A/N: Sorry this is being published super late! I've got the next week off work (bliss!) and I'm staying with a friend and have been busy all weekend. Anyway, here it is!

Emma pushed the door closed behind her and surveyed the apartment. She sighed and tossed her keys into a bowl on the two stacked cardboard boxes which doubled as a side table. Despite having been in the rented property for five months, she had resisted buying any furniture other than the bare essentials. The act of investing in items for her own apartment seemed too great a symbol of her imploding marriage.

And yet, now, it seemed, she had been right to hold off. Her marriage wasn't imploding. In fact, it was being rebuilt. With any luck, she wouldn't ever need to furnish her own space and, in time, she'd be back home. Home; with her family.

She moved further into the apartment. Despite the fact that she'd only been gone for a few days, the air felt stale and musty. Crossing to the kitchenette, she threw open the window and allowed some of the mercifully now fresh spring breeze inside. Turning back to the rest of the apartment, she leaned against the counter and let out another sigh.

This was not where she wanted to be. True, she understood why she was here and recognised its importance. The importance of space and time, essentially. But that didn't mean she wanted to be there. Very base instinct within Emma had called for her to return to Regina and Henry every minute of every day since she had first seen this apartment back in November. And now she was close to going home. Close, but not there yet. Women agreed that for the sake of their future, that wasn't an option. Still, a text couldn't hurt, could it?

I miss you already. E xo

Ok, it was soppy but true, Emma decided as she put her cell phone down next to her keys. Now what?

Over the previous five months, Emma had filled most of her time with work or her son, and on evenings when Henry wasn't around, she was slowly making her way through the entirety of Netflix. Today, however, she didn't feel like opening up her work emails, even though she was sure there'd be items which needed to be addressed following a number of days' absence from the office. And the television didn't hold much draw either. No, what Emma wanted was to walk back out of the apartment, jump in her car and drive back to Mifflin Street, back to her wife, back to her son, back to her home.

Groaning, she pushed herself off the counter and made her way through to her bedroom, picking up the first book she found on her bedside table (another cardboard box) and throwing herself onto the crumpled sheets. Perhaps she could disappear into the pages of another world for a few hours and forget her own life problems.

"Mom, are you listening?"

"Yes, sorry, Henry, go on," Regina said, looking up from her phone where she had been reading and rereading Emma's text, a dopey grin on her face.

Her son hesitated for a moment, eyeing his mother sceptically as if he knew he didn't have her full attention. "Right, so I've put this here because it makes that section move like – Mom!" he cried, exasperated, as he noticed that she was no longer following his finger as he pointed to the new Lego contraption he had started building that morning with Emma and finished shortly after the blonde woman had left.

"Sorry, Henry, give me a moment, ok?" Regina said, knowing she had to reply to Emma in order to focus on her son's explanation. If she was honest, Lego had never been a world she had been gripped by, unlike Emma who could spend hours sprawled on the floor, using tiny colourful blocks to build myriad creations.

Henry huffed but waited obediently while his mother tapped on her cell phone.

I miss you too. Would you like to come for dinner tomorrow night? Xo

"Right, sorry Henry, tell me again. Why did you add that section there?"

Satisfied that his mother's phone was no longer in her hand and that it wouldn't distract from his important account of his latest engineering feat, Henry recommenced his blow by blow commentary, Regina now nodding in all the right places even though in her mind the brunette was already wondering whether she had the ingredients in the house to cook Emma's favourite meal.

"Hey, can we go for a walk now?" Henry asked.

"A walk? Since when have you ever wanted to go for a walk with me?" Regina asked.

Henry shrugged. "I dunno. It's been boring stuck in this house for days. Don't you want to go outside?"

It was true, Regina was keen to get out into the garden and the wider world again. As she had stood on the porch, waving Emma off as the blonde reversed down the driveway, she had spotted some weeds which had sprung up in her flowerbeds during their few days without intervention. Perhaps toxic gas leaks even made them grow faster.

"Yes, I'd love to go for a walk with you, Henry. Where shall we go? The woods? Or maybe we can go to the beach."

"Can we walk to town? We can go to the store and get candy," Henry suggested.

"We can walk to town but I don't think you need any more candy. There are more than enough biscuits and other treats in this house. I do need to pick up a few groceries, however," she mused, thinking of the dinner she was planning in her head the following evening, even though Emma was yet to confirm.

Henry pouted. "But I just survived Chernobyl. I think I deserve candy."

"Firstly, Chernobyl was a nuclear disaster, not a gas leak. And secondly, how do you know about Chernobyl?" Surely that wasn't something that eleven year olds were taught in school these days, Regina thought.

"I read about it online when I was looking at the news of what happened here. That was really bad what happened there wasn't it. Do you remember it, Mom?"

"Barely, I was only a child, younger than you are now. But it's a name you hear a lot in popular culture. You'll find references to it for the rest of your life now you know what it is. Anyway, enough about nuclear disasters. Do you want to go into town now?"

Henry nodded and jumped to his feet, heading out of his room saying that he was going to get some of his allowance to spend in the store. Regina meanwhile pushed herself up from where she had been kneeling, wincing as her knee clicked. When did she become old? Well, middle-aged, perhaps.

By the time she had gathered together her purse and slipped on her comfortable trainers, Henry had reappeared in the hallway, bouncing with excitement.

"Come on then," Regina said, ruffling his hair for a moment before the boy ducked out down and batted her hand away.

It was strange outside, Regina decided. Quiet yet busy. They passed many people on the sidewalk as they made their way into town but there were few conversations. It was as if everyone was moving in a sort of daze; trying to take in what had happened and what they had lived through. Or maybe they were all just relieved to be away from their families after a few days of being cooped up together. Maybe the solitude and the silence was what they all needed.

Henry however was as talkative as ever, bounding a few steps ahead of Regina and chattering about a new video game he wanted to get when it was released at the end of the month. Regina was at least pleased to hear it wasn't a shooter game. Both she and Emma were reluctant to expose him to too many violent games. As they walked, and as Henry talked, Regina checked her phone every couple of blocks, waiting for Emma's response. Every time, her cell phone notification screen remained empty.

"Mom, can I get an ice cream?" Henry asked as he passed Any Given Sundae.

"Sure," Regina agreed. She wasn't keen on her son buying handfuls of candy but she herself loved ice cream. Plus, the boy had a point. Well, he hadn't quite survived Chernobyl but they had had a traumatic few days. While they all knew they were safe if they stayed inside the house, the knowledge remained ever-present that outside those four walls floating invisibly in the air upon which their lives depended lurked a chemical which could cause them harm.

"Do you want something?" Henry asked, leading the way into the store.

"I think I'll treat myself too, yes," Regina smiled, peering up at the menu above the counter as the proprietor, Ingrid, emerged from the back office and smiled at the duo.

Henry busied himself pressed up against the glass, gazing down at the dizzying array of ice cream which was available. In the meantime, Regina and Ingrid made polite conversation about how the shelter in place directive had affected their lives.

"Can we get Ma an ice cream too?" Henry asked after both he and Regina had told Ingrid what they wanted.

"Excuse me?"

"Ma's apartment is at the end of this block," Henry reminded his other mother. "I think she rented it because of how close it is to here to be honest."

At that, Ingrid chuckled. "Emma is one of my most regular customers," she agreed as she scooped Henry's chocolate ice cream into the cone.

"You want to go and see Emma?" Regina asked, wondering whether this had been her son's plan all along. After all, he had been the one to suggest they walk the route they had taken which was slightly longer than the alternative but, in hindsight, did take them right by Emma's temporary front door.

"Don't you?" Henry countered.

Well, Regina couldn't deny that she would rather like to see Emma, not least given that it had been an hour since she had extended the invitation of dinner and the blonde was yet to reply. She felt nervous. Was there a reason Emma hadn't texted back? Had she changed her mind? Had something happened to the younger woman?

"Ok, let's take her an ice cream. Peanut butter, right?"

"Right," said Henry and Ingrid together.

Regina rolled her eyes at her wife's predictability, smiling to herself as she recognised how freely the word 'wife' came to her mind when describing Emma. Once the ice cream had been paid for, they left the store, Henry holding both his and Emma's while Regina carried her own honeycomb treat.

Henry all but ran down the street, his tongue taking swipes at the Oreo ice cream which shimmered in the sunshine. The closer they got to the apartment, the more apprehensive Regina felt but before she had time to question what they were doing, Henry's index finger was stuck out from the hand which grasped Emma's cone and started jabbing the buzzer to her apartment repeatedly.

"Henry, just once is fine," Regina scolded gently when she caught up with her son.

But before Henry could answer, the intercom crackled and Emma asked who was there.

"It's Henry!" the boy cried, rocking onto his toes in excitement. "And Mom. We've got ice cream."

"Come on up," Emma said, the words followed by an electronic hiss and a beeping sound which announced the door was open. Regina opened the door for her son, whose hands were too full of ice cream to manage the handle, and allowed the boy to race ahead. By the time they got to the third floor where Emma's apartment was, the blonde was stood in the doorway.

"Hey kid," Emma said, leaning against the door jamb. "Whatcha got there?"

"Peanut butter," he said, thrusting the cone out to her. "Mom's coming too," he added as Regina appeared at the top of the staircase.

"I can see that," Emma said as her son ducked past her and walked into the apartment. "Hi, what are you doing here?"

"Henry wanted to see you," Regina replied, stopping in front of the woman and pausing, unsure what was appropriate.

Emma grinned and leaned forwards to place a chaste kiss to Regina's lips. "And you didn't?"

"I did," Regina admitted. "I … well, I just wasn't sure if you wanted to see me."

At that, the blonde frowned. "Why wouldn't I want to see you?"

"Well, oh, you're dripping," Regina said, pointing to the side of the ice cream which faced her where a pale brown blob of ice cream had begun to slide down. Emma twisted the cone and her tongue quickly gathered up the perilous ice cream. Regina's eyes glazed over as she watched the action.

"Carry on," Emma encouraged when she'd safely made sure any vulnerable ice cream had been eaten.

"Just, you didn't text back," Regina said lamely, feeling very adolescent even though she hadn't even had a cell phone until she was nineteen.

"I didn't get a text," Emma explained. "Hang on." She reached into the apartment and retrieved her cell. "Oh, it's kinda dead," she said, holding the device up and smiling sheepishly. "You know me and remembering to charge this thing. What did it say?"

Regina rolled her eyes to cover the relief she felt at the realisation that Emma wasn't ignoring her and judging from the kiss the blonde had instigated, had not had a sudden change of heart with regard to their newfound relationship status; that of reconciling wives.

"Oh, I just was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner tomorrow night," Regina said, following Emma who was now beckoning her into the apartment.

The blonde grinned. "I'd love to, thanks. What time do you want me to come over?"

But Regina wasn't listening. Instead she was looking around at the apartment which she was yet to see, having been unable or unwilling to bring herself to visit during the first five months of their separation. Emma fell silent, the grin sliding from her lips as she watched the woman take in where she had been living for almost half a year.

"Emma," Regina said quietly.

"I know, it's not great," Emma acquiesced.

"You … you've not unpacked," Regina said, pointing through the open bedroom door to the suitcase on the floor from which clothes spilled, and then over to a cardboard box beside the couch in which she could see some of Emma's books. And then she turned to look at the small stack of boxes which were pressed up against the wall, marked in big black letters to explain what was in them. Photos. Clothes. Crockery. Glasses. (Regina had parcelled those two boxes up herself, relinquishing an old set they no longer used). More books.

Henry appeared unfazed by the state of the place as he sat on the couch, already watching TV as he licked his almost finished ice cream. It was obvious that this was how Emma's apartment had been for the past five months.

"I couldn't bring myself to," Emma eventually admitted. "If I unpacked, it was like admitting our marriage was over. If everything was still in boxes, it was like I was ready to come home the moment you said I could."

"Emma," Regina said, turning to her wife. "You've been living like this for five months?"

The blonde just shrugged and looked down, suddenly very interested in her ice cream. Regina reached forwards and used the crook of her finger to tilt the woman's face up. With reluctance, glittering green eyes met her own compassionate gaze.

"You're coming home, Emma," she promised. "I want you to come home. Soon, ok? You won't be here for much longer, I promise."

"Ok," Emma said, her lips curling into a smile as a tear trickled down her cheek. "That's all I want."

"I want that too," Regina murmured. "I want you, Emma."

A/N: I mean, the shelter in place order had to lift at some point but I didn't want our ladies to be apart for long!