Feels Like Home To Me

Chapter 11.01

,,When do you think mommy is gonna be back?" Emma asked the baby she was currently entertaining on the floor.

,,Blaaa," said Veronica and flapped her hands.

,,Yeah. I think so too," Emma giggled and waved the rattle in Veronica's face. The baby flapped her hands, trying to grab it, but Emma wasn't about to let her have it just yet. This was great training for her muscles.

,,Do you miss mommy?" Emma asked as Veronica outstretched her little arms once more.

,,Daah." Was Veronica's response. She didn't appear to be missing Regina very much, but….

,,I miss her," Emma told the baby.

Veronica gurgled.

,,Yeah, I know. I miss her too much all the time." Emma sniggered.

The reason for Regina's absence was actually quite simple. She happened to be at Zelena's, telling her about the engagement. She had wanted to bring both Emma and Veronica with her, but on this particular morning, Veronica had woken up with a bit of a sniffle, so Emma had said she would stay at home and watch her instead, and asked Regina to give Zelena her best.

,,I think you're feeling better, little bird," Emma said and put her hand on Veronica's forehead. She didn't seem warm anymore. She had been a bit warm this morning, but it would appear to be false alarm.

Emma's lips curved into a smile. Veronica looked awfully quite today, all cozy in her little bear suit, complete with ears and a tail.

,,Cutest baby ever, you are," Emma said. ,,We ought to take some pictures of you."

And so she did. The blonde quickly fetched "Roni's" camera from upstairs. She was briefly sucked into the memories about another life when she happened upon the pictures from Seattle. But then she pulled herself together, tearing her gaze away from Roni, and called upon Lady:

,,Come here, Ladybug! It's picture time."

Lady, the ever-patient cocker spaniel, willingly posed with Veronica, and the results were probably the cutest pictures in human history.

Veronica squealed, and Lady wagged her tail at the sound. And the wagging tail was apparently too much to handle for Veronica, because she suddenly started pushing herself forward, using both her arms and legs in the quest to get close enough to the wagging tail.

,,Oh my god," Emma exclaimed and instantly grabbed the camera to film the event. ,,Oh my god! Ronica, you're crawling!"

And indeed, she was. And crawling rather fast, that is. Lady yapped in surprise when the baby reached out and tugged at her tail.

,,Don't pull Lady's tail, sweetie." Emma said gently and patted the couch. Lady elegantly jumped up and curled into a ball on the couch. There she was safe from little tail pullers.

,,We won't tell Regina, won't we?" Emma said conspiratorially to the dog.

Lady rubbed her head against Emma's arm.

Veronica was only disappointed to haven been robbed of her "toy" for a moment. Turned out it was much more entertaining to crawl around in the living room, so Emma kept recording the event. Regina wouldn't be happy about having missed out on this, but at least the event was recorded for her to see.

,,You are so good at crawling, little bird," Emma praised. ,,Such a clever baby. It won't be long before you start walking around, just you wait and see."

But Emma knew that was an overstatement. It would still be long before Veronica would take her first steps. Luckily. Emma would like her to stay a baby for as long as possible. The thought of her growing up some day was impossible.

Veronica babbled away. Emma loved how she was always so responsive to her and Regina's voice.

,,I love you," she told her daughter.

,,Daaah."

,,I daah you," Emma joked and sniggered at her own cleverness.

Suddenly, Lady started wagging her tail in a particular way, and her ears moved forwards.

Oh. The Regina-signal. Emma could spot this signal from a mile away. In about two seconds or so, Regina would come through the door, Emma would bet her entire bank account.

And she was absolutely right. The front door opened, and Veronica squealed when Regina appeared in the hall, discarding her coat and slipping her heels off.

,,Is that mommy? Is it?" Emma asked in a high-pitched voice to excite Veronica even more.

Another ten seconds passed, and then, from the hall: ,,Emma?"

Oh, I love that so much. Emma loved it when Regina asked for her as the first thing when she came home. Almost like she wanted to make sure, the blonde was still there.

Duh. Of course I am. I'm always here. ,,In the living room," she called back.

Regina came into the living room and scooped Veronica into her arms as the first thing. Then she gave Emma's cheek a light pet, and stretched a hand out to scratch Lady's head, but narrowed her eyes at where the dog was currently positioned.

,,You don't have to bent the rules just because I'm not here, dear." The brunette said sternly.

,,No dogs on the couch, Lady." Emma immediately parroted.

Lady didn't respond in any way to that.

,,Great. Now she'll look sad every time I tell her no," Regina said and rolled her eyes. ,,You are spoiling her, miss Swan."

,,I'm not," Emma tried to deny, but feared that she didn't have a very good defense here.

,,And she's getting bigger too," Regina continued. ,,You are overfeeding her."

,,Or maybe she just had a romantic run-in with Pongo?" Emma suggested innocently.

Regina's eyes darkened. ,,If our daughter weren't here, I would have told you what kind of run-ins that remark just cost you."

,,Please say you're joking."

Regina simply pursed her lips and didn't answer.

,,Veronica crawled." Emma said, to steer away from that subject, and hopefully make Regina forget all about it.

Now Regina's eyes widened. ,,She did what? When did she do that?!"

,,About five minutes ago."

Regina's face fell with disappointment. ,,And I missed it! God damnit, I should have stayed home instead…"

,,I filmed it," Emma soothed. ,,The recording is right here on the camera."

,,Thank you for doing that. That was very clever of you," Regina praised and flashed Emma exactly what she had hoped for. A beaming smile full of affection.

,,A milestone. I knew how important it is to you," Emma shrugged modestly.

,,Thank you so much," Regina said and Emma found herself to be rewarded with a kiss on the cheek.

Regina promptly watched the recording several times and smiled every time. Her eyes were shining with pride over Veronica's milestone.

I'm so fucking happy I get to have all this with her. Sometimes, Emma was still amazed that things had actually worked out between them, bearing in mind how chaotic everything had been when they came back from Hyperion Heights.

,,What did Zelena say about the engagement?" Emma asked as Regina finally put the camera away.

,,She congratulated both of us. And then she teased me a little."

,,About what?"

,,Apparently, she found it funny that I was "running into the sunset with the Savior" as she put it."

Emma laughed. ,,I actually like that description. Sounds awfully romantic."

,,Mhmm, I guess it does. And then she told me to warn you."

,,Oh?" Emma raised an eyebrow. ,,About what?"

,,She said, and I'm quoting: "That if she ever found out you were fucking with me, she would personally find you and kill you with her bare hands"."

It was too tempting. Emma couldn't resist it. It would be a crime to resist. ,,Well, then I'm afraid she have to kill me, because I am very much fuc…"

,,Don't you dare finish that sentence," Regina warned, but her eyes sparkled with amusement.

,,How did you manage to keep a straight face when she told you that?"

,,I didn't," Regina admitted and put Veronica down on the floor again. ,,I think I laughed quite a bit. That seemed to traumatize her."

,,Wonder why," Emma grinned. ,,I happen to find it quite nice when we…"

,,Yes, you certainly never lack enthusiasm," Regina interrupted and smirked and flashed Emma a crooked smile.

,,Do you think Ronica would be traumatized if I kissed you right now?" Emma inquired and moved closer to Regina, putting a hand on her knee.

,,I don't think she would notice," Regina said, glancing towards Veronica who seemed awfully fascinated by her own hands right now.

Emma didn't need to be encouraged further and captured Regina's lips in a soft kiss.

,,Mmm," Regina breathed into the kiss, and Emma heard her mutter something she couldn't quite make out.

,,What? What did you say?" the blonde asked as she broke the kiss.

,,I said I like being engaged," Regina said softly and entwined their fingers. ,,Feels a hell of a lot better than I would have expected."

,,I'm glad," Emma smiled and leaned in for another kiss. Regina let out another contend sigh and freed her hand to reach up and cup Emma's cheek instead.

Emma felt like she was melting away at the touch. Even the tiniest of touches could make her yearn for more immediately. Ohh, I love this so damn much.

,,Emma, I was wondering if you want to… Oh. Oops. My bad."

The two women broke apart again, and Emma was less than pleased when she found her mother standing in the living room, looking rather sheepish and pink cheeked.

What, she's breaking and entering now? I can't even kiss my fiancée in peace anymore? Great. Just great.

,,Mom…" Emma said, completely confused over the surprise visit. ,,What, uh..?"

,,I should have knocked. Or called."

,,Yes, that would have spared you the vision of me kissing your daughter," Regina drawled and raised an eyebrow.

,,I think I'll live," Snow shrugged. ,,You're gonna marry her after all."

,,Am I?" Regina teased. ,,Funny. That completely slipped my mind."

,,Oh god," Emma interrupted before Regina sassed Snow into oblivion. ,,You are not here with more wedding magazines, are you?"

,,Well, actually.." Snow grinned and rummaged through her purse.

Yep. Definitely here with more damned wedding magazines. Again. When is this gonna end?

Regina looked like she was on the brink of protesting, but Snow quickly said: ,,And don't worry, Regina. There are plenty of dresses in other colors."

Regina softened at that and willingly scooted; letting Snow sit down on the couch, flipping through the wedding magazines.

Emma had a feeling that Regina was secretly enjoying this. To plan the wedding with Snow. This time it's done the right way.

The only thing that bothered the blonde, was that their magnificent kissing session had been interrupted.

,,So, when are you gonna get married?" Snow asked about two hours later, when Emma was starting to feel slightly color blind from looking at all the different dresses.

Ah, the million dollar question. The question that seemed to be on everyone's lips. Because of course it had slipped out that the Savior and the Mayor were tying the knot.

,,And where?" Snow asked.

,,I don't know, but the idea of eloping seems more and more appealing," Regina quipped.

,,Don't you dare," Snow said sternly, and then teasingly added: ,,Save the eloping until the honeymoon."

Regina didn't seem pleased with that little teasing remark, but Emma's mind immediately went blank for anything else but the word "honeymoon". And she very quickly started imagined herself and Regina somewhere remote, a mountain top, a forest, a beach, even a hotel room, as long as there were no interruptions.

Alone with Regina faraway from Storybrooke. Sounds like heaven to me. I can hardly wait. Of course it would be hard to be away from Veronica, but Emma knew that she would be in the very best of hands with her grandparents.

,,Emma? Emma?"

The blonde blinked. Snow waved her fingers in front of her to get her attention.

,,What?" she said disorientated. She had way too busy thinking about stuff she had no business thinking about when her mother was present.

But quite fortunate, Snow remained oblivious when she asked: ,,When are going to get married?"

,,Uh…" as soon as possible, please.

,,I'm thinking within the year," Regina answered calmly as she nonchalantly draped an arm around Emma's shoulder.

,,Sounds very reasonable to me," Emma nodded.

,,You're not wasting time," Snow commented and smiled a little.

,,Tell that to the past six years," Emma interjected and picked Veronica up, placing her on her lap. Regina had literally been right there in front of her the whole time. Talk about not seeing the forest for all the trees.

,,Uh, I'm fairly certain you wouldn't have wanted to be with me back then," Regina said almost nonchalantly. ,,And you probably wouldn't have survived it either."

,,Touché," Emma grinned.

Snow rolled her eyes at their bad jokes and proceed to chat on about dresses.

Emma exchanged a knowing look with Regina. This had no end.

To Be Continued…