from that home they stayed at.

He enjoyed writing about Storybrooke though. He wrote about a clock tower where the clock didn't move and about a place called Granny's that made the best grilled cheeses. He even wrote about the town psychiatrist (who was really Jiminy Cricket) and who had a Dalmatian named Pongo. In his story, the psychiatrist was trying to help Regina be better and not so evil anymore. It was going kind of okay, he thought.

Henry ventured into the kitchen in the afternoon, wanting to get some snacks to keep him sated until dinner. Alba was napping in a nest on the couch – tugged safely from falling down by lots of pillows and blankets like his Ma always did – and Ma was sitting on the floor next to the couch with her legs crossed and her computer balancing on top of them. He peeked over her shoulder, curious.

"What ya' up to?"

Ma practically jumped right into the air, "Fuck Kid, wear a bell or some shit," she said, and she'd changed her contacts to her glasses which she usually did when she was tired.

Henry's eyes scanned over the page she was reading. It was the google search result for… wait. Storybrooke? "Are you trying to find out about Regina's hometown?" Henry cheekily grinned, and he couldn't help but be pleased with that. If Ma was reading about Regina's hometown, it meant she was curious about her, too.

Ma's eyes returned to the screen, lips downturned in a displeased way. "Yeah, I was…" she slammed the lid down, closing the computer with a huff. "But nothing comes up. I can't find anything about a town named Storybrooke and a mayor named Regina Mills." She turned to him again, and he saw how her eyes were narrowed, "It's weird, Kid, with my skill, I should've been able to find a fuck-load of stuff, ya know?"

Slipping onto the floor next to her, Henry nodded. He knew that his mother was good at finding people and researching; that was kind of how she'd made a living for them, how she could afford this nice apartment that wasn't the least bit cheap in a city like New York. "Yeah but… maybe it's just a really small town, Ma? Regina said it was."

She nodded, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth for a few seconds as Alba made a sound behind them. "Yeah, perhaps…"

"You don't look convinced," Henry replied. He didn't want his Ma to be suspicious about Regina, because she was a good one. Not shady, or stupid, or someone out to hurt them. And he liked Regina. So much.

Ma forced a small smile. "No, I believe her," she said, and Henry could tell that she did, because he could always tell with her, "My superpower's only pinged once with her, and that had nothing to do with this," she assured him.

Henry stuck his tongue out at her. "Your superpower," he teased. He'd stopped believing in her superpower a year ago, and that wasn't going to change no matter how much she tried to get him to still trust it. He wasn't eight anymore.

"Shut up," Ma retorted and ruffled his hair. "No, whatever it is, Regina's telling the truth. She's from Storybrooke. I just… I don't know why I can't find anything about it."

Bobbing his head, Henry leaned himself against Ma's shoulder, wanting to stay with her for just a little while longer. Troy and the Evil Queen could wait. Right now, it was just him and Ma because Alba was sleeping. "Regina's really great, don't you think," he murmured into her arm, snuggling a bit closer, which he would never, ever want his friends to know.

Ma wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him further against her body. "I think so, Kid, yeah," she confirmed, and Henry could tell she was smiling.

"She kind of fits with our family, don't you think?" Henry continued to prod, determined to figure out if his Ma was being deliberately obtuse or if she knew about the feelings she was clearly harbouring. "I mean… It's like, better when she's here. And you know what?"

"What," Ma teased, eyes shining happily.

"I haven't had a weird dream in a really long time. Ever since she came here," he revealed. He'd thought about it, but he hadn't really done the math, not before this morning when he realised that his weird, abstract dreams about weird places and people he'd never met had stopped the second he'd met Regina. Perhaps it meant that she was really supposed to fill out this space that was previously unoccupied. At least Henry thought that it meant that.

Ma seemed to think about it for a second or two, like she was also trying to rake her brain to see if the math fitted. Her green eyes met his. "Me neither," she breathed, eyes shining.

Henry chuckled. "You know…" he begun, and Ma was listening carefully, observant and on him with rapt attention. "I wouldn't be mad if you wanted to date Regina," he softly suggested, not wanting to push Ma too far, because that would probably have the opposite of the desired effect.

"Oh really? You wouldn't?" Ma retorted, but she didn't look mad. She looked pleased, and Henry was glad that he had said it.

"No."

Ma sighed heavily and tugged him closer, squeezing him to her for a sideways hug. "Kid, I don't think I'd mind either, but…" pressed a kiss to his forehead, "I've got you two kids to think about, and I know you like Regina, but I can't just jump into things. She has to want it and be sure, and so do I."

Henry thought that it was kind of silly and really stupid and grown-up to think of things that way, but he guessed he also kind of understood it a little bit. At least after his talk with Regina last night, he felt a little more secure about love and what it meant to be a grown-up. He nodded his head, "Yeah, I guess."

Pressing another kiss to his hair, Ma said, "So! Do you wanna got to the park before dinner? I think we could all use some fresh air."


A/N: If all goes according to plan, next chapter will take a leap forwards. Let me know what you think!