They gradually fell into more and more of a domestic routine as the days went by. Snow assured Emma that they were safe, but that they had moved Henry to an even more remote location, a place where Rumpelstiltskin and everyone else threatening their family would never find them.
Regina and Emma were out on the town one day, when Emma spotted a high-end thrift store with a record player in the window and boxes of vinyl around it. "You need that." Emma decided, slipping quickly into the store.
They lugged the thing home, along with the three records Emma had decided on. Regina seemed dazed by the gift.
"It'll make this place seem more like home." Emma said decisively. She was aware of Regina's eyes on her as she moved the sparse furniture around to make room.
They sat on the floor while the first album played. Regina had opened a bottle of wine and it sat between them. Song after song went by before either woman spoke.
"Tell me about Henry's birth." Though it was a statement, Regina's voice lilted at the end, giving away her desire for their son's birth story.
"Oh." Emma couldn't believe that they hadn't talked about it yet. "If you'll tell me about the day you got him…"
Regina nodded and shifted, finding herself closer to Emma. She had chosen a short sleeved blouse and her arms were bare. When Emma moved, their skin brushed together. Regina sipped her wine and waited for the story but the added, "You can leave out the traumatic parts if you like."
Emma bit her lip. "Ummm…it hurt." She laughed. "It was hard. I was in labor for a long time—active labor for eight hours. Which isn't bad, really, by some standards. His head was really, really big, or so I thought at the time."
Regina patted Emma's knee in sympathy.
"Ummm…" Emma bit her lip, suddenly choking up. "He was…he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen." She turned to look at Regina who was suddenly very near. "You know?" Emma whispered.
Regina nodded. "The day I brought him home, I stared at him for two solid hours. Even as I got his bottles ready and walked him around when he cried…I couldn't take my eyes off of his wrinkled little face."
Regina reached up and swiped a thumb over the tear that rolled down Emma's cheek. "I'm going to make tea…"
But before she could stand, Emma had leaned in. Regina was up on one knee, the other painfully taking all of her weight, when their lips met.
Emma pulled away first and patted Regina's arm. "Ok. Tea sounds good." She wiped her eyes and stared resolutely ahead, an enigmatic smile on her lips.
At 11pm, Emma's cell phone announced that Snow White was calling. Snow's signature ringtone was Sum 41's Fat Lip. It reminded mother and daughter that they were still in the same age group, roughly speaking, which was really bizarre and had to be emphasized from time to time.
Snow wanted to visit, simple as that. They would arrive in two days. Apparently, Henry's talk with Regina over the phone had convinced the kid that he might have some care for his mother after all.
Regina immediately went crazy with the tasks that they had been treating pretty casually. She first insisted that they go to bed immediately, since they had to be up at the crack of fucking dawn to get the place ready. Emma was seriously unimpressed to find herself sweeping the floor until 1am, while Regina cleaned the kitchen.
The next morning, Regina insisted on doing more groceries immediately and left without finishing her breakfast.
"We should get a television. Another bed." Regina called out as she crashed into the apartment with five bags of groceries held in each hand.
"Regina, calm down." Emma placed a hand on Regina's forearm, squeezing gently before taking half of the bags.
Emma took on the task of helping, not because she worried that Henry would think the place to be a mess—she knew he wouldn't give a shit—but because Regina already looked happier than Emma had ever seen her look.
While Regina went to find a wide enough couch for sleeping on as well as sitting, Emma used her phone to look up recipes. She never really cooked and she certainly had never cooked well, but she wanted to make something for their dinner. Pasta and a red sauce of some kind would work. She'd look up a Jamie Oliver recipe since she used to like his frenetic style when attempting to boil water back in Boston.
By the time Regina returned with two delivery guys in tow, Emma already had a pot of sauce simmering.
It wasn't hard for the red couch to be positioned in the room, since it was mostly empty in there, so Emma let the guys do their thing while Regina directed.
A television set was delivered next.
"Jeez Regina, how much crap does the kid need?" Emma muttered, looking through a bag of comic books that Regina had also purchased.
"He can't be expected to keep all of us company while he's here." Regina replied. She had been wearing a dark blazer all day and now took it off. Her white dress shirt was sort of flared at the cuffs and had a narrow, cinched waist. Emma liked the look, especially with the low-riding dark slacks. Regina's shoes were flat today, no heels. There was a hint of her ankle when she bent over to retrieve a piece of paper that flew from one of the comics.
Emma had never before thought that an ankle could be so erotic.
"Hmmmm?" Emma shook her head when Regina asked her something.
"I asked…did you want to eat dinner early tonite?" Regina arched one eyebrow and smirked. "Or would you rather continue to undress me with your eyes?"
"Oh, so now we're going to talk about this?" Emma fumed. "And yes, I would like an early dinner. I cooked for hours. Well, for one hour. I cooked for one hour." She glanced down at her white tank top. It had red splashes all over it.
Regina chuckled at Emma's tantrum and strode back into the kitchen. She made peace by setting the table and showing Emma how to cook the pasta first in water and then in a pan with some of the sauce. Emma stood close behind her, even while they waited for the water to boil.
"Change your shirt, dear." Regina said quietly. "I don't want you transferring those stains."
Emma dressed in one of the nicer shirts she had purchased. It was black and sleeveless and sort of wispy or something. Emma didn't know what to call it other than that. There was a gold colored band of fabric around the neckline.
"Very nice." Regina said when Emma arrived back downstairs. "The fabric is lovely." She reached out and pinched the hemline between her thumb and forefinger.
"I clean up real good." Emma joked, moving to the stove to plate their dinner.
After dinner, they tested out the couch and television. Regina had bought a whole pile of DVDs, few of which Emma thought anybody would want to watch (though she didn't say that out loud) and one of them was the old black and white version of Night of the Living Dead.
Things were fucking looking up. Emma smiled, totally contented, and slumped on the couch while Regina perched carefully next to her.
They got through only the start of the movie, with Emma saying "they're coming to get your Barbaaaaaraaaaaa" at just the right moment, before Regina got bored and moved closer.
"This is stupid. And makes no sense." Regina had her hand up on the back of the couch, her elbow bent. She played with a strand of Emma's hair, twirling it between her fingers. "Why would radiation cause the dead to eat the living, much less wander around aimlessly?"
Emma shifted closer also and rested her forearm on Regina's bent knees. She shrugged. "I don't know. You have to just believe in it. Then it's pretty creepy."
Regina's fingers moved closer, touching Emma's neck.
Emma turned her head, her nose only two inches from Regina's cheek now. She brushed her thumb over the corner of Regina's mouth, where a splash of sauce had imprinted itself.
"Hey." Emma grinned.
"Hmmmm?" Regina turned to meet her gaze. They locked eyes, now an inch apart. "Shhhh, watch the movie," Regina said, smirking in that way Emma used to think was kinda evil.
Emma laughed and brushed her nose against Regina's cheek, kissing her jaw softly. Regina's head turned immediately and their lips met.
It was, by far, the best make-out session of Emma's life, even if Regina insisted on keeping her arms firmly by her side and her hands firmly gripped to her own thighs, the whole time they kissed. Emma didn't feel so inclined and let her hands wander to touch Regina's cheeks and neck and to tangle in her hair.
Regina pulled away first and said breathlessly, "We should stop now." Her lips were moist.
Emma couldn't respond in any coherent way and said something that sounded like "nnnnngggghhhh," before pressing her lips to Regina's again, letting her tongue dart out to sooth the lower lip she had just nipped moments ago.
This time, when Regina pulled away, it was with a firmer sort of pat on Emma's thigh.
Emma breathed out heavily and slid down further on the couch. She reminded herself that she had never done this with a woman; she tried to tell herself that that fucking mattered.
For the rest of the movie, Regina stayed close. It wasn't until the closing credits, that she made her intentions clear, by taking Emma's arm and slinging it around her own shoulders.
Cuddling then. All right. Emma tried not to let Regina notice that her heart was beating hard and fast and that her thighs were trembling slightly.
Emma shifted until they were comfortable. Regina leaned her head on Emma's shoulder and said, "You should change the DVD."
Emma took the opportunity to calm herself. They weren't teenagers, and no matter how sweaty her palms got, she could wait. And wait. And wait. Until whatever this was worked itself out to the best possible conclusion.
Regina tired first, and in the state Emma was in, neither wanted to confuse the time for sleep with other things.
"I'm going to stay up and read for a bit." Emma added quickly, "Then if its ok, I'll come upstairs?"
Regina nodded, glancing at the couch. "It…I didn't get this couch meaning to imply that you should…"
"I know." Emma grinned. "and we'll work out sleeping arrangements when Henry and Snow get here. For now, I'm enjoying that awesome mattress and the view from upstairs. I'll be up in an hour or so." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to Regina's cheek, noting the slight shakiness in Regina's breathing that resulted form the casual gesture. Emma grinned even wider. This was definitely going to happen. Whatever the hell Regina's problems with being her 'first' might be.