"Hey."

"Hey," Regina replied quizzically, looking up from her book.

"Sorry. You're Lucy's mom, right? Emma extended her hand in greeting across the bench to where Regina sat.

Regina slowly closed her book using her finger as a makeshift bookmark before cautiously shaking the proffered hand. "Yes…?"

"Hi, I'm Emma Swan. Henry's mom."

Regina slid a little closer to the adjacent bench that Emma now occupied. "Oh well this makes sense now. I was wondering why my daughter wanted to come to this particular playground when we live closer to at least two others. And now that question is answered." Regina grins as she turns her head to watch her daughter play with Henry in the sandbox.

"Yeah," Emma chuckled. "They've become fast friends. She's kind of all he can talk about lately."

Regina laughed in response. "Same here. Well it's good that they'll have a friend to go into Kindergarten with, I guess."

"Yeah," sighed Emma. "I still can't believe that he's already in pre-Kindergarten. Soon these half days will become full days of real school. I don't know if I'm ready for him to leave me yet."

"I know," agreed Regina. We certainly can't keep them from growing up, but I'm really going to miss my little helper. I know I shouldn't say this but I wish that they'd never get older and had to go to school. Although don't get me wrong, my daughter's education is very important to me."

"Oh I'm sure," Emma responds.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh no, I just meant I'm sure it is with you being a librarian and all."

"Uh…should I be worried that we've just met yet somehow you seem to know a lot of information about me?"

"No, I don't mean to sound like a creepy stalker or anything. Henry's always telling me that 'Luce's mommy works where they keep all the books.' So I just put two and two together and figured that that's what you do because of where you work. You know at the library where you work. I presume as a librarian. Or you could be the director or the children's librarian. But I'm pretty sure that's Belle because Henry and I are over there all the time for those awesome programs that she has. But I'm sure you know all about that," Emma continued to ramble. She looked down embarrassed by her almost incoherent defense of her previous statement.

"Hmmm. That's funny," Regina replied lightly. Emma's head whipped up quickly from thinking that she has indeed made a fool of herself, but Regina continues apparently ignoring Emma's word vomit, "She only lets her family and close friends call her by that nickname. I guess they really are good friends." She looked over and gave Emma a small, genuine smile.

Emma slowly exhaled, relieved that she hadn't made too much of a social error. For some reason, this beautiful woman made her completely nervous. She was surprised Regina didn't feel how clammy her hand was upon their initial introduction. Henry and Lucy had been playing together for a good fifteen minutes before Emma had decided to finally walk over and introduce herself to her son's new best friend's mother. Henry had mentioned that Lucy's mom was really pretty but she hadn't really believed him. He was four. How would he know how to judge a person's attractiveness? Had she known that she would be meeting such a stunning woman, she would have worn something more respectable than her holiest, oldest faded jeans and probably the oldest, most worn hoodie that she owned. Although, in her defense, it was laundry day, but how was Regina supposed to know that? First impressions were very important. Something she learned, oddly enough, from growing up in the foster care system. As she got older and older and was moved from home to home, she saw her chances of getting adopted slim dramatically. That was until she was lucky enough to meet Ingrid, her mom.

Regina was immediately intrigued by Henry's mother. I guess that's why she took her proffered hand before she even properly introduced herself. Emma was one of the most gorgeous women Regina had ever seen. Even though she was dressed very casually in overly worn clothing, Regina could see the beauty that lay beneath them and found her style to be endearing. Maybe it was laundry day. Who knew? Either way, she was not expecting to be sitting next to and making conversation with a woman whose every laugh or smile made her heart skip a beat. Emma had moved to sit on the same bench as Regina, after respectfully asking to do so. She said she thought it was weird that their children were practically inseparable but their mothers couldn't share one park bench.

Upon that acknowledgment, Regina had suggested that their children have a playdate at one of their homes. Emma immediately agreed before even working out the logistics. Why would she not jump at the chance to spend more time with the gorgeous Regina Mills in a slightly more intimate setting?