I'm so sorry! Just when things start to calm back down again it ends up blowing up all over lol! Such is life. I hope you enjoy the update! Please leave a review! :)
"Haven't seen you around here before," Red greeted with a smile as she poured the couple each a mug of coffee.
"Well we aren't from around here," he chuckled and nodded his thanks as he slid the mug closer to him.
"Oh? Where are you from then?"
"New York."
"New York?" Red laughed in surprise and shook her head in more confusion than she let on, "what on earth has you coming here from New York?"
"The fiancé wanted a change of scenery and she got us lost on the drive," he chuckled and took a sip of his coffee while the woman in question laughed with him.
"It wasn't all my fault! You are hopeless with a map."
"I see," Red smiled but her hackles were up and when her wolf ears picked up a quiet 'pst. Red!' She turned her head to the kitchen door and locked eyes with Henry before he disappeared through the door, "excuse me, I'm needed in the kitchen. I'll be right back to take your order."
"Sure thing."
She smiled at him with a nod and then moved to the kitchen with a small hurried skip in her step. When she pushed open the doors she found Henry and Granny looking at her and she cocked her head, "what's going on?"
"Storybrooke's in trouble and we need yours and Granny's help."
...
"What's this?" Regina smiled as she took the offered cup of coffee from Henry.
"It's from Red and Granny," he grinned as he walked around her desk and took a good swig of his own hot chocolate and his mother raised her eyebrows with her smile.
"Oh?" She smiled and spun the coffee around, her fingertips holding the bottom of it as she examined it. And then she saw the mark. An ancient scrawl that to anyone who didn't know it would think it was a merely a scribble in the check box for 'extra hot' on the cardboard protector around the cup. But it was the ancient language of the werewolves and loosely translated it said 'we will follow you'.
Regina hummed a pleased laugh, her smirk threatening to break and show her teeth and when Henry slid up on to her desk with a smile of his own, she let her smile show her teeth and she stepped forward to kiss his forehead while he took another sip of hot chocolate, "good boy."
Henry laughed quietly and grinned up at her, "I like doing operations with you," he laughed and she smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"I like doing operations with you too," she laughed lightly in delight and he grinned up at her. She laughed a little more just in pure joy and Henry laughed with her for the same reason which had her shaking her head and grinning, "oh I love you."
"I love you too," he laughed, thrilled that she had once again become the mother she had been before when he was little. He laughed behind his hot chocolate and she laughed quietly with him still and her smile never faded. Even when the doors of her office brought in the town's two new strangers. While Henry craned his neck to look behind him at the new footsteps and voices, his mother merely flicked her eyes up and past him with her coffee held lazily between her hands in the grip of her fingertips.
"Hello," Regina greeted politely with a smile as the man and darker woman walked up to her smiling as well.
"Mayor Mills?"
"That's me," she shrugged a little and moved her hands apart a little before putting them back together with the coffee in between.
"It's nice to meet you," he smiled and outstretched his hand over the desk and she took it and shook it with a smile, "Neal. And this is my fiancé Tamara," he motioned toward her and the women shook hands with a quiet 'hi' and 'hello', "and this is?"
"I'm Henry," he smiled and twisted on his mother's desk so he could shake hands with both of them.
"And what gives you such special privileges to sit on the Mayor's desk?" Tamara chuckled lightly.
"I'm her kid, I get to do what I want," he laughed and his mother laughed quietly with him.
"You'd like to think so wouldn't you," Regina laughed and pushed his head a little which had him laughing a little more as he looked to her.
"He's your son?" Tamara clarified curiously, baffled that the boy they needed was in the care of the Evil Queen. Greg had said there were complications and he needed her there now but this wasn't exactly what she had expected.
"Sure am," Henry grinned over his shoulder and Regina ran her fingers through his hair.
"Well isn't that great," Neal laughed under his breath in approval, "you know this is the first place I've been to where the mayor isn't at all sore on the eyes," he smiled at the boy as he leaned forward a little with his quieting voice and the mayor gave a small laugh of her own.
"Hopeless," Tamara scoffed quietly with a laugh.
"Power, money, beauty," he nodded and the mayor shook her head as she closed her eyes with a quiet laugh, "you're a lucky man."
"Oh I know," Henry laughed back quietly. He liked this Neal guy. A lot. But he did not care much for the woman in his company.
Neal laughed and ruffled the boy's hair which had him laughing with him and when he looked up at the mayor she was smiling a wide white smile and when he caught her eye her smile remained happy and relaxed but her teeth were hidden behind burgundy lips once more. He smiled at her for a moment longer in silence before he chuckled under his breath and shifted his weight on to his other foot, "we were hoping that you could tell us the best place to stay in your beautiful town."
"Well apart from my own home, the best place to go would be Granny's no doubt," she smiled and took a sip of her coffee.
"Granny's is the best place aside from home," Henry nodded with a smile, "she's the second best cook in town."
"And I'm guessing your mother is the best."
"Yup. She makes the best food!"
"She cooks to hey. Damn. Is there anything mediocre about her?" He teased and she laughed while the boy hummed and thought.
"...no nothing I can think of," he shook his head and Regina shook hers with a laugh.
"Right answer," Neal winked and Henry laughed.
"Was there anything else you needed?" Regina asked with a gentle laugh lacing her words.
"No not really. Just thought we'd introduce ourselves. Doesn't seem like this place gets many visitors."
"None actually," Regina shook her head with a laugh, "would you happen to have any idea as to what put this little town on the map?"
"I haven't a clue. We were lost and just happened to stumble upon it."
"Well those mishaps tend to end in great tales," she smiled and Neal grinned and nodded.
"Indeed they do, Madame Mayor."
"Please, call me Regina," she smiled with a shake of her head and then looked to Tamara and tilted her head a little, "but you may not."
Henry laughed quietly in to his hot chocolate and Neal unsuccessfully bit back a laugh and the sound came quietly through his teeth as he bowed his head a little. He rubbed his hand around his smiling mouth and shook his head a little, "and what great tales do you have, Regina?"
"Oh I have a great deal," she smiled and shook her head, "but none that you would believe."
"Try me," he smiled and she hummed a laugh and glanced lazily at Tamara before looking back at him.
"Perhaps another time," she smiled and he nodded with a smile in return.
"I'll hold you to that," he laughed and she nodded, "I suppose we had better go get settled at Granny's. I imagine we'll see you around."
"I imagine so," she smiled.
"Bye guys," Henry waved with a smile and Tamara waved back with a polite smile while Neal's was much more genuine.
"See you around kid!" He waved and then looked to Regina, "have a nice day, Regina."
Regina nodded her head with a smile in goodbye and her eyes stayed on the door for a little while longer, only looking away when Henry started laughing quietly, "what?"
"You like him," Henry laughed and took a swallow of his hot chocolate.
"Don't look at me like that! You were no better," she pointed with and one finger and a laugh and her coffee in her hand.
"You can call me Regina," he mocked in a higher pitched voice and then broke in to a fit of laughter when she pushed his head to the side with a laugh and brought her coffee to her lips.
...
"Regina?"
"Where are you?"
"Leaving Granny's and heading back to the station. Why?" She furrowed her brow and lifted her shoulder to keep the phone against her ear as she opened the car door and got inside, balancing hers and David's food and drink in her other hand.
"I'll meet you there then."
"Reg-" she nodded her head and took the phone from her ear after the line went dead, "sure. Guess I'll see you soon then. Good talk," she shook her head and with a laugh to herself she started the cruiser and put it in drive.
Neal was walking with his arm around Tamara when he saw a particular blonde walk across the sidewalk from the diner and pick up her phone, greeting the mayor he had just left from before she got in to a police cruiser of all things. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of her and stared after her as she drove off with a smile on her face and without a glance his way.
"Hello?" She drew out but still got no answer, "Neal? ...Neal!"
"What? Sorry."
"What are you looking at," she smiled curiously up at him and he shook his head.
"I uh...I've got to go check on something. You gonna be okay without me?"
"Yeah I'm sure I can find something to do," she smiled and patted his chest as he slipped his arm from around her shoulders and started walking from her, "you want the car?"
"No I'll be alright."
...
"Back so soon?" David smiled from his desk as Regina and Henry walked through the door.
"We just couldn't stay away," she smirked and Henry laughed behind her.
"She likes the new guy in town," Henry chuckled and she shot a playful glare over her shoulder as she continued walking toward David who remained seated in his chair.
"Oh?" David laughed and raised an eyebrow at Regina.
"He's very...charming," she smiled and he turned his chair to face her as she came closer. She sat herself sideways in his lap with her arms loosely around his neck as he laughed and helped keep her in place with his hands around her waist, "and very good at flattery. Handsome I suppose. Good with Henry."
"Do I have any chance at all against him?" He teased and she hummed in mock thought as her fingers twirled through his short hair at the nape of his neck.
"Well he certainly isn't as well muscled," she smirked and David nodded with his eyebrows raised in acceptance.
"I'll take it," he nodded and then laughed and she laughed with him and kissed his cheek as she did.
"I'm gonna go get a pop from the fridge," Henry laughed and turned and left the room with a shake of his head.
"You know if we give him a comic book I'm sure we could get away with a quickie," he whispered with a grin against her lips and she moaned softly which had him grinning all the more and nudging his nose against hers.
"Don't say things like that unless you mean them," she warned with a grin of her own. Then she was being lifted and spun as he stood from his chair and she was roughly placed on top of his desk and he stood between her legs, his hands moving up her sides and his nose still touching hers as they breathed the same breath. Her heart was running wild in her chest as her need grew between her legs and slowly her knees moved up the sides of his thighs, her black skirt riding up even higher in the process while her stilettos dug in to the backs of his legs.
"I always mean what I say," he whispered and she gave a shaky and needy exhale against his lips, her hands taking fistfuls of his shirt over his chest and stomach.
"I leave you alone in here for ten minutes and you're already about to screw your girlfriend at your desk. Really?" Emma nodded at him as she walked in to the room drinking from her straw. She stopped at the desk next to David's and pushed her hand forward with his ordered food in her grip while he breathed out a small laugh against Regina's mouth and Regina looked at her irritably.
"Your lunch. Unless, you know, you'd rather eat something else," she smirked and took another drink from her straw as David took the paper bag from her hand.
"Later," he promised against Regina's ear with a smirk and kissed those full burgundy lips. She gave a short unimpressed hum when he pulled away and when he stepped back and sat down in his chair, she slid from the desk and stood on her own two feet.
"Nice legs by the way," Emma nodded as she looked Regina up and down while she smoothed her skirt back down and the brunette scoffed which had Emma laughing quietly as she took another drink.
"I suppose I should say thank you," Regina deadpanned with a small smirk growing on her lips.
"You're very welcome, your majesty," she replied dramatically as she stepped closer to the brunette to reach at a file behind her on David's desk and Regina rolled her eyes with a breath of quiet laughter while David laughed to himself.
"Hey mom?"
"Yes Henry?" Regina chuckled as she looked over to him, smiling a little more in greeting when she saw Neal behind Henry.
"Nope. Other mom. Blonde mom!" He called with a laugh and Emma stepped back from Regina with a laugh of her own.
"What's up, kid?" She laughed as she opened the file, glancing up at Henry only to do a double take and nearly drop her drink, her smile instantly disappearing.
"Neal was looking for you. Says he think he may know you..." At those words even Regina sobered a little but her smile remained pleasant and curious while Emma looked like she was staring at a ghost.
"Emma," he laughed in disbelief with a shake of his head, "I can't believe it's you," she simply stood there stunned and dead still with wide eyes. He supposed he couldn't expect anything else. "I must say that every time I imagined running in to you again it certainly wasn't with you and another woman. Let alone you with another woman and a kid that calls you both 'mom'."
Regina laughed quietly and Henry did as well, the both of them shaking their heads as they looked at Emma and then one another, "no I promise you, dear, Miss Swan and I are not a couple by any means."
"Yeah," Henry laughed and shook his head, "mom's kind of dating Emma's dad anyway...so that'd be weird."
"...I...what?" Neal shook his head a little and laughed in confusion.
"Regina I need to talk to you for a second," Emma spoke quietly with her head bowed in the woman's direction.
Regina nodded at her with a concerned furrow of her brow and when Emma put her things on the desk and turned away, Regina followed and motioned to David, "David; Neal. Neal; David. Converse," she smiled and David breathed out a light chuckle. With one more smile and a nod she left them alone and ran her hand through Henry's hair as she passed him.
"So are you planning on staying long?" David started curiously and Neal rubbed a hand over his mouth and jaw.
"I uh, I have no idea."
"Well it is a charming little town. Kind of like something you'd find in a fairytale," David smiled and Henry bit back a grin, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. "So how do you know Emma?"
"We were...we go back. I never thought I'd actually see her again though after August..." just like that the pieces fell in to place and his face fell in to shock. August knowing his name, telling him Emma had a path she needed to follow so she could play her role as saviour, the mayor and her stories she claimed he would not belI'd've to be true, the seemingly harmless description of a fairytale town; none of these people were from this world.
"Neal?" David questioned with a worried expression and the man's glazed eyes snapped back to life, "you alright?"
"What comes to mind when I say the words 'Enchanted Forest'?" He questioned innocently and when the room was filled with deafening silence and both David and Henry's expressions fell in to shock and panic much like his own, Neal nodded. And then turned and hurried out of the door to find Emma with Henry and David quick to follow.
...
When Regina left the office she found Emma down the hall a little ways pacing back and forth. "Emma," she quirked her head a little in a question as the blonde gave a long stressed sigh, "what is going on?"
"We are friends right?"
"I am not entirely sure how to answer that question..."
"Look, Regina, I need you to stop being so...guarded, okay?! Can you just be...you?! Without all the crazy queen whatever!"
With a sigh out her nose she folded her arms over her chest and nodded, "yes I suppose we are...friends."
"I need you to please stand by me with this-"
"You need me to stand by you?"
"Regina stop! I am having a nervous fucking breakdown right now!"
"What the hell is this all about, Emma?" She snapped at a whisper and Emma groaned and pushed her hands through her hair, "Emma!"
"I told Henry that his father was dead, that he died a hero."
"Yes I know that."
"I lied."
"...Emma," she shook her head, her low voice warning her to say something other than what she was sure she was going to hear.
"He is very much alive and as it turns out...staying in Storybrooke..."
Regina shook her head at her, her mouth open despite her lack of words. Emma was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and her hands were shoved in her back pockets while her bright green eyes searched Regina's dark eyes for an answer to her predicament.
"Please say something."
Regina scoffed out a breath and shook her head with a baffled laugh and then finally found her voice, "call me crazy or paranoid but I am quite certain that he is not here by mistake. These people know who we are, they wouldn't just bring a nobody in to this town. I do believe that he has no idea what his fiancé or Greg are doing here and that he truly does believe she got them lost-"
"His fiancé?!"
"Sorry. He's engaged. Tamara is her name," she shook her head in an apology and Emma huffed out a laugh with a shake of her head, "the point is that he is important to them. She wouldn't have brought him otherwise. In fact I am quite certain she doesn't hold any affection toward him. She is a horrid actress and I do not understand how he is fooled by her."
"So, what, you think I am part of their master plan now?"
"No I don't. I think it's Henry and then merely a personal vendetta against me."
"Well you would know wouldn't you. You've got a whole truck load of people with personal vendettas against you!"
"Yes I do. Calm down."
"How could I possibly be calm right now?!"
"Emma!" Neal called down the hall as he practically ran toward the two women, "what the hell is going on?!"
"Mom he knows!" Henry called as he hurried after Neal with David on his heels and both Emma and Regina looked at him wide eyed and then back to Neal, "he knows about the Enchanted Forest!"
"What? How-"
"What the hell is this place, Emma?! Do you know who these people are?!"
Emma let out a long sigh and shook her head and then motioned to Regina and everyone in their company in turn, "Neal. Meet the Evil Queen from the whole Snow White thing, her partner and my father David aka Prince Charming from the same Snow White ordeal, and Henry my son that Regina adopted as a baby. I am the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White as it turns out. Not an orphan. Who are you? And I swear to god if you tell me something ridiculous like you're some long lost lovechild between Regina and Rumplestiltskin or some bullshit I'm going to lose it."
"What in the hell?!" Regina growled quietly through her teeth, every word pronounced and distinct as she turned to look at Emma in disgust and mild anger.
"Not exactly no..." He started and Regina snapped her attention back to him, her head starting to shake slowly, "my name is Baelfire."
"Oh my god!" Regina huffed out in furious disbelief as she looked him up and down and then glanced to Henry and then stared at Emma and then back to Neal, "you have got to be kidding me!"
"I feel out of the loop...who is he?" Emma inquired as her eyes flicked between Regina and Neal.
...
"David move your hand," Henry whined with a laugh as he nuzzled the side of his head a little higher up his mother's stomach.
"Hey now, I was here first," David laughed as his hand was pushed out of the way by the boy's head. But he did let the tired boy rest his head on his laughing mother's stomach.
"You get to sleep with her every night!"
"He has a fair argument," Regina nodded as she looked away from the movie and up at him with a smile and reached up to hold the side of his face in her hand. She was laying on her back on the floor with her head and shoulders in David's lap and David sat with his legs straight and his back against the couch and was Cora sitting beside him mirroring his position while Henry had cuddled himself between his mother and the couch with his arms around her hips and his head on her stomach.
"Nobody asked you," he teased quietly and as she laughed he turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand.
Cora smiled as she silently watched them all interact and bicker to get closer to one another. How bad she been so blind to how perfect this was. Heartless or not, how had she been so blind? It was a beautiful thing to watch and it brought such joy to her heart. It all felt so new and amazing and when Regina removed her hand from David's jaw she moved it over her head so it laid in Cora's lap with her palm up and her fingers lazily opened and extended, waiting for something to fill its grasp, Cora didn't know how to respond.
She looked up to David curiously and he simply smiled at her and nodded at Regina's open hand with a glance toward it before looking back to her. Cora looked down to her daughter's hand and hesitantly placed her own hand over it. At the slightest contact, Regina intertwined their fingers together and Cora's heart skipped in delight as she cocked her head and closed her fingers with Regina's. It was such a simple gesture but it meant so much to Cora that it nearly had tears in her eyes. She let Regina pull her hand over as well and when their intertwined fingers settled upon her stomach above Henry's head, David looped a gentle arm around her shoulders in a gesture for her to slide closer to him so she was more comfortable rather than leaning slightly to keep her hand in Regina's.
David smiled quietly as he watched the emotions wash over the older woman's face as she tilted her head and watched Regina's thumb move slowly over the back of her own. Forgiving was not an adjective he would have used to describe the Evil Queen and even now that he knew her and loved her and lived with her he was still so pleasantly reminded of how truly forgiving she could be.
He couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like for Cora to be forgiven for all she had done to Regina. But it was a touching thing to watch as the pair made amends and the mother learned to use her heart.
...
"David?"
"Yes?" He smiled as he followed the yawning boy up the stairs to his bed while Regina said goodbye to Cora at the door for the night.
"I have a question for you..."
"Ask away," he said encouragingly as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder to help steer him to his room.
"Um...well..." He frowned as he tried to find the words he needed and David helped him climb in to bed, crouching beside his bed and pulling his blankets up to cover his crossed legs and bunch at his waist. "I know that you're actually technically my grandfather but...well you're living here and you're like super in love with my mom and stuff and...well...you're the closest thing I've had to a father and I was wondering if maybe I could...call you that...sometimes...?"
David paused his movements with Henry's blankets and looked up at him while Henry kept his eyes on his fidgeting fingers. He was caught off guard by the question but he was soon smiling and holding back a happy laugh, "I don't see why not."
Henry looked to him and when he found David smiling, he smiled back and quietly asked, "yeah?"
"Yeah," he smiled with his quiet and gentle voice and squeezed the boy's thigh a little. Henry's smile grew at his answer and when it started to grow too wide he dropped his eyes to his fingers in his lap very much like his mother did. And then he turned and quickly wrapped his arms around his neck and shoulders and David hugged him back with a quiet hum of laughter.
"I love you, David," he mumbled in to his neck and David's hand rubbed up and down the side of his arm.
"I love you too, Henry," he smiled and then kissed the side of his head when Henry started to pull away with a grin plastered on his face. David breathed out a soft laugh in his own joy and Henry's excitement and then reached forward and ruffled Henry's hair a little as he stood up, "I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight David," he smiled and laid down while David walked from his room and started closing the door behind him.
"Goodnight Henry," he nodded, his smile unable to leave his face while the boy grinned at him from beneath his blankets now pulled up to his chin. When he clicked the door shut he laughed a soft breath out his nose as he stared at the white wood before he turned away and walked to the master bedroom and his mood heightened even further when he walked through the door. Something he didn't think physically possible.
Regina stood at the foot of their bed brushing her teeth as she distractedly read the back of some magazine or book while wearing only black panties and a comfortable light grey t-shirt with a swooped neck. No bra, no make up, just her perfect little self being relaxed and comfortable. When she caught his eye she smiled at him through the toothbrush in her mouth and then dropped her eyes back down to whatever she was reading so she could finish it as she walked back to the bathroom.
"Henry in bed?" She called from the bathroom as she rinsed her mouth and her toothbrush.
"Yes he is," he smiled as he walked further in to the room and when she came out she did so with a smile in greeting.
"So I was thinking that tomorrow I try and spend some time with this Tamara woman. Or perhaps this Neal character. What do you think?" She smiled as she walked up to him and hung her arms over his shoulders while his wound snuggly around her waist.
"Sure," he smiled and his eyes left hers so he could study the rest of her with a smile.
"What has you in such a good mood?" She laughed softly and his smile grew to show his teeth as he shook his head.
"I'm just so happy. And grateful," he shook his head and she titled hers with a question and her smiled remained curious and happy.
"Tell me," she smiled and it grew to show her teeth when he let out a quiet happy laugh.
"I have everything. Everything is so perfect right now in this big house. Cora is settling down and enjoying her heart and loving you and Henry and even me, it's quiet and peaceful, we are well fed, you're teaching Emma how to control her magic here, tonight Henry asked me if he was allowed to call me his father," he shook his head and his smile kept growing and Regina cocked her head with adoring smile of her own, "and then there is you. I have you, this darling evil queen brushing her teeth in her panties and a t-shirt without a care in the world. I get to hold you and tell you that I love you and that you make me happy and no one can stop me! And you are carrying our child!" He laughed quietly and she laughed with him as her thumb moved softly back and forth through the short hair on the nape of his neck.
"I have never been more happy than I am right now with you right here," he shook his head with a light laugh lacing his words and a grin on his mouth. A grin that she soon mirrored as she laughed that quiet, sweet, delightful laugh she had when she was overjoyed and had no words. So he kissed her. Her arms wound around his neck and she rose on to her tiptoes as he kissed her grinning mouth and she kissed him back, their smiles never faltering and their quiet laughter heard by only each other.