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Chapter Six: Operation Cheetah-Day Three

Rewritten: 13/08/2020
Updated: 16/03/2021

When Emma walked into Granny's just before three PM, her usual order of a hot chocolate and a bear claw was already waiting for her. She sat down in her usual spot, picking at the pastry in front of her, her line of sight glancing to the clock on the wall every few minutes.

"You okay there?" Ruby asked as she wiped down her side of the counter as she spoke, knowing that Granny would get mad at her if she were doing nothing.

Emma pushed her half-eaten bear claw away; for some reason, her appetite just wasn't there. "Yeah, just sorting through some shit."

"Regina giving you hell about Henry again?"

Emma shook her head quickly. "No, she's been fine for weeks."

Ruby could sense something was wrong with her friend, but they had never really been one for heart-to-hearts or deep, meaningful chats. "Maybe what you need is a night out and a good fuck," she laughed.

Emma almost choked on her hot chocolate, wiping her mouth where some had dribbled out. "Jesus, Rubes, you're not subtle, are you?" When all Ruby offered her was a cheeky smile, Emma spoke again. "Plus, after last time, I refuse to go out with you ever again. I'm mentally scarred for the rest of my life."

"You're the one who dared me," Ruby said quickly with a pointed finger.

Ruby walked to the other side of the counter, taking another customers order and leaving Emma to her own devices. She watched the blonde as she worked, wondering what had gotten Emma into her head; it had been a while since she had seen Emma like this, so she made a note to herself to talk to Snow.

A few minutes after three PM, the bell rang in the diner, and Henry walked in, bounding up to his blonde mother, taking a seat next to her. "Hey, ma."

Emma pushed her half-eaten bear claw over to her son, not wanting it to go to waste. "How was school?"

"It was fine," Henry pulled a piece of the pastry and shoved it in his mouth. "Boring as usual."

"Has your mom recovered from the other day?"

Henry snickered at the memory of his older mothers face when she had walked in the kitchen two days ago. He had just gotten home from school, pleased to find Emma still in the kitchen cooking, He had been watching the blonde try and bake a cake, and somehow they had ended up in a food fight. Regina had been furious, telling Emma that she wasn't allowed to leave until she deemed her kitchen spotless; all Emma and Henry could do was laugh.

"She's fine. I don't think she'll ever let you in the kitchen again though," Henry said. "I asked her for guitar lessons again, but she blew me off again."

"I can teach you," Emma blurted. "Uh, if you want?"

Henry's face lit up at the suggestion, "Really?"

"Yeah, I have a spare guitar that you can use if you want."

Henry jumped down from his seat, throwing his backpack over his shoulder, "Can we go now?"

Emma threw down some money for her drink, following Henry out of the diner. Her heart warmed at the thought of teaching him how to play; if she had known he was interested earlier, she would have started ages ago.

After stopping at her parent's apartment for the guitars, they headed to the mansion, knowing that there was more room for Emma to teach Henry there. During the drive, Henry began to list all the songs he wanted to learn, and Emma had to remind him that it was going to take a while to learn the basics, let alone an entire song.