"Miss Swan," Regina raised an eyebrow as she gave the blonde the once over, "you're here earlier than I expected."

"Yeah, well, you told me not to be late. Besides, the kid needs to do his homework before dinner," Emma looked down at Henry, who rolled his eyes, "and I thought maybe I could help you out since you were nice enough to invite us."

The brunette tilted her head in question but stepped aside to allow her guests to come in. "Henry, would you like to do your homework in my study?"

The boy stopped and looked up with an expression somewhere between shock and being skeptical. "You don't normally let me go in there."

"I thought perhaps that would be a less distracting place for you to work since Ms. Swan and I will be cooking in the kitchen together," Regina answered smoothly as she took their coats and hung them in the closet.

"Okay." Henry drew the word out as he looked to Emma for guidance.

The blonde shrugged. "Makes sense to me, kid. You've got that essay to finish rewrites on." She looked at Regina and made a face. "His first draft looks like it's bleeding."

Regina frowned deeply. "I normally proof read his assignments before he turns them in." The restraint not to roll her eyes or make a biting remark regarding Emma's level of education was evident on her face and in her posture. "Henry, would you like for me to read your second draft tonight before you leave?"

"Well," again he pulled the one syllable word out as he glanced between the two women as if trying to understand the odd truce they seemed to have developed. Though he'd been aware of it, seeing it first hand was a bit unnerving. "Maybe?"

"You know I'd be happy to," the brunette answered with a small upturn to her lips. "Why don't you go into my study and work on it now while we finish dinner?"

Henry made a face. "Sure," he muttered as he headed for the study, glancing back once to make sure he was witnessing what he thought he was witnessing and deciding that knowing about something was way different than actually seeing it.

Once Henry was out of range, Regina turned to Emma with a face that explicitly stated she wasn't about to take anything other than the truth from the other woman. "Why are you really here so early, Sheriff?"

"Mary Margaret and I had a disagreement today during lunch, and," the younger woman shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of the former mayor, "I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. Is there any way I could talk you into some coffee? Maybe I can explain everything while we make dinner?"

"I'll make dinner." Regina's voice was carefully neutral. "You will talk."


"You and your mother had a fight regarding me in the middle of Granny's Diner during the lunch hour rush?" Regina gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head as she continued to chop vegetables for the salad.

Emma's eyes remained on the coffee cup held between her two hands. "Yup."

"You then proceeded to go home, pack your bags with a few of your meager belongings, and run away from your issues, but you have no plan as to where you're going to go or for how long?" The older woman finished chopping and dumped the items into a large bowl so they could be tossed with a light vinaigrette.

"Basically." The corner of Emma's lip twitched down as her eyes darted up to the other woman's only to dart back down to the coffee again.

"And you plan to take Henry along with you on this venture?" Regina's movements were brisk, her irritation showing as she tossed the salad.

At this, Emma's eyes finally met Regina's. "No," she said firmly. "That's why I'm telling you all of this. Look, I don't care if I sleep in my car or at the office or whatever, but I don't want Henry wondering where he's going to sleep next. I remember what that's like. It's no way for a kid to live, so I was wondering if you'd watch him for a few days until I can get this all sorted out."

Regina stopped moving. She stared at the blonde, eyes cold and hard as she rolled over in her mind what she was being told. "You want to know if I'll look after my son until you're ready to take him away from me again?" Her jaw flexed.

Emma ignored the baiting in the question. "It's either that or he stays in a room with me at Granny's," she tried to sound assured, though she felt very uneasy about what she was asking. She knew the reactions both the town as a whole and her parents in particular would have regarding Henry again living with Regina. It could get nasty very quickly.

"You do realize the entire town would be at my doorstep demanding I release Henry from captivity the moment they found out he was staying here again, don't you?" Despite her desire to have Henry back with her, Regina was equally intent on keeping him from having to witness too much violence or hatred. He'd seen enough already. "How do you propose to deal with that, Sheriff?"

"I could sleep in my car outside your house?" The blonde gave her best smirk. "You'd have your own, personal security detail."

Regina finally rolled her eyes. "Always the White Kn…"

"Don't." Emma's voice cut in with a harshness that surprised the other woman. "I'm no one's White Knight. I'm the an ex-bounty hunter who somehow managed to become the sheriff of a small town, the daughter of fairy tale characters, and mostly confused about why my life couldn't have just stayed nice and quiet. Dealing with people jumping bail is a hell of lot less chaotic than dealing with witches, fairies, and royalty." She ran a hand through her hair. "I'll think of something, but I don't want Henry to live in a more unstable condition than he already is. Kids need stability. They need to feel safe."

Narrowing her eyes, Regina stopped working on dinner and crossed her arms as she considered Emma's words. "I'm surprised at you, Miss Swan. That's a very adult thing to say."

"I can act like an adult if it means taking care of Henry," Emma shot back. She didn't bother to put bite in her words. She was tired, and it was starting to show. "He misses you. He and I've been talking about it. To be honest, he'd feel better if I was here, too, and I can't blame him. There's a lot of history in this house, and he's still trying to work out whether or not you're going to try to manipulate or hurt him again."

Regina said nothing. Instead, she glanced away so as not to show the hurt in her eyes at the thought that her son was still frightened of her.

"Honestly, I don't know what the best option is right now. I know that David and Mary Margaret would let us come back without question, but I'm not ready to deal with them right now. I don't think it would be in Henry's best interests to be there right now either because," Emma stopped herself. It was clear she wasn't sure she wanted to reveal all of her thoughts to a woman who had been her enemy for so long. Changing direction slightly, she started again. "Because he's just now settling down and accepting all of us for who we are and dealing with who we were. I don't want mess that up."

The kitchen was eerily quiet for a time as both women thought over the situation. Emma finished her coffee, cleaned her mug, and left it to dry while Regina finished fixing dinner. As she began to plate, the brunette finally broke the silence. "Stay here, Ms. Swan."

Emma's head whipped around. "What?"

"Stay here. My home has plenty of room, it would prevent the scorn that would otherwise likely come my direction from the town, and, most importantly," Regina made eye contact, "it would make Henry feel safer. I have no desire for my son to feel unsafe in his own home."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "So you want me to stay here for Henry's sake?"

"Yes," Regina gave a small smile that didn't actually make it to her eyes. "For Henry."

The sheriff nodded her consent. "I'll get our stuff out of the car after dinner."

"Speaking of," Regina replied smoothly as she picked up plates to move them to the dining room, "move that eyesore you call a car to the back of the house next to mine. It's disrupting my otherwise pristine landscaping."

"Sure." Emma rolled her eyes. Picking up the rest of the plates, she followed Regina into the other room.