Stripper? Exotic Dancer.

The More You Know.

Regina woke up in sweats, her heart pounding in her chest. She let out a small quiet squeal and her hands immediately flew to her chest as she sat up in terror...her eyes scanned the dark room, but she was completely frozen. Another horrible nightmare... these had been happening more frequently since her date with Emma last week, she had her own scary, terrible past to confront but...she wasn't ready to deal with it yet, so she shoved it down as far as she could, choking on it every day and she continued to try and live the life that was almost taken from her...the beautiful brunette slowly stood up and walked cautiously around the room, checking any hiding spot someone could have as if her dream was actually real... you see, Regina was married once..five years ago, almost to the day she got married. She got married to a Mr. Leopold King. He was a terror...the things he did to her, she wasn't even ready to think or talk about any of it. Technically..she was still married, she ran away from him a year and a half ago now in the middle of the night while he was fast asleep. She packed a bag and ran as fast as she could, three miles to be exact..to the nearest train station until she ended up in New York City. Fast forward and here we are.

Regina slowly crawled back into bed, pulling the blankets up over her body, leaving only her eyes out. She curled up in a ball and closed her eyes, trying to fall back asleep. When Emma told her about her Ex...she had wanted to say something, anything! But she froze...and figured they were only talking it wasn't necessary to tell her about that at the time, and she honestly didn't know when she would be ready.
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The next morning Regina stood up, stretching out. She yawned and smiled when she looked at her phone seeing a notification from Emma. "Hey!" Their last date was last week and Regina was so excited at the prospect of seeing Emma romantically again. 'Hello Emma.' She smiled and stood up, brushing her teeth and getting ready for work. Being a lawyer was so tiring...by the end of the night she was absolutely exhausted. She sighed and put on her neatly pressed outfit, checking herself in the mirror. She thought back on her nightmare last night and shook her head fast, trying to get rid of the image in her mind. She couldn't help it..it just popped into her brain. Sometimes she struggled with the fact that...because of her career, all it takes is a google search on her and her job comes up, what firm she works for..everything. It sometimes scared her because, what is Leo came to look for her, got smart and checked the web for her. She took a few deep breaths, grounding herself just like her therapist had taught her. One more week until my next session she kept telling herself. Anytime she felt a panic attack coming on she practiced her grounding exercises.

She grabbed her purse and walked out the front door, getting into her car when Emma texted her again. 'Are you busy later? Want to just hang out? I'm off tonight. I'm always off Sundays! :)'  Regina smiled at how eager she sounded. 'That would be absolutely lovely. My place or yours?' Emma thought about that for a second before typing, 'yours!' She didn't think they had been talking long enough for her to introduce her to her son, she knew as soon as Henry met her, he would want to hang out with Regina all the time. Part of it was for selfish reasons...at this point in dating? They weren't in a committed relationship just yet, but anyway...at this point in dating she wanted Regina all for herself, but the biggest reason was her son.

Emma looked over at her son and nudged his shoulder, setting her phone on the counter. "Okay Hen...what do you want for breakfast?" She hummed, ruffling his hair. "Hmm..pancakes!"
"Pancakes, again?!"
"Yeah! They're delicious."
"French toast is way better." Emma stuck her tongue out at that and Henry looked shocked, "you take that back! Pancakes are the grass." Now Emma looked at him confused, "what? The grass?"
"It's what the cool kids are saying mom...get with it." She laughed out loud at him and sighed. "Got it, mom's old. No need to rub it in." She began making his pancakes and danced around the kitchen to her music. "Homework almost finished bud?" She whispered, plating up Henry's food.
"Yup! Just a few more questions."
"Good man. I knew you could do it!" They shared a warm smile and Emma sat down beside him, helping him with the last of his homework and eating with him. Emma's phone went off and she grabbed it fast, an excited look on her face. "You good ma?" He laughed, a mouthful of food. "Oh..yup yup. I'm great." She read the text from Regina and smiled, 'perfect! Seven?' Emma nodded and typed fast, 'perfect.' She turned to Henry and smiled, "would you mind if May came over tonight and hung with you for a few hours?" Henry raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Who is she mom?" Emmas face went white. This boy was to smart. "What do you mean?" She mumbled, "constantly smiling at your phone? Coming home extra late? Being extremely nice to me.."
"Hey I'm always nice!" Emma gasped, Henry laughed and sighed. "Yeah you're great but like...extra nice." Emma laughed, "okay okay..yeah I'm seeing someone but! I'm taking it slow..I am not ready for her to meet you yet." Henry looked almost hurt, not understanding it. "Why?" He mumbled. "Oh honey not because of you! Because you're perfect and I don't want you to get hurt if it doesn't work out..and I want to know her way better before I just let her know you." Henry nodded, finally understanding. "That makes sense! But can I meet her soon!?" He looked excited, his cheeks rising with his smile. "Oh of course. That's the plan."