All the Single Ladies
A/N: This is a fluffy idea that came to me and wouldn't leave me alone. I'd like to extend a huge thank you to my incomparable beta-reader lupwned for her support and guidance (although all mistakes in this chapter are completely down to me). Please enjoy and leave a review if you do!
Disclaimer: Of course, I own nothing, I just like to play.
Emma Swan realized her eyes were drifting closed yet again and pinched her elbow to wake herself up. It would not do to fall asleep in the town council meeting. Already the mayor was glaring at her with a look that clearly said "Pay attention!" She could not help feeling that these meetings were a complete waste of time. The same inane issues always seemed to come up and she could not understand how the governing of such a small, sleepy town could possibly require this much discussion.
Of course, things had been anything but sleepy six months ago. With the initial excitement of the curse breaking followed by her sojourn in the Enchanted Forest, things had gotten shaken up quite a bit. Upon returning and discovering that Cora and Hook had also made their way to Storybrooke, the battle had commenced in earnest. Emma had believed that things in the town would never be the same. In many ways, they were changed, but in the time since Cora had been defeated and Hook had fled, the citizens had settled back into their previous Storybrooke habits with surprising resilience. It had been decided that it was too dangerous for any inter-realm travel to continue considering the danger presented by Cora and Hook. The populace determined in the end, albeit without unanimity, that they would remain in Storybrooke and pursue their happy endings there.
Snow had settled rather uncomfortably into running the town until she and Charming announced that she was pregnant. She had found that being the mayor was considerably different and less to her taste than anticipated. With the advent of their second child, she decided to resign her position as mayor and focus on her family. Charming was all smiles as he continued to work at the Sheriff's office with Emma. He was clearly bursting with pride in his family and contentment with the small town life.
With the position of mayor open there began a hard-fought election between Regina and George for the office. Although Regina was still not universally popular in town, her defeat of Cora at risk of her own life had caused many to consider her attempted redemption as legitimate. George campaigned hard against the former Evil Queen, but her experience and clear love of the town helped her to secure the office.
As Emma considered everything that had changed over the last year, she felt a throbbing start at the back of her skull. She was happy for her parents that they were clearly so thrilled at the prospect of the baby. She had moved to an apartment with Henry, who now shared time equally between his two mothers. Spending unrestricted time with her son was the highlight of her life now.
Well that and getting under the skin of the recently re-elected mayor. Over the last six months she had begun to realize that her strong inclination to get a rise out of Regina was less to do with animosity and more to do with a strong attraction she felt. She had developed an almost absurd crush on the mayor. She was certain that the brunette would never return her feelings and so she sought to elicit any kind of a response, even if it was crossed arms and rolled eyes.
With a tiny smirk at the thought, she took her coffee from the table and made sure to take a particularly obnoxious slurp of the tepid liquid. This earned her a pointed glare and a small huff from the mayor. She had to stifle a grin at the predictable response. The mayor cleared her throat and straightened the papers in front of her.
"Our next item on the agenda is the proposed renovation and re-opening of the Storybrooke library. Mr. Gold, the floor is yours to discuss the plans."
Emma tuned out again having no interest in the proposed plans to renovate the library. One of the more interesting developments over the last several months had been the developing dynamic between Mr. Gold and Belle. Despite his clear affection for her, he had continued to practice dark magic to maintain the tenuous control he held over the town. When he had left town for more than a month to find his son he had returned to find that Belle had formed a close relationship with Ruby. It was clear to the town that there was mutual affection between the women, and Ruby had confided to Emma that she had never felt this way before.
Mr. Gold had returned unsuccessful, having found his son who flatly refused to leave his wife and children to resume a relationship with the father who had cast him out years before. When he further discovered that his beloved's attention had shifted toward the young she-wolf, he had made the decision to attempt redemption for himself. He had pushed for the renovation of the library as a gesture to show his love for Belle, even offering to finance a considerable portion of the project himself. She had remained conflicted, feeling that she was obliged to support Gold in his recovery, but reluctant to sacrifice her budding relationship with Ruby.
Emma looked up at the librarian now as Gold yielded the floor to her with a solicitous bow and a smile. She gave him a small smile before catching Ruby's eye in the audience and taking a breath.
"Thank you, Rumple. Through Rumplestiltskin's generosity, we have secured approximately 50% of the money needed to complete the renovations as indicated in his report. In order to raise funds for the remaining portion, we will be holding a gala event in one month's time. Granny has agreed to donate the food for the event so the cost of the tickets and dinner will go directly to the renovation project. In addition, we plan to hold a bachelorette auction to raise additional funds."
At this, Emma sat up straight, her attention finally fully on the meeting.
"Any single ladies willing to participate in the auction should indicate their interest by signing up at the library within the next two weeks. Every participant must provide a biography giving whatever information they wish to have included in their introduction. Participants will be expected to spend one day with the highest bidder. Mr. Gold has agreed to participate as the auctioneer and therefore will be ineligible to bid, but all other citizens above the age of eighteen may participate."
Emma's eyes drifted to Ruby at these words, whose grin had grown decidedly wolfish at the news that her main competitor would be removed as an obstacle. She made a mental note to be generous with her tips when picking up her morning cocoa the next few weeks.
Even as she thought this, it occurred to her "I need to start saving money". A broad grin crept across her face as she began to daydream what she would do with a full day of the mayor to herself. Immediately she began to plot and the rest of the meeting was lost on her. She had glanced up a few times when Regina had noticed her eyes glazing over and pointedly cleared her throat, but the discussion of whether to add a stop sign to Maple Street and whether crossing guards were needed could not compete with the fantasy evolving in her head.
SQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQ SQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQ SQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQ
Later that evening, Emma had pulled out all of her paperwork trying to determine what money she had saved right now. She wanted to ensure that regardless of the competition she was in a prime position to secure her day with Regina. She had paperwork spread all over the table when Henry walked in from having dinner with Regina.
"What's all this stuff?"
"Oh, just trying to figure out how much money I have in savings, whether there is anything I should be cashing in, boring stuff."
"Is everything ok? I mean, we have enough money, right?"
"Yes, of course, Henry, we're fine. I just might want to…um contribute to the library renovations."
"Oh yeah! I'm really excited that the library's going to be open. Mom was telling me about it at dinner. She said that there's going to be a fundraising dinner or something."
"Yep. It's about a month away. Did she say anything else about the dinner?" Emma tried to sound casual. She felt uncomfortable asking Henry for information but she was dying to know if Regina was planning to participate in the auction.
Henry giggled as he said "Yeah, she said that there's going to be a bachelorette auction. She seemed really irritated about it. She said that she thought it was "foolishness" and rolled her eyes a lot."
"Did she say if she was going to participate?" Emma kept her tone even but didn't completely meet Henry's eyes as she said it.
"She said she was going to have to for appearances, but she seemed unhappy about it. Are you going to do it, too?"
Emma had not even thought about that aspect of the auction. She supposed she probably should sign up. It was for a good cause after all.
"Probably so. I suppose I should support the town as the sheriff and all."
"Wait! You said you were planning to contribute to the program. Are you planning to bid?"
Emma felt a flush spreading up her neck and her ears reddened as she replied, "I hadn't really given it much thought."
Henry was far too observant a child to buy Emma's line. "You are! Who are you planning to bid on? Is it Ruby? You know she's with Belle, right?"
Emma was baffled how Henry seemed to always know the gossip of the town and gaped before replying, "No, of course not, Ruby is my friend. I think she is planning on bidding herself."
"Well, who else then? Not Grandma because that would be weird. And she's not single anyway. Wait! Are you going to bid on my mom?!"
Emma's face was bright red now and she could not meet Henry's eye as she mumbled, "I don't know…I thought maybe…not sure."
"You totally should! What would you do during your day, then? Can I help? We can call it Operation Stallion, because she loves horses, and…"
"Whoa, slow down, kid. I think you might be jumping the gun a bit here. I'm not sure if I have enough money, and maybe she won't sign up, or…"
"Of course you'll have enough money! I have my lawn-mowing savings and we can cook instead of eating at Granny's and…"
"Henry, I don't want you to spend your money on this. Why is this so important anyway?"
Henry rolled his eyes in a way that clearly communicated Duh before continuing "Because Emma, you've liked her forever and this is your chance."
Emma could only sputter at this. "I have not. Why would you even think that?"
"It's so obvious. You always make a point to see her and try to make her laugh or roll her eyes or something. And you always look at her when she's not looking. And you always ask about her. And you always defend her when people in town are mean about the stuff she did in the past."
"Wow. I um…I didn't think it was so obvious."
"Well, I'm sure it's not to everyone, but nobody is around the two of you together as much as me" Henry added sagely.
Slightly mollified, Emma nodded. "Well, I have some money in savings. I have to make sure that whatever I end up bidding leaves enough to plan a really special day, though." Deciding that in planning the day she could probably use Henry's assistance she said "Operation Stallion, huh? I think we're a go" with a wink.
"Great! Now, I know that you need to save money, but the first thing we need to think about is getting you a new dress."
"A dress?! Henry, like I said, who knows if this plan will even work."
"Yeah, but you're going to need a fancy dress for the dinner. After all, you'll need to look amazing to get people to bid for you, too."
Emma sighed as she realized he was right and estimated the damage this would do to her budget.
"Hey, I know! Let's talk to Grandma. She knows a lot about making dresses and she might be able to help."
"You're right kid. But let's keep Operation Stallion between us for now. Strictly need to know."
He solemnly extended his pinky and linked it with hers in a sincere vow.
"Meanwhile, I'll start gathering intel. We'll need to know exactly how to approach this so that she won't be able to resist you. We have to plan the perfect day for when you win."
Emma was unsure how to react to Henry's clear enthusiasm for the project. Still, his face had lit up at the idea, and he was already pulling out a notebook to start scheming. She couldn't help the indulgent grin that lifted the corners of her mouth. And after all, perhaps his assistance would be needed if she were to truly knock the mayor's socks off.
As she pushed aside the paperwork and went into the kitchen to start dinner, she allowed her mind to drift back to the image of sharing an intimate dinner with the mayor and seeing that beautiful smile directed at her.