Chapter 11
A few days had passed since Emma, Henry, and Regina had snuggled up under one blanket on the couch together to enjoy a holiday movie. Close to the end of the movie they'd all started to nod off, but Regina had convinced everyone to head to bed and call it a night. Before Henry or Emma got into bed, however, they begged and pleaded for a hug from Regina. She'd argued that she had to clean up, but Emma had asked her how a hug would have stopped her from cleaning once she and Henry went upstairs. Due to the blonde's oh so charming nature, Regina had caved in and hugged Henry. Emma had waited for her hug, but Regina had withheld it while she teased and lectured the teen about proper hugging etiquette.
"No wandering hands, no unwarranted kisses, and no flirting," Regina had explained with a pointed finger directed at Emma.
Emma had crossed a finger in an "X" over her heart and put on a transparently fake sweet expression while she verbally promised to behave. For once in all the physical contact they'd had since Emma had turned herself eighteen again, Emma had actually refrained from inappropriate touches. She'd nuzzled her nose into the crook of Regina's neck, but she had actually seemed content to just have someone embrace her, which Regina knew it went farther from holding the blonde in her arms. A lot more.
Four days after the family snuggle and hugs goodnight, Emma and Henry were playing video games in the living room after breakfast while Regina cleaned up in the kitchen yet again.
"Oh! I owned you," Emma happily shouted.
"Lucky try," Regina heard Henry try to shrug off the loss.
Regina smiled to herself while she dried off the last dish that needed cleaning when the doorbell rang.
"Bet you can't win again," Henry challenged.
"You're on," Emma replied, and Regina heard the sound of a new game start.
She set the dish back in its rightful place in the cupboard to the left of the sink then turned and went to answer the door. As soon as she saw the person that stood on the other side, she was surprised and yet not surprised at the same time.
"Good morning, David," she politely greeted, a smile absent from her face.
"Regina," he responded with a small nod.
"If you're here for Emma, I thought I made it clear—"
"No. No, I know she needs to decide when to talk to us," David said. "I'm here for Henry."
Laughter erupted from the living room and David looked over Regina's shoulder in an attempt to see what was going on inside the house. The living room wasn't in sight from the doorway so his attention came back to Regina within seconds.
"Sounds like they're having a good time," David noted.
"It does, doesn't it," Regina replied with a bit of a bite to her tone, because old habits die hard.
David sighed.
"I wanted to see if Henry would want to come sword fighting," David continued and held up two wooden swords to show Regina.
"You do realize the ground is covered in snow and it's freezing outside, right?"
"He'll be bundled up and working up a sweat fighting. I'll make sure he stays warm. Can I just ask him if he wants to play?"
Regina thought it over for a moment then stepped aside to allow David into the house.
David walked in, careful to keep the snow on his boots outside, and thanked Regina before he slowly made his way toward the living room. Regina followed a couple of steps behind him after she closed the front door.
When David peeked around the corner and into the living room, he saw Emma and Henry smiling and standing in front of the couch with giggly determination to do whatever it was they were doing in the game. For a moment he smiled, but it quickly faded the longer he looked at his happy daughter.
"She does smile. Just not around you."
Even Regina knew that must have been what he was thinking, her words from four days ago an echo throughout his mind, in that moment because she saw and recognized the look on his face. He was a father on the outskirts of his daughter's life. The blonde had pushed him away and kept pushing him away when all he claimed to want was what was best for her. Regina knew better than anyone how often and how badly parents could and did make mistakes. They were only human after all. Not even she knew how to deal with the problems that arose with Henry, or Emma for that matter. She just tried one thing after another until one of her solutions to the problem worked. She wasn't a fool to think she hadn't made mistakes with Emma during the blonde's spell either. So she knew. She knew exactly what David was going through, but Emma was her priority. She didn't comfort David or Snow. She only helped them, or at least tried to help them, see their mistakes so they could fix them and be better. For Emma.
"Gramps? What are you doing here," Henry's voice broke both Regina and David out of their thoughts.
"Hey," David cheered up and smiled at his grandson. "I thought maybe you'd like to come out and have a good old fashioned sword fight with your grandpa."
"W-w-well…"
There was a flash of excitement in Henry's eyes that soon disappeared before he looked from David to Emma and finally settled his eyes on Regina. He looked unsure and when his sight fell to Regina he was looking for confirmation, for the right answer.
Regina hesitantly flashed an encouraging smile.
"I'm not…sure I want to leave," Henry said and looked to Emma again.
Emma frowned with sad eyes and an expression that Regina hoped she never had to see on the blonde's face again. The teen appeared to be kicking herself and truthfully she was.
"If Emma—" Henry started to say, but Emma stopped him.
"If you want to go you should go," Emma smiled. It was a little forced, but it was also sincere.
"R-really," Henry disbelievingly but somewhat hopefully asked.
"Yeah," Emma nodded with a less forced smile.
The twinkle in Henry's eyes made it easier for her to smile.
"Okay," Henry instantly perked up. "I'll get my coat!"
Henry rushed off and David beamed as he watched the boy go. He gave Henry's hair a quick ruffle as he shot past him and Regina and grabbed his coat. When David turned back to see Emma, he saw her stand there with one hand clutched tightly around her arm. Her eyes were cast directly on Regina, wide and innocent and he wasn't sure what she felt in that moment, but when he looked to Regina he understood that she had a pretty good idea.
"Hey, look, if this is going to be a problem," David started to say to Emma and took a step closer to her to watch her take a step back.
"No, it's fine," Emma shook her head. "He really should go if he wants to…and it's not… It's a problem with me sort of, but I- I know it shouldn't be. But…I'm working on it."
"Oh. Okay," David said and defensively raised his hands as he backed away, the swords still in his right hand and pointed down toward the floor. "No worries. I'll…keep Henry safe and return him without a scratch and I promise I didn't come over here just to see you. Although I will say it's nice to see you so consider that a plus to this visit."
David didn't smile, didn't push his luck with what he said. It had been four days. He'd left her alone for four days and that was a good start, but it wasn't a whole lot of space.
"So, I'm gonna go…and I hope you two enjoy the rest of your day," David carefully said and waved with his free hand before Henry caught up with him and the boys went out for a sword fight.
As soon as the door closed, Emma walked up to Regina and looked like she was two seconds away from shaking like a leaf.
"I never wanted to put Henry in the middle like this," Emma blurted out.
"Emma, it's okay. He was always going to be in the middle of this," Regina calmly explained. "He's our son. Whatever bothers and affects us, things like how we feel and who's in our lives, is always going to involve him at some point."
"But he's looking at us for permission to go out with his grandpa. Just because I have things going on with him doesn't mean Henry has to suffer."
"He loves you. He's going to do whatever he thinks is going to help."
"But I don't want him to do things that are going to keep him from his family!"
"It's a difficult situation, but, Emma, these are his choices. We can encourage him to do what he really wants without having to worry about our reactions, but ultimately what he does will be his choice."
Emma took a deep breath and relaxed then nodded and stepped closer.
"Why don't we have some more of those cookies we made," Regina asked as she plucked Emma's hand off the teen's arm and ensured both of the blonde's arms were at her side.
"Yeah," Emma quietly said with a nod. "Okay."
They made their way to the kitchen and Regina tugged on the tips of Emma's hair, which wasn't in a ponytail that day, while she bumped their heads together. Emma smiled in response to the affection and pulled on the tips of Regina's hair in response.
Regina laughed her way into the kitchen alongside Emma and the pair looked a little foolish, but they also—aside from the age difference—looked like friends.
Unfortunately, after a few more laughs and a couple of cookies, Regina's phone rang. When she hung up, she looked apologetically at the other woman.
"I'm sorry," Regina said after a moment. "I have to go to the office."
"Well then I'll come with you," Emma said and started to walk out of the kitchen with Regina.
"It's really nothing. The receptionist is incompetent when it comes to Miss Ginger, but it should all be sorted out very quickly and I don't want you to have to listen to that woman's ridiculous, petty problems."
"But I don't…I don't want to be alone," Emma pouted.
"It should only be twenty minutes. I promise. I'll be quick."
"You sure? I mean, I've got plenty of problems so maybe listening to someone else's problems will make me feel better," Emma smiled with the intention of charming Regina into agreeing with her.
"I'm sure it would make you laugh," Regina lightly laughed. "But I'm also sure you'll be just fine here for a little while. We'll have plenty of fun when I get back."
"Okay," Emma sighed.
Regina brushed blonde hair out of the teen's face.
"See you soon," Regina smiled on her way out.
Emma frowned and looked around the big, empty house. She went to the coat closet and grabbed her borrowed coat from Regina then went to the living room with it. She turned on the TV and curled up under Regina's coat. Thankfully, after she'd gotten soaked in the coat, when Regina washed it the scent of the woman clung to it once again.
There were holiday movie reruns on due to the fact that it wasn't primetime yet, but that didn't matter. Emma didn't really pay attention to the screen. She closed her eyes and buried her face in Regina's coat. After several minutes, she was about to doze off for a nap since there was nothing better to do, but then her phone rang. She lurched forward to grab it off the kitchen table in case it was Regina, but the caller ID read Mary Margaret.
She rolled her eyes and ignored the call before she set the phone aside, closer to her instead of on the coffee table because Regina still could have called later. Only a few seconds passed before her phone rang again. And again it was Mary Margaret.
Emma let out a long sigh and hit the ignore button again. That didn't seem to do anything, however, because it wasn't long before the other woman called her for a third time.
Emma groaned, but she finally took the call.
"What do you want?"
"Emma? Emma! Please, I don't know what's happening. I have this pain in my stomach. My vision's blurry and I'm not feeling too well and I keep having to go to the bathroom."
"Whoa. Okay. Hang on. First of all, nausea and frequent trips to the bathroom are normal during pregnancy."
"No," Snow desperately pleaded. "Emma, I know something's wrong. I can feel it."
"Okay, well, did you call David?"
"He's not answering. He's out playing with Henry so I'm sure he can't hear his phone. A-and I tried Regina, but it went to voicemail."
Snow sighed then quickly continued.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't want to call you considering everything that's going on, but I had no one else. I need to see a doctor and I just- I can't drive myself right now. I'm sorry for calling and I'm so sorry I need a favor from you and I'm really sorry about what I said at the store. Apologizing over the phone also wasn't my plan. I was hoping to do it in person. But I need you and I don't know what to do and I do mean every apology I've said. I'm just so dizzy and I can't—I can't—"
"Okay! It's okay," Emma quickly said, a little panicked. "I'm on my way. Just relax and stay calm. I'll be there soon."
"Thank you," Snow quietly said.
Emma immediately ended the call and threw on Regina's' coat as she swiped her keys and ran out to the Bug. When she slid in behind the wheel and shut the door, she gripped then released then again gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to take her own advice and stay calm. Once she settled down a little, she started the car, gave herself another second to remain collected, and then hurried off to the Charming household.
"Oh my god," Snow breathed out as she threw an arm out and slapped her hand into Emma's when the blonde caught her before she could stumble face first onto the floor.
"How's the pain? On a scale from one to ten, ten being the worst," Emma asked.
"Maybe a four? I'm not really in much pain, but I'm unbelievably uncomfortable."
"Okay. I'm sure you're fine."
"But—"
"But we're going to the hospital and you'll get checked out. The more you freak out the harder this could be on you and the baby."
"You're right," Snow nodded before she looked at Emma with suspicion. "How are you so calm and logical and…prepared? It's almost like you've been through this."
"I haven't. I just don't…think there's anything to worry about and if there is, I'm sure it wouldn't help to put more stress on your body by giving in to that worry."
"Right, okay," Snow agreed and the two slowly made their way out to the car.
They didn't have the opportunity to discuss whose car they'd take because between the Beetle and the station wagon, the station wagon was the most practical, but Emma only had keys to the Beetle. So she eased Snow into the passenger's seat of the yellow car then rushed to the hospital without driving fast enough to scare the other woman. The dark haired woman didn't need to be more scared than she already was.
For the first couple of minutes into the drive, they sat in silence. Almost halfway there, Snow spoke up.
"I don't want to screw this up. I've already made so many mistakes with you by not being there and now there's your anger and my poorly chosen words. I don't want to mess everything up with this child too. But look at me. Something's wrong already and I haven't even given birth to him or her yet."
Emma frowned and looked sympathetically at Snow. She dug her nails into the steering wheel and picked at the material while she failed to say a single word in response. She was out of reassurances and she had no helpful advice. The rest of the ride continued in silence aside from the little noises of discomfort Snow couldn't and didn't hold back.
At the hospital, Doctor Whale took Snow off Emma's hands with curious glances at the teen but no questions about her physical appearance, and Emma plopped down on a waiting room chair with a loud sigh. Her leg immediately started to twitch and shake and though she hadn't done it in a while, she also started to bite her nails.
The chair wasn't hard to sit in, but Emma was restless. For the next fifteen minutes, she shifted and squirmed all around in the chair. She sat with her legs folded beneath her, lounged across two different chairs, and even paced the floor in front of a row of chairs until her phone rang. She hastily grabbed at it, all the muscles in her body tense, and hoped she wouldn't be stuck in the waiting room too much longer.
Unlike before, that time the caller ID read Hot Ass Mayor. She didn't hesitate to answer.
"Regina?"
"Where the hell are you?! You're not here and you're car isn't here. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm…I'm fine. I'm at the hospital."
"What?!"
"With Snow," Emma quickly explained. "No one else was answering her calls and she needed a ride. She thinks something's wrong with the baby."
"And you're there alone?"
"Yeah. I'm waiting for someone to come out and tell me what's going on. Regina, I'm scared. She's so worried about screwing everything up and I don't know what's going on and I just want them both to be okay. I never wanted anything bad to happen no matter how angry I am."
"I know, Emma. It's okay. I'm sure everything is going to be fine. Snow White fought me hard enough to keep herself alive this long so she'll sure as hell fight to make it through this. Until we know something, there's no use jumping to worst case scenario, alright?"
"Okay," Emma said with a nod even though Regina couldn't see it.
"I'll be there soon," Regina assured. "I'm already on my way."
There were people and chairs and months old magazines that didn't entertain anyone or calm their nerves. Phones rang and nurses shuffled through the area while receptionists dealt with paperwork and the occasional patients. All of that faded away after a few seconds. Nothing else mattered except the small and terrified blonde teen that paced back and forth and nervously plucked her fingers over her bottom lip.
"Emma," Regina breathed out with relief.
Regina didn't waste a second to hurry to Emma who looked as relieved as Regina sounded.
"How is everything? Has Whale been out here yet," Regina asked as she approached.
Emma nodded.
"Everything's fine," Emma said. "Apparently it's hypertension and they're a little concerned about gestational diabetes so they're giving her something now to check that out."
Regina smiled and ran her hand up and down Emma's arm.
"See? I told you everything would be okay. Sounds like Whale just needs to monitor her a little more frequently."
"Yeah, and they said she'll need to take it a little easier and get more exercise to help with the baby for the rest of the pregnancy. Even if she doesn't have gestational diabetes she'll have to change her diet too. Apparently she's already put on a little more weight than expected at this point in the pregnancy."
"That's good that's all that is."
"She's also asking to see me. And I…I think I should…"
Regina nodded and said, "You should go. Check on her and make sure she's okay, emotionally okay. Does David know she's here?"
Emma's eyes popped wide open.
"I completely forgot to call him," Emma confessed.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of that while you go in and see her. I'll be right here if you need me."
"Thanks," Emma said with a nod and awkwardly leaned in for a hug a few times but kept pulling back at the last minute.
Emma wrapped her arms around herself and made a jerky turn before she went further into the hospital toward the rooms. She hesitantly knocked on the door before she opened it and peeked her head inside. She flashed a small smile, sort of forced, and slowly made her way into the room.
"Hey," Emma greeted.
"Hi," Snow replied with an apologetic tone. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, of course I'm okay. I'm not the one in the hospital bed."
"Oh, I know, but I panicked in front of you and that probably got you to panic. Anyway, I really- Thank you for coming to my rescue."
"Well, you're fine. Everything turned out fine," Emma said. "So I'd hardly say I rescued you."
"Still, you answered my call and took me to the hospital. That means a lot to me. And I'm so sorry about all of this. So, so sorry. I never meant for what I said at the store to sound so cruel. I truly wish I had been able to raise you and I'm sorry for the hell you've had to go through because your father and I couldn't do that."
"Didn't. You didn't raise me."
"You're right. There might have been a chance that we could have been together and I didn't trust in that chance. I was too afraid the curse would never have been broken if we didn't let you go and there will always be a part of me that imagines the life we might have had together, but there's also always going to be a part of me that accepts what happened because you grew up to be an amazing person.
"And now you're father and I have a second chance at parenting and we're thrilled about that, but that doesn't mean we don't love you or that we love you any less. We're just struggling to connect with you right now and…we're not handling that in the greatest way, I admit."
"Yeah, I get it. I…sometimes I wish I could have a second chance with Henry. He's got Regina, he's always had Regina, but you know, there's a part of me that regrets not being able to enjoy the firsts in his life. Regina tells me all these stories about him when he was younger and I just missed out on so much. So I get it."
Snow ran a hand over her stomach and slowly exhaled in a way that seemed to keep her calm.
"I know that my apologies on the phone, and any apologies I might make now, aren't going to instantly change things between us. But I do want to fix things. I want to understand you, or at least understand enough to know when to give you space and when to hug you. Like Regina seems to understand. And if she can understand but I don't then what kind of mother does that make me? I love that I have this second chance, but I don't think I'm ready. Not when I'm failing with you."
"Eh. I'm just unusually difficult," Emma joked to lighten the mood. "The baby won't be able to back-talk you for a while so I think you'll be fine."
Snow smiled and tried to reach for Emma's hand. Emma squirmed in place before she threw her thumb over her shoulder as she spoke up once more.
"Uh, Regina's trying to call David right now so he'll probably be here soon," Emma told her. "I think I'll go wait with Regina since she kind of came rushing over here when she found out what happened."
"Thank you," Snow said again and nodded while her smile wavered.
Emma flashed a half-smile and left the room to meet Regina in the waiting room. She came out in time to see Regina hang up her phone and then their eyes locked. Regina smiled at her as she walked back toward the other woman.
"David's on his way with Henry," Regina informed her. "How did it go in there?"
"It was fine. Snow apologized for the grocery store thing for a second time. The first time was when she called me for a help. I just…I wish I could say I love you and I forgive you and I know you love me too, but everything still hurts," Emma frowned.
Regina guided Emma to a chair and sat down next to her. Emma leaned on her shoulder and Regina draped an arm over Emma's shoulders.
"Your hurt will only weigh you down as long as you let it. It will take some time to heal," Regina said. "Earlier, when you and I talked over the phone, why were so worried?"
"Things might be complicated, but they're still my family. I thought I was gonna lose them and I'm not…I'm not willing to give them up now that I've found them."
"That's perfectly understandable. And not being able to say the things you know you should be able to? I get that too. I'm still dealing with what happened with my mother. But what you did today is a huge step forward with you and your parents."
"How…how are you still dealing with what happened with your mother?"
"I… Well, I didn't get a lot of time with her before she died. The last thing we ever did together was turn against the town in an attempt for her to get control of The Dark One's—Rumpelstilskin's—dagger. She told me I would've been enough, but I still have difficulty believing that at times. We never really had a conversation that wasn't about power and the real reason she came to Storybrooke was to fix me. And that was only after she framed me for a murder so I would be broken by what everyone thought of me when they thought I'd done it."
"Wow. That's…rough."
"Yes. I- She tried to make it right in the end, but the only memories I have of her revolve around her disciplining me and being so cold because that whole time she never had her heart. I mean, the woman literally didn't have her heart. She always had it hidden away somewhere so she could live without any weakness."
"Yeah, I guess that's bad. Worse than what I'm dealing with," Emma said.
"It's not about what's worse," Regina shook her head. "Pain is pain. Everyone's dealing with something and those things can't be compared to each other. The pain people feel, regardless of what the situations are, is real. Another person's pain and situations don't invalidate another's."
"That's really smart. Sounds like we're both fucked up."
Regina laughed.
"I'm not even going to correct your foul language because that is an accurate assessment."
Emma smiled and snuggled up closer to Regina even though the armrests of the waiting room chairs made it difficult to cuddle up like they did with Henry on the couch whenever they watched movies together. It didn't prevent Emma from leaning further against Regina no matter what and Regina, to Emma's surprise, tightened their embrace.
Regina rested her head against Emma's while Emma kept hers pressed into the crook of the brunette's neck. The two of them stayed like that for several minutes, not a single word spoken or needed to be said in any of that time. They just found comfort in being there together and being able to lean on each other for support, physically and emotionally. Before they knew it, David and Henry jogged through the automatic entrance doors and into the waiting room.
"Hey," David breathlessly said to Emma and Regina.
Both women looked up at him with exhaustion in their expressions.
"Long day," David asked.
Regina smiled and Emma mumbled, "I'm ready to fall asleep on Regina's couch. I don't think I'll be able to make it to the second floor, if I can even make it to the car outside."
"I'm going to take them home," Regina said at the sound of that and carefully inched forward in her seat to extract herself from Emma.
"I'm not leaving my car," Emma firmly stated.
"You're too tired to drive," Regina told her.
"Then you drive," Emma suggested and handed Regina her keys.
"Then I'll just have to come back for my car later. Come on, Henry," Regina responded as she started to stand.
"You know, I can take your car back as soon as Mary Margaret's released," David offered. "I'll drive it straight over to the house and Mary Margaret can follow me in the truck. Then we'll ride back to our place together."
Emma looked a little surprised and after a moment, a smile slowly spread across her face.
"Thank you," Emma said. "That's really nice."
"It's not a problem."
"Hey, Gramps, when you see Grandma can you tell her I said hi and that I'm glad she and the baby are okay?"
"Yes," Regina chimed in. "Let her know we'll all see her when she's back home."
Henry, Emma, and Regina started to head out and as they left, Regina looked back at David. He mouthed thank you to her and she nodded in response. She tossed David the keys to her Mercedes and thanked him the same way he'd thanked her. He gave her a salute and a small smile before she ushered Emma and Henry out of the hospital.
David watched as Emma hooked her arm around one of Regina's and Regina smiled at the blonde less than a second later. Henry started to elbow Emma and she elbowed him back. It looked so natural and even Regina laughed along at their playfulness. David curiously stared at them while he noted how much like a family they appeared.
After Chinese takeout for dinner—something Regina wasn't a fan of when Emma suggested it or even when Henry seconded it, but she caved to their whims as usual—they found Home Alone on TV and curled up under the blanket again.
"I don't know why we didn't start watching movies under this blanket together sooner," Emma smiled and pulled her portion of the blanket up to her chin. "It's so cozy."
That night Regina sat between Emma and Henry so both of them could snuggle up against her sides. Emma was all bundled up to her right while Henry tucked his feet up against her left leg, his head on a pillow at one end of the couch. Regina periodically throughout the movie rubbed her hands over the tops of his feet then tickled them just to hear his giggles and watch him squirm.
"Cozy indeed," Regina responded to Emma and played with the teen's hair, which the brunette quickly noted seemed to soothe Emma.
Once the movie was over, Emma made Henry and herself hot chocolate. They carefully brought their mugs into the living room then looked through movie options for the duration of the night. It was still a little early and even after the hospital trip for all of them, none of them were all that tired. It took several minutes, but they found something they could all enjoy. As soon as they were all comfortable on the couch again, Henry with his legs bent and knees pointed at the ceiling while he again lounged against one end of the couch and Emma with her legs folded beneath her, they watched the movie and enjoyed their cocoa. Before the cocoa could get cold, Emma lifted her mug up to Regina.
"Want some?"
"I don't think so," Regina chuckled at the idea.
"Oh, come on," Emma gently urged and unfolded her legs then shifted closer to Regina.
Regina rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, Emma, you think you can just bat you lashes and convince me to drink that truckload of cinnamon?"
"It's not a truckload. It's just the right amount," Emma smirked.
"Right," Regina dryly agreed.
"Only one way to find out how much is in it," Emma sang her words. "Try some."
"If I have a sip will you desist with your talk and watch the rest of this movie," Regina asked with a faint grin and an arched brow.
"Possibly. Still only one way to find out," Emma teased.
Regina subtly sighed then took the mug from Emma. She had a sip and surprisingly didn't scrunch her nose in distaste.
"It's not my favorite, but I can see why you two enjoy it," Regina commented and handed the mug back.
"Now that you've had a taste, I don't think you'll ever have enough," Emma said while she took back her mug.
Regina's brow inched closer toward her hairline.
Emma pursed her lips to hide her grin, which was an unsuccessful attempt.
"Um, is this something that would make me uncomfortable," Henry piped up. "Because the way you're looking at each other makes me think something's happening that I don't want to be around to see."
Emma laughed and Regina struggled to find a way to reply to Henry.
"Mmmaybe I should go to bed," Henry started to sit up on the couch. "Just don't do anything weird. Emma's, like, only seven years older than me."
"Henry," Regina immediately scolded. "We're not going to do anything!"
Emma continued to laugh.
Henry smiled and looked between his two mothers.
"Relax, Mom. I don't expect you to," Henry said as he stood. "I just had to put it out there. All you two ever do is exchange weird looks."
"Well, you certainly don't have to see that," Regina said and stood up, too. "If you're going to bed, I'll take care of your cocoa."
"Thanks. Goodnight," Henry said as he hugged both Regina and Emma before he ran upstairs.
"Guess we know how to get rid of him when we want some alone time," Emma smiled as Regina headed toward the kitchen with Henry's mug.
"Really, Emma?"
Emma's smile widened.
"I didn't necessarily mean together. Get your mind out of the gutter, Regina."
Regina scoffed.
"Still a handful," Regina threw over her shoulder and disappeared into the kitchen.
"And it's always a pleasure," Emma loudly said so Regina could hear her from the kitchen.
Emma wrapped the blanket tighter around herself while Regina cleaned the mug. It didn't take the other woman long before she strolled back into the living room and took Henry's vacated spot on the couch. Emma scooted closer, still cocooned in the blanket, and laid her head on Regina's shoulder.
The movie continued to play and for a while that was all Emma and Regina focused on, but then Emma yawned and nuzzled her head into the crook of Regina's neck.
"If you're tired we can turn this off," Regina told her and absent-mindedly played with Emma's hair for the second time that night.
"Keep doing that and I'll fall asleep right here," Emma tiredly confessed, her voice a little rough and gravelly.
Regina looked down to see Emma's eyes fluttering open and shut with each stroke of her fingers through silky blonde locks. She smiled to herself then turned her attention back to the movie while she slowed her movements.
"Wait, don't stop," Emma whined.
"I think you like this a little too much," Regina stifled a little laugh.
"I still think the Mayor has a few kinks of her own so I wouldn't judge," Emma replied with a sleepy but amused smile.
Regina didn't hold her laughter back that time.
"Alright. I won't stop and we won't go anywhere, but when this movie ends or if you start snoring, we are removing ourselves from this couch immediately."
"Mhmm. Okay, Regina. We will definitely do that."
Emma's head fell from the crook of Regina's neck to the top of the brunette's chest.
"You know, the more I look at your hair the more I remember…twenty-nine year old Emma wears a lot of beanies."
"This Emma wears a lot of them too. I just didn't grab any at the apartment."
Regina hummed.
"Guess you never grew out of liking beanies."
"Guess not. Also, for the record, I don't snore."
"Noted," Regina smiled.
"What's your happiest holiday memory? Did you celebrate anything that was considered a holiday back in that fairy tale land," Emma asked.
"Maybe not a holiday, but a favorite memory at a celebration. Will that suffice?"
"Yeah," Emma nodded against her chest.
"It was one of my cousins' birthdays. She was a princess closer to the throne so she got a lavish ball," Regina started to explain. "I wasn't having the best time and some of my older, male cousin were teasing me."
"Doesn't sound much like a happy memory," Emma interrupted.
"Because I haven't finished telling you about it yet. May I continue?"
"Oh. Sorry."
"As I was saying, it wasn't a good time. So I ran outside and ran right into someone. I ran into Daniel. Things were awkward, but he was so sweet and we hardly had a chance to talk since we were both so nervous.
"After some time, he had to go and I was crushed because the only thing I knew about him was that he had blue eyes, he dreaded the ball as much as I did, and he lived on the other side of the kingdom. I was crushed because I thought I was never going to see him again and I stayed outside for a while longer.
"That's when my father found me. He wasn't much for small talk and liked the ball even less than I did. When he joined me out there, he saw the look on my face and immediately tried to comfort me. I told him about the boy and he told me about love. He said if it was meant to be that we would find each other again. He also said that true love is magic. The most powerful magic of all."
Emma's head sank lower against Regina's body as the story went on. Regina continued to play with Emma's hair and not much time passed before the blonde rested her head in Regina's lap.
"Daniel and I met again and the only thing I could think of was what my father taught me about love. It's something I've always believed in, but there were times when I thought finding someone again wasn't always a good thing. Either way, it's the one thing I've ever truly believed in and that's what makes the moment I heard it from my father my happiest memory. Though I suppose it really wasn't about the celebration."
"Well, if it wasn't for the ball you might not have met Daniel that first time before he came to work for your family," Emma slowly started to say in between a yawn. "And if it wasn't for meeting Daniel that way, your father wouldn't have had to comfort you so you might not have ever heard him tell you true love is magic. I think it counts."
"As true as that may be," Regina said with a smile as she looked down to see Emma's eyes were completely closed, "I think it's time for bed."
Regina patted Emma's upper arm and started to scoot forward on the couch. Emma reluctantly sat up and groaned, but after a moment, the two were on their feet. Regina turned off the TV then pushed Emma toward the stairs.
Emma walked at a leisurely pace and stumbled left and right on occasion due to her exhaustion she'd pushed through and ignored for at least the last twenty minutes. Regina steered her in the correct direction and prevented Emma from falling on her face on the stairs.
"Do I get a goodnight hug," Emma asked with another sleepy but still bright smile.
Regina chuckled and opened her arms. Emma walked right into them and the blonde got her hug.
"I still can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me."
"You don't have to keep thanking me, Emma."
After they separated, Regina watched Emma crawl into the guest bed and as she turned to leave, Emma spoke up again.
"R'gina?"
She turned around and looked back at the blonde as she settled herself under the blankets.
"I didn't used to believe in true love and fairy tale happy endings, but I think I'm starting to get it."
Regina smiled.
"Goodnight, Emma."
Emma smiled back.
"Goodnight, Regina."
A/N: I won't be able to get out another chapter before Christmas Day and I'm not sure if I'll be able to even post one on the 25th so I'll say it now. Happy Holidays, lovely readers! My next chapter should hopefully be posted before New Year's Eve. Thanks so much for sticking with this story and thank you for all the reviews. They really make my day.