Chapter 34

Emma sat on the steps of the front porch. Regina and Kathryn had gone inside a while ago to give the younger blonde as much privacy as possible. She wasn't sure if they had gone to bed yet or not, but it was well past midnight now.

The blonde took a long drag from the cigarette she held between her fingers. She blew it out in a thick cloud filling the warming night air around her. She licked her lips as the thought of drinking crossed her mind. She nearly laughed when the urge to consume didn't come. That had to be progress, right?

"Mind if I join you," Regina's voice asked from behind her.

Emma jumped, dropping the cigarette in her lap, "Shit," she hissed.

Regina chuckled as Emma struggled to locate the smoke.

"Sorry, I just needed one and," Emma started.

Regina smiled sitting down beside her. She didn't say anything. She just reached out and took the cigarette from the blonde's fingers. Emma watched the older woman look at it for a moment and then she did the unthinkable. She put it between her lips and took a drag.

The coolness of the moment was short lived as the brunette started coughing violently, "Now I remember why I don't smoke."

Emma took the cigarette back with a small smile and crushed it out with her shoe, "I'm sorry I didn't stay."

The brunette looked confused but then shook her head, "You needed some time to yourself. I get it."

"What am I supposed to do with everything he told me," Emma asked laying her head on Regina's shoulder.

Regina put an arm around the other woman's shoulders, resting her head on top of the blonde's. "Well, it's a lot of information to take in all at once."

"That's an understatement," Emma said with a snort. "I want to hate him. I do. But I can't." She sighed, "If I hate him, then it means I blame him and unfortunately it's not all his fault."

"Wow, you got all of that from one shower, huh," Regina laughed?

Emma loved the sound of Regina's laughter. She was pretty sure that sound could turn even her darkest day into bliss. She gently raised her head causing the brunette to sit up, "What do you think I should do about the money?"

Regina shifted, sliding her arm back to her side and then looping it through Emma's, "That's up to you. I can't tell you what to do with the money. I do think you should keep it and perhaps invest it in something."

"I just feel like it's some kind of pay off or something. Like 30 years of back child support," Emma said.

"Emma, the man that was here tonight was not trying to pay you off. He wants more with you," Regina said matter of flatly.

The blonde turned so she could see Regina's face, "So I'm just supposed to run to him? Call him daddy?"

She hadn't realized a tear slipped down her cheek when Regina's soft thumb wiped it away, "I'm not saying that at all. You don't ever have to see the man again if that's what you choose. I won't tell you what to do one way or another on this. I was merely stating a fact."

Emma studied her for a moment, "What if I did want to see him?"

Regina raised a curious eyebrow, "Then I would back you up. Do you want to see him?"

The blonde shrugged, "I don't know what I want. I'm not sure I ever will."

Regina nudged her with her shoulder, "You don't have to decide now. You can take all the time you need."

"Take the check," Emma said. She didn't give the woman time to protest, "I want you to open a savings account for Henry. It'll cover at least two years tuition."

The brunette tilted her head, "But Emma, this is your money."

"It's our money. I can't change who Henry's father is or erase any of the heartaches he's felt from Robin, but I swear, he will not grow up like I did. I want Henry to go to college and I want him to be whatever he wants. I don't want him to ever have to wonder if he was loved because he is and always will be," Emma declared.

Regina's eyes glistened with unshed tears, but she smiled, "Not that we've talked about it, but I guess this means you're going to stick around for a while."

There was an instant of hurt that flashed across the blonde's face. She scooted off her step and turned, letting her knees rest on the step in front of Regina, "I plan to stay as long as you'll have me."

Regina reached out, cupping the blonde's face with one hand, "You have no idea how happy that makes me." She lurched forward, kissing the younger woman hard on the mouth.

SQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQ

Three months had come and gone. The time passed with the minimal incident and Regina was thanking her lucky stars. Henry's friendship with Peter and Felix had grown and the two older boys had even stayed at the house a couple of times. Emma loved her job and came home to Regina in high spirits every day. Emma kept her word to Henry. Every Thursday, at 4 o'clock on the dot, the two went to their scheduled appointments with Archie Hopper.

Today just so happens to be Thursday. Regina was working the clinic and it had proven to be a long day. A stomach virus was wreaking havoc amongst a few of the public schools in the area. She had seen more sick children in the last several hours than she had in quite some time. Not that she had a problem with children. In fact, she loved kids. The trouble was that it is very hard to exam small sick children who don't feel good. After a while, crying children play on your nerves and in parts, your mind.

She stared blankly at the vending machine. Regina had skipped lunch and was practically starving. Nothing in the machine looked very appetizing. She shrugged, dropping a few coins into the coin slot.

As she went to make her selection, arms snaked around her and she screamed. Regina spun in an attempt to see her assailant. She let out a breath of relief, "Emma! Jesus."

The blonde smiled, "I really wasn't trying to scare you." Emma laughed, "Henry and I just wanted to surprise you."

Regina patted her chest, "I'm definitely surprised." She looked around, "Where's Henry?"

Emma pointed over her shoulder, "He stopped to chat with Millie."

The brunette smiled wrapping her arms around Emma's neck, "You almost gave me a heart attack, but I'm glad to see you." She leaned in brushing her full lips over Emma's.

Emma gently nudged her backward, pushing Regina into the vending machine. She parted her lips allowing her tongue to slip inside Regina's mouth. The brunette fought to stifle a moan.

"Hey, hey, hey," Millie's voice called out. "There are children present."

Emma pulled back with a blush and Regina grinned. Henry looked uninterested as he made his way over to the soda machine beside the couple, "Oh they're like this all the time."

Millie raised an eyebrow in Emma's direction, "Great mentor qualities you have there, Miss. Swan." A smile crept up in the corners of her mouth. "Glad everything seems to be working out with you two."

Emma's cheeks were still red. She avoided eye contact with either of the women, "I brought dinner, but I left it in your dad's office." She turned to go and get it.

Regina chuckled, "She'll be okay in a minute. I can't believe how embarrassed she gets. You would think with her past reputation, it wouldn't be an issue."

Millie smiled, "Something tells me there's a lot of things that she does when she's around you she's never done before." The woman tilted her head slightly as she looked at the brunette studying her face, "By the way, it looks good on you."

Regina thought she'd misheard the other woman, "Excuse me?"

"Whatever that girl is doing to you, it looks good on you. The smile, the laugh. Not to mention how happy a certain nine-year-old is," the pink haired woman explained.

Regina grinned, "You got me there."

"Okay, here we are," Emma announced as she re-entered the room with two white takeout bags. She sat them on the table and glanced up at Regina, "Dr. Mills said it would be a late evening for you here, so Henry and I picked up Chinese."

Millie winked at the brunette as she walked out of the room to allow the family some peace. Regina turned to her girlfriend, "Henry doesn't like Chinese."

"Yes, I do. Well," he shrugged his shoulders, "Emma let me try her house fried rice and it wasn't bad, so that's what I got."

Regina chuckled, "Well, I guess we're both starting to learn new things about ourselves."

Emma pulled a chair out for the brunette and they all sat down. She pulled the food containers from the bags and opening them up. Henry passed the two women an empty plate to put their food on, while he ate from an entire box of house fried rice.

She liked this. She loved it actually. Regina watched Henry struggle with his chopsticks. Emma laughed each time the boy would drop all of the rice just before he reached his mouth. Regina could only watch with adoration at the blonde's patience when it came to Henry.

"What do you think about the country," Emma asked out of the blue. She held her hand over Henry's in an attempt to show him how to use the sticks.

Regina took a bite from her lo mien noodles, and wiped her mouth with a napkin, "I'm not sure what you mean."

Henry put the chopsticks down with a huff and picked up a fork. Emma laughed looking down at her own plate, "I mean would you ever want to live there or do you like the suburbs better?"

The question was strange, given what they were talking about not that long ago, "I like the country fine, I guess. I haven't really given it much thought since I was a kid."

Emma nodded, still looking down at her plate, "So if you were to think about it now?"

Regina reached out and touched the blonde's arm causing her to look up, "Emma, why are you asking?"

"I found a house about forty-five minutes outside of town and I thought maybe you would want to go check it out with me. It's on 30 acres," The blonde stopped, looking at Regina's face.

"30 acres is quite a bit of property, Emma. What would we do with that much," Regina asked?

Emma licked her lips looking at Henry who urged her on, "I have a couple of ideas, but does this mean you're interested?"

Regina was curious, "I don't know. I guess it means I'll go with you to check it out." She frowned, "Emma, I hope you know I can't leave Kathryn be-"

The blonde interrupted with a grin, "The house has five bedrooms and three and a half baths. There's room for us, Kathryn and your dad."

"Yeah mom, it's big enough for a dog too," Henry beamed.

Regina raised an eyebrow, "So what is this? Are you two teaming up on me?" She smiled.

"Emma said we could build a tree house and she said we could put in a pool," he rambled.

Emma Swan was full of surprises. Just the way Henry interacted with the blonde was a blessing all by itself. In the past few months, the transformation in the boy had been tremendous. Henry was still Henry, but he was happy. For her, as a mother, that was at the top of her list.

SQSQSQSQSQSQ

Emma held her breath as they made their way up the driveway. Henry's excitement vibrated from his place in the back seat causing Emma to bite on her thumbnail. She hoped Regina liked the house.

"So what do you think, Mom," Henry asked?

"Um, well, I don't know yet," Regina smiled with her eyes on the approaching house.

The blonde continued to peek at the older woman's expression. She couldn't really read it and it was driving her nuts.

"It's awesome, right," Henry grinned bouncing around in the back seat as much as his seatbelt would allow?

Emma pulled the car to a stop in front of the two car garage connected to a large ranch style house. Henry was out of the car before the blonde could kill the engine.

"Keep in mind," Emma said hurrying around the car to Regina's side. "There are a few things that would need to be fixed up, but it has potential."

She watched Regina eye the overgrown lawn and poor landscape, "We can change all this. We can put in planters or whatever you want."

Emma bit down on her lip still waiting to hear what her girlfriend's opinion. Regina only nodded her head and looked around. Her expression was neutral. The blonde gave a silent sigh rushing over to the front door. A very impatient nine-year-old was waiting to enter.

Fumbling with the key she unlocked the door. She looked at Regina who was still standing in the yard looking around, "Are you planning to start a farm, dear?"

Emma could see Regina's sights set on the white wooden fences that surrounded the property. The blonde rushed over and took the brunette by the elbow, "Let's go look inside first, then we can check out the rest of the outside."

Regina allowed Emma to usher her up onto the porch and then inside. The entryway was small, but to the right opened to a large dining room. Straight ahead was the very spacious living room. Emma stopped to let Regina look around.

"That wall over there," Emma pointed. "The kitchen is behind it. I thought we could tear it down and open it up so we could look out into the living room." Emma was hoping she was selling it.

"Yeah Mom, we can put a piano right over there," Henry said still grinning.

The house was in need of some TLC but it wasn't bad. It needed a few updates and changes, but Emma figured some of it they could do themselves. Not the projects professionals were needed for, but painting and other novice skills like that.

Regina was staring strangely at her, but she continued, "Let's go this way." She led Regina to the opposite side of the house. Gesturing to the left, "This is the first bathroom." It was small but cute.

Emma was still finding it hard to read the brunette's expression, "Um, and this is a bedroom, but it could be a study." She pointed to the room on the right.

Henry, still helping with the sale, "Yeah Mom, you could have your office in here."

Emma saw the way Regina's eyebrow quirked, but the corner of her mouth did curl up, "I'll keep that in mind."

The blonde swallowed exchanging glances with the kid. She continued the tour down the hall.

"This is my room," Henry announced. "It's closest to this bathroom and if Grandpa comes to visit, he'll have the next room. He can share the bathroom with me."

Regina nodded her head, glancing first inside the room her son had claimed then inside the next. Emma licked her lips, "This door here is another bathroom, but." Emma hurried to open the last door just past the second bathroom, "There is a direct door inside this room. I thought we would close off the door in the hallway and then Kathryn would have a private bathroom. We could change it however she wants."

Regina's expression sobered, but she still didn't say anything. Emma had no idea what was going through her mind, "Okay, let's go back to the other side of the house."

Emma and Henry shot each other another look before heading back through the house. They walked through the dining room and then through a small hallway. To the left was the kitchen and to the right was the laundry room. Surprisingly, the area was bigger than many others she and Henry had looked at. The hall dead-ended into the master bedroom.

Emma stepped back to let the brunette go ahead of her. She desperately wanted to see this woman's features to gauge how she was feeling about the house. Regina took in the room slowly. She peered out the window that looks out over the front yard. Regina made her way to the closet and opened the door. Her face was still not giving anything away and Emma thought she might faint any minute at not knowing.

Emma followed Regina into the master bathroom. It had a dual sink. Of course, it too would have to be updated. The countertop was made of Formica and partial board. There was a large garden tub, which Emma would change out with an elaborate claw foot tub. She already had one in mind that was fit for a queen. A standup shower was just at the end of the tub. It wasn't bad, but it was a little on the small side. All things they could change.

Regina walked back into the bedroom and glanced around again. Emma was seconds from a panic attack. She needed to know if the woman hated it or not, "There's also a breakfast area." Emma looked around, "Oh and there's a basement, which is weird for a house this old and it being in the Houston area. There's also a patio out back, and you saw the two car garage when we pulled in." Regina didn't look at her. Instead, she glanced around as she walked towards the kitchen. Emma was now chewing her lip relentlessly. Did the woman have any idea what she was doing to her emotions right now?

"Come on Mom," Henry grinned grabbing his mother's hand. "I want you to see where we're going to build my treehouse."

Regina stumbled slightly at the energetic force her son pulled her along with. Emma followed them outside onto the patio. The woman took in her surroundings.

Henry pointed across the backyard at a small grove of trees, "That's where the tree house is going."

Emma couldn't wait any longer. Her girlfriend looked as though she was about to cry and Emma wasn't sure what she'd done wrong, "You don't like it, do you?"

A tear slipped past the brunette's eye and she gave a small laugh, "Oh Emma!" She threw her arms around Emma's neck, "It's perfect."

Emma gave the woman a squeeze then pulled back, "Really?"

Regina nodded her head up and down like a child as she fought the lump in her throat, "Yes. It is everything I could ever want." She laughed again, "Well, with a few updates, but Emma this is amazing."

"I told you she'd love it," Henry said with a cocky smirk.

Emma rustled his hair, "Yeah you did. I'm sure glad too."

"Why's that," Regina asked?

"Well, it would've been a little awkward since I already bought the house," Emma said sheepishly.

"What would you have done if I hated it," Regina asked, raising a perfectly sculptured eyebrow.

Emma shrugged, "Henry assured me that wouldn't happen."

Regina chuckled looking from her son to her girlfriend, "So you put all your faith in a nine-year-old?"

Emma winked at the kid, "He's never led me astray before."

"Miss Swan," A man's voice called from behind her?

Emma turned to see a man walking around the house she'd never met, "Yeah?"

"I'm Paul Janky and I'm here with your delivery. You want me to take him to the barn," the man asked?

The blonde stuck out her hand and the man took it, "It's Emma, and wow, you guys travel fast. I didn't think you would get here until next week sometime."

The man smiled, "Well, my wife told me the story behind the delivery and I won't lie, I was moved. So my son Bobby and I left out right after we spoke."

Emma slipped her hand into Regina's, "We'll meet you at the barn."

The man went around the house to move his truck and trailer down to the barn.

"What's all this," Regina asked? "Are we going to be those city folks that try and homestead?"

The blonde laughed, shaking her head, "No. I don't know much about the country so I don't think that's a good idea."

Paul's son, Bobby, hopped out of the truck to open the gate to the barnyard. Henry trotted up beside Emma and his mother, "What's going on?"

Emma had made sure not to tell Henry about this. Not that he would ever rat her out, but it was kind of a gift for Regina and him, "It's a surprise."

Once the pickup had backed in far enough, Bobby jogged up to the trailer and opened the door, "Easy boy," he cooed.

The trailer shifted as a large animal moved inside. Emma stole a glance at the brunette. Her eye trained on the trailer. Henry looped his arms through the fence boards watching with curiosity. From their angle, they could only see the front of the truck.

The trailer rocked as the animal inside stepped out. Bobby led the massive beast around the trailer and towards the fence where the three of them stood. Emma could see the shock on Regina's face.

"I found the family that you sold Rocinante to. Unfortunately, he passed away ten years ago. However, Paul here," Emma said as Paul walked up to join them. "He bought Rocinante's first-born foal. This is her colt, Rocinante the 2nd. This is the closest I could get to giving you back your horse."

A sob broke from Regina's throat as she reached out and let her hand brush the horse's muzzle. Her fingers trembled slightly. When she turned to look at Emma, tears streamed down her cheeks, "I'm dreaming, right?" She stroked his face, "He even has similar markings to Rocinante."

Emma swallowed. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing, "I don't know anything about horses, but I'm willing to learn. Bobby here is going to stay on while we do renovations to the house so he can care for the horse."

Regina nearly jumped into the blonde's arms. She squeezed her so tightly, Emma struggle to breathe, "You are the most incredible woman I have ever met."

Emma smiled into her hair, "Hopefully you're still thinking that in a couple of years."

Regina pulled back and looked into her eyes, "I can't imagine ever feeling any differently."

"We get a house, treehouse and a horse all in one day. Best day ever," Henry squealed with joy!