Chapter Twelve
Park at 1:00. Splash pad. Dress appropriately.
Regina stared down at the text her phone, wondering exactly what Snow meant by 'dress appropriately', since she had no intentions of getting wet, splash pad or not.
"Morning," Henry said, as he strolled into the kitchen. "What are you looking so perturbed about?"
Regina smirked, and resisted the urge to call his grandmother an idiot again. "Nothing, honey. And good morning. I'm meeting your grandparents and Emma at the park this afternoon. I don't suppose you'd like to come along?"
Henry grinned. "Yeah, I'll come. Are they taking her in the splash pad?"
"Apparently," Regina sighed, as she handed Henry his breakfast. If she hadn't have been so distracted thinking about Emma and the Blue Fairy and all that had transpired the evening before, she might have remembered Henry's promise to prank her back, or even noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Nice," Henry grinned. "I'll bring my swim trunks."
Regina raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a little old for the splash pad?" she asked.
Henry shrugged. "Well, I figured Emma can't go in it alone, right? And you're obviously not going to want to take her in, and Grandma and Grandpa have Neal to worry about, so I'll take her in. I miss her. It will be good to spend some time with her."
Regina smiled and nodded. "I think she'd like that," she agreed.
"Gina!"
Regina turned to see Emma bounding at her, full speed. She and Henry had gotten to the park a little before one, and had claimed a good spot at a bench under a big shady tree, with a full view of the entire splash pad. The park was extremely busy since it was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, and Regina was glad that Henry had worn his bathing suit after all, since she really didn't want Emma in the splash pad alone with that many people.
Regina couldn't help but grin at Emma's appearance as she ran up and wrapped her arms around Regina's legs. The little girl had on a ladybug bathing suit, red with black spots and smiling lady bug face on the front, big yellow sunglasses and clear glittery jelly shoes. Regina noted that she would have likely coordinated Emma's outfit better, but she had to give Snow credit: the kid looked cute.
"Come here and get your sunscreen on!" Snow called, as she approached the bench under the tree. David was close behind with Neal in the stroller. Neal was in a swim diaper and blue trunks with blue baby sunglasses on, and Regina couldn't help but smile at him, too.
Emma stood in front of her mother with her arms out and giggled as Snow sprayed on the waterproof SPF 100. Emma was pasty white and she didn't want to deal with a sunburnt little girl.
"Now, listen, Emma," Snow said, once she was done. "Remember what we talked about. Neal is little so you have to stay with us in the little part, okay?"
Emma lip stuck out in a pout as she eyed the 'big kids' part of the splash pad. It looked way more fun. It had sprayers everywhere, and a slide and a giant bucket that filled up with water and then dumped on everyone's head. "I don't wanna go to the baby part!"
"Neal's too little for the big part, and you can't go in alone," Snow reminded her.
"I brought my swim trunks, Grandma," Henry cut in. "I can take her in the big part."
Emma beamed at the suggestion. "Please Mommy? I wanna play with Henry in the big part! Please?"
Snow sighed and looked at Henry. "Don't let her out of your sight," she instructed.
"I won't," Henry agreed, before heading off to change into his swim trunks.
Snow took off her swimsuit cover-up and lifted Neal from the stroller as David took the seat next to Regina.
"No splash pad for you?" Regina asked, as they watched Snow and Neal head off to the little part. Emma bounced around excitedly in front of them, waiting for Henry to return from the change room.
"Nah," David said, holding up this cell phone, "I'm on call at the station."
"Ah, I see. Wouldn't want to be defending the streets of Storybrooke in a Speedo," she smirked.
"You couldn't handle me in a Speedo," David retorted. "I'd hate to see you swoon."
Regina raised an eyebrow but didn't respond. Moments later, Henry was back.
"Ready to go, Emma?" he asked.
"Sunscreen!" Emma insisted, holding up the bottle to spray Henry. She could only reach up to his stomach, so he had to take the can to finish the rest of his body.
"Okay, now are you ready?" he grinned.
Emma nodded, and took Henry's hand as they ran off into the splash pad.
"Henry would have made a good big brother," Regina noted, as she watched them spray each other with the swivelling water guns near the middle of the play area.
"He would have," David nodded in agreement. "He's a good kid. You did a good job with him, Regina."
Regina's head snapped around, and she gaped at David for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I could have sworn hell just froze over. I thought you just complimented my parenting skills."
David chuckled. "Well, you've made vast improvements since the first time you attempted to parent a child." Regina smirked as David continued. "Snow and I were talking about it this morning. Emma really loves you, and I think we've all got to accept that it can't be all or nothing. Ideally, we'd like to raise our daughter – just us – but you found her first and you bonded with her first and with her magic, I think we all know that's not possible."
"No, it's not," Regina agreed. "And it's not just you and Snow and me, there's also Henry to consider."
"Right," David nodded. "So I think we need to call a truce."
"What are your terms?"
"We were thinking, you could take Emma while Snow and I are at work, rather than having Granny babysit – when she's not at school, that is. Snow said you and she already agreed that you will take her to dance class. Obviously, you can take her for magic lessons, and we were thinking maybe a weekly sleep over? Something for Emma to look forward to, and maybe stop her from poofing to your house every night. But she would live mainly with us."
Regina nodded slowly, processing the offer. She didn't really have much of a choice in the matter, she realized, since she had no parental claim to Emma, and they were well within their rights to tell her she couldn't see her at all; not that it would have made a difference if they did try to forbid her, what with Emma's magic, but Regina appreciated the attempt at making this all work for all of them.
"Okay," she agreed, finally. "That sounds fair. And I have one stipulation."
"Regina, I don't think you're really in the position to be making demands here," David sighed.
"It's not a demand, it's a request. And it's for Emma's benefit. I already told you I won't tolerate you messing with her magic, but my request is, if that conniving pixie says anything else to you about Emma, or offers any sort of solution, please tell me. I'm not asking because I think I have any claim on Emma, I'm asking because I know magic and I don't trust that fairy."
"Okay," David nodded. "We will trust your judgement as far as Emma's magic is concerned."
"Good. I must say, that was surprisingly quick and painless," Regina noted, earning a laugh and a head shake from David.
Regina smiled as she looked back over to the splash pad. Emma and Henry were completely soaked now, and both grinning from ear to ear. She watched for a few more minutes, until suddenly, Emma turned to look at her.
"Gina! Gina! I need you!" Emma cried, not moving from her spot.
"Emma? What's wrong?" Regina called back, her eyes frantically searching for Henry, who had his back turned to Emma now, spraying some other kid with the water gun.
"Gina! I need you!" Emma yelled again.
Regina stood up and handed her phone to David, before kicking off her shoes and heading out to the splash pad. She was grateful that she had chosen to wear a skirt with no stockings today, as she waded through the ankle deep water to the centre of the splash pad, careful to avoid as many erroneous sprays of water as she could.
"Emma, what's wrong?" Regina asked, as she approached the little girl.
"I missed you," Emma shrugged.
Regina sighed, relieved at least that there was nothing seriously wrong, but annoyed that she was now standing in the middle of the mini water park in her very expensive clothing.
"I missed you, too, Emma, but I could see you just fine from over there," Regina pointed out.
"But you can see me better here," Emma insisted.
"Henry," Regina turned her attention to her son, "why aren't you watching her?"
"Mom! I'm right here!" Henry replied, rolling his eyes. He really was only a couple feet away, but Regina still didn't like his focus taken away from Emma, knowing the girl's penchant for getting herself into trouble in one way or another.
"Okay, well I'm going back to my bench before I get soaked out here," Regina said, but before she got the chance to take a step, she noticed the little grin on Emma's face. Emma was looking up, and against her better judgement, Regina followed the little girl's green eyes up to the top of the structure they were standing under, just in time to see the bucket tip and gallons of water pour over top of both of them.
Regina stood for a moment, soaked from head to toe, her mouth opening and closing a few times, as she literally could not find her voice in the soak of the cold water that just dumped over her. Emma and Henry were laughing hysterically, and it didn't take long for Regina to realize that the two had planned this.
"Mom! You should see your face!" Henry managed to get out between fits of laughter.
"Oh, you think this is funny, do you? This skirt is dry clean only!" Regina snapped, finally finding her voice.
"Well, unless I'm mistaken, I do believe you said 'bring it on'," Henry deadpanned.
Regina wiped her hands over the shirt, trying to straighten it out as much as possible, as the burgundy fabric stuck to her. She lifted up her head, and as regally as she could considering she looked like a drowned rat, she said, "you will live to regret this prank war."
Henry grinned. "Bring. It. On," he challenged.
"And you," Regina said, turning her attention to Emma. "You are supposed to be on my team, you little traitor."
Emma laughed. "I'm a double ancient!"
"Agent," Regina corrected, with a small laugh, before shaking her head and turning back to head toward the bench, where she could clearly see that David was quite enjoying himself as well. She attempted to ignore the stares of the other parents at the splash pad as she made the walk of shame back to the edge, before poofing herself dry.
"Aw, I liked that drowned-rat-chic look you had going on," David teased as Regina sat back down beside him.
"Yes, well, I wouldn't want you to swoon, now would I?" Regina retorted.
"Hey, don't be like that. I heard you started this whole prank war, anyway."
"You were misinformed. Henry started it. I just took it up a notch," Regina insisted. "And your little hell-raiser is playing both sides and somehow never on the receiving end of a prank."
"She's five, Regina," David reminded her.
"Yes, well, she won't be five forever, now will she?"
David laughed again, and shook his head, still marvelling at how they ever got here, from where they started out. He wasn't about to complain, though. He would take watching the former Evil Queen pout like a petulant child after being pranked by his daughter and grandson over fearing for his and his true love's life any day.
"Hey," he said, after a few minutes of silence passed between the two, "why don't you and Henry come over for dinner tonight at our place? We can discuss our arrangement with Emma and let her know that we are all on the same page here."
Regina nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. I'd love to," she agreed.
After another hour in the water, and long after Snow had already returned with Neal and changed, Henry finally brought a shivering Emma back over to the bench under the tree.
"Henry! She's freezing!" Regina exclaimed, as she grabbed a towel and wrapped Emma up tight.
"She wouldn't leave! I've been trying to get her to come back for half an hour! She doesn't listen."
Regina turned to look at Emma again. "Is that true, Little One?"
Emma nodded and stuck out her lip in a pout. "Don't be mad. I never had this much fun before!"
"No one's mad, baby, but you have to listen to Henry when he's watching you, understand?"
"Sorry, Henry," Emma said, still pouting. Regina had to wonder, again, how much of Emma's listening problem she was to blame for, for always letting her get away with everything. She guessed she'd know the answer if it changed now that Emma was with the Charmings.
"Emma, how would you like it if Regina and Henry come over for dinner tonight?" David asked, stepping over to his daughter.
Emma grinned and nodded excitedly. "Yes!"
"Really?" Snow asked, looking at her husband skeptically.
"Yes," David smiled. "Regina and I had a good talk while you were playing with Neal. We've called a truce."
Snow beamed. "That's wonderful," she said, sincerely.
"Well, then, we will see you tonight," Regina said with a smile.
"Gina!" Emma squealed as Henry and Regina entered the loft that evening for dinner. Regina was growing accustomed to hearing her new nickname being yelled excitedly right before Emma lunged herself at her legs, and it occurred to her as she scooped Emma up, that it wouldn't be very long before she was too big for this. "I missed you!"
"I just saw you two hours ago," Regina laughed.
"You sit beside me for supper, okay?" Emma asked, excitedly, bouncing a little in Regina's arms.
"Yes, of course, Little One." Regina put Emma back on the floor and let her lead her to the table. Henry took the spot on the other side of Emma, and Regina tried to push back the thoughts that this is how she wanted it to be: just the three of them. She knew it wasn't healthy to think like that, and it wasn't fair to anyone.
For most of dinner, Emma rattled on and on about the splash pad, as if they all hadn't been there, until it came time to discuss the arrangements Regina and David had worked out.
"But, Gina! I want to come back to your house tonight!" Emma cried, once she learned she would be staying at the loft again tonight.
"You can't, Sweetheart. You start school tomorrow, remember? But I'm going to be there after school to pick you up and take your to your dance class. And then Friday, I'm going to pick you up and you're going to have a sleepover Friday night, okay?"
"No! You'll be sad without me!" Emma insisted.
"Mommy and Daddy will be sad without you," Snow cut in.
Emma looked at her mother and pouted, and turned back to Regina. "But what about Kitty Softpaws? She'll wonder where I am!"
"I will tell her where you are," Regina promised.
"Will you let her sleep in your room when I'm gone?"
"Maybe Henry's room?" Regina suggested, causing Henry to laugh.
"I'm not the one who let the furball in the house, remember?" Henry reminded her.
"Well, we'll discuss Diablo Gato's sleeping arrangements when we get home, alright?" Regina asked, through gritted teeth, making Henry laugh again.
"Don't call her that!" Emma cried.
"Ok, sorry Little One. I won't call her that," Regina said, trying to stifle her own giggle. The name was far more appropriate for that damn cat, as far as Regina was concerned, and it wasn't like Emma would know what she called it when she wasn't around, anyway.
"Well, Emma," David said, "I think it's time to say goodbye to Regina and Henry, so you can get in the bath and ready for bed. You have to be up early to start school tomorrow."
None of them anticipated the meltdown that was about to occur, but in hindsight, Regina guessed they really should have. Emma threw herself on the floor, crying and hitting the ground.
Snow looked at Regina immediately, clearly at a loss for what to do. She had never experienced a tantrum before, having missed Emma's childhood the first time around, and considering that Neal was far too young for behaviour like this.
"Don't look at me," Regina shrugged, "she's your child." Regina wanted nothing more than to pick Emma up and hug her and calm her down, but she knew doing so, in this instance, would be detrimental to the family dynamic that Snow and David were trying to work out. As much as it broke her heart, she had to let Snow learn how to mother her child, just as she'd had to learn how to deal with Henry's meltdowns - and from the look of Emma at the moment, Regina was pretty sure that was genetic.
"Emma, Henry and I are going home now, do you want to say goodbye to us?" Regina asked, as calmly as she could over Emma's crying.
"No!" Emma yelled. "I don't like you anymore!"
"I don't believe that's true, Little One. I think you're just upset because you are not getting your way. Come on, Henry, it's time to go," Regina said, firmly, before stepping closer to Snow and lowering her voice so that only the younger woman could hear. "If you can't calm her down within the next thirty minutes, call me and I will help you."
Snow gave Regina a hopeful smile, and headed over to try to talk her daughter down from her tantrum as Regina and Henry headed out the door.
"I can't believe you're just going to leave her like that!" Henry said, as they headed down the stairs.
"Part of being a parent is having to learn things the hard way," Regina explained. "Kids don't come with instructions. No one taught me how to deal with your tantrums, I just had to learn. The same goes for your grandparents and Emma. They need to learn how to handle this on their own if they want to parent her."
"What about her magic? What if she burns down the loft in her meltdown?"
Regina smiled and shook her head. "She's way too exhausted for that. Magic takes energy and Emma's tired from a long day. I'd be surprised if she could even make a spark at this point."
"Ok, if you're sure," Henry sighed.
About an hour later, Regina received a text from Snow, informing her that the tantrum had been dealt with, and Emma was bathed and in bed. Surprisingly enough, Regina actually felt a little proud of her former step-daughter in that moment - not that she would ever admit that to Snow.
She sighed as she leaned back on her chaise, reading her book in the comfortable silence of the house. She missed Emma, but she realized that the schedule she and David worked out meant that she would still see her nearly every day, and she supposed if she expected Emma to accept it, then she would have to as well.
In the relaxed comfort of the moment, she didn't even notice the little grey cat who curled up on her lap and fell asleep.
Regina wasn't sure who was more excited when Emma bounded down the steps in the front of the school on Monday afternoon: Emma or herself.
"Gina!" Emma yelled, running to her, like always. She was dressed in one of the outfits Regina had purchased for her: light blue skinny jeans, pink Converse and a white T-Shirt with a picture of a cat in purple sunglasses on the front. Regina also noted that Snow and David had gotten her a Puss N Boots backpack with Kitty Softpaws on it, and she had to smile.
"How was school, Little One?" Regina asked, once Emma was in the car and they headed off toward the dance studio.
"So fun! I made a friend and the teacher is nice but they made us have nap time and I had a bad dream but I still have my necklace and I thought about you when I dreamed so I was okay and we got to have snacks and play outside and there's a fishtank in the classroom and I looked in and one fish looked at me!"
Regina had to laugh when Emma finally stopped talking in order to take a deep breath after rattling all that off in one continuous sentence.
"Mommy said next month I have to go to grade one but no one else in my class will have to go because I'm special," Emma continued.
"Yes, you are, sweetheart," Regina agreed. She knew Emma was still too young to understand what was happening to her, but she was glad she was still young enough to accept things like this without question. She knew they would have a lot to explain to her as she got older. "Are you excited for your first dance class?"
Regina watched as Emma nodded excitedly in the rear view mirror.
"Good," Regina smiled. "I brought some dance clothes for you to change into, but we need to talk about the rules before we go in, okay?"
"What rules?" Emma asked, nervously.
"Well, number one, I want to see you on your best behaviour. That means being polite and using your manners, and listening to what your teacher tells you. And number two - and this is very important, Emma - absolutely no magic in the dance studio. Do you understand?"
Emma nodded. "Mommy said no magic at school, too," Emma pointed out. "When can I ever use magic?"
"When you're with me," Regina said, simply. "At my house," she added, remembering that technically Emma would be with her at the dance studio, and she didn't want the child taking advantage of that fact.
When they arrived at the studio, Regina took Emma into the change room and gave her the new dance clothes she had bought to change into: a little blue tutu and white tights and white dance slippers. She pulled Emma's blonde curls up into a ponytail and smiled at how precious she looked.
"Let's take a picture to show Mommy, shall we?" Regina asked, as she pulled out her phone and Emma grinned for the photo.
Regina led Emma into the main studio, where the five-year-old dance lesson was being held. There were about twenty other girls, all dressed in various colours of tutus and tights. Regina urged Emma to go join the other girls, and she quickly noted that Emma had locked eyes on one girl in particular: a little red-haired child wearing a green tutu and fairy wings.
Shit.
"Emma!" Regina called her back, and knelt down on the floor to talk to her at eye level. "That little girl isn't really a fairy, you understand that, correct?"
Emma shifted her weight from foot to foot, and looked at the girl again. "She looks like a fairy."
"I know," Regina agreed, "but it's just a costume, so you don't need to be afraid."
"Okay," Emma agreed, though she looked very unsure as she headed back out to rejoin the other girls. Regina found a seat with the rest of the parents, and pulled out her phone to film Emma, as she saw several of the other parents doing for their children.
It started out alright, to Regina's relief. She had been right about Emma's lack of coordination, but to Emma's credit, she wasn't much worse than any of the other kids out there, and she certainly wasn't the only one to fall.
She seemed to even be enjoying herself, until about halfway in, when disaster struck. Somehow, in the midst of their little 'Farmer in the Dell' dance game, Emma had ended up next to the red-haired fairy. Regina put her phone down so she could watch Emma closely, as Emma shot dirty looks at the other little girl. It was only moments later when Emma bumped into the girl, who promptly turned at pushed Emma to the ground. Before Regina could even get up to react, Emma was back on her feet and blasting the girl back with a shot of magic.
"Emma stop!" Regina cried, as she dashed across the room to grab Emma before she could magic the child again. The little girl had only stumbled back a few feet and didn't appear to be hurt, but Regina knew that wasn't going to calm down the furious mother who was running over.
"Angel! Are you okay?" the mother cried, as she helped her daughter to her feet.
"No!" The little red-head shrieked, as she got back to her feet - quite clearly uninjured. "That girl is bad!"
"I'm not bad!" Emma yelled back, and Regina could see the tears already starting to fall on her little cheeks. "You pushed me!"
"You should watch where you're going!" the other girl spat back. "You are a bad girl!"
"Okay, that's enough," Regina said to the girl, as Emma was full on crying now, and unable to defend herself any further. Regina stood, picking Emma up, and came face to face with the little girl's enraged mother.
"Mayor Mills," the woman - whom Regina now recognized as Laurie Fuller, the owner of a small bakery downtown - started, "just because that little girl is the Savior reincarnated doesn't mean she gets to go around blasting innocent children with magic! Someone could have been hurt, and it's really not fair to let her out around other children when her magic is quite obviously a danger to them!"
"I'm sorry, Laurie, and I know Emma is too. Your daughter isn't injured, and she did push Emma first. I am working on helping Emma get her magic under control, but I can't very well keep her locked up until then. You said it yourself, she is the Savior reincarnated. She saved all of us more times than you probably even realize. She wasn't trying to hurt your daughter, she was just reacting like a child, because currently, she is one."
"I'm sorry," Emma said, softly, and Regina genuinely wasn't sure if she was saying it to the little girl or to her.
"I know you are, Little One. Come on, I think that's enough dance class for today," Regina said, as she headed to pick up Emma's backpack, and then carried her out to the car.
"Am I a bad girl?" Emma asked, as Regina put her in the backseat and helped her with her seatbelt. Normally, Emma could do it herself, but she seemed less than eager to do so right now.
"No, Baby, you're not a bad girl," Regina reassured her.
"But you said no magic and I did magic. Am I in trouble?"
The fear in Emma's big green eyes broke Regina's heart. This little girl was so used to getting in trouble for everything, that she genuinely feared being punished for an accident.
"No, you're not in trouble. But now do you understand why I say no magic unless you're at my house, with me?"
Emma nodded. "I'm sorry," she said, again.
"I know you are, Baby. Everyone makes mistakes, Emma, and I know you didn't do that on purpose," Regina said as she got into her seat and started the car. She also knew that Emma's magic was on edge from the moment she saw that girl dressed like a fairy. She could kill Blue and the Yellow Fairy for all that they had done to Emma, but at this point, she knew it wouldn't make a difference.
"What's a 'savior'?" Emma asked, as they headed back toward the loft.
"Uh," Regina stammered. She wasn't prepared for this question at this time. She was glad, at least, that Emma didn't ask what 'reincarnated' meant. "It's a special job that you will have when you are older. It's something that you were born to do."
Regina watched in the rear view mirror as Emma scrunched up her nose in confusion. "I don't understand."
"I know you don't, Little One, but one day soon this will all make sense. I promise."
To Be Continued...