"Okay, kiddos. You know what time it is," Mr. Eddy said. A unison of excited sounds erupted from the children in the class. "Everyone organize your space before we get our snacks."

The knock on the classroom door interrupted his overseeing that all the kids were doing as expected. There was always one or two that liked to skip tidying up their space. Noah was just handing him a finished worksheet when the door opened and the school counselor and an administrator stood on the other side.

Mr. Eddy glanced to them before he leaned down to Noah. "Thank you, Mr. Sinclair," he said and offered him a high five. The boy was eager to return it before hurrying back to his seat. The murmuring of the children grew quiet when they began to notice the familiar figures at the doorway.

"Mrs. Warren, Mr. Luther. Is there something I can help you with? Something wrong?" Mr. Eddy asked.

"No. Nothing wrong," Mr. Luther, the counselor, said. He glanced into the class room and then back at him. "As you know Maddox is being adopted."

Mr. Eddy nodded hesitantly.

"Individual interviews are necessary in the process, so her adoption worker is here to speak with her."

"I see."

"We'll be supervising."

"Well, alright. I'll go get her."

He turned to his class, finding Maddox whispering and giggling with her tablemates, Cassius and Naomi. They were inseparable. It reminded him to mention to Regina about arranging a playdate since Maddox was never able to spend time with her friends outside of school before now.

Just to make it as comfortable as possible, Mr. Eddy dispersed the class to get their snacks and gently asked Maddox to the side while the other children were too preoccupied. And as often as she was being questioned about her seemingly advanced learning ability, Maddox didn't bat an eyelash – only annoyed to be taken away from her friends.

"Maddox, this is Ms. Bostwick. She wants to ask you a few questions," Mr. Luther said, "We'll just be outside."

Maddox nodded, eyeing her snack in front of her and the lady across from her. She picked at her grapes and goldfish crackers as the woman shuffled around her papers at the table that was much too small to be very comfortable for her.

"My name is Alison Bostwick. You may call me Ms. B if you'd like."

"Bostwick," Maddox repeated, but refrained from saying it sounded funny.

Ms. Bostwick seemed surprised she accurately pronounced it. She took a note on that and moved on. "Maddox, I'm here to ask you some questions. Much like Ms. Marvel, my job is to make sure you find a good home."

"Okay." Maddox nodded, popping a handful of crackers into her mouth.

"So, tell me about Regina. What's she like?" Bostwick took note of the spark in the girl's eyes.

"Gina is pretty and funny. And she reads me stories all the time," Maddox said, "And she teaches me other places and languages. But Emma isn't good at them so we have to go slow sometimes…and…and Gina paints nice pictures."

"And you like Regina?"

Maddox gave a vigorous nod.

"She's nice to you?"

"Yes. She moved all the way here for me. She's a mayor and that's very important and…oh, Emma is the sheriff. Her badge is really sparkly in the light."

"Emma. Is she nice to you as well?" Bostwick asked.

"Emma is so awesome!" Maddox practically bounced out of her chair and forgot all about her snack.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. She's clumsy sometimes but…" Maddox leaned in and whispered, "Gina says its because she has two left feet. So, I put a lot of bandaids in her pockets and in her car."

"Clumsy how-"

"Oh and Emma is a princess."

"A princess?"

"Mhm." Maddox nodded, completely missing any skepticism showing on the woman's face. "You haven't met her, but everyone thinks so. Especially Gina."

On the other side of the door Mr. Luther and Mrs. Warren looked at each other with amused expressions. They had a very good feeling the conversation wouldn't stray away from the princess subject. And they'd both vaguely seen Emma a few times when she picked Maddox up and it was hard to argue that she couldn't possibly be a princess.

Having to actually walk into the school was a first for Emma. Maddox's teacher helped escort all the kids out after school so she basically had never seen the inside. First thing she took note of was how cold it was. It now made sense why Regina always tried to send Maddox off with two layers of clothes – and why Maddox always refused.

Long faded memories resurfaced as she made her way to the principal's office. Some years she nearly lived in the office. The idea, the words alone were just something to sigh about. However, most of her mind was focused on what she was going to have to tell Regina when they got back home.

"Are you Emma Swan?" Was the first thing she heard before she was barely through the frosted glass door.

"Um, yeah." Emma frowned.

"I need your ID before I have you check Maddox out," the woman said from behind the desk.

Emma slipped her license out of her wallet and handed it over. "How did you know it was me?" she asked.

"Maddox wanted to make sure we let you in so she spent almost five minutes describing you."

"Oh." It was possible her cheeks turned a bit red, because she knew exactly how Maddox described her. And she definitely used one word in particular. "Did she happen to use the word princess at all?"

"Yes, ma'am," the woman, Michelle – judging from the name badge - said. She put a clipboard up on the counter and handed Emma a pen. Michelle finally glanced up for longer than a second and made a small sound, catching Emma's attention. "She's not wrong."

"Thanks," Emma murmured. She signed and printed her name on the check out form before handing it back. "Can I ask what Maddox did? She's too cute for me to imagine getting into trouble."

"Oh, no she's not in any trouble. Her teacher, Mr. Edmond just wanted to speak with you about something. No trouble."

"Not concerning at all."

"The door on the left." She smiled, amused.

Emma walked through the door finding familiar Mr. Eddy sitting next to Maddox in a set of chairs, seemingly going over homework. But he didn't seemed to notice her presence until Maddox zipped out of her chair and crashed right into her.

"Oh. Okay, okay," Emma said, grunting from the impact as she picked Maddox up. "You might be getting too big for this, Dynamo."

"But I like it," Maddox said, wrapping her arms around Emma's neck.

"My back doesn't like it." Emma kissed her cheek, having completely forgotten she was there to speak to someone. "I'm getting old."

"No, you're not," Maddox said. "You just don't wanna carry me."

"I didn't say that, but you do need to get down," Emma said. Maddox reluctantly slipped out of her arms just as Mr. Eddy stood up to greet Emma.

"Ms. Swan, good to see you," he said, shaking her hand.

"Likewise, I think. Is Maddox in trouble?"

"No." Maddox frowned, folding her arms across her chest and stuck her tongue out at Emma, who then returned it with no hesitation.

"She's not in trouble. I just wanted to let you know that a social worker came by to speak with Maddox during snack time."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Some stranger interrupted my kid's snack time?" She questioned. "I can't even do that without her trying to fight me."

"Nahuh," Maddox inserted.

"Yeah, you do," Emma replied and turned back to Mr. Eddy. "I know the lady…kind of, Alison something?"

"Yes, that's her. They talked is all. And they were supervised by the administrator and the counselor. I just wanted to let you know, so you don't worry about Maddox having mentioned talking to a strange lady."

"Right. Thank you," Emma said, "But surely, Regina's going to freak out anyway. It'll be fun to watch."

"Well, you'll have an eventful evening. They had quite the conversation…princesses and all."

"Of course." Emma swatted at Maddox's shoulder. "Go pack up. There's a sandwich with my name on it waiting at home."

"I want a sandwich," Maddox said as Mr. Eddy helped get her supplies back into her bag. "And chips."

"What? You had breakfast, snack time, and lunch. All I had today was a poptart."

"But I want a sandwich, too, Emma."

"Fine." Emma waved to Mr. Eddy as they exited through the door.

"Have a good afternoon," he called out.

"You, too," Emma replied. She took Maddox's hand as they made a beeline for the school exit. "Where do you even put all the food you eat? You're still a string bean and you're short."

Maddox rolled her eyes and tugged on Emma's hand to make her move faster toward the car.

"Regina, I retrieved your demon kids from their prisons," Emma said. Henry and Maddox stampeded inside the house.

"We're not demons," Henry said, rushing out of his outerwear.

"You said I can have a sandwich," Maddox said.

Emma narrowed her eyes at Maddox only getting a partially smug, partially pouty look from the girl. "How about you start some homework first, Funny Bones?"

"Funny Bones?" Henry questioned. "I don't get that one."

Emma extended her hands towards Maddox wiggling her fingers. Maddox crumbled into laughs as if Emma had already tickled her.

"I definitely get it now." Henry chuckled.

"No tickles," Maddox said between giggles.

"Go start your homework and I'll get you a sandwich, silly."

"Okay." Maddox slinked off, dragging her bookbag with her to the playroom where her small desk had migrated.

"I'm guessing you need food too, Hen," Emma said.

"Nope, I'm good. Thanks, Ma," he said. Henry followed Maddox with his laptop in his arm. He tended to sit on the floor next to her desk to do his own homework and helped her the few times she needed it.

Emma was in the middle of taking bites of her sandwich while making Maddox one when Regina appeared from her painting cave. "Oh hey. You want a sandwich, too?" Emma asked.

"I already ate. But thank you," Regina said. She leaned toward the other woman and was offered a swift kiss to the cheek. Emma lifted her hand to Regina's chin, wiping away a spot of paint on her jawline with a smile. "What…?"

"Nothing." Emma shrugged. "I just like seeing you."

Before Regina had a chance to respond, Maddox came roaming in – away from her homework. Likely in search of her sandwich, Emma guessed. Although she couldn't confirm that as the girl completely forgot about the sandwich she demanded as soon as she saw Regina…and pounced on her.

"Someone is happy to see you," Emma said, taking another bite of her sandwich. "She had an eventful day."

"Why do you say that?" Regina frowned.

"I talked to a lady today," Maddox said.

"You what?" Regina exclaimed, though her arms tightened protectively around Maddox. "What lady?"

Emma had to keep from laughing at how the coming conversation was about to freak Regina out. "It was the new social worker. Alison Bostwick," she said, "She came to talk to Maddox…to assess her happiness or whatever."

Regina's frown deepened as she looked from Emma to Maddox. "What did she ask you, sweetheart?" Regina questioned.

"About you and if you were nice to me."

"Am I…?"

"Seriously, Regina? Maddox wouldn't like you if you weren't nice." Emma rolled her eyes but found it still stung that Regina underestimated herself in everything. Sure she'd stumbled quite a bit in the parenting department but hadn't at some point. But there was no doubt about her ability now.

"And she asked about you too, Emma," Maddox added.

The woman narrowed her eyes, Maddox spotting the playfulness immediately. "What did you say about me, Half-pint? Am I gonna have to fight you?"

"The truth," Maddox said.

"Which is what? I'm awesome?"

"Yeah but you fall over stuff," Maddox replied.

"And you told her that?" Emma rolled her eyes as Maddox nodded and Regina's eyes widened.

That didn't sound good at all. Maddox mentioning that Emma tended to incur injury almost weekly – and it was likely she didn't go into detail about them – probably sounded questionable to the social worker.

Jaime knew firsthand how badly coordinated Emma was. But this new lady could've assumed there was some abuse or something going on in the house. It was always suspicious if someone is always hurt. And now it was possibly in her 'notes' about them – about her.

"I'm not clumsy," Emma argued in return to something Regina missed Maddox saying.

"But you are," Maddox said.

Regina let Maddox down when Emma finally stopped holding her sandwich hostage. They teased each other a lot. For the moment Regina dismissed her concerns watching Maddox take the plate from Emma. The blonde leaned down to kiss her head before she scurried off. Regina remembered every little interaction they'd had since they first met.

Maddox could never get enough of Emma's time and attention and even the nicknames. The few times she went a whole day without seeing Emma, she'd mention not having heard a new name for the day.

And Emma. Regina hadn't thought too often beyond her own issues and concerns about the adoption not going as planned. But she knew Emma wouldn't be the same if Maddox had to leave them. The last few months had brought out a newly maternal part of Emma, a part that was far different with Henry.

Very maternal on both sides but there was a vast difference between raising a son who was nearly a man already and a little girl who accepted all the love and care you could offer her.

A little girl who at times both obviously and mysteriously connected with the little girls she and Regina once used to be – or could have been.

For some reason - Emma didn't bother checking into - she was left with Henry and Maddox on a Friday because there was no school. Not that she would be eager to drive Maddox all the way to school from Storybrooke but it seemed like a random off day.

She was walking into the living room from the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream. She stopped, spying on Henry and Grayson talking at the front door. Although, she wasn't focused enough to put her full attention on spying, opting to lick ice cream off the spoon.

"I still have like four more days to level up. And I have to cram it into the rest of today," Henry said, "While watching Disney movies with my little sister."

"It's not going on to happen. Disney movies are a spiral," Grayson said. "Like with my brother we plan to watch two, it turns into it's 2am and I didn't even have dinner and my homework isn't done."

"My moms won't go for that." Henry shook his head. "Plus, your brother is ten. Maddox is five, she'll crash by 9:30 at the latest."

"You say that now. It's always a spiral." He glanced to the front door and back to Henry. "I gotta head out now. Should…"

Henry shrugged with a lopsided grin and whispered, "My mom is spying on us…badly. She's cool though."

Grayson nodded and stepped a bit closer, snatching his hands from his pocket as he leaned forward. Henry rolled his eyes in the direction of his mother's obvious shadow and accepted the hug Grayson offered. It was tentative as the knowledge the Sheriff was eavesdropping nearby was unsettling but he'd take Henry's word for it that she was okay about all of it.

They pulled away and Grayson opened the door. He offered a less nervous smile to Henry before disappearing out on to the porch. Henry watched him hop onto his bike and book it out of the driveway. No one could ever really catch up with him unless they were in a car.

Henry closed the front door and locked it and said, "You know you're not good at the spying thing, Ma."

Emma stepped out from her hiding place, catching her shadow that had given her away. She rolled her eyes as she scooped another bit of ice cream onto her spoon. "Whatever," she muttered. "You know that was the gayest hug in the history of hugs. And I would know. I was doing the same thing with your mom for years and never noticed."

"That's because you guys are slow."

"I'll hit you with this spoon once I'm done eating," Emma said, "So you going to tell me which time you went out was a date?"

"There have been no dates, Ma. With anyone." Henry raised an eyebrow, looking too much like Regina as he did it. "No dates with anyone."

"Ever?"

"Never."

"Why?" Emma questioned, cringing when she ran into a rough brain freeze.

"Who has the time? I have Maddox and homework to keep up with."

"That's very mature of you but…you do know, not dating doesn't mean you get to put off telling your mom about your self-discovery."

"Ew. Don't call it that." Henry frowned. "Sounds gross."

"What do you want to call it?" Emma asked, only receiving a shrug in return. "Whatever. Listen, kid. The world sucks and if you want to be innovative and progressive with not thinking of this as a big deal and not putting labels on things, great. But you still have to sit down with your mom."

"But-"

"You're figuring out who you are, and you feel like your looking into the right path for yourself and that's great. Being asexual and liking girls and guys in a certain way…that's all great. You have my support. But, Buddy, let me tell you something.

"If your mother sees you on a date, sharing a milkshake with Grace, Leslie, or Sarah – she's gonna pass out. If your mother sees you on a date, sharing a milkshake with Grayson, William, or Jamal – she's gonna pass out."

Henry look put out by the idea of that – ever his mother's son.

Emma chuckled, "You're going to have to sit down and explain that to her…and me. I can't say I remember everything from the quick talk we had."

"What if she doesn't get it?"

"What if she-" Emma nearly choked on the ice cream. "Henry Daniel Mills, your mom is a genius…and she's dating me. I think she'll catch on pretty fast. But the important thing is, you'll have to do a lot of begging to get her to say yes to you ever going on a date."

Henry groaned, not fond of all the stress now on his plate. It'd take ages to convince his mother to let him go on a date that she couldn't hover over. He tucked his hands into his pockets and sighed.

"Maddox's nap is nearly over, I'm going to make popcorn for the movie marathon," he said instead of responding.

"Don't you dare wake her up before the full two hours is over," Emma said in warning. "I'm still tired from this morning. So much energy…and I thought I still felt young."

"Still young at heart at least, Ma…and your stomach." Henry snorted, leaving for the kitchen.

"Just wait until I'm done with this ice cream. Your head and this spoon will be well acquainted."

"I'll tell mom you threw a spoon at me."

Unfortunately, Emma wouldn't win that battle.