Regina lifted her head from the box and rose to her full height. Her back and shoulders were a little sore. Packing was hard. But right now, that was not her main concern. She looked at her son who was sitting not-so-innocently in the chair and very much not helping her pack. But that wasn't her main concern either.

No, her main concern was the clicking sound she could have sworn she'd heard a little earlier. At the time, she had not been able to place the sound, but now she was, and she was not too happy about it.

She clapped her hands lightly to get her son's attention. When he looked up, she wiggled her fingers in the air and asked him a direct question: 'did you take a picture of me earlier?'

"Yeah?" Henry said a bit confused. "I was just texting Ma, and she asked what you were doing, and…" he stopped talking and frowned a bit. Perhaps he could sense that he had done something that wasn't all that good.

Regina was not mad at him, though. But she did take the opportunity to give him a very gentle scolding. 'You should not take pictures of someone without asking them first, my little prince. I know that the picture only was for Emma, but it is still important to ask permission first, okay?'

"Okay," Henry nodded, tips of his ears reddening a bit in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, mom."

Regina abandoned the box and walked over to her son. Bent slightly and kissed his cheek. Ruffled his hair. To show that she was not mad at him. She was never mad at Henry.

"Mooo-oooom," he protested and giggled. "Stop kissing me!"

Alright, alright. She would stop kissing him. For now. She ruffled his hair one last time. Plopped down on the couch and then found her phone. Now it was time to make that picture Henry had just taken, disappear. And there was only one way to do that. 'Kindly delete that picture', she typed on her phone and sent the text off to Emma. She was well aware of how she looked in that picture Henry had taken of her when she had her entire upper body leaned over one of the many boxes that seemed to have taken over her life.

Regina didn't want to be portrayed like that. Not with her butt filling the picture. Not that there was anything wrong with her butt, but nonetheless. It wasn't flattering, and Regina didn't want that picture to exist. Emma would have to delete it. As soon as possible. And her darling son would have to refrain from taking sneaky pictures of her in the future. At least pictures where she had her butt in the air.

Regina checked herself. Was she being grumpy? Perhaps she was. At least a little bit. She supposed that she had been a bit stressed lately. There had been plenty of things to do with packing boxes, recovering, minding her job. And that damn voice therapy. Regina didn't want to think too much about that. If she did, she would only end up getting annoyed.

Her phone chimed. Regina checked the message.

'Nice to hear from you too, Mills ;D'

Not the response Regina had been after. 'Please delete the picture, Emma.'

'Awww, do I have to?'

Cute. Very cute. But….

'Yes. You do.' And quickly, preferably.

'That's not fair you know how much I like looking at your ass!'

Yes, Regina did in fact know that. Which was why she was willing to bargain.

'If that's the case, I'll gladly send you another photo myself. As long as you delete the one Henry send you.'

'Another picture, you say? ;D'

Regina smirked. She had Emma's attention now. Good. And she was indeed willing to send another picture. Not that she was all that used to send sexy pictures of herself, but she was pretty sure she could come up with something.

'And that's all I'm going to tell you if you don't delete that picture, miss Swan.' She wasn't playing fair right now, she knew that. Emma loved being called 'miss Swan'.

It didn't even take a minute before Emma texted her again.

'All gone.'

Excellent. 'Thank you.'

'Can we talk about that other picture now?'

Regina grinned a bit to herself. Couldn't resist to tease her partner just a little. 'What other picture?'

'Regina!'

Okay, okay. Three exclamation points. Emma wasn't messing around here. Regina decided to put her out of her misery. She didn't want to be cruel.

'I'm just kidding, dear. You'll get your picture. Later. When I've made dinner for myself and Henry.'

'No Zelena tonight?'

'Zelena is having dinner at Chad's place. I think they were going to discuss baby names.' And probably not agreeing on anything at all.

'Oh, I see. So. What are you and the little dude having for dinner then?'

'He requested spaghetti carbonara, and I'm too lazy to come up with anything else. I've been packing for most of the evening.' She should probably grab a shower. She had a feeling that she was dusty.

'Spaghetti carbonara sounds delicious! By the way, how did your voice therapy session go earlier? '

Urgh. If there was something Regina did not want to talk about, it was that. But she had to give some kind of answer.

'It was fine.'

She regretted it as soon as she had sent the text. It sounded cold and overly polite. But she got tense every time they talked about her voice therapy sessions. Regina still wasn't mastering the delicate art of talking. And it frustrated the hell out of her. It felt like she wasn't making any progress at all.

Which wasn't true at all. The wound on her throat was healing up nicely.

But it wasn't that kind of progress she wanted to make, damnit.

She wanted to be able to talk again.

Now.

But she couldn't.

Not yet.

And it didn't help the matter that her voice therapist was the kindest, most patient woman in the world who praised her non-existent progress. And she was also a woman who loved spouting encouraging sayings such as:sooner or later, your voice will come back to you, Regina. And when it does, it'll happen completely natural.

Regina sighed frustrated. She hated that she still couldn't talk without stuttering. On her most paranoid days, she feared that the stutter was permanent. Even though her voice therapist had assured her that it was not. The reassurance wasn't enough. Nor was optimistic sayings and encouragements. Regina needed to see results. Something that wasn't weak stuttering.

'Okay. I'm happy to hear that 😊'

Regina felt guilty now. She shouldn't have brushed Emma off like that. She didn't want to come across as snappy or closed off. That wasn't how they were with each other. They communicated. Openly. Whether they were frustrated or not.

'That soreness I feel in the middle of my throat whenever I speak, or try to, is almost gone now.', she wrote and sent the text off to Emma. She hoped that some information could make up for her short answer. Emma was asking because she was interested. It wasn't right of Regina to give such short answers.

'Seriously? That's amazing, beautiful!'

'Yes, I suppose it is.'

Damnit. Now she was coming across as snappy again. Snappy and impatient. She didn't want to be that. It was time to change the subject. Talk about something nice. 'I was thinking of bringing a couple more boxes over to your place this Saturday, if that's okay?'

'Duh. You don't have to ask. You're always welcome in your own home.'

That made Regina smile. She did so love it when Emma used the word 'duh'. And writing things such as 'your own home'. It made Regina feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Happy. Their future was getting closer and closer every single day.

'Henry will most likely be accompanying me.'

'Terrific! You guys will stay for dinner then. I'll make tuna and mashed potatoes. Nice and easy for your throat.'

Regina tilted her head and wished that Emma was here so she could kiss her.

'That's very considerate of you, my love.'

'No, it's not. It's a simple fact. Of course we're eating things that are easy to swallow while your throat is still healing.'

As always, Emma was as good as gold. 'You're so sweet. I wish I could stop by right now.' She definitely would have if it hadn't been for the other responsibilities she had.

'I wish that too '

'As I wish there were other things we could do as well.' Just thinking about those 'other things' made Regina feel a little flushed. But not embarrassed. There was nothing embarrassing about missing sex.

'Only three more weeks now, babe!'

'Right. "Only".' Regina rolled her eyes. three weeks. That was how long they had to abstain from sex. And it had been the three longest weeks in Regina's life. The last three weeks were stretching out endlessly in front of her.

'It's not that long, sweetheart.'

Regina had to politely disagree with that statement. 'Yes, it is. And especially when you have dreams like mine.'

'You had another one last night? You didn't tell me that when we said good morning! :O'

'I'm well aware. I feel like such a stupid teenager every time it happens.' Seriously, she was worse than a sixteen year old boy.

'There's nothing stupid about it, Regina. Our sex life is pretty damn awesome. Of course you dream about it and miss it '

She did more than miss it. Emma was right, their sex life was 'pretty damn awesome'. And she had gotten so comfortable with touching and being touched. It was almost sadistic that she wasn't allowed to touch or be touched for three more weeks. 'Urgh.', she texted. Plain and simple and straight to the point.

'Isn't that usually my line?'

Well…. 'Perhaps. But there's nothing wrong with a bit of role reversal now and then, is there?'

'Role reversal? That sounds pretty kinky, Mills '

Regina closed her eyes for a second. It did. Emma was entirely correct about that. But it really hadn't been her intention to write a 'kinky' comment. 'Stop it.'

'You started it, babe :D'

Well. At least Emma hadn't written 'make me'. That would have made things even harder for Regina. 'Which was a mistake on my part.' But now she was starting to feel hot and bothered. And her next text reflected that. 'Honestly, I don't quite understand why we have to wait three more weeks. My throat is fine. It barely hurts anymore.' Not that she was begging or anything. She was merely stating a fact.

Unfortunately though, Emma didn't take the bait. 'The keyword is "barely". How do you think it would feel after a night of moaning?'

A night of moaning. Regina swallowed thickly. 'It would be fine.' It would be more than fine! It would be absolutely amazing! Her throat would be the last thing she was thinking about…

'I'm sorry babe, but we both know that isn't completely true. I don't wanna hurt you.'

She sighed gravely. No. Of course not. Always so sweet and considerate. So chivalrous. 'You're making it ever so difficult for me to be annoyed with you.' Another simple fact.

'It's okay if you're annoyed, babe. I love how enthusiastic you are!'

That made Regina smile as she gently reminded: 'All thanks to you. You gave me that enthusiasm back, Emma.'

'I just helped things along '

Entirely untrue. Emma shouldn't be so modest. Not about this. 'No, you didn't. You made me think that being touched is something good. Don't sell yourself short.'

'I love you too '

Regina may have melted a little bit. Perhaps swooned even. And clearly visibly too.

"You look dopey," Henry said from the chair and grinned shamelessly.

Regina narrowed her eyes and pretended to scold him as she wagged a finger at him. Henry didn't seem very chastised, though. He just sniggered at her, the cheeky boy.

She abandoned trying to teach her son some good manners and returned to the conversation with Emma instead.

'I think our boy has a radar for when you say you love me. He just told me I look dopey.'

'Is it possible that you do? ;P'

The nerve of the cheek! Regina clicked her tongue in dismay. 'Careful, young lady.'

The reply came immediately. 'Young lady, huh?'

Regina stared at the message for a moment before she realized that she had in fact just written that. Oops. 'I don't know why I wrote that.'

'It was hot.'

Regina wasn't sosure she agreed with that. 'Stop it.'

'What, it was!'

She was not about to delve further into that subject. Not now. 'I have to make dinner for Henry.'

'Look at you changing the subject '

True. But she obviously wasn't going to admit that. 'I'm not changing the subject. I have to make dinner for him.'

'I should go and get something to eat too.'

Regina frowned slightly at that. 'You haven't had dinner yet?'

'Nope, been too busy writing '

Well. Writing was never a bad thing, of course, but nonetheless… 'In that case you should go and eat something. Fast.'

'Are you displeased with me now, honeybun?'

Okay. That was a new one. 'Honeybun?' Regina wrote. Just to make sure she had understood things correctly.

'Yep. Honeybun. That's what you are. A honeybun. As sweet as can be.'

Regina wasn't entirely convinced. 'I can't determine whether that's sweet or silly.'

'Let's go with sweet, yeah? ;D'

Okay, okay. Regina was convinced. 'Alright then. Sweet it is. Now go and get something to eat.'

'I'd rather eat you.'

Regina gave a cough so loud, it made Henry look up from his book. "Mom? Are you alright?"

She quickly nodded and flashed him a reassuring smile. Then she stared at the text to make sure she had understood that correctly. She was pretty sure she had, though. Honestly, this wasn't the kind of text that could be misunderstood.

'Emma Swan!' that was two more exclamation points than she normally would have used, but honest to god, Emma had just sexted her pretty much out of nowhere. She was aloud to express her shock somehow, right?

'WITH you! I'd rather eat WITH you! That was what I meant to write! I swear to god!'

Regina narrowed her eyes and felt rather suspicious. That was one hell of a slip. 'And you expect me to believe that?!'

'It's the truth! I wasn't even trying to be funny. I honestly wasn't!'

Funny? Regina wasn't so sure she would categorize Emma's little slip as 'funny'. She would describe is as 'distracting'. Very distracting. Because now her head was full of thoughts. Damnit. To say that she was disgruntled would be an understatement.

'Well thanks to you I have to take a cold shower before cooking dinner. I hope you're satisfied now!'

'Sorry?'

Regina scoffed. She very much doubted that. 'No you're not. And now you get to imagine me taking my clothes off and taking a shower. How's that?'

'An extremely cruel revenge! But kinda awesome too. Now I can totally see you taking off your clothes...'

Regina rolled her eyes. 'Get some food, Emma.'

'Okay. I will. Have fun in the shower. But not too much :P'

'You're awful.' Wonderfully awful.

'And that's one of the many reasons you love and adore me, right?'

'Indeed so, my love. Indeed so.' Like she ever would deny that.

'Catch you later, Mills!'

'Yes, my darling. I expect that you will.'

With her conversation with Emma concluded, Regina put her phone away and stood from the couch. She got Henry's attention by waving slightly, and once he looked up from his very important book, Regina signed to him that she would just grab a quick shower before making dinner.

"Okay," Henry said with a shrug.

'Have you written in your journal today?' Regina inquired. Henry's journal was not an ordinary journal. It was one he had given by his therapist. To write down whatever he felt like writing. Feelings. Thoughts. Anything. Regina never asked him what he wrote in it. That was between him and his therapist, but occasionally, she liked to ask if he had remembered to write in it. Just to make sure.

"Yes, mom," Henry said and flashed her a smile.

Regina gave him a thumbs-up, ruffled his hair and then went up the stairs to take that shower.

It only partially had to do with Emma's casual 'slip'. She felt a little dusty after having spend most of the afternoon in boxes. Moving was hard. And moving books was even harder. Normally, she didn't regret owning so many books, but today her feelings towards her many books wasn't so fond. Carrying the boxes to the car was going to be a nightmare. She doubted that her recent weight-lifting would be of much help in the matter.

In the bathroom, Regina quickly shed her clothes and stepped into the shower. The spray of warm water soothed the muscles in her shoulders which had started to ache the littlest bit after lifting and stacking the books into the boxes. And she wasn't even halfway there yet. Regina groaned quietly. Why did moving have to be such hard work? Of course she had Henry, and he was very good at helping her, but she had firmly told Zelena no when she had offered to help. No way Regina would allow her sister to lift anything when she was pregnant. Absolutely not.

Regina quickly washed her hair, but dawdled a bit when it came to soaping her body. Meaning that she lingered under the spray of warm water when she actually was supposed to rinse her body. She'd had quite the busy day.

After a moment, she concluded her shower, though. Now she really had to make dinner for her son…

The next afternoon, Regina was sitting and taking a break from moving boxes from the house to the car when a rather delightful picture of Emma arrived. Clearly not taken by herself. Regina recognized the number. It belonged to Ruby's Wolf. Oh yes. Emma had mentioned that she was coming over to help her move a bed out of the guest bedroom. She briefly wondered if Emma had been aware that the picture was taken. It didn't look like it.

In the picture, she was sitting next to a rather big looking bed. She looked a bit crestfallen, Regina would be the first to admit that, but it was Emma's clothes that caught Regina's attention first. Emma was wearing yoga pants and a sports-bra. And her skin appeared to be sort of… Glistening. Dear god, Regina was not at all ready for this!

Still, she managed to comment on Emma's picture in a rather cheeky way. 'Is that what you normally wear when you move stuff?' she texted with a smirk on her face. 'Because I have so many boxes that needs moving...'

The reply came quickly. 'So you liked the picture Ruby just sent to you without my permission?'

'Liked' was a bit of an understatement. 'Very much so. It's really not fair of you to temp a woman who's not allowed to have sex.' Emma was wearing a sports bra, for heaven's sake! How was Regina supposed to not get affected by that?

'Not long now, babe. Soon you'll be able to have your wicked way with me '

One of Regina's eyebrows went up as she thought long and hard about that statement. She was gonna enjoy having her wicked way with Emma. 'I can hardly wait!'

'Neither can I! I would loooove to talk more about the details , but Ruby is telling me to stop texting my 'sweetheart' and help her dismember the bed, so…'

'That sounds quite serious. I didn't know you knew how to 'dismember' a bed.'

'Well, I'm no expert, but I know how to manage a screwdriver. And a hammer. And a drill. Maybe I should find my toolbelt.'

'You have a toolbelt?'

'I do actually. I'm quite the DIY woman '

'Oh.' Why was it entirely too easy for Regina to imagine Emma wearing a toolbelt? Along with that damned sports bra. Good god…

'What's 'oh'?'

'Nothing. I might just find the idea of you wearing a toolbelt interesting.'

'Oooooh… Should I wear the next time we see each other? 😉'

It was tempting to text 'yes', but Regina caught herself and instead texted: 'you shouldn't keep Ruby waiting, my dear. Have fun dismembering the bed.'

'Have fun picturing me wearing that toolbelt. Maybe I'll send you a picture…'

'That would be appreciated.'

With the conversation concluded (for now!) Regina put the phone down on the coffee table and looked at all the many boxes that had started to line up on the floor. Most of them contained books. She was supposed to carry those outside and into the car. But she didn't want to. At least not right now. She glanced at the remote control. It was right there. What if she watched an hour of television and then resumed the packing? She bargained with herself. One hour wasn't a lot. She was allowed to relax for one hour.

A half-loud groan made its way into the living room, and a second later, Zelena came stomping. She looked pretty worn out and not at all like she had enjoyed the nap she had just taken.

"Why is it that it's called 'morning sickness' when it lasts all day?" She complained, putting her hands on her hips.

Regina made a sympathetic face. She vividly remembered how sick she had felt when she was pregnant with Henry.

"I'm only ten weeks along, and I'm already bloody exhausted!" Zelena grumbled and sat down heavily next to Regina on the couch. She tipped her head back and took deep, slow breaths through her nose.

'Would you like me to make you some tea?' Regina offered. Tea with peppermint was very good when experiencing nausea.

"That sounds nice," Zelena replied. "But I can make my own tea."

Regina brushed that aside and stood from the couch. Headed into the kitchen where she filled the kettle with water and waited for it to boil. She was well aware that Zelena could make her own tea, but she didn't want Zelena to do so. She liked the idea of taking care of her sister like Zelena had taken care of her. Being pregnant was hard work. Zelena was very tired. Regina remembered that too. The first trimester. The waves of exhaustion had washed over her, and she had barely been able to do anything but sleep. It had been quite ridiculous, really.

"I see that the packing is coming along nicely," Zelena said from the living room.

Regina knocked lightly on the countertop to make Zelena know that she was listening.

"You and Henry were going to Emma's on… Saturday, right?"

Regina knocked twice on the countertop again. That was entirely correct.

"That's nice. Are you sure you don't want me to carry some of those boxes to the car?"

Regina firmly tapped her fist against the counter once. Absolutely not. She could carry her own boxes, thank you very much.

"You're very stubborn," Zelena commented. "Do you know that?"

Regina grinned a bit to herself. She happened to be quite proud of her stubbornness..

On Saturday afternoon, Regina arrived at Emma's- no, their place- as planned. Henry was by her side and very excited to see his Ma again. It had been arranged that they were going to stay the night in Steveston. Henry was going to sleep in guest bedroom on an air mattress, and for whatever reason, he was very excited about that. Regina couldn't quite figure out whether it was the prospect of sleeping on an air mattress or if it was because he was going to sleep in his future room, he was excited, but either way, she was glad that he was excited. So was she, of course. She had as usually missed Emma like crazy. It was a good thing that they were moving in together very soon, because Regina wasn't sure she would be able to take this for much longer.

She parked the car and began to fumble with the seatbelt. It wasn't exactly collaborating with her, and while she pressed the buckle repeatedly, Henry was much quicker. As easy as one-two-three, he had unbuckled his seatbelt and was rushing out of the car. Straight towards Emma who had come out on the porch. Regina smiled as she watched their son hug his Ma tightly whilst saying something. He was talking too fast for Regina to be able to decipher exactly what he was saying, but she could tell that he was happy. And Emma was laughing. Regina felt all warm and fuzzy inside. She did so love seeing Emma interact with their son. There was nothing better.

She finally managed to get the seatbelt to do her bidding and unbuckled it. Exited the car. For now, she left the hello's to Henry and opened the trunk of the car. All the boxes full of books stared back at her. Carrying those into the car had been quite tough. She and Henry had agreed that they shouldn't move more often. He had been very sweet in helping her carry the boxes.

Footsteps approaching had her turning around. There she was, her Emma. Regina flashed her a smile and brushed a hand over the blue fur collar on her coat. She felt her cheeks getting warmer. Just looking at Emma was making her feel all fluttery inside.

"Hello, gorgeous," Emma drawled with a rather phenomenal imitation of a southern accent. "Need some help with those boxes?"

Yes, she definitely needed help with the boxes. Regina nodded.

"But first a hello, eh?" Emma's southern façade crumbled when she laughed. Then leaned in and kissed Regina once. "Hi."

Hi indeed. Regina reached up so she could cup Emma's cheeks. Her skin felt warm to the touch as usually. Perpetually warm Emma. Regina rested her forehead against Emma's. But only for a moment. Henry was here after all. And they were in the middle of the street. There was no reason to give anyone a show. Whether anyone was strangers or their son.

"No, stay!" Emma immediately protested. "You smell fantastic!"

Regina smiled and kissed her forehead gently. It hadn't even been two minutes, but Emma had already given her a compliment.

"I've literally missed you so much," Emma nearly groaned. "You have no idea."

Not true. Regina had a very good idea about how much Emma had missed her.

"The fish is in the oven, and I've bought plenty of ice cream," Emma said with a smile. "And the air mattress is ready and pumped for Henry."

Perfect. Regina smiled at her girlfriend. Then pointed lightly to the trunk of the car and back to Emma. A silent 'help me?'.

"At your service," Emma said, and there was definitely a bounce in her steps as she walked over to the car and grabbed one of the boxes. Her 'tough' façade swiftly crumbled when she lifted the box out of the car and went: "Jesus Christ!" as her arms trembled under the weight.

Shoot. Those boxes were definitely overpacked. Regina winced in apology. She should have packed less and been smarter about the whole packing thing.

"I love a bookish woman," Emma laughingly assured her and then turned her head, calling out to Henry: "come and help us, kid!"

Henry made a whole point of groaning dramatically as he trotted over to them. Bearing in mind that he already had helped her without complaining, Regina provided him with the lightest and smallest of boxes. Then she grabbed one herself. One of the heavier boxes.

"I dislike it when you carry heavy stuff," Emma informed her as the three of them proceeded to walk up the little porch steps.

Regina scoffed. She was fine. She could handle it.

"I dislike when I carry heavy stuff," Henry said and groaned when he sat the box down on the porch.

"You sound like an old man," Emma teased him.

Henry immediately rewarded her with a slight shove in the ribs.

"Ouch! Regina, your son just shoved me!" Emma feigned hurt and gasped dramatically.

Yes, he sure did. Regina grinned. What a pair they were.

"You're the one who called me an old man!" Henry pointed out and scrunched his nose at her.

"No, I said that you SOUNDED like an old man. That's completely diff- ouch!"

Henry had just thumped her a second time.

While they were busy being a comedic/dramatic duo, Regina turned around to head back to the car so she could grab more boxes. It didn't take long before she was followed by Emma and Henry. Who were still busy discussing whether Henry had sounded like an old man or not. A very interesting discussion indeed.

Eight times. That was the number of times they walked back and forward to the car to collect all the boxes. When they were done, all the boxes stood lined up on the porch, and Emma was the one to groan. She wiped her brow and sounded a bit breathless when she said: "great. Now we just have to get them inside real quickly."

"Real quickly..." Henry echoed and looked utterly skeptical.

Honestly, Regina wasn't so sweet on the idea either. Her arms were hurting and her back felt sticky under the coat.

"If we help each other it won't take that long," Emma said, ever the optimistic one. "I think we can be pretty swift..."

"As the coursing river?"

Regina shook her head and tried to hold back a rumble. Henry's humor became a little extra dry when he was tired.

"Where do you get your sarcasm from?" Emma inquired and appeared to be biting back a groan as she lifted one of the boxes.

"From mom."

"I don't doubt that for a minute, kid."

Rude. If she hadn't had her hands full of boxes, Regina definitely would have given them a scolding.

Emma's predictions turned out to be correct. It really didn't take long to carry the boxes inside. All three of them were both quick and effective in bringing the boxes inside the living room.

"Should we start putting them on the shelves, then?" Emma asked briskly whilst nodding to the brand-new bookshelves she had bought.

"Noooo," Henry groaned. "Ma!"

"Okay, okay," Emma said, holding her hands up in a surrendering gesture. "We'll save it for another day."

"Thank you!" Henry half-moaned as he stomped back to the hallway to take off his coat and shoes.

Regina was grateful that she had cleaned Henry's shoes yesterday. Otherwise he would have stained Emma's carpet.

"Can I take your coat, love?" Emma asked her, ever the gallant girlfriend.

Regina rewarded the sweet and silly little sentiment with a slight eyeroll. Then she unbuttoned her coat and revealed the grey belted dress she was wearing underneath.

"You look awesome."

Regina shrugged lightly and brushed a hand over her bandaged throat. The dress was nothing special.

"Don't give me that crap," Emma laughed. "You look fantastic!"

Heat warmed Regina's cheeks. Another compliment. For whatever reason, she was very susceptible to Emma's compliments on this particular afternoon. Feeling a bit silly, did a little mock spin.

Emma draped her coat over the back of the couch. Then she wrapped her arms around her. "Hi."

Oh. Regina smirked. Hi there.

"You really do look awesome," Emma told her and squeezed her hips slightly.

Henry was in the hallway still. There was no one to protest if they… Regina leaned in and pecked Emma's lips softly. She would have loved to give Emma more than just pecks, but footsteps revealed that Henry was on his way back. They pulled away from each other just in time. Two seconds later, he came trotting back inside the living room.

"I think my back is broken because I've carried so many boxes!" He dramatically announced, throwing his hands in the air.

"Sorry to hear that, kid," Emma, scolding her features into a sympathetic grimace, but nevertheless ending up chuckling. "Do you think a bit of ice cream can cure it?"

"No," Henry said gravely. "I'm gonna need a lot. At least two full bowls."

Uhm, absolutely not. Regina lifted an eyebrow. She loved her son, but there was no way she ever would allow him to consume two full bowls of ice cream. No, sir.

"Half Baked solves everything," Emma said firmly. Then she grabbed Regina's coat and brought it into the hallway.

While she was gone, Regina made herself at home and sat down on the couch. Henry plopped down next to her. Clearly, his back was no longer broken. What a miracle.

"I love this place," he said as he looked around in what soon would be their living room. "I can't wait to move here."

'Me neither', Regina signed and ruffled her son's hair. This was going to be wonderful. A bright new future for the three of them. They were going to live as the family they already were. The family they had been for such a long time. Now they were making it official by moving in together. They were going to have so much fun together. And how amazing it would be to be able to kiss Emma goodnight and wake up to her slow, lazy smiles every single morning. Breakfast together. Lunch. Dinner. Cuddling on the couch before bedtime. A completely normal family. That was what Regina wanted. To be part of a completely normal family who did completely normal things. And now she was about to have just that. A completely normal family with Emma and Henry.

She glanced around in the living room and secretly wished that she and Henry could move in today. To hell with the rest of the boxes. Never mind those. She just wanted to stay here…

The dinner was of course lovely. The tuna was cooked perfectly and practically melted on the tongue, and the mashed potato was creamy and light. Regina spend ages on praising dinner. She did not stop until Emma's cheeks and the tips of her ears were quite pink. Which was a rather adorable look indeed.

Henry made it clear that he would have loved to have ice cream immediately after dinner, but he had eaten three solid portions of food, so Regina and Emma decided to wait a few hours.

They went back to the living room where Henry coaxed them into playing Ludo. On the floor. In front of the fireplace. He thought that was nicer, and neither Regina nor Emma saw any reason to argue with that. The floor it was.

"Seriously?!" Emma complained when Henry effectively send her back to the start for what Regina calculated was the third time.

"Yup," Henry grinned.

Emma groaned and looked at her. Perhaps she was trying to get some sympathy, but Regina was much too busy rolling the dice to give her any. And she was also slightly stunned at how much of a ruthless ludo player Henry was.

The dice rolled and landed on a very lucky number. Regina was able to bring yet another token home.

"God damnit, you're winning again!"

Of course she was. She too was a ruthless ludo player. She waggled her eyebrows teasingly at Emma and was sure she saw Emma's gaze become unfocused for just a moment. Oh, right. Emma had a 'thing' for waggling eyebrows. Regina had forgotten that for a moment. But what a joy it was to remember it again.

Emma was fairly ruthless too. Regina watched in amusement as she send Henry's token back to the start.

"Mom, Emma's cheating!" Henry immediately claimed.

"I am not!" Emma was quick to retort.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are t-"

'If this continues for much longer, I am going to walk out,' Regina nonchalantly threatened.

"Okay, okay," Emma surrendered. "We're done. Right, kid?"

"Right, Ma. Let's continue the game!"

And so they did. But not for much longer. Regina won. She triumphed quite a lot and felt quite satisfied with her victory. Clearly, she was the game master (mistress?) of this family.

Emma was fairly dismayed, though. "Did you play Ludo with Malena too?"

Regina shook her head in negative. Malena loved playing poker, but she wasn't much of a boardgame girl.

"Why the hell are you always winning whenever we're playing?" Emma asked exasperated. "It's not fair!"

"She's cheating," Henry said firmly. "Right, Ma?"

"Oh, definitely," Emma nodded and smirked teasingly.

What a bunch of sore losers. Regina rolled her eyes and scolded: 'you're ganging up on me. That's not fair.'

"Aww," Emma cooed. "Let me make it up to you then..."

Regina's lips were pecked gently, and she thought to herself that Emma was very good at 'making up'.

"Eww," Henry said softly, but anyone could hear that he wasn't being genuine.

Emma was quick to pull pack. There would be no lengthy kisses while Henry was present. They were at least that subtle.

"How about some coffee?" Emma suggested.

"And ice cream!" Henry quickly added.

"And ice cream," Emma agreed and smiled. Then tossed Henry a wink.

'Coffee and ice cream sounds great.', Regina signed and was suddenly reminded of that time they had kissed each other so long the ice cream had melted. That had been a glorious evening indeed. Of course this was too. The ice cream would just be less melted.

"In that case, I shall go and make some coffee and find the ice cream," Emma announced as she swiftly rose from the floor.

"Do you want some help?" Henry offered, beating Regina to it. She had just been about to ask Emma the same.

"No thanks, kid. I got it." With that, Emma disappeared into the kitchen. Regina heard her rummage around and open the freezer to find the ice cream. She smiled because Emma was humming softly to herself. Regina wondered if Emma even was aware of it. Maybe it was a subconscious little gesture. Regina liked the thought of that.

A soft little click revealed that Emma had switched on the coffee machine. Regina was looking forward to getting some coffee. She was getting thirsty. And for some mysterious reason, Emma's coffee was just better than her own.

But perhaps that had something to do with company rather than the coffee.

Emma was still humming to herself, and Regina thoroughly enjoyed the sound. She did not recognize the song. Perhaps it was an interpretation of one of those rock songs Emma loved. Regina wasn't that big on rock music, but for Emma's sake, she could make an exception.

A particular floorboard creaked, and then Emma came back inside the living room. "The coffee is being- argh, shit!"

Regina couldn't have warned her. It happened entirely too fast. Emma's toe (or so it seemed) snagged on the corner of one of the boxes, and down she went with her arms flailing and letting out this uncharacteristic little 'eep' sound. She landed rather hard on her behind with a thud. It was… something of a sight.

"Ow!" Emma grumbled and stared at the box that had caused her fall.

Henry giggled softly, and Regina tossed him a rare stern look. This was really not the time to laugh. Now she was the one flailing her hands as she rapidly signed: 'are you alright?'

"I'm fine," Emma said but winced slightly. "Just wounded pride."

Henry let out a 'huuahhh' sound that told the tale of how hard he was trying not to laugh.

Regina glared at him again. Tried to silently communicate that he shouldn't laugh now. Emma had just fallen, for Christ's sake!

But Emma didn't seem very concerned with manners. Or lack of them. "Go ahead and laugh it up, kid," she said. "I'm sure I looked funny."

"You did look funny," Henry croaked. His gaze flickered and his shoulders shook with bottled up amusement. Then, with Emma's blessing (however dubious it was), he crumbled and exploded in fits of laughter as he threw his head back as he stuttered out: "y-you looked so f-funny!" then he exploded a second time. His laughter filled the living room, and he pressed a hand to his stomach.

Emma joined in the laughter as she stood from the floor and rubbed her right buttock a little.

Regina wasn't normally one for laughing when someone fell over. Usually, her first impulse was to come to the person's aid, but tonight something was different. She wasn't quite sure whether it was the way Emma was rubbing her buttock or the way she had stared at the box she had tripped over, but either way she felt her mouth twitch more and more. She of course did try to fight it. She was politer than this. Or so she thought.

"Go ahead and laugh, beautiful," Emma chuckled. "I promise you, I won't get offended if you do."

Emma's permission became her undoing. Regina abandoned all attempts at being polite and let out a loud rumble. The amusement seemed to come from her chest, and there was no way of holding it back. It bubbled in her chest and trickled out of her mouth. The way Emma had flailed her arms and then looked offended at the box kept popping up in her mind, and it felt like she wasn't ever gonna stop laughing. She was being loud, she knew that, but she knew that no one present in this room minded it.

And the laughter just kept coming. It bubbled and bloomed and suddenly…

It was like hearing a sound from the past.

It felt like a trick.

An illusion.

But it wasn't.

It was her. The sound following her usual rumble was her laughter. Her old laughter. Her real laughter.

Sound.

Rich and husky.

Real.

Thud. Emma had dropped a book on the floor and was now looking at her. Her green eyes were as wide as saucers. "Was that...?"

Regina's hand flew to her chest and her jaw dropped. Was this truly real? Had she just-

"Mom, you laughed!" Henry exclaimed and looked at her equally wide eyed.

Yes, it… It would appear so. Regina nodded, utterly stunned. It wasn't a trick or an illusion or something she had imagined. Emma and Henry had heard it too.

"Can you do it again?" Emma's voice was all eagerness and there was a spring in her steps as she walked over to her and sat down.

Could she? Regina bit her lip, now insecure. What if she couldn't? What if it just had been a one time thing?

"Just imagine Ma falling on her as- behind," Henry said quickly, frantically correcting himself.

The memory of Emma falling with her arms flailing and making that little odd 'eep' sound, popped up in Regina's mind again. Her lips twitched and she rumbled in amusement. But her amusement was no longer silent. A sound followed the rumble. The same, deep rich chuckle. Her laughter. A sound that once had been the easiest thing in the world to make. A sound she had taken for granted. A sound she had mourned the loss of when she no longer was capable of making it. Now it came to her effortlessly.

"Holy shit!" Emma yelled and grasped Regina's hand tightly. "Babe, you're laughing!"

Yes. Yes. She was. Regina managed a nod and cupped a hand over her mouth. She felt hot tears sting in her eyes, and Emma's arms immediately wrapped around her. Pulled her closer. Held her tight.

"That... was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard!" Emma murmured, nose burying in her hair. "Your laughter is beautiful! So, so beautiful!" she squeezed her gently. Then pulled back and carefully pried her hand away from her mouth. Kissed her over and over again. Cupped her cheeks tenderly. "Those voice sessions are working, babe. I know how impatient you are but look what just happened! You laughed! If that isn't progress, I don't know what is!"

Regina nodded. Progress indeed. In the most literal of ways. Goodness. She sniffled and tried to fight back the tears.

"It's totally okay to cry about this," Emma said gently. "I mean... you laughed!"

Laughed. What a beautiful, beautiful word!

"I'm telling Zelena!" Henry nearly screeched, hand trembling slightly as he wrestled his phone out of his pocket. He was being so quick, Regina barely saw him bringing the phone up to his ear before he spoke into it, nearly yelling as he announced: "mom just laughed!"

'Are you serious?!' Regina heard her sister shout in the other end. 'How?! I want to know everything, Henry! Tell me exactly what happened!'

"Just now!" Henry replied, voice tight with excitement and emotions. "Ma fell, and mom tried not to find it funny, but then she did anyway, and then she... l-laughed."

When hearing his voice break like that, Regina immediately moved closer so she could wrap an arm around her son. She could understand why Henry was emotional. This was so utterly unexpected, and Regina still struggled with comprehending what had just happened. Like she was struggling to comprehend what was going to happen. I am going to speak again, she thought to herself and felt fluttering excitement low in her stomach. Eventually, I am going to speak again. It is actually going to happen. The operation worked. I will get my voice back.

Emma had shuffled closer to her and had wrapped an arm around her. "I love you. And I love your laugh."

Regina smiled and had a feeling that her smile reflected how utterly disbelieving she felt right now.

Next to them, Henry had concluded his quick conversation with Zelena. "Aunt Z says she loves you and she really hopes you can do it again when she sees you," he said as he put the phone away and took her hand.

Regina hoped that too. But she was optimistic that she could. This was not just a one time thing. This was her making progress. Once again, her voice therapist's words echoed in her mind: 'sooner or later, your voice will come back to you, Regina. And when it does, it'll happen completely natural.'

How true that had turned out to be. Now Regina couldn't wait for her next lesson. She couldn't wait to work twice as hard, because now she was completely sure of the outcome. She was going to speak again…

To Be Continued…