Swan Queen Family Time! Just a ficlet I had written a while ago. I own nothing.

Regina pulled into her driveway after a long day at the office. Sliding her key into the lock, she can hear a commotion going on inside of her home.

She'd left Emma in charge of watching over Henry during the summer days she had off from the sheriff's department. Several times Regina would come home to them scrambling around the house trying to hide or put away what they had previously been up to.

What could it be this time, Regina thought, as she heard Henry's voice yelling then breaking into laughter as she opened the front door.

There in the foyer was the most ridiculous scene Regina had come home to yet. Emma was on the stairway hanging over the railing and holding what looked like an iguana with a cluster of balloons tied around its stomach and down below, Henry was jumping up and down holding a pillow.

"One… Twoooo…"

Emma and Henry froze at the sound of the door shutting; Regina's matching pair of deer in headlights.

"What in the world is going on here?" Regina asked a little louder than she intended.

Caught in the act, Emma tried to save face, "We were uh—just getting ready for Henry's uhm—science—"

"We wanted to see if Frederick could fly!" an overjoyed Henry chimed in.

"Who's Fredrick?" Regina questioned.

"My new iguana!"

Regina's brow furrowed as she turned to Emma expecting an explanation. Emma pulled Fredrick back over the railing and closer to her, looking a little sheepish. "Hey, Regina, don't be mad. We went into the pet shop to get Snow some bird food and the owner was gunna put this little guy down, unless he got adopted, so…."

"He's just like me!" Henry beamed. Regina was surprised at the comment, she never shied away from his questions about being adopted, but since he'd found his birth mother, it has become a non-issue. Before she could address him, Emma softly added, "Yeah, and I never lived anywhere long enough to have my own pet..." as she gave Frederick a little kiss on his head. He seemed to eye her with a slightly bothered look.

That was all it took. Regina gave in.

Clearing her throat from the unexpected emotions, she softened and said, "Well now, you're never going to get him to fly with all those balloons weighing him down."

Henry and Emma's absurd smiles returned.

"Oh, yeah? Then what do we use?" Emma retorted.

"Me."

Henry threw her a curious look. Regina then summoned her powers, and even though she had promised to lay off the magic, today seemed to be an exception. She maneuvered her magic to levitate Frederick from Emma's arms, untying and deflating each balloon in the process. Emma ran down the stairs to join Henry who was still following underneath the floating Fredrick with a pillow held high over his head.

"I think he's safe," Emma assured him, as she got him to toss the pillow to the floor.

"Mom! Mom! Make him dance and do summersaults!" Henry egged. Regina revealed a small smirk at Frederick's demeanor, like former queens levitated him with magic all the time. She slowly began to twirl him upright and cause his little arms and legs to sway. Henry laughed and jumped up to high five Emma. Regina's heart warmed exponentially at the sight of them.

"Alright, I think poor Frederick's had enough for now," Regina said after quite a dazzling summersault. The iguana looked especially relieved when she slowly brought him levitating back down into Henry's waiting arms.

"Thanks," Emma began as she threw her arm around her Mayor's waist and leaned in for a light kiss on the cheek, "It might've taken a little while to find him, but now he's here and a part of us."

Henry gave a nod and grinned, giving Frederick a little squeeze.

"Family."