Size doesn't matter
"All I am saying is that it would be very cool to have a tyrannosaurus and train it," Hope said, taking another bite of the pasta.
"Until it eats you," Henry pointed out with a small laughter.
"It so wouldn't," she objected in a matter of fact way. Her dark blonde hair was in a neat pony tail and the seventeen-year-old was now crossing her arms.
"They are not like your pet lizard, Hope. Don't you remember the first film," Henry said. He sniggered looking at his younger sister.
"I am not stupid, but it would be nifty to ride one back and forth to school. Right ma?" she looked at Emma with shining eyes.
"I agree, even though I rather have some raptors for guard dogs," said Emma with a heartfelt laughter.
"Oh you mean like Blue?" Henry said, looking at her.
"Yes!" Emma said with excitement telling them why. Regina looked at her family feeling so very lost. Of course she got that the Jurassic Park movies were a big hit and that the next movie was set for release the next year. Still not having seen them she didn't feel like she could contribute in any way. She did find it cute that Henry, even if he was an adult shared the interest with his mother and sister. Maybe she should try watching the movies to try at least have a good response to this. Yes she figured that would be the way to go. Her thoughts got interrupted when Henry asked, "What kind of dinosaur do you find most useful, mom?"
"I think maybe a stegosaurus or someone that can cut the lawn for free," she concluded. She knew she had read that they were plant eaters. One of the things she remembered after having read the land before time for Henry when he was younger.
"Good choice and they are so cute as babies," Hope chimed in with a great big smile.
Regina shook her head knowing this was far above her so she settled for listening instead. At least it was enjoyable to see her little family interact if nothing else.
As it happened Regina had the evening of for a change the next day, and since Henry was with his family and Hope with her father, she decided to watch one of the movies. She knew Emma would be working late and so there was no way she would catch her doing so. She looked through the DVD collection finding the first trilogy, popping the first movie in the player. It was only logic that if she was going to do it she would take it from the start and so she did. She paused as she went to get herself a nice cup of tea and a homemade oatmeal cookie before pressing play.
She knew she had to put aside that this wasn't real and could never ever happen and so she did. She concluded that it was well made and quite entertaining. She could understand why Hope wanted that big thing. Even if the creature was a little too big for Regina's taste. She knew she shouldn't even be surprised that Hope wanted that monstrosity as the young girl always had a thing for amphibians. She already had two frogs, a lizard, and iguana and a tortoise, and at times Regina wondered where she had gotten the idea those were good pets. She guessed it boiled down to that the young girl was highly allergic to anything with fur. As she lived at the mansion mainly the animals stayed there instead of Hook's ship. The young girl treated her animals as anyone else treated their dogs and cats and even took the lizard and iguana for walks in the neighborhood. She found it adorable.
A deep breath as she found her phone calling Maleficent. If anyone should know everything about big overgrown lizards it was her. She was a dragon and had lived since the dawn of time, or at least it felt like it. Regina had never asked how old she really was, but she had a feeling it was ten times what she looked like. She soon heard a voice in the other end say, "Regina, what a pleasant surprise. How are you?"
"I am busy but well. How are you?" Regina wondered curiously. She hadn't talked to her for quite some time.
"I am doing fine. I recently started to date someone, but I will not say who because I don't want to jinx it. Lily is going on another trip with some friends this weekend. She met them at work and near the apartment I helped her get. She is excited about it and they are good people not minding she is a little dark," Maleficent spoke excitedly. She hadn't been so sure she would actually settle when they meet nineteen years earlier. The first couple of years she had ventured back and forth between her previous life in the land outside and there. After that she had settled and gotten a job at a tavern first, then another at the supermarket. She was now the manager of the same supermarket. The old dragon couldn't have been prouder of her young one. She also knew she was seeing someone, had for a couple of years but Lily didn't want to say who. Maleficent let her keep the secret figuring she would learn it soon enough.
"I am so glad for the both of you. You deserve to have a relationship with her, and I am so glad she choose to stay." Regina said, meaning every word.
"So am I, but I have a feeling that is not why you are calling," Maleficent said in a soft tone.
"No, I have a question, mostly since you have lived forever," she paused.
"Not forever, dear, but a couple of decades at least. Go on," Maleficent countered.
"Alright, dinosaurs what can you tell me about them. Are they like you and Lily or are there no connection there at all?" Regina asked. She was curious about it, clearly both breeds seemed to be lizards. Only much bigger, in some cases at least.
"If you ask if I ever encountered one, the answer is no. I am not that old. They existed long before even me and my descendants time. We are in a few words descendants from the same branch I believe. Only they died when the world, or their world. The world of Emma and the others shattered and became a sea of ice and snow. My kind got born from the ashes and carried on. Also some of my kind breathe fire and ice and change into a human, a dinosaur cannot," she said calmly.
"So you are saying there are still dragons outside our lands, from the world Emma grew up?" Regina wondered curiously.
"I do yes, only not as many as they used to. And whereas I and Lily can bread more, there is no possible way to make a dinosaur. Mainly because all are long gone and the descendants like us and birds are all that is left," she said with a small laughter.
"Thank you, that helps," Regina said thoughtfully.
"Why the sudden interest?" the other woman wondered curiously.
"I am just trying to find some common ground with my family that is all. I feel so left out when they are talking about it over dinner. It has been going on for a month. I just feel it start with this and then by the time I've gotten a hang of it goes over to the next thing. I sometimes feel so old Mal, and not intoned with them at all. Sometime I am wondering if there was a good thing to even start a relationship with Emma, even if we have managed for ten years now," said Regina with a heavy sigh.
"I know the struggle, but I don't think it is that you are older that is truly the issue. I think that you are from two different time periods and world and as sooner as you can look pass that, the sooner you can connect more with them," said Maleficent wisely.
"And you did this. Your last date was what five years ago?" Regina said with a hoarse laughter.
"Har har, you know he was way too young and that he was yet another male that broke my heart," she said with a heavy sigh.
"And this new one?" Regina wondered.
"Is a woman and that is all I am willing to say," Maleficent countered.
"Well I hope it works out for you both. In any case I guess I will look more at these creatures online. See if I can find a common ground or watch another one of the movies," said Regina with a sigh.
"Happy hunting your majesty," Maleficent said in a very teasing.
"Thank you," said the brunette and hung up. She slowly turned on the computer and clicked around, soon finding where her family found these creatures so interesting. They were so diverse in so many more ways that she could ever imagine. She looked at the sites, everything from scientists talking about these creatures, from just plain info, to toys and whatever else one might need. She clicked away another shopping add to read an article about a herbivore named Parasaurolophus with giant horn on its head. She smiled as it looked like a cross between a lizard and an over sized duck. Or maybe a big platypus. She quickly made a few mental notes to remember its time period and what other dinosaurs lived in the period for previous reading. She clicked on a link to read more about the Edmontonia when another shopping add popped up. It was a picture of a Tyrannosaurus that said, "Get your perfect T-Rex model today, only 39.90 $." She clicked on the link seeing the thing could move and make sounds as well and that it was in different sizes. It would take about a week to heave it shipped. She looked at the video once more thinking, "I don't care how old he is, Henry is getting this."
She was sure both he and Hope would love it. So she got the Jumbo for Henry and a large for Hope, that way they could play with them together. Plus she would get extra credits for being the coolest mom ever. It cost a little extra for two and because it was different sizes plus shipping, but it was nothing she couldn't afford and so she signed what needed to be signed and the account in which the money it would be withdrawn from. She could hardly wait for Henry coming over for dinner the following Thursday and see this, he would be so excited she knew. He ate dinner with them and Hope every Monday and Thursday as Jacinda usually ate at Lucy's place catching up and having mother-daughter time then. She smiled as the order confirmation came in her mail box knowing she would have to take time off to sign for it when it arrived. She didn't care though, all that matters were that the siblings would be overjoyed by their gifts.
It was a week later that Emma came home to find something unusual in their driveway, the biggest dinosaur she had seen. It was almost as big as the house and next to it one that was half its size. Clearly something had gone wrong at some point. Emma ventured into the front calling out for her wife, that answered, "In here."
Emma saw her sitting on the couch with a glass of wine. She looked at her with raised brows saying, "I don't know if you are aware, but there are two huge ass dinosaurs in front of our house."
"Oh I am, I ordered them," she sighed, taking another sip of the glass.
"You ordered two dinos almost as big as the house? Why on earth would you do that? I mean if you needed a guard dog I could have found something smaller and more suitable," said Emma, utterly confused.
"I thought they would be a little smaller. They didn't seem that big in the online add. I wanted them for Henry and Hope, so they could play you know. You all has been so into dinosaurs lately, I was just trying to share the interest, but clearly I didn't read the fine line when it came to the actual sizes. So now I have these two huge creatures I don't know what to do with and I feel like a fool," said Regina with another sigh.
"I don't suppose you can send them back?" Emma wondered. She didn't bother to correct the error in her ways. She could tell Regina was beating herself up about it enough as it was already.
"I tried but couldn't reason so I guess we have two ornaments. They do move though as promised I am just afraid that it will ruin the whole neighborhood or something when they do," she explained.
Emma couldn't help but to smile. She sat down next to the brunette whispering, "You are amazing you know that. And so what if you can't always follow, both Henry and Hope still love you. It is you they come to when they get into trouble or need help. You fix everything, Regina, always have always will."
The brunette was about to speak when they heard a squeal from the outside. Running out they saw Hope in front of the two huge beasts, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She looked at Emma saying, "I can't believe you got these ma, they are so cool."
"Actually it was Regina that got them, not me," Emma nudged her love.
"You did, wow. You are so the best mom ever. Wait to I tell Trina and Jenny they will be so jealous," she said excitedly. She got her phone out of her pocket to send a snap to her friends. Emma kissed Regina's cheek lovingly. She was glad her daughter took to Regina as a second mother by now. She knew the brunette, just like her ex-husband would go to the end of the world and beyond for Hope.
Once the young girl was done she put the phone in her pocket and looked at them. Tears in her eyes now as she came closer, "I swear I will remember this always."
"You are welcome. I thought the little one for you and the bigger one for Henry," she said in a gentle tone.
"Perfect," said Hope, throwing her arms around Regina's neck giving her a big hug to show her appreciation. Emma saw over her shoulder that their son came closer, his jaw dropped as he said, "Is this for real?"
"As real as it gets kid, thanks to your mom," said Emma with a heartfelt laughter.
"You are the best," Henry said and ran over to hug her. Regina didn't even care that he was taller than her or a grown man at that moment. All she cared about was that both children loved their gifts. She went inside and found the remotes showing them how to make them roar, telling them it might not be wise to have them walk around. Both children make the huge beasts turn around and roar at each other, high-fiving.
Emma looked at Regina, standing there, smiling. She knew that her love would in time make plants grow around the two big toys. For now, she was happily watching their children play, not feeling all too bad about they two T-Rex's being too big. In the end they both figured size didn't matter as long as their children were happy with their toys.
Thank you so much for reading this story, feedback is always most welcome :o)