I've mapped it all out, and it looks like this story will wrap up with 33 chapters. My to-do list is taller than I am today, so not a lot of writing time, but the next chapter is almost finished. See you guys in a few!

Holiday Spirit

Chapter 28

It wasn't Christmas yet, David realized as he drove to Regina's. The voice on the radio chattered on about last-minute shopping and holiday craze before he shut it off in favor of thinking. It was as if no time had passed between when they'd gone to sleep weeks ago and woken up this morning, and he wondered if everything they'd experienced had happened in their own future timeline – or even in some sort of parallel timeline – or if it had just been an elaborate dream made to feel real. It had been real to him.

The actual distance to Regina's was short, but the drive seemed to take forever as he maneuvered his truck through the deep snow that had already gathered since being plowed the day before. It was snowing an unusual amount for Storybrooke this year, or so he'd heard. The snow gave him a small smile; bittersweet memories playing in his head of snowmen, snow angels, snowball fights and a dance with Regina.

Finally, he was pulling into her driveway behind her black Mercedes. He was relieved to find that she was presumably still home, and he wondered if she was even awake yet. Glancing at the clock as he shut off the engine, he found it was twenty after ten. She must be; she never slept in that late, even when she'd had a late night.

He hurried up the path, heart racing as he grew nearer, suddenly wondering what was going to happen. His knock was loud; louder than he'd meant it to be, but he'd worked up his nerves and now he was jittery and nervous.

It took a minute – he'd knocked a few more times since the first – but the door finally swung open.

She looked so small. That was his first thought. She was barefoot, still in her pajamas with a robe wrapped around her, and for a brief second, he thought he actually had woken her.

But then he noticed the fresh tear tracks on her face, the redness of her eyes. She'd been awake, and crying, and his heart broke. He should have called her, he shouldn't have waited, and he cursed himself for not rushing over to see her the very second that he'd woken, whether or not she still would have been asleep.

She looked unsure as she stood there, half surprise, half fear and it managed to dislodge the words he'd been unable to speak when he'd first seen her.

"Regina," he whispered.

She took a small step back and he knew it was because she didn't know the reason for his visit. For all she knew, he'd come to tell her it had all been a mistake; he was staying with Snow after all. He tripped over words again, knowing none of them would be enough, not alone. Instead, he moved forward, overtaking her as he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"You," he breathed into her ear. "It's still you."

He felt her body sag against his and then jerk as she sobbed. She gripped his shirt in a tight handful as he held her against him and made every effort to let her know how much she meant to him.

"I should have come sooner," he told her. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up to tell you that I'm still here. This is where I choose to be. With you."

"They're gone," she whimpered, and he buried his face into her hair, allowing the now-familiar scent of her shampoo to comfort him as a new wave of grief washed over him.

"I know. I miss them, too."

"And you were gone," she cried.

"But I'm here now," he assured her. "And I have something that belongs to you."

She finally released the grip on his shirt, stepping back as she wiped her eyes, a new confusion settling there. "Wha—"

But then he was pulling the necklace from his coat pocket.

"Is that..." she trailed off, frozen in place as he reached up, circling slowly until he was behind her, pulling her hair to the side and hooking the clasp.

As he moved to face her again, he nodded. "I was supposed to give it to you when I knew you were the woman I wanted to marry and spend the rest of my life with." She visibly swallowed as he continued, "And Regina Mills," he leaned in close. "I love you."

He closed the distance then, pressing his lips against hers lightly, waiting to see if she was okay with it or if she'd pull away.

Instead, her arms snaked up around his neck as she pulled him closer, increasing the pressure and deepening the kiss herself, opening her mouth to him a moment later, not letting him stop until she was completely out of breath and even then only parting enough to suck in a quick small breath.

All David could think was finally. He'd wanted to kiss this woman so badly, and now that he had, he wondered how any kiss before this had felt like anything at all. It was warm and familiar and right. It was passion and love and electricity and life, and he decided he'd never felt more alive than he did right in that moment kissing Regina.

Her hands moved up into his hair as his slipped under the fabric of her robe, pulling the tie loose as he wrapped them around her waist and gripped her hips. She let out a small moan when he gave them a squeeze and then finally broke their kiss, resting his forehead against hers as she felt his panting breaths across her cheek.

"I love you," he told her again. "And I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

She bit her lip, a vulnerable grin playing at her lips. "I love you, too," she said quietly.

He tilted his head to kiss her again, letting it go on for a minute and enjoying every second of it. She'd been so resistant to the idea that he'd want her and a life together when the spell was in place, and he couldn't believe how much she'd come around now, but he wasn't going to waste a single minute of their time together not continuing to prove how much he meant it. He didn't ever want her to have a chance to doubt what she meant to him.

"I can't wait to marry you," he told her.

She laughed. "That's still a ways off, I think," she replied. "Technically we haven't even dated yet."

He kissed her again and then hummed. "Doesn't matter. I already know what being married to you is like, and I can't wait. If it's tomorrow or years from now, as long as I can be with you, I have no complaints."

"What about Snow?" she breathed, insecurity slipping in again, but David shook his head.

"Over. We haven't talked about arrangements yet, or the legality of any of it, but she knows where I am right now and why."

"She does? And she's not breaking down my door?" Regina actually peeked over his shoulder at the front door, expecting an angry Snow to come bursting in at any second, demanding her husband back and accusing Regina of all kinds of manipulations and wrong-doings.

"No," he told her as she raised an eyebrow at him. "But Henry asked to come along."

"He did?"

It hurt him to hear the surprise in her voice. "Of course, Regina. He loves you; he was as upset by all of this as I was."

"But he's not here," she pointed out.

"Well, no. I told him he could see you later today. I wanted to talk to you first, and I think given the way this morning has turned out, it worked out that he wasn't here to witness it."

She laughed and bit her lip, though this time there was no hesitancy about it as she leaned in, a sultry look on her face. "You might be right," she agreed. Her hands slipped under his shirt as she moved them up his chest, standing on tip toe to claim his lips once more. "What were you thinking—" she started, struggling to stop kissing him long enough to speak, "going outside with only a t-shirt and jacket in this weather?" She inhaled sharply as he moved to kiss just under her ear. "It's practically blizzarding out there," she added breathily.

"I was in a bit of a hurry," he replied, dragging kisses all the way down to her collar bone before moving back to her mouth. "I guess you'll just have to think of a way to warm me up."

She raised an eyebrow, a judgmental look on her face as she asked, "Really?" but then he was back kissing just there along her neck and she let out a low moan. "I'm sure I could think of something."

She dragged her nails across the back of his neck as he lifted his hands to work the buttons open on her pajama top, starting with the top one.

"Okay," she conceded, voice hitching. "I'm beginning to appreciate your minimal layers. In fact," she tugged the hem of his shirt, "I think you might be wearing too many as it is."

He pulled back from her so he could hastily slip out of the jacket, pull the shirt over his head and fling it off to the side. "Better?"

"A little," she smirked. "But now I'm the one who's overdressed. Are you going to help me take these off or not?"

"There's nothing I'd love more. But first, there's something I was hoping you might put on?"

"Oh?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"You wouldn't happen to have those reading glasses, would you?"

"Hmmm. It is still early, and this low light is starting to affect my vision. Too bad I left them on the nightstand." She laughed when he actually pouted. "I guess we'll just have to go get them," she said, grinning.

He was right behind her on the stairs.