Author's Note: So yeah… I wrote this thing. Because I seriously feel like there's some lesbian subtext in this old song. I even went so far as to google whether Doris Day was a lesbian. Learned some interesting stuff. Apparently there's nothing concrete... but she is an icon.
Anyways... this just came to me. It's just a short little thing. I hope someone likes it...
Standard Non-Ownership Disclaimer: The characters belong to Adam Horowitz and Eddie Kitsis, and Disney. No infringement intended. I own nothing... because if I did, SwanQueen would so be on :)
Emma is nine years old when the topic comes up with her latest foster mother. She's not yet old enough to be completely cynical, but not quite young enough to still possess that childhood naivete. Life has not been the kindest to her thus far. She's learned by now that life doesn't happen the way it does in those fairy tales they used to read to her at her last orphanage. They would do their best to try and sell the "fairy-tale ending" to the sad little orphans, but Emma wasn't buying. Nope... she was much smarter than that. With five foster homes and two orphanages under her belt, she'd already figured that one out.
So there she sat, at the tender age of nine, wondering if her life was ever going to get any better. Heaving a hefty sigh, she turned her attention back to the puzzle she was attempting to complete. Why was she even bothering? Puzzles are stupid anyways...
"Why so serious, Sweet Pea?" a voice broke through her thoughts.
Emma turned her attention to the woman sharing the table with her. "Just thinking," she answered.
"Oh... what about?"
"I dunno... just stuff," Emma replied vaguely, with a frown.
After studying her for a moment, Emma's foster mother returned to the crossword puzzle that she had been filling in. She was no stranger to these types of situations, and knew it was best not to push. Emma had been with her for less than a month and she knew that if she was ever going to open up, then it'd be best for her to do so on her own terms.
They sat in silence for a few minutes longer. There was nothing but the sound of the breeze through the blinds, and the scratching of a pen on paper, until Emma spoke up.
"Ms. Lucy..." she said, a little hesitantly.
"Miss Emma," came the reply.
"Do you think I- I mean... do you think when- Will I..."
"What, sweetie?" her foster mother asked, tenderly.
"Do you think that when I grow up... I'll be rich, and pretty, and... happy?" Emma responded in a soft voice, eyes cast towards the floor.
Lucy waited a moment then lightly lifted Emma's chin so that she could make eye contact with the girl. "You listen here, Emma Swan," she said faux sternly, "you don't need to be worried about all of that right now. I'll tell you what..."
"What?" Emma asked with a small smile.
"Whatever will be, will be... the future is not ours to see. That being said though, it's always good to think things through, and to try and make good decisions. Even still sometimes things just happen. There's no sense in overly stressing out about things that are way down the line. The more time you spend worrying about what could be, is the less time you'll spend doing something fun... like that puzzle there."
At that Emma giggled. "This puzzle isn't any fun..."
"Well, in that case, why don't we go outside? You go run and get your hat and the chalk, and I will take my crossword book, and some cookies, and meet you on the porch."
"Alright!" Emma jumped out of her seat to take off towards her room. She was stopped by Miss Lucy's voice.
"Oh, and Emma," she called, "don't forget about what I said. There's nothing that you need stress yourself out about. You've only been with me for a short time, but I can tell that you are a very smart girl. I'm sure that you'll be able to use those smarts in some ways that will make you very rich... and happy. Although the two don't necessarily go hand in h-"
Emma giggled again and interrupted her foster mother. She'd already learned that sometimes that woman could really go off on a tangent, "Thanks, Ms. Lucy."
"Oh... you're welcome dear. Now go get your hat. We wouldn't want your pretty little face to burn."
Tossing another beaming smile over her shoulder, Emma ran out of the room to fetch her hat and chalk. For the first time in a long time, she was pretty carefree.
Unfortunately for her, that didn't last. Just a few short months later her foster mother suffered from a sudden brain aneurysm, and Emma suffered another blow to her fragile childhood. As she was being packed off to the group home, she thought back to what Miss Lucy had once told her. "Whatever will be, will be". Well, she certainly hadn't seen this coming. She should've known that once she caught a glimpse of happiness something would happen to ruin it all.
On the long drive away from the home she'd spent the last few months in, the place where she had actually started to believe that good things could happen to her, and the place where she had felt really cared about for the first time in her life, she made two decisions. One: Nothing good was ever going to stick for her, so why should she even bother trying? And two: Since things just happen anyways, she was going to do whatever she wanted no matter the consequences. In her pain over losing Miss Lucy, she had already forgotten the important caveat to her lesson about the future.
Emma had not been this happy in a very long time. Probably not since she was nine years old, when she'd briefly come across an oasis in the desert that was her life. It'd been twenty years, three realms, and countless sleepless nights since she'd felt anything even resembling this type of contentment. Which is how she knew that the other shoe was about to drop, as it always did. But she would wait five more minutes. Just five more minutes of sitting peacefully on the couch with Regina's head in her lap and their fingers entwined.
"Regina?" Emma's voice cut through the silence.
Without even looking up from her book, Regina answered with a low, "Hmm?"
"We need to tell my parents."
That got Regina's attention. She carefully placed her book to the side, and sat up fully, in order to look Emma in the eyes.
"I just can't do this anymore."
Regina pulled back some, her eyes immediately filling with tears. "Wha-," she had started to ask.
"Oh, god no, Regina. That came out wrong," Emma hastily cut her off, grabbing onto the other woman's hands tightly. She just realized what her statement had sounded like. "I just meant that I can't hide our love anymore. I love you so much, but no one other than Henry-"
"And Miss Lucas," Regina interjected.
"-and Ruby knows about it," Emma finished. "I just want to be able to walk down the street and hold your hand, you know? I want to be able to take you out on dates. I want to live together. I want to be a family. I want to marry you!" She had gotten more and more worked up as she went along, and ended up on her feet in front of Regina, finishing with a bit of a shout.
She heaved a sigh and sat back on the couch. "That wasn't a proposal, just so you know. I was just informing you. When I actually propose you'll know it," Emma said with a smirk.
"Is that so?" Regina asked, retaking Emma's hand. "I look forward to it then, dear."
They sat there for a few moments, smiling at each other and holding hands, until Emma flung herself backwards on the couch with a growl, rubbing her hand over her face.
"I mean it's going to be okay, right? When I tell my parents that we're in love. You guys are good now, right? You talk to each other, and everything. When we got back from Neverland my mom even acknowledged the fact that we would've all been lost without you. Sure you guys aren't best friends... and frankly if you were that would be a little weird, but you tolerate each other for Henry, right? Us being together would only give you guys more reason to tolerate each other, not less, right?"
"Are you finished?" Regina asked. Her eyebrow was arched, and she was giving Emma that look. The one that says 'you're rambling and being ridiculous, but I love you anyways and I'm not going to say anything'... yeah, that look.
"No Regina, I am not finished. I'm freaking out here. We've been good. It's been peaceful, and just... good. I don't want to screw that all up and start whatever World War number you guys are on now. I just wish you could tell me what lies ahead? And can we just skip past all the angst and get to the part where it's all rainbows and unicorns day after day?"
Regina laughed at this. "Calm down, sweetie. I'm going to tell you something that my father used to tell me when I started getting anxious and thinking about my future. He used to tell me, 'Mija... que sera, sera' it means w-"
"Whatever will be, will be. Yeah... I know," Emma cut her off sadly, in a quiet tone. "That's what Ms. Lucy told me, too."
Regina pulled Emma into a hug. "No worries, darling. We will tell the Charmings, and they will react however it is that they see fit. We're not going to be able to dictate, or even predict what that reaction may be. I will tell you one thing, however. No matter what their reaction is, or whatever the fallout, we will get through it... together."
Emma leaned against the doorjamb of her youngest son's bedroom taking in the scene. Regina was sat at the foot of the bed holding their sleepy daughter in her lap. The toddler was obviously fighting her sleep, trying to hold out until the end of the story. Their youngest son, Lucas, was on his knees, on top of his pillows, staring wide-eyed at his big brother. Henry was on his feet, doing some weird pseudo-swordplay and telling a story about a dragon, or a golden egg, or something... Emma wasn't really listening. She was more concerned with just watching her little family.
"And that," Henry said, "is how the brave knight saved the prince."
"No way!" Lucas exclaimed. "That can't really be how it happened."
"Yup... true story, bro," Henry said nodding.
Before the two of them could really gather their steam into an argument, Regina spoke up. "Okay, my littlest prince, it is way past your bedtime."
"Aww... but Mommy..."
"No buts, young man. You promised to go right to sleep if brother told you the story about the time your Ma slayed a dragon. Henry, can you take Dani to her room while I tuck this little monster in? She didn't make it."
"No problem, Mom, hand her over." Henry took his little sister, and started heading down the hall.
"The time I slayed a dragon, huh?"
Henry jumped, not expecting to hear his mother's voice behind him. "Geez, Ma, trying to give me a heart attack? Yeah... you know how hard it is to get Luke to go to bed when you're not here. It was kind of a bribe since he'd never heard that story before."
Emma chuckled. "Thanks for helping your mom out, kid. I know you had plans tonight."
"No worries... I called Grace and told her that we'd hit the movies after the sibs were in bed. She had no problem with it. I'm just gonna put Dani in her bed, and then take off, yeah?"
"Yeah... hold up a second." Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out some money. "Here... I know that you've said you're happy to help, but let me just give you a little something to help you out."
"Ma, really... it's okay," Henry protested.
"You're a good man, Hen, just take it."
"All right... thanks Ma. Let me get this little princess to her room."
Emma brushed the dark ringlets away from her daughter's face and dropped a kiss on her cheek. "Yeah... go on, get out of here." She turned back to the room just in time to hear the question being posed to her wife.
"Mommy... what will I be when I grow up? Henry says that we're going to be knights like Ma, and go on adventures to rescue princesses, or princes, and find treasures... but Ma doesn't do any of those things, she just stays here."
Before Regina even had the opportunity to formulate a response, Emma stepped in. "Hey now... would you rather I go off and have grand adventures, and leave you all here alone?"
"Ma!" the boy jumped out of bed, "you're home! I missed you! You missed Henry's story. Is it true that you fought a dragon?"
Regina huffed from her spot next to the bed, "Oh well done, Miss Swan, I had just gotten him settled down and into bed."
"That's Mrs. Swan-Mills to you, Madame Mayor," Emma said with a smile as she leaned down to kiss her wife.
"Well then, Mrs. Swan-Mills, now it's your turn to put your son to bed," Regina said as she got up to leave the room. "I'm going to go check on Danielle."
"Alright, kiddo, back to bed," Emma said, scooping the wriggling boy up and literally tossing him into the bed.
Lucas let out a peal of laughter, as he snuggled into his blankets. "So is it true, Mama, that you fought a dragon?"
"Yup... completely true."
"Do you think I can be a knight like you when I grow up."
"Well, I'm going to let you in on a little secret son," Emma told him. "No one knows for sure what's going to happen. But if you make good choices, then you could be a knight when you grow up."
"And go on adventures... and rescue prin-" Luke interrupted himself with a yawn "-cesses... and find treasures." His eyes slowly started to droop.
"Sure thing, kiddo, all that and more," Emma said as she swooped his blonde bangs back from his forehead to give him his goodnight kiss. "Que sera, sera."
Emma turned off the lights and made her way down the hall to her bedroom. When she entered, Regina was already in bed, glasses perched on her nose, book in hand. Emma quickly changed into her pajamas, and quite literally jumped into the bed. She couldn't resist causing her wife to make that annoyed little huffing sound.
"Reginaaa..." she sing-songed, but was ignored. "Re-giiii-naaa..." she tried again. "Come on, Regina, I know you've stopped reading," she said as she began to trail kisses down her neck.
Unable to resist, Regina placed the book and her glasses on the night stand, and turned to cuddle into her wife. "Did you have much trouble putting him down?"
"Nope... he was already beyond tired. I think once he saw me, the sleepy really kicked in and he had no reason to fight it. I'm sorry I was out so late. I know how hard it is for you to get him to bed when I'm not here."
"It's okay, darling, sometimes duty calls. You know he often does the same thing when Henry's not here at bedtime. He just likes all of his family to be in one place."
"Yeah," Emma said, rubbing her hands up and down Regina's back, "speaking of family... I've been thinking that maybe we should expand ours a little more."
Regina tensed in Emma's arms. "Expand... more? You want to have another baby?" She was a little in shock. She had thought that their family was perfect as it was. She had her little prince, Henry, although he hated that she still called him that. She had her cute littlest prince, Lucas, who was all blonde and green-eyed and exactly like his Mama. And she had her little princess, Danielle, who was like her mini-clone. She loved her family the way it was, but if Emma wanted to expand, she wasn't going to deny her. There was plenty of love in her heart for another baby.
"What? No!" Emma replied forcefully. "I didn't mean another kid. I mean, unless you want another kid. I would be okay with that. Yeah... we could totally have another if you wanted to. Which one of us wou-"
Regina placed her finger to Emma's lips. "I am perfectly satisfied with our family as is. I thought you were saying you wanted another, but since that is clearly not the case, what were you talking about?"
"Are you sure, no more kids?" Emma asked when Regina removed her finger.
"Positive."
"Okay then," Emma said. "Well... I was thinking about maybe... getting the kids... a uh... a puppy."
"A puppy?"
"Yeah... Pongo and Perdita just had like fifteen, and Archie has no clue what he's going to do with them all."
"Are you serious? Do you have any idea the responsibility that goes into having a puppy? Especially a dalmatian puppy. They are overly energetic, and reckless, and large, and likely to chew up all of my shoes!"
"Now, now, Regina. You can't possibly know that. After all, you can't see the future. It could be fine."
Turning her back to her wife with a huff she says, "We will discuss this in the morning, Miss Swan. Goodnight."
Wrapping her arms around Regina's body, becoming the big spoon, Emma replies, "Let's get the kids the dog, Regina. It'll be fine. Whatever will be, will be, remember? Besides... that's Mrs. Swan-Mills."
"Fine."
"I knew you'd see it my way," Emma smiles as she kisses Regina's neck, "I love you."
"Love you, too," comes the response. They both drift off to sleep, with smiles on their faces; content in knowing that whatever hardships they'd been through in life, that this right here was exactly where they were meant to be.
Author's Note 2.0: I never know how to end a story. I was actually going to end it when Emma was leaving Luke's room... but I just kept on writing. So yeah...
I have no beta... I don't write enough that I should have one on standby.
I think I do this weird thing with tenses... I dunno. Any mistakes made are mine. If it's something glaring, and it totally bothers you, let me know and I'll fix it. I never proofread... because I'm inefficient and proofreading my own stuff since my mind just automatically fills in what it knows I meant to say, even if that's not necessarily what I typed.
So maybe review if you kinda liked it... or not... whatev :)
If you didn't like it... I'm so sorry to have wasted your time. I don't do this very often, so you probably won't have to suffer through another one of my attempts.