Emma scrapped her fork across her almost clean plate. The sound turned two heads in her direction. Regina sent her a questioning gaze and Kathryn's eyes shot threatening daggers towards her. Emma, mindless of the penetrating looks, carried on sipping from her wine glass.

Ever since Kathryn had arrived, there was a tension in the air. She was critical about everything. The way the table was set, the type of wine that Regina served, and for Christ sakes, she even had some backhanded comment about the shade of eyeshadow Emma wore. Apparently, the brown hue contrasted too much with her black jeans. Then there was that instance when Kathryn dropped, well threw, a butter knife across the table on accident when Emma kissed Regina's cheek.

Emma was doing her best to not let anything get to her, ignoring the 'beware of crazy ex' signs. Nevertheless, the other blonde woman was just outright infuriating. Not to mention, slightly annoying. She did this insistent throat clearing noise that made Emma cringe.

Speaking of said throat clearing, Kathryn cleared her throat to break the insufferable silence,

"Tell me, Emma, where did you go to school? Regina here talks nonstop about you but hasn't really mentioned what you do exactly."

"Well, Kath-ryn." Emma began. She already hated that she corrected her from calling her Kat. "I went to the University of Miami. I grew up in that area and it was a no brainer to go to school in Miami. You went to Brown with Regina? I think she's mentioned that before."

"I did, I majored in biochemistry with a minor in French." Emma rolled her eyes because of course Kathryn was well educated and wanted to shove that into her face like a piece of pie. Whatever her aim was, it was uncalled for.

"That's nice," Emma said, trying her hardest to not let the obviously bottle blonde get to her.

"What did you study?" Kathryn tried to force the conversation instead of letting it unfold organically.

This one upping was growing old fast. Who cares what she went to school for? What were they, twenty-three comparing meaningless things? "I studied criminology." She ended up saying.

A sour expression crossed Kathryn's face. Maybe it was the wine she recently sipped that she clearly had a distaste for, though highly doubtful, probably because she was a blue-collar worker and not a gold-collar worker.

"That's-" Kathryn was cut off.

"Kat," Regina warned. The blonde woman's eyes grew large as she took a bite of her food.

Perhaps Regina knew Kathryn well enough to expect her to have another sarcastic comment. Whatever Regina had ever seen in Kathryn was beyond Emma. Clearly there was a missing piece to the puzzle.

Disregarding Kathryn's evident distaste in her professional life choices, Emma explained her profession. "I work for a law firm where I conduct special investigations. I make my own hours, so it's a great gig." She was trying her hardest to be on her best behavior, for Regina's sake, but with each fleeting second, it became more difficult.

"How lovely." She made a smug face toward Emma. Kathryn did that annoying throat clearing thing again before asking, "Regina, cupcake, did you follow the Paris climate talks?"

Regina tensed at the pet name as did Emma. Without fail, she still instantly carried on with the conversation with the other blonde, but all Emma could hear was the word cupcake vibrating in her head. No wonder Regina was so insistent since the beginning of their relationship that she not use the word cupcake. What an awful term of endearment, but now it all came full circle. The pet name reminded her of Kathryn. And she'd like to assume probably not the best memories.

"I think it was a noble cause, yet a complete failure," Regina said with sincerity.

"How could you say that? Did you follow the proper media outlets? You can never trust CNN or Fox News. It's BBC News that you need to follow. American sources are never reliable." Kathryn criticized, all high and mighty with her worldly cultured mind from working in Paris.

"I know my sources. As I was saying, there's no commitment to bring down the greenhouse gas emissions." Regina specified, ignoring the blatant callousness from the other woman.

Emma sank into her seat listening to them carry on a conversation about a topic she had zero interest in. This whole dinner date was a complete mess. Kathryn was not exactly what she had imagined in regards to her being Regina's ex. Not that she really had anything to go by, after all, she wasn't really a topic they discussed.

"Emma, what do you think?" Kathryn asked, jarring Emma from her mental assessment of the other blonde.

Unlike Regina, Emma had no opinion. Mainly because she didn't follow the Paris conference. She was more focused on herself these past few weeks and for good reasons. "I don't really have an opinion." Emma shrugged. She picked up her wineglass and sipped the last drop of merlot from her glass that was now, unfortunately, bone dry.

"I see." Kathryn turned her nose up. "Tell me, do you follow anything important in the news? I must say, dear, it's unfortunate how uneducated this generation is." Kathryn's demeaning eyes were zeroed in on Emma.

The tension rose a level in the dining room. Emma's own gaze was derailed when she watched Regina slam down her own wine glass. Instead of letting Regina fight her battle, Emma took matters into her own hands.

She leaned closer in towards the other woman and asked, "Tell me, Kathryn, are you the type to be a Trump supporter? You seem the type. In fact, I read recently, on BBC News might I add, that most of Trumps supporters aren't middle-class white men. You see I found that to be quite shocking. Especially given that his supporters are possibly more than half women. Let me make an educated guess because I am educated that you're among them-" Before Emma could continue her rant, Kathryn cut her off.

"How dare you." She practically growled.

Emma pointed to herself, "How dare I?" She paused. "How dare you come in here and treat me like scum. I don't know you lady, but Regina does, and I've tried to play nice, but quite frankly I've had enough with your backhanded comments and judgmental eye rolls." Emma said.

"Regina, you can't possibly have her talk to me this way. Tame her." Kathryn hissed.

"Excuse me?" It was Regina's turn, this time, around. "Did you just ask me to tame my girlfriend? Kat, you know better. I do not treat people like you do. Now I suggest you bring it down a level before we retire for the evening." Regina emphasized by grabbing Emma's hand and squeezing it affectionately. That action didn't go unnoticed by Kathryn, who looked a little unhinged at their physical contact.

"You heard her, check yourself before you wreck yourself." Emma laughed, but that was cut short when she felt Regina's nails dig into her skin, effectively silencing her. Instead, Emma shrunk into her seat waiting for what came next.

Kathryn accusingly spoke to Regina. "Oh, this is rich! You're defending her. How precious. Emma, my sincerest apologies, but I haven't seen Regina this passionate about anything since when we first started dating. It's enlightening."

"I wonder why that is." Emma challenged Kathryn.

Before matters could become worse, Regina pipped in. "Kat, it seems we are out of wine. Why don't you help yourself to my cellar and pick a bottle of your liking." It was clear she was trying to defuse the situation.

"Why don't you send your pet because that's what she is, isn't she? Some knock off version of me when I was younger. Because, darling, you're transparent. Always have been." Kathryn maliciously grinned.

Regina turned red in response. Maybe it was tendrils of embarrassment intertwined with rage that surfaced on her skin. Emma couldn't put her finger on it, though, she honestly had never seen this side of Regina. But, when Regina spoke, her voice was laced with venom. "Kat, I will not ask you again. Please get us another bottle of wine and calm down."

The intolerable woman, to Emma's shock, got up and left the room.

Emma was on the edge of her dinner chair. When the other blonde was out of sight and earshot, she turned to Regina. "You've got to be kidding me. How the Hell is that your ex? She's like Satan in stilettos."

Regina nodded in understanding. Her ex did put on quite the show for them. "Kat and I have a history. I'll be brief, but there is an explanation as to why she's so-"

"Revolting?" Emma added.

"Emma." Regina tensed. "I should have told you a little more about our history. This is partly my fault for not sharing it sooner. I just didn't think about her feelings."

"Are you sticking up for her? This is utter bullshit." Emma declared.

"I'm not sticking up for her. I will not condone this nasty behavior. I'm merely suggesting that I should have taken her feelings more into account, considering what I know about her. That said, there is a reason."

To Emma, there could never be an explanation as to why someone could be so God awful. Kathryn was the most unlikable human on the face of the planet. Even if she were the last person on Earth, she wouldn't be caught dead near her.

Regina grabbed Emma's hands and her eyes beseechingly asked for her to listen. "When we were dating, there was an accident. She was going to Nantucket with her parents for a holiday. Her father was a pilot for many years, and he owned his own plane. It was his pride and joy, well outside of Kat and his wife. It was just enough to seat four people. I had flown with them many times before. It was just like any other ordinary trip, but for reasons still not determined it crashed into the ocean. Kat survived, by some miracle of God. She was never the quite same afterward. She had what is known as survivors' guilt. Her bubbly, charismatic personality was long gone. Part of me likes to believe that the Kat I knew died that day. I was her girlfriend and best friend at the time, and I saw her entire world turn to ash. It was heartbreaking and I did my best to stick around, to show her love and support. Instead, she buried herself neck deep into her job and pushed me out. My guess was that it was a coping mechanism. As you can tell, I put up with her rude behavior because I loved her, for who she was, but not for who she is now."

Emma was speechless. She would never have known had Regina not told her. It was just so easy to assume Kathryn was the ex-bitch-from-Hell. But to be fair, it's not every day someone's family died in a plane crash.

Regina continued. "Don't think for two seconds that I'm okay with her talking down to you like that. She's extremely rude, more so than usual. I can tell she's jealous, which she should be. You're incredible."

"You think?" Emma said she thought it was painfully obvious.

"I suppose she's upset that I've moved on. I wasn't as sensitive as I should have been." Regina said, almost to herself as if she'd done something wrong.

"You can't protect her from everything. She's her own person and you're not responsible for her. If she wanted to be with you, then she should have seized the opportunity. You also can't help someone who's come completely unhinged." Emma said as if she had previous experience to speak from.

Neither woman noticed Kathryn standing in the doorway with a new bottle of wine. "Regina spilling secrets I see?" Kathryn said her face on fire. If looks could kill, Emma would be dead, twice over and then brought back to the living to have an eternity of suffering. It was safe to say, she wasn't Kathryn's most liked person at the moment.

"Kat, I just was telling Emma-"

"Emma. Emma. Emma." Kat snarled, her eyes warning. "Everything is about her. Ms. Perfect Emma."

She stalked forward almost like a Siamese cat.

"Whoa, lady, there is nothing perfect about me," Emma said, pointing at herself. Because shit. Emma was far from it, at least, that's what she thought.

"I sure as Hell don't believe that for a second. Regina moved on from me and jumped ship for you. You remind her of the old me. You're an infatuation with what she used to have, with me. You're just a replacement. A carbon copy of me. I think they even call it rebounding." Kathryn said.

"That's enough." A snap cut through the tension in the room. To Emma's shock, Kathryn froze. "You have no right. I have done everything I could to be there for you, Kat. I had no choice but to move on. Emma, to your dismay, is actually nothing like you. Not now, or even then. She's her own person and God damn you for making her feel lesser. She's not perfect, but neither am I. She's someone who I have come to deeply admire and adore. So, help me God, if you don't clean your act up I will easily never speak to you again. Do you understand?" Regina yelled words that paralyzed both blonde women in the room.

Emma's eyes were ricocheting back and forth between two women whose chests were both heaving with anger. Never in a million years did she expect her evening to go from merrily picking out a Christmas tree and turn into World War IV with her own defenses up to defcon four. August would get a load out of this later. They were three seconds from an all-out cat fight, if not already, and should be featured on one of those tacky daytime TV shows.

"I had no idea you'd be this jealous, or this hurt, by meeting Emma. Had I known, I would never have invited you here in the first place." Regina added.

The blonde's face was strained with anger. Finally, she shut up, as if calculating her next moves and doing some mental recon. Instead of some nasty comeback, she moved forward and placed a bottle of red wine on the kitchen table between Emma and Regina.

"I, uhm, found this one." Her voice was surprisingly broken. "I found it on the top of the shelf. Had some cobwebs on it. We picked it out when we were in college, from Newport Vineyards. It's collected a lot of dust since then, kind of like us. The wine is probably shit now, but it reminded me of then and… Regina, I'm sorry." It was almost tearful. "I guess tonight was a wake-up call from Hell that I've wasted so much between us. Life in general really." Her eyes were glued to the bottle as she laughed to herself. "I let everything fall apart and didn't live when the people closest to me had died. I don't know if I'll ever be that girl again, the girl you loved and the one that her parents left behind. I just hope you'll come to forgive me. In time that is."

Kathryn looked up and locked eyes with Emma. "I'm also sorry to you for being so rude. I think I just really realized what I truly lost." She said nodding her head. "I think I'm going to go. I have an early day tomorrow. Maybe, we can try this again. Except, I'll try to be a little less jealous and humbler."

Regina and Emma both were slack-jawed. The evening was jam-packed with unexpected twists and turns, but Emma didn't expect Kathryn to apologize, not so heartfelt at least.

"Let me help you get your coat." Regina offered, tightly. She walked back to her foyer.

Kathryn still stared at Emma expectantly. Emma wasn't the best with formalities, but at least she tried. "Uh, it was nice-" Kathryn cut her off.

"No, it wasn't. I know better than that. Perhaps, if there's a next time, it will be nice. I'm truly sorry for my behavior. Take care of Regina, she's special to me." And for the first time that evening, a small faint smile lightened the taut features of the other woman's face.

Emma smiled in response and nodded her head. Regina reappeared and helped Kathryn into her coat. There were a whirlwind of emotions floating around in the air and Emma knew that this wasn't the last she'd see of Kathryn, but for now, it was goodbye.

When Regina shut the door to her home, she turned to Emma with heavy eyes.

"I need you to know something." Regina began. She brought her hands to Emma's face, softly cupping her cheeks, caressing her. "You, Emma Swan, are nothing like her. I never want you to think for two seconds that you're some rebound, as she so carelessly put it. I adore you, Emma.

You're as close to perfect as it gets for me and I'm sorry if she made you feel less than you are.

You are your own person, who, as I said, I've come to admire. You're stronger than anyone I know. Brave, even. I couldn't imagine what you've gone through, and I think you're a bigger person than I could ever be. I am so honored that you're my girlfriend… okay?"

Emma for the second time that night was speechless. Her words had completely and utterly failed her. Regina was more eloquent than she could ever be. The fact that she admitted to adoring her made waves of tears swell in her eyes. It wasn't an I love you, but it was pretty damn close.

Emma leaned forward and captured Regina's lips in a sweet loving kiss. She poured all the words she felt, all the love she wished to confess, and joy into her kisses. Emma was sure the way her lips and tongue moved, or even the way her teeth would nibble on her bottom lip expressed her undying affection for Regina. Because there was no denying it, she was in love.

When her eyes fluttered open the following morning, she felt a huge sense of worth wash over her. Waking up in the arms of someone you love can do that to a person. Her head laid against Regina's flesh and the sound of her heartbeat ricocheted in her mind. It was the most soothing sound she'd ever heard.

Not once in her life had she ever woken up in the arms of a person she loved. Lily and her, while they had a good relationship, it was child's play in comparison. That was college, this was, well, real and raw.

"Are you awake?" Came a tired, but happy voice beneath her.

Emma smiled. "I am, but I'm not ready to get up. I don't want the day to start. As soon as it does, it's one more day closer to having to go home."

A comforting arm wrapped Emma closer, "But then you're closer to Christmas and then you have two weeks with me. You get to meet my parents, which let me say will be nothing like last night with Kathryn."

"What a relief. I think I aged five years since last night. In fact, I think my clothes are outdated."

"Darling, they already were before she got here."

Emma picked her head up and cut her eyes at her girlfriend. "Did you just insult my taste in fashion?"

"You said it first, not me."

Emma smirked, technically Regina was right. Though she did take it out of context. "So," Regina said, "How do you feel about pancakes? I can whip some up?"

"Mmmm that sounds wonderful." Emma moaned. "What did I do to deserve someone like you?"

"Well, I know I'm quite the catch." Regina playfully stated.

Emma laughed, "And so humble."

"After breakfast, we can get some ornaments and decorations for the tree." Regina said in a hushed tone. "I wish you had more time here."

"Stop," Emma emphasized and drew out the word. Vulnerably she buried her head in the crook between Regina's shoulder and head. "I already don't even want to leave. You're going to make it impossible for me to leave you now. To leave this." Emma pointed out with her hand waving over their cuddled-up bodies that were twisted together under soft sheets.

"Then don't go," Regina replied softly.

"Babe," Emma said with a slight pout. "I have to," Emma said sadly. "You have all those meetings and I have my job." Their separate lives becoming more of an impending doom.

"That's life, isn't it? Still goes on even when we don't want it to."

Emma nodded. "It sucks."

"You're ever so articulate in the mornings."

"It's eight in the morning and I haven't had coffee, don't expect me to be." Emma defended. Not that she ever was one spectacular with her words to begin with.

Regina sat up. "In that case, let me go get you a cup and a start on breakfast. Help yourself to anything in the bathroom. After breakfast, we can do some festive shopping. The town also has a little farmer's market we can check out. Maybe get some ingredients for a steak dinner tonight?"

"That sounds good and mouth watering. You spoil me. Say, what else is there around town?"

Emma asked. She really did want to get the scope of the town and a taste for Regina's life.

"There is the Westbrook's Winter West Festival later today."

"A whose what? Like some kids singing Christmas carols?"

Regina laughed. "Well, there is that, but the highlight is dog sled races."

"You're kidding. I thought that only happened in Alaska." Emma said amused.

"Do you want to go? I probably should make an appearance." Regina admitted to herself.

"Oh, heck yeah. This sounds like a lot of fun." Emma said, officially ready for her day.

"What do you mean, no Santa faces?" Emma asked with an amused scowl.

"I mean, floating Santa faces is kind of creepy. Like what was he, beheaded? He's missing half of his body." Regina rejected the ornaments, hands down, no exceptions. Instead, she suggested a different set to Emma. "How about these, they're nice."

"Those are boring," Emma said as she looked at the basic red balls in the plastic box. "How about these?" Emma held up a package of glitter coated ball ornaments.

"That's too fussy." Regina argued and scrunched her nose. "How about these elegant snowflakes?"

"Why would you put that on a tree?" Emma asked. They were going nowhere fast with the ornament selection. They had already spent the better half of the hour on the same damn aisle.

"Okay, babe, we need to find common ground here or we will never make it to the farmers market or winter whatever with dogs and sleds."

Regina rolled her eyes and corrected. "Westbrook Winter West Festival."

"Exactly what I said." Emma laughed.

Regina shot her a pointed glare. "Why don't you pick out what you want, and I'll just have to like it."

Emma smugly smiled. She liked getting what she wanted. "How about we get the combo box that has the plain red ornaments and the glitter coated ones. It's a good compromise. Also, I think we should get some multi-colored lights, makes the tree twinkle a little more." Emma said, confident with her choices.

"Perfect. Put it in the carriage."

"The care-what?" Emma said with confusion written in cursive all over her face.

"I said, put it in the carriage." Regina flippantly repeated not sure what the problem was. She didn't stutter.

"You mean the buggy." Emma clarified and pointed.

"No, what are you from the eighteenth century?" Regina said, sarcastically.

"No, but I'm sure that a carriage is meant for a baby from that era," Emma argued.

The two continued to bicker over the proper terminology all the way through the store, in the checkout line, all the way until they were in the car. At which point, they then agreed that 'cart' was an acceptable term.

After their long-winded debate on carriage versus buggy, Emma switched subjects to Christmas and presents. "So, do you want to exchange gifts?"

"You're my gift this year. You're visiting, that's enough for me." Regina said.

"I know, but I would like to get you something if you want?"

"It's really okay. Time with you is more valuable than anything." While that was sweet and made Emma swoon a little, she still wanted to give her something to show her a token of her love for the other woman.

"Would you be mad if I got you something," Emma asked.

"Why would someone ever get mad over a gift, that's absurd," Regina responded. "But I'd rather you not. I know you are already going out of your way and passing up time with your own family."

"It's okay. I love my parents, don't get me wrong, but my heart is with you, and I would have been a bah humbug without you. So, if you agree, let's exchange one gift." Emma reasoned.

"Let's cap it at fifty dollars." Regina further reasoned.

"Fine. Fifty dollars. I can do plenty creative things with that." Emma said.

"Oh, I'm sure you can. You never cease to amaze me."

When the car pulled into the garage. Emma jumped out and grabbed Regina's door, which garnered a raised eyebrow.

"It's a southern thing." Emma defended. "Just like how I will carry the bags in right after I open the door for you."

"You're too much to handle," Regina said.

"Am I really, though? I kind of think you like it. Don't deny it."

"Fine then, I won't." Regina bit back a smile.

The bags all brought in, Emma met Regina in the study and started unwrapping the different ornament and hook packages.

"So, is there a method to this madness? My mother always decorated the tree." Emma said.

"Well, I think it's best to pack the tree from inside out to make it look fuller than it is."

So, there they stood together, one by one hanging ornaments on their first Christmas tree.

When it came time for wrapping it with lights, Regina tangled Emma up and laughed. "Hold still! I need to get a picture of this." While holding still was probably meant to only be for a few seconds, it lasted a few minutes.

"Babe?" She called out to where her girlfriend had run off to. "You're leaving me hanging."

When Regina rushed back in, she claimed to have lost her phone momentarily. Whether that was true or not, it was neither here nor there. "Say cheese!" Which Emma did and then frowned over the lights becoming too hot against her skin. "Can you get me outta this mess now? They're starting to burn." She pouted like a sad puppy left outside for too long.

When the tree was finally done, a huge sense of accomplishment swelled in Emma's chest. "Paula is beautiful." Then that reminded her of Regina's comment just the night before about them and then them with children...together. Emma gulped and reasoned it was now or never.

"Regina. When you said, our children, do you really think we'll have that some day?"

Regina was standing by the fireplace but now took a seat. There was a complexity to her expression, one Emma was trying to decipher. "I had a feeling you'd ask about that." Regina sighed. "Does it bother you, that I said that? I know it's rather soon in our relationship. I didn't mean to get ahead of myself." She defended.

"No, it didn't bother me. On the contrary actually, the thought of you thinking we could have that someday was… uhm, I guess I just felt honored. It's never something I thought I could have with someone. Then the thought of seeing a little mini version of you running around was unbearably cute." Emma said with excitement. That excitement was cut short with the pained expression on Regina's face. "Did I say something wrong?" Emma instantly asked.

"Emma, sit next to me?" Regina asked. Emma did as she was told, now more nervous than she had been, not that she was too nervous to begin with. "Is something wrong?"

Regina grabbed Emma's hand and held it close. Emma could tell it was more for Regina and not for her. "Emma, I… I-"

"Hey, you can tell me anything. It's okay." Emma tried to reassure her.

Regina nodded. "I can't have my own children," she said. "I found out a long time ago and it's not been easy for me. I always wanted my own."

Emma knew that feeling all too well. She knew the pain and troubled thoughts it brought her when she first found out she couldn't have kids. It made more sense now when Regina told her that the person, she was with would have to carry. Sighing at this Emma said, "Did you know that one of the side effects of my medication is that I'm sterile?" Emma asked. The way she said it also acknowledged that she had long come to terms with that fact.

Regina looked at her with hooded eyes full of sadness. "What?"

Emma nodded. "Yup. So when I was just a kid I had to kiss away that dream of having my own kids someday, but it was more important to me to be myself."

"How'd you cope? I mean I know how hard it is, but at such a young age…"

"There's adoption and I really want to make a difference for a kid in need someday. I may not be able to have my own kid, but that doesn't mean I can't have kids. It doesn't make me less of a mother either." Emma explained. "Thank you for telling me and I promise if we get to a place in our relationship where we want to take that next step, I won't name him or her Paula."

Regina laughed hysterically. Emma had a knack for lightening the mood. "Who would name a little boy Paula?" She asked in through her happy tears.

"Don't question it," Emma said as she pulled Regina closer into her arms and held her close. For the hundredth time, her heart and mind begged to say I love you. "Ready to go to the farmers market and winter west dog sled thing?" Emma asked.

"Westbrook Winter West Festival." Regina corrected again. "I think you'll want to wear that red peacoat again. It's going to get colder than earlier today." Regina warned.

"You don't have to ask me twice to wear your clothes. I'll happily oblige." Emma winked. "Thanks for entertaining my tree decorating need. I'm really glad I got to do that with you, even if I don't get to see it as often."

"I'll send you pictures of Paula." Regina smiled, but still rolled her eyes at the awful name.

Emma's eyes scanned the different vegetables and picked out a few onions, peppers, and squashes.

"You're buying enough for a family of ten," Regina warned.

"Listen, I eat a lot. Are you prepared for this?" Emma pointed to herself. "I have to eat like every four hours, or I get 'hangry.'"

Regina flirtatiously rolled her eyes. "Did you want any green beans or anything." Regina pointed out to a yellow basket filled to the rim with beautiful, healthy green beans.

"No, I think these are good." She motioned to her full cart. "This is really great. We don't have these in Orlando, to my knowledge. Do you come here often for your produce?"

"I do. I like to buy local. It's better for small businesses." Regina said as she followed behind Emma.

"We could get a few potatoes and I can skin them and mash them up." Emma was almost salivating at the mere thought of her steak dinner later that night.

"I prefer red." Regina specified. Emma nodded and started to examine her options.

"Is there really a difference?" Emma asked nonchalantly.

"Less starch," Regina added. "And fewer calories."

"Duly noted," Emma said as she handpicked a few nice sized options and ventured over to the person working in the tent.

The happy brunette woman asked, "Is that all for you?" Her green shirt read, "Westbrooks Organic Produce."

Emma nodded, "I think so. Let me ask." Emma turned and looked over her shoulder. "Hey, Regina, is there anything else, or can I pay?"

"Oh, Regina?" The cashier said as she noticed the mayor in her tent behind Emma. "It's so nice to see you shopping in the market. Not a lot of people today because of the cold. I hope you've had a great holiday so far." She said as she bagged up their goods.

Emma looked over at her girlfriend. Man was this woman loved by her constituents.

"Thanks, Astrid. Emma here…" She put her hands on Emma's shoulders for emphasis. "Is visiting and I suggested we come and pick out foods for our dinner tonight. I wanted to give her a taste of the town."

"Well, you've come to the right place. Welcome to Westbrook!" Astrid said as she rang Emma up. "That's seven dollars, please."

Emma couldn't believe the affordable price and happily handed over the amount in cash.

"Oh, and Regina. I threw in some mistletoe as a thanks for everything you've done. I hope you can put it to some good use." The brunette winked. Her suggestive look was telling that she was quite aware of the blossoming relationship between the two women.

When the pair walked back to the car, Emma couldn't help but add, "What are you The First Lady of Maine?"

"No, I just invested a lot of my own money in the town recently. I really wanted to cultivate a prosperous economy."

"You're too generous, you know that, right?" Emma said.

"Well, the way I see it, it behooves me to give back to where my successes started."

That made total sense to Emma. Not badgering Regina on the ins and outs of how much she invested she asked, "So this West's Dog Sledding thing, think we can do it ourselves?"

Regina finally gave up correcting Emma and clarified. "It's a race. I don't have a pack of huskies or a sled for that matter. Though I'm sure Graham wouldn't mind giving you a shot at riding it, after the race. He's my assistant's partner."

"Your assistant is gay?" Emma asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I think the word fabulous is too frequent in his vocabulary."

Nodding along Emma agreed that would have been the first indication. "Well, that's nice. Are they married?"

"They've been together for a long time, but no they're not. I'm not sure if they ever will get married. It doesn't seem to be a priority between them. Some people are like that. They don't need that to prove or solidify their love. I, on the other hand, want to get married someday. There's just something about marriage that I've romanticized over the years." Regina said. She caught her words and realized she had digressed. She went back to the main subject, "Graham will be there tonight and I'm sure he'll be more than happy to show you the ropes, literally."

And that he did. "You're going to need a heavier jacket," Jeff said. Just like any gentleman would do, he shimmied out of his heavy coat and handed it to Emma. Funnily enough, Jeff was small enough to fit Regina's red peacoat in exchange. "Can't exactly have my bosses girlfriend freeze."

Regina smiled standing next to him. "Don't play nice on my account."

"Oh, I would never act in any other way." He wiggled his perfectly manicured eyebrows and buried his hands into the girly red peacoat.

"Emma, come meet the pack." Graham motioned over to the sled with seven dogs.

There was a huge difference between Jeff and Graham. For one, Emma could tell right away that Graham would never be caught dead in Regina's red peacoat. He was rougher, more 'manly man' for a lack of description.

Emma followed the other man over to where the dogs rested. A few of them were howling into the night, others licking themselves.

The races were more exciting than she had imagined. The snow-covered track wasn't what she initially thought. Nonetheless, they were able to see all the racers the entire time. Graham had placed third, someone named Mr. Gold had won the race. There was a passing comment made by Jeff on how he wins every year without fail the annoyance in his tone had not gone unnoticed. According to him, there had been rumors that his dogs were on steroids, but there were no hard facts to prove the allegations.

Graham started introducing Emma to his pack. "This one here is Happy. Ever since she was a puppy, she was a ball of joy, always playing. That one there is Sneezy and before you ask, she does sneeze a lot." He pointed out. Emma was starting to catch on to a theme after the third dog's name," This guy is Grumpy, he's standoffish with strangers, so make sure he sniffs your hand first before petting him." At the start of the line is the lead dog, Doc. "This old boy here was my first. All the others were from the same litter two years later.

"I kind of found it funny to name them after the Seven Dwarves from Snow White, since they are snow dogs. It was how I first met Jeff. I guess there really is a saying, 'must love dogs' because we met at a park one day. I had Doc with me, and he practically knocked Jeff over. Splashed his coffee all over his suit, sent his hat flying right off his head. I chased it down for him. Made a mockery of myself in the process. The harsh wind carried it a short distance. Made him late for work at the Mayor's office. I asked him out to lunch as an apology, it was the least I could do. One thing led to another and before I knew it we were a couple."

"That's an adorable love story. I can honestly say that if it weren't for Jeff, I would never have met Regina. He set up her dating profile for her. Kind of like how my friend August did for me. I am forever in debt to both of them for that. Regina's an incredible woman. I will always be confused as to why I ended up so lucky with her." Emma said as she reached out her hand to let Grumpy sniff her hand. "So, what do you do here in town?"

"I actually don't work in town. I work over in Portland in the Police Department." He said watching Emma now pet the dark colored Husky.

"No kidding. I went to school for criminology. I work for a lawyer in Orlando. I do special investigations."

"Well, if you ever move up here let me know. Portland Police Department are in a high demand for investigators and I'm sure our Mayor would give you a glowing recommendation."

"I'll keep that in mind." Emma smiled. It was good to know there was some sort of opportunity on the horizon if she did end up moving north.

Graham turned and checked the different harnesses. "Okay so, the pack is ready. Here's a few mushing terms you'll want to know. First, line out means for the lead dog, Doc, to straighten out the line. That's for hooking their harness up or unhooking them from the line. There's a neckline, tug line, snub line, and a tow line." Graham continued to explain. By the end of his introductory debriefing, he had Emma get onto the sled in front of him.

"Alright, what did I tell ya?" He asked her from behind.

Emma breathed out into the suddenly cold night air. "To start, you must yell mush!"

"Well?" Graham said. "On with it, rookie!" He encouraged.

Emma turned her head off to the side and locked eyes with Regina, who was smiling at her next to Jeff. The two were talking work, but that was to be expected. Emma blew her a kiss and then yelled out, "Mush!"

Doc took off first followed the rest of the pack. Suddenly they were cruising at a fast pace. Snow was whipping all around them and a rush of excitement surged through Emma's body. Her breath was taken away as she looked up at the night sky that was full of stars, unlike the night before. She felt on top of the world and was blown away by how much she was enjoying this. Not just the dog sledding, that was great, but the entire town. Regina's life. It was better than she could imagine.

"Haw!" She yelled out. The dogs all veered left.

"This is amazing!" She yelled out to Graham, who was behind her.

"You're a natural. Maybe next year you can participate in the races." He yelled back. "Maybe you'll teach that old-timer, Mr. Gold, what's new."

Emma smiled, that was a thought for sure.

Never in all her life had she expected this to be her life. To fall in love or picture herself with a wife and kids someday. Nor did she picture living in the Northeast where it snowed far too often.

But on any given day, she'd trade her sunshine filled life for this one.

Maine wasn't so bad after all. The people were nice, the food was homegrown, and Hell, there was dog sledding. Outside of Regina, what more could she ask for? Emma knew in her heart that this was it for her. She not only had fallen in love with Regina Mills, but also with Westbrook, Maine and all of its residents, minus Kathryn. She was still working that one out in her head. The woman sure had some issues to work out if she intended on remaining friends with Regina, given that Emma was going nowhere anytime soon, if ever.

"Haw!" Emma yelled out into the night sky. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she sped through the white snow with Graham. The sounds of the pack racing in front of her, and the combination of the beautiful stars made her smile in glee to the point where she was laughing. Really laughing. It was as if all the happiness in the world filled her body. Though she couldn't really feel her face from the numbness, she knew there was a plastered grin right across it.

"You okay there?" Graham asked from behind her.

"I'm more than okay," She responded over the racing sounds of the Huskies. It was true, Emma was more than okay, she was wonderfully drunk on her own happiness.