Chapter 4: Chapter 4
A/N: Sorry, it's been such a long time since I've written. The holidays were a bit much and then on top of that, my whole family got the stomach bug. But no worries. Your hiatus is over and I should be updating more often now. Thanks for all of you support and for sticking with me. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Mwah!
Chap 4
After getting out of the shower, Maleficent and Regina put their clothes back on and laid down on the bed to take an hour long nap, which ended up being a thirty minute nap as Lily had woken up and ran into the bedroom, jumping up and down on the bed, thinking it was Christmas morning. "Baby! Honey, honey!" Regina sat up, trying to pick up the four year old. "Calm down! Sweetie, it's still just Christmas Eve." Mal giggled as she rubbed her eyes, sitting up as well and she opened them to see Lilith in Regina's arms. Regina turned to look at her. "What?" She asked, hugging the toddler to her chest.
"Nothing." The blonde smiled, putting a hand on Lily's back. Regina grinned, knowing exactly what she was thinking as her cheeks grew red. "Come on." The blue-eyed actress stood up from the bed and headed toward the kitchen to set up their table for Zelena's visit tonight.
Another hour went by, it was about half passed four and Regina worked on a puzzle with Lily as Mal wrapped some last minute gifts in their bedroom. They both told Lilith that she was just taking a longer nap in order to keep her beliefs of Santa still alive.
"Hello, Beautiful ladies." Maleficent said as she reentered the living room, sitting down on the floor with the other two.
"How was your nap, Mommy?" Lily asked, grabbing a piece from Regina's hand and trying to place it in a spot.
"It was wonderful, thank you." The blonde answered as she too, took a piece and added it to a corner. "This puzzle looks very good."
The toddler giggled. "It's mostly been Mama getting all the places right."
"No. You've done a lot too." Regina said to the little one in her lap. She looked up to Mal and winked at her, causing a smirk to form on the actress's lips.
"When's Aunt Lena coming over?" Lily wondered aloud.
Regina looked at her watch and it was about 5:15. "She should be here soon." The brunette grinned, knowing exactly what could be keeping her late and she was more than ecstatic for the arrival.
"Yeah, I wonder what's taking her so long." Mal responded.
"Don't worry about it." The younger of the two smiled and Mal tried her best to relax...but once it reached 5:35, she was very worried.
"It's not like her to be late. In fact, she's usually early." Maleficent stood up, walking over to grab her cell from her purse.
"No, no, no. Trust me, hon! She's alright."
"You sure?" The blonde looked down at her wife, and seeing the positive look on her face reassured her that it must be okay. "Alright…" She walked into the kitchen and checked on the food as it was heating up again and she taste-tested it, as usual. "Do you think I put too much salt in this?" The paranoid cook wondered.
"No, babe it's fine." Regina moved Lilith off her lap and stood, walking into the kitchen herself and hugging Mal from behind. "You know I love your cooking. I'm sure it's perfect."
"No, but really. Taste it." Regina had no time to respond as the taller woman turned in her arms, forcing the wooden spoon into the brunette's mouth.
She let the taste envelope her mouth and she closed her eyes, taking it in and finally realizing just how hungry she truly was. "Mmmm…" Her eyes opened. "That's delicious!"
"Really?" Mal asked self-consciously.
"Really!" Regina answered, sure of herself. "Come on! Zelena's gonna love it just like she always does and…" She stopped herself from speaking, almost ruining the surprise.
"And what?" Mal asked, suddenly growing nervous and tasting it again.
"Nothing...nothing. I know she's gonna love it, okay?" She took the spoon from Mal's hand and set it on the counter. "Now, can you please relax? I don't want you all frantic when they get here!"
"They?"
Buzz!
"Finally!" Regina ran over to the call box, pushing the button and yelling into it, "Zelena?"
"Hey, Sis!" The redhead yelled back through the intercom system.
"Nice of you to show up!" Regina laughed.
"Could you just let us in please? It's freezing out here!"
"Come up!" Regina pushed the button to let her guests in and she ran back to the kitchen, grabbing Mal's hand and pulling her to stand across from the door. "Stand there…" Mal obeyed. Regina took a chair from the table and placed it behind her wife, reaching up to grab her shoulders and pushing them down to urge her into the chair. "Now sit."
"Okay?" She looked over her shoulder, watching the twenty year old run into their bedroom, grabbing a scarf and returning with it. "Oh, no. No." Mal shook her head. "No blindfolding!" She tried to stand, but Regina wouldn't let her.
"Just for a minute?"
"No."
"Come on, babe? For me?" She saw the blonde shaking her head. "They're gonna be up here any minute. Please?" Mal looked at her with pleading eyes and she did the same.
"Ugh! Fine! But just this once! We're not doing this again."
"Okay." Regina said excitedly as she wrapped the scarf around her face.
"Ever!" Maleficent gestured with her finger.
"I-I got it." Regina put her hands on her shoulders from behind the chair after finishing tying the knot in the scarf. "Lily, come here." The four year old left her puzzle, walking over to where both her mothers were and she looked up to the brunette. Regina leaned over, whispering something in her ear and Lily agreed aloud.
"What? What did you tell her?" Mal asked, her sense of hearing multiplied after being blinded.
"Nothing. Nothing." Regina replied.
"Lilith…?" Maleficent hoped her daughter would tell her.
"Nuffen." Lily answered, giggling with Regina after.
"They're coming! They're coming!" Regina heard the footsteps and she walked closer to the door, getting ready to open it when Zelena knocked.
"Shh..shh.." They heard through the door before hearing the knock on the door. "Ahem! Reggi! Open up!"
Maleficent, in her chair, heard the door opening and she tried her hardest to figure out what this was all about. Who was "they"? She wondered if it were Regina's parents...but realized that this would not be the kind of thing Cora would be into...Nor would Mal be that excited to get a surprise from her in-laws. She also wondered if it was that Daniel she had heard so much about both from Regina and Zelena. She always kept it to herself, but hearing Regina talk about him made her cringe. Maybe it was just so awkward to her that Zelena now dated a man whom Regina once referred to as her first real relationship. She listened to the footsteps enter the apartment and she tried to figure out types of shoes, male or female, how many people entered, etcetera etcetera. She couldn't help but smile when she heard the joy that came from Regina's voice when hugging her sister...or at least, she assumed there was a hug in there as she heard the sound of a winter coat being squished around another body.
"Lily! Hi, baby! How's my favorite niece doing?" Obviously Zelena speaking, Mal knew from her accent and the fact that she referred to Lily as her niece.
Lilith giggled. "I'm your only niece Aunt Lena!" Mal could hear the sound of Lily being scooped up into someone's arms.
"Smart chicky, you got there!" The redhead responded. Mal could tell she was trying to whisper that to Regina. "Well, Maleficent...never thought I'd see you like this." The blonde felt the older Mills sister right beside her and she nudged her in the chair as she laughed. "I'm so glad to see you either way. I'd hug you...but I think I'll just wait until you've got your sight back." She chuckled. "Also...I can't really bend over at the minute...not that you can tell being blindfolded and all."
"Yeah, yeah." Mal folded her hands in her lap, listening to Regina and Zelena laugh. She now grew impatient and irritated at the second guest for not saying a single word. She was also a bit impressed at the four year old keeping as quiet as she was. "This is getting ridiculous! Someone please tell me what's going on? Or at least let me take off the blindfold."
Before anybody could answer, she felt the blindfold being untied behind her and she felt relieved as well as nervous. Adrenaline rushed through her body as she had a feeling she knew what was going on and butterflies formed in her stomach as excitement took over. "Oh my God." She mumbled to herself, slowly standing from the chair. She wanted to kick herself for taking so long to realize what it was. "Oh my God!" She said a bit louder this time.
Maleficent didn't even open her eyes all the way when she was completely free of the blindfold as she turned as quickly as possible and hug attacked the woman that had taken the scarf from her face. The other woman laughed as she almost fell to the ground. "Hey, Mal!"
"Belle! Oh my God! I missed you so much! How have you been?"
"I missed you too!" Belle giggled again. "I'm good. I'm good. And…" She pulled away from Mal and put her hand out.
Maleficent looked down at it and practically screamed. "You're engaged?! I'm so happy for you!" The blonde pulled Belle in for a second hug and when they pulled out of it, she had tears in her eyes. "Adam!" She turned around to give Mr. Gold a hug, just now seeing that Lily was in his arms the whole time. She poked her daughter on the nose after hugging him and said, "You, little one are very good at keeping a secret!"
"She didn't know until just before they got up here." Regina added in, standing beside Zelena near the kitchen.
The victim of the surprise turned to see her wife with her arm around her sister-in-law and that's when she noticed that she hadn't given the redhead a hug yet. "Zelena." She walked over to her as quickly as possible throwing her arms around her. "Oh my goodness! Look at how big you got!" She pulled out of the hug and looked down at her stomach, putting her hands on it and feeling the seven-month bump. "You were not this big before I left."
They all laughed at her and she hugged them all a second or third time. She congratulated Belle and Gold on their engagement before walking over to Regina, giving her a big hug and also...a big slap on the arm. "You know I hate surprises!"
Regina just laughed and held her hand. "I knew they were going to be in the city this week...but I did NOT know that you were gonna be home. So it was a last minute idea to not tell you that they were coming over the whole time."
"The whole time? You mean ever since I got here this morning you knew they'd be coming to dinner with Zelena?"
Regina nodded and earned another playful swat to the shoulder. "It was the plan the whole time. They wanted to spend Christmas with us...if that's okay with you."
"Of course!" Maleficent answered.
"I'm hungwy!" Lily pouted in Gold's arms.
"Oh, right! Everyone sit. Let's eat." Regina moved Mal's chair back to the table and everyone sat in the dining room. "The food is delicious!" Regina exclaimed as she helped Mal serve it.
They all sat and ate, catching up on the proposal and Zelena's baby as well as Mal's career taking off. It was as if six months had not even gone by.