Emma slid her key into the lock and tried to turn it nonchalantly. But, as always, the damn thing stuck. Conscious of the presence behind her, she bit back a string of embarrassed curses, jiggled the lock a little and shoved the door with her shoulder. She grinned triumphantly at the brunette behind her and swung the door open, gesturing for the woman to enter before her.
Regina Mills, THE Regina Mills, stepped regally into the foyer as if she was entering a grand ball.
"HI! I'm Henry!" a young boy of about 7 bellowed from the living room entrance next to her.
"SHIT!" the woman cried clutching her Lou Vuitton to her chest.
Emma bit her lip and tried to hide behind her mess of blonde curls to keep from outright laughing at the look of horror on her companion's face.
Absolutely pleased with himself, Henry sidled up to his mother and took her hand to tug her down to his level. "Momma, she said a swear." his whisper was slightly louder than his normal speaking voice.
"That she did, Hen. This is Miss Regina Mills, and she doesn't know the rules of the house yet. Do you think maybe we should give her a pass just this once?" Her son frowned and thought hard, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration.
Clearing her throat, now that her heart was no longer lodged in her windpipe, Regina knelt on one knee and looked the young boy in the eye. "I do apologize, Henry. You startled me but that is no excuse for my language. If I have broken a house rule, I will gladly accept the standard punishment."
Henry's eyes lit up. "Swear jar."
"...Swear...jar?"
"Yep!" and with that, Henry scampered into the kitchen. Both women stood and eyed each other awkwardly while they waited for Henry to return. A slow blush crept up the blonde's neck as she toed the carpet with her converse high tops. The corner of Regina's lips turned slightly upwards and, taking a breath, she stared intently into striking green eyes and slowly took two steps forward.
"Got it!" the boy exclaimed as he barreled back towards the front door holding a large mason jar over his head filled with dollar bills and quarters. The white label read 'Henry's College Fund' in large block letters. "You have to put a dollar in the jar for every swear word, Miss Regina."
"I see," Regina said, pulling out her wallet and rifling through it to find a dollar bill. "Seems like the smallest I have is a 20." Small hands snatched the bill from her and stuffed it deep into the jar.
"That'll work just fine, Miss Regina. Pleasure doing business with you. Now, would you like to be our guest for dinner?" The young boy smiled charmingly up at her through his long eyelashes. "Mary Margaret is out back finishing up steaks on the grill."
"I would love to stay, Henry, but only if that is alright by your mother." At Emma's nod, Henry crowed with delight and skipped back to the kitchen with his swear jar tucked protectively under his arm.
"I've learned to only carry $1 bills on me since Henry instituted The Swear Jar. By the time he's ready to go; I think he'll be able to put himself through college without having to take out any loans." The younger woman spoke softly but with a hint of pride in her voice. Regina didn't miss the fact that when Emma was speaking to her, she couldn't tear her eyes off Regina's lips.
"Quite the entrepreneur you have there, Miss Swan. Where did he come up with that idea?"
"Pinterest," the blonde shrugged and turned to lead Regina through the house to the kitchen.
"Well, that was absolutely wonderful. Please tell Mary Margaret thank you for the lovely meal when you see her next."
The pixie haired babysitter left as soon as the table was set, claiming that she had errands to run on her way home. In truth, she opted out so that Emma and her son could spend time with the woman the blonde hadn't been able to shut up about for the past few weeks. 'This woman must be someone special for her to bring her home to meet the Kid.' she smiled to herself as she left.
The small group had laughed and shared stories as they ate, never lapsing into awkward silence. Emma rolling her eyes as Regina tried to explain stock options to a seven year old who seemed quite excited to hear that his Swear Jar money could grow by just sitting there.
"I definitely will. She'll be glad to hear you enjoyed it, she loves nothing more than feeding people." Emma chuckled as she turned to her son, "Why don't you put your dishes in the sink and then you can go watch cartoons for a little while in the living room before bed?"
Henry grinned and, like a gentleman, also cleared his mothers and Regina's plates before heading off to flop on the couch and surf the channels until he found something worth watching. The two women picked up their wine glasses and headed off to the kitchen and proceeded to wash the evening's dishes. Emma's token protests that Regina shouldn't help with the dishes because she was a guest were quickly silenced with a glare. Emma never thought doing dishes could be an enjoyable experience before, but with Regina by her side trailing her finger tips along the back of Emma's hand when she passed a dish over to be dried, she decided that maybe it wasn't the worst chore ever. The hooded looks sent her way by deep chocolate eyes were enough to, in fact, make washing dishes now her very favorite household chore.
As Emma pulled the stopper on the drain and rinsed the soap bubbles from the sink, Regina finished drying off the last plate and placed it in the overhead cupboard. Closing the cupboard door quietly, she set down the hand towel and stepped behind the blonde woman at the sink. Placing her hands lightly on slim hips, she leaned forward and whispered into a delicate ear, "I'd very much like to kiss you now." When she received a croaked "O-Okay" she grasped Emma's hips tighter and spun her around to lean against the opposite counter. Looking deep into emerald eyes and not seeing a hint of anything that would lead to believe the blonde didn't want this, she leaned in slowly allowing her breath to tickle the lips before her. A sound like a slight whimper released from pink lips caused her to lunge forward and claim them as her own.
Plump red lips pressed hotly against Emma's mouth before she felt tiny nips and licks along her bottom lip. Humming lightly she slowly opened her mouth and groaned as a wet, deft tongue invaded her mouth seeking out every nook and cranny. First sliding against her own tongue, then the roof of her mouth, tracing her teeth, and then back to slide against her tongue again. This kiss was like no other that she'd had in her life. Demanding, but gentle and full of unvoiced promises. Feeling her knees start to shake, Emma removed one of her hands that had been tangled in short brown hair to brace herself against the counter pressing behind her. Not realizing she had knocked over her wine glass from dinner until she felt the liquid pool against her back and start to soak the back of her jeans.
"Fuck! FUCK! SHIT!" Emma shouted as she jumped away from the counter and pushed Regina away to dance around wildly shaking out the back of her shirt.
"SWEAR JAR!" Henry's high pitched shout from the living room over powering the deep rich laughter of the brunette bending over and holding her sides.
