CHAPTER 9

When Emma got back to the house with her things, she was pretty happy to see Henry and Regina on the sofa snuggled up together watching a movie. The two of them had come through such a rough time. She hadn't thought any of them would ever make it back. But she was glad they had.

Emma finished unloading her car. She put her boxes into Regina's bedroom. She would unpack later. Now she wanted to enjoy her family.

She walked into the den and gave Regina a puppy dog look until Regina relented and lifted a corner of blanket. Henry was leaning into her on the opposite side and Emma jumped into the empty space that Regina had created for her. "Hi," Regina smiled over at her.

Emma's breath hitched, "Hi," she whispered as she leaned back and opened her arms for Regina to fit herself into her body. She grabbed a handful of Regina's hair and pulled her back against her. She kissed her long and slow. Her lips tenderly glided across Regina's own.

"Shh, you two are breaking my concentration," Henry complained.

Regina gave him a playful shove to which he smiled. He then laid himself across her body. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a small squeeze.

Emma just took it all in with a huge smile. Regina was lying across her and Henry was lying across Regina. She moved her hand down Regina's side until it came across a part that wasn't occupied by Henry. She splayed her hand across her still flat tummy. Whenever she doubted her decisions, it was scenes like this that strengthened her resolve.

Neal and Emma made small talk while they sat in a booth and waited on their order to arrive. Henry had been sitting and glaring at Emma. He was refusing to speak. That was fine with her. She and Neal carried the conversation. Then Regina walked in.

Emma had just raised her drink to her lips. She watched her order at the counter while she began sucking on her straw gathering up the courage to walk over to her and try apologizing again. That was why she never saw the way that Henry had turned from glaring at her to glaring over at Regina. She was focused so completely on Regina she hadn't even noticed that he'd leapt up and stomped over to her.

Henry was confused why Emma didn't see things his way. Why she couldn't understand that their happy ending was having their entire family together. He'd have his Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa. They were supposed to be happy now. That had been the reason for her breaking the curse. It was the way things were supposed to be.

He stomped over to Regina. He knew she was behind all of this. She probably had Emma under some spell or something. But he'd be the hero this time. He knew how to get rid of her. He stormed over to her and began yelling, "I HATE YOU! ALL YOU EVER DO IS RUIN EVERYTHING! I WISH YOU'D JUST GO SOMEWHERE AND LEAVE US ALL ALONE! NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE!" Henry turned the corners of his lips down in a sneer. "Evil Queen," he snarled at her. He knew he'd hurt her. He could see it in her eyes.

The entire diner had fallen silent as he had begun to vent his rage. Even though he had said the last two words softly, everyone heard it loud and clear. There were some audible gasps that could be heard while everyone waited to see what would happen next.

Regina had turned at the shouting with a surprised look on her face that quickly turned to shock then hurt. She looked over at Emma who was sitting speechless in the booth. Before Emma's brain could catch up and tell her legs to start moving over there, Regina threw her one last look filled with so much pain Emma's heart broke. Her eyes were swimming with the unshed tears pooling in her eyes. Regina turned and left the diner without uttering one word.

Once she was out of sight, Emma's brain finally snapped back on. She marched up to Henry and grasped his arm, jerking him back towards her, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Who do you think you are to talk to your Mother that way?" She was now yelling just as loud as Henry had except she didn't care.

Henry wrenched his arm away from her, "She's not my Mother, you are. And she needs to leave us alone. We have a family and she's trying to ruin everything just like she always does. I won't let her."

Emma looked at her son with something close to disgust on her face. She had never thought she'd be the type of parent to use physical punishment but the kid was really pushing it. Thankfully Ruby called out their order just before she had a chance to respond.

Emma looked at Ruby and then back at Henry. "Go sit down," she grit out through her teeth.

Ruby dropped take out bags onto the counter. "I wrapped it so that you can have your meal to go." Emma looked at her in surprise as Ruby crossed her arms over her chest and continued frowning over at Emma. "Maybe you should start eating at Country Bread's. Or learn to cook. I don't think this place is for you and," Ruby looked past her at Henry. She wore the same look that Emma had while she'd watched him during his tantrum, "your kid."

"You need to look into getting him over to see Archie. He definitely needs it," Granny bit out as she frowned over at Henry. "That was just despicable. And I'm not having any of that in my place." She moved away from the counter and went over to tend to other customers.

Emma colored and grabbed the bags. She walked over to the table. "Come on," she had to swallow multiple times to loosen the lump that had lodged itself in her throat.

"I thought we were eating here," Neal said as he slid from the booth.

Emma looked at Henry's face scrunched into an unbecoming scowl. She glanced at Ruby and Granny who were both watching her obviously waiting for them to leave. Granny and Ruby were some of her closest friends. Emma knew she needed to make things better.

She turned without answering and headed back to the inn. She spent the entire way there trying to calm herself. Unfortunately the short walk seemed even shorter with her long impatient steps.

They walked up to her room and she checked the bags. She handed Neal his food and told him that they'd talk to him later. She needed some time alone with Henry. Once the door shut she stared over at him. Henry had kicked off his shoes and settled onto the little cot that would become his bed. He began going through one of the boxes of his things that was sitting on the bed as if nothing had happened. His attitude only served to incite Emma even more.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She barked over at him.

Henry jumped. He looked up startled at her words and the tone she'd used. He wasn't used to being disciplined by Emma. He felt he was a great kid and didn't really need to be disciplined. "What?" he asked genuinely confused.

Emma gnashed her teeth as she stood over him. She stood with her arms akimbo, "You just humiliated me and yourself in the diner. Ruby just threw us out because of you and I'm not even sure if we're allowed back."

"We got thrown out?" Henry seemed genuinely surprised. Then he started to get angry and sprung up not bothering to take in the look that Emma was giving him, "They should throw her out! She's the Evil Queen!"

Emma bent down until she was practically nose to nose with him. Her voice held a dangerous quality to it and the look in her eyes told Henry he was on thin ice. He gulped at the intensity. "This is the last time that I'm going to say this. DON'T YOU EVER CALL YOUR MOTHER THAT NAME EVER AGAIN! SHE RAISED YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU BEHAVE?!" Henry's heart began to beat fast and honestly he was a little scared. His chest tightened up and he looked to the door as if hoping for an escape. He blinked rapidly to hold his tears at bay.

Emma ignored it all. She was tired of his attitude and his smart mouth. She blamed her parents for his behavior. "No matter what she did in the past, she has NEVER been the evil queen with you. And you dare call her that and say all those ugly things to her? She's having my baby. And she's the woman that I love. I don't care that you want me and Neal to be together. THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! HE LEFT ME ALONE AND PREGNANT IN PRISON FOR HIS CRIMES! I do not now nor will I ever love Neal."

"And YOU," Emma punctuated her words with a finger that she jabbed into Henry's chest. Henry flinched away. "DO NOT get to tell me or any other adult how they will behave or who they have to be with. If you ever talk like that to her again then I promise you, you really won't like what comes next. Your free passes are over. I'm sick of your behavior and so is everyone else. As soon as I can, I'll make an appointment for you to see Archie. In the meantime, I'm going to take a walk because the sight of you right now is disturbing me. I expect you to be in bed when I get back. And if you leave this room at all for ANY reason, you won't like what's going to happen to you." Emma grabbed the key off of the dresser and stomped out leaving Henry alone.

Henry dropped onto the bed stunned. He began to cry. He was a little scared of the way Emma was behaving. No one ever talked to him like that. Even Regina had never raised her voice or sounded so menacing to him. He was unsure of what to make of it.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXO

Emma walked over to the mansion. She tried beating at the barrier once more but to no avail. She kicked at it before making her way down to the Rabbit Hole. She spent the night there drowning her sorrows before heading back to the inn. She was just about to pack it in and make her way back to the inn when she had an unwelcome guest.

"I see you've had a party for one," Gold took in the empty bottles that were lined up in front of her.

Emma glowered in his direction but couldn't be bothered for more. She reached in her pocket and threw a few dollars on the counter. She was about to leave when Gold handed her a card. "What's this?"

"It's how you'll reach me so that I can fix this mess you've made." And with that he vanished.

Emma stared at the card confused. But she had more important things to worry about. She thrust it in her pocket and headed to her new home, the inn.

Thankfully Henry was asleep when she got in. She was glad. She had no idea what she'd say to him. She wasn't sure she'd be able to hold her temper in control for too much longer. That kid sure knew how to push her buttons and he didn't seem to understand the meaning of stop at all. He was even worse than she was as a child. And that wasn't a good thing. Emma threw off her jeans and pulled on a pair of pajama shorts. She jumped into bed and let the alcohol help her drift away into oblivion.