A/N: Here's another chapter for you! It's probably going to be the last one before I go back to school on Tuesday. This past week was my "spring break" so the time has come to focus on those awful school projects again. Although, there was one project I truly loved doing involving some of our favorite Swan Queen writers! If you want to check it out, here's the YouTube link: watch?v=c32GPwzgE8c. Just put that at the end of the YouTube URL or go to my channel: sultrysweet x. Yes, it's a shameless plug to a non-profit documentary I did about shipping and Swan Queen. Anyway, on with the chapter!
Warning: Some salty language toward the end of the chapter.
Enjoy. :)
That Holiday Magic
Chapter 7
Though Emma, Regina, and Henry would be searching for the perfect Christmas tree as soon as Regina came home from work in less than twenty minutes, it had yet to snow in Storybrooke, Maine. The sky was gray and overcast with a promise for rain at the least and the temperature could almost chill the former Evil Queen's fireballs into ice.
Emma, with nothing better to do, threw on one of the outfits she'd grabbed from her apartment and went to grab her black leather jacket when she noticed a much warmer and suddenly more desirable black coat slung over the vanity. Regina had lent it to her after she spent time with the brunette in her recently returned and beloved VW Bug. The woman told Emma she didn't expect it back until they found a way to reverse the spell, which Emma didn't think would happen for a while. So, she smiled and abandoned her own leather jacket for the borrowed coat she liked a lot more than she preferred to admit for reasons she refused to divulge.
She picked up the coat and ran her fingers over the fabric for several seconds before she slipped into it and looked herself over in the mirror. She fluffed, tugged, flipped, and smoothed out whatever needed adjustments between her outfit and her hair. Due to the low temperatures that continued to drop throughout the week, Emma kept her hair down to shield her neck from the brisk and biting air. She had failed to find a scarf in her apartment, at least where she and Regina had been looking for clothes, and refrained from asking Regina for one since the brunette had already given her so much.
Satisfied with her appearance, strange as it seemed for her younger self to dress in such mature clothing, Emma grabbed her phone and headed downstairs. She had just reached the foyer when the door opened and Regina walked in with an exhausted sigh.
"Oh, you're already ready," Regina noted with a bit of shock as she removed her key from the door and raked her eyes up and down the blonde's attire. "Without your glasses, you almost look like your older self."
"What else besides the glasses make me look younger?"
Regina hesitated before she risked sounding cruel or accidentally upsetting the blonde.
"Your weight," Regina answered. "You seem thinner now than you are at twenty-nine."
"I only eat what I can steal," Emma casually said as she stuffed her hands in the coat pockets. "Which was more than I got from several foster homes. Before I ran away."
Regina had nothing to say in response to that. Her lips twitched into a small, forced smile for a brief moment before she cleared her throat then proceeded with another characteristic.
"Well, you're also much freer with your hands and mouth," Regina said with an arched brow.
Emma's eyes widened before she erupted into a fit of laughter.
"You really just said that, didn't you," Emma said between laughs as she tried to calm down.
Regina's mouth hung open when she realized what she had said before she closed her eyes and shook her head as if the physical action would mentally shake away the embarrassment of her unintentionally suggestive statement.
"Oh, yeah," Emma said with a smug grin. "You definitely want me."
Emma winked and turned around to stick her butt out as if just for the brunette.
"Would you like me to spank you," Regina asked as she looked Emma over from the back of her head down to proffered ass. "Because I would consider doing that if you won't actually enjoy it."
Regina grabbed Emma's shoulders and forced the girl upright before she ushered the teen toward the front door.
"Just because I'd totally enjoy it shouldn't keep you from doing it," Emma grinned as she allowed Regina to push her out to the Benz.
"Yes. It should."
Regina led Emma all the way around the front of the car to the passenger seat because she didn't trust the blonde to make it there herself. The teen hadn't done anything to prove she would.
Emma got in without a hassle or another remark even as she continued to grin about their conversation.
Regina slid into the driver's seat and silently thanked the blonde when she chose to keep her hands to herself during the drive to the school.
Henry sat on his usual bench just outside of the school. He might have noticed Regina's car pull up to the curb, but his brunette mother couldn't tell since he kept his focus on his video game for a little while longer. That meant he hopefully missed the indecent move Emma tried to pull on Regina, which Regina might have counted as a positive because Henry certainly need to be scarred by the teen's persistent advances.
Emma had waited until Regina put the car in park before she bit her bottom lip and mischievously smirked at the woman.
"So, I just thought of something," Emma said, her tone bordering on suggestive before she jumped that border and spoke with no room for misinterpretation. "If I've been good all year, does that mean I get a great Christmas present or does being naughty count for something more?"
Emma reached over and tantalizingly slowly tucked Regina's hair behind her ear as she leaned closer to the other woman. She slid her free hand over the center console and rested it on Regina's inner thigh a bit above the knee.
Regina's eyes snapped to Emma in an instant and once their eyes locked, Emma's hand began its ascent toward the apex of the woman's legs.
"Henry is right there," Regina protested as she clamped her legs shut and grabbed Emma's wrist to ensure she halted the teen's movements.
"He's not looking," Emma insisted, though she didn't fight Regina as the woman refused to be inappropriately touched.
"You were doing so well this week," Regina said as she looked from Emma to Henry in case he had finally seen them and started to make his way over to the car. He hadn't.
"Yeah, I spent an entire week not touching you. That's enough torture, don't you think?"
Since Henry had yet to get off the bench, Regina looked over at Emma.
"I thought I made it clear that doing these sorts of things would be inappropriate."
"You keep saying things like 'inappropriate' and 'I was driving', but I've never heard you say, 'I don't want to do this.'"
"Is that what you need to hear so you'll stop?"
Emma closed her mouth and slowly turned to face forward in her seat before she sank a little in it.
"No," she quietly said.
"I've upset you," Regina stated, a little sad about that fact.
"It's fine. You don't need to say anything."
"Emma–"
"This is supposed to be a fun day, right? Getting a tree together? So let's not make this difficult for the kid. Pretend this never happened and we'll just enjoy picking out the perfect tree."
"Emma," Regina tried again, a little sterner but still gentle. "I'm trying to work with you. If I've said or done something to upset you, you should tell me. And this isn't something you should do just because of the spell. If you really want to make sure Henry doesn't suffer, you'll let me in."
Emma turned her head and looked at Regina, her head pressed against the seat.
"I was just teasing," Emma confessed after a minute. "I thought…I could say something like that and you would just look shocked or would be speechless or whatever. I didn't think you'd tell me that you'd say…"
Emma swallowed as though to help her get through what she wanted to say next, but no other words came out.
Regina pinched and pulled a small section of Emma's pants to playfully get the girl's attention. When green eyes locked on her, Regina already had a warm smile in place.
"For the record, I wouldn't have said it," Regina said.
Emma's lips twitched into the sweetest and most contagious smile Regina had ever seen from someone other than Henry.
"That doesn't mean you should continue to hit on me," Regina added.
"But it's not like you don't sort of like it when I do," Emma finished for the brunette.
"I find it entertaining, flattering, and very intriguing," Regina corrected.
"If you felt that way, does that mean we can get a really expensive tree?"
Regina laughed.
"I always get a really expensive tree."
"Best Mom ever! Henry's a really lucky kid," Emma said.
"Thank you, but I keep telling you he's just as lucky to have you too."
Emma shrugged and Regina would have pressed the girl's self-esteem issues further had Henry not chosen that exact moment to open the back door and get in the car.
"Hey, Moms," Henry greeted.
"Hello, Henry."
"Hey, kid."
"How has it been at Neal's," Regina asked right off the bat.
Emma cringed at the man's name. Regina hadn't noticed as she put the car in gear and occasionally looked back at Henry through the rearview mirror.
"It's been good."
"Is he letting you stay up late or feeding you too much junk food?"
"Yeah, he even lets me watch those special shows for men that come out on the subscription channels late at night," Henry answered.
"What," Regina asked, her eyes wider than they had ever been as she continued to drive toward the tree lot near the woods.
He smiled and laughed.
"I was kidding," he said. "Man, I got you good."
Regina exhaled with immense relief.
Emma grinned a little at Henry's cleverness and Regina's hilarious moment of shock.
"Good one," Emma complimented.
"That. Is not funny," Regina argued.
Emma's grin spread.
"You should have seen your face," Henry continued to laugh.
"What is with you two wanting to surprise me with these ridiculous jokes," Regina asked as she tightened then loosened and tightened again her grip on the steering wheel.
Emma and Henry looked at each other and shrugged before they looked at Regina again.
"It's fun," Emma replied.
"For you two maybe. Not for me."
"That's the point," Henry said Regina should have figured that out sooner.
Emma snickered at his explanation.
"One day I'll repay you both for stunts like this," Regina claimed.
For the next eight minutes, Emma played music on her phone and coerced Henry to at least join in on the chorus if he didn't know that particular song just to entertain themselves on the short but boring trip.
Regina tried to tune them out, but she couldn't when she heard Henry start to hum and sing along. The two of them weren't the greatest singers, but the moment was cute and it made her feel like she was a part of a normal family for once.
When those eight minutes passed, they pulled into a parking spot Regina made for herself on the dirt path between the paved road and the sectioned off part of the woods used specifically for the purchase of Christmas trees.
Henry excitedly bolted out of the car. He didn't wait for Emma or Regina before he ventured past the flagged entrance to the sectioned off area and started to weave through the different rows of trees.
Emma and Regina followed after him, but didn't rush to catch up. Regina walked side-by-side with Emma as the blonde inspected her options carefully while she kept a casual pace.
"We can have any tree we want," Emma asked as she inspected the third tree she'd walked past within the first minute of their arrival.
"As long as it's inside the colored tape outlining the boundary for tree selections," Regina replied. "And you and Henry have to agree on one."
"You're not gonna help pick the tree?"
"I usually let Henry pick. He's never picked a bad tree and I've always wanted him to have as much control over little things like this as possible. It seemed to make him happy and it's not like I really cared about the trees. I hadn't celebrated Christmas at all until Henry came along."
"Really?"
"His first Christmas was when he was four years old. I drove him past the woods one day and he pointed at the trees and asked if we could ever have one."
"And…was Christmas a holiday celebrated in the…other world?"
"By some. As I said, I never did until Henry. Though I suppose why he and I celebrate it doesn't have much to do with religion. I honestly just use it as an excuse to get him a tree and buy him nice things he's been asking for. That's really only so I can spend time with him though.
"The older he got, the more I realized I wanted to hold on a little tighter because he was just slipping away from me. I thought if I kept up the tradition, at least he'd have to spend the holiday with me and I could try my hardest just to make him smile like he always did when he unwrapped all his presents with delight every year before."
"That's… Wow, Regina," Emma smiled. "That's really cool."
"You're the only one that thinks so."
"You don't agree?"
"For the last two years, Henry's been less satisfied with the holiday. I suppose that had something to do with him finding out he was adopted and then getting the book that convinced him I was the Evil Queen. You don't think my efforts were…sad or desperate?"
"You're just trying to give him everything he wants, at least the stuff that you're capable of giving him. Not every kid is that fortunate."
"Well, this will be a holiday that hopefully doesn't just make Henry happy," Regina said as she smiled at Emma.
Emma looked away from the tree her eyes were focused on and met Regina's gaze. Her eyes shined with hope and appreciation while her lips parted ever so slightly.
"Thanks," Emma said.
"I believe this is long overdue for you, dear. Don't thank me for you finally getting what you've always deserved."
Emma smiled again and stared at Regina for a moment longer before she went back to looking at trees.
A few minutes later, Henry ran back to the two women and enthusiastically called out to the blonde.
"Emma! Emma, you've got to take a look at this one tree. It's awesome!"
"And what about the woman who's going to be paying for this 'awesome' tree," Regina asked with an arched brow and a smile.
"Oh. Yeah. You can look at it too, Mom," Henry said as an afterthought while he started to tug on Emma's hand.
Emma glanced at Regina over her shoulder for a few seconds as she hesitantly followed Henry. It seemed as though she had looked to Regina for permission to follow him or possibly looking for some kind of insight into what exactly was happening in that moment.
Regina just smiled, amused by not only Henry's actions but by Emma's expression. Her green eyes looked a little bigger than usual and partially unsure of the situation. If Regina didn't know any better, she would have worried Emma felt lost even in hers and Henry's presence.
Henry led the women to a full bodied tree that appeared to be in perfect health even though Christmas was fast approaching, the trees had been on sale for weeks, and the temperature was less and less comforting each day.
The tree was a deep, forest green and at least twice Henry's size. It looked far too heavy to be strapped to the top of Regina's car and would easily take up a little more than the corner in the family room that was reserved for the Christmas trees every year.
"Whoa," Emma breathed out as her eyes explored the tree from its trunk up to the very tip.
"Awesome, right," Henry asked with an amazed smile.
"Yeah, pretty awesome," Emma agreed.
Regina circled around the tree and did a thorough inspection. She felt the branches and pulled some of them aside far enough to look at the thick stem of the tree.
"Is this the one then," Regina asked as she stepped away from the tree and went back over to Emma and Henry.
Henry expectantly looked at Emma and waited for the verdict.
"You're gonna buy it," Emma asked.
"I approve of it, but if you'd rather keep looking–"
"No, this one is perfect," Emma stopped Regina before the brunette went out of her way to do something for her that she really didn't need to do.
Regina stared at Emma for a few more seconds than necessary as if to see if the girl was lying. When Emma smiled at her, she smiled back then nodded.
"Okay. We have a tree," she said as she called over the man in charge of the trees.
Michael Tillman didn't have much work at the car shop and in the Enchanted Forest he'd been a woodsman. As part of the curse, Regina figured he would be the best man to be put in charge of the trees. He seemed to have retained the job even after the curse had been broken and that posed a challenge for Regina.
"Is there something I can help you with, Your Majesty," Michael asked with a scowl and tight jaw.
"We'll take this tree, please," Regina politely responded and pointed to the tree beside her.
"I don't sell to the Evil Queen," he almost growled.
Emma looked at Regina and saw two emotions cross the woman's face. The first was a flash of hurt and the second was a more permanent expression of anger.
Regina took a step forward that looked closer to a lunge than a single step, but Emma stepped in front of her and turned to Michael with a civil smile.
"Look, we really don't want any trouble," Emma started. "We just want a tree. This tree. Can you just drop the 'Evil Queen' crap and just help us out?"
Michael looked from Emma to Regina then to Henry. He almost looked at Regina again, but when Emma continued to talk he directed his attention at the blonde.
"Sell us the tree and we'll get out of your hair, okay?" Michael still didn't say anything. "If it helps, you can just think of it as me and Henry getting the tree and Regina's just supplying the money."
Michael sighed and relaxed a little.
"Fine. For you and Henry. Not for you," he pointed at Regina when he said 'you' a second time.
He headed back toward the table used to accept payments set up under a party tent and the family of three followed him.
"Thank you," Regina quietly said as she tried her best to ensure only Emma heard then spoke louder for both hers and Henry's sake. "I'm sorry my past almost cost us this tree."
"It's okay," Henry was the first to say. "It's in the past. People need to start seeing that."
"Yeah, what the kid said," Emma conceded.
Regina smiled, first at Emma and then at Henry.
"That'll be one-twenty," Michael said as he wrote down the order and opened his collection box.
"Holy shit," Emma exclaimed.
"Emma," Regina scolded reprimanded.
"Sorry," Emma quickly said. "But that's a lot for a tree."
"It's a good tree," Michael told her.
"But it's a tree," Emma repeated.
"It's okay, Emma," Regina calmly said as she touched the teen's shoulder then pulled out a handful of cash from her wallet. "I told you I would get whichever tree you two agreed on. Besides, I thought you wanted a really expensive tree."
"That's when I thought expensive was maybe fifty or even seventy dollars, not a hundred and twenty!"
"It's not a big deal," Regina said. "I usually spend about ninety to a hundred dollars on a tree each year."
"Do you know how many pairs of shoes I could get for that kind of money?"
"Maybe three depending on what brand," Regina casually answered as she handed Michael the money. "Although I'm only basing that off of your taste in clothes. My closet costs about five times your apartment rent."
"Wh—You know what? I'm not even gonna start. That's insane, Regina. You know it. I know it. Henry probably knows it. But as long as you've got the money and are willing to do this then by all means, lets get this freakishly expensive thing that will be thrown away December twenty-sixth."
"Mom keeps the tree up until after New Years Eve," Henry said.
Emma didn't say another word. She raised her hands in the air as a sign of surrender and walked away from the table. She walked around the nearest corner of the tent and looked across the way at the corner on the very edge of the marked off section of woods.
"Emma?"
The teen ignored Regina's call and went straight toward the thing that suddenly held all of her attention.
Regina and Henry frowned at the odd sight and after they exchanged a look, they followed after her while Michael went to retrieve the tree the three of them had chosen.
When they caught up to Emma, they saw a small tree that only reached up to Emma's waist and had very thin branches. It wasn't too green and looked like a tree on its death bed, so to speak, as it sat in a reservoir and was tied up to a few small posts to keep the tree upright.
"Emma," Regina tried to get her attention again.
"How come this is the only tree that looks like this," Emma asked.
Michael perched the tree of choice against the table with a grunt then went to see what had grabbed Emma, Henry, and Regina's attention.
"It's so small and sick looking," Emma added.
"Yeah," Michael interrupted their little moment. "It didn't last the first significant temperature drop of the season. There had been some particularly strong winds I didn't account for because it's the smallest tree I've got."
"And you're still trying to sell it like this," Regina asked, not impressed.
Michael unappreciatively glared at her before he replied.
"Yeah, but I cut down the price a whole hell of a lot. It used to be forty and now I'm trying to see if anyone will take it for eighteen."
"Nobody's going to want a dying tree," Regina said without considering her word choice.
"Hey, if no one wants it I'm just gonna throw it in the wood chipper. It's not like it's a total loss. It's just one tree."
Henry tensed and his eyes widened a little as he listened to the conversation.
And then Emma held back her tears as she got in Michael's face.
"It's one tree that's been through hell and you can't just throw it away because it's not perfect," Emma said as she warningly pointed at Michael then spun around and directed her pointed finger at Regina. "And it's been a few weeks since the first big temperature drop and this little guy is still sticking in there."
"It's a Charlie Brown tree," Michael said like a man who clearly hadn't realized he had an upset and hormonal teen on his hands with some very strong opinions.
Emma whipped around again.
"A Charlie Brow–" Emma almost unleashed herself on a man who had seemed to have been on her side when Neal asked to take her precious Bug, but she stopped herself short and continued with a new line of thinking that involved a little less anger and a little more problem solving logic. "If it doesn't matter if someone actually pays for this tree then give it to us for free."
"What," he asked, taken aback.
"What," Regina echoed Michael's question, confused.
Emma turned back to face Regina and softened her expression.
"I want this tree," Emma firmly stated.
"We just bought a tree, Emma."
"Then un-buy it if it means you won't get this one."
"I'm not going to return the tree we all chose as a family."
"I want this one," Emma flatly said, two seconds away from a tantrum.
"Why do you want this one," Regina just had to ask.
"If no one else wants it and it's just going to get shredded, why does it matter why I want it? The real question should be, why not just take it if that's what's going to happen to it?"
Regina looked between Emma and the tree and deciphered why Emma felt so compelled to take the proverbial black sheep of all the trees in the lot. Her eyebrows jumped up for a split second as realization dawned on her before she looked at Michael.
"Original asking price was forty dollars, correct?"
Michael looked surprised as he watched Regina take two twenty dollar bills out of her wallet.
"Yeah," he answered, unable to say much more than that.
Regina handed over the cash.
"How much will it cost for you to deliver these two trees to my house without a scratch on either one of them," she asked.
Henry stared, baffled, at Regina as he watched her give Emma what she wanted at full price without blinking as soon as she understood the importance of the request.
"I usually don't do deliveries," Michael said.
"Name your price and I'll give it to you," Regina said. "I want both of these trees and only one of them can fit in my car. Unfortunately, the one that would fit needs extra care and I'd hate to hurt it or mess anything up so I trust you'll help ensure that doesn't happen."
As Regina finished explaining her need for delivery service, she produced another twenty dollars from her wallet and offered the collective total of sixty dollars to Michael.
"Um, yeah. Yes, I'll make sure to get them there safely. I can follow you in my truck," Michael said as he accepted the money.
"Thank you," Regina said and gave her best politician smile before she looked at Emma.
Teary green eyes locked onto Regina's dark brown eyes and a hint of a smile showed on Emma's face.
"I'm sorry I didn't get you the tree as soon as you asked for it."
"That's okay. I never actually asked," Emma replied and let out a quick laugh when she realized she'd sort of demanded the tree.
Regina laughed with her.
Michael pocketed the money and stepped around the others to get the tree before he carried it over to the table next to the other one.
"If I said I wanted a puppy, would I get it," Henry asked with a tilt of his head as he looked up at his mothers.
"A tree is nothing like a puppy," Regina said. "It won't pee on the carpet or bark at the neighbors early in the morning or chew on everyone's shoes."
"So that's a no?"
"Nice try," Regina appraised as she affectionately ran her hand through his hair.
"If Emma wanted a puppy, would you give her one?"
"Do you want a puppy, Emma," Regina asked.
"Nope," she answered.
"Problem solved," Regina proudly smiled.
"I'm gonna add 'puppy' to my Christmas list," Henry said. "Then, Christmas morning, when we see which one of us gets the most stuff from our list we'll know who you love more."
Henry walked over toward Michael and made his comment with a teasing tone that sounded more like a joke, but that didn't stop Regina from freezing in place and staring right at Emma, speechless.
"That's the look," Emma exclaimed as her brows shot up toward her hairline. "That's what I expect you to do when I get into your personal space."
"Come on, Moms," Henry yelled from the other corner of the tent, closer to the trees. "Michael's loading up the trees and we've got some decorating to do."
"Don't worry," Emma said to the woman next to her as she gently elbowed Regina's side. "He knows you love him and he doesn't think you could love anyone else more than him."
Regina relaxed a little.
"Oh, and I already know you love me," Emma smirked.
"What?!"
Regina whipped her head to the side to look at Emma so fast she could have strained a few muscles in the process if not cracked a few bones.
"How could you not," Emma started. "I'm adorable."
Regina sighed then rolled her eyes before she swatted at Emma's arm.
"Ow," Emma laughed. "I hope you'll make up for slapping me by giving me another massage."
"Not a chance."
Emma still smiled all the way back to where Michael loaded the trees up in the bed of his truck even if she believed Regina truly wouldn't give her another massage of any kind.
Henry waved his mothers over to him and the three of them waited until Michael gave them the thumbs up before they got into the Benz and headed home.
Henry was surprised. Usually, Regina had Graham set up the tree because she wasn't strong enough to lift it herself. Though Graham was gone, Henry didn't think Regina would have dismissed Michael Tillman once he brought the tree into the family room so the three of them could stick the tree in the reservoir themselves.
Henry hadn't expected it, but he did enjoy it.
Emma stuck herself under the bottom branches of the tree and did most of the work as she complained about the prickly needles while Regina tried to even out the tree so it stood straight. Ever the crazed perfectionist, Regina made Emma kneel beneath the tree for several minutes while she shouted complaints of her own about Emma's skills to hold a tree upright.
"It's like you don't even know the definition of straight," Regina said as she fought to keep the tree in the position she had put it in.
"I knew it well enough to have Henry, didn't I," Emma shot back as she wiggled under the tree.
Regina scoffed and rolled her eyes.
Henry chuckled as he watched the two of them struggle to pick a position for the tree to stand.
"Tighten the screws," Regina commanded. "It's perfect."
"Ah," Emma groaned. "Regina, you're assaulting me with the branches."
"It's not my fault you didn't listen to me the first time I told you the tree was just right."
As she argued, Regina accidentally shifted the tree and Emma's complaints grew louder.
"Damn it! Regina."
"What is it now?"
"You just tilted the tree right into my face!"
"Oh. Sorry."
"Um, guys?"
Regina looked at Henry while Emma stilled herself under the tree and attempted to look over her shoulder at him, but only managed to scratch her face with more branches.
"Yes, Henry," Regina asked.
"It's a little slanted," he said.
"What," Regina asked, shocked and possibly even disappointed.
"Kid," Emma whined. "Why'd you tell her that? Now I'm gonna have to stay under here for at least another five minutes."
"Well, if I didn't tell her," Henry started to explain, "she would have lectured me about not speaking up sooner."
"He's right, dear," Regina said. "Thank you, Henry."
"You're welcome," he shrugged and smiled.
"Fine. Just fix the tree so I can get out of here. I think the branches are trying to feel up my ass right now."
Henry laughed while Regina just smiled. She seemed amused by Emma's comment, but a laugh never left her lips.
The two women worked for another minute or two before Henry approved the tree's position, which was as straight as it could get and certainly wasn't obvious if It in fact favored one side a little more than the other. Henry claimed that wasn't the case and when Regina got off the step stool to stand by Henry and take a final look, she agreed.
"Alright, Emma," Regina said. "You can come out of there now."
"Oh, boy. Can I," Emma feigned enthusiasm as she slowly backward crawled her way out from under the tree.
Henry watched Emma back out toward them for a few seconds before his attention went to Regina. He frowned and looked suspiciously at her when he noticed she was staring at Emma a little too long and a little too intently. He shook it off, however, when Emma stood and turned to them because that's when Regina's focus on Emma changed from kind of weird to sort of normal.
And then she looked concerned.
"Oh, dear," Regina said as she stepped toward Emma and reached out to gently touch the teen's face. "Those branches really did get you."
Emma shrugged.
"It's just a couple of scratches."
"Don't shrug. It's unbecoming," Regina effortlessly said like the response to Emma's behavior was second nature, drilled into her head.
"How many times have I shrugged since you've known me? I think it's a little late for the 'unbecoming' lectures. Plus, I'm technically almost thirty years old. Unbecoming is for girls turning into women. The better word would be 'unladylike'."
"Technically, you are almost thirty, but right now you're eighteen. Unbecoming is the right word."
"Whatever," Emma mumbled.
Regina victoriously grinned for a second or two and then her soft and motherly expression returned.
"You should really wash your face. Maybe even apply some Neosporin to prevent possible infection."
"As you wish, Your Majesty," Emma bowed.
Henry smiled.
"You can clean up in the bathroom down here. I keep Neosporin in the guest bathroom on this floor and in my bathroom upstairs. I learned quickly that Henry liked to get hurt often and the trip to my bathroom always seemed to take too long."
Emma beamed.
"Yep. That's my boy," she said as she pulled Henry into a loose headlock and ruffled his hair.
Henry laughed and pushed away from Emma.
"Go clean your face," Henry said. "You look like you got attacked by a scared cat trying to defend itself."
Emma stuck her tongue out at Henry then went to the bathroom to take care of the thin and shallow red marks.
Henry turned to Regina and smiled up at her, one hundred percent happy.
Regina smiled back at him and smoothed out the hair Emma had just messed up.
"I told you she loves you," Regina told him.
"She's not doing as bad as I thought," he admitted. "I guess it's only when she gets in her moods."
"Mm, that certainly seems to be a pattern."
"So, when she comes back out here, we're gonna decorate the tree, right?"
"Of course."
"Awesome. I'm gonna go make some hot chocolate. Do we still have that Christmas CD to play while we hang the ornaments?"
Regina nodded.
"It's with the box of decorations in the attic, which I should go get. Please be careful using the stove."
"I will," Henry called back to her as they went their separate ways, Henry to the kitchen and Regina to the stairs.
A few minutes later, Regina returned to the family room with the Christmas box, but Henry hadn't seemed to have left the kitchen. She heard a few cabinets close and silverware clanging as it was, she assumed, rearranged.
"Henry? Is everything alright," Regina asked as she set the box down in front of the coffee table then headed toward the kitchen.
"I can't find the chocolate mix," Henry said as he buried his head in cabinet after cabinet.
"Well, that's not where I keep it," Regina explained in a tone that suggested Henry should have known better.
"Yeah, I know, but there's none in the cupboard above the coffee maker."
"That's where I keep it," Regina informed him.
"And it's not there."
"Then we don't have any."
"What? There's got to be hot chocolate in this house," Henry said as he turned to Regina with a sad pout.
Regina sighed.
"I don't have a backup supply of cocoa mix. But I suppose I could run out and get some more."
"You're going somewhere," Emma asked as she joined Regina and Henry in the kitchen.
"There's no cocoa and Henry wants some. I figured you might like some too. Would you?"
"Sure, but you don't have to go. I'll get it. I haven't driven my car around yet and I don't want it to get so cold that the Bug stalls out the next time I try to use it."
"And just how are you going to pay for the cocoa?"
"With your debit card?"
Emma contorted her face into a nervous smile as she looked a little guilty for suggesting the idea of taking Regina's card. She looked every bit like a teen asking their parents for money, knowing they probably wouldn't get it unless they begged or pouted or promised to do something in exchange.
"I don't even trust Henry to take my card. What makes you think I'll allow you to run around town with it?"
"Just because I'm a thief doesn't mean I'm going to rob you of your riches."
"I wasn't even thinking about you being a thief, but now that you've mentioned it that's a very good point. Why should I trust you to not buy up the store?"
"Because I'm not some overly privileged princess and this town probably has nothing worth depleting someone's bank account for."
Regina considered that for a moment.
"Besides, why would I steal from the one person who's done everything for me since the spell," Emma added.
Regina thought it over for a minute longer.
"Alright," she said as she went to her wallet and opened it. "But if you so much as spend more than fifteen dollars–"
"Hot chocolate mix doesn't cost fifteen dollars," Emma scrunched up her face in confusion.
"You may get something for yourself as long as you get the cocoa and don't go over fifteen dollars. I have to budget for Christmas gifts."
"What," Henry practically shrieked.
"Cool!"
"She gets to buy herself some stuff? Why don't you let me get extra stuff when we're at the store? That's not fair."
Henry didn't sound too upset or jealous about Emma's special privileges, but he still wasn't too pleased about it either.
"You have plenty of things here, Henry," Regina said. "I think Emma deserves at least a snack or something just for herself. Besides, she offered to go out to get the cocoa so it only seems fair to let her get something for making the trip."
"I can't wait to get my license. I'll offer to go to the store every day if it gets me something extra," Henry said.
Emma laughed.
"Don't be in a rush to grow up too fast, kid. You know that you're still her favorite."
"Yeah, yeah," Henry changed the topic. "Hurry up and get the hot chocolate. I want to decorate this tree already."
"You got it," Emma said as she took Regina's card from the brunette's hand and smiled at the woman. "Thank you."
"Be careful," Regina said as Emma went to the front door.
Emma lit up for a moment at the sentiment then left.
At the store, Emma looked down a couple of different aisles before she found the hot chocolate mix. She grabbed a box of it and checked the price before she calculated how much she had left of the fifteen dollars Regina had granted her permission to spend.
She came up with a number as she headed down another aisle and browsed the junk food selection. She passed up all the sweets and looked at the interesting little toys in the next aisle. She saw a small, plastic figurine with a cape that looked like a Superman knockoff, but she thought Henry might like it so she grabbed it and looked for a few other superhero friends for it.
There weren't too many other tiny action figures Emma could find, but she picked up what she could and made a mental note of the money she had left to spend, careful not to push her limits with Regina.
She saw a package of two plastic, handheld lacrosse sticks, which had a much smaller handle and looked less like a stick and more like only the net of a lacrosse stick. There was a little foam ball included and Emma grinned as she imaged playing that game with Henry inside the house. She knew it would probably bother Regina and the woman would reprimand them for running all over and whipping the ball around inside, but she knew it would be worth it. Not only would she have fun with Henry, but the two of them could laugh at how flustered and nervous Regina got the closer it looked like they would run into a wall or crash into something expensive. That moment was always priceless.
As she picked up the game and started to do her calculating once again, two voices spoke up from the other aisle, closer to the pharmacy. Emma paused when she recognized them.
"I really wish we knew the baby's sex," Snow said.
"Give it another week or so. You'll probably be able to find out for sure during your next appointment," Ruby said.
"There's just so much planning to do," Snow said. "I really want to get the baby's room done before the seventh month and I refuse to paint it a gender neutral color."
Ruby laughed.
"You've got plenty of time to paint the room. And what does matter if the baby's a girl or a boy?"
"It doesn't," Snow quickly. "I'd be happy either way, but I'm just anxious to be able to call him or her by name when I talk to them."
"Are you hoping it's a girl?"
"I told you I'll be happy with either…but a girl would be nice," Snow dreamily said. "I could teach her how to braid her hair, dress her up in adorable little outfits. I would do everything I never got to do with Emma."
"That would be too cute," Ruby said, her smile evident by the tone of her voice. "How is Emma, by the way?"
"I don't know. She's the same, I guess? Regina took her back to the mansion and I haven't heard from any of them since, Henry included. You would think I could count on my grandson to give me information on what's happening over there."
Ruby laughed.
"I really wish I could go back," Snow started again after a moment. "I wish Emma was younger and I could raise her with Charming like we planned. I love Henry and if there was a way I could have them both, I would. But…"
"Don't think like that," Ruby said. "You are getting a second chance. You've got a baby on the way and Emma didn't turn out so bad."
"But I had nothing to do with how she turned out. I think that's why she seems to prefer Regina over me."
"There was a time you preferred Regina too, you know."
"Before I realized she was plotting her revenge and my death. I just don't understand Emma. I just wish things were different. Maybe then I could actually talk to her."
"What exactly do wish was different," Ruby slowly, carefully, asked.
Snow exasperatedly sighed.
"I'm not really sure. I just… Right now I suppose the first thing I'd change is this spell Emma cast on herself. Regina said the spell was cast because it was directly related to how Emma felt when it happened. Although, it makes sense. She was acting so childishly before the spell and now…"
Emma rounded the corner and marched up to Snow and Ruby.
"And now," Emma angrily asked. "You think this is all my fault, don't you! I cast some spell and I keep choosing Regina over you and I don't want to talk to you about anything and that's all because I'm wrong. I'm just the daughter you never got to raise to be an extension of yourself and you'd change everything about me if you could!"
"Emma!" Snow's eyes were wide and she looked more surprised than Emma had ever seen her. She cowered away from the blonde and searched Emma's eyes for what the teen could only describe as searching for reason, just one reason why Emma would react that way.
"You want to know why I choose to stay with Regina? Because she doesn't force anything. She doesn't say things like, 'I'm the Mayor so you need to do what I say' and she doesn't tell me I'm messed up or that she doesn't like stuff about me. Well, maybe she does, but it's always said jokingly and if I don't get that it's supposed to be a joke she tells me. She makes me understand what she meant and she doesn't judge me and tell me to be different."
"Whatever you heard, Emma, I didn't mean it the way it sounded," Snow tried to assure her.
Emma shook her head.
"Fuck you and fuck your stupid baby. I don't care what you think you meant by saying that stuff, but I don't need you. Okay? I've done just fine without parents so far and I was an idiot to think it would be great to have them now that I know them. Turns out I was better off without you. I hate you!"
"Emma," Ruby calmly and somewhat sadly said as she tried to stop the blonde from leaving.
Emma shrugged away from Ruby's touch as she reached out to the girl and stormed off. She hurried out of the store and made one of the cashiers yell at her for not paying as he tried to catch her before she went too far. She didn't even react to the shouting man so there was no way she could have seen the affect her words had on Snow.
"It's okay," Ruby cooed as she rubbed her hands up and down Snow's arms. "She didn't mean it. She's just angry."
Tears spilled down Snow's cheeks. They flowed from her eyes to her chin without any effort at all while the pixie-haired woman appeared crestfallen. She didn't even have to scrunch up her face to squeeze out the tears. It had been a direct hit. No need to build up to the hurt Emma had caused. It just poured out of the pregnant woman as she kept one hand on her rounded stomach and cried.
Regina had gotten a call from Snow only twenty minutes after Emma had gone to the store, but it wasn't Snow on the other end of the call.
Ruby explained the blow up at the store and Regina heard Snow sob loudly in the background while the waitress broke from the conversation to console the other woman. A third and much deeper voice also seemed to be doing the same thing and Regina assumed it was David, though she couldn't find it in her to care because Ruby had just told her Emma had run off and Regina knew for a fact the girl hadn't come back to the house since then.
Regina rushed Ruby off the phone and almost hung up on the other woman, but managed a curt goodbye before she dialed Emma's cell. The phone rang and rang with no answer so Regina tried again. And again.
With no way of knowing where Emma had gone or if the teen was even breathing, Regina called someone not busy trying to calm the fragile Snow White to watch Henry while she went in search for the blonde.
She couldn't explain the panic she felt as drove all over town looking for Emma. She'd only ever reacted that way when it came to Henry. She settled for accepting that Emma was a teenager in her care and that meant her motherly concern and paranoia were strong no matter who it was that had run off. It had nothing to do with the fact that Emma was unpredictable as a teen and could have done a number of things such as swim out to the deepest part of the water farthest from shore to drown and that would crush Regina. It was the fact that Emma could have very well done that and it would devastate Henry. Her feelings for Emma were only born out of accepting her as Henry's other mother and not at all because she and Emma weren't as different as she'd once thought.
Not long into Regina's search, it had started to rain. The wind had picked up a little and the temperature could be best described as bone-chilling. Regina had the heat in the Benz turned all the way up and didn't want to spend more than two seconds away from the vents. Outside, she felt the cold hit her down to her core. Even the warmest parts of her body hadn't been able to fight off the chill and that was before the rain.
"Emma, where are you," Regina quietly asked her empty car as though she hoped the universe or any gods whatsoever heard her and would lead her straight to the blonde.
Regina turned toward the pier, started down the street and scanned the area, bench after bench on either side of her for the blonde. As if the universe or even one god had heard her plea, Regina noticed a figure huddled up on one of the benches she hadn't looked at yet. She sighed with relief and parked the car in the middle of the street directly behind the bench Emma occupied.
She didn't wait a single second before she unlocked all the car doors and jumped out of the Benz. She jogged through the cold to get to Emma and pulled her coat tightly around herself along the way.
"Emma!"
It wasn't a drizzle and it wasn't a light rain. Water droplets plundered to the ground with a punch. Each rain drop pelted both Emma and Regina and the wind swept past them every so often as if it was an obnoxious hug given to them to remind them it was a harsh and unrelenting winter.
Emma sat with her knees to her chest, her face tilted down as she buried it into the limited warmth of her soaked coat. Her forehead was almost pressed to her knees just to fight off the rain and the cold, her blonde hair tangled and drenched.
Regina came to stand in front of Emma and called out to her a few more times to get her attention, but the girl didn't respond.
"Are you okay," Regina asked with a nearly cracking voice, her tone serious and rushed and full of gut- and heart-wrenching worry.
Emma's eyes finally snapped up to meet Regina's.
"You found me," Emma said.
The ends of Regina's hair dripped from the extensive rainfall, her entire outfit soaked from head to toe.
"What are you doing out here," Regina asked, a little less frantic than her first question.
"I needed to run. I wanted to get away. It's like whatever I do I'm not enough for them."
"Emma…" Regina sympathetically said.
"I got everything wet," Emma said as she opened her borrowed coat and revealed the items she accidentally stole from the store. "And I ruined your coat. I'm sorry."
"I don't care about my coat," Regina said as she brushed stringy, knotted blonde hair away from Emma's face.
She felt Emma trembling under her touch, shivering.
"You're freezing! We've got to get you out of the rain," Regina said as she abruptly stood.
Emma's teeth chattered.
"Why do they want me to be different? Why can't they…?"
Emma never finished her second question as she bundled up as much as she could in cold, wet clothes and remained seated on the bench.
"I'll drag you back to the house if that's what it takes, Emma, but you are getting into my car in three, two—"
When Regina said "one", Emma slowly uncurled herself and tried to walk with Regina to the car as her whole body shook. She walked right into Regina's arms as the woman helped her as quickly as possible into the Benz. The second the passenger door opened and Regina eased her down into the seat she felt the heater on full blast and moaned at the warmth.
Regina made haste around the hood of the car and sat in the driver's seat with a few squeaks and squishes caused by her thoroughly drenched clothes.
"And now…we're ruining….the inside of y-y-our car," Emma stuttered as Regina started to drive away from the pier.
"That's not important," Regina said as she disobeyed the speed limit and flew down the streets of Storybrooke at fifty miles an hour.
Emma tiredly blinked and before she knew it, they were parked in the driveway.
Regina scrambled around to the passenger's seat and pulled the blonde out of the car before she helped her to the door.
"We'll warm you up and then you can take a shower, okay," Regina asked, though she was really only telling Emma what was going to happen.
Regina sat Emma down on the floor in front of the fireplace and flicked one of her wrists. Flames rose from the logs at her request before she conjured two big, thick blankets from the linen closet and wrapped them securely around the ice cold teen.
The fire cracked and popped as Regina rubbed her hands over the blankets to warm Emma up faster and sat down beside the blonde. It only lasted a few minutes before Emma started to cry.
"Emma?"
The girl sniffled.
"They're just like all my foster parents," Emma cried.
"Who are?"
"Mary Margaret and David. I'm not what they expected and they just don't get it!"
"How so?"
"I'm not gonna change. This is who I am. I can't be everything they wanted and I would never go back so they could raise me. I wouldn't trade Henry for anything and it sucks because that's how they should feel about me!"
Emma turned into Regina's side and clutched at the woman like a lifeline and cried a little louder against Regina's collarbone as she rested her head in the crook of the brunette's neck.
Regina laid her legs flat on the floor and wrapped one arm around Emma's waist to hold her close.
Emma curled further into Regina's side and laid her legs over Regina's, her feet planted on the floor and her knees level with Regina's shoulder.
Regina brought her free hand down to Emma's legs and rubbed one of the girl's knees.
Emma took a deep but stunted breath and willed herself to calm down. In a matter of seconds, she only sniffled as she tried to ease her heart back into a more normal rhythm and control her slightly erratic breathing. She almost seemed resigned to the emotional pain then.
Once she had quieted, Henry sat down on Regina's other side away from the fire.
Regina was caught off guard for a moment. She didn't know when he'd gotten there. But it didn't matter when he dipped under Regina's arm, the one she used to rub Emma's knee, and mirrored his blonde mother's position.
Henry rested his head in the crook of Regina's neck on her right, his nose pointed down at Regina's collarbone. He then slung his arm over Emma and loosely held her where she sat.
Regina moved her hand off Emma's knee and wrapped it around his shoulders as she held him close then squeezed Emma's waist a little tighter to make up for the lost contact.
Someone loomed in the entryway and Regina turned her head to see Granny staring at the three of them on the floor, her hands clasped in front of her.
The elderly woman smiled then winked at Regina. She stood there for another few seconds before she left the brunette to comfort her family.
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