So this one is a bit long, but it includes both Emma's birthday party; everyone's gifts for Emma; and may or may not include something I think we've all been waiting for! ;)
I hope you enjoy, and please review if you can to spread the love!
Hey Mom. Uh, weird question. Snow wants to know what time everyone should meet here tomorrow...
As Henry expected, his grandmother's phone rang mere seconds later.
The past couple of days had been wonderful, if isolated: Emma had been almost constantly occupied with her Sheriff duties, only having time to stop by to bring Regina a brief lunch every day, and Regina herself had been constantly occupied, as well, continuing her renovations of the animal shelter and splitting her time between there and the stables. The Queen found that while she missed the blonde's presence more than she cared to admit, the texts she received from her throughout the day - Hey, Leroy's here and annoying me: thinking of u! and Omg, y do meetings take SO LONG? - provided her a sense of being cared for, being thought of, being a... friend. And she found herself happy with this, though very excited - and achingly nervous - to finally get to spend good time with the blonde at her birthday festivities...
Which is why Henry was texting her, and why she didn't even bother responding to him, dialing Snow's number instead.
"Regina! I just asked Henry to text you - "
"Oh, I received his text, dear, which is precisely why I'm calling you: I don't want you to think I'm doing it just for the pleasure of hearing your voice." Her tone was dry more than it was dangerous, but there was suppressed rage boiling under the surface. "Don't you ever put my son in the middle of our conflicts again. If you have a question for me, Your Highness, you will ask me."
Henry chewed his cereal slowly, staring at Snow out of the corner of his eye, observing how she looked much like he imagined a rabbit encountering a very hungry fox must look, and he imagined he had a very good idea of what his mom was saying, and how she was saying it. He knew that now - since Operation Phoenix had started - she was much more bark than bite, but he was the one with faith in her, not Snow, and he found the parts of Regina that were inside him unaccountably amused by the younger woman's distress.
"Um, yes, Regina, I'm sorry, I just thought it would be easier to - "
"I'm terribly busy and am not remotely interested in the thought process that led you to use my son as a go-between in our disagreements, Snow. What I am interested in, however, is the fact that you think - after we explicitly discussed otherwise - that Emma's birthday party will be held in your apartment?"
Snow looked to David for help, who shrugged supportively, shaking his head with his eyebrows raised, not knowing what she should say.
"I just thought everyone might be more comfortable - "
"And is this everyone's birthday party, or is it Emma's, Snow?"
"Emma's," she murmured, hearing the approaching victory in Regina's voice and resigning herself to it. She could just see the Queen's smirk.
"Precisely. And, as we've already decided, it would be nice for Emma to have a change of scenery, as well as a bigger, more accommodating space, considering that Henry wants to invite his friends, for her party. Is that not correct?"
"Yes," Snow mumbled, and Henry suppressed a chortle.
"Whose side are you on, kid?" Charming joked to him in a whisper.
Henry shrugged laughingly, and Charming smiled indulgently at the child. Catching on, so did Snow. It was surreal, at best, to be slapped around by Regina regarding what would make her daughter happiest, but at least they were arguing about parties instead of crushed hearts now, right?
"There, then that settles matters. I would like the party to be over by eight so that the children have adequate time to settle down and go to sleep afterwards, so if you feel compelled to come and set things up with me, I'll accept your presence at three o'clock. Sharp. No earlier."
The phone clicked. "Yes, ma'am," Snow muttered into the dial tone.
Around ten that evening, Emma was settling into bed early: it had been a long, frustrating day at the office, and it was Henry's night with Regina. Wanting to respect the two of their time alone together, she had simply come home, slightly tipsy, after the day she'd had, and the day she was not happily anticipating having tomorrow: her birthday was the next day. No one had said anything about it to her: well, no one knew when her birthday was except for Henry, and maybe Regina, if she even remembered what Emma had told her that night they met.
She shouldn't be disappointed that they didn't seem to remember. Henry was just a kid, and Regina really seemed to hate her at the time. And anyway, if Henry's book told it right, her birthday was also the anniversary of the Curse, so if Regina registered the date at all, she probably had other things on her mind.
Sighing deeply, she wondered why she hadn't mentioned it to anyone. She realized with a jolt that she didn't have to wonder: she knew. She was terrified that no one would... care. Her foster parents had always known, but with the exception of a few, no one had really... done anything about it. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her head.
Her phone buzzed.
She flipped it open eagerly after seeing who it was from.
Good night, twenty-eight year old.
Her heart flipped nearly out of her chest. Regina knew?! A smile tore across her face until she realized she didn't know what to type.
Good night - - hey, I don't even know how old u r!
A sufficient layer of humor to protect her from the emotional overflow that was knowing that Regina had remembered her birthday.
Stick around until my birthday and find out, Ms. Swan. Sleep well, now: you want to be rested up for your big day.
Regina smiled as she imagined - accurately - the pleased shock that was running through Emma. This had been part of the plan: Emma would not, Regina had argued, take well to a party that was completely a surprise. But with some tender cushioning, she would have the time of her life.
Big day, huh? I didn't even think anyone knew. And don't think I'm ignoring the part about ur bday. I wanna know when it is!
In good time, my dear. For now, breakfast at Granny's? 7 am too early?
Sounds like the best birthday ever!
Regina smiled broadly. Oh, if she only knew.
Emma was awoken at 6:30 by a text from Regina.
Good morning, twenty-nine year old.
She smiled and stretched contentedly.
Yep. Best birthday ever! See you soon.
She showered and got dressed in a hurry and was out the door before Snow and Charming even had time to be awkward about playing their part of the birthday plan: pretending they had no idea what day it was.
It occurred to Charming as Emma swept out the door excitedly that maybe that was one of the reasons Regina invited her out to breakfast: to make the morning less awkward for he and Snow. He dismissed the thought with a shrug and turned his attention back to the gifts Snow was nudging him to help her wrap.
"Special occasion, ladies?" Ruby asked with an innocent grin as she brought them their breakfasts.
"It's my birthday," Emma told her almost bashfully, and Regina smiled deeply at the way she blushed uncharacteristically.
"Emma!" the wolf-girl shrieked, causing half the diner to jump and turn to her. She waved them away carelessly. "Oh my god, why didn't you tell me? I'll take you out this weekend, okay?"
Emma nodded dazedly, happily.
"You might have overdone it, y'know," Granny chided Ruby lightly in an undertone as the waitress waltzed behind the counter.
"Nah," she shrugged. "Em's so stunned that Regina remembered her day that she's not noticing anything else around her."
Both women turned to the growing couple and nodded in agreement: it certainly did seem that way.
Knowing that Regina remembered her birthday sent Emma spiraling enthusiastically into the day, instead of kicking, screaming, and demanding cocoa and a bear claw. It meant so much more to her than she cared to admit that Regina remembered, and took her out to breakfast, too!
At 3:45, her phone buzzed as she was filing away the last page of a report on security at the bean field.
Emma, I came back home to pick up some supplies, and now my car won't start. I would call Michael, but I thought that if you have time to give me a lift, it might be nice to spend a few minutes with you, since we've both been so busy the past few days.
Emma smiled broadly.
Brt.
Excuse me, Ms. Swan?
Be. Right. There. Your Majesty.
Both women smirked as Regina looked up and told everyone dryly, "She's on her way, and I honestly believe she has no idea."
The children and Ruby giggled gleefully and Ruby chuckled heartily.
The doorbell rang and the living room fell silent.
"Remember," Henry told them all in a hushed voice, readjusting his rainbow birthday hat, "it's Happy birthday, Emma, not surprise. Okay?"
Everyone nodded conspiratorially, Snow with raised eyebrows: he truly was his adoptive mother's son, wasn't he?
Ruby, however, had eyes only for Regina, who stopped briefly in front of the mirror in the hallway to primp her hair, check her lipstick, and - thinking she was unnoticed by any party-goers - bit her lip with her head cocked slightly, as though trying to decide something. Making up her mind, she unbuttoned an extra button of her crisp white blouse, red lace push-up bra producing an impressive amount of cleavage, straining against the remaining buttons. She smoothed her mini-skirt down one final time, and Ruby reflected idly on what a lucky woman Emma was as Regina, apparently satisfied, strutted to answer the door.
An extra hush fell over the surprise attendees as the door opened and they heard brief conversation.
"Wow, you look - uh - wow."
"Indeed," and they all could imagine Regina's pleased and deliberately condescending smirk. "Come in, won't you, while I just gather my things?"
Heels clacking down the hall, following by Emma's boots.
The Queen stepped to the side as soon as Emma entered the living room.
"Happy birthday, Emma!" about a dozen voices rang out, and the blonde froze in the doorway as Henry darted forward to squeeze her and Hansel tried to tiptoe to put a party hat on her.
"No, no, honey, Emma gets this one," Snow stepped forward, smiling, with a plastic purple crown in her hands. "Not exactly the crown I'd imagined, but..." she murmured, to great hilarity.
Ruby grinned widely at Emma as the blonde tried and failed to say something - anything - and Granny stood in the back of the room, observing everything, including Archie's broad smile as his eyes shifted between Regina and Emma; Neal's awkward isolation and incredibly forced smile as he, too, looked repeatedly between Emma and Regina; and Gretel, Grace, and Hansel's nudging of each other excitedly as Charming brought forward a rather large cake with twenty-nine candles, each with a flame of a slightly different hue.
The first words Emma could get out of her mouth were, "I'm not wearing that," pointing to the crown in Snow's hand as an uproar of laughter greeted her words.
"I tried to warn her that you wouldn't, dear, but as is typical, she wouldn't listen," Regina told her lightly, touching her back in support of her, trying to lessen the shock.
"Did you do all this?" Emma asked incredulously, still clinging to Henry as though she needed him to stabilize her (and, indeed, she did).
Regina smiled and looked away silently. "You might want to blow out those candles, dear, before your charming father is blinded by the flames."
Laughter again, but more awkward this time, most present uncomfortable laughing at Regina's quips. Emma's laughter was whole-hearted, however, as Henry detached himself and scurried off to grab a camera.
"Make a wish, Emma!" he called.
Regina asked Michael with her eyes if he'd take the camera from Henry, and, understanding instantly, he nudged the child off to stand with Emma and Regina, the older woman's hand still protectively on the overwhelmed but ecstatically happy younger woman's back.
Tears were flooding Emma's eyes now, and she hid them by bending down to kiss Henry's head again. "I already have my wish, kid," she told him earnestly.
"Well, make another one!" he told her gamely, his smile bigger than she'd ever seen it: his family was together, she realized. Sort of. Not officially. But did that matter?
She looked at Regina intently and closed her eyes as a hush fell over the room. She'd seen people do this in movies, and she'd seen foster siblings do this as she stood alone on the opposite side of crowded rooms. An odd sensation of suddenly participating in something that had always been foreign to her washed over her.
What a weird family, she found herself thinking, staring around the room. There were her parents, looking for all the world like they were her own age, and indeed, they kind of were, given that she'd been roommates with one of them and given them both advice about their blossoming relationship when one of them had been married to another person. A werewolf and her grandmother, who had taken Emma in when she'd had nowhere to go. A librarian who'd been locked up for almost three decades, who now could remember nothing of her life before that, but was rebuilding herself with the help of a new girlfriend and communal events like this one. A human-turned-cricket-turned-human, who had become one of her closest friends and whom she would honestly want Henry to live with if anything ever happened to her and Regina. Regina. The mother of her child, a woman whom she'd sworn at some points to bring down, kill, destroy, and who had tried to put her under a sleeping curse to prevent her from breaking the Curse. Whom she was now beginning to date, to realize that they feared each other so intensely the whole time because they quite possibly could become each other's happiness. Henry, the child who would not have been born if she'd grown up with her parents, and Neal, the man whose lost childhood brought them all together, whose sperm had given Henry to her and Regina. Fairytale children whom Emma had reunited with their father, one of whom her son had a crush on, and one fairy tale child - Grace - whose father (who was conspicuously absent) had once tried to kill her because she couldn't make his magical hat work: until, of course, she touched Regina's arm and - somehow - that connection had torn a whole in reality and connected two realms. Which brought her back, of course, to Regina.
Regina.
She made her wish.
She blew out her candles.
Singing and cheering ensued, and Regina joyfully passed around the cake she'd baked - cutting Snow a smaller piece than everyone else, Emma couldn't help but notice with a small, amused sigh and shake of her head - as Emma tried to wrap her head around her learning that Regina apparently - why would I be surprised? - had a quite melodious singing voice.
Regina found herself wondering what the blonde had wished for, remembering too well what she'd wished for last year, and hoping that this - and her and Henry's gifts later - qualified as fulfilling her wish, if a year late.
The sounds of Mario Kart and music from Henry's laptop accompanied shouts of laughter and squeals of delight. Snow looked particularly weepy eyed for most of the afternoon, and Charming had to excuse himself several times, as it was the first time celebrating their daughter's birth aside from that desperate, pre-death kiss they'd shared immediately after she was born.
Emma stuck to Regina's side for most of the party, insisting on helping her with food and drinks, remembering what had happened last time they'd all attended a celebration together.
But Gretel and Grace stole Emma's attention and separated she and Regina for a few moments, leaving Regina alone to stare around the room and simply... think.
She looked at Archie, laughing with Michael as they scooted around the Mario Kart track, and thought about her mother, who had framed her for his not-murder.
You wanted me broken.
She stared at Ruby and Belle, who were talking animatedly to Henry and Hansel, and thought about what it felt like to feel responsible for your lover's death, even if it had been out of your control.
Love is weakness, Regina.
She gazed, transfixed, at the happiness of Gretel and Grace, the excitedness with which they were talking to Emma, and she thought of the childhoods she had taken away from each of them.
I made a wish on this cupcake I bought myself... to not be alone on my birthday.
She shifted her eyes to Snow and Charming, who were also watching Emma, with their arms around each other, obviously pleased with the day but silently mourning the years she'd taken from them. From their daughter. From the woman she was now courting.
I will destroy your happiness: if it is the last thing I do.
With a jolt, she said to no one in particular that she was going to get refreshers for everyone's drinks, heels clacking somewhat unsteadily into the kitchen. She thought no one would notice.
Emma did.
Again.
As soon as she could extract herself from Gretel and Grace, she followed.
She was greeted by a view of Regina's back, bent over a drink tray. Soft bursts of heart-wrenching sobs wracked the brunette's form. Emma was across the kitchen in two strides, reaching to touch the Queen's waist but hesitating, unsure if she'd welcome the touch.
"Regina?" she asked, as softly as she could. The older woman jumped at the sound, straightening immediately and catching her breath.
"Emma," she clipped, desperately trying to hide the quaking in her voice. "You should be out there enjoying the festivities."
"I'm not gonna enjoy anything if you're in here crying," the blonde responded earnestly, not wanting to embarrass her, but not willing to leave unacknowledged the fact that she'd been weeping. She reached gently for Regina's arm, which the brunette ripped away, turning her back again.
"You don't have to say things like that just because you're supposed to be some great Savior," Regina snapped, tears coating her accusation. Emma blinked.
"Regina, that's not..." Laughter erupted from the living room, and suddenly Emma understood what had driven the Queen into the kitchen, alone, with tears to cry and grief to let out. "Regina, please - "
"No!" the Queen insisted, control that she'd been working so hard to hone over the past week or so rapidly coming undone. "I don't get to have your compassion! I'm the reason you've never had any of this, Emma. And when I finally try to make things better, what do I get? My mother dead in my arms, like Daniel all those years ago! And don't you think I feel just a little disloyal that I am so childishly pursuing you, you of all people, the daughter of the woman who is responsible for so innocently causing someone else to murder both Daniel and my mother? So this, Ms. Swan, is what I deserve: not your compassion, not your affection, not your straight-laced fairy tale hero sanctimoniousness. Because this is all I've ever done: ripped children away from their parents! Hansel, Gretel, Grace. Pinnochio. You."
She paused briefly for breath and Emma took her chance before it passed. "Listen, I don't know what sanctiwhatsit means, but what I do know is that you're not making sense."
"Ms. Swan, if you're going to insist on - "
"No, Regina, damnit, hear me out. You say you deserve to be all alone in this damned kitchen, fine, whatever, I get why you'd say that if you really want to flagellate yourself - yeah, be impressed, I know some words. But if you're insisting on punishing yourself, or the universe punishing you - which I don't think you deserve anyway, but let's put that on the side for now - isn't losing Daniel and your mother punishment enough? And listen, Snow might have given birth to me, but I consider her family because she trusted me and took me in when I didn't have anywhere, not because she's some mothery figure to me. So if you're not comfortable pursuing me because of her connection to so much misery in your life, I respect that, but if you want this, you're just giving yourself more punishment you don't deserve - "
"Don't deserve? Have you not been paying attention, Sheriff Swan? I am exactly the reason you didn't have any parental figures - "
"You. Didn't. Put. Me. In. That. Wardrobe." Their faces were impossibly close together, a discomfort both women were oddly at home in, rage pouring through both of their eyes: Regina's rage, at herself, Emma's rage, at the world for working so hard to break this woman in front of her.
"I made the wardrobe necessary, Emma: must we always fall back into this tedious game of circular logic?" Her voice shook as she tried and failed not to raise it too loudly, and the fear in her anger forcefully reminded Emma of another time they had fought like this, face to face, both needing the same thing, but not quite recognizing it yet.
Yes, lecture me until his oxygen runs out!
Remembering this, Emma also knew that they were on the cusp of bridging the gap, the edge of understanding, approaching the point of no return, their relationship irrevocably changing, even if both refused to admit it.
What do you need me to do?
Help me.
"Yeah, we do have to do this, if you're gonna keep insisting that you're someone you're not." Regina rolled her eyes at her, and Emma lost her volume control, voice rising to match what Regina's had been a moment ago. "We all deserve as many chances as we need until the world stops fucking us over, Regina! And I've got some other news for you, Your Majesty; I know everyone likes to say that this Curse thing was the worst thing ever, but look at Ruby! Look at Archie! If Henry's book tells it right, they spent all their lives in that damned forest either being lied to or repenting, over and over and over. Here, they got to start again."
Regina blinked and her lips parted slightly. Unable to stop now that she'd begun, Emma pressed on. "And me! I don't want to be a princess, Regina: I would have been miserable growing up in that life! And I'm not even going to talk about the fact that Henry wouldn't have even been born without you. And..." she paused, lowering her voice intimately, catching her breath and her emotions. "... and without that Curse, we wouldn't be possible."
For the first time since Emma began her rant, Regina stared into her eyes with something akin to awe. Two tears slid out of her unblinking eyes as Emma touch her elbows gently, as the older woman had crossed her arms across her chest defensively when their confrontation began.
Emma continued softly. "So yeah, Regina, we actually must always fall back into this tedious game of circular logic, until you understand that you are an amazing person, and becoming moreso every day. I gave up on you once, and I'm damned if I'm ever gonna do it again, even if you tell me I should. Unless you ever don't want me, in which case I'll leave and quietly wait forever for you."
Silence.
Silence.
More silence.
Their eyes never left each other.
Henry's head appeared above Hansel's, which was stacked below Gretel's, which was tucked under Grace's chin, all in a row in the doorway. They blinked almost in unison and held their breath collectively.
Then.
"I didn't know you were capable of listening so closely that you could repeat my words verbatim, Ms. Swan. I must say, I'm impressed." Her words were biting, but her tone utterly lacked cruelty. Emma tossed up her hands incredulously.
"Really, Regina? Out of everything I just said, that's what you're going with?"
The children gulped in unison as they awaited Regina's response to Emma's exasperation.
They were utterly bewildered when both women burst into laughter a repeat of their hysterics after their almost-kiss the other morning. Henry was especially amazed, never having seen a grown-up make his mother laugh so. Regina fell forward into Emma's chest, laughing until tears squeezed out of screwed-shut eyes, and the children realized with another round of surprise that Regina's shaking from laughter had become uncontrollable sobs, full of the grief of letting go, the acute pain that accompanies sweet relief.
Emma seemed utterly unsurprised, kissing Regina's hair and cooing soothing words into her ear while her arms held her close and her hands kept her breathing.
Charming appeared behind the stack of confused children and shooed them away silently, his heart twinging strangely as he watched his daughter comfort the woman who had spent entire lifetimes trying to destroy his love. His heart ached for the years he'd lost with his child, but he never felt as strongly as he did in that moment that he and Snow had done the right thing in sending her away. Look how she'd turned out. Absolutely beautiful.
Regina sniffed - somehow, with dignity - as she pulled back from Emma's chest and looked into her eyes.
"Some birthday I'm giving you," she muttered apologetically.
"Hey," Emma chided firmly, taking Regina's face into her hands and swiping away her tears with her thumbs, "this is the best birthday I've ever had." She put a gentle finger in front of te brunette's lips as the older woman opened her mouth to protest. "And no, not because of the Curse. Because I've never spent my birthday with the two people I care about most. And I wouldn't have either of you without the Curse."
Charming cleared his throat as the Emma tilted her mouth lower, the better to allow Regina to kiss her, if she wanted to. It was certainly what Emma wanted.
Until she registered that Charming was standing behind them.
Fucking twat-block, Emma thought, supremely irritated, as Regina spun around to wipe her tears and fix her slightly running make-up with dignity.
"Sorry, Emma, but your mom might have a coronary if you don't come out here to open your presents." He smiled apologetically. "We're both really excited."
She nodded dazedly. "Uh, right. Presents. Be out in a second."
He disappeared from the doorway and she turned back to Regina tentatively.
"Regina, I'm - "
"No matter, dear. Your mother cannot resist her tendency to insert herself into my most intimate affairs, I suppose, just as I cannot resist taking my own little victories over her in every way I can. Which is, I assure you, often unsatisfactorily simple."
Emma chuckled as Regina, exuding renewed confidence, strutted past her out into the living room, twitching her ass in her miniskirt a little more than normal for Emma's benefit. Emma whistled very softly, and Regina smirked but pretended not to notice.
"So, uh, how does his work?" Emma asked awkwardly.
"Sit down," Snow encouraged enthusiastically, pointing Emma into the most throne-like seat Regina had. Emma glanced at her, and Regina - standing alone behind everyone, arms crossed, ghost of a smirk on her face - simply cocked one eyebrow and shook her head in amused annoyance. Emma smiled and sat down, the children crowding around her feet, each with presents in their hands, almost bursting with excitement.
"Kids first!" Hansel exclaimed as the adults sat down on couches beside and behind them, earning a magnificent smile from Henry. He blushed and Emma raised her eyebrows at Regina once, who smiled broadly and returned the gesture.
Gretel gave Emma a wood carving her father had taught her to whittle of a young woman with flowing hair, a sword in her hand and boots on her feet that looked remarkably like Emma's. So did the smirk on her face, and the leather jacket gracing her upper body. It was excellent work, and Emma adored it. Gretel beamed.
Hansel's gift was the biggest cupcake that Emma had ever seen, topped with an enormous amount of rainbow frosting, and he proudly proclaimed that he baked it without any help.
Grace had drawn Emma a stunningly accurate map of the Enchanted Forest, knowing of the bean fields and thinking it would come in handy if and when they returned. Regina raised her eyebrows in the back of the room, impressed.
Henry insisted on being skipped and going last, and Emma noticed the conspiratorial glance he shared across the room with Regina, who winked at him and mouthed, "that's my boy."
Archie gifted Emma with a large supply of Apollo bars and a compass, telling her sweetly that she had helped him find his way, and he hoped his gift would remind her of his gratitude. Emma surprised everyone - herself included - by hugging him long and tight.
Ruby slipped Emma a neatly wrapped package from she and Belle that they both said she should unwrap later, not in front of the children. In her bedroom. Not necessarily alone.
"Thank you, Ruby," Charming interrupted awkwardly, and Emma flushed red as Ruby and Belle both shrugged unapologetically and told Emma to enjoy. Ruby turned around and winked at Regina, and Emma thought she had a fair idea of what they'd gotten her. She winked her thanks at both of them.
Michael gave Emma a voucher for a revamp of her car, which had been stalling a lot on her lately. Emma laughed as she saw Regina roll her eyes at him - still pretending to hate that yellow bug - in the background, unseen by anyone but her.
Neal awkwardly passed his gift forward to Emma, his eyes down as she opened it. She pursed her lips as she saw that it was the dream catcher they'd found in that motel room. She took a deep breath and offered him a cordial thank you, thinking she would give it to Henry as a nice addition to his bedroom.
Snow and Charming came forward with several packages, some very oddly shaped, all well wrapped. Regina's lips were thin as a pencil line in the back of the room, and Emma looked over their shoulders to offer her a small smile of reassurance.
Charming's first sword. Horse riding gear that, Emma was grateful, resembled Regina's more than anything more overtly feminine. A necklace that Snow said belonged to her mother. Regina stiffened terribly in the back of the room as Henry crawled away subtly to hold her hand. Emma winked at him gratefully as she reflected sadly that they'd probably planned on giving Emma this necklace on a birthday much earlier than her twenty-ninth.
The last gift - Emma was weary of parental emotions by now, and was pleased to be on the last one, not knowing if she could control her tears much longer (Snow and especially Charming certainly weren't even trying to stem the flow) - Emma opened with some trepidation, wondering how much more emotional things could possibly get.
A new toaster.
The blonde erupted into hysterical laughter as Snow laughed along, all the while trying to tell the story of Emma taking out her frustration on their last one. She graciously left out the part that it had been anger at Regina that Emma had been venting.
When the laughter subsided, an odd hush swept over the room as Regina came forward with Henry. Emma's heart stopped as she wondered what this woman possibly would give her.
She held out a pristine manilla envelope, and Emma furrowed her brow in confusion.
"Opening it might alleviate some of that lack of understanding, Ms. Swan," Regina told her evenly. Fake-glaring at her, Emma looked inside.
Her heart leapt and her stomach dropped as though she were on a rapidly descending roller coaster.
"Regina," she whispered.
"What is it?" Gretel prompted eagerly.
"Adoption papers," Emma whispered. "You..." She looked up at Regina incredulously as Neal, Snow, and Charming shifted uncertainly. Archie, on the other hand, smiled. He had discussed this at length with Regina, and was pleased she had followed through. Not that he had doubted she would, but he had thought she would do it a little more privately. Perhaps her desire to rub her and Emma's budding relationship in Snow's face was a little stronger than she'd suggested. Maybe they'd discuss it in their next session. He shook his head in happy exasperation.
"Henry and I have discussed it at length, and we decided - with your consent, of course, and there are many forms for you to fill out - that we would like to file to reverse the status of Henry's adoption so that you can go through the process of his becoming legally yours." She paused, taking a deep breath. "Ours."
"Regina," Emma breathed again. Regina merely beamed.
"Open mine next!" Henry told her, scrambling forward to present Emma with a rather large box.
Her brow furrowed again, unable to figure out what it was. She opened it.
A box.
In another box.
In another box, in another box, in another box, in another box, in another box.
"Kid, what the hell - "
All the children, and even Regina, were engaged in intense giggle fits, and Henry couldn't give Emma a coherent answer even if he wanted to. She gamely pressed on.
More boxes. They were all painted different colors, and she wondered how long Henry had worked on this. She also wondered if there was actually anything inside.
There was. A tiny, simple, unpainted box, with cotton inside it. She sifted through the cotton curiously, not thinking she would have struck Henry as the jewelry type. But it wasn't jewelry.
It was a key.
Eyes only for Regina, Emma looked up in shock.
"It was Henry's idea," the older woman whispered affectionately.
"I want to live with both my moms," he muttered, somewhat bashfully.
Snow opened her mouth, but Red reached out and put her hand on hers, shaking her head slightly. Later, she mouthed gently. Snow sighed, resigned.
Archie watched Emma's face closely as tears welled in her eyes. She scooped her son into her arms and kissed him fiercely on the head.
"More cake?" Snow asked everyone, high-pitched. Regina rolled her eyes - Emma had lost track of how many times she'd done so today and wondered vaguely how she wasn't dizzy by now - but accommodated her, turning the music back on and dolling out more cake to very eager children and their adult friends.
Henry had gone home with David and Snow more willingly than Emma might have thought when the party wrapped up, and she was surprised by this until he saw the wink he gave Regina and heard him whispered "Good luck!" to her.
Little rascal, she thought, realizing that he probably had been conspiring with Regina this whole time, to do... what, exactly?
"Are you alright, Emma? I hope the party wasn't overwhelming," Regina said as she closed the door behind the last of the guests.
"Yeah, I'm great, it was... thank you."
Regina merely smiled.
"Put on a jacket: I have one more gift for you," she commanded happily.
Stunned into obedience, Emma complied, and Regina skillfully ignored all her questions as she drove them to the edge of the forest.
"Hey, isn't this where we took the kids for Grace's birthday? I mean, the same path?"
"Do you have any objections?" Regina asked lightly, hiding her panic in the mildness of her question.
"No, no, not at all, I just... I'm trying to figure out what we're doing."
"Indeed," Regina murmured as she let the question drop and continued forward. Her hand reached for Emma's in the growing darkness as she heard the blonde stumble - again. Electricity sparked between their hands as Emma regained her balance - "damn roots," she muttered, and Regina rolled her eyes affectionately - and kept Regina's hand in hers, opening her fingers so they could intertwine with the brunette's. Regina's arm tensed momentarily.
Then love again.
She relaxed and let herself enjoy the connection.
The rest of the walk was silent, both women immensely enjoying the deep quiet - interrupted only by crickets, owls, and the sound of their footsteps on fresh earth - and their hand-holding.
Regina broke the silence reluctantly, but knew it was necessary if her gift was to be most impactful.
She stopped walking. "Emma, I..." Emma furrowed her brow, unused to hearing the Queen stammer.
"I'm afraid I need to blindfold you."
There didn't need to be much light left in the forest - the sun had all but set, remaining only in a few isolated streaks of deep red in the lowest regions of the sky - for Emma to see Regina's blush, and she felt heat cascading through her core at what she knew they were both thinking.
"Gee, Regina, you could ask me out to dinner first," Emma teased, her eyes drifting down to the older woman's lips.
"I believe I have," Regina flirted back, not missing a beat, and took a step closer to Emma as she removed a black satin blindfold from her pocket, which Emma deeply suspected was magicked to be bigger on the inside.
She licked her lips seductively as she raised her hands to Emma's face, asking with her eyes if it was alright with her.
"I'm game for absolutely anything you are, Your Majesty," Emma told her huskily.
Regina smiled enigmatically and slipped the blindfold over Emma's eyes, tightening it gently behind her head. She leaned in close to her ear. "We're very nearly there. No peaking, now."
Emma swallowed a groan of arousal - just barely - as Regina slid one hand around her waist and the other taking her hand, guiding her, talking her through each step, each root, each fallen branch, until, a minute or so later, she seemed satisfied with their location. She guided Emma forward to a smooth area of grass, and the blonde wondered aloud why the blindfold was necessary: wasn't this the lake they'd gone ice skating on? She knew what it looked like...
Regina said nothing, merely smiling as she raised her hands to remove the blindfold.
Magnificent swirls of light greeted Emma as she opened her eyes dazedly. The lake had become a pool of softly spiraling greens, beautifully billowing reds, and deep hues of floating purples that collectively put the Aurora Borealis to shame. The lights seemed to be emanating from inside the lake itself, still mostly frozen, but with elegant rainbows of undulating colors seeping out from cracks where water bled through, all regally reaching up towards the sky, mixing with the deep blue of dusk and shining off of the thousands of stars that were just achieving tonight's visibility. The trees surrounding the lake danced in the light that the women were bathing in, and the grass itself emanated an ethereal glow that seemed to Emma to say, simply, always.
The younger woman stepped forward, lips parted in awe, staring out at the lake as Regina stared at her, a soft smile gracing her features.
"What is it?" Emma asked softly, eyes feasting on the radiant beauty before her, speaking reverently as though in the presence of something numinous. And, indeed, she was.
"Magic," Regina whispered, moving closer to Emma and still not taking her eyes off of her. She had never seen the younger woman so relaxed, so moved, so peaceful. "Gold brought magic to Storybrooke by means of a True Love potion. I told you earlier that the magic had interacted with this lake, and it has: you're seeing what True Love would look like, if we could see it with our eyes."
"It's beautiful," Emma breathed passionately, and Regina banished all notions of love being weakness, eyes unable to move from the blonde's face, seeing the lights illuminating her features, dancing on her enraptured form perfectly.
"Yes, it is," Regina answered softly, eyes only for Emma.
Emma smiled. She took a deep breath and tried to absorb as much courage as possible from the beauty surrounding her. "Is that why the hat worked when I touched you, Regina? Way back with the wraith? Because True Love is magic?"
Regina's heart skipped several beats as the blonde turned to look at her.
"Wow," Emma whispered, almost having forgotten she'd asked such a life-altering question. The interactions of the glowing lake on Regina's skin was more beautiful than the younger woman could ever have imagined anything in the universe being. It was as though the lights weren't radiating from the lake at all, but from Regina's very soul. And, perhaps, they were.
"You are so beautiful," Emma murmured reverently, taking Regina's hands into hers, almost afraid to touch her face and contaminate the perfection of the glow.
"Yes," Regina whispered, terrified of what could come next - of scaring Emma away - but knowing that she needed to, that Emma was right: all of her life, all of her anguish, all of her agony, all of it created her ability to cast the Curse, and the Curse created their ability to have Henry, to have each other. It wasn't a justification, but it was a comfort. And anyway, Emma had been the one to ask the question.
Emma's brow furrowed and Regina's stomach twisted. "Gee, Regina, a 'thank you' usually works just fine - " A lopsided smile formed on Emma's face, and understanding rushed through Regina's brain.
"No," she laughed softly. "I mean, thank you for calling me beautiful. So are you." Emma marveled at how open her voice sounded, and even Regina paused: she hadn't heard herself sound this way since... Daniel. "But I was answering your question: yes, we opened the portal when you touched me because True Love is the only magic powerful enough to transcend realms, to create magic even in a world that used to have none."
A tear tracked down Emma's face as she smiled incredulously at the woman in front of her. Light from the lake glistened off of it, making it the most beautiful tear Regina had ever seen.
"So this is... this is real," Emma whispered. "You're real. What I've been feeling is... real."
Regina's heart quaked. She needed to hear it. "And what is it that you've been feeling, Emma?"
The younger woman simply smiled, touching Regina's face with her hands and slowly, passionately, tenderly, kissing her forehead; temples; cheek bones; cheeks; nose; bridge of her nose; eyebrows; space between her eyebrows; eyelids; cheeks again; jawline; chin.
Both of their breaths hitched as Regina closed the gap between their bodies, shifting forward so that their forms were flush against each other, toe to toe, thigh to thigh, breasts to breasts, her hands on Emma's waist as Emma's hands tangled in her hair.
Though she had asked the question, Regina suddenly felt it unnecessary to hear the words, Emma having already responded with something so much more powerful. But she felt the need to say it herself. She placed her own kiss on Emma's nose, kissed her tear away, and took in her forest eyes, basking in the warmth of the lake's glow and the colors of stars being born dancing miracles on both of their faces.
"I love you, Emma Swan," she whispered, a radiant smile lighting up her face more than any magic - other than that which she shared with Emma and Henry - ever could.
Emma's pupils dilated wildly as she almost giggled with glee at hearing words that normally meant little to her, but between she and this woman, that meant entire histories coming together and creating the kind of affirmation that broke Curses, healed wounds, restored life, and created happiness. "I love you too, Regina Mills," Emma breathed, pouring her soul into each syllable.
The colors of the lake intensified as the words escaped her lips, reds becoming more starlike, purples ripening, greens blossoming as their breaths mingled like a life-giving windstorm in the slowly collapsing space between their mouths.
Regina's eyes fluttered closed as their lips finally met somewhere outside of their dreams, Emma smiling into the kiss as Regina's mouth opened willingly for her tongue. In the abundance of light surrounding them, neither woman noticed the golden thread that emanated from their lips, circling out throughout the entire town, resonating strongly at the town line and shattering the remnants of the Curse keeping Storybrooke residents trapped there.
Unaware and unconcerned with the rest of the world, Regina moaned softly into their kiss, the small sound the most beautiful and erotic thing Emma had ever heard. Her own groan echoed in Regina's mouth, reverberating in their dancing tongues, Emma exploring tastes she'd only ever dreamed about and Regina lost in the ecstatic sensation of being kissed so tenderly, so fully, so lovingly.
The older woman's tongue flickered across the mouth of the woman who was becoming her lover, moistening her slowly swelling lips as gentle love and passion fleshed out into heady desire and need, their hands roaming each other's bodies more freely, hips beginning to grind more desperately into each other, tongues clashing heavier inside both of their mouths, teeth emerging more often to claim plump lower lips and set still hotter fires in each others' cores.
"I want you," Regina whispered huskily as she bent her head lower to take the soft skin of Emma's neck into her mouth, biting down slightly underneath her ear as the blonde groaned.
"You sure?" Emma asked, her hands traveling from where they'd been exploring Regina's waist to the older woman's face, summoning up every ounce of control she had to still her body and stare into her darkened eyes.
"Are you going to run afterwards?" Regina asked, voice weighted with lust and residual pain, seeking healing.
"No," Emma answered immediately, truthfully, and answered the other question - too scary to ask - in Regina's eyes. "And I'm not going to get hurt, either," she assured her, eyes returning to Regina's lips as they both smiled, breathless. Seeing the reassurance she'd sought to provide glowing along with the enhanced colors from the lake in Regina's eyes, Emma's hands trailed back down her body, finding and highlighting every curve as she did so.
"Now, you were asking me for something?" she seduced, eyes darkening again as she took in the sexed disarray already evident on Regina's clothes and hair.
"Oh, I wasn't asking, Emma Swan," Regina whispered back, nipping at Emma's ear lustily as she pulled them both down to the ground, "I was telling."
Emma grinned headily, but realized what the brunette was doing and stopped. "Wait," she said, and the older woman immediately froze, clearly terrified. Emma kissed her lips reassuringly as she took off her coat, spreading it on the ground at their feet.
Tears of stunned appreciation flooded Regina's eyes as Emma grinned proudly at her. Without warning, Regina took the blonde's face into her hands and crashed their lips together, heat shuttling between them like a furnace, the lights of the lake burning like a supernovae.
She pulled Emma down on top of her with incredible agility and grace, both freezing at the intensity of the feeling of Emma's weight on top of Regina's body, legs intertwined and chests heaving with desperate arousal. Emma pushed herself up on one arm as she swiped the thumb of her other hand across Regina's lips, returning the brunette's excited smile before bringing her mouth down hard on Regina's, lips parted to allow their tongues to wage the war that their resistant and terrified hearts used to.
Emma ground her hips down into Regina's, willingness to control her need to fuck this woman senseless broken by the way Regina's fingers were snaking through her belt loops and bringing their bodies together, tilting her head up to grant Emma's hungry mouth access to her throat, Regina tugging successfully at the blonde's shirt all the while.
The moan that came from Regina's throat as she ran her fingers down Emma's newly bare skin set Emma's body alight, spurring her to lean back on her knees as Regina rose pliantly with her, connecting their mouths as though the feeling of each other's lips were keeping them both alive, Emma's trembling fingers rapidly unfastening each button of Regina's blouse. Regina's hands snaked behind Emma's back and made quick work of her bra, both women collapsing back on top of each other, now topless, though Emma promised herself she'd devote more time to the beauty of Regina's lingerie at another time.
Regina's desperate hands fumbled along Emma's belt line. "Please," she implored the blonde, who smiled and slid out of her jeans, bringing her underwear along with them, asking Regina with her eyes if it was alright to undress her fully, as well. In answer, the brunette slid out of her own miniskirt, leaving on only her heels as Emma climbed back on top of her.
Fully expecting the sex to proceed at a wild pace now that they were both essentially out of their troublesome clothing, Regina's breath hitched as Emma froze above her, their bodies connected, but Emma's stilled. Swooping down gently to capture her lips, Emma's tongue luxuriously mapped the inside of Regina's mouth as one of her hands explored the soft richness of her skin. "I love you," she whispered again, sliding her tongue down the older woman's collarbone erotically, kissing every centimeter of skin she was seeing and touching for the first time.
Tracing her entire body with kisses as she had done with her face, Emma slowly made her way down Regina's body, the older woman's stunned hands running across her naked back and through her blonde mane, a single tear sliding down the side of her face as she realized no one save Daniel had ever truly made love to her as the blonde was doing now.
She screamed out with pleasure as Emma bit down gently on her stomach, feeling the younger woman's smile against her skin.
"May I? Please? I've wanted to for so long. If you want," Emma whispered headily, looking up at Regina, poised above her dripping cunt eagerly.
"Emma," was the only thing Regina could manage, pressing Emma's head down slightly as her form of permission. The blonde smiled and licked her lips, placing a very soft kiss on her cunt, eyes locked into Regina's.
"You are beautiful," she told her before allowing her tongue to slide through Regina's soaked core, her own moans of pleasure eliciting screams of ecstasy from the older woman as she slid two fingers inside her, keeping dedicated pressure on her clit with her tongue, lips, and, occasionally, gently, teeth. Regina's hips arched up into the blonde's mouth as her fingers tangled in her hair.
"Let go, Regina," Emma whispered into her cunt, and - for once - Regina listened, the combination of Emma's skilled pumping with her fingers - adding a third as Regina spread her legs wider - and ministrations of her tongue on exactly the right spot sent her entire body rigid, a scream of pure bliss ripping through her throat, Emma's name on her lips as her new lover helped her ride through every wave of the most intense orgasm she'd ever had.
Emma marked Regina's final shockwave with another firm, sweet kiss on her clit, sliding her fingers out of her delicately and licking them clean with relish. She gently crawled up Regina's body, smile radiating from her every pore as the colors from the lake shone ecstatically, leaning down on top of her protectively, placing one hand behind her head and using the other to brace her weight. She kissed her nose softly.
"I love you," Regina whispered, eyes still fluttered closed, hand running tenderly through the blonde's hair.
She felt Emma's shiver of delight, and it ran through her core. She felt Emma's own soaked center dripping down onto her thigh and grinned wickedly.
"'Gina, you can rest, just enjoy," Emma began, reading her look accurately.
"Oh, I am enjoying," Regina flirted dangerously, eyes sparkling as she flipped Emma over - the blonde's pleased groan egging her on - and slammed her wrists above her head lightning fast, holding them down with one hand as the other snaked down the blonde's body, exploring every curve she could reach happily.
"You, my dear, are flawless," she whispered, affection dripping with lust, into the blonde's ear as she ground her hips into Emma's.
"Reginaaa," Emma groaned helplessly, happily, her hips asking her question for her.
Never one to disappoint - unless she wanted to, and she so did not - Regina slid perfectly manicured fingertips deeply into Emma's cunt, the blonde thrusting desperately into Regina's hand. Regina's palm pressured Emma's clit as her own arching hips pushed her fingers deeper down inside the blonde, bringing them both close to climax - again.
Her hands tightened on Emma's wrists, pleased that Emma wasn't too tall for this to work, as she felt the blonde's body lose complete control. She smiled wildly and brought her lips crashing down on her love's, devouring Emma's orgasmic scream with her mouth and with her soul, kissing every part of her face softly as she pumped inside Emma in perfect timing to the powerful pulsations that were rocking her entire body. "I love you, Emma," she whispered as the younger woman came completely undone, murmuring Regina's name over and over again as she slowly came down from the skies they'd just ridden together.
Neither woman slept that night, and they were grateful they were in the middle of nowhere in the forest, their screams of ecstasy disturbing none but the crickets and owls, who didn't seem to mind, the lights of the lake gleaming and warming their sweat-glistening bodies the whole night through, intensifying each of the many times the lovers brought each other to the brink of consciousness with the power of yet another orgasm.
They dozed, finally, as the sun began to creep out, the magnificent reds and oranges of the sunrise wafting through the trees on the horizon. Their bodies were entangled, Regina wrapped up in Emma's arms, one of which was serving as her pillow, her own arms wrapped protectively around the blonde's waist. She knew the magic of the lake would protect them - had protected them all night - from any unwanted onlookers or intruders, and, kissing Emma's temples gently and telling her sleepy form, again, that she loved her, she let herself sleep, happier than she had ever been.