AN: This one starts with SW in an established relationship. Hope you enjoy.
Emma paced the small hallway of her parents apartment. "I just don't know, Mom. What do you get for a woman who has everything she's ever wanted? She's finally happy and she said that's all she needs. How was I supposed to know that buying her a birthday gift would be so hard?"
"I'm sure you'll think of something, honey," Snow replied.
"Hey! You guys were close once, and you're getting there again. Has she ever mentioned anything?"
"Hmm. Not that I can think of. Did you try Henry?"
"Yeah. He's got nothing," Emma sighed. She looked around the room, now plastered with photos of baby Neal. They had even managed to find some of Emma that her foster families had taken and put them up too. She smiled at the images of her and her little brother. They favored each other. She could see it now. It was as she was thinking about this that it suddenly hit her.
"Mom! I've got the best idea!"
Snow nearly jumped out of her seat at her daughter's outburst. "What is it?"
"I'm going to make another time portal and I'm going to get Regina some baby pictures!"
Snow gaped at the blonde, trying to determine if she was serious. Apparently she was. She had a huge grin and looked very proud of herself. "Honey, are you sure? There are so many things that could go wrong. You realize that Cora is her mother, right?"
"I won't even have to deal with Cora. I'll find Henry Sr. I'll get him to let me babysit her or something! It'll be perfect!"
"How are you going to get there, Emma?" Snow pointed out.
"I'll use the spell that Zelena did." she replied.
"Are you sure about that? It didn't go so well the last time..."
"It went fine. Hook and I fixed everything. You and Dad still got hitched in the end. I won't screw this up, Mom. It's for Regina. Trust me."
"Alright, Emma, but her surprise party is in 3 hours. You MUST make it back on time. She'll kill us all if you're not there."
"Time flows differently there, remember? I'll be back in enough time to get them framed and wrapped, and then be at the party on time. Promise."
The portal swirled around Emma until she felt as though she would be sick, and the suddenly threw her out. She had remembered that a portal would take her to whenever she chose, so she had made sure to stay focused on Regina as a baby, rather than the nauseated feeling that portals always seemed to give her.
She picked herself up, checked to make sure she hadn't broken the camera, and glanced around the area. It was wooded, but she was on a pathway that led to a rather large estate. The house was just as Regina had described to Emma once. Large as far as houses go, but small for someone of Prince Henry's title. Being the youngest prince, Henry had always received the smallest of everything. Emma noticed the stables off to left and smiled as she remembered all of the stories that Regina had told her about her favorite part of the estate. She quickly snapped a picture of the entire property, then made her way closer to the stables.
As she approached, she noticed a young boy standing inside, brushing a beautiful brown horse. The color reminded Emma of Regina's eyes. She quickly snapped a photo, trying to make sure the boy didn't noticed, but she had completely forgotten about the click sound. The child turned around, looking up at Emma terrified.
"Who are you?" he demanded. "Get out of here! I'll go fetch the master if you don't."
Emma smiled at the boy. "I don't mind if you get the Prince. In fact, I'm here to see him and Regina. I'm Emma," she told him, bowing, "and who might you be young man?"
"My name is Daniel," the kid said.
Daniel. Of course. She should have known. What other young kid would be in the stables on the Mills' property. She was glad now that she had taken the photo.
"What is that thing?" he asked.
"This is camera," she told him. "In my land we use these to make pictures instead of having to wait for someone to paint them for us. May I take another one of you? One where I can see your face this time? I have a friend who would love that."
He eyed her suspiciously for a few moments before deciding that he could trust her. He smiled at her, "Sure!"
"Thanks kid. Just stand like that for a moment and..." click. "All done!"
"That's it?" he asked.
"Yep."
"Alright. Do I need to go get Master Henry now?"
"You don't have to. You can continue what you were doing if you will just point me in his direction. Oh, and please tell me Cora is not at home."
His grin widened. "You got lucky. The mistress is away on business. The Prince should be in the house with the baby. He hardly let's her out of his sight."
"Thank you, Daniel. It was nice to meet you." She made her way up toward the mansion slowly, taking it all in and snapping a few pictures as she went. She really hoped Regina liked this.
Knock, knock.
A single guard opened the door, just slightly. "Mills residence. State your name and business so that you may be announced."
"Princess Emma, and I'm here to visit Prince Henry and Miss Regina."
"One moment." The guard disappeared back into the house, and returned very quickly. "The Prince says he's never heard of a Princess Emma, but he wishes me to bring you in."
Emma followed the man into the house and straight through into a great room. Emma's face was immediately drawn to the toddler. She was sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a bunch of dolls. Emma's eyes lit up. Regina was an adorable child that looked like a doll herself. The blonde smiled when those brown eyes met her green ones and the girl smiled back, waving at the stranger that had entered the room.
The guard stopped, pulling Emma's attention away from Regina. "Princess Emma, my lord," he announced.
Henry looked at Emma, confused. He still didn't recognize the princess, or her name. "Welcome, dear Princess. What brings you here?"
Emma curtseyed. "Hello, Prince Henry. I know that you don't know me. I'm going to be honest with you and then I'll allow you to decide for yourself if you trust me. Is that okay?" He nodded. "Okay, well, I'm Regina's wife, and I've come here to take pictures of her for our home. I used magic to travel back in time to get them for her because today is her birthday and I noticed that she doesn't have any, but she has literally, everything else."
The Prince was quiet, studying her. So Emma took the opportunity to put her focus back on Regina. She watched the child play, and giggled when Regina noticed she was being watched. She had immediately put the doll in the floor as though she had been caught doing something she shouldn't.
Henry seemed to pick up on something from this and decided to trust the woman. "Alright," he said. "Are you really a princess?"
"Oh, well, yes, technically."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince James. Listen that's kind of complicated, so if you ever mention this to Regina, please don't tell her that. Her and my mother used to hate each other... Well, used to for me, but they will in the future for you," she rambled. "But I'd really rather you not tell her that you've ever met me at all."
"Of course not. She probably wouldn't believe me anyway. Who would believe that someone is capable of time travel?"
"Well I think you do," she replied.
"I'm not sure about that, but I trust that you won't hurt my daughter. You're a mother."
"Oh, yeah, but Regina is way better at it than I am," she smiled.
"The man's eyes sparkled. "I have grandchildren?"
"Just one. A grandson named Henry."
"What do you need from me for my Mija?"
"I'd love some photos of you with Regina to take back to her. You don't have to do anything special. Just pretend I'm not here and do whatever you would normally do with her. I'd also like a couple of her by herself."
"I suppose you have a way to make the pictures?"
"Yes," she said, pointing at the camera hanging from her neck.
He nodded again, and walked over to his daughter. "Mija, this is Princess Emma. She's going to spend a little time with us today."
"Ok, Daddy," she said. She waved at Emma again, and the woman snapped a photo of it.
Emma spent a few hours with the two, taking as many photos as she could. Once her memory card was full, she tried to get Henry's attention. He was dancing with Regina now, in that way that only father's do. Her tiny feet on top of his, spinning around the room. She caught his eye and motioned that she was going to leave. He went to stop the dance, but she waved him off, silently communicating that there was no need. Regina was smiling ear to ear and giggling like crazy. "Faster, Daddy!" she yelled as Emma slipped out of the house.
Emma got to the diner with barely five minutes left until Regina was set to show up. Snow immediately rushed over, "Oh, thank goodness! I thought you weren't going to make it. Did you get what you need?"
"Yep," Emma grinned, waving the bag in front of her mother.
Snow took it from her and over to the table where Regina's gifts were located. "Okay," she yelled. "Now that the wife is here, everyone get down!"
They all packed into the back of the diner, and hid as best as they could. A few minutes later, the bell chimed announcing that Regina and Henry had arrived. They all leaped up, "SURPRISE!"
When the time came to open gifts, Regina grabbed Emma's immediately. "No way, Madam Mayor!" Emma teased her. She hugged her from behind, and took the gift from her. "That one is last."
"You're no fun!" Regina joked, playfully slapping her wife's arm.
Regina opened all of her gifts. New perfume from the Charming's, a new spell book that Belle had found in the library, a new saddle from Henry, and several other small things. Finally she had finished everyone else's and she looked over at Emma. "Alright dear, everything else is open."
"Ok, this one is very important to me, Regina. It took me ages to figure out what to do, and when it came to me I knew I had to do everything in my power to make it happen. I hope you like it," she finished with a kiss on the cheek as she handed the bag over.
Regina practically flew through the tissue paper covering her gift. She pulled out an 11x13 frame and stopped. Her eyes were misty with tears as she gawked at Emma. She took a second to gather her composure before she spoke. "How did you?" she couldn't even finish the sentence.
"What is it?" Henry asked.
Still unable to speak, Regina just turned the photo around for everyone to see. It was a picture of what was clearly a very young Regina, no older than 3 perhaps, dancing on the toes of her father. Everyone let out a collective gasp. All of the women, and even some of the men wiped a tear away as well.
Emma walked up and put her arms around the brunette. "I would do anything for you," she whispered so that only Regina could hear. She then spoke up. "I had the great pleasure of spending my afternoon with you and your father. I noticed that we didn't have a single baby photo of you and I knew we had to have one. There's something else in the bag."
Regina wiped her eyes again before reaching into the bag a second time. This time she pulled out a small photo album. She opened it up and her eyes spilled over again. The first page was a picture of her childhood home. Her tears only got worse as she flipped through the photos. There were photos of Daniel when he was just a child, and then there were several photos of Regina and her father.
"Emma, this is perfect. I didn't even have one.." her voice broke. "Thank you. What did I ever do to deserve you?" she asked, pulling Emma in for a kiss. She didn't even care that they were in a room full of people. In that moment, it was just Emma and Regina, and nothing else mattered.