A/N – Gosh! I cannot believe how many reviews this story is getting even though it's drawing to the 'end'. And I am having second thoughts about ending it now! People have messaged me to say that they'll be so sad to see it end and begged me to continue. Let's see what happens! Finally you get to meet Henry Junior. He's nothing like the one in the show. Happy reading!
Chapter Twenty Four
'Rewind And Elaborate'
Xxx
Excerpt:
"Rachel's a demon," Henry said, checking his sister's face.
"She's beautiful. She's mysterious. She's brave….like mommy."
"Well too bad she isn't a boy."
"Didn't you know, brother?" Carrie turned to her brother and smiled. "I don't fancy boys. I fancy girls like mommy."
xxx
As the doors were flung open, gasps ensued from within, this time something was different. Regina was clearly consumed with a different sense of emotion, not rage but the feeling of desperation for as wide eyes were cast upon her, she had no consideration to harm any of them. Her only object of study was the one person who stood under the gazebo decorated with flowers, that one woman who had swept through her dreams and destroyed her self-composure.
"Emma, will you take Neal to be your lawfully wedded husband, through…"
"Sorry I'm late…" she said, remembering what Carrie had thought up. And the priest ceased speaking, his mouth widening in shock as his eyes met her.
"Regina!" Snow exclaimed from somewhere in front of the crowd, then the pixie cut imbecile of a woman stepped forth, her dark eyes flashing fury.
"Hello dear." Looks were exchanged that contained fury and rage, recollections of wars fought and revengeful acts enacted whenever the chance was provided.
"You were not invited!"
Regina continued to step tentatively along the carpet as the crowd hastened back with fear.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Charming demanded as he stood near his wife now, pulling out his sword and brandishing it before him.
"I gather my invitation was somehow…" and Regina waved her hand dramatically in front of her, "lost in transit."
"You were banished from our kingdom", Snow reminded, her yellow frilly dress upsetting the Queen's taste of normalcy. "You're not welcomed here, you know this and yet you dare to come here today?"
"I came here to stop a wedding", Regina declared and her eyes now met Emma's fully, "I came here because I want something, and when a Queen want's something…" and she reached down to gather up her gown, red shoes peeking out from beneath lace, "she always finds a way to get what she wants."
"What are you talking about?" Charming asked foolishly forcing the Queen to smirk at him, and her eyes flickered to meet Emma as the blonde stood with her pink painted lips parted, considering Regina with a look of extreme shock. "There is nothing here that you want and even if there is, nothing here belongs to you."
He was playing up the part well. She admired that about him. But it wasn't needed.
"Your sudden dumb responses alarm me," Regina said in disbelief. "Behaving as if you have no recollection of what transpired. Nothing at all. All because there is an audience gathered here. But they know." She gestured around. "All of them are fully aware of what happened many years ago. When you tried to destroy what we had."
David barely smiled in response and Regina acknowledged it with a warming heart.
"Just get her out of here!" Snow ordered, suddenly appearing to have been fueled by rage.
"It sickens me", Regina began as she stepped forward boldly, her eyes on Emma, "that you would stoop so low to ridicule me in such a manner, Miss Swan."
"Ridicule you?" Emma asked in disbelief, a glint of fury flashing in her emerald eyes, "you clearly don't want to do this now."
"Oh I want to do this right now", and Regina smirked. "Let's talk. I didn't travel all the way here to keep my mouth zipped up."
"Emma…" Snow began, and eyes were cast upon her as she searched her daughter's face for answers, "what is going on here? I thought this was over."
"It is," Emma said warily. "Such a long time ago. I don't need to talk about it right now. But since you want it out in the open then go ahead."
"So let's have the talk," Regina stared at her.
"I'm not doing this right now with you," the blonde glared back.
"Do what right now?" Neal asked as he turned to question Emma, "what's she talking about?"
"I…nothing." Emma chose to say, glaring at Regina. "She did nothing."
"Is that what you call it now?" Regina asked, her face displaying a flicker of mockery yet disbelief, "why don't you tell them all what you did to me, how you broke rules and defied all odds to fuck me up and yet now it has come to this."
"You were the one that ruined me, lady!" Emma flared, her eyes flashing, and as Neal attempted to comfort her by resting a hand on her shoulder, she flinched, her eyes never leaving the brunette's. "After what you did, you actually think you can come here now and stop me from doing something right?"
"Is this what you call right in your books?" Regina asked of her, and eyes roamed a familiar figure that hands once touched bare, against trembling skin soaked with sweat as their bodies were entwined between the sheets. "As I can recall, the very first night we made love together, it appeared to have been the right thing you had done…" and gasps ensued all around.
And after sputtering, eyes darting about, Snow White collapsed onto the floor, Charming stooping quickly to offer her assistance.
"How dare you? This is what you wanted!" Emma declared angrily, her eyes flashing, and she moved on the spot then her eyes were traversing the crowd as everyone stared at her dumbfounded, questions in their eyes. "Get her out of here," she ordered, her voice faltering.
Regina laughed hoarsely. "You really think I am that easy to get rid of?" and her eyes rested upon Neal. "I know for a fact that I have so much more to offer you than this imbecile of a man. Clearly you have no other options, or perhaps this is the result of an arrangement."
"So you want this out in the open then?" Emma asked of her, fists clenched, "is this what you wanted? To make a fool of me in front of everyone?"
"I never ever wanted to do such a thing, Miss Swan."
"That's what you're doing!" Emma cried out angrily, "you're once again ruining my life, Regina! This is supposed to be my wedding day and you're here to crash it, something I want, with someone who wants me. Not someone who used my feelings like trash and disregarded me like some toy."
"I…never…disregarded you", Regina said now, her voice trembling as she stepped tentatively forward, her eyes never leaving Emma's, "I rescued you and I let you in, and you were the one who kept coming back because -"
"I loved you!" Emma declared out loud, tears in her eyes, "I kept going back to you because I was foolish enough to love you, and you screwed me over with your cold heart, always pushing me away!"
"I pushed you away for a reason!"
"You chose…" and Emma began to shake with emotion, tears streaming down her face as she choked on sobs, and her eyes remained on the brunette's, filled with pain, "you chose him over me."
A few seconds elapsed in the room as silence ensued, with the meeting of eyes where answers were desperately searched out from within. How could it be possible that such a misunderstanding had occurred? Apparently it would appear that both of them thought the same thing about the other.
"What?" Regina asked in disbelief. "Who are you talking about?"
"You know who I'm talking about", Emma said hoarsely, and she reached up to wipe her eyes with balled fists, "suitor number three…"
Regina's eyes flew open as wide as saucers, stained lips parted as she considered Emma in disbelief. Robin Hood? Who the hell had initiated that rumor? Surely it had been sparked up since before Carrie's birth but to have it continue for such a long time?
"Nothing happened…"
"You promised…" and Emma suddenly threw her bouquet of red flowers across the room with force, flower petals scattering across polished floor as it landed with a soft thud. "Everyone somehow attempts to ruin my life. Every single thing I try to do, someone is right there, ready to screw it up. And you ended up being one of those people. I can't believe you're even here."
"Emma…"
"Don't…" she warned the brunette, "just turn around and leave, because you and I both know you've caused enough damage in my life and now it's time to just move on."
"But…"
"Walk away, Regina", Emma urged, her eyes tearing up, "I'm going to marry Neal, just as you chose gender over me by marrying in right of your kingdom and not by the way of your heart."
"We fought wars," the Queen said hoarsely. "We fought wars and were distanced because your parents couldn't accept what we felt for each other. It wasn't my entire fault that I couldn't take you. I wanted you more than anything else but things were done to keep me away from you."
"Like what?" emerald eyes couldn't look away from brown ones.
"I was banished."
"Yet here you are without an invitation after so many years. When you could have come anyway and at least tell me how you really felt." Tears leaked down Emma's cheeks. "I was waiting on you. I waited and you never showed."
Regina was shaking from shock and sadness, tears of disbelief. And yet, Emma's mind was set on purpose, but how could she walk away from the one person she had fallen desperately in love with, the one woman who had fought for her, bewitched her body and soul?
"I never married him", she said hoarsely now, "because after all these years, even though I have allowed my pride and prejudice to muffle what my heart truly feels, I have come to the realization that…if I can't spend the rest of my life with you, then I will know that I did wrong by choice and it was all my doing."
"Emma…" Neal began once more, his eyes darting from Regina to Emma in disbelief, "all of this, what she's…talking about…the two of you…"
"It's true", Emma admitted softly and the remaining guests that chose to savor the drama, the ones who hadn't flee from fear now gasped all around. "She's the one that always came between us. This is the...person...who I loved. We had something…together."
"We have something…" Regina said in a strained voice.
"No", Emma declared in denial, "I was a teenager back then, in love and quick to trust, to believe that someone could love me. And it's been ten years and in that time, I've changed. I've tried hard to move on and this is where I am now. And I want to be here because we were here before and you didn't choose me."
"I didn't…choose you because I was afraid", Regina admitted, her eyes filled with tears. "You changed me, Emma. You were the only one who succeeded in pulling me out of the darkness and awakening good in me, love in me once more."
"You had your chance", Emma said. "I said to walk away and leave me alone."
"Emma…please…"
"Yes", she said, ignoring Regina and turning to face the Priest once more, reaching up to wipe her eyes.
"Uh…" the Priest appeared lost as he stared at her, then he blinked his eyes several times too many, "I beg your pardon?"
"If I accept Neal to be my husband…" she reminded him, yet her senses could not quite register the approaching footsteps behind her, stepping up to the gazebo with purpose. "I…" And before she could complete her vows, Emma's shoulder was reached out for and she was spun around to face a brunette whose dark eyes were filled with tears, cheeks stained, and chest heaving from emotion.
"Don't do this to me, Emma," Regina whispered, "I beg of you. I have suffered for nine years by myself, in ways you cannot begin to imagine as yet but you will eventually understand. I have spent all of those years completely loving you still, holding unto my love for you and wishing with all my heart that I would die just loving you. No one else. There was never anyone else. And if you marry this man right now, I swear to God, Emma, I will not allow it. I will do everything it takes to stop you because you're about to make the biggest mistake of your life."
The blonde breathed through her lips and was stunned.
"This is fate, Emma. Fate brought us back together for a reason."
And within seconds Emma felt fingers whisper against her own, then their hands were entwined as Regina pulled her close, the familiar nearness only sparking a sense of awakening within her, stirring up memories of the very first time they danced.
Yet Neal, as shocked as he was never stepped between them, but he backed away slowly, because his mind was set elsewhere. This wasn't what he had wanted in the first place. There had always been Wendy and he had spent the entire night worrying over her and his future.
"Regina…" the blonde woman whispered, her chest fluttering, a familiar feeling almost the same to when she had first set eyes on the brunette many years ago.
"Please don't let me go as I let you go before. I did it because I wanted to give you your...best...chance. And I thought that it would be everything else except me. I have never been anyone's best chance. Never."
"You...were my best...chance," Emma croaked. "Every single thing I did, I did it for you."
"Then do this for me. Stop this and take me back."
"Regina, it's not that easy. I just can't skip back to nine years ago and pick up from there."
"I'll help you fill in the gap," the Queen said, her eyes wet, "I guarantee you, everything you missed, I'll relate all of it to you."
The younger woman remained silent and her chest heaved. By then, the entire audience had been hushed and were trying to listen in. But their eavesdropping proved futile because the two women were speaking in hushed tones.
"Emma…where is my son?" the brunette asked in her throaty voice, that familiar tone that used to unhinge Emma, driving from within her on many occasions before, passion after one glance and the desperation to escape to cross kingdoms.
"He's…and Emma's eyes moved to seek out Henry standing in the front row, dressed in a tuxedo as his eyes scrutinized Regina.
From the moment Regina saw Henry, she instantly detected such familiarity between the two of them that she gasped. They had met before some time ago but his little face had changed. His eyes had become intense and were exactly her shade. Dark hair was combed to the side, and he barely smiled after remembering their previous encounter.
"It's true…"
"Yeah, it is…"
"Emma…I'm here", Regina said quietly, moving in closer to the blonde as they rested their foreheads together, gazing.
"But…"
"I promise", Regina began softly, as her fingertips brushed against Emma's right cheek, wiping away tears, "that I will never ever let you go again for I have been foolish to believe that anyone else could fill that void in my heart but you."
"All these years", Emma said quietly, as her hands nervously wrapped around the Queen's waist, feeling the warmth and comfort, "I was waiting for you to just come for me."
"Marry me, Emma", Regina said breathless all in a rush for she was consumed by such passion that clearly a public display of such would be embarrassing.
"I..."
"You asked me before, and now I am doing the same."
"But you never answered me before", Emma said in disbelief. "You…"
"The answer has always been yes", Regina admitted quietly, "and since we would hate to waste such a beautiful wedding gala, I say we should make the most of it after all."
"You are such a whimsical woman!" and the blonde woman's eyes flickered to meet the Priest's. "Let's do it."
"I'm sorry, what?" he asked in disbelief.
"Oh are you impaired or something?" Regina sassed, "you heard the Princess, she wants to marry her Queen. Get on with it."
"Fine, fine," the man brushed it off and fumbled then closing the Bible neatly, he beamed at them and inhaled deeply. "Let's pick up from where we left off, to save the time."
Emma wasn't feeling entirely comfortable with the idea. She was still a bit tense and really wanted to think things through but it had been nine years. It had been so long and here she was again, the woman who had constantly haunted her dreams. She was here and there was no chance to be taken that would tear them apart from each other. It had to be done. The time had come to jump then fall together, whatever the cost because if they could both manage to create a child together, then this was everything pertaining to True Love.
It's what she was meant to do and it's what her heart wanted.
"Will you, Emma Swan, take her Majesty, the Queen, Regina Mills to be your lawfully wedded...wife?" The priest noted Snow glaring at him but continued. "To love and to hold, to treasure and to comfort through sickness and health, in every lifetime afterward and to the end of time?"
The blonde's chest heaved but when Regina smiled warmly, blinking back tears, Emma couldn't hold back. "I do," she whispered, "after so many years, I still do."
Grumpy sat down on the floor and folded his arms, grunting in disapproval whilst everyone considered him.
"Do you, your Majesty Regina Mills take Emma Swan to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to hold, to treasure and to comfort through sickness and health, in every lifetime afterward and to the end of time?"
"Yes," Regina couldn't breathe, holding shaking hands between hers, their bodies inches apart. "I do."
"No," Snow said in the front row.
David hugged her tightly whilst Emma glanced back. Apparently Snow's opinion didn't matter. The priest didn't even consider her.
"I now pronounce you, married and partners committed by the law."
And the kiss was asked for, then enacted with such a passion that it was clearly obvious how deeply in love the two were. Emma couldn't believe how she had never forgotten the taste of the Queen's lips. It was like returning to a refreshing garden and allowing the scent to kiss you within your soul. Their lips moved together and she parted hers to allow so much more, passion engulfing them whilst the brunette melted into the other woman's arms.
Regina couldn't control herself.
This is what she had always wanted, so much that her heart sighed deeply. Her knees grew so weak, Emma had to wrap firm hands around the Queen just to keep them steady.
The room was suddenly so silent, only the bubbling of the fountain could be heard. When they thought that no one would accept their union, someone started to clap in the front. Regina's eyes rested on August who considered her with a wide grin. Then Ruby and Belle started to clap, little Rachel standing in between them and dressed in red. Very soon, the entire room began to applaud the ceremony and Emma smiled to witness how Regina was crumbling before her. That smile alone was enough to signal that this was a revelation for the Queen, something she truly had wanted.
"Aren't you Carrie's mother?" was the first thing Henry asked when Regina stepped down from the platform. The brunette felt Emma release their hands and turned to consider the blonde making her way to Neal.
"Yes," she said absentmindedly.
"You're my mom too?"
Regina watched Neal shake his head and walk away from Emma whilst the latter's chest heaved. She smirked inside and turned to the boy standing before her.
"Yes, it would appear so."
"How can I have two moms?" Henry frowned.
"Sweetheart, when two people fall in love in a magical way," she bent her back and took a hold of his shoulders, "anything can happen."
xxx
"This cannot happen! This is not the way!" Snow said, striding down the corridor and scowling. David was an inch behind. "It is not the way and it is wrong! How could you stand there and allow this to happen? I spoke up and you didn't. You didn't say a word. You didn't even object."
"Neither did you," the Prince said smiling.
His wife considered the expression and stopped walking. "Are you happy about this?" she stared back in astonishment, "are you...smiling?"
"Look, finally Emma is happy. You just saw her," David gestured towards the ballroom that contained guests, "she's really thrilled to have had this happen and marrying Neal would have been wrong."
"I can give you fifty reasons why marrying Regina is so much worse than marrying Neal, in Emma's books," Snow said, fists clenched, "she is by far the worst woman to ever walk this earth and I don't want anything to do with her from this -"
"Hello."
The interruption of a girl's voice snatched their attention and from the moment Snow's eyes met emerald ones, she gasped. Her entire world turned upside down just for a bit. Her sanity was played with, was teased with because the little girl standing before her was like a ghost from a very unforgettable past.
"Hi there, Carrie," David said, smiling widely, "I see that you came along as well. How intriguing."
Snow stared at her husband.
"I was waiting in the carriage and it was oh so dreadfully hot," Carrie made a dramatic gesture, resting the back of her hand upon a fair forehead. "So I decided to stretch my legs. Is that alright?"
"Perfectly fine by me."
"So this is where you live," the child remarked, gazing around in awe. "Quite unlike our castle but very much rather beautifully designed. I deeply admired the azaleas at the front. By the gate? And then the lush green lawns were trimmed to perfection. Tell me, do you have special men who tend to your grounds or is everything done by magic?"
"The hired folk," David smiled, really enjoying the little girl's chatty self.
"Who..." Snow sputtered, blinking fast. "Who is this child?"
"My name is Carrie Emma Mills and I am the daughter of her Majesty the Queen, Regina Mills," the blonde made a quick curtsy, holding the edges of her bright yellow dress. "Pleased to meet you."
Snow was so astonished to see the little girl, she had stopped breathing. They had never met before due to the woman's specific move to avoid any confrontations. Now here was the child before her.
"In other words," David leaned in and pressed his lips upon her right ear, "meet your granddaughter, sweet cheeks. And even though you never told me about her but kept it hidden like a marvelous secret, I have come to know in time. Because after all," he now spoke so that Carrie could hear, "she's the exact image of her mother. "
"I have heard this often," Carrie said frowning, "yet I am still to meet my older replica. Where is this mother of mine?"
"David, she is...an angel," Snow whispered, her eyes wide. "She is a doll."
"Your kind words flatter me," the blonde said with gratitude. "Thank you so much. But as my mother said, there are no angels that dwell on earth."
Taking in a deep breath, Snow did the one thing that stunned David. She stepped forward and offered her gloved right hand.
"Carrie, would you like to be my companion whilst I speak to you? I'd like to hear so much."
"And in the process of taking her around," David said, patting his wife on the back, "why don't you tell Carrie who we are to her?"
"You're my grandparents, aren't you?" the blonde took Snow's hand and smiled sweetly. "Uncle David, you are no uncle. You're my grandfather. But it is alright if you wish for me not to call you grandfather for one attaches old age to such a title."
"Call me anything you like, sweetheart," Charming said, offering his most charming smile. "Once you know from now that I have always been your family."
"Let's get you something to eat," Snow said softly, walking off with Carrie's hand in hers. She couldn't believe how someone she hated could produce such a beautiful child that absolutely resembled Emma in every way possible.
Xxx
"Neal, this was a mistake from the moment it began," said Emma, trying to get his attention. "You knew it, and you knew there was someone else."
Cassidy merely glared in the opposite direction and refused to maintain eye contact because he felt severely used and abused. For the years they had spent together, believing that this could work, Emma had lied to him. When the choice could have been made to run into the arms of another woman he really fancied and the feelings were mutual, she had given him false hope. In anyone's mind, false hope is the worst kind of hope. It's luring someone in without having any intention of letting them inside your heart.
It's what Emma did.
Playing with his heart as if he was a child and concealing the blinding truth from him. All this time, it had been the Queen. Somehow even though they stood there within the shadowed corridor, a little way off from the festivities, his mind couldn't soak up the truth. He couldn't believe that the one person who had been his competition was no other than Regina Mills.
"How could you, of all people, end up being so deceitful?" he turned to her finally. "Of all the people I know, Emma, you were the one to do this to me."
"Neal –"
"I trusted you!" he bellowed, throwing up his arms, "I wasted nine damn years of my life, believing in a happy ending with you and this is what happens. First of all, you lied to me by saying that she was a really close friend. Apparently everyone else knew about your affair and I was left in the dark, completely shut out when I was the one who remained close to you. How the hell could you do that?"
Her eyes filled with tears. The castle suddenly grew so quiet, her ears started to ring. "I didn't want to keep on loving her because I felt as if it was really over."
"Well obviously it isn't over."
"I told you about my heart being somewhere else –"
"Yeah but never telling me who it was all this time?" he sighed. "You could have told me anything. Any single thing. I wouldn't have judged you at all. I would have understood all of it. Would have seen the situation from your perspective. But no, you just screwed me over. Is Henry even my son?"
Shaking her head, she lowered emerald eyes to her boots.
"I knew it. I knew he couldn't be my son because he's pretty intense like she is. He's got her eyes and her damn hair. Fuck, Emma!" turning around, his fist slammed into the concrete wall and Neal swore. "You played this the sly way." Turning to her, he pointed a finger. "You managed to prove to me that I can never trust you again."
"Neal, don't do this. I didn't have a choice," she said hoarsely.
"You had a choice. You could have said something more to me. I guess I have one thing to thank you for though, apart from making me live a false life. I now get the chance to make something with Wendy, a woman who trusts me completely enough to expose herself. So screw you, Swan. By the time you and your one and only are having your first dance, I'll be far away from this place, with no intention of looking back."
"Neal," she tried to grab at him but he yanked his arm away.
Fists clenched, the man strode down the corridor without looking back.
xxx
Emma simply would not be as affectionate with Regina as the Queen was longing for. After that episode with Cassidy, her heart was still bruised. She had managed to use her best friend in a way that was hurtful. Making him believe that Henry was his son. They eventually stepped outside, a tension remained between them that was hurtful and brown eyes clouded with tears when the blonde kept distance between them.
"You have every right to hate me," the brunette said.
"I don't hate you," Emma avoided eye contact. "I just can't wait to get you in a room and yell at you until all the hurt inside me comes out."
"Then let's do that," Regina said, her throat aching. "Right now."
"Not now," the blonde stopped abruptly and her eyes widened. "Holy ponies." She lost her breath. "Is that..."
The Queen followed her line of sight and immediately smiled when Carrie came into view, lingering near a table next to Snow. You can imagine her surprise when a plate was neatly filled with food by the pixie cut brunette. The child was carrying on a conversation, face upturned and hands moving about whilst her grandmother smiled warmly and nodded.
Taking Emma's hand, the brunette tugged her, "come on. I'd like you to meet someone."
"Regina, how in the world did you -" she was so stunned when the blonde hair was studied. The way the little girl had her face features and was wearing a pair of brown leather boots along with a yellow dress, her favorite color.
"And you wish to doubt my love for you? Do you know now what those nine years have been like? I have never been able to even have a chance of forgetting you, Emma." Regina's voice had become hoarser as they stopped next to her daughter. "You've always been with me."
When Carrie finally cast her eyes on her other mother, she stared back in shock. It appeared as if a lot of shocks were given in that particular day. The child gasped and so did Emma, now noting her very eyes staring back at her.
"Emma, I'd like you to meet your daughter," Regina said, tears leaking down her cheeks whilst Snow considered the Queen with a smug look. "This is Carrie. Carrie," she took a hold of the child's shoulder, "this is your...mother, Emma Swan."
"Oh my God," the older blonde couldn't help it. Lifting a hand to her face, fingers trembled as she began to cry. "I can't..."
Even Snow's chest heaved when the genuine emotion was displayed. Her eyes watered, lips bitten.
Whilst David admired the scene from afar, in the company of August, Ruby and Belle, he smiled and shook his head. Ruby leaned into Belle and did soften up, her eyes leaking.
"Fuck, finally," Lucas whispered, holding her wife's hand. "Finally this fucking day has happened. Thank the fucking moon."
"It is a grand day, isn't it?" David took a sip of his champagne and was thrilled from head to toe. "Look how love can do so many great things. I have a granddaughter who proves to the entire world that another instance of True Love happened."
"You've been so supportive throughout this, dude, you're awesome," August noted.
"Sometimes it takes a little knowledge in the area to be as open minded as possible," David said absentmindedly. He was referring to Killian but none of them were aware of that. Or at least he thought so because Ruby smirked.
"Hello Snow," Regina said, offering a smirk as well and growing quite flustered in her gown even though snow lightly covered the ground since it was Christmas Day and in the midst of winter. In fact, the use of the very person's name was quite a pun.
Inhaling deeply, the other brunette pursed her lips. "Hello, your Majesty."
"Enjoying your granddaughter, are you?"
Emma had her back bent to meet Carrie's eye level and the two of them were talking through tears, occasionally hugging and pressing kisses unto each other's cheeks.
"I like her, yes. I can't help it." Snow turned back to the table and idly fixed a plate of honey roasted nuts.
"Does she remind you of someone?" Regina pressed gloved fingers into her sides and smiled, marveling over the other woman's composure crumbling.
"Oh stop it, you...person," Snow waved a hand over the Queen and scowled. "For all we know, you could have used your magic to alter your daughter's appearance."
"It astonishes me how you will come up with every single excuse to push aside what I feel for your daughter. But I will tell you this, these past years have been quite a struggle for me. Ask your husband. During his visits, I oftentimes remarked on how it hurt me to gaze into Emma's face every single moment since we separated."
Snow did not know that David had been visiting the Queen. She stared back.
"And what I managed to do is to hold unto hope. Something you once were so consumed with. The possibility of a happy ending no matter what the cost was or the situation. Because of our past and my gender, you have allowed your mind to become prejudiced, to be blinded. However, fate has a funny way of allowing things to happen, Snow. You managed to bring into this world, my soul mate and my True Love, and I managed to break myself down enough to fall in love again and forgive you for what you did to me -"
"You have no -"
"The only thing I ask of you today," Regina said, holding up a hand, "is for you to forgive me for everything I have ever done. That is all I can offer you. Forgiveness. I cannot reverse a deal. I cannot turn back time. But I can give you a chance to love your granddaughter endlessly, as your own. Because whether you wish to accept it or not, she's your family."
"Mommy, she likes butterflies too," Carrie interrupted the intense moment between the two older women. "Emma likes butterflies, ponies, horses, unicorns..."
"Yellow," Emma smiled at her daughter.
Carrie smiled back. "Yellow too! Do you like cats too?"
"Oh hell yeah," the older blonde said whilst Regina gazed at her intently. "I'm a proud cat lover at the age of twenty nine. I actually have ten..." she frowned and glanced around, "...somewhere."
"Can we find them now or after you stick the cake?"
They had both forgotten about the cake part. Both Emma and Regina's eyes met and the former was forced to gaze back without looking away. This time, she couldn't find anything within her mind or heart to hate about the woman she was now married to.
"Do you want to...yell at me before we cut the cake or..."
Emma stepped up to the brunette whilst Carrie held unto her right hand tightly, never letting go. "Let's give it some more time. I'll simmer down by then."
But the Queen didn't wish for a lid to be kept on such a boiling pot of emotions. It was time to let everything slip into the open between them. To let the anger out and by the slight storm inside emerald eyes, it was evident that nothing would progress if such feelings remained pent up inside.
"Carrie, why don't you keep your grandmother company whilst your mother and I take a walk alone?" Regina couldn't take her eyes off of the blonde.
"Oh you two want to talk about love and kiss," the girl giggled whilst Snow rolled her eyes. "Good then! Go along!"
xxx
Emma's chest heaved.
Reaching up to run fingers through her hair, she stepped forward, her brown boots peeping out from beneath her simple white dress. It was an armless design with a wide skirt made of silk. Blonde hair was neatly curled at the bottom and shining in the soft glow of the afternoon sun.
"He's totally pissed with me. I used him. How the hell will I forgive myself for this? How?"
The area around them was cornered with trees on one side and open land on the other. Horses lingered at some distance, and a stream sliced through the land, lined with rocks. It was growing dark already. The moon was full and a few stars twinkled above.
"I was so hurt. I was so confused. I was alone and the worst part of it happened to be Henry because I couldn't figure out if he was Neal's child or yours."
"You slept with...Cassidy." Regina remained where she was, hugging herself. "It gives you every right to believe that Henry was his son."
"I was drunk that night. I was broken and it was right after you had me removed from your castle. So there he was, my next best chance at anything in life. And I slipped into his arms. One night though," Emma turned around and stared at the brunette. "One night that I thought was the reason for Henry being here. First three years, I took it as a sign as dad said to move on and focus on the fact that maybe I could make things work with Neal. I mean, he thinks Henry's his son! Shit!" she spun around on the spot and stared into the distance, the trees lightly covered in snow.
"I couldn't ever think Carrie was anyone else's daughter because I never slept with another. And very quickly, as you now know, everyone realized what had happened."
"And still you couldn't...tell me?" Emma had tears in her eyes. "Regina, you had to have known she was my daughter from the first time her hair started to grow out. From birth, actually. You knew so long and you never ever told me anything?"
"Emma -"
"That little girl grew up nine years without knowing me. Nine years. I missed so much already and you knew. You knew all the frigging time and never said a word."
"I thought that it was the best thing to do," the brunette whispered, tears clouding her eyes.
"I wrote to you, Regina!" the blonde choked on a sob. "Regina, I wrote so many letters to you and what the hell did you do with them?"
"I still have them in a...drawer..." the brunette bit her lips.
"You never opened them?"
The Queen shook her head, eyes lowered as tears trailed down numb cheeks.
"I poured my heart out to you on those pages, I told you every single thing I could never tell you. About my feelings. About how being here hurt my...heart. Every single second I was away from you, I felt like...killing myself. I was on the verge of committing suicide. Of ending it all. And you never read a word. Great." The blonde threw up her hands. She shook her head. "Wonderful. What a fuck up I must have been for you to completely shut me out even when my own daughter was staring back at you."
"You have no idea how hard this was for me too," Regina said hoarsely, her expression strained. "Like I said, I couldn't allow you to lose all of this and I did the best thing I could."
"You could have accepted the fact that I wanted to give up every single thing to be with you," Emma pointed a finger. "Everything. Because I don't need this...frigging place. I never needed it. From the day I was born, this castle has been my prison. I ran away from here and that's how we met. Which would mean that in order for me to enjoy my life, I'd have to live it outside this place."
"I thought I was giving you your...best chance."
"Well you managed to give me nine years of intense pain that proved one thing." Emma's chest heaved as she glared back.
Regina stared at her and felt her chest close up. This was it then. It had come to this and nothing else could hurt more. "I'll walk away then," tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I know I've caused you pain and I hate myself for it. Every single day I hated myself for it. But it's fine." Reaching up, she wiped her eyes with shaky hands. "I'll accept your decision to move on without me bringing pain into your life and I'll return to keeping distance."
Emma's sudden laugh stunned her. Staring at the blonde, she noted how emerald eyes were filled with tears. Hands planted upon her hips, the younger woman stepped forward and shook her head.
"There you go again jumping to conclusions."
"What?" The Queen was confused.
"Nine years of pain that was caused from us keeping distance and you want to return to that? Regina, you didn't even let me finish. I was going to tell you that after all this time, one thing was proven. I can't live without you. Anything else destroys me. We made each other suffer but all for good reason. We've reached this point and instead of hating you, I am so in love with you right now, you have no idea."
Gasping, lips parted, the brunette stared back, her chest heaving.
"Nine years don't even feel so long anymore. I suddenly feel as if you let me go just yesterday."
"Oh, Emma," the Queen croaked, whilst the distance was closed between them.
"I thought you were in love with Robin and you thought I was in love with Neal." Wrapping her arms around the brunette's shoulders, their foreheads were rested together.
"I'm too gay to ever be in love with...Hood."
Emma chuckled. "I thought you once told me that using that word was offensive?"
"You...remember," Regina stared into emerald eyes and savored the feeling.
"I remember every single thing about you. The way you smell, your breath on my face, the way you'd laugh. Your tattoos, even the little black butterfly. I remember every single inch of you and I was about to go crazy four weeks ago when I rode up there. I actually turned around my horse and stared at the balcony where you were, wanting to rush back there and tell you that I never stopped loving you."
"Then why were you about to force yourself to marry him?"
"Because I thought you were married to Robin!"
"Who in the world told you that, Emma?"
"My..." the blonde rolled her eyes and finally realized where the news had come from, "...my mother."
"Didn't you ask your father?" Regina frowned. "He knows that I never encouraged such a thing."
"I wanted to believe it so I believed it. I wanted to believe that you thought of me as a stupid, young, giddy girl who would never grow up enough. And so you chose someone older and of the opposite sex."
"Paranoia got the worst of us," the Queen said softly, using her thumb to caress the blonde's bottom lip, her gaze resting there. "Rest assured, I will never let you go from hereafter. But before we proceed, by all means you must give Carrie credit for giving me a push."
"Really?" Emma smiled, just from remembering the girl's resemblance to her.
"Yes. She even chose this gown, did my hair, and came along, all the way offering words of encouragement."
"She's a real chatterbox," the blonde said, shaking her head. "Reminds you of someone?"
Laughing hoarsely, the brunette pulled them nearer and pressed their lips together. Immediately all smiles disappeared when a rush of passion was felt. So intense it was that eyes fluttered close. Fingers reached up to capture the feel of soft tendrils of hair and Emma's toes curled when she melted into the kiss.
Xxx
"Your mother tells me that you're quite intrigued by economics and accounts," Regina sat next to Henry who was slowly chewing on a mouthful of macaroni and cheese. "So am I."
"I also fancy drawing and painting."
Regina was impressed. "Have you any pieces that I can look at?"
"Yes," Henry shrugged, "quite a few on landscapes and then there's one that I drew with a chocolate colored pony. But the red paint on the fence was smudged a bit."
"I would like to see it."
"Do you draw as well?"
"On the contrary, dear, painting has always been something I do to soothe my nerves. But as of recent, I find that I have allowed time to slip by without working on a piece." Regina studied Emma fixing Carrie's yellow headband, the two of them giggling.
"Never let time eat up your space for creativity," Henry stunned her by saying, his brown eyes intense. "Always work on something. That's what I find. That if you allow a painting to sit in a corner for two days without work done on it, then the picture changes and you don't want to draw it anymore."
"That's entirely true," she smiled at him and felt the connection between them stronger than ever. "I can never move back to an unfinished piece after some time has passed."
"It's kind of like a friendship. You have to work on it constantly or else it becomes nothing but a bond."
She was really fascinated by his intellectual thoughts. "Have you any friends, Henry?"
"No," he turned his eyes to the front and sighed. "I don't mix well with children my age. What they like, I don't like. I prefer advanced stuff. And Carrie and I have been writing back and forth over the years but we never knew that we were related. Now that she's here, I feel as if I now have not just a best friend, but a sister."
Regina was astonished to learn that the two of them had been corresponding. Yet nothing had slipped out in those letters? Surely Carrie must have known something? Both of them were so smart they had to have thought something was strange. However, Carrie had really seemed not so surprised at Emma's name. She wasn't moved by it. The Queen realized that her daughter had been very quick to accept without asking enough questions.
"Has your mother ever told you about me, Henry?" the brunette asked after some time.
"She did mention that there was someone she loved more than...well, he isn't my father now. But in a manner of speaking, she told me about you."
"Neal," Regina said, inhaling deeply.
"He never liked me enough. He always thought I was weird. He's too smart. He's too intense. He doesn't talk much," Henry mimicked. "But he was a great father. Although I never felt attached to him. As much as I already feel attached to you."
Her smile was warm and he savored it.
"What are your views on becoming a King someday, dear?"
The boy turned to her, never smiling. "I will rule without prejudice. Of course since Carrie will also be in control then we can come together to make arrangements. But individually I would like to unite the kingdoms. You already do a great job with the trade and finances. I'll just have to let you teach me what you know already."
She was absolutely thrilled to listen her son speak.
"We are quite alike, aren't we?" the Queen said.
Henry chewed on his macaroni and cast his eyes upon the little blonde who was now a sister. "Yup. I've been waiting to meet you for a long time now."
xxx
Apart from all the hustle and bustle that had begun to die down, Emma was sitting on the window seat inside her room. Eyes cast outside, still dressed in that white gown that had served enough for two weddings, she couldn't quite process everything at once. Back downstairs, so many emotions were felt, so many things occurring, all it took was a chance to slip away and manage some time on her own.
She needed it.
A moment to breathe and think about what had happened, to digest everything without having anyone around. To focus on what had unfolded without the very person who held her heart present. It was all so sudden and her mind began to play around on a particular instance.
If she hadn't ridden out there four weeks ago, then maybe this marriage wouldn't have happened. They didn't even exchange rings but vows alone. They were bound by law as committed partners. The book had been signed. Emma's eyes teared up when she remembered standing next to Regina whilst they wrote their names in the thick volume that had documented marriages for centuries. And from the moment both signatures had been finished, Emma remembered staring at the two names and realizing that after all that time, they had done it.
Just like that, they did it.
She couldn't believe it. That day felt entirely like a dream, and her mind was so buried inside the events that had played out.
"There you are," Regina came in quietly through the doors and closed them behind her.
Emma reared her head and their eyes met. She smiled weakly. "Hey."
"I enquired after your disappearance," the brunette said, coming to stand by the window, "but no one was aware of where my wife went."
"Oh," the blonde turned her gaze outside and remained silent.
"Tell me what's wrong." Regina could sense the lingering tension and wished to erase it in any way possible. Sitting next to the younger woman, she considered a face that had been etched in her memory for so many years. "Let me in."
Emma sighed. "It's just that…everything happened so fast, you know? I was prepared to marry someone else and then I ended up marrying you." Her fingers curled upon the window sill, eyes lowered.
"So…you…regret it?" Regina's heart ached.
"Don't say it like that."
"That's what you're implying."
"I'm not."
"Yes," the brunette croaked.
"You just rushed me and I didn't even get time to recover or process anything."
"Well preparations were in order," the Queen noted, her throat aching, "I don't suppose that anyone would wish to waste a feast."
"That's hardly the point here. You just waltzed in, crashed the wedding and just when I was still gazing at you, drinking up all your memories again, we were exchanging vows."
She noted the truth behind those words and still would have done the same thing if the time was rewound. Because Regina had waited so long for a reunion. Never giving up hope. Never losing sight of the ending that would come with the blonde being in her arms again. The pain had been too much so that any opportunity given, she snatched it and claimed what should have been hers since nine years ago.
"I wished not to allow this moment to slip past us, Emma. I seized the moment and made it happen for both of us. Isn't this what you have always wanted? To be married to me? This is what you often dreamed about and I thought that at least it would somehow satisfy you."
"I needed some time," Emma said, their eyes meeting.
After nine years? Regina wished to voice that thought but remained silent.
"Well now you have all the time in the world. That was just a fresh start. We turned over a new leaf in a manner of speaking. I am now entirely yours, bound by the law. And it is a definite act of sincere commitment that will never provide any doubts. This is it, Emma," Regina was suddenly filled with so much excitement in her eyes, the blonde stared back. "This is our time to take back what we should have had years ago and to change destiny, Emma."
"Okay Mrs. Swan."
That was enough to make the Queen lose her breath. In a manner of speaking, she suddenly realized the effect of such a title and stared back, eyes widening.
"You mean Mrs. Mills."
"Who said that you would take the privilege of changing my last name?" This was said with a cute enough expression which reminded the brunette of the older days.
"I said so. I am the Queen."
"I am the future Queen and your Queen."
"So what do you suggest then?" Regina smirked, running a finger across Emma's right cheek.
"For you and Carrie, you can use Mills Swan and for myself and Henry, we can use Swan Mills."
"Or we can just use Mills."
"Regina…" the blonde narrowed her eyes and smiled. They both gazed at each other, a light wind coming in to caress flushed faces. "Don't start with the stubbornness that I oh so miss."
"Emma," the Queen tilted her head to the right and smiled. "So you accept me as your…wife then."
"If it means that I can torture you again and we can both move in together and I can totally undress you, layer after layer," Emma licked her lips. "Then hell yeah."
"What about our children, sweetheart?" blinking slowly, the Queen smiled back, "are you eager to add a little energetic daughter to your schedule? After all, she is your replica and she entirely takes after you."
"By all means, I have always wanted a daughter. Henry is awesome. He's deep, pretty intense. And to add a little me to the set, oh definitely I'm ready to take on mommy duties."
Regina was astounded by how mature the blonde had gotten. Hair now midway down her back, she had grown taller by a few inches and was severely composed in all respects. There wasn't a hint of playfulness remaining, but the harshness of motherhood had taken toll. There were slight bags under those emerald eyes, a lack of unnecessary actions. Hands had become less animated whilst speaking and the quietness that followed anything uttered by her was marveled at.
She seemed to listen and to savor every word spoken instead of speaking without processing the meaning driven from a sentence. There was a look in her eyes that suggested wariness and a sense of calm.
The Queen sat there drinking in the differences and was caught during her scrutiny.
"Like what you see?" Emma smiled.
"Yes. Do you?"
"You grew your hair out," the younger woman reached out to touch soft black tendrils. "I always loved your hair longer. Plus here…" Emma gestured to her chest, "has gotten fuller."
"I notice that it has been the same for you," brown eyes were lowered to that very spot under inspection. "I am longing to see what else has changed beneath your clothes."
"Says my wife, or is that coming from the Queen?"
"Both."
"Oh nice."
They both gazed at each other intently and their lips danced closer. Rubbing her nose unto Regina's right cheek, the blonde chuckled when the Queen shuddered, feeling the release of warm breath upon her face. Even the cold wind could not muffle the heat arising from bodies that were yearning to be touched.
To be caressed and kissed. It had been so long, nine years to be exact and throughout that lapse of time, the brunette had never been intimate with anyone else. For her, it was like feeling the moment for the first time all over again for one's body would need to be reawakened. To remember what it felt like to long for someone and have them right there instead of a ghost.
"We haven't done our first dance," Emma whispered, lips pressed upon Regina's right ear, "as a married couple. Do you want us to have that memory? I know I want that."
"It is so dark outside already," the brunette frowned, leaning in further, her gloved hands traveling up a warm back that was curled up like a comma.
"Let's do it."
"Now?" Regina pulled back and rested their foreheads together, "you wish for us to…have our wedding dance now? Perhaps as you voiced earlier, we can redo this at a later date when your heart has eased into it and then we can exchange the rings?"
"Noo," the playfulness was back suddenly. Emma rose up and took a hold of the brunette's right hand. "Let's do it now. Now, now, now. Come on. Get up. I want to dance right now."
"Okay, okay," Regina said hoarsely, rising from the seat gracefully, "whatever you wish, my dear. Wait." She pulled the blonde back and inhaled deeply. "I'd rather not climb those stairs twice in one night. Perhaps a…magical means of transporting ourselves unto the grounds would be ideal."
"Cool," and without a waste of a second, the brunette was stunned when white smoke circled around her, emerald eyes smiling through the haze.
Stunned, she stared back at the woman who was now her wife and blinked.
Never even registering that they were back in the courtyard, the two of them gazed at each other and it was Henry and Carrie who noticed them first.
"Look, they're ready to dance!" Carrie spurred up David who considered the scene before him and blinked. Somehow he couldn't believe how much could be felt from the two women standing just there amongst everyone.
The chemistry was felt and eventually everyone stopped what they were doing to stare. The grass was lightly covered in snow and within the center of the festivities was a wooden stage painted yellow. Upon this they stood together whilst everyone else lingered on the outside and near the tables set up. A few guests were sitting in chairs and the light wind moving through the trees gave the scene such a romantic look, entirely intense and somewhat eerie. Well the latter description was provided by Snow who hated being outdoors in the night.
"I want to paint them," Henry said, his arm linked with his sister.
"Brother, you are too artistic for your own good. I want you to draw me before you draw anything else," Carrie noted, pulling him closer.
"I want to draw Rachel," the little boy of nine said smirking.
The blonde turned to stare at him. "You mean aunt Ruby and aunt Belle's daughter?"
"Yes. I'll use my black paint generously around her eyes. Since she loves to blacken it. I'll make her look like a demon."
"Stop it you toss pot," and she nudged their shoulders together. "Stop smirking. You're always smirking like mommy. Don't smirk."
"I'll ask mommy to buy me a set of black crayons, Carrie," Henry said smiling, his eyes focused on their mothers together. "Wait and see."
Carrie's emerald eyes became distant as she stared at the other girl across the lawn. "I really like her," the blonde said softly. "She's very, very pretty."
"Rachel's a demon," Henry said, checking his sister's face.
"She's beautiful. She's mysterious. She's brave….like mommy."
"Well too bad she isn't a boy."
"Didn't you know, brother?" Carrie turned to her brother and smiled. "I don't fancy boys. I fancy girls like mommy."
Snow noted how Emma wrapped her arms around the brunette, emerald eyes teased by a smile. Somehow all anger for the Queen had been slowly diminishing. The more she studied the newly married couple, her heart began to flutter.
"Strike up the music!" August piped up from the corner. "By all means, let the music play!"
"Woot, woot!" Ruby pumped her right fist in the air and Belle laughed. "To the sexiest couple in the entire realm."
Chuckling, the Queen wasted no time in pressing their bodies together, fingers running through blonde hair. Eyes fluttering close, her heart was at peace finally. This was her happy ending. It was felt so deeply, soul deep. Nothing else could explain that overwhelming feeling.
"I miss feeling you against me like this," Emma whispered, inhaling the scent of apples and vanilla. "Oh how I miss this."
"They really need to start the music," Regina's voice trembled, "I cannot muster up enough strength any longer. I want to kiss you so badly."
Immediately, the blonde brought their lips together, eyes fluttering close. They were still lingering in the moment of tasting each other when the band struck up a slow melody composed from the violin, and the piano.
"So tell me, Emma," the Queen began, feeling quite mischievous, "what shall I do with you later in the bedroom since it is our wedding night?"
Taking a step backwards, fingers entwined, Emma laughed. "I get the feeling that I'm really going to enjoy this dance."
Xxx
A/N – So two more chapters left! The next one will be the wedding night, Snow and Regina having a talk, Emma moving in with Regina, and all fluffiness. The last chapter will be TEN YEARS LATER. REVIEW!