Reset

“Regina’s giving up Henry?” Ruby asked with a confused tone, “why would she do that?”

“Exactly,” Emma nodded.

“Well, I’ll have to read everything again to be absolutely sure,” Granny replied, “but I can’t see any loopholes, this is a very permanent arrangement with no requirements on your side. She is giving you parental rights and the money.”

“Regina loves Henry,” Ruby pointed out, “he is her life!”

“Gold said that Regina thinks she is in an unsustainable situation,” Emma said, “she hasn’t seen him properly since the curse broke.”

“She saw him in here the other week,” Ruby argued.

“In passing,” Granny observed, “she’s used to having him live with her and she’s not seen him properly for, what, five months?”

Emma nodded, “he doesn’t want anything to do with her, I haven’t exactly tried to change his mind..”

“What’s she doing these days anyway?” Ruby asked.

“I don’t know,” Emma admitted, “she’s not been the Mayor since the curse broke, she’s been consulting with Archie on things since he took over though. But that’s not full time.. I don’t know what she does all day.”

“A family house without a family is a lonely place,” Granny sighed.

When the two younger women looked up at her she added, “not that the Evil Queen deserves any less, it’s just an observation. She has a lot of time to think about things, maybe she’s gone mad?”

“She must be to be giving Henry up,” Ruby nodded firmly.

“I need to talk to her,” Emma said as she put the teacup back in the tray.

“I’ll have another read of this contract, I’ll see if I can see anything buried in the fine print,” Granny smiled.

“Thanks,” Emma nodded to the older woman and then to Ruby as she left the office.

Chapter 2

Emma hammered on the white door of 108 Mifflin Street and glanced over at the black Mercedes in the drive way, which indicated that the owner of the house was indeed home.

The door opened and Regina stood before her in a fitted red dress with a grey suit jacket and high heels, Emma briefly wondered if Regina had ever stopped dressing for her previous Mayoral role.

“Miss Swan,” Regina greeted wearily, “to what do I owe this pleasure.”

“Cut the shit, Regina,” Emma ranted.

Regina raised her eyebrow in surprise at the coarse language but didn’t bother to call the blonde out on it.

“Gold delivered the contract,” Regina surmised.

“Ya think?!” Emma cried out.

“You’re upset,” Regina observed, “maybe we should discuss this when you are less.. volatile..”

Regina appeared to prepare to take a step back and Emma put the heel of her boot in the door, “no, we’re talking about this now!”

Regina looked down at the boot in her doorway with obvious humour and looked up at Emma with a smile, “can I get you some tea then?”

“No!” Emma shouted, “I don’t want any damn tea!”

“Am I to assume you wish to engage in this conversation on my porch?” Regina folded her arms in displeasure.

“What the hell is going on?” Emma demanded.

Regina maintained her folded arms as she glared at Emma, “I would have thought that much is obvious.”

“You’re giving up Henry..” Emma breathed.

“I’m giving you what you want,” Regina said, her tone becoming slightly more aggravated than the casual appearance she was attempting to convey.

“What I want?!” Emma questioned angrily.

Regina took a step forward, causing Emma to remove her boot from the door. Regina was right in Emma’s face as she explained, “ever since you got here you have been trying to take Henry from me. Then you broke the curse and you managed to do just that.”

“I haven’t taken Henry away from you, you did that all by yourself!” Emma argued.

“Excuse me if I pass up the opportunity to assassinate my own character,” Regina sneered, “the bottom line is that Henry no longer sees me as his mother. Tomorrow will mark the one hundred and fifty day since I last spoke with him. I know now that he will not be able to see beyond my past so I am letting him go.”

“This is insane,” Emma shook her head.

“No, it’s the situation you constructed yourself!” Regina argued, “just sign the damn paperwork, take him and go and live your happy families life with the two idiots.”

“So this is real?” Emma blurted, “you really want me to have him?”

“I wouldn’t make such a decision about my son’s future so lightly,” Regina barked but before Emma could reply the brunette laughed a hollow laugh, “my son.. that will be a hard habit to break.”

“We don’t need to do this, Regina,” Emma pleaded, “we can sort this out..”

“No,” Regina cut her off, “this is how it has to be. It will be better for Henry.. and better for me.”

“Regina..” Emma pleaded.

“Sign the papers, Emma,” Regina said dejectedly, “claim your prize.”