Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Chap 5

After dinner, they all sat down in the living room while Regina got Lily ready for bed. "But I want stay up!" She whined as Regina helped her take her shirt off.

"Lily, you can't stay up because Santa won't come and bring the presents if you do." She replaced her shirt with a mint green nightgown.

"But can't I meek him?" The four year old stepped out of her small jeans as Regina pulled them off of her under the nightie.

"No, baby. Santa only puts gifts out if you're asleep." She stood, putting the clothes in the hamper. "But I'll tell you this," she moved back to kneeling in front of the toddler, "...if you hurry up and get ready for bed right now, I'll let you have two extra cookies tomorrow."

"Five." Lily protested.

"Three." Regina negotiated.

"Four." The little one smiled.

"Three or I go back to two."

"Okay, Mama Gina. Three."

"Good girl. Now, let's go brush your teeth." She stood back up, offering her hand out to Lily, who gladly took it and followed her into the bathroom.

"Mama?" Lily asked as Regina put the child's toothpaste on her petite toothbrush.

"Yes, baby girl?"

"How's Santa get here? We don't have shimney." Regina handed her the toothbrush and she put it in her mouth with no hesitation, thinking about the cookies the next day.

"You mean chimney, hon." Regina laughed. "But you wanna know how Santa gets into houses without chimneys?" Lily nodded as Regina thought of it for a moment. "Magic." The adult replied with a smile. She stood beside the little girl standing on her stool as she finished brushing her teeth and she helped her use little kids' bubblegum flavored mouthwash before teaching her how to floss. "Looks like you get your three extra cookies tomorrow." She said after she attempted to get Lily to go to the bathroom before bed.

"Yay!" Lilith clapped her hands together and they walked out of the bathroom.

"Look at you, all ready for bed." Maleficent said as her daughter ran out and jumped in her lap on the couch. "Did you get your teeth brushed?" The blonde asked, winking at Belle and Zelena.

Lily nodded as Regina added, "Yes, and she learned how to floss." The brunette sat down beside her sister in one of the dining room chairs she had moved to the family room. Gold, Belle, and Mal took up the space on the couch and Zelena sat in the only other chair in the house, the rocking chair.

Mal gasped with a smile on her face. "You learned to floss?" She looked to the toddler on her lap.

"Yeah. Dat's hard."

"Yeah, it is." Mal said. "But it's good for your gums and your teeth." She poked Lily's sides and the four year old giggled.

"And I gets three extra cookies 'morrow!"

"Oh, really?" Mal asked, looking up to Regina who flagged her off.

"Three?" Zelena said with a hand on her stomach. "Okay, if she gets three extra tomorrow, can I get twenty-eight extra?" Everyone looked at her laughing. "What? She's four and she gets three. I'm twenty-nine, so I'm expecting twenty-eight." She joked.

"I'm not so sure we even have twenty-eight cookies, Lena." Regina giggled.

"I'll bring some then." The redhead mumbled and they all laughed again.

"Why exactly do you get three extra cookies tomorrow, Lil?" Belle asked.

"For getting weady for bed so fast." The toddler answered.

"Ahhh." The Australian brunette nodded with a grin.

They spent about fifteen minutes talking about Regina's schooling and even how Lily was doing in her pre-kindergarten class. She worked on her puzzle as the grown ups spoke and soon, her mother was calling her over. "Lilith, honey come here." She obeyed.

"What is it, Mommy?"

"Mama Gina and I have decided that we're gonna let you open one gift tonight before you go to bed. What do you think about that?" Lily clapped her hands together and ran over to the tree, grabbing the biggest gift. "No, no. Save that one for tomorrow. Open that one." Mal pointed before winking at her wife.

"But I wanna open dis one." She pointed to the larger one.

"Trust me. You're gonna wanna open it tomorrow. Mama Gina wants you to open that one." The blonde stated.

Lily sighed, picking up the smaller one anyway and bringing it over to the floor in front of Maleficent to open it. She sat on the floor, beginning to unwrap it. In no time the pink and purple Christmas wrapping paper was gone, revealing a little girl's makeup kit. The overjoyed four year old screamed with happiness as she ran over to Regina giving her a big hug and then doing the same to Maleficent. She had seen the kit in the store with Regina and she begged and pleaded for it, eventually throwing a tantrum when the final answer was no.

Once she finally calmed down from opening the gift, Regina stood from her chair. "Okay, bedtime." Lily frowned before giving every person in the room a big hug and kiss and telling them goodnight.

"Wait, Lily. Aren't you gonna leave your makeup kit in here?" Gold asked.

"No. I'm going to sweep wiff it."

"Oh, okay." The rich man chuckled, as did the rest of the room and Regina took Lily's free hand bringing her into her bedroom.

"I see she still doesn't say all her words right." Belle said after they left the room.

"Yeah, but she's getting there." Mal smiled. "Regina's a big help. She's constantly trying to get her to speak right. And after just one month of me being away, I can already hear a difference."

"Really?" Gold asked, a bit impressed. Mal nodded and the other two women felt a bit intimidated for some reason. "So, what time are your parents coming tomorrow?" He asked Zelena.

"I'm picking them up at the airport around 11:30." She frowned. "Why do they have to come in at such an unreasonable time? That's just when things on Christmas start to pick up."

"Well, you know your mother." Adam responded. "She's an unreasonable woman." They all chuckled and Regina finally returned from putting Lilith to bed.

"What's so funny?" She asked, feeling left out.

"Your mother." Gold answered.

Regina didn't need to hear anymore as she just giggled and sat back down. "So, when's the wedding?" She eagerly asked Belle and Gold.

"We're not sure yet." Belle replied. "We keep setting a date and then changing our minds." She giggled, pressing her forehead to Gold's sitting next to her.

He smiled before looking over at Zelena. "When are you supposed to have the baby?"

"Well, I'm due the second week of January."

"You look like you could have the baby at any minute!" Mal exclaimed with a laugh.

"Yeah, well I feel like it." Everybody giggled.

"Where are you two staying?" Maleficent asked Belle and Gold.

"The Waldorf." Gold answered.

"Oh, it's beautiful there!" Mal replied.

"When did YOU go to the Waldorf?" Regina asked from across the living room.

"I had to meet my agent there for something one day." The blonde stared at her wife as if to say "not now" and Regina glared back.

"That's weird. How come you never told me about that? You usually tell me about all of your meetings with him, because you're so excited about getting an audition." The brunette wouldn't let up and the other three in the room began to feel the tension as they all stood.

"Well, it is getting kind of late." Belle said.

"Yeah, and I should be getting to bed if I wanna be awake enough tomorrow to deal with Mum and Dad." Zelena admitted.

"Yeah, and we really shouldn't return to the hotel too late. You know how rich people love their beauty sleep." Gold nervously laughed about the wealthy hearing every footstep in the hotel hallways when it's late.

Mal and Regina finally broke eye contact and stood to give their guests a big hug goodnight and Mal thanked Belle and Gold for coming and she urged all three of them to get home safely. "And Zel, I wanna meet this Daniel soon." She smiled with a raised eyebrow. The redhead agreed, kissing her little sister on the cheek and heading out the door with the other two.

Once the door was closed, the married couple just stood by it in a brief moment of silence before, "Don't look at me like that. You must know what I was thinking." Regina walked passed her and into the kitchen to start the dishes.

"No. What WERE you thinking?" Mal asked, hating her assumptions at times. Regina shook her head, not answering as she scrubbed a plate. "What were you thinking?" The blonde repeated, standing behind a chair, staring at the back of Regina's head.

"Nothing. I don't wanna talk about this anymore." The younger of the two finished rinsing the plate and she put it in the rack on the counter to dry.

"No. What were you thinking?" The actress rested one hand on her hip and the other on the chair in front of her. Regina still refused to answer as she finished scrubbing a second plate, beginning to run it under the hot water. "Regina...look at me." Mal commanded.

The twenty year old basically slammed the plate down in the rack, shutting the water off, and turning around to look at her with an attitude. Mal stared at the plate, wondering if it was broken before rolling her eyes back to looking at her wife. No one said a word for a few seconds, causing Regina to raise both eyebrows and lift her arm as if she were waiting for Mal to say something. "Well?"

"Well...what were you thinking?" The 39 year old asked again, annoyed.

Her wife snarled, putting a hand on her own hip as well and finally answering. "Did you sleep with your agent?"

Taken aback a bit, Maleficent couldn't believe hearing that. She would've understood hearing about sleeping with a stranger or something, but her agent? Absolutely not. "No. That's-Regina, you're being ridiculous."

"I'M being ridiculous?"

"Yes, you're being ridiculous!" Mal was starting to forget about trying to be nice in this argument as her tone began to resemble Regina's.

"Oh, I'M being ridiculous, okay. Well, um...let's see," she looked up to the ceiling as if she were thinking about something, "...was I being ridiculous when I CAUGHT you making out with my financial aid advisor on his desk?"

Now, Mal was pissed. She brought her hand down off the chair, slapping her own thigh. "Oh my God! You have GOT to get over that. I thought you said you'd forgive me."

"Yeah, I said I would, but I never said that I did." Regina crossed her arms.

Getting frustrated, Maleficent walked away for a moment and when she turned around again, she groaned, "Ugh! When is this gonna stop?" She asked her wife. "You obsess!"

"I obsess?"

"Yes, you obsess!"

"Well, you wanna know what I think?"

"What?" Both of the blonde's hands were on her hips now.

"No, not what I think, what I know?"

"Go ahead." The blonde rolled her eyes.

"I know that you were lying about going to the Waldorf to meet your agent."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah….because I saw your tell, yet again."

"Oh my God!" The blonde put her hand up to her forehead and she began to speak at the same time as her wife. "Regina, this is ridiculous. We shouldn't even be having this conversation."

Regina shouted over her. "You forget, Mal! I know when you're lying."

Silence.

Finally, "Yes. I WAS lying. But do you wanna know why I really went to the Waldorf?" Maleficent's voice cracked a bit.

"Mhmm...why?"

"Because I was planning a surprise for you. We never got a honeymoon, so I was gonna rent a nice room and get away for a weekend while Zelena looked after Lilith." Regina rested her hands on the sink behind her. "But seeing as Zelena is so close to having her baby, I decided to wait and maybe do it another time." She looked down at the floor in front of her.

The brunette felt tears filling her eyes and she looked up at the ceiling, angry at herself before stepping away from the counter, walking around the table and slowly meeting her wife on the other side. She tried to get Mal to look up at her and she gently wrapped her arms around her middle torso, locking her fingers behind her back. She smiled up at the blonde who still refused to look her in the eye as she wore a face of frustration. Finally, the younger woman used her hand to lift her wife's chin, forcing her to look at her. She cupped her cheek in the same hand and moved in for a slow and gentle kiss.