Regina spent most of the day with Henry. She helped him clean the house, and they were done in a couple of hours-with a few breaks from the heat-and they ended up out in the backyard with ice-cold glasses of lemonade and a small radio with the music on low.

Their conversations throughout the day remained light. They never talked about anything too emotionally heavy, not like they had early that morning. Henry did ask her a lot of questions about the different places she'd lived and what her life had been like over the years.

Did you date anyone? Was it serious? Did you ever fall in love after Mom?

Yes, I dated. No, it never serious. No, I never fell in love again with anyone else.

Just after lunch, Marco showed up to check out the AC to see if it was fixable. It wasn't. He stayed for a glass of ice cold lemonade before he was on his way, promising Henry that he would make a few calls to see what he could to do to fix it, or at the very least have it replaced to make the sudden unbearable heatwave a little more tolerable.

She received the phone call she'd been waiting for just after two that afternoon. While it was unfortunate that they would have to wait until Monday for Henry's charges to be dropped, she was just grateful she heard back from them at all when she did. Every court system in every state, in every county, it all worked at a different pace and Portland was nothing like Boston or New York where there was a massive backlog unless you had some pull on the inside to get the paperwork moving quicker.

Henry was relieved but miserable. It meant he wasn't a free man, per se, until Monday. Three and a half more days. His mood dissipated when Regina reminded him that it could've been a hell of a lot worse. He could've been denied bail and been behind bars this whole time. It elevated his miserable mood just a little.

As a teenager, during summer vacation, being confined to the house was the worst thing in the world for Henry. He was getting cabin fever, and Regina feared to think of how much worse it could've gotten had the investigation not gone as quickly as it had.

After that phone call with the courthouse, she let Henry use her phone to call Robyn over to hang out for a little while out in the backyard while she went and picked up some groceries. Without a car, she had to call for one of the three cabs that serviced the town. It was that or borrow her mother's car or get her sister to drive her to the store and back, neither of them being an option she wanted to entertain.

Regina's heart felt full, and it took her browsing the aisles at the store to realize that she had gone most of the day without once having to battle those demons inside. Being with Henry for most of the day thus far had all but chased them away. Even walking past the liquor aisle hadn't triggered her as it had before, she barely even took a second glance at any of the bottles on the shelves as she made her way to the back of the store to pick up a jug of milk from the refrigerator.

It wasn't a quick trip, not as she'd initially thought it'd be. She went a little overboard in buying Emma and Henry groceries with a few treats thrown in for both of them. She even picked up a couple of Apollo chocolate bars as she knew they'd once been Henry's absolute favorite and hoped that they still were. By the time she got back to the house, it was after four, and with Robyn and Henry's help, the groceries were brought inside and put away in no time.

Regina was in the middle of preparing the chicken while Henry and Robyn figured out how to start the barbecue out back. They deemed it far too hot inside the house to cook in the kitchen. Regina was chopping up vegetables and seasoning them before wrapping them in foil to cook it on the barbecue when she heard a car pull up in the driveway. She grabbed the dish towel and wiped her hands just as Emma walked into the kitchen covered in mud.

"What on earth happened to you?" Regina laughed. Emma frowned, grumbling under her breath as she put her phone on the table and dropped her keys beside it. "I'm sorry for laughing, but you are quite the sight right now. What happened?"

"Foot chase," she replied as she removed her belt and carefully removed her gun from the holster. "I found some kids spraying graffiti behind the station. Bold, right? It's like they wanted to see if they would get caught. Chased one of them right out to the edge of the woods. I would've caught him if I didn't trip and fall into a puddle of mud."

"You're dripping," Regina said as she glanced down at the clean tiled floor. "Henry worked hard to clean the house today, and I won't have you ruining his hard work, now get into the shower and try not to trail more mud on the way to the bathroom, hmm?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Emma carefully walked over to where one of her three gun safes were stored in the house and opened the cabinet above the refrigerator and placed her gun inside. She spun around, a splotch of mud falling down to the tiled floor just beside her right foot and she grimaced as she looked down at it.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath. "I'll clean it all up after I shower, okay?" Emma pulled at the bottom of her dirty work shirt and untucked the hem from her pants. "Are you making dinner?"

"Yes, I am."

"What are we having?" Emma asked with a smile as she slowly began to unbutton the shirt, and another splotch of mud fell to the floor at her feet.

"Chicken, roasted vegetables, and rice. Henry and Robyn are out back trying to get the barbecue started. They're having a little trouble it seems."

"It's probably out of propane after the barbecue we had the other day," Emma groaned quietly. "Did Marco come by today at all?" Upon Regina's nod, she frowned. "It's busted up good, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately. I fear you may need to get a new unit installed."

"Those are expensive. I don't think I can afford to replace it."

Regina bit her tongue. She felt as if it weren't her place to mention that she had money now as she'd gotten a check from the insurance company just as she, Zelena, and her mother had when her father's will had been read.

She found it a little odd that Emma hadn't mentioned it at all, but then again, neither had she, and it wasn't exactly an easy topic of discussion. If it had been ten years ago when they'd been where they were together in life, it would've been a whole other topic of discussion completely.

It was still a little odd, but Regina was sure Emma had her reasons. She knew Emma had been struggling financially for years, Henry had mentioned it earlier in the day when he was talking about how tight money was usually and how many times the electricity had been shut off because Emma hadn't paid the bills on time.

"I'll be in and out," Emma said as she finished unbuttoning her shirt. "If they can't get the barbecue started, I'll run out and get another tank after I shower."

"All right."

"Have you been here all day?" Emma asked, and Regina blinked as she realized she was staring at the smooth expanse of skin that was exposed between Emma's open shirt. "Did you do Henry's chores for him? Because I don't think this kitchen has been this clean since after the renovation."

"I helped, mostly observed and supervised."

Emma laughed and waved her off before she hurried out of the kitchen and to the bathroom to shower before she dripped any more mud on the clean floors. Regina eyed each of the splats of mud on the white tiled floor, and after a few minutes, she was wiping them up with paper towels.

She'd just finished up when Henry and Robyn came back into the house with triumph grins on their faces. Henry made a beeline for the refrigerator and pulled out a couple of cans of Coke. He tossed one to Robyn and opened the other, slurping as he tried to gulp half of it down in one go.

"Mom's home?" Henry asked and Regina nodded. "Is she in the shower?" Another nod. "What did she say about the AC?"

"You'll have to talk to her about that later, Henry. Did you two get the barbecue started?"

"Yeah," he said and slurped out another sip from his can before Robyn pointedly handed him a glass with a look of disgust on her face. "So, I was telling Robyn about Operation Woo Mom."

"Henry, perhaps we shouldn't discuss this now."

"Why not?"

"She's just in the shower."

"She could hear us and ruin the whole thing!" Robyn laughed. "Anyway, Aunt Regina, I totally agree with Henry on this. You need to woo Emma."

"I suppose you have some ideas of your own, hmm?"

"Yes, like we're going to let you two eat dinner alone. Don't worry, we're not going to leave the house or anything since he can't, yet, but we'll be in his room, and neither of us are gonna come out until, you know."

"Until?" Regina asked curiously. "Until you know it's safe?"

"Yeah," Robyn laughed. "Henry told me about what he saw last night. The poor kid is traumatized."

"I am not traumatized!" Henry groaned. "It's just awkward and embarrassing to walk in on my moms like that. How would you feel if you walked in on your mom making out with some dude?"

"I'd be traumatized for life, duh!"

"Ugh," Henry groaned. "You are so overly dramatic sometimes, Robyn."

"And you aren't?" she laughed and she turned to Regina. "So, we're going to put everything on the grill while you and Emma, you know…"

Regina's face flushed as Robyn comically wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. It was odd, the whole thing, and it was definitely something she wasn't used to at all. Neither Henry or Robyn seem to be too fazed by the whole situation, and it left Regina reeling a bit in trying to wrap her head around their acceptance.

"Go on, Aunt Regina," Robyn said pointedly as she gave her a playful little push out of the kitchen. "Let us deal with dinner."

"But I-"

"No buts," Robyn said with a glare that was identical to her mother's that it scared Regina just a little bit. "Just go and woo your woman. Sweep her off her feet, let the birds sing songs of love as-"

"That's gross," Henry laughed. "You're so weird."

"I know I am, but so are you. Takes one to know one, weirdo."

Regina walked into the living room with a shake of her head, leaving the two of them to continue to bicker playfully at one another in the kitchen alone. Regina stopped walking when she realized she had no idea what the hell she was supposed to be doing. She knew she was supposed to be making dinner, but Henry and Robyn had taken over that in an attempt to start the first phase of Operation Woo Mom.

She could hear the shower running in the bathroom, and she fidgeted with the hem of her button-down blouse as she stood by the couch. After a few minutes, she sat down with a heavy sigh and her mind filled with less than pure thoughts of just how she could woo Emma Swan.

It was just simply too strange to have her niece and Emma's son pushing for them just to be together, instigating that they need to move faster and how the fact they were taking things slow was utter bullshit. Having not one but two teenagers involved in a so-called operation to get the two of them together-even though they already were back together per se-was out of the realm of normal for her.

And it sure didn't seem like it was abnormal for anyone else.

Was that what things would've been like had she stayed and had they been open about the true nature of their relationship all those years ago? Relentless teasing? A push or two at them to spend some time alone together?

Strange, indeed.

Yet, it all made Regina's heart feel so much fuller. It pushed out any negative, dragging emotions that had previously occupied her mind over the last couple of days and weeks. She hadn't felt like this in a very long time, longer than ten years at least.

Her body seemed to move on its own accord after she heard the water in the shower turn off. Her heart raced harder with every step and she stopped just outside the bathroom door. What was she doing? They were supposed to be taking things slow and there she was, ready to pounce on Emma as soon as she walked out of the bathroom after having a quick shower.

"Regina!" Emma exclaimed in surprise when she walked out of the bathroom after Regina had been lingering in the hallway for a couple of minutes. "What are you doing?"

"I uh, I was going to take your muddy clothes and throw them in the wash for you," she stammered, the lie slipping easily past her lips and one Emma didn't believe for a second. "Okay, that's not really why I am out here waiting for you," she admitted with a defeated sigh. She couldn't take her eyes off of Emma and the tiny white towel she had wrapped around her naked body. "I actually don't know what I'm doing here."

Emma laughed as she backed up towards her open bedroom door. "Those kids are scheming," she said and laughed again. "I heard you guys talking in the kitchen. The walls are pretty thin, remember?"

"Yes, I uh, well I-I honestly don't know what to say."

"You're adorable when you're embarrassed."

"Oh, am I?"

"Fucking sexy as hell, too," Emma whispered huskily as she reached out for Regina's hand and pulled her into the bedroom with her. "I've been thinking about you all day."

"Have you?" Regina bit her bottom lip as Emma placed her hands on her hips and moved her own to Regina's shoulders. "All day?"

"Yes."

"And what were you thinking about while you were thinking about me?"

"A lot of things."

"Such as?"

"Well," Emma drawled out as she took a step back towards the bed and Regina tensed a little and not because she didn't want things to go in that direction but because she was worried about what would happen if things did go in that very direction. "I was hoping I would see you again today. I like coming home to you again."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, but, there is something missing."

"What is that, Emma?"

"A kiss."

"Just…a kiss?"

"Yep. Just a kiss."

Regina's eyes fell to Emma's lips, and she moaned as Emma slowly slipped her tongue out and licked over her bottom lip in a way that had Regina's arousal heightening by the second. She was also certain that Emma could feel how hard her heart was racing as Emma leaned in, closing the small gap between them and kissed her soft and sure.

Regina's fingers grasped at the soft towel Emma had wrapped around her torso, and she deepened the kiss, melting into Emma's embrace and in her lips completely. That feeling she got when she kissed Emma was intoxicating. Addicting. She just couldn't seem to get enough. She needed more. She wanted more. She wanted this every damn day from that moment on, and she wanted to be there every day that Emma got home after work.

She wanted it all.

And it both scared and excited her.

"Just…a kiss," Emma murmured against her lips and she grasped lightly onto Regina's wrists and eased her hands away from her hips. "I should get dressed."

"Yes."

"Aren't you supposed to be cooking dinner?"

"Henry and Robyn are putting everything on the grill now, I believe."

"I wouldn't trust them to cook dinner on the barbecue unsupervised," Emma said and she exhaled sharply as she took a step back and put some space between them. "Maybe you should go and check on them? I'll be right out."

Regina backed out of the bedroom, unable to take her eyes off of Emma in the tiny white towel that only just covered her torso and pelvis. Only just. The apologetic look in Emma's eyes spoke volumes of all the words she wasn't saying.

Slow.

Regina bit her bottom lip lasciviously as she nearly walked into the partially open bedroom door and reached out to grab hold of it before it slammed shut. Emma laughed and stood by the bed unmoving, her hands now clutching at the towel to keep it from falling. Her heart was racing so quickly, so hard, it was making her feel a little dizzy. Dizzy with want and need.

Slow.

Operation Woo Mom was going to be a hell of a lot harder than she thought it'd be.

She also made a mental note to ask Henry to change the name of it because it was just so absolutely ridiculous.

Just as ridiculous as it had been when Emma suggested they be friends. Even more so was the whole fact that they were taking things slow when it was quite clear that neither of them actually wanted that.

If that kiss was anything to go by…

"Oh," Regina groaned quietly once she'd walked out and was in the living room a few seconds later. "Emma Swan, you are going to be the death of me."

[X]

Dinner turned out to be quiet and they weren't alone. Emma wouldn't allow Henry and Robyn to take their plates of food into his room to give her and Regina some time alone. Henry was frustrated, and Regina knew after what he'd told her about his previous missions and operations that he was seeing Operation Woo Mom as a failure already.

Regina was grateful for the distraction that came in the form of Henry and Robyn, however. After that brief encounter with Emma after she'd gotten out of the shower, it had left her feeling hot and bothered-more than the unbearable heat inside the house was making her feel. It was why they ended up moving outside to eat halfway through their meal, and it left Henry endlessly complaining about not having the AC working.

"You want a car, kid?" Emma asked him as they all cleared away the patio table together. "I think you should start saving up for a new AC unit instead. It'll cost about the same."

"Me?" Henry looked horrified. "You want me to buy a new AC?"

"Or at least help."

"I don't even have a job yet, Mom!"

"You can start looking for one on Monday," Emma countered. "What time is the hearing at exactly?"

"Nine o'clock," Regina replied.

"We'll leave just after six and go for breakfast," Emma said with a smile as Henry took her plate from her and plopped it in the sink that was filling up with water and soap suds. "You got this, kid?"

"Yeah, Mom, I got it. Just go and hang out. Robyn and I will clean up."

"We will?" Robyn asked in surprise, and upon Henry's insistent glare, she smiled and shooed Emma and Regina out of the kitchen. "We got this, Em. Go and relax!"

"It's hot as hell in here," Emma muttered as she fanned at her neck. "Do you want to go for a walk, Regina?"

"Sure. I'd love to."

It was how, ten minutes later, they ended up at Any Given Sundae ordering two tall soft serve cones they ended up eating out on the sidewalk with a whole host of other people who had the same idea as they did. It was still as hot as it had been earlier in the day, but the wind had picked up a little, and the breeze made it all bearable.

After ice cream, they walked down to the harbor together, hand in hand, lost in their own little world it seemed. They walked down the boardwalk to the very end where the beach started, and Emma was the first to pull off her sneakers and her socks, leaving them behind in the sand as she tugged and pulled at Regina's hands and led her down to the water as soon as she too had removed her shoes.

"Do you remember when we used to spend all day down here when Henry was little?" Emma asked as they approached the water together. "It wasn't the same without you."

"I remember," Regina said with a small smile and she pulled back from Emma as she continued to tug her towards the water. "Emma, what are you doing?"

"Come on, it's refreshing," she said and stepped back as a wave rolled up onto the beach and crashed against the back of her legs. She laughed and pulled at Regina a little harder. "Come on, Regina, live a little!"

"I'm not dressed for-Emma!" Regina shrieked as Emma quickly moved to pick her up and marched into the water until it reached her knees and she put Regina down just as another wave rolled in. "Oh, you are lucky I left my phone at home. I would kill you if you ruined it pulling a stunt like this."

"Well?" Emma asked as she kept her arms wrapped around Regina and smiled. "Refreshing, isn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose it is."

"Hey," she said as she leaned in and softly planted a kiss on Regina's lips. "Loosen up a little, yeah?"

"I am loose."

Emma laughed and kissed her again. "Live a little," she murmured before she kissed Regina once more, her lips lingering, her tongue slipping out just briefly to deepen the kiss before another wave-a much larger one-crashed into them. "Oh shit, that is cold!"

That fullness in her heart just seemed to grow as she and Emma laughed and rushed out of the water and back onto the beach. Regina was happy, and it was a feeling that had become so foreign to her over the years that she was so afraid that she would lose that happiness in an instant. Those fears were squashed as Emma scooped her up into her arms and kissed her yet again.

"So," Emma said softly as she leaned her forehead against Regina's, her eyes closed and a smile curling over her lips. "What do we gotta do to make Operation Woo Mom a success?"

"I'm not entirely sure."

"Well, you don't need to woo me, babe. You've got me wrapped around your little finger already."

"Do I now?"

"Hell yeah," Emma chuckled lightly, her eyes still closed and the smile curling over her lips was growing a little bigger. "I have missed you so much, Regina."

"I've missed you too, darling."

"And I've missed you calling me that," she whispered. "Fuck," she groaned softly. "I wish things were easier, you know?"

"Easier how?"

"I don't know, just easier, I guess."

"Not as slow, you mean?"

Emma shook her head and leaned back a little. "No, I mean easier," she said with a small shrug. "I know we can't just fall back into place together. It doesn't work like that."

"Says who?"

"Me. I do."

Regina frowned though she understood what Emma meant and where she was coming from. She felt the same way, too. She still worried that maybe they were already falling back into place together regardless of taking things slow. It sure hadn't started that way just days ago when they landed in bed together.

Everything felt so familiar yet new at the same time. Before when they'd first met, and after that first kiss, things had moved slowly then too, but for far different reasons. They had taken time to get to where they'd been for many years, they'd taken the time to get to know one another in a deep, emotionally intimate way that Regina had never had with anyone before or after Emma. It almost felt if they had to do it all over again because ten years was a long time, and people did change. She wasn't the same person she was a decade ago just as she was not the same person she was three months ago or even two weeks ago.

The same went for Emma. They weren't the same people they used to be even if their feelings for one another hadn't changed at all.

They hadn't changed, but they were different, too.

"Can we make things clear?" Regina asked after a few moments passed between them, and they hadn't let go of one another just yet. "Just how slow are we talking here?"

"One day at a time."

"What does that mean to you, Emma?" Regina asked, feeling a little frustrated and unsure. "Does that mean we won't be intimate at all?"

"I'm not saying at all, but…" Emma trailed off, laughing awkwardly a little. "I enjoy kissing you. A lot. God, I sound like I'm eighteen again, don't I?"

"I feel like I'm eighteen again."

"We're not," Emma chuckled. "God, life would be easier if we could just go back and do it all again, wouldn't it?"

"In some ways, absolutely, but it's not in the realm of possibility and reality. There is no sense in hoping and wishing for something different, is there?"

"No, there's not." Emma lifted a hand and tucked a few wild strands of hair behind Regina's ear. "I feel like there is so much I don't know about you now. I feel like we have to get to know each other all over again. We do, don't we?"

"Yes, I suppose we do."

"Yeah."

Regina found herself lost in Emma's longing gaze and her eyes that looked almost blue in the sunlight. She slipped her fingers into Emma's long hair and pulled her in for another kiss, the urge to do just that so overwhelming she just couldn't help herself.

The kiss was soft yet passionate, and Regina was so lost in the moment she forgot just where they were and that they were definitely not alone on a very public beach. Years ago, she wouldn't have dared to kiss Emma like that outside of the privacy of their own home, but that was then, and this was now.

Things truly had changed.

Emma pulled back from the kiss with a smile and exhaled slowly, her eyes staring deep into Regina's as they just stood by the water, sand in their toes, with their arms still wrapped around one another.

It felt like a perfect moment.

And it was.

A/N: So, it seems like not many are reading this story. Updates will be sporadic/when I feel like it from this point forward. Just a friendly reminder that reviews go a long way, even if its a simple "thank you" or "I'm enjoying this story". The few reviews I have been getting I do appreciate, but my motivation to continue to share this story is at an all time low. Sorry if there were people liking the 3x a week update. And before you tell me that I should be writing for me, I did write this story for me, but I'm sharing it for the fandom.