Henry watched the clock on the wall anxiously as he squirmed in his seat. As much as he loved Mrs. Blanchard, and her lectures, the boy was just too excited to get home from school today. The second hand seemed to slow down further and further with every stroke. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips.
"Henry?" The sharp call yanked him from his thoughts.
"Y-yes Mrs. Blanchard?" Henry blushed, knowing she must have asked a question, or simply caught on that he was not focusing—either way he was in trouble.
"Are you feeling alright? You've been fidgeting…" Mrs. Blanchard fixed the young boy with a look of concern.
"Oh, no I'm fine."
"Are you sure..?" Mrs. Blanchard's question was left hanging, forgotten and unanswered, as the bell rang dismissing class. Henry was the first to spring from his seat and run out the door. The teacher shook her head and smiled.
…
"Miss Swan, are you certain all of these provisions are necessary?" Regina gestured toward the counter, which was prepared with a feast of junk food that Emma had been enthusiastically gathering and setting up for the last hour.
Emma turned toward Regina and wrapped her arms around her. "Haven't we been over the 'Miss Swan' thing? We're not in public, and that's certainly not what you called me an hour ago in bed…" Emma waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Yes, but I failed to hear you complain last night when I addressed you as 'Miss Swan' on the desk," Regina threw back with a smirk. Emma's eyes widened before she smiled wryly. That was one of the things she loved most about Regina: she was always filled with surprises. And sass. "But really, Emma, must you fill my son with all of this unnecessary sugar and fat?"
"Our son," Emma quickly corrected, "And c'mon Regina, it's movie night. We all deserve a break from your religious dedication to that stupid food pyramid."
"I had no opposition to a break. I was simply suggesting that perhaps popcorn, ice cream, cookies, chips, candy, soda, and a pie from the local bakery is a little redundant. Not to mention…" Regina was cut off by Emma's lips on hers. Her hands tangled in long blonde locks before she pulled back. "Miss Swan, I wasn't finished."
"I know." Emma turned toward the counter to open a package of m&m's. "That was to shut you up." She turned back toward Regina and offered up an obnoxious wink, to which Regina simply rolled her eyes.
"You're responsible for cleaning up later…" Regina warned.
"We'll see," Emma responded as she turned confidently toward the fridge and removed two more items from her grocery bag: chocolate syrup and whipped cream. She shoved them quickly onto a back shelf.
Their banter was cut short by the sound of a key fidgeting in the lock of the front door. Regina went to the door and opened it wide. There stood Henry on the front step, completely flustered and out of breath, cheeks red as he stepped inside, panting for air.
Regina bent down to his level and placed her hands on his shoulders. "What's wrong baby?" she asked with a great deal of concern.
"Nothing… I just… ran… the way… home…" Emma came into the room in time to hear him. Regina looked up at her with concern and Emma burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Regina huffed.
"Nothing baby," Emma cooed, "You're just cute all concerned when Henry obviously was just rushing to get home for movie night." She winked at him.
Regina stood up abruptly. "Henry, choose a movie while I go wash up. And Miss Swan?" Emma looked up, still stifling giggles. "Don't call me baby."
Regina stormed off, but Emma was confident she wasn't actually mad. Henry looked to Emma for direction. She tousled his hair. "You heard her, kid. You go find a movie and I'll bring the snacks in."
"Oh Mom doesn't allow snacks in the living room…" he trailed off uncertainly.
"Don't worry, we've already had that discussion. I covered the floor and couch in towels earlier. After that, and much, erm, discussion, your mom finally agreed. Now go find a movie!" Henry ran off to pick through the movie selection as Emma made her way to the kitchen to grab the snacks.
Emma had about three quarters of the snacks moved into the living room when Henry ran back excitedly to showcase the movie he had selected. Regina had joined Emma in the kitchen but was refusing to actually help, insisting that she hadn't wanted this 'terrible, hellish food selection' in the first place. Henry waved the movie excitedly in his mothers' faces.
Emma groaned when she saw the title. "Henry, must you always pick Disney movies? You know it might be a sensitive topic for your mom…"
Henry looked sheepishly in Regina's direction. When he saw her smirking, obviously not upset, he shrugged and simply stated, "I like her commentary."
Emma rolled her eyes and picked up another armful of snacks. "Why don't you go get it started in the player, then, while your mom and I finish bringing in these snacks." Emma glanced over to Regina, leaning casually against the counter filing her nails. "Err… while I finish bringing in the snacks and your mother stands there being as helpful as ever." Emma stuck out her tongue at Regina and then ducked as the nail file whizzed past her head.
…
"Careful!" Regina bit out as Henry settled between his mothers on the couch, bowl of salty, buttery popcorn in his hands.
"Relax Regina. The couch is covered, and Henry's a neat kid besides. He must get that from you."
"Well he certainly doesn't get it from you," Regina scoffed as she leaned over and used the pad of her thumb to wipe apple pie filling from Emma's chin. She sucked her thumb delicately to remove the remnants as Emma's eyes widened.
"Gross!" Henry always hated when his mothers acted like that. Luckily for him, his exclamation had redirected their attention just as the main title screen for "The Little Mermaid" rippled in on the TV.
Emma groaned. "Miss Swan, please be quiet. We can watch one of your gory, action-packed movies another time."
"Really?" Emma's best puppy dog eyes met Regina's.
"No." Emma pouted.
"Shh, it's starting," Henry whispered harshly.
They all turned their attention to the screen as King Triton's arrival at the ceremony was announced. "Pff, pompous bastard," Regina muttered under her breath.
"Miss Mills, please be quiet. We can watch one of your sappy, gag-inducing romantic comedies another time," Emma mocked. "Oww!" she screeched when she felt something pinch her ass. She turned to Regina to find her staring straight at the screen, trying and failing to mask her laughter.
Ariel swam onto the screen with Flounder as they circled an old shipwreck. Regina moved to cover Henry's eyes. "Mom, what are you doing?!"
Emma turned to Regina with an inquisitive look as well. Regina shrugged, "What, Ariel's too scantily clad."
Emma rolled her eyes and pried Regina's hand from Henry's face.
The group settled in again and watched Ariel discover a few new treasures, as well as dodge the shark's attack. Finally, Ariel and Flounder swam to the surface to meet Scuttle and ask him to interpret their finds. After watching him stumble and stutter idiotically for several minutes, Emma noticed Regina chuckling under her breath.
"What now, Regina?"
The brunette was met with a light, but swift punch from Emma when she voiced that Scuttle reminded her very much of Emma's father.
After Ariel sang "Part of Your World" (during which Regina had complained about the excessive musicality of Disney movies while Henry had shushed her repeatedly), and being reprimanded by her father, Ariel swam back to the surface against direct orders to watch a celebration on Prince Eric's ship.
"She minds just about as well as Snow keeps a secret," Regina retorted and Emma just threw her a warning glare.
But when the ship burned, Ariel rescued Prince Eric, and Scuttle checked his heartbeat through the prince's foot, Regina couldn't resist the urge to make another comment, "See? Exactly like David." She ducked Emma's punch this time.
Max, Prince Eric's dog, came bounding up the beach. Henry was thrilled with that part. It was no secret he thought their little family should own some sort of pet, or that his preference was canine in nature. "Mom…!"
"No," Regina responded before he could get anything more out. "We are not getting a dog."
Henry pouted. "I wasn't even going to ask that. I was just going to say that Max and Pongo should be together."
"Sweetie," Regina picked up Henry's hand in hers and ran her thumb over the back of it, "You know they're both boys…"
Henry just glanced between her and his other mother, giving them a pointed look.
"Oh. Right." Emma bit her lip to keep from laughing while Regina blushed.
When Sebastian and co. started singing "Under the Sea," Regina rolled her eyes again. Emma turned to her and asked, "Was it really this ridiculously musical in Fairy Tale Land?" Regina's only response was a glare.
Ariel was down and depressed when Flounder led her back to her treasure trove to show her his surprise for her: a large statue of Prince Eric from the ship.
"How the hell did that little yellow fish drag a statue one hundred times his size into that cave? See… this is the problem I have with Disney movies… the logic they…" Regina was cut off by Emma's finger on her lips.
King Triton quickly discovered the treasure trove and destroyed everything inside, including the stone replica of the man Ariel had instantly fallen in love with. Ariel was left sobbing. "Oh please," Regina bit out, "At least he didn't actually kill your love." She meant it sarcastically but tears filled the corners of her eyes as the truth of her statement hit home. Emma grabbed Regina's hand and squeezed, and the mayor with the normally tough exterior looked up and smiled timidly. Emma smiled back and brought Regina's hand to her lips, kissing it lightly before dropping it. Instead she put her arm around Regina's shoulder, pulling her close and holding her behind Henry, squeezing their little family together tightly.
Finally, the villain of the story was properly introduced to Ariel by the eels, Flotsam and Jetsam. Emma turned to Regina with bewilderment and realization in her eyes. "Are you Ursula?!" she asked incredulously. She knew that fairy tale characters could have more than one personality. Disney had separated them to make it easier for the audience to follow, and so as not to have recurring characters, but she knew, for instance, that Mr. Gold was both Rumplestiltskin and the Beast from "Beauty and the Beast."
Regina scoffed. "No, dear. That's Mr. Gold."
Emma's mouth dropped open before she smiled. "Nuh uh, you're messing with me…"
"See for yourself," Regina gestured toward the TV where Ursula was explaining her deal to Ariel, explaining how several people in the past had to pay the price for her magic, and so on. Emma's mouth dropped open a little more with each statement that confirmed what Regina had claimed. "Oh close your mouth, Miss Swan. That's very unbecoming." Emma was still too stunned to even come up with a retort.
Upon seeing Ursula dance and gyrate grotesquely during the "Poor Unfortunate Souls" song, Regina shook her head. "You thought that fat sea witch was me?" she asked Emma incredulously.
"Well to be fair it doesn't exactly resemble Gold either."
Regina rolled her eyes. "You haven't seen him in a black dress." Regina laughed heartily as shock overtook Emma's face once more. "Kidding, dear."
And as Ursula continued to explain that Ariel could only remain human if she experienced 'true love's kiss' within the next three days, Regina rolled her eyes again. "That's a plot device overused even in the real Fairy Tale Land."
Ariel was then transformed into a human and stranded on the same beach as before. Emma and Regina's hands both shot forward to cover Henry's eyes upon seeing that she was actually naked. Henry groaned. "It's not like you can actually see anything!" The women still did not remove their hands until Scuttle had Ariel dressed in cloths and rope. At least it was something.
Prince Eric came down the beach with Max once again in tow. The two were playing, and Henry looked to the screen longingly. "Do princes really just get to be on the beach and play with dogs all day?"
"Of course," Emma answered quickly, "A prince can do whatever the hell he wants." Regina glared at her. "Err… after they complete their schoolwork, that is?" Regina nodded in approval and turned back to the screen.
The movie went by without comment for a while. The trio watched Sebastian almost get cooked into the chef's dinner, watched Ariel awkwardly eat that dinner at the table, endured yet another musical number with "Kiss the Girl," and finally watched as Ursula decided to do something about Prince Eric getting dangerously close to actually doing just that. The sea witch transformed herself into the beautiful, dark-haired Vanessa, and, armed with Ariel's voice captured in her seashell necklace, quickly got the prince to fall for her and declare their marriage.
"See, that could be you," Emma smiled upon seeing Vanessa. "She's gorgeous."
"Do not expect sucking up to get you out of cleaning up and doing the dishes later, Miss Swan." But Regina still couldn't hide the tiny smile that had broken through at Emma's compliment.
They continued watching as Ursula/Vanessa triumphed when Ariel failed to kiss Prince Eric by sunset even though the wedding had been interrupted. However, happily ever after and true love still conquered all as Prince Eric and Ariel defeated Ursula, reinstated Triton as king after he had taken Ariel's place as Ursula's prisoner, and King Triton in turn granted his daughter the legs she had so desperately wanted and proceeded to attend her and Prince Eric's wedding.
"But wait," Emma interjected as the credits began to roll, "Mr. Gold is still very much alive, undefeated."
"These movies don't always represent an accurate account of events, dear," Regina reminded her. "Now, off to bed with you!" Regina nudged Henry.
"Aww Mom, can't we watch one more movie?" Henry pleaded with the same puppy dog eyes Emma had used on her earlier.
"No, Henry, you know the rules of movie night. One movie, then off to bed. You do want this tradition to continue, don't you?"
"Yes," Henry sighed, defeated, as he picked himself off the couch and sulked all the way up the stairs.
"And Miss Swan, I believe you have some cleaning up to do?"
"Oh yeah," Emma replied distantly, "I'll get right on that." She surveyed the mess of bowls with unpopped popcorn kernels in the bottom, sticky soda cans, and ice cream melting slowly down the sides of the containers. Instead of picking up anything, though, Emma headed for the kitchen to retrieve the two items she had stored in the fridge earlier. "But first, I have one last dessert to enjoy…"
Author's Note: By the way, I know it's like sacrilegious not to have Lana play her beloved Ursula but I couldn't get Mr. Gold as her out of my head... meh.