Okay so after a few requests from you lot for some more…here we are!
I can never thank you enough for your kindness when you interact with me on here through reviews or PMs or through Tumblr on chelseadaggz, it cheers me up so much to know you enjoy my stories, like to discuss the points I have made in them and encourage me to write more…you're awesome and here you go!
I've ended it this way in order to either finish it or continue on depending how I feel.
Enjoy :)
She couldn't help the smile gracing her lips as she thought about the man currently sleeping peacefully upstairs in her bed, the top of his shirt grazed her bare thighs comfortingly as she scooped up another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. She had awoken earlier in the night and couldn't help but feel as though it had all just been a cruel dream, that she would walk down the hall to find him sleeping soundly in his own bed. She had almost squealed in surprise when a strong arm had tightened around her waist and pulled her back to rest against a strong chest. He was there, it had happened.
"Go back to sleep Gi," he called out softly before swiftly falling back into his own dreams, nicknames were something her mother had exclaimed to be crass and common yet Regina couldn't help but feel her heart swell at the name. She wasn't her mother, she was nothing like her.
Her fingers trailed the contours of his face, lightly so as not to wake him. He really was incredible handsome and he really was only inches away from her face whilst his hands were held around her loosely, even in sleep he needed to feel her there. She couldn't help but place a soft kiss to his lips whilst stroking a palm across his cheek before she slipped out of his grasp, smiling widely as he rolled further onto her side of the bed, his nose burying in the pillow her head had just been resting on as her scent calmed him in sleep.
"What are you thinking about?" she jumped and placed a hand over her fast beating heart in an attempt to calm herself at the sudden intrusion, she scowled lightly as he laughed and moved around the counter to hold her from behind. Regina smiled and sighed contentedly as he placed a gentle kiss into her dark her.
She allowed the spoon to rest within the carton of ice cream on the counter as she placed her hands over those resting on her abdomen and leant back into the feel of him behind her, "you."
He couldn't help but laugh softly into the side of her head as his arms instinctively tightened around her, he couldn't get enough of this woman, she was like a drug to him. Her smell, her voice, her laughter…all were intoxicating and only drew him in further every time he witnessed something from her that he knew she hadn't shared with anyone in a long time, she had chosen him to be the one to see. "That's funny…" he drawled into her ear, revelling in the way she shivered against him yet leaned her head further into his whilst tightening the grip her hand had on him, "I was just thinking about you too…"
"Is that so?" she giggled lightly, she hadn't missed the lowering of his tone as she slowly spun in his arms, her own coming to hand lightly around his shoulders.
"Mhmm," he hummed as a strong hand came up to push back a lock of hair that had fallen loose from behind her ear, he drank in her features, the full red lips that he just couldn't resist kissing at every opportunity since she had allowed him the privilege only hours before, the soft lines around her mouth that suggested that she had in face been smiling more in recent times, he suspected this was mainly due to having her son around once more but he also hoped that it could have been due to him and the steady friendship they had created whilst looking for Henry in the forest. The deep scar above her lip that he couldn't help but trail a finger down, it was a mark on a canvas of perfection, the only sign that allowed others to see that she was in fact human and she wasn't indestructible, he adored it.
He couldn't help but laugh as she scrunched up her nose playfully as he nudged it with his own, he felt her exhale of breath hitting his lips and smiled as he caught his favourite feature of hers when they both pulled back once more. Her eyes…they were utterly captivating to him and had been from the very beginning. The only indication of what she was truly feeling, even when scorning those she clearly despised could he see the reason for her doing so, her defensive nature allowing her to keep her love weakened heart from becoming exposed and exploited by those she didn't trust.
The deep brown eyes flickered between his blue orbs as she watched him taking her in, she revelled in the way he care for her, the way he looked at her. As if she were really there, not just in the beauty that she had been told for so long to use to her advantage, no, he saw her…all of her and as frightening a concept as that was, she didn't want to lose the feeling. It made her feel alive for the first time in so long, like she was supposed to be there in that moment with him pressed against her. And she was…she couldn't help but turn to press her lips against the tattoo only inches from her face as he continued the exploration of her face with his fingers. He smiled at the intimate gesture, especially after she had told him about its importance only hours before as they lay holding each other in the cocoon of her bed.
"Thank you," she breathed gently as her eyes found his once more, his hand stilled to rest against her cheek as she leaned into the touch.
His brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the way she closed her eyes and seemed to breathe him in, "for what sweetheart?"
When her eyes opened once more, he was astounded by the amount of emotion he found swirling within them, "for seeing me…"
There was such vulnerability in her, it melted his heart as he brought his other hand to her other cheek, "how could I not see you Regina?" he asked her, "You are magnificent…"
And then his lips were on hers once more and she could feel him, everywhere. Her mouth opened automatically as their tongues sought their partners. Her heart beat strong in her chest as if trying to escape to its rightful owner whilst she pulled herself closer to him using the arms around his neck, she wouldn't say the words just yet, it was too soon but she knew she meant them, she knew what she was feeling was by far the strongest she had ever felt this kind of emotion. Even with Daniel, whilst she had thought him to be her true love at that point in time and for so long afterwards, she knew it for what it truly was now…her first love, the love that was readying her for what she was now being given, her second chance at life.
She knew as his hands came to rest against the back of her bare thighs in encouragement for her to wrap her lean legs around his frame as he lifted her from the ground and moved to take her upstairs once more, she knew that she would be a fool not to throw everything she had into this and as he, upon finally making it up the stairs even with her body moving against his, gently lay her down upon the bed and hovered above her with such adoration and care in his bright blue eyes, she knew that she would never let this go.
"Seriously kid," she raised her eyebrows at the boy bouncing in his seat beside her as he waited for the arrival of his mother and Robin, "you're gonna give yourself a heart attack if you don't calm down, they'll be here in a minute." They hadn't long sat down in a booth in the diner before she had received the text from Regina letting her know they were on their way.
Roland was merely watching Henry with an amused smile and trying to mirror his movements, Emma couldn't help but laugh slightly at the way he seemed to look up to her son and she knew for a fact that Henry loved every minute of it. She could see it in his exaggerated movements the previous night and his attempts to seem almost regal as he spoke to either her or Roland, much the same way she had seen kids in her foster home do whenever they wanted to appear top of the chain…for them it was a defence mechanism, for Henry it was purely for his pride.
The boy's joint squeal of excitement almost caused her to knock over her salvation of the morning, a steaming hot cup of coffee. Cleaning up the residual spills as she flinched at the fire burning in Granny's eyes from behind the counter as she watched the blonde steady the cup, Emma finally looked up to see what the fuss was about.
Their place in the diner gave them a clear view of the path leading up to the door, she couldn't see anything at first glance and was about to ask her son why he had though it necessary to lead her to an early death…but then she saw them. The two standing just beyond the entrance to the door, she could see the nervous energy radiating from the brunette as Robin seemed to be trying to calm her, Regina's face was turned away and towards the street meaning Emma couldn't actually see her expression.
What she could see, however, meant that she wasn't able to hide the wide smile from spreading across her features. Henry was practically having an aneurism as he itched to make his way outside to the pair. Regina's small hands were encompassed within one of Robin's as his other hand stroked a lock of hair behind her ear causing her to finally look up at him. Emma could see the fear in the strained expression she wore; she knew the woman would be worrying about Henry's reaction, scared of losing him in the search for her happiness. If she could only see him now, bouncing around with excitement.
She seemed to be shaking her head as her eyes were cast downwards; his other hand came to stop the movement and pull her to look at him once again. None could hold in the cries of 'aw' that escaped when he pulled her up to him in a tender kiss. Even Granny blushed in embarrassment at her lapse in control at the sight of the former Evil Queen smiling like a schoolgirl at the man treating her with such care.
All averted their eyes as the couple turned to make their way into the warmth of the diner; Emma seemed to be absorbed with the mug in front of her as Henry continued Roland's lessons in his new favourite game – rock, paper, scissors.
Regina's heart was in her mouth as she looked at the son before her, a silent prayer in her mind as she hoped he would understand and accept the new development in her life. They didn't even acknowledge their presence as they stood before the table. A clearing of Robin's throat finally had the little group looking up though; Regina thought as she took in each face, all were looking suspicious.
"Hey Mom!"
"Regina"
"Papa!"
Came the three shouts of acknowledgement, now that the woman was here before her though, Emma could not hold eye contact for long. Though she was happy for the woman, she had seen far more than she had ever wanted to. This did not go unnoticed by Regina who eyed the woman closely, confused by the colouring in her cheeks.
"We…uhm…we have something to tell you," her eyes were on Henry now as Robin looked to his small boy who was currently standing on the spongy seating of the chair and making his way over to his father. She looked once to the man beside her for courage before placing a slightly trembling hand over her son's on the table. "Henry…" this was harder than she had thought as she looked into the curious eyes of her boy, she couldn't lose him, not now but the thought of having to let Robin go was almost suffocating…but if Henry wasn't comfortable with it, then she would do her best to do right by him as he deserved now. "Robin and I…"
"You're dating" he finished for her, he almost laughed at the way she blinked in surprise and simply stared at him with her mouth open slightly. The only thing that brought her back to present was the warm hand now resting on the small of her back as she straightened herself up, her eyes still on Henry trying to gage his response.
"Yes Henry, we are," Robin spoke for her as he laughed when Roland threw his tiny body at him.
The child was practically vibrating with excitement as he turned in his father's arms to look at his new friend, "it worked Henwy!" he exclaimed much to Regina's complete confusion and Emma's amusement, "just like you said it would!"
"I'm sorry…what?" Regina looked back to her son who now had the sense to like slightly sheepish.
He looked to his blonde mother for support and scowled when she only shrugged and laughed, "this is all on you kid."
"We…" he inhaled sharply at the jab to his ribs from Emma, "I mean, I," he rectified with a growl to the woman beside him, "I…kinda…sorta…planned this?"
"You planned this?" It was Robin who spoke now as Regina's expression was completely unreadable, even Emma seemed a little apprehensive now as she stiffened beside her son, almost using his body as a shield from the wrath of the brunette's anger that could erupt at any given moment.
Henry used her silence as way of explaining quickly, "yeah well uh…" he began, looking for the right way to word what he wanted to say, "look, basically we all saw you two making googly eyes at each other in the forest, then Mom wouldn't stop talking about something funny that you had said…which was never all that funny," Robin chuckled at the statement and enjoyed the blush coming from Regina, "then David told us that he couldn't talk to you without hearing about the 'absolutely breath taking brunette' looking for her son," it was Robin's turn to blush as Regina shot him a smirk, "so…I kinda guessed that something was going on, then I saw the tattoo-"
"Wait, you knew about that?" Regina's eyebrows had practically disappeared into her hairline at his comment; he nodded quickly not taking his eyes from hers, "how?"
He looked sheepish once more but knew telling the truth was for the best, "Tink may have let it slip…she didn't mean to! Then I bugged her to tell me the whole story so…"
"What's this about a tattoo?" this was the only part of the plan she hadn't heard anything about as she looked to the brunette and Robin.
Robin smiled gently at Regina before rolling up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing the lion tattoo on his arm as Regina began explaining what it meant to her. Emma's eyes were wide as the story finished, she just thought the two looked good together and had obvious chemistry but to hear they were soul mates, true loves and destined to be together…well, that was pretty final.
"Wow…"
"Yeah," Henry smiled as he took in the calmness that had settled upon his adoptive mother's face as she told the story and the way in which her pinkie finger and found its way over to hook onto Robin's as she leaned into him subtly. He liked the change in her.
"So…you're okay with this Henry?" Regina asked, the question quite redundant as she had just found out he had orchestrated the whole affair, she was secretly proud of him though she wouldn't encourage the use of manipulation, something she knew all too well about.
He nodded vigorously as he stood and wrapped his arms around her small frame, "are you happy Mom?" He rested his chin on her breasts as she stroked a hand through his thick hair and smiled.
"Yes Henry, I'm very happy…"
He smiled once more before burrowing his face in her chest once more, "then I am too."
Laughter echoed throughout the garden as Henry continued attempting to teach Robin how to play tag football; he had marked out the correct zones in order to appropriate the scoring system making it easier for Robin as he became used to the rules. Regina couldn't help but chuckle at the confused determination in the archers face and the determined irritation in her sons; they made quite a pair her boys. She and Roland were acting as cheerleaders on the side lines, the young boy clearly itching to join in with the others. Her arms were wrapped around his tiny body as he sat in her lap watching with rapt attention.
"Mom?" she looked with a bright smile to Henry as he called her, Robin turned and grinned at her also, "you gonna come show him how the Mills do it?"
Her heart swelled with the challenge, she absolutely adored the way he called them the collective Mills as if he were proud of his surname…proud of her. Blinking back tears, she looked to the boy in her lap and helped him to the ground once more; he sprinted at once over to Robin who brought him onto his shoulders before raising an eyebrow in friendly competition at the small brunette. She knew what he was thinking, but his strength would not help when it came to her. She was going to show him just how capable she was. He was used to rescuing damsels in distress, she was used to fighting wars – it was game on.
"Of course Henry…if you think there's any threat at all," she winked as she passed the chucking archer to stand by her son.
"Oh," he laughed heartily as he brought Roland to the ground once more, kneeling on the ground as he placed his hands over the boys shoulders, "you hear that boy? They think they can take us!"
Regina's husky chuckle rang out once more as the young boy turned to her with a forced glare, his best menacing face. Both she and Henry played along by looking almost convincingly scared as they backed away.
"Woah Mom…I'm not so sure now," they looked at each other with feigned concern in their eyes, their expressions exaggerated enough for a giggling Roland to see, "I'm a little scared, he has the fearsome Roland on his team!"
"S'okay Henwy," the boy staged whispered, "I won't hurt you too bad."
All laughed as the boy stalked slowly towards Henry, his eyes trained on the football in his grasp. Regina took Robin's momentary amusement at his son as a chance to dart past him, he barely had time to realize what was happening before the ball was sailing over his head and into the brunette's arms.
"Oh, is that how it is huh?" he merely gained a wink in response as she readied herself for his attack; Roland was guarding Henry though he barely came up to her son's chest. It was in this lapse of judgement that Robin saw his chance and lunged towards her; she quickly dodged his open arms and began running back towards Henry, squealing as she was lifted into the air suddenly.
"Mom, throw the ball, quick!" she laughed and threw as hard as was possible in her position, the ball landed just before the two boys who instantly jumped to the ground and grasped the ball between them. Her legs flailed as she tried in vain to make him put her down.
"Nope"
"Robin!" she attempted to sound threatening but the edge was lost as her laughter took over, he laughed along as he held her tight to him, it only doubled when he heard the shout from Henry.
"I'm coming Mom"
"Me too Wegina!"
Came Roland's cry as they barrelled towards the archer, he was able to soften the blow to Regina as he took the impact of their fall with his body, letting out a feigned groan of pain and closing his eyes. Roland was instantly panicked as he climbed from his place from Henry's back and moved to shake his father's head, trying to wake him. Henry jumped up next from his, still laughing, mother's back before turning to Roland.
"Only one thing can save him now Roland!"
The boy's eyes were wide as his gaze flicked between his father, with Regina still held in his grasp on the ground, and the young boy before him, "what Henwy?"
She frowned at the wink he sent her way and the movement of Robin's chuckle from beneath her, it was clear he knew something she did not. "True loves kiss!" She rolled her eyes at the explanation before hearing Roland's cries of encouragement.
"Save my papa Wegina!"
"I'll do my best brave Sir Roland," she placated the boy as she looked down to the grinning man below her, leaning in so that only he could hear her, "if this was all some plan for you to get some…"
"So what if it was?" his eye opened slightly to catch the roll of her eyes, "what are you gonna do about it?"
She chuckled at his blatant flirtations, "nothing I can say in front of our boys…" her mouth gaped at the slip of her tongue; he instantly sat up with her still in his arms. Roland's cheers of excitement at his father's resurrection went unnoticed by the pair as their eyes locked. Henry, having seen this look shared far too many times between his grandparents and, in fact, his biological parents. It was time to take Roland inside, he too had heard what she had said and couldn't help but smile at the shock colouring both faces.
Her hands moved to hide her face as the sound of the backdoor sliding shut reached them on the ground, Robin could only stare at her, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew they were serious but…to hear her call their kids 'theirs' was incredible to him.
"Do…" he took her hands in his and pulled them down into her lap as he spoke, needing to see her face, "do you really mean that?" he lifted her chin with a finger in order to bring her gaze to his, "do you really think of them both as…as 'ours'?"
She was terrified but…if they were going to do this; it was going to have to be built on honesty. "I'd like them to be…" It was so quiet, it was a miracle that he had even heard her but if the sudden pressing of his lips to hers was anything to go on, she'd said the right thing. She could feel the start of something incredible as their tongues met once more and as they remained sitting upon the ground just revelling in the feel of one another, she couldn't help but wonder what the future looked like for them.
