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Henry was on his way home, walking down Main Street. His head was spinning with so many questions, and his grandfather wasn’t of any help. So he decided to head home, hoping that his mom could help him. He wasn’t really sure that his mom knew much on the topic, but considering she kept his grandparents apart for so many years, just to get back at Snow White, he thinks she’ll be useful.
But as he turns the corner to Mifflin Street, he’s surprised to see the familiar yellow bug parked outside of his house. Henry checked his phone for the time, making sure he hadn’t stayed at Granny’s longer than he had meant to, which he apparently hadn’t. It was Friday, which meant Emma came over for dinner, but she was really early.
Finally, he creaked open the door, not sure what he might be interrupting. His moms had been getting along recently, and even hanging out together without him. It was a bit odd, and sudden, but he was getting used to it.
Closing the door behind him, he takes off his shoes and slips off his backpack. He hears quiet laughter from the living room; his mom's laughter. Something, he admittedly doesn’t hear that often. But he knows that she laughs more when Emma is around, and for that, he’s thankful.
Henry finally peaks around the corner and finds both of his moms sitting on the couch, facing each other. Emma’s right arm is slung over the back of the couch, her fingers barely touching mom's shoulder. He sees his mom lean more against the back of the couch, towards Emma’s hand and she has the brightest smile on her face.
The smile he knows that mom only saves for him and Emma.
He wondered if Violet looked at him the same way, or if he had a special Violet-only-smile that he didn’t know about.
Just as mom moves some hair behind her ear and her face turns a shade of pink he clears his throat to announce his presence. “Hey, I’m home from school. Sorry, it took me so long.”
Emma is the first to look at him, immediately standing from the couch, as if he had scared her. “Hey, kid. Uh…” She does that thing that only Emma does and shoves her hands in her front pockets, thumbs going through her belt loops. “What’s up?”
“Hello, Honey,” Mom says. “How was school?” Her left arm is now over the back of the couch as she peers over it to look at him.
He shrugs. “It was okay. I…” Would they notice if he only sort of lied? Emma has that special super power, but- “I was at Granny’s getting help from Grandpa on homework, but he wasn’t much help.”
Emma snorts a laugh and runs a hand through her hair. She leaves the living room for the kitchen, Mom following behind her. “So, what’s the assignment?”
Henry pulls a notebook and pencil from his bag and sits at the kitchen table. He watches as Emma grabs three coffee mugs from the cabinet as Mom fills a kettle with water before they both sit down opposite him. It’s very odd and he has so many questions, but first , he needs help with this definitely-not-a-school-assignment.
He opens the notebook, laying it flat on the table and asks the same question he asked his grandfather. “What does love look like?”
-
Emma had to stifle a laugh at that, really. Beside her, she saw Regina’s cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. “And you said Gramps couldn’t help you with this?”
Her son shook his head and shrugged. “Not really. He just said something like ‘when you know, you know’ and ‘true love looks different’, whatever that means.”
She looks at Regina again. “You wanna put in your two cents?”
“Me?” Regina looked surprised. “You act as if I’ve been in love multiple times, Miss Swan.” Emma rolled her eyes. “There was Daniel, as you both know, and then…Robin.”
Emma sighed, mostly to herself. Somehow, Robin had actually fallen in love with Zelena. He always wanted to be around for his daughter, also Robyn. She reached over and rubbed circles into the brunette’s back, knowing that talking about both men put her in a mood. And then she felt a hand on her thigh, something Regina had been doing recently, but only when it was just the two of them.
Of course, she didn’t want to read into anything, sure that Regina wasn’t even into women; especially not into Emma. Regina squeezed her thigh, bringing her back to the conversation.
“Right,” Emma cleared her throat. “Uh, well, kid…when I was thirteen…”
“I didn’t say you had to be my age,” Henry scoffed.
Emma shrugged. “Too bad, that’s probably the first time I thought I was in love, so that’s what you get.” Both her hands were now on the table in front of her, folded together. The kettle whistled and Regina stood to fill their mugs. “Anyway…when I was thirteen I thought that I would recognize Love as soon as I saw it. I thought Love would know all of my favorite Beatles songs and played acoustic guitar. I thought Love wore a Hemp necklace and cool sunglasses.”
“You thought?” Henry asked.
Regina set three mugs on the tables; two with hot chocolate, cool whip and cinnamon, the other with coffee and way too much cream.
“Well, I was thirteen and a kid who grew up in the system. I don’t think I really knew what love was until you, kid.” Henry smiled at her.
“Surely you had a crush or a boyfriend or something though, right? My dad, maybe?”
And even though yes, she did love Neal, she realizes thirteen years later that maybe she didn’t. Or at least the Emma she was now, could never love him romantically. She hated him for a long time, until she saw him on the streets of New York again, and she felt all of those feelings of love come back.
She would always love Neal, but not in that way. More in a best friend way.
“How do I know the difference between best friend love and real love?” Henry asked.
“What?” Emma’s brow furrowed. Had she been talking out loud? Henry repeated himself. “Do you remember Lily?” Henry nodded and she felt Regina’s eyes on her. “She was the first person I ever had a crush on…at least that I remember. Love looked different than what I thought I liked, and it looked different with Lily, and with your dad. Hell, it looks different now.”
“I don’t understand,” Henry shook his head and put his pencil down. “How does it look different now?”
Emma could see that Regina was no longer looking at her, tan hands now encircled a mug as dark brown eyes stared into the hot liquid. She took a drink from her hot chocolate before continuing, Henry doing the same. She smiled to herself, remembering that it wasn’t even cold outside, yet Regina made them their favorite drinks.
Honestly, she has spent the last few months wondering what Love looked like, and if she was seeing it correctly. Because there’s no way that she couldn’t love the woman who raised their child; the woman that tried to keep her away, but Emma wormed her way in and stayed there; the woman who has grown out her hair because Emma had once said she liked it longer; the woman who kept Emma’s favorite food and drinks in the house at all times for whenever she dropped by.
She takes yet another drink and steals a quick glance at the woman next to her before answering her son's question. “I think knowing the difference is the biggest challenge, especially at your age, but as you get older, it gets easier. I know that’s not a great answer, but…” She bites her bottom lip, hoping she isn’t overstepping. “Love sometimes wears a french braid that they taught me how to do. Love lets me drive because I enjoy doing so, even if they hate my driving.”
Emma thinks of the night she, Regina, Ruby, Belle and Snow had all gone out for ‘girls night’ to a small bar in town. Emma was honestly expecting it to be more of a club scene, judging from the outside, but it was really pretty chill. It was also a Tuesday night, so there weren’t very many people there. Regina had been shocked that Emma didn’t know how to Waltz, and Emma had been equally shocked that Regina didn’t know how to two-step.
So, during the next slow song Emma had been brave, and maybe a little sweaty, and had asked Regina to dance. She had been shocked when the brunette agreed, even though they had previously discussed dancing.
“Love keeps dancing with you, even if you step on their toes. Love has darker eyes and an award winning smile, and uses the evil laugh emoji way too often in texts.” She lets out a small laugh. “Love is… beautiful when they just wake up, and even when they fall asleep.” Her voice is quiet now and she can feel Regina staring at her, boring her eyes into the side of her head. “Love is…”
Henry has quickly been writing her response, never missing a word.
-
Regina feels like her heart is going to burst out of her chest at Emma’s words. At the realization that yes Emma is talking about her. Love is Regina in this scenario, and she… she was afraid she had been coming on too strong, or maybe not enough. She hadn’t even known that Emma was attracted to women, but the whole Lily thing made sense. She saw how Emma and Lily looked at each other when the other woman was in town. It all made so much sense.
She remembers teaching Emma how to do a French braid so many months ago. It started as Emma sitting on the floor while she and Henry shared the couch. Emma had been sitting in between their legs and at some point, Regina found herself running blonde strands of hair through her fingers. Emma hadn’t seemed to mind, had actually leaned into her touch.
And then Emma had gotten up for a drink and sat back down in between Regina’s legs. The blonde had tilted her head back to look at her, and Regina doesn’t remember what was said, but she started braiding Emma’s hair over and over again, until Henry had fallen asleep and the blonde carried him to bed.
When she came back downstairs, she had offered to braid Regina’s hair, never having done a French braid. The feeling of Emma’s fingers in her hair and on her scalp was…magical. There were really no words for it, and she’s pretty sure she had let out a soft noise that sounded like a moan, but neither of them talked about it.
Henry was scribbling down every word that Emma was saying, as if his life depended on it. She patiently waited for him to catch up, before she spoke.
She’s not sure when she fell in love with Emma Swan. It might have been that day at Granny’s or when Emma showed up with a chainsaw… she’s certain she has never gotten that image out of her head. But how could she not love the woman who brought their son into this world?
“Sometimes best friend love turns into real love, as you call it, honey.” Henry looked up at her with furrowed brows and an expression that was so incredibly Emma. She says the first example that she can think of. “Your grandparents are best friends, aren’t they?”
Henry nods and adds, “But they’re True Love’s. They weren’t anywhere close to friends when they met.”
“No, they weren’t.” She agreed. “But over time, through many disagreements, they became friends and eventually fell in love.”
“Okayyyy…”
“What I’m saying is that love isn’t always at first glance. Even with Daniel and Robin, it was something that had to build up.” She almost felt sick to her stomach at the mention of her ex’s name, but she also had her sister to blame. She told everyone, including herself, that she understood why Robin left, but she also resented him for it, and she was moving on.
Henry writes something in his notebook and takes a drink from his hot chocolate. She thinks Emma senses her distress because the blonde puts an arm around the back of Regina’s chair, something she’s been doing a lot recently, something that seems to relax Regina. Then she feels a thumb brush her shoulder and definitely relaxes.
“So what’s real love for you, mom? Do you know what it is, now?” Henry looks up at her, pencil and notebook ready for her answer.
And Regina smiles at her little prince. “Love is chubby cheeks and late nights, toothless smiles and the cutest little laugh.”
Henry rolls his eyes, “You can’t talk about me, mom. This is real love, not cute kid love. ”
“Is there a difference?”
Henry’s erasing words on the paper in front of him as he responds with “Yes, mom, there is. Everyone loves their kids and wants what is best for them, even if they don’t know how to show it.”
She wonders if he’s talking about Mother, or thinking about her when he speaks, but she pushes it to the back of her mind.
“Fine,” Regina sits up straighter in her seat, the thumb gently grazing her shoulder never leaving or stalling. “Love is…” And she thinks back to that first day she saw Emma on her doorstep. “She wore the same clothes every day for a week,” She starts, not even stopping herself from giving this person a gender. “Love came with freckles and a broader back. Love sings in the shower and listens to songs I like and she doesn’t. Love uses the word “boobs” in front of her parents.”
Henry laughs at that. He says, “I’m not writing that down,” and shakes his head.
Regina smiles and continues. “Love is reading new books and listening to new songs. Love smells different now. Love has songs that remind me of her. Love dances to all of the slow songs. Love is finding jokes that make you laugh. Love is a terrible driver, but a great navigator. Love chews too loudly and leaves the cap off of the toothpaste. And when you don’t think you’re beautiful, and you don’t feel beautiful, Love will always remind you that you are.”
At some point, the thumb on her shoulder stopped moving, but it never left. Henry was eagerly writing in his notebook, mumbling something about wishing he had recorded this instead because his hand was starting to cramp.
“Love makes me chocolate chip cookies,” Emma adds. “...but will probably finish most of them as a midnight snack.” Regina can’t help her smile. Emma is turning towards her now as she speaks and moves a piece of dark hair behind her ear, causing Regina to face the blonde. “Love will tell you that you are beautiful and mean it.”
“Love is not who we are expecting or what you can predict,” She says.
And then it’s Emma’s turn. “Maybe Love is there for every birthday, anniversary and hospital stay. Maybe Love arrives exactly when they’re supposed to.”
“Maybe Love isn’t the marrying type.” She’s not sure when the person being Love changed, but she welcomes it.
“Maybe Love stays anyway,” Emma whispers.
Regina can see Henry in her peripheral vision, shaking his head as he writes, but Emma’s warm hands are cupping her cheeks and her hands have found their way to Emma’s waist. “Man, grown ups are so weird. Why can’t love just be simple? Like, hanging out with your best friend, just watching tv or reading a book together? Maybe a board game, or something?”
“Maybe that’s exactly what love is,” Regina whispers this time. She takes a quick glance at Emma’s lips and they both lean in at the same time, lips parting and fitting together like a puzzle.
She’s not sure how long they’re like that for, but at some point Henry whines, “Ewww moms!” and storms out of the kitchen.
They’re both laughing and then Emma is standing, finishing off her hot chocolate and pulling Regina up to stand. Emma kisses her again and it feels like coming home after being away for too long. Then Emma holds her hands gently and pulls her up the stairs.
Maybe love stays.