I really can't thank you guys enough for all the wonderful reviews! I love hearing what you think! And I'm so glad you all still enjoying this almost as much as I enjoy writing it! A bit more fluff, then the necessary angst I'm afraid!
"Don't you dare!"
Mary Margaret hesitated at the bottom of the stairs at the screech from Regina.
"I swear, you bring that paintbrush anywhere near my face-"
Below, a further screech could be heard. Mary Margaret could only guess that Emma had indeed chanced her arm and used the brush to decorate the brunette's face. "Girls, Ruby and Belle are here with lunch."
Not a moment later, Regina came storming down the stairs, a streak of red emulsion down the bridge of her nose. "She's not getting lunch," she announced, causing the other three women to laugh at the furious expression on her face.
"The decorating going well then?" asked Ruby as she set the bags of lunch on the table.
"Great!" beamed Emma as she came hurtling down the stairs. Paint flecked her cheeks and hair, but could easily be ignored in favour of the huge grin she was sporting. "You guys brought lunch?"
"When Regina organises something, she goes all out, Swan. You should know that by now!" laughed Ruby as she passed over Emma's burger and fries, which had quickly become the blonde's usual order. "Oh, and this is for you." She passed over the gift, neatly wrapped thanks to her girlfriend.
Tearing open the paper, Emma chuckled as she uncovered the bedding set within.
"Regina assures us the colours will match the curtains and colours for the walls she picked out," added Belle.
"Thank you, you guys," beamed Emma, trying to blink back the tears that were threatening to spill. She felt Regina's hand on her leg in a silent gesture of support under the table. It had taken seventeen years, but she had finally found a place to belong.
"Right, now Ruby and Belle are going to take you to pick up Katheryn and a few beers and let me do the finishing touches," said Regina with as much authority as she could muster with her hair askew and a line of red paint now flaking off the bridge of her nose.
"Is that an order?" asked Emma, chuckling as she wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist.
"Yes," said Regina simply.
"Couldn't I stay here with you until they get back?" grinned Emma, her gaze flickering down to Regina's lips, leaving the brunette with no doubt as to what the blonde intended to fill the time alone with.
Regina let out a long sigh, wishing her body didn't react quite so violently to the blonde. "No, you have to go or I won't be able to get these finishing touches done." She pressed a quick kiss to tempting lips before pulling out of Emma's embrace. "Go. Now."
Emma merely raised an eyebrow, gaining a chuckle from Ruby, who hovered in the doorway. She knew how much Regina had put in to trying to make this day perfect for Emma, and how nervous she had been. She hadn't wanted to flaunt her money at the blonde, and so besides the actual decorating things, had tried her best to source the other finishing touches as cheaply as possible, even spending a whole evening trailing Katheryn around her dusty attic and then the basement trying to find a few of her old things. Belle had even had to act as a sounding board for the nervous girl, who after gathering everything together had suddenly developed the fear that Emma might think she didn't think enough of her to want to spend her money on new things for her.
Reaching forward, Ruby hooked her fingers into the belt loop of Emma's jeans, yanking her backwards towards the door. "Come on. We'll be back before you know it."