For eight years, Emma Swan has been homeless. Forsaking a life of thievery, the twenty-eight year old blonde roamed the streets of the United States in what she deemed a pilgrimatic penance. As she walked the streets of Boston, she pulled her worn pea-green coat closer to her body. The snow fell sharp, the wind biting into her skin. Glancing to the side, she saw a small little alcove where she could rest her bones and hopefully pick up some spare change from passersby.
Regina Mills scolded herself for parking so far away. She walked lightly down the cold streets, her arms completely full with freshly purchased presents. It was Christmas Eve and she had to pick up the pace if she were to get home in time to prepare dinner for her family. Rounding a corner, she saw a thin, blonde woman wrapped in a large coat with a torn beanie standing just off the sidewalk with a little cardboard sign asking for any spare change.
Her fingers twitched, feeling the need to give the young woman something on this particularly cold evening. As she passed by, she didn't feel up to putting down all the presents in her arms in order to dig through her pockets for spare change- so, she decided to give the woman a small smile and continue on her way. The blonde woman returned her smile, hitting Regina with an extra pang of guilt- but she continued on anyway.
"Ma'am?" came a voice from behind her, "Ma'am, you dropped this."
Regina turned around to see the blonde jogging towards her with a five dollar bill in her hand.
"Oh, I… um…" stuttered the brunette as she tried to manage the presents in her arms.
"Here I got it," said the blonde with a smile as she placed the money in Regina's coat pocket, "Merry Christmas," she said sweetly, her brilliant green eyes glittering. The brunette stood with her mouth slightly parted, the homeless woman was stunningly beautiful.
And with another small smile, the blonde turned on her heel leaving Regina slightly dumbfounded. The brunette shook it off and continued walking, then before she knew what she was doing- she turned around and headed back to where the blonde woman was standing.
"What's your name?" asked the brunette curiously. The blonde looked at her suspiciously at the question, "I'm Regina Mills," said the brunette realizing how strangely that question must have come out.
"Emma Swan," replied the blonde. They stood in a tangible awkward silence, the wind biting at their necks.
"Miss Swan, how would you like to come spend Christmas Eve with me and my family?" Regina blurted out before she could stop herself. The blonde's eyes widened into large saucers.
"Oh, uh… no thank you, that's really kind of you, though," replied Emma.
"Nonsense," said the brunette firmly, "it's cold out here and I have more hot apple cider than I can drink by myself," replied Regina with a broad smile.
Emma looked at her long and hard, she could see there was no changing the brunette's mind. A part of her wanted to offer her gratitude once more and wander off, but there was something about the warm sincerity in the brunette's eyes that told Emma she was safe. Before she knew it, she was sitting in a well-heated car, presents strewn across her lap- listening to Christmas carols hum from the radio.
….
A short car ride away, the two women pull up to a large, white mansion. No Christmas lights could be seen on the outside, but the interior looked warm and inviting. Together, they lugged the load of presents from the car and entered the mansion where they were greeted with a high pitched squeal from a tiny, brown-headed blur running across the foyer.
"Mommy!" cried the little boy of about six-years old as he latched onto one of Regina's legs.
"Hello, sweetheart," returned the brunette setting the presents down on the floor and kneeling down to scoop up her little son, peppering him with kisses, "Did you behave for Uncle Graham?" The little boy nodded excitedly.
"He sure did," said a tall, bearded man entering the foyer, "I'll see you later pal," he said as he ruffled the little boy's hair.
"Thank you for babysitting, Graham," Regina said warmly as she slipped a wad of cash into the man's hands, "and Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you, too," replied the man with a grateful smile. His eyes shifted to the blonde standing awkwardly behind Regina, "Hello," he said sticking out his hand, "I'm Graham."
"Emma," said the blonde timidly.
"Pleasure to meet you, Emma, Merry Christmas," he said with a firm nod before winking at Regina and exiting the mansion.
"Who are you?" came a small voice. Emma looked down to see the small boy tugging at her pants, his large green eyes looking up at her with a piercing curiosity to match his mother's.
"Henry, be polite," said Regina with a firm, motherly tone.
"I'm Henry Mills," said the little boy sticking his hand out. Emma took his small hand in hers and shook it lightly.
"Emma Swan," she said with a large smile. She felt as if all she could do when looking into the boy's brilliant eyes was smile.
"You smell funny," says Henry scrunching up his nose. Regina's face drops, looking utterly mortified- but to her relief, Emma laughs.
"Sorry, kid. I spent the whole day shoveling reindeer poop in the North Pole for Santa," says Emma with a sweet smile as she kneels down to Henry's level.
Her smile broadens as she sees Henry's eyes widen, "Santa?! Really?!" He squeals. Before she knows it, the little brown-haired boy is jumping up and down excitedly, sputtering out questions as fast as his little mouth can move.
"Now, Henry," interjected Regina, "go toss the salad like a showed you, people will be arriving soon."
"But I wanna hear about Santa…" pouts the little boy.
"If you do as your mom says, I'll tell you all about him while we eat," says Emma.
"Promise?" asks Henry, his brows furrowed.
"Promise," smiles Emma. And as quick as lightening, Henry dashes off to the kitchen leaving the two women alone in the foyer.
"Thank you, Miss Swan," says Regina with a grateful smile, "I apologize for Henry's behavior."
"It's okay, I guess I am pretty smelly- you have to praise kids for their blunt honesty."
"In any case, thank you," replies Regina, "Now then, your clothes are all wet. Follow me and I'll show you where to freshen up."
Regina turns sharply and ascends a large staircase. Emma lingers for a moment before slowly following the brunette.
….
When Emma emerged from the shower, she couldn't help the smile as she saw a clean towel and a fresh set of warm clothes waiting on a chair for her. She slipped on the well-fitted jeans, shirt, sweater, and socks- letting out a low hum of pleasure. It had been a long time since she'd enjoyed the feeling of putting on clean, warm clothes.
Upon arriving downstairs, she was surprised to see a group of people all laughing, eating, and mingling. Feeling like she was intruding, Emma wanted to subtly slide along the wall and shuffle over to the large table covered with hot food, but before she could- Henry, in all his excitement, screamed her name and ran through the crowd towards her.
Grabbing Emma's hand, Henry marched her across the room, introducing her as the woman who scoops reindeer poop for Santa. Regina watched her son thrust Emma around with a large smile on her face, a part of her was embarrassed for Emma- but another part was touched by the liking her son had taken to the young blonde.
"And who's this?" came an all-too familiar voice next to Regina.
The brunette shifted her head to see Mary Margaret, a young school-teacher whose appearance was akin to a freshly churned nun on sabbatical.
"Emma Swan," Regina replies casually, hoping Mary Margaret wouldn't press the matter- but, inevitably, she did. And Regina relayed to her how Emma had come to spend Christmas Eve with them. She tried to sound as casual as possible, but deep down she could already tell that the day's actions would impact the rest of her life.
Regina talked with Mary Margaret's husband, David- who worked as a deputy for the local police department- trying to focus her attention on whatever mundane story he was telling, but her attention kept getting drawn to the blonde. Emma worked her way around the room with such ease and comfort, it was difficult for Regina to imagine that she was new to the group.
She spoke mostly with Ruby before being pulled away by Henry for a few seconds only to be thrown into a barrage of questions from Granny. After the food was eaten, the drinks drunk, the conversations had- everyone bid each other a good night before saying farewell until the next day.
Regina put an exhausted Henry to bed and came down the stairs to find Emma scurrying around the living room cleaning everything up.
"That's sweet of you, dear, but I think some hot apple cider is needed more than cleaning at this point," smiled the brunette.
Emma tilted her head in consent and sat herself down on the couch while Regina poured a couple glasses of cider and sat next to the blonde. They sat in silence for a moment, sipping their cider with slow, rhythmic slurps.
"So," Emma said lightly strumming her fingers on her glass, "Nice family you have."
"Indeed," Regina smiled.
More silence passed between them before Emma decided to bring up the inevitable topic.
"You're probably wondering why I'm homeless, huh?" Emma said with a nervous laugh.
"Well, I can't deny the thought hasn't crossed my mind," replied Regina thoughtfully, "You don't seem… the type, I suppose."
"Ah, I see…" replied Emma with a slow nod, "the type."
"I didn't mean to offend," backpaddled Regina, "I simply meant that you don't seem like you're…"
"On drugs or an alcoholic?" finished Emma. Regina nodded with a blush, "Not all homeless people are addicts, you know. Even then, those that are probably have the world's most tragic stories. It's likely that they had the hardest time with life and nobody was around to help them. As for myself, I'm an orphan. I was tossed from family to family, some cared for me- but not all of them did… and in the end, things just didn't work out so I split. I committed a few petty crimes, like stealing from gas stations and grocery stores- but it soon escalated into an addiction in itself," Emma's green eyes flickered in the fire light as a million memories danced before her eyes, "At one point, I made a huge mistake that almost cost someone their life- after that, I swore I'd never steal again, and I haven't."
"Then how do you survive?" asked Regina quietly.
"Life isn't something you have to survive or endure, you simply have to have a huge shift in your perspective. What's important to you changes dramatically. Where once it was about having a job, finding a spouse, having kids, and growing old- now your life is filled with finding food and a place to sleep. Now that I say it out loud, it sounds like survival, but that's not really how it feels."
"How does it feel?" said the brunette, completely enveloped in the blonde's words.
"Simple," replied the blonde, "The less you have, the less you have to worry about, I suppose," she sipped her glass thoughtfully, "Though it may feel simple, it's all coated with this faceless malice; a kind of bleak and oppressive feeling of never having what society would deem, 'a proper life.' I suppose what I'm trying to say is that it's lonely. I'm lonely. I always thought I could make it on my own because I've always been on my own, but now I just find that loneliness creeping up on me- and it makes me sad."
"Well, I hope you don't find yourself lonely at the moment," said Regina with a warm smile, a little unsure what to do with all the information the blonde just gave her.
"No," smiled the blonde, "Not at all," she whispered as she placed her hand over Regina's for the briefest moment before pulling it back to rest on her glass, "Anyway, you've let me ramble on… what about you? What's your story?"
"Oh, nothing out of the ordinary, I'm afraid," sighed the brunette.
"Oh come on, everyone has a story- what's yours?"
"Grew up with parents, went to school, went to college, got married, had a son, I have a job…"
"But what's your story?" interjected the blonde. She was curious to hear Regina's story, though she had to admit to herself that she was a little disappointed to hear that she was married- though she wasn't wearing a wedding ring, and she didn't see her spouse anywhere.
"What do you mean?"
"Who are you?"
Regina sat back, slowly sipping her cider. She could honestly say that she had never really been asked that question before. There were countless 'how are you's,' but no one had ever really asked her who she is.
"I suppose, now this might sound silly, that I'm lonely too," whispered the brunette before dipping her head behind her glass, "Which must sound absolutely ridiculous given all the people in my life, but…" her sentence caught in her throat.
"But?"
"But ever since Henry's father passed away, I've felt lonely as well," replied the brunette, tears welling in her eyes, "Daniel, was his name. He died shortly after Henry was born. When that happened, a part of me died with him- everything changed. I devoted every waking second to my son and my work, shutting off any possibility of being with anyone else. It seems, well… seemed, impossible for me to…" she glanced over at Emma who was watching her intently, "to have feelings for anyone else ever again."
Tears slowly trickled down the brunette's face, she quickly brought her hand up trying to wipe them away, but they persisted. Emma scooted next to Regina and flung a comforting arm around the sobbing brunette who clung to the blonde in return. They held each other for what seemed like hours until the clock struck two in the morning. Sitting up straight, Regina wiped the remaining tears before standing up.
"It's late, I should put Henry's gifts out under the tree," she said firmly.
"And I should probably get going," said Emma standing up, placing her glass on the table in front of her.
"Going?" said the brunette with a raised eyebrow, "You've had your fair share of cider, it's late, and not to mention freezing outside- I don't see why you can't simply stay the night."
Emma nodded her head gratefully as she followed the brunette up the staircase to the guest bedroom.
…
The peaceful slumber Emma experienced sleeping in the large, warm, feathery bed in the guest room was beyond any comfort she could have possibly imagined. The sun slowly crept into the room as the blonde smiled, burying her face deep in a soft feather pillow. She emitted a low hum, completely content until…
"Emma! It's Christmas! Santa's here! He's here! He's here!" screamed a tiny voice running into the room and bouncing on the bed. Smiling, Emma sat up and tackled Henry into the comforter, tickling him all over his body until his laughs and squeals illuminated the room.
"Let's go downstairs and see what Santa brought you, sweetheart," came Regina's partially groggy voice as she appeared in the doorway dressed in a long robe. Henry flung himself off the bed and ran down the hallway hollering indecipherable gibberish.
"Merry Christmas, Emma," said Regina.
"Merry Christmas, Regina," replied Emma.
Together they slipped downstairs and drank coffee as they watched Henry tear his way through his mountain of presents. When it was all said and done, Henry rolled around with his new toys in the scattered wrapping paper while Regina and Emma cleaned up breakfast.
"Well," said Emma picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, "Thank you for having me, I can't tell you how much it meant to me- it was very kind of you."
"Oh no you don't," came Granny's voice from the foyer. The two women whipped around in surprise to see the older woman entering the kitchen with bags of groceries, "I ran around town all morning trying to find an open grocery store so I could make you my famous Banana's Foster after dinner tonight."
"Oh, but I…" started Emma, but Granny held up a hand.
"To hell with your politeness, it's Christmas for Christ's sake, and you're staying to try my Banana's Foster," retorted the older woman.
Regina laughed and rolled her eyes as Granny ushered Emma into the kitchen before she could make any more excuses.
…
Later that afternoon, the whole family returned for a large Christmas lunch with more presents. As everyone settled in the living room, Mary Margaret ran around tossing presents to everyone. Ruby got a new pair of red gloves, Granny the entire collection of Breaking Bad dvd's, Regina received a beautiful new scarf, David a new watch, and Henry squealed with delight when he opened his present to find a shiny new pair of rollerskates.
Emma watched everyone opening their gifts with delight, though she knew she wouldn't receive any- she still felt grateful simply to witness the kind of familial joy she had always been depraved of. Her thoughts were interrupted by a large, gaudily-wrapped box being thrust into her hands. Looking down in confusion and then up, she saw Mary Margaret throw her a mischievous smile with a tiny wink before continuing to hand out her presents to the rest of the group.
Dumbfounded, Emma looked down at the present in her lap.
To Santa's Best Pooper-Scooper, it read. The blonde feels tears form in her eyes as she smiles and unwraps the gift. Inside she finds a thick, green wool sweater. She holds the gift gingerly, expecting it to disintegrate in her fingers. She looks up to see Regina smiling at her warmly from the other side of the room. A warmth swirls deeply in the brunette's eyes, causing the butterflies in Emma's stomach to wake up and sing.
Granny plops down next to her, "Banana's Foster as promised," she says proudly as she shoves a bowl into Emma's hands. The rest of the group follows suit and begins eating, laughing, and talking.
"Now there's something I wanna talk to you about, darlin'," says Granny through a mouthful of dessert, "Regina taking you in for the holidays was very noble of her, but what was even more noble was you accepting her offer. It's easy to help others, but sometimes even harder to know when to help yourself," said the old woman as she shoveled more food into her mouth.
"You done any waitressing?" asked Granny taking Emma by surprise.
"Uh, yeah a little," replied the blonde.
"Good, you can start tomorrow," said the older woman slapping Emma's thigh.
"Wha-what?" stuttered Emma.
"I run a little B-and-B down the street with a diner, Ruby's headin' off to finish school and I need some help around the place. You seem like good people to me, so if you're willing- I'd like to hire you."
Emma sits completely speechless.
"Think about it," says Granny patting her leg and standing up.
"What was that about?" inquires Regina sitting down next to Emma.
"Well," says Emma clearing her throat, "Apparently I was just offered a job."
"Really?" exclaims Regina excitedly, sending a grateful glance towards Granny who winked in return.
"Yeah," laughed Emma, "Happy Christmas to me, I guess."
"Happy Christmas, indeed," replied Regina patting Emma's hand.
"It's all a bit much, you know?" Emma said as she felt tears forming in her eyes. Regina took the blonde's hand and let her out of the room so she could have some privacy.
"I know I should be grateful, and I am, but I just… I just don't feel like I deserve this," muttered Emma through her falling tears.
"Of course you do," replied Regina without skipping a beat.
Emma shook her head as more tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Emma, look at me," said Regina softly, but Emma's eyes diverted. Regina gently cupped Emma's chin, tilting her head up so she could look into her beautiful green eyes, "Look at me dear." Green eyes lift to meet Regina's causing the brunette to smile sweetly.
"You are kind, honest, generous, intelligent, and full of so much beauty and love. You've awakened something in me I never thought I'd feel again. You are the most beautiful person I've ever met, both inside and out. You deserve everything in the world and much, much more," whispered the brunette sweetly.
Emma smiled, taking Regina's hand and placing it on her cheek.
"You're my savior," says Emma.
"No, dear- you're mine," whispers Regina softly.
They both lean towards each other and feel an overwhelming warmth radiate between them as their lips connect. They're so wrapped up in each other, that neither notice Granny coming around the corner.
"I guess you'll be taking that job then, eh?" smirks the older woman as Regina and Emma jump apart. Emma laughs and nods her head, wiping a few stray tears from her cheeks. Granny nods and walks back into the room.
"Hey, Deputy Dave, you owe me five bucks, they were kissing!" shouts Granny. A loud groan from David echoes from the living room and into the foyer, causing the two women to laugh as their cheeks turned red.
"Oh, look at what you've gotten yourself into," sighs Regina with a smile.
"I wouldn't change it for anything in the world," smiles Emma.
Hand-in-hand, the two women walk back into the living room where their family awaits them.