Chapter Twenty-Two
Another bonus of the mayoral mansion that Henry had failed to recognise during his time in the Charming loft was the insane softness of his bed.
Granted, he'd had Emma's room to himself since she'd been getting comfortable here, but was a far cry from what was available to him here.
Stretching across the ample space, he registered first that his mother must have vacated at some point during the night.
Officially well-rested, he slipped out and scratched at his mop of hair, wondering whether he should get it cut soon.
He yawned as he headed down the hallway, planning to make short work of getting ready. He could go to the stables earlier now that he was in the same house as the owner.
He only got halfway before he halted at another door, curiosity overtaking him inexplicably.
He'd witnessed them basically as a couple the previous night but he believed each of them when they said they were not yet together.
That meant that a part of him wanted to look inside the room in a way that he absolutely would not have if they were indisputably in a relationship with each other.
Timidly, he crept up to the master bedroom, easing the door open in a way that would allow him to pull it shut at a moment's notice.
He squinted through the twilight, determining that it was wholly innocent.
They were each wearing PJs, which was an excellent start.
Emma was holding Regina close, who had her arm draped across the saviour's stomach.
With his jealousy largely melted by their discussion the night before, Henry was instead able to focus on the soft smile adorning both of his mother's faces as they dozed.
Regina was tucked safely into Emma's side and Henry somehow doubted that the saviour was completely comfortable in that position on her back.
Clearly it was no longer solely about that as she'd claimed.
He was about to slip out and allow them some extra time to rest until he would insist that they had to get to Hooper but an addition to the collection of pictures on the dressing table caught his attention.
He approached for a better look at the ultrasound framed among images of his childhood with the mayor of Storybrooke.
The squiggles appeared entirely random but they still had a smile tugging at his lips.
He was struck first by how odd it was that Emma wasn't in any of the pictures and then how awesome it was going to be when they were all officially a family.
"Hey kid," came groggily behind him and he turned around to find Emma attempting to sit up with Regina still asleep on her, "What are you doing up so early?"
"It's 6.30," Henry pointed out, though it didn't seem to be the evidence that he was going for.
"It's Saturday," Emma groaned, slowly gaining more awareness of her surroundings, which involved glancing down at the woman who was the weight against her. She made no effort to move away from her though.
"Mom needs to get to the stables, right?" Henry asked.
Emma shook her head, "Later. Samdi is covering this morning."
Henry started to grin again. Regina must have arranged that because of their meal and he couldn't remember her flaunting mayoral responsibilities so willingly.
Before Henry could offer to back out and let them get some more sleep, the brunette in the bed began to stir, stretching against Emma.
"Good morning," she said blearily.
"Good morning, mom," Henry replied, alerting her to his presence. The former Evil Queen was surprised for only a moment before she smiled at her son which bolstered him to ask, "SInce you're not going to work right away, do you think we could all go to breakfast at Granny's?"
Regina, sitting up with her arm held out to support her pregnant bedmate to do the same, said, "That sounds lovely," but she glanced at Emma and amended, "Of course, it depends if Emma…"
"I would love to," Emma cut her off and they looked at each other in a way that would have confirmed that they were True Loves if their kiss hadn't.
"We should get ready then," Henry said to remind them of his presence and urge them to move away from each other.
S
An hour later, the Swan-Mills trio were sitting in a booth at Granny's.
Henry was chewing enthusiastically on his plate of chocolate chip pancakes on one side of it while his mothers watched from the other.
He wanted to mention how odd it was that they were leaving some distance between their bodies when they were cuddled so closely not long ago. He had to assume that it had to do with the whole being in public factor.
Even if she appeared to be quite good at ignoring them, the people of Storybrooke filtering in at this early weekend hour shot the former Evil Queen looks of consternation.
Thankfully, none of them would dare to say a word that would interrupt their second official family meal so Henry was also able to effectively ignore them. Instead, he was focused on suggesting middle names for his little sister.
Regina had already scrunched her nose at 'Snow', 'Mary' and 'Margaret', so he moved onto all of the names he'd lined up after noticing Regina's sudden caginess when he asked about her family for potential names.
He didn't think Tamsin Cora Swan-Mills sounded right anyway.
"How about Natasha?"
Emma frowned as she placed her coffee down and asked, "Why Natasha?"
"I believe that would be the Black Widow?" Regina replied and Henry nodded in agreement.
"I don't think she would want to hear that she is named after an Avenger," Emma postulated.
"Why not? She's cool," Henry said, passionately, "You could have Wanda or maybe Maria?"
"Do you want to tell your sister she's named after the Scarlet Witch?" Regina challenged after Emma looked at her questioningly.
"If she has any taste, she'll think it's cool," Henry shrugged.
Regina chuckled, about to make a counterpoint but this was interrupted by the bell over the door announcing a new arrival.
Snow halted halfway to the counter, her gaze landing onto the booth. Regina caught her eye line and cleared her throat, deciding not to allow the sourness from the princess to ruin her mood.
Afraid that Snow was liable to approach their little family and penetrate the sphere of happiness they'd constructed, Regina slipped out of the seat, opting to use the opportunity to utilise the restroom.
Henry and Emma each nodded as she excused herself and Regina headed there with her gaze staunchly forward.
She figured a few minutes would be long enough for snow to exchange pleasantries with her daughter and grandson and to get whatever it was that she had come into the diner for.
She approached the sink to inspect herself in the mirror, grateful to find that the restroom was empty.
In the rush of the morning, energised by Henry's exuberance to get to the diner, she wasn't afforded much time to worry about her appearance.
Dragging her finger through her hair, she decided that she couldn't look any worse than Emma was used to seeing her after all of their platonic nights together.
As she weighed up whether it would be too conspicuous to put on lipstick at this point, the door swung open and effectively put an end to this consideration.
Regina clenched her jaw, struck by gnawing irritation as she guessed who it was that would come in with such force without rushing into one of the stalls.
Slowly, she turned while sighing, which only deepened as her gaze landed onto the princess standing opposite her, seemingly with no intention of moving.
"Snow," she said, tightly, "I am having an exceptionally good morning, I am in no mood…"
"Henry thinks I should forgive you," Snow cut her off.
Regina cocked her head, struck by the fact that the boy must have suggested this before their meal the previous night.
She could appreciate her son's sweetness and be irritated by Snow White at the same time though.
"And I supposed that means that you think I cast a spell on him?" Regina challenged.
"Are you this rude to Emma?" Snow huffed.
"No, I like Emma."
Snow grimaced, taking a second to compose herself.
Clearly this was the last thing she'd planned to do today, but she was undeterred as ever now that it was in her head.
"Henry has pointed out..correctly I think, that we are a family no matter how badly I wish it wasn't the case. You are my daughters…"
"True Love?" Regina supplied, crossing her arms in the process.
Snow swallowed and acknowledged roughly, "Yes…that," before she continued as evenly as she could, "I thought it had to be a trick but seeing the two of you together…she is more comfortable with you than she has ever been with David or I."
Regina raised an eyebrow disbelievingly, "And you are hoping that the suggestion of forgiveness will be enough that I will help you connect with Emma?"
"I can't forgive you," Snow replied, pursing her lips, "You planned to ruin my life and you did but…twenty-eight years is a long time, I can see that you may not be the same person even if every instinct tells me you are up to something."
"Did you follow me in here so that I could witness you arguing with yourself?" Regina asked.
Close to stamping her foot, Snow said, "The point is, I am not sure that I can forgive you but that will not change how Emma feels and I do not want my grandchildren to have to deal with our inability to get along so…I wanted to ask if you would be willing to be civil?"
"I have," Regina insisted, "Do you have any idea how much restraint it has taken not to…"
"I can imagine," Snow said, holding up her hands, unwilling to hear whatever plans the former Evil Queen may have dreamt up in her free time, "Is that agreement?"
"Yes, I can continue to be civil, Snow," Regina replied, moving away from the sink, "Now if you will excuse me…"
Before she made it to the exit, words exploded out of Snow, "Do you have any suggestions?"
Regina's eye roll was stemmed by their tentative agreement for civility.
Unfortunately she was coming to the same conclusion as Henry, they were officially part of the same family and the last thing she wanted was for her True Love to miss out on the parents she had always wanted.
She couldn't stand in the way of that no matter how much she felt her hatred flare almost as strongly as ever. It was dampened ever so slightly by the fact that this woman was responsible for Emma's existence.
It was a confusing mix of emotion that she suspected they would both have to work through for the foreseeable future. That didn't mean that they had to actively antagonise each other anymore.
In that spirit, she kept the bite out of her voice as she replied, "For what?"
Regina was unexpectedly hit with a rush of sympathy for the other woman's predicament. Hadn't she experienced the same thing with her own child not too long ago?
"Stop trying so hard," Regina replied, "And do not share your opinion unless she asks you for it."
Snow nodded with growing eagerness and at last allowed Regina to finish her exit out of the restroom. She followed the former Evil Queen about to peel off toward the counter but the pair stopped at the same time in the middle of the diner.
They were both distracted by another ring of the bell, beckoning the arrival of a certain cane-wielding man, coming in with a smile that was unsettling from him.
Regina narrowed her eyes at the Dark One approaching a particular booth, so suspicious of his intentions that she failed to notice the more timid man entering behind him.
His head swivelled from side to side as if appraising the identity of everyone just enjoying their breakfast.
Regina didn't register his presence until Emma's eyes widened and she stood from the booth with her mouth gaped open.
Regina frowned as the unfamiliar man stepped around Gold, similarly dumbstruck as Emma.
"What are you…how are you here?" Emma stuttered, and Regina couldn't decide if she was more shocked now or when she was coming to terms with the curse being real.
She wanted to return to her side but was never more aware that Emma Swan was not her girlfriend.
The man bit, unaware that everyone was watching them, "I'm asking the questions here. Is what dad said true?"
He threw his finger in Gold's direction, doing nothing for Emma's ability to understand the sudden shift in her perfect morning.
"Your dad is…Rumplestiltskin," Emma said, uncomprehendingly, "But Neal…that's…"
Neal violently thrust his hand out in Henry's direction, who flinched despite being too far for the man to touch him.
Regina was about to rush over to shield her son from the man who was apparently Dark One Jr but every muscle in her body seized as he said, demandingly, "That's not important right now, Emma! Is this really my son!"