As it turned out, neither of them could keep their hands off each other.
Emma reflected back on the last month, a month of stolen glances and secret touches. She sat in her silent car, the street was shrouded in darkness, lit only by the yellow glow of the streetlamps, Regina's mansion was a shadow behind the tall hedges. The upstairs light were on. Regina was getting Henry ready for bed.
Emma knew their routine by heart, he brushed his teeth and then she checked his homework, he got into bed and read, while she changed, then Regina walked back in and kissed him goodnight, all but ripping the book from his fingers and setting it on the bedside table.
Henry's bedroom light turned off.
Emma got out of the car and slowly made her way up to the door, as she walked the carefully manicured path, the kitchen lights were turned on, flooding the back garden in warm yellow light. Emma smiled a little, no matter how many times she did this, her heart picked up a little every time she did.
Regina opened the door, her silk nightdress only reached mid thigh, and Emma let her gaze rove over her….girlfriend? Regina would probably murder her if she called her that.
Reaching the door, Emma slipped her hands around Regina's waist and pressed her lips to hers. The kiss quickly turned passionate, as Emma pushed her backwards into the kitchen, closing the door quietly behind her. She pressed Regina up against the table, her hands roaming down her body.
Pulling away from the assault, Regina titled her face up, smiling at Emma, "Hey," she said.
"Hey yourself," Emma said.
"Drink?" Regina asked, sliding out from between Emma and the table and heading to the living room. Her bare feet made no sound on the wooden floors.
Emma slipped her own shoes off and followed her. Once the door was closed behind her, she spoke, "Sure."
Regina hadn't needed to be told, and had already filled a tumbler with her homemade applecider, which she passed Emma.
"How was your day?" Emma asked, as she took a sip of the particularly strong drink.
"Well, I had a meeting with your mother, so," Regina sipped from her own glass and curled up on the sofa, "not great."
Emma rolled her eyes, "You know I know you're pretending to hate her, right?"
Regina let her head hang back, her dark hair contrasting with the white leather couch, "Pretending? I've tried to kill your mother more times than I can count."
"Oh I know you used to hate her," Emma said, sitting down next to her, and taking the opportunity to run her hand along her thigh, pushing the nightdress up, "But I can tell you don't anymore, you might actually kind of like her."
Regina scoffed, but her heart wasn't in it, Emma could see her breathing catching as her hand made its way up her leg.
"Let's not exaggerate," Regina said, "I don't want to murder her anymore, take the win."
Emma couldn't help the grin that spread over her features, Regina was beginning to sound like her. Leaning forward, she pulled her into a kiss, leaving the glass of cider on the coffee table.
Regina moaned softly against her lips, and soon she was on Emma's legs, her fingers tangled in her hair, cupping her face.
"Let's go upstairs," Regina whispered breathily against her lips, and the ache between Emma's legs agreed immediately.
Within seconds, Emma was on Regina's bed, curiously missing clothes. Regina kissing her way down her body.
The familiar dance, that Emma had come to know by heart, played itself out on Regina's bed. Pleasure invaded Emma's sense, as Regina moved over her body, knowing exactly what to do, where to touch and where to kiss to make her see stars. Emma returned the favour happily.
She had never been so in tune with anyone before, it had been a month, a month of secret meetings and quiet kisses stolen between moments of taking care of their son, of rebuilding the town from the ground up.
Regina had been restored as mayor once Mary Margaret had decided it wasn't for her, and Emma had kept on as sheriff. Their jobs had never been more difficult. The town didn't turst Regina yet, didn't trust her newfound redemption. Everyday was a struggle, how does one deal with a town full of people who had been ripped from their homes and forced to live a parallel life for twenty eight years?
Emma and Regina were figuring it out slowly.
Then there was Henry, Emma had expected him to struggle, but she'd never been his mother, and learning to be one was nothing short of traumatic. Thankfully, she had Regina.
Regina, Regina, Regina.
As Emma whispered her name, her bare, warm body pressed up against her, she ran her fingers through dark hair, contemplating everything that had changed between them.
These quiets moment, when the world was asleep, their son in his bed, the town quiet, were the only respite Emma had, and she cherished them with every inch of her soul. And heart. It skipped a beat as Regina turned towards her and pressed a kiss to her cheek, her fingers tracing the side of Emma's bare chest.
"I should go," Emma whispered, watching dark eyes in the halflight of the bedside lamp, she couldn't quite put a name to the feeling in her chest. And she didn't want to.
Regina hummed quietly, but didn't argue, rolling away and slipping her nightdress back on. Emma rose and dressed, her tight jeans rubbing against the senstive skin of her thighs.
"Where did you tell your parents you were going?" Regina asked, watching her dress.
"Uh," Emma said, "Nowhere, I sneaked out."
Regina giggled, "You sneaked out?"
Emma couldn't bring herself to be annoyed at her tone, her laughter filling her chest.
"I'm reliving my adolescent years," she said with a soft laugh.
She pressed her lips to Regina's for a split second, before heading out, closing the door as softly as she could behind her, she padded down the stairs, the light was off, but she knew the way by heart at this point.
Slipping into the kitchen, she patted her pockets down and cursed silently. She'd forgotten her car keys upstairs.
Huffing under her breath she turned back around, biting back a yelp as her foot hit the bottom stair.
She was staring down at her feet, trying to see the stairs in the darkness, when movement at the top alerted her. Freezing in place, Emma stared up at the landing, it was too dark to make anything out, but a moment later a harsh beam of light was directed straight into her eyes. Squinting and covering her face with her hand, Emma growled, her foot hurt, and her eyes burned and all she wanted was to get her damn car keys.
"Who's there?" Henry cried out, his voice high, squealing, scared.
The stairs turned away from the landing, and he clearly couldn't see her from where he was standing.
Emma opened her mouth to speak, but the boy continued,
"I have a weapon," He said, "I'm not afarid to use it," his voice trembled as he spoke.
"What?" Emma said, at the same time as Regina opened her bedroom door, flooding the landing and stairs in light.
"Henry!" she said, "What are you doing?"
"There someone here mom," he replied, "But don't worry,"
Emma saw him show Regina something, did he really have a weapon?
"What are you doing with that?" Regina asked.
"There's someone here!" He cried, voice breaking as he did.
"Henry…" Regina started, but a sound alerted Emma, and she was ready when the boy barreled into her, almost sending her flying back down the few stairs behind her.
"Hey!" she said, pushing him off of her.
Her son's hair was a tangled mess, he held up a baseball bat, both hands on the handle. Emma expected him to swing at her at any moment, and held her hands up protectviely.
"It's me, kid! It's just me."
The baseball bat came down slowly to his side.
"Emma?"
Regina had run down the stairs behind him, still in her too-short nightgown. She grabbed the bat from their son, pulling it away from him,
"Why do you have this?"
"Why are you here?" He asked, his question directed at Emma, his eyes wide, "What are you doing here?" his voice was breathy now, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Emma's lips fell open, fear for her son overtaking any worry she may have had about him finding her there. Regina seemed to have the same thought, because she dropped the bat to the ground, and pulled Henry around, into her arms.
"Hey, hey, hey," She said, as his shoulders jerked, silent tears racking his body, "It's okay, it's just Emma, just Emma."
He cried. His body trembled under Emma's fingers as she stroked his back, unsure what to say or do. Meeting Regina's gaze she saw her helplessness mirrored there.
Regina continued to whisper quiet words in his ear as she gently led him into the kitchen and sat him down on one of the chairs. She knelt in front of him, shushing him soothingly as his breaths came hard and fast.
"Just breathe, sweetheart, breathe," Regina said, she glanced at Emma, who had followed them and turned on the light, and who stared on completely helpless.
"A glass of water," Regina instructed, and Emma obeyed.
"Here," Regina passed it to Henry, "Drink."
The boy tried, he took small sips, in between his hiccups. He was calming down, and Regina continued to rub his legs slowly, watching his every expression like a hawk.
"Henry," Regina said when he was no longer hyperventilating, "why did you have a bat?"
Wiping at his cheeks with the back of his hands he sniffled, "For intruders," he said.
"Intruders?"
He nodded.
Regina turned to give Emma A Look. Biting her lip Emma walked closer to their son,
"Kid, why do you think you need to defend the house from introuders?"
He shook his head, "Not the house," he blinked and looked at Regina, "You."
"Oh," Regina said, "Henry…" her voice almost broke, and Emma felt it go straight through her heart.
"You don't need to do that," Regina said.
"Why are you here?" Henry asked, ignoring his mother and turning to Emma. Regina turned to her too, eyebrows rising, "Yes, why are you here, Miss. Swan?"
She fought hard not to roll her eyes, and answered Regina, "I forgot my car keys," she said, before turning to Henry and explaining further, "I came earlier, while you were at school, to discuss something with you mother, and I forgot my car keys," she shrugged, knowing her story had more holes than swiss cheese.
Henry's eyebrows knitted together, he was young and panicked and sleepy, but not stupid.
"You forgot your car keys," he repeated, and Regina sighed imperceptibly, "But how did you go home?"
Emma swalloed, "Well, um," she bit her lower lip, "I walked?"
"Is that a question, sheriff?" Regina hissed.
"Uh.."
"And you thought you'd break in to get them back instead of coming by tomorrow morning like a normal person?" Henry continued his line of questioning.
Emma wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. She met Regina's eyes with a pleading look, which was received by a stare that told her she could lie in the bed she'd made.
"Yeah…"she answered lamely.
Henry put the glass down onto the kitchen table slowly, deliberately.
"That doesn't sound like you, ma," he said.
Emma withered under his scrutinizing look.
"Alright," Regina said, seemingly deciding to take her out of her misery, "Emma didn't forget her car keys, I invited her here."
"Why?" Henry asked, turning his sharp gaze onto his other mother.
Regina, contrary to anything she'd ever done before, blushed.
"I needed to talk to her."
"About what?"
It was her turn to look to Emma for help. Emma shrugged.
"Work things," Regina managed.
Henry looked between them for a long moment, he pressed his lips together and thought about it. When he spoke, his voice was hard, "Why are you both lying to me?" he asked, getting up. His small fists clenched at his side, his anger directed itself at Emma, "I'm used to her lying to me," he pointed at Regina, "but not you! I thought you could be honest, I thought you cared about me, but all you do is lie!'' This last statement was directed at Regina, who had turned a concerning shade of gray.
"Okay," Emma said, she closed the distance between them and took his hand, still clenched, "Here's the truth," she met his gaze evenly, "Your mom and I…" she glanced back at Regina, whose lips were pressed together in the thinnest line Emma had ever seen, and she went on, "We're uh…" what were they? They hadn't talked about it, but now she needed an explanation for their son, "We're dating."
He stared at her with a mixture of confusion and bewilderment, "Dating?"
"Yeah, uh," Emma stuttered, "Yeah."
Henry sought confirmation in Regina, who recovered from her statue-like position and leaned back against the counter, "Yes, Henry, Miss– Emma and I are… seeing each other."
"Emma?" Henry blinked, looking between them, "How long?" he asked.
"Uh," Emma let go of his hand and ran a hand through her hair, "About a month."
"Why didn't you tell me?" He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes finding Emma's, "Why?" he asked again. Emma saw the betrayal in his eyes, and it cut a hole into her chest.
"Kid…"
"I thought you were on my side," he said.
"I don't think there are any sides," Regina stepped in, she sounded hurt, and Emma felt the walls close in on either side.
Her son was angry at her. Her girlfriend was upset. Emma needed to run. She took a deep breath.
"Kid, I am on your side, ok?" she said, a hand on his shoulder, "but I'm on your mom's side too, which just so happens to also be your side," she hoped that made sense. By his expression, it did not.
His jaw clenched.
"You're supposed to be here for me, you're my mom," he growled. Not waiting for her response, he turned and ran out, his footsteps thudding on the stairs. Emma jumped as a door slammed shut upstairs.
"Oh," Regina said, she ran a hand over her face.
Emma sighed and sat down,"That went well," she said. Threading her fingers together,Emma pressed her forehead to the cool wood of Regina's kitchen table. She didn't look up as a chair scraped against the floor, and Regina sat down, a hand began to rub circles into her back, the warmth of Regina's hand seeping through Emma's thin shirt.
"He's going to be okay," Regina said, "he just needs time."
Emma looked up sharply, "Time for what? To get over being tied up in his own home? Watching his mother be kidnapped and tortured? Watching his mother kill two people?"
Regina swallowed, pulling her hand away at Emma's harsh tone, "I thought we talked about that."
"What? You killing two people unnecessarily?" Emma asked, anger rising in her chest, "Yeah, we talked about it, doesn't mean I've forgiven you."
"Emma…" Regina sighed, pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose, "What do you want me to say?"
Emma wasn't sure. There was nothing she could say, really. Silence fell between them, tight like a rubber band.
"Is that what we are?" Regina asked, making Emma turn to her, questioningly, "dating?" Regina clarified.
Emma rolled her eyes and got up, Regina had refused to talk about 'what they were' the entire month Emma had been sneaking into her home late at night, and now suddenly she wanted to talk?
"I'll get my keys and go," she told the back of Regina's head as she made her way out of the kitchen. She was halfway up the stairs when the reply came.
"Stay."
Emma turned back and walked back down, "What?" she asked.
"Stay," Regina said, turning to her, black eyes meeting hers, "he knows now, just stay."
The next morning the sun shining through Regina's curtains and into her eyes woke Emma up. Groaning she rolled over, her hand automatically finding her companion's body, pulling her close, she pressed a kiss to warm hair.
"We do need to talk, at some point," Emma murmured, "about…us."
Regina made a small sound, "Morning to you too, dear," she said, sitting up.
"What are we?" Emma spoke quickly, as if afraid Regina would leave before she got the question out.
Sighing, Regina pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around her knees, "Emma,I don't know, we're Henry's mothers, we're the savior and the evil queen, we're sworn enemies and…I don't know."
"What are we doing then?" Emma asked, her voice cracking, "Because I can't keep doing this forever."
"I know."
—
The smell of coffee wafted up from the kitchen and Emma padded her way down the stairs, Regina had put on the machine and was busy packing Henry's lunch. The boy sat at the table, his forkful of eggs stopped halfway to his mouth as Emma walked in.
"Morning, Hen," she said, taking the cup of coffee Regina handed her and leaning against the counter. Regina glanced at her from under her eyelashes. Henry put the fork down.
"Morning," he said, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and grabbed his lunchbox, "I'm going, bye."
The kitchen door slammed shut as Henry walked out. Regina let her head hang back and groaned.
"Great, just fantastic," she said, before grabbing the frying pan and all but throwing it into the kitchen sink. The sound made Emma jump, her coffee jolting in the cup.
"What?" Emma asked, "Like this is my fault?"
"You should have remembered your keys, Emma!" Regina cried, turngin to her, hands firmly gripping the counter, "You scared him."
"You know that's not the problem, Regina," Emma raised her voice, slamming the cup down onto the table, "you know the problem is–" she stopped, arguing with Regina felt like an exercise in futility, she took a deep breath, "you know what? whatever. I'm going to work."
Regina watched her with lips sealed shut as she climbed back down the stairs, her leather jacket firmly on, and as she put her shoes on and grabbed her keys. She sipped on her coffee, and Emma hated how distracting her almost-open nightrobe was. Somehow, she managed to ignore it, and had her hand on the doorknob when Regina spoke again,
"Are you coming back? Tonight?"
And Emma saw red, "Is that what you want to talk about? Really?" she spun around and stalked to her, until their faces were inches from each other, Regina, pressed against the kitchen counter, met her gaze head on, jaw clenched.
"Emma," she said, "I don't know what you want to talk about."
Emma left.
—
Several hours later, Emma was still incensed, she sat at her desk in the Sheriff's office spinning her pen in her hand as she replayed the scene from that morning over and over in her head. Regina didn't know whatthey were. What she wanted. What they were doing.
What were they doing? Emma wasn't sure herself. All these secrets, lying to her new-found parents, lying to their son. At least he knew, now. Not that he was happy about it.
As her mind once again filled with the image of Henry raising a baseball bat, the sound of the door closing at the front of the office alerted her, looking up, she watched as her mother walked in, her expression unusual, the normally cheery Snow White looked like she was heading to a funeral.
"Hey," Emma greeted, as Mary Margaret walked in, knocking at the glass doors.
"Hi, Emma," she said, placing a small paper bag on her desk, "I brought you a bear claw."
"Thanks," Emma didn't ask, she didn't need to, she watched Mary Margaret's face go through the five stages of grief before she opened her mouth and spoke.
"Henry told me…about what happened last night."
"Ah," Emma said.
Silence hung between them for a long moment, Mary Maragaret clearly waiting for Emma to tell her none of it was true, a figment of the boy's imagination. When she didn't, her hands grabbed the front of Emma's desk.
"What are you doing?" He mother asked, "Emma, she's the evil queen!"
Emma sighed, she had known this moment would come, had known it was inevitable, but she wasn't ready.
"I…"
"Emma, you have to stop this, now."
Clenching her jaw, she sat forward in her chair, "You don't get to tell me that."
"She tried to kill me, multiple times! She tried to kill you! And you're…sleeping with her?"
"She's redeeming herself, she's trying, Mary Margaret," Emma closed her eyes, why was she even fighting for the woman who'd all but told her they were nothing? Just bed buddies, friends with benefits, without the friend part.
The feeling of Regina's lips on hers, her soft skin under Emma's fingertips, her scent that clung to Emma all day, invaded her mind for just a moment.
"I know she's trying, and I am trying, truly, Emma, I am trying to accept her, to accept her redemption, but," Snow sat back, her hand against her face, "she's doing this to hurt me, isn't she?" the question was rethroical, but Emma stood, her chair falling back as she did.
"Get out," she said.
Snow looked up at her, blue eyes wide, "Emma–"
"I said, get.out."
Emma picked Henry up from school that day. It was her day, per the schedule Regina had so helpfully drawn up.
The boy didn't speak as he got into Emma's yellow bug, his fingers firmly gripped on an open book, he ignored any and all of Emma's attempts at making conversation.
Emma parked by the docks.
"You're supposed to take me to Archie," He said, without looking up.
"The cricket can wait," Emma said.
Henry put the book down onto his lap, "The cricket?" he asked, "Are you going to start talking like her now, too?"
Emma blinked, yes Regina tended to dehumanize Henry's therapist, and now she'd done it too. She looked away, "Sorry."
For a moment, she waited for him to pick his book back up, when he didn't she launched into her speech.
"Listen, kid, I know these past few months have been hard on you, and I know what happened last night wasn't easy for you to understand," she took a breath, he refused to look at her, and she trudged on, "I know you think I'm betraying you for your mom, but that isn't how this works, at all," she made a large gesture with her hands, "I'm on your side, and your mom's on your side, and I'm on your mom's side, we're all on the same side!"
"But she's the Evil Queen," he pointed out.
"And you love her, don't you?"
Henry swallowed, before nodding, his head hung, "Yeah."
"So, why can't I?" Emma realized what she'd said as she said it, but refused to back down as Henry's gaze met hers. He was just a kid, and didn't quite grasp the significance of what she'd just said.
"I guess…" he murmured, "I guess you can," his fingers threaded together, "I just don't want you guys to fight and hurt each other again."
"Oh, Henry," Emma took his jaw in her hand, pulling him to face her, "I can't promise you we'll never fight, your mom's not the easiest woman," he chuckled at that and she smiled, "but I can promise you I'm going to do my very best to make you both happy, ok?"
"Okay," he whispered.
–
That evening, Emma walked up to the mansion in broad daylight, she gripped a small bouquet. Was it too much? Her heart thudded more loudly than usual in her chest, the scent of the flowers, pretty purple and white ones, tickled her nose. Regina was going to laugh at her.
The door opened after one knock. Regina wore a carefully tailored blue and white pantsuit. Her lips fell open when she took Emma in,
"Uh," she said, "Hi?"
"Is that a question, madame mayor?" Emma asked, grinning.
"No, I…" Regina stepped aside to let her in, "I wasn't expecting you," she glanced up at the clock, "At this hour."
"Regina," Emma put the flowers down, "I'm done sneaking around like a teenager, I'm done pretending what we have is nothing, I'm done."
Pointing vaguely at the flowers, Emma sat down. Regina grabbed a vase and filled it with water, with careful fingers, she arranged the bouquet, her lips pressed together.
"Anyway, my parents know."
"Show I be expecting an angry mob?" Regina asked, her eyes still glued to the flowers.
Emma sighed, "I don't think so, but you never know."
Glancing at her, Regina laughed, "I'll be sure to keep an eye out, then," she said, then her expression changed, confusion and worry coloring her features, she pointed at the flowers, "What are these, Emma?"
"Flowers? I didn't quite catch the name, violets, maybe?"
"No, they're petunias" Regina corrected offhandedly, "But that's not what I meant."
"No," Emma agreed, knowing what she meant, "It's…what people do, when they're dating."
"Oh," Regina said, "And we're…?"
"Yes," Emma rose and walked to her, encircling her waist with her hands, "We are, and I'd like to keep seeing you, if that's okay."
Regina pulled her lower lip between her teeth and nodded.
"Good," Emma said, "But no more sneaking around, my parents know, Henry knows, and, yeah, they're not happy about it, but it doesn't matter, they'll come around."
"Will they?" Regina asked, her hands had gone to Emma's shoulders, pulling herself up a little so their eyes were level. Emma shrugged.
"They'd better."
It wasn't going to be easy. It was going to be a long journey. Emma was only too aware they had much to talk about, to figure out. Histories too entrenched to iron out in a day, feuds that went back decades. But Emma must have inherited her parent's hopefulness, because, as she bent down to press her lips to Regina's, her heart was filled with what she could only describe as hope.
--
Hello everyone!! this is the last chapter of this fic and also the last chapter I will ever publish on . I'm quite sad about it because I've been kn this website since 2013, but after last month's shutdown and censorship, I believe it's time for me to go. If you'd like to read some other stories I've written you can find me on Ao3 under the same username: SnowIvy. You can also find me on tumblr as SnowIvy. Thank you for reading, and please let me know if you liked it