"For some, time passes slowly. An hour can seem like an eternity. For others, there was never enough," Emma read out loud as Henry snuggled into her side. Emma brushed Henry's long bangs out of his face as she continued to read Tuck Everlasting.

"For Jesse Tuck, it didn't exist."

Time. What a funny thing. Time is either a human's biggest enemy or a human's most precious gift. Time, at the end of the day, is all we ever really have. Some have less than others. In Emma's case it was her biggest enemy. Time betrayed her. It separated her from the woman she so desperately wanted to be with. She would sell her soul to the devil if it meant she could spend her life with Regina. Just the ability to hold her hand, to caress her olive skin, to see her radiant smile, or to just kiss her soft lips. Time. Time is a funny thing that Emma wished did not exist for her. If only she could cross the time continuum and find Regina now in this very instant. Time just keeps propelling us forward. But what if you no longer wanted to move forward?

"Mom, who created time?"

Emma thought, "Well, time has always existed. How time is recorded in minutes, hours, days, weeks, years was created by humans. We devised a system in order to record the passing of time."

"Ohh. Time is weird. Can I make up time? Like can I say three days is equal to one week?" Emma laughed at her kid's failed logic. "Henry, I bet if everyone else in the world agreed then maybe. Hey, ever think why the grass is green, or why the sky is blue?"

"All the time. Why can't the sky be orange and the grass be red?"

"Well my eyes would hurt for one. There is actually scientific reasons, which someday you will learn about in school."

"I like this book. I wish I could live forever like Winnie." This was Henry's third time hearing Emma read the book to him. It was one of his favorites.

"Kid, you wouldn't want to live forever. You would be all alone." Henry thought for a moment. "Would you drink the water if you had Regina and I both?" Henry had not brought Regina up for a few weeks now. Hearing her name sucked the air out of her lungs. As much as she would like to pretend Regina was no longer a part of her life, she was. "Henry, honey, you know Regina isn't coming back. We can't pretend to want something that we can't have Henry. It won't do us any good. I'm sorry sweetheart." Emma kissed his forehead. "I wish I could bring her back and we could have her here right this instant, but I can't."

"I miss her letters. She was nice and you were so happy mom. I miss that. I miss everything."

Emma winced. "I miss her letters too, buddy." Emma marked the page of the book, set it down on the side table, and turned out the baseball lamp. "I'm tired of reading tonight kid. I'm going to go to sleep." Emma kissed Henry's forehead and cracked the door open to his room as she padded across the floor to the next room over.

She really did miss Regina. But it was time to move forward, despite wanting to go back in time. They just moved into the new home a month ago and were getting used to the routine. Henry loved his new room even though it lacked the view the lake house had. It was larger, had dark green walls, and hardwood flooring. He had shelves full of toys and a larger bed. Everything was decorated with baseballs and baseball players. Recently the kid had become obsessed with the Red Sox and his favorite player was Ortiz. When they first moved in they went to Fenway Park for a tour and he got a picture with him that now sits on his nightstand with a baseball lamp.

Emma's room was much larger as well and had too more space than she even knew what to do with it. The house in general was too large. It was meant for a larger family. How her father lived here all those years alone amazed her.

Emma pulled back the comforter and relaxed into the sheets, cool against her skin. Tomorrow Henry officially started at public school. She also signed him up for an after school program for tee-ball. He was so excited when she told him earlier in the week. Her little boy was so eager to go to school it almost hurt. Soon he would be all grown up and that was heartbreaking.

The next morning Emma was woken up by Henry. "Mom get up it's time for school." Emma pealed open her left eye to one up her son. He was dressed in a green flannel and dark jeans. Kid seriously was a good dresser. Emma's eye then caught the clock next to the bed. 5:00 am.

She shut her eye, "Kid you have 3 hours till school starts. You are killing me." She reached out and grabbed Henry and pulled him into the bed with her. Of course he had his little monogramed L.L. Bean book bag already on. Her son was definitely going to be a nerd and most likely a teacher's pet. Oh well. It was what it was. "Give your mom one more hour and we can make breakfast and take first day of school pictures?"

The boy squirmed in her arms, "Fine."

True to her word, Emma made Henry an all-star breakfast for champs which was really just a bowl of fruit loops, and took his dorky first day of school pictures. She would cherish them forever. He was too excited and looked extremely nerdy. It was perfect.

Regina lives in a small enough apartment above the city as is, but now she finds herself sifting through all of her clothing to make more room in her closet for Graham's suits and ties. He is set to move in over the weekend. It is a big move for them, but he convinced her that it 'only made sense' now that he lives in Boston and is over at her apartment the majority of the time. They gradually became what some call "comfortable."

"Honey, come on, you never wear that blue dress. You've had it in the back of the closet since we started seeing each other again." Graham holds up the trash bag with puppy dog eyes and directs it towards the blue dress that would soon see the local thrift store if she didn't speak up. Problem is, how does she explain that blue dress was the first one she wore to meet Emma on the date that never happened? How does she explain to Graham it was the most exhilarating day of her life and the most upsetting day all wrapped into one? You can't. She fingers the material in between her fingers, bringing the fabric close to her face as if she could smell the fragrance from the perfume she put on the day she wore the dress. She lingers longer and inhales the scent, almost as if she sniffs hard enough she could smell Emma on the dress. But no, that wouldn't be the case. She never got to have that dinner with Emma like her heart truly desired. Oh how that night was supposed to go differently. She was supposed to finally meet Emma and who knows what else after? They potentially could have become a couple and lived happily ever after. No, she doesn't get that. Her life is just not that easy.

She holds the dress out to see, almost envisioning herself in it. If only she could imagine herself in the dress wrapped in Emma's arms. There were so many 'if only's', but that dress is associated with Emma. Her Emma. Someone she could never just throw away, or send off to a thrift store. Time may separate them, but she could never get rid of the small reminders of their relationship, if you could call it that. She sighs, "I don't wear it because it's too valuable to be worn. I could not bear if I ruined it carelessly. The dress is one of my favorite possessions." She eyes Graham cautiously.

"Maybe we should put it in a dry-cleaning bag to protect it then?" Regina is focused on the blue dress. "No, I love seeing the blue fabric peek out of all my clothing. It's a beautiful reminder to me of something I love." Or someone she loves and who loves her in return. Regina takes a deep breath in and exhales before she puts the dress back in the far corner of the closet. She can see the royal blue peek out over the other fabrics.

"Henry, please sit still next to Santa!"

"No, he's a fake. He isn't the real Santa! It's a hoax and the real Santa would be so angry!" Henry yelled into a fit. Emma laughed. Now was not a time for her son to be perceptive. It was too funny not to laugh at though. Of course all of the other parents in the mall hated her. Her kid just ruined a few children's day with Santa. Emma bit her bottom lip to help herself from laughing in order to assert her authority over her unruly son. "Henry Swan. I do not care if he is fake. You will sit there and smile with your toothless grin for me. Understood?" The kid only nodded and responded with the most reluctant toothy grin. The pair left the mall shortly after the debacle and headed home to finish setting up for Christmas. It was Christmas Eve and Granny and Ruby were on their way over for dinner. Emma had the photos of Henry with the 'fake' Santa printed as gifts for them, though they looked hysterical because you could see the kid's hesitancy.

Emma bumped around in the kitchen attempting to make an edible family dinner, which may or may not be disastrous. Cooking was really one of her short comings in life.

"Henry go make Christmas cards for Granny and Ruby while I finish making dinner?" Henry pranced off to his bedroom with colorful construction paper, markers, glue, and glitter.

Two hours later the doorbell was rang while the ham was on fire. Henry opened the door while Emma put the fire out. Little did she know her mischievous son had glued glitter to his face. That's right. His face. Apparently he wanted to sparkle like the ornaments on the tree. Kid was so weird sometimes. But, hey, got to love his creativity right?

The only family the Swans had were equipped with a pie, a green bean casserole, and a back-up ham. Granny knew Emma's cooking skills were subpar and planned accordingly.

Over dinner Ruby was tickling Henry, who was in a fit of giggles. Soon the tickling stopped and Ruby chased Henry around the house as if he were her own kid while Granny helped clean the kitchen. "He seems happy, Emma." Emma splashed some water on Granny playfully.

"I think so. He gets along well with the kids at school. He finds tee-ball fun too. Next week he is playing a small game in the commons. You and Ruby should come if the weather doesn't get too bad. It is a bit out of season."

"You know I wouldn't miss it for the world. Ruby either. Let's get the show on the road and open presents, shall we?" Henry got a new baseball glove, a Boston Red Sox hat, a remote control car, and a new Nerf gun. Emma watched her son load up his new Nerf gun.

"Henry what do you say?"

"Thanks so much guys!" The toothless boy practically yelled. Emma had it all on camera too. She would use this video footage as leverage when he was a teen for sure. That was right before he shot a bullet at the camera and knocked her over. Now the video was a joke on her clumsiness.

It is New Year's finally. Regina and Graham are at one of those fancy end-of-the-year parties at the Prudential center on the top floor. There is a great bird's eye view of the city. Regina cradles her champagne as she looks out over Boston from the windows. The crowd starts to count down the last 10 seconds of the year as she feels someone behind her.

"3, 2, 1." The crowd roars.

Graham turns Regina around and kisses her gently, pulling her back and looking into her eyes. "I love you Regina."

Regina smiles and replied, "Love you too." She turns back around to look out of the windows.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Graham reaches his arms around Regina's tiny waist and pulls her flush with himself. She nods in response. Regina's frown slightly turns up as she watches the fireworks off in the distance. The blues, golds, reds, greens, and pinks sparkle over the dark sky and water. It is truly majestic.

Regina sips her beverage and thought to herself, "Happy New Year's Emma. I love you wherever you are."

"Kid, turn of that TV. I don't want you watching half naked girls dancing in the snow singing. Let's light some sparklers on the rooftop and drink hot chocolate!" The pair headed to the rooftop deck and lit some sparkers. Henry ran around in circles playing as she took pictures. She was determined to document his life so one day he could look back. She unfortunately didn't have a lot of pictures from her childhood. Granny did her best after her father left, but there were only the normal school photos and a few from special occasions and holidays.

"Mom, how much longer until midnight?" Emma smiled at her sleepy and eager son.

"Let's see, according to my phone, 30 minutes. You're a big boy, you can make it."

By the time midnight came around Henry was dead asleep on her shoulder. Emma sipped her hot chocolate alone, "Here's to another year." She kissed Henry's cheek and wished she could kiss Regina too.

"I miss you Regina."

Henry was skipping along in his winter coat. Both were wearing their scarves from Regina. Winter finally was in full force and to get out of the house Emma took Henry to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She told him the story about the art heist and how some of the world's most famous paintings were still missing. Emma laughed, maybe she should have asked Regina if they had found the art yet when she had the chance.

Two years ahead, Regina is on the third floor of the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum looking at 'Europa' by Titian. In college she took a few art history courses. They mostly did nothing but fill up her schedule at the time. She enjoys visiting European museums out of college and being able to recognize certain well known artwork. She recently has taken up studying it again to keep her mind occupied. Graham hated that she had never been to this museum and had her save the date a few weeks back to fit it into her work schedule.

Here they are. They finally make it to the top floor and Graham has his arm around her waist. He is being abnormally clingy. She didn't hate it, but she didn't love it.

"Regina, when I first met you I knew you were the person I wanted to be with. I know I messed up before. I flaunted you like a trophy, but you are much more than that to me. I did it all wrong back then. I was young and naïve. I made mistakes left and right. I know now that it was supposed to be more intimate. Just you and I." Just then Regina notices the room is empty. In fact, she can't recall the last time she saw someone walk by. They are alone in the museum. "Regina, I love you. I wanted to do something special for you and finally get something right between us. I know how much you love art. You have all these fancy art books laying around the house and I saw recently you purchased a book on this museum. I thought what a perfect place for the most perfect person in my life to be proposed to. I want you to remember this moment for the rest of your life. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. It's only fair to ask you to marry me amongst the most beautiful art pieces. They are extraordinary aren't they? Well, beautiful, you are anything but ordinary. Regina, will you please spend the rest of your life with me? Have children someday, and grow old and cranky with me? I will treat you with the most love my heart can offer to you." Regina's heart breaks. She loves Graham. But he isn't Emma. Though he did offer comfort to her and filled the void in her heart on those days she was the loneliest, or the days she was unbearably sad. Regina closes her eyes. She is fighting the tears back. If she never met Emma this would be almost perfect. She has to remind herself that Emma wasn't here and by default she should allow herself to find the joy in this moment. Here and now is Graham and she does love him. It is acceptable to be happy, right? She has to find happiness to move forward. She can't live the rest of her life alone and bitter. What quality of life would that be?

"Graham, you proposed in an art museum?" She chuckles a little as she wipes a few stray tears from her eyes. "You dork. You are all about grand, cheesy gestures aren't you?"

"Regina, is that a yes?" Regina can't say the word yes, it simply is too hard. She only nods her head yes in response. Graham hugs and kisses his second time around fiancé. Perhaps this second time around would actually work.

Emma was on the third floor standing behind Henry who was eyeing a big panting with baby angels at the corner. 'Europa.' Henry stood there quizzically for a few moments before turning to ask, "Mom, why do so many paintings have angels?" Emma didn't know a ton about artwork, but she knew a few things, and they were enough to feed Henry correct answers for now. Soon she would need to crack open a book so she can keep up with his curious mind. "Well, first, they are called cherubs and it's biblical. A lot of artwork is biblical from this time frame actually. This piece was made in the 1500s and they had strong religious beliefs then."

"Huh, that's cool. Hey mom, look at this one over here." Henry dragged Emma to the next entry way not a care in the world of other museum goers. Kid's arms were getting stronger from playing ball at the rec.

Recently Graham found himself buried under a pile of paperwork, busy closing deals with the firm during his free time at home. On one of these free days Regina is home from work. Since her new fiancé is busy working from home, she spends the better half of her morning flipping through the channels on the TV while petting her sweet dog. She hates TV. Everything these days is so political. But then again, hasn't that always been the ploy of television writers, to get their point across? Regina finally lands on I Love Lucy, a classic. She turns it up to hear about Lucy meddling in Mrs. Lewis's love life. Lucy is trying to play cupid, go figure.

"Sweetheart, please turn down the TV. I can't concentrate on my paperwork that I am trying to get done before dinner tonight." Regina frowns and reaches for the remote. She hit the power button and walked off to the bedroom to change for a jog in the park. She crosses the room and the floorboards squeak as usual. Finally, Regina stops and leans back on the floorboard. She notices that it's only one floorboard that squeaks as she tests it with her toe. She bends down and examines the floorboard and notices she can lift it up. The weird thing is, she is her apartment's only tenant. It was brand new when she moved in. There should not be a removable floorboard. She lifts up the floorboard, and in the space underneath there's a small package.

Regina just stares at the package for a few minutes. She knows exactly what the object is. After a few mesmerizing moments she pulls out the brown paper packaged item and pulls back the paper. It's her book, Persuasion by Jane Austin, which she asked Emma to find at the train station that she left behind. Emma had asked to keep it to read it for a while. But then, that date happened, or lack thereof.

Regina examines the long lost book and notices a page marked with a rose. Regina opens up to the page and reads, "There could have been no two hearts so open. No tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison." Regina stares at it and her breathe catches in her throat, a single tear hitting the page of the book and blurring the text.

Regina puts the floorboard back and walks to her room. She starts to read the book from cover to cover. The book is a little gift from Emma. In a way the woman haunted her.

"Okay, Emma, spill it. I know you fell in love with someone and had your heart broken. I can read you like a book. You really are so transparent sometimes."

Emma's eyes bugged out of her skull as she slapped some cash down on the counter top. "Can I get one Sam Adams Lager?" This was going to be a long night. It was time to confide in someone.

"There was someone Ruby, but it is so hard to explain."

Ruby laughed, "I've got all night Swan and I want all the juicy details."

Emma chugged half of her beer and began from the beginning. As much as it sounded like a bunch of horse shit she knew the one person that would believe her would be Ruby.

"So we set up this date and she got all dressed up and went to this fancy restaurant that I made reservations for. I apparently was a no show. Now, Ruby, I would, even if I moved on, have showed up and gone on that date regardless. It was so unlike me to not be there. She called it quits. She stopped writing. I wrote letters to her and she just never responded. So I gave up and moved to the city. To be honest, I couldn't stand the lake house anymore and that's mainly why I left. Besides, I knew she would have to move in. At least that's how it went based off our letter correspondence. Like I said, she left the initial letter with her forwarding address for new mail. Except she was 2 years ahead and that up and coming apartment complex we went to was where she is now."

"Emma if you know where she is, why don't you go to her? It makes sense. She sounds like the love of your life! It would be like a fairytale."

"Ruby, it's not that easy! I can't just barge into her life. She right now in my current time doesn't know me yet. Think about how confusing that would be for her. If I ever want to see her again I would have to meet her in her time, 2 years ahead."

"Oh my god this is too complicated even for me to follow. I just hope you find her one day. You deserve her Emma." The two woman sat in silence and drank their beers while the last call for the bar was made.

Regina enters the locker room for the early morning shift and goes to change into her scrubs when she sees Ruby. "Hey, Happy Valentine's Day!

Ruby stares at Regina like a deer in the headlights. "Thanks, you too." She slams her locker shut and rushes out of the room before Regina can question the strange reaction. Regina continues to change. Regina's back is to the door when she hears someone else walk in.

"Regina, guys what!?" Regina turns around and sees Kathryn glowing as she reaches out and flaunts her hand with a brand new addition. A diamond ring.

"He proposed! It was at midnight. We went out and had a late dinner and made it home late. We were in bed and he reached out and slid the ring on my finger and just said, "Merry me." There was no grand gesture, long speech, or big surprise. It was perfectly romantic."

"Oh Kathryn, it's perfect!" Regina smiles and admires the small diamond, congratulating her friend.

"You look fucking hot in that uniform Emma. Like DAYUM."

Emma almost choked on her coffee, "Ruby, can it. If I didn't know better I would say you have the hots for me!"

"Well you are pretty cute. Want my number?"

"Oh my god, I can't even handle you."

"I know, that's the fun part."

"RUBY!"

"I was kidding. Chill out. Ugh, are you hot in that thing? It's really hot out today. Liberals are on CNN right now yapping about global warming and the conservatives are probably calling this the end times. Like it's February it's supposed to be snowing not sunny and feel like hell is rising beneath our feet."

"Wait. Ruby?"

"Yea?"

"What day is it again?"

"It's Valentine's Day, you know that annoying holiday Hallmark made and is capitalizing on with their stupid cards?"

Emma stopped dead in her tracks. "Ruby, I know where she is."