Notes:
Okay, so I posted this on AO3 in 2016 and I thought I had also uploaded it here, but APPARENTLY NOT! Decided to do it now, only few years late! Enjoy some old sq fluff! You can find me in AO3 under the same name as here btw!
Emma cursed under her breath. She was sitting cross legged in dirt, trying to come up with something brilliant. She also wanted to kick herself in the head for agreeing with something like this, since it clearly was not working out for her.
What made her roll her eyes though, was the reason she was in this mess in the first place. Her shithead of a son was behind it all, and she was gonna get back at him soon enough.
Henry's school has started a program to provide company for the Storybrooke's elderly. It was simply stopping by few times a week to chat for a bit or run an simple errand. Since things had calmed down in Storybrooke, everyone had time to focus on the important matters such as education and senior care.
Henry had been signed with Mrs. Johnsson who happened to live on the same street as him and his mom. Usually the errands Mrs. Johnsson gave him were simple enough; mowing the lawn in the backyard, taking out the old newspapers, doing the dishes, normal housework stuff.
But what was special about Mrs. Johnsson was that she owned a lot of dogs. And not a lot as in two or three, but she had seven dogs of different size and color and breed. Mrs Johnsson had asked Henry to take the dogs out few times, which was few times too many in Henry's books. He always wished from a lucky star that whenever he went to see Mrs Johnsson, she would not make him take the dogs for a walk.
This week however he knew it was time. He tried his best to come up with a plan to avoid it, but he was coming up empty. He was slowly starting to accept his fate when the answer literally walked through the front door.
"Hey, kid! Why is your face looking like someone stole your favorite comic book?" Emma asked as she placed a bag of groceries on the table.
The gears in Henry's head were turning wildly as he came up with a perfect plan. He wanted to laugh at how simple it actually was, but he was not to raise suspicions. Especially since he had a walking lie detector as a mother.
"I just realized something, that's all." Henry was deliberately vague, keeping his head down and a slight pout on his lips. Oh this was gonna be amazing.
Emma looked at her son concerned. Henry was very rarely down about anything, so this was making all the alarm bells go off in her head. She walked towards the couch where Henry was sitting and sat carefully next to him. Gently, she took his hand into her own and gave a reassuring squeeze.
"What did you realize?" Emma asked carefully.
Henry let out a small sigh. "I realized that I'm meant to go see Mrs. Johnsson on Thursday after school, but I have a big test coming and I promised to help in a study group with some other kids." he wasn't lying, since he actually had a study group but it wasn't gonna start until later. He knew that his mothers talked about him constantly, so coming up with a total lie would have gotten him busted.
Emma frowned as she thought the information through. She remembered Henry telling her about the study group and Regina had mentioned how important this test was. It also was Emma's week with him, so it was her call for now. She wished she could freeze the time and call Regina. She always knew what to do when it came to parenting Henry.
Sadly time was very much moving and Henry was expecting her to say something. She knew that Mrs. Johnsson really counted on Henry coming by, but this test was important. Emma let out a long sigh.
"I can go to see Mrs. Johnsson on Thursday. I have a morning shift, so I can get there at your normal time. I know how important this test is and your mother and I want you to give your everything to it." she said giving Henry's hand another squeeze.
Henry felt a bit bad for tricking his mother like this, but walking Mrs. Johnsson's dogs was something he absolutely never wanted to do again. Besides Paige was gonna be in the study group, so he had even more of a reason to go there looking good, not like he had been in the center of furry tornado.
"Thank you Ma." Henry smiled wide and squeezed Emma's hand back. Even though Henry had called her Ma for years, it still surprised her every single time and she couldn't help but to smile wide. Henry knew how much it meant to his mother to be called that, and he smiled back.
Thursday came faster than neither realized. Emma was already gone to work, when Henry woke up to get ready for school. He was sitting on the kitchen island munching a toast, when his phone binged. He knew full well who it was, because whenever it was Emma's week with him, his brunette mother still wanted to wish him good morning. And as he opened the text message, it was just that.
Good morning, sweetheart. I hope you slept well. Have a good day at school today and remember to stop by Edith after school. I saw her yesterday and she is excitedly waiting for you to visit.
That made Henry pause and guilt washed over him. But it was too late since the plan was already in motion and Henry had already promised Paige to arrive earlier to the study group. Henry decided to ignore his mothers text message, because he knew that somehow she would know he was lying to her. He picked up his backpack and left for school.
It was 3 pm when Emma handed the keys to the police cruiser to her father who came to relieve her from her morning shift. It had been quiet as most days in Storybrooke were. Ever since things calmed down with magical villains and portals, it was almost boring in the little town. Emma would not complain however, since for once her family was safe and she finally could leave Henry out of her sight without worrying.
"Are you heading home?" David asked as he traipsed his jacket on the back of the chair in front of his desk.
Emma shook her head. "I promised Henry I would go to see Mrs. Johnsson today for him, since he has a study group for that big test that is coming up."
David looked on for a moment, clearly searching for any kind of information he had about this test. He finally found what he was looking for as his eyes focused on Emma again. "I remember your mother telling me about it. Apparently it's really important considering how and where he wants to continue his studies later on."
"Yea, so you can imagine if I would have made him go to Mrs. Johnsson, Regina would have had my head if I did something to put Henry's grades at risk."
They shared a laugh before Emma waved and walked out of the station to her yellow bug. She never told Henry this, but aside from helping him with this problem she had her own reasons to visit Mifflin Street. Regina had told her that she was taking a day off on Thursday for a bit of relaxing and that Emma was more than welcome to stop by after work for a cup of coffee.
Emma had finally admitted to herself that she had feelings for her sons other mother. And she now knew that it was not a mere crush either, but she felt like she could actually be in love with the woman. For reasons unknown Emma didn't feel afraid of these feelings, like she originally thought she would. She felt more at ease than she ever had before in her life. She wanted to know could there ever be anything between them, could they really be a family.
What gave her hope was the fact that Regina seemed to be flirting with her quite a bit. They were often subtle smiles or fleeting touches, as well as sometimes even bold jokes with a clear undertone. Emma still thought about one time when they had met at Grannies during the busiest rush hour. They had needed to press their bodies flush together in order to let people exit the diner. Regina had snaked her arm around Emma's waist and even when the door had closed behind the people, she had not let go. Shiver ran through Emma as she thought back Regina literally breathing her in before letting go.
So yeah, Emma had a really good feeling about this and after her stop at Mrs. Johnsson she was gonna stop by at Regina's.
Drive from the station to Mifflin Street was fast and Emma knew every turn and traffic sign by heart. It took her exactly seven minutes to turn on Mifflin Street. When the Mills Mansion was at the end of the road, Mrs. Johnsson lived near the beginning. Emma parked her bug to the curb and stepped out. Still thinking about Regina, her confidence was high when she knocked on the door.
Mrs. Johnsson lived in a cute little house with enormous yards both front and back. Emma remembered Henry telling her that Mrs. Johnsson owned a 'shit ton' of dogs, as Henry so well put it. She could hear barking inside and increasing noise of what sounded like a walking stick, getting near the door. Suddenly the door opened and a tiny, already quite grey lady was standing in front of Emma. Emma noted that she was not in anyway bad shape, nor was she all that old either, but it was clear that she belonged to the senior category of the town.
"Yes?"
"Hi, I'm Emma Swan. My son Henry was meant to come and visit you today-" Emma could see how the old lady perked up at the mention of Henry and Emma felt bad needing to tell her the news. "- but he was sadly unable to make it today, so he asked could I come to see you instead." Emma finished.
Mrs. Johnsson looked Emma up and down a few times. Emma knew she was under strict evaluation and she just hoped she was able to pass. After a while Mrs. Johnsson opened her mouth.
"I remember Henry telling me something about a test at school that he needed to study for. I just didn't remember it was today. Oh well, I'm glad that boy of yours uses that brain of his to study. Come in, come in."
With that she turned around to walk back into the house and expected Emma to follow which she did quickly. She walked after Mrs. Johnsson looking around the house with great interest. Considering that the lady had a lot of dogs, the place was spotless. There were a lot of plants and paintings around, as well as bookcases. It smelled like soap and roses, which was something Emma easily associated with the older generation.
Mrs Johnsson led her to the kitchen where she sat down on the kitchen table. It left Emma standing awkwardly, waiting some sort of instructions about what to do.
"Lets get this started, since I imagine you are on your way home. I ran into the love of your life yesterday and she said-" Mrs. Johnsson started to tell but Emma was quick to stop her.
"Love of my life...?" the truth of the words was nearly choking her and she could feel her heart flutter from a mere idea.
"Yes, the Mayor. She was telling me all about you two sharing passionate kisses in her office during lunchtime." Mrs. Johnsson told with a completely straight face.
Emma opened her mouth repeatedly, trying to deny the claim, but she could not form proper words. She wanted that to be true, more than anything.
She finally managed to make a choked noise and words spilled from her lips without permission. "No, that is not true! We never-"
"Well don't you wish it was was? What exactly are you waiting for?! I see Mayor Mills nearly every day when she takes her morning walk and we talk nearly every time she passes by. She talks about you great deal, Sheriff Swan. Also, I have seen you two together, like have everyone else. I know people are betting when you two are gonna end up together. Woman up, and do something about it before someone else does. Mayor Mills is a fine woman, so hurry up!" Mrs. Johnsson went on a full rant, waving her walking stick around wildly.
Emma stood there, mouth hanging open and her heart racing. If an old dog lady had noticed the chemistry between them, maybe it was time to act on it. Emma was not gonna lie, this was one of the best pep talks anyone had ever given her. Well, it was more like a kick on the butt but she was willing to take it.
"Thank you, Mrs. Johnsson." Emma whispered, still processing the information.
Mrs. Johnsson smiled at her warmly. "Please, call me Edith."
Emma smiled back before asking. "I know where I need to head next, but I came here to help you. So what do you want me to do?"
Edith gave a slightly evil laugh, before pointing the backyard door. Emma took suspicious step closer and peeked from the window. Her mouth fell open when she saw dogs all over the backyard. She turned her wild eyes towards Edith, who offered explanation.
"It's a walk day."
"You want me to walk all of them?!" Emma could not believe her ears.
"Oh yes. Your son has done it few times, brave boy. I would do it myself, but my little babies are just too excited for me to handle. So I need someone else to do it." Edith told looking out from the window as well, and smiling fondly.
"How exactly am I meant to do that?" Emma asked, trying to calculate the best course of action to handle this.
"Figure it out, Sheriff, you are a clever girl."
With that parting remark, Edith stood up and made her way to the stairs and climbed upstairs. Emma was left watching the dogs gather around the door, clearly knowing full well what was about to happen. Emma knew very little about animals, but that much she did know, that there was no going out without the leash on each of them. It took her a while, but she found seven identical leashes. Taking a deep breath she stepped outside and was greeted with a lot of barking and licking.
Getting the dogs on the leash was easy enough, and during that she also learned all of their names, which were helpfully provided in the tags. Getting them to the cage door went brilliantly as the dogs were excited to follow the new human and before opening the door she double checked she had every leash in her hand tightly. So far so good. But the second she opened the cage door, all hell broke loose. It seemed like the dogs were getting out for the first time, since each of them wanted to start a mad sprint in different directions.
It took all Emma's power to keep all of them under control. She tried to tell them to sit down so she could re-think the whole plan, but they were too excited for that. Emma closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. Then she simply sat down on the dirt, waiting for the dogs to calm down. And to her complete surprise, after a while, each of the dogs sat down around her, waiting for her to get up.
"Okay you guys, we gotta do this right. I'm in a hurry to talk to the love of my life and if you decide to go crazy, I will not get there today. So, lets all calm down." Emma spoke to the dogs around her and it seemed like they were listening to her. They all sat on the lawn a while longer, but then Emma got up.
She started to walk down the road, towards the woods and all seven dogs walked calmly on either side of her. She had to stop more than once to let the dogs do their business, but she was making a great way and great time. Certain kind of calmness washed over her and she felt like she was doing well, considering the hopelessness she felt before. She was gazing at the sky and the trees which made her miss the person walking towards her.
"Emma?"
Emma's head snapped towards the voice and her eyes widened as she saw who it was. Regina was walking towards her on the sidewalk, dressed in running shorts, a tank top and sneakers. She looked absolutely breathtaking and Emma couldn't form words, so she just opened her mouth repeatedly like a fish.
Staring at Regina made Emma lose all the focus from the dogs, so she didn't notice how excited the canines had gotten. Regina walked closer, her head cocked slightly to the other side, slightly confused pout on her lips. Emma wanted to groan because Regina was simply too adorable for her heart to handle.
"Emma?" she repeated, now slightly concerned.
She had managed to get quite close to the odd group, before too many things happened, way too fast for anyone to react. Emma was still holding the leashes tightly in her hands when the dogs collectively dived towards Regina in their excitement. Emma was lunged forward and before she could get her bearings her body slammed against Regina's. Regina let out a loud scream as the dogs jumped wildly around them, effectively tying them together with their leashes.
The pair held onto each other with the best of their ability, trying desperately to stay standing. Finally they managed to stabilize themselves, when the dogs stopped jumping around. Only then did they realize how close they were of each other.
"Hi." Emma whispered shyly, trying not to look at Regina's lips which were so close that she could feel the breaths Regina let out tickle her jaw.
"Hi yourself." Regina smiled, not at all bothered by the closeness she suddenly got to enjoy.
"How are you?" was the thing that came out from Emma's mouth next and if her hands would have been free, she would have facepalmed herself then and there.
Regina let out a genuine snort. "We are literally tied together, your thigh is quite well wedged between my legs, there are dogs all around us and you go with casual 'how are you'?"
The mention of her thigh between Regina's legs made blush rise on Emma's pale cheeks. She was aware of her current position, but she did not expect Regina so boldly bring it up.
"Ummm, yes?" Emma hesitated.
Regina let out a laugh, before looking around the dogs that had now all sat down around them. "These are Edith's dogs, aren't they? Why do you have them?"
"I promised to help Henry, because he was in a hurry to go to the study group after school." Emma said, expecting this to be something Regina knew, but from the confused frown she was giving Emma, apparently their son had not mentioned this to his brunette mother.
"Henry's study group never starts right after school. It's always after dinner time, so all the kids have time to eat and stop by at home before getting together." Regina explained.
Emma was slowly starting to realize how Henry had played her. She wanted to smack herself for falling for such an simple plan. She liked to think herself to be smarter than that.
"Who's house is the study group at?"
"At Paige's, why?" Regina was now looking suspicious.
"Oh I should have known! We have to have a serious conversation about girls with him soon enough." Emma was shaking her head, but she couldn't find it in herself to be annoyed. Their son was growing up and was starting to notice girls. It was bittersweet, but she was excited to be here to see him grow.
Regina did not answer, but she looked down sadly. Emma started to worry when she didn't want to make any kind of eye contact, so she used her nose to poke Regina's cheek to get her to look up. Unexpected contact made Regina's head shot up, and now their faces were only a breath apart. Emma noticed how Regina's eyes dropped several times to her lips, before finding her eyes again.
"Are you okay?" Emma whispered.
"I think so... It's just... Unbelievable how fast the time has gone. Henry is growing up right in front of my eyes and I... I don't know how to really cope with that." Regina let herself be vulnerable which was not hard to do with Emma. She knew she could trust the blonde with absolutely anything.
"I know, but isn't it great to see how all your hard work in raising him is paying off now that he is getting older? You can witness the good person you created to grow up into a man." Emma said, trying to use her words to express just how grateful she was that Regina had been such a good mom to their son.
Regina's eyes were swimming in tears. It meant the absolute world to her that Emma thought she was a good mother for their son. "Thank you." she whispered wetly, willing the tears to stay away. Emotions were running too high however and salty tears soon spilled on her cheeks and when the floodgates opened, there seemed to be no stopping it. Regina started to shake from the power of her tears, which made Emma shake as well since they were tied together.
Emma wanted to wrap her arms around her, to comfort her. She never meant to cause tears with her statement, but it was too late. So she did the next best thing she could think of: she kissed Regina's cheeks, where the tears had fallen. Whenever a new tear appeared, she would kiss it away. Regina was taking shaky breaths, trying to understand what was happening.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." Emma said and kissed both of Regina's cheeks for good measure even when the tears had stopped.
Regina didn't answer, because she was too busy looking at Emma's lips, with her own slightly parted and her breathing labored. Emma was growing antsy and worried, since Regina was never like this. The woman always had something to say, to everything so having her so silent was beginning to scare the younger blonde.
"Gina? Are you oka-"
She couldn't finish her inquiry when suddenly pair of plump lips were covering hers in a tender kiss. Emma was too stunned to do anything, but when she realized what was happening, she answered to the kiss eagerly. Their first kiss was purely lips, slowly moving against each other, fitting together so well, that it was dizzying for both women. They stayed kissing for a long while before they needed to pull back, to get some air back into their lungs and brains.
"Wow." Regina breathed out.
Emma couldn't stop the smile that was slowly making it's way to her lips. And why would she; this was one of the happiest moments of her life. An uncharacteristic giggle made it's way past her lips, but she couldn't find it in herself to care.
Regina was looking at the blonde who's smile was widening every second. She could feel her heart flutter in her chest from the pure love she had for the woman. She couldn't help herself as she pressed her lips against the smiling ones for another kiss. Kissing Emma was like someone was breathing fire into her body, the best kind, that burned just right and made you believe in the impossible.
When they parted smiles were stretching both of their faces.
"So what happens now?" Emma asked.
"Now we untangle from these dogs, and then I will kiss you again. Then I will ask you, would you like to be my girlfriend." Regina said and actually blushed.
Emma let out a happy squeal before nuzzling her nose against Regina's in a show of affection. "Yes. Yes, I will be your girlfriend!"
They were about to lock lips again when they heard someone yell. "When you two are done, would you return my dogs to me?"
They turned to look towards the voice, only to see old Mrs. Johnsson standing there, leaning on her cane, smirking knowingly. Emma was shaking her head fondly, when Regina was trying to hide her blushing face.
"Granny owes me two weeks worth of blueberry muffins because Emma finally managed to grow a vagina and make the first move!" a victorious laugh left the old woman's lips as she nearly fell down in her glee.
"Hey! I was the one who kissed her first!" Regina put in, not at all appreciating that her involvement was left out.
"But that blonde Sheriff of yours landed her lips on you before that. I was here, I saw!" Mrs. Johnsson pointed that walking stick of hers at Regina.
"Edith, a moment of privacy would be appreciated right about now!" Emma butt in because even though she liked Mrs. Johnsson's point, she still wanted to talk to Regina before untangling.
"I'll be at the house." Mrs. Johnsson understood as she started to walk away.
Emma turned her eyes back to Regina who just kept looking at her, her brown eyes wildly searching. Emma places a small kiss to Regina's lips before taking a deep breath. "What I was about to say, before we were so rudely interrupted, was that yes, I would love nothing more than to be your girlfriend. I'm in this Regina. I'm so in love with you and even to my surprise, I'm not afraid. I just want to be with you."
"Oh Emma." Regina pressed several quick pecks at Emma's lips. "I love you too. I love you so much."
Halfway through the kiss number three, one of the dogs finally expressed their discomfort by barking a little bit. Two smiling women started to slowly untangle themselves from the mess, and soon enough they were walking hand in hand towards Mrs. Johnsson's house, the dogs happily running next to them.
"Remind me to thank Henry when he gets home tonight." Emma said.
"Why?" Regina asked confusedly, looking like a puppy with her slight head tilt.
Emma leaned in to kiss her quickly. "Because without him, and his genius plan I never would have gone to Edith's, had a eyeopening conversation with her or taken the dogs for a walk. I never would have tangled myself with you and this wouldn't have happened." Emma explained.
"Duly noted, my darling." Regina smiled fondly at the blonde walking next to her.
They were in no rush to discuss this more, not yet at least. In this moment things were so comfortable and they both felt at ease just walking hand in hand to return the dogs to an old woman who was sure to tell this story to everyone in town, while sitting in Granny's eating her blueberry muffins.