Hallelujah, it's a Christmas miracle… I updated Lost & Found! There's a time jump between the last chapter and now because I wanted to do a Christmas chapter actually AT Christmas… so I hope you'll forgive that Emma is no longer six, and is now seven going on eight.

Also, a very special moment in this chapter was inspired by Gravity in the Air and a special gift that she gave me, so this one's for you!

Chapter Twenty One

"Gina, is it time for bed yet?" Emma asked, looking up from the Christmas card she was busy colouring on the kitchen floor as Regina worked on dinner.

"Emma, it's not even dinner time yet. Your parents are coming over, remember? You can't go to bed until it's night time because I won't have you up at three in the morning asking to open presents, understand?"

Emma rolled her eyes and let out an over-exaggerated sigh as she turned her attention back to the card she was working on. It had taken a lot of deliberation, but Regina had finally managed to convince Snow and David that they should sleep at her home on Christmas Eve so that the whole family could spend Christmas morning together. With Emma's rapid aging, she would be nineteen by the next time Christmas rolled around, and Regina didn't want to miss one moment of the only Christmas they would get with her as a child. Neither did Henry, and that had been the bargaining chip she'd used to eventually win the Charmings over.

"Where am I even gonna sleep tonight?" Emma asked as she continued to colour.

"Emma, we've been over this. Your parents are taking my room, you and Henry are sleeping in his room, and I'm going to sleep in your obnoxiously pink bedroom which I will probably be blinded by all night."

Emma grinned. She knew exactly what the sleeping arrangements were for the night, she just liked hearing Regina complain about having to sleep in her room.

"Who's that card for Little One?" Regina asked, looking at the lovely picture Emma had drawn of cats wearing sweaters and sitting around a Christmas tree.

"Kitty Softpaws," Emma said, seriously. "She's gonna miss her babies when we give them away in the new year."

"I know she will," Regina agreed. "Maybe after spending a night in the room they live in, your mother will change her mind on taking one."

Emma smiled, though she was well aware that her mother was still completely opposed to the idea of taking a kitten. Emma also now knew, after seeing her at Granny's last week, that the lady who had cut her hair the day the kittens were born didn't really want to take on the kitten that Emma had named after herself. Regina had told her, on no uncertain terms, that no kittens were staying with her, which meant that they'd all have to be given away to strangers.

And Emma didn't like that idea.

"Look how happy this kitten family is," Emma said, pointing out the cats in her drawing. "Do you know why they're happy?"

Regina glanced at the picture again, but opted not to answer, as she was well-aware she would be walking into a trap.

"No, Emma," Emma said, in her best imitation of Regina's voice, "please tell me why they are so happy? Oh, Gina, I'm glad you asked"

Regina shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Yes, please Emma, tell me why the cats are so happy."

"Because they all get to live together as one big happy cat family and no one has to go live with strangers."

Regina bit her lip. She couldn't help but think that Emma's reluctance to give the kittens away stemmed from her own past of living with strangers, and she didn't really want to get into bad memories on a night that was supposed to be fun and memorable for Emma.

"Emma, I told you we can keep them until the new year, so let's worry about the kittens in January, okay? They are still too young to leave, anyway."

Emma nodded, and Regina guessed she probably didn't want to get into bad memories either.

Either way, their conversation was cut short by the doorbell, and Emma jumped up, guessing that it was likely her parents at the door. Emma pulled the door open quickly, and grinned widely when she saw the bags of gifts her parents were hauling with them. Emma wrapped her arms around her mother, nearly knocking Snow over from the force of the hug.

"Mommy! Are these for me?" Emma asked, excitedly.

"You, and your brother, and Henry," Snow nodded, as she handed Emma some of the smaller bags to carry.

"I can't believe you guys are really gonna sleep here tonight," Emma marvelled, as she led the way to the living room where the massive tree was set up. "Gina said we can stay up and watch a movie, but I just wanna go to bed so Santa can come. He never came to any of my foster homes. I don't think he can find kids there 'cause we move so much, but Gina said he knows I'm here this year!"

Snow and David exchanged happy glances. The moment was bittersweet, as they both knew this was the only real Christmas Emma would experience with her family as a child, and Snow was suddenly so grateful they'd finally agreed to spend it at Regina's as a whole family.

"This tree looks like it should be in a magazine," David commented, as he set Neal down in his carseat. They'd dressed him up in a Santa outfit, complete with hat.

"Gina let me do this side," Emma said, proudly, as she pointed to a section of the tree that was barely visible, as it was near the wall, and quite clearly did not match the black, silver and purple colour theme that Regina had going with the rest of the ornate tree. Snow smiled, noting that Emma's section looked much more like their own tree at home, which Emma and Henry had decorated completely.

"It looks lovely, baby," Snow smiled.

"Mom wants to get a picture of all of us in front of the tree," Henry declared, as he entered the room. "Emma, she got you a new dress. It's in your room."

Emma scrunched up her nose. Dresses weren't really her 'thing' anymore. Once she'd turned seven, she insisted she didn't want to wear them anymore, despite how cute Regina and her mother constantly told her she looked in them.

"Come on, Emma," Henry grinned. "For my mom?"

"Ugh. Fine," Emma said, rolling her eyes as she took off up the stairs. Once she entered her room, she looked around and sighed. Regina was right: the walls were blinding. And she wasn't really as into pink as she had been at four or five. The thought for a moment, wondering how hard it would be to change the wall colour with her magic.

She thought hard about the spell she'd used to change costumes on Halloween. How different could this be? It took a few attempts, but finally, in a flash of white light, the walls glowed momentarily, and then settled on a nice, bright shade of yellow.

"Perfect," Emma grinned, as she turned to look at the dress Regina had laid out on the bed. "Not perfect," she sighed, as she looked at the red and white frilly thing she was expected to wear.

Reluctantly, Emma changed into the dress, and stood staring at herself in front of the mirror. She was pretty sure it looked worse on her than it had lying on the bed, but then again, she reasoned, this is what kids were supposed to deal with in life: wearing clothes they didn't like because it made them look 'cute'. Dresses, as much as Emma hated them, were infinitely better than not knowing where she would live next week, so she guessed she might as well suck it up.

Emma brushed her hair, as she assumed that would be the next thing she was told to do anyway, and trudged back down the stairs, to see her mother's eyes light up at the sight of her.

"Oh, Emma, you look so precious," Snow gushed, but Emma made no attempt to hide the disdain on her face.

"You hate it," Regina commented, raising an eyebrow at Emma.

"I look like a frilly candy cane," Emma pouted. "But I'll wear it if you want me to."

Regina sighed and waved a hand, and instantly Emma was in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt under a white and red plaid shirt. "Better?"

Emma grinned and nodded.

"I'd rather have you comfortable than miserable," Regina reasoned, as she ushered everyone in front of the tree. "Now let's get this picture before this house becomes overrun with chaos."

It took several minutes to get everyone arranged in front of the tree, facing the camera Regina had set up on a tripod. The automatic capture went off three times before they were completely, and smiling at the lens.

When the final picture was taken, Henry jumped up immediately to go check the image on the screen. "It's perfect," he grinned, looking at Emma, though Regina didn't seem to notice. Regina just looked relieved. She wanted a good family portrait for the scrapbook she'd been working on, and as Emma got older, Regina became more determined to document and preserve as many good memories for her as she could.

"Dinner time?" Emma asked, hopefully.

"Yes. Come along, everyone," Regina nodded, leading the way into the dining room, where she'd decorated the table beautifully, to complement the over-the-top dinner she'd prepared for the occasion.

And to her relief, dinner went off without a hitch. No one was fighting, or flinging silverware, or turning up their noses in disgust to food items they didn't care for. She ate in silence as she watched the scene before her, Emma and Henry joking and laughing, Snow and David beaming, and thought about just how far they'd all come in four months.

Just as always, it was Emma who brought them all together, and Regina shuddered to think what this Christmas might have been like if Emma had never returned to them. She was sure that sparkle in Henry's eyes wouldn't be shining so brightly, and she was quite certain the Charmings wouldn't have been joining her for dinner.

"Gina," Emma's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Emma," Regina said, smiling as she shook her head. "I was just thinking about how perfect everything is right now."

"Oh!" Snow cried out, as though she had just remembered something. "I almost forgot. I brought Christmas crackers!"

Emma watched in confusion as Snow passed out the silver tubes to everyone on the table.

"Pull the tabs and it pops open," Henry said, showing Emma how they worked.

Emma giggled as her cracker snapped open, revealing a small car toy and a red paper crown. She laughed out loud when Regina opened hers revealing a small plastic cat and a pink crown.

"Seriously?" Regina asked, looking pointedly at Snow.

"I swear, that was not intentional," Snow replied, unable to hold back her own laughter as Emma got up and grabbed the pink crown, putting it on Regina's head for her, just in case she thought she was going to get away with not wearing it.

After dinner, Regina got everyone gathered into the family room for hot chocolate and a Christmas movie before bed, and Emma wasted no time getting herself settled in between Regina and Snow on the couch.

By the time the movie ended, Regina could tell Emma was getting tired, and as Snow and David excused themselves to get Neal ready for bed, Regina scooped Emma up in her arms to take her upstairs.

"I can walk, Gina," Emma pointed out, even though she made no attempt to try to get down, and instead wrapped her arms around Regina's neck and laid her head on her shoulder.

"I know you can, but I'm not going to be able to carry you around much longer, so let me enjoy this, alright?"

Emma smiled and nodded. Regina put her down in front of her bedroom door and sent her in to change into her pyjamas while she went to wait for her in Henry's room. Regina sat down on her son's bed and took out the small wrapped box she'd hidden in his nightstand drawer, and held it in her hands, waiting for Emma.

Emma bounded into the room seconds later and dive bombed into the bed. Not exactly the sweet moment that Regina had been hoping for, but she really expected nothing less from Emma by this point.

"I have something for you, Emma," Regina said, holding out the box as Emma snuggled up next to her.

"But it's not Christmas yet," Emma pointed out, confused.

"I know. But this is something special that I wanted to give to you, before the chaos of Christmas morning. I want you to open it now."

Emma smiled as she took the gift from Regina, and began unwrapping it carefully, to reveal a black velvet box inside. She opened it, to find a beautiful silver feather pendant on a delicate chain.

"A feather?" Emma asked, looking up at Regina, a little confused. "Because of my last name?"

"No, that's just a coincidence," Regina said, as she took the necklace from the box and clasped it around Emma's neck. "A feather symbolizes survival, Emma, and you are a survivor. You are the bravest person I know, Emma, and you always have been. I wanted to give you this to remind you, just in case you ever forget."

Emma smiled and put her hand lightly on the pendant. "I love it. I didn't get you anything special, though."

Regina ran her fingers through Emma's hair, before pulling the girl into a hug. "You are the most special gift I ever could have asked for, Little One. You and Henry are the light of my life, and all I could ever need or want."

Regina let Emma cuddle up against her until she fell asleep, and headed back down the stairs to send Henry to bed as well. Once he was headed upstairs, and the Charmings were off to bed as well, Regina set about cleaning up from dinner and poofing all the presents she'd had hidden in the house under the tree.

She was about to head off to bed herself when she spotted the camera again and decided to check out the family portrait for herself, just to ensure that it was, indeed, perfect.

Regina smiled to herself as she scrolled through the pictures that had been taken early, of everyone scrambling to get organized, and then she groaned when she reached the actual picture. Of course, it was perfect in that everyone was in place, smiling, eyes open, and facing the camera, but what she'd failed to notice was that Emma had managed to poof Kitty Softpaws and all three kittens into her arms for the picture - sweaters included. Regina hadn't seen the cats, and she guessed Emma had poofed them back without a trace the moment the picture had been taken.

For a brief moment, Regina considered perhaps insisting on a new picture the next morning, but as she looked at Emma's beaming smile, she realized Henry was right: the picture was perfect just as it was.

And she knew tomorrow would be a frenzied chaos of wrapping paper and delighted cheers and her living room was going to look like a tornado hit it. And she was quite sure that Emma would be just like Henry had been at seven, waking her up every hour to see if it was finally time to open presents, but she was also quite sure she wouldn't want it any other way.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone :) And a safe and happy New Year :)