Her back was uncharacteristically hunched as she leaned over the kitchen island, coddling a mug of tea in her exhausted hands. Her eyes were closed as she breathed in the steam. Henry smelled peppermint richly wafting from the mug as he paused in the doorway of the kitchen, watching her silently for a moment.
"Hey, Mom," he finally greeted her, softly so as not to startle her: he knew she was used to living in that huge house alone by now. Sure enough, she jumped when his voice met her ears.
"Henry!" Her smile was radiant as she straightened up to greet him. "What are you doing up so early, honey?"
The child shrugged. He'd slipped out of his jeans and a pair of Tron underwear peaked out from under yesterday's now impossibly wrinkled shirt. His hair stuck out at odd ends, and Regina wondered if Emma's stuck out like that in the mornings, too. Henry looked marvelously comfortable - as he had not in her home for far too long - and Regina's heart swelled as he slipped onto a stool next to her.
"You gonna tell me all about yesterday and last night? I woke up a little when you and Emma tucked me in, but I must have fallen right back asleep: is she still here?" He looked around, as though she might pop out of one of the cabinets at any moment.
Regina shook her head somewhat sadly. Henry frowned. "But, Regina told him, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "I'm fairly certain she - well, you know - share my feelings!" Her voice rose as it used to when she was excited as a teenager and she grinned in an embarrassed, off-handed way that Henry thought suited her well. He clapped his hands together excitedly.
"Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
"So she likes you but didn't want to sleep over?" Regina nodded affirmatively as he shook his head, sipping his mother's tea as he did so. "Grown-ups are so weird. But that's okay, because listen, I have a plan for the next stage of Operation Phoenix!"
"Henry, I don't even know what stage we're on anymore," Regina moaned lightly in an almost Emma-like manner, running her hands over her face and through her hair.
"That's okay, 'cause I do! We're in the stage where you and Emma both know you both like each other, but don't know how to keep going from there. And that's what you have me for!"
Regina chuckled softly as she ruffled his hair. "Our little matchmaker," she murmured. "So what's next?"
"Emma's birthday," Henry told her simply.
Her heart plummeted. Of course, it was a few days from then. How could she have forgotten? The twenty-ninth anniversary of her casting the curse... And a year since she had met the blonde.
I made a wish on this cupcake I bought myself: that I didn't have to be alone on my birthday.
"It's okay, Mom. I know," Henry comforted softly, putting his little hand on hers, having watched the realization and fear flit across her face. "I'll help you. It's gonna be perfect."
"No," she told him flatly, firmer than she'd been with him in a long time. "Absolutely not, Henry. I couldn't possibly - "
"But you've got to, Mom. If you don't help them plan it, they'll do it on their own and mess it up," he pleaded.
"And not even invite me," Regina muttered moodily. She inhaled and livened back up. "Which would be preferable to the humiliation of - "
"Mom, please. I know it's hard, but you can do it. Plus, Emma will appreciate it that much more because she'll know how hard it was for you to do."
"And I can't just have things easy for once because...?" Her tone was deliberately light, but a groundswell of pain was threatening to erupt underneath it.
Like his other mother, always knowing exactly how to mend her - or break her - Henry soothed her, saying, "You will, Mom. That's what Operation Phoenix is all about. Come on. Don't make me use my puppy eyes."
And so it happened that Regina found herself tapping her bare foot on the kitchen floor in anxious impatience and dread, grimacing at Henry's shining face as t he phone rang.
"H - hello?" came the confused - and mildly alarmed - greeting.
"Relax, Snow, I haven't changed my mind about resisting killing you. I'm calling because - " she paused, and Henry nodded, enthusiastically gesturing to her to go on, just like they'd practiced. " - because it's almost your daughter's birthday, and Henry and I would like to plan the celebration..." Henry cleared his throat and rolled his hand at her: go on. "... with you and David." She rolled her eyes playfully at Henry.
A confused pause and set of stammerings filled the line. "Oh, um, wow, Regina... I... um..."
"Come now, dear, if I'd wanted to cast a disoriented-babbling spell over the phone, I would have. But I assure you that I did no such thing, so an articulate response would really be appreciated. Sometime before Emma's next birthday would be preferable."
Henry grinned exasperatedly into his hands. "What?" Regina mouthed at him innocently as she play-smacked his shoulder lightly. "I'm trying."
Two hours and several Saturday morning cartoons later, Regina and Henry were walking up the stairs to Mary Margaret's apartment, having been assured that Emma was at work and, since David had taken a week off to spend with Snow, she wouldn't be back to the apartment any time soon. Regina paused at the threshold of the door, looking down at Henry apprehensively. "It'll be okay, Mom. You kind of brought Mary Margaret back to life in a weird way. What you said really made her start living again. They know that. It'll be okay." She gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded at him to open the door.
Snow and Charming were sitting together at the kitchen table, heads near each other over two steaming mugs of coffee. A third mug, bright green, was powerfully wafting the scent of hot chocolate, with a touch of cinnamon, throughout the apartment, and a fourth mug - simple, black, and empty - was empty near them.
Snow rose overeagerly as Henry and his mother entered, rushing to scoop up the empty mug and offering it out to Regina. "Regina! Good morning! Tea, coffee?"
The Queen arched an eyebrow. "Sword fighting and that quaint little bow of yours suit you better than domesticity, dear. And I'm quite sure I can make my own tea."
She imperiously strode into the kitchen to do just that.
Charming and Henry exchanged glances, both stifling their laughter. David tried to rearrange his face into a more serious expression, and Henry mimicked him comically.
"So, Regina," David began, standing against the table, crossing his arms slowly, "what plans do you have for our daughter - " He paused, and Regina, ever graceful, fumbled the mug she was holding. "- 's birthday?" he finished, a mischievous grin lighting up his features. He wiped it off of his face as she looked up at him, seething, realizing she'd been toyed with.
He sensed danger and backpedaled. "Snow was thinking of a ball, and - "
David stopped mid-sentence as Regina scoffed to herself. "Something wrong?" Snow chimed, holding her coffee mug in front of her lips as though it would protect her from harm.
"I know you may want your daughter to have a ball, Snow dear, but what do you imagine she would want for her birthday? Certainly not flouncy dresses and chivalrous men?"
"No, you're right, she'd prefer - what? - cleavage and apple pie?" Regina arched an eyebrow as David nodded his head realistically behind Snow's back.
"I'm sure she would, dear, but that's not the only thing I was going to suggest." Snow blanched. Henry and Charming were watching them like a tennis match and seemed to be amused: or, perhaps, relieved that the two hadn't yet come to blows.
"Emma abhors being the center of attention, but she also doesn't want to..." Regina paused, glancing at Henry. The glint in his eye helped her continue. "... to be alone on her birthday. She'll want to be with people she cares for, but without the pomp and circumstance that you grew up with, dear."
"You had it, too, Regina," Snow whispered. Dangerous darkness and tales of nights long gone but relived daily surged into the Queen's eyes.
"You've never celebrated my birthday, Snow White. Did you never realize that? You commemorated your mother's every year, certainly, but Daddy dearest never thought to acknowledge mine, let alone ask when it was."
Tears filled Snow's eyes. "My father was a good man," she defended softly, and David began to step forward with his arms slightly out in front of him.
"To you he was. But not to his teenage bride." Regina's whisper was deadly and it penetrated the marrow of every bone in Snow's body.
The women locked eyes and a flash of understanding and horror passed through Snow's. She blinked, as though trying to rid her eyelids of something heavy.
"So Regina, if a ball is out of the question, what did you have in mind for Emma's birthday?"
David relaxed his hands and Henry let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Regina flashed her best Madam Mayor smile. "Something befitting a princess, never fear," she informed the woman she'd spent decades trying to best.
An hour of party-planning and Regina-talking-to-David-about-the-animal-shelter later, Henry's phone buzzed.
"Uh, guys," he interrupted the adults. He held his phone out for them to all see the screen.
Hey kid, what r u & ur mom up 2? Wanna have lunch, the 3 of us?
Regina scoffed. Again. Charmings seemed to have that effect on her. "Honestly, Henry, I need to have a word with your mother about what kind of spelling and grammar she's teaching you."
"Hey, my texts are always fine!" he defended gamely. He ruffled his hair and kissed his head. "Of course they are, sweetie."
"Why the change, Regina? A couple of weeks ago, you and Emma were fighting tooth and nail over Henry. What happened? Emma's his mother now, too? Why the change of heart?" Snow's question wasn't aggressive, but it was probing, and it irked Regina deeply.
"Well, you would know all about changes of heart, wouldn't you, dear?" Regina asked bitingly, memories of her mother beating hard on the surface of her brain. Their eyes bore into each other again, and Regina shifted her gaze to Henry after several moments of burning. "I think we've got a plan solidly in order, Henry, if you'd like to meet Emma for lunch."
His face lit up. "Sure!" he scrambled out of his chair. "So, we're all clear on the plan, right?"
Snow and Charming nodded. Regina got up and paused awkwardly. She pictured Emma's face as they were about to kiss the day before as she forced some of the most difficult words for her to say to these people out of her lips: "Thank you."
Snow nodded silently, and Regina turned to leave.
"Don't break my daughter's heart, Regina," Snow said mildly. Regina turned, eyes wide. "You have it, you know. Her heart. Sometimes I think you always have."
"I can't promise you that I won't," the Queen responded with uncharacteristic softness, and David heard a trace of tears in her throat. "But I can promise you that I don't want to."
"That'll do," David whispered as he watched the woman he was already beginning to see as his daughter-in-law leave with his grandson. He thought of her tears in the stable when she'd said been forced to let Daniel go again, and he took comfort: she could love, and incredibly deeply, at that. Perhaps more deeply than most. If she allowed herself to love his daughter, well then... Emma could frankly do much worse. He wrapped his arm around Snow's shoulder as she shook her head in shock at what had just happened and began making phone calls to prepare for the party.
Mother and son walked into the dinner bouncing with energy. The short walk to the diner had been enough to clear Regina's head and heart of the bitterness and acute sense of loss she'd felt while dealing with Emma's parents, especially when Henry showed her an exchange he'd just had with Emma.
We're having a good time. Mom says she'd love to meet up with you. Me too! See you soon!
Really kid? She said that?
Well, not exactly, but I just know! Why, does it matter?
Just makes me happy is all. See you soon. I'm going to order your mom her usual - do you think she'd like that?
Affirmative!
:)
Regina's heart soared, loving the way her son was positively bursting with excitement about the progress of Operation Phoenix. And, she couldn't lie to herself, she loved the way it was making her feel, too.
The bell on the door chimed and Emma stood eagerly, striding over to wrap Henry in her arms. She looked at Regina over the top of his head and immediately blushed. "Hi," she said openly, in a similar tone of voice to the one she had used in the first word she'd ever spoken to the woman.
You're Henry's birth mother?
Hi.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Swan," Regina answered her pleasantly. Emma frowned at the formal address, but Regina winked as she slipped past her to the table Emma had saved for them.
Henry's phone buzzed.
Your grandma just called me. Ur mom is srsly throwing Em a bday party? U got some serious skills, kid!
Henry looked up with a grin to see Ruby pocketing her phone. He shrugged confidently at her, basking in success.
"How's Hansel, Henry?" Regina asked once they settled down. "He seemed to be able to have a good time last night: was he really alright after that terrible scare?"
Henry nodded as he drank some water and swallowed a few nerves. "He was alright. You jumped in there so quick he didn't have too much time to feel scared."
Regina smiled softly. "And have you been able to determine if you make him feel nice, like you said he makes you feel?"
Henry scrunched up his nose. "I think I do. I hope I do. We held hands while we were skating yesterday! He even took off his mittens so he could hold my hand extra close!"
Regina grinned and glanced at Emma, who was also smiling, but staring at her intently. She suppressed the rush of heat that surged through her body at the intensity in Emma's eyes, and returned her attention to Henry.
"That's wonderful, honey! Now, you know that if you ever feel like you want to touch him, you need to get his permission first?"
Henry nodded as Ruby slipped their food in front of them, a barely suppressed look of glee on her face.
Emma chimed in after they all thanked her. "Yeah, and he's gotta get your permission to touch you, too, kid. Make sure he does that, okay?"
Regina's lips parted as she stared at Emma. Her heart sang at Emma's words, loving her more in his moment - as she swiped a french fry through Henry's milk shake - than she ever had.
"Oh, 'Gina, I ordered you that salad and fries that you always get: the kid said it would be okay, and I thought it'd be a nice surprise, but if you don't want it, I - "
"It's lovely, thank you, Emma," Regina cut her off, leaning over and taking an onion ring off of Emma's plate. "More thoughtful than I would have expected, but be that as it may..."
Emma made a face at her and plucked an olive out of Regina's salad with her fingers, plopping it in her mouth with relish.
Henry beamed as he watched his moms share each others' food without acknowledging what they were doing throughout the entire meal, which he spent animatedly reenacting for them the drama of the day before and how happy Grace was when she saw that Granny had put all of her favorite flavors into the cake.
Emma glanced at her cell phone after a half hour. "Alright, kid, I've gotta get back to the office." She stood, throwing a twenty dollar bill and a ten on the table. "Tell Ruby to keep the change, okay?"
"Oh, Emma, that's really not necessary, I - "
"It's my pleasure, Regina," Emma interrupted her, a decisive note in her voice. To Emma's and Henry's surprise - and most of all, to Regina's - the older woman backed down immediately, thanking the blonde softly.
Emma smiled as she put on her jacket. Henry gesticulated behind Emma's back at his adoptive mother. "Ask her!" he mouthed. "Animal shelter!" Panic flitted across her eyes - what if she says no? - but Henry sent a smile and thumbs up her way. She steeled her nerve and took a deep breath, forcing casualness into her voice.
"Oh, Emma, before I forget to tell you: I spoke with your father this morning, and he said there's no reason that I can't take over the animal shelter. Seems my administrative skills as well as my affinity for animals are no secret. Why don't we have dinner tomorrow night to talk details? As Sheriff, you are the highest-ranking official in town now, after all."
Emma opened and closed her mouth a few times as though she'd been thrown under water and told she was a fish. When she spoke, her voice cracked slightly as her cheeks reddened.
"Wow, that uh... That sounds great. See you at seven?"
Henry practically jumped in the air and pumped his fist in victory, and if truth be told, Regina was screaming with joy on the inside as well.
She smiled calmly. "Seven it is, then... Emma."
"Nice work, Your Majesty," Ruby murmured happily as she watched Emma's radiant smile as she left. Tomorrow night was going to be the most exciting at the diner in a longgg time.