XVIII. Contemplative Christmas
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With her face shining from the steam in the kitchen, Regina stirred the vanilla cream for dessert in a bowl while the turkey roasted in the oven. She was glad to have most of the menu ready, because a glance at the clock told her there wasn't much time left to make herself reasonably presentable, either. Henry and Emma rushed in, first putting their hands into the plate of cookies on the sideboard.
"Not before dinner!" cautioned Regina sharply. "Besides, you still have to change, Henry."
The boy rolled his eyes in annoyance, but actually went upstairs, rumbling audibly. Like everyone his age, he preferred baggy jeans and oversized tees, but at least on Christmas she expected him to put on a decent shirt. Where he got that from was perfectly clear to her with one look at Emma, who was wearing dark pants and a tank top completely inappropriate for the season.
"What, decorating the tree makes you sweat," she stated with a shrug before popping a cinnamon star into her mouth.
Regina sighed in resignation. "Come with me, I'll lend you a top of mine."
In the bedroom, she handed her a dark blue satin blouse from the closet while she chose a tight-fitting burgundy dress for herself. A moment later, Emma turned in front of the mirror, examining her look.
"I can wear this, I guess." She grinned seductively. "Smells like you."
"Looks good on you, actually." Regina, still standing there in stockings and underwear, put her arms around her and kissed her tenderly. She felt her friend's gaze slide over her body with pleasure before she pulled the dress over her head and practiced zipping it up at the nape of her neck. Emma would have the pleasure of unzipping it later.
Once Regina had her hair and makeup done, the little family met in the living room, where the tree stood, which was decorated with blue and silver ornaments. It was so tall that it reached the ceiling. The ladder that Henry and Emma had used to reach even the top branches was still leaning against the wall next to it.
"Look at it, Mom!" Triumphantly, Henry, who had exchanged his shirt for one that was freshly ironed, flipped a switch on the cord that ran across the floor, and the string of myriad star-shaped lights shone brightly.
Regina nodded appreciatively. "It's lovely, good job!"
Normally she had always decorated the tree with Henry, but now there were three of them and the traditions had to expand. Emma's eyes had sparkled almost as much as her son's at the sight of the boxes of ornaments, so she could never have refused her. Her girlfriend certainly had some talents, but cooking was clearly not one of them, so the division of tasks was easily done.
As soon as the final preparations were complete and a festively decorated table awaited the guests, Regina retrieved a large Christmas present wrapped in shiny paper from the closet in the study, where she had hidden it from Henry, and a second small one from the top drawer of the desk. She placed both under the tree, where her son had already placed two identical packages, one with a red bow, the other with a purple. Since Emma was on duty the next day and had to get up early, they had decided to uncharacteristically do the gift-giving on Christmas Eve. Henry didn't mind, since he was already too grown to believe Santa came climbing down the chimney anyway.
"So how does that work for you guys?", Emma finally wanted to know. "At the foster home, we always had to sing. I hate Silent Night."
"Well, luckily there are other songs." Amused, Regina began humming a melody that sounded a lot like Oh Christmas Tree.
Promptly, Emma screwed up her face. "I don't like that either!"
Henry pulled out his cell phone to let play Jingle Bells. In a good mood and plenty wrong, he joined Emma in singing along to the chorus. At first Regina raised her eyebrow, but then she joined in. Toward the end of the song, they even managed to sound semi-harmonious as the tree's electric lights shone on their faces. Regina felt Emma reach for her hand and smiled at her. There was an almost childlike enthusiasm sparkling in her girlfriend's green eyes.
"Then let's get to the presents, shall we?" Emma picked up the largest package and turned to her son with it. "This one is from your mom and me."
"It's actually for the three of us. As a family," Regina added, watching him as he already tore the paper open.
He eyed the backpack with surprise as it emerged. "Great, that's exactly the one I wanted. But for us as a family?"
"Just open it," Emma commented expectantly.
Regina squeezed her girlfriend's hand tighter as he unzipped it and found a large envelope inside. Three colorfully printed tickets fell out, and he widened his eyes in amazement at the sight of them.
"These are tickets to Disneyworld! Does that mean we're going there? The three of us together?" He pointed to himself and then his two mothers.
"Everything is already arranged," Emma replied, grinning broadly. "We'll be off on your summer vacation."
"Wow!" Beaming, he hugged Regina and Emma at the same time, who held him close for a moment. Quickly, he pulled the two packages, identical except for the bows, out from under the tree. "This is for you, moms! Merry Christmas, I love you!"
Excitedly, Regina opened her gift and found inside, wrapped in a small box, a silver-colored keychain that represented half of a heart. The word True was engraved in fine curved letters. Emma held the other part in her hand. It was unusually romantic for a boy his age, but it also showed her how important it was to him that this family worked. They held their fragments together, perfectly forming a whole heart. Now she also noticed that Emma's pendant had the word Love on it.
"That's beautiful, Henry," she said, genuinely touched. "I'm going to put it on my car keys."
"Me too!" her girlfriend immediately agreed.
When Regina placed a kiss on her lips, the boy's face screwed up and he turned his attention to the last package under the tree. "Who is this for?"
"For Zelena. A little something I bought at the Christmas market." At Emma's face she could read her obvious curiosity, which elicited her a soft laugh. "There's tea in it, are you now satisfied?"
The blonde nodded and looked around for her own cell phone. After snapping a few selfies in front of the tree with Henry grinning and holding the tickets up to the camera, and both women had attached their new keychains to their respective car keys, the doorbell was already ringing. Regina tugged her blouse into place and checked her appearance in the large mirror on the wall as she made her way down the hall.
"I'm glad you managed it tonight," she greeted the newcomers.
"Thank you for inviting us." Zelena smiled slightly. As she slowly slipped out of the jacket under which she wore a dark green worn-out wool sweater, her face contorted for a moment, which did not escape Regina's notice.
She led her guests further into the spacious living room, where they were greeted with polite reserve by Henry and Emma. She was well aware that both of them would have preferred to celebrate without the little-known visitors, but settled with it for her sake. Soon they were all seated at the dining table festively set with the fine china, silverware, and adequate cloth napkins, Regina sat next to her girlfriend, Zelena opposite of her, with her husband next to her, and Henry on the short side. The aroma of roast turkey filled the room as Regina served everyone a decent portion of meat, wedges of sweet potato, and buttered cabbage sprouts. She opened a bottle of wine to go with it, but only she and Freek drank from it. Emma preferred beer, which she even poured into a glass under Regina's disparaging gaze. She already knew that Zelena didn't like alcohol, so she wasn't surprised by her refusal.
"Tastes great," noted Emma, whose plate was loaded with turkey and wedges.
Regina, smiling, handed her the bowl of cabbage sprouts. "How about some vegetables, love?"
Rolling her eyes, she actually took some of it. Beside her, Henry almost choked on his food, preferring to disappear behind his napkin, grinning.
"Well, have you settled in well here in Storybrooke by now?" Regina triumphantly turned to the guests. She knew she would get a tit-for-tat from her girlfriend later. Freek hadn't swallowed the whole mouthful of turkey as he opened his mouth, causing her brow to rise steeply.
"Yeah, we did. We like it on the farm, don't we, Zelena?"
She nodded hastily, but did not answer.
Before Regina could address her directly, a muffled honking sounded from outside, making the redhead wince in fright. Because the annoying noise did not stop, she apologetically rose to take a look. Outside the door, a cold wind hit her, so she wrapped her arms around her body. On the street was an all-too-familiar red Chevrolet Impala, at the sight of which she gulped hard.
"Mom!" Perplexed, Regina stared at the older dark-haired woman who imperiously appraised her from the rolled-down window.
"I am really astonished about the vehicles in front of your house." Disapprovingly, Cora pointed to the Wests' old pickup truck. "Where am I supposed to park my car? Your driveway is blocked by a yellow toy."
Regina sighed deeply. "Then just park on the other side of the street, there's plenty of space."
"Are you okay?" Unnoticed, Emma had stepped up beside her and now put an arm around her waist. "Who's that?"
"You now have the opportunity to meet my mother in full action." She smiled bitterly before walking toward the finally parked Impala, its driver's door opening right in front of her. Dressed in a shiny black fur coat, Cora stepped out of the car. A cloud of sinfully expensive perfume wafted around Regina's nose as she was kissed left and right on the cheek by her mother.
"This is my mother Cora," she introduced a little stiffly, giving the blonde at her side a helpless look. "And mom, this is Emma. She's my girlfriend."
"Lovely." Instead of taking the hand politely extended to her, she heaved a large and a smaller trolley, both in the design of a well-known fashion label, out of the trunk. "You are that kind?"
"Don't," Regina murmured to her, grabbing the larger of the two pieces of luggage, the weight of which promptly made her groan. Inside, she took off Cora's coat, under which she wore a tailored navy blue pantsuit. "We're just about to eat. I'm sure you're hungry from the long drive."
"First, I'd like to say hello to my grandson." Lifting her head, she strutted ahead of the two younger women toward the table, where Henry was already jumping up in surprise.
"Grandma! What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd surprise you. After all, it's Christmas." With a sweeping motion, she pulled a gift wrapped in silver paper from her handbag. "This is for you, my boy."
Regina set the empty place at the narrow side of the table for her mother and introduced her guests. The couple earned only a curt nod from her before she settled into the chair like a princess.
"Great! Thanks, Grandma!" Enthusiastically, Henry held up the brand new tablet he had just unwrapped.
"Maybe you could check something like this with me," Regina hissed, exasperated. "He owns a cell phone, a computer, and a video game console. That's all a boy his age needs."
"Really, Gina," Cora countered, as if addressing a child. "Here I am making all the way here from New York, wanting to give you a treat, and you don't even grant me giving something nice to my grandson, who I haven't seen in ages."
Without saying anything in response, Regina slapped a piece of turkey leg on her plate and pushed the bowl of cabbage sprouts toward her. She felt Emma put a placating hand on her thigh under the table, which she acknowledged with a half-hearted smile. Resignedly, she poured herself more wine. A dull throbbing began behind her temple, and her appetite was well and truly gone.
"Would anyone like seconds?" she turned to her guests instead. Emma and Freek immediately held out their plates to her, and after serving them both a generous portion of meat, she looked questioningly at Zelena. It didn't escape her notice that she shook her head as soon as her husband put his hand on her forearm in a gesture that actually seemed tender.
"So you're friends of my daughter?" Cora made no secret of the fact that she didn't think the couple was appropriate company.
"Acquaintances, yes. Miss Mills was kind to invite us because we're still new in town and hardly know anyone," Freek replied calmly. Gravy ran down his chin.
"How nice of you, Gina." Untouched, she sipped her wine. "Now tell me what's new. We hear of each other far too rarely, it's a shame."
Regina understood the temptation to rub her nose in the fact that she never called of her own accord to express interest. "Well, you might not have expected it, but Emma has become part of this family after we realized how silly it was to fight each other over Henry. We're both his mothers."
"So by earlier mentioning that she's your girlfriend you mean...?"
"We are in a relationship, yes." She grabbed Emma's hand and squeezed it gently. "I want you to respect how I live my life."
"I certainly do, child." She pushed her plate away from her to demonstrate that she had finished her meal. "If you don't mind, I'll restore myself a bit before dessert. The drive was long and tiring."
Regina sighed inaudibly and grabbed the large platter of half-eaten turkey while Emma set about putting the used plates in a pile. In the kitchen, she took a deep breath. She had just started cutting off pieces of meat and putting them in a large Tupperware box to give to the Wests when someone came in. She expected Emma, but it was Zelena carrying dishes and silverware.
"My girlfriend could have taken care of that." She smiled at the redhead. "You're so quiet all the time. Is everything all right?"
She nodded slightly. "I'm not used to being invited, I guess."
Regina narrowed her eyes. Again she had the impression that Zelena moved strangely stiffly and deliberately. "I packed plenty of the bird for you. There's also enough wedges left for you to take some of it. Just bring the cans by my office when you have time."
"That's nice of you, thank you."
Together they filled the dishwasher, while Emma brought the bowls of leftover side dishes. Thoughtfully, she eyed her girlfriend. By now, she too must have noticed that there was something odd about the couple.
"Henry has already unpacked his tablet," Emma noted. "It's a brand new model, I bet it was expensive as hell."
"It doesn't matter how much money she spends, our son can't be bought." Regina wiped her hands on a dish towel. "That reminds me, I have something else for you, Zelena."
"For me?" Her eyes widened in surprise.
For a moment, Regina left the kitchen to retrieve the small package that still lay lonely under the tree. "Merry Christmas."
Almost reverently, Zelena took the gift and turned it between her fingers. "I'd better open it when I get home."
"Robin asked me to give you something, too." Regina handed her a book with a green bow wrapped around it. "It's because you like stories, he said. He's in New York to spend Christmas with his son, so he asked me to give you his regards."
"Please thank him for me the next time you see him."
She wanted to put her hand on Zelena's shoulder in a friendly manner, but she reflexively avoided the touch before hastily leaving the kitchen. As she looked after her, she noticed Freek's figure in the hallway outside the guest bathroom. She just caught him grabbing her upper arm so tightly it had to hurt, before the couple slipped out of sight.