Hello everyone! Well i wasn't expecting for this story to be that popular that i would get inbox messages about when this next chapter would be! So thank you for your interest but i am a slow writer i do admit that so i just write when i get an idea and find the time. Sorry if i keep you waiting too long but i have another story to write too and i have had no internet this week...disaster!

I have had some good thoughts about how this story could progress though, so i hope you all keep reading and telling me your thoughts. Thank you to the person who raised the question about how Tia will react to David i think i have came up with an answer but you will all have to wait to find out how that goes.

This chapter is more Emma/Tia based but in future chapters Regina/Tia will focus a bit more

Love Rouge xxx

Chapter 3

Regina held Tia close as if she was a precious gem that she wanted to protect from the outside elements which could hurt her. She rocked the little girl gently in her arms which Tia seemed to like as she sucked her thumb cuddling her doll, no longer crying. Emma quietly spoke to the little girl over Regina's shoulder, telling her that everything was ok and that she was safe, making sure to watch her tone of voice.

Emma gently reached down and covered Tia with her blanket that she was holding remembering that Jackie told them it made her feel comforted and knew it couldn't hurt. Regina bent her head and gently kissed Tia on the head as she continued to rock the child who was now yawning into the blanket. Within a few more minutes she was curled up safe and sound and asleep in the brunette's arms.

"Well" Jackie spoke gently gaining the attention of both mothers "i think you both handled that perfectly"

Regina and Emma smiled at Jackie and then at each other. Emma kissed Regina's head gently "we make a great team" she said

"Indeed" replied jackie " i will be sure to tell Moira all about your progress today, she will be pleased I'm sure. I think pretty soon Tia will be ready to make the transition and go home with you both"

"That would be wonderful" Regina replied quietly so as to not wake Tia. "We cant wait to take her home to start getting her settled there". Regina gently pulled away from emma with the sleeping toddler and took her over to her little, pink bed at the other side of the small room. She gently lay Tia down and tucked her into bed. The toddler stayed asleep, sucking her thumb gently and cuddled into her pillow as Regina stroked her cheek gently

"See you soon Tia" she whispered as Emma came over to join her and kissed Tia's head gently.

"Oh Henry i wish you could have seen her, finally accepting us and trusting us" Regina smiled "it was wonderful and she was so adorable. The tapping programme them have introduced to her...you know, she taps people to see if they are real or not? Well the centre have said that she can permit people to touch her by tapping them. With what she has been through its such a great idea"

The two mothers had been talking to their son for over an hour now as they sat cuddled together on their hotel room bed with Regina's phone in front of them on voicemail. They had went over and over each detail of their full day with Tia and their breakthrough again and again but he didn't mind. He smiled listening to his mothers sounding so happy.

"Well thats great mom, and i'm really pleased you are all coming home soon" henry replied

"Mary Margaret and David are looking after you aren't they?" Regina asked as she always did in these conversations with their son.

"Yes mom i'm fine, stop worrying, you know i'm ok here i'm having fun here" Henry reassured his protective mother.

"Of course we are looking after him Regina" came Mary Margaret's voice from the phone and Regina realised Henry had them on voicemail too.

"Ooops" Regina whispered to Emma who cuddled Regina and giggled.

"Mom we know you are taking good care of him, you know what Regina is like" Emma said trying to carry out damage control but she received an elbow in the ribs from Regina. "Oww!" She smirked "What i mean is you know how much Regina worries because she loves Henry so very much" Emma retracted in a dramatic tone.

"Nice save dear" Regina praised with a smile.

"Yes Emma but he is fine, seriously neither of you have to worry about anything except getting Tia home, now tell us more about our new little grandchild" Mary Margaret smiled so brightly that Regina and Emma could hear it in her voice.

"She is doing really well mom and we are really happy with everything except...the one worry is how she reacts to men, i mean its understandable but there are lots of men in the world, how are we ever going to keep her away from them all? I mean even in Storybrooke there's Archie...Dr Whale...Marco...Leroy..."

"Me" came David's voice

"Oh dad...i didn't even think about that, how is she going to react when she meets you?!"

"Probably in a similar way to the man today dear" Regina replied in a gentle tone "Which we cant let happen, she was so distressed it was heartbreaking"

"So what, i have to stay away from my own grandchild?" David asked, his tone sad which Emma wasn't used to hearing and she felt sorry for him. "I would never hurt her" he added.

"No one is saying you would david, of course you wouldn't but, what Tia has been through was very traumatic for her. However, emma is right...we cant keep her away from all men, what we have to do is show her that not all men are to be feared and slowly introduce her to david" Regina recommended

"You think that would work?" Mary Margaret asked

"Whats the alternative? Keep her inside and away from everyone? We cant do that, Jackie thinks that when she is settled with us at home she wont be scared anymore" Regina remembered their conversation from earlier.

"No offence but i don't think it will just go away" Emma said

"Me either dear but we will figure something out when we get her home and settled, meeting henry is the first hurdle" Regina replied

"Don't worry dad we wont keep her away from you, we will sort something" Emma promised.

"Ok and we will help in any way we can, if you need anything" David replied

"Thank you, well we had better get to bed, we are seeing Tia tomorrow and Henry its getting late you should be getting into bed too" the brunette ordered, sticking to her sons routine even while she was away.

"Yes mom" Henry groaned but she knew he was joking

The family said their goodbyes and goodnights and their phone call ended. Emma and Regina snuggled down together in their bed their minds now at rest after hearing from their son.

"You know, i think we should make a mental list of all the things that we want to help Tia with, or rather what we need to try to help Tia with...before we take her home" Regina whispered to Emma as they lay together in bed. "I mean if we took her home as she is now i think it would be very hard for her to adjust, throwing all her fears at her at once."

"So work on them here a little bit, one by one?" Emma asked

"Exactly, i don't mean take away the fear completely, that could take a while but just introduce some things so she isn't so overwhelmed" Regina explained

"Well we need to try to make it fun for her then, you know, so she is a bit relaxed. If she is on edge or afraid that wont help." Emma advised

"Good point...well she doesn't like loud noises, thats one" Regina started, remembering Tia's notes that they had been given by Moira on their first meeting. Both mothers had read the notes between them the previous evening.

"But she doesn't like making loud noises either, she practically whispers" Emma noted "Maybe we could help with that...oh and try to get her talking more?"

Regina nodded gently "Jackie did say they were encouraging her to talk more, we could help with that...and i don't really like how she is isolated from everyone, even the other little girls there, it cant be easy for her to make friends anyway but that just makes it near enough impossible."

"Yeah you're right" Emma agreed "and that could build up her confidence too...what about her nightmares?" She asked

"Well dear i don't think we can take on everything before we take her home, besides we haven't been there while she has been having one, but i have no doubt we can help with those at home." Regina replied remembering how Henry used to have awful nightmares when he was little.

"I guess we cant help with the men thing either here, thats too big of a challenge to win here" Emma noted

"Yes you're right but if anything like the other day happens again at least we know what to do. Well i think thats a good enough list to get started on don't you?" The organised brunette asked with a smile at the thought of helping their daughter.

The blonde nodded gently with a small smile at the thought of their daughter not having to experience her whole childhood in the care system like she did. She could see a way to help Tia and give her a better quality of life and she couldn't wait to get started.

"I love you" Emma whispered kissing Regina who happily kissed back and shared in her wife's passions.

"I love you too" she whispered before the couple fell asleep in each other's embrace dreaming of the adventures the next few days were going to bring from helping their daughter.

"Good morning Tia" Regina greeted the little two year old as both mothers entered her little room once Jackie had told them they could. Tia was a little more timid than usual at first but soon settled down recognising her two new mothers and sat with Jackie on her bed.

"Morning kid" Emma greeted too as she came in carrying a few plastic bags. "How are you?"

Tia didn't answer Emma but she looked at her with her big, blue eyes and she didn't look sad so Emma took this as a good sigh as she set the bags down. Regina went over to Tia and knelt down on the floor in front of the bed the little girl sat upon. The brunette had to stop herself from greeting Tia with a hug or a kiss because she knew Tia had not permitted her to touch her yet.

"Did you sleep well last night dear?" Regina asked gently

"Go on Tia answer Regina" Jackie encouraged "Did you have a good sleep? You did didn't you?"

Tia nodded gently and sucked her thumb, looking at emma and Regina as if to wait to see if either of them tried to touch her, testing them in her own way.

"You did? Well thats really good isn't it?" Regina replied with a smile

"Are you going to give your mommies a cuddle to say hello?" Jackie asked

Tia watched the two women as Emma made herself comfortable on the floor too, not too close. The little girl shuffled off of her little pink bed and reached out before tapping Regina twice on her arm, reassuring herself about Regina and giving the brunette mother the signal of permission. Tia was a little pink in the cheeks obviously feeling a little embarrassed of all the attention that was on her but when she tapped Regina giving her permission she reached her arms up as she had the day before.

"Cuggle" Tia whispered and Regina happily scooped her up and cuddled her gently.

"Thank you Tia, you give great cuddles" Regina encouraged "do you think Emma could have one too?" She asked letting go of the small child.

Tia looked at Emma as she walked over, she saw the blondes bright, kind smile and tapped her twice on the hand and climbed onto her knee giving her a cuddle too which Emma reciprocated. "Thank you!" Emma beamed.

As jackie started giving them their update on their file and situation Tia was happy to sit on Emma's lap and be quiet sucking her thumb. She couldn't help but notice the plastic bags emma had brought in with her and was curious to know what was in them. Tia reached a hand to Emma's top and pulled gently a few times to get her mothers attention.

Emma looked down "What is it Tia?" She asked gently, having been signalled by the toddler. Tia let go of the material and pointed to the plastic bags.

"Use your words Tia" Jackie told her but Tia shook her head shy sucking her thumb "Come on Tia, use your words, i know you can" she said again.

Tia removed her thumb slowly from her mouth and looked over pointing to the bags again Bag?" Tia questioned in a whispered voice that made Emma and Regina smile. Even though it was only the third word they had heard from their daughter they were so excited and proud. They knew Tia was holding back and that she could actually say a lot of words, but she was just too shy to, but they wanted to change that.

"My bags?" Asked Emma "you want to see whats inside?" She asked gaining a gentle nod from the two year old. "Come on then" she said as she put her arm across Tia gently and shuffled over to the bags keeping the little girl on her lap. "Tia, you know how sometimes things scare you? Like you don't like it when you hear loud noises do you?" Emma asked gently, careful not to speak too loudly.

Jackie gave Regina a confused look but Regina placed her hand on Jackie's and nodded to indicate that she knew what Emma was doing.

Tia eventually shook her head answering Emma. "Well, do you like it when you make loud noises yourself? Is that ok?" Emma asked but Tia shook her head much more quicker that time. "No? Its not ok? Why not?" Emma asked but Tia stayed silent. The determined mother took a few minutes to think before asking "What about your dolly Rosie? Is it ok when she makes loud noises?" Once again Tia shook her head. "How come? Can you use your words to tell me?" Emma asked remaining very calm and gentle.

"It..bad" Tia whispered and Emma's smile appeared again at hearing her child speak even though she sadly knew what was wrong from Tia's response due to her own experiences.

"Its bad to make loud noises? What happens if you or Rosie make loud noises Tia?" Emma asked cuddling Tia gently.

"Bad" Tia whispered and looked down

"Bad things happen when you are loud?" Emma asked and Tia gave a small whimper which made Emma quickly turn her around and cuddle her again against her chest properly. "Shh, its ok" Emma reassured and Regina felt her heart break, Jackie supportively squeezed her hand.

"You know what Tia? I don't think thats true...you know why?" Emma asked again and she waited until Tia finally looked up at her teary, wanting to hear what else Emma was going to say before she continued. "Remember yesterday when you got upset? Well...you cried really loud didn't you? And you screamed too...that was loud wasn't it? But nothing bad happened did it? Even though you were really loud, me, Regina and Jackie just wanted to help you when you were being loud yesterday...do you understand?" Emma looked into the toddlers face as she understood and recognised that nothing happened to her yesterday.

"No bad" Tia whispered close to Emma's chest

"Thats right Tia, no bad happened so its ok to be loud, especially when you are making happy loud noises" emma explained however she could tell from Tia's scrunched expression that she didn't understand.

Emma began to think and looked around the room "Well you like to watch films don't you? You cant hear a film if it is low can you? I mean if you watched Frozen when it was really quiet you wouldn't be able to hear them singing! Now i don't know about you but the singing is my favourite part of disney films" she explained with a smile that Tia mirrored, feeling the same way. "So it has to be loud...so films are a happy loud sound aren't they?"

"Oh i know" Regina chimed in gently gaining the two blonde's attention "Tia, when you are upset you like your music on don't you? Well music is a happy loud sound too!"

"Oh good one Baby, shall we put some music on Tia? Would you like that?" Emma asked but this time when Tia nodded Emma replied "Can you use your words to answer?"

Tia thought about her request, shrinking down a little in Emma's lap getting shy again. Regina saw and casually brought up a completely random conversation with Jackie hoping that if their focus wasn't on Tia she would feel more confident to reply to Emma vocally.

"Shall we put some music on?" Emma repeated.

This time, seeing that it was just Emma wanting her to talk, she whispered "Moosic...pwease"

"Oh and asked so politely too! Well done!" Emma smiled standing up with Tia who giggled quietly to herself about Emma's comment to her.

Emma turned the music on and turned it up a little louder than it was set. Tia's first instinct was that it was a loud noise and she buried her face into the crook of Emma's neck making a small whining sound. "Its ok Tia its a happy loud sound remember?"

Jackie had made a cd of all the disney songs for Tia and as the disney song "The wonderful thing about Tigger's" started playing an idea popped into the childish mothers mind. "Oh i love tigger!" She said dramatically, recognising the song from the Winnie the pooh films. "Do you know what tigger's love to do?" Emma asked and she started to bounce gently up and down along to the song

"The wonderful thing about Tigger's, is tigger's a wonderful thing

Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs

They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun fun fun fun fun

But the most wonderful thing about tiggers is that i'm the only one...i'm the only one!"

By the end of Emma's dance version everyone including herself and Tia were laughing and giggling, Tia quieter of course, but it was the best sound Emma had ever heard she was sure. She watched as Tia giggled at the sensation from Emma's bouncing and she played the song again, bouncing again to keep what truly was the best happy sound they had found today keep going...Tia giggling.