Everyone had been up early the next morning. They were going to Islands of Adventure at Universal studios and Henry was overly excited about visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as was his mothers. Emma let it be known that she was just as excited as Henry while Regina tried to play it cool. She was a little more excited about Universal than she had been about Disney, although she would deny it if questioned, she was a comic book geek as well as a Harry Potter nerd. She and Henry had spent the last summer reading the books together and since Henry had been five they'd enjoyed reading comic books together.
Emma drove them over to universal. The drive was short but Emma was excited that she got to drive bumblebee again. Regina got to sit in the front this time although she secretly would not have minded sitting in the back. She was still a little embarrassed about the previous night. Throughout the journey Regina's mind played over the events of previous evening, mostly the ending.
Regina's brain was working in overdrive. She had kissed Emma last night. Like actual lips touching flesh kissed her. It was not intentional it just sort of happened. She had been disappointment when Emma said she was going to bed and she did not want the night to end but then before she knew it she had leaned in and kissed the blondes cheek. They had said their good nights and there had been no mention or acknowledgment of the kiss. She did not think Emma was upset about the kiss, she had seemed fine with it and sometimes friends do kiss each other on the cheek. She had seen it in the movies. Yes that was what it must have been to the blonde, just a friendly kiss between two friends. That was what it was to Regina too or at least it should be. So why could she not stop thinking about it.
"Mom..."
"Regina, Earth to Regina" Emma said while waving a hand in front of the brunette's face.
"What!" she jumped shocked out of her thoughts noticing two sets of eyes on her.
"We're here" Henry stated.
Regina had arranged for early access to the park, so they got into an almost empty theme park, along with a few guests staying at onsite hotels.
Henry had again done his research and knew the quickest route to the Harry Potter Land. They all walked briskly through Suess Landings, through the lost continent and eventually they passed the entrance to Hogsmede.
All three where gobsmacked as they walked through the village up to Hogwarts Castle. The castle stood tall and detailed and if the Disney castle looked amazing, this castle was out of this world. It was identical to the castle in the films and the detail was incredible.
They made it into the castle in no time. A staff member dressed as a Hogwarts student high fived Henry and congratulated him on being the first wizard to visit Hogwarts that day.
They made their way through the castle to get to the ride. The queuing area in itself was an attraction with talking portraits, life size holograms and real replica movie props.
When they got to the ride itself they were greeted yet again by a staff member dressed as a wizard. He wished them a good morning and instructed them to get into the enchanted carriage that looked like a book case. The ride was incredible and Henry smiled through the whole ride as did his mothers. Emma is blown away with the detail while Regina was sure some magic must have been used to make all this work.
After the ride Henry declared "It's time for some butterbeer!"
"Yes! I'm so excited to try this" Emma agreed excitedly.
"I think I'll give it a miss" Regina added with a small smile.
"What, Regina! You can't miss out. If you don't like it I'll finish yours".
"I don't want one I'll have some pumpkin juice instead, please"
"Mom you're so boring!"
"Yes Regina, you are so boring" Emma added mockingly with cheeky grin.
"Thanks you two, how very charming of you both!"
Emma ordered the drinks "Hi can I have 1 frozen, one normal and a pumpkin juice please?" she asked cheerfully as she handed over the payment, handed over the drinks to Regina and Henry.
"Hmmm this is amazing" Emma said taking a sip of her butterbeer.
"Mines better" Henry declared a big smile on his face.
"Well we better swap then" Emma said as she snatched Henry's drink from his hands and forced her non frozen drink into them instead.
She was too busy basking in her glory that she had managed to steal the drink without any fight from a shocked Henry. That she barely registered that Regina had stolen the drink from her. She finally registered what had happened the second that Regina dipped her finger into the marshmallow foam, brought it to her lips and licked it clean.
Emma wanted to fight for her drink but she was too busy watching Regina, who was now taking a delicate sip of the frozen beverage. But even she couldn't stop the marshmallow foam moustache that she gained from doing so.
"You've got something on your face" the blonde said still a little shocked.
"Nice try miss swan. Maybe you'd like some pumpkin juice instead" she replied offering Emma her bottle.
"No really, you have a moustache" the blonde pointed to Regina's upper lip.
Regina licked her lips and removed most of the mallow.
"Gone?"
"Just a little there" she said pointing to the left side of Regina's mouth.
"Now?"
"No a little there" she then pointed to the right, although there was still some on the left too.
"Now?" Regina asked hopefully.
"Here" Emma wiped the remainder from the corner of Regina's lip with her thump. Regina eyes went wide as she felt the blondes thump on her lips. She didn't know what made her do it but as if on instinct her tongue escaped and swiped the tip of the blonde's thump that was still touching her lips. Emma's eyes went wide to mirror Regina's.
"Mom?"
"Yes Henry?" The brunette answered a little flustered.
"I said do you want to try mine too?"
"Oh yes that would be lovely" she didn't really care about tasting the drink but welcomed the distraction.
Regina handed Emma her drink back as she avoided making eye contact. Instead she focused her attention on Henry who was also sporting a mallow moustache. She smiled at him before taking a sip of the drink he offered her.
"It's delicious Henry, but a little too sweet for me".
"Which do you like best?"
"I think I'll stick to my pumpkin juice" she said with a smile. Really she liked the frozen butterbeer best but she was trying her best to not make eye contact with Emma.
After Henry had eaten all of the mallow on the top of his butterbeer he demanded that Emma swap back. Emma tried to argue but eventually she gave in and handed over her drink as she took the almost empty foam less drink from Henry. Sometimes being a mother was grim she thought.
The trio spent their morning in Hogsmede. They rode the duelling dragon's ride which was Regina's first experience of a ride going upside down.
"I promise you'll enjoy yourself" Emma had said as they waited to be loaded onto the ride.
"I'm sure yesterday you promised similar and we both know how that turned out" Regina said sceptically.
"You did enjoy most of it"
"True dear"
Once they started their ascent Henry and Emma put their hands up in air in excitement while Regina held onto the retrains for dear life. Initially Regina was a little scared but soon the adrenalin kicked in and she laughed and screamed along with the other two.
"So did you enjoy yourself" Emma asked as they walked off the ride.
Regina gave her a big smile and replied genuinely "I did"
"I'm glad" Emma said as she took Regina's hand and dragged her along to catch up with Henry who was running ahead of them.
Next they made their way over to Marvel Land and all of them were ridiculously excited. Regina had decided to just admit how excited she was and enjoy the rest of the day. First they went on the Spiderman ride and Regina laughed and squealed with delight as the car turned and water splashed their faces. Henry sat between his mothers and they all laughed and looked at each other with mutual looks of joy throughout the ride.
As they followed Henry over to the next ride Emma was so happy she thought she might cry. Her smile was so big it was starting to hurt her jaw. This really was the vacation she'd dreamed of her whole life. Regina could sense the deep thoughts coming from the blonde and rubbed her arm in a reassuring manner offering her a genuine smile.
"That was a lot of fun, thank you"
"Thank you for making my dreams come true" Emma said genuinely as a tiny tear escaped her eye. Her lip trembling as she tried to hold back any further tears.
Seeing Emma so exposed, so vulnerable, was new to Regina and the blonde had never looked more beautiful to her. Regina could not stop herself from leaning in. She brought her hand to Emma's hair and stroked it until she was resting on Emma's shoulder. They were so close she could feel the hitch that Emma's breathing made as she felt her breath on her lips. She leant just a little closer, her lips were what seemed like a millimetre away.
"Moms!"
"Yes" they asked together as they broke away from one another quickly and looked towards their son who luckily had missed the exchange between his mothers.
"Hulk time"
"I think I'm giving this one a miss" Regina said a little distantly.
Emma did not try to convince Regina to join them on this occasion. She needed a few minutes away from the brunette and she thought Regina probably needed the same. She was also pretty sure Regina would hate this ride. Honestly she was a little afraid of the ride herself. She did not really have much time to think about the ride as her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the older woman.
Throughout the queue Henry chatted animatedly to her but she really was not paying any attention.
Regina had almost kissed her and not a friendly peck on the cheek this time. She could still feel the brunette's hands in her hair and breath on her lips. If Henry had not interrupted them would Regina have followed through? She wondered. Would she have kissed her back? Of course she would, there was no denying that she wanted the brunette and in more than a friendly kiss on the cheek kind of way.
"Are you even listening to me at all?"
"Yes sorry"
"What did I say then?"
"What?"
"If you were listening to me, then tell me what I said?"
"Erm, OK, you're so much your mother's son! I wasn't listening to you and I'm sorry."
"Forget it. It's time to ride now. You're being so weird."
The ride was huge and terrifying and Emma was more than a little scared. She was glad she did not encourage Regina to join them because there is no way she would have enjoyed it. When they exited the ride Henry was buzzing with excitement while Emma looked green and was walking a little unsteady.
When they approach Regina she went from looking embarrassed and deep in thought to looking concerned in a fraction of a second.
"Emma what's wrong?" She asked as she took the blondes arm and led Emma over to a nearby bench.
"I'm fine"
"You're not fine you look horrible"
"Gee thanks"
"You look green dear"
"Do you need to go home?" Regina's concern was evident in her high pitched tone.
"No I'll be fine in a little while. The ride was a little much" she confessed a little embarrassed.
Regina took a bottle of water from her bag, took the cap off and handed it over to Emma.
"Here sip this slowly"
"Thanks"
"No need to thank me dear, just take a few minutes"
Regina sat next to the blonde and placed a hand on her lower back, rubbing her thumb against the blonde in a soothing manner.
Henry had asked if he could go ahead and look in the gift shop. He soon got bored of waiting for his mother's colour to return to normal. Regina begrudgingly agreed and asked him to not go anywhere else and not to talk to any strangers.
After ten minutes of comfortable silence Emma spoke up.
"Thank you, I think I'm ok now"
"Good I'm glad"
"Regina, about earlier"
"Not here Emma please. I promise we'll talk but not here and not around Henry."
"Ok I just wanted to make sure that we are ok?" The blonde asked almost childlike.
Regina brought her hand to cup Emma's face looked her in the eyes and gave her a warm and loving smile "I assure you, we are more than ok".
They completed all the rides in Marvel land before moving onto Suess Landing. The rides were aimed at children but they were nice and calming for Emma after her experience on the hulk ride and Regina and Henry had been Dr Suess fans since Henry was a toddler. Everyone's favourite seemed to be to Caro-Suess-el a Dr Suess themed carousel. They shared smiles and laughs as they rode together. Emma and Regina rode side my side while Henry was in front of them.
Feeling brave Emma placed her hand down by her side letting her fingers graze Regina's hand as she did so. She moved her hand against the brunettes until Regina took the hint and opened her own and took the blondes hand in her own intertwining their fingers. They didn't make eye contact but they each moved their thumbs in a soothing manner to confirm they were both ok with this new development. They both smiled and enjoyed the rest of their ride in silence enjoying the touch of the others hand in their own.
Once the ride was over they let go of each other's hand simultaneously. Once Emma climbed off her camel she offered Regina her hand which the other woman accepted gracefully. Emma helped her off the Elephant bird placing her hand on Regina's lower back as the brunette lowered herself down and keeping hold of her hand a little longer than necessary.
Late afternoon was snack time. Henry opted for a churro with caramel sauce, while Emma decided on a massive Cinnabon and Regina had some cookie and cream dipping dots. Henry stole a mouth full of Regina's dipping dots, which made his mother smile; however her smile grew wider when Emma took Henrys distraction as the perfect opportunity to take a huge bite of his churro.
"Hey that's not fair" he complained. Once he spotted Emma chewing on his churro.
"Kid I'm sure your mom told you how important sharing is"
"She did, but she also taught me that you should treat other people how you want to be treated. So I think that means you want to share with me too" he said with a sneaky smile.
Regina giggled as she watched the banter between the two brunettes. Emma held her Cinnabon to Henry's mouth while he took the biggest bite possible. She nearly complained but she knew it's exactly what she would have done herself in the same situation and Henry was all too well aware of that fact.
"Hmmm that's amazing. Do you want to swap?" He said hopefully.
"No way kid. Yours is nearly gone"
"Mom you should try Emma's Cinnabon it's amazing"
"That's quite alright dear"
"No seriously try it" he insisted.
"Yes try it Regina, I've always wanted to try dipping dots" Emma said with a smile.
"Very well. Open dear" Regina said holding her spoon to Emma's lips
The blonde took the ice treat from the spoon and a soft moan escaped her lips in appreciation. "That's amazing" she said without swallowing the dots.
She held the bun to Regina's lips and the blonde took a tiny delicate bite. Without thinking Emma swiped her finger across the brunette lips removing some icing, without even thinking about what she had done she brought her finger to her own mouth and licked it clean.
Regina sucked in a breath as she watched the blonde. She quickly tried to hide her reaction by focusing her attention on her dipping dots.
They spent the evening walking around city walk and doing some shopping. They had decided to have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe which was an experience in itself. There was a pink convertible car hanging from the ceiling, guitars, outfits and signed photographs of recording artists all over the place.
They had a booth on the first floor. Regina and Emma sat side by side and Henry sat opposite.
"I got you both a present" Emma said as she handed a bag to each of her dinner companions.
She sat back and waited for a reaction as they opened their bags.
"Emma this is brilliant I love it" Regina said as she held up a red t-shirt with 'thing 1" on it.
Henry held his t-shirt with 'thing 3' on it "This is funny Ma, but there's no way I'm wearing watching clothes with my mom's in public"
"We will see" Emma said with a wink.
Regina laid a hand on Emma's leg and the blonde almost jumped out of her seat at the contact. This made Regina smile but she did not tease too much, just a small smirk directed at the blonde. "Thank you Emma, this really is the perfect gift"
"I'm glad you like it, I worried I might have been out of line getting one for me too"
"No you're not out of line, you are just as much of a 'thing' in this family as me" Regina reassured with a smile.
Emma placed her hand on top of Regina's and smiled across at Henry. How did she get so lucky she though as the two brunettes smiled back at her.
The evening went by quickly. Dinner was lovely. They all ate too much and Henry insisted on having desert, both Emma and Regina tried to talk him out of it but he insisted playing the 'this is a once in a lifetime experience' card. Regina knew she should tell him he would not be having a desert but she had such a nice day she did not want to end it with an argument.
That was the reason that instead of spending the evening on the balcony having a drink and talking with Emma all three of them lay in bed with a sick Henry in the middle. He'd been sick three times already. Regina was sure he was done being sick for the evening but he still had a belly ache. He asked them both to stay with him so they all got ready for bed and each mother slipped into bed with a very sleepy Henry in the middle.
Henry lay on his back and soon started snoring before he said his good nights. Both mothers were just happy that he was sleeping and not throwing up. Emma and Regina lay facing one another a smile on both their lips.
"Good night Emma"
"Good night Regina"
"Sweet dreams"
"Sweet dreams to you to"
As Regina leaned over to kiss Henry on the forehead she leaned up to kiss Emma's also but the blonde moved at the same time and their lips met briefly but surely.
"I'm sorry I" Regina tried to apologise but Emma cut her off.
"Please don't apologise for that"
"I'm..."
"Don't, I promise we are fine and my dreams will most definitely be sweet now."
"Mine too" Regina said as she brought her fingers to touch her tingling lips. Emma watched and smiled. They looked at one another silently with matching smiles until eventually they both drifted off to sleep.