Blue Valentine

"Why do I need a babysitter?" Henry asked Emma as she finished correcting his homework. "You live here now, if mom is going out I can just stay with you."

"I told you, I'm going out too." Emma said for what felt like the millionth time.

"My mom is going out, you're going out. Both on the same day, at the same time…interesting isn't it?" Henry asked rising a questioning eyebrow in Emma's direction.

"Riveting." Emma deadpanned.

"I'm serious, mother." Henry said. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Yes." Emma said and Henry's eyes revealed a hopeful look. "You have this question wrong." She said much to Henry's disappointment.

"I'm serious." Henry said.

"So am I." Emma said. "You have this question wrong. Read the story again and try to find the right answer." She stood up to let Henry finish his work.

"You'd tell me if something was going on, right?" He said before Emma could walk away. "You wouldn't lie to me."

"No, kid, I wouldn't lie to you." Emma said avoiding eye contact.

***************
That night Emma went to bed thinking about the lie she had told Henry. She had never lied to him like that and the guilt was eating her alive. She really understood why Regina didn't want Henry to know but still, she couldn't help but feel guilty when Henry asked her what was going on and she couldn't tell him the reality of the situation.

"Are we fighting?" Regina asked startling Emma as she entered the guest room without knocking.

"Jesus, Regina." Emma said sitting up on the bed. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Are we?" Regina said sitting at the end of the bed where Emma's feet laid. "Fighting, I mean."

"No. At least not that I can remember." Emma said rubbing her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you're here." Regina said. "You only sleep here whenever you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you." Emma said. "Are you mad at me?" She asked just to make sure.

Regina gave the question some thought before she came up with an answer. "You haven't done anything unusually irritating." Regina said. "At least nothing that comes to mind at the moment." She moved Emma's feet to her lap and began giving her a light massage.

"You know I never let anyone do that." Emma said after she let out a small moan.

"Do what, dear?" Regina asked.

"Touch my feet." Emma said. "It's a pet peeve of mine."

"I'm aware." Regina said as she kept massaging Emma's feet. "Is this making you uncomfortable?"

"Not really, it tickles a little but it feels alright." Emma said. "I like it when you do that."

"What? This?" Regina asked as she ran a single finger down Emma sole.

"That." Emma said with another soft moan.

"I only like it when you do it." Emma said. "The first time someone else other than you tried to give me a foot massage I almost kicked her in the face." She said with a chuckle.

"It serves her right." Regina said. "These feet are mine."

"Yeah?" Emma asked and, as a response, Regina nodded. "What else is yours?"

"Everything." Regina said pulling Emma down by the legs. "You're all mine." She said moving so she could be on top of Emma.

"I like the sound of that." Emma said before she connected their lips together.

"Are you sure you're not mad at me?" Regina broke the kiss to make sure this wasn't one of Emma's attempts at avoidance. "Don't lie to me." She said stroking Emma's cheek. "Please be honest."

Emma slipped from under Regina and sat on her side of the bed letting out a big sigh. "I talked to Henry earlier tonight. I lied to him and now I feel like a bad mother. He trusts me and by hiding what is really going on between us I feel like I am betraying that trust."

"Emma…we've talked about this…" Regina said.

"I know and I get where you're coming from, trust me, I do." Emma said interrupting her. "But that doesn't mean I agree with it."

"Do you really think its wise to tell him about our relationship?" Regina asked.

"Yes. I do." Emma said. "We're in a good place, even though we still argue a lot, you know it's not like before."

"I agree that we have made some progress." Regina said silently taking in consideration Emma's words.

"You know me, Regina and I know you so you either want to be with me or you don't." Emma said."I think I've made it very clear that I do want to be with you, dear." Regina said.

"I don't want to sneak around anymore." Emma said. "We're in a good place right now. Waiting for our relationship to be perfect before telling Henry that we're back together is…I don't know…unrealistic."

"So what do you propose we do?" Regina asked.

"Work on our relationship day by day, let Henry know what is happening between us but keep him out of our arguments." Emma said.

"That sounds reasonable." Regina said after a beat.

"I’m known for being reasonable every once in a while." She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Not really. But it seems as if miracles do happen." Regina said.

"Very funny." Emma said.

"You're known for being reasonable as I am known for my sense of humor." Regina said.

"So we're telling him, right?" Emma asked confused.

"We're telling him, dear." Regina said. "On Sunday we can all spend the day together at the park and after we get home we can both sit down with Henry and talk to him about what is going on."

"Look at you being all reasonable and stuff." Emma said getting with a smirk.

"Shut up." Regina said moving back on top of Emma. "Now where were we?"

"Allow me to refresh your memory." Emma said brining her lips to Regina's.

****************
Regina didn't know why was she so nervous, it's not as if this was her first date. She looked around her bedroom and let out a frustrated sigh when she saw the disaster she made in an attempt at choosing an adequate outfit for her date with Emma.

"I still think you should have gone with the little black dress you discarded a few hundred outfits ago." Kathryn said from the armchair. "You can never go wrong with showing some skin."

"I don't want to look like a common whore, Kathryn." Regina said exasperated. "I want to make a good impression."

"You do realize you're going on a date with your ex-wife, right?" Kathryn asked. "She has already seen you naked…and giving birth…it doesn't get any more intimate that." She said with a grimace on her face.

"You're missing the point entirely." Regina said rolling her eyes. "This is our first date in years, I want it to go well."

"It will go amazing if you just relax a little…a lot really. You need to relax a lot." Kathryn said. "You're gorgeous, I know that, Emma knows that, she couldn't care less about what you're wearing, whether is Prada or Dior, she doesn't give a fuck, not as long as its you wearing it. So pick something you feel confident in and roll with it. Don't put too much pressure on the date and allow yourself to have a good time."

"Fine. Give me the black dress and the burgundy blazer." Regina said too proud to admit that Kathryn was right.

***************
"That's a hot little number you have on." Emma said as Regina walked up to her.

"This is where you're taking me?" Regina said not pleased at all with the venue for their date. "The docks?"

"Yeah! Isn't this cool?" Emma asked while Regina gave her an unamused look. "I'm kidding." She said taking Regina's hand. "Come on."

The path to the inside of a yacht was covered with rose petals. The inside of the yacht was candle lit, Emma had a light dinner ready for them to eat; she had Regina's favorite wine and soft music playing on the background. The effort that went into planning the date was obvious and Regina was very appreciative of it.

"Wow." Regina said clearly impressed. "This is not what I expected, not at all."

"At first I thought about taking you out to a fancy restaurant and maybe go do some dancing afterwards and you know…show you off…but then I thought: nah, I want her all to myself." Emma said. "So I bribed a few people, did some blackmailing and made this happen."

"You blackmailed someone? For me?" Regina asked with only what could be described as love coming out of her eyes.

"Only for you, my love." Emma said.

"Oh Emma." Regina said before she gave Emma a well-deserved kiss. "That's the nicest thing you have ever done for me."

"So blackmailing is what really gets you going?" Emma asked. "I should have known."

"Did you cook all of this?" Regina asked taking notice of the food on the beautifully arranged table.

"No." Emma said. "Belle and Ruby did."

"Belle and Ruby?" Regina asked.

"Don't ask." Emma said. "The less you know the better."

"Now I really want to know." Regina asked as she sat down on the table.

"Lets just say that I found them in a compromising position." Emma said. "It was a sight that I will never be able to un-see."

"Poor Gold." Regina said trying to stifle a chuckle.

"Poor Gold? Poor me." Emma said. "I will never be able to look at Belle the same way. I tell you, it's always the quiet ones."

Regina's nerves evaporated as they made jokes at the expense of their friends. It all felt oddly familiar and Regina started to remember one of the main reasons why she had fallen so in love with Emma. She was easy in the best of ways. Emma's easy going demeanor was something that, even though at times irked her, was something refreshing to her. For someone so used to order and control the chaos that was Emma Swan fascinated her.

After they were finished eating dinner they sat down on the sofa to drink a bottle of wine and shamelessly flirt with one another.

"I-I know we said we were starting over and I don't want to put any pressure on you, I don't mind going at your pace." Emma said. "But I got you something." She said reaching into the pocket of her pants. "I- I love you, Regina, even when I hate you, I love you. You have an amazing capability for love and those people you love, you love with everything you have. I'm incredibly lucky I'm one of those people." She took Regina's left hand and slipped the ring in the appropriate finger. "Like I said, my intention is not to put any pressure on you, I just want to show you that I love you, I love everything that you are and that I'm fully committed to this relationship."

"Emma…" Regina said finding herself at a loss for words. "You didn't have to." She said grabbing Emma's face to kiss her. "I know you are committed to me just as I am committed to you. I love you, Emma, I know I don't say it often enough but I do love you. There is no one else in this world that I would rather form a family with. You are a great mother and a great partner. If anyone is lucky its me, dear. I love you."

"You're amazing." Emma said getting lost into Regina's deep brown eyes. "Did you know that?"

"I do know I'm amazing." Regina said playfully. "You're not too bad yourself."

"Come here." Emma said tugging Regina closer to her body. They connected their lips in a slow kiss. Tonight there was no need to rush anything; they had the whole night to themselves.

"Is it weird that I feel like my heart is about to explode?" Regina asked softly.

"Is it weird that my palms are sweaty?" Emma asked with a very soft chuckle.

"Its ridiculous." Regina said in the same soft tone. "We've done this so many times."

"I know." Emma said before she sneaked in a small kiss. "That time in the college library."

"And that time in that awful yellow car you used to own." Regina said.

"Remember your first day as Mayor?" Emma asked. "What we did in your office? That was fun."

"I know. You have a blessed tongue, dear." Regina said.

"And you have a sinful body, Madam Mayor." Emma said.

"I'm ready to move this to the bedroom, are you?" Regina asked feeling slightly out of breath.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Emma said as she almost dragged Regina to the bedroom.

**************
Henry was pleasantly surprised when Emma told him that Regina would be joining them on their weekly trip to the park. Even though Emma lived in the same house he lived in they still spent the weekends doing things just the two of them. Whenever he and Emma went out to do something Regina always stayed at home, the three of them, aside for dinner, almost never did things together as a family. He was prepared for the family outing to be awkward but it was far from it. The three of them played and made jokes together, it felt as if the divorce had never happened and the last two years were just a bad dream.

"Henry, can you come down here for a second?" Henry heard Regina call from the living room.

"What's up?" He said after he ran down the stairs.

"What have I told you about running in the house?" Regina reprimanded.

"That if I break it I buy it?" He asked.

"No, kid. That's- that's my rule." Emma said while Regina gave her a dirty look.

"Really?" Regina asked Emma. "That was the rule in your apartment?"

"He didn't run inside the apartment, I'll tell you that much." Emma said.

"Is this why you called me for?" Henry asked confused.

"No, dear. Please sit down." Regina said gesturing to the empty sofa in front of the one in which both Regina and Emma where sitting.

"Are you about to give me the talk?" He asked regretting coming down to talk to his mothers.

"No, but now that we're here maybe we should kill two birds with one stone." Emma said to Regina.

"I think one potentially traumatizing talk is enough for one day, dear." Regina said.

"I was just trying to be proactive." Emma said.

"Well don't." Regina said.

"Fine, I wont." Emma said.

"Should I go and come down another time?" Henry asked.

"No." They said in unison.

"Henry, you know that Emma and I- well you know that we have a complicated relationship." Regina said. "We don't always get along and that's why we decided that it was best for all of us if we got a divorce."

"But here's the thing, kid, sometimes people make decisions that seem like the right ones at the time but as time goes by and people change…they find that they made the wrong decision." Emma said.

"What Emma and I are trying to say is that we've come to the conclusion that being apart is not what is best for all of us as a family." Regina said.

"Your mom and me, as you might have noticed, we have grown closer lately and we have been working on fixing the things about ourselves that made our previous marriage so…so…what's the word I'm looking for?" She asked Regina.

"Fucked up?" Henry offered.

"Henry!" Regina said.

"Mom says it all the time." Henry said sheepishly.

"Like I was saying…" Emma said desperately wanting to distract Regina.

"We're having a conversation later on about this language that you are using around our son." Regina said pointedly.

"Yeah, as I was saying…" Emma said.

"You're back together." Henry said. "I know."

"How?" Emma asked.

"Since when?" Regina asked.

"I had a suspicion when mom moved back in. You hate…ok…you strongly dislike each other, so why would mom move back in? There was also the fact that you look at each other weird whenever you're not fighting." Henry said. "Also I heard Mary Margaret and Mr. Nolan talking about it."

"I swear that woman is incapable of keeping her mouth shut." Regina whispered to Emma.

"And I saw you kiss the other day in the kitchen." Henry said. "Oh and I may or may have not been eavesdropping that time in the kitchen."

"Henry, what have I said about listening to other people's conversations?" Emma asked almost annoyed.

"Not to get caught, which I didn't." Henry said. "Also that its kind of rude."

"It's very rude, kid." Emma said.

"What have you been teaching our child when I'm not around?" Regina asked Emma.

"Life skills, Regina." Emma said.

"To do what?" Regina asked.

"He might end up being a detective, you don't know." Emma said.

"Neither do you." Regina said.

"You shelter him, I prepare him." Emma said. "We're a team."

"Honey, how do you feel about Emma and I being a couple again?" Regina asked choosing to ignore Emma.

"I think its cool. You seem happier and I like having Emma around." Henry said. "I just hope you don't fight like before."

"We wont." Emma was quick to answer. "I mean we're going to argue that's just who we are but we're not going to yell insults at each other anymore. We're past that."

"So we're a family again?" Henry asked.

"We've always been a family, Henry." Emma said.

"But now we are a family that lives under the same roof." Regina said.

"Now about that other talk…" Emma said. "When two people love each other…"

"No. No. Nooo." Henry said sounding oddly like Emma.

"Emma, he is ten." Regina said.

"Exactly." Emma said. "He needs to know these things."

"He's a baby!" Regina said.

"No, he is not." Emma said. "He is about to be a young man and he needs to be prepared."

"So what are you going to do? Give him condoms and send him on his way?" Regina asked appalled.

Henry figured that this was a conversation he shouldn't over hear so without his mothers noticing he retreated to the safety of his bedroom. A part of him was afraid about his moms eventually fighting and breaking up again but as of lately their arguments seemed to be good natured and he hasn't heard them call each other bad names in what feels like ages. He is happy to have Emma back home and to see Regina smile a lot more often so for now he'll leave them to be the adults while he enjoys his video games and comic books.