A/N: I wrote this then had dinner and completely forgot about it until I opened my laptop before bed. So it's going up unedited. I hope it makes sense! Sorry in advance for any typos.
Henry appeared shortly after the trio of women had moved on from the somewhat tense conversation, lured down from his bedroom by the scent of dinner.
"Hi Auntie Kat," he greeted as he helped himself to some coke from the fridge. Soda was a treat in the Swan-Mills house and he'd managed to persuade his moms that if they wanted him to sit through a boring dinner party, he deserved some teeth-rotting sugary crap. Emma was always easier to win over than Regina, of course, as she secretly grabbed a bottle herself every now and then on her lunch hour.
Kat had decided early on in her life that being a mother wasn't something she needed or wanted in her life. But she had always had a soft spot for Henry. As far as she was concerned, he was a kid she quite liked and if all children were like Henry, perhaps she'd consider having a family of her own. The trouble for her was that you didn't get to pick your offspring. What if her own son or daughter was as troublesome as she'd been as a teenager. No, she decided. The world didn't need another young Kathryn Nolan.
"Hey Henry. How are you?"
"Good thanks," Henry said, slamming the fridge door accidentally and reaffirming Kat's belief that there was no way she ever wanted to be a mother.
"How did you deal with your days in quarantine?"
"What?"
Regina winced at her son's lack of manners. "Two weeks ago, Henry. When we all had to stay inside the house because there had been the chemical leak. That was a form of quarantine; staying away until it was safe to go outside."
"Oh right, the shelter in place thing," Henry simplified. "Yeah, it was fine. Ma was here so that was cool and we just played games. How long 'til dinner?"
"It's ready. Go and wash your hands please," Regina said, getting up to begin serving the food.
Emma jumped to her feet to help, insisting Kat stay put and topping the woman's wine glass up before she joined Regina in plating up their dinner. Henry took his seat when he reentered, half of his drink already drunk, one eye on the refrigerator as he wondered whether he could get away with a top up.
"This looks delicious, ladies," Kat exclaimed as the meal was set in front of her.
"All Regina," Emma said at once. "You know if I was in charge of dinner we'd either be having a barbeque or take out."
"Both excellent options for dinner, to be fair," Kat chuckled. After all, who didn't love a summertime BBQ or a meal delivered to your door which didn't require any prep time before or washing up after.
They began eating and settled into an easy, familiar conversation. While it had been months since all of them had shared a meal, before the separation, Kat had been a regular feature in their house and the atmosphere was relaxed and enjoyable for everyone.
"So, Henry, how's school?" Kat asked.
"S'alright," Henry said through a mouthful of food.
"Are you still top of your English class?"
"Yep," the boy grinned. "But my math still sucks."
"That's ok. You can't be good at everything. As long as you get the grades to get into college. I mean, if you can still go to college."
A fork clattered against porcelain, then slipped onto the wooden table before dropping to the kitchen tiled floor with a clang.
"Sorry," Emma all but shouted, reaching under the table to pick up the dropped utensil. But before she'd resurfaced, Henry had already asked the question.
"Why wouldn't I be able to go to college?"
Kat's face paled, suddenly realising what she'd said. She felt a wave of guilt and immediately stuttered something but no words came out. Emma too was completely mute. In fact, she thought if she tried to speak she might be sick. It was Regina who found her voice first. The words, however, didn't seem to help.
"Henry, do you want some more coke?"
"Yeah!" He sprang to his feet but instead of racing to the fridge, he froze. "Hang on, can I not go to college?"
"I should go," Kat said, making to stand up even though her plate was half full.
"Kat, it's fine. You don't have to go," Regina assured.
"What's going on?" Henry asked. "Why does Kat want to leave? Why is Mom letting me drink more coke? Ma? Did I get bad grades or something? I thought I didn't have to start worrying about that stuff yet." Truth be told, college hadn't been something Henry had given much thought to. It was just a milestone in his life he always assumed he had been slowly working towards. But it was seven years away. He hadn't yet started thinking seriously about it. Maybe he'd been wrong.
"Henry, you didn't do anything wrong. Your grades are fantastic," Regina reassured.
"Except for math," Henry pointed out.
"Well, we'll get you a tutor. Don't worry. You're going to college. Any college you want. To study whatever you want. I promise."
"Right," Henry said slowly, familiar with all of those reassurances from his mother. Both his mothers had always impressed upon him that it didn't matter where his passions and interests lay, they'd support him to follow his dreams. "So why did you," he turned to Kat, "say 'if I can still go to college'? What's with the 'if'?"
Kat looked like a deer in the headlights. She had no idea what to say. She had no idea how much Henry knew; clearly less than her brain had assumed when those words spilled carelessly from her mouth. "I -"
"Actually, Kat, maybe it is best if we talk about this with Henry, just the three of us."
The woman shot a look of relief at her best friend at the interruption which provided her with an out. She stood up at once, muttered an apology to Emma and hurried from the room. Regina followed, passing her friend her coat and reassuring her that she knew it wasn't intentional, adding that she would text her later to let her know what happened.
By the time Regina returned to the kitchen, Henry was sitting back down, his glass now refilled with coke. He might have been waiting to find out what was going on but the opportunity to drink more sugar wasn't going to be missed. "So, what's going on?" Henry asked once Regina was sitting down again.
Regina looked at Emma but the woman was staring resolutely at her food. As she watched, a tear landed on the side of the plate. "Henry, the most important thing you need to know is that you are going to go to college. As I said, wherever you want, to study whatever you want. And if you decide you don't want to go to college and you become a pro surfer or an Instagram influencer, that's fine too. I mean, please don't do the latter but if you do, your ma and I will support you. Whatever you want, we're behind you. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, I know that, Mom," Henry reassured. "But what I don't know is why Auntie Kat was saying 'if'. I don't know what I want to study at college yet. It's, like, ages away. I've not started thinking about my major yet. But why does she think I might not go? Is it because of my math?"
"No," Regina reassured. "It's nothing to do with your math. And as I've said, if you want to go to college, we'll make that happen."
"Yeah, I get that. But what was Auntie Kat talking about?"
Regina didn't say anything. It wasn't her place. She and Emma had both agreed that it should be the blonde who spoke with Henry about what had happened. Unfortunately, their discussion hadn't gone much further than that, and aside from not telling Henry yet, she had no idea how Emma wanted to broach the subject. They should have talked about it. They should have planned. They thought they had time. And now, thanks to a slip of the tongue Kat made, they were confronted with something neither were prepared for.
"Henry, I need to tell you something."
Emma's voice, smaller than usual, broke the silence. Henry looked from his dark haired mother to the blonde, eyes widening as he saw that Emma was crying. A jolt of fear shot through his body. What was wrong? Were his moms breaking up again? Was Emma sick? Was he sick?
"Ma?" Henry asked, his own voice now wavering. "What's wrong? Are you ok?"
"I'm ok, kid," Emma said, trying to reassure him with a watery smile. "But I made a mistake a while back. I'm doing everything I can to make it right again and I will make it right again. It's something I'm ashamed of and I feel very guilty about so I didn't want to tell you. I asked your mom not to say anything either because I wanted to tell you myself. I hadn't planned to say anything today but I guess it's time you knew."
Henry looked more concerned now than before Emma had spoken. "What did you do?" he asked, a grave look far beyond his years on his face.
"I … Last year … So, you know I …" As the blonde stopped and started, Regina reached over and placed her hand on top of Emma's on the table, a silent reassurance, a squeeze of support. The younger woman took a deep breath and started again. "Do you remember when you came home from school when you were seven and asked if we could play poker?"
Henry furrowed his brow. "No."
"Well, you did. Someone at school had taught you how to play poker. It's a card game where you bet based on how good your hand is and if you win, you get everyone's chips. Or money or gummies, whatever you're betting with."
"Yeah, I know what poker is, Ma. We used to play it in the playground with cents. But I don't remember asking if we could play at home."
"Well, you did ask. And we said no."
"Right…," Henry said slowly. "So?"
"There was a reason we said no, Henry," Emma replied. "And the reason is because of me."
There was a pause so Henry asked another question. "You don't like poker or something?"
"No, I like poker. I like poker a lot actually," Emma smiled wryly. "That's the problem. Henry, do you know the word addiction?"
"Like when you can't stop drinking or taking drugs?" Henry asked, even more confused now.
"Exactly. But you can get addicted to lots of things. Yes, you hear a lot about alcoholics who are addicted to drinking or people who use drugs but you can get addicted to cigarettes, to food, to games on your phone, or the internet."
"Really? But, being addicted to games isn't that bad, right?"
"It is if you play games all the time and don't do any school work or revise for exams or can't get a job," Emma pointed out.
Henry's face fell. "Is that why I can't go to college?"
"No!" Emma exclaimed. "And you can go to college. Just like Mom said. If you want to go, we'll get you there. So, back to the addictions, there's another addiction which is common. It's called gambling addiction. Do you know what gambling is?"
"When you bet money on sports and stuff, right?"
"Right. And gambling can also be on card games like poker. That's why we couldn't let you play poker at home."
"Because you didn't want me to become addicted to gambling?"
"No, because …" Emma took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Because I'm addicted to gambling, Henry."
There was a pregnant pause. Regina watched her son's face closely, waiting as his brain processed the information. Emma waited too, wanting her son to speak first.
"You're addicted to playing poker?" Henry asked eventually.
"Not just poker. I can bet on anything. But I don't do it. I stopped gambling a long time ago. Before I met your mom, actually. I saw that it was bad and I worked really hard to stop. But being an addict is like being sick. Sometimes it's really hard to control my mind and sometimes all I want to do is go and gamble. But I know it's wrong because it's dangerous so I try really hard not to do it."
"Why's it dangerous?"
"Because when you gamble, you want to win. And winning feels good. But when you win a little bit, next time, you want to play with more money because the feeling gets better. So you keep playing with more and more money so that you feel happier every time you win. But with gambling, you don't always win. And when you lose, someone takes all of your money. That's what happened last year, Henry. That's why your mom asked me to move out."
"Because of money? But, we have a house. And cars. We have money, right?"
"We do," Emma nodded. "But I made a mistake with some money last year. And your mom was rightly upset and asked me to move out so she could think about and deal with what happened. Now, as you know, we're working hard to get back together and things are going really well. But now you need to know. And this wasn't how I planned to tell you but I suppose you are old enough to understand. So, yeah, here it is. I'm a gambling addict, Henry."
"I get that but I don't understand what this has to do with college. I'm eleven. I'm not going to college for years. Why are you telling me this now?"
Emm braced herself. Just rip off the bandaid, she told herself. Get it out there. Say it. Get it over and done with. There's nowhere else to go from here.
"The money I used to gamble last year was your college fund."
"I have a college fund?" Henry asked, bypassing the confession. The thought had never occurred to him about how he'd pay for college. After all, it was years away and he'd never considered the practicalities of it. But that being said, now he was remembering some stuff in the news when his moms wouldn't switch channels about how expensive colleges were. So you did need money to go. "Hang on, do I still have a college fund?"
"You have some money, yes," Emma replied. "And I'm going to put all of the money I spent back, I promise."
"How much is in my fund?" Henry asked, briefly wondering whether this meant he could buy a new cell phone.
"It's about eighty thousand dollars," Emma said.
"Wow! That's loads. Awesome! So, when do I get the money?"
"That's not how it works," Emma replied. "The money is used to pay college fees and pay for housing and food and living while you're studying. But, Henry, if you want to go to a private college, that's not actually enough."
"Wow! Colleges are expensive! So, hang on, how much of my money did you gamble with?"
Emma winced. "You had almost two hundred thousand in there."
The words were said to the now cold plate of food, not to her son. Emma couldn't bear to meet his eyes.
"Two hundred thousand?" the pre-teen repeated, gobsmacked. "So, what, you used over one hundred thousand dollars to play poker? And lost it?"
"But I'm paying it back," Emma said quickly.
"And if she can't pay it all back, we'll find the money," Regina said quickly, speaking for the first time in a while. "This won't affect your college education, Henry."
"You gambled one hundred thousand dollars?" Henry asked, ignoring Regina.
"I did."
"How?" Henry frowned.
"Mistakes. Like I said, I bet bigger amounts to win big but I didn't win. I lost. But as a gambling addict, I couldn't walk away. I tried to win it back but I just lost more. Then by the time I realised what had happened, it was too late. I'm so sorry, Henry. I never meant to hurt you. Or you," she added, turning again to Regina who shook her head subtly to tell Emma this wasn't the time.
Henry was quiet for a long time. Emma didn't say anything. She knew her son needed time. She expected him to have questions. Regina waited patiently, her hand still resting on top of Emma's.
"So, you're a gambling addict. You took money from my college fund to use to play poker. You lost the money and Mom found out and kicked you out. And now she's forgiven you and you're paying back the money and I can still go to college. Is that right?"
"Yes," Emma nodded, feeling no need to tell Henry that it wasn't only playing poker which resulted in his lost fortune.
"So … am I meant to be angry?"
"Do you feel angry?" Emma asked.
"No," Henry shrugged. "I guess I can see how Mom was super mad. I mean, that's a lot of money, right? And I'm guessing you lied to her about the gambling. But I didn't even know I had the money. And college isn't for ages so it doesn't matter to me. But, you're not going to keep gambling, right?" His face was more concerned than accustorial.
"No," Emma said quickly. "I'm in Gamblers' Anonymous and I go to meetings and I'm working really hard to never, ever gamble again. Your mom is helping me."
"Is Gamblers' Anonymous like Alcoholics' Anonymous?"
"How do you know about Alcoholics' Anonymous?" Regina asked.
"TV," Henry shrugged.
"Well, yes, they're the same idea," Emma confirmed. "And I'm going to work every day for the rest of my life to make sure I don't ever make a mistake. Plus, your mom is the only one with access to your college fund now, just so you know."
"So, I don't have access?"
"You will get it when you turn eighteen but you don't need it now, why?"
"Well, cos, my phone's kinda crap so I was wondering if I could get a new one," Henry said, eyes wider than usual as he tried to pull his 'cute' face.
Emma couldn't help but chuckle. "You know what, kid? I think we can arrange something. And if there's anything you want to ask about my gambling addiction, or addiction in general, you can talk to both me and your mom, ok?"
"Ok. Can I have more coke?"
Seeing that their son wasn't going to fly off the handle, Regina put her foot down. "Two glasses is enough. Water or milk now, please. Would you like me to reheat your plate? I'm afraid we all got a bit distracted there, didn't we?"
Henry nodded his agreement and poured himself some water as Regina scooped up their half-finished meals to microwave them briefly. As she passed, she pressed a kiss to Emma's temple, whispering, "I'm proud of you," in the blonde's ear.
A/N: Any mistakes - leave them in a review and I'll change them, sorry!
