New Beginnings

Life without the possibility of parole was the sentence that had been handed down to a gobsmacked Zelena the following morning to be served in a secure womens institute, she was led out in shackles scowling at her lawyer every step of the way and she was still scowling when she had reached the prisoner transport that was waiting to take her to her new home behind bars and cameras were flashing in her face.

Regina knew that because she was currently looking at an article that was spread across the front page of the local newspaper reporting the turn of events and just below the headline there was a black and white image of Zelena that had perfectly captured her scowl as she moved to board the transportation that waited to take her to prison.

Regina smiled, folded the newspaper and put it back on the stand from which she had taken it, It was satisfying enough to simply have seen the article and know the outcome, she didn't need to keep a copy of the paper as a reminder in fact she felt that, that bordered on distasteful and so she had no intentions of buying the local rag reporting on it.

"Can I help you with anything?" a voice suddenly spoke up startling Regina out of her reverie.

"Uh I hope so" Regina smiled quickly regaining her composure and addressing the real reason that she had actually come in here, which hadn't been to read the article about Zelena's sentencing, finding that had just been a happy bonus for her.

"Emma mentioned that you might have some boxes we could use for packing" Regina said, the man behind the stores counter nodded in response and moved towards the back of his store.

"Of course, I kept them like she asked but I'm afraid I had to collapse them, I just don't have the room to store them intact" he said handing a stack of thick folded carboard to Regina who accepted them gratefully "It's nothing that some strong tape won't fix though" he went on, reaching to take a suitable roll from a nearby shelf and placing two upon the top of Regina's stack of collapsed boxes for good measure.

"Thank-you" Regina smiled heading towards the door.

"Uhh, I think you're forgetting something" the shop owner called after her and she turned to face him a confused frown forming across her brow.

"That'll be eighteen dollars" he said pointing at the rolls of tape sitting on top of Regina's boxes.

"Oh, right of course, sorry" she stammered and feeling a little embarrassed by her assumption that she had just been gifted tape Regina hurried to the checkout and rested her flattened boxes against the unit so that she could free up a hand to take out her purse, she pulled out a twenty dollar bill and thrust it at the man, pocketing her purse and rushing from the store before he'd even had a chance to ring it up let alone hand her, her change, god she'd be glad to get out of this town.

And it was finally happening, the house was getting emptier as the boxes were filling up, Regina had either sold or donated he majority of Robins belonging only keeping back a few valuable items which she knew had held some sentimental value to Robin, family heirlooms he called them, they meant nothing to her but she had secured them away in a safety deposit box just in case any of Robins children might want them in the future whether to keep for sentimental reasons or sell, it didn't concern Regina either way, they were out of mind and out of site as far as she was concerned until the children became old enough to choose what they wanted to do with them, but they'd never have anything to with her again.

She pulled in on the drive a short distance behind the large skip that currently occupied a huge section of it, slipped the rolls of tape around her wrists and eased the boxes out from the back seat taking them with her into the house.

The front door had been left standing open as it had been most days since the skip had arrived, because both she and Emma had been in and out so often slinging junk into it that it had just been easier to leave the door open.

It had proved to be quite therapeutic actually throwing away Robins crap, there had been other things that had gone in there too of course , things that hadn't belonged to Robin at all but rather Regina, Emma, one of the boys or nobody in particular, but most of it was stuff that Robin had held onto, some for unknown reasons that Regina had been unable to fathom and had simply been unable to relocate for a variety of reasons.

She made her way through to the kitchen her footsteps sounding oddly hollow in the emptier than usual house, Regina had never been one for much clutter, Robin and the boys were more that way inclined, but the house was always tidy and because of its size it was sometimes easy not to notice just how many things it did hold until they weren't there anymore. The emptier that the house became the stranger it sounded and with most of their belongings either at the new house already or in storage minus the things that had been donated or stored the house was feeling pretty empty right now.

Regina heaved the boxes onto the kitchen island with a small grunt, the glass bowl that usually sat at its centre, within which she and Emma often placed their keys to make them easy to locate had long since been bubbled wrapped and safely nestled into a box ready to be unpacked in the new house when the time came, so the kitchen island had become yet another empty space in the now sparse house.

"He flattened the boxes then got you to buy the most expensive tape on his shelves to put them back together again, didn't he?" Emma chuckled as she entered the room to see Regina slipping the rolls of tape over her slender wrists to place them on top of the unit next to the boxes, Regina nodded, and Emma shook her slightly from side to side.

"Yeah, he tried that with me last time I went in to" she said rolling her eyes, "Still I guess that the tape will come in handy" she sighed pulling Regina towards her for a long languid kiss, "I can't wait to be gone from this place" she murmured when she eventually pulled away.

"You and me both" Regina smiled moving purposefully to fix all of the boxes up in quick succession until she had eight sturdy empty boxes haphazardly stacked up ready for filling, taking two she headed into the office which had been her most challenging task to sort but was mercifully almost finished, if she was lucky she would only actually need one of the boxes that she had bought along with her to pack what little remained away, but she had taken the second along just in case she ended up needing it.

She scrunched her nose up at the half cup of stone-cold coffee that she must have forgotten about during her sorting the day before and took straight through to the kitchen before it could get knocked over, then immediately returned to the office, and focused her attention to the last remaining pile of files that needed sorting through.

Robin had kept way more crap that he had ever needed to, Regina had always thought it and sorting through the stacks musty old paperwork had only served to prove her suspicions correct, she would have liked to have just dumped all of his crap on a giant bonfire and been done with it but she had, had no choice but to wade through it all to separate what she needed from what she didn't so sadly that hadn't been an option open to her.

She had managed to create digital files to store most of the relevant information that she needed to keep only packing documents where the original was needed and after each document had been digitally secured, she had taken great pleasure in either balling the paper copies up and throwing them into the flames dancing in the offices ornate fireplace or putting them through the shredder depending on which method of disposable most took her fantasy at that time, it felt extremely satisfying, almost like shedding an old skin and preparing to grow a whole new one, every day she felt a little lighter, a little freer and If still possible a little happier.

After a quick final shuffle around the room to check that she hadn't missed anything Regina placed one final item on top of the papers that filled the box, closing the box flaps down ready for taping until she realised that she hadn't bought either of the rolls of tape into the office with her.

With a sigh she headed for the door intent on getting one from the kitchen but before she reached it Emma stepped into its frame holding the very thing that she needed.

"I thought you might need one of these" she said offering it to Regina who smiled gratefully and reached out for it.

"Yes I did, thank-you" Regina replied rising up a little on her toes to reach Emma's lips with her own, her hand now clasping the roll of tape that Emma was offering though the blonde was so focused on returning the kiss that her own fingers had yet to release it so the roll of tape remained clasped by both women securely between them until the lingering kiss ended and still looking into Emma's eyes Regina returned her heels to the ground.

"Thank-you" she murmured again, and Emma nodding immediately released the tape.

"Uhh, no problem" she stammered her face flushing with colour, how did Regina still manage to get her worked up like that so easily she quietly wondered.

"Oh, and the post came" she added aloud, holding out a small pile of sealed envelopes for Regina to take as she suddenly remembered the other reason that she had come to interrupt the brunette.

Accepting the mail, Regina moved away from Emma who remained hovering in the doorway for a few moments longer before she wandered off to tend to her own packing jobs while Regina put the tape on the empty desk and shuffled through her letters.

Nothing of much interest presented itself at first, just the usual, a few that looked like bills, some probably junk mail, one from a company offering her a credit card deal that she neither wanted or needed and then one that instantly peaked her interest because there was an official prison stamp on it.

Regina had bothered to read the article in the newspaper for long enough to know if it had mentioned which prison Zelena was at or if it had mentioned the place at all, she hadn't read beyond the first couple of lines passed the headline and she hadn't felt inclined to find out any other way either so she didn't know where she was serving her time.

But now glancing down at the stamp emblazoned on the envelope she was holding Regina had to wonder if this was the name of the prison currently housing Zelena and if this letter was from her, and if it was why was she writing to her.

"Only one way to find out I guess" Regina murmured to herself reaching into the box to retrieve the last item that she had placed there.

Her shiny silver letter opener made fast work of skimming through the envelopes thick paper so that she could release its contents within.

Two pieces of paper came out the first containing a short letter than Regina read through quickly.

Dear, Regina,

I know I'm probably your least favourite person right now, but I need your help.

I don't deserve to be here Regina, whatever happened to that bastard it had nothing to do with me and if I had been able to afford a better lawyer I wouldn't be here right now.

'So that's what she wanted Robins money for' Regina thought with a quirk of her brow as she continued to read.

Please for my daughter's sake accept this invitation to visit me, don't let her be born in prison Regina.

See you soon,

Zelena.

"Using the kid to manipulate me, that's low even for you Zelena" Regina murmured to herself her brow rising as she flipped to the second piece of paper which transpired to be a blank visiting order ready for her to fill in.

She sighed and moved to put it through the shredder her fingers mere inches from the on switch that would wake this beast up so that it could devour the contents of both Zelena's letter and the visiting order forever, then a thought struck her that her pulling back, refolding the letter and placing it into the box and with the letter opening on top of it instead, curious thoughts swirled around in her head as she turned her attention to the rest of the mail and thought, 'I'll deal with that later'.

With the bills in the box and the junk mail shredded Regina finally taped the box flaps securely in place, carefully wrote OFFICE in bold black capital letters using a marker pen and retreated from the room in search of her next job.

They were so nearly done that Regina decided to call the skip company to arrange a time for skip to be collected the following day ahead of the removal company arriving in a couple of days' time to collect the last of their belongings.

And then not able to delay It any longer she headed towards the last room that needed to be packed up before their move, Zelena's room.

Or what used to be Zelena's room as the case was, the room had been untouched and unentered since the last time that Zelena herself had left it.

Empty box in hand, Regina slowly made her way down the basement stairs, pushed open the first door at the bottom of the stairs and stepped into the unassuming room.

The room was tidy, there were personal touches that made a room someone's own and the bed was made perfectly just like the boys had been every day that Zelena had lived with them and though Regina and Emma had made the beds themselves every morning since Robins death neither of them had ever achieved the perfect crisp folds and edges that Zelena did, not that Emma really tried to Regina thought with a chuckle as she moved around the bed leaving the box on top of the blankets, freeing up her hands to open the drawer in the bedside table, Emma's method of bedmaking was haphazard at best but at least she did it Regina thought fondly as she slid the drawer open.

She took out the few items that littered it, mostly pens, some blank post it notes and an open bottle of prenatal vitamins. The final was a printout of an ultrasound picture, which according to the words across the top depicted a ten-week-old foetus.

Regina paused to look at the image, then slipped it into her pocket and continued to pack, the alarm clock that sat on top of the bedside unit was next into the box, after Regina had removed its battery so that it wouldn't leak.

The lamp and half empty glass of water that were all that remained on the bedside table belonged to her, so she left them in place for now and turned her attention to locating and packing the rest of Zelena's belongings.

First, she got on her knees to check under the bed where she only found an empty suitcase which she immediately recognised as the one that Zelena had carried with her on the day that she had moved in.

Easing it out she took a final glance into the now empty space to confirm that it was indeed totally empty before she stood up, using the bed for leverage, brushed off her knees and lifted the case from the floor placing it onto the bed next to the box and flipping its lid open ready to pack Zelena's clothing into it.

That done she moved to the closet where she quickly took all of the items hanging there down from their hangers, her hangers and folded them into the case, then she glanced at the wash basket in the corner of the room and briefly considered just throwing all of the dirty items into the case on top of the clean but finding herself unable to truly contemplate doing such a thing, she rolled her eyes at herself then turned her attention to the final item of furniture in the room, a chest of drawers.

Opening each drawer in turn she took out the rest of the items of clothing and added them to the case finding nothing of real interest until she came to the second to last drawer, it was one of two smaller drawers at the top of the chest, and it was locked.

Regina sighed and realising that Zelena must have had the key that had initially been left in the drawer's lock when she had arrived with her when she had left the house last because that key was nowhere to be found in the room now, she went upstairs to locate the spare.

Returning minutes later she slipped it into lock where it turned clicking it open easily and she slid the drawer open, this drawer appeared to have been reserved for Zelena's personal bits and pieces thought quite why she wanted to lock it away was a mystery to Regina, she hadn't really paid attention to any of it as she had slung it all into the cardboard box.

Then there, hidden right at the back she found it, the thing that she suspected that Zelena had wanted to keep locked away from prying eyes like hers.

"Snake" Regina murmured as she ran her fingers over the shiny green snakelike cover of the book that she now held in her hands "suits her."

She flipped open the cover and revealed a photo of a red headed child that looked about Henrys age and could surly only be Zelena standing next to an older woman both wearing bright smiles on their faces, she picked the picture up and found another grainy scan picture underneath it and below that Zelena's neat curvy writing filled the first page of the book.

It was her Diary and though she knew that she probably shouldn't, curiosity got the better of Regina and she found herself stepping back and settling into the plush red chair that sat in the corner of the room with the book in hand.

First, she took a closer look at the picture that she was still holding, the more she looked at the child the more convinced she was that this was a photo of young Zelena, but who she wondered was the woman, her grandmother maybe? There wasn't really any resemblance between them but that didn't necessarily mean that they weren't related right?

Regina turned the picture over and found that someone had written on the back, Zelena nine years old with Poppy.

Well that confirmed that the girl was Zelena but who was this Poppy Regina wondered as she carefully placed the photo on the floor next to her feet along with the scan photo that had been placed inside the diary with it.

Then she turned her attention to the Diary itself, the first entry was dated not long before she had moved into the house, it talked about her Nannying interview and laughed at the foolishness of Regina the naïve little wife who had so readily fallen for her little act.

Anger began to rise within Regina as she flipped through the pages most of which depicted Zelena's day to day life with the Locksley's including all of the ways that she had gone behind Regina's back with Robin and gotten away with it, and little fantasies of how life would be once they had gotten Regina out of the way for good.

Regina scoffed at most of these, Zelena had to have been completely delusional if she truly believed that this was how life with Robin would have been without her about, what made Zelena seriously believe that her life would have been any better than Regina's if she had ever been successful in replacing Regina as his wife?

About halfway through Regina found an account of Zelena having found her alone in the kitchen nursing a glass of brandy and the next entry gloated about having reported what she'd walked in on to Robin.

"Bitch" Regina hissed flipping through the next few pages not having any desire to read the details about the reward that Robin had given to Zelena as a thank-you for that particularly juicy titbit of information, she could just imagine the look on Robins lecherous face now when Zelena had relayed the story to him and it made he want to puke.

As the journal went on things seemed to take a bit of a darker turn for Zelena who after initially being delighted to discover her pregnancy came back to the book saddened and completely disheartened by Robins less than enthusiastic response to her good news.

'He told me to get rid of it' she wrote 'just like that, like the baby was nothing, no-one, their life doesn't matter to him and my feelings on the matter don't either, he just wants the baby gone. I just don't understand It, this should be the best news ever, why won't he just leave his bitch wife already so we can go off and be a family, and why's he so worried about keeping the boys anyway, he could be free of her so much faster if he just left them with her, he never seems bothered about spending time with them anyway.

And he's got our baby now, why can't he just be happy with us. He's given me the money for a termination, but I'll not do it and he can't make me, if he doesn't want us then I'll have to find a way to make it on our own but I'm really hoping that he'll come around eventually, I've even been thinking of names, Robin for a boy after his father,'

Regina scoffed again at that, how after everything could Zelena have still been thinking about lumbering her son with that assholes name, shaking her head she continued to read.

'And Poppy for a girl after the only other person that ever truly loved me."

The only person if the other person you were thinking of was Robin, Regina thought shaking her head again as she slipped the pictures into the book and closed it, the only person that man ever loved was himself her thought concluded and with a sigh as she placed the diary into the box, emptied the final drawer, taped the box up and leaving the case open ready to put the last of Zelena's clothing into it she took the wash basket and dirty glass and made her way back upstairs leaving the bedroom door open behind her.

Almost everything seemed to be running smoothly, Henry and Emma were almost as excited as Regina was to be moving, little Roland was the only one that seemed to be having any kind of trouble with the prospect, as he saw the house getting emptier, his things being boxed up and eventually beginning to leave the house and his room suddenly looking less like his own he began to worry, so Emma, Regina and Henry patiently explained to him as often as he needed to hear it, that all of his things would be In his room at the new house by the time that they arrived and that they would all help him to unpack everything just as soon as the decorating had been completed, until then he had a modest sized box filled with all of his most favourite toys that would remain in their current house until moving day then travel in the car with Roland to their new home.

Each milestone took them that much closer to freedom, Emma left her apartment for the last time returning the keys to its owner, the skip was collected and then the removal truck turned up to collect the last of their belongings minus the essentials that would be leaving with them when they left.

Finally moving day arrived and with it a bright sunrise adorned clear skies, it was like the angels were shining down on them, sending them their blessings, driving conditions would optimal and hopefully they would make good time even with the planned stop for lunch.

They left early straight after breakfast, with Regina driving with the boys in her brand new sleek black Mercedes the first thing that she had treated herself too once the money had been released to her and Emma following behind in her 'yellow death trap' as Regina referred to it.

She had offered to buy Emma a new car too, a brand new modern yellow bug if that was what she really wanted but Emma wouldn't hear of it, she was loyal to her baby and even if a new car had been something that she had desired she would have wanted to save and buy it herself, she didn't want to mooch off of Regina just because the woman was super wealthy now and in full control of all of her own funds for the first time in years, she wanted to pay her own way.

Emma hurried down the drive of the old Locksley residence for what would be the final time, she climbed into her car which sat waiting on the road just outside of the property where she had left it and turned the key in the ignition. She smiled with satisfaction when the engine flared to life first try and then after quickly tapping the address of the new house into her sat nav and adding the diner they had agreed to stop at for lunch as a destination point on their journey ready for her to follow just in case they got split up along the way, she sat with the engine ticking over, waiting for Regina's car to emerge.

She didn't have to wait long before the nose of the Mercedes appeared behind her immediately followed by the rest of the car which swung out around her stationary bug and pulled ahead of her where it paused long enough for her to pull out from her parking spot directly behind it.

Regina smiled into her rear-view mirror as she watched Emma maneuverer the bug until she was lined up behind her, she'd never understand the blonde's loyalty to that old rust bucket she thought with a chuckle and a shake of her head. One of the boys might have enquired as to what she found so funny had they not both been settled in the back sporting headphones, Henry was listening to music on his phone while Roland watched a movie on his tablet, how long their devices would keep the boys occupied was any bodies best guess, but what Regina did know was that she intended to make the most of every second of peace that she got on this journey before everything inevitably went to pot and mayhem ensued.

She drove through the town taking in her surroundings for the last ever time, knowing that she would never return here again unless one of boys wanted to come back for a visit and really wanted her there, she knew she'd never refuse that, but she'd also never volunteer to return here again off of her own back.

The buildings soon fell behind her giving way to the forest line that flanked her on either side, a quick glance in the mirror assured her that Emma was still just behind her and within minutes the sign reading,

You are now leaving Storybrooke.

Was coming up on their right and then she was past it and just like that she was free.

She sighed an immense sigh of relief and continued to press onwards the feeling of freedom only growing with the distance that she was putting between herself and Storybrooke and if she could have seen Emma at that moment, she would have known that blonde was currently wearing a gigantic shit eating grin that matched her own.

Three and a half hours later Henry was playing a game and Roland, his movie finished, had started to watch episodes of his favourite show, Regina's legs were cramping, and she needed the bathroom, she thought that Emma probably wasn't fairing much better and so the sign for the diner that they were headed for was a very welcome sight, especially when seconds later a little voice piped up,

"Momma I need a wee."

"Can you hold it for a few more minutes baby?" Regina asked briefly peering at a squirming Roland through the extra mirror that she had, had installed into her new car to enable her to see into back where the kids sat.

"I think so" Roland replied as he continued to squirm his face turning bright red as he focused on not wetting himself.

"I promise we'll be at the diner any minute" Regina smiled as she reassured him, and Roland nodded in response.

Less than five minutes later Regina was parking in a space outside of the diner and jumping out of the car to race round and release a desperate Roland leaving Henry to join Emma who was pulling in next to her while she hurried Roland off into the diner's restroom to relive himself.

It was a close call, but the boy made it, and a relieved Regina took the cubicle next to his, he was already washing his hands when Regina came out and after checking that he had left the toilet clean for the next customer she joined Roland at the sinks to wash her own hands.

There pace now much less urgent they moved back out into the busy diner, where after a quick scan of the room Regina spotted Emma settled into a booth wating for them, as soon as the blonde saw Regina and Roland approaching their table she gently nudged Henry who looked up and hastily followed his ma out of the booth evidentially they were both just as in need of relief from rest room as Regina and Roland had been but seeing just how busy the diner was they had decided to secure them a table before going to the bathroom themselves.

Regina eased herself into the long seat that adorned their booth with Roland shuffling in ahead of her just as another woman with three children of varying ages in tow drew level with the table her eyes narrowed angrily on Regina.

"We were waiting for this table" she seethed.

"Well, I'm very sorry but we've not finished with it yet" Regina replied smiling politely.

"You misunderstand me" the woman retorted anger flashing in her eyes "we were next in line for this table so it should be ours now that those two have left, you should wait for another to be free, it's only fair, you don't need a family sized booth anyway, there's only two of you, with my husband there are five of us, we need this table more than you do" she declared moving to one side as though she fully expected for Regina and Roland to comply with her demands and give up the table for her and her family, she had even begun to encourage her children to slide into the booth from the opposite side of the curved seat to where Regina currently still sat, she glared pointedly at the brunette who stared incredulously back at the entitled woman but didn't attempt to move even an inch to leave the booth.

"Excuse me" a bright voice suddenly piped up from behind the mother and children who unsure of what to do while Regina and Roland remained in place at the table which their mother was trying to lay claim to, hadn't yet followed the woman's instructions to sit down.

"You're in the way and we want to get back to our seats" the voice continued, and a huge grin spread across Regina's lips as she watched Emma force her way past the demanding woman pulling Henry closely along behind her, then positioning him so that he could slide back into the booth ahead of her before she to sat and looked up at the woman still stood in place her face turning rapidly scarlet.

"Is there a problem?" Emma asked still sounding bright and cheery and Regina had to bite her lip to stop herself from bursting out laughing as she watched the shade of red on the woman's face deepen as she realised her mistake and internally fought between anger and embarrassment.

"You could have just that you were all together" she suddenly shot at Regina.

"Or you could have asked instead of jumping to assumptions" Regina shrugged nonchalantly, and the woman's scowl deepened.

"Is there a problem?" A new voice piped in repeating Emma's question without the overly bright under tones that Emma had spoken with.

The surprised adults turned to look at the newcomer, a pretty black woman with her hair secured back in braids and a manager badge attached top of her bright sunny yellow shirt.

"No" the entitled mother bristled "No problem at all" she said hastily moving off to re-join her husband in the queue for takeout.

"Was she bothering you?" the manager asked Emma and Regina.

"Just a misunderstanding I think" Regina shrugged, and Emma nodded, the manager smiled knowingly but said nothing else on the matter she just nodded and said,

"In that case I'll send someone straight over to take your order." Before giving a final nod and leaving again.

"What the hell was her problem?" Emma asked as soon as they were alone together, glancing in the direction of the family where husband and wife seemed to be bickering now and judging by the glances that they kept getting from both the scene at their table seemed to be at the centre of their argument.

"I think she thought that Roly and I cheated her out of her table" Regina snorted and this time she really did chuckle "She demanded that we leave and everything" she added between giggles.

"Some people" Emma said rolling her eyes and then their server arrived, and all talk suddenly turned to food.

Emma ordered the special burger and fries with a large coke.

"I'm gonna need the caffeine and sugar fix for the next leg of the journey" she said to Regina after she had ordered, who nodded appreciatively then ordered a chicken salad and a large latte for herself though she would go on to pinch half of the fries from Emma's plate to the blonde's amusement.

Henry went for a smaller version of Emma's meal but with milkshake rather than coke and Roland asked for nuggets with his fries and he too chose a milkshake to accompany it, all in all it wasn't the healthiest of meals but it was fine for a treat and would tide them over until dinner time which wouldn't be anything fancy but at least would be freshly prepared by Regina who had assured that their kitchen would be stocked with food upon their arrival.

The food was polished off in no time and after another quick trip to the bathroom they were back in their seats in the cars and heading back out onto the road.

The rest of the trip went smoothly Roland full and satisfied had promptly fallen asleep upon leaving the diner and they hadn't had to stop again as they ended up making better time than Regina had anticipated pulling into the huge drive of their new property early that evening.

Everybody stopped outside of the house to admire it from the front before they went in, even Regina who of course had once lived here so was very familiar with it but still it felt wonderful to be back and she was more than happy to stop and enjoy it for a while.

"It's beautiful" Emma breathed reaching to squeeze Regina's hand, who simply nodded and smiled in return.

It was exactly as Regina remembered, other than the décor being a little different of course, Regina had hired a team and they had already begun work on the interior of the house so that most of the communal rooms had already be decorated and furnished with just the boxes who's contents were destined for those rooms pushed against the walls ready to be unpacked, upstairs however was a different story, only two of what would be guests room had been decorated and furnished there, one for the boys to share until their own rooms were ready and one for Emma and Regina because Regina had wanted to give everybody the chance to choose their own bedrooms and have an input on their décor before the team actually got into them, something that both boys were extremely excited about.

So much so that they both hit the extravagant winding staircase the banisters of which Regina was pleased to see had been beautifully restored to their formal glory based on old pictured that she had emailed to the relevant member of her decorating team after more recent pictures had revealed that it had been painted a garish colour that Regina detested, this she thought was much better, much more like home.

After casting a look somewhere between hopeful, pleading and barely restrained excitement in Regina's direction to which Regina had laughed and nodded Emma had flown up the stairs behind the boys, hot on their trail.

Shaking her head a little in amusement Regina took much more time and care with her assentation into the second floor of the house, she let the feeling of home, family and the warmth that came with that wash over her with each step up the stairs that she took and she suddenly felt glad for the first time that Robin had made her sell this house all those years before.

She had been devastated at the time, but he had never really cared for the house or its location and insisted it was just baggage that they didn't need, dead weight were the words that her had used, but that also meant that he had never really been here, never lived here and had never had the chance to taint any of Regina's happy memories here, she had finally arrived home again, and she was completely free of Robin and the dark cloud that he always seemed to bring with him.

She let her fingers trail along the smooth wood of the rails, the smell of newly dried varnish rising into her nose where it mingled with the odur of freshly painted walls, the smile on her lips grew at the sounds of the pounding feet rushing around to check out all of the rooms just above her head.

She had barely made it to the top when Henry came racing down the hallway towards her with a giant grin on his face that mirrored her own.

"I've found my room mom" he said taking her by the hand and eagerly tugging her down the familiar landing towards the room that he had chosen. For Regina it was like she had never left as she allowed herself to be pulled along the all too familiar route.

"You'll never believe what I found in it" Henry almost squealed in delight, unseen by her son a knowing smile adorned Regina's lips as she replied,

"I can't wait to see it" and she truly couldn't because she had a strong feeling that she knew exactly where Henry was leading her, and exactly what he had found that had excited him so much, and she wasn't wrong.

Moments later she was pulled into her childhood bedroom where Henry finally stopped and released her hand turning to face her still beaming with delight.

The room was huge and airy just as she remembered it, it was empty now and the décor was different of course and It would be different again by the time that Henry had put his mark on it, it had two bay windows that over looked the rolling lawns that surrounded the house and each had its own window seat that could be lifted to store things inside, right now they were empty of the cushions that had made them cosy, but they had made a wonderful place to sit and read when this had been Regina's room and Regina could make them cosy again if that was what Henry wanted.

But that wasn't the thing that had excited Henry the most.

"Come see this mom" he said eagerly and a still smiling Regina walked towards the unassuming door across the room that her son was already eagerly pulling open.

"I thought it was just a closet" he explained as she drew nearer, and Regina chuckled a little at that because she could remember thinking exactly the same when she had first approached that door in this room all be it as a much younger child than Henry currently was.

"But it's so much more than that" the excited child who had stepped through the door now and flipped the light on inside all but squealed, Regina followed him into what was a space that was easily large enough to be another small bedroom but it had no windows and no other door in or out of it aside from the one that they had just entered it through.

"I want it to be my gaming room" Henry breathed as he turned on the spot eyes wide with wonder.

"I think that can be arranged" Regina smiled at him,

"Really mom" he asked suddenly running into her arms so fast and unexpectantly that it almost knocked the wind out of her.

"Of course, my little prince" she murmured into his hair as she wrapped him in her embrace her eyes still wondering around remembering when this had been her secret room.

First it had been an extravagant nursery for her baby dolls complete with a changing table and multiple cribs, her mother had decorated the walls with the letters of the alphabet and her father had fashioned one of kind nursery furniture all at her level.

Then she had developed a passion for barbies and the room had become a barbietopia, their houses had lined the walls with a road winding between them wide enough for her to crawl along pushing her barbies in their laden cars taking them to the beach, the supermarket or maybe even the park.

At one end of the room the beach could found is sandy beach and blue carped shore stretching the width of the room, extended by her mother's artwork on the wall looking every bit like an ocean stretching as far as the eye could see.

At the other end of the room the road gave way to green, the green was fenced off down the middle with barbie sized fences and gates, green hills and blue skies were painted onto the walls along with distant trees, plastic trees also sat on the green dotted around swings, slides and other play equipment for child sized barbie dolls and on the other side of the face a water park for barbies of all sizes had been created.

She had played for hours in her barbietopia, brushing their hair, changing their outfits, taking them on day trips until she hit funny in-between stage at around twelve, she lost interest in the barbies and so they, their homes and belonging had found their way to new homes and Regina had been stuck not knowing what to do with the room.

That had lasted a few weeks until her father had surprised her by turning it into a cosy retreat while she was off at school one day.

"Just until you decide what you want to do with it princess" he had said to her with an affectionate wink, full on belly laughing when she had proceeded to throw herself into the new plush bean bag that he had placed in the room for her.

All around he had hung pretty fairy lights kind of like the ones that they usually decorated the house and tree with at Christmas and she had a low table with lamp next to her new bean bag, the walls had been painted in a warm colour and a fluffy rug had been laid on the floor, the bookcase that he had made her years prior sat against the wall at one end of the room with her favourite books tidily lined up on its shelves.

The room had ended up staying that way for several years and had provided Regina with a very welcome and sometimes much needed escape from the world as she had moved through puberty, she had even gotten her first period curled up on that bean bag lost in a good book.

Realising what had happened she had ventured down the hallway and into the bathroom where her mother had long had a selection of pads and tampons placed, waiting for when Regina would need them.

She had cleaned herself up and placed a pad in her clean underwear before she had gone downstairs nursing her sore tummy, to tell her mother what had happened.

Her father had walked into the kitchen just in time to hear the tail end of the conversation, he had said nothing as he had moved passed his wife embracing their daughter until he reached up into a cupboard that Regina didn't use so she didn't really know what was in it.

He had reached up, taken something out and held it out for Regina to take as her mother released her.

"This always helps your mother" he said as she took the fancy chocolate bar from him her eyes wide with wonder, mostly because she had never known her mother to eat chocolate in her life.

"If you're anything like me you'll soon understand" her mother had chuckled at the surprised look on her daughters face and Regina had quickly grown to understand, to this day she always kept an emergency bar of chocolate nearby for when her period arrived.

After that her mother had whipped her up one of her famous hot chocolates and given her a couple of pain killers because her tummy really had been hurting at that point and her father had located a hot water bottle and filled it up another thing that he said helped her mother.

Then they had ventured back upstairs together because Regina had said that she wanted to return to reading and she was also anxious to make sure that she hadn't stained her beanbag.

Her parents carried an item each for her to lighten her load and followed her into her secret room where Regina was relieved to find that her beanbag didn't have a mark on it, the same couldn't be said for the underwear and joggers that currently resided in the bathrooms wash basket though, but her mother had sorted those out for her after Regina had been comfortably settled back into the beanbag with her book in one hand, her open and now nibbled chocolate bar in the other and the hot water bottle resting across her abdomen, her hot chocolate sat steaming within easy reach on the little table beside her where her mother had placed it.

Finally, as she had moved through her teens Regina had developed a passion for fashion and make up and her parents had helped her turn the room into a glamourous salon, complete with floor length mirrors, make-up tables and her own little nail bar, she got herself ready in that room every day for several years and even gave her friends make overs and did their nails for them on many occasions.

And now it was going to be Henrys gaming room, she smiled as he talked animatedly about the led lighting that he wanted, desks, chairs, shelving for his figures a wall mount for his TV and all of the other little details that he wanted to add.

"It's going to be amazing" he said, and Regina nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it will my little prince" she smiled.

She went to find Emma and Roland after that, Roland wanted to talk about the dinosaurs that he wanted on the walls of his chosen room and Emma was in the room that Regina had thought that she might choose, it was the room that had once belonged to her parents but it looked totally different now not least because a wall had been knocked down to extend the room into the next one, it still had an ensuite bathroom and a huge walk in closet and as Regina looked around she found that she couldn't wait to put hers and Emma's mark on it.

For that night though after showering in the family bathroom, Regina padded past the huge empty space that would soon become hers and Emma's room and headed for the guest room where the blonde was already led in the bed waiting for her, pausing briefly to check on her sleeping boys along the way.

"Hey there beautiful" Emma smiled warmly as she entered the room, "first night in a new home, how're you feeling."

"Pretty great actually" Regina replied returning the smile as she lowered herself onto the bed next to Emma, "But this isn't exactly my first night staying in this house, is it?" she chuckled.

"You know what I mean" Emma murmured pulling Regina closer to her.

"Yes, I do" Regina replied allowing herself to be pulled down so that the weight of her body pressed against Emma and her hot breath brushed against the blonde woman's face, then Emma pulled her a little more forcefully and the gap between them was quickly closed their lips smashing together.

The kiss was so hot and heavy that it made Regina's head spin and her entire body tingle and grow hotter.

"First night in a new home, you know what that means right?" Emma purred.

"Hmm, I can't be sure, but I've got an idea" Regina teased "But maybe you should show me, just so I know for sure" she smiled and leaned in for another kiss, Emma flipped their positions the second that the kiss ended so that was now the one on top.

"I think that can be arranged" she smiled seductively her lips beginning to trail down Regina's throat and across her collar bone as she reached for the hem of the brunettes night shirt.

An unknown amount of time later when Regina was coming down from her final high before sleep claimed her, she smiled broadly at Emma.

"Yes, that's exactly what I thought the first night in a new home meant" she said letting out a huge, satisfied sigh.

"If you thought that was good just wait until you see what the first night in our new room will be like" Emma laughed rolling over behind Regina and wrapping her arms around the brunette who nestled into her, readily settling in to being the small spoon.

"I can't wait" Regina mumbled her heavy eyes dropping closed.

The next few weeks were spent unpacking and settling in, the team had come back to decorate and furnish the chosen bedrooms as instructed and much to his delight Henrys gaming room had begun to take shape.

The tree house had of course been another huge hit and that was being turned into a wonderful family den, and Regina much to her delight had ventured into the garden and found her old tree house looking a little worse for wear but still standing in the same place none the less, she had asked the team to restore it for nostalgic purposes, it was probably a silly sentimental thing to spend so much money on, but it made her so happy and that Emma had said was all that truly mattered.

Regina had lost her parents to car crash not long after she had started practising in law, it had been a terrible time in her life and had been a part of what had made her so vulnerable to Robin, but all of this was like getting a piece of them and her happy life with them back and it made her feel so happy that she vowed never to let that go again.

She was unpacking in the office the same room that had been her father's office and a room that she had, had restored closely to what it was when it was his but with her own little touches added to make it her own, when she reached into a box and her hand fell on Zelena's letter.

Remembering why she had kept it Regina left what she had been doing and moved to the desk to open her laptop instead, she bought up a search engine and began to type.

More than two hours of silent searching later she paused to lift the phone and dial a number, then impatiently tapped her fingers on the desk as she waited for the recipient of her call to answer.

"I'd like to hire a private detective" she said when a voice finally filtered through the phone and had finished introducing herself.

The conversation lasted a little while longer until a satisfied Regina hung up and returned her attention to her own research.

A couple of weeks later the detective called to confirm to Regina what she was already certain of from her own research sending the evidence that she had requested over email.

Now it was finally time to talk to Emma she thought and then if Emma gave her, her blessing she'd accept Zelena's invitation to visit.

"If that's what you what" Emma replied to Regina's declaration "Then I think that its admirable and I'm all in….."

Regina approached the building with its imposing walls towering above her, passing through the gates around which the tall surrounding fences began to expand upwards and outward surrounding the entire circumference of the prisons ground, an electric current humming through it too quiet for all but the most sensitive of ears to hear.

As an added layer of security should someone somehow bypass the electric current and attempt to climb the fence, was the lethal looking barbed wire that spiralled along the top in huge repetitive loops and if those two things weren't enough to put anybody off of attempting to escape then the expert marksmen patrolling their towers dotted between fences, each ready to shoot first and ask questions later without a seconds hesitation should have been.

As she passed through the gate and into the prisons grounds the mere thought of trying to escape this place filled Regina with a dread that made her shudder.

She parked her car and headed in through the visitor's entrance where she was buzzed through one door and then another each buzz taking her deeper into the prison's depths than the one before or as she was beginning to think of this place the pits of despair.

That feeling just seemed to hang in the air somehow.

She was closing in on the visitor's room now, all that remained was to secure her belongings into a locker and submit herself for a brief search before she would be permitted entry to the room where Zelena already waited for her.

She stood as instructed, with her arms raised and held out straight at her sides and her legs slightly parted while a guard scanned over her with a metal detecting wand then as he moved away to scan the next person in line she remained in place for a second guard to pat her down, nothing that felt particularly violating to Regina but it wasn't exactly comfortable either so she was glad when it was over and she was being let through the final door that stood between her and Zelena.

The visitor's room was much brighter than the prison hallways that had led Regina here but the air of despair still hung there just as heavy and desperate as ever.

"Finally," Zelena grumbled as Regina approached her table, her abdomen had distended massively now and Regina thought that she had to be getting close to her due date "I was beginning to give up any hope of you coming" Zelena added without even looking up at Regina.

"Well, I'm here now" Regina replied settling into the chair across from the red head.

"Yes, better late than never I suppose" Zelena sneered "and if a new lawyer can get me a retrial and convince the prison that I'm probably going to get out then I might even be able to change their minds about giving me a place on the maternity wing before she arrives" she added caressing her bump lovingly, "I didn't do it you know" she whispered finally looking up at Regina for the first time and the brunette could some vulnerability hidden in those blue eyes.

"I'm not here to discuss your crime Zelena" Regina scowled "Or pay for you to have a new lawyer."

"Then why are you here?" Zelena asked looking a little confused and even more annoyed now.

"To make you an offer" Regina replied.

"If you're not here to help me fund a new lawyer then I fail to what else you could possibly have to offer me" Zelena's scowl deepened as she leaned forward with some difficulty in her chair.

"A home for your daughter" Regina replied, and Zelena's mouth dropped open in shock.