Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Hello, Storybrooke Mayor's Office, how may I help you?"

"Uh, hi! Is this Emma Swan?"

"No, this is the Mayor," Regina says slowly. "Would you like me to patch you through to the sheriff?"

"Emma was arrested? Oh man, I thought she'd straightened out-"

"Actually," Regina interrupts quickly, irritated by this faceless person already. "Sheriff Swan is probably on her way to a meeting right now." Or at least she will be if she knows what's good for her. She cannot be late to another facilities meeting. 

Regina's not sure why she's bristled by the voice on the other line, but it sounds like nails on a chalk board to her. 

She should really just hang up.

"Oh. My God." And Regina already has a headache as the voice on the other line squeals. "Did you just say Sheriff Swan?! As in Emma FREAKING Swan is a sheriff?"

"Who is this?"

"Oh. My. Gosh. I am so sorry. I am being so totally rude."

And improper. Honestly, who talks like this?

"This is Madison. I have been trying to track down Emma before our high school reunion and the only contact information I could find was for this cute little town in Maine. It must be so small because not even Google could find any information on it." 

Regina remains silent. Not sure what she's supposed to say in response to that. She certainly can't tell this woman Storybrooke is a magical town brought here by a curse.

"But I was able to find a contact number for City Hall and figured that would be my best bet. And here you are knowing Emma freaking Swan!" 

Her eyes narrow at the bubbly person on the other end of the line, hoping she can feel the heat of her glare through the phone. Her teeth clench and she takes a deep breath, "Might I take a message for Emma?"

"Oh. Em. Gee! You must be like the nicest mayor! Willing to take a message for Emma? Wow, she must be really impressive." 

The only thing impressive is her ability to inhale a bear claw in under ten seconds. Although, she might acting a bit unfair, Emma has proven herself to be...semi-competent. And considering who her birth parents are, that's probably the nicest thing Regina could say about her. Regina sighs, "She will be attending a meeting I am running in a few minutes; I can give her your contact information then." 

"Oh, right. Well, like I said earlier, I'm Maddie and I went to school with Emma in Tallahassee, Florida. Our class reunion is coming up and a couple of the girls and I got together to plan the party and we found some old photos of Emma in our yearbooks. I've tried searching for her before, but could never find her. No one has seen or heard from her since graduation and we'd love for her to come celebrate with us!"

Regina reaches up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Gods, this woman is annoying. "Listen, Miss..." she trails off, waiting for this woman to give her last name.

"Oh, just Maddie is fine," she says brightly and offers her cell phone number in the bubbliest voice imaginable; and Regina's teeth hurt. She'll need to see a dentist once she's off this call (and out of this version of hell) to make sure she hasn't cracked any of her molars. "Very well," she says after taking several deep breaths. "I'll be sure to pass along your contact information to the sheriff. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a meeting I need to get to."

"Oh my gosh, of course! You're the mayor, you must be, like, sooooooo busy." 

Regina feels her eye twitch. "Have a good day."

"Thanks, you too! Bye!"

The satisfaction she feels as she slams the phone down on the receiver should probably be concerning, but Regina doesn't care. She presses her palm against her forehead, trying to stave off a migraine, before grabbing the files on her desk and moving towards the meeting room. She walks in to see that most everyone is already there and seated. After she sets her files at the head of the table, she looks up and greets, "Good morning everyone."

There are polite-enough greetings - albeit muted, even for a 9am meeting - in response. 

She offers a political smile, "Before we begin, Sheriff? I'll need you to stay behind after this meeting."

Emma perks up in her seat, looking nervous, but nods.

Regina offers another smile, this one with more teeth, and she turns back to the room at large, starting the meeting. She'll be sweating the entire meeting. Excellent. 

By the time Regina dismisses everyone from the conference room, Emma's foot is going to leave a hole in the floor from her nervous bouncing. Good, Regina thinks to herself with a smirk. "Miss Swan?" She stands and watches Emma do the same, following her out of the room without another word from Regina.

"Regina?"

But she remains silent as she walks them back to her office.

Emma groans, "Regina please, just put me out of my misery already!"

"Your misery?" Regina asks innocently, doing her best to hide her smirk as she walks in front of the sheriff. 

"Ugh," she groans. And Regina can't hide her smirk when she hears the sheriff stomping behind her. "You knew telling me I had to go to the principal's office would throw me off for that whole meeting," she accuses.

Regina opens the door to her office, stepping inside and finally turning to look at the blonde with a raised eyebrow. "The principal's office, really dear?"

Emma shrugs, hands in her pockets, as she looks down at the ground, "You know what I mean."

Regina looks over to study her, she does look quite nervous. "Not entirely," Regina offers honestly, with a slight shrug. Emma looks up, surprised, and Regina steps away from the door and toward her desk. "We did not have 'principals' in our world. I had a governess and tutors. So while I do not know exactly what you mean, I can understand the sentiment." She looks up when she's behind her desk and sees Emma still in the doorway. She smirks as she asks, "Did you spend a lot of time in the principal's office, Miss Swan?"

That at least gets the blonde to scoff and step into her office. "I'll have you know I was a model student, Regina." Regina scoffs and Emma grins, "Well, at least at the end when I got my shit together enough to graduate."

Regina sits behind her desk and Emma throws herself into one of the chairs on the other side, grinning when Regina glares, "You're so terribly uncouth."

Emma's grin only grows as she mocks Regina with a terrible posh sort of accent, "Such a terribly uncivilized princess you make, Emma."

She can't help but roll her eyes. Although she does stop the smile threatening to overtake her face before the blonde can see. "I do not sound like that." 

Emma scoffs, "Okay, Your Majesty," she mocks. "Agree to disagree on that one."

Regina sighs, leaning back in her chair and watching Emma squirm in her seat. 

After several moments, Emma breaks the silence, "So, what did you need, Regina?"

She waits another few moments, watching Emma shift nervously in her seat before she finally puts the poor woman out of her misery. "I received a call just before our meeting."

"I was wondering if something happened. You're obnoxiously early to meetings and today you were almost on time." She grins, "That must've been so hard for you."

Regina's eyes narrow, "If you're not early, you might as well be late, Miss Swan."

Emma's smiles only grows, "I prefer to be late."

She sighs, "I am well aware, Miss Swan. It is one of the many things I find irritating about you." 

But the barb doesn't land it like once might have. They've been through a lot, but thankfully the one constant is how they tease one another. Saying mostly harmless jokes between them. And with no Big Bad attacking Storybrooke and its denizens, things have been relatively calm. Making for a bored sheriff - who took it upon herself to become friends with the uptight mayor. 

Instead of rising to the bait (she is well aware the mayor actually tolerates her more than anyone else in town - sans their son of course), Emma asks, "What was the phone call about? Not another threat from Leroy." 

"No, he seems to have given up after you and your father both spoke with him." 

Another surprise, the unlikely friendship between the form queen and Snow White's shepherd prince. Regina will never admit it, but he reminds her so much of Emma and Henry that it's nearly impossible for her to push him away - although she did try. At least in the beginning. But after the zombie-Daniel fiasco, Regina found herself with another ally in her corner.

And she finds it easier to tolerate him and his bumbling personality than it is to tolerate most everyone else in this town (as long as he's not making those lovesick puppy eyes at his wife, that is). Regina sits forward in her chair, blinking away those thoughts. "Someone from Tallahassee is looking for you."

That gets Emma to sit upright in her chair. "What?"

Regina hands her the note she wrote with the woman's first name and return number. "Yes, apparently you have a school reunion coming up?"

"Oh, right." Emma slumps back in her chair, staring at the sticky note. 

"That woman-"

"Maddie Baker," Emma says with a small smile. Without looking up she adds, "She's a bit much, huh?"

And it's said so fondly. Regina can only sigh, carefully leaning back in her chair to study the blonde, "That is one way to put it." 

Emma laughs as she looks up at Regina, "She was my first friend when I went back to school. Introduced herself to me and took it upon herself to become my official guide and unofficial best friend at school." She's smiling and looking almost far away as she shares this piece of her history with Regina, "Wouldn't leave me alone even after I was a total bear to her." 

"Wouldn't leave you alone?" Regina asks. "That sounds like someone else I know," she adds, looking directly at Emma.

Emma grins, "I learned it from her."

"Well," Regina clears her throat and sits straighter in her chair, "She somehow tracked you down in an invisible town in Maine, so I would say she needs a phone call or she might drive up here to find you herself."

Emma laughs again, "Yeah," she drawls out the word. "She probably would."

Regina raises an eyebrow, "With our luck, she'd find me throwing fireballs and then you would have to explain a lot more to her than why you moved to the middle of nowhere in Maine."

"Actually, that would be something she understood. She knew I was coming here when I left Tallahassee."

"She what?"

"I was found on a highway here, Regina," Emma reminds her. "I came here after I graduated. I left Tallahassee and came here to look for answers."

"I was unaware-"

"Well, I didn't actually make it into Storybrooke, obviously. Plus, then I-" she shakes her head, shrugging. "Something else came up. Anyways," she stands up, forcing away whatever thoughts were plaguing her. "I'll be sure to call her back so she doesn't do something crazy like drive up here. I'd hate for her to be on the receiving end of a fireball."

Regina looks up at her, offended, "I never said-"

"Regina, please," she deadpans. "Maddie is the physical embodiment of rainbows and unicorns. She's a perkier version of Snow without any of those royal manners you obsess over; I know you must've hated that entire phone call."

She scoffs, "A perkier Snow. Like a waking nightmare." She shivers and sees Emma smiling at her as she grumbles, "I still took the message." And it sounds a bit like a pout, even to Regina's ears. 

Emma must hear it too because she laughs aloud. "That's because you have all those royal manners I mentioned earlier." She lifts up her hand holding the note with Miss Baker's number, "Thanks again. I'll call Maddie back and make sure she doesn't show up and ruin your life. In case you forgot, that's kind of my job."

Regina rolls her eyes at the terrible attempt at a joke, "Goodbye, Miss Swan." She waves her hand and the door to her office magically opens. 

"Bye, Regina."

But that is not the last time Regina sees Emma today, nor is it the last time Regina uses magic in front of her (or against her).

Emma brings Henry to Mifflin after she's done with work; and Regina knows they're hiding something. They are whispering in the foyer and she has to stop herself from shouting at them to take their shoes off and wash up. Their lacks of manners is contagious. Like the plague.

She walks out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron and they immediately stop whispering, looking at her like she just caught them with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar.

"Hi Mom!" And Henry's greeting is a bit too forceful, she immediately knows he's up to something.

"Hello, dear," she greets him with a smile. Even if he's hiding something, she'll never get tired of hearing his voice. "Did you finish your homework?"

"Almost! But I had to stop so we weren't late for dinner. Are Grams and Gramps here?"

"Yes dear, in the kitchen." He takes off and she adds quickly, "Wash up, please. Dinner's almost ready."

"'Kay, Mom!"

She turns back to Emma and glares, "You're late."

"I know, Regina. I'm sorry. I just-" she swallows nervously, "I just got distracted."

"Well, I have been forced to socialize with your parents alone while you were distracted."

Emma laughs, but she quickly looks down apologetically. "Sorry. It's just that-" She stops herself and looks back up at Regina with a grin, "Oh my God, Regina. Did you get drunk to talk to my parents?"

"No," Regina hisses. "But I had to keep drinking so I didn't make your mother cry." Her eyes narrow, "Had you waited any longer, I would have beaten myself over the head with an empty wine bottle just to get away from your mother."

"Dramatic," Emma wheezes through her laughs.

"A waking nightmare," Regina reminds her.

"I know you love my mom, Regina. It's okay."

"I tolerate her presence for Henry."

"Okay, Regina," Emma rolls her eyes, clearly not believing her.

"Miss Swan," she warns.

Emma lifts her hands placatingly, "Alright, alright. I'm sorry for abandoning you to fend off my parents alone while I had Henry with me. But it was your idea to initiate family dinners."

"Don't you dare blame this on me," Regina hisses. "That was Henry and you know it!"

"Well, you're such a big ole' softie now, you didn't have to say yes."

"Miss Swan," and her tone changes enough to have Emma standing taller. "How often do you tell our son no?"

Emma bites the inside of her lip, "Occasionally."

"You're a terrible liar, Miss Swan."

"I am not!"

"You rant about your supposed superpower, but no one - and I mean no one - needs a superpower to tell when you are lying. If you ever need to tell Henry no, you bring him here for me to do it."

Emma grins, attempting (failing) to look sheepish, "Yeah, but you're so much better at it!"

"And we all have moments of weakness, dear."

"You must've been in a really good mood to agree to host family dinners."

"Had your mother hosted, we'd all be in the hospital or dead."

She laughs, "She's not that bad, Regina."

"She gave Henry food poisoning twice in a six week period."

Emma rubs at the back of her neck, "Yeah, that was-" she shakes her head, "That was not good."

Regina gasps, spinning to face her kitchen.

"What?"

"I left your father and Henry alone in the kitchen with all the food."

"So?"

"It will be gone before the table is set!" She takes off toward the kitchen to find both boys standing over the food. "Boys," she warns. And Emma laughs behind her as they both jump at the sound of Regina's voice. Her tone changes from a warning to dangerously sweet as she asks, "Would you please set the table?"

"Quick, that's the danger tone," Henry tells his grandfather as he moves to grab the dishes on the counter.

"Danger tone?" David asks, looking from Henry to Regina.

"It means she'll swat you with a wooden spoon if you don't do what she asks," Emma says, rubbing at the back of her hand.

"What?" He looks from Henry to Emma and back to Regina.

She rolls her eyes, "Henry is protecting you, Shepherd. I would never hit him." She tilts her head, "You and Emma though?" She shrugs, "Without a second thought." And she magicks a wooden spoon into her hand.

"Quick, quick!" David says, grabbing the rest of the dishes and rushing from the room.

"Animals," Regina huffs, but goes back to finishing dinner. 

They're all sitting at the table, having finished dinner and listening to one another as Emma and David have their third helping and Henry finishes his second, when Snow interrupts, "Why were you late tonight, Emma? Was there an issue at work?"

"What? Oh no, nothing like that. I just...got distracted."

Regina sees the way Henry rolls his eyes at his plate and raises an eyebrow, but he avoids her questioning eyes.

"Distracted? By what?"

Regina reaches for her glass of wine. She may tolerate Snow's presence on a regular basis, and has even saved her life more times than she'd care to admit. But when she goes off to interrogate someone - usually Emma - it always grates against Regina's nerves. Although now that Regina looks at her glass, she realizes she should probably stop. She had far too much before dinner (no thanks to Emma) so she'll need to stop after this.

Snow has other plans though and goes on to interrogate Emma for several minutes, forcing Regina to stand up and get the bottle of wine from the kitchen, bringing it back with her and refilling Emma's own glass. 

"Thank you," she whispers, and Regina only grins.

"You're being interrogated, you could use it more than me."

"I think you've had enough," Emma reminds her, but her tone is light as she lifts her own glass to her lips. 

"What are you two whispering about?" Snow asks.

Regina can't stop her eye roll, "About how strange it is for the Sheriff to be on the other side of an interrogation, Snow."

"I am not interrogating!"

Regina merely raises an eyebrow, as if to say, Really? Are you sure?

Snow huffs petulantly, "I just want to know why my daughter's being evasive!"

"Because you're insane," Regina mutters under her breath, sitting back in her seat and ignoring the way Emma chokes on her wine.

"I'm not being evasive," Emma promises when she recovers from her coughing fit. "I was actually on the phone with an old friend when we were supposed to get ready to leave. That's why we were late."

"An old friend?" And Snow looks so hopeful that Regina has to close her eyes to avoid rolling them at the way Snow's eyes light up at the prospect of meddling.

Emma hears it too. "Yeah, an old friend from high school. She wants me to come down for some school reunion they're having this weekend." 

Snow frowns at Emma, "That's not a lot of time to make plans."

"She knew me when I was younger. Before I came to Storybrooke; anymore time than that and I'd have made excuses not to come."

That, Snow understands and she nods; but she still looks confused. "Will you be going?"

"Uh-" she looks nervously at Regina and then looks back at her glass of wine.

Strange.

"Emma?" Snow asks expectantly.

"Well, actually, I'm not sure."

"Why not?"

Emma rubs at the back of her neck, acting very nervous, "My friend wants me to make a weekend of it. Says that since we haven't seen each in over a decade, I owe her that much."

Silence falls around them.

Then Snow breaks it, "And? That doesn't seem unreasonable."

"It's not," Emma agrees softly, still refusing eye contact while she stares at her drink.

"That's not the unreasonable part," Henry mutters from across the table.

All eyes turn to him - David, questioning; Emma, enraged; Regina, curious; Snow, befuddled.

"Henry," Emma warns.

He stands up from his chair and blurts, "Ma's friend thinks Mom and Ma are together."

Regina raises her eyebrow until it's nearly stuck in her hairline.

"Excuse me?" David asks.

"Ma told her friend about me, and then said we had to get going because we had plans. Then she heard Aunt Ruby remind Ma about dinner with Mom and she put 2 and 2 together and now thinks Mom and Ma are a couple and wants all three of us to go to the reunion together."

"Hen-ry," Emma grounds out between her teeth.

"What? You weren't ever going to say anything. And you have to admit, it's a little funny."

"Henry," Regina sighs, seeing the tension radiating off of Emma.

"I get it," he says quietly. "And in most cases two plus two does equal four."

"Henry."

"But in this case two plus two equals a magical curse and fairytale characters. Okay, gotta go. Byeeeeeee."

They all watch him flee up the stairs - sounding like a herd of elephants, much to Regina's chagrin. She winces as the sound echoes inside her head.

She has definitely had too much to drink.

Of course it's Snow that breaks the silence, "Emma?"

Emma groans, dropping her head to the table and Regina winces again. "If you dent my table, you're working with Marco to make a new one."

And it's the exact right thing to say - of course it is; Emma and Regina are many things, and able to push each other's buttons is at the top of that list. 

"You're drunk," Emma accuses, muffled by the table.

"Conjecture."

"I'm going to get a breathalyzer."

"I'm not driving."

"You should have a license to walk in heels that high."

Regina rolls her eyes, "These aren't even my tallest heels."

"I know."

Regina pauses, interesting.

The room falls into a tense sort of silence.

"Uhhhhh, what's going on?" David asks, looking between the three women.

"Your daughter is an idiot and your wife has had far too much influence on my son," Regina deadpans.

"Hey!" Both Emma and Snow cry.

Regina sneers; it's not every day she's slapped with the reality that Emma is Snow's daughter. Her lip curls, "Henry used to know when to keep his mouth shut," Regina reminds. "Unlike some people."

"I WAS TEN!"

She rolls her eyes again, they have this discussion at least twice a year. And it usually ends with someone (Snow) in tears and someone (Regina) cleaning glass off the floor.

"Okay!" Emma interrupts, lifting her between them to break the stare down between the two brunettes. "Let's maybe put a pin in this for tonight."

"Probably a good idea," David agrees. He is quick to help Snow to her feet and pull her towards the door, with barely a "goodbye" thrown behind them as they leave.

Regina hears the door shut but she's still watching Emma, who seems far more interested in the grain of the dining room table.

"You're staring."

Regina blinks. She is. "I'm waiting for an explanation."

That gets Emma to look up. "An...explanation?"

"Well, yes. You said you spoke to your friend," Regina replies simply.

Emma tilts her head, studying her. "You're not...upset?"

"Why? Did you say something hurtful?"

"No."

"Is Henry in danger?"

"Of course not."

"Then tell me about your friend."

Emma pauses. "You're being awfully level-headed for what Henry just spewed. I honestly expected to dodge some fireballs."

"For a misunderstanding?"

"And for allowing Henry to trample your stairs," Emma offers with a cheeky grin.

"That, I will blame you personally for," Regina promises. "But he's always enjoyed being a bit theatrical. I'd prefer to hear from you about your friend."

Emma studies her again and grins, "Drunk Regina is a big ole softy."

Regina raises her hand, her palm engulfed in a ball of fire, "Are you willing to stake your livelihood on that?"

Emma only smiles, "Yeah, I feel pretty safe."

She rolls her eyes, but drops her hand which extinguishes the flames. "You're an idiot."

Emma holds her hands out to the side, still grinning, "But still alive." 

Regina remains silent, waiting for Emma to explain the nonsense from this evening.

And Emma does. She discusses her call with Madison and the "honest misunderstanding" where Emma mentioned needing to go because she and Henry had dinner plans. "I told Maddie that Henry was adopted and then I told her I had found my parents when I met Henry and his birth mother and that we were all having dinner together."

It's silent for several moments, so Regina prompts, "And?"

"Ruby," she sighs. This time Regina waits for Emma to find the right words. Finally, she says, "She walked in to tell me I was going to be late for dinner. And that I'd find myself in the doghouse if I didn't hurry."

"And your friend assumed that must mean we are in a relationship?"

Emma shrugs, "She giggled, said 'I knew it' and then hung up before I could explain. But I promise I'll call her back and explain when I tell her that I can't come to the reunion."

"Why can't you go to the reunion?"

"Well...uh...I mean..."

Regina raises an eyebrow, waiting.

"Work?"

"Your father is on-call this weekend."

"I hate that you know that," Emma grumbles.

"I'm your boss, Sheriff."

Emma groans but sits upright and snaps, "Fine! I don't want to go alone, okay? I don't want to go alone, and I don't expect to take Henry without you and you're not going to want to go, and my parents would love to go but that would lead to too many questions. So, no, I don't want to go to the reunion if I have to go alone."

They sit in silence after Emma's outburst.

When her breathing regulates, she whispers, "I'm sorry," without looking up from the table.

Regina watches in real-time how the normally boisterous sheriff sinks into herself - shoulders caving in, chin dropping to her chest - as if hoping the floor would swallow her up. Regina clears her throat but still, Emma stares at the table. "Had you been willing to ask, Miss Swan, I would gladly send Henry with you. And if you want me to attend, you need only ask."

Emma looks up at her, eyes rapidly moving over her face while looking for the lie. "Really?"

"Of course. I've never been to Florida."

"You hate the humidity."

"I live in Maine."

"You'll have to socialize with my old classmates. And some of them are probably still terrible people."

Regina smirks at that, "I was a queen for most of my adult life, dear. If I can handle living at a court full of people who despised or envied me, I can handle a gymnasium full of plebeians for an evening."

Emma smiles at her softly, "You'd really do this for me?"

"Of course," Regina promises, "But we'll have to take Henry to Disney World. He'll be adamant."

Emma laughs, "I can handle that."

They sit in silence again, staring at one another as if neither can quite believe how the evening has progressed.

"Well, I should probably get going. I'll book everything tomorrow."

Regina stands with her, and hopes Emma doesn't notice her slight wobble in her heels.

But of course, nothing is that easy. "Take off your heels, Regina. Or Henry will have to call the ambulance to pick you up when you fall and break something."

She thinks about arguing but sees a glint in Emma's eyes that tells her it's futile. With a huff, she steps out of her heels, immediately losing four inches of her height - but feeling less likely to tilt over.

"Drink some water before you go to bed," Emma tells her with an easy grin.

Regina rolls her eyes, ignoring the command, "Goodnight, Miss Swan."

"Goodnight, Regina."

She locks up the house after Emma starts up her car and pulls away from the curb. And she does drink a glass of water in the kitchen before refilling it and climbing the stairs toward her bedroom. She pauses in front of her son's open door, watching him look up from the book in his hands with a smile. She returns it, "Goodnight, Henry."

"Goodnight, Mom." There's a pause before he asks, "Are you mad at Emma?"

"No, dear," she promises. "Misunderstandings happen."

He nods, then looks down at his lap.

"Is there something else?"

"Are you made at Ruby?"

"Why would I be angry with Miss Lucas?"

"Well, she called you Mayor Hotpants and told Ma to not upset her wife because she'd end up in the doghouse."

That was not what Emma mentioned...

"No, Henry. I'm not mad at Miss Lucas."

"Oh." He sinks back against his pillows. "Good." He looks up, studying her before asking, "Do you think Emma will go to her reunion?"

"Yes, dear. I think Emma will go."

"Really?"

"Of course. Because we're going with her."

He bolts upright in his bed, "REALLY?!"

She chuckles at his excitement, "Yes."

"Oh Mom, this is going to be so much fun! Are we going to the beach? Do you think we'll have time for Disney?" He starts asking questions a mile a minute before jumping out of his bed and running to his desk, flipping a notebook open to a blank page. "I have so many questions and I need to start packing!"

"It can wait until the morning," she promises with a smile.

He looks over his shoulder to offer her a deadpan expression, "You think I can sleep after you tell me that?"

Her smile turns indulgent, "Don't stay up all night, dear. We have plans in the morning."

Henry groans, "Can't we sleep in?"

"You used to wake me before the sun every day; this is only payback, dear."

"But Moooooooom!"

"Bright and early," she promises. "The garden needs work." She moves to her own room and changes into her pajamas before washing her face and going through the rest of the steps of her nightly routine. When she's ready, she steps into her room to find Henry propped up against the headboard, already under the covers and writing furiously in her notebook.

He looks up at her and smiles, "I have questions."

"We can talk about them in the morning," she reminds him, walking to her side of the bed and removing the excess pillows before slipping beneath the covers and turning off her bedside lamp.

Henry turns on the lamp beside him and offers her a cheeky grin, "But I want answers now."

"You want me awake with you so you can sleep in tomorrow," she corrects, rolling back over to look at him.

"Both can be true," he promises.

She smiles at him, but resettles against her pillows and motions for him to start. And that's how she finds herself up until the wee hours of the morning, answering what questions she can, and promising to have more questions before the weekend is over.