I'm so so so sorry for the late update guys! This chapter was really hard to write, so I ended up working on y other fics and then got back to this and didn't publish until I was pleased with it So sorry for giving you guys such an inconsistent author. Thanks again to my amazing reviews who made this update possible. And I promise, the next update should be up very soon.

Important note: Originally I was going to publish a big arse chapter but realized I made an error, so I split the chapter into two until I fix the second one up. So the second update should be up tomorrow night or Wednesday morning at the very latest. In this one, I wanted to explore Henry's and Regina's relationship more, because this part is crucial for future chapters. Though I promise, more Regina/David moments will be up in the next chapter! Thanks again for reading guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time

XI: A New Leaf

Regina folded her arms to shield her chest from the chilly wind that snuck under her dress, causing her to shiver. She walked up the steps, mentally preparing herself for her son's suspicions and Emma's scrutiny, but after tonight she couldn't care less. A secret smile still graced her lips as she lent back against the door, blissfully sighing as the memories drifted back to her. Really, what did Emma's suspicions matter when she would have the chance to spend every free moment with the man she loved?

Regina swung the door open and walked in, immediately greeted by the heavily lit hallway and a loud thud. Frowning, she followed the noise and saw Emma, who had evidently fallen from the couch. She stood up and rubbed her head as she yawned widely.

" Ms. Swan, I see you had a nap," Regina greeted in her usual professional tone, examining the woman with an icy stare. " But I trust Henry's well?"

Emma rubbed her eyes as she walked towards Regina, wincing at the brightness. " Yeah, he's fine. He went to sleep a few hours ago, and I guess I dozed off at-" Emma paused and checked her watch, her eyes widening at the time. " It's eleven o'clock!"

Regina pursed her lips as she placed her handbag on the glass table. " Yes, unfortunately the meeting ran over time."

Emma's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she took another step towards Regina, holding her gaze. " And do the meetings often run this late?"

Regina raised her eyebrows. " I fail to see how this is any of your business Ms. Swan, but if you must know, no, of coarse not. Do you honestly think I'd leave Henry home alone for that long?"

Emma didn't reply, knowing the consequences if she said yes, and she didn't fancy a long and strenuous argument with Regina.

" Okay, no of coarse not," she said, holding a hand up in defense. " Well, Henry wanted to go out for breakfast tomorrow, and I promised him I'd take him to Granny's so…" Emma's voice trailed off as she held her breath, fearing the answer.

Regina's heart sank like a ship enveloped by crashing waves, but should she really be surprised? After all, Henry seemed to have been spending most of his meals with Emma lately. Then she remembered tomorrow morning and another day she no doubt planned on spending with David, and her heart swelled.

" Very well then, but I've been ensuring that Henry maintains a nutritional diet, so don't feed him any of the usual junk you give him."

Emma blinked, completely taken back at her answer. " Um, no of coarse not. So I'll pick him up tomorrow morning then?"

Regina suddenly noticed Henry's damp, drenched "Once Upon a Time" book laying on the dining table, the ends of the pages dripping with water. Her eyebrows knitted in a frown as she approached it. Emma followed her, her eyes creased with sadness and guilt.

" It's my fault, I asked Henry if I could have a read because I know these stories mean so much to him. But it slipped from my hands when we were walking back from the restaurant and landed in a puddle."

Regina opened the book, the wet pages sticking together, the print was faded and the cover stained. " I'm sure he was devastated," Regina said softly, already imagining Henry's crestfallen face but knew that he wouldn't let Emma know.

Emma put her hands in her pockets and nodded. " Well, I should get going."

Regina nodded and walked Emma towards the door before Emma hesitated, turning around. She peered closely at Regina, tilting her head to the side.

" Something the matter Sheriff Swan?"

Emma's finger gestured to the side of her neck. Regina's fingers crept underneath her hair and ran up her neck until they ran across a patch of red, blemished skin: a hickey. She swallowed and cleared her throat.

" Must have been a bug, god knows they've been infesting the air these past few days," she said hastily, brushing her hair over her neck to cover the mark. "Well, you best be in your way. Good night Ms. Swan, and thank you for looking after Henry whilst I was away."

She gestured towards the door, but knew that Emma wasn't convinced, and she could always detect a lie.

"Night," she muttered as she left, hurrying down the steps to her car. She shook her head incredulously as she stifled a laugh, who knew the Mayor had a secret lover?

…

Regina plugged in the hairdryer and placed Henry's book down, knowing full well that Emma had an idea of what she was doing tonight, but she was going to find out soon enough anyway. Even so, it was embarrassing, yet satisfying at the same time. Perhaps she felt happy, proving to Emma that she wasn't completely loathed by all of Storybrook and capable of having a love interest?

Regina began to gently flip through the pages, sighing when she realized how severe the damage was. She returned to the cover and turned on the hairdryer, hovering the appliance over the stained over, drying the front cover as she let out a yawn. Her eyes cast towards the clock which read 11:30, she desperately wanted to go to bed, but knew that the book would be to late to save by then. A small smile tugged on her lips as she silently reveled at the 'Savior's' incapability to mend the book, maybe this was something only a mother could do. After what seemed like hours, though it was only about 5 minutes, Regina stopped the hairdryer and ran her fingers down the front page, satisfied: it had worked. The cover was less fragile and now dry as she flipped it over and began to dry the next page. The moments passed before she paused the instrument, running her fingers down the page she gently lifted the page, it was dry and though the text was faded and the pages dirty, it was still readable. She turned to the next page. Regina let out a glum sigh as she continued her work, knowing that this would be a long night, but her son's delighted face fueled her to keep on going. And so she did.

…

Henry scratched his head and yawned, stretching his arms as he trudged down the stairs. An excited smile crept on his lips as he realized it was Saturday and that he would be spending the morning with Emma, they hadn't discussed operation cobra in a while, and Henry was eager to set the plan back into action. Starting with Regina. His suspicions of his mother had continued to escalate these passed days, and when she didn't come home last night, (which was extremely rare, his mum's meetings never ran this long), he knew she was up to something.

Henry went to the kitchen and poured a glass of orange juice before he frowned, he glanced around the kitchen, his mother was usually up by now. He made his way to the living room where he planned to spend his usual morning watching the weekend cartoons when he stopped, his eyes widening at the sight.

Regina was sleeping on the couch, the hairdryer held loosely in her hand and her arm hanging over the couch.

" Mum?"

Regina stirred at the sound before she slowly sat up, yawning. She groggily sat up and dropped the hairdryer on the floor, rubbing her eyes.

" Mum, what are you doing here?"

She was still dressed in her work attire, her hair was a tangled birds nest, bags hung under her eyes and she still had her high heels on. Regina began to unstrap her shoes, rubbing her aching feet.

" I was up all night dear, drying out your book," she said sleepily, her hand on her forehead as she groaned at the piercing headache.

Henry's eyebrows knitted in a frown as his eyes followed hers; he gasped when he saw his book on the glass table. He hurried over to it and delicately picked it up, it was dry. He ran his hands over it before he flipped through the pages, his face lighting and his heart pounding with excitement. The pages were still delicate and rough, but now he could make out most of the texts and pictures. Regina's heart melted at the sight of her son's happiness. Henry turned back to her, the book in his hands, but the frown returned.

" Wait, you stayed up all night to fix it?" He stared at the book again, flabbergasted, then at the hairdryer. " You dried each and every page?"

Regina shrugged her shoulders sheepishly, letting out another yawn. " Yes dear, Ms. Swan told me about her careless actions," she said, not caring to hide the bitterness in her voice.

Fuck, she was tired from two hours of sleep, she had a pounding migraine and her body was aching all over. The last thing she cared about was the way she spoke about Emma.

Henry still shook his head with disbelief, staring at the book. He couldn't understand his mother's intentions behind this act, and he always thought that he could.

" But why did you do it?"

Regina was taken back at the question. She approached her son with wobbly steps and knelt down to his level. " Henry, I do love you, and I only want you to be happy. I know how much this book means to you."

Henry stared back at his mother's warm, sincere eyes, and for once in a long time he believed her. He tried to gather his thoughts and figure out why she was being so nice, but it was all so confusing, and all that made sense was that she was right. Maybe she did love him, even though she was the Evil Queen.

" Thank you," Henry said softly, and for once he meant it.

He was about to leave the room before he hesitated, turning around he wrapped his arms around his mother's waist, his eyes shut as he felt his mother's warmth envelop him, and he really did miss the feeling. Regina's heart melted like ice cream, her face softening as she returned his hug in a tight embrace, shutting her eyes. It had been years since he had last willingly hugged her. When Regina finally released him she looked down, her hands slid down his shoulders as a smile graced her lips.

" Now, I assume Ms. Swan will be picking you up soon? Though punctuality has never been one of her greatest gifts, you should get ready."

Henry bit his lip as he pondered his decision. His heart yearned to go and spend the day with Emma, eat the greasy, fatty food Regina always forbade him to eat, go to the park and perhaps get some ice cream later on. Yet, as he stared into his mother's chocolate eyes, a part of him urged him not to stay. He still couldn't believe that she mended his book for him, and more importantly, that she really did care for him. He knew that there was no hidden intention behind her gesture, but that she loved him, and was willing to stay up all night just to mend his book. And though Henry wouldn't usually admit it, he still did have a soft spot for his mother somewhere, and wanted her to be happy.

" Actually," he said slowly. " I don't really feel like Granny's today, I was hoping if I could have pancakes for breakfast today."

Regina raised her eyebrows at her son. " Pancakes?"

Henry smiled slightly and nodded. " Like the ones you used to make me, with the little chocolate chips inside and ice cream."

Regina's eyes widened at his request as she stood up. " You want me to make pancakes?"

" I know it's not healthy," Henry quickly said hurriedly. " But I was hoping…yeah, if we could have pancakes."

Regina's lips melted in a smile, completely touched, she knew how important spending the day with Emma meant to him.

" Of course, we can have pancakes. Come on, you grab the chocolate chips and I'll start the mixture," she gave him a small wink and almost laughed when she saw her son stumble as he raced to the kitchen.

Perhaps David was finally right, and he was beginning to open up. Speaking of David…Regina made her way to the coffee table and reached for her phone, her face fell when she saw that she had no messages. She was hoping that David had broken the message to her by now and was anxious to know how she took and what was to happen now. But she guessed that it was still the morning and David was still sleeping. She quickly sent a text message to Emma, saying that Henry couldn't make it, though she doubted that Emma would actually believe that Henry wanted to spend the morning with her than Emma.

" Hey Mum, can we have icing sugar on them as well?"

Regina smiled at his chirpy voice. " Of course dear."

Henry suddenly yelped and Regna quickly hurried to the kitchen, her eyes softening when she saw that he had sliced his finger with a paper cut.

He winced as he looked up at her, holding the packet of chocolate chips. " I was trying to open them."

Regina pursed her lips and reached into the cabinet for the first aid kit. She patted the kitchen bench, gesturing for him to sit down. " Don't worry, we can easily fix it."

Henry hopped on the kitchen bench and cringed as Regina run his fingers under the cold water, it was a pretty deep cut. She wrapped the bandage around his finger and gave him a small smile.

" There, no harm done. Now come on, those pancakes aren't going to make themselves."

Henry grinned happily and followed his mother, surprised that he hadn't received a scolding remark for his clumsiness. His thoughts drifted off to the passed days, when his mother and his teacher were getting along, when she had received the mysterious flowers and now today. Maybe she's changing, and she's not so much like the Evil Queen Henry pondered. The thought was bizarre, but he couldn't help but hope.

The morning flew by like a speeding arrow; the two made their chocolate chip pancakes before they garnished their meals, and Henry especially enjoyed topping his stack with ice cream, icing sugar and maple syrup. They laughed and chatted and as Regina listened to her son tell him about his school project (a boat he had to build for a race), and his friends who she had never even heard of, she definitely knew that he was opening up to her.

" Mum," Henry suddenly said after a mouthful of his third pancake. " I'm really glad that we spent this morning together."

Regina's face softened into a smile at her son's touching words. " I am too Henry, and…I know we haven't spent a lot of time together lately-partly due to my busy Mayor duties-but I'd love to have more mornings like this."

Henry's lips tugged into a smile as he met his mother's eyes. " I do too."

Henry couldn't believe his morning, that he actually enjoyed the time he had with his mother. But it was only today that he realized that he missed the moments he and his mum used to share together. The memories flowed back to him; their usual outings to the park, movies and the local arcade. He now realized that even if she was the Evil Queen and cursed the people he cared for, she did love him, he was sure now that her love for him was genuine. And maybe spending more time with her will change her for good, Henry thought hopefully. Plus, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone but his mother, he did want to spend more time with her.

A small smile danced on Regina's lips as her thoughts drifted off to the morning with her son. He had willingly spent time with her and for the first time in years returned her affections. Perhaps a new leaf was being turned and Henry was opening up to her now because he wanted his mother back in his life? She could hope, but if not, she knew that their relationship could only improve.

Thanks so much for reading guys! This chapter was inspired at the time when I had left my library book in the rain and my mum blow-dried them dry so it was all good, though it didn't take all night for her haha Anyway, again, please leave a review with your thoughts and I'll greatly appreciate it. The next chapter should be up tomorrow night, so keep an eye out! Thanks again!

Lydia :)