Epilogue
The alarm clock sounded and Emma groaned into Regina's side. Throwing her arm around her back, she smacks the clock off and then brings her arm back to wrap around Regina's waist. Regina just rubbed her nose on Emma's head and burrowed her face deeper into the blonde. Seven minutes later, the snooze alarm went off and Emma groaned louder, this time ripping the clock from the wall outlet. Regina just chuckled while keeping her eyes closed and nuzzling Emma.
"We need to get up, Dear."
Emma stayed buried against Regina and just groaned in response. Regina stroked her wife's hair, then kissed her head as she pried herself away as she pulled herself out of bed.
"Nooooo, come back to bed." Emma reaches out for her wife.
Chuckling, Regina threw on her robe on and stepped into the restroom to freshen up before going downstairs to begin breakfast. When she came back out of the bathroom, she chuckled at Emma seeing that she fell back asleep. Shaking her head, she walked out of their bedroom to go and wake up her daughters.
Opening the first door on the right from her room, she peaked in to see her youngest little girl, sound asleep on her tummy with her face buried in her pillow. Her dark brown hair just like her older sister's. Quietly, Regina sits on the bed and gently pats the girl's back, "Time to wake up, my darling." She runs her hands through the little girl's hair and leans in to kiss her cheek.
Peeking on green eye open, the 6-year-old groaned just like her blonde mother which made Regina chuckle. "G'morning Mama".
Regina just smiles, never tiring of hearing those words from her daughters' mouths. "Good morning. How did you sleep?"
The girl turned completely over, but stayed curled up in the blankets and smiled, "Good! I'm so excited for today. I can't wait for Mommy's surprise."
"Me too, Sweetie. I'm going to wake your sister so come down for breakfast after you've gone potty, okay?" After the little girl nods, Regina kisses her on her nose causing her giggle and then walks out to find her old daughter.
Opening the second door across the hall leads her to Tristan's room and the older child is already awake and looking through her closet.
"Well good morning, Dear. Why are you already up?"
"Mama! I can't find my black dress shoes for today!"
Regina internally rolls her eyes. She's just like me. "Remember they're downstairs in the utility room because we shined them last night?"
The now 10-year-old winces, "Oh yeah. I guess I'm just excited about Mom's surprise today…and maybe a little nervous." Sighing, she flops on the edge of her bed and starts to bite her nails, but Regina quickly pulls her fingers out of her mouth.
"Don't do that. You know better." Sitting next to Tristan, she continues, "You don't have to do this, you know. You mother will still receive her award. If you aren't comfortable, then don't stress yourself out over it. She will understand."
"But I want to! I'm ready to do it!"
Before she could continue, Regina put her hand up to stop her and motion for her to keep it down, "Okay, Okay. I get it. Just don't raise your voice because we don't need your mother finding out." Seeing Tristan nod, Regina got up and began to walk towards to the hallway, "I'm going down to fix breakfast so come down once you're ready. Oh, and make sure Hope is with you."
After going downstairs and starting on breakfast, Regina takes the time to reminisce. The last seven years have been amazing. She and Emma had married and moved out to the country in New York to start a thoroughbred farm for Regina while Emma continued acting as a consultant for the New York Philharmonic. Emma trained many musicians who eventually left the orchestra to become composers and directors. Some even composed the musical scores of major motion pictures. Meanwhile, Emma always stayed in the background, never wanting to be in the spotlight. She merely wanted to play the music she enjoyed and teach others to love and embrace it too.
Many times, Emma was asked to conduct the orchestra or compose various soundtracks, but each time she would turn down their lucrative offers. She was content with her mild-mannered life. Each year, an award was offered to Emma for her contributions to the world of music and each time, she would turn it down. However, today she would be receiving an award that she had no choice, but to accept as it would be presented by her oldest daughter, Tristan. What Emma doesn't know is that Tristan will also perform a medley with the orchestra for her mother and the public for the first time.
Regina would always laugh watching Tristan ask Emma to be in the shows while Emma trained the musicians. It reminded her of Lucy Arnez in the old 'I Love Lucy' episodes. Each time, Emma would gently say that she was too young to perform, but could discuss it when she was older. Now, at the age of 10, Tristan felt ready and arranged a mashup of songs to perform both with the orchestra and as a solo in spots. She would use several instruments to display her talent. Hope also inherited Emma's gift, but wasn't as keen to perform in front of others. She was more interested in the horses like her brunette mother.
Shortly after Snow White and The Dark One were destroyed, Emma was determined to leave Storybrooke again. She refused to raise her children there. Regina didn't even think twice and moved with Emma. Henry lived with them briefly, but then left for college soon after, majoring in English Lit. and Education. Since then, he's gotten married and started a family of his own back in Storybrooke, which he still feels an attachment to. He visits with his family often and Regina and Emma still visit Storybrooke to see friends and family once a year. Regina still can't believe how wonderful and relaxing life has been since moving away. She loves that people don't know her history and she also loves that they don't look at her with uncertainty.
"Hey, Mama!" The girls say together, jolting Regina out of her memories.
"Hey, girls. Breakfast is just about ready. Would you mind setting the table? I need to go wake your mother up… again." She rolls her eyes as the little girls giggle at the routine.
Once she walked upstairs and reentered her bedroom, she walked around to Emma's side and leaned over to kiss her wife on the lips while cupping her cheek with one hand. After waking, Emma immediately returned the kiss and tried to pull Regina on top of her, but Regina slapped her arm and stood up causing the blonde to groan once more. "Come on, Darling. Time to get up. Breakfast is ready and the girls are waiting."
Accepting defeat, Emma got out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom while Regina just shook her head, laughed, and went back downstairs.
Finally making her way downstairs, everyone started diving in to their meal and discussing the day's plans. "Mom, what time do we need to leave again?" Tristan asks.
Emma just rolled her eyes and huffed at the silliness of an award so Regina answered instead, "We need to leave around 3pm so we get there on time. The ceremony begins at 4pm so it'll give your mother time to greet everyone and thank them for coming." She glared at Emma letting her know she better perk up because this is important to her daughter.
Clearing her throat, Emma added, "Yeah, it'll be good to see everyone again. While I'm not big on awards, it truly means a lot that you will be presenting it to me, Tris." She winked and smiled at her daughter to lighten the mood in the room before continuing to eat.
Just as she finished her last bite of pancake, Tristan spoke up, "Hey, Mom? Can I have a snack now that I'm done?" This caused Emma to drop her fork on the floor and go ashen with memories of what a 'snack' meant seven years ago.
Seeing her wife zone out, Regina quickly answered, "That's fine sweetheart. Just one cookie though and get one for Hope too while you're in there."
Hope and Tristan got up and ran into the kitchen to pick out what kind of cookie they wanted from the selection in the pantry while Regina went to calm Emma down. "It's okay, Em. She just wants a cookie." She rubbed Emma's arm with one hand and rubbed comforting circles on Emma's back with the other. Even after Emma's sacrifice to cure the vampirism in others, she still worried about Tristan since she was born with it rather than acquired it like everyone else. However, Tristan has never showed signs of her vampire abilities which, to Regina, means she was also cured. However, Emma still has flashbacks that cause her mild panic attacks. Luckily, the girls are oblivious to these as Regina is always there to defuse the situation. Mal and Ruby have said Tristan's scent never changed, even after Emma's sacrifice. Regina had noticed that Tristan's features were still very vibrant and sharp compared to her younger sibling. It caused a constant doubt to niggle in the back of everyone's mind and keep a close eye on the young girl.
"Go get ready, Sweetheart, and I'll clean up. A shower will help you relax."
Silently nodding, Emma got up and went upstairs while Regina began to clear the table.
"Wow! Look at how many people are here!" Hope just looked around in awe with her jaw to the ground. Soon, she saw some people she recognized and took off running away from her two mothers and sister. "Li Li!" She plowed right into Mal and wrapped her arms around Maleficent's leg.
Mal leaned down and grabbed the girl, pulling her goddaughter up to give her a proper hug and planting kisses all over her face causing Hope to giggle. After seeing Regina and Tristan follow up, she kissed the girl's cheek and then leaned in to hug Regina and then Tristan, still holding tight to Hope. "Hello, Dears. It's so good to see you."
Looking around for Emma, but failing to find her, she turned to Regina with a questioning look. "She's busy greeting all of her former students and other musicians she's not seen in awhile. She'll join us soon as I know she's missed everyone." Mal had come with Belle and Ruby. The three had become a polyamorous throuple. The people of Storybrooke were still unsure what to think of such of thing, but because the women were happy, they stayed quiet and the ladies kept their PDA to a minimum. Lily stood behind the three ladies and just stared at Tristan as if studying her. Zelena was also in attendance with her daughter, Tala, named in honor of Graham.
As Regina was walking to their seats in the auditorium, she found David with his new wife, Elsa, and their twins, Jack and Jennifer. David had remarried and moved to Arendelle to rule with Elsa two years after the events in Storybrooke. Regina often poked fun at David with his propensity to marry women involving the fluffy white stuff of winter. Looking up, David walked over to Regina while holding Jennifer, and hugged her neck. "It's so nice to see you, Regina."
Looking down at the beautiful blonde toddler in his arms, she can't help but stare at the mesmerizing blue eyes that you could practically swim in. Seeing Regina, the toddler held out her hands so that Regina would take her from David. "What is it that draws my daughters to you? I swear you cast a spell on my children." Elsa smacked his arm and laughed at the joke while Regina just shook her head and laughed while tickling the little girl.
She then eddown to see Jack holding David's legs and the jokes just wrote themselves for Regina, "Wow, Charming. You even have Jack Frost nipping at your heels." She grinned while kneeling down to eye level to blow a kiss to Jack. The little boy just blew a kiss back and giggled.
Soon enough, everyone was seated, including Emma, and the curtains opened to the orchestra performing an opening song. Listening to the score, Emma smiled and looked over to the side of the stage where the ghosts of Cora, Henry, Graham and Rumple stood and smiled while looking at the family. She was happy that she could still see the spirits of her loved ones, but it still concerned her that Tristan had this ability. Tristan just said "it's easy" and shrugged her shoulders when asked how she was doing it.
Once the music was finished, Emma's attention was directed back to the stage where many of her former students had come to the mic to sing her praises and tell stories of her teachings. Every few minutes, a new song was performed by musical guests and former students causing Emma to smile and tap her foot to the beats. Regina smiled with pride at the success of her wife and seeing how loved she is. These people were so happy to be able to give back to Emma after all she'd done for them.
Towards the end of the ceremony, Tristan and Audrey walked out onto the stage to give a speech, causing Emma's smile to grow even wider. The audience was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was fascinated to see what the daughter of Emma was like. Tapping the microphone, Tristan leaned in to begin, "Tonight, we celebrate my mom and her amazing contributions to this industry. I grew up watching her and wanting to be just like her. I sat in on many of her teachings and watched talents grow from her endless knowledge. Tonight, I want to show what I've learned from watching my mother and I hope I can make her proud."
Emma's eyes widened and she turned to Regina to see if she knew what was going on, but seeing the grin on her wife's face, she knew this was a planned surprise for her. Her heart began to race just thinking about what Tristan was about to do; perform for hundreds of people.
Tristan walked over to the band and sat at the piano first where she began a solo of Evergreen. Soon, the orchestra chimed in and the song changed to a more intense piece by Debussey. After five minutes of playing with the orchestra, the girl stood up and walked over to a cello and the music began again, this time Thunderstruck by AC/DC. The audience couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing. Meanwhile, Emma was listening to every note and checking for pitch and errors, hearing none. Her notes were crisp and solid. Finally, Audrey walked over and handed a trumpet to Tristan and she played a jazz solo that even a grown man would struggle with. Dancers came out for this song as Tristan tapped her feet and walked around the dancers and eventually, the orchestra chimed in.
Emma couldn't believe her eyes and ears. Tears flowed down her cheeks in pride and happiness while Regina she squeezed her hand. When the performance was completed, Tristan bowed, sweaty and out of breath, and then Audrey handed her the award to present to her mother. Tristan called Emma up and Emma quickly ran up and grabbed her daughter in a bear hug while the girl's hands stuck out from the tight hug. "I'm so proud of you, peanut. You are truly amazing."
Regina stayed in her seat crying at the touching scene. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Video and photos were taken from cell phones at the amazing performance and scene that followed. After several minutes, Emma finally gathered herself and was able to give her acceptance speech, thanking every one of her friends and family members as well as her former students. When the speech was completed, the crowd stood and gave their ovations causing Emma to blush while she stood there and waved.
Exhausted from her performance, Tristan wanted to go to the dressing room to get another bottled water after finishing the one she had on stage. Tugging on Emma's sleeve, she leaned in, "Mom, I need to go to the bathroom and get some more water. Is that okay?"
"Of course! Take Audrey with you and we'll wait for you at our seats." She leaned down and kissed Tristan on the cheek again and then walked off the stage while her daughter and Audrey went behind the curtains to the dressing room.
"Audrey, I need to go to the bathroom. Where is it?" Audrey pointed her in the right direction and then went to get a bottled water for the little girl.
When Audrey returned to the dressing room, she decided to open the bottle for Tristan since these bottled waters can be challenging for kids to open.
"OUCH! Man, that hurts." A piece of plastic sticking out of the lid cut her hand so she went and grabbed a tissue to apply pressure to the small cut.
Soon, Tristan returned from the restroom and grabs the water she sees in front of Audrey, taking a large gulp. She then notices Audrey with a tissue on her and staring at her palm. "What happened? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just a small cut. Not a big deal. Just in a bad spot on my hand. It's already stopped bleeding so all good." Audrey took the bloodied tissue to the bathroom, tossed it in the small trash bin next to the sink and walked back out, "Ready to head back to your moms?"
"Yeah! Oh wait, I forgot to wash my hands. I was so thirsty; I ran out to get the water. Let me run back in and wash up." Audrey nodded her head and sat down on a stool to wait for the young girl.
After washing her hands and drying them with a paper towel, she noticed the bloody tissue in the trash as she was about to add her wet paper towel to it. Staring at the tissue, she falls into a trance and stares at the blood, her eyes flickering a bright red. Slowly, she grabs the tissue out of the waste bin, brings it to her mouth and wraps her lips around it, sucking on it, and taking in the copper tang. After tasting it, her eyes glow an even brighter red.
"You okay in there?"
Audrey's questioning knock snapped Tristan out of her trance and she quickly tossed the tissue in the bin and opened the door. "Yep! Let's go!"
After taking her grandmother's hand, they walked out to join the rest of their family and friends. What Audrey missed is Tristan turning her head back towards the bathroom and licking her lips while the fingers of the other hand gently touched her lips.
The End...
A/N: I know some will hate this ending, but I thought it left more intrigue and left things open for a sequel in the future maybe. Who knows. ^_~
Time to focus on my latest story now; Where Do I Belong
