This was inspired by Lana's Instagram story 09/08/18 and motivated by the fact I wrote over 1000 words of my dissertation today. I am so sorry it has been 7 months, and unfortunately don't get used to updates until at least mid-September. Yes this is so short, I just needed to show you guys I haven't given up completely.


June 4th 2017

Not that she hadn't previously, but for the next three days, Regina had been ultra-protective of Emma, and it was beginning to drive her crazy. She had spent an hour and a half explaining away the video that Regina had seen and it still took 40 minutes the next morning to get Regina to allow her to go to work without an escort. The mayor had personally called three of the part time staff and promised to pay them overtime if they took turns accompanying the sheriff at the station and out on any calls she had to go on. She made sure that any of the more dangerous calls were handled by the other officers, and had sworn to Emma that if she ever saw another video like that, she would make sure the doctor who was going to do her second surgery would make it so that Emma could never do anything dangerous again. The sheriff had laughed at that but the look on her fiancées' face caused her to stop suddenly, feeling chastised.

On the Saturday, Regina had had to go to the office, and Emma had a day off. She had told Henry that he was to keep his mother entertained and as long as he had done all his homework, he was allowed to watch movies and play videogames with the blonde, as long as he didn't let her run off and leave. She hadn't informed Emma that she would be calling the landline every so often to speak to the younger woman, which she did. That had been a surprise to the woman, one she was not pleased about. She had bribed Henry with paying off his phone contract for the next month and forwarded the calls to her cell phone for a couple of hours while she went to see her parents. She knew she would not be doing anything dangerous, her mother would never allow it, but a part of her did not want the brunette to be mad at her.

The next day, Regina finally had a day off. She was exhausted, she had been snappy and rude to both Emma and Henry, but they both knew with a little sleep, she'd be back to the girlfriend and mother they were used to. Emma had made her breakfast in bed, which turned into brunch when the woman was still asleep after 9am. Henry had gone to Game of Thorns early and spent 25 minutes grilling Mr French for the perfect flowers for his mother, something he hoped, would cheer her up, eventually deciding on some light red carnations. When his mother was finally awake, he joined her and his other mother in their room, sharing the food Emma had made, telling Regina stories about his week. He gave her the flowers after she had eaten and hugged her tightly, causing tears to come to her eyes and she had apologised in that moment to her son and soon-to-be wife for her behaviour recently.

Later that afternoon Regina had told them both to get in the car without telling them where they were going and they drove in silence for five minutes before Emma spoke. "Gina… babe… listen we know you're tired but if we did something to make you mad… you can tell us and we can try to fix it."

It was a good job they had stopped at traffic lights because tears sprang to her eyes once again, and she turned to her family, guilt causing her stomach to knot. She tried to speak but the light changed and a horn blared, leaving the brunette to turn in her seat and try to formulate a response to the two people she loved most in the world. It hurt her that they thought she was mad at them when they had not only been so nice to her but had put up with her shit recently. Emma and Henry had a muttered conversation over the blondes shoulder and didn't notice that they had pulled up outside the movie theatres in Storybrooke. It was then that Regina turned to face them again, wiping the tears that had fallen.

"I… just wanted to do something nice to show how much I love and appreciate you both. I know we cannot do much lately with everything going on but… Wonder Woman is showing and I know you two have been dying to see this movie since it was released..." She sniffled and the younger two frowned, not realising or understanding what was going on with the matriarch of the family. Emma laid her hand on her girlfriend's knee, turning to Henry to hand him a bill, telling him to go and buy whatever snacks he wanted and snacks for his mothers, telling him to wait inside and they would be in soon to buy the tickets. When he was out of the car, Emma turned more fully towards Regina and took both of her hands.

"Baby, I don't know what is going on with you, and if you are not ready to share then that is fine. Henry and I… we understand that it hasn't been easy for you either and we're not going to rush you to get used to this. We love you, and that will never change, ok?" The usually strong and secure woman nodded, a heartbroken look on her face. When they got out of the car, the physically strong blonde tugged the smaller woman into her arms, hugging and holding her until she had calmed down. Before long they were inside, tickets purchased and Henry sat three rows in front of them with his red vines and root beer, a rare treat that Regina had okayed.

Emma had cheered the woman up, at least temporarily by sitting them in the corner, buying her her favourite candy and keeping their fingers tightly linked. It was kind of a date, and Emma knew Regina had not seen the trailer and so did not know what to expect. Emma had initially wanted to take Regina to see this movie, if only to point out Gal Gadot in a tight superhero costume, but now she just wanted Regina to enjoy herself. And when they left the theatre a couple of hours later, with Henry talking excitedly about the movie, the brunette was smiling and it didn't seem forced.

With all the snacks they had eaten, Regina expected that they would not want dinner, clearly forgetting she was living with a teenager and a woman who ate everything she came across. Emma did not want Regina to cook and so ordered Thai, the local restaurant aware of their order. She was glad that Henry was a teenager, and was content to just lock himself in his room for the evening, playing video games or surfing the web, knowing he would do so if she asked, because she wanted to give his other mother a relaxing evening.

After they had eaten, she ran a bath for the stressed-out woman, mixing essential oils to create the perfect scent, adding some flower petals among the bubbles, lighting some candles. When the woman was settled in the bath, she go the foot spa from the spare room and searched through Regina's nail polish selection. She found the other things she was looking for and set them up in the barely used room that contained comfortable sofas and a vintage record player. There was no modern electronics and Regina kept it as a room for when she wanted to get away from the modern world, when she was missing her old life, or aspects of that life at least.

When Emma heard movement upstairs, she grabbed the robe she had been warming and took it to the bathroom, pausing inside the door as she observed her fiancée standing in the tub, drip-drying as the water drained. She shook her head to clear it, passing the robe over, almost pouting as she brunette covered up. Regina did not know what Emma was up to, but happily took her hand when she offered it, slipping on the house shoes that were waiting by the door. The pair walked hand in hand to the quiet room and Regina was surprised to see the set-up, candles lit, the light low and music playing, with things set up so she could pamper the older woman.

Regina almost started with the tears for the third time that day, but Emma sensed it and tickled her, the tears turning to laughter, her amused watch of her partner turning to one of adoration. "What did you do, you crazy woman?" Emma laughed freely and pulled Regina closer again, her hands sliding down her back to her hips and lower, leaning in for a kiss. She knew they couldn't go too far, their teenager was still in the house and could walk in on them at any moment, but feeling the woman she'd had a crush on for so long wearing only a thin robe was doing things to her.

After another quick kiss she pulled away, leading Regina over to the sofa where she was planning her pampering. She set the foot spa on, waiting for it to warm while she pulled out the face packs she'd ordered. She'd searched for organic items only and found a nice company that created all sorts of health and beauty products, purchasing things she knew Regina would enjoy. She put one on too, and the two sat there chatting about the movie which led to a friendly debate about Marvel vs DC and about their wedding plans. Regina was relaxed and was now content, Emma happier now that Regina was smiling. Their face packs were drying in patches and Regina kept twitching as she felt the areas of tightness where it had dried. Emma had stared at the woman, unsure about how she had gotten so lucky and the brunette would have blushed if her face wasn't covered in mud. Instead she winked at the blonde and Emma actually did blush, her clavicle and ears turning red as she lunged forward to kiss her again, unable to stop herself, knocking the foot spa full of water in her rush, so a little spilled with her clumsiness.

It was then she heard one of her favourite sounds in the world, first a giggle, then a loud, free laugh, one that was unrestrained from the love of her life. She shook her head and moved the foot spa back to where it was, placing the brunette's feet inside. For the next hour, the two giggled and talked while Emma gave her a foot massage and a pedicure, taking a break only to eat some ice cream, something which Regina chose, surprising Emma. After they had eaten, in the kitchen being the one request from the mayor, Emma lifted the smaller woman in her arms and carried her to their bedroom, the last part of the evening being a proper massage, with professional type oils. It was something that Emma had picked up in Boston and had rarely demonstrated her skills to anyone, but with everything that Regina had been through, she knew it would help.

She lay the woman on the bed, passing her a towel which she situated after she lay face down on the bed, her head resting on her arms above her. Emma took her time, paying less attention to her feet due to earlier, moving up her legs to her back. The blonde had changed earlier that evening and she was wearing her usual vest top and sleep shorts and seemed to be more relaxed herself simply knowing that Regina was. Regina was so relaxed she was almost falling asleep until Emma reached her shoulders, and the lean woman shifted, straddling the brunette to enable her to massage her shoulders. The older woman woke quickly after that and she only managed to wait five minutes before she twisted under the blonde, pulling her down to her level, effectively putting an end to the massage. It took a few minutes for Emma to remember Henry was across the hall, and detached herself from the other for just long enough to sit and put a silencing spell around the room, quickly falling back into the arms of her true love.


Ok, I'm actually pretty happy with how this one turned out. I hope it tides you over until I'm able to update again.