A/N: Took me long enough, but finally chapter 10 is here! So sorry for the wait, but I have the next few chapters of this story planned out. So I'm going to try and write at least two more chapters before the start of the new year as a special holiday treat for you lovely readers. Enjoy! :)

Chapter 10

Toast sprang from the toaster while she flipped the browning pancakes in the pan on the stove. She let the pancakes sit while she fluidly moved to retrieve the toast and set the golden brown slices on a plate then spread butter over each one before the toast could cool and make it impossible for the butter to melt. Her years of being a chef to a constantly hungry little boy showed in the amount of order and skill she demonstrated in the kitchen, a familiar sight to Henry even if he hadn't witnessed it in a while.

"Are you making breakfast," a gravelly voice asked from behind her.

Regina, though careful not to abandon the food entirely, turned around to see her son as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes in the entryway to the kitchen.

"Yes, it's for Emma. Although, I made enough for you and her so you can make yourself a plate."

Henry took a plate that was already served with pancakes and toast and grabbed some silverware. He cut himself a piece of the double stacked pancakes drizzled with sugary goodness. As soon as the fluffy bite was in his mouth, he smiled and chewed.

"So good," he mumbled through a mouthful of his breakfast.

Regina smiled as she pulled the pancakes off the pan on the stove and finished preparing a nice tray made of dark stained wood littered with food. She looked from Henry down to the tray before she placed a few napkins beside the pancake plate.

"Cinnamon pancakes," Henry asked after he swallowed his food.

"Yes," Regina answered. "You and Emma have a disturbing love for cinnamon. I thought it would be more satisfying to include it in actual food and not just a hot drink."

"Best Mom ever," Henry smiled brighter and left his plate on the counter before he tightly hugged her. "Don't tell Emma. I don't want her thinking I play favorites."

Regina chuckled.

"I'm sure if Emma bought you the one thing you wanted that I wouldn't get you you'd say she was the best."

Henry smiled again as he pulled away from the embrace.

"You're right. And you know why? Because I don't play favorites."

Regina smirked and Henry's smile spread. He went back to his plate and she picked up the tray.

"If you're going to eat that in the living room, please be careful, especially with the syrup."

Henry nodded before he turned and went straight to where Regina thought he'd go. Regina took the tray and headed upstairs.

When she opened her bedroom door, Emma was still asleep but just barely. She started to stir as Regina approached the bed then woke with a groan and a stretch. When she opened her eyes, she looked at Regina with a furrowed brow then looked at the food tray and smiled when she locked eyes with Regina again. She gave a little laugh and brushed her hair out of her face.

"What's this," Emma asked as she sat up.

Regina smiled and set the tray down over Emma's lap.

"Breakfast in bed," Regina answered.

"For me?"

Emma beamed at Regina before she pulled the tray closer to herself.

"Do you see anyone else in my bed," Regina asked with a grin.

Emma laughed a little and looked at the empty side of the bed before she looked back at Regina.

"Not yet…but I'm sure someone's gonna join me soon."

Regina rolled her eyes, but after a few seconds sat down next to Emma.

"Happy?"

"Ecstatic," Emma replied then picked up the provided utensils and dug into the pancakes.

Regina didn't verbally respond. She only continued to smile and watched the girl eat.

"Cinnamon! Oh my god, Regina. You're amazing."

"Adding cinnamon to pancakes hardly makes me amazing, dear."

"Clearly you haven't tasted your own perfection," Emma said as she cut another piece and held it up to Regina. "Come on. You need to know how amazing you are."

Regina scoffed with disbelief.

"Come on," Emma pushed the food closer to Regina's mouth with a smile on her face.

It earned her another eye roll from Regina, but the brunette relented and opened her mouth. She rested her hand on Emma's wrist as the younger woman fed her to make it seem less like she was actually being fed, to gain more control over the situation. She wasn't much for the overly sweet foods or treats and she wasn't as big of a fan of cinnamon as Henry and Emma, but she emitted a quiet moan when she chewed.

"That is fairly amazing," Regina slowly confessed.

Emma laughed and cut a few more pieces before she set down the knife and relaxed against Regina's side. She ate a couple more bites, hummed her contentment then rested her head on Regina's shoulder.

"No one's ever made me breakfast in bed before," Emma admitted.

"Ever? In your eighteen years of life…or longer?"

Emma lifted her head off of Regina's shoulder to look at the other woman.

"Eighteen. What other age would I be speaking from experience?"

Regina gave her a small smile and shrugged.

"Right," Regina agreed with her and Emma lowered her head back onto Regina's shoulder. "What are your plans for today?"

"Uh, I don't have any. Never do."

"I'm sure you don't want to spend the day alone."

"Never do," Emma sadly repeated.

"Well, what if you and I did something together?"

"You mean…aside from this?"

Emma smiled up at Regina again.

"So many smiles," Regina noted. "I'm still not used to seeing you smile."

"Didn't have much reason to…until recently. And you weren't smiling a lot until recently either."

Regina turned her head and looked down to stare at blonde hair. She reached over and speared the last pre-cut bite of the pancakes with the fork. She ate it then said, "I suppose not."

Emma grabbed a piece of toast and ate half of it in a single bite. For the first time since her days spent with an uptight foster family that forced her to learn her manners, especially table manners, she waited until after she finished chewing before she spoke again.

"So, what would we do together today?"

Regina let out a throaty chuckle, "Anything."

Emma sat up fully, her head completely off Regina's shoulder, and she stared right at the brunette.

"Maybe…maybe we could…bake Christmas cookies? And then…we could take Henry out with us for dinner…as a…family?"

Regina smiled, big and bright.

"Sounds lovely," she replied.

Emma bit her bottom lip and smiled yet again. "Awesome. As soon as I finish the rest of my breakfast we can get started on those cookies."

Regina chuckled.

"We'll have to go to the store first, dear. Henry and I hadn't exactly made plans to make cookies yet so we don't have any dough or icing or festive sprinkles."

"We. So we're going together?"

Emma looked hopeful with shining eyes and a hint of a smile that barely appeared on her face but was there all the same.

"As a family," Regina confirmed with a warm expression and a nod.

Emma puffed out a breath of relief and she lit up, so innocent and angelic and Regina thought she felt her heart stop and then beat again to an entirely different rhythm.

Regina took a moment to acclimate herself to the new beat and bask in the special, all-encompassing beauty that had always been Emma Swan, but she only just then had truly been able to see it. A few seconds later, she blinked away the haze and one corner of her mouth twitched toward a smile that didn't appear for very long. She turned her attention to the almost empty plate and picked up the last slice of toast.

"Now finish your breakfast," Regina said and then took a bite of the toast.

Emma feigned shock and anger when she saw Regina eat the toast and the brunette laughed when she finished chewing. The laugh was rich and carefree and Emma looked almost as in awe at Regina as Regina had only seconds ago looked at her. It was a shorter lived moment and was less intense as well, but something had shifted between them and that moment was the moment Emma had realized it.

Henry had a smile on his face that was hard to get rid of, but neither Emma nor Regina wanted it to disappear. He practically skipped through the store and picked up all the things they needed for their holiday cookies while Regina pushed the cart.

Emma stayed by Regina's side as the two of them watched Henry. The sight of their son caused both women to smile and when he attempted to put one too many items into the cart, their smiles escalated into bubbly laughter.

"What do you think you're doing," Regina asked, her smile still present.

Henry turned to Emma and Regina and slyly grinned at his brunette mother.

"Getting what I want?"

Emma smirked and shook her head.

"He's smooth. The kid may not be the sneakiest thief, but he sure knows how to talk his way out of his crimes."

"I suspect he learns from the best," Regina continued to smile, but redirected it at Emma that time.

"Oh, no, that's not me. I'm the worst at talking my way out of things."

Regina's smile morphed into a lopsided smirk.

"Which you've proven since the day I met you. You claim to be able to tell when people are lying, but you're not very good at it yourself."

"Oh, so you just wanted me to admit it," Emma said and gently pinched Regina's side.

Regina unsuccessfully squirmed away from Emma's pinch a second too late and laughed through the slight sting it caused.

"Ah-how," she continued to laugh, but not long after, she let go of the cart with one hand to grab Emma's.

She pulled the teen's hand away from her side while they both continued down the aisle behind Henry. She kept Emma's hand in hers even after she was safe from pinching and Emma actually squeezed Regina's hand a few seconds later. Regina smiled at her in response.

"Emma?"

The smiles immediately vanished at the sound of a confused and concerned man that Henry, Regina, and Emma were all too familiar with for comfort. The three of them stopped and turned around to face the person that had interrupted family time. Neal.

"What…what are you doing," he asked as he looked from green eyes behind black glasses to their clasped hands.

Their fingers weren't laced so it seemed innocent enough, but Neal still frowned and furrowed his brows at the unexpected contact.

"Shopping. What else do you do in a grocery store," Emma smartly responded.

She didn't sound angry when she spoke, but she definitely hadn't greeted him with a smile.

"Oh. Cool," Neal bobbed his head up and down like a stupid looking nod. "I guess, uh, that's good. Um…how've you been?"

"Fine."

Neal nodded again then looked around while he stuffed his hands in his front pockets.

"Where's Henry," he asked with a furrowed brow.

"He's supposed to be getting sprinkles," Emma replied. "I'm pretty sure he's off gathering all the best junk food while he's at it."

Neal chuckled then after a moment said, "I thought I was supposed to get him after he got the tree with you guys."

"Oh," Regina said, her eyes wide with realization. "Right. I completely forgot about that."

"He's gonna be with us for a little longer," Emma declared. "We're doing Christmas cookies today."

Neal's expression changed to one of surprise. His eyes were wide and he seemed seconds away from dropping his jaw.

"Really," he asked.

Emma frowned and quizzically looked him over. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I just…with everything going on with you, I didn't think you'd be up to making cookies."

"And what exactly do you think is going on with me," Emma asked, her expression angrier but the rest of her emotions so far in check.

"I heard from your parents that you've been a little sensitive lately. They really don't know what to do and no one really knows if you're okay. No one's really heard from you since you took off the other night."

Emma took a deep breath and let it out with a frustrated sigh.

"Well, what I'm going through is none of your business," Emma coldly insisted.

Regina released Emma's hand and slid hers up the blonde's arm to calm her.

"Hey, whoa, I'm sorry. I just…I've been worried about you. We all have," he explained.

"You never really seemed to care much before," Emma said and her hand instinctively went to her lower stomach.

Both Neal and Regina noticed the movement and Regina wrapped an arm around Emma's waist. Once Emma felt her embrace, Emma's hand slid off her stomach to rest on top of Regina's hand.

"Hey, Mom, can we get—" Henry stopped himself both physically and verbally when he saw Neal in front of his mothers. "Dad."

"Hey, bud. What'cha got there," he asked with a smile that looked a little too forced like a weekend Dad desperate to be liked by his kid, which was what he was. Maybe not desperate yet, but definitely a weekend dad.

Henry took a step back.

"Are you bothering them," he asked. "Emma seems…"

"It's okay, Henry," Emma said.

Regina and Neal turned their attention to Emma.

"He's leaving. What he's looking for is in another aisle." Emma tightly gripped Regina's hand as she spoke, her eyes fiery and set solely on Neal.

"Emma," he quietly said as he leaned closer to her. Emma's grip on Regina's hand tightened further when he did. "With everything going on with your parents—"

"You should really get that thing in the other aisle," Emma flatly said as she tried not to lose it in front of Henry.

"I agree," Regina said and ran her thumb over the palm of Emma's hand.

Emma took a deep breath as soon as she felt the pressure of Regina's thumb and she immediately relaxed.

Neal sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before he nodded and turned to Henry, flashed a smile at the boy, and finally walked off.

Once he rounded the corner, Emma released Regina's hand and clenched and unclenched her fists before she rubbed them on her pants.

"Sorry…if I got your hand kind of gross. I got a little sweaty," Emma nervously smiled, a little embarrassed.

"It's okay," Regina chuckled while Henry approached them with three cans of whipped cream and two boxes of cocoa in his arms.

"Did he say something to you," Henry asked.

Emma and Regina looked down and only glanced at his eyes before they both instantly saw his full arms.

"What is all of that," Regina asked with a motherly tone that suggested she wasn't receptive to whatever his plans were with all the items in his arms.

"Uh, satisfaction? Emma and I run through hot chocolate really fast. Plus, if we're gonna be making cookies, we'll be drinking a lot more of it. And we're almost out of whipped cream at home. We need more," he shrugged.

Emma laughed then ruffled his hair.

"Kid's got a point," Emma told Regina. "We do run through a lot of cocoa and I don't remember seeing a lot of whipped cream. The best part about cocoa is when you make this whipped cream tunnel with your mouth to sip the cocoa through."

"Really now," Regina asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Mhmm," Emma smiled and nodded. "I can show you later."

"Ew," Henry scrunched up his face. "You two can like each other, but quit flirting in front of me. It's weird."

"I really wasn't flirting with her," Emma said. "This is me flirting with her."

Emma turned from Henry to Regina and grinned as she stepped just a little closer.

"I can show you other things later too," the blonde winked.

"Ewww," Henry drew out the word and pointedly raised an eyebrow that made him look like his adoptive mother.

"That's not even good flirting, dear," Regina shook her head with a smile.

"I didn't have a lot to work with," Emma shrugged.

"Oh-kay," Henry said. "Well, I think as a way to make it up to me for having to see that, we should definitely get the extra cocoa and whipped cream. Oh, and can we make the frosted snowman shaped cookies with all the buttons and the top hat? And the chocolate cookies with the powdered sugar! We have to do those."

"Okay," Regina chuckled. "But the things we'll need to decorate the cookies like that are at the end of the aisle."

"Got it," Henry smiled, so quickly happy again.

Henry dropped all the whipped cream and hot chocolate in the cart and darted off again to find more goodies while his mothers lagged behind.

Emma and Regina laughed while they watched him go. Emma then linked arms with Regina and pushed the cart forward with a smile on her face.

"So, what the hell are we making," Emma asked with some laughter in her voice.

"Just a bunch of sugar cookies and a batch or two of chocolate crinkles. Those are the chocolate cookies with the powdered sugar on top that Henry mentioned," Regina smiled. "He's never been able to remember the name."

"Of course not. All he needs to know is that they're good and if you're going to make them."

"This coming from someone who obviously works the same way," Regina teased.

"You bet."

"Moms!"

Henry ran up to them with something red, white, and not a food item in his hand. He held them out and practically shoved them into both of their arms.

"Look what I found," he beamed up at them as they both took the identical items offered to each of them.

"Santa hats," Emma asked.

"Yeah," Henry answered. "They're the best ones I've seen around here."

"What are we gonna do with Santa hats," Emma asked as she inspected the one he'd handed her.

"Lots of stuff! We can wear them when we drink our hot chocolate or when we open presents. What do you think?"

Emma gave a half-shrug then slipped hers on and turned from Henry to Regina.

"Well? How do I look?"

She smiled at the brunette and made a few silly poses with the hat.

Regina laughed, a laugh she hadn't heard from herself in a while and honestly neither had Henry. After a few seconds, she turned to their son and forced her hat on his head even though he held his own hat in his hand. She pulled the hat over his eyes and he smiled and struggled. A moment later she let go and took a step back to look at him. Henry lifted the hat enough for him to see, but didn't remove it.

"Let me see the two of you together," Regina requested with a large smile on her face and motioned for them to stand closer.

Emma pushed the cart out of her way and stood next to Henry. Just as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, Regina pulled out her phone and directed the camera at the two of them.

"Perfect," Regina said before she snapped the picture. "Put them in the cart."

Henry took the hat off and set both his and Regina's in the cart and Emma did the same with her own hat.

"Let me see the picture," Henry said as he came to stand on one side of Regina, Emma to the other woman's left.

Both huddled around Regina and peered down at the phone while Regina held it out with the picture on display. The three of them looked down at two smiling faces with Emma's arm around Henry and her head partially rested on the top of his, because even at eighteen Emma was still taller than either Mills.

Then, it hit Emma. It really was just a passing comment and it couldn't have meant as much as Emma was about to make it mean in her head, but it had been said.

"Perfect?"

Regina had called the pose, the picture, Henry and her together perfect.

Regina turned to her and frowned.

"Don't you think so," she asked.

Emma had no words, but apparently Regina had a few more.

"I'd say there aren't two more perfect people in this whole town. Look at those beautiful faces," Regina complimented them both then gently and playfully pinched one of Emma's cheeks.

"It's…It's been a long time since anyone's ever said anything about what I did, or just about me, was perfect," Emma shyly confessed.

"Well, at the risk of being too cheesy," Regina started to say then clicked around on her phone. "There. Now the perfect people in the perfect picture are now my perfect background image."

Emma flashed a teary smile and leaned her forehead against Regina's temple.

"Thank you," the blonde whispered.

Henry jumped right in and surprised both mothers when he collided into them and wrapped his arms around them in a family hug.

Emma and Regina chuckled and wrapped their arms around him for a moment while they all took comfort in the embrace then broke apart.

"Alright. Let's not make a ridiculously sappy scene in the grocery store," Regina said as she straightened out her outfit.

Emma and Henry smiled and took their places at Regina's side while the brunette pushed the cart further down the aisle.

"Now let's get the sprinkles for these cookies. We've got a full day of baking ahead."

Holiday music played softly in the background while Emma, Henry, and Regina worked—and played—in the kitchen. They'd already made a batch of green Christmas tree cookies and two batches of undecorated snowmen. There was another batch of cookies in the oven while they took a little break from rolling out the dough Regina had expertly prepared in what felt like no time at all, which impressed Henry and Emma. What made the dough take longer before it was useable was the refrigeration it required, which had left the three of them to find a way to entertain themselves for a couple of hours.

Regina had kept busy by preparing beef stew for dinner. It was the only thing she thought to make that wouldn't need the oven so she could make dinner at the same time they made the cookies. It also meant the dinner would still be hot by the time the cookies were ready. As soon as the stew had been taken care of, Henry and Emma had said the dough was decent enough for them. Regina had approved and the other two had pulled the dough from fridge before the three of them had started the day-long baking marathon.

The timer on the oven said they had five minutes before the cookies inside would be ready so Emma and Henry had taken it upon themselves to start a war with the leftover flour from one of the previously finished batches. Regina had kept herself out of the line of fire for a while, but it seemed she couldn't escape an attack because suddenly a small puff, but a puff nonetheless, of flour hit her in the face and on her neck and the very top portion of her black sweater.

"Oops," Emma said before she covered her smile with both flour-dusted hands cupped in front of her mouth.

"It seems at any age neither of you can avoid making messes in the kitchen," Regina said after a moment.

"Oh, we can avoid them. We just don't," Emma said when she lowered her hands. "Where's the fun in that?"

Henry nodded in agreement.

"Where's the fun in being grounded," Regina asked Henry with a raised eyebrow then looked to Emma.

"I'm eighteen and not your kid," Emma started to defend herself. "You can't ground me."

"Maybe not, but I can make Henry's punishment worse."

"But it's the holidays," Henry whined.

"You know the rules," Regina responded.

"Emma!"

Henry turned on the blonde and looked fearful that Regina would actually ground him for what they did, but he almost wore a pouty look too. Like it was unfair that he had to suffer for her mistake, which it definitely wasn't fair considering that Emma was older than him and should have known better anyway.

"She's bluffing, Kid," Emma told him. "She actually secretly likes to get in on these messy fights."

"What? No she does—"

One side of Henry's face and a good portion of his brown hair was spattered with flour before he could finish his sentence. He slowly turned to see Regina take a few steps back with a wide grin on her face and a pasty white hand colored by the flour she'd used against him held out in front of her as not to further mess up her outfit.

"Told ya," Emma said with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Mom?"

Even after the family snowball fight, Henry looked completely baffled by Regina's actions. He wasn't appalled or outraged or disappointed. In fact, he slowly started to smile when he took a good look at his brunette mother. Ever since Emma broke in the night she accidentally turned herself into a teen, Henry had started to see more of the Regina he knew behind closed doors when he was younger. It was how she'd been before he'd started to pull away once he'd started to question where he came from and found out Regina used to be the Evil Queen.

"Relax," Regina reassured him. "I'm not going to ground you. But we are out of leftover flour so the fighting has come to an end."

"Awww," Emma and Henry whined.

The oven beeped and a bubbly Regina redirected her attention to the cookies. She opened the oven, slipped on her oven mitts, and pulled out a cooking sheet filled with yellow stars. She set the cooking sheet on top of the stove and set up the last of the cooling racks in her possession.

"Just like last time," Regina instructed. "Will one of you help move these onto the rack?"

"Rock, paper, scissors for it," Emma asked as she held out a closed fist between her and Henry.

"How about you take the left side and I take the right side? Meet in the middle," Henry suggested.

Emma dropped her fist.

"Good plan," she agreed with him just before she and Henry moved toward the cookies.

Regina shook her head with a smile as she watched them and quietly laughed into her hand when she saw it didn't take long before Emma started to playfully nudge elbows with Henry while they moved the cookies onto the cooling rack. Regina turned away for a few moments to grab the gel, icing, and sprinkles for the snowman cookies.

Henry and Emma came over to the counter where she placed everything and they waited a short time until it was finally all set out for them. They immediately looked to Regina for further instruction and Regina smiled at both of them.

"Icing is one of the easy parts. Adding the sprinkles at the end is the easiest," Regina said as she grabbed an icing spatula and demonstrated how to spread the icing over the rounded cookies. "Put icing on everything but the top hat. For that, use the gel."

Henry excited grabbed the gel while Emma took the proffered icing spatula from Regina to frost the sugar cookie Frosties. The blonde did the icing while Regina reminded Henry how to work the gel onto the cookie and he immediately started to follow Regina's instructions from memory as well as what he heard her tell him.

Henry screwed up his face in concentration while he squeezed the gel onto the top hats one after the other. As soon as Emma finished the icing on one snowman, Henry poised the gel over the untouched top hat of that very snowman. On occasion, when he refused to wait for Emma to finish the icing on her current snowman, Henry moved on to a completely undecorated cookie and applied the gel to the top hat before he came back to the snowman Emma had finally finished.

After a several minutes, all the snowman cookies were decorated with everything but the sprinkles, which Regina did in a few quick movements once Emma and Henry backed away from their work.

"Show off," Emma said as she watched Regina efficiently and seamlessly adorn the snowmen's bodies with circular, almost pearl like, white sprinkles.

"Who wants to add the eyes," Regina asked when she finished and smirked at Emma for the blonde's previous comment.

"I'll do it," Emma offered and effortlessly took the gel out of Henry's hand.

"Don't forget to add the buttons," Henry said as Emma started on the eyes.

"And the smile. The snowmen should be smiling," Regina added.

"Any particular way you anal retentive people want that done," Emma semi-growled as she dabbed out the first set of gel buttons.

"Like the buttons," Henry answered.

"Just little dabs," Regina expanded on Henry's answer. "Make it look like it was made out of coal like the story of Frosty the Snowman says."

"While she does that, I'm gonna go pick out a movie for tonight," Henry said before he disappeared into the living room.

Regina grabbed more gel and started to help Emma. It took them some time, but they added the final touches to the last snowman within ten minutes.

"I used to decorate the Christmas tree cookies too," Regina told her just as Emma set down her gel. "But it seems a little involved if we're just going to eat them right away."

"They're colored at least. And the gel isn't what makes the cookies taste good," Emma replied. "I don't need a dressed up cookie for me to eat it and like it."

Regina smiled and followed Emma with her eyes while the teen made her way over to the star shaped cookies.

"You seemed awfully adamant about those cookies," Regina mentioned and curiously looked over the younger woman.

"I knew a girl once. She had this birth mark shaped like a star on her wrist. She said she liked to think it made her special and then she took a marker and drew a star on my wrist so we matched. After she did she said I was special too."

Regina frowned.

"You knew her? What happened?"

Emma mirthlessly breathed out a laugh and grabbed two stars then turned and walked over to Regina.

"She was the first and so far only girl that ever broke my heart," the blonde admitted before she held a cookie out to Regina. "But you and Henry are special. So, here are your star shaped cookies."

Regina smiled and took the cookie.

"You're special, too, Emma."

Emma blushed a little before they ate their cookies together in silence for a moment. Then, the holiday music switched over to what the women assumed was the movie Henry chose for the night.

Regina looked to the clock and saw that it was already seven.

"Ready for dinner," Regina asked as she went to the crockpot left in the corner of one of the kitchen counters.

"Starving," Emma replied and rubbed a hand clockwise over her stomach to pantomime her hunger.

Regina grabbed three bowls from a cupboard near the crockpot and was about to start serving when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Henry called out from the living room before he got up and jogged to the front door.

Regina set aside the bowl she had in her hand and put the lid back on the crockpot before she and Emma followed Henry to the door.

"David," Regina greeted with shock on her face and in her tone as she walked through the foyer.

Emma almost stopped where she stood, but continued toward the door half a step behind Regina with her mouth slightly agape and her eyes on the man in the doorway.

"Hi. I was hoping I could talk to Emma," David said as he looked from Regina to Emma and noticed she was just as coated in flour as Henry. "Baking gone awry?"

"No, they—not surprisingly—chose to look like this," Regina replied. "We're just about to have dinner. What do you want to talk to Emma about?"

"I just," David looked between Regina and Emma a few times. "I thought maybe you could talk to your mother soon. She and I are worried sick about you. And when Neal told us what happened at the store—"

"Wait," Emma took a step closer to David and looked angrier and less shocked in his presence. "Neal talked to you? About today?"

"Yes. He's concerned, like we all are. The whole town's asking about you and no one has any answers, except for maybe you three. But none of you will talk about it."

"Unbelievable," Emma muttered then spoke up. "I'm not ready to talk to her just yet. I'm not ready to talk to anyone about anything right now. I just want to be left alone. What about that don't any of you get?"

Emma sighed then turned away from the door.

"I'll start serving dinner," she mentioned on her way back toward the kitchen before she mumbled something else. "I should never set foot in stores again since it only seems to lead to a huge mess."

"Henry, why don't you go get cleaned up," Regina suggested in a tone that left no room to argue.

Henry immediately went upstairs and left Regina and David alone in the doorway.

"Coming over here to ask for her to talk to you is not giving her space, David," Regina lectured him. "Also, the last thing you want to do is tell her you're getting all your information about her from her ex-boyfriend. You know, the one that set her up to take the fall for him and abandoned her. Honestly, how you two trust him more than me is something I'll probably never understand."

"He's never tried to kill us," David argued with a slightly raised voice.

Regina sighed and rolled her eyes.

"One day that excuse isn't going to hold any weight and I think that day is fast approaching considering all I've done to help your family and this whole damn town."

David put his hands on his hips and sighed.

"We're going out of our minds about this," David told her. "Snow and I don't know what to do and giving Emma space isn't helping."

"Isn't helping you. You can't see it, but Emma does just fine when you two idiots aren't around. I know she can't avoid you forever—"

"Yes! Exactly! If she keeps avoiding us, she'll keep avoiding everything else and then she'll never grow up. She'll stay stuck the way she is and the spell will never wear off. For someone who's claiming to help her, you seem to be holding her back from getting over whatever made her this way in the first place!"

"You need to leave," Regina growled.

"How many times are we going to have this argument, Regina," David seriously asked, a little exasperated as he aimlessly motioned in Regina's direction with one hand before he dropped it to his side, his other hand still on his hip.

"Until you get it through your thick skull that pushing her isn't doing any good. I might be taking my time with finding a way to reverse the spell, but don't tell me what I'm doing isn't helping. She does smile. Just not around you. Keep pushing her and invading her space and I can guarantee you'll undo any progress she makes."

David let out a frustrated growl and ran his hands down his face.

"I don't mean to push or pry. I just want to know what's going on! I want to be able to talk to my daughter and I want to help with whatever's happening."

"Then give her space," Regina slowly spelled it out for him again. "It's simple. She'll come to you when she's ready."

"Can you promise that," David asked and finally the defeat set in on his face and weighed on his shoulders.

"I can't promise it. But she came to me," Regina calmly pointed out, sympathy in her eyes and voice. "Give her a chance to do the same and come to you."

"Okay," Charming said and nodded. "Uh, thanks. You know, for…for watching out for her. I still don't- You did a lot in Neverland and I know that I should be more inclined to trust you right now, but it's just…"

"It's difficult to let go. I get it. Don't forget that Henry didn't want to be around me for a time."

"Right. Uh, well, sorry to bother you at dinner. Guess maybe I'll call next time."

Regina nodded and watched David leave. She took her time to close the door while he made his way down the pathway and she sucked in a deep breath, her shoulders tense, before she turned her back on the door. She leaned back against it and heavily exhaled with a worn expression on her face. Just as a hint of doubt started to seep into her bones, Emma appeared in the foyer just outside the kitchen.

Emma frowned, her eyes big like a sad puppy, and for a moment she just stared across the foyer at Regina. Regina blinked and suddenly Emma ran across the foyer toward her. Emma's arms wrapped around her in an instant and held her tight while the blonde crashed against her and nearly ran her backward into the closed front door.

"Thank you," Emma said with her chin on Regina's shoulder.

Regina wrapped her arms around Emma's waist and hugged her back. She had no verbal response for the teen. "You're welcome" wasn't necessary. Regina may have done Emma a favor, but Regina didn't see it that way. She hadn't done anything that should garner praise, but Emma seemed grateful and Regina wasn't going to deny the blonde a hug.

Then, with Emma's next words, it became clear why the other woman might have thanked her.

"They don't understand me. Not the way you do."

Regina's only response to that was to hug Emma tighter. She closed her eyes and ran her hand up Emma's back until her fingers reached the blonde's ponytail. She gently tugged on the end of it and smiled, her action sure to break up the intensity of the moment.

It wasn't until they pulled apart that Regina remembered Emma was covered in flour. She looked down at her clothes and saw her black sweater spotted with transferred flour.

"You just couldn't resist, could you," Regina joked with a smile.

Emma laughed as she took in the damage she caused.

"Is anyone else ready to watch this movie yet," Henry complained from the top of the stairs with a frown and crossed arms.

Emma and Regina looked up at him with matching smiles before Regina told him to get the big blanket from the coat closet. Henry bounded down the stairs and fished out the big blanket from the top shelf of the closet while Emma and Regina went upstairs to shower and change.

Regina, the queen of quick showers, rejoined Henry first and took a seat on one side of him while they watched the end of a movie and waited for Emma to come down. It was another ten minutes before the blonde came into the living room with her hair still damp, but dressed in cotton pajama pants and another tank top, which apparently was her go-to sleepwear whenever Henry was around to see her.

"Finally," Henry and Regina said as Emma plopped down on the couch on the other side of Henry.

"Yeah, yeah. The water got cold on me because Regina showered at the same time. I spent a few extra minutes cranking up the heat."

Not another word was said as Emma and Regina curled up with Henry under the big red, gray and black plaid blanket that was deliciously warm and fit all three of them beneath it with a little room to spare for more on each side. The movie started within the next minute and Emma and Regina leaned against Henry to cushion him between them while they watched Elf.