Underneath the Mistletoe
"Are you sure that's everything?" Regina asked looking at Emma as she slammed the boot shut,
"Yup" Emma replied cheerfully her cold hands shoved deep into her pockets, Henry was already strapped into his seat in the back of the car and Zelena and Chad were meeting them there in a few days' time, according to Regina she and Henry always headed to the lake house a week before Christmas and spent a few days alone together before Zelena and her fiancé joined them Emma had even asked if they would rather she travel up with Zelena and Chad so they could keep up their traditions but she had been met with loud unanimous protests at that suggestion and so she had laughed it off and agreed to travel with them as originally planned.
Regina of course was driving with Emma sitting by her side, the journey was a long one for Henry, so Regina had factored in several stops along the way as she did every year for bathroom breaks and food.
In the end Regina forwent the last two bathroom stops a light of the fact that Henry was sound asleep and the snowstorm that they had driven into was picking up its pace, she wanted to get them safely to the house before they got stuck out in the harsh elements. The scenes that surrounded them as they travelled were very reminiscent of the snowy landscapes that Emma had gazed out onto this time thirteen years ago only, she wasn't sitting alone on the bus stop wearing a shabby jacket and holey gloves, wondering what to do or where to go next anymore, now she sat in warm car sharing snacks with Regina as they turned into a vaguely familiar street.
Emma's heart began to race as they drew level with the small convivence store where she had first met Regina and the car pulled in to park,
"I just need to grab a couple of things" Regina explained "Will you be alright in the car with Henry?"
"Sure" Emma nodded leaning back into the seat apprehension beginning to grow again as Regina stepped out into the snow.
Henry slept on as Emma watched Regina enter the store and remerge a little over ten minutes later with a slightly bulging carrier bag in hand she tried to shake of the weird feeling of Deja vu that she was having as she watched the brunette step out onto the snow and head around to the back of the car, the slamming of the boot moments later informed Emma that Regina had offloaded her bag of shopping without her ever having to look at what she was doing back there and sure enough seconds later Regina was pulling the driver's door open and sliding back In next to Emma.
"Would you believe that the same security guard is working in there after all these years" she laughed as she started the engine up and steered the car back out onto the road,
"Huh, I guess he's one of those lifers, so comfortable in his job that he'll never change" Emma replied,
"You know I think you might be right" Regina chuckled
But Emma wasn't listening anymore because now they were further down the familiar previously trodden road and Emma could see the bus stop approaching, it had changed a little over the years, someone, somewhen had given it a freshen up but it was still the same bus stop in the same spot with the same bench that Emma had sat on at sixteen years old watching the snow fall, the seat sat empty now only the ghost of the girl that Emma once was remaining, as the people hurried past bundled up in their warm coats carrying wrapped parcels the same as they had when Emma had sat there and every year since none of them noticing the empty seat any more than anybody had noticed young Emma sitting on it all those years before, in fact Emma thought as she watched a woman a bit younger than herself hurry past pushing a pram some of the adults that she was seeing today might even be the grown up versions of the children that she had seen trailing after their parents as she had sat on that bus stop at sixteen years old.
"Are you okay Emma?" Regina asked reaching for Emma's hand concerned about the blonde's sudden silence,
"Yeah, I'm fine, just old memories you know" Emma murmured accepting the comforting hand as she continued to stare out of the window,
"Oh Emma" Regina gasped and something in her tone made Emma drag her eyes away from the outside world and look at her, the woman who continued to focus on the road ahead looked appalled with herself "I am so sorry" Regina told her "I pop in that shop every year to grab a few bits for Henry that Ruth, the lady who preps the house never seems to be able to find, I'd send her here for them but I can never see the point when I can so easily drive past the store on my way and run in myself, but I should have thought about it this year knowing that you were coming and assigned the job to Ruth so I could have driven another way"
"Hey, don't beat yourself up" Emma spoke up, "it's honestly fine, you've done nothing wrong" she assured Regina, the brunette didn't look convinced, but she also didn't press the subject.
Regina pulled up in front of the house a little over twenty minutes later and Emma stepped out of the car pausing just beside it to look up at her home for the next couple of weeks, it looked just as she remembered it, but the outside was where the unchanged both began and ended.
"Woah" Emma gasped turning in a slow circle in the entrance hall with a semi-conscious Henry in her arms, everything here had been repainted or glossed, twinkling garlands ran along all the banisters and tinsel framed the doorways, boxes overflowing with other Christmas decorations sat pushed against the wall waiting for them to add to what had already been hung.
Emma followed Regina into the lounge where she placed Henry onto the sofa and lit the fire being careful to secure the fireguard another new addition to the house back into place before she followed Regina out into the kitchen where the brunette had already unpacked her last bag of shopping and made three hot chocolates, they took their drinks back into the lounge and Emma walked towards the tree that stood bare waiting for them to decorate to watch the snow fall past the window just beyond in that picturesque way that she remembered so well only now that fantasy of a perfect movie family Christmas that Emma had attached to it in her earlier youth was becoming a reality and that both thrilled and terrified Emma at the same time.
A hand warm hand suddenly slipped into hers and weight of a head fell on her shoulder followed by a small sigh of contentment that made Emma's heart soar,
"This is going to the best Christmas ever" Regina murmured,
"It sure is mommy" an excited little voice piped up from behind them before Emma could reply, and Henry moved to join them leaving a trail of hot chocolate in his wake as it slopped over the edges of his mug "and" the young boy announce smacking his lips appreciatively as he finally took a swig of what was left inside his mug "this is the yummiest hot chocolate ever"
"Hey, you haven't tried mine yet" Emma protested playfully though she that Regina's was much better than anything that she could ever whip up,
Regina just laughed at them as they began to playfully bicker about what made the best hot chocolate their idea's getting wilder and wilder as they carried on and with a small indulgent shake of her head, she moved away leaving them to it while she went to clean up Henry's spillages.
After drinks Emma and Regina went to finish emptying the car and trapsed upstairs with the suitcases, Henry to Emma's surprise ran straight for the master bedroom,
"Does he share with you here" Emma asked a little surprised because Henry had his own room at home,
"See for yourself" Regina laughed following Henry into the room with his suitcase in hand,
Emma was a little hesitant, but she followed Regina into the room anyway and inside she got her biggest surprise yet, it looked nothing like the room that it had once been now it was a bedroom fit for a young prince or maybe even a king, bright, warm, and vibrant the whole feel of the place was totally different to what Emma remembered in all the best ways.
"Wow" Emma gasped moving further into the room so that she could run her hands over the ornately carved wooden bed with it's beautiful soft red and white festive bedspread, in the centre of it sat one of the huge squishy plushie's that Henry was so fond of,
"A new one" Henry squealed jumping on the bed to cuddle the mickey mouse shaped toy close not sparing a thought for the previously pristinely laid bedspread that was now all screwed up,
"And he's wearing a Santa suit, look Emma" Henry smiled holding it out for her to see,
"I see it Henry" Emma giggled sitting on the edge of the bed and reaching out to give it a satisfying squeeze,
"It's a bit different from how you remembered it huh" Regina smiled watching Emma's reactions with undisguised joy shining brightly in her eyes,
"You can say that again" Emma beamed "and for the record I like it so much better this way"
"So do I" Regina agreed lowering herself next to Emma and the squishy on the end of Henry's bed, "I could never quite bring myself to use this room, I never liked it in here it was always so cold and unwelcoming, even daddy couldn't bear to stay in here most of the time, he often stayed in a guest room when we visited this place and Zelena felt the same" she added "but Henry of course didn't have any of the dark memories that Zelena and I do attached to this room, so we both agreed that he should get the master bedroom and he's definitely breathed new life into it" she smiled around at the room fondly "he lifted its curse and changed it from being my most hated room in the house to being one of my favourites" Regina laughed,
Emma smiled and continued to look around Henry's room, there were beautiful paintings from different fairy tales on each wall and an equally beautiful wooden bookshelf to match his bed stood against one of the walls loaded with story books many of whose titles Emma recognised from Henry's book shelves at home, duplicates of his favourites at his holiday home meant that he didn't usually have to bring any books with him from home, pretty smart Emma thought, but this time he unpacked a single book placing it in pride of place front and centre on his shelf so that he could see its front cover with its gold emblazoned title from his bed, it was of course the book of fairy tales that he had received from Emma for his birthday.
Book in place he moved to the huge walk-in closet that had once been Cora's, the double doors of which had been replaced by beautiful intricately and painstakingly hand carved doors that looked exactly the same as the one on the wardrobe that led to Narnia, When Henry opened those doors, Emma saw that half of its space was empty ready for Henry to hang his clothes and the other half contained a number of toys and art supplies to keep him occupied while he was here at least until he opened his gifts on Christmas day.
After Regina had helped Henry to unpack his things, she left him to play and showed Emma to her room, she had selected one of the guest rooms for her girlfriend to stay in but it was a different one to that which Emma had slept in before and Emma who had peeked in all of the guest rooms and knew just how similar they had all looked before was pleased to see the refreshed new look of this room too, she left her bag on her bed and followed Regina to her own room because she had insisted on showing Emma where she would be sleeping at night should the blonde ever need her, Regina longed to invite Emma to share with her and forget the guest room entirely but she felt that, that would be to bold a move when they hadn't yet shared a room for the night.
Regina's room was still what Emma called the purple room though it to had undergone some change, the teenaged Regina had disappeared from within its walls only to have been replaced by a much more mature version of herself.
Once settled in they returned to the lounge where Regina took a family board game out and put Christmas music on the tv and after Henry had won his third consecutive game she and Emma took him up to bed reading to him from his book before tucking him in, each kissing him goodnight before they retreated back to the lounge where Emma humming along to Christmas tunes still playing quietly from the tv cleared away the game while Regina poured them both a drink and prepared some snacks,
"I thought you didn't like these" Emma murmured remembering this scene like it was from another life, when she saw that the potato chips in the bowl were the same ones that she had dropped in the store when she was sixteen, she wasn't sure if Regina remembered it until she replied without missing a beat,
"I thought that was the only way that I'd get you to take them from me"
"You remembered" Emma grinned, then realisation dawning on her she added "you got these when you went into the shop on the way here didn't you"
"Guilty" Regina confessed though she didn't exactly look guilty, mostly just surprised that Emma had remembered too, Emma laughed and snuggled up to Regina helping herself to snacks while flicking through the channels in search of a movie to settle on. That night they parted ways after steamy kisses outside of Regina's bedroom door and Emma headed down the hall to settle down and sleep under the same roof as her girlfriend for the first time in thirteen years.
They were up early the following morning Henry was super excited to dress the tree and Emma as promised lifted him up to put the star on top and then the boy watered the living tree talking to it all the while that he tended to it, nearby Emma rooted through the rest of the decorations hanging tinsel here and there and putting batteries in the things that needed them,
"We'll take such good care of you little tree" Henry spoke in a sing song voice "you'll be part of our family for Christmas and then when Christmas is over, we'll take you to be with your family in the forest so that you can grow big and strong" he promised
"It's family in the forest?" Emma asked
"Oh yes" Henry replied eyes wide and shiny with unsuppressed excitement "Every year after Christmas we get our tree planted, don't we mommy"
"We certainly do my little prince" Regina smiled from over from where she was busy dressing the window,
"That's so beautiful" Emma sighed happily continuing to root through boxes,
"You still have it" she smiled when her hand fell on a familiar little locomotive and its carriages lifting it all out of the box,
"What's that?" Henry asked intrigued,
"I haven't been able to put it out since that Christmas" Regina confessed explaining why Henry had never seen it before, "But I think it's time to change that this year don't you?" she smiled at Emma who nodded and turned to Henry,
"I think you'll like this" she grinned quickly building the track and placing the train in place on top of it, Henry watched the train take off around his precious tree with a look of wonderment on his face and Emma felt kind of glad that this decoration had remained special between her and Regina she waited until Henry had finally lost interest and moved on to the next box of decorations and then with a smile on her face she placed her stone inside one of it little carriages, her smile grew wider still when she looked again later that evening and saw Regina's stone riding in the carriage just behind hers.
By end of the second day, they were more than satisfied with their combined decorative efforts, so they put the mostly empty boxes away and prepared for a quiet afternoon in except that Henry of course had other ideas,
"Can we go skating now, please mommy" Henry pleaded,
Regina glanced at Emma who offered up a casual shrug in return and then she turned back to her son to answer,
"I don't see why not" she smiled,
And so instead of playing games and indulging in a seemingly endless supply of snacks in front of the tv and a roaring fire they found themselves standing on the edge of the frozen lake bundled in their warmest coats with skates in hand, Regina helped Henry into his instructing him to wait until she had tested the ice before he got on then turned her attention to lacing her own boots while Henry sat on the end of the tiny jetty swinging his legs just above the lakes frozen surface.
Regina jumped onto the ice the second that her skates were tied and Emma sat with Henry watching her turn some impressive tricks before she returned to help her son onto the frozen lake, then remembering Emma's previous somewhat clumsy lesson Regina turned to offer her a hand too but she was taken by surprise when Emma hopped onto the ice by herself with a confidence and skill that she hadn't possessed during their much earlier lesson,
"Someone's been practising I see" Regina said her brow arched in an impressed look as she watched Emma glide over the ice and even turn a couple of little spins,
"Maybe just a little" Emma admitted skidding to a halt in front of Regina
"And you can even stop now I see" Regina added with a mischievous twinkle in her eye,
"You saw that didn't you" Emma accused good humouredly as she realised that unbeknownst to herself Regina had seen her crashing into the shore next to the lake's jetty the last time that they were here,
"I did" Regina admitted "but I could see that you were fine, and I didn't want to embarrass you anymore than you already were, so I didn't let on that I'd seen you little flying lesson" she laughed,
"Yeah, thanks for that" Emma mumbled a little sheepishly, turning to watch Henry who was a little dynamo on the ice, she watched him gathering speed as he moved backwards with ease until his foot struck something and he landed on his bottom with a thud, both Emma and Regina rushed to his aid to find him thankfully absolutely fine aside from maybe a little bit of wounded pride,
"Henry Daniel Mills" Regina scolded "How many times do I have to tell you to look where you're going, backwards or forward you still need to be on the lookout for hazards" she said,
"I'm sorry mommy" Henry replied sorrowfully,
"Not to worry I'm just glad you're okay, now let this be a lesson learned" Regna said helping him to his feet "Emma will be much more impressed if you stay on your feet when you're showing off your tricks" she winked and Henry turned bright red in fact Emma was willing to bet that somewhere under his hat and hood the tips of his ears were as red as his cheeks, but he was more careful after that and he didn't fall again unlike Emma who even with her much improved skating skills still managed to fall over twice.
They went skating several more times after that with Emma approving a little more each day until a few days later she finally got through a whole session on the lake without a single fall, she felt more than a little proud of herself as Regina spun her around then brought her in close for a gentle lingering kiss, and a little disappointed that they wouldn't be going again the next day because Zelena and Chad were arriving and they wanted to be in to greet them.
A delivery of food arrived early the following morning replenishing their supplies and bringing with it the fresh ingredients for their Christmas dinner, Zelena called early afternoon to tell them that she and Chad would arriving later in the evening which would give them one full day together as a party of five before Christmas eve.
Later in the afternoon Regina left Emma to entertain Henry in the lounge while she went to prepare Asopao de Pollo for dinner, Zelena and Chad would need something warm and hearty after travelling this cold day she told Emma, and the Puerto Rican chicken stew would be the perfect dish. It was bubbling away merrily filling the house with its wonderful aroma when the beam from the headlights of Zelena and Chads car hit front windowpanes announcing their arrival.
"Little sis" Zelena greeted pulling Regina into her embrace while Chad picked up a giggling Henry throwing him up in the air and catching him again before he could fall to the ground,
"And Emma" Zelena beamed turning her attentions to the blonde who found herself engulfed in Zelena's embrace seconds later,
"Something smells good" the red head said releasing Emma and following her nose to the kitchens,
"Fathers favourite" she smiled appreciatively as she looked at the contents bubbling in the pan,
"And it's ready to eat as soon as you are" Regina replied,
"No time like the present" Zelena nodded pulling out a chair from the already set table and sitting down to wait for her bowl, Chad sat next to her and Henry took the seat opposite his aunt and next to Emma while Regina would take the seat at the head of the table between Henry and her sister, Regina dished up the stew and placed a bowl in front of everyone finishing with herself, It was an extremely enjoyable meal with everyone talking merrily about their week and eating until they were all satisfyingly full, then Zelena and Chad excused themselves to go and unpack in Zelena's old room with the green bedspread, out of respect for Zelena's privacy Emma hadn't taken a look in there so she didn't know what changes had occurred in there from her last visit if any but she assumed that like Regina's the style of the room would have matured along with the woman who it belonged to.
That the night the four adults gathered in the lounge and chose a movie together, Zelena declined to join Emma and Regina in a glass of red wine but Chad cracked open one of the cans of beer that he had brought along with him, they weren't even a third of the way through the movie when Zelena let out a huge yawn and announced that she was tired from traveling and wanted to turn in early, Chad looked torn between staying for the rest of the movie and going with the love of his life but in the end he opted for the latter taking Zelena by the hand and following just behind her.
"That's odd" Regina said once she was sure that they were out of earshot,
"What is" Emma yawned reaching for the popcorn bowl that was nestled between them,
"Those two turning in early" Regina replied,
"It's a good drive" Emma shrugged throwing popcorn in the air and catching it in her mouth "It's not really that surprising that they might be tired, is it?" Emma asked
"My sister and I have been making this journey for years" Regina said "and she has never been so tired from travelling that she's needed to turn in early before, plus she also turned down the wine, Zelena never turns down wine" she pondered
"Maybe it's her age catching up with her" Emma suggested throwing more popcorn into her open mouth,
"Her age" Regina laughed "she's only a couple of years older than us Emma, no something is definitely going on with her and I intend to find out what" she stated with conviction,
"Okay babe" Emma smiled turning back to the film.
The following morning spelled another early start for them all, Henry was super excited to receive his Christmas eve gift and he was squirming on his seat in the dining room waiting impatiently for Zelena and Chad to appear because Regina had insisted that they wait for them before the Christmas eve gifts were handed out as per their family tradition,
Regina was right on the cusp of going to find out what exactly was keeping the couple when an apologetic Chad appeared at the door,
"We're so sorry to keep you waiting" he said, and he looked it "Zelena's not feeling to special this morning, she said to tell you to carry on and let the little guy have his gifts, she doesn't want to keep him waiting any longer"
"Oh no" Regina exclaimed jumping up to rummage through the well-stocked first aid cupboard, "what does she need?" she asked placing a variety of bottles on the side before turning to face Chad with a questioning look on her face, a thermometer clasped in her right hand,
"Uh just this" Chad replied shifting a little awkwardly with a bottle of cold water that he had just taken from the fridge in his hand "I'm sure her stomach will settle soon" he said trying to hurry away quickly to avoid further questioning,
"Hang on just one second" Regina called charging after Chad and stopping him at the door "she's pregnant isn't she" Regina stated all the pieces from the night before slotting together with this mornings, Chad didn't say anything but the guilty I've just been totally busted look on his face told Regina everything that she needed to know,
"Would you mind putting this stuff back away" she called to Emma over her shoulder ditching the thermometer onto the side and taking the bottle of water from Chad as she squeezed passed him,
"I guess this means I'm waiting longer for my gift after all" Henry sighed
"I think so kid" Emma replied moving to tidy away the medicines and Chad after throwing them both another apologetic look disappeared after Regina.
Emma had finished packing the medicines away and cleared the dishes that she, Henry and Regina had used for breakfast by the time Regina reappeared with her arm around the shoulders of slightly tearful Zelena who was clasping a half-eaten packet of ginger cookies in her fist,
"What's wrong aunty Zee" Henry asked concern etched into his small features,
"Nothing much Hen" Zelena assured him throwing him a small smile as she sat down and Regina fussed around her insisting on fixing her some breakfast, "just my hormones wreaking havoc"
"Hormones?" Henry frowned
"Aunty Zelena has a baby in her tummy" Regina told Henry as she returned to the table with the bowl of cereal that Zelena had requested in hand,
"You do?" Henry asked wide eyes finding his aunt again,
"I certainly do" Zelena's smile grew now,
"And the baby's making you sick?" Henry asked his concern renewed
"A little bit Hen" Zelena told him "But that's normal and nothing to worry about it might not look it but it takes a lot of work to grow a baby so sometimes I might feel extra tired or a bit sick but it's nothing to worry about okay"
Henry nodded slowly and Zelena turned to face Regina,
"As if you figured it out that quickly, I could kill Chad for giving it away so easily if I didn't know you so well" Zelena rolled her eyes and laughed good naturedly "I had this whole big thing planned out for you tomorrow, but you just had to go and spoil it all didn't you" she said
"But how did the baby get in your tummy?" Henry piped up before Regina could reply
"Chad put it there" Zelena replied casually, Regina looked at her sister who was now munching on some crispy bacon that she had taken from Chads plate with a look of horror on her face and Emma had to fight not to burst out laughing as somewhat predictably Henry followed up with,
"How did Chad get the baby in there Aunty Zee?" Zelena nearly choking on her bacon at that turned to her sister for help and Emma who couldn't contain it any longer let out a loud snort clapping her hands over her mouth to prevent any real laughter escaping,
"Oh no you started this sis, so you're on your own" Regina laughed and waited to see how Zelena would wriggle out of this one, the latter sighed and looked at her nephew,
"Hen" she started "When two adults love each other like Chad and I do sometimes they lie down together and share a very special kind of hug and when they are sharing that hug sometimes, they make a baby together" she explained,
"Oh" Henry replied then his eyes suddenly wide with excitement he turned to face Regina "Will Emma put a baby in your tummy mummy" he asked innocently, now it was Emma's turn to choke spitting out the mouthful of water that she had been just about to swallow, Regina moved to pat Emma on the back and Zelena cackled with laughter,
"No sweetheart" Regina replied
"But why not" Henry whined his shoulders sagging "I really want to be a big brother"
"And maybe one day you will be" Regina smiled at her son "But it's something that Emma and I will have to discuss when the time comes, but sweetheart that special hug that Aunty Zee told you about babies can only be made that way by a man a woman who are able to make a baby that way, Emma and I we are both women so we can't make a baby that way even if we wanted to" she explained,
"But then how will I ever get to be a big brother?" Henry asked sadly,
"There are ways, even for us" Regina assured him
"There are" Henry said instantly perking up,
"Yes, there are" Regina replied "We could adopt, or doctors could help us, they have a special way that they can put a baby in either mine or Emma's tummy" she told him,
"Wow" Henry answered in awe,
"Now if you're finished asking questions my little prince, I think it's present time" Regina declared
"Yes" Henry whooped running from the room to find his gift under the Christmas tree, and Regina sighed with relief crisis averted and distraction working,
"Nicely handled sis" Zelena said as she followed Regina into the next room,
"Yes, no thanks to you" Regina jested
Everybody had a little gift in the tree the adults were cheesy secret Santa type gifts each of them having pulled a name from a hat a few weeks earlier, Emma had pulled out Chads name, Chad had Regina's and Regina had Zelena's leaving Zelena to pull out Emma's,
Emma had found a novelty festive tie with a picture of Rudolph on it, it played Rudolph the red nose reindeer and its nose lit up when you pressed it,
Chad gave Regina a red Santa hat with elf ears and Regina gifted her sister the green version of the same hat which gave them all a little chuckle, Emma was last opening a pair of socks they had written on the soles 'If you can read this, I'm in love with the chef' Emma turned beet red as she mumbled her thanks and Zelena burst out laughing,
Henry opened a little box that was stuffed with goodies from new pyjamas to a DVD, slipper socks, a new colouring book, pens, and a selection of his favourite sweets and as a final touch added by Emma a comic book which his eyes absolutely lit up at the sight of, he spent ages first reading the book and then trying to copy out some of the images into a sketch book that he had fetched from his room.
Emma didn't think that Henry was every going to fall asleep that night but five stories later and long after Zelena had begun softly snoring in Chads arms he finally gave up the fight and dozed off so Emma crept back out of his room taking his empty stocking with her once she had paused to make sure that he was finally asleep, she almost bumped into Regina who was carrying a pile of wrapped gifts from the stack that had been hiding in one of the loft rooms since they had arrived on the hall, silently she took the stack of gifts from the brunettes arms giving her the stocking to fill instead, she looked around the lounge in awe as she saw the piles of gifts beginning to fill it and left her stack away from any of the others so that Regina would be able to put them wherever they needed to go when she was done filling Henry's stocking and returning it to his room.
While she waited Emma quickly ran upstairs to retrieve her own sack of gifts leaving them next to the pile that Regina had handed her before returning to meet a now empty-handed Regina back on the upstairs landing, Emma followed her up to the attic where they grabbed the last of the gifts and took them down to the ground floor to place them with the others Emma adding hers to the piles as instructed by Regina she was putting her last few on Henry's pile which was nearest the tree when she spotted it, the little train whizzed by still carrying hers and Regina's rock halves with it but in the back carriage a third gift had been added a small box shaped gift tied with a pretty bow,
"Take it" Regina murmured drawing near and coming down to sit on her knees next to Emma "It's for you" and when Emma hesitated missing the train the next time it went past Regina took It herself placing it in Emma's hand "I know we were only supposed to get the secret gifts for Christmas eve, but I got you a little something extra" she smiled.
Emma's heart hammered almost painfully in her chest as she looked at the little box resting in her palm then swallowing dryly, she reached to pull off its bow and free of its confines the pretty paper fell away revealing a small black jewellery box inside, the type Emma thought that usually contained a ring.
She reached a little timidly to lift the lid and there sure enough nestled in red velvet sat a white gold band which would have been very plain if not for the alternating pattern of five small, stunning clear and purple stones Emma had no idea if they were real precious stones, but she suspected that as Regina brought the ring they might well be,
"Regina" Emma breathed as she looked at the ring,
Don't panic it's not engagement ring" Regina smiled, and Emma looked up to meet her soulful brown eyes "I know we aren't ready for that yet and I'll wait for as long as it takes for you to be ready to take the next step in our relationship, there's really no rush" she ploughed on when Emma didn't speak "This ring is a promise, I'm completely in love with you Emma Swan" Regina declared and Emma still unable to speak tried to swallow the painful lump growing in her throat and hold back the tears prickling in the corners of her eyes as Regina continued "And I think that I have been for a long time now, I almost lost you once Emma and I can't imagine ever having to experience that again especially now, what we have is special and I never want to let go of it and that is what this ring promises" Regina said easing the ring from its velvet bed "I promise to never leave you or let you go again" she said sliding the ring onto Emma's would be ring finger if it wasn't on the opposite hand from that which wedding and engagement rings go "for as long as you want me" Regina murmured,
"I'll always want you Regina" Emma replied a single tear escaping and rolling down her cheek as she glanced down at the ring sitting comfortably on her finger its stones sparkling in light that they were catching from the Christmas tree,
"I love you and Henry so much Regina" Emma sniffed tears rolling freely now "and I don't ever want to mess this up"
"You could never mess this up" Regina murmured shifting closer to Emma reaching out to lift the blondes chin until their eyes met her other hand now hiding behind her back, "We're in this together now and always" Regina promised, and a tearful Emma nodded, "Now look up" Regina said,
"What?" Emma hiccupped and frowned confused,
"I said look up" Regina urged so Emma still confused did and as her eyes raised Regina's hand whipped out from behind her back moving to dangle mistletoe above their heads,
"Well would you look at that" the brunette laughed mischievously, and Emma's eyes dropped back down from the mistletoe to meet pools of swirling brown,
Emma didn't hesitate her lips crashed into Regina's and the surprised brunette slung her mistletoe to one side moving to entangle her hands in wild blonde hair instead, Emma lips still fighting against Regina's lay back pulling Regina with her feeling her weight on top of her for the first time a groan escaping from her when the brunettes knee shifted pressing against her core,
"I'm sorry" Regina breathed pulling away,
"Don't you be sorry" Emma growled pulling her back down her own hands wandering to the hem of Regina's shirt which was beginning to ride upwards and then up under it her hands find warm soft skin, her heart was screaming at her to carry on she wanted to get lost in this moment forever, but her head was telling her to stop and her head won,
"We can't" she said "we have to stop" Regina hissed with disappointed, but she complied instantly pulling away the second that Emma had called for the intimacy to stop,
"Yes, I guess we should really be getting to bed" she sighed standing up and straightening out her crumpled shirt as best as she could, "early start in the morning" she added accepting the hand that Emma was offering her from the ground and helping the blonde to her feet,
"I just meant that we shouldn't do this down here" Emma said pointedly "there are way too many people in this house for that, none of them that I would fancy walking in on me in a moment like that one" she winked
"You mean" Regina gaped as she looked to Emma for confirmation,
"If you're up for it then I'd really like to move past first base with you Regina" Emma laughed
"Oh, I'm more than up for it" Regina replied with fire burning in her eyes,
Neither of them could quite remember how they got up the stairs or how their clothes ended up in piles all over Regina's room, but what they did remember was the feeling of blissful pleasure as first their hands, then their lips and finally their tongues explored every inch of the others body guiding one another into one back arching orgasm after another the muffled sounds of the others name leaving their lips as they were forced to gag themselves with pillows to stop their noises travelling through the otherwise silent house of sleeping bodies until finally exhaustion got them better of them and they fell into a peaceful slumber in each other arms the heady sent of their mixed arousal still hanging in the air and a slick layer sweat coating their bodies.
They should have been exhausted in the morning but they both woke up early feeling invigorated, Emma remembering her last gift for Henry still lay hidden and unwrapped in her room and finally knowing how to finish it, kissed Regina wishing her a happy Christmas threw on her shirt and knickers and raced back the her room before anybody could spot her, it was so early that nobody else was up not even Henry, even Regina had immediately returned to her blissful sleep while Emma sat and spent a little over an hour adding the finishing touches to her gift before she wrapped it and crept down stairs to add to his pile and then she returned to slip back into bed beside Regina with a satisfied sigh but she had barely begun to close her eyes when Henry's excited squeals sounded through the house,
"Are you ready for this" Regina smiled, yawned, and stretched swinging her legs out of the bed,
"As ready as I'll ever be" Emma smiled following Regina to Henry's room to watch him open his stocking gifts,
Christmas morning was manic, with paper flying everywhere and Regina desperately trying to keep on top of the mess, her own pile of gifts remaining untouched, Emma having started on hers paused to help Regina collect up all the paper and then she changed to collecting packaging that Henry had torn off of his packaged gifts and putting it into sacks, they only stopped when Henry suddenly gasped loudly, when they looked at him to see what was wrong Emma saw that he had just opened his main gift from her, he had the large black book in his lap his fingers tracing over the silver detailing,
'Heroes and Villains', he read recognising the words from his story book "a new story book" he squealed"
"Yes, but this one's an extra special one" Emma said moving to sit next to him
"How so?" Henry asked
"Because" Emma replied opening the front cover to show him "this one contains our story" she explained flicking through the pages so that Henry could see that Emma had laid it out just like his other one with an illustration hand drawn and coloured by her, next to every page that she had written on,
It started with two girls meeting in a grocery store though Emma embellished a little and left out the part when she was stealing, it told the story of their Christmas together and then of an evil witch tearing them a part and though Henry didn't know his grandma Emma left out the part about her being the evil witch instead telling a story of how she was pulled back into the grasps of the evil care system never to see Regina again and it wasn't a complete lie it was just an omittance to the full truth,
Twelve years later a new Sheriff came to Storybrooke which Emma thought was the perfect name for a fairy-tale town,
And in a six-year-old child friendly very fairy tale sort of way she had gone on to tell the story of two women falling in love and the child that stole both of their hearts, she finished on ring laced with a promise,
"And then their happily ever after finally began" she read, "I started you off but there are plenty of blank pages are for you to keep it going" she said
"Will you help me?" Henry asked
"Of course, I will kid" Emma smiled,
"Thank-you" Henry grinned throwing his arms around Emma's neck "I love it, it my best present ever!"
"You did good Emma" Regina spoke softly from nearby and happy tears brimming her eyes she moved in to join the family hug,
"I can't wait to see where our story leads us next" she said
The End.