The days blurred by quickly, blended together by Emma's grief and succumbing one too many beers over the span of the following week. By the time she sobered up it was the day of the charity fundraiser.
Emma dwelled back on the memory of the phone call she'd had with Harriet not that long ago.
"It will be so good to see you, Emma. I can't wait for you to meet some of the girls, I know they're excited to meet you." The woman gave a throaty, tired chuckle.
Emma sighed, guilt swirling in her stomach and travelling up to the tight prison of her chest.
"I don't know if I can make it and- and I know you don't like people to promise things that they can't deliver on but…" She was rambling.
"Emma."
"...I know how much these charity functions mean to you and I know it's been a long time since we've seen—"
"Emma!" Harriet repeated, louder this time.
The blonde paused, pressing her phone closer to her ear when she didn't hear the older woman continue.
"Right, I'm rambling."
A quiet sigh sounded through the line and Emma felt her heart clench. It was quiet enough that Harriet didn't intend for Emma to hear it, but she did.
"It's okay, Emma. There is no pressure. I know that you have a busy schedule and I am so proud of you," Emma's lips quirked up, unable to stop the soft smile from appearing. "If you can't make it that's okay there is always next time."
Always next time.
Those words were ringing loudly in her ears.
Next time.
Emma shook her head, swallowing a large lump that had lodged itself in her throat at the thought that there wouldn't be a next time. She just had to get through this day, that's all she could do. One step at a time.
She wasn't used to wearing dresses, especially when she spent most of her days in shorts or jeans but since this was a charity benefit and Harriet had insisted that she try and dress semi-formal, she figured that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
The only dress she had that was somewhat presentable was a navy blue cocktail dress with a cowled v-neckline and a buttoned collar. It was a little tight and the length ended just above her knees, but she'd had the dress since she was eighteen so she wasn't all too surprised that it didn't fit perfectly.
Emma looked at her watch, it read: 10:03 am and she inwardly groaned knowing that she was more than likely going to be late with the ever-consistent traffic that clogged the streets of Boston.
Buzz buzz.
"Dammit." Emma muttered, turning back towards the coffee table that she'd left her phone resting on top of.
Why didn't she own a dress that had pockets? Why didn't she just wear a goddamn pantsuit?
Seeing a familiar face flicker on the screen of her phone she immediately grabbed the vibrating device off of the table and answered it, her breath suddenly caught in her lungs.
"Rubes? Is- Henry okay? What's going on?" She demanded, one hand making it's way to her hip and worrying with the fabric.
"I am so sorry, Emma!"
She was so sick of people telling her that they were sorry. That's all that anybody seemed to be able to say to her.
"What's going on?" She asked again, her tone more firm, feeling more anxious as every passing second ticked by.
"We're down in the lobby. Look we wouldn't of left Portland if it wasn't-"
Emma hung up not needing to hear the rest of the sentence. All she knew was that he son was downstairs in the lobby and she had no idea why they had travelled from Portland to Boston without calling her beforehand. She was furious, confused but her heart ached to see her son who was waiting for her 3 floors down.
Making sure to put her phone in her purse with her hotel key card and wallet, Emma slammed the door behind her and it automatically locked behind her, before making her way down the cluttered hallway, narrowly avoiding the cleaning car that took up most of the hall, she veered off to the staircase at the far end.
Like hell she was going to wait for an elevator.
Her heels clunk loudly against the wooden steps, the staircase spiraling, much like her mind, until she made it to the lobby rosy-cheeked and panting slightly.
She spotted Ruby straight away standing near the concierge's desk, Henry was holding onto her index finger with his small hand. Emma's eyes flashed dangerously, why the hell were they here? Why would Ruby just bring him to Boston? It didn't make any sense. But as she got closer to them, Emma could see that Ruby had red-rimmed eyes and she was less exuberant than she usually was. Like she was attempting to hold herself together.
Emma swallowed thickly, tucking that nugget of information away to question after she had talked to her son. She made a beeline straight for Henry, when he saw her his eyes widened and a toothy grin spread across his mouth.
"Mama!"
Henry pulled his grasp from Ruby and met his mother half-way, she wrapped him up in her arms and picked him up off the floor.
"Hey, little man." Emma smiled, her heart swelling 5 times it's size just from seeing that he was okay.
"Mama, Bee-bee's been crying since we left home. Can you help?"
Henry's wide eyes looked up at her, his brow wrinkled in confusion, not quite understanding anything that was going on. Neither did she.
Emma brushed his fringe out of his eyes and tapped her finger against his nose with a wink.
"It's alright. Mama fixes things, right?"
He looked confused still but nodded and moved to get down from her arms, Emma placed him on the ground and he clung to her leg. Ruby was now standing in front of her, not quite put together but managing to give Emma a shaky smile.
"Emma…" She started, her voice low and quiet.
Emma looked down at Henry but he was staring at the concierge who was making funny faces at him, to which he returned with a poke of his tongue and a pull at his ears.
The blonde allowed her friend to continue, her anger still brimming just beneath the surface.
"Grams is in the hospital. Me, you and Henry are the only thing that resembles any kind of family she has left and- I couldn't stay in Portland when she was alone here at the Boston General Hospital and my phone died I-"
Emma's hardened gaze began to soften, moving forward and wrapping her arms around her friends shoulders.
With her head leaning down against Emma's shoulder, she continued in a shaky breath. "I only managed to charge my phone when we got here and I'm so sorry, Emma. I wasn't thinking."
Emma shook her head, her heart felt heavy in her chest, her mind racing through the tragic change of events that the universe had thrown their way.
Pulling back, Ruby squeezed Emma's wrist before clearing her throat and once again attempting to pull herself together as tears smeared black lines down her cheeks.
"She's in surgery now and I didn't want Henry to see…" She waved at nothing in particular and heaved a heavy sigh.
Emma nodded in understanding before clearing her throat and opening her mouth to speak, only to look down when Henry tugged on her arm to get her attention.
"You look pretty. Are we going to a special lunch?" He asked.
She thought about it for a moment before answering. "Yes, we are. You and me, little man." She scuffed his hair.
Emma managed to convince Ruby to go to the hospital, that it was okay, and that they would take turns waiting for news at the hospital.
Luckily Henry was already wearing a nice pair of jeans and after rifling through the bag that Ruby had hastily packed together before driving them here, she managed to dig out a dress shirt that must of accidentally gotten thrown in with a bunch of his t-shirts. Emma thanked her lucky stars.
More traffic, a few silent curse words later and they found themselves arriving at Harriet's Home. Emma held onto Henry's hand tightly so that he didn't run off and get lost. She was late, so so late. At least an hour, maybe an hour and a half. She couldn't just walk in the middle of it, could she? At the front door, she paused and Henry looked up at her curiously, squeezing her fingers.
She was battling a last minute fight-or-flight feeling and decided that this was ridiculous, that her presence here made absolutely no difference at all. In fact, she was sure that if she entered now that it would disrupt whatever charitable thing they were doing and above all else, it was completely rude.
She was trying not to be that person anymore.
Emma shook her head, wondering what the hell she had been thinking, she turned on her heel and took a few steps just as the front door opened.
"Miss Swan!" The voice was snappish, an underlying tone of surprise . "You're late." She added, obviously displeased.
Emma turned back on her heel, wobbling slightly because she wasn't used to wearing heels on a semi-regular basis, she felt like a newborn deer, and met Regina's pointed gaze. Only then did the brunette realise the small figure clutching Emma's fingers.
A wide grin spread across Henry's face and a bubbly laugh spilled from his mouth as they retraced their steps, his gaze flickering from Emma to Regina and back again, like a lively game of tennis.
"I 'fink you are in trouble, mama"
Regina's gaze softened as he spoke, eyes darting to the young boy before resting back on Emma, unable to hide the slight smirk lifting the edges of her painted lips.
Despite her attire, the brunette squatted down until she was eye-level with the boy. Emma tried to not let her eyes rake the woman's figure and failed.
"Hi, my name is Regina. What's yours?"
Emma already could see her losing that authoritative streak, a stark difference between the way she had confronted Emma in her office just the other day. Though, she did recognise that same softness in her eyes that had briefly appeared that very same day, now shining down at Henry.
"My name is Henry."