Author Note: A bit shorter than usual, but I am giving this to you lot on MY birthday so... deal with it :P
The Queen's head rolled to the side, her gaze drifting across the room to the doors that led out to the balcony overlooking her Kingdom. It was still dark, just as she suspected upon first waking. She and Emma had developed somewhat of a routine for the morning, waking at least two hours before sunrise and spending the time getting lost in one another.
It was not always about sex, though she would not deny it being her preference. Sometimes they would simply lay there and talk the time away, speaking of the smallest details from the previous day to the more in-depth conversations that revolved around their pasts or their ideas for the future. Even with all the heartache that came with the memories, Regina favoured the past because all she could see when she closed her eyes and thought of a life ten years from that moment were wedding bells and miniature versions of Emma running about her palace.
It did weird things to her stomach that she did not like.
She had not broached either the topic of marriage or children due to her own fears, although they had been among the thoughts at the forefront of her mind ever since that first day in the throne room. There was no way for her to know if Emma had been joking or if marriage was something she considered from time to time, at least not without simply asking her outright and while the temptation was there, Regina wasn't sure she really wanted to know.
She already had one marriage behind her.
They acknowledged one another as being each other's True Love and her subjects, even the Nobles, seemed to accept the former Princess as her partner; sometimes referring to her as the Queen's Consort despite Emma's attempt to stop them from doing so.
Was there any reason to make it official in that regard? Would Emma even want to?
Such questions inevitably led her mind towards the two people down the hall from them; the boy Emma had claimed as her own and the man who had been too much of a weakling to protect his daughter from the machinations of her despicable mother.
Were the tale of Emma's life not so dreadfully painful, Regina would find it almost humorous how similar their pasts were and how their families mirrored one another. There was the controlling, manipulative woman for a mother, a father whose heart was, more often than not, in the right place but without a will of his own – or at least one with the strength to resist his domineering wife.
She wondered how two sets of people with similar parenting techniques could raise children who were, for all intents and purposes, entirely different. Emma was by no means good as people claimed Snow White to be and despite popular belief, Regina certainly was not the Evil that her mother was but their own similarities ended there.
From the moment she met Rumpelstiltskin, Regina claimed power and used it to protect herself as she searched tirelessly for a love she thought lost forever. While Emma discarded what power she had and ran from the only love she had ever known, resigned to spending the rest of her life avoiding those who took it upon themselves to deprive her of what little choice she possessed.
"Where are you?"
Regina smiled as she felt a caress along her inner thigh and she turned to her side, clamping the hand between her legs as she reached out a hand of her own and tangled her fingers within Emma's untamed curls as she replied, "Everywhere."
There was an unspoken agreement between them, one that guaranteed what would happen next should either of them lack the control over their thoughts that was required for worthwhile conversation and as Emma leaned in, Regina hummed and welcomed the press of lips that had yet to fail in leaving her mind gloriously blank.
"Morning," Emma murmured against her mouth, delaying a response as she reclaimed Regina's lips, her hand stroking the length of a back that shivered at her touch, down passed furs draped haphazardly across their bodies to palm her Queen's naked backside while the one still trapped shifted up towards heated folds.
When they parted, Regina grinned lazily and grabbed Emma's wrist, holding the hand against her sex as she rolled them. "And such a nice morning it is," she said, watching from beneath hooded lids as Emma's lustful gaze soaked in the sight of her body.
"See something you like?" She purred, only to frown as the question received the shake of a head. "No?" The doubt in her voice caused Emma to chuckle but before she could find offence, a thumb slipped between her folds to press against her clit and stole the angered words from mouth and mind.
"Not something I like," Emma answered, circling the hardened nub as her other hand skimmed Regina's spine to clasp her neck, pulling the brunette down and brushing their lips together as she finished, "But someone I love."
Regina groaned as if pained and rolled her eyes, her nails leaving indents in pale flesh as they dug into Emma's chest. "One of these days, I'm going to end up murdering you before you can correct your idiocy with that nauseating babble of yours," she growled and fused their mouths together, Emma's laughter vibrating within her chest and causing Regina to smile into the kiss as an arm encircled her waist.
"Drew, perhaps we should wait until they're ready to come out on their own." James followed the boy down the hall, attempting to divert his attention from barging in on his mother while she was with the Queen because as much as he wanted to believe his child was important to her, that she truly did love Emma, there was a lot of animosity there. Too much of a past to disappear in a single night, which meant he had his doubts that Regina would be happy to be disturbed in her chamber.
"But I'm hungry and the cook says she won't start breakfast until she's been given permission." Andrew kept walking as he spoke, a slight whine to his voice; not that James blamed him as the first thing he had heard that morning was the rumble of the boy's stomach.
"Perhaps Graham could find something for you," he suggested, hurrying his pace so that he walked beside him. "I'm not sure the Queen would appreciate anyone entering her room unannounced and if something were to happen-"
Andrew stopped suddenly, causing the King a moment of confusion before he too stopped and turned to the boy who now stood behind him, the disapproving frown he was met with causing his eyebrow to raise in question. "Mom said she's not like people say."
"Your mother believes they are in love." James smiled and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder as he tried to explain, "Love causes us to see, to believe things that sometimes aren't true or even real. The Queen hasn't been... a good person, in a very long while and though it would be nice if change were as easy as your mother seems to think, that simply isn't the case."
"Mom's never wrong about people," he insists and it would have been obvious to anyone wandering by that the boy was upset. "Mom said expecting the worst from someone only makes it harder for them to be who they want to be."
"Drew-"
The boy shook his head and shrugged off the hand as he started walking again. "Mom trusts her and I know she likes me, she's not going to hurt me just because I want food." There was a brief pause before he added, "It's okay if you don't want to come."
James stared after him for a moment, and then sighed before he jogged to catch up. He should have known better than to think he could change his mind, he was the son of his own daughter, after all. "I hope you're right, kid."
Andrew grinned, nodding as he replied, "I am."
A few minutes later and it were apparent that he was, in fact, right.
As soon as he knocked, the doors to the outer chamber swung open to reveal none other than the Queen herself who, despite noticing James, continued to smile as she ushered them inside. "Emma just went to fetch breakfast," she said and before either of them could respond, she turned to the mirror and called for the genie who appeared within seconds above the mantel.
"You bellowed?"
"Inform Emma that Drew and her f-" She caught herself in time, cleared her throat and ignored the stare she could feel on her as she corrected, "Charming have arrived; so she can skip the detour on her way back."
He inclined his head as he replied, "Yes, my Queen," and vanished.
She spun back to face them and took Andrew by the shoulder as she led him towards the settee by the fire, gesturing towards the one opposite them as they both took a seat and she noticed the outright suspicion James was directing her way.
"You spent the night and survived; If I wanted to injure you more than I usually do, I would have done so when you were asleep," she stated and whether it had been her words or the serious tone in which she uttered them, he seemed to relax as he moved to where her finger still pointed and sat down.
His expression became more curious the longer his attention remained on her that she eventually gave up trying to avoid any sort of interaction with him and sighed, glaring as she snapped, "Spit it out, Charming." She inhaled sharply a moment later as a hand patted her knee and her eyes darted to the boy beside her, confusion overcoming annoyance when he smiled and she felt herself slowly mirroring the expression.
"He can't understand you." Brows slanted with a frown and she opened her mouth but Andrew continued to smile as he shook his head before answering the question she had yet to ask. "He's like everyone else, but he's trying to see you."
The realisation of what he meant dawned on her within seconds and she looked to James once more, her own suspicions coming to the surface. Until Emma, no one had been interested in who she was behind the masks, the stories. She was the Evil Queen, a woman with an unmatched hunger for power, a desire for control that even the Dark One had become wary of. There was more to her, of course but that was all anyone ever focused on, it had always been enough to deter them from looking for anything more and she wasn't sure she wanted anyone besides Emma and, perhaps, Andrew to learn the whole truth to the person she was.
It was that uncertainty that provided her next words. "I am very much the person you think I am, Shepherd and it would do you well to remember that should you decide to meddle where you are not welcome."
Anger came and multiplied when his response was that of a smile but she tampered the urge to set him alight as he spoke. "I spent ten years regretting the part I played that forced her to run from us, wondering if I would ever see her again, hoping she was happy wherever she was and that someone was treating her better than Snow and I had."
The smile dropped and his face clouded; a look Regina knew all too well as she had had the same reaction upon learning certain things about Emma. "I doubt what she told me last night covered more than the first two years but I know now that reality was far worse than I had feared." With a glance toward Andrew, he shook his head and finished, "I have no intention of 'meddling' as you say. The only thing I want is for her to be happy and if that means being with you, then I accept that and I will make every effort to ensure nothing interferes."
Despite the irritation she felt niggling in the back of her mind, she sensed the truth in his words and sighed as she turned away from him, fixing her attention to the boy whose smile remained as his gaze wandered between them. After barely a day, she found herself growing quite fond of him – an unusual predicament for the Evil Queen and one she had shared with Emma before the woman swatted her hands away and abandoned her in search of sustenance. She smiled at the memory, drawing both sets of eyes and she breathed another sigh, this one relieved in nature as the doors swung open to permit the blonde and Captain who carried far too much food for the four of them.
"Were you planning on inviting half the realm to breakfast, dear?"
Emma grinned as she placed the dishes down and inclined her head towards Andrew who appeared on the verge of leaping across the room to devour everything in sight. "This is one of those, you have to see it to believe it deals but trust me, not a single scrap will go to waste when he's around."
Charming departed for the White Kingdom not too long after breakfast, which had been entertaining for them all when Emma's words were proven true, Andrew's continued belching a testament to just how well he could shovel food into his mouth. Regina had worried he would choke at some point but as the morning wore on, she found herself more amused than disturbed by the display.
That was, of course, another oddity considering etiquette had always been important to her and the only way his eating habits could be thought of as polite would require him eating from a trough. Still, her annoyance had remained at a minimum and what little existed was due to Emma's subtle but constant teasing throughout the entire meal, and the highly unwelcome audience that prevented Regina from teaching the woman a valuable lesson about taunting a Queen with something she very much wanted.
"Giiinaaa!"
Regina blinked as the whine invaded her thoughts, returning her to the moment and she stared down at the boy with her eyebrow raised. Before she could question him, however, she felt a body meld to her back as Emma came up behind her, arms finding their way around her waist and a smile coming to her with little effort as lips pressed a kiss behind her ear.
"I don't think she heard you, kid," Emma said, resting her head on a shoulder as she looked over Regina to her son. "Probably retreated into her mind when she realised how much of a pig you are."
Andrew grinned up at them when Regina chuckled. "As disgusting as the sight was to behold, I must admit I was impressed that he managed a whole three servings without pause." She leaned back against Emma, their hands entwining over her stomach, both smiling as she said, "The adage, like mother, like son seems rather apt in this case."
"Nah," Emma denied, drawing the word out much like Andrew had with the nickname as she pulled away, one hand still clasped within Regina's as she came to stand beside her and added with a wink, "He's less messy than I am."