It seems like forever since I have updated this story, but have no fear I am already working on the next chapter!
My words, but not my characters.
Chapter 33: A Wedding
Snow and Emma sat on the floor of the closet of the master suite in the new house. They were surrounded by what Emma would have guess was close to 78,000 pieces of clothing and not very many of them were pieces of white clothing. They could not find a single piece of clothing that was appropriate to wear for a renewal of wedding vows when the bride was 9 months pregnant.
Emma held up the 15th white nightie that looked like it had been in fashion over a hundred years ago. She eyed the night gown in dismay.
"What did you wear to seduce David when the two of you were under the Curse?" Emma asked casually.
"He was never really concerned about what I was wearing." Her mother replied wistfully.
Emma groaned and replied, "Sorry I asked."
"This is hopeless. I can't marry your father today. I have nothing to wear!" Snow lamented to her daughter with a desperate sigh.
Emma sorted through the piles again, hoping that they had overlooked the perfect garment.
"There is a frilly white shower curtain in the guest bathroom." Emma pointed out in a hopefully helpful manner.
Snow gave her daughter a death glare.
The door opened and Red stuck her head in the room.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked.
"Do you own anything white?" Emma asked.
She shook her head sadly. "Last time I checked my name wasn't White Ridinghood!" She answered.
"You would think that someone named Snow White would have a few clothes that were actually white!" Emma replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"I know," replied Red, "She used to wear white in the Enchanted Forest. Maybe that was part of the Curse. Regina made sure that Mary Margaret didn't own any white."
"You two are not helping!" Snow snapped impatiently.
"Maybe I can help." A soft voice called from the doorway. They turned to see mother superior standing in the doorway. There was a white dress draped over her arm.
"Blue!" Snow stated happily.
The former fairy moved quietly into the room as if she could still float on air.
Emma touched the dress with great reverence as if it were a religious object.
"Is that what I think it is?" Emma asked in awe.
"It is the dress your mother wore to her royal wedding to your father." Blue confirmed.
"It is amazing!" Emma exclaimed.
"Where did you find it?" Snow asked with equal awe in her voice.
"Never mind where I found it, the important thing is that you have it to wear today." The Fairy replied.
Snow looked down at her swollen stomach bursting the new life of her and Charming's son.
"I don't think it will fit." She sighed and then looked down at her bulging stomach. She smiled wistfully.
"It will fit." Blue promised. "There is magic here now and the Dwarfs have been mining diamonds to turn into fairy dust. We have been saving it for a very special occasion."
She sprinkled blue fairy dust on the dress and it glowed with a blue light before it disappeared and reappeared on Snow. It fit perfectly and a pair of blue ballet flats appeared on her feet.
"Every bride should have a little blue on her wedding day." The fairy shrugged.
Snow hugged her happily.
"I don't know what to say." She replied through tears.
"Our town mayor is not the only one who loves you." She reminded the princess. "Now I had better go find a seat." The fairy informed them.
Red also excused herself explaining that she needed to go help Granny with the food. Before she left though she added, "Mary Margaret borrowed stuff from me when she needed to seduce David."
A broad grin spread across Snow's face and she nodded her head to show that what her friend had said was true.
"The Curse left Ruby with an interesting collection of sleeping attire." Snow confessed.
A shocked look crossed Emma's face.
"Seriously?" She asked as a blush crept across her face.
"When you stopped working nights, it cut into David and my quality time together. Then the doubts created by the Curse reared their ugly head and I pushed your father away." She admitted with sadness in her voice.
Emma looked at her very pregnant mother. Her sibling had been conceived in the final days before the Curse had been broken.
Under her breath she muttered, "Clearly you didn't push him too far away."
A little bit louder she proclaimed, "You have something blue now, and something new but you still need something old and something borrowed." Emma explained.
"I guess the dress is old." Snow shrugged.
"I think we can do better than that."
They both turned to see Regina standing in the doorway.
"Regina!" Snow gasped with baited breath.
"Snow, you look beautiful." Her stepmother declared. There was softness in her voice.
"What are you doing here Regina?" Emma protested.
Regina's eyes grew large and she tried to look innocent. She did not wear the look well.
"I brought Henry." She exclaimed. "I also brought you a gift." She smiled warmly.
Snow sat down hard on the bed. "Here we go again she murmured sadly."
Regina held out a small black box about the size of a small jewelry box.
"This is the gift I should have given you at your first wedding, instead of that other Gift." She stated with some reservations in her voice.
She opened the box so that Snow could see what was inside. The eyes of both women filled with tears. Emma looked back and forth between the two women. It was a beautiful necklace, but nothing to cry over as far as Emma could see.
"It belonged to my mother." Snow explained as she chocked back more tears.
"Leopold gave it to me on the day of my wending to him with the understanding that someday I would give it back to Snow." Regina stated.
"He gave you a wedding present that had belonged to his dead wife?" Emma asked with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Your Grandfather on your mother's side was not the sharpest knife in the wooden block." Regina replied stoically.
All three women burst into laughter.
"Is this an apology?" Emma asked.
"It is the start of one." Regina replied cautiously. "While you and your father were off on your adventure and Henry stayed with me, we talked a lot. He made me realize that we are all stuck here together for the foreseeable future and we need to make peace. It is what is best for him and all of us. If there is nothing else you need, I'll leave you to your happy day." This time there was nothing sinister about the way she said the words.
"Regina, wait! Do you know of a way to break the curse that has stolen Charming's eyesight?" Snow asked.
Regina considered for a moment. "It is a condition, not a curse per say. The best way of finding a cure is to take him back to where he was first afflicted."
"I have to take him to OZ." Snow stated firmly. "We will go as soon as the wending is over."
"Hold on a moment, you are going to have a baby any day now. You simply cannot go traipsing off to another realm until after the baby is born." Emma insisted, forcefully.
A stubborn look crossed Snow's face. "I will not have your father miss out on seeing the birth of his second child. Besides, Doctor Whale has said that I still have several weeks before the baby is born."
"Forgive me for not being willing to rely on the medical word of Victor Frankenstein!" The pitch of Emma's voice betrayed her frustration.
"Is that his real identity? What all went on here while I was gone?" Snow asked.
"You missed a great deal." Emma admitted.
"You have heard of him?" Regina asked.
"Mary Margaret read about him with one of her classes. It is just a story though. He isn't real." She claimed.
"I am stating to think most fiction is real." Emma stated. "Where do you think the best stories come from?"
"There are thousands of stories. Not all of them could be real. Some of the people in stories we have never met." Her mother countered.
"I met several such people before I ever came to Storybrooke." Emma admitted. "I didn't believe their stories at the time. I thought they were crazy."
"Who did you meet from our land?" Regina asked.
"None that I want to talk about right now." She replied.
"Was Henry's father from the Enchanted Forest?" Regina asked. "Is that why you thought Henry was crazy, because the stories his father told you made you think he was crazy?" Regina eyed Emma with suspicion. "Are we to expect Peter Rabbit to show up any day now with a claim on Henry?"
Snow gave her daughter a questioning look as well.
"It wasn't Peter Rabbit!" Emma exclaimed. "Besides when I got out of prison I looked for Neal and it was as if he had dropped off the face of the earth."
Snow and Regina exchanged a look.
"Do we know anyone named Neal?" Snow asked Regina.
"The name doesn't ring a bell. It must be an alias." Regina reasoned. "Who else did you run into from other realms?"
"It seems like most of the people who really touched my life as I was growing up seemed unreal in one way or another." Emma shrugged.
Snow pondered this for a moment.
"Is it really possible that there are others like us living outside of Storybrooke?" Snow directed the question at Regina.
"It is possible. Some people may have come before the Curse was enacted. People could have come from realms not affected by the Curse. Emma, you are certain Henry's father will not come looking for him?"
Regina asked with worry in her voice.
"I am almost positive that he does not know that Henry exists. He never knew I was pregnant." She reassured Regina.
"There you have it," Regina replied to Snow, "There is nothing to worry about. Enjoy today and we can worry about everything else another day." Regina headed for the door once more.
"Regina, you can stay." Snow called after her.
A puzzled smile crossed the face of her stepmother.
"I would like it very much if you stayed for the wedding." Snow clarified. "I think Henry would like it as well." She added.
"I will stay, for Henry." Regina replied as she left the room.
Emma started for the door as well.
"I had better go tell dad that you invited the evil queen to your wedding." Emma sighed.
"Please hide his sword. The last thing that I need is your father going after Regina with it and taking out a Dwarf or two, we are already down to 7 as it is." Snow replied in a serious tone.
"There you go giving me and easy job." Emma replied with sarcasm in her voice.
"Just make sure he understands and that I invited Regina to stay and make sure that he makes it to the living room without tripping or stabbing any of the wedding guests." Her mother pleaded.
"Exactly how many mortal enemies did you invite?" Emma asked.
"Everyone here today is a friend or loved one." Snow replied earnestly.
Emma shook her head in disbelieve as she left the room. Regina may very well want to change and she may even have the intent to change, but Emma needed more proof. Her mother was entirely too naive and too forgiving. She figured she would find a more sympathy from her father. As Emma approached the bedroom where her father was waiting she saw that he was pacing nervously. He looked up as she entered the room. Worry was etched on his face.
"Emma is something wrong?" He asked anxiously. "Did Snow go into labor? Did she decide not to renew our vows?"
Emma frowned, even though her father could not see her expression.
"She invited Regina to stay for the wedding." She blurted out nervously.
"Has Snow lost her mind?" He asked. "What did Regina promise?"
"She told us that she wants to end the war because she thinks it is hurting Henry." Emma blew out a breath as she spoke.
"Do you believe her?" Her father asked.
"I hope she is sincere, for Henry's sake, but it is going to take more than a necklace and a few kind words to convince me that she has changed." Emma admitted.
"What necklace?" Charming asked.
"It was silver with multicolored stones shaped like flowers." Emma described the necklace.
"The flowers are supposed to resemble blue bells and the necklace belonged to Snow's mother. Snow was devastated when Regina kept it because it was supposed to be passed on to her on our wedding day. I had it reproduced, but the one I had made turned green on the back when you mother wore it." He shrugged.
"You had a cheap reproduction made of a family heirloom?"
"I was a shepherd of limited means when I married your mother." He shrugged.
"You were a prince who grew up on a farm." She reminded him quietly.
"I would just as soon forget that part of my heritage." He frowned.
He had confided in Emma that he was really the grandson of King George, but he strongly felt that a great many of his problems could have been prevented if his mother Ruth had stood up to her father instead of running away to the Land of OZ. He had made peace with his mother when he and Emma had been reunited with her during their search for the one of the portal rings. Still, it was not a part of his past that he readily embraced.
"Shall I kick out Regina?" Emma asked.
"Snow wants her here. So, she can stay. Keep an eye on her though." He replied.
"I Always do." Emma promised. "I am supposed to escort you to the living room," Emma stated as she offered him her arm, "Mostly to make sure that you don't trip or stab a guest."
"Were those your mother's exact directions?" He asked.
'Pretty much word for word what she described." Emma admitted.
As they approached the living room her father asked, "Can you set the scene for me?"
Emma was used to describing a room and situation to her father. She had done it for several meetings since he had become mayor.
"Our left has several chairs arranged in a row. Regina is sitting with Henry and Archie. Ruby and Granny are in front of her. The Dwarfs are sitting on our right side with Blue and some of the sisters. Dr. Whale is sitting in front of them and undressing Mary Margaret with his eyes."
"What!" Her father exclaimed loudly. This caused everyone to turn around and stare at him.
"I am kidding," Emma admitted. "He isn't here at all."
She felt him relax beside her. "Where is your mother?"
"She is standing by the fireplace. Just in case you were wondering, she is wearing her original wedding dress. The Blue Fairy preformed some kind of magic and it actually fits. She looks lovely." Emma informed him. The placement of the chairs formed and an aisle that she walked her father up until they reached Snow, who reached out and took both of his hands in hers. Emma took a seat in the front row.
Charming leaned over and whispered in the ear of his bride, "You look stunning."
She could have made a crack about him being blind, but instead she simply replied, "Thank you." For the first time in a long time she felt beautiful and it had nothing to do with the couture dress that miraculously fit. She was home and she was about to recommit to the man she loved almost more than life. She was surrounded by love. In fact, the whole room was filled with love.
"You look pretty good yourself," Snow informed her husband, "Shall we make this official?" She asked.
She looked around the room and realized someone was missing. "Charming, who is going to officiate this ceremony?" She asked.
Realization dawned on his face. "I Knew I was forgetting something." He frowned. "I'm Mayor I guess I can perform the ceremony." He frowned.
"I can do it." Regina called from her seat.
All eyes turned to her in shock. Granny reached for her cross bow that was hidden under her seat.
"As the former Mayor I can perform marriage ceremonies." She replied helpfully.
Charming sighed. He didn't really want Regina there in the first place, much less actually performing the ceremony. But he loved Snow and he trusted her and he realized that she would probably want him to trust Regina.
"It is your choice." He told Snow.
"I would like Regina to perform the ceremony." She said with her voice filled with hope. Then to her husband she whispered, "Thank you."
"I love you Snow, and I will support you always, even when I fail to agree with your decisions." He sighed again and leaned over to kiss his wife.
"No one said you could kiss the bride!" Grumpy yelled from the crowd.
Everyone laughed. Emma carefully watched Regina as the former mayor made her way to the front of the room.