"Hey, Mom, do we have to eat at home tonight?" Henry shoved his hands in his pockets and gave his best pleading face to the tall blonde next to him as they walked from the bus stop. "I mean, I like Grandma's cooking, but…"
"Yeah, I could go for a burger, too, kid." Emma chuckled. "Tell you what, why don't we go to Granny's for dinner tonight, just the two of us?"
"Really?" His eyes lit up with excitement. "I mean," quickly, he tried to catch himself as he remembered his grandparents' feelings, "should we… maybe invite Grandma and Gramps?"
Emma's eyes glazed over as she thought about her day, and she realized the last thing she wanted to do was see her parents any time soon. "Nah, I think they'll understand if we need a little mother/son bonding time, don't you?"
Henry's smile beamed. "Can we get dessert, too?"
"Now you're pushing it, kid." She ruffled his hair as she smiled down at him. "What kind of dessert?"
He cocked his head to the side and thought about it. "Ice cream?"
She pretended to consider it. "Okay, but, if we're getting ice cream later, then you have to do your homework now." At his groan, she just smirked more. "Come on, you can do it in the station while I finish out some paperwork, and then we'll go to Granny's for dinner. Sound good?"
The little boy sulked for a moment before agreeing, and they made their way quickly to the Sheriff's office. Henry settled at the deputy's desk while Emma sat at her own and began the ongoing and tedious process of completing the forms, reports, and other assorted papers associated with her position.
After a time, Henry broke the silence with a sigh. "Hey, Mom?" She grunted her response but stopped what she was doing to give him her attention. "Did you see Regina today?"
She blinked at him. "Why would you think I went to see her today?"
"When Gramps dropped me off at the bus stop, he said you went to go see her this morning, and that's why you didn't walk me to the bus." He shrugged. "I was just wondering if you saw her."
Emma made a face. There were many different issues at play, and she wasn't sure she wanted to discuss any of them with her son just yet. The thought struck her oddly. Her son? She frowned, realizing something about the woman they were currently discussing. "Yeah, I saw her."
"What did you talk about?" He sounded curious yet cautious.
"Just some stuff." She licked her lips as she considered how best to approach this subject. "Henry, you know she's trying, right?"
"Yeah, I know. I told you all the stuff she did to try to get you and Mary Margaret back. She's trying to change." He frowned. "Did she do something else bad? Is that why you went to go see her?"
She should have seen that coming. "No, kid, she didn't do anything else bad. I went to go see her just to talk. That's it; I promise." She chewed on the inside of her lip. She really had no idea how to breech the topic that had suddenly grabbed hold of her and would not let go. "Henry, can I ask you a question, and I want you to tell me the truth, okay?"
He gave her a concerned and slightly frightened look, but nodded yes.
She stood and walked over to him, squatting down so she was eye level. "You believe she's really trying to change, right?" He nodded yes, sensing there was more coming and deciding to stay quiet. "Well, so do I, but I think maybe a lot of people don't, and I think your mom," she winced as soon as the phrase was out. It had been a long time since she called Regina Henry's mom, and she wondered why it had slipped out just now. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I think Regina is going to need all the help she can get right now. The stuff she's going through is really hard, and she needs people around her that love her and believe in her. Does that make sense?"
"You mean," he gave it an honest moment's thought. "She needs people around to tell her when she's doing the right thing?"
"Yeah, exactly," Emma gave an encouraging smile and nod. "You still think of her as your mom, don't you?" Henry shifted uneasily in his chair. "It's okay, kid. You can be honest. Remember? I want you to tell me the truth."
His eyes didn't meet hers, but he answered honestly, "Yeah, I do."
She couldn't help but give a grim smile at the sound of defeat in his voice. The pull between wanting to be a 'good guy' and still thinking of the 'evil queen' as his mother was probably more difficult than she had considered before. That had been selfish on her part; she should have considered Henry's feelings on it more, but she was going to fix that now. "That's okay. She raised you for 10 years. It doesn't hurt my feelings if you still think of her as your mom."
His eyes finally met hers. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, kid, I'm sure. In fact, I'm so sure that I think maybe we should work something out so you can spend some time with her if you want. What do you think about that?" On the outside, her features showed reassurance and calm. On the inside, she was terrified of telling her parents about what she was about to do. "I think it could really help her out if you were around more." Emma also considered how much it might actually help Henry out, too. He was clearly having issues with Regina suddenly not being in his life anymore. Now that the dust had somewhat settled and it was clear she was trying to be a better person, Emma was starting to sense Henry's desire to see Regina again.
"Like alone, or would you be there with us?" His face showed his conflict.
"At first, I think I'd like to be there, but," she shrugged, "maybe later we can talk about you two being alone together again. What do you think about that?"
"I think I'd like that," he answered with a small glimmer of excitement in his voice. "But," again he frowned. "What do I call her?"
"Well," she said with a grin, "you could call her mom."
At the suggestion, he started to panic. "But what about you? You're my mom, too."
"Yeah, well, she was there first, and, if we're going to work out something where we all get along, I think she'd react better if you called her mom and me something else. Don't you?" She tilted her head in question.
"Yeah, you're probably right." He gave it some thought, and then smiled. "How about I call her mom and I call you Ma?"
She nodded, smiling as she stood up. "I think that works. How much more do you have left on your homework?"
"I have to finish writing this essay, and then I'm done." He looked at the clock. "I think I might be soon."
"Sounds good, kid, but don't rush through it. Make sure you do a good job." She plopped back down in her chair. "I don't want to have to explain to your mom," again with the 'your mom'. She rolled her eyes at herself. "Why you don't have all A's anymore."
He groaned as he turned back to his work. "I'll be careful."
