Chapter 31 (SMUT)

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Emma took a long drink from her water bottle before she continued. It was their last full day on Sicily and she and Henry had decided to climb a little way up Mount Erice. The sun was blazing hot, sweat dripping steadily down her back as they made their way up the winding, narrow path. Henry had gone on ahead, his limber body tackling the climb with ease. When at last Emma caught him up, he was sitting on a large flat rock near the edge of the path where the trees thinned, affording the hikers a stunning view of the countryside beyond.

"Wow," Emma said as she sat down heavily beside Henry and swung her bag from her shoulder.

"Not bad, right?" Henry said. "Look, I think that's Zelena's villa."

He pointed to the left where a pale orange roof peeked through the tree tops. The sparkling circle of blue beyond and a glint of red jeep told Emma that they were indeed looking down on Regina's cousin's house. She wondered briefly what the two women would be doing, having chosen to opt out of their walk in favour of a more relaxed morning.

"Have you had a nice time this week?" Emma asked Henry as she pulled out two cereal bars and handed him one.

"It's been amazing," he grinned. "Definitely one of the best holidays of my life."

"Me too," Emma nodded.

They fell silent again, looking out over the horizon. Both Swans were lost in their own thoughts and it wasn't until Henry asked the question that Emma realised they were both reliving the same memories.

"Dad would have loved Sicily," Henry murmured. "Do you think he's watching us now?"

"I think he's watching us all the time," Emma nodded. She wasn't religious per se but she did believe that Neal was somewhere, looking out for her and their son.

"What do you think he'd say about you and Regina?" Henry asked.

Emma paused before answering. It had been a question she had asked herself several times over the past few months.

"You dad wanted me to be happy," she said at last. "I don't think he ever imagined me starting a relationship with a woman but he wanted me to move on after he died. I hope he'd be happy because I've found someone whom I love and who loves me."

"I think he'd like Regina," Henry said. "They'd have so much fun talking about the history of the RAF. Do you remember how that was all Dad talked about after he came back from that seminar one summer?"

Emma chuckled. "It took him a week to realise he had bored the two of us stupid with all those facts about World War Two and the bombings. I mean, it's an interesting topic for a couple of hours or so but he just went on and on about it. I found his passion adorable actually, if a little intense after a while."

Henry laughed too. "I still remember some of those statistics he told us. I was only ten I think."

"Maybe you'll be able to shoehorn them into one of your essays for your GCSEs," Emma suggested. "He'd love that."

"That would be tricky since we're not studying World War Two," Henry remarked.

"Never back down from a challenge," Emma said. "You can do anything you set your mind to even if it seems impossible when you first think of it." As she spoke, Emma gazed off towards the ocean, her face thoughtful. Henry noticed, of course.

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