Emma had located the diner easily enough. Her nerves had subsided and now she was more excited to see Red and Granny. She opened the door and Henry took off toward a vacant booth. She took her time catching up to him, taking in the site of the diner filled with customers. She didn't see anyone behind the counter, so she sat down with Henry and waited. They were in the middle of a very intense game of Thumb War when Emma caught site of the dark haired waitress. She still had her red streak in her hair. Emma took in the mini skirt, skin tight crop top and mid calf boots and whistled.
"If every waitress dressed like that, I'd eat out more often." Emma said loud enough for the brunette to hear.
"Excuse me?" the waitress spun around with a look of annoyance on her face.
"Hey Red." Emma replied with a smile. Red's eyes widened in recognition.
"Emma!" the waitress rushed over and engulfed her in a huge hug.
"It's good to see you too." Emma chuckled.
"Your hair..." Red trailed of, running her fingers through the tips of the brown mane. Then she stepped back to take in the the look of her old friend. "Damn, Em. Look who grew up and turned all sexy!"
"Red.." Emma cautioned and nodded her head toward the 5 year old intently watching them. Red glanced at the boy then turned back to Emma.
"Who is that?" Red asked. Before Emma could respond, the tiny human in question spoke up.
"I'm Henry Swan." He smiled. Red studied the boys features.
"Your Emma's son." She stated
"Yep. She carried me in her tummy for like, 1000 months." He finished dramatically. Red suppressed a laugh and turned back to Emma.
"Yep. He's yours." she chuckled. "So... Emma Swan?" she asked. Emma simply nodded. Ruby thought for a minute, noticing the swan necklace on her friends neck. "I like it." Red joined Emma and Henry at there table. "Something tells me that childhood crush of yours never really went away" She added, eyeing the white gold chain.
"I think it just got deeper." Emma sighed.
"You've seen Regina? How did that go?" Red inquired.
"Well, she didn't recognize me, for one. She was so professional. The meeting was short and to the point. I couldn't take my eyes off of her the entire time, Red. But, I couldn't bring myself to tell her who I was." She paused and glanced at Henry, who was now drawing pictures of UFOs on Ruby's note pad. "I can't believe she didn't recognize me."..."Mommy"... "I mean she even looked at me right in the eyes."... "Mommy"... "I saw her pause and then she was all business like it was nothing."... "Mooommmmyy" Henry dragged out his whine and grabbed Emma's arm.
"Yes, Henry?" Emma sighed.
"I'm dying from hunger." He informed her, dramatically dropping his head onto the table.
"Let me go ahead and get your orders in." Red laughed. She took their order and took it back into the kitchen. She returned about 20 minutes later with Granny in tow. They were carrying Emma and Henry's dinner.
"Emma..." Granny said affectionately. Emma rose from her seat to give Granny a hug.
"It's good to see you Granny." Emma said quietly. Emma returned to her seat and got Henry situated with his food. Granny remained standing and moved next to where her granddaughter was seated. "This little booger, is my son, Henry."
"You're a booger." was Henry's muffled response. He had already dug into his food and had a mouth full of fries.
"Manners, kid." Emma lightly scolded.
"Well aren't you Handsome." Granny addressed the child.
"I know." He replied.
"Henry..." Emma scolded again.
"Thank you." Henry corrected with a huge smile directed at Granny.
"He's definitely yours." Granny stated before heading to a table that was newly occupied. "Don't take too long Red!"
"When did you guys leave the shelter?" Emma inquired.
"When Mayor Gold shut it down." Red sigh. Emma's eyes went wide in shock and curiosity. "A couple years after you left, Gold decided that the town needed to focus more on tourists and expanded. He proposed to have shelter shut down and remodeled into a hotel." Red took in Emma's expression. "I know right?! Tourists in Storybrooke? Then man was greedy and very inappropriate. I can't Belle slept with him. Fucken gross." Red finished up her rant.
"Ruby..." Emma scolded. Luckily Henry was blissfully swirling his chicken tender in bbq sauce. "Wait, Belle did what?!" Emma's mind finally caught up to the conversation.
"Yea. They lasted a couple of years, but she left him after he bullied enough town officials to pass his proposal. He had all the children transferred out of here. He didn't get to finish his project though." Red left Emma hanging.
"What happened?" Emma asked eagerly.
"Regina happened. She pushed him out of office. It was too late to save the shelter, but she stopped the reconstruction. She's proposed to have a huge park built instead." Red finished.
"Wow." Emma was at a loss for words.
"Yea. She has done a lot of good for this town. In only a year too. She helped Snow start her own children's home. The town is paying to have the old fire station renovated to accommodating about 10 kids."
"That's amazing" Emma was in awe.
"So you're staying?" Red asked
"Yea. I'm staying. You are looking at the new town Deputy." Emma smiled.
"Awesome! I have to get back to work before Granny has an aneurysm. You, me, and Jack Daniels Friday night. We have tons of catching up to do. I"ll invite Snow and Belle." Ruby got up to leave.
"It's a date." Emma replied with a smile.
Emma suddenly wasn't feeling very hungry. She leaned back in her seat and watched Henry happily eat his food. She kept asking herself why she came back here. She knew the answer, but she didn't know what she was going to do with. She came back to see Regina, but now what. She wanted to tell the woman who she was, but she was scared of how the brunette would react. Emma knew she shouldn't have left like she did so long ago, but that is what she did. When she saw the conflict approaching, she ran before it could get to her. It all started unintentionally when she was 8 years old. At first, she was continuously moved around do to circumstance. Then when she was 8, she ran away for the first time.
She was living in a foster home with 3 other children. One of the couples birth children was a nasty little brat. He was 12 years old and spoiled rotten. Not a day that went by, where he wasn't bullying Emma in some way. One night he had decided it would be fun to lock Emma in a small closet for nearly 5 hours. She was genuinely scared of the boy. After being constantly threatened, she ran from the house with only her backpack and baby blanket. She wasn't lost long. She was found in the local library and handed over to the police when she refused to speak to anyone. After that, she made a habit of running. She wasn't looking for a prefect home. She just wanted to be somewhere she knew she would be OK. That's why she liked the Storybrooke shelter so much. She knew she should have stayed. At least her impulsive decisions got her Henry.
He was the first person to make her want to stop running. She wanted to settle down for him and give him some stability. Emma didn't feel like they could settle here, in Storybrooke, until she figured out this thing with Regina. She needed to talk to her. To find out if there is still something there. Emma still felt it and she found herself hoping that Regina would feel it too.
Regina quietly out of her bed, not wanting to wake the sleeping sheriff. She grabbed her robe off the chair near her vanity and covered her bare body. She walked quietly downstairs to her study and poured herself a small helping of cider. She thought briefly about the man upstairs. She wasn't looking forward waking him, but she wouldn't allow him to stay the night. That would only start up more unwanted conversations. She didn't want a relationship. She just wanted to be able to scratch an itch without needing AA batteries. She wouldn't have even called him over this evening, if it wasn't for that damn deputy in those skin tight jeans and those beautiful green eyes. She had spent the entire briefing avoiding those hypnotic eyes. She couldn't help feeling like she knew those eyes, or they knew her, or something. Regina let out a frustrated huff, rolling her eyes and swallowing the last of her drink. Then she headed back upstairs to deal with Graham.