Dreaming Out Loud

Second Chances

Chapter 56: Second Chances

Emma worked on filling out the report in the back of Gold's shop while she waited for the morgue van to arrive. She kept a close on Regina, as the other woman sat on the floor beside her mother's body, nearly catatonic. She looked sad, but Emma could also see something else in the woman's eyes. Relief? Emma suspected that Cora had been pulling Regina's strings since she showed up in town and her presence couldn't have been easy to take for a woman that was used to being so in control. There was more of course, as her father had given her a brief explanation of the situation earlier involving her mother and for that reason, Emma could not be sad that Cora was gone. She was too dangerous in respect to her parents and subsequently Henry. She only hoped Regina could eventually see that her Mother would have hurt Henry in the same ways Snow had told her that Cora had hurt Regina.

But as Doc and Bashful arrived with the morgue van and tried to place a sheet over Cora's body, the fury in Regina's eyes returned.

"Get away..." she snapped.

"Regina...they need to move the body. We need to go through the proper channels according to this realm," Emma responded.

"Like hell..." the woman snapped, as she and the body disappeared. Emma sighed and looked at the two dwarfs.

"I guess you guys can go. She's probably not going to cooperate," Emma said, as she looked over at Gold and Belle briefly, before going out into the front of the shop where Neal stood. He was on the phone and she couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"Yeah...I'm not sure when I'll be back exactly. I want to spend some time with Henry," Neal said and then listened to the woman on the other end. He smiled.

"Yeah, I want you to meet him too," he said, as he listened again.

"Uh...yeah, I don't know about bringing him to New York yet. I'd have to talk to Emma about that kind of stuff. Plus he has an adoptive Mom too...it's kind of a mess," Neal replied, as he turned to see her watching him. He seemed to pale considerably, as he continued to listen to his fiance.

"Yeah, maybe you could drive up here for a few days. Listen, I need to go for now though," he said, as he listened again.

"I love you too...I'll talk to you later," he said, as he hung up the phone and they shared an uncomfortable silence.

"You really want bring her here?" Emma asked.

"She's part of my life, Emma. I'm going to marry her. She wants to get to know Henry and I love her," he replied. Emma didn't like how much it stung when he said that and brushed it away, refusing to deal with what it might mean.

"This isn't a normal situation though. Bringing an outsider here could be really bad!" she stressed.

"Yeah, this isn't a normal town for sure. I've been here ten minutes and there was already a murder. Maybe New York isn't such a bad idea for Henry," he countered. She looked at him in disbelief.

"You want to take my son to New York with you?" she asked.

"Our son...and I have a life in New York. We're going to have to figure out this whole custody thing," he stated. She looked at him in disbelief again.

"Is this your idea or hers?" Emma asked, as Gold and Belle came in from the back of the shop.

"Emma..." he started to say.

"Tell me the truth," she snapped.

"Am I going to be served with custody paperwork or something like that?" she asked. He sighed.

"Tamara might have suggested I hire a lawyer to work out a custody agreement, but I shot her down. I told her that we can do this without all the red tape," he replied.