A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it! Don't forget to leave your comments after reading!
After she had finished getting ready the next morning, Regina emerged from her bedroom and unexpectedly met Mary Margaret just coming out of the bathroom with her purse slung over her shoulder. The younger woman was wearing the same clothes as the day before, but her hair was damp from the shower and she had already applied some makeup.
"Oh, hi!" Mary Margaret said a little surprised. She had thought she was the only one up. "I hope I didn't wake you?" She kept her voice in a whisper in case Henry was still asleep.
"Good morning." Regina smiled, also keeping her voice low. "And no you didn't wake me."
Mary Margaret smiled too, there was a bit of an awkward silence for a few moments until Regina suggested with a silent wave of her hand that they go downstairs.
As Snow followed her stepmother down to the main floor, she thought about how long it had been since the two of them had stayed under the same roof. Not including the roof of Hook's ship of course. But the time when she and Regina had actually lived together as a family had almost literally been a lifetime ago.
"So judging by how exhausted you were last night, I trust you slept well?" Regina asked a little teasingly as she led the way toward the kitchen.
"Very well." Snow affirmed, smiling in slight embarrassment. "Thank you for letting me stay here, that was really nice of you. Although I suppose I didn't leave you much of a choice did I? I don't remember watching the second half of the movie at all."
Regina gave a soft laugh. "It was no problem. I hope you weren't too startled when you woke up here this morning."
"It was a bit unexpected." Snow agreed. "But I really appreciate all the stuff you left for me. You're a lifesaver."
"I'm glad I could help." Regina responded. "Well I was just about to put on a pot of coffee, would you like a cup?"
"Ohh that sounds great, thank you!"
Regina smiled. "Coming right up."
Snow leaned forwards on the counter. She touched her damp hair a little self-consciously, hoping she didn't look like a wild animal now that it was starting to dry.
"Was the shampoo alright?" Regina asked as she poured some water into the coffee machine.
"Hmm? Oh, yes it was great. Actually both the shampoo and conditioner smelled amazing! I'll have to buy those ones next time."
"They're the only ones I use these days. But that reminds me, if you need any other products they're all in the en-suite of my room. You're welcome to use anything in there, I know short hair can be a hassle too."
"Thank you." Snow said gratefully. "Maybe I'll go up after I finish my coffee."
"Of course, whenever you want. Oh and I believe we're meeting up with David and Emma at some point this morning for brunch. We're not quite sure on the time just yet... but if you're hungry now I can make you something?"
"Oh no don't worry about it. I'm fine for now."
"Alright, but if you do change your mind don't hesitate to ask. Or if I'm upstairs or something just help yourself to anything you want, in the meantime the coffee will be ready in a few minutes." Regina said, inspecting the machine.
"Perfect, thanks." Snow breathed deeply in appreciation as she took a seat on a stool by the counter. "Mmm, it smells so good already."
"I don't know about you but I definitely can't start my day without that first cup of coffee."
Snow made a noise of agreement. "Trust me I'm the same way. I'm not a stranger to the 'is it your time of the month' question from Charming on particularly bad mornings."
Regina chuckled as she took two mugs from the cupboard. "Those mornings in Neverland were rough weren't they?"
"That's for sure. Although I'm not going to lie I think Emma had it the worst. She drinks so much coffee. I swear she's like 60% caffeine on an average day."
Regina practically rolled her eyes as she took the milk out of the fridge. "More like ninety."
Snow breathed a laugh. "Maybe."
Her gaze drifted to the back windows and her eyes lit up when she saw a few birds fluttering around the trees in the backyard. She stood up again and moved towards the window to get a better look.
"You have such a nice view here."
Regina didn't respond, she just looked out into the backyard as well, smiling softly.
"Is that a birdfeeder?" Snow asked in surprise, pointing towards one of the trees.
Regina nodded. "It's Henry's. As a matter of fact I'm surprised you don't recognise it. I do believe he made it in your class after all."
Snow looked more closely. "Oh wow, he did! I'm glad to see that he's actually using it. I always wonder whether or not the students just throw them out once they get their grades back. I like to think they don't, but I never really know."
"Well it would seem that Henry inherited your love of birds." Regina responded, moving towards the coffee maker as it finished brewing.
"Aww, I'm glad." Snow smiled, watching the birds again as they busily carried on with their morning.
She wished the view from the apartment was more like this. The view from the windows in the loft wasn't exactly bad, but it certainly wasn't as nice as this.
About half an hour later Henry came trudging down the stairs, fully dressed but still rubbing sleep from his eyes. He entered the kitchen and found his mother putting away the freshly cleaned dishes from the night before.
"Good morning Henry." She greeted warmly as he entered the kitchen.
"Morning." He slumped forward against the counter and suppressed a yawn with his hand.
"Maybe that movie was a little too long for you last night after all." Regina commented with a knowing smile.
Henry shrugged. "I had a hard time falling back to sleep."
Regina frowned. "It wasn't because of that nightmare again was it? I told you you could come to me if you were afraid."
"No it wasn't that. I just couldn't sleep. And it wasn't a nightmare... It was just... I don't know it's hard to explain."
Regina nodded understandingly. She moved to stand beside him at the counter and pulled him into a sideways hug. "Well I would offer you a coffee but that would have you bouncing off the walls and we can't have that now can we? How about a hot chocolate instead?"
Henry smiled. "Thanks Mom."
"Morning Henry." Came Snow's voice as she entered the kitchen.
"Hey."
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah." Henry shrugged.
Snow breathed a laugh, sharing a look with her stepmother.
"Okay, so I just talked to David." She said to Regina. "He said they can meet us at Granny's in twenty minutes if that works for us."
Regina checked the clock. "Yes that should be fine."
Henry merely nodded in agreement as Regina placed a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of him.
"Thanks," he said, pulling it towards him.
"You're welcome sweetheart." Regina said, rubbing his shoulder softly as she passed him. "Well since we still have a bit of time, help yourself to some more coffee if you would like." She said to Snow. "I'm just going to go put the towels in the laundry room."
"Thanks." Snow said. "I think I'll just use the bathroom first."
As the other two left, Henry went to the living room to get a few comic books and then brought them back to the kitchen with him to read while he drank his hot chocolate.
Regina was just coming back from the laundry room when she noticed something strange in the front hall. She paused, her eyes narrowed suspiciously when she saw that the front door was not only unlocked, but was hanging wide open.
Taking the few steps down to it, she went out onto the porch and looked around, but there was no one in sight.
"Henry?" She called.
"Yeah?" Came his somewhat distant voice from the kitchen behind her.
Sighing in annoyance, she gave the yard another quick once over, and then went back into the house. She closed the door behind her and headed back into the kitchen where she found both Henry and Mary Margaret.
"What?" Henry asked.
"Never mind. As for you Snow, I know I told you to make yourself at home, but I didn't mean you could leave the door open so all your furry forest friends could take up residence in my living room."
"Hmm?" Snow asked distractedly as she stirred her coffee.
"This isn't your tree stump in the woods now dear this is my home."
Snow looked up at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"The front door." Regina replied impatiently.
"The front door?"
"Yes. It's wide open."
"What? That wasn't me!" Snow said defensively.
Regina's expression changed to one of confusion. She turned to her son. "Henry?"
Henry shook his head. "Wasn't me."
Regina's eyes narrowed in thought for a few moments.
"Mom?"
Suddenly Regina's hair whipped around as she abruptly hurried from the room.
"Uh oh..." Henry said.
"What is it?" Snow asked, starting to panic a bit.
"Mom's got her scary face on." He said, scrambling after Regina as she rushed outside.
Henry pounded down the steps and arrived at his mother's side.
"Mom what's going on?" He asked, glancing around the completely normal looking front yard to see what she was looking for.
Her eyes were searching the area around them suspiciously. "I don't know... Something's not right."
Snow arrived last. "What is it, what's happening?"
"There's something..."
"What?"
Regina gasped as something seemed to click in her mind.
"Regina is everything okay?"
Regina turned to the other two. "I don't know. But I'm fairly certain that I just sensed something unusual going on in my vault."
"Something like what?"
Regina shook her head, not having an answer. "Perhaps someone's trying to break in. Whatever it is it doesn't feel good."
"How do you know it's at your vault?"
"I put a spell around it, a bit like an alarm system if you will. Just so I would know if anything out of the ordinary was going on there. As I'm sure you're aware, there's a great deal of powerful and dangerous magic down there what with everything my mother brought with her from the Enchanted Forest. I couldn't just leave it all unguarded for anyone to take."
"But if it's something going on at your vault why would the front door here be open?" Snow gestured back to the house.
"I don't know... But I'm going to find out."
"Should we go see what it is?" Henry asked.
Regina wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "No, I'll go check myself. There's no need to put you in unnecessary danger."
"But Mom–"
"You shouldn't go alone. Do you want me to come with you?" Snow asked.
"Oh no," Regina declined. "Whatever it is I'm sure I can handle it. Besides I'd appreciate it if you would stay with Henry. Why don't you two go ahead to the diner, I'll meet you all there in a bit."
"Are you sure?"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Forty minutes later, the family was sitting around a table at Granny's. The morning had begun quite pleasantly for everyone despite the ominous way Regina had left the house almost an hour previously. As time dragged on however, her empty seat was beginning to cause uneasiness.
Henry had stopped eating and was merely playing with his food. He picked up some scrambled eggs with his fork and watched as it flopped back down onto his plate.
Emma nudged his shoulder. "Hey, you okay kid?" She asked quietly.
Henry shrugged.
"Come on, tell me what's up."
Henry frowned, looking up at her. "Do you think everything is okay at my Mom's vault?"
"Henry's right she's been gone quite a while." Snow agreed. "And she still hasn't responded to my text. I'm beginning to wonder if we should be worried."
"And you're sure she didn't say anything regarding what it might be?" David asked.
"Positive."
"Do you think she's okay?" Henry asked.
"I'm sure she's fine Henry. If anyone can take care of themselves trust me, it's your mom." Emma said encouragingly.
She patted his hand where it rested on the table. Although she shared an uncertain look with her parents while he wasn't looking.
"She might need our help." Henry said. He couldn't help thinking about the last time she'd gone missing.
"Let me try calling her." Emma said, pulling out her phone.
They all sat waiting, but a few moments later Emma hung up the phone. "No answer."
"Alright, why don't we head over to the cemetery just to make sure?" David suggested.
"But if the problem's a magical one, we might not be of much help on our own." Snow pointed out.
"We should get some backup." Emma agreed.
"I guess our first stop is Gold's?" David asked, but Henry was already halfway towards the door.
David and Emma hurriedly left some money on the table to take care of the bill, and the four of them made their way down the street towards the pawn shop.