A/N: Merry Christmas darlings! I hope you all have a fabulous festive day. This chapter is rated T.
Regina smoothed down her red dress one final time as the knock on the door sounded. Tucking an invisible strand of her perfectly styled hair behind her ear, she made her way into the entrance hall and down to open the door.
"Merry Christmas!" Emma cheered, a Santa hat perched on her head and her arms laden with presents. Despite her load, she managed to extend the hand clutching the neck of a champagne bottle towards Regina who took it with a smile before standing back to let the Sheriff inside.
"Merry Christmas," Regina said, as Emma moved into the warm mansion so the door could close against the blizzard outside.
Allowing the presents to tumble from her arms onto the side table, Emma turned and pulled off her beanie hat, followed by her coat, flecks of snow melting away into the fabric as she did so. Regina held out her hands to take the clothing and hung them up before beckoning Emma to follow her into the living room. Gathering up her presents once more, the blonde walked into the room and placed the boxes and parcels under the ten foot, immaculately decorated Christmas tree in the space evidently left for her.
"Henry's still asleep," Regina informed her as she watched Emma carefully arrange Henry's gifts.
"It's eleven thirty," Emma exclaimed. "He's so lazy these days."
"Can't think where he gets it," the brunette teased.
"I wasn't late because I overslept," Emma defended. "Thanks to Neal, I haven't had a lie in since 2014 so I'm actually a morning person now. No, I was late because Mom wouldn't let me drive over here. Something about the combination of my bug being a death trap, the snow-covered roads, and the amount of Bucks Fizz I've already had. So I had to walk."
"You're drunk already?" Regina asked incredulously.
"Hardly," Emma scoffed. "I had three glasses and everyone knows Bucks Fizz is basically just orange juice with a teeny bit of champagne. But as Snow White can't hold her drink, she seems to think I can't either."
"So I shouldn't offer you some eggnog I've just made?" Regina asked, a twinkle in her eye.
"Oh, yes please," Emma grinned. "Shall I go and wake our son while you serve that up? If we don't get started now he'll never make it through the mountain of presents."
"Do you think we should have consulted more?" Regina asked, looking at the ridiculous pile of gifts now underneath her tree.
"Nah, he's been through a lot and last Christmas barely happened. He deserves one good celebration with both his mothers before the next fairytale villain turns up to attack Storybrooke."
"Ever the optimist," Regina teased.
"Don't worry," Emma said as she headed out into the hallway and up the stairs. "Storybrooke will be fine. I'm the Saviour, remember?"
"It's amazing, Mom, thank you!" Henry exclaimed, launching himself onto Regina's lap before quickly turning back to the newly unwrapped fairytale book and flicking through it.
"Read us your mom's story aloud, kid," Emma suggested from where she was curled up under a blanket on the end of the couch. It wasn't that the mansion was cold, far from it, but she'd always loved being cosy.
"Let's not do that," Regina said firmly. She had already seen how the Grimm brothers portrayed her and didn't want to bring the spirit of the day down with gruesome tales of torture and death.
"Spoil sport," Emma teased. "We all know that's not you any more, Regina. Plus those stories aren't real, remember."
"Why don't we play a board game instead?" Regina suggested. "Henry, what was that one Emma bought for you?"
Henry rummaged through the debris of wrapping paper and piles of presents before emerging triumphantly with a box.
"Here! It's called Logo."
"I get the feeling I'm going to be at a severe disadvantage having not grown up in this world," Regina hummed as she stood to clear some of the wrapping paper away and make space on the coffee table.
"I'm sure you'll do great," Emma said, sitting up and tugging the table towards her so she could reach. "Let's set up now and we can get a game in before we have to think about dinner."
"Does that mean you're going to help me cook?" Regina asked, eyebrow raised.
"Do you want it to be edible?" Emma countered.
"Surely you can't mess up peeling potatoes and carrots."
"No, that I can do. I'll be happy to help with veg prep at least," Emma agreed, shuffling the cards and arranging the board squarely in the table. "Now let's see who knows their brands."
Emma's victory surprised no-one, nor did her childish attitude towards her success. Regina rolled her eyes as Emma jumped up and down, holding the scarf Henry had gifted her for Christmas above her head like a champion's belt. Henry laughed as he watched, happy with his second place and enjoying seeing his mothers getting along so well.
"Right, Henry can you tidy up in here whilst Emma and I start on the dinner preparations?" Regina asked as the blonde began to do victory laps of the living room.
Henry nodded and began his task as Emma followed Regina out into the hallway, still holding her scarf above her head. She finally deposited it on the kitchen counter and picked up a potato peeler.
"Reporting for duty," she smiled as she mock saluted the brunette. "Where do you want me?"
Regina blushed slightly at the words before pointing to her vegetable drawer. "Carrots, potatoes, parsnips and do you think you are responsible enough to prepare the brussels sprouts too?
"Sure," Emma said, turning to the drawer and pulling out what she needed.
"What? No witty comeback about how disgusting sprouts are?" Regina asked as she pulled a huge turkey from the fridge.
"I love sprouts," Emma said as she picked up a bag of the small tree vegetables.
"You constantly surprise me," Regina said after a pause.
"I try," Emma said with a wink.
She didn't notice the flush increase on Regina's cheeks as she turned towards her pile of vegetables and began to peel.
"I think this was the best Christmas meal ever," Henry said, collapsing back in his chair and rubbing his full stomach.
"Agreed," Emma nodded, reaching for her wine glass and draining it. "Everything was amazing, Regina. Seriously good food."
"I had some help," Regina said, modestly.
"Yes, that excellent carrot peeling really helped flavour them so perfectly," Emma deadpanned.
"You put the roast potatoes in and stirred the gravy," Regina pointed out.
"Yes because carrying trays and stirring for five seconds whilst you checked the turkey was cooked through really helped."
"Take the compliment before I retract it, Miss Swan," Regina chuckled, topping up both hers and Emma's wine glasses.
"OK, OK, I helped," Emma said, nodding her thanks for the replenishment of her drink.
"And now Henry can clean up," Regina said, turning to their son and smiling widely.
"Christmas at Mifflin Street is the best," Emma said, punching the air.
"And you can dry up," Regina said to the blonde.
"Rubbish," Emma said, pretending to sulk in her chair.
"How about if I put some Christmas music on?" Henry suggested. "I always find boring jobs go faster when I have something to listen."
"You just want to play with your new iPod don't you," Emma teased. She had bought him the music player after months of blatant hint-dropping had finally worn her down. The look on Henry's face had been worth the scrimping and saving she had had to do to afford it.
"Maybe," Henry laughed. "But we can all listen. Mom loves Bing Crosby's White Christmas."
"Really? I'd have pegged you for a Frank Sinatra woman," Emma said to Regina.
"And I assume you're a fan of Wizzard and Slade?"
"Of course!" Emma nodded. "They're the best Christmas songs ever."
"How about I put it on shuffle," Henry suggested. "Then we can all enjoy at least some of the songs."
It turned out they all enjoyed every song. Being together, clearing up as a family, made them all smile as Henry washed, Emma dried, and Regina put away the clean items. They danced and sang as the iPod blasted the music at the highest possible volume, laughing at each other as they took turns demonstrating funky dance moves. Regina's face lit up with glee as Henry launched into an impressive attempt at Slade's signature scream and Emma's air guitar had them all in stitches. The brunette couldn't remember ever having so much fun, even when Emma insisted she mouthed along to the start of Maria Carey's All I want for Christmas is you. When her had eyes locked on Emma's, she had quickly closed them, forcing the colour from her cheeks as she finished her solo.
Soon, the three of them were collapsed on the couch in front of the television, watching the tail end of a kids cartoon about a dancing penguin.
"Hang on, so this movie is based on the premise that this penguin can't get a girlfriend because he can't sing. So he starts tap dancing and now they're single-flippedly forcing international fishing companies to become more sustainable? Is that realistic?" Regina asked.
"Regina, it's a movie about a tap dancing penguin. Happy Feet is not realistic," Emma laughed.
"It's just for fun, Mom," Henry said.
"It's factually incorrect," Regina argued.
"It's for kids, remember. It doesn't matter if things aren't real as long as it keeps them entertained for long enough to give the parents some peace and quiet, right?"
"Good point," Regina nodded. "You loved that movie about the talking panther and bear with that posh English tiger."
"You mean The Jungle Book?" Emma asked.
"That's the one," Regina nodded. "I could get so much paperwork done when you were sat in front of that film. You went through a phase of watching it three times a day. I think you even learned all the moves to the Bare Necessities."
"Well this is getting embarrassing," Henry said, standing up. "I'm going to take my presents upstairs and see how Paige's Christmas went."
"Ooh," Emma teased before Henry shot her a scathing look remarkably like her own and headed out of the room.
"Are he and Paige officially together?" Regina asked.
"Not sure they've felt the need to label themselves yet. Why?" Emma said, tucking her feet up onto the couch and turning her body to face Regina who was sat on the other end.
"He never tells me things," Regina shrugged, reaching for a blanket and draping it over her legs. Emma snagged the end and covered hers too with a cheeky grin. Regina rolled her eyes and continued. "I didn't know about Paige for weeks. He always seems to come to you about this sort of thing."
"Yes, because I give such good dating advice," Emma remarked, eyebrow raised pointedly.
"He seems to trust you but not me with his secrets," Regina argued.
"I don't think it's that," Emma replied. "I think he knows you went through a really hard time with Robin and Zelena and he didn't want to rub it in your face that he's happy."
"But Hook died and he speaks to you about it," Regina said.
"Yes but Hook and I, we were never really, I don't know," Emma said, reaching for her wine glass and sipping the contents.
"Were never what?" Regina asked. The two of them hadn't really spoken about their past relationships, except for the way they had ended.
"I'm not sure we would ever have been anything more than what we were, you know? I mean, how was I ever going to forgive him for all the awful things he did in the past?"
Regina nodded slowly before reaching for her own glass of apple cider. She sipped the amber liquid, her eyes focused on the glittering Christmas tree as she tried hard not to cry.
"Shit. I'm sorry, Regina. I didn't mean …"
The blonde trailed off, unsure quite how to remedy her mistake. She hadn't meant Regina. She hadn't meant she couldn't forgive the brunette sat before her for all the things she had done as the Evil Queen. That had been a life time ago, in another world. But Hook, even in Storybrooke he had sided with Cora, shot Belle and tried to kill her entire family. Regina however had changed, had become good.
"Regina, I forgave you a long time ago. You know that, right?" Emma said at last, watching the other woman carefully.
"Why?" Regina asked, turning her face back, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Why forgive me and not Hook? I killed far more people than he did. I tortured and maimed all to get my revenge for a ten year old's mistake. A ten year old who happens to be your mother."
"You've changed," Emma shrugged. "You worked so hard to be good and you are. You're a hero now and I admire you so much for that."
"And Hook hadn't changed?" Regina said.
"No, he had," Emma nodded. "And I appreciate how much. But there was still something dark inside him, something broken. It came out when I put the darkness inside him I suppose. He couldn't control it. But you would, I know you would be able to stay good."
"You're the only one who has that sort of faith in me," Regina sighed. "Everyone here will always fear me, just a little bit."
"I don't," Emma answered, sitting up and taking both of Regina's hands in her own. "I'm not afraid of you Regina and I trust you. With my life and with our son's."
"You trust me?" Regina asked, looking down at the hands gripping her own.
"Implicitly," Emma nodded, squeezing lightly. "You're remarkable, Regina. What you've overcome, what you've suffered, and how you've emerged on the other side a better and stronger person. You're inspirational."
The tears spilled over, sliding down Regina's cheeks but Emma raised a hand, wiping them away with the pad of her thumb. The brunette turned her face, looking back towards the Christmas tree and roving her eyes over the mismatched decorations, mostly made by Henry during his primary school years. As her gaze drifted downwards, it came to rest on two presents left under the tree.
"We never opened our presents," Regina remarked, throwing off the blanket covering her legs and padding barefoot across the carpet to pick the gifts up.
Handing the larger one to Emma, she settled herself back on the couch and placed the box in her lap.
"You go first," she said, gesturing to the blonde.
Emma nodded and ripped the wrapping paper off. Into her lap fell a dark brown leather jacket, the rich smell of the material reaching Regina's nostrils.
"Wow!" the Sheriff said as she held the jacket up. "This is gorgeous, Regina, thank you."
"I've never seen the appeal of leather jackets myself but if you will insist on wearing them then the least you can do is wear a stylish one," Regina shrugged.
"I love it, seriously," Emma said, standing up to put it on over her festive jumper. "Perfect fit," she added, tugging the sleeves into place.
"It looks good on you," Regina said with a small smile.
"Thanks, now open yours," Emma said, folding herself back under the blanket and pointing to the box in Regina's lap.
The brunette daintily slid a perfectly manicured nail under the scotch tape and unwrapped the present. It was a pure white box, no logo embossed on the top. Curiously, she lifted the lid and gasped at the silver pendent which lay against a red velvet cushion. As she lifted the necklace up, the swan encased in a perfect circle shone in the light as it swung gently.
"It's stunning," Regina murmured, laying the pendent in her hand and examining it. "White gold?"
"Yeah," Emma nodded. "I saw it and thought of you."
"You saw a necklace of a swan and thought of me?" Regina asked. "Why?"
"I think about you a lot," Emma said before clapping a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.
Regina said nothing, her brain rapidly trying to process the new information. Emma Swan thought about her a lot. Emma Swan had bought her jewellery. Emma Swan was sat before her, a hand covering her mouth and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Regina swallowed hard before she spoke.
"I think about you too."
They moved slowly, each inching further forward and then pausing, waiting for the other to come closer. No words were spoken as they leaned in, their eyes connected the whole time as their lips grew closer together. It was Emma who closed the gap, melding her soft lips against Regina's even softer ones, allowing the smallest of whimpers to escape her mouth as she did so. It was tentative, slow, and ended far too soon. As they drew back, green eyes sought brown: apprehension, anticipation, and undeniable arousal reflected in both sets.
"Merry Christmas," Emma whispered at last.
"Merry Christmas, Emma," Regina replied, her tone husky.
The sound of her name spilling from those lips did something to Emma and she moved forward quickly, each hand coming to rest on Regina's cheeks as their mouths crashed together once more. This kiss was the opposite of the first: furious, fast, and fiery. Soon Regina found herself on her back, Emma on top of her and a toned thigh wedged between her own. She pushed her pelvis up, groaning at the pressure building at her core.
The thundering of footsteps reached their ears just in time and Emma pushed herself up and off Regina, sitting back in her corner of the couch and wiping traces of lipstick from her mouth. Regina hurriedly straightened her hair, sitting upright again before Henry burst into the room.
"Can we watch It's a Wonderful Life?" he asked, completely oblivious to what he had interrupted.
"Erm, yes of course. But why do you want to watch that movie? It's really old," Regina said, standing from the couch and walking over to their DVD cabinet. The collection had expanded considerably over the years thanks to Emma.
"Paige said it was good," Henry answered.
"It is excellent," Regina agreed. "But it's also rather long. If we watch it Emma will be here until after midnight and then will have to walk home in the blizzard."
"Can't she stay here?" Henry asked. "We have so many spare bedrooms and I really want to watch it with both of you."
"Erm … I'm not sure …," Emma stuttered.
"Of course she can, Henry," Regina said, turning to Emma and quirking an eyebrow.
"You sure?" Emma asked.
"Of course," Regina nodded. "You're welcome to stay in any one of the bedrooms here."
The meaning behind that statement was not lost on Emma and she felt a tightening in her core.
"Great," she grinned. "Shall I go and get some Christmas cake for everyone whilst you sort out the DVD. Regina, can you help me carry through the plates and stuff?"
As soon as they were alone in the kitchen, Regina gasped as she found herself pushed hard against the wall, Emma's mouth feasting on her own, her tongue pushing into her mouth and twirling gently around. Emma's hands gripped her waist tightly, pulling their bodies flush together as their lips moved furiously against each other. Breaking the kiss reluctantly, Emma lifted a finger and caressed Regina's jawbone, smiling softly into the beautiful face below her.
"Are you sure you want me to stay?" she murmured, resting her forehead against Regina's.
The brunette draped her arms over Emma's shoulders before answering. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life," she answered before tugging on her arms to bring Emma closer and kissing the blonde once more.
"MOMS! Hurry up!" Henry called from the living room.
Pulling back, Emma smiled lopsidedly at the slightly dishevelled brunette before turning towards the Christmas cake and cutting three large slices.
A/N: if the movie finishes after midnight, it's technically Boxing Day … Next chapter will be M.
