"You know I never thought it was possible to have a Christmas like you see in the movies," said Emma as they sat later that night, the three of them on one of Regina's couches, a throw blanket wrapped around them, Henry in the middle.

"Mom always makes it perfect," smiled Henry, cuddling into the brunette's side.

Emma smiled warmly at the pair. "Yeah, she does." She looked from Regina to the perfectly decorated room complete with softly glowing tree. That was her favourite, she decided. Regina had sat back and allowed she and Henry to place all the decorations on the tree, handing the more generic baubles and such to Henry, and all the homemade decorations to Emma, complete with a short story about how they all came to be. Henry had rolled his eyes at this, but the blonde had almost been in tears by the time they were done. It was like being allowed a sneak peak of every Christmas Henry had ever had, and was Regina's unspoken way of really letting her in.

"It's time you should be in bed," she said to the sleepy boy, who shook his head, but failed to hide his yawn.

"She's right, kid," agreed Emma, ruffling his hair.

"No." He shook his head again. "Because then you'll have to go, and I like us all here."

Brown eyes met green over Henry's head, a silent question asked, and the answer provided.

"How about if I stay?" asked Emma, grinning.

Her grin was reflected back at her on her son's face. He turned back to Regina. "Can she?"

Unable not to smile at the adorable sight the pair presented, Regina nodded. "She can."

"Go on then, kid," said Emma, ruffling his hair. "You head up and me and your Mom will be up in a minute."

"But I can't go to bed yet!" he quickly objected, causing Regina to smile.

"There's still one little tradition left," she said softly to Emma, before gazing down at her son. "Go and fetch the things from the kitchen then."

Emma frowned as she watched Henry go. "Where's he going?"

"To get Santa his mince pies and Rudolf his carrot," chuckled Regina.

"Isn't he a bit old for that?" asked Emma.

"From the woman who is constantly amazed that she is surrounded by fairytale characters," smirked the older woman.

Emma paused for a moment, thinking. "Santa isn't real, is he?"

"I guess you'll just have to wait and find out."

"Regiiiinaaaa!" whined Emma, adopting her best puppy dog eyes.

The older woman merely chuckled. "Of course he's not real. I think Henry is still rather hopeful, however."

"Suppose he has no reason not to when his grandparents are Snow White and Prince Charming," laughed Emma. She looked up and smiled as Henry appeared back, a glass of milk in one hand and a plate with two small pies and a carrot on it in the other. She watched as he place them carefully on the window, pausing to look out at the night sky for a few moments before turning back to his moms.

"Why don't you go up and get settled?" said Regina. "And Emma and I will be up in a few minutes?"

He nodded, moving towards the door, but stopped, hovering in the doorstep. He turned back, a shy smile on his face. "Mom? Can you read the Christmas story?"

Regina turned to look at her son with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you were too old for that?"

Henry shrugged. "It's tradition." He dropped his gaze to his sock clad feet, and added in a mumble. "And I like it."

"I'll bring it when I come up then," replied Regina softly, her smile widening to match her son as he beamed over at her.

"So what's this Christmas story?" asked Emma as Henry made his way up the stairs.

Regina smiled. "It's the story I would always read to settle him on Christmas Eve. It seems he's grown rather attached to it."

"What's it about?"

"A bear and a hare, making unlikely friends," said Regina. "The hare gets sad that the bear won't be there to celebrate Christmas with her because he'll be hibernating, so she buys him an alarm clock for Christmas so he'll wake up in time to join the festivities."

Emma couldn't help but smile at the adorable tale. "Can I listen when you read it to him?" she asked, wearing the same sheepish smile as her son had only a few moments before.

"Only if you promise to be quiet and not make fun of me after," said Regina as she stood to clear away their now empty hot chocolate mugs.

Emma followed her though to the kitchen. "I wouldn't make fun of any of your traditions with Henry," she said honestly. "And I know I've said it before, but thank you, for letting me be here tonight. For letting me in."

Regina turned from loading the mugs into the dishwasher. "If we're handing out thank you's, it's you who deserves one," she said quietly. "For letting him spend tonight here in the first place." She walked silently forward on socked feet until she could slip her arms around Emma's neck. "And thank you for putting up with me."

The blonde smiled, leaning forward to press a kiss to the former Queen's nose. "I think we both know that you're the one who puts up with me."

A huge thank you to all of you who had read and reviewed this so far! Glad you're enjoying! Comments and criticisms always welcome!