Reset

“Yes,” Emma smiled, “Henry thought it would be a great idea, did you Henry?”

Henry nodded happily, “yeah, I’d love to spend some time here and some time at Emma’s.”

Emma noticed how it was no longer home anymore, it was ‘Emma’s’ and continued to pick listlessly at her food while occasionally chancing a glance at Grace.

“Well, that’s wonderful,” Regina smiled, “in fact, after Grace and I had a little nap this afternoon I felt my magic returning so I attempted a little redecorating of your old playroom.”

Henry looked at her with wide eyes, “can I go see now?”

“By all means,” Regina said and in the instant the words left her mouth he put his half eaten burger down and sprinted towards the stairs and then took two steps at a time.

“He had a playroom?” Emma laughed.

“He did,” Regina said and waved her arm around, “so many rooms and it seemed ridiculous for them to be unused.”

Emma nodded and moved her food around the plate.

“Is something wrong with your food?” Regina asked carefully.

“No, I’m just not that hungry,” Emma replied honestly.

“Any particular reason?” Regina pressed.

“No, just had a big lunch,” Emma lied and made a point of eating another chip, “I’m fine,” she smiled.

Henry ran back down the stairs happily, “there’s my old bed! Like my old, old bed, the racing car!”

Regina nodded as she took a sip of water, “indeed there is.”

“It’s great,” Henry smiled, “my desk is there and my TV and everything,” he walked around the dining room table and wrapped his arms around Regina happily, “thank you.”

Regina held him and closed her eyes as she savoured the moment, “you’re welcome, Henry.”

Henry let go and walked back to his seat and looked up at Emma, “you’ll have to go and see it, it’s awesome!”

“Right after we’ve finished eating,” Emma smiled at him, “sounds great!”

Henry looked at Regina, “c.. could I stay tonight?”

Regina shook her head, “oh, Henry, that’s short notice.”

“But there’s no school tomorrow,” Henry said, “you don’t mind, do you Emma?”

Emma shook her head, “not at all, if it’s okay with you,” she looked at Regina, “I think it would be good for you all to be together tonight. It’s been a rough time for everyone while you’ve been in hospital.”

Regina looked at Emma and asked, “are you certain you’re okay with this? It’s not going to be inconvenient for you?”

“Not at all,” Emma said, “as Henry said, there’s no school tomorrow.. in fact he could stay for a while and help you out while you’re getting back on your feet..”

“Please say yes,” Henry pleaded to Regina. The split between him and his adoptive mother had really hit him hard and while he had been trying to mend bridges he knew he still had a long way to go until he undid the damage he had done. He desperately wanted to get his relationship with her back to the way it was before, to assure her that he did love her and need her in his life.

Regina looked at the two of them and nodded, “very well..”

Henry punched the air with excitement and started talking to Grace while Emma laughed as she looked sideways at Regina, “you’ve made him very happy.”

Regina looked at her and asked, “are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Emma shrugged, “we agreed this was the best for everyone.”

Chapter 49

After dinner Emma cleared the plates away while Regina sat Grace on Henry’s knee and placed a tea towel over her clothes, knowing that about one percent of the apple would actually end up being swallowed. She cut pieces of apple and then mashed them with a fork on a plate and then instructed Henry how to feed her.

Emma watched from the doorway with a large smile on her face as she watched Grace’s excited and confused face at the taste of the apple. Regina was crying with laughter as Grace ejected most of the apple from her mouth and it fell down Henry’s hand and the tea towel. Regina attempted to clear up as much of the half eaten apple as she could while Henry made an effort to put fresh spoons in as Grace leaned into him as she wanted more of the tasty food.

After a while they gave up and Regina wiped at Grace’s mouth and carefully folded the tea towel and placed it on the plate to be cleared away. But Grace had still managed to get apple everywhere, “well it seems like someone is going to have to have a bath tonight,” Regina laughed as she looked up at Emma, “would you mind running a bath in the upstairs bathroom?”

“Sure,” Emma nodded and went up the stairs.

Once she was out of sight Regina spoke quietly to Henry, “how is Emma doing now?”

“Still quiet,” Henry said, “she won’t talk to me though, keeps telling me that she’s fine.”

“I see,” Regina nodded.

“She’s really liked having Grace though,” Henry said with a smile, “she pretended she didn’t really care but she lights up when she hold her and she slept with her every night we had her.”

Regina smiled, “I’m going to ask her to bathe Grace and help me put her to bed, can you entertain yourself down here for a while?”