A few weeks have passed and the women have exchanged many kisses and a few nights of more than kissing. They are both happy and their son was even happier to have his own unique family. Most mornings were spent at Granny's and most weekends were spent at the park or on Regina's dining room table playing board games. Though Emma was still staying at the bed and breakfast, they found a way to be together as much as possible. Granny wanted to give Emma a discount considering how long she had been staying there, and Regina was more than welcome to pay for half but Emma refused. "I'm getting paid plenty at my new job with my hot boss giving me the money, I think I'll be alright, love." Emma joked winking at the mayor.

The new job was going great actually. Emma decided to take Graham up on his offer of being a deputy at the station. He showed her how things were run and what to do when Leroy gets too drunk, again and again. He took her on a tour of the town including the outskirts where it was rumored that that's where the crimes happen. The biggest case Emma dealt with since working there, was a woman's purse supposedly got stolen. Fortunately, the woman just forgot it on a park bench while wrangling her four kids. Unfortunately, she claimed that the man on his afternoon jog stole it, which sent Emma on a wild goose chase trying to find this man who was an innocent bystander caught inn the crossfire.

Sitting at her small desk, Emma was finishing the report on the 'stolen purse' after many questions and finishing it off with, "did I do this right?"

"Hand it over," Graham says. He reads it slowly checking every line and word to make sure it's up to par with the mayor's standards. "Looks good to me, great work."

Emma sighs with relief, "thanks." After a few moments, "did I ever tell you I was a bail bonds person back in New York?"

"I think you mentioned it once or twice," Graham says as he walked back to his desk placing the file in the small messy pile of other reports yet to be actually filed. He walked back out and leaned back on the empty desk next to Emma's and crossed his arms.

"Well I was. And there was this one guy who committed grand theft auto, then skipped town with that same car after kidnapping his son and tried to take him across state lines all because the kid's mother said that he was bad at poker," Emma leaned back in her rolling chair.

"There are some crazy people out there," Graham answered.

"Right?" She spun around in her chair continuing her story, "So we caught him in Jersey and took the son back to his mother and sent the guy back to jail. I think they ordered a psych eval too, which was good because turns out, the poor guy had major bipolar disorder and was having a horrible manic episode."

"Was the boy okay?"

"Oh, yeah. The kid said that his dad was taking him to see Barney Live. The kid was twelve, too old to care about Barney."

"Barney?" The sheriff sat in the empty chair and glided next to her.

"You know, the big purple dinosaur... I love you, you love me?"

"Sorry, no."

"Damn. Does anyone watch TV in this town?" Blonde curls spun around again.

"Not the shows you've watched."

"I guess not." Emma stopped spinning facing the scruffy man.

Graham's voice shook a little asking. "maybe you could show me sometime?" He had been working up the courage every since she started working with him to go on a date with him. He had been holding back because he was afraid that she had someone back in New York, but she never mentioned anyone. He was waiting for the right moment. He didn't mean for it to be tonight, but he couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth.

"What?" Emma's eyebrows scrunched, making sure she heard him correctly.

"M-maybe you could show me that law show with..." he snapped his fingers trying to remember, "Benton! Wasn't it?"

"Olivia Benson? You mean Law & Order: SVU?"

"That's the one. You talk about her a lot, considered it would be nice to catch up on your likings so that we have something to talk about. Maybe over dinner? Or some drinks?" The short beard seemed to cover most of the nervous redness on forming on his face.

Emma was taken aback in his sudden interest in her. She pushed herself back sitting up straighter. These past few weeks she thought he was being nice because she was new, but now she was questioning if he was flirting this whole time. This is not good.

"How about next Friday?" Graham was now leaning his elbows on his knees.

"I- uh... have plans that night." Emma was kind of lying, but not really. Regina, Henry and her have been having movie nights every Friday consisting of popcorn, candy and showing Regina movies she's never seen. These past few weeks have been the Star Wars movies. 'Why is it called star wars when the stars aren't involved at all?'

"C'mon Swan. Just one night and we'll see where it goes. If you don't feel the same then that's fine, we can move past it. But! You never know until you try." The sheriff now seemed over confident in himself throwing his hands up in a 'yeah, I just did that' way.

"Like I said, I have plans," Emma pushed. She acted as if her phone was ringing and faked taking a call, "Yeah, Henry. What's up?...No, it's okay we were just about to leave... I'll be right there." She put her phone back in her pocket. "I'm sorry, I gotta go. When the kid calls, I answer." She stands.

He stands with her, "is everything okay? I'll go with you."

"No!" she said a little aggressively, "No...that's alright," she said as calmly as she could, "he's just a little shaken up about the storm coming in and wants me there too. Nothing too serious," she lied as she headed for the door.

"Alright..." Graham sulked, "I guess it is time to head home, huh? I'll walk you out, just let me get my keys."

"I can handle myself," Emma snapped back.

"Emma, please wait!"

"I'll see you Sunday!" She yelled back. She was basically running to her car at this point. Graham was a nice guy, but she didn't see him the way he saw her. She's never been more anxious about a guy hitting on her. Was it because she was officially dating someone? Or because he was technically her boss? Maybe, but what she did know was that she had to get out of there, immediately.

Finally getting to the white mansion, Emma let herself in the side door, "Regina?!"

"In here!" Regina yelled from the dining room.

Emma walked in to find her and Henry playing a game of scrabble.

"Is everything alright, dear?" Regina saw Emma's red face and quickly became worried.

"Uh, yeah. Can I-" shaky hands pointed to the kitchen, "can we talk?"

"Of course," the comfy brunette stood, "We'll be right back Henry, no need to worry." She follows Emma to the kitchen, "and no cheating!"

As soon as Emma passed the threshold, "what's wrong? Did something bad happen at work?" Regina asked.

"No...yes...kinda? I'm not sure." Emma leaned on the counter crossing her arms. She wasn't sure why she was so anxious about the whole thing. Plenty of men have hit on her before and she handled it, maybe not in the best way at times considering her fist was used most of the time, but something was different about this time. "Graham asked me out."

"What?" Regina was a bit angry.

"Yeah. I was telling him about a case in New York which led to talking about Barney."

Regina cocked her head in confusion.

Emma put her hand up to stop her from questioning, "Don't ask. Anyway, that led to talking about Law & Order and Olivia Benson, then he said 'why don't you show me sometime?' and then asked to have dinner and drinks."

Regina closed the gap between them holding Emma's arms with a look of concern for her girlfriend. "Well...what did you say?" she said in the gentlest of tones.

"I didn't say anything... well I faked a phone call from Henry saying he was scared of the storm and that he needed me so I left. He tried to walk me out but I bolted to my car and came here."

"Well, I'm glad you did. You're okay now," Regina hugged the nervous blonde with fury in her eyes hiding them from her lover. He should know better.

"I haven't told him about us," Emma admits, "So he couldn't have known."

"Oh, it's alright," Regina let go, "if you want to tell him you're more than welcome to, that's fine with me. He knows how to keep a secret."

"I don't know. Something feels...off." Emma wondered what she meant by that last bit.

"How do you mean?"

"I'm not sure." Emma shrugged.

"One step at a time, dear," the mayor sighed. "I guess its time to get something off my chest then."

Now Emma was the one looking concerned.

"Graham and I... were something. Nothing serious, just sex. For a minute, I did want something more, but Henry was more important and I didn't want o hurt him in the process. We were both lonely and just looking for a fling, an escape really," brown eyes looked at the floor in regret.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Emma tried to brush off the anger.

"Because it ended way before you came in the picture. I didn't feel as though it was important until now."

Emma didn't see the need to argue that. She calmed herself down and remembered how calmly Graham walked down those stairs her first night in Storybrooke. Acting as if he owned the place, thinking he probably walked down those stairs many times before that night. Taking Regina's word for it, "thank you for telling me."

A few seconds of silence pass as Regina pushes a blonde strand behind Emma's ear. They catch each other's eyes, "What should I tell him? I see him Sunday."

"Whatever you think is best, it's your call, dear." Regina smiled softly.

Emma stares at her lover, "Regina?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Regina's eyes widen at the first admittance of those important words. She's never had anyone say them so genuinely since her previous life, but it has been too long now to remember the feeling it brought. It was different this time though, more sincere, more precious. A small tear formed in her brown eyes, but it never fell. "I love you too."