Disclaimer: Based on the Hallmark Channel movie of the same name with some liberties taken, of course. Enjoy!

The Christmas Waltz

MackenzieW

Chapter 1: Do You Hear a Waltz?

The music started soft and slow, an instrumental of a Christmas song. Fake snow drifted down toward the stage as the man clad in a red suit took the hand of a beautiful woman dressed in a red gown. He placed his hand on her waist while she rested hers on his shoulder. Their free hands were clasped as they started to glide across the stage, the music growing louder as they danced amongst the snowflakes.

As the music soared, the man twirled the woman as they crossed the stage. Her skirts billowed around her before they parted, back-to-back. They turned and faced each other again, grabbing hands while bringing their other arms down in graceful arcs. He pulled her back toward him before moving backwards, dragging her behind him as she bent one leg and kept the other straight.

It was breathtaking. And it would certainly give everyone at their wedding something to talk about until next Christmas, something her mother no doubt would love while Regina would get a chance to dance again.

She missed dancing.

"Regina?"

Closing her laptop, Regina looked up to find her assistant Tink standing in the door to her office. The petite blonde entered and handed her some paperwork. "This came over the fax for you regarding the McHatter account. And you have your lunch meeting in fifteen minutes."

Regina caught sight of the time and her heart skipped a bit. "Thank you for the reminder. I'll be back later and then we can tackle the McHatter account."

"Sounds good," Tink said. "So what is this meeting about?"

"Sidney and I are hopefully going to pick out a cake for our wedding today," she said, standing and grabbing her coat. "Wish us luck."

Tink crossed her fingers on both hands before asking: "Can you bring me a slice, please?"

Regina laughed as she picked up her bag. "Absolutely. You definitely deserve it. I don't know what I would do with you."

"Oh, I'm sure you would manage," Tink replied. She then smiled. "But I appreciate the compliment."

"It's well deserved," Regina assured her. She then took a deep breath. "I'll be back."

Tink wished her luck again before Regina headed down the hallway to the elevator. As she pressed the call button, she pulled out of her phone and sent a quick text to Sidney to make sure he was on his way as well. The elevator dinged as her phone buzzed and she stepped onto the elevator as she read Sidney's message assuring her he had just left the office. She breathed a sigh of relief, glad there were no unforeseen complications.

She stepped into the lobby and crossed to the door, ready to pick out her wedding cake. They only had three weeks left and everything needed to be perfect for their Christmas wedding. After all, it was the start of hers and Sidney's new life together. They certainly wanted to get off on the right foot.

Nothing could go wrong.

"I'm sorry," the baker said, glancing over Regina's head. "But we have a few other appointments today. You're either need to make a decision or reschedule for another day. Maybe that would be better for your fiancé?"

Annoyance flared through Regina as she looked over the couch she sat on, watching as Sidney paced several feet away as he talked to someone on the phone. She knew it was his work and it was important but so was their wedding. Certainly he could tell the office to give him at least fifteen minutes to help her choose her cake.

Regina sharply said his name and Sidney looked up, a guilty expression on his face. She heard him start to wrap up the call. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the baker and shook her head. "That won't be necessary. We'll make our pick today."

"Alright," the woman said. "So I have three Christmas-themed cakes I offer to Christmas brides. First, we have the Gingerbread Fantasy."

She motioned to a cake that was designed to look like a Gingerbread House and handed Regina a slice. "It is gingerbread with chocolate icing, white icing accents and candy embellishments."

Regina took a bite, enjoying the gingerbread and chocolate tastes mixing her mouth. She swallowed before nodding. "That tasted great."

"And this one is Dreams of Sugar Plums," the baker continued, pushing a cake with glistening candies that look like sugar plums circling the different layers toward Regina before giving her a slice. "Have a taste."

"Thank you," Regina replied, taking a bite of that cake. It was sweeter than the gingerbread one but it was still very good. She set it down as she waited for the final option as she said: "Sweet and delicious."

The baker nodded before pushing another one that was covered with white icing and had candy canes around each layer and peppermint pieces covering the top. "And this is our Peppermint Bark Wonderland cake."

Regina took the slice from her, eager to try it. She took a bite and loved the decadent chocolate cake mixed with sweetness of the peppermint. It certainly was going to be hard to choose and she wished she could have all three as her wedding cake but she doubted that was possible.

"Well?" the baker asked, looking rather impatient. Regina understood that they had asked for an appointment at a time not usually reserved for such tastings and they were holding her up from her work.

"They're all amazing," Regina told her. She then looked over, annoyed to find Sidney still on the phone. He met her eyes and she held up the slice she had just tried. Making a face, Sidney quickly ended the call and hurried over to the couch.

He sat down next to her. "Sorry. Where were we?"

"We were trying to choose our cake," Regina told him, pushing the slices toward him. She told him what each one was and watched as he tried them. Eager, she asked: "Well?"

"I don't know," he said. "They're all good. You pick. I'll trust your decision."

Part of her felt disappointed - this was supposed to be something they decided on together. But she put on her best smile as she looked between the three cakes. Finally, she pointed to the Peppermint Bark. "That one."

"Excellent choice," the baker said, sounding relieved that they were done. "I'll put this order in. December twenty-third, right?"

"Right," Regina confirmed, growing excited that their wedding was so soon. She then recalled Tink's request and asked: "Can you wrap up two slices of the peppermint bark to go, please?"

The baker nodded, standing. "You can finalize everything at the register and I'll bring these two slices to you."

Regina thanked her before she and Sidney headed to the front. They paid for their cake and gave the address for their reception venue as the baker emerged with two wrapped boxes for Regina. After thanking everyone again, she and Sidney left and returned to the cold Manhattan weather.

"I am so glad we got our cake," Regina said, relieved that task was done. "It is going to be perfect for our Christmas wedding, don't you think?"

"I don't know. I thought it was a little too minty," he said. "The Nutcracker one was pretty good."

Regina's heart stopped as guilt gripped her. She stopped and motioned to the store. "Do you want to go back and change it?"

"No, no," he assured her. "The peppermint bark is fine. Besides, you like it."

"Yes, but it's our wedding," she reminded him. "Our cake should be something we both like."

Sidney rubbed her arm. "I like it enough. And we really don't have time. We both need to get back to work."

He did little to even placate her but she knew he had a point. So she nodded, hoping he would at least eat some of the cake at the wedding rather than doing that thing where he pushed the food he didn't like around his plate until he could discard it without anyone noticing. But she didn't want to get into a fight now so she decided to change the topic. "Did you find a place to get dance lessons for our first dance?" she asked.

"Right," he said, grimacing. That gave her all the answers she needed even before he spoke again. "I'm sorry, Regina. I've just been busy."

She sighed, biting back her response that she was also busy but still managed to plan everything for the wedding as well. Instead, she said: "That's fine. I'll find a place. See you at dinner?"

"Yeah," he said, hailing a taxi. As one pulled up, he gave her a smile. "Love you, Regina."

"Love you too," she replied before walking back to her building. This was just a minor setback, she told herself. She would get them lessons and their first dance would be perfect.

Their wedding would be perfect.

Regina returned to her office and handed a box to Tink. "It's Peppermint Bark cake. I hope you enjoy it," she said.

"Thank you, Regina," Tink said, taking it. "I love Peppermint Bark. Is this going to be your cake?"

"It is," Regina replied, ignoring the nagging thought that maybe she should change it for Sidney. But he said he was fine with her choice and she needed to trust him. There were still a few other things to do before their wedding. Agonizing over the cake wouldn't help anyone.

She then leaned closer to Tink. "Can I ask you to do something wedding related for me?"

"Sure," Tink said. "I'll do it on the down low. What do you need?"

"Can you look up some dance studios who have lessons for couples? I want our first dance to be magical," Regina told her assistant.

Tink grinned, nodding. "I'll get right on that. You and Sidney are going to be dancing like pros in no time."

"You're the best," Regina said. "Enjoy the cake. You've already earned it."

"Thanks, Regina," Tink replied, opening the box to enjoy her cake as Regina returned to her office. As she hung up her coat, she switched from wedding planning mode to work mode. There was a lot for her to do before her wedding and honeymoon at the end of the month and she needed to focus.

For now, she was a high-powered corporate attorney.

After work, she would be a bride-to-be again.

Regina sat in the back of a car service as it slowly inched its way through Manhattan. Holiday traffic was in full swing as people poured in from around the world to experience Christmas in New York. Lights covered bare trees and Christmas decorations filled the windows of the buildings lining the streets. Everyone was bundled up in coats, scarves, hats and gloves as a few snowflakes flew around the air. She sighed, unable to imagine living anywhere else at Christmas. There was just something...magical...about this time of the year that didn't exist any other time.

Christmas was the one time she allowed herself to believe in nonsense such as magic. It was one of the reasons why she always wanted to get married at Christmastime.

The car pulled up to the curb and came to a stop. Looking over the divider, the driver nodded at her. "Here you go, Miss."

"Thank you," she said, tipping him. "Have a good night."

"You too," he said, turning back as she climbed out of the car. She closed the door and stepped back, letting him drive off.

Regina then checked her phone and saw that she was early to her dinner reservations with Sidney. Looking up at the building where the restaurant was located, she figured she could wait for him at the bar and have a drink before their meal. But as she walked forward, her eyes were drawn to the brightly lit store next to the building. Regina walked over to get a better look and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the name.

Storybrooke Dancing Studio.

There was then a list of different styles taught at the studio and her heart skipped a beat when she saw "waltz" between "foxtrot" and "rumba." She bit her lip, feeling as if this was fate and opened the door to step inside.

Music floated from a room in the back and she heard a male voice calling out dance steps. She saw dance shoes and costumes on display as well as pictures of different dancers. Regina approached one that showed a blond-haired man dancing what she recognized as the waltz with a dark-haired woman. They were frozen in one moment where their bodies were pressed together and their hands locked as their arms extended toward the camera. He faced the camera while his partner looked away and her heart skipped a beat at the love captured in his eyes. Regina just knew the dance had been romantic and beautiful - everything she wanted for her wedding.

It almost made her believe in fate.

"Hi!" She turned around to find a young boy with dark curls and irresistible dimples sitting behind the front desk. "Can I help you? Are you here to buy tickets to our Christmas show?"

He motioned to a flier in a display frame that she barely glanced at before shaking her head. "No, I was hoping to speak to someone about lessons," she said.

"I can help you with that," he said proudly. "We have a special on a three-month lesson package."

She thought he was absolutely adorable and decided to play along even though she knew he was too young to actually make a sale. "I'm afraid I need something a bit more...fast-tracked. I would like the lessons for myself and my fiancé for the first dance at our wedding. Maybe one or two?"

"One or two?" He shook his head, his curls bouncing with the movement. "You'll barely learn the basics. This is your wedding dance. Everyone will be watching you and recording you. You want to make sure you're perfect."

Regina bit her cheek to keep from laughing, especially given how serious he was. She nodded. "You're right. I don't want to mess this up. How many do you think I will need?"

The boy looked off to his side and she recognized the handsome blond man from the picture she had been admiring step into the lobby. He put on a gray coat as he asked: "When's the big day?"

"December twenty-third," she replied. "I wanted a Christmas wedding. They seem more magical and romantic."

"That they are," he agreed. "I would say that you would need at least...ten lessons. What do you say, Roland?"

The boy nodded. "Ten sounds good."

"Alright," Regina said, knowing she would have to convince Sidney to make time in his schedule to practice. But she also knew he wanted their wedding to be perfect as well so she figured it wouldn't be too hard. "Do you have lessons in the evening?"

"We do," Roland said, perking up again. "Would you prefer seven or eight o'clock?"

"Eight," Regina replied. "That should give us time to get out of work and get here."

The man nodded before looking back at Roland. "She is also going to want the best teacher here."

"Agreed." Roland wrote something down before telling Regina the amount for the lessons. She handed over her credit card and the man helped Roland process it. Once everything was done, Roland grinned. "All set! Welcome to Storybrooke Dance Studio!"

"Thank you," she said, noticing the time as she took her receipt. "I'll see you in a couple days for our first lesson! I can't wait."

Roland bounced in his seat, giving her a wide smile that revealed two adorable dimples on either side of his face. "We can't wait either!"

"Have a good evening," the man told her, smiling and revealing dimples of his own. They made her stomach do a flip, making her feel guilty. After all, she was getting married in a little under a month.

Doesn't mean you can't appreciate how he looks, a little voice said. It sounded like Mary Margaret, her best friend - her very happily married best friend.

So maybe there was no harm in looking.

Regina picked up her clutch and smiled. "Thank you. You too. And you, Roland."

"Bye, Regina!" Roland said, waving to her before she left the studio. With a feeling of satisfaction, she headed next door to meet Sidney for dinner.

"Hello, dear," she said, kissing Sidney's cheek as she joined him in the restaurant's vestibule. "How was the rest of your day?"

"Busy," he replied. "Yours?"

She nodded. "The same. I'm working hard and I'm on track to make sure everything is wrapped up before the wedding. Don't want to leave any loose threads to worry. I will just be able to focus on our special day."

"Right," he said quickly, not looking at her. She frowned, feeling something was off with him but not sure what it was. Before she could ask him, the host came to seat them for dinner.

Once they were seated, Regina set her clutch on the table and remembered the lessons. Smiling, she looked up at Sidney. "So there's a dance studio next door. I've signed us up for lessons so we look decent dancing our first dance," she told him.

Sidney made a face before sighing. "I had hoped to have this conversation after dinner…"

"What conversation?" she asked, feeling as if someone had just dropped a stone into her stomach.

"The publisher who owns our paper wants me to go and be the editor-in-chief of their Boston weekly," he said.

Regina frowned. "Boston?"

He nodded. "It's a good position, Regina."

"I'm not saying it's not," she said slowly. "But there are a lot of things to consider. Will you be able to work from here in New York? Most newsrooms have gone virtual now."

She was not surprised when Sidney made a face, knowing how he felt about virtual newsrooms. Regina's heart sank when he said: "You know I hate those. I will have an actual newsroom."

His word choice did not escape her notice. "You sound like this is already a done deal. There's a lot to talk about, Sidney."

"I told you. This is a great opportunity for me and shows how much the publisher believes in me," he said. "This could really open doors for me."

"What about me?" she asked, annoyed that he clearly wasn't thinking about anyone but himself. "I can't just up and leave New York. My parents are here and so are all our friends. I also can't practice law in Massachusetts so what am I going to do for a job?"

Sidney looked around, shifting in his chair. "This is why I didn't want to talk to you about this until after dinner. I knew you would overreact."

Regina felt her temper flare as she crossed her arms. "Asking reasonable questions is not overreacting, Sidney. We need to discuss all of this before you decide whether to take the position or not."

"And what if I already accepted the position?" he asked, looking right into her eyes as if challenging her.

Her heart sank as she realized he wasn't really posing a hypothetical question. She swallowed as she said: "You should've talked to me first."

"I told you, Regina, this was a good opportunity for me and my career. I couldn't turn it down," he replied.

"We're getting married, Sidney," she repeated.

He scowled at her. "I know that."

"Do you? Because you're not acting like it," she replied hotly. "Because it's no longer just about you. It's about us. You can't make such a decision because it doesn't affect you, it affects me as well."

"You're making a scene," he hissed, leaning closer to her as something flashed in his eyes. "We can talk about it later."

She looked around and noticed the other diners were all absorbed in their own meals and conversations. Regina wasn't making a scene - Sidney just didn't want to deal with the consequences of his actions.

Too bad.

"Tell me you haven't taken the position," she said, wanting to know now rather than waiting until they got home. "If you tell me that your question was just a hypothetical and that you really haven't given them an answer yet then I'll drop it and we can talk about it later."

"I already took the position," he replied, shattering her heart into a million pieces. "In fact, I leave for Boston in a couple days to start setting everything up."

Regina swallowed down her anger as she asked: "What about our wedding? We're entering the final weeks and there's a lot we need to do before the big day. Honestly, Sidney, I feel like I've done a lot by myself already."

"Well, you were the one who insisted we set a date," he said, his cheeks now red as annoyance tinged his words.

"Because that's how things usually work," she told him, not letting him dump the blame on her. "People get engaged, set a date and then get married."

He pressed his lips together before saying: "Well, I'm just saying that maybe we need to put a pin in it for now."

"Put a pin…in our wedding…three weeks before it?" she asked slowly, hoping he would realize how ridiculous a request it was.

"I know it's inconvenient but we can always get married another time when it is more convenient," he said, trying to reach for her hand.

Regina pulled her hand away, her mind spinning as she tried to process everything. The only thing that seemed clear to her was that Sidney did not comprehend what marriage entailed and was still acting like he was alone rather than part of a couple. "Convenient for who? You? Because everything about this conversation has been about what's good for you but not about what's good for me," she said.

"Okay, okay," he replied, clearly trying to placate her. "We obviously have things to work out, which is another reason to postpone the wedding."

"Well, how's this - let's just cancel the wedding," she said, grabbing her purse and standing. "Then it won't be an inconvenience for you."

Sidney stood, blocking her path as she tried to leave. "Wait, Regina, let's talk about this."

"Now, you want to talk?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to laugh, cry or claw his eyes out. Maybe a combination of all three. "It's too late to talk, Sidney. If you had doubts about marrying me, then you should've said something earlier."

"I don't have doubts," he insisted. "I just think we need to push the wedding back so I can get settled in Boston. Then you can follow me…"

"I don't want to live in Boston!" she yelled at him. Despite all the emotions filling her, especially rage, she felt she could see things very clearly. Marriage was supposed to be a partnership but Sidney felt that he got to make all the decisions and she would just abide by them.

Well, he was sorely mistaken about that. If that was what he wanted in a wife, then he needed to find another woman to marry.

"Please move, Sidney," she said, her voice calmer after taking a few breaths. "I am going home. There's nothing left to talk about."

"Alright," he replied, stepping aside. "I'll call you tomorrow."

She shook her head, annoyed that he wasn't getting it. "It's over, Sidney. Please don't call me, okay?"

Without waiting for him to respond, she walked away and headed out of the restaurant. She put on her coat as she stepped out of the building and approached the street. Raising her hand, she hailed a cab and climbed into it. After giving the driver her address, she glanced out the window to make sure Sidney hadn't followed her.

He hadn't.

Regina didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed.

The car pulled away from the curb and she took a shaky breath. Her vision blurred as she felt the plan she had made for her entire life go up in smoke. Everything so far had gone perfectly - she had excelled in school, graduated with honors from law school, passed the bar on her first try and worked for one of the top corporate law firms in the country. She had an amazing apartment and a wide social network. The last piece to her perfect life had been a husband who was just as ambitious, well-rounded and successful as her and hopefully two children - the perfect family.

And now her dream of the perfect family was gone.

Now as she looked back on her relationship with Sidney, maybe she had overlooked some red flags in order to stick to her plan. Maybe she had ignored exactly how ambitious he had been and had dismissed how little consideration he gave to her wishes. Perhaps she foolishly thought it would be better once they were married and he really saw them as a team. Some of her friends had recommended a few sessions with a couples' counselor before she got married to make sure they were on the same page but she dismissed that idea, certainly she and Sidney wanted the same thing.

She certainly felt foolish now.

"We're here," the driver told her, his voice gentle as if he was afraid to spook her. "Do you need help?"

"No," she said, eager to escape to the sanctuary of her apartment. Thank goodness she and Sidney had never moved in together or else she felt she would be really screwed. She thanked the driver before climbing out of the car and headed into her building.

She closed the door to her apartment behind her and flipped on the lights. Her eyes fell onto three bouquets and her heart sank as she remembered the florist had dropped them off for her to choose. Regina stepped closer to them and picked up a bouquet of red roses. She held them as she caught sight of herself in the mirror, her eyes red despite the fact she had not yet cried and her skin too pale. She certainly didn't look like a bride.

Which made sense as she was no longer a bride.

Regina set the bouquet aside again, staring at the three options and swallowing as she thought of everything she now had to do to cancel her wedding. It was likely going to be as time consuming as it had been to plan it and she regretted not having a planner after all. At least then she would be able to let someone else handle the cancellations. Everything she had dreamed of was now going up in smoke.

She looked down at the diamond ring resting on her left ring finger. Regina let out a sob as she took it off and placed it on the counter as well. There was no way she was going to continue wearing it, not when she felt it represented a lie. Sidney had never really wanted a marriage with her. He had made that very clear.

It had taken her whole life to plan her marriage and only one night to destroy it. That had to be a record.

Regina decided it was probably best to go right to bed. She could end this horrible day and figure things out in the morning when she hoped her head would be clearer. Walking away from the reminders of what was supposed to be her dream Christmas wedding, Regina wondered if the entire holiday season would now be ruined for her that year.

She then vowed it wouldn't - she would not let Sidney Glass ruin anything else for her.

A/N: Merry Christmas! It may be a day late but here's the first chapter of my Christmas fic based on a Hallmark movie. I hope you all enjoy it!

-Mac