Summary: Emma and Regina go to Build-A-Bear to build a bear.
Rated T for Terrible
Regina watched Emma's bouncy golden curls as she slammed the passenger door of her black Mercedes Benz. Henry was turning 15 this week and Emma and her drove to the next town over to build him a bear. At Build-A-Bear. Because 15 year old boys liked having their moms surprise them with bears they built at Build-A-Bear, at least according to Snow.
Emma stomped across the crowded parking lot and Regina huffed before following her inside. When they walked in she was immediately overwhelmed by all the bright colors, happy music, and the loud shrill sounds of children enjoying themselves. She looked at Emma, who had a steely look in her eye as she observed the huge store. Regina had seen this look before, it was the same look she had going into a life or death situation. It seemed fitting, and though Regina wasn't want to run away from a fight she had the overwhelming instinct to hide behind Emma from this.
Seeming to know what she was doing, Emma walked straight to a wall of bears on display over tub after tub of unstuffed bears. "Which one do you think Henry would like?" Emma asked suddenly, startling Regina. They had hardly spoken to each other, and between that and the fact that Build-A-Bear seemed to be another world, Regina was even more disoriented than when she actually went to another world.
Turning her gaze to the bears on display, her eyes scanned over teddy bears of every color and occupation. She saw a few bears that reflected popular characters such as Marvel character and those annoying yellow minion things. She honestly had no idea which one Henry would want, but her eyes stopped on a simple light gray one. "Let's use that one." She said to Emma, pointing at the bear before striding over to grab it.
"Regina stop." Emma said suddenly, sounding annoyed but also amused. "You can't use that one you have to get one of these and stuff it." She leaned down to the small brightly colored bin and grabbed a gray unstuffed bear. "The stuffing machine is over there" she pointed to where a bored looking boy who was seated next to a strange brightly colored machine.
They walked up to him and Emma thrusted the limp bear at him. He blinked at them for a few seconds before saying "Where's your kid?" in a bored tone.
Regina huffed and glared at him, "This is a surprise for our son." Then she realized what she had just said and couldn't stop the warmth that flooded her cheeks, "We're not together though. I adopted him and she—"
"Whatever" he sighed and took the bear from Emma, Regina felt embarrassed and annoyed. He stuck the pipe coming out the machine into the slit in the bear's back and the machine began to make a loud humming noise. Emma and Regina watched as the gray cloth filled out and began to finally look like a teddy bear. "You need to pick a heart." He said in that same bored tone and gestured to a clear case on the side of the machine full of small cloth hearts. Emma grabbed one and held it out for him. "You have to hug it and kiss it. So that—" his words choked off in a slur as Regina magicked away his tongue.
"Put the heart in the bear. Now." She gritted out before looking over at Emma, who she was surprised to see leave a peck on the small cloth heart. Regina felt her heart skip a beat as the boy silently panicked next to them. Emma's full beautiful lips were still pursed a split second after she was done kissing the heart and Regina was overcome with the need to trace the shape of them. Emma noticed Regina watching her and turned red, her gentle expression becoming defensive.
"It's for Henry…" She said and then trailed off, as if that were enough of an explanation. Regina hesitated for a moment before carefully taking the heart from Emma, she cleared her throat and tossed her hair haughtily before planting a quick kiss onto the small heart. The cloth was soft on her lips and Regina's heart sped up despite herself as she thought of Emma's lips on it just seconds before.
Tearing her lips from the heart before she started to really look weird, she thrusted the heart at the boy who had calmed down a little but was looking at Regina with pure unadulterated fear in his eyes. He hastily stuck the heart into the bear with trembling hands before all but throwing the sewn up bear back at Regina.
She turned on her heel to begin searching for the bear's outfit but was halted when Emma cleared her throat very pointedly. When their eyes met Emma raised an eyebrow and gestured at the shaking boy with her eyes. Sighing in annoyance Regina gave him his tongue back ignoring his loud gasps of relief as she strode over to the rows of outfits and accessories with Emma trailing behind her.
Regina's eye was caught by a long black cape with red embroidery and a high collar, while Emma admired a red faux jacket. They argued briefly before deciding on a plain blue t shirt for the bear and a large book accessory that resembled Henry's story book.
Relieved that they were finally finished with all this bear business Regina all but power walked to the check out. Emma caught up with her in line confusing Regina for a moment who hadn't even notice her walk away until she noticed the tiny yellow buggy plush in her hand.
Regina snorted and Emma grinned at her, "I just couldn't resist." She said with a shrug and Regina rolled her eyes fondly. Her heart swelled at how cute Emma was and she thought once again of her kissing the small heart for Henry.
There was no question that Henry was the most important thing in Regina's life and it felt nice to know that she wasn't alone. There was someone who cared about him just as much, who would do anything for him, who loved him. Regina realized that she considered Emma part of her family. She was so brave and smart and—
"Next!" Regina startled as she realized the cashier was looking at her with raised eyebrows, as if she had been trying to get her attention for quite some time. Regina turned pink before raising her chin and stepping forward. As the woman rung up the bear, the book, and the car, Regina reached into her purse for her wallet but Emma was faster. Handing the woman the card with a challenging look in her eyes towards Regina.
Regina felt briefly annoyed before smirking as a thought crossed her mind. She took the bear, now folded into an adorable "house" and her and Emma walked out of the store. In the parking lot Regina turned towards Emma, "Emma, let me see the receipt." She said.
Emma huffed and handed her the receipt, but not before saying, "I don't want you to pay me back." She seemed determined and Regina snorted before looking at the total price at the bottom of the slip.
"That's too bad. I was thinking I could take you out to dinner tonight. But if you don't want t—" Emma's eyes widened and she interrupted Regina loudly.
"No! Did you see how much all of that costed? You owe me." She said before blushing and smiling at Regina almost shyly.
Regina smirked, "It's a date." She said and they got in the car, neither of them able to stop smiling.