It was Saturday evening and Regina was laying on the couch trying to soothe a throbbing headache. Emma had left for a business trip, a couple of days ago and she wouldn't be back until Sunday evening. Thus, the boys stayed with her, something that she didn't mind up until now that they started fighting. Henry had been cranky all day because he had planned a date with Violet and she had cancelled the last minute so he thought that it would be best if he lashed out on Colin. Regina tried to defend her younger son but Colin, as a true Swan, didn't let Regina take part on this and threw himself on Henry. Then, Ezra tired of his brothers fighting, threw two cushions at them but that didn't help at all. And now all three of them were shouting at each other.
"Okay, that's enough" Regina yelled, catching their attention. "I want each one of you to go to your bedroom and you won't come out until dinner is ready." She announced in her best mom voice.
"That's stupid. What are we eight?" Colin sassed earning a raised eyebrow from Regina.
"I'm not going to my bedroom," Ezra stated and in order to make his point he sat down on the floor, with his arm crossed.
"Don't make me call your mother," Regina warned.
"Emma's away, she can't really do anything." Henry shrugged and sat on the floor, mimicking his younger brother.
"It's not our problem if Violet got bored of Henry, anyway," Colin remarked, provoking his brother.
"And it's not my problem you're the middle kid and no one pays attention to you." Henry spat, knowing that he went too far, but he wasn't ready to back down.
"You crossed the line, all of you," Regina said with a raised voice.
"Now, Henry, go to the kitchen, Colin, come with me and Ezra stay here," Regina commanded but of course the boys wouldn't make it easy for her.
"I wanna go to the kitchen," Colin whined and Regina rolled her eyes. She really hated Emma at this moment.
"Do as I say. All of you." Regina said in a voice that left no room for discussion. The boys, knowing that they had pissed off their mother, complied.
Αfter making some calls, Regina summoned all her sons back in the living room.
"Alright, I talked to your grandparents and Graham and we decided that one of you will stay at grandma Cora's house, one of you at Mary Margaret's and one of you at Graham's.
"I wanna go to Nate's" Colin demanded.
"He's out of town, with your mother, baby. The only available choices we have, given the short notice I gave them, are these three. And since I know that sending all three of you to the same house will not help, grandma Cora thought it would be best if you stayed at separated houses tonight. So, in this bowl, I have the three options and each one of you will pick a piece of paper. Ezra, would you like to start?" Regina asked rhetorically before letting the bowl in front of him. Ezra, after ruffling them a bit, picked a piece of paper.
"Grandpa David's" he announced, pumping his fist in the air. Colin made a huff, but he didn't complain. He wanted to go to Mary Margaret's house as she was the only one out of the whole family to spoil them the most.
"Colin, your turn," Regina informed, passing him the bowl. "Ezra go upstairs to get ready." She ordered her youngest son who simply nodded before leaving the room.
"Grandma Cora's," The boy said, not as enthusiastically as his other brother, but he was still happy.
"So that leaves me with Graham." Henry mumbled but when Colin left the room he gave his mother a big smile before saying "Awesome!"
"I thought you didn't want to stay with Graham's?" Regina asked confused.
"Are you kidding me? Graham has a home cinema, hundreds of video games and three different game consoles. Plus Ana cooks amazing, so if she's there she'll definitely cook something for me. And if not, Graham will order pizza, so I guess I win." He grinned in triumph.
"Don't tell Colin." Regina only told him, before going upstairs to help her sons.
An hour later, Regina was again on the couch, with no headache this time and a glass of wine by her side, while flicking through different channels absentmindedly. This was one of the few weekends that the boys stayed with her and of course, they had to ruin it. Sighing, she grabbed her phone, where she found one new message from the mysterious woman that had stolen her heart.
"Hey beautiful, how are you?"
Regina's whole face cracked into a big smile before typing;
"Hello dear, I am fine, what about you?"
The response from the other woman came quickly, making Regina's stomach flutter. Even though the other woman was at a very important meeting, she still found some time to text to Regina.
"Stuck at work :/ You know how these big ass meetings are; neither sides back down so they keep us, the sweet innocent lawyers, trapped in a meeting room."
"I can imagine, dear. But don't worry, my evening was no better. My sons decided that they should give me a hard time today, so for over an hour they were arguing about something that I can't even remember now."
"Oh, that must have been tough. Kids can be really cranky when you don't do things their way. I've learned that the hard way."
"I know but my boys seem to pick up a fight for the most stupid reasons. It's like they're doing it on purpose. Anyway, I don't really want to discuss this. I'm supposed to have a quiet evening in, all by myself." Regina admitted.
"Τhat sounds wonderful. I wish I was at home too, with a bottle of wine and/or some good company ;)"
"My, my does the 'Savior' prefer an evening at home with the 'Evil Queen'?"
"I wouldn't say no to that ;)"
"Me either dear. But I feel that right now, you really have to focus on the meeting. I don't want to be the reason you agreed with something that you shouldn't"
"And I feel like the 'Evil Queen' is trying to get rid of me." Emma teased.
"Never"
"Oh, so you do like my company."
"I never said that I don't. But you should get back at work. When you finish later, you can text me. I'm not going anywhere, anyway."
"Fine * pouts *. I'll text you when I finish this meeting."
Regina saw the last message and she was about to place her phone on the table when a second message followed the first one.
"And for the record, I really do enjoy talking to you, too."
Τhe saviour clearly had her ways, Regina thought in amusement before deciding that the best way to spend her evening would be by watching a movie, something that was not Disney or Marvel for once. Staying home alone had its perks.
The movie was playing for a little less than an hour and Regina was curled comfortably in the couch, along with her favourite blanket, which Emma had picked for her last Christmas, a glass of wine and some popcorns. So when she heard the doorbell ringing she was beyond confused. She couldn't remember making plans with anyone. Frowning, she paused the movie and headed towards the front door. Before doing so she checked herself in the mirror that was hanging in the living room in order to look somewhat presentable. Deeming that she was indeed looking good, she opened the door coming face to face with Belle, Ruby, Kathryn and Zelena.
"What are you doing here?" She asked all four of them before looking at her sister.
"Weren't you supposed to be out of town?"
"Come one shortie get dressed, it's girls' night," Kathryn urged as she entered the house also passing by Regina, who was just staring at them. When all of them were inside and after taking a few moments to process what happened, she closed the door and turned to face them.
"What are you talking about?" She asked confused.
"You, me, Belle, Rubes and your sister are going out for some drinks." She replied as if it were obvious.
"I am watching a movie." Regina simply said before moving towards the living room, to make her point.
"The Notebook? Seriously?" Ruby snorted earning a glare from Regina.
"First of all, there is nothing wrong with this movie and secondly, I'm not going anywhere." She announced, reclaiming her seat on the couch.
"Yes, you are, sister. I told mom that I was out of town so we can have this night out all of us together. Didn't you miss your sister?" She batted her eyelashes innocently at her younger sister.
"That's called emotional manipulation." She said, narrowing her eyes at Zelena.
"I don't care how it's called you're coming with us." She declared, dragging Regina to her feet.
"I just want a quiet evening in." She whined and Kathryn tried to bite back a laugh. She failed.
"Okay then, we'll all stay in, watch more ridiculous movies, order Chinese and drink these expensive wines of yours. It won't be our fault though if we spill said wine on your white carpet or if Ruby accidentally throws her food on the floor." Kathryn said as she stepped off her heels and claimed a seat on the couch, opposite to Regina.
"I hate all of you. I'm going to get dressed." She huffed before going upstairs.
"You have half an hour lady; After that, I'm coming to get you!" Ruby warned and Regina flipped her off making the red-haired laugh.
"Emma finally started rubbing off on her." She commented before sitting on the couch waiting for the other woman to get ready.
Twenty-eight minutes later Regina was coming down the stairs wearing a black dress that was hugging her body in all the right places, black stay-ups and her killer black pumps. Her hair was coiffured and she had also applied heavy make up.
"Well look at you." Kathryn complimented her as Ruby whistled, also giving her thumbs up.
"You do know that I'm only doing this because my house is off limits." She teased as she wore her black coat.
"Yes Regina, we understand that you are a clean freak and you want your house to be pristine." Her sister sassed, making Regina stick her tongue out at her.
"Anyway, who's driving? Don't expect me to go out and stay sober." She pointed out.
"We got you, girl," Kathryn said. "Since I can't drink, I'm the one who's driving." She explained.
"And I have already called dibs on the passenger seat," Ruby added.
"We should plan a playdate for our wives since they're both kids," Regina addressed Belle, making the petite brunette laugh.
"You're just bitter I called dibs, but if you're a good girl Regina I may let you sit there when we come back home." Ruby patted Regina's hair earning another glare from Regina.
"You're insufferable Mrs Lucas, no wonder why you and Emma are best friends. Now come on, let's go to drink.!" She prompted as they all left Regina's house.
"So how is it going with you and your mystery friend?" Kathryn asked once all women were seated at one of Boston's best restaurants. Initially Ruby had suggested a bar or something more fun, but given that Kathryn was pregnant and none of them was in a mood of sitting on uncomfortable chairs while trying to talk through loud music, they opted for something quieter and preferably with food. So, here they were, ordering some non-alcoholic drinks as they were trying to catch up on each other's news.
"We were talking earlier. Not for long though as she had an important meeting to attend. The fact though, that she did find some time to text was much appreciated." Regina smiled at the memory of the first text that the other woman sent her today.
"She seems very nice," Ruby commented, trying to hide her smirk.
"She is amazing and to be honest I cannot wait to meet her. I'm pretty sure that if we meet we will hit it off immediately. She gives me that kind of vibes when we're talking." She admitted.
"But I told her that she shouldn't get her hopes high," Kathryn added and at everyone's confused look she explained. "Well, I don't know, but this dating app and the way it operates seems fishy."
"It is totally legit though" Ruby rushed to defend. "I mean, from what Regina had said about her, she seems very nice person and if Regina feels like they could be friends or something then it can totally happen." She shrugged.
"I didn't know you were the optimistic type." Kathryn teased Ruby.
"I'm not, but if this woman makes Regina happy and Regina feels comfortable with her then she should try for a date. She has nothing to lose."
"We don't even know if she's a woman" Kathryn reasoned.
"She is," Ruby replied quickly making Kathryn narrow her eyes in suspicion.
"Belle, sweetheart would you mind if I borrow your wife for a second?" Kathryn asked, smiling at the other woman.
"She's all yours," Belle replied before going back to her conversation with Zelena. Kathryn, without hesitating, took Ruby's hand and dragged her towards the bathroom. After closing the door behind her and trapping the tall brunette so she couldn't escape, Kathryn started firing her with questions.
"What do you know?"
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked innocently, avoiding to meet Kathryn's eyes.
"Don't play coy with me, you try to push Regina into meeting this mysterious woman and keep telling her that everything is going to be okay. I don't know but it does seem to me like you know the other woman." Kathryn pointed out.
"Don't be ridiculous Kat, I just believe that something good might come from this." She tried to shrug it off, but Kathryn was having none of it.
"With who is Regina talking Lucas?" Kathryn asked more firmly this time, earning a sigh from the brunette woman.
"With Emma. The mysterious woman Regina is texting is Emma." Ruby revealed.
"Oh my god!" Kathryn's mouth shaped into a big "o" and Ruby couldn't help but laugh.
"I know it's crazy and when they find out that they were talking to each other the whole time, they're going to kill us but I think it's worth it."
"Us?" Kathryn asked confused.
"Me and the boys. Especially Henry. It was his idea. Long story short, one day he and the other two ambushed me with their big puppy dog eyes, telling me how much they want to see their mothers together. And I couldn't say no because I do believe that these two belong together. So we made them profiles on this dating app and we made sure that they will talk to each other." Ruby explained.
"So that's why all these stupid rules about nicknames and no photo policy."
"Exactly. If they knew they were talking to each other they would have stopped immediately. So we came up with these ridiculous rules, Henry convinced Regina and I Emma and the rest is history."
"But what if Regina and Emma didn't get along and tried with other people? What if they do try behind your back?" Kathryn countered.
"First of all, we're talking about Emma and Regina. Of course, they get along. They are magnets pulling each other. And secondly, we checked their phones. They only talk to each other. But if that hadn't worked I'm sure Henry would have thought of something. I mean that kid is genius and I'm not saying this because I'm his godmother but because it's true." Regina said with pride in her voice.
"I agree, this boy can be really creative when he wants to. But damn, Ruby. When Regina and Emma have the date and put the pieces together they are gonna kill you and only you because you're an adult and because you agreed to this." Kathryn said sympathetically.
"Do you think I don't know it? I know that they are going to be hella pissed at me but if this means that they'll end up together then this is a price I'm willing to pay. The boys need both their mothers. I'm doing it for them." She admitted and then continued "Please don't tell Regina anything. Let them have the date and if Regina confronts you about it tell her it was all my idea." Ruby implored.
"I'm not going to tell anyone but if this gets out of control, I'm selling you out," Kathryn warned and Ruby laughed at her.
"Deal."
"Who other knows about this?" Kathryn asked as she applied a bit of a makeup, looking at Ruby through the mirror.
"Ugh just me, the boys, you and Belle," Ruby answered.
"I cannot believe Belle let you do this." Kathryn chuckled.
"When I told her, they had already started talking. Besides, I have my way with Belle" Ruby said winking at Kathryn.
"You are gross. Now, come on let's go outside before your wife sends a search party." Kathryn joked earning a laugh from Ruby.
Going back to their table, Ruby kissed her wife's forehead before sitting next to her, as Kathryn reclaimed her seat next to Regina.
"What took you so long?" Regina asked curiously.
"I was trying to seduce Mrs Lucas but it seems she only has eyes for this beautiful lady." Kathryn joked winking at Belle who laughed.
"That's my baby," Belle said teasingly patting Ruby's thigh.
"Seriously though, what were you doing in there?" Zelena asked curiously, already in a mood to gossip.
"That's a secret between former maids of honour," Ruby said, trying to end the discussion.
"Will you tell me later?" Belle whispered into her wife's ear.
"You already know," Ruby reassured and then turned to the other women.
"Anyway...listen what happened the other day at the diner..."