Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Day Everything Changed

If Emma thought she would have those two weeks suspension off to lazy around, she was sorely mistaken. Regina didn't give Emma one day of rest. Every day, when she arrived home from the University, she gave Emma a private lesson of everything she had taught that day and when she was done, Emma was positively sure she had more to study with Regina's private lessons than she would actually have if she was going to classes. Mulan and Belle had reached out. They told her how sorry they were for what had happened and they even went out one night for a drink. She was tipsy when she got home and Regina laughed hard at her handsy hands that could never quite reach the target. Belle and Mullan helped her out with everything she was missing from school too. Emma liked Mulan's notes better, though, Belle simply writes too much.

The two weeks flew by Emma ridiculously fast and even though she wasn't able to be lazy during her time off, she did found herself falling into an easy routine that she so had treasured. She spent the two weeks of suspension at Regina's. When her alarm clock rang at five in the morning, Emma would always convince Regina to stay in bed a little while longer. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they make out, most of the time they made love. And then Emma's alarm clock would ring at six and Regina would go to the bathroom while Emma would wake up Henry. Sometimes he was already awake when she entered his room, sometimes he pouted saying he wasn't going. Then Emma would go downstairs to the kitchen and make breakfast for them and then drive Henry to school. The rest of the morning she used to clean up a bit, do some reading, and study. Then she would go pick up Henry from school and together they would make lunch. Regna was usually back by three and after she ate whatever they have made that day she would lock herself with Emma in the office where she would teach her the day's lesson. She didn't let Emma do any funny business, but she did let her steal a kiss or two. Then at night they would work on dinner, or ask for delivery and just enjoy the night together as a family.

- I can't believe the suspension is over already – Emma said lying in bed listening to Regina's night routine in the bathroom – Do you think he is going to be there tomorrow?

- I sincerely hope not – Regina said back – I swear to God if I have to look at his miserable face tomorrow, I might get a suspension myself.

- Oh, God, don't do that – Emma said seriously.

- I should, though – Regina said – After what he did to you? I should get a round of smashing his face myself.

- That's kinda hot, babe! – Emma said laughing – Have you heard from Cora yet?

- No, I called her, as I told you, but she didn't say anything.

- I'm actually scared of what she might do – Emma said – You mother can be…intense!

- That's an understatement – Regina said and turned the lights of the bathroom off appearing in the bedroom.

- Oh my God, babe – Emma said mouth open at the little purple camisole Regina was wearing to bed – That doesn't even cover your ass!

- Are you complaining?

- Noooo! – Emma said and smiled – Come here!

Emma sat down properly in bed while Regina walked in her direction. Regina sat down on Emma's lap, claiming her lips to hers. The swallow had gone down after a week and Emma's lip was fully healed now. Back then, Emma thought she would die for not being able to kiss Regina for seven long days. Emma's nails scratched up Regina's thigh, until she reached her ass, squeezing them hard digging her nails on the soft flesh. Regina moaned inside Emma's mouth and deepened the kiss, her tongue working wonders inside Emma's mouth.

Emma pulled away from Regina just for a second, just to catch her breath, but, it turned out to get caught in her throat when she looked at Regina. Her lips were swollen from kissing, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. She smiled at Emma, that sweet, loving smile Emma was so lucky to witness and she suddenly felt warm and light and so full of love that she honestly felt she could cry.

- I love you – Emma breathed out.

- I love you too – Regina said back.

- Lay down for me!

Regina did as she was told, slowly removing herself from Emma's lap and laying onto the bed. Emma lay on top of her, covering her whole body with hers, and claimed Regina's lips on a kiss again. She started slow, savoring Regina's tongue and the fresh taste of toothpaste on Regina's mouth. Emma kissed her until Regina gently pulled away but Emma couldn't bear her lips not touching her. She kissed Regina's jaw all the way up to her ear and sucked the so delicate flesh of Regina's earlobe inside her mouth.

- You are so beautiful – Emma whispered – And I love you.

Emma sucked the earlobe again making Regina gasp for air. She felt Regina's hands on her hair, massaging her scalp and then running down her back. Emma kissed her way down, lightly sucking Regina's neck, hard enough to give her pleasure but still light not to leave a mark. Regina squirmed beneath her, running her nails up and down Emma's arm until Emma reached the valley of Regina's breast. She kissed what she could reach, as Regina was still wearing her camisole. Emma pushed the soft fabric to the side and sucked an erect nipple inside her mouth, teasing it with the tip of her tongue before licking a straight line to the other. She sat down on top of Regina and reached for her nightshirt, pulling up her head exposing her naked body. Regina's eyes sparkled and her mouth fell open at the sight of Emma who felt a rush of wetness run down her panties, the only piece of fabric on her body now. The underwear was so wet that was sticking up Emma's pussy in an almost painful way. Emma placed both her hands on each of Regina's knees and slowly ran her hands up her thighs until she reached the hem of Regina's camisole. She pulled the soft material up, Regina helped by arching her body in bed, and soon, Regina's naked figure was exposed to Emma, only the panties covering her. Emma watched her for a second or two, breathing heavy, eyes dark with desire now, mouth slightly open. Emma bent down and kissed Regina's lips again while one of her hands massaged her breast, pinching the nipple with the tip of her fingers. Regina moaned and ran her hands up and down Emma's whole body, barely keeping still under her touch.

Emma kissed her lower, neck, collarbone, her breast, taking the time to suck, lick, bite, and massage each one of them. She kept on her journey, kissing and licking Regina's flat stomach, stretching her short nails onto her side, the smell of Regina's arousal getting ticker, the lower she got the strong the scent was. She positioned herself between Regina's legs and kissed her covered pussy over the panties before slowly pulling them down Regina's legs. She moistened her lips at the beautiful sight of Regina's cunt, dripping for her. Emma lowered herself between Regina's legs, kissing her inner thigh, almost getting dizzy by the strong smell of her lover. Regina moaned a wiggled in bed, spreading her legs wider for Emma.

- Emma, please – Regina bagged – Please, touch me!

And Emma wasted no time in doing just that. She spread Regina's pussy open for her and licked her, from the entrance to clit. She flicked Regina's clit with the tip of her tongue and then penetrated her with her tongue. She worked inside her, tasting Regina's juice dripping down her mouth while her index finger worked on Regina's clit. Regina's hand was on her hair, tugging it, pushing Emma's face impossible close to her core. Emma kept on working down her until she felt Regina's legs trapping her, her moans had become louder and she could hear how hard her breathing was as Emma stroked her a little faster, fucked her a little harder until she felt Regina's whole-body tense, her legs get rigid and the wave of juices running down her chin.

Emma stayed there, licking Regina clean, savoring her taste until Regina's body relaxed and her legs fell down around her. Emma moved up and capture Regina's lips on a kiss, letting Regina taste herself on her until Regina pushed her begging for air. Emma laid down next to her, supporting her head on her hand and elbow, watching Regina's erratic breathing slowly go back to normal. As she watched her, a thought popped into Emma's mind, something she's has been wanting to ask for a while now but never truly found the courage to do so.

- Can I ask you something? – Emma asked.

- Anything! – Regina said opening her eyes to look at her.

- I know that you love me – Emma said – I have absolutely no doubt about that. You have proved your love to me more times than I actually deserve and…

- Emma! – Regina said – you are babbling.

- I know – Emma said a little embarrassed.

- What is it? – Regina asked softly – Tell me!

- Why are you so willing to ignore my past? – Emma asked – You don't judge me for it, you never have, but why? I'll understand if you do, you know? I know it's not easy, and I understand if you are angry with it. I get it!

- Emma…

- What I'm saying is that you can. You can be angry at it, Regina. It caused you a lot of trouble and I…I wouldn't hold against you if you were to get mad.

- The day I called Gold to ask for a girl I almost called back to cancel – Regina said – I was at the hotel room walking from one side to the other, thinking that I wasn't ready to do that. Thinking that it was too soon for me. Thinking that it was wrong. I had just picked up the phone when you knocked on the door.

- Really? – Emma asked.

- Yes. And then I opened the door and I saw you. You smiled at me and I thought you were so beautiful. Your whole face lighted up and your eyes, I couldn't quite decide if they were green or blue, and then I felt the intensity of them on me, of you checking me out – Regina laughed.

- You noticed that?

- Honey, you looked at me up and down. Yes, I noticed – Regina said – Then you entered the room and told me your name was Emma and for a moment I thought you were the wrong person. Gold had told me someone named Crystal was going my way.

- Yeah, I…I don't know why I couldn't use the name Crystal when I saw you. I wanted you to know I was Emma.

- You came to me and asked if I was nervous and I was, but then I wasn't. We stripped each other and it felt like the most natural thing in the world to me. We fell into bed and my whole body was alive, every touch of you felt like pure fire on my skin. When I left that hotel room, I knew I was ready to put myself out there again, to go out on dates, and have a relationship.

- I couldn't stop thinking about you – Emma said – The whole weekend you invaded my mind, I kept having dreams about you.

- Me too. – Regina said – I wanted to call Gold and asked for you again, but then I remembered it was your last day. The next thing I know, I saw you in my class, front row, looking at me like you saw a ghost.

- Oh, God – Emma laughed – I was in shock when I recognized you.

- Tell me about it – Regina said – I don't even know how I managed to hold it together.

- Oh, trust me! You were a pro at it – Emma laughed.

- The day you asked me to meet you at Granny's – Regina said – I had a date.

- What?

- Yes, I had gone out on a date earlier, that was why I was up until late. It was a nice evening, and she was fun, we had a good talk, she was very pretty…

- Regina, do I really need to know that? – Emma asked making a face.

- Yes, you do! – Regina said and ran her hand on Emma's face – She kissed me when she brought me home and I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. I came inside so disappointed, I thought I was wrong, that what I felt with you was just nervousness playing a trick on me. And then you emailed me and I smiled when I saw your name.

- You did? – Emma asked.

- I did – Regina said – When you asked me to meet you at Granny's I was sat right here in this bed giving myself one hundred excuses for not going, telling myself how wrong it was. You were my student, and we had a delicate history and by the end of my speech, I took my purse and drove to the diner.

- I was so happy to see you there – Emma said smiling.

- Probably not as much as I was when I saw you sitting in there reading a book – Regina said – I walked to you and my heart was beating so fast. My palms were sweaty and I felt like a fifteen-year-old girl going on her first date. We talked through the night, and it was so easy to talk to you, to share things from my life, to tell you about Dani.

- I know the feeling – Emma said – I never told my life story to anyone. But I wanted to tell you so much, I wanted you to know why I did what I did.

- And I so treasured that – Regina said smiling up at Emma – When we left the diner, you walked me to my car and I was nervous again. And then you kissed me and I felt everything I was supposed to feel earlier. There were butterflies in my stomach, my skin was on fire again, aching for your touch. I wanted to deepen the kiss, I wanted to pull you closer, I needed to feel your skin on mine again. And when you pulled away, reality came crashing down. You asked me on a date and I had to say no. It was the right thing to do. But you insisted. You didn't let me go and when you held the car door open and asked me again, I was done for. There was nothing else left for me to do then say yes to you.

- That was one of the happiest days of my life – Emma said.

- And then you decided to torture me for a whole weekend – Regina said – I was walking around the house waiting for you to call me and ask me out. And then I realized you didn't have my number so I was updating my email every five seconds. It was hell. By Monday I was sure you had come to your sense and given up.

- Are you freaking kidding me? – Emma asked and laughed – I spent the whole weekend cooking up ways to ask you out again!

- You were too slow – Regina laughed – But then I saw your note. And it was so adorable and my whole heart melted when I read it. I thought you would understand my answer, but you didn't. It broke my heart to see how sad you were when you thought I was saying no.

- God, that was horrible – Emma said – I just wanted to run home and get drunk.

- You asked me why I don't judge you for your past, but Emma, there is absolutely nothing to judge. We all have our history, our baggage, and it's not up to me or anyone to judge that. Your story is yours and you know the reasons why you did what you did. I love you for the amazing person that you are. I love you for the way you care for my son. I love you for the way you love me. I don't care about what you did before you met me.

- Regina…

- Love is pure, Emma. Love is strength. What were the odds of a stranger woman I slept with one night would become my student? – Regina laughed - It was destiny, Emma. You were meant to be mine just like I was meant to be yours.

Emma looked down at Regina, her emotions going crazy inside her. Her eyes were full of tears, her heart was warm and bloated with love for this woman, the woman who changed her life, who gave her a family, who gave her life meaning. She let the tears fall and closed her eyes when Regina gently ran her hands on her face, cleaning the tears away. When she opened them again, Regina was smiling at her, that beautiful smile Emma loved to the core, the one that always made her heart skip a beat. She looked at Regina deep inside her eyes and asked her the question her heart was aching to ask for so long now.

- Marry me?

- Yes!

Emma smiled down at Regina, letting a single drop of tear fall when she heard the word. Yes! Such a small word, just three tiny letters, and for a second time they were capable of changing her whole life. Emma bent down on top of Regina capturing her lips on a kiss, the salty taste of their tears mixing into the kiss. They made love throughout the night, their skin on fire with every touch, every kiss, and every promise.

Emma woke up in the morning with the sound of the alarm clock coming from her phone. She stretched her hand and tap on the screen to shut it down. Regina growled and pulled Emma closer to her, her breast deliciously pressed against her back, her lips kissed the back of Emma's neck and said:

- Good morning!

- Good morning – Emma said and turned around on the embrace to face her – Hi!

- Hi! – Regina smiled at her – Ready to finally go back to classes?

- Yeah, I am! – Emma said – Are you ready to have me in your class?

- You have no idea how much I miss seeing you in the front row.

- Really?

- Yes – Regina said – Who else will spend the whole class staring at my ass?

- Oh my God, don't even joke about that – Emma said serious – I'll kill the motherfucker I catch doing that.

- So serious – Regina laughed – Come on! We have a big day ahead of us. Let's get ready.

Their morning routine was pretty much the same. Regina went to the bathroom and Emma was out to wake Henry. She made breakfast and ate real quick, before going up to change herself. The three of them left the house together, and Emma even insisted she had more than enough time to drop Henry at school before going to the University. True be told, she did not want to show up too early. She knew she would be the center of attention that morning.

Once in class, Emma's prediction turned out to be true. Everyone was stealing glances at her and not even doing a very good job of pretending not to gossip. She heard the words hooker and bitch a few times that always came with laughs. But Emma stayed rooted to her front-row seat, not caring at all about what they were saying. Mulan and Belle sat with her and they did a good job at distracting her until Regina arrived. Emma half expected to see Killian, but he never showed up. But apart from all the gossip, the class had been amazing. Regina was such a wonderful teacher and Emma felt pretty good about coming back, about hearing her beautiful voice in a crowded place. It never ceased to amaze Emma how much Regina was capable of catching the attention of every single person in a room. However, she finished her lecture earlier that Monday, and Emma had one good hour to kill before picking up Henry. She walked to the cafeteria and bought herself a bear claw and cocoa, sitting down on one of the available tables closer to the window. She took her notes from inside her backpack and started to review them when suddenly, she felt someone sitting down on the chair in front of her.

- Regina? – Emma asked eyes widened – The hell are you doing?

- I'm sitting in front of you – Regina said – What are you doing?

- Funny, haha – Emma said – You should probably go, though!

- I don't feel like it.

- Regina, they were gossiping about me the whole morning – Emma said – Please, don't give them any more reason to talk about.

- Oh, I'm planning on giving them plenty!

- Right, okay! – Emma said nervously laughing – Not gonna happen, lady, cause I'm going!

Emma rose from the chair and grabbed her backpack and tray with a half ate bear claw and cocoa and walked in the direction of the trash. She opened it and threw everything inside, placing the tray on top of the trash when suddenly she felt a hand on her arm, pulling her. When she turned around Regina was right in front of her, smiling at Emma. She wrapped one arm around Emma's waist and brought her hand to her face, and then she came closer and kissed her right there in front of the whole cafeteria. Emma was lost, as she often was when Regina's lips were upon her. She couldn't hear anything around her, there were only her and Regina and their kiss, her lips moving perfectly with hers, the warmth of her hand on her face the security of her arm around her waist. And then Regina pulled back and everything came crashing down. She opened her eyes and stare at Regina, mouth slightly open and eyes widened. She looked around the cafeteria and every single person in the room was looking at her. Looking at them. Emma grabbed Regina's hand and pulled her out with her, outside and she waited until they were a little further from the building before saying:

- What the fuck was that? – Emma asked – Are you insane?

- No, I'm perfectly fine – Regina said walking right beside her.

- Okay, we can fix this – Emma said not noticing Regina had just intertwined her fingers with hers – I kissed you! I grabbed you and I kissed you against your will. They won't even know who started it anyway.

They were walking a pathway that led to the administrative building.

- It's my fault –Emma kept on say – I might get another suspension, but that's fine. As long as you are not to blame.

- You have cooked up quite a plan there, haven't you?

- Oh my God, Regina – Emma said only now noticing they were holding hands – Why are you holding my hand?

- Since when you have a problem with me holding your hand? – Regina asked.

And that's when Emma heard a loud noise up and saw several Professors coming out of the building. Some of them she recognized some she had no idea who it was. She saw the Dean looking down at them and she was about to panic when she felt Regina pulling her closer again and kiss her. Emma tried to pull away, but Regina didn't let her, and after a second, Emma just lost herself again on Regina's lips. When Regina broke the kiss, she smiled at Emma and placed a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth.

- How are you going to explain this now?

- You crazy – Emma said pressing her foreheads together – Are you sure?

- I love you, Emma!

- I love you too.

Regina looked up and waved at the Dean who waved back at her. She held Emma's hand again and gently squeezed. They resumed their walk, going without thinking in the direction of the parking lot.

- The Dean – Emma asked – You told him about us, didn't you?

- Of course, I did – Regina smirked – You think I would pull this off without talking to him first?

- When did you do that?

- Last Friday!

- So, the whole weekend, he knew about us and you didn't tell me? – Emma asked – Why didn't you tell me?

- You would try to stop me – Regina said – Besides, your face when I kissed you in public was priceless.

- You'll be the death of me, woman!

Regina laughed and walked two steps in front of Emma, facing her without letting go of her hand. She kissed her again, and this time, Emma reacted the moment Regina's lips touched hers. They smiled inside the kiss, Emma's heart beating fast inside her chest at the same time her whole body was relaxed. She knew it wasn't going to be easy. She knew it would be gossip and prejudice but she also knew that Regina would never let go of her hand. They would face everything together, just like they always have from day one. Regina was her safe harbor. Her family. Her love. She had been all of that the moment Emma laid eyes on her. Her destiny. Her one and only true love.

- Come on – Regina said when she broke the kiss – Let's go get our son!