BIG tremendous thanks to Mooglemuse: my fantastic and lovely beta for all her help and support. All mistakes are still mine.
The lunch with the Mills family continues and comes to an end in this chapter and an Original Character comes up once again.
Chapter 15
'Playground Rhymes'
-.-.-.-.-
"Lunch is ready, if you would like to eat now?"
"Yes, I think that would be for the best. Kathryn, would you be so kind as to show Ms. Swan to the private dining room while I help Henry?" Regina stood from the couch and placed the shoe box on the coffee table. She requested Kathryn's help, not for the sake of asking, but so Ms. Swan would be aware that she needed to leave the room. Henry was embarrassed enough as it was, he did not wish for Emma to see how difficult it could be for him to make his way into the dining room with the IV pole attached.
Emma stood up slowly, quickly wiping at her eyes and rubbing at her sides with her sweaty palms. "Yeah, sure. Do you need me to help with anything?"
"No. Mom's got it." Henry was quick to say, his smile tight, hands tightening in trepidation. He didn't want Emma to see him as weak.
"Okay. Well then." Emma turned to Kathryn. "Lead the way."
Kathryn showed Emma into a much smaller dining room then the one the blonde had seen when she'd first walked into the house.
"So ah, which seat should I take?" Emma asked as she stood before the six people table.
"Regina sits here and Henry always sits next to her on the right. Why don't you take the left. And I'll sit next to you. When Graham arrives he'll take the seat next to Henry."
Emma shrugged, not seeing anything wrong with the set up. "Sounds good." She just hadn't wanted to take anyone's assigned seat. That would have been awkward. Emma rolled her eyes at herself, as if everything that had happened in the last two hours hadn't been awkward. Emma saw that on the table there was a basket of what looked like fresh bread and a crockpot of soup.
"Smells delicious."
"Regina and I made it last night."
"Then I bet it tastes just as good as it smells."
Kathryn laughed, "Because I helped or because Regina made it?"
"Uh, both…?" Emma asked with a toothy grin, the sight of which made Kathryn shake her head in wonder at how charming the nervous bounty hunter could become.
"I always wondered where Henry got that cocky grin from."
Emma's grin disappeared almost instantly and her eyes fell down to the table setting in front of her.
Kathryn realized her folly immediately, "I didn't mean it as an…"
"No, it's, ah it's fine. I'm just not…I'll have to get used to hearing things like that."
Kathryn could only nod. She had no idea what this situation was like for any of them. She sympathized and was concerned for Henry and Regina but it wasn't until she'd heard Emma become chocked up that she realized this wasn't all about Regina and Henry anymore. Emma had a place in this mess just as substantial as Regina and Henry's. This was Emma's life now as well.
"You're doing great." The nurse insisted as she put her hand on Emma's shoulder and squeezed it gently, hoping to convey some form of reassurement to the reeling blonde.
"Right…" Emma didn't believe her. How could she be doing great? She'd just ended up crying in front of the kid when he asked her why she'd given him up. She'd watched Regina, one of the most powerful and in control women Emma had ever met, practically retreat into herself at the idea that Henry wasn't happy with his life, with the last ten years of his life…with her.
"I wouldn't say it, if I didn't believe it." Kathryn insisted. "You're doing fine. Keep it up for a few more hours. And if you're anything like me you can over analyze everything you said and did. Learn from the mistakes you think you made, the ones you probably will, and move on. Start again tomorrow." Kathryn rubbed Emma's shoulder before releasing it.
Emma nodded once, unable to come up with a verbal response to Kathryn's encouragement. She would go back to Granny's and over analyze everything she said and did today. She would get so uptight over it that she'd probably have another panic attack when she next came to see Henry.
Kathryn left the room but was back within a few seconds with a pitcher of ice water. She saw Emma still fiddling with her fingers nervously and spared one last piece of advice for the woman.
"It's a process, Emma. It's going to take time. And now that you're here, you three will have all the time you need."
This wasn't the first time Emma had noted the optimism that everyone shared. It seemed there was no option, no room for failure here. Everyone believed that she was their saving grace. She would save Henry and this transplant would work.
Emma was of the same opinion. This had to work, this had to. There were no other options, none that any of them wanted to think about anyway. Emma hadn't been here the last time Henry had a transplant. She didn't know the hardships that they had all gone through then. She just hoped, like they all did, that the second time was the charm.
What was that child's rhyme? First is the worst, second is the best, and third is the one with a hairy chest….Emma smirked at the memory.
"What did we miss?" Henry asked.
Emma's head shot up from the table, she was surprised to see Henry already seated across from her. Regina was helping him push in closer to the table. Kathryn was checking the IV as inconspicuously as she could while Henry did his best not to notice. His eyes instead peered into Emma's as if willing his biological mother not to look and ignore the other women's fussing.
Emma recalled Regina's words about his embarrassment and stared right back at the kid.
"I was just remembering a rhyme that some of the kids used to say in one of the foster homes I was in."
"What was it?" Henry asked, instantly interested.
Emma wondered if she'd ever had such a captive audience before. "You know just the one about places, ah, finishing places?" Emma couldn't think of the right word, term for it. "You know, first, second and third, and stuff." She cringed at the word stuff and her lack of available vocabulary.
Henry continued to stare at her and Emma. She was sure Kathryn and Regina were both staring at her too as they took their seats. As if them all staring at her would help. It just made her more nervous.
"Ah, I don't think I do." Henry cringed apologetically, unable to follow Emma's thought process or understand what she was talking about.
"First is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the hairy chest." Emma did her best not to look at either of the adults as she mumbled a recitation of the rhyme. "Or you know…something like that." Emma ducked her head as she reached immediately for her glass of water and took a generous gulp, trying to stave off her growing flush.
"I thought it was that third was the one with the treasure chest?" Henry's face went from an 'O' expression to a scrunched up form of concentration. He twisted his lips to the side, his cheek puffed out a bit by his tongue. Something Emma had seen Regina do twice in the last three days.
"I don't know kid, I'm sure it's changed a lot since I was your age."
"If I recall correctly there were three other options—places to come in." Kathryn piped up clearly doing her best to recall them. "Regina, do you remember? I can't put my finger on it. Something about a king a queen and a witch. Or was it a donkey?"
Regina reached across for Henry's bowl and scooped a ladle and a half of soup into his bowl as the three spoke about a playground rhyme. "I have no idea what you three are on about."
"Oh come on mom!" Henry whined a bit but smiled and offered a quick "thank you" when Regina put his bowl in front of him.
"Ms. Swan?" Regina held her hand out for Emma's empty bowl.
"Oh, thanks." Emma quickly offered the bowl to Regina before she addressed Kathryn. "The donkey part I haven't heard. But the witch in a ditch I recall."
Regina's muscles tensed. She cleared her throat loudly and Emma quickly returned her attention to the Mayor. "Be careful it is hot." Regina advised as she handed Emma back her bowl.
"Gotcha. Thank you." Emma took her bowl and put it down in front of her very carefully, doing her best not to spill any of the soup onto the table cloth that probably cost more than her entire outfit.
"Surely you must remember it a bit Regina. Or let me guess, you were always first."
Regina scowled playfully at Kathryn as her friend passed over her empty bowl to be filled as well. "I can assure you I haven't the slightest clue what you mean by that."
"Well she means you'd be the worst, mom." Henry shared a grin with Kathryn before offering Regina a toothy 'innocent' smile.
Regina spared him a glance that indicated he was lucky she loved him as much as she did. She filled her own bowl last and took a seat before addressing the issue Henry had risen.
"The rhyme was meant to accuse the winner of being arrogant. Second the best, merely because they were capable but did not need the attention of first place. The third if they had a hairy chest was meant to symbolize…"
Henry groaned, "You're no fun mom." He accused while rolling his eyes at his mother.
"Why I never." Regina gasped, hand pressed up against her chest in mock astonishment.
Henry giggled, and slurped a bit at his soup.
Emma and Kathryn both chuckled at the look shared between mother and son. Henry turned on the charm with a big goofy grin while Regina tried to stare him down. It appeared they were having a staring contest. Henry's eyes drooping lower and lower until they fell closed and he blinked away the moisture in his eyes. Instead of pouting he just grinned.
"First is the worst, second is the best." He chimed merrily.
"I…" Regina's mouth fell open. She had been played.
"Oh wow, nice one kid." Emma congratulated from across the table, laughing softly as Henry beamed with pride from his seat.
"Oh Regina, you should be so proud!" Kathryn shook her head good naturedly at the end of the table. "He certainly has picked up your calculating manner."
After that they all shared a comfortable silence as they enjoyed their lunch, Kathryn and Emma passing Regina and Henry some of the freshly baked bread.
"Okay, Ms. Knowledgeable. I have a question." Emma chimed in after stealing another piece of bread and dunking it into the soup in her bowl. "First, this is delicious. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Regina and Kathryn chorused together. Kathryn winking at Regina as the Mayor raised a questioning eyebrow.
"I may have let it slip that I helped." Kathryn smiled as she ate a spoonful of the soup.
"By cutting the vegetables." Regina stressed, watching Kathryn shrug away the little bit she had done. There was something more there, but Regina decided to let it go.
"Like always!" Henry saw Emma looking curiously between the two of them, obviously feeling a bit left out. "Kathryn and I always help cut up the vegetables." He hadn't yesterday, but he didn't want to mention that. He didn't want to bring up how he hadn't been feeling well enough to help out. He was ashamed of how he'd acted last night. Especially after he'd woken up and Regina had helped put on his clothes and they fit so much better than they had before he'd gone to sleep. He'd seen the Band-Aids and paper towel she'd had wrapped around her fingers this morning and he knew. She had made this day even better for him.
"Oh…" Emma nodded slowly, wondering what it would be like to be a fly on the wall of Regina's kitchen as the three cooked together. Maybe one day soon she'd find out first hand…without being the fly part.
Silence filled the room.
"What was your question, Ms. Swan?" Regina broke the slightly uncomfortable quiet.
"Yeah, Emma, what's your question?" Henry repeated. He had stopped eating a few minutes ago. Most of the vegetables were still inside his bowl but the broth had been enjoyed. He'd also only eaten a bit of his bread. Something all adults at the table noticed, but did not comment on.
"Oh geeze, put me on the spot why don't ya, kid." Emma winked at Henry, the boy blushing a bit under the attention, before she turned to Regina. "Why is fourth the king, fifth the queen, and sixth the witch in a ditch?" Emma raised a challenging eyebrow, wiggling them both to get a rise out of the woman and a laugh from Henry.
She succeeded in getting the laugh from Henry but Regina hadn't risen to the bait. She had smiled, a kind smile, though. Almost completely genuine. Even if it was a bit stiff, which was surprising enough.
"I haven't the faintest idea why fourth, fifth, and sixth would equate to being royalty and a dead witch."
Emma made a big show of opening her mouth to retort with something when the silence in the room was cut into by the shrill sound of Smooth Criminal by Michal Jackson. It rang through the air obnoxiously.
"I don't know. Annie are you okay? I don't know. Annie are you okay? I don't know why…baby. Annie are you okay? Annie are you okay? Annie would you tell us if you're okay?"
Emma sighed as she saw Ashlynn's name on the ID. Emma realized all eyes were on her. Regina's the fiercest, and the only accusing one of the three. Kathryn and Henry just seemed curious.
Sighing heavily, knowing she couldn't ignore this phone call again, Emma slowly stood up from her seat. "I'm sorry. I need to take this." She raised the phone in explanation.
"Now?" Regina questioned darkly.
Emma cringed, "It's important. I wouldn't take it otherwise." Emma tried to justify herself but the continued ring of her phone pulled her attention down to the device. "I'll be right back." She offered an apologetic smile.
"Feel free to sit here and answer it."
"It's ah…private." Emma explained before she walked out of the room into the hallway.
"Private…" Regina whispered lowly, suspiciously.
Regina glared after the woman. Her expression only softened when she felt Henry touch her hand and pat it. She saw Henry offering her a placating smile, his expression asking her to take it easy on Emma. That only made her angrier, but she did her best not to show it.
"That is why I do not bring my phone to the table."
Henry grinned, "I know, Mom."
-.-.-
"Ash?"
"Emma! Emma? My god! Emma, Jesus…! Where the fuck have you been!?" Emma cringed as she fumbled with the phone to take it off speaker phone. She walked farther away from the dining room as she cursed the new device.
From inside the dining room they could hear Emma's voice and the sudden obnoxious sound of an excited woman. Regina's scowl deepened when the other woman's words, curses, were clearly heard. Regina stood up from her seat, gently extracting her hand from Henry's.
"You know better than this. You're not stupid. Where are you? Damn it, Swan. Where the fuck are you hiding yourself? What happened? Do I need to come and get your irresponsible asinine ass?"
Regina closed the dining room doors behind her to block out the rest of Emma's conversation. She saw Henry's worried expression as they closed. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. Her body stiffening tighter and tighter the longer she heard the woman on Emma's phone speak.
For Henry. You're doing this for Henry…Regina reminded herself.
"Ash, Ashlynn. Shut up. Shut up!" Emma insisted as she heard the doors to the dining room close and turned to find Regina standing with her back to the hallway.
Regina slowly turned around, her hands gripping onto the handle of the sliding doors as she met Emma's panicking eyes. Emma swallowed nervously at the dangerously flashing brown eyes.
"I…Emma…" Ashlynn's voice perked up.
"You're on speaker phone, Ash. Shut up." Emma insisted, speaking harshly into the phone. She looked back up to Regina, holding the cell against her chest to try and block out her conversation with Regina. "Look, Regina I'm sorry. It's a new phone. I must have hit something. I'm just going to step outside, okay? I'm sorry. I wouldn't take this unless it was important. I swear."
"Regina? Regina who? Who are you apologizing too? Swan, what the hell is going on?" Came the mumbled voice from against Emma's chest. It seemed her attempt to block out her conversation had failed.
Regina ground her teeth together as she counted to ten in her head. The silence and the longer she remained silent caused Emma to fidget. For Henry…became Regina's internal mantra.
"You may use my office." Regina bit out, her movements stiff and jerky as she stepped away from the doors and led Emma down passed the larger dining room into a spacious mahogany themed office. "When you are finished, you may find us in the dining room." Regina's finger nails scraped viciously against her own palms. "Would you like tea or coffee?"
"Coffee, coffee would be great." Emma was quick to agree to anything. She preferred coffee to tea. Lived on it in the morning. Though maybe it would have been a better idea to stick with water with how jittery she already was without the caffeine in her system. "Uh, thanks."
Regina nodded rigidly before she left Emma to her phone call, closing the door behind her.
Emma waited until Regina had left the room, closed the door, and she could hear the click of her heels walking away before she lifted the phone up to her ear. "Ash?"
"Still here." Emma sighed in relief when she finally found the speaker button and took Ashlynn off of it. "Mind telling me what the hell is going on, Swan?"
"It's a long story."
"Well seeing as you missed our meeting, mandatory meeting, I'd say it's better if you tell me this long story before I put an A-P-B out on that shit car of yours."
Emma sighed, the last thing she needed was for Ashlynn to do something like that. She ran her hand through her hair as she paced back and forth in front of Regina's desk. "You know the kid?"
"What kid?"
"My kid."
"Yeah…" She sounded uncertain suddenly. "What about him?"
"He needs me."
"He contacted you!? Emma you know that that's not—"
"I know what it is and isn't, Gerard. Ugh…look. He didn't come looking for me."
"He's what, ten now?"
"Yes. And just so you know. The job you and those techs of yours did was lousy. His mother was able to find me."
"What? His mother, I don't, oh hell you don't mean…"
"Yeah, I mean she found me. If she can find me how hard do you think it would be for them to find me?"
"Shit. Shit. Okay. Alright…I'll uh. I'll get Julie to look into that immediately. That shouldn't happen -ever. Fuck. Okay….damn." Emma imaged the woman running a frustrated hand through her hair as she collected her thoughts. "We practically erased your records Emma. The only way they could get your information is if they hacked us." Which by the way Ashlynn said it, made it seem impossible. But someone had done it. Someone here in Storybrooke, Maine had done it easily enough and given the information to Regina no questions asked. That news scared Emma more than Ashlynn's geek squad being incompetent.
"Well, someone did. They got my medical and juvie records. And were even able to find where I was living." It was frustrating. None of that was supposed to happen, as Ashlynn said—ever. "She showed up at my fucking door, Ash." On her birthday no less which had landed at the tail end of Ashlynn's out of country trip.
"She what?!" There was a pause. "You should have called me as soon as she showed up!"
"I'm sorry." Emma sarcastically bit. "I was a little busy at the time."
"Busy doing what? Endangering this entire operation? Uhh…God, Swan! You can't be this dense. You're jeopardizing everything we've worked for."
"Yeah, well maybe I am dense." Emma whispered, even as her grip on the phone tightened. "Or I just realized that there are more important things."
"Oh, yeah? What could possibly be more important than this for you?"
"My son." Emma breathed. She could hear Ashlynn's sigh. "He's dying, Ash."
"WHAT?" Ashlynn hissed. "Oh man…Ems, I'm…shit, I'm sorry." Emma laughed mirthlessly. Ashlynn suddenly sounded human again, capable of having compassion instead of the emotionless drone she became when talking business.
"Yeah, me too." Emma cleared her throat, refusing to tear up over this again. She had cried far too much the last few days.
"Is there anything that can be done?"
"Yeah, there is." Emma cringed, even thinking about how her boss was going to take this.
"I'm not going to like this am I?"
Emma chuckled, "Honestly? I don't care. It's already happening. Whether you like it or not."
Ashlynn sighed. "Fine…you just gotta go and play on my human side, don't you Swan. Uhh…DAMN it." Ashlynn growled in frustration. "I need to make some calls. Just, just tell me where you are now."
Emma froze at the question, unable to curb her suspicions. "Why?"
"So I at least know where I'm driving."
Emma's eyes widened. "You, you can't come here."
"The hell I can't. I'm not leaving you alone. We're partners in this Emma."
That, almost broke Emma's stubbornness. Almost. It was nice to be considered a part of something, a single unit inside a pair. They worked well together. They always had and even with Ashlynn's gruff manner, Emma considered Ashlynn a close friend. One of the only ones she had. As nice as it would be to have her here for support, it couldn't happen.
"Not in this we're not. If you come here…" Emma let the idea of Ashlynn joining her here on Storybrooke sink in for both of them for a moment. "Look, just." Emma took a deep breath, "I'll tell you where I am. Just don't come. Not yet, alright? No one else knows where I am. I didn't tell anyone. I just, I could use your help from that end."
"I'm not happy about this-"
"I know you're not."
"-but alright, shoot. What do you need?"
Emma's shoulders fell with the weight of her relief. "I need my stuff. I'm going to be here for a while." She chewed on her bottom lip.
"How long is…a while?"
"A few months."
"Uhh…Emmmmaaaa…." Ashlynn whined. Emma knew just how much that information hit home for Ashlynn and how it had to hurt. "Okay. Your stuff. God, why…ahughadh…alright. Okay. I can handle this." Emma smirked as she imagined how she was 'handling' this news. "I still need an address to send your junk to."
"Hey! It's not junk."
"Oh, it will be when I'm through with it."
"It better arrive in the condition I left it in."
"We'll see how generous I'm feeling." Emma took a moment to look around Regina's office. She was almost startled by Ashlynn's voice when it rang through the speaker. "Emma…"
"Yeah?"
"Your address."
"Oh. Oh, uhm, okay hang on a second." Emma pulled out her wallet and found the receipt from Granny's. "I'm staying at Wolf Lodge Inn 347 Main Street, Storybrooke Maine, 04652."
"Storybrooke, Maine. 347 Main Street Wolf Lodge Inn, area code 04652. Right?"
"Yep. Ash, I am…"
"Save it. You're not sorry. And I'm not looking for you to be sorry. Just don't ignore my phone calls again." She wouldn't say it out loud but she had been worried. "Got it?"
"Got it!" Emma felt bad that the woman had worried over her. "I'm sorry I worried you."
"Yeah…" It was the pause and the deep breath Ashlynn took that spoke volumes to the depth of the woman's worry. "I'll go to your place and pack your stuff and send it to you. The essentials right?"
"Please. Oh! And my comic collection. The ah, he wants to check it out."
"Only your child….alright. Essentials and your comic collection. I'll express it. They'll be there before the weekend."
"Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah. I want the full story when you can spare the time."
"I'll call you tomorrow night."
"Deal. I uh, hope the kid gets better."
"He will."
"Good, good. Take good care of yourself Swan."
"I…" The other end clicked. "…will."
Emma stared at her phone for a few seconds more before she turned it off and put it back into her pocket along with her wallet.
-.-.-.-.-
Regina was just putting out two cups of coffee, one tea, and one warmed apple juice when Emma stepped back into the dining room. Regina only spared Emma a momentary glance before she focused on her task at hand.
"Good, ah, phone call?" Henry asked, knowing Kathryn and Regina wouldn't say anything since they were so uptight.
"Yeah. My ah, well my boss actually. I gave in my notice since I'll be here for a while. She wasn't happy about it."
Kathryn's eyes widened as she peered between Regina and Emma. She hadn't considered the negative ramifications of this surgery when it came to Emma's life.
"She won't hold the position for you?" Kathryn asked, noticing how stiff Regina had become at the news. They had all just focused on the positive aspects of this surgery, how it would help Henry, save him, give him a life. They hadn't thought about what it would do to Emma, who had a job and a life outside of Storybrooke.
They had lucked out with Mary Margaret. The surgery took place during the late Spring so she only missed two weeks of school and had the summer to heal. Henry had started rejecting the transplant eight weeks after the surgery. Too soon for Mary Margaret to be a viable donor and that was even if there was a chance they could use her as a donor again since Henry's body had already rejected it.
"'Fraid with my type of job there isn't the luxury of…holding…the position for me." Emma retook her seat.
"I'm sorry." Kathryn genuinely was and Emma could tell.
"Hey, there are other jobs out there. I'm not worried about it." Except, part of her was, but she had already dealt with those fears and concerns. The kid across from her was worth finding a 9 to 5 job, hell even going back to school if she had to.
"What do-did, you do?" Henry asked wincing as he wondered if now wasn't the best time to ask about it since Emma had just lost her job.
"I was a bounty hunter." Emma finished just before Regina could lift her hand up and stop her from saying anything. Emma peered between mother and son and shrugged. She'd already said it. "I find people for a living. It's what I do. I'm good at it."
"Bad people?"
"Sometimes they're bad. Sometimes. I mean, they're not bad. They've just done bad things. They're just lost, confused."
"So you think people that do bad things aren't always bad?"
Emma stalled for a moment, taking a sip of her black coffee. She winced at the flavor of it but took the time it gave her to think of an appropriate response. She didn't expect to see how interested, invested Henry was in her response as he leaned towards her.
"Yes, Ms. Swan, why do you think that?" Regina's eyes flashed with an emotion Emma could not place.
Whatever ground she had found by stalling, she lost, her footing not just slipping but gone. She was already half way down the hill and had no way to stop herself. The best she could hope for was some kind of soft like landing. Maybe a pile of hay.
"Things aren't black and white. Not even half of the time are they just, ah, cut and dry. Sometimes, sometimes people do bad things. They do them because that's the only option they think they have. And sometimes it is. Other times they do bad things, knowing that it's bad, but they do it anyway. That doesn't make them bad people. It just means they've made bad decisions." Emma swallowed nervously as she couldn't decide who to look at, Henry or Regina. So she didn't pick either of them. She stared down at her coffee. "I've done some bad things in my life. Some really bad things."
"Ms. Swan there is no need to—"
"No, no, look just let me finish." Emma pleaded, hoping Regina would give her this chance. She wasn't about to explain anything specific. She just wanted Henry, and maybe Regina, to understand this particular thing about her.
However, Emma waited for Regina's decision. Putting Regina on the spot now as Henry too turned to her, curious eyes following her every movement.
"Very well, explain." It sounded as if the Mayor was hard pressed to allow her this opportunity so she sought not to squander it.
Emma bowed her head in thanks. "I've hurt a lot of people. But I don't see myself as a bad person. Certainly not the villain."
"Of course you're not!" Henry laughed at the absurdity of it.
Emma frowned softly at the boy who she could only hope felt the same way when he was old enough to know what she had done. "It's not always simple Henry."
"I know." He defended himself, suddenly feeling ambushed himself.
"I just had a lot of bad things happen to or around me, Henry. I take full responsibility for my actions though. I've paid for them. I still pay for them. I just, I know the difference now. Besides, everyone deserves a second chance, right?"
"Amen to that." Kathryn quickly agreed, toasting her cup of tea to no one in particular. She, like Regina, knew Emma's background, of her criminal record, and her 'crime'. She thought Emma was handling talking about it very well without actually talking about it at all.
Henry bit the inside of his lip, "You choose to do the right things now."
Emma nodded slowly, unsure if she could consider her actions the right things, even now. "Yeah, you could say that."
"So you're trying to do good. To be a hero?"
Emma laughed softly, "I wouldn't say hero…"
"But you know what I mean…right?" Henry pressed, leaning forward, his eyes bright and shinning with such excitement that it startled Emma when she noticed the first few drops of blood fall from his nose.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Ah, Henry…"
It took Henry a moment too long to notice his nose. By then, Regina had noticed it already.
"Oh, Henry you have a nose bleed." The mayor pointed out unnecessarily as she grabbed for a napkin and stood up to hold the wadded paper up against his nose. She squatted down by his chair.
"Mom…" Henry whined in protest, but didn't fight Regina off. He peered over his fussing mother to Emma, a blush forming on his cheeks.
"Hey kid, no worries. One time I got hit in the face with a baseball. Right here…" Emma pointed to her cheek, right by her nasal cavity. "…blood gushed for hours."
"Didcha break it?" Henry asked his voice a bit nasally now but a smirk had returned to his face.
"No, no breaks thank goodness. But now I get nasty nose bleeds during the spring all the time. Have to have tissues on hand from March to June."
Emma watched Kathryn stand to check something with Henry's IV, the blonde and Regina old pros at something like this it would seem. The only outlier here was her.
Henry grinned and laughed even as Regina reached for another napkin and held it against his nose. "Alright, Mr. Mills. Lean your head back. You know the drill."
Henry did as Regina said and the two began counting to ten. When they reached ten Henry leveled his head and Regina removed the tissue. Regina remained beside Henry's chair for a few more seconds before she stood up. She ran her hand through Henry's thinning hair and kissed the top of his forehead. He ducked away but didn't comment on it. Emma smiled as she watched the maternal show of concern and affection pass between the two.
"Perhaps it's time to rest?" Regina posed it as a question but everyone in the room knew it wasn't just a question or a suggestion, it was an inevitability.
"Yeah, maybe I should get go—"
"No, please, just a little while longer." Henry begged.
"Henry, you need your rest and there are many things Ms. Swan needs to do."
"Yeah, kid. I've got a whole bunch of things to do." Emma was quick to agree, nodding her head as she stood up slowly from her seat.
"But but…"
"No buts, Henry!"
Henry's head fell in defeat. He crossed his arms and pouted firmly. He was not happy about losing this battle.
Emma ran her hands against her thighs, torn at seeing the start of tears in Henry's eyes. She steeled herself to see the tears and to remain firm. She saw Regina was doing the best she could to do the same, so it wasn't just her. Good. Because making a kid cry was certainly not on Emma's lists of things to do. It certainly didn't make her the hero Henry thought she might be.
"So, how about this. I'll come by in the next few days and collect my comic books from you then. Give you some time to look them over."
Henry looked up, his eyes still shinning with tears and lips drawn down in a pout, but the tears hadn't fallen. He sniffled them back. "Really?"
"Oh yeah. Oh and!" Emma reached down under the table where she'd hidden the bag from the toy store. "I uhm, bought these for you. I wasn't sure if you'd read them or not yet. But they seemed cool."
Emma put the bag down on the table in front of Henry and watched, fidgeting, as he pulled the comics she'd bought him out one at a time. Noting each title, each cover. It wasn't until he'd looked at the last one did he peer back up at Emma, who was shifting her weight back and forth as she swayed to and fro on her heels.
"I haven't read any of these."
"Really!?" Emma cleared her throat embarrassed with how high her voice was. "Good. I mean, yeah. Good."
Regina cleared her throat, looking pointedly at Henry, the comic books, and then over towards Ms. Swan.
"Thank you, Emma. These are great. And thanks for letting me borrow yours."
"No big thing, Henry." It wasn't like she was going on any stake outs and would need them to keep her entertained during the long hours. "I hope you like them. If you don't, you can always return those ones. Not mine, I mean, you know you can give mine back to me not the toy store ones and…"
Regina hid a grin as she stepped up beside Emma and touched her shoulder and reminded her to, "Breathe, Ms. Swan."
Emma sucked in a deep breath and blushed as mother and son laughed at her, kindly, but still laughed at her.
"Hello!?" Everyone turned to the dining room doors when the sound of the front door closing reached them. "Ladies, gentleman? I'm home." The male voice was somewhat familiar to Emma but she couldn't place it.
She looked to Henry and leaned slightly over the table as if to share a secret with him, "Graham?"
Henry nodded enthusiastically, "Yep."
"We're in here you big lug." Kathryn called down the hallway as she opened the dining room doors.
Emma watched as the woman was grabbed around the waist and pulled flush against a taller frame that bent down to kiss her. It was as they kissed that she realized Regina's hand was still resting delicately against her shoulder. She stared at the elegant definition of Regina's hand; the smooth olive skin and…
Regina cleared her throat as she removed her hand from Emma's shoulder, flexing it at her side as she tried not to acknowledge Emma and the way the blonde's eyes had been devouring her hand as if it were a juicy steak.
Emma turned towards the door, ignoring how close Regina remained, to see Kathryn push the man, who Emma recognized as the Sherriff, away from her. A single solitary disciplinary finger wagged at him.
"Don't you dare. You're late."
Emma cringed dramatically and looked to Henry with an 'ah ohh…' expression that caused the boy to chuckle.
Regina watched the display, the easy camaraderie that took a mere three hours to form, and found she didn't despise it as much as she thought she might. It was even, pleasant.
"They're always like this." Regina commented, rolling her eyes at the two lovers.
Henry and Emma looked as if they couldn't believe she had joined in their impromptu jab session. It made Regina uncomfortable.
Emma was the first to crack a smile and laugh a bit.
"I can only imagine."
"Oh, you do not wish to. Trust me, Ms. Swan."
Emma laughed a bit louder at Regina's mock shiver of revulsion. Henry didn't seem to like how far this was going, until Regina winked at him. Then he relaxed, assured that his mother wasn't actually mad or upset with Kathryn and Graham.
"So, ah, it seems I missed lunch. Afternoon Madam Mayor, young master Henry." Graham awkwardly made his way into the room and stood at the opposite end of the table then Regina and Emma, his thumbs hooked under his belt loops.
"Sheriff Graham." Henry greeted kindly.
"There is plenty left Sherriff. I am sure you had important matters to attend to about town."
Graham grinned at the Mayor, pointedly looking between Kathryn and Regina. Trying to convey something to Kathryn that Regina easily interpreted as; if the hard ass Mayor can give me some slack why can't you?
"Don't start."
"I haven't said a word."
"You were thinking about it!" Kathryn rolled her eyes at the down gazed frown Graham took on.
Regina saved them all from hearing the lovers beginning their banter a new. "Graham, this is Emma Swan." Regina gestured to the woman standing directly beside her. "Ms. Swan this is Sheriff Graham."
"Graham Dornan, pleasure to be properly introduced." Graham met Emma half way and shook Emma's hand before his fingers found his belt once again.
"Nice to meet you too." Emma sat back into her chair slowly.
"You two have met?" Regina questioned, ignoring how a chill raised up her side now that Emma was no longer standing beside her.
"Not formally." Graham explained quickly.
"Yeah, we just passed each other by at Granny's."
"Have you had Granny's homemade jam?" Henry piped up, breaking the awkward glancing contest the adults seemed to be having.
"Actually, I have. This morning. It was good."
"Isn't it? It's my favorite. And Granny's homemade chocolate chip cookies! They're delicious. With milk! You have to have it with milk!"
"I'll have to try that." Emma promised, seeing how desperately Henry wanted to continue this 'party' but his eyes were drooping and he looked much paler than he had been when she'd first arrived. It was time to say her goodbyes. She just, she hadn't expected the sudden tightness in her chest to clench so tightly, so painfully.
"Well, I was just leaving." Emma excused herself smiling as she bowed her head to Graham and Kathryn.
"I hope it's not on my behalf…?" Graham asked nervously.
"No, no, she had just been saying her goodbyes before you arrived." Kathryn assured her lover quickly.
"Ah…" Graham nodded, relieved that he was not the cause of Emma's quick departure. "Then another time. Yes?"
"Definitely." Emma shuffled her weight. "I hear you like comic books."
Graham peered at Henry for a moment before agreeing, "Yes, I do."
"So does Emma!" Henry piped up, still looking for Emma to stay. "We'll all have something to talk about!"
"Really? You? A comic fan?"
"Full blooded nerd at your service." Emma stood at attention and saluted. Emma internally groaned at her foolishness. She was doing this because things had become awkward again, and she was trying desperately to ignore the pain leaving Henry after just seeing him, meeting him, getting to know him, was causing her.
"I'll show you out." Regina came up behind Emma, her hand warm at Emma's back.
Emma's eyes widened at the touch and she stood just a bit straighter. "It was a pleasure meeting you Kathryn. Graham." Emma looked over her shoulder at Henry and felt a tidal wave of emotional dysphagia. "Hah-Henry."
Henry looked away from her without saying a word and god did it hurt. It was like being stabbed all over again, except this time there were no doctors or pills to ease the pain.
"You as well Emma." Kathryn's hand grazed Emma's shoulder as she passed the other blonde a sympathetic smile thrown in for good measure.
Emma wondered if it was just something people in Storybrooke did, constantly touch people they had just met. Were they all so tactile? It certainly seemed that way. And god…was that STILL Regina's hand at the small of her back? The hell! Did the Mayor really think she didn't know how to find her way out? She decided to ignore the touch, as much as she humanly could. Instead she focused on what she had to do the rest of the day.
As they finally made it to the front door—surely that walk had to have gotten longer since the last time Emma had strolled down it—Regina removed her hand from Emma's back and retrieved her red leather jacket.
Regina had to fight the urge to help the blonde put the jacket on over her shoulders. Instead she just handed it to her and watched as Emma shrugged it on expertly. She swallowed, suddenly nervous. She had no reason to be of course. Everything had gone smoothly. Mostly. There were things she wouldn't have wished Henry to hear, things she wished she had not heard, but they could not be taken back now. This is what Henry had wanted, it was what they had all needed, and it was over. Now they were another step closer to their goal.
"I have already made you an appointment with Lucy McGill. She is the best real estate agent in Storybrooke. She will be expecting you at six thirty." Which, Regina gazed down at her wrist watch, gave Emma three and a half hours.
"Ah, well, thanks. Where is she…"
Regina stepped over to the coat rack and pushed her coat to the side to show her purse. She dug through it for a few moments before she returned to stand in front of Emma, in her hand a business card extended. "Her information is here. She is expecting a phone call from you beforehand to confirm."
"Well, I don't really have anything else to do tonight. So, thanks. For ah, this." Emma raised the business card before she slipped it into her pocket. Emma suddenly found the floor very interesting. "And, you know. Everything. Thank you for everything."
Emma glanced around the open foyer, her eyes finding the wall of photos before she met Regina's eyes. Her own glazed with tears. The gratitude she wished to express she couldn't dream of finding the right words to say, to convey. How did one express a thankfulness as deep and heartfelt as she wished to? How could she tell Regina that she was grateful that Henry had been raised by her, has lived here, had Regina as a mother? It wasn't something someone did often, there were no guidelines or handbooks or examples she could follow.
She could just be herself and awkwardly pick up Regina's hand, hold it in both of hers, squeeze it and say, "Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, Regina. Thank you."
Regina had the good sense to know that Emma was not just talking about the afternoon meal they'd shared. Or even the chance to share this afternoon meal together with Henry. She was speaking of…everything. Everything Emma Swan recognized Regina had done for Henry, the life she had given him. The home she had raised him in, the job well done she'd accomplished in raising the baby Emma had given up, but had wanted to keep.
Regina had never needed anyone's stamp of approval. She had wanted approval only twice in her life and she had never been granted it. However she had been judged many times after and always found lacking. She had never allowed those magistrates to stop her, never allowed their opinions to matter.
Regina had always feared that she would become her mother. She would be unable to raise a child in a loving manner. It was one of her worst fears, had been since she'd decided to adopt. She had many people tell her she was a great mother. A town full of people recognized her dedication, devotion, and love she had for her son, for Henry. But she had never let it matter. Until now. Until the woman who had made it possible for her to experience all of Henry's firsts, seconds, thirds, and who was going to be responsible for letting her see him experience the rest of his firsts. It wasn't until Emma Swan that she accepted the approval. Welcomed it. Relished in it, and realized she had been craving it.
It left her speechless. She tried to speak, tried to force the words past her mouth but nothing came. Her head moved from right to left as if trying to shake the words free, but still, nothing.
"That's ah, that's all I wanted to say." Emma released Regina's hand and stepped away from the mayor. "I'll ah, will you be at the meeting? With the realtor?" Emma stared down at her hands, wringing her shirt a bit at the hem as she waited for Regina to respond, to say something, anything. "You don't have to be. I was just, you said that you wanted to be. And I'm just going to go. So, yeah. Thanks."
Emma pointed over her shoulder to the door, walked to it backwards for three steps before she turned and left the Mills mansion.
"Regina?" Nothing, no response. "Regina?" Again nothing. "Regina!" Kathryn grabbed a hold of Regina's shoulders and shook the mayor out of her daze. "Regina are you alright? What happened? Did, did Emma say something to you?" Kathryn didn't think Emma was the type to say something but she didn't know the woman well enough to be sure she wouldn't say something demeaning if given the chance.
Regina blinked away whatever had kept her silent and still. Amazement? Bewilderment? Disbelief? Fulfillment? Whatever it had been she didn't wish to relish in the feeling any longer, it made her feel…out of sorts. Unlike herself. "She…she said thank you."
"Oh." Kathryn didn't see why that would cause her friend such distress. "Henry is looking for you. He wants to talk."
"Right, right, just give me a moment. I will be right in."
"Sure, sure, take your time." Kathryn walked towards the family room, looking back to make sure Regina was truly alright before she disappeared around the corner to join Graham and Henry.
Regina took a moment to pull herself together before she followed after Kathryn. It wasn't until nearly an hour later, after she had spoken with Henry about the preparations for his upcoming surgery, that she realized she had driven Ms. Swan here.
End Chapter Fifteen
Author's Note: Thus ends one of the longest chapters of this story with the introduction of Emma's past, both recent and distant past. So, any ideas/guesses/possibilities you see happening/becoming of Ashlynn? Or from Regina and Emma? Think Regina will let Emma move in with her?
Thank you for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting This is How it Ends. I love all the emails in my inbox, they make me smile and brighten up my days. So a HUGE thanks to you all for each and everyone of them.