Author's Note: Enjoy, my darlings! I still have no idea how long i'm going to continue this story but don't worry, I'll let you know beforehand if it's coming to an end.

A muffled sob woke Emma from slumber. Her first instinct was that it could be Regina and leaned her head up to look. She was holding the brunette from behind and the woman was warmly nestled against her in her flannel pyjamas. To Emma's relief and confusion, she was still fast asleep. Upon hearing it again a moment later, the saviour looked up to see their door open and a small silhouette holding a teddy bear.

"Isla," she said softly. "Isla, come here, baby." Their blonde daughter was six now and had been suffering from frequent nightmares recently. A few weeks before, the child had crept into the living room as Henry was watching a gory horror movie with Grace (his girlfriend of almost two years) and had regretted it ever since. Those images haunted her nightmares.

Emma watched sadly as her daughter sniffed and slowly walked to the bed with her head dropped.

"Come on, there's plenty of room for you right between me and mommy."

At this point Regina opened her eyes and blinked hazily, trying to comprehend the conversation. She could feel Emma's warm body wrapped around her, legs entwining from behind. It had felt like a cuddle night. Her eyes opened fully with concern as she heard a little hiccup from her daughter; her obviously crying daughter.

"Baby," Regina said, sitting up with Emma to greet their child. She turned the bedside lamp on as they both rested their backs against the headboard.

Isla climbed up and took Regina's hand which pulled her to them. They shuffled apart, both still yawning before settling her closely between them.

"Sweetheart," Regina wrapped an arm around her small shoulders. The saviour held their child's hand, stroking her thumb warmly across it. Emma looked up and smiled softly to her caring wife. The former queen looked exhausted. An incident with Henry that night seemed to have drained her of all her energy.

"Tell us what happened, baby."

Isla's face crumpled as she looked at Emma and shook her head. "I can't," she choked. "It's too scary."

"Did something happen to us again?"

Squeezing her teddy with her free hand, Isla nodded, refusing to make eye contact. "It was so horrible."

"Who got hurt this time?" Emma asked softly. They were familiar with these dream scenarios now. According to Isla, they seemed to be reenactments of the horror film but with either of her two mothers, Henry, or her grandparents assuming one of the murder victim's roles. The parents had gotten past the whole 'you've learnt your lesson's' and were now onto comforting her as they hadn't anticipated how long this twilight torment would last for the child.

"Both of you," she sobbed. "He cut you into pieces again."

"Oh honey," Emma frowned at the graphic severity of her dreams. "You know it isn't real, don't you?"

"That is never ever going to happen, dear," Regina squeezed her shoulder. "No one could ever hurt us. Or you for that matter."

"The monster always gets to."

Emma bit her lip, composing her next answer. "That's because he's not real, sweetheart. If he were real, we'd kick his butt! You know that."

Isla's dark eyelashes were still wet with tears as she hiccuped, still only coming down from her distraught slowly. They hated seeing their child like this. She was usually so cheerful and not afraid of anything. They often had to reel her back in in terms of dangerous ambitions. Jumping off of the swing set had not been a good idea. You would have thought that the first broken arm would have deterred her enough... But no, it took a second before the concept of 'danger' had finally sunk in. She'd only just had her cast off.

"Do you want to try go back to sleep with us?" Regina asked.

Isla nodded. "Please don't let go of me," she whispered fearfully, almost too quiet to hear.

"Never," Regina said softly. At Isla's small nod, Regina and Emma lay back down and waited for their child to follow suit. Timidly, she settled down between them on her back and the two women shifted closer on their sides so that she would feel safe and sufficently protected enough to face her dreams again. With closed eyes, knowing they were both still watching her, she reached out with both hands, holding one of theirs each before finally succummbing to sleep.

Emma hummed softly at the sight and her eyes met with Regina as they shared a smile.

"She's so precious," the former mayor whispered.

"She's just beautiful. I can never get over how beautiful she is. She takes after you," Emma whispered back fondly.

Regina blushed in the dark and smiled. "Her beauty is one hundred percent you, dear."

"Are we really going to have this argument right now?" Emma lightly chuckled.

"I have something we can both agree on, dear. She certainly does not take her grace from you."

"And it was going so well..."

Isla opened her eyes at this point and couldn't suppress a giggle. She looked up at Emma with a grin. "She's right, mommy."

Emma looked from her wife to her daughter with fake-outrage. "I swear you two are conspiring against me!"

"No, the insults just come naturally, dear," Regina teased. Her grin told them both she was joking.

The saviour looked down at her daughter for a moment to see that she had actually fallen asleep now. She sighed with a smile and leant forward, placing a kiss on their daughter's forehead. Regina's face lit up at the warm sight and she mirrored it before back settling down herself. She was watching Emma trace gentle shaped on their daughter's arm.

"You'll wake her up, dear," the brunette said softly.

Realisation struck Emma's face as she realised she'd been absentmindedly making invisible patterns again. It was a habit she'd taken up on Regina too. "I didn't even realise," she defeatedly retracted her arm. "And it's not like I can reach to do it on you."

"Have you tried, darling?"

The saviour realised she hadn't and smiled. She reached across their daughter and rested her palm on Regina's hip, just slightly beneath her top. Meeting Regina's eye with adoration, she traced gentle shapes on her smooth skin. "I love you. So much."

"I love you too, sweetheart. More than you could ever imagine."

The blonde child stretched her arms upwards and yawned as Emma Swan watched fondly. She blinked a couple of times before fully opening her eyes. The girl looked around for a moment before finally meeting her mother's eye. "Hello."

"Hello," Emma smiled.

"Where's mommy?"

"Downstairs making breakfast for Henry and Grace. She's trying to make it up to him after that yelling last night..."

"Yes. I remember."

The night before, Regina had caught her son and his girlfriend in quite a heated make out session on his bed. The pair had been deeply embarrassed and instantly reached for their shirts. Yes, they had been absent... She had yelled mainly out of shock but also because every single member of the family was also in the house and 'god-forbid Isla saw anything'.

"Sorry you had to listen to all that, honey."

"Mommy was so mad."

"Not at you though."

The brown eyed girl nodded. She was rested on her side just looking at her mother now. She enjoyed observing people, learning about them. It was interesting learning new things.

Emma lay on her side also, facing her. "How you feeling about the nightmares?"

Isla shrugged. "A little better. The snuggling helped," she smiled. "And you and mommy making me laugh."

The saviour smiled. "I'm glad." Her smile faltered a little as she saw her daughter frown again. "What's up?"

Isla rested her check on her arm. "Is mommy okay?"

"What do you mean?"

The girl shrugged. "She seems sad sometimes now and she's been shouting lots." It surprised Emma that their daughter was quite so perceptive of their feelings and moods. She certainly hadn't been that observant when she was six. The child was smart.

"Oh, honey, she's just tired. I promise. There's been lots to do with the parent committee and then sorting out Henry's school plans."

"How can we make her happier? I like it when she's happy."

"I like it when she's happy too, baby. And you're very kind for wanting to cheer her up. Let's just give her a lot of cuddles, remind her how loved she is."

"Sounds good, mommy. Good idea!"

Emma nodded. It did sadden her that even their daughter had picked up on Regina's stressed state. The brunette had been overworking herself a lot recently, it seemed she missed being the role of being the mayor and felt the need to overcompensate for it in some way. She'd have to talk to her later.

The two headed downstairs to find Grace and Henry reading some kind of comic together at the table and Regina quickly beating eggs at the counter across the room. They saw that Henry and Grace had empty plates covered with crumbs; they'd already had breakfast, likely made by her.

"Honey, what are you doing?" Emma asked as she approached her in her, still in pyjamas. Regina was already fully dressed and made up.

"Cupcakes. There's a cake sale at the school tomorrow and I told Henry I'd give him something to take in." She didn't stop her relentless beating of ingredients the whole time.

"Does it have to be done so fast?"

"Yes. I have other things to do too, Emma," she said frustratedly. There were bags under her eyes. She must have gotten up early to start it all.

Isla placed her teddy on the table and then stepped forward. She subtly edged forward before finally wrapping her arms around her mothers waist and resting her head on the curve of her stomach. Regina looked down with surprise and finally put down the bowl and whisk. "Isla? What are you doing?"

The blonde child said nothing and closed her eyes as she cuddled up to her mother. Emma smiled at her determination and leant forward too. She wrapped her arm lovingly around her wife's shoulders, pulling all three of them closer together. She placed a few kisses on Regina's cheek before smiling. Isla smiled too.

"What's this?" Regina asked as she couldn't help but smile too. She was mostly confused about her daughter clinging to her for dear life. What on earth were they up to?

"Isla wanted us to hug you. So we are," Emma said simply.

"Hey!" Isla complained. "You wanted it too! It was your suggestion, mommy."

Regina looked at them questioningly. "What are you two up to?"

"Mommy said you're stressed and unloved."

"Emma?" she looked at her with confusion.

Emma laughed at the way it had come out. "That's not what I said. I said you were stressed and needed extra love."

"Do you two always discuss my mental wellbeing?"

"Of course," Emma nodded confidently. "If Henry's not available I gotta vent to someone..."

"Emma! You-"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It's Grace who I really talk to..."

The blonde girl at the table laughed and Henry just rolled his eyes to her. His parents seemed to only ever be flirting or yelling in front of his girlfriend and there was no in between. He dreaded to think what she thought of them...

Regina sighed with a tired smile. "Emma!"

The saviour bit her lip with a grin and spun away from her wife, dipping out of the room. "Gotta go get dressed!" she yelled behind her.

Isla giggled and looked up at Regina, the brunette had her hands on her hips. Regina raised an eyebrow of disbelief. "She is so cheeky."

Isla nodded. "You're not really mad are you?"

Regina smiled to her and shook her head. She reached down and picked the six year old up. The girl was still in her pyjamas too. "No, of course not. Although I don't like you two worrying about me." She carried Isla into the living room so they could talk in private and set them both down on the sofa. The child was a little small for her age so was still easily carry-able much to their delight.

"You just look sad sometimes." Isla shrugged. The girl shifted so that she was straddling her, hands resting on Regina's shoulders as she looked at her. "And mommy notices it too."

"Then she should be the one to talk to me. She shouldn't make you."

"She didn't make me!" Isla tucked a handful of blonde hair behind her own ear. "It was me who started talking about it when me and her were in bed. You just got really angry yesterday," she said sadly.

"But I wasn't angry at you, sweetheart. I was angry at Henry for doing something inappropriate."

"But why? He just loves Grace like you love mommy."

"That may be true, dear, but some things are just not okay. There is a level of maturity required with certain things and It's my job as his mother to make sure everyone is safe."

"What 'things'," Isla repeated her tone to emphasize to annoying vagueness, "are you talking about?"

"Grown up things. Honey, we'll talk about it when you're a little older."

"You mean like what you do with mommy?"

Regina widened her eyes momentarily. Had Isla heard something before? Or god-forbid seen something? "...What are you talking about, honey?"

"You know, how you make babies..."

"Oh god," Regina muttered quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing, dear." Yes, she'd already done this talk once before but it wasn't when her son was six. He was far older! And it was Emma's turn. Yes, Emma needed her share of the sex-talk-sufferring. Vagueness was key. "If you're still interested and you get a chance, ask mommy, dear," Regina smirked devilishly.

"Okay!" Isla hopped off her lap and skipped towards the door.

"Oh, Isla- why did you say that me and mommy-" Regina sighed to herself as she saw that the girl was already gone.

AN: Ah, *contented sigh*.