A loud knock had Regina rushing to the front door. Emma stood alone on her porch, she peered around Regina into the house.
"You alone?" She asked,
Regina sighed,
"Yes, Miss.Swan, I'm alone,"
"Cora?"
"I kicked her out," Regina gripped the door, her fingers turning white,
"She's not coming back?" Emma asked, eyes narrowing,
"That is what I just said," Regina replied, "I admire your comprehension skills,"
Emma rolled her eyes, "I need to be sure, Regina,"
Tapping her foot impatiently, Regina glanced behind Emma, searching for her son's figure.
"She's out of my life, you can rest assured," she said distractedly, "Where is he?"
Emma bit her lower lip, pondering her words for a moment,
"Fine," she said, "he's in the car, I'll go get him,"
With that, she turned on her heel, leaving Regina looking after her in the doorway.
For a moment she considered walking with her, but decided against it.
A minute later, though it felt closer to an hour, Henry's small figure appeared in between the hedges that gave onto her garden. Regina held her breath as he walked down the stone pathway, Emma close behind.
Her son stopped on the porch step, looking at her.
This was the first time they'd seen each other, she realized, since his theory of her being the Evil Queen had been proven true. Since she'd had to run from the hospital, leaving him alone with Emma. The memory stabbed her in the back. She swallowed,
"Henry," she said,
He ran to her, and she knelt, opening her arms and pulling him into her embrace. She buried her face in his dark hair, which smelt of Emma's shampoo, and her son's familiar smell. A sob racked her, Henry's small body shaking, warm tears wet her neck, trickling down her chest. Pulling away from her son, she grasped his jaw, his tears wetting her fingertips, and felt her own eyes watering.
"Mom," he said, meeting her gaze, he hugged her again, and she pressed him close to her, feeling the weight of his arms around her, his head in the hollow of her neck.
"Ow," he murmured, "too tight,"
"Sorry," she laughed, letting go of him and leaning back to search his face. He had grown. How long had it been since she'd last seen him this close? No more than three months. And yet, he looked older, his hair was longer too, and badly in need of a haircut.
"I missed you," she said,
"Me too," he admitted quietly,
Regina met Emma's gaze over his shoulder, and she looked away. Regina wondered if she was ashamed, of having kept them apart, of having ripped them apart.
Henry stopped the beginnings of her anger in it's tracks,
"Can I come in?" He asked,
Regina's eyes widened, "Of course, Henry," She said, rising from her crouching position, "This is your home," she added, "you don't need to ask for permission,"
He smiled at her, and took her hand. Regina's heart fluttered. She blinked, looking away.
"Can I go see my room?" He asked, once all three were inside, shoes off.
Regina inclined her head, "Of course, I haven't touched anything,"
He grinned and sprinted up the stairs, Regina's gaze following him.
"You should go with him," Emma said, she'd been standing in the corner, leaning against the wall, watching them.
Regina wiped at one eye, and sniffed, setting her jaw.
"Thank you, Miss. Swan, I think I know what I'm doing," she sneered, "I've done it for ten years," she added.
Emma cocked her head to one side, her features perfectly neutral. It was something Regina despised, her ability to hide the hurt cruel words must have caused. Regina enjoyed watching people squirm for her, enjoyed seeing her words cut (and, at other times, actually cutting, but that was long gone now) but Emma refused to give her the satisfaction of reacting.
The truth was, Emma gave as good as she got, she had returned every one of Regina's moves, and now, she'd won.
Regina hated her for it.
And yet, the smallest corner of her mind was enjoying this, loving the challenge. After twenty eight years of obsequious obedience, finally someone who stood up to her. Of course, she wished the Savior hadn't broken her curse, but the war wasn't over yet, and Regina was still standing.
A loud crash from upstairs startled her out of her thoughts, and she realized she'd been staring at Emma. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks, and hid it with a sneer. Clearing her throat, Regina made her way upstairs.
She leaned against the doorframe of Henry's bedroom, taking in the boy, who'd dropped a whole lego set to the ground (the source of the noise that had startled her) and was now flipping through his collection of comic books.
His presence was so familiar it made Regina's heart ache, it was as if he'd never left, sitting on his bed cross legged, hunched over a comic book, his room in complete disarray. Normally, she would have said something, but today the chaos brought her joy.
"You did touch stuff," Henry said, not looking up from his magazine,
Regina furrowed her brows, "What did I touch?"
"You fixed the light switch," He said, "And you reordered my books, in alphabetical order,"
"Oh," Regina said, "Yes," she admitted, "I did, should I not have?"
He looked at her then, brown eyes meeting hers, he shrugged,
"Why did you?" He asked,
"I.." she thought about it, "I don't know," she admitted, "the switch needed fixing," she said, gesturing towards what had been a faulty button near Henry's desk.
He shrugged again, "you said I had to do it myself, since I broke it,"
Regina swallowed, "Yes, well," she said, "I knew you'd never get around to it," she smiled, and let out a small breath when he grinned at her,
"That's true," he admitted,
"And I did your laundry," She added,
"Right!" He said, jumping up enthusiastically, "I wanted to tell you," he pushed the magazine off the bed, "I've been doing my own laundry," he looked so proud of himself, and Regina widened her eyes, "you have?" She asked, walking over to sit next to him on the bed,
"Yeah!" He said, "I even started sorting the colors and the whites, just like you told me to," he continued,
"You did?" Regina was genuinely surprised, and a little concerned, where was Emma during all this?
"Yeah, but that's because I washed my white MCU shirt with my red pants and now it's pink," he blushed slightly, looking away, "sorry," he muttered.
She took his hand, "That's alright, sweetheart, it happens, I'll get you a new one,"
"You will?"
Regina laughed at his expression, "It was your favorite, wasn't it?" She asked, "The one with Iron man?"
He nodded, "I figured I could wear it pink, even though that's a girl color,"
"You'd look lovely in pink," Regina said, she touched the tip of his nose playfully and he grinned.
"Are you hungry?" She asked, "I made dessert," she added,
He swallowed, "Not apple, right?"
Oh. Of course.
"No," she said, forcing a smile, "Not apple,"
His good mood returned instantaneously,
"Good, because I'm starving,"
She followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen, noticing the Savior had made herself at home with a cup of coffee.
"Mom made dessert," Henry announced, and Emma looked at her,
"Not apple?"
Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes,
"I made lemon squares," she said, pulling the now-cooled sweets out of the oven.
"Oh they look good," Emma commented as she set them on the table. Henry grabbed plates.
Regina suppressed a smile, serving the yellow squares onto her pretty china.
"I'd offer you a drink," She said, "But I notice you already made yourself one," she added silkily,
Emma pretended not to grasp her meaning, though Regina had by now realized Emma was much smarter than she pretended to be, and understood perfectly well.
"Yeah, you want some?"
Regina inclined her head, "Very well," she said,
"Henry, do you want a smoothie?"
"Milkshake?" He asked, pulling out the puppy dog eyes. Regina chuckled,
"Fine," she said, "Milkshake it is,"
The lemon squares were indeed lovely, the tart, creamy center giving way to the flaky, buttery crust underneath, Emma and Henry had three servings each.
Though, when Henry asked for another one, Regina was tempted to give it to him, after all, she wouldn't be the one dealing with the inevitable sugar crash. Instead, she said "I think you've had enough, Henry,"
"Please, Mom," he said, "they're really good,"
"I know," She smiled, reaching over with a paper towel and wiping at his cheek, "You've got them all over your face,"
He laughed and cleaned himself onto his sleeve, Regina bit back her reprimand.
"You know," she said, "When I was a kid, we never had dessert,"
Emma and Henry looked at her with curiosity,
"Why not?" Henry asked,
"Well, sugar was very expensive," she said, "it came from far away, even at court, no one had sugar every day,"
Silence hung in the air for a moment, as the three of them considered this.
Regina breathed through her fear, she hadn't revealed too much, the curse was broken now. There was no point pretending anymore.
Henry looked pensive, it was strange , seeing the grown up expression on his small features, his head propped up on his splayed palm, elbow on the table. Regina made a mental note to tell him off for it later.
"You've never told me any of this stuff, Mom" he commented after a moment, "You never told me anything about you,"
"That's not true," she wished Emma wasn't there, studying her with piercing green eyes, "I told you about my father, I told you about…" Regina couldn't think of anything else she'd told her son about herself, but there must have been other things.
"Those were lies too," he sat back in his chair, "You told me grandpa died of a heart attack,"
A sharp flash of pain went through Regina's stomach and settled in her heart. She didn't like to be reminded of her father. Of what she'd done to him.
"But you killed him," Henry continued, "I saw it in the book,"
The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. Emma cleared her throat.
"Didn't you?" Henry asked, after a login silence,
"I had to," she said, bile rose in her throat at the memory, her father's beating heart warm and heavy in her hand, the feeling of it turning to ashes in her hands, "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the truth,"
Maybe if she had, he would have understood. Maybe they wouldn't be in this situation now.
Henry shrugged.
"You're not sorry," he said it so simply, it took Regina's breath away.
"Yes I am," she said, "I really am,"
"No," Henry said, "You're sorry you got caught, you're sorry Emma broke the curse,"
Regina looked at him, the boy was too quick for his own good. And she was proud of him, so proud.
Why couldn't he be just a little less perceptive? She closed her eyes,
"Henry–"
"Don't," he said, "You're sorry you lost me you're not sorry for what you did,"
Emma said nothing, her green eyes studied the two of them, and Regina bristled at her intensity.
"Henry," she said, "I understand how you feel, but I'm still your mother," she took a breath, glancing at Emma from the corner of her eye, "And you must see that I was doing what I thought was best,"
He looked down at his plate, playing with his spoon against the china. Regina wanted to tell him to stop, to sit up straight and look at her when she talked. But she said nothing.
"You're the Evil Queen," he said, meeting her gaze unflinchingly. She'd heard it a thousand times before, often she'd taken pride in the name. Hearing it from her son was a red hot poker in her insides. She straightened her back and set her jaw.
"I'm still your mother,"
"No, you're not," he said, "Emma is,"
Regina's lips fell open slightly, she turned to look at the Savior. Emma's eyes were wide as she stared at Henry, her relaxed posture had stiffened in her seat. She bit her bottom lip.
"Hen, kid, I get that you're hurt," She said, "but there's no need to be cruel,"
Regina felt blood rush to her cheeks, she couldn't believe Emma, of all people, was having to defend her.
"It's fine, Miss.Swan," She said, keeping her voice even, "I know Henry doesn't really mean these things,"
He looked between his mothers, considering.
"Can we go home?" He asked, turning to Emma.
Regina felt her stomach turn into a knot. She, too, looked at Emma. The Savior's sighed heavily,
"Sure, kid," she said, rising and ruffling his hair, "go put your shoes on,"
He nodded, avoiding Regina's gaze, he headed into the foyer.
Emma had gotten up too, she looked down at Regina with an expression between compassion and pity. Regina wanted to strangle her. She rose.
"Well," she said, "It looks like you've managed to get what you wanted in the end,"
"This isn't what I wanted, Regina," Emma sighed, running her fingers through her hair, "I know you think I'm out to get you, that I want to take Henry from you, and.. who knows what else," she took a breath, then stared into Regina's eyes meaningfully, "I'm not," the Savior stepped towards her, "I just want what's best for Henry,"
"And what's best for him is you?" Regina spat, her fingers curling into her palms, freshly manicured nails digging into her skin.
"For now," Emma said,
Regina looked away, her throat constricting,
"He doesn't see me as his mother anymore," she said,
"Can you blame him?" Emma asked, "You've lied to him all his life,"
Regina blinked, her mother had lied to her too, many times, yet she'd always loved her. The flash of a promise she'd made herself while driving to the Boston office to pick up her son for the first time flashed across her consciousness. She'd promised to never be like her mother, she'd promised to never raise a hand against her son, to never place her own ambitions onto his shoulders, to never force him into anything.
She'd broken that promise too many times.
"What do I do?" She asked, more to herself than to the Savior.
Emma sighed again, and stepped towards her again, until they were closer than Regina considered appropriate. She didn't step away, meeting green eyes with her own.
The unspoken tension between them grew a thousandfold.
"You could start by coming to Granny's tonight," Emma said, "We're having a pot luck to welcome us back,"
Regina's tongue darted out to wet her lower lip, and Emma's gaze flicked downwards. Catching the gesture, Regina pressed her lips together to avoid smirking, she nodded,
"Thank you," She said, the words tasting like venom in her mouth, "I'll be there,"
Emma gave her a stiff nod, stepping back as Henry walked in,
"Ready?" He asked, looking between them with a frown,
"Yeah," Emma said, not taking her eyes off of Regina.
"Great," Henry said, "Thanks for the lemon squares," he added.
Regina waved them off, then turned back to her empty house. She should be used to it. It had stood empty for eighteen long years, and before that, she'd lived in an empty castle. Yet now the silence echoed through the rooms and into the hollow where her heart should have been.
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Hello! sorry this update is late! I've had a week! the next update will be late too, most likely, sorry about that. Still, please let me know if you liked this chapter! I love comments