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“Bad idea,” Emma said, as she flicked through the channels. “Have you seen how competitive your mom gets?” Their new dalmatian, Scrooge McDog, was laying on the couch between them. He turned his head to rest on her thigh, and she pet him without thinking. Henry shifted to face her, raising his eyebrows. “Have you seen how competitive you get?” “Hey! I’m not—” “Twenty minutes ago during monopoly you were bragging about how rich you were, and how you were definitely going to beat me.” Emma shrugged, fighting a smile, and left the TV on some superhero movie that she figured Henry would be interested in. “I landed on free parking twice; I won the money and bragging rights. I’m pretty sure it’s in the rules.” Henry ignored her in lieu of being the more mature one, and plowed on, watching her with a steady gaze. “A game night could be fun. I’ve worked out all of the details. Plus I already asked Mom and she said it was a good idea. According to you, you can't say no now because you’re both equally my parents and having stable rules in both households is very important to me growing up to be a good person.” He grinned, more than happy to throw the If You’re Grounded There, You’re Grounded Here speech back at her. Still, beneath his shit-eating grin, there was a flicker of worry, a vulnerability she’d never seen. Her gut twisted with a sudden pang of guilt. Emma pursed her lips. “When is this happening?” she asked, admitting defeat, and standing to head to the small kitchen. Her parents had been worried about the size of the apartment, but it was nicer than a lot of the places she'd stayed in before her bail-bondsman gig, and it was the perfect size for her and Henry. Regina had done most of the work in finding it, anyway, scouring the town for them, which meant it fit Regina’s ridiculously high standards. She grabbed them each a can of soda. “Saturday after dinner when you drop me off,” Henry called back. “And then the week after that it’ll be here, when Mom drops me off.” Emma made a face and sat back down on the couch, noticing that Scrooge had adjusted himself to rest his head on Henry’s lap, the traitor. She handed him his drink. “This is a weekly thing?” Rolling his eyes, Henry popped open the can. “Relax, Ma. It’ll be fun.” *** Henry rushed ahead with his bags as Emma locked up the car and herded Scrooge out of the backseat. Henry had already made it inside by the time she got to the front steps. In the doorway stood an impeccably dressed, unamused Regina. “You’re late.” “Sorry,” Emma said, holding up a bottle of Regina’s favorite wine as a peace offering. “There was some emergency in the mine, and the Sheriff’s office is still understaffed.” She shrugged, taking off her boots. Regina accepted the bottle of wine, scrutinized the label, and gave a short nod. “Shut the door behind you, and put up the gate so the dog doesn’t go upstairs.” Once the gate - which was more complicated than it had any right to be - was in place, she went to the kitchen, unsurprised by the freshly baked cookies waiting. A thud sounded above them, making both look up. “He’s going to ruin his books if he keeps throwing his bag around like that,” Regina muttered. Mouth half full of cookie, Emma hummed in agreement. “So, game night. I’m sure this will be fun, and all, but next time give me a heads up?” she asked. Regina opened her mouth to respond, and then sighed. “It appears Henry told you the same thing he told me.” “Really? I can’t believe we fell for that.” Emma wiped the crumbs from the corners of her mouth while Regina watched disapprovingly. “At least he’s a good liar.” “That’s a good thing?” Emma shrugged, glanced down the hall toward the stairs and then back to Regina, her voice lowering. “You think he’s up to something.” “Knowing him,” Regina started, and Emma would swear there was a hint of pride in her voice, “I wouldn’t doubt it for a second, Miss Swan.” Scrooge was sniffing around her ankles, so Emma knelt down to pet him. “I am sorry that I’m stealing a night you usually have on your own with him. Forgetting whatever scheme he’s trying to pull, you also didn’t have to say yes.” “I am well aware,” Regina said, her smile small but gentle, the way it usually was when they weren’t arguing about their son. “He’s been upset about not being able to spend more time with you, and this way I don’t have to miss out on time with him as well. Though if I knew you were bringing the dog, I might not have said yes.” “Henry adores him," she said offhandedly, but had really brought him over for Regina. She had seen the Mayor when the dalmatians started popping up over town from the latest magical fluke (and it was one thousand and one - something added to the endless list of things Disney got wrong); Regina had been so good with them after her initial frustrations, working with the shelter to locate and heal those that needed it, and then created programs to help all of them get adopted, taking care to match each individual dog with the right family. “Besides, I know you’re an animal person. I think you like Scrooge McDog more than you let on.” “Dogs are fine. Your dog, however, has a terrible name, and is just as annoying as you are, dear,” Regina replied easily, turning to grab glasses from the cabinet. Emma grinned, because they both knew how much of a lie that was. Scrooge, one of the smaller ones, had sat on Regina’s lap in her office until the rest of the dogs had been adopted. She knew Regina would deny it until her dying day, but Emma had walked in on her smiling and speaking soothingly to him before realizing she’d been caught. I can’t find a good home for this one, and then eyes lighting up at an idea, Why don’t you adopt him? “I think you like me more than you let on, too,” she teased. The “Perhaps,” that followed was soft enough that Emma almost missed it, but then Regina was handing her a glass of wine, with an inscrutable smirk. It was fortunate that Henry chose that moment to return, considering Emma’s momentary loss of speech, and then everything was simple again. She turned to him and raised her eyebrow, trying to funnel Regina’s unimpressed-parenting-look. From his sheepish glances between the two of them, it was clear Regina was doing the same. “Okay, before you say anything, keep in mind that I am willingly spending this time with you guys when I could be hanging out with Nick or Paige.” “Which is very sweet of you,” Regina said, crossing her arms, “but it doesn’t excuse lying to your parents. Next time, you will tell us both the truth. Understood?” He nodded, shuffling his feet, and Regina handed him a cookie, stern facade already giving way to something thankful. It hit Emma pretty suddenly that Regina still wasn’t used to Henry wanting to be around her. “So, kid, wanna choose a game for us?” she asked. Henry nodded, scarfed down the cookie and started into the other room, Scrooge excitedly running after. He looked more relaxed than he had been all week with Emma, something that didn’t pass her notice. “How is the apartment?” Regina asked, leaning on the kitchen island across from where Emma had just sat down. “Has Henry settled in well?” “He has, yeah. It’s good for him I think, to have his own space at my place. Sharing a room at the loft was definitely not fun for him. Or me, for that matter. He kicks in his sleep.” Or, him having to go back and forth wasn’t good for him at all. Emma put her glass down on the table and rubbed her hands on her thighs to warm them up. “Thank you for all of your help finding it.” Regina pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, always with the air of nonchalance when complimented. “It made the most sense to get you an apartment equidistant between my house and the school, not to mention its proximity to the sheriff station. It was the best option for Henry.” “It was.” Regina leaned closer. “And the nightmares?” “Still pretty regular. Nothing’s changed since last week.” Emma grimaced. It was still too often that their son was waking up, shouting some undecipherable things about Pan or the Lost Boys. “I think—” Henry came back into the room with a box, and the two immediately sat up from where they had been suspiciously close. “I decided on Scrabble,” he said, all bright eyes and easy smiles, a stark contrast to the night before. “We’ll meet you there,” Regina said, and he was off to the dining room. “We can talk more about this later, yes?” she murmured, stepping around the island and resting a hand on Emma’s shoulder momentarily. Emma nodded. “Later, yeah.” Regina balanced a fruit tray on one hand, her glass still in the other, and Emma did not watch her leaning over to set them down on the table, through the doorway. Instead she grabbed her wine glass, had a sip that was big enough to feel wasteful on a wine that cost more than ten bucks, and shoved down all of the many thoughts on Regina’s ass. She did not have a right to watch Henry’s other mother like that, or have any thoughts on her ass in the first place. She had another sip and made her way to the dining room. “Did you guys play this often?” she asked, watching Henry and Regina set up the board with clearly divided tasks. She sat down on one side, accepting her plastic letter-holder-thingy. “It’s one of our favorites,” Regina said, smiling conspiratorially at Henry, who mirrored her expression perfectly. “Well, I may be a bit rusty.” “Sounds like you’re already making excuses, Ma,” Henry said, sitting at the head of the table and digging into the letter bag, while crunching on an apple slice. Regina, her mouth twitching at the corners, plucked a strawberry from the plate and sat across from Emma. “Henry, be nice. Emma’s poor spelling abilities will undoubtedly make this much harder for her.” “Oh, so that’s how this is gonna go?” Emma sat up straighter, knowing a challenge when she was issued one, and pushed her wine off to the side. “Both of you ganging up on me?” Henry grinned, arranging his letters, Regina watching her with a faux-serious expression. “Fine. I’ll just have to win, then.” *** Well, easier said than done. “I still don’t believe that ‘yett’ is a word,” she muttered, as Henry finished tallying the scores. “It’s a part of a castle, Ma,” he said, like that was common knowledge. “I didn’t grow up living with a queen,” she pointed out, already sounding defeated while he scribbled the pen against the paper and counted in his head. “Okay, so Mom wins with two-hundred and sixty-four points, I got second place with two-hundred and five, and Ma, you got third place with one-eighty.” “Well done, Henry,” Regina said, smiling, resting her hand on his shoulder. “That was nearly twenty points higher than the last time we played.” He beamed at her as Regina turned her head. “And Emma: that was certainly a valiant attempt.” Emma huffed. “I stand by my theory that you used magic to add words to this dictionary.” “Ma’s a sore loser,” Henry explained, and Regina patted his arm. “I had a feeling. Why don’t you start getting ready for bed and we’ll clean up?” Henry picked up one last apple slice. “Yeah, I have a few chapters I should read for class anyway. G’night Ma,” he said, giving Emma a side hug while she stayed sitting. “Thanks for coming. Your spelling isn’t really that bad.” “Such a compliment,” Emma teased, but smile back at him. “And yeah, it was fun.” She gave him a quick squeeze and then stood, reaching out to ruffle his hair as he walked away. “Don’t forget to floss, dear, you have a dentist appointment this week,” Regina called after him He scrunched his face. “I know, I know. Night moms! Love you both.” “Goodnight,” they both called after him, and then shared a quick smile. They put the game away, neither saying anything, the only sounds the clacking of the letter tiles, and the snuffling of Scrooge’s snores under the table. Emma sat back in her chair when Regina headed through the kitchen to put it away. She returned holding the rest of the bottle, and filled Emma’s glass. “I spoke to Dr. Hopper last week, when Henry was here. I never had a chance to tell you.” She filled her own glass and sat, looking tired now that the kid wasn’t there to see. “Yeah? What’d he have to say?” “There hadn’t been any progress at the time. Henry still wasn’t opening up to him. He said to check in again next week.” She swirled the dark drink, watching it. “This is really quite good,” she said in amazement, picking up the bottle to read the label again. “I do have some taste, thank you very much.” Emma was just glad for the change of subject. There wasn’t anything they could do for Henry that they hadn’t already tried, and it just felt like banging her head against a brick wall whenever she thought about it. “When it comes to alcohol, yes.” Regina licked her lips. Emma’s stomach flipped. Maybe she’d had too much. Emma checked her phone and sighed, thinking that it even sounded forced to her. “I should really get going. Early shift tomorrow.” And I should leave before I do something you regret. She tried not to find any hope in the minuscule ways Regina’s face fell. “Oh, alright. If you’re sure you can’t stay.” She was already standing, coaxing Scrooge from under the table. “I think this is happening next Saturday at my place, so we can talk then. You bring the wine?” Regina followed her to the door, handed Emma her coat, helped her into it. “Yes, I would like that.” Regina smoothed her hands over the arms of the coat, and they were close enough that Emma’s eyes darted to her lips— Scrooge made a noise, watching a squirrel in the yard. Emma startled and practically ran out the door and down the stairs. “Thanks again,” she said over her shoulder. “See you next week.” She barely kept herself from jogging to her car, mostly because she could feel Regina’s eyes on her the whole time. And if Regina continued to watch from the doorway as she drove away, she didn’t notice. Or care. Or think about her, the entire ride home.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Emma wrapped the leashes around her hand, trying to get a better grip as the puppies attempted to tug her along faster. Scrooge stayed by her side, at least, intimidated by the others that were larger than he was. "Hold on,” she muttered, a few dogs running ahead toward the crosswalk, while Bruno was five feet behind them. She gave his leash a gentle tug as he stopped to sniff a leaf. “Ella will not be happy if I let you get lost,” she told him, feeling his reluctance as he joined the rest.
“Is this what I’m paying my law enforcement officers to do, now?” a voice from behind asked.
“Hello to you too,” Emma said, rolling her eyes as Regina stepped beside her. "It's my day off. I'm starting a side business to make some extra money."
Regina pocketed her gloves and knelt down, petting Scrooge where he sat obediently. “Ah, yes, dog walking is known as being a lucrative career,” she teased, raising an eyebrow.
“One time Max attempted to eat a five dollar bill he found on the ground and I got to keep it, so it really depends on the day.” The wind blew Emma’s hair in her face and she swatted it away, decidedly ignoring how well Regina pulled off the windswept look.
“I see.” Scrooge licked her chin, and Regina laughed, radiant and young for a few seconds, and Emma could imagine her as the beautiful young queen in the stables, the way Snow used to see her. “Does this new enterprise of yours have anything to do with Henry’s upcoming birthday?” Regina asked, looking up and snapping her out of her thoughts.
“He really wants that new PlayStation,” Emma said, shrugging. Regina sighed at that and stood again, gloves back on, back to business. Emma winced and, before Regina could say anything, continued, expecting to be chided. “I know you’re going to lecture me about spoiling him, but he’s
—
”
“He’s been through so much this year,” Regina finished for her. “Yes, I’ve found myself struggling in that area as well.” She patted Scrooge’s head.
Emma blew out a breath. "Yeah," she agreed, though she didn't know if Regina meant she was struggling with Henry's turmoil, or her own after having been tortured and then forced to make peace with the man who had kidnapped her for the sake of finding her lost son. It’d been a rough year all around. The traffic stopped and the pedestrian light turned.
They walked beside each other. "He seems okay though, you know?" Emma continued, thinking of how animated he had been with her, how excited he'd been about game night.
Regina's mouth hardened into a line. "That's what worries me. Archie's implied countless times that Henry is doing worse than he's leading us to believe; he never hid his emotions from me before this. Even when he suspected I was the Evil Queen, he was awfully transparent about it.”
"Maybe we could talk to him this weekend?" Emma offered, because as much as she hated the idea of having to confront the kid, Regina was probably right.
"I don't want him to feel attacked, or that Archie has betrayed his confidence."
Emma nodded, speeding up as a few of the dogs pulled ahead. She held them back, muscles straining, and twisted around to Regina. "Maybe it's best to wait this out," she suggested instead, not knowing what else to do. It wasn’t like she knew much about parenting.
“Perhaps. I’ll leave you to it.” Regina nodded in goodbye as they passed her office, and turned to go back inside.
***
They spoke a few times in passing, but weren’t alone again until Regina came over with Henry. He ran straight to his room to see Scrooge - after barely saying hello to Emma - and Regina came into the kitchen to drop off the whiskey she’d brought.
“I figured it’s more to your taste than wine,” Regina said, holding up the Jack Daniels, leading them to discuss the merits of their favorite drinks while Emma forget about the already-burnt cookies in the oven.
Ten minutes later, and Regina was laughing at her, waving her hand around to funnel the smoke out the window with a simple spell. Emma reached above her to pull the battery out of the smoke alarm, then stepped down from the chair, glaring at her. “We can’t all be Betty Crocker,” she muttered, going to the cabinet to pull out the back up box of Oreos.
“Your effort is admirable, dear.” Regina took the box that Emma thrust at her, before Emma dumped the burned mess from the cookie sheet into the trash. “Have you and Henry decided what game we’re playing tonight?” she asked.
Emma pulled off the oven mitts and scooted around Regina in the tiny kitchen. “He texted me about Uno yesterday.”
“Uno sounds good.” Regina trailed behind her as they got settled on the sofa. “Henry?”
Henry came out of his room when called, Scrooge McDog clumsily running behind him. “Slow down, kid,” Emma said, as Henry plopped on the floor in front of the coffee table. “This place is small, we don’t want you running through any walls.”
He nodded, barely listening as he pet Scrooge, who sat protectively next to him.
“So, Uno?” Regina prodded.
Henry seemed to remember that the whole point of this night was to play games, so he dumped the cards out, and shuffled. “I’ll deal,” he decided, and slid some cards to Emma and Regina.
“How was school this week? You had that math project, right?” Emma asked, sorting the cards in her hand. Henry got on his knees to reach the bag of oreos, and shoved one in his mouth.
“It was science.”
“He got an A,” Regina said, and Emma caught her eye. These times when they were just his parents and nothing more were always so simple.
“Oh, hey, that’s awesome!” Emma said, turning back to Henry. “Way to go.”
Henry shrugged, flipped over the top card and discarded one of his own. “Most people in the class got A’s. It was a pretty easy project.”
“Yeah, but most kids probably didn’t deserve it as much as you,” Emma noted, reaching out her foot to tap his knee.
He smiled at that, and then nodded. “Yeah, Sam’s was total shit.”
Regina hummed as she took her turn. “Language, Henry. But I’m not surprised. He was always an underachiever.” Emma laughed, realizing for the first time what a PTA mom Regina must have been. She must have known all of the kids and all of their parents, and probably had dirt on every single one.
“I bet you’re awful at parent teacher meetings,” Emma teased, knocking her knee into Regina’s.
“She’s made like, all of my teachers cry. Especially when I had Miss Blanchard, but I don’t know if that counts,” Henry said, brow furrowing while he considered it.
“She was especially prone to tears, fortunately.” Regina gave Henry a Look that made Emma’s stomach drop. “Speaking of, Henry, you wanted to ask Emma something.”
The kid didn’t look at Emma as he started to speak, turned to Scrooge instead. “I was wondering if you would like to go to the next parent teacher meeting with Mom? Most kids have both their parents go, even when they’re like, divorced, so I was thinking that might be cool?”
Emma’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, uh, yeah! That would be cool.” She looked to Regina’s carefully constructed face, one of her intentionally-lacking-emotion looks as she stared down at her cards. Emma added, “It’d be nice to get more involved with your school stuff.”
“Cool,” Henry said again, and shrugged. As he looked down Emma noticed the bags under his eyes, that vulnerability that was always on the verge of bursting through. He caught her staring and looked unimpressed. “Ma, it’s your turn.”
“Right.” She looked down at the red, sighed dramatically, and threw out a draw-four wild. “Blue. And it was my only option.”
“You’ll regret that, Miss Swan.”
“Those are some strong words coming from someone with more cards than me.”
“Sorry Mom, I think Emma’s got you beat.” Henry tossed down a blue two, and Emma tossed down a blue skip. He reached over to high five her.
Regina pursed her lips. “Honestly, the two of you. I think Scrooge is my only ally here.” Hearing his name the puppy perked his head up. She patted the space between them and the dog happily jumped up on the sofa. She smirked and scratched his head.
“Tick tock, Regina.”
Regina drew two cards, the second one a blue reverse. “Ha.”
“Helping me get rid of my cards? How evil of you.” Emma snagged an oreo and took a bite, brushing crumbs off her lap.
“Remind me to get you a vacuum cleaner as a housewarming gift.”
“Ma says Scrooge is the vacuum.” Henry - unhelpfully, and way too gleefully - added.
Emma spluttered around her cookie at the look Regina gave her. “I was joking! I’ve been meaning to get one,” she said, mouth full.
“Sure.”
Henry shot her a look identical to Regina.
She swallowed. “Ugh. You’re both terrible.” Emma slapped down a draw-two at Henry. “Take that.”
***
By their third round of Uno, Henry was clearly fading. He won the round and got up to brush his teeth without any prompting. Scrooge followed, happy to take his post lying at the end of Henry’s bed.
When Regina returned from tucking him in, she sat back on the couch while Emma straightened up, picking up crumbs from the carpet. “He looked exhausted,” she commented, feeling Regina stiffen beside her.
“He was up nearly every night this week. He wouldn’t tell me what any of the dreams were about, though.”
Emma dropped a few crumbs, but all of them disappeared with a purple puff of smoke. She smiled in thanks, leaning back on the couch as her smile quickly faded. “He seems so fine when we’re together. And what was the thing with school about? Is he trying to get us
—
” she gestured between the two of them, “to spend time together? Or does he think I don’t care about his schoolwork? Because of course I do, and I’d love to get more involved. I just thought it was kind of your territory.”
Regina twirled her hand, and two tumblers appeared on the table with the bottle she’d brought. Emma poured for them both.
“I certainly don’t mind you getting involved, Emma. It’ll be good for him. Joint parenting, and what-not.”
“I guess.” She sagged back into the couch again with her drink. “We should figure out what we’re doing for his birthday. He doesn’t have that many friends his age, does he?”
Regina sipped her drink. “There’s Nick, and Paige. He also gets along with Ava, Nick’s sister. Or we can invite the whole class. He’s always been friendly with all of them.”
“Except Sam?” Emma joked.
“He’s not a bad child. Though his parents are awfully annoying.”
“Who were they?”
Regina waved a hand dismissively. “Peasants. No one important.”
Emma bit her lip through a smirk. “Did you know that you do this cute nose wrinkle thing when you’re trying to look haughty?”
“I do no such thing.” Regina scoffed, sipping her drink.
“Oh, you definitely do,” Emma said, downing some of hers.
Regina turned toward Emma. “Most people don’t associate ‘evil’ and ‘mass-murderer’ with ‘cute.’”
Emma gave Regina her best innocent grin. “Most people don’t beat the Evil Queen at Uno and live to tell the tale, but here I am.” She wiped her lip from the drink, Regina’s eyes following the motion and lingered at her mouth. Emma gripped the tumbler tighter.
“Here you are, indeed.” Regina’s lips turned down at the corners. “Always the exception.”
“Yeah?” Emma lowered her glass, holding it on her lap.
“Yes. It’s infuriating.” Regina was frowning like she couldn’t quite figure something out, or like she could hear Emma’s heart beating a million miles an hour and wanted to pull it out of her chest to examine it. The fact that Emma wouldn’t entirely mind that was probably something she should work on. It couldn’t be healthy to want something like that, even as her thoughts twisted to Regina holding her heart, ordering her around
—
Regina slowly smirked. “You’re blushing.”
Emma cleared her throat. “It’s warm in here.”
“Mm.” They drank in silence for a few minutes, Regina’s hand finding its way to rest on Emma’s knee, drawing circles with her thumb. Emma felt like she might combust. Or cry. She kept looking out of the corner of her eye at Regina, who seemed to not notice what she was doing, watching the wall with a faraway look in her eye.
Much to Emma’s dismay, Regina cut the moment short to look at her watch, saw her hand on Emma’s knee and yanked it away. She put her glass down abruptly. “I shouldn’t drink too much. I have to drive home.”
“You could always poof yourself home, get the car in the morning? Or stay here. You can take my bed. And I’ll take the couch,” she added, trying not to sound too excited about it.
“What would the neighbors think?”
“That the Mayor is a filthy drunk?” she joked. “You could always use a spell to get your car home.”
“Drinking and magic don’t mix well. I’d go home to find my Mercedes in my living room, dear.” Regina gave her another curious look. “So eager to have me stay?”
Emma’s breath caught. “And if I was?”
Regina made that face again, the I-can’t-figure-you-out-and-maybe-want-to-kill-you one, and Emma watched it morph into a sad smile. She patted Emma’s leg. “I should really get going.”
Emma watched as she stood and grabbed her coat, and felt herself catching Regina’s arm. “Do you have to?” she asked, and maybe she was a little bit drunk, or maybe she just wanted to blame her impulsiveness on the alcohol.
Regina put her hand over Emma’s, tracing her knuckles with a thumb. “If I recall, you work the morning shift on Sundays. I have a considerable amount of paperwork I should catch up on as well. Not to mention the thin walls.”
“Thin walls. Right.”
Regina smiled, leaned in to brush a kiss against Emma’s cheek. “Until next Saturday, Emma.”
After Regina drove away Emma threw herself on the couch and spent too long wondering whether Regina meant
I’ll see you for game night next Saturday
or
You only need to wait until next Saturday for us to do some very not-PG things together.
Like the adult she was, she drank another three glasses of whiskey and fell asleep fully dressed on the couch.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The next week had Emma running around searching for a kid named Jackie Paper, with the unhelpful assistance of a dragon named Puff that was hiding in the woods. It took up most of her time, even with Snow and Charming on the case with her. She’d taken off an hour for lunch at Granny’s when school was cancelled thanks to the fire Puff started, where Regina and Emma sat across from each other making eyes at each other as Henry talked about the first half of his day, pre-fire. As soon as he finished his story, he was back to his sullen self, quietly pushing his food around his plate. “I get it, he was possessed—” Emma started, when he went to the bathroom. “Which is more than any eleven year old boy should have to deal with.” Emma continued on, mostly ignoring Regina. “But he looks like he’s terrified of something. He was silent until you got here, and kept glancing over his shoulder.” Regina drummed her fingers on the table. “I have noticed. It’s possible he’s concerned about us fighting, again.” Emma pursed her lips, but he was already on his way back from the bathroom. In the few moments between putting out the literal fires in the town, she always drifted back to that, the worry that they were still doing something wrong. Maybe it was the apartment, or the fact that she was barely home with him and most of his stuff was still at the mansion. Regina was clearly better at the parenting thing, anyway, so she could have been wrong to want more time with him. It was only made worse when Henry had a nightmare and demanded Emma called Regina so he could talk to her too. An hour later, though, Emma was still awake. She picked up her phone. Regina answered before the second ring. “Is Henry okay?” “He’s fine,” she said, getting up to shut her door, rubbing her hand over her forehead. She’d fought so hard to get here, to have him in her life, and yet. She shut her eyes and sat back on the bed. “I was thinking we should have Henry stay with you for a while.” Regina was quiet for a few seconds. “Did something happen after we hung up?” she asked, and Emma could hear the concern in her voice. She hated that there was a part of her that wanted some of that concern to be for her. “No, nothing happened. But the constant moving can’t be good for him, right? He needs stability. You’re better about that, your schedule is consistent. And you and your place are home for him. My apartment is just the place he stays every other week.” Regina was quiet again, and Emma could hear the gears in her head turning through the phone. “Alright,” she finally said. “We’ll talk to him after the family game night, if you’re sure.” Emma blew out a breath, knowing she had to reply before she changed her mind. “I’m sure.” She ran her fingers through her hair, splayed out on the bed. “Did I wake you?” “Yes.” Her voice wasn’t as irritable as it could’ve been, so that was a plus. “Sorry.” “It’s fine, Emma. Get some sleep.” Emma’s smile was strained at hearing her name. Maybe she’d lose Henry again, but she had this, for now. “‘Night, Regina.” *** “Sorry, sorry, I’m here,” she called, tugging the door shut behind her, and kicking off her boots, heading to the dining room expecting to find them playing. Instead, Henry sat, arms crossed with a scowl firm on his face. He didn’t bother greeting her, didn’t even look her way, clearly not wanting to interrupt his standoff with Regina. “What’d I miss?” she asked, setting the platter of cookies Snow had baked for her on the table between them. Regina pursed her lips. “Henry’s under the impression that I’m forcing you to give up your time with him.” Emma’s heart dropped. She stepped over to Henry and put her hand on his shoulder. “Henry, that’s not what this is about. And how’d you even find out about that?” “I heard you on the phone with her,” he said, glancing between the two of them. “I know you want to get rid of me, and I know she made you want that.” “Hey, kid, that’s not what’s going on, okay?” She crouched down so she was closer to eye level, a move she’d seen Regina do with him. She cupped his cheek for a second, then dropped her hand. “I love having you around. You know that. But I think that it would be good for you to stay here with your own room, and your toys and books, and all that. Plus, your mom’s around more. Don’t you like having home cooked meals instead of take out every night?” Henry narrowed his eyes a little, as if trying to tell if she were lying. “You don’t trust me to stay home alone,” he stated, obviously thinking he’d figured them out, and looked to Regina, his face folding into his deal-making look. “I’ll live here, but only if Emma agrees to stay here.” “What? Henry, that’s—” Henry cut Emma off and glared at her. “Mom’s not here all the time, and it’s not fair if I don’t get time with you, too.” Regina sighed. “I highly doubt Emma would be interested in moving in. She has her own life. But we’ll talk about it, yes?” Emma nodded at Regina’s questions. “We will. But let’s play for now, okay?” Emma stood up, patting his shoulder. “I gotta kick your butt at monopoly before your mom and I talk.” Henry’s face cracked into a small, grudging smile. “Fine, but I’m going first,” he said, reaching to set up the game. Regina and Emma glanced at each other, Regina’s slight nod meaning both Crisis averted and We’ll talk later. *** By the time Emma landed on Boardwalk - an unfortunate fate considering the two red hotels and Regina's evil smile - Henry was yawning more than he was chatting. Regina glanced at her watch. Emma, grateful for any excuse to avoid losing the game, ruffled Henry's hair. "It is way past your bedtime." Keeping himself awake with admirable determination, he turned to raise an unimpressed eyebrow at her and, yeah, that expression was definitely a case for nurture over nature. "You just don't have enough money to pay mom and are a sore loser." Regina chuckled. "As much as I agree with you, Henry, Emma is right. Time for bed." Henry sighed, but stood. Emma pulled him into a hug, Regina kissed his forehead with a hand on his shoulder. His heavy steps on the stairs while Regina collected the dishes left from dessert made Emma smile, thinking about how many times this must have happened. “So, me staying here. What do you think that’s about?” Regina sighed. “I wouldn’t put it past Henry for this to be another operation of his. Something to get you and I closer.” Emma chuckled. “You think he’s parent-trapping us?” "Parent-trapping?" "You know, like the movie. Trying to get us together." Regina leaned her hip against the counter, set the plate down after drying it. “We have been getting along better lately, and he’s a child who has two parents he loves that don’t live under the same roof. I’m sure it’s something that crossed his mind.” “Either way, I wouldn’t want to put you out by moving in.” “You wouldn’t,” Regina said, looking at her so sincerely, like she could see through her. Emma struggled to keep herself from fidgeting. "Well, I guess I should head out," she called, turning to collect the paper bills on the table. “Even if I move in, I’d have to go home and get stuff.” "Actually," Regina started, grabbing something from the cabinet. She seeming to taste each word before she said them, "I have a bottle of wine from your mother—" and Emma bit her lip to not smile at the casual way Regina talked about Snow now, "from the New Year's party. I thought we could open it." "Yeah? That sounds great, actually. Should I," she gestured at the board, Regina watching while she returned with the wine. "We could always finish the game," Regina suggested, eyes glinting as she poured a generous glass and held it out to Emma. "I'll even let you have Henry's properties, since you had so few." Emma rolled her eyes. "I had enough to get by," she muttered, but sipped her wine and sat back down. "I'm not paying you for this turn, either." "Of course. Henry and I used to play with one chance for a re-roll per game. This can be yours." Regina sat as well, holding her own glass elegantly in her hand, making Emma imagine her back in the Enchanted Forest, ruling over the kingdom with the same fierce hand. She was eyeing her current kingdom of hotels and houses, but looked up in time to catch Emma staring, and smirked. "Are you going to go, Miss Swan?” Emma held her gaze as she reached for the dice, tossing them and landing on chance. “Advance to Boardwalk,” she read, and tossed the card down, glaring. “I’m calling bullshit on that one. You did some magical shit. I’m going again.” Regina had the dice in her hand before Emma could grab them. “We agreed only one re-roll per game, did we not?” She huffed, looking through her measly five dollars, and then counting her properties; mortgaging all of them wouldn’t even give her enough. “I can finally see why they call you the Evil Queen.” “Took you this long?” Emma took another sip of her wine. “Guess that’s the game, then.” Regina looked her over, eyes moving intently. “Unless we figure out a different currency.” Emma leaned forward. “Such as?” “I suppose that depends on what you would do to win, Emma.” She sucked in a breath. “Regina,” she said, hesitant, not wanting to push this, read this the wrong way, ruin the delicate dance they’d been through. Regina stood up, walking around the table, setting her wine glass down. Her face was creased with a wry smile. “I’d take a kiss.” Emma’s mouth went dry. She’d wanted this for too long for it to feel real. Maybe she’d had too much wine. Or maybe this was some other trick, some other spell. In the half beat of silence, Regina frowned. “Unless I’ve been misreading—” Before she could finish, Emma’s lips were on hers. She tasted like the wine they’d been drinking, and the wine-red lipstick she’d had on. Her perfume was stronger from this close, making Emma’s head swim as she squeezed Regina’s hip. They pulled apart, the only sound their soft breath. “Was that worth four thousand monopoly dollars?” Emma asked, her voice more raw, more vulnerable than she’d intended. Regina laughed, her fingers sliding up Emma’s neck, into her hair. “Maybe two,” she said, before pulling Emma back to her. Emma willingly went. Her heartbeat was loud in her ears as they gasped into each other, molding closer, hands moving more urgently. The table shifted as Emma pushed against her more insistently. “Stay tonight,” Regina breathed. “Yeah, okay,” Emma murmured against her lips as Regina took her hand, squeezed. “Okay.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You stayed!” Henry said, after running down the stairs and into the kitchen. Emma was a pair of borrowed pajamas, sitting at the breakfast bar with a cup of coffee. “It was part of the deal, wasn’t it?” Emma said, glancing at Regina who was blushing over the stove as she prepared pancakes. “Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d do it.” “That doesn’t mean she’s moving in permanently, or full time,” Regina warned. Henry took a seat next to Emma and Regina brought over a plate. “Slowly,” Regina said, as he had half of a pancake stuffed in his mouth already. Regina pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “You slept well last night,” she pointed out. Henry shrugged, going back to his silence on the topic of everything nightmare related. Emma and Regina shared a look. They were getting better at those. “Henry,” Emma started, turning to look at him, but he shoved another pancake down and hopped off of the stool. “I have homework,” he said, wiping syrup from his mouth and heading back toward the stairs. Both of them watched him go in somewhat stunned silence. “Does he always do homework on Sunday mornings with you?” Emma asked finally. Regina frowned, reaching for her own mug of coffee. “It’s usually a fight to get him to start it after lunch.” She was still staring at the stairs as she hummed to herself. “We should talk about last night.” Emma imagined herself shoving down a pancake and claiming she had work to get to, which, she checked her watch, she was going to be about twenty minutes late for if she went straight to the station in Regina’s pajamas. “I should really get to work,” she said like the coward she was. It didn’t really matter whether she was there or not, considering that everyone in the town had her cell phone number, and they were more likely to call Mary Margaret about a town emergency. “But we can talk later?” “Later. Right,” Regina said, her frown deepening. “We’ll need to figure out the details of you moving in, if we still think that’s a good idea after last night’s developments.” “Right,” Emma echoed, downing the rest of her coffee and standing. Regina flicked her hand and Emma felt fabric rustling against her. She looked down to see one of her own outfits on her, red jacket and all. “You gotta teach me how to do that.” “I can do that.” Regina smiled softly. “Should I pack up some pancakes for you to take?” Emma beamed. “Will I get home cooked breakfasts every morning if I move in here?” “I thought we weren’t discussing that yet?” “I’m only discussing pancakes,” she joked, grabbing her purse from the chair she’d left it on the night before. Scrooge trotted over to her from his place by Regina’s legs. “You’ll get as many pancakes as you want,” Regina replied, her voice pitched lower in a way that made Emma think they weren’t talking about pancakes anymore. Her mouth went dry. “I do really enjoy pancakes.” “You seemed to.” She handed Emma the container, and Emma leaned in for a kiss. It was quick and casual, and made Emma’s heart do some stupid things inside her chest. She stepped back and picked up Scrooge’s leash, attaching it to his collar. “I’ll, uh. See you,” she said, turning to head outside and to her car. *** She and Regina never wound up having that conversation, not in any meaningful way. They decided that she shouldn't move in, but she still found herself sneaking over to Regina's a few other times that week after Henry was asleep, and hiding out in the bedroom while Regina went to comfort him for his nightmare. The only difference was that morning; they'd had a close call when Regina was giving her a goodbye kiss in the doorway. Neither of them had heard Henry get out of bed earlier than usual, and they were still trying to figure out if he'd seen or not. Regina had promised to try and get it out of him over breakfast. She sat at her desk, waiting for the text from Regina that would inevitably say this was all a terrible idea, and had been staring at her phone for the better part of an hour. “Expecting a call?” Archie asked as he came into the station. She jumped, too in her own head to even hear the door. “Oh, no, I was just…” Emma pulled her feet down from the desk and stood up. “What can I do for you, Archie?” Archie smiled apologetically, watching as Pongo and Scrooge started sniffing around each other. “I’m here to drop off some flyers,” he said, holding up the stack before handing a smaller pile over to Emma. “I thought you might have some room on the bulletin board.” Emma nodded and smiled, setting them down on her desk. “I’ll put them up today.” “Thanks, Sheriff. I’ll see you at Henry’s next appointment?” “Next Tuesday?” she asked, pulling up her phone calendar. “At four thirty,” Archie added, giving her a polite nod and turning to head out. “Wait,” Emma said, taking a step after him. “If you had a second, could I, uh. I had a question. About Henry.” She shifted on her feet. “How is he?” He straightened slightly as he put on his therapist hat. “I just saw him on the way to school. He seems to be doing better.” She crossed her arms. “He’s still not sleeping well, though. Regina and I don’t know whether to push him to talk to us, or how we can help. We bring it up and he shuts down.” Archie frowned. “He mentioned that he’d gotten the two of you to... spend more time together. I was hopeful that would make a difference.” Emma could practically hear how quickly the blood went to her face. “What?” “Was I not supposed to know that?” Archie’s knowing smile made her blush even more pronounced. “Your secret’s safe with me, Emma. I won’t tell anyone that the Savior and the Evil Queen are getting along well these days.” “I just didn’t realize that Henry knew,” Emma said, leaning back against the desk. “I mean, it’s so recent.” “He’s a very perceptive boy.” “And he’s been talking about this?” Archie shrugged lightly. “We’d previously discussed the possibility of you, Henry, and Regina all living together.” Emma nodded. “I should—I should really call Regina. Thanks, Archie.” “Anytime.” He left with one last glance at her. Emma barely paid him any mind as she plopped in her chair and picked up her phone. *** Their phone call had provided them with a plan of attack: conversation over dinner, and once they’d gotten some explanation out of him, they’d figure out what was happening between them. She was hoping for the option where she wound up in Regina's bed, but that was neither here nor there. By the time she’d gotten to the manor, she’d run through every worst case scenario in her head. “What’s this?” Regina asked, looking inside the tote bag Emma handed her as Scrooge ran past them and into the house. “The dog’s spending a lot of time here. Brought some toys, food, water bowls. You can pick out the ones you like the most." Emma shrugged off her coat as she stepped inside. "None of the toys have squeakers, don’t worry.” “Thank you, Emma,” Regina said, smiling softly. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.” She lowered her voice a little. “Henry’s upstairs reading.” Emma looked toward the stairs, and then back at Regina, stuffing her hands in her pockets. “Do you really think he was trying to set us up?” “Regardless, if he really saw or heard anything happening between us, we should address it,” Regina said, looking like she’d rather face a firing squad. “You’re right.” Emma clasped her hands together. “Want me to help with dinner?” Regina chuckled. “You can keep me company,” she decided, leading the way, which Emma knew was a nice way of telling her that there was no way in hell Emma would be allowed to touch anything in the kitchen. The thought that she might be able to touch one thing in the kitchen kept her occupied for the next half hour of watching Regina prep the meal. When they were setting out the food Henry ran down, instinctively knowing that it was time to eat. They all sat down together eating in silence until Regina cleared her throat. “Your mother ran into Dr. Hopper today,” she said lightly. Henry paled. Emma set down her fork. Regina plowed on. “Was game night an attempt at getting Emma and I to 'spend more time together?'” she asked, using Archie's euphemism. Emma looked between the two of them, and picked up where Regina left off when it was clear Henry wasn't going to answer. “Archie mentioned that you know your mom and I kissed,” she said, right as Henry said, “The only thing that helps the nightmares is when you’re both there.” All three of them froze. “It wasn’t about getting your mom and me…?” Emma trailed off. Henry's expression was warring between shock, disgust, and delight. “You two kissed ?” “Why didn’t you tell us?” Regina asked, clearly the only one focused on the real issue. “Henry, sweetheart, if we’d known that us both being around helped you sleep, we would have done that weeks ago.” Henry’s shoulders seemed to come up to his ears as he sagged in his seat. “You’re just more powerful together. You’re a team. And I could tell that Pan was worried about you both coming to get me, and so I guess in the dreams, it’s better when I know that you’re both around?” “We’re not upset,” Emma said, dinner forgotten completely as she saw the miserable look on his face. “Your mom and I have been so worried about you. It’s good to know that we can help somehow." She reached over and ruffled his hair. Henry was quiet again, and wiped at his face like he was expecting himself to cry. “So are you going to stay tonight?” he asked. Emma glanced at Regina, who nodded minutely. “Yeah, Henry. Of course I can.” Emma gave Regina a tight smile. He sniffed and picked up his fork, pushing his food around before looking up at them with narrowed eyes. “Can I tell Grandma and Grandpa that you kissed?” “No,” Emma said. Regina rubbed at her forehead. “Absolutely not.” *** “So,” Emma said, leaning against the counter and handing Regina another dish. The last week and a half of living at the manor taught Emma that Regina was the kind of person who washed the dishes by hand ninety-eight percent of the way before loading them in the dishwasher. It was cute in the kind of way that she knew she’d get annoyed by it eventually. And that was an interesting thought, the idea that she’d stay here for long enough to get annoyed by Regina’s quirks. Having them both here with Henry had been helpful for more than just his nightmares, after all. Regina looked up at her with an arched eyebrow, and Emma blushed. “So?” “So,” she started again, “Henry and I were thinking that we should keep up the game night tradition.” “Why do I feel like this doesn’t bode well for me?” Regina asked. Emma grinned. “Have you heard of Twister?” “Is that the one where everyone winds up spraining something?” “Yep.” Regina rolled her eyes. “Must we?” Emma went to the fridge to pull out the pudding that Regina had whipped up earlier. “It was Henry’s idea. I think he’s under the impression that we need his help to get closer.” They’d agreed on taking things slow, that Emma sleeping in Regina’s bed every night wouldn’t help them manage Henry’s expectations for whatever relationship they were about to have. Regina had been quite diligent about keeping Emma awake when they were in bed together, after Henry had fallen asleep. “And what makes you say that?” Regina asked, glancing over. “He offered to spin on the first turn. He also, very inconspicuously, asked me if I’d kissed you again.” Emma chuckled and swiped her finger through some whipped cream on the top of the pudding, leaning over to let Scrooge lick it off. Regina watched, looking utterly unimpressed. “I’m not playing,” she said. “I’ll let you and Henry horse around.” “He gets his stubbornness from you, so you can try and convince him,” Emma said with a shrug. By the time the game was set up, Henry had convinced them to let him spin first, and by the time the game was over, they were laughing in a pile on the floor. By the time the sun came up, they had all gotten a good night’s sleep.