Emma hears the car pull up out front and feels her stomach churn again. This time she knows it will be Henry's mother on the opposite side of the door. Mary Margaret senses her friend's fear and reaches out, giving her hand a squeeze.

"It's going to be okay. Kathryn and Graham have taken care of all the legal things. Henry is safe, well fed, and sound asleep. It's going to be okay."

"I hope you're right." Emma whispers as the frantic knocking starts on the door.

Mary Margaret rises and follows behind Emma, making sure to keep a safe distance, but still stay close as well.

Emma takes a deep breath, squares her shoulders, and opens the door. On the other side is a beautiful (but obviously distraught) woman. "Hello?" Emma manages.

Regina is taken aback by the woman who answers the door. She's not at all what she was expecting. "I need to speak to your mother." She blurts out.

Emma's eyes widen and a strangled laugh slips from her lips. She can't help it, although it's obvious Regina isn't amused. "What is so damn funny?"

Emma's hands come up in a gesture of surrender. "Nothing. I just - it's not my mother you're looking for, but me." She holds out a hand. "I'm Mayor Swan - Emma Swan. And you must be Regina Mills."

Again, Regina is taken aback. "You're the mayor?" Her tone easily reveals her disbelief that Emma could hold such a position.

Emma just nods. "That's me."

And then the other part of Emma's comment registers. "You know who I am?" She sounds suspicious and defensive.

"You're Henry's mother." Emma says, the words sounding strangled, but Regina doesn't even notice.

"Henry." She gasps out her son's name. "Where is he?"

"It's okay. He's safe. He's upstairs, sleeping."

Without even being invited in, Regina pushes in and rushes up the stairs. Emma watches her go for a moment before she follows as well. "Second door on the left." She calls out, knowing instinctively that Regina will rip her house apart looking for her son.

By the time Emma reaches the top of the stairs, Regina has already flung open the door to the room Henry is in and is on the bed, grabbing her son.

"Henry!" She sobs, hugging the just waking boy tightly, as though he'll disappear if she lets go.

"Mom?" Henry's voice is sleepy as he blinks to clear his eyes. When she comes into focus and he realizes she's really there, he hugs her tightly. "Mom!"

"Henry. Henry. Henry." Regina says his name over and over again as her hands move over his body as though looking for any injuries he may have gathered on his journey.

Watching them, Emma feels her heart clench. The little boy on the bed may be the child she gave birth to, but he is obviously Regina's son. And Regina is obviously his mother. She quietly moves back to the stairs, going down to join Mary Margaret again. She doesn't want to intrude on the family moment.

"Henry!" Regina gasps as she pulls back to look him over. "What on earth were you thinking? Why would you run away like that?"

Henry reads the panic and pain on his mother's face easily. She may be able to wear a mask in front of everyone else, but she can't keep it on in front of him. "I'm sorry, Mom." He says softly. "And I'm okay. I knew you'd find me. And I had to find her."

"I will always find you." Regina assures, fiercely. "But who did you have to find, Henry? And why couldn't you tell me about it?"

"Emma." Henry tells her, swallowing. "I found Emma. She's my birth mom."

"Emma, what's going on?" Mary Margaret asks as she sees Emma coming back down the stairs, a heartbroken look on her face. She remembers that look from the early days of Emma's stay in Storybrooke, when she'd been haunted by so many things.

"She's with Henry. And I didn't want to intrude."

Mary Margaret moves over to her. "Are you okay?"

"She's his mom." Emma murmurs the truth that seems to cut as it comes up her throat. "She's going to take him back."

"Oh Emma."

Emma shakes her head. "I'm fine." Mary Margaret shoots her a look that plainly says she doesn't believe her. "Okay, maybe I'm not fine. But I'll be okay. You should go on home."

Mary Margaret opens her mouth to protest, but at Emma's look she closes it again. "You'll call?" It's a question, but there's no denying the demand in the statement.

Emma inclines her head in agreement. Mary Margaret hugs her tightly before finally leaving the mansion.

It's not even a full minute after the door closes behind Mary Margaret that Regina comes bounding down the steps, her eyes blazing. Henry is trailing after her, protesting, but she will not be stopped.

"You're Henry's birth mother?" The words are flung down at her and Emma flinches just slightly at them.

She suddenly wishes she hadn't changed out of her skirt and blazer. Maybe if she was still in her mayoral clothes, she'd feel more confident. But she isn't and she doesn't, so she offers up a forced smile and a weak, "Hi."

"Mom! Stop!" Henry tries again, but Regina is already moving into Emma's personal space.

"You think that you can take him from me? You think that just because you're the mayor of some rinky dink little town that that gives you any right to -"

"Whoa. Whoa." Emma holds her hands up again, stepping back out of Regina's way. "Listen, I already talked to my lawyer and -"

The second after she says it, Emma realizes how that statement can be taken, but by then it's too late. Regina is back in her space again and if looks could kill, she would be dead.

"You have no right! No right! You gave him up! You threw him away! He is my son!"

"No, no!" Emma says quickly, shaking her head. "I didn't mean - I'm not trying to -"

"Mom!" Henry calls again, grabbing Regina's arm. "Stop it."

Regina calms then, just slightly and Emma holds her hands up once again in a gesture of surrender. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I am not trying to take your son."

"Then why did you talk to your lawyer?" Regina obviously doesn't trust her and Emma can't blame her.

"Because I know the rules around the adoption. I wasn't to have contact with Henry. And I swear to you, until he showed up at my office, I didn't even know his name. I'm not trying to take him. You're his mother." Regina slowly begins to relax at Emma's words. "I was trying to get in touch with you - to get him back to you. I didn't want you to think that I was trying to kidnap him or anything, and my lawyer was the first person I could think of to contact. Our town sheriff has been in touch with the Boston PD, trying to get in touch with you. Henry wasn't exactly… forthcoming with information about you."

Regina looks down at her son, who is now staring at the floor. "Henry? Is that true?"

Henry only nods, his eyes still downcast.

"Henry, why wouldn't you tell them about me?"

Henry lifts his head, looking first at Emma and then over at his mother. Emma sees the sheen of tears covering his eyes. "I didn't want them to try to take me back." He whispers.

"What?" Regina sounds shattered at that moment and Emma suddenly wishes that she wasn't in the room. "Why wouldn't you want to come back?"

Henry swallows visibly and Emma thinks about slipping out of the room to give them privacy, but his next words stop her in her tracks. "I knew that if you wanted me, you'd come find me. And if you didn't, then I thought maybe Emma would keep me and -"

"If I wanted you? Henry, what -"

"I heard you, Mom."

"What did you hear?" Regina asks, clearly not knowing what her son is referring to.

"I heard you tell that guy the other night about how hard it is to be a single mom. How much work it is. How sometimes you wish -" His little voice cracks and both Emma and Regina's hearts crack along with it. "How sometimes you wish you weren't."

Regina drops to her knees and Emma envies her that opportunity, because she feels her own buckling, but she forces herself to stay standing. Whatever problems are between Regina and Henry are their own. She needs to stay strong and stay out of it. She straightens her back, forcing herself to project the image of a mayor.

"Oh Henry, no." Regina reaches for him but he shakes his head and pulls back.

"So I went looking for information about my birth mom and then when I found out about Emma - about how she was the mayor and had a steady job and lived in a nice town - I thought that maybe she'd want me back for a while. And then you wouldn't have to worry about me and you could come find me later when you wanted me again."

Regina pulls Henry into her arms quickly, nearly crushing him with the force of her hug. "No. No, Henry. Don't you say things like that. I want you now. I always want you. You are my son. Those things I said, I didn't mean them. I was just working. You know that sometimes I have to say things I don't mean when I'm working."

Henry smiles sadly and slips out of her arms. "You did mean what you said, Mom."

Tears slip down Regina's cheeks and Emma realizes that Henry has inherited her 'superpower' of knowing when someone is lying. She also knows that whatever Regina might have said, she never meant for her son to hear it or that she didn't want him.

"Henry," she says, her own voice sounding slightly choked up, so she clears her throat before continuing, "whatever your mom said, I'm sure that she did mean it."

"How dare you -" Regina starts, but Emma kneels down to face Henry, ignoring Regina's angry words.

"It is a really hard job to be someone's mom." She reaches out and gently brushes hair out of Henry's face, looking at his eyes and remembering him as the tiny baby she'd held in her arms. "There are some people who can't do it, who aren't cut out for it. People like me, when I had you. I wasn't always the mayor. I didn't always have a good life. And I knew that I wouldn't be able to be the mom you needed then. Honestly, I don't know if I'd be able to be the mom you needed now."

Henry nods slowly, showing he understands what she's saying so far.

"But then, there are other people who are made to be moms. People like your mom. They will do whatever it takes, no matter how hard it might be, even when sometimes they feel like they can't keep doing it. Especially if they're doing it all by themselves. But they do. Because they love their children so much and that wins over everything else." She smiles softly at him, wiping away tears in a motion that is slightly unsure.

Emma glances at Regina and then looks back at Henry. "I'm sure that everything your mom said about being a single mom was true. I'm sure it's hard and I'm sure that there are days when she wishes that she didn't have to do it alone. But you have to trust me on this when I tell you that no matter how hard it is, she loves you and she's in this for the long haul. She wouldn't have adopted you - chosen you - if she wasn't. And she wouldn't have come all this way to find you if she wasn't. Okay?"

Henry glances between the two women and then finally nods. "Okay, Emma."

"Okay." Emma smiles and then stands up again.

Regina also straightens and stares at Emma for a few moments before she looks back down at her son. "Well," she says, her voice taking on a hard edge, "thank you very much, Mayor Swan, for watching over my son until I could get here to bring him home."

"Of course." Emma says softly, aware that the woman is staking claim.

"We will be getting out of your way now."

"No!" Henry says vehemently, shaking his head. "We can't leave!"

"Henry." Regina cautions.

"No." Henry says again, rushing for Emma. "Don't make me leave! You said you'd help."

"Kid, I never -"

"Please, Emma, please."

Emma can see the pain on Regina's face and the worry on Henry's. She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath before she opens them again. "Look, it's getting late, and you've both had long days. Why don't you stay for the night and then tomorrow -"

"Yes!" Henry exclaims at the same time that Regina says, "That won't be necessary."

"Miss Mills, please. I have more space than I know what to do with. And if you want, I can even go stay with my friend Mary Margaret."

Regina's eyebrow raises at that. "You'd leave two strangers alone in your house overnight?"

Emma shrugs. "I know who both of you are. I don't think you'd do anything crazy. And if you did, the sheriff is a friend so…"

"That won't be necessary."

"Mom! Please!" Henry begs.

"We will stay," Regina assures Henry softly, "but Mayor Swan does not need to leave. It is her home, after all."

Little arms wrap around Regina's waist tightly. "Thank you!"

"And we leave first thing in the morning, Henry. No arguments."

Henry looks at his mother and can see the determination there. She's angry and hurt about everything but she's still doing this because she knows he wants to. He nods his agreement. He'll just have to get to Emma quickly.

"Let me show you up to the guest rooms." Emma says quietly, trying to break the tension.

She's in her home office, staring out at the apple trees that grow in her back yard, when she hears the door open. She turns, unsurprised to see Henry slipping into the room.

"Henry," she uses the 'mom' voice again, "it's late. You should be sleeping."

"I know, but I had to talk to you about Operation Cobra."

Emma's eyebrows raise. "Operation Cobra?"

"I don't want to leave, Emma. And I need your help." Henry says as he climbs up on the sofa that sits by the fireplace in the office.

Emma moves to sit down beside him with a sigh. "Kid, I can't help you here. I have no rights. And you know that your mom loves you. So please -"

"No, Emma, I don't mean like that. I mean - I want you to convince my mom that she should stay here in Storybrooke too."

"What?"

Henry gets quiet then and she watches as he fidgets for a bit before he looks back up at her. "We move all the time. We never stay in one place."

Emma knows that feeling.

"And my mom's job is really dangerous."

"Bail bondsperson?" Emma knows that Henry had said Regina had to go all over the place to track people down, but she still can't imagine that helping to put up money for people's bail is that dangerous.

"People skip out on bail a lot more than you'd think." Henry says, sounding much older than ten. "Mom has to go after them. And a lot of times they don't want to be found."

Emma exhales as she realizes what Henry is telling her. Regina is, essentially, a bounty hunter. "How often does your mom come home hurt?"

"A lot." Henry whispers, the tears back in his eyes. "Please, Emma, can't you do something? I don't want her to get hurt anymore."

"What do you want me to do? How do you think that I can help?" Emma honestly doesn't have the first idea about what to do in this situation.

"I don't know." Henry nearly wails. "You're the mayor. Can't you give her a job or something? Then we could stay here and we wouldn't have to move and she'd be safe and I could see you, too."

Emma sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. "Henry, it's not that simple. And even if it were - I gave you up in a closed adoption. The rules are that we're not even supposed to know about each other, let alone see each other."

Henry frowns at that, getting off the sofa. "I don't want her to be hurt anymore. Please, Emma. You're my only hope."

"Kid, I -"

"You're my mother! You're supposed to help me!" He cries and it shatters her already cracked heart into a million pieces. She's spent ten years healing and building up walls around her heart and herself and in the span of one day, Henry has managed to knock all of that to the ground.

"Henry." She tries, but he's already out of the room and Emma's eyes slip closed, tears sliding down her cheeks. She drops her head into her hands and allows the sobs to come.