So,I've noticed some comments related to the story. At first,I chose to ignore them since I believe in the right of free speech and the fact that anyone is allowed to review this,even if it's a good review or a bad one. However,I felt the need to explain a few things.
The story is a Swan Queen one,whether it has a happy ending for the pair or not. They are the major pairing, thus making it story a Swan Queen. Yes,I know there are not a lot of scenes between them,but we are only at the beggining. Be patient.
Some of view said that you don't like the story because of where it's heading. You can stop reading it,I don't have a problem with that,but I had to defend my story. From the summary,I made it quite clear that Emma will make a mistake that will jeopardize her relationship with Regina. I haven't deceived you in any way. You can see,If you're read the story so far,what the mistake might be. I also like to say that I'll approach this story as much realistically as I can. This means that a happy ending isn't for sure. And I hope you can understand this. Real life and real relationships aren't always about happy ending. I'm not saying that their relationship is doomed but I'm also not saying that it'll be an easy path.
These who continue and will continue to read Happily Ever After?,I'm really grateful for you and your kind words. You guys help me keep writing. For those who chose to stop reading it I apologise for not meeting your expectations and for disappointing you. I'll make it up to you in my next story or through an one-shot (you can send me your ideas if you like)
Last but not least,I want to give a big thank you (again) to my awesome beta reader Louise. Without her support and constant work,this story wouldn't be the same.
Thank you for your time and enjoy Chapter 8.
The long weekend at work, much to Emma's disappointment, had come and she was not looking forward to it. After a quick breakfast and some protests from her boys she manage to untangle herself from their arms and leave before a new wave of cries came. The moment she arrived at work Gold dragged her to the meeting room where the new client and Jane were waiting for her. Grudgingly, and without having her morning coffee, Emma sat at a chair next to Jane and prepared herself for the long day that it was coming.
Three hours later, they were still in the meeting room as the client appeared to be more demanding that they were hoping. He was unwilling to settle on any of the negotiations that the three lawyers had offered. Emma's patience was starting to wear thin and if it weren't for Gold's constant glaring at her she would have snapped at him, losing as a result this valuable account. Jane sensing that Emma was agitated took matters in her own hands.
''I believe a break is all we need right now. Don't you think Mr. Gold?'' She asked meaningfully while averting her eyes towards Emma to help him catch the drift. Thankfully he understood the meaning behind her words and allowed them to take a brief break. Before Gold's words of confirmation had left his mouth, Emma had jumped from her chair and sprinted towards the small kitchen. Once there she grabbed a cup from the cupboard a poured a generous amount of coffee, inhaling the aroma. She took a sip and immediately felt much better. Regina would make fun of her addiction to coffee but she protested that she wasn't an addict. It was just that she couldn't really operate without it, especially during days like that, totally not addicted. Her thoughts were interrupted by a small cough. She turned around and she was faced with the other blonde who was smirking at her.
''Will you share some with me?'' she teased Emma.
''I'm not good at sharing'' Emma replied teasing too ''But I guess I can make some compromises'' she smirked.
''Shocking'' Jane clutched her heart to feign her shock and at that Emma stuck her tongue out. Jane moved towards Emma and took her cup, sipping from it while looking at Emma with playful eyes. Emma gulped at the sudden move but quickly regained composure and said, ''Hey I was drinking that!''
''You still do, I just helped you a little. It's too much for you .Not good for your nerves'' Jane said innocently and Emma shook her head in amusement. Before any of the woman could reply Emma's phone beeped indicating a new message. Jane drew away of Emma's personal space as the other blonde fished her cell phone from her pocket. She unlocked her phone and she saw a message from Regina .It was a photo of her and the boys, all wearing matching smiles and holding huge bags of popcorn and candies. She noticed also the 3D glasses that they were wearing and she guessed that they had probably gone to see the new Disney movie. She grinned at her boys' smiles and quickly replied.
''Someone's having fun without me. And I'm seeing big popcorn bags. My my Mrs. Mills what did the kids do to you?''
The reply came a few seconds later making Emma's phone beep again.
''If I told you that we'll go for burgers afterwards you'd be sure that I've been abducted by aliens. Anyways I should go. The movie's about to start. Love you babes''
Emma smiled once again at the message and raised her gaze to meet the gaze of a confused blonde.
Seeing the other's woman confusion Emma was quick to elaborate.
''My wife took the boys to the cinema and she sent me a message'' Emma explained and show the photo to her colleague.
''Oh they look so cute. And wow, your wife is drop dead gorgeous. I mean damn Swan'' she commented and Emma laughed.
''No-one can resist to the Swan genes'' she replied while winking, making the other blonde blushing a little. The awkward moment thankfully was interrupted by Gold who signaled them to re-enter the meeting room.
It was near afternoon and Regina along with her three men of her life were at their favorite diner, at which Emma's best friend worked, eating the burgers that Regina had promised. The diner was packed with people of every age, but Ruby managed to find a table for her favorite nephews. Ruby, after taking their orders, sat next to Regina to catch up as they hadn't seen each other for over a week and Emma had forgotten to call. Regina told her everything from the promotion fiasco, to the following fight and whatever else had happened that crazy week. Cradling Ezra in her lap, Ruby looked at Regina and asked,
''So is everything okay with you two now?''
''Yeah everything is fine. You know how Emma can be sometimes. And you also know that she's quick to realize her mistakes. Besides I couldn't stay mad at her for long'' Regina admitted and Ruby laughed.
''The Swan charm, I know'' Their conversation was interrupted by Granny who called Ruby to take some orders. Ruby excused herself and stood up leaving the young boy in the seat she vacated. Barely fifteen minutes later, Ruby returned bringing the delicious fast food to her friends. Regina patted her seat beside her suggesting Ruby to sit with them but the tall brunette refused saying that she had a lot of work. Regina looked at her sympathetically and return to her food.
As she was eating she felt two hands on her eyes and everything went pitch black for a while. Smelling her wife's perfume she smiled a megawatt smile and pulled the hands from her face. Doing so,she met with beautiful green eyes which were looking lovingly at her. Regina squeaked and hug Emma like it was the first time she's seen her. The boys realising who joined them for lunch also started whistling and cheering. Emma pecked her wife's lips and sat next to her.
''Emma not that I'm complaining but what are you doing here?'' Regina said still smiling from her wife's surprise.
''We had a lunch break, Ruby texted me saying that you were here so I said why not?'' She said as she took one of Regina's fries popping her into her mouth.
'''These are mine'' Regina pout and Emma chuckled.
''Relax I texted Ruby my order,so she'll be here in a few.'' She averted her eyes from Regina and looked at her sons.
''So how was the movie?'' she asked watching their kids faces smiling brightly. Apparently her impromptu drop in meant a lot more to the boys that she had imagined.
''It was awesome!'' Colin exclaimed making Emma laugh.
''That good?''
''Yep'' The boy said as she popped the word still smiling. Emma reached out and tickled Ezra's tammy to gain his attention.
''What about you Bubbah? Did you like it?'' She asked softly and the boy nodded happily. At the same time he climbed out of his seat and run the small distance towards Emma who bent a little to scoop him up. The boy immediately snuggled at her arms and she kissed his temple holding back some tears of joy. Regina sensed Emma's vulnerable position and kissed her cheek putting a strand of hair behind her ear. Emma took a deep breath at her wife's touch and she opened her eyes to meet with those of her elder son who looked pensively at his phone.
''Everything alright Hen?'' she asked worried. The boy having been caught,snapped his head and watched his blonde mom who was looking at him.
''Oh hey mom,I didn't notice you'' the boy said embarrassed and Emma rolled her eyes.
''Well if you left your phone down for a while you probably would have.'' It was Henry's time to roll his eyes.
''Anyway'' Regina said, trying to avoid a fight between Emma and Henry. Since he hit puberty his fights with Emma became much more consistent. With Regina,he communicated better as she was willing to make some negotiations when she deemed it was worth it. But with Emma it was more difficult as she was more stubborn and when she had something set, no-one could change her mind not even Regina. It was something that Regina had learned to accept but Henry was still young, equally obstinate and he wouldn't easily give up, except when he wanted something from his blonde mother.
''Has the meeting finished?'' Regina asked her wife.
''No, not by a long shot I think'' Emma whined ''That dude is really difficult to negotiate. He won't back up at all. It's like talking to a brick wall. I was this close to snapping at him today. Thank God Gold gave us that lunch break or we would definitely have lost that client because of me.'' Emma replied while eating from her food that had just arrived.
''So are you going back at the firm then?''
''Yes. I have to be back in just less than an hour. I'm lucky you guys came here otherwise I wouldn't have left the office.'' Emma admitted and Regina squeezed her hand in sympathy.
''Is it only you and Gold at the office?'' Regina asked imitating her wife and eating some of her food too.
''Nope. Jane, the new partner offered to help me.'' Emma admitted and noticed as Henry's face snapped again at the mention of the name. It was time to mess a little with her son and she was so on it.
''Oh, how kind of her.'' Regina said.
''Yeah very kind of her, don't you agree Henry?'' Emma asked michieviously. Having been caught Henry's face gone to crimson red from embarrass and Emma smirked at her son's discomfort.
''I, uh, yeah I guess.'' Henry stuttered in his attempt to remain cool and Emma's smirk grew into a grin.
''Okay what's going on here?'' Regina ask seeing Henry's tomato face and Emma's amused smile.
''Henry has a crush on mama's boss'' Colin quipped and Emma couldn't keep it in any longer. She burst into laughter and high-fived her middle son who smiled broadly. Henry now had gone fifty shades of red and pinched Colin for opening his mouth, but the boy was too happy that he didn't even flinch.
Regina slapped Emma's thigh to stop her from laughing and threw a glare at Colin immediately silencing him. It was true that Regina was quite protective of Henry and she always stood up from him when Emma and Colin joined force to tease him. Emma and Colin were the family bullies and were always in a team together for the family games and the other was Henry and Regina. Ezra was quite flexible and he would go to either team depending on his mood. When he wanted some peace and quiet he would join the Regina and Henry and when he was in for pranks and teasing he would choose the Emma and Colin.
''I do not have a crush on her'' Henry defended.
''Sure you don't'' Colin said mischievously and Regina glared at him again. Emma not wanting to be on the receiving end of Regina's mama bear mode she remained silenced but with her eyes she congratulated Colin who was not in the least bit afraid of Regina. He was the only one who could stand up to Regina and Emma would give him that.
''Well even if you did have a crush it's not something wrong. We've all had our crushes on older women or men.'' Regina offered.
''I don't like her. I've only met her once a couple of days ago and I suppose she was quite pretty that's all'' Henry admitted.
''That's why you were ogling her.'' Emma smirked and Regina glared at her making her gulp and go back to her food.
''It's not my fault. Alright she's hot!'' Henry exclaimed and Regina chuckled.
''I'm sure she is sweetheart as I'm sure that if you were a bit older you'd totally have charmed her.'' Regina winked and Henry blushed.
''You can come over to the office some time to see her. You know dressed to the nines, a box of chocolates, a dozen roses.'' Emma said and Henry whined
''Mooom!''
''I'm kidding! Anyway I should probably go.'' Emma said as she stood up with Ezra still in her arms. She blew her younger son a raspberry kiss, to which he giggled and she gave him to Regina before pecking her. She approached the older boys, ruffled both of their hair and told them to be good for their mother. She paid the bill and finally left the small dinner.
It was now easing into the evening and Emma along with her bosses was still at the firm. They had finally reached a consensus with the client about an hour ago, but Emma now had all the paperwork to deal with. She, and Mr. Gold, really wanted the papers drafted up before the following week. Jane and Gold had retreated to Gold's office to discuss a few trivial details about the case. Emma had already texted Regina telling her not to wait her for dinner, having as a response a sad emoji as she was planning for a relaxed evening with movies and board games along with the boys. Emma texted back saying that if she didn't finish them today she would have to come back to the office tomorrow. At that Regina relented and wish her good luck.
The door to Emma's office knocked snapping her from her paperwork. She uttered a soft ''come in'' and the door opened revealing the other blonde. The day has been quite hectic and she hadn't had the chance to appreciate the other woman. She was wearing black fitted slacks along with a purple button up and a black blazer. Her hair were straight and long, almost reaching her ass, and her face was framed with black trimmed glasses.
''Are you done?'' The other blonde said while plopping down on the couch. It was a bit un-lady like but Emma found it cute and smiled unconsciously at the other woman's domesticity.
''Not even close'' She sighed returning her gaze to the pile of papers.
''You can leave them for tomorrow you know.'' Jane offered.
''I can't, I promised my wife to be at home tomorrow. She mentioned something about a barbeque since the weather is nice.'' Emma admitted.
''You can leave them to me then?''
''I can't ask you to do that." Emma continued waving Jane quiet, "I know that you offered but it's my case mostly.''
''Okay then, how about, I stay and help you now?'' Jane said and to prove that it wasn't really a question she grabbed some of Emma's notes,a spare legal pad and pulled a pen from Emma's desk tidy and dropped herself in the chair opposite Emma.
"Right," she stated through the pen now jammed between her teeth, flicking through the notes, "Where are you up to?"
They had been working like that for over an hour and a half when Emma's stomach interrupted the comfortable silence. Jane raised her eyebrows, smirking a little and Emma just shrugged.
''We can take a break if you like. Go grab smoothening from the diner?'' Jane suggested.
''Nah, if I leave the office I won't come back! But I do now a good Indian place that delivers? We could order from there if you want to.'' Emma said.
''Yeah, that's sounds good.'' Jane smiled and Emma picked up her phone to make the order.
"What do you like? Dry, saucy? Mild, hot?" Emma asked passively scrolling through her contacts to find the number.
"Hot." Jane stated bluntly, staring at Emma as she blankly looked up from her phone, "and saucy."
Emma quickly looked back at her phone; she could feel her body temperature rising, and left the room to make the call.
In the meantime Jane moved from the uncomfortable chair to the couch, and allowed herself to lay down briefly closing her eyes to the world, until Emma finished their order. Emma approached Jane and nudged her a little to make some space for her. Jane opened her eyes weakly and move into a slouched position to accommodate the other blonde.
''Seriously you can give them to me. I have nothing to do tomorrow, so stopping by won't be a problem'' Jane offered again.
''It's not fair for you.'' Emma admitted and Jane looked at her questionably ''I mean I'll be at home relaxing and you'll be here doing my job.'' Emma explained.
''Come on Swan don't give it so much thought. I said it's nothing and I mean it.'' Jane pushed and Emma relented.
''Fine'' she sighed and Jane pumped her fist in the air for her little victory towards the stubborn Swan.
"But I'm doing one last section after food."
Jane smirked, Swan was still trying to get the last word in.
They sat like that silently, resting their eyes, for almost 30 minutes until their takeaway arrived. Both women stood up simultaneously but Jane managed to persuade Emma to let her pay and Emma surprisingly agreed. She must be really tired out. The other blonde moved towards the desk making some space for the food that was about to come. When Jane got back, she left the bags on the desk and started unpacking the containers.
''So you're quite the regular there? You managed to gloss over that when you recommended it." Jane questioned and Emma smiled brightly, but didn't elaborate.
"The delivery guy knows you really well huh?" Jane laughed, "He threw in some beers on the house."
''Awesome! Naresh is a great guy! Prepare yourself for a feast!'' Emma said jokingly and Jane laughed.
They ate almost in silence the only sound being their forks hitting the containers and the soft munching of their teeth. Emma broke this silence for a bit to open the beers. She gave the first to Jane who took it with gratitude and then opened one for herself. They both took a sip before returning to their food.
''So family time tomorrow huh?'' Jane asked.
''Yeah'' Emma replied smiling ''We do that as often as we can. In the summer we usually invite our families over and we have big barbeques and pretty much day-long parties with everyone coming and going. Regina really likes that, and the boys love being center of attention especially when their aunts and uncles haven't seen them for a while. As for the winter we are more into movie marathons, board games and hot cocoas. If the weather is good we go to the park. Ezra really loves the park.'' Emma said.
''Now that you mention Ezra.'' Jane started but Emma cut off.
''Jane, sorry but I don't wanna talk about it.'' She said a little bit harshly and Jane winced.
''I didn't mean to offend you or something?'' Jane apologized.
''You didn't. I just don't like talking about him to strangers.'' She said and Jane was hurt by Emma's words.
''I see'' she whispered and Emma flinched. ''Look, I didn't meant it like that. It's just…'' Why was it so damn easy to talk to the woman? Emma questioned herself.
''He doesn't talk. And we don't know if it's of shyness or not. I mean yeah, he tends to hide when he's around new people and we barely let strangers to him at our house because he feels threatened and when he feels like that it doesn't end well.'' Emma said, remembering her sons' attitude towards other people.
''Also it's not that he doesn't understand what we're saying. He's very smart, the smartest kid I know, he picks up on everything immediately. He just doesn't use words to express himself. We have visited a lot of doctors, good ones, not-so good ones, but they all kept just saying that he'll talk at his own pace and we shouldn't be worried, yet… My mother is a teacher and she has seen loads of kids that take a little longer to comminute with words but still. And it's so damn hard.'' Emma mattered not being able to hold back her tears.
''I mean it could be worse I know but all I ask is for him to say just one word. It feels like I've done something wrong, and I know Regina feels the same. When we were first going to all the doctors and stuff my wife was crying the whole time. Not in front of me but I could see that she had been crying. I could see how much she hurt. And not being able to help her or him that was so difficult for me. I felt useless. I still feel useless.'' Emma confessed, the tears now spilling from her eyes. Jane squeezed her hand in sympathy.
''I'm sorry I didn't know that this was hurting so much. Had I known I wouldn't have asked'' Jane apologised feeling guilty for the other woman's breakdown.
''It's not your fault. These things has been inside me for god knows how long and I guess I needed to let them out. I don't like letting Regina know I don't have everything together, you know?''
''It's okay, don't worry, we all have moments like that.'' Jane reassured her and used her thumb to wipe the Emma's face. Snapping out their little moment suddenly both Jane and Emma pulled back looking at different directions.
''It's getting late.'' Jane said, watching her watch.
''Yeah .Shall I drive you home?'' Emma asked without thinking.
''As far as I remember I have a car.'' Jane teased and Emma blushed
''Right. So goodnight then.'' Emma said opening the door for the other woman.
''Goodnight Emma. And thanks for telling me.'' Jane admitted before leaving Emma's office.