Regina turned to Henry who had made himself comfortable in his mother's queen-sized bed. "Dear, you have to go to sleep."

"'Kay." With a playful smirk on his face, he dropped onto his back and shut his eyes tight.

"I'm serious, young man," Regina said sternly, poking his side before turning to Emma. "Thank you for bringing him."

Emma chuckled. "Good luck. He seems to be pulling all his tricks tonight."

"I'm well-equipped to deal with him."

"Night, Regina. Good night, Henry."

The boy's response had been an exaggerated snore, which both women shook their head at before attempting to go back to sleep.


"Mommy," Henry whispered nearly two hours later. "Mommy."

"Mmm," Regina rolled over to him in her sleep-state and wrapped an arm around his middle.

"Mommy," he tried again, pulling at her eyelids.

She scrunched up her face, burying it in his chest. "Henry," she responded groggily, though she remained more asleep than awake.

Henry wiggled out of his mother's grasp and straddled her side, leaning over to press his lips right to her ear. "Mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy."

Regina jerked awake, grabbing him at his hips as she sat up, stretching her back and forcing her eyelids open. "Henry, Mommy is very sleepy, and you should be sleeping too."

"Not tired," he insisted.

"Do you have to go to the potty?"

He shook his head.

"Do you want Mommy to get you some warm milk?"

He shook his head again.

"You have to sleep, Henry. It's either here or in your room."

He put a finger to his chin in thought. "Emma?"

She groaned and fell back against the pillows. That was not one of the options she had given him, but right now, Regina was too tired to care. Her dreams hadn't let up one bit, and she needed all the rest she could get if she was prepared to battle her thoughts tomorrow. "Okay, okay, fine. You can sleep with Emma if she allows you."

He grinned and scooted off his mother, using her blanket to lower himself to the ground. Regina followed after him, too tired to put on her robe, and sauntered into the hallway in nothing but a silk nightgown. Henry beat her to Emma's door first, and before she could tell him to knock, Henry opened it and ran into the darkened room.

"Henry," she hissed, jogging the last few steps to Emma's room to see that she was too late in detaining her son for he had already climbed into Emma's bed, crawling from the foot to the headboard and snuggled under the sheets with the blonde.

"Huh?" Emma sat up abruptly, taking less than a second to get her bearings.

"Sleep time, Emma," Henry said as he tugged the blonde back down.

"Is this okay?" Regina asked, leaning into the doorway to keep herself upright.

"I thought you said you were well-equipped," Emma muttered through her sleep-ridden voice.

"You have military training," Regina dismissed waving her hand haphazardly, as if that were answer enough. "Can he stay?"

"Yeah," Emma mumbled tiredly and plopped back down into bed, asleep in seconds.


Someone was awake. Regina felt it. She shut her eyes tightly, cursing that she had only truly fallen asleep half an hour prior. Henry's room arrangement shenanigans were keeping her restless, and now she was awake at - she opened her eyes to see that it was 4:38 - god, Emma better keep him in that bed if she wanted to live.

"Regina," she heard her name muttered on the other side of the door. She debated feigning sleep, but her motherly worries always seemed to wrack inside her brain. "Regina."

"What?" Regina groaned, stuffing a pillow over her face.

"Open the door."

Regina growled and whipped the covers off. Within two steps she had the door open seeing Emma on the other side, dark circles under own eyes and a very awake Henry on her arms.

"Hi," she whispered, nudging the boy to go to his mother.

Regina took him in her arms and pulled his head down to rest on her shoulder. "Hi."

"Is he done playing musical beds yet?" Emma asked with a slight whine in her voice.

"Henry?" Regina asked directing the question back to him.

"Come." He held his hand out to Emma and opened and closed his fist to motion her into the room.

That simple gesture seemed to wake up both women instantaneously. Regina's eyes widened while Emma's lips parted in a preempted stammer. A yawn tore through Regina, large enough to make her eyes water and reminding her that it was quite late. She barely had time to cover her mouth before cocking her head back to Emma and motioning toward the bed. "Come on, soldier."

Getting over her temporary shock, Emma trudged through the door and shut it behind her. She moved to the other side of the bed and fell onto it face first, nuzzling her face into Regina's goose down pillows.

"Mmm," she moaned into the pillow as Regina set Henry down into the middle. "I'm gonna steal one of these for my room."

"I'd rather you just sleep in my bed than steal my pillow," Regina said, pausing her tucking in of Henry when she realized what she said. She glanced up at Emma who cocked a curious brow. "I'm very tired," she reasoned.

The blonde smirked and continued to nuzzle into the pillow. Regina finally slid into bed and looked intently at her son. "That's the last time tonight, young man."

He nodded, yawning this time and snuggled into Emma who instinctively wrapped an arm around him.

"Does falling into bed together constitute as something to give the town to talk about?" Regina slid under the blankets, barely processing her off-handed comment.

Emma chuckled into her pillow. "You are so tired, Madam Mayor. I think the town would expect something a little less innocent."

Regina complied when Henry grabbed her arm to wrap around himself too as both women sandwiched the boy into a warm snuggle.

Regina yawned again, her eyelids falling closed as she muttered, "maybe another night" and within moments, the trio had finally all fallen asleep for the night.

Chapter 7

Chapter Notes

Disclaimer in Chapter One.

AN: I told people this wouldn't be up until next week, but here it is. I hope you don't mind. Also, guess who never has to take another university exam ever?

Regina slowly regained consciousness as the early morning sun flooded in through her bedroom window not two hours after falling asleep. She kept her eyes closed but allowed her brain to send signals to the rest of her body, getting it ready for another day. Normally she would make haste with waking up, but she stalled for she was certain of one thing: Henry, in his conniving little ways, had vacated the bed yet again, but Emma was still very much in it, dead to the world.

She thanked her lucky stars that they weren't in some teenage romantic comedy where she would find herself or Emma wrapped around the other, awaking in a flurry of awkward limbs and fumbling excuses. Though the thought wasn't entirely deplorable if hugging the younger woman was any indication. Not that Regina spent much time thinking about that, though the same couldn't be said for her dreams, but that was beside the point. Emma actually kept to her side of the bed, sleeping soundlessly on her back in a stable position with the space in between them still void of the little nugget that suggested their impromptu sleepover.

Where was Henry anyway?

Regina's paranoia opened herself up to the idea that perhaps her devious little prince had actually had an ulterior motive of staying awake nearly all night. He couldn't have planned to land herself and Emma in the same bed, could he? Nonsense, he was only three.

The faint fumblings in his room one door down had Regina locating him quite quickly. It sounded as if he himself was just waking, rustling the sheets as he stretched out. Henry was smart, and she wouldn't put it past him to devise over-the-top schemes to get what he wanted. He was her son, after all. If he was beginning to be manipulative now, god help her when he was older and held more forethought than instant gratification for toys and candy.

"I know you're awake."

Emma's gruff voice made Regina stiffen. She felt as if she had been caught, though for what she wasn't sure. It's not like Emma could read her mind. Instead, Regina peaked an eye open, finding the blonde still on her back though her head was turned facing Regina. Green eyes were nearly red, sore from the constant wakings of the night, though Emma looked quite awake as ever with her ever present smirk on her face. Regina popped open her other eye and offered a small grin, grimacing at the dryness of her mouth as she coughed to clear her throat. "Good morning."

"Morning."

Regina took a moment, smiling bashfully at the blonde before wiping her face into her pillow and stretching her back, feeling the blissful crack between her shoulder blades. Sated, she nestled onto her side and worried her lip, knowing Emma had been watching her every movement. "I apologize for last night," she said softly.

Emma furrowed her brow in confusion. "What part?"

"The part where my son was so hyperactive and refused to show us any mercy." Regina's cheeks had flushed pink that made the blonde chuckle.

"Life of a mother, I'm sure," Emma grinned. She paused momentarily in thought before voicing quietly, "for a second I thought you were gonna apologize for our..."

Regina shook her head and answered quietly. "No, I very much enjoyed that."

Emma's smile could have rivalled the rising sun, and Regina had to visibly look away before the blush could rise fully to her cheeks.