A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my girlfriend (who has not stopped reading over my shoulder so I can write this). After 6 months apart we're now finally able to be together and I can't wait to find out what our future holds.

"Emma! What's your favourite animal?" Henry called as soon as the blonde woman entered the common room the following morning.

Regina looked up from the newspaper she was reading and smiled at her date. Because, even with two small boys in tow and the unorthodox location, that was what the day out at the zoo would be.

"I love swans," Emma replied, crossing the room towards the little family and Roland, both children sitting in front of half full bowls of cereal. "Do you know why?" Henry and Roland shook their heads. "Because that's my name."

Henry frowned. "Your name is Emma."

"Yes but my surname is Swan. That's why this place is called Swan's Shelter."

"What's a shelter?" Roland asked.

Walked into that one, Emma mused to herself as she took a seat opposite Regina. "It's a place to stay for a while," she offered. "Good morning," she added, turning to the brunette.

"My favourite animal is an elephant. Roland likes monkeys," Henry continued before Regina could reply. "I like monkeys too. They're cool cos they can climb trees and they eat bananas. I like bananas too. But elephants are the bestest. They are sooooooo big!" He held his hands wide as if illustrating the size of his favourite beast.

"Monkeys eat lots of different fruit actually," Roland said, digging into his breakfast once more.

As the boys started their own conversation about what monkeys and elephants did and didn't eat, Regina turned and smiled at Emma. "Good morning. How was your Friday night?"

"Good thank you. I called my foster parents to catch up. I haven't seen then in a couple of weeks and I miss them."

Regina forced herself not to react. Emma didn't know the fate of her own parents and hadn't intended the casual comment to hurt as much as it did. She didn't want to bring the mood down by confessing the sucker punch to the gut she had just experienced.

"That sounds like a lovely Friday evening. Henry and I just watched one of the movies on his iPad. Even he's getting bored of them now and that boy's capacity for repetition is impressive. Do you know if there's a way to wipe an iPad and remove all cloud data? I don't want to risk connecting it to Wi-Fi until I know my account is no longer associated with it."

"I'm sure it's possible," Emma nodded. "I'll do some research and we can maybe do it next week. Good thinking, by the way. Find My Phone is a creepy app regardless but for the women here, it can be dangerous."

"Mom, can we go now?" Henry asked through the last mouthful of cereal.

Regina nodded and instructed her son and Roland to go and brush their teeth. Both boys slid from their chairs and scampered off at once to fulfil the command. Emma smiled as she watched the interaction. It made her wonder, not for the first time, what sort of mother she would be. Children had never been a part of the blonde's plan but every now and then her mind would wander to how her life might look if she did have a child or two.

Snapping out of her daydream when Regina stood up, Emma jumped to her feet as well and helped the brunette wash up the remains of their breakfast.

"I've made lunch," Regina announced as she opened the fridge and pulled out some Tupperware. "Cheese and salad sandwiches. I'm guessing you like them."

"Yes, thank you. How did you know?"

"You mentioned both ingredients last night."

Emma thought back to the rambling stream which had led, via Regina's misplaced laughter, to their first mini argument. "You were listening?"

"Of course," Regina nodded, pulling several packs of chips from a cupboard and stacking them on top of the Tupperware in a canvas bag. "Do you still like apples?"

"My favourite fruit," Emma nodded.

"Me too," Regina smiled, picking up four apples from a bowl on the side and placing them carefully on top of the chips. "Right, we're good to go." She picked up the bag and swung it carefully over her shoulder. "'ll just do my teeth too," Regina said as they reached the corridor. "Coffee breath."

Informing the woman she'd meet them all in the reception, Emma made her way down to the front of the shelter. Ruby was sat behind the desk, already halfway through a report which she hadn't had the time to complete yesterday. Emma leaned against the desk, reading over her friend's shoulder as she typed in the information.

"You missed an apostrophe."

"Grammar Nazi," Ruby scowled as she tabbed the curser back and corrected her mistake. "Where's your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Emma sighed. "Make sure you add in a reference to her meeting with Belle."

"Stop doing my job for me," Ruby huffed. "And you know who I mean. Where's Regina?"

"In the bathroom. She'll be out in a minute."

"Are you excited?"

"I like the zoo. I haven't been for a long time and I am excited about seeing how the place has changed. I like to see the animals even though it is a shame they are in captivity and -"

"Not what I meant and you know it," Ruby interrupted, shooting her friend a smirk. "Are you excited about going out on a proper date with Regina?"

"I … well, is this a proper date? I mean, Roland and Henry will be there. But we are spending time together outside of the shelter so that's date-like. And we have a picnic. Picnics are supposed to be romantic somehow, right? And she's wearing mascara. She's got beautiful long eyelashes. And I'm wearing mascara. I put more mascara on than usual. Does that mean it's a date? Ruby, is this a date?"

Ruby grinned at her friend who looked startled at the realisation. "Yes, sweetie, it's a date."

"Oh God. I'm not sure I'm ready for an actual date with Regina." One, two, three, four, five, pause. One, two, three, four, five, pause. Emma could feel her heart pounding against her chest, the panic rising inside her. She wasn't sure why she was reacting this way. It wasn't as if she hadn't spent time with Regina with romantic undertones before. Hell, they'd kissed in almost this exact spot the night before. But a date. With Regina Mills. With the woman who had made her high school experience miserable. She stepped away from the desk, hand pressed against her sternum in an attempt to calm herself.

Ruby jumped to her feet, seeing that the blonde was spiralling. "Ok Emma, breathe," she said as she hurried around to the far side of the desk. By the time she reached the woman, she was doubled over, hands on her knees as she tried to draw gulps of air deep into her lungs. "It's ok. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out. Calm down. It's just Regina. You like Regina, remember? Wanna count with me? One, two, three, four, five, pause."

"One -," Emma coughed, her chest tight. "One, two, three."

"That's it," Ruby soothed. "One, two, three, four, five, pause."

"One." Deep breath. "Two." Deep breath. "Three. Four. Five." Deep breath. "One, two, three, four, five." Pause, deep breath. "One, two, three, four, five." Pause, deep breath. "One, two, three, four, five."

Taking a final deep breath, Emma stood up. "Thanks," she muttered at her friend who looked concerned. She wiped her eyes, careful not to smudge that mascara. "Sorry."

"No need to apologise," Ruby assured. "Starting a new relationship is always big and with the history you share with Regina? I get it. Are you ok now?"

"Yeah, I -" She fell silent as Regina, Henry and Roland appeared in the reception, the boys still talking loudly about monkeys and elephants, each child clutching their stuffed toy which represented their favourite animal.

"Ok, we're all ready," Regina smiled but her expression changed as soon as she saw Emma's face which was still red. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Emma said quickly. "Shall we take my car?"

Regina glanced at Ruby who subtly shook her head, advising Regina not to probe deeper. Instead, the redhead circled the desk and took her seat, returning to her report and pretending nothing had happened.

"Um, why don't I drive? I've got Henry's car seat all strapped in the back and a spare booster which Roland can use. Unless you want to drive?"

In truth, Emma didn't like being the passenger in cars. She hated not being the one in control of the vehicle. Another reason she detested public transport. But she said nothing. She was sure Regina would drive safely with her son in the back seat. With their car arrangements decided, Regina bid farewell to Ruby, thanked her again for covering Emma's shift, a sentiment echoed by the blonde, and opened the door to the shelter to allow the boys to exit the building. Emma followed, with Regina bringing up the rear.

An hour later and they finally made it to the front of the queue to get into the zoo. Tickets purchased, the boys were bouncing up and down with excitement as they made their way past the entrance and into the park.

"Now I need you two to stay together and near us at all times," Regina said firmly. "Here's a map of the zoo. Where do you want to go first?"

"Monkeys!"

"Elephants!"

I don't know why I asked, Regina thought to herself as she leaned over the fold out map to identify where those two enclosures were. "Ok, well the elephant enclosure is way over here, Henry, and we're going to have to pass lots of animals to get there. So we'll see some monkeys on the way to the elephants, ok?"

Henry huffed but nodded. "Fine. Which way?"

Regina glanced at the map before pointing to one of the pathways. Henry and Roland took off at once.

"I fear this isn't going to be a relaxing day," Regina said as she hurried after the boys, Emma right behind her.

"That's ok. They're having fun. The simple joys of being a child, without a care in the world."

"Oh, what I wouldn't give to have that mentality for a day," Regina said wistfully.

"Is it that bad?"

Regina turned to the blonde and saw Counsellor Emma had taken the place of the fun woman who had been keeping the boys well and truly entertained in the line with interesting animal facts. The mask had returned, however, and here was the woman who had dedicated her life to keeping women safe from abusive partners.

"No," Regina assured. "It's not that bad. Half the time now I'm not even thinking about Leo. But I do get waves of anxiety every now and then. I wonder what would happen if he found us, what would happen if Henry decided he wanted to see his dad. What I would tell him, you know? But no, it's not that bad. Most of the time, I'm happy. Especially when I'm with you."

Emma felt the dopey smile spread over her face. "Really?"

"Really," Regina nodded, reaching out to take the blonde's hand. "Come on, the boys are almost out of sight."

Hand in hand, they hurried through the crowd, glancing into the enclosures on either side, whose inhabitants the boys had deemed not interesting enough. Regina supposed they'd slow down on the way out and take their time to see all of the creatures. But for now, monkeys and elephants took precedent. As they caught up with the boys who had got caught behind a large group of scouts, Emma went to pull her hand from Regina's but the brunette tightened her grip.

"What about Henry?"

"He's six," Regina replied. "And he's not going to be paying attention to us when there's an elephant in the vicinity."

"Are you sure?"

Regina nodded, placing her free hand on Henry's back to guide him carefully past the cluster of young teenage boys. As they edged around them, Regina felt Emma's fingers interlace with her own and a smile formed on her lips once more.

"So, can I ask what happened just before we left the shelter?"

It was lunch time and the two women were sat at a picnic table in a small play area just off to the side of the elephant enclosure. Henry had reluctantly dragged himself away from staring at the magnificent creature to wolf down his sandwich but he and Roland were now pressed back against the barrier, watching the huge animal slowly chew mouthfuls of grass.

Emma swallowed the last bite of her sandwich before answering the woman beside her. She wasn't surprised Regina was asking but she still wasn't quite sure what to say. She hated lying but she also didn't want to confess the thoughts which had run through her mind. She didn't want to admit that she had thought of Regina as that teenager she had once known. That was before. That was the past. Maine felt like a lifetime ago.

"It's just a lot, I guess," Emma said eventually. "Starting a new relationship."

"Do you have panic attacks before every date at the start of a relationship?"

"How did you know?"

"I used to get panic attacks," Regina explained. "After my parents died. I was going through hell and Leo wasn't there for me. The smallest thing going wrong used to trigger them. Sometimes I could get them under control before I spiralled. Other times … yeah, they weren't fun."

"I'm sorry."

Regina shrugged. "I dealt with it. I don't get them any more."

"No, I mean about your parents. I had no idea."

"Oh yeah, they died four years ago. Traffic accident."

"Regina, I'm so sorry," Emma repeated. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't like to talk about it. Worst day of my life, to be honest."

"I can't even imagine," Emma murmured, curling her arm around Regina's shoulders and pulling the woman into her side. Regina leaned into the contact, resting her head against Emma and letting out a little sigh.

"Thank you." It felt good, she realised, to lean on someone. Both metaphorically and physically. But, she also wanted to be that person for Emma. "So, that panic attack," she said, returning to the start of the conversation.

"Sometimes, I remember, that's all," Emma explained, rubbing her hand up and down Regina's arm. "I remember our past, how we met again. I want this, don't get me wrong. I want to explore what's between us and I am excited about our future. But there's still a little part of me, I guess it's seventeen-year-old me, who can't quite understand how I can be on a date with Regina Mills."

"And that triggered a panic attack?"

Emma nodded slowly. "Yes but I do want this."

"Yes but a part of your brain doesn't," Regina pointed out, sitting up straight and looking at the blonde. "Do you think that will ever change?"

"I want it to," Emma replied. "I'm working on it. I'm going to Archie every week. I'm talking it through with you. And Ruby, to an extent. I think I just need time, to be honest. This has all happened quickly and sometimes it's just a bit overwhelming. I don't deal too well with emotions and when they're confusing and don't make any rational sense, it's hard for me to process."

"Aren't all emotions irrational?" Regina asked. "Isn't that the beauty of being human?"

Emma smiled at the sentiment and glanced over at Henry and Roland. Seeing that both boys were preoccupied with the elephant, Emma turned to press a gentle kiss to Regina's lips. "You're a beautiful human."

Blushing, Regina also checked where her son's attention was. "So are you," she murmured, returning Emma's kiss before resuming her position leaning against the blonde, a long slender arm wrapped around her shoulders as the two of them watched the six-year-olds talking excitedly as they watched the elephant graze.

Back in the underground parking lot late that afternoon, Regina and Emma each bent into the vehicle to lift a sleeping boy carefully from their chairs. After a full day running around, seeing their favourite animals and myriad others, Henry and Roland had sparked out just as Regina pulled into the Bronx traffic as they left the zoo.

"Are you ok with Roland?" Regina asked as she hoisted Henry into her arms with the practiced ease of a mother.

"Yes, I've got him," Emma said, staggering backwards a little clumsily before using her foot to slam the door of Regina's car closed.

Together they made their way back to the dusky New York street and down to the entrance of Swan's. Fumbling with one hand, her other arm clutching Roland to her side, Emma fished the key from her handbag and unlocked the front door.

"Hey, how was your date?" Ruby asked as soon as the two women appeared.

"Great," Emma replied.

"Any monkey business?"

Emma narrowed her eyes at her smirking friend and followed Regina without replying through to the back of the shelter, both boys still spark out. They first deposited Henry on his bed, Regina quickly slipping off his shoes but leaving him fully clothed on top of the covers for now. He'd have to wake up to have his dinner at some point anyway.

Further down the corridor, Regina knocked on Marian's door. There was no answer.

"She may still be at work," Emma pointed out when Regina turned to her as if asking what they should do now. "I think her trial shift finished at five but she might have been asked to stay later to discuss her position."

"Let's put Roland down on my bed then until she comes back."

Emma nodded her agreement and followed Regina back to the brunette's room. She was relieved to release the weight of the six year old. Roland wasn't exactly heavy but Emma was used to lifting workout weights, not awkwardly shaped little people. She stretched out her arms as Regina made sure the boy was comfy.

"You ok?" she whispered as she beckoned for Emma to leave the room.

"Yes, fine," Emma nodded. "Thanks for today, it was great."

Regina glanced up and down the empty corridor they now found themselves in. "Um, can we go to your office?" she asked, knowing that was the only place the two women would be able to talk privately.

They set off side by side, emerging into the reception area. Ruby seemed unsurprised to see them. "So, how was it?" she asked again.

"It was lovely, thank you," Regina replied. "The boys had an amazing time. They're exhausted, as I'm sure you saw."

"And you guys?"

"We had a wonderful time too," Regina said, following Emma as the blonde stepped behind the desk.

"Oooh, is it monkey business time?" Ruby asked, ducking to the side as a notebook sailed through the air and narrowly missed her head before a scowling Emma slammed the door behind them.

"Monkey business?" Regina asked as soon as the door was shut.

"Ignore her. I do," Emma said, crossing to the brunette and wrapping her arms around her waist.

"But what -"

The question was cut off with a kiss, Emma deciding she would rather distract Regina than explain the bizarre conversation she and Ruby had had the night before. And anyway, the expression didn't even make sense. Monkeys, like almost all other animals, did not exhibit sexual behaviour for any other reason than procreation. It was a foolish way to describe what Ruby implied was going to happen between them.

But as Regina's tongue glided against her lips, Emma stopped wondering the origins of the confused idiom and focused instead on the woman in her arms. She slid her hands up Regina's back, cupping the nape of her neck as they kissed. Regina moved closer, pressing her body against Emma's as the kiss deepened. A familiar tingling low on Emma's abdomen began, tickling her insides and making her clench her thighs together before she broke the kiss and stepped back.

Regina watched her move away, dark eyes heavy with desire.

"I had to stop," Emma explained. "You feel too good."

The brunette cocked her head. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Emma nodded. "And we're in my office. Ruby's outside. It's not the right time or place."

"When will it be right?" Regina asked, her own body already on fire. She was still confused as to how one kiss could evoke such powerful wanton lust within her. But in many ways, it made a lot of sense. Here, with Emma, was where she was meant to be.

"One day," Emma said. "Soon, I hope. But not here. Is that ok?"

"Yes, of course. I understand," Regina said, following the retreating woman and placing a chaste kiss to her lips. "One day soon. Maybe we could go somewhere if Marian looks after Henry for an evening, just the two of us."

"I'd like that," Emma smiled.

"It's a date," Regina replied, rocking onto her toes to kiss Emma one last time before she moved past the blonde and slipped from the room. Ruby looked a little surprised to see her so soon but said nothing as the brunette bade her goodnight and disappeared into the rear of the shelter to check on her son.

A/N: Oh, did I mention my girlfriend and I met through my fanfic writing? Yep, she's a fangirl! JK, G, I'm a fan of yours too!