Reset

“Good,” Regina sneered, “I’m sure the pathetic Charmings would allow you to see your son if you agreed to some kind of therapy with the cricket. If you desire, that is,” she shook her head and raised her hand and the purple mist surrounded the three of them and they vanished leaving John Battle alone.

Chapter 70

When the mist cleared Emma realised that Joshua was pressed up against her back in fear and she immediately turned around to calm him, “it’s okay, she’s helping.”

She looked up and noticed they were outside the convent and she briefly wondered why Regina would only transport them to the driveway and not into the building before considering that maybe the fairies had a way of preventing such a thing.

Regardless Astrid was standing in the gardens and quickly ran over to them, “Emma!”

Emma smiled, “hey, Astrid.”

Astrid looked at Regina with hesitation before looking at Joshua, “you must be Joshua?”

Joshua nodded and looked from Astrid to Emma to Regina and then back to Emma as he timidly asked, “what’s going on?”

Emma opened her mouth to speak when Blue suddenly appeared on the steps with her wand raised at Regina like a weapon.

“Whoa, stand down,” Emma said as she pointed to Blue, “put that down..”

Blue frowned at Emma briefly before turning her attention back to Regina, “Emma, we can’t trust her.”

“I trust her,” Emma said firmly, “put it down.”

With uncertainty Blue lowered her wand but continued to stare at Regina who was doing her best to ignore the entire situation by studying her nails. Emma turned back to Joshua and took a quick breath, “look, Joshua, we know that things with your dad are kinda rough so we think it’s better if you stay here where you’ll be looked after properly.”

Astrid smiled warmly at Joshua, “we have set up a room for you and we think you’ll like it very much.”

For a brief moment Emma wished that something like this had happened to her in her own childhood but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside to see what Joshua was thinking about the plan.

“I.. I can, like, live here?” Joshua asked, looking from Astrid to Emma with a questioning expression.

“Yes,” Emma smiled, “your dad agreed to it,” she was sure she heard a quiet snort from Regina but she ignored it, “we all think it is the best thing for you.. what do you think?”

Joshua nodded as he answered, “I don’t want to go home..”

Astrid smiled and clapped happily and Emma nodded, “then do you think you want to stay here? It will be a safe place for you to be and we’ll look in on you and check everything is going okay but ultimately it’s your choice.”

Joshua regarded Emma curiously, “why are you helping me? I mean, after what I did to you..”

“Because we all make bad decisions and sometimes we need to be given the opportunity to learn from them rather than be constantly punished for them,” Emma said, “I know you didn’t mean me harm.”

He nodded seriously, “I just didn’t want my dad to find out I was in trouble.. I’m sorry, Sheriff..”

Emma handed him her business card and once he took it she put her hand on his shoulder and looked at him seriously, “my job is your safety, okay? If anything happens then call me or drop into the station.”

He nodded and she reassuringly squeezed his shoulder and straightened up to look at Astrid.

“Come, I’ll show you your new room,” Astrid said and guided Joshua into the building.

Once they were out of sight Emma turned to regard Blue and Regina who were still in some form of odd standoff.

“You should be careful trusting her, Emma,” Blue said, “your mother has trusted her in the past and look what happened..”

“Yeah, Mom’s at Regina’s house babysitting,” Emma said casually.

The wand in Blue’s hand twitched as if she were ready to strike and Emma positioned herself in between the two women, “I trust Regina with my life, I know you have history but in this town I am the law and as far as I can see she isn’t doing anything wrong so you will drop this right now, do I make myself clear?”

Blue hesitated for a moment before loosening the grip on her wand and nodding her head in agreement, “of course, Sheriff,” she said with a pinch of a biting tone, “about the boy, we will arrange for Doctor Hopper to come and speak to him and your father is going to come and see how he is settling in later today. If you need anything else please contact Astrid.”

Emma nodded tersely and Blue walked away but not before she threw one last scowl in Regina’s direction. Emma rolled her eyes and turned to Regina who was looking at her with a confused expression.

“You don’t have to defend me,” Regina told her.

“I know I don’t have to,” Emma shrugged, “I want to. I meant what I said to Joshua, we all make bad decisions and sometimes we need to be given the opportunity to learn from them rather than be constantly punished for them. You learnt from your bad decisions and now you deserve the benefit of the doubt,” Emma found her eyes gravitating to Regina’s plunging neckline, “aren’t you cold?”