I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED LAST CHAPTER. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO READ/REVIEWED! SORRY ABOUT THIS TAKING SO LONG TO GET UP. I WOULD HAVE HAD IT UP SOONER IF MY ACCOUNT HADN'T GOTTEN SUSPENDED DUE TO A GROUP CALLED THE "ELIMINATORS". ANNOYING.
DON'T OWN ONCE UPON A TIME OR ITS CHARACTERS.
"Thank Gods." Red muttered, jumping off the couch to take the lasagna from her grandmother. She whispered to the older woman, "Between the tension because of Regina and Emma threatening to do something to us if we don't start being nice to Regina, I thought the place was going to explode or something." Then, louder, "Snowing, where do you guys want these?"
"Snowing!" Henry laughed. "I told you guys people liked your shipper name."
"Counter's fine, thanks, Red." Snow called back. Regina actually smiled seeing her family so happy.
"So." Red bounded back and slid onto the couch next to Emma, "Spill on her name."
"We haven't decided… or really talked about it."
"She's not telling, Red." Snow said.
"I'm hungry." Henry interjected.
"I second that." It took the blonde a few tries to get off of the plush couch due to the baby bump.
"It's only going to get harder." Her mother smirked. Ignoring her, Emma took her son's hand and led him to the kitchen.
"When she wants something, it's best to give it to her. I say we eat." Graham said quietly so his wife wouldn't hear.
"Graham!" Red whistled with a grin. Realizing his horrible word choice, the huntsman's face tinged pink, but he couldn't stop the sly smile from forming across his face. He was hot, there was no sense in denying it.
"I heard that!" Emma called from the kitchen, serving herself a large slice of Granny's lasagna. "And they say I'm the uneloquent one."
"That's not a word, Dear." Regina said, following Emma's lead and helping herself to the lasagna. "But nice try."
"I still get my point across." The other woman shrugged.
"Mhm." Graham nuzzled her neck.
"Oh, by the way, I do have a question." Regina said.
"Yeah?"
"Can Daniel come? I wasn't sure how your parents or you or anyone would feel about it, so…"
"Regina, he's family. Sure, we don't know him very well but he's your husband–"
"We're not married."
"I don't care. Paperwork doesn't mean anything. My point is that he's Henry's adoptive father… sort of… I think… either way, like I said, he's family. You deserve to be happy. So transport his ass over here." Emma commanded. A beaming Regina did as told.
"How'd I..?" Daniel looked around at his new surroundings.
"Daniel." Snow breathed. To make sure where wasn't going to be a confrontation, Regina said,
"This lasagna's really good, Mrs. Lucas."
"Granny." Granny smiled. "It's what everyone else calls me."
"Hey, Daniel, want some lasagna?" Henry asked. "Granny makes the be– well, Mom –I mean Regina, does, too. They're both good. Emma definitely doesn't make the best lasagna."
"Hey, Kid, I heard that."
"Sure." Daniel smiled, walking to Henry. "That would be great, thank you." Henry served his adoptive father some of the noodley goodness and sat back down across from him. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah." The teenager agreed.
"Hey, has anyone seen Boston?" Emma asked, her eyes scanning the room for the little dog.
"No…" Snow said slowly, then sighed. "You lost him, didn't you?"
"I didn't lose him, I just misplaced him." The blonde shot out of a chair at the table and began franticly calling her dog's name, checking under all the furniture. "I don't know how he does with a lot of people because we haven't had any big parties… Boston!"
"Emma, calm down." Snow placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "He couldn't have left the castle, we'll find him."
"My point exactly. This a freaking castle, Mom, and he's a tiny dog."
"She's right, Emma." James said. "We have a knack for finding things in this family. We'll find him." He promised.
"Did you check his crate?" Ella suggested.
"He doesn't like it in there." The blonde shook her head.
"But he knows he's safe in there." The other blonde continued. "Lexi doesn't like her bed because she associates that with having to go to bed –no more playing– but she feels safe in there." For the first time since she started to show, Emma tried to run. It ended as a humiliating waddle. Her friends and family laughed, so despite herself, she did, too. She resorted to speed walking to Boston's crate where, sure enough, the little ball of fluff was sleeping peacefully.
"You just about gave me a heart attack." She whispered to the sleeping dog. Finally able to relax for the first time that day, she took in the decorations with awestruck face. "Wow, you and Dad really went all out." She said as she walked back into the living room.
"Only the best for our baby girl." James smiled, looping an arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head on him.
"Everything's beautiful and perfect, so thanks. Really guys, I mean it."
"I second that." Graham held his glass of sparkling water (because they decided there wouldn't be any alcohol at the party) and stood up. "I want to make a toast to my amazing, beautiful wife and her charming parents, as well as to our son, who always makes light out of every situation. And to our daughter, who though isn't here yet, is loved beyond words. I wake up every day wondering how I got such an incredible family. I can't wait for the many adventures that await me in the caring for a newborn department, including the thinning hair and dark circles under my eyes. To our daughter!" Everyone clapped and clinked glasses, and Emma was somehow heard over the din,
"I'm not letting his hair fall out! That's not happening!" The laughter died down, and Henry piped up,
"Can we have cake, Grandma?"
"In a little bit, Henry, you just ate." Snow answered.
"He has his mother's appetite." James quipped, earning a whack from Emma.
"Actually, he's a growing teenage boy." The blonde responded. "And I'm eating for two."
"How about Emma and Graham open their presents, then we can have cake?" The brunette mediated.
"Okay." Henry sat back down on the couch in between the soon-to-be parents.
"We didn't even need a baby shower considering all of our wedding presents were baby things…" Emma muttered, then added more loudly, "Which was hilarious. And kind of disturbing. But thank you. All of it was really cute." The guests muttered 'your welcomes'. "So I guess onto these?"
"Hey, Mom?" When both Regina and Emma acknowledged his words, they grumbled.
"We need to come up with a system." The blonde said. "Cause this isn't working."
"I'm obviously 'Mom'." Regina said.
"I gave birth to him!" Emma protested.
"I raised him."
"Regina: twenty four hour labor with no epidural. I win." She annunciated every word.
"A whole day and no epidural?" Even Regina had to admit that she had a whole new level of respect for her former nemesis. "Yeah, you win. I'll be Mommy."
"I'm fifteen." Henry pointed out.
"You called me that until you were five."
"You told me to stop, that I was too old." Henry said.
"You what?" Emma redirected her attention from her son to Regina.
"I didn't want him to get made fun of." The brunette shrugged. "In hindsight, I see the problem with that theory. Fine. What do you want to call me?"
"I don't know. Don't I usually whine at Emma?"
"Now I'm back to Emma?"
"Guys!" Snow cut in. "You're both 'Mom', but when you're together he calls you by your names. That's fair."
"I suppose it is." Regina nodded.
"Fine." Emma rolled her eyes, which then dropped to the pile of presents on the floor. "Hey, Kid, why don't you help your dad and I open 'em?"
"Okay!" Henry beamed, going for a medium-sized box. He tore the pink wrapping paper off, then searched the new pile for a card, frowned when he couldn't find one, shrugged, and opened the white box. "It's a… crown?"
"Tiara." Snow corrected with a smile. "It was my grandmother's, my mother's, mine, supposed to be Emma's, and now my granddaughter's."
"Wait." The blonde cut in. "Why can't I have it?"
"You want it?" The room said in unison.
"It's a family heirloom… I meant, you know, the fact that I got skipped over. Cause no, I don't want a tiara."
"I didn't think you would, that's why." Snow said. "But if you want it–"
"I don't." Emma assured her. "I'll take a… sword or something… from Dad's side…"
"But our daughter will love it." Graham gingerly took the tiara from Henry's hands and examined it.
"And this." Excitedly, James shoved the largest box to them. "Someone other than Henry should open it."
"Is it candy? Cause Graham probably should if it is…"
"Nope." The smile had not left James' face.
"Alrighty. On three, Babe?"
"Seriously?" With a sigh, the blonde ripped her half of the wrapping paper –yellow– off and Graham did the same. "You're way too into this team thing. It's a sword. You're giving our daughter a sword? My daughter who's going to be a baby? I didn't even let Henry use one till–"
"Calm down." Graham rubbed her shoulders. "She'll grow up with this stuff. Henry didn't, and he's almost a pro. Your dad would never do anything to endanger her. We'll be careful. Besides, weren't you the one who said she's going to get the best of both worlds?"
"Yeah, I did. I guess I just never considered how much I'm going to worry. Not that I don't worry about Henry, just… he's fifteen and he had a good, solid foundation of smartness to build upon." She glanced at Regina. "This one's gonna be different."
"Emma." Ella shot her friend a warm smile. "Worrying is the hardest part of being a parent. Every parent makes mistakes."
"But all that matters is that mamas and papas love their kids." Alexandra bounced up and down happily, her straw-berry blonde curls moving with her.
"She's right. They're both right." Red said.
"My intention wasn't to let her use the sword as soon as she can walk." James said, walking around behind the couch to rub his daughter's shoulders. "That's what the wooden training ones are for."
"You have fun with that." Emma tilted her head back to look at James.
"This one's from Mom– Regina." Henry tripped over his words, handing his blonde mother a square box.
"Okay." Emma opened the purple-encompassed package, then frowned. "All I see is a bunch of colorful rods and… curled rods."
"It's a baby bouncer." Regina said without the air of annoyance everyone expected. "It was a great help with Henry when he was little and I'd have paperwork." At her son's biological mother's still confused stare, she elaborated. "You stick the baby in it, and she'll be able to walk with the aid of it. She can go wherever she wants –put up baby gates– and it'll entertain her. Far more efficient than crawling. Oh, and it was Henry's."
"I used to fit into that?" The boy asked incredulously.
"You used to fit into one of my arms." Emma replied before Regina could. "By the time Mom number two got her hands on you, you were probably a little bit bigger than when I had you."
"Wow. Are all babies that small?" Oh, how Regina and Emma cherished moments like these when their son still seemed young.
"You were actually pretty big." Emma scoffed. "All eight freaking pounds of you."
"And here I thought foster family he was staying with until I adopted him overfed him…"
"Nope, he was a big baby. I'm hoping Graham has a better gene pool, size wize."
"I have an awesome gene pool." The man in question declared with a proud smile.
"O–kay." Red said in a sing-song voice. "You should open me and Granny's next. You'll love it."
"Your turn to unwrap." Emma handed her husband a box after she checked to make sure it was from Red. Slowly, to build the tension, Graham peeled back the red paper. He chuckled when he lifted the lid. "A bow and arrow?"
"Crossbow." Granny corrected. "There's a difference."
"Wow, guys, when I said she's gonna be a badass, I didn't think you'd all take it so literally."
"That's a nice one." Snow admired the workmanship. "The wood's beautiful."
"I mean, yeah, it's pretty… but a sword and a crossbow? Overkill much?"
"Like you aren't going to teach her how to use a gun." Graham laughed. "Or punch people in the face." And just like that, his goofy grin inspired one on Emma, and they got lost in each other's eyes.
"Okay!" Regina clapped once, breaking the gaze. "You two are doing that creepy thing your parents do."
"It's not creepy!" Snow insisted, and James nodded vigorously in agreement.
"I'm sure you and Daniel do the same thing."
"We missed time." Daniel justified.
"So did all of–" Before James could argue any further, Emma broke in,
"And this last one's from Ella and Thomas and Lexi. Lexi, would you like to do the honors?" She handed the small box to the girl.
"Sure." Alexandra chirped, smirking because she already knew what it was. She finished unwrapping it and handed the box back to Emma. "It's a charm bracelet." She declared. "Each year you add a new charm on."
"That's a good idea." Graham smiled, his thumb running over the single charm that was sitting in a tiny plastic bag separate from the silver bracelet.
"It's the infinity symbol." Emma noted.
"Because she'll be loved forever." Ella smiled.
"That she will." Graham agreed. "Thank you all, this was really sweet of you."
"Yeah. What he said."
"Now that that's done…" Red smirked, "who's the lucky godmother and godfather?"
"Uh, we haven't really talked about it…" The blonde exchanged a glance with Graham.
"But we might have an idea."
"We do?"
"Emma." They had a silent eye conversation, causing Regina to scoff.
"More like her mother every day…"
"I agree, that's creepy." Emma said. "I guess we do have an idea… wait, you want me to decide?" So much for silent.
"Dear Gods, you are clueless." Red said. "We all know you'll get what you want anyway, Emma."
"But she's Graham's daughter, too, he gets a say."
"My say is your say."
"In five months, remember those words please." With that, Emma angled her body to readdress the room. All eyes on her once again, she clammed up, stuttering as she said, "If you want to, um… Regina, but I total understand if, you know, you don't want to cause of the whole family feud thing and–"
"Really, me?" The brunette's face lit up.
"Well, we already share Henry and… you know, you didn't screw him up."
"I'd love to. If your parents are okay with it."
"We're happy to add you to the family in another way." James smiled. Getting all the conformation she needed, Regina bolted to Emma and hugged her.
"Thank you." She whispered.