Reset

“Sure, I’ll watch some TV,” Henry said as he handed Grace to Regina and she held the girl on her hip and leaned forward and kissed Henry’s hair.

“Moooom,” he whinged a little but still smiled as he went to the living room.

Regina went upstairs and approached the bathroom where Emma had quarter filled the bathtub and placed the foam baby bath inside it and was leaning over and checking the temperature. Regina sat on the closed toilet and started to undress Grace, “thank you,” she said and Emma frowned at her, “for running the bath,” Regina clarified.

“Oh, no problem,” Emma said.

“You seem distracted?” Regina asked as she put Grace’s clothes in the laundry hamper beside her.

“Just tired,” Emma attempted a smile, “I had a look at Henry’s room while I was up here, it looks great.”

“My magic was returning and I wanted to test it on something, it seemed practical,” Regina said as she handed a naked Grace to Emma.

Emma took the baby and looked at Regina with a frown, “would you mind bathing her, I have this pain in my neck,” Regina said simply.

Emma nodded and gently placed Grace in the bath and used a colourful plastic cup to pour water over the girl who giggled and thrashed about playfully while she did it.

“You’re wonderful with her,” Regina commented as she watched them.

“She’s just a very easy baby to care for,” Emma said with a shrug.

“Do you find it hard to accept a compliment?” Regina asked as she examined her nails distractedly.

“If it’s unnecessary,” Emma answered quickly.

“Will you come over for breakfast tomorrow morning?” Regina asked, “it would be nice to have another meal together, the four of us.”

“Yes, sounds great,” Emma nodded.

Regina raised an eyebrow and stood up, “I’m just going to get some sleepwear for Grace.”

“Okay,” Emma said as she left, she tickled Grace’s tummy and smiled, “you are going to grow up to be a beautiful, amazing treasure,” she whispered, “always remember that you have a family who loves you more than anything.”

Grace brought her foot down hard and a splash of water hit Emma in the face and she laughed as she reached for a towel and dried her face, “thanks, Gracie, appreciate it,” she dabbed at her face and Grace giggled so Emma played a quick game of peekaboo as well.

Regina returned and Emma looked up at her, “bedtime?”

Regina nodded and Emma pulled the plug on the bath and laid a towel on the floor and picked Grace up from the bathing mat and laid her on the towel before wrapping her up and picking her up.

“I’m just preparing her bottle,” Regina said as they walked into Grace’s bedroom.

“Henry wanted to feed her,” Emma reminded the brunette.

“He fed her the apple goo that meant she needed a bath,” Regina chuckled, “you can feed her the bottle and put her down if you don’t mind?”

“I’d love to,” Emma said honestly.

Regina smiled, “her sleepsuit is on the bed and I’ll go and get the bottle now.”

Emma dimmed the lights and carried Grace around the room and turned on a music box that started playing a lullaby, “no Oliver Twist tonight, Grace,” Emma whispered, “you’ll have to read it when you grow up, you’ll love it.”

After a look at the bookshelf Emma picked up a fabric book with colourful animals in it and sat in the chair by Grace’s cot and started to point at animals and tell Grace what they were. Regina came in and handed her the bottle, “do you need anything else or are you okay to get her off to sleep?”

“I’m good,” Emma smiled happily.

“I’ll be downstairs then,” Regina said and gave Grace a kiss on the forehead before she left.

Regina sat with Henry and watched the middle part of a movie about aliens that she really couldn’t get into as her mind kept drifting to Emma. She didn’t want to quiz Henry anymore because she didn’t want to worry him but she knew something was up, she herself had spent many years of her life claiming that everything was okay while inside she fell apart. She could see the signs and they were worrying her greatly. After forty minutes Emma walking into the living room and Regina looked at her with a smile.

“Sorry that took so long,” Emma said sheepishly, “I kinda lost track of time.”

“No problem,” Regina replied and attempted to scrutinise Emma in the dark light of the room, “would you like some tea?”

“No, I need to get going,” Emma said quickly, “as I said earlier I’m pretty tired.”

Henry jumped up from the sofa and came over and gave her a big hug around the waist and Emma looked like she was going to burst into tears at the sudden display of affection.

“Love you, Mom, see you in the morning,” he said and she leant down and kissed him on the top of his head.

“Goodbye Henry,” she said softly as she turned around and started to walk to the hall.

Regina caught up with her as she was grabbing her jacket from the closet, “so, breakfast tomorrow?”

“Yep, see you in the morning,” Emma said as she opened the door.