Birthday Boy
"Fairy tales" David said by way of a greeting when an exhausted sweaty Emma in desperate need of a shower that she wasn't going to get for hours yet finally walked into the station early the following afternoon to relieve him for lunch,
"What?" Emma groaned seriously beginning to wonder if her exhaustion was making her hallucinate,
"Fairy tales" David repeated with a proud look of triumph on his face,
Nope not hallucinating Emma thought with another groan wondering what in the hell he was going on about,
"Henry" David finally elaborated "Mary-Margret says he's into fairy tales"
"Really?" Emma asked screwing up her face not really sure if she was surprised or not to learn that,
"Yep, Mary-Margret reads fairy tales to her charges every time she sits for them, I think that she loves them even more than they do, except for maybe Henry, she said that while most of the others will get up and wander off to play nearby at some point Henry sits and hangs onto every word, dressed up in the knights costume from the costume box and then when she's finished reading, he runs around brandishing his sword pretending to be the hero of the story, she says that he can't get enough of it"
"Okay" Emma pondered slowly "do you know anywhere in town where I can find a knights costume?"
"Sure" David smiled unfolding a fresh tourist map Emma couldn't help but wonder why he had so many when the town didn't appear to have that many tourists visiting it, "there's a great toy shop here" he circled the location, handing her the map, "I'm sure they'll have something, it might even be where Mary-Margret got hers"
"Thank-you, I owe you one" Emma took the map and put it away
"You secured the funding to hire Mulan permanently, that makes us pretty even in my eyes" David replied,
"I did?" Emma frowned confused,
"You sure did, mayor Mills had her receptionist drop off the letter this morning, it was addressed to the station so I opened it with the rest of the mail" he shrugged "but I thought you might want to see it and break the news to Mulan yourself, so I've left in on your desk rather than filing it"
"That's great news" Emma beamed "but I think you should be the one to offer her the job" she added holding out the phone for him use,
David eagerly took the phone and broke the news to a very ecstatic Mulan before returning the handset to its cradle and leaving for lunch, meanwhile Emma spent her afternoon on desk duty rearranging the rota to include Mulan's new shifts, sitting back, and looking at it after made her feel a whole lot lighter, the workload would definitely be a lot more manageable shared between three.
It was Thursday by the time Emma managed to check out the store that David had advised, and she happily gave up her lunch hour to do it, the bell above the toy shop door jangled announcing her arrival and a bubbly blonde shop attendant with bubble-gum pink lips greeted her as she browsed the first few shelves,
"Can I help you?" the woman smiled sweetly,
"Umm sure" Emma replied, "I'm looking for a costume for a knight do you have anything like that?"
"We certainly do" the young woman's smile grew as she walked away indicating for Emma to follow "they are right over here" she said stopping by the very costumes that Emma was looking for,
"Great, thank you" Emma beamed pausing to admire her choices of which not unexpectedly there weren't many,
There was a clear front runner in her eyes though and so she ended up selecting that one before moving to the slightly wider selection of plastic swords choosing a set that came with a little belt and sheaths to carry the sword and dagger with their matching red jewel encrusted hilts, feeling satisfied that she was done with her gift selecting Emma turned towards the counter to pay but as she did something else caught her eye and had her rushing over to another nearby shelf, she thought that the plastic helmets sitting on it, would look so much more effective than the fabric one that was included with the costume that she had chosen so she picked the one that she thought would look best with her other purchases, the helmet was silver in colour and sported a rather impressive red plume, and this time she hurried over to the counter trying her best to avert her gaze from any further temptations as she went. The check-out clerk rang up the items popping them into a bag as she went and Emma happily paid, spending considerably more than she had been intending on presents for a little boy that she had only met twice to date, but she was thrilled with her purchases non the less, because she was certain that Henry would love them.
As she was stepping out of the store with all intentions of heading straight back to the station Emma spotted a shop that sold birthday cards just across the street and feeling that it was too good an opportunity to miss headed over to it,
'Might as well while I'm here' she thought with a shrug as she pushed the door open and entered the store. Browsing the shelves, she quickly spotted a suitable card with a big green dragon and a purple number six on the front, even more pleased with herself now she moved to pick up some matching birthdays wrap and a gift bag hurrying to the checkout to pay.
She was happily walking down the street heading back towards the station when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye that made her back track, two doors down from the card shop was an old bookstore and there in the window sat a beautiful leather-bound book emblazoned with gold writing and designs.
Despite knowing that she had brought more than enough already Emma still found herself following her feet into the little musty shop and lifting it from its display stand, carefully balancing its substantial weight in her hands as she opened its cover and flicked through it pages taking in the beautiful images that illustrated every other page throughout it, it truly was one of the most beautiful books that Emma had every seen and if it wasn't for the fact that from the second that she had lain eyes on it she had felt certain that it was destined for somebody else she would have been tempted to purchase it for herself, but this wasn't for her, she had known from the second that she had seen it that this book was for Henry, by now she knew that she was more over indulging and she briefly toyed with the idea of returning the newly purchased knight costume with its accessories as she took the book to the check out clerk who's offer of wrapping the book in brown paper and string she accepted deciding to present it to Henry in that neat brown package because she thought that a kid who loved old fairy tales might get a little kick out of having a gift presented to him in the same way that many of the children in the stories that he loved so much would have gotten them during the times that they were from, but even before she had left the store with her new parcel under arm she knew that she wouldn't be returning anything.
Emma didn't sleep well on the Friday night the realisation that she would be spending the best part of the next day in Regina's house, because she knew that there would be no quick escape from this commitment and for Henry's sake she wouldn't even try, was filling her with dread,
After drinking so much coffee that morning that she was becoming jittery Emma wracked with nerves placed Henry's gifts onto the front passenger seat of her car and headed off to the Mills residence. Pulling in on the street outside the house Emma took a few deep steadying breaths, swallowed dryly, and got out slowly approaching Regina's front door, she hadn't even gotten as far as building up the confidence to knock when the door flew open and a small bundle of excitement flew out through it and when she glanced into the house Emma was sure that she saw Regina disappearing through a door off the hallway inside the house.
"Emma, you came" Henry squealed throwing his arms around her legs and almost throwing her off balance,
"Woah kid" Emma laughed, her attention pulled from the inside of the house to the boy clinging onto her as she fought to stay upright, "How about we find somewhere to put these presents before I drop them"
"Are they all for me" Henry squeaked eyes wide as saucers as they scanned over the rammed gift bag and large rectangular parcel that Emma was holding,
"They sure are" Emma laughed,
"Come on I'll show you to put them" he said eagerly running back into the house,
"But you have to leave your shoes here" he added pointing towards the shoe rack near the front door, as Emma followed him through it, she smiled and nodded placing her gifts on the stairs so that she could remove her shoes then she placed them much neater than she would have done at home next to the full shoe rack before retrieving the presents and following Henry deeper into the huge house, it was a beautiful house she thought as she looked around her anxiety bubbling furiously just beneath her cool exterior acutely aware that each step she took into the light and airy ornately decorated home took her one step closer to Regina.
Henry led her through to an expensively decorate lounge in the corner of which stood a pile of brightly wrapped presents waiting for Henry to open, Emma let out a low whistle as she took in the sight, she remembered many a sparser sight on Christmas morning in the group homes growing up and then the presents were often for ten or more of them not just one but she supposed that they did usually only get one small gift each, this would have seemed like a lot to her as a child but to Henry it was probably just what he was used to, she added her gifts to the pile without comment then followed Henry out into the kitchen.
All kinds of wonderful smells were filling this room, the long dining table which Emma could see through open doors was already laden with various dishes while balloons and banners decorated the room,
Regina stood with her back to Emma busying herself at the oven unaware that the blonde had walked into the kitchen until Henry ran up to her side squealing excitedly,
"she's her mommy she's here"
"I saw my little prince, remember?" Regina chuckled fondly at the boy crouched down to his level and bopped him affectionally on his nose "I watched while you opened the door but then I had to come back to get some things out of the oven" she said confirming Emma's earlier suspicions,
"Oh yeah" Henry grinned sheepishly, "but she really came, can you believe it mommy"
"You know I think I can" Regina laughed again drawn in by her son's contagious enthusiasm, then rising to her full height again she turned to face Emma with a smile so radiant that it damn near stopped Emma's heart to be on the receiving end of it,
"Thank-you so much for coming" Regina said "you have no idea how much this means to both of us"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world" Emma replied easily, her green eyes locking on to Regina's much darker iris's, silence stretched between them as their connection held, flashes of yearning flickering in their eyes until the oven started to beep and Regina clearing her throat blinked and turned away,
"You're the first to arrive" she said taking the food out of the oven and emptying the contents of the hot trays onto several waiting plates, "I was just dishing up the last of the food" Regina added picking up two plates and heading towards the dining room, Emma picking up the final plate followed her,
"Wow this is some spread" Emma gaped casting her eyes over the table,
There was every miniature form of party food that Emma could think of one half of the table was dedicate to savoury food while the other was filled with sweet treats,
"I may have gotten a little carried away" Regina blushed taking the final dish from Emma and placing it in its space "Henry hasn't wanted a fuss the past couple of years, so I haven't been able to celebrate his birthday properly for while" she admitted sadly walking back into the kitchen removing her apron as she went,
"Well, I think it all looks wonderful" Emma smiled "Henry's very lucky to have you, you know" she added earnestly,
"Thank-you" Regina murmured not sounding as though she entirely believed it, "I don't suppose you would mind keeping an eye on him for me? Just while I go upstairs and get changed before the other guests arrive" she asked and Emma nodded,
"Sure" she replied,
"Thank-you" Regina smiled "Zelena should be back with the cake soon and Henry is not allowed to peek" she laughed and headed up the stairs,
She had barely been gone ten minutes when the doorbell rang, and Emma raced after Henry getting to the door seconds ahead of him and anxiously peering through the spyhole, she had seen the faces of many of townsfolk now, but she still felt that she hadn't been around nearly long enough to be permitting people entry to Regina and Henry's home,
"Who is it?" Regina's voice filtered down the stairs from somewhere on the second floor,
"It's only David and his family" Emma called back relief flooding through her as she spied the familiar faces through the door's tiny window to the outside world, she hadn't met Mary-Margret or little Neal yet, but she had heard plenty and recognised their faces from the picture that David kept on his desk of them,
"You do the honours birthday boy" she smiled down at Henry stepping back so that he could open the door and greet his guests, at least from here on out David and his wife would be able to take charge of seeing the guests in with Henry, until Regina returned to the party.
"Hey there Henry" Mary-Margret beamed as soon as Henry had gotten the door open, but before Henry could reply, a very excitable ball of energy rushed into him,
"Hen, Hen" Neal who was a couple of years younger than him squealed pulling Henry into a tight hug.
"Hi, Neal" Henry smiled untangling himself from the younger child's arms, "Come see the playroom" he said racing off with Neal hot on his heels,
"Where's Regina?" Mary-Margret asked slipping her shoes off as she watched the boys go,
"She's upstairs getting changed "Emma supplied extending a hand for the pixie brunette to shake, "You must be Mary-Margret, it's lovely to finally meet you",
"And it's lovely to meet you to Emma" Mary-Margret ignoring the hand grabbed Emma into a hug which Emma thought explained Neals reception of Henry, he'd learned it from his mom,
"Now tell me did you manage to find a present for Henry in the end" Mary-Margret asked eagerly as she walked with Emma into the lounge to place her own parcels on the slowly growing gift pile,
"I did" Emma smiled "Thank-you so much for your help" she added just as the doorbell rang again, this time David went to answer it with Henry and Neal practically tripping him over in their excitement, The little girl who had arrived appeared to have been dropped off because no accompanying adult appeared, after she had come running through to leave a small gift on Henrys pile before heading off to the playroom with the boys,
Zelena, precariously balancing a rather large white box was the last to arrive before Regina finally descended the stairs looking breath takingly beautiful in a black dress that came to rest just below the knee and a brand-new pair of black heels, Emma realising that not only was she staring but Regina had caught her at it cleared her throat quickly pulling herself together,
"You look lovely" she complimented before hurrying off to help Zelena with the cake.
A few more people arrived after that and by the time everybody was present and accounted for the house felt a lot busier and Emma felt a whole lot less intimidated by Regina's presence to the point that she found herself able to relax and enjoy the party immensely.
The atmosphere was one of contagious joy as excitable children raced around, the adult company was great, and the food even better, so much so that Emma went up for thirds, She offered to help wherever she could, taking over the stereos controls for pass the parcel discreetly landing the parcel on each child in turn, and again for musical chair this time turning her back and letting fate choose the winner, crowning Grace the little girl that seemed have been dropped off alone the reigning champion.
When it was finally time for Henry to open his presents Emma found herself wedged on a sofa beside Regina her heart racing every time the brunette moved a little, she tried to distract herself from the warmth that Regina was raising in her body by putting her whole focus on Henry and his gifts but it wasn't until he got to hers that she really managed to forget about Regina being so close to her as she watched in eager anticipation of his reaction and she wasn't to be disappointed,
"Wow Henry squealed insisting on pulling on his armour as soon he had opened it and Emma had to admit he looked great in it and then he turned his attention to brown paper parcel pulling at its string, Emma could see how much Henry was enjoying himself and knew that she had made the right choice, the paper fell away and Henry gazed at the books cover with awe and wonder in his eyes,
"Once upon a time" he murmured finger tracing the letters that spelled out words that he would recognise anywhere after seeing and hearing them so many times in Mary-Margret books, "my very own fairy tale book" he gasped carefully turning the pages his eyes growing wider in wonder with each turn "will you read me a story Emma?" he asked eagerly placing the book on her lap and moving to sit on Regina's,
"Uh maybe later when you don't have quite so many guests" Emma smiled fondly, and Henry nodded before moving to open his last few gifts.
The rest of the afternoon seemed to fly by, Regina disappeared again at one point reappearing mere minutes later carrying a cake shaped like a knight, sitting atop his faithful steed, the knight wore a helmet with a red plume very similar to the toy one that Henry also currently wore atop his head, the horse wore headdress with a similar plume and on the centre of the knights shield was a huge number six, strategically placed candles had been lit on the top, and Henry in awe of the wonderful creation grinned toothily as they all sung happy birthday and then he closed his eyes making a silent wish before he blew out all of the candles in one go to great big cheers from his party guests, Emma went with Regina to help hand out slices of cake while Regina made coffee for the adults and served squash to the children and not long after that the guests slowly began to filter out until only Emma was left,
"I guess I should be headed out now to" Emma smiled moving towards the front door "thank you for inviting me to your wonderful party Henry" she paused to squat to his level and give him a high five,
"Aren't you going to read me one of my new stories before you go?" Henry asked as he clapped his palm against Emma's
"It's late now Henry" Regina said placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "It's been a busy day, Emma has to go now, and you have to go to bed"
"But I'm not even tired" Henry protested letting out a huge yawn "and I always have a bedtime story, can Emma read it tonight, please" he begged,
"Would you mind?" Regina asked looking at Emma "It's fine if you have to go but…"
"I'd love to, if it's okay with you of course" Emma replied and Regina nodded enthusiastically,
"I'll take him up and call you when he's ready" Regina smiled "It won't take long and feel free to make yourself comfortable in the meantime, help yourself to a drink and something to eat if you want it" she invited as she followed her son up the stairs,
Once they were out of sight Emma moved back into the lounge picking up the book and holding it on her lap then after a few minutes sitting still in the silence she found herself itching for something to do and she realised looking around at the days mess there was plenty, she quickly located rubbish sacks in a cupboard in Regina's kitchen and took one from the roll filling it up with all the scraps of ripped up paper in the lounge, then she put the presents that Henry had left scattered all over the room tidily together in one corner just as they had been when she had first seen them wrapped.
With the lounge tidy Emma ventured back into the hallway and strained her ears to make sure that she hadn't missed being called but all she heard was a distant giggle and a splash of water so she turned her attentions to the dining room, there wasn't too much to do in here because Regina had already put all of the leftover food into containers which were now stacked inside of the fridge so Emma just scooped all of the rubbish into a second sack placing it with the sack of paper rubbish, took the last few dirty cups and glasses from the adults into the kitchen placing them on the side next to sink and locating a disinfectant spray she took it with a cloth spraying the table ready to wipe.
"Emma" Regina's voice called from upstairs as Emma was putting the spray and cloth back away,
"Coming" Emma called back grabbing the book and hurrying up to the second floor, where she found Regina with her head poking out of one of the doors that led off from the upstairs hallway,
"He's waiting for you" she smiled moving to one side to permit Emma entry, Emma stepped in to see a much sleepier looking Henry snuggle down in his blankets his tousled dark hair still damp from his bath,
"Did you bring the book?" he asked,
"Sure, did kid" Emma replied moving to sit in the empty chair next to his bed, "Which one shall we read?" she asked placing the book between them so that Henry would be able to see the illustrations as she turned the pages,
"Cinderella" Henry requested turning to the page, and Emma started to read, Regina stood and watched them for a few minutes then she cleared her throat capturing Emma's attention,
"I'm not needed here so I'll just be across the hall, I could really use a shower" she smiled while Henry and Emma nodded returning to their place in the book as Regina retreated from the room.
Emma smiled as she finished the story and Henry's eyes drooped closed,
"Goodnight Henry" Emma murmured closing the book and propping it near Henry's bed,
"I wish my Mommy could find her happy ending like Cinderella did" Henry murmured back "she should have a happy ending" he added his eyes closing and his breaths evening out as sleep finally claimed him, Emma stood frozen on the spot for several minutes more while his words rolled over in her head breaking her heart and then silently she backed out of the room leaving the door open, standing on the landing she could still hear the shower flowing so not wanting to just leave without saying goodbye to Regina first she ventured back downstairs and settled on the settee with a glass of water to wait for her.
"You're still here" Regina stated sounding surprised to see Emma when she ventured back downstairs not long later, "And you've cleaned up" she added eyes scanning the room coming to rest and the neat pile of unwrapped gifts for a few seconds before returning to Emma "You really didn't have to that, but thank-you" she smiled,
"It was nothing" Emma shrugged "I got restless when you were bathing Henry and I thought it would be rude to just leave without saying goodbye first" she said standing up and moving to leave,
"You know if you're not in a hurry you could stay a little longer and have a drink with me" Regina ventured "I promise you the best apple cider you've ever tasted if you do" she smiled moving to the nearby drinks cabinet and selecting two empty glasses placing them next to a matching decanter half filled with amber liquid, she topped the first glass up and turned to face Emma, "what do you say?" she asked offering the glass to her,
"Thanks" Emma smiled accepting the drink against her better judgement and taking a sip, "This is really good Regina" she said taking another sip with a satisfied hiss while Regina turned to pour her own drink with a proud smirk playing across her lips,
"To Henry" she said raising her glass,
"Yeah, to Henry" Emma repeated bringing her own glass up to ting against Regina's the warm glow of alcohol already rising in her cheeks,
"Thanks for coming today Emma" Regina moved to sit on the settee, taking the decanter with her and placing it on the table before inviting Emma to join her with a pat on the empty seat "I know it wasn't easy, but it meant the world to Henry"
"I actually had a really great day" Emma replied accepting the seat and the top up of her glass that Regina offered as soon as she was settled "thanks for inviting me"
"Well then maybe you should come back again one day say" Regina smiled taking a swig from her own glass,
"Hmm I think I might like that" Emma hummed sitting back and enjoying the warm fuzz that the alcohol was creating,
"I'd really like that to" Regina replied, and Emma smiled and nodded contentedly sipping her drink, this felt so familiar, so comfortable and so safe, she couldn't remember feeling this way since…Emma's eyes flew open, her peaceful mood instantly gone and replaced with a stone-cold dread,
"Shit Regina, I can't do this" she stammered dumping her almost empty glass onto the table and jumping up so fast that she startled Regina out of her own reverie,
"You can't do what?" Regina frowned confused by the sudden change of mood, but Emma had already fled from the room,
"Emma" Regina called after her ditching her own drink and scrabbling to her feet to give chase "what's wrong" she shouted down the hall as she hurried down it after her, but by the time she got to the front door Emma was already gone.
Emma grabbing her shoes as she went but not stopping to put them on until she well out of sight of the mansion hurried home clutching onto her middle and sobbing freely as she went, how could she have let that happen she cursed herself 'stupid foolish Emma' she couldn't allow herself to be lulled into a false sense of security again, the last time that she had let her guards down and allowed herself to become close to Regina she had lied and completely betrayed her and Emma couldn't be foolish enough to fall into that trap again, she couldn't trust Regina and so she vowed for her own safety to go back to keeping things professional between them, no more cosy times with the mayor, but what would that mean for Henry she wondered as she thought about the things that Regina had told her in her office, she hated to think of disappointing the child who had already been through so much in his young life but she also knew that she had to protect her own heart from harm, what she didn't know was how to find a balance between the two, "this is such a mess" she grumbled to herself, and to make it that much more difficult Emma felt so damn attracted to the woman without that things she thought would be a hell of lot simpler.
She rolled into bed that night vowing to keep her distance from Regina until she could work out the confusing feelings that she was having and get them out of her system, Regina had betrayed her and there was no way past that for them.
Was there?...