A.N.: Set after Marian returns, without the Frozen plotline.
...
Emma Swan sat on the park bench with a plate full of cookies on her lap. It was Christmas Eve and she had been going around town, dropping off similar plates to friends for Snow. Snow had been working nonstop the last three days, filling plates of cookies and having David and Emma send them out to nearly the whole town. Nearly, because the last delivery still sat in her lap and for some reason, she was unable to do it.
It should have been easy, like every other time they saw each other. She would greet the woman, ask about Henry, she would criticize Emma on some aspect of her appearance, and they would go on their way. But lately, since the holiday season started, Emma had been feeling a bit... lonely. The holidays usually made her feel this way. Before, she would ignore it, but here in Storybrooke, it seemed having a family was possible. She had her parents, she had Henry... but all she ever wanted was someone who chose her.
And Regina... Regina had this smirk that made Emma's heart flutter. And when they touched, their magic intensified to something Emma never knew was possible. She's been around plenty of magic users and none of them made her feel that energy, save for Regina.
Emma sighed. Lately, she'd been feeling something for Henry's other mother, but couldn't bring up the courage to say anything. Emma let out a breathy laugh. She slayed a dragon, yet she couldn't say "I like you" to Regina. Some Savior she was.
"Mind if I sit here?" A voice brought Emma out of her thoughts.
"Go ahead." Emma said. An old man with tanned skin peeking out of a fluffy white beard and glittering eyes sat on the bench next to her.
"Wonderful time of year, don't you think?" the man said, starting up a conversation.
"Yeah, I guess. I've never seen you around here before." Emma said.
"I'm Mr. North. I don't go out much anymore, except for Christmas time. I just love seeing all the lights and listening to carolers. And Granny's eggnog isn't too bad, either." He laughed. "That, with my wife's gingerbread cookies... You can't find a better combination. So, what brings you out here on Christmas Eve? Don't you have family to be with?" he asked.
"Yeah. I was just bringing some cookies to someone, but the problem is, I just can't. I mean, I can but... I don't know. I really like this person, but we just started working on this friendship thing and I'm afraid that if I tell them I like them, they might push me away and I realized I just can't live without this person in my life. Sh- They help me just as much as I help them. In more ways than one."
"Well, the holidays have a magic all their own." the old man said. "I'm sure that when you deliver the cookies, things will sort themselves out."
"How can you be so sure?" Emma asked.
"I'm an old man. I know these things. Now, take these cookies to Regina and go enjoy your family."
"Yeah, I guess... Wait. I never said it was-" Emma looked around, but the old man was nowhere to be seen. "How-?" Emma started, but shook her head. Storybrooke was weird. She shouldn't be surprised like this.
Ding-dong!
"I'll get it!" Henry launched himself out of the kitchen and to the front door. Regina paused her food preparation and followed Henry to see who was at the door.
"Cookie delivery!" a familiar voice called out.
"Emma!"
"Good evening, Miss Swan." Regina greeted Emma. Emma noticed Regina's red dress and black heels.
"Hey. Um, Snow asked me to bring over some cookies." Emma motioned to the plate in her hands.
"Can I have one, mom?" Henry asked.
"You can have one after the party." Regina said.
"Awwww, but mom!" Henry gave her his best puppy dog pout.
"Henry." Regina gave him her best mom look. Emma suddenly sniffed the air.
"What smells so good?" she asked.
"Mom's making tamales for the party." Henry said.
"No lasagna?" Emma teased.
"While my lasagna is the best, this is Christmas and nothing is better than my tamales." Regina smiled her cocky smile that made Emma's insides feel as if they were made of butterflies.
"Can't wait to try them." Emma said honestly with a smile.
"Emma, what's your favorite Christmas food?" Henry asked.
"Oh, um... I never really..." Emma mumbled.
"You never had a Christmas, have you?" Henry said sadly.
"Not really, Kid." Emma answered.
"Then this is going to be your best first Christmas ever!" Henry exclaimed with a smile. "We'll look at lights, and sing Christmas carols and eat mom's tamales, and eat Snow's cookies with hot chocolate and..."
"Henry, we're going to leave soon. Get your coat and boots ready."
"Alright." Henry ran up the stairs to find his things.
"Miss Swan, will you help me in the kitchen?" Regina asked.
"Sure." Emma followed Regina into the kitchen. The good smells intensified once there and Emma tried her hardest not to drool over the food. Regina noticed Emma staring at the food.
"You may try one if you'd like." She said.
"Really?" Emma perked up.
"Yes. Take one from the plate. Those should be cool enough by now." Emma took one and unwrapped it from the corn husk. She took a bite and Regina watched as Emma's eyes went wide.
"MMMMmmmmmmmmmm..." Emma groaned. "How did I go my whole life without these?" Regina smiled.
"I take it you liked it?"
"Are you sure you're making enough? Because I don't think there's enough for everyone else." Emma said. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to eat them all."
"Save your appetite for the party." Regina told Emma, as if she were Henry. "I'm sure you'll want to try all the other dishes."
"You do realize that everything else is going to taste like bricks compared to this, right?" Emma said.
"I'm flattered you think so highly of my food, Miss Swan." Regina said.
"You're a good cook. I'm surprised Henry isn't built like a sumo wrestler with all the good food he's grown up with." Emma said.
"I don't think Henry is as appreciative of my cooking as you are." Emma smiled before taking another bite of the tamal.
"I got them!" Henry called. He entered the kitchen and saw Emma eating. "Can we look at the lights before we go to the party?"
"Sure. Would you like to join us, Miss Swan?" Emma looked up with wide eyes from her food.
"Really? Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yes, we'll just drive around the town for a while so Henry could look at all the houses covered in Christmas lights." Regina said as she packed up the tamales on the plate and wrapped them in aluminum foil.
"Sounds good. I'm in." Emma devoured the rest of her tamal and followed the Mills family out the front door.
The inside of Regina's car was nice and toasty, unlike Emma's Bug, which didn't have the best heating. Henry sat in the backseat as Regina drove them around Storybrooke. Henry pointed out every house covered in lights and commented on his favorite decorations. Emma tried to get a good look at every house Henry pointed out, but it was starting to hurt her neck.
"Careful, Miss Swan. Don't give yourself whiplash." Regina teased.
"I can't help it. I've never seen so many houses decorated like this." Emma and Henry seemed particularly dazzled by a house with an inflatable Santa on its roof, along with stars and snowflakes all over.
"Oh, look. That must be Grumpy's apartment." Emma commented as they passed an apartment complex covered in lights... except one, which only featured a cardboard cutout of the Grinch, stealing lights off the neighbor's eaves.
"You never decorated for Christmas?" Henry asked.
"No, I ... well, once when I was really little, but I barely remember it. Every other place never bothered. Or couldn't afford what they couldn't steal from their neighbors." Emma distracted herself by examining a house with a family of snowmen on the lawn and twinkling lights all over. Regina bit her lip. It was her fault that Emma had such a horrible life and now that they were friends, she wanted to make up for it. By inviting her to Granny's for lunch every now and then, by letting her ride with them as they fulfilled Henry's favorite holiday tradition, and even by attending the Christmas party held in the Town Hall with her... even though that last part wasn't vocally affirmed, they were technically going together.
It wasn't long before the lighted houses made way to the shops on the main road and the Town Hall covered in garlands and lights appeared. Regina parked out front and handed Emma a plate of tamales to carry in. Inside, Bing Crosby's White Christmas was playing over a speaker, which blared it throughout the building. Regina was met with Snow and Charming, who where greeting guests on their way in.
"Emma, what took you so long? I thought you were coming here with us?" Snow asked.
"I... took a... detour. Saw some lights with Henry. Regina invited me." Emma stammered. Regina moved to set the plate on the snack table set out with delicious food and Emma followed, hoping to get another taste of her tamales.
All kinds of food was set out: every kind of cookie imaginable, turkey, gravy, ham, a fruit cake that seemed forgotten, Regina's tamales, and some casserole decorated like a Christmas wreath. Emma took two more tamales before Regina could fully uncover them.
"I see you really liked my tamales." Regina commented.
"Mm-hm." Emma nodded with a mouthful of tamal.
"You know, they're generally eaten with a fork." Regina said as she held up a plastic fork to the blonde.
"Oh." Emma took the fork and continued eating.
The night was going smoothly. After eating her tamales, Emma went out to mingle with the residents of Storybrooke. She was in the middle of talking with Ruby when she spied the Christmas tree in the corner with gifts piled underneath. The gift exchange! Emma had forgotten her gift in her Bug. Which was still at Regina's. No problem, though. She'd save the gift until after the party.
As if reading her mind, Snow announced to everyone to exchange their gifts. Snow and Charming gave Henry his gift, Henry gave one to Archie, Ruby gave one to Leroy, etc. But Emma stood in the corner, feeling stupid. Maybe she should run back to Regina's and get her gift? Emma noticed Regina approach her.
"Merry Christmas, Miss Swan." Regina said as she handed Emma a small gift wrapped in shiny gold wrapping with a red bow.
"You're my Secret Santa?" Emma asked as she unwrapped the present.
"I suppose I am." Regina said. "I hope you like it." Emma opened the box and saw a gold watch settled in a velvet-lined box.
"Wow. Thanks!" Emma looked it over. It looked expensive. It was a good size, not overly feminine or masculine, and her name was engraved on the back. It was really nice.
"May I?" Emma handed her the watch and Regina grabbed Emma's wrist. She was about to put Emma's watch on for her when she noticed the little flower tattoo. "I've never noticed that. How long have you had it?"
"I was sixteen. I... had a friend who had a birthmark in the same spot. One day, I realized I shouldn't have walked away like I did, so I got this." She motioned to her wrist. Regina looked around for a second and pulled up her right dress sleeve. On her inner arm was a tattoo of a feather.
"Gasp!" Emma said in exaggerated shock. "Regina Mills has a tattoo?!" Regina tried to stop the smile spreading across her lips.
"Yes, I have a tattoo. When every day is the same for twenty years, you try to do things differently." Regina answered. "Robin is the only other person who knows about this."
"I'll keep your super secret tattoo a secret." Emma joked. She looked up at Regina and saw her looking around the room at the others exchanging gifts. Ruby was giving a gift to Archie, Belle opening her gift from Mr. Gold, Emma's parents exchanging their gifts... There was a slight worried look in her eye, like she was trying to figure out who was her Secret Santa and if they purposely left her out of the festivities.
"It's funny..." Emma started, getting Regina's attention. "I got you for the Secret Santa exchange, but I left the gift in my car. Sorry." Emma noticed Regina subtly relax.
"It's alright, Miss Swan."
"Emma."
"What?"
"I think it'll be better if you just called me Emma."
"Okay, Emma." Emma smiled at Regina, which got a small smile out of Regina.
"Ma!" Henry ran up to the women with a handful of cookies and his own small boxes. "Merry Christmas." He gave both his mothers a box.
"Henry." Regina said, touched that her son got her something.
"I saved up all year for this." Both women opened their gifts and inside were matching necklaces. Both pendants featured two silver stick figures - a mother holding her son's hand - with their birthstones on each of the figures' heads.
"Aw, thanks Kid." Emma hooked the chain around her neck, as did Regina. "Wow, I'm getting a lot of cool jewelry this Christmas. I should have found you guys a long time ago." Emma teased. Regina gave her a playful glare and Henry just smiled. He hugged both his moms and they hugged him back.
"Thank you, Henry." Regina said. "It's beautiful." Satisfied that his parents loved their gifts, he ran off to deliver more small gifts.
"He's a real good kid." Emma commented as she stared down at her necklace.
"That he is." Regina smiled.
"Thanks for that, by the way. Out of all the people he could have landed with, I'm glad he ended up with you." Regina looked at Emma with a smile and near-watery eyes.
"I'm sure neither of you thought so for a while." Regina looked down sadly.
"For a little bit, yeah. But I saw how well you both lived and how hard you fought to keep him in your life. You love him with all your heart and I wouldn't want anything less for him." The two women shared a smile.
After a couple hours of mingling, Regina took Emma's hand and turned her wrist so she could read the time on her watch.
"It's getting late. We should get going." Regina said.
"Mind if I catch a ride with you? I left my car at your house." Emma asked.
"Of course, dear. Let me just find Henry." Henry was plopped in a chair by the food table, sporting the universal look of I-Ate-Too-Much.
"Henry , what did I tell you about eating too many cookies?" Regina scolded, seeing the napkin next to her son with a half-eaten gingerbread man.
"But there were so many kinds!" Henry exclaimed. "Like gingerbread and sugar cookies and chocolate chip and brownies, and there were your tamales and Granny's turkey, and..."
"And a partridge in a pear tree!" Emma teasingly sang. "Come on, kid. Let's get you home so you can sleep off that food baby."
"Alright." Regina collected the devastatingly empty plates that used to be full of delicious tamales, bid goodbye to the other party goers, congratulated Emma's parents for the successful party and thanked them for inviting her and Henry, and left with a very full Henry near-waddling after them.
The ride back to Mifflin was quiet, save for Henry's groaning every time they drove over a bump in the road. Everything went well, both women thought. It was nice having peace in the town for once. Zelena was no longer a threat, Robin and Marian were happily together - much to Regina's disappointment, but she didn't dwell on that thought much. She had Henry. And, apparently, she'd found a friend in Emma Swan. While they had been rivals for who knows how long, they slowly found out they had more in common than they thought. And knowing Emma didn't want to steal Henry away from her made Regina a bit more relieved. At this point, Emma seemed more like a part of the family. They had a twisted family here in Storybrooke, but it was a family nonetheless.
Regina's Mercedes rolled up to the mansion at precisely 11:58 PM. A drowsy Henry was led up to the door by Regina, who unlocked the front door and let him inside. Meanwhile, Emma was frantically searching through her Bug for Regina's present. Finding it hiding under a blanket on her passenger seat, she ran back to the door and called out for Regina. Regina met Emma just outside the door. Henry had gone straight to bed, so it was just the two of them.
"I, um..." Emma seemed at a loss for words, so she just handed Regina the small gift. "Merry Christmas." Regina took the box, knowing by the size and shape it was jewelry. "It seems Henry and I were on the same wavelength when it came to buying your present." Emma commented. Regina opened the box and gasped softly at the necklace. A red pear-shaped ruby pendant hung from a delicate silver chain.
"I figured you could wear it with one of your red dresses. Or not, if you... I mean, you looked nice in them and well... if you don't like it, it's okay, I-" A long, graceful finger was placed on Emma's lips to stop her rambling.
"I love it. Thank you, Emma." Both women smiled at each other, neither knowing just exactly what to do next. Suddenly, Emma noticed the white flakes drifting down from the sky.
"It's snowing." Emma was content to watch the snow fall, but something caught her eye. There was a gap in the clouds, where the moon shone through. Something dark passed in front of it just before the gap closed up. It looked a bit like... no, it's impossible.
"Did you see that?" Emma pointed to the sky. "Something passed in front of the moon."
"I didn't see anything." Regina said. Then, with a smirk, she added, "Maybe it was Santa Clause?"
"Yeah. Santa." Emma was unsure whether she meant it or not. She shook her head and happened to tilt it up. That's when she finally noticed the sprig of greenery hanging above the door.
"How long has that been there?" Emma asked. Regina looked up at the mistletoe.
"I don't know. I certainly didn't put it there. Maybe Henry?" Regina looked to Emma, who was staring at her with an uncertain gaze.
"You do know what it means, right?" Emma asked.
"Yes, I'm aware." Regina's eyes flicked down to Emma's lips for a brief moment.
"Do you want...?" Emma started but couldn't finish.
"Well, it is tradition." Regina said before placing her plump lips against Emma's. At first contact, all the lights around the mansion flickered and burned three times brighter than before. Emma deepened the kiss and the two didn't part until they absolutely needed oxygen. The kiss was certainly longer than tradition called for, but it left the two women smiling and breathless. Regina parted ways with Emma by giving her one last quick peck on the lips and walked back inside.
"Goodnight, Emma." She said before she closed the door. "Merry Christmas. Drive safely." Emma walked back to her car with a wide grin. Mr. North was right. Suddenly it dawned on Emma. Mr. North, the shadow, the mistletoe... It finally made sense.
"Thanks, Mr. North. Best Christmas ever." Emma said to the empty air.
The next morning, Emma's mother was the one getting everyone out of bed. She'd made gingerbread pancakes for everyone and wanted everyone to open their presents. Of course, Baby Neal got the majority of the presents, Emma and David got sweaters and scarves for the cold from Snow, Snow received a crystal bird figurine from Emma, David slipped a small bag to Snow "for later" - the thought of what it was had Emma gagging - and Emma got some DVDs she'd been wanting to see from David. When all the presents were opened and Neal was fussing and needing a diaper change, Emma started to put her new things away when she saw a lone envelope laying under the tree. Emma picked it up and examined it. It was quality paper and was sealed with a red wax seal with an N stamped into it. Upon opening it,Emma found the letter inside contained two words:
YOU'RE WELCOME
A grin spread across Emma's face.
"Emma? What is that?" Snow questioned.
"Nothing. It's just... this has been the best Christmas ever." Emma smiled at her family. The doorbell rang and when David answered it, Henry and Regina walked through the door.
"It seems we have a few gifts to deliver." Regina said. She locked eyes with Emma and offered a friendly smile that hinted at the memory of the previous night. The smile was returned and the two sat together - a little closer than normal - and watched as Henry helped his infant uncle open his presents.
Yep, Emma thought. Best Christmas Ever!
A.N: God bless us, every one.
Especially SwanQueen.
Happy Holidays, everyone!