A/N: Not a super long chapter but it has sex in it so … Yeah. More talk with Henry and then some old friends show up and then our ladies get naked! NSFW.
Eventually they broke apart. Emma gave Henry a watery smile and he brushed her tears clumsily away with his pudgy fingers before turning to Regina and doing the same. The two women smiled adoringly at the little boy, marvelling once again at how utterly perfect he was.
"Did you come to find me?" Henry asked Emma.
"Not exactly. Let's go and sit down and I'll tell you about what happened," Emma said, putting Henry back on the ground and leading the way through to the living room.
Once they were all seated on the couch, Henry between his two mothers, Emma began to explain.
"So as you know you were adopted as a baby. Nearly five years ago. So I'd been looking for you for a very long time, Henry," Emma said. "But I couldn't find you. Your mama looked too and she couldn't find you either."
Henry frowned. "But I've been here the whole time. Why was Mama looking for me?"
"Well we didn't know you were my son," Emma said. "We thought you were someone else's little boy and your mama was trying to find the baby I had. It wasn't until I saw when your birthday was that I realised you were mine. September 30th."
"I'm going to be five," Henry said, puffing his chest out proudly.
"I know," Emma smiled. "And five years ago you were here." She pointed to her stomach. "But then you came out and you had to go away to a new family. I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
Henry reached over and let his fingertips graze against Emma's t-shirt, over the abdomen beneath where he had once been a tiny baby. It was very strange, he decided, how women grew people inside themselves. Emma thought it was equally strange to have her son knowingly touch the place he had called home for the first nine months of his life. A warm feeling flooded through her veins.
"Why did I have to go to someone else when I was born though?" Henry asked. "Why didn't you keep me?"
Emma glanced at Regina. They had discussed at length whether to tell Henry that Emma had given birth in prison. It had been important to both of them that Henry was told the truth, especially as it would inevitably come out at some point in his life and they'd rather not have ever lied to him about it. After all, there had been newspaper articles published which mentioned her prison stint during the trial with Killian. As soon as Henry was old enough to google, he would find out.
"I was very young," Emma said. "I was only eighteen and I had got into some trouble. The police and a judge decided it would be a good idea for me to spend some time in a prison, thinking about what I'd done wrong. And during that time was when you were born, Henry. I couldn't keep you because I was in prison and I didn't have any family who could look after you."
Whether Henry had fully understood what a prison was and therefore that Emma had spent some time behind bars, neither woman knew because he skipped over that fact and instead asked a question about Emma's final explanation.
"Why didn't you have any family?"
Emma shifted herself towards the boy and forced herself to smile at him. Henry didn't know about her time in the foster system and she never wanted him to know how bad her experiences had been. But she wasn't going to lie to him.
"Well, my mom and dad couldn't look after me either," Emma said. "So they did what I did with you and gave me up for adoption. I wasn't as lucky as you though and I didn't get a nice mama like Regina. I lived in lots of different homes but I didn't have a proper mom and dad so when I got into trouble I didn't have anyone to help me."
Henry quirked his lips at that, a sad expression on his face. It was pity, Emma realised, but somehow it didn't make her heart twinge as much coming from her son.
"Who's my dad?"
Regina's eyes widened in surprise. Emma's did too. Neither woman had been expecting Henry to ask that question although in hindsight they realised that was a foolish oversight on their part. And in the light of his altercation with Nick the previous day, his curiosity was only natural. Emma looked to Regina for confirmation and received a nod of consent.
"He was called Neal," Emma said, "and he was very young too. He was only nineteen when we met. But he wasn't around when you were born."
"Is he looking for me?" Henry asked.
"He doesn't know about you," Emma admitted. "I didn't even know I had you growing inside me until after I went to prison and then I couldn't tell Neal about you because he had gone away. I tried to find him when I got out but I couldn't. So no, he's not looking for you."
"But I do have a dad?"
"Yes," Emma nodded. "Technically. Why?"
"So I can tell Nick he was wrong," Henry said. "I can tell Nick on Monday that my dad is called Neal and he's nineteen."
"He was nineteen," Emma corrected quickly. "He'll be … almost twenty five now. You know you have his hair. It was always flopping around and never doing what he wanted it to do, just like yours. And he loved soccer too. I think that's where you get it. But he didn't like monkeys, funnily enough. He got bitten by one at a zoo when he was younger and he thought they were scary. His favourite animal was a leopard, although I daresay he'd be scared of them too if one bit him."
Henry looked like he was concentrating, trying to remember all the information Emma was giving him about his father. Regina was watching as her son learned about where he came from. She had expected to feel uneasy hearing Emma talk about her former lover and Henry's father but she didn't. Instead, she was pleased to finally be able to give Henry some of the answers to questions he had been asking all his life. Sporadically, of course, but the questions about his birth parents had inevitably arisen. Now she, or Emma, could tell him anything he wanted to know. Regina knew she was his mother in every sense of the word but she also appreciated his curiosity about where he had come from. And, if she was honest, was curious herself too.
"Any other questions?" Emma asked after Henry had been quiet for a long time.
"Can we have pizza for lunch?"
Regina and Emma burst out laughing and Henry looked a little affronted.
"What?" he whined, unsure quite what he had said that had made his two mothers collapse with mirth on either side of him.
"Nothing, kid, sorry," Emma chuckled. "It's just that you are well and truly my son."
The rain continued all day, much to Henry's annoyance. After the discovery that his birth father had been a keen soccer player, he had wanted to go to the park and hone his own skills. But his mothers had refused and suggested instead that they watch a DVD before heading out to Granny's diner in the evening. They had foregone their usual Friday afternoon there because Regina hadn't been working and therefore had looked after Henry herself. Ruby had grumbled about missing her favourite surrogate nephew and when Emma heard this, she suggested they go down the following day and tell Regina's best friend the news.
The diner was quiet; the steady rain having deterred most New Yorkers from venturing out of their homes. Henry raced up to Ruby and practically climbed up her leg when he saw her. She tickled his belly and blew raspberries on his neck and he giggled in delight.
"Do you want to head up to the apartment?" Ruby suggested. "It's dead down here so I'm sure Granny can manage. Plus we can keep Dot company. She's working on a Saturday, poor thing."
After placing their order and Ruby promising to return to collect the dishes when they were ready, the four of them climbed the narrow staircase up to Ruby's apartment. Emma realised she hadn't been back there since the day she left, over seven months before. She marvelled briefly at how much her life had changed since that fateful night when she found herself back on the streets.
Dot was relieved to have an excuse to stop working and she shoved her papers aside just as Henry began to bounce all over the couch. Regina scolded him lightly but her heart wasn't really in it. She loved seeing Henry happy.
"What's gotten into him?" Ruby asked as she returned from making cups of tea.
"Emma's my mommy!" Henry shouted from the couch, wobbling slightly as an extra large jump caught him off balance and he almost fell to the floor.
Dot's arms wrapped tightly around his body and pulled him back before she turned and stared at Regina and Emma, mimicking her girlfriend. Ruby was standing stock-still, two mugs clasped in her hands.
First Regina, then Emma, took a cup and sipped their steaming drinks, thanking Ruby whose mouth was agape. Regina hid her smirk behind the rim of her tea. She had always enjoyed holding information back from her brunette friend. Ruby was one of the nosiest people she had ever met as well as being an infamous gossip.
"What?" Ruby asked after a long pause.
Henry, who had realised everyone else in the room had gone silent, took it upon himself to answer Ruby's question.
"Emma's the mommy I was born from," he said simply. "And then Mama and Mommy Dani took me. But now Emma's come back and she's my mommy again."
Instead of answering Ruby's question, Henry's simplistic explanation meant the brunette and her stunned girlfriend had even more. They glanced at each other and then back at the smirking couple before them.
"Explain," Ruby said, sitting down abruptly besides Dot and allowing Henry to crawl into her lap. "Tell us exactly what is going on."
It took little over ten minutes for the whole story to come out. From the way Emma had found herself pregnant and alone in prison to her decision to give up the baby. From the search for Emma's long lost son by both women to Emma's discovery that her son and Henry shared the same birthday. To the sudden realisation and the truth finally becoming obvious. Henry lost interest part way through the story and made his way over to the little toy chest his favourite aunt kept in the corner of her living room just for him. By the time Emma and Regina had finished explaining everything, Ruby and Dot were lost for words. Well, almost.
"What are the fucking chances?" Ruby exclaimed.
"Shhhh," admonished Emma and Regina together, glancing at Henry and realising he wasn't listening in the slightest and therefore wouldn't have registered the curse word.
"And one in a million, probably," Emma shrugged. "Less, in fact."
"You're one lucky son of a bitch," Ruby breathed out.
Emma laughed. "Perhaps," she said. "I like to think of it at fate. Anyway, I paid my dues, didn't I? It's about time something good happened to me for a change."
Ruby and Dot nodded their agreement at that and seconds later they were up on their feet and embracing both women, offering their congratulations as well as their continued disbelief.
"Does Cora know?" Ruby asked.
"It may have come up on Monday after I lost my job," Regina admitted. "I hadn't meant to tell her the way I did though. I almost used it as a way to punish her for what she did to me. It was rather pathetic, to be honest."
"Don't say that," Emma said, pressing a soft kiss to Regina's cheek. "You told her because the discovery mattered to you and you hoped it would matter to her and make her realise what she could lose. It's not your fault she hates me but to be honest I don't care what she thinks of me so long as we're together and a family."
"Awwwww."
Regina wrinkled her nose at the patronising noises from both Ruby and Dot but she couldn't help but smile. Emma was right. It didn't matter what had come before or how the universe had conspired to allow them to meet. All she cared about was their future together; Henry, Emma, and herself.
A soft moan spilled from her lips as questing fingers stroked down her bare stomach. She could feel goosebumps rising in their wake, her nerves practically trembling in anticipation. But Emma was in the mood to take her time, Regina could tell. So she only let out a little huff of frustration when Emma's fingers teased across the top of her pubis bone and then began to trail down her left thigh, swirling patters etched onto her skin. Emma allowed her mouth to drop to the soft skin of Regina's knee, nuzzling behind it as her fingers skated around her delicate ankle bone. The return journey was even more torturous, Emma's mouth moving higher and higher and just when Regina thought she was going to be touched where she most desired it, the blonde switched, mirroring her movement on Regina's other leg.
"Emma," Regina whimpered as a hot tongue tickled the back of her knee.
"Mmmm?" came the muffled response.
"Please."
Emma had not yet learnt to resist a begging Regina Mills and she doubted she ever would. Lying down carefully between the woman's spread thighs, she found herself face to face with the brunette's bare, glistening centre. Using her right hand, she parted the wet folds, exposing the tender nerve bundle nestled near the top. Regina's hips bucked as cool air touched her but seconds later a hot mouth had enveloped it completely. Emma ran her tongue firmly over Regina's clit before capturing it between her lips. Regina shuddered and moaned above her, fingers tangling in long blonde hair to anchor Emma's mouth even closer.
She wanted to do this forever, Emma decided, as she lapped and sucked at Regina's cunt. She wanted to please this woman, bring her pleasure, watch her crest in ecstasy for the rest of her life. She buried her face against Regina's hot, wet skin, the intoxicating scent filling her nose and mouth and making her own clit twitch with arousal. She ignored it as best she could. This was Regina's time.
Circling the tip of a finger around Regina's entrance, Emma pushed slowly inside. She knew Regina was more than ready for her but she wanted to be tender anyway. The digit slipped in and out easily and soon she added a second and, at Regina's request, a third. Her wrist twisted as she pumped, ensuring her fingers reached the deepest, darkest spot inside the woman who was now hurtling towards her orgasm. Her free hand reached blindly up to cup Regina's breasts, tweaking each nipple in turn and squeezing the generous mounds. Her tongue was working furiously, twirling around Regina's clit before sucking it softly into her mouth.
When Regina came it was with Emma's name on her lips and her back arching off the bed, fingernails digging into the blonde's scalp and the walls of her channel clamping so hard Emma couldn't move her fingers still buried deep within her. Her thighs quivered and beads of sweat slid from her forehead. She whimpered in delight as Emma's mouth resumed seconds later, the delicate little laps drawing a second, smaller orgasm from her exhausted body. When she collapsed back onto the bed and her inner walls finally released Emma's fingers, the blonde reluctantly pulled away from her girlfriend's sex. She licked her hand clean and then wiped her face before crawling up the exhausted woman's body and laying on top of her, their breasts pressed erotically together.
"Gimme a minute," Regina panted.
"No problem," Emma murmured, kissing the parted lips gently. "I'll wait forever for you."
Regina smiled sleepily but knew her girlfriend wanted her release. She could feel the heat and dampness from between Emma's thighs radiating against the top of her own. She bent her knee and pushed Emma's shoulders lightly.
"Move back," she said.
"What?" Emma frowned, unaware of what her girlfriend had done with her leg. "Oh."
Her sensitive clit connected with the smooth skin of Regina's thigh. Tentatively she slid herself back and forwards. Eyebrows rose. She had never done this before. She looked down at Regina who was wearing a knowing smirk. Emma grinned back and rocked once more, the slickness of her own arousal covering the strong thigh and allowing her to slide easily. She set up a steady rhythm, grinding hard on Regina's thigh so her clit was pressed firmly into her girlfriend's skin.
"Wow," she panted, her body already fluttering with the tell-tale signs of an orgasm.
Regina grinned and gripped Emma's hips, helping the blonde to keep a steady pace. Emma buckled, her mouth dropping to Regina's chest and sucking at taut nipple. She rolled her tongue around it as she rocked harder and harder, faster and faster.
"Fuck!" she cried, stilling her movement and pushing her sex hard against Regina wet thigh as her climax crested.
Regina's hands stilled on her hips, holding Emma close as the blonde's body twitched and shuddered above her. When she finally collapsed back onto Regina's chest, Emma was panting heavily and unable to move. Regina didn't mind. She slid her hands up Emma's sides and wrapped her arms around the blonde, holding her close.
"I'm squashing you," came a muffled voice.
"No you're not," Regina assured, her grip tightening as she felt Emma trying to move off her.
"Yes, I am," Emma said.
"Then I like being squashed. At least, by you," Regina reasoned.
She felt Emma chuckle against her chest and a blissful happiness settled over the two of them. They lay like that for a long time, lost in thought about everything that had happened during their relationship which had led them to this point. It had certainly been a roller coaster of a ride, Regina thought. But, she mused when Emma finally got off her and they both got dressed, she wouldn't change a second of it. Because everything which had happened, good and bad, had led them to where they were right that second. And that was exactly where she wanted to be.
A/N: awwwww. How cute. And also, there are only two chapters left. Sorry!