Of course the rest of their train ride was wonderful. They woke up whenever they wanted. Had breakfast whenever they wanted. Sometimes they went into the dining area to have it. And sometimes they asked 'their' private train clerk to grab them some breakfast. Regina had felt guilty about it the first time they had asked to have their breakfast brought to their sleep compartment, but their clerk, who apparently was called 'Ted' had just chuckled and insisted that that was the reason why he was there, and it hadn't taken long before Regina had started to feel less guilty.
Emma didn't feel the least bit guilty. She didn't have the urge to see other people while traveling on the train. She was more than cool with just hanging out in their sleep compartment and 'charging' before they continued onwards to Paris where they indeed would do all the honeymoon-esque things. See the Eiffel Tower. Visit all the little parks. Go on shopping sprees. Drink fancy French coffee and eat croissants on one the many little breakfast cafés. And Disneyland. Of course. Emma had insisted. She didn't care that she was rapidly approaching thirty, if she was in Paris, she HAD to visit Disneyland. She hadn't needed to insist, though. Regina had smiled and agreed. None of them had ever been to Disneyland Paris before, and they had been more than hesitant to tell Henry about their plan. But he had just laughed his head off and called them 'children'. And then insisted that he could come with them the next time. Of course they had said yes to that immediately.
And then of course there was New Year's Eve coming up shortly. Admittedly, she and Regina had splurged. They would be celebrating New Year's Eve on a New Year's Cruise on the Seine. Cruise through the silky water, past the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. Three course menu and free champagne all night, and by the time the clock struck midnight, they wouldn't turn into pumpkins. No, they would celebrate the coming of the new year at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It was going to be the trip of a life time, Emma was absolutely certain of that. She was so looking forward to exploring Paris with her wife. Walk hand in hand on a snow-dusted Parisian street. Watch Regina effortlessly blend in with all the sophisticated French women. And hear her speak French, of course. That was something Emma was most looking forward too.
It was safe to say that Zelena had almost fainted when they had revealed their New Year's Eve plans to her. She had groaned and grumbled and called them the lucky bastards. But underneath the envy, Emma could see the unbridled joy in Zelena's eyes. Regina's older sister had looked like she was on the brink of exploding with happiness. Because Regina was so excited. Glowing with happiness. She was worlds away from the silent, frightened woman she had met on the train to Vancouver. Regina was completely transformed. A strong, beautiful, confident woman who was sure of her place in the world. Who knew who she was and where she was going...
Emma snickered as she watched her wife sit down heavily on her suitcase in an attempt to apply enough pressure so she could zip it shut. "Do you need some help with that, beautiful?"
"I might," Regina said and grunted slightly as she once again attempted to zip the suitcase. "God damnit!"
"Swear jar, Mrs. Swan-Mills," Emma happily told her wife as she walked over to the bed where Regina was sitting on the suitcase. She crouched down. "Here. Lemme give you a hand."
"Much appreciated. Thank you. You'll pull and I'll... Apply pressure?"
"Sounds reasonable," Emma snickered. "Ready?"
"When you are, darling."
"Okay. And.. One, two, three... Push!" Emma exclaimed as she grabbed the zipper and started tugging.
Regina laughed. "Are we closing a suitcase or having a baby?"
"Har, har," Emma said a bit strained as she tugged at the zipper again. This was hard.
"I have too many clothes," Regina acknowledged.
"Bullshit," Emma scoffed. "You do not. You have the exact right amount of clothes, beautiful."
Regina hummed in that way that suggested she didn't agree, but instead of arguing with her, Emma fully concentrated on zipping the suitcase. And after a moment, she succeeded and could exclaim a triumphant: "ha!"
"Well done," Regina praised. "You did it."
"I sure did," Emma chuckled and couldn't help but being a little bit bad. Meaning that she leaned forward and placed a quick kiss right above Regina's knee. She could do that because of the way Regina was sitting on the suitcase.
"Emma!" Regina protested. "We're about to get off the train!"
"It was just a quick kiss, beautiful," Emma said innocently.
"I hope so, because we definitely do not have time for anything else now," Regina mildly scolded and elegantly climbed off the suitcase. She brushed a hand over her grey pinstriped skirt she was wearing. Her blazer was matching, and the crisp white blouse she was wearing underneath made her look incredibly sharp.
"You look great," Emma said as she watched Regina put on her coat with the blue fur collar. "Very sophisticated."
"Thank you," Regina smiled. "I try to imitate the French women."
"You're succeeding," Emma laughed at the joke.
"Excellent." Regina brushed a hand over her dark hair which was shining. Then she turned her head and looked at Emma over her shoulder. "Are you ready to get going?"
"I am," Emma nodded. "Ready for a four hour long camping trip in the airport!"
Regina chuckled. "I'm sure we can come up with something to kill the time, darling."
"Like check Facebook?" Emma jokingly suggested. They had been without Wi-Fi for the past three days, but Emma hadn't even thought about Facebook. Or Instagram for that matter. But now she was actually looking forward to going online and post a few airport selfies of herself and Regina. To prove that they were alive and on their way to Paris. She was certain that Zelena and Malena would comment on their pictures. And Henry too.
"Perhaps you should check your email instead," Regina suggested. "As far as I can recall, you're waiting for a very important email, aren't you?"
"I am," Emma nodded. An email from Dragon Publishing regarding something very interesting. Something known as The Queen's Revenge. The sequel to Twisted Tales. The readers were crying to hear more about Queen Aurelia who had lost everything in the very last chapter of Twisted Tales. The Queen's Revenge had been rummaging in Emma's mind for a few months, and even though she was writing on a paranormal novel, she hadn't quite been able to let The Queen's Revenge go. So some two weeks ago she had sat down and jotted down a rough storyline and a rough draft of a potential first chapter. She had very unofficially texted Malena and casually asked if she maybe would be interested in reading what she had written. Malena had more or less yelled at her via text to send her the first draft 'asap'. She had promised to read it as soon as possible, but Emma had asked her not to give her her opinion before after the wedding. She didn't want to think about potential manuscripts before the big day. She hadn't wanted anything to distract her. But now it was officially after the wedding, and so Emma was ready to hear Malena's professional meaning. But she had asked Regina if she minded if Emma checked a work-related email during their honeymoon. Regina had laughed heartedly and assured Emma that she could check as many emails as she damn well wanted to do.
Emma had no intention of doing that, though. She just wanted to check that one email. And then she wouldn't do anything work related until after the honeymoon. She hadn't even brought her laptop. It was safely tugged away in a drawer at home. But she had brought a good, old-fashioned notebook and a pen. Because she had some kind of romantic idea about sitting on a Parisian café and write in a notebook. Maybe it was silly, but it felt like such a mandatory thing to do when you were in Paris. And was a writer.
"So, shall we get going?" Regina asked, pulling Emma out of her thoughts.
"Yep, let's do it," Emma said briskly. Yes, their train journey was coming to an end, but the next part of their journey was only just getting started, and she absolutely could not wait!
"Well, this place isn't so bad," Emma observed as she looked around in Toronto Pearson International Airport. She and Regina had ridded themselves of their heavier luggage and now only had their purses to worry about. They were sitting on one of the benches in the airport. It wasn't the most comfortable place in the whole world, but it was okay. They could make it work. Emma had traded her leather jacket for her warmer parka coat. And she was grateful for that. The airport was a bit chilly.
Regina was sitting with her legs elegantly crossed. She was in the middle of putting her phone away in her pocket. Of course they had already called home to hear how Henry was doing. He had been in the middle of a game when they called, but he was more than happy to pause it so he could talk to his moms. He told them that he was doing just fine. That he and Malena and Ursula were going to visit David and Kathryn tonight. And of course he had told them all about Lola. That she was absolutely adorable and that he couldn't wait to bring her home.
Then Malena had taken the phone. She could report that 'everything was going splendidly'. 'The youngest hatchling' (meaning Neal) was on his best behavior and hadn't asked for Emma and Regina once. He was smiling from he woke up and to when he was tucked in for the night. That was no surprise. Neal was generally a very happy toddler. Malena hadn't mentioned the email with a word. Which could only mean that she had sent it.
And that was exactly the reason why Emma was sitting with her phone now. Trying to catch the Wi-Fi signal in the airport. She had already cussed twice over her phone's lack of ability to connect with the Wi-Fi, as a result, Regina had laughed twice.
"This is some old junk," Emma grumbled. But she didn't mean it. Not really. She was merely fishing after making Regina laugh again.
And she succeeded. Regina chuckled. She was sitting with her own phone in hand and clearly typing.
"Who are you texting?" Emma asked as she tapped the 'connect to Wi-Fi' button again. "Zelena?"
"No, Jennie," Regina replied. "We're talking about her new boyfriend. She's so happy."
Despite her struggles to connect with the Wi-Fi, Emma smiled. "That's wonderful. She deserves it."
"She does," Regina agreed. "She deserves the entire world. I'm so glad she's with a man who truly appreciates her."
"Me, too," Emma said warmly. Jennie had been in very bad shape when she arrived at their house. Terribly skinny and with wide, scared eyes. Emma couldn't count the times Regina had sat by her bedside and consoled her when she was afraid. Now Jennie had moved away and was with a new boyfriend. She too had come out strong on the other side. She too had shown what an incredibly strong woman she was. Emma was so proud of her. And she was proud of Regina for the way she had taken Jennie under her wing and slowly but steadily helped her back to life.
"Ha!" Emma said triumphantly as she finally managed to connect the cellphone to the Wi-Fi in the airport. "Eat that, suckers!"
"You did it," Regina chuckled. "Good job."
"Thanks, babe. Always nice to know that your wife supports you in even the littlest projects," Emma joked as she at last logged into her email account. She was glad that she had put the phone on 'silent', because the notifications just kept coming in a steady flow.
"Anything from Malena yet?" Regina asked impatiently.
"Yeah, she sent a reply," Emma answered and teased: "but don't you call her in anger if she isn't on board with The Queen's Revenge. Remember that she's not your friend when it comes to this. She's a very serious publisher who only takes the best stuff."
Regina gave her arm a playful punch. "You write the best stuff, my love. You know you do. And now please check the email!"
"Okay, okay," Emma laughed. Then she clicked the email so she could read the reply Malena had written to the rough draft of The Queen's Revenge. Said reply was ultrashort and every bit Malena. 'It's a yes from me, Mrs. Swan-Mills. The world needs more Queen Aurelia.'
"Fuck yeah!" Emma exclaimed, sticking a fist in the air. "Look at this!" she turned the screen towards Regina so she could read Malena's reply.
"Congratulations," Regina smiled. "I'm proud of you, my love."
"And you were right," Emma said, reminding Regina of what she had said at some point. "Queen Aurelia's story isn't done at all."
"Definitely not," Regina said firmly and batted her brown eyes at Emma. "So. Tell me. What will happen to Queen Aurelia in the next story?"
Emma gasped and feigned surprise. "You're asking me to give you a spoiler?!"
"Isn't that allowed now that I am your wife?" Regina asked sweetly and batted those brown eyes at Emma again.
Emma shook her head and sighed a little bit. Regina's eyes would be the death of her, she was sure. "Okay, fine," she surrendered without much hesitation. "You'll get one spoiler. One!"
"Make it a good one then," Regina teased.
Emma made a point of leaning in and whispering the spoiler into Regina's ear: "She'll get a suitor."
Regina gasped, but it didn't sound like she was feigning it. "You're giving Queen Aurelia a suitor?!"
"Shh," Emma snickered. "It's top secret, Mrs. Swan-Mills."
"Fine," Regina mock-huffed. "Keep your secrets."
Emma laughed. And so did Regina. Because both of them knew that Emma would reveal the entire plot to Regina before she had finished writing the third chapter.
As she wrote a reply to Malena, Emma smiled to herself. This was a huge victory for her. She would be diving back into the universe she had created in Twisted Tales. Back to the dark forests with the trees that were alive and mischievous. Back to Queen Aurelia's grand castle. She would get the opportunity to once again describe Queen Aurelia's elaborate gowns and intricate hairstyles. And she couldn't wait. She could feel the urge to write prickle in her fingers. But she would have to wait until they returned home from their honeymoon. And she could. Of course she could. Going on her honeymoon with Regina was the most important thing. But it was awesome to know that she could get started on The Queen's Revenge when she came back from Paris.
"Hello."
Emma looked up and so did Regina. Standing in front of them was Amelia, the little girl from the train. The one whose book Regina had picked up.
"Why, hello, Amelia," Regina greeted and smiled at the little girl too. "Fancy meeting you here."
Amelia snickered.
"You're going flying too?" Emma asked.
Amelia nodded. "Yeah, me and my mom and dad are going to Vermont!"
"Really? That sounds awesome, kiddo," Emma said and chuckled. It was funny that Amelia was here too.
"I just wanted to say thank you for picking up my book," Amelia said seriously to Regina. "My grandmother got it for me when I was just a baby, and I would have gotten really sad if I had lost it! So thank you, Mrs. Swan-Mills."
"You're welcome, Amelia," Regina said warmly. "I'm glad I could help you."
Amelia looked from Regina to Emma and back to Regina again. "I want to give you something, but I have only one. Do you think you can share it?"
"Oh, you don't have to give us anything, honey," Regina assured and smiled at the little girl. "I was just happy to help you."
"Mommy said I could. And I want to," Amelia said stubbornly.
Emma and Regina looked at one another, and Emma grinned. Regina had clearly made an impression. "Well," Emma said. "I definitely think you should give Regina your present, kid." She adored how children just naturally gravitated towards Regina. It was so sweet. And the fact that this little girl wanted to give Regina a present was even more sweet. She was more than fine with Amelia delivering her present to Regina. Really, anyone who gave Regina gifts was a winner in Emma's eyes. Maybe she would even include Amelia in one of her stories.
Amelia's little face split into a grin as she showed them what she had been hiding behind her back and gave it to Regina.
"Oh!" Regina said, clearly delighted at Amelia's gift.
So was Emma. Even if she tried, she couldn't think of a sweeter gift. Because Amelia had just presented Regina with a nutcracker figure. Seriously, how perfect and Christmas-y was that? The nutcracker was wearing a red coat with 'gold' buttons and red pants. He was also wearing grey boots and a red and green top hat.
"This is beautiful," Regina beamed as she gently cradled the nutcracker figure in her hands. "Are you sure you want to give me this, Amelia? You don't have to, you know."
"I want to!" Amelia said firmly. "To say thank you. Mommy and daddy have taught me how important it is to be kind to each other. You were kind to me when you picked up my book. Now I'm being kind to you and giving you Jack."
Emma couldn't help but grin like an idiot. The nutcracker had a name. Of course it had.
"Well, then I say thank you very much, Amelia. That's a really lovely gesture."
Amelia beamed, and then to Emma's delight, the little girl leaned in and gave Regina a big old hug.
"Oh," Regina said slightly surprised. But she quickly recovered and hugged Amelia right back.
After a moment, Amelia let go of Regina and turned to Emma. Before Emma could blink, the little girl had hugged her too, but Emma didn't mind one bit. She just hugged her right back.
After another moment, Amelia let go of Emma too and said: "I'm sorry I don't have a nutcracker for you too."
Emma chuckled. "That's fine. Regina and I can share him. Right, Regina?"
"Of course!" Regina said quickly.
"Amelia!" a man wearing a green coat and knitted hat called from one of the benches. "Are you coming, honey? It's time for us to go the gate!"
"I gotta go," Amelia announced. "Goodbye, Mrs. Swan-Mills. And Mrs. Swan-Mills. Happy New Year!" and with that, she danced off to join her parents. She was clearly telling them all about her gift, for her mother smiled and patted her daughter's cheek. Clearly praising her for the sweet gesture.
Regina held up the little nutcracker figurine. "That was really wonderful."
"It was," Emma smiled. "You really made an impression."
"I didn't do anything," Regina protested. "I just picked up a book."
"A very important book," Emma corrected and smirked. "Huh."
"What?"
"You became her fairy godmother!" Emma exclaimed and laughed. "Literally! This is the return of the train-fairy-godmother!"
"I think you're being silly," Regina said a tad overbearingly and looked at the pretty little nutcracker in her hand. "He looks very nice, doesn't he?"
"He does," Emma agreed, looking at the nutcracker in Regina's hand again, and reminding herself to tell Henry about this. And Zelena. She knew for a fact that both of them would find it to be positively adorable. So did Emma. The way Amelia just spontaneously had hugged Regina, had been too damn cute for words. But that was just the kind of effect Regina had on children. They were drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Emma could easily remember how Neal had reacted the first time he ended up in Regina's arms. How he had looked up at her with his big blue eyes. He had undoubtedly seen his mother even before Regina became just that. She remembered those first nights where Neal hadn't yet been theirs but had only been staying at their house while David took care of Mary Margaret's funeral. Neal had by no means been a fussy child, but he had still turned to 'pudding' every time Regina lifted him or kissed his cheek or ran her fingers through his thin baby hair. And when Regina had started talking, Neal had started to lift his head as though he was following her voice. Basically, the two of them had had a very special bond right from day one, and today, Neal followed Regina where ever she went. Emma wasn't the least bit jealous. She knew that she was as much Neal's mother as Regina was, and how could she even consider being jealous over the special, beautiful relationship there was between Neal and Regina? Emma hadn't been very good with babies when Neal 'moved in'. Regina was the one who had taught her everything she knew, and Emma was so grateful for that.
"What are you thinking about?" Regina asked gently, placing a warm hand on Emma's arm.
"The kids," Emma said truthfully. "I miss them."
"Me, too," Regina said and lifted a well-sculpted eyebrow. "Should we take the train back to Vancouver and-"
"No!" Emma barkingly interrupted. "No way!"
Regina laughed. "So you do want to go on honeymoon with me."
"Duh," Emma said plainly. And then she leaned in and kissed Regina's cheek. Right there in the airport. She didn't care who saw them. She was allowed to kiss her wife whenever she wanted to do so, right?
Hours later, she and Regina were sitting in the plane. Regina was in the process of buckling her seatbelt while the stewardesses explained the safety procedure.
Emma stole a glance at her wife. Regina looked calm enough, but she always had a very calm façade. That was one of the tricky things about her. If she had decided that she wanted to seem calm, her face would radiate calmness. Even if she wasn't feeling particularly calm. Emma reminded herself to check in with Regina many times during the seven hour long flight to Paris. It hadn't been that long since Regina had beat her fear of heights. She had worked very intensely with her fear, and her ride in the Ferris Wheel where Emma had proposed, had been her 'debut' so to speak. And she had done a very good job. Emma had feared that Regina's fear of heights would return full force after the 'whoopsie' in which Billy had pushed the wrong button and made the Ferris Wheel spin faster and faster, but Regina had not been afraid of heights afterwards either. She claimed that she hadn't worked so hard on beating her fear only to become afraid after one little error on Billy's part.
So now here she was. In a plane. Sitting next to Emma in the window seat. She had asked if she could take the window seat so she could see when the plane took off, and of course Emma had not had any problem whatsoever with that.
Now she took her wife's hand and gently asked: "all good?"
"Mmm," Regina said and smiled. "Though it's been ages since I last was on a plane."
"How long ago was it?" Emma asked.
"Hmm, I was eighteen and flying to England to find Zelena," Regina remembered. "There was some turbulence on the way back. Quite a lot, actually. And I don't know, I think perhaps it was a combination of the turbulence, the fact that I had just met my till that point unknown sister, and the fact that my mother had passed away recently. Some kind of stress reaction, I think. Since then... no flying."
"That sounds plausible," Emma nodded. Even at eighteen, Regina had been fucking brave. Imagine that your mother died and then you find out that you have a secret sister. Anyone would probably have freaked out. But instead, Regina had promptly travelled to England to find Zelena instead. It was no wonder that her stress had come to show in other ways.
"It was a pretty crazy time," Regina observed. "Very crazy, actually. I lost my mother but gained a sister. To this day, I'm still beyond grateful that I chose to go to England and find Zelena."
"She's grateful for that too," Emma smiled. "Sometimes it's so weird to think that the two of you haven't actually known each other since childhood. You're so..."
"Synched?" Regina teased.
"Absolutely. Synched. That's the word."
Regina chuckled. "Perhaps sometimes even a little too synched."
"Well... Let's just say... I'd hate to become an enemy of the Mills' sisters," Emma quipped.
"That's not a very likely scenario," Regina said, leaning forward and looking out of the window. "Oh my goodness, we're moving!"
"You doing okay? Do you need anything? Some water?" Emma offered. She also knew that Regina happened to have a very mildly sedative pill in her purse. For emergencies. Just in case her fear of heights would show itself.
But Regina shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just excited that we're finally going. I've been so looking forward to going to Paris."
"Me, too!" Emma said eagerly. Obviously, she had been looking forward to the ceremony and to becoming Regina's wife at last, but going to Paris with her wife? Yep, that was definitely something Emma had looked forward to. Very, very much!
"Oh!" Regina said, and Emma didn't have to ask why. She too could feel that pull behind her navel as the plane took off. She leaned forward, looked past Regina out of the window and saw the airport become nothing but a little dot. Now they were really on their way. All Emma could see was white clouds. It was all very magical. Emma had always loved flying, but her financial situation hadn't always allowed it. Until her books had started selling. Now she had every opportunity to fly. But there was of course only one person she wanted to go flying with.
"Still doing okay?" she softly asked her wife.
"Yes," Regina said proudly. "I'm fine. This is a huge victory!"
"It sure is, beautiful. I'm so proud of you."
Regina looked at her with a twinkle in her eyes. "Imagine all the places we can travel to now."
"Oh yeah," Emma grinned.
"But I think we have to spend quite a while in Steveston," Regina continued and lowered her voice slightly. "So we can begin another kind of journey."
"That is something I'd want more than going to fancy destinations," Emma said softly, knowing that Regina was talking about 'operation baby'.
Regina chuckled, most likely because Emma was disappearing into 'baby land', and then she reached within her purse and found her book. The rustling made Emma snap out of her baby dreams, and she glanced at the book in Regina's hand. Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie.
"Your humor is impeccable," Emma informed her wife.
"Thank you. I try my best," Regina quipped as she reached within her purse again. This time she took out the little case she kept her reading glasses in. The lip opened with a soft little pop, and then she was slipping the glasses onto the bridge of her nose. Squinting slightly behind them as she opened the book.
Emma knew that Regina didn't like her reading glasses all that much, but Emma had a certain... fondness for those glasses. Buuut, thinking about how much she liked Regina's glasses in an airplane was probably not the best idea.
Emma reacted within her purse and found her own book. Quite recently, she had thrown herself into a rather ambitious project. She wanted to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy. So far, she was halfway through The Fellowship Of The Rings, and she was rather ashamed to admit that she much preferred the movie over the book. There was... a lot of monologues. She had to admit that. But that didn't mean that she was going to give up. Of course not. No, she had vowed to read the trilogy, and that was exactly what she was going to do. If it was the last thing she did on this earth. Or something less dramatic. So onwards she soldiered and opened the book. Another super-long monologue. Great. She felt tempted to give up and replace Lord of the Rings with one of the other books she had brought, but nope! She was going to do this. No quitting in the middle of the first book. She refused to be 'that' person.
Next to her, Regina suddenly lifted a hand and hid a massive yawn behind it.
"Is the book really that boring?" Emma asked innocently. "I thought you loved Agatha Christie."
"I do," Regina said shortly. "I'm just-" she erupted in another massive yawn she had to hide behind her hand. "Excuse me."
Emma snickered. "Wow, such a good book, huh?" She knew that she was teasing, but she could not resist it. The book wasn't boring. She knew that Regina was a very passionate Agatha Christie fan. And she also knew that there were other reasons for Regina's yawning. And perhaps Emma felt a teeny tiny bit guilty. After all, it was her fault that Regina was yawning. She was the one who had kept her lovely wife up way past her 'bedtime'. None of them were used to being up late. When you had a happy, overactive toddler in the house, you tended to become exhausted, and on most days, they were asleep before eleven. Like a couple of old ladies, Regina used to chuckle.
Emma didn't mind that. She loved their little routines. It was all a part of what made them a family.
She turned another page in the book. She really wanted to love this book. She wanted to be one of those people who could say that she had read the trilogy, but man she was close to calling the quits on this book. She had brought The Haunting of Hill House, and she would much rather read that. But she couldn't give up. Not yet. She would keep reading for twenty minutes more and if she still wasn't into the story, she would give up and start reading The Haunting of Hill House. She had already read
that one a few times, and she knew that she loved that story.
But this was The Lords of the Rings. And one didn't just give up on The Lords of the Rings, right? Emma quelled a sigh and cheered herself on. Come on, Emma. Keep reading. You can do i-
Thunk.
The unexpected sound, and the even more unexpected slight pressure on her right shoulder made Emma snap out of her thoughts. And then she smiled. Because the quiet thunk-sound had in fact been Regina's head landing on her shoulder. She had fallen asleep. Right in the middle of her book. And with her head resting against Emma's shoulder.
"Aww," Emma quietly cooed, happily putting her book down and turning her attention to her sleeping wife. Perhaps she should feel more guilty. She was definitely the one who had made Regina fall asleep on the plane. She was the one who had kept Regina up late. But hey, if Regina could sleep all the way to Paris, that was a good thing. Then she wouldn't have to think about her fear of heights at all. Win-win.
Emma decided to make Regina as comfortable as she possibly could. She couldn't exactly find Regina a bed to sleep in, but she could do other things to ensure she had a pleasant sleep. The first thing she did was to gently slip the glasses of Regina's nose so she would be a bit more comfortable and not end up with marks from the glasses on her face. She carefully put the glasses back in the case Regina kept it in. And then she quietly- and without moving her shoulder an inch- reached under the seat and found the blanket she knew was laying there. She unfolded it and gently draped it over her wife's legs. She didn't want Regina to get cold while sleeping. Regina was the type of person who always disappeared under the covers at night in the winter. And god forbid she should end up catching a cold on the plane. They couldn't have that.
The very last thing Emma did after having draped the blanket around Regina's legs, was to gently kiss the side of her wife's head and murmur: "sleep well, beautiful."
Regina mumbled something in her sleep, but apart from that, she didn't react at all. Just kept on sleeping with one hand nestled in her purse.
Emma tilted her head in curiosity, and after some gentle probing, she found out that Regina was in fact holding on to the little nutcracker in her purse. Well. If that wasn't the most adorable thing ever, Emma certainly did not know what was.
To Be Continued...