AN: You caught me. I have no idea how a greenhouse works or if the plants listed could actually grow in one or in the same environment… I just looked up 'flower meanings' and went with my favs…
Date #11
Regina and Emma strode hand in hand passed Granny's diner. They still received dark glares and angry or scared looks from people because Regina was who she was. It tended to piss Emma off, but that night, Emma was perfectly content.
Emma linked their fingers as she led them down her neighborhood street.
"Darling are you sure this is all you wanted to do for our date?" Regina asked.
"Yeah! I've never gotten to walk around and just hold hands with the person I love, and nighttime is even better because in our town of nothing we can look up in the town square and still see millions of stars…" Emma waited for Regina to look up before she went completely cheesy, "But I like watching them reflect from your eyes most…" She smiled as she saw the blush creep up her girlfriend's cheeks. She chuckled and leaned in for a kiss on one of those red cheeks as they stopped at her gate. She feigned remembering something, "Oh! I completely forgot to show you this. Come on." She pulled her through the gate of Henry's and her front yard and up the porch, "Come on!" She said excitedly as she dragged the brunette around the porch and into the backyard, "Come on! Come on!"
"I'm right here… What are we looking at?" Regina asked after she was put in the middle of the backyard. "Emma?" She turned to find the blonde nowhere in sight, "Emma?"
"Stay there." She heard a grunt from behind a pillar that held up the back porch, "Stupid piece of… Come on, damn it!" Emma poked her head from behind the pillar and saw Regina begin making her way over to her, "No! You! Girlfriend! Back where I put you! I'm being romantic as hell! You just don't know it." She grunted once more.
Regina held the chuckle in as best she could, but when her girlfriend was flustered like she was, it was hard not to laugh. Suddenly, she heard a cry of pride from the blonde and twinkly lights flickered on all throughout the backyard, illuminating it in a soft glow of bulb lights. She gasped as she looked around, "Oh Emma…"
Emma grinned as she walked over to her, "I couldn't get the damn thing in the outlet and keep the iHome there as well… So, no romantic music, but lots of twinkly lights." She hugged the brunette close and began swaying with her.
"Well…" Regina spoke softly into Emma's shoulder, "I do enjoy twinkly lights." She held the blonde a little tighter as they danced slowly to their own music.
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
Date #12
Emma was blindfolded. She was being led somewhere, but she couldn't figure out where that place was exactly.
"Come on, don't be scared." Regina whispered in Emma's ear as she walked her into her greenhouse.
"I'm not scared!" Emma turned to where the voice came from and placed her hands on her hips defiantly. Regina smirked as she moved to the other side of the blonde quietly. The timer to the watering system went off and Emma jumped reaching out for the woman, "REGINA!" She cried when she felt nothing as she grabbed where her girlfriend's voice had been.
Regina held her by the hips from behind and wrapped her arms around her waist, "It's alright, my love." She whispered, "It's just water."
"Right. I knew that." Emma raised her head all the way up and tried to peek from under her blindfold.
"No peeking." Regina squeezed her in a tight hug.
"But I want to see…"
"In a moment, Emma." Regina walked them to the very center of the room. She looked around the area for what she had put in there earlier and smiled. She left the fake rose where it was and moved her hand to the knot behind Emma's head, "You ready?"
"Yes!" Emma said like it was a 'duh' question.
Regina took the blindfold from her and watched as Emma blinked then spun quickly around before she spun slowly around to look at everything, "Wow! Is this your greenhouse?!"
"Mhmm."
"But no one is allowed in the greenhouse."
"Except for you, my love."
Emma gave her a happy look, "I'm allowed in the greenhouse?"
"Well, it's my turn to be romantic as hell, as you so eloquently put it, so yes, you are allowed in the greenhouse."
"How is this romantic as hell?" Emma narrowed her eyes suspiciously, then gave the brunette's forearm a squeeze, "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's pretty romantic and pretty cool, but I'm not thinking it's romantic as hell quite yet…"
Regina took the hand on her arm and laced their fingers together, "What if I told you that I got rid of all the plants I was growing the 28 years you weren't in my life and started over with seedlings when you started asking me out?"
Emma's face turned dumbstruck and she squeezed Regina's hand.
"And what if I told you that everything in here was planted for you and because of you? That everything in here reminded me of you in some way? Like the amaryllises," she pointed to the flowers, "They mean 'splendid beauty' or 'worth beyond beauty' and you my love, your worth is beyond your beauty." She pulled on Emma's hand and moved to the next plant.
"Birds of Paradise!" Emma looked at them, "I know those 'cause they're funny looking."
Regina smiled, "They symbolize joyfulness, magnificence and wonderful anticipation." She pushed the blonde along, "Calla lilies."
"Look like lady bits."
Regina paused a moment to give Emma a look, "Represent magnificence and beauty."
"Also known as your lady bits." Emma turned to her knowing she was embarrassing her. She wrapped her arms around Regina's neck and kissed, "I'm sorry. I won't be so crude. Though I will mention that you are growing this flower for me, so maybe I should say my lady bits." She pecked Regina's blushing cheek, "I'm done being crude for real this time. I'm sorry. Continue." She grinned when Regina turned with her still hanging on her neck.
"Carnations. As a whole they mean pride and beauty. Red is love, pride and admiration; pink, the love of a woman…" Regina kissed Emma's cheek, "And purple is capriciousness."
Emma gave the brunette a playful glare then finally de-suctioned herself from the woman's neck and pointed, "What about those yellow ones?"
"Those are not carnations. They're similar, but not carnations. Yellow carnations are disdain, rejection or disappointment and you my love are none of those things so there are no yellow carnations."
Emma smiled and snuggled into another tight hug, "What are the yellow flowers."
"Chrysanthemums. Yellow actually means slighted love—"
"Hey! I love you and you love me!"
"Yes, but when we first met, I did not realize my attraction for you was not unrequited… and when I planted these, I was thinking about our first year."
"Oh… then that's okay… I guess." Emma turned a bit from the brunette.
"As a whole…" Regina reached for Emma's chin and turned her back around, "Fidelity, optimism, joy and long life. Red is love, white is truth and loyal love…"
Emma gave the woman a closed mouth smile and leaned into her. They pecked twice before giving in to a good, long kiss.
"Moving on…" Regina rubbed Emma's kiss between her lips, "Daffodils. New beginnings, eternal life and…" she paused for effect, "Chivalry."
Emma rolled her eyes but wrapped her arms around Regina's neck again.
Regina pointed to the next few while they stood hugging each other, "Gardenias: secret love." She gave the blonde a pointed look and a peck, "Gladiolus: strength of character, faithfulness, honor. Heathers: lavender is admiration, solitude, beauty and white is protection, and wishes will come true. Ranunculus: you are radiant with charm, you are attractive."
"I think you're speaking for yourself…" Emma grinned and brushed her lips against Regina's before allowing her to continue.
Regina moved them a couple more feet before pointing to the different flowers once more, "Hyacinth: playfulness and a sporty attitude." She leaned in and gave the blonde an Eskimo kiss before continuing, "Hydrangea: heartfelt emotions. Lilac: youthful innocence and confidence." She smiled, "Lily."
"I dare you to love me."
Regina smirked, "We're keeping it at that because I like that better than all the other meanings…"
"Hey, I got it from a movie that we watched together."
"And that is why they are here." Regina nodded.
"I did dare you to love me."
"Did I disappoint?"
"Hell no." Emma said with a smile and leaned in for another peck.
Regina pulled her along to the other side of the greenhouse, "Protea. It stands for change and transformation, signifies daring and resourcefulness, and is symbolic of diversity and courage."
Emma smiled and turned her head bashfully, "Oh! Sunflowers."
"Signify pure thoughts and symbolize adoration, dedication or dedicated lover." Regina smiled when Emma snuggled closer.
The blonde turned her head after inhaling Regina's scent and basking in the fact that she was getting to snuggle and cuddle this much in the daytime, "Tulips. I've always liked them. They're so bright."
"Signify declaration of love and symbolize perfect love."
Emma grinned and nodded along with Regina's words, "I knew I liked tulips."
Regina kissed the crown of her girlfriend's hair as they rounded back to the center of the room, "And finally, we have—"
"Roses. I know those!"
"And they mean?"
"Love." Emma gave a single nod in support of her statement.
"Yes." Regina pointed to the fake rose and crooked her finger, telling it to float over to them, "OH! A rainbow rose!" Emma looked at it and how each of the petals were different colors randomly throughout the full bloom.
"I will love you until this rose dies." Regina said seriously.
Emma looked at it floating in the air then grabbed it and started touching the petals. She knew it was fake the entire time, but she wanted to know why it was so many colors, and for that matter why the stem was black. She was both grinning wide and giving her girlfriend a look of confusion.
"The stem is black because that was my heart before you." Sudden tears came to Regina's eyes, and when tears came to Regina's eyes, it was guaranteed that Emma's were watering as well, "Black is loss; I didn't want to put that in the bloom." She touched the light purple petal, "Lavender roses signify love at first sight, which you didn't know happened with me, but it did. I looked up angry that Henry found his mother and I almost went weak in the knees." She swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled to Emma, "Green… is 'best wishes' for a prosperous new life. I never actually wanted you to go because you made me feel again, but that's also the reason I tried to get you to leave. But you defied me and planted roots and I found myself wishing that you'd believe the curse and find your parents and live happily."
The brunette licked her lips and looked down, "Blue means I can't have you but I can't stop thinking about you." She took a breath, "Pink convey admiration, joy and gratitude. Admiration for your ability to stick it out, joy for not dying or letting my mother rip your heart out, and gratitude for continually saving me." Her lip quivered as she reached up to wipe a tear from her eye, "Yellow is friendship. Though that was short-lived, it's still relevant." She smirked to the blonde, "Orange represent passion and energy; they can mean an intense desire and fascination… That is a little self-explanatory." She smiled as she moved to the red petals, "Red is the only rival of the orange; it is love and everything therein." She moved to the only few petals of the same color that touched at the center, "White is purity. This is you. This is who you are, and I really, honestly feel it's who you make me."
Emma pushed into the brunette and kissed her hard. The real white, orange and red roses were having a field day in the greenhouse. Emma stared into her chocolate orbs as she pulled from her, "You are pure. You're raw and mangled, but you are pure. I just try to live up to you." Emma swallowed hard and nodded when she saw the question in Regina's eyes, telling her just how honest she was.
"I love you." Regina spoke softly.
"I love you too." Emma thought she heard movement behind her and turned around to see the white, red and orange roses had grown tall and seemed to be brighter. "Woah!"
Regina turned and smiled, "That's you… plants grow without magic just fine, but they're prone to know why they've been planted and they tend to grow quickly when the reason is close."
Emma looked at her and smiled, "That is kinda cool." She hugged her. "I'm emotionally drained now… I just want to cuddle the rest of the day. That okay?"
Regina smiled, "That's perfect."
~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~
Date #13
Emma spread the blanket under a nice shady spot at the park. The weather was changing, and it was a nice, picturesque spring afternoon. Emma was in a pair of brown, khaki and white plaid Bermuda shorts, beige Toms, a fitted brown v-neck and some aviators to shade her eyes from the sun. Regina was in black Bermuda shorts, black Sperry's, a red t shirt, as well as a pair of big black sunglasses.
Regina waited patiently for Emma to decide that the blanket was good—the woman was oddly OCD about her blankets and quilts—and after Emma pressed down on all the corners, making sure they were where they were supposed to be, Regina got the okay to sit down.
The blonde settled herself against the tree and spread her legs. Regina was just sitting down to face Emma when she stopped her, "Hey woman!"
Regina, squatting, about to roll from the heels of her feet to her ass, stopped and looked at the blonde, "Did you just call me 'woman'?"
"Yes."
"Did you just call me 'woman' in a tone that resembles, 'get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich'?" Regina's tone was warning, but she was going to hear Emma—or begin to hear Emma out before she did go ahead and sit down.
Emma smirked; she understood why Regina thought that might have been her tone, but that just wasn't it at all. "No… I said 'woman' in a tone that was supposed to startle you from sitting, so I could tell you to put that gorgeous ass of yours right here." She patted the area between her legs, "I made you a spot and everything."
Regina smirked before putting her knees forward and shuffling over to the blonde. She pointed between Emma's legs, "Right here, you say?"
Emma nodded and settled more against the tree. Regina smirked before grabbing the basket handle, moving it closer to them before turning around, sitting and leaning against her lover. Emma pulled one of her legs up and left the other extended; Regina on the other hand kept both of her legs extended and crossed at the ankles.
The brunette let her head loll back onto Emma's shoulder causing the blonde to reach that hand up, being stroking her hair and look at her. Regina only smiled before Emma picked up what she was waiting for and with a grin of her own, leaned in and brushed her lips against Regina's.
"This is nice." Regina said happily as she unconsciously snuggled closer to her ladylove.
"Yeah." Emma wrapped her arms around the brunette, "A girl could get used to this."
Regina nodded her agreement, "Food?"
"I wanna stay like this a little bit longer."
Regina stopped everything—even breathing a moment—and stared at her girlfriend, "You..what?"
Emma knit her brows questioningly, "I wanna stay like this a little longer…"
"You're rejecting food? Did I break you? Hurt you in someway? Was it someone else that hurt you or broke you? Are you depressed?"
Emma jut her jaw to the side as she chuckled at Regina's surprisingly, sarcastically joking display of concern, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Joke all you want, but I will get hungry and you will realize who you're in love with. Now cuddle me, woman!"
Regina smirked, "I could get used to being referred to as 'woman' if it's commands like that…"
"Then get used to it… Woman." Emma muttered into Regina's hair as she squeezed the brunette tighter.
AN: Thoughts and Feels? I'm thinking of nicknaming this one 'the cheesy cuddle'…