Oh look, another one. :o I had a 'so soon' tacked on to the end of there but then it took me like a week to write this chapter so. Well, the first paragraph. The rest I wrote in an hour. Turns out I suck at Daddy Charming interaction tho.
March 5th 2017
It was three days before Regina considered Emma well enough for Henry to be around Emma and another two days before she told Snow that Neal could visit. Both children stopped by the mansion for a few hours before Regina announced that Henry was going to take Neal back to the apartment while the four adults had dinner.
Emma had remained wrapped in a duvet on the sofa while Regina cooked, Snow helping her once-step-mother while David kept his daughter company. The blonde pair sat in silence for a while, both looking at, but not really watching the TV. It took a few, not-so-subtle times of David clearing his throat before Emma sighed and looked over at him.
"What?" He raised his brow at her glare and shook his head in mirth.
"I just wanted to talk to my daughter, that's not a crime is it?" The blonde sheriff huffed and crossed her arms, turning back to the movie.
"Maybe you should go and help Mom and Gina in the kitchen…"
"Well, seeing as you brought her up… how is it going with you two?" Emma couldn't help he smile that crept onto her face.
"She's… amazing… She's just… I can't believe we wasted all this time…" She paused as she thought about what she'd just said. "I mean… I know what she did… but that was the past, and it wasn't even really her and… Maybe I should go into the kitchen and…" She stopped rambling as Charming patted her shoulder.
"Your mother and Regina have a perfectly happy and healthy relationship now, and even if they didn't, they both love you and so they would put whatever differences aside to get along for you and Henry. I bet if you went in the kitchen now they'd be chatting like two old women…" He quickly grabbed hold of his daughter's wrist as she moved to stand up. "Do not call your mother I just called her old!"
Emma laughed as she snuggled back down into her duvet, leaning her head on her father's shoulder, thinking about what he had said. There was no shouting coming from the kitchen; that was a good sign, right?
xxx
Regina had been preparing the ingredients for a stir fry when Snow had entered the kitchen, shutting the door behind her. The mayor smiled brightly at her once-step-daughter and carried on skinning and dicing chicken as Snow grabbed a knife and began chopping the vegetables. They worked quietly for a few minutes until the silence became deafening to the older brunette.
"So… how's Neal…?" She couldn't explain the nerves she felt, having known the woman beside her since she was ten, and having the history they did, this time it felt a lot different. This time she was in a room with her girlfriend's mother, with her father in the next room.
She stiffened as the princess put the knife down on the counter and turned to face the older woman. "Regina. Calm down. This is us. We are your Emma's parents, but we are your friends. We are four adults eating a meal and drinking wine and gossiping about the people in this town…" Regina frowned, not used to the open, honest conversation from her once-worst enemy, without Emma being in the room.
She bit back a smile at the innocent smile on Snow's face. "I feel like a nervous teenager trying to impress the parents of the girl she's in love with…" She didn't notice her slip, and didn't see the grin widen on the other brunettes face. She didn't expect the younger woman to wrap her arms around her and certainly didn't expect herself to return the hug with vigour.
"Don't worry Gina. We love you almost as much as Emma does. You're family."
So this one is a little different. Lemme know what you thought.
