"I didn't realize I had a Christmas tree for a son," Regina teased, walking through the doorway of the kitchen into the living room with fresh made gingerbread cookies in hand. She set the cookies down onto the table and rushed over to Henry, who was hopelessly tangled in a string of red, green and white lights. "Where's Emma?" she asked.

"She's in the attic getting the-"

A loud 'thump' startled the pair and they both jumped around to find the cause. A large, green storage tub labeled 'Christmas Ornaments" sat before them and Regina scowled at the tall blonde standing behind it. "I hope you didn't just break all of my ornaments," she hissed, rushing over to pull the top of the bin off to tend to her decorations.

"Oh no, I'm fine, wasn't at all difficult to lug this super heavy bin all the way down from the attic. Thanks for your concern," Emma huffed, brushing some dust off her pants.

Regina rolled her eyes and, after finding all the ornaments in one piece, moved over to Henry. "I thought you were supposed to be helping him string the lights on the tree," she said tartly. She twirled her son and carefully untangled the lights around him.

"I thought he had it," Emma shrugged.

Regina clenched her jaw. "He can't even reach the top of the tree! What made you think he could-"

"Guys," Henry whined, "It's Christmas. You promised!"

"Technically it's Christmas Eve, so…" Emma retorted.

Regina watched out of the corner of her eye as the blonde reached out to grab a cookie, and she promptly smacked her hand away. "Those are for when we're done."

"I did the heavy lifting, my part is done." Emma grinned and stole a quick kiss from Regina before grabbing a gingerbread man and sprawling out onto the sofa.

Regina merely rolled her eyes once more before turning to Henry and flashing him a warm, toothy smile. "I'm sorry Emma is such a Grinch. Let's get these ornaments up and-"

"Hey, I am not a Grinch!" Emma exclaimed, jumping up from the couch to stand between mother and son.

"Guuuuuuuys," Henry whined again.

The blonde raised her hands in mock surrender.

Regina smiled and moved over toward the decorations bin, bending at the waist to sift through it. Grabbing a set of green and red bulb ornaments, she extended her arm out toward her son. "Can you put these on first?"

Henry nodded and took the box, shuffling off to the corner of the room to trim the tree with the shiny adornments.

Remaining bent, Regina picked at the dozens of boxes of ornaments, picking and choosing which sets she would use this year. She yelped as a pair of hands squeezed her behind. "Emma Swan," she hissed, straightening a little and craning her neck to catch a glimpse of blonde curls. "Go put these up." She turned and handed a medium sized box to Emma.

Emma peeked inside the box and laughed. "Winnie the Pooh?"

"It was Henry's favorite as a toddler," Regina explained, grabbing a set of snowman ornaments. She stood and brushed past Emma, walking over to the tree. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she was greeted by the image of Henry bouncing in circles around the Evergreen, moving to his tiptoes to decorate the top. It had been years since he'd had been so involved and excited for the holidays. Regina sighed.

"What's this?"

Regina raised her brows. "What's what?" she asked, turning on her heels toward the inquisitive blonde.

"This." Emma held up a small frame ornament with a picture fastened inside; it was of Regina, who was cradling a tiny baby dressed in blue in her arms. "I found it at the very bottom of the bin, wrapped in paper and sealed in a Ziploc bag. It seemed as though you-"

Regina bit her lip and sucked in a shaky breath. "I usually put that one on my tree in my office." She straightened her spine defensively. "But, seeing as I'm no longer Mayor-"

"Woah, hey, it's ok, I just wondered-"

"It's from Henry's first Christmas," Regina explained, snatching the ornament from Emma's hands to cup it reverently in her palms. She stroked her thumb over the glass above the image of baby Henry.

"What about me?" the boy asked, squeezing between his mothers. Catching sight of the picture in Regina's hands, he pressed himself next to his adopted mother and smiled. "Is that me?"

Regina nodded. "It was the first night I held you in my arms." She inhaled slowly through her nose and tried to push back nostalgic tears.

Tilting her head and smiling, Emma reached out a hand and rubbed the brunette's shoulder.

"Tell us about it?" Henry asked excitedly, grabbing his mother's hand and squeezing.

Regina hesitated for a moment. Eventually, she nodded and pulled her son over to a nearby sofa with Emma only a few steps behind. "It was uncharacteristically warm for a Christmas day. No snow, the lawn was still green, and it just didn't feel like Christmas…"

-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-S-Q-

December 24, 2001

"God bless us, everyone!" a tiny voice blared from the small silver television set.

"Oh yeah, I'm so blessed," Regina grumbled to herself, gulping down the last of her glass of cider before reaching out to grab the decanter from the table. She poured herself another generous glass and slumped down into the sofa. Disinterested in the sappy Christmas movie, she let her eyes wander across the lavishly decorated mansion. An oversized Douglas Fir sat in the corner of the living room, silver ornaments shimmering and red and white lights twinkling beneath the lamp light. Dozens of brightly decorated boxes were tucked in a tiny circle around the base of the tree along with a little stuffed Santa and his twelve reindeer.

Regina wasn't one for Christmas, but this year was different. This year, she wasn't supposed to spend it alone.

And then everything went to shit.

It was a different excuse with each person she talked to. Missing paperwork. Her single mother status. Her demanding job. The birth mother had changed her mind.

All sugar coated ways of saying the little baby boy she was promised wasn't coming home to her.

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose to fight back tears before bringing her glass up to her lips once more to take a swig.

A knock on her front door startled her and she growled, draping her legs over the side of the couch. Placing her drink on the table, she stomped over to the door in an angry swarm. She assumed it was Christmas carolers or the local church inviting her for Christmas morning celebration. Sucking in a deep breath, she threw open the door. "You all can take your Christmas carols and-" Regina furrowed her brow. "Gold?"

Standing on her doorstep was Mr. Gold, smiling warmly at her. A tiny blue bundle sat in his arms and he glanced down at it before meeting Regina's gaze. "Merry Christmas Regina," he said sweetly. "Say hello to your son."