Long after their afternoon together, after Henry returned home from school and they ate dinner together, Emma went off for a drive in her Bug around town. It wasn't as if she didn't want to spend time with Regina and Henry, and with her spending so much time with Regina in the last couple of days, she wanted to give the two of them some time alone. She also needed some time to think and being around Regina made that next to impossible.
Sex with Regina had been phenomenal and the experience had been something she had experienced with no one else quite in that way. Had they not been under the pressure of time and the risk of being caught, Emma had no doubt they would still be in Regina's bed, exhausting each other to no end, over and over again. After Regina's fifth and her third orgasm, she'd lost count and nearly had fallen asleep and she would've if Henry hadn't come home and slammed the front door loud enough to rattle them both back to reality.
Somehow she ended up down at harbor, at the very same park she had found Henry the day after she brought him home and he skipped school. She parked at the end of the road and moved to sit on the hood of her Bug, watching the slight waves on the water and the few fishing boats that pulled in to dock for the night nearby.
The way of life, just the pace of it in Storybrooke was far different than anything she had even known before. It felt calm in that town and she knew it was for multiple reasons, many of which she wanted to stick around and find out just what those reasons were. Yet she was plagued with the thought of things moving far too quickly, not just with Regina, but as a whole. What would she possibly do in a town as small as Storybrooke, Maine? She had always been a big city girl, even when she was young and bouncing from foster family to foster family, orphanage to group home and then eventually out on to the streets. How could someone like her make a life in a town like Storybrooke?
Running a shaky hand through her hair as the wind picked up, Emma wasn't sure what the hell she was going to do when Sunday came around. She had told Regina she was leaving then and that was her plan, leave on Sunday and return to Boston and her life there, her lonely life where all she did was take one job after the other to pay the bills and add to the nice nearly six figure lump sum in her savings account. She had no family, barely any friends that were worth even saying goodbye to if she ever left Boston, so in reality she knew she had nothing back there waiting for her, nothing but a job she was actually good at doing.
She scoffed as her cell began to ring and after letting it ring half a dozen times she finally pulled it out of her jacket pocket, rolling her eyes when she saw the caller I.D. before she swiped to the right to answer the call.
"Hey, Judy," she said with a soft sigh. "Checking in or is this about a job?"
"Mo lined up something big," Judy replied. "Something you won't want to turn down. It's big and it's easy, well," she paused to laugh, wheezing as the years of smoking caused her to laugh. "It is easy for you I should say."
"Another deadbeat, cheating husband skipping on custody payments? Let me guess, missed his second or third court hearing and now there's a warrant out for his arrest?"
"Close. High profile case, cheating husband, felony assault charges and he skipped bail."
"What's Mo offering me?"
"Double. Plus he'll cover your expenses."
Emma groaned and chewed her bottom lip. "How high is the risk?"
"Non-violent. Like's his women blonde and easy," Judy replied, her tone all business. "Six previous attempts at apprehending this man have been nothing short of failure. Mo is confident you'll be the one that'll get the job done," she said, her tone softening just a little. "Mo set up a contact date."
"When?"
"Sunday, three in the afternoon."
"Backstory?"
"You're his blind date. Mo has played this one as very vague, but he's taken the bait."
Emma rubbed over the back of her neck before switching her phone to the other ear. "Sunday at three? Where?"
"Mo set it up at the usual place. Are you in?"
Emma sighed as she stared out over the water. A case like that could bring her in some serious cash and if it were as easy as Judy played it off to be with such vague information, it'd be just another walk in the park, just another job. In and out in less than two hours if she was lucky.
"Whatever happened to all those weeks of owed vacation time?" Emma asked and Judy just laughed raptly. "Void now, isn't it?"
"Emma, this is a high-profile case. This man, he's married to the daughter of one of the richest men in America. You bring him in and you'll be—"
"A legend," Emma finished for her. "That's what you said the last time."
"Ain't no skipping around with this one," Judy insisted. "What do you say, doll? Are you in or are you out?"
Emma ran yet another shaky hand through her hair. Maybe a few days back in Boston and on the job would clear her head and lead her back on the path of rationality. "I'm in," she said and cleared her throat as she slipped off the hood of her Bug. "I'm in. Email me the details and I'll be back in Boston one hour before I need to meet up with this guy."
[X]
Regina spent a quiet evening with Henry, overseeing his homework at the dining room table for the better part of an hour before they retreated to the den to watch some TV together before he went to bed. While things weren't as bad as they'd been before that week, Regina could still feel her son's hesitance when he was around her. They had barely spoken, save for whenever she helped him with his math homework and explained certain problems to him so he could better understand how to solve them and now that they were in the den, the TV filled the otherwise silent void that had taken residence between them.
Her mind had continuously strayed back to Emma and the afternoon they shared together, but she was careful not to lose herself in those thoughts completely. It had been nothing short of amazing and even then, hours after, she could still feel the ghosting of Emma's lips and hands all over her body and the sweet release she had felt when she finally reached the apex of her climax. She would've loved to spend more time in bed with her, but as it stood, Henry returned from school on time and ended their afternoon delight with the slamming of the front door.
Dinner had felt relatively domestic, more so than it had the night before. It worried her that Emma felt the same way and that very feeling had caused her need to go for a drive for a little while. She was also worried about appearing to be too clingy as what they had developing between them was still so very new. She didn't want to be that woman, the very same kind she had run from over the last decade. She knew she wasn't that woman, but being around Emma had her re-evaluating just who she herself truly was. Had Emma not come into her life as she did, she knew that it would be a very long time, if ever, before she opened herself up to anyone else.
"Mom?"
"Yes, dear?"
"I asked you if I can have some of those cookies as kind of a reward for finishing my homework?"
"Oh," Regina said with a subtle shake of her head. "Very well, but only three. You know that sweets will upset your tummy and you won't be able to sleep tonight."
"I know," Henry sighed and nearly leapt off the couch and out of the den.
Regina tried to shift her focus back into "mommy mode" as she knew she needed to be in, but it was hard when her mind was filled of nothing but thoughts of Emma Swan. Thoughts of Emma Swan above her, beneath her, fingers filling her whole as they kissed wildly like old lovers reunited after many, many years apart. Thoughts of Emma Swan and lying between her legs, licking her into oblivion until she was practically screaming out her name as her nails dug into her scalp deep.
With a sharp clear of her throat, she turned off the TV and headed for the kitchen to make sure that Henry was only eating the three allowed cookies Emma had bought from Paige for them. Satisfied when she saw Henry seated at the island with two cookies on the counter in front of him while he ate the other, she retrieved a glass from the cupboard and the milk from the refrigerator and poured him a glass.
"How long is Emma staying?"
"She's staying until Sunday, dear."
"And then what?"
Henry's question was a loaded one and it was a question she wasn't quite sure how to answer. She covered her silence by placing the milk jug back into the refrigerator and busied herself with absentmindedly wiping down the counter near the stove. She truly did not know what would happen after Emma left on Sunday and she wasn't so sure she wanted to know herself. Would Emma come back to visit every so often or would whatever had been building between them just fade away and become nothing more than just a memory?
Those were thoughts she wasn't quite ready to be thinking of and she definitely couldn't say anything to Henry about her evolving relationship with his birth mother either. She feared how he would react just knowing that they were more than just friends at that point. He was young enough that he might not understand how they went from being friends to something more in just a matter of days. It wasn't as if she was hiding it from him, she just didn't want him to be aware of what was truly going on between her and Emma just yet.
"Do you think she'll come back and visit?" Henry asked. "Do you think she'll call sometimes too?"
"I do not know, dear. I certainly hope she'll keep in touch."
"You want her to?"
"We're old friends, of course I would want her to keep in touch," Regina replied and she watched as Henry just tilt his head to the side, studying her closely. "I would like for you both to get to know one another as well. She may have given you up for adoption, but if she wants to, I do want her to be a part of your life now, Henry."
"What if she doesn't want to?"
"We'll cross that bridge if we ever get there, okay? Just know that you already have a mother who loves and adores you," Regina said with a smile and she ruffled his hair before placing a soft kiss on his forehead, mildly surprised when he didn't immediately pull back as he had been doing for months. "Are you going to shower before bed or in the morning before school?"
"I'll wait until the morning," Henry replied and he reached for the last cookie and took a bite. "Is Emma coming back tonight or did she go to Granny's?"
"I'm sure she'll be back shortly," Regina replied. "Come on, finish up and go get ready for bed. I'll be upstairs in a little while to tuck you in."
"Mom, I don't need you to tuck me in."
"I know you don't," she smiled as she leaned down to kiss the top of his head. "But I want to. You're growing up so fast, Henry."
"Fine," he sighed and downed the glass of milk quickly before sliding off the stool. "Mom?"
"Yes?"
"I don't want to go see Dr. Hopper anymore."
"Why not, dear?"
"I'm not crazy," he said, the anger in his voice rising. "I'll get rid of that book if that's what you want me to do."
"Henry—"
"Don't all kids have wild imaginations?" He continued and she nodded slowly. "That's all it is, Mom! I don't believe the things I said—the hurtful things that I said. I didn't mean any of them."
"Henry, I—"
"I'm sorry I went looking for my real mom," he said quickly. "I'm sorry! I just—I had to know who she was. I wanted to know who she was…a—and where I came from…"
Regina wrapped her arms around her now crying son, wondering what had brought all of that on. While Henry was never an overly emotional child, when he did show his emotions he never held anything back. Regina had placed him into therapy for a number of reasons and on the premise that she believed Dr. Hopper could help him get over the social anxiety he had developed and help him learn how to interact and behave around other children his age and possibly make some friends. Knowing her son didn't have any real friends had bothered her for many years and while she was a rather overprotective mother, she had on many occasions tried to encourage him to make friends with some of the children in his class, to join the various different clubs in school, but he always pulled back and shied away, often blaming her for problems that lay far deeper than she knew even he realized.
Dr. Hopper had explained to her during her own sessions with him that Henry's behavioral problems were not her doing, but that it was psychological and that the sessions were working on making Henry more aware of the issues he suffered from. She had been told to give him time, to give him space and a little bit of freedom as well. She had done all she could do and yet the problems just continued to build up, worsening when he received that fairytale book and his imagination ran wild.
"Henry, you know you don't see Dr. Hopper because I think you're crazy. I don't think you are crazy," Regina said softly as she tilted his chin up to look up at her. "I have never thought that about you, my prince. Please don't think I have or do."
"Then why do I keep having to see Dr. Hopper every week?"
"Do you find you are getting nothing from your sessions?"
"We talk," Henry shrugged. "He asks me a lot of questions and sometimes I don't know how to answer them. We talked about Emma the last time and he asked me why I wanted to find my real mom so badly."
Regina waited for him to continue, not wanting to pressure him into talking to her about things he never could talk about. She lovingly ran her fingers through his hair as she watched him wipe furiously at the tears that streaked down his rosy cheeks.
"I was mad at you," he said quietly. "I was mad because you waited so long to tell me I am adopted. I wanted to find my real mom because of a lot of reasons, but mostly because I was mad at you for not telling me."
"Oh Henry," Regina sighed as she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I know I made a mistake in waiting so long to tell you and I am sorry. I thought it was best to wait until you were old enough to understand. I know now I should've made sure you always knew, but I was afraid."
"Why?"
"I was afraid you wouldn't love me if you knew I wasn't your real mother."
"But you are my real mom, you just didn't give birth to me. You know I love you even if I'm mad at you, don't you?"
"Of course, my little prince, of course I know that you love me even when you are mad at me for one reason or another," Regina smiled and she tilted his chin up to kiss him on the cheek. "Go on and get ready for bed. I'll be up shortly to say good night."
"To tuck me in," Henry corrected but for once there was not even a sliver of malice in his voice.
"To say good night to my little prince," Regina said as she cupped his face in a loving manner and smiled. "Go on, dear. I'll be up shortly."
She watched her son stroll out of the kitchen before wiping away the cookie crumbs and placing the empty milk glass into the sink. A tentative knock on the back door had her spinning around as Emma opened the door and walked in.
"Hi," Emma said almost shyly. "Sorry I've been gone for so long. Time just sort of got away from me, you know?"
"It's quite all right," Regina smiled at her. "Would you like something to drink?"
"No, I—I'm fine," Emma replied. "I didn't want to interrupt. Looks like you two had a bit of a moment happening."
"Yes," Regina nodded. "We did have a moment. Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?"
"I'm fine," she repeated and shrugged as she ran a hand through her hair. "I got a call while I was out about a job."
"Are you leaving sooner?" Regina asked as she felt her heart drop and Emma shook her head no quickly. "What kind of a job is it, Emma?"
"The usual. I'm still leaving on Sunday morning. I need to be in Boston by two."
Regina's heart fell even deeper. She knew from the moment Emma told her she was staying for a week that she would be leaving on Sunday, but a part of her had hoped maybe she would stay a little longer, maybe a few more days or even another week. It felt incredibly selfish to want such a thing, to expect that Emma would even want to prolong her stay in Storybrooke.
Regina approached her first, her hands tentatively reaching out before coming to rest on Emma's hips. Emma easily wrapped her arms around her and Regina lost herself in the warm embrace. She never wanted to let her go and if she had a choice, she never would. Her lips lightly trailed warm, soft kisses along Emma's neck and jaw before their lips met in an unhurried kiss.
"I think we ought to make the most out of the next three days."
"Yes," Regina whispered softly against Emma's lips. "We must, but there is one thing I need to do first," she said as she took a step back from Emma. "I need to tuck Henry in and say good night."
Emma simply just smiled at her and Regina returned it with ease. She headed upstairs to Henry's room, mildly surprised to see him already in his pajama's and in bed, no comic books or his Nintendo DS as he usually had with him in bed every night. Regina picked up his clothes from the floor, choosing not to comment on the bad habit he had of not putting his clothes in the hamper and she moved to sit on the side of his bed.
"Emma came back," Henry said with a tired smile. "I hoped she was going to come back."
"Her things are here, of course she came back," Regina smiled down at him. "Did you brush your teeth?"
"Yes, Mom."
"Do you want me to get you a glass of water so you won't have to get up in the middle of the night?" Regina asked and he promptly pointed to the plastic cup of water already sitting on his nightstand table. "Oh, then I guess you're all set for the night."
"Yep."
"I know we always go for lunch on Friday's, but I was wondering if you'd rather go for breakfast instead?"
"Why?"
Regina sighed softly. "Because I wanted to spend some time with Emma."
"Oh."
"At the stables," she added as her mind began planning the day out before she even knew if Emma would like to go for a ride and have a picnic in the fields with her. "Is that all right if we do that instead, Henry?"
"Sure, whatever," he shrugged. "Can I get some lunch money?"
Regina nodded, not wanting to bring up the fact that he should've saved his allowance money if he wanted to buy something in the school cafeteria. She was so tired of arguing with her son and found it easier just to bite her tongue over things that barely mattered.
"Would you like me to read you a story?"
"No, Mom, I'm tired and I'd just like to go to sleep now."
"Okay, good night, my little prince."
"Night, Mom. I love you."
"I love you too," Regina smiled sweetly before kissing his forehead firmly. She waited until he was settled completely before rising from the bed. She smiled back at him once more before turning off the light and shutting the door quietly behind her.
When she returned to the kitchen, she found Emma leaning against the island with her cell phone in her hand, her thumbs moving quickly over the keyboard on the screen. Regina quietly cleared her throat and Emma placed her phone down on the countertop with a smile.
"Is Henry asleep?"
"I imagine he will be within half an hour," Regina replied and Emma just laughed as she moved to wrap her arms around her. "I have a proposition for you."
"Oh, you do, do you?" Emma murmured and she leaned in to steal a soft yet lingering kiss. "And what kind of a proposition do you have for me?"
Regina didn't have a moment to speak as Emma's lips were on hers once again, her tongue probing against her lips in a silent plea to kiss her deeper. Regina moaned as Emma backed her up against the counter by the stove and she sank her fingers into Emma's long hair and kissed her hard and deep. She knew she would never grow tired of kissing Emma, of immersing herself in her and losing herself completely. She had never so thoroughly enjoyed kissing quite that much, not until she had first kissed Emma just a few days back.
"Emma…" Regina gasped and broke apart from the kiss as Emma's hand cupped her right breast. "Not in the kitchen, darling."
"The proposition?" Emma whispered, her hand not moving from where it was. She lightly pinched a hardening nipple through the light fabric of her blouse and lace bra, eliciting a throaty moan she tried to hold back to no avail. "Gina?"
"Hmm?" Regina moaned as Emma continued to rub her hardening nipple more insistently. "I thought that maybe tomorrow we can—we can go for a ride and a picnic perhaps?"
"A ride?"
"At the stables," Regina said, her breath hitching in her chest slightly. "And a picnic in one of the fields, just you and I."
"Did you somehow forget that when I met your horse just how fucking terrified I was?"
Regina's face fell. She had completely forgotten just how terrified Emma had been when they went into the stables together and she shook her head, muttering under her breath at how stupid of an idea it was. Emma sighed and moved the hand that was on her breast to gently cup her chin and tilted her chin up until their eyes met.
"It's not stupid," Emma whispered. "Hey, it's not and maybe I overreacted the other day. Maybe if I go riding with you I won't be as scared."
"I shouldn't force you to do something you do not want to do."
"You're not," Emma smiled. "Let's do it. Let's go riding tomorrow and have a picnic together. Although…"
"Hmm?"
"A picnic at the end of October? Wouldn't that be kind of…cold?"
"It's a ridiculous idea, forget I even mentioned it."
"Regina? No," Emma smiled again. "Let's do it. I want to."
Regina managed to smile back and she leaned into Emma's hand gently. "I promise I will make the experience a memorable one and hopefully strip you of your fear of horses."
Regina lost herself in Emma's shining eyes and she pulled her in by the back of her neck for a sweet yet passionate kiss. It ended far too soon for Regina's liking, but she was suddenly posed with a question she was unsure of asking Emma. After their afternoon together, she wanted to have Emma sleep in her bed with her, not wanting to spend the night alone. She had plenty of other questions, ones related on what would happen between them after Sunday and those were questions that could wait for another time.
"While I was gone and just sitting on the Bug down at the harbor I got thinking."
"Hmm?"
"We barely know each other and yet it feels like I know every bit of you," Emma said quietly and it caused Regina to laugh.
"Of course, you did spend quite some time making sure every inch of your lips covered every inch of my body."
"What I'm trying to say is that I think we need to spend some time just getting to know each other, you know?" Emma chuckled throatily. "I want to know what your favorite color is and what makes you tick. I want to know your favorite song and the things you cannot absolutely stand. I want to know all the different ways I can make you smile and if you're ticklish in other spots other than the one I found earlier."
"You want to get to know me?"
"Yes," Emma smiled. "I want to know everything there is to know about you and I want to know things that nobody else knows too."
"Secrets."
"Everyone has secrets, Regina."
"Hmm, yes of course. I believe you have a few of your own as well, don't you?"
"Yeah," Emma shrugged. "I want to get to know you as much I want you to know me. I want you to know the things about me that I never share with anyone else. You're not the only one I want to get to know either."
"Henry."
"Yes," Emma smiled and the adorableness of her smile alone made her melt. "He seems like a good kid, you know? I know I wouldn't have been able to raise him into the person he is now. I don't know the first thing about being a mother, but I know how to be a friend. I want to get to know Henry and be his friend, that is if you have no objections?"
"Why would I object?"
"Because had we not once known each other, I know you would definitely not want me in your son's life," Emma said softly and Regina knew in that moment she was right. "You know, I wasn't just looking for you, Regina. I was looking for him too. I just wanted to see that he was okay and loved. I just wanted to know he had a better life than the one I had to grow up with. I never would have imagined in all my life that you would end up being his mother."
"Dare we say it was fate?"
"Is that what it is?"
"It feels like it, no?"
Emma nodded her head and laughed. "Yeah, it does."
"I have another proposition for you," Regina whispered and she deftly wet her lips as Emma cocked her head to the side. "Spend the night with me in my bed."
"You know I don't feel comfortable with Henry—"
"To sleep, dear," Regina chuckled. "Only to sleep."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she whispered and she swept her hands down Emma's back and came to rest on her pliable ass. "Only to sleep."
[X]
Emma lay in Regina's bed, her arms around her as Regina slept peacefully and soundly. Emma had been having trouble falling asleep because of the thoughts that plagued her mind. She was back to thinking about her life and her job back in Boston and thinking of how she could change her life just by making the move to Storybrooke. It felt far too soon to have those thoughts, but after the last few hours lying in bed with Regina in her arms she had experienced something she never felt before in her life.
A sense of home, right there in her arms, and she knew she never wanted to lose that feeling. She would do anything, she knew, to hold on to that feeling and never let it go.
They hadn't talked much before settling in to bed, instead they'd spent some time kissing, one or the other pulling back when wandering hands threatened to take things further. While she wanted to, she felt weird being with Regina with Henry just down the hall in his bedroom. What if he heard them? That alone posed far too many questions she wasn't ready to answer and she knew Regina wasn't either. They had agreed that they would tell Henry the truth about their growing relationship when the time felt right.
She had meant what she said to her earlier about getting to know her. She had never felt that sense of urgency when it came to getting to know someone as a friend and as something more. It wasn't just that, she felt her own walls come crashing down whenever she was alone with Regina because she wanted to open herself up, she wanted to tell her things she never told anyone, share secrets from her past she had intended to never tell anyone. She had feared when she spoke of those things that Regina would pull back, or think she was being incredibly cheesy or thought that the things she said were moronic at best.
Regina hadn't done any of those things and the way she had smiled at her made her heart flutter. She could definitely fall in love with Regina Mills and she knew that nothing could stop her from doing just that either. She knew she was already falling in love with her and she had tried not to believe it, but it rang true deep in her heart and her very soul. There was no way she would utter those words so soon or so easily, but knowing how she felt was enough for her for now.
"Emma?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you having trouble sleeping?" Regina murmured quietly before she turned in her arms.
"Kind of. I've just got a lot on my mind right now."
"Is there anything I can do to put your mind at ease?"
Emma smiled and lightly shook her head no, not willing to share the thoughts she had going through her mind with Regina just yet. Regina smiled back and ran her hand over Emma's bare arm, stopping when she reached the strap of her tank top. Emma had to hold back the delicious shiver than ran through her body as Regina's fingers dipped under the strap, her intentions clear. As much as Emma wanted to give in, she knew she couldn't take that risk.
Instead she indulged in a sweet kiss, one that left them parting with smiles curling over their lips. Regina nuzzled her nose against Emma's, stealing one last lingering kiss before she turned to her other side and pulled Emma's arm securely around her body.
The last person she'd ever spent the night with was someone she'd much rather not think of, especially not with how good it felt to hold Regina so close, to smell the sweet, intoxicating scent of her skin and hair as she nuzzled her face into the back of her neck. She knew she was a lost cause when she knew she could get used to this very feeling, night after night for the rest of her whole damn life.
Willing her mind to ease, to allow her to sleep with the woman she knew she was fated to be with in her arms, she exhaled slowly and closed her eyes, her wish coming true as she slowly began to feel that soft buzz that coursed its way through her body as she finally succumbed to sleep.