That night David brought Henry home right around the time that his mothers were finishing dinner. Regina had ended up doing more than Emma was comfortable with, but her wife remained seated for the whole process so she was following the rules and so Emma really couldn't complain. Everyone ate dinner, listening to Henry talk about his day at school and his project. Once the dishes had been stuffed into the dishwasher everyone got settled in the living room as David and Emma dragged the boxes out in the center of the room. Apollo sniffed each of them before returning to Regina's feet, seemingly satisfied at his preliminary search of the boxes. Henry grabbed fistfuls of lights and spent the next 20 minutes trying to untangle them with the help of his grandparents.
Regina settled into her spot on the couch and she had expected to be alone in that spot with her family working on decorating the tree, but soon after she helped Henry start the lights, Emma joined her on the couch.
"I thought you were supposed to be decorating the tree?"
"Henry and my folks can handle it. You and I can supervise."
"But you love decorating the tree. Some years you have been worse than Henry when I don't move fast enough to do so. What changed?" Emma placed her hand flat against Regina's extended belly, an action that only she and Henry could get away with.
"What changed is that my wife is pregnant this year and can't be on her feet like in years past. I want to spend this time with you and we can enjoy our son decorate the tree together. You, me and the mutt." Apollo tilted his head up and barked at Emma as if she had insulted him by calling him a mutt.
"He's not a mutt and I don't think he likes it when you call him that." Regina explained and Apollo immediately dropped his head back down to a relaxed position.
"Regardless, all I want to do today is relax with you and make sure you don't feel left out just because you can't be up and around." Emma leaned against the arm of the couch and gestured for Regina to follow suit and lean against her, which she eventually did. They stayed snuggled like that with a blanket over them both as they watched the rest of their family place decorations on the tree. Henry would pause and hold ornaments up for his mothers to see and let them have a say in where they went. He paused at one and brought it over to his mother, carefully handing it to Regina.
"You always like hanging up this one." Regina smiled and tried to avoid crying as she held the "Baby's First Christmas" ornament in her hand. She bought it for henry the first Christmas they spent together and he was right, it was her favorite every year. Regina could have hung it using her magic to move it toward the tree, but instead she made Emma help her stand up and she made her way to the tree. Her protruding stomach made it hard to get too close or to move her arms too far above her head, but she was able to reach a branch in the middle of the tree and she managed to securely hand the ornament there. Emma wrapped her arms around Regina and rested her chin on her wife's shoulder. They smiled at something Emma said that no one else could hear and they seemed pretty content to nuzzle each other as they stood in front of the tree. Henry would normally have made a fuss over his parents' overt PDA, but he wouldn't dare interrupt this moment. Instead he took a picture of it on his phone and quickly looked away, almost feeling as though watching would be rude and intrusive.
Regina and Emma returned to their places on the couch and Henry finished the tree with his grandparents. They put the empty boxes away and cleaned up the mess of pine needles and branches before settling into the living room to relax. Henry kept trying to teach Apollo another trick while his grandparents seemed content to discuss if they were finished with their Christmas shopping.
"Emma do you two need anything else for the holidays?" Snow got no answer from her daughter and when she looked over to the couch she saw why. Emma and Regina were both sound asleep on the couch. Regina's sleep pattern was all over the place and Emma sometimes suffered along with her, so no one was terribly surprised that the couple had fallen asleep so early. Henry put another blanket over his mothers and with some work he coaxed Apollo to follow him out of the room. Snow and Charming finished cleaning up and after saying goodnight to Henry they went to go home, making sure to leave the Christmas tree lights on. That soft light was all that lit the dark room and that peaceful glow somehow allowed Regina to get the first full night of sleep she had had in months. Henry knew that Emma would regret her sleeping position in the morning, but even she looked comfortable and deliriously happy as she seemed to have everything she ever wanted this Christmas and none of it was under the tree.
Sorry for the wait and I know it's short but work with me guys, life has been crazy, but I'm still here darlings.