Disclaimer: nothing's mine.

AN: thanks for all of the reviews and support. Hope you like this chapter. It's more of a filler chapter, but here it is.

Emma was a little bit frustrated by the time she got to her old apartment. She was going to meet Snow and Charming there since she wasn't really sure if she still had a job as Sheriff. Did Fairytale Land have Sheriff's? She wasn't sure, but she thought that they did at least have Generals or something of the sort to keep everyone in line. Would she still be Sheriff or did she have to be a Princess now? That was a horrible thought. She couldn't even imagine what that would entail. As she got to the door, she wasn't sure if she should knock or just go in. She raised her hand figuring that she would be polite and couldn't help but shake it out first. It still tingled from the magic she had done not too long ago. She did not like that feeling. Not one bit. It unsettled her and made her unsure of herself. Something she did not need at the moment. Shaking off her insecurities she quickly rapped on the door and heard a call from inside, 'Coming!' The door was opened a moment later by Snow.

"Emma!" she was quickly gathered in a hug that caught her off guard. She was not used to all of the affection. Henry was one thing, but she was still unused to all of the hugging from other people. She wondered if she would ever be used to it. Snow released her and ushered her inside and she found Charming leaning against the counter in the kitchen with a mug in hand. he raised it to her in greeting and she gave him a little wave back just grateful that he wasn't rushing to hug her too.

"How are you? Charming told me about breakfast?" Snow raised an eyebrow in question. Emma smiled just remembering the food fight. She had never seen Regina look so free and light. She actually laughed and joined in rather aggressively. Emma knew it was probably because she had been wound up so tight that it took something as little as some batter being thrown in her face to set her off. It was better than her killing someone though. And the look on Henry's face was unforgettable. He actually looked like a little kid for once. Just having some unadulterated fun with his parents. That was another thought. Her and Regina were his parents. Together. Weird.

"About that, why did you two feel the need to come in guns blazing because Henry was a little late for school?" Emma questioned easily evading telling Snow about the whole food fight incident.

"She's the evil queen, Emma. We weren't sure everything was okay. She could change back to her old ways and take it out on you." Snow became serious.

"Then why are you allowing us to stay there with her? If you don't trust her, then why are you risking us?" Emma was certainly confused. That made no sense to her at all. If it were her in Snow's position she probably wouldn't let Henry do it if she felt that way.

"Because we trust you. You say that Regina can be trusted. That she won't hurt you because she doesn't want to hurt Henry. I can believe that. " Snow relented slightly, but Emma still studied her. She wasn't really answering the question about why they had gone crazy that morning. Snow sighed, "Emma, it's going to take some getting used to. I am used to Regina doing everything she can to hurt me and when you didn't show up this morning I overreacted. I'm sorry, but my first instinct was that something bad had happened and when Regina's involved that's usually the case."

Emma felt that protectiveness for Regina surge again. She didn't know where it was coming from, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with her being in the same place not too long ago. Emma had a pretty colorful past too, but everyone gave her a chance. She wondered why no one was willing to do the same for Regina. If anyone just took a moment to take a closer look you would see that Regina was really trying.

"Look, I know that you two are like arch enemies or whatever but we decided that this is what's best for Henry. It's not going to help him if every time we are late or something comes up that you two bring the cavalry with swords raised. That may be the way it worked in the Enchanted Forest, but here in this world we ask questions first. We take into account everything, okay?" Snow nodded in understanding and she saw Charming nod in agreement too. They were both properly chastised and that felt awkward for Emma because weren't they supposed to be the parents. She shook that thought off though because that would be a whole other can of worms that she still wasn't prepared to deal with.

"All right, let's talk business now." Emma went down to sit at the table and Snow and Charming followed suit. She didn't miss the proud stares that she received from both her parents. It made her feel uncomfortable, so she of course ignored it. "Who's actually running the town now that Regina isn't in charge?"

Snow looked to Charming since he was the one that had been here the whole time, "Well, I guess that would be me." He wriggled a bit in his seat. Emma took that as a bad sign.

"And?" she inquired further.

"It's just that running a town is a little different than running a kingdom and even then, Snow did most of the talking. She was more of a politician than I ever was. I mean you saw her at the town meeting. I was always more of the force behind her words. I'm better at taking action."

"What does that mean exactly?" Emma didn't like where this was going.

"It means that your father was more like the Sheriff rather than the mayor. It means that no one is really running the town, right sweetheart?" Snow answered her question for her. Emma's shoulders drooped in dismay. Great. No wonder people were a little crazy at the town meeting. They had no one there to lead them. To tell them that things were under control. They didn't feel safe in this town now that everything had changed and no one was there to give them direction. It was just another thing on her long list of things to do. She didn't know how she got roped into trying to take care of this situation, but for some reason she felt a responsibility to making sure everyone was okay. Maybe that came from being the Sheriff before the curse. She had been given the responsibility to protect this town and now it was something that she took seriously. Something that she knew she was going to be doing a lot more of in the future.

"Okay, so now we need a new plan." Her parents nodded in agreement. "I say that either Snow or both of you take on the role of Mayor. Whichever you prefer is fine by me. If James, you want to still be Sheriff while Snow is mayor that could work, since you like actually doing something rather than sitting behind a desk." Snow and Charming looked at each other as if having a silent conversation, "or, if neither of you want to do it, I'm sure we can have a re-election or something."

"No, no I don't mind. I was born into that life and was raised to be able to handle it." Snow said quickly reassuring Emma. "We just weren't sure about what Charming would like to do." Snow looked at James again and Emma just waited for them while they seemed to be talking telepathically. She studied them and was glad to see when they finally came to a decision.

"Okay, how about Charming and I effectively rule together as co-mayor's. We will oversee the people and make sure that the laws of this land are reinforced. Then you could take up the reigns of Sheriff again while reporting to us. Kind of like our General." Emma could see how Snow was trying to make her ways work in this world. How she was mixing them together. At first Emma wanted to rebel at the thought of reporting to anyone, but she then thought about it and realized that this might be best for the town. It was a good mixture of their old world and new one, which is what everyone was struggling to come to terms with. How they had old memories and new ones. Old lives with the lives that they had been living for the past 28 years.

"I think that might actually work." Emma smiled in agreement. Both her parents beamed at her and this time the uncomfortable feeling was also accompanied by a warm feeling of approval that just radiated off of them.

"Why don't you two go to city hall and try to bring some order there, while I do the same at the Sheriff's station. We could probably have this town running more efficiently in no time." She didn't know where this was coming from. Maybe just living with Regina for 24 hours was already rubbing off on her. Or maybe it was from being the Sheriff with Regina as the mayor that taught her that the people needed order and structure for everything to run smoothly. She had a feeling that if they ever needed help achieving that goal that the former Madame Mayor would be the best person to go to. She hoped it didn't come to that because that would just be hard on everyone. Snow brought her out of her thoughts.

"Sounds good. We'll meet later for lunch?" Snow asked.

"Yeah, sure. Granny's?" Emma asked as she stood up and Charming and Snow followed suit.

"Of course." Charming smiled at her.

"Okay, see you two later."

It was 9 pm when Emma walked through the door of the Mills Mansion. She was beyond exhausted. she had just had the longest day trying to get the Sheriff's station back in some kind of order. She was definitely going to have a talk with Charming tomorrow about his paperwork skills, as in he didn't have any. The station had been a mess when she had gotten in there. She let out a breath as she closed the door behind her and realized she was home. Looking around though she found the house eerily quiet. Seeing a light on in the kitchen she figured that would be her best bet on finding life. Walking in she saw that Regina was by the stove making what looked like tea.

"Hey." Emma said lamely not really sure how to greet her. Regina didn't even turn around and Emma took that as a sign that she was mad at her for something or other.

"Good Evening, Sheriff." The way Regina said her title made it sound like it was something disgusting. She still didn't turn around to face her though, which Emma found a little unsettling. Her mother's words from earlier came unbidden to her mind. "You missed dinner."

Emma laughed in response, which was probably not the best idea because Regina whirled around and if looks could kill she definitely would be dead a lot of times over from Regina's death glare. Emma quickly straightened up gearing for the fight that she was very ill prepared for. It had been such a long day and now this. "I didn't think you would miss me."

"I didn't." Regina snapped and it seemed that made it click in Emma's brain too. Henry. That was the only way to get Regina this mad. She sighed and her shoulders drooped in understanding.

"Is he still awake?" she asked and maybe it was something in her tone, but Regina decided to actually answer her.

"I sent him to bed a half hour ago, but I'm sure he's still awake waiting for you." her answer sounded bitter and Emma couldn't really blame her. Henry gave her his unconditional love whereas Regina had to work so hard for him just to get a smile from him. Emma just nodded though and turned to head up the stairs to his bedroom. She steeled herself before walking in. Opening the door her eyes quickly sought out the only light in the room, which was coming from underneath Henry's comforter. It looked like he had a flashlight under there, probably reading a book. She shook her head with a little smile. Some things never changed.

"Hey, kid." She sat down beside him on the bed. He threw the covers off of himself and launched himself at her. She laughed lowly at his enthusiasm to see her. "I wasn't gone that long, was I?"

"No, it's just that you weren't here..." Henry shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but she could see he had been worried. She instantly felt bad upon seeing his sad eyes. Since this was Emma's first time actually being a parent she didn't realize she had to be home for dinner or that he would want her there to say goodnight to him. She wasn't used to that at all and it wasn't like she had forgot about him, it was just that there was a lot of work to do at the station and she figured Regina could handle Henry. She realized being a parent was going to be a lot more than her sneaking away time with him when Regina wasn't looking. She was going to have to be there on a more consistent basis. He needed stability from her and she resolved that she would give him that. He deserved no less from her.

"I'm sorry, kid, there was a lot of things to take care of at the station, it seems Gramps isn't good at doing paperwork." She got a smile out of him and he nodded in understanding.

"It's okay, Grandpa barely did any paperwork while you were gone. I tried to tell him, but he said it didn't really matter anyway since there was no mayor to turn it into."

"Of course he said that. Why am I not surprised?" She shook her head in amusement. "Everything was okay here though, right? Nothing bad happened? Dinner was good?" She asked concerned for a second. She never thought Regina would ever hurt Henry, but she knew they were still learning how to be a family again and Henry liked her there for support. She really messed up today by working late.

"Yeah, everything was fine. I finished my homework early so mom took me to the stables. Then she made lasagna for dinner and said I could watch some TV before bed since I had been so good today. I think she was just trying to make up for you not being there for dinner." Henry said this with a nonchalance that Regina would be proud of, but she could see that it had bothered him more than he was saying.

"That sounds pretty good." She didn't know what else to say to him. She didn't know how to make it up to him.

"It was. I mean dinner was kind of quiet, but mom was really nice and she didn't use any magic or anything."

"You don't have to report to me or anything like that. I know she didn't use any magic." Emma assured him. She didn't want him to feel like he had to keep an eye on Regina. He needed to focus on rebuilding his relationship with her. That's all he needed to be doing. That and being a kid.

"How do you know that?" He asked her curiously, not at all accusing, just curious.

"Because she told you she wouldn't. She's trying really hard Henry and she's not going to be messing that up for anything." He smiled softly at her and she was glad that she could put those fears to rest. She would remind him every day if she had to. She watched on as he yawned and she reached over to pull his book and flashlight out of his lap. "Come on, kid. It's time for you to go to sleep."

"Oh and your mom came up with something that we thought would help you with your nightmares." She had almost forgotten but reaching into her pocket she pulled out the necklace she had enchanted from earlier. "We were worried about your nightmares, so your mom came up with the idea to enchant this necklace to keep the nightmares away."

"Cool!" Henry reached out to touch it in awe, but then stopped himself, "I thought you said she didn't use magic."

"She didn't. I did. She just showed me how." Emma shrugged and Henry smiled goofily at her. "Maybe Mom could teach you how to use your magic."

Emma rolled her eyes, "Yeah, we'll see about that later. I'm sure those lessons would just be tons of fun and we would probably, eventually end up killing each other."

Henry laughed and she was glad to see that he had forgiven her already for missing dinner with him. "Here, this necklace was given to me by someone when I was just about your age. They were really important to me." She brought the necklace up and latched it around his neck. She watched as Henry's hand came up to inspect it delicately. He always enjoyed hearing stories about her past. She was reluctant to give him any, but every so often he would weasel one out of her.

"What happened to them?" He asked without looking at her, still inspecting the necklace for what she would guess as signs of magic.

"She died." She said steadily, but quietly. His eyes shot up to hers sympathetically. She hated being pitied and that's why she didn't tell anybody her stories. They were all pity-worthy and she didn't want that. She gave him a smile though to ease his worries, "maybe sometime I'll tell you about her. We had some fun adventures together. But right now, you need to go to sleep."

She ruffled his hair affectionately and he smiled tiredly up at her as he laid down. She pulled up the covers and leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Sweet dreams, kid." she whispered tenderly.

"Good night, Ma. Love you."

"Love you too."

Regina listened on the other side of the door, but when she heard them getting ready to say good night she quickly made her way down the stairs so she wouldn't be caught. She had learned a few things by listening. Some were new and some not some new. Like Henry still being a little wary of her wasn't new at all. She knew dinner had been awkward and uncomfortable, but she still couldn't say it was bad because he had been there. That was enough for her.

She had spent most of her day re-cleaning the kitchen and then tried to make herself busy by cleaning anything else she could get her hands on. She practically ran out the door when it was time to pick up Henry. She knew he usually took the bus, but she just wanted to spend time with him and was bored out of her mind. Once she had him in the car her day had gotten exponentially better. He had kept her pretty much busy for the rest of the day. The only bump in the road was Ms. Swan not showing up for dinner. Emma didn't even have the decency to call and say she wouldn't make it. Regina didn't really mind, but seeing Henry down and out because of it had hit a nerve. She hated seeing him upset and she had tried really hard to make it up to him by even allowing him to watch television on a school night. She heard Emma coming down the stairs so made herself look busy by sipping the tea she had been making.

"I gave Henry the necklace." Emma said as she made her way over to the refrigerator. Regina grit her teeth still not used to the blonde living here and making herself at home, which she made look so effortless. She watched silently as Emma looked through the refrigerator contents, "Henry said something about lasagna?" She could hear the hope in Emma's voice and couldn't help the roll of her eyes.

"Third shelf on the left." Regina tried to sound as exasperated as she could even if she was a little amused at the blonde. She wasn't ready to make Emma feel welcome in her home after putting Henry through her absence.

"Ah, there it is. Thanks." Emma closed the door and went to get a fork. "And look, I'm sorry about not being home for dinner. I had a lot of work at the station and didn't realize that Henry would be so upset about it. I'll make sure it won't happen again." Emma looked her straight in the eye and Regina could see the sincerity in every word she said. She gave her a solemn nod.

"I thought as much. That's why I took the liberty of making you a schedule." Emma just gave her a look that was disbelieving.

"Are you serious?" Emma watched as she made her way to pick up a piece of paper from the counter and she handed it to Emma with a sickeningly sweet smile, "you are serious."

"Regina, I am not going to be living by some schedule. Some schedule that you made." Emma put emphasis on the word you. Regina narrowed her eyes.

"And I will not have you upsetting Henry because you don't know how to be a parent." Regina knew it was a low blow and judging by the newly acquired stiffness to Emma's back she had probably struck a chord.

"You're right. I don't know how to be a parent. I'm trying to learn though." Emma replied coldly.

"Which is what the schedule is for. It's just to remind you of your new responsibilities." Regina was using her politician placating voice. It usually worked on most people but judging by Emma's facial expression it didn't work well with Ms. Swan. Maybe she should dial down the patronizing tone just a bit. After a moment of them staring each other down Emma finally snatched the paper from Regina's hand. Regina stood there and watched as Emma perused her work. Let's just say since she was bored earlier that day she thought the Sheriff could use this schedule to make sure Regina's life could stay orderly. She figured this was the best way to keep her life from not spiraling out into complete chaos. She knew it would be a long shot that Emma would actually use the schedule, but it would be a challenge for her. Something she could put her energy into. It was a goal.

"Okay, I guess I could use this as some sort of guidelines. Parenting 101?" Emma tried to make light of the situation. Regina didn't miss how she said they were more like guidelines rather than a strict schedule.

"Ms. Swan, that schedule better be adhered to. It will provide stability and the consistency that Henry needs." Regina could see she had gotten her when she threw in the Henry card. It was each of their weaknesses and Regina was internally patting herself on the back at her win. Emma looked down at the paper again. She heard the blonde let out a sigh and knew it was a done deal. Emma sat down at the counter with her lasagna.

"Okay, but how about I do breakfast, while you take care of dinners." Emma didn't look up but took out a pen to cross out things and add her thoughts. Regina couldn't believe Emma was changing her schedule, but more importantly she was surprised Emma was taking this seriously.

"You'll have to wake up early in order to do that, dear. Are you sure you can handle it?" Emma just shrugged without looking up.

"I'm a light sleeper. I wouldn't be able to sleep through Henry getting ready for school anyway." Regina scowled at this new information. "Plus, my area of cooking expertise mainly focuses on breakfast foods. Unless you don't mind ordering in or going to Granny's for dinner. Oh, I also make a killer mac and cheese dish." Emma smirked at her and Regina had to roll her eyes.

"Okay, so I'm doing dinners." Regina didn't miss the grin that Emma gave her, but decided to ignore it, "Since you're making breakfast, I'll make Henry's lunch for school for him."

"Sounds good." Emma agreed. "That takes care of feeding the kid. Let's move onto chores..." Their schedule making was actually very productive and Regina felt satisfied with the end result. She didn't know Emma could be this responsible. It looked like she was taking this parenting business seriously. Regina couldn't help but feel like she enjoyed this experience. Having someone to talk things through with, sharing responsibility, and with Emma Swan of all people. She didn't think it would be this easy to let someone else into her structured family unit. It had been hard enough when she had first gotten Henry. Adjusting to having a child was extremely difficult for her and she thought adding anyone else would be impossible, but it seemed Emma just slid into their lives like she had been there the whole time. Like there was already a spot carved out for her just waiting for her arrival. She didn't know whether to be relieved or a little scared at that thought.

"All right, since that's done I'm going to head up to bed." Emma stood up ending their discussion. Regina felt a little uneasy seeing at how their conversation was coming to an end. She didn't know what that meant, maybe she just hadn't had a civil conversation with an adult that she had actually enjoyed in a long time. She shrugged that feeling off though and rose to her feet as well realizing how late it was. The clock read that it was already 11:30 pm.

"Yes, it's been a long day." She watched as Emma went to the sink to clean her dishes. Again she was surprised that Emma wasn't the slob she had assumed she was. Or maybe Emma was just trying to appease Regina's OCD tendencies. Emma did look tired and starting a fight now would only use more energy that the blonde didn't seem to have.

"Well, at least we could say we survived day one of living together." Emma threw a smirk over her shoulder and Regina found an amused smile coming to her face automatically.

"Yes, it looks like we have. Let's hope the same can be said for tomorrow." Regina gave Emma a wicked smile to try and rattle the blonde, but Emma just smiled back. Regina wondered if she would ever be able to really rattle Emma Swan. Maybe that could be her next goal.

"I'm sure we'll survive. We've survived a lot already, this should be easy enough." Emma said confidently as she dried her hands on a dish towel. Regina thought that statement was very true. After everything the both of them had been through on their own this should be piece of cake. Regina found herself nodding in agreement.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"And let me just say for the record, that I am glad I have my own bathroom, otherwise I'm sure you would have scheduled when I was allowed to pee." Regina rolled her eyes and sighed. Just like that Emma's mouth ruined a good evening.

"Good night, Ms. Swan." Regina turned to leave.

"Good night, Regina." She could practically hear the smile in Emma's voice even if she didn't look.