A/N: I know. It's been an exceedingly long time since the last update. Mea culpa.

When Henry received the early dismissal form in his classroom that morning, he thought it seemed a little odd. His mom hadn't mentioned any doctor's appointments…although she had been a bit distracted recently. Perhaps, Emma had a checkup, and they were going to go as a family. Whatever the reason, he dutifully handed the teacher his pass at the designated time and walked to the front office. When he saw his mom, he shook his head with confusion. He was absolutely positive his mom had been wearing a different outfit when she had dropped him at school that morning.

"Henry," Regina—or rather Cora—smiled. She had a limited time before the glamour wore off, but she and the young prince would be long gone by then. "Do you have your things?"

"Yes. Mom, where are we going?" Henry asked as his 'mom' grabbed his arm and started to rush him toward the door. Something was definitely wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on exactly what. "Where's your car?"

A still-glamoured Cora tensed up. Of course, Regina would raise an inquisitive child. She answered firmly, "Getting fixed, now stop dawdling."

Henry trotted along for a little while, wondering what had gotten into his 'mother' that she was so distracted and practically manhandling him, "Did you and Emma have a fight?"

"What makes you say that dear?"

"Well, you've practically been on Cloud 9 lately," Henry answered. "Ever since Emma came to stay with us."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," She scoffed. "Why should a peasant who dresses like a man have any relevance to my happiness?"

"Ugh. So you are fighting," Henry sighed. "I thought…can't you get along for my sake?"

"Children should be seen and not heard," She said sternly, growing weary of his questions.

Now, Henry was sure something was off. His mother would never talk to him like that, and she couldn't have had such a turnaround about Emma so quickly. He decided to take out his cell phone, "I'm going to call Emma."

"No, you most certainly are not," She knocked the cell phone out of his hand. The glare that followed would have cowed thousands of peasants. After a few moments, Cora remembered her façade and tried to placate her grandson, "It's only a little farther."

"I'm tired, and I want to talk to Emma," Henry declared, using his full weight to force them to come to a stop as they turned onto the next street.

"Have it your way then," Allowing her guise to drop for a moment, Cora kneeled to his level and waved her hand, enacting a simple sleeping spell. When Henry fell into her waiting arms, she dragged him behind a dumpster and conjured a potato sack to carry him in. She changed her glamour this time to a nondescript, poor, elderly woman, and traipsed back to the pirate ship with her prize in tow. Regina would be hers by nightfall.

Having discovered that Emma's followup appointment wasn't until the following day, Regina had spent most of the day cleaning, getting groceries for a special dinner she had planned, and of course, laughing and giggling with Emma. She'd moved a TV/VCR into Emma's room, and Emma had insisted that she sit down and watch a movie with her. Regina had put the movie into the VCR, but to be honest, she couldn't even remember which movie it was or what was going on because she was so fascinated by the woman sitting next to her. Emma made these adorable facial expressions and randomly yelled at the screen, and every time she did, she would look up at Regina with those adorable puppy eyes, and Regina would have to kiss the pout off her face. Then, Emma would get a little handsy, and Regina would have to extricate herself and tell Emma to watch the movie, and then the process would repeat itself.

Regina was having so much fun that it was 5 pm before she glanced at her watch and started to freak out. She hadn't even started dinner, and Henry was sure to be starving when he got home, "Oh god, I have to get dinner started."

"Dinner? That sounds good. What are you making?" Emma perked up and asked.

Regina smirked, "It's a surprise. Your only clue is that it's one of Henry's favorites."

"Speaking of the kid, shouldn't he have been home like an hour ago?" Emma realized.

"He probably went to your mother's to give us some time alone," Regina answered logically.

Emma joked, "Hmm, what a considerate child. Are you sure he's ours?"

"Ha, ha. I'm going to…no, wait, you are going to call our son and tell him to be home by six. No excuses," Regina took Emma's phone off the nightstand and handed it to her before heading to the kitchen.

Emma smiled and dialed their son's number, frowning a little when it went to voicemail. Her mom probably had him preoccupied. Her next call was to Snow, who picked up right away.

"Emma, I'm so glad you called," Snow said enthusiastically.

Emma replied, "Yeah, I'm calling about Henry."

"Oh? Is he alright? I was wondering when Regina got him out of school early, and I haven't seen him since," Snow asked in a tone that denoted a mild concern.

"Regina got him out of school early? Are you sure?" Emma asked incredulously.

Snow answered, "Yes. He got the early dismissal form during my class. Didn't she tell you?"

"Snow, I have to ask you something. Were any of Henry's friends absent today?" Emma continued her questioning, growing slightly uneasy.

"No, why? You don't think he would have skipped school?" Snow said doubtfully. "Besides, the principal knows his mothers, and there is no way he would get an early dismissal pass without one or the both of you signing for it."

"You're right. Thanks, Snow. I'm sure Regina just forgot to tell me," Emma said, trying to mask the worry in her voice. "I thought Henry might have gone to see you after school, but I guess not. If you see him, call me ok?"

Snow answered, "Of course. I love you."

"I love you too," Emma muttered before hanging up the phone. She was starting to get a really bad feeling in her gut. She shouted, "Regina!"

Regina walked in after a few minutes, drying her hands on her skirt, "Emma, what is it?"

"Did you pick Henry up from school early?" Emma asked, failing at keeping her voice from shaking.

"You know I didn't. What are you talking about?"

"Henry wasn't answering his phone, so I called Mary Margaret," Emma explained quickly. "She said he had an early dismissal from school."

"That's impossible. The school wouldn't let him leave without…" Regina froze. "We need to try his friends."

"Regina, you know as well as I do that he doesn't have friends," Emma said quietly. "But maybe one of his classmates saw something."

Just then, Emma's phone began to ring, and her heart leapt when she saw Henry's number, "Hello? Henry, where are you?"

"Hello, who is this?" A young girl's voice came through the phone.

Taking a deep breath, Emma responded, "This is Sheriff Swan. Who am I speaking to?"

"My name is Paige. I just found this phone lying on the street earlier, and I didn't know who it belonged to," The girl answered. "I thought whoever was calling was looking for it, so I called back."

"Well, that was very nice of you, Paige. My son Henry must have dropped it. Can you tell me exactly where you found it?" Emma forced herself to sound calm and cheerful. As worried as she was, she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere if she scared the only lead they had.

"Sure. About 5 blocks from the school, heading toward the docks," Paige answered dutifully. "Henry's in my class. Should I just bring it to school tomorrow?"

"That's a wonderful idea. If I have time later, I'll stop by and get it; otherwise, he'll just have to wait until tomorrow. Thank you so much," Emma said gratefully. As flimsy a lead as it was, it still gave her a place to start.

"No problem," Paige answered.

Emma continued to stare at the phone after the line went dead, trying to process the possibilities. Henry wouldn't leave school with a perfect stranger. He also wouldn't go anywhere without his phone. He wouldn't have gone on another bus ride to Boston; he had no reason to leave. He was a very happy kid now that his two moms were getting along, and he hadn't skipped school in ages. As much as she didn't want to admit it, the most likely answer was that he was either injured or kidnapped. She knew she needed to have her mind sharp and detached if they were going to get Henry back, but she just couldn't focus. She couldn't shake the feeling that it was all her fault and that she could have prevented it somehow.

"Emma, talk to me," Regina begged. Her own anxiety was being compounded by Emma's silence. She was worried about Henry, and she was worried about Emma.

"Ok. Our son is missing. We have one, very tiny lead, and I can't go traipsing around town to find him," Emma started to cry. She hated feeling so helpless.

"That's what Charming's for. Let him earn his Deputy paycheck, and you can be the brains from here, ok?" Regina soothed, running her hands through Emma's hair. Her need to take care of Emma helped to distract her from wild thoughts of what could be happening to Henry.

"He knew something bad was going to happen, and we told him it was just a silly nightmare," Emma buried her head in Regina's chest. What would they do if…no, she couldn't think like that. She let the warmth wash over her. Slowly, but surely, the tears stopped falling, and she quietly uttered the words, "I'm sorry."