Emma smirked when Regina blushed down at her attire, finally realizing that her blue nightie was more revealing than she had expected. Her haste to see to her guest superseded her need for modesty. Suppressing a chuckle, Emma stood proud in her own tank top and underwear attempting to make Regina feel as comfortable as possible. Regina left the room, and soon the house quieted from the blaring alarm, and Regina returned to Emma's room, donning a robe cinched tightly around her waist.

"I'm afraid I can't give you that tour I promised you for today. I have a few meetings that I couldn't reschedule."

"It's okay. I'll explore the town." Emma moved to the far wall where her rucksack lay and bent over to retrieve a pair of leggings before pausing in thought. "My sneakers are in my duffel in my car."

"Right," Regina remembered. "I'll call the sheriff."


Emma's run had been put on hold, so instead, she opted into doing push ups on the floor of the guest room while Regina showered. It was just after her first round of fifty when the sudden weight of a little boy jumping onto her back as she dipped down interrupted her work out.

"Morning, Emma." Henry wrapped his arms around her neck as he straddled her back koala-style.

The blonde grinned as the boy snuggled in between her shoulder blades, his voice still laced with sleep and the plush dragon clutched between his fingers dangling in front of Emma's face. She continued her work out unphased, purposely jostling her body to wake up the boy who giggled and held on tighter. "Hey little man."

"You a horsy-horsy." Henry sat up, using the back of Emma's tank for his reigns as he bounced up and down on her back.

"A horse?" Emma reared up on all fours and crawled around the room. She neighed obnoxiously and pulled up onto her knees, wrapping her arms around her back to keep Henry stable.

"Emma!" He laughed happily and clung tighter to her neck. "I falling!"

"Hold on tight!" She dipped down back to all fours and crawled quickly around the room, bucking wildly.

The dragon in Henry's grasp slipped from his fingers, but Emma moved quickly to catch it, simultaneously sliding him off her back and catching him under the arms to rocket ship him onto the bed. His laugh was infectious, a high pitched squeal as Emma found an especially ticklish area under his right ribcage. She lowered her voice to a deep gruff as she used Henry's dragon to tickle at his neck. "I'm going to eat you!"

"Help me, Mommy!" Henry gasped in laughter when he saw Regina standing at the door with a pleased smile gracing her lips.

Emma straightened almost immediately when she realized Regina was standing in the doorway. "Hi." She pointed to the dragon and shrugged. "Must be a carnivore."

Regina's eyes twinkled with mirth while her lips pulled up into a smirk when Henry pouted at the adults talking and proceeded to grab Emma's free hand and moving it back to his ribs to coax the blonde into tickling him again.

"I can see that," Regina said amused when Emma realized Henry's tactic and allowed her fingers to scrape at his tickle spot. With a smirk, Regina turned from the door and called over her shoulder, "he's especially ticklish at his collar bone."

"Mommy!" Henry reprimanded, but it was immediately cut off when Emma zeroed in at his neck.


Emma slammed the door of her car shut, the vehicle still booted, as she draped her duffel around a shoulder. After dropping off Henry at daycare, Regina had called the Sheriff only to be redirected to a voicemail saying he was out on patrol. That left the pair to walk back to the clock tower for Emma to retrieve her belongings for the time being. "So that B&B over there has accommodations, right?"

Regina pulled her jacket around her to protect her from the light breeze as both she and Emma crossed the street. "Nonsense, you'll stay with me."

Emma raised an eyebrow and did little to suppress her smirk. "Is that so?"

"It's the least I could do." Regina motioned behind them to Emma's bug when they crossed the street. "Plus, I'll be leaving you stranded for the day or so."

The blonde laughed and adjusted her duffel. "It's killing you that I've totally surprised you and you can't be as hospitable as you normally would, isn't it?"

Regina glared only reinforcing Emma's laughter. "You have my number, correct?"

"Yes."

"And the address to town hall?"

"Yes."

"And you know your way back to the mansion?" Regina stopped when Emma cheekily bit her lip suppressing a new wave of laughter. "What?"

"I can't wait until Henry starts dating," Emma explained. "If you're grilling me, I can only imagine the poor soul the kid brings home."

"Well that's enough of your foresight for the morning," Regina huffed and turned. "I will see you later, soldier."

Emma smirked, watching the brunette walk down the street. She gave Regina a pointed look when Regina turned her head to catch Emma still watching her before she shook her perfectly coiffed locks and continued down the street.

"So she lives."

Emma turned to see Ruby, jogging down a back road in bright red heels and a piece of fabric constituting as shorts. The younger woman was just finishing up tying the ends of her blouse into a neat knot under her chest, exposing the piercing at her navel that was unsurprisingly matching the red the waitress seemed to adore.

"Were you worried?" Emma asked, waiting for Ruby to catch up so the pair could walk down the street together.

Ruby cast a look behind her where Regina had just turned a corner disappearing onto Montgomery that housed Town Hall. "Honestly? Yeah, I was. No one comes out of meeting the Mayor with their head on straight."

"I keep hearing that, but I'm not really seeing it," Emma said.

"Really?" Ruby asked incredulously. "She booted your car. A ticket would have done the job."

"Yeah, she's gonna get that fixed."

Ruby snorted as they turned onto the diner's patio. "So how is it you know Mayor Mills?"

"We're friends," Emma said, straightening her back as she eyed the younger brunette defensively.

"Really? I kinda thought you were lying about that." Ruby admitted, pulling open the diner door. "I didn't know the mayor had friends."

A burly man sitting by the counter smelling an awfully lot like booze and cleaning products guffawed as he caught the ending of Ruby's comment. "I bet she pays well to pretend though."

"Hey." Emma defended, dropping her duffel by the foot of the bar stool. "You don't know her like I do."

Ruby motioned to both of them in way of introduction as she walked around the counter, avoiding her grandmother's gaze at being late. "Emma, Leroy. Leroy, Emma."

Leroy looked at Emma as if another head were sprouting from her neck. He gave her a lecherous leer followed by a presumptuous smirk. "Oh yeah? You mean like the biblical sense?"

Emma rolled her eyes and glared at the man which was soon directed to Ruby who cackled at Leroy's presumption. "She did spend the night there," Ruby mock whispered to the man.

"And she's still living?" Leroy leaned in closer to Ruby to confirm the details.

"So how about those apple pancakes?" Emma asked loudly, effectively shutting the book on their teasing.


Regina pinched the bridge of her nose as she spoke to Sheriff Graham on the phone. After her morning meetings that led her to believe this town would dwindle away without her control, the last thing she needed was the Sheriff baffled and blubbering concerns about how he had followed her orders exactly and questioning why she wanted them undone.

"I understand perfectly that I told you to boot the Volkswagen in front of the clock tower, but do you understand what I'm telling you now, Sheriff?" Regina asked slowly and enunciated clearly. The man may have a knack for scouring the woods for any lost hikers or Dalmatians, but simple English appeared to escape his grasp.

"You want me to take it off," Graham answered.

Regina smiled and clapped her hand on her desk in praise. "Now you've got it. And I expect you to have it done before five o'clock today, or so help me."

Regina slammed her phone down as way of goodbye, shutting her eyes and breathing deeply to allow the stress to seep out through her fingers.

It was a shame, really, that she worked with such incompetent people. Emma's impromptu visit had certainly taken Regina by surprise, but Regina found that she wasn't upset by the blonde's presence. Finding Emma on her porch after realizing who exactly she was had sent Regina a curve ball, but the shock was nearly immediately replaced when Emma had said hi. For three years she had wondered who this brave woman was with whom she had written to and revealed information about herself and her son no less. The easiness in which they spoke upon meeting left no doubt to any onlooker that she and Emma had maintained a relationship - a true friendship, though unorthodox Regina would admit, but seeing Emma for the first time sparked something within the usually cold and indifferent brunette.

Emma was real, here, and despite their unusual start, for some reason, Emma continued to see Regina in the best light despite being on the receiving end on a Mayor Mills altercation. Regina could count on one hand the number of people with whom she had ever opened herself up to, and she was pleased to add the blonde to the count. Frankly, she was a little nervous about the idea of meeting Emma. What if she was too aggressive? Too strict? - which reminded Regina too much of her mother. Or what if Emma was simply nothing like the letters she had written?