Emma felt her heart flutter with happiness as she watched her son and the big curly black dog play. She has always wanted to be able to have a dog. However none of the foster homes ever had one. Once Henry was born it was all about making enough money to meet Henry's basic needs. Emma thought to herself that as soon as they were settled into life here, they would get a dog.

"Come on bud, go to the toilet before you wet yourself." She smiled and led her son to the bathroom. After he was done she went to the bathroom herself and told him to wait in the hall. When she was finished she walked back into the hall and panicked as she couldn't see her son where she left him. Emma was disorientated by the sheer size of the mansion and she ended up looking through a few different rooms before she finally found Henry with Ruby crouched down.

"Henry? Ah finally there you are, I told you to wait for me." She paused as she saw a nervous looking woman up at her from a wheelchair. Emma put on her best smile to try and ease her nerves and walked over to the woman, "Hey there I'm Emma, I see you've met this chatterbox already. You must be Regina."

Regina looked down and gave the tablet back to Henry before rushing out of the room not even acknowledging Emma. Regina had to get out of that room as soon as she saw the stunning woman. Her heart was beating hard in her chest as she managed to get into the kitchen and her body was in so much pain.

Emma arched her eyebrow up as Regina left and gave Ruby a questioning look. Ruby gave her a apologetic smile and squeezed her shoulder. "She's not feeling to great and isn't used to visitors."

Emma nodded in understanding, "And we have just barged in unannounced into her home. Can you apologise to her for me?"

"I will do. I best go to her and see how she is." Ruby explained. "I have to say, she likes him, I can tell."

"Yeah? Well he is a pretty lovable kid." Emma smiled and ruffled his hair. "But it's time to go now kid, we need to get you ready for your first day of school tomorrow."

"Yay! I can't wait." He punched the air in excitement before giving a last hug and scratch behind the ears.

Emma shook her head in amusement, "Come on buddy, say goodbye to Ruby and we'll go." The pair hugged and Emma hugged Ruby before leaving.

Regina opened the fridge and took a cold bottle of water out and closed the door. She tried to open the bottle but it hurt so much and she couldn't break the seal. In the end she threw it on the floor in anger and let out a cry of frustration. She wanted a scotch but no one would let her keep alcohol in the house anymore. Not since the hospital admission a year ago. She wanted to drown herself in the alcohol and forget how miserable her existence was now. Before Robin, before the illness that had changed her life so dramatically for the worse, Regina would have definitely tried to flirt with Emma. But now she was a mess and disgusting she thought. Before she started to get some aches and pains, Regina was always immaculately dressed. The majority of the time she was in expensive skirt or pant suits. Her hair was never a strand out of place and her makeup perfect for any occasion. Her hair would never be long enough that it touched past her shoulders either unlike now, where it reached halfway down her back. It was currently greasy and up in a messy bun. Regina always knew she was attractive but now she felt anything but. She couldn't even remember the last time she took any care in her appearance. It was probably over a year ago, she mused.

Ruby found her with her head in her hands and tugging at her own hair in frustration. She raced over and gently pulled her hands away so she could stop hurting herself. It took a little bit of effort as Regina was putting up a fight but she soon lost the energy to.

"Shhhh Sweetie...I'm here." She cooed again and kissed her forehead as she held her hands. "Would you like a cup of tea while I do dinner?" Ruby asked and knelt in front of her.

Regina bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head in anger. She didn't want any damn tea. She gave her a weak push and made her way to the patio doors and opened them up with a struggle. Noodle had followed Regina in after Henry had left and hadn't left her side. He followed her to the door and licked at her hand once the doors were opened and kept nudging at it. She felt so angry at the world but having Noodle there wanting to give her comfort, helped slowly calm herself down. Regina struggled to stroke him because of the fatigue and pain that was now starting to crush her. It was like he sensed she was struggling so he put his head in her lap instead and kept still. Big brown eyes looked up and watched her.

Ruby was in the doorway and watched her with Noodle. Once she saw the woman was a bit calmer she went to do their dinner. She decided to warm up some soup in a mug as she could tell Regina would struggle eating after how her emotional outburst.

She warmed up some bread and buttered it then put that with a mug of nutritious soup on a tray. She walked out to the patio and placed it on the black wrought iron table with a glass cover. Regina had transferred over to one of the sun loungers so she could stretch out and be more comfortable. Ruby spoke softly about the meal she had brought her and went to fetch them both blankets. It wasn't freezing but it wasn't really warm either. Ruby gently put a few fluffy blankets over her and a cushion for her head then placed the tray onto her lap.

Ruby knew Regina preferred silence after an episode and she gave her that as they ate. Once Ruby had finished her own food and Regina had eaten most of her own, she took the tray off her lap and sat on the lounge next to her. She took her hand and held it in Regina's lap. Regina made no effort to hold her hand back, she left it limp.

"Henry is adorable, isn't he?" Ruby commented as she watched the sunset.

Regina only gave a slight nod of her head to show her agreement. She did think he was adorable and so full of life. Part of her was jealous and the other twisted part wondered how long it would take him to realise just how awful the world is. Regina wasn't happy with Ruby though. She had bought strangers into her house without telling her. A beautiful stranger with the cutest smile and the cutest child saw how disgusting she was. With a scowl she gave Ruby's hand a harsh push away. She wasn't just unhappy, she was angry with her. While whimpering quietly from the pain she transferred back into her wheelchair and used the through floor lift to go upstairs.

Ruby kept calm throughout, used to Regina's changing moods. Ruby and Noodle followed Regina up to the bedroom. Regina was exhausted and was close to tears from the mental and physical pain. She didn't want Ruby to help her get dressed but she was too tired to fight. Once she was dressed and used the bathroom, Regina got into bed and Noodle lay next to her, giving her face kisses. Ruby prepared her for the night and took her medication out of the safe. She brought up a few bottles of water and placed them on her bedside table. She watched Regina take the medication to make sure she wasn't hiding meds again. Regina lay down against her pillows and turned away from Ruby. Ruby bent over and kissed her head. "Love you Gina, I'm going to take Noodle for his walk. I'm sorry you weren't warned about the visit, but Henry really needed to pee." She apologised and left the room after no indication that she had been heard.

Regina pulled the duvet higher up to her face and made sure she heard the front door go before she burst into tears.