Author's Notes: Vegetables. Thank you for the wonderful reviews. I've been loving reading them.


Regina's eyes sprung open at the annoying sound of a phone ringing. Hers was the soothing sound of Clarinet Concerto in A Major and what she's hearing was an instrument heavy rock song. It was definitely Emma's.

She reached for the right side table and the left, both not containing the offending the object. It was on the Sheriff's body. This was one of the few times that Regina found herself thankful that the Sheriff was a very heavy sleeper. She'll never hear the end of it should Emma catch her checking her back pockets. Nothing on there so she checked the front next. She was about to finish when she heard a slight giggle. Goddamn, Emma Swan.

'Regina... I thought you didn't want to have sex...' More giggling occurred when the hands transferred to the last pocket available. 'That tickles...'

The phone was finally pulled and slapped on Emma's face. 'I am not feeling you up, Miss Swan... Your phone is ringing.'

Emma opened her eyes and shut them back up. 'Answer it, babe.'

Finally, the ringing stopped and they were both able to breathe.

Regina rolled forward. 'Don't call me 'babe', Miss Swan. We are not together.'

'Well, say yes and we will be.' Emma slung her arm around the Mayor's thin waist and forcefully pulled her in. 'I'm going back to sleep. Answer my phone if it rings back again.'

'Emma, I won't-' But before she can even continue, the blonde was now snoring again. Regina merely rolled her eyes, typical Emma Swan to wake up and fall back asleep when it suited her. The sunlight streaming into the room told the brunette it was time to wake up from her surprisingly good night sleep so she pried herself off from Emma's vice grip. She started with the hand firmly clutched around her but this only made Emma swing a leg over a hip. 'Emma, I need to get up. Let me off.'

'Mmm... I heard 'Get me off'... Sure, babe but in a little while.'

'Emma, c'mon...'

'No, let's sleep in.'

'Emma...' She was starting to get frustrated and resorted to a childish tactic since she was dealing with a child. Her fingers brushed along the sides of the toned stomach and the Sheriff jerked. The sound that followed annoyed her but the hold on her was loosening so she continued.

'Regina... your gonna make me...'

'I hope to God you won't say 'come', that would be just tragic.' She muttered under her breath. She doubled her efforts and Emma jerked and laughed out loud.

'Regina! Don't do that, babe...'

She finally let up and Regina was able to slip away. The expensive robe was wrapped around her body immediately, not giving a second to chance of her poking nipples being seen. Emma curled in on her self and continued her sleep. Just as she was about to get out of the room, the phone rang again.

'Emma, your phone!'

Her bedmate didn't even move and just snored even louder. The sound was slowly seeming like jack hammers in her head so Regina grabbed the phone and answered it just to shut the noise. Who could be calling Emma this early?

'Emma! You answered! I haven't heard from you in days, I was starting to get worried. How are you?'

It was Snow. Her mother who apparently doesn't know what time her daughter actually wakes.

'Snow, this is Regina. Emma's asleep.'

Snow obviously gasped. 'Oh. She's... she's asleep. Is she asleep right next to you? What's going on?'

'Will you please come down? I can hear the ringing from my room and I just went to answer it. That's all.' She had to lie of course. Had she said what really happened, Snow would probably have a aneurysm.

'Oh. Okay, I thought...'

'You thought what, Snow?'

'Nothing, nothing... Anyway, I would just like to ask-'

'Babe! You're too loud... Take it outside please...'

That was loud enough to transpire over the phone and Regina cringed. Snow had to have heard the petulant use of the term of endearment.

'Was that Emma? Why would... why would she call you...'

Presto aneurysm. 'Snow, she's just kidding. Did you need to tell Emma something? I can pass the message along.'

'I need to see her immediately.' Snow said with certainty. She has moved on from bumbling meek Mary Margaret to fierce Bandit Snow. A pretty quick change at 7 in the morning.

'Snow, like I told you, she was just kidding.' Regina tried to quell. 'I'll tell her that you need to see her. Is there anything else?'

The line clicked, earning a 'Rude' from the Mayor. Suddenly ticked off, Regina threw the phone on the bed, it landing on Emma's face and the blonde sat up. 'Ow... What the hell, Regina?'

'We need to talk, babe.'

[x]

The promised talk had to wait. Regina's phone has been ringing off the hook since they had breakfast, forcing her to hand the keys to a very excited Emma Swan. She has always wanted to drive the fly Mercedes and now was her chance. The speed at which she did was a little faster than Regina usually does but she couldn't care at the moment.

As soon as she sat down on her leather high back chair, folders and folders of paper were placed on her desk. Procurement was next and the reminder that everything can now be done from their end was obviously pointless. Emma stayed quiet on her side and did her work. She knew better than to disturb Regina when she was in Madame Mayor mode. She was often times an idiot but she already had her run in with a dragon once.

The morning moved as it should and when the clock finally struck 12, Emma finally made herself known. 'Regina, let's have lunch.'

She was still knee deep in work but the grumble in her stomach could no longer be denied. 'Alright. Do you wanna go to Granny's?'

'Yes. I do.'

They both picked up their purses and walked out the door. On their way to their car, Emma reluctantly gave back the keys and Regina drove. Per usual, Granny's was packed but there was always space for the Mayor and the Sheriff. They have been coming here for the past few days and Ruby knew it by now to reserve a table. Emma only had to nod at the said waitress and immediately she knew what to give them.

Pale fingers were clasped and laid down on the table when Emma finally asked. 'So, what did we need to talk about? After you so cruelly threw my phone in my face by the way... and after our special night? I held you in my arms?'

'Stop that, Emma.' She glared. 'The one who was calling earlier was your mother.'

Emma cringed. 'And you had to answer just after you've waken up? Yikes, sorry. What did she want?'

'She wanted to see you. I guess your mother wanted to know if you're still in one piece after living with me for more than a week.'

'Are you kidding? I'm great! I'm around your sparkling personality...' At that, Regina raised her eyebrow. '… I go home to a house which doesn't smell like baby poop, I get to eat an amazing meal every single day, I see Henry a lot plus I have this... amazing brunette on my bed last night. She was so hot.'

'You need to stop flirting with me, Emma. Snow heard you calling me 'babe' earlier and she almost had a heart attack.'

Suddenly, Emma turned serious. 'Holy shit, really?'

'Yes. I believe you said 'Babe! You're too loud. Take it outside please.''

'I don't even remember that happening, Regina but okay, I get it. I'll call her later and check up on them.'

Ruby came with the food and laid them their plates. The usual chat that comes with the it was cut short when her head turned to the right. Emma and Regina followed her eye line and saw the last person they both wanted to see. Snow waltz on in and zeroed on them as well. The red streaked brunette left before the inevitable altercation.

Emma panicked. 'Regina, regina, poof us out of here. Now, quick, poof us to your bedroom... Sorry, sorry, living room, I just remembered I wasn't supposed to flirt with you... C'mon, move your hands or something, she's almost here! Regina, c'mon! Fuck, she's here. Okay, nobody move.'

'Emma, you need to calm down.'

Snow got to the table and stood in front of them. 'Hey guys, fancy seeing you here.' She nodded courteously.

'Hey mom, what's up?' She said a little too happily.

Regina scanned Snow's face and there wasn't any edge to it. She was calmed and looking her like normal self. Definitely not the one she had a phone call just hours ago. Emma on the other hand was having a full pledge panic attack, a second away from jumping out of her skin.

'I was gonna wait for Charming outside but I just got his rain check- Emma... you're not a bug anymore?'

'Hooo..my god. I-...' Emma's foot started kicking Regina's out of nervousness.

Regina cleared her throat. 'I cured Emma with a simple spell. Why don't you join us for lunch?'

Snow nodded, impressed. 'Oh, alright. Sure! I'll just talk to Ruby for a bit, I'll be back.'

When without hearing distance, Regina kicked back and hit the Sheriff's shin with her pointy stiletto. Emma let out a shrill cry of pain and bit her hand to stifle more than was coming. 'Miss Swan, you need to calm down.'

'Sorry, sorry, God, did you really have to kick me? It fucking hurts, Regina.' Emma breathed out the pain and groaned.

'Why are you so afraid of Snow?'

'I'm not okay? It's just... she seems like a ticking time bomb and this will set her off. I just...' Emma said exasperatedly.

'This? What? Us having lunch? Just calm the hell down and let me handle it. If you keep acting like that, Snow will get suspicious.' Regina gave her forming head ache quick attention with some circular strokes with her thumbs. 'Just act like your usual bubbly, annoyingly sunny self. Can you manage that?'

Emma's shoulders dropped. 'You think I'm annoying?'

'No.' The brunette checked out Snow and she had just enough time to tell Emma something. 'I think you're delightful and I think you're cute.'

'Oh.' A wide smile spread across Emma's face, crinkling her sparkling eyes. 'That's really sweet.'

'You're welcome, Emma. Now wipe that stupid grin off your face. Your mother's coming.'

Snow sat next to her daughter after she made room. They looked at each other, no one sure who should speak first. Regina was watching Snow like a hawk and her personality was still intact. The silence stretched even more and Emma finally tried acting normal like Regina suggested. She sighed first, blowing away some nerves before starting the conversation. 'So, how has baby Neil been? Still a monster?'

Snow smirked as she played with the straw on her water. 'Well, yes. It's getting better but not by a lot. Charming's been really helpful however. That man is a saint.' Talking about her husband put Snow in a dreamy state.

'Are the neighbors complaining about the noise, Mom?'

'Would anyone dare tell Snow White her offspring is too loud?'

Regina had to agree. 'That happened with Henry too. Does that boy had the lungs on him.'

Snow was intrigued. 'Really? How did you deal?'

'Well, I read a lot of books before I took him in. Kept him on a strict sleeping schedule. Also, I found that he can only sleep when he's holding my pinky finger. It gives him a certain serenity. Better than any blanket I've ever gotten him.'

Emma was touched. Regina really took good care of her son. 'That's so.. adorable. If I haven't told you enough, thank you for taking care of my son.'

'I loved Henry ever since I got him. It was my pleasure.'

Snow smiled at the both of them. 'That is precious. I've been trying to find that too. There's a trigger in me somewhere. Some books I've read say that sometimes, babies just need to cry. I don't think I'm gonna buy that.'

'Sometimes?' Emma chuckled.

'Okay, yes. All the time.'

They all shared a laugh.

'You can take as much off time as you need, Snow. Your replacement's really working out but don't worry, you have a job to come back to. When you're ready.'

'I appreciate that, Regina. Thank you.'

'Of course, that's not a problem.'

What Regina feared to be an awkward conversation was actually turning out to be okay. Snow was civil and was not at all how Emma describes her. She understands the feats of having a new born and it's definitely most taxing on the mother.

Snow's food came, via a waitress they haven't seen before and they started digging in. As per usual, Regina had her salad and Emma stuck to her cholesterol high meals. Snow's was spaghetti with meat balls. Heavy but sweet silence lulled them again for quite some time. Regina finished first, always having been a fast eater. She reached for her ice tea and drank a bit when Snow spoke.

'So tell me Regina, how did you cure Emma?'

The ice tea that was going down on her throat when she suddenly choked.

'Regina?' Emma asked worriedly.

The Mayor sputtered uncharacteristically, some liquid even coming out of her nose. Snow was on her side in a flash and rubbed comforting patterns on her back. She took a particularly sharp breath when she was finally able to and coughed. 'Son of a bitch.'

'Are you okay?' Emma handed her a bunch of tissues.

'Yes, I'm quite alright.'

Emma casually placed her hand over her mouth to hide the spreading grin.

'Uhh... I found something on my books and made a concoction for her to drink. I have also asked the dwarves to be a little more careful in mining since Emma was hit with a random dust.'

'Are there any more incidents of this?'

'No.' The blonde jumped. 'It was just a random incident.'

'Well, good. I'm glad you've been cured. I hate to see you being laughed at by the people of this town.'

'Yeah well, at least it was over.' Emma took the last bite out of her burger and dusted off her hands.

Snow had a couple more bites on her plate but she pushed it off, declaring she was done. Regina was able to breathe. It turned out better than expected. Her choking on her beverage was less than desired but she would take it rather than Snow pestering her about what happened earlier.

'Yes, thanks...' She downed the food with a couple gulps of water. '...to the woman you now call 'Babe'.'

No such luck.

Emma and Regina looked at each other, fear reflected on the blue greens.

'I appreciate you curing Emma but I don't think that's enough for her to call you 'Babe'. She said to the Mayor. 'Do you have something to tell me, Emma?'

The smile on Emma's face melted. She thought she was gonna get off scot-free as well. 'No, mom.'

Brown eyes narrowed at her.

'Snow, you are reading too much into this. Emma called me 'babe' because-'

'-because I thought she was Hook. I had just woken up and I thought she was Hook. You know, my boyfriend?' Emma still wasn't accosted about her breaking up with him so obvious they don't know. She was banking on Hook not wanting to air his man pain to the Charmings due to being dumped. He had a hell of lot more pride than that. The Sheriff might not have loved him but he knew him pretty well. He would only whisper his woes on a bottle of rum. 'Regina's got that deep voice and I thought she was him. That's it.' It was the only excuse she thought of and she thought it was pretty great, until she saw Regina's face.

'Oh.' Snow visibly relaxed. 'Well, that makes sense. You did spend some nights in Hook's ship.'

Regina's left hand closed to a fist slowly.

Emma coughed. 'I did, yes. It's embarrassing that you remember that. Please don't tell anyone.'

'Of course. Your business is your business.' Snow went back to her seat. 'I'm sorry for accusing you both and my tone earlier Regina. I had just woken up, from little to no sleep might I add, and I just had this idea that you were both in bed together and just...' The raven haired teacher chuckled. 'I've never known Emma as being gay or bisexual, which if you are is totally okay. It's just that there are other great women on this town. Tinkerbell is okay... if-if you swing that way. Regina's not... Well, Ruby is a good candidate but then again you're with Hook so...'

'Mom... please stop-'

'Emma, I'm all for you being a lesbian. I have had a couple run in with girls when I was younger, it's nice. They're very soft. They know just where to hit the right spot.-'

'Mom!' Emma cut her off before she heard more stories of her mother sexual past. 'I am not in a relationship with Regina. We never were.'

'Even a couple years ago? When you would both talk like you both didn't know what personal space meant? You were really up in each others faces.'

Regina titled her head to Snow, sending her a look of disbelief over thinking that they were formally an item. 'Snow, we have never been in a relationship. Not before, not now and not ever. Understood?'

Snow nodded. 'Got it.'

They all fell silent once more and the formerly sweet turned unbearably awkward. Regina decided after a couple of beats to spare herself more of this. 'Sorry to cut this short Snow, but we really need to go back to the office and work on the project.' She pulled a couple of bills to cover all the food and stood up.

'Right, we need to go. Bye mom.' Snow give way and she quickly followed her boss.

They both got into the Mercedes and Regina drove out of the spot.

'Your mother is a lunatic.'

'I know. She hasn't had much sleep because of my brother. I'm sorry about what she said and for even bringing up Hook. I'm really sorry.'

Regina tightly smiled. 'It's fine, Emma.'

'No, it's not. I'll talk to her, alright?'

'And tell her what? That you called me babe because you wanted to? If that little instance sent her off the rails, can you imagine what her reaction would be if she knew I was your true love? Just let her be. We'll go home early so I can finally find a way to counter act this dust that's keeping us as conjoined.'

'You're mad.' Emma said sadly. 'What can I do to make you... not so mad?'

'I'm not mad. Stop saying I am.' She obviously was.

The blonde frowned. 'Regina...' Emma whined. 'Okay but just.. smile for me please? Just once...'

'I do not smile.'

'You do for Henry...'

'I do for him because he's my son.'

'But I'm your...' She cupped her mouth and whispered. '...true love... That's gonna count for something, right?'

'No more talk of this again. I need to focus on work.' She said with finality.

Not a word was spoken between the two of them for the rest of the day. By now, they knew the routine and they just followed it without questioning one another. They both got out of the Mayor's office at 4 PM to pick up Henry and having the teenager was a reprieve from the quiet.

The teenage talked their ear off about what happened in school and didn't pick up on what was going on between his mothers. They both put aside what has happened and just acted like the perfect family that they have been for the past few days. When they got to the house, Henry ran to his room to get his home works done just in time for movie night and they were left alone again.

Emma picked on her nails for a bit before finally cracking and running up to Regina and throwing a hug from behind. 'Please don't mad at me...' She melted into Regina's hair and sniffed the familiar apple shampoo.

'Emma, I'm not...'

'I can tell you are... Just... what can I do?'

Regina sighed. 'There is nothing to do, dear.' She turned and found herself trapped in a lock of pale arms. They were suddenly too close for her comfort and she tried to slip away.

'I'm not letting you go until you smile at me.'

'You are such a child, Miss Swan.'

'I have not threatened you with a kiss so you haven't see childish yet...'

'I thought I told you to stop flirting and yet you can't help yourself...'

Emma tried to shrug it off but her shoulders just eventually fell. 'I can't take you being mad at me... which is kind of funny since all we've done for years is fight but... look I know why your mad and I can't exactly take back what was said so... tell me what I can do.'

'Order pizza. I'm gonna be reading the books again. I'm sure Henry will be pleased with the greasy goodness that awaits him.'

'Okay... I can do that... Actually, I'd love to do that, pizza is awesome. How about... that smile?' Emma gave her a toothy grin, thinking it could ease her way in. Relenting, Regina took a deep breath before she smiled slightly. The blonde was ecstatic. 'You're so beautiful when you smile. Can I also get a kiss on the cheek?'

'No. Please take care of our son while I'm upstairs.'

Emma let her go with a nod. She watched as Regina walked and shamelessly ogled her ass. In a tight skirt, it was too good too miss.

It didn't take Emma more than thirty minutes before she got the pizza and prepared the entertainment center. Rid of his assignments, Henry joined his mother who was already downing a slice with a tub of soda.

'Ma, where's mom?' He grabbed herself a slice and handed the DVD of The Expendables.

'She's upstairs.' Emma popped the DVD and pressed play.

'Why? What is she doing?'

'She's finding the cure to the dust, Hen.'

Henry turned to her mother in confusion. 'She's finding... Oh right... You can still turn into a lady bug. I honestly forgot about that. We've been having so much fun I forgot you both had a problem.'

'Yeah, I thought it was just gonna wear off over time but apparently not.' A deep sigh was made before she took another bite.

'You don't seem happy, Ma. Did something happen?' He asked.

She dropped the pizza and paused the movie. 'We both ran into your Grandmother today.'

Henry's abnormally large brown prying eyes widened. 'Oh no.'

'Regina asked me if I was afraid with Snow and I told her no. I mean technically I'm not but I am afraid that the Swan Mills Family-' Emma stopped and high fived Henry. She really liked the term. '-will be broken. They say all that's happened is under the bridge but I think Snow will see it as Regina taking me for the second time.' Henry was to protest her statement but Emma raised her hand. 'You know what I mean, dude. To be honest, I like it here. I like being around your mother. It isn't because I hate being a lady bug that I don't want to leave.' She was suddenly bursting at the seams and since Regina was still a little mad at her, Emma chose Henry to spill it to. 'Once this is done, your mother will force me to leave and find my own apartment. There's no more reason for me to stay. I think she just did it the first time because she was guilty about it.'

'Maybe she won't, Ma. I think Mom likes having you here also.' He slung an arm on the her blonde mother's shoulder and rubbed her arm up and down. 'Do you want me to vouch for you, Ma? I'll tell Mom I need you here. For science.'

Emma chuckled. 'I don't want it to be out of obligation, Hen. I want her to wan-' The words almost got out of her and she physically had to stop it with a hand over her mouth. She had serious doubts over them being true loves at the beginning. It was just a dust. A dust also told Regina that Robin and it turned out to be wrong. But her slip up made her realize something. Maybe the dust was right this time, at least for her.

'Were you just gonna say 'I want her to want me?', Ma?'

Well, of course her precocious son picked it up. 'Yeah... Fu... Fudge clusters.' Her hands covered her face as she frustratedly exhaled.

Henry smiled. Operation Lady Bug was working. Really he just helped steer the course but he still couldn't help but feel proud. 'Do you love Mom, Emma?'

The question was as loaded as they come and Emma could just look at her son. The move was long from enemies to being civil to being friends but this week turned the dial up a thousand notches. They were at a whole other level, something unlabeled but something that felt so right. Henry's eyes bugged at her to answer but she didn't exactly know how to verbalize her feelings just yet. 'I don't know.. I might, I...'

'Okay.. okay.. You don't have to tell me now. Just relax, Ma. You guys are each other's true loves. It will work out, I promise.'

Promise.