13.

The warm morning sun poured in through the open blinds above the queen sided bed. Emma slowly became aware that her skin was becoming sticky. Without opening her eyes, she pushed the blanket from her body. As she did so, she realized that there was pressure on her arm and that the sticky she was feeling was all over that particular arm. Peeking through half lidded eyes, Emma found herself focusing on the source of the pressure; a little red mess of hair.

Once it hit her, Emma's eyes shot wide open. "Oh god," she mumbled.

She reached behind her and began tapping Regina's arm. "Regina? Hey," she called quietly.

When no reply was given, she began tapping harder. "Regina! We have a situation over here," she said a little louder.

A burning hot arm snaked it's way around her waist. "Situation, you say? Are you dying without my fingers in your…"

"Shut up damn it, there is a kid in the bed," Emma interrupted quickly.

Regina shot straight up, sending the sheet that once concealed her bare chest, falling around her stomach. "Excuse me?!" She growled, looking over her bed partner.

Her eyes fell on the sleeping boy cuddled up to the blonde. "Oliver," she said in conformation. Suddenly, she was oddly aware of her exposed skin. "Don't wake him," she whispered.

"Oh really?! I thought I would just shake him until he looked up to see us both fucking naked," Emma whispered hurriedly.

"Well, don't… I'll be right back." Gently, Regina scooted off the bed with a sheet wrapped over her skin. She did a silent, mad dash into the attached bathroom, leaving her snoring son to breathe sleeping baby stink breath into Emma's face.

After a few minutes, the brunette entered the bedroom clad in red silk pants and a black camisole. As she approached the side of the bed where her son was, she whispered to Emma. "I'm going to move him off of you. Put clothes on."

"Ya think?" Emma shot back. Carefully she pulled her arm out from under the drooling boy's head. She made it to the end of the bed when a high pitched whimper froze her and the brunette in their tracks. They both stared at the boy while posing awkwardly. After a moment, Emma looked to the boy's mother. Regina nodded to confirm that he was still asleep. In thirty seconds flat, the blonde was standing at the bottom of the bed, fully clothed in yesterday's outfit.

"I'll take him back to his room," Regina said softly, reaching down to the sleeping boy.

"No." Emma snapped. "We are already awake. Let the kid sleep."

"Fine but not pasted nine o'clock."

"Oh so you are one of those people," Emma said flatly, bringing her hands to rest on her hips.

"I'm sorry, what people?" asked the brunette as she pulled a fresh blanket from a drawer.

"You don't let ya kids sleep in."

Regina pulled the sheet from her son quickly and replaced it with the blanket she had retrieved. "They get up at six thirty every morning, Nine o'clock is sleeping in, Darling."

Emma rolled her eyes and stepped out into the hallway. She watched as Regina carefully pulled all the blankets from the bed and wadded them into a ball in her arms and carried the load out.

"Don't start," Regina warned as they descended the stairs onto the main level.

"So… I'm cooking?" Emma asked with a crooked smile.

"Oh no you don't, you have made plenty a mess of my kitchen for one weekend."

"I cleaned it up!"

"What is your point, Dear?" Regina smirked.

Coming to the end of the hallway, a sweet yet bitter smell lingered in the air. Upon entering the kitchen, Regina noticed right away that her husband was kicked back on the sofa, sock clad feet on the coffee table and steaming mug between his hands.

"That better not be my special occasion coffee, Sir Robin," Regina growled coldly.

At the very sound of her voice, Robin nearly jumped from his seat. Plopping his feet onto the floor, he turned to face his wife. "Well, you are up early." His eyes shifted to Emma who was clearly awake. "Oh… Well, look who slept over," He smiled knowingly.

"Coffee?" Emma asked as she began looking around.

"You should know where the cups are…" Regina sighed, waving her hand.

Prancing to the cabinet, Emma drew out two vessels; a tall drinking glass and a short, fat mug. She went to the freezer and dropped two cubes of ice into the tall glass before rooting around in the refrigerator. Finally she found a carton of half and half, she brought it and her glass back to the coffee pot.

"How'd you like it?"

"Like what?" Regina asked, blushing when Robin met her eyes.

"Your coffee?"

"Oh strong… Sweet and strong… black… rough on the throat," She said straight faced.

After coughing away a laugh, the blonde dropped two cubes of sugar into the mug and filled it with steaming, hot liquid.

"One black Ox, order up," Emma smiled, sending the mug sliding down the counter top. It stopped just in front of a narrow eyed Regina.

"Lovely," she mumbled.

The blonde made her coffee and sat down at the table with the others. "You know," she said, sipping on her warm drink, "Usually I prefer soy."

"I'll keep that in mind." Regina hummed while opening the newspaper that had been sitting on the table.

"So sorry we could not accommodate your dietary needs, Princess," Robin laughed.

"Speaking of dietary needs…" Emma looked over her glass to see Regina staring at her over the top of her mug. "I'm a vegetarian."

The brunette woman slammed her mug down and gaped at her offender. "Why didn't you say something?" she whined.

"I did."

"When?" Regina looked from the blonde to her husband who shook his head.

"Just now," she smiled.

"Jesus Emma, I could have fixed something else."

"Hey, I ate didn't I? And it was very good. I'm just telling you for future reference."

"Of course it was good." Robin said. "Everyone needs a little meat in their life."

"Oh don't you start," Regina snapped.

"That was the gayest thing I have ever heard… and I'm a dyke." Emma laughed from her gut for a moment before catching her breath. "Mercy."

"So you identify as a dyke then?" Robin asked, honestly interested in her response.

Before Emma could respond, a little messy headed boy appeared in the hallway. "That word is bad, Papa." Roland said in a sleepy voice. "And Oliver disappeared again… I think aliens got him this time, I can find him anywhere." He finished with a thorough tummy scratch.

"No, Darling, your brother is asleep in my bed," Regina said softly.

"Oh… oh well. What's for breakfast?"

"What do you want?"

Robin and Emma stared at each other before he interrupted his wife. "Waaaait a minute… Oliver slept with you?!"

"No… He climbed in the bed long after I was asleep," Regina responded plainly.

"Well, that's good at least," he sighed.

"You have no idea," Emma mumbled, running her fingers through her hair.

#

After Oliver woke up, Regina made breakfast for everyone. As they sat around the table, waffles were distributed onto plates. Emma noticed that her favorite little ginger was unusually quiet.

"Did you sleep okay last night, kid?" she asked.

"I had a terrible dream, Emma… That's why I came to sleep with mom. I didn't know that she was having a sleep over… but I was happy because you could protect me," he said, staring at his waffle.

The blonde made eye contact with Regina from across the room. The brunette's brows were high and she wore her usual smirk. "You can protect him." she mouthed to the blonde before placing her hand on her son's shoulder. "What was your dream about?"

"I had a dream that we were in the woods and it was getting dark… I could see the moon and Miss. Ruby turned into a werewolf and almost ate Grace's dad because he was trying to help her… and then she came after us…" he said quietly.

Emma's heart sake for the boy. "Ruby isn't a werewolf… those don't exist," she said, confidently.

"They do when I sleep. It was really weird… Mom was in a black dress with feathers all over it and Roland was in a brown cape… Dad had on weird brown armor and he shot the monster with an arrow… it hit her in the arm and she got really mad and smacked him down on the ground but then she came after us… you protected us! You swooped in on a white horse and you had on white furry armor. You threw a red coat on the monster and it turned into Miss Ruby… She cried a lot." he sighed.

"Well kid, I guess I'll always be there for you when you need me," she whispered while squeezing his little freckled hand.

#

After breakfast was gone and the table was cleared, the boys stood silently in the sitting room.

"What are you two up to?" Regina asked, suspiciously.

With a wide grin, Roland took her hand and let her into the corner. "Look." he whispered, pointing down at the box that sat on the table.

Looking down through the cut out slats, Regina could see that the little squirrel was sitting up, making a meal of the bird feed that she had left for it the night before. "She is having her breakfast too," the woman smiled.

"Go get some real clothes on and we will let her loose," Emma called from the sink.

The boys rushed out of the room and down the hall.

Robin leaned back in his chair and looked up at the blonde. "Are you sure you don't have children?"

"I think I would remember having a kid," she laughed.

"Oh yes." Regina cut in, "You would certainly remember that experience."

Robin chuckled at his wife and looked back to Emma who was leaning against the sink. "Well, I stand behind the thought that you will make a great parent."

"So I hear," Emma sighed.

"I can't believe that you are now Oliver's white knight… It's so cute," hummed the brunette woman.

"I'm everyone's white knight… and I've never even been on a horse," she smiled, brushing invisible dirt from on her shoulder.

Robin and Regina both laughed at her for a bit before going to get dressed, themselves. Emma made her way over to the corner where the box sat. she picked it up gently and moved to sit on the couch across the floor. Slowly she cracked the lid and took a look at the baby hiding inside. It crawled around the box, sniffing the air on its back legs. Emma sat the box back down and marched into the kitchen. She broke off a little piece of leftover waffle and brought it back to the couch. Taking the lid off completely, the blonde offered the sweet cake to the squirrel. With two tiny hands, the baby took it from the blonde's fingers and spun the food around, nibbling away at the edges, at the speed of lightning.

"We are all dressed!" Oliver yelled, sliding into the kitchen on his socks.

Emma quickly capped the box and turned to the boys. "You need shoes," she laughed.

As they put on their shoes, Emma went and got hers from the front door. She met Regina on her way back through the house. When they got back to the kitchen, everyone was ready and in Robin's hands rested the shoe box.

Emma put her shoes on and headed for the back door. "We will let her out together," she said, rubbing both boys' heads at the same time.

When they all got out into the large back yard, Robin handed Emma the box. "Here you are, Dear." he said merrily.

As she took the box, the blonde walked over to the base of the only tree close by; an apple tree. Both boys followed her closely and stared at the box when she lifted the lid.

Regina and Robin stood hand in hand, watching their sons beam with joy at the sight of their rescued creature.

Emma sat the open box at the base of the tree and grabbed the boys, pushing them back. She too, took a few steps back and squatted in front of the married couple but beside their children. They all watched in silent excitement as the squirrel jumped out of the box and gripped the bark at the bottom of the tree. The little animal turned to see the group of people watching her. It probably looked like a family portrait, the way they were posed. Suddenly, her long, grey fluffy tail shot up into the air, the top falling over just above her head. Quickly, she scampered up the tree and was gone.

"I'm really glad that you helped her, Emma," Oliver squeaked.

"Like I said, Kid… It was ya mama's idea."

"Well…" He smiled up at the blonde and then over to his mother. "You two make a good animal rescuing team."

"So I guess we do."

As they walked back to the house, Regina strayed back with her husband. "We make a good team," she chuckled.

"Correction Darling, a good Animal Rescuing team."

"Oh hush. I don't know what to do about all this."

"What is it that you want to do about it?"

"It is far too soon to be thinking about any kind of future, Robin… especially not one that the children are involved in," she huffed.

"Well, I suppose you can continue playing the professor during the day, have random sexcapades when you have free time and bring her here on the weekends to play with the boys."

"That would be the best plan."

"Guess what, oh beautiful wife of mine."

Regina turned to him with narrowed eyes. "What?"

"You are planning a future that involves our children."

For a moment, she stood in place, staring back at her husband. Realization flickered in her eyes. "So, I guess I am."

"And you know what that means, don't you?" He smiled broadly.

"It means that I am going to smack the gay right out of you if you so much as utter the word."

Sorry that this part ended up so short. I just didn't see the need for going into extreme detail with it. Aaaaanywho, I hope you found something to enjoy in these last few chapters. As always, thank you very much for reading an giving your input, you lot are the best! -DR