Hi everyone! Wow its been a very stressful few months finishing university, graduating, getting a second job ect ect so there hasnt been much time for writing! Sooooo sorry! I hope this chapter makes up for my absence and again will try my best to write more! Thank you all for the reviews and PM's about this story i'm so glad you're all loving it :) keep them coming :) also its nearly a year since i started two of my other fics 'swan mills first family christmas' and 'Tears of joy or sadness?' why not Give them a read and tell me what you think of those too? Enjoy! Love Rouge xxx
Chapter 4
A day with Tia had passed by so quickly to the new mothers, they had seemed to have made some progress with Tia in terms of music and building up the bond between the three of them. Emma had danced around to a few more disney songs and Regina clapped and cheered along, but Tia requested Tigger's song again which Emma was all too happy to give to her little girl, she lavished hearing her giggle to the bouncing.
"See Tia, there are happy sounds that are loud, singing is one of them" Emma said as she sat back on the floor, with Tia, slightly out of breath after bouncing up a storm pretending to be tigger. "Now do you want to still see what is in my bags?" Emma asked the little girl as she checked the time seeing they still had some time left.
Tia looked over to the mysterious plastic bags and nodded gently "bag...pwease" she whispered.
Emma stretched over and pulled one if the bags towards her and Tia. "Lets see shall we...whats this Tia? Do you know?" Emma asked as she pulled out a little, pink, plastic drum from the bag and two plastic sticks. "Have you seen one of these before?" Emma asked and she was given a tiny shake of the head as a response but Emma was pleased to see Tia stroke the drum gently in Emma's hands, she was obviously interested in the drum which Emma thought must be a good thing. "Its something that you can make sounds with" Emma told the blonde 2 year old. "Shall i show you how? And we can play for Regina and Jackie?"
Regina went over and sat opposite Emma and Tia "oh i would like that a lot Tia" the brunette mother smiled kindly trying to encourage the toddler.
"Pway pway" Tia spoke quietly, a bit unsure but curious of the drum at the same time.
Emma picked up the sticks as Tia sat on her knee and began gently banging the sticks against the drum. Tia jumped when Emma started playing as she wasn't expecting the sound to be like that, or so loud to her. She buried into emma and covered her ears and whined a little distressed. Emma stopped straight away and cuddled Tia.
"Its ok, its stopped, you didn't like that one? No?" She asked gently. Tia whined and whimpered as if she couldn't decide whether she liked the new noise or not. "Shhhh shhhh" Emma calmly whispered as she held Tia "maybe you just need to get used to it"
Tia's whimpers were interrupted and halted almost instantly after a new sound emerged. Seeing Tia's reaction to the drum, regina had routed inside the bag and had taken out a small, metal triangle instrument and had started tinkling against it gently with the metal stick. Tia's head popped around from Emma's chest as she followed the new, interesting sound to Regina.
She climbed off Emma's knee and crawled over to Regina staring at the instrument. Regina stopped playing. "You like that sound Tia?" Regina asked gently
"Fwaiwy" Tia said pointing to the triangle and smiles a little shy.
Regina frowned gently, as she tried to make out Tia's speech but luckily Jackie was there to help. "Yes Tia, it does sound like a fairy" Jackie smiled.
"Fwaiwy" Tia repeated happily and clapped gently and slowly
"You like fairies Tia?" Regina asked and Tia nodded quickly as a reply still clapping gently. "Oh, you believe in fairies? Is that why you are clapping? You must know Tinkerbell then" Regina smiled remembering the part in the story of peter pan that she used to read to Henry where all children of the world were called out to clap if they believed in fairies, to save Tinkerbell from dying.
She was met by a little smile from Tia. "Tia loves tinkerbell don't you Tia? Jackie encouraged
"Oh! Well shall i tell you a secret?" Regina asked and the little girl nodded gently sucking her thumb and tapped Regina's leg twice giving her permission. Regina lifted her onto her lap and whispered into Tia's ear "I know Tinkerbell, she is a really good friend of mine". The little girls eyes grew in amazement. Regina didn't have to convince a child that young that tinkerbell was real so Tia was really surprised and impressed at the thought of Tinkerbell being her new mothers friend. "She is really nice but she isn't always fairy sized" Regina smiled "sometimes she makes herself as big as Emma and I" she explained and smiled lovingly at her daughters mystified face.
Emma watched with a smile as her beautiful wife fell into her motherly role as easily as she sees her do when the brunette is around Henry.
"Do you want to play the triangle and make the fairy sounds like Tinkerbell Tia?" Regina asked but the toddler looked a little unsure about how to. "How about i hold it for you and you play on it with the metal stick?" She asked getting a happier nod from the little girl who gently took the stick from Regina.
"Pway" she stated quietly before gently tapping the triangle with the metal stick and gasping at the sound happily.
"Wow thats nice!" Emma encouraged "well done! You did it!" She smiled
"Clever girl aren't you?" Regina praised and stroked Tia's hair gently
"Cwever" Tia repeated with a small giggle as she played the triangle. Emma beamed at Regina as she saw Tia start to understand more that not all loud sounds are bad. Regina looked at Emma and instantly knew what she was thinking and she agreed, this was great progress to getting Tia to understand that if she makes loud sounds nothing bad will happen to her. Which in turn would help her feel safe again with them.
Over the next few days Regina and Emma worked together to bond more with Tia. They used music and dancing and watched films together to continue the progress. They had nightly phone calls with Henry and their family back in Storybrooke to tell them about their progress and adventures that day. Henry was so excited to meet Tia and couldn't wait to have his moms home again.
On their fifth visit, the mothers were allowed to settle Tia down for a bedtime story alone. Emma being the more enthusiastic storyteller, read from Tia's favourite book, the three bears as Regina cuddled the toddler on her knee in her nightdress on the child's bed. Regina played with Tia's 'Goldilock like' curls gently as they both listened and giggled at Emma's storytelling voices and expressions, both mothers pausing every time to hear Tia giggle, the sound that truly could make their hearts flutter. When she had drifted off and the mothers had lay her in bed and kissed her goodnight, Jackie returned to the room to inform them that Moira, the woman in charge of the care home wanted to see them straight away.
"You can take Tia home tomorrow" they were told. "We are very pleased with her progress and believe she is ready to settle into her new home with you both."
Emma and Regina shared a speechless moment before realisation hit them and they hugged each other tight. "YES!" Emma said excitedly as she hugged Regina. "We can take her home baby!"
"Yes! Yes!" Regina replied sharing her wife's excitement "thank you Moira!"
Moira smiled "you are the perfect family for her so the sooner we let her go home with you, the sooner she will feel like part of the family and start living a normal life. She loves you both."
Emma and regina had grown so attached to Tia already, they couldn't imagine their life without her. To them both, she was their daughter and they both loved her so much. They knew at times things would upset Tia but they knew they would be able to help her to not to be afraid. They just wanted to go home with her.
"I cant believe it! At last baby!" Emma exclaimed and pulled her wife in for a kiss which Regina reciprocated. "We have to tell everyone, we have to go to the hotel and pack!" She said practically pulling regina out of the door shouting "thank you!" to Moira as Regina giggled at Emma's excitement.
"Hold on! hold on! not so fast! i have heels on!" Regina exclaimed as her wife pulled her down the stairs and the brunette clawed at the banister for some kind of support.
"See this is why you should wear boots!" Emma smiled rolling her eyes and turned round to face her beautiful wife on the stairs. "You can run faster!" She beamed childishly and suddenly without warning, picked Regina up to carry her down the rest of the stairs.
"Emma!" Regina squealed as she wrapped her arms around her blonde wife's neck "don't drop me! Put me down!" She instructed with a giggle as Emma rushed down the rest of the stairs and outside onto the streets of Manhattan carrying her.
"Really?! Tomorrow!" Henry gasped excitedly "you guys are coming home tomorrow? With Tia?!"
"Yes sweetheart" Regina smiled as she sat on the hotel bed with the pillows propped behind her back against the headboard. Emma was lay horizontally across the large bed on her front, her head propped up on top of her folded arms that rested on Regina's lap and her legs bent so that her feet stuck up in the air.
"Isn't that great kid?!" Emma asked the phone that was lay on the bed that was on loudspeaker to their son.
"Yeah!" Henry replied "I'm gonna start getting things ready right now!"
"What things sweetheart?" Regina played with Emma's soft, golden hair in her lap as she spoke, twirling the curls around her fingers.
"Like getting everything tidy and making sure Tia's room is ready and making a banner!"
"Well yeah you gotta have a banner kid!" Emma said playfully
"I'll ask grandma and grandpa to help" Henry replied
"Ok sweetheart but not now, its getting late so its bedtime" regina said her mother bear instinct taking over.
"Oh mom" Henry whined "its only half 9 and its Friday night!"
"So?" Regina replied
The phone went quiet for a few moments "and i miss you mom so if i go to bed now and you're not here to tuck me in i'll be sad, and get upset...might even cry" Henry said putting on his best baby voice, he knew exactly how to play Regina. Emma smirked as she turned her head to see Regina's expression changing as her eyes went sad and her mouth opened gently. The kid was good.
"Oh...oh baby don't cry!...I'll be home tomorrow ok? And i'll give you a big cuddle...i miss you too"
"So can i stay up?...please mommy" Henry asked knowing that would do it
"Oh ok baby a bit longer ok?" Regina agreed
"Thanks mom love you, bye, bye mama" Henry said quickly and hung up the phone.
"Wow you're gullible" Emma smirked "you know he played you"
"He misses me i didn't want him to cry, i hate it when he cries" Regina exclaimed
Emma giggled at her wife and stroked her leg "ok baby whatever you say"
"Take it back" regina ordered
"Nope" Emma smirked
Regina smirked and tickled one of emma's feet that were in the air and the blonde squealed, pulling her foot away "don't!" Emma whined
"Why?" Regina giggled playfully
"Because" Emma smiled cheekily sitting up off her wife's lap "you are so much more ticklish than me and i know all of your good spots" she warned raising her fingers up to Regina and wriggling them.
"...ok ok i'm sorry" Regina cracked her eyes wide and her hands up for protection.
Emma smiled lowering her hands "too easy...can we watch a film now? You said we would" She scrambled under the duvet and covered her and regina up. Regina snuggled into emma tightly laying her head on her chest gently, emma wrapped her arms around Regina protectively, just as they both liked it and Emma turned the tv at the end of the bed on flicking through the film channels.
"Oh Notting hill" Regina smiled
"Aww not again baby, you make me watch that all the time at home" Emma whined
"But its romantic...oh saw!" Regina pointed out going down the list. Emma laughed at her wife's contrasting favourite films. How could one person love everything romantic and yet love horror films so much too?!
She kissed Regina's head lovingly "its not long since we ate baby, i'll be sick, saw is creepy and gross...oh how about we check the family film channel there might be...yes! Anastasia!" Emma squealed putting the animated film on.
"I dont know if i'm in the mood for Anastasia" regina said
"Oh come on! Lost girl, stuck in an orphanage and runs away and finds her family!...pretty relatable! Plus its suitable with Tia finding her family isn't it?" Emma fought hard "And you can sing all the songs to me, you know you love to" she playfully sang to Regina.
"Ok ok Anastasia it is" Regina smiled snuggling up
"Yes!" Emma fist pumped the air and cuddled Regina "awww we can have family film nights with Tia and henry when we get home.
Regina smiled "i cant wait"