A/N: A little random Swan Queen fluff I began to write before Christmas, albeit it ending up finishing a little late. Includes lots of Regina/Emma/Henry love. Happy belated Christmas and Happy New Year!
Also a shout out to my girlfriend Sarah because she is beautiful and perfect and made my Christmas this year the most magical one of all :). Love you, baby.
gingerbread
An acceptable time for one to wake in the morning had long since past when Emma Swan's eyes finally fluttered open on Christmas Day. Her mouth widened in a yawn far too characteristic of her before reaching her arms above her pillow to stretch the muscles in her back. Sighing, Emma moved her limbs around the bed as though she were a snow angel, stopping herself when her right arm slipped through empty space beside her, her fingertips grazing the fabric of the cool bed sheets.
Emma figured her lover would have woken her before it became too late in the morning, however she smiled in realisation that she had been left in peace in order to capture a good night's rest. And one should have after spending most of the early hours of the morning sweeping the outskirts of town in search of escaped rogue fairies.
After hearing the sound of laughter erupting from downstairs, Emma finally rid herself of the bed covers and rose, slipping her feet into her favourite pair of slippers before approaching the bedroom door. She took the flight of stairs down to the vast foyer, which Emma crossed to journey to the kitchen – the source of the laughter from before – from which spouts of chuckling continued to pour. Emma smiled to herself as she caught a waft of the unmistakable scent of what appeared to be cinnamon. Christmas this year will definitely be different to last year's spent hauled up in Mary Margaret's – scratch that, her mother's – apartment, completely unaware whilst drinking hot cocoa and eating leftover turkey scraps together at midnight. This Christmas, her mother would be spending the morning with her father, and Emma would be spending hers in her own home with what she could now comfortably call her family.
She passed under the archway joining the foyer to the kitchen and was almost taken aback by the scene painted before her.
Regina and their son Henry stood side by side at the island in the centre of the kitchen, reading the back of a very large box which was propped before them. It was such a simple picture and yet so heartwarming to her that it almost seemed unreal. At Emma's entrance, they both glanced up at her, with Henry gasping and almost letting the box come crashing down in his haste to get to her.
After leaping halfway across the room, Henry wrapped his arms around Emma's waist, crashing his head into her chest in a warm hug.
"Happy Christmas, Momma!" he exclaimed, beaming up at her.
Emma returned the gesture, leaning down to squeeze him tight, lightly running her fingers through his short hair. "Merry Christmas, kid."
Her gaze flickered upwards, realising that Regina had made her way over and was beaming at the both of them, a smile that Emma had begun to gradually see more and more of over the past year. As Emma met Regina's gaze, the brunette stepped forward to embrace the still entwined pair, bringing her face closer to Emma's and pecking her briefly on the lips.
"Merry Christmas, baby," Regina murmured, her warm breath ghosting Emma's cheek.
Emma grinned and leaned in, wanting to return the kiss, however- "Hey! None of that!" Henry's voice interrupted from below them. "We have a gingerbread house to make!"
"A gingerbread house?"
Regina nodded. "Henry and I do it every year, Emma. Surely you've made one before?"
"No, not really," Emma replied, shaking her head. "I mean, I can remember some of the children in a couple of my foster homes attempting to build them around Christmas time, but I was always too young to sort of...know how to participate."
"Well you're with us this year! We'll teach you!" Henry beamed, before sprinting over the kitchen to where the mysterious large box lay on the counter. As his attention poured over the information on its rear once more, Emma could sense a presence behind her inching closer to her body.
The tips of the mayor's short hair tickled the back of Emma's neck as she leaned over her shoulder. "Come on, it'll be fun," Regina murmured, her voice never failing to ooze of what Emma had come to describe as caramel and cigarettes no matter the concise sentence.
Regina swept past the blonde's side to join Henry in the kitchen and Emma smirked, feeling nothing but an inclination to follow.
She watched as Regina and Henry tore open one end of the box, finally revealing what was contained within. All protected in plastic wrapping, the box had gifted them with a variety of both thick and thin slabs of gingerbread, pieces which would undoubtedly form the walls and roof of the structure, along with two bags of icing and a generous bag of gum drops.
Once said gum drops were within sight, Henry made to grab them but Regina immediately stopped him and collected the bag for herself, as if predicting the move.
"No gum drops before we finish the house, Henry, you know the rules," Regina scolded, shaking her head but with an unmistakeable hint of amusement on her face. "We won't have any decorations to use by the time we finish otherwise."
"I was going to do the same thing," Emma admitted to Henry, winking, as he sighed in defeat.
Chuckling lightly, Regina unwrapped the thicker pieces of gingerbread from their plastic. "You two are incorrigible. And far too alike."
Many moments passed in which tubes of white icing were used to draw arrays of patterns and shapes on the rectangular slabs which would make up the house's four walls. Emma watched in awe as Regina perfectly outlined windows and an assortment of large snowflakes with a practised hand. Henry helped, filling a new tube with red icing and forming a line of what seemed to be candy canes along the bottom of the gingerbread walls. Emma preferred to step back and watch, fearing for her life, however was rewarded with no such luck when Regina picked up one of the decorated slabs and made to hand it to her.
"Here, Emma," the brunette ushered. "Why don't you take care of this and I'll grab another. That will form half of its walls."
Emma hesitated, but ultimately sighed, carefully moving to take the gingerbread slab from her. To Regina's right, Henry was occupied with drawing an adhesive border around the edges of the house's base, ready to support the incoming walls. Regina then grabbed the tube to squeeze a thick line of icing on Emma's piece and her own, along the edges where the two walls would meet. After then bringing them together, the two women carefully manoeuvred the slabs into a standing position on the base of the house, holding them to keep them upright and ready for the remaining parts of the structure.
After what was probably only about half an hour but what seemed like so much more, the trio had finally finished and the gingerbread house was complete and near perfect. One side of the building possessed a subtle crack running down its centre, filled with icing after a brief miscalculation by Emma resulting in her literally watching a cookie crumble in half before her eyes. A long window and several star shapes now concealed the blemish, along with gum drops lining the house's roof that Henry had insisted he could take care of. He and Emma were munching on the remaining candies now that all the work was done, courtesy of Regina.
"This is so cool," Emma gushed, popping a bright yellow gum drop into her mouth. She had never guessed that she would ever be interested in constructing delectable gingerbread buildings. But now she was beaming down at the stylish edibleness, an image that even matched the once seemingly impossible picture fixed on one face of the box. It was the work of her, her girlfriend, and her son and a feeling of pride bubbled in her chest.
Town sheriff or perhaps town architect? Perhaps this was meant to be.
"This may even be better than last year's," Regina smiled, winking at the blonde across the kitchen island.
"Definitely better than last year's," confirmed Henry.
Hours later, after an unexpected layer of snow had paved its way across Storybrooke, after stomachs everywhere had been stuffed with turkey, ham, and spoonfuls of cranberry sauce, after Henry Mills had finished opening his many presents, the last of which being an adolescent-sized sword fit for a prince, courtesy of his grandfather, the Mills and Charming families sat gathered around the fireplace in the mayor manor's living room.
"Now Henry, remember that you're not to use your sword until our weekly training sessions," James said. "We don't want you slicing anyone's arm off by accident." He wiggled a finger at Henry from his position next to Snow on the sofa perpendicular to his grandson's. "I might even get your Momma to train with us too. I'm sure she needs a bit of practise."
"Hey! I managed to slay that giant ass dragon last year, thank you very much!" Emma shot back, a look of near outrage flaring across her face.
"'Slay' is a bit of a stretch, sweetie," Regina smiled, reaching a hand to graze over Emma's thigh, patting it lightly and leaving it there. Emma tried to conjure a retort, but thought better of it, joining her left hand with Regina's right, linking their fingers together. Using her thumb, Regina traced circles on the skin of Emma's hand, smiling once more when she felt the blonde's body loosen at her touch.
After what appeared to be far too many dragon slaying critiques in Emma's eyes, her mother and father began to make their way out onto the front porch with Henry and they said their last goodbyes to Emma and Regina.
A few minutes later the two women had made their way back into the living room and were now sharing a single cushion on a sofa which wholly comprised of three. Regina was seated with her legs very much spread with an incredibly eager blonde straddling her hips and gripping the collar of the mayor's black blazer roughly in her hands. Strangled moans were shared between both women as Emma's hips began to move against Regina's own and long fingers made for the buttons of the brunette's white shirt.
"Wait- Emma-," Regina murmured. "Before we do this-". The brunette sat up straight, removing her hands from Emma's lower back and grabbing the blonde's hands instead, gently prying her fingers from the fabric of her shirt.
"Come on, Madame Mayor," Emma protested. "Festive sex is always awesome."
The blonde whined playfully but ultimately figured it was useless as Regina busied herself with removing something from one of the front pockets of her blazer.
Regina chuckled. "I know, dear, and we'll get around to that. But firstly I must give you your final Christmas present."
Emma's eyes widened, surprised at how there could possibly be any more presents left to unwrap after the piles and piles of gifts that were now scattered from the dining table to the bed they shared upstairs. A sentiment Emma was still not used to. The blonde watched as Regina pulled a small rectangular navy blue box from her blazer pocket, holding it in palms of her hands before her.
Watching as Emma's eyes widened inquisitively, Regina smiled softly and shifted the box, opening its lid and exposing its contents to the blonde still straddled on her lap above her. Regina's smile widened as Emma gasped, and the brunette reached a hand in to collect the chain of the necklace which lay within.
"Emma, my dear, you know of the important role you play in my life and how special you are to both me and my son," Regina began, peering deep into the blonde's blue green eyes which shone with curiosity. "And you know that you have my heart, but I want to give you something extra that you can carry with you, something that you can wear on you for other people to see."
Stomach fluttering, Emma watched as Regina held the necklace in the air before her, a locket and the chain from which it swung made from pure gold. The brunette gripped the locket in one hand and placed it on her palm, holding the front face upward for Emma to see.
"At first I asked Mr. Gold to fashion me one that was rather plain," Regina continued, tracing the flat surface with a tip of a finger. "But later thought up the idea of engraving the front and back with a swan – a beautiful one – because that's what you are."
Emma gushed, feeling colour rise to her cheeks as she examined what was indeed a beautiful swan on the surface of the locket. "Regina, I-"
"-wait a moment, baby," Regina interrupted. "Here-"
Her fingers moved to unlock the clasp holding the two halves of the locket together. It contained a single photo of herself, Regina, and Henry – a photo she remembered she herself had taken, holding the camera an arm's length away from their faces. The trio were smiling happily at the camera, snuggled in beanies and warm parkas outside Granny's diner one autumn morning.
"Choosing the photo wasn't difficult," the brunette continued, "but I just wanted you to have something of your family that you could have with you always and keep close to your heart. Something special."
Still remaining straddled on Regina's lap, Emma found herself speechless as the brunette made to unclasp the locket's chain. She could not find the right words to express how she was feeling in that exact moment, that moment where Regina lastly placed the gold chain around her neck, leaving it hanging underneath her blonde hair. Emma tried desperately to find her feet, resulting in her smiling stupidly at the expectant brunette below her.
Lastly she found her breath, and there was nothing Emma found more fitting to say than: "I love you so much."
And as the living room sofa later rocked with the slow momentum of their love making, Emma left her final Christmas gift hanging around her neck. The now warm metal was pressed against her chest, cuddled near her heart just as Regina had wanted it to be, forming the part of her family Emma would carry with her forever.
A/N: Comments/reviews are always delightful :)