"The last time you planned a picnic for us we neglected to eat. I hope you don't intend on depriving me of sustenance this time, Miss Swan?" Emma chuckled and moved over to the bench with two to go bags from Granny's in either hand, sitting down and smiling over at Regina as she joined her and took the bag that held her salad in it. She didn't want to get it mixed up with Emma's unhealthy grilled cheese and french fries.
Emma had directed them to the docks after picking up their lunches, another meal where it would be just the two of them. "I wouldn't dream of denying you leafy rabbit food, your highness. Am I ever going to witness you enjoying a cheeseburger or something? Is that too mundane for royalty?" She opened the container and her stomach growled as she inhaled the scent of her sandwich and fries.
Regina hadn't eaten a cheeseburger since she had pregnancy cravings for greasy food. "It might not be on the menu of any royal balls or celebrations I have attended but perhaps in the kingdom of Boston you relish clogging your arteries," She put the French dressing on her salad and eyed the way Emma ate her fries with envy "I will never understand how you can eat the way you do and still have the toned body of an athlete. It is truly a mystery." Regina used the plastic fork to impale some of her lettuce and ate with more poise then the blonde.
Emma shrugged and picked up half of the grilled cheese "Well, I run a lot, sometimes use weights, and then there's the trusty pull up bar in my bedroom doorway. I'd probably destroy any physical fitness test to be Storybrooke's deputy even with a grilled cheese in one hand." She took a bite and looked out at the few ships in the harbor, happy with the scenery she'd picked. It was calming to listen to the water and she figured Regina could use some relaxation after their talk with Gold.
"I think you'll do just fine, Em-ma. There haven't been any real crimes to investigate in Storybrooke outside of hunting down Pongo when he gets off his leash or the occasional drunken scuffle between Leroy and Whale. You seem capable enough to handle anything that this town might throw your way." Emma had to admit it felt good having Regina's support in the likelihood that she did decide to become the deputy, it was nice to have her potential boss on her side but she smirked when she realized just that.
Emma finished half of her sandwich and switched over to her fries again "You know I'd be dating my superior if I got the job right? You would be my boss, Regina. Is that even allowed or would we be breaking the rules?" Regina pushed her salad around with her fork, a small smirk on her face as she thought about it. There was nothing immoral about two people in their potential positions dating as long as they didn't professionally effect one another.
"Well, to be fair you are already dating your superior," Her smirk grew and Emma fought the urge to throw a handful of fries at her "I am older then you are, dear. Whatever did you think I meant? The honest answer is no, there wouldn't be any rule breaking with us being together. I wouldn't show any favoritism to the sheriff's office but I think it is common knowledge that you are with me now. After all I don't see you going on a date with Mary Margaret for example." Emma scrunched her face up at the idea of dating anyone other then Regina and shook her head.
She finished up her lunch and threw away the trash, doing the same for Regina before looking at the path that led along the waterfront. "How about we take a little walk? We have some time to kill before Henry gets off school. He expects us both to be there to pick him up, just so you know." She offered her arm to Regina who smiled and took a hold of it, walking along with her.
"Since you brought it up, how much older than me are you? I've never really given it any thought." Emma knew there was an age difference between the two of them but it wasn't something she found off putting. Quite the opposite in fact. Regina tightened her grip on Emma's arm at the enquiry and kept her eyes on the path in front of them. "How old do you think I am, dear?"
The Bostonian let out a dry laugh and shook her head "Oh no way, I'm not playing this game. Either I suggest you're younger than you actually are and you think I'm a liar or I fuck up and over estimate and then you get furious with me. Just tell me, mi reina. I'm not going to disappear once I know how old you are, I'm already in too deep now."
Regina was a little worried that the age gap between them would be something Emma could feel, a wedge that would drive them apart which was the exact opposite of what she wanted. "I am thirty-eight Miss Swan which makes me ten years your senior," She refused to look over at the other woman as they walked, afraid she'd see the look of shock or disgust or something unsavory "Do you still want to date me now that you know I'm much older? I can see if Granny will give us the senior discount next time." She forced a fake smile but it fell when they came to a stop.
Emma was looking at her with a frown "Regina, don't you dare act like you're some senior citizen! I find you unfairly attractive, ridiculously intelligent and I don't care about your age. I want to be with you. Does me being younger bother you?" She pulled her arm away from Regina's hold to take her hand instead and looked at the concern filling brown eyes.
Regina shook her head quickly and laced their fingers together "Gods no, Em-ma. I like you just the way you are. Your age doesn't matter to me. What matters is how kind you are. How caring, sweet, selfless, and courageous you are. How you make me feel and how you light up not only my life but also Henry's. I wouldn't change a single thing about you Emma Swan." The smile on Emma's face was breathtaking and stunning as she took a step closer to Regina. "Except for your address," Emma's eyes went wide at that "I know I told you to take sometime to think about moving to Storybrooke and I still stand by that but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't sound incredible to have you with us for longer then just a vacation. Not to mention how hard it will be to date you when you're all the way in a Boston." She used her free hand to run her fingers through golden curls.
"And you call me the sweet talker? You might want to take a look at your self, Ms. Mills since you've turned into an entire romantic comedy on me," Emma teased and leaned into the fingers weaving into her hair "I'm going to give it some thought but I would love to be with you and Henry for longer then a few weeks. Come on, I still have to pick up Tallahassee and get her back to the mansion before we get the kid. Maybe you can tell me more about my options for housing." Regina smiled and followed the blonde's lead back to her car.
Henry had been ecstatic to find both his mother and Emma standing outside of the school, throwing his arms around both of them at the same time. When he pulled back Regina handed him a bag and his grin only grew when he found a comic book inside of it. "Told you she'd say yes, Mom." Henry said in a singsong voice and his mother stuck her tongue out at him before opening the rear door to the Mercedes for him to get in.
Emma chuckled as she got into the passenger seat, she and Regina had agreed that it was better not to tell him about the possibility of her moving to Storybrooke until it was concrete. They didn't want to get his hopes up if she wasn't able to find a place to live. "I was going to try to talk your mom into pizza but she told me that you had it during your sleepover. So what are your thoughts on dinner, Prince Henry?" She turned to look at the boy in the back seat who was flipping through a comic book that read Marvel Zombies.
Henry set the comic on his lap and looked to be deep in thought at the question "Tacos!" He announced and Regina smiled, if she knew her son like she thought she did it would be followed by- "Can we make soppapillas, Mom? I bet Emma would really like them." Exactly what Regina was expecting him to ask, he often enjoyed helping his mother with preparing the whole meal.
"Ooh can we Mom?" Emma teased, earning a laugh from Henry and a sideways glance from Regina. "I'll help Henry with the chores!" Brown eyes rolled and she shook her head, having to bite her tongue not to make a remark that would be inappropriate for her son to hear. There were a lot of things she wanted to say in response but they were all too scandalous and she didn't want to scar Henry.
"Actually Miss Swan seems to be forgetting that she has provided tonight's dessert," She remembered the strawberries from their date that were still untouched in the fridge "I also have to do some work before dinner since someone, who shall remain nameless, talked me into leaving the office much earlier then I intended so we'll have to do the soppapillas a different night, my little prince. I will see to it that we have them this week." Henry set down the comic book again and looked at his mother in the rearview mirror. She left work early? That didn't happen. He knew it had to do with Emma, especially when the blonde beamed over at his mother.
Henry only nodded in response but he was smiling, Operation Swan Queen was a huge success so far. When they arrived home Henry hurried up to his room to do his homework so he could help with dinner afterwards and Regina turned to Emma, shocked when the blonde moved forward to kiss her yet again, framing her face with both hands as she took the time to commit Regina's lips to memory.
"What was that for, Swan?" She asked breathlessly when Emma pulled away with a smile, sliding her fingers from her cheek down her neck and making Regina's head feel foggy, her breathing going shallow as pale fingers skidded along her pulse point and blue green eyes followed the path she was tracing. At this rate she would never get to her den to get any work done.
Emma shrugged and stopped her fingers at the collar of a silk blouse, her eyes dipping downward for one moment before she snapped them back up to lock eyes with darkened brown. "Not everything has a reason, Regina. Sometimes it's nothing more then wanting to," She played with the collar for a moment, loving the way the silk felt against her skin "You should go get some of that work finished or I might just keep distracting you. I'll go check on our boy."
Regina watched Emma go up the stairs, her heart clenching at the way she called Henry their boy and she smiled as she went into her office to start on some of the papers she had ignored in favor of spending her day with Emma. Knocking on Henry's door she didn't get a response and she chuckled "8/15/01. May I come in and assist the young prince with his homework?" She asked and heard him respond with enter. When she opened the door she found him at his desk with a science book out and writing, she couldn't help but see more and more of Regina in him. He looked just like the Mayor when she was working and the only thing he was missing were a pair of glasses.
"Did you really get Mom to skip work today? The only time she's ever left work before now was when I was sick. She must really like you." Henry didn't look up from his paper, writing as he spoke. Emma leaned over his shoulder and smiled, looking at the assignment from Mary Margaret's class before pulling his gaming chair over to sit next to him.
"Well, your mom needed the break and I hope she really likes me since I really like her," Emma swiveled in the chair and watched as Henry sped through his homework "Your making sure the answers are correct right kid? Don't rush through it, I know your Mom is really proud of your good grades and we both want you to do well." She scooted closer to look over his science homework and shook her head. "See? Got this one wrong Henry. Covalent bonds involves the sharing of atoms. It's a balance of attractive and repulsive forces." She pointed to the line in the book and then ruffled his hair.
Henry nodded and erased the wrong answer, looking over at Emma "You'll make a really good Mom, Emma. Do you ever want kids?" He asked and she blinked a few times, relaxing back into the gaming chair and contemplating his question. She had thought about it a little, adoption or fostering children but that was a dream for when she was more stable. A bail bonds woman who was out at odd hours of the day or night didn't seem like the right career to go hand and hand with motherhood. But being a deputy of a small town with set hours and low risk seemed like it would open her up to the possibility.
"I do want kids and I can only hope they'll be half as cool and caring as you are, Henry. Finish up that science and don't rush this time. We aren't going to make dinner without you." Emma pat his shoulder a few times before pushing back the gaming chair and shutting the door behind her. She stretched as she started down the stairs and over to the den, smiling when she saw a similar sight. Like mother like son it seemed as Regina was writing at her desk with one hand rubbing her temple. It was clear she was under some stress and Emma was pretty sure it didn't have to do with whatever she was writing.
She slipped out of her leather jacket, pulled her hair up into a bun and walked around the desk as Regina muttered something indecipherable under her breath. "You look like the most tense queen in history, Regina," She put her hands on either silk clad shoulder and began to massage them, feeling multiple knots underneath her fingers "I can help with that. Do you want to talk about it?" Emma asked softly. Regina let out a groan and shook her head, taking off her readers and setting the pen down as she relished the magical touch she was getting from the other woman.
"No but please do not stop doing THAT," Another groan as she shut her eyes and leaned forward "How many talents do you even possess Miss Swan? You're a knight, a bail bonds woman, a potential deputy and now a masseuse? No no no, down." She commanded when Emma's hands moved towards her neck and she needed the attention along her spine instead.
Emma chuckled low in her throat and followed instructions "Yes ma'am. This would be a lot easier if you were lying in a bed, you know. Of course I'd have to be on top of you." "I am always on top, Em-ma." Regina smirked but it was wiped off her face when talented fingers found a painful spot causing her to hiss through gritted teeth and grip the edge of the desk. It was an arousing thought, Regina on top of her, but she focused on the painful bundle underneath the silk blouse and frowned. She didn't want to hurt her and she started to ease up on the pressure.
"Don't you dare. I can handle it, Swan. Just… harder, please." Emma swallowed the lump in her throat that was caused by the near guttural way Regina was speaking and her choice of words but she relented and pushed down harder, feeling her heart pound when there was a moan coming from red lips "Fuuuck." The first real obscenity to be uttered in her presence and she was immediately curious if the Mayor would sound like this in bed which heated her face and neck up with the fantasy.
She swallowed again and moved lower along her spine, reaching the small of her back "I've never heard you say fuck like that before, Regina. I have to tell you it's very sexy then again you are moaning it," She smirked as she leaned in closer to the black haired woman "Although I'd rather hear you moaning my name if I'm being honest." She whispered against the shell of Regina's ear and felt her stiffen underneath her hands, assuming it had nothing to do with the massage.
Regina bit her bottom lip and released her grip on the desk "Perhaps if you're lucky you just might. Even though I have thoroughly enjoyed your hands I need to finish my work and now I have some inappropriate thoughts to accompany these proposals. Thank you but take your marvelous fingers and find something other then my body to keep them busy." She smirked again, putting her readers on and picking up what she had been writing before her distraction.
Emma grinned and moved over to grab her leather jacket "Alright but just because you've had me take my hands off it doesn't mean my mind won't be on your body. Wearing anything black and lacey today?" She teased and Regina waved her hand twice towards the door without looking up "I'm not hearing a no, Madam Mayor. Don't work too hard or you'll have those knots back in no time." She left and had to find something to fill her time since her favorite people were both preoccupied with work.
Going up into the room she hadn't slept in yet she pulled her phone out and found Ruby's number, hitting call and laying on the unused bed. She wondered if she would be sleeping in it at all but her thoughts were interrupted by the red head picking up with "What's up, Emma Swan? I'm actually at your apartment right now and I think we could get a pretty good quote on a moving van for all this stuff y'know since you are gonna have to go where your future wife is."
Emma rolled her eyes and stretched out on the bed with the phone against her ear. "We're nowhere near the topic of marriage Rubes. You and Henry are terrible. But it's funny you mention moving-" "I was joking! Are you seriously gonna leave me alone in Boston? Or is this you asking for a roommate in Storybrooke? You've gotta remember I have a puppy that would be going with me." Ruby cut her off and there was a bark on the other line, Ruby's puppy Anita chiming in on the conversation.
"It's up to you and Anita if you want to come with me. I bet you both would like it here though, lots of woods for you two to go running through. I have been thinking about staying in Storybrooke long term but I'd still have to come back to Boston and get some things dealt with there," She rolled onto her side and was facing the guitar in the rocking chair "I think I'm too far gone on Regina and Henry, it would devastate me if I was so far away I couldn't take the kid to school or get comic books. And with Regina… I wouldn't be able to see her smile or kiss her or take her out on dates."
Ruby was smiling on the other end of the phone and then heaved a dramatic sigh "Alright alright, Swan. You've sold me. Lemme know what kind of place we're moving to so you and your true love can be together forever. I can always take my dog walking business to Storybrooke and Anita would love to go running through some forest instead of the park," There was a beeping sound on the other line and Ruby groaned "Speaking of work I've gotta get going. I agreed to dog sit for one of my regulars the next two nights but keep me in the loop! Maybe I can video tour some of the places with you. Later Emma!"
"Bye Rubes." Emma said to the dial tone and shook her head before trying to pull up a realtor in Storybrooke, her eyes going wide when she saw a familiar name. Kathryn Midas. So Regina's secretary also did realty on the side? That made things pretty easy since she already had met the blonde and as she was about to view some of the properties listed there was a knock on the door. Arching an eyebrow she decided to wait, crossing her arms over her chest as there was still no password being said.
"C'mon Swansky, I forgot it. It's Henry!" She chuckled and got out of bed, standing near the door with a shake of her head. "Sorry buddy but if you don't know the password I can't let you in. Those are the rules, you could be ANYONE and I'm not supposed to let people in who aren't part of the inner circle. After all I have to use a password for the other bedrooms in this house." He groaned on the other side of the door and then fell silent, at first she suspected he'd given up but then she could hear another voice whispering to Henry "Cisne." Regina.
Emma rolled her eyes and opened the door "That's considered cheating just so you know." Regina smirked and shrugged from her position behind Henry, her hands on his shoulders as he wore a smirk as well. "You two are the mirror image of each other sometimes and it's just downright uncanny. He rolls his eyes like you, you both smirk the same way, and I swear you both could get away with murder just by batting your long eyelashes." Henry grinned up at his mother.
"Are you quite finished, Miss Swan? Henry has a question for you and, despite my better judgment, I have agreed to it if you are willing." "Do you wanna help us make dinner?!" Henry asked the moment Regina finished speaking, he was clearly eager to have Emma in the kitchen with them. She raised her eyebrows and looked at the Mayor, not expecting such an offer from either of them.
It had seemed like the two Mills were a well oiled machine when it came to navigating the previous meal of lasagna and she was instantly worried that she would only be a hindrance, just in their way, but how hard could tacos be? "You sure you really want me in the kitchen with you guys?" Emma questioned and wondered if she would have to wear an apron like Regina- well, she wouldn't make it look nearly as good as the raven haired woman did.
Regina placed a hand on the top of Henry's head and smiled "It is all his idea but I do have the fire department on stand by, an extinguisher at the ready, and in the worst case scenario that you destroy the meal we can order something in. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that," She looked over at the blonde with one sculpted eyebrow arched as she slowly reiterated the question "Do you want to help us make dinner, Em-ma?"
Emma grinned and nodded her head with enthusiasm; if they were willing to let her help she was excited for the chance. She followed the Mills down the stairs and into the kitchen, she couldn't help but feel like part of the family as Henry started talking about what they were going to do and she froze when Regina wrapped an apron around her waist with a soft "You'll do fine, dear." in her ear before the three of them set to preparing dinner. Just like a little family.