Archive of Our Own ^beta

As soon as she felt the liquid on her lips, Emma started to remember. It came in blurry flashes at first, making her dizzy. As she swallowed the first few drops, the memories got clearer, more detailed. She saw Henry knocking on her door, with his content grin. She saw herself arriving in Storybrooke, and Regina opening the door. She saw Henry in his hospital bed, her parents embracing her, the curse broken, falling through a portal to the Enchanted Forest and finding her way back. She saw the trigger being stopped, and the whole Neverland debacle. But what she remembered most vividly was that moment when she actually felt brave enough to embrace her feelings towards Regina. She had slowly figured out what Regina meant to her after they'd been back in Storybrooke from the Enchanted Forest. It had taken her to see Regina bound to the table in the cannery, so weak after having been tortured by Greg Mendell, to realize she had to act on those feelings before it was too late. That's when things had spun out of control: the trigger, Henry being taken to Pan, boarding the Jolly Rodger…

"We'll find Henry. We'll bring him home, Regina."

"I know, Miss Swan. Now let's go save our son."

On the first night aboard the ship, as both women were sharing a cabin, Emma had tried to comfort Regina the best she could… or, more accurately, the most Regina would let her. Regina had eventually opened up to Emma, whispering after a while that she had no reason to live without Henry. That's when Emma had leaned over and kissed her, leaving Regina speechless for a moment.

"You matter, Regina. Not just to Henry. If you'll let me, then I'll show you. Henry and I, we'll give you a happy ending."

That night had been the night of something new, something that Emma and Regina had not really anticipated. They certainly had not expected to care so much, to feel so deeply about one another in such a short time. They had rescued Henry, and brought everyone home. For a very short time, when they were on their way back, both of them had imagined a future together. In these few hours before Pan set to enact his curse, they had both been absolutely, ridiculously happy. They were full of hope. They thought anything was possible. This all made the separation more heart-breaking.

"I won't forget you, Emma. I won't forget this, what's between you and me. I'll think of it enough for the two of us."

As she swallowed a second time, Emma saw that moment when, at the town line, she and Henry had bid farewell to their family. She couldn't get her mind off how devastated Regina looked. The time they'd spent together had been so short; they hadn't told anyone about it, wary of jinxing it. So Emma had said goodbye to Regina by simply brushing her fingers against the other woman's hand. She had not been able to hold her in her arms or kiss her. They both had to pretend that there was nothing between them, and that they didn't feel utterly crushed. The moment Emma had gotten into her car and had started driving away had been one of the hardest moment of her life, right next to giving up Henry.

As Emma finished the potion and took a long breath, she met Hook's eyes. He looked hopeful, as if he expected her to jump in his arms. 'Well, not today, buddy', she thought.

"I've got to go back there. We're leaving tomorrow."

As soon as she got to Storybrooke, with Hook on her heels and Henry asleep on the backseat, oblivious to the turmoil his mother was feeling, she left Hook standing by the car, in charge of checking on Henry. She hurried to Regina's mansion, at the end of the street. She was slightly out of breath by the time she got there (one year eating without chasing villains had somehow gotten to her), but she didn't pause before pounding on the door. She heard the sound of heels on the marble floors. It instantly made her smile. Of course, Regina would be wearing heels so late, when she was alone at home. Was she really alone? Maybe she'd found someone in the past year. Maybe she'd moved on. Maybe…

"Emma?"

The door had opened, and Regina was standing in the doorframe, mouth agape. Blood rushed to Emma's cheeks, and she gave Regina an awkward smile, the same one than on the night they'd first met each other.

"Hi."

Regina looked absolutely shell-shocked. She still had a hand on the doorknob, and Emma actually worried that she'd stopped breathing altogether. 'God, she looks so beautiful", Emma thought. She stepped forward slowly, not wanting to startle Regina. She had not expected the way Regina literally threw herself at her, flinging her arms around Emma's neck.

"It's okay, Regina. I'm here, now. I'm here."

Emma was rubbing circles on Regina's back, and she let the other woman burry her face in her neck. She kept murmuring comforting and reassuring words into her ear, gently kissing the crown of her head every once in a while. It took Regina a few moments to calm down. As she pulled away from Emma, Regina wiped the tears off the blonde's face.

"What about Henry? Is he here? In Storybrooke?"

Regina's hope-filled voice brought Emma back to reality.

"He is. But there's a problem. He doesn't exactly remember any of his previous life. He forgot Storybrooke, the fairy tales – "

"– And me."

"Hey, Regina, look at me. He'll remember you. I promise you he'll remember everything. We'll go back to normal. We'll fix whatever's going on right now. And then we'll get our happy ending. You, me and Henry. As a family."

Regina smiles at Emma's words. They both know that, together, they can overcome anything. They can take on the world. Together, they're stronger than anyone else.

"I hope you and Henry will spend the night here. He can have his old room back… Or maybe it's better if he just sleeps in the guest room, at first. Where is he? Can you go get him?"

"I'll go in just a second. There's something I need to do first."

Emma leaned in to kiss Regina. She let her hands wander in the brunette's back, as Regina held tightly onto Emma. When they parted, both a little out of breath and grinning ear to ear, Emma hugged Regina once more before stepping back, toward the door.

"I'll just be gone five minutes, so I can get Henry. He's in the car. I'll be right back."

"I'll be waiting for you, then. I missed you so much, Emma."

"I missed you too."

As Regina was about to close the door, Emma called out for her.

"Hey, Regina? I love you."

"I love you too, dear. Welcome home."

"And we're now live from LA for The Mares' concert! They're ending their world tour right at home, and we'll be broadcasting their show live, so stay tuned! They should be starting in about 15 minutes, so not much longer to wait now for the fans who've –"

Regina turned the radio off and stood up from where she was seated. She looked around the trailer and smiled happily at her son. Henry was slumped in a comfy armchair and had just looked up from his phone. He raised an eyebrow as he saw his mother had stood up.

"Where are you going? Is it time?"

"Well we should go out soon, if we don't want to miss the beginning. But I'd like to wait for Emma to be back first. She should be done with makeup soon." As she was speaking, Regina had crossed over to her son and was ruffling his hair. She quickly glanced at his phone to see what had him staring at his screen in silence for the past 10 minutes.

"Mom!" Henry whined, trying to put the phone back in his pocket before his mom could see the screen. He wasn't quick enough though, and Regina had time to see he was exchanging texts with a certain Paige. The name sounded familiar to Regina; she probably went to school with Henry.

"Paige is in my English class. We're paired up on a project" Henry muttered, blushing all the way to his ears. Regina hummed and kissed the top of his head, taking advantage that he was sitting down and thus not taller than her.

"You're getting too big" she complained softly. "My big boy."

"Mom, I'm 13, you don't have to call me that. It makes me feel like I'm five all over again. Besides, you'll have a very little boy – or girl – again in a few months." As he said this, Henry gestured to Regina's baby bump. At five months pregnant, it was still relatively discreet but undeniably there. Regina had made quite the sensation at the Oscars, a couple days back, by walking down the red carpet as a nominee and in a tight dress, while not having made any pregnancy announcement before.

The door of the trailer opened and Henry jumped to his feet. In came Emma Swan, Regina's girlfriend.

"Well, well, well, if this isn't Academy Award winner Regina Mills and her son, who's turning out to be quite the teenage heartthrob!" Emma joked, quoting word for word a press article that'd been released the day before and had caused Regina to roll her eyes and sigh heavily at the word "heartthrob".

"And here is Emma Swan of the world renowned girl band The Mares!" Henry answered in an exaggeratedly enthusiastic voice. "Mom wanted to see you before we go sit down."

"I wanted to wish you luck before you went on stage, and to give you this…" Regina stood on the tip of her toes and gave Emma a soft kiss, lingering a couple seconds too long for Henry to be completely comfortable watching them.

"Thanks for coming tonight. I'm sure you'll love the show" Emma said after their kiss ended.

"Always so modest" Regina commented with a wink. "I know it'll be great. Well, Henry and I should go take our seats. See you onstage?"

Emma watched her girlfriend and stepson leave the trailer together, and her three band mates come in right after them. Mary Margaret, Ashley and Ruby were all ready to go, and the four women took a few minutes to go through their pre-concert ritual together.

The concert was already well in its second hour. Regina and Henry were immensely enjoying themselves in the VIP section, and Emma looked just as happy on stage. The band had just finished performing "Heartbeats", one of their most romantic songs that Emma had written with Regina in mind. Suddenly, Emma started speaking into her microphone.

"I wrote this song with someone very specific in mind: the love of my life. She's here tonight and I want to dedicate this song, this show, hell, everything good in my life to her, because I owe her every single happy thing that's been happening to me lately." Emma turned toward the VIP section and gave Regina the widest of smiles. "Regina, you're the magic in my life. You're an exceptional woman, the best mother to our children and overall the greatest person I've ever met. I'm proud of you in everything you do, and I'm so thankful for you. But I feel like there's one last thing missing. So, and please don't hate me for doing it in front of everyone… Marry me?" There was a moment of silence all over the crowd, and Regina felt like all of her blood was rushing to her feet. She held onto Henry's shoulder for balance. The teenager had an exceptionally large smile as he looked at his mom and wrapped an arm around her.

"Wait, there's a ring! Kid, give your mom the ring!" Emma exclaimed, suddenly remembering about it. Emma's forgetfulness and spontaneity caused the audience to laugh wholeheartedly.

Henry handed his mother the jewelry box. The ring was timeless and sober, and exactly what Regina liked. One of the tech crew members walked over to them with a microphone, and Henry held it to his mom's mouth.

"Of course I'll marry you, Emma."

The entire stadium erupted in cheers, and Mary Margaret, Ashley and Ruby all high fived in the back. Emma blew her now fiancée a kiss, before exclaiming "Awesome! Now, before I can go and really kiss my fiancée, let's wrap this all up with 'Number one'!"

They say you know true love at first sight, because suddenly you can see the color red. At least that's what I've been told my whole life. Mother also says everyone has this special someone waiting for them out there – their soulmate. I'm not too sure I believe her. I'm 21 now, and I've not yet met my person. I'm starting to think it's not going to happen for me. When I met Daniel, I thought he was the one. When I realized he wasn't, I still tried to make it work. We were together for two years before he died. Of course, I was heartbroken. I also started wondering if my own soulmate hadn't died; it was the only reason I could think of why I still hadn't met them when all my friends already had. Mother tried to comfort me and told me that when someone dies before meeting their soulmate, their connection to this person is somewhat reallocated. But seeing Kathryn and Mal so happy with their better halves is slowly starting to drive me insane.

I have yet to see for myself what red looks like. It sounds beautiful, the way everyone speaks about it. Father said it's so vibrant and warm, it's like looking at love itself, if love was visible to the naked eye. I guess in some sense it is visible to the eye, otherwise we wouldn't have all that red nonsense. Anyway, I'm tired of all this. I want to meet my special someone. I hate that half of my wardrobe is this revolting shade of grey. I just can't wait to start living my best life.

Regina closed the journal and slipped it back in her purse. She took a deep breath before emptying what little iced tea was left in her glass. She looked around at her surroundings. Moments like this were her favorite: after being so engrossed in her writing, she always felt so disoriented for a few minutes when she looked up and remembered she was in public. She was about to leave the small café where she loved spending her afternoons; it was a great place to observe people, which was key to Regina's search for love. She had picked up writing on her various stake outs: she found it very relaxing, and over time she'd started dreaming about someday writing a bestseller.

Regina gathered her things and got up to leave. She'd barely made it out the door when she felt a hand grab her shoulder. She quickly whipped around.

A young woman was standing right behind her, apparently surprised at the hostile look on Regina's face. She took a step back and slowly lifted her right hand.

"I'm sorry, I tried to call you but you didn't hear. You forgot this at your table." The young woman handed Regina her pen. Regina profusely thanked her; the pen had been a gift from her father, and she would have hated herself if she'd lost it.

The young woman – Emma, as it turned out – had a pretty smile and laughed easily. She kept running a hand through her blonde curls and was looking at Regina a little bit too intensely for the thoughts running through her mind to be completely platonic.

Emma's cell phone suddenly chirped and both girls broke out of their pleasant conversation, still grinning widely. That was when Regina noticed a detail that almost caused her to drop dead from shock.

Emma's jacket was a color she'd never seen before.

Seeing Regina's face drain off all color, Emma took a step forward and placed a hand on her arm.

"Regina? Are you okay?"

"Your – your jacket – Emma, look at it!"

The blonde looked down at her sleeve. Her mouth gaped and her eyes went round.

"Is that…"

"Red?" Regina's voice was no more than a squeak.

Emma looked up, her green eyes filled with shock. Slowly, a new emotion made her way across her features: she looked genuinely happy.

"Red really is a beautiful color, right? I didn't really believe it before now, but they were right. It's like-"

"Looking at love itself. It's what my father always says." Regina blurted out. She took a breath and shook her head, trying desperately to regain composure. "Emma, would you like to get a drink? We should get to know each other better, I suppose."

"You bet I would!" Emma turned around to open the door and let Regina back in before her. As they both sat down, they couldn't stop smiling.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments before Emma broke the silence.

"I have to say… Wow!"

Regina raised an eyebrow, suddenly worried that her soulmate would be incapable of speaking grammatically correct sentences.

"It's probably gonna come out the wrong way, but… Wow, you're really pretty."

Regina started laughing, suddenly a little shy, and Emma quickly followed suite.

"Well, you're really pretty too, Emma."

They say you know true love at first sight, and they're right. Seeing the color red is only the first step, though. When it's true love, everything falls right together, and suddenly you can't see yourself with anyone else, even if you've just met them a few minutes ago. That's what it feels like with Emma. She's brave and selfless in ways I could never be, and she makes me laugh. She has such a fresh outlook on life, and such optimism I sometimes envy her. She makes me feel loved and desired at all times, even that one time I was very sick, running a fever and vomiting on the hour every hour. We've only been together a few weeks, but she's already made my life so much better. She's worth every single year I spent looking for her, and now I can't wait to see what the future has in store for the two of us.

Family night had always been special to the Swan-Mills family: Wednesday nights were their chance to spend some quality time together, without being bothered by work or Henry's school work or other activities. Planning the family night, however, had slowly become increasingly difficult: each member of the family had their own idea of what constituted good family fun. That's why, to ensure everyone was pleased, Regina had come up with the idea of posting a list on their fridge where everyone could add their ideas for the upcoming family nights. It had been working so far, and everyone in the family checked daily if someone had come up with an interesting proposal. On that Wednesday morning, however, Regina was left more than surprised and slightly uncomfortable by the latest addition. There was a new entry, underneath "make a photo album with last Christmas' pictures" in Regina's neat and careful handwriting and "eat the largest ice cream sundaes we can find" in Emma's quick scrawl.

"Discuss baby brother or sister"

Henry had apparently scribbled it in a rush, probably before going off to school. Regina knew there must have been a reason why he'd practically run out of the house to hop on the bus this morning. She re-read the sentence a few times, to make sure she hadn't misunderstood what her son meant, but she eventually had to come to the only reasonable conclusion: Henry wanted a sibling.

"Hey beautiful, what've you got there?" Emma exclaimed joyfully as she entered the kitchen, her empty coffee thermos in hand. She reached for the coffee pot, filled her thermos and turned back to Regina, who was still standing there, obviously shocked.

"Is there something wrong?" Emma asked, slightly concerned. She glanced at the paper Regina was holding and smiled upon realizing it was their list for family night. "Did Henry write something? What is it? Something ridiculous I'm sure?"

Regina shrugged, at a loss for words, and handed the paper over to Emma before leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Discuss baby brother or sister? What on Earth…?" Emma's voice raised an octave as she read out loud what her son had written. She looked at Regina with wide eyes and a very obvious apprehension. "Where did he get this idea?"

"I don't know." Regina shook her head. "He never mentioned it before – wait." Emma looked up at her expectantly, silently urging her to go on. "He did say something when we were babysitting your brother, the other day. Something about you being lucky to have a brother, even if he probably felt more like a nephew than an actual brother. I didn't think much about it at the time, but… Do you think it's been on his mind for long?"

"Probably? You know Henry, he thinks alone for a while and then he throws his conclusions at you and expects you to understand his whole reasoning. He's so your son."

"Yes, because you're always so open about what's on your mind." Regina replied with a smile, gentle sarcasm dripping from her every word.

Both women smiled at each other. This kind of playful banter was a regular occurrence between them, and they never got tired of it.

"Well, what do you think then?" Emma prompted. "Is it something you even want to discuss?"

"We've always discussed everything and anything with Henry, I don't see why it should change now –"

"I meant do you want to discuss it with me?"

"Oh." Regina paused for an instant, observing Emma's face. "Well, we probably should, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, probably." Emma couldn't help but sound disappointed that Regina had to think about whether she wanted to talk about it.

"Do you have time now? Or should we maybe do it at lunch?" Regina's voice was now so professional, as if she was merely scheduling an appointment with a slightly unpleasant citizen of Storybrooke.

"Lunch works for me. I'll come meet you at your office, okay?" Emma's throat tightened as she said those words. She needed to leave quickly, before she let her emotions get the better of her. "Love you!" She placed a kiss on Regina's cheek before grabbing back her thermos and exiting the kitchen. Less than a minute later, her Bug had driven halfway up the street, leaving Regina alone with her thoughts.

Lunch time came much quicker than both women would have wanted it to. They had both been lost in thoughts all morning, tallying the pros and cons of adding to the family. When Emma knocked on Regina's office door, she was surprised to find herself anxious. She took a deep breath before stepping in the room and going straight to sit down on Regina's couch, where Regina joined her a few moments later.

"How was your morning?" Regina asked, trying to keep the conversation casual.

"I'm not sure. I don't think I was paying much attention, I was thinking about our talk." Emma answered honestly.

"I thought about it too." Regina's tone had switched back to mayoral, and Emma couldn't help but cringe. "Should we share our conclusions on the matter, then?"

"You don't want a baby, do you?" Emma burst, all plans to remain calm now forgotten.

Regina was startled by the sudden outburst retreated slightly on her side of the couch.

"Why would you say that, Emma? I haven't said anything yet."

"You don't have to actually say anything. You sound… Unhappy with the situation. As if you're trying to refuse without looking like the bad guy." Emma looked down at her knees, pouting like a child.

Regina chuckled slightly, almost sadly. "Oh, Emma. I'm sorry you thought I wanted to refuse. I was just surprised about the whole thing, to say the least. I didn't expect to suddenly have to talk about it."

Emma looked up at her, green eyes flashing with hope.

"So it's not a no on the baby?"

"I would never say no without thinking about it first."

"But…?" Emma could sense the "but" coming.

"I'm not sure." Regina confessed. "It's all very tempting, but… You weren't there when Henry was young." The words weren't said in an accusative tone, but they stung nonetheless. "I don't think I was a very good mother then. I mean, Henry was fed and healthy and I kept a roof over his head and he was materially fine, but… I'm not sure I was very good at loving him."

Regina's self-doubt hurt Emma more than any remembrance that she had missed most of Henry's childhood ever could.

"What do you mean, not very good at loving him? Regina, you've always been an incredible mom to Henry. He's turned out amazing, and you get most, if not all, the credit for that."

Regina smiled sadly before softly patting Emma's hand.

"It's very sweet of you to say that."

"I mean it, Regina." Seeing that no amount of complimenting would ever get Regina to see how good of a mother she had been, her Evil Queen breakdown aside, Emma added: "Anyway, I'll be here this time. And you can't deny that, together, we make a pretty kickass team moms."

"Team moms?" Regina chuckled. "I like the sound of that."

"Yeah, me too." Emma pulled Regina into a one-armed hug. "So, now that we've gotten this out of the way… What do you say about this potential baby?"

"I can't wait to meet them. I mean, only if you're 100% on board for this, of course."

"Are you kidding me? I've never been more on board for anything in my whole life!" Emma's eyes were sparkling, and Regina's smile was properly radiant. Both women stayed silent a second, reveling in each other's happiness until Emma broke the silence, sending them into a fit of laughter.

"Man, this baby is going to be the greatest baby ever made! No one stands a chance to team moms."

When Henry came back from school on that Wednesday afternoon, he was surprised to see a paper taped to the front door of the house. He got slightly nervous when he recognized their list of ideas for family night. One of his mothers had circled his proposal in red, and the other – Emma, he was certain – had put a smiley face next to it. Henry grabbed the paper, with a wide smile on his lips, and he rushed into the house, impatient for family night to begin.

No curse AU. Originally posted as part of the Swan Queen Week of Summer 2017. Enjoy!

It's snowing hard when Henry tells them they're going to be grandmothers. Emma and Regina are so happy to have him and his wife Sophie home for lunch; they don't see them as often as they'd wish, even with them having just moved back to Storybrooke after living in Boston for nearly a decade. Sarah and Alice, Emma and Regina's twelve-year-old twins, are overexcited to have their brother all to themselves for the day, even if they see him pretty much every day at school, where Henry teaches high school English.

From the minute Henry and Sophie step into the house on that cold winter Sunday, Regina can feel something is different. She observes the young couple throughout lunch and can't quite pinpoint what it is, but she knows something's up with her son. She mentions it to Emma as they're in the kitchen to plate the dessert. Emma shrugs it off, saying it's probably nothing and Regina is being her usual overbearing self, but Regina doesn't believe her. They bring dessert – Regina's apple pie, Henry's favorite – to the table, walking in on Sarah telling a joke and the rest of the table bursting into laughter. Even Sophie, who is usually so quiet, laughs along. For some reason she can't quite figure out, Regina looks at Sophie a while longer than she usually does: she studies her friendly smile and is reminded of how sweet her son's wife has always been and how easily she'd fit into the family, despite her initial shyness. Regina is truly happy that Henry found someone so perfect for him, and even though she had initial reservations about any girl marrying her little boy, she now has to admit they make an extremely well-fitted pair.

Regina snaps out of her thoughts by Henry clearing his throat.

"So, now that we're all together, Sophie and I have something we'd like to tell you…"

Anxiety settles into Regina's stomach and she can't help but grab Emma's hand under the table. Then Sophie gives Henry a bright smile and her eyes well up a bit, and Regina starts to slowly imagine what can be going on.

"We're having a baby!" Henry exclaims joyfully. There's a short stunned silence, and then everyone jumps up from their seats. Sarah and Alice are squealing and high fiving before rushing to envelope Sophie into a hug and bombard her with questions, while Emma yells "Yes!" and fist pumps in the air, exactly as she does when her football team scores. She goes to hug her son and congratulate the couple, smiling so widely Regina is afraid her face might tear in two. Regina, however, can barely stand up from her chair. She's gone completely numb and can't articulate a single thought. She should have known this was coming; she should have seen the reason why the young couple decided to move back here to be "closer to family". Her little boy is going to be a dad. Regina's not too sure if she's overwhelmed with happiness or if she wants to cry.

But then, all of a sudden, she realizes Henry has taken a step towards her and is reaching out to take her hand. He looks worried, and seeing the apprehension in her baby's eyes melts her heart completely. She doesn't take the hand he's holding out and hugs him with all her strength instead.

"Congratulations, my little prince. I'm just so happy."

___

It's the warmest day of summer when Sophie goes into labor. Regina's cell phone rings just as she was about to put a load of laundry in the washer, and she drops everything the moment she hears Henry's voice on the phone. She can feel his apprehension, and she's already grabbed her purse and rounded up Emma and their daughters by the time she promises Henry she'll be at the hospital as soon as possible.

The drive to the hospital is longer than Regina remembers it. Even when she'd gone as she was the one in labor, it hadn't felt that far. She doesn't give Emma a chance to park the car before getting out and running to the nurses' desk. She needs to see her son; she needs to hold him and tell him everything is going to be alright and he'll make an amazing dad. She catches sight of him as she walks into the maternity ward. He's pacing back and forth, nervously twisting his fingers, and for a split second all she sees is her little boy, four or five years old at most, trying to figure out the best way to ask if "please Mommy, can we go to the fair right now? I know we said tomorrow, but please Mommy I really need to go now!".

She practically runs to him and engulfs him in a tight hug, kissing his hair and rubbing his back like when he was little and used to have nightmares. They barely talk, as if his mothers' mere presence was enough for him to feel safe, and he's back in the hospital room with his wife before Emma arrives.

It takes hours, but Henry's daughter is born before midnight that day.

When Henry stumbles out of the room, disheveled but looking happier than ever before, his eyes are still filled with tears – happy tears, he assures them immediately – and he leads them into the room without adding a word.

Sophie is lying there, looking exhausted but unspeakably happy, and she's holding the baby. Regina can feel her insides twist at the sight, and something in her is screaming that she needs to hold her granddaughter, to see her this very minute. Henry takes her by the hand and gets her closed to the bed, taking his daughter from Sophie to place her into Regina's arms.

In a second, Regina is in love. She's completely lost to the little girl in her arms, just as she's been wholeheartedly lost to Henry so many years ago. The little girl has the same chubby cheeks and the same nose, but she has her mother's coloring, slightly lighter than Henry's. Regina can't see beyond that as her eyes are filled with tears she tries her hardest to blink away.

"Her name's Evelyn. Evelyn Regina Mills." Henry sounds so proud to announce his daughter's name, and Regina can't fight the tears a second longer. She can't take her eyes off her precious granddaughter, even as she feels Emma step right behind her and ask her if she's okay.

"I'm just so happy."

---

It's early fall when little Evie stays for the first time for a whole week at her grandmothers'. She's just turned two years old, and she doesn't even cry when her parents leave. Regina and Emma are over the moon that they get to spoil their granddaughter for an entire week, with no interruptions whatsoever. They've taken time off from work and they've planned tons of things to do with her and the twins. They spend the week playing hide and seek and baking and going swimming and dancing in the living room and having tea parties and playing dress up and telling stories and laughing so much their stomachs hurt. The weather is amazing and they even teach her to pedal on her little tricycle. The little girl is curious, kind, smart and a real cuddle bug. She inherited Henry's eyes and his pouty mouth, which makes it impossible for Regina and Emma to deny her anything.

Evie's stay with them is a time for firsts: it's her first time sleeping away from home or staying without her parents for so long; it's also the first time she eats a bear claw – thanks to Emma – and the first time she tries to curtsey when playing princesses – thanks to Regina.

It's right before bedtime, on the Thursday, when Evie goes through yet another first. Emma's just finished telling her a story and Regina is tucking her in when Evie puts her little hand on her arm.

"What is it, Evie? Is there something wrong?"

The toddler shakes her head. "Nuh-huh. Just… Love you, Nana 'Gina."

And with that, the little girl buries her head into her grandmother's neck. Regina is taken aback for a second until she meets Emma's amused smile over Evie's head.

"I love you too, Evie." She replies in a tear-filled voice. She mentally curses herself for becoming so emotional with time.

"Love you too, Nana Emma." Evie's voice is muffled by Regina's shoulder.

"Love you too, kid." Emma comes to kiss her granddaughter's hair.

Evie looks up and immediately notices the tears on Regina's face.

"Why you crying, Nana 'Gina? You sad?" She asks, pouting in concern.

"No, darling. I'm just so happy."

---

It's late spring when Regina and Emma are tasked to look after all their grandchildren while Henry and Sophie are invited to a friend's wedding in Boston. Both grandmothers are of course delighted to have their grandkids over, even if it becomes slightly more complicated to look after everyone as they age and the number of grandkids increases. Henry has four kids now, but Sarah and Alice are both due with their first child for around Thanksgiving. Henry's kids are all beautiful, intelligent and kind, and their grandmothers adore each and every one of them.

The kids have spent most of the afternoon playing soccer in the garden, and they are now all roasting marshmallows in the garden. The kids are all laughing, the youngest covered in melted candy, as they beg their grandmothers to tell them stories about when their dad was little. Emma complies gracefully, always happy to embarrass Henry even indirectly, and Regina sometimes adds to her stories, trying to absorb as much of the ambient happiness as she possibly can. Evie winks at her over the fire, and Regina can feel a wave of warmth enveloping her. The moments spent with her grandchildren fill her with a feeling she could never really describe: it's joy and happiness, of course, but it's way more relaxed than when she was with her own children. She's always loved her children more than anything in her life, but her grandchildren have brought her a peace she never thought she could ever find: for the first time in her life, Regina feels like she truly belongs and she won't suddenly mess everything up. Her life is the closest to perfect that it could be.

When she and Emma go to tuck each of their grandchildren in, as they always do, Evie hugs her grandmother extra tight.

"Nana 'Gina?"

"Yes, darling?"

"I had a great day today. Thank you." Before Regina can answer, she continues. "Did you have fun too?" Just shy of thirteen years old, she understands her grandmother perfectly and she is by far the most empathetic of their grandchildren.

"Of course I had fun. I always have fun with you all. But don't worry about it, okay? It's time to sleep now."

After kissing her granddaughter one last time, Regina walks out of the room with Emma.

"You okay, babe?" Emma asks. After all these years together, she still gets worried if Regina just as much as flinches.

"Of course I am, Emma. I'm just... so happy."

"Are you sure about this, Ma? So many things could go wrong! I mean, there's a 95% probability Mom will catch on before you're even halfway through with the plan. She'll notice something's up and the surprise is going to be ruined. Maybe you should go with something less over the top? Like dinner in a nice restaurant or a moonlight picnic, or even just a weekend in Vermont next Valentine's day?"

Henry and Emma are sitting in Emma's bug, speaking hurriedly to finish their talk before pulling up in their garage lane.

"No, Henry. It has to be huge. I want to do something nice for your mother, and I want it to be perfect. She deserves it. We just need to be better at hiding it than she is at sleuthing. That's why I absolutely need your help. It's essential that she thinks this vacation is your idea, okay? This way she shouldn't be too suspicious and Operation Sparkle should be a success."

Henry makes an uncertain pout but agrees nonetheless. That evening, over dinner, he pleads for a family vacation in Paris ("But Mom, none of us has ever been! It would be so great! And it would help me with my French!"), and he does his best to convince her. After a couple days of discussing it with Emma, Regina eventually agrees and the Swan-Mills family makes their reservations for the following spring.

As soon as they land in Paris, their vacation takes a magical turn. Regina has been slightly afraid of flying, but she's thankfully gotten quickly over it. The three of them are immediately taken with everything they are seeing. Henry is snapping pictures like a madman, Emma is pointing at pretty much everything she sees and Regina's eyes are glistening madly. As they get in the cab that's driving them to their hotel, Regina leans over to Henry and thanks him for suggesting the trip. Henry smiles brightly and discretely winks at Emma, who stifles a laugh in a cough. The first step of the plan is completed: they've gotten Regina to Paris. They can now start the hardest part of their plan, which they only have a few days to complete.

The week they spend in Paris is wonderful by all aspects. They marvel at what they are seeing and they enjoy each other's company even more than they do at home; Emma even jokes Parisians must put something in the water to make teenage boys less moody and small-town mayors less strict, and Regina and Henry both laugh at it happily. Henry takes his role in Operation Sparkle extremely seriously: whenever Emma gives him his designated and subtle signal, he distracts Regina by showing her yet another pigeon or asking for yet another delicious treat he's just spotted in a shop. Regina doesn't seem to notice Henry's sometimes ridiculous attempts at getting her attention nor Emma's odd lingering a couple of steps behind them; she looks so enamored with Paris absolutely nothing could phase her.

They go sightseeing, and they walk so much they drill a hole in the sole of their shoes and need to buy new ones; they find relatively cheap sneakers for the whole family in a chain store and throw their old shoes in the nearest trashcan, laughing madly at their misadventure. They go to Versailles and nearly get lost in the public transportation of the way there, and then they nearly get lost in the park and they end up having to ask a gardener for directions so they don't get locked in the park. They go for a boat ride on the Seine, and it's so wonderfully cliché but none of them could care less. They eat crêpes and croissants – Henry swears he's become intolerant to any food that doesn't come from a bakery – and any kind of pastry or cheese they can find. Regina insists to try a different wine every night, and Emma is all too happy to oblige; they even let Henry try cider one evening. They go to Montmartre and on the Grands Boulevards; they walk up and down the Champs-Elysées too many times to count; they wander around the Louvre for an entire day and Regina has tear in her eyes when she looks at Michelangelo's statues of slaves because "Emma, they look so real! Someone made these, and it pretty much looks like they're breathing". They go up the Eiffel tower, and they come back later when the sun has set and the tower is lit, and Emma spins Regina around, dips her and kisses her deeply before grabbing Henry and hugging her girlfriend and her son with all her strength. They get their picture taken pretty much everywhere, and they buy the most ridiculous souvenirs (including a beret, an apron and a baguette-shaped bread knife for Snow). They even go to Disneyland, despite Regina's reticence that they have exactly the same park at home, but when Emma and Henry put on their identical pouts and puppy eyes, she can't deny them anything, and so they go to Disneyland and laugh at each other's pretty miserable attempts to pronounce the French titles of the Disney movies, even though Regina and Emma are proud to notice Henry's French accent has greatly improved since the beginning of the school year. They spend a week out of time, when all that matters is the fun they'll have that day and the fascinating new things they'll see.

Sadly, they have to leave Paris. They all get slightly teary-eyed (Henry included) when they leave their hotel and later on, when they have to board their plane, and they try to comfort each other by promising they'll come back together someday. They return home and, even though they're all happy to be back in their house and see their friends and family again, they can't help but feel slightly nostalgic.

Emma, however, doesn't have too much time to feel sorry: the second part of Operation Sparkle was a success, but she has to get to work and get part three done quickly.

The last part of her plan arrives in the mail on the last week of April. Emma gets the last details ready and tells Henry that they'll get into the last phase of Operation Sparkle on the weekend. Henry high fives her, and he's ridiculously chirpy the rest of the week.

When the day arrives, Emma makes sure the three of them won't be disturbed. Right after breakfast, she hands Regina the photo album of their trip to Paris that she's had printed and sent home over the week and, right as Regina starts flipping through the pages, Henry calls her from the other room to ask for her help over homework. Emma and Henry wait in the kitchen, nudging each other gently and stifling giggles, even though Emma is so nervous she might drop unconscious at any moment. Once Regina is edging the end of the album, they both discretely come back into the living room. Regina's back is to them but that doesn't change a thing, she's so focused on the pictures she wouldn't have noticed them anyway. When she turns the last page, she furrows her eyebrows for a second before gasping and covering her mouth with her hand. She turns around to find Emma on one knee, brandishing an engagement ring, and Henry beaming.

On the last double page of the album, Emma's had special photos printed: during their whole trip in Paris, she'd taken pictures of letters wherever she could find them, on shop windows, on street signs, on banners or book covers, and she'd positioned them to spell "Regina, will you marry me?". The gesture was outrageously romantic, but somehow it was so Emma: thoughtful, clever and incredibly loving.

Regina didn't have to think for a second before saying yes and diving into Emma's arms, with Henry cheering both of them on.

Emma has been tapping the table ever since they all sat down. It's been precisely four minutes and 37 seconds – yes, Regina has been counting; she has nothing better to do after all, except maybe smooth nervously the hem of her dress. She's spent a good fifteen minutes that morning figuring out what to wear, not having a single clue what outfit could be deemed appropriate for signing her and Emma's divorce settlement. Regina feels panic rise in her chest at the thought: the moment they sign this paper, their marriage will officially be over, and everything from the past nine years will be all up in smoke. Regina had been perfectly fine with getting divorced, at first; after all, they were arguing all the time and she knew they couldn't go on like this forever, especially for Henry's sake. But now that it was so imminent, she is gripped by a numbing panic whenever she thinks about it.

She's laid awake the entire night, dreading the moment her alarm would go off and she'd have to get on with her day. She had three things to do that morning: get herself ready, get Henry to school, get divorced, before going back to work that afternoon, picking Henry up from school and going on with their evening routine. It feels insane that she'll have to go back to her daily life after such a life-changing event, as if getting divorced wasn't more significant than picking up some dry cleaning. Regina feels like everyone is expecting her to be unphased by the divorce, since she and Emma had agreed to split up pretty amicably, when all Regina actually wants is to scream at the world that her life is pretty much ending and she's not too sure what to do with herself now that she's not Emma's wife anymore. Her panic sets in and her breaths get more labored as she thinks back to all the time she's spent being Emma's girlfriend, then wife. Emma always used to tell her "You're my everything", and it used to fill Regina up with happiness and warmth. Now, all she feels is incredibly cold and lost. That's when Regina notices her eyes are filled with tears, and she needs to calm herself down, so she does what she's been doing whenever her upcoming divorce had been weighing her down: she goes through the list of reasons why getting divorced was for the best. First reason, they couldn't keep arguing forever, and being both so stubborn, the only way to stop the fighting was to get away from each other. Second reason, they both deserved better than bitterness and harsh words, and they cared for each other too much not to want the very best for the other. Lastly and most importantly, Henry deserved to grow up in peace, and he would be much better growing up with divorced yet civil moms than with moms who couldn't stand each other; they had to end it while they didn't hate each other. It makes sense, and Regina has always done what made the most sense, so of course getting divorced is the right thing to do, if only for Henry.

Thinking about Henry usually fills Regina up with pride and happiness: her little prince is her everything and she loves it with all she has. However, thinking about him in that precise moment, waiting for her and Emma's lawyers to come in with the paper that will dissolve their family, is enough to bring tears to her eyes. All she can think is that she and Emma won't be together when he'll graduate high school and college, when he'll get his driver's license and his first girlfriend or boyfriend, when he'll lose his first tooth or when he'll score at a sports game. He will never again get to open his presents on Christmas with both his mothers there with him, and he will never again get family vacations with both his parents. Their life as a family of three will end in this room; they'll have to figure out a new kind of together, and for the first time Regina feels incredibly guilty that her son, at the tender age of five, will have his whole life changed because his mothers couldn't love each other enough.

A single tear rolls down Regina's cheek as she thinks this.

Emma probably notices it, because she then tentatively takes Regina's hand in hers.

"Are you okay?" Emma asks, and Regina is surprised to see all the anger of the past few months has completely vanished from her eyes. For a split second, she looks just like the Emma she fell in love with and who always looked at her so lovingly.

Regina shrugs miserably and squeezes Emma's hand softly, not knowing how to put words on what she's feeling without sounding ridiculous.

"I'm sorry, Emma. I'm just so sorry we couldn't love each other enough to keep going. I'm sorry it has to end like this."

Emma seems surprised, and that's when Regina realizes it's probably been ages since she's last apologized for anything.

"Hey, 'Gina, you have nothing to be sorry about. It's not our fault. That's just the way it is, and we're doing what's best, okay? It's best for Henry. It'll all work out in the end, don't worry." A thin smile played on Emma's lips. "And you know all marriages that don't end in a divorce end in death, so I think we've really dodged a bullet here."

The ghost of a smile danced furtively on Regina's lips, and she squeezed Emma's hand one more, promising herself they'd find a way to be together in some way for Henry.

---

Five years have passed when Regina allows herself to really think back to that moment. The divorce settlement had been signed minutes later, and she and Emma had gone their separate ways. Despite their promises to stick together to parent Henry, there'd soon been tension, and they'd started seeing each other as little as possible to avoid fighting. Slightly less than a year after their divorce, Emma had gotten a job offer in Boston and so she'd moved away, minimizing Henry's tears and being completely oblivious to how deeply Henry's pleads for Emma to take him with her had hurt Regina. Regina and Henry had managed to find a new balance together, and Henry had gone to see Emma in Boston when he didn't have school. Emma had never set foot in Storybrooke again, and she'd found herself a new boyfriend, whom Regina hated and Henry wasn't too fond of. Regina had dated someone new too, but she never could get too involved with him. Things had been decent until shortly after Henry's ninth birthday, when he'd started resenting Regina and begging to move to Boston; he'd accused Regina of keeping him from his mother and Regina had cried herself to sleep after failing to make him understand that she had nothing to do with Emma moving and never visiting. The tension between mother and son had reached a climax that day: it was Emma's birthday – Regina had remembered with a pang of guilt as she'd seen the calendar that morning – and Henry had run away from their house. Regina had been worried sick the entire day, until she'd gotten a phone call from Emma saying he was at her apartment and she'd drive him back to Storybrooke. So Regina paces the living room, impatiently waiting for Emma's car to pull up.

As the clock in the living room strikes ten, Regina hears noise outside and, in the blink of an eye, she's on her front porch. She runs to hug Henry with all her strength, but he shrugs her off and hurries past her towards the house. Emma is right behind him, looking more beautiful than Regina remembers her. They haven't seen in each other in four months now, and they've only spoken briefly on the phone, so they awkwardly greet each other before Regina invites her in.

"It's late, Emma, you shouldn't drive back now. You can spend the night here. I'm sure Henry will be very happy about it; he's missed you."

"I know he has." Emma shakes her head and runs a hand through her hair to let out her frustration. "He kept going on about wanting to stay with me, 'Gina. I tried telling him you weren't preventing me from seeing him, but for some reason he's convinced otherwise."

"He's been… difficult, lately. He's just so angry and I don't know what to do. I feel like we've failed him. We got divorced so he wouldn't turn bitter and angry, and it doesn't look like it's done him any good!" Regina can feel herself getting angry. She takes a few deep breaths to calm down. In the meanwhile, Emma has closed the gap between them and has pulled her into a hug. Regina tenses up; they haven't been physically so close since their divorce, and feeling Emma's body pressed against her, smelling Emma's hair, feeling her breath against her skin is overwhelming.

They stay like this for a few moments, until Henry slams a door somewhere upstairs.

"You know, 'Gina, I've been thinking lately… Remember when we got divorced, and you said we were doing it because we didn't love each other enough to keep going?" Regina nods. "I think you were wrong. We didn't get divorced because we didn't love each other enough."

"We didn't?" Regina asks, surprised that Emma would start talking about it now.

"I think we just needed some time apart. I've always loved you more than just 'enough', 'Gina. I still feel it today, after all this time apart. I know I needed time to figure out what was really important to me, and I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out it was you and Henry, together forever."

Regina's mouth drops open at Emma's mouth. She tries to say something but nothing comes out.

"I'm sorry to be dropping all of this on you right now, but… I had to get it off my chest. I understand you've moved on, but…"

"Don't." Regina interrupts her. "Don't try to back down now. Not when I want to tell you I want the same thing. At least, I want to try again."

Emma's smile as Regina speaks is brighter than the sun, and Regina can't help but chuckle lightly. Emma pulls her ex-wife-now-turned-probable-girlfriend in another hug, and Regina lets herself go against her before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

The children's shrieks started as soon as the school's bell rang at 3:30 pm. Henry was one of the first students to leave his classroom. It was a Friday after all, and no matter how much he loved learning, he was in a hurry to get home and enjoy his weekend. He tossed his backpack over his shoulder and ran past his teacher, only offering Ms Blanchard a hurried goodbye. He hurried past the other classrooms and through the school yard, picking up his speed as he neared the main doors. He spotted his mom immediately; not only was she wearing a red dress under her dark trench coat, which made her very noticeable, but she was also waving at him. Henry blushed slightly – now that he was almost eleven, he preferred when his mom waited for him around the corner rather than right in front of his school – but he ran towards her nonetheless and even let her hug him in front of everyone.

After the usual "how was your day?" and "do you have a lot of homework?", the two of them started walking towards home. The weather was still great despite it being already late October, so Regina insisted they walked home whenever it was possible.

As they turned onto a new block, Henry inhaled deeply. They were nearing a little bakery where everything always seemed so delicious and the shop keeper was always giving him bright smiles, but Regina never had any cash on her and so she never bought her son anything. Henry had such a sweet tooth he kept giving his mom his best puppy eyes every day, in the hopes that she would start remembering to carry some cash with her, but she never did.

Henry tried his luck that day too but Regina, as usual, gently patted her shoulder and apologized for not having any cash. "We'll go another time, Henry" she said.

Henry looked up and met the shop keeper's eyes through the window. He shrugged sadly, like he always did, and he expected her to do the same in response. But that day, she pointed to a new little sign in the window: "Credits card now accepted starting at $1".

Henry immediately grabbed his mom's arm.

"Mom, look!" He exclaimed excitably. "You can pay with your card! Can we go, oh pleaaaaase? I'll never ask for anything ever again!"

Regina snorted and Henry offered her a sorry smile, as they both knew Henry was being overly dramatic and would probably start asking for something else as soon as a new idea crossed his mind. Still, Regina gave in in front of her son's adorable pout; she'd never been too good at telling him no.

They entered the bakery, and the shop turned out to be as lovely on the inside as it looked on the outside. There were pastries and other treats everywhere you looked, and the room was decorated with a lot of taste.

"Hey, welcome to Ashley and Emma's! I'm Emma. What can I do for you?"

Henry walked up to the counter, his eyes as wide as saucers and a giant smile on his face.

"Hi! I – I'd like… Maybe… Everything looks so good! – Okay… I'll take… A cinnamon bun!"

"A cinnamon bun for the kid! And for you, Ma'am?" Emma had a nice, friendly voice, and an equally pretty smile.

"I'll take one of your muffins, please, Miss Swan." Henry wondered for a second how him mom knew Emma's last name, but then he figured that, as mayor, she was bound to know pretty much everyone in Storybrooke.

"And a muffin for Mayor Mills." Emma gave Regina an even brighter smile, and Henry arched an eyebrow as he saw his mom return the smile. He'd never seen her smile like this at anyone: she looked oddly pleased with herself, and yet slightly embarrassed at the same time, and Henry wasn't sure what to do with it.

Emma put their pastries in a paper bag and handed it to Henry over the counter.

"I've put in an extra bear claw for you, kid. We've been trying to improve our recipe, so don't hesitate to tell me what you think about it, okay?" Emma winked at him as she said that, and Henry's mouth started watering.

Regina paid their order; she tried to convince Emma to let her pay for the bear claw, but Emma insisted it was on the house. Henry observed the two women as they interacted, and he became even more puzzled: they were both eyeing each other intensively and they both sounded incredibly velvety – Henry wasn't sure it was an appropriate word, but it would have to do.

"So, Miss Swan, I've seen you made an appointment to see me on Monday? I guess I'll see you then."

"Oh, yeah. I've been thinking we could start delivering the pastries, so we'll need a car and someone to drive it, but also some kind of garage to park the car. I wanted to ask you if we could build one next to this building here. I've prepared the file with all the paper work, I'll bring it to you on Monday." Emma sounded… seductive? Henry wasn't sure if he could trust himself on this.

"I'm sure we'll find a solution that'll work for you, Miss Swan." Okay, now Henry was certain his mom was flirting, and he was starting to get uncomfortable.

They bid Emma goodbye and started walking back home in a comfortable silence, Henry still holding the bag of pastries. After a few quiet minutes, Henry felt a question burn his tongue.

"How long have you known Emma?"

"I know everyone in town, Henry, especially people who run businesses. I guess I've known Miss Swan when she arrived, a couple years ago. Why that?"

"Do you know her well? Are you friends or something?"

"No, why are you asking? I see her every once in a while, not that it's any of your business." As she said that, Regina ruffled her son's hair.

"It's just that you both look like you could really get along." Henry was trying to play innocent but, judging by Regina's embarrassed look, he probably hadn't been too subtle. "Anyway, it was very nice of Emma to give us the extra bear claw. Everything looks so delicious, I'm sure you can tell her on Monday that the pastries were to die for!"

With that, Henry dove his hand into the paper bag to grab his cinnamon bun and hungrily bit into it, under his mother's amused smile. They didn't speak any more about Emma that evening, but Henry could swear he heard Regina hum "Sweets for my sweet" a few times that evening. Each time he did, he had to smile uncontrollably: not matter how awkward it could be, it was still funny and cute to see his mother crushing on someone.

"Girlfriend wanted! Help me find my mom a girlfriend. She's 30 years old, pretty, athletic and funny. She loves comic books, sports and good food, as well as gardening and playing the guitar. She's a very enthusiastic and outgoing person; she can put anyone in a good mood. We're looking for someone about her age, with a lot of personality (my mom hates pushovers) and a nice smile (it helps), ideally someone who can share some hobbies with her or introduce her to new activities. Only serious candidates must apply, we're looking for something long-term. Must be okay with children (12 year-old boy, aka me). Of course, applicants with children are more than welcome. Contact: Henry Swan, 7th grade. Come find me before homeroom (room B11), at lunch or text my number below."

Arabella Mills had first laughed when she'd seen this ad in the school's newspaper. She'd thought it was a pretty desperate move, but now that she'd thought about it some more, it wasn't as silly as she once thought. She didn't really know Henry Swan - they'd only shared an English class the previous year and she'd barely spoken to him – but she had to admit it was sort of courageous to put himself out there like that. And she would be lying if she said her mom wasn't getting lonely. So she'd given it some thought, and she'd come to the conclusion that maybe her mom could get along with Henry's mom, or at least they could give it a try. That's why she'd texted Henry and they'd set up a meeting after class to discuss it.

Arabella spotted Henry from afar. She waved at him and he waved back. They greeted each other by the bike rack and quickly got to the heart of the matter.

"So, why do you think your mom would be a good match for mine?" Henry asked. He was still dumbfounded that someone had answered his ad.

"My mom hates boring people, and your mom seemed the exact opposite of that."

"What's your mom like?"

"She's beautiful and very clever. She likes reading and cooking… Swimming… Horseback riding, too, she won many championships when she was young… She loves music, too; I think she's a great singer, but she's a bit shy about it. Here, I brought a picture." Arabella shuffled a bit through her backpack before taking out a small picture of her mom and herself. "It was taken in our garden, in front of mom's apple tree. Mom's really proud of that tree, she's been growing it since she moved into our house, before I was born. She makes delicious pies and cider with our apples." Arabella handed the picture to Henry so he could look at it in greater detail. Arabella hadn't lied; her mom was really beautiful and – Henry was very pleased by that – she had a gorgeous smile.

"Do you have a picture of your mom, maybe?" Arabella asked. Henry dug out his cell phone, pulled up the picture and handed it to her without a word, still studying the features of Arabella's mom.

Arabella studied the picture in great detail too. Henry and his mother were both laughing and holding each other tight. Henry's mom looked young and carefree, and she had this little something that made her look adventurous – something Arabella's mom would like. After a few more minutes of staring in silence, Henry and Arabella eventually exchanged back the pictures.

"Your mom looks nice, yeah." Henry finally said. Arabella arched an eyebrow and he knew he'd made a mistake. "I mean, she looks great, and she sounds great too. I think she could get along well with my mom. Her name's Emma, by the way."

"My mom's name is Regina."

"And are you sure your mom is looking for someone?" Henry wanted to be sure Arabella was really serious about all of this before they got even further.

"Are you?"

Henry smiled at Arabella's answer.

"I'm pretty sure, yeah. She's been alone for a while and I think she'd like to have an adult to talk to. Not that I'm not awesome in my own way, but I have the feeling she'd like to date again. She broke up with my dad before I was born, and she's never had any real girlfriend ever since. She's been on a few dates but nothing more."

"It's basically the same story with my mom, except my dad died and I'm not even sure she's even gone to more than one date with the same person. I know she's lonely, and I'm almost certain she's moved on. Don't get me wrong, I guess I love my dad, but… it's been over 12 years and my mom deserves better."

Henry nodded at that. If someone could understand what it was like to wish their parent would meet someone amazing to fill the void in their heart, it was him.

"Alright. So, when do we organize the meeting?"

A week later, Henry and Arabella had pretexted a study date to get their moms together. Regina had agreed that Henry could come over and Emma had even insisted to drive him. Their plan to get them to meet had worked perfectly and they couldn't wait to see the rest of their plan unfold: they would go to the kitchen to "work" while Regina would almost certainly offer Emma something to drink and they would start talking; then, they'd only have to wait for the sparks to fly between them. It was almost foul-proof and both youngsters were quite proud of themselves.

When Henry and Emma arrived, Arabella made sure to let her mom answer the door. Regina greeted mother and son with a large smile and invited Emma in as well as Henry. Regina and Emma made small talk for a few moments, each of them smiling from ear to ear. While the two kids went to the kitchen, Regina invited Emma to taste their apple cider and Emma accepted without hesitation – the plan had worked! The kids sneaked a look through the kitchen door that they'd left ajar on purpose. Regina and Emma were discussing the blossoming friendship between their children and laughing every once in a while. It had to be a good thing.

"I think it's great they became friends on their own. It makes everything much easier." Emma said, gratefully accepting the glass Regina was handing her.

"Oh, I think they have something in mind. At least Arabella does. She's been very keen on having Henry over and having the two of us meet, and she kept talking about what Henry had told her about you."

"Oh, they are definitely trying to parent trap us! Henry wasn't exactly subtle about it either. He came home from school talking about this study date and insisting you were a great cook without even catching his breath in between."

Both women laughed and the youngsters looked at each other dejectedly.

"We should tell them soon, don't you think? Before they try setting us up with someone else?" Regina asked.

"I think you're right; it's probably time." As she answered, Emma took a step forward and came to gently kiss Regina on the lips.

Astonished, Henry and Arabella went to sit at the kitchen table.

"How were we so wrong? How did we not see it? How could we fail so miserably?" Henry asked, laying his head on the table in despair.

"We certainly didn't fail!" Arabella sounded indignant. She straightened up in her chair. "We saw they were a great match for each other, didn't we? We just didn't know they'd already… matched?"

They looked at each other for a split second before bursting in laughter.

"Well, anyway, I'm glad it's working out between them. Your mom seems nice, and I think you and I should get along just fine. And your right, we did see their potential." Henry winked as he finished his sentence.

"Oh, Henry, we're visionaries!" Arabella exclaimed, sending both of them into another fit of giggles.