The Love Hack by mariacomet
Author's comments:
Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome back aboard for another flight. A few warnings. The weather will slowly start to get rough and build for the next four or five chapters. Cling on to one another or the emergency Regina Mills life-size plushies as you need to.
Secondly, after posting 15 (next week) i'm going on vacation for a couple of weeks so I won't be posting on June 15th and June 22nd. I'll be back again on June 29th though. Sometime in the next few chapters I fully expect you to be angry, agitated, frustrated, and fuming at one or both of our two girls. Should this feeling continue for more than several minutes emergency screens will lower from the ceiling above your head and distract you by playing 'Sassy Regina' clips.
Final thought: I have now promised two people (you know who you are) to make them woot at some point during the story. Between you and me, I feel both confident and really nervous about it. Send good thoughts and some love if you can.
Guest - Thank you I appreciate the comment and hope you continue to like the story.
Madypaker - Thank you for the comment and the feedback. I will definately consider renaming Henry's youtube channel :)
Chapter 14 - The one with the Winter Festival
Emma got out of the Volkswagon and felt a blast of cold air hit her. She grappled for her coat in the passenger seat and tossed it on as quickly as humanly possible. The GPS on her phone told her that if she walked north for twelve blocks she would arrive at the town square.
Earlier, on the phone, Regina had questioned why Emma wanted to meet them in the middle of town, rather than two minutes away at Regina's house. She also informed Emma that most of the on-street parking was blocked off during the Winter Festival. Emma didn't give a direct answer. It's not like she could admit she had a plan.
Step 1: Keep her word to Henry. Go to the Winter Festival and help with the video.
Step 2: Stay only as long as she absolutely had to.
Step 3: Say goodbye to the Millses for a long while.
Step 4: Get her normal, detached life back.
Step 1 and 2 involved making sure she told Regina and Henry that she needed to run errands early in the morning. Likewise, the parking selection gave her a guaranteed escape route and the freedom to get to it without obstacles. She didn't want to break her promise, but she did intend to follow it to the letter and no further.
Her Pertential scale weighed the entire situation and gave Emma points for doing something she wouldn't normally do, and for following through on making Henry happy. It took points away for blatant cowardice, but it all kind of evened out.
Emma jangled her keys in her jacket pocket as she headed toward the town square. Henry had emailed her the night before, excitedly relaying about a dozen facts. She'd skimmed through it to pick up the highlights, and then Googled the Storybrooke Winter Festival just to get a feel for the layout. Any good getaway needed maps of some kind, after all.
The Storybrooke population of five thousand swelled by another thousand or so during this event, most of them stuffed into five blocks of space. Regina, Emma discovered, had downplayed it as a small festival. It may not have been huge but it certainly wasn't small, and it had more things to do than anyone could complete before the sun set and everything closed down. There was a mobile zip line, a log rolling contest, a toboggan track that started way up in the woods, two ponds for ice skating, ten carnival games, two ice sculpture gardens, a snowman contest, and Santa Claus reading stories and taking wishes in the town library. The nearby stores all gave away one thing or another. The hardware store offered free hot chocolate. The bakery, naturally, hosted the baking contest, and had plenty of samples and ballots. Of course, if you wanted more than a sample, you had to pay. There were lobster rolls, corn chowder, and hot cider at the diner. The pawn shop had a huge array of beer from microbreweries, or flavored sodas if you weren't old enough or didn't want to imbibe. In the center of it all was an outdoor theater (currently occupied by carolers singing), a mini ferris wheel and a large, unlit Christmas tree.
A tall ladder was placed next to the tree, and it took Emma a moment to realize why until she noticed the tree had no topper.
Emma shot off a text: MadameMayor, BatMankid I'm here by the Christmas tree. Where are you?
She spotted Henry a few moments later, his phone held out in front of him. He still hadn't seen her. He stood near the tree, frowning at it.
Emma moved up behind him and nudged him. "Hey kid." Henry grinned when he saw her and gave her a two-second hug, a huge sign of affection from a thirteen-year-old boy. He wore a dark winter coat, gloves, and a red scarf, and carried a hand-held video camera in his other hand.
"Hey, Emma. You're here."
"A promise is a promise."
Her Pertential score went up. Really, she sighed at herself, just by him looking so happy?
He motioned to the Christmas tree with the camera. "I was just taping the tree. Every year – always white and gold. Never any other colors. White tree, white lights, gold ornaments. And it's just like the one at home."
"It's pretty," Emma said, trying to be positive.
He looked as if she had personally betrayed him with that statement. "It's boring. Every year I tell Mom she should change it, but she never does. I'm thinking of putting a survey about it on my channel. "
Emma took a look around to see if she could spot the mayor in question. "Where is your mom?"
"Doing mayor things. She thinks they're gonna run out of hot chocolate, because every year she tells everyone they should budget for 15% more tourists than the year before. The hardware store didn't, so Mom threatened to let the library do hot chocolate next year." Henry gave Emma a somber look. "Hot chocolate is very serious during the Winter Festival."
"I'm sure."
"Okay, the intro," Henry said, and raised the camera toward Emma. "You can just wave for now," he instructed. "Hi everyone, this is Henry, and I'm live at the Winter Festival. This is my friend Emma, who may or may not secretly work for the F.B.I. She's really good with computers and…."
Emma heard a familiar, agitated voice coming towards her and pivoted toward it.
"Emma," Henry complained, since now her back was towards him..
"Sorry." She tugged on his elbow, gesturing to where his mom was striding toward them, three people scurrying behind and to either side of her.
"We've already discussed this," Regina was saying in a strained voice. "The top of the tree is a star, it's always a star."
"We just wanted you to have options," "I like the angel." Two of the men spoke over each other. The woman added, "I like the lobster. It's Maine. It says who we are."
Regina held up her gloved hands. "Star. Same as every year. Next topic."
Emma remembered her being beautiful, but now, seeing her again, after an absence and without high stakes hanging over her head, she realized that Regina Mills was the embodiment of the naughty thoughts that plague you at night, leaving you shaking and wanting. She didn't want to stare. Yet every piece of data she could collect with her eyes barrelled through her body, in so many directions and with such speed that she couldn't process it all and froze. She had to curl her nails into her palms to reboot.
"Hey," Emma called out to her.
Regina looked in her direction and a small smile teased her mouth. "Hi," she greeted. "I wasn't sure you were going to make it."
And again, the stupid Pertential score rose. Apparently because she made Regina smile.
Emma shrugged, trying to think of a witty reply, when she noticed the three people with Regina were staring at her with open curiosity.
Regina noticed at the same time and started the introductions. "Emma, this is Archie, Sidney and Kathryn. They're the Winter Festival planning committee. Everyone this is my…friend..Emma." Regina gave Emma a searching look before deciding to use the "f" word. "Could you all give me a few moments?"
She moved toward Emma, taking her by the arm and wrapping her other arm around her son's shoulders – ferrying them away. "I need to pass a law that makes it legal to put people in jail during this festival if they continuously show incompetence."
"Yeah, that seems fair," Emma taunted playfully.
"I'm glad you made it. I'm sorry – there's still so much to do."
"I'll show her around," Henry volunteered. "Emma, I asked mom earlier, and she said that if you wanted to have dinner with us after the festival you could. She even said we could get pizza, since that's not so formal and you don't like formal."
"Ah…." Shit, shit, shit, thought Emma.
"Just something to think about," Regine told her with an apologetic expression. "I have to go. I'll be with you as soon as I can."
Henry and Emma made a game plan of what they wanted to do, and he occasionally paused to film things as they wandered. Hanging out with him reminded her of being around David - conversation came easily and covered only light topics, and they didn't feel the need to fill every silence.
"Emma," Henry said softly when they were in a line for the mobile zipline. "If you drove here and you're driving back, isn't that a long day?"
"Well, yeah, but I really wanted to come."
He continued to look at her thoughtfully. "I wish you could stay over. You could get some sleep and have breakfast with us, and then go home." He kept his bright eyes on her, to see if maybe she might change her mind.
She couldn't. Of course, she couldn't. It went against the plan. Yet for just a moment, she considered it. It would be nice to chat more with the kid, and maybe have pizza. Her Pertential score felt higher than usual, just from being around him. She could see it in her head, chatting with Regina after he went to bed, each of them holding a glass of wine.
Everything about it tempted her.
The words that rose on her tongue to answer Henry weren't a firm "no," but rather a "let me think about it." It made her rub at her temples. She had David and Mary Margaret. Could it be possible to broaden that very small circle to include Regina and Henry? She didn't have to be obligated to them, right? She looked for a middle ground between the relationship with her foster parents and the almost nothing relationships she allowed with others.
"I'm sorry Henry, I really can't," she said finally.
He fell silent, but started telling her about last year's rides a few minutes later. After the zipline, Henry took Emma by the library to meet Regina's assistant. Belle wore a Mrs. Claus costume and kept pushing unruly red hair under her white wig. She greeted Emma warmly after Henry introduced her, but could only linger a moment as she was responsible for the line of children waiting to sit on Santa's knee. Belle paused mid-conversation to answer a child's question about if Santa was really an elf. The Santa in question, played by a little person, glowered at the boy. He relaxed after Belle said, 'Santa can look any way he wants to. It's one of his tricks. That's why some pictures of him are so different.'
Occasionally, Regina joined Henry and Emma somewhere, only to dash off a few minutes later to check on, or deal with, or make sure of...something. She gave tight smiles, and stood ramrod straight each time she appeared. She looked tired and resigned more than cheerful.
Did the woman not know how to have fun, ever? Emma wondered. Not that she cared, because it was none of her business. And she'd be doing the whole pulling away thing after today. Still, she could check on her, right?
MadameMayor Marco?
EmmaSwan Emma, Did you text the right person?
MadameMayor Marco, like the game? You're supposed to say Polo. Where are you?
EmmaSwan Polo. I'm sorry Emma, I meant to get away before now.
MadameMayor Where. Are. You. Marco.
EmmaSwan Granny's diner. Polo. I'm not sure this game works effectively over text.
Emma shooed Henry off to hang out with kids his own age for a bit. He looked like he would rather swallow nails, and Emma wondered about that too. But then he saw the Sheriff's son, and apparently that was more appealing.
She got two hot chocolates from the stand at the hardware store, and went in search of Mayor Mills. She found her at Granny's with the planning committee. Regina sat at a booth, fingers folded before her, staring intently at the pile of about 200 small slips of paper on the table front of her. Kathryn, Archie and Sidney stood several feet away, locked in a heated discussion. Sidney gestured towards Kathryn emphatically as she glared at him, opening her mouth to answer whatever he'd said before Emma arrived.
"Marco?" Emma called as she approached, mostly to alert Regina to her presence.
Regina looked surprised to see her. "Hey – I'm sorry, I just have to deal with this, and then…."
"No." Emma handed Regina one of the hot chocolates. The three members of the planning committee jerked their heads in Emma's direction, like startled deer freezing at the sound of a snapping branch. "Hey," Emma greeted them with a wriggle of her fingers. All of them returned the greeting and broke out of their tight circle. Clearly, she had disturbed the dynamic of the group.
Emma ignored them. "Regina, did you notice there's a festival out there? You know, festival, like festive. You haven't relaxed for ten minutes the entire time I've been here. So here's what we're going to do. You're going to pick one thing - one activity - and you're going to do that activity for at least fifteen minutes."
Archie cleared his throat but kept his eyes on Sidney, who then looked at Kathyrn. All three of them glanced toward Regina.
"Emma," Regina said. "I have to help with this, and then I have to attend the tree lighting in a half hour. This is important."
Emma picked up a pile of paper and looked at it. Then she riffled through another. She saw the problem. The marks made on the papers were barely marks, and some might be smudges. "It's that big a deal?" she asked.
"The race for best pie is extremely tight this year," Sidney confided, sighing and adjusting his fedora so it sat back on his head. "We're trying to decide what to do with these. It's become a little heated."
"They all like this?" Emma asked.
Archie spoke up. "Yes, that's the problem. They aren't clear but we didn't want to just throw them out. I was thinking we might want to ask people to revote." Regina actively winced at that suggestion, along with Kathryn and Sidney.
Emma looked back to the pile. "How long have you all been looking at these?"
"Forty-five minutes," Kathryn answered. "Usually Regina would have decided for us thirty minutes ago."
Regina stared hard at Kathryn, betrayed. "I can't decide everything. Delegation is an important part of management."
"And you," Emma said with a chuckle. "Do a lot of delegation?"
As if they were watching a particularly intense tennis match, Archie, Kathryn, and Sidney simultaneously turned their heads to look at Regina.
"I do...some." Regina answered, waving the question away.
Emma set her hands on her hips. "Okay, show of hands for all those who're sick of looking at these things?" Everyone except Regina raised their hand.
"Emma," Regina said with a frown, anticipating the possible introduction of chaos to otherwise orderly proceedings.
"I'm a neutral party. I have no pie loyalties whatsoever. Here's what I say." Emma gathered all the disputed votes into one semi-neat pile and walked toward the trash. "These ballots were filled out improperly, so they shouldn't count. Voting is a privilege. You don't do it properly and you don't get a say. Any objections?" No one said anything. "Counting to five – 1,2, 3, 4, 5." She let the papers drop into the trash bin. "We good?" She didn't really wait for anyone to answer before she gestured to Regina. "Let's go, Madame Mayor." Glaring, Regina scooted out of the booth and paused to put on her coat.
"Are you sure we shouldn't just revote?" Archie moved to stand forlornly in front of the trash, looking into it.
"No," Sidney and Kathryn said at once.
"Thanks for the help, Emma," Kathryn called cheerfully.
Sidney went to a coat rack and took a long red scarf from it, wrapping it around his neck. "Can we move on to the after-voting celebration, please?" he asked. "It's our turn to sample the winners."
"I'll see all of you at the tree lighting," Regina said in farewell. As she and Emma left the diner, she asked in a low voice, "Was that really necessary?"
Emma turned to her. "Tell me that's not what you wanted to do from the first second they brought 'em to you?"
An impish and undeniably attractive smile touched the corner of Regina's mouth. "I've been trying to be more approachable than I used to be," she admitted. "I put up with more than I used to."
"No one should have to put up with the Great Pie Ballot Scandal of 2017. Now come on, pick an activity."
"Can we just sit for a while?"
"Not truly an activity," Emma countered, and motioned around them. "Look around, Regina, you did a great job with this. You should enjoy some of it."
"Very well," Regina muttered, as if she were the most put upon woman in the entire town. "Perhaps one of the carnival games?"
Emma shook her head. "An activity is not a five-minute thing. It's at least fifteen."
"I believe you're stretching the meaning of that word, Miss Swan."
"Miss Swan again? Really?"
A smirk. "I believe I should be given a reprieve from our agreement when you are being ludicrous."
Not even in school had anyone ever called Emma "Miss Swan." It gave rise to amusement, as well as something deeply rooted and provocative. A movie started running in her head, starring herself as the juvenile delinquent and Regina as the high-school principal. The longer she indulged that image, the more it did things to her pulse rate she tried to ignore. "Anyway – activity – something somewhat active for at least twenty minutes."
"You said fifteen."
"Yeah, I rethought it. And you can't deal with anyone's random problems while you do it. And, any other rules I make up."
"And why are you the judge of this?"
Emma stopped walking and turned to her fully. "Name the last thing fun thing you did, without Henry, that wasn't reading and only had the goal of fun."
"I…"
Emma waited for Regina to actually add more words to that, but she seemed unable to; Emma felt, for one of the few times with Regina, a little superior.
"Does cooking count?"
It really didn't, and they both knew it.
"There is one thing I do every year," Regina offered slowly, almost timidly. "But it's by the docks and it will take 30 minutes - which is longer than I have right now. And I usually do it when the festival is closing down." She lifted her eyes to Emma's. "You could come with me this year, if you wish, and if it counts as an activity, according to your judgement."
It felt like trouble. It was Emma's idea and it still felt like trouble. She forced herself to relax. It was 30 minutes, Emma reassured herself, what could possibly happen? This was still goodbye, still an exit. Nothing about her plans would change.
"I will issue a ruling at that time," Emma answered with a grin, then she touched the side of her hot chocolate to the side of Regina's. "I meant to ask you, is Henry better with everything? I mean, he seems okay. And you two seem fine. Right?"
Regina faced her, a wisp of breath escaping her, curling like smoke in the chilly air.
"He keeps asking about the F.B.I. Every day he asks. I didn't want to tell him anything until we hear from Agent Booth. I suppose I'm hoping they'll decide to move forward with what we've given them. I tell myself there's no reason to worry Henry unless I have to, but maybe I'm just stalling."
"I think it's okay to wait, Regina. We don't know anything definitive yet. I'm hoping for the same thing you are."
"I will tell him once we know for sure," Regina replied, determined.
Emma wanted to take her hand, like that night in the bedroom when Regina had asked her repeatedly if it was really over. Although, maybe offering that kind of comfort was a lie at this point.
She decided to offer a distraction instead. "Henry keeps introducing me as your friend, and then people ask me all these questions about you." She shrugged. "We created an elaborate backstory for you. You'll be pleased to know that you served with distinction in the CIA Black Ops program."
"You didn't," Regina murmured, but her dark eyes were smiling.
Her change in topic worked. Her Pertential score rose, much as it did with Henry. Being around them made her feel more...more everything. Although, the scale didn't just act to quantify, it also protected her. People who made her score rise could, if they deserted her, make it fall below normal.
"I told them that we hadn't known one another very long."
They found a bench that was a street beyond the noise and crowd of the festival. Regina sat down with a deep sigh and, for the first time all day, she relaxed.
"I suppose I can be distant."
Emma had noticed. The townspeople extended polite hellos and goodbyes, but they all gave her a wide berth unless they needed something. They didn't dislike Regina, but they reacted to her staunch professionalism by giving her the space she seemed to want.
"They're not really insipid," Regina told her, frowning. "I shouldn't have said that. They're good people who perhaps care a little too much. Every year they put in weeks of work ahead of this festival. And there's not one person in town who doesn't do something. Every house and building is decorated. One year the pawn shop didn't put up lights and a mob forcibly decorated the building. They have convictions. They take care of and protect one another because they're neighbors. Here, that word means something."
"I've never lived in a place like that."
"I hadn't either."
"You really do love it here."
"I do. I even like being mayor. I've never been sure who knows who I am and who doesn't. I imagine someone must. But they consider it none of their business. I'm one of them now. That's all that matters. A few people asked me about you too, by the way." Emma's brows rose. "Nothing terribly intrusive. Sadly, I didn't have an elaborate backstory prepared. It's just that with a few notable exceptions, they're not used to seeing me with anyone."
"A few notable exceptions?" Emma repeated.
For the first time since they met, Regina's cheeks colored. "Well, there was a discreet and brief affair with the sheriff. And, there was one old friend who managed to track me down. She comes to visit every few years, just for an evening or two. Again, discreetly. It's possible the townspeople wonder about my preferences."
Preferences, the word echoed in her mind like a distant bell. "I thought you were married to some guy." It was one of the stupider things Emma had ever said. Having Neal in her life hadn't stopped her from making other realizations later on.
Regina fixed her with a stare that was the equivalent of an eye roll. Emma couldn't be sure if Regina was offended by the disdainful "some guy," or the suggestion that being married to a man at some point meant she couldn't be interested in women.
"I did not marry 'some guy'," Regina said haughtily. "Robin went to Princeton and his father is a senator. His family has millions. I have always been extremely self-aware. I knew from a young age that while I find either sex appealing, I have strong leanings. My mother didn't approve. She believed it would get in the way of my aspirations, so I just adjusted my behavior to be more conservative. At the time, I agreed with her. I…" She shook her head, her expression becoming shadowed. "Robin was a good man but he made the mistake of being a good fit for our plans. After I came here, I allowed myself to approach dating open-mindedly. At least on the occasions when the opportunity arose."
With every small revelation Regina gave, Emma wanted to know more. She needed to start staving that instinct off.
"Well, I really only discovered that I was - open minded," she used Regina's term on purpose. "About sex in prison."
"In prison?" Regina's eyes twinkled with curiosity and mirth. "Really?"
Emma leaned a little closer to her and playfully answered, "Really."
"So you…in prison. Like in the movies?" Regina shook her head, as if she had started to conjure an image of something and now was trying to make it dissolve. "Sorry, that's really none of my business." There was a tint of red on her cheeks, and she shifted on the bench, seemingly no longer comfortable.
Emma watched her, and wondered if the great Regina Mills had a hard time talking about sex.
She decided to needle Regina just a little to test her theory. "I told you I had a lot of downtime in prison, and I looked for ways to distract myself. Turns out, there were several." Emma waggled her brows. "Some more enjoyable than others. We did have to get pretty creative about locations."
As intended, Regina looked a little more flushed, and she was staring at her, blinking rapidly. Emma decided to be chivalrous, for now, and change the subject. But it was kind of adorable to watch the tightly controlled mayor get so easily scattered to the winds.
"Hey, wanna see my souvenir?" Emma began pushing her right sleeve up to her elbow. Regina rubbed her face with one hand and set her cup down to rub her hands together, looking down at them for a moment before turning toward the exposed tattoo.
The first part of it was simple, a traditional medieval shield that would have displayed a family crest, if Emma had one. The shield had stayed blank while she was in prison. Then after, she'd done a favor for a tattoo artist and set up wi-fi in his shop so waiting clients could have access to it. She'd created her own family seal - an abstract phoenix made of swirls and lines, its red wings extending just beyond the edges of the shield. She wasn't sure why she'd wanted the wings to break free of the other tattoo. It just felt right.
She had shown Mary Margaret on Skype. Just her. She wasn't sure how David would feel about it, and she didn't want to see his disapproving face. Mary Margaret thought it was beautiful, but then she had her hacker name tattooed in script over her heart.
"A friend in prison gave me the shield, and then when I got out I had someone add the phoenix," Emma explained quietly. "Subtle as an anvil, right? Ex-con. Phoenix."
Regina reached out and let one finger skim over it. Emma had no idea why but it felt intimate. It surprised her. Such a small touch shouldn't make her heart ache. It shouldn't make her skin overly sensitive. That was definitely trouble, Emma thought. She occasionally indulged in one night stands. They didn't have the same aching curiosity to them. She wondered what more - more contact, more closeness, more talking - would be like.
Pulling back from Regina and Henry should be simple. The execution of her plan couldn't be easier - just four steps. Only, the more time she spent with Regina and Henry, the more exhaustingly complicated it felt.
Regina's hand dropped quickly, while a shutter slammed over her features. She was suddenly standing and checking her watch. "Well, it's getting close to the tree lighting speech, and I need to make a few edits to it. We should head back," she announced abruptly.
"Wait, you wrote the speech but you aren't giving the speech?"
Regina dragged her teeth over her lower lip. "There are a lot of tourists. It could attract attention." She took a step back towards the main street, turning to Emma expectantly.
They still had fifteen minutes before the Christmas tree was scheduled to be lit, but Emma figured that going was all for the best. She straightened her sleeve, finished off her cocoa, then took Regina's empty cup. They fell into step beside one another and strolled wordlessly until they reached the center of the town square. Regina headed to the stage next to the tree to speak with Archie. He handed Regina a small stack of index cards, and she had him turn around so she could use his back to make some notes. She drew back, reviewing the cards oh-so-seriously, before handing them back and patting Archie on the arm. Regina paused, reached up to straighten his bow-tie, then frowned and adjusted it again before drawing away.
Emma disposed of the hot chocolate cups and got two hot ciders. When Regina reached her, she handed one to her.
Archie stepped up to the microphone, making an an announcement that they'd be lighting the tree soon. He repeated it a few minutes later, as people moved, unhurried, forming a crowd in front of him.
"On behalf of the Winter Festival Planning Committee, if you are a visitor here, we'd like to say welcome to Storybrooke. We started this winter festival just over four years ago, and every year it's gotten a little bigger. I want to thank the people of Storybrooke for all the hard work they put into this event." Some hoots and clapping greeted those words and Archie smiled.
"I also want to thank those of you who made the journey to our town. Whether you travelled two minutes, two hours, or more, we're very glad you're here." Applause grew again from a few spattering claps to a sincere but quiet acknowledgement from the crowd. It wasn't a large moment; it came softly and faded away much in the same way.
"This time of year can bring with it many gifts. Not the least of which are our families."
Regina wrapped an arm around Henry and kissed his head. He wriggled as if to get away from the dastardliness of motherly affection, but Emma couldn't help but notice his smile and that he didn't struggle for more than half a second.
Archie continued reading Regina's words, "Or friends – old and new - who stumble into our lives, subtle as an anvil, and somehow make it better." "
Emma looked towards Regina and their eyes connected. A smile flirted against Regina's lips for a second, before she turned back to watch Archie. Emma's heart felt like it was expanding, and inside her it floated giddy and careless.
She couldn't help but consider a possible middle ground again. Maybe she could have something with Regina and Henry. Something different. New. It couldn't be the same closeness as she had with David and Mary Margaret. She couldn't risk that. She wanted there to be another answer. Some way she could keep Regina and Henry in her life without risking the Hermit line in her scale if everything fell apart.
"My Christmas wish for you is to enjoy the small, quiet moments with all of those people, to feel grateful for every blessing you have, and to give others a reason to feel grateful too." Archie was saying on the stage. "Happy Holidays."
Archie raised a remote and pointed it at the tree, all white with gold ornaments, to turn on the hundreds of white Christmas lights.
Emma let herself smile a little, because Regina finally looked like she might be enjoying herself, and on her, happy was luminous.
"See." Henry leaned up to whisper to her. "It's boring."
Emma nudged him in the stomach with her elbow.