25.

Waking up never felt so good in Regina's mind, and at the same time she was exhausted. She had not got a lot of sleep done during the night as her thoughts were constantly swirling in her head. She had succeeded in falling asleep after midnight only to be woken up at the first shades of dawn by an overly excited Red jumping around.

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty!" cheered the very edgy Red.

"Good morning...are you sure you are alright?" A puzzled Regina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes of course I am! Why?" Red frowned as she stopped bouncing up and down.

"You just called me Sleeping Beauty."

"So?"

Regina and Red kept silent just looking at each other for a small time.

"Nevermind. Forget it." Regina said.

"I am so excited!..."

"...I had not figured..."

"...You are getting MARRIED! Aaaah! I am so happy, so happy, so happy!"

And with that Red started jumping up and down again, making Regina laugh when she hit her foot on a chair but still kept on going with a wince. All that agitation got the attention of Ruth and Granny who peered through the partially open door.

"Red! What is up with you?" Her grandmother exclaimed.

"I think she is even more excited by my own wedding than I am." Regina explained to the elder women, still chuckling.

"Well, you'd better keep your excitement quieter or you'll end up getting up the whole village young lady!" Granny spat at her granddaughter but she didn't seem to listen.

Upon seeing that Red wasn't calming down, she ran straight to her and grabbed her left ear making the girl shriek in pain.

"Granny!"

"You never listen! Now come with me, I need you to help me for the last preparations." Granny said while walking out of the room, still holding her granddaughter's ear.

They could still ear Red protesting behind the door for a couple minutes but then everything went silent and Ruth and Regina just chuckled, looking at each other. There was a small silence between them as they looked at each other. Ruth asked if she could come and sit next to her to which Regina agreed: "Of course!". Once they were sat next to the other, there was an awkward silence for a few seconds.

"So," Ruth asked, turning to the young woman, "how are you feeling this morning?"

"Good!" Regina replied instantly. "Thank you."

Ruth looked at her sceptically. "You don't have to lie to me you know. You can tell me the truth."

"The truth?" Regina repeated. Ruth nodded once. Regina took a deep breath and closed her eyes before opening them. "The truth is that I am terrified." Regina got up and started pacing the floor.

"I am terrified because I feel like I am making a huge mistake in getting all of you involved for my sake. I don't know what will happen of us, of me and David, you, Red and Granny, after the spell is broken. How will my mother react? Will she ever let us be happy? I doubt it. Will we be happy forever? Where will we go? She'll never leave us alone, I know it! But at the same time I feel exhilarated because I am going to wed the man I love, I have met you and you are wonderful and I have made new friends in Granny and Red, and Matilda if I can even count her...I am just so scared Ruth."

Suddenly she fell on her knees and started crying. All the emotions she had built inside of her for the past few weeks were finally getting loose. Ruth bent down and helped her get to the bed where she held her in silence for a good ten minutes before her sobs quietened. Once Regina was only sniffing, Ruth gave her a tissue to dry her tears and got up from the bed to the cupboard at the corner of the room.

"You must think I am a terrible person..." Regina said between two sniffles.

"Actually, I don't. Here."

Regina looked up and saw Ruth handing her a large rectangular box. It was green and had a white ribbon around it, tying the four sides so it wouldn't open. Regina took the box from the elderly woman's hands with a frown.

"What is it?" She asked Ruth while setting the box down on the bed.

"Open it."

Regina untied the magnificent white bow and let the ribbons fall on each side of the box. Then she opened the top and was presented with a beige and white thin paper. She moved the paper aside and what she saw took her breath away. Inside the paper was a gown. A silky white gown. Regina slid her fingers on the fabric, carefully, and looked up to meet Ruth's eyes.

"Is it for me?"

"Of course my child," Ruth smiled, tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. "Take it out."

Regina did as she was told. She grabbed what seemed like the shoulders of the dress and got up to see the whole thing. She was dumbfounded! It was the prettiest wedding gown she had ever seen. The gown was mainly white. Long with a white cloak and long white sleeves that were larger under two golden trims by the elbows. The front –a golden and white patterned robe underneath- was laced in white. The trims were also golden and subtly sparkled at some point when the candle light reflected on them. It was just simple yet elegant, exactly Regina's taste. It was beautiful.

Regina was speechless, she was trying to contain her tears but when she met the other woman's eyes, she couldn't hold them in anymore. She put down the gown and hugged Ruth, crying.

"Thank you so much Ruth! It is beautiful! I..I don't have words for it...Just thank you."

"You are most welcome my dear." Ruth said, patting the young woman's hair.

"But, how?" Regina asked, looking into her eyes.

"Well, since the day I saw you with that ring," she said pointing at the peridot ring, "I knew right away. I knew that it wouldn't be an easy path for the both of you but I also knew that eventually the day would come when you would need a wedding gown. And I was right." She smiled. "I had it done by one of my sweet friends' daughter as I knew she is a talented seamstress and there you have it."

"Thank you so very much Ruth," Regina said holding the woman and eyeing the beautiful gown. "You don't know how much it means to me. How I wish my mother was like you."

"We do not choose the parents we are born from but they are assigned to us for a reason dear. Everything happens for a reason. It is up to us to make the best out of every situation. Do you understand?" She asked the brunette with a tender hand on her cheek. Regina nodded. "Good. Now, I think It is time to get you ready. It is your wedding day! I could not have asked for a more perfect daughter-in-law than you."

She kissed Regina's forehead tenderly. The young lady then hugged her once more. A soft sound at the door made them turn towards it, and they saw a far-less-excited-than-before Red by the door.

"Shall we begin?"

Hello! You have probably forgotten all about me and this story and i am so so so sorry. I know this chapter is short but it was either that or i would never have uploaded. I'm really trying my best to write something these days but it's proven very difficult... I'd like to thank each and everyone of you who encouraged me to write: really you have been the little voices in my head telling me to continue and push harder. I really hope you still enjoy reading this fic and that i can upload soon. Have a great day, week, month wherever you are. Talk to you soon! :) -Sarah.