So Does This Make Us Both The Other Woman?

17. Bedtime With Regina (Nothing But Darkness With The Evil Queen)

"'George," he went on," You've made a terrible mess. But you also made our sad little Betsy happy again, and- " Regina scowls at the page. "This book is deplorable. There's no redemption story, no struggle to be a better person. The monkey just does something nice that doesn't undo any of his harm and gets praised for it."

Roland giggles and she tucks him back against her, sighing. "Same old story, Roland. Slap a pair of wings on him and he'd be Emma Swan's, perfect man."

"Emma gave me this book," Roland says, yawning. "She says she liked it when she was little."

"Of course she did." Regina stares back at the page, offering Curious George her best death glare. He doesn't seem to notice at all.

Robin grins at them both as he enters the room and sits down beside her, and she subtly inches away. He puts an arm around her waist and it weighs heavily against her frame, but she tries her best to lean into it anyway, trembling just a hair. "Off to bed, Roland."

Roland pouts. "We didn't finish! I wanna know how it ends."

"It's a silly book, sweetheart," she stands up, lifting him into her arms to give him her best smile. "We'll read more in the morning, all right? You're too sleepy for it now."

"I wanna-" he starts, but his head falls back against her shoulder and his eyes are fluttering shut already, and she hugs him closer and nods to Robin.

"I'll be right back." He's watching her again with an unreadable expression on his face, and she looks away first to walk to the stairs.

She hears her phone ringing when Roland's safely in bed and hurries downstairs to get it, settling against the table in the foyer as she picks it up. "Sheriff Swan."

"Madame Mayor." Emma's voice is light, the strain that's accompanied their interactions for nearly weeks gone at last. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said."

She smirks. "Are you sure that's not dangerous for your health?"

"I've looked at some other places now," Emma goes on, ignoring her. "And I've come to one conclusion."

"Oh?"

"I deserve a hefty raise."

She laughs. "Do you?"

She can imagine Emma on the other line, sprawled out on her mother's couch and grinning into the phone as Henry does his homework at the kitchen table and rolls his eyes at them both. "I thought I should approach the mayor directly since she's the one who sent me down to New York last year. Where I got a pretty snazzy job that paid a hell of a lot better than a small-town sheriff. I have needs now, you know?"

She sees herself in the mirror, her smile too bright for a simple phone call and her face still shining even when she forces the smile away. "You're welcome to arrange a meeting to discuss your salary during office hours."

"You sure? Because I think you're gonna need to do some research first to understand why the sheriff needs to live in the apartment I found." Emma lowers her voice conspiratorially. "And also intimidate the landlord a little bit, because when I asked him about a rent break, he laughed in my face and told me he'd require a lot more than a few drops of blood for it."

Regina nearly chokes. "You offered Gold your blood for a cheaper apartment?"

"Child of true love, right?" She can nearly hear Emma biting her lip over the phone line, trying to keep her own smile under control. "I was just using everything I have. Which did not include a higher salary."

"You idiot," she sighs, her lips twitching again. "Where is this new apartment?"

Emma gives her the address, victory in her voice, and Regina's about to be irritated with her when Emma says, "I haven't seen you in forever."