This one is a slow-burn guys. Sorry about any mistakes.
As always, I do not own the rights to any of the content of Once Upon a Time.
Family dinners on Sunday had become somewhat of a staple for the Charming clan in the last few years. This clan of course included Emma, Regina, and Henry.
Tonight, Snow and David were hosting the dinner. They had finally moved into their own house and loved to have people over now that they had more space. Emma kept the tiny flat for herself and Henry.
A very pregnant Snow sets the table as the others move to take their seats in the dinning room. David sits the head of the table with Emma on his left and Snow on his right. Neal sits next to Snow and Regina sits next to Emma. Finally Henry takes his usual seat across from Regina. Once they are all settled and eating, Snow clears her throat to get the group's attention.
"David and I have an announcement." She says.
"Are you having twins or something?" Emma interrupts.
"Twins would be so cool!" Henry says excitedly.
"Oh yes, twice the work and half the sleep." Regina drawls. "I hope you have twins also." She adds the last part in a much more chipper tone. She may love the Charmings but they can still annoy her like nobody else can.
"We're not having twins!" Charming rapidly assures them. He looks disturbed by the suggestion of even less sleep.
"No, we're not." Snow confirms. "I was going to say that David and I are having a Halloween party."
"Why did you need such an official announcement for it?" Emma asks while laughing.
"Your mother always was a drama queen." Regina informs her. "Or drama princess, I should say."
Snow glares at the two women. She loves that her daughter and her former-step mother are friends; she just wishes they wouldn't gang up on her so often!
"We just wanted to invite you." David says on his wife's behalf.
"Yes, it will be held here at eight o'clock on Saturday." Snow says gaining back some of her former excitement. "It's going to be a costume party…but with a catch."
"Which is…" Regina asks cautiously.
"Everyone has to dress like the fictional versions of themselves from this world."
"So you are going to dress up like the cartoon version of yourself. Like with the red bow and everything?" Emma questions.
"There are actually several movie versions of my story, but yes I will probably choose the classic cartoon." She answers.
"As much as that would be amusing to see, I think I will pass on that party." Regina says and resumed eating. They had all stopped when Snow had started her announcement.
"Yeah, me too." Emma says.
"Emma, you are our daughter, you are kind of required to come when we have a party." Snow says, much to Emma's dismay.
"I was never big into playing dress up." Emma argues, "Besides, they never made a sequel to Snow White, so there is no version of my story in this world."
"Maybe not technically," Henry interjects, "but you are basically the Swan Princess, and they do have a cartoon of that."
"Exactly!" Snow says. She is clearly ready to jump on any suggestion that will require Emma to come.
"Fine!" Emma relents knowing that Snow won't. "But you're coming too." She says looking at Regina.
"I'm not her daughter. I don't have to go." Regina reminds her.
"No, but Henry is our son and I'm making him go too." Emma explains. "Plus, I will show up at your house that night and not leave until you come with me! I can be pretty persistent."
"Don't I know it." Regina remarks. The tone of her voice is laced with innuendo. She all but winks, at Emma.
Emma tries to hide her blush as she takes a drink. Emma and Regina had always had an easy banter, but lately that banter had taken on much more of a flirtatious tone than before. Emma supposes it's because neither of them have been in a relationship for a long time.
Suddenly Emma is exceptionally more excited about the party though. She can't wait to see Regina in one of her "Evil Queen" outfits…without the underlying context of potentially being murdered by the other woman.
"Can I dress up?" Neal asks. Successfully breaking up a moment that was slowly becoming awkward for the other guests.
"Of course!" Snow says. "You're our Prince!"
"Who will you be Henry?" Neal asks. Henry is a role model to the toddler, which his mothers think is absolutely adorable. Henry likes it too. His mother's can't seem to get their act together so he imagines that it's the closest thing he'll ever get to a younger sibling.
"I'm not sure. I'm not in the book or anything. I'll think of something though." He assures Neal.
"Lovely!" Snow exclaims "Michael said he would tell Hansel and Gretel about the party so you won't be the only young person there."
The rest of the dinner was spent with talk of plans for the upcoming event.
