Reset

"No," Mary Margaret whispered, "she wants someone to love her, it's all she's ever really wanted."

"Sounds like Regina's bitterness to me," David pointed out.

Mary Margaret served tea to everyone and looked up at Emma, "so, what are you going to do?"

"I need to talk to Henry," Emma replied solemnly, "but I think I have to sign it, she's left me without an option."

"It's for the best, I'm sure of it," David said softly, "being out of Regina's grip will be good for both Henry and you."

Emma nodded, "when will Henry be back from the stables?"

Mary Margaret looked at her watch, "about half an hour."

Emma nodded and tuned out the rest of the conversation as she planned exactly what she would say to Henry. It was the first time she had had to have a difficult conversation with her son but it was the one she was dreading the most. She had no idea how he would take the news and even if he would understand it fully, even though he was undoubtedly bright he was still only ten, nearly eleven.

She briefly wondered, for the hundredth time, if this was Regina's way of making her fail, if this was some elaborate test. If she was attempting to show Emma what a bad mother she was, hoping to force Emma's hand and send her packing. As she considered it she felt her anger growing, how dare Regina cast Henry aside and how dare she assume Emma wouldn't be a fit mother.

Emma stood up and grabbed the contracts and her car keys and walked out of the apartment, ignoring her parents calling after her. She ran downstairs and got into her beloved yellow Bug, she threw the contract onto the passenger seat and started driving to the stables.

A short time later she arrived and could see Henry watching one of the other students from the safety fence and called over to him. He turned and smiled when he saw her, "Mom," he shouted and ran over to greet her.

"Hey, Kid," Emma forced a smile onto her face.

"What's wrong?" Henry frowned.

Emma smiled genuinely at him, "how do you know?"

"Your face is doing that thing," Henry said with a shrug.

Emma decided not to dwell on what her face was doing and got straight to the point, "Henry, I have some news.. there's no easy way to say this so I'm just gonna come out and say it, okay?"

Henry nodded and looked anxiously.

"Your Mom.." Emma started.

"Regina," Henry corrected.

"Regina," Emma nodded, "she's.. well.."

"Is she dead?" Henry asked with wide eyes.

"What? No!" Emma replied quickly, "nothing like that.. she's fine.. well.."

"Emma, you're scaring me," Henry fretted.

Emma took a deep breath and crouched down on one knee and looked Henry in the eye, "Henry, she's undoing the adoption, she wants me to be your legal guardian."

Henry processed this for a moment before frowning, "so, you'll be like my real Mom?"

"I'll be your only Mom, Regina won't be a part of your family," Emma emphasised.

Henry beamed, "so we'll be like a real family? Just you and me?"

"Well," Emma hesitated, "yeah.."

She was cut off by Henry throwing his arms around her neck and nearly pushing them both onto the muddy ground, "that's awesome!"

Emma grimaced as she wrapped her arms around the young boy, "are you sure, Henry?"

Henry leaned back, "you wanna be my Mom, right?"

Emma pulled him back into a hug and quickly replied, "yes, more than anything.. I just thought you might be upset, you know, about Regina.."

"Why?" Henry frowned as she released him from the hug, "I told you, she's not my real Mom. She's the Evil Queen.."

Emma bit her lip as she worked out her phrasing, "I know, Henry.. but she was still your Mom. She raised you for ten years, there's a lot of history there."

Henry shrugged and Emma stood up and put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed, "it's a lot to take in," she told him, "you may feel this way now but later you might feel differently. And if you do I want you to promise that you'll talk to me, okay?"

Henry looked up at her and nodded and she pulled him into her side and hugged him, "I love you, Henry."

"I love you too," Henry smiled but then he frowned as he looked up at her again, "what if this is an evil plan?"

"We did think about that," Emma admitted, "but it doesn't look like it is."

"We should keep her under observation," Henry nodded, "we need to start up Operation Cobra again!"

Emma looked pensively over at the horses trotting around the yard, "maybe, Kid.. we'll talk about it later tonight, okay?"

"Cool," Henry smiled, "I better go and help tidy everything away, are you going to drive me home?"

"Sure," Emma smiled, "I'll be in the car."

Henry ran back to the rest of the teaching group and Emma trudged back to the car and sat down and watched Henry and the other kids for a while before her eyes were drawn to the paperwork on the seat beside her.

Before she had a chance to look at the paperwork again her mobile phone rang and she checked the display to see that it was Mary Margaret. She grimaced as she answered, "hi.. sorry for running out like that.."

"That's okay, Sweetie," Mary Margaret replied quickly, "how is he?"