I'm back! I promise you, I have not stopped working on this story. I was actually hoping to have the next four chapters uploaded at the same time, but the others are not quite ready. As you may have guessed, I am in the process of bringing this story to a close. I hate to see it end, but I promise to give the ending the integrity it deserves. I am contemplating continuing this as a series if you guys express interest, so let me know. Please come back for more, there are a few surprises ahead.
"So, now you know why I left Storybrooke." The blonde woman is exhausted, she wasn't expecting the amount of energy telling her son the truth would require. She is just grateful that she finally had the chance to explain the events surrounding her departure.
With luck on their side, the family was able to get a table in the back section of the restaurant. The set-up was ideal for a small child that liked to change seats frequently during the course of an early dinner and also allowed for intimate conversation. Regina was only too happy to keep her daughter distracted while Emma and Henry spent the majority of the time catching up.
Henry accepts his mother's explanation about her reason for leaving, realizing that it isn't his place to judge a scared pregnant woman for making such a hasty decision. But he still doesn't know what happened after she crossed the town line.
"I understand why you left, but it's been four years. What happened in that time? I thought maybe you would be married by now."
That did it. That one word reminds Emma of the very thing she had been trying to forget. Her breath hitches and she becomes observably agitated. Regina is also alerted by her son's recent inquiry, as the mothers exchange knowing looks. Nothing could have prepare either of them to explain such a horrible reality to the son they always strove to protect.
The blonde woman hesitates before making the regretful admission. "Actually, I am, technically, married."
"You are married?!" He didn't mean for it to come out like that. The news comes as quite a shock to Henry after witnessing that his two mothers are very much together.
"Yes, but, Henry, I'm in love with your mother," Emma quickly amends her previous comment. She only hopes that her grown-up son will be receptive to her declaration.
Henry vocalizes the logical solution. "Are you getting divorced?"
In Emma's heart, her marriage ended the first time Chris struck her. He broke his vows long ago. She nervously explains, "I'm just waiting for his signature on the divorce papers." Her hands begin to tremble as fear and hopelessness creeps back into her awareness. In an instant, she feels Regina's quieting hand placed lightly over hers. It's moments like these when the blonde woman is reminded how much she missed Regina.
"He'll sign them, Emma. Don't worry."
That voice. The younger woman lets the tranquility of Regina's tone fill her spirit and calm her senses.
The young man watching the exchange between his parents is incredibly moved, but also feels the need to remind his mothers of his presence. "Um, Mom?"
"Your mother," Regina begins confidently, but her assurance immediately dwindles when she recognizes what she is about to disclose, "…has been through something terrible."
The younger woman grips Regina's hand with both of hers. She absolutely does not want to hear the words come out of her own mouth. How could she admit to her son that she was a battered woman? She was his hero! Luckily for Emma she unexpectedly forgets how to speak English. "He…um…I'm…I'm…"
"Safe." Regina's intervention spares Emma the painful task of vocalizing the secret she desperately wants to forget. "You're safe now," she reiterates, urging the younger woman to meet her gaze.
The blonde woman allows herself to be anchored by the warmth radiating from Regina's eyes. In her eyes, she sees herself reflected: stronger, braver, a hero. She nods her head confidently.
"Mom?" Henry is only too eager for his mothers to continue.
Regina encourages her future wife. "It's alright. It's just us. Your family is here and we love you."
Emma inhales a deep breath. She is determined to tell her son the truth of the situation. Unsure of how to translate such a cruel existence into words Emma latches on to what she believes to the depth of her soul. Without meeting her son's eyes, she confesses, "I don't know what I would have done if your mom hadn't found me."
Noticing her fiancée's trembling lower lip, Regina wraps both arms around the crying woman's shoulders. The younger woman eagerly welcomes the support and melts in Regina's protective embrace.
The sensitive three-year-old that had been preoccupied by the coloring page supplied by the restaurant is now at her blonde mother's side. "Mommy," the little girl meekly requests.
"Come here, kid." The younger woman lifts her baby girl onto her lap, cuddling her close to her heart.
Her precious baby's concern for her blonde mother fills Regina with elation. "Everything is okay, sweetie. Mommy's okay," she soothes, gently petting her daughter's cheek with the backs of her fingers.
Emma promptly returns her attention to her son. The young man is noticeably crying. "Henry?"
He would rather not admit it, but he hopelessly wishes that he could trade places with his little sister for just a few minutes, safe in his mother's lap. Resigning to the fact that he is now an adult, and with that comes expectation, the young man excuses himself. "I need a minute." He can only manage to speak barely above a whisper before making a speedy exit.
Emma immediately turns her attention toward her fiancée, imploring her help. "Regina."
Their connection is so powerful that Emma doesn't need to utter another word for Regina to perceive the concerns of this woman's heart. "I'll talk to him."
"Regina," the younger woman whines. She is so afraid that she may have permanently damaged her relationship with her, until recently, estranged son.
Regina attempts to ease her fiancée's mind. "It's alright, Emma. This is just a lot for him to handle right now." The queen remembers that when Emma gets this down on herself it is almost impossible to convince the young woman that she is worthy of love.
"He's ashamed of me."
Rising to the challenge of correcting Emma's distorted thinking, Regina grasps the young woman's face with both hands in order to drive the point home. "No. No. Not at all, not ever." She softens at the sight of unshed tears glistening in her beloved's eyes. "Your son adores you." She lightly pets Emma's face with the pads of her thumbs. "Trust me on this: you are still his hero. Let me talk to him."
The emotional woman nods her understanding.
Before releasing the younger woman, the queen kisses her forehead and meets her eyes again. "I'll be right back, love."
The brunette feels her heart sink to the pit of her stomach when she spots her son outside the restaurant, crouched on the ground with his face buried in his hands. He is audibly sobbing. Luckily for Henry, this is New York and people generally mind their own business. A person crying outside a restaurant is not unusual and easily over looked. He would be lost in the congestion, leaving only his mother able to find him.
She doesn't have words. Nothing she could say could ever erase this heartbreaking image now etched in her memory. She approaches her crumpled son and lightly places a hand on Henry's shoulder to alert him to her presence, careful not to startle the boy.
The young man automatically recognizes his loving mother's touch. He looks up with watery eyes, instantly recognizing that his mother's eyes match his. Without saying a word Henry rises to his feet and falls into the brunette woman's waiting arms, relaxing in her healing embrace. Even though he is several inches taller than her, Henry nuzzles his face into Regina's shoulder the way he used to when he was younger.
The queen responds by securing her arms even tighter around her grown-up son, as she effortlessly begins to rock him. He will always be her little boy. For a moment their hearts communicate with each other the way that only true love can. "She's safe," Regina whispers.
If Regina had been anyone else, Henry would not have asked his next question. "Why did this happen?"
The queen is completely unprepared for the affect that her son's inquiry has on her. Now that she hears the question voiced, she suddenly remembers that this same query has been running through her mind since she first discovered what had happened to her beloved. The bond between mother and son is undeniable. Regina feels safe admitting the painful truth. "I don't know." She begins to weep.
Composing slightly, Henry breaks the comforting embrace. "I'm sorry I ran out on Mom. I didn't mean to upset her."
Regina soothes with her voice as she lightly wipes away her son's tears with the pads of her thumbs. "Your mother is just worried about you. Do you know how important you are to her?"
The young man nods. "Is she okay?"
Regina had been avoiding this thought for several hours, and now she realizes that she doesn't know the answer. She manages not to burst into uncontrollable sobbing on the busy sidewalk, by holding on to the one fact that grounds her. "She's safe now."
The young man doesn't even attempt to stop himself from asking, though he desperately wishes he had when he sees the affect his next question has on his brunette mother. "Was it bad?"
It all comes back to her and her imagination only amplifies the harsh truth. The tears are flowing freely now. "Yes."
The young man catches his mother and steadies her in a firm embrace. "I'm sorry, Mom."
"Henry," she cries, gripping her son tighter for support.
"I'm here." He only wishes he could take back his last question. Only over the past few months had his mother started feeling like herself again. The thought that she might be backtracking terrifies Henry.
Suddenly remembering that she is in a public place, Regina scrambles to regain composure. "I'm sorry, honey." Trying to appear nonchalant, she discretely wipes away the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm the parent. You shouldn't have to console me." It is evident that she still feels remorse for that period of time, after Emma left, when she was incapable of being a mother to her son.
"Mom, it's alright." He only wishes there was more that he could say to put his mother's mind at ease. "I can't imagine what you must be going through." He had done a lot of growing up in the past four years.
Everything they had been through together prepared Regina for this next vulnerable confession. "I'm not accustomed to feeling powerless, Henry, and there's nothing I can do."
"But you are doing something. I see how happy you make her." The emotional woman brightens as welcomed images of her favorite blonde smiling wildly fill her awareness. She always wants to see that smile. "You got her out of that situation."
Returning to the present and with the poise of a queen, Regina makes a proclamation. "No one is ever going to hurt your mother again."
His mother's assurance relieves the young man. The former Evil Queen is once again the hero Henry always believed she could be. "I know you'll keep her safe." He waits a beat. "What can I do?"
With renewed confidence, Regina replies. "Tell her that you love her. She wants to be your hero, Henry."
Henry already knows, whatever happened, nothing could change the way he views his blonde mother. "She still is." In this moment, Henry had never been prouder of the two most important women in his life. "And so are you."
Regina offers a shy smile. "Shall we go back inside?"
Mother and son reenter the restaurant, arm-in-arm.
As they approach the table, in the back of the restaurant, Regina's heart skips a beat when she catches sight of the most beautiful woman in the world interacting with their child, still seated on her lap. Mother and daughter have fully recovered and are wearing matching smiles as they light-heartedly discuss dessert options. Emma is in the process of describing the decadent selections to her daughter.
"I bet you'd like this one, Charlie."
"What is it?"
"That says, 'gelato.' That's the Italian word for ice-cream." Of course Emma knows that there is a clear distinction between gelato and ice-cream, but it's easier to leave out the specifics in this case.
"Mommy, I want ice-cream!"
Detecting that her family has returned, Emma redirects her daughter's attention. "Look Charlie, Henry's back."
"Henry!" the little girl shouts.
"Maybe he'd like to share some gelato with you," Emma suggests, setting Charlie's feet on the floor.
Running to her brother, Charlie announces, "Henry, we get ice-cream!"
He absolutely adores his little sister. Crouching down to Charlie's level, Henry shares her excitement. "I'd love to share some ice-cream with you, Charlie." He catches sight of his blonde mother rising from the table. "But I need to talk to Mom first. Okay?"
The blonde woman visibly blushes when she catches Regina staring at her intently. With both hands tucked in her back pockets, Emma saunters over to her fiancée, with admiration in her eyes. The heat between the two women is unmistakable, even their three-year-old sees it. The younger woman pauses, only a few inches away from the brunette woman. "Hi," she whispers, catching her bottom lip between her teeth.
Never had the queen been so turned on. "Hi," she whispers back.
Because they are in between the lunch and dinner rush, Emma uses the un-crowded restaurant to her advantage and places a feathery kiss on the brunette woman's lips.
The older woman willingly indulges in the sensuality of that kiss. And it becomes clear that if Regina had her way the kiss would not end there. If only I had her alone right now, the queen muses, subconsciously disregarding her audience.
"Moms?" Henry decides to remind his mother's of the fact that they are still in public before their make-out session escalates much more.
Snapping out of their reverie, the mothers attempt to gain control over their carnal desires.
The sight of her mothers struggling to act casual causes the tiny child to giggle.
"What are you laughing at?" Emma teases, tickling her baby in delight.
Ever the queen, Regina is only mortified that her impressionable daughter saw her carrying on in such an unbridled manner.
"Mom, it's okay," Henry reminds. "You're in love."
The brunette woman had never been prouder of her son or more appreciative for the special relationship they share.
"Mommy, help!" the little girl squeals, imploring her brunette mother, as her blonde mother continues to tickle her mercilessly.
"Come here, sweetie." Regina intervenes, picking up her excited three-year-old. "Would you like to help me pick out a dessert?" She carries her child back to the table, allowing Emma and Henry some privacy.
The young man suddenly becomes nervous. Meeting his blonde mother's eyes, Henry only hopes Emma realizes the way he sees her and will always see her. "I should've been there." He barely gets the words out before breaking down completely.
The blonde woman is grateful that she can be the mother her son needs in this moment. She holds him in her steady embrace and reminds, "You didn't know."
"I'm sorry, Mom."
"What's the matter with Henry?" the ever observant child inquires.
"Henry's okay, honey. He just missed your mother."
"Henry, listen to me." The restored mother gently grasps her son's face with both hands and instinctively begins petting Henry's cheek with her thumb. "There is no way you could have known. I hid it from everyone. I tried to hide it from your mom. I was so ashamed that I let that happen."
"It's not your fault."
Emma offers Henry an honest smile. "Everything's alright now. I'm not in that situation anymore and your mom and I are back together." The blonde woman turns her attention toward her son's other mother.
Their hearts, once again, silently communicate.
"Henry, we have something to tell you."
Regina rises from her seated position and fluidly guides her arm around the younger woman's waist. "Your mother and I are getting married."
Emma is positively beaming. Her dimples had never been more prominent. "Your mom proposed yesterday."
As distraught as he was over learning about his mother's abuse, Henry is now overcome with joy. "Congratulations Moms!" Henry cheers. His greatest dream is becoming actuality. His parents are finally together.
"Thank you, honey."
"Thanks kid."
Their joy is contagious and rapidly spreads to the eager three-year-old that recognizes the need for celebration.
"Mommy, it's time for dessert!"
Mothers and son share a collective laugh. The perceptive child had made a thoroughly appropriate suggestion.
"You are absolutely right! We can order dessert now." Regina lifts the excited child effortlessly and kisses her sweet face, earning another adorable giggle from the little cutie.
Not yet ready to leave his mother's side, Henry hugs her again. "I love you, Mom."
Emma takes a moment to reflect on the feeling of holding her little boy, after so many years. "I love you too, kiddo." She gently squeezes her son before breaking the hug. "We should order, your sister will pitch a fit if she doesn't get sugar soon."
After dessert and a couple of rounds of Charlie's new favorite game, Guess What I Just Drew, the family is ready for departure.
Regina hates this part of the visit. She was content having Henry home, or at least close by, for the last seventeen years, she has still not adjusted to the occasional visit. This would take some getting used to. In order to mask her anxiety about leaving her baby boy in another state all by himself, she makes the only logical gesture. "Are you sure you don't need any money?" she asks, digging into her purse as she fights back the tears threatening her eyes.
Though he appreciates the generous offer, Henry is uncomfortable with his mother rooting around in her open purse on a busy street. "Mom, I'm fine," he tries to sound reassuring.
She knows that Henry already has a meal plan through the university, but she doesn't feel right about leaving him without cash. "Well, let me at least give you some money for pizza."
Sensing her fiancée's apprehension, Emma comes to Regina's aid. "Hey, pizza money! You don't want to turn that down." Of course her enthusiasm is forced, but she can tell it is having the desired effect on the woman she loves.
"Here," Regina instructs, offering her son two folded twenty dollar bills.
"Mom, this is too much."
"How much?" a little voice inquires. Charlie always likes to be in the know, especially where her favorite person is concerned.
Henry bends down to his sister's level and stage-whispers, "Mom gave me forty dollars!" Though it wasn't a secret, he liked making his sister feel special.
Charlie imitates her brother, whispering back, "That's a lot of money."
"I know."
The proud parents watch the tender scene play out between their children, wishing that their family could always be this close.
The young man rises and hugs his brunette mother. "Thanks, Mom."
"I just don't want you to be hungry," she assures, subtly rocking him.
Relishing his mother's warm embrace, the young man whispers, "I love you."
"I love you too." She desperately wishes she didn't have to let go.
Henry turns his attention toward his blonde mother next. "Bye, Mom."
"Okay baby girl, hold Mommy's hand, so I can give your brother a hug."
It becomes apparent that Charlie comprehends what is happening.
"Bye, kid. Come home soon. Okay?" Emma hated saying goodbye too, but at least she had more experience being apart from Henry. No pain could compare to giving him up, directly, after his birth. She never imagined that she would one day get a second chance and a third chance to be his mother.
"I will."
"We'll miss you." Breaking the hug and fighting back tears, Emma reaches for her fiancée. She is filled with instant relief when Regina's hand instinctively meets hers half-way.
"I'll miss you too." He is determined not to cry anymore today. "Bye, Charlie."
The little girl is unresponsive. During the course of the conversation, Charlie gradually realized that her new best-friend is about to go away. Her face contorts and her eyes well with tears. Seeing his very upset baby sister tears the young man apart.
Emma lifts her crying baby in an effort to console her. "Hey, kid, we'll see your brother again soon."
"That's right." Regina gladly welcomes the distraction. "Henry has to stay here and go to school, but we can visit him again very soon."
"I'm sorry I can't come home with you, Charlie." "But you can call me," he adds, hoping that his sincerity shows through. He truly loves his baby sister. Eager for a response, Henry mimics the little girl's pouty face. "Can I have a hug?" That gets a reaction.
Charlie's frown reluctantly transforms into a timid smile, as she reaches for her brother. Henry tenderly wraps his little sister in a strong embrace and begins to rock her. "I'll see you soon. I promise." He feels Charlie wrap her tiny arms, firmly, around his neck in response. The young man has to fight back tears as he says, "Take care of our moms. Okay? I love you."
"I love you too." It becomes clear that this little girl has no desire to let go of her brother.
To Henry's relief, his blonde mother intervenes. "Come here, baby girl." She cuddles Charlie in her arms, allowing Regina to sneak one last hug.
"Bye, honey. We love you." Regina no longer cares if she is crying.
"Love you too."
"Get home safely, kid."
"I will." He takes one last look at his beautiful family before turning in the direction of his dorm. "I love you."
"Love you, Henry," Emma shouts over the crowd. At that same moment, the younger woman feels Regina's arm around her. She recognizes that they need each other now, more than ever, as they watch until their son is out of sight, lost in the crowds on the busy street.