Hi, everyone! I seem to have seriously injured my hand and currently have several stitches. Typing is quite difficult, but I had much of this already written. That being said, all mistake are my own, and I intend to continue to edit and revise; however, I wanted you very patient readers to have your next chapter. It's quite short, but I do hope you enjoy.

The wind blew through blonde locks and the sunshine warmed her skin as Emma draped her arm out the window of her cruiser. Despite normally being anything but an early riser, her smile gave the morning sunrise a healthy amount of competition in terms of sheer brightness. She awoke at 6:00am – an ungodly hour that she was somehow getting used to – and willingly decided to leave the warmth of her bed to get to the station early. Arriving early meant she could start patrolling early, and an early patrol meant that she was free to head back to the station ahead of schedule. Being ahead of schedule meant she could quickly log a few notes from her rounds and then spend the rest of her morning brainstorming ways she could find a valid excuse to stop by the Mills residence. Her brown-eyed lover managed to weasel her way into her dreams last night, and when Emma woke in the morning, she could think of nothing else but her Queen. It certainly didn't help that Henry recently started fall break and Regina utilized the opportunity to take some of her own time off and be with him, leaving Emma with an aching desire to leave work and be with them.

She didn't need an excuse to show up at their family home, and deep down she knew that. Regina assured her on plenty of occasions, and even Henry emphasized this point just a few days ago, but she found herself worrying she was out of place. She still feared overstepping, and Archie suggested this was probably due to her past conflict with Regina and a long history of abandonment and broken trust. She confessed during her counseling sessions that she sometimes felt she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, like everything seemed too good to be true, and she felt she needed to enjoy every single moment of it while she could before it was all taken away. He encouraged her to share this during their couple's therapy, but the idea seemed much less important than other topics discussed during that time, including finally addressing the Graham situation that hit a little closer to Emma's heart than some of Regina's other very poor decisions.

Regardless, she was at least self-aware that she remained somewhat insecure about these things and felt that having a solid reason for dropping in was a little more comforting. Despite the initial awkwardness of it all, she smiled fondly remembering her stop by the house a few days prior. As she tossed paper balls into the nearby trash can, her mind wandered.

xxx

'Is this obsessive?' she thought, glancing to the window to see the curtains still closed. 'I haven't been spotted, so I should just go.'

Her legs didn't want to comply and instead followed the commands of her heart that ached to hold Regina close and nuzzle her nose in her neck, drowning in her warmth and that ever-comforting scent of home. She usually reserved morning drop-ins for weekdays when she planned accordingly to take their son to school, but she was stuck working on Saturday morning and didn't think she had the patience to wait until some yet-to-be-decided time in the future to kiss those plump lips that only ever left her wanting more.

Knocking softly, she waited not-so-patiently for one of her two loves to answer the door. She didn't wait long before Henry swiftly yanked it open and smiled in delight.

"Ma! What are you doing here?"

"I, um…"

She didn't think that far ahead. She hadn't come up with a reason for her presence and felt like a creep now more than ever. Before she could find an excuse, Henry rolled his eyes in a perfect imitation of his brunette mother, and Emma was never more convinced that Henry was the perfect combination of nature and nurture.

"You can just say you missed Mom," he teased.

Smirking at her look of disbelief, he stepped away from the door and headed back toward the living room where his other mother awaited him. Finding her bearings once again, Emma stepped through the door, removed her shoes and jacket, and followed him.

"Hey, it's not just her I missed!" she called after him.

"I know that," he replied with a genuine smile. "I missed you too."

Emma watched as he plopped down onto the couch and covered himself with a blanket before retrieving his hot cocoa from the coffee table and tugging his comic book back onto his lap. Henry was growing up so fast, and he was nearly as tall as her now. His voice was a little lower, and she knew it wouldn't be long before they would have to have 'The Talk' with him. Unless, of course, she could convince David to do it. Man-to-man and all that; however, in this very moment, he looked just like the little ten-year-old boy with a vivid imagination, surprisingly accurate perspective of the world around him, and the same stubborn persistence of any of the other Charmings that knocked on her apartment door in Boston.

Swallowing tears she wasn't aware were welling up inside her throat, she let her gaze wander to the almost unfairly attractive woman of her desires sitting with her legs tucked beneath her in a pair of plaid pajamas that Emma was certain she'd never seen before. Seeing Regina out of her usual silk attire caused a blonde eyebrow to raise, and Regina hummed around her mug as she took a sip of tea.

"What brings you here so early, Sheriff?"

She set her own book aside and folded her hands on her lap, her wicked grin growing at Emma's prolonged silence. She had the time to think of an excuse. It didn't have to be a good one since the older woman was only ever goading her in typical Regina fashion when she questioned her like this, but she was suddenly fixated on the idea that the ache in her chest did not fade but rather increased upon entering the Mills residence. She wanted to be a part of this. Although she'd never been much of a reader, the idea of curling up with Regina and Henry in the living room on a Saturday morning just relaxing and enjoying one another's company sounded like the most perfect way she could spend her time.

"Mom, I think Ma's broken," Henry joked.

"No, dear," Regina replied, her eyes never leaving Emma's. "It's much too early for her to form complete sentences just yet. We might have to wait for her coffee to kick in."

"You're both mean to me," Emma pouted, sticking out her bottom lip.

"Oh, stop it," Regina said with that same eye roll before summoning her closer. "Now come here already."

Wasting no time, she closed the remaining distance between them and leaned forward before remembering their son was in the room. She knew he didn't mind. He loved the idea of them together, but something about actually pressing her lips against his mother's, no matter how chaste, filled her with embarrassment and tinged her cheeks pink. She leaned forward quickly, side-eyed Henry to find him once again engrossed in his book, and then pressed a quick kiss to waiting lips. Regina shook her head in amusement before smiling up at her.

"Was that what you came here for?"

"Well," she started, shuffling her feet nervously. "I was patrolling over on First Street and um, was nearby, so I uh, figured I'd stop by, ya know."

"Did you hear that, Henry?" the Queen asked, her tone playful. "We're getting the cliché 'I was just in the neighborhood' excuse."

"It's better than leaving her jacket here all the time," he added, biting his lip to stifle a laugh.

"Forget it," Emma mumbled, feigning offense. "I'm leaving."

"No, you're not," Regina said, standing and tugging on her sleeve. When Emma turned to face her, she eyed her dramatically protruding lip and used the knuckle of her index finger to push it back, causing the younger woman to break her fake pout and smile. She brushed her fingers kindly along her warm pale cheek before saying, "You don't need a trail of clothing or some silly proximity excuse to come here. We love you, Emma."

"Yeah, Ma. We love you," Henry chimed in, standing from his seat and wrapping his arms around her.

She sighed contentedly as she rested her cheek against the side of his head, their new lessened height difference making it blatantly obvious how much he's grown. Regina stepped in beside him and rested her head on Emma's other shoulder, wrapping her arms around the two people she loved most in the world. Emma fought back tears as she was yet again reminded of the glorious fact that she finally found the family she was always looking for. She found the place she belonged.

"Besides," Henry said in a loud whisper, intending for Regina to hear it but pretending otherwise. "Mom makes the best breakfast when you come over."

Emma couldn't help but laugh and hoped that it didn't sound as watery as it felt, trying to hide that she was choking up. Regina poked him in the side, and he yelped, his voice squeaking. Thinking it was Emma, he returned the poke, hitting her right in a very ticklish spot.

"Not fair!" she yelled. "It wasn't even me!"

She reached for a nearby pillow, hitting him in the side with it. With a grunt, he teetered and lost his balance before grabbing a second pillow and returning the swing. Ducking, Emma dodged his attempt and made way for the fluffy weapon to hit Regina right in the back.

"Oops," he said, grinning and not looking the least bit sorry. At Regina's flared nostrils and challenging eyebrow, he swallowed, momentarily questioning the legitimacy of her rage.

"If I were you," Emma said, smirking, "I'd run."

Heeding her advice, he took off running toward the kitchen, but not before throwing the pillow at Emma. She caught it, lessening its blow, before turning to Regina. As he rounded the corner out of sight, Regina stopped fighting her smile and let out a laugh, especially after hearing her girlfriend sigh in relief.

"I'm not gonna lie," Emma said, stepping closer and brushing a strand of brunette hair behind her ear, "you had me scared there for a second."

"Well, that was the point, dear," she replied smoothly.

She slipped her fingers into the base of her hairline and tangled them in blonde locks, tugging her in for a kiss. Seizing the opportunity she was given in her son's absence, she kissed her more passionately, pressing her lover's body firmly against her own. When she finally rested their foreheads together, she said softly, "I love you too, by the way."

Regina smiled and kissed her once more, sighing contentedly, before intertwining their fingers and pulling her toward the kitchen. Happy to follow, Emma took a few steps before realizing she still had the pillow in her hand.

"Would you like me to bring a weapon, Your Majesty?" she teased.

"No, I'll get him back when he least expects it." She waved her hand, and Emma felt that warm tingling beneath her skin that she felt whenever Regina used magic. At her inquisitive look, the Queen replied, "It's hard to play those awful video games of his without controllers, hm?" Emma scrunched up her nose and pretended to wince.

"Ooo, that's harsh," she joked. Regina turned on her heel and eyed her, that same challenging eyebrow just daring her to take Henry's side. "And perfectly fair," she added quickly. "An absolutely just punishment." She bit her lip at her lover's dark chuckle.

"Don't worry, he'll get them back," she answered. "He'll just have to find them in that messy room of his first."

xxx

Just as she was deciding her family was right and she didn't need a reason other than wanting to be with them, the phone rang. Given there wasn't a magical earthquake, black sparkling curse clouds, or a demon wraith thing flying around, she was left to assume it was probably something mundane and not serious enough to be calling the crisis number when the non-emergency line worked just fine. Storybrooke was rather boring these days, and not that she was necessarily complaining, but a little action every now and then would be nice.

She sighed, but figured that at this point, anything was better than sitting in the station all day reminiscing. She answered to find that Mrs. Lawrence thought she saw a suspicious looking young man wandering down Main Street looking in shop windows, and she was nearly certain he was casing the place to come back later and rob them. Confirming that she would patrol the street and stick around to see if she saw this unknown character lurking in places he shouldn't be, she grabbed her keys and jacket and strolled toward the car. Of course, she actually assumed it was just someone in the small town that the older woman didn't know or just didn't recognize that was probably window shopping or just being plain nosy, but she figured some fresh air and friendly faces would help pass the time.

She spent the next few hours wandering the streets and asking random passerby if they saw anything worth noting. Not finding anything worthwhile, she sat in the patrol car for a while on the corner and surveilled from that vantage point. When she still came up dry and her stomach grumbled loudly, she shifted the car into gear and drove to Mrs. Lawrence's home to inform her of the results – or lack thereof – of her patrol. She assured the older woman that she would pass the report along to the afternoon and night shifts to ensure the shops were protected 24/7 from the mystery would-be assailant.

Rolling up to the station, she unlocked the door and was suddenly overwhelmed by the mouth-watering smell of grilled cheese. Not just any grilled cheese, but Granny's finest. Knowing that only Regina and her parents possessed the keys to the station, she easily used process of elimination to determine the lovely lunch was from her girlfriend. She strolled down the hallway and entered the room to see the disappointing sight of an empty office with a very noticeable lack of Regina. She was hoping that her girlfriend stayed for lunch, but she would happily accept the kind gesture and call her instead.

Pulling out her phone to express her gratitude, she rounded the desk and stopped in her tracks. Slowly setting it down on her desk and tilting her head curiously, she noticed a white envelope with her name on it, written in the former Mayor's unmistakable handwriting. As she picked it up, she noticed a thin black box underneath about a few inches long with a skinny red ribbon tied around it. She suddenly felt nervous and extremely curious.

Gently tearing open the envelope, she withdrew a handwritten letter from within. It was addressed to her in the same cursive writing that was on the envelope. She quickly became frustrated with herself for the automatic fleeting moment of fear that she was receiving a 'Dear Jane' letter. Breakup notes don't come with grilled cheese and mysterious gifts. She mentally tucked that bad habit away and felt her smile grow as she settled in to the excitement of the surprise.

Emma,

No need to be worried, dear. You can stop bouncing on your feet and sit down, love. Everything is okay.

She couldn't help but laugh out loud because she was doing exactly that. No one on this earth – or any other realm for that matter – knew her better than Regina. Doing as instructed, she pulled her chair from behind her and sat down, much more relaxed than before, even though she felt the anticipation fluttering in the pit of her stomach.

You once told me that you finally found home, and nothing has filled my heart with more warmth than hearing you speak those words. Yet, you often question if you are welcome in our house and feel so compelled to justify your presence. My dear Emma, you are always wanted and very loved.

Emma felt a lump in her throat and tears stinging at the back of her eyes. She wiped at them, smiling like an idiot, trying her best to ignore the loud thumping of her heart in her ears.

While I know this isn't something you are used to, Henry and I would like to spend every single day reminding you of this simple fact. So again I say, we want you with us, love you from the depths of our hearts, and will never tire of telling you so.

The problem is, our house doesn't feel quite like a home. We feel a piece of ours is still missing, and Henry and I have obviously come to the conclusion that the missing piece is you.

Emma choked on the tears that were flowing freely now, feeling pleasantly overwhelmed with love, joy, and pure gratitude. She grabbed a nearby tissue and wiped messily at her nose before continuing to read.

This house feels immensely warmer when you walk through the door. Your smile brings a brightness that is unparalleled by any other. Your laugh fills our hearts with such love and happiness that we crave desperately whenever you leave. I've been told I make better breakfast when you're here, and I can confidently say that mornings are much more pleasant waking up next to you.

Because you're always looking for a reason to come around, our son and I would like to offer you one. Go ahead and open the box.

Quickly setting the letter down, she picked up the small gift and tugged the string loose. Lifting the lid, she saw a shiny silver key. Gasping, she stared at it for a moment before picking it up and holding the cold metal in her fingers. Remembering she didn't finish reading, she lifted the letter.

Emma, our family isn't whole without you, so we would like to give you the key to our house. If you're willing, we would love for you to come and live with us and finally make our house a home.

She read it over and over again, feeling her heart rate increase each time. She continued to wipe tears as she laughed, a reaction to the nerves she felt as well as the indescribable amount of delight at the idea of moving in with the Mills. At the bottom, she noticed a small note in a different and much less neat handwriting that she recognized to be Henry's.

P.S. Don't forget to check your grilled cheese. :)

Shaking her head, she leaned over and pulled the sandwich from the bag. Seeing there was a note scrawled across its wrapping, she untucked the sandwich and set it on a few napkins. She spread the paper out, flattening it enough to read the words.

You have the keys to our hearts and now the key to our house. We know this is cheesy, but will you come live with us?

She chuckled at the boy's joke, knowing damn well he learned that trick from her. She wiped at her eyes and read the wrapper again, cracking up even more the second time. Another message followed, this time in cursive.

Our son certainly gets his love of terrible puns from you…

That may have been the most Regina thing she said in the entire letter. After giving the letter another once over, she neatly tucked it back in its envelope. Folding napkins around the grilled cheese and dropping it back in the bag, she rolled down the top to keep in its warmth. Then, after staring another moment longer, she picked up the little black box, returned its lid, and slipped it into her pocket. Grabbing the envelope, her keys, and the bag from Granny's, she sprinted to her car.

She jumped out the moment she pulled in the driveway, nearly forgetting her lunch on the passenger seat. She ran to the door and then stared at the lock. Slowly pulling the box from her pocket, she pulled out the key and smiled as she the metal fit perfectly into the door knob, unlocking the door with ease. She pushed it open and closed it quietly behind her, setting her sandwich bag on the nearby table and slipping off her boots.

Despite her attempts to be quiet, Henry was in the nearby living room playing video games and peeped his head around the corner to find his blonde mother much earlier than he expected her. His mouth opened in excitement and, never having doubted her answer, he ran across the floor, sliding in his socks, to plow into her side. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed the side of his head, chuckling at his antics.

"You're gonna live with us?" he mumbled into her shoulder.

"I'd love nothing more."

He pulled his head back to smile at her, and she kissed his forehead gently before he wrapped his arms around her once again. She snuggled into his shoulder, reveling in this moment of pure bliss. This would be her experience every day she returned from work. Her son would undoubtedly greet her upon arrival, no matter his age, because that was the sweet boy that Regina – and in recent years, herself as well – raised him to be.

"Henry?" Regina called, thinking she heard his voice.

Emma put her finger to her lips, motioning for him to stay silent. She mouthed, "Where is she?" before Henry tilted his head in the direction of the kitchen. She grinned mischievously, and Henry stifled a laugh as he tiptoed behind her. She schooled her features as best she could before rounding the corner into the kitchen.

She spotted Regina standing at the sink washing a few vegetables with her back to the door. The younger woman cleared her throat to catch her attention, and when Regina spun around, Emma used all her self-control not to smile and laugh at the former Mayor's current outfit. She was sporting her "mom jeans" she saved for chores around the house; however, Emma's favorite part was seeing her in her black t-shirt with the triangle and rainbow beam flowing from it knowing that Regina had absolutely no clue who Pink Floyd is. She maintained her cool and made sure to wait before teasing her about yet again wearing her clothes, no matter what was on them.

Emma's unusually quiet demeanor, especially given Regina's recent jump into scary unknown territory, had the older woman suddenly very nervous, but Emma couldn't hold in any longer, especially not when she saw her lover's tell-tale signs of nerves. She smiled widely, and Regina audibly sighed with relief, pressing her hand to her chest. Henry peeked around the corner and laughed, and his brunette mother shot him a half-hearted glare.

"I wasn't expecting you until this evening after your shift," she said, still sounding a little uneasy. At the moment, Emma's mind was occupied, and she was unable to think of anything else. Her eyes never left Regina's face as she addressed Henry.

"Kid, you might want to leave the room for a minute."

With a furrowed brow, he asked, "Why?"

"Because I'm going to kiss your mother now."

"Ugh, fine," he resigned. "I'll be playing Rocket League when you're done being all lovey."

The moment his feet crossed the threshold, Emma bounded across the kitchen in a few quick steps before scooping Regina up into her arms. She yelped in surprise, but the noise was smothered in a passionate kiss. She wrapped her legs tightly around Emma's waist and gripped at her shoulders to remain balanced. The Sheriff held her firmly against her body, as she swiped her tongue across her bottom lip. Giving in to the passion of the moment, Regina willingly granted her access and flicked her own tongue against Emma's exploring one. The younger woman set her down gently, never leaving her lips, her tongue searching her mouth as if it was unclaimed territory. Needing air, Regina gently nudged at her shoulders and rested their heads together.

"You frightened me, you know."

"Baby, I swear I didn't mean to. I'm sorry," she said pulling back, looking into mocha eyes. "I didn't want to seem too… eager."

"I wasn't expecting you at all, and no sign of happiness left me thinking I made a grave mistake."

"No, 'Gina. Not at all," she assured her, kissing her once again. "There's nothing I could possibly want more."

"Well then," she said, kissing the tip of her nose before smiling brightly up at her. "Welcome home, Emma."

I know this chapter was short, but I hope it will suffice for now. Here's my dilemma:

This story could end now, and I completely understand why many would be content with that. If you're finished reading, I sincerely thank you for being such a wonderful audience.

For those of you that may want to stick around for just a bit more, I have some in the works that contains a bit more plot and angst but comes to a perfect conclusion.

It's not enough for a sequel but contains too much for a brief epilogue. I perceive it being only about another two chapters. If no one feels they have the patience to tag along, please feel free to let me know! I promise not to torture you.

Thank you all for your patience, kind words, and continued viewership.