The million thoughts running through her head and the numerous times she had pictured meeting her correspondent in no way prepared her for the real deal. But as was life, Emma adapted and blurted out the first thing that came to her mouth. "You booted my car."

Recognition flooded Regina's face. "That monstrosity in front of the clock tower? You were parked in front of a town building. It's a no parking zone. You can take up your complaint with the sheriff."

With a decisive nod, Regina turned to make her way back into her home, but Emma moved quickly, catching the brunette's arm and halting her progress. "Regina," Emma called.

Regina turned with a glare. "It's Mayor Mills to you, and you'll do well to remember it."

Emma couldn't stop the smirk from forming on her lips as she watched the glare harden. She learned to read people - their behaviour and their situations. It saved her life more than once, and that had nothing to do with her military training. What she saw of the woman before her was just armour. The Mayor's shield and defence mechanism. The barrier that kept everyone at bay, everyone except for Henry, and hopefully, Emma. The Regina she wrote to always said Emma had a different impression of her than what most folks thought, and Emma was starting to see where Regina was coming from. But Emma knew Regina, and Mayor Mills, another facet to the woman she had learned to call friend, was just another layer to the extremely complex woman.

Regina narrowed her gaze. "Who are you?"

Emma rolled a shoulder, suppressing the butterflies in her stomach resulting from admitting her identity and practically getting yelled at by Regina. "Emma," she finally answered. "Emma Swan."

The armour fell as Regina's breath hitched. She pressed a hand to her chest and took a step back, her glare gone and her eyes widening in disbelief. "Emma?" She whispered.

Emma smiled then and offered a bashful shrug. "Hi."

"You're here?" Regina asked. The tone she had taken to scold Emma was immediately replaced with something much softer. Emma was willing to bet it was one Regina rarely used with anyone else. "You're here in Storybrooke."

"Yeah, I sent a letter," Emma explained hastily, still amazed that this was technically not her first meeting of Regina. "I guess I beat it. I mean, I didn't say I was gonna visit, but I said I was going state-side. You'll probably get it in a week or something. I was in Boston with August, you remember August right?"

"Of course, how is he?"

"Still hasn't kicked my ass yet."

A smile tugged at Regina's lips which caused the grin to form on Emma's. Regina took a step closer, her hand outstretched. "Private Swan, it's very nice to meet you. I'm Regina Mills."

Emma chuckled and took Regina's hand, aware of how soft it felt in between her own calloused palm. "Emma. Well it's technically Corporal now, but I like Emma."

They continued to shake one another's hand, their palms bobbing up and down in the space between them as they continued to soak up one another with their eyes.

Emma had been too floored by Regina's abrupt insult and dismissal at the diner to truly appreciate the woman other than the fact that she was a bitch. That point wasn't lost on Emma having personally been on the receiving end, and perhaps Emma was a bit naive to believe the woman was a saint, hell Regina had warned her more than once, but as Emma shamelessly continued to stared, all the stories and letters that had been a security to Emma for the past three years came crashing over her as the writer stood before her. This was the woman who reads Ulysses for fun. She was the woman who never missed a Christmas or a birthday ever since Emma began writing to her. There was the scar on her lip that Regina had gotten from a particularly wild horse. Her eyes, previously cold and guarding, now shone with a brightness that Emma would bet most definitely lit up at each mention of her son. Henry. Where was the kid?

"Mommy!" A little high pitched voice yelled from inside, forcing the two women to break their hold. "Mo-ommy! I'm do-one!"

Emma couldn't help herself as she stared at the partially open door. "Is that-"

"Yes," Regina confirmed. After a beat, she motioned to the door. "Would you like to come inside?"

Emma nodded eagerly but hesitated. "Are you sure? I don't want to impose."

"Emma." That was all Regina said as she clasped Emma around the wrist and tugged her into the mansion, and Emma swore actually hearing Regina say her name was arguably one of the best things she had ever heard.


Dear god, he was smaller than Emma imagined, and his hair was wild though Emma could see Regina's attempts at combing it down. Henry, kneeling on a chair at the kitchen island, pressed coloured candies into dinosaur-shaped cookies, marking its eyes. Emma grinned when she saw the kid sneak a candy into his mouth, promptly remove it, and ask Regina if he was allowed a sweet just as the confection colouring was running down his fingers.

"Just this once," Regina allowed, making Emma's presence in the kitchen more noticeable by guiding her into the room. "Henry, I'd like for you to meet someone."

The boy looked up immediately, sweet in his mouth as he wiped his hands on his child-sized apron before waving. "Hello. I'm making cookies."

Emma beamed and nodded impressed. "You must have been a good boy to get to make cookies."

"I'm practise for my birthday," Henry explained, already going back to decorating his cookies.

"Practising," Regina gently corrected. When he repeated the sentence with the correct word, Regina kissed his temple and motioned for Emma to approach.

"Henry, do you remember our special friend?"

"Emma," Henry answered obviously, sprinkling a ridiculous amount of coloured sugar onto an unfortunate dinosaur.

Emma's heart swelled hearing him say her name. If she was giddy when Regina said it, the feeling she got when Henry voiced it made her own voice catch in her throat. She had watched him grow up through drawings, tracking his progress from meaningless doodles to complete pictures of his day at the park. She had read about his first word, his first step, his first time sleeping on his own, but hearing him say her name for the first time was something else entirely.

"Right, Emma." Regina caught her eye. "Can you say hi to Emma again, please?"

Henry looked up at his mother confused before looking back at the blonde stranger in his kitchen. The gears in his head shifted quickly for he comically widened his mouth and all but leaped from the chair into Emma's arm. "Emma!"

"Hey," she grunted, just barely catching him and reassuring Regina's worried look at Henry's antic with a nod. She succumbed when Henry wrapped his arms around her neck and squeezed. It was all Emma could do but to hug back and revel in the boy's warmth and excitement. "Hi, Henry."

He pulled back and grasped Emma's cheeks between his sticky palms. "You here for my birthday?"

Emma wanted to smack herself if she wasn't currently holding a two-year old. She almost forgot the kid's birthday coming up. She caught Regina's eye, and when the brunette didn't say no, Emma nodded. "Yeah, kid."

He grinned and leaned over toward the island, signalling his need to resume his decorating. Emma nearly lost her hold on him at the unexpected maneuver. "Easy there, daredevil."

He shot her a toothy grin before turning to Regina. "Mommy, can Emma help too?"

"You're just about done, dear," Regina said as he finished the last dinosaur. "We can try your treats after dinner, and after your nap."

"But Emma's here." He looked to the blonde with the biggest puppy dog eyes she had ever seen. Regina must have sensed her weakness for she tugged his face back to her, tapping his nose with a finger. "Nap first, Henry."

The boy continued to pout but sunk to all fours on the chair before climbing down. He took off his apron and gave it to Regina to hang on a hook where her own apron hung.

He sprinted out of the room, ignoring the calls from his mother to slow down leaving Regina and Emma in the messy kitchen.

They caught one another's eye both blushing at the contact before Regina grabbed the tray of cookies and set them aside.

"You were right," Emma broke the silence. "He's cute."

Regina smiled proudly at the statement. "To my own detriment though. Even I have fallen prey to those large eyes once or twice."

"You? Regina Mills?" Emma feigned shock as she helped put away the candies. "There won't be any hope for humanity if Henry keeps that up."

Henry's call disrupted them once again, and promising to return, Regina left Emma alone in the kitchen.


"But I don't wanna nap, Mommy." Henry rubbed at his eyes, already tucked into his bed as he succumbed to a big yawn yet continued to speak. "Wanna play with Emma."

She covered his mouth for him and removed his hands, settling him firmly into the bed. Henry was usually polite to everyone he met, he was the Mayor's son after all, but Regina was a little surprised how quickly he had accepted Emma into his life after hearing only stories of her. She was grateful Emma could actually keep up with him. Leaning over and kissing his temple, she said, "you may play with her when you wake."

"I'm awake now," he reasoned tiredly.

She chuckled to herself and began humming the bars of a nursery rhyme her father used to sing to her. Soon enough, his breathing evened, and Henry was down for his nap. Standing, she left the room leaving the door ajar as she made her way back downstairs where Emma Swan was.

When Regina woke up this morning, her to-do list involved confirming catering with Granny's for Henry's third birthday the following Saturday, picking up her dry cleaning, and baking with Henry. Finding Emma on her doorstep had been quite the surprise, though, if Regina was honest with herself, a pleasant one. Sidney had been pestering Regina to divulge information about her military correspondent for his human-interest piece, but Regina had no wishes to do so. Perhaps before she would have allowed it to set up an image for herself in the town, but now, Emma was her friend. The word still baffled her, but she knew it to be true.

She had always wondered what her correspondent looked like, but seeing her now, looking older beyond her twenty years, and Regina could venture a guess as to why, her mind hadn't done Emma justice. The blonde was quite pretty, even when she was dumbfounded or brimming with anger - Oh dear god, she confiscated her car. Regina nearly stopped dead upon the realization but continued to make her way into the kitchen. She did stop suddenly there to see that Emma had cleaned up the island. The candies were back in their respective bags, and the stray sprinkles and coloured sugars were wiped away leaving her counter spotless.

"Sorry," Emma said looking up from the sink where she rung out a dish rag. "I figured I could save you the mess. Plus, habit, you know?"

"You didn't have to do that." Regina cleared her throat, her cheeks tinting at the thought of her actions to the blonde earlier. "I should be the one apologizing. My actions toward you upon your arrival were uncalled for. I'll have the sheriff remove the boot from your car."

Emma turned so her back was to the sink and smirked. "It'll be a funny story later. I did show up uninvited so not entirely your fault."

Regina returned the smile and cocked her head to the side. "How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?"


"You're not legal yet." Regina refrained from giving Emma the tumbler when realization dawned as their hands brushed for the exchange.

"In a few months," Emma pointed out. When Regina refused to relinquish her hold, Emma laughed once. "I can die for this country, but god forbid I drink in it?"

Regina mulled over her words, a little unnerved at Emma's outright bluntness of the consequences of her job before conceding. "Just this once."

"Did you make this from your Honey Crisp apples?" Emma asked taking a sip of cider, nodding appreciatively at the taste.

"Yes." Regina sat opposite Emma in her study and drank from her own glass. "The tree is planted just outside Town Hall."

A silence encompassed them as they seemed to be studying one another's features. When their eyes met, Emma let out a breathy laugh at being caught but took another large gulp and leaned back on her couch. "You're different than what I imagined."