"Regina, darling, it's almost ten. Why are you still asleep?"
Cora's voice shook Regina from her dreams, and she jolted upright in her spot, staring at the intruder. She closed her eyes, her heart beating heavily in her chest. She was thankful to be woken from that dream, from that nightmare that had haunted her, but it was her mother's face that nearly had the teacher flying off the bed.
"Mother!" She pushed herself away from the edge of the bed, pillow falling on the floor as the blanket pooled around her waist.
"Why are you still asleep? You should be up, darling. It's Christmas, after all." The older woman swiftly moved to the side of Regina's bed, a smile on her lips as she leaned in. "You should go see what Santa had left you under the tree."
"Mother, you know I don't believe in that man." Regina flipped the covers back and slid out of bed. "And you should know since you had told me that he was nonsense and that your hard-earned money went into the gifts for my selfish ass."
"Don't use such crass language, dear." Cora chastised, linking her arm with her daughter's as she led her out of the room and down the hall. Regina didn't protest and sighed.
The older woman bent down to retrieve a wrapped gift, a medium-sized box, from under the Christmas tree. It wasn't until Regina had noticed the green fir did she realize that they had made it to one of the rooms downstairs where she had set up the tree just weeks prior.
She didn't know why she had even put the thing up. She didn't celebrate Christmas, for she was alone every year and had no need to put up decorations. But it was Emma who had insisted that she utilize the tree in her attic and all the decorations in several marked boxes.
Emma had spent the next few days helping her set up the tree and decorate the house to make it more festive, and Regina had to admit, it made the large manor feel like an actual home. The Christmas lights twinkling from the doorways and the faint smell of spices made it cozy and had reminded her of the times when she was younger.
"Regina? Would you stop spacing off?!" Cora broke Regina from her thoughts, ripping her back to reality. "You are so useless." She hissed, shoving the box that she held into her daughter's arms. "I don't even think you deserve that gift."
"Then why give it to me, mother?" Regina asked monotonously, a blank expression on her face as she glossed over the insult.
"Open the damned thing before I change my mind." Her mother grumbled. Eyes, like molten lava, burned into Regina as she tentatively unwrapped the gift.
When she had managed to open the box, wrapping paper littering the floor (which had earned a few disapproving grunts from her mother), she gasped. Inside was a relic from her childhood – a worn panda bear.
She pulled the bear out, dropping the box on the floor as she murmured, "Mother, I thought you had thrown this out?"
"Unfortunately, I had never got my hands on it before it disappeared on me." Cora sniffed, the smile soon leaving her face as she slipped on her stone mask. "I planned on it, but I thought you already packed it up. It wasn't until I was sorting through the storage room, months ago, that I came across a box full of random items. It was buried underneath a few candleholders."
"It's been so long since I've seen him." Regina looked at the worn bear, faded in color with a few tufts of its fur missing, and smiled. "Thank you, mother. Thank you for not throwing it away."
"It's Christmas, Regina. I am not that heartless." A smirk curled on the older woman's lips, but Regina chose to ignore it. Her mother had done something good and not at all selfish. Or perhaps this was another ploy at trying to win her over onto her side.
Whatever her intentions, Regina was happy to have this memory back in her arms. She had long grown out of stuffed toys, but this little panda held a special place in her heart, and she couldn't throw it out. She'd save it, perhaps pass it onto her children – or horde it for herself.
"I still appreciate that you had done this for me." Regina gazed longingly at the yellowed bear, then held it close in one arm as she gazed out the window at the bright, white blankets of snow. "Do you remember when I was a little girl? You held me close by the window as we watched the new snowfall, drinking mugs of hot cocoa… I had the bear then."
"Oh, I know. You never let go of that damned thing after you received it." Cora seemed annoyed with the memory as Regina tried to bask in it, but the flame quickly died at her mother's comment.
"I loved it, mother. You gave it to me." She looked at the panda bear and frowned.
Her mother seemed genuine enough when she had given Regina the bear. The rest of her gifts were clothes and items that she didn't use, things that just sat up in her closet and collected dust because she was too young to understand them. But this bear… Her mother smiled when Regina opened it with a joyful squeal.
She should have known better.
She always gave Regina things when she wanted something from her. That's how Regina ended up with this house. She wanted her daughter to have a husband, she was sure, and a family to fill it.
"I gave you a lot of things and all I ever saw was you toss them aside, you ungrateful brat." Cora hissed, plucking that bear from Regina's hand. "I don't understand why you loved this rag so much! It's disgusting." She enunciated her words, shaking the stuffed panda in front of her daughter's face.
"I… It brought good memories…" Regina murmured softly, her eyes closing. "We went to the zoo once and you showed me the panda bears. Remember how I was so fascinated with them? You let us stay there for longer than the other exhibits, and we went back."
"Is that what this was all about?" She tossed the bear onto the ground, just at Regina's feet. "For some panda exhibit twenty years ago?"
Regina tilted her head slightly up, though quickly lowered it when her mother glowered at her. "I noticed that you bought it… but kept it hidden until Christmastime. It was a very special gift to me."
"Did I not make you happy aside from that trip, Regina?"
"Of course you did, Mother-"
But Cora didn't have it as she hissed. "I was a single mother. I tried everything that I could to make sure that you were happy and satisfied and you always threw it back in my face. You never appreciated anything that I did for you."
"I have always appreciated everything that you have done for me, mother. How can you say that?" Regina opted to defend herself, brows furrowing.
"You do not." Cora drew a hand up and quickly grasped onto Regina's jaw, jerking her head forward. "You say you appreciate me? A daughter who appreciates her mother does not talk back."
"I'm sorry, mama…" Regina remained still, watching her mother through mocha eyes as she roughly released her daughter.
"You sicken me. If you think a pitiful apology will make me forgive you, then you are far more imprudent than I thought." Cora looked absolutely disgusted, eyes eating up her daughter's helpless visage. "I should have known better than to visit you. It wasn't well worth my time. I should have just stayed in New York and not have bothered. Who was I to believe you would be suitable to run my firm when I am gone?"
"I thought you said I didn't-"
"Did I permit you to speak?" Cora hissed, the heated glare that she shot her daughter could have melted the flesh off her face.
When Regina merely sat, and glared, her mother continued. "And yes, I had said that. But I was planning to change my mind and pass it onto you, anyways. Unfortunately, you had just burst your last chance to get your hands on my legacy. And you know what, darling?"
Regina just stared at her mother, subtly shaking her head.
"You just encouraged me to speak with your dear sister, Zelena. Because now, my love, you are no longer a child of mine." The older woman snarled and turned to make her way out of the sitting room. "Now, I have to catch a flight in Boston at five. I was willing to spend the few hours until my departure here with you. Instead, I will spend them with the daughter that I should have kept."
And then she was leaving before the brunette could respond to her mother's words.
Regina bent down to pick up the panda bear from the floor and transferred it to the box that it had been received in. She felt disgusted toward the stuffed toy now. Her mother had pulled the last straw and successfully ruined one of the happier moments of her childhood.
Regina sighed softly and quietly made her way upstairs to her bedroom. She could hear her mother rifle around the guest room as she packed. Why she had ever pulled anything out, Regina wasn't sure, nor did she care. She only kept her feet moving toward the direction of her own bedroom, twisting in the hallways until she reached it.
There, she moved over to her bed and climbed onto it, hand sliding underneath the pillow that she had hid her phone under the night before. She had forgotten to message Emma back before going to bed, but as she looked down at her phone, she noticed that it didn't necessarily matter. The blonde hadn't said anything to her, and it was just before eleven. She was probably busy with her parents.
"I'm leaving, Regina." Cora stopped by her room, her head poking in to look at her daughter.
"Goodbye, Cora." Regina muttered coldly, not chancing a glance at the woman in the doorway. She heard her grunt before footsteps sounded, fading off as they traveled down the hallway. Moments later, they disappeared altogether with the sound of the front door closing behind them.
She sighed. Her mother was gone.
The brunette curled up in her bed, pulling the blankets over her body. She felt so small. She felt as if she had just lost a piece of herself when her mother had walked out that door. Had she finally angered Cora enough to drive her away from her life for good?
Regina flipped onto her other side, bringing her phone close to her. She should tell Emma that her mother was gone. She had promised that she would. The brunette opened her messages and typed up a quick one to send to her lover.
My mother left. You are free to come over whenever you wish.
"Thanks for letting me do this." Emma smiled at Mary Margaret who had been watching her daughter with a tentative smile.
"You said it was important. Though, I thought you had already given your friends their gifts?" She sat the mug of cocoa down that she had been drinking and leaned across the kitchen table to grab the blonde's hands. "And it's Christmas. I can't deny you a visit to your friends."
"You don't have to let me go. It can wait." Emma reassured. She knew her mother was hesitant to let her go out on Christmas day, despite it being after their meal and the festivities that followed.
It was about five, now, the day still young. Emma had received a message from Regina earlier declaring that Cora had left. That had been about seven hours ago, and the blonde had shot back a message confirming that she had seen it and would make it over when she could.
Emma hadn't bothered to ask her parents to leave the house then. She knew that the day was important to them, starting with opening gifts, basting a turkey that Mary Margaret had put in the oven, and decorating cookies as they waited for the big Christmas dinner to finish.
"No, why don't you go, honey?" Mary Margaret flashed her a soft smile and gave her hands a squeeze. "Just don't stay out too late. Remember that we're going to go out to look at Christmas lights later tonight."
"When do you plan on doing that?" Emma asked.
"Around ten or eleven." The schoolteacher answered. "Just be sure that you're home before then."
"I will. I'll even set an alarm." Emma smiled and, to prove her point, pulled out her phone and quickly did just that.
"Good." She smiled and released the blonde's other hand to cup her mug of cocoa. "Are you sure that you don't want me to drop you off? It's chilly outside."
"No, I'm fine. Thank you." Emma smiled and stood up, stuffing her phone back in her pocket.
"You sure?" David came into the kitchen from the bathroom, his brow quirking. "I heard there's supposed to be a blizzard. Do you want us to pick you up?"
"David's right, sweetie. And if we pick you up, we can just go straight from there."
"No, I'm fine, really." Emma sighed and grabbed her red leather jacket from the back of her chair. She had already donned her boots earlier when she had helped David clear out the walkway and the snow from around his truck. She bent to pick up the painting for Regina, that was now inside a large, black garbage bag as to not get ruined by the harsh elements.
"If you're sure…" He wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders as the two of them watched Emma head for the door.
"Yes. I am." She didn't want the two of them to pick her up, even if she were to walk to Granny's or one of her friends' houses. There would be too many questions, more than she was willing to answer. She'd rather walk home. Or have Regina drop her off, if the brunette was willing.
"Walk safely…" Mary Margaret warned when Emma pulled open the door. "You really should be wearing more than that."
"I'm fine, Mary Margaret." Emma huffed and closed the door behind her.
She quickly donned her gloves, a large, fluffy scarf and the floppy, black beanie that David had given her earlier that day. Then she set out, hopping down the stairs to the exit. It was going to be an adventure walking, since it had been snowing all day, and the sidewalks were thick with fresh blankets of snow.
Taking a step outside, she brought her arms around her and shivered. Wind instantly greeted her with flakes of snow as they swarmed around her being, instantly melting upon touching her skin.
"Oh, this is definitely going to be fun…" she mumbled, looking around the desolate area.
Absolutely no one was out, and certainly sane enough not to be in this weather. The blizzard that David was talking about might just come if this wind didn't die down. And if it did come, that meant that they couldn't go look at Christmas lights. Added to that, she didn't know if she would be able to return home, even with Regina's help.
It took Emma twenty minutes longer than usual to finally reach Regina's house. She buried her nose in her scarf and pushed the gate open. Soon enough, she was on the teacher's front porch, shaking snow off her boots all the while doing a little dance to keep herself warm from the frigid wind blowing harshly against her body.
Three knocks on the door later and Regina was pulling it open, whisky eyes wide.
"Emma? What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling Emma into the warm foyer and closing the front door behind them. Regina quickly wrapped her arms around the blonde, trying her best to warm her up.
"I wanted to visit you." She muttered weakly. "And give you your Christmas present."
"Oh, Emma, you didn't have to come today. It's terrible outside." The brunette tugged Emma's jacket off and lead her to the sitting room where the two of them had set up the Christmas tree earlier that month.
She smiled upon seeing it. It was lit up, now, and stood tall with dazzling Christmas lights flashing a show of greens, reds, and whites. Underneath the tree lay a single box, wrapped in shiny, red paper with a green bow on top. The curve of her lips grew.
She was sat down on the cream-colored couch with a fleece blanket immediately draped around her. Regina occupied the spot next to her, arms still trying to warm her up enough to keep her body from shaking. They sat quietly like that for some time as the blonde drank up the room.
Upon further inspection, she noticed that the fireplace was lit and crackled. On the coffee table was a steaming mug, half full of what appeared to be coffee, and a small platter of cookies. After she had finally regulated her breathing, she could hear the faint melody of holiday music playing in the distance.
"Are you warm, Emma?" Regina's soft voice inquired, the arms that Emma had only noticed to be around her squeezed.
"Yeah, thanks…" She turned emerald eyes on the brunette's face and smiled sheepishly. "I know I probably should have waited, but I didn't really want to. I wanted to give you your gift on time. On Christmas."
"My gift? Now, Emma, you didn't have to get me anything…"
"I didn't." She smiled and bent forward to grab the black bag from the floor. She handed it over to Regina. "I made you something."
"You made me something?" The look on the older woman's face could melt Emma's heart.
There was a twinkle in her eyes and a slow, melting smile on her pink lips as she opened the bag up carefully, soon retrieving the frame from within. Then she gasped as she saw the painting, eyes shimmering. "Oh, Emma!"
"You like pandas, right?" The blonde nudged her tenderly, her tone light and playful.
"I-it's beautiful." Regina lifted her gaze, the painting still held out in front of her. "I love it. I love pandas. I…"
"So, you like it?" Emma smiled. But she was taken by surprise when the brunette leaned forward and gave her lips a chaste kiss instead of an answer.
"I will be sure to hang this up in my bedroom."
"Oh, it's not that good, but thanks for the compliment." Emma gave her lover a cheeky grin. She felt content, now, being here with Regina.
"You will always be the number one artist in my book." Regina smiled, nuzzling close to Emma. She carefully set the painting down on the floor, propping it up against the coffee table so she would have a full view of it.
Regina hummed happily before suddenly pushing herself away. Emma glanced up at her, eyes wide as the brunette made her way over to the Christmas tree. Emma didn't move from her spot, instead flipped around and watched as the teacher bent over.
The curve of her bum was outlined by the black slacks that she wore and gave Emma the need to roll her tongue back up into her mouth. She shouldn't be caught gawking, that was rude. Indeed, but that ass was just criminal.
Though, the show was soon enough interrupted when Regina stood and spun around, the package from under the tree in her hands. She wore a soft smile and a devious twinkle in her eyes.
"I could feel you staring at my ass." She hummed, moving to join Emma on the couch once again. "I always know when someone is checking me out."
"You… can?"
"Yes. Call it a superpower, if you must." The teasing smirk on her face was the only thing that set the blonde off knowing that she wasn't serious.
"Uh huh…" Emma cocked her head back and stared at Regina for a moment.
"Open your present." Regina plopped the box onto Emma's lap, an anxious smile curling onto her lips. She looked cocky. What was in this thing?
Emma picked up the box and tentatively began to rip open the paper, earning a few impatient clacks from Regina as she did so. Eventually she had the paper off and at her feet to only stare blankly at a box, brown and plain.
"Box?"
"That's all you get. A box." Regina nodded simply.
Emma gave her a wry look. "I'll cherish it forever."
"Open the damn box." She groused and urged the blonde to peel the tape off the edges.
When all was said and done, Emma had the box opened to reveal the treasure that waited inside. Or the item that had her jaw hitting her lap.
"You put a legitimate dick in a box?" She squawked, but the curve of her lips gave her away.
Inside she was screaming. This would have probably been the best Christmas gift she had ever received, even if it were a gag one. Regina had a dirty sense of humor and she loved it.
"Not a dick." Regina sniffed and pulled the phallus out.
"It's a fake dick, it still counts." Emma eyed the deep purple object with interest. "Is it one of yours?"
"No." A smirk curved her lips into something sinister. "It's yours."
"Mine?" Emma blinked at the object in her lover's hand, which had soon been given to her. She ran her fingers over the phallic thing, blatantly ignoring the snickers Regina gave.
"Yes. It's brand new. All I did was take it out of the package because I knew how you'd react." The brunette watched her; eyes darker than they had been before. Emma looked up, swallowing thickly.
"And here I thought you were going to give me something sweet."
"How about something spicy, instead?" Regina smirked and ducked forward to press a kiss to the blonde's cheek. "I have something special to go with that."
"What?" Emma found the word spilling out of her mouth before she could stop it and Regina giggled.
"You'll just have to wait and see." The older woman withdrew from Emma's personal space and stood up once again, picking up the discarded wrapping paper as she did.
"Where are you going?" Emma frowned and sat the phallus on the couch before popping up as well, following the brunette who hadn't answered her out of the sitting room.
Silently, the two of them made their way across the house until Emma had found herself in the kitchen. Regina stopped by the refrigerator and opened it, dark eyes sweeping over the contents inside. Emma came up behind her, wrapping her arms around the older woman's waist and rested her chin on her shoulder.
"What're you lookin' for?" She asked, eyes focusing on the various beverages and food products inside. Then she spotted it. A carton of eggnog sitting on the top shelf.
"This," the brunette replied, retrieving that very carton, her other arm snaking around the two that were still coiled around her. She kicked the door shut and made her way to the cupboard with the glasses, Emma holding onto her for the ride.
"Yummy." The blonde licked her lips. "You do not understand my love for that stuff."
"And what might it be? This… love of yours?" Regina busied herself with pouring two generous glasses of the nog as she awaited an answer.
Emma hummed softly and kept a cheek pressed against Regina's shoulder as she held her, getting lost in the warmth and each breath that she took.
"Let's just say that it's runner up to your forbidden fruit." Emma winked and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.
"Oh?" Regina's voice was breathless.
The younger woman nodded. "Yup! You're my favorite flavor. You even beat out eggnog. And I've loved that stuff since I was a kid."
"Well, now do I feel ever important?" She chirped, turning around in the blonde's arms to wrap her own around Emma's neck. Regina's mouth lowered onto her lover's, giving the blonde a taste of her sweet, full lips.
Emma sighed softly against her mouth until they pulled away, though it was only for a heartbeat before the two of them had crashed against one another again like a tidal wave.
Oh, how much had Emma missed Regina's lips on hers? They were soft and inviting and tasted of sweet coffee.
It was unexpected to be kissed so suddenly, but that was the thrill in life that Emma had wanted. It was something she hadn't known until she spent enough time away from the brunette and it was frightening how much she had missed her.
Everywhere she went, she swore she could smell the faint, spicy scent of the teacher's perfume, or the whiff of apples when she walked by from the shampoo that she used. She found herself yearning for Regina's touch and her warm, soft body holding her in remarkably strong arms.
And she was so glad now to be in them again. To taste Regina's sweet lips on her own in their fiery kiss that had left them breathless yet yearning for more. And so, they had dived forward once again, lips colliding and meshing in a passionate tango.
Regina nibbled on the blonde's lower lip, earning a soft whimper from Emma as she pressed her frame closer to her lover's, a hand sliding up into dark tendrils to tug and pull. The brunette moaned softly and slid her tongue against Emma's lips before thrusting it fully into her mouth, invading it as she tasted and explored.
Emma hissed pleasurably, playfully wrestling her girlfriend's tongue out of her mouth and back into her own. A smirk grew on her face from her success, though it was short-lived when Regina battled for dominance, pushing Emma from her mouth.
"I want you." She growled, spinning the blonde around to slam against the counter. Emma winced when the action had caused one of the glasses to spill over and the soft drip drip drip sounded as it hit the floor.
"Shit." Regina moved her girlfriend aside and quickly set the glass upright as Emma, herself, had quickly gathered up enough paper towels to stuff an elephant.
"Here, I got this…" Emma mumbled, wiping up what had spilled on the counter, then soon moved to clean up the small puddle on the floor. She watched on sadly as the eggnog was soaked into the paper towels.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" Regina shook her head and sighed, refilling the glass of nog that had spilled.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I mean, yeah, that could have been my belly instead of the floor… but…" The blonde teased and leaned up to kiss Regina's cheek.
"Emma!" She swatted her arm in a reprimanding manner.
"I like eggnog." Emma mumbled, turning the older woman around with a gentle smile on her lips. She lightly trailed kissed up the older woman's jaw, then down to the fabric of her turtleneck sweater, which had shifted after she had moved.
That's when she saw something that looked a little off to her and frowned.
"You have something on your neck." Emma murmured, pulling away from her.
Her eyes had landed on a discoloration that made its presence known on the older woman's olive flesh. She hadn't spotted it earlier, and the blonde had already concluded why that was. Regina had her hair down, covering most of her skin, and had donned a deep red turtleneck sweater.
The neck of the sweater had shifted during their kiss, she assumed, or when she had cleaned up the eggnog, which had ultimately revealed the top of whatever the brunette had hidden there. It looked purplish in color and had a nasty hue to it. If Emma didn't know any better, she would have guessed it to be a bruise.
"What?" Regina quickly tugged the neck of her sweater up as if Emma hadn't said anything regarding the skin underneath.
"You have something…" Emma trailed off as she tugged the neck back down to peek at whatever was there. Perhaps it was a makeup malfunction, or so Emma had told herself, because deep down, she knew what it really was and feared that it just might be true.
And when she had tugged the fabric from Regina's neck, she gasped. The teacher only dropped her arms, her chestnut gaze averted as emerald examined her bruised flesh. She looked almost ashamed as Emma continued to take a closer look at the small, purple spots. They looked like fingerprints the more she stared at them, then the harsh reality struck her.
"Did your mother do this?" Emma whispered, a tentative hand raising to lightly grace her pale digits over the marks. Regina winced, but didn't pull back, nor did she answer, but that was enough for Emma to understand.
"She will never stop." Regina finally spoke with a crack in her voice.
"Gina…" Emma frowned even more this time and pulled her hands away, letting them fall to the hem of her sweater.
"I can't believe that I let her do that to me. Again." She watched Emma, eyes slightly wide and panicked as the blonde lifted the red material. She almost stopped her ministration if not for the trusting look that crossed over Regina's features.
"How bad did she hurt you?" Emma whispered, sliding the sweater up and over Regina's head when the older woman lifted her arms.
Regina wore a plain, white T-shirt under that sweater and nothing else. Not even a brassiere, as Emma had soon learned when she saw the older woman's dark, hardened nipples press against the almost see-through material.
She bit her lip, trying to keep her body sated from excitement as she thought just what she might do with those sweat mounds. With a brief close of her eyes to shake those thoughts, she reopened them to roam over the rest of Regina.
That's when Emma had noticed the bruises on Regina's wrists as the brunette had lowered her hands finally from the position they had been in. They weren't hard to miss, contrasting greatly from the brunette's otherwise flawless, tawny skin.
Emma scooped one of her hands up and examined the slender wrist that was colored as if it were more damaged than let on, but when she had skated her fingertips across the discolored skin, Regina didn't seem to have any noticeable reaction.
Emma could only imagine the horrors that went on in the house these past couple of days. What had Regina endured? What the hell had Cora done to her? And why?
"Don't worry about it." Regina mumbled softly. "I'm perfectly fine. She's gone and these are only… they will heal."
"She hurt you…" Emma lifted Regina's wrist to her mouth and kissed along the contours of her bones. For each mark, she feathered tender kisses, and for each kiss, Regina's breath shortened. "I wish I was here to protect you."
"You wouldn't want to do that. She may be small, but she's strong." Regina shook her head; her eyes ice cold as she stared off into the distance as if in memory. But, soon enough, it was gone, and she had brought herself back, lifting Emma's knuckles to her mouth to give them a few tender kisses.
"It's over. Don't worry about the past. Just focus on the present."
"And currently, you're hurt. Let me do something to help you." The blonde lifted her gaze to meet with chestnut, eyes shimmering with tears unknown. "And it's Christmas."
"That is correct, and we must finish our eggnog… Or get a start on it before the night gets any older."
"I won't let it go that easily, Gina." Emma slipped her hand into Regina's, the other snatching up her glass of eggnog before they made their way back into the sitting room.
The two of them made their way over to the cream couch and sat, thigh squished against thigh as their connected hands sat on top of them.
It was Regina to break their relaxed silence with a cough. "My mother gave me a gift."
"She did?" Emma blinked.
"More like returning something to me, but…" Regina set her glass down and bent forward, not releasing her grip, as she rifled through a box on the floor. Moments later, she sat upright with a small, plush bear in her hand.
Upon obvious inspection, it was a worn-out panda bear, and she would have passed it off for a dog toy if not for the loving way Regina looked at that rag.
"She got it for me at the zoo when we visited it and I had just adored the pandas there. Later on that year, she gifted this to me for Christmas. That was also the year that she had sat with me by the window and watched as the snow fell while we drank hot cocoa together." Regina sighed softly and gazed longingly at the stuffed animal. "That was one of the most vivid memories I have of my mother without her chasing after me with a broom."
"Why didn't you already have it?" Emma asked, curling against the older woman's side when she had wrapped the arm that hadn't been holding the stuffed panda around her shoulders.
"I thought she had thrown it out ages ago. But, as it turns out, she hadn't." Regina set the panda plush back into the box, a look flickering across her face briefly as she had.
"It's a snowy day out, huh?"
The teacher chuckled, nodding her head in response. "Indeed, it is. It's quite beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Emma gazed out the window that she had noticed to be free of its usual curtains.
"Much like a certain somebody that I know." Regina's comment had the blonde's head craning, meeting up with eyes that reminded her of warm coffee, seeping into her veins and warming her soul.
Her cheeks tingled as they warmed with pleasant modesty, her pale fingers curling around the slender, olive wrist on her shoulder.
Regina's eyes immediately sharpened, pointed on the pale hand. Her tongue slid across her lips, wetting them before she spoke again. "But not nearly as hot."
"I'd hate to think snow would be hot. We'd be drowning in lava if that was true." Emma smirked when Regina regarded her oddly, but quickly recovered.
"Indeed," she purred, leaning forward until they were a breadth apart.
Emma's pulse quickened, her breath wisping against the older woman's skin.
"I've missed you." Regina whispered; a tender finger brushed against her cheek.
Emma's breath hitched from the sweet caress and her eyes fluttered as she tried to regain that breath. "I've missed you, too."
"It's been lonely lately in this big house." She continued, her finger soon multiplying to two as she continued her ministrations. "And quite frustrating."
"Frustrating?"
"Sexually."
Emma puffed out her lower lip. "Is that all that you have missed me for?"
Regina ceased her movements and quickly retracted her hand with a wounded look. "No. Of course not… Your presence is what I yearn for, not your body."
"I was only teasing." Emma retrieved the hand she had pulled away and pressed a kiss to the veiny surface.
"I do not want you just for…"
"Neither do I with you, but it's a part of nature to want it and act on it."
"I do know that." Regina's voice was breathless as Emma continued with her soft kisses, lips trailing down the back of the brunette's hand to the dark circles on her dainty wrist.
A soft sigh of bliss slipped from her lips.
"Do you want to act on it?" Regina whispered, her husky voice sending heat straight to Emma's core.
"I have to leave by nine-thirty." The blonde breathed, eyes lifting to meet the devious lilt of blood-red lips.
"Plenty of time." Regina pulled her onto her lap, forcing Emma to straddle her. She captured the younger woman's lips in a searing kiss that tickled Emma in the most pleasant of ways. Her toes curled as she marveled in the heady gesture, a soft groan slipping from her lips.
"I have missed you so much…" Regina's tone was naught but pure sex as she hoisted the blonde further onto her lap, her hands cupping Emma's rump. "I haven't had an orgasm since the last time we made love."
Oh, gods, she was starting to talk dirty again. Regina always loved to do that, and for some reason, Emma just loved hearing it. She could feel heat pooling in her lower belly and her panties growing damper with each husky word that left that woman's mouth.
"I tried to get myself off." The older woman elaborated between hot, wet kisses to Emma's pale jaw. Her hands had already moved to make haste with removing the blonde's top, tossing the T-shirt aside to move to the black bra.
Emma bit her lip, head thrusting back when those enticing hands moved against her heated flesh, cupping her aching breasts, and giving them squeezes that had her squirming and begging for more. "Did you think of me?"
"Yes, it was the very thought of you that had stirred me." Regina breathed, one hand sliding underneath the fabric of Emma's bra to cup the round globe of flesh. Emma moaned.
"What happened?" The blonde asked, her hips slowly rocked in time with each caress that Regina gave her breasts. Oh, gods, she could just come with Regina's description, she was sure. The thought of her lying in bed touching herself had every cell in Emma's body humming with excitement because she had witnessed it before.
She had waited as long as Regina for this. She hadn't had the time to really relieve herself of any midnight tingles and being surrounded by her friends most of the time didn't help with the matter.
"I was bathing." Regina slid a hand down Emma's pale, flat tummy, causing her muscles to twitch anxiously underneath the olive hand. The brunette must have felt that, for the most delicious smirk spread across her lips.
The hand lowered and continued until it reached the hem of Emma's jeans but didn't stop there as it continued to fly further south and cupped the blonde's aching sex through them.
"Oh…" Emma hummed, grinding herself greedily against that hand. She needed to be touched and her throbbing center was not being helped by the thick material in the way. "More," she begged, hoping for at least some pressure to relieve her.
"Oh, but I haven't told you of my adventures…" Regina feigned a pout at her girlfriend's demand and kept her hand just where it was, not at all moving, even as Emma seemed to desperately grind herself against it.
"I can picture you in the shower… touching yourself…" Emma met Regina's eyes, locking in on them with a grin. "Maybe playing a little with the showerhead, huh?"
"I was in the tub." Regina mended and added pressure to the aching flesh between her lover's legs. She pressed her fingers against the denim and rubbed, back and forth, back and forth...
Emma braced herself on the back of the couch, eyes squeezing as she moved hips in time with Regina's hand. "Oh, Gina…" she gasped, teeth clenched. "T-tell me about it."
"I dipped a hand into the hot, steaming bathwater to slip between my thighs." Regina growled into Emma's ear, leaning forward to nibble on the lobe as her thumb teased the tight nipple that prodded her hand. Emma hissed in pleasure, head bowing as she continued to move with Regina's pace.
The blonde bit her lip, fingers digging into the fabric of the couch. "What else? Where did you touch yourself?"
"I thought of you, my love, as I pleased my throbbing clitoris." Regina's hand soon stopped its ministrations between the blonde's thighs and before she could protest, olive fingers slid to the waistband of her jeans. Then they disappeared underneath it and Emma gasped.
Regina's digits had pressed against her sweet, aching flesh as they wormed their way down, slipping further towards the wet folds that awaited her. Emma's breath hitched when those slender fingers found the center of her excitement. Her hips bucked forward against the hand and her head thrust back as a soft moan left her lips.
"Oh, Gina, yes…" she groaned, rocking her hips against the fingers that drew tight circles around her clit.
"I did just this," Regina continued, eyes dark, almost black, when Emma had met their gaze.
"And then what?" Emma shuddered pleasantly when the brunette slid two digits along the slick flesh, delving between the lips to bury deep inside of her. "Gina!" The blonde gasped and ground herself down into those fingers, her bottom pressing firmly against Regina's knees.
"And then I did that, with my other hand." Regina purred, plump lips trailing sensually down the blonde's exposed throat. "I had my legs on either side of the tub."
"Oh, hot…" She whimpered when Regina's hot mouth had found her breast, the hand that had been there previously now had pushed the fabric completely aside to expose her naked flesh.
Emma felt as if she were already about to just explode. She could feel her peak riding up on her and fast, for she had sped up her wanton movements, arching against the brunette's mouth when she chose that moment to tease her erect nipple between her teeth.
One of the Emma's hands found the back of Regina's head as she pressed her breast further against her, moaning and squirming when the brunette hadn't relented with the delicious nibbles and sucks.
"Sh-shit, Gina!" Emma cried, pressing herself against the vigorously pumping fingers. She almost couldn't take it.
"Nuh-uh-uh…" Regina pulled away from her breast, now red from her attention, and licked her lips. "My story isn't over."
The blonde scrunched her face. She was close. Just a little more… "Hng, please! Tell me!"
"And just as I was about to orgasm," she continued, a seductive look on her face. The digits buried within her girlfriend had withdrawn themselves to torture the swollen nub. Emma braced herself, her body tensing as she felt her release coming, her hips frantic in their fruitless attempt to find it.
"My mother knocked." And with those three words, Emma had come undone, hot and hard against her lover's hand. Her entire body tensed and shuddered after waves of pleasure washed over her, leaving her to smile at the sweet feeling of release.
Regina smiled as well, pulling her hand from the blonde's jeans as she came down from her high. Those digits were soon popped into the brunette's mouth as she sucked her girlfriend's juices from them, all the while watching said girlfriend stare at her with sated, green eyes.
A soft pink tinted Emma's cheeks as she watched Regina clean up the aftermath of her orgasm. She always loved to do that, looking like the cat that had caught the canary.
Emma heaved a contented sigh, slumping against Regina who had wrapped her arms tightly around her small frame, her chest rising and falling at a more-than-steady pace.
"Wait…" Emma popped her head up and looked at Regina. "You said your… mother knocked? Right in the middle of…?"
"Yes." The brunette simply nodded, a displeased look on her face. "Unfortunately, I never found my release after she had gotten her damned towel. She is a major lady-boner killer."
"Lady-boner?" Emma bubbled with laughter, her head resting back onto her lover's shoulder.
"Yes." Regina nodded again.
"Well, aren't you cool?"
"I wouldn't be talking, Emma." She quirked a brow at the blonde. "I just gave you an orgasm."
"Very true…" Emma huffed and pressed a kiss against Regina's bruised neck. "And now it's my turn to give you your well-deserved, no-motherly-interruption orgasm."
Regina quirked a brow at her, but Emma didn't pay any mind as she continued to press soft kisses against the bruises on her olive flesh.
"My poor Gina…" she whispered, laving her tongue along the column of her throat, smirking when she felt the older woman shudder with pleasure underneath her. "I will take care of you."
"Oh, you definitely will…" Regina purred, closing her eyes as she basked in the sweet kisses that Emma had given her.
The blonde shifted in her lap, using her tongue to lick at the bruises as a dog would wounds. It was in her own efforts to pretend that they were nothing but dirt smudges and she was removing them with her tongue, though when they remained, she only seemed to try harder.
It wasn't until she felt a set of hands grab her hips did she stop to look up. Regina had pulled away, one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows quirked in her question.
"Are you just going to tend to my neck all day, darling? There are far more… tender areas for you to explore…" She smirked, eyes dropping momentarily to the place that Emma had covered as she continued to sit on her lap.
"Demanding." Emma tsked and carried on with the tender kisses on Regina's neck, though it was that time she noticed the small wince that the older woman had given. With a frown, she decided to change direction and let her lips drop down to the brunette's breastbone, covered by the white cotton of her shirt. She pursued south, anyways, moving towards one of those breasts that remained perky and alert.
Smirking to herself, she dropped a kiss to the swell of flesh through the fabric before wrapping her lips around one of those taunting nipples, flush with arousal.
"Emma…" The name rolled off Regina's tongue breathlessly, both her hands curling into golden locks of hair as the blonde suckled her through the cotton. The brunette arched against Emma's mouth, the sultry moans growing louder the damper her shirt had become.
Then, suddenly, Emma pushed the T-shirt up and reattached her mouth, suckling voraciously at the pebbled peak that seemed so ready to greet her.
Regina hummed, words dying in her throat. Her back arched almost criminally forward, thrusting her tender breasts against her lover's face as each had been pleasure the same, being nipped, sucked, and teased.
"Em…Emma…" Regina choked, tugging hard at the blonde's hair, forcing her head away from her breasts. "Please… I-I need you."
The blonde nodded and pressed a single kiss to her lover's stomach before fumbling with the older woman's slacks. Regina lifted her hips, allowing Emma to push the nuisances down and completely off. She tossed them next to her shirt before climbing down off Regina's lap completely to find solace on the floor.
She grabbed Regina's knees and pushed them apart, a satisfied smirk on her face as the older woman gasped. Emma waddled between her legs and looked up.
Regina watched her with lustful eyes, her chest heaving, and her shirt still pulled up above her breasts. Emma locked eyes with her for a moment, smiling when she did before guiding her attention back down to gaze at the black, satin fabric that hid her lover's forbidden area.
Emma ducked her head down to press a kiss to the outside of Regina's soft, olive thigh. A sigh of bliss left the brunette's lips as she had done this, and when she did it again, this time on the inner part of her thigh, it had earned her a sharper gasp. Emma continued teasing Regina, kissing the insides of both her thighs, slowly making her way to the center of her arousal. She could already smell Regina thick around her, which had shot heat straight to her core once again.
Moaning to herself, she trailed her tongue the rest of the way of Regina's innermost thigh to the damp cloth that covered the part she had desired to please. Emma locked gazes with Regina as she slowly bent forward to press her lips firmly to the center of the black panties. Regina gasped sharply, her body tensing.
"Please…" The teacher pleaded, her fingers teasing one of her own breasts as she watched the blonde smirk at her.
Then Emma dove forward once again, though not in the direction of her center, but to one of her hips. She grabbed the side of the panties with her teeth and drug it down, trying to act inconspicuous as she used two finger to pry the other side down as well. Regina didn't seem to notice as she kept her heated, coffee eyes on Emma.
"I could just come right now with you doing that…" Regina rumbled, which had Emma stopping halfway down her thigh. She smirked around the panties and pursued pulling them down until they fell around the brunette's ankles on their own. Regina took the liberty to kick them off as Emma moved back between her legs once again, inhaling deeply the scent of her aroused lover.
"You smell so sweet."
"I taste sweet, too…" Regina teased, the sparkle in her eye could drive Emma mad.
The blonde lifted each other the brunette's perfect, olive legs onto her shoulders and dove forward, burying her face between Regina's thighs with great bravado. Her hands had found purchase on Regina's lower back as she pressed the teacher's lower half against her face, her tongue sliding slowly against the secret lips to get a starting taste.
Emma closed her eyes, enjoying everything that invaded her senses as Regina. She could feel the older woman already move her hips against her face, moaning her name. A smile seemed to curve her lips at the sound. She always loved the noises that Regina made when she had pleased her.
The blonde hummed, pressing her nose against Regina's clit as she extended her tongue to tease the older woman's entrance. She could hear the brunette whimper above her, pleading for more. And thus, Emma abided, pushing her tongue between the soaked folds, groaning in time with Regina as her absolute flavor exploded on the young woman's taste buds.
"Fuck, Emma. More!" She could hear Regina chant above her, sharp cries echoing in the room as the blonde tried so hard to abide her request, her tongue darting in and out of her entrance before changing position to flick aggressively at her swollen clit.
Regina's hips jerked forward when she had done so, another sharp cry sounding. Her fingers had found themselves tangled in Emma's honey curls, tugging every so often, though she could feel the pressure that Regina exerted to keep her where she was. It was all very exciting for Emma, herself, and she could already feel her own arousal roar to life once again. The ache between her thighs encouraged her to relieve the one between her lover's.
She quickly pulled away to blindly reach for the box that had been left abandoned on the couch and soon retrieved the item held within it. The brunette gazed down at her, the corners of her lips twitching despite the displeasure of the break. Though, Emma hadn't hesitated to return to her previous placement as she teased the pink pearl with her teeth, the toy that she now had positioning at her lover's entrance. Slowly, she slid the phallic device into Regina, earning a sharp moan as it filled her and forced the older woman over the edge.
"E-Emma!" Regina's final cry sounded as her body shook with spasms, her hips jerking unusually as Emma helped her ride out the orgasm, swirling her tongue around the nub and moving the toy within her until the brunette had finally gone limp; her breathing hard and uneven.
Emma smirked and lapped up the remains of the brunette's release, nipping at the tender folds every so often before pulling away, licking her lips, and toy in hand. Regina regarded her with flushed cheeks and satisfied eyes, the lust had faded, but she could see traces of it.
Emma slid her hands up the brunette's tawny thighs, the only noise in the room now was the faint Christmas music playing in the background. Emma could laugh.
"Merry Christmas, Gina," she purred, climbing back onto the couch next to her lover. Regina immediately leaned against her; arms wrapped snuggly around her body.
"Merry Christmas, Emma." She smiled in return, pressing a kiss to the side of Emma's head.
"We completely forgot about the eggnog." Emma muttered, her head resting against Regina's breast as the two of them lay on the couch. She was semi on top of her, a sated smile on her lips. She was completely and utterly spent. And somehow, she had lost her clothes somewhere between round one and round…
What round was that last one again?
The two of them had gone for a second round shortly after the first, this time it was Emma's idea to use her new Christmas gift on Regina for a second time. She was sure they were loud enough for the neighbors to hear.
That's why she wore such a large smile now, probably looking naught but goofy with it spread so widely across her face. They had tested that thing out several times and had lost track of time between each round as they occasionally had a snack of cheese and meat.
But the eggnog that Emma had pointed out had been completely neglected and she felt awful.
"Indeed, we have." Regina chuckled, her sweat-slick skin moving easily against the blonde's as it had rumbled with laughter. "Perhaps we should try to drink it now?"
"Yeah…" Emma concurred, reaching from her spot to the glass that was designated hers. Unfortunately, she was unable to reach and was left hanging. "Oh, well…"
Regina chuckled again, this time sitting up as she did so. Emma let out a complaint, every muscle in her body protesting when the brunette had set her aside to grab both glasses. She handed Emma one, keeping the other for herself as she moved into a more comfortable position, propped up against the arm of the couch. Emma had found her way nestled between the older woman's legs, a content smile on her lips as she leaned back into the warm body.
"I love eggnog." She mewled, taking a sip of the thick beverage. A happy sigh sang a chorus in her body as she took that swallow. She had been waiting all day for this.
"I do, as well." Regina nodded, her fingers combing through Emma's mussed hair as she, too, drank from her glass. "Really wonderful stuff."
"Yup." Emma giggled and relaxed further back into Regina. She sighed contentedly again, her eyes closing as the holiday music filled her ears. "I like this."
"I do, too. It's nice, laying here with you." The brunette's hoarse voice spoke, a hand sliding down Emma's side. The blonde giggled and squirmed away from the hand.
"Don't. I'm too tired." She whined playfully. "You completely wore me out."
"That's what I do, honey." Regina laughed, melodic and sweet.
"How long have we been going at it?" Emma asked, craning her neck to look at her girlfriend. The brunette shrugged.
"I lost track of time."
Suddenly a soft beep had sounded from somewhere in the pile of clothes on the floor. Emma sat up abruptly, accidentally knocking into Regina's glass of eggnog, which had ultimately spilled some onto her as it swashed over the sides.
"Sorry!" Emma quickly sat her glass down and rifled through the clothes until she found her jeans, then pulled out her phone that had been the source of noise.
"What is that, darling?" Regina asked from the couch, using a finger to dab up what had spilt on her.
"My alarm. It's nine-thirty." Emma muttered solemnly, replacing her phone and standing up. She searched through the clothes once again and found her panties to slip on. "I have to go."
"Where exactly are you going again?" Regina sat up in her spot, the glass of eggnog finding its way onto the table.
"I'm supposed to go out with Mary Margaret and David to look at Christmas lights. It's a traditional thing. I don't know. But I promised them I'd go." Emma hastily found and donned the rest of her clothes, as well as her boots and red leather jacket. "So, I gotta go now if I want to make it home by ten."
"Why don't you let me drive you? It's freezing out, dear." Regina stood from the couch and picked up her discarded panties. She, too, slipped them on and found the rest of her clothes. "I don't want you freezing your perfect little tush off out there."
"Thanks…" Emma sighed softly and grabbed her eggnog as she waited for her girlfriend to finish dressing. That at least gave her enough time to finish her eggnog. Though, they'd still probably have to leave soon since she was sure that the streets were still covered in snow.
"Anything for you, Emma." Regina walked over to her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll go grab a pair of boots and then I'll be down, alright? You can start the Benz if you want. My keys are in the foyer."
"Alright." Emma watched as the older woman sashayed off to do as she had said. Emma sat for a moment, finishing up her eggnog before standing. She gathered her gift with a blush, unsure of what she should really do with it. If she brought it home, would her parents ask what was in the box? She could always stick it in her pocket… If it would fit, but that was highly unlikely.
Oh, great. She had a dildo and she didn't know what the hell to do with the damned thing. Why the hell did Regina have to get her that?
Sighing with defeat, she stuck it back in the box and headed out of the room to the foyer. She searched around a great deal, not exactly knowing where the hell Regina meant she put her keys. Normally she kept them in her purse, only sometimes did she have them out here, but Emma never paid enough attention to know where she stuck the damned things.
It took Emma five whole minutes until she finally found them hanging on a little hook by the door. Who the hell saw that?
"I've always had it there, dear." Regina's voice startled her, and she turned around to be met with an amused smile.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to know that you aren't as educated on my house as you thought." The brunette gave her a wry smile before heading towards the door. Emma followed suit and trailed after her like a puppy as she made her way into the snowy hellscape called winter.
She grumbled under her breath at the amount of snow on the ground. At least it had stopped snowing, which was lucky for the Nolans' Christmas Light Watch. Part of her had wished that the blizzard had kept its promise to intensify, because right now she would still be inside that house with Regina.
Nice and warm.
Emma shivered as a sharp gust of cold wind blew her towards the Benz where Regina was already inside, starting it up before she popped back out with an ice scraper.
"I hate winter." Emma muttered as she stood next to her girlfriend, who was trying as fast as she could to clear the snow off with chattering teeth.
"I concur, dear."
"It sucks." The blonde used her gloved hands to help Regina out by dusting snow off the windows, which, unfortunately, wasn't all there was. "Damn."
"Tell me about it." Regina muttered, scraping vigorously at the ice on the windshield. "Why don't you get in?"
"If one of us is gonna suffer, why not both?" The blonde shrugged.
"Suit yourself." Though the smile on Regina's face was enough to tell Emma how much she really appreciated it.
It took them only a few minutes before Regina had declared it clear enough to see out of and retreated to the car. Emma got in as well, groaning happily at the warmth. One good thing about standing out there was the warm car that you would be welcomed to.
"Heaters are a beautiful thing." Regina hummed and shifted the car into gear. She began to back up, only to get halfway to the street before they got stuck. And then she sighed in defeat, her head lowering. "I completely forgot about shoveling the driveway."
"Let me do that." Emma quickly got out and found the snow shovel propped against the front porch. Some minutes later, she cleared what she thought was sufficient and got back into the car, shivering.
"It's so cold." She complained, rocking back and forth to get warmth into her body. Regina gazed at her sympathetically before leaning toward her to give her cheek a quick peck.
"Thank you, though." Regina shot her a grateful grin.
"You're welcome." She returned the smile.
"Now, it's time to get on the road and hopefully not get stuck." Regina pulled onto the road and began to drive down the quiet street.
"Isn't it always a wonder how bright it is with all this snow, even though it's night?" Emma cocked her head towards Regina. "That's one of the only things I like about snow."
"It is amazing, isn't it?" The brunette sighed softly, an absentminded smile on her lips as she gazed at the street ahead.
"Yeah." Emma nodded and looked outside as well as they drove the snowy streets of Storybrooke. She had been so lost in the snowy banks; she hadn't noticed that they had arrived at her loft. It felt like it had only been a minute, and she wished it would have been longer.
"Ah, well." She looked at Regina, her entire body turning. "I guess this is my stop."
"I'll talk to you later?" Regina tilted her head slightly, a warm smile on her lips.
Emma nodded. "Yeah."
"Alright." The brunette leaned forward and captured Emma's lips with her own in a soft, tender kiss. The two pulled away moments later, and she paused. "Emma?"
"Yes?"
"I have… a sort of random question."
"Shoot." The smile on Emma's face never faltered, though the conflicted look on Regina's face was concerning.
"Have you ever thought about coming out to your parents?"
"I… what?" She blinked. That certainly was a random question.
"Have you ever thought about-"
"I heard you." Emma leaned back against the car seat and shrugged. "I'm not sure how to, and I don't know how they'll react." Emma answered honestly. Though, that complication up in Boston that she had told her parents about was something that had given her hope. Maybe they wouldn't react terribly since they didn't seem to mind that? "Why are you asking me?"
"I was just curious. I was thinking about my mother and…" Regina shook her head, trailing off.
"I was thinking about doing it." Emma whispered, looking out at the wintry scene. "I'm just not sure how to approach it."
"Sit them down and tell them. I'd find that to be the most blatant way, and perhaps easiest."
"I don't know…" Emma sighed. "I know I don't really want them to find out when I marry a chick…" She looked up at Regina with a smile, as if that 'chick' was referring to her.
"Better sooner rather than later." Regina reassured, setting a hand on top of Emma's. "You don't have to."
"I know." She nodded and flipped her hand over to lace her fingers with Regina's, though awkwardly with their gloved hands. "I'll do it."
"You will?" She asked curiously, squeezing Emma's hand.
"Yeah. Maybe not tonight… Maybe on New Year's Eve? At midnight. A new year, a fresh start." Emma turned her attention to the apartment and looked up to her floor, noticing a shadowy figure by the window. Of course, Mary Margaret was here to break their conversation short again.
"I should go." Emma quickly muttered before Regina had the chance to reply. She gave her lover's hand a squeeze before removing her hand from the grip. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, maybe I'll come over."
"I'd like that." Regina smiled, her eyes floating to the box on Emma's lap. She snorted with laughter. "Are you really going to bring that into your house?"
"What else did you want me to do with it?" The blonde muttered, looking at the box. "You gave it to me. It's mine."
"You could have left it at my house." Though the amusement on Regina's face did not falter. "Have a good night, darling. And have fun looking at lights."
"I will." Emma beamed and leaned over to give Regina a chaste kiss on the lips. "And you have a good night, too."
The brunette nodded as Emma then opened the door and stepped out of the car. She stretched and sighed blissfully, closing it behind her. She quickly made her way up to the loft, dick-in-a-box in hand.
"Did you have fun?" Mary Margaret asked, immediately greeting Emma in the doorway to the apartment.
"Y-yeah…" Emma regarded her oddly, brows furrowed as she moved past her mother.
"Did your friend enjoy the gift?"
"Mhm." The blonde nodded and hastily made her way upstairs to dump the box on her bed. She really needn't any questions about it, because how the hell was she going to explain what it was?
"What was in the box?"
Emma nearly sunk to the floor in disbelief at her father's question.
"Nothing," she muttered, heading towards the door. The two of them had already donned their winter gear.
"Nothing?"
"Yeah, it was a gag gift." Emma found herself saying, stopping by the door as her parents stayed where they were, staring at her. "It was just an empty box. They had me bring it home anyways."
"They do that?" Mary Margaret turned towards her husband who nodded.
"You wouldn't believe the amount of complaints I get down at the station." He shook his head.
"Can we go?" Emma muttered, opening the door. She really wasn't fond of going outside again, but the faster they left, the quicker that they would be home and she could go to bed.
"Of course!" Mary Margaret cheerfully agreed, finally making her way to the door, followed by her husband.
"Did you have fun with your friend?" David asked as they stopped so he could lock the door. It was the same question that his wife had asked only moments ago. He either wasn't paying attention or hadn't heard, but Emma decided to answer it anyways, and truthfully.
"Yeah, I had tons of fun. But I'm exhausted."