A/N: More of the good stuff... one of the guest reviewers wrote that 'darling' in old English meant 'favorite minion'... I didn't know that but I wonder if Regina did. ;) I like it, thanks for that particular gem of wisdom.

The alarm clock woke them both at 7 a.m. but while Emma buried her face deeper in a pillow, Regina extricated herself from her lover and got up.

"Go back to sleep. I'll wake you when I'm ready to leave," the mayor said in a soft voice and was about to slip into the bathroom when she heard Emma behind her.

"Regina."

The dark-haired woman turned and saw Emma holding her hand out to her. She smiled and walked back to the bed where she sat down. Emma put her hand on Regina's naked thigh.

"I haven't had my good-morning-kiss yet," she said with an adorable little pout.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, darling," Regina apologized and leaned down. They kissed and kissed some more.

"Mh-hm," Emma hummed into the kiss and lifted herself up onto one elbow to deepen the contact.

Regina giggled into her mouth.

"If you keep this up, I'll be late."

"And nobody would even notice," Emma challenged. "Come on," she said and lifted the covers from her naked body. "Just for a few more hours... I mean, minutes."

Regina let her eyes roam her lover's naked body and Emma could see that she wanted to give in. She took hold of Regina's arm and pulled her into bed. Regina laughed.

"You're naughty, savior," she told Emma who instantly began her loving assault on Regina's neck.

They snuggled into each other and exchanged slow lingering kisses that started to wake their passion.

"I wouldn't have thought you were a morning person," Regina murmured as Emma nipped at her neck.

"I think with you I'll just have to be a 24/7-person. I can't believe how much I want you," Emma whispered at her ear and then proceeded to tickle Regina's earlobe with her tongue. Her playfulness was rewarded with a deep laughter that tugged at Emma's heartstrings. It was the loveliest sound she could even imagine hearing.

"Mhhh, this feels so good, Emma... but... rghrrr," Regina growled in frustration and put her hand against Emma's chest just as the blonde tried to slip on top of her. "We should both get going. Somebody's going to notice if we both go missing, you know."

Emma rolled back onto her back with a frustrated grumbling of her own.

"And we wouldn't want that, right?" she said and her voice had an edge to it.

Regina looked at her.

"You want to tell everyone? Go ahead," she challenged her lover and raised an eyebrow at her.

Emma rolled her head and looked back at Regina.

"I'm sorry, I... it's something we haven't really talked about, right?"

"No, we haven't but I figured that you wanted to tell your parents before anyone else... that is, we should probably talk to Henry first."

"Yeah, definitely. How about you come over tonight and we'll talk to him? He's gonna be thrilled," Emma said with a wide smile and rolled onto her side again. She took Regina's hand and entwined their fingers.

"You're sure about this? I mean... I've never talked to him about... homosexuality? I... it's strange to think about it in those terms, in the Enchanted Forest it was just love."

"And that's what it is and I think Henry looks at it that way, too. He was pretty angry when I told him that we... wouldn't be together," Emma told Regina.

"What did he say?"

"More like yelling. He kept repeating that we were in love... that we were making excuses to not be together."

"He's got the smarts from my side of the family and the temper from yours. And we can't just let him get that way whenever he wants something. You can't just let him yell at you, Emma," Regina lectured.

"I know... but it's so... I still feel guilty for giving him up and... it's a scary concept to have to tell him... no. It broke my heart to have to tell him that we won't be the kind of family he wants."

"I know. believe me I do but now we have each other. We will talk to him together, it'll be alright."

"Can you be the bad cop?" Emma asked with another one of her pouts.

"Please don't do that. You remind me of Snow when you do that."

Emma protested at this comparison.

"Way to kill the mood," she said and Regina laughed at her. "It's not funny. Bringing up my mother when we're naked and in bed together is a no-no, you hear?"

"Maybe we shouldn't talk at all when we're naked and in bed together. It seems a waste of time we could spend so much better," Regina said in a low, sexy purr and pulled Emma closer at their combined hands.

"If I remember correctly," Emma tried to get out through renewed kissing. "You were the one who insisted that we get up and to work."

Regina pulled away.

"Right, I forgot," she said and gave Emma a peck on the lips before attempting to get up. She couldn't, Emma held her tight.

"You told me to not let go last night. I'm just complying to your wishes, woman," she told the mayor and they mock faught over control.

Regina finally ended up on top of Emma, pinning the blonde beneath her.

"And now what?" Emma asked with a suggestive raise of her eyebrow.

Regina leaned down and kissed her, then kissed her again.

"When does your shift end today?"

"Five-ish," Emma answered.

"Come to City Hall when you're finished. I'll let you drive me to The Rabbit Hole to get my car and then we can drive home," Regina suggested.

"Home?"

"Your place, if you prefer," Regina said but Emma shook her head.

"I like home better," she admitted.

"Will Snow bring Henry there or are you going to get him?"

"I usually get him after work but I can ask her to bring him over at six," Emma answered.

"Good." Regina gave Emma another kiss and then lifted herself off of her.

Emma pouted again.

"What have I told you about that pout?" Regina asked.

"Since I'm not getting any I might as well," Emma gave back and watched Regina walk across the room to the bathroom door.

"Or you could stop pouting and join me in the shower," the mayor threw back over her shoulder and Emma was quick to get up and follow Regina into the bathroom.

Emma was sitting on the stairs in the foyer when Henry came in. It was late, way past six when Emma had expected Henry and the boy looked indeed like he was sneaking into the house.

"Hey, kid," Emma said from the dark since she hadn't turned on the light.

"Hey," Henry gave back. He didn't look at her and he seemed contrite rather than angry.

"Hello, Henry," came the voice of his other mother from the doorway to the living room and he looked at her surprised.

"Mom," he said before he looked from one woman to the other. "Does that mean you're talking again?" he asked and the hopeful tone in his voice moved both of them.

"Yes, we're talking. And that's exactly why we want to talk to you now," Regina said. "Come on, living room," she told Henry and he walked by her with a lowered head.

Emma followed both of them and sat down in an arm chair while Regina sat with Henry on the couch. The boy sat between them and was looking from Regina back to Emma.

"Emma told me that you've been yelling at her, is that right?"

Henry nodded.

"Yes, I have and... I'm sorry. I was just so angry," he said.

"You didn't tell me you were angry, though," Regina reminded him.

"You... you were upset and I... didn't want to upset you even more. I know you've been crying a lot," he answered, his head lowered so that it seemed he was talking to his jeans.

Regina reached her hand out and pushed some of Henry's hair out of his eyes.

"You're right, I was upset but so was Emma. And even if we hadn't been, you can't just yell at us and then leave for some camping trip."

"Look, kid," Emma now said and sat forward to take Henry's hand. He looked up at her. "things won't always work out the way we want them to. And we can't always go around yelling at people for it. I know you were hurt but... so was I, so was Regina. But we talked about things... it took us awhile but we talked. Next time, you might just want to come to one of us and ask what was going on, okay?"

"I tried, ma, I... but I wanted..." He was close to tears now and they both saw it. He looked up at Regina. "Did Emma tell you why I was angry?" he asked in a meak voice.

She nodded and he lowered his head again. Regina put an arm around Henry and pulled him to her while Emma still held his hand.

"Emma and I talked about things and... well, you were right, we... do love each other."

Henry's head whipped up at this and he smiled through his tears.

"You do?"

Regina nodded.

"Very much," she said and then looked at Emma.

Henry looked between his moms, youthful laughter breaking free of him.

"I knew it," he called out and hugged Regina.

Emma slipped over onto the couch and lay her arms around both of them. They sat like that for a long moment then Henry became a little uncomfortable, his adolescent discomfort with this kind of 'mushiness' broke through. They spread on the couch more evenly and Henry settled between them.

"I'm really sorry I yelled at you. It was just so frustrating to see you... fight. And you said you wanted to know her and then..."

"I know and I also know that it's hard to understand but there's... a part of our relationship," and Emma made a motion between herself and Regina. "that exists outside of this family-thing we got. It's... Regina and I had to work this out alone and if we would have decided that... we couldn't be together then you would've had to accept that, you know?"

"I just... wanted you to be happy," Henry said.

"We know that, Henry, and we're very happy that you are okay with us being together. Before Emma told me I wouldn't even have expected that," Regina told him.

"After the whole thing with Pan I... I thought that maybe ma would get together with Neal... dad. But... then it didn't look like that was going to happen. And then we had that day at the beach and you wanted to get to know mom... and then you slept over...," Henry blushed as he said that last part and Emma looked at him surprised.

"You knew about that?"

Henry nodded and blushed some more.

"I thought then that you were together and just not telling me... because... I'm just a kid."

"We weren't together then, Henry," Regina said.

"And we don't simply not tell you things because we think you're too young to understand. Some things... they happen between two people and it's difficult sometimes. We were talking about it and each of us was thinking about it... it just takes time."

Henry nodded.

"I'm sorry I just took off like that and came back so late," he then said.

"Wait, you were just now coming back from the camping trip?" Regina asked.

Henry looked up at her with wide eyes, it seemed he hadn't wanted her to know that part. But then he lowered his head again and nodded.

"What about school?" his mom kept going.

Henry shrugged.

"Henry," Emma said with a sigh.

"You can't just skip school, Henry. No matter, how bad it is, your education is too important to...," but Regina stopped when Emma squeezed her hand. She looked up at the blonde who asked her silently to let her handle this part. Regina gave her a little nod, though she didn't seem too happy to let go of this.

"Did your granddad drive you over?"

Henry nodded.

"And you just came back?"

"He called grandma this morning and said I'd be back at school tomorrow... that we needed some... time to...," but then he shrugged again.

"You need to have a talk with your father," Regina said to Emma.

Emma sighed.

"I know. I think he might know about us," she then said and Regina raised an eyebrow at her.

"Since when?" she asked.

"The last few days when we weren't talking. He was pretty short with me and... Ruby said that Snow watched us during the council meeting so..."

Emma looked at Regina a little guiltily.

"Okay, let me get this straight, so to speak. Ruby knows about us?"

"Remember that night... you drove me home from The Rabbit Hole and where we... talked?"

Regina blushed just a little at the reminder.

"She heard us, of course. She's a werewolf."

"What were you talking about?" Henry asked.

"Remember, some things are between your mom and me?"

He looked from one to the other and then grinned.

"Yeah," he said knowingly.

Regina took a deep breath and looked accusingly at Emma who simply laughed.

"Well, that's how Ruby knew and... I talked to her..."

"And she brought me the pie..."

Emma nodded.

"Alright, what about Snow? Did you talk to her, too?"

"No, but she seems to know. She said something the other day just before you called. I'll have to talk to her and dad," Emma said and made a face. She wished this conversation was already over.

They sat for a while, all thinking about what had been said and done. Henry seemed quite happy just to sit and think about how things were going to be from now on.

"Are you going to move into the mansion now?" he asked into the thoughtful silence.

Both women looked at him surprised.

"Erm... I... no, not just now. We... we haven't talked about that, Henry, and... I think we need more time to... get to know each other," Emma stammered an answer and looked at Regina for confirmation.

"Emma's right but... we will talk about it, okay?"

Henry nodded while his mothers looked at each other over his head. Emma lay an arm over the back of the couch and brushed Regina's hair back from her face lovingly. She caressed her temple.

Henry cleared his throat and once again they looked at him.

"You haven't forgotten that I'm here, right?" he asked.

Emma smiled.

"No, son."

"Because it looked like you did. And I think I'd rather not be here when that happens," he said with a meaningful look.

Regina laughed.

"Have you eaten?" she then asked him.

"Yeah, we stopped at the diner on the way here."

"Okay, why don't you go wash up and unpack your backpack," Emma told him and he got off the couch.

He was about to leave the room when she called after him:

"Hey, you wanna watch a movie tonight?"

"No, I think... I'll just make it an early night," he said and yawned rather theatrically.

"Very subtle, son. Don't forget to put your dirty laundry in the hamper, please," Emma said.

"Will do. Night, moms," he said with a wave and a happy smile.

"Night, kid."

"Goodnight, Henry," Regina emphasized and Emma looked at her grinning.

"So," she said when Henry's footfalls on the steps faded and they could hear him close his bedroom door.

"So, why don't you come a little closer?" Regina asked with a sexy smile.

She didn't need to ask a second time, Emma scooted closer on the couch. She made an even more theatrical display of yawning than Henry earlier, her arms outstretched over her head until one fell - as if coincidentally - over Regina's shoulders.

"Really?" the dark-haired woman asked.

"Subtlety isn't exactly a family trade," Emma apologized.

"No, it isn't and I really can't imagine what would possess your father to act the way he did," Regina came back to something from their earlier conversation which was still occupying her mind.

"I know and I'll talk to him, to both of them."

"That was irresponsible, Emma," Regina said.

"I know that and I'm just as angry as you are, believe me. I just... I'm trying to understand why he did it," Emma explained.

"Because he hates me and if he thinks there's something going on between us he... will possibly try to... do something about it."

"No, he wouldn't," Emma argued.

"You sure about that?"

The sheriff sighed and then shook her head.

"But I won't let him break us up," she said determinedly.

Regina put her hand on Emma's cheek, she could feel the tension in her lover's jaw, the way she clamped her teeth together. She pulled Emma's head to her and then kissed her softly.

"Neither will I, that goes for David and anybody else who wants to come between us," she said in a quiet vow. "I got my love. I deserve this love," she added after another series of kisses.

"Yes, you do," Emma agreed. "But let me deal with David, okay?"

Regina nodded.

They started kissing again, softly, languidly and Emma slowly leaned over Regina until they lay on the couch, kissing and touching. Their exchange got heated and they both tried hard not to let it get out of hand.

"Will you stay here tonight?" Emma whispered into Regina's ear before kissing it.

"What will the neighbors say?"

"I don't know, you're one of my neighbors, what do you say?"

Regina laughed lightly.

"Very clever, darling."

"I have my moments," Emma gave back with a wicked smile. "Please stay," she asked of Regina.

"What if someone sees me leaving the house in the morning? This is a small town, Emma. I'm the mayor and... the Evil Queen, at least to the people who live here. They won't like this," Regina answered seriously.

"I don't care what they like. You're my woman and I'm yours. I won't go sneaking around."

"I think you should talk to your parents before me make any bold declarations, Emma."

"I don't want to make a 'bold declaration,' Regina, I just want you to stay the night. I wanna make love to you again. It has been too long," she said opening a botton of Regina's blouse and slipping her hand inside. At the same time, she kissed the other woman's jaw then captured her lips in a passionate kiss.

Regina moaned under Emma and opened her legs for Emma's to slip between them. She pushed one hand underneath Emma's top at her back while the other cupped the sheriff's backside.

"We need to take this upstairs," Emma said between kisses.

"I know," Regina gave back but several minutes passed in which they continued to kiss and touch and grind into each other.

"Okay," Emma then said and pushed herself off Regina. She felt lightheaded as she sat up, Regina still trapped underneath her. "The things you do to me, the things you make me do to you."

Regina smiled.

"My pleasure," she said.

"My woman," Emma gave back playfully and lifted herself up. She stood next to the couch and held a hand out to Regina.

"So you're staying?"

Regina took Emma's hand and let herself get pulled up until she stood next to her.

"There's no way I'm leaving now," she answered and pulled Emma into a hug. "You make me go naughty and all soft inside at the same time, you know? How do you do that?"

"I wish I knew, I'd be doing it all the time," Emma admitted.

They kissed.

"Upstairs," Emma had to remind them both after several minutes.

"Take me to bed, savior."

And that's what Emma did.