Chapter One: Telling Henry

Regina Mills couldn't remember a time in her life when she had been happy. She lost her father when she was young, and her mother abandoned her, leaving her all alone. She married a man old enough to be her grandfather, and he abused her. She ran away, and moved to Storybook, Maine. Eventually she became the mayor, a job she was very proud of, but she was lonely. Henry saved her life when she adopted him. He was her little prince, and she loved him with all her heart.

When Henry was 10, he went off to find his birth mother. He believed Regina was the Evil Queen from Snow White. She was hurt by his belief, and was angry when Emma Swan showed up at her doorstep. But, Emma was different from what Regina expected. The blonde broke down her walls, and wormed her way into Regina's heart. And for the first time ever, Regina was happy.

"We have to stop this." Regina said in between kisses. They were standing at the door of her office after a "budget" meeting. Emma was kissing her way down the Mayor's neck. Regina let out a soft laugh. "Emma, I'm serious."

"You don't sound it, Madame Mayor." Emma replied. Still, she pulled away and smiled at her girlfriend. "What is it?"

"We have to tell Henry. I don't want to keep secrets from him." Regina said.

They hadn't meant for their relationship to be kept hidden. When it first started sleeping together, it wasn't anything more than that. But, Emma and Regina fell in love, and now, six months later, they knew it was time to tell everyone. Ruby knew, purely because Mary Margaret couldn't keep a secret. The latter had walked in on them once, and had been mortified. Now, she was cool with it, and supportive of Emma and Regina. But, even she pushed them to tell their son, and the rest of the town.

"He might not take it well," Emma warned. "I know he's been better lately, but I'm worried he'll start acting out toward you again."

"I think the longer we wait, the angrier he will be." Regina replied.

Henry was still convinced that Regina was the Evil Queen. Despite the fact that Emma hadn't broken any pretend curse, Henry believed she was some savior. At first, Emma was certain Henry just wanted to escape his mother, but after spending time with Regina, Emma saw that she was an amazing mother. She was the farthest thing from the monster Henry tried to paint her out to be. How could this 10 year old hate the woman who had given him the world?

Emma and Regina had agreed that they would tell Henry when the time was right. They both hoped he'd be over the whole fairytale thing soon. However, his belief only seemed to be growing stronger. When Emma came over for dinner, or to hang out at the mansion, Henry would reiterate their need to defeat the queen. It made Emma upset, because she knew it was breaking Regina's heart. She wanted to repair the relationship between the two of them, but Henry wouldn't even consider it. Still, it was time they told Henry the truth. He could be angry, and they knew he'd probably lash out, but it wouldn't change anything. Emma was going to stand by Regina. She just hoped Henry's reaction wouldn't cause Regina to run away.

"Let's tell him tonight," Emma suggested. "I'm supposed to be coming over for dinner anyway."

"Emma if he…if he decides he doesn't want to see me anymore you have to take him."

"Regina, don't say that. He might act irrationally, but I'm not catering to it. I love the kid, but I love you too, and I know how hard this has been for you. I won't let him come between us." Emma replied. She took Regina's face in her hands and looked at her seriously. "You're not alone anymore, and you never will be again as long as I'm around."

Regina nodded, tears welling up in her brown eyes. She let Emma pull her close and hold her. Having Emma's love had changed Regina. She was stronger now, and she allowed herself to trust the blonde fully. Not having Emma's love was something she couldn't imagine now. She knew Henry would be upset, but wanted them to be a family. She had taken the chance.

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Her hands were sweating as she rang the doorbell to the Mayoral mansion. She didn't need to knock, she was always welcome, but considering what the night would consist of made her want to be formal. Henry came running to let her in, excited to see his birth mother.

"Hey Emma! What are those for?" He asked, gesturing to the bouquet of roses in her right hand, and the bottle of wine in her left.

"They're for your mom." She replied as she stepped into the house. Henry grinned. "What?"

"Great plan! You get close to the enemy, and she'll expose her true self. Operation Cobra is back!"

"Henry," Emma sighed, closing her eyes for a moment to center herself. "There is no secret operation, okay? I brought these for Regina to be nice, and like I've said before, lay off the evil queen sh-stuff."

"But-"

"Emma? Are you here?" Regina's voice called from the kitchen. Emma smiled at the sound of her voice, and motioned for Henry to follow her.

Regina was wearing an apron Henry had made for her when he was in kindergarten. She had much more fancy ones, but Emma had never seen her girlfriend use one. The white one, with Henry's tiny hand prints and many, many stains, was her clear favorite.

"Wine, and flowers." Emma said, handing the gifts over. She wanted to kiss Regina, but with Henry standing there, she settled for a hug. "What's for dinner?"

"I roasted a chicken, with sweet potatoes and made a vegetable medley, that you must try if you want the banana cream pie for dessert." Regina smiled. Emma groaned, causing the brunette to let out a laugh.

"What am I five? You have to bribe me with my favorite dessert to get me to eat vegetables?" Emma pouted.

"I'm only treating you like a child because you eat like one." Regina smirked.

"Point taken. I'll help the kid set the table while you finish up. Unless you want some help?"

"Uhm, Emma, no offense, but I'd like to actually be able to eat dinner tonight." Henry said.

"None take, Regina's the kitchen master of this family, I'm the handyman."

"Uh, right."

Emma's slip of the tongue didn't seem to throw Henry off too much. The two of them gathered the needed utensils for dinner, and set the table. Emma was feeling less nervous now that she was here with Regina. She just wished there was a better chance of Henry taking the news well. Most kids would be ecstatic that their parents were getting together, and she wanted to be excited to share the news with him. But, Henry wasn't like most kids. Regina didn't want to crush his spirit by telling him that fairytales were made up. Emma wanted to shake some reality into the kid, but she tried to be understanding. Being a kid was hard. Even if Henry had a much better childhood than Emma could have dreamed of, she knew there was underlying stuff going on. He felt abandoned by his birth parents, and wanted Emma to be some savior when Regina made him do chores, or math homework. She was the fun one, and Regina was the actual parent. It wasn't fair.

"Em?" Emma was pulled from her thoughts by Regina putting her hands on Emma's hips. "Henry is washing up for dinner."

Emma smiled, understanding what Regina meant. She leaned in and kissed her girlfriend. Just like always, Regina's affection calmed Emma's entire body. It was like magic. No, not magic. Magic was too pretend, and this feeling with Regina was very real. It was like…chemistry. Their connection was as natural as breathing.

"Our son will be out soon, we should sit." Regina said, but Emma knew it was hard for her to pull away too. Soon, they wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Emma gave Regina's hand a reassuring squeeze.

They sat down, just as Henry came back to the table. As they made their plates, Henry talked to Emma about the new video game he'd been playing. It had been a gift from Regina. Emma knew this, even if Henry failed to mention it. Emma listened as Henry talked to her about defeating a dragon in level 10. She tried to focus on what he was telling her, but she was feeling nervous again. What if Henry pulled even farther away from Regina after this? Emma hated to think that she could be the cause of yet another rift between Regina and Henry. But, it was time. They'd waited long enough, and they needed to tell him. No more hiding. No more sneaking around. The truth needed to come out.

"Uh, Henry, there's something we want to talk about with you." Emma said. She looked at Regina, and the brunette nodded. "Look kid, this might come as a surprise to you, but your mom and I have gotten really close."

"I know, you don't fight anymore." Henry replied. He looked at his birth mother, still confused.

"What Emma means, sweetheart, is that…well Emma and I are seeing each other." Regina clarified. Emma watched as Henry's face morphed from confusion to realization to anger. "We didn't want to keep it from you anymore. We thought-"

"NO!" Henry exclaimed, dropping his fork to the ground. He stood and glared at Regina. "What did you do to her? Did you put a spell on her so she couldn't break your curse? You wanted her to lie to me too so I wouldn't like her more? What did you do!?"

"Henry, enough!" Emma shouted over his screaming. She knew he was upset and surprised, but she wasn't going to let him talk to his mother that way. "She didn't do anything to me, except love me."

"She isn't capable of love, Emma. Her heart is poisoned. She's the evil queen, and now she's got you in her trap. But don't worry I'll save you."

"Henry, look at your mother." Emma demanded through gritted teeth. Regina was sitting across from Henry with tears streaming down her face. She was clearly devastated, and Emma wasn't going to let Henry keep doing this to her. "This is the woman who raised you, fed you, put a roof over your head, and provided you with unconditional love. How dare you treat her like she's been a villain to you. I've seen the way Regina is with you, and let me tell you, you are lucky. You don't know the first thing about an abusive parent, and you're lucky. She loves you so much that she was going to let you come live with me after we told you because she knew you'd react like this."

"I'm coming to live with you?" Henry asked her. Emma shook her head in disbelief.

"No, Henry, you're not. Whether you like it or not, your mother and I are in a relationship. You can take time to process it, I know this is a shock. But, when you're ready to accept it, we can be a real family, Henry. The kind your mom and I never had."

"Emma, you have a real family. You just don't know it yet because of the curse." Henry replied. Emma wanted to scream.

"Henry, I know I was strict, and set a lot of rules, but I love you, Henry. And I love Emma. I am not the evil queen, I'm just Regina."

"I wish I could believe you, but I know the truth." Henry said. He looked back to Emma. "The curse will be broken, and then you'll see that I was right all along."

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After the disastrous dinner, Emma and Regina cleaned up together. Regina had let Henry go watch TV instead of doing his share. Emma knew she was doing everything possible to make Henry be less angry with her. Emma wished she could understand why Henry was behaving this way. She came up behind Regina who was doing dishes at the sink. She put her hands on the mayor's shoulders, and rubbed them.

"It will get better." Emma said, sounding more confident than she felt.

"I don't know if that's possible." Regina sighed. She was fighting the tears. She didn't want to cry anymore tonight. "Henry hates me."

"He doesn't hate you, he's confused. I think. I don't know. But, you're not evil. You're a great mom, and an amazing person. Nothing, and I mean nothing, Henry says is true about you. I know you better than anyone, and I know exactly what your heart is like. When you love, you do so without any conditions. Anyone who gets to feel your love is lucky." Emma gently turned Regina so they were facing each other. Regina's back was pressed against the kitchen counter. "We are going to figure this out. He'll keep seeing Archie, and we will do whatever it takes to get through to our son."

"Promise?" Regina asked with a slight sniffle.

"I promise." Emma replied. She pulled Regina close to her and held the crying woman.

After a little while, they decided to head up to bed. Emma usually snuck out early before Henry woke up, but now that he knew, there was no sense in sneaking around. She wanted Henry to know that this was serious. She was with Regina, and was going to stand by her. She just hoped he'd come around soon after he had time to adjust.

Emma knew Regina barely slept that night. She kept tossing and turning. It made Emma sad to think of how much this was affecting the usually very strong woman. Regina let her walls down with Emma, but not everyone was lucky enough to see her vulnerable side. She put on a hard exterior, but inside she was soft.

When the sun finally came up, the pair started to get ready. Emma jumped in the shower while Regina started a pot of coffee before it was time to wake up their son. Emma was just putting her robe on when she heard Regina scream. She tied it as quickly as possible and ran to her girlfriend.

"Regina, are you okay?" She asked. Regina was standing in Henry's room crying. She was holding a piece of paper in her hand. "Regina?"

"He's gone! Henry left!"

"Let me see." Emma said, the bounty hunter part of her was kicking back in. With shaky hands, Regina gave her the note.

I have to prove that the curse is real. I know everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I know the truth. I'm sorry that it has to come to this. But the curse must be broken. You'll see. -henry

Emma took a shaky breath. This had gone too far. What did Henry intend to do, and where had he gone? It couldn't be good. Thoughts of Henry going down into the mines just a few months ago flew into Emma's mind. Her and Regina had just started seeing one another, and they had been so afraid. But, Emma had brought Henry back to Regina once, and she was going to do it again.

"Listen, we're going to find him, and we're going to fix this." Emma vowed, bringing Regina close to her as the mayor sobbed.

"Where could he have gone?"

"I think I know."

A/N I started a story years ago about this idea, but it never got far, and I'm a different writer now than I was then. I have it outlined into a full story now, so here's the first little bit. If people like it, I'll keep going. I haven't written OUAT or SQ in a while, but it feels good to be back.

A/N 2: I know Henry is kind of a brat right now, but he thinks Regina knows the truth and is lying to him. He will get better, I promise!

-Kai 3