I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.
15: Found Family
"Whose turn is it to order dinner?" Emma asked as she pulled their Uno deck from the side desk in the living room. Every Friday was family Uno night. They had not gotten better to each other since that first game, but they kept playing. The fights were epic.
"Mine!" Henry dived over the couch, hitting David in the back.
"Have you lost your mind?" Regina asked a very valid question from her rocking chair next to the sofa. Cuddled against and eating contently was Lucia, their six month old daughter. She was a tiny thing with a full head of dark hair.
"No, but Uncle David has my lucky dragon pin! I can't win without it!" Henry slapped both hands around David's closed fist.
"I need the luck! You remember what your ma did to me last time we played Uno!" David stood up to protect his stolen goods.
"You hit me with a draw four when I was about to beat Regina!" Emma motioned to her wife with both hands. She would never forgive David for that. It was a rare time indeed when it was a showdown between her and Regina and she had a chance to win without Regina doing something underhanded.
"Well, Snow hit me with a draw four! What was I supposed to do?" David replied, actually holding onto Henry's pin like he thought it would bring him luck. Henry had both of his hands wrapped around David's fist, trying to pry it open.
"Draw the four, so I could finally beat Regina! Do you know what that woman is like when she wins?" Emma once again motioned to her wife.
"I imagine something like you," David replied with a smile.
Emma only grinned. Yeah, there was no living with her when she won, until she lost anyway. They were all like that, even Henry. It did not help that they made small bets, too. At first, Regina did not want to get Henry involved in wagers, but sometimes they played where the winner could dare the losers to do other stuff or the winner could pick other family activities.
"Henry, is it really your turn to order?" Regina asked. Even as she fed Lucia, it was a bit funny to see how relaxed Regina had gotten with Snow, David, and Nolan. She dressed just so comfortably around them, never worrying over her appearance. They were all dressed down. In fact, there was not a sleeve among them.
"Yes!" Henry answered, still claiming it was his dinner order. "But, I also want my dragon pin back. It's the one Ma bought me when we went to the Museum of Natural History with my class!" Henry grunted, but had no luck opening David's hand.
Emma chuckled as she went to sit down on the floor, settled into her most comfortable gray sweatpants. Regina liked to look at her in them and give her heated glances, so she wore them whenever she got a chance. Whenever David noticed the looks, he always called them gross, which Emma did right back when he and Snow made eyes at each other. Fun times.
"That's my favorite class trip," Emma said. "I hope they go again this year." She had gone on the trip during all of that mess made by Leopold. She wanted to keep an eye on Henry and make sure he did not get into any scraps with other kids over her. Things went pretty good and she got to talk to a few teachers to find out they were on her side. Storybrooke really held her down and embraced her during a very trying time for her family.
Storybrooke had treated them all so well through the nonsense with Leopold, even being outraged for her and her family when he was trying to clean things up. It was amazing that these people felt so connected to her. She was not used to bonds going both ways like this, but she could definitely get used to it. Family and home.
Snow laughed. "I can't wait for Nolan to be able to go with you both to museums. I can only imagine how much you'll have learned from Henry at that point."
Emma shrugged, but puffed out her chest a little. "Gotta love that my kid's so smart. Now, he has to pass it onto his sister."
Henry nodded, still trying to get his dragon pin back. "I already make sure I read her the best bedtime stories. Although, Mom reads her other ones when she wakes up in the middle of the night."
Regina smiled. "Well, you can't do it then. Unless you want me to wake you up in the middle of the night."
"Trust me, you don't want her to do that," Emma said. She did not mind it, but it was because she was still over the moon to have Lucia. She loved changing diapers, she did not mind when Lucia spit up on her, and any of the other gross and tiring things that came with babies. She was all for it.
Henry did not argue and grabbed Emma's phone to order dinner. Emma started up the movie they would all stop paying attention to in about ten minutes. Then, she quietly stole the dragon pin from David and slid it into Henry's hand. Henry grinned at her and she winked back. Regina finished up with Lucia, burped her, and then handed her to Emma, who had the magic touch in getting her to fall asleep.
Whenever Emma held Lucia, felt her tiny body against Emma's, she found herself falling ever more in love with the kid. She expected it, just from dealing with Henry. Whenever Henry shared a fact with her or wanted her to sit with him while he did something, she found herself loving him more, wanting to protect him more. She did not know it was possible to love like this until these kids. It was amazing.
She glanced at Snow, who was curled up on the sofa and playing a hand game with Nolan. Emma could not help thinking of Leopold for a moment. It had been over a year since he tried to blow her life up and instead ruined his relationship with Snow. He still somehow thought he could "fix it." He had done a lot of interviews trying to clean up his claim that Emma was not his child, was not a woman, and had somehow stolen millions from him. All of which were proven lies over and over again.
Kathryn had, as promised, put together a team of lawyers to sue him. It was quickly settled out of court, as Leopold did not want to go under oath and have to admit just how much he knew about Emma. Afterward, he tried to pretend he planned to give Emma money all along, even though that was not what Emma wanted. Emma wanted the truth. He would never give her that.
The money was nice, though. It was put away for the kids, especially since she and Regina planned to have at least one more. They wanted to wait for Lucia to get a little older and talk about it a little more. It was cool to have this security for them. It'll also give me time to talk Regina into getting a puppy.
Life had calmed down, had been for months now. Lucia was not brought into a world where media were waiting outside for her in the hospital, thankfully. By the time Lucia was born, Emma was just old news. Storybrooke had never let her down in that time, standing by her whenever someone started poking around asking questions, letting them know Emma was a good person. The town of Storybrooke defended her and protected her better than Leopold ever could.
"What did you order?" David asked Henry, inching closer to him, probably trying to steal the dragon pin back.
"We'll see and if you take a step closer, I'm going to swallow it!" Henry put the pin on his tongue.
"Wow, you are so Emma for this," David said with wide eyes.
"And I wish I could be proud of that." Regina shook her head.
"I'm very proud of it." Emma grinned and then she rocked Lucia. She let out the cutest little yawn. Really, how could people have kids, see them like this, and still hurt them? She understood why Kathryn was always so affronted now by horrible parents. Kathryn had been all too happy to not just fight Leopold for Emma, but also anyone who tried to profit off of his nonsense.
Kathryn had talked Emma into suing Lily, which was still in the works. Lily was probably going to settle since her story had fallen apart less than a month after she made her claims. She had tried apologizing, but Emma did not want that and knew Lily did not mean it. She really wanted Lily out of her life and maybe suing the pants off of her would do that. Hell, it was part of the lawsuit. She had a restraining order against Lily. She would see how that went.
Kathryn had also wanted to sue Killian, but they could never prove the stuff he said was… well, stuff he said. Not that it mattered, it was just his dumb, usual douchebag opinion. Thankfully, since she was now a non-story, he could not make money off of it anymore. Graham and Mulan promised to arrest him should he ever step foot in town again, though. Emma did not think about him much. She blocked his number and moved on with her life.
"Are we starting the movie now that the food has been ordered?" Snow asked and grabbed Nolan. He giggled as she tickled him.
Emma laughed at Snow's antics, but then focused on putting Lucia to sleep. She sang softly into Lucia's ear and those little eyes drifted shut. She was out in seconds.
The movie started. Henry sat with Nolan, trying to show him a magic trick, as that was Henry's new thing. Magic. And because Regina was such a good mom, she got into it with him to learn with him. And, long story short, Emma and Henry were certain Regina was a witch. Regina came in to do some magic tricks for Nolan and Henry. Turned out, David and Snow were mesmerized, too.
"How did you unhook the rings?" David tried with the three rings, unable to break them apart.
Henry scoffed. "That's an easy one, but I can't show you because a magician never reveals his tricks." He leaned in close. "Or at least that's what Mom always says when I ask her how she does something."
Regina chuckled, but the good feelings were done once dinner arrived and Uno started. It was the war it always was. Until Nolan decided he wanted to play and ate the cards. It was still fun, as always. David definitely could have used that dragon pin, though.
-8-8-8-8-
It was a usual Saturday for the Swan-Mills family. They were in Cheshire Park. Regina held down a shaded spot under a tree while Emma and Henry were off doing their own thing. Last she saw, they were involved in a soccer game, but the goals moved and now they were out of sight. Regina did not mind. She had things to keep her occupied, like Lucia.
Lucia was strapped into her bouncy chair and staring around in wonder, as she tended to do when she was out and about in the world. Her hazel eyes never stopped taking in information, unless she was asleep. Six months and the world was still brand new to her. Regina loved that curiosity and her heart melted every time she noticed.
Lucia was occupied with her favorite duck plush toy, trying to gnaw its face off with her raw gums. Regina pulled out her laptop, checking her work as usual. Lucia cooed and spit, catching Regina's attention every few seconds. She paused, smiled, and tickled Lucia's chin. Lucia giggled each time and it sounded like music to her ears. I love this child so much. She was like this when Henry was born and every little thing he did amazed her and made her fall even more in love with him. It was through Henry she understood unconditional love was infinite.
Regina lost track of time, as she tended to do when her attention went from work to Lucia and back. But, Lucia started crying, letting her know it was time to eat. And, right on time, Emma trotted over with Ruby right behind her.
"Where's Henry?" Regina asked as Emma sat down next to her, kissing her cheek.
Emma waved it off. "He abandoned us when he saw Roland with Mulan and Marian. They're headed this way." She then eased Lucia out of Regina's arms and took over feeding her.
Ruby made herself comfortable next to Regina and pulled out her phone. She more than likely wanted to go through her finances with Regina. Regina did not mind helping out. In fact, she had to email Tinker Bell after this and go over her earnings with her.
"Okay, so not just me, but Granny wanted to know if you can sit down with her for a little while," Ruby said.
"Of course. Just tell her to call me when she's got free time. That woman works more than all of us combined," Regina replied.
Ruby laughed. "Ain't it the truth? Claims it keeps her young."
Regina chuckled and dived into helping Ruby until Henry charged over with Roland, who screamed something about winning. They were racing apparently. Mulan and Marian were right behind them, walking hand and hand at a calm pace. Henry went into their cooler, grabbed a sandwich, handed it to Roland, and then grabbed a sandwich for himself. A normal occurrence at this point.
Marian and Mulan sat with them on the blanket. Marian waited for Lucia to finish eating before taking her from Emma. She was kind enough to burp Lucia before playing with her.
"So, Mulan, looking for a house yet?" Emma asked with a grin. This was some inside joke between Emma and Mulan that neither bothered to explain to everyone else.
"She's probably going to move in with us," Marian replied before Mulan could speak.
"No!" Ruby gasped while Emma sputtered, obviously not expecting that response.
Mulan shrugged. "We've discussed it. I'm hoping Graham will find a way to give us promotions, so I can help out with the bills more."
Ruby snorted. "Just have this one make you a budget." She pointed to Regina with both hands.
Emma nodded with vigor. "Yes, do that. You know you'll be waiting forever for Graham to get us raises. He practically had to swallow hot coals to get our patrol cars fixed. The mayor seems to think we can stop crime on foot."
"I would watch that," Regina said with a laugh. "But, yes, I would be glad to help you with finances. I'm helping half the town at this point. I think Archie put me on his payroll."
Henry chuckled. "Isn't that okay because Ma said he's gonna base his next two books off of you, anyway?"
"Emma, stop telling him that." Regina swatted Emma's shoulder.
"What?" Emma snickered. "It's true. Just from the noble intrigue alone. We got the downfall for three powerful figures in our wake. He could make it like a fairy tale or something and tell it from both of our POVs."
Ruby arched an eyebrow. "You seem like you've given this a lot of thought."
Emma snickered. "I might have floated the idea by him a time or two."
Regina shook her head. "A time or two each session."
Thankfully, Doctor Hopper was not interested in writing a book about them. They were not interested in doing that either, even though they both now kept journals. If Emma's journal was anything like Regina's, there were many entries devoted to bad parenting and memories of neglect. It was strange how no matter how healed she felt, the scars from both Daddy and Cora never actually went away. Emma seemed less traumatized by Leopold, but still never wanted to see him again. She had actually said so in many old interviews to make sure it was clear where she stood with him as he tried to "fix" the situation.
Leopold was part of the reason why Maleficent, Kathryn, and Regina were able to fight off Cora. As predicted, to save face, he could not allow Cora to harm Emma's family in any noticeable way. He also fought with Rumple over the whole situation, but the details of that were not public or clear. According to Neal, Leopold was upset Rumple had acted without getting all the facts, but also that he never said his son was involved with Emma, not that Rumple knew enough about his son to know who he hung out with. There were a lot of investigations into Rumple now as well since he was able to keep his son out of prison, even though the police were fully aware they were looking for Neal.
Regina had gotten to know Neal a little better now, but he was still not exactly Emma's friend. They never had him over the house. To contrast that, they had Mulan, Marian, and Roland over for every family-friend gathering and just randomly for the hell of it at times. Mulan was a great friend to Emma, and a much needed voice of reason between Emma and Ruby. Marian was a good friend for Regina, as they were interested in many of the same things. Life was calm and good.
"So, Marian, you're always holding Luce. When are you having another one?" Emma teased.
Marian smiled. "Possibly when Mulan finally decides to move in."
Emma and Mulan yelped. The answer was unexpected. Regina chuckled and wrapped her arms around Emma, pulling her into a close hug.
"Maybe no more teasing. They keep catching you," Regina said. Emma laughed, but she stopped.
"Can I tease you?" Emma grinned.
"Not in front of the children," Regina replied.
Emma laughed and leaned in close, right next to Regina's ear. "What about our puppy?"
Regina groaned and shoved Emma. She then talked Emma and Ruby into eating something. They dragged Mulan off with the boys. Regina did not bother to ask what they were going to do. They would have fun and that was what mattered. Emma and Henry were building good memories and bonding. She could not ask for more. From this, she hoped one day Henry would not have a journal full of entries about them as parents.
-8-8-8-8-
Emma poked her head into Graham's office. He was busy jotting something down. She hoped it was for her. He glanced up and she grinned at him.
"Is that my vacation time being approved?" Emma asked.
Graham rolled his eyes. "You need to stop requesting time off all the time. Kid's field trips and anniversaries. When do you actually work?" He laughed.
"Don't be mad at me for having a family. You need to let one of these women around here chasing you actually catch you." She jabbed her thumb behind her.
"You sound like Mulan. She was actually trying to hook me up."
Intriguing. Emma arched an eyebrow. "With who?"
"Some friend of Marian's. Kluckie."
"Oh, go for it!" Emma gave him finger guns. "She's got such good energy. She'd force you to have fun. She'd make you approve my vacation time."
He laughed. "Well, now I'm reconsidering."
"The date or the time?"
"Both. Mulan's probably right and you don't seem like you deserve a week off to go have fun in the sun. Didn't you just get time off to do a destination wedding?"
"That was literally four months ago and I was gone for three days. You're really starting to come off as jealous of my exciting life." She had to laugh at that one.
He scoffed. "Yeah, because I really want people still crawling out of the woodworks claiming to know me."
She groaned. "Please, don't even bring it up or you'll jinx me. You know I had an old foster brother call me, trying to get money out of me."
"Did Kathryn sue him, too?"
She laughed. "She's considering it. Okay, but seriously, you approved my time, right? Regina swears I waited for the last minute."
Graham held up the slip and she actually squealed as she moved to grab it. This was really happening. Family vacation time, just like on TV. I gotta stop comparing my life to TV. I've done so much family stuff. This is my life, not a show.
"You usually do," he replied.
She put her finger to her lip. "Shhh! She doesn't need to know that."
"Sounds like she already does know that. Oh, I wanted to tell you a couple of things. One, your old friend, Killian."
Emma frowned. "What about him?"
"Arrested. Unrelated to you, of course, but I figured you'd want to know he got what's coming to him."
She shook her head. "Honestly, I don't even think about him anymore. I don't think about him, Lily, or Leopold. The only reason Lily might come up is because Kathryn is suing her for me. I'm just living my best life right now, Graham. I'm never going to let those guys come up to bother me again."
He smiled. "I'm glad to know that. Then, I guess I won't even bother with the other thing."
"Lily got arrested?" She guessed. She would not lose sleep over that.
"No, but that Gold guy is being sued by a bunch of nobles, so I don't think he'll ever have time to get revenge on you."
Emma nodded. "We assumed that would be the case. The noble world is a horrible and messy place. I'm happy I'm not part of it. Money really can't buy class."
"Like you would know." He smirked.
She laughed and took that as an excuse to leave. With her leave covered, she finished up work and was too happy to go home. She found Regina lying down on the couch and Lucia was asleep in the bassinet right next to her. Emma leaned down, kissing the baby on her forehead. Then, she kissed her wife on her forehead. Regina smiled in her sleep and Emma let her rest. If anybody had earned a nap, it was Regina.
-8-8-8-8-
Regina was on the phone with Maleficent as she packed for her first family vacation. Emma wanted to go back to Neverland, but to the family resort with the water park. Of course Henry was all for it. Regina could not say no to either of them, especially when they combined forces. Regina just wanted to make sure everything was settled with Dragon Inc. before she left.
"Regina, you left instructions with everyone and also told them to call you if something goes wrong, despite you being on vacation, it'll be fine," Maleficent said.
"Despite? Do you know how hard I worked on these project budgets? On those merger figures? On those new rates? If they mess up even a little bit, I'm firing everyone," Regina promised and she meant that.
Maleficent chuckled. "I'm sure they all know that. They're your responsibility, but just know they do go around calling you the Evil Queen and you're earning that title."
Regina sucked her teeth. She did not give a damn about that. "But, is it getting you what you want?"
"I'm not complaining, especially after you helped me close the deal with Cruella and Ursula so much faster than I expected."
Regina was not a fan of either of those women, but the deals did wonders for Dragon Inc. "You know they tried to poach me, right?" Several times.
Maleficent scoffed. "They also tried to cheat me. But, those things didn't happen and the partnership did, so it's all good. Enjoy your vacation with your family. You've earned it."
"Have I?"
"You stood up to your mother just after giving birth. I think that was enough."
Regina blew out a breath. She had stood up to Cora when she could barely stand up, right after a seventeen hour labor. Cora had been beside herself when Leopold started trying to defend Emma and it made her very clumsy in her attempts to bring Regina to heel. She was blindsided by Regina suing her for her share of her father's estate and then cut off at the knees when she tried to bite back. Maleficent had managed to pull enough strings to get the noble world to turn its back on Cora and Cora did not have the power, influence, or money to come at Maleficent once she secured that deal with Cruella and Ursula. Cora was probably still pitching a fit over it. At this point, the only way Cora could really do anything to hurt Regina would be to arrange the death of Emma, which she could not risk because Leopold would have to jump in Cora's ass just for the optics.
"Just enjoy your vacation and come back ready to tear through more business rivals," Maleficent said.
Regina chuckled. "Fine. I will."
"And, you're still doing that barbecue at the end of the month, right?"
Regina groaned. "Yes. Still family barbecue at the end of the month." They liked to do extended family gatherings once a month, at the least. Those seemed to go over well. Plenty of people always showed up, no matter what wild idea Emma came up with for the gathering, including a water balloon fight for the last one. Ruby had taken dozens of pictures and had to show everyone at the diner Granny taking down everyone during the water balloon fight.
"Good to know. Now, enjoy your vacation." Maleficent ended the call.
Regina finished packing for… the entire family. She had learned if she left Emma to pack for herself, she would always leave something important behind, like socks or underwear. She had learned this when they had been invited to Neal's wedding, which was a destination wedding, and Emma actually forgot her suit and she was in the wedding. Regina had to arrange for it to be shipped. Emma cut a grand image in that suit, so it was worth it, but also proved Emma could not be trusted to pack her own luggage.
Henry was just as bad, but at least he had the excuse of being nine. He had a habit of packing more books than he could read in a year and they always had to pay for his luggage being overweight. So, she let them pack and then checked their bags, often having to repack.
She enjoyed packing for Lucia. She just liked handling little baby clothes. Emma was very interested in Lucia wearing hats or headbands, so Regina liked to find outfits to go with the many hats and headbands in Lucia's wardrobe. It was a shame Lucia would not remember this, but they already did plenty of travel, so she would eventually have memories of them on vacation. Depending on how Emma and Henry enjoyed this, it could possibly be an annual thing. Regina would love that. Then, they were off to Neverland.
"Can you believe I gave him the window seat for him to just sit there and read the whole time?" Emma motioned to Henry, who was nose deep in a graphic novel with his noise canceling headphones on his head.
Regina chuckled and kissed her cheek. "It's because you're such a good mama."
"You know… I honestly didn't think I would be."
Regina arched an eyebrow as she adjusted Lucia, who was very interested in her teething ring. "With Henry or with Lucia?"
"Both. I mean, I hoped and I planned, but there was always an underlying fear that I wouldn't be able to escape my mother's legacy," Emma admitted.
Regina nodded. "Well, you know that's plagued me."
"Oh, I know, and seeing you overcome it was the only thing keeping me from losing my mind over it. I could see it was possible to have the worst mother, but become the best mother. Then, I realized it wouldn't take much to be better than my mother. Just like it doesn't take much to be better than my father. I still worry about screwing the kids up, though."
"I fear the same. I think we can only do our best, as Doctor Hopper always tells us." They had taken Henry to Doctor Hopper for one visit to help him cope with the stories about Emma, but it turned out they were the ones who actually needed to see the good doctor. Twice a week, one session alone and one as a couple to work on parenting since they both had parenting fears. They felt so much more confident as mothers now.
Emma nodded. "Yeah. It's kinda funny how it never occurred to me that I needed therapy, but it seems so obvious now."
"Again, you're not alone in that." Regina took Emma's hand and squeezed. "There was still so much to unpack with just my father, not even my mother."
"We'll be all right." Emma lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. "Just stuff like this is good for me. I never had trips like this with my mom."
"I want us to do something like this annually to make sure we have family traditions. Those are some of my best memories with my father."
Emma's face brightened. "I'd love that. You know I never had family traditions. Henry has already been pushing for holidays and stuff."
Regina nodded. They had found their family holidays definitely. That was the start of family traditions. Of course, they had their family nights, their family-friend gatherings, and just making sure they had outings with Henry. Now, they were just aware of what they were setting up.
"Hopefully, Henry loves this because I would love for this to be the family trip," Emma said.
"I was thinking the same thing," Regina replied.
A few hours later, they found out that their hopes were probably in the right place. Henry's eyes shined with the same glee Emma's had the first time she had seen the island. He was also excited when they came to the hotel suite, running from his room to their room to the balcony. Emma was hardly much better, chasing after him, but tickling him whenever she caught him.
"Mom, look at that water slide! It's massive!" Henry pointed off of the balcony. The balcony was big enough to hold a small table and two chairs along with an excited Henry and Emma. "You see this, Ma?! It's insane!"
"There's a bunch of them!" Emma bounced on her heels.
"Can we go now?" Henry clasped his hands together.
Regina held Lucia and sighed, even though a smile settled on her face. Their energy was just too cute. "Yes, we can go now." They had plenty of time, having arrived in the afternoon. "Just remember we have dinner reservations at six."
Henry scoffed. "That's like four hours worth of water park."
"No, it's three. We have to come back, shower, and change for dinner."
"That's more than enough!" Emma and Henry were off to get ready for water slides.
Regina turned her attention to Lucia. "Ready for fun, little light? I have plenty of stories to read to you while those two run around going down slides." Lucia cooed and that was good enough for Regina. The Swan-Mills family was together forever, working out how to be the best they could be. And a dog would not be included as far as Regina was concerned… Okay, a few years later, she caved and they got a puppy to go with their three kids.
-8-8-8-8-
The End.
Thanks for reading. I'm returning to my padded cell for now. I hope you return for more of my work. I appreciate the support. Check me out on Facebook (SL Kassidy), or Tumblr (SLunatic), or here, and become a patron for all sorts of exclusive goodies.
I also wanna give a special shoutout and huge thanks to the people who helped me push through: Lauren S, Karrie D, Persephone the dreaded one, jelli_tots, JoLeen, MaxximumRide666, Hellen Ransom, Jennifer Barrata, Brittany L, Kitty, 88WWitch, Kael Duke, Ches W, Yuumomo, Susie, Sally C, Sketchy Raccoon, Mary, MamaSaucy, Katherine L, Nick K, Raven, Dean G, Reimarbles, EchoJuliet, and Matts. So grateful for them. Thank you for your support. Hasta…
