Author's Note: This was written for fictorium's birthday.
This falls after my story Rain Comin' Down, but that doesn't really need to be read for this to make sense. Title taken from Trip Around The Sun by Jimmy Buffett and Martina McBride.
"It's not fair." Emma pouted from her place on the bed.
Regina turned to look at her, trying to suppress her grin. "So you've been saying."
"Well, it isn't! It's my birthday and –" she was unable to finish the sentence as yet another sneeze took over, followed by a coughing fit. When she was finally able to draw breath properly again, she flopped back on the pillows, grabbing yet another tissue. "This sucks."
Regina laughed lightly and came over to clean up the mess of tissues scattered across the sheets. She pulled a clean one from the box and used it to collect the discarded ones. "Who knew that you were such a cranky – and messy – patient, Miss Swan?"
The pout grew bigger, if that was possible. "I don't like being sick. I never get sick."
"Well, perhaps that will teach you not to stay out in the rain." Regina said lightly.
Emma threw her used tissue at her, just to get a rise. "As I recall, you're the one who kept me – and the rest of the town – out in the rain. Yet I'm the only one who got sick." She punctuated her pronouncement with yet another coughing fit.
Regina didn't even blink, just picked up the tissue that had hit her with the rest already in her hand. "I don't believe that I made anyone stay out there. In fact, after our initial dance, I believe it was you and Ruby who continued the little affair."
"Not how I remember it." Emma sneezed yet again.
Regina's cool hand came to rest on her forehead. "Well, you're obviously having fever induced delusions."
Emma leaned further into Regina's touch. "Do you have to go?" She hated that she sounded so needy.
"This town – regardless of what you may think – doesn't run on its own. And with my sheriff out of commission, I need to go to work." Regina walked into the bathroom and then came out a few minutes later carrying various bottles. "And you need to take some medicine and go back to sleep."
Emma wrinkled her nose at the bottles, but Regina's evil queen stare was enough to get her to wordlessly swallow the medicine, even as she gagged at the taste.
"I swear, you're a worse patient than Henry." Regina rolled her eyes, leaning down and pressing a kiss against the blonde's still warm forehead. "Sleep." She commanded and then left the room.
Emma watched forlornly from the bed.
"Happy birthday to me." She muttered as she sank back into the pillows and closed her eyes.
Her phone rang around 11, startling her out of a cough medicine induced dream in which everyone in town had decided to go back to the fairy tale world leaving her behind and alone once again. She had watched as they'd each walked through a portal of some kind that she couldn't get through, no matter how much she tried. She had begged them not to go, not to leave her, but they'd all just turned away. Even Henry and Regina had merely shrugged off her hands that were clutching at them and walked through without a backwards glance.
"Hello?" She croaked, she trying to get her bearings.
"How are you feeling?" The voice came over the line and Emma realized suddenly that she was crying. Had she been crying because of the dream, or was it just hearing Regina's voice that had started the tears flowing?
"Regina?" She asked, trying to swallow the tears.
"Of course it's me. Who else were you expecting to call?" Regina sounded somewhere between amused and annoyed.
Emma grabbed a tissue and blew her nose, thankful she could blame it on being sick. "No one. Sorry. I was just sleeping."
She'd just been sleeping. It had just been a dream. No one had left. Everyone was still here. Emma stumbled out of bed, moving toward the window just to be sure of it. She tripped as she moved and felt so weak she could barely stand, but she continued on until she reached the window and looked out.
Archie was out on the street walking Pongo and he waved up at her. She felt more tears slip down her cheeks as she waved back. Everyone was here, everything was normal, except, apparently, her emotions. What kind of cough medicine had Regina given her?
"Emma, what is going on? What's all that banging? Are you alright?"
"Fine. I'm fine." Emma sniffled. "I was just trying to get some water and I tripped. A little weak, I guess."
Regina could tell that there was something off. "Are you crying?"
Yes, over a ridiculous dream, Emma thought to herself, but shook her head instead. "No. It's just this runny nose. Really. I'm fine. You should go back to running the town. I'm going to take some more medicine and go back to sleep."
Emma held the phone with one hand while she used the other to pour out more of the medicine that Regina had left on the nightstand. This time she managed not to choke on it. She took a long drink of water and then burrowed back under the covers of the bed. She grabbed Regina's pillow and hugged it close. It smelled like her perfume. The mayor would probably be upset that she'd gotten her germs all over it, but Emma didn't care. Right now, she just wanted to hug this pillow and remind herself that everything was fine and it wasn't all going to fall apart at any minute. This time it was different. No one was going to leave.
"Emma, are you sure that you're alright?" Regina pushed again after listening to the blonde's movements on the other end of the line. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, something more than just Emma having a cold.
Emma nodded against the pillow, her eyes already falling back shut. "Mmhmm." She mumbled. "Can take care… of myself. Used… to being… alone."
Soft snores then filled the silence over the phone. Regina listened to them for long minutes before she finally hung up the phone.
An hour later, Emma was awakened by the feeling of the bed dipping under someone's weight. She blinked her eyes opened, startled with she came face to face with her son.
"Henry?" She gasped, starting another coughing fit. "What are you doing here? What time is it?" Emma felt around for her phone, trying to figure out how long she'd been asleep. Could it really be after four already?
"Well, I see the coughing hasn't let up any." Emma's head whipped to the doorway where Regina stood, holding a tray of food and looking so very un-Regina like that Emma had to do a double take.
In all the time that she'd known the mayor, she'd never seen her dressed so casually before. In fact, if you'd have asked her before today, Emma would've sworn that the mayor didn't even own a pair of sweats. But she was apparently wrong, as that was exactly what Regina was wearing now – a pair of black sweatpants and a worn grey hoodie that proclaimed 'Storybrooke Knights' across the front of it. Emma could help the smile that came across her face at the sight.
She glanced over at her alarm clock and frowned again. "Wait – what are you doing here? What are you both doing here?" She turned to look at Henry, who also looked decidedly casual in his flannel pajama bottoms and white cotton t-shirt. "You're supposed to be in school. And you have a town to run."
Regina came over to the bed, placing the tray which held a large bowl of steaming chicken noodle soup – homemade by the looks of it – and a cup of tea down carefully on Emma's lap. "Well, it turns out that without the sheriff around to cause trouble, there's not much for me to have to run." Regina teased, her hand touching Emma's forehead before running down through her tangled hair. "And when I stopped at school, Henry's teacher was quite happy to allow him to come home early to help take care of his sick mother."
Emma swallowed and looked at both of them and then focused her eyes on the tray. "You didn't have to do that. I was fine."
Henry snuggled up to her. "Yeah, but it's not fun being alone when you're sick. It's better if you have someone to take care of you. Mom's really good at it."
Emma looked up and met Regina's eyes. "So I've heard."
Regina glanced away quickly, remembering those first few days when Emma had come to Storybrooke and how threatening she'd found her. Then she looked back to see the blonde firmly entrenched in her bed, her life, her heart. How could she not have realized it then?
"Well, now you get to see it in action. Eat up, Miss Swan." She smiled.
"Yes, Madam Mayor." Emma replied dutifully.
After she had finished everything on the tray under the watchful eye of both Regina and Henry, Emma leaned back against the pillows again. "All done." She proclaimed.
Regina and Henry exchanged a look. "Not quite."
Henry scrambled off the bed and left the room. Emma looked on, puzzled. "Regina, you didn't have to –"
Regina shook her head and came over, settling down on the bed in her usual spot beside Emma. "I don't know what happened earlier," she put her finger over Emma's mouth when the blonde tried to protest, then moved her hand to comb through Emma's hair as she continued to speak, "but I do know that you aren't alone anymore. And you're right, it isn't fair that you're sick on your birthday. But it's even more unfair that you were going to be sick and alone, so I fixed what I could."
"It wouldn't be the first time I was alone on my birthday." Emma said softly.
"You wished last year that you didn't have to be alone. And then Henry showed up." Regina reminded her, pulling her over she was tight against the brunette and could rest her head on her shoulder. "So maybe it wouldn't be the first time, but last year was the last time."
Before Emma could respond, Henry came back into the room carrying a cupcake with a blue star candle burning brightly in it.
"We'll do your real cake and presents later," Henry assured as he set the cupcake down on the tray, "but for now..."
He climbed up onto the bed between her and Regina and they both began to sing.
"Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear Emma
Happy birthday to you"
"Well," Regina prompted after they had finished. "Aren't you going to make your wish?"
Emma just smiled as she took in the sight of them, curled up in bed with her, taking care of her while she was sick. They were her family and they were right there in front of her. She shook her head and shrugged.
"I already got my wish."