A/N: Thank you to everyone who commented to let me know there was an upload issue. It should be resolved now :)
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"Emma!" Blue cries as she rushes to hug Emma. Emma freezes in her arms. She's never trusted Blue the way her parents have, and she's definitely not a hugger. She stays frozen and stiff until Blue releases her and smiles. "I didn't think you'd come back," she whispers in awe.
Emma shrugs, "I didn't want to, but family checks on family." She looks back to her wife and the rest of her family, smiling.
Blue smiles as well, stepping next to Emma to sigh, "Henry," her smile widens, "You were always so smart."
Henry shrugs - exactly like Emma just did - "I get it from my mom."
Blue turns to her attention back to Emma, still smiling widely.
Emma shakes her head, "Other mother," and points to Regina.
"Oh," Blue says, face falling, "Regina."
"Oh this'll be good," Zelena says smugly, holding tightly to her niece, her son and daughter standing next to her.
"Umm, kids," Kathryn calls, trying to cut the tension in the room, "Let's go into the kitchens and pull out the ice cream!" She looks from Regina to Blue and then to Zelena, this isn't going to end well. She looks to Snow, and sees hurt and confusion. "Now children," she says quickly, ushering the children away. Ella and Thomas help corral the children, Ruby and Billy go open the kitchen doors. "Henry, bring your brother and your cousins please," Kathryn calls as she continues moving the children toward the kitchen, all excited to have ice cream before dinner.
"Henry, listen to Kathryn," Regina says, never looking away from Blue, who's still standing uncomfortably close to her wife.
"But-"
"No buts," Regina says evenly. She turns her attention back to Henry and Tommy, standing next to Louisa. She glances to see Zelena still staring Blue down, one hand ready to throw magic if necessary. She smiles at her sons, "Go with Kathryn and get some ice cream." She looks to her niece and nephew, also looking unsure about leaving their parents. She steps forward and places Lottie in his arms. She holds his cheek in her palm, smiling. She looks down at Tommy and says, "Go with your brother now, okay Sweetie?" He sticks out his lips in a pout but Regina says, "You can have 3 scoops of ice cream," holding up 3 fingers.
He gasps, "THREE?!"
Regina nods and laughs as he grabs Henry's hand, trying to pull him toward the kitchen.
Louisa smiles and nods at Regina. She turns and takes Evy from Zelena and ushers Roland and Kelly toward the kitchen as well.
Regina looks behind her and sees Kam standing behind Blue, quiet and ready to attack if needed. She turns her back to Blue again and watches Louisa and her children disappear into the kitchen. Bramble and Rivers stand in front of the door and each give her a nod once the door is closed. She knows they won't let anyone hurt the people inside the kitchen. She turns back to Blue, who is still standing too close to her wife, and narrows her eyes. She feels Zelena move to stand next to her and silently hopes they have enough magic if things go bad.
Snow takes a step forward, Charming next to her, "Blue, what did you do?"
"What do you mean?" Blue asks, eyebrows drawn together.
"To the wards," Snow explained.
Blue shakes her head in confusion. Her face suddenly goes neutral, "I was helping fix our Jafar problem of course," she says simply.
"By letting him watch the plans in the War Room?" Zelena says with nothing less than full-fledged Mills snark.
"Zelena," Blue says with a raised eyebrow, "Always a pleasure," she says, expressionless.
"Watch yourself, Moth," she spits, green fire bursts onto her hand.
Everything happens at once, Blue's wand is in her hand and magic is flying toward them. Regina barely has time to throw up a protection spell before fairy magic is being shoved against her chest. Blue's so distracted with knocking Regina out, she forgets that Zelena is there and finds her arm alight from Zelena's fire. Regina focuses the majority of her magic at keeping everyone shielded from any wayward magic. She spares some extra magic to send probes at Blue, just enough to knock her out of her concentration zone, giving Zelena a chance to gain the upper hand.
Zelena's alternating between fireballs and orbs filled with lightning. "Anytime you want to join us would be great, Savior," she deadpans, putting more force between her magic orbs.
Blue stumbles backward, almost into Emma ask she stares at her hands, trying to jumpstart her magic. Why won't it work? She wonders. She notices Blue step closer to her but is focusing on making her magic work.
"Emma!" Regina shouts. It's enough to draw Emma's attention away from her magic, she glances up and notices Regina and Zelena standing in front of her parents, Regina blocking blows and Zelena throwing them back. She realizes why there's magic flying in arcs, Blue is using her as a human shield, bitch. "EMMA!" Regina shouts, this time with more fear. She connects eyes with her wife and sees the worry. Emma hits the floor. She felt magic surround her momentarily, right at the back of her knees and she knew it was her wife's, she knew that magic almost as well as she knew hers - well, probably better because Regina's magic was actually working at the moment. She covers her neck with her hands, laying facedown on the floor. She feels more magic surrounding her, protecting her, and she smiles as she thinks about her wife sending extra magic her way. She's staring at the floor but her eyes are open and she can see two sets of feet moving closer to her and one retreating until the room is silent. No more magic.
She stands up and sees Regina rush to her. They wrap each other in their arms, quickly checking the other out for injuries. "What happened?" Regina whispers, resting her forehead against Emma's when she finds no injuries.
"I couldn't make it work," Emma says, shrugging. "It's like I couldn't find it or something."
"Ummm, Gi?" Zelena starts, interrupting what Regina was going to say, "Hate to break up….whatever is going on over there, but we need to seal her out."
"Right," Regina says, pulling away from Emma and nodding at her sister. Together, they start threading their magic together, blocking out all other magic from entering the castle.
"We're going to need your magical battery to finish the spell," Zelena says, continuing to thread her magic out in front of her, mixing with Regina's magic to create a blanket-like weave across the ceiling.
Regina sighs and is about to say something but Emma steps forward, "It's okay, Gina. Let me see if I can find it." She closes her eyes and looks for her magic, feeling for it in her chest. She opens her eyes, "It's just not there," she says quietly.
"Now would be a good time to get it together, Savior."
"Zelena!" Regina admonishes through gritted teeth. She turns her head toward Emma and smiles, "Come here, please, darling." Emma steps closer, taking Regina's outstretched hand.
Emma feels her magic burst out of her body, starting in her chest and flying out of her hands to help Regina and Zelena finish the protection spell. When the spell is done, the women drop their hands to their sides and release a sigh of relief. "That should hold for a little while," Zelena says, wiping her brow.
Regina smiles at her sister and then turns her attention to her wife who is staring intently at her hands. "Emma?" she asks softly, taking a step toward her.
Emma looks up at Regina in disbelief, "How did you do that?!"
"Practice, darling," Regina sasses with a smirk.
"Ugh!" Emma exclaims as she throws her head back, looking at the ceiling. "Isn't my magic innate? It should just happen!"
"That's not quite true," Regina starts, "Even when you're innately good at something, you still have to practice in order to perfect the skill. And your magic will get easier to use, once you learn to control it."
"Well, if you two are done being disgusting," Zelena starts, "I'm going to go find my children."
Snow and Charming nod in agreement, walking through the door into the kitchen. Zelena sighs, she barely tolerates their idiocy, but she knows she has to follow; that's where her children and husband will be.
She doesn't even get the chance to walk toward the kitchen when a puff of red smoke appears in front of the three magic-users.
"Am I interrupting something?" he asks, looking bored. He's not as sneaky as he looks, he sees the way Emma and Regina are whispering quietly and Zelena's attempt to leave.
"How did you get in here?" Regina asks in shock, there's no way he made it through their barrier.
Jafar is smug, "I'm just that good," he says as he brushes invisible lint from his shoulder.
Regina reaches out with her magic and checks barrier. "Nope. Not broken."
"Okay, okay," Jafar says, lifting his hands up, "I was already inside. Can't keep out what's already in," he adds with a smirk.
"Who are you trying to be with those riddles? Yoda?" Zelena asks with a scoff.
"Who?" Jafar inquires, confusion plain on his face with his eyebrows drawn together.
"Ugh. Nevermind." Zelena rolls her eyes. "You wouldn't get it anyway."
Regina and Zelena don't coordinate their attacks, there are no shared looks, no signals, but they simultaneously throw fire and magical orbs. Jafar deflects these easily, without batting an eye. Zelena growls and puts more force behind her next attacks, Jafar sighs. He's under Zelena's skin, she's not used to being blocked out like this. She's usually able to land at least one hit, so far, Jafar has blocked all of the magic thrown by Regina and Zelena.
"Enough of this," Jafar sighs out. He taps his staff against the ground and a shimmery protection bubble springs around him. Zelena narrows her eyes and it takes every part of her willpower to keep herself from stomping her foot and enhancing it with her magic, hoping to knock him off his pompous ass. Jafar pinches the bridge of his nose, as if he were dealing with imbeciles; Regina and Zelena know the look, it's how any villain behaves when they have to explain themselves. Regina narrows her eyes, we are not incompetent. "Do you know why I showed up in the children's dreams?" he asks, finally looking up at the three women across from him.
"You didn't," Zelena states with venom. "You created nightmares."
"Wrong. Oh you are so wrong," Jafar says with a shake of his head, "I showed up in their dreams; it was my link into their subconscious. I got into their dreams and turned them into nightmares," he adds with a smirk. He turns and starts walking around the Great Room. "You know, I learned a lot about them during my time in their dreams. I learned a lot about you two," he says looking at the women still standing in the middle of the room, always keeping him in their view. He smirks, he is getting under their skin. "The Mills Sisters," he says with his hands in the air, as if he's announcing the main event at a circus. He turns to them and taunts, "You've both fallen quite a ways."
"You'll have to do better than that," Zelena sighs out, bored, inspecting her nails. She looks up at him and he is shown the Mills fire everyone with half a brain runs away from. This just causes him to smile even wider. Zelena narrows her eyes and glares before her face relaxes into nothing. He will not get under her skin. She raises an eyebrow, "It'll take a lot more than that to get under our skin. Do you know who raised us? Certainly no second-hand villain who uses children instead of going after what he wants. Or did you forget who you're talking to?"
"I didn't forget," Jafar says, coming to a stop in front of the Mills sisters, ignoring Emma behind them - this was never about Emma, it was always about the Mills sisters. "And I know exactly what will hurt you most." He taps his staff on the ground and disappears in a puff of red smoke.
Regina and Zelena share a look, "THE CHILDREN!" they gasp and are gone in puffs of purple and green smoke respectively.
"How do they do that?!" Emma exacerbates before she takes off running toward the kitchen. "Where are they?" She groans and starts running through the castle.
She finds them in the War Room. She stops in the doorway and sees everyone in the corner directly in front of her. Kam, Bramble, and Rivers stand in their gear, swords out, in front of the rest of the residents of the castle. Robin stands on one side of the guards, Roland behind him. Charming stands in front of his wife, next to Regina's royal guards, ready to protect his family. If Emma had time to think about what this means, she would smile at the former enemies fighting side-by-side, protecting against a new threat. But she doesn't have the time.
She barely glances at the people hiding behind the guards before her attention turns to the left, to the center of the room where Regina and Zelena stand, facing the far corner of the room, furthest from the doorway, directly diagonal from Emma and the doorway. In the corner stands Jafar, with Tommy and Kelly being held by his magic in front of her.
"Big. Mistake." Zelena growls, as her daughter and nephew cry out for their Moms.
"You know," Jafar muses. "These two were always my favorite," he says as he places a hand on each of their heads, careful to keep the staff pointed directly at the sisters. "Their dreams were the most...innocent. Being...protected" he enunciates with a raised eyebrow and continues, "from the truths of this world, their dreams were the sweetest. It was so easy to twist and manipulate their dreams into nightmares. They had the most dreams out of all the children," he sighs wistfully. "They had the happiest dreams." He sighs happily, "They was sooo very easy to ruin. Who knew that two of the best, most ruthless and dangerous villains in history would raise the weakest," he spits the word and curls his lip, "most naive and innocent children. Oh how the mighty have fallen," he says with disgust lacing every word.
"Let. Them. Go." Zelena grinds through her teeth. "Or you'll find out exactly why everyone feared us for so long. You aren't feared by all, considered ruthless and deadly, without earning those titles. And we most certainly earned them. Does the name Cora Mills ring any bells? The Queen of Hearts? The most cruel and sadistic villain ever known? She raised us, taught us her tricks. Let them go or you'll find out exactly what makes us so dangerous."
Jafar puckers his lips and tilts his head in thought, "Mmmmm...no."
"Truly powerful people don't hide behind children," Regina sighs, as if she's the one talking to an incompetent pest now. "They don't need to."
Jafar clicks his tongue, "Your mother would be sooo disappointed in how weak you both are." He spits the words like venom.
Regina and Zelena share a look and laugh - deep, rich laughs that befit the villains they used to be, "If only we cared what Cora Mills thought," Regina says, mocking him, tilting her head with every word.
"Give our children back," Zelena growls.
Jafar taps his chin, "Hmmmmm...okay." He lifts the children in the air, still completely engulfed in his magic. He tosses them in the air, nearing the ceiling before his magic releases them. Regina and Zelena both use their magic to catch their children and bring them to their arms. Zelena quickly pushes Kelly behind her and feels Robin wrap her in his arms, taking her back behind the row of protection. Regina takes Tommy with her magic directly into Henry's arms, safely behind the guards.
Emma's frozen at the door. Watching her son fly through the air, she hasn't felt fear like that since Neverland. She searches for her magic, but she can't find it, she doesn't feel it. She's frozen and unable to help her wife because her magic is gone. Dammit. She looks for a way to get to Jafar, maybe she can fight him hand-to-hand. If she could just get that staff away from him. She knows Charming wished he would get close enough to Jafar as well; it's in the way he's holding his sword, ready to take action. He's definitely not used to sitting on the sidelines, and it's bothering him. She sees Ruby, standing next to Robin. Emma notices her eyes gleam, even from the other side of the room; she's ready to change. If only we could find a hole in his protection spell.
Jafar turns his magic to Regina. Finally on the offense, he takes advantage of her distraction and starts throwing magic from his staff. Zelena blocks his attack and returns fire. Regina spins to see Zelena throwing orb after orb of magic, distracting Jafar from his assault against Regina. Jafar throws a red fireball, nicking Zelena's shoulder.
"MOMMY!" Kelly shouts, distracting Zelena enough that she loses her repetitive pattern, staggering just enough that Jafar found a weakness. He use her distraction to toss her into the wall. Zelena crashes head first into the wall, crumpling to the floor, unconscious.
Regina and Kelly simultaneously shout, "Zelena!" "Mommy!"
"Uh-oh," Emma mutters to herself, slowing edging into the room, careful to stay out of the way and not draw attention to herself but also looking for her chance to get Jafar's staff. "Do not piss off a Mills, buddy. That's a sure sign of being annihilated," she murmurs quietly.
Regina throws everything behind her next blast, standing between her sister and Jafar. Her purple magic, looking daringly red, wrapping around Jafar's head and constricting his airway. Her hand squeezes tighter, completely cutting off his access to air.
At this same time, a soft pink smoke shoots out from behind her, going directly toward Zelena. She maintains her grip on Jafar and turns to find the source of the magic. Her eyes widen as she sees her niece with outstretched hands, focused on her mother. Regina follows the magic to her sister and sees the pink smoke wrap around her like a blanket. It spins around her head fast enough to make Regina dizzy and then it's comforting her as a blanket again. Healing magic, she thinks with a proud smile. Robin rushes to his wife's side, checking her over for injuries. His eyebrows draw together in confusion but Regina's attention is distracted from her sister when she realizes her magic slipped while she was watching her niece. Jafar has regained control over his airway and turns his staff toward Regina, it's eyes glaring red as it prepares to attack Regina.
"No!" a shout comes from behind Kam. A vibrant yellow beacon shoots up to the ceiling and bursts into fireworks, raining down over everyone in the room.
Everyone gasps and turns to look at Daniel, who is staring fearfully at his hands. He looks up at Regina but she doesn't have time to reassure him because Jafar speaks out.
"I...did not see that coming," he announces honestly. No one knows what to do, Daniel having magic is a surprise to everyone. He's the eldest True Love child of Kathryn and Frederick, but he never had magic. Jafar shakes himself from his thoughts how did I miss that he has magic? "Oh well," he says with a shrug. "Wasn't enough," he amuses as he turns back to Regina, pointing his staff as the snake eyes burn red before pushing out two red lasers that envelop Regina, who was still staring at Daniel.
She's engulfed in Jafar's magic and lets out a piercing scream.
There's a blinding bright light - brighter than a supernova - that causes everyone to shut their eyes tight. Emma feels the light fly out of her chest; she's never felt her magic so strongly, but she's not going to stop it; she needs to protect Regina.
The light dims and then clears away. Everyone blinks, attempting to blink away the bright spots in their vision. They look to where Jafar is...er, was. There's nothing left except a pile of dust and his snake staff laying next to it. Emma doesn't spare it a second glance, she's already rushing over to her wife, checking her for injuries.
Regina's down on one knee, attempting to stand. Emma grabs her elbow to steady her. "I'm fine," Regina says, woozy. She's lightheaded but fine. She's more concerned about her sister. She turns, letting Emma keep one hand on her elbow and the other by her hip, helping her stay upright.
Zelena's propped against the wall of the room. Kelly's already in her lap, leaning against her chest, needing the protection of her mother. Roland is next to her, tucked safely under her arm and Robin is hovering, worried she's hurt, but Kelly's magic made sure she wasn't.
Zelena looks up to her sister-in-law, "So much wasted potential," she mutters. She and Emma catch each other's eye and Zelena shoots her a wink, causing Emma to smile.
"Moms!" Henry calls as he and Tommy rush over to Regina and Emma. They quickly check on Regina and Henry convinces her to sit on the floor next to Zelena. It's a lot harder than it should have been, because she's the bloody queen, and queens don't show weakness. But, hell, she was just attacked by the magical equivalent of a deathray. She'll sit on the floor with her family. Roland climbs into her lap as Louisa and Kam come over to stand near Regina, each holding a twin safely in their arms.
"Sooooo," Emma starts, causing the sisters to turn their attention to her. She's standing at their feet, "Kells has magic."
"Astounding observation," Henry sasses from Regina's side.
Emma rolls her eyes but it's Zelena who responds, "Well, of course my baby has magic." Equal parts proud and haughty.
Aladdin makes his way across the room and picks up the staff, "I should have done this ages ago," he states as he smashes it into the stone wall, shattering the staff into pieces. Emma feels relief flood into her; she didn't even realize how much stress she was holding. And now Jafar is gone, everyone is safe, and the children's dreams will be their own again.
Daniel comes to stand next to Emma, standing at Regina's feet. She looks up at him and smiles, "Thank you," she croaks out. Her voice hoarse from the ear-piercing scream earlier and absolutely exhausted from all the magic she's used today.
Daniel looks between his hands - still trembling - and Regina. "What does it mean?" he whispers in fear.
"It means you are very, very special," Regina says with a smile as she looks up at her godson.
Kathryn comes up to stand behind her son, placing her hands on his shoulders, "He's never shown signs of magic before," she explains.
"The Moth was blocking all the magical energy here in the castle. She was siphoning it all for herself," Zelena explained, running a hand through her daughters unruly curls. She gently moves Kelly from her lap and attempts to stand, allowing Robin to help her maintain her balance. When she's upright and doesn't feel like she's going to fall over from her headrush she continues, "We noticed the "damper" here," she adds finger quotes around damper, "when we first arrived. We had noticeably less magic and it felt like there was an elephant pressing down on our chests. But we didn't want to say anything too soon or to the wrong person; we had to be sure everyone stayed protected. If Blue knew we were onto her too soon, we wouldn't have been able to properly protect everyone." She looks from her sister to her sister-in-law and smiles. Then she looks back to the rest of the group, waiting for answer. She shrugs, "We took it down when we finished our meeting earlier."
"That's why Daniel and Kelly weren't able to tap into their powers until now," Regina elaborates. "They didn't know they had magic; they didn't know where to look for it or how to access it. Had they known, Blue wouldn't have been able to hide it away and use the powers herself." She tries to get to her feet once again but finds it difficult with Tommy refusing to let go of her neck. With Henry on one side and Emma on the other, she's able to stand and Tommy never has to leave her arms.
Emma gently turns Regina in her arms so they're standing face-to-face. She looks into those beautiful brown eyes. The color of the earth right after it rains, Emma feels the rebirth in her soul; they're ready to begin again. Emma feels if she looks too long, she'll get lost in their depths. She's never wanted to get lost in something more. She sees the emotions swirling in the deep pools of chocolate, "Are you-"
"I'm fine, Emma," Regina says with a nod. She reaches out and touches her cheek, Emma sighs and leans into that hand. "What was that?" she asks searching her wife's eyes. If her eyes were the color of the earth's soil right after it rains, Emma's eyes were emeralds, like when the sun hits grass, fresh with dew in the early morning, promising a wonderful day; Regina feels safe looking into those eyes.
"I have no idea," Emma says with a shrug. "It just happened. I saw his magic wrap around you, I heard your scream, and then he was gone. My magic didn't even leave through my hands," she lifts her hands to stare at them before looking back up to Regina. "It came directly out of my chest."
"I felt it," Regina says, "While it was destroying Jafar, it was also healing me." Emma gives her a confused look so she explains, "Jafar's magic would have left burns on my skin, it was burning me alive, but when your magic shot out to destroy him, it also reversed the effects of his magic. It was like a cool salve after burning your hand. I've never seen anything like that before," she muses, looking at her skin, still trying to figure out how it happened.
"What can I say, babe? I'm special," Emma says smugly, lifting her chin and straightening her shoulders.
Regina chuckles, eyes softening. Those sweet chocolate eyes, the type of chocolate that melts with just a bit of heat, were molten as she stared at her wife, "Yes, darling, you are." She steps forward and kisses her wife. A soft kiss, a promise of her unconditional, undying love. She feels magic surround her, taking away her remaining aches. Regina smiles into the kiss, her wife's magic is so strong that is reaches out to heal her just by being close to Emma. True Love perks she thinks to herself, smile growing. She feels something poke her cheek and she leans back to stare at Tommy, who smiles widely at his mothers. "All done?" Regina can't help the chuckle that leaves her mouth.
She smiles at the boy in her arms, "Yes, Querido, it's all done. No more bad man."
"Yay!" he shouts as he wraps his arms around her neck. She smiles over his shoulder at her wife, who still has one hand on Regina's lower back, returning her smile in full. Tommy releases her and turns toward Emma, "Momma did it!!" He lunges from Regina's arms at Emma. Thankfully, they were standing close enough that he could easily reach Emma. Emma laughs as her youngest son wraps his arms around her neck.
Regina lets him go when she knows Emma has a hold on him. She turns and is engulfed in Henry's arms, wrapped tightly around her waist. She gasps but quickly wraps her arms around him, holding him just as tightly. She rests her cheek on the top of his head. "I was so scared," he whispers from his spot resting on her chest.
She pulls back and cups his cheeks in both hands, "I'm fine, darling. Your mother made sure of that." She smiles widely as she feels her son relax.
"Good," he states simply, maintaining his grip around her waist.
Regina looks up to find Kam and Louisa holding her daughters, staring at her with smiles on their faces. "I think I speak for all of us when I say, we're done with magical fights for a while," Louisa says.
Regina can't help the laugh that bubbles out of her chest. It's rare for Louisa to say what's on her mind, it's even rarer for her to speak so boldly in front of others. "I agree," she says with a smile.
Lottie gives a shout from Kam's arms, drawing everyone's attention, "Guess she's hungry," Emma says while holding Tommy in her arms.
Everyone chuckles as Tommy says, "Me too!"
"Well, let's go get you some food," Regina says with a smile.
"The food is ready in the kitchen," Snow says with a smile, holding tight to Eva in her arm and Leo holding her free hand.
"Yay food!!" Tommy says, kicking his feet until Emma puts him on the ground. He's running before his feet are down. He starts jumping up and down next to Henry, who is still hanging onto Regina, "Henny! Come on, come on!!"
Henry chuckles and squeezes his mom one last time before releasing her and allowing Tommy to drag him toward the door. "Come on, Henny, Gwama says we gots food!"
Regina and Emma chuckle at their young son. Emma wraps an arm around Regina's waist and smiles at her. "I suppose that's my cue," Snow says with a laugh. "Come along everyone, let's celebrate!" Everyone follows Snow and Charming out. Charming, carrying Ruth, Snow carrying Eva, and Leo walking between them, holding tight to each of their hands. Kathryn sends Regina a smile, accented with a wink, as she and Frederick walk out with their children, followed by Ella and Thomas with their daughters. Ruby and Billy are the last to leave the room, Ruby squeezes both Emma and Regina's hands before following her husband and daughters out.
Lottie screams again. Kam starts bouncing her as he looks to his queen, waiting for a command. She notes that the royal guard has left, leaving herself, Emma, Louisa, Kam, Bramble, and Rivers. She can feel other members of her royal guard standing outside the door; she embowed all of her royal guards' uniforms with her magic, so she always knew where they were; they were an extension of herself. "Yes, alright, darling," Regina says, stepping forward and taking Lottie from Kam's arms. She sets her against her chest as she turns to Emma. Lottie starts rooting around against Regina's chest, "Will you bring Evelyn?" she asks, "I should feed them before going back to the Great Room."
Emma nods and picks up Evy from Louisa, smiling at her content daughter.
"Why don't you go and get some food," Regina says as she turns from the room.
Bramble and Rivers nod and make their way toward the Great Room. Louisa nods and offers Regina a wink before she, too, heads toward the kitchen in the Great Room. They walk back to their room and Emma grabs Regina's nursing pillow as her wife settles on the chaise by the fireplace.
"Kam, you can go celebrate," Regina says again.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, but I'll wait here," he says as he posts guard outside the room.
Regina sighs but knows he won't leave until they move down to the Great Room. She waves her hand to change her daughters' diapers and listens to Emma talk about her magic and ask Regina how she does the thing with the diapers. Regina laughs as her wife decides to sit upside down on the couch next to her and keeps a steady stream of conversation as she feeds their daughters.