Miles To Go

Chapter Eight

Emma smiled as she sat on the front steps of the cottage's porch and watched as Henry went running towards Ruby, practically tackling her before she could get out of her car. Ruby's laughter along with Henry's filled her ears and she couldn't help but smile at the feeling it brought on.

She and Henry had spent most of the day out in the woods exploring and after getting lost for an hour, they finally found their way back to the cottage, both a little worse for the wear after Emma slipped and fell down into a shallow ravine. That had been the end to their exploring for the day and she promised Henry they would try again another day.

"Ruby!" Henry exclaimed as she picked him up and twirled around with him, peppering his face with kisses, her red lipstick leaving marks all over his face. "You're really here!"

"I really am!" She laughed and she put him back down on his feet. "I missed you, kid."

"It's only been four days since we left."

"Four days too many if you ask me."

"Did Mom know you were coming?"

"I asked her to keep it a surprise," Ruby said, looking over at Emma and winking before she popped the trunk of her red sports car. "Do you want to help me bring in my stuff?"

Henry nodded, grabbing the bag he could carry easily and rushed towards the front steps. "Mom, there's only two bedrooms. Where is Ruby sleeping?"

"She can have the other bedroom."

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked as she approached them. "I can stay on the couch, Em. It's not a big deal."

"Take her stuff upstairs, Henry."

"Okay, Mom."

Emma sighed as she took a sip of her beer and looked up at Ruby. "It's not a big deal. It's not like I've been sleeping much since we got here. If it makes you feel any better, we can switch up every couple of days?"

"That makes me feel a little better. Not so much about the whole you not sleeping thing, though and you know we're going to have a little talk about that, right?"

"Did you bring it?"

Ruby nodded as she hooked a thumb over her shoulder at the car. "Safely tucked under the backseat. Do you want me to—"

"Not until later. And we'll talk, later. Not with Henry around."

"What did you tell him about her?"

"Just what he needed to know."

Ruby nodded in understanding before walking back to her car to carry a much heavier bag inside. Emma sighed and took another long sip of her beer and leaned against the post, watching the few fluffy white clouds skip across the sky as they caught the colour of the brilliant sunset that had just begun. The corners of her mouth lifted as she heard the laughter coming from inside. She closed her eyes and willed herself not to think of any more memories—good or bad—when it came to Regina and instead tried to stay in the moment and relish in the relieved feeling that had settled inside of her the moment she saw the fancy red sports car come to a stop behind her Bug.

Emma stayed out on the porch, listening to Ruby and Henry inside, Ruby's laughter as Henry described their road trip to Storybrooke in excruciating detail, to the first night they spent in Storybrooke in the yellow Bug, to the storm that came around and nearly flooded the bedroom that Emma had relinquished to Ruby without a second though, right down to the way Regina had been staring at them, more specifically him, in the diner the day before. He didn't fail to mention the food wasn't nearly as good as Granny's and that it shouldn't be called that because it was wrong. He definitely didn't fail to mention that he thought Regina was beautiful and he knew now why his mother had never stopped loving the other woman.