five
Emma had struggled to drop Henry off at his new school earlier that morning, Henry had been cool about it, unlike the blonde.
“Fuck kid, it’s like.. Just yesterday you were my little boy on that doorstep and now you’re all grown up going to school!” Emma had told him, being half sarcastic but had tears in her eyes as she spoke. Henry just giggled and gave the blonde one last hug.
“That's because it was only like.. Last week, Emma,” the boy playfully scoffed and rolled his eyes, strikingly resembling his mother.
“Yeah, yeah. Can’t I be proud of this little boy in front of me for just another minute?” Emma reached up and wiped away the seul tear that managed to escape the glassy eyes, as the ‘little boy’ puffed up his chest in annoyance
“I am not little!”
“Sure you aren’t, kid. Now, come on. You better get in there,” Emma’s head gestured towards the school yard, “that way you have time to sign up for soccer, yeah? You’ll do great, bud.” the blonde smiled proudly as she stood up from her kneeling position she had been in for multiple minutes on the sidewalk, and no doubt had some people walk around her to get into the yard. “I'll be here ten minutes early to pick you up at three. And then you can tell me about your day. I”ll bring your new ball and we can go to the park and get ice cream before dinner, just this once, I mean.. Twice?”
Emma cringed thinking about the last time she had fed the kid ice cream before dinner.
“Anyways, we can kick the ball around a little bit. My friend ruby is coming over for dinner tonight, and we can order whatever you’d like since it’s your first day, alright? Pizza, italian, chinese, sushi, am-”
“Emma,” Henry whined, “you’re stalling!”
“Pft! Wha-no!” Emma scoffed that idea off easily, “no way. I’m just telling you about our afternoon! We could even get me-”
Emma was cut off once again, this time by the school’s warning bell.
“Bye, Emma! See you later!” the kid quickly picked up his bag and ran into the yard, making it into his classroom lineup just on time. Emma could see Henry starting to talk to the girl ahead of him in line. ‘Good. he’s making friends already,’ Emma smiled proudly to herself once again as she watched the boy wave goodbye to her just as his class was ushered inside.
Emma now sat against the edge of the sofa, phone in hand. It was 1 o clock, and she had just finished her lunch. She still had nearly two hours before she had to go pick up Henry, so she figured she’d watch a couple episodes of The Good Place. But, after putting on the show she somehow managed to get Regina’s contact info onto her phone screen. Her right thumb hovered over the ‘call’ button for a few minutes before inner emma went ‘nah’ and she clicked the ‘imessage’ button instead. After nearly ten minutes of struggling to come up with what to write, and rewriting messages six times, she finally settled.
‘Hey Gina. Just a little update. Henry started his first day of school today. He seemed to get along with a couple people in his line as far as I could tell. He gets off school at 3. Ruby is coming over later for a dinner of Henry’s choice. We also found out he’s really good at soccer so he is going to try out for the school’s team. He can’t wait to meet you. He’s an awesome kid, truly. Here’s a photo from this morning, in case you’d like to see him.. He’s definitely yours. Anyways, we can't wait till you come home. We certainly have a lot to talk about when you do. Xoxo’
After some hesitancy Emma eventually sent it and unexpectedly received a fairly quick message back.
‘Emma! Hey. was just about to text you. I miss you, can’t wait to come home! I hope he adapts to school well and makes new friends. Make sure Ruby is sober and appropriate if she’s going to be around Henry, you know how she can be. I can’t wait to meet him. I'm not quite sure when the flight is but I’ll be home in a couple days. Take care of Henry, and yourself, Emma.
Xx, Regina’
The blonde smiled at her phone as she read the response. She was a little worried for Regina coming home because of how she left. They had nearly kissed after years of being in love with the woman, but it definitely has gotten more complicated since Regina had left and a ten year old child had shown up. Emma shook those thoughts away when she tossed her phone onto the sofa seat beside her and paid attention to Eleanor and Chidi until she had to go pick up henry.
Picking him up, thankfully, was much easier than dropping the kid off. Emma and Henry had both been excited to see each other. Emma brought his ball, as promised, and the two headed to the park as Henry had told her about his day and the new friends he had made. After ice cream, they had kicked around the ball for nearly an hour and then walked back home in time for Ruby showing up with dinner at 5.
“Henry, I’d like you to meet Ruby. Ruby, this is Regina's boy, Henry.” she introduced them, she had explained the situation to Ruby a couple days previous.
Henry reached an arm out and shook hands with the woman,” hello Ruby,” his chest puffed a little, “I’m Henry. Did you bring chinese food like I asked?” he looked in between the two women before directing his focus towards the two bags in Ruby’s hands. Both women giggled and nodded, and food was served out. After ruby and henry got acquainted, the three agreed on a movie, Hotel Transylvania, and settled with their dinner in front of the tv in the living room, something that Regina would hardly allow. It wasn’t until they were on the second Hotel Transylvania, that a distraction came, in the form of a knock on the door. Emma got up and opened the door, revealing two police officers.
“Emma Swan, you’re under arrest for the impersonation of Regina Mills. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law.”