Chapter Five

26/09/17

Regina sat hoping that tonight time would stand still. The clock in her dining room mocking her silence as the tick, tick, ticking of the hands had been the only sound to fill her empty void of self-pity.

"Are you excited mom?" Henry had crept so quietly into the room, rocket in one hand and his book in the other. Regina beamed a smile in his direction.

"A little nervous," she lied, taking at her wine again. Regina had been far from nervous, instead she had already been wishing the night away for reasons that she hadn't cared to discuss with her eight-year-old son. He seemed happy enough to see his mother doing something other than working or spending time with him. "Would you like me to come tuck you in?" she asked, hopeful that he hadn't grown all the way up yet and would perhaps be tired enough to let her coddle him a little more. He shook his head no, yawning a wide yawn.

"Mary-Margaret said I could read in bed a little," he continued mid yawn, Regina had become so accustomed to second guessing Henry's mumblings, so hadn't even blinked when his words were muffled with a breath of air.

"Did she now?" Regina mumbled, circling the rim of her glass. Henry nodded, tiptoeing up to his mother to peck her lightly on the cheek.

"Don't stay out too late."

Regina laughed a little, feeling a glow warm in her heart as she watched her son back away with a smile spread wide across his face.

"I promise to be home by eleven."

"Half ten at the latest."

"What made you think this was negotiable?"

"You're my mom, everything's negot-i-abl-e," Henry spelled out the last word, trying to keep the professionalism he'd adopted whilst talking – his chest held high and his head held even higher so that he'd been looking down to his mother. Regina could only laugh; her son had never looked so young with his book and toy to hand and striped pyjamas all ruffled around the edges. But she hadn't the heart to break the character he'd fallen into, so continued to play along.

"Well in that case, half-ten it is," she added, a smile creeping behind her words as she leant forwards to jab playfully at her sons' ribs. Henry jumped instantly at the touch, giggling loudly as his feet forced him to nearly completley fall backwards.

"Promise?" he asked slipping back into the child in him as he held his pinkie out. Regina looked down to the innocent offering, smiling once more before intertwining her own little finger with his.

"Promise," she whispered, pulling him close enough to wrap his frail figure into her embrace. She squeezed tight, ignoring his laughs and his muted begging to let him go.

Eventually the two had become un-stuck and Regina watched painfully as her son skipped up to his room, being left once more with only the ticking of the clock and the echo of the distant slamming door. She looked to the time, ten minutes until her car had been expected to show. She sighed.

"I'm sure it'll go great."

Regina sighed again, her eyes falling shut so to gain some sort of calm. Mary-Margaret stood in the archway with her hands clasped together and Regina held back an eye roll once she'd caught the cheesy grin washing her nannies rose tinted cheeks.

"I suppose," she let out a breath, standing to check her appearance in the mirror.

"And don't worry about being back by half-ten, take as long as you need." Mary Margaret added, as if Regina had needed any actual permission.

"Thanks," she mumbled. She had no intentions of spending any longer than needs be with this man, so Mary-Margaret's comment really had no relevance in how Regina was planning on spending her night.

But then there had been a sharp knock at the door, willing both women to turn and stare. Regina had been looking with regret in her eyes, and Mary-Margaret quite the opposite.

The brunette waited for as long as she could, before her lingering had got a little strange and she realised this was probably going to be the easiest part of her night.

"You look gorgeous tonight Regina," Robin whispered in awe, his eyes taking in every inch of the brunette.

"Thank you," Regina hadn't returned the compliment, she hadn't even followed up her thanks with anything, so now the two sat in a near silence.

"I'm happy you agreed to meet me again."

Regina scoffed under her breath. It had been far from her agreeing to anything, but for now that was something to be kept under wraps – she would play through her mothers' little fantasy for as long as needs be.

"Yes, well I had a conversation with my mother and let's just say my mind has been a little more convinced."

Robin looked smug, but that quiet kind of smug that clearly hadn't been intentional. He busied himself with the napkin that had been fastened into a swan, ripping it apart so to dab at the pasta stains marking his lips before throwing it back down onto the table into a crumpled mess of its once beautiful self.

"Might I ask what it was that changed your mind?" he questioned, a little more hopeful now.

Regina felt a little awkward in his enquiry, she knew her truthful answer wouldn't have been something Robin would take kindly too. Nor would it have boosted his already overly fragile ego, but then again it had never been Regina's job to take care of that.

She thought carefully on an answer, thinking of all the possible outcomes for each reply – considering just upping and leaving but deciding against that as the fear of her mother had always been a somewhat louder thought.

"Well I could ask you the same, I hadn't exactly been as polite as I could have been during our last encounter," Regina laughed, hoping he wouldn't bait her with his questions for much longer. A sigh of relief dripping into her glass of wine as Robin had seemingly left his comment alone so to answer the question.

"Cora mentioned something of a bad breakup recently, and how you'd been a little scared to jump back into anything," Robin was barely giving his date attention as eyes were fixed on the pasta he had so hungrily dived into.

But Regina had been thankful he hadn't been staring, for she wasn't been able to stop the frown that was sewing itself to her cheeks.

What on earth had her mother been talking about behind her back, the only recent breakup Regina could think of was one her mother had so painfully caused herself.

The brunette cleared her throat to try and rid herself from the sudden stormy mood, still not gaining any attention from the man in front.

"Well I'm glad to know my mother is spreading intimate details of my life with people I barely know," Regina whispered through a sharp tongue, she hadn't meant for it to spill but the anger that was brewing like sickness in her stomach forced the words to break into the air between her and her date.

Robin was practically jumping up from his side of the table, reaching forward to hold onto Regina's wrist. A move the brunette had instantly looked down upon to scowl at.

"No! no it was nothing like that, she just wanted to reassure me that it wasn't well, me!" He argued and in that moment all Regina had wanted to do was laugh, because well, him being him was exactly the reason she hadn't wanted to engage romantically.

She hadn't replied to his comment, slowly peeling her eyes from glaring at his softening grip and forcing a smile to pull at her stubborn lips.

"I'm sorry, I just get so nervous," Robin laughed, taking his thumb to gently caress where his hand had been gripping Regina's tanned wrist.

"It's fine, my mother just-" but she hadn't continued, pulling free from Robins grip as she relaxed a little into the plastic smile so that it felt and looked a little more genuine. She thought it best not to bitch about her mother to the man Cora had wrapped so neatly around her little finger. "How's the job?"

"It's good, just finalising a few details but I should be starting on Monday," he nodded off his words.

"And are you excited?"

"Yes of course. Is there some reason why I shouldn't?" he was laughing, but there was something behind the sound and a glint in his eyes that was telling Regina he was nervous again.

"I would tread carefully around my mother," Regina mused, taking a sip of her wine after speaking – leaving her date in an unbearable amount of anxious silence. "But no, no reason you shouldn't be excited," she followed her words with a small smile, teasing with him now and slowly feeling a little more in control of this whole situation.

Robin nodded, sighing as quietly as he could before adjusting himself in the seat.

"If you'll excuse me," he said through a strained smile, the nerves finally getting the better of him as he rushed out to the bathroom.

Regina laughed to herself, her fingers dancing around the ridge of her glass as she began plotting other ways of sabotaging the date.

Her thoughts were disrupted by the buzz of her phone, followed by the flash of light of her screen. Her eyes removed themselves from glistening in the pool of wine to read over the notification, expecting it to be Mary-Margaret being distastefully cheery in checking how things were going.

But she was surprised when she saw it had been far from that.

The notification was from Twitter, a direct message. A direct message from Emma.

Regina straightened herself in her chair, clearing her throat before going to pick at the message. She must have looked unbelievably awkward, not that she had cared, or rather, not that she had cared for long. Her feelings changed much sooner than expected when she read through the message.

E: Your date is a nervous wreck.

Regina's head snapped from the message to the other side of the restaurant, a paleness flooding her cheeks. Another buzz.

E: Other side of the room.

There was something so sinister in the messages and it almost made Regina a little nervous, but then she caught the blondes' eyes and low and behold, there Emma sat with that playful smirk weaved into her painted lips.

And then Regina saw Killian, his back to her, thank god. But it hadn't lessened the ill feeling she got when the memories of their last conversation started to play through her mind.

She saw Emma's smile fade when Regina had placed her phone back onto the table – ignoring the messages and going back to pick angrily at the glass. But then there was another vibration.

E: I just wanted to apologise, for everything that happened. Killian didn't mean anything he said, he just gets mean when he's been drinking.

Regina sighed, looking over the notification. Willing herself to just ignore the damn message, but something stronger had forced her hand to reach out and open it up. A sickness was rumbling like a tornado through her limbs, it saddened her when she re-read the part about Killian's drinking. And for Emma to just so easily excuse his disgustingly crude behaviour could only prove how used to it she really was.

She hadn't looked back up to Emma, for some reason she hadn't felt brave enough.

R: And you thought making fun of my date was the best way to go about that? And through Twitter Miss Swan really, how old are you?

Although Regina hadn't looked back to Emma's corner of the room, she swore she could hear the woman sigh a loud and disappointed sigh.

E: I'm sorry for that too, he seems nice. And I don't have your number, how else was I supposed to get your attention? I didn't think you would have much appreciated me throwing a piece of bread at your head.

Regina shook her head as a smallish smile replaced the frown, her thumbs skimming the keyboard as she searched for some sort of reply.

R: It's fine. I suppose you're not wrong, he near enough has a breakdown every time I talk. And no. Throwing bread anywhere near me would have resulted in the very sudden ending of your life.

This time Regina had looked towards Emma to find the blonde staring with a smile down to her phone – her shoulders doing that thing they did whenever the blonde would laugh. And suddenly Regina felt a little warmer than when she had left her house and got into the car that evening.

E: I would have come up and said hi in person, but I thought it was safer not to.

Regina turned back to face Emma after reading the message, to see the woman cock an eyebrow in her fiancés direction and it instantly clicked in her mind what the blonde had meant.

R: Yes. You're probably right.

Regina hadn't left enough time for Emma to reply before she was messaging again.

R: Who said I would want you to say hi?

Regina smirked down to her phone, taking another sip of her wine and purposely ignoring the corner of the room dominated by the blonde. Her smile bleeding into the red liquid with the sips she so eagerly took.

She thought maybe she could see Emma laughing a little in the corner of her eye, and as hard as it was, she kept her gaze down.

E: When did I start needing permission?

The brunette sneaked a small glance to the blonde who had been staring just as subtly back.

R: Well, not that it would matter anyway. We've already established how bad of a listener you are.

Emma faked being offended, taking a hand to press on her chest in the place her heart was, and Regina got a little nervous when she looked back to Killian – but he hadn't seemed to care much about what the blonde had been doing for the entire time the two women had been messaging.

The next few messages were sent like bullets, neither one of the two allowing a single second to pass before replying.

E: I am much more capable of things than you make me out to be.

R: I very much doubt that Miss Swan.

E: I'm 100% certain I could prove you wrong.

R: And how are you planning on doing that?

But Regina had slammed her phone back onto the counter before she had a chance to read Emma's reply as Robin, who in the past five minutes she'd forgotten existed, came stumbling back from his bathroom trip and climbed into his chair.

"Did I miss much?" he was buttoning up his suit jacket as he spoke.

"Can't imagine you would have when I'm sat here alone," Regina knew he was joking, but she still had intentions on spoiling this date as much as she could so maybe the man would choose to leave her be on his own accord.

Robin looked like he wanted to make it clear he wasn't being serious, but the disinterested look on his dates face caused a silence to engulf his unspoken words.

"Where were we?" he finally asked, making himself comfortable. But Regina's phone had buzzed again. Twice. She looked to the notification and saw Emma's name. Snatching the phone from Robin's prying eyes she mouthed a sorry.

"It's work," she offered with a shrug, looking down to the messages.

E: I'm sure there's a few things I could make work…

E: I'm pretty good at making mac and cheese ;)

E: Regina if you could see how eager for your love your date is…

The winking face made Regina laugh a little, but she muted the giggle so not to draw too much attention from Robin.

R: Being able to make mac and cheese proves absolutely nothing.

She ignored Emma's remark on Robin, fighting the temptation to send a glare in her direction as Robin was now eyeing her with a smile.

"Something good I'm guessing?"

"What?"

"Well I just assumed, your smile?" Robin was stuttering with every inch of his sentence, but Regina hadn't cared to notice too much as she was reaching to brush said smile with the tips of her fingers. She hadn't even realised the curve was so greedy in the way it made a home on her cheeks.

"Yes, something good I suppose," she offered, forcibly weakening the smile in case Emma could see her being so happy in their secret messaging.

"I feel like we've only been talking about me this whole dinner," Robin added, and Regina had to stifle a laugh – they'd barely spoken about anything for the entire time they'd been out. "Tell me some more about you, your work perhaps?" he asked gesturing down to the phone that had been sat dangerously close to the edge of the table.

Regina cleared her throat, taking in a breath before gathering the energy to continue.

"Well the show is still going strong, we start filming season four soon."

Robin nodded, taking in the information. But when Regina came to a sudden stop, he seemed a bit lost for words.

Regina's phone buzzed again, she looked down but hadn't picked up instantly like the last time. She knew Emma had been watching and she wanted to let the blonde know she hadn't been eager to read the message.

Instead she shoved the device further from her, feeling the blondes disappointed eyes follow the movements.

"My life isn't all that interesting. What's it like working in law?" she asked instead, fingers dancing over the screen of her phone but her eyes still purposely ignoring the flashing. She could feel the need for a reply pouring messily from the blonde in a strong tide of emotion.

"Boring," was all Robin had to say in a laugh, finding himself funnier than apparently Regina had as all she could muster was a small chuckle. "It's a lot of old business tycoons getting into a lot of trouble and expecting me to fix it with the click of my fingers."

"We can't expect a whole lot from people whose industries are built on lies and drugs," Regina mumbled, gesturing for the waiter to fill her wine glass.

"I can't argue with you on that Regina," Robin sighed, and it sounded as though he was speaking from experience now. But he instantly looked a little nervous, marrying his statement with a laugh as if he was immediately regretful of his side comment.

And as Robin had been drinking, Regina took her opportunity to look down to her phone once more.

E: I think you'll find being able to make mac and cheese proves everything, you just haven't tried mine yet. Maybe once you're done being doughy with your date, I could show you.

That was the third comment Emma had made on Robin.

R: Mentioning my date three times in the same fifteen minutes…be careful now Miss Swan, you're starting to sound a little jealous.

Regina had no idea where this was all coming from, she had no idea why all of a sudden, she hadn't felt that same rage boiling through her veins and instead, her teasing was exactly that. Just a playful kind of teasing. There was nothing malicious behind her words, and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

Emma replied within the same minute.

E: Well even if I had reason to be jealous, it wouldn't be because of him.

Regina choked back a laugh, looking back up to see Robin swirling the wine he had had freshly poured before sipping at it lightly. And then she stopped smiling, feeling a heat in her cheeks. She wasn't blushing, she didn't blush. Emma Swan was not making her blush. It was hot in here, she thought that when she'd walked in that evening. And it must have been getting even hotter for a flush of warmth was cradling her jaw.

"Tonight has been nice," Regina started, placing her phone on the table once more. "But I really should be getting back to my sitter."

Robin pouted, his shoulders sinking into the rest of his body.

"Just when things were starting to get exciting."

And Regina just stared at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to laugh but soon came to the realisation that the man was being deadly serious.

"Yes, it's a shame," she added, eyebrows knitting together as genuine confusion was flooding her mind.

The two fought on the bill but Robin won, and so Regina started to collect her things, slipping her coat back over her shoulders.

When they walked out, Regina tried hard to keep her eyes front, so not to slip into a staring contest with the blonde. Feeling refreshed as she finally reached the freedom of being outside.

"We should do this again sometime," Robin offered.

Regina smiled a closed smile so the sigh that was forming in her throat hadn't been given any means of escape.

"Tonight, was nice!" she repeated from earlier with a little more enthusiasm, not wanting to accept or decline his offer.

"Let me take your number and I'll message you," he seemed a lot more confident now as he eagerly slid his phone from his pocket. Regina took the device and grudgingly started to punch the digits into his phone book. Handing it back with a tiny bit of reluctancy, she thought about throwing the metal out into the far distance of the darkened street but realised that might be a bit too much.

Instead she let herself be pulled into an awkward hug before getting into the cab Robin had hailed so generously for her.

Regina flopped into her house, breaking her feet away from the heels as she shoved them to the side. Sliding down the frame of the front door and thinking of the sweet bliss some sleep would do for her pounding headache.

Mary-Margaret heard the slam of the wood and came scurrying to meet the brunette, who had wanted nothing more than a few moments of peace.

"How did it go!" she asked eagerly.

"It was fine," Regina muttered, pushing past the bouncing woman to go pour herself a glass of water.

"Just fine?" Mary-Margaret replied with a sigh, ignoring Regina's blatant lack in energy to converse further with her.

"Yes, just fine."

"Well do you think you'll see him again."

"Not that I have a choice."

"What?"

Regina turned on her heel.

"Yes, I'll probably be seeing him again. And If I'm really lucky we'll get married and move into some nice stately home in England where I'll more than happily become some step-ford wife, stay at home mom."

Mary-Margaret thought for a moment, and Regina hoped to god she would just leave.

"Well that sounds lovely Regina, but I don't think he would make you move to England if you both have jobs over here," she teased, clearly not picking up on the sarcasm and taking Regina's words completley literally. The brunette let a sigh turn her back around, so she could finally fill the glass she had been holding for so long with water.

"That'll be all for tonight," Regina motioned with her hand for Mary-Margaret to leave and thankfully this time her nanny had picked up on the obvious – being more than happy to gather her things and disappear to her own home.

Regina was left in a perfect kind of silence following Mary-Margaret's departure, the clock she had detested at the start of the night was now her only company – and there was something that was equally as sad as it was comforting about that.

She sat at the table, thinking back over the night. Falling deep into thoughts about Emma Swan – her mind like a jigsaw of emotion. A stupidly old jigsaw where no two pieces would ever slot together. So, she was left in a tangled mess of confusion as the puzzle slowly became even harder to solve.

Her fingers acting faster than her thoughts, and soon enough she was picking up her phone to add a further message to the conversation, only to see Emma had already messaged her first.

E: I'm sorry for how I've been acting recently. Regina sighed, an eyeroll marrying the breath.

R: You really should stop apologising to me. You have no reason to.

E: Well it's a little hard not to feel bad when you're practically threatening to kill me with your stupid glares. Regina prepared herself to type, but nothing would form. She had no idea what to say to that, so she just denied it completely.

R: Don't be so childish, I look at you how I would anyone else.

E: Okay, but we all know that's a huge lie.

The brunette knew exactly what glare Emma had been talking about, and she felt an ounce of guilt accompany the water as she took another small sip.

R: Emma you fight me at every given moment my glares are to simply used to ward you off, what do you expect? To just forget everything and start braiding each other's hair?

Regina sighed, Emma had broken the flow of endless replies, leaving a silent two minutes that left Regina feeling a little anxious.

E: It's easier than having to sit in silence knowing you hate me. At least I get to talk to you when we argue.

Regina sat back in shock. Emma used their arguments as an excuse to talk to her?

E: And I know, I'm the last person you would want to talk to. But there's still a small part of me that's a little hopeful.

R: Why are you suddenly so urgent to be my friend?

E: I don't know. Why are you so urgent not to be mine?

Regina hadn't replied after that. She hadn't ever really thought about the reason she hadn't wanted to be Emma's friend – she just knew she desperately didn't. And then the brunette was closing the app and ignoring the message as thoughts about being that close to Emma were sending happy shockwaves through her body. She didn't want that, she didn't need that, and she certainly didn't want Emma to know that.

She stopped replying completley, finishing off her water and going upstairs to try and force her body to rest a little before morning.

27/09/17

Regina had been peeling apples in the kitchen, Henry chatting loudly to himself in the next room over. The brunette panicking a little when a silence swept through the house, only to feel relief upon seeing an awestruck Henry scamper in like a small puppy to yap at her side. His tablet in hand and a speechless kind of breath escaping his lips. Regina released the peeler but still held her apple close in grip, turning with a smile that was silently commanding Henry to speak whatever it was taking hold of his mind.

"The new film mom!" he was rushing his words and Regina could only blink in response, having not an ounce of understanding. "The new Buzz Lightyear film!" he continued after a moment of waiting too long for Regina to join in his celebrations.

The brunette thought for a second, and then it clicked. She'd vaguely remembered more than ten mentions of this film in the past week and Henry had been nothing but excited.

"Look, the trailers out," He was thrusting the tablet in her face as he continued to press play on the video and, well, the film hadn't looked as god awful as she had been expecting it to be.

She continued watching but halfway through something in her mind started blaring out a recognizable tune as one of the characters appeared on screen, she knew that voice but couldn't quite pinpoint it.

Henry retracted his gadget before Regina had been given opportunity to see the name accompanying the character, clutching onto it with dear life. His teeth biting into his bottom lip as he started hopping expectantly up and down.

"Is that something you'd like to see Henry?" Regina finally asked, thinking it cruel of her to not act on her sons' desperate pleas.

He shook his head yes, furiously jumping up into the air out of pure childish eagerness. Regina cocked her head to the side, using her free hand to press firmly against her hip. Making it clear she was searching for a different kind of answer.

"Yes please," Henry added through bitten back tears of joy. Regina nodded, taking the hand that was planted on her hip to run messily through Henry's hair.

"We'll see it as soon as it's released," she smiled back down to him, and the sheer delight that was dripping from the toothy grin was everything Regina had hoped to see for the rest of her life.

But when Henry had run away again to go play Regina couldn't help to google the cast, she knew that woman's voice, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out who the hell it was. It was eating away at her like she was a never-ending meal.

"Of course," she mumbled under her breath. Because of course it had been.

Under the name of the character sat in bold Emma Swan. Regina placed her phone on the counter, acting as though she hadn't cared in the slightest – replacing the gadget for the knife as she continued to chop the now naked apples.

But her fingers where itching to do something her mind had tried to fight so hard to stop. They went to pick the phone up again, launching the twitter app and opening up Emma's messages. Emma's question from last night was still left unanswered, but Regina ignored that.

R: Congratulations on the release of your film.

She wanted to leave it at that, but her fingers were working faster than her mind.

R: Why didn't you tell me about?

She closed the app and went back to her apples once more.

Minutes had passed and still she had no reply, she tried hard to convince herself that the silence wasn't boring a heavy dread into her mind - but the way she dropped the knife and raced to pick up her phone, and the relief that was colouring her cheeks when she saw Emma had finally messaged back told a whole other story.

E: Thank you! But when exactly was I supposed to announce that? Should I have dropped it in one of our arguments? or should I have shouted it out to you when you were actively avoiding me at cons?

Her message read as angry but Regina new the exact tone Emma had been taking with her, and she knew full well the blonde would be carrying that smug smile on her lips. Regina felt stupid suddenly, so she replied with a simple 'shut up.' And then she messaged again, for a reason completley unknown to her.

R: Henry's been talking about it for weeks, he's just been practically begging me to go this afternoon.

E: Henry?

R: I assume you know who my son is, Emma. You definitely spend enough of your time with him.

E: Well I obviously know who Henry is, that's not what I meant. I just hadn't realised he was the reason you found out.

R: Well I wasn't stalking you, if that's what you're implying.

E: I wouldn't put it past you. Besides, I wouldn't have minded if you did.

Regina felt something hot spread in her cheeks, she caught a glimpse of the red staining her as a permanent marking of the flush. But it wasn't Emma's doing, the oven was on and the kitchen was warming.

Her jaw was tightening in an uncomfortable way that also for some reason felt good, she couldn't understand it well enough in her mind but whatever this feeling was she hadn't minded if it made home in her for a while.

E: The premiere is soon.

Regina rolled her eyes. Emma had always one for pointing out the obvious.

R: That is generally what happens for a film's release, yes.

E: Well if you're going to be rude, I won't tell you my proposition.

Regina swallowed the lump that was slowly forming, licking at her lips. She had no idea why that message was sending out a flurry of mixed emotion through her. But it had. And now she was intrigued.

R: Proposition?

Was all Regina could ask in reply.

E: Killian can't make the premiere, so If Henry wanted too…

Regina's eyes widened at the message, but her face quickly scrunched into an irritated frown.

R: Miss Swan, if you think you've worked your way well enough into my good books to take Henry for an evening – you are sorely mistaken.

E: Well then, I guess you'll have to come too.

Emma's reply was the quickest it had been thus far. It was almost suspicious, like she had the message already typed out ready to ask Regina to attend with the both of them. The brunette felt her throat tighten as her breathing was quickening and her swallowing was forming into a waterfall in the back of her mouth.

She cleared her throat to rid herself from the heat that had coursed from her cheeks through the rest of her body.

It hadn't worked.

She thought long and hard about her reply, telling herself that if she were to accept the offer it would all be for Henry. Because there was no way in hell Regina was going to let the blonde idiot take hold of her son on her own for an entire evening. But also because it was easier than having to admit she might not mind seeing Emma again. She sighed, she was stuck. Swallowing again she finally typed out a reply.

R: When is it.

Regina closed her eyes, attacking her lips with the tip of her tongue once more before looking down to the vibrating phone in her hand.

E: Next week.

E: I knew you'd cave.

R: It's for Henry, Emma. Don't get excited.

E: How could I not? I'll send over details later, see you soon Regina.

Regina locked her phone, clutching it to her chest much like her son had done with his tablet moments before. But then she pulled the metal away and threw it down on the side after feeling her heart warming a little too much at the thought of spending time with Emma.

Emma had done as promised and sent through the details of the event, adding a kiss at the end of the message. Regina didn't reply.