A/N: Hey everyone, so this is the final chapter of this little fic. I hope you enjoy it :)
Bedtime the next day rolled around ridiculously quickly, despite the fun-filled packed day they had all had together. Saturday's always went faster than any other day of the week and with Mary Margaret and David coming for dinner, it was suddenly Romy's bedtime again. That only meant one thing, the dreaded bedtime story she had been promised would no doubt be requested.
Their daughter wasn't one to forget, like an elephant and it was only going to take them mention of her bed to have her excitedly asking for her story. Regina had been dreading it all day, and even extended the mention of the young girl's bed time by an hour in an attempt to avoid it. Whether she had hoped Romy would tire herself and fall asleep where she sat she didn't know. With a sigh she glanced at the clock, then at her wife Emma who was cuddled up in her arms, enjoying a cup of tea and some dodgy Saturday night entertainment show.
"Romy, bedtime sweetie"
"Oh, that was a hell of a sigh babe" Emma commented with a smile, her hand affectionately stroking Regina's leg.
Regina could only hum in response, as the small girl whined dramatically as she pulled herself up from the floor, abandoning her creative efforts. Paper and crayons were scattered all around the hardwood floor, not an unusual sight in their house.
"Tidy up please Romy. Paper in the tray, crayons back in the box"
"But mommy, I'm not finished with them" she innocently whined again in response.
"That doesn't mean we leave a mess, does it? Pack them away nicely now please"
Regina's voice was loving but firm. Her daughter would be neat and tidy, just as she had bought Henry up to be. She would not be like Emma, leaving chaotic trails of her things all around their home. She watched their daughter huff and begin doing as she was asked somewhat reluctantly. She reminded Regina so much of Emma, she couldn't help but wonder if her wife had been such a dramatic child in the same way.
Making a move to get up herself, she disturbed Emma who just happened to whine the same way Romy just had at being asked to tidy up. There was no doubt she got that trait from her blonde mother. She placed her unfinished coffee on the small end table, hoping to be back to finish it shortly, as it was Emma's turn to partake in Romy's bedtime story.
"I'll get her teeth done, changed and into bed then it's your turn for story time" Regina mouthed the last word of her sentence as she glanced down at her once again settled wife.
Emma's mouth fell open. If she was about to protest the idea she could definitely forget it. It was her fault Romy had been promised to hear the story of her mommy, the evil queen and her saviour, and Regina had meant it when she had said that Emma would be the one to tell her. In an instant, Emma's mouth shut again and she started pouting, which resulted in Regina feeling quite pleased with herself.
Romy thundered passed her mother's, running up the stairs to the bathroom as Regina slowly followed behind. Her bare feet clapped as they ran straight into the bathroom and she grabbed her toothbrush. Regina smiled as she passed, glad to see her behaving and following bedtime routine as she went into her bedroom. She popped on the bedside lamp, giving the room a warm orangey pink glow, and retrieved a clean nightdress for Romy to change into.
The little girl came racing into her bedroom with a big smile plastered on her face a few minutes later. She looked so excited, a sparkle in her blue eyes as she looked at her mother standing by her bed.
"Tonight I will get a story about you and mommy?" she asked hopefully.
Regina smiled and nodded gently. It had felt good for once not to have to say no to the happy little girl. Romy's smile only brightened as she got undressed with her mother's help and into her nightdress, before scrambling into bed. When she was all tucked up tight, cuddling her favourite soft toy, Regina leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight darling"
"Mommy, what about me story?" Romy asked, thinking perhaps her mother had forgotten in the few minutes since she had last asked about it.
"Oh I know sweetie, Mommy is coming to tell it to you tonight" she confirmed with a smile.
Romy looked at her confused. Emma rarely read to her and she wasn't as good at it as Regina was. She usually fell asleep before Romy did, but that was usually because the book didn't hold her excitement. For a moment Romy looked at her with wide, disappointed eyes that seemed to gleam with a bead of a tear as she looked at her in the dim light of her room. Regina had to smile and quickly leave the room, or she too was going to get upset.
"She will only be a minute sweetie" she smiled as she quickly confirmed as she left the room, stepping out into the landing.
From inside Romy's room she heard a loud, dramatic sigh as she headed to the staircase to begin her decent. If Romy fell asleep in the time it took her to fetch Emma, and send her up to her then she supposed in some ways it might be a blessing. She went downstairs, returning straight to the living room, talking to Emma as she entered only to find the room vacant.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me?!" Regina groaned as she looked around. "Emma?" she called, her voice reverberating around the room and straight back to her.
"Emma?" she called again, searching throughout the lower level of the house.
She swore her wife was like the scarlet pimpernel. In the time it had taken to get Romy into bed, a measly ten fifteen minutes, Emma had managed to completely disappear. She sighed, searching every room again, desperate to find her before returning to the hall. Upstairs she could faintly hear Romy's little voice calling out to her.
"I'm waiting mommy"
"Oh Emma, when I find you, you are in such big trouble!" Regina stated to herself through gritted teeth as she hurried back upstairs.
This was just typical of Emma, ducking out on her responsibilities. Regina didn't know why she had expected that Emma would manage to commit to her demands that she tell the story to their daughter, after she had so kindly volunteered it to be one Romy could hear.
"Can I have my story now mommy?" she asked innocently as her mother appeared at her bedroom door.
Regina sighed.
"I can't find your mother and she is supposed to be telling you the story sweetie"
"Well, you're my mommy too." Romy cheekily replied.
"Yes, but mommy and I had a deal Romy. Mommy was going to tell you this one."
"You can just tell me it mommy, I don't mind."
Their little girl gave her a hopeful smile, staring at her mother shadowed in the doorway to her bedroom. She just wanted to hear the story, preferably from her Regina since they had bonded so well over reading stories together. Her big blue eyes pleaded with her, making it near on impossible to refuse her request, yet she was still holding out for Emma's appearance. It wasn't forthcoming though, nor was it clear where she may be hiding so when Romy pleaded with her to tell her it once again, Regina sighed and stepped back into her room.
Emma had left her with no choice but to step in. She came to the bed and settled herself beside Romy, no book with planned plot to read before her to hide behind and her daughter snuggled in expectantly at her side. Where to begin? That was the burning question. Emma and Regina's relationship wasn't exactly the easiest to pinpoint as to when it had actually started, and well Romy wanted to know when her mommy had met her saviour, Regina knew the exact moment but that didn't mean she wanted to start from there.
"Mommy, are you going to start the story?" Romy asked cutely, peering up at her with blue eyes hungry for the information she would learn from this story.
She was too smart for a little girl Regina swore. So inquisitive and thirsty for knowledge of everything, much as she had been when she was young. The longing to hear the fairy stories of her family a burning desire, much as Regina had desired a friend to play with, and romance novels in her own youth. She sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that evening, she could stall no longer. She opened her mouth and said the first thing that popped into her mind.
"Once upon a time…."
A small smile graced Romy's thin pale pink lips as she listened to her mother telling her the beginning their story, the part where her blonde mother arrived in Storybrooke. Regina struggled to remember some of the detail at least that is what she told Romy, explaining that at first she and Emma hadn't even been friends. To learn such a fact had earned a small gasp from the little girl. It made her smile to see how Romy reacted as the story went on. Regina tried her best to tell Romy a more pleasant version of the truth until she had to start answering the questions that began.
"But mommy, why did Henry bring mommy to town if it wasn't for you to be a family?"
Regina took a deep breath, smiling down at her daughter and shook her head. As sure as she was that Romy was ready to learn why, she wasn't sure herself that she was ready to talk about that. She prayed for Emma to appear that very moment and take over but one quick glance towards the door told her that prayer would not be answered.
What Regina didn't know was that Emma had purposely being hiding out in the bathroom. She had just quietly snuck out, after popping the door open and listening until she heard the gentle hum of her wife's voice speaking down the hall. She had smiled and crept along the hall, resting against the wall just outside Romy's door, listening to the story unfolding inside. It made her smile to hear Regina explaining their first few months of intense hate for one another, whilst all along they had been secretly lusting after one another, yet it hadn't been until much later either of them had admitted that. She could tell Regina had hit a sticking point in the story though, Romy's challenging question about her brother intentions but she was interested to hear what Regina would answer with.
"Well….." Regina began, a heavy sigh escaping her as she stroked gently through Romy's golden curls. "Henry knew of your mommy's fate, that she was the saviour long before I had any clue and that is why he brought her here"
"Why didn't you know mommy?"
Romy was so innocent in her questioning. Regina looked down at her, a sincerity in her eyes as she took a deep breath. She was building up to the darkest of admissions. Tears formed on the brim of her eyes as she stared deep into the blinking blue orbs of her daughter's eyes. She couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Mommy?" Romy questioned her silence.
The silence from her wife worried Emma, as did hearing Romy's little voice saying her name in a questioning tone. She inched closer to the doorframe, peering around it in at her wife and daughter cuddled up on the bed. She watched them, waiting again in silence to either hear what Regina would say, or be noticed.
"I think that's enough for tonight" Regina suddenly declared, leaning down and kissing the top of Romy's silky hair.
"But mommy….." she protested.
"Enough Romy, please" Regina was a little snappy, clearly upset.
Emma instantly felt a pang of guilt for trying to force Regina in having to tell the story. She had thought it was for the best, but seeing Regina's current state she instantly regretted it. The brunette made a move to get off of the bed when Emma quickly interjected.
"I think, what mommy is trying to say was that she didn't know who I was because she had forgotten" Emma admitted, firing a cute smile at Regina hoping it would earn her forgiveness.
Regina's wet, threatening tear filled eyes glistened as her attention snapped in Emma's direction. There she was, finally. She slipped off of the bed shaking her head, and passed Emma without a word. When she reached the door, she declared quietly, her voice croaking that Emma would continue the story, and bid them both goodnight. Only Regina didn't go to bed. Instead she did as Emma had, waiting outside the bedroom door to listen in on the story.
Confused, Emma glanced back at the empty doorway then back at Romy who just shrugged at her and smiled cutely. All Romy wanted was to hear the end of her story and to have her questions answered. Emma swallowed down hard the lump forming in her throat from her guilt and settled on the bed with Romy, taking Regina's place.
"How did mommy forget?" Romy asked, reminding Emma of her last words.
The blonde stammered, Regina hadn't forgotten at all but now she had to explain that. She quickly recalled her memories, by miracle remembering a page Henry had once shown her in his storybook that explained Regina's temporary loss of memory. She explained how when Regina had come to care for Henry, she had drunk a magic potion to make her forget bad things. Romy looked up at her confused, it didn't explain why her mommy would forget her other mommy, because Emma wasn't bad. Emma gulped nervously smiling as she stuttered once again to explain the unanswered questions of her silent daughter.
Outside Regina smiled to herself. It wasn't an easy story to tell and now Emma was in one hell of a pickle. Romy waited, looking up expectantly at her mother as Emma finally found her voice again.
"Well, it's not that mommy needed to forget me…."
"Because you're not bad mommy" Romy smiled. "You're a saviour"
Emma smiled awkwardly and nodded. Just because that was true didn't mean it wasn't embarrassing to have to admit to.
"What did mommy need to forget then?"
The sweet innocence in her daughter's question made Regina's eyes tear again, and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to muffle any sobs she thought might escape when she heard Emma start to just tell the story as it was. Not that Emma knew it very well because she was making a right mess of telling it. She couldn't tell if Emma was being purposely vague now, or if she just didn't know what to say. She was referring to the things Regina had tried to forget as just bad and it wasn't satisfying Romy's curiousity in the slightest.
"But why mommy?"
"Well because they were just bad things"
"What bad things?"
"Just bad things she had done" Emma answered, her jaw dropping as she gazed towards the door, feeling awful for just spurting out the words like that.
Romy's little gasp told her she was shocked, but it wasn't a bad shock. Emma quickly glanced down at her to gauge if she was upset. She didn't look it, so Emma assumed Romy was ok with what she had just learnt. Then she waited, she knew further questions would be coming.
"Why did mommy do bad things? She's a princess. Princesses aren't bad mommy"
Blue eyes blinked up at her, fighting against the threatening tiredness her eyelids were trying to give into against her will. Emma sighed gently, knowing if this was hard for her to say it had to be unimaginably difficult for Regina.
"Well kid…." Emma gave her daughter a gentle squeeze. "Mommy was a princess once, yes, but then some bad things made her very sad, and she did bad things because lots of people who were supposed to care about her, hurt her."
"That's not good mommy" Romy commented with a little yawn.
Emma shook her head, it wasn't good at all and seeing her sleepy daughter she quickly assumed that she was getting away without having to tell Romy the entire truth about Regina's identity. She yawned again, Emma kissing the top of her head gently and bidding her goodnight.
"Mommy, if mommy did bad things does that mean she is a villain?" Romy asked with another yawn as she settled into her pillow.
"Well…" Emma grimaced the thought of saying those three little words.
Romy was waiting though, her eyes opening and closing tiredly as she snuggled her soft toy. Emma sighed and shuffled down off of the bed, crouching at the side and reached for her daughter's hand. She smiled warmly and squeezed her little hand gently, looking at her sincerely.
"Mommy isn't the same person anymore Romy, you have to remember that. If I tell you the truth, do you promise to remember that and not be scared?"
Romy nodded, her mother smiling affectionately back at her. Emma took a shallow breath and built herself up ready. Speaking in a low, gentle voice she made sure to keep her eyes on Romy, so that she would know she was telling her the truth.
"Your Mommy, she used to be The Evil Queen"
Emma waited, watching Romy's sleepy reaction to the revelation, certain her heart skipped a beat as she waited for a gasp, or a scream that didn't come. Romy had let it was over her and was smiling.
"You're not scared are you?" Emma asked for clarification, just to be sure.
"No mommy" Romy mumbled sweetly.
Emma smiled again, stroking her hair gently and kissing her cheek once more. She said goodnight again as Romy's eyes started to close. That had gone better than she had actually expected. She turned out the light and tiptoed to the bedroom door, glancing over at Romy who was seconds from falling asleep and smiled.
"At least mommy's not Ursula" the little girl mumbled as she finally gave in to her tiredness.
The blonde wanted to erupt with laughter, but got a fright of her own when she almost bumped into her waiting wife outside, from her distraction.
"Oh, Regina you scared me!" Emma gasped, holding her chest thankful she didn't scream and wake their daughter, then smiled.
Regina grinned and wrapped her arms around her in an embrace. Her soft lips pressed gently into her wife's in a loving kiss but it didn't last before she was in fits of giggles about what their daughter had just said. Thank goodness it hadn't scared her as badly as Regina had anticipated it would. In fact, Romy's reaction had actually only amused her.
"At least I'm not Ursula!" she grinned.