Just before you start on this story – for those who read the story I wrote previous to this and wondered about the songs. The answers were…..drum roll….. Madness: Lovestruck, It Must Be Love and Baggy Trousers. Well done if you got it, if you don't know their music – go check them out.

A Restful Heart

"Aw, come on Regina, we're never gonna get there if you don't get a move on". Emma and Henry were carrying out cases and bags to the car as fast as they could, both grinning at each other in excitement. They were going on their first holiday as a family. In fact this was Emma's first holiday ever. She never had any interest in holidaying on her own, and finances had often been a problem. Besides, she had moved around so much, that no place ever felt like home enough to need a holiday from it.

So when Regina suggested that they take a week somewhere and just spend time together, Emma had jumped at it. She and Henry had come up with a hundred different ideas – camping, skiing, hiking – until Regina reminded them who she was. Could they really picture her camping? And had they thought of where Calon would be if they were skiing? So they settled on the beach. Regina longed to feel some sun after the cold winters in Maine, and a beach holiday meant swimming, sand-castle building and general family fun.

Regina had found a beautiful little house they could rent that was only a two minute walk to the beach. Now if Emma could just get her to the car, they could be on their way.

"Regina, Henry and I have the car packed up. Calon is belted into his car seat. I have snacks for the road. I picked out some ace music for the road – and I do know that you've hidden my favourite cd by the way – I've made Henry use the bathroom, the tank is full of gas, now we just need your beautiful self. Regina, can you hear….."

Emma lost what she was saying when Regina appeared at the top of the stairs. She wore a tight powder blue t-shirt, white capri pants and soft white sneakers. Sunglasses were perched on the top of her head, and she had barely any make up on. Emma had to remind herself to breathe as she glided down the stairs. Regina was amused at the look on her face. "Darling, close your mouth before you catch flies and lets get going". As she moved past Emma, Emma was quick enough to catch her arm and draw her close. "I love you Regina, just a kiss before we go". They shared a sweet, put passionate kiss, before they could hear Henry yelling from outside. "Mom, Ma, come on, Calon and I want to go on holiday!".

The drive seemed to take forever. They had listened to all the music many, many times over. They had played ever car game they could think of – and invented a few of their own. They had eaten all the snacks, stopped, bought some more, and eaten them as well. Henry had been sick. Emma had felt sick after seeing Henry being sick! Calon and Henry had slept. Emma and Regina had taken turns in driving. They had sung songs, they had talked about stuff and nothing. They had got snarky with each other, they had got bored, but consistently, Emma and Regina had kept their hands on each others thighs, so that they had constant contact and looking into the back at their sons made them smile.

Finally, they arrived at the house, and after placing Calon into Regina's arms and pushing her towards the house, Emma and Henry unpacked the car that they had previously taken such care in packing. Now that they were here, Henry just wanted to go to the beach – despite the fact that it was evening. He went through the bags and found his swimming shorts, sunglasses, blow-up dinghy and body board. As Emma and Regina were unpacking and putting things away, Henry appeared in his parents bedroom doorway wearing shorts and flip-flops, carrying his board under his arm.

Regina noticed him first and stared giggling. Such an unusual sound coming from Regina made Emma look up and she joined in the laughter when she spotted Henry. "I'm ready Mom, can we go to the beach now?" Henry asked with childish excitement.

"Henry, it's almost nine at night. Swap the shorts for your pyjamas. Go on downstairs and you can help your Ma make us all some cocoa. Then we'll all go to bed. And then, we'll get up early, you can put your shorts back on and we'll head to the beach. Okay!?" Regina's tone left no room for argument!

The next day, Henry was up at 7.00am, downstairs trying to make breakfast for his mothers. He had the coffee on and was buttering the toast when Regina entered the kitchen with a squirming Calon. She dropped a kiss on her eldest son's head and whispered a 'good morning, I love you' to him and carried on getting Calon his breakfast. Emma eventually joined them and she and Henry got into a discussion about what they would be doing and what they needed to take with them. Emma looked over to Regina who was rubbing Calon's back as she held him to her shoulder. She couldn't work out the look in her eye.

"Regina, you okay? You want to add anything to this?"

"I….it's just…..I don't think my life could get anymore perfect than this moment. I love the three of you so much. I feel like I'm living in a dream or something." Regina said emotionally. Henry got out of his seat and stood behind his Mom. As he leaned over her and hugged her, he whispered in her ear. "I love you Mom. Now can we go to the beach please?!"

Regina and Emma laughed at him and as they all got up and made their way to get ready, Emma grabbed Regina by the waist and held her tight. "You're my dream woman Regina. I can't believe how lucky I am. And I love you too".

Regina packed for the beach like she was packing for another holiday, so as the four of them staggered to the beach they looked a strange bunch. In no time at all, the blanket was spread out on the soft sand, the enormous umbrella was put up and Calon was placed underneath it and various bags and coolers were unpacked to find sunscreen, buckets and cold drinks. Emma and Henry wasted no time getting in the sea. Regina stood on the edge of the blanket laughing at them and their antics in the water – especially in their matching short wetsuits! Calon soon got fed up of being ignored though, so she ducked back under the umbrella and cuddled her son to her.

"Ma….Ma…. Mom's calling us back up to get something to eat" Henry pulled Emma out of the water after him.

"holy sh…..I mean, um, wow"

Henry looked up to where his Ma was looking. Only seeing his Mom holding Calon he shrugged his shoulder and kept on walking. Emma slowly walked back up the beach, feeling almost like she was walking through a cloud. Regina was a vision ahead of her. She held Calon upright, under his legs, as he tried to pull the sunhat off his head. But she was wearing a bikini. She had changed out of the shorts and t-shirt that she had worn to the beach. And she wore…a bikini! A plain, dark red, nothing exciting about it, bikini. But Emma had never seen anything like it before. Regina had flawless, golden skin. She was toned and her suit showed off endless smooth skin. No one would have guessed she hadn't long given birth. She was sexy as hell.

And Regina seemed to have no idea that Emma would be affected by this sight. As she got nearer to their blanket, Regina walked towards her a worried look on her face. "Emma, are you okay?". Emma shook her head. Regina grasped her forearm in worry. Emma kept her voice low, mindful that Henry could hear. "Regina I have a problem. You are freaking gorgeous! And our sons are here, we're out in public, and all I want to do is kiss every inch of this beautiful skin, peel this bikini from you and love you! And last night we decided that we would wait for all that because we didn't want to rush it and get it wrong. So, yeah, there's a bit of a problem." And with that she lunged at Regina, careful not to squish Calon and kissed her passionately. As tongues played together they moaned in tandem, caught up in the moment until, they interrupted by both boys – Calon yanking on Emma's wet hair and Henry calling out from under the umbrella and he dug through the cooler, "I know what you guys are doing and you're gonna scar my little brother for life!" They broke apart laughing and joined Henry under the umbrella.

Henry and Emma were just taking a break from making the biggest sandcastle this stretch of beach had ever seen. It was well past midday and the beach had more people on it, but thankfully didn't seem crowded. They were sat on the blanket, drinking some mercifully cool drinks and commenting on some of the people they could see. Calon had just gone down for his nap and this gave Emma an idea.

"Say kid, can you do your Mom and me a favour?" Henry nodded, "Yeah sure Ma, what?". "Would you mind watching your brother for a little while, now that he's sleeping, so your Mom and I can take a little walk together? We'll be back before he wakes and I'll take my cell in case you need us" Henry rolled his eyes "Yeah Ma, it's fine, just go".

Emma had already changed into board shorts and a bikini top so Regina threw a sarong on around her waist and they moved out from under the umbrella and walked down onto the shoreline and into the small waves. The conversation had been easy sat on the blanket, but now it was just the two of them, it was awkward. Emma didn't know what to do with her hands while Regina was swinging hers as if she was marching. They walked on in silence, hands occasionally brushing together and quick glances being thrown. Every time it happened they looked away shyly, until Emma laughed. "Oh Regina this is ridiculous, come here" She caught Regina's hand and laced their fingers together. Regina looked around quickly, trying to see if people were looking at them.

Emma squeezed her hand until Regina turned back to look at her. "Let them look Regina, I want them to look! I want them to see that I'm with the most gorgeous, most sexiest woman on the beach. I want them to know that even though I don't deserve you…this, I'm the luckiest woman in the world."

Regina leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to the side of Emma's mouth. "You deserve so much more than me. You deserve a woman who will make love to you because she's not scared of it, of being intimate with you. You deserve someone who….." Emma pressed her fingers against Regina's mouth to cut off whatever it was she was going to say. "All I want is you. And whatever comes (or doesn't come) with that. It's enough for me. To be able to say that Regina Mills is mine. And I'm hers". Emma grinned and they continued their walk hand in hand. "You, me and the boys – oh Regina, we're gonna have a great life together".