A/N: So, I went unintentionally AWOL over the weekend, and for that you have my sincerest apologies. Saturday and Sunday were occupied with very boozy Christmas parties-where I may or may not have lost at drunken Monopoly and sang karaoke to "All I Want for Christmas" on a table-and furious, last-minute Christmas shopping, because what other kind is there? Anyway, I had meant to write on both those days, but I hadn't the time nor was I in the proper state-of-mind. So, I'm back today, and I'm going to try to get two chapters up today. You definitely get this one, though. We'll see if Chapter 11 makes it or not today. Anyway, I wanted to say thank you to all of you who have left me reviews-you guys are amazing! I know I haven't been replying to them all individually, but just know that I do read them, and I adore them all. Every time I get the notification, I get all excited and happy. Please, continue to let me know what you think of this story. Here's a bit of that positive interaction I promised before. :)
It has been a very long shift. Emma has been cursed at. She has had very hot coffee spilled on her. She has dealt with complicated orders and ornery customers. And what's more, half of them didn't even tip. She is exhausted from her shift at Wonderland the night before, and she knows she has another shift to look forward to there later that night. She's crabby and agitated, and she hasn't got to see her ray-of-sunshine since eight o'clock that morning because he is in detention. With his favorite teacher who thinks Emma is an unfit mother. Fuck her life.
The moment three-thirty comes along, Emma is scrambling to clock out, throwing her work apron on the hook in the kitchen.
"Bye, Granny," she says to the old woman in front of the stove. "I'll see you tomorrow." She gets a grunt in response, which passes for a fond goodbye from Granny.
"You out of here, Em?" Ruby asks her as she heads for the door.
"Yeah. Got to go pick up Henry from detention."
"I still can't believe that witch Belfrey gave him a week of detention," the brunette growls. "I mean, did she fail to notice his busted-up face? He clearly wasn't the bully in that scenario."
Emma smiles at the protectiveness Ruby shows towards her son-it took no time at all for Henry to win her and everyone else he'd met in town over. "Yeah, but it could've been a lot worse. She was shooting for suspension, but I scared her down to detention. Gotta take what we can get." She opens the door and steps out. "Bye, Rubes!"
"See ya, Emma. Give your kid a smooch for me!"
Grinning, Emma walks to her car parked out front and slips inside. Both Emma and Ruby had noticed how red Henry's face would get when Ruby stood too close to him or put her hand on his shoulder, and they both found it hilarious. So, the waitress had made a habit of smacking her lips on his cheeks dramatically whenever she saw him. It always left him speechless for a good five minutes afterward.
When Emma gets to the middle school to pick up Henry, she's early by fifteen minutes. She sits in the car for a while, pondering whether she should wait in the car or go in, before deciding that it's too cold out to sit in Bug when its heating has gotten so shoddy-she really needs to have the damn thing looked at. So, she heaves herself out and heads inside the school.
Henry had given her the room number where he would be serving out his detention, but he had neglected to give her any concrete directions. She thinks she can probably figure it out on her own-the school is pretty tiny after all-so she starts down random hallway and scans the doors for the right one. She must have a lost look on her face because she draws someone out of a classroom she passes.
"Do you need help finding something?"
Emma turns to see a short, small woman with dark hair cut in a cute pixie cut approaching her. She immediately pegs her as a teacher-the wardrobe is telling. Neat cardigan over a flower-print, knee-length dress with flats. She looks like she just wants to help everyone she meets. Those glimmering green eyes speak of purity and goodness. Immediately, Emma feels a smile coming over her lips at the sight. While she has never befriended those naive, goody-goody types before, she finds herself wanting to like this woman who she imagines has a heart of gold.
"Yes, actually," Emma nods to her. "I'm looking for room 204."
"Regina's room?" the woman says with a furrowed brow before her expression smooths in realization. "Oh, you must be here for Henry. Are you his older sister?"
Emma chuckles. "Um, no, I'm not. I'm his mother."
Her eyes widen. "Mother? Oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but I just... You're so young."
"Thanks, I think," Emma says and extends her hand. "I'm Emma Swan, by the way."
Shaking herself from the surprise, the woman smiles and shakes her hand. "I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard."
"Ms. Blanchard," Emma nods. "Henry's talked about you before-you're his art teacher, right? He loves those birdhouses you guys made. He comes home everyday buzzing about new things he did in art class. Henry's never been an artistically gifted kid, but the projects he's brought home since being in your class have actually been pretty good. You must inspire him."
Mary Margaret brightens at this. "Oh, I'm so glad he enjoys it! Henry is such a pleasure to have in class. So smart and sweet and helpful. That's why I knew he didn't start that fight before. I told Principal Belfrey he would never do that, but she was convinced."
"You were there?" Emma asks, brow pinched. "During the fight?"
"I'm the one who found them and stopped it before it got too bad." Mary Margaret frowns and wrings her hands. "I had to pull the bigger boys off of Henry. He was just on the ground with his hands on his head."
Emma's fists clench involuntarily at the image, but she releases them with a breath. "Yeah, I heard it went something like that. Thank you for breaking the fight up. I'd hate to think what could've happened to Henry if you hadn't come along when you did. Hopefully, that Roland kid and his friends are learning from their suspension, and we won't have anymore incidents. It does make me feel better, though, knowing that Henry has a teacher looking out for him."
Mary Margaret smiles. "Oh, he certainly does, and not just me. You should've seen Regina's reaction when I told her what had happened. I've never seen her run for anything before, but she sprinted to get to Henry and make sure he was okay."
Emma can't stop the downward tug of her lips. She just can't figured Regina Mills out. According to Henry and Mary Margaret, she's a saint, rushing to people's aid, making Shakespeare fun. But when Emma thinks back to how the woman has treated her, how she looked down her nose at her, how she insulted her without even knowing her, she sees such a different picture. How can these two starkly different personas exist in the same woman? Split personality disorder, maybe?
"Anyway, 204 is all the way down this hallway to your left," Mary Margaret tells her. "You can't miss it."
"Thank you," Emma says.
"You're welcome! It was such a pleasure meeting you, Miss Swan. I can see why Henry talks so highly of his mother."
"Please, call me Emma, and I'll call you Mary Margaret. It's a pleasure to meet you as well. And thank you again for all you've done with Henry-I really do appreciate it. Stop by Granny's Diner sometime, and I'll get you a free coffee from one friend to another. As long as Granny isn't looking, of course." They both laugh.
"I'll do that." Mary Margaret just seems elated at the invitation from a friend, and Emma wonders if she has very many friends. If not, she cannot place why that is. The woman could not be any sweeter. "Have a great day, Emma."
"You too, Mary Margaret." With that, Emma heads down the hallway and takes a left to find herself facing yet another hall. At the front of this one, though, she spots the number 204 painted and chipping off the top of an open doorway. She approaches it and hears voices inside, one distinctly Henry and the other easily recognized as Regina Mills. She isn't going to eavesdrop... until she hears herself mentioned.
"So, your mother works at the diner," Regina says. Emma freezes outside the doorway, brow furrowed curiously. "That's interesting. Does, um, does she like it there?"
"Yeah," Henry answers brightly. "She loves it there. She and Ruby are great friends now, and Granny's taken to her like a mother, y'know? She sends us pie and casseroles all the time. It's great-she cooks way better than Ma, but don't tell her I told you so." Emma rolls her eyes. She doesn't cook that bad. She has only almost burned the kitchen down twice. Three. Four times. It was four times. "I like that she works there, too. She works the same hours every day, and we both always get home together by four. On the days when she doesn't have a shift at her second job, that gives us the whole afternoon and evening together."
There is a loaded silence before Regina speaks again. "And this other job... y-you don't like it?"
Emma grinds her teeth angrily. This lady's got no right talking about to him about that.
"I don't know." Henry sounds considerably less excited now, and Emma again blames Regina for that, too. "I mean, I know we need the extra money, but it's just... When she works there, it's like I never get to see her. I get four or five hours with her before she has to leave for that job, and she doesn't come back until early in the morning when I'm already asleep. I don't like it, but it's mostly because she doesn't like it. She won't tell me what the job is, but I know that she always looks really tired before she goes in. She doesn't like leaving me at nights anymore than I do, and she only gets to sleep a little while before she has to be up again and take me to school and go to work at Granny's. Honestly, I don't know how she does it all. I wish that I was old enough to get a job, so she didn't have to work so much. It isn't fair that she has to do so much to take care of me."
Emma's head rests against the wall beside her, and something hot pricks her eyes. God, she wishes he didn't have to worry about those things. He's just a kid-looking after her isn't his responsibility.
"Oh, Henry, you shouldn't worry about that," Regina says, and Emma can only imagine what she'll say about her next. How she'll say that she's a terrible mother that should be able to take care of them financially and give him all of her attention at the same time. Well, we all can't be Super Woman, lady, Emma thinks to herself bitterly. "You're a child, and you should be thinking about going to school and having fun and making the soccer team."
"I know, but I want to be able to help my mom. I feel like all I ever do is take from her and don't give anything back."
Emma's heart clenches, and she nearly barges in to tell him otherwise and expose her eavesdropping. But something stops her. Curiosity, maybe?
"That isn't true," Regina tells him. "I may not know your mother very well, but I know that she loves you, Henry. That much has been made abundantly clear in the times I've seen you two together. Just think of how she protected you in Principal Belfrey's office before. She came here to this town and enrolled you in this school, so that you could have a better chance in life. And she works both of those jobs to take care of the both of you. I can't imagine how difficult it is for her, but I can assure you that she would do that a million times over, go to the ends of the earth and back for you. She loves you so much, Henry, and every sacrifice is worth it to her to see you grow up into the amazing young man I know you're becoming. I know things are hard, and I know you may feel like burden sometimes. But you aren't, Henry. You're not a burden to her. You're her whole reason for existing."
Emma has to stifle down a surprised choke. Did this woman who had only a week prior called her an unfit mother really just say all those beautiful things about her? Had she really explained so eloquently everything that Emma usually struggled to communicate? What the hell? Split personality disorder is seeming likelier by the minute.
"How do you know that?" Henry asks in a quiet voice.
"I see it in her eyes every time she looks at you, Henry. She'd give everything up for you gladly. It's what good mothers do." Emma covers her mouth in shock. Good mothers? What the actual fuck is going on here? "It's hard right now, Henry, but things will get better. You have to believe that. No matter how dark it may seem, the dawn is coming. Okay?"
"Okay."
Okay, Emma thinks before shaking herself out her trance. Shit. Had Regina managed to give her hope for a brighter future as well? How the hell did she do that? Wiping at her eyes and concreting her expression, Emma takes a deep breath and walks into the classroom as if she hadn't just heard all of... whatever that was.
Henry looks up from where he sits across from Regina at her desk and grins at her widely. "Ma!"
"Hey, kid," she greets with a smile for him. It doesn't matter how tired or confused or sad she is, smiles just come naturally when she sees him. "Enjoy your first detention session?"
He frowns. "If I say yes, is that bad? Because I did."
She chuckles. "No, kid, that isn't bad. It just means you've got a good teacher." She glances over at Regina, who looks surprised at the compliment. So, maybe they have both been stubbornly standoffish with one another. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah," he says and stands up. "I'm starved, Ma. Do you think we could get dinner at Granny's?"
"Sure, kid. I'm sure she and Ruby are itching to see you again anyway. We all missed you when you didn't come straight from school like usual."
Henry turns to Regina with a smile. "Thanks for the detention, Ms. Mills. It was great."
Both Emma and Regina chuckle. "Yes, it was fun for me as well. I'll see you tomorrow, dear."
He heads for the door, but Emma hesitates in front of the desk. Regina looks at her quizzically, and she bites her lip. "Um, I just wanted to... say thanks for hanging out with him after school. I know it's supposed to be detention, but you're not treating him like a criminal, and that means a lot to me."
"He didn't do anything wrong," Regina says. "This is all just a formality to satisfy Principal Belfrey and the other boys' parents. I would never treat Henry like a bad kid. He isn't one."
Something akin to a smile stretches Emma's lips, and she rubs up and down her arms uncomfortably. "Yeah, I'm glad we're in agreement on that. I just... Thanks, Regina. That's all I wanted to say. I appreciate all you're doing for him." She releases a long breath. "Okay, there's my awkward interaction of the day. Let's go, kid. I've got work tonight, so we're on the clock." She moves with Henry towards the door.
"Wait!" Regina calls out, and they both turn with surprised expressions at her outbursts. The teacher is standing now, having rounded her desk in a second and stands a few feet away from them. There is an urgent look on her face that mixes with confusion at her own strange behavior. "I, uh... Would you two like to come to dinner sometime? At my home, I mean. I-I just think it'd be nice for us all to be formally acquainted. Maybe this Saturday, if you're free?"
Emma pauses uncertainly. She's inviting them to dinner? This seems oddly out-of-character. Before that day, she would've assumed the woman wouldn't want her anywhere near her home for fear of what diseases she might walk in the front door. But a lot has changed about her perception of Regina Mills that day, and it has left her lost in a mound of questions.
Before she can't accept or refuse the invitation, Henry jumps on it. "Yeah! That sounds great! Ma doesn't have to work Saturday night, do you?" She stammers over syllables a few moments before shaking her head. "Yeah, so it all works out! We'd love to come for dinner, Ms. Mills."
Regina looks at Emma. "Would you, Miss Swan?"
Emma swallows her surprise and chances a glance at Henry. And the puppy-dog eyes have her crumbling in an instant. "Y-Yes. We'd be honored." He grins at her excitedly.
"Good," Regina nods. "So, shall we say six o'clock this Saturday?"
"It's a date," Emma says, and then her cheeks burn bright red. "I-I mean, it's not a d-date. It's just dinner. It's..." She sighs in frustration at herself and shakes her head. "We'll be there."
The edges of Regina's lips quirk upward in a smirk she tries to fight while Henry snickers from her side, earning himself an elbow from his mother. "Excellent. I look forward to it, then."
"Us too," Henry says and grabs his mother's hand. "C'mon, Ma! I'm starving!"
Emma manages a look back at Regina as Henry drags her out of the classroom, and she smiles nervously at her before mouthing out a silent, "Thanks."
Regina smiles back and inclines her head to her. Emma holds her eyes until she and Henry turn the corner out of the classroom. He chatters to her about his day as they head for her car together, but she's hardly paying attention. The past twenty minutes are a complete whirlwind to her. How did she go from pretty much hating Regina Mills to making dinner plans with her for the coming weekend?
Regina Mills. Saturday. Six o'clock. She smiles to herself. It's a date.