A/N: Happy Sunday peeps. Sorry about the lack of chapter last week but we had an amazing time away and I'm back at the laptop nicely refreshed and full of Prosecco!

Regina cocked her head to one side as she observed herself in the mirror. Tugging lightly on the sleeves of her blazer, she stood a little straighter. Her hair, at least, was behaving itself today and sat perfectly styled just as she had wanted it. Stepping closer, she used the pad of her pinkie finger to brush away a fleck of mascara which marred the skin just below her dark, smoky eyes.

"Mom, where are my school shoes?"

"By the door where we keep them, Henry," Regina replied, without looking.

"They're not there," came the whining response.

Turning towards her son, Regina raised an eyebrow at him. "Really, Henry? Take a closer look, please."

The boy pouted and stared pointedly at the floor beside the door to their room. "See, not there."

Regina rolled her eyes and crossed the room. Bending down, she lifted her son's discarded pyjama bottoms and revealed the shoes which had been half obscured by the material. Without a word, Henry sat on the floor and started to pull the shoes onto his feet.

"Where's your reading book?" Regina asked.

"In my bag," Henry replied.

"Are you sure?" It wasn't uncommon for Henry to forget to take various books to school. But upon inspection of his bag, Regina realised that her son was right.

With Henry ready and nothing else to delay the inevitable, Regina picked up her own handbag as Henry slung his rucksack onto his back. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Can you answer that please Henry?" Regina asked who had returned once more to the mirror to make sure she looked perfect. Yes, hair was in place. Make up was on point. Clothes were … as good as it was going to get until she had some money to expand her limited wardrobe. Stomach was rolling uncomfortably, nerves fluttering inside her. In the reflection of the room behind her, a smiling blonde appeared as Henry opened the door and Regina turned and grinned herself. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I came to walk you to work on your first day," Emma explained. "Good morning Henry. Are you excited for school?"

"Yeah!" Henry nodded. "We're starting a project on dinosaurs today."

"Very cool. Are you ready to go? We don't want you to be late. Either of you, in fact."

Regina nodded and crossed the room. Kissing Emma lightly, she steered Henry out into the corridor and the trio set off, collecting Roland from Marian's room on the way out of the centre.

"I wasn't expecting to see you," Regina admitted as they stepped into the warm sunlight of the early summer morning. "Monday is your day off."

"I know but I wanted to be here for you. I know today is important and I thought you would like the support."

Regina leaned against her girlfriend and squeezed the hand she was holding. "Thank you. That's very sweet. I hope it hasn't disrupted your day too much."

"Well, I had to delay my usual food shop and I'm a bit worried that the produce won't be as good in the local green grocer's because I won't be there as early as I like. But it's ok, I don't mind. If they don't have my favourite apples, I will buy some pears instead."

Change to Emma's Monday routine had been increasingly common ever since Regina had appeared in her life. And while she was unable to deny that she sometimes missed the regularity, the payoff was worth it.

"How are you feeling?" Emma asked after they had dropped Henry and Roland off at the school gates and were now making their way towards the library.

"Nervous," Regina admitted. "But excited too, I suppose. I've not worked for so long and I've never really had a proper professional job. So I'm nervous about what it will entail and whether I'll be any good but I'm also excited to get stuck in, learn new things and start to give something back to this community."

Emma nodded her understanding at those two emotions. "You're going to be amazing, I just know it."

"Well, today is just going to be getting to know the building and the team so I don't think there are going to be many opportunities to be amazing but I appreciate the support. And I appreciate you changing your Monday morning plans for me. Thank you."

"You're welcome. But I can't come and meet you at the end of the day. I have my appointment with Archie. I did try to reschedule but he had no other available time slots."

"That's no problem. I can walk home by myself. Marian is taking care of Henry too, so I don't have to worry about that. Seriously, Emma, I really do appreciate having you here today."

"Of course. I'm so proud of you and I can't wait to hear all about your first day. I'll come to the shelter after I've finished at Archie's. Is that ok?"

Regina turned to Emma as the two of them stopped outside the library. "That's perfect. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Good luck."

Emma wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. Regina melted into the contact, feeling the frisson of energy which always sparked between them when they were in contact. Enlivened and feeling a little more confident, Regina stepped back.

"See you later," she smiled. "Have a good day."

"You too," Emma replied.

She watched as the brunette walked through the sliding glass doors of the Bronx Library Centre and disappeared inside. Emma waited for a moment longer, just in case Regina reappeared. But when she didn't, she turned and walked away, heading towards the market to begin the chores on her Monday to-do list.

"Is that the last of them?" Emma asked as her friend appeared in the living room, head poking over the top of a cardboard box. She herself was using bubble wrap to protect the photo frames she was placing into a smaller container.

"Yes," Ruby replied, lowering the heavy load onto another box already stacked by the front door. "Now we just have to tackle the bed and wardrobe. Did you find that spare allen key?"

Emma nodded, holding up two tiny pieces of metal between her fingers. "Do you want me to get started and you finish up here?"

"We can do it together," Ruby said. "Lesbians aren't the only people awesome at putting up and dismantling flatpack furniture."

Ignoring the stereotypical jibe, Emma gave up packing the frames and moved past her friend towards the bedroom. It was strange, entering the space which was now bare, except for the huge bedframe and the empty wardrobe. Ruby had wrestled the mattress down the hallway an hour earlier and it now rested lazily against the wall, waiting for the removal van.

Putting on some music from her cell, Ruby joined Emma on the floor and took the second allen key. Slowly, the pieces of wood were detached from one another and a pile of screws appeared on the carpet. With no box to pack the bedframe into, the two friends simply carried all of the components out into the living room, already wondering how long it would take for them to reassemble it in Ruby's new apartment. Next was the wardrobe, which somehow took them twice as long, despite being half the size. But eventually, with stacks of wood neatly lined up in the living room, they completed the task.

"Well, I guess we're ready. Do you know when Regina is going to arrive?"

Emma pulled out her cell and checked the text from her girlfriend which had informed her she was about to leave the van rental parking lot. Doing some swift calculations in her head, Emma answered: "in seven minutes, assuming she didn't get stuck in traffic."

"Seven minutes it is," Ruby laughed. She was going to miss Emma's pedantic, straightforward, no nonsense way of looking at the world. Not that moving into her grandmother's apartment meant she'd never see the blonde. Thanks to her work at the shelter, Emma would still be a big part of her life. But it wasn't the same as living with her. "God, I can't believe I'm moving out."

"I know," Emma nodded, looking around at the living room, scattered with boxes full of Ruby's possessions. "I knew one of us would leave eventually. But I thought I'd have more time to prepare for the idea of living without you. Or living with someone else."

"Are you going to be ok?"

Emma nodded. "Yes, I'll be ok. I'm an adult. I can take care of myself, despite what people sometimes assume about people on the spectrum. But it is going to take some time to get used to."

"And Regina?"

"Regina can look after herself. She's a mother. She had to look after herself and Henry."

"Not what I meant and you know it."

"No, I don't. What did you mean?"

"What about Regina and you?"

"What about her and me?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. Just the other evening, Emma had told Ruby about the conversation she and Regina had had with regards to their plan to live together. "Have you officially asked her yet to move in here?"

"Oh, no," Emma replied. "Not yet."

"What are you waiting for? Do you not want to live with Regina?"

"I do want to. But I'm waiting to make sure I'm ready for that change. It's a big step. I've never lived with a girlfriend before nor a six-year-old boy. I have to prepare. I have to get this place ready for them. I'd not really thought about living with Regina because we've only been together a few months and that seems like something you'd do after a year or maybe two years. But then you told me about your new apartment and then everything just moved so fast. I mean, it's been three weeks since you found out from the lawyer that you have your own place and you're moving today. Plus, Regina's started her new job which is going well but it's a big adjustment and Henry's been asking questions about his dad which Regina doesn't know how to answer. And don't forget I've got to go to court next week to testify in Leo's trial. There's a lot going on. I haven't had the time to think about what colour walls Henry might like. And yes, I've got the big new toaster but I have to buy so much more before they move in. Are you sure you don't want to take the couch? You did pay for half of it?"

"Emma, you can keep the couch," Ruby said, placing a hand on either of her friend's shoulders, feeling the tension reverberating off the woman's slender frame. "And I know you've got a lot on your plate. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you. Take as long as you need and then ask her when you feel the time is right."

"I do want to live with her," Emma repeated. "I really do want her to be here. And Henry. But everything is moving so fast and there's so much happening. I just need some time. Do you think that's ok?"

Ruby nodded and gave her friend a quick hug. "Of course that's ok. Regina isn't going to want to push you into anything you're not ready for. She understands what's going on in your life and I'm sure this is a big change for her too. Moving in with the first woman she's been in a relationship, navigating that and Henry and what it means for all three of you. I can see you both have lots to contend with here and no one is rushing you. Just promise me you'll have a house party to celebrate when they do move in."

"Well, it would be an apartment party, if you think about it. And the last time we had one of those one of the neighbours called the super because of the loud music and he was really mad. And someone spilled wine on my armchair. You can still see the stain. That's why the cushion is there. And someone broke your lamp. I still think it was Mulan, by the way."

Ruby laughed. "Well, that was a few years ago. Maybe you can have an apartment party with a little less cheap alcohol this time."

"Maybe," Emma replied but before she could say anything more, the apartment door opened and Regina appeared.

"Hey," she said, smiling at the two women as she pulled her key out of the lock. Emma had presented her with the week before. 'For emergencies,' she had said, although when asked she admitted she wasn't sure what sort of emergency would require Regina to get into Emma's apartment. "The van's parked outside." Perhaps it was the blonde's subliminal way of testing out how it would feel to have Regina coming and going from the apartment whenever she pleased. Not that Regina had done so but … hypothetically.

"Thanks Regina," Ruby said. "I really appreciate you helping."

"Not at all. I'm excited to see your grandmother's place. Are you looking forward to the start of this new chapter in your life?"

Ruby shrugged. She supposed it was a new chapter but the move was bittersweet. She was stoked about the prospect of not paying rent. The apartment was also a little bigger than the space she shared with Emma. And although her commute into work was now longer, the suburb in which her granny had lived was quieter and leafier. But she was also going to be living in an apartment where everything reminded her of her deceased grandmother. Ruby had not only inherited the house but everything in it. And while she was bringing her own bed, wardrobe and all of her possessions, she knew she was going to feel like an imposter for a long time, living in the place her grandmother had called home for as long as she could remember, her things still scattered in every single room.

"Let's start loading up," Ruby said eventually, without answering Regina's question.

Emma didn't notice and sprang into action, but Regina recognised the avoidance. Rather than pushing, however, she followed Emma's lead and picked up a box, heading out of the apartment and down to where the rental van was waiting to be filled.

Four hours later, Emma pushed the van door shut and slumped against it. "Ruby has too much stuff," she sighed.

Regina laughed and leaned beside her, wiping several beads of sweat from her forehead. "Agreed. Who needs so many pairs of trainers?"

"She runs," Emma said, by way of explanation. "But I'm not sure why she kept her old pairs. They are useless and they smell bad."

Closing her eyes, Regina let out a long sigh. "I'm exhausted."

"Me too. Shall we go home? Or do you want to stay for that cup of coffee Ruby offered?"

"Let's go home," Regina replied, without opening her eyes.

Emma nodded and pushed herself off the back of the van, about to head inside to tell Ruby they were going to leave but she stopped in her tracks. "What do you mean by home?"

Brown eyes blinked open. "What?"

"You said home, where do you mean?" Emma clarified. "Is home the shelter or my apartment?"

"Oh." Regina could feel the colour start to tinge her cheeks. In her mind, when she had answered the simple question, she had pictured Emma's apartment. Not that she and Henry spent more time there than at the shelter but the place was certainly more homely. Except Emma had just referred to it as 'my apartment', not 'our apartment'. Because despite several conversations, Emma was yet to formally ask Regina if she and Henry wanted to come and live with her. "Um, the shelter," Regina said. "I'd like to go back to the shelter. Marian has been looking after Henry all day and I need to go and relieve her."

Emma hesitated for a moment before nodding her head once and turning to walk into Ruby's new building. Regina watched her go before fishing in her pocket for the key to the van and making her way around to the driver's door. Climbing up, she sat and waited for Emma, tapping her fingers on a wide steering wheel.

She had to admit, if someone had told her three weeks ago she'd be spending her Saturday driving a U-haul, she wouldn't have predicted it would have been to help Ruby move apartments. That said, Regina and Henry had so few possessions that a U-haul would be unwarranted for any move they made. Nevertheless, Regina couldn't help but admit to herself that the fact that she and Henry would continue to sleep at the shelter hurt a little. No, hurt was the wrong word. But it was confusing. She didn't want to push Emma into anything she wasn't ready for and she knew the blonde was dealing with a lot. Ruby leaving, Leo's trial, the prospect of living with Regina and Henry. The ideal of the trio moving in together had first been raised by Emma but Regina couldn't deny she wasn't disappointed than a formal invite hadn't already been extended.

She snapped out of her thoughts when the passenger door opened and Emma hopped up into the cab. "Right, let's go," Emma said, clipping her seatbelt in place.

Regina nodded and started the engine. As they pulled away from the curb, Emma glanced up at the building and waved up at Ruby who was leaning out of her new window. At the end of the road, she turned back and slumped into her seat.

"Are you ok?" Regina asked, sensing the deflated mood.

"No," Emma said simply. "I'm going to miss her. I don't like the idea of her not being there when I wake up tomorrow morning. I don't like waking up in an empty apartment. I don't even like it when she's on night shift at the shelter. Do you and Henry want to stay tonight?"

Despite the fact that asking or offering to stay had crossed Regina's mind, the way in which Emma had casually tacked the question onto the end of her thoughts stung. Before she could stop herself, she bit back. "So you don't feel lonely? Or because you actually want us there?"

Emma looked over at her girlfriend, eyebrows creased. Regina's eyes remained firmly on the road as she drove slowly through the busy Saturday streets. The blonde paused and took in what she saw. Regina's back was rigid. Her fingers curled and uncurled on the steering wheel. And the tips of her ears turned a dark shade of red. Emma frowned. "What?"

Regina shook her head, regretting the barbed comment. "Never mind."

"No, you're angry," Emma said. "I can tell. Your ears are red."

Subconsciously, Regina scratched her right ear before answering. "I'm not mad," she said quietly. "Just a bit hurt."

"Because I asked you and Henry to stay over? Do you not like staying at my apartment?"

"No, Emma, it's not that. It was the way you asked me," Regina explained. "You were talking about feeling lonely and missing Ruby and then you asked me. It made me feel like Henry and I were backups, like we were being used to replace Ruby now she's not there to keep you company."

"Well, you are, in a way."

Regina's jaw clenched. Once again, her fingers released and curled around the steering wheel, gripping tighter. "Right, well, thanks for letting me know where we stand, I guess."

She turned into the side street where the rental van business was located and parked behind her own car which was waiting for her. Pulling the key from the ignition, she climbed out of the car and stalked off towards the entrance before Emma could register that they'd arrived. Quickly unbuckling her belt, she slid down too and hurried after her girlfriend.

"Regina, I don't understand," Emma said as soon as she spotted her girlfriend talking to a man behind a reception.

"Well, I'm a little busy now, Emma," Regina replied without turning around. "We can talk about it later."

Emma huffed and shifted her weight from foot to foot. She could tell Regina was angry. But it was more than that. She had upset the brunette in some way. She hated it when Regina was upset, especially when she was the cause of it.

"Did I say something bad?" Emma asked.

Regina ignored her, instead answering the question of the man before her and then signing some paperwork.

"Was it because I said you and Henry are replacing Ruby?"

"Emma, I can't talk right now," Regina snapped.

"But I need to talk now. What did I do wrong?"

Regina slammed the biro she had been using down on the desk. The man on the other side raised his eyebrows but said nothing as he slid the paperwork away and went outside to check the van for any damage. And to avoid whatever domestic showdown was about to take place in the reception area of the van rental company.

"Yes, Emma, I'm angry because you said Henry and I are replacing Ruby," Regina replied, whirling around on the stop with her arms folded. "Is that all we are to you? Two people you can move into your apartment so you're not lonely?"

"No one wants to be lonely," Emma rationalised.

Regina's eyes narrowed. "No, I suppose not. Lucky for you that we came along, I suppose."

"Very lucky," Emma nodded, completely missing the sarcasm. "I mean, what were the chances of us meeting again after so many years?"

"How very serendipitous," Regina replied, marching over to a chair and sitting down. Her feet hurt from the number of times she had marched up and down the stairs in Ruby's new building. What a day for the elevator to be undergoing maintenance.

"I would say it's fate but I don't believe in fate and also I think you're saying things you don't believe. Not like lying but saying something which isn't true for effect in an argument which I'm pretty sure is what we're having at the moment. Is that right?"

Regina didn't answer. She didn't have the energy to explain sarcasm to Emma right now. She was exhausted from a long week at work, a long day of moving Emma's best friend into a new apartment and now their fight. She just wanted to go back to the shelter and give Henry a big hug.

"Regina," Emma said, crouching down in front of her girlfriend and trying to look into her eyes which, she now saw, were glittering with tears. "Help me understand what I said to upset you. I never wanted to hurt you but I can see I have. Please tell me what I did wrong."

Unbeknownst to the two women, the rental company employee appeared at the glass door of the reception area but, upon seeing the tearful brunette, decided to pretend to inspect the van again to avoid interrupting.

"You did upset me," Regina said eventually, unable to deny Emma's pleading for an explanation. She understood that Emma sometimes misread social situations and recognised she would sometimes have to break down the nuances of the way her words or actions may come across.

"I'm sorry," Emma replied at once, resting a hand on either of Regina's knees. "What did I say to upset you?"

"You asked me and Henry to stay at your apartment."

Emma frowned. "But … I thought you liked staying with me?"

"I do. We both do. But you didn't ask me as a one off statement. You asked me after saying how much you were going to miss Ruby and how lonely you feel when she isn't there. It made me feel like you were only asking because you don't want to wake up alone."

"I don't."

Regina pursed her lips. "I know you don't. I don't either."

"So I don't understand why you're upset if you don't want to wake up alone and I don't want to wake up alone and I asked you to stay so that neither of us will wake up alone tomorrow morning."

Sighing once more, Regina placed a hand over each of Emma's. "It was just the way you asked. Maybe I'm tired and oversensitive but to me it sounded like you were asking us just for the sake of having someone in your apartment. As in you would have asked Belle or Mulan or anyone but I just happened to be beside you at the time. It felt like you just needed someone, anyone, to stay over tonight."

"But I didn't ask anyone," Emma pressed. "I asked you. And Henry. I don't want anyone else to stay. I don't want Belle to stay at my apartment. That would be weird. We're work friends. I don't think Belle would want to stay at mine."

"You're missing the point, Emma," Regina said, exhaustion evident in her tone.

"Ok, sorry," Emma replied. "So, can I please tell you what I think I understand and then you tell me if I'm right?" Regina nodded so Emma continued. "I upset you when I asked you and Henry to stay over because right before I asked, I was talking about how much I was going to miss Ruby. Which made you think I was replacing Ruby with you and Henry and that I didn't really want you to stay over."

"I know you want us to stay over," Regina clarified.

"Good, because I do."

"It was more the replacement that hurt, I suppose. You said that we're replacing her."

"But … and I don't want to hurt you by saying this," Emma pre-empted, "you and Henry are going to replace Ruby. Not as my best friend. She's still my best friend because that's who she is. You're my girlfriend and Henry is your son, so you're different people and you have different roles in my life. But you will replace Ruby in the sense that when the two of you move in, Henry will have Ruby's old bedroom. And instead of coming home to Ruby after work, I'll come home to you. Some of what Ruby and I shared as flatmates will become things you and I share. There'll be differences too. I never had sex with Ruby."

"Good," Regina said quickly.

"And Ruby and I were flatmates rather than partners," Emma pressed on. "You and I are partners. It's different. But when it comes to who lives in that apartment, I think it's correct as far as the English language is concerned to say that you and Henry will be replacing Ruby as human beings who call the apartment home. Isn't that right?"

"I … yes, I suppose," Regina admitted.

"But I said it in a way that hurt you?"

"Yes," Regina nodded.

"Then I'm very sorry," Emma said, turning her hands around and interlacing her fingers with Regina's where they lay on her thighs. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Regina."

"I know," the brunette said quietly. "And maybe I overreacted a bit. I know you didn't mean to make it sound like you were only asking us to stay so you weren't alone. I know you want us to stay."

"I do, very much. And I do want you two to move in. Soon, ok? I just have some things I need to sort out first. But I do want to live with you, Regina, if you want to live with me too?"

"I do," Regina said, leaning down to place a gentle kiss to Emma's lips. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry," Emma insisted, kissing Regina again and wrapping her arms around the woman's waist as she rocked forwards onto her knees and pressed her body in between Regina's now parted thighs.

The brunette melted into the kiss, exhaustion and emotion wrapping themselves around her and making her feel lethargic and dopey. But loved. She tangled her fingers in Emma's thick locks and pulled the woman even closer.

The clearing of a throat forced them apart several minutes later. Emma looked nonplussed at the appearance of the red-faced man but Regina blushed lightly with embarrassment.

"Everything's in order. We've refunded your credit card with the deposit," he said, handing Regina a copy of the paperwork.

"Thank you," Regina replied, passing the papers to Emma as it had in fact been the business credit card which had paid for the van hire.

Emma slid her hand into Regina's and the two of them left the office. In Regina's car, over the console, they kissed again.

"We're good, right?" Emma said as the kiss ended. "You're not mad at me any more?"

"No," Regina replied. "I'm not mad."

"Are you and Henry going to stay over?"

"I'd like that but where is Henry going to sleep? There's no bed there any more."

"Yes there is. I ordered one. It's shaped like a race car. Like the one Monica accidentally orders in Friends except this was a deliberate order because I know Henry likes race cars. It's red but I wasn't sure whether Henry wanted to have red walls in his bedroom as well. I thought that might be too much red, so I wanted to talk with you about what paint to buy before I start redecorating."

"What?" Regina balked. "You bought Henry a bed?"

"It arrived two days ago. I know it's going to make painting the room a bit harder if the bed is already in there but it's taking up loads of room in my bedroom, so we may as well put it together. You might need to help me though, is that ok?"

"Lesbians putting together flatpack furniture after a day in a U-haul, is that the evening you're offering me?"

"Ruby made a joke about that too," Emma pouted. "I don't understand what sexuality has to do with ordering furniture online and building it yourself."

Laughing, Regina buckled up and started the engine. "Come on," she said, still chuckling. "Let's collect Henry and then conquer the flatpack world."

A/N: this chapter was certainly partially inspired by me and my girlfriend spending our Monday evening building a flatpack wardrobe…