a/n: I'm so sorry for the delay in posting. Here is the next installment. I hope you enjoy. Please take a minute and let me know what you think. We're getting close to the end of this story, so if there are any unanswered questions you have, please let me know so I don't forget to tie up all the loose ends. Thank you all for your continued interest and support, it really means the world to me.

Chapter 21

Emma had returned from my office by the time Henry and I appeared in the foyer. As soon as he saw her, Henry leaped into her arms and said, "I'm sorry, Emma."

She awkwardly patted his back and asked, "What's wrong, kid? Why are you apologizing?"

"I'm sorry my dad hurt you," he muttered thickly, tears filling his eyes.

Emma's eyes shot to mine in confusion and in a voice too quiet for Henry to hear, I murmured, "I explained how Neal's actions affected you when he sent you to jail."

Understanding lit in her eyes and she gave me a brief nod before squeezing Henry more tightly against her and said, "It's not your fault, kid."

I smiled and left them to their privacy. Walking into the kitchen, I quickly decided to make a simple pasta dish for dinner. It would be the most filling meal I could make that would allow everyone to eat before the town meeting. As I cooked, I pondered what would happen at the meeting. It seemed as though everything hinged on this one meeting.

After two months of near peace while Emma and I privately dealt with the curse and my beast, it seemed as though everything was changing too rapidly to comprehend. And now, our secret was out and even after the altercation with Snow and Charming, we could still be run out of town if things went poorly. And that wasn't even allowing for the consideration of what Rumple could do.

There was a tense weight in the air over Storybrook as though something momentous was about to happen, something that could forever alter the course of everyone's lives. I didn't know what would happen and even the most well thought out plan couldn't account for all the variables. It set me on edge and I hated not knowing what to expect.

Unfortunately, it was a feeling I was all too familiar with. Every time I had faced off with Snow in the Enchanted Forest, the same foreboding would fill the air. It had been rare that I was able to come out of the top of those altercations and I could only hope that this time would be different. Emma and I had to prevail. I had finally found the happiness I had sought for so many long years. Surely Fate wouldn't be so cruel as to dangle it in front of me and then rip it away so quickly.

Any potential pain I would feel if this turned out badly was nothing in comparison of what it would do to Henry. He deserved so much more than the loss and heartache I had been forced to live with. Surely, his pure heart would be enough to tip the scales in our direction and allow us this victory. Fate had not been kind to either of his mothers and I had to hold on to the hope that our suffering would be enough tribulation to procure happiness for our son.

"You're thinking too loudly, Gina. What's wrong?" Emma asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

I looked over to see that she was leaning in the doorway watching me. I wondered how long she had been there, but quickly pushed away the idle thought and said, "I don't like not knowing what will happen next."

She nodded and pushed off the wall, moving over to wrap her arms around me. I leaned into her, needing the comfort of her loving embrace. "It'll be alright. We'll get through this," She said softly.

I sighed, "How can you be so sure?"

Emma chuckled lightly and teasingly said, "Because Good always wins."

I huffed and pushed back to lift an eyebrow at the blonde. "But darling, we're vampires. Don't you know that vampires are evil?"

"Not according to Twilight," she replied with a smirk.

I couldn't help but laugh. I pushed her away and turned back to the now boiling water on the stove. "That doesn't count, darling. I have never, nor will I ever sparkle," I said dryly.

Emma snorted and wryly said, "I don't know about that, Regina. Some of those pictures from Henry's book show you wearing some rather shiny jewelry when you were queen."

I turned to fix her with a narrow-eyed glare and coldly said, "That was entirely different, Miss Swan. Jewelry is meant to sparkle, especially when worn by the queen. Skin is not meant to sparkle; I will leave that to the pathetic excuses for teen heartthrobs and Rumplestiltskin."

"Wait, what?" she asked incredulously.

I smirked and said, "In the Enchanted Forest, the Dark One was marked by skin that looked as though it had been embedded with gold dust." Emma's nose crinkled in disgust and I chuckled.

"Fine, then Twilight was a bad example. But there are plenty of other stories where vampires are the good guys, so your argument is still invalid," Emma huffed.

It only made my amusement deepen and I shifted to lightly rub against her body as I seductively purred, "Of course, darling. How could I forget your fondness for vampire erotica?" When I felt a shiver run through her, I lightly scraped my extended fangs along the skin of her soft throat, drawing a soft moan from her lips.

"Ewww, that is so gross. Do you have to do that in the kitchen?" Henry whined, startling both Emma and I.

We jerked away from each other, neither of us realizing that he had come into the kitchen. I gaped down at our grimacing son, having no idea what to say to explain what he'd seen. Emma recovered first and awkwardly said, "Sorry, kid. We—uh—well, your mom and I were just fooling around."

Henry's face twisted with more disgust and he said, "I don't need to know about that. I just wanted to know when dinner would be ready."

I glared at Emma and quickly said, "It's almost finished, dear. Will you set the table? Ruby, Belle and Granny should be here soon."

"Yeah, okay," he said quickly, grabbing a fistful of silverware and racing out of the room.

Emma started laughing and I lightly smacked her arm. "This isn't funny, Emma. Henry is too young to be exposed to that type of behavior."

She held up her hands and said, "Hey, calm down, Regina. He'll be fine." When my jaw tightened and I glowered, she hurriedly added, "Besides, that obviously wasn't the first time he's seen us."

Shock washed over me and I hissed, "Explain, now!"

"Well, he wasn't surprised at all. He just seemed kinda grossed out. Which means he's obviously been spying on us," she said, backing up to put a little space between us.

My eyes widened and I felt horrified. "What do you think he's seen?"

She shrugged, "I have no idea, but probably enough to know what would have happened if he hadn't interrupted us."

I closed my eyes and tried to calm my racing thoughts. After a moment, I opened them to glare at Emma as I called out, "Henry, will you please come here!"

He shuffled in a moment later, not looking at either of us. "What?" he asked warily.

I didn't want to have this conversation, but I knew it was necessary. I took one short, steadying breath and said, "Emma is under the impression that this wasn't the first time you've witnessed us in a compromising situation. Is that true? Did you accidentally see something you shouldn't have?"

Henry turned bright red and he shuffled his feet. It took him a moment to respond before he quietly admitted, "Yes."

I immediately knelt in front of him and said, "I'm sorry, Henry. What did you see?"

He still wouldn't meet my eyes as he quietly mumbled, "I, um—I saw you guys by the door after my dad came to the house."

His voice was so quiet that I could barely understand what he said even with my vampiric hearing. I immediately wished I hadn't heard. Shame washed through me. My eyes fluttered shut as I remembered every detail of the moment he had witnessed.

The second the door shut behind me, Emma pressed me against it, locking her lips to mine in a hungry, needy kiss. I growled, pushing my tongue past her lips to claim her mouth. It was a desperate kiss filled with the anger, frustration and the fear that had plagued me over the last several days.

I flipped our positions; breaking the kiss to snarl out a possessive, "Mine!"

"Yours," Emma gasped.

I didn't wait and plunged my fangs into her throat. We both moaned as I fed desperately on her sweet blood. I immediately reached for her mind even as my hands worked frantically at the fly of her jeans. I needed to claim all of her in that moment.

"Mine!" I purred in her mind.

"I'm yours, Gina," she replied.

I shoved my hand down the front of her pants, pushing two fingers into her waiting heat. She shuddered against me and I matched the pace of my thrusts to the movements of my mouth on her neck. Her head fell back against the door, giving me more access to her throat. I shifted and pulled one of her legs up to loop around my waist to give me a better angle to plunge into her.

I could taste and feel her mounting desire and when she was on the edge of her release, I mentally demanded, "Come for me, Emma."

She groaned, shuddering through her orgasm. As she rode out the waves of pleasure, I pulled my fangs out and closed the wounds in her neck. When the last tremor faded, I slipped my hand from her pants and licked my fingers clean. My eyes fluttered shut as the taste of her arousal mixed with her blood on my tongue.

I blinked my eyes open and swallowed hard against the bile trying to rise in my throat. That had been just before we'd broken the curse and the beast had been pushing me to re-stake my claim on Emma after we had barely spoken for several days. "Henry, I'm sorry that you saw that. It was never my intention to expose you to such an…unseemly situation. Do—do you need to talk about what you saw?"

He shook his head furiously and whispered, "No, please, Mom, can we just forget about it?"

I fought back a wave of guilt and nodded, "Of course, sweetheart, but if you change your mind. You can come talk to us. Alright?"

"Okay. I—uh, I'm going to my room until dinner is ready," Henry said softly, still avoiding looking at either of us.

"Of course, dear," I replied and he ran from the room as quickly as he could, only making my guilt and shame deepen.

When he was gone, Emma let out a long sigh and groaned, "God, why did he have to see that time?"

I was back on my feet and pressing her against the counter in a flash. "What do you mean, Emma? You'd prefer that he had witnessed a different moment? Perhaps one of the many times we've fucked and fed from each other in our bedroom?" I growled warningly.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head, "Of course not, Regina. I wish he hadn't seen us at all. I just meant that if he had to see us feeding, I wish it had been one of the times we hadn't been fucking."

The offended sincerity in her eyes calmed me somewhat and I stepped back, absently running my hands through my hair. "I'm sorry, Emma. I'm just upset," I sighed.

"I know, me too. But it happens, Gina, kids walk in on their parents having sex. It doesn't make it right, but it does happen," she replied and I could hear her own guilt and shame in her voice.

"You're right, dear. I just wish…" I trailed off, focusing on finishing the pasta as all the desires I had for Henry's childhood ran through my mind.

Emma's arms circled me from behind. "Me too, Gina. Me too," she said softly, propping her chin on my shoulder. I hummed in response and leaned back into her, letting the warmth of her body comfort me with the knowledge that I wasn't alone in caring for my son any longer.

The doorbell rang, effectively ending the peaceful moment. Emma stepped back and said, "I'll get it. Go ahead and finish their dinner."

"Thank you," I said to Emma's departing back. My earlier anxieties began seeping back in and I let out a sigh and reached for the plates. I needed to focus on the town and not on whatever distress Henry was dealing with over the intimacy he'd witnessed.

Dinner went surprisingly smoothly, despite Henry's obvious discomfort at the beginning of the meal. When we began discussing Ruby's suggestion for dealing with Rumple, he noticeably brightened and engaged in the conversation. I purposely avoided including Neal in the discussion as I didn't want to spark another fight with him.

While we planned, I realized that I was enjoying the company despite the subject being discussed. Seeing Emma and Ruby's teasing jokes and the quiet excitement on Belle's face had warmth spreading through my chest. I even enjoyed Granny's quiet sarcasm and I couldn't help but wonder if this was what it felt like to have actual friends as opposed to sharing a meal with the nobles of my kingdom.

It was strange to consider that it had required two curses and nearly 60 years of misery to give me this simple happiness. Even as a child, I'd never had friends. There had been peers that I associated with under my mother's supervision, but I'd never had the opportunity for this type of easy companionship. Not until Emma came into my life. She was truly the Savior. Not only had she broken the curse I'd cast and the curse I'd been tormented with, but she saved me from the loneliness and heartache that I'd lived with for so many years. Emma caught my eye and winked before turning back to Ruby and I couldn't help but fall more deeply in love with her.

By the time the meal had ended, we had a plan. I didn't like that it mostly meant we had to wait until Rumple made his move, but I wasn't about to confront him in his shop. He had too many artifacts there that could be used against us. Granny agreed to stay with Henry while the rest of us made our way to Town Hall for Snow's meeting. Ruby and Belle would sit in the audience, while Emma and I waited behind the curtains in the meeting hall. We both decided it would be best if we were able to observe what was happening without being seen. It was really the best option to insure we could react quickly if Rumple showed up.

As Ruby and Belle left, Emma and I hugged our son and grabbed Jefferson's hat. Taking Emma's hand, I called on my magic and transported us to Town Hall. When the smoke of my magic dissipated, I heard the unmistakable squeak of a startled Snow White.

"Regina!? What are you doing here?" she hissed, obviously trying to keep her voice from carrying past the curtains. But the sounds from the auditorium, I knew people had started to file in to learn what was going on in our sleepy little town and I wondered if David was out there to keep everyone calm until the meeting began.

I rolled my eyes and quietly said, "We are here to keep an eye on things. You really don't think I would blindly trust my safety in your hands, did you?"

Snow immediately looked affronted and she angrily said, "I'm not doing this for you. This is for Emma and I would never do anything to endanger her."

I lifted an eyebrow and coldly stated, "If that were true, Snow, you would have waited to see which one of us opened the door today before you fired the arrow that embedded itself in my heart."

Her eyes widened in shock and I could clearly see the moment she realized exactly how easily she could have killed her daughter and only sheer luck and her own ignorance had prevented it. She gaped at me for several seconds, trying to come up with a response before she settled on, "If it struck your heart, how are you still alive?"

'Of course she would refuse to deal with the more important issue,' I thought bitterly. "That is a marvelous question, dear. One which I may answer if you prove to be trustworthy in the future," I mocked.

"Regina…" Emma said warningly, putting a restraining hand on my shoulder.

I patted the hand on my shoulder and leaned closer to Snow to murmur in her ear, "You may be mine, dear. But you have a long way to go before I confide anything to you again."

She inhaled sharply and then softly groaned before her hands flew up to her face and she jerked away from me several steps, blushing furiously. I lifted an eyebrow and smirked. Apparently, the blood bond had more of an effect than I knew. In thinking about it, I realized that it made sense. A bound human would be more interested in being bitten if they were drawn to the vampire who had bound them. And if repeated exposure tightened the bind to the point of losing their sense of self, then it stood to reason that the process began the first time the human ingested the blood.

That thought had disgust filling me as I remembered that Henry had drunk from both Emma and I. If my theories were true, we would need to be very certain to keep a close eye on him as he got older and began exploring his sexuality, and never give him our blood again.

I glanced over at Emma to see if she had been thinking along the same lines as I had, but she was just quietly laughing at her mother. I sighed and turned to the still blushing Snow White. "Oh, do calm down, dear. You don't want to go out on the stage resembling one of my apples, do you?"

Her hands fell and she glared at me, "That's not funny, Regina."

I lifted an eyebrow, pleased to see her blush beginning to fade. "I found it to be rather humorous," I replied dryly.

She huffed and spun on her heel to storm out on stage. Emma snorted and dropped an arm around my shoulders before leaning in to whisper in my ear, "Seeing her reaction to your scent was the funniest thing I have ever seen."

I smirked and mildly stated, "And here I thought you'd be disturbed by the image of your mother being turned on by your lover. But, I suppose we all have our kinks." Emma started spluttering and I chuckled, moving out from under her arm to listen at the curtain.