Swan Queen Week Summer 2016
Day 8 – Coming Out
'Coming out' to their friends and family had never really been high on their to-do list, at least not in the traditional sense. Neither of them had wanted it to be a big deal and, after half a year of keeping their relationship a secret (except from Henry, because their son had figured them out from the get-go and just rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world because really, they lived together like the world's gayest gal pals), they figured it was about time to stop actively hiding it.
"We don't have to tell anyone anything," Regina offered. "We just need to stop hiding it."
"Yeah, okay," Emma agreed readily, relieved that her partner needed no fanfare. "I really didn't want to have to announce it to my parents. They're like your traditional, heteronormative fairytale couple, I'm not sure how that conversation would've gone."
"To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if your mother had pride flags and rainbow stickers stashed away for you," Regina said, dryly. Her girlfriend squinted at her. "What? You're not exactly the straightest."
"I know you know I'm not straight, but come on!" Emma gestured at her own body, exasperated. "I'm a dude magnet."
"You're also the only woman I've ever met who's stood in my backyard in jeans and a wifebeater and wielding a chainsaw."
"What else am I supposed to wear when I'm using a chainsaw?"
"You always wear jeans and wifebeaters… And plaid. And leather jackets. And belts..."
"It's spunky!"
"And so, so gay, dear."
"Hey, I know plenty of straight women who wear the same thing."
"I'm sure they slowly drag their gazes up and down each other's bodies in an entirely platonic way, too."
"I do not-"
"Oh, please. I knew you were gay the first moment I met you."
"What? No you didn't."
"Hi," Regina mimicked with a shy, awkward little quirk of a smile, darting out her tongue to wet her lips, her gaze pausing momentarily on Emma's chest before skittering up to meet her eyes. The blonde scowled, blushing.
"I wasn't that obvious. Hell, you were the one gawking at me like you'd just seen a total babe."
"I won't deny it," Regina said with a shrug and a smirk. "I did see a total babe. But then Henry introduced you as his 'real' mother and then I had more important things to worry about."
"Like how to get me to taste your forbidden fruit?" Emma wiggled her eyebrows.
"I thought we agreed to never mention that again," the brunette grumbled, pink dusting her cheeks.
"You were hot even when you were trying to kill me," the blonde sing-songed, skipping her way towards the front door and off to work. Regina threw her hands up in exasperation.
"I was trying to put you in an eternal sleep! There's a difference!"
The first thing they did differently that day was to spend their lunch break together without an excuse. Regina arrived at the station at exactly noon, lunch in hand and coffees in a tray, handing one off to David as she passed his desk.
"Thanks, Regina." He looked pleasantly surprised, even more so when she tossed a paper bag at him and he discovered a bear claw inside. Then she strolled into Emma's office, pulled a chair up next to her, and settled in comfortably to eat together. David had smiled and waved at them through the glass divider but otherwise went back to his own paperwork, oblivious.
"Well, this is nicer than hiding in your office and telling your secretary we're discussing business," Emma said after a moment, grinning into her grilled cheese sandwich. Regina nodded her agreement, stealing a fry from the blonde's takeout container.
"Indeed."
That afternoon, they went to pick up Henry from school together, walking arm-in-arm since it was warm and sunny out. No one looked twice at them, and Archie greeted them from across the street in the same manner he always did, waving and chirping out a cheery "hello!" as he walked Pongo in the opposite direction.
"Does this look too gal-pally?" Emma asked, baffled. "Should we hold hands instead?"
"We're not making an effort to out ourselves, dear," Regina reminded her, lifting a brow. "Besides, I like this. You would rather hold hands like a couple of teenagers?"
"True." Emma rolled her eyes fondly, squeezing Regina's arm against her side and loving her close proximity. When Henry finally emerged from the crowd of children exiting the school and saw his mothers arm in arm, his face lit up.
"It's not a secret anymore?" he asked, beaming, because this has been what he'd wanted ever since he found out they were together. The Savior and the Queen, an epic tale of romance for the ages. He intended to write a book about it one day.
"It's not a secret anymore," Emma confirmed with a grin, slinging her arm around Regina's shoulder. "The next time White Shirt so much as glances at Regina, I'm telling him off." Robin had developed some sort of obsession with white polo shirts when he finally decided to dress like a normal person instead of a forest thief, and Emma took every chance she could get to mock him for it, renaming him 'White Shirt' because he wasn't important enough for her to remember his real name.
"Emma," Regina scolded softly, though she couldn't keep the amusement from her eyes. She and Robin had a friendly enough relationship now, but things had been rough between them when they'd first decided to break up the year prior, Regina having realized she deserved more than being his second choice while he bounced indecisively between her and Marian. (And when she became his default choice because they'd discovered Marian was actually Zelena in disguise, well… Emma had talked some sense into her that night, which consisted of wine and tears and a few heartfelt confessions.)
"Ma's right," Henry said, shoving himself between them so that he could have a mom on each arm while they walked home together. "He keeps looking at you like he's waiting for you to love him again. Maybe now he'll finally leave you alone."
"I never loved him in the first place," Regina corrected, frowning. "I loved the idea of him; of having a soul mate who had to love me, flaws and all. Tinkerbell's pixie dust could have led me to Sneezy and I would have dated him for even a chance at happiness. I'm just glad I know better than to let fate make decisions for me now."
"That's the best part about happy endings," Emma said, smiling softly at her from over Henry's head (and their little boy was starting to grow too tall for her liking, seriously.) "It's not up to fate. We get to pick our own."
They stopped by Granny's to relax and chat over coffee and hot cocoa, Emma's arm slung across the back of the booth and over Regina's shoulders. Ruby brought over their drinks as per usual and Granny treated them each to freshly baked cinnamon buns, neither Lucas women paying much attention to their position.
"Anything new, Rubes?" Emma asked when the waitress came by with their bill. Ruby quirked a brow at her.
"Um, no?"
Regina elbowed Emma, paying the bill and then ushering Henry out the door. The blonde looked a little disappointed as they walked home together.
"How is no one noticing?"
"We didn't want this to be a big deal, remember, Emma? Stop trying to make it a big deal."
Emma just grumbled something under her breath, pouting and huffing until her girlfriend kissed away her frowns. It was a Friday afternoon so once they got home, they settled into an easy routine. Regina disappeared into her office to get through some paperwork while Emma started a load of laundry and Henry did his homework at the dining table. By the time Regina reemerged and was ready to get started on dinner, Emma was sprawled out on the couch watching TV with Henry cross-legged by her feet and playing a game on his cellphone.
"Hey, my parents invited us over for dinner," said Emma, craning her head around as the brunette padded into the living room. "Mary Margaret learned a new recipe and wants to test it on us, apparently."
Regina scrunched her nose adorably. "If I get food poisoning, you're grounded for a week."
"A week?" Emma squeaked. "That's too long!"
It took Henry a moment to understand what his Ma being "grounded" entailed, at which point he glared at them both in utter disgust. "Gross, moms. You may as well invite Archie to live with us, 'cause I'll be needing therapy forever at this rate."
"Oh, shush and go get changed, kid."
Henry rolled his eyes at them both and puttered off to swap his old band T-shirt for a button-down while Emma dragged herself up off the couch and Regina went to retrieve her purse.
"Think my parents will notice if I kiss your cheek at dinner?"
"Stop it," Regina scolded lightly, tapping Emma's nose and sauntering off when the blonde tried leaning in for a playful kiss.
Whatever Emma had hoped for at dinner in the Charming loft, it didn't happen. They'd shown up arm in arm, Henry bouncing next to them with a shit-eating grin on his face. Emma had helped Regina out of her coat, using it as an excuse to cuddle her briefly from behind. Mary Margaret just smiled obliviously and made a point of showing them her new coat hanger by the door, something Gepeto had carved for them, apparently.
They sat close together at dinner, chairs scooted so close that their thighs brushed. Emma laced her fingers with Regina's on the table every so often but the brunette kept shaking her off somewhat impatiently, requiring use of both her hands because Mary Margaret had somehow messed up at making roasted chicken and she had to literally saw apart the dry meat with a carving knife. (For Emma's sake, she at least forced a smile and lied about it being tasty.)
Dessert was far more palatable simply because Regina had provided it, having brought over a blueberry cobbler she'd made the night before, paired with some vanilla bean ice cream Henry had found in the freezer.
"This is amazing, Regina," Mary Margaret sighed happily, likely the biggest sweet tooth in the room. David rubbed his stomach with a contented smile as Regina leaned back against Emma's arm, the group having relocated to the couches in the living room. Henry had long since devoured his dessert and now lay prone on the carpet, belly full and eyes closed.
"Glad you like it, dear." Regina stood, collecting their empty bowls and moving towards the kitchen.
"Oh! Let me get those, you're our guest."
"Nonsense. You made a… wonderful dinner. The least we can do is wash up the dishes. Emma, come along."
The blonde followed dutifully, trailing after her girlfriend as the brunette stationed herself in front of the sink and began washing, delegating Emma to drying duty. To her mild annoyance, Emma hugged her from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder and pressing their bodies together.
"You're trying too hard, darling."
"I'm not doing anything but hugging my wonderful girlfriend," Emma said innocently, turning her head to pepper soft kisses against Regina's jaw and neck. The brunette tried her best to ignore her and focus on cleaning cutlery. That effort went to waste when a warm hand slipped under her shirt to stroke her bare stomach.
"Emma," she warned.
"They can't see us from this angle."
"We're still in the same room."
"Live a little, babe."
The hand snuck higher until questing fingers stroked the underside of Regina's breasts, teasing her through the thin, lacy material. Regina couldn't stop the soft moan from escaping, nearly losing her grip on a glass bowl.
"Emma Swan!" Mary Margaret scolded, causing Regina to jolt and turn to stone in her girlfriend's arms. Emma's reaction was delayed, turning to glance at where her parents stood nearby before slowly - and terribly obviously - removing her hand from beneath Regina's clothes. "Not in my kitchen! And especially not when Regina's washing dishes. I don't want her dropping my new glass set. Those are expensive, you know."
Emma's mouth dropped. Regina tried to hide her face against the blonde's shoulder.
"You're not… Why aren't you surprised?"
"Surprised about what?"
"Me and Regina!"
"Stop talking, Miss Swan," Regina groaned, muffled against her shoulder.
"Why would we be surprised?" Mary Margaret scrunched her eyebrows as David cocked his head. "We already know you're together."
"What? But… We didn't… How?!"
Her parents looked terribly confused at that, even as Henry burst out laughing from where he still lay on the living room carpet.
"Everyone knows you're together," said David. "It was really obvious."
Mary Margaret nodded in agreement. "We just assumed you weren't into PDA."
"I'm so confused," Emma muttered, face contorted. Her brunette girlfriend sighed and slipped past the Charmings to the living room.
"Henry, get up. It's time to go."
The pre-teen groaned and struggled to his feet, waddling for the door as Emma stood facing off against her parents.
"You knew the whole time?"
"Yes, Emma," Snow said patiently as if her daughter were a child. "The whole town has known for months. It was obvious."
"We figured you didn't want anyone making a big deal out of it," David added.
"Which is what we wanted when we decided to stop hiding it today," Regina said, giving her partner a pointed look that had Emma blushing. "Let's go home, Emma. Goodnight, Snow, David."
"Night Regina," the Charmings parroted cheerfully, watching as the brunette dragged her girlfriend and son from the loft. Emma made a face the entire way down the stairs.
"I can't believe everyone knew."
"Let it go, darling. There was no big fanfare. You got what you asked for."
Emma huffed something unintelligible under her breath as they stepped out onto the street and towards the Mercedes parked by the sidewalk. Before they could get in, a window a few floors up popped open and Mary Margaret stuck her head out.
"Emma, wait!"
"What?" The blonde lifted her face to the window, only to get attacked by a flurry of rainbow confetti. Regina and Henry jumped away laughing while Emma sputtered and flailed, getting tiny bits of confetti everywhere. "Mom!"
"What? You clearly wanted someone to make a big deal out of it, so there you go. I've got some unicorn stickers and rainbow pom-poms stashed somewhere too. Should I throw those down on you?"
"Don't!" Emma shouted, but she was grinning and laughing, trying to shake confetti out of her clothes and hair. Her mother waved them off with a self-satisfied smirk and the blonde was still grinning as they got into the car and headed home, her hand laced with Regina's free one.
"Rainbow confetti," Regina finally said with a roll of her eyes and a little shake of her head. Emma snickered and lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles.
"Alright, I admit, it was nice. I'd always hoped for something silly like that, when I was younger and imagined coming out to my birth parents, introducing them to my imaginary girlfriend. I always wanted them to accept my version of a happy ending."
"Your version of a happy ending, huh?" Regina rolled to a stop at a red light, glancing over with a soft smile she only ever reserved for her girlfriend. Emma beamed and leaned over, brushing their noses together.
"Yup. You and Henry, my happily ever after."
"The light turned green," said Henry. Regina and Emma kissed regardless, long and slow and sweet. "Mom, the light is green. Moms. Hello? Moms! Ugh."
Hello, dears! I just wanted to say thank you to those of you lovely people who have stuck with me for all eight prompts of Summer 2016's Swan Queen Week! (I'm sorry this last prompt is so late, but if it's any excuse, I was working on a film all day with Idina Menzel and didn't have time to do anything other than try to keep my cool while fangirling on the inside. xD) Anyway, I just wanted to convey my appreciation for my readers and followers, you guys are the best and I promise I'll get right back to work on all your favourites as soon as possible! (I'm especially looking at you, you wonderful rabid fans of Touch&See and 1976. ;P)
Stay regal, darlings! I'll see you soon! -Nikki