Emma stared out the window as the winding road became straighter and the trees gave way to lush farmland and soon after, houses and then neighborhoods as they arrived in Portland, Maine. Regina found a motel not far from the interstate and she pulled into the parking lot, coming to a stop just outside the motel's office.
Regina was fidgeting and Emma could tell that there was something bothering her. She reached out for her and was quickly shrugged away. With a frown, Emma unbuckled the seatbelt and just stared at the other woman, wanting to ask her what was wrong, but not wanting to push her since she seemed to be in a very different state of mind than she had been earlier.
Emma turned to check on the sleeping toddler in the back seat, smiling at the way he sat with his head lolled to one side, thumb in his mouth and his blanket clutched tightly to his chest. It hadn't been too long of a drive, but he was exhausted after a long day at Johanna's and she knew when he woke up, he would be hungry. She looked back at Regina and reached out for her again and this time Regina didn't shrug her off or pull away.
"We should get a room and then find somewhere to have dinner," Emma said quietly as to not wake Henry up just yet. "Regina?"
"Right," she nodded and looked over at her. Her brown eyes were rather dull with a somewhat of a faraway look in them. "I'll be right back."
Emma watched her enter the office and even in the darkening sky, she found it hard to see her through the window. She sighed and waited, her fingers drumming over her knee continuously until Regina returned to the car and backed out of the spot. She said nothing as she drove through the small parking lot and came to a stop at the last spot on the end and parked in front of the last room.
She said nothing still when she slipped out of the car and popped the trunk, grabbing all three suitcases and it was the slam of the trunk that woke Henry from his nap. Emma carried him out of the car and stood behind Regina as she fidgeted with the key in the door, finally managing to get it to unlock after nearly a whole minute. Emma hung back while Regina brought their luggage inside the room and flipped on the light. She entered with Henry fussing in her arms and frowned at the state of the room and the way the stale cigarette smoke clung to the air.
"One bed?" Emma asked and Regina sighed in an irritated way. "It's all they had?"
"Yes. There is a cot in the closet. I'll sleep on that," she replied without looking over at her and walked to the closet by the door and yanked the door open. She pulled out the cot and struggled to get it to unfold. "Why don't you and Henry settle in and I'll go get us something to eat?"
"O—okay," Emma nodded and sat down on the edge of the double bed with Henry still in her arms. "You won't be long, will you?"
"No. There is a diner just up the road."
Emma said nothing, she only watched as Regina removed her badge from her belt along with the holster. She took the gun out of it, placed it down the back of her jeans, and hid it beneath her jacket. Regina didn't even look back as she slipped out of the room and locked the door behind her. Emma ran a soothing hand over her son's back as he started fussing again.
"Mama, I'm hungry."
"I know," she whispered and she kissed his forehead lightly. "Regina went to get us some dinner."
"Smells funny," Henry said as he scrunched up his face and Emma couldn't help but laugh.
"I know, it does, doesn't it?" She said and she placed him on the bed and walked over to the window. She opened it just as Regina backed the Mustang out of the spot and the tires spun on the pavement as she hit the gas. Emma swallowed thickly as she opened the window as wide as it would go before turning around. "Look, Henry, there is a television."
"We watch it?"
"Only until Regina comes back."
"Okay."
[X]
Regina pulled up into the only empty spot at the roadside diner and headed inside the small establishment. It was busy despite it being past the diner rush and she ordered a couple of burgers and an extra side of fries and two Cokes. The waitress told her it'd be a little bit of a wait and she nodded, spotting the payphone by the washrooms and headed over to them. She placed a quarter into the slot and dialed a number, turning her back to the people talking loudly all around her the moment the line began to ring.
"What?" A slurred voice answered. "Who is it?"
"It's me," she replied.
"Who?" Jones muttered and it was clear that he had been drinking.
"Sheriff Mills," she replied tightly. "Did you find out what I asked of you, Jones?"
"No."
Regina growled and tried to resist the urge to slam the receiver down. "What do you mean, no?" She snapped and she noticed a few of the patrons glance over at her and she shook her head and rolled her tense shoulders back. "You aren't alone, are you?"
"No," he replied in a slurred whisper. She heard a shuffling noise and the faint sound of Jones' voice asking whoever was with him to give him a moment. "He's dead."
"Who is?" Regina asked and when he refused to answer, she curled her hand into a tight fist at her side. "Robert?"
"No."
"Bobby?" She asked and when he refused to answer again, she knew it was Bobby. "How did it happen?" She asked and there was nothing but silence save for the soft sound of his breathing over the line. "Jones, so help me god, you will tell me or I will come right back to Storybrooke and beat the answer out of your one-handed ass!"
"Traitors are amongst us," he said lowly. "The less you know, the better, luv."
"Jones—" Regina said but the line went dead and she swore under her breath and hung up.
"Mills, order up!" The waitress yelled and Regina waved to acknowledge that she heard her before placing another quarter into the slot and dialed another number.
Whatever had happened in the time since they had left Storybrooke, it was bad and Regina felt completely disjointed from what was happening in her town. She should've stayed or taken Emma and Henry there to Portland and went back. The line rang and rang and she groaned as the waitress called out her name once more and she hung up, taking the quarter out of the small tray once it had fallen and placed it back into her pocket.
She paid for their dinner, grabbed the bag and the two bottles of Coke, and headed back out to her car. She clenched her jaw tightly before making the short ride back to the motel. She paused just outside the door and she could hear the sounds of the television playing inside followed by Henry's infectious giggles. It was that very sound that reminded her why she was protecting them both, why she was so committed to keeping them safe. It wasn't just Emma who had captured her heart, it was the precious two-year-old that had stolen the key to her heart and kept it locked away in his own.
She knocked twice, her hands too full to grab the room key out of her pocket and Emma opened the door a moment later. Regina smiled and slipped into the room, placing the bag of food and the two bottles of Coke down on the small table by the window. She went into the bathroom to wash up and she splashed some water on her face before taking a long, hard look in the mirror.
She looked ragged with dark circles under her eyes and a certain uncomfortable tightness to the way her lips curled downward into a frown. Her hair was a mess and in a dire need of a trim. She ran her fingers through her hair before stepping back out into the room to find Henry and Emma at the table, Henry sitting on his mother's lap while she broke up a third of her burger for him to eat. Regina just smiled and sat down across from them, grabbing her own burger and unwrapped it from the foil paper.
They were silent as they ate, Henry filling the silence with his soft babbling while he ate the small portion of his burger and shoved fistfuls of fries into his mouth despite Emma trying to stop him. Regina ate only half of her burger, her appetite suddenly diminishing as she recalled the brief conversation she'd had with Killian Jones over the phone. She was lost in thought, particularly hanging on the words "traitors are amongst us" and trying to figure out just what he had meant by that. She picked at her fries and sighed, her thoughts jumbling and tumbling over and over in her tired mind.
"Hey, you okay?" Emma asked quietly and Regina nodded.
"I'm just tired is all," she replied. "Perhaps we should have an early night tonight. We have a long ride ahead of us in the morning."
"I don't want you to sleep on that cot."
"Where else am I to sleep?"
"In the bed," Emma said as she hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "With me and Henry."
"Emma—"
"Why not?" Emma asked. "It's a lot more comfortable than that cot you pulled out of the closet earlier. We're only sleeping in the same bed," she said and her voice dropped slightly. "It's not like it is the first time we've spent the night in bed together."
"But Henry—"
"We're just sleeping, Regina. It's not like we're going to have sex with him in the bed with us."
Regina shook her head no and idly chewed on her bottom lip. The hurt look in Emma's eyes told her all she needed to know about what was going through her mind just then. She didn't want to spent the night on some uncomfortable, moth-ball infested cot because she had grown so used to sleeping in Emma's bed and in her arms that she couldn't imagine anything else, yet it was different because they would not be alone in the bed and she couldn't trust herself to keep her hands from roaming.
Regina gathered up what was left of her dinner and tossed it in the small trash can by the door. She grabbed her small suitcase and propped it open on the edge of the bed, selecting a long t-shirt that she'd packed and a fresh pair of underwear. After making a trip into the bathroom to change and get ready for bed, she returned to find Emma already changed into a similar looking long t-shirt, barely a nightgown, and was helping Henry into his pajamas.
Regina closed her suitcase and placed it on the floor at the foot of the bed before moving to lie down on the cot set up not even a foot away. It was hard and uncomfortable and there was a distinct smell that made her feel rather nauseous. She ignored the look that Emma gave her just before Emma herded Henry into the bathroom, telling him to go potty and brush his teeth before bed. Regina closed her eyes, knowing how impossible it'd be to sleep with a full stomach, but she was far beyond exhausted and she could tune out Emma and Henry and hopefully the nausea-inducing smell coming off the cot.
Regina wasn't sure how long it had passed once Emma and Henry had climbed into the bed together and shut out the light, but she was sure it hadn't been long at all and the cot was no longer an option to sleep on that night, not if she wanted to be well rested for their nearly eight hour drive to the city the next morning.
She moved quietly and climbed into the bed beside Emma, sliding in up against her, her front pressed to Emma's back as she gently eased an arm around her middle. She smiled when she felt the relaxed way that Emma leaned back into her and kissed her shoulder when Emma placed a hand over hers. Neither of them said a word, it was almost as if they didn't need to, and Regina closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her within minutes.
[X]
They were in Boston by one the next afternoon and they had stopped at a restaurant just off the interstate for a late lunch. It was then that Emma noticed how increasingly agitated Regina was becoming and she wasn't sure whether to ask her why and risk further pushing her or to just leave her be and hope it would pass.
Henry, of course, had the waitress wrapped around his finger from the moment he flashed a toothy grin at her when she took their order. She returned with their drinks and some paper and crayons for him to color with while they waited.
"Did you hear what happened out in Maine?" A man at the table next to them asked his companion. "Some crazy arrest went down with some small town mayor by the feds."
"No, what happened?"
"Turns out this mayor had a second job, a business. A drug smuggling business."
Emma looked over at Regina who had leaned to the side to better hear the conversation between the two men. They had no idea what had happened after they left Storybrooke and Regina had told her that the federal agents had planned on arresting Robert Gold after they had left town. Regina looked furious and Emma guessed it was likely because she had no idea what the hell was happening back in Storybrooke.
"Drugs?" The other man asked. "So this small town mayor was behind some drug smuggling operation?"
"That's what I heard, at least he was, heard they shipped him off to Augusta this morning to go before the judge there. Papers claim the federal agents have enough evidence against him not to even warrant a trial. He's going to be sentenced on Monday."
"I need to make a phone call," Regina said in a hushed whisper and Emma reached out to keep her from getting up. "Emma—"
"Can't it wait, Regina? We're about to eat."
"Emma—"
"Look," Emma said as she leaned forward and dropped her voice low so Henry would not be able to hear, whether he was paying attention or not. "I wanted him behind bars as much as you did as soon as we knew what a deceitful, manipulative man he was and the truth behind what he was involved in, but we haven't eaten at all today because you were so adamant on leaving as soon as we'd woken up this morning. Let's eat and then you can call whomever you need to call before we get back on the road. Okay?"
"Okay, Emma. We'll eat first."
Emma wasn't used to taking charge like that and it surprised Regina too, but she sat back with a satisfied smirk curling over her lips as their waitress brought their lunch and placed each plate down in front of the three of them. Henry dove right in to the macaroni and cheese he had been dead set on ordering and Emma picked up the turkey sandwich on rye and took a bite, not once losing eye contact with Regina who just sat there staring at her with her mouth slightly agape.
The men at the table next to them talked about what they'd heard or read in the newspaper regarding Robert Gold's arrest, but there wasn't much more information, at least not what Regina would be able to find out with that phone call she was itching to make.
The moment the bill was placed on the table, Regina was up and at the payphone near the entrance of the restaurant. Emma sighed and stayed at the table, wiping Henry's hands and face with a napkin dipped in a small glass of water to get all the cheese off of his skin and the milk moustache he managed to get while drinking from a "big boy glass" with Emma's help. Emma looked over at Regina several times in the next fifteen minutes while telling the waitress who came back twice that she was waiting for her friend to make a phone call before they would pay their bill and be on their way.
"Mama?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"Why we going home?"
"We're not...going home," Emma sighed, having answered that question a dozen times since they had left the motel in Portland. "It's just a...visit."
"We go see Mrs. Green?"
"We'll try to, yes," Emma smiled. "Regina said her old apartment is just around the corner from where we used to live, remember?"
"I member."
"Do you want me to see if that nice lady will bring you some more paper to color on while we wait?" Emma asked as she ran her fingers through his brown hair that was growing far too fast and becoming far too shaggy. "Would you like that?"
"Yep!"
After Emma flagged down the waitress and apologized for overstaying, the waitress shrugged it off and said she understood. Understood what exactly was what Emma wondered in the time it took the pretty young waitress to leave and come back with three sheets of blank, white paper for Henry and a small package of crayons she told him he could keep.
Emma stroked her fingers through her son's hair as her eyes were drawn back over to Regina. She couldn't help but stare at her with not only a sense of longing, but that of wanting to know who she was talking to and what was being said since she hardly spoke and merely listened. Her eyes roamed over her body unabashedly, her eyes clinging to every curve she could see over her clothes and when her eyes swept over the round ass perfectly hugged in the pair of jeans she wore, her heart race kicked up a notch and her mouth went dry and wet at the same time when she thought of the way it felt to skim her hands over the curve of that pliable flesh.
"Mama?"
Henry's small voice was what pulled her from her less than appropriate thoughts and she managed a smile as she looked down at him. "What is it, Henry?"
"Deputy."
Emma shook her head. "Right, of course. What is it, Deputy?" She asked and she immediately recognized the look on his face. "Let's go potty," she said as she scooped him up out of his seat and carried him over towards the back of the restaurant where the bathrooms were. She carried him into the women's room and placed him on to his feet before ushering him into the nearest stall. "Do you want me to—"
"I'm big boy, Mama," Henry said with a pout. "I do it."
"Are you sure, baby?"
"I'm not baby, Mama."
"I know," Emma smiled as tears sprang to her eyes out of nowhere, her emotions suddenly getting to the better of her and she couldn't control them. "I'll be right outside, Deputy."
"Aye aye, Captain."
Emma shook her head and closed the stall door, holding it while her son did his business. A few women came into the bathroom, chattering excitedly about nothing in particular and the three women just nodded in understanding at Emma before entering the other empty stalls and locking the doors behind them. She opened the stall door a little to check on Henry and closed it quickly when he gave her a look, one she hated that he had adopted in the last few months since she'd been potty training him. It was a look of "how dare you" and it cut right through her in ways she knew it shouldn't. She sighed and held the door shut, her attention quickly caught by the bathroom door opened and Regina strolled in.
Emma barely had a chance to utter a word before Regina's lips were on her own, kissing her with an urgency she hadn't yet felt from her before. She pushed Regina away with a gasp and the separation only lasted mere seconds before Regina's lips were on hers once more, the urgency more desperate and pleading than before.
"We need to go," Regina murmured against her lips. "Now."
"Regina—"
"We're being followed," she said in a rushed whisper as she grasped at Emma's hips. "We need to get in the car and get on the road now, Emma."
"Followed? By who?"
"Not here," Regina replied quickly and she moved to place another quick kiss on Emma's lips, further stunning her into the oblivious state she had propelled into the moment Regina had walked through the door. "I'll tell you in the car."
"Regina—"
Regina's lips were on hers once more and she was taken back, not just because she was kissing her in a rather public place, but because of why she was kissing her in the first place considering what she had just been told. A cough coming from the stall next to the one Henry occupied was what threw them apart suddenly and the look on the woman's face was enough to send Emma into the never-ending cycle of embarrassment at being caught kissing her beautiful lover outside of the walls where their relationship was safe.
Regina took incentive by gently easing Emma's hand away from the top of the stall door she was holding shut and urging Henry along to finish up with a motherly tone Emma had never heard utter past her lips before. Regina flashed the woman who had caught them in a rather intimate position a smile that was both cold and conniving and she motioned to Emma to hurry up by pointing to the non-existent watch on her hand before she slipped out of the bathroom with her shoulders back and her head held high.
The same couldn't be said for Emma who hid behind her hair as she ushered her son out of the stall and lifted him to wash his hands in the sink. She had grown so accustomed to her relationship with Regina beyond closed doors that being caught in a public place by a complete stranger was a whole new world for her. She hurried Henry along and once they were out of the bathroom, she spotted Regina waiting for them by the entrance. The agitated way she motioned for them to hurry along lit a fire within her, one that wasn't a welcome feeling, and she hurried her young son along until she scooped him up in her arms when he couldn't quite walk fast enough.
The woman who had caught her and Regina in the bathroom was already speaking with the manager and pointing towards her. Emma swallowed hard and rushed for the front door where Regina was still patiently waiting, a toothpick in the corner of her mouth and her aviators already on her face. She nodded slightly towards the door and stopped when Henry reached out for her.
"Pig back ride?" Henry asked with his patented pout that never failed, especially not with Regina.
"Of course," Regina smiled and she moved to take him from Emma's arms and lifted him effortlessly up on her shoulders. "Ready to go, Emma?"
"Yes."
Emma pulled the door open just as the manager started walking towards them and Regina looked back and groaned before walking out of the restaurant and moving quickly across the busy parking lot to where she'd parked the Mustang. Regina placed Henry into the car seat and turned to Emma as she pulled the passenger seat forward.
"Did that woman tattle?" Regina asked in a mocking tone and even though Emma couldn't see beyond her aviators, she knew she'd rolled her eyes. "How immature," she scoffed and she pulled the toothpick out from between her lips. "I wish I could kiss you whenever and wherever I want."
"Me too."
"It's not as if we'll ever see these people again, right?" Regina asked with a small twitch of a smile curling over her lips. Before Emma could reply, Regina's lips were on her own, kissing her softly and surely, a single hand falling upon her hip as she kept her right where she was. When they parted, Emma was left breathless and Regina just smiled and leaned in for a quick and rather chaste kiss. "Let's get on the road, darling. I want to make it to the city before dinner."
The woman and the manager, along with a small crowd of people who had gathered at the front entrance, were yelling at the two of them, but Emma ignored them as did Regina and they got into the car together. Emma hadn't realized her hands were shaking until Regina reached out to take one with her own.
"Hey, it's okay," she whispered and she leaned in to gently kiss her cheek. "There are always going to be people in this world who will hate people like us."
"The things they were saying—"
"Don't listen to them."
"What if Henry heard them?"
Regina glanced into the back seat and shook her head. "If he did, darling, he'd be asking questions just like he does with everything else."
Emma knew she was right, but she still worried. She didn't want Henry to hear such hateful slurs targeted towards his mother just because she was seen with another woman, whether it be holding hands or sharing a small kiss—and that was something she knew couldn't happen often, if at all really. She knew she couldn't protect her young son from all the bad in the world, but knew she could try as best as she could so that he would only know love and kindness.
After they were on the road for just short of an hour, Emma turned to check on Henry for the umpteenth time and found he was fast asleep. She turned to look at Regina, watching her just for a moment before she reached out to place her hand on her thigh. Regina smiled and placed her hand on top of hers and squeezed gently, not once taking her eyes off the busy interstate. She gently lifted Emma's hand and placed a soft kiss to the back before lowering it back down and intertwining their fingers as their hands lay across the middle of the front seat.
"You said we were being followed?" Emma asked quietly. "Who is following us, Regina?"
"Felix is," she replied and she sighed softly. "I spoke with Ruby. It seems like a lot has happened since we left Storybrooke last night."
"Tell me."
"Where would I even start?" Regina asked and a bitter laugh escaped past her lips. "I called Killian Jones last night while I was out getting our dinner. He didn't say much other than there is a traitor amongst us."
"Who is it?" Emma asked and Regina shook her head. "Regina, why didn't you tell me any of this before?"
"Because I don't trust Jones," she replied quickly. "I had to hear it from Ruby and I didn't get the chance to make that phone call until a short while ago. Everything is an absolute mess at the moment, Emma, you need to understand that much."
"I don't understand anything because you won't tell me what is going on!"
Regina was silent as she checked the mirror and cut across two lanes and took the next exit that led off of the interstate. She drove along a narrow road and came to a stop when it was safe to do just that. She let go of Emma's hand and shifted the gear into park.
"Regina—"
"Listen to me, Emma, Bobby Gold is dead," Regina said and when she snapped her head back to where Henry was in the back seat she motioned for Emma to get out of the car. They walked out to the field just ten feet from the car. "Bobby was killed yesterday."
"Wasn't he still in the hospital?"
"Yes, he was," Regina said and she sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair and removed her aviators. "There were only two people in the room at the time. Jones was one of them."
"Who was the other?"
"Agent Logan," she said through gritted teeth. "The traitor among us."
"What?" Emma's heart was racing wildly and she tried to let the information absorb. "Logan is one of the bad guys?"
"Emma, he was a part of a plan that has been in motion for a lot longer than I've been the sheriff and maybe even before he and Chapman teamed up to take on the investigation against Robert Gold. He is a traitor and a dirty cop."
"You said that—that Bobby is dead? Who killed him?"
"Ruby said she wasn't clear, but Jones was on his way to visit Bobby. They're old friends, despite everything that has happened. I doubt he would kill his friend."
"So you think that—"
"Yes."
"And we're being followed by Felix?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Likely under Robert Gold's orders. He must have found out that we had left town."
"But why?" Emma asked. "Why would he follow us? Is it because of your investigation over the former sheriff's murder?"
"I believe that may be one of the reasons, but I'm also inclined to believe that he has been ordered to eliminate both of us and return to Storybrooke with your son."
"No. No, he is not getting Henry from me," Emma shouted and Regina grabbed a hold of her shoulders and rubbed over them in a soothing manner. "No, I won't let him anywhere near him."
"I know. I won't let that happen, Emma, I promise you," Regina whispered. "I will not let anything happen to you or to Henry."
"What about you?" Emma asked shakily. "I—I don't want anything to happen to you, Regina."
"Nothing will. Felix is barely a man and he doesn't have the experience to heed Gold's orders effectively. If he even gets within fifty feet of you or Henry and I'll take care of him myself."
"And you'll go to prison for murdering him!"
"No," Regina said with a shake of her head. "I still have jurisdiction in this state despite the fact that I am the sheriff in Storybrooke. If he is armed, and he will be, I will take him out by all means necessary. It won't be murder. It'll be a police officer defending her life against an armed and dangerous criminal."
"What else did Ruby tell you?" Emma asked, feeling slightly shell-shocked. "Regina? What else did she tell you?"
"Robert was arrested without incident and he was taken to Augusta this morning. The other federal agents that came in have been making arrests all morning and Killian Jones is nowhere to be found," Regina replied and they both looked over at the Mustang at the sound of Henry's sleepy voice calling out for his mother. "There is one other thing you need to know," she continued as they started to walk back over to the car. "Ruby is driving down with Kathryn. Neither of them is feeling particularly safe in town right now and I can't blame them. They're going to meet us at my parents' house in Brooklyn tonight."
Emma had to take a moment. Bobby Gold was dead, Robert was behind bars, Killian Jones had fled and one of Robert's henchmen were following them down to New York with orders from Gold himself to eliminate her and Regina. She didn't need to ask what that meant, she just knew, and it made a lump rise in her throat, one she found difficult to swallow. The worst of it should've been over, but she knew it wasn't quite there yet, not with one of the agents they were supposed to have trusted had been proven to be a traitor.
She felt dizzy and she placed her hands against the side of the Mustang while Regina moved to grab a hold of her waist from behind her. She inhaled shakily, tears filling in her eyes as she turned to look back at her. She hadn't wanted any of this, to be a part of something as wild and crazy as what was happening. The only reason she had reached out to Robert Gold was because she had been desperate for a way out of the life she was living and she was desperate not to let Henry continue to live and to grow up as nothing but another poor kid with a poor orphan mother who couldn't provide a simple life for him.
"Regina?"
"Yes, darling?"
"Please tell me that once Gold is in prison that we can go back and just...be?"
"Just be?"
"Like it was before," she replied. "Like in the beginning, just a few weeks ago. God, has it only been that long? It feels like so much longer."
"I know, darling, I know," Regina said as she pulled her in for a hug.
The last couple of days had felt like a week to Emma and she couldn't even begin to imagine how it felt for Regina. She knew that she was exhausted, she could see it in the tired look in her eyes and she could just sense it in the way she moved. She had a feeling that Regina wouldn't be able to rest easy until this was all over and she knew she wouldn't be able to either.
Emma could feel her emotions swirling within her and she felt on edge as she just held on to Regina as a few cars passed by, one of them honking their horn at them as it passed. She didn't care in that moment, she didn't care what some complete stranger thought about her and her lover standing at the side of the road and locked in a tight, intimate embrace. She knew how she felt about the woman who had been there right from the first day she'd been in Storybrooke. She knew her feelings for her ran deep and true. She loved spending time with her; she loved how Regina had never failed to eat breakfast with her and Henry just about every day since they first met and dinner every night. She loved sleeping with her at night and how Regina would just hold on to her, not knowing there were many times she chased away nightmares just because she was there with her.
They were becoming a family and even though it was happening so quickly, it just felt right. It felt right because she had fallen in love with Regina and she knew it wasn't one-sided. Regina had not only had feelings for her, but she adored Henry and loved him almost as if she truly were his other mother, vowing to protect him from anything and everything as best as she could.
It was with the flood of emotions and with everything that had happened over the past couple of days that Emma knew she wanted to tell her exactly how she felt without holding back. Yet she was growing nervous with every second that passed and she ran her hands shakily over Regina's back, relishing in the way that Regina's body reacted to her touch.
"I—I love you, Regina," she whispered against her neck and she smiled when she felt Regina's arms tighten around her. "I don't care if we haven't known each other for very long at all, I just know how I feel and I know with every inch of my heart that I love you."
"I love you too," Regina whispered a moment later, both of them swaying slightly in one another's arms before Regina inhaled deeply and she leaned back with a wide smile on her face. "I love you and I love Henry."
"I know. He loves you too," Emma smiled, her voice quavering as she spoke. "We—we're being followed," she said tightly. "By—"
"By a teenage thug," Regina finished with a short laugh. She leaned in for a small kiss and dropped her arms from around her. "Come on, we're wasting time. The further ahead we stay, the safer I can keep you both."
Regina pulled open the passenger door for Emma and she slipped into the front seat, her eyes barely leaving Regina as she rushed around to the driver's side and got in. Emma's heart was racing, for so many reasons, but in that very moment it was because of the overwhelming feeling of nothing but love for the woman next to her. Before Regina could pull the car back out onto the road, Emma reached over and pulled her in for a short yet sweet and loving kiss.
"I love you," Emma whispered against her lips just loud enough for only her to hear. "I can't wait to show you just how I feel about you."
"I—"
"Mama!" Henry squealed from the back seat. "I want kisses too!"
"Do you?" Emma smiled and she moved to lean back and he shook his head no.
"From Gina, Mama! I want kisses from MommyGina!" He said as he reached out with both his hands towards Regina and in thatvery moment, just for that moment, Emma forgot about everything else in theworld. Her son, her precious baby boy, had called Regina "Mommy".