A/N: Thank you so much to those of you who left reviews on the last chapter! It makes me so happy that there are still people who want to read this story even though its been a few years! Thanks for your support! I hope you like the next update! Happy holidays everyone!

~ Chapter 12 ~

Emma walked beside Regina, with Henry leading the way back to the house.

"Don't worry, you won't have to freeze for much longer. We're almost there," Regina announced.

"Great," Emma said through her chattering teeth.

Regina gave her a sympathetic smile.

Henry suddenly ran ahead and turned a corner.

"Henry the door is locked remember?" Regina called after him. She looked at Emma again. "Well, here we are." She said with a smile.

Emma looked up at the house Regina was pointing too and gasped. "Wow, it's beautiful!" She gushed at the elegant white colonial that Regina owned. "How long have you– ah!" Emma cried out, never getting to finish her question. She had been looking at the house rather than the sidewalk in front of her, and her foot had connected with a mound of compacted snow. She flailed as she tried to catch herself but it was too late.

"Emma!" She heard Regina call as she fell face first into a snow bank.

After the initial shock of landing in the cold snow, Emma lifted herself up on her arms and burst out laughing.

"Emma are you alright?" Regina was suddenly over her, reaching out to help her up.

Emma just continued laughing, rolling in the snow a little more as she did.

Regina started laughing too as she lifted Emma back up. "I'm so sorry," Regina said as she brushed some snow from Emma's arms. "I didn't mean to distract you."

"No it's fine," Emma chuckled, using her fingers to get the snow out of her hair. "I guess I just wasn't snowy enough already was I?"

Regina shook her head, smiling.

Henry reappeared at their side. "What happened?" He asked, his cheeks pink from the cold.

Emma started laughing again and couldn't answer.

"She tripped and fell into the snow." Regina answered. "Come on," she said, putting her arm around Emma's shoulders. "Let's get you inside before you actually turn into an icicle."

Emma nodded, she could feel tears in her eyes, both from laughing and from mild embarrassment.

Emma was barefoot in the main hall of Regina's beautiful, classily decorated home.

"Here is a towel for you," Regina said, coming around the corner from another hallway. "I have some more upstairs; you can use my bathroom if you need to get cleaned up a bit."

Emma looked down at her wet sweater and pants. "Yeah maybe." She said, her cheeks blushed and it had nothing to do with the cold. "Thank you. I'm sorry I'm such a mess today."

"You're not a mess." Regina said softly, watching as Emma rubbed her feet dry with the towel.

"I think I'm just nervous." Emma admitted.

"Nervous?" Regina asked in surprise. "Whatever for?"

"I don't know… showing up unannounced… not knowing if you wanted to see me again… not knowing if I was being too pushy by showing up here when I'm basically a total stranger."

"Hmm," Regina nodded in agreement. "Well, don't be. You're very welcome here." She gestured to indicate that Emma should follow her up the staircase. "And I have to confess," she said, looking back at Emma as they climbed the stairs, "I'm a little nervous too."

"Yeah?" Emma asked with wide eyes.

Regina nodded again. "You came all this way to see me after knowing me for what, five hours? What if your first impression of me was wrong and I'm not the person you thought I was?"

Regina stopped once she'd made it to the second floor and waited for Emma to reach the landing too.

"You're worried because you think I might change my mind about wanting to get to know you more?" Emma asked.

Regina gave a small smile, nodding. "Like you said, we hardly even know each other."

Emma sighed, smiling in understanding. "I don't think you have anything to worry about Regina. I'm pretty good at reading people. I do like you, and I want the chance to get to know each other more."

Regina's eyes softened as she held Emma's gaze. "Okay," she said, forcing herself to move. "My room is down this hall."

Emma's heart was beating a little too quickly as she followed the brunette. They entered a large master bedroom and Regina went to a walk-in closet. "Let's find you something warm to wear." Regina said. Emma lingered at the door to the closet and watched as Regina selected a white cable knit sweater and a pair of black pants. Regina next went to a dresser and took out a pair of thick socks. "I hope these are alright," she said, handing the clothing to Emma.

"Thank you so much." Emma said, feeling the soft fabric of the sweater.

Regina led her towards the ensuite and turned on the light. "There are some fresh towels on the shelf there. Take as much time as you need. I'll be downstairs."

"Okay," Emma said appreciatively. After Regina had turned to leave and Emma had closed the door to the bathroom, she noticed a pleasant smell coming from the sweater in her hand, and she raised it to her nose. The sweater was obviously clean but traces of Regina's perfume still lingered in the fabric around the neck. Emma took a deep breath, smiling at the scent.

When Emma made her way back downstairs, she found Henry and Regina waiting for her in the living room. Emma looked around at the room for the first time and found herself beaming at how Christmassy it was. "Wow, did you guys do all of this before your trip?" She asked, making her way towards the Christmas tree where Henry was currently standing.

"Yes, the day after Thanksgiving." Regina responded from her seat on the couch, we still need to add a few finishing touches though.

"Yeah like the new ornaments we got at Disney!" Henry added, holding up an ornament that looked like a fancy pink, red and white high-heeled shoe.

"Oh this is cute, what is it?" Emma asked.

"This one's Mom's," Henry answered. "It's Mary Poppins' shoe from the Jolly Holiday scene in the movie."

"Oh cool! I love that movie but I haven't seen it in years." Emma said, smiling over at Regina.

"Mary Poppins is my mom's favourite Disney movie." Henry said.

Emma met Regina's eyes again and the brunette nodded. There was a soft look in her eyes.

"Is here okay Mom?" Henry asked, pointing to a spot on the tree.

"That's perfect Henry." Regina said. She turned to their guest. "Are you starting to warm up now Emma?"

"I am." Emma responded. "Thank you so much for letting me borrow these. I don't know what I was thinking coming up here with no winter luggage. I wasn't thinking at all."

"I'm just happy you decided to come visit us." Regina said. "I don't think we've ever had visitors over for Christmas before."

"What, never?" Emma asked, shocked.

Regina shook her head.. "It's always just been me and Henry."

Emma wanted to ask about Henry's father but thought it might be a little too intrusive. Instead Emma sat down on the couch beside Regina. "Well, thank you for letting me tag along on your Christmas, at least for today."

"How long are you planning on staying?"

"Oh… you know what, I didn't actually think about that. I don't know!"

"Well, I think you're going to be stranded here for at least a few days. The weather is getting worse overnight and is supposed to keep up throughout the week. It would be very risky to try to make it all the way to South Carolina. There are supposed to be ice storms starting tomorrow."

"Oh…" Emma's face fell. "I didn't even think about it. I'll have to book a place to stay. I saw that the diner has a bed and breakfast attached to it. Do you mind if we stop there later so I can ask about a room?"

"You should just stay here!" Henry offered in excitement.

Both women looked at hime in surprise.

"Oh no, you totally don't have to do that," Emma declined. "I feel bad enough just showing up like this already, I don't want to impose any more."

"Henry's right," Regina said. "We have the room and it would be nice to have more than two place settings at the table for once. Back on the plane you said you haven't had many traditional Christmases in your life right? Why don't we share some of ours with you? It's the least we can do after you came all this way to see us."

"Really?" Emma asked, hardly believing it.

Regina nodded kindly. "Yes. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need to."

"Are you sure it's not too much of an imposition?"

"Not at all."

Emma almost felt herself tear up. "Thank you so much, really, this is… you guys are amazing. Seriously."

Regina smiled at Emma's response, patting Emma's hand kindly.

"I'll stay until the weather lets up," Emma decided. "And then I'll go home to see my parents. Does that sound okay? That way hopefully you guys will be able to have Christmas Day to yourselves."

Emma could have sworn Regina looked a little disappointed at that, but she supposed she was probably just being hopeful.

Regina nodded and said, "that sounds absolutely perfect."

"Yes!" Henry cheered. "This week is going to be so much fun!"

A/N: Thank you so much for reading, please leave a review! xx