Hey guys! Sorry that this has been on hiatus for a long time. I've been busy with grad school application/GRE course prep process stuff. As such, my other longer stories have been delayed. The good news is that writing short pieces for this Swan Queen and the 7 Plus Ducklings series is a welcomed reprieve from my work. I have a lot of ideas in the works and have actually started the next story in the series; the first chapter of that will be up soon.
Other than that, I'm still thinking/looking for artwork for this series. I want to go with a drawn version of the family. Open to ideas/suggestions for photo editing and crafting this image :)
*Warnings: Mention and use of marijuana. Hopefully, you won't judge me on the direction I took with it. Anyway, enjoy the wrap-up of 'Cold Nights in the Nest'!
Despite Regina's repeated hollering up the staircase, Eve did not join her family for dinner. The table was relatively quiet. The two present teenagers and Cora knew that their sister had been reprimanded for something. Even if they hadn't heard the yelling echo throughout the house, their mother's distant demeanor as they ate was enough to clue them in. The little twins were the only family members at the table who were oblivious, as they made babbling noises while playing with their food.
"Babies, eat your peas," Regina said to them softly. But it was no use. Lila, who only ate carrots, decided a better use of her veggies would be ammunition, as she took to flinging them at her dumbfounded blonde brother.
Instead of further scolding her toddler, she took a cloth and gently wiped the edge of Elliot's mouth. She plucked a few peas out from his blonde curls and put them back on the tray.
After finishing, Rose looked at the serving plates before taking out the storage containers. "Do you want me to bring her up a plate?"
"No," Regina answered sternly. "If your sister has decided not to grace us with her presence at the dinner table, then she doesn't need to eat."
Rose shrugged and moved to put away the leftovers. Davie cleared his and Cora's plates and started to clean up. When Rose had finished, she took her mother's anger as a clue to bring the twins upstairs. Davie remained, scrubbing the dish pans.
"You don't have to clean up, Sweetheart," Regina told him, as she got up and moved to the sink. But he motioned for her to sit back down.
"I got it, Mom," he said. "You've had a pretty tough day."
With only the sound of the running water of the sink, Regina thought for a moment. "I take it you knew about your sister's little stunt today?"
He saw she was watching him, waiting for a reaction. He nodded.
Another moment of silence passed between them as Regina sipped her wine. "I don't understand," she finally let out.
"What don't you understand?" he asked, as he added more soap to the baking pan.
Regina sighed. "I know that trouble isn't a shock when it comes to Eve," she began. "She's always getting caught smoking that damn pipe of hers or breaking curfew." She looked up again. "But this? Using magic?"
Davie took a deep breath as he turned the water off. Regina studied his face—it was as if he knew something more. Finally, he spoke.
"You know," he said, coming closer to her, "her motivations with this one weren't exactly selfish."
Regina looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"It should be fairly obvious, once you think about."
Regina still stared at him, hoping for an answer. But instead, Davie just kissed his mother on the forehead and walked upstairs.
Regina kept thinking about what Davie had said over the next few hours. When she gave Elliot and Lila their bath, she wondered why Eve would want to manipulate her teachers' perception of time. 'Her motivations with this one weren't exactly selfish'—she replayed the words in her head, as she poured a bowl of warm water over Lila's hair, rinsing out the shampoo.
Once she had the two toddlers tucked into their bed, she made her usual rounds. She checked on Cora first. Her young daughter was in her pajamas and reading a book in bed. She shut off the overhead light and reminded her that the lamp was to go off in fifteen minutes.
She found Rose at her computer, busy chatting with friends. In-between her typing, she listened to Regina tell her to go to bed soon, so she could do well on her exam. Rose nodded, and endured Regina's kiss to her cheek, as she covered up the screen, not wanting her to invade her space.
Regina then went to Davie's room, to find him practice his footwork for fencing. He jumped back when she opened the door, having just done a lunge.
"I hope you're not marking up my wall with your foil again," she said. He shook his head.
"No, just working on my jump-lunge," he replied.
She rolled her eyes. "Well, you should stop—your little sister and brother are sleeping in the next room."
He nodded as she came over to kiss his slightly sweaty head. "Go take a shower, dear, and then get to bed."
She walked out of the room and was about to knock on the door next to his. But as her fist came up to the wood, Regina paused and backed down. She wasn't sure she had more words for Eve, and without knowing for sure, she didn't want to risk getting into another fight. Instead, she returned to her room and checked on Danny.
Regina had lost track of time while watching her littlest boy sleep. She gently twisted her finger around his tiny tuft of brown locks. Her smile held as she wiped back a few silent tears of both joy and fret. Every time she looked at the little boy, she couldn't get over how tiny he was. So precious and fragile. She stared at him through the night, hoping maybe to see him wriggle or turn his head.
"I know you can do it," she whispered to her sleeping son. "I know you're strong enough."
But there was no response, as the infant was sleeping. She became more frantic as the hours passed. What's wrong with him?—she thought constantly—Will he be delayed in other things too? What if this was the price for her happiness?
Upon snapping herself free from ruminating thoughts, Regina looked over to the clock. It was 2:18. She still had several hours before Emma would be home. She needed to calm down.
She went to the hallway bathroom to splash some water on her face, and of course, be sure that all kids were in bed. After having rinsed her face, she moved back into the hallway to see a sharp line of light from under Eve's door.
When she moved closer to knock, she wasn't full of anger, but rather a silent relief that someone else was still awake. Eve was always a night owl—despite her and Emma's constant lectures that the girl needed to be on a more appropriate sleep schedule, Eve always defended herself adequately with the ammunition that her grades were good and she did her best thinking at night. Regina smiled warmly as she knocked, knowing her daughter was probably expecting her to yell.
"Just a sec," she said, leaving Regina waiting a moment. "Alright, you can come in."
Regina opened the door to find Eve, still in her clothes, sitting crossed legged on the floor.
"What are you doing still awake?" Regina asked.
Eve looked over to her laptop screen, which was reflecting a filled word document. "Just finished my essay for history," she said.
Regina looked around the room a bit, eyeing a few articles of clothing lying scattered around. Normally, she'd scold her daughter for the mess, but they'd argued enough for the night. It was then that she inhaled and took in the smell of the pungent herb.
"Evelyn—," she said in a stern voice, eyeing her daughter intently. "Alright, where is it?"
Eve groaned and sighed as she pulled out the bong from under her bed, as she did every time one of her mother's caught her. It was a regular occurrence. Regina couldn't remember how many pipes and bongs she and Emma had confiscated in the past—probably enough to open up a small head shop in town. When they'd first discovered their daughter's habit, Regina had been furious, claiming the stuff would destroy her brain. Emma had calmed her down a bit, confessing to her own use of the drug in her teenage years. Though both parents disapproved of it, they had mellowed out, knowing she was unlikely to stop. Again, Eve's good grades came to her defense.
But nonetheless, Eve handed over the bong to her mother's outstretched hand. She expected her to scold and maybe ground her, but when she looked into Regina's eyes, she didn't see anger. Still, she hadn't expected her mother's response.
"This one's pretty," Regina said softly, as she looked closely at the blue and purple color stained glass.
After Eve got over her shock at her mother's comment, she spoke. "Yeah, I like her a lot," she said, "or, liked her, rather."
"You're lucky I've changed over the years," Regina said. "Had your mother not melted my heart and turned me soft, I would have hunted down and ripped out the heart of whoever it is who keeps selling you these things."
Eve laughed a bit at her mother's sassy comment. She was still waiting for the other shoe to drop—waiting to be told she was punished, to go to bed, and have the door slammed. But what she got instead was quite the surprise. Regina sat down, across from her, and began to cross her legs as well. She placed the bong slightly off to the side and sighed deeply.
"So dear," Regina began calmly, "do you want to tell me why you decided to manipulate the teachers' memories today?"
Eve looked away nervously. "Just to practice, I guess."
Regina leaned in, putting her hand on Eve's shoulder. "Why is it that I don't believe you?"
Eve groaned as her mother stared at her. She was so good at getting her to tell the truth. "Fine, you got me," she said. Regina could tell that even with the admission, her devilishly brilliant child was still reluctant to offer her honest intentions.
"I knew—I knew Rose was going to fail her test if she took it day," she said, after sighing and rolling her eyes. "I figured I'd buy her an extra day of studying."
Regina sighed, having already expected that to be the reason. Eve grew nervous when she didn't say anything. Finally, Regina moved to speak.
"You need to remember to replace their memories with a gap day," she said. "Otherwise, when the day's over, they'll figure it out."
Eve was shocked. Was her mother giving her tips on magic?
"Not that I expect you to ever do that again," Regina added in. After Eve nodded, she spoke again. "That was nice of you—what you did for your sister."
Eve shrugged. "I just didn't want her harassing me for rides when you guys took her car away for failing."
"Mmhmm," Regina let out, widening her gaze. She patted her daughter's messy dark hair. "You're a good sister."
After seeing Regina was still upset, Eve decided to inquire. "You okay, Mom?" she asked.
"Fine, dear," she answered, though upon seeing her daughter's raised eyebrow, she changed her answer. "I'm not fine," she said quietly. "I'm worried about your brother."
"Hah," Eve let out, "which one?"
Regina narrowed her eyes. "Very funny," she said. "Danny."
"Oh," Eve said, knowing the topic was a bit more serious. "Well what did Dr. Whale say? He had a check-up today, right?"
Regina nodded. "He's not developing certain motor skills as he should be."
Eve sighed and put her hand on her mother's, which was resting on her knee. "I'm sure he'll be okay."
"But what if he's not?!" Regina cried. "What if he's sick? Or is cursed or something?—" Eve listened to her mother continue to vent. The more she rambled, the more ridiculous her guesses or assertions became. She was beginning to sweat from anxiety and Eve could almost hear her heart pounding.
"Mom," she sighed. "You really need to calm down."
"I can't!" she cried. "I'm so pent up—usually, your mother gets me to relax, but she's still at work."
Eve looked over to the bong. She had freshly packed a new bowl before her mother came in and interrupted. She looked back to her mother. Nah—she thought—she's way too uptight to do it. But then again, it was worth a shot.
"Mom," she said again, interrupting Regina's venting.
"Yes?"
Eve reached for the bong. She positioned it in front of her mother. "I know you say you don't like it," she said, "but I think it would calm you down—help you sleep."
"No," Regina said sternly. "I couldn't."
But Eve raised her brow. "I dunno, Mom," she said in a sing-song voice. "Works for me every time."
Regina eyed the glass bowl in front of her. Eve nudged it closer and pulled the lighter from her pocket. Regina stared at her and then slowly moved her lips to the mouth piece and waited. Eve smiled, and lit her lighter.
"You just have to pull in when I remove the—," Eve began, but was cut off by Regina.
"I know how to smoke out of a bong, dear," she answered just before she inhaled. Eve looked delighted and waited for her mother to exhale the smoke.
"You've smoked before?" she asked.
Regina nodded as she pursed her lips just slightly to release the vapor. "When your mother first found your weed, she told me if I was going to judge you, I needed to try it."
Eve laughed as she looked at Regina, asking with her eyes if it'd be okay for her to take a hit as well. Regina reluctantly nodded. "If you get anything below an A on that paper," she said, as the bong's water bubbled, "I'm taking it away."
"Deal."
"And you are not to tell the other kids about this," Regina demanded. "Am I clear?"
"Crystal, Mamasita," Eve said, as she repositioned the bong for her mother to take another hit.
About an hour and two bowls later, Regina was no longer a stressed out, sleep deprived mother. She sat in Eve's room, hugging her knees tightly, as she watched the video play. She clasped her hand to her mouth, desperate to tame her laughter, but nothing could get her to stop giggling.
"Mom," Eve finally said, "it's really not that funny."
Regina let out a raspy laugh. "It is, dear," she pleaded. "She sings to woodland creatures."
Eve rolled her eyes as she paused the video she'd pulled up of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
"I only wish I had thought to curse your grandmother to have to wear that hideous yellow skirt," Regina added as she followed Eve out of the room.
"No you don't," Eve said, "you know you love grandma."
"Oh but I hated her for a long time," Regina answered. "And seeing her in that dress during that time would have been perfect."
Eve grinned as she led them into the kitchen to make snacks. "Wanna hear something really good?" she asked. Regina nodded. "During her lunch break at school," she began, as she pulled out some leftovers from the fridge, "she totally opens the window and sings to the birds."
Regina clutched her side in a fit of laughter. Grabbing forks from the drawer, Eve chuckled over how easily her mother was entertained. She was happy that she could make a stoned version of Regina so ecstatic simply by telling her details about her former enemy, turned mother-in-law and grandmother to her children. A sober Regina had lovingly embraced Snow as a member of her family, but a stoned one still found her mother-in-law's goody-two-shoe traits hysterical.
The daring teenager couldn't help but show her Mills-inherited smirk while taking a bite of cold lasagna straight from the container. It was somehow incredibly gratifying to see her mother laugh so freely. This was not to say that Regina did not often giggle alongside her family—the opposite was true, as there was rarely a dull moment in their home that didn't call for chuckle or two at the absurdity of situations. But this deep, carefree laughter was somehow different than the one that usually came from the mayor.
"Guess what..," Eve added, still grinning, "she still cringes a bit whenever a student offers her an apple."
Regina put her hand out, as if to beg her daughter to stop—only for fear that her continued laughter would soon turn to pain in her stomach. "You know," she managed to get out, after catching her breath, "I do regret the whole poison apple bit now."
Eve handed her mother a fork full of the pasta dish. "Really?"
"Of course, dear—she's your grandmother and no matter how turbulent our past was, she is now family."
Regina took a bite from the fork her daughter had handed her. She tried to ignore Eve's glare and raised eyebrow, but it was no use. She soon gave into her own smirk.
"Plus, I'm rather tired of having to make two types of desserts at family functions."
They both laughed hard at the older brunette's admission to the other reason behind her regret. Still, they managed to polish off the two pieces of lasagna in-between giggles, and ascend the stairs to finish the movie—without falling down once.
Just before the sun's first light began to fill the skies of Storybrooke, the front door of the Swan-Mills Mifflin Street home opened. Emma remained quiet as she carefully removed her boots and placed them on the mat—a routine that her wife usually still had to remind her of after all these years. Regina mused once or twice at this, taking note that her sheriff seemed to have no trouble remembering to place her shoes properly when returning from the graveyard shift. She reasoned that Emma only did what she should on those mornings because failure to do so would surely result in the brunette yelling at her before leaving for the office—and thus interrupting Emma's precious sleep. This clever adherence to Regina's rules only when it benefitted Emma's sleeping preferences was something that both women were fully aware of, despite the fact that it went undiscussed.
The blonde prepared herself to immediately go upstairs and climb into bed next to her wife, but paused when she noticed the kitchen light was still on. Weird—she thought, as she walked toward the room. Regina was always reprimanding her for leaving the lights on, rattling off that with eight additional mouths to feed, she'd prefer not to waste money and rack up their electric bill unnecessarily. Certainly, Regina always made sure all lights were off if Emma was working the night shift.
Expecting that the only unusual incident about the night was that her wife had forgotten the kitchen light, Emma quickly flicked off the switch. But as soon as she had, she promptly switched it back and scanned the counters. Two plates with forks and an empty Tupperware container sat on the center island. Upon further inspection, Emma found both plates dirtied by sauce and remnants of gluey cheese. Not even rinsed?—Fuck, the kids must have given her hell tonight or something.
After washing off the plates and placing everything in the dishwasher, Emma finally headed upstairs to bed. She was more than ready to cuddle up to her wife. With Regina most likely still awake, doting over their baby boy, and her—still wide awake from the copious amounts of coffee consumed at work, Emma began to think that maybe they could do a bit more than just cuddle. After all, they hadn't been intimate since the birth. Regina always felt a bit self-conscience in the few months after she'd delivered, and despite the fact that Emma always felt her wife was beautiful, she was not one to push. However, she was always ready and willing, whenever Regina was ready—and perhaps, an early morning connection was what they needed.
But when Emma opened the door to their bedroom, she was surprised that her wife was nowhere to be found. The bed was empty, though the covers were mussed. Alarm shot through Emma's chest, as she worried that maybe Regina had awoken due to an emergency concerning Danny. But her fear was quelled when she saw her baby sleeping peacefully in his crib.
"Where could your Momma be, huh?" she whispered as she stroked his brown curls with just two fingers.
It didn't take Emma long to jump to the next logical conclusion. She checked each of her children's rooms, looking for her wife. It was a reasonable thought, considering that both women had spent many nights with either feverish toddlers, a nightmare woken child, or the occasional crying teenager—nervous about an impending exam or other social anxiety destined to give them grief the next day. But upon opening four different doors, Emma found nothing out of the ordinary. The blonde mother saw Elliot and Lila, each clinging onto their respective stuffed panda bear and plush duckie. In the second room, she heard the muted sound of Cora's audiobook droning as the girl's face remained illuminated by her night light. Rose had fallen asleep, having left her computer on—despite Emma's constant warnings against it. And Davie, sure enough, forgot to remove his glasses from his head, even though Regina had always scolded him for it a number of times—as the mistake had resulted in many crushed pairs of glasses.
With one room left to check, Emma slowly opened Eve's door. It was dark, but judging from the mound on the bed, she assumed her daughter to be asleep. When she looked closer at the bed, she saw the mound was too big to be only made by her daughter's presence. Sure enough, she saw Regina's raven hair sprawled across a pillow next to Eve's matching locks.
Emma smiled at this image of her wife and daughter. But the smile quickly faded when the muscle movement allowed her nose to work. She sniffed, crinkling her nose as she did, and her mouth turned to a scowl.
"Evelyn…," she groaned in a muted whisper as she eyed the bong that sat in plain sight on the desk. "I'm going to murder this child so help—"
But before she could complete her sentence, she was interrupted by her wife springing up from bed.
"Sshhh, you'll wake her."
Emma was surprised as Regina jumped up and tiptoed toward her. The brunette brought a finger to her wife's lip, silencing any harsh words.
"Let's go to our room," she insisted, in her own husky whispered voice.
Once Emma had shut their bedroom door behind them, she glared at Regina.
"Have you lost it or something?!" she demanded, failing to walk the line between yelling and whispering. "Her bong was right out there! Hell, that whole end of the hallway smells like weed!"
Regina raised her hand again to quiet her wife once more.
"I'm well aware, dear."
"Then maybe you can clear up my confusion on why you were in Mama bear cuddle time mode?" Emma asked with a sly, though bewildered look. "Isn't that something we do when our kids need us—not when we catch them deliberately disobeying us?"
The sleepy brunette stepped forward and placed her hands on her wife's shoulders, as she stood in front of her.
"Darling, I know it was quite out of character. I couldn't agree with you more." Her eyes remained fixated on Emma's flannel shirt as opposed to a more typical direct gaze. "But tonight was an incredible exception to the rule—"
"How so?"
Regina averted her gaze, keeping her head down slightly. "Well, you see, I came home today to find that our lovely, brainy, rebellious daughter's behavior had once again merited herself a detention slip…"
The sheriff instantly brought a hand to her wrinkle creased forehead. "What this time?"
Regina gracefully released her hold on her wife and sauntered toward their bed as she continued her story. "For using magic," she said as she nonchalantly fluffed their pillows and fixed the duvet. She looked back to her wife quickly. "Time manipulation, to be precise."
Emma placed her hands on her hips and let her jaw slack as she tilted her head in confusion. "Maybe I'm not following," she said slowly, "but I don't get how all of this helps your case or even makes logical sense—doesn't that mean that Eve should be double grounded?"
"Under normal circumstances, yes," Regina replied, just before pulling away the covers on her side of the bed and hopping in.
Emma waited for more information from her wife regarding their daughter's mischief. But as moments ticked by, filled only by silence, she realized she'd have to do more digging.
"So, I take it that there's a reason that Eve decided it'd be a great idea to try messing with people's sense of time—?" she finally asked, her mouth plastered with a smirk. "Care to fill me in?"
Regina's eyes widened with her smile, as she displayed an expression similar to the smug look she carried during many of the two women's early interactions, all those years ago.
"How astute of you, Ms. Swan," she returned with a playful sarcasm. "Yes—in fact, her reasoning was mainly why I didn't shatter that blasted smoking apparatus with a fireball."
Emma burst out laughing. She shook her head smiling as she removed her over shirt, pairing herself down to jeans and a white tank top. Regina happily took the flannel shirt that her wife had thrown at her—she embraced it closely to inhale Emma's scent. She sighed heavily and turned to the blonde as she sat adjacent in the bed.
"Woman, while you know I can never get enough of you flirting with me by cracking jokes at my intelligence," Emma said, still smiling, "would ya stop being so cryptic and just tell me why Eve used magic?"
The brunette slipped her arms into the flannel and wrapped its fabric around her body. "It would seem that our little Evelyn cares more about her twin than she lets on."
"No shit, Sherlock," Emma quipped, as she opened her arms for Regina to snuggle in. "I think she gets her need for showing a tough exterior from one of us…"
Regina pulled away and sent the blonde a raised eyebrow. "I hope you're not referring to me, dear—"
"Will you just tell me why she actually did it and how it relates to Rose?!"
That earned her an eye roll. "Fine—but I was just pointing out that we all know that you put on a little bravado face yourself…"
"Regina—"
At the returned eye roll from her wife, Regina folded. "Eve knew that Rose didn't feel prepared to take her math test today," she explained. "So, she thought she'd manipulate the school's teachers into believing that today was yesterday—thus giving Rose an extra day to study."
"Well what do ya know?" Emma chuckled. "Our little Evie loves her sister—despite being her 'polar opposite', as she says."
"Indeed, dear," Regina said, as she silently forgave Emma's quip by snuggling against her chest.
"You give her a lecture about using magic?"
"Of course, and there will be more to come in the morning."
The two of them cuddled in silence for a moment. But Emma quickly scrunched her eyebrows and leaned forward, causing her wife to stir as well.
"So, I'm still confused," she began, looking her wife straight on. "You caught her smoking after all of this?"
Regina nodded. "A few hours ago, to be precise. Her light was still on, and well," she shrugged weakly, "I felt a bit bad about our argument. Plus, her brother had helped me to realize why she had used magic."
"So, you went in to talk?" Emma asked. She paused before smirking. "Where'd she have it hidden this time?"
Regina smiled and shook her head. "Under the bed, of course—"
"You know, for such a smart kid, she's terrible at hiding her bongs."
"You're telling me—I'm usually the one who finds them all in a matter of seconds," Regina added. "Anyway, having figured out the pieces myself, I decided to sit and chat with her rather than yell about the dope."
"More interested in getting her to tell you what you already knew about the magic?"
"Precisely, dear." Regina hummed in satisfaction as Emma began stroking her hair. "Quite honestly, I found the act endearing. While I was angry about it—and still am, I couldn't see a good reason to punish her more and send a conflicting message. I don't want her to get the idea that bad things happen when you help people with magic."
There was some silence between them. Regina only focused on the circular patterns her wife's fingers traced as she massaged her head. The brunette shot up and turned to face the blonde, and opened her mouth to speak.
"Does…does that make me a bad mother, Emma?"
Emma couldn't help her own pout from forming when she saw a glossy eyed Regina. "No, honey—it doesn't."
Regina allowed the blonde to hold her closer. "You mean I didn't fuck up when I decided not to confiscate the god-knows-which-number-we're-up-to bong of hers?"
The blonde laughed. "No, Regina," she sighed. "I mean, it's not like you smoked with her or anything—"
A guilty look splayed across the former queen's face as soon as the jest flew out of her wife's mouth. Emma saw this right away and grinned widely as she sat up.
"Oh my God, you did, didn't you?!" she cried much like a teenager finding out that her best friend had snuck out of the house.
Regina buried her head under the folds of the flannel shirt and turned away toward her own pillow in shame. But Emma swooped over her to hold her tightly and try to bring her out from cover.
She raised her eyebrow and sniffed her wife's night shirt. "I knew I smelled something on you other than apples and vanilla!" Emma exclaimed. "And that's why there were dirty dishes left out!"
Regina refused to let Emma see her face, as she pressed her head tightly against her own hands. She was terrified that her wife was going to reprimand her—call her a terrible excuse for a mother. Maybe Emma would even go as far as to claim that she had been right about her all those years ago—right when she'd told her amidst their early fights that she was a monster. But Regina blinked her eyes when she heard none of this. She only heard Emma's laughter.
The blonde came closer and in-between chuckles, she made her only comment. "Madame Mayor got the munchies!"
Regina sat up and folded her arms. Though relieved, she was unamused by her wife's laughter. "In my defense," she began explaining, "Evelyn caught me off guard."
The blonde raised a hand to her own mouth to try and stop her giggling. "And how's that?"
The brunette sighed. She glanced over to the still sleeping boy in his crib. "I was nervous about Danny. She had asked me about the appointment and I just let all of the worry pour out."
Emma stopped laughing some as she watched Regina's hand gestures unfold with the details of her story. "When Eve saw what I wreck I was, she suggested that I—indulge. She said that it would help the anxiety…"
"Did it?"
A bit taken aback by Emma's seeming focus on effectiveness rather than parental ethics, Regina took a moment before responding. "Surprisingly, yes—it did."
"Well, there ya go," Emma said, with a grin. "I think we have a solution to an overly stressed and anxious Momma bear."
"You can't be serious, Emma?!" Regina cried. "Drugs are certainly not a viable option here. I will not allow myself to go around, brainless, simply because it helped once with a little anxiety!"
"Relax," the blonde said, raising her arm to calm her wife. "I was just kidding."
"So you don't think that me smoking marijuana with our daughter this one time because I was desperate makes me a bad mother?"
"Well…," Emma said with a sigh, "when you put it like that…"
For this, she received a slap on the arm.
"Hey!"
"'Hey' yourself!" Regina mimicked. Her defense quickly slipped back into a worried shame. "Seriously, Em—what kind of a mother smokes with her teenager, spends all her energy worrying about one child, nearly running her wife ragged and ignoring her other children?!"
"A stressed one," Emma said, as she kissed her wife's forehead. "A normal one—a good mother." The short words weren't enough to quell Regina's fears, so she went on.
"Regina, you're a great mother," she said. "Our kids know that you're worried about Danny—they understand. And as far as tonight goes with Eve—honestly, it sounds like it was fitting for the moment."
Regina sighed, still not entirely believing her wife, but she allowed her to continue.
"If having Snow White and Prince Charming for parents," Emma added, as she took her wife's hands in hers, "and marrying you has taught me one thing, it's that good and bad, right and wrong—it's not so black and white. There's a lot of gray area. And more, sometimes what we think is all wrong—well, sometimes it's right for reasons that are less obvious."
The two of them smiled, as Regina cuddled closer to her. "Mmmm," she hummed softly, "how do you always have the right words to say?"
Emma smirked. "Magic."
After Regina rolled her eyes at her wife's cheesiness, her confidence returned to her voice. "You know, maybe it's just the weed talking here, but tonight did teach me something…"
"Oh yeah?"
Regina nodded. She looked over again at her baby boy. "No matter what, everything really will be okay."
Emma laughed as she felt her wife's sweet, but lazy grip on her shirt. "Honey, with you—that is the weed talking." She kissed the top of Regina's head. "But all the same—of course everything will be okay."