AN: I would like to apologize to everyone who received alerts yesterday. I didn't. And, thinking it was everyone and not just myself I took the new last chapter of "The Games" and chapter 1 of this Epilogue down. But, apparently everything had been feeding into my spam account, which is really unfortunate. I had 56 e-mails from fanfiction in there! I had no idea! So, I am very sorry and I have now done what fanfiction has told me to do, so there shouldn't be anymore issues!
Now, please enjoy!
Epilogue Part II:
"Good gods my love, how long does it take to poof into something presentable?" Regina called to her lover as she looked at the clock before making her way to the nursery.
She felt rather than saw the blue smoke as she picked up David. She continued ignoring her wife as she brought the bright-eyed baby boy to the changing table.
Emma eyed her wife, "Are you serious? You're rushing me but you haven't even changed David and we have no idea if Bailee is ready?"
Regina turned to her wife with a smirk on her face, "Oh hush. You need to learn to not take so much time."
"I poofed! It took 4 seconds!"
"It used to take you 2…"
"Are you saying that I'm slowing down in my old age?"
Regina gave her a winning smile before shrugging, "I'm not saying a thing, my darling."
Emma crossed her arms with narrowed eyes, "Just remember that however old I am, you're older." She quickly poofed out of the room before she had to listen to the comeback she was sure was coming. She poofed into Bailee's room, "Bailee Cakes?"
"Yes, Momma?"
"You about ready?"
Bailee turned from her vanity to her mother, "Yes." She stared her mother down, "Are you in trouble?"
"Potentially." Emma nodded.
"Oh, great. What did you do this time?"
"I reminded Mommy that she's older than me." Emma bit her lip feeling the heat as her daughter put her hands on her hips.
"That's not polite." Bailee stared at the blonde.
"Well, Mommy wasn't being polite… I gave what I got."
"And somehow, you're always the one that's in trouble."
"Yes, that is because Mommy is in charge and we all know it."
"Except the times you are." Bailee reminded.
Emma guffawed once, "And when has that ever happened?"
"Well… The Games were your idea… So, basically after Mommy said yes to your proposal up to your wedding day, I think you were in charge."
Emma pursed her lips and nodded, "I guess I was…" She shook her head, "Will you go to Chip and Allison's and see if the four of them are ready?"
"Yes, Momma." Bailee poofed out of the room.
~0~0~0~0~0~
"I'm just saying Cameron, don't let the other werewolves get to you. They know that you're better than them."
Cameron looked over to Bailee as they walked down the hall. Cameron was the last to get ready—she had been drawing in her sketchbook and got distracted. She smiled at the other princess, "That's what your mom said."
"My mom is smart." Bailee nodded, "The other werewolves… they're like your grandma and their mom, but you are like your dad. You can change anytime you want. That's so cool. I say you own that."
Cameron smiled as she looked down at her blue dress, "Thanks… I'll try. You should own your magic."
"I do…" Bailee looked at her and found that the other princess was shaking her head, knowingly.
"You can use magic. You poof when you want to. But you're scared of your power. I can smell that on you. You're as unsure as anyone of the power you hold. I think you should find out. It could only lead to good things…"
"I don't know… Think about who my grandmother is…"
Cameron shrugged, "Miss Regina's magic in no way looks or smells like Cora's—that's what my daddy days. She's only ever used hers for good. You do too. Don't fear a part of you that doesn't exist."
"How do you know it doesn't?"
Cameron shrugged, "I believe it." She looked in her only friend's eyes as they walked into the throne room that had been converted to the greeting room for the next few days.
"There they are…" Emma's voice was heard, "There are our two little princesses. Let's get to greeting all these people." She clapped her hands and turned to the big double doors that led to the foyer of the castle.
Cameron and Bailee moved quickly into the room. Cameron took her place in front of her parents and in between her grandmothers and little brother, taking his hand from her mother, so Allison wouldn't have to worry about him. Bailee stood in front of her grandparents, next to her mothers. She offered her arms to Regina, who held David, silently letting her mother decide if she wanted to hand him over and greet, or hang on to him and invite people into her personal space to grin and coo and make faces at the baby. Regina, opted to hand the child over. The advisors and the other kids of the castle were not there to greet; only the technical royals of the original lands and the royals in power.
After Emma's gesture, the guards opened the doors and in came Thomas, Ella, Alexander, Patrick, Alexandra, Melody, Nancy, Edward and Walker.
~0~
Thomas and Ella adjusted quickly to their children's chosen life partners. They always thought they would have one daughter-in-law and one son-in-law, but they had no idea that it would come about in this way. They threatened to overturn their court not unlike what had happened in the Shadow Lands if the court didn't sign in new marriage laws.
It seemed the every member of the court had a member of their sibling's spouse's side of the family that was gay, or knew someone that way gay. A few did admit—happily even—that their children, or grandchildren were gay and one particular court member came out of the closet then and there. It seemed the court had been patiently waiting for a reason to get the law written and signed. Thomas and Ella were more than happy to host the first gay wedding, the old gay court member and his now husband.
Alexandra and Melody wore rings on their fingers and called each other their wives, but they never seemed to actually make it down the isle in the ten years. It just wasn't a priority for the two. They were more focused on their own sets of adventures, ones that didn't involve near-death or anything the like, like the tales they'd heard from Patrick and Alexander and the other former candidates when they got going at parties. No, they preferred the simple, leisurely traveling in the warm, tropical areas.
Patrick and Alexander did marry; they were the fourth couple to wed. They went camping and fishing every so often much to Alexander's chagrin. They also went shopping for clothes or material for clothes much to Alexander's content. They didn't have children. They didn't really want them yet. They wanted to bask in the bubble they'd created of finally not caring what others thought of their relationship, or how others would react, or the fact that it wasn't princely or knightly. It was. They were two princes now and they were happy.
And Nancy and Edward hosted the Princes' wedding. After losing their best knight, they let life push them forward. They received and sent many a letter from the new Prince and were more than delighted for him. A few years after they came home from the Shadow Lands' Battle, they learned that they were pregnant. They now have a boy, Walker Patrick, his middle name coming from their best knight; he, like Cameron is 7 years old.
~0~
As the nine made their way into the room, Emma stood from her seat and quickly made her way down to Alexander and Patrick. Everyone knew she was excited, but as they watched the newer Shadow Queen skip down to her guests, they saw just how excited she was.
She hugged both of her former competitors tight, "Alexander." She smiled as her old friend hugged back.
"Emma." Alexander hugged her back.
"I've missed you." She kept her hold on the man before reaching out to touch Patrick's face, "Both of you. We need to make these trips more frequent." She said, finally pulling away.
"Indeed." Alexander said happily.
Patrick only smirked, "He's only agreeing to that so he won't have to go camping as often as he's become accustomed." Patrick looked up to see Regina making her way over to them, having said her hi-hellos to everyone else. "Hello, your majesty."
"Patrick." Regina took his proffered hand and let him kiss it before she looked to Alexander, "You've become accustomed to camping?" She smiled wide as the blonde prince rolled his eyes.
"Unfortunately." He shook his head. He then took a moment to look the original Shadow Queen over, "You've introduced color into your wardrobe…" He smiled.
It was Regina's turn to roll her eyes and shake her head, "Must we go through this conversation every time we meet?"
"Yes." Alexander nodded, "Aqua looks good on you." He added as he looked her over again.
Regina smiled, "Thank you, Alexander."
David took this opportunity to cry in his sister's arms. Bailee tried calming him down, but the baby was having none of it. He was hungry; he was hungry there and then and he was going to let everyone know.
Regina and Emma looked to each other, debating who was going to relieve their child from her brother, but as quickly as the crying came it stopped. They looked over to see that Bailee had magicked a bottle and given David to her grandfather, who, for some reason, had a way with the baby boy and could always make him get down to business when he ate and not play around and not actually eat when he got his bottles.
Bailee looked over to her mothers and smiled, knowing she had done good.
"Miss Bailee…" Alexander walked over to the girl and spun her around, "You look beautiful as always."
Bailee laughed, "Thank you Alexander!"
Alexander made sure to not miss a single woman in the room and quickly made his way over to Snow and then to Allison and Cameron.
Patrick shook his head, "My husband… He loves a good dress on a lady." He scratched his brow.
Emma looked him over, "It seems he loves a good suit on a man, too…"
Patrick chuckled, "That he does…" the former knight looked around and noticed it before anyone else, "What's that?" he pointed.
On the other side of the room, a claret and buttercup swirled smoke started forming.
"Is that…?" Emma asked as she glanced to her wife a moment, who was smirking.
"It is. They've let her take the reigns, so to speak." Regina chuckled.
As the smoke faded, it revealed Genie, Calliope and Amelia.
~0~
Genie and Calliope were living what felt to be a life of luxury. Amelia was strong and powerful not unlike her parents. They were still learning her powers, and some seemed to develop overnight. At this point, could do everything her father could, and she had her mother's beauty. Genie, on more than one occasion, "joked" about keeping her in her room until he died, so he wouldn't have to see his little girl become the strong, powerful woman that dated boys and/or girls that would never be good enough. Needless to say, he stepped into his full-time father role easily.
~0~
Cameron and Bailee both ran from their spots next to the thrones, "Amelia! Amelia!" They both said happily.
~0~
Amelia, on these nights she was locked up in her room for doing some magic she wasn't supposed to, visited the castle. The 17-year-old knew her parents knew where she would run off to, but they never punished her further or said a thing regarding her departures. She loved being around the kids, teaching Bailee, the only other magical child, new spells and tricks. She liked talking with Grace (even though she was five years her junior and didn't understand first-hand all the problems that happened in those 5 years, she was wise beyond her years and generally helped when she could). Really, Amelia just didn't like staying in her cottage on Olympus all the time and she needed to breathe. So, she would come to the castle for that.
~0~
"Hey girls!" Amelia smiled to the two princesses and hugged them when they got to her.
Calliope simply raised a brow as she moved passed her daughter, squeezing either princess's shoulder before moving to the rest of the royals in the room, "We're early; I hope you don't mind…"
Regina moved to the woman that she hadn't been allowed to meet until after she was married, "Calliope! Of course we don't mind!" She hugged the woman tight, and kissed her cheek as she pulled away, "We're just happy everyone could make it." She hugged Genie and kissed his cheek before moving to Amelia, "Hello, beautiful." She kissed the girl's cheek as well.
"Hello, Regina." Amelia smiled wide.
Bailee and Cameron pulled Amelia from the group, "Mommy, we're gonna go to the garden, 'kay?" Bailee called over her shoulder.
"Alright, little girl." Regina shook her head, "Bailee's been working on a trick Amelia taught her a few weeks—" Regina realized that the parents probably didn't know that Amelia stopped by.
Calliope smirked, "Regina dear, we know she comes here. It's fine."
"Good. We just…"
Calliope nodded, "I know full well what you 'just…' You just didn't want to lose her trust by telling us that she was here and have her wind up somewhere else that wasn't your castle and far more dangerous…"
Emma widened her eyes a bit and nodded. She came over to them during the start of Calliope's speech and kissed Genie's cheek, and now that Calliope was done, she leaned in and kissed her cheek in greeting as well, "That's actually exactly what we 'just…'"
Calliope squeezed Emma's hand and gave her a smile.
~0~0~0~0~0~
"Good gods, here we go…" Emma muttered the next afternoon as she magicked the clothes her wife had picked out for her.
"You're already annoyed?" Regina moved out of the bathroom, she chose to get ready the human way this day.
"What? Annoyed? Who said anything about annoyed?"
"Emma…" Regina crossed her arms.
Emma turned and looked to the brunette, "What?"
"I know you want it to be two days from now, and I know that you want everyone to just be here already, but this isn't a competition in which everyone needs to arrive on the same day. This is a big family reunion in which people are arriving on different days, and you need to be a big girl and greet everyone on the different days until they've all arrived…"
Emma pursed her lips, hiding a smile at her wife's antics as she slowly made her way over the brunette, nodding along, "I know that, my love."
"Then why must we always have this kind of conversation?" Regina leaned into the blonde as she felt hands on her hips.
"Because… It secretly makes you think I'm adorable in my childish way and it makes you love me more." Emma grinned and pursed her lips, giving her wife her best impression of a duck, waiting for a kiss.
"It does make love you more…" Regina leaned in and pecked the blonde. "And you are so childish…" She wrapped her arms around Emma's neck and leaned in, kissing her again.
"I love you, too." Emma smirked as she pulled from the woman's lips, but kept her hold on her wife. She let her hands wander to one of her favorite parts of Regina's anatomy and squeezed. And when Regina raised a brow of warning, Emma only waggled her eyebrows and started swaying.
"Darling, there is no time for that." Regina tried to pull from her, but ultimately fell into Emma's clutches as lips found that one spot on her neck that always made her bend to her wife's will.
"There's plenty of time, Regina…" Emma smirked, kissing down her neck to her collarbone.
"Mommy? Momma? Chip and Allison are already in the… Oh…" Bailee had poofed into her parents' room and rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips when she saw the two of them before her, "A child my age, your own child for that matter, should not be immune to seeing you both make out… But that's how often you do it!"
Emma pulled from Regina and started laughing.
"Momma, that is not the reaction you should be giving me right now." Bailee tapped her foot.
Emma then jumped to submission and clasped her hands together, looking down ashamed; Regina had already gotten into position. "Sorry, Bailee…" they said together.
Bailee shook her head, "You need to hurry up and get ready. The first three carriages are making their way down the road now. Artie and Shrek and everyone will be here soon…" She moved to the door, "I'll change David then give him to Granddad while you two change." She turned to them at the door, "Spit. Spot."
Emma and Regina glared as soon as Bailee was gone.
"Well clearly this is your fault." Regina said as she moved back into the bathroom.
"My fault? Excuse me madam, I am not the one with the silk robe and the boobies out on display and bare legs running for miles while I take my time putting on my face."
"No, but you are the one with the boobies on display thanks to the coat you are wearing and the skin tight pants and the hair all down and flowy!"
Emma's jaw dropped and she followed her wife as if they were having a real argument, "Hey! My hair is always flowy!"
"Because you know I love it!" Regina practically yelled as she saw her wife's form in the mirror.
"I KNOW!" Emma did yell then knit her brows, "Why are we fighting about how good the other looks?"
Regina snapped her fingers, changing into her outfit before hanging her head, "Because we got in trouble…"
"Oh yeah…" Emma looked down as well, shaking her head shamefully. She took her wife's hand, "Who'd have thought that our daughter would be such a hardass…?"
"I don't know…" Regina squeezed the hand in her own, "Let's go before we get in more trouble."
~0~0~0~0~0~
The night that Artie liked to think of as the best night of his life led to one of Far, Far Away's biggest scandals since Artie had ended it with Guinevere. It led to a child made out of wedlock. Though, Artie was quick to ask Lyonors for her hand, and Lyonors was quick to say yes, both seemed to know that they weren't getting married merely to make the condemning public happy. They were getting married because they knew that they were supposed to be with each other. Borre came just three months after their marriage. He was 1 now.
~0~
"Emma!" Artie said as he looked from his 1-year-old that had started walking just weeks before the trip and now would not stop.
Emma smiled as she watched the new father kneel and pick the baby up after he fell on his tush.
"He seems to be non-stop!" Regina said as she walked down the stairs, Emma's hand in hers.
"Yes…" Lyonors knelt down and tried to scoop Borre up, only to have him toddle just out of reach. She stepped forward, this time successful with her scoop, "He is."
"All he does is go." Artie smiled as he leaned in to both Shadow Queens and kissed their cheeks, "You both look lovely. Time has only made you more beautiful."
Emma gave him a cheekily bashful grin, "Artie. You're so hunky now that you're married… It just flows out of you…" She turned to Lyonors, "I like you way better than Guinevere. Have I made it a point to tell you that?"
~0~0~0~0~0~
After getting Artie, Lyonors and Borre to their chamber, and Shrek, Fiona and the triplets to theirs, and the triplets finding Amelia—the only other person close their age, everything seemed to settle. Emma loved palling around with Shrek, Artie, Alexander and Patrick. The four men wouldn't appear like they would even get along, but they were a surprisingly close-knit group of men.
"Your Majesty!" A guard got her attention as she walked the four men to her den, what Regina called 'her poor excuse for masking her want of a saloon in the castle'—it also happened to be some of the adults' favorite spot in the castle because it was laid back.
Emma knit her brows, "Yes?"
"Another carriage just pulled up…"
"…Huh?" Emma didn't understand, "But everyone that was supposed to come, came today…"
"I-I realize that. That is why I came to get you…"
"…Right." She looked to the four of them, "I'll be back…"
"What if it's someone sinister?" Alexander asked.
Emma gave him a look and waved her hand, producing her axe.
"I think she's got it, love." Patrick patted his husband's shoulder.
Emma turned back to the guard, "Well, let's go."
They went to the front of the castle to the carriage that was getting closer on the newly paved road. It looked oddly familiar.
"What's going on?" A voice came beside her.
Emma jumped and looked. She slapped the arm of the owner of the voice, "Great-Grandfather!" She clutched her heart, "You have a way of sneaking up on people."
"It's the worst isn't it." This voice that came on the other side of Emma, made her jump higher than before.
She did the same scolding, hitting the voice's owner on the arm, "Aunt Maleficent!" She hissed.
"We were just curious…" This time it the voice was on the other side of her aunt.
Emma shouldn't have been fazed, but she was. She finally tilted her head to look at her friend and aunt by marriage, "Aurora…"
"What?" The Morpheus princess smiled.
Emma shook her head, "All three of you are much too curious. This is probably nothing. No one. Just some foreigner wanting to say hello."
"Yes, that is why you have your axe." Maleficent nodded. She waved her hand producing her staff that she finally got back from her castle in the Forbidden Mountain. "And why I have my staff."
"What is going on out here? Why do I see favored choices of weapons from two powerful beings?" Regina's voice filled the entrance.
"There's a carriage on its way." Emma pointed as it got to the gate of the castle.
"And we're just waiting for it to come and try to invade?"
Maleficent shrugged, "Yeah, I mean, it could be nothing…" She smirked as she looked to her niece.
"Could be something." Emma shrugged as well and spoke just as casually as her aunt.
"So, we're waiting?" Regina took her place between her wife and her great-grandfather.
"We're waiting."
As the carriage stopped, the door didn't wait for the driver to get down and open it. Ariel was out of the carriage and he was huffy, "No, Eric. I will not just!" He turned to look inside, "You know I can't be around him for very long. I can't imagine why you even tolerate him!"
Eric stepped out, "Ariel. He's your father. You love him. And he loves you."
"Yes, that's why he tried so desperately to keep me from seeing you. And to keep you out of the waters. To keep you from me." He sighed heavily, "You know that he and I have a very touchy relationship… I just don't understand how you possibly thought that joining Arely, Cordelia and Remy for the weekend was a good idea… I could have told you how it was going to end, but you insisted!"
Eric chuckled at his husband, "I did, and for that, I am sorry. I just thought you and your father were ready."
"Well, we're not." Ariel waved his hand, "And now you've had the driver take us here instead of our own castle. They'll think we've come to invade or something!" He saw that their driver had unloaded the carriage and turned to the entrance of the castle. "Friends!" He smiled.
Eric smiled as well, "We're sorry for the uh, early arrival, but plans changed, and we wanted to come as soon as possible."
Emma and Maleficent waved their weapons away, "That is perfectly alright!" Emma said, "I'm sure Grace will be happy you're here!" She smiled, welcoming the kings, "Come on in. We will have someone go prepare your quarters."
Regina hooked her arm with Ariel's, "Why have you come so early?"
Ariel rolled his eyes, "Eric thought that I would be able to live two nights with my father…"
Eric chuckled, "I didn't actually. It was merely an experiment to see how long you could last. He did way better than anyone thought. A full day and a half…"
Everyone in the group nodded, "That's not bad at all. Soon, you'll be living in the same place and it will be second nature for you to have natural conversation…" Maleficent said as everyone stared at her with wide eyes she gave them a look before she started speaking again, "What? I'm just speaking from personal experience… I have daddy-issues too…" She moved to her father and hugged his side.
Van Dyke smiled and nodded, "We still have things to work through, but things are on the up and up."
Emma shook her head at her great-grandfather and aunt before taking Eric's arm and stealing Ariel from Regina, "Come. The advisors and of course Ruby, and Genie and Calliope, the other royals and myself were just going to the den to relax for the evening."
"Ariel and Eric might want to say hello to the other people in the castle first…" Regina turned to a knight, "Someone go fetch Grace."
Emma gave her wife a look, "I'm sorry, I assumed they'd want to see their daughter and daughter-in law… Besides, most of the castle is in the den already or are making their way there. Face it, my love. The den is a happy, joyous place."
"Ladies, ladies!" Eric smiled that handsome smile he had, "There's enough of us to go around." He looked down the hall to see Grace, "Ah, there she is." He smiled as he walked over to her, "Hello, Beautiful."
Grace smiled and hugged him, "Hello, Eric." She then moved to Ariel, "Ariel."
"How is the best Shadow Queen that ever was?"
AN: Thoughts and feels? Please Read and Review!