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Chapter Eleven: Operation Cheetah-Day Eleven

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

Emma woke up the following morning with a grin across her face; the second time sleeping next to Regina had been more enjoyable than the last. She hadn't planned on staying, but when Regina had asked her, she found it harder to say no to her than she did Henry.

She looked down at the sleeping brunette, the comforter was tucked under her chin, and she was snoring softly; Emma had never seen a more adorable sight. She wished she could stay there all day, but she knew she had to get to work. She had contemplated waking Regina, but knowing that she had barely been sleeping, she decided to let her sleep while she could.

Climbing out of bed, Emma took everything at a snail's pace. She slowly opened the bedroom door, sneaking out, and she hoped she could make it back to her parent's apartment before they woke up and found her gone yet again.

"Ma?"

Emma spun around, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.

"Why are you coming out of moms room?" Henry asked.

Emma clicked the door softly behind her, "Downstairs, kid."

Henry followed his younger mother downstairs to the living room; he knew that she stayed over sometimes, but she had always slept in the spare room down the hall. His mind ran all the scenarios to why Emma was coming out of the wrong room, and they all lead to one conclusion.

"Are you and mom dating?" Henry blurted out.

Emma had to take a second to think because they hadn't gotten round to defining whatever it was they were. They had kissed, that was it. The blonde knew she wanted to date Regina; she wanted to take her out and show her love she had never felt before.

"Maybe?" Emma shrugged her shoulders.

Henry squinted his eyes, "What do you mean maybe?"

Emma fell back onto the sofa with a huff, this kid had one too many questions this morning, and it was far too early for them. "I'm planning on taking her to the Italian place across town tonight," she mumbled, "We're going to talk then."

Henry grabbed his stomach and laughed, his laughter becoming more hysteric when he saw the confusion flash across Emma's face.

"Kid now isn't the time for laughter," Emma said. "I've got one chance at this."

"You've eaten mom's cooking, right?" Emma nodded at Henry's question. "She can cook better than any place in town, so if you want to impress her, taking there isn't the way to go."

"So? What do I do?"

"Okay, here's the plan."

+/+\+

Regina rolled over, stretching out to find the warm body that should have been laying next to her, but she was met with a vacant bed. She sat up in her bed, wondering where Emma had gone and the memories of their kiss floating through her mind.

A smile graced her face, and her fingers ghosted her lips; she already missed the feel of Emma's lips against her own. Regina had no idea that Emma had been feeling the same as she had because if there were even an inkling, Regina knew she would have said something sooner. Still, she was happy that they had finally been honest with each other.

Regina climbed out of bed, grabbing her robe from the back of her door before heading downstairs. She heard the TV quietly playing in the living room, her heart fluttered, thinking that it might be Emma watching the TV with their son, but as she walked past the room, she just saw Henry.