Chapter 32

Dinner had come and gone. After everyone pitched in to help clean up the kitchen, they all went their separate ways. Kathryn retreated to her room, to no doubt to talk with Freddy on the phone. Although Dr. Mills didn't live at Regina's, he did come nearly every night for dinner. On occasion, he would stay the night to avoid the 45-minute drive back to his house. He sat in the living room, reading an issue of Medical Journal. Henry had gone back to his room to work on something. She would have assumed that it was homework, but Henry had never taken this long to do an assignment.

Emma seemed distracted and a little distant. She smiled and was just as loving to Regina as she had been, there was just something a bit off with her. Henry had mentioned their stop at the Court House, but Regina hadn't had a chance to inquire about the reason. Emma had gone outside to sit on the porch, while Regina made a pot of coffee.

She delivered a cup to her father who smiled up at her warmly, "Thank you, sweetheart."

Regina glanced out the window and could see Emma on the swing. One leg was tucked under her while she lazily glided the swing to and fro. By the way, she stared at the floor of the porch, Regina could tell she was lost in thought.

"Everything okay," Her father asked?

She glanced up at him and shrugged, "I'm not sure. I mean, I think so. I can just tell something's bothering her."

"Maybe you should go check on her," He said taking a careful sip the dark liquid in his mug.

She bit her bottom lip, "I don't want to seem too clingy or nosey."

Her father lowered his cup, "I don't think she will think that. Besides, showing concern for your partner is a normal response when in a relationship. Now, go."

Regina raised an eyebrow at the tone of her father's last two words. It seemed to be more of a command, rather than advice. She didn't say anything though. Instead, she went back into the kitchen and poured two more cups of coffee and made her way out on the porch.

Emma greeted her with a smile as she handed her a cup, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you mind if I join you," Regina asked, suddenly nervous the other woman would tell her yes?

"No, of course not," Emma answered.

Careful to not spill from her own cup, Regina sat next to the blonde. Several moments of silence passed before Emma spoke, "I changed my name."

A moment of confusion passed, "Changed your name?"

"Yeah. Henry and I went down to the Courthouse and I changed my name. I just have to wait until I have time to go down to the DPS and Social Security office. I can change all of my paperwork at the school after that," Emma explained as if Regina had known.

"I see. What did you change it to," Regina asked? She half expected the younger woman to change her name, but she didn't think it would happen so fast.

"Swan. I'm now Emma Swan," She answered with sadness in her voice that causes the brunette to look at her.

"Are you sure that's what you want," Regina scanned the other woman's expression trying to read her.

"It's what I wanted my entire life," she chuckled humorlessly.

Regina reached over and sat her cup down in the window seat next to her, "What happened today? Is everything alright?"

Emma moved her foot out from under her and leaned her head back against the wooden backing of the swing, "Well, I learned that the senior English Lit teacher is Lily."

"What," Regina nearly shouted?

"Yeah. My only saving grace is that I won't see her that often since she is next door at the High school. The bad news is that the school board has a mandatory meeting once a month at the junior high. All teachers are required to attend," Emma said, closing her eyes.

A small bit of jealousy pinged in the pit of the brunette's stomach. She wasn't worried about Emma cheating, well, not really. She had faith in her and so far she didn't have a reason to be jealous. The trouble was that this woman, who happened to be beautiful, once held Emma's heart. Regina knew very well how much a person's first love could affect them. Just to know that Lily was Emma's first anything was enough to stir the evil emotion.

"What are you going to do," She asked, not knowing what else to say?

Emma sighed, opening her eyes and sitting up, "What can I do? She's a bitch and has it out for me. I don't get it. I never did anything to her. Not to warrant the dislike she keeps showing me. If anyone should be a bitch, it should be me, Right? I mean she's the one who fucked me over, not the other way around."

Regina watched her blow out another frustrated breath of air. Emma continued, "She came and sat next to me during lunch period today. She started giving me grief about taking the job from one of her friends and then at some point accused me of murdering Neal."

Just seeing the furrowed brows and frown on the younger woman's face was enough to break Regina's heart, "Should I contact one of the detectives and ask what we should do?"

Emma shook her head slowly, "No. She won't do anything. She's all talk."

"How do you know? She could be just as deranged as Neal Gold for all we know," Regina said.

Again Emma shook her head, "She won't do anything because of Gold. She made a comment about me being Mr. Gold's baby girl and that he would do anything for me. She would be too afraid of Gold to act on any threat."

Regina scooted closer to her girlfriend. She wanted to hold her but she was afraid the blonde wouldn't want that. Yet, before she could make up her mind, Emma wrapped her arms around Regina pulled her tightly against her. She whispered into the older woman's hair, "I'm just glad today is over and I'm here with you. I missed you."

Regina smiled into the blonde locks, "I've missed you too." She places a kiss on her head, "If it's too much, you could always tell the school you've changed your mind."

Emma pulled back a little to see Regina's face, "No. I can't do that. If I don't go through with this, then she wins. They win. I just have to keep my nose clean and stay out of her way. Henry will keep me grounded while we're at school." She gave a sideways smile, "And I'll have both of you to keep me grounded outside of school."

Regina grinned. As much as this Lily thing bothered her, she refused to let it ruin what they had right now. She gave a peck to the blonde on the lips and then reached for her coffee cup again. She repositioned herself up against Emma, their fingers intertwined.

"So how did the talk with Zelena go," the younger woman asked?

"Hmmm," Regina hummed in remembrance. "Well, she said that she would need to get with Robin's lawyer and see if she could set up a meet. Apparently, because of the case, it would not be advised to seek him out on our own."

"Well, that makes sense," Emma answered before sipping from her cup.

"Yeah. The part that doesn't make sense is the part where she told me that Henry contacted her on a couple of legal matters. When I asked what they were, she told me that she couldn't discuss it, because Henry Daniel Locksley is her client. I reminded her that he was my nine-year-old son and she practically begged me to let Henry and her handle it," Regina huffed out.

Emma shifted so she could see the brunette's face, "That is not what he and I talked about, I swear. Do you want me to go and talk to him again? Maybe I can-,"

Regina stopped her, "Zelena promised me it wasn't anything bad on my part and that I should hold out on talking to him until she can meet with us. She said it was something very serious, but we will have to be patient for Henry's sake."

Emma bit her lip thoughtfully and nodded, "I wonder what all this is about? Why on earth would he need an attorney? I mean, he seemed fine at school today. Well, until he saw Lily talking to me, but even afterward he came up and gave me a pep talk."

Regina brought her cup to her lips, "A pep talk?"

Emma chuckled, "Yeah, he told me I was better than her and not to worry because I have you and him now."

Regina nodded her head, satisfied with her son's response, "He gets his genus from me you know?"

Emma laughed wholeheartedly. It was a beautiful sound and Regina couldn't help admire her. There was more to her than Emma herself could see. She was, in fact, beautiful, funny, smart, kind hearted and full of surprises.

"I believe that," she said with a smile. "I already know that when he hits puberty, we will have to beat the girls off with a stick. Since he gets his looks from you too."

Regina's heart skipped a beat at the blonde's comment. There were at least three or four years before Henry goes through puberty. This just confirmed that the blonde planned to hang around for at least that long. And right now, that's all she needed to hear.

SQSQSQSQSQSQSQ

Emma rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn. A couple of days had gone by since the Lily meeting at lunch. Luckily, Emma hadn't seen her since then either. It was Friday and Henry was over the moon about his sleepover. Peter and Felix's mom called and after Emma promised her Henry was safe, Regina finally agreed.

She glanced up at the clock above the door. Less than an hour left before school was out. Of course, Emma had to stay for the after-school music program. She was informed that was three times a week. She would also be in charge of setting up any music performances, concerts and things like that. This also happened to be Mrs. Hensley last day. To say she wasn't nervous was an understatement. Four days was all the shadowing Emma had and to her, that wasn't enough. Mrs. Hensley seemed to think she would do just fine, but the blonde felt differently.

The last period of the day on Fridays was the music teacher's free period. It was normally the time for the teachers to have a parent-teacher conference. In some cases, it was the time to get things ready for the after school groups. Depending on which teachers had a group. Mrs. Hensley had already gathered everything needed for the afternoon. She had chosen to go around and say her goodbyes to her co-workers.

Emma pulled a stack of music sheets from the piano bench and read the titles. She frowned at a few of them. They were standard school music. It was boring stuff. Mrs. Hensley did say that she would have free reign over the choice of music. Of course, as long as it didn't go against the school's code of conduct.

Emma pursed her lips as she flipped through the stack of papers. "Ah, here we go," she said pulling one of the papers out and placing it on top.

"Hungarian Rhapsody no.2," she read out loud. She raised her eyebrow remembering how tough this particular piece was and shrugged.

Emma placed the sheets up on the music holder of the upright piano and positioned her fingers over the keys. The music started slowly and somewhat ominous. A few short notes seemed to come out of nowhere, but her fingers found them with ease. Gradually the song sped up, reminding her of one of the guitar video games she had played on a few occasions.

She concentrated on each note of the song as she makes quick movements to ensure each note was hit. Sweat began to bead up on the bridge of her nose as the song slowed for the small rest before her right hand would get its debut. After several measures, she moved her left hand up to join in and the music sped up again. This time the notes were much shorter, needing fast finger work.

Her heart was raging beneath her shirt and the muscles in the tops of her forearms burned. Her focus was dead on and all she could picture were the keys being pressed at exactly the right time.

Her right leg was on fire and she could feel the muscles in her shoulders scream from tension. The melody was fast and ended at the same speed. Nine minutes is nearly an eternity when playing a song such as this one. As soon as the last note was pressed she dropped her head forward trying to catch her breath.

A huge round of applause causes the blonde to jump. Emma hadn't realized that there was a large group of teachers and students watching her from the doorway. Still panting, she managed a shy smile.

"That was fantastic Miss. No- I mean Miss. Swan," Mrs. Hensley said walking closer. Her eyes were big and she seemed very impressed. "I don't think I've ever heard that song play quite that well in person."

Emma blushed. She hadn't meant for anyone to hear her. Not that she was dumb enough to think no one would with the door opened. She just hadn't realized how much she would get into playing that song. She had forgotten how intense it was. During her solo, she hadn't heard the last bell ring. Now almost every student stood out in the hallway clapping and cheering as they peered through the door at her.

"Alright everyone," Mrs. Hensley called out. "For all of you who have not signed up for the Beats program, this is what you're going to be missing." She gestured towards the blonde who was standing from her spot in front of the piano.

Students began moving about again. More than 20 stepped inside the classroom. They grabbed permission forms from the box near the door. They stopped to look at Emma in awe or in some cases to tell her how awesome she was. After about five minutes or so, the crowd had died down and only 10 kids remained. One, being Henry, who beamed with pride.

"Alright class," Mrs. Hensley addressed, "I'm going to allow Miss. Swan to take the leads today. She doesn't need any help from me."

Emma swallowed hard. Even if this was the last class Mrs. Hensley showed her the ropes on, she was okay with that. But to leave her to do it alone was a whole other story. The teacher must have sensed the blonde discomforts. Mrs. Hensley directed the students, "Why don't you all take out your sheet music from last Friday and start warming up?"

Henry and the other kids did as they were instructed. Each pulling out a different instrument and Henry made his way up to the piano.

"Miss. Swan, why are you here," Mrs. Hensley asked as papers were shuffled around and different instruments were tuned?

Emma frowned at the woman, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Miss. Swan, that you should be up on stage at one of the huge concert halls playing sold out shows," the woman said matter of fact.

Emma chuckled, "That's not me. I've wanted to teach kids like Henry for a long time."

The woman stared at her for a moment then spoke. Her voice was heavy with disappointment, "What a pity." She smiled and shook her head, "It's not a pity you want to teach, but that you don't showcase your talents."

Emma smiled looking over at Henry then back to the teacher, "There will be plenty of times to showcase my talents."

The kids in this class were eager to learn. Most of them already played at incredibly skilled levels and they wanted more. If she could reach just a few and inspire them to go all the way, then that would be the true reward.

SQSQSQSQSQSQSQ

"Are you sure this is what you want to do," Zelena asked sitting outside the conference room door of her office?

"It is," Henry said.

Zelena glanced back at Regina and Emma warily but managed a smile. Henry had avoided talking to his mother about this. He was afraid that she would convince him he was making the wrong decision and he didn't want that. This was the right decision and they would all be a lot better for it.

"So how is this supposed to work? I'm supposed to let him go in there alone," His mother was stressing and he hated to put her through this.

"This is why I didn't want her to come," Henry whispered to Emma.

Zelena put a reassuring hand on Regina's shoulder, "He won't be alone. I'll be with him. I don't want Mr. Locksley to think the boy has been chorused into this. And trust me, you will be able to hear everything."

His mom sighed looking at him, "Chorused into what? I don't even know what this is about."

Ignoring the brunette, Zelena turned to Henry, "Are you ready?"

Henry walked over to his mom and looked up at her with apologetic eyes, "I have to do this."

"Do what, Henry? I don't understand," His mother tried again.

Henry gave sad smile but turned back to his attorney, "Yes ma'am, I'm ready."

She opened the door and allowed the boy entrance to the room. A long narrow conference table sat in the center of the room. His father sat with his same cocky demeanor. Next to him was someone Henry could only guess was his father's lawyer.

Robin glanced up, only to snort out a laugh when he watched his son take a seat across from him, "What is this? Where's your mother,"

Henry ignored him looking at Zelena. She pulled two folders out of her briefcase. She passed one to Robin and another to the man sitting beside him.

Robin smirked, "Let me guess, this is going to be something with stipulations?"

Henry knew he was referring to Emma's deal with her father, "No." Henry's response was nonchalant and even Zelena glanced at him for a second.

The boy watched his father's eyes as he scanned the document, "What is this?" Robin's expression sobered instantly.

"That is a document that will relieve you of any and all parental responsibilities to Henry," the redhead explained.

The narrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "What? You want me to give up my rights to you?" He snorted again, "Not going to happen. You are my son."

Henry only stared at his father, his expression remaining neutral. Part of him wanted to grin at his father's rapid loss of composure, but the other half wanted to spit in his face for what he did to his mom. Henry was also aware of what could have happened if Anton and the cops hadn't shown up when they did.

"Mr. Locksley, you only have one other option from here. You are more than free to go to the next custody hearing with Ms. Locksley and lose your rights. You will still have to pay child support on a child you won't be able to see Henry, for at least the next nine years. Right now, your current case hasn't even made it to trial yet. No one knows for sure, how long your sentence will be. I can assure you that the D.A. will make sure that you go to prison. Let's say the judge is lenient. You won't get less than three years, by which time Henry will be 12 years old. At 12 years old, he will have a lot more say in whom he lives with. Even if you stood a chance, there's no way he'll choose you. My advice is, since you will have much more in the future to worry about, you relinquish your rights, here and now."

Robin looked dumbfounded. He turned to Henry, "Come on Henry. I'm your dad."

"No, you're no more than a sperm donor. You are not my dad nor are you, my father. My whole life I spent listening to my mom cry through the walls of my bedroom." Henry made eye contact with the man across from him, "You always said she was weak because she cried. I never let her know I could hear her. And she always put on a strong face for me and she always defended you. No matter what." Henry shook his head, "You are a horrible person and I won't be anything like you."

"You are an ungrateful little shit," Robin hissed. He jumped up and leaning over the table with his hand raised as if he were about to hit Henry. The door handle behind them jiggled, but Zeena had locked the doors. More than likely it was Emma.

Henry stood, his eye cold as ice, "Do it. I dare you. I'm not afraid of you. I want you to know one thing. Whether you sign today or not, one day, I will grow up to be bigger than you. At some point, we will cross paths and I want to give you my solemn promise that I will kick the shit out of you."

Robin's eye widened slightly, but he slowly let his arm fall back to his side. His lawyer held his elbow to pull him towards his seat. The man could only stare at his son. Henry's gaze was deadly and the boy was pretty sure the man knew it.

Henry watched as the lawyer leaned in whispering something in Robin's ear. The boy glanced up at Zelena whose eyes were just as wide as his father had been. Turning back to Robin, he could see the two men were still in a discussion.

Henry sighed, getting impatient, "Well?"

The two men's voices died out and they both looked at him. Robin's eyes looked watery, but Henry didn't care. Hell, he wished the man would cry so he could show him how his mother must have felt. Henry had no sympathy and no remorse. This man didn't deserve to be a husband or a father. He barely deserved to be alive. If Henry thought too hard about what he did to his mother that night, he might start wishing Robin were dead.

Robin stared down at the document for a long while. For a moment, Henry was sure he was going to decline. To the boy's surprise, Robin scribbled out his name and closed the folder.

Sliding it across the table to Henry, "Now don't come knocking on my door in a few years trying to get money out of me or some shit."

Henry took the folder and passed it to his attorney. He looked at Robin giving a sinister smile, "Oh, you don't have to worry about that. If I come knocking on your door, it'll be for one reason."

He stood up pushing his chair back. He walked over to the door and unlocked it. His mother and Emma were just on the other side both looking concerned and shocked. He slipped his hand into both of theirs, "I'm ready to go home now."