Regina was in over her head. The perpetual giddy feeling she had by the mere thought of Emma Swan had her near nauseous. Though whether it was due to actual sickness or butterflies in the stomach, she wasn't sure. She was hoping for actual sickness to explain away this feeling. At least that was treatable.

Last night had changed things.

She felt more connected to Emma in a way that was different than her motherly bond with Henry. Emma was her best friend, that much she was sure of. She had shared with her secrets she had never told anyone. But it was also more than that. There was some sort of attraction there, Regina couldn't lie to herself now. She couldn't help but notice the lingering gazes and the meaningful comments that made her wonder if perhaps there was something more for Emma as well. It was something they needed to discuss, though Regina had no idea how to go about it.

She eyed Henry sitting quietly at the counter, colouring absent-mindedly in a colouring book of dinosaurs. He always told her that the greens and browns she chose to colour the dinosaurs were boring, despite the fact that Regina had told him it was realistic, even going so far as to showing her son pictures of the extinct beasts, but he shook his head and always chose to use the brightest colours. Currently a pterodactyl was getting quite the shade of violet and yellow. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at his pleasant behaviour. Normally when Henry fussed and fought bedtime, he was quite grumpy the following day, yet here he was, content and quiet and already dressed for the day.

"Henry?" She called, gaining his attention.

"Yes?" He answered properly, though he only glanced up momentarily to continue his colouring

"How was your time with Ms. Tina, dear?"

He grinned to himself, clearly engrossed in some memory. "Fun. She come over again?"

"Not anytime soon," she muttered to herself and moved to lay her forearms on the counter, opposite Henry, and nudged her head against his. "What did you two do?"

He bumped her head back, harder than intended and murmured an 'ow', rubbing it before pressing it against his mother's. Regina giggled at his antic, though before she would have been worried about even the smallest of harms coming to her child, but she was learning to let him grow. She watched as he finished his pterodactyl and carefully took a red crayon, his tongue between his teeth as he concentrated on signing his name. It was all capitals, and the Y was backwards, but he held up the book for her to see. She smiled and praised him, kissing his head for emphasis.

"We watch Nemo and Treasure Planet and 'Lantis." He stood on his feet on the stool and reached for Regina across the table.

She lifted him up and over wordlessly and sat him on the edge of the island. "Three movies?" She asked trying to keep the disapproval out of her voice.

"Yeah," he grinned holding up three fingers. "And she read to me, and told me stories about fairies and pixies."

"Did she give you any sweets?" Regina asked, cutting to the chase.

He shook his head quickly though Regina still scrutinized him under a curious gaze. "I didn't," he said with a grin, tickling his mother's waist with insistence.

She squinted and changed tactics. "Did you have any sweets?"

All she got in return was a diverted gaze as Henry turned his head toward the backyard windows and a mischievous smirk.

"Henry Mills," Regina scolded as a sigh, tugging his head to face hers. She showed no smile and offered no sympathy when Henry stared wide-eyed up at her. "Do you remember what I told you before leaving?"

He shook his head with a pout.

"I told you to listen to Ms. Tina, and that you were not allowed to have any sweets," she reiterated. "Did you listen to Mommy?"

He shook his head again, guilty tears coating his eyes.

"What did you do instead?"

"I eat sweets by myself."

"You did," Regina nodded. "Are you going to do that again?"

He shook his head and hugged her around the middle, squeezing her back tightly, and Regina had no choice but to hug him back pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "I'm not mad, sweetie," she clarified. "I just want to make sure nothing bad happens to you, and I can't be sure of that if you don't follow the rules I or the people who care for you set."

"I know," he mumbled into her shirt.

"And, what have I told you, if you eat too many candies, you won't grow up big and strong."

"Like Emma?" He wondered.

She smiled softly and nodded against his head. "Yes. Just like Emma."

"Ms. Tina said you and Emma had fun," Henry said when he pulled back.

Regina raised an eyebrow. "Oh, did she? What exactly did she say?"

"We can watch a movie and have fun like my mommy and Emma," Henry quoted.

Regina took a moment to decipher if Ms. Bell's statement had any hidden meaning to it, and while her instinct told her yes, Henry did have a tendency to reword things to simpler terms. She wouldn't be surprised if the pre-school teacher was grilling Henry about information, but to her knowledge she didn't need to. Other parents at daycare had told her that Henry had been sharing stories of his bestest friend Emma who was a superhero to his classmates.

"Did you watch 'Lantis?" Henry asked, swinging his feet against the counter suddenly upbeat again.

Regina shook her head. "We watched an adult movie."

Emma snorted when she entered the kitchen, her hair down in damp ringlets and her body out of her running clothes and into a pair of jeans and a long sleeve. "Not quite."

Regina rolled her eyes at the implication and glared at the blonde.

"All dressed and stink free," Emma announced as she walked over to the side with the stools. Wordlessly Regina handed over Henry to Emma who nestled him on the stool beside her.

She turned and leaned against the opposite counter, trying desperately not to notice that a few droplets of water were dancing along Emma's neck from her after-run shower and cleared her throat. "I have a surprise," she repeated from earlier.

"For me?" Henry asked.

"Nah, it's for me," Emma insisted, bumping his shoulder lightly.

Regina chuckled fondly at the little glare Henry gave her. Genetics had nothing on the well-practised look he picked up from his mother. Her chuckle turned into a breathy laugh when Emma stared right back at him, a silent staring contest already commencing. It was ridiculous how quickly Emma and Henry had bonded over the short amount of time she had been there. But then again, the blonde had a certain effect on her as well. She cleared her throat, interrupting the staring contest and silently retrieved the empty wicker basket from around her side of the island and placed it in between Emma and Henry.

"Apples?!" Henry yelled, standing up on the stool so quickly it nearly slid backwards from his weight. "We go pick apples?!"

"I've figured you've earned the right to learn my famous apple turnover recipe after last night's debacle," Regina said to Emma.

"You're really gonna share that with me?" She asked in wonderment.

Regina directed her attention to Henry. "As long as you get your shoes on, young man."

Henry nearly swan dived off the stool, but Emma's strong arms caught him around the waist and eased him back onto the tile, his legs already moving to run. When he left, Emma straightened and smiled softly. "I thought you would take that recipe to the grave," she joked.

"I suppose one other person knowing it won't hurt, though you're under strict orders not to repeat it to anyone else."

Emma made a show of zipping her lips and throwing away the key.

Regina chuckled, a curled hand lightly grazing her chin as they stood watching one another in comfortable silence. Emma's eyes seemed fixated on her, shifting from her eyes to her nose and then her lips. Regina inhaled sharply, a small hitch in her breathing as she caught Emma's eye again. There it was again, the way Emma was staring at her, looking past the mask Regina was so accustomed to wearing. Brown eyes shifted momentarily only to be locked onto green once more. "Emma, I-"

Henry came bounding in, his Velcro light up Spider-Man shoes already on with quite the load in his arms. He dropped an armful of shoes onto the kitchen tile, and Emma laughed out loud while Regina shook her head when they realized that Henry had grabbed Emma's boots, the left shoe of her sneakers, and two of Regina's heels though neither matched and both were for the same foot.

"Let's go." He picked up a heel and ran to his mother, trying to lift up her leg to put her heel on.

Regina nearly lost her balance and grabbed onto the counter to steady herself. She crouched down and tapped Henry's nose, her look set. He huffed but relented. "Pleeaase?"


They decided to walk to Town Hall for the sun had decided on making a lasting appearance that mid-morning, and as soon as the trio had turned onto the sidewalk toward Main, Henry latched onto both Emma and Regina's hand. He kicked up his legs, forcing the women to react quickly as they swung him back and forth over the sidewalk. "Again," he hopped happily and kicked up again.

Regina's arm had tired by the time they arrived to Town Hall twenty minutes later. She was thankful for the few people they had caught on the street to greet the Mayor, Emma, and Henry for Henry had stopped his swinging to allow the women to speak with other adults. Regina was especially thankful when Dr. Hopper struck up a brief conversation with Emma while Pongo entertained Henry. By the time they arrived to Town Hall, Regina's right arm was exhausted. But still, the walk had only continued to open her eyes and realize how much a part of the town Emma had already become. If she hadn't reminded Emma of their destination, she was sure the blonde would have been able to speak to the therapist for another hour.