Just the two of us,

You and I,

Tuesday couldn't come quick enough for Emma, which meant of course that the days seemed to drag by, Regina, Emma discovered was an hibatual early riser, each morning since they had exchanged numbers she had woken up to a sweet good morning text, Regina it seemed didn't even lie in at the weekend but that Emma figured might have had something to do with having a lively six year old, either way Regina was always up at least an hour before Emma even on work days.

Emma felt her heart swell each morning as she read her text and tapped out her reply before she took her morning shower and headed out to work coffee in hand, she was still being kept busy by historical outstanding jobs but she was delegating the jobs equally between herself, David and Mulan which was making it much lighter work, during the hours when she was sitting in the office alone watching the clock tick painfully slowly she almost wished that she had assigned more of the jobs to herself because they at least kept her busy and helped the time move a little faster but she also didn't want to burn herself out.

Tuesday afternoon Emma was assigned to the station while David was on patrol and Mulan was attending some of the last few jobs on their list. She was slouched in her chair tapping the arm rest with her fingers debating whether she should text Regina or not when her phone pinged startling her, grabbing it Emma smiled when she saw that the message was from Regina, instantly ending her internal debate regarding whether she should text the brunette,

'Henry and I can't wait to see you later x', the message read

'I can't wait to see you two either xx', Emma tapped out hitting send as soon as she was finished, Regina must have been writing her next message even before Emma had replied because she hadn't even had a chance to put her phone down when it pinged again,

'Henry has his heart set on you reading to him later, he's told me that he will be going to bed early tonight just to make sure that he doesn't fall asleep before you've read to him x', Emma chuckled to herself as she read, tapped out her response then cast her phone to one side returning her focus to her work with a huge smile on her face.

She was counting down the minutes by the time her shift was coming to Its end, could she lock up fifteen minutes early Emma thought as she watched the second-hand tick almost certain that there was something wrong with it because it was surely ticking much slower than usual, no she sighed answering her own question in her head, she had to give it a little longer.

Finally, she had five minutes left to go and Emma decided that this was an acceptable time to get ready to leave, she took her keys from her drawer shoving them into her pocket then headed for the door switching off the lights as she went, the room had just fallen into darkness when the phone began to ring,

"Damn it" she cursed flicking the light switch back down and glancing at the clock on the wall of the relit room, two minutes until her shift was over, she could always just ignore the phone she suppose but even as the thought filtered through her mind her feet were already leading her across the room, her hand reached out for the handset and her voice spoke its usual professional greeting into the handset, who was she kidding even if her shift had ended ten minutes before Emma would have still picked up that phone and given aide to the caller.

She glared through the patrol cars window screen as she headed to pick up one of their frequent visitors from Grannies, she could already see the ruckus going on inside as the drunk made a nuisance of himself and Granny in her so far fruitless attempts to get him out brandished, wait was that a bow and arrow Emma gaped shutting off the engine and leaping out of the car as fast as possible her prior grievance all but forgotten as she raced in through the diners door causing the bell to jangle furiously above her as she hurried through it and hastily moved between the drunken idiot who now that Emma was closer could see had broken glass and a puddle of amber liquid around his feet and the furious Granny who was indeed brandishing what looked to be a very heavy possibly antique bow with an arrow poised and ready to go sat in the top of it,

"You can put the weapon down now" Emma spoke much more calmly than she felt as she first addressed the woman waving a lethal weapon around with a look on her face that would have already killed Leroy if that was possible, the woman grunted but immediately complied disarming her bow and returning it to its usual spot hidden beneath the diner's counter,

"And you can come with me" Emma continued, approaching Leroy with her cuffs in hand as soon as the bow had been disarmed,

"Excuse me" the drunk little man slurred heavily swaying on the spot a damp patch appearing on the front of his pants, great Emma sighed this was just what she needed now she was going to have to clean out the damn car before she could get ready and go to Regina's, "she's the one you should be arresting she tried to kill me" Leroy yelled pointing at granny and stumbling forward Emma's hands were the only things that stopped him from falling flat on his face, she slapped the cuffs onto his wrists without him even noticing as she rightened him up,

"If she had wanted to kill you, she would have shot the arrow don't ya think" Emma replied steering him towards the door much to his annoyance, "Now get a move on, I have an elsewhere to be"

"This is an abuse of power" Leroy growled loudly as Emma pushed him through the door "And that's police brutality" he shouted "And I have witnesses" his witnesses rolled their eyes and chose that moment to look away from the scene that he was making,

"You are drunk and disorderly in a public place again Leroy" Emma replied "I could have you for wasting police time but do you know what I just can't be bothered, it's a small town, everybody knows you so I'm going to cut you some slack if you cut me some in return, I'll waver all charges that I could bring down on you and just shove you into the cage to dry up like we usually do if you co-operate and get in the damn car" Emma scowled at him and propped him against the side of the cruiser so that she could open the door then as an afterthought she shrugged off her work jacket shivering as the cold bit at her exposed flesh and spread it across part of the back seat,

"Sit on that and don't you dare urinate or puke in my car, do you hear me?" she asked giving him a little shake,

"Yeah, yeah sister" Leroy replied lowering himself into the car a little awkwardly because of the hand cuffs his shoulders sagged in defeat.

Back at the station Emma wasted no time throwing him into a cell with a pillow and a fresh blanket he was already asleep by the time she returned with some fresh pants that she had dug out of lost property, a bowl in case he needed to be sick and a bag to put his soiled pants into when he woke up later.

Locking the cell door Emma dimmed the lights and glanced up at the clock with a frustrated sigh, all afternoon she had waited for the time to tick by and now she was running more than half an hour late all thanks to a usually loveable fool who couldn't hold his liquor, she cast a scowl in the sleeping man's direction she knew that he would be over at the diner tomorrow with his tail between his legs apologising to Granny and that the old woman would forgive him, just as well as she knew that the idiot would be back in here in a few days' time it was the cycle of Leroy. Rolling her eyes, Emma walked across the room took a radio from its charging point and used it to call Mulan who hadn't started until the afternoon and was staying on for the late shift manning the station,

"Are you on your way back yet?" Emma asked knowing that she couldn't leave the sleeping drunk until Mulan had arrived, locking up an empty station for an hour was one thing but leaving a prisoner whose safety they were responsible for and one who was particularly vulnerable even if their vulnerable state was self-inflicted was another thing entirely and a definite no, no.

"Ten minutes away" Mulan's cheery voice sounded over the radio

"Okay" Emma sighed "I'll be waiting here to hand Leroy off to you" she said

"We should start charging him rent" Mulan scoffed before radio silence resumed and Emma returned to her desk where she sat in her chair and passed a whole thirty seconds texting Regina with her apologies for running late before returning to her earlier agonising clock watching Leroy's growing snores rising and falling rhythmically behind her broken occasionally by the odd grunt.

Mulan's timing was spot on as always, Emma handed her the report that she had whipped up during the last five minutes briefly outlining the incident with Granny and what she had done so far and then hurried out shouting what was possibly the worlds quickest hello's and goodbyes over her shoulder as she went, Regina had replied to tell Emma not to worry about being late but still Emma was stressed as she finally exited the station on her way home, she hadn't brought the bug that day so she raced home on foot kicking off her work boots as the door swung closed behind her, then shrugging out of her uniform minus her jacket which she had chucked in the laundry pile at work knowing that Mulan would put it in the stations machine as the person on the late shift always did with clothing that had bodily fluids on them, she left the clothing that she had worn home in her own laundry basket then raced into the shower screaming when the water came out first freezing and then seconds later scalding onto her back, jumping out of the way of the flow Emma twiddled the dial reaching out with one tentative hand to test the temperature until it was just right then she stepped back under the water not permitting herself anytime to really enjoy it as she quickly scrubbed her body and washed her hair, switching the dial back off and jumping back out of the shower to bundle herself into a towel ready to head into her bedroom barley five minutes later.

Luckily she had already set aside her outfit for that evening the night before, nothing fancy just a pair of blue jeans and a white baggy tee over a vest, paired with a cotton bra and panties and a soft pair of socks, she'd put it out to save on time after her shower and now she was extremely grateful that she had, it meant that she didn't have to stress about clothing and she was sat in front of her mirror a damp patch already forming on her tee shirt towel drying her hair as much as she could minutes later, then she gave it a quick blow with her hair dryer before she teased her slightly damp curls out and crammed a grey beanie hat onto of her head, a quick spray of her favourite perfume and some black mascara came next then she was racing for the door phone and keys in hand where she rammed her feet into trainers and shrugged herself into her favourite red leather jacket then all but fled from her apartment leaving the door to swing closed in her wake, she was almost half way down the stairs when she heard it click shut, gave a satisfied nod and ran out to her bug out of breath she'd been in her apartment for less than half an hour and now her bug was roaring to life and she was abouts to pull out of her usual parking space to head over to Regina's.

She arrived just as Regina was dishing up dinner for Henry,

"Great timing" the brunette beamed as she opened the door to the flushed blonde,

"I am so sorry I'm so late Regina" Emma sighed crossing the threshold and promptly removing her shoes,

"It's really no problem" Regina assured Emma heading down the hallway with the blonde padding along beside her "We all know what Leroy's like" Regina laughed and rolled her eyes "the mans a liability" she added for good measure,

"Even so" Emma sighed as she rounded the corner into the kitchen and a very excited Henry who had been under strict instructions to remain in his seat at the table while Regina answered the door slid out of his chair with a delightful squealed and threw himself into Emma's arm,

"Hey there kid" Emma smiled scooping him up already feeling a lot better "It's great to see you to"

"I was just dishing up for Henry, I was going to wait and eat with you, but Henry needed to eat his now" Regina explained, and Emma nodded her understanding "but as you're here I may as well dish up for all of us, that's if you're ready for food now of course" Regina smiled,

"Ready" Emma laughed "I'm more than ready, I'm absolutely famished" and as if to confirm her words were true Emma's stomach chose that very moment to growl loudly making them all laugh,

"Great" Regina beamed "you two go and make yourselves comfortable and I'll bring your food through"

"Right you are boss" Emma replied carefully settling Henry onto the kitchen side next to the kitchen sink so that she could wash her hands, Regina quietly tutted her disapproval at Henry's current seating arrangement but she didn't say anything while the giggling boy sat there swinging his legs back and forth, she chucked Emma a hand towel when she saw her looking around for one and the blonde caught it gratefully, drying her hands before discarding it again, scooping Henry back up into her arms and heading into the dining area with him promptly placing him back into his seat and settling into the one next to him when they got there, Regina was hot on their heels bowls of steaming pasta in her hands she placed one in front of each of them before returning to the kitchen to pick up her own and coming back to settle into the seat opposite Emma's.

The three of them ate in silence and then Emma as she had the week before cleared the table and began to swill off the dishes before loading them into the dishwasher against Regina's futile protests, Henry disappeared upstairs returning just as Emma was finishing up proudly sporting a back to front pair of pyjamas the top of which was also inside out,

"I'm ready to go to bed he announced" with a curt nod,

"You can't go to bed yet" Regina chortled "you've just eaten, you'll get tummy ache"

"But I don't want to miss my story again" Henry whined

"You don't have to go to bed to have a story, do you?" Emma asked drying her hands and discarding the tea towel before she squatted to his level, the boy looked thoughtful and seemed to be mulling over what Emma had just said,

"I guess not" he finally conceded

"So, what do you say that we go and get that book of yours and bring it downstairs then you, me and your mom can sit together on the settee, and I'll read to you both, how does that sound?" Emma watched as Henry's eyes grew wide with excitement and she already knew the answer before it burst out of the small child,

"You're the best Emma" he beamed grabbing her hand already pulling her towards the stairs,

"Wait one moment young man" Regina called after them halting Henry in his steps, "Emma can go and get the book by herself, it's in his room, do you remember the way?" she asked before Henry could protest, Emma nodded in response "great you can't miss it" she smiled before turning her attention back to Henry "And while Emma's doing that I can help you get these" she gently plucked at Henry's pyjama top "on the right way my independent little prince" she chuckled affectionately and Emma hurried off as instructed leaving mother and son alone together for a few minutes.

By the time she had returned Henry was squirming impatiently on the settee his clothing now all in and around the right way, Regina sat on the other end of the settee from her son smiling regally leaving the empty seat between them for Emma to claim, as soon as she was seated Henry grabbed the book eagerly flicking through to his choice of story for that evening, Snow white, the little boy listened enthralled giggling more and more uncontrollably as Emma slipped into different voices for the many different characters even making one of the dwarves sound like Leroy, the icing on the cake was Regina cutting in to provide the voice of the Evil Queen especially when she changed it from the lofty cold tone with a rich regal edge to become the cackly quivering tone of the hag that the Queen became when she disguised herself to trick Snow White,

"You two told that so much better than Mary-Margret does" Henry wheezed when they were finished, "But don't tell her I said that" he added hastily

"Your secret is safe with us kid" Emma laughed closing the book and sitting back with a tired sigh,

"Why don't you go play for a bit now Henry" Regina suggested "and I'll go get Emma a drink because I think she could use a break"

"Okay" Henry replied brightly, jumping up "Can I have another story when I go to bed?" he asked Emma

"Oh, I don't know about that Henry" his mother cut in "Emma's had a busy day, she's tired sweetheart"

"Oh okay" Henry shrugged trying not to appear disappointed,

"I don't mind" Emma spoke up "But you're right Regina I could do with a little rest now and a coffee would be wonderful"

"Coming right up" Regina smiled leaning to place a light kiss on Emma's temple before she stood up and headed towards the kitchen, "off to play with you now Henry" she called back over her shoulder,

"Okay" Henry squealed his eyes bright with excitement at the prospect of another story at bedtime as he went.

That night Emma did read Henry a story in bed and then she snuggled to watch a movie with Regina until it was time for her to leave and she reluctantly disentangled herself from her comfortable position beside the brunette and followed her to the door.

"I'll see you on Friday, I'll pick you up at seven" Regina smiled

"Our date" she reminded Emma when the blonde frowned in confusion "Zelena has agreed to babysit" she added, Emma's mouth formed a perfect o as the penny suddenly dropped and Regina struggled not to burst out laughing at the look,

"I mean if you've changed your mind…" Regina trailed off as Emma frantically cut in,

"No, no not at all" she said "I can't wait"

"Me neither" Regina smiled leaning in to plant a gentle kiss on Emma's flaming cheek, lingering long enough to murmur in her ear "You're cute when you blush" Emma gulped and Regina pulled back smiling innocently as she wished the blonde a safe journey home making her promise to send a text once she was inside safe inside to which Emma had rolled her eyes, laughed and teasingly asked if Regina thought that she was her mother now to which Regina had responded with an irritated scowl that had only made Emma laugh harder, but she had done as she had been asked and sent Regina a goodnight text, thanking her for the evening and apologising for her lateness again once she had returned home.

Mulan had already released Leroy by the time Emma had arrived at work the following morning, she had left him to sleep for a few hours then plied him with copious amounts of coffee once he had woken up then sent him on his way escorting him to his front door as soon as she could consider him to no longer be a danger to himself or others, so David was alone in the station and was surprised to see Emma there at all because she was supposed to be attending the very last of the outstanding jobs that morning,

"I just needed to revise the rota before I get started today" she said in answer to his questioning look,

"Why is there a problem?" David frowned from his desk,

"Not really I just wanted to see if I could switch my afternoon off from tomorrow to Friday because I have plans Friday evening and after last night, I don't want to risk another last-minute call interfering with them" she explained,

"I've got the afternoon off on Friday, but I don't mind swapping with you" David shrugged,

"Are you sure?" Emma asked seeing that he was right as she glanced down at the rota,

"Of course," David grinned "It's not as though I have any plans" he laughed,

"Thank-you" Emma beamed drawing lines through their names and swapping them around, "I owe you one David"

"Anytime sheriff any time" he replied, and with her first order of the day complete Emma wished David a good day and hurried out to the cruiser ready to continue her own.

It felt good to return home that evening knowing that she had finally managed to address all the towns issues that had been being ignored for so long, and during her afternoon shift stuck at her desk she had also filled out an application for funding for new computers for the station ready to submit with the rest of the paperwork headed for the Mayor's office at the end of the week, she didn't want to push her luck having already secured the funding to employ Mulan but they really did need new machines and all three of them had worked hard to keep the costs down as much as possible without compromising on quality or thoroughness when they had worked through the lists of concerns that had been put forward by the townspeople and so Emma hoped that they may have saved the town enough for them to be afforded their new computers.

She dropped all of the paperwork for that week off at the end of her shift early Friday afternoon, Regina wasn't in her office when Emma arrived which was more than a little disappointing so she left the pile of papers on top of the Mayor's desk taking one of her post it notes and sticking it to a piece of paper several pages down so that it wouldn't be easily noticed by anybody passing then grabbing a pen she simply wrote,

Can't wait to see you later x

Covering the post- it with the top few pieces of paperwork she replaced the pen and left the office heading home to take a long relaxing shower.

Emma was back to clock watching that evening she had finished getting ready far to early which meant that she had also spent far to long fidgeting anxiously on the sofa watching the minutes moved slowly by as she thought about what tonight might mean for hers and Regina's relationship, this was a date an actual date with just the two of them.

Having Henry about made things feel easier somehow, he provided many distractions that served to ease any tensions before they even had time to grow and hers and Regina's snuggles in front of a movie after Henry had fallen asleep had quickly become so routine that they fell into them as seamlessly as they had when they had spent Christmas together as teenagers. But this was different, an evening alone on a date with Regina felt so much more intimidating somehow.

Emma had, had to text Regina on Wednesday because in her flustered state the night before she had totally forgotten to ask about the dress code for their date and now she sat in her smartest black suit pants, with a crisp white shirt under a smart black tie, her usually wild hair had been tamed back into a stylish ponytail with a side braid leading into it and she had already pulled on her ankle high heeled boots, her suit jacket was slung over the back of her sofa waiting for her to throw it on as she left, Regina was taking her somewhere posh.

The door knocked with two minutes to spare, Regina punctual as always waited on the otherside wearing a velvety dark red dress that ended just below her knees and hugged her body in all the right places, elegant black lace details splayed across the otherwise open back and she had paired it with black tights and black high heels that matched the bag that she had clasped in her hands, her hair hung loosely around her shoulders and her make-up was just a touch heavier than usual,

"You looked amazing" Emma breathed as she looked her up and down,

"You don't brush up so bad yourself sheriff" Regina replied, a hungry twinkle in her eye, "care to accompany a lady to dinner?" she added offering an arm for Emma to loop hers through.

Regina led Emma outside where she had a sleek black car waiting for them the driver of which stepped out of his seat to hold the door open for them, Emma slid in first with Regina immediately following her.

Now that they were in the back of the car Emma began to feel her nerves growing, she didn't know what to say or what to do so she settled for looking out of the window under the pretence of looking to see where they were going hands screwed up in her lap and shoulders tense,

"Emma relax" Regina's low dulcet tones sounded from beside her and a warm tanned hand reached to envelope one of Emma's much paler slightly clammy ones, "It's just you and me" she murmured,

"Yeah, I know" Emma sighed giving Regina a small side smile and allowing her hand to relax in the brunettes, "It's just, I can't believe this is all happening, after that Christmas I didn't think I'd ever see you again and I, I hated you Regina" Emma confessed "and now we're here together going on a date, I don't really know how I feel except for overwhelmed" Emma sighed letting out a huge breath,

"We don't need to know all of the answers now Emma" Regina's voice was soothing and her hand squeezed Emma's comfortingly, "Let's just enjoy whatever it is we have and see where it leads us, there's no rush" she smiled and Emma feeling a bit better nodded and smiled back,

"So where exactly are we going?" Emma asked lacing her fingers through Regina's as she glanced back out the window,

"That would be telling" Regina chuckled "and this time it's your turn to be surprised Miss Swan"

A shiver shot down Emma's spine and a tingly warmth spread in her stomach as her name fall from between Regina's lips, how she wondered did she make it sound so sexy.

The restaurant was a very swanky Italian which Emma had driven past a few times on her patrols but never stopped at, each table was laid out beautifully with a lit candle in its centre, Regina had reserved one in a cosy corner at the back where they would be away from prying eyes, she accepted the menus from the waitress and placed an order for a bottle of very expensive red wine and two glasses without even looking at the drinks menu,

"Unless you would prefer something else dear" she said looking across the table at her date,

"No the wines good thank-you" Emma grinned and Regina politely dismissed the waitress while the two women looked through their menus, Emma only recognised three things on her menu, Lasagne, bolognaise and pizza and she was still trying to decide what she wanted when Regina set her own menu to one side ready to order, well that wasn't strictly true Emma knew exactly what she wanted to order she just couldn't decide if pizza was a posh date kind of meal.

"If you want the pizza, order the pizza" Regina smiled seeming to read the dilemma in Emma's features as she watched the blonde scanning the menu her forehead creased into a frown of deep thought "I hear that it's very good in here" Regina added,

"You really wouldn't mind?" Emma asked smiling goofily,

"Not I the slightest" Regina replied genuinely "I just want to enjoy a meal with you Emma, I don't care what you eat as long as you enjoy it to" she shrugged raising her hand for their waitress to return,

The young blonde hurried over with their bottle of wine and glasses in hand,

"Are you ready to order now" she asked cheerfully as she set the glasses down and poured a small amount in each glass then paused to wait for their reactions, Emma didn't have a clue was going but she watched Regina pick up her own glass swirling the deep red liquid in the bottom of it in gentle circles then she replied,

"I believe we are" directing a pointed glance at Emma who smiled and nodded raising her glass towards Regina in a mimic of the brunette's movements then still following Regina's example up ended her glass into her mouth pausing to really taste the wine before she swallowed it, across the table Regina was holding her now empty glass out to the waitress with a satisfied smile on her face,

"That is really very good" she smiled and the waitress returning the smile filled the glass much higher this time turning to fill Emma's glass too before leaving the bottle on the table and taking a small pad and paper from the pocket on her apron poising the pen ready to jot down their order,

Emma ordered her pizza with extra cheese and a pepperoni topping, and Regina ordered a pasta dish that Emma had never heard of rolling the Italian words off her tongue as effortlessly as when she spoke English,

"Do you have any idea just how sexy that was" Emma breathed as soon as she was sure that their waitress was out of ear shot,

"Well, I can't say that anyone's ever told me that I was sexy when ordering food before" Regina chuckled,

"You know what I mean" Emma replied "I had no idea that you could speak Italian like that" she said in awe,

"I speak a few languages" Regina shrugged as though it were nothing while Emma's mouth hung open in amazement, "one of the advantages of my up bringing or disadvantages as I often thought of it back then was that I was given language lessons as a child, mother insisted that I learn several at once" she shuddered before she continued, "I cannot deny that it's a useful skill to have which is why I've been teaching Henry some Italiano but the way that my mother forced me to learn, no child should every have to go through that" she said her eyes clouding over with the pain of her memories,

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through so many horrible things Regina" Emma murmured reaching across the table to place a comforting hand on top of Regina's,

"It's okay" Regina smiled her eyes clearing as she accepted the comfort absently stroking Emma's hand with her thumb "It's all in the past now and we are here in the now so let's not allow the past to spoil our date" she said

"Ahh, speaking of" Regina added "It looks like our dinner has arrived"

They both smiled and thanked the waitress as steaming plates of delicious food was placed in front of each of them,

"This is amazing" Regina groaned into her third mouthful "here you have to try this Emma" she swirled pasta onto her fork and then held it in front of Emma with her other hand underneath the fork to prevent any food from falling onto the table,

"Only if try some of mine too" Emma comprised a small chuckle escaping from her lips as she watched Regina nose wrinkle in disgust as she looked at Emma's dish,

"Not a pizza person are you" Emma laughed as she remembered Regina's displeasure at the pizza in the diner,

"Not usually" Regina replied "but I really want you to try this so I'll make an exception if I must" she said eyeing the pizza with distrust,

"You don't have to try it if you really don't want to" Emma shrugged "but I'm happy to try anything" she smiled wrapping her lips around the loaded fork that Regina was still holding out to her and dragging the pasta off it all the while trying not to think about how that fork had been inside Regina's mouth moments earlier, she watched as Regina re loaded her fork and took another mouthful herself, the most amazing blend of flavours swirling in Emma's mouth has she chewed her own mouthful,

"You're right that is good" Emma told her once her mouth was empty once more,

"My turn now" Regina said opening her mouth expectantly

"Are you sure?" Emma asked and mouth still open Regina nodded,

"Okay, but I'm warning you that once you've tasted this your world will change forever Emma quipped picking up a fresh slice and holding it to Regina's mouth, red lips closed around the tip of her pizza slice and Regina took a timid bite, Emma hadn't even managed to pull away when Regina's eyes widened and she swiped the whole slice from Emma's hand and began to chow down on it,

"I told you it was good" Emma smiled smugly then she took another slice from her plate for herself.

Dessert followed the main and the bottle of red was polished off, a satisfyingly warm haze had settled over Emma as she sat looking across at Regina feeling too full to move,

"That was wonderful" she said,

"Does that mean that I'm going get a second date?" Regina asked brow arched,

"A second a third a fourth, however many you want" Emma sighed blissfully unaware of what she was even talking about, she just knew that in that moment she was happy and Regina's laughter ringing out from across the table was the most beautiful sound that she had ever heard

"Come on it's time we were out of here" Regina smiled extending her arm for Emma to hook her own through again, to soon the two of them were in the back of the car heading back to Emma's apartment,

"I would offer for you to come back to my place for a night cap" Regina said her fingers laced through Emma's in the back seat, "but I think it would probably be for the best if you were dropped off at your own home" she sighed a little regretfully, "I've got Henry to think of and…." She trailed off when Emma gently squeezed her hand,

"It's okay , you don't have to explain yourself I totally get it" Emma reassured her "It's why I always fight the urge to fall asleep on the sofa with you when I come over for dinner, it's one thing to have me over for food with you and Henry and for us to watch a movie together after he's gone to bed, but it's another for Henry to wake up the next morning and find me still in his home, I don't think the implications of that are something that any of us are quite ready for yet" Emma laughed "and it's like you said there's no rush" Regina glanced the back of the drivers head and silently squeezed Emma's hand in response, but when they were standing outside of Emma's front door a few minutes later which Regina had insisted on walking her too under much protest leaving the car to wait for her outside Regina suddenly spun Emma around pushing her a little forcefully against the door,

"You are an amazing woman do you know that?" Regina spoke breathily then leaned in quickly closing the gap between them, Emma felt like fireworks were going off in her head and her heart when their lips met, she returned Regina's kiss with equal passion groaning into when she felt Regina's probing tongue seeking entry, she parted her lips to let it in and soon their tongues were dancing a crazy kind of tango fitting perfectly together, until the burning need for oxygen outweighed all else and they were forced to pull apart,

"That was amazing" Emma gasped breathlessly, and Regina grinned broadly in response as she too fought to catch her breath, moving back towards Emma to pepper her with many lighter kisses when she had,

"I have to go now" she said a little sadly after she had found Emma's lips once more,

"I know" Emma sighed kissing Regina gently one last time before she pulled away and moved to finally open her door,

"Will Henry and I see you Tuesday for dinner?" Regina asked before she walked away,

"I wouldn't miss it for the world" Emma smiled pushing her door open and watching as Regina descended the stairs, she was almost at the bottom when Emma raced across her apartment and threw her window open just in time to see Regina walk out of the exit below,

"Thank-you for a great evening" she called down and Regina stopping next to the open car door looked up and smiled,

"Any time" she called back lowering herself into the car with a final wave, Emma watched until the car was out of sight and then she pulled her head back inside slamming the window shut behind her and retreated to her room to get ready for bed, she had shed her date outfit in favour of cotton shorts and a vest top and was sitting at her rather sparse dresser preparing to let her hair free when her phone pinged with message informing her that Regina was home safe, with a smile on her face she replied and wished her good night before she returned her attention to the mirror, let out her hair and fell into bed blissfully happy.