A/N: I'm thrilled that you all still like this story so much. And I still love writing it. I'm not sure how long it's gonna be, though. I'm pretty sure we won't reach 50 chapters but I'll keep you informed.
A few days passed. The Swan-Mills family did go out to celebrate on Tuesday - with ice-cream and a long walk on the beach. It was the first time the town could observe the three of them together and what they saw surprised most and troubled some. They had certainly never seen 'the Evil Queen' so relaxed, smiling so much, laughing at the antics of both her son and her lover. Emma, too, seemed far from the usual reserved if friendly woman they had learned to respect. She was goofy and playful as she chased Henry across the sand, and charming and loving when she put her arms around the woman she loved. It was obvious that these three were happy. If anyone had their doubts about how Henry was feeling about his moms being together, now these doubts became a certainty that he loved it and that he'd finally found the family he wanted to have.
Of course, that meant for some that they would stay on the outside. Neal really had a bad day that day and he seemed to sense that this wouldn't change for awhile. The thought of simply leaving, going back to New York, crossed his mind but he knew how it felt to be abandoned by his father and he didn't want to do that to Henry. The idea of Emma and Regina bothered him still. Naturally, as he thought, since Regina was evil... but some of what Emma had said to him, the memory of what his father had been and that he still had been loved and loved in return, gave him pause.
Charming, meanwhile, hadn't caught sight of Emma and Regina and Henry - he was keeping clear of having to witness anything that was going on in his daughter's life. He spent some tme with Gordon, other times working an odd job but mostly he was out at the mines with the dwarfs. They were looking for fairy dust again. It was one of the things they had started working on again after David had encouraged everybody to be more active in the search for a way home. David felt secure in his belief that fairy magic was the 'good magic' that would help them all get home. Nobody would have to pay a price, nobody would have to do anything they didn't want to do. And he was busy walking the shafts underneath the town while Emma was doing whatever with that witch...
The morning Regina found him, it was Friday, he was once again standing over maps of the Storybrooke mining system, talking to Grumpy.
"Have we cleared the rubble from this..." he was about to ask when the noise of an arriving car made them both look up.
"What does she want?" Grumpy grumbled into his beard.
"You know how she is, she's probably gonna ask if we got permission to be here. Her town and all that," David gave back.
"Can she lock us out?" Grumpy asked.
"I'd like to see her try."
Regina parked her car and got out. She looked over at the two men but didn't come any closer, instead she leaned against the hood of her Mercedes and waited.
"What now?" Grumpy asked his friend.
"Let her wait," David said. "Have we cleared this passage of the rubble yet?" He came back to his question and pointed at the map.
"Bash, Happy, and Sleepy are still at it but it should be done by the end of the day. It's a dead end, though, see?"
"Yes, but...," a honk interrupted him.
Regina was standing at her open car window and smiled at him. She raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.
David sighed.
"Better go see what she wants. She's not gonna let us work in peace unless she's had her say," Grumpy said and David nodded once.
"Come on then," he said and they both trudged over to where Regina had resumed her earlier post against the hood of her car.
"So nice of you to join me, gentlemen," she said when they were close enough to hear.
"What do you want, Regina?" David asked.
"I want to talk to you, David," she simply said.
"About?"
Regina looked from David to Grumpy for a moment, then back at the blond man.
"Emma," she said.
Grumpy considered himself a loyal friend to Snow and Charming, he certainly had the scars to prove it, but he wasn't really comfortable discussing their daughter. While Emma was a nice enough girl and had shown that she was just as much a hero as her parents, for him she lacked their natural warmth. She seemed distrusting, rarely smiled - and he wasn't even aware how hypocritical it was of him to judge anyone by those traits that he certainly shared. Since Sneezy's suspicions about the savior and the Evil Queen had turned out to be correct, he found even less reasons to like her. He thought it was unbecoming of a hero to keep the company of a villain - much less sleep with them. But he would never tell his friends this and kept a respectful silence on the subject. And he could certainly do without hearing any more of this subject his brothers wouldn't shut up about.
He was looking up at Charming with a frown.
"There's nothing to talk about," David said and turned.
"So you're just going to make her more miserable because you can?" Regina asked and David stopped mid-step.
He turned toward Grumpy.
"Could you give us a minute?"
"Sure thing," the dwarf agreed eagerly and left them.
"All right, have your say, Regina," David told her.
"I'm not going to stand here and talk my head off if you're not willing to listen, David. Emma is hurtung, you're hurting her, and I'm not having it," she told him.
"I'm hurting her? You sure about that?"
Regina looked at David for a long moment. He had folded his arms over his chest, his legs firmly pressed into the grassy earth. He was most certainly the symbolization of righteousness, a statue for the stand-up guy, everybody's hero. Too bad he was also an idiot!
"You're going to leave her again," she said.
"Excuse me?"
"You're going to leave her again. You're set on finding a way to the Enchanted Forest and yet you know that Emma isn't going to come with you. That's hurting her. You're trying to have another baby and now you're adopting a boy you hardly know. For her those are signs that you're replacing her and it's hurting her. She knows that you can't help these thing, she herself told you to take Gordon in and she would never tell you how she feels about it because she doesn't want you to give up your home or your wish to have a bigger family. Still, she's hurting. And instead of being a father, being a friend, you're condemning her for something that makes her happy. So yes, I'm sure it's you who is hurting her," Regina told David.
"How do you... has she said... what... do you want, Regina?"
"I want you to get over yourself. You don't have to love me, David, you don't even have to like me. But don't treat Emma like a child who doesn't know what is good for her. My mother treated me like that and you know how that turned out. Emma loves me and I love her and as far as I'm concerned, it's forever. So the sooner you get over that big dumb ego of yours the better for all of us."
"Ego? This is hardly about my ego, Regina! It's about you...," but she interrupted him:
"Being evil? Well, that was my ego and I got over that. Now it's your turn to... forgive that I seperated you from your family, that I put you in a coma for nearly 30 years, that I emasculated you, in short." David was about to interrupt her but she held up a hand and continued. "Your daughter needs you. She may not be a child anymore but she still needs you and Snow as her parents and as her friends. As I said, you don't have to like me but you'll have to find a way to... tolerate me in your daughter's life. Or you're going to lose her," she added.
"I'm not going to simply lose her, am I? You're taking her away from me," he accused and she rolled her eyes at him.
"I had an inkling you would turn this around on me. Let me put it in terms that you're going to understand: Emma loves you. Emma loves me. You don't like me, that makes Emma sad. In order to make her not sad anymore you'll have to treat her like an adult and accept her decision of loving me. That's all."
He didn't say anything but just glared at her.
"And they call me evil," Regina said as she pushed away from her car and went around it to the driver's door. "If you change your mind, you know where to find her. But if you don't... just keep away from her. The last thing she needs are your disappointed puppy eyes and that unbecoming pout you're sporting," she threw at him before she got into her car and drove away.
Emma looked up from some paperwork when she heard footsteps in the hall. She was obviously getting company and was quickly surveying her desk and then getting rid of an empty bag that had contained chips. She also wiped some crumbs from her shirt.
"Hey, ma," she heard a greeting from the door and smiled. She looked up to see Henry and her mother enter.
"Hey, you two, this is a surprise," she said and rose from her desk. She hugged Henry and then Snow.
"Henry saw the cruiser outside and wanted to say hi," Snow said smiling.
"That's all right with me, I'm doing paperwork." Emma rolled her eyes and Henry snickered.
"Behind again?" he chastised her in a tone that would have made his other mother proud. "You know if I made my homework like you do your paperwork... well, I would get in a lot of trouble with at least three women," he finished the sentence when he saw the looks on mother and daughter's faces. He grinned.
"Yes, you would, and don't you forget it," Emma told him. "Lucky for me, I'm only getting in trouble with Regina."
"Lucky for you, you're slee... dating her," Henry quickly amended.
"Lucky for me, indeed," Emma gave back with a saucy smile and Henry rolled his eyes.
"Okay, that's really more than I need to know. I'm gonna go lie down in that cell over there," he pointed.
"Take the other one. Lou threw up on that one just last week," Emma told him and saw his son make a disgusted face. But he still went into one of the cells and lay down.
Emma, meanwhile, turned to Snow smiling.
"He's growing into a young man," the dark-haired woman said.
"Right before our eyes. It's a little disconcerting but he's... I don't know, I guess, you could just say, he's a good boy."
"That he certainly is and I'm glad to report that he's also a good student. And he's been really happy these last few weeks," Snow said.
"We all are," Emma told Snow. "Here, sit down," she pulled a chair from another desk and pushed it closer to her own. Then she sat down herself.
"I'm glad everything is going so well between you and Regina."
"It really is, you know. We're thinking of moving in together," Emma told her mother.
Snow nodded but she had a thoughtful expression on her face.
"This is about dad, isn't it?" Emma asked after a short moment.
"Yes, he's really... I've never seen him like this. He's not even talking to me. He's gone most of the day, moody when he comes home. I don't know what to do about it," Snow said and she looked very sad.
"Is this the moment when you... withdraw your support and tell me you wished I wasn't with Regina? Wasn't happy?" Emma asked and tried to steel herself for the answer. But somehow she couldn't, somehow she just wanted to break down and cry because she felt like she was losing both her parents.
"No, Emma, not that. I'm just... I don't know what to do to help you anymore. He won't talk to me," Snow tried to explain and Emma felt a little better.
"He doesn't talk to me either," she said.
"I know. I wish there was something... maybe something like they do on tv. An intervention?"
Emma gave her a small smile.
"Stupid idea?" Snow asked.
"No, not stupid but I doubt it will help. I don't know dad as well as you do but... if he's anything like me he needs time to think about this. And if he doesn't come around... I don't think there's anything we can do," Emma said honestly.
"I can't just give up. You're my family, both of you... and Henry... and Regina, I guess."
"How is it going with Gordon?" Emma asked, changing the subject for the moment.
"Good so far. David's spent a lot of time with him this week and I think they're bonding. I try to get him to open up a little but that's difficult. But he's a good boy, certainly bright. And he and Henry seem to get along, too."
Emma nodded.
"Yeah, Henry likes him, despite all the... Neverland-drama."
Snow smiled.
"I guess kids bounce back faster from these kind of things than adults," she mused.
"Maybe. I think Henry still dreams about Neverland on occasion. I'm not sure how he sees it, though. I tend to think of it as this sinister island with tropic temperatures and Pan lurking in the shadows... most literally. But I don't think that's how Henry remembers it. He's still exchanging emails with Wendy, did you know?"
"I think he mentioned it, yes," Snow said.
They both looked over at the boy who was now sitting up on the cot and read a book. He was concentrating but also smiling as he usually did when he was reading a good story.
"Do you think... would you be willing to talk to him again, Emma? David, I mean?"
"I don't know what else to say to him, mom," Emma gave back but saw how desperately her mother needed her to keep trying to get through to David. She sighed.
"I know it's a lot to ask," Snow said. "But he loves you. He just needs to see that you're happy with Regina."
"Then maybe we should just come over to dinner some night and have him see it," Emma suggested but Snow made a face.
"I don't think Regina would help the cause much at this point. Seeing her... will probably only aggrevate him. I'm sorry."
Emma nodded.
"Alright, I see that I'm gonna talk to him. Maybe you can get him to go for a drink at The Rabbit Hole this weekend. We could meet on neutral ground," she said.
"Thank you, Emma," Snow said hopefully and reached for her daughter's hands. She squeezed them.
"Don't get your hopes up. We've talked before and it didn't help at all."
"I think it did. I think he's thinking about it all. It just... takes a little while."
Emma raised an eyebrow at her mother and Snow smiled.
"He's... stubborn that way," she said.
"Right," Emma agreed. "Hey, kid," she then called over toward her son.
Henry looked up at them.
"You done gossiping?"
"You better not let your mom hear you talk sexism or she's gonna have your priviledged hide, sonny," Emma gave back as Henry rose from the cot and came over. He put his book into his backpack and slung it over one shoulder.
"That wasn't sexist that was mock-sexist. I'm aware of the stereotype and am commenting on it's ridiculousness," he gave back smartly and grinned.
"And she would still have your hide," Emma told him.
"I guess you're right," he said shrugging.
"Let's head home, Gordon't probably gonna be there in another hour," Snow said and rose.
"'Kay. You gonna get me after work?" Henry asked his mother.
"Probably, unless your mom gets home earlier. Then she'll come get you," she told him.
"I'll see you tonight," he said as he walked out the door.
"Tonight," she said and sat down at her desk again. She sighed thinking about the promise she had given her mother. She really didn't want to start fighting with David again. But she also really didn't want to lose him.