February 19th 2017
Emma huffed as her alarm vibrated under her pillow, waking her out of a dream where she and Regina had been at the dog pound, choosing a puppy together. She'd been back in Storybrooke a week and knew that she had to return to Boston, sooner rather than later, meaning if she didn't leave now, she never would. It was strange, she lived in Storybrooke, and every time she visited she found it harder to leave, but circumstances meant she had to be in Boston for at least a little longer, a big change from those years ago when she'd wanted to skip out of Storybrooke immediately after arriving and return to Boston. The same two people who had made her want to run were now the people she couldn't bear to leave.
She was worried about leaving again. She hated the back and forth to Boston and that Regina felt some kind of obligation to come out to her and she wanted to make sure it wasn't going to continue for so long. She hoped that this trip, though perhaps lengthy was the last one either of them would have to take for a while, and that soon she would be able to settle down with the people she considered family without having to take long breaks away from them.
She didn't want to wake Regina, knowing that the resulting conversation they would have would likely be intense and probably more than she could bear with the emotions that were swirling inside her. She couldn't believe at just how close they had got over the past week and knew from then on they would only get closer, or so she hoped. Deciding the best thing would be to leave before Regina woke, she turned in the bed, only to find herself face to face with wide, enquiring eyes.
"Oh, hey. How long have you been awake?" Emma paused at Regina's hesitant frown.
"Only an hour or so… couldn't really sleep… Kept thinking about tomorrow morning and not waking up beside you…" Regina paused as Emma leaned forward and pressed their lips together as if it was the most natural thing in the world, which, after their past few days together, it seemed to be.
"Gina, you know I'll only be back in Boston for a little longer, soon I'll be back, for good. Maybe then we could do this whole dating thing properly." Regina rolled her eyes at the blonde's smirk and rolled onto her back, sitting up. The duvet slipped at the motion, and Emma grinned as she saw the nude form of the woman she loved. She grabbed Regina's wrist and pulled the annoyed woman towards her, biting her lip to hold her grin. Regina giggled as she lay back down with the sheriff, pulling the duvet over them properly, as she lowered her lips to Emma's.
In the time that followed the mayor's and the sheriff's date, the couple and Henry had become more of a family than ever before. At least that's what it felt like to Regina. As she watched the other mother of her son hug said child tightly, she felt a pang in her chest at the thought of them not seeing each other for so long.
She could see that Henry was struggling as much, if not more than she was, at the fact he had to say goodbye to his mother, again. If she and Emma hadn't got so close over the past week, she'd likely of informed Emma that she should not keep dropping in and out of Henry's life whenever she felt like it. But she knew, after just that one week that she could not stay away from the blonde for that long, and so they would have to just make it work. Somehow. She also could see that the situation was hurting the blonde as much as it had been hurting them, and a comment on her parenting skills was not necessary nor beneficial.
A soft hand on her arm drew her out of her musings and she looked into the beautiful green eyes of the saviour, who was watching her knowingly. "If this is a problem Gina, we can stick to the emails… I'm sure I'll be done in a month or so." Regina remained frowning, unsure of what Emma was getting at. "Or if you're thinking twice about… us… then I get that too. Henry is the priority and…" The happiness that was shining in Emma's eyes had faded at the clear hesitation of the other woman, and Regina felt her gut clench at the thought of upsetting the woman.
This time it was Regina that initiated the kiss to shut the other up, either not realising or not caring that their son was still in the room. "I love you, you stupid idiot, I'm not rethinking anything, I'm just going to miss you!" Regina hadn't expected to say it, Henry hadn't expected to hear it, and neither of them expected Emma to drop to the floor and start convulsing.