It was about mid afternoon by the time the families finished exchanging gifts. The house was filled with the sounds of laughter and children screaming with joy. Charming chased the girls around the living room, laughing as they screamed in mock fear. Granny shouted for them to use their inside voices, but was completely ignored. She rolled her eyes, grunting at Ruby for passing her "terror filled genes" onto Ariel.
Belle sat on the arm of the couch watching as her wife played a videogame with Henry and Emma. She smiled when Emma shoved her in an attempt to get her to drop her controller. "Knock it off!" Ruby shouted, pushing Emma back. "You're setting a bad example for your kid, you know."
Emma made a face and huffed. "Who do you think taught me how to cheat?"
Henry smirked. "Guilty." he admitted, reaching out to knock the controller out of Emma's hand.
"Henry!" she scolded, jumping on her son and attacking him playfully.
"Games over, I guess." Ruby sighed, tossing her controller onto the table. She leaned back and smiled up at her wife. "Where's Ariel?"
Belle looked around and saw her finally playing quietly in the corner with Eva. "She's with Eva, of course." She turned her attention to her wife, smiling down at her. "I'm going to go help Regina in the kitchen." She brushed her fingers over her wife's cheek. "Promise me you won't kill anyone while I'm gone."
Ruby chuckled lightly, pulling Belle onto her lap. "I would never commit murder in front of our daughter." she joked, giving Belle a soft kiss. She pulled back slowly with a smile. "Hey, how about we exchange gifts tonight after Ariel is asleep?"
Belle looked at her confused. "Gifts? Sweetheart, we agreed to focus on Ariel and the rest of the family. We weren't supposed to get each other anything."
Ruby shifted so she was a bit closer to her. "Um, let's just say I didn't buy what I have for you." She raised an eyebrow and grinned.
A blank stare covered Belle's face as she looked into Ruby's eyes. Ruby stared back, silently communicating with her. After a minute, Belle's blue eyes widened and a small "oh" escaped her lips. She smiled brightly at Ruby and leaned in closer.
"I think I have the perfect thing to wear for our gift exchange." she whispered, giving Ruby a slow, passionate kiss. She broke the kiss much too soon as far as Ruby was concerned and grinned. Without another word, she jumped from Ruby's lap and sauntered toward the kitchen.
Ruby watched her go. A smack on her shoulder brought her attention to Emma. "What?" she asked, flashing her a strange look.
"Good luck having a..." She raised her hands and made face quotations in the air. "Gift exchange with your... What did you call her? Walking, talking chastity belt in the house." She huffed a small laugh. "You know Ariel is going to be too wired to sleep tonight. Her and Eva have been running around like crazy people."
Ruby inched closer, wrapping her arm around Emma's shoulders. "That's where Auntie Emma and Auntie Regina come in." She grinned broadly at her friend.
Emma's eyes slowly widened as she shook her head. "No way, Ruby." She waved her hands in front of herself. "Eva is going to be enough. I don't think I can handle two tonight."
Ruby scrunched her brow. "Henry will help." She leaned forward and looked at him. "Right, bud?"
Henry's focus was on the television. He was barely listening to the conversation around him, but still managed a "Yeah, sure, Ruby. Whatever you need."
"See. You have extra help."
Emma grunted and rolled her eyes. "Fine." She pointed at her friend, sternly. "But you get them both on New Years."
"Done." Ruby turned on the couch, smiling at the sight of her daughter and Eva playing with their new toys. "Ariel, do you want to stay with Eva tonight?"
Ariel turned to her mother and shook her head frantically. "Yes, Mommy! Can I?"
Eva turned her head, her green eyes bright with enthusiasm. "Can she, mommy?"
Emma sighed with a smile. "Of course she can, princess." she replied, shooting Ruby a look that caused the waitress to laugh.
"Yay!" the girls shouted in unison as they stood up and started to terrorize the house once again.
Belle flipped through the cookbook making sure she and Regina had followed the recipe exactly. Regina leaned over, opening the oven. She smiled as she saw how perfectly her meal was cooking. It may have taken awhile. Many meals have been sacrificed. But, she was proud to say, she had finally become an accomplished cook.
"It's says it will take one hour." Belle said, glancing up from the pages.
Regina nodded, straightening up and wiping her hands with a towel. "Alright." She turned to Belle. "I guess we should join the rest of the family while we wait."
Belle closed the book and placed it on the counter. "Are we sure we should leave the kitchen?" She smiled. "I don't feel all this food is safe with our wives lurking about."
Regina tossed her towel onto the counter. "I have the perfect tool to keep Emma at bay." She searched for a moment before picking up a wooden spoon. She inspected it, a wicked smirk crossing her lips. "This should work."
Belle chuckled, shaking her head. "I don't think I can hit Ruby with something like that."
"Have you tried a rolled up newspaper?"
"You're horrible!" Belle teased, laughing loudly.
Ruby and Emma entered the kitchen at that very moment. Curiosity covered their features as Belle's laughter slowed. "What's so funny?"
Belle cleared her throat and shook her head. "Nothing, sweetheart." she lied as Ruby wrapped her arms around her and kissed her cheek. "What brings you in here?"
Emma walked over to a pot sitting on the stove. "Ruby said something smelled good so I thought we should investigate." She picked up a spoon and dipped it into the pot. "I bet it taste just as good as it smells."
Just as she brought the spoon to her lips, a spoon connected with her hand. She dropped the spoon and grunted at the stinging in her hand. Her eyes immediately met the stern gesture from Regina. Her wife shook her finger and pointed toward the door.
"Out." Regina ordered as the door opened and two tiny figures walked into the kitchen.
"Come on, 'Gina." Emma pleaded as Eva walked closer and tugged on her mother's jeans. "It's just a taste." She reached down and picked up her daughter, cradling her against her hip.
The others could not hold in the laughter. Ruby picked up her daughter, smiling as Ariel showed her the stuffed flounder she received from Snow. Regina took a step closer to her wife, smiling at Eva as she brushed her dark hair away from her face. She kissed her daughter's forehead before narrowing her eyes at her wife.
"I told you no tasting before dinner."
Emma huffed a laugh. "It's not a big deal."
Regina crossed her arms against her chest. "So, me asking you to do something isn't a big deal. Am I understanding you correctly, Ms. Swan?"
Emma cringed. "Babe, is that name really necessary?"
"Who's Ms, Swan?" Eva asked, adorably as her eyes flickered from one parent to the next.
Regina smiled at her again. "Ms. Swan is the name your mommy has when she does something bad."
Eva looked at Emma. "You did something bad, mommy?"
"No, sweetie." She glanced at Regina. "Mama is just exaggerating." She placed Eva back down on the floor. "Why don't you and Ariel go play with papa Charming."
"Or go run around granny Snow." Regina suggested. "And make sure you scream really, really loud."
Emma tilted her head. "Now who's being bad?" she questioned as Regina wrinkled her nose and smirked.
"Okay." Eva agreed as Ruby placed Ariel down. "Bye mama. Bye Ms. Swan." She took Ariel's hand and rushed out of the kitchen.
The room burst into loud laughter as Emma threw her hands up. "That's just great! Nice thing to teach our kid, Regina." she scolded as the laughter surrounding her grew louder...
