For Day Four of Swanfire Week: True Love or A movie of your choice. (Decided to go with a TV show instead…)
The opening bit is an edited version of Desi Arnez's lyrics for "I Love Lucy".
I love Emma and she loves me
We're as happy as two can be
Sometimes we quarrel but then
How we love making up again
Emma kisses like no one can
She's my misses and I'm her man
And life is heaven you see
Cause I Love Emma
And she loves me
"Honey, I'm home!"
The melodic sound of her husband's voice brings a smile to Emma's face. She pulls the roast chicken out of the oven and sets it onto the countertop. Once wiping her hands on the apron on her skirt, Emma grabs hold of the pre-poured Scotch and carries it into the entry way. A slick suit with a perfectly adjusted tie and his curls slicked back.
"Welcome home, darling," Emma purrs, pecking his cheek and handing him the drink. "Hard day at the office?"
"No, in fact I nailed that Jones account."
"Well, I'll be! That's the bees knees," she gushes, pulling him in for a quick hug.
Neal settles his briefcase onto the floor and rises his nose to the air. "Something smells good."
"I made your favorite. Pot roast with a side of potatoes and carrots sweetened with butter."
"You're too good to me, honey."
Emma shakes her head, her neatly pinned curls shaking in the process. "Nothing'll ever be enough for you, darling."
Boston, Massachusetts (April 5th, 1991)
Emma lays on her stomach on the plush carpeting, her legs crossed in the air behind her. On the television in front of her, Ricky comes through the door, echoing to Lucy to join him in the den. She drops everything she's doing to rush right for him. Not long after that, their son follows behind. Ricky scoops him up and gives them each a kiss, not on the lips of course. Emma's wide eyes remained locked on the scene in front of her. Everyone is so happy. Any drinks are one and done. There's laughter. Little Ricky gets to actually live with his parents.
In the background, a door slams into the frame. Emma doesn't bother to look up.
"John!" The shriek yell sounds out across the tiny ranch style. "Why the hell is the kid still awake?"
Emma doesn't tell her foster mother that John passed out around 3 hours ago after inhaling an entire case of beer. His large back encases the remote, stuck on a channel that only plays older shows, the kind that aren't even in color. Before, Emma thought those were boring. After three hours of I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show, she's enthralled. Any problem they have isn't that big and they're solved in 30 minutes. The parents are kind to their children and show such patience and dedication.
"Up next, back-to-back episodes of The Brady Bunch!" The voice actor for the commercial enthusiastically boasts.
This one is in color. Two families becoming one. Despite the boys not belonging to Carol, they call her "mom". The girls refer to Mike as "dad". They squabble and roll their eyes, but there's so much love there.
The TV slowly swirls to black, dragging Emma back to reality. Her head snaps up to look at her foster mother. She doesn't even speak, just points a bony finger in the direction of the guest room. Emma sighs and uncrosses her legs, rising to her feet and walking back there. She doesn't bother changing into her pajamas, less laundry for her to do the next day. Instead, she slides beneath the sheets and shuts her eyes, willing herself to dream of the Ricardos, Pietres and Bradys. A world where the moms make dinner, the dads play catch in the yard and the children go to bed before 1 in the morning. A place where people care and parents don't abandon you. Even I Dream of Genie shows maybe, just maybe, there's a bit of magic in the world.
"Father!" Henry's voice brings the show back to life. He runs through the house, mud encrusted on his pants. Applause rings out in the ether.
"Whoa there, sport," Neal says holding out a hand. "Shouldn't you be studying?"
"I already did my homework. I decided to take my bike out for a spin! It sure was fun."
Laughter, lots and lots of laughter plays out.
"Well, you go wash up now, your mother has dinner on the table." Henry scampers off to the bathroom and Neal chuckles, shaking his head. "Rambunctious scamp."
Emma merely smiles. "He gets it from you, dear."
The same laughter as before echoes through the main room.
"I better go get cleaned myself."
"Hurry along, dinner's almost ready."
Another kiss and he's up the stairs to their bedroom with the twin beds. The doorbell chimes and Emma rushes to answer it.
"Who could be visiting at dinnertime?" she asks seemingly nobody in particular.
The door swings open and there she stands. The one bit of technicolor in this otherwise black and white world as the applause reenters for their visitor. Long raven hair, lips the same shade of blood contrast greatly with the yellow pinstripe dress she wears. Her chocolate eyes narrow as they land on Emma.
"Miss Swan, what the hell have you done?"
Camelot (October 1st, 2013)
The diner is quiet, too quiet. Neal's body lays before her, his eyes directed towards the ceiling. Television told her that when people die, their eyes are supposed to close. Neal's been dead an hour and he still seems lifelike to her. As if any moment, he's going to rise to his feet and pull her into his arms.
"What mess have you gotten yourself into this time?" he'd whisper into her hair.
But he lays still. It won't be long now. They'll be here soon. Her magic won't hold Regina off for long, not if her parents are arguing long enough.
"Do it, dearie," the darkness that has seeped her mind and sit across the way whispers. Despite not being the real Rumpelstiltskin, he stares down at Neal with sadness. "You need to save him. It's the only way."
"I'll be as bad as her," she reasons. "The reason I was separated from my parents in the first place."
"You saw what Cora did to her. You know what grief does to a person. Do you want to turn into that? Or do you want your boyfriend back?"
"I…"
She drops to her knees and kneels before Neal, running her fingers through his curls. The preservation spell is slowly drifting, soon he'll decompose beneath the ground. They've had so much time stolen from them. August convincing him to go. Tamara sending him through the portal. Zelena nearly killing him, but she saved him that time. They've had an amazing year together, getting reacquainted over dates in between the Arendelle guests and the Queens of Darkness.
God, she fought so hard to not succumb to the darkness. Her parents committed great evil so she could be the savior, fight for everyone's happiness.
And look at where that has gotten her. She's done everything right and still, she kneels above her soulmate's body, just like her mother and Regina once did. Emma's sacrificed her happiness time and time again for the good of everyone else.
What good is all of it, if she doesn't get her happily ever after?
Emma cannot miss another second of her life with Neal.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," she croons into his ear. "This is only going to hurt a little."
It takes more magic than she's used before. The black and white vortex in front of her slowly melts together into a terrific shade of gray. In the background, Rumpelstiltskin cheers and claps his hands with glee.
"I Love Emma is brought to you by selfishness…"
"Regina," Emma keeps the smile painted onto her face. "Are you alright? You look a little flushed."
"Cut the Stepford Swan crap right now," Regina presses.
Ooos ring out across the parlor. Emma looks down at herself. Little by little, the black and white seeps away to reveal her nauseating pink dress.
"That's hardly the language of a lady," Emma says, tilting her head.
Regina throws her hands in the air. "What is this?" she repeats, taking a step closer-uninvited. "The last I saw you, you were sobbing over…"
Emma's fingers twitch and slowly, the gray returns. The complexities melt, turning her dress into a harsh shade of white. She tries again, but Regina remains in color. Emma groans.
"I hate to be an impolite houseguest," Emma says, the airiness not leaving her voice. "But I really do have to get my boys fed."
A snap of her fingers and Regina is gone. Henry departs from the bathroom at the same time as Neal descends the stairs.
"So," she says, the smile returning to her face. "Who's hungry?"
Pain etches through every part of Regina's body when she comes to. Her cheek smushed against something cool as something wet spills. Slowly and with difficulty, Regina pulls herself to her feet. She holds her hand to her face and watches as the blood falls onto her black glove. Her eyes scan her outfit, she's out of that hideous dress now and back in a black pantsuit. Her head throbs as she looks around.
The town line.
She takes a step forward and is instantly forced back onto her bottom by the invisible forcefield that surrounds her.
"No."
Regina gets up and tries again, and again, and again. By the fifth try, she's fallen onto her back, hot tears streaming down her cool cheeks.
She's been locked out of the town she built, unable to save it from the person born to save it. Her son, her soulmate, everything trapped within.
Regina gathers herself back up. "You once vowed to defeat me, Emma," she says to the empty road in front of her. "And now, I'll return the favor."
As she slowly retreats into the distance, Regina swears she can hear slow applause.
