Summary: Regina spends an afternoon with Emma who has de-aged herself by accident.
Two things:
1. This chapter went longer than I intended it to be so I decided to chop it into two or three parts. This is the first, obvs. ;)
2. As always and forever, OUAT belongs to its creators, not moi. Just borrowing the characters for a bit.
3. Snowing and Henry make an appearance.
Regina stared almost cross-eyed down at the little blonde girl clutching at the hem of Mary Margaret's blue pea coat. Her dark eyes travelled up to Snow, who has Neal in his baby carrier, and back to the little girl, as if unsure of what she was seeing. The child quickly hid behind Snow's legs and peeked from behind them.
Mary Margaret gently put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Why won't you play over there for a bit?" she asked, pointing to the swing that hung from a tree in Regina's front yard. "I will just have a chat with Miss Mills."
The former Evil Queen's gaze followed the young girl making her way to the swing before turning to Mary Margaret with a bemused expression. "Is that...?"
"Yes."
"But how?"
"Emma was practising magic by herself," Mary Margaret said in a low voice, which led Regina to think that little Emma has no recollection of who she really is and the people around her. "A growing spell or something. She must have done something differently that it backfired and shrunk her instead to a child. Blue assured us that this would only be temporary, that the spell will run its course in twenty-four hours." Snow hesitated a fraction. "But here's the thing..."
"You want me to make a potion to grow her back to an adult?"
"No need. David and I decided that it would be best for Emma to turn back naturally. We think this is our chance to have a go in raising her." Mary Margaret's face showed excitement at the possibility.
Regina simply nodded in agreement.
"Of course, we'll have a word with Emma on practising magic without you or anyone else well-versed in it once she grows back to her adult self, not that we hadn't warned her beforehand."
"Good idea, even for you Charmings," Regina quipped.
"Thanks, Regina," Mary Margaret shot back. "Anyway, that's not why we're here. David had to leave for an emergency mission and Neal has..."
"Ohh, no. Don't tell me you're leaving Emma with me today," Regina hissed. "I have other plans that don't include looking after anyone's kid." She doesn't, but Mary Margaret need not know that.
"It's only for a few hours, Regina," Mary Margaret pleaded. "You think I like this any better than you do? David won't be back until tonight, and I have to take Neal down to the hospital for a check-up as he's running a temperature. And Emma being, well, little, I cannot have her catching whatever Neal has or any other germs while in the hospital."
Regina was not about to back down. "How about leaving her with Red?"
"She's in Boston," the younger brunette replied. "And I cannot ask Granny to watch her too, because nobody else knows about this situation. I'd rather a few people know. The whole town might want to have a look at their little sheriff if word gets out."
"Uh-huh. So you brought Emma specifically to me because?"
"Well, I... that is, except for Blue, David and I wanted to keep it... in the family." Mary Margaret said the last three words in a rush.
Regina's brows would have shot up to the high heavens if only that were possible. "All right, but how about Henry? Does he already know that his other mom is practically a baby again?"
"You can tell him yourself once he gets here from school. There's no use in distracting him from his classes."
Regina sighed. "I know you to be quite pushy, Mary Margaret, and this is a new low for you."
Mary Margaret smiled, the idea of Regina taking care of a little Emma Swan taking firmer root in her mind. "Thank you. Think about it. This is a good chance for you and Emma to bond as-"
"Don't you dare say it," Regina interrupted, knowing full well what that meant. She shook her head. Might as well get over this quickly. "Just give me the details. I'm assuming she has no memory of magic and all of us here in Storybrooke, am I correct?
"Yes. What she does remember are her first adoptive parents sending her back to the foster system and then living for a short while with a couple of other foster families."
"So how did you and David introduce yourselves?"
"Well, we just told Emma that we're Mary Margaret and David. She asked if we would be her new mommy and daddy and I kind of said that we would if she wants us to be," Mary Margaret faltered for a bit but as there was no reaction from Regina, she continued. "Anyway, little Emma actually loved that idea and called us mommy and daddy right away," she said with a twinkle in her eye. It was obvious to Regina that Emma's mother equally loved that fact and basked in it. The mayor found herself caving in.
"Any other things I need to know before you leave the little br-I mean, Emma, with me?"
Mary Margaret looked at her little daughter playing on the swing with affection. "Yes. Emma's quite shy, as you have seen earlier. At this age she's still wondering why her first family sent her back. It took some time for David and I to convince her we will never send her away." She briefly closed her eyes, as if willing away the pain of that fact from Emma's early life. She continued before Regina could say anything. "Emma does know and understand that she'll be spending some time with a nice lady today because I don't want her to catch Neal's germs. I will be back to pick her up as soon as we're done."
"Well you better, or this nice lady won't be as nice if you don't," Regina muttered. "How old is Emma, by the way?"
"Four," Mary Margaret's eyes practically sparkled.
Regina gaped at Mary Margaret. Great. She's stuck with a four-year-old who would probably be a crybaby or worse, bratty. "How about eating, sleeping habits?" she asked instead, returning to the matter at hand with some effort.
"Oh, she's the same as her adult self when it comes to those," Mary Margaret chuckled. "She's already had lunch anyway so all you have to do is to give her a snack in the afternoon after a nap. Come on, Regina. You can do it. Look at how well you've raised Henry. It's gonna be like riding a bike."
"Like riding a bike, huh." Regina raised her brow. "What you're leaving me with is a little girl who's barely out of toddlerhood. She might be way different from Henry when he was at that age."
"Oh, come on, don't be too hard on yourself," Mary Margaret said cheerfully. "I'm sure you'll find it in you to make room for a cute little girl such as Emma."
"Maybe if that were another little girl." Regina scoffed. "Anyway, I guess you'd have to get going now or Neal might get worse." The earlier Mary Margaret left, the sooner she'll be back from the doctor.
Mary Margaret sighed with relief. "Yes, in a bit. Emma?" she called to her daughter.
Little Emma came running to Mary Margaret and hugged her legs. Mary Margaret's smile was so wide it could have lit up the whole town. She crouched so she could look Emma in the eye. "Listen, sweetie, mommy has to take baby Neal to the doctor so he could fix him better, okay?" She gestured in Regina's direction. "In the meantime, Miss Mills will look after you until I come back to get you."
Emma's eyes filled with tears but she tried to be brave. "Promise?" Regina noted with mild surprise that little Emma's r sounded like a w instead.
Mary Margaret hugged Emma tight and kissed her cheek. "I promise, baby." She eased back. "Now, please say hi to Miss Mills and shake her hand."
But Emma hid behind her mother once more, unsure of the dark-haired woman in the sensible black and gray pantsuit.
Regina looked at Emma again and saw the uncertainty in the little girl's eyes. She softened her gaze and copied Mary Margaret from earlier so she could talk to Emma at eye level. "Hello, Emma. I'm Miss Mills, but you can call me Regina. I'm your mommy's... friend."
Emma looked up at her mother, who nodded encouragingly, and then back at Regina. "Hi, Regina," she said shyly.
"Tell you what, Emma. While we're waiting for your mommy and Neal, we are going to have some fun this afternoon. We're going to play a lot of games and maybe have a snack or two. Would you like that?" Regina smiled.
Emma nodded slowly, then took Regina's outstretched hand.
Mary Margaret watched the exchange fondly. "Well, we'd better get going. Regina, if there's anything you need, you know how to reach me. Emma..." she turned to her daughter. "I'll be back as soon as I can, but in the meantime, have fun with Regina, okay?"
"Okay." Emma nodded again, her voice wobbly.
Mary Margaret handed Regina a small backpack that contained Emma's things and finally left with Neal after giving Emma another hug and a kiss. Left alone with the little girl, Regina led Emma to the family room where she put down the little girl's backpack on the coffee table. She couldn't help but feel awkward about the whole situation.
Brushing it aside, Regina smiled at Emma. "Now, what would you like to do? I've got board games, some toys... dolls, do you like dolls?"
There are no dolls in her house, of course, save for a few old stuffed animals of Henry's that were still in his room. She could conjure up a doll though if Emma likes to play with those.
"Yes. I had one that my first mommy gave me," Emma answered.
"Do you still have it?" Regina asked before she caught herself. Of course this Emma didn't have the doll, whatever kind that was.
Emma shook her head sadly. "She didn't come with me when my mommy and daddy sent me back."
"I see." Regina felt she was handling this badly already in less than five minutes. Before she could make a fool of herself some more, she sat Emma on the couch. "Okay, Emma. Just sit tight. I'll just go upstairs to get you some toys that you can play with, okay?" she said enthusiastically-a little too enthusiastically to her own ears.
Good thing it worked though, for Emma smiled back at her and said, "Okay, Regina."
Up in Henry's room, Regina stared at the shelves hopelessly. Scratch the board games, she thought. None of them were age-appropriate, although the Domino set is fine. No matter if it might be used for some other purpose. Regina grabbed it as well as a couple of Henry's old stuffed animals and a beat-up Hulk action figure. She did conjure up a plush doll for good measure. She thought that mini Emma would like it.
Regina sighed with relief when she saw that Emma was still sitting patiently on the couch. The little girl's eyes lit up when she saw the toys in her arms, but didn't jump up to grab them. Instead, she looked up at Regina with enquiring eyes, as if asking for permission.
The mayor nodded even as she placed the toys on the table as if in a hurry. "Here," she said. "You can play with these for as long as you like. I'll just be in the other room for a while." Regina turned to leave. While she did originally plan to hang out with wee Emma from the get-go, her nerves got the best of her and wanted some breathing space for a bit. But that was not to be as Emma's shy, little voice stopped her retreat.
"Will you play with me?"
Regina closed her eyes for a few moments. A thousand thoughts crashed through her mind in those few seconds of hesitation, all involving what could transpire in spending an afternoon with the kid version of the woman she used to consider her archenemy. But if the kid summoned up the courage to ask her to play, then it looks like she's starting to warm up to her. A good start.
The same thing could be said about Regina as well, for her heart all but melted when she finally looked at Emma's innocent, pleading face framed within the slight mess of golden curls. The plush doll was clutched tightly by tiny hands to her chest. How could she say no?