Regina smiled happily as she opened as many windows as possible. It was finally starting to feel like spring, and she wanted to fully enjoy it. Spring was her favorite season, mainly because that was when nature was at its finest. Trees and flowers grew back, and the air smelled like earth.
Regina was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Emma sneaking into the kitchen behind her and grabbing food from the kitchen. Emma knew how much that Regina loved the outdoors, and was planning a picnic for the two of them in the backyard. Only problem? Distracting Regina while Emma made things perfect.
Emma put all of her stolen food into a basket before going to Henry's room and knocking on the door. As a teenager, Henry was in his "why can't you guys knock?!" phase. Emma was happy to oblige him, but Regina was still having trouble with the adjustment.
"You may enter," Henry said. Emma rolled her eyes and opened the door.
"Really kid? 'You may enter?'" Emma said. Henry just smirked at her and kept reading. He was reading The Land of Stories, a series about two kids who get sucked into fairytales and meet characters from their favorite fairy tales. Ironic considering Henry basically lived in a fairytale.
"Did you need something?" Henry asked.
"I need your help actually," Emma said. Henry looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow. Such a Regina move. "I need you to distract your mom so that I can set up the backyard for a picnic."
"How weirdly romantic," Henry said. He put his bookmark in his book and stood up.
"So you'll help?" Emma asked. Henry nodded.
"Leave the distracting to me," he said.
Henry walked downstairs planning how to distract his mom. It wouldn't be hard once he actually thought of something. He knew that the minute he asked her to do something for him, she would jump at the opportunity. But what could he do?
It suddenly hit him. Emma's birthday was in a couple weeks, and he hadn't gotten her a present yet. A trip to Gold's shop would be perfect.
"Hey mom," Henry said. Regina looked up and smiled.
"Hey there," she said. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"
"Well Emma's birthday is in a couple weeks, and I wanted to get her a present. Can we go to Gold's shop?" Henry asked. He held his breath as he waited for her response. Would she take the bait?
"I'd love to," Regina said. Mission accomplished.
Emma smiled as Regina and Henry left the mansion to go "birthday present shopping". They were going shopping, but Emma doubted that Henry would actually buy anything. Items from Gold's shop usually costed some kind of favor, and Emma knew that Regina didn't trust the man.
Gathering all the supplies that she needed, Emma headed to the backyard. Even though the apple tree had been chopped down, Regina still had other trees in the backyard that Emma planned on taking advantage of.
Grabbing the box of Christmas lights, Emma dug until she found the natural light ones. She had more than enough, and began wrapping the trees in the lights. Plugging in the main power cord, Emma looked at her handiwork and smiled. One thing down.
Over the course of the afternoon, Emma transformed the backyard into a romantically lit space. Smiling to herself, Emma was proud of the way that it all had turned out. She pulled out her phone and texted Henry that he could wrap things up and come home.
10 minutes later, Henry and Regina walked in the door. They were both smiling, and Emma couldn't help smiling too. "I'm going to go put this upstairs," Henry said, holding up a bag.
Once he was gone, Emma walked forward and wrapped her arms around Regina's waist. "Did you have a good afternoon?" she asked. Regina smiled and nodded.
"What did you do while we were gone?" Regina asked. Emma smiled before intertwining their fingers.
"Close your eyes," Emma commanded. Regina looked at her curiously before closing her eyes. Smiling ear to ear, Emma led Regina to the backyard.
"This is what I did all day," Emma said., squeezing Regina's hand. Regina opened her eyes and gasped. The backyard looked absolutely beautiful.
"You did this for me?" Regina asked.
"Of course," Emma said. "Now come on, I stole some wonderful food from the kitchen."