I hope that my posting again tonight gets me forgiven for the cliffhanger. Thanks again for the comments and such. I enjoy reading how much you like something or how I've made you scream in frustration over leaving you hanging.

The thermostat at the local school was on a timer, which made for a cold building when Emma and Killian entered through the front door that evening. The hallways were all dark, except for the emergency lights that were set near exits and other strategic locations. Killian had mentioned a few times on the way over that it was colder than normal for that time of year, but Emma had taken it just as him trying to make conversation in a tense situation.

"What exactly did she say?" Killian asked, taking double steps to keep up with her as she pushed through the double doors into the principal's office area. Mary Margaret was seated in a waiting chair, a tissue in one hand and her phone in the other. Emma had not told him why they were at the school or even why she had said they both needed to go.

"He's missing," Emma said, the gravity of the two words feeling heavy against her. Was she there as the law or as a loved one? She wasn't even sure of her role in this other than as a supporter of her friend.

Killian's brow furrowed as he considered the two words. Emma had not said much about the child she had placed for adoption, even less about where he was currently. So that was not the first thought that sprang to Killian's mind as he saw the blonde embrace the teacher.

"He was working on the science fair project," Mary Margaret hurriedly explained. "Several of the children were earning extra credit by helping to set up for it. I went to get some baking soda and when I came back…" Her voice cracked with emotion. "The staff checked every inch of the school. David and Robin got here a few minutes ago. I just thought you would…you would want to know."

Emma tucked the brunette against her and rocked her slightly. "I'm sure it is going to be fine. He'll be fine."

"He's so young," the woman moaned. "And it's cold. He could be anywhere."

"He's strong," Emma reminded her friend of their conversation. "He's strong and resourceful and he'll be fine."

"Is that your professional opinion, Ms. Swan?" Regina asked as she stepped into the office. "My son is missing and you're comforting the woman who lost him? That doesn't seem to fit the situation." The mayor's dour expression was punctuated by her folded arms and sharp glances between the three of them.

"I called Emma," Mary Margaret began to explain. "I wanted her to…"

"I'm sure that David and Robin have this covered Ms. Blanchard. Emma probably still has her hands full with other missing persons case. Don't you, Ms. Swan?" Mary Margaret cringed as the woman called them by their last names, the formality obvious. Regina had been in her life since she was a child, even having married her father for a while before he died when the teacher was just a teenager.

Killian made a move toward the mayor, his hand reaching toward Emma as if he wanted to defend her or protect her somehow, but the deputy stepped slightly to her right and blocked him.

"Regina, I am here to help any way that I can," Emma answered, her voice and stance firm under the woman's steely gaze. "You have every reason to be concerned, but I can assure you that in most of these cases…"

"I don't care for statistics," she spat back. "I want my son found." She might have meant to say more, but David and Robin entering was just the interruption to stop the exchange. While David stared sympathetically for a moment at both his fiancé and Emma, he addressed Regina with the authority of the sheriff.

"The school is clear," he said. "We've spoken to the other children and there is no sign that he may have said where he was going. Nobody has been seen around here at all that didn't belong. We're trying to access the security footage now."

"Access it faster," the mayor bit out bitterly, earning her a gently warning word from Robin as he said her name. "I want my son."

David shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Emma," he said, looking almost apologetic with his down cast mouth. "I hate to, but I need to ask. Have you seen Neal?"

Emma's eyes clenched shut as she tried to think of how to answer that question. "Not since this morning," she answered softly. "But he wouldn't…"

Regina's voice was not near as soft when she processed this question. "I'm sure, Sheriff Nolan, that there is a logical explanation of why you are asking about the whereabouts of the investigator I hired. But the ideas are escaping me right now. Why pray tell would Neal's whereabouts be pertinent here or are you just worried about the next bombshell article?" She practically hissed her question, pure venom in her eyes.

Mary Margaret went to speak first as the mayor silenced her with a look. So Emma took a deep breath to explain. "Neal is Henry's biological father," Emma said in way of explanation to Regina's hard glare. "He doesn't know about him though. He had left me in jail and didn't even know I was pregnant. I had no way to find him or to even…"

"So this man," Regina said, spatting out the word like it hurt her. "This man could be here to exert his parental rights? Is that what you're telling me Ms. Swan?"

"He doesn't know," Emma repeated. "After the court declared it abandonment, it was all settled. You have nothing to worry about there."

There was a coldness to Regina's stare that made all of them take a step back. "You say that, but my son is missing just days after his biological father shows up in this town. I think that is too big of a coincidence." She rotated a few degrees to face David and Robin. "I trust you know where to find this Neal person. Ms. Swan and I are going to continue discussing why I am just now hearing about this."

"Neal wouldn't hurt Henry," David said, sounding fairly weak in his confidence. "He's not like that. I'm sure if he knew that Henry was…"

"Find him," Regina ordered, her tone offering no questions. "Find him now."

Robin shot a glance at Emma and back at Regina before he backed out of the room with an open mouthed David behind him. It was true that they should look for Neal, though neither assumed him to be involved with Henry's disappearance. The glass doors shut behind them and only a slight sniffle from Mary Margaret could be heard.

"Ms. Swan," Regina said again, the authority in her voice boiling over with control. "I trust that you want the best for Henry. That's the reason for our arrangement. Open and honest communication that will not scar him or create an adverse nature to our relationship."

"Regina…"

"I'm not done," she added coolly. "I hope you understand that I did not have to include your in his life. The adoption was originally closed, but Dr. Hopper and others felt that he was going to do better with the knowledge that you had not just abandoned him."

Emma felt herself sway at the word abandon, feeling anxious that her son would somehow feel the same as she had felt. She had given him a better chance, a life that could sustain him. She had not thrown him away like garbage. She had afforded him that rather than the way she had been tossed aside. Her body moved to brush her shoulder against Killian, who was gripping her even tighter.

"Madam Mayor," Killian said, keeping his voice clipped and formal, mimicking the woman's own style. "I realize you're upset now, but if you think about it…"

"Of course I'm upset," Regina bemoaned, the pinched expression overriding the bleary eyed stare. "My son is missing. She wouldn't know what that's like. You wouldn't know what that's like. She may have given birth to him, Mr. Jones, but I'm his mother. And that is not going to change." One hand was on her hip and the other rested on the reception desk as though she was posing for some advertisement.

"I'm going to go see if I can help," Emma said, feeling less than comfortable about standing there under the gaze of the mayor. "I'm sure there is something…"

"Go home, Ms. Swan," Regina said. "I don't need your help with this. You've done enough damage, obviously."

Killian's mouth opened to remind her that she had invited Neal into Storybrooke, not Emma. He wanted to remind her that Emma had done everything to keep from upsetting the boy, including keeping her distance. But two cell phones chirped to life, the mayor and deputy both answering their respective phones and leaving Killian with a limited audience. He could hear Emma's end of the conversation the easiest, as Regina marched down the hallway with doors banging behind her.

"What do you mean come home?" Emma was sputtering into the phone. "I'm in the middle of…" The woman remained quiet for a second. "Ruby Lucas, I swear if you…" Again she was silent. The name of their friend was enough for Mary Margaret's head to whip toward Emma. Holding her hand up to silence first the teacher and the Killian, Emma continued the conversation.

After finishing, Emma looked at them both. Ruby said Henry is at my front door right now. She went by to see if I was home and found him. He said he wants to talk to me. He ran away from here."

Mary Margaret let out a loud breath, her hand covering her mouth. "Oh God…Regina. We…We need to…"

Emma shook her head again. "I'm going to go talk to him. I want to find out why he came to my place. There's just too many questions. We'll call Regina when we have a better plan." She gathered her belongings, tugging at her jacket as she walked toward the door.

"This might not be the best idea," Killian contributed. His mouth clenched as she gave his warning no attention.

"Emma," Mary Margaret said hesitantly. "I know you want to help, but he's…well, technically, Regina's his mother. She deserves to know…"

Killian took two steps toward Emma before he realized she had stopped. "I get that Mary Margaret," Emma said, her head snapping in the direction of the teacher. "I was there when I gave my son up to be adopted. I know what it was like. I know that she chose to be his mother. I know all that. But that little boy ran away from her for some reason. And he came to me. I owe it to him to find out what is so bad that he would choose to go to the person who couldn't even raise him. What is so bad that he would seek me out when he probably assumes that I never wanted him? Until I can answer that, I'm not calling Regina back here. I'm not going to put him through that until I have to do it." She turned back to the door. "Now I'm asking you to go with me because you know him. You can make this a little easier."

Rolling her bottom lip between her teeth, Mary Margaret gave a nod to the unseeing Emma and followed her out the door and toward the parking lot with Killian trailing them.

***AAA***

Ruby knew where Emma kept her spare key, so that meant that Henry was sitting on Emma's sofa the first time she laid eyes on the actual boy. His hair was a bit messy and his eyes darker than she had imagined after seeing the pictures. He was still wearing his school uniform, though it looked a bit wrinkled and messy after all day in it. Ruby was telling him about one of the photographs, explaining that she was not Emma's sister, but close enough.

A part of Emma was hurt that the little boy reacted to Mary Margaret first, wrapping himself around her and apologizing for making her worry. But she knew that he was more familiar with his teacher than the mystery of the woman who had placed him for adoption. She had wondered about this moment for quite a while. She had considered what to say and even silently practiced on the driver over. However, it was Henry that spoke first.

"I'm Henry," he said, disentangling himself from his teacher. "I'm your son." His grin was a hybrid between hers and Neal's. There is something crooked and yet sincere about it.

"Emma," she said, her voice hoarse.

He nodded. "I know." She couldn't help but notice he still had his backpack next to him and from the looks of it, he'd been doing homework while waiting outside her place. Leave it to her son to be so practical when in an obviously emotional state.

She could see Ruby leading Killian and Mary Margaret into the kitchen area. No, it didn't provide them with much privacy, but it was a bit easier than being on display with eye boring into them. "Your mom is missing you pretty badly," Emma said finally. "She's got a bunch of people looking for you."

"Figures," he said. "I just…I wanted to meet you. I wanted to know…I wanted to know things." He shifted bit and she could tell that his uniform blazer was a bit large for him. She could almost hear Regina talking about buying it a size larger so he can grow into it. Wasn't that something that a mother would say?

"You want to know why I chose adoption," she said, expecting the question. It wasn't as though the subject hadn't come up before. Heck, if she ever met her parents, she probably would have asked them the same thing. Who wouldn't want to know why they had been rejected on the first day of life?

"To give me a better chance, right?" He said with a little shrug that seemed awfully familiar. "I get that. I guess I want to know why you think living with her is better. Is she that much…I mean are you…"

"I wasn't that much older than you when you were born," Emma said, looking at him and regarding the earnest eyes that held so much hope. "I was alone and scared, but that's not an excuse or even a reason. I'd never held a job. Not a real one. I stole things to get by. I slept in cars or on the bench inside a mall. I hung out in all night diners so that nobody would notice and then skipped out on the check. It wasn't a life for a baby." She backed herself up so that her legs hit the edge the chair and found herself sitting. He took the cue and sat on the couch before her.

"But you don't live like that now," he said.

"I grew up," she answered with an honest simplicity. "Part of that is because of you. Part is because I went to jail for a while and swore I'd never do anything to end up back there."

Ruby had given him water to drink, which seemed an odd refreshment for a child. However, Emma realized that her drink selection was a bit low. A few bottles of beer. Some wine. Maybe some expired milk or juice. She had been sleeping at Killian's more often and he usually brought drinks with him. And the only other option was coffee. That didn't seem appropriate either.

"Did you…Do you think about me? Wonder about me?" There was less hope in those questions. He was just like her in that moment, vulnerable and insecure. Who wouldn't be?

"Every day," she told him. "I hear you have a pretty good life. You're smart. You have friends. Your mom loves you."

Three little lines appeared between his eyes. "She's…she's…"

Emma tried to smile at him. She'd been around children before both in her days in group homes and a little bit at work. And try as she might, she did not want to show him how nervous this made her. She was talking to her son. She was hearing him. That little flutter she had felt when she was pregnant was a real boy. Those legs that had kicked her insides until she thought she might have internal bruises were now in front of her. "Henry," she said, trying out the name again. She'd never asked Regina why he was named that. Did she have a right to know? "Is something wrong at home? Is that why you're here?"

She'd heard of and even lived through horror stories of adoptive and foster parents who were abusive and abrasive. There were stories that made her sick with fear. There were some that made her cry for what could have been in her life. She searched his eyes for those haunted signs, the maturity that was beyond his years and the fear that had turned to desolation. She didn't see it.

"She loves me," he said matter-of-factly. "She just…I'm her whole life and it worries her that I might…that I might want to know you."

"She's your mom," Emma said in the same unaffected tone. "I gave up that right so we have to respect that."

"You gave it up," he said as though he was the one explaining it to her. "You gave it up, but I didn't. What if I want to get to know you? What if…"

Emma's eyes left the boy in front of her and the silent list she was making in her mind of his similarities to her and Neal. She could hear the breathing in the kitchen and for a moment was amused that Killian was probably just as enthralled as Ruby and Mary Margaret. She wouldn't have been surprised if she heard them popping popcorn, but that might diminish their ability to eavesdrop. "We need to talk to your mom about that," Emma said firmly. "I am not going to go behind her back to get to know you. It's not that easy, you know. She probably worries that I'll do something wrong or that I will corrupt you. We have to prove we can handle this. And that includes you calling your mom and explaining where you are." She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her phone, passing it over to him. "Deal?"

He nodded slowly. "Maybe we could go to Granny's or something?" he asked, his hopeful tone back on display. "I like her lasagna and her grilled cheeses. Oh and her pies."

"If your mom says that is okay, then I'm fine with that. Let's call her and see."

Yes, this chapter was shorter, but I hope it makes up for last time's cliffhanger. As someone who has adopted a child, I have often wanted a little more depth into the Henry/Emma dynamic. I may not be the biggest Regina fan, but I can understand her being worried. I would be worried if my daughter's birth mother was around.