A/N: First time I have actually written a story. I am more of a poetry kind of girl. All mistakes are my own and hopefully y'all will enjoy this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or the characters, I am just borrowing them for a little while.
Prompt-ish: Henry convinces Regina and Emma to set aside their differences for once and take him to the arcade. They start to take turns playing games against Henry but end up in an intense air hockey showdown against each other. They are both very competitive and both want something if they win.
Credit for this idea goes to Onceuponasnacktime from Tumblr.
I opted not to have them wanting anything if they won since I went for a non-romantic relationship between Emma and Regina.
Henry's birthday was coming up soon and all he could think about was being able to spend it with his family. One day where both his mothers would have to set aside the bickering and get along just to make him happy. His plan was perfect, asking them both to join him at the arcade. The day would be spent having carefree fun and there would be no need for the usual insults and tension between the two women.
Henry was living at the mansion with Regina again. She and Emma had worked out a schedule so that they could have equal time with their son. She was loath to admit it, but the schedule worked perfectly and Emma was more than willing to allow her extra time with Henry. They still didn't get along with each other, but for the sake of their son they tried to keep their bickering from within earshot of Henry.
Regina was down in the kitchen preparing dinner for herself and Henry, she could hear the shuffle of his feet across the upstairs hallway and the soft thunking as he came down the stairs. Things were better between them now that Emma was back from the Enchanted Forest, though they did not always see eye to eye about things, the Sheriff had helped Henry come to terms with being able to love the former Evil Queen.
"Henry, could you come here for a moment? I'd like to talk to you about your birthday."
"Sure, Mom. But, I already know what I would like to spend the day doing."
She looked at her son, no longer was he the little boy she raised, he was becoming quite the handsome young man. No matter what anyone else said, Regina loved Henry and was always proud to call him her son. She wiped her hands on a towel before setting it aside on the counter.
"Alright, what would you like to do to celebrate your birthday this year, Henry?"
"I wanna spend it with you and Emma at the arcade. Can we do that? Do you think you two could get along for the whole day without fighting?" Henry gave his best sad puppy eyes and a slight pout to help soften his mother up.
Taking a few moments to think it over, Regina smiled at her son before nodding her agreement.
"Certainly, if that is what you want, I can agree to it. How about the three of us go to lunch at Granny's beforehand, would that be good?"
Henry couldn't help the bright smile that crossed his face, this was easier than he thought. Now to get Emma to agree.
"That sounds perfect! Can I go over to the station and see Emma before dinner to ask her to come?"
Regina checked the timer on the oven, there was still about an hour before dinner would be finished.
She nodded before saying, "No sweets though, Henry because dinner will be ready in about an hour. Hurry along and go see Miss Swan."
Henry ran to his room to grab a light jacket and throw on his shoes, once he returned downstairs he gave his mom a huge hug.
"Love you, Mom! Thanks again for agreeing."
Regina smiled and smoothed his hair, "Go on, and if she has any questions, tell her she can call me."
It had been a quiet day in Storybrooke, there had only been one call at the station, Pongo had escaped yet again. Emma sat in her office with her feet on the desk, snacking on her second bear claw of the evening. Her ears perked at the sound on Henry's footsteps echoing in the all to quiet Sheriff's Station.
"MA!"
Emma hopped up and walked over to her son, a lopsided grin on her face. She pulled him into a hug and ruffled his hair.
"Hey, kid. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with your mom today?"
"Mom told me to come talk to you about my birthday. I want all of us to go to the arcade as a family and I really hope you'll come. Mom said we can have lunch at Granny's and then head over there to play games. I just want you guys to get along, so no fighting on my birthday. Will you come, please?" Henry managed to get it all out in one breath before smiling at her.
She thought about it for a moment before replying with a huge smile on her face, "Of course I'll be there, kid. I'd never miss out on your birthday."
Henry checked the clock and realized that he only had about ten minutes to make it home for dinner.
"Ma, can you drive me home? Dinner is in ten minutes and I promised Mom I wouldn't be late."
"Sure kid, let's go."
The drive to the former mayor's mansion didn't take long. Regina was standing in the doorway, looking out towards the street where Emma's Bug was parked. The blonde got out the car as Henry rushed up the walkway.
"Hey Mom. Ma brought me home so that I wouldn't be late to dinner. Is it ready yet?"
"Yes, my sweet boy, dinner is ready. Why don't you go wash your hands and go sit at the table while I talk to Miss Swan for a moment."
Henry eyed his mother warily, but shook it off and nodded before running upstairs to clean up.
"Miss Swan, thank you for getting Henry back in time for Dinner. Will you be joining us on Saturday for lunch and the arcade?"
"Of course, I wouldn't want to miss all the fun. I will be on my best behavior, Regina. I don't want to upset him on his birthday. I think we can do this, put aside our differences for the day and give our son the birthday he wants. Don't you?"
Regina gave her a curt nod.
"I do believe we can, Miss Swan. Be here at eleven on Saturday. I'd ask you to stay for dinner, but I know you likely have plans with Snow and James."
"Emma...call me Emma. And I do have plans with them, they are still doing the whole parental bonding thing." Emma rolled her eyes before continuing, "I'll see you Saturday."
"Until Saturday, Emma."
Dinner was a quiet affair. Henry finished quickly and placed his dishes into the sink before heading up to do his homework before the weekend officially started. As Henry did his homework, Regina cleaned up the kitchen, washing the dishes and packing the leftovers up before placing them into the fridge. She knew that tomorrow would be a test of her patience, but for Henry she would do anything. And if that meant she had to be kind to Miss Swan, then that is exactly what she would do.
Morning came quickly. Henry was up at seven, having a bowl of cereal at the island in the kitchen while Regina had a cup of coffee and a plate of fruit. After breakfast both members of the Mills' household got ready for their outing. The doorbell rang at eleven sharp, there stood Emma Swan in her usual jeans and tank top, but instead of her red leather jacket, she was wearing a nice knit sweater. Regina took in her appearance before welcoming her into the house. Henry came barreling down the stairs, tackling both women into a huge hug.
"Moms! I'm so excited. Today is gonna be fun!"
Both women looked at their son, smiling brightly at him.
"Happy birthday, Henry."
"Happy birthday kid. Are you excited?"
He rolled his eyes, "Of course, we are gonna be together as a family today. I love both of you and I know you guys don't really get along, but this means a lot to me, the three of us together."
"I'll drive us, Emma, my car has more space. Is that alright with you?"
"Sure thing, 'Gina."
The older woman raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but tried to shake off the desire to correct the Sheriff. Emma just smiled at the former Mayor.
"Well, let's go!" Henry shouts as he grabbed both of his mothers by the hand to lead them to the Benz. Regina chose a station filled with Classical music, Henry and Emma both made a face but said nothing.
Lunch at Granny's went well, Ruby even brought out a small cake for the family to share. Even Regina had a small piece, to anyone who didn't know better, you'd have thought they were a normal, loving family together for lunch and not the White Knight and former Evil Queen. Henry was beaming with joy at how well his two moms were behaving, there were no snarky comments, no scathing remarks and no cutting insults. As lunch was wrapped up, they trio decided to walk to the arcade since it was so close to Granny's.
Tokens were purchased and games were played. All was seemingly going well until Regina and Emma started an intense game of air hockey. First, Emma had scored, then Regina. The game was close. When one scored the other followed up quickly with a goal of her own. There was a lull in the scoring after a few minutes. Neither of them wanted to lose. They were hammering the puck back and forth, eyes were locked. Magic began crackling around the pair and a crowd was gathering around them. All the people in town were interested in this magic charged air hockey battle. Henry was peeking out from behind the prize counter, he didn't think they would hurt anyone, but he really didn't want to be too close to the table since they were playing kinda rough.
Regina's hair was standing straight up, Emma's curls were lifting as well. Their game looked like it was straight out of one of those crazy cartoons Henry enjoyed. Neither woman could control the pulses of magic flowing around them. All eyes were on the glowing air hockey puck. No one knew if the magic would cause any harm, but they could not peel their eyes away from the puck.
Henry came from behind the counter after realizing that his moms had no idea that their magic was flowing freely. Slowly he made his way over to the air hockey table before calling out to them.
"Mom! Ma! Calm down, you guys are gonna make the arcade collapse."
The two women looked at their son, then back to one another and began to laugh at one another's appearance Once their laughter died down and they regained control of their magic, the game came to an end because the air stopped flowing. They ran out of time on their match so the game was tied.
Emma decided that a tiebreaker was in order.
"I guess we need a tie-breaker. Whattya say, 'Gina?"
Regina let out a low chuckle and grinned at the younger woman. Henry just looked back and forth between the two of them, something changed during that air hockey game but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Of course, dear. What game do you want to lose on, Emma?"
The Sheriff looked around the arcade a few times before her eyes landed on the perfect game, Dance Dance Revolution. With a knowing smirk she turned back to the brunette.
Pointing, she simply says, "I challenge you to a dance-off, you and me, Dance Dance Revolution."
The pair headed over to the machine, entered their coins and readied their stances. The crowd moved behind them, not wanting to miss another showdown between the two women. Regina got to choose the first song, Frozen Ray(for Extreme) and the first round began. Her movements were stiff and unsure while Emma's were fluid and carefree. The score was close, only a few points were between them.
Emma's song choice was Cartoon Heros(Speedy Mix) and the second round began. Regina seemed to loosen up for this song, both women managed to keep fairly high combos. While Emma had the higher score during the first round, Regina had the upper hand during the second.
The final song was Henry's choice, after looking through all the songs, he settled for 321STARS for his mothers to play. Emma bounced around effortlessly, earning a near perfect combo, Regina did just as well on the final song, but in the end her score just was not quite high enough to win the game.
Both women were out of breath and quickly drinking water to help cool off. Henry was beaming, this was the best birthday ever.
Emma extended her hand to Regina in a show of good sportsmanship with a small smile gracing her lips, "That was fun. You did a lot better than I thought. Good game,
'Gina."
A slight blush tinted the former Mayor's cheeks at the compliment from Henry's birth mother. She quickly regained her composure and took the proffered hand.
"Thank you, Emma. Today was fun. I'm glad we did this for Henry. Look how happy he is right now."
They both looked over at their son who charged over and smiled up at them brightly.
"Thank you guys for this. I know it wasn't easy for you to get along but it really made my birthday so special. I love you both and I hope we can do this again."
The women locked eyes and with a subtle nod they both agreed to continue to cut back on the arguing. They knew that things were changing between them during their magical game of air hockey. Everyone in town knew something changed in that moment, the former enemies were finally finding the balance needed to build a friendship.
After returning to the mansion, Emma and Regina both tucked Henry into bed after giving him their gifts. Emma gave him a first edition Batman comic. Regina was just as surprised as their son was over the present, knowing that it must have cost the Sheriff a good bit of money to acquire. Regina's gift was just as amazing, she gave Henry a new telescope and several books on star gazing. The small boy looked at his mothers with adoration and love, while thanking them again for the wonderful day.
Walking Emma to the door, Regina gave a soft smile while thinking about how much fun they had together as a family. She placed a hand on her arm before she could fully walk out the door.
"Miss Sw-Emma, today was pleasant. Our son seemed to have a great time and aside from our little magical flare up during our game of air hockey, I think we both controlled ourselves quite well."
Nodding in agreement, Emma decided to do something that could backfire on her, she gave Regina a hug before stepping outside into the cool Storybrooke evening. Regina returned the hug with a gentle squeeze, she was not used to this kind of affection from anyone other than Henry. Both women smiled at one another ad they stood on the stoop.
"G'night 'Gina, today was nice. Maybe we can take Henry out together again since he enjoyed today so much. The beach or the park, little things to show him we both love him and can all spend time together."
"I'd like that as well. We can discuss it over dinner later in the week. Be safe on your way home. Good night, Emma."
"I look forward to it. I'll be safe, wouldn't want to cause Henry or you to worry about me." She was halfway to the street before turning back to look at Regina, "Hey, 'Gina, you're alright, I think maybe we can make this work, maybe we can be friends."
Before she could reply, Emma was already in her car and driving back towards town. A large grin crossed the former Queen's face as she walked back into her home.
Henry drifted to sleep hoping that his birthday wish would come true, that his two moms would find happiness with one another, be it friendship or something more. He would spend days retelling the tale of(as he dubbed it) the "Epic Magical Air Hockey Showdown Between the Former Evil Queen and the White Knight." Of course the boy would embellish the details, but he always made sure to let everyone know that the two shared an entire day without a single mean thing said.