Royal Movie Night

ONCE UPON A TIME-fanfic. Emma approaches Regina about taking Henry to see a movie.
(EMMA/REGINA, SWANQUEEN)

This is the first part in a small series of short Swanqueen stories with the name "Royal" in it.

Read Royal Movie Night

Disclaimer: Regina, Emma, Henry and everyone else in Storybrooke all belong to... actually, I don’t know, but I think ABC and Disney are some of those that own the rights to “Once Upon A Time”. Either way they are not mine, but I’m just borrowing them for that little bit of Swanqueen that sadly we are unlikely to really get on the show... even though we should. ;)

Small note of interest (perhaps): in my stories Regina drives a four-door Mercedes sedan rather than a two-door sports model of the same.




Royal Movie Night
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by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson




Being the Mayor of Storybrooke was perhaps not high on the scale of prestige in the eyes of the world at large, but in the rather closed-off community of Storybrooke itself, well, the Mayor did rule supreme. And being the uncrowned ruler of all she surveyed did come with its perks, the fearful respect of her subjects but one of them.

So when Regina’s workday was interrupted by a brief, brisk knock at her door, followed by that door opening before Regina had in any way indicated that the supplicant was allowed to step into her domain, or office if you please, it was somewhat startling. What was less startling, if marginally, was that the person barging in uninvited was one Emma Swan.

Of course. The irrepressibly rude woman was the only one in Storybrooke that did not instinctively cower before Regina, not to mention generally lacking any trace of normal social graces and good manners. Honestly, was it so hard to simply wait the few seconds it would take to be told to come in? Most likely the woman was out to annoy her in any small way she could, again. But this time Regina would be cool and collected, and not allow herself to be baited.

“Is this official business or personal?” She asked calmly, arching a well-manicured brow at the blonde that shuffled in while hands returning to her pockets where they tended to live out their lives. Regina was perfectly civil, although she barely deigned a glance at the Sheriff as she finished writing on the paper in front of her before filing it and putting her writing utensil away. Anyone that thought to barge in unasked could very well wait until she was finished.

“Erm, personal?” Emma sounded sheepish as she replied, shuffling over to the window to sway oddly in front of it in a restless way that really should have bothered Regina more. What also should have bothered Regina was how the reply came out sounding as a question instead of a statement, usually she disliked people that did not have a firm grasp on what they were saying or what they wanted.

Instead she was, reluctantly, intrigued. Emma was always a worthy adversary in that her will and determination matched Regina’s own, and she was not usually one to hesitate much.

“I see.” Regina glanced at the subtly rocking woman as she feigned taking a bit longer with her papers than was strictly necessary. Her interest in the uncharacteristic behaviour took a slight detour as her eyes caught on something else which, also reluctantly, intrigued her... the snugness of Emma Swan’s clearly painted-on jeans. She forced herself to blink and look away.

“In that case, miss Swan...” She blamed her unusual distraction and the unnatural shapeliness of the other woman’s backside in those accursed jeans for the lack of acid in her voice. “I take it this is about Henry?”

It was not a hard guess to make. Official business meant that the two of them yelled at each other over Storybrooke matters, and that they were Madam Mayor and Sheriff Swan. Personal business meant that the two of them yelled at each other over Henry, and were Regina and miss Swan, or occasionally ‘my dear’.

“Well, yeah.” Emma turned from the window and flashed a lopsided grin at Regina, whom in turn lost track of the snarky or possibly haughty remark that she had been about to make.

To make it worse the impossible woman shrugged a little and then, with a familiarity that would have been outrageous if Regina could have collected her thoughts enough to come to that conclusion, seated herself on Regina’s desk.

On Regina’s desk.
In all fairness Regina was too shocked to react other than stare mutely at this, unintentionally giving Emma all the time needed to say what she wanted to.

“See, I kinda want to take him to the movies, which as you know we don’t have here in Storybrooke.” Emma swung her feet slightly, most likely without meaning to, causing Regina’s wide eyes to track to them without fail, until the blonde scratched her head in a sheepish gesture that then had all of Regina’s attention. “It’s a kid’s movie, animated but not Disney or about princesses and fairytales, I promise. It’s fantasy, I guess, and based on some book or something, but no fairytales. Honest.” Emma locked eyes with Regina. “So, what do you think? Would that be okay?”

Regina blinked at the woman who looked far too earnest and was far, far too close. Her lips moved but no words came out. Thankfully Emma did not appear to notice.

“I know it’s a bit of a drive, but I figure if we go right after Henry gets out of school we’ll get there in time to get something to eat before the movie starts, and then we’d be back again with plenty of time to spare before he needs to get ready for bed.” Emma turned even more towards Regina and leaned forwards, sending a very small and very brief wave of panic over Regina who had to resist leaning back herself, or worse, blush.

Emma’s voice dropped a bit and her expression turned a touch more serious. “I figure it could be a good thing too, showing him that you can in fact leave Storybrooke without disaster striking. I mean, I know it won’t really convince him that the curse isn’t real, but it would be one more little piece of ‘evidence’ against it, and one day that can make a difference.”

“I... see.” Regina said once more, returning to what felt more like herself and ignoring the other woman’s close proximity, the tightness of her clothes, or the open and curiously attractive body language she would sometimes have. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she bored her gaze into Emma’s skull. “You would do this to dissuade Henry of his... fairytale obsession?” A touch of contempt crept back into her voice. “Considering that you are the one that supports his delusions the most, miss Swan, I find that hard to believe.”

Emma sighed and leaned forward a bit further, causing Regina’s newly regained composure to falter and a slight touch of heat to creep up her cheeks. “Look, Regina, you know as well as I do that outright denying what he believes in won’t do a thing but alienate him. Not only does doctor Hopper advise against it, but if I did outright cut his fantasies down, then neither of us will have any idea where he goes or what he’s up to as he ‘fights’ the curse.”

Dark brown eyes bored into green. There was an undeniable truth to Emma’s words, and to be honest Regina was aware that Emma herself did not believe in Henry’s talk of fairytales and curses. It was also true that as much as Regina resented Emma for being the one Henry trusted and confided in, the one that was along for all his little adventures, there was also a part of her that were relieved whenever it became clear that her missing son was with Emma, because that meant that whatever insanity went down he would not be physically harmed. Emma would not allow their son to be hurt. Emma was the only being in this or any world that Regina would trust with the safety of her baby, not that she could or would ever admit as much.

Her son, hers!

Jealousy flared, along with hurt. The arrogance of this woman! To think that Regina was stupid enough to what, simply smile and say, ‘oh certainly, do go ahead and take my son and drive off so that you can take him away and never return again’?

“How very clever, miss Swan.” She began coolly, a superior smirk on her lips and one perfectly shaped and polished nail tapping lightly in their vicinity in a pantomime of giving thought to Emma’s words. Regina did not fail to notice how those green eyes zeroed in on the movement with an almost hypnotic intensity, and felt a small but hard to place thrill of glee before forcing it down. “But if you think that I will simply let you take my son in that atrocious safety hazard you call a car and...”

“Oh!” Emma interrupted, sounding far too eager for Regina’s liking. “But we could take your car if you want? We could split the drive, I’d drive there and you could drive back?”

All thought came to a screeching halt before plummeting helplessly in an entirely new direction, with Regina scrambling to catch up and make some kind of orderly sense out of things. “I...” She began and faltered right away, blinking at Emma. “My car? I’ll drive?”

“Sure, whichever you feel more comfortable with.” Emma agreed happily, completely missing the stunned expression on Regina’s face. “So, when can you go? I mean, if we go after school’s out we won’t have to take a lot of time off from work, but we’ll still have to leave work a bit early. For me that’s not really a problem, barring anything unexpected, so...” Emma leaned in inappropriately close again. “...when would be a good day for you this week?”

This time as Regina stared deeply into Emma’s eyes from far too close, Emma noticed. Blushing slightly Emma got caught up in that dark regard, until they were both locked in that silent but magnetic stare. Neither noticed that they swayed just a little closer to the other.

What was meant to be a brisk knock instead unexpectedly threw the door to Regina’s office open, as Emma had apparently neglected to close it properly earlier, and in the doorway stood Regina’s deeply startled secretary with several folders in one hand and the other raised as if to knock. A little whimper escaped her lips as she took in the two women in the room and the way they were situated, Sheriff Swan sitting on the Mayor’s desk, the Mayor herself placed in between the Sheriff’s knees, and the two of them leaning in close to one another in a very intimate way. As she had not been hired because she was stupid, the secretary quickly did the math and realized that she had just barged in on her fearsome employer in a highly private moment, possibly about to have a quickie with Storybrooke’s female Sheriff in the middle of the workday, she blushed furiously while stammering out fragments of an apology.

“I saw nothing!” She declared loudly at the end of her not quite finished apology, uncharacteristically tossing the folders she had brought onto the nearest surface inside the room so that she could slap one hand across her eyes, firmly, while the other fumbled for the door. As the two other women were still frozen in shock the secretary slammed the door shut, hard, and fled to her own office to hide in terror, hyperventilate, and contemplate writing out her will.

The moment was well and thoroughly broken, and the women at the desk awkwardly put distance between themselves without making eye contact. Regina moved towards the window, her arms coming up to wrap around herself as she tried to make sense of where her thoughts had gone. Emma got up from Regina’s desk and took a few hesitant steps towards the door, her hands briefly yanking on her hair before going into her pockets.

“Erm, so...” Emma cleared her throat nervously. “...about that movie?”

“You... really want me to come with you and Henry?” Regina’s voice was subdued, and between the dusk in the room and the brightness of the day outside her window, her expression was hard to make out. Emma smiled anyway.

There were a lot of things Emma could say to that, a lot of things she wanted to say, but really only one thing that mattered. “Of course.”

Regina turned slightly to ostensibly look out the window, hiding her reaction as she took a moment to reply.

“...tomorrow.” The answer, when it came, was spoken very softly.

“Yes!” Emma exclaimed, perhaps a bit too exuberantly before she caught herself and continued in a more normal tone of voice, however the happy smile was out of her control. “That’s great!” She edged towards the door, a hand already on the handle. “In that case, I’ll come by here tomorrow, Regina.”

With that Emma left, but not before she’d caught sight of the edges of a smile not even the shadows falling over Regina’s face could entirely hide. It was not a smirk, it was not arrogant, haughty nor dangerous, not like any of the smiles those lips had directed Emma’s way during her stay in Storybrooke, and it made the smile on her own lips turn into a grin.

Emma all but skipped down the corridor, slowing only to give a certain secretary’s door a hearty slam and causing the rattled woman inside to emit a high-pitched sound. “Great timing there, thanks!” The blonde shouted at the door, the playful sarcasm lost on the woman hiding on the other side of it, before Sheriff Emma Swan left the building to, presumably, continue her vigilance in keeping Storybrooke safe.

Regina leaned against her window and slightly surprised to hear herself chuckle at Emma’s antics.

“Until tomorrow, then... Emma.”

And the soft little smile lingered, long after the woman that put it there had left.

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A rather awkward phonecall to a confused and somewhat cautious Mary Margaret that evening while Emma was busy escorting the town drunk to his nightly cell amended the agreement slightly. Instead of meeting at Henry’s school when he was done for the day as implied, Emma met up with Regina and Henry at their home forty minutes later, giving Henry the chance to change and put his school things away before leaving.

Regina compromised somewhat for the drive and their intended activity, trading the skirt she would otherwise have worn for a pair of slacks, and allowing Henry to wear jeans and sneakers along with his pullover and blazer. All in all between makeup and hair and choice of clothing, Regina was rather satisfied that she looked nothing short of perfect. She always did, but this time it was strangely not enough to look simply perfect, although it took until after Emma arrived for her to pinpoint exactly what it was.

Storybrooke’s Sheriff unfolded herself from inside that hideous little yellow car and managed to surprise Regina. As Henry rushed over to hug Emma, Regina took the opportunity to study her more in detail, admiring the clearly new but still impossibly tight black jeans, as well as the stylish black vest that was buttoned over what she was amused to see was her own shirt. Emma’s hair looked as if someone had actually taken the time to work through it with a brush for once, and there were even traces of light makeup visible to Regina’s sharp eyes.

“Wow...” Emma told Regina once she looked up from their son to take in the other woman’s appearance. “You look stunning, Regina.”

Shocked by the strong sense of pleasure and satisfaction, as well as a jolt of happiness and the long forgotten emotion of bashfulness, Regina’s reply was far meeker than intended. “As are you as well... Emma.”

“Thanks!” Emma smiled happily and tugged a bit self-consciously at her hair. “I let Mary Margaret dress me today.”

Regina could feel herself looking at Emma oddly at that statement, which caused the blonde to blink a bit and amend herself. “No, I mean, Mary Margaret helped me pick out what to wear, and the makeup.”

She wasn’t entirely sure what to say about that, as she could not even begin to imagine the kind of desperation it would take to conceive to ask frumpy little Mary Margaret for fashion advice, the clothes Henry’s teacher usually wore were in Regina’s opinion far better suited for some elderly grandmother. However, Emma did indeed look... good. Very good in fact. Regina found some difficulty in wrestling her eyes away from Emma’s denim clad posterior and focus on getting herself behind the wheel of her car.

Regina was a little charmed to see that after complimenting their son on his appearance, Emma ushered him into the backseat with instructions on buckling up safely, and took it upon herself to close his door properly before getting into the passenger seat. Regina glanced over her shoulder at Henry, who gave an embarrassed shrug and a little roll of his eyes, causing her to smirk. Henry was a big boy now, and he had earned the right and the trust, if reluctantly, to seat and buckle himself into a car since he was eight. He would raise a fuss if Regina treated him the way Emma just did, and it did clearly embarrass him that she thought him that much of a ‘baby’, but he didn’t protest it, just shared a look of fond exasperation with his mother.

Perhaps it should have annoyed her a little, that her son would not raise a fuss with Emma the way he would have with her, but instead it amused Regina. The look of shared understanding had warmed her heart as much as watching Emma’s awkward maternal worry for their child had, and frankly she understood that in this case at least, that he wouldn’t protest Emma’s treatment simply meant that no matter how much she was his mother too, Regina was mom.

Satisfied that her son and Emma were buckled in Regina drove them off, listening to the conversation between the two of them with a tense anticipation. Much as she had expected, as Henry realized that they were in fact driving out of Storybrooke, he became increasingly agitated and nervous, which was the reason Regina had told him that they were spending the day with Emma but not specified what they were going to do. As they were almost upon the border Henry’s protests that they could not leave Storybrooke because something bad would happen to them became more frantic, Regina was about to stop the car to take care of her son.

She might be a hard woman in so many ways, but Henry had a firm grasp of her dark heart ever since the first moment she had held him in her arms when he was a mere three weeks old, and she would always respond to her son’s distress. No matter what he currently thought of her, or who came into their lives, she was his mother.

To Regina’s surprise, and not entirely hidden relief, Emma acted first. She turned in her seat so that she could face Henry, and told him in a very serious tone of voice to calm down. She told him that his mother would never ever willingly put him in danger, and that she, Emma, would never do that either. While the somewhat stunned Regina paid far too much attention to Emma and Henry and far too little to the road she was driving on, Emma also explained to their son in a calm way that causing too much of a ruckus in the back of a car was a good way to distract the driver until they in fact caused an accident. Regina snapped her attention back to the road at that, rattled that she might just have put her son at risk unintentionally.

A little smirk found its way to her lips soon though as she noticed where they were. She glanced back at her son in the rear-view mirror, and while displeased he had quieted down and was listening to Emma who was now encouraging him. “Henry?” Her voice gentled a little, instinctively wanting to comfort her baby if he was upset. “Are you alright?”

The boy met her eyes in the mirror and straightened, almost visibly drawing himself together, gathering his composure in a way that was touchingly familiar, and nodded. The smirk became a small smile. “Look out the window. We have already passed the border of Storybrooke.”

Henry and Emma both snapped around to stare through the back window, where the sign marking the edge of their little town just disappeared in the distance as the road they were on swerved. Two sets of green eyes turned to Regina, who finally let herself begin to relax. The dreaded exit from Storybrooke had been far less of a disaster than she had feared, thanks to Emma, and from there on the trip could only get better. In a rare bout of playfulness she started singing that bus song Henry had learned in kindergarten, her son quickly joining in with delight after a stunned moment. Emma stared at Regina long enough to make her feel uncomfortable before she too joined in, causing their son to laugh and demand more songs after the first had been finished.

When they reached their destination Regina felt the drive had not been long at all.

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“McDonalds!” Henry requested eagerly, bouncing up and down on the sidewalk, his cheeks rosy and his wide eyes trying to take in everything at once. They had only just parked the car and reached the main street, but he already knew where he wanted them to have dinner.

“Hold on, kid, your mom gets to pick where we’re eating.” Emma grinned at Henry and missed Regina’s brief surprise at the continued easy and casual acknowledgement of her as Henry’s mother. “You and I got to pick the movie, so its only fair she gets to pick where to eat... right?”

Henry nodded and turned to Regina, who smiled indulgently at the two of them. She scanned the streets ahead and saw several places she would rather eat than at that greasy fast-food place, and one restaurant in particular she would certainly have liked to go to. But this wasn’t about her. “Weell...” She drew out the word and made a show of choosing, her adorable and beautiful little boy looking at her expectantly. “I suppose that just this once, to celebrate the occasion...” She watched his face light up further as he realized what she was saying, and Regina could no longer hold back her grin. “McDonalds it is.”

“Thanks mom!” Henry cried and rushed forward to impulsively give Regina a hug. She felt the warm pressure of his tiny form for just a moment, and then he was running ahead to where the familiar sign beckoned, shouting over his shoulder for them to hurry.

Regina was frozen in place, her mind running over the last few minutes again and again as her eyes stung and something caused her chest to constrict. When had she gotten a hug from her son last? It was longer than she cared to remember.

A warm hand in hers finally pulled Regina back to the present.

Regina looked down at the hand holding her own, and then up into green eyes that held something remarkable, compassion and understanding. When did anyone, anyone at all, look at her that way?

“Ready to brave grease, noise and heartburn?” Emma said nothing of Regina’s reaction to a simple hug from their son, merely tugged gently at her hand to get them both moving towards where Henry waved before disappearing into the building. “I would have taken you to any of these other restaurants, you know.”

Allowing herself to be tugged along, while pretending she was not at all awkward at the contact and fighting a small blush, Regina mustered a smirk. “Believe it or not, but I have a cast-iron stomach, so I’ll manage.” Remembering her son’s happiness she could not resist adding. “It is worth it, for just this once.”

Emma’s smile was like a ray of sunlight, and equally blinding. “Yeah, well, I survive my own cooking so burgers and fries aren’t a problem.” Green eyes shifted away for a moment and Emma’s free hand found its way to her pocket. “Maybe, if today turns out to be okay, you could consider letting me take you out to a proper restaurant sometime?”

A little confused as to how Emma meant the proposal, not to mention how she herself wanted Emma to mean it, Regina nodded slowly. If things continued as they had so far, she would be more than willing to have another outing with Emma. There was something about spending time together, the three of them, without any animosity between herself and Emma, that stirred a sense of wistful longing in Regina. It felt like...

It felt like... family.

Was she willing to share her son to have this? Was she willing to let down her guard and make herself vulnerable, to trust Emma, in order to keep these family outings, this sense of happy belonging? To keep the blonde smiling and looking at Regina the way she did in just that moment as she gallantly held the door for her?

An informed decision could not be made so hastily, so Regina filed it away for further consideration when she would be alone and at home. Instead she simply allowed herself to experience all she could, walking towards where her eager son had reached the counter with the somehow warm, firm presence of Emma by her side.

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Coming out of the theatre dusk was settling in, and the cool evening air did wonders for Regina. Henry bounced along a few steps in front of them, somehow just as happy and excited now as he had been going in, still talking about the movie they had just seen, with Emma adding a few comments of her own. It seemed like such a small thing to make him so happy, and she regretted not having thought to make the occasional trip like this with him before.

Glancing at the woman next to her, now laughing at something their son had said, Regina had to admit that it probably wouldn’t have been the same, for any of them, if she had. Emma was a large part in why this evening was a success, and if Regina was completely honest with herself, she rather wanted Emma with them for more evenings like this. The blonde woman who had entered their lives as Regina’s nemesis, a serious threat to the only thing Regina truly loved, and who had been at odds with her unlike anyone ever had before, had turned out, when not baited or antagonized, to be... not so bad.

Sweet, actually. Considerate.

For instance, the movie they had just watched. True to Emma’s word it had not been an insipid Disney story about some helpless princess beset by some wickedly evil queen and finally dashingly saved by the heroic prince, granting an equally insipid and mindless happily ever after for the young lady now that she finally had a proper man to take care of her. Oh no. Instead the centre of the movie had been about children, and, to Regina’s surprise, at least indirectly of the importance of a mother in the life of her child.

For the briefest of moments Regina had felt something like betrayal, just the tiniest sting of it, thinking Emma had chosen this film to point out her importance in Henry’s life. That feeling was quickly washed away with amazement and gratitude when Henry looked away from the screen to look at her, carefully put his popcorn away, and squeeze her hand. He kept his hand there for a while, until the lure of his treats pulled it away, but it was enough for Regina. She looked over his head across to the woman sitting on his other side and was met with a knowing look and a warm smile. Emma nodded slightly before returning her attention to the movie, a pleased look still on her features.

The choice of movie had not been for the benefit of Emma’s connection to Henry, but for Regina’s.

While cautioning Henry to watch where he was going, Regina casually linked her arms with the one of Emma’s closest to her. She enjoyed the startled look the other woman gave her, it was only fair that Regina was not the only one on the receiving end of that experience tonight, and it certainly was not unpleasant, walking so close to the incredibly warm woman as the evening turned chilly.

She watched in silent amusement as Emma repeated the process of securing their son into the car from earlier that day, especially when Henry looked to her for help. Regina simply smiled in response, causing him to giggle but not protest as Emma closed the door for him. She took the wheel herself of course, because while she did trust Emma to consider Henry’s safety, well, she just trusted herself a whole lot more to drive carefully. She had seen Emma drive before, after all.

The conversation about the movie soon petered out as the car started moving, and a glance in the rear-view mirror confirmed that the boy that had been overflowing with energy had fallen asleep. Regina had expected that he would, after such a full day for him, and the motion of the car had always had that effect on him. She could recall the relief when she had discovered that, when Henry was an infant and had gone through a bout of colic and nothing she could come up with would soothe his crying. She had been at her wits end, truly near tears herself, and unfortunately the doctors she had seen had been no help. A comment from a nurse in passing had suggested it, and after that Regina spent many am evening driving through the streets of Storybrooke to rock her little boy to sleep.

Shaking herself out the memories, Regina looked over to the woman beside her. She found Emma looking right back, a faint smile on her lips and something Regina couldn’t read in her expression.

“What are you thinking about?” Emma asked, her voice hushed as not to disturb the boy sleeping in the backseat.

Regina’s eyes returned to the road, but for some reason she couldn’t find it in her to just avoid the question or give some half truth in reply. It was a delicate and sensitive subject between them, certainly, but at the same time... Regina had never had anyone to talk about these things with before, to share the experiences or the things Henry had done when he was younger. No, no-one spoke of personal things with Regina Mills.

So, haltingly and with a touch of hesitation, just in case this would be the thing to ruin what had been such a wonderful day, Regina told Emma what had been on her mind. She spoke of the many suggested household remedies she had tried, and how none of them had worked until she had found that the car actually did. She revealed to Emma how any longer trip in a car was sure to put Henry to sleep still, only they had not been anywhere that required an extended drive in so long that she was sure Henry had forgotten. He did seem so sure that he had not ever been away from Storybrooke other than his trip to Boston to find Emma, after all.

Trying to gauge Emma’s reaction Regina glanced at the blonde, only to find that the other woman had unshed tears in her eyes.

“Wow.” Emma said quietly, her tone full of emotion. “It sounds... you sound amazing. Such a...” Her voice caught slightly. “...a great mom.”

Regina grasped the wheel a bit harder and had to swallow against the lump in her throat. “I...” She began slowly after a moment, not knowing what, if anything, she could possibly say to make things better. “I have... pictures, and home movies... maybe you could... see them, sometime?” She looked at Emma again. “If you wanted to?”

Emma tried to be discreet in rubbing at her eyes and failed miserably, but there was at least a smile on her lips. A tremulous one, as fragile as the longing and grateful look she bestowed upon Regina. “I would, I would like that very much. It sounds... wonderful.” Her voice dropped even lower. “Thank you, Regina. Just... thank you.”

The final part of the drive was done in silence, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one.

After parking her car Regina moved to gently wake her son so that he could go upstairs and get to bed. Emma intercepted her, patting her arm and indicating the front door. Nodding slightly Regina backed away, readying her keys, and watched as Emma carefully unbuckled Henry and scooped him up in her arms.

“Its been years since I could carry him like that.” Regina said softly to Emma and smiled, noting the somewhat bashful look she was given in response. She unlocked the door and followed Emma who carried Henry to his room, where Regina, with the ease and familiarity of years of doing the same, eased off his shoes and his clothes without waking him up. She tucked his blankets around him and he snuggled into them instinctively.

Relieved of her burden Emma shoved her hands into her pockets and obediently followed Regina as she tiptoed out of the room.

“He’ll probably wake up in a few hours and go brush his teeth, but it shouldn’t hurt him any to go to sleep a bit early today.” Regina confided as they made their way back to the front door.

Emma nodded, and looked a little surprised to see that Regina not only followed her to the door but also outside, albeit really just right outside.

“I really have to thank you for today. Henry had a wonderful time, I expect he will talk of nothing else for days.” They shared a smile at that, before Regina glanced away. “I... had a lovely time also. Thank you Emma.”

With that Regina Mills, feared and respected Mayor of Storybrooke, reached over and placed a soft, lingering kiss on Emma Swan’s cheek.

“Thank you.” She breathed. “And drive safely.”

And then Regina was gone, the door hiding the slight heating of her cheeks as she carefully peeked out the window without being seen. There, still practically on Regina’s doorstep, Emma remained unmoving, only a stunned look on her face and one hand up to touch the cheek Regina had kissed.

Regina couldn’t resist the smile that wanted to claim her lips, and when Emma beamed happily at her door before she turned around and all but skipped over to her car, arms raised in some utterly silly gesture at the night sky, there was no holding it back.

She leaned against the window and allowed it full reign, one hand finding its way up to touch lightly at her heart. There was a warmth there that was unfamiliar.

Regina decided she liked it.