A/N: sorry about the delay. My weekends are reserved for drinking and hangovers, neither of which are conducive to writing. But I hope you like where I'm going with this. The next storyline is looming …
Emma woke first, a chink of sunlight landing on her face from a gap in the curtains. Her nose was buried in soft brown hair and it took a moment for her to remember where she was. A smile spread slowly over her face as she realised whose naked body her arms were wrapped around. She snuggled closer, pressing a soft kiss to Regina's shoulder as she pulled the brunette tighter to her. They had fallen asleep, exhausted, in the early hours, after exploring each others' bodies over and over again. Emma could feel a familiar ache between her thighs, her sex already tingling as she felt Regina's bare butt pressed against her pubic bone.
A small cough from the foot of the bed made Emma snap her eyes open. Ok, so perhaps she hadn't been the first in the house to wake up. She craned her neck and peered through the darkness until she saw two hazel eyes looking at her curiously.
"Mama?" Henry asked, already pulling on the duvet to lift himself onto the bed.
"Hi Henry," Emma said, quickly checking both she and Regina were covered up as the boy climbed up and began to crawl towards them.
Regina stirred in Emma's arms and opened her eyes just as Henry lay down beside her. She smiled lazily at her son before her eyes widened and she took in the fact that two arms encircled her very naked frame.
"What's Emma doing in here, Mama?" Henry asked.
Although the boy might be aware of his mother's relationship with Emma, that didn't mean at the age of four he truly understood what the two of them dating entailed. Since he had never experienced his mother in a relationship, he was unaccustomed to finding someone else occupying her bed.
"Um, Emma decided to sleep in here last night," Regina offered.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Henry asked, turning his attention to the bright green eyes watching him over his mother's shoulder.
"Yep," Emma nodded, seizing the excuse the small child gave her.
"Mama's good at making me feel better when I have a bad dream too," Henry said. "What are we going to do today?"
Regina turned around to look at Emma, raising an eyebrow in question. They hadn't discussed any plans for Sunday, neither woman capable of thinking past Saturday night.
"How about the zoo?" Emma suggested. "I know you guys have been wanting to take me for a month now and since it looks like the sun is out, I reckon a day in Central Park might be the perfect way to finish off this weekend."
"Yay!" Henry cheered, standing up and bouncing on the bed in celebration.
Emma's arms wrapped protectively around Regina, pulling her out of the way of the tiny feet which threatened to land on her. Regina herself grabbed the duvet, ensuring their naked bodies remained covered as Henry's excitement tugged the duvet this way and that.
"Why don't you go and get dressed, little prince," Regina suggested. "And Emma and I will meet you in the kitchen for pancakes in a few minutes."
"Ok!" Henry shouted, bouncing his way to the edge of the bed where he slid to the ground and raced out of the room.
Regina chuckled and rolled over in Emma's arms. She kissed the flushed blonde softly and rested her forehead against Emma's.
"Morning," she murmured.
"Good morning," Emma smiled. "Think we got away with that?"
"I think we probably need to remember to put clothes on before we pass out next time," Regina said, sliding her leg teasingly between Emma's own thighs.
"Oh so there's going to be a next time, is there?" Emma asked, her hands sliding up and down Regina's back.
"There'd better be," Regina said, a lazy kiss landing on Emma's lips. "But right now, I think we ought to get dressed and go and find Henry."
The brunette kissed Emma once more before sliding from the blonde's warm embrace and out of bed. Emma watched as the naked body moved gracefully through the bedroom towards the ensuite, her silhouette gloriously illuminated when the light was turned on. As soon as the door shut, Emma got out of bed herself. Despite everything the two of them had done the night before, the intimacy of their relations, she wasn't ready for Regina to see the scars on her back. She dressed in her clothes from the night before and then sat back down on the bed, not wanting to disappear to her own room before Regina re-emerged.
When she did, Regina's skin was sadly covered, a silk gown tied tightly at her slender waist. She smiled at Emma and walked straight towards her, kissing her tenderly and looping her arms around the blonde's neck.
"I'm going to head back to my room and change," Emma said when they broke apart.
"And you waited until I came out of the bathroom to tell me that?"
Emma grinned. "I didn't want you to think I'd done a runner."
"Of course," Regina laughed. "It's not like I don't know where you live."
Emma blushed. Regina bit her lip, realising what she had said.
"Emma, I didn't mean -,"
"It's fine," the blonde said. "I'll meet you in the kitchen."
She kissed Regina once more before she walked out into the corridor, leaving Regina to mentally scold herself for speaking before she had thought it through. She knew sooner or later they were going to have to address the unconventional living arrangement they had fallen into, but at that moment Regina really didn't want to disrupt her seemingly perfect life. Regina sighed and headed towards her wardrobe to select an outfit.
By the time Emma appeared in the kitchen, Henry already had pancake batter in his hair. Regina had turned her back for half a second and the stirring of the mixture had become unnecessarily rigorous and splattered the work surface. And Henry.
"Emma!" Henry called at her as she sidled up to the kitchen island. "Look! I'm cooking."
"You certainly are," Emma nodded. "So, Chef Henry, what can I have on my pancakes this morning?"
"Blueberries or chocolate," he announced.
"Can I have both?" Emma asked, nodding her thanks to Regina who had just placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of her.
"Mama doesn't let me have both," Henry frowned.
"Oops," Emma said, looking guiltily at the brunette who was rolling her eyes in an over-exaggerated way.
"Perhaps just this once," Regina conceded. "After all, it is a special occasion."
"Oh yeah?" Emma asked. "And what occasion is that?"
Regina didn't answer, she just leaned over the counter to kiss Emma quickly before turning back to her son and stopping him just in time from pouring the entire pancake mixture into the pan.
As soon as they entered the zoo, Henry took off, weaving expertly through the crowds with his mother and Emma hurrying to keep up. Regina had tried half-heartedly to stop him running ahead but as long as his mop of brown hair was still in sight, she decided to let him get on with it. Nothing would stop Henry when he was on a quest to see his beloved monkeys. By the time Emma and Regina arrived at the enclosure, Henry's face was pressed against the fence, his smile wide as he watched the monkeys scampering about before him.
"Mama, that one looks like Marlo," Henry announced, pulling the stuffed toy from his coat pocket and holding him up to the fence as if to show him his real-life counterpart.
"Yes, so he does," Regina nodded, crouching down beside Henry and following his line of sight. The monkey in question was swinging in an old car tyre, his small eyes scanning the faces looking in at him. Regina didn't much like the idea of keeping a wild animal in a cage, but she couldn't deny how delighted her son looked at being so close to his favourite animals.
Emma crouched on Henry's other side. "Look, kid," she said, pointing to the far side of the enclosure. "That monkey has a baby."
Henry watched as a female monkey stalked across the ground, a tiny baby clinging to her belly as she went. The three of them watched as she hopped up into a tree, her baby still holding tightly to her fur. Once she was settled, the youngster climbed off and scampered over to where another little family was sitting on the branch.
"They're friends," Henry smiled. "Look, they're playing together."
"Just like you and Nick," Regina said.
She hadn't mentioned Henry's former playmate since she had pulled him from the child-minder's almost two weeks previous. But she had already decided that Henry would be going back there and she needed to broach the subject.
"Yeah," Henry nodded. "But sometimes Nick is mean to me."
"You know, every now and then friends don't like each other for a little while but then they say sorry and everything is alright again," Emma said.
"Like you and Ruby?"
Sometimes Regina forgot how perceptive her four year old could be. She also forgot that he liked to eavesdrop on the conversations between herself and her best friend. When Emma had been MIA, Regina and Ruby regularly spoke about where the blonde might be and how infuriating it was that she had disappeared without a word.
"Yeah," Emma nodded. "A few weeks ago things got a little difficult but we're friends again now. Remember how she came over last night to look after you? We were nice to each other then, weren't we?"
"Yes," Henry replied. "Because you're friends."
"Do you think maybe you and Nick can be friends again tomorrow?"
"Am I going back to Zelena's?" Henry asked.
"I'd like you to, yes," Regina nodded. "I know you've had lots of fun with Emma but it's also fun to play with Nick and Ava and the other children there, isn't it."
"Ok," Henry said, nodding his head before turning his attention back to the two young monkeys who were play-fighting on the branch, watched on by their respective mothers. Regina glanced at Emma and smiled softly before they both turned back to the enclosure.
It was still a week until March but Henry insisted it was warm enough for ice cream. Regina relented only when she saw they had honeycomb, her favourite flavour. Emma, of course, was always up for a sugary treat. As they strolled through the park with their ice creams, Emma's hand slipped into Regina's. The brunette squeezed softly and said nothing but her heart thumped a little harder at the feeling of Emma's skin against her own.
"I can still drop Henry off in the morning for you," Emma offered. It was Sunday evening and the two women were sat on the couch after putting Henry to bed. It had officially been decided that Henry would return to his usual routine the following day which meant Emma no longer had anything to do.
"Are you sure you don't mind?" Regina asked.
"Not at all," Emma assured. "I liked doing it and this way I have a reason to get up. Otherwise I'll just stay in bed all day and get depressed about my lack of a job."
"Still no calls?"
"No," Emma sighed. "But I'm sure something will come up soon."
Regina shifted on the couch. "You know I'd like you to look after Henry all the time, right?" she said. "I don't want you to think I'm firing you or anything."
"I know," Emma assured. "I was doing you a favour for a couple of weeks and I've had an amazing time with the kid but you're right; he does need to be spending more time with kids his own age."
Regina kissed Emma, their lips meeting for the umpteenth time that day and still their skin tingled with delight. Emma wrapped her arms around Regina and tugged her down until she was lying on top of the blonde. Before things heated up too much however, Regina pulled back, knowing there was one more thing she needed to speak to Emma about.
"I, um, I made that call," Regina said.
"What call?" Emma frowned, her hands stroking up and down Regina's back as the brunette still lay atop her.
"To my contact in criminal law who has links to the parole office," she elaborated.
Immediately the fingers tensed on her back, Emma's face went rigid and grew paler.
"Oh," she said as Regina sat up, pulling Emma back to a sitting position too. "What did they say?"
"He can see you tomorrow afternoon," Regina said. "He's got all your details and he's going to make some calls to Tallahassee and hopefully sort everything out for you. We both think that under the circumstances and given what you've been through since, they're not going to make too much of a problem for the fact that you skipped town. But you will be required to attend regular meetings up here, of course."
"Ok," Emma said quietly. "When's the meeting?"
"It's scheduled for three o'clock," Regina replied. "The offices are not too far away and then he'll escort you down to the parole officer."
"What's his name?" Emma asked.
"David Nolan," Regina said. "We went to law school together and have stayed in touch. In fact, he's engaged to my assistant. He pursued criminal law whereas I followed my mother's footsteps into corporate so we don't see each other much professionally. He's a good guy though, and powerful. With him in your parole meeting, I'm sure everything will get sorted out."
"Thanks," Emma said.
"They should be able to find you some work too," Regina added. "Plenty of employers are registered with the parole office as open to interviewing people with criminal records."
"The jobs are always shit though," Emma grumbled. "I did some seriously sketchy gigs in Tallahassee through the parole office."
"What job did you want to do?" Regina asked. "I mean, when you were in school, what were your ambitions?"
"What makes you think I'm not exactly where I wanted to be?" Emma deadpanned. Regina just folded her arms, waiting for a serious answer. "I loved to write," she admitted. "I wanted to be a journalist, a reporter for the New York Times or maybe do investigative pieces abroad. It was the only subject I was ever any good at so I figured I might as well play to my strengths. But then I never finished high school and without a college education, there aren't many opportunities."
"Do you still want to pursue journalism?" Regina asked.
"I'd love to," Emma admitted. "But I'm rather have a realistic aim to be honest. I know I'm never going to be a writer now, not with a criminal record."
"Maybe not for a high profile news paper," Regina conceded. "But I bet you could write some fascinating pieces about your life. Experiences don't have to be positive to be of interest to people. Think of the success of Orange is the New Black."
Emma chuckled. "You want me to write about my time in prison?"
"Not necessarily," Regina said, shaking her head. "But what I'm saying is, don't limit yourself to writing for a newspaper. If you can tell a story and weave together a narrative, why not write about what you know?"
"Being a screw-up?"
"Living a hard life," Regina corrected. "And coming out the other side."
"I don't think I'm quite out yet," Emma said. "I'm still homeless, still don't have a job. And let's face it, in theory I could find myself back in prison this time tomorrow if this new parole officer doesn't like me."
"That won't happen," Regina assured her. "But if you want me to come with you as well as David, I will."
"No, I'll be fine," Emma sighed. "I'm just … I really want this to go well."
"Me too," Regina assured. "And I'm sure it will. In fact, I think we should plan to get a take-out tomorrow night in celebration."
"Is this after the incident last week?" Emma frowned.
"Not at all," Regina laughed. "Anyone can forget about pasta and leave it to boil over. I've told you, the cleaner will get the last of the burnt bits off the stove tomorrow."
"I'm sorry," Emma said. "I didn't mean to."
"I know," Regina assured. "And considering your track record, I think you did an amazing job to cook for Henry almost every night for two weeks."
"Even if half the time you'd left the food prepared for us and the other half of the time we ate sandwiches?"
"Even then," Regina laughed. "Come on, let's head to bed. It's getting late and we both have to be up early tomorrow morning."
"Which bed?" Emma asked as they walked down the corridor.
"Mine?" Regina suggested.
Emma's step faltered and Regina stopped beside her.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
Yet again they were faced with another unusual relationship dilemma just because they currently lived in the same house. Both women wanted, of course, to share a bed but would that be too much too soon?
"Yeah," Emma nodded. "Sorry, I was just … is this how it's going to be now? Me sleeping in your room every night?"
"Not if you don't want that," Regina assured.
"Do you want that?" Emma asked.
"I want you," Regina replied simply. "I don't want you to feel pressured into anything but I do want you, Emma. Waking up with your arms wrapped around me this morning was amazing and I was just so happy. But I know that things are moving fast and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. If you'd like a night apart, you just have to say."
"I don't," Emma said at once. "I want to be with you too. I just … it's just strange."
"What is?" Regina asked.
"How completely calm I am about all of this," she shrugged. "I'm not a relationship person usually but with you, I just feel … happy."
"Relationship?" Regina asked, her mouth twitching into a smile.
"I'm pretty sure this is a relationship, Regina, yes," Emma laughed, resuming her steps towards Regina's bedroom.
"Ok," Regina smiled, closing the door behind the two of them and pinning Emma to it with a passionate kiss.
They spent over an hour bringing each other to climax before Regina eventually fell asleep, her head resting against Emma's breast. The blonde stroked Regina's side tenderly as she waited until she drifted off herself. Her fingers trailed over beautiful, unmarred skin, the olive tone a stark contrast to her own pale body. Regina was perfect. Her body was perfect. Everything about her was perfect. She didn't even have stretch marks since she had never been pregnant with Henry and Emma shifted uncomfortably as she thought about her own flawed body. Once more that night she hadn't allowed Regina to see or touch her back. As she thought about it, the damaged skin prickled painfully. It wasn't real, she knew that. She knew it was just her mind playing tricks on her. But she also knew that sooner or later, Regina was going to see the marks.
Emma's life hadn't been easy; they both knew that. But her scarred back was a physical reminder of the pain and suffering in her past. It was a constant, endless, permanent mark which said; 'your parents gave you up', 'you weren't good enough for them', 'you weren't loved'.
Emma Swan hadn't been loved until she met Neal. Although she had since debated whether he had ever truly loved her. She might have been besotted with him but whether it was mutual, she was no longer sure. She'd been loved by Lily, she knew that. Which was why it had hurt so much more when she had left. Why it had caused Emma's life to spiral out of control. When you've never had much love in your life, the loss of it is even more poignant, even more painful. Emma had lost four people in her life. Each loss had lead to a dark time. She couldn't lose anyone else. She couldn't lose Regina or Henry.