Regina curled up on the sofa, head leaned back on a paper, eyes closed with a cold compress lying on her throbbing abdomen. God, it was as if her body had simply decided to wage war on her all of a sudden. Her stomach twisted into tight knots, and her head felt as if one of those atrocious rock bands Emma loved so much had taken up residence there. She was hungry, but she didn't have the strength or willpower to go and fix herself something. Maybe she should just order in. Pizza? Henry would like that. All that cheese and sauce and grease... Maybe Henry would like ice cream as well. He'd always been a fan of Half Baked, but maybe he would prefer Salted Caramel tonight. Surely, he would...
At the moment, Henry was lodged in his bedroom, playing video games. He'd been at it for a while, and typically Regina would force him off of them by that time. Not today, though. She didn't have it in her. If he was upstairs playing games, he wasn't downstairs, making noise, asking her for things. She loved her son, but sometimes she just didn't have the energy to give him all the attention he required. Sometimes, she just wanted to have someone wait on her hand and foot.
There was a loud knock at the door, and Regina groaned. Who the hell would be coming then? Nobody ever came to see her-most people were still pretty much terrified that the Evil Queen might make a surprise visit at any moment. Which, in that moment, she felt far more like her old self than she had in a while. Maybe it was someone to see Henry. Some friends from school. It was a Friday night after all. Maybe they wanted to do something with him. She'd be more than happy to say yes for him. The idea of having the whole house to herself that evening was more than a little appealing.
Before Regina had risen from her perch on the sofa, the door was thrown open. She frowned, her irritability growing by the second. Who would have the audacity to barge right into her home as if they owned the damn place? Then, it dawned on her that it could really on be one person, and her expression relaxed. Of course.
"Emma," she sighed when the blonde's footsteps reached her ears. The woman walked as though she were raised by orgres, which was annoying but easily distinguishable. "I told you not to come by."
"I know, and I promptly ignored you." The Sheriff finally came into view, and Regina frowned at what she saw. In one hand, Emma held a stack of DVD's with a pint of ice cream balanced precariously on top-Salted Caramel, of course. In the other hand, she held a bouquet of dark purple orchids and a mysterious paper bag.
"What is all this?" Regina asked, brow furrowed as she stood to her feet.
"PMS care package," Emma answered curtly. "I've got your favorite ice cream and flowers. I picked up every good, female-empowering movie they have at the rental store. I thought we might start with The Craft, then go to A League of their Own, and work our way to the rom-coms from there. Let's see, there the very best Merlot that twenty-five bucks can buy. An extra-cheese pizza is on its way as we speak, and... Oh, yeah. Almost forgot." She plucked a small blue cardboard box from inside the paper bag. "Midol. Always helps me."
Regina looked at her girlfriend for a long moment, mouth open in awe. "Y-You made me a care package for menstrual cramps? How did you even know that was what was wrong with me?"
"I had a hunch," Emma said with a small shrug. "Periods suck. If I can help make yours less terrible in any way, I'm going to do it. I know you told me not to come over, but, well, I did anyway." She smiled guiltily. "You know me. I've never been a great listener."
"I didn't want you to have to see me like this," Regina sighed, gesturing to her messy hair, makeup-free face, and fuzzy pajamas.
Emma smiled. "Why in the hell would you want me to miss something this glorious?" Placing all her things down on the coffee table, she walked to Regina and wrapped her arms around her waist. "You're beautiful, Gina. Always." The brunette couldn't help a small smile as Emma placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "I love seeing you like this. The only thing I hate is that you don't feel good. Which is why I came with the care package."
"You're pretty fantastic sometimes, you know that?" Regina mused, and the blonde grinned. "I bite your head off, and you show up here bound and determined to make me feel better. Most people would've ran the other way and never looked back, but not you." Reaching out, she ran a thumb over her girlfriend's tall, prominent cheekbone. "Thank you, Emma, for being so thoughtful and kind and so wonderfully you."
"It's my pleasure," Emma said, kissing Regina's palm. "I'm not going anywhere, Gina. There is nothing you can ever do to make me leave. I hate to break it to you, sweetie, but you're stuck with me now." They both laughed. "And don't kid yourself into thinking I'm some selfless saint. I am totally going to cash in on all of this in five to seven days." Regina chuckled. "I swear to you, Regina Mills, that before the night is over, I will cure your symptoms or die trying."
Regina kissed the blonde in her arms passionately, and their lips molded together in perfecty synchronicity. "Well, you've already done that."
Footsteps sounded above them. Just like his mother, Henry stomped around as if he wore steel-toed boots everywhere he went. "Mom, who was at the door?" The thirteen-year-old appeared at the top of stairs, and he grimaced when he saw his mothers wrapped up in each other. "Aw, come on, guys. You knew I was coming-you had plenty of time to stop sucking face before I saw you."
Emma grinned up at him. "Yeah, we knew you were coming, kid. We just didn't care."
He rolled his eyes but smiled. As much as Henry acted like his mothers' relationship grossed him out, he was glad they were together. They were both happier than he'd ever seen them, and, honestly, it only made sense to him. Why anyone was ever shocked when the two came out as a couple was a mystery to him. The Savior saves the Evil Queen by falling in love? They were a match made in fairytale heaven.
"Are we eating dinner at any point tonight?" He questioned, and Regina chuckled. Also just like Emma, the boy's head was always on food. "I'm starved."
"Way ahead of you, kid," his blonde assured him. "Pizza's on the way. Got you some ice cream, too." She reached in the paper bag and tossed him a pint of Half Baked ice cream.
"Sweet," he grinned and started for the kitchen to get a spoon.
"Not so fast, young man," Regina stopped him, and he turned back to look at her sheepishly. "Not before you eat dinner."
"Busted," Emma grinned while he scrunched his face up. "Come on. I've got movies, and they're all about girl power."
"Are you kidding me?" He groaned.
"Not in the slightest," she answered, sending him to the couch, "but this first one's about witches, and it's pretty intense. I think you'll like it. I'll let you watch it if you promise not to get scared and wet the bed tonight."
"Ha-ha," he mocked with narrow eyes. He and Regina sat on the sofa while Emma started the movie. She handed Regina a Midol and a glass of water with a wink, to which the brunette mouthed a thank you just before taking the pill. Then, Emma piled up between her girlfriend and son, wiggling her butt in between the cushions before wrapping her arms around the two most important people in the world to her. Regina rested her head against Emma's chest, listening to the steady beating of her heart. She smiled to herself, curling one arm around her waist and settling the other on Henry's legs that were stretched out over his birth mother's lap. Her cramps eased off, and she knew it wasn't just the medicine kicking in.
"I love you," she whispered. From the blonde's other side, Henry made a gagging sound. Emma flicked the back of his head, effectively silencing his protests, and kissed her girlfriend's forehead.
"Love you, too," she said back with a smile.
"And I love having you here," Regina continued, looking up into the green eyes that always took her breath away. There was something she'd been meaning to ask the blonde for quite some time, but the right opportunity had never risen. Actually, it had on multiple occassions. Regina just, as Emma would've put it, pussied out. Not this time. This time she was going to take the leap. "Do... Do you enjoy being here with us?"
Emma smirked slightly, not sure where the brunette was going with this. Regina was often sappy and certainly the more possessive of the two, mostly due to her ongoing fear that Emma would either be taken away from her one day or leave her, but this had taken the Sheriff off-guard slightly. "I love being with you and Henry. You already know that."
"Then I think it's time that we make it more permanent," Regina stated, and Emma's mouth fell open. "What do you think, Henry?"
"You mean, like, Ma would be here all the time?" He asked with wide eyes, and Regina nodded. "That'd be awesome! We could play video games and eat junk food all the time!"
"You seem to forget that I would still be living here as well," Regina said with a cocked eyebrow, and he shrunk a bit into the couch cushions with a shy smile. She looked back to Emma, whose jaw still hung open. Smiling, Regina pushed her chin up with her index finger, closing her mouth. Emma looked down at her. "What do you say, dear?"
"Y-You want me to move in with you?" She choked out, and the brunette nodded. "Seriously?" Regina laughed. "I mean, you actually want me around all the time? Like, 24/7? I don't know if you realize what kind of commitment that is, Gina. You'd have to put up with me pretty much constantly."
"I am aware," Regina nodded.
Emma looked at incredulously. "And you still want that?"
"I do, dear." Regina hesitated a moment, breath held in her throat nervously. "Do you?"
Emma grinned. "Of course I do. Honestly, it's about time you popped the question, babe." Regina laughed as Emma kissed her cheek gingerly. "It's really not a fair trade, y'know. I get you and Henry all the time. You guys just get me."
Regina hugged the blonde closer to her. "You're all we want. Right, Henry?"
The teenager nodded his head. "Yeah, Ma. I know you don't always believe us when we say it, but we want you here with us all the time." She smiled at him, throat tightening. "Every time you leave, the place gets really quiet. Like, creepy quiet. Reminds me way too much of how things were before the curse ended."
Regina nodded in agreement. "You're apart of our family, Emma. When you're not here, we feel incomplete, and I for one am tired of saying goodbye instead of goodnight."
Emma smiled and blinked back the moisture stinging her eyes as she gripped Regina's and Henry's hand tightly. "It's settled then. I'll tell David and Snow tomorrow. Shouldn't take long to move in-I don't have a lot of stuff."
"Cool." Henry turned his attention back to the TV.
"I love you," Emma said, looking down at Regina with a misty-eyed smile. "Thank you for putting up with me."
Regina kissed her lips tenderly. "Truth be told, dear, I don't mind it so much. You're not so much of a handful. Not nearly as bad as me."
"You are a handful," Emma admitted with a grin, and Regina elbowed her playfully, "but you're my handful, and I'm happy to have you."
An hour later, Regina had a numb leg, a girlfriend complaining of a stomach ache from the obscene amount of pizza she'd consumed, and a snoring teenager on her sofa. And she wouldn't have had it any other way.