It was, Regina mused as she heard Emma's rather pathetic, mewling exclamation of shock, entirely possible that the blonde had ended up a hero rather than the more predictable blonde ingenue for the very basic reason that a good ingenue need a good scream and Emma utterly lacked any ability of that nature. Which was sort of amazing considering that her mother's could draw soldiers from miles around and Charming's had been known to shatter glass.
Emma's version, meanwhile, barely got above Middle C and ended on a whiny note. Clearly, some things skipped generations.
And then her only consideration was how very irritating Mama Gumdrop was as Emma was flung one direction and she was carried off the other, to be settled back in the corner niche. For her, the whole process was gentle as a lamb, and she was almost instantly buried in squirming, multi colored creatures, all billing and cooing and nuzzling affectionately enough to make her long for the days when she would have incinerated the lot of them with little more than a thought. Oh, not really. Even in her most hard-hearted Evil Queen days, she hadn't been quite that monstrous.
But still...
One nuzzled her ear, several had staked a claim to her lap and at least two were trying to join Gumdrop inside her sweater.
Really, this was going to have to stop.
Regina tried to push the little things off, but Big Mama was having none of it and kept up a steady running bitch session as she nosed them back into place faster than Regina could remove them. "Stop!" she snapped as she shoved at a pointed, purple beak.
"Hrmph, rhmph, rhmph," Big Mama shot back.
"Like hell I will," Regina growled, eyes hard, jaw thrust pugnaciously forward.
To put it in the simplest terms, from there an argument ensued.
Emma, meanwhile, was vaguely grateful to have been tossed to the opposite side of the chamber and left there. Normally, she had a default level of resentment to being thrown aside and forgotten owing to longstanding issues related to ... well ... pretty much her whole life, but as she tipped her head up and watched Regina, nose to beak with mama slime beast, the vein in her temple looking like it was ready to pop at any moment, it occurred to her that she'd gotten the better end of the deal. Moving slowly, she pushed into a sitting position, twisting her neck this way and that to an accompaniment of pops and creaks as bones resettled.
Regina and her newest nemesis were still in deep discussion. At a considerable decibel level.
It was a discussion which Regina, by the way, did not appear to be winning. At least Emma was pretty sure she wasn't winning because every time Regina tried to stand, she ended up sitting again, more or less buried in little gumdrops while being fussed at by the big gumdrop.
And the vein in her temple? At some point, it started pulsing so hard it could probably be seen from the moon. Given how well Regina handled frustration — which was not the least bit well at all — it would be a minor miracle if she didn't just stroke out if this kept up much longer.
Leaning back on her hands, Emma tipped her head to one side as she considered her next course of action. Really, she didn't see any good options. So far, her success against the big gumdrop had been ... well ... limited was the kindest term she could come up with.
On the other hand, standing by and watching Henry's other mother, a woman she was slowly, but surely, and kinda terrifyingly concluding she was very possibly kinda in love with, go crazy wasn't exactly an ideal strategy either.
Rock, hard place, you are here.
Emma was still debating the problem when a tiny giggle and squeaked, "Shweeee!" alerted her she was not entirely alone.
She froze, then slowly turned her head to the side, eyebrows climbing toward her hairline as she noted the Easter-peep yellow gumdrop sitting on her left shoulder. Uncertain quite what to make this development, she offered a cautious smile.
She got a wide, beaky grin in return. "Shwee."
"Right ... uh ... shwee," Emma agreed uncertainly. The little ones didn't seem to be any threat, but given Regina's current predicament, Emma was inclined toward caution.
Then the argument on the opposite side of the room abruptly gained in volume and she swung her gaze back toward Regina who was unsuccessfully trying to summon fire and getting nothing more than a few wispy tendrils of smoke.
Mama slimebeast snorted in a way that sounded suspiciously like laughter, which did nothing positive for the throbbing vein in Regina's temple.
"Now if you could just tell me what to do about that," Emma said with a loose gesture toward the arguing pair.
Despite the apparent lack of eyes, the yellow gumdrop's face shifted and warped into a similar shape that blinked and winked at Emma and seemed to glitter with manic lights and devil-may-care excitement. "Shweeee," it repeated merrily.
"Yeah, shwee." Emma shook her head as she peered at the creature. "Too bad that doesn't actually solve my problem," she sighed.
The yellow head tipped to one side, the shape of brows briefly drawing into a frown, then the little creature's grin broadened. "Shweee!" it repeated, this time the sound loud and high enough to echo like a sharp whistle.
Emma was a beat slow to realize what would happen, so by the time she looked back toward Regina, it was just in time to see Mama's head snap her direction and nonexistent eyes narrow in an expression that could only be read as fury. "That wasn't really what I meant," Emma whimpered.
The creature on her shoulder let out a happy giggle that confirmed its attention-getting tactic had been entirely intentional.
Emma suddenly found herself wishing she'd gotten the overly familiar, if faintly grumpy purple one instead. Then...
Zip, zing, snap.
And Mama was right there, beak up in her face, chattering angrily.
Emma flinched and threw up a protective arm, but Mama didn't actually make contact, just bobbed her head back and forth and emitted a string of, "Hrmphs," that made her opinion clear. She was not impressed by Emma, her status as the Savior, her hair, her clothes, possibly her breath. In fact, it didn't look like she approved of a single thing about the blonde.
Then Mama leaned in until she was beak to nose with Emma and Emma could see her own reflection in faintly glossy skin. "Hrrrrmm-mmph," Mama said very pointedly, then darted her beak forward and sideways to bump the little yellow creature poised on Emma's shoulder.
With no hands to cling with, it went flying, giggling and shweeing all the way. Meanwhile, faster than the eye could see, Mama stretched out, thin and horizontal with only a delicate tower keeping her anchored to the ground. Next thing, the baby landed on her makeshift trampoline, bounced several times, then was bundled to the ground safe and sound.
The, "Shwee-ee," that followed had exact same cadence as the word, 'Again.'
Then there was a cacophony of chirps, whistles, giggles and assorted other sound effects from the other side of the chamber, followed by Regina's grumbling voice. "Tattletales." Standing outside the niche now, she stood amid a collection of candy colored creatures, poised on the balls of her feet, fingers of her right hand curled in a way that would usually involve cradling a growing fireball, a purple beak hooked over the vee of her sweater.
Mama whipped her head around, saw Regina had escaped and stretched, snapped and reappeared in front of the brunette in an instant, hrmphing all the way.
"Oh, hell no!" the brunette swore as she planted her feet and glared. "I am not getting back in that hole!"
"Shwee," a wild little voice commented as the Easter-Peep model did her own bit of stretching and snapping, then regained her position on Emma's shoulder.
Emma turned her head to glare. The Peep colored gumdrop just offered an even broader grin. Of course it did. Rolling her eyes, Emma turned her attention back toward the former Evil Queen and her newest nemesis.
Busy with Regina, Mama didn't notice her other gumdropling's bit of defiance. "Hrmph," Mama snapped, her tone impatient. She bumped her forehead lightly into Regina's shin, trying to herd her back into the niche.
"No," Regina repeated firmly, and this time she neatly ducked the attempt to push her back. Her magic might be dampened down here, but her reflexes were still firmly in place and she could catch arrows in mid flight.
Another attempt to bump her back resulted in another strange pas de deux with Mama trying to push Regina back and Regina neatly dodging in time to avoid the maneuver, but not fast enough to get by the squat, purple blockade.
In short, stalemate.
A fact with did not go over well with Mama. "Hrmph," she said, glaring up at Regina.
The brunette responded with her best Evil Queen glare and leaned down into the creature's space. "No."
Even from across the room, Emma could feel the little creature's frustration as it gave up shoving and started pacing. Well, sort of pacing. It was more like gliding really, with no obvious means of locomotion, but skimming neatly across the ground. She would slide one direction, pause, glare at Emma, then glare at Regina, then turn and go back to the other direction, grumping and grumbling little hrmphs with every lap.
Regina, meanwhile, was still standing just outside the niche, feet braced, her occasional, unsuccessful attempts to duck by doing nothing to slow Big Mama's pacing and fussing.
And suddenly Emma got it.
She really, really got it. She'd seen this all before with Henry and Regina, when Henry misbehaved or got defiant and Regina tried to set her foot down and conflict ensued.
And from this angle, it was funny as hell. In fact, she would have broken into giggles if not for her certainty that Regina would disembowel her if she did. Oh, hell, who was she kidding? No way she wasn't going to enjoy this one. "She thinks you're one of her babies!"
Mama and Regina were very strange mirror images of each other as they turned their heads toward Emma in a perfectly syncopated pivot, both just staring for a long moment.
"You just figured that out?" Regina asked at last.
"Hrrm?" Mama echoed.
Suddenly self conscious, Emma nodded. She'd actually thought that was rather clever on her part. "Um ... yeah?" Her voice rose on a questioning note at the end as though she wasn't quite sure that was the right answer.
Mama turned to peer up at Regina, somehow managing to convey a very doubting, 'Really?' despite the fact that what she actually said was still, "Hrmph?"
Slim shoulders shifted in a hint of an embarrassed shrug. "She's a city girl," Regina sighed in explanation, gnawing on her lower lip as she waited for a response. "She never had cats adopt puppies or vice versa."
Mama's exhaled, "Hrmph," was disturbingly familiar to Emma, echoing as it did, every glowering parent she'd ever been brought home to meet. Which meant...
"Oh, god," Emma exhaled as another realization hit her. "And I'm the date everybody disapproves of..." She looked up at Regina, silently challenging her to deny it.
The brunette flinched. "Well, I ... uh ... yes, kind of..." Regina sighed, unable to lie in the face of that look.
Emma winced and started to shrink only to be startled by the encouraging, "Shwee," whispered near her ear.
She turned her to find herself nose to beak with a bright yellow face.
"Shwee," the little creature repeated as it made a 'go on,' gesture with the tip of its beak.
Head tipped to one side, Emma considered the advice for a moment, then nodded. "You're right." She was not going to be put in her place by the gumdrop from hell. She was Emma Swan, the Savior, a pretty good sheriff, reasonable magic caster and once upon a time, one helluva a bail bondswoman. And her car, while not exactly ideal, was sorta retro hipster cool.
She could do this. She could impress a two foot tall, stretchable gumdrop.
"Shwee-shwee."
"Absolutely," the blonde agreed firmly, then turned her attention back toward Regina's new parental figure. She straightened her shoulders and put on a serious look. "I get it," she began. "You don't think much of me."
"Hrmph," Mama confirmed.
"And I can see why," Emma admitted as she pushed to a crouch, putting herself more on the same height as she addressed the glaring definition of disapproval. She'd been here before, she reminded herself, and lived by her wits more than once. Time to remember those skills. "I'm too tall, too skinny, no cute little rounded butt—"
Mama grumpily hrmphed her agreement with every statement.
"—not a good color at all. No pretty red or purple—"
"Shwee," a little voice interrupted in an annoyed tone.
"And any yellow is very bland ... unlike some people who are brilliant, gorgeous shades," Emma continued smoothly, hopefully flattering what was possibly her only supporter in the room, though as she looked up, Regina's expression melded into a wry smile that bordered on tender. Okay, so maybe two supporters. "However — and this is important — I care for her so much..." She shook her head slowly, then looked up, meeting Regina's eyes again. "We used to kinda hate each other ... but we're past it, and now I know she'll always have my back, that I can trust her with literally any problem, no matter how big or small ... or stupid or pointless it might seem ... even if it's just trying to chase off an idiot pirate who's making me crazy." She paused long enough to take a breath, her strange audience nearly forgotten. "I know I can trust her with the thing I love most in this world ... our son."
Regina's expression softened and her eyes turned glossy as she swallowed hard.
"And I promise you," Emma continued, her voice low and serious, "I will do everything in my power to always protect her and care for her." She pushed to her feet, the movement graceful, her eyes never leaving the brunette.
Regina blinked rapidly as if to clear what looked suspiciously like a few tears.
"And make sure she knows how special she is ... that she's valued ... loved ...and—"
Emma had forgotten about Mama in the increasing honesty of the moment.
That was a mistake.
Who knows whether it was because she hated being ignored, didn't appreciate what Emma had to say or was simply in a really lousy mood, the creature abruptly elongated itself, body thinning as she stretched tall enough to stuff her beak in Emma's face. As she bumped Emma's nose, she uttered a disapproving, if somewhat less hostile, "Hrmph!" Then she spread in all directions, and swept around Regina like a glossy, purple blanket.
Regina barely had a chance to utter a startled, "Hey!" before she was bundled back into her niche.
"Oh, come on!" Emma complained. "That was a brilliant speech."
"Hrmph," Mama dismissed, then pointedly turned her back on Emma as she settled Regina in and began nosing her shoulder and hair, her motions mimicking a cat grooming one of its kittens.
"Well, hell," Emma exhaled. "I really thought that would ... y'know ... maybe score a few points."
"It was..." Regina trailed off, as she kept trying to shove the maternal bundle of purple off. Swallowing hard, she tried to speak again, failed, then finally simply said, "Thank you."
Mama, meanwhile, abruptly backed up a bit, twisting this way and that and hrmphing very softly.
Which is when Emma became aware of a brightly colored spot on the tip of her boot.
It popped up into a Gummi drop and grinned at her with a friendly chirp. More assorted sound effects and pops followed and suddenly she was surrounded by a gaggle of multi-colored, happily commenting creatures.
A fact that was not missed by, nor did it go over well with Mama. Glaring at her recalcitrant droplings, she let out several pointed hrmphs.
"Pbbbbttttt," the Easter Peep responded with a raspberry from its high ground of Emma's shoulder.
Emma took that as a no.
"HRMPH! Hrmph, hrpmph-rhmph-rmph. HRMPH-RMPH!" It didn't require a genius to recognize an order to 'Get down and get over here. Right. Now,' no matter what language it was spoken in.
That earned another raspberry as Peeps darted under the fall of Emma's hair.
Meanwhile, the other droplings zipped, snapped and reappeared behind Emma, peeping out from behind her boots as they chattered back at Mama, clearly arguing.
Apparently someone had been impressed by Emma's speech, and they were taking up for their sibling's cause. Unfortunately, that wasn't necessarily a good thing, since it wasn't going over well at all. If Mama had possessed ears, smoke would have been coming out of them. In a few moments, she'd gone from one defiant child, to a whole gaggle of them.
And it was ALL Emma's fault.
Seeing the glare directed her way and remembering how their earlier 'fight' had gone, Emma swallowed hard. "Ahm," she exhaled as she backed up a step, careful not to land on any of the creatures underfoot. She needed every supporter she could get.
The "Hrmph," that followed was so soft as to be nearly inaudible but carried a thousand shades of fury, proving that volume wasn't necessarily the only way to hurl threats.
Then suddenly Regina was standing between her and Mama, tendrils of fire — albeit fewer than usual — trickling from her clenched hand. Emma was never entirely certain how it happened — possibly gumdrops weren't the only ones who could zip, zing, snap — but there was no doubt that she was there to protect Emma.
Emma's heart clutched in her chest and the her cautious suspicions about her own emotional involvement turned to absolute certainty.
Then Regina spoke, her voice deadly soft, but absolute. "No."
Mama pulled up short and the illusion of eyebrows shot up. "Hrmph?" She sounded startled, even hurt.
"Not your choice," Regina ground out, then softened her voice as she added, "No more fighting. I won't allow it."
Nonexistent shoulders sagged. "Hrm?" Mama whimpered. Her butt sank into the dirt, while her chin drooped to her chest. "Hrm-hrm–hrm- hrm."
"Well, no," Regina exhaled, tone shifting as the fire drained from her palm. "I mean, you're a ... a great mother — certainly better than my last one — but that's my decision to make and well ... well, Emma is..." She peered at the Savior for a moment. "It's complicated."
"Rhmph," Mama mumbled, sinking deeper into herself as she emitted what sounded suspiciously like a sob.
"Oh hell," Regina muttered and sank down next to the creature who buried her head in Regina's shoulder, sniffling and muttering in a way familiar to frustrated parents everywhere. "No, no," the former Evil Queen tried to reassure her. "They ... we ... love you." She glared pointedly at the droplings hiding behind Emma and jerked her head, eyes narrowing dangerously when they shrank back, muttering amongst themselves in a way known to children in trouble universe-wide.
"Guys," Emma prompted as she used the side of her boot to nudge several forward. "She's right. Move it." They really didn't need any gumdrop-style nervous breakdowns.
There was some discussion among the droplings, then Mama's sniffles turned to sobs and they skittered forward, beaks hangdog, scuffing the dirt as they moved, clearly still hesitant, then suddenly she let out a wail and they started zipping and snapping and snuggling up with a speed that defied any effort to track them.
As she was buried in chirping little creatures, Regina rolled her eyes and offered a wry smirk, but Emma couldn't help but notice how gentle she was with the babies or how she worked to soothe their mama. Really, it was so freaking sweet, Emma could feel her blood sugar rising just by watching.
Then Regina looked up, her eyes finding Emma in the thin light and she nodded, silently gesturing Emma over.
"I don't think so," Emma mouthed.
That earned a smirk and a glower that expressed Regina's disapproval without words.
"Shwee." A velvety soft beak tickled her ear and she looked over to find Peeps nodding, and pointing at the others. "Shwee," it repeated.
"Kid," Emma sighed. "I don't think your mom likes me much. And I just ... no more drama." Also, no more wrestling. She rubbed her shoulder absently. It hurt like a sonofabitch.
The answering, "Shwee-shwee," and, "Emma ...get over here," were said with exactly the same tones of affectionate exasperation, but she still didn't move until Regina finally reached out with her free hand.
Unable to resist the silent beckoning, Emma edged forward, then found herself reaching back without really planning to. Her hand was caught in a strong grip and she was tugged down into the clustered warmth.
Mama tensed and glared, but Regina gently petted her head.
"She's family," the former Evil Queen soothed. Holding tightly to Emma's hand, she shared a long, serious look with the blonde. "In more ways than one, I think..." She shook her head a little dazedly. "More ways than I could ever have imagined."
Mama grumped, but didn't argue, and the droplings offered varying sighs, chirps, giggles, and other happy noises as they snuggled down. The one on Emma's shoulder settled in and began purring softly.
"I ... uh ... this is just..." Emma peered around herself, taking in the situation as she hunted for the right word.
"Surreal?" Regina offered.
"Beyond." Then Emma shared a wry look with Regina. "I keep waiting to find out we're on some weird Storybrooke prank show—"
"No one would dare," Regina snapped.
"And you..." Emma continued, unabated by the glare. "There you were, all teenaged defiance, and now you're doing buck up speeches." She grinned and mocked sniffled. "They grow up so fast."
Uttering a hrmph of her own, Regina rolled her eyes. "Very funny." She looked back at the creature on her other side, still idly petting head. "It's just that ... I know how weird this sounds, while I will not tolerate being treated like a child — of any species—" her tone hardened, then softened again. "I know how she feels." She'd had her own issues with feeling unloved while dealing with a defiant child.
Tamping down an urge to snort, Emma simply nodded. "Well, thankfully, you only have one kid that loves you even when he doesn't follow orders," she teased. "I don't think either of us would survive a dozen."
That earned a soft laugh and a long moment of shared empathy.
"Okay, I've gotta ask." Emma said at last. She nodded to indicate Mama. "Story behind that adoption?"
Regina continued petting the creature while it began making grooming motions over assorted little ones. "When I fell, she was catching the others and she caught me too." She peered upward. "I couldn't summon my magic and was in total freefall. I'd have been a grease spot on the floor if she hadn't." She looked down again, peering at the creature with wry affection.
Emma swallowed hard as it sank in how close the other woman had come to dying. No longer laughing, she pushed to her knees, peering seriously at Regina as she whispered, "I owe her then." She turned a small smile toward the creature, who looked up, watching suspiciously. "Thank you for saving her," she said very softly.
"Hrmph," a small voice muttered, still grumpy, but also grudgingly — very grudgingly — respectful.
"See, I'm winning her over."
"Hrmph."
Or maybe not. "How ironic is that your mommy hates me more than mine hates you these days?" Emma snarked.
Regina just rolled her eyes. Emma was enjoying this entirely too much.
Chuckling softly, Emma turned her attention back to Regina, studying her carefully. "And thank you for being okay." She leaned a little closer, silently asking permission.
Nodding, Regina rested her palms on the front of Emma's jacket, neither pushing nor pulling as they both eased closer.
Then lips met, hands found purchase and bodies molded together.
And Mama made retching sounds while assorted droplings ooed and awed and one fainted dead away. Apparently, they were romantics at heart. Their mother, not so much.
Neither Emma nor Regina noticed. They were otherwise engaged.
When the kiss finally broke, which it only just barely did, they were both breathing hard and trembling gently.
"I ... uh ... that was very..." Emma stammered.
"Yes, it was," Regina mumbled, surprised to realize she understood precisely what Emma was trying to say.
Mama made more retching sounds.
Gumdrop, meanwhile, stuck her head up, noted the situation and disappeared back into the warm comfort of Regina's sweater. Peeps' soft purring turned to gentle snores.
Regina curled her fingers into Emma's lapels, tugged her close and the kissing resumed.
And yet more retching sounds.
"Incredibly pleasant as this all is," Emma panted when their mouths parted long moments later, "we really need to figure a way out of here."
Still struggling to catch her breath, Regina nodded. "I can summon a bit of magic sometimes, but not enough to escape."
"They've got to know something's wrong by now up top. Maybe—"
"Not likely," Regina cut that hope off at the knees. "Hook was being so determined that I put up a very strong ward. If the fairies emptied the mine of dust, they might get through in a week. Gold could do it faster, but we're not exactly on good terms right now." She gnawed thoughtfully on her lower lip. "I think we need to plan on getting ourselves out."
Emma tipped her head back to stare at the cliff she'd climbed down. "I barely made it down here without breaking my neck." She shook her head. "Up? No way in hell are either—"
The rest of Emma's reply was lost in an explosion of sound, a deep, raging roar that seemed to come from all sides and made the world around them tremble with such violence that it brought a flurry of dust and small stones down on their heads.
In an instant both women were on their feet and standing back to back, braced for a fight as they hunted for the source of terrifying din.
A low growl vibrating in her chest, Mama darted into the space between them, her babies in tow, and glared at the surrounding rocks.
Noting the response, Emma risked a quick glance over her shoulder. "Whatever it is, it's scaring the crap out of her," she warned Regina.
"She's not alone," Regina hissed, stress making her voice raw. "That sound ... it was..." Unable to sufficiently describe the horror that sound sent vibrating through her, she trailed off.
"Pure distilled evil?" Emma offered in a failed attempt at sarcasm.
"That'll do." For once there wasn't a trace of snark in the queen's voice.
Then the earth beneath their feet and the walls on all sides started to shake and roll with enough intensity that it was a struggle for both women to remain standing.
"I've got a very bad feeling about this!" Emma shouted over the noise.
"Be ready for anything!" Regina yelled back as she struggled to summon even a few threads of fire.
Then everything went utterly silent and perfectly still.
Which was nowhere near comforting. In fact, it was downright creepy.
"Just in case we die," Emma whispered, her eyes darting around as she hunted for any sign of what might have made the sound, "Y'know those declarations of love I've been sort of uttering lately?"
"Yes," Regina whispered cautiously, a new tension entering her voice.
Emma recognized that tone instantly, the fear of losing something and being on the outside once again. Regina was scared she hadn't meant it, she realized in an instant. Suddenly awash in sympathy and the desire to protect and wipe away all those old hurts, she barely resisted the urge to pull the other woman close. "I meant every word," she said seriously. "And I meant it in a forever yours and get naked together sort of way." Not the most graceful phrasing ever, but it was going to have to do given that they were likely to have other issues to deal with very soon.
Regina glanced back and their gazes met and held, then her breath caught as she saw the silent promise in green eyes. She felt her heart give a solid throb that had nothing to do with any monsters screaming the cave down around them. A life with this woman by her side? Yes, it had appeal, more than a little. She was smart, even if she could be a bit dense on occasion, brave, see previous comment vis-a-vis density, loyal to a fault, more beautiful than she realized, and had a heart that utterly lacked the sort of cruel guile that had done so much damage in Regina's life. As for any thoughts of mutual nudity — there was another throb a bit further south — the idea did not offend.
The silent pause went on long enough that Emma felt her cheeks heat as a rush of terror slid through her that she'd massively overstepped. "I shouldn't have—"
"It's mutual," Regina interrupted in a rush.
Emma froze for a second. "The love part or the naked part?" she asked the first question that popped into her head in a desperate attempt to find any trace of humor that might ease some of the stark terror making her want to run and hide. It kind of even worked, she realized as she heard a soft, grim chuckle.
"Both," Regina admitted, her voice low, heat coloring her cheeks. That simply wasn't the sort of thing she was used to admitting, but Miss Swan — Emma — had earned the truth.
"Really?" Emma's voice rose in a mix of disbelief and hope.
Regina's answering tone held a hint of her smile. "Truly." She reached back enough to lay her hand on Emma's forearm. "I'm not sure when it happened, but..." She'd never been any good at this sort of thing, not that she'd had enormous experience with emotional honesty. "You and I, we're a team and I'm..." She froze for a moment, the final complete confession caught on the tip of her tongue. She'd all but admitted it and yet the actual words were suddenly trapped. She couldn't quite get them out.
"Mrp," and "Shwee," two little voices encouraged, followed by another series of chirps, and even a somewhat less grumpy, "Hrmph," as the entire family weighed in.
"I..." Despite the encouragement from colorful quarters, Regina remained frozen, unable to make the final admission.
"Mrp," Gumdrop repeated as she raised her head above the edge of Regina's sweater, bumped her beak solidly into Regina's sternum, then swung it around to point at Emma.
"But—"
"Mrp," was the impatient reply. "M.R.P." Then she dropped back down, though muttering could still be heard from inside Regina's sweater.
Emma clamped down on the urge to giggle inappropriately, convinced it wouldn't help even a little bit.
"I'm in love with you," Regina whispered incredibly softly.
"Mrp," Gumdrop said approvingly, while Peeps uttered an encouraging, "Shwee."
Regina almost laughed at the cheering section. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. She took a deep breath. "Other than Henry, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Smiling, Emma turned her hand under Regina's, lacing their fingers together. She felt her mouth turn up in a smile that she didn't think she was ever going to lose. "We're a team." She tightened her hold on the fine-boned hand caught in her own. "We'll be okay as long as we're—"
Then all hell really broke loose.