A/N: I really should develop better sleeping habits. Anywho, thanks for the continued reviews. A fed muse is a happy muse.

Henry had plopped himself down firmly in the middle of the bench on one side of their booth, the better to converse with them both, he claimed. The adults hadn't grumbled or audibly complained but they had manipulated as much room out of the small space as was possible, leaving Emma in constant fear of toppling over the edge. They had relaxed somewhat as Henry regaled them with a play by play of the game, as if they hadn't been there watching for themselves, and by the time Ruby returned with their ice cream orders (Just coffee for the Mayor, who refused to partake of the sugary confection) there was a little less venom in the air.

"I never really got into sports." Emma said once Henry's retelling had wound down.

"Really?"

"Nah. I mean, I can run like hell and I'm pretty good with hand to hand, obviously, but I never jived with the whole team thing." She glanced over at Regina, who was silently contemplating the black depths of her coffee mug (And Emma thought, 'Black like her soul!' with an internal giggle at her own corniness.) and asked, "What about you, Madam Mayor? Ever play any sports?"

Regina withdrew from her thoughts to blink at them in confusion and it was impossible to tell if it was because she was surprised to suddenly be pulled into the conversation or if she genuinely couldn't think of a way to answer the question.

"Oh. I... I was homeschooled. There wasn't really any opportunity."

'Well, that explains your personal skills.' Emma thought.

Henry, meanwhile, was staring at his mother with the most peculiar expression and Emma almost groaned, seeing the fairy tale conspiracy weaving itself in his little imagination. Was it really so strange to think that this woman, who more than likely had extremely loaded parents, hadn't received a public education?

"That must have been lonely."

Regina didn't take the bait, instead leaning across the table to thrust a napkin at her son, gesturing that he scrub his chin. "Honestly, Henry. Mind your manners."

She caught a glance of Emma out of the corner of her eye who, in the course of gesturing along with her words while holding her spoon in hand, had managed to get a dab of whipped cream just shy of her eyebrow and it was readily apparent where he got it from.

Emma jerked as a wad of napkins hit her upside the head and Henry burst into a fit of giggles.

Emma whirled to glare at the other woman but Regina merely sipped at her mug, prim and unruffled as ever. "Really, I see why you two get on so well, Miss Swan. You're both children."

Emma flipped her spoon around to use the smooth surface of its back like a mirror and sighed at her distorted reflection. "Oops."

#################################

When finally Regina decided they'd loitered in Granny's long enough (So long, in fact, that the place was almost empty) and that it was time to get Henry home and into bed, she told the boy to go wait in the car for a moment while she had a word with the Sheriff.

The woman in question, hovering just behind them in the diner's doorway, briefly pondered the thought of running away before Regina turned to deal with her. She was pretty spry, even with the Mayor in flats for a change she could probably outrun her. She dismissed the silly notion as Henry waved goodbye to her, his goofy but delighted grin deciding for her that she would stay and take whatever lecture Regina wanted to dole out. It was worth it to see him so happy.

Regina waited until the car door closed firmly behind him and then turned to fix the blond with a steely gaze.

"It occurs to me, Miss Swan, that my son has been trying in his own way to tell us something tonight."

Emma peered over the Mayor's shoulder, snorting at the little nose that was quite obviously pressed up against the glass of the Mercedes' passenger window to watch them. "Yeah, I got that."

"I don't like you, Miss Swan-"

"Gee, give it to me straight why don't ya'-"

"I don't like you. And if I had my way you would be gone from this town and as far away from my family as possible. However, now that he's met you, now that he knows you, that's just not possible. Now that he's found you... Well, there's no putting that cat back in the bag." Regina's stoic facade cracked and for a moment it was easy to see just how much this admission pained her. Emma shifted uncomfortably beneath the intensity of the other woman's dark eyed gaze, guilt blooming in her chest.

She had wondered, on occasion, if they might have been better off if she had left when she'd initially promised she would. Perhaps the mother and son's broken relationship would have found a way to mend itself. The Fairy Tale phase would have faded and eventually he would realize that his mother, while closed off and very possibly emotionally stunted (And there was a story there that the investigator in Emma was just dying to uncover), wasn't evil. Mostly.

Not in the way he thought, in any case.

Or maybe he would have just run away again and again, chasing after the hero he thought he needed.

"So, like it or not," Regina was saying, "You are a part of his life now. Our constant arguing is clearly hurting him and that's... Well, that's something I promised myself I would never do."

She was so earnest that Emma wanted to ask who had hurt her, if it had in fact been a parent that had molded her into this bitter and sometimes downright vindictive shell of a person, but she knew the question was too personal and would have them taking two steps back. She wasn't sure yet that they were actually taking any steps forward but it felt like they might.

Baby steps, certainly, but steps.

Daylight had well and truly seeped away at this point. The glow that spilled from the windows and door of the diner and a street lamp whose flickering bulb looked like it was on its last leg of life were the only illumination left to them. The dim lighting was doing interesting things to Regina's face and it struck Emma that the woman was really quite beautiful, when she wasn't wrapped up in a veil of rage and spitting insults.

'Where did that come from?'

Emma shakes it off and tugs at the smooth red leather of her jacket sleeves before crossing her arms against the growing evening chill. "What exactly are you proposing?"

"I am proposing that I might be amenable to you spending time with him each week. Supervised, of course."

"That-That would be great!" Emma knew that 'supervision' would mean Regina hovering over their every move, but it was something. Probably more than the measly ten minutes she got to share with her son before school and certainly healthier than the times when he decided to skip out on his classes all together just to seek her out. "When? How long?"

"We'll work out a schedule. Something that doesn't disrupt his school work. Dinner, maybe. A few hours on weekends."

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. That would be great. Thank you, Regina ,this is-"

"I'm not doing it for you, dear. You see, this thing you've started, in deciding to stay here, it doesn't get to be at your discretion." Regina stalked forward into Emma's personal space, once again showing a complete lack of boundaries. An extra button had come loose on her blouse, Emma noticed, and then immediately chided herself. That was the last thing she needed, for Regina to catch her leering. Not that she was. Not at all. "You don't get to traipse in and out of his life as you see fit. You have a responsibility to him now and children need structure."

Emma nodded, willing the other woman to see that she got it, that she understood what this was costing and she wasn't trying to cause either of them pain. "Okay."

Regina took a step back, rocking on her heels. "We'll hammer out the details on Monday, we still have that budget meeting. It'll be easy to discuss it then."

She turned without another word and Emma watched her slip behind the wheel before walking down the block to where she parked her bug with a little extra bounce in her step.

All things considered, the day had gone swimmingly well.

Regina hadn't eviscerated her, anyway. There was victory in that.

#######################################

Henry waited for his mother to start the car before speaking, cautious in spite of his glee because her face was as raw as he'd ever seen it, "That was fun, wasn't it mom?"

She tapped her fingers against the steering wheel, taking her bottom lip between her teeth, and then her ever ever present mask slipped firmly back into place. He met her eyes in the rear view mirror but their dark depths were an unreadable void.

"It wasn't entirely unpleasant." She allowed at last, and Henry's face split in an uncontrollable grin.

Phase one was go.