Chapter 12

Miss Blanchard's cinnamon cookies were honestly the best cookies in the world. His mother worried too much about his sugar intake to make anything but healthy versions of everything which was probably why these won in comparison. He doubted his mom's wouldn't be even better if she decided to make chocolate chip cookies or anything else with honest to god sugar. So he dunked the cookie in a glass of milk the size of a small bucket and sighed, trying to relax.

If only he didn't have to worry about his mom's heart. He liked Emma- despite everything. It was after all a tall order to take it at face value that two women could make a baby. He didn't hold it against her even if it was not how he had imagined the whole thing to go. But he liked Emma. He had liked her even when she was just that ideal that his mom had loved, the stuff of his bedtime stories. He liked her when she arrived and became real- he liked that she was so much the opposite of mom, so free, so light. His mom seemed tethered to the ground, unable to fly. He wanted better for her and knew- he had known all along- that she needed Emma for that. Even if he sometimes resented Emma for leaving them both. Even if she hadn't known about him, she had known about his mom and he doubted that there would any explanation good enough to cover that. If she loved his mom, how could she have left her behind? The soggy cookie broke and plopped with a splash into the milk snapping him out of his thoughts.

Miss Blanchard sat next to him with a cup of steaming tea and a cookie of her own. She gave him a smile and broke the cookie before daintily biting into it. "Emma still does that, you know?

"What?"

"She still dunks her cookies in milk when she's worried about something."

"She does?" Henry perked up. He liked talking to Miss Blanchard and Mr Nolan about Emma. Miss Blanchard, especially was very quick to tell him stories about Emma.

"Mmm. She'd been dunking cookies a lot lately. You look so much like my Emma."

"You really think so?"

"Yes. I really do" She sipped her tea and looked at the closed door of Emma's bedroom on the upper floor. "They'll work it out, you know?"

"How can you be sure?" Henry had long ago stopped querying Miss Blanchard's motives. She was always eager to talk to him, to talk to him about his mom, about Emma, about everything and anything. And now, this unwavering belief mom and Emma would work things out. Like she wanted them to.

"Because we worked very hard at this. Because this is the way it's supposed to be."

"Miss Blanchard…."

"Henry, I wish you would call me Grandma." She said with a smile. "Or Nana."

"Nana?" Henry had a moment of panic. "Miss Blanchard, you knew?" Henry stared at Miss Blanchard as if he was seeing her for the very first time.

"Oh, Henry… of course I did. I'm your Grandmother. I knew from the moment I first set eyes on you. Your mom doesn't know this," She lowered her tone of voice and leaned further into Henry, "but I was volunteering at the hospital at the time you were born, so I spent a few nights looking at you in your bassinette." Snow gave him a brilliant smile, radiant, really. "You opened your eyes to me every time I came in. And when I saw your eyes, I knew it." Snow ran her fingers up and down on the cup while she studied Henry. "I knew I had seen those eyes staring right at me- from David and from Emma. And the timing was right. I knew that Emma and your mom… well…" She blushed and avoided Henry's gaze for a moment. "I knew, Henry. I knew since the curse broke and I can well guess where Emma spent the night before she left Storybrooke… Your mother gave her that car, did you know? Emma's Bug? Regina gave it to her. That's why she's still holding on to it."

Henry smiled but it was something little and there was worry behind it. "Do you hate my mom, still?"

"I never did, Henry. We were very angry at each other. Well… she may have hated me for a while and I can't say that I didn't deserve it, but… not for a very long time now."

"Because of me?"

Snow smiled at Henry and ran her hand through his soft hair. "You are a very perceptive little boy, aren't you, Henry? It's not because of you, though- or not just. You were a gift I had no right to. But… your mother? She loves my daughter, I know she does. I have known Regina for a long time now, and know how she loves… it's with everything in her. When your mother loves, Henry, you could not ask for more or better. And she loved my daughter like that. That's all a mother asks for: for their children to be loved well, to be put above everything else, to be loved like they are the most important thing in the whole world."

"My mom let Emma go…" Henry ventured.

Snow put her cup down and took Henry's hands in hers. "Exactly. Henry you're a very smart little boy but some things you need to get older to truly understand. This might be one of them: when your mother let Emma go, she gave Emma her freedom. A choice. She gave her wings. She gave Emma the world that Emma was so desperate for. She could have made Emma stay. She only had to ask. When I saw you, when I saw Regina raising you all on her own, I loved her for it. I loved her for her strength, for her love for my daughter. Because she loved my daughter the best she could."

Henry stared at his grandmother and let the words shuffle around in his head hoping for them to make sense. "Mom was going to send me to Emma in Boston if things got very bad here… If something happened to her."

"She was?"

Henry nodded solemnly. "That was before Emma arrived…"

"And now?" Snow prompted.

Henry shrugged. "Do you think Emma is going to like me… Grandma?"

Snow smiled but she hid it behind her cup. "Henry, Emma was fascinated by you from the moment she met you. She doesn't talk much, Emma, you know, not to me anyway. I've always been a part of the things she wanted to get away from, but she asked me over and over about you. Well played by the way…. Buying her drinks. The way to her heart has always been though her stomach." Henry smiled at that but made no comment. "All this time you were helping her with the election… why do you think she did it? It wasn't like she wanted the whole campaign thing. My simpleton little daughter thought she would win against your mother just by doing her job. She probably still thinks that." She paused and stared Henry in the eye. "She loves you, Henry. And Emma doesn't love easily." Henry dunked another cookie and popped it into his mouth. "The question is, Henry, can you forgive her?"

Henry pondered. The truth was, he didn't know. He had seen his mom pining for Emma all his life, privately, in the safety of her room. She thought he didn't see it. She thought she could keep it from him, but he knew her. He knew she had been missing a vital part of herself and he hadn't known how to make it better. He could forgive Emma for walking out on him because he had his mom and Grandma was right, he could not have asked for better. But his mom could. His mom should have had better. But Emma was the one she wanted- he had seen it since Emma had first returned. He had seen the way her hands trembled when they spoke of his other mother. He had seen the way she stared at Emma's back and he had heard her crying softly in her home office when Emma had come to the house to accuse her. His mom loved Emma still and he would not stand in the way. He would not make her life harder than it had already been this last eleven years. "I guess. But I hope she has good explanation for being away for so long. I want her to promise me to never leave again. To never hurt my mom again."

Snow sipped at her tea. That might be a tall order. "What if she doesn't? What if that's a promise she can't make, Henry?"

"Why wouldn't she? I mean… she broke the curse. She must have known that you don't break a dark curse with a peck on the cheek. That it had to be real. That it had to be true love. You don't hurt your true love…"

"Henry, can I tell you something?" Henry looked at her, inquisitive. "I, myself, only realised this a very short time ago… True love? It's scary for some people. It's very scary. Emma got scared. Regina is this force of nature and she has always known what she was looking for. She has always known that her happiness was a person regardless of the place. But Emma… Emma was the opposite. She thought that she could be happy in a place, regardless of the person."

"And now?"

"And now? That hole on the ground was sobering, Henry. She held your mother's hand while she was being sucked down that thing. She could have lost her… I think… I think she realised that it doesn't matter the place. All that matters is the person. The right person. Regina is here and she can't leave. My daughter is stubborn and wilful and god knows she has a temper to her but she's not dumb, Henry."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Henry stared at his glass as if all the answers could be found in the little specks of cinnamon suspended in the remaining milk. "Okay…"

…. … …

The door to the bedroom upstairs opened and Emma emerged, eyes reddened and skin blotchy. Henry was no expert but he thought she had been crying. His mother was still unsteady on her feet and he silently approved of the way Emma moved slowly waiting for his mom, taking her arm as they made their way down the stairs.

"Everything okay, mom?"

"Henry…" His mother whispered, that warmth in her voice she saved specially for him.

He finished his milk and pushed away at the plate of cookies. "Everything alright?" He asked again measuring Emma, head to toe, unflinching.

"Yes." Regina smiled. "We would like to have a word, Henry."

Emma helped her to the armchair and perched on the arm of the thing, looking nervous, scared shitless and absolutely unable to create distance between her and Regina.

He took them both in, his mom's hand tenderly in Emma's. Oh boy! "Okay. Are you going to tell me that you're together, now?" He couldn't help it: he felt a little jealous, a little betrayed. A little hopeful too and it was very confusing. He took a vicious little pleasure in seeing the way Emma's head jerked to his mom, how her hand squeezed his mom's seeking comfort.

"No, Henry. We will work at being together. We want to take time and think about the things we want, about the way we are now and what that means to us. Emma would like to get to know you too, as her son, rather than as the boy who chats her up in a bar over drinks…" Regina smiled fondly at him. "My relationship with Emma is one thing. Your relationship with her is another. She would like to get to know you." She waited a beat for Henry.

"She left, mom." His voice caught in his throat and it sounded small and childish.

"I know, Henry." Regina agreed.

"And you're okay with that? Is this one of those true love things? You're just going to walk all over how it felt for you, for me, to be alone all this time?"

"We had each other Henry. We were not alone." Regina reminded Henry with a soft smile.

"You know what I mean." Henry blustered.

Regina sighed. "I do." He doHe doubted him he

"I want to know why Emma left. What explanation is so good that you forgave her and took her back. She walked out on you, mom. She walked out on us. What explains this?" He encompassed them with a gesture of his hand.

"Emma wanted to see the world, Henry." Regina offered by way of explanation.

"How is that a good answer? While we were on our own, while you changed my diapers on your own and took me to the hospital in the middle of the night on your own and when the kids teased me at school, she was out in the world, having fun. How are you okay with this? How can you be okay with this?"

Regina sighed. "I'm not sure I am, Henry… Sometimes, it hurts still. But it was my choice and… here's the thing: Emma- your mother- is not perfect. If I ever made you think that, I'm sorry. She's not. But neither am I and we both know that because I never lied to you. She loves me, Evil Queen and all. That's a lot to take in. And I love her, running tendencies, running foul at the mouth, Charming family and all. Which is also a lot to take in. I never wanted anyone perfect Henry. All this time, all I ever wanted was Emma, who is perfect for me…"

Emma clutched Regina's hand tightly in hers. "I'm sorry, Henry. I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry you grew up minus one parent when you could have had both all along. I'm so sorry."

Henry sighed and stared at her, silently working through the information. "Did you take it out of your system?" Emma held his gaze as best as she could, trying not to flinch.

"Huh?" Emma queried, stunned. She was not sure what to expect but that had not been it.

"The going away, the seeing the world. I'm not sure you realise, but this is kind of a full time thing. The town, mom and I… us… it could get intense. There's homework and there's laundry and PTA meetings and the stuff that goes on with the town and I think I will want to throw a ball with you every once in a while…" He scratched his thigh and cleared his throat. "Intense… And you don't seem to have much experience." Henry studied her judiciously.

"What kind of ball?" Emma asked.

"Whichever." He shrugged.

"Intense. I know, Henry. I get it."

"Emma…" He stood and walked to her. "I like you. I really like you. I liked you even before I had met you. I think I may get to like you even more. But I promise you one thing…"

"Yes?"

"If you hurt my mom again, I'll hunt you down. I'll hurt you too."

"Yes, Henry, I know." And she did. And believed him and respected that.

Henry held out his hand to her for a hand shake. Emma took the proffered hand it and shook it. Carefully, she pulled Henry into a hug. Henry went into her arms slowly and in that surrender he reminded Emma so much of herself. Regina had always been so quick, so intense in her affections. This reluctance, this suspicion was all hers. And all her fault too. She closed her arms around him and slowly pulled him into her lap on the sofa. The tension abandoned Henry's body and he wound his arms around her neck. "I missed you." He sobbed a little.

"I love you, Henry. So much. And I'm so sorry."

In her seat, Regina studied them, tears threatening. Happy, relief filled tears. She closed her eyes trying to get some semblance of control. Of course, she thought, Snow had to take advantage of her momentary weakness and pressed a tissue into her hands with a knowing smile.

Regina refused to admit tears but she clutched the tissue tight in her hand. "You don't seem surprised, Snow, dear. Or shocked or angry…"

"I'm not. I knew from the first time I saw Henry. He opened his eyes and…" Snow sighed at the memory. "I've only ever seen two pairs of eyes like his."

"You are very gullible, Snow. It's a leap. Even for you." Regina objected, taken aback by the complete lack of resistance from Snow and the small hand tapping her shoulder in comfort.

"Gullible because of you, Regina."

"Oh, sure. Blame it on me."

"Thankful, not resentful, Regina. You taught me to believe in true love, remember? From the first day we met."

"I fail to see the connection." Well, no, that was not exactly true, but a long feud is not something you scrunch like useless paper and throw away.

"No you don't. You and Emma made Henry because you have true love."

Regina clutched the tissue tighter in her hand. Snow was incredibly smug about the whole business. She didn't have to like it. "And how did you know that was the case? I don't remember mentioning it."

Snow gave it a moment and the smugness on her face was making Regina itchy. "You really think I couldn't see the truth If I was looking for it with two hands and a flashlight, don't you?"

"Generally," Regina made a point of commenting, "Yes."

"Regina," Snow started slowly, invested in patience as if she were lecturing her fourth graders. "Emma broke the dark curse. Your dark curse. Which, okay, we all expected her to do, some time or other, but she broke that dark curse and come away from it with red lipstick smeared all over her face. I know my child, Regina. I know her heart. And, believe it or not, I know yours… Besides: I've got scientific proof." Regina rolled her eyes in challenge but made no comment. "Regina, we are frozen in time. Have been for the past twenty-nine years. And yet, you conceived a child and carried a pregnancy to term. A child who grew up. When we're all frozen in time - Including you. Now tell, me: who is the only person in this town that time touched?" Snow smiled triumphantly. "So I can actually say that I knew the moment I realised you were pregnant. Science."

Regina bristled but then, sighing softly, conceded the point. "So you knew all this time and you kept it a secret? You never told anyone? About Emma and Henry?"

"I told David… After Emma came back. I figured I had ruined your life enough by spilling one secret…" Snow's face went dark at the memory of that day, of all the days and years that followed. "I was thankful too… For the way you… You could have gotten her back at any time. You only had to say that you were pregnant. You only had to say that you wanted her back."

Regina gave her an appraising look. "There may be hope for you still, Snow."

Snow, getting carried away, gave Regina a fierce hug, tight, hopeful, reminiscent. Regina pegged her with a rigid, almost malevolent look and self-consciously, Snow pulled away but not without patting Regina's shoulder gently before. Together they looked at Emma with Henry, so grown up, in her lap, the two huddled together.

"I might as well confess, Regina." Snow started through the tight knot in her throat.

"No, Snow, don't confess. Don't ruin this moment." Regina replied, but it lacked bite.

"I fed him cookies. I completely spoiled his dinner."

"You what?" Snow flinched but ploughed on.

"My first official act as a grandmother." Snow cocked her head, playfully and hugged Regina by the shoulders again, unable to stop herself. An inauguration of sorts."

"I don't like it." Regina huffed but as she didn't move to try and rip Snow's head off, she figured she was fairly safe.

"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to." Snow giggled. "But we have to have at least one stereotype in this family, right?"

Regina leaned back as if defeated, a small glint of battle in her eyes, but Snow could see how tired she still looked. "I'll get you some tea." And walked off with a spring in her step that had not been there for decades.

When David walked in, sweaty, scratched, dishevelled and holding onto to a chicken that used to live in the yard of the Second Chance, Snow stopped her fussing in the kitchen and waited for him to take in the scene in their living room: Regina on an armchair, covered still with a blanket and Henry in Emma's tight embrace.

"Congratulations, Grandpa, it's a boy!" She greeted from behind the kitchen island.

David stood there for a moment, smile blooming in his face. He walked to Emma and Henry, the old hen still in his arms and pressed them both into a one sided hug. "Finally!"

"You knew?" Emma's face fell.

"Your mom had some explaining to do, hiding the title deeds to the new place like she did. Forcing you to come home."

Regina stared at Snow and her eyes were saying so many things, that Snow knew she owed them all answers. "I knew you wouldn't ask her back. Even if this thing was going to eventually kill you, Regina. And you Emma, you were just hiding. You knew your place is back here, among us crazies…" She did a little loop with her finger next to her forehead.

"Speak for yourself." Regina huffed and Snow smiled.

"It was time Emma came back. But, stubborn ass that she is, I had to get… creative."

Emma snorted. "So you lied?"

Snow blushed deep and red. "Not lied… as such. I just didn't answer questions you didn't ask."

"I see…" Emma commented, David's arm around her and the hen clucking softly. David stood and approached Regina as if calculating the probability of an attack.

"May I?" He asked Regina.

"What?" She asked, eyeing him with suspicion.

"This." And he side-hugged her too, pulling her tight but still gentle. "Thank you. I've got a grandson. Thank you."

Regina huffed in fake annoyance but she ended up raising her hand to awkwardly tap David in the back. "Is this chicken really necessary for the family reunion?" She asked not trusting the hen and its beady eyes and greedy little beak way too close to her fingers.

"Don't mind her, Penny." He murmured to the hen. "She's just a little grumpy little queen."

... ... ...

Two months later

Emma put her foot to the metal and zipped through the streets until she came to a screeching, skidding and, quite frankly dangerous halt by the riverbed under the troll bridge. She wondered briefly if she had broken the suspension on the cruiser- again- by driving off road and what snippy remark Regina would leave on the margins of the paperwork she would inevitably have to fill in so that she could get it repaired. It would all be easier if she could focus on Regina's lessons. Pooffing herself from here to there was still a risk Regina was not willing to let her take. But those lessons were excruciating: Emma was in a permanent state of arousal, senses alert to every single one of Regina's small touches, to her perfume, to the way her hands moved and the way the air moved around her. Her progress was definitely a painstaking process and though Regina seemed to be aware of it and the places in her mind Emma kept on going to during those lessons, she was not doing anything to alleviate the tension.

She saw Regina already at the site of the new disturbance, dark hair swirling in the wind generated by the micro weather event of thunderclouds and midget hurricane. Emma could smell the magic in the air and it was not Regina's. It wasn't benign or reactive like Regina's. It was deliberate and malefic and threatening even if, compared to the event that had brought down the Second Chance, it was a simple, small thing.

To her immense relief, Regina was waiting for her to the side. She had not gone in, like in the first few days of them working together, without waiting for Emma. It turned out that, when they worked together- truly, hands clasped, energy and magic flowing between them, feeding of each other's, there was not much to it. Regina would direct their magic and Emma was like a little battery powering Regina's. She hadn't seen Regina swaying and sweating as before since they had started working together. And that was an immense relief to her.

She approached Regina at a run, eyes on the dark clouds. "You waited for me!" she acknowledged and it was almost a praise. Regina had been so used to doing it all on her own that it had taken her some time to get used to having someone there for her, someone with magic of their own that could make things so much easier.

"I did. And I would wager that you broke the suspension on the cruiser again."

Emma shrugged and smiled at Regina. "Probably. You can punish me later." Regina blushed and, forget sunrises in the Grand Canyon, this was just about the prettiest thing Emma had ever seen. "Now, shall we, Madam Mayor?" She asked offering her hand to Regina.

Regina took the proffered hand and stared down the shadow starting to form on the ground, the advent of the small portal that would open if it was left unchecked. Emma felt Regina taking a deep breath and knew that, again, that thing was feeding off Regina's magic energy. She pushed at it with her magic, creating a shield that protected Regina with all her might, trying to stand between the thing and Regina. If she never saw Regina as depleted of magic and energy as the day the Second Chance came down, it would still be too soon.

.

Regina felt the move and was thankful for it. Emma had been doing that since they had started working together and though it had aggravated her in the beginning, she was warming up to it, forging a new bond of trust between them.

Together, they started the spell they had designed between them. It made for a far sturdier patching up job than simply closing the portals as they happened- as she had been doing before Emma- because it seemed to shore up the fabric of Storybrooke. As the spell swirled from their joint hands, it pushed at the clouds, the thunder, the insipient portal opening and pushed them into the ground, sealing it, pushing away the threat.

It was not definitive. Everyone in town had had hopes that, by working together, the two of them could have easily defeated whatever it was that was still trying to tear Storybrooke apart, but as Emma had so eloquently put it at the town meeting, "Yeah, right." But it was… better. The events were becoming less frequent, weaker. Regina was less tired all the time. And she was no longer scared that the day would come when she would lose the battle.

.

Emma held Regina for a little longer that was strictly necessary but then again, she took every opportunity to do so. Regina was parsimonious with her touches, with her displays of affection. And Emma got it, she did: they shared a son but also eleven years of abandonment between them. It was a lot of baggage to drag along at the beginning a relationship. Not that she was going to surrender.

When Regina pulled away, her hand remained on Emma's naked arm and she didn't move very far.

"How are you feeling?" Emma asked, anxious, as she always was. She'd had to give Regina time to learn to work with her but Regina had to give Emma time to learn not to worry so much all the time.

"Fine. I'm absolutely fine, Emma." She gave her Sheriff time to see that for herself. "We'll see you at two thirty. Don't be late Emma. The Registrar is waiting for us."

Emma gave her a smile as wide as her face. "I won't. I'll see you and Henry there."

Regina looked at the Sheriff's cruiser with a sceptic look. "Not if you still have to take care of that heap of junk."

Emma laughed. "Colour me motivated. Do I get a kiss as incentive?"

She could see Regina preparing to poof herself into her office but then she simply waited, her head cocked at an angle. "Are you going to be asking every time or are you going to take matters into your own hands?"

Emma's heart thundered in her belly. They had been dancing around them getting together for two months now and, fine, they had kissed a couple of times –with tongue (which Emma hadn't been so excited about since high school) and there had been plenty of kisses on cheeks (which melted her heart and left her weak at the knees, and damn, how did a kiss on the cheek make you actually tremble unless you were in a Jane Austen novel?). It seemed Regina was challenging her. She looked at the woman standing in front of her, hand still in her arm. She didn't want to overstep the limits Regina had laid down but, dammit, it was a challenge- the light in Regina's eyes was pure challenge.

"What happened to the troublemaker I knew and―" Regina didn't finish the sentence because Emma was on her, more eagerness than finesse, her mouth all over Regina's, clumsy, feisty and absolutely unstoppable.

Regina held on to Emma as if she had been the one steady object in a shaking world and the girl she had loved made a swift appearance in that clumsy beginning but then became all woman, all confidence as the movements of her lips slowed, as her tongue got more deliberate, stroking, inviting, challenging, stealing her breath away. Her Emma, the Emma who had never known any trouble not worth getting into was walking deliberately into trouble now. Because that's what they were: trouble.

Regina held on to it for dear life, her heart swishing, swishing lightly in her chest caught between fear and excitement, moving through those emotions silently, delicately. The time had come to be brave. When Emma's mouth released hers, lips plump and shinny and wet and looked at her, expectantly, Regina took a deep breath, feeling her heart still swishing, swishing.

"God, Romeo, you kiss by the book…" Emma whispered against her forehead, making Regina notice that her hand was still in Emma's naked arm and she didn't want to ever let go.

"Shakespeare? Oh be still my beating heart…" Regina quipped. Emma gave her that brilliant smile that Regina had missed like the air she breathed. "I expect to be picked up at eight. Promptly, Princess."

"Alright. Where are you taking me?"

"Nuh uh. You're taking me. I don't care where."

"I am?" And then "You don't?" She leaned into Regina and kissed her again.

"You didn't ask for permission…" Regina whispered softly biting her tingling bottom lip.

"I have a precedent."

"You do…" Regina agreed. "Don't be late, Emma. For either."

"I won't." Emma answered into the air where Regina had disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

… … …

Regina had a strict policy about mechanics: if it could be fixed without magic, than it was going to the shop. Something about jobs and economy. But the suspension on the old cruiser was shattered and she had two events to attend today and she still needed to shower, change and, maybe, put some makeup on. The occasion called for it. So she made an impulse decision: a quick wiggle of her fingers and boom: the suspension was miraculously fixed- someone out there was looking out for her, making sure she caught a break. She drove the bug past the plot where the new Second Chance was already nearing completion. Her dad was there, directing workmen and carting a plank of wood. Emma stopped abruptly effectively making everyone stop their tasks to see the Sheriff stepping out of the car. "Dad!" She yelled. "What are you doing? You know today is an important day."

"There's two hours to go, still." He smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"Yeah! And only one toilet. Go home, shower. Don't make me late."

"Promise!"

Emma spared him one final stare down, a quake-in-your-boots, brutal gaze and then was off towards the station where she dutifully filled in her paperwork about the incident. The temptation was there to not do it, but the thought of getting on Regina's bad books was not one she was willing to contemplate when she had spent the last two months trying to prove she was trustworthy. She was not about to blacken her stellar record just because of what day it was- the car suspension was already stretching it. With Regina, it was all about proving she could be trusted to not walk away.

She took a deep breath, said a little prayer that nothing else would happen, that it wouldn't rain on her parade and then got into the Bug and drove home to shower and grab a bite to eat because her stomach was full of butterflies that needed settling.

…

Bless Snow, she had a batch of warm chocolate chip cookies waiting. Emma came in and walked to her mom and gave her a hug, tight as she could and just stayed there, enjoying the moment. "Thanks for forcing me to come back, Mom."

Snow smiled and gave into the warm hug. "You're welcome, Emma. Any time." She winked and it was good natured and easy in a way that things had never been between them. "Now go and shower. Dad will be in any minute now and he'll hog the bathroom. You really want to get in there first or we will all be late."

Emma stuffed a cookie in her mouth and heeded sound advice. David had a thing about his hair and for someone with little more than broom bristles, he managed to take longer to sort it than Emma with her curling iron.

…

Emma had her stomach tied in knots as the whole Charming family waited outside the Registrar's office. It had had been like herding cats but the three of them had made it early, well before Regina and Henry.

Ruby offered her a sympathetic smile as Emma paced, but that could well be the afterglow. The Kerry Washington lookalike was sitting next her, looking luminous, loved up and not the least bit intimidated by Granny and her furious knitting needles. As it turned out, when her mind was not being fogged by Emma's jedi shit as Ruby nicknamed it, Katherine was an articulated, assertive and ferocious lawyer who took no crap from anyone- especially Granny. The introduction had been as nerve wrecking as you could expect: Granny was jealous and pissing at metaphorical trees trying to assert her influence over Ruby. Katherine had been a powerhouse but not shied away from crossing ts and doting is which had put a lovely happy skip in Ruby's walk that Emma had never- ever- seen before. Katherine had been introduced to Storybrooke and survived it. Emma liked it. Emma liked it that the world was coming to Storybrooke. It made up for Storybrooke not going to the world.

…

The sound of Regina's heels clicking on the marbled floor released Emma from her tension. Regina had not changed her mind. That was all that mattered. Emma walked to meet her by the glass door and when Regina finally made it in, she gave up the ghost of composure and threw her arms wide around Regina and Henry, pulling them both into her. "Are you sure you didn't change your mind, kid?"

Henry nodded furiously, his smile beaming, illuminating the blue-green eyes he had so clearly gotten from her. "Okay… alright then."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Henry put his hand on her arm and her nerves settled.

"Yeah… Yeah, I am." She stared up from Henry's smiling face to Regina's. The smile she saw there was soft and it spoke of peace and contentment. It settled her nerves and gave her peace. She kissed Regina's lips softly, almost chaste. Almost. "Thank you." She whispered close to Regina's skin and felt the shiver that ran down that skin she had missed so much. "For giving me this."

Regina cleared her throat, visibly affected and the secretary stood and ushered them into the office. The Registrar, a woman of about fifty and a benevolent expression in her unlined face showed Emma and Regina the two chairs in front of her mahogany desk. In front of her she had an official looking book of long, wide pages, open to an entry of birth.

"Welcome, Madam Mayor, Sheriff." Emma's skin crawled with anticipation and nerves. Regina took her hand and the simple touch relaxed Emma. "This is Henry's Entry of Birth. I understand, Regina, that you would like to make an amendment to it."

"Yes. I… We…" Regina corrected herself with a nod of the head that encompassed the whole room of people standing next to and behind her. "Would like to complete that birth certificate now."

The Registrar really had a beautiful smile and it opened again when she took an elaborate quill from her drawer and tipped it into an old fashioned pot of ink. "What is the name of the other parent?"

"I am… I mean, it's my name." Emma's voice struggled through the chokehold the tears had on her throat. "Emma of the Summerlands." She felt Regina's thumb caressing her back of her hand, offering strength and comfort.

"Emma Swan of the Summerlands." Henry pointed out.

Emma nodded and the Registrar looked at the book where the empty entry read father. "Well, that won't do, then. With a wave of her hand over the page, the word father was replaced with the word mother. Then she set the quill to the book and wrote in equal amounts precise and elaborate calligraphy:

Emma Swan of the Summerlands.

Emma broke down in tears then, happy tears. It was a piece of paper only, it made her no more, no less Henry's mother than she had been so far. There was no magic in the paper, she told herself repeatedly, trying to sooth her frayed nerves. But there was. There really was: here was a piece of paper that announced to world that she had a son. That she was a mother. Here was a piece of paper that told the world that she was not alone. That Henry was not alone. She looked at that piece of paper- and later at the extracted copy the Registrar had given them- and her heart soared. Magicless papers have a magic all of their own, specially official papers, that give you security and a sense of belonging to the people you love the most.

… … …

Regina was an absolute nerve wreck. She should not have allowed herself to make such a fuss over this date. She had craved it since she had woken up in Emma's bed after she had been pulled out of that deadly portal. And now, here she was, her hands shaking so badly she couldn't fasten her drop hearings. She shouldn't have built this up in her mind. She should have just stayed at the table with all the Charmings. It had been a celebration. She should have just postponed the date or not even think about it. This was too… official. She could have held onto Emma's hand at the end of the night and brought her home. That would have been so much simpler, less loaded.

She felt Henry's hands stilling hers and wondered how he had gotten into the room- into the house- without her noticing. He was supposed to be with his insufferable grandparents and now, here he was, closing her earring and adjusting her scarf, with that contemplative look he'd had all his life, as if he knew the secrets to everything.

"Are you sure you're okay with this, Henry?"

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I am. I love you two very much and it's about time." He nodded and hugged her tightly. "Be happy, mom. You have waited for this for so long…"

Regina nodded. She wasn't capable of more at that moment. "Now, Grandma is waiting for me downstairs and Emma… Ma..." He looked up expectantly at Regina until she nodded and smiled. "Ma is on her way to pick you up and you have to get ready."

He hugged her tightly and just then the doorbell rang. "That's Emma." Regina whispered, nerves shattered.

"Mom, you look beautiful, calm down." Regina breathed deeply and nodded. "Go get her, Tiger!" Henry cheered and that simple sentence made Regina settle. "I'll get the door. Just give me a minute so Grandma and I can get going. I don't wanna cramp your style."

…

Emma had second guessed each of her wardrobe choices. In the end, she had opted for a red fitted dress she had managed to summon from her closet in Boston, with no small relief when she saw it materialising on her bed undamaged and unscathed.

She was checking her smoky makeup in the mirror when a knock on the door startled her. "Yeah?"

David made his way in, something hiding behind his back. Oh god, let it not be a corsage, she hoped. "You look beautiful, Emma."

She relaxed and looked at the mirror, studying her reflection. "I do?" David smiled at her reflection with his easy affection. "I messed up so bad, dad, I need this to go right… I need to…" She pulled at her dress, suddenly nervous again. "I can't… be me… I just can't…"

"Emma... At the cost of sounding sappy…" Emma groaned internally. "Let the past be in the past. Make sure you have learned from it and move on."

"Dad… Is this one of those Charmingisms you and mom come up with to make yourselves feel better?" She felt bad for it immediately but unringing bells and all that.

David squared his shoulders and his billboard smile faltered for a second. "Maybe… What I meant is… don't try to pay penance for something that Regina has forgiven you for so long ago. That maybe she has never held against you."

Emma stood absolutely still. "She deserved better."

"Yes, she did." Her father whispered softly. "And I know you don't have much patience for self indulgence. You have pointed that out to us many times over the years. But Emma… Regina and Henry have forgiven you. Join that club. Look forward, don't look back."

"There's that bumper sticker talk again." Emma sighed.

David pulled what he'd been hiding behind his back: a small blue balloon that proclaimed It's a boy that floated above his head as he released the string. "Focus on what you have now, Emma, not on what you lost. You, too, deserved better. If we had been better to you, if Snow and I hadn't been so self involved... things could have been so different." He offered Emma the balloon and she closed her arms around his broad shoulders, suddenly overwhelmed. David let her have a moment and then pulled her back, the balloon string still clutched tight in his hand. He took a tissue from the dresser and carefully dabbed at her face, leaving the makeup untouched. "Now, go and get her, Emma. We are all in a hurry for this happy ending."

… … …

The problem with a place the size of an egg such as Storybrooke, was privacy. As in: there was none. But there was a beach that no one seemed to go to. The benefit of a place such as Storybrooke was that no one thought twice about using a little magic to help a cause. Case in point: the table and chairs right there on the beach, making full use of the sunset.

Emma held out her hand to Regina as if they had been making their way down the foyer of an expensive restaurant, looking proud as a peacock about having the prettiest woman on her arm and a date with their finally.

Regina was surprised when her heels didn't sink into the sand. A look at Emma told her all she needed to know: there was magic here too, the ground beneath her feet steady and solid. Just like Emma's hand on the small of her back. Emma pulled the chair for her. The chair did not wobble or sink. There was just firm ground under them.

Emma sat in front of her and their glasses were filled from a wine bottle that floated in the air. Emma picked up her glass and looked at her, like she used to all those years ago in her garage: like Regina was the sun and the moon and the stars to her.

The sun was beginning to set and there were candles in jars on their table and the ground was solid, as solid as Emma had been since that day outside the shelter she had plunged to her death and been rescued by the love of her life.

"You've been practicing." Regina commented.

A plate was deposited by invisible hands in front of her and the fragrance of the food enveloped her like a hug. "I have." Emma reached out across the small table and held her hand, her fingers tracing soft lines on Regina's skin.

Emma saw Regina's eyes breaming with tears. Without letting go of her hand, she stood and knelt before Regina, her free hand softly on that soft thigh, tracing soothing lines. "I'm sorry for having bailed on you. On both of you. I'm so very sorry for that. I'm sorry that I can't rewind time and do things over. But I can do better now, Regina. I can be a partner and a mom. I can be a wife, if you let me. I can do better."

Regina was angry at herself. She didn't want to cry because their lives were not to be confused with daytime television. She didn't want to manipulate nor did she need or want any further apologies. She just wanted to move forward. It was about time. Emma had been driving her crazy with the apologies and the regrets and all she wanted was to be pressed against a wall and kissed or, better yet, fucked, because, damned, she had missed Emma like she would the salt in her food. She cleared her throat and pushed Emma back, forcefully. "Enough, Emma. Enough, now."

Emma looked up at her, looking terrified and confused but still not moving from her crouching at Regina's feet. Regina knew exactly why: Emma was going to take whatever she had to dish out because it was her way to try and deserve this, them. And that was not as alright as Regina had imagined when she had been pregnant and alone. "Listen to me, Emma. I have only one rule for the rest of our lives."

"One?" Emma's voice sounded as if it had been ripped away from her throat with hot irons.

"One." Regina was done waiting for Emma to be done with the guilt tripping. All she wanted now was a pair of arms around her and a promise of tomorrow. "No more regrets."

"Regina…"

"No. You're done now. You've been on this penance of yours for all this time and all I want, Emma, is to have you touch me. All I want is to..." She hesitated for a moment, lost for words, wanting everything. "All I want―"

Emma straightened up and her hands went from limp on Regina's legs to frantic on her face, holding her, diving in for a kiss that was all heat and tongue and saliva that went to her head like the wine she had not sipped.

"That. All I want is that…" Regina murmured, her lipstick messy from the kiss, her lips plumped and her eyes bright from the heat of it. "Just like that."

"I can do that..." Emma murmured against Regina's mouth, red lipstick smeared between them, her breath hitching. "I can do that..." Regina hummed and god, that smeared lipstick was doing things to her Emma had only ever felt with Regina. "We can do that."

The end.