EPILOGUE

It was early dawn when Jana went into her Mom's bedroom with Brissa in tow. Regina instantly recognized the signs of her daughter waking from a nightmare. She had a slight sheen of sweat across her brow and a somewhat panicked look in her eyes. She'd immediately pushed Emma away from her as she slid over to allow room for her daughters to scramble into the bed.

Brissa had climbed in first. Then Jana followed.

Brissa had wrapped her arms around her Mom who'd instantly kissed and returned the tight embrace.

Regina looked across her and stretched her free arm out to Jana. "What's wrong punkin'?" she whispered as she rubbed her hand up and down her belly to calm her.

Jana lay staring up at the ceiling. "I want to go home," she whispered.

At first Regina wasn't sure she'd heard her right. "We are home," she frowned over at her daughter. "I thought you wanted to leave. We have to get to the airport by two. Did you change your mind? Did something scare you?" Jana had finally narrowed down that she'd wanted to go on what she'd dubbed as a Eurotrip. They'd head to Spain for a while first and from there it was pretty easy to get around the different countries by train.

Jana turned her head toward her Mom. Over Brissa's head, Regina could see tears glistening in her eyes. "I want to go home. I want to see my Mom."

Regina instantly knew she wasn't talking about her. "Oh." She wasn't sure what to make of the request. Jana nor Brissa had made any mention of wanting to go back to their home. Jana avoided talking about her past at all costs and though Brissa occasionally talked about people or things from their past, she hadn't shown any signs of homesickness or anything else. They'd both seemed pretty content where they were.

Regina ran her hands through Brissa's hair as she thought this over. Her youngest had fallen back to sleep already. She looked across to Jana and nodded at her, "If you want. I think we have some time while Emma says bye to her parents."

Jana just turned her back. Eventually they all fell back to sleep.

When she woke up next, Brissa and Jana were at the foot of the bed watching tv. Henry had come in sometime after the girls and was talking and laughing with Brissa about whatever they were watching. Regina smiled through her yawn as she took in all three of her children.

Everything was packed and ready to go. They just needed to get up and dressed for the day. Regina would throw their pj's in the wash and they would pack them away in their carry ons before leaving. They would grab breakfast at Granny's then go their separate ways before meeting up at the house. Emma and Henry were going to her parents to say goodbye and Regina was apparently going to go and see a woman she'd sworn never cross paths with in life ever again.

Emma began to yawn and stretch. "I'm hungry," she said through a loud yawn.

Regina sat up and rolled her eyes at Emma, "I'm starting to think food is the only thing that you do actively think about."

Emma gave her what had to be the most unsexy yet utterly adorable lookover she'd ever seen while waggling her eyebrows. "I didn't say I was hungry for food."

Regina laughed before leaning over and giving her a kiss.

"Eww," Henry hid his eyes behind his hands. "How can you kiss when you both still have morning breath?"

Emma threw a pillow at him. He caught it while giggling. "When you grow up you're going to want all the kisses you can get. There's no eww about it. I love your Mom and she loves me. So her germs are already my germs."

Regina quirked an eyebrow at her, "Love huh?" The two of them had actually never said the words to one another yet. For Regina this was a huge step. Just two months ago she'd been ready to leave this entire town behind. Henry and Emma included. Now they were on their way to being a patchwork family.

Emma grabbed her hand and pulled it to her chest. "True love baby," she drawled. Then she began peppering her with kisses that forced Regina onto her back as she tried to squirm away from her. "Say it," she insisted as she held her down firmly and began a tickle attack.

Regina tried to glare at her but she couldn't hold her laughter in. "I do. I do. I love you. Now stop it! I can't breathe!"

"And - ?" Emma prompted as she wiggled her fingers at her in preparation for another attack.

Regina rolled her eyes at her, "It's true love, ba-by," she singsonged.

Emma cheered. She rolled off of Regina and helped her to sit up.

Regina sat up and blew her hair off of her face. She made eye contact with all of the kids before turning her devilish grin on her girlfriend, "Now it's our turn!" she yelled before shoving her down. The kids were instantly up and they all dogpiled on top of Emma trying to see who could get the most laughs out of her as they tickled her mercilessly.

Regina sat back and grabbed her phone. She pushed the video button and began recording. "This is it. Our last morning here with the family," she turned the camera to her rowdy bunch then back at herself. She grinned into the camera, "I think it's going to be a beautiful day!"

RQ

"Are you sure about this?" Regina asked as she stared at her daughter in the rear view mirror.

Jana merely gave a small nod. They got out of the car and regarded the house for a second before Regina went to the trunk and began unloading it.

She picked up the boxes and carried them towards the house wishing Emma was there for a number of reasons. She hadn't even known that Jana had been collecting these things in the time she'd been living with her. She'd apparently been able to amass quite a few items for her other family.

Regina felt a little upset but she pushed past it. For 8 years her daughter had lived with these people. She'd spent her life calling another woman Mommy. It stung a little but she was learning to, as Emma would say, not sweat the small stuff and not to beat herself up over things she couldn't change. She'd come out of the deal alright. She'd gotten 2 beautiful, brilliant daughters for one.

Brissa ran into the house and straight for her birth Mother as Jana held the door open for her. Regina dropped the boxes next to a sofa and then looked around her. "Hi," she gave a small smile around at all of the faces to her that were unfamiliar but had once been who her daughters had referred to as family.

"I brought some things," Jana announced as she started handing out the parcels. There were toys, books, and trinkets. It wasn't much and if Regina had known about this in advance, she would've brought more but the kids sitting around seemed excited about it all.

Regina sat awkwardly on the sofa as she watched Brissa hugging and kissing on this strange woman. She felt a little tug on her heart as she watched her daughters interact with these people that she'd come to see only as enemies.

But as she watched Jana make her way over to Muda, which was what they called their Mother, she knew there was more there than what she'd come to believe. Regina had at first thought it was an insult or something but Jana had explained to Regina before that everyone in the family called her Muda. Apparently it started with her oldest sister. Since she couldn't say Mother as a baby she had instead called her Muda. The name stuck and was passed down through all the kids.

Jana sat down on her lap. She leaned back against her as she spoke softly, "We're leaving. And I don't know when we're coming back," her voice cracked at the end of the declaration.

Regina blinked back tears as she watched and waited patiently. The woman's arms came around her daughters. She kissed and hugged them both. Regina was torn as she recognized what she was seeing. Jana may be angry with her Mother but she didn't hate her. She instead seemed to feel much the same way that Regina felt about Cora. She hated what she'd done to her but she didn't hate the woman herself.

They didn't stay long. Jana only allowed herself a few minutes before pulling away. She grabbed her sister and said her goodbyes. Before they left the house Jana disappeared into the garage. She came out with some photographs in her hand. She showed them to Regina as she and Brissa talked about each one. Regina was glad her children had gotten at least the small snapshots of joy out of that house.

They got home and went through the house as they waited for Emma and Henry to arrive. Once they had they did a final walkthrough altogether. They made sure all garbage was thrown out, all appliances and lights were shut off and the house was in pristine condition. She had no idea when they'd be back but she knew they wouldn't stay away forever. She spent a few minutes out back with her tree before heading off.

Tink and Ruby were going to housesit for them. Tink wanted to get out of the inn and Ruby wanted to get some space from Granny since working together and living together was too much. Regina had shown them both how to care for her tree and they both assured her they'd send pictures and updates frequently.

Before leaving the house, they checked and double checked all their luggage. They put their things into the rental that Emma had picked up a couple of days ago. They were leaving their cars at the house with strict instructions for Ruby and Tink that they could look but not touch.

Regina just rolled her eyes as she beeped her horn to hurry Emma along when she took too much time saying goodbye to the rusted out old heap. She swore she saw tears glistening in her eyes before she jumped into the car. She handed her a tissue which Emma used loudly. Regina just sighed loudly and handed her hand sanitizer as they pulled away and headed for Granny's.

They had lunch while different townsfolk came up to say their goodbyes. Granny had packed them a few things for the road even though the airport was only an hour and a half away. The Charmings dropped by just before they jumped into the car. Snow threw her arms around Regina before she had a chance to react. Or so that's the story Regina was sticking with anyway. There was no way she'd hugged her voluntarily.

Regina had made sure the kids had all of their electronic devices and chargers in their carry-ons as they waited to check their luggage. They each also had a few snacks, water, a blanket and pillow and books to keep them occupied on the 18 hour long flight.

They chose to go through the scanner since Regina knew already that her kids being checked manually wasn't going to work for any of them. Since they were flying first class, they spent the rest of their wait time in the first class lounge before being called to board.

There was a small moment of awkwardness when the kids were asked where they wanted to sit. Jana immediately yelled window and headed for it. Emma kissed Regina and then took the seat beside her. Henry looked slightly disappointed but he hid it quickly. Instead he took the seat next to Brissa. He helped her into her seatbelt before putting on his. Regina smiled over at them lovingly as she sat on the other side of her baby girl.

"What a sweet young man you have there," an older lady across from them leaned over as she smiled at the family. "And what a beautiful family."

Regina looked around at her little ragtag bunch. "Yeah. They are," she agreed with a big smile on her face.

"Now Mom?" Henry asked as the buckle your seatbelts sign came on.

Regina nodded over at her son. She watched as he pulled out some gum and unwrapped a piece.

He handed it over to Brissa. "Now you have to chew this. Not swallow," he said as he popped a piece in his own mouth. Regina wrinkled her nose at his demonstration but still smiled as Henry reached over and checked that the seatbelt she'd just double checked herself was fastened securely around Brissa's waist. "You chew it so your ears don't clog up," Regina smiled as she heard her own words repeated through her son. She'd explained it to him when she'd bought the gum. He knew she normally hated it so he'd asked and she'd told him that the ear popping was a part of flying and not knowing how to clear their ears was the main reasons children tended to be upset with flying. "And you keep your seatbelt on while the light over there is on so you don't fly around and hurt yourself."

"But we are flying," Brissa insisted.

"Well, the plane is flying. We're just sitting here," Henry explained patiently. "I'll explain it all to you later," he said in a grown up manner. He held up one of his comic books that he'd stashed beside him before Emma had put his bag away. "Want me to read you a story?" he offered. Even though Brissa could read on her own, she nodded eagerly. The two kids scooted as close to one another as they could in the circumstances and Henry began reading and explaining to her the graphics of his Batman comic.

Regina's eyes met Emma's. The two shared a grin before sitting back and getting comfortable.

It had been a hard road getting here. But Jana was healing and learning to forgive. She had even accepted some gum from Henry which was huge for her little girl. It wasn't where she wanted them to be but she knew in time she'd get there.

Henry was maturing and learning to become a more compassionate, thoughtful, and kind young man. Brissa was the most beautiful and talented child she'd ever met. She was so much like Jana but she didn't carry the scars her sister wore openly. She sang, danced, and was so smart she just seemed to absorb information. She easily and quickly adapted to changing situations. Regina knew her kids would become really awesome people who did great things.

She was learning to let go of old grudges. And Emma was learning the meaning of family. They had come so far in such a short time when you thought about it. They went from hating and fearing one another to being the ones who helped heal each other.

Regina ignored the tablet that held her books in favor of looking lovingly at all of her family. Henry and Brissa were engrossed in a comic book. She was glad that Henry was taking to being a big brother well. She knew he would do her proud. Emma and Jana laughing away and whispering between them as their two heads bent close together. No doubt the two of them were planning their next round of shenanigans.

Even though their family was still a work in progress they were definitely on their way. And with the love they all shared between them, she knew wherever they landed that they'd be just fine.

*** And so we're done. I'm going to miss this story but there's still plenty more to keep me occupied in the meantime. You all should definitely check out all my new fics. If I wasn't writing them I'd def want to be reading them. So thanks for being on this journey with me. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I have.

See ya on the other side ;) ***