A/N: Based off NBC's "About a Boy". Some lines are borrowed from the pilot episode and a couple of lines come from the pilot of OUaT. I'm using this for Swan Queen Week as the No Curse prompt since it fits, but I've thought about starting this for abut a month or so now. Also, some details about Emma's life are closer to the backstory of Will in "About a Boy", but I figured it would work a little better considering how often Henry will be hanging around Emma's place. You'll kind of get it once you start reading it.

Walking down the street, Emma saw a lot of families pass by. There were small kids running around at the park and playing on the jungle gym under watchful eyes, there were babies settled in their strollers while their parents pushed them around the neighborhood, and there were older kids free of their parents as they play games like hacky sack and kick ball. It was all fine and well. She didn't mind sharing her city with parents and kids alike, but she wasn't big on family. She never really had one. A foster kid herself, she worked harder than most people to even survive. It wasn't until she was twenty-three that she got to where she was currently in life. She got to sit on her ass all day and do what she pleased in a nice house in a nice residential area in a nice town.

She wrote a couple of songs for an up-and-coming band her boyfriend was in that had broken up a few years ago, just like she and he broke up even before the band, but one song in particular made it big and made the band famous. At least locally famous. And for the last six years, she received large royalty checks once a month that smelled like freedom.

The band didn't really go anywhere the first year when they had done a lame ass tour around small town dive bars and then right before the band made it big, she got pregnant. Knocked up by the base guitarist Neal Cassidy whom she'd been dating for the last two years, since she'd run away from the group home after she determined there was no way she'd get adopted at fifteen. That was her. Seventeen and pregnant.

Then the band had started to book actual gigs that made them enough money to eat something other than Ramen noodles and spaghetti all week. When they'd started to make a name for themselves, Emma received less attention from the father of her child and the closer she got to her due date, the more she worried she'd be a single mom left to raise Neal's kid while he lived his dream. And just like that, with only a month to go before Emma's due date, the band signed a record deal with her songs as if to prove she had been right to worry.

Neal had formed The Lost Boys, a name Emma had helped him come up with and the others liked it, so he was seen as the leader even though he wasn't lead singer or guitarist. Thankfully, as the band leader, he was a decent enough guy to cut Emma in on the songs she wrote and that was where his decency stopped.

The record label had promised the group everything they ever could've imagined and being a teen dad was going to keep Neal from getting the true experience of most of what they were offered. He'd moved out, let her keep the apartment she couldn't pay for without his help, and ran off with his bandmates to enjoy his fifteen minutes in the spotlight just two weeks before Emma went into premature labor.

The Lost Boys had signed a record deal, but Emma Swan hadn't. She had a job making shitty tips as a waitress and no real or stable way to support herself let alone her baby. Alone in the hospital room at 8:15, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

She never even held him before she let him go.

She made sure he wasn't just thrown into the system like she had been and had social services update her that he'd officially been adopted before she officially made the adoption closed once and for all. The last she heard about him was that she'd legally signed him over to a single mother who loved him from the moment she saw him and could provide for him in every way Emma couldn't.

It was then she got into the bail bonds business and when she started to make enough money from bringing in anyone that missed their court date, she quit her normal day job as waitress and worked more cases for a bigger payout. She didn't desperately need the extra money. What she made at that point was enough to keep up with her then current rent, but she didn't want to live in the apartment she'd shared with her ex-boyfriend or sleep in the bed where she'd convinced the son she gave up.

Six months later, the first royalty check arrived and she cried. It was twice as much as she'd made on most of her regular cases and if she'd known Neal had at least made sure she got what was owed to her for those songs, maybe she wouldn't have given up that little boy.

So it was easy to understand why Emma didn't mind families or children, but also didn't want to be around them. Just then, a woman with her little girl on her hip walked by and Emma noticed how fit the woman looked. She had light brown hair, semi-sculpted arms, and yoga pants that hugged her beautifully toned thighs. Emma turned to face the woman as she walked away and almost moaned at her round ass it swayed from side to side with each step she took farther away from Emma.

Then she noticed a pair of eyes on her and saw that the girl the woman carried on her hip was looking right at her. The girl had light brown hair like her mom and she wore it in a ponytail that bobbed up and down in time with the insanely fine woman's steps who held her.

Emma sighed and spun on her heel. She continued to walk in the exact opposite direction of the woman, because while a woman with a kid didn't completely bother her, she wasn't about to pick up a single mom in front of that kid. Plus, she usually tried to avoid single moms or moms at all. She didn't want someone with that kind of baggage and she didn't want to get involved with anyone that could potentially want a more long term commitment from her. She had a one and done thing going on. Nothing but one night stands and casual sex as far as a love life for her. It was just easier that way.

As for men, they no longer held her interest. Neal was her first serious boyfriend and her last. Ten years later and she still wasn't sure how the guy managed to get her pregnant. She liked him, really liked him because he understood what it was like to feel unwanted and easily discarded, but she remembered what it felt like with him and what it felt like her first best friend Lily. Completely different. And she'd wanted to sleep with Lily almost two hours after they'd met. It took Emma four months before she finally slept with Neal. So maybe she and Neal connected on a certain level, but the fairer sex had always had a particular hold on her. She was more than okay with that.

Another woman approached. Black hair, brown eyes, a small and rounded gut that extended a little over the waistband of her jeans, and there was no kid with her.

Score.

Shirts were off, her jeans were unbuttoned, the other woman's jeans were unbuttoned and unzipped, and Emma was on her back on her bed while she watched the other woman take hasty control of the situation. She wasn't much for submission, but sometimes Emma liked to watch a woman move above her.

All was going well and she was happily about to get laid when a phone went off. It wasn't hers so it must have been the other woman's, which proved to be true when the other woman pushed off Emma with a breathy apology and grabbed her phone from her purse near the bedroom door.

"Ah, crap. I have to go," the woman said and started to redress. "There's this last minute dinner thing that I have to help with for tonight and nothing's ready so—"

"What? No. Do you really have to go right now," Emma asked.

"Unfortunately," the woman answered and then headed for the door. "Call me."

"Yeah, okay," Emma sighed with defeat and then remembered. "Hey, wait!"

Still only in her unbuttoned jeans and no shirt, she fled the bedroom, grabbed her plaid button down and chased after the woman. She threw the shirt on while she ran from the bedroom to the living room, but left it unbuttoned as she opened the front door.

"Wait, wait, wait," Emma called out as she headed down the pathway to the curb. "How am I supposed to call you if I don't have your number?"

The other woman didn't seem to hear her as she walked around the front of her car at the curb then got in.

"Your number," Emma asked from the passenger window after the woman closed her car door on the other side.

"What," the woman asked and rolled the window down to hear her.

"Your number. I need it if you want me to call?"

"Oh, right. Uh," the woman started to look around her car then picked up a pen she kept in her glove box. "Give me your hand."

Emma stuck her arm through the open window and the woman scrawled out her number.

"See you later," the woman said as she set aside the pen then started her car.

She didn't waste any time before she drove off and Emma chuckled as she looked between the car as it drove further away and the ink on the palm of her hand. She turned back toward the house and stopped for a second when she realized she had company. She wasn't sure how long they'd been there or what they'd seen, but there was a brunette haired woman with small brown haired boy next to her.

The woman was in a gray dress and the boy only measured to her stomach. Her brown eyes were narrowed in a judgmental and upset glare while the boy looked at her with curiosity in his gaze.

Emma chuckled again and waved at them.

The brunette's eyes traveled from Emma's face to her hand and raised a brow at what she saw. Emma looked at her hand and realized it was the same one the woman had written her number on.

"Uh, yeah," Emma mumbled more to herself than the other two as a lame conversation starter.

Emma looked at the older model Mercedes in the driveway that the woman and the boy, whom Emma assumed was the woman's son, stood in front of and noticed all the boxes and bags and a couple of pillows inside it.

"You two just moving in?"

The boy only continued to stare at her and the woman pulled him closer to her in a very protective move, her eyes focused on Emma with no indication that she really wanted to know the blonde or even have a conversation with her.

"Alright then," Emma broke the silence. "I guess I'll see you around."

Emma walked, half-dressed and barefoot, back to her two story house that was only a short distance from the nearly identical house next door. She thought about the woman out front as she closed the front door on her way inside. The dress didn't seem to do her much justice, but it gave Emma a good look at the brunette's legs. Her legs didn't go on for days. She wasn't all that tall, but they looked smooth and fit but not too toned. She'd also noted how the woman's son's skin was more on the fair side while the woman had more of an olive tone. She was exactly Emma's type, except for one thing. She had a kid.

Around dinner, Emma made herself comfortable in her small but very nice and very green backyard. She had a beer in her hand as she reclined in a lounge chair and played music through her phone, which was placed in a dock that allowed her to hear the songs through external speakers that sounded much better than the one speaker that was on her phone. Rock music filled the yard and her eyes slipped closed as she started to relax.

"Excuse me," a woman called out over the wooden fence that separated the two properties.

Emma sighed. So no sex and no chance of relaxing any time soon it seemed. She stood up and peered over from her seat at her neighbor. Her new, hot neighbor with the kid.

"Yeah?"

"I'm in the middle of a yoga session so could you turn down that awful music?"

"Uh, you can do yoga inside, can't you?"

"It's a beautiful day out," she argued. "It's a breath of fresh air after being in the car for days. Why can't you listen to your music inside?"

"Because it's a nice day out," Emma smartly repeated the woman's reason. "I'm sorry. I don't think I caught your name earlier."

"Yes, you might have been a little too preoccupied to care," the woman sniffed.

"Not as preoccupied as I would have liked," Emma said and got up from her chair before she started to walk toward the fence.

The woman huffed then reluctantly said, "Regina."

"Well, hi, Regina. I'm Emma. Welcome to the neighborhood."

"Hey, Mom!"

The back door opened and the kid rushed onto the porch. His eyes went from Regina to Emma.

"Oh. Hey," he greeted Emma and looked between the two women again.

"Hey," she responded.

"Do you need something, Henry," Regina turned to the kid and asked.

"You know," he started to say and looked back at Emma. "My mom does yoga at least once a day. Maybe you should join her sometime."

"Henry," Regina partly scolded, a little strict but also almost embarrassed.

"Uh, yoga's not my thing, Kid."

"Oh, well, I just thought you might have been working out earlier. You know, when we first got here? Your shirt was open and you were out of breath."

Emma smirked and Regina glared daggers at her.

"Henry, unless you need something from me I think you should go back inside," Regina instructed.

"Okay, but Grandpa's on the phone. He wants to talk to you."

Regina looked at Henry then sighed as she turned back to Emma.

"My son is at a very impressionable age so if you could keep your depraved sexual exploits away from him, that would be greatly appreciated," Regina said then headed toward the house.

Henry was still on the porch near the back door and Emma wanted to laugh at Regina's previous words. Instead, she came up with a witty retort.

"Have you had any exploits?"

Regina looked over her shoulder as she reached Henry and glared at Emma again while Emma saw the boy shake his head with slightly widened eyes. Such a cute and innocent expression and so very, very truthful coming from a kid.

Emma chuckled to herself as Regina ushered Henry inside and said, "Didn't think so."

A week passed without any incidents between Emma and Regina and Emma had finally had sex with someone other than herself for the first time in nine days. Life was good again and Emma could properly relax. Until there were a few rapid knocks on her back door that particular day.

Emma opened the door to a familiar face she didn't expect to see. Apparently the kid didn't like to stay put and avoid places he really shouldn't have been.

"My mom's not home and I forgot my key," Henry said and then walked straight past Emma and into her house without permission.

"Whoa, hey, Kid," Emma shut the door behind him and protested his intrusion.

"My name is Henry," he corrected. "Got any juice?"

Henry dropped his backpack on the floor near the couch in the living room and went to the refrigerator.

She didn't understand how he could feel so comfortable in a stranger's house, how he could feel comfortable in her house and around her of all people. She didn't do kids. Had her behavior and their lack of previous interaction not made that clear enough?

"Don't you think you should call your mom? Let her know you're here? I'm sure she'd drop everything to come home and let you in. Or at least she'd feel better to know that you're here and you're safe."

"She should leave a key with you. You are our neighbor and it makes sense that if this happens again…"

Emma sighed while Henry helped himself to some orange juice.

"Listen, I am not the neighbor you leave a spare key with, okay," Emma rhetorically asked him. "I'm not gonna, like, kick you out right now, but you can't just come over like this."

Henry licked the juice off his lips and set the glass down, but he didn't move or otherwise respond to Emma.

"My mom doesn't really like you," he blurted out after moment, not quite a response to what Emma said but not silence either.

"Well, I'm not completely sold on her rigid personality either."

"Maybe if you talk to her—"

"What? No. No, no, no. She'll come get you, take you back to your house and then that's it. I'm not getting involved. Now give me your mom's number so I can let her know you're here."

"Don't know it by heart. It's on the fridge at home."

He smiled like he was getting away with something.

"Seriously? I think you know it and just don't want to tell me."

"Maybe," he smiled wider.

Emma rolled her eyes and collapsed onto one of the chairs at the bar-half of the counter that contained the kitchen sink, extra counter space, and cabinets down below where her trash can and cleaning supplies resided. She puffed out a heavy breath and waited with him until she could give him back to his mom and hopefully never have to go through the after school babysitting routine again.

"My mom doesn't have a lot of friends here yet," Henry spoke up after a few minutes.

"You just moved in. Give it time and I'm sure she'll have plenty of stuck up friends just like her to invite over."

"But…until then maybe you could be her friend."

"Okay, that really isn't gonna happen."

"Why not? I think you two could be good friends."

Emma laughed.

"We're nothing alike, Kid."

"Isn't there a saying that opposites attract?"

"Yeah, but—"

"If it's true then why couldn't you be friends with her?"

"Because she and I aren't the kind of opposites that mix well together. Do you get what I mean?"

Henry shrugged.

"I guess?"

"I'm sure your mom's…something, but...I barely know her. Or you."

"So get to know her. And me."

"I don't get to know people. I find people. Or, at least I used to find people."

"Why?"

"Why did I find people or why don't I still find people?"

"Both."

Emma sighed and explained, "I used to find people because it was my job to find people. I stopped finding people because I didn't need the money I got from doing that job anymore."

"Was it really about money or was there another reason? Because my grandpa says some things aren't as simple as money or no money or yes or no or black and white."

"Your grandpa sounds pretty smart."

"I think so. So why did you really quit your job finding people?"

Emma groaned then answered, "I guess because…I got tired of finding everyone else but the people I really wanted to find."

"Who?"

"Just…people. They aren't important. Not anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because I never found them and they never found me and it's clear to me after so many years of searching that they wanted it that way."

"I'm sorry you couldn't find them," Henry said with a genuinely sympathetic look directed her.

Emma stared at him for a moment and furrowed her brow when she realized she was having a somewhat grown up conversation with the kid.

"Don't be. If they didn't want me to find them then I'm glad I didn't find them. It just means that I don't need them."

"That's not really true," he argued.

And he was right.

"Henry Mills, I thought I told you to keep that key close and guard it with your life," Regina lectured him as soon as she arrived then turned to Emma. "And why didn't you call me as soon as he got here?"

"The kid wouldn't give me your number. He told me he didn't remember it," Emma defended herself.

Regina sighed and looked at her son.

"I had him memorize it as soon as he learned how to coherently talk," Regina explained to her, her eyes still focused on Henry as she spoke.

"Yeah, I felt like it was a lie and I even called him out on it, but he didn't tell me anything."

"You felt likeit was a lie?"

"Yeah, I kind of have this sort of thing? Call it instinct or a super power or whatever, but—"

"You have a super power," Henry perked up and asked.

"I can always tell when people are lying," Emma nodded at Henry as she finally finished her sentence.

"Cool," Henry exclaimed.

"So you claim you knew without a doubt he was lying to you and you still didn't find another solution," Regina stated the question.

"He's still breathing, isn't he? I kept him alive. And I immediately flagged you down when I heard you pull up. What more could I have done?"

"Get him to tell you my number! That's what more you could have done."

"Mom, it wasn't Emma's fault," Henry stepped in.

Regina sighed again.

"Fine. Why don't I just give you my number and…maybe I'll have a spare key made for you in case he locks himself out again. That way you can call me and tell me he's home and you can let him in and then this," Regina motioned between the three of them, "won't happen again."

Henry grinned and Emma caught it, but Regina missed it.

Sneaky bastard, Emma thought with an internal smirk as she saw how Henry had just gotten what he wanted.

The kid kept showing up over the next few days with lame excuses like he didn't want to be alone in the house while his mom was still at work or that he was bored by himself and at one point, he tried to pretend like he'd left his key at home again. To that, Emma responded by letting him into his house with the spare key she'd only been given by Regina the previous day, but he wouldn't let her leave once Emma was at the door.

"Will you stay with me," he asked with big, puppy dog eyes that begged her to say yes.

She really didn't want to, hadn't really grown to like the kid enough to agree to something like that within the week and a half he'd been her next door neighbor, but she sent a text to Regina that she'd let him into the house and asked if she could and should stay with him.

Regina replied with: I'll be home in twenty minutes. If he wants you to stay, you should stay. He might otherwise follow you home anyway. We should talk when I get there.

In truth, Emma knew Regina was right because she hadn't been able to shake the kid since he and Regina moved in. Henry probably would have nagged her as she walked the short distance back to her place and he would have welcomed himself inside and welcomed himself to her food and then she'd be in the same situation, except it would have all happened in her house and not his.

So she stayed with him, watched a little bit of TV as he had his afternoon snack, and dreaded the sound of a car door closing outside.

Regina walked in and Emma's eyes found hers in seconds. She looked kind of tired, most likely due to work, and slight tension filled the room with their impending conversation.

Henry barely paid her any attention when Regina closed the door and dropped her purse on the end table in the hall.

"Henry, do you have any homework tonight," Regina asked.

"Uh…maybe?"

Henry looked up at her where she stood just behind the couch with a guilty expression and she hummed.

"Why don't you get started on it," Regina phrased it like a declarative statement that left no room to argue. "I need to have a talk with our new neighbor."

Emma felt like a kid called into the principal's office and there was a time in her life when that happened frequently. Being alone to discuss something with Regina, however, actually felt worse and a little more intimidating.

Henry whipped his head back and forth between Regina and Emma and then gave the blonde a sympathetic look.

"Yeah," Henry bent to his mother's will. "I'll see you later, Emma."

"See ya, Kid," Emma said as Henry removed himself from the couch and immediately went upstairs with his backpack.

Regina walked around to stand in front of the couch, but she didn't sit. Emma stiffened and wasn't sure whether that meant she should stand up to be level with Regina while they talked or if she should just stay put.

"It's clear to me that I can't keep Henry from you," Regina started to talk, and Emma supposed that meant she could stay put.

"Apparently not," Emma replied.

"And we live only a few steps away from each other so even if I tried to keep you away from him, it would be futile considering how often we're most likely going to be running into each other."

"Yep," Emma nodded.

Regina took a deep breath and waited a moment before she continued.

"I think he's attached to you because he doesn't have a lot of friends."

"What? How's that possible? Every kid should have friends."

"Well, he doesn't. He never really has and moving here hasn't done much to make him more sociable. But he likes you, although I can't imagine why."

Emma rolled her eyes.

"Maybe it's because he sees you as his peer and not his superior," Regina added, "but no matter the reason, I think this could be…good for him."

"Really? Because I don't see how having an adult as a kid's only friend could ever be a good thing. That's how he stays isolated."

"Well then it's a good thing you're not an adult."

"Yeah, insulting me isn't the best way to ask for my help. I mean, that is what you're doing, right? Asking for my help? Because I don't remember asking for more time to hang out with your kid."

Regina clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides.

"Yes," Regina answered through gritted teeth. "I'm asking for your help. I'm asking that you continue to be in Henry's life, but with some provisions."

Emma exaggeratedly sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"I can already tell this is not gonna go well," Emma said.

"I have to try something and he's made it obvious he likes spending time with you. I just want him to be happy and right now, that means letting you into our lives. That is, if you'll abide by my rules. Can you do that?"

"Why don't you tell me what I can and can't do and I'll see if it's possible."

"Alright. The first thing that needs to happen is you need to keep all of your…conquests out of the house while Henry's around."

"You make me sound like a careless, womanizing pig," Emma grinned.

"Please, I've heard my son tell me about all the women that come out of your house and he's only known you for close to two weeks. How you want to live your life is fine. Just don't give my son the wrong idea about how he should live his."

"Is this just about how many sexual partners I have in a single week or is this about them being the same sex as me?"

"You can sleep with whoever you want, dear. In fact, it can be beneficial to Henry that you seem to prefer women. Growing up around diversity can increase the rate of tolerance and acceptance. I just don't want him to think he can go through partners like a revolving door."

"Got it."

"Also, I don't want Henry to ever personally meet any of the women you bring here."

"They can't meet him if I'm with them while he's out somewhere. That's rule number one, right? Keep it away from his innocent little eyes?"

Regina huffed.

"It's important I know who's in my son's life, that they're people I can count on, and more importantly, people Henry can count on. Do I need to be worried about you, Miss Swan?"

"Absolutely not. If the kid comes around, I'll be on my best behavior. Otherwise, I'll keep living my lovely life of sin and I promise not to bother you."

"Good. I'm glad there's something we can agree on."

"Is that it? May I be excused now," Emma asked just to piss her off.

"No. If he comes to your house after school, or at any time at all, you will be responsible for him. He'll be in your care, and you better take good care of him, before I pick him up. Now that's it."

"Great," Emma stood up. "Oh, but so I understand, what exactly would you do if I broke one of your rules?"

"Don't test me. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"Right. Well, I don't want to hold up the rest of your night. Guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other…Neighbor."

Regina rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh," Emma whipped around again to face Regina. "And if the kid's offer still stands, I'd love to do yoga with you sometime."

Emma's eyes trailed up Regina's body from head to toe with a smirk on her face.

"I think you'd really be able to help with my flexibility."

Emma chuckled then turned and left only after she saw Regina's reaction, which was to scoff and turn away from her.

After the door closed and Regina started to shuffle around the kitchen, Henry's lips curled into a wide and bright smile from his place crouched down and hidden from sight on the stairs. He quietly went upstairs like he was supposed to have done a while ago then grabbed a small notebook out of his desk. He wrote something in it, scratched something out, and then slipped it under a few bigger notebooks in his desk drawer. He'd need it again later, but for the time being he wanted to make sure no one other than him saw it. If anyone caught on to his new plan, he'd never get it to work.

At first, he thought moving for his mother's new job wasn't going to be the best thing for them. He was going to be changing schools so he'd have to get used to new hallways and schedules and it would take time before he could bond with the teachers, if they even let him bond with them like they did at his last school. Plus, he was over an hour away from his grandparents compared the forty minute drive it was from his last house, and he loved to visit them. The farther they were from his grandparents, the harder he thought it might be to see them as often as he'd seen them before the move.

But after the last week with Emma, he gave their move a second thought and a second chance. Maybe moving was the best thing for him and his mom. Neither he nor Regina had truly been happy before so maybe a fresh start was what they needed. Only time and the potential success of his plan would tell, but he felt hopeful things would all work out. One way or another, he would prove that they could be happy there and finally have a happily ever after like all the fairy tale characters from the stories his mom and grandpa read to him before bed when he was younger.

Note: Let me know what you think so far.