There were things you learn about a person only while living with them. Regina learned that when left alone in the mornings Emma bopped around the kitchen in her pajamas listening to whatever song her iPod fell on in the moment. After taking the children to school Regina returned home to pick up a few things before heading to the stables. When she walked into the house she could hear the thumping of some song that only Emma would listen to. It actually gave Regina a sense of peace when she walked in on Emma like this. It somehow made her house feel more like a home now. It was no longer just a showpiece, a visual flick from under the preverbal chin to the rest of the town. It was where Henry made a mess on the dinning room table making his art project for school. It was where Lucy left dirty, muddy footprints after spending the afternoon in the back garden hunting for gnomes. It was where Emma danced around in the kitchen wearing sky blue pajama pants with a monkey face on them and a matching tank top with a spoon in her mouth while listening to a song that was highly inappropriate.
"…sex in the air I don't care I love the smell of it."
Regina raised an eyebrow as she watched Emma move, the way her hips popped and her shoulders rolled.
"Sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me."
"What are you listening to?" Regina demanded.
Emma turned, wide green eyes taking in her lover for a moment before those bright eyes narrowed and Emma smiled. Pulling the once Nutella covered tablespoon out of her mouth she set it down and moved towards Regina. "It's Rihanna." Emma said as she slid her hands onto Regina's hips, moving them to the beat of the song. "It's a fun song."
"About a subject I would rather not explain to our children." Regina said as she stared right into her lover's eyes. She wasn't making it easy on Emma but she didn't stop the other woman from gently manipulating her body to the music. She listened to the words of the song a little more closely and smirked. "Is there something you'd like to confess to me, Ms. Swan?"
"First," Emma said as she moved closer to Regina. "I wouldn't let the kids listen to music like this. Second, maybe." When it was clear that Regina wasn't going to dance with her willingly Emma said, "You need to loosen up."
"Excuse me?" Regina said with a look that said Emma better tread carefully.
"You're tense." Emma said honestly. "You need to just let go and relax. A lot has happened over the last few weeks. I was thinking that this weekend we'd have a pajama day."
"What on earth is a pajama day?" Regina asked while she pulled away from Emma and walked across the room to turn off the music.
"It's a day," Emma explained slowly. "Where we stay in our pajamas and do not much of anything. It's just a day off, Regina, a day to relax." Emma could see that Regina was about to protest so she smiled and said, "The kids and I already voted. We're doing it on Sunday."
"Strange," Regina teased. "The last time I checked this was a monarchy not a democracy."
"Yeah, about that." Emma said as she walked over to kiss Regina. "There was a coup."
Regina wasn't really the type who did nothing well. It made her uneasy spending her time doing things that weren't in any way productive. So she was kind of dreading Sunday. Toward the end of the week no one else had mentioned Emma's pajama day so she was starting to hope that it had been forgotten. Her hopes were dashed that Sunday morning as she crossed her bedroom, which she now shared every night with Emma, making her way towards the door.
"Wait." Emma said as she sprung from the bed. She rushed to the dresser where she kept her things and pulled out a brand near pair of freshly washed pajamas. She took the neatly folded items to Regina with a huge smile. She gently yanked Regina's robe from her hands and handed her the pajamas instead. "As much as I love what you have on." The blonde said as she eyed the baby doll nighty Regina was wearing. "It isn't pajamas."
Regina looked at what Emma had handed her. The bottoms were a soft, thin, fleece, green with whole and halved apples all over them, and the top was long sleeved, thin cotton same color as the bottoms with a whole and halved apple in the center of the chest. Looking up brown eyes took in the bright smiling green eyes of her lover and Regina smiled for a moment before saying, "Are you serious?"
"It's pajama day, Regina." Emma said with a firm but bright voice. "Everyone stays in their pjs. You can still shower and do whatever but you have to wear the pajamas."
While Regina was showering Emma headed downstairs to start breakfast. She threw together what she called a breakfast bake, which was eggs, potato, and sausage, onions, peppers, and tube biscuits. Once that was in the oven she headed upstairs to join Regina in the shower. By the time Henry and Lucy got up Regina and Emma were already back in the kitchen having coffee. Wearing the silly pajamas was worth it when Lucy's smile lit up the room. Even Henry had a surprised but thrilled happy look on his face when he realized Regina was going to participate in pajama day.
The day was spent watching movies, playing video games, and board games. Emma and Henry went out, in their pajamas, to get lunch from the diner while Regina and Lucy battled it out at the chessboard. Dinner they all made together and afterwards they watched movies until Henry and Lucy feel asleep on the sofa. After everything they'd all been through this was just what they needed. Once they'd managed to get the kids into bed Emma and Regina settled on the sofa with apple cider and a fire in the fireplace. There was soft music playing and they were snuggled together.
"So?" Emma asked. "What did you think?"
Regina couldn't help but smile. "It was a wonderful day."
"I knew you'd enjoy yourself." Emma said a little smugly.
Things in their lives were so vastly different. Emma had grown up alone. Depending on no one but herself. Learning that trusting someone only got you into trouble. But all of that changed when Henry showed up at her door. It started with wanting to make sure he was ok, and then she'd gotten attached to Mary Margaret, then she'd made friends with Ruby, and she became sheriff, and before she knew it she had a life here and people she loved. Now she had Regina, she had someone she was in love with and wanted to be with. And with Regina came the sweetest little girl she'd ever met. Emma Swan had a family. Sometimes she found that a little staggering and at other times the thought of loosing them scared the hell out of her.
Sitting in a booth a Granny's Emma looked through Henry's book. Since the curse broke new stories appeared from time to time, as if it were finally allowed to fill in some of the blanks. She found the story of Regina's wedding to King Leopold and started to read. Regina had just been a girl and was forced to marry a man three times her age. Emma wondered about Regina's parents. Had theirs been a marriage of convince? It was really hard to imagine Cora had ever loved Regina's father, or anyone else for that matter. Emma sighed softly. Regina didn't really have any good experiences when it came to marriage, and neither did she for that matter. The only positive married relationship she could remember was the old couple with the dance studio.
"I have a problem." Ruby said as she slipped onto bench across from Emma in the booth.
Jarred from her thoughts Emma looked up and replied, "Huh?"
"I have a problem." Ruby repeated. "I kind of like someone."
Emma smiled softly, "How is that a problem?"
"It's Belle." Ruby said in a low voice so only Emma could hear.
That made Emma's eyes go wide. "Gold's girlfriend? Are you insane?"
"Yeah, now you know why it's a problem." Ruby said with a long sigh.
"There's a man with a hook for a hand running around making Gold's life hell because Gold cut his hand off because he fell in love with his wife." Emma said with a slight shake of her head. "You really want to go down that road?"
"Actually Killian isn't going after Rumple because of his hand." Ruby replied. "He's going after him because Rumple killed Milah."
Emma groaned and rolled her eyes. "You've been chatting up the man with the hook?"
"You're sleeping with the woman with the poison apple." Ruby countered.
"Point taken." Emma replied. "Look, Ruby, all I can say is be careful. Belle is the one thing that keeps Gold human, and she appears to really love him."
"I know." Ruby said with another long sigh. "I really suck at this stuff. How do you manage? I mean really could you have picked a more complicated person to fall for?"
Emma chuckled. "I like to think of her as complex rather than complicated."
Ruby watched her friend for several moments before saying, "So is this complexity what has you looking like that?"
"Like what?" Emma asked.
"That's your I don't want to screw this up but I need to do something look." Ruby said with a smirk.
Emma blinked.
"You always figure these things out, Em." Ruby reassured. "Whatever is on your mind just trust yourself and trust Regina."
Emma raised an eyebrow at that. "Trust Regina?"
"Yeah, I know." Ruby said with a shrug. "Your mother is my best friend and I should hate Regina for everything she did to her. Funny thing is, I know what it's like to be forgiven for doing dark things. So I can't really bring myself to hate her."
She watched as Ruby shrugged as if what she'd said was no big deal. Emma smiled. "You know, it means a lot to Regina that you've always given her the benefit of the doubt, not that she would ever say it out loud."
Emma and Ruby chatted until Granny yelled at Ruby to get off her butt and back to work. Emma grabbed a cocoa to go and headed back to work herself. After picking up her patrol car at the Sheriff's station she started her afternoon drive through of the town. As she drove past the town square she caught sight of Henry and Lucy. They were playing with Pongo in the square by the gazebo.
The moment Lucy saw the patrol car she ran over to it. Sticking her head into the car with the biggest grin on her face she asked, "Emma, can we get a dog?"
"Um, a dog?" Emma replied.
Lucy nodded her head in that comical bobble head way of hers. "Please!"
"I'll have to talk to your mother." Emma said with a bit of unease in her voice. "Where is your Mom?"
"With Doctor Hopper." Lucy replied. "We're doggy sitting Pongo."
"Well you'd better be very mindful of Pongo." Emma advised. "He likes to run off."
"We will be." Lucy promised. She wiggled furthered into the car so she could kiss Emma's cheek and then wiggled back out to run back to her brother who was waving at Emma while holding onto Pongo.
Emma watched for a few more minutes before pulling away from the curb and driving off.
Ever since Whale attacked her outside his office Archie insisted on walking Regina to her car and seeing her off. Since Henry and Lucy had his dog this time he walked her to the square. Of course as soon as Lucy saw her mother she asked her the same question she had asked Emma. Regina tried hard not to make a face at the request. "A dog?"
"Yeah." Lucy said. "Henry and I will take care of it. Or a kitten, I'd be happy with a kitten, but Henry made a face at the idea. Kind of like the one you're making."
"You know Regina, pets do help to teach children responsibility." Archie said with a smile and a wink at Lucy.
That evening Regina and Emma talked about Lucy's request. The next day Emma talked to James about letting Lucy help him out at the animal shelter. They were hoping that spending some time with the less pleasant aspects of pet ownership would help quell the desire. James agreed and that Saturday morning Emma was dropping Lucy off.
"There are my girls." James said as he stood from the stool he was sitting on when Emma and Lucy walked into Granny's. "Are you ready to give me a hand, Lucy?"
Lucy nodded, a huge smile on her face. "Momma and Emma think that all the gross stuff will stop me from wanting a pet."
James laughed as he looked from Lucy to his daughter. "Kid has your number, Emma."
"Tell me about it." Emma replied with a playful roll of her eyes. "Hey, do you think maybe we could talk this afternoon?"
It was a little surprising that Emma was asking to talk. She didn't really seek out moments like that. "Of course. Back here around lunchtime?"
Emma nodded. "I'll be here. Lucy…"
"I know. Be good for James and listen to what he says." Lucy said with a smile.
At lunchtime Lucy was sent off to eat with Snow while James and Emma went for a walk. James could tell that Emma had something on her mind so he gave her the time she needed to get her thoughts together but when it became clear that she didn't know how to start he asked, "What's on your mind, Em?"
"Well," Emma began with a sigh. "See, the thing is, I've been thinking a lot about something and I'm not sure how Regina is going to feel about it, and I'm not sure what to do."
"What have you been thinking about?" James asked.
Emma chewed her lip before saying, "Regina and Henry and Lucy, they're my family. I mean, you and Snow you're family to, but…"
"I get it, Emma." James said when he saw the flash of panic in Emma's eyes over possibly hurting his feelings. "We're a family but Regina and the kids are your family."
Emma nodded. "And I don't want to loose that."
"Regina loves you, Emma." James reassured.
"I know." Emma said. "I love her too. That's why I want something more for us."
James gave his daughter a questioning look. "More? As in something like marriage?"
"Yeah, like that." Emma admitted.
"And you're worried she doesn't want that?" James asked.
Emma sighed and nodded her head. "Her experience with marriage was pretty traumatic."
"Yes, it was." James admitted.
"I mean, Regina was more or less owned by Leopold." Emma said. "I don't want her to feel like that again."
"There is a huge fundamental difference between her marriage to Leopold and a marriage to you, Emma." James said while catching his daughter's eyes. "She loves you, and you love her. You would both be going into this wanting to share your lives together. I think if you talked to her about how she feels about it you'd be surprised at the answers you get."
Emma thought about it while they walked and then nodded. "I guess I'm just scared that if I shake things up they'll end up falling apart."
"I think things are a lot more put together then you realize." James reassured.
Emma took her father's advice and very carefully started testing the waters with Regina. Sitting in Regina's study one afternoon Emma was making a show of going through some of the scrolls and books Regina had that held the laws and customs of the old kingdoms. "Well that's kind of cool."
Regina looked up from her account books with a, "Hmm?"
"All of the laws about marriage." Emma said. "The terms they use aren't gender specific."
"Of course not." Regina said with that smile she used on Lucy while explaining simple things to the girl. "Our laws make room for true love and true love isn't held within boundaries such as gender."
"So it's perfectly legal and acceptable for say, two women, to get married?" Emma asked.
Regina nodded, "Yes, and rather common in certain areas."
"Soooo, by law, you and I could get married if we wanted too?" Emma asked carefully.
"Yes, we could." Regina said with a nod.
Emma smiled. "Good to know."
Regina watched as Emma dropped her head, returning her focus on the book in her lap. Titling her head a little Regina blinked. Had that question been a bit pointed or was she just reading what she wanted to into it? Did Emma want to get married?