This is the first chapter in my mountain adventure for our favorite family. It is really important to me to get these characters fleshed out pretty thoroughly before I begin the real adventure, so please stay with me the first few chapters while I get the scene set for this romance. I'm the funnylesbianshipper on tumblr, so please feel free to message me there or on here with any comments or ideas! Enjoy :)
Henry Mills scampered up and down the aisles of the grocery store. He bounced from the condiments to the snacks and ran back to his mother in the deli section with Twizzlers and Red Vines clutched in his small hands. "Mom, I've got the licorice!"
Regina Mills turned from where she was meticulously analyzing the ingredients in a package of allegedly organic hot dogs to gaze down at her son. In his hands were two packages of licorice, one in a blue plastic wrapper and the other in red. "Henry, we are taking one package of licorice on our little excursion, and I will not have you coercing me into purchasing two bags worth of dental bills instead of the one we agreed upon."
Before she could swipe the red bag from Henry's hands, he slid them behind his back, furrowed his small brow, and began to plead his case. "Mom, before you shoot me down, I want you to hear me out, okay? First, you hate Twizzlers, and I love them. Second, you love Red Vines, and I hate them. Third, I want to enjoy our camping trip, and Michael said that licorice is a critical part of the experience. Therefore, I vote that we get both packages of licorice so that we don't fight during our trip. Everyone is happy!"
At nine years of age, Henry had become an expert negotiator with his mother. It was only the two of them at home, and Regina wanted to ensure that Henry had a say in what happened around him, as his past few years of life featured events that were far removed from the small boy's control. He was a part of all major decision making in manners pertaining to Mills family operations, and Regina hoped that it would help him feel more in control of his previously out of control life and develop a sense of responsibility. Allowing a voice in their little family had helped with his confidence immensely, but at times like these Regina regretted coaching him into such an eloquent and persuasive young man. Naturally she held total veto power, but more often than not his clever mind worked out logical terms that were hard not to agree upon.
The brunette planted her hands in her hips, deep red polished fingernails digging into a meticulously pressed ivory blouse. Her dark brown eyes glared down at her endlessly charming little boy who regarded her with a brow as furrowed as her own. She let him sweat a bit, shifting nervously from one foot to the other as he tried to maintain his lawyerly confidence watching Regina decide his confection's fate. Slowly, a small grin began to develop across her previously pursed lips. She ruffled the nervous boy's hair, slipping behind his small frame to grab both packages of licorice and tossing them into the already very full shopping cart. "Well argued Mr. Mills," she said as she extended her hand to shake Henry's, their traditional sign of a point well formulated.
"Yes!" Henry squealed with joy as he trotted down the aisle towards the registers to begin checking out. "Mom I promise you won't regret this. Michael said licorice is super important and I want to have an authentic camping experience and I know you're nervous and stuff but I just think that bringing both is going to really help each of us get into the mood and I promise you won't regret this!"
Regina grinned as her son chattered on about the various elements that his friend Michael had insisted were crucial for a perfect camping trip. Although Henry was elated about going to the mountains, Regina was less enthused. She was an expert with horses and enjoyed spending time at the stables where she kept her animals, but there was always a hot shower, air conditioning, and a fluffy bed to come home to at the end of her adventures with Cielo and Sol. Camping required tents, sleeping bags, no showering, peeing in the woods, and no air temperature control, all of which made Regina exceedingly leery of the whole experience.
However, her nine year old son had his heart set on taking to the great outdoors, and so she grudgingly agreed. Now committed to two nights and three days camping in the surrounding mountains, Regina was putting the finishing touches on her packing, getting groceries and last minute bugspray and sunscreen.
Once home, Regina packed all of the food including both packages of licorice, hot dogs, chips, carrots, assorted breakfast foods, and condiments amongst other things. She checked Henry's small backpack to ensure he had packed enough clothing, and after she deemed his choices appropriate, tucked him into bed. "Mom," he gazed up at her sleepily, "I know you're kinda nervous about this whole camping thing, but I promise I will be on my best behavior and help as much as possible. I just know it's going to be so fun, I'm so excited."
Regina regarded him, constantly shocked at how perceptive and thoughtful someone so very young could be. "Henry, I am nervous. I won't lie to you. But I'm excited too! It will be our own little adventure, and I know that whatever happens we will have the best time imaginable."
The brunette ran her fingers through her son's hair, kissed his head, and stood to leave the room. "Hey mom," Henry yawned, nearly drifting off to sleep mid thought, "you hear that?" he said while raising a small hand to cup around his ear.
She quirked her eyebrow and replied, "Hear what, Henry?"
"The mountains. They're calling me... And I gotta go..."
Sleepily Henry rolled over and pulled the blanket up to his chin before drifting off to sleep. Regina chuckled at her sweet boy's sense of humor and closed his door, softly padding down to her own bedroom for one more good night's sleep in her fluffy king sized bed before their adventure began.
Emma Swan nearly fell out of bed when she heard someone banging on the side of her camper. The intruder's fist connecting with the metal door made an awful clanging noise that nearly scared her half to death. In hopes of avoiding the very persistent responsibilities that were nearly beating down her door, she buried her head into her pillow and counted to ten in an effort to calm her shot nerves and evade the persistent campers.
"Miss Swan I simply must insist that you come out this instant! There is no toilet paper in the outhouse, and my daughter refuses to drip dry!"
What the hell? These people will be the death of me. That is so much more information than I need this early in the morning. It's the beginning of May, and I'm already frazzled.
"Mrs. Robinson is that you?" Emma croaked, her voice low and cracked from sleep.
"Yes dear it is and I'm so sorry to bother you so early but Amanda is being absolutely absurd and refusing to leave the outhouse without using toilet paper and I cannot find any and if you would just give me some from your host stash I will be out of your hair," the woman explained in one rapid fire breath.
This was not the first time that Emma had dealt with toilet paper shortages in the outhouse at inconvenient times. Once she'd been having a proper romp with an experimental college girl on vacation with her parents when some idiot came knocking on her camper door when she was a few moments from finishing her brunette bedfellow. She'd hastily thrown on a pair of sweats and a massive gray hoodie before she slipped outside, unlocked the camp supplies stash, and hurled the toilet paper at the poor man who just needed to use the outhouse. She'd immediately stripped and leapt back into bed, settling back into her previous position between the writhing girl's legs to finish ravishing the curious brunette several times over. She felt that she'd more than made up for leaving her in need of release at such a precarious moment. After that incident, Emma made sure to stock the outhouses well to avoid those kinds of problems, but this 6 a.m. wakeup call was a reminder that no one was perfect.
She sleepily retrieved the requested paper product for Mrs. Robinson. Stretching her tired limbs as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, Emma decided to start her day rather than attempt to go back to her cozy bed.
Climbing back into her camper, she pulled her mass of blonde waves into a ponytail and rifled through her plastic drawers for a clean pair of running shorts and a hoodie before donning her running shoes. She slipped outside and gently knocked on the door of the gray dog kennel that sat beside the trailer steps, gently beginning to wake the mass of black and gray fur sleeping peacefully on the tartan plaid dog bed. "G'morning Oscar, you wanna go for a run?" she said crouching in front of the kennel as the metal door swung open.
At the word run, Oscar's curly ears perked up, and his tail began to wag, thumping rhythmically against the side of his kennel. Encouraged by his eager response, Emma clipped his leash to the metal loop on his collar and scratched between furry shoulder blades to coax him awake.
"I know it's early buddy, but I figured this would be more fun than sleeping our summer away. We can run down to the dock and chase some ducks."
Upon hearing there would be waterfowl involved, Oscar shook himself out from nose to tail to completely wake himself up. He whined, beginning to tug Emma out to the road that connected all of the campsites she supervised as camp host. She set out through the campground, lifting her chin to acknowledge the early rising campers out enjoying the quiet moments before the sun was fully up. She began at a light jog and worked up to a full run, Oscar kicking up gravel from the road and running with his tongue lolling about alongside her.
No one was quite sure what breed Oscar was, but the pound said they were fairly certain that he was some combination of blue heeler and cocker spaniel because of his large curly ears and merle markings. Rescuing him from the pound was the best thing Emma had ever done for herself, though she thought he was the one being rescued at the time. They'd been thick as thieves ever since that October day five years ago when she plucked the mouthy little black and gray fur ball from the concrete floor of the pound and brought him home for good. He came with Emma each day during the school year while she worked as a speech therapist in her local school district, sitting with his head comfortingly on her students' laps while they worked to overcome their various challenges with their speech. During the summers Emma worked as a camp host in the mountains a few hours from her house, and Oscar came along to help Emma with her hosting duties and to keep her company during her long months away from civilization each summer.
Running alongside Oscar, Emma filled her lungs with crisp mountain air, relishing the chill as it rushed through through her body and across her skin. With each breath, her nostrils filled with the scent of wood smoke, pine sap, and frost covered earth melded together into a fragrance she'd pay thousands to bottle. Her legs and lungs burned from running at altitude, but it felt good to know that when September rolled around her body would be tanned, toned, and acclimated to the thin air. Lengthy ponytail swishing behind her, Emma ran around the bend that obscured the view she was running towards and grinned when the lake came into view. Fog rolled off the surface in wispy tufts, and a crane let out a mournful cry as it took flight, rippling the glass like surface of the water. Even after years of experiencing the same view, the sight laid out before her took her breath away. It was so clean and clear and beautiful, making all the nonsense she put up with as a camp host completely worth it. Getting paid to live in her favorite place on earth was a gift she never took for granted and hoped she never would.
As she and Oscar finished their run, they jogged onto the dock and plopped down next to one another. Emma unclipped his leash causing Oscar to trot to the end of the dock and take a running start into the pristine water. Ears flung out like airplane wings, he launched himself into the air and crashed into the water for his morning swim. Emma threw her head back, laughing at the pure joy plastered all over the snorting face of her pooch as he paddled around the lake with no particular purpose in mind but to enjoy his morning swim. As she leaned back on her hands, legs kicked over the edge of the dock, Emma inclined her head up to the sky that was slowly turning brilliantly blue and let her mind wonder what fun her summer in the mountains would hold.
"Mom, do you think we will see a bear? Or a moose? Or an elk? Mom what will you do if we see an animal? Are you gonna freak? Are you gonna pass out? Are you gonna cry?"
Regina was winding up and around the mountain road, hands clutching the steering wheel and eyes focused in heightened concentration. "Henry I'm sure it will be some combination of the above dear. But you will have to wait and find out."
The two hour drive was coming to a close, and the more forest and meadows that were revealed to him, the louder and more enthusiastic Henry became about predicting the various adventures that were going to transpire over their weekend. He chattered about climbing trees, catching bugs, playing in the various creeks he was positively sure existed near their campground, and roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over the campfire he insisted he would build all by himself. It was hard not to smile as her son chattered animatedly about trees and pine cones and squirrels, even more so since it was the most excited she'd seen him since the accident a couple years before.
She worried that Henry was far too melancholy for a boy of only nine, but his therapist Archie said that his demeanor was normal for a child as smart as Henry who had lost a parent at such a young age. Regina tried to support him by giving him agency and choice in his day to day dealings at home, but she knew that no amount of choice in his clothing, food, or activities could make up for the one choice he hadn't been allowed to make: the choice to lose his father. She was keenly aware that there was nothing that could make up for the fact that Daniel had died of a massive heart attack two years prior when Henry was just seven and Regina was far too young to be a single mother.
Thinking of raising Henry with Daniel still stung her eyes and tore at her heart in a visceral way the dulled with time but never fully went away. Daniel had wanted children back when they were dating, and Regina came around to the idea the more she watched him toss a ball or play tag with her best friend Kathryn's two daughters. They'd been unable to conceive on their own and had turned to adoption to begin to build their family. Thousands of dollars and many sleepless nights later, Regina sat in a rocking chair holding a small bundle wrapped in swaddling blankets with a shock of dark brown hair atop his tiny head. Henry was named after Regina's father and took Daniel's name to compete his moniker. He was the missing piece that completed Daniel and Regina's little family, and they could not have been happier.
Henry had a lovely childhood that was both typical and extraordinary in every way: two parents who loved him infinitely more than he could have imagined and grandparents who doted on him, spoiling him with gifts and sweets and peppermint scented kisses. He developed normally and soon proved to be far cleverer than his parents could have predicted. Henry began to read at age four and was voraciously conquering such titles as If You Give a Moose a Muffin and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by the time he was five. His was a picturesque childhood that rivaled those in the storybooks he so loved, and it was all suddenly shattered by a poorly functioning heart valve and a lack of time.
Daniel died of a heart attack several weeks after Henry's seventh birthday. It happened while he was out on a job, and there was simply not enough time to get aspirin, ambulances, or any kind of help to him before it was too late. His wife and son buried him on a Tuesday and began life without their husband and father on a Wednesday. Three of a kind changed to a pair of broken hearts in a matter of tragic moments, and the Mills family would never be the same again.
The year following was far more painful than the days after they laid Daniel to rest. It took months for Henry to be coaxed back into a ghost of his former self, and he finished first grade in a haze of sadness and exhaustion. Time passed full of therapy and nightmares for both Henry and Regina, and it seemed as though true happiness and hope would never grace their family again.
So, as she smiled into the rear view mirror at the chattering little boy wiggling anxiously in his booster seat, Regina was relieved and grateful to see a genuine smile grace Henry's sweet face for the first time in what felt like forever.
Her brown eyes snapped out of thought as their voyage drew to a close, and she pulled into the campground. Laid out in a horseshoe loop with a white gravel road connecting each camping spot, Regina noted that the tent grounds were located in the first half of the horseshoe with the trailers in the second half. She eyed the large metal and plexiglass castles longingly, hearing the thrum of a generator that promised conditioned air and a cushy bed.
Damn. If this becomes Henry's new favorite way to spend the weekend I may need to invest in one of those. They look much more civilized than this heap of nylon and polyester.
Regina pulled her Honda into the first available tent spot just as Henry threw open the car door and launched himself from the vehicle onto the gravel. "Mom, it smells SO good!" Henry called as he threw his small nose into the air and ran into the woods that shrouded the campground.
Before Regina could reply, her son managed to scramble onto a massive granite boulder, grinning with his arms flexed over his head like a muscle man. She crossed her arms and smiled at her boy, eyes clouded with strands of sadness and hope.
He's so happy already. I haven't seen him this happy since his father died... not like this. Maybe this will have to become a regular occurrence if it gets him to smile that much.
"Sweetheart, please be careful!" she called as she stared into the forest beyond where Henry stood.
"Mom, I'm good. I'm a mountain man remember? I'm built for climbing stuff!" Henry called as he struck another quintessential mountaineering pose, leg bent up and hand shading his eyes as he regarded the horizon.
Regina laughed as she began to unload all of the gear for their two night adventure, hauling coolers and bags of tent supplies from the back of her vehicle. She was half way through unraveling the materials for their tent and beginning to assemble to poles when she felt something thump her in the back of the head. Glancing down to find a pine cone rolling away from her sandaled feet, she looked up to see her son's toothy grin beaming down on her as she sat in a pine tree easily ten feet from the ground.
"Henry Daniel Mills, what in heaven's name are you doing in that tree? Climb down this instant before you fall down and give yourself a concussion!"
"Mom, I'm good. See?" He wiggled around to show how stable he was in his new hideaway. "I have a perch and a ladder of branches to get down. It's like the perfect little tree house up here, just for me!"
Regina leaned against the cement picnic table that was the focal point of the campground and pinched her nose between her thumb and index finger. "If you fall and crack your head open, no more camping for you young man! You hear me? One crack in that perfect head of yours, and I put an end to nature time! Is that clear?"
Henry regarded his mother and grinned. "Crystal clear mom!"
Shaking her head and assembling the remaining tent poles, the brunette grabbed the elastic band that rested on her slim wrist and pulled her thick shoulder length brown locks back into a small ponytail at the nape of her neck. The sun was more intense at altitude, and its rays beat down on Regina as she worked, causing her neck and lower back to begin sweating.
An hour into pitching the tent Regina had made absolutely no progress. Sweat gathered at her brow, curling the fine hairs there, and she grunted and kicked at the heap of weather proof nylon and polyester that lay piled at her feet. Henry was little help in his tree perch, occasionally pelting his frustrated mother with pine cones and offering fleeting words of encouragement. She was about to give up, pack up, and haul her tree dwelling son home when she heard the crunch of gravel as someone sauntered up behind her. Holding her hand up to shade her eyes from the midday sunshine, Regina found herself staring at a lithe blonde woman with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips.
Before she had a chance to speak, Regina regarded the young woman, cataloging her features. Long blonde hair. Tan trucker hat. White tank top. Muscular arms. Long legs. Cutoff shorts. Beat up black Converse sneakers. And, most prominently of all, a simpering grin whose twin could be found on the smudged face of the little boy who had taken up residence in the neighboring pine tree. Realizing that the cap atop the young woman's head read Host, Regina sighed in relief at the professional help that had miraculously wandered into her campground.
Emma took inventory of the sight laid out before her as well. Dark brown hair that curled from sweat produced by fruitless exertion. Red and black flannel shirt rolled to the elbows. Black shorts. Black sandals. Damn she likes black huh? Tanned skin. And, most prominently of all, an exasperated expression that was punctuated by a pine cone falling from the sky and plopping onto her head, jostling her deep brown eyes from their momentary daze. Emma glanced up and saw a little boy, no more than eight or nine, perched in the nearest pine tree with an armory of pine cones tucked into a crook between the trunk of the massive tree and its branches.
She flashed him a smile and a wink before extending her hand to the woman who could have only been his very flustered mother and said, "Ummm… Hey there. I'm Emma. Emma Swan. I'm the camp host," she used her index finger to point to the title on her hat. "I've been over in my camp watching you pitch this tent. Well attempt to pitch it. And I was wondering if maybe you'd like a hand? I've done this a time or two, and I'd be more than happy to offer some help."
Regina wiped the sweat and dirt from her right hand onto her tanned thigh and shook Emma's hand as she introduced herself, "I'm Regina Mills. I would most appreciate a hand as I've been at this for an hour and clearly have no aptitude for tent pitching."
Emma laughed as she took Regina's hand into her own, warm and soft and clearly well manicured. Certainly not the kind of hand you'd expect to see tromping through the mountains with a little boy but more likely the kind you'd find attached to a businesswoman or someone who worked with their mind rather than their hands.
Regina clasped the blonde's hand and noted the beginnings of a callous or two from what she could only assume were hours of working outdoors with her hands. Emma's hand was strong and put her immediately at ease, making her instantly at home in the presence of the younger woman. She smiled as her brown eyes took in the brilliant green ones before her and realized that she was feeling more than just a sense of relief at the assistance in pitching her tent. Regina felt a warming sense of comfort that came only in the presence of someone she really trusted and loved spread throughout her limbs and settle into her stomach as she held Emma's hand in her own. It was a feeling only experienced with Henry, her parents… and Daniel. It was odd to have such an emotional reaction to such a complete stranger, but her gut never lied. Regina released Emma's hand and continued to study the green eyes smiling before her, but the moment of trying to asses her reaction to the young host was quickly put to an end by the sound of a pine cone smacking into the back of the blonde's head.
"Gotcha!" Henry squealed as he shimmied down the tree and came to stand between his mother and Emma. "I'm Henry! Good to meet you. Are you here to help us? Mom is trying real hard to put up our tent, but it is not going too well."
Emma patted the small boy on the shoulder and chuckled at his brutal honesty. "Why yes Henry, I am in fact here to help. But I must say, I need a park ranger to help me get this tent up. Do you know any rangers around here that would be so kind as to give me a hand?"
Henry looked down and regarded his dusty tennis shoes before he slowly lifted his head and grinned. "Me! I'm a ranger and I'm kind and I've got TWO hands I can give you!" He punctuated his declaration by raising his tree sap covered hands in front of Emma and wiggling his fingers.
Emma high fived his sticky little hands and said, "Well I'll be darned! Regina, we've got a park ranger right here that is gonna help us pitch this tent."
Playing along, Regina extended her hand to Henry addressing him as Ranger Mills. With the help of the lanky blonde and Henry, Regina converted the heap of fabric into a proper tent in under 10 minutes. She enjoyed watching Henry interact with Emma as he was clearly enchanted by the ease with which the blonde woman navigated the labyrinth of tent poles and polyester as well as her constant stream of facts regarding the art of tent pitching. The small boy darted in and out of the metal frame as Emma threaded the poles through the loops in the fabric and Regina held the excess material out of the way. Emma's confidence was hard miss as she worked alongside Regina, and the older woman found herself suddenly relaxed and content as she pitched her tent.
As the final pieces of Velcro were secured, Emma dusted off her hands and peeled off her hat, wiping the sweat from her forehead onto the back of her hand. She settled the cap back in place, threaded her long blonde ponytail through the hole in the back, and smiled at her newest residents "Well you two have a fun rest of your afternoon! I've got to keep making the rounds to check on everyone else, but it was really nice to meet you Regina! And Ranger Mills, if you ever want to come on patrol with me, just let me know."
She waved goodbye to Henry and sauntered up the gravel road to chat with the other residents of the camp ground. Regina felt silly as she felt her stomach fall watching the blonde walk away but quickly shook it off as Henry grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the forest. "Mom! It's time to go exploring! I'm ready to conquer the woods!"
Regina couldn't help but giggle as she watched her son attempt to haul her off into the forest for an adventure. "Hold on there young man! I need to grab the backpack with some water and a snack for you before we go exploring."
She quickly threw two bottles of water and a bag of turkey jerky into a small backpack and slung it over her shoulder before rejoining her son and heading out to see what adventures they might find tucked away in the shadows of the lush green forest.