THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE SUPPORT! I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT.
DON'T OWN IT.
Regina stood nervously near the front door.
"Henry, at least let me make sure your costume is appropriate."
"Trust me, it is." Henry called down from his room. He refused to come out until Regina was outside with Emma and they could both see him at the same time. She looked at her reflection in the window. Her makeup was heavier than usual, and she wore one of the few black capes the curse didn't destroy. She was pretty sure she was a walking parental advisory with her very low-cut black shirt and leather pants. The knock on the front door made her jump.
"Hey." She smiled, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks as memories of last night flooded back.
"You look nice." Emma pushed past her just to feel their bodies touching.
"You, too." She took in the blonde's black shorts, knee-high black boots, and orange tank top that barely covered her stomach. It was an unusually warm night in Storybrooke, hitting the low 60s.
"Is the face paint too much?" She pointed to the black whiskers and nose painted on by Mary Margaret.
"Well, it does cover that gorgeous face of yours, but your lack of clothing makes up for it." Regina smirked.
"Emma!" Henry flew down the stairs, throwing himself at his biological mother.
"Hey, Kid. You're a prince?" She took in his outfit, which looked almost identical to the one Prince Charming wore in the book, including the sword and cape.
"Yeah, Granny helped me make it." He nodded. "I wanted to be a hero –and not just a superhero cause they're overrated. I was gonna be you, but then I thought it would be weird, so I chose the next best thing: your dad!"
"I'm flattered… I think."
"Come on, Henry, Emma's already late as it is. We should get going." Regina rolled her eyes.
"Wait, I'm not done. I thought for sure you were going to be the White Knight, so I made you a white bag, but you're –what are you?"
"A tiger."
"Seriously? Anyway, here's your bag, and Mom, here's yours. I knew you'd be the Evil Queen." He handed Regina a black one, and took out his red one.
"What's this for?" The brunette asked.
"Candy!" He chirped. "We're trick-or-treating."
"I'm a little old for that, Henry." Regina smiled patiently.
"That's what you said about me till Emma intervened."
"Oh, wait, I have to do it, too?" The sheriff took on a deer-in-the-headlights look. "I don't trick-or-treat. Never have, never want to."
"You've never trick-or-treated before?" Henry looked horrified.
"I grew up in the foster system, Kid. I was lucky if I even got a piece of candy." At the admission, Regina felt a pang of guilt.
"So neither of you will go with me tonight?" He looked up at them sadly.
"We'll walk around with you." Regina assured him.
"Can we go now? I don't wanna run out of time." He ran out to the driveway, and motioned for them to hurry up.
"If he gets hyper because of this, I'm sending him to you so you can deal with him." Regina said as they walked out.
"So where'd you pull the tiger idea from, anyway?" The brunette asked as they watched Henry go up to the fourth house so far.
"I just like tigers, I guess." Emma shrugged.
"Well I'm certainly not complaining." Regina gave the blonde a once-over for the 100th time that night.
"If you keep staring, people will catch on." She whispered lowly.
"It's kind of hard not to."
"Okay, guys, on to the next!" Henry stopped next to them. "I know we only have an hour left, so let's hit the hot spots. Ruby usually gives out tons of candy, and I know August really likes me."
"Sounds like a plan." Emma smiled. They let him go on up ahead so he wouldn't feel like he was being watched.
"I'm sorry." Regina said, and the blonde did a double take.
"Uh… for what?"
"Just… I know you had a rough childhood. It's not my fault," yes it is "but I'm still sorry it happened." She kept her gaze on Henry.
"I –it's fine. We wouldn't have Henry."
"No, we wouldn't." Regina smiled at her. "Go ahead!" She called happily when Henry asked if he could cross the street to the diner.
"You've been happier lately." Emma commented, deciding to turn the tables. "Or I guess the better word would be less cranky."
"I'm not uptight." She insisted. "But… you're right. Thank you for bringing out the better side of me."
"Oh. I wasn't –I didn't mean for things to get deep or anything. I was just being a smartass. But you're welcome."
"I know what we can be next year." Regina said.
"You do?" Emma breathed a sigh of relief.
"We can each be a butt cheek. You'll be the smart one and I'll be the hard one."
"I think we'd win a costume contest." The blonde laughed. "Here he comes."
"Oh. My. God. I just got like 20 pieces! Now off to August!"
"Wait a second, how do you even know he's participating?" Regina asked.
"He told me Halloween's his favorite holiday. Besides, he's sitting right there with his typewriter box full of Twix." With that, the boy took off in August's direction.
"So, what's your fear?" Emma casually inquired.
"Me?" Regina scoffed. "Very funny, Ms. Swan."
"No, seriously. Last night you found out mine's clowns. And I'm not talking about your deepest darkest secret, here. Just… you know… stupid stuff."
"I don't have one." Regina insisted as Henry slipped his hand into hers.
"Now we should do the whole street leading up to our house, and I'll be set for the year." He proclaimed.
"That's how much candy you let him have in a year? The kid's chocolate deprived."
"That's what I've been saying." Henry grinned. Emma ruffled his hair.
"What do you say to going home and eating some of it?" Regina asked.
"Really? Yes!" He wrapped his arms around the brunette's torso. Emma smiled, not feeling jealous at all. That surprised her.
Once settled inside by the fire, Henry triumphantly emptied his bag onto the floor.
"Now we divide it into three parts." He explained. "Then we trade." He pushed respective piles at his mothers.
"I don't like hard candy." Emma wrinkled her nose at a few Jolly Ranchers.
"Wanna trade?" Regina held out two Snickers.
"Hell yeah."
"Hmm…" Henry stared at his pile. "I'm happy with mine." He gave a small yawn.
"How about two pieces and some apple cider before bed?" The brunette asked. In response, the boy ripped open a peanut butter cup and a mini Hershey bar. Regina got up to pour the apple cider. To hers and Emma's, she added a splash of rum. Within seconds Henry had devoured his candy, and now he was sipping on the cider.
"As I said, chocolate deprived." Emma took a tipped her glass back, savoring the liquid as it electrified her taste buds. Regina glanced at the clock.
"Oh, Henry, I didn't realize it was this late. Finish your cider quickly, please."
"Okay." He knew there was no point in arguing or giving the puppy dog eyes. His adoptive mother had been very lenient over the past few days and he was lucky to have gotten what he had. He quickly chugged the rest. "Goodnight, guys." He hugged each of them.
"Sleep good, Kid." Emma called after him, then turned her gaze to Regina. "We don't have to sleep."
"Emma…" Regina sighed. "I know you're not one for relationships, but can we please talk about what we are? This," she gestures around, "isn't harmless. If things end badly, Henry will get hurt."
"I-" The blonde stared at her in shock, her mouth slightly agape. She hadn't been expecting this. "Are you looking for girlfriends or friend with benefits?"
"I asked you first." The mayor took a step closer.
"Right now we're friends with benefits. Do you want to take it further?"
"You cannot take a hint, can you?" Regina closed the gap, her lips crashing into Emma's in their most passionate kiss yet.
"You were…" The sheriff's eyes were wide when they broke apart. "Goddamn it, Regina, you could've been a little more direct. Subtlety doesn't really work with me."
"Now that we're on the same page…" Regina's breath tickled the other woman's neck, waking up every nerve in her body. Emma began tugging at the brunette's ties on her dress. Regina gently eased Emma's tank top up so that her stomach was exposed.
"Uh, guys?" Henry called out nervously from the bottom of the stairs.
"Holy shit!"
"Henry!?" Regina smiled, smoothing her dress. "I thought you were in bed. You should be in bed."
"I just realized I left my candy down here and thought I should pick it up so no one steps on it…" The boy covered his eyes.
"Yeah, go ahead." Emma's cheeks took on a shade of pink. Henry ran across the room and quickly scooped his candy into his bag and ran back across to the stairs.
"When I said I was glad you guys were getting along… I had no idea it was this well." He nearly tripped in his rush to get out of there.
"Well." Emma laughed nervously. "He was going to figure it out sooner or later."
"I hope he's not scarred for life." Regina sighed.
"C'mon, he'll be fine. It's not like we were actually doing anything."
"Exactly." The said with a small chuckle. Then, seductively, "Where were we?"
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING! I HAD A LOT OF FUN WRITING THIS STORY. FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED IF YOU HAVE TIME.