CHAPTER 36

Henry had finally settled down enough to allow everyone a peaceful night's sleep. Everyone was under strict instructions from Archie to keep alert of any suspicious behavior. Neal was sitting with him now. Emma knew that as much as Henry loved time with his Dad, he'd be on his best behavior.

Emma arrived at the mansion pretty early. Even on weekends Regina still woke at nearly the crack of dawn so she hoped things hadn't changed with her. She needed to talk with Regina and give her a heads up about Snow's case. She had tried reaching her all night but that tranquilizer had really put her out. Emma hoped it had worn off by now.

The protection spell was still up when Emma arrived. She pulled out her phone and called Regina. Thankfully, she answered.

"I'm outside. We need to talk."

"Emma, I'm really tired. Whatever you have to say can wait."

""No Regina. I promise you it can't. We need to talk like now."

Regina sighed and Emma could hear one of the kids in the background. She spoke to them for a couple of minutes then said, "Come around to the back."

Emma jogged to the back and Regina was waiting for her in the doorway leading into the kitchen.

"Well come on in."

Emma walked in and looked around. Nothing here had changed at all. She turned to Regina. She looked exhausted. Emma had never seen her so worn out. She wanted to wrap her arms around her but she wasn't sure how that would be received. Instead she stuck her hands in her back pockets and rocked on her heels. "How're you?" she asked quietly.

Regina had dropped down onto a stool. She held her head in the palm of her hand. "These tranquilizers Archie gave me still haven't worn off. I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

Emma nodded and took the stool across from hers. "And the kids?"

"The girls are fine. They're just stressed and worried," Regina bit her lip and turned to the doorway and then back to Emma. "Max and Dalli are really shaken up. They still don't understand everything."

When silence followed Regina spoke up, "What did you need?"

Emma gave Regina a remorseful look, "I'm really sorry. He was acting a little weird since we got back and Neal said he'd only been talking about seeing you the entire time we were away. I should've known he was up to something," she reached across the table and took Regina's hand. "I'm really sorry."

Regina shook her head, "Emma, I know this wasn't your fault. It was bound to happen at some point. I'm a little surprised it took this long," she got a faraway look on her face. "I just can't have that around my children."

Emma nodded. "I understand and I completely agree. Don't think I don't."

"I know this wasn't your fault Emma. I don't blame you for it."

Emma sucked in her lips before continuing. "Snow's going to – she wants to – she's filing court papers and getting an injunction so that you can't take the girls. She wants some kind of custody and visitation," Emma's tongue darted out to moisten her lips. She kept her head down not wanting to look directly at Regina until the silence had stretched long enough and she had no choice but to look up.

Regina withdrew her hand from Emma's. "And what did you tell her Emma?"

Emma's mouth hung open. She was confused. "What do you mean what did I say? What was I supposed to say Regina?"

Regina stood and walked away shaking her head. She turned back to Emma, "I can't believe all these years and you've learned nothing. What was I supposed to say?" Regina's voice was taking on that mocking tone that grated on Emma's nerves. "Oh I don't know. When YOUR mother threatens to pull YOUR children into the middle of a court battle, especially in the midst of them having to see and experience my other child who has mental issues, what the hell do you think is an appropriate response?"

Emma held up her hands, "Whoa! Wait! I'm on your side!"

"You've never been on my side. THAT'S WHY I LEFT!" Regina put her hand up to her temples, "You need to leave."

"Look, Regina, I know my mother is - ," Emma tried explaining.

"LEAVE! I can't believe after all this time and you still haven't dealt with your Mommy issues," Regina looked at her with pure disdain.

Emma was really heated up now. "Well if someone hadn't kept me from my parents my entire life maybe things would be different."

"Yeah. Because I was the one who put you in a wardrobe so that I could be saved without a care in the world as to what that would mean for my INFANT! Oh right, I forget, that was Mommy's decision. As usual you never bother thinking of the consequences of your actions or anyone else's. Although a world where Henry didn't exist sounds really good right about now. No loss there."

Emma felt like she'd had cold water thrown on her. She knew she needed to leave before things got even uglier and their children had to bear witness. She tried to hide the tears burning her eyes, "Whatever you think of me, I'm on your side. That's why I came to tell you what was going on."

"Except you should've saved yourself the trip here and done what you needed to do for your children! Like not allow your Mother to cause them anymore harm and upset than they already have. How stupid of me to think that you'd grow up by now," Regina almost looked defeated. "I'm tired Emma. You should leave."

"Is she wrong?" At Regina's raised eyebrows she continued, "I need to know when I leave here you're not going to take off with my kids. I need to know when I'm going to see them. I need to know what us parenting is going to look like from now on." Emma shook her head violently, "Because I WON'T let you just take them from me. I've missed their entire life. I'm not missing anymore of it," Emma stood resolute with her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm not going anywhere until you give me some answers," she began tapping her foot. "And I want to see my girls before I leave."

Regina took in her defiant stance. "What you do you think parenting is going to look like from now on?"

"I know what it's not going to look like. It's not going to be me here and them somewhere else." Emma began ticking items off her fingers, "I want birthdays, I want holidays, I want to see them wake up and I want to put them to bed. I want everything that I've lost."

Regina stared straight ahead and let out a deep sigh. "I can't answer all of that for you right now. We're not leaving yet. Granny still isn't able to go back to work and the diner is too much for Ruby to handle alone. So we'll be here for a little while longer." Regina walked over to a stool and sat down again. Emma slowly lowered herself back to her seat. "I'm sorry for what you've lost. There is no going back in time."

Emma averted her eyes from Regina. She knew that hurt would remain probably forever. She swallowed a lump in her throat.

"What's been proven, beyond any shadow of a doubt, is that you aren't able to keep Henry under control. And my kids aren't safe under those circumstances."

Emma's face reddened and her tears began to prick her eyes. "I'm doing the best that I can," she whispered.

"I get that Emma," this time Regina reached for her hand. "But I can't let them stay here under these conditions. They're practically prisoners in this house." Emma began to protest but she cut her off, "Supervised visitation while we're here. And when we leave, maybe you can take like a week off a month to spend with them somewhere that's not here." Regina shrugged, "we do a lot of traveling so that shouldn't be too hard to coordinate. It's all I can offer you right now."

Emma wiped at the tears that had spilled and Regina offered her a paper towel. "I know you don't like my parents. But I couldn't do any of this with Henry," Emma said tentatively watching Regina closely for a reaction to the mention of his name. When she got nothing except a tightening of Regina's lips and hands, she went on, "I wouldn't have been able to make it at all without their help. You left me. My son is – sick. And I can't do this alone. They deserve to know their grandkids. They're their family too."

Regina tapped her fingernails on the table. "They can see them when they're with you."

Emma sighed, "Regina you know that's not enough. They just want to get to know them like I do. They want all the normal things that grandparents do with their grandkids. They want to spoil them crazy and not be made to feel like they have to beg for every little moment they can have with them. I asked if we could have a sleepover at their house. Snow got really excited about it. I'll be there and so will David. You won't have to worry about Henry at all. I think that's a good place to start."

Regina rested her head in her palm. She never broke eye contact with Emma. "I'll think about it."

Emma nodded. "And I'm sorry. I know I should've said something to Snow before – but we kinda had a lot going on."

Regina nodded but before she could say anything more Alexis walked in with Dalli on her hip. "Mommy! I didn't know you were here." She handed Dalli off to Regina and ran to her Mom and wrapped her arms around her. "Zo-Zo, Mommy's here."

Emma heard small footsteps running, then a gasp, then another set of small arms wrapped around her. Her spirits were instantly lifted. She grabbed their faces and gave them each a kiss. "Are you two okay? How are you doing?"

"We're good Mommy." Xisi glanced over at her Mummy, "Mummy's been sleeping all day."

"Well Mummy's awake now so you don't have anything to worry about princess," Regina tapped her on the end of her nose with her finger causing her to giggle.

Regina had gotten up and was in the process of pulling eggs and milk out of the refrigerator for breakfast. "You're welcome to stay for breakfast. I'm making crepes. The girls love them filled with strawberry and dipped in honey."

"Nah, I'd better be on my way. I gotta get to work," Emma hugged and kissed her kids one last time. Then she turned and came face to face with Regina. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared into those beautiful caramel orbs she'd always loved to get lost in.

Regina stepped back and the spell was broken. "Dinner tonight, then?" Regina raised her eyebrows in askance. When Emma nodded with a smile on her face, she continued, "And tell your parents," Regina let out a deep sigh, "they're welcome to come too."

"Thank you. For everything," when Regina nodded she smiled and waved bye to her girls before leaving.

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David was sitting on the corner of Emma's desk chatting away when Snow walked into the Sheriff's office a couple of hours later. She had Ava along with her in a stroller. "Emma, these are the papers for the hearing. You need to serve these to Regina and then fill out the paperwork."

Emma put her pen down and smiled over at her little sister. She lifted her out of the stroller and gave her a hug and a kiss. "You're getting so big! You're about ready to be on your own two feet aren't you?" Emma put her back down and let her toddle around before turning to Snow.

She took the papers that Snow was offering into her hands and promptly put them in the shredder.

"Emma! What are you doing?" Snow cried.

Emma walked up to her Mom making sure that she had her eyes firmly on her. "Snow they are MY children. You do not get to do this. Regina and I are the parents and we will make the decisions for them until they're old enough to make them for themselves. You going behind my back and drawing up those papers was out of line. And exactly why Regina won't let you see them."

Snow's mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally huffed through her nose. "Emma, those papers were so that we could have some protection and knowing that she's not going to rip them away from us whenever she feels like it."

"I already have protection. I know Regina feels bad enough about keeping them away. And she's said repeatedly that she wants me to get to know them and them to get to know us. But you can't do it this way. Trying to win a game of one up isn't going to work. Look at Henry now. It didn't work out so well last time."

"Henry's sick, Emma! You know that!"

"I know that I'm going to do whatever I have to in order to protect my kids. And if that means letting them go, then so be it," Emma shook her head. "It's a miracle she's still willing to let any of us see them. But she's not leaving until Granny's better. I can see them whenever I want, she just wants to ensure that they're safe like any good Mother would."

"So when are we going to see them?" She was still fuming and Emma could tell she was hurt. But her daughter's and their safety came first.

"I'm sure she'd be okay with you going over and visiting with them, within reason. Her kids are close to the same age as James and Ava. Maybe you both could have a playdate or something. She also invited us all for dinner tonight. After that," Emma shrugged, "we'll just have to wait and see."

Emma kissed her sister again. "I'm going out for a patrol. I'll see you all tonight," she waved bye as she headed out the door. Once she was outside she let out a huge breath. Her chest felt lighter already.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It had been a few days since the diner incident. Henry had spent the rest of that time under close scrutiny. He felt like he was a bug in a lab. If he even wanted to get up and get a drink, he could feel eyes all over him.

Everyone acted like his wanting to see his Mom was a huge problem for them. He didn't see what the big deal was. He'd missed his Mom. More and more everyday. He used to be called her little prince as she wrapped him in her arms. He could still smell that apple smell that clung to her even when she wasn't in the garden with her tree. Now all he got were weird back pats and sometimes a one handed arm hug before people back away from him.

He looked out back to one of the saplings that Emma had brought over from her tree. Emma had no idea what she was doing. They died almost as soon as she brought them over. It looked more like an apple tree graveyard.

He ran his hands through his hair imaging that it was his Mom before she'd kiss his forehead when he put her to bed. Then she'd start to leave the room but then turn back and start kissing him all over his face. He missed those days. He wanted them back.

Now everyone was working to keep them apart. He just had to get to her and talk to her. His Mom was never angry with him before. He knew he had done a lot of really crappy things. He just wanted the chance to make them up to her.

Henry slipped out of the house before Neal woke up. Emma had already left for work and that meant that David was gone too. He was sure Snow had taken James to school already and done whatever the hell else she did during the day when she wasn't chirping in his ear.

He just needed some time alone right now to think. He took out the spare key and went into his grandparent's house. He walked around flipping through the occasional odds and ends things. He had just gotten himself a cold beer and taken a seat in a recliner when he noticed a zip drive next to the computer.

He remembered Emma giving his grandparents a zip drive and telling them they needed to be alone to watch it. It looked like it could be the same one. He hated all the secrets they were keeping from him. Everywhere he went it was secrets, whispers, and lies. Just looking at the zip drive was like staring at a tangible piece of their deceit.

He had only ever wanted a big family. He had thought that that was what his storybook was about. He would get his family together and everyone would live happily ever after. That hadn't happened. No one was happy except Emma and his grandparents. They got their happy ending. He just wanted a chance to have his with his Mom again.

He grabbed the zip drive and booted up the computer. He was going to find out what all they were keeping hidden from him.