Today, however, Regina had finished work early, and she, Henry, and Emma had opted on enjoying the late April weather at the park. She was glad Henry was so smitten with Emma for it gave her the opportunity to catch up on her latest novel, but despite her eyes being glued to the page, she couldn't help but glance over the top of the book as Henry chased Emma around the jungle gym. Her eyes followed her son as his stout legs ran haphazardly, kicking up the sand in the process. Emma had slowed her pace some, letting Henry touch her with his outstretched fingers before suddenly she jumped up, pulling herself up on a high horizontal bar and swinging herself up and over the pull up beam, landing gracefully behind a still running Henry who hadn't seen it coming. Regina gasped at the move, but her shock was immediately replaced with soft laughter as Henry also realized what had just occurred and stared up at Emma in awe. Henry had barely enough time to run before Emma caught him around the middle and tickled his sides. A loud obnoxious laugh emitted from him as he squirmed in Emma's grasp.

Regina hid her laugh behind her book, but it was no use for Emma caught her eye and grinned, putting all of Henry's weight on one arm to wave at Regina mouthing a breathy 'hi'. Regina shook her head playfully and waved back, though why she didn't have a good enough explanation for.

"Ms. Tina!" Henry yelled, wiggling out of Emma's grasp.

Both women looked to see Henry running towards his pre-school teacher, Ms. Tina Bell, a petite woman with tight blonde curls and a New Zealand accent. Regina placed her book back into the large bag that held anything Henry could ever need and stood, making her way toward the teacher as courteous as ever.

"Ms. Bell," Regina greeted, extending out her hand cordially once Tina had released Henry from his impromptu hug. She motioned to Emma beside her. "You remember Ms. Swan?"

"'Course," Tina smiled. "Emma's picked up Henry before. And from what Felix has told me, she had quite the talk with him the other day."

"Really?" Regina inquired while Emma shrugged half-heartedly.

"He's a good kid. They all are," Emma defended.

"That's what I keep telling them," Tina agreed. "They just have to believe it themselves."

"And how are the other children treating you?" Regina asked.

"They keep me busy," she nodded before turning toward Henry. "Don't forget to bring in your favourite leaf tomorrow."

He nodded enthusiastically before running off to the swings where he rested his belly on the big kid's swing and let his feet hover in the air.

"So," Tina smiled a bit too knowingly for Regina's liking as she looked between herself and Emma. "You two enjoying the park together?"

"Yeah, the parks I grew up with had only one working swing and rusty metal slides," Emma said.

"You'll enjoy this one," Tina said. "Mayor Mills designed it herself."

"Yeah, Regina was telling me about that," Emma flashed a smile at the brunette who returned one in kind. "A castle for the little prince?"

"Yes, Henry does seem to believe it is his own private castle." The three women looked to see Henry, still resting his stomach on the swing though now he was walking in small circles, coiling up the chain until his tippy toes barely reached the ground. Regina gasped and opened her mouth to call out to him, but Emma held her hand, stopping the words before they had a chance to form.

"Watch, he'll be fine," she soothed. Sure enough, when Henry could no longer spin himself, he lifted his feet off the ground and let the chain unwind, spinning him and the swing at a moderate pace. He squealed in delight, stretching his arms out like wings until his feet finally touched the ground again. "See? He's a natural."

"He could get hurt," Regina worried.

"Yeah, but you'll be there to kiss the boo-boos and chase away the nightmares."

Regina curled her fingers reflexively into Emma's palm, letting the blonde's thumb rub circles along her skin soothingly before nodding her agreement. "I suppose."

The two women continued to watch Henry spin, effectively forgetting about the daycare teacher thrilled to be in their presence. By Henry's third spin, Tina Bell cleared her throat.

"Well," she said loudly, finally regaining their attention, though, she realized, their hands remained clasped, "don't let me interrupt your time together." Tina gave them one more once over, doing little to hide a smirk before taking off down the path.

"Hmm," Emma mused watching the other blonde go. "Did you two used to know each other?"

"It's a small town, dear, everyone knows each other."

"Mommy!" Henry called, now suddenly attempting to pull himself into the baby swing all by himself.

Regina held up a finger, finally realizing how long they had been holding hands and slipped her palm out of Emma's grasp, noticing the immediate cold that came with it but refused to think much of it. She walked back to the bench she had previously vacated to open the tote, taking out her book, a juice box, a small container full of animal crackers, and a mini first aid kit before finding the small pouch of wipes. Ignoring Emma's smirk, Regina cut off the sarcastic comment that was sure to escape her lips by retrieving a wipe and walking over to the swing, giving it a thorough wipe down before hoisting Henry into the seat.

"Do you want me to get the antibacterial spray too?" Emma asked from the bench as she repacked the tote.

"I don't think I packed it in there." It was Emma's obnoxious snort that made Regina glare at the blonde. Trust Emma to constantly poke fun at her. "Keep laughing, Ms. Swan. You'll think of me when you're somewhere in need of antibacterial wipes with the looming presence of fungus surrounding you."

"I'll probably think of you before that," Emma replied casually, stopping in her tracks realizing what she said.

"What?"

"Mommy," Henry whined, kicking his legs to get the swing going. Both women looked at him, thankful for the distraction and immediately tended to his immediate swing-pushing needs.

Regina patted his arm before giving a firm push.

"You can also raise him in a plastic bubble," Emma argued, coming to the front of the swing set and catching Henry's feet, tickling his calves before releasing him.

"Nonsense, that's impractical. How will he get down the stairs?"

Emma tilted her head and paused. "I can't tell if that's a joke or if you seriously considered it."

Regina simply smirked and pushed Henry just a little bit higher, gasping with him as he stretched a hand out to touch the sky.

"So Ms. Tina," Emma began as they took turns pushing Henry back and forth in the swing, "she seems nice."

"She is," Henry answered. "She show us bugs today, and she play with us, and she sings." He cautioned both hands into the air, and when his mother didn't scold him, he stretched them high past his head. "Look, Mommy!"

"I see, sweetie. You're flying," Regina grinned, letting Henry swing naturally without their aid, though she provided a hand on his back now and then. "I suppose she is. Henry likes her well enough. She also runs a youth group for those teenage boys that have been causing you and Graham trouble lately."

"She told me," Emma commended with a nod. "You're not friends with her?"

Regina scoffed, pushing lightly on Henry's back on his return to her side.

"You see her nearly everyday."

"I see many people daily."

Emma shrugged. "Why not? She's pretty and nice."

"I wasn't aware those were the only qualifications I needed when looking for a friend."

"Well..." Emma grinned coyly and motioned to herself.

Regina rolled her eyes and pushed Henry just a little bit harder so his sandy shoes nudged Emma back a step.

The boy laughed at the game and kicked his feet out. "I get you."

Emma shook her head at Regina but played along when Henry returned to her side, feet outstretched with intent. She made a collision noise and clutched her jaw. "Geez, when did you get so strong?"

Henry giggled happily. "Milk and greens."

"Good boy," Regina said affectionately, kissing his head when he swung back.

Emma pretended to get hurt another five times before Henry grabbed at Regina's lapel and used her surprised body to pull himself to a stop. She nearly collided into the seat, her heels not helping her balance in the slightest, but she released her son from the swing nonetheless and watched as he ran to the trike Emma had gotten for him and retrieved a small bucket and shovel from the basket attached behind the seat.

"Seriously though, why don't you be friends with her?" Emma continued her questioning as she and Regina returned to the bench a few feet away from where Henry had perched himself in the sand pit.

"Sick of me already?" There was a playfulness in Regina's tone, but even she could feel the vulnerability in her eyes that she couldn't quite blink away.

Emma smirked and nudged Regina's shoulder with her own. "No way. Just wondering something."

"What?" They sat in the middle of the bench, instinctively sitting side by side.

The blonde bit her lip and outstretched both arms along the back of the bench, unaware that her right arm was mere inches away from straddling Regina's shoulders. In a quiet voice, she asked, "what are you gonna do when I go back?"

Regina squinted and turned slightly to face Emma. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I know what lonely looks like," the blonde sighed and cut Regina off when the older woman moved to speak. "I know, you've got Henry."