A/N: Give me love please? On twitter I'm at galsbeingpals and I love friends. Your feedback is always appreciated, thank you!
BREAK
Regina contemplated the chaotic mass of blonde hair that seemed to be spread over most of the bed. She blew a few strands of it out of her mouth, chuckling at Emma's sleep persona, which was even less put together than her wakeful one. She thought back to the events of the night. She didn't think she'd ever felt so close to another person. Physically, yes, but also… It was as if their very souls were connected. As if their hearts were bound, as if when Emma looked into her eyes she not only saw her soul, but devoured it.
Love is weakness. The mantra had been instilled in her since childhood, and she thought of it as she contemplated her confession. A smile broke across her face. She didn't care. Love might be weakness, but with Emma, it felt a lot more like strength. And now the curse was broken. She was human again.
"Bet you're glad," came a murmur from somewhere below her breasts.
"I did not know you were awake, dear. Glad about what?"
"That I'm a Princess. Worthy of you after all."
Regina stroked Emma's hair, brushing it out of the blonde's bleary eyes.
"I don't care what you are, as long as you want to be mine," Regina said. Emma grinned.
"Good answer," she mumbled. "Was just testing you."
Emma snuggled closer, a far more wakeful, pointed snuggling.
"Much as I would enjoy it, I fear-"
Slightly before his cue, Henry charged into the room.
"MAMA!"
Regina laughed; Emma hauled herself up the bed and slumped on her back, trying not to look dejected. Henry stopped at the foot of the bed.
"Mama, Miss Swan is in your bed."
"I am aware of that, my love."
Henry paused, thinking. He took a step forward, reaching out with a tiny hand and touching the sheet.
"May I get in too?" Henry asked.
Emma blushed. Regina pulled the sheet around them, maintaining at least a semblance of decency, and nodded.
"You may."
Henry bounced happily into the bed. He gave Emma a look, narrowing his eyes, then flopped on top of Regina and wrapped his arms around her.
"She likes cuddles," he told Emma. "She pretends she doesn't, but really they're her favourite."
Emma bopped his nose. "Thanks for the tip. I'll remember it."
"Miss Swan?"
"You can call me Emma, you know. But what's up, Henry?"
Regina listened to the conversation, finding it highly entertaining, and somehow, not at all threatening. Emma was Henry's biological mother, but even if she hadn't been, Regina would have wanted them to be friends.
"Emma?" Henry asked with great feeling.
"Yes, Henry?" Emma responded in kind.
"What do you want for breakfast?"
Emma held in her laughter. Regina didn't help; she giggled behind her son.
"Pancakes?"
Henry considered this.
"And after we eat the pancakes, what should we do today?"
Emma thought about it. She was fairly sure she was being tested.
"Well, I like the stables. Perhaps we should take a walk there, and see the horses."
"Hm… What else?"
Emma realised she was going to have to up her game.
"There have to be games," she said firmly. "We could play at… Dragons?"
Regina winked. It was a good answer. Henry smiled widely and turned to the Queen.
"She can stay," he said, sliding into the middle of the bed.
"Emma?"
Emma had a feeling she was going to have to get used to this.
"Yes, Henry?"
"Where's your nightshirt?"
"Uhm…"
"We forgot them," Regina said. "We went to sleep in such a hurry, we were so tired, that we didn't put them on."
Henry turned to her. "That's silly. You're silly, Mama."
He poked her cheek.
"Mama?"
"Yes, Henry?"
"How many pancakes can you eat?"
"Altogether in my life, or in one sitting?"
"For breakfast, of course."
"Right. I suppose… Three?"
"THREE? That's NOTHING!" Henry exclaimed.
"What about you, Emma?" Henry asked. Emma looked down at her stomach.
"I'm pretty hungry… I reckon, ten?"
Henry shook his head despairingly. "That is preposterous," he said.
Emma looked over at Regina. "Preposterous?" she mouthed. Regina grinned.
"He hears me working," she replied audibly.
"Preposterous," Henry repeated, proud of the word.
"How many pancakes can you eat, Henry?" Emma asked.
"A hundred. At least."
Regina held up one finger behind Henry's back. Emma giggled.
"What are you laughing at, Emma?"
"Your Mama. She's funny."
Henry rolled to look at Regina.
"Yes. She is. But you shouldn't call her funny."
"Oh, why?"
"Because she's the Queen. You should call her…"
"Wonderful? Excellent? Exalted?" Regina suggested. Emma rolled her eyes.
"Lazy! She's still in bed!" Henry yelled, jumping away before either woman could catch him. He scurried from the room as abruptly as he had entered.
Emma gave herself a little shake as she watched Regina get out of bed and slowly put on a silk robe.
"Does it mean anything?" she asked suddenly.
"Does what mean anything?" Regina asked.
"The curse that broke. What was it?"
Regina pointed to herself. "It was the reason I did not age, the reason I was cold, the reason my life was empty... Only love would break it. Henry started, I think. But only true love could lift it entirely."
Emma did not seem at all surprised that she and Regina shared true love.
"Will there be any repercussions now that we've broken it?"
Regina ran a hand through her tousled hair. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I would like to think that everything will be better, now. The curse is lifted, we can be happy… But I fear, especially considering the complexities of our family," Emma's heart fluttered at the word 'our', "we will have more to deal with. I plan to ask Maleficent to remain nearby, just in case. And I hope you do not mind that I am reluctant to let you or Henry far out of my sight."
"That sounds good… What about you?"
"What do you mean?"
"How do you feel?"
Regina's expression blossomed into a beautiful smile. She walked around to Emma's side of the bed and kissed the blonde gently on the lips.
"I feel… happy."
It was such a simple word, but to Regina, it meant everything. She had never believed happiness was possible for her, but with Emma and Henry, with her family, she felt so light she thought she might fly, so free from fear and misery…
"Good," Emma said. "And for what it's worth, even though I wasn't cursed… I feel pretty damn awesome right now, too."
She got out of bed, enjoying Regina's hungry gaze as she padded through the room looking (not very hard) for something to wear.
"One day," she said from inside the closet, "you're going to have to tell me how you came to be cursed. And also who the hell cursed you."
"It will not take long to tell you now. To the latter, your first guess is almost certain to be correct. And to the former, because I crossed him."
Emma processed the information, then burst out of the closet dressed in a loose shirt (and nothing else).
"Wait! The night we met!"
Regina thought back to it. "What about it?"
"That's what you were talking about. You said something about it being… The anniversary of everything you'd fought for. And you talked about someone dying a year later, making it all for nothing."
"Ah. That is a longer story. But yes, I was talking about the curse, in part."
"And it was-"
"Don't say his name. He hears it."
"I wasn't going to," Emma whined teasingly.
"Sorry," Regina said. "One cannot be too careful. Considering."
"Right! Jeez. Still. Maybe he'll be okay with it. Considering we're all family."
Regina made a face. "Do not remind me of my family's connection with that vile creature."
Emma took her hand, suddenly serious.
"Don't worry," Emma whispered. "It's going to be okay."
Regina smiled. "I know," she said softly. "We will make it so."