Henry awoke soon after. He wandered out into the kitchen, rubbing at bleary eyes. He skipped the good morning, instead asking, "Did you turn my alarms off?"

She nodded, not that he could see her from the couch. "Yeah, I did. I figured that you could use a day off." Her voice cracked over the words.

Henry paused. "...Mom? Are you okay?" She didn't answer, and he continued, "You sound like you've been crying."

Emma sighed. He was going to find out eventually. She might as well be honest with him.

She pushed herself up off the sofa, wandering into the kitchen. Henry's eyes lingered on her bloodshot eyes, but he didn't comment.

"Regina was here," Emma explained, wincing at the way her son's eyes widened.

"And you didn't wake me up?!"

She held up a hand. "I know. I'm sorry. She told me some things that I needed to work through. She promised she'd be back the moment that I asked."

Henry only folded his arms over his chest, and Emma sighed. She'd only known Regina for a few weeks - as far as she remembered, anyway - and yet, she saw more and more of her in her - their - son's mannerisms. She gestured towards the kitchen table, and he plopped down into one of the wooden chairs with a roll of his eyes.

"Okay, so what did she tell you?" Henry persisted, leaning forward.

Emma shook her head. She wasn't ready, she really didn't know how to tell him - "I think you should eat something first."

He only huffed, and Emma turned away to pull the bread out of the cabinet and stick a couple slices in the toaster. They waited for it in silence, until it popped up and Emma pulled it out and buttered it. She placed the plate of food in front of Henry without a word. He didn't touch it, didn't even acknowledge it - just watched her. She sat down across from him with a sigh.

"Aren't you going to eat something?" She asked after a moment.

He shook his head. "Not hungry." He watched her for a moment more before adding, "Tell me why Regina was here."

Emma sighed. "I asked her to come back this morning." She worried at her lower lip. He didn't reply, and so she continued. "I guess things happened differently than we remember. Like Regina said."

"I believe her," Henry insisted fiercely.

"I know," She assured him, a bit taken aback at the sudden fire in his eyes. "I do too." She shook her head. "It's just that some things weren't connecting. I asked her back here to...clarify, I guess." She sighed, pulling the chair across from her son out and sitting down, leaning heavily back against it. "Henry...it turns out we have more family than we thought."

"Besides Regina?"

"Yeah, kid, besides Regina." Emma folded her hands on top of the table, and then drew them back onto her lap. She wrung them together as her heart thudded in her chest. How was she supposed to tell her son, her only son, the only thing that truly mattered in her life, that she'd given him up?

Old feelings rushed through her head, tightening her chest. She shook them off, deciding instead to explain from the beginning.

"I've been trying to figure out how we were both your mothers," Emma began. Henry cut her off with a wave of his hand and an eye roll.

"You were together, duh. I figured out that much. I know what lesbians are, mom."

Her lips cracked in a smile. She couldn't help it, she laughed, just a tiny huff - but still. Her son. Their son. "Yeah, okay, I know. I got that much too, kid."

He tilted his head. "You don't really think that I'd have a problem with that, do you?"

"Of course not. I know I raised you better than that." Except, she didn't - Regina did. She shook her head, the severity of the situation sobering her tone. "That's not what I meant, though. When she showed me those memories last night...she showed me things that didn't fit with the way I remember things going." She held up a hand as Henry began to protest. "Yeah, I know, she told us that. False memories and all that. I know." She drew in a deep breath. "But in those memories, you lived with her. You were her son. You were ours, but you were hers first."

Henry was quiet now, but he still met her eyes. His expression had softened, the defiance slipping away.

"I called her here to ask her what I already knew." She sighed, taking one of his hands in both of her own, leaning forward and meeting his eyes. She needed him to understand, understand that she loved him so much, that she never would have given him up unless she had to. "Henry, I love you so much. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. You know that I was young when I had you, and in a bad place, but I chose to keep you because I thought it would give you your best chance."

He was still quiet, a slight frown turning down the corners of his mouth. "I'm guessing you thought different in Regina's world."

She nodded. Her eyes were beginning to sting, and she fought back tears. Henry didn't need to see her cry. "I did." She drew in another shaky breath. "I don't know what was different, but, Henry - I need you to understand that I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think it was what was best for you." He didn't speak, and so she continued. "And you did have a good life. Regina adopted you when you were a baby. She raised you. She raised you so well." She squeezed his hand again. "She said that you came and found me when you were ten. She said that things were...complicated for a while, but we eventually became a family."

Henry nodded, eyes dropping to Emma's hands around his own. He didn't retract it, though, and Emma prompted, "Well?"

"Okay."

"Just okay?"

He continued to nod, and then shrugged. "Yeah, okay." He sighed, meeting her eyes again. "You gave me up because you thought it would be my best chance?"

Emma nodded. "I'm sure of it."

"Okay, then." He repeated. "I believe you." He pulled his hand back, picking up a piece of his toast instead and taking a bite. He chewed thoughtfully, eventually adding, "You know, I think I knew, somehow. I feel like I've already...I don't know, come to terms with it, I guess. It doesn't really feel like news." He looked at her. "That sounds weird, doesn't it?"

Emma laughed, relief flooding through her. "No, kid. That's not weird. Weird is a ghost showing up in your living room and telling you magic is real and your life is made up."

He laughed too, visibly relaxing. They sat in silence for a few moments, before he asked, "So how does that mean we have more family? Regina's family, I guess?" He sat up. "Wait, do I have siblings?"

"No, kid, you don't have siblings." She knitted her brow. "Well, not that she mentioned, anyway. I feel like she would have brought that up at some point."

"Alright, so. No siblings. What, then?"

"Grandparents. Well - your grandparents." She frowned. "My parents."

"...Oh."

"The way that she talked about it, they're not the only family we have, either." Emma's thoughts flashed back to the group photo. Family. Could all of them - all of those people in the photo, really be that close, that they'd be considered family? The thought was dizzying. The only family she'd ever really known had been Henry, and yes, it had been lonely without any other adults, but it had also been enough.

"Mom." Henry shot her a look. "You don't get to just gloss over that. You have parents?"

She shrugged, a pang shooting through her chest once more. "So Regina says."

"Then why don't we know about them? Why would Regina make you forget having parents if she wanted to make us a good life together? That seems...I don't know, mean."

Emma shook her head. "Apparently I still grew up in the foster system. That part of my life was the same. She didn't give me a lot of detail, but it sounded like I met them in Storybrooke."

To Emma's surprise, Henry broke into a grin. "That's great, mom! It would be so cool to meet them. I know that they'll find their way back to our world eventually."

"That's the other thing." She tapped her finger tips against the table. "Regina said my mother wants to see me. Apparently Regina can bring her with."

The grin fell. "And you don't want to see her."

She shook her head. "No. I don't know. I'm not sure." She offered him a small smile. "It's a lot to take in, I guess."

"So is finding out you're adopted," Henry shot back, picking up his toast again.

Emma chuckled. "Fair point."

"You should see her, mom."

She studied him for a moment. He seemed so calm, so collected, despite the news that she'd just delivered. Despite the craziness of the last few days. If he could take the fact that she'd given him up so well, shouldn't she be able to handle the same of her own parents? A small voice whispered inside of her that it wasn't the same. Henry had been adopted, Henry had a family. Emma never did.

But that was the thing, wasn't it? She couldn't have known.

She may have felt that his best chance would be without her, but she couldn't have known if he'd actually get that, or end up like her.

Maybe her parents had taken the same gamble.

And underneath everything, deep in the pit of her stomach, there was the nagging feeling that she already knew, just like Henry'd said.

"Okay," She concluded, the word making her heart flutter. "Okay, I think I will."

Henry only offered her a smile, polishing off the rest of his toast. "So what do you need to do? Call Regina?"

She shot him a knowing smile. "You just want me to bring her back here so you can see her."

"Duh," He replied.

She shook her head. "She was just here a couple hours ago. We shouldn't be dragging her out here all the time." Even as Emma spoke the words, she fought back against the urge to just call Regina back. Despite the uncertainty she'd felt after their last meeting, she still wanted nothing more than to see her again.

"She told you she'd come back as soon as you wanted her to, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm pretty sure she thought it'd be a day or two, Henry."

"I doubt it. She's probably watching us right now, waiting for you." He scowled, leaning around Emma to peer into the decorative mirror on the wall. "Hey, Regina, we miss you. Come back."

She turned towards the mirror. "Henry, wait -"

Familiar purple smoke appeared in front of it, Regina stepping from within it as usual. She stepped forward until she was standing beside Emma, taking in the two of them before her. "No spilled drinks this time?" She eventually asked. Despite the attempt at humor there was tension in her shoulders as she met the blonde's eyes. Their parting words flashed through Emma's mind - I love you, too. And Emma had meant what she said, even if she'd asked to be alone in the same breath.

"I could get a cup of coffee and we could try again, if you want." Emma offered her a smile, and Regina relaxed. Emma hoped that she'd gotten the message - that she wanted her here, despite their earlier tension.

"Maybe next time." She turned her gaze towards Henry, eyes softening. She had a special smile reserved just for him, Emma realized, a softness that permeated every part of her the moment she laid eyes on him. It made Emma's heart clench, reminding her not for the first time just how much she'd lost. "Hello again, Henry."

"Hi...mom." Henry tested the word out carefully, shooting a questioning glance towards Emma as he did so. She replied with a shrug - it was strange to hear her son call another woman "mom", yes, but it wasn't like they hadn't already established who she was.

Regina, on the other hand, offered him a sad smile. Her shoulders sagged just a little. "I appreciate the effort, Henry, but I know you don't remember me." She shook her head. "You can just call me Regina for now, if you want."

He nodded. "Okay. Hi, Regina." He wrinkled his nose. "That feels weird, too."

Regina laughed at that. "Tell me about it. I've only heard mom for fifteen years."

Henry smiled. "I guess it's going to be strange either way, huh?"

"Seems like." She gave him another small smile, hands clasped together.

Silence stretched between them for a few moments, and then he nodded towards Emma. "Well...Ma has something to tell you."

Regina raised a brow, turning her focus towards Emma as well. "Oh?"

Emma, however, was still watching their son, brows knit. "You just called me ma again."

"Did I?"

Regina glanced between them for a moment, and then she moved to sit down at one of the chairs that was already pulled out from the table. Emma still didn't know how she did that, given that she couldn't make physical contact, but just like earlier she did a pretty good job of mimicking it. She folded her hands in her lap, and Emma had the feeling that she was wringing them again. "You don't call her ma here, Henry?"

Henry shrugged. "Not usually. Why? I don't understand why it's such a big deal."

The brunette glanced back at Emma. "You used to call her ma, back in Storybrooke. Are you remembering anything else?"

He shook his head, and Regina's expression darkened just a hair. "Wait, well - sort of. Not exactly. My mom told me about you adopting me, and I...I don't know. I don't really remember that. It's more like...like when somebody tells you a secret you already know."

"You're not upset?" Her eyes were locked on him now, apprehension written in the tension of her brow. "You're not angry?"

Regina's eyes always gave her away, Emma thought.

It was too early for her to know that, too early for her to say that, and yet, she felt it with such certainty. Regina had worn her heart on her sleeve, for the most part, since Emma had first sighted her in the coffee shop, and yet Emma knew without a doubt that she was a woman that held a mask in place more often than not.

But if you knew how to read her, her eyes revealed all.

Henry shook his head again. "I feel like I should be, but...it's hard to explain. It's like I already worked through it. I understand, you know?"

The apprehension in Regina's features melted into relief, and she nodded. "Okay, then. Good." Her lips pulled into a soft smile and she inhaled, sitting up a little straighter, eyes brightening as she turned her body so that she could face both of them more easily. "Henry used to call me mom." She tilted her head towards Emma. "At first you were just Emma to him, but eventually that just wasn't quite right. You became his mother, too. He already called me mom, so you became ma." She sat there for a moment, just regarding them with that wistful expression, longing shining through so clearly that Emma wanted to reach out and pull her close, wrap her arms around her and tell her it was going to be okay. They were here. They weren't going anywhere.

Of course, that was the problem, wasn't it? They weren't there, and holding her wasn't possible at the moment. A pang shot through Emma's chest, twisting beneath her ribs. The reassurance she'd been attempting to communicate to Regina faltered with the realization, and the other woman's lip quivered just enough to be visible.

"Anyway," Regina shook herself out of it. "You had something to tell me?"

"I don't. She does," Henry said, nodding towards Emma with a glint in his eye.

"Right," Emma began, clearing her throat and dropping her eyes to the table. Her heart was thudding just a little too fast, and she tried to remind herself that if she wanted to get back what she'd lost - if she wanted to be a family again, with Regina and Henry both by her side - she'd have to do this eventually. There was no getting around it. That, and despite her anger, the small child inside of her still ached for the idea. She was going to get to meet her mother. She'd been searching for twenty years before she'd finally given up, and here she was, offered up to her on a silver platter. "I talked it over with Henry, and...I think I'm ready. I want to meet my parents."

Regina's brows shot up. "That didn't take long."

Emma shrugged. "I told you it wouldn't."

"Yes, but I was expecting more than a couple hours before you came around."

"But you knew I would?" Emma asked.

Regina's lips curled up in a smirk, even as something like regret - no, loss - shone in her dark eyes. "I know you, Emma Swan." She let that sink in for a moment, eyes locked to the other woman's, before she spoke again. "Are you ready now?"

"Now? Like...now, now?"

"Yes." Regina regarded her with amusement. "Now, now."

Emma squirmed. "I suppose. I do have a question, though." It had been nagging her since their encounter earlier that morning. "You said I have parents, plural, but you only said that my mother wants to meet me. What about my father?"

Regina nodded. "He's there too, and believe me, he wants to see you." Her gaze softened once more. "They just thought it might be a little overwhelming for you to meet both of them at once. Your father loves you, believe me. But your mother is…enthusiastic," She deadpanned. "A little overwhelmingly so, if you ask me, but I digress." She shook her head. "They agreed that she'd come through first. If you agreed to see her, that is."

Emma nodded, considering. "Alright." She blew out a breath. "Alright," She repeated. "I'm ready. Now, now." When she looked back up, Regina's eyes were shining, and Henry had a small, encouraging smile at his lips. "Let's do this."

Regina nodded once more, echoing her smile. "Okay. I'll just need a moment." She held Emma's gaze for just a few seconds more, before she disappeared, that purple smoke surrounding her.