Miles To Go

Chapter Twenty

Emma lay in the warm sun, the breeze cool off the water, but she wore her bikini as she laid on the blanket, propped up on her elbows as she watched Regina and Henry race each other down to the water, both of them squealing as they ran in as far as they could stand before running back up onto the beach.

She watched with appreciative eyes as Regina dared Henry to run back into the water with her, to go further than they had before. She wore the same classy black bikini as before, perfectly fitting on her body, covering her up as modestly as a bikini could and yet Emma found it to be the sexiest thing she'd ever seen and as she peered over the tops of her sunglasses, Ruby poked her arm as she sat down next to her on the blanket.

"You're drooling, Em."

"I am not!"

"Can't say I can't blame you though," Ruby chuckled lewdly and it earned her a warning glare from Emma before she focused her attention back on Regina again. "You know how lucky you are, don't you?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm not even gay and yet I can totally appreciate how good she looks in that bikini. How can she look so classy and so fucking sexy at the same time?"

"Because she's Regina," Emma replied softly, smiling as Regina ran further into the water than Henry, who was still standing on the beach laughing as Regina turned to mock glare at him for tricking her that time. "I didn't think they'd get along like this."

"No, me neither."

"Henry adores her," she continued, watching as Regina stalked towards Henry and chased him over the beach, flicking the cool ocean water at him as she gained speed quickly. "I'm still not sure how she feels about him, you know? I mean, I don't expect her to love my son so quickly because he's a part of me. I mean, she felt guilty being around him before, Rubes. What if she still feels that way?"

"Does it look like it?" Ruby mused and Emma shook her head no as they watched Regina wrap an arm around Henry's shoulders and playfully ruffle his hair. "Not that it matters or anything, but it's kind of funny how much they look alike, isn't it?"

Emma ignored her comment, having thought that herself especially over the last few weeks when it became more of a regular thing for them to all spend time together. She wasn't sure where Henry got his dark locks from, maybe they came from Neal's side or one of her birth parents' had dark brown hair. It wasn't something she often thought about because Henry was her son and that was all that mattered in the end.

She thought back to what Regina had told her, about why Henry made her feel so guilty and it tore at her heart because if she had been there for all of Henry's life, there would be no mistake that they were a family, one perfectly happy little family. Anyone who would look at them would've clearly seen it and it was thoughts like those too that Emma had been so careful not to let herself run away with.

"Ruby, come on!" Henry called out as Regina stared to walk back over to the blanket, her chest heaving as she ran her fingers through her damp hair. "Race me?"

"Don't fall for it, it's a trick," Regina chuckled as she grabbed a folded towel on top of the blanket Emma and Ruby were laying on to dry herself off. "Perhaps you can get him back for me, Ruby? Give him a taste of his own medicine?"

"Oh I'll give him a taste of his own medicine and then some, trust me on that," Ruby chuckled as she pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail and took off towards where Henry was standing on the practically deserted beach with his tongue sticking out.

"Having fun, Regina?" Emma grinned as she watched Regina drop her towel and sit on the blanket next to her.

"Yes, I am actually. I just needed a break."