After work, Emma walks to the nearby diner, Granny's, to pick up Henry's favourite meal for dinner. She also had to clean up her apartment given her weekend with Killian left a few things in poor condition.
"Well if it isn't Miss All Night Long," a voice announces across the diner. Immediately Emma regrets going in while Ruby's working. "Or should I say, Miss All Weekend Long!"
"Could you be any louder?" Emma moans, coming to the counter of the classic 50's style diner, where Ruby, in her very revealing clothing and her dark hair streaked with red, is cleaning some glassware.
Ruby Lucas was another one of Emma's friends. Provocative, free spirited and dirty in every possible way. Ruby had had too many one-night stands to count and she always loved to talk about sex, despite the fact she worked in a public restaurant. She was always trying to hook Emma up with a date or try to get her laid, mostly to annoy the blonde. When Killian came into the picture, Ruby wanted every dirty detail. Despite her lewd attitude, Ruby did really care for her friends and was loyal to the core. She was the leader of their little circle of friends, the "pack leader" as she liked to put it and she always made sure they had a good time no matter what. She worked at her grandmother's restaurant to put herself into art college, but at this point, was only making her hair a work of art. Ruby did butt heads with her grandmother, whom everyone called Granny due to the diner's name, about moving out of state for college. This constantly pushed her to the breaking point. The waitress wanted to be free, but Granny always said she had enough freedom as it was. Emma knew never to intrude in the family affairs but was always the person Ruby vented her frustrations to when the time came.
"I'm sorry, but the fact that you scored with this guy is something to be celebrated," Ruby smirks.
Emma rolls her eyes. "I did not 'score' with him. It's not a contest Ruby; we're taking things slow and actually building a mutual relationship. You know that sex is not some game to be won."
"I know but you guys must be getting serious if you did it all weekend," Ruby grins wiggling her eyebrows. "So was it big? Did he have abs? Was his hair greasy in your hands?"
"Can we please stop talking about my sex life in a public diner?" Emma begs, her face flushing the deepest red imaginable. Other people were eating and occasionally staring at the two women. Fortunately, most of them were local and knew to ignore Ruby's statements.
"Alright fine, but next time we hang out, I want all the nasty details."
"Not going to happen. I don't kiss and tell," Emma says firmly.
"Oh come on," Ruby whines. "I won't tell anyone I promise."
"Sure you won't," Emma mutters. "And the minute I turn my back, you'll tell Elsa and the others before posting it on your blog."
"Can I help it that I'm happy my best friend finally got laid?" Ruby says quietly. "It's been a while since the asshole dumped you and you were starting to become very boring."
"I resent that," Emma grimaces. "Can I please get Henry's usual bacon cheeseburger with fries and an order of onion rings to go?"
Ruby writes everything down on a notepad.
"Oh please, Emma, before sailor boy walked into your life, you were a stick in the mud. You were a typical mother in her 30s and you're only 28. You'd always worked late and had nothing interesting to say except about Henry and no offense to him, but his life isn't all that interesting. Now you're laughing, going out with the girls and actually smiling more."
"I am not," Emma says. An image of Killian enters her mind and the corners of her mouth pull up.
"You're smiling right now!" Ruby points out before putting the order on a wheel that rotated into the kitchen. Emma's face falls to convince her dyed haired friend that she wasn't lying.
"So have you talked to Lacey about Friday?" Emma asks, desperate to change the subject.
"Sure have, she's really pumped, turning 24 and all."
"Where are we going?" Emma asks.
"I'd really like to go bar hopping and maybe hit a strip club or two."
"Don't you think we're a little old for that?" Emma asks skeptically.
"Come on Emma, live a little!" Ruby whines.
"You're not the one who has to have self-respect and an image to keep with your son."
"Henry would be coming out with us if he was allowed. The kid needs to cut loose a little!"
"He's fine the way he is!" Emma insists. "He and I are going through a rough patch so I'm just letting him do what he wants."
"Something all parents take pride in saying," Ruby mutters sarcastically.
"Shut up, you've never had a kid before," Emma snaps.
"No I haven't but the kid needs to socialize a bit more. He doesn't even talk to the guys on his swim team."
"He's just shy," Emma insists.
"Order up!" Granny's voice calls from the back. She glares at Ruby over her square glasses. "Ruby you know what I told you about talking during work!"
"Come on Grandma!" Ruby whines again. "I was working all day."
"So was I and you don't see me wasting time."
"I can't wait to get out of here," Ruby moans, handing Emma the bag of food.
"So you've told me," Emma says. "How much do I owe you?"
"16.50," is the answer.
Emma pays her friend and leaves a tip.
"I'll see you on Friday if not before," Emma says.
"Okay, thanks, Emma," Ruby waves as Emma walks out of the diner into the graying evening. She climbs into her yellow Volkswagen car, usually called "the bug." It was one of the few things Neal let Emma keep when he took off. He had owned the car when he met Emma and they both loved it, taking road trips, even after Henry was born. There were some good memories associated with it, but Emma still felt a heavy heart whenever she drove it. When she came home the night he left, the keys were next to the note saying that she could keep it.
Emma gets to her apartment and parks her bug. She climbs the stairs and opens their apartment door. Henry sits in front of the T.V. with his feet up and a bowl of chips in his lap. The contents of his backpack lay strewn around on the floor and coffee table.
"Hello Henry," Emma says.
"Hi Mom," he mumbles, crunching on another chip.
"Don't spoil your appetite too much, I brought home your favourite from Granny's."
"Thanks, Mom," Henry says without much enthusiasm.
Emma brings her bag and the food into the kitchen and checks her messages. One from Leroy about the new case she had and one from Killian. She blushes hard when she reads the message.
Killian: Been thinking of you all day. Hope there is still that fire in your eyes from the night before.
Emma texts back and Killian sends her a funny message, so funny that she has to laugh out loud to.
When she looks up, she sees Henry staring at her with a sullen expression. She puts her phone down and brings down plates and glasses. She serves the food to Henry and eats her onion rings
"How was school?" Emma asks, trying to break the silence.
"Same," Henry shrugs. "I have another English assignment to do this week."
"Have you started it?" his mother asks.
"Not yet,"
"Well it's better to get a head start since you have a practice on Wednesday,"
"I know," Henry mutters, stopping the conversation completely.
Emma looks at her son for a long time. He looked so much like his father it was uncanny. Even though Neal's hair had gone slightly gray since their time together, it originally had been brown and Henry was letting his grow out over his eyes. Her son had a mixture of their eyes and the freckles were also Neal's. She spent some time wishing the Neal could be here for his son and help him through the rough teen years. Emma remembers being in foster homes in her teens and at one point, homeless. She had been forced to steal to survive and got into trouble with the law once and a while. She and Neal had been partners in crime, in fact, Emma had attempted to steal the bug while Neal had been sleeping in the back. He saved both of them from being arrested as it wasn't his car either and Emma had attempted to speed away with the car after hotwiring it. They stopped their crime sprees when Henry was born and they both agreed never to allow Henry to fall into the same pattern and make their mistakes. They knew that Henry had made them better people and they wanted to give him his best chance at a bright future.
Emma knew Henry missed his dad and accepting Killian into their lives was hard, but Emma had promised Henry that she and Killian would take it slow. Killian also never tried to replace Neal and tried to bond with the kid when he could, but Henry was still distant and most likely angry too. Emma knew he kept his emotions to himself, but she wished that he would talk to her about how he felt.
"How was your weekend at Regina's?" Emma asks.
"Alright, she let me play video games and she took me to see a movie. It was fun."
"Glad to hear it," Emma says gently.
There's another long silence.
"Henry…?" Emma asks.
"Hm?" he mutters.
"I'm sorry that I had you stay with Regina this weekend."
"It's fine Mom," Henry whispers.
"I know this is hard for you and believe me, it's hard for both of us too. I want you to know that I love you and always will. Killian will never replace your dad and we'll definitely take it slow."
"I know Mom, I'm fine," Henry insists in a harsher tone.
"Henry I…"
Emma's phone buzzes loudly, relieving some of the intensity in the room. Emma gets up quickly and answers it.
"Hello?"
"Emma," Leroy's gruff voice comes over the speaker. "Gold wants you to do some extra research about the new perp's portfolio before the stakeout tomorrow."
"Oh come on," Emma moans. "I already typed up three and a half pages today."
"He says it's not enough," Leroy mutters.
"It's never enough for him," Emma snarls.
"He wants four more pages by eleven, midnight at the latest."
Emma looks over at Henry who's eating quietly.
"It's already seven o'clock, But…"
"He said to do it or you'll be finding another job," Leroy insists.
Emma rolls her eyes. Gold threatened everyone with firing, it kept the intimidation factor up and made everyone respect him. She grinds her teeth in frustration, she was hoping to have a quiet night to read, not so apparently.
"Typical, but fine, I'll do it,"
"Just email them to him when you're done," Leroy says before hanging up abruptly.
"Good night to you too," Emma mutters sarcastically.
She turns to her son.
"I need to do some work,"
"Mr. Gold again?" Henry asks.
Emma nods.
"Why can't he do it?" her son asks.
"Because he won't get off his ass and do it himself," Emma growls.
"Sorry you have to work Mom," Henry says gently.
"It's okay, just holler if you need my help with the assignment."
"Okay, and one more thing?" Henry adds.
"Yes?"
"Just next time tell your boyfriend to hide the condom wrapper better."