So I haven't written fanfiction in a while and I thought what better time to get back into it than Swan Queen Week? This little idea popped into my head when I was looking at the prompts and I hope you enjoy it!
Some things to note: I own nothing, Once Upon A Time and characters/etc belong to ABC and the show's creators, NOT to me. I do this for fun and get no profit. If I owned it, the show would be a heck of a lot gayer, trust me. Also please note that as of now, it is rated Teen for some language, but this MAY change later on, depending on how the story goes, haven't decided 100% on that yet. No trigger warnings that I could think of, if that changes, I'll note it at the top of the chapter.
In reference to the timeframe/context of this fic: Robin is dead, Hook and Emma are NOT together, they broke up before they got married. Zelena is raising Robyn as a single mom, and Neal is a toddler. Takes place after the Dark One arc is resolved, and I kinda pretend that Season 6 just didn't happen, because I have yet to watch most of it.
'Oh Emma!' Snow's voice rang out from the outside of Regina's open office. 'Good, I was hoping to talk to you!'
The sheriff turned around, feeling somehow that her mother's intrusion was interrupting her lunch with Regina. They did this frequently now, more days than not, Emma bringing take out from Granny's or Regina bringing something from home for them both. Today Regina brought chili and cornbread, one of Emma's favorites. And of course, if there were town business to discuss, they would. But mostly their lunches were friendly, an excuse to spend time together. How far the two had come, from Regina using her position to intimidate the blonde savior, to the woman's mother and her mortal enemy barging in on a friendly lunch. Not that Emma had been very intimidated in the first place.
'And naturally you came looking for her in my office?' Regina said, without the bite that her remark might have had years ago.
'No, I came here to bring you these forms about the festival.' She said, putting a stack of papers on Regina's desk, and then she smirked at her former stepmother in a way that made her uncomfortable, like she knew something she shouldn't. 'But you have to admit, that if I was looking for Emma, this wouldn't be a bad guess.'
'What is it Mom, kinda in the middle of lunch.' Emma said, not taking her eyes off the bowl of chili.
'Well, your father and I were thinking-' she sat down, balancing her smiling son on her lap, and with a broad smile unwarranted by current circumstances, 'we never got a proper honeymoon.'
'Huh?' Emma asked.
'Well, in the Enchanted Forest, when your father and I got married, we were in the middle of the wedding when –' Snow looked to Regina who sat impassively at her desk, even though everyone in the room knew that Snow was referring to the war between them. 'We couldn't get away. And then, we were cursed.' Snow said carefully.
'Ok? So you and Dad want to go on a delayed honeymoon?' Emma said slowly, not understanding why she just couldn't come out and say it.
'Yes.' She said, her eyes shining with the indefatigable love that exuded from her and David whenever they talked about the other. It nearly made Regina lose her lunch. 'Now that everything seems to have calmed down, we feel like we can finally have a chance to.'
'Alright, well that's great.' Emma said to fill the silence, clearly not as enthralled with the trip as her mother.
'You think so?' Snow asked again.
'Yeah, sure, why shouldn't you have a honeymoon, even though it's been like what more than thirty years? And even if you don't couples go on vacations all the time, it's not really a big deal.' Emma shrugged, wondering why her mother was being so weird. It probably was just how excited she was for her true love and spending time together. Emma never did understand how two people could be so sickening when in love, but maybe that's what people were like when they were in love, not like she would really know.
'I'm glad you think so Emma.'
'Ok?' Emma said and took a bite out of her sandwich, waiting for her mother to continue.
'Snow,' Regina sighed, 'we are in the middle of a lunch meeting, you said this had something to do with Emma, so please get to it, we don't have all day.'
'Of course! And while we want to go on a Honeymoon, which you agree that we should go on, there is the matter of… well…' she looked to her son happily bouncing on her knee.
'Snow please.' Regina prompted, wanting the woman to leave her office so that she could continue her lunch with the sheriff in peace. 'If you're just going to come into my office prompting your daughter with half finished sentences, I would prefer if it wasn't during my lunch hour.'
'Neal.' Snow said.
'What about him?' Emma asked.
'People don't usually bring their children on their Honeymoons.' Snow pointed out.
'Well you should have thought about that before you had one, or two, as the case may be.' Regina scoffed, glancing at the Charming's eldest child, who looked more confused than ever.
'If you're worried that I'm gonna want to join you-?' Emma guessed, her face contorted in confusion.
'Emma, no, it's, we – your father and I - were hoping that you might want to spend a little quality time with your brother, bond a little.' She smiled and handed the boy over to his sister.
'Right now? I have work.' Emma said, oblivious to the implication, but took the kid from their mother anyway, placing her bowl on the desk, and then when both other women kept looking at Emma, she got what her mother was trying to ask, what she had come to Regina's office to ask. 'What are you – oh, no, no, I don't think so.'
'You two don't spend very much time together. And it would mean a lot to your father and I, to have this time together that we never got to have when we first got married, before the curse.' She said as she gave a slight sideways glance to Regina.
'Are you serious? You want me to watch Neal while you and Dad go off to – to - where would you even go?' Emma said loudly.
'Puerto Rico.'
'What – you already decided? And you're asking me now?' Neal started to fuss because of Emma's harsh tone and he was promptly given back to his mother.
She shrugged and smiled.
Emma took a breath so her voice would be steady enough not to upset the toddler further, 'Look, I'm sorry that you didn't get to have your honeymoon, but I just don't think it would work for me to watch the kid. At all.'
'You don't want to.' Her face fell. And Emma felt so guilty. It happened every time with Snow. Every time Emma didn't do something that her mother wanted her to do, she looked a little like the world was ending, and the orphan in Emma couldn't take it.
'It's not a matter of wanting to. I just I'm the sheriff and– I've never taken care of a baby like that.'
'You take care of Neal all the time.' Snow pointed out.
Emma closed her eyes and then looked to Regina, wanting some sort of support from her friend that her mother was being unreasonable. The woman just raised her eyebrows as if Emma should have expected this to happen, 'For a few hours, and when you're just a phone call away, not for – how long are you wanting this to be for anyway.'
'One week.'
'A week?! I can't do a week. A weekend, maybe. But, c'mon, you're asking me to what take a week out of my life to take care of the little kid, I can't take a week off work just to watch him, and when David's already gonna be gone? You think the part time deputies can run the station for a week? I'm sorry, that's not possible.' Emma said, noticing her mother frowning, she looked like she was about to cry.
'Well,' Regina spoke up, smiling down at the boy who had been transferred to her lap. 'Why don't you just take him with you to work? I did it with Henry for his entire childhood.' She said it so simply, as if it was obvious that Emma should be able to meet her mother's request.
'No, that's insane' Emma said quickly in response to her mother's hopeful smile at Regina's suggestion. 'You really want me to take a baby, your baby, out on call with me?'
'I guess not. You're right, I just, I was looking so forward to it. Now that everything's calmed down and everyone's getting along and we can go outside the town line, it just seemed like the perfect time.' Snow's eyes were watering, she tilted her head up so that she wouldn't actually cry in Regina's office.
And as Emma was looking at Regina holding Neal while glancing over the files, she got an idea. 'Well, Mom, maybe this can still work out?'
'What do you mean?' she sniffed, dabbing her eyes with the corner of a tissue.
'For that week, I could take shifts during normal working hours, and while I'm at work, Regina can watch him here.'
'What?' the mayor said flatly.
'You did it with Henry every day when he was an infant. I can't imagine you'd have a hard time for five days, when you can just drop him off to me after work on your way home.'
'I – Miss Swan –' Regina was trying to keep her voice level, so she didn't upset the toddler she was holding.
'And you are kind of the reason they didn't go on a Honeymoon the first time, do you really want to be the reason they don't get to this time either?' Emma was smirking at her in that self-satisfied way that Regina hated, where Emma thought she had bested the mayor. 'And come on, he loves you.'
Regina looked between mother and daughter, and then to the sweet little boy on her lap. She really had become fond of him, much more so than she would ever admit to any member of his family. It wouldn't be that difficult, not really. And for whatever reason, Emma was challenging her, and she hated to let Emma win, even now that they were friends and the competition was friendly. There was still something about the woman that Regina didn't ever want to back down from. And then there was how fond she had become of Emma. She hated to think that she probably would have agreed to babysit if she had just asked.
'I suppose that wouldn't be too much of an imposition.' She said quietly, looking at the floor.
'Oh thank you so much Regina! I can't tell you how much this means to me!' Snow got up out of the chair and threw her arms around the woman, and then scooped up her baby. 'Do you hear that, Neal? You get to spend a week with your sister and your auntie Regina.'
'Wouldn't that technically be Grandma Regina?' Emma asked, unable to just be content in her victory.
Snow chuckled and patted her daughter's arm on her way to the door, avoiding the glare that Regina was focusing on the sheriff.
'I will get you the details and dates of the trip this afternoon, right after we book, and thank you both so much for doing this.' She said on her way out.
'You're welcome, Snow.'
'You really surprise me sometimes.'
'Is that so?'
'Yeah, babysitting while working? I mean I know you did it before but still, it's really nice of you.'
'It's just for a few hours, I'm not the one who has to work a full day and then take care of a toddler for a week.' Regina shrugged, not quite comfortable with the direct compliment.
Then it hit Emma, she had just agreed to babysit Neal for a week. Shit.
So I know that this chapter was all set up, and I'm sorry! I hope it wasn't too boring and that you'll stay with me. I do have 5/6 more chapters written, I'm just editing and figuring out how to structure them and break them up in a way that makes sense.
That being said, I'm always open to suggestions if there's something you'd like to see in the story at some point. And I love getting feedback, especially since I haven't done this in a while. All I ask is that criticism be constructive.
