Wedding day

The next day was full of preparation for the wedding. I took the kids shopping; they looked adorable in their Hawaiian wear, ready for the beach. Dorothy got everything ready, and Ruby was all in, getting her ordination so that she could marry us later that day.

Emma had made herself scarce that day. She hadn't even brought the kids to my suite that morning. Ruby had done it. I think I spotted her briefly speaking to Dorothy in the lobby, but after that, I hadn't seen her at all.

And there I was, at the altar without my best friend. I waited for the love of my life to walk toward me. But the wrong woman was walking toward me. So I gave Ruby my bouquet and walked away. "Wait, where are you going?" Dorothy asked.

"I needed to find Emma," I said.

"Go get her, Cuz!" I heard Ruby shout behind me. "We got the rugrats."

"Cuz?" Dorothy stated.

"Let's go get some ice cream, and I'll tell you the whole story..." I knew I was leaving a mess behind, but I needed to see the love of my life.

I found her at the bar. She was talking to Lily, who was telling her Killian was gay, and she was just his beard to keep him from losing his inheritance. "That's a shame too; the two of you really seemed to have a connection," Lily said.

"She is the greatest woman. In fact, I think I could be in love with her, but she is getting married to someone else right now. So…"

"Oh Ems," Lily said and opened her arms wide. The two women were laughing together and embraced.

"Oh, this is great." Emma said, letting go of her frenemy. "Why didn't we try this truth-telling before?"

Lily saw me first and smiled. "Well, that's nice," I said, and Emma jumped, turning to look at me. "The truth is fun, isn't it? Like, were you telling the truth when you said you might be in love with me?"

Lily suddenly downed her drink and stood. "I'm gonna leave you two."

Emma just looked uncomfortable. "Okay."

Lily leaned closer to Emma and said, "I'm gonna go get a divorce."

"Good luck." Emma said softly. She waited for her to walk away, then turned back to me. "Where are my kids?"

"Dorothy and Ruby… Took them out for ice cream," I answered.

"So, how was the wedding?" Emma asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay… Alright…" I paused. "So, we're standing on top of this beautiful cliff. I start looking out to the Pacific, and I think to myself, Wow. I'm about to start my life with the one I love." I paused and looked out into the ocean. Then back at the sea-green of Emma's eyes. "Now the only problem was, the one I love was not with me."

Emma furrowed her brows. "She wasn't?"

I shook my head. "She was not."

"... so you didn't?"

"I couldn't," I answered.

"You couldn't." She whispered back.

I looked into her eyes. I needed to see her tell me she didn't love me back. "Don't we have something extra happening with us?"

She shook her head and looked down at her hands. "Regina, I…" she paused and looked up at me. As if this were just something that is happening because of the situation she asked. "What happens when we're not on fake-cation, and you wake up and realize this is real?"

"Em…" I said. "You are the only real thing I've ever had in my life."

"Oh, Regina, come on, woman… I don't…" Emma said exasperated. "She's beautiful, and she's… I'm not twenty-three." She paused and shook her head. "I'm not that."

"She's good, she's very nice…" I said and paused to emphasize what I am about to say. "There's only one problem. She is not you." I took her hands. "She's not you."

She looked me in the eye and just watched my intention. She told me once that she had a lie detector superpower, which is why I have never lied to her, and I wasn't about to start now.

She swallowed as she considered, and she said softly, "I have two kids… I can't just drive them off a cliff, you know?"

"I love those kids more than anything in the world," I answered, squeezing her hands tighter. "I want to be with them like… 23 hours a day."

"What about the other hour?" Emma asked in a whisper. I smirked and tilted my head. Emma's eyes darkened, catching my meaning. Then she leaned forward and kissed me. It was our first kiss, and it was the most mind-blowing experience I had ever had.