I want to say thank you to everyone who read this and offered me some feedback. I'm a writer, but I've never written anything like this, so I appreciated all the thoughts and responses. Here's the last chapter of this story, and I'm working on a new one for these two. XO
It was the cold that woke Regina from a dead sleep. She should have been used to it by now. Three month into Lizzie's life, and Emma seemed to prefer the night shifts. Or at least that's what she said. So twice a night, before Lizzie's restlessness could turn to cries and wake Regina, Emma switched off the baby monitor, replaced her body with a pillow in her wife's grip, padded softly out of the room, and fed, rocked, and sang Lizzie back to sleep. Sometimes Emma was so quick and soundless to Lizzie's crib that Regina didn't even stir.
It had of course occurred to her that Emma was being chivalrous, always the Savior, but Regina was working longer hours, and her desire for uninterrupted sleep and her wife's sincere expression upon asking for the job convinced her. But since Emma still worked most days in her role as sheriff, the nights had begun to wear on her, leaving her eyes a little droopy and her skin somewhat sallow.
So tonight, having been in such a deep sleep, she hadn't woken fast enough, and Lizzie had begun crying in earnest, so in her haste to scramble out of the room, the blonde had forgotten to turn down the volume on the monitor or tuck her pillow into Regina's arms.
A few minutes after Emma left the room, with Lizzie still hiccupping and whimpering, Regina's eyes fluttered open, and she scowled at the empty bed and then at the clock, which read 2:23. But before she could put the pillow over her head to drown out the world and return to sleep, she heard Emma's voice on the monitor and turned up the volume.
"Ok, sister, feel better now that you have some bottle in your tummy? Good girl. I love you. Now, where were we?"
Regina heard the creak of the old rocking chair and smiled, propping up the pillows behind her to focus her full attention on her wife and daughter.
"I think I told you all about your grandparents and how they met… What? Don't look at me like that. I know it sounds like a magical fairy tale, but put your cynicism to the side. Jeez, you're too young to be so jaded. I mean, look who you're talking to. But I learned that you can doubt many things in this life, but you can never doubt true love, my sweet girl. However, I do have one more piece of advice I think I forgot to mention on that front—Grammy is going to drive us all insane, but try to remember that her heart's in the right place."
Regina chuckled and silently cursed herself for missing what must have been dozens of heartfelt chats in the middle of the night between the two women in her life, even if they were one-sided.
"Ok and Henry. I told you all about him. God, that boy already adores you. He will do anything for you—you're one lucky little girl to have a brother like him. When I was young, I used to pray every night I would discover I had a little sister or brother like Henry, so when you learn to talk you have to tell him how great he is so he feels appreciated. Not that we want to give him a big head or anything. There's definitely enough conceded knuckleheaded men out there, and that's a story for another night when you're much older, but I have a feeling that could never happen to Henry. He's, well, he's special, Lizzie. But you'll find that out for yourself soon enough."
"I know what you're thinking. You're wondering why I never talk about Mom. But that one's harder for me to talk about…"
Emma's voice trailed off, and Regina wondered if maybe she had suddenly fallen asleep or was changing a diaper, but when she broke the silence, her voice was gravelly, like maybe she was crying.
"Lizzie, the truth is they call me the Savior, but your mom, she totally saved me. I was so empty, so hallow, or at least I thought I was. And your mom, from the moment I fell in love with her—even before I knew she loved me back (when I thought she pretty much hated me)—she helped me become a whole person.
I can't even really put into words what she means to me, Lizzie, how much I need her, how much I love her. Like any words I could use to explain just seem kind of pathetic, not worthy of her. It feels like I've spent every moment of my life loving her, like I know that love so well, and I'm always going to. Loving your mom is the absolute best thing about me, and, on top of that, it brought me you. My beautiful, brilliant baby girl. "
"Lizzie, are you sleeping? God, you're really a terrible listener. Well maybe tomorrow I can finish telling you about her. Or we can talk about you. I don't want to monopolize the conversation. You probably tell the other babies, 'that's my mom. Yeah, she's totally gorgeous, but she never shuts up. Touché, Lizzie, touché."
Regina laughed, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. She heard rustling, and she knew Emma was putting Lizzie back in her crib. She turned the volume on the monitor down and snuggled back down into the comforter, feeling the warmth spread through her body, a blush rising to her cheeks.
She thought about the past three months since Lizzie's arrival, the blissful domesticity that had become the metronome of their life together.
She knew she'd never get bored of this life—Emma would come home from work, change into sweats, and slink her arms around her waist while she was cooking dinner, whispering how much she loved her into the back of her neck. Then the four of them would eat together each night, Regina feeding Lizzie and Henry cracking Emma up with crazy stories of his day. Then Henry would run upstairs to d o his homework, and Regina would snuggle into Emma on the couch while they watched TV, and a surge of warmth would fill her, like there was nowhere else in this realm or any other that she'd ever want to be.
Even when they fought—when Regina had gotten jealous at the Diner and asked Emma if she was "done flirting with that guyliner, hook-handed imbecile"—they ended up clawing each other's clothes off, the anger only serving to spark their undeniable passion for each other, which had seemed to intensify after what happened during Lizzie's birth.
What would start out as anger or mundanity would turn electric in a blink of an eye and then a puff of purple smoke. Sometimes it was pure lust and arousal, but other times it was just pleasure—the joy of feeling that close to someone, to Emma. She knew she was utterly, forlornly, unapologetically in love with Emma.
Kathryn and Ruby teased them about it mercilessly, but on the whole, everyone had embraced the couple and welcomed Lizzie with open arms. She was a gorgeous baby—she had Emma's brilliant green eyes and was starting to grow silky raven hair like Regina. When Regina admitted it to herself, she looked a bit like a young Snow White. And of course Snow and David were utterly smitten, and Granny couldn't get enough of the sweet little girl. Henry had endured some ribbing at school, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. And honestly, he was so excited to have a sister that he truly didn't care what anyone said.
She heard footsteps at the door of the master suite and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep so Emma wouldn't know she heard the confessions she made to Lizzie. Emma came in, took off her sweats, approached the bed carefully, and sat delicately at the edge. Regina could feel her eyes on her, and then the blonde reached down and slid a lock of hair out of her face, grazing her cheek with the pads of her fingers.
"God, I love you," she puffed out in a whisper.
Regina couldn't take it anymore. She gave up the rouse in an instant and grabbed her wife's wrist and pulled her in, shocking Emma, who landed unceremoniously with an oomf on top of her.
Emma looked down at her, eyes tired but twinkling, and landed a light kiss on Regina's lips.
"I'm sorry I woke you, baby."
"I'm not. I'm just sorry I've missed so many nights of True Confessions with Emma Swan. If I had known that was happening, I would've started setting my alarm."
Emma reddened so visibly Regina could see it in the dark.
"Hmm. You heard all that, huh?"
"Yes, I didn't intend on eavesdropping. I hope you don't mind."
"No, I want you to know how much I love you. I hope you do know already. I just might have said it differently if I had know you were listening."
"How would you have said it?"
"Maybe with less tears and just, I don't know, less drama."
"If anyone deserves a little drama, it's us. We've had quite a dramatic ride, and everything you said, honey, I feel the exact same for you. I don't know if I conveyed how scared I was when I thought I was going to lose you. Not because you are my wife or the mother of my children or my best friend or my true love or—"
"—the best sex of your life?"
Regina smirked and put a finger over her lips.
"No, because you are all those things to me. You are… everything. Honestly, the thing I most grateful for is that you brought Marian back here. If that hadn't happened, and if you hadn't come to me that day, I would still be wallowing, never knowing that I could have all this. And this is more than I could have ever dreamed of."
"It is for me too," Emma said, eyes wide and shining with tears.
Regina shot her a full smile, the kind that made the blood thrum in Emma's ears.
"It is what? The best sex of your life?"
"Well, I meant more than I ever let myself dream of. But it's the best sex of my life, and if you're Jupiter the next best is, er, Uranus."
Regina giggled. "You're such a child." Then her smile went from giddy to lascivious in an instant. "Prove it."
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Prove that you're the best sex of my life? I think it's you that needs to prove it to me," Emma said with a grin.
Regina let out a throaty laugh. "With pleasure, Miss Swan."
She suddenly flipped them over, flicking her wrist as they rolled, so Regina was pinning her wife, both women completely naked. Once Emma gained her composure, she wanted to offer a snarky remark, a clever comeback, but all she could do was blush and moan and the sensation, smoothing her palm down the silky skin of Regina's shoulder blades, her spine, and then resting her hands at the small of her back.
"You don't need to prove anything to me. But if you want me to prove how sexy you are to me, the effect you have on me, that's an easy one." She pulled at one of Regina's hands, which was propped by her head, and slid it down her body until it reached the apex of her thighs. "Feel for yourself," she said, cocking her head to the side.
And Regina did, slipping her fingertips into the silky wetness of Emma's pussy. She groaned, wetness pooling between her own thighs. She sat up, straddling Emma's hips, taking in her wife—her golden hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, her tired green eyes sparkling with excitement and love, the high cheekbones flushed with arousal.
Emma just smiled up at her, and Regina began caressing her from her cheeks to her chin, down her neck, across her collarbone, and let her hands come to rest at her breasts, cupping them gently before dipping her head and sucking on Emma's nipples. She sucked and nipped and bit and licked, worshipping her wife's breasts, leaving Emma gasping and whimpering. She wondered if she could cum without Regina even touching her below the waist.
But before she could ponder that thought, Regina leaned in to kiss her full on the lips, plundering her mouth with her tongue and reaching down between her legs. She swirled her fingers through Emma's wetness a few times before rubbing her clit in earnest. Then she entered her with two fingers, leaving Emma panting and heaving. Regina began thrusting into her, slowly at first, and then vigorously.
"Oh god, Regina. Don't stop. More. More."
Regina added a third finger, letting her thumb bump her clit on each stroke. Regina watched her intently. She loved bringing her wife to orgasm. As open and honest as Emma was, there was something incredibly vulnerable about her like this—naked, back arched, needy.
"Emma, open your eyes." When Emma had pried her eyes open, Regina ducked her head and whispered in her ear, "Emma. Sometimes I… I can't believe you are mine."
That was it, that was all it took, and Emma began to climax, and Regina continued to pump into her until Emma's body relaxed. Regina rolled off, pulling her into her arms. Emma leaned in to kiss her with passion, but Regina cooled the kiss, soothingly rubbing her back.
Emma reached a hand between them, but Regina grabbed it, pulling it to her lips and kissing the knuckles reverently. Emma searched out her eyes, raising an eyebrow.
"Not in the mood, babe?"
"You know what, I just wanted to make love to you, and now I just want to sleep with you. No matter how strong you are, I know you're tired, and I need you to keep up your strength. In fact, from now on we each take a shift with Lizzie, or we can even do it together."
Emma opened her mouth to protest, but Regina just pressed her lips against her wife's. "Please," she said in a tiny whisper. "Let me share the load. You are my partner, my true love. You can trust me. I won't let you down, Emma."
A brilliant smile lit Emma's face.
"I know," she said.
FIN
