Henry was beaming from ear to ear when he walked into the kitchen the next morning to find his birth mother half asleep nursing a cup of coffee. "You're here!" He excitedly proclaimed, sharing a brief one-sided hug with the sleepy blonde.
"Of course, she is," Regina smiled contently, as she set two plates piled high with pancakes and waffles on the breakfast bar for the small family to share.
"And you two are actually getting married? Today!" Henry was practically vibrating with excitement as he reached over to stab his fork into a stack of three pancakes before letting them drop onto his plate.
"We are." The brunette confirmed, placing a gentle hand on Emma's exposed shoulder blade as she reached over the blonde to place a pitcher of orange juice onto the counter.
"This is so awesome." The young man celebrated, like a child on a sugar high as he lathered his breakfast in rich maple syrup. "Can I invite Josh?" He asked, aiming the question at the oddly silent blonde who was yet to look up from her coffee, let alone speak.
Regina watched the blonde for any sign that she'd heard what their son had asked, and when she saw nothing but the same blank expression that had been playing on the blonde's face since the night before, she quickly tried to pull her from whatever world she'd found herself lost in. "I don't see why not. Emma?"
Emma jumped as Regina's hand gently rested on top of hers, "Hmm...Sorry, I was in a whole other world there." She quickly mumbled as a faint blush crept up her exposed neck.
"Can Josh come to the wedding?" Henry repeated with his mouth full of half-eaten pancake.
"I've no objections," Emma shrugged and reached over to ruffle his already messy bed hair.
Taking the last syrup-soaked pancake in his hand, he happily jogged out of the kitchen throwing a quick, "Sweet! I'm gonna call him now!" as he disappeared upstairs once again, a small trail of maple syrup droplets left in his wake.
Emma smiled softly to herself as she absentmindedly turned her hand over to allow Regina's fingers to slip into hers. A content silence fell over the pair while they tried to tackle breakfast one-handedly, neither making a move to break the contract - no matter how difficult it was to cut through the fluffy pancakes with the side of a fork.
"Still thinking about last night?" Regina asked after a few moments, her pancakes already forgotten as she turned to her mug of freshly brewed coffee.
Emma swallowed a large bite of uncut pancake, before draining a glass of orange juice, "It's hard not to." She said with a shrug, as she played a mini-game of twister with her arms as she tried to reach for the maple syrup.
"Here," Regina gently slid their hands apart, moved Emma's plate towards her, and began to cut the large stack of pancakes into bite-sized pieces before dousing the plate with syrup. "You're worse than a child sometimes, Miss Swan." She said with a humorous grin, before taking Emma's hand in her own once again.
"Thanks…" The blonde blushed, as she went back to eating the now bite-sized pieces.
"Would you like to reschedule? Give your mother more time?" Regina asked, her heart sinking slightly as she watched Emma consider her offer. Regina didn't want to postpone, not with the adoption agent visiting Emma at the end of the week. But it was more than that. She was afraid that she'd never get Emma back to this point, that they'd postpone then that would be it, the end of their 'relationship'. She'd found it oddly nice having Emma around the last few days, and she didn't want to go back to being alone again.
"No." Emma squeezed her hand, the reassurance that Regina needed to stifle the oncoming breakdown. "I'm not rearranging my life just to make her feel better." Emma regrettably broke the contact, choosing to bury her face in her hands and let out a muffled groan. Pushing her plate away, she face-planted the breakfast bar, her blonde hair sprawled out against the marble.
Hesitantly, Regina's fingers hovered above Emma's mane of hair, debating whether or not to soothe the blonde with the same finger ballet that she'd performed on their son's scalp hundreds of times. "Have you spoken to your father?" She pried, earning yet another groan from the blonde, as she retracted her hand, letting it fall into her lap meekly.
Turning slightly, Emma looked up at the brunette. "Yeah, he rang before I came down." She mumbled with a defeated shrug. "He's meeting us at city hall if we still want him there." She sighed, pushing herself back into a normal sitting position.
"I hope you told him that we did!" Regina quipped as her finger traced the rim of her empty glass.
Emma snorted, as she reached for her half-empty mug of cold coffee. "Nah, I thought I'd alienate another family member instead." She said into the mug, pausing momentarily as she saw Regina's small smile fade into a frown, "Of course, I told him," She confirmed, content as Regina's smile returned to her perfect lips. "That just leaves one more person…" Emma mumbled as she walked over to place her mug in the sink.
"Killian?" The brunette questioned, watching closely how the blonde's shoulder blades tensed at the mere mention of the pirate's name. She'd heard the rumors, everyone had. But neither Emma nor Killian had ever confirmed their budding relationship, and Regina was afraid to pry.
Turning to face the brunette, Emma shrugged weakly as a small sigh filled the kitchen. "I'm never going to hear the end of this." She groaned.
"I beg your pardon," Regina questioned, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Emma chuckled, her lightheartedness putting Regina at ease. "He's convinced that we've been secretly hooking up for years." She explained with red tinted cheeks, "I just think that he's trying to make his perverted dreams a reality." She rolled her eyes at the thought of Killian and his perverted jokes surrounding the woman she was about to marry.
Regina's sweet laughter filled the kitchen, as she muttered a sarcastic, "I'm not sure I want him at my wedding now." Her mind is put at ease and her fears of Killian coming in between them are quickly forgotten.
"Oh, so it's just your wedding now? I see how it is, darling." Emma teased, smirking as a faint blush crept up Regina's exposed neck.
"You know what I mean," Regina smirked, as she swayed over to the blonde, brushing against her slightly as she placed her mug next to Emma's. "Invite the one-handed perv if you must. Just make it clear that he's not invited to the marital after party." Regina whispered, her words sending shivers down Emma's spine. Of course, Regina had no intention of taking Emma to bed that evening, the idea of sex with the blonde - no matter how amazing she thought it would be - nothing but a fever dream that the brunette knew would likely never come to play. But as the playful air between them thickened, Regina regretted her words as quickly as she said them.
"W-what?!" Emma muttered, her face turning pale and her eyes widening as she took a step away from the brunette.
"I was kidding, completely." The Mayor tried to reassure the blonde, but as she reached out to gently touch her arm Emma jumped away, darting towards the stairs. "Em-"
"I gotta get ready." She cut her off, as Regina raced behind her, a lengthy apology resting on her lips.
"Emma!" She snapped as the blonde reached the stairs.
Freezing, she turned to face the apologetic brunette. "I'm fine." She promised, with as much sincerity as she could muster. "I'll meet you and the kid at city hall," Regina nodded, a silent permission for Emma to disappear up the stairs.