Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or its characters.
When they walked towards the Mayor's house, Regina noticed Henry grabbed Emma's hand and not hers, but after the good evening they had spent together she decided not to dwell on it and leave him to do as much as he was comfortable with.
As soon as they arrived, Henry rushed upstairs to pick up his things, leaving his two mothers alone. It was already dark outside when they stepped into the kitchen and Regina offered Emma a drink, which she accepted as long as it wasn't too strong. So, Regina poured soft cider on two glasses and handed her one.
They drank it in silence but both of them knew what the other was thinking of: the kiss they had shared. It was the first time they were at the same spot since it had happened. Their eyes locked for a moment, and just when Emma was about to say something, she heard Henry calling her upstairs. She looked at Regina for a second more than was necessary and then excused herself to see what her son wanted.
When Emma left the kitchen, Regina let out a breath she had been holding and obliged herself to relax. She left the glass on the counter, not risking having more alcohol on her body that she should. She started wondering why the blonde always took her breath away whenever she was near. Maybe it was just because Emma had been nice to her; maybe she had confused feelings of caring for love.
Love. She opened her eyes at that thought. Love Emma?
She heard steps outside the kitchen and a few seconds later the Sheriff appeared on the door. Regina raised an eyebrow, curious about why Henry had called her.
"I think I've got great news," she said smiling. "But you have to agree to it."
Regina frowned but conceded, "Okay, what is it?"
"Well, Henry has talked to me about Beetlejuice, you know, his favourite movie?" Regina nodded smiling, thinking about how many times she had seen than movie because of him. "I haven't seen it and he hasn't shut up about it. So he just found it upstairs and told me to convince you to let him, us, stay and watch it because your TV is better."
The Mayor stared at Emma and tried to hold back but the words escaped her mouth anyways, "Are you serious?"
Emma frowned, "Uh, yeah? He's waiting upstairs and you know, since it's kinda late and there's school tomorrow, he said maybe you wouldn't like it."
She was so surprised about the proposition, it hadn't crossed Regina's mind that it was Sunday night and Henry indeed had to go to school the next morning. She looked over at the clock that marked almost 9; it was late for Henry but he actually wanted to stay there longer. She didn't get that chance every day, so she nodded.
"I'll make the popcorn, you can arrange the TV"
Emma smiled at her like a child and nodded, "I'll tell him."
She disappeared again and Regina shook her head, trying to think of Henry and not the way Emma looked at her.
When the credits rolled over, Henry was already in his fifth dream. He sat in the middle of them, and eventually his head fell on the couch, not being able to stay awake for another second. Still, the adults had kept watching the movie, Regina enjoying it again and Emma for the first time.
"I can't believe you had never watched it, you were raised in this world," Regina whispered so she wouldn't wake Henry up.
"It's not like we could watch everything we wanted on the foster houses." The Mayor frowned and looked down, feeling guilty about it. "I liked it. I still don't know how you let Henry watch this when he was little though. I mean, it's kinda creepy."
"He saw the poster and he insisted so much about it I had no choice," she said smiled at the memory.
Emma looked at Henry and raised an eyebrow, "Too much for him today. Maybe we should get going."
"You can stay here tonight," Regina blurted out. "I have a guest room and Henry's got his. I can lend you a pyjama too."
Emma raised her eyebrows surprised but quickly recovered, "Yeah, it's...for the best I guess. That way Henry won't wake up. Why don't you take him upstairs while I tidy all this up?"
She rose from the couch to start doing so when Regina whispered, "Me?"
"Yeah, you."
Regina looked at Emma and then at Henry. It had been ages since Henry slept on the couch while watching a movie with her and she had to take him to bed. She carefully put her arms around him and raised him from the couch. He leaned into her and buried his face on her neck, making her smile.
In his room, she left him in the bed, kneeling besides it to put the sheets over him. Henry suddenly opened his eyes a little, still sleepy. "Mom?"
Regina doubted, not really knowing if he actually asleep or not, but whispered, "Yes Henry?"
"I know I haven't been good to you lately, but you still let me and Emma stay. Thank you."
Regina's heart warmed and, risking it, she pushed back a strand of black hair off his face, "It's okay Henry."
He nodded and closed his eyes, drifting back to sleep as fast as he had woken up, and Regina smiled at him. She rose to her feet and, after looking down at him one more time, she turned to see Emma leaning on the door, making her heart skip a beat.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she apologized when she saw the Mayor's face. They left Henry's room and closed the door.
"Were you watching us?"
Emma blushed and scratched her head, "Well, I actually was coming to tell you it was all clean downstairs but then I…just…Yeah, I was watching you."
They stood in silence, a little bit too close than normal, so close Regina could hear Emma's breathing. She looked into green eyes and she was met with affection and warmth. Regina felt drawn to Emma but stopped when she realized what she was doing.
"I'll go look for the pyjama, the guest room is at the end of the corridor," she said before turning in her heels and disappearing into the room, missing Emma's disappointed look.
Regina grabbed the first pyjama she saw and looked at the mirror. What was she thinking? Emma was Henry's mother, she had been fighting with her for over a year for God's sake. But Emma had changed. She herself had changed. And their relationship had changed as well. Was she so desperate for someone to understand her she had to thrown herself to the first one that did it? She thought of the kiss of a few nights ago, an intoxicated kiss. She absently brushed her own lips with her fingers at the memory but quickly shook her head. She was sensitive from all the emotions of the evening, it probably was just that.
When Regina stepped into the hallway, she found it empty, so she went to the guest room and knocked, waiting for Emma to answer. The Sheriff opened the door and the Mayor handed her the pyjamas. "I think this would fit just fine. If not, let me know."
Emma nodded and accepted the clothes, "Thank you. Good night, Regina."
Regina gazed at her, "Good night, Emma."
She closed the door and the Mayor came back to her own room. After changing and washing her face, she sunk in the sheets and fell asleep as she relived in her mind the last few days with Emma and Henry.
A/N: I'd love to read your thoughts about this :)