Chapter Four

"Hey!"

Regina jumped in her seat at her kitchen island, coffee spilling from the mug in her hand onto the immaculate counter top in the process, and looked up to meet Emma's eyes as the blonde stood across from her at the other side of the island, unexpectedly.

"Sorry," Emma said, glancing at the spilled coffee for a moment. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright," Regina muttered, as she stood to grab a dish cloth from the drawer behind her. "Where have you been? You disappeared sort of suddenly the other day."

Emma shrugged. "Yeah. Sorry. I told you I don't have a lot of control. I guess I jinxed myself by saying I hadn't been back to the graveyard in months, 'cause I was just stuck there for two days."

Regina nodded, unable to hide the concern in her eyes as she studied the young woman's face. Emma had vanished from her sight mid-sentence in the living room not long after Regina had seen her for the very first time, and she'd spent the last two days wondering if she'd dreamed the entire encounter. She'd nearly managed to convince herself that she had, and yet, there Emma stood now, plain as day before her.

"So… it's Friday now right?" Emma asked, running her hands absently over the countertop before her. Regina could tell it was a concentrated motion, and she couldn't help but notice how Emma's fingertips passed through the surface ever so slightly. She wondered how much time she had spent practicing to make it look like she was touching something, so that Henry wouldn't become confused.

"It is."

"Uh huh. Your friend comes tomorrow, right?"

Regina sighed. She could tell Emma was nervous about this whole thing. "She's coming tonight, actually."

"Oh. So this could be my last day here, then? Is Henry awake?"

Regina shook her head. "Not yet. He had a rough night last night. Emma-"

Before Regina could finish her thought, Emma was gone again, but it wasn't the same as last time she'd disappeared. In the livingroom, Emma had faded away much slower, but this time she'd vanished all at once, and Regina wondered if she'd done it on purpose.

Moments later, she knew the other woman hadn't gotten too far, as she heard Henry's delightful cries of "Emma!" through the baby monitor. She sighed and dropped the dishcloth on the counter, without even cleaning up the spill, and headed in the direction of Henry's nursery.

"I swear I didn't wake him up," Emma said, with a nervous smile as Regina came into the room. Henry was grinning ear to ear, bouncing excitedly at the rail of his crib, holding up his arms to Emma.

"It's alright," Regina said, stepping over to pick up her son, knowing full well that Emma would have already if she could. "Look, Henry! Emma came back to see you again."

Emma's smile widened at Regina's acknowledgement, and she followed right behind her as Regina carried Henry out of the room to take him downstairs for breakfast.

"Is he heavy? To carry I mean? What does he feel like? His hair looks soft…"

Regina glanced at Emma as she strapped Henry into his highchair. "He's… getting heavy, yes. But I don't really notice usually. His hair is soft, and he's warm, like a little furnace."

Emma grinned as she looked at Henry, and Regina realized these questions must have been eating her alive… well, not alive… this entire time. "So, you can't feel anything?"

Emma shook her head. "No. It's so weird, but… I've kind of gotten used to it? I mean, there are benefits I guess. I'm never too hot or too cold, I don't get hungry or tired. I never have to sleep."

"You never sleep?" Regina asked, raising an eyebrow. The thought of whether a ghost needed sleep hadn't occurred to her before. "What do you do all night then?"

Emma shrugged. "Not much. I can't turn the TV on or anything, so it gets a little boring. So I watch Henry sleep… sometimes I look out the window, but not a lot goes on around here. Sometimes I just wonder around."

Regina sighed as she placed Henry's breakfast on the tray before him. "Remind me, and I'll leave the TV on for you at night. It's the least I can do, really."

"The least you can do? You don't… owe me anything. I invaded your house, remember?"

"You gave me my son."

"Yeah…" Emma said, softly. "Do you think I'll miss him, wherever I go next? Do you think I'll remember all this?"

Regina turned and and looked at Emma, taking in the somber expression on her face. "I don't know. I don't know where you'll go next or what it will be like there, but maybe… maybe you don't have to go right now."

"What do you mean? I thought your friend was coming to get rid of me?"

"Not to… get rid of you. To help you cross over. But if you don't know what your unfinished business is, I think it's a safe bet that's not going to happen tonight."

"And you don't mind if I stay?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

Emma shot her a lopsided grin. "I guess not. But I'd feel better knowing that I'm not, like, an inconvenience or something."

"You're not. At least, you haven't been thus far."

Emma's grin shifted into a more genuine, almost shy, smile. "Thanks… for saying that."

"Of course," Regina said with a small nod.

Henry was happily eating his breakfast, shoving handfuls of cereal into his mouth. "He's so independent, he won't even let me feed him anymore," Regina commented with a small sigh, as she turned back to the countertop behind her and picked up her previously discarded dishcloth to clean up the coffee spill.

"You're going to rub a hole right through that counter," Emma pointed out, after several long moments of watching Regina attack the offending liquid.

"What?"

"Your counter. You're scrubbing it pretty mercilessly. I think you got the spill."

"Right." Regina nodded and folded up the cloth, but Emma didn't miss the way she still gripped it a little too tightly.

"I'm making you nervous, aren't I?" Emma scrunched up her nose, almost apologetically. "Being here, I mean? Like, haunting your house, or whatever… you say it's okay, but it's still weird, isn't it?"

Regina let out a long sigh, and dropped the cloth back on the counter. "It's… it's not you. It is a little strange, yes, but you're not the one making me nervous."

"Who is then? Wait, is it your friend? You're nervous for her to come?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

Emma shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "I went over a year without talking to anyone who could talk back."

Regina nodded. "My friend, she's… it's complicated."

"You make it sound like you two are ex-lovers or something… oh… oh my god! She's your ex, isn't she? You're… are you gay?"

Despite the fact that Regina's sexuality was not a secret to anyone who knew her, she still felt her cheeks burning up as Emma's line of questioning reminded her of when she was younger and much less sure of herself. She supposed it made sense, since Emma was still young and likely hadn't learned to be tactful.

"Bisexual, actually," Regina said, finally.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Is that really so surprising?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I never thought about it. I mean, I've been here almost a year and I've never seen you date anyone. I thought maybe you just weren't interested."

"In dating? Emma, it's a little difficult with a baby, you know. Some things just… take the back burner."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"You didn't. It's alright. And you're right, Mal is my ex."

"And you're nervous because… you still have feelings for her?"

"It's complicated."

Emma smirked. "So, yes then."

Regina raised an eyebrow. "Our relationship was… tumultuous at best. It's been a very long time since we've seen each other and I'm not sure how it's going to go."

"Well, you've got nothing to worry about. I got your back, Gina."

"Re-gina," Regina corrected.

"Really?"

"If you want to keep staying in this house, then yes."

"Fine. I got your back, Regina."

Regina smiled and shook her head, turning her attention back to Henry, who had eaten most of his cereal but now was intent on throwing what was left onto the floor. She quickly removed the tray and set it out of his reach before he could make too much of a mess, since she knew she'd be spending his nap time cleaning up already.

The rest of the morning passed more calmly than Regina would have expected. Even though Emma couldn't physically help her with anything, she was able to keep Henry's attention for long enough periods of time that Regina was actually able to get everything done she wanted to get done before Mal arrived.

She knew she was going overboard. Mal had never been one to judge her on how perfect her home was or how put together she looked, but that knowledge did little to quell Regina's nerves. If she was being honest with herself, she'd never been happy with the way they'd ended things the last time, and she'd never really gotten any closure. Adopting Henry had done wonders for her denial, as having a baby to look after didn't leave her nearly as much time to sit around and wonder 'what if?', but now that Mal was actually coming, all those doubts and questions were washing over Regina like a tidal wave.

As the hours passed by, Regina found herself checking her phone often, expecting an incoming call from Mal to tell her she'd arrived at the airport. The more time that went by, the more anxious Regina became, until finally, just after she'd finished cleaning up from dinner, the doorbell rang.

"Is that her?" Emma asked, her curiosity clearly piqued.

"I don't know. She never called," Regina answered, offhandedly, as she headed to the front door. Sure enough, when she opened it, she was greeted by Mal, grinning back at her.

For a moment, Regina just stared. It really had been so long - too long - since she'd laid eyes on Mal. Her hair was longer, and appeared a bit blonder, likely lightened by the sun. Her skin was glowing with a light bronze tan and her pale eyes sparkled in the light of the nearly setting sun.

"Mal," Regina breathed, her voice all but lost to her. "I thought you were going to call."

Mal cocked her head to the side. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Yes!" Regina replied, more eagerly than she'd meant to, and stepped back to allow Mal to enter, reaching out to grab her small suitcase from her. Regina tried not to pay attention to how Emma was grinning at them, her green eyes darting back and forth between Mal and Regina excitedly.

"So," Mal drawled as she stepped into the house, "tell me about this ghost of yours."

A look of confusion washed over Regina's face as she set Mal's suitcase down and glanced at Emma, who was nearly on top of her, she was standing so close. "She's right… you can't see her, can you?"

"Can you?" Mal asked, clearly intrigued.

"I can, now. She's right beside me, Mal," Regina turned to Emma, who looked slightly let down. "Emma, this is Mal."

"You're shitting me, right?" Mal asked, the grin creeping back onto her lips. "No… that's not your style. You really see a ghost…"

"Yes. Her name is Emma, and... yes, I can see her."

"Well then," Mal said, nodding in the general direction that Regina had indicated Emma to be in, "things just got a whole lot more interesting, didn't they?"

Regina bit her lip as she heard Henry start to cry from his playpen in the other room. If the fact that she could see a ghost was interesting, she wasn't sure how Mal was going to react when she met her child.

But, the time had to come, and sooner was better than later, Regina supposed.

"Come on, Mal," Regina said, turning toward the other room. "There's someone else you should meet…"

To be continued…

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