A/N: Welcome back to this story! Sorry for such a long delay. I promise I'm going to finish this though. There are only two chapters left and I have most of the next one complete, so I'm hoping to post the last updates over the next few weeks. To everyone who has stuck with me and to those who are continuing to read after recently finding this story—thank you! I hope you enjoy this update, which is the second part of their date and pretty fluffy. There will be one more chapter of their date after this one, since I decided to break it up because it was becoming too long and I wanted to post an update. Hope you enjoy! Let me know.
Also, in the third section of this update, there are some vague references to Emma's childhood and some unwanted physical contact that could be triggering but it's not terribly graphic or anything—just wanted to give anyone a heads up that might be unsettled by that, so you can skip over the part when she's talking about her former foster family.
Chapter 10: Show You Love—Part 2
They emerged from the trail through the trees, making their way onto the rocks that made up the top of the cave and the walls of the cliffs. So far, the journey out to the place that Emma felt was special enough to share with Regina on their date wasn't too bad. On the contrary, Regina had relented a few minutes ago, admitting to Emma that she was actually enjoying the hike that had proven to be far less demanding and more peaceful than she'd thought it would be.
The forest was so beautiful and alive with all of the greenery and wildlife that was prevalent during Maine's summer. Different colored birds flew from tree to tree, some of them making their way down to puddles on the ground that were left from the rain they'd had the previous morning. Emma and Regina had watched them bathing and playing in the water-flapping their little wings and splashing around. There were also chipmunks and red squirrels that darted across the path, leaping onto logs and running across them, probably in search of food and friends. They'd even seen a few deer in the distance—two females making their way through the foliage with a fawn, who was keeping up surprisingly well, behind them.
Regina had been unable to contain her laughter when Emma turned to her and asked in a voice that was dead serious whether or not that was the Bambi, and if the doe he was with meant that his mother had, in fact, survived, unlike Disney claimed. Narrowing her eyes at Regina's amusement, Emma argued that it was a legitimate question: I never would've thought the Evil Queen was in Maine but here we are, which stopped Regina's fit of laughter long enough for her to roll her eyes at the blonde. Catching each other's eyes for a little too long, they both started laughing again at the exchange and the absurdity of their reality.
Standing on the rocky ledge and surveying the climb down to the caves, however, made Regina more leery of the second part of their excursion. Most of it would consist of walking carefully down some nature-made steps—somewhat steep and tricky but doable in her current attire—yet, she could tell that other spots would be more of a challenge.
"You'll be fine," Emma rested her hand on Regina's lower back. "Promise. I'll make sure you don't fall."
Regina leaned into her touch, still wary of making the descent, but somehow the way Emma's fingers moved lightly up and down the fabric of her dress, made Regina feel safer and more confident that everything would be fine.
"I know," Regina's lips curved upward. "I won't let you fall either," She promised as they began to make their way to the caves.
Emma stretched her leg out until her foot met the gray rock below it. Then, she allowed her other foot to reach down as she pushed herself off the rock she'd been holding onto and landed on her feet. She turned to look up at the rocky ledges she and Regina had been carefully climbing down, to see Regina giving her a skeptical look, before she lowered herself to the rock Emma had just been standing on. When she found her balance and was safely on top of it, she searched for the best way to get down from where she was to where Emma was waiting for her a few feet below. A frown covered her lips as she called to Emma, "My legs are too short. Yours barely reached."
A hand shaded Emma's eyes as she squinted up at Regina, "Jump."
Whether Emma was kidding or not Regina couldn't tell, and huffed in exasperation. "Sandals, Emma," she reminded with a little irritation in her voice.
"I'll catch you."
Now she could see that Emma was only half-serious and she smirked down at the blonde. "As gallant as that is, Savior, I have a feeling we'd both end up falling."
Emma shook her head with a laugh, crossing her arms over her middle in an effort to gently challenge Regina. "And here I thought you were really starting to trust me," Emma sighed in disappointment, which would have been a believable, and maybe even successful way to guilt-trip Regina, if Emma wasn't currently fighting back a smile.
With a roll of her eyes, Regina grumbled, "Smartass," picking up on how Emma was teasing her. "I thought we'd already cleared this up; I trust you. What I don't trust is your balance when you're stumbling backwards from the force of me falling into your arms."
There was a look of mock hurt on Emma's face, while she pretended to think over Regina's reasoning. "You have a point. I guess as long as it's my balance you don't trust and not me, it's okay," A grin broke through the seriousness on her face.
With a shake of her head at the adorable ridiculousness of her girlfriend, Regina studied the rocks around her one more time, before giving up and crossing her arms. "So, how do you suppose I go about getting down there?"
"Uh," Emma bit her lip and looked over the rocks she had just climbed down from. After a moment she walked toward them. "Turn around," She twirled her finger in a circle, until the skeptical look on Regina's face could no longer be seen and her back was facing Emma, instead.
Regina glanced over her shoulder, peering down at Emma. "Now what?"
"I'm going to guide you down. Put your hands on this rock and lower your right foot to that really little ledge sticking out there," Emma instructed, and watched as Regina—with barely a look of defiance or objection—did what Emma suggested and lowered herself, cautiously making her way over the side of the boulder.
Regina was sure she looked ridiculous with one leg stretched out toward the ledge of the rock opposite the one she was on—that, luckily, just happened to be big enough to rest her sandal-clad food on—while her torso was pressed up against the other giant boulder that made up the lowest ledge of the cliffs. "Emma, I'm trying to trust you. Really. But I still don't think I can reach."
"Which is why I'm going to help you. If you'd be more patient, you'd have found that out," Emma chuckled, and brought her hands above her head, so that they settled on Regina's waist. "Now, bring your left foot down along this rock."
Emma felt Regina's hips shift toward her as Regina arched her back more and started to slowly climb down. "I've got you," she assured Regina, holding her tighter, when the other woman stiffened briefly. "Now, stretch your right leg out. I'm going to guide it down to where I'm standing."
They worked in sync—Regina's leg reaching down as far as it could go as Emma lifted her away from the rock. Then, Regina brought her other foot off the ledge it was on, using her hold on Emma's arms to steady herself, while Emma set her down.
"See?" Emma kissed Regina's temple, once she was standing firmly on the ground. "I have good balance. You made it down and I didn't drop you."
"Because I didn't jump from the top."
"And because we work well together."
"That we do," Regina agreed, and turned her head to look at Emma standing right behind her; her hands still resting on Regina's hips.
"And neither one of us twisted an ankle either," Emma boasted.
"Yet," Regina threw back with warning in her voice, but her face cracked with the smile she was trying not to show. She lifted her head to sweetly kiss Emma's lips with unspoken adoration and thanks.
"Come on," Emma took Regina's hand, stepping toward the fairly huge mouth of the cave; a dark opening under the uneven shelf of rocks. She pulled Regina along to the side and helped her walk across the rocky edge that led from where they were to the entrance.
The waves rose up and broke against the other rocks jutting out of the ocean and sitting parallel to them a few feet away, but the crashes weren't too powerful or threatening. The tide was still out far enough, which Emma had made sure to check beforehand, so that they wouldn't be in any danger of getting trapped or swept away.
Once they entered the cave, the rocky floor was more level and easier for both of them to navigate. However, the cave was still really dark, even with the early evening sunlight still shining in behind them. Emma stopped them, so she could pull the flashlight out of her bag and flick it on. The light slowly swept over the rock walls as Emma directed the flashlight from one side to the other. It was mostly smooth with a few jagged rocks here and there, similar to the cliffs outside. Of course the color of the rocks appeared darker in the shadows of the cave, but it was beautiful to Regina—somewhat forbidding, yet enchanting.
"I had no idea this was here," Regina said lowly.
Emma nudged her teasingly, "I thought you knew everything about Storybrooke."
"That's what I want people to think. But no, not everything," Regina confided and walked further into the cave with Emma.
"Well, I'm glad. That means I can still find cool things to surprise you with."
Regina chuckled with the warmth that filled her heart at the childlike excitement she heard come from Emma. "Perhaps. Although, I've discovered many things in thirty years."
Emma's lips curved into a crooked smirk. "Yet, you missed the awesome caves."
"It never occurred to me that I should risk my life climbing down cliffs," Regina countered, using her common sense as defense.
"See," Emma grinned, leading them more towards the middle of the cave. "You're lucky I came along, so you could have someone to take you on adventures."
"Lucky me," Regina hummed sarcastically, but gave Emma a genuine smile that contradicted her tone of voice. "Do you already have our next adventure planned?"
"That would be dinner and figuring out how to use the grill I borrowed from David."
"Knowing you, that could end up being more exciting and life-threatening than this cave."
"But," Emma lifted her finger to aid her in making her point. "Not as amazing as the anemones."
Regina's eyebrow rose in a mix of surprise and peaked curiosity. "Anemones?"
"Yeah, you know those things Nemo lives in? They're in the jellyfish family. Colorful, floaty, little tentacle things," Emma's mouth fell open when Regina's forehead crinkled as she clearly was trying to make sense of what Emma was saying. "Please, tell me you showed Henry Finding Nemo. I was like twenty when it came out and was obsessed with it. Snuck into the movie theater six times to see it."
"Of course he saw Finding Nemo," Regina grumbled. "He watched it over and over again from age three until age six. I almost threw the DVD away after the first week because I couldn't take that forgetful blue fish and her annoying short term memory loss."
"You didn't like Dory?" Emma's mouth dropped open in shock and offense at having the beloved character bashed. "But how—why?"
With a small groan, Regina rolled her eyes at how melodramatic Emma was being—not that there wasn't a part of her that was beginning to find this side of the other woman more and more endearing; something that Regina never would have foreseen. Still the strangely-adorable-offended expression on Emma's face suggested that Regina had actually insulted her and not the animated fish in a Pixar film, which left her to vent her explanation. "I was living in a town where people relived a similar day over and over, having no memory of who they were—who I'd known them as. I didn't need a fictional fish getting on my nerves because of similar reasons."
Emma stopped walking and faced Regina, her furrowed eyebrows causing the lines on her forehead to become more prominent. "I thought you wanted people to forget?"
"I did," Regina bowed her head and took a deep breath, before she met Emma's gaze again and continued, "But it also became tiresome for me when they didn't remember doing so many of the same things day after day. And I was the only one who remembered the other land. It was a nice change, but sometimes it could get…lonely."
"Until I came along," Emma broke the sudden somberness falling over Regina with a cocky smile.
"Yes, the insipid savior with your yellow Bug and red leather jacket. You definitely riled things up and made everything start to change."
Emma shrugged, her voice unapologetic, "Hey, you needed to meet your match."
"Mm, apparently in more ways than one."
"Apparently," Emma squeezed the hand she was holding, then, she tugged on it, so they both knelt down on the damp floor of the cave, sitting back on their heels.
Now that they had ventured toward the back, it was darker and cooler. Regina felt a shiver rush through her.
"Cold?" Emma wondered when she felt Regina's hand tremble in hers.
"Just a chill," Regina assured in the glow of the flashlight.
"Alright. If you're sure you don't want my arm around you."
Regina rolled her eyes. "Sometimes you're as insufferable as your father, dear."
"You're just being the tough, defensive queen," Emma laughed knowingly.
"Just show me the anemones," Regina sighed with a small, affectionate smile that would have betrayed her if they hadn't been in the dark.
Instead of listening to Regina, however, Emma scooted behind her and set the flashlight down, placing her warm hands on Regina's shoulders. "In a minute. I don't want you to be cold…or annoyed," Emma chuckled, sliding her hands up and down over Regina's bare shoulders, rubbing and massaging.
After a few moments, Regina let out a soft breath and leaned back into Emma, who lowered herself back down onto her heels and slipped her arms around Regina, holding her lightly but with a security that Regina naturally relaxed into. She breathed in the sweet smell of Regina's hair and placed a kiss on top of her head.
"I love you," Regina murmured, turning her head and kissing the top of Emma's arm that was resting across hers. After not having said those words to anyone but Henry for so long, Regina still felt her heart quicken and her stomach flip, no matter how softly she uttered them. And no matter what past and present fears entered the back of her mind when they were spoken, she forced them away, not letting any of them have control over something as important to her as loving Emma was.
Emma returned the words silently with a kiss to the curve of Regina's neck. Then, she picked up the flashlight beside them and focused it down onto the large tidal pool a few inches in front of them.
The clear water came to life with the illumination. Some small fish that hadn't been carried back out to sea with the tide, swam around. There were also a few crabs hiding between rocks, trying not to be seen, and blending in with the grays and browns around them. Some green and maroon sea urchins were puffed out from where they were latched onto the rocked ledges. Even a pale orange starfish glided across the bottom of the pool, stopping every now and then, in order to make sure it was still invisible to anything that would see it as prey.
After admiring the captivating creatures, who were ones she'd seen throughout her time in Storybrooke, Regina's eyes left them to take in what Emma had brought her all the way to the caves to see. The anemones swayed in the water, adding to the colorful garden. They brought light and deeper pinks, greens, and purples to the vibrant pool. There were even some clear ones that glowed white with blue speckles lighting up their tentacles. They all reached out into the water, dancing weightlessly as their bottoms sat grounded along the rocks. As odd as they looked, they were still stunning and it made Regina's breath catch as she took it all in.
"Isn't it cool?" Emma wondered with a hint of excitement in her voice that reminded Regina of Henry.
"Beautiful."
Emma pressed the side of her head against Regina's as she leaned forward to see better.
"Look at them doing their thing and living in their own little world," Emma commented, observing the creatures before her. After a minute she added, "Like us on our beach."
Until the tide comes in, Regina thought but didn't say. The last thing she wanted was to ruin the moment.
"They'll still be here tomorrow. They're strong. They know how to stand their ground," Emma spoke softly, somehow having sensed what was running through Regina's mind.
"Like us," Regina finally agreed.
"Like us," Emma repeated, holding Regina tighter. "Always."
"Henry's going to want to see this," Regina interrupted the silent moment that passed between them.
"Too bad it's too cold for clownfish, he could have seen Nemo."
"Don't you mean found Nemo?"
"And you say I'm insufferable," Emma poked Regina's side, causing her to wriggle away with laughter.
"You are."
Emma cupped Regina's cheek, turning her face so she was gazing into the deep brown depths that still managed to glow with emotion in the dark. She leaned in and kissed Regina, their lips holding each other, until one of them moved to deepen it—neither were sure who the initiator was but both grew more passionate in their movements. From that moment, all they knew were the beats of their hearts speeding up and their breathing becoming more rapid, and soon, Regina was turned around, straddling one of Emma's bent legs, with her hands wrapped around Emma's neck, while Emma's hands weaved through her hair.
"Thank you for sharing this with me," Regina spoke breathless and quietly when their lips finally pulled apart.
"You were the first person I thought of when I found it. I've been waiting to show you for over a week."
"It's amazing," Regina kissed Emma one more time before turning around and finding the spot she had been sitting in, leaning back into Emma's arms again. She lifted the flashlight and observed the creatures that made up the tidal pool. "They're so graceful and delicate."
"Kinda magical."
Regina smiled, "Yes."
The sound of five small splashes became one loud, giant splash that traveled from the water to Emma's ears and caused the blonde to quickly lift her eyes from the grill they were staring at, to see what the commotion coming from the water was all about. She watched Regina throw her hands up in frustration and whirl around, only to have her blazing brown eyes connect with Emma's questioning ones.
"One damn rock! How difficult is it to skip one damn rock?!" Regina huffed, taking long furious strides up the beach in Emma's direction with her hands on her hips—a display that reminded Emma of one of the pictures of the Evil Queen in Henry's book. Dissatisfied, furious, and powerful…
Regina flung her arm out in exasperation, her hand sweeping through the air. "With magic I could have every pebble on this beach skipping out to the horizon, but without it I can't even throw one without it plopping into the bay a few feet away from me."
Regina snarled and Emma was almost anticipating an inevitable fireball to be chucked across the air, but the infuriated woman only collapsed onto the bench of the picnic table in her defeat, her head falling into her hands beside the grill that Emma had just covered.
After they'd returned safely from the anemone caves (without any broken ankles or other injuries), they'd relaxed by the water for a bit. Eventually, Emma's hands had become fidgety and she'd absentmindedly started skipping rocks while they had continued their conversation about places outside of Storybrooke that might be fun to visit if and when they got the chance to go. As their conversation turned into a small debate about how far into their relationship they should be before vacationing as a family or venturing off to weekend getaways together without Henry, Emma noticed the sun falling lower in the sky behind them and suggested that she start making dinner.
Apparently, Regina had been observant of Emma skipping rocks and had determinedly tried to as well. Unfortunately, all Emma had heard since the first rock was cast toward the water, were single splashes of rocks crashing into the bay and Regina's frustrated groans after she hadn't been successful with her first five attempts.
"No cheating with magic," Emma moved to stand behind Regina, her hands finding Regina's arms before tenderly sliding up to lightly squeeze the woman's shoulders. "I'm guessing you never learned how to skip rocks."
"What gave me away?" Regina jested and twisted her head, so she could look up at Emma.
"I don't know, you've been so subtle," Emma's sarcasm had them both cracking a smile. "Rock skipping not considered ladylike behavior in the Enchanted Forest?"
Regina shrugged a shoulder raising Emma's hand with it. "It was mostly not considered queen-like. Or at least according to my mother it wasn't."
"Of course," Emma sneered, angered but not surprised by the revelation, after learning how the controlling and manipulative, Cora, had been molding Regina into the queen she'd intended her to be from the day she was born.
"Luckily, she never found out that my father tried to teach me. Not that it mattered, since it was the same day she informed us that I was never to accompany him to the lake again. It wasn't proper for young ladies to swim or fish."
"That sucks."
Regina exhaled out of her nose, her fingers playing with some grains of sand that had collected on the table, rubbing the rough little circles over the wood. "I was almost eleven and she wanted me to focus more on etiquette and learning how to stand out to noblemen as a potential bride."
"You were just a kid," The statement from Emma held the opposing sound of an argument.
Regina hummed humorlessly. "Yes, well, in her mind I was a potential queen. And an insolent, disobedient girl who needed to grow up if I was ever going to be that queen."
Emma frowned. "But queens need to have fun, too."
A low rumble of laughter rose in the back of Regina's throat. "Of course you'd say that. You act more like a child at times than our son."
"That means you're in luck."
Regina squinted up at Emma, deciding to take the bait and ask the question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to. "How so?"
"Spending time with me means you'll easily make up for all of the fun you missed out on back then," Emma explained and placed a kiss to Regina's head.
"I can't wait," Regina grumbled, but couldn't mask the fondness that warmed her chocolate eyes.
"Come on," She grinned slyly, and reached for Regina's hand that rested on the table. "You're finally going to learn how to skip rocks. It'll be my thanks for all of the magic lessons you've given me."
Regina shook her head, unsure if she had the patience and desire to deal with further failure, but stood up anyway, allowing Emma to link their fingers and lead her back to the edge of the water.
"Now," Emma said, bending down and picking up a flat, mostly gray rock that she held up to show Regina. "Usually, the flatter the better but pretty much any rock can be skipped. The thing to remember is that you're not throwing it. You want it to glide across the water, not fall into it. It's really all in the wrist."
Regina nodded after focusing on what Emma had been saying. There was a look of deep concentration on her face—her lips in a straight line and her eyebrows reaching toward one another. "Glide. Wrist. That sounds simple."
"You want to have a secure hold on it for some control, but also, light enough that you can easily release it."
Holding it with her fingers, Emma showed Regina the best way to grip it. Then, she held her arm out slightly away from her body. "All in the wrist," Emma repeated, carefully demonstrating the motion she was going to use, but without letting go of the rock. She showed Regina again; slower this time. Then, she pulled back and swiftly flicked her wrist, which had her fingers moving out with the same motion and the rock flying forward, hopping across the top of the bright blue water. "Your turn," Emma smiled with a hint of challenge in her eyes.
"Magic is much easier to learn," Regina muttered, squatting down and scanning the grayish sand for a suitable rock.
Emma caught herself before she laughed at Regina's grousing, rushing to hide a chuckle behind her hand in case Regina was to glance up and catch her. She didn't want to have to explain that it wasn't that she found Regina's frustration amusing, but how entertaining and adorable she was with her scrunched up face and relentless determination.
"Will this do?" Regina stood up again, holding out her palm where a relatively flat, reddish-brown rock out was lying.
"Perfect," Emma smiled. She moved to stand behind Regina, taking the other woman's hand in her own and adjusting Regina's fingers around the rock. Her other hand sat on Regina's hip, steadying them as Emma moved toward her, so their bodies were just about touching. Then, Emma used their joined hands to pretend to skip the rock, taking Regina through the motions this time, instead of having her watch. Once Regina thought she was comfortable enough, Emma helped adjust her arm where it needed to be and took a step back, ensuring that Regina wouldn't accidentally hit her when it was time to pull her arm back. "Okay, go!"
With a movement that was probably more graceful than any of Emma's had been, Regina cast the rock out at the water, watching with a fixed expression as it hit the surface again and again, creating ripples and skipping pretty far out before it crashed a final time and disappeared.
"It skipped!" Regina spun around, grinning proudly—almost childlike—at Emma, and then, impulsively lunged herself toward her girlfriend, throwing her arms around her neck and kissing her.
Emma was shocked since she was used to Regina always being so composed, and not the kind of person who would jump in the air with her victory. And she definitely was not someone who she expected to fly at her with a tackling embrace. Just as their lips met, Emma lost her footing and with wide eyes, they toppled onto the pebble-covered sand.
"Sorry," Regina looked down apologetically at the woman beneath her, biting her lower lip, until a smile broke out across her mouth and she couldn't keep herself from laughing. Shaking her head, Emma joined in, both of them crumbling into a fit of laughter that had them almost forgetting what was so funny in the first place.
"Can't breathe," Emma gasped out, wiping away the tears that had gathered under her closed eyes.
"The look…on…your face," Regina panted out between her laughs that were slowly dying out.
"My face? Should've seen yours," Emma poked her arm and reached up to push some of Regina's hair behind her ear in a small caress, which immediately sobered Regina as she caught the awe in Emma's eyes and noticed the way the woman studied her.
"What?" Regina breathed out, her face becoming more serious.
"You…laughing."
Regina lifted an eyebrow in question. "You've never seen me laugh before?"
"Not like that," Emma pressed their lips together softly. "You should do it more often."
"I think you should, too."
Regina's affectionate expression quickly twisted into something more devious, and it didn't take Emma long to catch on to what the former evil queen was thinking. The blonde's face became panicked right before Regina's fingers met her sides and began tickling her with some hesitation at first. But Emma's giggling protests, and the way she squirmed underneath Regina, made the brunette more confident; the tickles becoming more relentless, until Emma somehow managed to roll them over and she was tickling Regina. A startled cry came from Regina when she realized their new position, and soon, she erupted into the same sounds of laughter as Emma.
"Are tickle fights our thing now?" Emma asked through her gasps for breath, once both of their hands seemed to be getting tired and their movements were slowing. She saw how pink Regina's face was and knew hers must be just as flushed, so it was probably a good idea to stop.
Regina kept a straight face and shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly as she answered, "I don't know. I was also deprived of pillow fights as a child. Perhaps, we should try that before we decide."
Emma panted out a breathy laugh. "In that case, I vote we try a water balloon fight, too."
"We didn't have those in the other world."
"Well then, it looks like Henry and I have plans with you tomorrow," Emma announced, rolling off of Regina and leaning her head in her hand, so she was able to keep their eye contact. "Water balloon fight. Your house. Every mayor, sheriff, and son for themselves."
Regina rolled her eyes dramatically, regarding Emma with a look that told her she was crazy, then chuckled in spite of it. "I love you. Even when I think you're absurd."
"I'm not the one who started tickling her girlfriend," Emma reminded with a kiss to Regina's nose. "Henry and I will bring the balloons."
"As long as you fill them up at the loft. I won't allow you to flood my kitchen," Regina warned, making it clear there would be consequences if she caught her girlfriend and her son preparing the balloons in her house the next day.
"No water balloons in the mansion," Emma promised, and Regina kissed her cheek.
"Thank you."
After giving Regina a small nod, Emma sat up and had the distinct smell of charcoal travel up her nose, reminding her that she'd left their food cooking on the grill. "I better go make sure I haven't burned our dinner."
"That's probably a good idea," Regina also sat up and pressed a quick kiss to Emma's lips. Then, she followed the blonde as she hurried back over to the grill.
Thankfully, their losing track of time with all of the rock skipping lessons and tickling, hadn't result in a ruined dinner. Actually, they'd concluded that the food Emma had been cooking still needed a few more minutes on the grill. Regina had peeked over Emma's shoulder when she lifted the black cover, exposing the kabobs beneath. The tips of the wooden sticks that held the pieces of chicken and different vegetables had been burned, but the food they held appeared to be cooking just right.
Regina's mouth watered at the delectable smell as Emma turned to explain to her how each piece of chicken on the kabobs had a different marinade or sauce. She hadn't been sure which one Regina would prefer, and Emma pretty much liked them all, so she'd figured this way they could try each of them: barbecue, orange, teriyaki, lemon pepper, Italian…Emma had even found some kind of apple marinade in Storybrooke's grocery store, which had amused her more than it had surprised her.
"I had some help with the rice," Emma pointed to a covered foil pan sitting in a larger foil tray that was being held over a flame by a silver rack. It was set on the large cooler the blonde had brought with her. "Ruby said it's Granny's secret recipe and one of her favorites."
"Ruby?" Regina questioned, implying that she was uneasy about Emma involving her in their, mostly, secret date.
"Yeah, I told her I offered to make dinner for us tonight," Emma's eyebrows knit together as she thought it over. "I think she was more surprised by you trusting me to serve edible food than us eating together."
That made Regina laugh. "Understandable. I'm quite surprised myself," she nudged Emma to let her know she didn't mean any harm.
"So yeah, the rice is Granny's, but the chicken's all me," Emma waved her hand over the grill. "When I was, I think thirteen, one of my foster parents was big on barbeques and he'd invite friends and neighbors over on the weekends. They had this huge pool, but the sixteen year old twin boys they also fostered liked to throw the younger kids in, and I wasn't exactly comfortable with my body at that point. Or with them touching me in the hand-me-down two-piece bathing suit from our foster parents' fifteen year old daughter. So, I helped with the grilling. He was actually an okay foster dad, maybe the best one I had. His wife was pretty great, too, and their daughter, Vanessa, was always nice. She never flaunted the whole biological kid thing around any of the foster kids."
Regina listened intently and watched as Emma focused on turning the kabobs over. The pause in the story had Regina asking the obvious question that came to mind with the fond way Emma was speaking of most her former foster family. "They didn't want to adopt you?"
Emma covered the grill again, and turned around to face Regina. "It wasn't them. The adoption for the twins went through about a month after I moved in. One of them came home early from baseball practice one day and I was sitting by the pool with Vanessa wearing the hand-me-down bikini. He chased us around the pool—all in fun. But I got distracted by Vanessa jumping in, so when he caught me off-guard and scooped me up, well, like I said, I felt so insecure in a bathing suit. He was holding me when I wasn't okay with it, so I panicked and punched him."
"Good."
Emma snorted. "Yeah, I kind of made his nose bleed. Unintentionally. But it got me sent back, because apparently, adopted kids trump foster siblings, even when they're the ones who had been told on other occasions to leave Emma alone and not touch her if she's not comfortable with it. Me being there looked like it was going to cause too much of a disruption in the house."
"That's so wrong."
"Yeah, well…" Emma exhaled, and then, cringed when she realized the topic of conversation her explanation had turned into. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to darken our date with awful foster home talk."
Regina cast her eyes down, remorsefully, her fingers reaching out to find Emma's. "If anyone should be apologizing, it's me—"
"Don't even go there," Emma wrapped her fingers around Regina's, reminding her the past was in the past, and that she didn't blame Regina for the way she was forced to grow up.
"Fine, then I'll apologize for talking about my pathetic childhood and my mother earlier."
A sad smile crept onto Emma's face as she sighed, "I think it's time to open that bottle of wine I brought."
Regina squeezed the hand that was connected with hers. Their eyes met in understanding, and Emma reached out to wrap her arm around Regina's waist, bringing her closer.
"Just remember, I'll always listen," Regina hugged Emma back, hearing the "me too" Emma whispered into her hair, and then, she stepped away. "I'll get the wine."
"You'll be happy to know that I even went the extra mile and brought two plastic wine glasses for tonight," Emma told her with a half-serious smugness, not missing the traces of an impressed look on Regina's face, before she turned away and picked up the wine and bottle opener that were waiting on top of the cooler.
"Maybe you do have some class," Regina teased, opening the bottle and sensing Emma making up their plates behind her.
"You finally noticed," Emma quipped back, crossing Regina's path with their dinner as the brunette turned around with the two glasses filled with white wine and the bottle that contained the rest. She motioned with her arm for Regina to go first, while she focused on holding their plates.
After placing the wine glasses on the table, Regina sat down on the bench, while Emma set a plate filled with rice and two kabobs in front of her. She inhaled the savory smell, subconsciously licking her lips, and waited for her date to take a seat opposite her.
"Oh, the candle," Emma grumbled when she was almost sitting down, her one leg already under the table. She stood up again and used the lighter she'd brought along to light the tikki torches to light the tea light.
Once she was finally seated, they both used their plastic silverware to take apart their kabobs and began eating. Regina wasn't sure what she'd expected in terms of how the food would taste, but the first bite exceeded any expectations she didn't even know she'd had. The chicken was juicy and tender, and the marinade only enhanced how good it was. The grilled vegetables had also been done just right, and Granny's rice somehow tasted better than any of the older woman's other recipes that Regina had had over the years. Even Emma moaned at the taste of her own cooking combined with the rice.
"I believe the grill in my garage is finally going to get some use," Regina remarked, filling her fork with her next mouthful of food.
Emma tilted her head. "That sounds like a compliment."
"It is. This meal is delicious."
A smile bloomed across Emma's face in relief, but the suspicion in her green eyes eventually became more dominant, so that she was staring pointedly at Regina. "It also sounds like I'm being put to work."
"Perhaps," Regina smiled coyly. "If you consider cooking to be work."
"More work than take-out from Granny's," Emma muttered, which had Regina shaking her head disapprovingly at the hint of laziness in the complaint. "But I'd be happy to cook for my two favorite people once a week or something."
Emma having automatically included Henry and implying that she wanted to make family dinners—like the one they had at the diner last night—a regular thing, touched Regina and made a bright smile rise toward the gratitude in her eyes.
"Maybe I should search my cookbooks to find some other recipes that are also prepared on a grill."
Emma swallowed the food in her mouth and licked her lips, removing the sticky remnants of one of the sauces. "Sure, except you might want to help me out with those. Just to be safe."
"Of course," Regina agreed. "Although, I'd appreciate some help with the dishes in return."
"I think I can manage that," Emma accepted the compromise and sipped her wine. "Maybe I'll even help with those on the nights when you cook."
Regina's eyes fell to her plate and she focused on shoveling more rice onto her fork before she asked the question that was tugging at her, her voice dropping and her eyes floating back up to look directly into Emma's, "And how many nights a week will I be cooking for you?"
The question was somewhat flirtatious but Emma could hear the weight it held. How it could and, eventually, would lead to other important questions.
"I'll leave that up to you," Emma responded coyly. "But I guess it'll depend on how often you want to get take-out or go out."
"True. You and Henry should have some input, though. Especially when it comes to how many nights you'll both want the three of us to have dinner together."
"Okay," Emma nodded with an appreciative smile at the way Regina wanted to take their feelings into account as well, and make it a joint decision. Especially, since they would all be going through the adjustment of really coming together as a family. It had been a long time for both Emma and Regina in terms of including another adult in their dinner plans, and Henry would also need some time to get used to all of them being around each other more often, including spending most of his time with Regina again. Not that that seemed like it would be too much of an issue, if their interactions yesterday were anything to go by. "Sounds like we should take this one day at a time."
"I think that's a good idea," Regina concurred, realizing just as Emma had, that at this point, there couldn't be a specific number of days or definite plans for what would most likely become second nature and a routine, if all went well.
"But," Emma began, understanding that making their intentions clear couldn't hurt, and would offer the two of them the reassurance that they were both just as committed to this and had a similar idea of what they wanted. "Right now, I'm hoping to have dinner together multiple times a week."
"I like the sound of that," Regina smiled warmly.
"And once we tell Henry about us, maybe staying for dessert can be a thing."
"Just for dessert?" Regina wondered with a suggestive smirk, her eyes sparkling.
"Well, I wouldn't argue with occasional sleepovers in your comfortable bed," Emma admitted.
"I had a feeling you wouldn't, although I foresee them as being more than occasional."
Emma held Regina's gaze, which was as enticing as it was meaningful, and it just contributed to the desire percolating between them at the implications of their conversation. If there was one thing they'd both realized they wouldn't have to worry about in terms of their relationship, it was the physical aspects of it. Or at least the physical side of it wouldn't be an issue in so far as wanting to have sex with each other went. Finding time and privacy, however, could possibly pose a problem with Henry a bedroom away. But on the bright side, falling asleep and waking up next to each other in Regina's bed appealed to both of them just as much as the other bedroom activities they might not always be able to partake in did.
"You know, sleepovers also mean we can take turns making breakfast for each other," Emma added, after a few moments.
"They do," Regina agreed almost gleefully. "And my turn is first. I still owe you one, since you weren't able to stay last week."
"I can't wait."
Happy anticipation for the future bubbled within them as they resumed eating and enjoying their date. The hopefulness they shared filled them in a way that neither woman could remember ever experiencing before. There had suddenly come to be so much joy and promise in their lives, and although it should have warranted the warnings and apprehension that naturally crept up in both of them during moments like this, it didn't. Instead, a peacefulness and good feeling about what was to come, washed over them.
Their date TBC...