Regina examined her lover's face—the beautiful blonde hair, the hard, defiant jaw—everything about this woman felt right to Regina, and it was hard to believe how innocent and docile she appeared sleeping next to her in bed. Regina turned over to look out the window of her room—their room. Emma had been living at the mayor's mansion for several months now, but sometimes it took some reminding for Regina to realize she was hers, and vice versa—that they were truly together, and that it wasn't all some fleeting dream.
The brunette heard some rustling behind her, and then Emma's chin rested on top of her shoulder. "Good morning, dear," Regina greeted, but Emma's attention was focused beyond her.
Regina followed her gaze as Emma's lips pulled into a wide, child-like smile. "Snow!" she exclaimed happily.
"Really, dear, you would think you'd never seen a snowfall before in your life," Regina rolled her eyes, but smiled good-naturedly anyway.
Emma gave her a funny look, and then grinned evilly, "Maybe, but I've never experienced both the beauty of snow and your beauty at the same time."
Regina rolled her eyes once more, but then turned to meet Emma's lips in a chaste kiss. "Quite the romantic this morning, aren't we?"
At that moment, Henry bounded into their room before jumping on the bed a little too eagerly. "Mom! Emma! Did you SEE?! Can I go outside? Pleeeease?"
"Sure, kid—" Emma started before Regina cut her off.
"… AFTER you eat breakfast with us and dress in your warmest clothes. Wouldn't want to catch a cold and have to stay home from school Monday, would we?" Regina teased, before tickling her son.
"Hey!" Henry yelled, before he leapt off the bed and ran for the stairs.
"Well!" Emma considered, "I suppose we better hurry downstairs before he burns the place down trying to hurry breakfast along!"
Regina smirked, "Oh, my dear, he comes by THAT trait most honestly."
It was Emma's turn to roll her eyes as she slipped out the door in pajama pants and a tank top. Regina was right behind her, tightening the sash on her robe over her deep purple nightgown.
Henry was halfway through making a mess as powdered pancake mix settled over the countertop, on the floor—really anywhere BUT in the bowl, which it appeared was his original goal. Emma settled into a bar stool to take in the scene in front of her, while Regina cleared her throat behind Henry. He whipped around fast—too fast—with a guilty look on his face as some of the powder flew to hit Regina in the face.
Emma tried—unsuccessfully—to stifle a giggle, as Regina arched an eyebrow. "Oh, so we're playing it THAT way, are we?" She scooped up a handful of powder from the counter and tossed it back Henry's way.
He shrieked, before running around the counter to use Emma as a shield. "Nuh, uh, kid. You get yourself into these things." But before she could disentangle herself, Regina hit HER with some of the mix as well. "Oh it's on!"
Thirty minutes later, the kitchen covered in a layer of white, Henry, Regina, and Emma were settled around the dining room table to enjoy a breakfast of toast and bacon, as all of the pancake mix had been used that morning for other purposes.
Henry hurried through his meal, and then rushed upstairs to get changed. Emma and Regina followed soon after, but not before Regina gave a long glance toward her now imperfect kitchen. Emma approached from behind, wrapping her arms around the brunette's waist before planting a kiss on her cheek. "Come on, we can worry about that later."
Regina smiled and followed Emma up the staircase to their room.
Henry was out the back door before either of the women could even start undressing. Emma, first of the two ready, as always, watched out their bedroom window as Henry built himself a fort in the back yard.
"Alright, let's head out!" Regina said brightly. Emma raced her down the stairs.
SPLAT! The second Emma exited the house, she was hit square in the chest with a snowball. She grinned in the direction of Henry's fort. "THIS again, huh kid? Are you forgetting how this morning went?"
"What are you talking about? I DOMINATED the pancake war!" He hit her with another snowball. Regina was cowering behind Emma in an effort to avoid getting hit herself. "Come on, mom! I'm not going to hit you! We take Emma together!"
Regina looked pleased, as she always did, when her son called her 'mom.' It was hard to believe several months ago that that was something she could only hope for. And if she needed any encouragement to decide which member of her family to side with, Emma hitting her then in the shoulder with a snowball was all it took. She ran to Henry's fort, and hid behind it with her son, grateful then that he'd gotten a head start outside.
"Hey, no fair! I don't have anything to hide behind!" Emma complained even as she launched a snowball that took out a small chunk of the fort.
"All the better to hit you, my dear," Regina cackled evilly as her own snowball connected with Emma's stomach.
Emma shrieked, then ran to take cover behind Regina's apple tree.
"Hey! Who says you can use my property as a shield?" Regina smirked, as she threw a snowball that hit the trunk.
"I only wish now I hadn't taken out half of it!" Emma taunted, sticking her head out to gauge Regina's reaction. Henry's snowball hit her shoulder while she was exposed, and Emma stuck her tongue out at him before returning to the cover of the apple tree.
Many snowmen, snow angels, and stolen kisses under the apple tree later, Regina and Emma were ready to go inside. Henry insisted on staying out a little while longer, but Regina confined him to only thirty more minutes, reminding him, "We wouldn't want you to stay out too long and get sick."
After a couple of hot showers, Regina made both her and Emma some hot cocoa. They snuggled together on the couch as Emma sipped the cocoa thoughtfully. It had cinnamon in it—her favorite—but also a hint of something else. Apples?
She snuggled in closer to Regina as she savored her new favorite flavor.