When Emma and Henry returned from the diner, Regina was in the middle of frantically placing through the living room. She stopped and glanced up when the two entered through the front door.
Her face was one of severe anguish: eyes reddened and lips pressed together tightly. In her frozen position, she flicked her eyes between the boy and woman gauging their reactions to see how the walk went. After a couple of seconds of the stare off, Regina realized she wasn't finding anything out just by reading their faces and resumed her pacing.
"Why don't you get changed Henry. Give us 10 minutes? Emma called behind her to Henry, though her eyes remained trained on Regina. She didn't turn around to see if he had listened, but received her confirmation when she heard the sound of his feet thudding up the stairs.
Emma approached Regina and put both of her hands on the sides of her arms, rubbing them up and down to effectively soothe her.
"Don't worry. Everything's okay," Emma grinned, "the kid just wants to make sure I'm worthy of your attention, your Majesty."
The darkness that had been previously settled on Regina's face cracked as a ray of light in the form of a small smile escaped.
Henry pulled up a chair from the dining room table and plopped it in the middle of the living room. He sat on it, leaning his elbows on his knees and staring at the two women in front of him.
In the time it took him to get the chair, he had run to the bathroom and slicked his hair back with water. He had been trying to go for a mobster look but only ended up looking like a prim and proper gentlemen with high quality hair products.
Emma and Regina sat across from him on the couch. Henry had insisted they sit apart, separated by a couch cushion. He was taking this whole interrogation thing very seriously.
Regina fidgeted, but Emma just lounged casually on the couch, ready for anything her son could throw at her. How bad could it be?
"This conversation will take place while speaking and signing" Henry began while unfolding his hands to make good on his promise.
"And you're how old again?" Emma asked but Regina just smacked her arm to shut up.
"Anyway, let's begin." Henry clapped his hands together and turned toward the blonde as a mischievous smile grew on his face. "Emma Swan. That is your real name, correct?"
Emma rolled her eyes at Henry. "If you want lunch kid, I'd speed this up."
"Is your name Emma Swan?" Henry asked again, slightly louder this time and completely in character. Emma just responded by giving him a pointed look. She never should have let him watch those cop shows.
"ARE YOU EMMA SWAN?!" He screamed while slapping his hands down on the coffee table, straightening his arms and leaning forward.
"Yes I'm Emma Swan." Emma sighed while Regina, who had relaxed slightly at the ridiculousness of what was occurring in front of her, chuckled. Henry glanced over at his brunette mother, pleased that he had made his mother laugh instead of cry for once.
"What's your favorite color?"
"What does this have to do with your Mom?"
"I'm judging your character!"
"What? That doesn't-fine. It's green."
'Just like your eyes," Regina interjected, causing Emma to break out into a toothy grin.
God they're so in love its nauseating, Henry thought, not without good humor though. He mulled over other questions he could ask Emma. Instead of choosing one or two good ones, he decided to just fire them all off and see if the woman would crack under the pressure.
"Favorite flavor milkshake?"
"Chocolate"
"Do you have a middle name?"
"Nope."
"Can we give you one?"
"Nope."
"Ugh, fine. Favorite season?"
"Fall."
"Favorite sports team?"
"Red Sox."
"Favorite food?"
"Mm..probably hamburgers." Regina shot a disapproving look to Emma who just shrugged.
"Hamburgers are delicious," Henry responded with a smile on his face.
"Yeah the ones at Granny's are really-" Henry interrupted Emma by slapping his hands on the table. I need to stop doing that, it's starting to hurt.
"Hamburgers are bad for you! Do you want my mother to mourn your death?"
"Um, no?"
"Really good choice on the burgers Emma. That totally earned you points," Regina sat puzzled while she stared at her son who was flipping between being harshly opposed to burgers to being their greatest cheerleader within seconds. She had no idea what was going on, but Emma did.
"Henry, you can't play good cop and bad cop with one person. It just makes you look crazy."
"Oh. Forget I said all that, burgers are good. Moving on! Favorite physical feature about my Mom."
"Her-"
"Make it appropriate!" Henry remembered to include. He had boundaries after all.
"Her eyes."
"Okay good. Do you have any nicknames?"
"Em? Does that count?"
"No. Anything like Killer or Two Dutch Dealer or Cash Money?"
"Henry, I'm not in the mob..."
"Just checking! "
"Dog or cat?" He asked suddenly, as if it were the most important and deciding question thus far.
"Dog, one hundred percent."
"Cool! Mom can we get a dog when Emma moves in?" Both Regina and Emma turned a light shade of pink at the presumptuousness of the boy.
'We'll see.' She signed in response to two pairs of waiting eyes.
"But please Mom," Emma whined as she signed, jokingly imitating Henry.
'Henry, turn around for a second' Regina requested, twirling her finger when he rolled his eyes. Once his back was to the two women, Regina began signing to Emma.
'Now, darling, you might not want to gang up against me with Henry at this point'
'Why not?'
'I'm not sure if you remember exactly what we were doing in my bedroom before my kitchen almost caught on fire, but I seem to recall you enjoying yourself quite a bit and I would hate for that to stop…' Regina finished with a positively devilish glint in her eye.
'See the thing is I don't think you'd be able to resist me, especially once I get to that spot below your hip you love so much," Emma smirked and raised her eyebrows at the challenge.
They stared at each other, willing the other one to back down first, but they knew that in reality they would be lucky to make it through this meeting with Henry before jumping each other. The embers that had been glowing subtly since they first met were now the source of a raging fire within them, and there was no water in sight to put it out.
'We've only been together one day and your already challenging me?' Regina cocked her head and moistened her lips. The tension between the two was becoming almost unbearable.
'Well, babe, that seems to be how we do things." Regina bit her lip, loving that this woman hadn't changed a bit in all the time she'd known her. Still pushing her buttons. Still driving her crazy.
"Are you guys done yet?" Henry whined and Emma passed the message on to Regina through hand motions.
"Just one second…" Emma leaned in so quickly she caught Regina by surprise, pecked her lips once, and then another time for good measure, "Okay you're good to turn around Henry"
He whipped back around in an attempt to catch the woman in the middle of an act that he could tease them about, but they sat on their designated cushions. He did notice that Regina had a suspicious flush on her cheeks and neck, but he shrugged and continued with the questioning.
"So back to you Emma."
"Uh huh."
What are your intentions with my mother?"
"Uh…to date her?" Emma replied as Regina reached her hand and grabbed Emma's, lacing their fingers together. Henry jabbed a finger at the now interlocking hands.
"No touching yet. I haven't decided if this is safe for you, Mom," Henry pleaded to Regina, his over protective nature, however joking it may be, warmed her heart.
"And why should you date my Mom?" He turned back to the blonde. Emma thought for a minute.
"Because she's perfect." What else could she say besides the truth?
Regina couldn't help herself, she wiggled towards Emma and grabbed her hand to hold.
"Fine. I guess you can hold hands since that was pretty good Emma." Henry leaned forward and held out his hand, palm up under the table. Emma met him in the middle and slapped his hand in a secretive high five.
"Thanks kid."
"If you were on a desert island and could only bring two things what would they be?"
"Is this related to the interrogation?"
"…...yes"
"Then I would bring you and your Mom."
"You would curse us to eternity on a desert island with you?!'
"Uh...yes?"
"I can't decide if that was a good answer or not," Henry admitted. Emma just shrugged.
"And how long do you plan on staying with my Mom?"
Emma raised her hand to her neck and began to blush. "Uh, Henry, we just kissed for the first time last night. I don't want to make it awkward."
"You've kissed?!"
"Oh god I thought you knew. Sorry for the visua-"
"I'm kidding. Emma remember when I saw you this morning?" Henry slapped his head and laughed. The interrogation was suddenly falling apart now that the supposedly intimidating interrogator was losing his seriousness.
"My Mom likes flowers, can you handle that?"
"I'll get your mother flowers any day or night she wants. Or even when she doesn't know she wants them."
"And her being deaf doesn't bother you?" Henry asked just as soon as his previous question was answered, looking intensely at Emma. Regina held up her hands.
'Henry…' She spelled with a cautioning look, warning him to stop where he was, but Henry burst out anyway.
"No, Mom, it's important!" He yelled before staring back at Emma, waiting for an answer.
People could say a lot of things about how Henry acted to his mother, that he was mean, ungrateful, rude, but he had always been her greatest protector when it came to those that were unsettled by the fact she was deaf.
"Its okay, Regina." Emma placed a reassuring hand on the brunette's shoulder, and turned back to Henry. "Being deaf isn't something that should even have to be asked 'if it's okay'. I understand why do because I've met some real idiots in this town, but to me it's just something about Regina. Something like how she has brown hair, it's just a part of her. That's all there is to it."
Regina's eyes started to mist unexpectedly. She had never been a crier, but in the past couple days the blonde had evoked so many emotions within her that she had no idea what she would qualify herself as now.
"Good." Henry nodded, satisfied at the response, "Now onto you: Regina Mills." Regina sat straight to attention when she saw her name pass over Henry's lips.
"What do you think about this woman here?"
"Aw come on, you're not going to ask her if she's really Regina Mills?" Emma whined, but Regina's just shushed the blonde woman by puling her in for a kiss. Henry groaned in pain but his smile told otherwise.
"What do you think about her?" Henry motioned toward Emma and Regina read his hand motions, smirking a little.
'She's okay…' Regina signed, laughing when Emma's mouth dropped open.
"This is serious Regina! He's not going to give me approval!" Regina pulled Emma into another kiss to calm the woman and winked at Henry slyly.
"Not looking good for you Emma…"
"And here I was doing so well…" Emma replied sarcastically, before Regina started to move her hands again.
'She makes me a better person' Regina began, gathering Emma and Henry's attention.
'She sees me for who I am. She takes all of the things everyone else sees, all the things that I don't want to be and just,' Regina paused, trying to figure out how to verbalize all she felt, 'all those things I hate that I do to you Henry, to everyone. She strips it all away, making me a better person. But also allowing me to just be me.'
Emma gazed at the strong woman next to her, a proud smile crossing her tightly pressed lips. 'And who I want to be' Regina finished and rested her hands on her lap. They were all silent and Regina began to get nervous she had said too much.
"Wow," Henry said as he looked between the two women, resting his eyes on Emma, "I think you passed."