"I could kill for a shower." Emma's jaw dropped for the millionth time upon entering the extravagant house at the sight of what waited in the bathroom. "Or a bath deep enough to drown in," she amended.
Regina chuckled. The little tour was not so little anymore, as Emma was finding every single room fascinating. "Really, dear, this isn't the White House."
"It may as well be! It's white, it's huge, and a politician lives here."
"There's no indoor pool, no stage, no billiards room…"
"No indoor pool? What do you call that?" Emma flapped at the giant tub in gesture.
"I rather think it's more like a Jacuzzi myself."
Emma's eyes just about popped out of her head.
"Come on." Regina patted her shoulder. "There's more to see."
Only the guest rooms were left, five of which were free. Henry's room was the one closest to the master bedroom, and Mary's was the only one downstairs. The rest were placed sporadically along the upper level.
Though the walls in each were white, each room had a color scheme with the furniture. One was red, then there was green, blue, violet, and silvery gold. "I changed my mind. This house is more like a rainbow," commented Emma.
"I got bored. You can take your pick."
"They're all bigger than most houses I've lived in. I don't think I'm ever going to need that much space."
"I can't shrink their size for you. Henry's rather fond of red. He threw quite the fit when I didn't allow it to be his room."
"Maybe I'll take that one, then."
"Try them all out, if you wish. No need to choose right away."
"It's gonna be weird getting used to having options as opposed to being one."
Regina looped her arms around Emma's neck. "Oh, but you're the best option." She drew her in for a kiss.
Emma melted into the kiss, her hands moving to rest on Regina's waist. The woman simply could not be any lovelier. Emma was very unused to her ego being stroked, and Regina did it constantly. She supposed it was the same kind of thing that made people fall into drugs; if Emma were to be an addict her drug of choice would be Regina. She knew too much would never be enough.
"I love having you here," Regina murmured when the kiss broke, not moving away from the blonde beauty she'd somehow managed to ensnare.
"I'm glad I'm out of the hospital. Can't stand the things. Only you made it tolerable."
Regina let her head come to rest against her chest, her ear finding the beat of Emma's heart. "I can say the same for a great many things." She thought back to all those times she endured hell, and her visits to Emma would sometimes be the only thing to make it better. She wished Emma could remember those times.
Emma stroked her fingers through dark locks, letting their hug linger for moments that seemed endless, until they parted naturally.
"Well, would you like to help start on dinner?" Still wanting to maintain the connection, Regina intertwined their fingers together.
"I'm not sure how much help I'll be…"
"For now you can help Henry with setting the table. We'll work up to food later. Maybe. I'm not used to sharing the kitchen."
Emma laughed. "Perhaps that's for the best," she replied as she followed Regina's lead. "My cooking skills consisted purely of buying boxes and reading labels."
"Better than some."
They arrived at the door to Henry's room a minute or two later. Regina knocked lightly before pushing the door open. "Henry, I'm going to start dinner. Would you like to show Mommy how we set the table?"
Henry bounced up from his doodling. "Sure! C'mon!" He darted out the door and snagged Emma's free hand, pulling her along in his excitement.
It was slightly painful when Emma's hand was ripped from Regina's, and the elder of them teetered in a state of unbalance for a second. "Be gentle!" She admonished, though more for Emma's sake than her own. Henry didn't need to be dragging her around like a ragdoll on her first day out of the hospital.
It was humorous to find Emma staring at the intricate design decorating a single plate when Regina caught up to them in the kitchen. "How can anyone eat from this?" the blonde mused. "It's too pretty!"
"It doesn't stain. No harm will come to it."
Emma sat the plate down, startled at Regina's voice when she hadn't known she was in the room. "I don't know if I keep zoning out and staring at things because it's actually impressive, or because it's impressive to me because of the coma."
"Where should Mommy sit?" Henry spoke up. His and Regina's spots were already set.
Regina walked to the table and put her hands on top of the chair adjacent to her right.
Henry tilted his head. "But that's Mary's spot."
"Not always. She can sit elsewhere." Emma caught note of hardness in her voice that hadn't been there before. It was clear there was something about this Mary, presumably the almost step daughter, that irked the brunette.
Henry shrugged and continued on.
Emma stepped up behind Regina, running her hands along her arms and then lifting them by the wrist from the chair so no harm came to its wooden features. She dropped a kiss to where neck met shoulder, never asking and only soothing. "Focus on dinner," she murmured.
Regina turned to deliver a quick kiss before plastering on that politician's smile. "What should we have for dinner, Henry?"
"Mommy, do you like lausnuh?"
"Translation, please," Emma requested of Regina.
"Lasagna."
"Is that like ravioli?"
Henry snickered.
"That was rude, Henry," Regina scolded. "We don't laugh at Mommy if we want her to stay."
The possibility of Emma not staying sobered Henry's expression immediately. "Sorry, Mommy."
"It's okay, bud." Either that was an interesting parenting tactic or it was a half-hearted admission of an actual fear Regina held. Either way, she wasn't planning on going anywhere. "I'm willing to try it," she told Regina.
"Lasagna it is." Regina began moving about, gathering the ingredients.
