"Do you always sleep on people's floors?"
"Jesus!" She screams as her green eyes triple in size and her head automatically jerks back from the most frightening wake up call. "What the hell, kid?" She groans, her voice still attempting to wake up.
"Why are you sleeping on our floor?" Henry innocently questions, his head tilting in confusion on the pillow Emma was using five seconds ago.
She blinks away the haze surrounding her, quickly noting that yes, she's on their floor still, with the sun threatening to burn her retinas and a heap of blankets attempting to strangle her in her sleep.
"Uh," she scrambles to sit upright, because her body is sweating profusely and she feels like she's suffocating. "The power went out last night. Where's your mom?" She quickly investigates, her eyes scanning the room for any evidence that the brunette is nearby.
"She's finishing up with breakfast. She told me to come wake you up."
She inhales sharply, her senses finally waking up when she smells the smoky flavor of bacon mixed with the rich aroma of coffee.
"How long have you been watching me sleep?" She suspiciously interrogates, eyeing the boy carefully with one eyebrow suspended high.
"I don't know," he mumbles, shrugging so carelessly. "Probably since I woke up."
"That's creepy, kid," she deadpans, scrubbing her hands down her face to fully wash away the tiredness still clinging to her, because sleeping on the floor was brutal. And then something clicks and she panics. "Uh...did you wake up first or your mom?"
"My mom, she was making coffee when I came downstairs. Why didn't you sleep on the couch?"
She groans, pushing herself up off the floor so she can fold the mess of blankets. "It was really cold last night, I wanted to be by the fire and your mom gave you most of the blankets so you wouldn't get cold."
"I wasn't. It was nice and warm," he smiles proudly while she snarls in response, because she would have given anything to switch sleeping arrangements last night, especially by the way her back and neck are crying in agony.
"Cool," she mutters and neatly stacks the blankets on the couch behind her. "Alright," she clenches his shoulder and shoves him toward the hall, "let's go find your mom."
"You look...different," he mumbles, scrutinizing her half-asleep appearance and sloppy bun that's in utter disarray from sleeping on a wet head.
She self-consciously tugs her sweatshirt down then shoves her hands into the front pocket and scoffs under her breath like a disgruntle teenager.
"Yeah, well, you look different too, kid. Nice Spider-Man pajamas," she teases, but he grins from ear to ear and pulls his shirt forward so he can inspect the print like he's never seen it before.
"You like it? My mom bought it for me after we watched the movie," he tells her, so blissfully ignorant to her teasing, so she ruffles his messy mop of hair and shoves him playfully toward the kitchen table.
"Yeah, kid, I like it. Team Superheroes," she laughs as Henry slides into his seat at the table and she trudges her heavy feet to where the delicious aroma is wafting from. "Good morning," she shyly says, sneaking up behind the most laid back mayor she has ever seen.
"Good morning," Regina hums, glancing over her shoulder and flashing the most adorable smile before her attention is back on the food sizzling in the skillet. "I take it you aren't a morning person," she sasses.
But Emma's eyes are busy studying to memorize that tight bottom in those even tighter yoga pants, but what really catches her eye, is the high ponytail flopping around. It has to be the most adorable and yet sexy thing she has ever seen.
"Uh, no," she finally says after a beat or so. "Not a morning person," she mumbles.
Regina stretches across Emma's chest, gifting her that sweet flowery scent as she reaches for a mug in the cabinet. "Help yourself to some coffee," she kindly offers and damn the kid for being so close because she has this urge to kiss this woman so deeply for how adorable and domesticated she's being.
And her mind is the furthest from running away at the moment.
"Thanks," she chirps and helps herself around the kitchen, stealing the hazelnut creamer from the refrigerator before pouring herself a hefty cup. "I love hazelnut creamer, honestly, I wouldn't have guessed that you would like it too," she says, blowing on the steaming cup and leaning back against the counter.
"I don't usually. It's Robin's."
"Mmm," she hums, swallowing the delicious caffeine and loving the way it spreads through her veins, officially waking her up.
"Mom? Is the food almost ready? I'm starving," Henry gripes from the table, provoking Emma's eyes to roll from his bratty mood.
"Hey kid, what have you done to help with this breakfast?" Emma challenges, curling her fingers around her mug and pretending like she didn't notice the brunette stiffening beside her. "We are all hungry and your mom is the one taking her time to cook this meal for us. Instead of whining, maybe you should be thankful that you have someone willing to even cook for you," she states with conviction while Henry watches her closely, his brows knit in wonderment. "Why don't you set the table for your mom?"
"Okay," he heavily sighs, sliding off his chair and marching around the kitchen to express his distaste for helping out.
"I'm sorry if-"
"Thank you," Regina whispers into her ear and when Henry's back is turned she places a kiss of gratitude to Emma's cheek, persuading a deep blush to stain that porcelain skin.
"You're welcome."
"Alright, time to eat," Regina announces.
Emma inspects closely as this woman piles two pieces of French Toast on a plate, then sprinkles cut up strawberries and bananas on top. She neatly places two pieces of bacon on the plate and then sets it down in front of Henry's chair. Emma smiles to herself, understanding just how the task of her motherly role easily comes to this beautiful creature.
"What?"
"Nothing," she immediately defends, struggling to wipe the smirk off her face.
"Alright," Regina slowly drawls. "How many pieces would you like?" She asks, gathering a plate for their morning guest.
"I can make my own plate, Regina," she declares, even though her heart is swelling and her blood is warming up by the simple offer. She absolutely adores the way this woman is always looking out for her wellbeing, it's such an endearing and incredibly sexy quality. "How about you worry about yourself for once, huh?" She smirks playfully and plops two pieces of French Toast onto the woman's plate. "Do you want more?"
"No thank you, this is plenty," Regina says through a bashful smile before she sweeps across the kitchen and settles down next to Henry.
Emma quickly makes her own plate and sits on the other side of Regina, directly across from the curious eight-year-old that's ignoring them and focusing on his breakfast. She shoves a piece of bacon into her mouth while she rapidly dives her fork into the French Toast, stuffing a large bite into her mouth as well. She's quick, she always has been in case other foster brats tried to steal her food, cutting piece after piece and shoveling it all into her mouth.
She doesn't notice Regina watching her, she's too focused, but the warm hand resting upon her forearm gathers her attention and urges her to stop. The brunette offers her a gentle smile and it's almost sympathetic, so Emma knows exactly what this woman is thinking.
"There's plenty more if you're hungry, relax this morning," she sweetly says before her hand drifts away and she busies herself with her own food before her son notices the soft touch.
Emma swallows, then nervously lifts her legs onto the chair and folds them, like she always did when she was younger and feeling vulnerable. She nods just once and makes a conscious effort to slow down, but she's awkward and uncomfortable the rest of the meal because she hates when people comment on her eating habits.
Even if Regina is smiling softly at her the whole time, like maybe she finds the quality endearing.
XXXX
Ruby glides effortlessly across the diner, like she's not at all wearing five inch fuck-me-heels while serving, and sweeps up to Emma's table to offer another cup of coffee.
"You've been quiet all evening, Ally, what's up?" The waitress pouts, sliding into the booth across from Emma without a proper invitation.
"Alright," she sighs, closing her laptop and shoving it aside. "I just thought we were cool-"
"We are," Ruby insists, straightening her posture and expressing her most concern facial expression.
"Sure, so long as I don't hang out with any of your ex's, right?" She teases, but there's still a hint of bitterness that the waitress can easily sniff out.
"What are you talking about?" Her dark brows pinch together as she frowns and flinches backwards.
"Regina. You gave me some speech about not getting too close to her or Henry."
"She told you we hooked up?" Ruby balks, leaning further into the table and lowering her voice. "Nobody really knows that, especially Henry. But it's not like that, we are best friends. There are no feelings there in that way," she vehemently defends.
"You sure you weren't marking your territory?"
"I would never do that, that's not who I am," she barks, her patience wearing thin with Emma's bold assumptions. "And aren't you the one who keeps claiming you are so straight?" She rebuttals, easily flipping the tables onto Emma.
"I-well, yes, I-"
"Careful, your gay is showing," Ruby taunts, sliding out from the booth and leaving Emma to flounder by herself, while she attends to some new customers.
Emma groans to nobody but herself and slams her body back into the booth. Now she's the one acting like a jealous ex, and it's not a color she wears with pride. However, self-wallowing is cut short when a cheerful man falls recklessly into the spot Ruby left vacant.
"Hey Ally!"
She jumps back even further and blinks rapidly through her surprise. "Bae."
"Hey," he repeats and nods as his eyes drift across the room to catch Ruby's attention before he focuses solely on Emma. "Alright, you got me," he playfully says, holding up his hands in surrender. "I was gonna play it all cool with you and wait for you to contact me, but I'm dying here."
"It was like three days ago," she deadpans, eyeing him carefully because his hands are always faster than his mouth.
"I know," he chuckles and scrubs his hands down his face. "You got me going crazy. We had a great date, right?" Her mouth pops open to reject that claim but he's already jumping right back in. "Oh wait, not a date. We had a great time eating burgers," he teases, beaming like a ray of sunshine after a brutal summer storm.
"We did," she slowly drawls, assessing his demeanor carefully for any signs that might lead her toward some more missing clues.
"So, how about another innocent meal?"
"I already ate tonight."
"Coffee and dessert?"
"I'm one cup shy of peeing straight coffee."
"So, what I'm hearing is that you feel bloated and need to walk off your dinner. Hey, I'm totally cool with that. How about we take a stroll down by the beach?" He recommends, flashing that thousand watt smile that could easily blind her.
She opens her mouth to respond, but Ruby's sudden appearance interjects.
"Hey Bae. What would you like to drink?" She sweetly asks him and Emma knows that the waitress genuinely likes the man by her smile and body language.
"Hey, you know what? I think I'll take a coffee to go. I think Ally and I might take an evening stroll."
"It's cold out," Emma counters, but he doesn't even skip a beat.
"Make that two coffees to go," he suggests.
"I said I had enough coffee for the night."
"Right, would you like a hot chocolate instead?" He so sweetly questions but she grimaces in response.
"Coffee is fine."
Bae beams as he hands Ruby a nice crisp twenty dollar bill. "And just take care of her entire check."
"No, no-"
"It's fine," Bae flippantly says before turning to face her directly. "Hey, is your jacket gonna be warm enough? Wanna stop by your house and-"
"No," she shouts a little too loudly, provoking her own body into flinching. "No, no. Not necessary," she sheepishly replies, because the last thing she needs is for Regina to see her with Bae and really stomp on their budding relationship.
"Alright, well let's get a move on then. The beach is a better place for you to keep yelling at me," he teases.
XXXX
The walk there was relatively quiet, mostly just Neal asking how she's been over the course of three days. Truthfully, he seemed very invested on her meal intakes and her daily activities between writing. It wasn't long before they were strolling along the shore of the beach near the docks.
"How is your book coming along?" He politely asks, and even though her head is down, she can feel the weight of his gaze upon her.
"Slowly, but it is coming. I am having some trouble with the antagonist," she easily replies, and maybe it's just a coincidence but they both shove their hands into their coat pockets.
"Oh, yeah? Maybe you can bounce some ideas off me? Maybe get those creative juices flowing again," he cheerfully recommends, nudging her shoulder playfully with his.
"I'm just not sure if I want him to be inconspicuous or suspicious," she vaguely states, glancing up for a moment because something off in the distance catches her attention.
"Well, I think..." he's rambling now, according to Emma's ears because her eyes and ears are captivated by something far more intriguing.
Up ahead, against a back drop of an inky sky, sparkling with little diamonds, lies a dock, stretching over the rolling waves. Three silhouettes converse quietly, but Emma recognizes the tall, lanky one, standing alone and directly across from the other two strange forms. Gideon Gold.
She watches him closely, inspecting his hands and his rigid posture while he nods along to something, but when she hears a name echoing off the waves rolling in, she snaps her attention back to her right.
"Ally? Ally?"
"Oh yeah, sorry. Hey, isn't that your brother up there?" She innocently inquires, batting her long lashes and projecting a crooked grin that she knows this man is falling for.
Bae immediately scans the beach until he lands upon the dock, where his brother is bouncing between his feet, maybe to keep warm, maybe because he's anxious about his shady deals.
"Oh, yeah. That is him," he agrees, a small smile appearing on his face. "You know, he's trying to reopen the docks. Kid's got some crazy dream about fishing charters," he chuckles, shaking his head in amusement.
"So, what would that entail?" She plays dumb, wondering if the older brother is in on these family businesses.
"I'm not really sure," he laughs again at himself, "honestly, I stopped listening when the kid was going on and on. I think he wants to have families come and he will take them out on the water all day and teach them to fish and stuff, maybe just travel around the coast and relax? I don't know," he chuckles again, glancing up at his brother on the dock again. "I'm sure he's speaking to someone about the whole thing. Maybe an investor, or maybe people who actually know how to drive a boat. Kid's ambitious, I'll give him that, but I don't know if he's ever been on a boat before," he says, which Emma laughs lightly to while he scratches his goatee in thought.
"Well, then I guess he will be running the business from land and he better find some captains for the sea," she teases, earning herself a heartfelt laugh from her companion.
And as she peeks out of her peripheral to catch another glimpse of the younger brother, she definitely finds him handing over a wad of cash.
"Come on, it's getting kinda chilly. How about some hot chocolates?" Bae suggests, guiding them back toward the sleepy town.
"By the way, I hate hot chocolate."
XXXX
"So, you're finally getting somewhere?" David taunts, earning himself an eye roll that he will never see.
"Yes, and it's super shady. Who meets at the docks at ten o'clock at night for a business meeting? And he was forking over a wad of cash. No, it has to be another fake business," she states again, listening to the shuffling of paper through the other end.
"Right. Keep tabs on all of them. What about the mayor, did you find anything on her?" He investigates, but his tone is flat and she knows he has a million other things running through his mind at the moment.
"I don't think it's her."
"What about all her late night disappearances?"
"I followed her, turns out her mother, the previous mayor, has Early-Onset Alzheimer's and that's where she's been running to. She's been taking care of her."
"Oh that's brutal. Alright, good work," he mindlessly says before his tone completely changes into a perky cheerleader. "Oh, I almost forgot. Are you coming next week for Thanksgiving? Mary Margaret has been on my ass about you."
"I-I'm not sure yet, I'll let you know."
"Just come, I don't want my wife riding my ass about whether or not you will show."
"I know," is all she is willing to say before she says her goodbyes and they end the call.
She sighs, tossing her burner phone onto the other end of the couch and curling up beneath her blanket as she contemplates what she wants to do this evening. It's been a week since the first night she slept over at the neighbor's, and even though it has yet to occur again, she's been finding herself at their home every evening for dinner and dessert.
She still spends most of her days at the library, but she hasn't been by the diner all week and Ruby is probably wondering if it has to do with the last conversation they had. There's something twisting in her gut from the lack of time she's spending with Ruby and Belle and she finds it all rather odd, because she never worries about seeing her "friends" while working cases. But this all feels different and she has no idea why and it's driving her a little mad. She's never had real friends before, besides her Captain and his wife, but even they don't feel like friends, more like they pity her. Yet, Ruby and Belle, feel like genuine friends and Regina and Henry feel like something that might resemble a home, if she were to guess what that feels like.
She groans, burying her face in her blanket as she tries to sort out all these warm feelings that don't belong in her body. Except, there's a frantic knock at her door and she's heard it a few times by now to know it's a mischievous little creature from next door. She drags her heavy feet toward the door and smiles down at the little boy beaming up at her.
"What's up, kid?"
"Dinner is almost ready. I thought you would be over by now."
"Well, technically, I didn't get an invitation, so I don't know what the protocol is here," she teases, unwrapping the blanket from her body and tossing it across the room.
It falls shy from landing on the couch, but she shrugs and leaves it crumpled on the floor.
"You're always invited," Henry states, like it's the most obvious answer in the world.
She frowns, yanking her jacket off the wrack and sliding into the cool leather. "Thanks, kid."
"You know I have a name, right?" He questions while she closes her door and locks up.
"Yup, but I like calling you kid," she admits, ruffling his hair and shoving him toward the walkway.
"You're weird."
"You're weird," she counters like a child and this time, Henry smirks at her instead of completely shutting down like he did the first time she teased him.
And her heart swells at this smiling boy who is coming so far.
"Mom, we're home," Henry calls out while Emma softly closes the door behind them.
"Wash up, it's almost time to eat," Regina calls out from somewhere in the kitchen.
Emma and Henry quickly remove their shoes and jackets in the foyer. He takes off running toward the bathroom while she sneaks into the kitchen for a quick kiss before the kid sees. She creeps behind the brunette, who is digging through the drawer for some forks. She slides her hands around the slim waist and Regina jumps in shock while Emma is quick to spin her around.
"Hi."
"Hey."
Emma encloses the gap between them, brushing her lips ever so softly for a quick peck before they end up caught. She's only ever had this once, where she is allowed to kiss someone so freely and whenever she wanted without a thought in the world. Her usual one-night stands never lead to playful hello kisses and she's becoming slightly obsessed with the high she feels whenever she is granted an opportunity to kiss this woman in such a way.
"Do you need any help?" She sweetly offers, even though she can tell everything is already taken care of.
"I don't." Regina slams the drawer closed with her hip and smirks, so Emma knows something devious is twirling around in the woman's mind. "But, I would like to discuss something with you while Henry's in the bathroom."
"Okay," she slowly drags out the small word, leaning back against the counter.
"Thanksgiving is next week..." green eyes expand to their fullest potential without Emma realizing. "I-well, I was wondering if you would like to spend the day here, with Henry and I? I know you don't have a family and this must be a difficult time..." she's rambling now and Emma knows she's uncomfortable speaking on the subject. "Wait, do you still spend the holidays with Milo?"
Emma's already shaking her head. "Actually, Milo was a brother of mine from one of the homes. I-I'm sorry, I should have mentioned. I haven't seen him in awhile," she sadly confesses, but Regina easily steps forward, wrapping her into a safe hug that instantly settles Emma's frantic heart.
"I would love it, if you would join us," she whispers before grasping onto Emma's chin and guiding her lips back for another short but sweet kiss.
"Okay," Emma agrees, without ever thinking the invitation through and it's so unlike her, because normally she would stress on the subject for weeks, before making a decision an hour before the event.
But then again, everything seems to be different with Regina.
Regina quickly untangles herself from the hug to remain hidden from an inquisitive little boy. "My sister and niece will be joining us as well this year. I think Henry will really enjoy your company along with Robin's."
"Wait!" Henry's shriek echoes through the kitchen, startling both women. "You're coming for Thanksgiving? And so is Robin?"
"Yes, honey," Regina confirms with a gentle smile upon her face that is reserved for only her son, and maybe sometimes Emma. "Allison and Robin will be here."
"Yes!" He darts across the room and barrels into his mother like a linebacker taking both women by surprise. "Thank you! Thank you so much for inviting them!" He squeals, wrapping his little arms around Regina's waist and squeezing with all his might.
And it's the first hug, in god only knows how long, and so Regina's eyes fill with tears in an instant. She rubs his back and holds him close and swallows down the sob threatening to escape.
"Of course, honey. I love you," she whispers, her voice thick and full of heavy tears.
Henry quickly steps back and snatches all the forks from her hand. "I'll go set the table," he kindly offers and Emma can't help but smile at him.
He takes off running toward the dining room and the moment he's out of sight, Regina is crashing her lips into Emma's, along with her body. Emma doesn't skip a beat though, she slides her hands around the woman's waist and pulls her in even closer.
"He hugged me," Regina happily whispers into the kiss, inspiring a chuckle to vibrate from Emma's mouth.
"He did," she concedes, her lips quickly moving to catch up to Regina's that are full of ecstatic energy.
Regina glides her fingers up Emma's jawline, cupping her face and holding her into place as she kisses her deeply. "Thank you."
"You are more than-"
"Mom?"