So sorry its been a while I've had a lot going on but hoping to update this more frequently now and get it finished, we're moving closer to the trial now, and I promise I still have some (hopefully) interesting twists to come, but for now I bring you this little chapter.

Plateau

The days began to trickle by turning into a week that quickly became two and before anyone knew it a month had gone by.

Behind the scenes the police continued to work tirelessly, carefully building their case against Zelena who remained cocky and confident in the face of it all as she sat in her cell on remand waiting for her day in court to arrive.

Meanwhile a kind of plateau had settled over the Swan-Mills household like a strange calm before a storm or between storms as would probably be the more accurate analogy in their case, because since the initial flurry of activity that had centred around their home had died down they had literally been left alone in their new reality as a family four to just get on with it.

It was a strange feeling because they had always been family but never without Robins ever dominating presence and not with Emma and Regina living as a couple.

Now here they were, finally, free of Robin and finally together but still unable to show their love to the world as they remained stuck in a kind of hold waiting for this whole mess to finally be properly over, or at least over enough for them all to actually be able move on with their lives away from this god forsaken town.

Regina knew that there was always going to be an element of Robin hanging over them because Roland and Henry were after all his sons and however bad her experience with the man had been she would never take that out on them, and she would always respect the fact that he was their father.

Henry still didn't want to talk about Robin and very much gave off the air of someone who didn't care that he had died, in fact he seemed if anything happier now that he was gone, whether this was an act or his true feelings neither Emma nor Regina knew for sure and they weren't going to press him on the matter to find out, they made it clear to both boys that they were here for them anytime and they respected Henrys wishes and gave him the space that he needed while also ensuring that he was okay and knew that they were there for him should he need them.

Roland was the only person with whom Henry spoke about Robin and it was always in a kind and compassionate manner, for this Regina was extremely thankful because Roland was a little boy who despite the man's many flaws did love his father and missed him terribly at sometimes more than others and as Regina cradled him through tears and watched Henry tenderly do the same she couldn't help but feel a little guilty that the boy had been robbed of his father in the way that he had and at such a tender age.

"You can't blame yourself" Emma said late one night after Regina had lamented to her over Roland's grief, "and things will get easier for Roly, you'll see" she took Regina into her arms then gently bringing her chin to rest on top of the brunette's head.

"Robin was a monster" Emma sighed "And Roland doesn't know it yet but he's better off without him."

"I hope so" Regina replied squeezing Emma close trying and failing to hold back the tears that began to flow for her son "I really, really hope so".

"I know so" Emma had replied confidently as she returned the squeeze with a comforting one of her own.

And she hadn't been wrong, Roland wasn't getting over it overnight and nobody ever expected him to but as the days went by the little boy, helped by the fact that Robin had never been a huge presence in his life, not like Emma, Regina and Henry were, unlike them he had rarely been home and when he was he didn't exactly go out of his way to engage with and play with his sons, began to cry a little less and seemed to find some calm and happiness in returning to his regular routine which both Regina and Emma fought to keep as normal as possible for both boys while they waited impatiently for the court case to begin.

All the time Regina dreamed of a new life, a fresh start away from this house, this town, the people in it and the memories that it held and being trapped here felt infuriating, but stay she did, convincingly playing the grieving wife for the outside world to see while Emma played the part of the best friend intent on staying with Regina and her children until the court case was over and supporting them through it all equally as convincingly.

Emma kept her apartment returning occasionally to collect more of her belongings, but never more than she could reasonably need if her intentions had truly been to return there one day which was what she and Regina were leading anybody who might stop to wonder to believe.

Even Henry and Roland were being kept in the dark about their new relationship status, in fact nobody outside of the two of them knew the truth, to anybody other than Emma, Regina appeared how she wanted to appear like a grieving wife waiting to see her husband's killer be brought to justice.

It wasn't that they wanted to hide it from their boys of course, on the contrary they wanted nothing more than to be open about everything with them, but this was a small town and one where Robin grew up, knew almost everybody and none of them knew what he had truly been like with most of them totally falling for his false bravado and charm.

So, they weren't going to look kindly upon Regina taking up with somebody else so quickly after his murder especially when that person was Emma of all people, small towns gossip and it was only going to raise more questions, such as when did this relationship begin, had they been having an affair since before Robin died? And that could lead to "Did they have anything to do with Robins murder?" and Regina didn't want those kinds of aspersions cast over her or her family at this time or any other.

None of them needed that stress at the moment and so the façade continued, behind closed doors when they were alone together Emma and Regina were very much the couple in love, but where anybody else could see Emma was simply Regina's support network a role that wasn't all that difficult for her to slip into given all the years that she had spent in that role while she had secretly harboured deeper feelings for the brunette.

Late each night long after the boys had fallen to sleep Regina crept down the hallway to the guest room that she shared with Emma and crawled into the blondes' arms with a satisfied sigh that Emma returned as she welcomed Regina into her embrace, neither of them worrying about what would happen if one of the boys woke and found them there together.

Because innocently falling to sleep together in one of the Locksleys guest rooms while a movie played in the background had been a regular occurrence back when Emma used to stay over while Robin worked late or as Regina now knew was more likely was engaged in his extra marital affair with Zelena.

Looking back it was crazy to think that the man had, had the audacity to kick up such horrendous hissy fits on the occasions that he had come home to find them dozing next to one another when they had been doing nothing wrong and he knew full well that he was so late because he had just been bedding another woman, but his fits of fury had been the reason that Emma's sleep overs had stopped and oh how Regina had missed Emma's company on those long lonely nights where she had sat alone waiting for her husband to return.

She'd even tried watching a movie alone lying on her side of the guest bed while the tv screen glowed in front of her but that had been worse than sitting alone in the dark in her own room or any other in the house, being there without Emma had made Emma's absence feel more prominent somehow, even the vibrant colours of the room had seemed to dull around her and so she had quickly discarded the remote and left the room never bothering to try it again, just one more drop of happiness that Robin had robbed her of.

But not anymore.

Now Regina woke up to the blaring of her early morning alarm snuggled into Emma's warm embrace as was beautifully usual for her these days, she yawned and stretched out smacking at the offensively noisy object until it shut up then turned back into Emma who lips smacking sleepily and eyes never opening squeezed her in close.

Regina's shoulders moved in a silent chuckle as she stared at the sleeping face that puffed and pouted comically for a moment longer before she reluctantly wriggled out from the arms that encircled her and eased herself to the edge of the bed.

One of the boys waking to find her here one night or even several was one thing but knowing that she was sleeping in with Emma every night was another especially as Roland's teacher had taken much more of an interest in him since his father had died and frequently asked Roland how life at home was going during the school day.

She might have put it down to normal teacherly concern, but Regina felt the that the woman was a little to nosey and a little too persistent for this to be considered normal interest and the woman was also known to be a terrible gossip and Regina dreaded to think about what would happen if Roland let slip that Mummy was sleeping with Emma every night during one his teachers questioning sessions.

So, for now she set her alarm for before the boys would wake and tiptoed through the house to shower in the ensuite bathroom of the room that she had once shared with Robin.

"Where you going?" Emma mumbled and yawned in her half-asleep state.

"For my morning shower" Regina smiled over at her, her hand pausing on the door handle "But you don't have to get up yet, go back to sleep for a bit if you want to."

"Nah" Emma yawned again and stretched then rolled across Regina's vacant space on the bed and heaved her legs out so that she was sat on the edge of the bed with her feet planted on the thick, soft carpet beside it then she reached up to rub the last remnants of sleep from her eyes.

"I'm up now" she said with a sleepy smile in Regina's direction "Come here" she added holding her arms open, smiling Regina moved away from the door and walked straight into them sighing contentedly when they embraced her, then her lips quickly found Emma's and she melted into them with low moan that Emma felt in the pit of her abdomen.

"You know I have to shower too" Emma murmured waggling her brows suggestively when they pulled out of their kiss moments later.

"And as much as I'd love to join you I probably shouldn't" Regina replied with a worried glance at the clock.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" Emma sighed shoulders sagging in defeat "And shower sex isn't all it's made out to be anyway" she added with a slightly wistful far off look in her eyes.

"I'll make it up to you next time Henry sleeps over at Nicks" Regina promised, and Emma brightened up at that.

"Do you promise?" she asked pulling a giggling Regina down on top of her and rolling over so that their positions were suddenly reversed, and the brunette was laughing as she wriggled enticingly on the bed beneath Emma who now sat astride her lap.

"I promise" Regina gasped between bouts of the giggles, then she leaned up while reaching to pull Emma closer to her until their lips met again in a knee weakening kiss that had Emma planting her arms on the bed on either side of Regina to brace herself so as not to suddenly drop her full weight on the brunette who still wriggled a little beneath her.

"And now I'm going to need a cold shower" Regina gasped making Emma laugh when the searing kiss finally ended.

But even cold, the shower did very little to sate the heat of the arousal rising low in Regina's abdomen and she left the flowing water with her feelings of frustration mounting, it would have to wait for now though because the boys would be up soon for school and there was no way that she wanted to even attempt to relieve her frustration alone in the marital bathroom or bedroom that she had once shared with Robin, she didn't want his memory tainting her new relationship that way, she shuddered and suddenly the feeling in her stomach seem to dull to more bearable levels all by itself, it seemed that even the mere thought of preforming such an intimate act even on herself in the rooms that she had once shared intimately with Robin was enough to turn her off for the time being.

Emma was already downstairs by the time Regina made it to the kitchen and the boys were sat with her eating cereal and toast at the kitchen island, it seemed that she had taken much longer than she realised getting ready that day.

"Thanks Emma" Regina smiled accepting the cup of steaming coffee that she was being offered and taking a sip with a satisfied hiss.

"You're welcome" Emma smiled back lingering for a second as though she wanted to say or do something more before she shrugged and quietly moved away to tend to the breakfast that she was cooking on the stove and Regina had to admit that it smelled good.

Henry and Roland vacated their stools as Emma placed hers and Regina's plates opposite them, Regina glanced from the plate to Roland and back again and then she smiled brightly at Roland and moved to go with him, intent on helping him get ready for school.

"It's okay mom, you stay here and eat while its hot, I'll help Roland with his socks and things" Henry smiled taking his little brother by the hand.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Regina smiled gratefully.

"Course not" Henry shrugged nonchalantly.

"And what about you, are you okay with big brother Henry helping you today" she asked squatting to Roland's level and giving him an affectionate bop on the nose as she spoke, Roland giggled as he nodded in response then allowed himself to be gently led from the room by Henry, while Regina rose back to her full height and returned to the kitchen island to eat.

They all left together as they had every morning since Roland had returned to school, Regina strapped Roland securely into his car seat while Emma led Henry down the drive on foot.

They hadn't gotten far when the horn of Regina's black Mercedes sounded behind them, and the car sailed past with Regina and Roland waving out at them through its windows, Emma and Henry laughed as they raised their own hands to wave back not lowering them until the car hand rounded the corner and was out of sight.

Emma could have driven Henry to school too of course and would have more than happily done so but Henry was insistent on catching the bus with Nick as he always had and both Emma and Regina had agreed that keeping the boys routine as normal as possible was for the for best right now, especially as they would soon enough face the upheaval of another big move.

Henry being parted from his best friend proved to be Regina's biggest regret of the planned move, she hoped that he would be able to slide back in with his old circle friends many of whom he had kept in touch with both online and over the phone and she knew that he could keep in touch with Nick the same way once they had moved back to the city and that the two boys would be able to continue to game together online but Henry had never had a friend like Nick back in the city, he was a popular kid, but Nick was the closest friend that he had ever had and Regina was truly sorry that they would have to leave him behind.

Emma hovered watching from afar as Henry crossed the road to the bus stop and then she made the short trek back home pausing to collect the mail on her way back up to the house.

She let herself in and dumped the letters onto the kitchen island before she moved to clean up the breakfast things, another routine that she had fallen into seamlessly, she never bothered to check through the mail of course, it was pointless as she knew there would be nothing there for her but that Emma thought with a smile as she lifted the pile of sealed envelopes to wipe the unit underneath them before dropping then back into place again, would change once she had moved in with Regina and their boys officially.

Thinking of them as her boys was nothing new for Emma, she'd always thought of them that way, Henry for pretty self-explanatory reasons, Roland was a little different because he of course wasn't a child that Emma herself carried within her body and given life to, but somehow that curly headed little boy had stolen her heart almost as quickly as he had stolen Regina's and she had never being able to help feeling as maternal towards him as she did towards Henry.

Robin had hated their obvious bond of course, but then he hated Emma and the fact that he couldn't chase her away, she was a positive consistent in Regina's life that Robin had never been able to shake and he voiced his annoyance at that on more than one occasion even going as far as to say that he regretted ever agreeing to adopt Henry, perhaps that in part was why Henry disliked Robin so much, perhaps he had overheard one or more of Robins statements of regret at taking him on.

Robin had often underestimated Regina's personal strength and had long believed that without Emma's presence in her life that he would have been able to break her fully, he viewed Emma as an annoying bug that he wanted nothing more than to squat but couldn't.

Regina smiled when drove past Emma's bug before she turned into the drive. Emma had left it there because she had to work that day, but the little yellow cars presence meant that Emma was still here for now.

The truth that Emma was always still here when Regina got back from drop off these days waiting to greet her and share a few last intimate moments before she headed out to work, every day she arrived late and didn't care anymore, some days her lateness was noticed and others it wasn't, currently work was being patient with her and beyond overhearing the odd whinge from a disgruntled colleague Emma hadn't received any complaints at all about her erratic time keeping and certainly not any official ones.

She didn't know how long her bosses patience would last, how long he would be understanding of her situation of having to help emotionally support Robin Locksleys grieving widow and children and she didn't really care either because she wouldn't be staying at that job much longer anyway and if she was sacked before she intended to leave she'd just be forced to give up the loft and officially move in with Regina sooner and that wasn't a losing situation in anyway.

Regina had full access to hers and Robins fortune now and his life insurance would soon follow so they didn't need the money from Emma's wage she kept the job more for appearances sake and when they went back to the city Emma knew that she already had a job that she could return to if she wanted to no references needed.

"You're back" she smiled when Regina dropped her keys next to Emma's in the bowl that sat in the centre of the kitchen island then she picked up the letters that Emma had placed next to it and began to shuffle through them pausing once to look up and smile back at Emma.

One letter caught her attention with its red urgent stamp across it and Regina dropped the others back onto the unit, turning the one in her hand over and tried to pry the envelope open, she could have course have gone to the office to fetch her letter opener but she just couldn't be bothered, Emma however noticing Regina's struggle the envelopes strong adhesive handed her a steak knife from the knife block which Regina gratefully accepted.

It was quite as smooth as her letter opener, but it did the job and soon Regina was sliding the envelopes contents out and shaking it open to read.

"Can you believe this" she scoffed as her eyes scanned the letter in disbelief.

"What is it?" Emma asked her brow furrowing into a frown "Something to do with the court case?"

"Not really" Regina replied still laughing and shaking her head a little in disbelief as she handed the letter to Emma for her to read, then watched as Emma too began to laugh.

"That woman is a complete liability" Emma chuckled "She's about to stand trial for murdering your husband and her most pressing concern is to have you pay child support for her kid!"

"I know, crazy isn't it" Regina laughed taking the letter and folding it to file it away.

"Wait you're keeping that piece of crap?" Emma asked surprised.

"Mal advised I keep anything regarding Zelena especially legal paperwork and that would include this" Regina shrugged stuffing the ridiculous piece of paper that highlighted Zelena's belief that she could stake a claim in Robin's estate because she was carrying his child back into its envelope.

That woman and her misplaced priorities would never cease to amaze Regina.

It did get Regina thinking about Zelena though or more so her unborn baby for the first time since she had discovered Zelena's pregnancy, she found herself wondering exactly how far through her pregnancy Zelena was and what would happen to the baby after it was born if Zelena stayed in prison, did Zelena have any family? She'd never mentioned them to Regina if she did, but then Zelena hadn't mentioned a lot of things to Regina.

Regina tried not to think about it too much, what happened to Zelena's child wasn't her business anyway, her focus had to be on her own two boys and Emma, she didn't need to worry about the child of her ex-Nanny on top of that, she was sure that, that baby would be just fine.

"You know I probably should put something in place for that child though" Regina pondered aloud to Emma who looked vaguely confused.

"I mean he or she is Robins child after all and they are innocent in this, they deserve something of their father's estate as much as Henry and Roland do" she clarified.

"Okay, so we'll find out the kids name after he or she is born and put some money in an account for them just like you have for the boys, something the kid can have when their grown, not for the money grabbing witch to get her greedy little hands on" Emma replied, and Regina nodded slowly.

"Sounds like a plan" she smiled "And we can always try to find out if whoever the baby goes to, because they can't stay in prison with Zelena forever needs anything for the baby, maybe send regular care packages or something" Regina shrugged.

"You know that don't have to do that right" Emma frowned a little concerned that Regina was getting carried away and trying to bare more responsibility for this child than she should.

"I don't but I'd like to" Regina smiled again "Like I said the child is innocent and Henry and Roland's sibling, this whole situation is such a mess but maybe there are some things we can salvage from it, but I am absolutely not topping up Zelena's prison funds though I must admit there would be some irony to be found in using Robins money that way" she chuckled richly and Emma's laughter soon followed mingling with her own.

It would be another six weeks before Regina would finally receive the letter that she was waiting for, the one with the first court date on and it wasn't far off, in two short weeks Zelena's trial would begin and both Regina and Emma were expected to take the stand on the second day and so to Regina's horror were Henry and Roland.

"Can you get them out of this" Regina demanded down the phone to Mal minutes after she had opened the letter.

"Unfortunately, not" Mal sighed "I'm so sorry darling" she said sympathetically, "I don't even know why they are being called to be honest it seems like the defence are just trying to cram in as many character witnesses as possible, but they aren't having a lot of luck finding many" Regina couldn't see her friend but she was sure that she had rolled her eyes at that point.

"What I can and will do is get assurances that the boys will not be made to bear witness to any accounts of the crime itself, I think they are hoping that the boys will testify to Zelena's good nature so I'm sure that they will readily agree not to have the crime that she stands accused of discussed anywhere near them" Mal said and Regina sighed a little in relief as she agreed.

Emma was as gobsmacked as Regina when she returned home from work that day and read the letter.

"Does she have no self-respect at all" Emma mumbled as her eyes roved over the page, "first the money and now this", she threw the letter down onto the table in frustration.

"I know" Regina commiserated "But it'll be okay, this is the end now, we do this one thing as a family and then we can finally move and put this whole sorry mess behind us."

"Yeah, that'll be nice" Emma sighed rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, "I guess I'll message work and let them know that I won't be in that day" she said taking out her phone as she spoke, Regina just nodded silently in reply as Emma began to type out her message and hit send.

The returning message 'of course' came through in record time and Emma let out a frustrated sigh as she pocketed her phone again.

"I take it he didn't approve then" Regina said.

"No, the opposite actually" Emma replied, "He said it was fine."

"And that's a bad thing?" Regina asked her brow furrowing in confusion, Emma smiled in return thinking that she looked cute.

"Not really, it's just they are so understanding at work and I know I'm only keeping the job for appearances sake but I dunno, I just kind of hoped that they might have had enough of my constant lateness by now and fired me" Emma shrugged her face flaring bright red at her confession as she looked a little cautiously at Regina who burst out laughing and boy did it feel good to Regina.

"I just wanted an excuse to spend a little more time with you" Emma said a little defensively.

"I get it, I really do" Regina gasped as she fought to control her laughter "and I think it's brilliant Emma, I've been hoping that they would hurry up and fire you too" she laughed again, and this time Emma joined in.

"What a pair we are" Emma giggled wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.

"So" Emma said picking up the letter from the side where Regina had left it and glancing over it as she spoke "Can we start looking for a new place in the city now because you know these court things don't take long once they get started, we could be out of here in less than a month" she smiled, and Regina beamed back.

"I've been thinking about that actually" she replied taking Emma by the hand and leading her into the study that had once been Robin's, but that she had now claimed as her own, she settled behind the desk and opened up the laptop that sat there while Emma grabbed a chair and moved it to her side.

"How do you feel about this place?" Regina asked opening a folder and pulling up images of a huge, beautiful house whose white walls shone in the sun, it was surrounded by rolling green lawns with trees tastefully dotted about one of which seemed to be holding a pretty amazing looking tree house that Emma was sure that both Henry and Roland would love, it was all stunningly beautiful but it definitely didn't look like it was in the city.

"Umm its awesome Regina" Emma said her eyes still fixed on the screen as Regina scrolled through pictures of the house's interior "But that doesn't look like it's in the city to me" she pointed out.

"No" Regina agreed "it's not, but it's close enough to commute and I thought it would give us all the perfect balance of all worlds" Regina smiled at the pictures wistfully and that was more than enough for Emma.

"I love it" she beamed, and Regina's grin grew to reflect it.

"You do? Really?" Regina asked eyes shining with excitement and hope.

"I do" Emma murmured leaning in close to nuzzle her nose against Regina's and plant a gentle kiss on Regina's lips "And the best bit is that it's nothing like any house you've lived in with Robin" Emma smiled.

"No, it's not" Regina agreed "But I have lived there before" she admitted.

"What" Emma gasped in surprise "When, why, how?" she pressed.

"I grew up there" Regina explained "This was my home until I married Robin, he didn't want to live there and said it was stupid to keep it, so he made me sell it, it broke my heart to see it go so I haven't really been able to talk about it much since" she confessed tears welling in her eyes, Emma's heart ache painfully for her "I had a lot of happy memories in that house" Regina continued, "so when we talked about moving I got the idea to look it up, I didn't say anything at first because I didn't want to get my hopes up if It wasn't up for sale, but it is Emma" she said excitedly "It's been on the market for the last year, there's been lots of interest apparently but no one willing to pay the asking price for it so far" she said.

"And you haven't put in an offer yet?" Emma asked taking the phone from its cradle and holding it out for Regina to take.

"Well, I wanted to wait, appearances and all that" Regina said her hand twitching with the desire to take the handset from Emma.

"Fuck appearances" Emma said "you call that number right now and get your house back, no one needs to know yet anyway" she added, and a beaming Regina nodded, grabbed the phone and dialled.

The agent answered on the fourth ring and twenty minutes later Regina was hanging up with a satisfied smile on her face having just submitted an offer that was marginally above the asking price for her childhood home, she buzzed with excited energy as she shut the computer down then followed Emma back through to the kitchen.

"Just this to deal with now then" she sighed as she caught sight of the letter still lying on the side and came back to the reality with a thump, slowly picking it up Regina folded it along its creases and put it away with another sigh, she'd deal with that later.

A week later the agent called to confirm that Regina's offer had been accepted on the house, but their excitement was short lived because they still had to tell the boys about their roles in the pending court case and prepare them for taking the stand.

They had decided to wait and tell them closer to the day to give them less time to have to worry about it, but the day to tell them had finally come, and they could delay it no longer, still it was a rather regretful Emma and Regina that sat the boys down after school three days before they were due to stand in court.

"Why do they want us to take the stand?" Henry asked visibly confused and a little upset at the prospect.

"We aren't really sure" Regina confessed "But try not to worry sweetheart, they only want to ask you about Zelena and what she was like as your Nanny, Mal's going to pop round tomorrow and run through some possible scenarios with you both, so you know what to expect." Henry nodded his eyes brightening at the prospect of seeing Mal.

"And Mals made sure that they won't be allowed to ask you anything about your father's death or even mention it while you are in the room" she assured him, Henry tensed and bristled at that then he nodded once his eyes finding Roland, who looked mercifully unfazed by the goings on around him.

"Fine but can I go first?" Henry asked.

"We'd have to ask but I can't see why not" Regina replied, and Henry nodded again.

"If there's nothing else, can I go play my game now?" he asked a little stiffly and Regina nodded.

"Of course, you can Henry" she smiled, and Henry hastily exited the room grunted an almost incoherent thanks as he went.

"Well, that could have gone worse" Emma said letting out a small sigh of relief.

"Yes, I guess it could have" Regina sighed too and sat down with her head in her hands, "I just want this over with now" she said.

"And It will be very soon babe" Emma soothed settling next to her and gathering her up into a one armed hug "And then we've got our whole lives ahead of us" she added not elaborating further because Roland was still in the room but the knowing smile that formed on Regina's lips as she leaned her head onto Emma's shoulder and moved a hand to squeeze her thigh, said that she knew exactly what Emma was talking about and she too couldn't wait to get back to her roots and make a fresh start with her family in her childhood home.