A/N: Two quick things. One, I am drawing this story to a close. Expecting it to be done by Chapter 45… Two, I'm away next week for four days (mini-break with my gf!) and I'm not taking my laptop. I know, extraordinarily romantic of me to leave it behind. But it does mean there won't be a chapter next week. Sorry! I'll be back the weekend after and I'll make it extra long, I promise.

Stepping out onto the street, Regina looked up into the baby blue sky and took a deep breath in. Exhaling, her shoulders dropped, handbag sliding down her arm.

"Well?"

She turned at the familiar voice, hoisting the bag back onto her shoulder. "Emma, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to find out how the interview went. But I didn't want to wait until you walked all the way back to the shelter and you don't have a cell phone so I came here to wait for you," the woman explained, standing up from the bench outside the library upon which she had been sat. "So, how did it go?"

Regina wrapped her arms around the blonde without speaking, relaxing further into the soothing embrace. Firm hands rubbed up and down her back as she felt Emma's face bury in her hair. "Never mind," the taller woman whispered into her ear. "It was only your first interview."

"I got the job."

At that, Emma pulled back abruptly. "What?"

"I got the job," Regina repeated.

Emma frowned, stepping further away and scanning Regina's body as if trying to understand what she was seeing before her in light of this new information. "But … you sighed," she said eventually. "And you hugged me. Sighing and hugging are things you do when you're sad or disappointed. Shouldn't you be doing happy things? Like jumping and smiling?"

At that, a smile did indeed spread over Regina's face. "You're adorable," she chuckled, sliding her arms back around Emma's neck. "I am happy."

"You don't look happy. Well, you do now because you're laughing at me, I think, but when you came out of the library, you didn't look happy."

Understanding that it was important for Emma to dissect what had just happened, Regina began to explain the myriad emotions she was currently experiencing. "I was sighing with relief, I suppose. It was a positive sigh, like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I mean, this was the first interview I was offered after weeks of applying and I never really expected to get the chance to interview let alone walk out with a job. That was something Graham talked about actually. My self-belief. He could see I didn't really expect him to offer me the job but he did. He said he wanted to give me a chance to prove to myself as much as him that I was capable."

"Wow, he sounds like an insightful man."

Regina nodded. "He was great. We talked more about me than the job, I think. He wanted to know if I believed in myself and then we ended up going into this super deep conversation about why I've got problems with my self-esteem. I told him about the shelter, is that ok?"

"Yes, if you felt comfortable telling him about it. Did you give him the address?"

"No. I knew you wouldn't want that. But he did say he'd need a street address for my paperwork."

"You can use my apartment," Emma said at once but when Regina's eyebrows raised, she clarified. "Until you find somewhere of your own."

"Thank you," Regina replied. "That would be ideal. One less thing to stress about. That's why I hugged you, by the way. I'm really happy I got the job but it's stressful thinking about entering the workforce after so many years. I was feeling rather overwhelmed and then I saw you and all I wanted was a hug. Sorry if I made you think the interview had gone badly."

"No need to apologise," Emma assured her. "But thank you for explaining it to me. It helps me to understand body language and emotions. With you, in particular but also more generally. I want to be able to understand you because that will help me be the best girlfriend I can be."

Regina smiled and rocked onto her toes to kiss Emma's lips. It was a slow, tender kiss, a silent thank you for the woman in her arms. "You are the best girlfriend," Regina replied when they broke apart. "Thank you for coming to meet me after the interview."

"Oh, shit. I forgot to say congratulations!" Emma exclaimed. "Congratulations on your new job, Regina."

Before the brunette could answer, she found herself in a fierce hug, feet lifted off the ground as Emma picked her up and swung her around. Regina squealed in delight, legs waggling in the air until her shoes came back into contact with the sidewalk.

"Congratulations," Emma beamed at her. "Let's celebrate. Tonight. I was only going to go home on my own anyway so my change of plans will not affect anyone else. How about I take you and Henry out for dinner?"

"It's a school night," Regina replied. "Can we have dinner together at the shelter tonight and go out at the weekend as a belated celebration?"

Emma nodded her agreement to that plan. She had forgotten that Henry would need to be in bed at a reasonable time. Children made everything different. Not difficult, but different. That said, she was growing to love Henry and she would not begrudge him his bedtime for a meal with his mother. "It's a date," she said, sliding her hand into Regina's before the two of them set off towards the shelter, Regina now recounting every part of the interview and tour of the library in fastidious detail.

"Em, can I ask you a favour?"

Emma looked up and nodded at her friend slash flatmate slash employee who had appeared in her open office door just before lunch on Thursday. "Sure," she nodded. "What do you need?"

Ruby took a seat before continuing. "I know it's last minute but can you cover my shift tomorrow?"

"I'm already working tomorrow," Emma replied.

"Ok, not cover but do without me for a couple of hours. I won't be gone all day."

"Where are you going?"

"Granny's will is being read by her lawyer. I have to be there," Ruby replied. "Some office in Manhattan. I didn't even know she'd left a will but apparently she was more organised than I thought."

"I have a will," Emma replied. "You should get one too in case you die suddenly."

"Yeah, um, thanks for that. So, anyway, is it ok if I take a couple of hours? The meeting is at ten thirty. I should be back by midday. I don't think it will take long."

Pulling up the work calendar, Emma scanned her appointments to check whether she had any one-to-one sessions during that time period.

"Yes, that's fine," Emma said when she had confirmed that her schedule was clear. She had worked shifts solo before and, for the most part, there wasn't any need for two counsellors to be present, just as long as someone was on the front desk. "Did your granny leave you anything?"

"I don't know," Ruby replied.

"Well, you were her only family. Who else would be in the will?"

"I don't know," Ruby admitted. "But it's not like she had much. She was a waitress in a diner for most of her life. She had a crappy pension. I doubt there was much to leave anyone."

"She must have left you something, otherwise you wouldn't be asked to be present at the reading of the will, right? That's how these things go."

"Yeah, that's what the lawyer said but he wouldn't tell me what it was. I have to be present."

"Why is this such a ceremonial occasion? She's dead. Can't they just send an email?"

"I asked that. He said technically he could but that Granny had asked for there to be a reading. It's tradition or some shit."

"Sounds rather archaic to me. But if it was something your Granny wanted, I guess you should honour it."

Ruby nodded. "I will but it's weird. Sitting in a room with a lawyer I've never met being told what she left me. Anyway, I appreciate you covering for me. If you want to leave early tomorrow that's cool."

"You're on probation," Emma reminded the redhead. "I can't leave you unsupervised."

Pursing her lips, Ruby said nothing. She hated that she was on probation, although she understood why and she appreciated that Emma had not fired her, when she had a reasonable case to dismiss her. Yet she resented the babysitting. Aside from that one, admittedly sizeable, slip when she had given Henry the Wi-Fi password, Ruby had been a model employee. She hated that Emma no longer trusted her to do her job. And yet, she didn't have a leg to stand on when it came to protesting her status.

"Ok, well, if Regina and Henry ever want to stay over at ours in the future, I'm happy for the kid to sleep in my bed."

"I appreciate that," Emma replied. "In fact, I was going to ask you already if they could come over on Saturday. You're working anyway and we're celebrating Regina's new job."

"Of course," Ruby smiled. "I'm so happy for her, by the way. I can't believe she got offered the job on the spot."

"I can," Emma said. "She's amazing. They're lucky to have her."

Ruby smirked. "Not that your bias or anything."

"Of course I'm bias," Emma replied, missing the sarcastic tone. "She is the girlfriend and the woman I love. I think anyone would be lucky to employ Regina."

"Did you ever consider offering her a job here?" Ruby asked, voicing a sentiment she had been pondering for several weeks.

But Emma shook her head. "She's not qualified. I love Regina and if she had academic or professional qualifications which we could use, yes, I would have tried to create a post for her. But she's not a counsellor or a therapist or a psychologist. And I've got nothing in the budget to bring on someone at a trainee level. Plus, Regina never expressed any interest in working here. Let alone the ethical implications of hiring my girlfriend who also happens to be a current but hopefully soon to be former resident. No, it's too messy and confusing."

"Fair enough," Ruby said hastily, seeing Emma begin to spiral at even the thought of the potential complications. "So, I'd better get back to work but thanks in advance for covering tomorrow. Are you eating dinner with Regina tonight or shall we get take out after our shift is over?"

"I have no plans with Regina so take out sounds good. Can we please order from the Chinese place I like with the good prawn crackers and the chow mein which doesn't have gross water chestnuts in the dish?"

"Sounds perfect. I'll place our usual order, right?"

Emma nodded and smiled before returning to her work as Ruby left the office. She had to admit that she was rather looking forward to spending some time with the redhead. With their shift work and Emma's new relationship, the two flatmates had largely been ships passing in the night over the past month. Emma missed their friendship, even if she still held some simmering resentment over what Ruby had done. But she knew it was an honest, if grave, mistake and she understood that not everyone was perfect. There was no such thing as perfect, just in the same way as there was no such thing as normal.

An evening in their apartment would offer them time to reconnect, catch up and spend some time together. Emma had been so consumed with Regina and Henry, in the best way possible, that she had, she realised, neglected that friendship a little. Having Ruby in her life was something she had taken for granted, a constant, familiar presence she could always rely on. But that didn't mean she could ignore her friend in light of her new love. Plus, she realised, Ruby had been through something awful; the loss of her last family member. And, she swallowed down the rising guilt, Emma had been largely unsupportive in the wake of the events which had happened outside the shelter. She had attended the funeral but aside from that, she had barely acknowledge Ruby's recent bereavement.

"Rubes," she called through the open doorway. Her friend appeared, wheeling herself backwards into view on her office chair.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Chinese is on me," Emma offered. "Thanks for suggesting it. I am looking forward to our evening together. I've missed spending time with you in our apartment."

Ruby grinned. "Thanks Em, I've missed you too. I mean, as mates, not as people who work together."

"Let's get some beers in too. We could drink to the memory of Granny, if you like?"

"Granny liked sherry actually but I'm game for beers. Sherry is gross."

"Sherry is good in trifle," Emma replied. "I ate lots of trifle when my foster mom was going through that anglophile phase after their trip to Britain. Do you remember?"

"I do," Ruby laughed. "She wore that scarf with the Union Jack on it all winter. I'm glad she's moved on now. But despite sherry's delicious properties in English desserts, I think Granny would be happy for us to toast to her memory with beer. I'll get them, you get the Chinese. Deal?"

"Deal," Emma nodded.

A siren wailed in the distance. The glow of the streetlamp outside leaked into the bedroom between the blind and the wall. On the sidewalk below, a group of inebriated people walked by, laughing and singing on their way to a club. She sighed and nestled closer to the warm, bare body.

"What are you thinking about?" came Emma's voice into the gloom.

"Just how happy I am right now," Regina replied, placing a kiss to Emma's clavicle.

"Because of the orgasms I just gave you?"

Regina chuckled, the movement and sound reverberating through Emma's ribcage. "Partly. And partly because, sex or no sex, I love falling asleep in your arms. You make me feel safe and loved. After the past decade, you have no idea how important that is to me."

"I do have some idea," Emma replied, pulling Regina even closer to her side, fingers stroking the soft skin of the brunette's upper back. "I know how unhappy Leo made you and I know I'm never going to treat you the way he did. It makes me feel very proud to know you feel safe with me. I promise to always keep you and Henry safe."

"Thank you," Regina whispered. "But it's my responsibility to keep Henry safe too. I can't rely on you for everything. That's why I'm looking forward to starting this new job. The pay isn't great but I reckon I'll be able to save up enough for a deposit in a couple of months."

"Actually," Emma said, rolling onto her side so she was facing Regina, features decipherable through the dimly lit room, "there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Regina's heart sank. Was Emma going to tell her she needed to leave the shelter? Had she outstayed her welcome? Was it time for her to move on and let someone else in need of the security of Swan's Shelter take her place? "Go on," she said, throat dry.

"Ruby's moving out."

"What?"

"She told me this morning," Emma pressed on. "I was going to talk to you about it next week after I've had time to think about it but I felt it was important for you to know, since you're now talking about deposits for apartments."

"Ruby's moving out? Is she leaving the shelter?"

"No, she's just moving of here. Her granny left her an apartment. It's only one bedroom but it's completely paid off. Ruby had no idea she even owed it. She thought it was a rental but apparently not. She inherited it on Thursday at the will reading. Well, she was told about it. I think there is some paperwork and stuff before it's legally hers. But, yeah, Ruby is going to move out and live in her own place. It needs some decorating though so it won't be for a while. She only found out yesterday and didn't say anything until she knew what she wanted to do. And I wasn't going to say anything to you until I knew what I wanted to do."

"Oh. And, um, do you know what you want to do?"

"I want to ask you and Henry to move in with me," Emma nodded. "But I want to wait until the right moment."

There was a pause, then a chuckle. "But, Emma, you sort of already asked me, just now."

"Did I?"

"Well, I suppose technically you didn't explicitly ask the question but you told me you want to ask me. I know you intend to ask me at some point in the future. The near future?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I needed to think about it, think about how it will affect my life."

"Oh."

Regina rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. Emma sensed that she'd said something wrong and shuffled herself closer, arm now slung over Regina's stomach.

"Hey, what's wrong? Did I say something bad?"

"No, you were honest," Regina admitted. "But sometimes it's hard to hear. I know it's not a simple thing to move in with a partner. And we've only been together a few months. Plus, there's Henry. I know you have to think about something like this. I guess usually the person whom you're asking isn't aware that you're weighing up the pros and cons of joining your lives together. It's … a little confronting."

"Confronting?"

"As in, I'm confronting all of the reasons you wouldn't want to live with me," Regina replied. "I get it. I understand why you're hesitant."

"Woah, Regina, I'm not hesitant," Emma said at once. "At least, not about whether I want to live with you. I'd love to live with you and Henry. I love you both. I would be so happy if I could fall asleep with you each night and wake up with you each morning. I'm not thinking about if I want to live with you, I'm thinking about what changes I'll need to make in my life when you two arrive."

"Changes? Emma, I don't want you to change for me. You don't need to change for me. I love you for the person you are."

Emma shook her head. "Not those sorts of changes. I would never change who I am for someone else. I'm talking about my routine. I've worked out that I'll need to get up thirteen minutes earlier in the morning to make you and Henry some breakfast. Which is fine on the weekend but what about during the week? I haven't timed how long it takes to walk to Henry's school from here. But I also start work at eight so I can't take him when I'm on shift. And then when your new job starts, what time are you going to get up and will you have your shower before or after me? And I've ordered a new toaster which can do six slices of bread at one time. But won't arrive until Thursday.

"Plus, my wardrobe is quite small so I don't know where you'd put your things. I'm going to go through all of my clothes tomorrow evening and donate any which I don't wear to a thrift store. And then we'll need to decorate Henry's room. And buy him a bed. There's so much to think about with kids. Can he reach the sink properly or do I need to buy one of those little stools for him to stand on? And then where does the stool get stored? Henry needs to be able to get to it easily but the bathroom doesn't have many cupboards. And the couch. That's Ruby's couch so I need to buy a new couch before you move in otherwise we'll all be sitting on the floor. There's a lot to think about, Regina. There's lots of changes which need to be in place before you can move in."

Regina's eyes were glittering through the darkness by the time Emma had finished. She threw her arms around the blonde, rolling her onto her back and peppering her face with kisses. "I love you, Emma Swan. You are the sweetest woman in the world."

Confused by the sudden display of affection, Emma decided to ask why she was being smothered in love later and instead enjoy it. Her hands skated up and down Regina's bare back, hips canting up slightly as she felt Regina's own pubis come into contact with her stomach.

"You're amazing, Emma," Regina said, pulling back slightly and tucking some errant strands of hair behind her ear. "You're the kindest, most thoughtful person in the world."

"Thank you," Emma replied. "I'm methodical. I like to think things through."

Regina conceded that perhaps Emma had been thinking about the logistics of their shared life together rather than how to make Regina and Henry feel welcome. Yet in her pedantic attention to detail, Regina felt that Emma had done exactly that. Or was willing to do exactly that. To Emma, a six slice toaster simply allowed her to maintain her morning routine. To Regina, it was a gesture which demonstrated how much she and Henry were wanted. The idea of painting Henry's bedroom, to Emma, was simply practical. Henry was a six year old boy. He didn't want to sleep in a boring cream room. But to Regina, the idea that Henry would be able to have a space to call his own again meant more than anything.

"Emma," Regina sighed, placing a kiss to the blonde's lips, "you have no idea how much this means to me. Take as long as you need to organise your life but, just so you know, if and when you do choose to ask me and Henry to move in, we'll say yes."

A/N: full disclaimer – the idea to have Ruby move out into her Granny's apartment came from a reader. I read every single one of your comments and am often swayed by their content. So thank you to jeany001, and thank you to everyone who reviews. Your words mean the world to me!