All good things came to an end, unfortunately, and today just so happened to be the day where Regina and Henry had to part ways with Emma.

Regina was not too keen on parting ways with her partner. They'd had such a nice time together, the three of them. Although Regina had been a bit bothered by the cramps, it had still been wonderful. They had played cards. Regina had shuffled every time. Emma had insisted, and Regina had been more than happy to do so.

They had also watched movies on Emma's laptop. Narnia had been the first choice, and Regina had gotten quite emotional when the evil queen Jadis had 'killed' Aslan. Her period almost made her a little extra sensitive. Although seeing Aslan getting 'killed off' was tough every time. Emma had been an absolute gem. Not once had she made Regina feel ridiculous for crying over seeing an animated lion getting killed off in a kids movie. Sure, she had teased Regina a little, but in her usual gentle manner. And then she had hugged her and offered her a tissue. Which Regina sullenly had accepted.

She mourned that this was the end of their trip. Today was the first day her cramps were bearable. Typical. Her body's timing was so annoying sometimes.

But of course, it wouldn't be that long before they were together again, Regina knew that. Soon they would be moving in together. Her and Henry in Emma's beautiful house with the tower room. Henry had been talking non-stop about it. Not the tower room, but moving in together. He was so, so excited. His new room would be much bigger than the room in Zelena's house he currently had. And he would be able to do whatever he wanted with the room. Regina had decided to give him free reins and let all the decisions be up to him. He was ten years old, not a small child who needed her to make all the decisions for him. He was old enough to be in charge of how he wanted his room to be. Even if he wanted to paint the walls black, as he had joked. Regina had scowled a bit when Henry had asked her that, but she had not gone back in her decisions. Had just signed to him that if he really wanted to paint the walls black, he was allowed to do so. That's when Henry had laughed his little head of and had revealed that no, he did not want to paint the walls in his new room black. He had just been teasing. That little rascal. Regina had easily forgiven him, though. Especially when Henry had shown her and Emma pictures of a striped wallpaper he had seen and really liked.

Later, she and Emma had talked about changes in their own bedroom. That had lead to some magnificent flirting. And laughing with Henry. Until Regina's throat had started to hurt, and Emma had cut their fun short by reminding her to be careful. Regina had done so. But only after informing Emma and Henry that they were being 'stupid'. She had fallen asleep to the sound of their mock-offended exclaims. It had been delightful.

"Next stop, Vancouver Station. That'll be Vancouver Station. We hope that everyone has had a pleasant journey," a mild and rather soothing male voice announced over the speaker.

Regina was not at all in the mood to leave the train, but unfortunately, there was no way around it. She had to. They had to. But she wasn't happy about it as she packed her belongings. She chewed the inside of her cheek as she shrugged on her coat. And sighed when she tightened the belt around her waist.

"Are we ready to push in the hallway like all the other passengers?"

Emma was clearly trying to joke, and Regina did her very best to try and appreciate the humor. But she feared that her smile was nothing more than a polite smile. It was hard to smile properly and genuinely amused when they were about to part ways.

"I don't wanna get off the train," Henry said. His little shoulders were slumped and his mouth curving downwards.

Regina put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. She could fully appreciate her son's reluctance to not wanting to get off the train.

"Me neither, but we'll see each other again soon." The assurance was followed by a fond ruffle to Henry's hair.

That was right. Regina nodded firmly. Indeed they would be seeing each other again so very soon.

"In fact I think you and your mom should stop by for dinner this Saturday," Emma continued and looked at her. "I'll make French onion soup. That's your favorite soup, right?"

It sure was. Regina nodded again.

"And what about you, kid?" Emma asked, now looking at Henry. "You want tacos for dinner?"

"Yup. Always!"

Regina lifted an eyebrow. 'You're making two different things for dinner?' she signed.

"Yes I am," Emma confirmed with a slight shrug. "Because you can't eat tacos."

That was true. She couldn't. But that didn't mean that Emma had to do double work in the kitchen. 'I can bring my own food.', she signed and was sure she had found the perfect solution.

Emma didn't agree, though, but Regina interrupted her raising an eyebrow in warning before Emma could get the chance to say more than 'no fuc-'. Regina was very strict when it came to cussing around her son. Their son.

"No freaking way," Emma hastily corrected, splash of pink coloring her cheeks now. She had probably forgotten about the no cussing rule for a second.

"You're not going to bring your own food. No. I'm obviously gonna cook for you. Like the domestic goddess and caring girlfriend I am."

Regina smiled at that. No doubt Emma was quite the domestic goddess. She had once claimed to not being good at cooking, and perhaps that had been true at one point, but the woman Regina had come to known and date, was excellent in the kitchen. No trace left of the young woman who once had shrugged and mumbled something about not being great in a kitchen. Now she sat and called herself a domestic goddess. Jokingly, perhaps. But Regina was sure she saw a hint of pride in Emma's eyes. And she found that to be awfully sexy. Emma's confidence was extremely appealing.

"Can we have ice cream for dessert?"

Beg your pardon? Regina tapped Henry's shoulder to get his attention. And once sure that she had it, she signed: 'it's 'may we'. Not can we.'

"May we have ice cream for dessert," Henry corrected. Though not without scowling at her.

Regina smiled unbothered at him. He could scowl as much as he wanted. Which wouldn't be much if she knew her son. Henry wasn't one for being sour.

"Yeah, we can have ice cream," Emma said and chuckled in that particular way she always did when Regina scolded their son.

"Rocky road?" Henry's eyes shone now.

"Yeah, sure," Emma smiled, flicking a lock of hair away from her face in that delightful carefree manner Regina so loved. "Or cookies and cream. You like that too, don't you?"

"Uh-huh."

No, not 'uh-huh'. Reminding Henry that one didn't say 'uh-huh' in response to a question, Regina tapped his shoulder again.

"Yes," Henry corrected. "I like that too."

"Or what about chocolate chip?" Emma suggested. "Or peanut butter cup?" someone was clearly getting lost in some kind of ice cream paradise. "Or- oooh!- how about brownie batter? You like that too, don't you?"

"What about strawberry cheesecake?" Henry said eagerly.

Regina dove headfirst into the same ice cream wonderland she had lost her son and partner to. Her stomach didn't growl, but it didn't need to either. She was already craving ice cream. All kinds. And preferably meshed together in one big bowl. How was it even possible to crave ice cream this badly? Maybe she would treat herself to a nice bowl of ice cream when they got home. If they had any. And if they didn't, well, maybe, Regina would drive to the grocery store to buy some ice cream.

"Mom?"

Huh? Regina blinked and quickly snapped out of her fantasies about buying every brand of ice cream the grocery store had to offer so she could concentrate about her son and the question he clearly had asked while she was away in ice cream- fantasy land.

"I just said, Half Baked is my favorite, right?"

Right. Regina nodded and fondly thought about Henry's favorite kind of ice cream. She could have eaten some Half Baked right now.

"And mom's favorite ice cream is the salt caramel flavored one."

Mmmm. Salt caramel. Regina licked her lips in yearning. She could easily have eaten some salt caramel flavored ice cream too. A whole pint.

"I'll remember that in the future. Looks like we're almost there."

The comment about them almost being at their destination, was for whatever reason followed by a slight snicker, and Regina finally snapped out of her thoughts about ice cream and looked at her girlfriend. 'Can I hear the joke?' she signed. She should probably stop thinking about how much she wanted ice cream. Otherwise she would only get hungry and grumpy, and she didn't want to be either of those two options.

"There's no joke," Emma said. But it wasn't entirely convincing. She was still smiling, and Regina got the feeling that Emma had in fact been laughing at her.

"I know a joke!" Henry exclaimed, grin spreading on his face now. "Wanna hear?"

"Yes, always!" Emma said eagerly. "Bring it on, kid."

"Knock, knock," Henry said.

Oh, god. Not the knock-knock jokes. It was very hard for Regina to not roll her eyes. Very hard indeed. When Henry was seven years old, he had been quite obsessed with 'knock-knock'-jokes. Regina had heard all of them. All. Of. Them.

Ah, the good ol' knock-knock joke. "Who's there?" Emma snickered.

"Mustache," Henry said dead seriously.

"Mustache who?" Emma asked with a slight frown.

This time, Regina did roll her eyes. Here we go….

"I mustache you a question…." Henry paused dramatically before delivering the punch line in a fit of giggles: "but I'll shave it for later!"

Christ. Regina palmed her forehead and sighed deeply. Somehow, that joke was only getting worse every time.

Emma was amused though. Genuinely amused. She threw her head back and laughed heartedly. "Good one, kid! Now it's my turn. Knock, knock."

"Who's there?" Henry asked, already grinning.

"Tank," Emma replied, grinning to Regina who still had trouble with keeping her eyerolls at bay. She had a feeling that she knew exactly how this joke was going to end.

Henry frowned. "Tank who?"

"You're welcome," Emma said and laughed again.

Henry erupted in a new fit of giggles again and Regina thought to herself that yes, the punchline of that joke had been exactly what she suspected. She rolled her eyes for something that felt like the millionth time that day.

"Are you tired of us, babe?" Emma laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

Moderately, yes. Regina nodded. But not completely. She smiled at her partner to show that she could survive a few terrible jokes here and there.

And speaking of terrible jokes…

"Okay, I've got one for you, mom!" Henry announced and looked rather proud. "Knock, knock."

Alright then. Regina willingly played along and signed: 'who's there?'

"To," Henry said and smiled sneakily.

Regina wasn't sure she understood, though. But still, she played along: 'to who?'

"It's 'to whom'!" Henry sternly corrected her. But his strict façade only lasted about two seconds. Then he bursted out laughing again.

Emma quickly followed suit, and Regina had to admit that that was a pretty good joke. Right up her street. She was all about speaking correctly. Which was pretty ironic now.

"You're right, that's totally one for your mom, kid," Emma chuckled, openly praising Henry for his wit.

Sensing that both of them found it rather funny when she played 'the grumpy one', Regina shook her head and pretended to find them both deeply childish.

"Got anymore jokes?" Emma asked Henry.

What a question to ask Henry Mills, born comedian and known for giggling his little head off at three in the morning when he was just a baby. Of course he had more jokes. He had plenty of them. And he fired them off rapidly. Each and every one of them more terrible than the previous one. Now Regina was actually starting to find her lovely son and partner just the tiniest bit childish.

"What does a cow have four of that a woman only has two of?" Henry managed between giggles.

I beg your pardon?! Regina's mouth fell open as she stared at her son. What kind of joke was this?!

"Uhh..." Emma scratched the back of her neck, clearly as stunned as Regina was. "I don't know. What?"

Regina waited with bated breath. If Henry was to deliver some lewd punchline, they were going to have words, that was for certain!

"Legs," Henry giggled.

Legs. Of course. Yes. What else would it possibly be? Regina breathed a sigh of relief.

"Right," Emma said, and the relief was evident in her voice too. "That was a good one, kid. Who taught you that one?"

"Aunt Zelena," Henry said innocently and laughed.

Regina did not. Zelena. Of course. Now she was going to have words with her sister instead. Of course Zelena damn well knew that that joke could be misinterpreted. And Regina was going to have a little chat with her sister about teaching her son half-lewd jokes.

"She's good at teaching you jokes, huh?"

"Yup, she sure is."

Regina did not agree with that at all. In fact she thought that Zelena was massively bad at teaching Henry jokes. Perhaps she would be forbidden from doing so in the future.

The train stopped abruptly. Regina and Emma had expected the sudden stop and were prepared to brace themselves, but Henry was not, and Regina had to whip out those quick mom-reflexes. She swiftly caught him around his waist just before he would have fallen nose first onto the floor.

"Oomph," he said as Regina carefully guided him back on his feet. "Thanks, mom." Now clearly expected another abrupt stuff, he leaned back against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked with a slight frown.

"I'm fine, Ma," Henry assured.

Regina wasn't convinced, though. And Emma's concern only added to her Mother Hen attitude as she grasped her son's hands and checked them for scrapes. She didn't get the chance to see much before Henry wiggled his hands free and insisted: "mom. I'm fine!"

"He didn't fall, beautiful," Emma added with a small grin. "You caught him right before he faceplanted."

"Ma!" Henry grumbled. "That's not funny!"

"Sorry."

Regina decided to let it stay with that. Henry was fine. And she could see the tips of his ears going red. She didn't want to embarrass him. That wouldn't be fair of her.

The train doors opened, and Regina grabbed her suitcase. So did Henry and Emma. Regina held out her hand towards Henry.

"I can get out of the train on my own," Henry insisted. "You don't have to hold m-"

She had silenced him with a look. In a moment, everyone would start pushing to get out of the train at the same time, and Regina had absolutely zero interest in loosing Henry in the crowd. He didn't protest any further as he took her hand, and Regina was sure that he looked relieved when everyone indeed started to push past him a second later.

Her insisting that Henry took her hand, lead to a kind of chain event as Emma grasped his free hand. Regina thought that was sweet. And she wondered whether Emma was afraid of loosing Henry in the crowd, or getting lost in the crowd.

She never did find out. Soon it became their turn to exit the train. It felt nice to be out in the fresh air again. The train hallway had been a bit cluttered. Regina immediately started to look around for Zelena who was their ride tonight.

"Maybe she decided that she didn't want to come and pick us up anyway?" Emma suggested with a grin.

Regina clicked her tongue and sincerely hoped that wasn't the case.

It wasn't.

"Nooo, she's right there!" Henry said, eagerly nodding towards a most familiar woman with red hair and a green coat.

"I guess that means we're lucky," Emma quipped.

They made their way over to Zelena who was very happy to see them. She ruffled Henry's hair. "There you are. Did you have a nice train ride?"

"Yup!" Said Henry. "We did!" Cocking his head and looking at Emma. "Right, Ma?"

"Absolutely," Emma confirmed with a big smile. "The bestest trip ever."

Bestest. Regina smiled as Henry snickered.

"'Ma', huh?" Zelena was the one to tilt her head now.

Regina was not surprised. Of course her sister had picked up on that one word that was so small yet so big and special and meant so much.

"Yeah. That's what I call Emma now." Henry shrugged lightly and smiled at his Ma.

"I like it. Fits her very nicely." With that out of the way, Zelena turned to Regina. "And now I'm going to give you a hug. Come here."

Regina flailed her arms for dramatic effect as Zelena hugged her, because she was sure it would make Emma and Henry laugh. But when Zelena whispered: "I took the test. I am definitely pregnant. And Chad got so happy when I told him", in her ear, she was done trying to be a comedian and beamed at her sister when she released her. She hadn't for a moment doubted that Chad would be anything but excited about becoming a father, but still, it was wonderful to hear Zelena say it.

The four of them left the station. Regina found her precious black Mercedes in the parking lot and snatched the car keys right out of her sister's hand, much to Henry's delight. She had really missed driving, and she eagerly climbed onto the driver's seat. Zelena took the passenger's seat while Emma and Henry piled into the backseat.

"How's the throat?" Zelena asked her.

Regina sighed quietly. If I had a pound for every time I've been asked that over the past three days, I would be filthy rich right now.

"On a scale on one to ten?" it came in unison from the backseat. As though Emma and Henry had transformed into a pair of parrots.

It was possible that she was a teensy bit annoyed as she held up three fingers. The pain was definitely manageable right now. Not like last night where she had had no choice but to hold up seven trembling fingers. That had been no fun at all. But the painkiller had quickly helped and sent her to dreamland. Thank god.

Of course Henry saw it as his finest job to fill in Zelena on all the things they had done during the train ride. The many movies they had watched. The million games of card they had played. And of course how Regina had won every single time.

Regina smirked. She was still pretty proud that she had won those games.

"My, my," Zelena said. "Sounds like you've had quite the good journey."

"We had," Emma eagerly confirmed. "We might have to take another train ride. Right, babe?"

Regina nodded without looking away from the road. She would love taking another train ride with Emma.

"We could try the Trans-Siberian Express!" Henry piped up from the backseat. "That's like five days, right, Ma?"

"I think it's six days, actually," Emma told him. "And pretty expensive too."

Very expensive, Regina thought to herself. The word Emma was looking for was 'very'.

"But couldn't it be fun?" Henry said dreamily. He sounded like he was ready to go immediately.

"It sure could. Maybe the Trans-Siberian Express is a bit much, but it definitely could be fun to take another trip."

"To Disneyland?"

Always Disneyland. For as long as Regina could remember, Henry had been begging her for a trip to Disneyland. She rumbled, but unfortunately, the pain in her throat chose that exact moment to flare up, and she had no choice but to move a hand away from the wheel and rub her throat slightly.

"Careful," three different voices immediately admonished, and Regina rolled her eyes at all three of them and was tempted to scoff slightly. She was fine. It had just been a little flare, that was all. Nothing to be concerned about.

"So, can we go to Disneyland?" Henry asked hopefully, eagerly returning to the subject of traveling.

Regina grinned at him.

"Is that a maybe?"

Regina made eye contact with her girlfriend in the mirror and signalized that further explanation was up to her now.

"Maybe, kid, maybe," Emma said with a light chuckle. She too looked like she was ready to go to Disneyland as soon as possible.

And maybe, perhaps, that would actually happen one day. Yes, Regina could easily see herself traveling to the famous amusement park with Emma and Henry. She was not in doubt that they would have so much fun together.

"I bought those boxes you asked me to," Zelena said to her, changing the subject.

Oh, brilliant. Regina turned her head the littlest bit so she could flash her sister a grateful smile. She had texted Zelena yesterday and asked if she would have any possibility to buy her some boxes. She was very pleased that Zelena had delivered.

"Boxes? What do you need boxes- oooh, moving boxes?"

Exactly. Regina nodded in confirmation and felt the excitement bubble in her chest. She had been eager to take the initial steps in moving in with Emma, and now she could.

"Don't be too excited," Zelena drawled. "Those boxes will end up being stuffed with books."

"I don't mind that," green eyes reflecting the excitement Regina was feeling. "The more books the better."

"I have stuff too!" Henry piped up.

"We'll have to buy more boxes then," Zelena joked. "All the boxes I've bought will be stuffed with your mum's books."

Henry scowled at Regina in the mirror. "You have too many books, mom!"

Regina rejected the complain with a nonchalant headshake. There was no such thing as too many books. And if her memory didn't deceive her, Henry was the proud owner of quite a lot of books too. Heavy books. Those solid, leatherbound collections of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales that Malena had gifted him with when he was quite young, weighted a ton. Or so it felt. Regina had a feeling that she would develop arms of steel before she was done packing everything down. But that was alright. She was intending to pack every single book Henry owned. There would be no sorting them and potentially getting rid of some of them. Regina couldn't bear that. Even the thought of throwing a book away made her cringe.

"You're far away right now," Zelena softly observed. "Where did you disappear off to?"

Regina shrugged lightly and smiled to make sure her sister knew that she hadn't disappeared off to a bad place. She had just been thinking about packing. And that made her happy to think about. The next chapter of her life was right around the corner…

They arrived at Zelena's house. As soon as the car was parked, Henry grabbed his backpack from the trunk. Then skipped up the little steps leading up to the porch.

The adults exited the car with less bounce. Once Regina was about to grab her suitcase from the trunk, Zelena beat her to it and insisted upon carrying it.

"It hasn't been that long since the surgery," she said with a shrug when Regina tried to protest. "You're supposed to take it easy."

'So are you,' Regina signed to her. 'You're pregnant."

A grin spread on Zelena's face. But she nonetheless brushed Regina's comment off. And carried Regina's suitcase.

Regina rolled her eyes but didn't pursue the subject. She had far more important subjects to discuss. She turned to Emma and wiggled her fingers in the air. 'Would you like to come in and have a cup of coffee?' she was definitely not ready to say goodbye to Emma quite yet.

"Yeah," Emma replied, clearly delighted at Regina's suggestion. "That sounds great."

Perfect. They held hands as they headed inside the house. They ended up in the kitchen, where Regina and Emma had coffee while Zelena had a cup of tea. Henry almost immediately retired to the living room with his phone. Judging by the sound, he was watching some kind of funny video on YouTube. Regina didn't give him a lecture about screentime in the evening. Henry had just spent three days without Wi-Fi on the train. He was allowed a little screen time.

Regina sipped her coffee and scratched lightly just below the bandage. She always got itchy right there. She would have to put on loads of cream before going to bed later. In fact she would make it the last thing she did before putting on the new bandage. Just like Emma had done it. She had been so good at it, and Regina was confident that she could become just as good at it.

She turned her head and looked at Emma. Noticed that now she was the one who looked like she was 'far away'. They couldn't have that. Regina would have to insist that Emma stayed here with her. She lightly put a hand over Emma's.

That quickly made Emma smile and admit: "zoning out. But I'm back now."

Clearly. Regina flashed her an amused glance as she lifted her hands to sign: 'is everything okay?'

"Yeah," Emma said swiftly and reached for her hand again. Their fingers interlaced. Like they so often did when they held hands.

That 'yeah' echoed just a tiny bit in Regina's mind, though, and she was sure that she suspected some 'foul play'. Regina wasn't so sure she was buying that rather unconvincing 'yeah', and she made Emma aware of that by quirking an eyebrow.

"I was fussing over your bandage," Emma admitted, sounding a little sheepish. "I've just gotten so good at patching you up, and now you have to do it yourself."

Oh. Regina patted Emma's cheek softly. It was sweet of Emma to worry about that.

"Which I know is silly because you can obviously do it yourself, but..." Emma shook her head lightly. "I dunno, I suppose I just liked looking after you like that."

However casual the words came out, she wasn't fooling Regina. Emma really meant it. And Regina was really close to swooning. Like the women in old fashioned literature did.

"Why must the two of you be so nauseatingly adorable?" Zelena muttered under her breath, and naturally, Regina took the opportunity to glare at her older sister. There was absolutely nothing 'nauseatingly' about her and Emma's way of being, thank you very much.

"I wish I could stay the night!"

There was nothing nauseating about Emma's little exclamation either, but perhaps it was just a tad inappropriate?

"Should I take Henry elsewhere so the two of you can canoodle in peace?" Zelena asked flatly.

"Not like that," Emma defended, the tips of her ears going a bit red now.. "I just meant that I didn't want to go home tonight. That was all. I can't believe I've been sadistic enough to tell Malena that I will come to work tomorrow. I should have taken an extra day home."

Yes. Regina nodded and agreed with that statement. Emma definitely should have taken an extra day home. Unlike her, Regina wasn't gonna work tomorrow, and she was planning on sleeping in. She had decided to keep Henry home from school tomorrow. To give him the chance to get some rest too.

"Urgh," Emma groaned and took a sip of her coffee.

"So, exactly when are the two of you planning on shacking up?" Zelena asked both of them.

"Three!" Henry called from the living room. Just in case they had forgotten about him. Which Regina suspected that neither of them had.

"Pardon me, when are the three of you planning on shagging up?" Zelena corrected as something tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Soon?" Emma said hopefully and looked at Regina.

Definitely soon. Regina answered the question with a beaming smile.

"That's very vague," Zelena chided with a scoff. "Is there any chance you could possibly be a bit more precise?"

But of course. Regina put her cup of coffee down on the table so she could use her fingers to reply to the question. 'I am having my first round of voice therapy in three weeks.' She signed.'I was thinking of starting to pack the first boxes after that hurdle.'

"That sounds good," Emma was all adorable briskness now. "The sooner the better!"

"My, my. You two aren't wasting any time," Zelena observed and sipped her tea in that particular way that had just a hint of sarcasm to it.

Regina smiled at her sister. 'And why should we?' Why indeed? Why should they waste anymore time? They had waited long enough, hadn't they? Their relationship had unfolded slowly. Bloomed so beautifully. And now it was time to take that next step.

Next to her, Emma drained her cup of coffee and sat the cup down with a little thud. "This sucks, but it's getting a bit late, so..."

'I will drive you home,' Regina signed in response.

"I can take the bus," Emma said sweetly. Teasingly.

Regina narrowed her eyes and gave Emma her best Professor Mills-stare. Then she shook her head. Pointed firmly to herself. She would be taking Emma home. Not the bus.

"Okay, okay. You'll drive me home. No discussion."

A wise decision indeed. Feeling very satisfied with that, Regina emptied her cup as well.

That was when Henry finally decided to join them in the kitchen. He had clearly overheard them talking. "Are you gonna take Ma home now?" he asked.

Regina nodded to confirm that.

"Can I go with you?"

Oh. Oh. Well, obviously, Regina wasn't just gonna say no to him. Not when he looked and sounded that excited. But… She had actually hoped for some alone time with Emma. Brief alone time, obviously. She wasn't planning on staying away for hours. She just wanted the opportunity to kiss her girlfriend goodbye properly. And it would be quite hard to do that if Henry was present.

But alas, if he wanted to with them and say his own goodbye to Emma… Regina couldn't bring herself to deny him that opportunity. She nodded and flashed her son a smile as to confirm that yes, of course he could go with her.

But then the strangest thing happened. Henry tilted his head. Looked from Regina to Emma and back again. Then he smiled a bit. "No, you know what? I've changed my mind. I don't wanna go with you anyway."

Okay. But why ever not? He was so excited a few seconds ago? Regina lifted an eyebrow in confusion as she asked her son: 'is everything okay?'

"Yeah, everything is fine," Henry said, now sporting a rather cheeky grin. "I just don't wanna see you guys kiss. So I think I'll say goodbye to Ma here instead."

Zelena straight up cackled at that, and Regina felt her cheeks grow hot. Were they really that obvious?

Emma was not the slightest bit embarrassed, though. She laughed heartedly as she stood from the chair and engulfed Henry in a hug. "You are pretty clever, kid."

"The cleverest," Henry joked and squeezed right back.

Emma laughed once more. "Thank you for making the train ride so awesome. I can't wait to take more trips with you."

"To Disneyland?"

Regina let out a rumble at that. Again with the Disneyland.

"We're not supposed to make your mom laugh," Emma laughingly scolded him she squeezed him again. "See you on Saturday, kid. I'll make sure to buy lots of ice cream."

"Half Baked?"

"You got it."

"Knock, knock," Henry said, and Regina wished that she had been able to groan properly. She palmed her forehead. Not this again…

"Who's there?" Emma asked with a snicker, once again happily playing along.

"Annie!"

Regina held back a snort. She knew that one too.

Emma frowned. "Annie who?"

"Annie thing you can do, I can do better!" Henry sang, grinning from ear to ear.

Zelena started laughing. She clearly wasn't familiar with that joke. She had probably only ever taught Henry half lewd jokes, Regina bitterly thought to herself.

"No, you can't," Emma sang back at him, and her eyebrows did a little dance of amusement.

"Yes, I can,"

"No, you can't."

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't."

"Yes, I can, yes, I can, yes I can!"

Okay, that's enough! Regina quickly stood from her chair and held up her hands, silently begging them to please stop this already. But she suspected that her authority fell short this time. Both Emma and Henry laughed shamelessly in her face. Little rascals.

Then Henry hugged Emma again. "Bye, Ma!"

"Bye, kid. You better have a list of jokes ready for Saturday," Emma mock threatened.

"Roger!" Henry gave her one last squeeze.

Emma ruffled his hair. Then turned to Regina. "Ready to drive me all the way back to Steveston, babe?"

Regina simply rolled her eyes.

"I trust I'll see your face around here soon?" Zelena said, standing from her chair and giving Emma a quick hug.

"Definitely," Emma assured. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Henry snickered, but Regina did not find that joke particularly funny. She shook her head instead.

A few more goodbyes between Emma and Henry and Zelena was exchanged. Then Regina and Emma headed into the hallway to put on their coats yet again. Outside they went and into the car. Regina was back behind the wheel, but Emma opted for the passenger's seat this time. Regina was sure she saw Emma pout the littlest bit when she started the car.

Regina not only understood how Emma was feeling. She also shared those feelings. She wasn't particularly eager for Emma to go home either….

The car ride was over much too soon for Regina's liking. Tonight, she wasn't particularly happy to see the grey house that soon would be her future home.

Nor was Emma. "Urgh," she grumbled as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door.

Regina followed her example. Unbuckled her seatbelt and followed Emma outside.

Emma snatched her duffel bag from the trunk of the car and once she had hoisted it over her shoulder, Regina took her hand as they slowly walked up to the porch. The front door was right there in front of them. But Emma made zero attempts at finding her key to unlock the door. She seemed much more interested in lingering on the porch.

"Any chance I can invite you in for a cup of coffee?" She joked.

Regina flashed her a soft smile and shook her head gently. Retrieved her phone from her pocket and typed: 'if I have more coffee tonight, I won't be able to sleep.' Then she turned the screen towards Emma.

"And we can't have that," Emma said firmly. "You need all the sleep you can get. How's the throat, by the way?"

Seriously? Again? Regina smiled overbearingly at her overly worried girlfriend.

But naturally, Emma Swan couldn't be fobbed off with a smile. "On a scale of one to ten?" she pressed.

Regina rolled her eyes but nonetheless held up four fingers. The pain still wasn't excruciating, but it had heightened a bit since they were in the train.

"Have a painkiller when you get home!"

Regina smirked and wrote: 'but of course, nurse Swan.', she wrote in a new message.

"You're flirting with me," Emma softly accused when she had read the message.

Yes. That was entirely correct. She put the phone away and stepped closer. Put her hands on Emma's waist.

"Hi," Emma chuckled. "What are you after?"

Well. If that wasn't fairly obvious by now, Regina was doing a very poor job, wasn't she? She leaned in and kissed Emma.

Emma immediately returned the kiss. And not only that. She actually went 'mmm!'. Then draped her arms around Regina's waist.

This was exactly what Regina had had in mind when offering to drive Emma home. Exactly what she had feared wouldn't be possible when Henry had asked if he could come with them. Now she sure was glad that her son had changed his mind. She was glad that she and Emma had been that obvious. She walked Emma backwards. Pushed her softly against the façade of the house. Emma moaned against her lips. She clearly hadn't seen that little shift coming. That was good. Regina liked when she was able to surprise her girlfriend. And speaking of surprise… Regina moved her hands away from Emma's waist. Placed them on the wall on either side of Emma's head. Then nibbled lightly on her bottom lip. Emma moaned again. A bit more throatily this time. Someone liked when Regina 'took charge'. Duly noted. Regina would remember that in the future. She traced the tip of her tongue against the seam of Emma's mouth. Then gently pried her lips apart so she could slip her tongue inside Emma's mouth.

Emma's moans intensified. She clutched at Regina's waist. Pulled her closer until they were pressed flush together. Regina could feel Emma's heart going thump-thump-thump, matching the rhythm of her own racing heart. She could also feel other things. Things that made her mourn that it wasn't possible for her to go inside with Emma tonight. Especially when Emma's tongue brushed against hers in that particular way. Then wrapped the tip around it and sucked gently.

It was Regina's turn to moan then. It was getting increasingly harder to think. Increasingly harder to be sensible. Maybe she should go inside with Emma. Maybe she could stay the night. She could leave early in the morning. She could-

A gentle tug to her bottom lip had Regina stopping thinking all together. She moaned sharply. Emma's hands slid from her waist and into her hair.

Regina answered by gently cupping her face as they kissed. Emma seemed to tether a bit. That was alright. If she felt weak in the knees, Regina would be sure to catch her before she fell.

She had imagined that it would be lack of oxygen that interrupted their kiss. But it actually wasn't. It was the flashing lights from a car passing by.

Regina panted slightly and tried to catch her breath. After a moment, she managed. But along with oxygen came common sense, and she began to worry a bit.

"Wow," Emma breathed. "That was one hell of a goodnight kiss!"

Regina nodded in agreement, but she was still concerned.

"What?" Emma gently touched her cheek. "What is it?"

It would have been the easiest thing in the world to shrug and smile and go 'nothing', but alas, that wasn't their thing. Regina found her phone again and typed down her concern. 'Am I being a terrible tease right now?'

Deep down she knew that she wasn't. But her time with Killian still prompted her to ask. To make sure. Because Killian had taken every opportunity to accuse her of being a tease. If she had worn a V-neck sweater, she had been a tease. If he had walked into the bedroom while she was in a towel after a shower, she was being a tease.

And he hadn't meant that in a cute, flirty way. He never did.

"No, you're not," Emma said softly and reassuringly.

Again, Regina already knew that. But it sure was nice to get it confirmed. Now that that had been dealt with, she decided to write down her frustration instead. 'Why can't I make love to you tonight? It really isn't fair.'

Emma, who had read the message over her shoulder, laughed sweetly and gently reminded her: "because you've just been through an operation."

So? Regina didn't particularly like how rational Emma was being right now, and she scowled slightly.

"But hey, this is a good thing," Emma continued, still smiling. "Your sex drive is coming back. That's awesome!"

Not particularly when I can't actually have sex. She scowled some more, felt her cheeks getting warm as she typed: 'always on day three.' She didn't need to turn the screen. Emma could read over her shoulder once more.

"Always on- ohhh!" Emma grinned from ear to ear. "Had the circumstances been any different, I would have helped you with that." She wrapped her arms around Regina's waist again.

Regina couldn't help but frown and mouth 'really?'. Killian had made his opinion quite clear regarding that. He had said so many horrible things to her whenever he found out that she was on her period. He had called her a 'disgusting cow' and all kinds of insults. But at least he had not touched her. That had been a relief. At the end of their relationship. Earlier, she had found his reluctance for intimacy and his obvious disgust very hurtful.

Later he had started writing down whenever she was on her period. Meaning that she had not been able to use that as excuse to avoid sex. He had still been in control. And she hadn't dared lying to him.

"Yes, really." Emma's voice was very firm. But her hands were very gentle as they touched her face. "If your throat was a bit more healed than it is right now, I would have suggested that we headed upstairs to the bedroom right now," she whispered in Regina's ear.

Regina kissed her once more. Softly and delicately this time. Every bit as sweetly. But shorter. She really did have to go, and she pulled back and gestured towards the car.

"Yeah," Emma said and hung her head.

Regina didn't want her to look so disheartened. She lifted a hand and gently pushed a lock of hair behind Emma's ear. That brought a smile to Emma's face. Good.

"I'll see you on Saturday," Emma said, now sounding utterly dreamy. "And the kid, obviously."

Regina nodded. Indeed she would.

"Text me when you get back?"

Of course. Regina kissed her girlfriend one. Last. Time. And then she turned around and walked back to the car. Without turning around to wave or anything. If she did that, she would end up rushing back for another kiss, and they couldn't have that. She had already lingered too long. She couldn't be late. It was almost Henry's bedtime, and Regina would be damned if she wasn't present for that. Their bedtime routine was important.

It was a consolation to know that she soon would be able to tuck her son in and kiss Emma goodnight without having to drive anywhere.

She climbed onto the driver's seat, started the car and drove away. Back to her son so she could kiss him goodnight. That was very important.

But there was also one more very important thing she had to do before going to bed tonight.

She had to scold her sister for teaching Henry a joke that could be misinterpreted.

A grim little smile spread on Regina's lips. If Zelena didn't listen to her, she could always threaten to tease her new niece or nephew an abundance of lewd jokes in ten years from now…

To Be Continued…..