The Author of Fate

by FoxoftheDesert

AU RedQueen - Years after the events covered in "The Price of Destiny", events conspire to lead Ruby back to the Enchanted Forest where she will learn more about her origins than she could have ever dreamed. Regina will also face a test of her own in keeping her family safe & sound through a series of revelations that threaten to tear their worlds apart.

13. Stepdaughters Give the Best Advice

Chapter 12 – Stepdaughters Give The Best Advice

After collecting her things for the second time, Regina hastened to exit the office. No time was spared for idle chit chat on the way out, though a few town officials bravely attempted to have a word with her only to be rebuffed by a curt dismissal or a warning glare. Once she was all strapped in her car, she drove straight to the Charming's loft. With Reila's bombshell still reverberating deafeningly through her brain, she navigated the journey on auto-pilot in what she considered impressive fashion. No accidents occurred, the speed limit was adhered to, and no other traffic ordinances were violated, and still she arrived ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, her ruminations while driving did little to help her reach a decision as to what to do with what she had just learned.

Rather than announce her presence immediately, she spent the next five minutes loitering in front of the door to Snow and David's loft, agonizing over whether or not to concede to George's visitation demand. As she paced, an internal war was between waged between Regina the wife and Regina the Queen, and to be honest, she was not quite sure who was winning. On one hand, her need to know what George had done to prompt his urgent message carried significant weight, especially if it was, as Reila insisted, a life or death situation involving Ruby. On the other hand, though, her limited knowledge of the former monarch as a man informed a healthy suspicion supported by mountains of evidence collected over the decades.

George was a liar and a manipulator of the highest order, something to which even Prince Charming himself would readily testify. Even under the best of circumstances he was not to be trusted, and although Regina was most assuredly desperate to know if Ruby's life was really at stake as had been implied, she was of a mind to ignore the summons altogether. But that was her pride talking, and in this case, she could not afford to allow justifiable grievances to interfere with the vows she'd made to protect Ruby at all costs. Distasteful as it was, she knew what she had to do. Actually resolving herself to the course was another matter entirely.

It wouldn't hurt to get another opinion before I make any concrete plans, she thought as she pursed her lips with frustration. And she'd become so absorbed with processing the conundrum that that she visibly jumped when the door to the loft was abruptly flung open.

"Whoa, sorry," David said, holding up his hands in apology. A damp dish towel was flung over his shoulder and he had a five o'clock shadow going on that suited him.

Regina had always thought David to be a handsome man. There was a reason, after all, that she'd attempted to seduce him while the Curse was still active, and it wasn't just to heap more misery upon the simpering pest that was Mary Margaret Blanchard. Revenge was the main reason, of course, but to deny there was no underlying attraction would be a bald-faced lie. That moment in the kitchen was real, a little too real for Regina back then, which explained her violent outburst after her advances were rebuffed. Fortunately for both of their sakes, Charming's unwavering sense of honor influenced him even while Cursed, quenching that ember before it could even stoke into a tiny fire.

But seeing him all domestic now, knowing that he so willingly pitched in with the duties of running a modern household where many men would shirk them, only scored him additional points on her scale of attractiveness. Not that she'd ever admit to such a thing when she one wasn't supposed to entertain such degrading thoughts for strangers not to mention tried and true friend, and most importantly when she had an equally rugged and far more handsome woman at home who satisfied her every need. In a lot of ways, Ruby was every bit as domestically useful as David was, even more so when factoring in her werewolf physicality, and yet still managed to be so wonderfully feminine that Regina still had a hard time accepting her good fortune. There weren't many women who could rock a flannel shirt and jeans just as well as she did a little black dress, but Ruby did so regularly, proving she really was the best of both worlds. That said, Regina had to hand it to Snow for landing such a catch as David. Among genuinely good men, he was wanting for a peer, and that he was so easy on the eyes did not hurt at all.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he then added as she gaped at him from where she'd been so unexpectedly startled. "I just heard you pacing out in the hallway. Figured I'd let you in before you wear a hole in the floor."

"That's quite alright," Regina replied, lifting her hand to her chest as if to manually slow down her heart rate. "It was my own fault for being so lost in my thoughts."

The appraising look David gave her had her hackles rising, but she held her emotions in check and kept her mask firmly in place so as not to offend him for caring. It was not his fault that her life seemed to be getting tossed into the blender yet again only for God knows what to emerge out of the emulsified mess.

Seeing she was not amenable to elaborating, David put on an affable smile and gestured inside. "Well, why don't you come on in and I'll round up the girls. They're upstairs with Rose."

Rose was David and Snow's three-year-old daughter. Unlike her other golden-headed siblings, she had inherited Snow's jet-black hair, which pleased the girl's mother greatly. Regina thought she was otherwise a nice mixture of her parents. A bright and sweet child, Rose had large blue eyes and a dimpled grin that had a way of warming a person's heart. She had David's nose and build but the same cheeks and chin her mother and sister were famous for. Everyone who met Rose loved her, and Regina could not deny that she had grown rather attached to the child herself. She had come to anticipate her little visits to 'Charmingville' just so that she could be greeted by Rosie's beatific smile.

As David turned to make his way toward the stairs that lead to the second floor, Regina reached out to grab his arm. "David, wait." When he turned back, his brow was wrinkled with confusion. "I need to speak with you and Snow first. Leave the children be for a while."

Nodding in understanding, David made his way into the kitchen. Regina followed close behind, her anxiety still high. As sensitive and critical as this situation was, she was worried about wasting valuable time and was furthermore loathe to breach confidentiality to anyone before consulting Ruby. Yet she knew that of all people, Snow and David would be most suited to offer advice because their love was not so biased as Regina's. Whereas she would forever prioritize Ruby over herself, Snow and David loved them the same, so whatever counsel they gave, Regina knew it would be with both of their best interests at heart. Trusting them came easier knowing that.

Once they were in the kitchen, Snow glanced up from mixing a salad. Like always, a pleased grin formed on her face the second she caught sight of Regina. The expression warmed Regina's heart, having long ago lost the ability to trigger bitter memories of that same smile on a ten-year-old accomplice to murder who had just become her step-daughter.

"Regina!" Snow said, chirpy as ever akin to her fine-feathered friends. "How did your meeting go?"

Regina had informed Snow over the phone that she had a last-minute meeting to attend, which was true, she'd just neglected to spell out the details. She was about to rectify that, though to what reaction she wasn't sure beyond suspecting much the same as her own: shock, rage, and then grief.

"Besides picking up the girls, that's why I'm here," Regina said, noting how Snow quirked her head to the side with interest. "But before I get into that, thank you once again for keeping them a little late."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all," said Snow, who then snatched the towel off her husband's shoulder to wipe her hands off. "I'm glad to have them any time! You know that. They're such good girls and Rose loves them to pieces."

"So do we," David added, wistful smile tugging Regina's heart in a nice way.

There was a reason the girls preferred the Charmings to all others save their immediate family and their Auntie Em. The couple had a soft spot for them that two cunning little manipulators like Sophia and Amelia exploited to great success. There was a time Regina would not have tolerated the way her daughters were pampered by her friends, but with much reflection after Henry was grown, she realized how much like her mother she'd become. So she endured it with the girls, keeping in mind what it was like for her to have someone spoil her with good things only for them to be savagely reprimanded for it. Her father had endured many lectures from her mother, and Regina suspected some a fair few stripes that were quickly erased, regarding his propensity for soft parenting. She refused to be responsible for scarring her daughters that way. She'd done it to Henry, and while he turned out brilliantly in spite of her atrocious failures as a mother, she was not about to make the same mistake again.

So she let Snow and David buy the girls toys they didn't need and take them out to the movies or to the park for an afternoon of fun with Rose. So long as they got structure at home (which they did because there were some things that Regina was simply unwilling to change), respected and obeyed their parents and elders, and behaved themselves, she was content to keep a very loose leash. Though Ruby hated that particular metaphor. Which was why she used it more often than she should.

"Thank you," she said, and meant it with all of her heart. "And although I am biased as their mother, they are good girls. Most of the time. Except when they are acting like their Mama. Then they are absolute heathens!" She grinned conspiratorially with her friends, and the three shared a brief laugh before the discussion turned serious once more.

"You said you wanted to talk about your meeting," Snow said. "What happened?"

Angling her body toward the petite woman, Regina heaved a breath, suddenly very uncomfortable. She didn't like being put in this position at all. Oh, how she wished Ruby were here so that she could take this straight to her rather than having to fumble about for reassurance that she was making the right choice in her stead. But Ruby wasn't here, and Regina had to make a choice whether she wanted to or not.

Scrubbing her face tiredly, she sighed. "I don't quite know where to begin."

"Alright." Snow set down her utensils then walked over to stand in front of Regina. She placed a gentle hand on Regina's elbow. "Maybe we should sit so you're more comfortable."

Acquiescing wordlessly, Regina allowed herself to be guided over to the tiny couch where out of habit she perched lightly upon the edge, back ramrod straight and legs primly crossed. Snow joined her, settling right by her side so that their knees were brushing together while David sat across from them in a comfortable looking arm chair.

"I suppose I should start at the beginning," she said. Running a hand through her hair, Regina blew out another harsh breath. "I was about ready to leave work when I got a call. It was a woman I'd never met who claimed to possess information I needed to know. I attempted to put her off until tomorrow but she insisted that it was urgent and couldn't wait because it was about Ruby."

"Oh God, has something happened to her?" Snow asked, suddenly concerned.

"No. It was nothing of that nature," said Regina, shaking her head slightly. "But the woman refused to tell me over the phone, so I reluctantly agreed to meet her. After a slightly roundabout conversation, she told me something that – while I believe her to be sincere – I'm frankly having a hard time digesting."

Leaning forward in his chair, David rested his elbows on his knees, the same look of concern on his face as on Snow's. "What was it?"

Closing her eyes, Regina gathered her fortitude. Again, she loathed being in the position of sharing such sensitive information with Snow and Charming before Ruby, to whom it ultimately pertained. Even so, she felt like it was something that she needed to do, for peace of mind if nothing else.

There were very few people she could trust with matters of Ruby's parentage. In fact, she could count them all on one hand. Granny was most obvious, but Regina understood that if she'd told Granny about George being Ruby's father, the hot-headed old woman would have had a conniption. Archie was another, but she felt, perhaps unfairly, that he lacked the life experience to give her practical advice on a subject so emotionally charged as that of an orphan's parentage coming to light. Emma would have been most apt to consult, but she was currently in the Enchanted Forest with Ruby, and Regina's morally and ethically dubious friends would be less than helpful since many had formerly made an occupation of forcibly separating children from their parents instead of the opposite. That left Snow and Charming as the only viable option to hear what she was about to tell them who would still be capable of formulating an objective opinion that might actually help make her decision more palatable.

Resolve back in place, she set about easing them in. "Let me ask you something first. Has Granny ever spoken to either one of you about who Ruby's father might be?"

The effect the question provoked was as anticipated as it was instantaneous. While Snow gasped, Charming flinched as his eyes went wide. For several moments, the couple sat in silence, peering at each other in bewilderment as they tried to digest the question. Snow was the one who broke the silence first.

"No, she hasn't," she said, her eyes still wide from shock. "Are you saying that this meeting was about Ruby's father?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," Regina said, not mincing words. "This woman, Reila, related a story to me that, while I would much prefer it not be, is one that I personally believe to be true. She said she was once friends with Ruby's mother, Anita, and that Anita had an affair with a married a man...a king, at that. According to Reila, Ruby was the product of that affair."

Snow sat back abruptly as if thunderstruck. "What? Ruby's father is...was royalty? How did she come by this information?"

Regina angled herself toward Snow, willing the woman to see how conflicted she was to lend more credibility to her next words. "She said that she lived in said kingdom and was the personal attendant of the Queen. Anita, according to her, was a very close friend while all of this was happening."

"And you believe her?" Charming asked, sounding and looking skeptical. Regina couldn't blame him when she had been every bit as skeptical and more so seeing as Ruby was her wife. Only Reila's sincerity and the terminal diagnosis that prompted her divulgence had convinced Regina of the veracity of what she would otherwise dismiss as an outlandish allegation.

Regina rolled her eyes at having to repeat herself. "As I've already said twice: yes, I do."

"Are you sure?" Snow asked, her voice still betraying her shock. "She could be lying."

"She could be," Regina said, "but I don't believe she is. She's held onto this secret for all this time and could have taken it to her grave. She's dying, you see, so she had no reason to lie. Besides, you should have seen her, she was terrified of me and yet chose to brave my wrath to deliver this information. That alone lends credence to her claim."

For a long moment, Regina let that sink in. Of all the former denizens of Misthaven now residing Storybrooke, Snow and Charming more than any others would be aware of how much courage it took for someone to approach her with such explosive information, particularly regarding someone she loved. Sure, Regina was a relatively reformed woman, but that didn't mean she had undergone a personality transplant. She could still be hateful and harsh and unyielding, and that was to people she actually liked. To a woman who was on death's door, facing down the Evil Queen with credible information that was sure to shock her as much as enrage her was a singular act of valor. To have the gall, then, to come to her with false information would have been the epitome of foolishness, tantamount to a death wish had eras been different.

And while it was certainly possible that the woman hated Regina so much that she just wanted to get in a parting blow before exiting this world stage left, that was extraordinarily unlikely. Most people did not behave so spitefully in the face of death, rather preferring to spend what little time was left settling up old debts, unburdening oneself of toxic remorse, and being with one's family as much as humanly possible. Regina thought at least two of those motives were what spurred Reila into action, and that was why she believed her.

It took some silent contemplation, but eventually she could see that both Snow and Charming had come to see the wisdom in her reasoning. Regina was glad of it. She didn't want to waste any more time than necessary to convince them that what she had been told was accurate. Something told her she didn't have much of that infinitely precious resource to waste.

After scrubbing his face with his hand tiredly, Charming caught her eyes. His acceptance was plain. "So, who is it? Someone we know?"

Regina chuckled ruefully as it suddenly dawned on her just how tangled this web was quickly becoming. In all of the fluster over learning this piece of information about Ruby, she had forgotten the colorful history Charming shared with George. Technically, if it turned out to be certifiably true that Ruby was George's daughter, it meant that Ruby shared a familial – albeit adoptive – link with David. This would likely please Snow once it registered that in a roundabout way, Ruby was indeed her sister-in-law. But Charming would not see it in such a positive light. Unlike Snow who could see the best in just about anyone, he was painfully aware of the kind of man George really was and hated him even more than Regina did, which was saying something considering David was not one to bear grudges. For all she knew, George was his only exception.

"Oh, you could say that," she replied, wry humor evident in her words. She gave David a pointed look. "In fact, you know this particular King quite well, Charming." That was all she needed to say for David to make the connection.

Looking aghast, he yelped in disbelief. "No way!" He clapped his hands on his jean-clad lap as he exclaimed his aghast denial. "There's no way in hell! Fate cannot be that sadistic." When Regina kept staring at him with a raised brow, he realized she was being deadly serious. "You're really not joking, are you?"

Regina shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, I'm not."

"Wait a second," Snow spoke up, shuffling to the edge of the couch. "I'm missing something here. Who, exactly, are we talking about?"

"Think Snow," said Charming, "what other king could prompt that kind of reaction from me? And don't you remember me telling you about what he did to Ruby while you and Emma were in the Enchanted Forest?"

Snow gasped even louder than before as realization dawned. "Oh, God! Oh, my God! Spencer? I mean...King George. He's Ruby's father?"

"According to Reila he is," Regina said. "Fate is, as Charming so eloquently put it, quite sadistic. The same man who framed Ruby for murder is supposedly her father. Though Reila insists that he did not know who Ruby was until she told him."

Charming's eyes widened. "Wait. She told him who Ruby was?" When Regina nodded, David dropped his head into his hands. "Oh, this is bad," he lamented, his voice partially dampened due to his position. "This is very, very bad." He looked back up to Regina, his eyes grave. "You know that he's going to use this against her, right? He's going to try and worm his way into her life. We can't let that happen, Regina!"

Recrossing her legs, Regina shifted on the couch as she rubbed her arms in an idle gesture. "I know. And thus, my dilemma. I could ignore his summons and hope to God that he's bluffing, but what if he's not? Also, Reila informed me that George needs to speak to me in person because he believes Ruby's life may be in danger. Could he be lying? Could this just be some game of one-upmanship with me or some sort of retaliation for me sending him beyond the barrier to be incarcerated? Yes to both.

"I am not ignorant of the fact that even if he does have pertinent information, he will be trying to manipulate the situation to his advantage. It's what he does and he's very good at it. Even at the height of my power and influence as Queen, I never allowed myself to become indebted to George because he is a shrewd and devious man who was always adept at getting whatever he wanted. I kept myself purposefully disentangled with him, both socially and politically, not only out of personal disdain of him but out of sheer self-preservation. He would not have hesitated to use my manic obsession with Snow at that time against me. And even as lethal I was back then, I fear he would have succeeded should he have put his mind to removing me from the chessboard. Few who ever fell under George's cross-hairs have lived to tell the tale. So believe me when I say I know what he's capable of.

"And yet if I want to protect Ruby, I will have to accede to his demands, which may very well open up Pandora's Box for us both. I feel like something bad is going to happen no matter what I choose. You can see why I'm conflicted, then, can't you?"

Casting glances to David and then Snow in turn, Regina saw only understanding in their eyes for the nearly impossible choice she had been left with. Their sympathy reinforced the sagacity of approaching them.

Rather than answer, Snow turned her body so that she was facing Regina and so that one knee was up on the couch pressed reassuringly against Regina's leg. She then stretched her hand out into the tiny space between their bodies where it remained unclaimed for several moments while Regina's mind spun.

She was still uncomfortable at times around her former stepdaughter, but she had to admit, the girl she had once hated so much had grown into a veritable fount of wisdom and encouragement on which Regina had come to rely. Many times during her relationship with Ruby, both before they were married and after, Snow had been a source of sound advice to aid in navigating the complicated ups and downs of a committed relationship. And to be sure, life with Ruby was not always smooth sailing. They'd had their share of rough patches, but when Regina was at her wits end with Ruby's obstinance, Snow was never more than a call or a visit away, was never judgmental and always hopeful, and who had ears ready to listen and shoulders strong enough to lean on. They had come such a long way from the years Regina spent hatefully brooding over Snow's naive inability to keep a secret.

At present they were finally more of a family than they ever were when Regina was married to Leopold. And while that reality was all kinds of horrifying and nauseating to the darker parts of her psyche, it was mostly just nice to know she had someone outside of her atypical nuclear family so fully in her corner. In a way, though their roles were somewhat reversed, she and Snow were finally coming full circle back to that relationship they would have developed had her mother not interfered, which was something worth holding on to and worth cherishing instead of allowing the black clouds of the past to linger any longer.

Breathing a shaky breath, Regina's eyes found Snow's, so soft and green and full of tender affection that she couldn't help herself from accepting the affectionate gesture. She needed Snow's support right now and she needed her advice, so to hell with what her mother would think and to hell with what her old self might think. Her mother never had a True Love and her old self never knew what real happiness felt like, but Regina did and she was desperate to hold on to it, just as she had been seven years ago when Ruby was abducted. Snow was offering her an anchor to keep her from plunging into the deep end again, and she was damn well going to latch on to it with all of her might.

Slipping her hand into Snow's, she gripped it tightly and gave the pixie haired woman a watery smile.

"Oh, honey," Snow said, so full of love that she positively radiated warmth, "I know you've been put in an impossible situation, but I think you already know what you need to do. I think you're only here because it's too important of a decision to make lightly and because it's not just your life this will affect. You want my advice, so this is it: listen to your heart."

Before Regina could respond, Snow reached out to brush her cheek, crumbling some of her defenses. A lonely tear slipped free of her lids and fell down her cheek. Snow wiped it away with her thumb.

"What is it telling you, Regina?"

Taking a shaky breath, Regina averted her gaze, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth as she fought against the aspects of herself that were at odds: her mind and her heart. Shuttering her eyes, she focused on blocking off that calculating part of herself that was over-analyzing the situation, trying to predict the possible outcomes of each choice and anticipate George's motives. As it faded to the background, the sound of her beating heart became more and more prominent until it completely drowned out the noise from her brain. In its rhythm, she could hear very clearly what it was trying to tell her.

Was it really so easily forgotten? It had only been seven years, but sometimes it felt like a lifetime. Regina supposed that was why she sometimes went months without thinking back to the circumstances that conspired to bring her closer to Ruby than she had ever been to another person by almost ripping them forever apart. She didn't like to think about that time, not because of what came out of it, but because of the inhuman torture and pain that Ruby had endured.

While it was true that Regina loved Ruby's scars because they were proof that she was alive, the memories of that horrible ordeal were a completely different story. Those still haunted Regina on a regular basis. They chased her in her dreams, ran her ragged in nightmares until she woke up drenched and panting and wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around Ruby and hold her so tight that it hurt. She hated those nights, hated the sleeplessness and despair that came after the nightmares because she didn't want to wake Ruby up just for her own selfish comfort. She had lost count of how many times she wept silently into her pillow, hoping Ruby's sensitive ears wouldn't pick up the dampened noise yet unable to stop the outpouring of miserable grief that clung to her like a second skin.

But in her desire to burn the dreadful memories out of her mind, she had allowed one important one to fade into the background. It was the one where she ripped out her own beating heart, gazing in awe at how red and vibrant it had become under the influence of Ruby's enormous and all-consuming love; the one where she severed her heart in two and gave half to Ruby so that she could live again. Never had Regina felt so alive and connected with another human being as she had in that moment. She had finally understood what it meant to truly love someone, to have become one with another person on such an essential level that her heart was literally compatible with their body.

How had she allowed herself to lose sight of that miracle? Had she gotten so stuck in the mundane monotony of day-to-day life that she allowed it to simply slip away as if the driftwood remnants of a once majestic tree? Or had she just taken it for granted that the love she and Ruby shared was strong enough to create two lives and was enduring enough to sustain two others?

Whatever the case, she remembered now. And with that remembrance came stark clarity. Ruby was her choice: then, now, and forever.

Turning back to Snow, Regina smiled, secure in the knowledge that she had done the right thing. "It's telling me one thing: Ruby," she said, still clutching Snow's hand. "I have to do whatever it takes to protect her, even if it means making a deal with the devil."

Returning Regina's smile, Snow gave her hand a squeeze. "Then do it, Regina. As friends who love you both, you have our full support. And if you need, David and I will watch Sophie and Amie again after school tomorrow. Whatever you need, we're here to help."

"While my instincts are warning me about George, I agree," said David, his own expression reflecting unity with his beloved wife. "You need to do what your heart tells you is right. I know that if I were in your position, I would do the same for Snow. Still, you should know you don't have to do this alone. If you want, one of us can go with you to Warren." Warren was the town in which the Maine State Prison was located.

"While I appreciate that, it's not necessary," Regina replied, having disentangled herself from her adorably clingy ex-step-daughter. "I need to do this on my own. However, I will take you up on your offer to watch the girls if you don't mind."

Shaking her head vigorously, Snow grinned, "Of course not! Like I said, Rose loves it when they come over. She'll be tickled pink that she gets to see them two days in a row."

Smiling, Regina stood and brushed down her skirt. "Very well, then. I suppose I should get going so I can feed the little beasts and get them in bed at a decent hour. We all have long days ahead of us tomorrow."

"I suppose we do," Snow agreed, standing herself and crossing over to the stairs. Peering up to the room that once belonged to Emma, she called up: "Sophie, Amie! Your mom is here!"

"Okay auntie Snow!" Sophia's voice called out. "But can we finish our game? Just five more minutes. Pretty please?!"

Regina chuckled. It was always five more minutes with those two. Whether playtime or reading or watching TV, it was always the same. "Please, Mommy, just five more minutes!" The heartfelt pleas worked far more than they should. For a parent who had always fell to the strict end of the spectrum with Henry, she was almost ashamed at how much of pushover she had become with Sophia and Amelia. Almost.

Though small, there was a noticeable difference in her overall parenting style between her son and daughters, though she couldn't account for why that was with one simple explanation. That she was no longer a single mother was one, as was her change in the interim from being a constrained villain to a reformed one. She was not the same lonely and bitter woman who had adopted Henry to try and snatch the victory of a happy ending out of what seemed to be the jaws of defeat that she never seemed able to escape. Regina was happy now, truly happy in a way she'd never imagined she could be. Not only did she have Ruby, who she loved so much she'd literally given away half of her heart, but she had people in her life on whom she could depend and who loved her and supported her even though she had once been their sworn enemy. Love had done the impossible in transforming foes into friends, and that alone made parenting so much more enjoyable.

Of course Henry, being the clever young man, was not oblivious to this change, but he did not lord it over his mother. Instead, whenever the girls got away with things that he never would have, he took great pleasure in ribbing Regina in a good-natured way that didn't make her feel quite as guilty as she quite honestly should have. That was Henry, though, always so mature and accommodating and understanding. How he managed to grow into such a wonderful young man considering the sad state she'd been in when she adopted him was beyond her, but she was grateful just the same and so very proud of him.

Still, to hear the girls using the same tactics on Snow as they did their mother was very amusing. Regina was sure that it would work, too, as it always did because Snow was more of a pushover than she would ever be. Hell, Snow was more of a pushover than Ruby, who Regina often playfully criticized as being the enabler of the household.

Looking over to Regina, Snow gave a noncommittal shrug. "It's your call, Mom."

Cocking her head to the side, Regina smirked. "Well, since they asked so nicely..."

Chuckling, Snow called out once more: "Alright, just five more minutes! After that, I expect three little girls to be downstairs pronto. Okay?"

A chorus of: "Okay, Mama!" and "Okay, Auntie Snow!" rung out, after which came the sound of a flurry of excited movement on the wooden floors overhead.

Moving back over to the island, Snow fetched the salad bowl and moved it over to the dinner table. As she bent down to place it, she glanced up at Regina, an open invitation in her eyes.

"You're welcome to say if you want. I know I'm not a gourmet chef like you, but I make a mean chicken parm, and there's plenty to go around."

The offer was tempting. If she took the girls home, she would have to cook, make sure they ate, clean the dishes by herself, make sure they completed any school work they brought home, and then have them in bed by nine. Crossing two items off of that list was certainly appealing, and between that and the sweetly inviting way Snow was gazing at her, she felt her resistance crumble.

"Oh, very well," she sighed and then nodded gratefully to Snow, who beamed as if she had just won the lottery. In a whirl of motion, the diminutive spitfire went about checking on the rest of dinner, barking out orders to her hubby as she went.

"Wonderful! David! Can you set out some extra plates? And silverware. And can you check the bread, please?"

David glanced at Regina with a crooked grin. She shrugged, though she couldn't fight the smile that overtook her face. "Of course, dear," he said as he went about fulfilling Snow's wishes.

As she watched them bustle about the kitchen like the perfectly synchronized True Love couple that they were, the tinkling laughter of three little girls echoed down from upstairs. Surrounded by the sights and sounds and smells of a loving family, Regina felt her insides tingle with a heady feeling of homeliness that washed over her like a gentle ocean breeze. She wrapped herself up in it as if it were a warm, cuddly blanket and willed herself to absorb all the love, support, strength, and happiness that was being so graciously extended. She needed it all if she was going to get through tomorrow.