Emma and Regina had been dating for a while now. The entire town was still too afraid of the former mayor to say much about it, but Charming and Snow were immediate family, and one of them would not have it.
"How many times do I have to say this? I'm telling you, Snow, she's using her! She's... turning her away from us! It doesn't feel right. We need to stop it!" Charming was pacing the floor of the apartment.
"Charming, just let it be. You can storm up to her and try to convince her not to love our daughter, but I, we, have more pressing matters to attend to." Snow was holding baby Neal, rocking him to sleep.
"I just... I can't let it go. Something is not fitting in." Charming stopped his pacing and stalked upstairs.
Snow sighed. He hardly ever got mad like this, and she had about had enough of it. If she couldn't convince him to let it go with her words, then she would have to go to Plan B.
She looked down at baby Neal, "Oh, please, let this work."
Sitting on the couch in the living room, Emma was wondering how on Earth Regina could cook so well. In the kitchen, she was a flurry of spatulas and cooking grease, her tan cheeks flushed slightly red. It was the only time (besides their cuddly moments) Emma could ever see her hair at a not-perfect-state. Emma had insisted on ordering something, or making a stop in the frozen-food aisle for the fiftieth time since they had been dating, and, for the fiftieth time, Regina had refused and cooked something anyway. It wasn't like Emma was complaining or anything, but sometimes she just wanted to help out and throw some frozen stuff in the oven.
By the time Regina was finished, Emma was nodding off slightly, constantly shaking her head to ward off sleep.
"Hey, Emma," Regina was swatting her knee with a red hot-pad, "it's ready."
Emma woke and looked up, kicking herself for falling asleep again. She was always unconscious when Regina finished cooking. "Oh, sorry, 'Gina," she yawned, stretching toward the brunette.
Regina stepped back, turning around and heading toward the kitchen, "Come on, Miss Swan, you won't want to be empty-stomached tonight." she sing-songed.
Emma crawled off the couch slowly, making her way toward the dining table, "Can't we just eat this on the couch?" she asked, knowing the answer would be no. Emma had already asked this question a hundred times.
"Of course not. Have you looked at your eating habits lately? You'd stain the velvet." Regina said, rolling her eyes. Even though Regina was no longer the Evil Queen, she still had some characteristics left over. The eye-rolling, for one, never went away.
Emma sat at the table, shaking the last of sleep off. Regina brought in a steaming tray of lasagna, and a side of salad, "Help yourself, dear," she said, untying her apron and hanging it on a hook in the kitchen before plopping on a chair herself.
Before Emma had even had her first bite, the doorbell rang.
"Well, who the hell had the nerve to come here at this time of night..." Regina muttered, frustrated at the timing of the visit. She got up, tossing her napkin on the table, and walked over to the door.
Emma heard the sigh of Regina at the door, "Well, come in then, if you insist."
Snow came in and sat down in an empty chair, "Hey, Emma," she said, shifting baby Neal in her arms.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" Emma set down her fork after attempting to eat again.
"It's really nothing, I just have to ask you about something. You have to help me convince Charming that Regina's not manipulating you." Snow said, nervously looking around the room.
"Who am I manipulating?" Regina came in after shutting and locking the door.
"Emma," Snow replied.
"Well, that good-for-nothing-Charming can shove it up-"
"'Gina, it's okay. Just forget that." Emma could tell Regina was ready to blow someone's head off after being interrupted from dinner and accused of manipulating her girlfriend.
"Anyway, is there a way that you guys could convince him that you're perfectly fine and capable?" Snow asked.
"I don't know. 'Gina?" Emma sat back in her chair.
"I don't care what that idiot says. I think we're fine and we don't need to prove anything." Regina was still fuming.
"Well, he's planning on going to Gold to fix his problem, so I suggest you figure something out." Snow said, knowing that would catch their attention.
"Gold? Why would he go to him?" Emma asked, suddenly more alert.
Regina sat up and said, "If he's going to Gold, then he's obviously deranged and needs to be taken to Dr. Whale instead."
"He thinks that there's some kind of magic that can help separate you two." Snow said.
"We do need to think of something then..." Emma said, "...after I finish my dinner. I need food" in me to concentrate at all." she took up her fork again and shoved it in a slice of lasagna.
"I understand that, Emma," Snow said, pulling away Emma's plate, "but he's going to Gold tonight."
"Hey!" Emma yelled in protest, lunging over the table to get it back.
"Stop it, both of you! Now, we're going to figure something out without starting a food fight!" Regina was standing up now.
Emma sat back down in her seat, and Snow let go of the lasagna.
"So, Plan A, we kill Charming," Regina started, folding her hands in front of her.