Memories

Chapter 8

"Are you sure you are alright with Emma moving back in? It wouldn't be any bother for us if she stayed in the loft." Snow asked for the hundredth time since Emma broke the news that she was moving back to the mansion temporarily.

"With you in your condition," Regina gestured to the small developing bump, that Snow and David had informed the group about a few days previous. "Henry has made some valid and sound points, if there is any chance of restoring Emma back to the adult child we all know and love, it's more than likely to happen in the place she used to call home." Regina smiled at her former mother in law, who couldn't help but look worried. "Don't worry, I'll look after her." Regina placed her arm around the smaller woman, pulling her in for a half hug.

"And that's the last of it...are you okay?" David emerged down the stairs with an excited Henry in tow. The signature charming smile that constantly appeared on his face was washed away when he saw the look on his wife's face. Worried that something had happened to the baby, David quickly rushed to Snow's side. "Is it the baby?"

"Technically, yes. But not this one..." Snow sobbed into her husband's shoulder, as David flashed Regina a 'this again' smile.

"Emma is going to be fine dear, just like last time..."

"I'll leave you to deal with...this." Regina moved away swiftly, joining her son at the bottom of the stairs. Patting him on the knee, she took a seat beside him as they observed the scene in front of them.

"Are you excited for your Mom getting out of the hospital this afternoon?" The brunette asked her teenage son.

"Yeah, I can't wait, Grandpa brought me to the store to pick up Mom's favorite snacks...I was thinking we could all watch a movie tonight, how does that sound?" Henry looked hopeful as he stared up at his Mother.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but I promised Ruby that I would have dinner with her tonight. We haven't really seen each other since the night of Emma accident...but we will definitely have a movie night over the weekend. What about Friday?" Regina asked as she moved to hug her son, who instead of embracing his mother pushed away in anger.

"Friday is game night..." Henry muttered sounding defeated, before storming up the stairs.

***

By the time Regina had finished preparing dinner, Henry had finally emerged from his room, looking slightly less upset.

"You ready to speak to me again?" Regina asked rhetorically, as she continued to stir the pasta sauce she had made for Emma and Henry.

"Gramps messaged me, they're almost here," Henry answered in a monotone, as he moved to fridge to retrieve a Gatorade.

"Henry, I'm sorry I forgot about game night. It's just been so long since we've had it, you can't seriously be mad at me for that?" The Mayor asked, as she turned the sauce down and moved over towards her son.

"It's not about game night...tonight is Mom's first night back and I guess I just wanted us to hang out like we used too," Henry confessed, making his mother feel a little bit guilty for crushing his hopes for the evening.

"I'm sorry Henry, I didn't realize that this meant so much to you. If it makes you feel better I can just invite Ruby over here and we can all hang out together?" Regina suggested, she really didn't want to bail on Ruby especially after the last few weeks they've had.

"No it's okay, you go and have fun. But just know that you are missing out on one heck of a movie marathon!" Henry smiled at last, before embracing his mother in an overdue hug.

"Anyone home? Patient coming through!" Henry pulled away from Regina as soon as he heard the deep voice of David travel through the house. Running to meet them, with Regina following slowly behind. Truthfully Regina was worried about having Emma back in the mansion, she hadn't slept there since the divorce and the brunette didn't know how she would truly react to seeing her ex-wife every day in her home.

"Mom! I'm so happy that you're back!" Henry carefully hugged his birth mother tight as soon as the woman stepped into the living room.

"Welcome back Emma," Regina smiled politely once she reached the hugging pair. Moving to the side the older woman retrieved Emma's bag from David, as Henry let go of his injured mother.

"It's good to be home, I mean-"

"No need to correct yourself, this is your home, Emma." Regina interrupted the younger woman, who smiled gratefully at her response to Emma's 'slip up'. The two women shared a rare moment with each other, Emma was able to fully take in Regina and imagine what her life with her was like. Regina on the other hand, couldn't stop thinking about the alarming amount of times she had found herself lost in thought over her blonde.

"Sorry to break up the reunion, but I should be getting back to your mother. We'll be by to check in on you tomorrow...and don't worry about the station, I've got it covered until you are back on your feet." David stood in front of Regina, blocking her few of the blonde that she couldn't shake from her mind.

"Bye dad," Emma smiled shyly as David placed a small kiss on her head, before smiling at Regina and Henry as he left.

"Why don't you two relax here, while I finish making dinner." Regina put on her usual Mayor smile as Henry gently pulled Emma onto the couch to start off the movie marathon he had planned for the two.

"Whatever you're making smells amazing..." Regina jumped as the sound her ex-wife startled her.

"It's your favorite, want to try some sauce before I plate it?" Knowing what Emma's answer would be, the brunette was already turning to face the blonde with a wooden spoon coated in sauce for her, before she even had a chance to answer.

"That predictable?" Emma joked before coming closer for a test of Regina's sauce, trying her best to hold back a moan as the perfectly paired flavors danced over her tongue.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Regina joked once Emma had recovered from the flavor explosion that just took place in her mouth.

"Please do..." Emma played along, forcing Regina to release a laugh she didn't realize she was holding back.

"Thank you for making dinner though, Henry and I would have just fine with a pizza." Emma's demeanor changed at the thought of where and who Regina was going to be spending her evening with.

"You've just gotten out of the hospital, no junk food for some time Miss Swan...and I hope you are okay with me going out tonight. I should have asked in advance, are you really up for watching Henry alone?" Regina relayed the conversation that they had a mere few hours ago, hoping that Emma was still okay.

"Regina, go out and have some fun! Speaking of which, you should probably get going if you want to arrive your usual 10 minutes early." Emma smirked at the older woman.

"See, you're already starting to remember things," Regina smirked right back, before moving to retrieve her purse. "Henry, I'm heading out now. Be good for your mother, and Emma, be good for our son!" Regina warned before rushing out of the house.

***

"Sorry that I couldn't get us a reservation at that new restaurant you wanted to eat at. How was I supposed to know that they were taking reservations at least a month in advance," Ruby explained as she sat down next to the older brunette with a large glass of wine.

"It's okay, really...I wasn't really in the mood to go out anyway." Regina sighed before taking a rather large gulp of her wine.

"What's up babe?" Ruby moved closer to take her girlfriend's hand in her own.

"It's Henry, we had a bit of a fight this morning...he wanted to have a family movie night and didn't react too well when he found out that I was coming out with you tonight." Regina looked stressed as she moved a stray piece of hair away from her face.

"He'll get over it, he's just excited to have Emma back and he wants things to go back to the way things were before." Ruby let out a frustrated sigh, she had hoped that her night with Regina would be spent Emma free.

"Don't give me that sigh, I know you aren't thrilled about Emma living with me-"

"Would you really be okay if my ex moved in with me again?" Ruby interrupted, before refilling her wine glass, knowing that she was going to need it to get through the inevitable conversation with Regina.

"Your ex is passed out in the Emerald City somewhere," Regina snapped back.

"That was a low blow Gina," Ruby smirked annoyingly at the older woman.

"So is you attacking Emma every chance you get! I feel like we are going in circles Ruby, all we seem to do nowadays is fight about Emma!" Regina stood, too annoyed to be sat beside the brunette anymore.

"You're the one that has spent the past few months moaning about every little thing she does! I thought Emma was the one with memory loss, not you." Ruby counterattacked.

"She needs me, Ruby, how many times do I have to tell you that you have nothing to worry about! Emma is my past, and if things keep going on like this you will be too!" Regina snapped before thinking about what she was really saying, she didn't intend to hurt the younger woman.

"She drools, she doesn't know how to load the dishwasher properly, she lets Henry skip homework...do I need to go on?"

"Stop it, Ruby!" Regina warned.

"She can't fold laundry, she forgot your anniversary twice! She only cares about herself, she's always canceling on Henry-" Ruby continued, knowing that she was hitting a nerve with the older woman.

"That's enough Ruby! I may have said all these things and more about Emma, but you don't get to bring Henry into this! Emma is an amazing mother, and she is the most caring and selfless person I have ever met! So enough!" Regina shouted, catching the younger woman off guard.

"That really sounds like someone who is over her ex..." Ruby mumbled after a deafening few moments of silence.

"Grow up Ruby, if you can't do that...then don't bother coming back." Regina stormed out, leaving an extremely pissed off Ruby behind. Letting the rage get the better of her, Ruby violently punched a nearby wall, causing her hand to bleed and bruise. She knew that she'd screwed up, and she didn't know how she was going to come back from this one.

***

Emma and Henry laid cuddled up underneath a pillow fort that Henry demanded they'd build, the boy was close to sleeping in his mother's arms, as Mulan overtook the large screen in front of them. Henry liked to pretend that he was over the fairy-tale section of his childhood, but Emma and Regina knew that he was still their little boy, who enjoyed a good Disney marathon. The popcorn had been spilled over the floor from their re-enactment of 'I'll Make a Man Out of You', that had both of them bouncing on the couch trying to air fight the other.

"It looks like a bomb has gone off in here!" Regina's voice caught them both of them off guard.

"Mom? What are you doing back so soon? We haven't even made it through the first movie yet." Henry moved from Emma's arms to hug his other mother tightly, his way of really apologizing for their fight that morning.

"I had a long and hard thought, and decided that I would rather be here, watching movies with you two tonight." Regina kissed the young man's head before he ran back to join his other mother in the fort.

"There's room for one more if you'd like..." Emma offered, ignoring that fact that she could see that Regina's makeup was smudged and her eyes puffy.

"I'd love too..." Regina stepped out of her heels and crawled in the back of the pillow fort, resting herself beside Emma as Henry cuddled into Emma's side.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emma whispered as Henry was engrossed by the war scenes on the screen.

"No, I'd rather just eat what's left of the popcorn and spend time with my family." Regina smiled wholeheartedly, before gently bumping her shoulder with the blondes.

"In that case, dig in." Emma winked as she handed the half-empty bowl to her ex. Looking over at Regina, Emma took the time to truly study her ex. She admired the woman's strength, her beauty, her in general. Her eyes fell to Regina's plump lips, she had often found herself staring at her lips over the last few weeks, but it wasn't until this moment that she really got something out of it.

(Flashback, 6 years earlier)

"Miss Swan!" Regina stormed into sheriff's station, looking like she was ready to kill the Sheriff.

"Hide me!" Emma whisper-shouted to her father who couldn't help but laugh at his daughter.

"You'll have to face her sooner or later, I'm gonna take my lunch early." David quickly made his leave, only to run into the Mayor on his way out. "She's all yours..."

"Regina...to what do I owe the pleasure?" Emma pretended to be busy as she moved to file papers that had been sitting on her desk for at least a week.

"We need to talk about what happened, you can't keep hiding away from me forever." Regina followed the blonde, trapping her in the filing room.

"I vote on not talking, now if you'll excuse me I have a lot of work to do." Emma tried to move before Regina blocked her in.

"Emma, you don't need to be embarrassed. I was quite flattered really." Regina moved closer to the blonde, forcing her to back up against a nearby wall.

"I was drunk, I had no idea what I was saying." Emma's eyes shifted around the room, trying her best not to look at the brunette.

"What are we doing dancing around each otherr? I'll admit that I was shocked when you confessed your feelings for me, but now that I've had some time to think everything over, I can't deny it anymore." Regina pinned the blonde against the wall at last. "I like you Emma Swan, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about you...your eyes," Regina slowly ran one finger up Emma's exposed arm. "Your smile.... the cute little way your nose twitches when you're thinking...your lips..."

"Regina..." Emma whispered as Regina bent down and captured Emma's lips with her own, just like she'd dreamed of doing over these last few months.

"I've been wanting to do this for so long..." Regina said breathlessly as she pulled away from the stunned blonde.

"Wow..." Was all Emma could manage to say.

"My place, Friday night at 8...don't be late and bring wine." Regina winked before finally exiting the room, leaving the stunned blonde behind.

(End of Flashback)


"You okay Miss Swan?" Regina whispered, bringing Emma back to this world.

"I'm perfect...little man's asleep, should we just leave him here or try and move him?" Emma questioned as they both looked down at their sleeping son.

"I think a night down here would be fine for all of us, you do make a good pillow fort." Regina smiled, before snuggling into her pillow, as Emma watched her son and ex-wife sleep soundly.