That Holiday Magic
Chapter 9
Regina would have preferred to be late for work with the excuse of staying home longer, but she reminded herself that what she was doing was for those she had left at the house. So with a huffed out sigh, Regina climbed two flights of stairs in a dingy yellow and green hallway and stopped in front of a paint-chipped, green door she had only bothered to be face-to-face with once or twice before. She took a deep breath and kept her composure as she slowly lifted a fist then proceeded to knock on the worn wood.
It took about a minute, or what might have felt that way since it took more like three seconds, before the door was pulled open. Inside the apartment stood a slightly disheveled and definitely tired Snow White. The school teacher blinked her wide eyes a few times as though it would rid her of her shock or possibly reveal that she had only imagined the mayor standing on the other side of her door.
"Regina," Snow almost squeaked and stammered out. "Wh-what are you doing here? Where's Emma?"
"At my house, with Henry, and before you ask she's fine. Not entirely happy with you, but she's not physically hurt at least."
Charming walked up and stood behind his wife, a flare instantly directed at their visitor.
"What the hell are you doing here," Charming growled. "Haven't you done enough?"
"I haven't done anything other than take care of Emma," Regina immediately went on the defensive.
"More like you've turned her against us," Charming argued.
Regina rolled her eyes.
"I'm not the one who confessed to wanting a second child because you're unhappy with your first."
Snow's eyes shot down to focus on the floorboards beneath her feet.
"That's not what she meant," Charming said as he protectively stepped in front of his wife. "Emma just—"
"What? Misunderstood? Yes, she must have," Regina sarcastically started in. "That's why she spent most of the night crying while Henry and I did what we could to be there for her."
"Excuse me," Snow quietly said as she tried to walk further into the apartment and away from the argument.
"You aren't going to run away from this, Snow," Regina growled like a panther stalking and cornering their prey and pushed her way into the apartment, past Charming.
"Please, Regina," Snow weakly begged.
"Don't plead or grovel," Regina spat. "It makes you sound as pathetic as your cursed personality."
"Why don't you stop terrorizing her like the Evil Queen you supposedly used to be," Charming sharply suggested.
Regina glared at him with fiery brown eyes and a tense jaw.
"I'm only forcing her to accept that however she meant the words Emma overheard, she needs to stop crying and whining and beating herself up. It's time for her to be the mother she thinks she already is and put Emma first. You keep arguing that she'd be better off with you because you're her parents, but I haven't seen you do much right by her lately. Ever since she turned eighteen again, all you've done is hurt her and blame me for your wrongs. You need to acknowledge your faults and apologize."
Snow's eyes flickered up to catch Regina's gaze with a questioning look.
"You seem to care an awful lot about this."
"I'm reformed," Regina explained. "You saw. In Neverland. I've changed."
"I know that," Snow said with a shake of her head. "But this seems more personal than just doing a good deed or doing this because you think Henry wants it."
"Maybe because I know what it's like to crave love from people that don't return it."
Realization of how Regina's statement and what it had to do with Emma hit Snow and her face showed it. Charming slowly walked over toward the women with a curious expression. Before either of them could say anything, Regina was quick to continue.
"But it's not about my emotional familiarity with this kind of issue; it's about how Emma feels throughout all of this. The best thing you can do for her is to give her a little time and then give her an honest apology."
Regina looked from Snow to Charming and back again.
"Take my advice or don't, but at least consider it. This is your family you're hurting by not doing what's right."
With that, Regina left the Charmings to think it over and she finally made it to her office, but once she got to work she felt almost empty. She signed off on paperwork and scheduled a couple of meetings for the first few days after her Christmas break, all with a frown on her face.
After breakfast, Emma and Henry had plopped down on the couch to watch TV and a movie or two when nothing good was on cable. It got dull fast, however, and both had already long ago showered after their morning in the snow. They were too comfy and warm inside the house and it just didn't seem as much fun to play in the winter weather without Regina.
The TV went off with a sigh from Emma and the press of a button and Emma and Henry looked at each other with bored expressions.
"What do we do now," Emma asked and neither of them moved from their places next to each other on the couch.
Henry shrugged.
"I…don't know. I guess we could…play board games," he slowly suggested as he thought it up while he spoke.
Emma scrunched up her face in displeasure.
"If that's all there is to do around this impossibly large house then I guess it's better than staring at the wall until your mom gets home."
Emma and Henry both got off the couch at the same time and Henry briefly hurried ahead of Emma and led her to the stack of games in the sitting room where they looked over their options.
Monopoly, The Game of Life, Connect Four, checkers, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, and Battle Ship. Many choices and probably plenty of time to play a game of each before the end of Regina's work day if they really wanted to do that.
"Pick your favorite, Kid," Emma said with a motion toward the games.
"Um," Henry looked over his choices again then moved toward the game boxes. "Monopoly."
Henry pulled the box out from between two other games and handed it to Emma.
"We can play at the dining room table," Henry said as he headed over to the mentioned room.
Emma followed him once again and the two of them sat at the corner of the table, sort of but not entirely across from each other. They set up the board, claimed their pieces, and organized the money then started to play. It didn't take long before conversation flowed between them while they kept their hands busy with the game.
"So…everything that's happening with your parents," Henry cautiously approached the topic. "Is it about you feeling abandoned?"
"Uh," Emma held out the word for a few seconds, a little thrown off by the topic of conversation. "I guess. Yeah. Even finding them…still seems like I'm being dumped on the side of the road."
"They don't mean to make you feel that way," Henry replied.
Emma bought property without a word about her purchase and only looked away from Henry when she quickly looked down to transfer her money from her hand to the bank.
"You seem awfully insightful for a twelve year old," she said.
Henry picked up, shook up and then rolled the dice before he said anything else.
"Between Mom and the curse and you and your…flip-flopping," he said as he moved his game piece, but immediately froze when he realized how his words sounded. "I…didn't mean—"
Emma shook her head.
"No. It's okay, Kid. You feel how you feel," she said and forced a tense smile that was supposed to be a lot warmer and more relaxed than it actually appeared.
"Felt," Henry corrected. "How I felt."
Emma furrowed her brow.
"You and Mom have both changed. It's kind of funny because when you stopped thinking running away was the answer, Mom really started to listen to me and tried to be better."
Emma seemed to give that some thought.
"Anyway," Henry kept her from thinking about it too much. "You two didn't realize how things made me feel until after it hurt me."
Emma thought about it for only a couple of seconds before she nodded in agreement and quietly sighed.
"If there's anything I've learned from being yours and Mom's kid, it's that…parents try and sometimes fail. But parents like you and Mom? Like your parents? They always mean well and…eventually they'll come around."
"And what? See the error of their ways," Emma joked, a genuine smile on her face that time.
Henry laughed.
"Just wait. Things will turn around. You'll see," he smiled at her.
She smiled back again, her heart on her sleeve and love in her eyes.
"Now that we've mentioned Mom," Henry somewhat sang as he suggestively raised his eyebrow.
Emma rolled her eyes and stole the dice from his side of the game board.
"Smooth, Kid," she sarcastically said and took her turn.
"What? It's normal for me to have questions."
"Questions like…?"
"Like…are you interested in all women or just my mom," he teasingly asked.
Emma laughed like his question was half-hilarious and half-ridiculous.
"Okay, you have got to get over this," Emma said.
"It's got to just be Mom, right? Because there's no way I'd exist if you liked women."
"You know, there is actually a thing called bisexuality," Emma explained.
"And," Henry curiously drew out the word with a scrunched up expression as he mulled it over, "That's what you are?"
"Wh- Hen- No- I-"
"Real convincing," Henry said with a chuckle.
Emma loudly sighed.
"It's complicated."
"That's your answer for everything."
"Because a lot of stuff is complicated, Henry."
"Including liking Mom?"
"We already talked about this over breakfast. I like her. She's nice. She's done a lot for me."
"And I keep asking if you like her like her. I already told you I'd be okay with it."
"And I'm glad that it wouldn't bother you if I liked her like that, but I wouldn't want you to get your hopes up."
"Then let's talk about how much you like…to look at her!"
Emma looked floored, but laughed a little and playfully shoved him in his chair by the arm.
"You do realize you're talking about one of your moms checking out the other, right," Emma pointed out.
"Ew. Yeah, maybe I didn't think this through," Henry said.
They laughed together and lightly started pushing each other before the gentle jostling turned into Emma trying to tickle Henry. He squirmed in his chair and shied away from Emma's insistent hands.
She remained in her seat as well and her tickles were lame attempts, but they still laughed and squirmed and reached over to continue poorly tickling the kid.
"For the record, you're mom is really nice to look at," Emma teased Henry back for bringing up the subject of liking Regina again.
"Gross. Emma, stop," he said, still chuckling a little.
"Those eyes, those legs, those lips," Emma grinned.
"Stop. No! It's torture," Henry yelled with a smile.
He almost stood up, but before he had the chance bolt from the table, the front door opened and Regina stepped into the foyer.
"Hello," she cheerily greeted.
"Mom," Henry smiled at her just in time for the tickling and teasing to stop.
"You're back," Emma said with a hint of joy then furrowed her brow and continued to say, "Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you back?"
"I see I'm the only one that's happy to be home," Regina replied as she left her purse and keys on the end table in the foyer and made her way into the dining room.
"I'm happy to see you," Henry said as he shot up from his chair and met her in the entryway for a hug.
Regina's smile was bright enough to blind when she hugged him back.
"I told you not to take it the wrong way," Emma said as she stood.
"Relax. I know you didn't mean it that way."
"So, what are you doing home," Henry asked.
"I took the rest of the day off. I decided I'd work through my usual lunch hour and take the rest of the day to spend here with you two."
"Miss us that much," Emma asked with a smirk.
Regina hesitated, but held Emma's gaze the entire time.
"Actually, I did," she answered.
Emma's smirked faded into a look of surprise and her eyes held a sense of hope.
"Your company," she continued and looked from Emma to Henry, "is much more enjoyable to that of a quiet office that has only the promise of a pen scratching against paper to break the silence."
Emma rolled her eyes with a partial smile.
"I was also thinking the sooner I got home the more time I would have to cook dinner, which means we can all have a decent meal. How does that sound," Regina asked.
"Perfect," Henry beamed.
Regina smiled at him then looked up at the blonde teen.
"Emma?"
"You always make a more than decent meal," Emma responded. "But it sounds great. Mind if I help?"
Regina shook her head. "Of course not. Just try not to burn anything or get sauce all over me."
Emma grinned.
"No promises about the sauce."
Henry kept himself occupied with a movie and several issues of his favorite comics out in the living room while Emma and Regina prepared dinner in the kitchen. He didn't think to check up on them or tease Emma further. He was content to read and listen to his choice of movie while the occasional smell of food made him anxious and his mouth water as they wafted in from the other room.
In the kitchen, Emma worked fluidly with Regina as they each performed their own duties toward making a decent dinner. The only time they needed to talk was when Regina checked on Emma's progress and occasionally corrected the blonde.
"You want to use these instead," Regina said with a smile as she pulled open a drawer next to the teen and retrieved the correct cookware.
She stood almost directly against Emma's side as she handed the blonde the better cooking utensils and set aside the one Emma had previously used. She remained at Emma's side and watched the teen work, though she noted the blonde started to work at a slower pace and with slightly stiffened muscles once she'd started to watch the blonde. She didn't comment on the changes and just continued to supervise for a while until that supervision became a little interactive. She subconsciously moved her hand to Emma's ponytail and her fingers played with the tips of her hair.
Emma gulped before she turned her head to look at the other woman. She leaned into Regina just enough to feel her front faintly pressed against her side. She felt Regina twirl her ponytail around her fingers and closed her eyes. She relaxed as Regina continued to play with her ponytail and her own hands slowed, which almost cut her dinner preparation short.
"You have such pretty hair," Regina complimented.
"Uh, thanks," Emma's voice cracked a little from disuse and little from the sensation that being so close to Regina caused. "So…have I managed to do this right?"
Regina grinned and let go of Emma's other hand. She flicked the teen's ponytail before she left the blonde's hair alone and looked from Emma back to the teen's hands as she resumed watching the blonde work. A few more seconds passed before Regina finally started to step away.
"You're doing well," she assured Emma as she went back to her own food prep on the island counter.
Emma didn't give a response. The two just continued to work and move throughout the kitchen in silence without a hitch.
Once everything was added together and thrown in the oven, it was just a matter of waiting. Regina grabbed a box of crackers from one of the top cupboards and put them on the island as a pre-dinner snack.
"What kind of cheese do you want with those," Regina asked as she went to the fridge and reached into one of the drawers. "Pepper jack or cheddar?"
"Pepper jack's the one with the kick to it, right," Emma asked.
Regina looked over her shoulder and smiled as she let out a breath of laughter then nodded.
"Yes."
"That one," Emma replied.
"Good, because it's what I prefer. I spent so many years listening to Henry complain about how spicy it was and eventually reduced myself to having cheddar cheese if I was going to eat it with him."
"That's…wow. I know parents sacrifice for their kids—that's how it should be, definitely—but even deciding not to have your favorite cheese because you were with Henry? That's…kind of amazing."
Regina chuckled.
"He used to grab the cheese slices from me before I could eat them and then throw them on the ground or the counter or the table depending on where we were and say it was bad. I didn't really have a choice in the matter."
Emma beamed.
"He was a little booger, wasn't he," Emma asked, though it came out more like a statement.
"You have no idea," Regina fondly said.
Emma's smile slowly faded at those honest words even though they weren't said with the intent to sting. She busied herself with opening the packaging inside the box to free the crackers then set them out in an arc on a recently wiped down cutting board.
Regina noticed the shift in Emma's emotions, but let it be as she went about slicing the block of cheese.
"Regina, I…" Emma started to speak, but stopped herself while she unnecessarily pushed at the crackers once they were all laid out. "Thank you."
Regina frowned.
"For what?"
"For being here. For giving me…so much. You know, I keep telling Henry how lucky he is, but right now? I'm just as lucky as him. Because you're here. You're…"
Emma shook her head and sighed as the words that would convey everything she felt about Regina's kindness either failed to exist or just failed to form in her mind. Instead, she let the rest of the sentence hang there unfinished and wrapped her arms around Regina's waist. She gently squeezed Regina after a second and rested her chin in the crook of the brunette's neck.
Regina hesitated before she reciprocated the meaningful embrace. She looked relieved and sad and moved almost to tears at Emma's confession as well as the unexpected hug. She closed her eyes and squeezed back.
"I'm the lucky one," Regina quietly admitted, so quietly Emma wasn't sure she'd heard correctly.
It didn't matter what she'd heard, though. It felt good to finally hug and be hugged by someone, someone she didn't hate and someone she didn't want a hug from for one reason or another. Then it all became a little too much, too emotional, and she almost wanted to run. But she didn't run. She chose to break up the heavy moment another way, an easier way that wouldn't hurt anyone.
"You seem to like touching me, Madam Mayor," she teased. "First my hair, now the hug? And that's just today."
They both pulled away from each other with smiles on their faces. Regina shook her head.
"You're the one who hugged me, dear," Regina pointed out.
"I think you confused me with the hair touching. I mean, who plays with someone's ponytail unless you're seriously attracted to that person's cuteness?"
Regina chuckled and very lightly and playfully swatted Emma's arm.
"You know you weren't confused."
Emma rolled her eyes, but continued to smile.
"But I will admit you're cute."
Emma's smile was replaced with a gape.
Regina smirked.
"But you'll never be cuter than Henry," Regina added after a few seconds.
Emma finally closed her mouth and she crossed her arms over her chest with a sarcastic and disbelieving look on her face.
"You know his cuteness biologically stems from me, right," Emma flatly asked. "He might act like you sometimes, but you've got to admit the sauce fights and the cheese thing are definitely genetic predispositions."
Regina laughed just as the oven beeped, and even though the oven almost overpowered the brunette, all Emma heard was that melodious laugh.
"A girl would be nice. 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," she overheard her supposed mother say at the drug store.
"Don't worry, Emma. You'll have a home one day," the woman that ran one of the group homes she'd once belonged to had tried to reassure her.
"No one's ever gonna want you," one of the boys at the home had told her when she refused to give him back one of the toys he claimed was his and his alone. It had immediately made her drop the toy and he'd smirked before he bent over to pick it up then left her alone to cry.
"She's…a little older than what we were expecting," one of the potential couples told the group home director about her while she sat with her knees to her chest on the floor outside of the woman's office.
"You're a good for nothing little shit," a foster mother bitterly spat at her when she ran out of her room with a few bruises and tears while the angry-drunk husband stumbled out with a hand over his eye and the other over his groin after he'd tried to beat her.
"Why don't you just give up? You're not smart, you don't have any money. Why bother with an education since you're just going to end up living in a trailer park anyway," a stuck up girl had asked after Emma saw her own failing grade on a progress report.
"What a loser," a guy said about her to his friends while he looked right at her. A few days later, the entire school was abuzz with how unattractive and desperate she was, how she didn't understand anything normal people should, like how to be nice and how to hug and how to accept a compliment. Her new nickname for the rest of the time she spent at that school was Emma 'The Alien' Swan.
"I'll see what I can do, Emma, but…there are no guarantees here," the same female group home director said about trying to keep her out of anymore foster homes. A week later she was placed with a woman that was only after yet another paycheck even though she already had seven other wards of the state in her poor care.
"We're taking you home," a proud couple told the younger girl she'd been playing with at the group home. They hadn't even bothered to walk the girl out of the room and away from her, or any of the other kids around, before telling their new daughter the good news.
Emma woke up mid-sob and aggressively threw the sheets off of her. She scrambled to sit up in the bed and tried to take a few deep breaths as she felt tears stain her cheeks. Things hadn't clicked for her the night before, but it had finally set in how long she'd gone without a home.
Home.
"I'm here to take Emma home," Regina had told Snow and David when she'd come to the Sheriff's station to bail her out while she'd drunkenly assaulted local businesses and her own father not too long ago.
Emma looked around the room and was finally able to relax. She felt a sense of calm and relief wash over her as she recognized the guest room, but she still felt the lingering presence of cruel words and a harsh childhood and everything that led her to running away the first time and kept her running every time after. She sniffled and grunted at the weight of her chest, the weight of her heavy heart.
She didn't waste another moment in bed. With the sheets flung halfway across and hanging off the bottom corner of the bed, she stood up and abandoned the guest room. She padded down the hallway and didn't hesitate to open another bedroom door.
She paused in the doorway as she took a moment to watch Regina sleep. The woman's chest steadily rose and fell while she slept flat on her back, her hands clasped over her stomach. Emma didn't think it looked comfortable, but she knew from experience that sometimes the most uncomfortable positions were the only ones that permitted any rest.
After a moment, Emma realized her chest didn't feel as tight or weighed down as it had when she'd first woken up and all she'd done was look at Regina since then. She took a deep breath and shut the door behind herself before she approached the bed.
"Regina," she whispered and stood beside Regina's side of the bed as she picked her cuticles and held her hands in front of herself like a nervous child. "Regina."
Whispering her name did nothing to stir the other woman so Emma gently poked then shook the brunette. It took a few shakes, but eventually Regina groaned and squirmed as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Emma?"
The brunette's voice was husky from sleep and she looked a little surprised to see the blonde in her room.
"Is something wrong?"
"I couldn't sleep," Emma said and kept her voice low, aware that it was still late. "I…had a nightmare. Sort of."
"So you came to me?"
"I…" Emma trailed off and looked over Regina from head to toe before she met the woman's gaze again. "I just didn't want to be alone."
"Does this have to do with your parents?"
"A little. That stuff Snow said yesterday…I guess it hit me kind of late."
"I'd say it 'hit you' right away."
Emma looked at Regina with a frown and big, sad eyes.
"I also think it's perfectly normal that you didn't have this problem last night," Regina added. "Sometimes it takes a little while to work through things."
Emma nodded, though her head barely moved. She swallowed and looked down at the floor while she continued to pick at her nails.
"You can sleep in here," Regina said.
Emma's head snapped up and she instantly locked eyes with the brunette.
"Really?"
Regina pulled back the sheets and hummed her approval. Emma flashed a quick smile and walked around to the empty side of the bed.
"Thank you," she said as she crawled in beside Regina.
"Whatever helps, dear," Regina said and turned on her side with her back to Emma. "Goodnight."
Emma quickly settled beneath the sheets and scooted closer to Regina.
"Wait, Regina…"
Regina rolled over just enough to look at Emma from over her shoulder.
"Can I…? Can you…?" Emma sighed out of frustration and slight defeat at her sudden inability to speak.
"Emma, it's okay," Regina soothingly reassured the teen as she rolled over completely and faced the blonde. "Whatever it is you want to ask me, it's okay."
"Um, would it…be okay if I…" Emma held an arm over Regina's middle and let it hover until she had consent.
Regina looked from Emma to the teen's arm and back. She smiled.
"Are you trying to ask if you can hold me?"
Emma shyly smiled and bit her bottom lip.
"Like a teddy bear," she quipped and avoided further awkwardness.
Regina chuckled and draped Emma's arm over herself as an answer.
"Whatever helps," Regina repeated. "…Princess."
"You know, you make it sound like an insult," Emma said with a smile, "but really I think the Queen's content to have this princess nearby."
"Maybe she's content to have this princess because her prince adores her and all the Queen wants for him to be happy."
"Mm," Emma drew out a hum as she pretended to think it over. "As true as that is, you like me anyway."
"I suppose."
Emma smiled a little more and snuggled into Regina's side. She rested her head on Regina's chest, the top of her head tucked against the crook of Regina's neck.
Regina slung an arm underneath Emma and wrapped it around the blonde. She rested her forearm against the teen's hip and draped her hand over the woman's side so Emma was loosely held against her.
"Goodnight, Emma," Regina said as the two of them finished adjusting to their new position.
"Goodnight, Regina."
Emma clung to Regina as she drifted back to a more peaceful sleep. Her breathing evened out and she felt lighter than she had since her eyes had closed for the first time that night. With Regina, she was calm and collected…and maybe, maybe, she was home.
A/N: To be continued... Let me know what your thoughts are so far. :) And thank you all so much for the continued support through favorites and follows and reviews!