During the next few weeks, Zelena looked awfully smug whenever she caught Regina looking at her phone.

Regina had decided early to ignore it, but it was mighty difficult. The look on Zelena's face could really make her temper boil sometimes.

But the "thing" between Regina and Laura had gotten to a point where Laura called Regina every day. Sometimes to fill her in on her day, but most of the times just to chat about everything and nothing.

Regina so enjoyed those conversation. From the moment she woke up in the morning, she wondered about when Laura was gonna call her. Quite ridiculous, really. Sometimes, she caught herself thinking about Laura as the first thing when she opened her eyes. That was a bit ridiculous too.

Zelena, however kept prodding at Regina and asked when she was going to Boston to actually meet "Flower girl".

Regina usually settled for asking Zelena to stop pet naming Laura, and then shrugging.

Where to Zelena always rolled her eyes and told Regina that she "had to meet Laura at some point".

"And why is it so important to you?" Regina shot back.

Zelena smirked. "I was the one who suggested you joined that chat site, wasn't I? I'm invested in this."

"Can you try not to be?" Regina retorted. "It's none of your business."

"Of course, it is. You're my sister. I want to see you happy."

"Well, you could start with getting out of my hair. That would make me very happy," Regina quipped.

Zelena ignored that. "Aren't you even the littlest bit curious about what she's like in person?"

Regina shrugged again, but the truth was that she actually was very curious at this point. The thought of meeting Laura wasn't as lunacy as it was a few weeks ago.

But that was something she needed to discuss with Laura. Not Zelena.

Emma, Killian and Snow and David came over to their booth in Granny's, and Zelena instantly ceased the teasing. Regina gave her credit for that. At least she didn't flap her gums while there were others present. Maybe she respected Regina's privacy anyway when it came to it.

They've barely sat down before Snow began talking about Neal's upcoming birthday in a few weeks. The pixie haired woman immediately began assigning different tasks to them, and Regina found herself agreeing to be in charge of the "entertainment" with Emma. Entertainment, that probably mostly consisted of producing life-like balloon animals with magic.

"Do you want the balloon bunnies to jump around and crave carrots too, dear?" Regina joked as she sipped her coffee. "Because I can make that happen."

"I'm sure Neal would love that," Snow gushed, and it only took Regina five seconds to realize that she was actually serious.

Regina chuckled as she agreed to do it. Snow loved bringing the town together, and she loved throwing parties, but Regina hoped that David had a saying in this too. Otherwise this could turn into birthday of the year. In the exaggerated way.

"Emma, you won't mind be in charge of the cake, will you?" Snow asked as she manically crossed it off her list.

"Me?" Emma asked and raised her eyebrow. "You want me to be in charge of the cake? Mom, I'm still making pancakes out of a box."

Killian chuckled at that. "I'll help you."

"I would like to see that," Regina interjected quietly. She could scarcely imagine Killian Jones in a kitchen.

"I heard that," Killian said and shot Regina a look.

Zelena chuckled.

Snow however, didn't notice their little exchange. She muttered to herself as she stressed things out on her list.

"Snow calm down. It's just a birthday party," David said.

That was clearly the wrong thing to say, and Regina grimaced as Snow loudly began to explain how important this birthday party was.

Why is it that I'm still capable of zoning out when her voice goes shrill?

Regina stopped listening and watched mildly amused as Snow gestured wildly to David. The prince's answer was lost to Regina, but it didn't matter. Just watching them was entertaining enough.

"Okay, okay." David said and waved his white napkin in a peace offering. "The birthday party is important. I get it."

"Good," Snow snapped and snatched the napkin from him. "Now stop making fun of me."

Killian coughed, but to Regina it sounded more like he was trying to mask a chuckle.

But either way, David managed to talk Snow down to a level where she was capable of discussing the upcoming birthday party. Without using her "squealy" voice, thank goodness.

"And what does the little man want for his birthday? Any burning requests?" asked Regina and joined in the conversation again.

"A pony." David said dully.

"Ah." Regina nodded understandingly. She still remembered Henry's pony-phase.

"And why do I have the hunch that he might actually end up getting one?" Emma said quietly.

"It is not unthinkable," Regina answered just as quietly. Snow doted on Neal, like she doted on Emma.

"Don't be ridiculous," Snow said. "Of course we're not buying him a pony!"

But it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. Regina chuckled. Sometimes Snow was entirely driven by her desire to do nice things for others.

"We aren't," David said as to make it official.

"Ten bucks they're buying him a pony," Emma muttered and grinned at Regina.

"You're on, miss Swan."

"Stop betting, he's not getting a pony!" Snow said, and her voice turned slightly squeaky again.

"I want in on that bet too," Zelena said and smirked.

"Let's make it more interesting," Emma grinned. "If he doesn't get a pony, I'll buy us a round of drinks at The Rabbit Hole, but if he does… Regina's the one who buys."

"Deal," Regina said and took a sip of her coffee. "Either way, it'll end with drinks, so I'm in."

Zelena chuckled. "Sounds like we have a fun night ahead of us."

"He's not getting a pony!" David said and tried to cut through.

"Mmm, keep telling yourself that, dad." Emma shrugged nonchalantly.

"I have a distinct feeling drinks are gonna be on me." Regina added with a nod.

David opened his mouth, very clearly prepared to deny that, but then Regina's phone started screeching and interrupted any attempt at conversation.

Regina quickly fished the device out of her pocket and suffocated the smile threatening to blossom on her lips. There was no doubt who was calling. Regina would recognize that number anywhere.

"Hello."

"Hey there," came Laura's soft voice in the other end, and the sound instantly made Regina feel warm all over.

But this was Granny's Diner. And her entire family was sitting right next to her. knowing how long she and Laura could talk when they first got started, Regina said:

"Can I call you back in ten minutes?"

"Of course. I hope I didn't interrupt you too much?"

"Not at all, but you know…"

Laura chuckled softly, and the sound made a million butterflies invade Regina's stomach. "Okay. I'll call you in ten minutes then, beautiful."

"Great. Bye."

"Bye."

Regina ended the call and once again tried her best to keep the smile off her face. She looked up and found Snow and David, Emma and Killian and Zelena staring at her.

"What?" Regina asked and raised an eyebrow. Why the hell were they staring at her like that? It was unnerving.

"Who was that?" Snow asked and raised her own eyebrow.

"A friend. Why?"

"You're smiling like an idiot," Emma plainly observed.

"Excuse me?" Regina snipped. Apparently, she wasn't doing a terribly good job at keeping the smile off her face.

"You do," Snow said. "If I didn't know any better…"

"Well, it's lucky you do know better then." Regina said haughtily. "See you later."

"You're leaving?" Zelena asked innocently.

"Yes I am."

Regina didn't even bother waiting until she was home. As soon as she was out on Main Street, she immediately called Laura.

"Hey," Laura grinned in the other end.

"Hello. Again." Regina chuckled.

"Were you buried in piles of papers or something like that?"

"No, just surrounded by people."

"Oh. Afraid I was gonna say something raunchy they might hear?"

"Well, knowing you…"

"Hey!" Laura protested. "I'm not that bad."

"Oh, you are exactly that bad."

Laura grinned and then she lowered her voice to a purr as she continued: "Then you have no idea what bad really is."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Exactly. If you think I'm bad right now, you have no idea what I'm like when I'm really bad."

"Watch it. I think you're flirting with me," Regina accused and laughed.

"Maybe I am, that's not a problem is it?"

"If it was, would you stop?"

"Yes. But it would be mighty difficult."

Regina laughed wholeheartedly. "What are you doing right you?"

"Dreaming of you."

"Laura…"

Laura grinned shamelessly. "Okay, okay. I've just been out with the last delivery for today."

"So, you're finishing earlier today. Good. You shouldn't tire yourself completely."

"Aww, you're very cute when you're worried about me."

"If you ever call me cute again, I swear to god…"

"You'll what?" Laura grinned, and now she was obviously flirting again.

"I'm sure you don't want to know…"

"Actually, I do. I would very much like to know."

Both of them laughed, but Regina never revealed what she would do if Laura was silly enough to call her cute again. Instead, she masterfully changed the subject.

"I had a dream about you last night," Laura suddenly said.

Regina's eyebrow rose. "Oh? That sounds dangerous."

"No! Not like that. Though, I wouldn't mind…"

"Laura."

"It was innocent," Laura said. "I dreamt that you came to Boston and we spent the day together."

"That does sound innocent."

"Is it something you would consider?"

"What?"

"Coming to Boston." Laura clarified.

"Oh..." the sudden question made Regina unaware of her surroundings, and she very nearly collided with Moe French. She muttered a quick "sorry" to said man and tried to wrap her head around what Laura just said.

Coming to Boston. She wants me to come to Boston and spend the day with her. Is that a good idea? Or is it completely ridiculous? Isn't it better to just carry on like we've done so far? What will my family think if I suddenly announce that I… What? Met someone online? No, that's ridiculous. They'll think I've been completely desperate. I can already imagine the look on their faces. Of course, I could lie about my whereabouts, that wouldn't be the first time I've done that, but…

"Regina? Are you still there?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm still here," Regina said and tried to make sense of the confused clutter in her head.

"Pretty dumb suggestion, huh?" Laura said quietly. "I was out of line, wasn't I?"

"No!" Regina said a bit too loudly. She reminded herself to calm down as she finished her sentence: "It wasn't a dumb suggestion at all."

"Yeah? You mean that? I was afraid I was being too eager."

"No, no. Not at all. You're not the only one who's curious."

"Does that mean we're actually gonna meet?"

"I think that would be the wisest thing, don't you? Of course, we have to find a date that suit both of us. I mean, you're busy with the store, and I'm busy with…"

"Your piles of papers, I know," Laura said and made a melodic laugh. The sound went straight to the pit of Regina's stomach again, and she actually had to inhale softly.

"Tell you what, why don't we both check our calendars and then discuss it on the chat?" Regina suggested.

"Sounds great." Laura said, and then after a moment of silence: "I can't believe we're actually gonna meet."

Me neither. I don't think I've ever been this spontaneous in my life. And I'm not sure if it's a bad thing or a good thing.

"Well, it was gonna happen sooner or later, don't you think?" God damnit. Why am I always pretending to be confident?

"I've definitely been curious about you for a while now."

"Likewise."

The thought of meeting each other seemed to make both parts nervous, and Regina was grateful when Laura changed the topic to something less dangerous. Her flowers, for example. She educated Regina about every single flower in her store while Regina walked the rest of the way back to the mansion.

Regina wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder as she shrugged her coat off. Once both her coat and shoes were off she told Laura she would check her calendar. They ended the call, and Regina had to swallow something again.

Meet Laura. She was going to meet Laura. She was going to meet the woman whose messages never failed to make her smile in the morning and always sent her to bed with a smile on her lips. She was going to meet the woman she tried so hard not to fall for.

If that's not daunting, I don't know what is…

To Be Continued.