A/N: WHAT? SHE'S POSTING BEFORE MIDNIGHT! Yes, my dears, I am. Maybe you'll actually get to read it on a Sunday! lol :) I'm going caroling for the first time tonight and won't have any time to post once I get home. I'm very excited! :)

Not going to lie. This gets darker than most, but bear with me because things will be back to normal next chapter!

TW: Mentions Rape, does not go into detail of the act, but leads up to it; Mentions abuse. If either of those things trigger stuff for you, you're welcome to read everything before when Emma starts talking about her past, and you can pick up again after the line break down at the bottom. You'll be missing a little section about Granny and Ruby, but if you do skip until the break, you're more than welcome to PM me for those Granny and Ruby details. Also, I'm always here if anyone needs to talk about why those are triggers for them.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! (It's honestly my favorite time of the year) :D

"Emma, mi amor, you must wake up," the voice that spoke to her was like a million angels singing her lullabies. "Emma," a kiss accompanied her name, "you need to get up."

"Shhhh…. angel voices. I'm sleeping," the blonde grumbled before flipping over and pulling the covers back over her head.

"Emma Swan get up now or you won't be dealing with an angel," the voice was no longer sweet and quiet, but instead sharp and menacing.

Emma turned to face the voice and cracked one eye opening, smiling at the woman kneeling over her, "I find myself unscared, professor. Perhaps you're losing your touch."

"You wouldn't know. You've never felt my touch, Emma," Regina said with a devious smirk and the sass to match.

"Hey now!" Emma squeaked offensively, "I've always wanted to!"

Regina burst out in laughter, not even attempting to conceal her joy at the statement.

"Regina, stop," the blonde responded unamused, watching as the brunette completely lost it. Regina rolled around on the bed, unable to stop herself. "Seriously, Regina, it's not that funny."

"Oh, but it is, my love," Regina choked out, trying to get her breath back. "It's so incredibly cute, too."

Emma reached over a lightly slapped the brunette's arm. "Regiiiina," she whined. "Can we just pretend I said nothing? Please?"

Regina crawled over to the pouting woman and leaned down to whisper into her ear, "Not when I feel the same way."

"I hate your sister," the blonde growled while she let her hands roam lightly over the woman above her.

Regina let out a breathy moan, "Right now I hate her, too."

"I know she just loves you and Henry and wants to protect you, but damn," Emma laughed lightly. "I seriously need a copy of her workout regime."

"You won't be able to try it out for awhile, so let's just wait on that one. In the meantime, I believe we have a few topics that need discussing," the brunette raised an eyebrow at the woman on her bed.

"I suppose we do," Emma agreed with a sigh. "Well…" She laid back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, "This has the possibility of taking awhile, so maybe we should get up and make Henry breakfast first."

"He's already fed, dressed, and spending the day with Auntie Kat," Regina said. "I can make you breakfast, too, if you want it. I guess it'd be more of a brunch at this time, though."

"Nah," the blonde passed up the offer. "Honestly, it makes me so sick just to think of this stuff. I just don't really feel like eating, y'know."

"Em, you don't have to tell me about it if it makes you feel like that. I just thought it would be nice to know something about you."

"You know plenty about me, Reggie."

"And I want to keep learning about you, too, no matter how long that may take," Regina wrapped her arms around the blonde and held her tightly. "I love you."

"I love you, too, and I guess you're right," Emma conceided. "I'd ask where I should start, but I think you and I have a tradition for starting at the beginning, right?"

Regina giggled. They did, indeed, choose to start all their stories, tales, and talks at the beginning. It always seemed necessary, so the other could grasp the entire concept, not just bits and pieces. The brunette gave the speaking woman a peck on the cheek, encouraging her to move forward with the story.

The blonde exhaled loudly before starting, "When I was a baby, I was found on the side of the highway. Just me and a blanket that had 'Emma' embroidered in it. There was no note, no sign of who my parents might have been, nothing. That's how I ended up in foster care.

"My first home- and one the best- was with the Swans. They took really good care of me and I was with them for awhile," the blonde stopped, tears already starting to well up in her eyes.

Christ, Swan. You're not even past the first house and you're wanting to cry. This is going to go sooooo well.

She felt a squeeze from the brunette, who apparently still had her arms encircling the blonde. Emma looked over at her and saw the sad, loving smile that was on her face.

"What happened, mi amor?" Regina asked quietly.

"Well, they sent me back. They were having a real baby of their own, and I just wouldn't fit with the family anymore. I didn't have their genes, so I wasn't good enough. They never said that, but I heard it loud and clear.

"That trend continued throughout the rest of the houses I'd be thrown into. I was in, I wasn't good enough, I was out," Emma shrugged, trying to make herself look indifferent, even as she felt the pain stab her deep in the heart.

Regina reached over and placed a hand on Emma's cheek, turning her head so their eyes could meet, "You know you're enough for me, right?"

"Am I?" the blonde asked, tears starting to form again. She tried steeling her nerves. There was still so much left to tell, most of it worse than what she had revealed thus far.

"You're more than enough, Emma," Regina hugged her tightly to her body. "You're perfect."

"Yeah?" The quivering trepidation in the blonde's voice made Regina's heart want to cry.

"Yeah."

"Good," Emma smiled as best she could. "I think I should keep going, though, or you'll never hear about all of it. I kinda like to push these things to the back of everything, y'know?" Regina just nodded, giving Emma the floor to continue.

"I had a few pretty shitty families along the way," Emma told her. "I was in houses that were too full, houses that didn't have enough food for all of us, and houses where the parents beat the hell out of a kid for looking at them wrong.. Once I lived in a house so run-down that a kid got really terrible frostbite while he was sleeping because there was so much cold-air blowing through all the holes in the walls. I remember the social worker getting his ass chewed for that one. He lost his job and everything. Something about never inspecting the house properly...or at all, I think.

"After a while I got put into this one house with these really screwed up parents. They were the type to just collect the checks. They didn't care if I ate, where I was, what I did or didn't do. They were just there for the money, and the kid be damned.

"I...uh… I was sleeping one night when the dad came in and… uh…," Emma paused, not sure how to explain.

The brunette on the bed tensed, afraid of what she'd hear next. She had a gut-wrenching feeling that she knew exactly what Emma was going to say, and her stomach flipped at the thought of some nasty pedophile putting his hands on her love.

"He didn't try to be quiet or sneak or anything," Emma explained, taking a different route and hoping to hold off the worst until last. "He just came in. At first I thought he was drunk and just stumbled into the wrong room. I was half-right; He was drunk, but he didn't stumble into my room by accident.

"I remember him struggling to get his belt undone under his disgusting beer belly. I tried to tell him politely that he was in the wrong room, but he could sleep in my bed and I'd take the couch if he thought he couldn't make it to his own," Emma recalled, shuttering at what was going to come next. "He just laughed and said, 'I'm exactly where I meant to be, little girl. He walked towards me and I panicked. I kept telling him he was confused and that I wasn't his wife, Marge, but he just laughed more because he knew exactly who I was. He even said my name, so we both knew.

"I stood up and tried to walk out the door, but he grabbed my arms and threw me backwards. I hit my head on the bedframe and blacked out. When I came to, he was on top of me. He said he waited for me. He wanted me to enjoy it as much as he was going to.

"I tried so hard to fight him," Emma's voice broke as she whispered the sentence, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I tried so hard to fight him, Regina. I really did."

"Shhh, sweetheart," Regina cooed, rubbing soothing circles on the girl's back as she curled the blonde into her body. "I know. I know you did, baby."

"I punched and I kicked and I scratched, and I thought he was going to stop because he pulled away, but I was wrong. He just laughed again and hit back. Over and over again. I was so small and he was so big. I couldn't stop him, Regina."

The brunette was stuck between boiling rage and heartbreaking sadness. Her mind replayed Emma's words as she held the blonde woman in her arms.

"I was so small..."

"Emma," she whispered to the sobbing woman in her arms. "Baby, I need you to answer a question for me. Are you listening?" The blonde brought her eyes up to Regina, and the brunette's heart shattered again. "Sweetheart, how old were you?"

Regina watched the blonde swallow sharply, and her chin quivered as she responded, "Thirteen."

In that moment, Regina decided on an emotion. Anger. Fiery, murderous, blood-boiling anger raged through her veins as she pulled the blonde back into her body and held her as tightly as she could. She was going to make sure Emma never had to worry about this man again. She was going to give Emma so much love and commitment and care that the blonde's mind would never have to stray back to her horrible past.

Regina held the blonde to her until her sobs quieted. She had questions that needed answers, but her curiosity would wait until Emma was ready.

Emma seemed to be reading her mind, as she opened her mouth to speak again. "It only happened once," the reassurance did nothing to appease Regina's anger, "because when Marge saw the bruises on him the next morning, she called the social worker and sent me back. She tried telling them that I attacked her husband in the middle of the night, and the only way he could get me to stop was to beat me unconscious. I didn't argue. I didn't agree, either. I just got out of that house as quickly as I could, and I never looked back."

"I'm so sorry," Regina apologized. "I should've never made you relive all of that, but I'm so thankful you did, Emma. I'm so thankful you know the subjects that can hurt you, and I've been so worried to accidentally bring up something that hurts you. I never want to make you feel that way."

The blonde gave a small smile, "I know you'd never hurt me." She leaned over and captured Regina's lips. "They weren't all bad, y'know?"

"Can you tell me about a good one?" Regina asked, wanting to get rid of the devastatingly sad air that hung around them.

"Well, my last one was the best, honestly. It was were I met Rubes. I was fifteen, which meant I had a little under three years until I aged out. At this point I had been through six homes since Marge's. None of them were terrible, I just kept running. I was afraid to stick around too long, in case something happened.

"I finally got stuck in this big house that doubled as a bed & breakfast and was attached to a diner. Eugenia Lucas owned both. Everyone called her granny, but she wasn't that grandmother who smothered you with love and affection. In fact, Granny pushed everyone harder than they had ever been pushed. She knew their potential and made them realize it for themselves, too.

"She gave me my own room and made sure I was well fed and clothed, but I never got away with anything bad, and I couldn't hide anything from the old woman. She even made me work for my own money, and taught me how to cook, too. She said she wanted me to learn how to make my own way in the world because times could get tough. I'm so thankful she did.

"Eugenia only took on two kids at a time, to make sure she gave each kid as much time and attention that they needed. That's how I met Ruby. Ruby was Eugenia's granddaughter, so when Ruby's mother died a few months after Rubes was born, Granny decided to take her in along with the other two kids she had at the time. Both of those goons aged out of the system right before I was sent to the B&B.

"Ruby was a handful," Emma laughed. "She still is, honestly, but it was so much worse. She was seventeen when I came, and all she wore were the skimpiest clothes, even when she was working. I swear she gave the old men in the diner heart attacks every time she leaned over the counter to grab something or to refill their drinks. I'm not going to lie, if I didn't see her as a sister before anything else, I would've thought it was hot, too." Emma giggled as Regina slapped her arms.

"Continue, Swan."

"Yes, ma'am!" Emma saluted to the brunette before continuing. "So, one night I was having nightmares and Rubes came in to wake me up. She told me that I had been having them all week, and I was either going to talk to her about them, or she was going to sleep on my floor so she could chase the monsters away from me while I slept."

"Did you talk to her about it?" Regina asked, genuinely curious.

"Nope," The blonde answered, popping the 'p' at the end. "Not at first, at least. After two weeks of hearing her complain about how uncomfortable my floor was, I gave in and told her. You and she are the only ones to ever know about it."

"What'd she do?"

"Oh," Emma started laughing. "She threatened to track him and down and rip him limb from limb, which I'm sure ran through your mind, too."

"You have no idea," Regina mumbled.

Emma leaned over and laid on top of the brunette, "You don't have to worry about him. He died last year. I read his obituary in the paper."

"Darn. I'm sure I could've made it so much more painful," Regina growled.

Emma laughed even harder, "God, do I love you."

The women came together for a kiss before lying down and staring into each other's eyes. A strange rumble broke the silence between them and Emma looked down at her stomach.

"Looks like it's time for lunch, Reggie."

Regina broke out in beautiful laughter, "I guess so. What would you like."

"Well, I know what I would loooove to eat," Emma said, stretching out her words and winking at the brunette as she leaned in to kiss her neck, "but we can't do that until I heal. So, I guess I'll have to settle for something else."

"Oh, you poor girl," Regina teased with a smile. "How ever will you survive?"

"I don't know if I will," Emma pouted, causing Regina to laugh harder.

"Grab your crutches and hobble to the kitchen, love, I'm making you lunch," the brunette started walking from the room to the kitchen.

"Wait!" Emma yelled in excitement. "Will you make me a burger and fries?"

"Not a chance," she heard from the hall.

"But I'm injured! Take pity on me, woman!"

Once lunch was over and Emma was changed out of her pajamas, the two women curled up on the couch, Emma watching TV with her head in Regina's lap while Regina corrected papers.

The blonde looked up at the woman above her. "Thank you for lunch, Regina. It was delicious," she praised.

"Don't get used to it, Miss Swan," Regina replied absentmindedly, eyes still focused on the essay she was grading.

Emma giggled. Even though Regina had told her no over and over, the blonde still managed to get the brunette to make her a burger, but sacrificed her greasy fries for a scoop of macaroni instead. It was just as good as the fries anyways.

Emma muted the TV and stared at the woman above her. Regina was wearing her black, thick-rimmed glasses and concentrating on the paper that was resting on the arm of the couch. She rested her red ink pen on her lips, lightly biting on the end while she contemplated the sentence she was reviewing. A brow quirked up as she continued to read.

"You're so hot when you're in teacher mode," Emma commented in a whisper.

"What was that, dear?" the professor asked, still focusing on the paper to her right.

"I said, 'you're so hot when you're in teacher mode.'" Emma restated.

Regina's head snapped down to look at Emma, "You think so, huh?"

"Oh, I know so," Emma said, pulling herself up to straddle the teacher's lap. "When you've got these glasses on, and they ever so slightly slip down the bridge of your nose," Emma reached up to play with the accessory, "and your hair keeps falling in your face," the blonde tucked a loose strand behind her ear. "I think my favorite is when I watch you nibbling on your little red pen, though."

"Why's that?" Regina asked breathily.

"Because then I can pretend you're nibbling on something else."

Regina grabbed the woman in her lap and pulled her closer, slamming their faces together. She ran her tongue along Emma's lips, begging for entrance, and slipped inside as soon as the blonde granted it. When she pulled back, she nibbled on the blonde's lower lip.

"You mean like that?" she asked, innocently.

"Not quite," Emma breathed out.

"Oh, you mean like this?" Regina whispered in her ear, nibbling on the lobe as she pulled away.

"Close, but no cigar."

"I think I've got it this time," Regina kissed her way up the blonde's neck, leaving small bites in her path.

"I really like that, but there's something I'd like more," Emma didn't try to hide the wanting whine of her voice.

"Oh," Regina said, running her hands lightly over the skin under the blonde's shirt. "Does it have anything to do with removing this shirt?"

"By golly. Professor. I think you've solved the mystery," Emma moaned while thqe hands continued to explore.

"Well in that case, this shirt must go," Regina grinned like the cheshire cat as she slowly moved it up the blonde's body. She was just about to pull it over the woman's head when she was broken from her spell.

"MOMMMA! I'M HOME!" the shout echoed through the house. "Where you be?"