Emma cursed under her breath as she threw in yet another load of laundry and began to clear up her messy countertops. The flat that she lived in with her six-year-old son Henry was rarely organised but was bright, colourful, and felt like home.
"Henry honey? Have you seen my glasses?" Emma called to her son who was currently watching cartoons on their one television.
"Bathroom Mom" he called back, and Emma fought not to roll her eyes at herself, she was always losing things, like her black glasses that framed her thin face, or her car keys to the yellow bug that was honestly just a hairdryer on wheels, but Emma still loved it.
"Henry, have you washed your face? I want you to look neat and tidy for the new babysitter" Emma shouted from the bathroom as she pulled her long blonde hair into a high ponytail and secured it with a red scrunchie that matched her red leather jacket that she lived in.
"Yes mom! I cleaned my bedroom too!" Henry responded, causing Emma to remember the countertops in their kitchen.
"can you please fill the dishwasher for me Henry?" Emma hated having to ask her son to help but reasoned that plenty of kids have chores, but the difference between those kids and Henry was that the other kids got paid for their chores.
Emma had given birth to Henry when she was seventeen after falling pregnant to some nameless faceless boy she met at a party. Her parents had offered to help out, but Emma hated charity, so even if they agreed to watch Henry so Emma could go to work or school, she insisted on paying them. The mother and son had lived with Emma's parents, David and Mary, until Henry was three when they moved into a privately owned flat that ate up all of Emma's income. They had been utterly skint, surviving solely on benefits and handouts until Emma got a job as a cook at McDonalds, then she got a second job as a sales assistant in one of the electrical goods shops in the centre of town, and a waitress and barmaid job on the weekends.
Although she earnt enough to ease off the benefits, there was rarely money left over until Emma was promoted to junior manager at McDonald's, which also came with a hefty pay rise, allowing Emma to invest in a babysitter for her son after school a few days a week.
"Done the dishwasher mum! Anything else you want me to do?" Henry shouted, as he pushed his light brown curly hair out of his eyes. People were always asking his mum to cut his hair, but Emma couldn't bear it, she loved his hair. Henry loved his hair because his mum loved it, because her hair was even more curly than his when she let it dry naturally. Henry was the opposite of his mum in almost every way: he was neat, tidy, organised, and clean. But the two of them managed perfectly together, with some help from his gran and grandpa.
"Is the living room clean?" Emma asked, coming out of the bathroom, and ruffling his curls.
"Yep. You just have to put the soap in the dishwasher and the laundry soap in the washing machine, I can't reach those" her son giggled, and Emma picked him up and gave him a cuddle.
There was a sudden knock at the door of the apartment, and Emma took a deep breath and opened it to reveal a brunette woman, who looked to be around twenty-four or twenty-five. Her eyes were a soft yet intelligent brown, and her lips were a natural red. She was slim, but curvy and Emma felt herself blush a little at the sight of the woman who was now looking rather anxious.
"Regina Mills?" Emma asked and the brunette woman nodded, her hair was long and loose, reaching the middle of her back.
"Emma Swan?" Regina clarified.
"Yep. Welcome to our little circus. This is Henry, he's six and I'm Emma, almost twenty-three." Emma laughed, pulling her son close to her side, and closing the door of the apartment.
"So what would your arrangements be?" Regina asked, pulling off her cosy black coat and hanging it on the coat and hat stand by the front door.
"Have a seat, would you like a coffee? Or tea? Henry honey, would you like a cocoa?"
"Yes please mum, don't forget the cinnamon!" Henry reminded her and Emma rolled her eyes and laughed at his precociousness.
"can I have a coffee please Emma? Just black please" Regina smiled, and Emma nodded.
Ten minutes later, the drinks were all dished up, Regina and Henry were laughing about something on Henry's iPad and Emma was breathing a sigh of relief that this might work out all right.
after a few minutes, Regina turned back to Emma who gave her a kind smile and asked Henry to go and put on his pyjamas.
"Is there anything I need to know?" Regina asked, blowing on her hot coffee.
"not much, he's a good kid and knows what he's allowed and what he's not allowed. Bedtime is seven thirty as he'll probably ask you for a few stories and then read by himself for about ten minutes. There might be some light cooking required if you're comfortable with that, if not, I'll leave him something before work. He finishes at his afterschool club at 3:45 and it's only a five-minute walk from here to the school. He'll meet you outside the school then. He does have Asthma and puffs on his inhaler every night before bed, and he also has a nut allergy. His epi pen and anti-allergy meds are in the bathroom cabinet. He might want a bath, but he can show you were all the stuff is for that.
As for paying you, I can leave money on the kitchen table or transfer it into your bank account, whichever you prefer." Emma explained, taking a big gulp of her coffee.
"Cash is fine thanks, as for the cooking, I'm more than happy to cook for him. I am fully PVG certified and have been watching my niece all her life. What time do you expect to be back from work?" Regina asked, her red painted nails wrapped around her mug.
"Between nine thirty and ten. If you want to watch the television or connect to the internet, be my guest. If I'm going to be late, I'll text you." The blonde beauty said, checking her work timetable on her phone.
"That's perfect. I'll probably bring my laptop and do my college work if that's okay." Regina smiled, her teeth were a pearly white and perfectly even.
"Absolutely, help yourself to anything in the cupboards or fridge, I'm guilty of overbuying snacks for the kid, so I'm constantly trying to get rid of some of them" Emma laughed.
"sound perfect, I can't wait to start. When do you want me to start?" Regina asked as she tossed her brown hair over her shoulder.
"Tomorrow? Is that okay?" Emma asked as she took off her glasses and Regina noticed her green eyes matched Henry's perfectly.
"Perfect. I'm looking forward to it. I live about a twenty-minute drive away, but I have my own car, so it won't be a problem. See you tomorrow then Emma".
Regina was about to leave when Emma pulled her in for a hug and explained that she came from a long line of huggers and that she was so thankful that Regina had answered her post.
"I forgot to ask, how did you come across my Facebook post?" Emma twirled a lock of her hair around her little finger as she watched Regina pull on her black wrap around coat.
"Oh my parents are friends of your mother. Mary Nolan?" Regina said, wondering to herself why mother and daughter had different surnames.
"Yep that's my mama. It must have been confusing for you. I'm Emma Swan Nolan but I just go by Emma Swan. Makes it a bit more interesting, don't you think?" Emma laughed lightly.
"Oh that makes sense. It was a bit confusing, but you're right. Makes you more mysterious" Regina smiled and bid Emma her goodbyes, climbed into her sleek black Mercedes and waved before driving off.
Tucking Henry into bed later that night was surprisingly easy for Emma, he was already half-asleep. Emma read him two stories, give him a kiss, and closed his bedroom door.
Pulling her scrunchie out of her hair and letting her blonde curls spring back to life, Emma grabbed herself a cold beer and tucked herself up on the sofa to watch a bit of television. She was currently obsessed with Call the Midwife but for once she couldn't settle to watch it. She couldn't stop thinking about Regina.
Miles away, Regina was having the same problems. Her mother had sent her to her room for insolence and Regina just couldn't shake the mother and son duo from her head. She didn't need the money as such, Regina just needed to be away from her mother for as long as humanly possible. The money would be put into her savings and used to treat her niece or maybe even Henry if things went well.
Regina silently prayed that thing would change for both women soon.
