A Whole New Beginning

Chapter 3

A week after Emma was officially moved in, Regina woke up at 5 in the morning and padded down to the woman's room, quietly peeking her head in the door. She was surprised to see the bed neatly made and the few boxes she had brought with her sitting unpacked. It was as if she hadn't slept at all.

The brunette turned back around and was just about to descend the stairs when she heard soft crying coming from another room. She quietly walked down the hall to see the blonde curled up on the bed, her shoulders shaking from crying. She couldn't help but notice that Emma had said this was Henry's room and had admired the decorations, although Regina had never used it.

Emma was holding a grey and red striped scarf and was hiding her face in it. Regina decided to give the girl some privacy and went downstairs to make some tea for her and coffee for her guest. After calling Graham and checking in with him as he insisted she do three times a day, the mayor sat down and started going over the new health regulations for the restaurants around town.

At about 9 in the morning the blonde stumbled downstairs and poured herself a cup of coffee. "Henry didn't wake me up when he left." She said. "I told him to let you sleep. I sent him off to school." Regina answered. She had a sneaking suspicion that the young woman wasn't as crazy as she once thought. Something had happened to her. She had gone through hell and back, and Regina was going to help her.

"How did you sleep?" The mayor continued the conversation. "Fine. I um, crawled in with Henry last night. I hope you don't mind; I just couldn't sleep. I didn't wake him." Emma answered. "It's quite alright. This house takes some getting used to. It's so big often times I find myself getting lost." Regina chuckled and was happy to see she made Emma smile.

"So what's on your agenda for the day, Madame Mayor?" The blonde asked. Regina took a drink of tea and flipped the file she had closed. "I decided to take a couple days off from work. With Graham being elected sheriff again, my assistant can take care of the office for a few days. If you are deciding to stick around Miss Swan, you should know your way around town."

"You- you want to show me around?" Emma asked, surprised. "We are roommates after all. I suggest you be ready in 30 minutes or I'm going to leave without you." The older woman nonchalantly looked down at her paperwork again. "Alright. But I'm driving." Emma smirked and twirled her keys in her hand.

Soon, a very annoyed Regina sat in the passenger seat of the yellow bug, staring out the window and trying to drown out the tone deaf lyrics coming from the blonde's mouth, barely heard over the hideous choice of music. "Miss Swan, if you don't mind. I have a headache."

Regina wasn't lying, she was starting to think she should have gone to work. I mean, what was she thinking? She's never offered any sort of affection for anyone in town, and now she's letting a complete stranger move in with her. Not to mention she's keeping up this little charade with their "son".

"Uh, Regina? We're here." The mayor looked over to see Emma waiting for her, the car no longer running. She put on a smile and climbed out of the car, leading the way to the docks. "This is nice." Emma remarked, sitting on the edge of the wooden platform and taking off her boots, dipping her feet into the water.

"I don't come out her much. I prefer indoors, somewhere clean with less germs." Regina made a face at the dirty water that was contaminating the younger woman's feet. "Oh come on, Madame Mayor. You can't stay in that little bubble of yours forever. No wonder Henry is so uptight." Emma patted the spot next to her. Regina rolled her eyes but found herself sitting down. She'd have to remember to take this pantsuit into the dry cleaners later. "Put your feet in. It feels really nice." The blonde coaxed her. Regina scoffed and shook her head. "I prefer to keep my immune system healthy, thank you."