The lake house was absolutely massive. It was breathtakingly beautiful, sitting almost right on the lake front. There was a boathouse nearby and a stables off in the distance where Regina could hear the horses trumpeting from afar. It was surrounded by a small patch of trees, with a meadow near the stables and a spacious front yard. Emma lead the way up the tree lined driveway with a bright smile.
"You spent many winters here before?" Regina inquired.
Emma nodded, looking around. "This was like a second home sometimes."
"It's beautiful-" Regina paused when she heard the loud barking. Two little brown and white beasts came shooting down the stone steps of the house. They ran right up to Emma and the blonde leaned down to pick them up.
"Regina, Henry, this is Tiberius and Nero, the family pets." Regina petted one of them and Emma put them back down and they started sniffing around Henry. "By the way, I hope you like animals. Never mentioned it before, but Mom loves them so we kinda have a few."
"They don't bother me." Regina smiled.
"Great-"
"EMMA FUCKING SWAN!" Both of them looked up at the blonde on the porch. Dianah, dressed in a long sleeved cropped black shirt and gray sweats, came barrelling towards them and nearly tackled Emma to the ground in a bearhug. She abruptly dropped her sister and leaped into Lily's arms, who had just arrived with Maleficent. "Lilith Fucking Page. How the hell are you?"
"She's the crazy one." Emma said as Henry helped her back up.
Meanwhile, Lily and Dianah were squealing like children as the pair were reunited. Lily introduced Mal to her and Emma introduced Regina and Henry.
"It is wonderful to meet all of you." Dianah grinned. "Can't wait until we see what you guys can do."
"You're not killing my mom on the first day." Lily said.
"If you mean fighting, I can whip all of you. At once." Mal stated matter of factly.
Dianah smirked at her. "I love her already." She turned to Henry. "What's up, little man? Are you ready to meet the coolest family in the world?" Henry smiled and nodded. "Well, let's go." She put her arm around him and lead the way into the house. Mal and Lily followed, the dragon passing Regina without a second glance. It was a little upsetting considering their past. They were once good friends and lovers but ever since Lily had been returned to her, Mal hardly acknowledged Regina's presence anymore. It made things a little awkward, especially since there was a chance, small one but still a perfectly believable one that Mal had been lying about finding a dragon to mate with. Regina could possibly be Lily's other mother, and the fact that Mal was going out of her way to ignore this possibility almost made Regina believe it even more. Luckily they were the only two who knew about this, so Lily and Emma were totally oblivious. Regina quickly took Emma's hand and the blonde kissed the back of it, knowing how nervous the former queen was. She passed along a reassuring smile as they stepped inside the beautifully decorated lake house. The floors were made of soft wood with thick carpets everywhere. The walls were covered in family pictures and awards with various statuettes and ceramic decorations among them. The living room was currently occupied by three very large German Shepherds, all three wearing different colored collars. Jacob came running out of what looked like the kitchen and hugged Emma, knocking them over the couch and scattering the canines.
"Jake, what the fuck-"
"I missed you, little sister." He grinned, proceeding to put her in a headlock.
"Idiots." Dianah scoffed, continuing on into the breathtaking kitchen where Grace, Rose and Xander were. Regina quickly realized that Xander was much larger than he looked in the picture. He practically towered over everyone in the room, but his smile eased some of her worries a bit. Emma came to her side, quickly fixing her hair while muttering curses at her brother.
"Emma!" Grace ran around the kitchen island to hug her daughter and Xander soon followed, lifting both women into the air. Regina smiled at how happy everyone was to see Emma. She almost felt bad for how long she had been confined to Storybrooke instead of spending time with her family. She shouldn't have been forced to be their savior, dealing with monsters and villains when it was her idiot parents' jobs to be the heroes.
"Guys, this is Regina." Emma said. "And my son, Henry."
Grace and Xander both looked down at Henry at first. "Emma...he's like 10. When you said you had a baby, I assumed it was recent." Grace said, looking at her daughter. "Is Neal Cassidy the father?"
"You know about Neal?" Emma asked.
Grace laughed and looked at Regina. "I love how cute she is, thinking she can hide something from her mother who is a renowned detective. Welcome to our abode, Regina. You too, Henry. Dianah, why don't you show our guests to their rooms. Emma, stay please." Her tone was polite but in regards to her children it left no room for argument.
Regina smirked as she and Henry were lead away, not missing the fear in Emma's eyes.
"That went well." Dianah commented.
"Really?" Henry asked.
"Yep. Don't worry, Mom likes you already. Just be ready for the drilling at dinner." Dinner came much too soon for the brunette's liking. She liked unpacking to have something to focus on and looking around Emma's old room also brought a smile to her face. It was full of old pictures and books from her lover's childhood, gradually changing as Emma grew older and they visited the lakehouse less and less. After getting changed into a pair of jeans and a simple red blouse, she was ready to join the table. Shoes were unnecessary as she soon realized that no one wore shoes in this house. Evie walked in without any on and Emma took hers off the second she could. It was amusing to see her, Dianah and Lily half skating across the hardwood floors in their socks. Mal seemed to have gotten along well with Rose and the two were happily talking about weapons when Regina walked into the kitchen to assist with setting the table.
"You are not going to stand here and tell me that a staff is better than a sword." Rose almost yelled.
Mal only smirked. "You foolish woman, of course it is."
"How about I stab you with a sword-"
"Okay, can you two continue this discussion later?" Grace interjected. "And help me and Regina with the food, please?" Both older women helped but continued bickering as they did so. Regina followed behind them. Once the the table was set, Grace called everyone in to eat. Everyone had only just sat down when there was a car horn from outside.
"Is that Jackson?" Emma asked.
"I-I don't know." Grace walked to the door and started screaming as her eldest son came in. The Swans immediately ran to welcome him, and the little black haired boy he brought with him. Regina would soon find out that it was his son, Elias. Grace fawned over the new arrivals before ushering everyone back to the dining room to eat so as not to waste the hot food. Now that the entire family was here, she couldn't stop grinning. Soon after they started eating though, the drilling began.
"So, Regina," Rose said. "How did you and Emma meet?"
"Well," Regina cleared her throat. "We met thanks to Henry. He found out he was adopted and wanted to know about his birth mother. Unfortunately I knew nothing about her at the time, as it was a closed adoption, so he took upon himself to go find her."
"Yeah, didn't you steal like $300?" Emma smirked at their son. Henry glared at her.
"Anyways," Regina continued. "We hated each other at first-"
"Why?" Xander asked.
"Well," She sighed. "Emma's birth parents lived in my town and I didn't know it. Apparently there was a bit of a feud between our families."
"I was an ass." Emma said. "I listened to them, almost took Henry from Regina and I realized that wasn't how I was raised. Neither one of us wanted any part of the feud so we ignored it and talked and got to know each other. Regina was kind enough not to have me thrown in prison."
Grace nodded slowly. "And Mal just so happened to live in this town too, Lily?"
The young dragon looked up from where she was stuffing her face. Maleficent arched an eyebrow, as did Lily's adoptive father, Max, who sat on her other side. "Yes…But not only that, Neal followed Emma to Storybrooke too." She grinned at Emma, who glared back at her.
"I want to meet them." Grace said.
"Mom, that won't be-"
"I want to meet the people who would leave a child in the middle of the woods and the bastard who left my daughter to go to prison."
Regina frowned and looked at Emma. "Middle of the woods?"
"It's where I came out of the portal from the curse." Emma whispered in explanation. "I didn't think it was that important." She said a little louder with a shrug.
"We'll discuss this later." Regina said. Emma simply nodded.
"So, Henry, how'd you do it?" Xander smirked. Henry was quick to launch into the tale of how he opened his adoption records, searched up Emma's name on a website using Snow's card, stealing Regina's money and crossing almost 2 states to find Emma and bring her back to Storybrooke. He was clever enough to remove any talk of the curse or magic thankfully but the Swans really got a kick out of his story. Jacob even fist bumped him.
"Look at that. The boy's a Swan alright." Xander grinned.
Emma beamed proudly and high fived Henry. "But never do that again."
After a few more basic questions the attention soon moved to Jackson as he recounted his tales among the Scotland Yard and working for Interpol and adopting little Elias after they arrested his foster mother for neglect. All of them had a story to tell about their jobs. Being among FBI agents and private detectives and former criminal interrogators, Regina could tell Henry was over the moon. They even found out that Xander wasn't just a bail bondsperson, he was once a marine and had received the Purple Heart for saving the lives of his entire squadron while in Afghanistan.
"Wow." Henry said. "You guys are all heroes."
"You'll be one too." Rose assured him.
"Yep, you're a Swan." Dianah agreed. "Kicking ass and helping people is what we do. In that order specifically. We'll teach you a little something by the time you leave here." She winked before turning back to her food.
"Regina too." Jacob smirked. "Can you throw some punches, Regina?"
"Maybe." She replied coyly. She noticed Emma's lip twitch. Probably remembering the right hook the former queen had thrown when she found her with Graham.
After dinner, the entire family assisted in clearing the table and cleaning up. The men went into the living room to play some kind of video game and the women reclined on the back patio overlooking the lake. Regina relaxed against Emma, looking out over the quiet water. It was a bit chillier with the sun having gone down, but it was nice. She didn't mind, especially with Emma's arms around her.
"We're glad to have you with us, Regina." Grace said, drawing the former queen's attention.
"Glad to be here."
Grace and Rose started chuckling. "We'll see if you feel the same way tomorrow."
Regina arched an eyebrow. "I'm ready for anything."
Xander stepped out onto the back porch. "Regina, can I speak to you in private for a minute."
Emma sat up. "Dad-"
He hushed her with a simple look and motioned for Regina to follow. She stood up, throwing a nervous glance at Emma and followed Xander through the house to what appeared to be an office. The walls were painted white and covered in awards and certificates. The carpet was gray and soft under her feet. There were several plants around the room to give it more color. From the pictures she figured it must've been Grace's office. Xander sat down on the edge of the desk and Regina took a seat in the chair nearby.
"Is this the part where you threaten me?"
"Yes." He said, eyes darkening. "I will never put my hands on a woman. However, I am more than capable of framing you for some kind of crime and putting you in jail if you dare to hurt my daughter."
Regina swallowed. "Understood."
"Good, but that wasn't really what I wanted to talk about." He sighed. "Emma is my daughter and she's always been open about most things. Sometimes though, she keeps things to herself and it starts to impact her life. If I ask her then she'll most likely say she's fine and she won't be. I just wanted to know if everything is...good."
Regina nodded slowly. "As far as I know, everything is going well for her."
He nodded as well. "Good." He stood up and offered his hand to help her. "By the way, I approve. Then again, I would've approved just about anybody after that Cassidy bastard. A crackhead would be better than him. Hell, a dog would be better than him. Speaking of him, did he really follow Emma to this Storybrooke place?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that, but don't worry. I've threatened him enough for the both of us."
Xander grinned. "Excellent. Doesn't mean I won't shoot him if I ever see him again."
"Save a few bullets for me please."
Xander sighed. "Welcome to Swan family, Regina. You're just a woman after my own heart." He said, engulfing her in a big hug. "Also, I have a reputation to keep up so if you could pretend like you're terrified when we walk out of here, it would help."
Regina gave him a thumbs up as they exited the office, finding Emma pacing in the hall a few feet away. Regina swallowed and almost ran to her lover. "Regina, what happened?" Regina glanced fearfully at Xander as he passed.
"He approves." She grinned. "We bonded over our mutual hatred of Neal."
"Did he threaten you?"
"Of course he did, but he's your father, so I'm not surprised."
Emma kissed the top of her head, holding her close protectively for a few moments before they walked into the living room and found everyone gearing up to play some board games. "Oh boy, this is going to get crazy. Swans and competition don't mix."
"Emma!" Jacob called. "You and Regina come join the Dream Team."
"No!" Dianah yelled. "Regina is obviously too smart to join your suckish team. Come join the Supreme Team."
"Hello?" Emma said. "So she's too smart, but I'm too stupid?"
"Well, you said it not us." Jacob smirked. He and Dianah took off running and Emma ran after them.
Regina smiled as she took a seat near Henry. She had no idea what game they were playing and probably didn't know how to play, but by how riled up everyone was getting she could tell this was going to be a crazy night. However she hadn't forgotten what Grace and Rose said and she wondered just what was going to happen tomorrow.
Suddenly, there was an explosion from the kitchen, followed by a storm of flour that flew out of the room. Everyone froze as Grace walked out slowly covered in flour. She walked over to the closet and pulled out a bat. "Jacob. Jackson. I'm going to kill you."
"Wait! It wasn't us!" Jacob pleaded. Grace screamed and gave chase as her sons took off running, making for the door. Jacob managed to get through but Jackson had to change course or risk being caught. He managed to dodge his mother's swing and ran across the room, vaulting over the couch and made it to the front door. Grace whistled and her three German Shepherds came to her side. "After 'em, boys." All three whoofed and took off out the doggy door with their mistress right behind them.
"Wow." Henry said, grinning at Regina, who smirked. All eyes turned to Maleficent and Rose as they burst out laughing and high fived one another.
"Everyone, this is my new best friend." Rose grinned.
"You killed your grandsons for a prank?" Lily asked.
Xander clapped his hands together. "We gonna play this game or what?" He asked, ignoring the screaming from outside.
Emma sat down next to Regina. "Told you we were crazy."
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