SQ prompt. - AU
It's christmas or an aniversary. Emma's parents don't live in Storybrooke, and one of them is sick so Emma has be to away. She writes to Regina saying how much she misses them and such. Henry gets the mail and says its from Emma and gets all excited.

„Regina? Can you hear me?"

"Emma? Where are you?" Regina frowned. She could hardly hear Emma, there was some cracking and rustling in the phone.

"I'm in the car…"

"Are you driving and phoning?!" Regina stood up from her chair as it made her mad.

"I have you on speaker, don't worry. Listen, something happened… my mom is in a hospital. She fell and broke her leg and arm and they want her to stay there for a couple of days because it's somehow serious, I don't know, David wasn't able to explain it clearly to me. Anyway, dad wants to be there with her but doesn't want Neal to be around in the hospital so much and also needs help to take care of him…" Emma made a pause, to take a breath and also because she wasn't very happy with what she was about to say.

"And?" Regina was getting impatient as she scented where this was heading to.

"And they asked me to come and help… I'm sorry, Regina, I know we had plans for your birthday and I know how important this was for you and I promise we're gonna celebrate as soon as I get back…" Emma felt really bad about leaving Regina alone. They spent really long time talking about the birthday. At first Regina didn't even want to hear about it, refusing to even hear a word like "birthday", "party" or "celebrate" but Emma and Henry managed to talk her into a small family celebration, just the three of them. Henry and Emma agreed that they want to show Regina how much they love her and how important she is to them. It was supposed to be the brunette's first birthday she would actually celebrate since the two women got together.

"It's fine, really. I didn't want to celebrate anything anyway, you know that."

"Yeah, at first, but you finally agreed after all those year and we promised you a day you won't forget…"

"I guess it's just supposed to be that way. Really, Emma, don't worry about it. Call me when you get there and when you know something? I don't want you to have an accident."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too. Say my best wishes to your mother."

"Will do. Bye." Emma pressed the button to end the call and sighed. She knew Regina wasn't as cool about it as she claimed to be. She hated being away from Regina for few hours when one of them got stuck at work and being away from her for days seemed impossible. But she had to help her dad with her baby brother. Although he wasn't a baby anymore, he was 3 years old already.

Regina put the phone down and stared at the papers on her table for a while. Yes, it was true that she didn't want to celebrate anything. Her age was not something that should be celebrated. And she still believed that. But she was excited about the day Henry and Emma planed for her. Well, it was a secret but she knew they were planning something. She just wanted to spend a special day with them because they made her feel loved and wanted. And that is something she didn't feel in ages.

She shook her head when she felt her eyes were wet.

This is not reasonable behaviour!

Emma got to the hospital late in the afternoon that day. She found the right room quickly and burst in.

"Mom! Are you okay?" She stopped in the door as she saw her. She really had to suppress a laugh. Snow was lying in the bed with her left leg and right arm hang up.

Neal was sitting on the bed, cuddled under Snow's healthy arm. David was standing beside, clearly relieved as he saw Emma finally arriving.

"Emma!" Neal screamed enthusiastically and tried to climb down the bed. He loved his big sister and was always happy to see her, as much as Emma was happy to see him.

She picked him up and held him in her arms, placing a kiss to his hair.

"Mommy is ill!" He was pointing at Snow with a serious face.

"I was doing Easter decoration in the classroom and I fell down. But I'm fine." Snow explained.

"You are not fine, if you would be fine, you wouldn't be in the hospital." David seemed really concerned about her.

"How did you manage to break your leg and your arm?" Emma didn't pretend anything anymore and was smiling openly.

"I don't know. I kind of hit a table as I was falling…?"

"Daddy, I'm hungry!" Neal was already bored and tired, as he had to be there the whole afternoon.

"I'll take you home and get you some dinner, okay?" Emma brushed his hair and smiled at him.

"Yes! Are you going to stay with us, Emma?" His big eyes were staring at her, hoping.

"Yeah, until your mom gets better."

"Thank you, for doing this, Emma. We know you had plans with Regina and I'm really sorry…"

"Is auntie Regina here too?" Neal's eyes got even wider with excitement.

"No, sweetheart, she's not but we can call her later if you want to.

"Hurray!"

"Dad, it's fine. Don't worry. Come on, Neal, let's go."

After they got home, they had dinner together. Emma even managed to bath him, promising him to call Regina afterwards.

She sent Henry a text, asking him to be online so they could all skype.

When Neal was finally in bed, she climbed to him with the laptop, wrapped him in the blanket and pulled him closer to her.

"Auntie Regina! Hi!" Neal got so excited that he almost knocked the laptop over.

"Whoa, Neal, calm down!" Fortunately, Emma caught it in the last second.

"Hi, Neal, how are you? Are you being good?" Regina smiled at him, happy to see him too. Although he was Snow's son, she had a weak spot in her heart for him and really loved him. "Hi, Emma, how are you?"

"I'm tired because of this little monster here," Emma tickled Neal a bit, "but fine. How are you? I hope you're fine?!" Emma looked at her with a concern, trying to read something from Regina's eyes through the computer screen.

"Is Henry there?" Neal jumped on his bed.

"Yes, sweetheart, he's right here. Henry? Come here, please, Neal wants to say hi."

Henry appeared behind his mom, waving at his uncle.

"Hey, big boy!"

The women let the boys chat for a while, smiling at each other. Henry noticed that soon and looked at the watch on the wall.

"Hm, Neal, I think you should go sleep now, it's late…"

"No! I don't want to!"

"Henry is right, sweetheart, it's been a long day!" Regina tried too, as Emma was busy holding the laptop in place.

Henry yawned.

"See, I'm also going to bed!"

"Okay…" Neal pulled a sad face.

"Emma, you should go to bed as well, you look tired."

"No way, we haven't even had a chance to talk yet!" Emma protested.

"It's okay, honey, I know you are busy, just call me when you can, okay?" Regina smiled.

"Fine. Neal, say goodnight to Regina and Henry."

"Goodnight, Regina, goodnight, Henry, I love you!" Neal was waving with both of his hands furiously.

"Love you too, sweetheart!" Regina sent him a kiss and then turned around to the blonde. "Love you, Emma."

"Love you too. Henry, I love you as well!" Emma screamed at Henry, who was already gone.

Emma was so tired that she fell asleep in Neal's bed.

David sent her a message asking how it was going and telling her that he decided to stay in the hospital so he could help Snow with eating and all those things.

The next day has been so busy that Emma had no time to have a proper phone call with her girlfriend. But she managed to tire her little brother so much that he agreed to go to sleep after lunch. Okay, she might have said that otherwise they won't go to see his parents but it worked.

She cleaned all the dishes and sat at the table. Phone calls are boring. She wanted to do something special when she had to be away for so long. A letter would be great. It didn't take her long to write it.

It was Friday afternoon and Regina's birthday was tomorrow. The chance that she would get the letter would she send it per post wasn't very high. She made sure Neal was still sleeping because her parents didn't want them to use magic around him.

Emma closed her eyes and focused all her thoughts on one thing. After a minute, a dove appeared on the table.

"Well, hello, beautiful, I have an important task for you."

"Mom? There's a pigeon at the kitchen window and it looks like… it is trying to say something?" There wasn't probably anything that could surprise him in this town but if he learned something, then not to touch anything unless he's really sure it can't hurt him.

Regina came to the kitchen curiously.

"It's not a pigeon, Henry, it's a dove. And it carries a message." She opened the window and let the bird sit on her hand.

"Like when you send me the raven?"

"Yes."

"Of course… so, who's this one from?" He tried to look over her shoulder.

Regina took the roll of paper and let the dove down on the window sill.

"It's from Emma… Henry, can you please put some water in a bowl for the dove?"

"Sure. What is she writing?"

"I don't know yet."

Regina went to the table to sit down. She opened the letter and read.

Hello, Regina!

Since things have been kind of hectic with Neal and I don't have so much time I would love to have to call you, I decided to write you a letter.

Once again, I apologize for not being with you. As much as I love Neal and spending time with him, I would much rather be with you these days. I know you were looking forward to your birthday too, that it's not just me and Henry, although I know you're not going to admit it any time soon. But believe me, I would much rather hold you in my arms, squeeze you until you could not breath and shower you with kisses.

Oh how much I miss kissing you! I miss your soft lips on mine, on my skin, your hands running hungrily all over my body, I miss your moans. I miss holding you when falling asleep, I miss feeling you when I wake up.

I know it's been just a day but you got under my skin, you know.

I guess I should keep this short so the poor dove can carry it…

I know you don't like me talking about your birthday but believe me, I can't see you aging. You haven't really changed much since I know you. If something has changed about you, then it's only that you've became more and more beautiful. So please, don't feel sad about it, about anything, promise?

Unfortunately, I won't probably be able to be home by tomorrow but I don't want you to be alone. You're gonna spend the day with Henry, okay? He won't mind, I already checked. And I'm gonna ask David to be with Neal in the afternoon or in the evening so we could skype, okay?

Remember that I love you! Kisses!

Emma

P.S. You can be proud of me that I managed to do the dove spell!

Henry was watching his mom's face as it was changing with emotions. He knew she was happy. She was smiling.

"Mom, are you crying? Everything is fine, right?" He sat on the chair next to hers.

Regina whipped her tears away.

"Yes, sweetheart, everything is fine. Your mother can be romantic… In her own way."

"I can see… A dove is so much cooler than a simple letter! But I think a raven is better." He smirked at her and laughed.

"Come here," she hugged him firmly, "a dove is pure. A raven is… well, dark."

Emma brought Neal to the hospital. She was lost in her thoughts. She got an idea and was curious what her parents will think about it.

After he told his parents everything that happened since they left yesterday, Emma pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"Neal, what about you play a game on my phone while I talk to mom and dad?"

"Okay."

"Did something happen?" Snow's face was frowned with concern.

"No, relax. I was just thinking… it's just a suggestion, okay… You are both here in the hospital and I'm with Neal alone and even when they let you go home, you're still gonna need David's help so you won't have so much time for Neal… And you know how important it was for me to be with Regina on her birthday, for us, as a… as a family… So… I was thinking… would you mind if I would take Neal to Storybrooke? Just for the weekend… Or for how much time you would need…"

David looked at his wife and they both smiled. They both saw the same. They saw their daughter, who was finally happy. They saw a woman who found herself and also her happiness and wanted nothing else than to be with her own family on that day. And it was true that David won't be able to spend the time that would be needed with Neal and take care of Mary Margaret.

It took just few seconds but it was taking too long for Emma's taste. She has just realised in that moment, when she was waiting for the answer, how important it was for her to spend the weekend or the day with Regina, with her family. And the thought that it might not be possible hurt her.

"Neal, baby, come here please." Snow asked her son. He tried to climb up the bed but David had to help him.

Snow held him close with her healthy arm.

"Sweetheart, would you like to go with Emma to Storybrooke and spend few days with her, Regina and Henry?"

"Yes! Please, yes!

"So here's your answer," Snow smiled at her daughter.

"Thanks," Emma smiled and looked down to hide her face.

"We want you to be happy," David pulled her closer in a quick hug and kissed her into her hair.

"Can we go now?" Neal looked with his big eyes at Emma.

"No, we're going tomorrow morning. We need to pack you some things."

They sat out on a journey right after their breakfast. Emma wanted to be there as soon as possible. Possibly even before Regina and Henry's breakfast, as Neal was up very early today but she didn't insisted on it.

After an hour and half they finally stopped in the drive way. Before Emma helped Neal out of the car, she winked at him conspiratorially.

"We are going to be as quiet as possible, okay? Auntie Regina doesn't know we're coming, it's a surprise. She might even be still sleeping. Do you understand?"

Neal nodded excitedly. He was always in as something was a surprise. Emma opened the door silently. A smell hit their noses immediately.

"Is auntie making pancakes?"

"I don't know, baby, let's find out." Emma took his hand in hers and led him into the kitchen. Instead of Regina, there was Henry making breakfast.

"Henry!" Neal pulled his hand out of Emma's and ran towards his nephew.

"Neal! Mom?! What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too, kid," Emma chuckled. "I can see you're a good boy. Thanks, Henry." Emma smiled at him thankfully.

"No problem," he smiled back, hugging Neal.

"Is Regina still sleeping?"

"I guess so."

"Okay, I'll go and see. Don't burn the pancakes!" She teased him before she turned around to leave the kitchen.

"Can I go with you?" Neal hurried after her, catching her hand.

Emma smiled and sighed.

"Sure, baby boy, but remember what we said, okay? We need to be quiet."

Emma had to suppress her laugh when she was watching Neal how hard he was trying to be quiet.

"Ready?" Emma asked with her hand on the door knob. Her brother nodded and she opened the door carefully.

Regina was still lying in her bed but she wasn't sleeping anymore. As soon as Emma opened the door, Neal forgot everything about being quiet and just ran to the bed and jumped up.

"Auntie Regina! Auntie Regina! It's time to get up!"

Regina was sitting in a second, looking unbelievably at Neal and at Emma.

Emma reached the bed, smiling and sat at the edge.

"Good morning, birthday girl," she leaned closer and kissed the brunette on her lips. She found her hand and squeezed it. It was a long kiss, but they were just enjoying the touch, not really kissing.

Neal was watching them with a smile but he found it too long.

"I want a kiss too!"

They broke the kiss with a smile. Both turned to Neal, kissing him each on one cheek.

Regina spread her arms around them and pulled them closer.

"Sorry to interrupt your hugging session but the pancakes are ready." Henry was leaning against the door frame, watching them with a smile.

"Come here, sweetheart," Regina moved a bit to make place for her son. "Did you know about this?"

"I think I knew as much as you, mom." Henry chuckled.

"You didn't have to make breakfast."

"I wanted to. Happy birthday, mom!" Henry kissed her on her cheek and hugged her. They became a hugging mess and they all fell behind on the bed, laughing.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Regina whispered towards Henry.

Emma looked at Regina. She could see tears in her eyes. But those were tears of joy. She lied down right next to her and turned her head to look at the woman she loved.

"Regina?" She whispered. "I love you."