Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time, Storybrooke and any recognizable characters are property of ABC Studios and the Walt Disney Co. No copyright infringement intended.

A/N: Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Got caught up in a few things so I haven't written much lately. Thank you so much for those of you who keep on reading and letting me know your thoughts and opinions on the story. It does mean a lot.

Chapter 13 - Henry's Mother

"You guys hungry?" Emma turned to the other two once they reached a small dining room they hardly ever used.

Henry beamed immediately. "Are we all eating together? The three of us?"

"I think it's about time we did, don't you?" Emma smiled back at her kid, who was already taking a seat at the table, and then pulled one of the chairs which was next to him, glancing at Regina, "Your Majesty," she grinned, and got an eye roll from Regina, who sat on said chair as Emma pushed it back to its place. The brunette was planning on leaving them inside and going to the stables to find out more about the runaway horse, but she would not pass on the opportunity to have a meal with her son after spending so much time away from him. Plus, Emma was safe for now, and Snow knew about the horse, surely she would take the necessary measures.

Before she knew it, Emma was nowhere to be seen and Henry was looking at her expectantly, as if he was waiting for something. It was only then she realized he must have asked a question she didn't even hear while lost in her own thoughts. "I'm sorry, Henry, what did you say?"

"I was saying that… that I'm sorry I didn't go to see you down there…" he looked at his own lap, unable to meet her eyes, "I really wanted to, and I really missed you, I still do, but I was scared…"

"Hey, Henry, look at me," she turned on her chair so that she was looking right at him, and saw as he slowly brought his head back up, "That is no place for you, and Emma knows that. They told you you couldn't go, didn't they?" There was no threat, no anger in her voice as she said the words, so he nodded carefully, looking ashamed. "They were right," she almost laughed at the look he had on his face as he studied her.

"So you're not mad at them?" his forehead creased much like Emma's did when she was confused.

"Oh, I'm mad at them, but not for this. I would have said the same thing. Because you shouldn't have to go anywhere near that place," she spoke softly, giving him a sad smile.

"But Emma is always there, and she's a princess!"

She scoffed, but someone else did, too, and she looked away from the boy in time to see the blonde coming inside with some water for Henry, and wine for herself and Regina.

"Emma," Regina pronounced the name pointedly before looking back at her son, "shouldn't be there either, but since when has your mother ever listened to anyone?"

The blonde simply shrugged and sat at the end of the table so that she was close to Henry as well. "Someone will be over with dinner soon," she announced, trying not to show how happy it made her that Regina referred to her as Henry's mother with such ease. Then she poked Henry, "And kid, you call me a princess one more time, you're grounded for a week."

"You keep saying it as if it was an insult," he rolled his eyes, too much like Regina for Emma's liking, "when it's actually the coolest thing that's ever happened to you."

"No, actually, you see, the coolest thing that's ever happened to me was when I got a Playstation for my birthday when I was 13," she put her tongue out, "That was much cooler than being dragged into a land with no hot showers and no tv and no bearclaws, that's for sure," she finished, grumpily folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Ms. Swan, do try to behave like an adult, at least in front of Henry," Regina's tone was firm, but she did have a hint of a smile on her lips when she did a weird movement with her wrist and a huge bearclaw appeared in front of Emma.

Her eyes went so wide that both Regina and Henry chuckled, but when she reached for the pastry, it was Henry who cleared his throat. "My mom always told me I could have sweets only after I had dinner," he looked at the blonde in all seriousness, trying his best – and succeeding spectacularly – not to laugh.

Emma looked between the two brunettes and her delicious treat and pouted, hesitantly realizing her eleven year old son did have a point. She also could not help noticing how happy the kid seemed – even more so than he did before – and how much more relaxed he seemed in Regina's presence now. At that moment, she felt more at home than she had ever since leaving Storybrooke. Maybe even before that.

"That was strike two," she glared at him, and pushed her dessert aside as to not be tempted, but kept looking at it longingly.

Regina was more than amused at the scene. Emma looked so pathetic that she was just about to tell her to just eat the damn thing, but dinner came before she had a chance. The two people bringing the food – a young woman Emma recognized to be Heather, who used to bring her breakfast in her bedroom until she decided she was perfectly capable of going to the kitchen and making her own, and a man who was a bit older, someone she'd seen around but never really got the chance to talk to – looked a bit weary as they saw Regina seating there, which was not missed by anyone at the table, causing the mood to suddenly shift into something much more tense.

"Thank you," Emma's smile was tight as the food was placed in front of them. Heather looked at all of them with a small smile, nodded quietly and left. "I'm sorry," the blonde spoke in all seriousness before a small smirk appeared and she reached for some vegetables before anyone else had the chance to do it, "I'm sorry, but I need to eat very quickly because great dessert awaits me!"

It was enough for the tension to dissipate immediately, bringing a smile to the other two as they helped themselves to the food.

The door opened just as Emma grabbed her dessert and was about to take the first bite. She huffed and chose to ignore whoever was about to walk in, happily chewing on her bearclaw. However, when she saw both her parents walking in, she immediately forgot about it, and focused solely on them while she put her food aside.

"Henry, Emma…" David started, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, "Will you wait outside, please? We need to talk to Regina."

"Hell, no!" the blonde got up, startling the others, "I am not going anywhere," as if to make a point, she got a bit closer to where Regina sat, still too astonished to say anything.

"Emma, it's ok," the brunette whispered. It would be much easier to deal with the two idiots if she didn't have to watch herself on Henry and Emma's account.

"No, it isn't! What if they…?"

"Miss Swan," she interrupted her with a much louder, authoritarian tone now, "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

The blonde was taken aback by the sudden change in behaviour, and decided not to push it. Trying to hide the hurt from her expression and voice, she simply turned to her son and ushered him out, not looking at Regina. "Come on, Henry, let's find something else to do."

The door closed, and the three people remaining stared at each other for a while. David was the one to break the silence. "Emma seems to think you're changed. I'm not sure I believe her."

"Well, I still can't stand you," Regina smirked at how surprised he was at her words. Idiot.

"Regina…" Snow started, sounding tired of all of this before it even began.

"Did you have anything to tell me?" the older brunette looked between the other two, "Because if you expect me to beg either of you for anything, then you really don't know the first thing about me."

"You are not helping yourself right now!" Snow's voice was a bit louder, almost exasperated, Regina noticed. Almost as if she actually wanted this to work.

She rolled her eyes and looked back at Snow. "Do you see any fireballs? Do you see any magic, or weapon, or anything else on me? Because, really, dears, at some point it will seem as if you're keeping me in there just so you won't have to be insulted every five minutes."

"People have died for less. You killed people for less than that," David's voice was dangerously low, and that was the moment Regina chose to get up with such force that her chair almost flew to the wall.

She walked closer to him so that they were inches apart. "Are you testing me right now, Charming? Because I assure you, I would love to electrocute you with magic at this very moment," they stared at each other until she was the one who pulled back, taking one deep breath before calmly sitting on another chair and intertwining her fingers in a business-like manner. "But I won't. Be thankful I made a promise to your infuriating spawn and to my son." Despite the words, her tone was remarkably soft when talking not only about Henry, but about Emma, too.

"I need a few days to think about this," he took his hand to his head, looking at his wife and then at Regina, "I still don't trust her around Emma and Henry."

"I've been around Emma for the past months, you moron. Do you see a scratch on her?"

"I heard she mysteriously got attacked the moment she was out with you," he replied back without thinking.

Regina could feel the anger, getting up again, although managing to not almost break the chair this time. "How dare you? One of your precious knights probably did it, but of course you would rather come and accuse me than actually protecting her!"

"Why would you think…?" he started asking, looking at Snow in confusion, but he did not get to finish his question.

"I need to talk to Snow," she once again took a deep breath in, barely being able to believe she was actually managing to not kill this guy throughout this entire conversation. "Alone," she spoke pointedly. When he looked alarmed between the two women, Regina rolled her eyes, "Oh, grow up, Charming, if I managed not to kill you just now, I won't kill her either. Especially not when Emma and Henry could be just outside the door."

Snow also rolled her eyes at the two, walking a bit closer to her husband and softly placing her hand on his upper arm, "I'll be fine," she assured him, and he left, his eyes never leaving Regina's.

When they were finally left alone, a lot of the tension seemed to dissipate. It was weird, Regina noticed, how this all started because of Snow, but Charming seemed to be even more irritating to her than his wife. Still, it did not mean she liked her.

"Did you find out anything?"

Those were not the words Snow expected to get from her, so it took a few silent moments for her to fully understand what Regina was referring to. She decided to let everything else go for now, and focus on Emma's safety. If it could also mean a truce – however fickle – between them, it was more than welcome. "Seems like you might be right," she nodded, "I went to the stables and two or three of the knights were there. I just don't know why they would…" and then it was as if a spark of understanding lit up Snow's face.

"What? What did you find?" She did not speak too loud, not knowing if Emma could be listening, and not wanting to risk it.

She walked closer to the woman, her stance much different from how it was mere minutes before. She was now talking to at least an ally. "When they told me their names, it didn't make any sense to me, why they would want to hurt her. But one of them, it was the guy, when she first found out about her magic. The one she threw the fireball at. But we talked to him right after that, and he seemed to understand…"

"That the princess was really sorry for almost taking his life? Come on, Snow, not even you can be that dense," Regina rolled her eyes, but was suddenly consumed with more anger than she could remember feeling in a long time, "Where do I find this man?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Where?" One simple word, and Snow had an answer to her question.

She dared to walk a bit closer. "If it was really him, he will be dealt with, I assure you. We will make sure we will never hurt Emma again, but we lived in a civilized world long enough to know that things cannot be the same as they were around here."

She did not say anything, instead choosing to walk closer to a window through which she could see the grounds. And then a fireball appeared on her hands. "Tell me who I'm supposed to be aiming this at!"

Snow did feel conflicted for a moment. The thought that Emma could've been seriously hurt by this man because of something she couldn't even control at the time almost made her point him out and let Regina finish the job. But she knew she would never allow for that to happen. "We don't even know for sure he did this," she got closer again, daring to touch the arm that was producing the magical weapon, and gently making Regina lower it, closing her hand until the fireball dissipated.

"I want to talk to him," she spoke immediately.

"Talk? Really? After you just almost killed him, do you want me to just send you to him?"

"You know me enough to know I don't plan on having a heart to heart with the man, dear, but I can guarantee that he never goes anywhere near her again, without killing him. I'll just… give him a little scare, that's all," she smirked. "You're welcome to join, but I don't think it would be too good for your image if they saw you sitting there doing nothing while the Evil Queen threatens one of the royal knights."

"You really care about her, don't you?" Snow's tone was incredibly soft as she looked into Regina's eyes.

"I care about my son," the woman replied, "And I don't want him to lose someone he likes so much." It was almost an instinct by now, and it didn't matter. Hell would freeze over before she admitted anything to Snow White.

"Fine," the younger brunette held up her hands, "But please, just prove Emma right and don't do anything stupid."