Hi thanks again for all if your feedback, I'm sorry that one commenter couldn't read past chapter 9 I'm not sure why that was but I hope its rectified itself.
Chapter Thirteen.
The journey back was smooth and slightly quicker than the trip out to the party had been hours earlier and soon there were pulling up in front of Regina's building.
Regina thanked the driver and gave him a hefty tip before leading the way into the warm foyer where in the wee hours of the morning they were greeted by an unfamiliar face, at least to Emma.
"Evening Tom" Regina greeted the doorman as they passed.
"Good morning madam" Tom who looked a lot younger than Jerry smiled cheekily in return, Regina simply continued onwards towards the elevators with no further retort and Emma hot on her heels.
Emma yawned widely as the doors closed behind them and the elevator began to rise and Regina seeming to catch the yawn let one out of her own all be it a much more restrained version than Emma's had been.
Respecting Regina's neighbours in the lateness of the hour the two remained quiet between Regina's interaction with Tom and arriving to her floor, the silence stretching on until Regina had closed her front door behind them.
"Fancy a night cap?" she asked turning to Emma who had already kicked her shoes off without taking much care to make sure that they were tidy.
If Regina noticed, which of course she did, she didn't comment on it, instead turning towards the kitchen with Emma following behind her where she poured them each a glass of her cider and they finished the night the same way that they had started it.
"Thank-you for inviting me to the party tonight" Emma smiled as they settled on the couch together, drinks in hand.
"It's not usually my thing but I actually really enjoyed it."
"Tell me what the highlight of your evening was Ms Swan, was it dancing with the boys while I hid their candy or the trick and treating" Regina teased releasing a tipsy giggle.
"All of it" Emma declared making Regina snort into her glass.
"Hey, I love spending time with you and those boys" Emma insisted, Regina raised disbelieving brow but didn't interrupt as Emma continued.
"They're really good kids and I love them to pieces."
Regina smiled at that.
"Yes they are" she agreed letting her head drop onto Emma's shoulder with a contented sigh.
"So, what's next on the Regina Mills list of dates and events?" Emma asked taking a sip from her glass and shifting a little in her seat to make herself more comfortable.
"I'll have to think of some more dates for us, maybe another restaurant" she sighed again only this time the sound was far from content.
"There's still the option of Belle doctoring the images" Emma reminded her, and she felt Regina's head nod slowly against her shoulder.
"I know" she said, "but I'd still rather avoid that if I can, it's not like we're going to spend the whole of the holidays showing my mother and sister photos of our entire time together, as long as we have enough different ones not to arouse suspicions we should be fine, and we've still got thanksgiving."
She sat up abruptly at that and looked Emma.
"Do you have plans for that?" she asked enthusiastically.
"She with no family has no plans for thanksgiving other than studying alone in the quiet of my empty dorm." Emma shrugged.
"There's no one in your life who would invite you over for holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving?" Regina asked.
"Oh, there are" Emma replied quietly "Belle invited me back to her home with her and Polly at the diner invited me to spend it with their family, but that's their families you know and being at those events with other people's family just highlights the fact that I don't have one even more.
Don't get me wrong it was kind of them to offer and I know that they genuinely care about me, but I don't even know their families, I'd be sitting with strangers for the most part, kind of like I often did when I was growing up in the system and I lost contact with the few people I grew close enough to, to call family or true friends back then so it really is just me now." She shrugged and squirmed a little her discomfort at the direction of the conversation evident.
"But won't sitting with my family at Christmas feel like that too?" Regina asked a small frown of concern forming as she suddenly realised that Emma might end up feeling truly unhappy with the arrangement and she didn't want that for the blonde.
"No, this is different" she smiled gently and took Regina's hand.
"I'm going with you as your date, aside from the fact that I'll know we're pretending it won't feel any different to me than meeting a real girlfriend's family at Christmas would, they certainly aren't going to know any different."
Regina nodded slowly at that still pondering over the blondes' words.
"So are you going to tell me what your plans are for thanksgiving" Emma pressed when the silence stretched on between them.
"Ah yes" Regina replied excitement gleaming in her eyes again "so as you know by now Kathryn is the queen of Halloween, so I do thanksgiving for me , her Fred and the boys and they we fly back to Maine together for Christmas, Kathryn and I grew up together in Storybrooke and both of our parents still live there in the neighbouring houses that we grew up in" she laughed fondly and Emma smiled in returned.
"Must be nice to have a friendship like that" she said "but how do you manage fitting everyone in here for thanksgiving" she frowned knowing full well that Regina's little table wouldn't hold them all.
"I don't, I rent a lovely lake house, I head out there by myself a day ahead of them to get everything set up and prepare the meal and then we all spend a few days out there together before we head home again."
"Must be a bit lonely for you though."
Regina frowned and Emma elaborated further.
"All that time alone before they arrive." She said.
"Actually, I usually quite enjoy the time to myself, and the preparations keep me busy, the drive can feel a little lonely though, two and a half hours each way on my own."
"But you have your driver" Emma pointed out.
"Not for my thanksgiving trip" Regina smiled at Emma's surprised look "I always give my drivers a few days off to spend with their families on full pay of course and I drive myself to the lake house."
"You have a car" Emma exclaimed genuinely surprised by this new information.
"I do and I can drive it and everything" Regina laughed as she continued to tease the nonplussed blonde.
"It's just a much better use of my time to use the company drivers when I'm in the city, I don't have to worry about things like parking that way which saves me a lot of time." She shrugged and Emma nodded.
"Yeah that makes sense."
"So, are you going to come with me this year?" Regina asked, "I understand if you have to work" she added trying not to sound too disappointed.
"I don't have to work" Emma smiled, and Regina's hopes instantly rose "Polly's always closes for a few days over thanksgiving while Polly and her husband go to visit their daughter and grandchildren out of state, so I have a few days off, I really was just going to hang out in my dorm, but I'd love to come and help out with thanksgiving."
She grinned and Regina could have hugged her.
"That's a plan then" Regina smiled back then yawned widely covering her mouth with her hand.
"Bed now, thanksgiving plans tomorrow" Emma said firmly as she too stifled a yawn before up ending the rest of her drink into her mouth.
"Speaking of bed, we're going to have to share again."
Emma spluttered nearly choking on the mouthful of cider mid swallow.
"Excuse me" she gasped.
"Over thanksgiving" Regina explained "the twins will be there, and they'll be about at Christmas too, we won't spend an awful lot of time with them in Storybrooke, but we will see them and we can't risk them innocently dropping us in it in front of my parents or sister, so it's probably best to always keep up the act in front of them."
"True" Emma nodded "and you know what they say right" Emma winked, and Regina shook her head not entirely sure where this was headed.
"Practice makes perfect" Emma laughed and Regina rolling her eyes, reached for one of the sofa cushions and threw it at her.
"Hey" Emma laughed louder fighting the pillow off.
"Enough of this silliness, bed now." Regina instructed firmly.
"With you or by myself?" Emma asked trying to make it sound like an innocent question.
Regina didn't even justify it with an answer instead she simply got up and crossed the room heading towards the door and stopping abruptly when something soft hit her in the back with a gentle thump.
By the drunken giggles behind her she could guess exactly what had happened before she even turned to see the same pillow that she had thrown at Emma now on the floor at her feet.
She looked from the pillow to the laughing blonde and slowly crouched to pick it up.
"Really?" she asked.
"Hey, you started it" Emma's laughter grew.
"And I'll finish it" Regina glared darkly at her and threw the cushion back hitting the blonde on the head, momentarily silencing the laughter.
"That's it Mills" Emma with renewed laughter got to her feet and stumbled towards her as fast as her wobbly legs would carry her. Regina tried to run but Emma caught up to her in the hallway grabbed her around her waist from behind and spun around still holding on to her.
Regina half- heartedly tried to fight her off until Emma put her down and she was able to turn to face her.
"Are you quite finished dear" Regina said sounding far more sophisticated than she looked in that moment with newly dishevelled appearance.
"Well, that depends" Emma teased.
"On what" Regina grumbled attempting to straighten out her crumpled dress.
"On whether you admit that I win or not."
"In your dreams Swan" Regina retorted narrowing her eyes at the blonde, "I haven't even started with you yet."
"Okay, well don't say that I didn't warn you" Emma grinned mischievously her hands coming to Regina's sides, fingers wriggling as they gently dug in just enough to make the brunette squirm and squeal.
"Fine, fine" Regina wheezed, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks "You win, you win."
Emma also laughing immediately ceased mid tickle and pulled her hands away leaving Regina to lean against the wall and catch her breath.
"Happy now" the brunette glowered at her though she wasn't really angry at her.
"Ecstatic" Emma smiled goofily, and Regina rolled her eyes then pushed herself away from the wall suddenly bringing them much closer together.
Emma's goofy smile gave way to something more nervous and intense as her eyes dropped to Regina's lips and came back up to meet brown with pupils so dilated by desire that it made them look black.
Regina's breath hitched as she saw Emma's tongue briefly appear between dry lips, moistening them before disappearing from sight again and she found herself slowly leaning closer to her.
It was as though something had taken over her and soon she was mere inches away from kissing the blonde in front of her the warm fuzz of her night cap casting a haze over her senses.
In front of her Emma's throat worked hard to swallow and she could feel the blonde's warm breath on her face.
"We should probably go to bed now" Emma murmured a little regretfully, through fear that continuing this moment to its inevitable conclusion would lead to a greater regret later.
Her words instantly broke the spell that seemed to have briefly fallen over them and nodding in agreement Regina blinked and moved back to create some more space between them.
"Yes I suspect that, that would be for the best" she stammered and was that a tiny hint of disappointment that Emma could see in her eyes?
"I hope that you find everything to your satisfaction and that you sleep well, I'll see you in the morning." She said with a nod and a small smile.
Emma offered a small smile in return.
"Thanks" she said turning to walk down the hallway, "sleep well Regina."
Regina shut her bedroom door and leaned back against it her heart racing, what was wrong with her? Why did she keep letting herself be distracted this way?
She shook her head and tried to clear her mind, "you can't keep doing this to yourself" she murmured shaking her head again and moving to change for bed.
In the guest room down the hall Emma was going through a similar turmoil, her own mind still racing with what had just happened or nearly happened in the hallway as she too crawled into her bed and sighed.
It was a sigh halfway between frustration at the hallway situation and satisfaction as she sank into what she discovered really was the most comfortable bed that she had ever slept in, a novelty of which at least distracted her mind from the scenario that had played out between her and Regina a short while before.
The next few weeks seemed to fly by, Emma and Regina went on several more 'dates' including a somewhat reluctant meal at a restaurant that after an anxious start was a massive success and they planned Thanksgiving to within an inch of its life together, leaving nothing undecided or to chance.
It was during the week leading up to their thanksgiving trip when Emma was placing candles for the table centre piece that they were going to make when they were at the house, into the shopping cart that Regina was pushing that a thought that hadn't occurred to her before but probably should have suddenly sprung into the forefront of her mind.
"What about Christmas" she suddenly blurted out as the candles landed in the cart.
"What about it?" Regina asked.
"Sorry my mouth started speaking before my mind finished thinking" Emma chuckled.
"I mean gifts, I can't exactly come to spend Christmas at your parents' home as your girlfriend and not bring them at least a little something."
"Don't worry I've got you covered" Regina smiled at the thoughtfulness of Emma's gesture "Everything I've bought will be from both of us this year."
Emma nodded feeling somewhat relieved, but that still left one gift for her to buy herself she realised, because she couldn't turn up without a gift for her 'girlfriend' either, she was going to have to find Regina something, but what?
She chewed her lip as they wandered around the store mulling it over, she didn't want to ask Regina because she felt that it should be a surprise and even though it was a pretend relationship, they were real friends now and giving a pretend gift just felt all kinds of wrong.
She knew Regina's favourite perfume, so perhaps that would be a safe bet.
Sure, it was pretty expensive, but she hadn't had to pay anything into this pretend relationship so far and she still had plenty of the money that Regina had given her left, she could easily spare enough for that.
Or should she be looking at jewellery? That's probably what she would have been looking at had the relationship been a real one, but would that make Regina feel awkward to receive, she could always give it back when they left her parents' house after Christmas if she felt it inappropriate, but Emma really didn't want for that to happen, she wanted to think of something that Regina would want to keep.
She sighed and Regina looked at her with a slight frown forming across her brow.
"You've gone very quiet" she observed "are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine" Emma sighed again "just got lost in thought for a minute there."
"Anything you want to share?"
"Not particularly" Emma grinned widely "It's a thought for another time."
"If you're sure." Regina shrugged as Emma nodded and didn't push her further.
"Then let's get the rest of the shopping finished" Regina smiled, and Emma nodded as she continued to follow the brunette her mind fully back on the task at hand.
Just like with the other non-perishables that they had already purchased ahead of their trip Regina packed the latest items straight into boxes ready to put in the car which Emma still had not seen since she had learned of its existence.
Regina had already told her that there was somewhere near the Lakehouse for them to shop for their food items after they had arrived and unloaded the car of the things they would be taking with them so they wouldn't be taking anything like that with them.
Which meant that with that final shopping trip she declared them done and finally satisfied that there would be nothing more to come that would need packing into them, she sealed the boxes closed with some strong tape.
Then when it was time for Emma to return home later that day, Regina in a custom that had quickly become part of their regular routine accompanied her for her journey in the car so that they could stop off and take a peek at Alfonso's fairytale characters who now appeared to be in the middle of making their own thanksgiving preparations.
"Is that a swan" Emma exclaimed pointing at the model of roasted long necked bird that she could see sitting on the end of long table through a lit window of the dark castle the balcony of which the queen still stood on, in all of her glory.
"I think it is" Regina chuckled and shook her head slightly in her amusement "Alfonso certainly has an eye for detail" she said.
Emma nodded her eyes scanning the rest of the forest or at least as much as she could drink in the short time they had there because the temperature had dropped significantly, and the threat of snow hung heavy in the air.
She saw people carrying baskets of vegetables, more turkeys and chickens pecking the ground than had been there before, spit roasts over campfires and pots hanging over the flames.
The carved pumpkins from Halloween had been replaced with faceless squashes of various colours and sizes and everywhere she looked people were either cooking, preparing or carrying food items but nobody else had a swan.
"Leave it to the evil queen to be different" Emma smiled and shook her head.
"She probably doesn't even like the swan" Regina sniffed "Look at her" she pointed at the queen on the balcony as she spoke "standing there looking over her kingdom all menacing, and smug, she's definitely being defiant over something, trying to prove a point no doubt."
Emma laughed heartily, she loved, standing in front of the window for as long as they both could handle before the cold became too much for them, just allowing their imaginations to run wild.
Losing themselves in this little fairytale land sitting in the middle of the busy city that they lived in. Creating stories about what their favourite characters had been up to or what they might be thinking as they looked at where they were standing and what they were wearing now.
It wasn't something that Regina had ever pictured herself doing in all of the times that she had visited the shop with Kathryn but there was something wonderfully innocent and liberating about breathing life into the characters and the scenes that they saw before them, that just continued to pull her in, and she knew that she would be sad when she could no longer do this anymore.
But she also knew that it wouldn't be the same without Emma and though neither of spoke the words aloud Emma privately felt the same, in their hearts they knew that once their arrangement was over they wouldn't return here anymore, but until that time came, they would happily enjoy every one of these precious moments together.
They left as always when they were too cold to stand there any longer and Regina as usual had the driver wait until she had seen the door to Emma's building close firmly behind her before moving on to take her back home.
As Belle was leaving two days before Emma and Regina would be heading off Emma opted to put her packing off until after her roomie had gone leaving her alone in the space and free to move about without being in the way and she was making the most of it now.
She had clothing spread out on top of both beds and she was stood in between the two trying to figure out what she should take.
Choosing nightwear had been easy, shorts and a tank top and choosing a couple of causal outfits had been easy, but what did one wear for a thanksgiving meal in a fancy house with friends?
She had text Regina but her reply of anything you want had done nothing to help her, so here she stood still stuck on what to choose.
E- What will you be wearing.
R- Just a simple dress.
Emma chewed her lip looking from the text to her choices again and in a sudden act of decisiveness she selected her favourite black and red plaid shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, adding them to her rucksack, zipping it up and putting the rest of her clothing away before she could change her mind, then she left the bag on the floor next to her converses and sighed, relieved to finally be done.
She didn't have work that night or the following day so they had decided to get an early start, and Emma would be spending that night at Regina's apartment again and boy was she looking forward to crawling back into that comfortable bed later. But for now, she had a bit of time left to kill.
She filled it with homework, she had promised not to take any to the Lakehouse with her because Regina had insisted that they would be far too busy so it would be a waste of time, but that meant she had to get as much done before they left as possible because the less she had to cram in when she got home the better.
She made good progress and was more than satisfied by where she was at when her phone pinged with a text from her most regular driver announcing that he was outside waiting for her.
Emma sent a quick reply then leaving her work where it was she hopped off her bed, pulled her shoes and jacket on then shrugged her rucksack onto her shoulders before hurrying out of the room, only pausing to check that it was locked properly, she was only one currently left in her building but that didn't mean that she was about to take any chances with hers and Belles security.
Satisfied she hurried down the stairs, the elevators were actually working for a change but Emma was so used to taking the stairs and so fearful of getting trapped in one after a group of students had spent more than three hours stuck in one the last time that it had broken, that she just stuck with the stairs all of the time regardless of the elevators current status, at least she could guarantee that she would make it out of the building in a timely fashion that way.
She greeted Jerry on her way into Regina's building as always and this time she did take the more reliable elevators in this building rising up to Regina's floor until the doors pinged open and let her out.
She knocked on Regina's door and waited then after five minutes of waiting with no answer she tried again and still the door didn't yield to reveal Regina smiling from inside.
That's strange Emma thought frowning as she freed her phone from her pocket and tried to call letting it ring until it went into answering machine, Jerry had let her straight up with no mention of Regina having gone out, so where was she and why wasn't she answering?
After trying the door and Regina's mobile one last time to no avail Emma, her concern mounting and wishing that she had thought to ask for the number to the lobby desk before now turned to go back to the elevators, she'd just have to go back down and ask Jerry to call Regina's landline as she didn't have that number either, and maybe even enlist his help in gaining access to the apartment if the need arose.
She paused with her hand on the door leading into the stairwell glancing at the floor indicator above the elevator doors and seeing that it was rising and almost at her floor Emma opted to wait for it instead of racing down the stairs.
She stood impatiently tapping her foot as she watched it move up the final couple of floors it felt painfully slow as her mind tried to calculate whether she could have been downstairs already had she run for it.
She dithered between staying and going but before she could commit to the latter the elevator came to a halt and the doors pinged open in front of her.
"Regina" she sighed in relief seeing the brunette inside.
"Sorry" Regina smiled sheepishly "I was taking the last of the boxes down to the car, I thought I'd be back up before you arrived, but I bumped into Martha from a few floors down and well she likes to talk, and I just couldn't get away."
"It's fine" Emma smiled back "I'm just relieved that you're okay and I didn't manage to get all the way back down to Jerry and miss you, although on the plus side you probably would have been back in to answer your land line by the time he called up" she chuckled and followed Regina back to her front door where she put the key in the lock and turned it with a click and pushed it open to let them both in.
Emma left her rucksack in the guest room then joined Regina who was taking a selection of food from the fridge and placing it on the kitchen islands counter tops.
"I'm afraid it not much of meal, more of a throw together of everything perishable left in my fridge" she laughed as Emma eagerly moved forward grabbing a plate.
"It all looks lovely Regina" she smiled helping herself to several of the different foods on offer and sitting down to tuck in reaching for more of the things she liked the most as she ate.
Regina nodding followed suit filling a plate for herself and sitting across from Emma where she too ate until she was full.
Most of what remained when they were done was packed into plastic boxes and placed back into the fridge ready to take with them in the morning, they would make for an easy lunch before they left the lake house to do the food shop the following afternoon.
As soon as all of the food had been cleared away Regina stacked the dishes together by the sink and Emma moved beside her to dry, Regina didn't even bother to argue against it anymore and Emma was now so comfortable and familiar with the kitchens layout that she automatically moved to put things away as soon as she had finished drying them until they were finished.
"Movie?" Regina asked putting her rinsed dishcloth over the edge of the sink and turning to look at Emma.
"Sure" the blonde smiled and lead the way into the lounge where they settled in their usual positions on opposite ends of the couch, Regina led down with her feet in Emma's lap, who took a foot in in her hand and started to rub it as the open credits of Regina's chosen movie began to roll on the screen.
It was a romantic comedy about a care kid who meets and married a prince. Emma usually hated those types of films; she knew that they were only supposed to be light fun but growing up in children's homes she felt that it sometimes gave the real care kids unrealistic views of the world, raised their hopes for things that never really happened at least not like they did in the movies.
The worst one for her had been the movie about the little orphan girl living in a miserable orphanage who went on to be adopted by a millionaire.
When she was little and it was playing at Christmas time as it so often did, she innocently believed that that was how it worked.
She had watched that movie mind filled with wonder over and over again, living a fantasy with the other little kids, each of them sharing their dreams of what they would do first when their millionaire daddy came to sweep them away and every one of them promising not to forget the ones they would leave behind, promising them magical days out like the one they saw in the movie.
All while the bigger kids sniggered in the background, rolled their eyes and called them stupid.
But what did they know, Emma knew that her millionaire parent or parents were coming for her.
Until she knew they weren't and that the film was all one big lie, then she became one of those older more cynical kids watching the young one's dream, she never had it in her to be cruel to them, but she did wonder how she could have ever been so naïve as they were.
Emma watched kids' hearts break thanks to that movie misleading them until she couldn't watch it happen anymore and she snuck into the TV room late one night took out the video tape with it on and destroyed the ribbon beyond repair before putting it back into the case and leaving it there with a satisfied nod.
She sighed at the memory as she started to rub Regina's second foot eyes still trained on the screen.
"You okay?" Regina her eyes leaving the screen to look at Emma, spoke sleepily from where she lay totally relaxed with her hand resting next to the remote which lay on the couch beside her.
"Yeah" Emma smiled reassuringly "I ate to much that's all."
Regina chuckled at that, and her eyes flittered back to the movie.
"When don't you eat too much" she jested, and Emma scowled.
"I could easily go off of you, you know" she said ceasing her foot rub.
"Please" Regina chuckled making Emma's heart race a little faster than it had been moments earlier "as if that could ever happen."
Okay so she might have a point Emma conceded but only in her own mind, outwardly she still refused to pick up that foot again as she pretended to be fully focused on the movie again.
"Can't you hate me while you finish my foot rub?" Regina implored "I'm certain that it's going to prove really beneficial for my driving tomorrow" she insisted.
"Oh yes however will your poor feet cope with all of that peddle work that somebody else usually does for them" Emma retorted the teasing clear in her tone.
"Hey, less of the cheek" Regina glared at her and poked her in the arm with her big toe, Emma just laughed, shook her head slightly and took the offending foot in her hands to resume her foot rub and next to her Regina sighed and relaxed again, both women with their eyes back on the screen.
Emma usually hated these types of movies and would never have put one on by choice but somehow watching with Regina she was able to find the light humour it.
The movie ended a short while later and knowing that they had a very early start they said their goodnights and went to their separate bedrooms, Emma back in that blissfully comfortable bed in the guest room trying hard not to think about the fact that she would be sharing with Regina again the following night.
Emma groaned and hit the blaring alarm to silence it, five more minutes she thought as she rolled over and started to drift back off to sleep, just five more minutes.
A gentle knock at her door just as she was on the edge of sleep made her want to throw her pillow at it and yell at the offender to go away until a soft voice filtered through that melted all of her frustration away.
"Emma are you coming out for breakfast now?" Regina asked.
"Yeah sure" she called back sitting up with a wide yawn and a satisfying stretch "just give me five minutes and I'll be there."
"Okay I'll just get everything ready" Regina called back, and Emma instinctively knew that she had already moved away from the door before she had even managed to throw her duvet off.
While Emma freshened herself up in the bathroom Regina headed into the kitchen where a pot of fresh coffee was already brewing, she popped two slices of bread into the toaster and pressed the lever down then turned to the cupboards pulling out two bowls and two small plates.
In the bowls she poured some granola, topping it off with some dry fruit and placed them on the island counter with a jug of milk between them and a spoon beside each bowl.
From there she moved to the fridge took out a bottle of orange juice and emptied what remained of its contents into two large glasses, placing them on the table when she was done before returning to the fridge one last time to retrieve a stick of butter and a jar of her homemade apple jelly to go on their toast.
The toaster popped as she was finishing up so she took the first two pieces out immediately replacing them with two more slices of bread and pressing them down, moving to place a slice of toast on each plate just as Emma entered the kitchen still in her pyjamas and yawning widely.
"Morning sleepy head" Regina smiled as Emma walked over to the coffee pot and poured some of the fresh brew into both of the waiting mugs.
"Morning" she replied making her way to the kitchen island with a mug in each hand, placing one next to Regina who immediately reached for the milk and poured some in her drink and over her granola, she wasn't really much of cereal person but she always kept a box in just in case she needed to eat quickly some mornings or didn't have a lot in, like today.
"What's this?" Emma asked looking into her waiting bowl a little despondently.
"Granola" Regina repleid simply "I know it not the best, but it will keep us going until lunch, but if you really don't like it feel free to help yourself to more toast after this batch she stated" taking her first mouthful from her own bowl.
"I would have preferred Cocoa Krispies but I'm sure I'll cope" Emma smiled and reached for the milk.
The toaster popped again when Regina was halfway through her cereal, she left her spoon in her bowl and got up to take it out, placing a second piece on both Emma's and her own plates before returning to her cereal.
"Thanks" Emma smiled reaching for the butter and Jelly now as her bowl much to Regina's amusement was already empty.
They finished their food together then cleaned up after themselves and Emma taking a second mug of steaming coffee with her went back to her room to change while Regina who was already dressed did her usual last-minute checks before going away and by the time Emma was ready to go and had found her again she was ready to leave too.
Emma followed her out to the front door, stepping out ahead of her and moving off to one side staying quiet and out of the way while Regina concentrated on inputting her alarm code and securing her apartment.
Then when Regina finally turned to her with a satisfied smile and small nod she turned and led the way to elevators, hitting the button to call them as she reached them just ahead of Regina.
Inside she stepped out of the way again and waited for Regina to press the button that would tell the elevator which floor to take them too.
It was one that Emma had never seen her use before and had never used herself, but she suspected led to some kind of underground carpark that she hadn't even had any idea that this building might have until Regina arrived in the elevator the day before reporting that she had been packing boxes into her car.
Seconds later the doors opened in a huge concrete abyss and her suspicions were confirmed.
"Should have guessed you'd have your own bat cave Mills" she joked and Regina strolling out of the elevator rolled her eyes.
It didn't take long for Emma to figure out which of the many expensive looking cars down here belonged to Regina, it wasn't far from where the elevator opened and it lights flashed while its locks clicked open, and trunk gently rose as they approached.
"Swanky" she said impressed by the sleek black Mercedes with all its mod cons "And you're sure this thing will be okay to drive given how long it's been left down here unused?"
"Give me some credit Emma" Regina retorted "don't you think I take care of her, she gets taken out for spin regularly just not by me and I always have her cleaned and serviced before I go away anywhere, she runs like a dream, trust me" she smiled and lifted her case into a space that she had left of it in the trunk, leaving just enough room for Emma to squash her rucksack in with it.
Then she pressed the button to make it close again and placed the bag containing their lunch on the back seats amongst the boxes that sat across them before heading round to the driver's side and sliding into her seat while Emma did the same on the passenger side.
Regina smiled across at Emma as she settled herself into her seat, turned the key in the ignition firing the engine to life, then reached to turn on the stereo.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that" Emma said surprising Regina when she reached out stopping her hand just short of the play button.
"What do you mean? Why? Regina asked frowning in confusion as she looked at the blonde whose features had arranged themselves into a very serious look.
"What's wrong?" Regina asked suddenly feeling worried.
"You mean you don't know" Emma gasped her eyes widening.
"I don't know what?" Regina snapped growing more and more frustrated with the situation, her go to reaction to mask her worry.
"Shot gun always chooses the music, it's like an unwritten rule or something" Emma replied laughter finally taking over her.
"Oh, you absolute clown Emma Swan" Regina scolded batting the blondes hand away and hitting play.
"Rule or no rule I choose the music when I'm driving, or at least I do if you want me to stay awake long enough to get us there, it's a long drive from here to the lake house."
"And this keeps you awake" Emma scoffed quirking her brow at Regina as the swells of classical music rose inside the car.
"As a matter of fact, it does" Regina replied putting the car into drive "It keeps me awake, and it helps me to focus and stay calm while out on the road".
"I'd need something a bit more upbeat myself" Emma shrugged "this would probably make me fall asleep."
"Then we should consider it a good thing that you aren't the one driving and if it makes you feel that sleepy then maybe you should take a nap and leave me to enjoy my music in peace" Regina deadpanned making Emma laugh all over again.
Regina rolled her eyes at the blonde before she gave in, and she too joined in with the laughter before becoming a mask of concentration again the second that they had left through the well-hidden gated entrance at the rear of the building explaining why Emma who had never had reason to venture around there before had never noticed it, and up onto the busy street.
Regina drove in silence and Emma knowing better than to interrupt that kept her peace too until between the lulling movement of the warm car with its heated seats and warm heaters and the swells of classical music that continued to fill it as the moved onwards she really did fall asleep.
Regina glanced over with a smile when she heard the blonde's gentle snores, she shook her head and chuckled to herself at the sight of Emma's face pressed against the window with her mouth slightly open and a bit of drool on her chin.
If she were evil she might have pressed the button to let the window down in that moment, but she wasn't and she didn't, still it kind of humoured her to think about it for a second.
Emma eventually woke with a start when Regina unintentionally hit a pothole in the road that jolted her roughly.
"What, where am I? what's happening?" She stammered blinking through sleepy eyes trying to focus and wiping the last of her drool away with the back of her hand.
"You're okay, we're in the car about forty minutes away from the lake house" Regina assured her.
"I slept for over an hour?" Emma exclaimed surprised.
"Well, we've made really good time but yes you did" Regina smiled, and Emma started to rub her neck, sore from the awkward position it had been in while she had slept.
"Woah" she breathed looking through the windows and the wide-open road "we definitely aren't in Kansas anymore."
Regina laughed and shook her head slightly at Emma's reference.
"No" she said, "we definitely aren't."
Emma continued to watch out of the window as a landscape that was totally unfamiliar to her continued to unravel itself as they drove the land open and barren on either side of them and the road ahead empty, it would have silent if not for the hum of the cars engines and music that still rose and fell around them.
She could only remember seeing scenery like this that wasn't on a movie, once before in her lifetime, she had been approaching her fourteenth birthday at the time when she had been surprised to find herself chosen by a foster family.
It was the first and only time before today that she had ever left the city and the scenery that she had seen was so similar to what she saw now that it could have been the same road, somehow as she looked Emma didn't quite think it was though or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part because that had been a truly miserable time in her life.
By that point Emma had become resigned to the fact that she would stay in kid's homes until she aged out of the system unless she ran away beforehand which she ultimately had in the end, being chosen at her age was almost unheard of where she lived.
She'd made a strange sort of peace with her situation, she knew where she stood in the homes and how to make the best of things or at least survive but more importantly she had friends in the city, friends she thought of as family and the city was all that she had ever known so her initial surprise at being a chosen child quickly gave way fury and sadness when she discovered where she would be living, hours outside of the city and hours away from everything that she knew and loved.
She hated it and she hadn't been able to fully appreciate the journey like she could today, she hadn't slept on the way that day, she'd firmly crossed her arms across her chest and glared through the window watching the world fly past as her world fell farther and farther behind her.
Things went from bad to worse when she got to the carers home and quickly discovered why they were happy to take an older child, she wasn't the only one, there were many young teens there, forced to work the carers farm for nothing, and after lights out, well let's just say there were more nasty surprises in store for Emma then that no child should ever have to endure.
How they had gotten away with it for so long Emma still didn't understand, it just seemed that the state was happy to hand off their hard-to-place cases, always the kids who were alone with no known family, which meant no visitations to attend and they 'homeschooled' to avoid school and teachers, a decision easily justifiable by the distance of their nearest school.
No one ever bothered going to the hassle of making the drive out to the farm to check on the living conditions and well-being of the kids after they were gone until Emma changed that.
Six months after she had arrived Emma had overheard the couple planning to go and collect a new child, she watched from a distance as they made themselves look presentable ready to put on the same false face to the world that she had seen when they had collected her, watched as the seldom used town car was bought out of the garage and then she had slipped unseen into the trunk.
She lay in there for hours listening to their sickening unfiltered conversations because they thought that they were somewhere where nobody could overhear them, leaving Emma feeling sick to her stomach.
Relief had coursed through her when they finally stopped, she counted down five minutes from when she had heard their doors slam shut and unable to bare it in there anymore she slowly pushed the trunk upwards, the waft of the city air instantly greeting like an old friend.
She eased herself out silently praying that they weren't near enough to notice anything as she quietly closed the trunk behind her, she was confident in her ability to outrun them from her current position, but she didn't want to lose her element of surprise.
As far as they were concerned she was back at the farm with the others, and she was quite happy for things to remain that way as she sprinted as far away from the car as she could before she dared to stop so that she could figure out where she was.
She had turned herself into the nearest police station told them everything and as mercy would have they had listened to her, given merit to her words, no doubt aided by the condition that she was in, and a number of officers immediately headed out to the farm to check out Emma's story while another went to the children's home that Emma had found herself outside of when she had gotten out of the car.
Once she had stopped long enough to find her bearings she had realised that she had once stayed there and could easily identify its location, the place she had stopped in was an old safe place for her, it was as though muscle memory had taken her there.
They had found the couple leaving with their newest victim and detained them until confirmation came through that the rest of the children had been left alone to care for the farm, many in worse condition than Emma had been in, from having been there for years longer than she had, and Emma to her immense relief had never had to go back there again.
"Are you okay" Regina's voice sounded from beside her bringing her out of her daze "you seemed to go away somewhere for a while there."
'Yeah, I'm fine" Emma blinked and smiled a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes "just some bad memories you know?"
Regina nodded and shifted the car up a gear.
"Care to share?" she asked.
"Not really" Emma shrugged "it was a long time ago and I'd really rather not go over it all again if that's okay, let's just say that some very bad people who did some very bad things to a lot of children got what they deserved and leave it at that" she said.
"If that's what you want Emma but know that I'm here and willing to listen if you ever have anything you want get off of your chest."
Emma nodded and smiled again this one easily reaching her eyes.
"Thanks Regina" she said, "that means more than you know."
Regina nodded once her eyes still on the road ahead of them and Emma glanced out of her window once more watching the world go by, only this time she didn't disappear into the past to revisit memories that she had thought herself long over.
The house was huge and quite possibly the most beautiful house that Emma had ever seen with its Victorian feel, sky-blue exterior accented with white wooden trim and topped by grey roof tiles and a stone chimney.
Emma was more than keen to get inside and explore but she knew that there would be plenty of time for that, so she kept her composure as she ducked out of the car and stopped to collect a couple of boxes from the back seat while Regina took what remained leaving their lunch and what was in the trunk to be collected once this was off loaded inside.
She followed Regina up the wooden steps onto the front veranda and waited for her to unlock the door, and then she followed her into the house's huge foyer with its sweeping staircase leading up to the next floor.
"We'll leave these here and go get the rest in then we can arrange what will go where later" Regina said leaving her boxes to one side in the foyer before turning to leave the house again.
Emma immediately followed suit catching up to Regina just as she made it back to the car, she took her rucksack out and shrugged it onto her shoulders, freeing up her hands while Regina heaved out her case and pulled up its handles enabling her to pull it along.
From there they took a box each from the trunk leaving it empty and Emma went back around to the back seat to retrieve their lunch bag, then together they headed back inside again where they left the boxes with the others and Regina relieved Emma of the food.
"I'm just going to put this in the fridge and then I'll show you around properly" she said, Emma nodded and followed her through to the huge open planned kitchen diner.
Regina unpacked the food placing into the empty pristinely clean fridge while Emma looked around the room, moving to the double glass doors that led out on the rear veranda and looked out towards the lake.
From here Emma could see the perfectly manicured lawn with a path down the middle sloping gently down to water.
The house like the neighbouring ones scattered around the lake had its own dock and small boat house but though the sun shone brightly, bringing no warmth with it on this freezing cold day there was no glittering reflection of it on the lakes surface, it took Emma a moment to realise that, that was because the lake had frozen.
"Hey maybe we can try can ice skating, you could probably get some excellent pictures of me sliding around on my ass" Emma joked.
"Don't be fooled Emma" Regina answered seriously "that ice isn't nearly as thick as it looks."
"Okay" Emma shrugged turning to face her "it's not like I was actually being serious, besides we don't even have any skates."
"No, we don't and we'll be keeping it that way, while we're here at least" a small smile graced Regina's lips as she closed the fridge door turned to look at Emma.
"But" she continued "your suggestion isn't without appeal to me, so if skating is something you wanted to try I'm sure that can be arranged at some point when we're back home." she shrugged, and unseen Emma's heart sped up a little 'home' she liked the sound of that word especially when Regina said it.
"It could be fun seeing you fall on your ass, now come let me show around this place" Regina laughed as she walked off and Emma scowled as she followed after the brunette who seemed to have unintentionally stolen her heart, which Emma silently thought as they began to move through the house might become somewhat problematic for her later on.
The moment that she walked into the next space her concerns about the future that was rapidly approaching were momentarily forgotten.
"Woah" she breathed turning slowly on the spot and taking in every part of the glass room that she was standing im, tilting her head to look at the ceiling once she had completed her circle.
It was the biggest sunroom that Emma had ever seen, and it contained enough furniture to comfortably seat at least twenty people in a circle around the large round table in the centre of the room with its stained-glass image of the sun as it's surface.
The room overlooked the sloping lawn and lake and at one end double doors which were locked now, opened out onto wooden decking that made up part of the rear veranda, she could have stepped out through those doors and walked along it to the doors that went into the kitchen.
"It's beautiful in here" Emma smiled, her eyes finding Regina who was still standing by the door.
"It is" she nodded "and you'll have plenty of time to enjoy it later but for now we need to move on if we're going to complete this tour before we have to head back out again".
Emma nodded and followed Regina out of a different door from that which they had entered the room through and into a room that she hadn't yet seen.
This was the smallest of multiple reception rooms on this floor, it had an elegant fireplace, more comfortable furniture and a tall bookcase and it was completely free of modern technology, just a quaint little reading nook, quite nice really Emma thought as she continued to follow Regina through the house.
They briefly checked out the other reception rooms, Emma as Regina had already noted would have plenty of time to become better acquainted with them later once they had returned from the store and if she was honest there wasn't a whole lot of reason to stay in them for long anyway.
They were lovely rooms but two of them were pretty similar, both with televisions and other modern tech this time while the third was much brighter and catered more towards children and as she looked at this room, Emma could see not for the first time what the appeal had been for Regina choosing this house, it offered the perfect space for them to all share and enjoy. Children and adults alike.
"There's a wine cellar in the basement" Regina said as she led Emma up to the next floor the blonde running her hand over the highly polished, exquisitely carved handrail as she followed.
"Not that we drink anything from there of course but if you're interested I could show you it later."
Emma replied with a little uncommitted "Uh huh" her eyes raking in everything that she was seeing in the moment as she continued to climb up to the next level of the house.
The first room they looked in was a bedroom somewhat reminiscent of one you might find in a fancy hotel; it had its own bathroom and a view of the lake.
The next room was pretty much the same, as were the two across the hall only the view changed so that now they could see the car at the front of the house.
They passed a large family bathroom and a narrow staircase that rose up to the final floor.
"There are four more bedrooms up there and another family bathroom, we can go up if you want but honestly there is nothing up there that you haven't already seen down here" Regina explained.
"Let's skip that floor for now then" Emma smiled, and Regina nodded leading Emma into the final bedroom located on the floor that they were currently on.
"This will be our room" she smiled enjoying watching Emma taking in her surroundings.
"Really?" the excited blonde asked, spinning to look at Regina to see if she was serious.
"Yes, really" Regina chuckled back, "it's the only with a balcony and Kathryn doesn't like the boys to come in here so I always take it, which isn't really a hardship as I'm sure you'll agree it's a beautiful space."
"Yeah you could say that" Emma breathed moving around the room which was more like a suite If she was honest.
The centrepiece a huge four poster bed that stood proud and beautiful in the centre of the room.
On one side of it was a walk-in closet and when Emma peeked inside she discovered that it was bigger than some of the bedrooms that she had, had growing up.
It has its own lights, and a chaise lounge sofa in its centre, a dressing table pressed against one wall and empty rails lining each side of the room which had sections with drawers that had places for underwear and jewellery and well anything you could think of really and there was even a swivelling shoe stand.
Emma stared in aww unable to imagine owning enough clothes or shoes to ever need such a space.
She backed out of the room and moved through the next door, this one led into the bathroom which just like the bathrooms attached to the other bedrooms only had a walk-in shower, if you wanted a bath you had to go to the family bathroom either on this floor or the one upstairs.
Unlike the other bedrooms the shower was huge, big enough for two to fit inside more than comfortably, Emma swallowed dryly trying not to dwell on thoughts that were blooming in her mind of her in the shower with Regina.
She looked at the sink area instead, willing the heat in her cheeks to lessen so that Regina wouldn't see that she was blushing.
The sink area like the shower was much bigger than the other bathrooms with two sinks instead of one set into the marble counters.
"I just need to use the bathroom" she called out over her shoulder "I won't be a second."
"Okay" Regina replied, "but don't be too long I haven't shown you the best bit yet."
Regina moved out of the doorway and closed the door behind her to give Emma her privacy and it was only at the sound of the door closing that Emma chanced a look towards it.
She sighed and took a deep breath, she was alone.
"Pull yourself together Swan" she whispered to her reflection, then without even bothering to lock the door she moved to the toilet and to keep up pretences she actually did try to use it, flushed then washed her hands and giving herself another warning glare she dried her hands.
Stepping back into the bedroom it took her a second to spot Regina, she was sat demurely in an armchair that was located in what looked like a lounge area on the other side of the bed.
Emma walked over to the seating area and sat on the couch opposite Regina's chair and smiled across at her.
"So, is this the best part?" Emma asked looking from Regina to the solid looking bookcase next her that contained row after row of books, the matching chair that sat on the other side of it the same distance away as Regina's was and at the same angle, to the plush rug on the floor with the intricately carved table sat in the centre of it.
"Sort of" Regina smirked and rising to her feet she reached into the shelf and pulled a book forward; Emma heard a click and then to her amazement the bookcase swung inwards revealing a previously hidden doorway.
"No way" Emma gasped scrambling to her feet to get a better look.
"I know it's a bit cliché but…"
"It's awesome" Emma cut Regina off midsentence as she moved past her and through the door.
"My sentiments exactly" Regina smiled following her through and closing the bookcase behind her.
Emma had seen a lot of movies with secret bookcase doors and the one thing that they always had in common was that they always seemed to lead into a small dark space.
If it wasn't a passageway leading somewhere or a secret escape tunnel, it was small hideaway but not this one, definitely not this one.
"This is not cliché" Emma gasped looking around at the vast room that she had stepped into to, the open space spanned the three floors of the house though the third floor was for the beautiful domed ceiling which was covered in huge painting that Emma didn't recognise.
The opening of the bookshelf door had triggered the lights to turn on in what otherwise would have been a very dark room as the thick curtains on the lower floor were all closed, probably to protect its contents from the sunlight Emma thought.
"Belle would love it in here" she said turning to face Regina in wide eyed wonder before snapping some pictures to send to her roommate as she moved through the room, she was on the upper floor with thick red carpet underfoot that would muffle anybody's footsteps rendering them silent.
A wooden rail on one side of her allowed her to look down into the space below, she could see seating areas, a large table and the biggest desk that she had ever seen and on her other side tall bookshelves reaching upwards far higher than she could without using the ladder attached to them were filled with all kinds of books, each case with its own lighting to help the searcher find what they were looking for.
Regina hung back remembering the first time that she had seen this room as she watched Emma continue to look around with unsuppressed aww.
"The house belongs to a wealthy writer" Regina explained "apparently he does some of his best work in here during his summer stays with his family, but he doesn't come during the winter months, so he rents it out."
"I could have bought my work and studied in here; how could you have deprived me of this?" Emma turned on the brunette mostly joking but a tiny part of her really would have liked to have worked in here.
"Says she who studies on a bed and declines my every offer of an office with a desk in it" Regina chuckled.
"But Regina have you seen this space, that desk down there might just be bigger than your whole office."
"Now you're being ridiculous Emma" Regina rolled her eyes "yes it's big and granted I'd have a hard time getting t into my office, I'd have to take it in, in pieces and even then it would overwhelm my space, but it is in no way bigger than my whole office."
"I'm not so sure" Emma laughed moving towards a tightly wound spiral staircase nearby and making her way down to the floor below them.
"It really is a thing of beauty" Emma smiled as she approached the desk.
"Yes it is" Regina murmured back only her eyes were fixed on Emma.
Her eyes dropped from the blondes face to the long slender fingers trailing gently over the green leather top, unbidden thoughts of what it would feel like for those same fingers to trail over her skin springing to the forefront of her mind.
What would Emma do she wondered if she flipped her around right now pressed her against that desk and kissed her?
She swallowed eyes still fixed on the fingers as though they had pulled her into a trance, she tried and failed to shake the thoughts in her wandering mind.
Then there was a clatter, and Regina blinked the spell finally broken.
"Shit sorry" Emma bent down to pick up the pen holder that she had just accidentally knocked off the desk but in her haste she misjudged the space she had and whacked her forehead on the on the edge of the desk.
"Fuck" she gasped tears springing in her eyes but still she reached for the floor to collect up the spilled pens.
"Here let me get that" Regina said quickly moving to Emma's side and soon olive hands joined pale ones collecting up items on the floor, making quick work of clearing everything away.
"Are you okay?" she asked Emma as their eyes briefly met, she tried to look at the blonde's forehead but between her wild curls falling forward and the poor light in their current positions crouched on the floor it was impossible to see if she had marked herself.
"Yeah I'm all good thanks" Emma shrugged though her head hurt a lot, and she felt a little queasy.
Regina nodded but looked concerned.
"Are you sure?" she asked, "because that sounded painful."
"Yeah I'm fine, no need to make a fuss and we're done here" she stood up, too fast the world instantly started to spin, and she felt a stronger wave of nausea.
Regina rose beside her quickly reaching out to steady the swaying blonde who was suddenly drained of all of her colour.
Emma leaned heavily against the desk and Regina almost smiled as she peered up into her face, bringing those gentle olive hands up to push Emma's wild hair away from her forehead so that she could get a proper look at her injury.
Only moments ago, she had pictured holding Emma against the desk like this but in a very different kind of embrace and the irony of that hadn't escaped her.
The almost smile quickly became a wince as she got her first look at the angry bruise beginning to form on the pale skin.
"We should get this looked at; you might have a concussion" Regina said.
"No" Emma shook her head and instantly regretted it when the spinning started up all over again "I've had worse, it'll be fine as long as I don't go to sleep anytime soon."
Regina didn't look convinced.
"If I start to feel worse I'll say, and we'll go get it checked I promise you" Emma said reaching for the hand that was still holding her hair back and holding it hers instead.
"Okay?" she asked pleading eyes peering into Regina's.
"Fine" the brunette conceded "but at least let me put something cold on it and get you some painkillers and then we'll go to the store and see how you feel from there."
"Deal" Emma smiled broadly and hand still in Regina's she let herself be pulled along, she had expected to be led back to the spiral stairs, so she was surprised to be led to far wall instead, but she soon saw why, there was a second door in the wall on the same side of the room as the one above it.
Emma tried to think of any door basement one aside that they hadn't looked behind during their earlier explorations but drew a resolute blank and her curiosity at where this door would lead had her momentarily forgetting about her throbbing head.
Regina pushed the door open and pulled Emma through it and for a second the blonde thought she really was concussed after all; she didn't recognise where she was at all.
Then she spotted the doorway leading into the solarium and realised that it was the different angle of the room that had thrown her, but they were back in the reading nook as she had thought of it and the door on this floor was again behind a bookcase.
"So cool" she grinned looking back at the unassuming bookcase now closed back in place as Regina gently led her back through to the kitchen.
Regina sat Emma down before taking one of the cool packs from the bag that she had transported their lunch in, wrapping it in a clean tea towel and handing It to her.
"Hold it on your head" she instructed, Emma did letting out small hiss as it made initial contact with her warm bruised skin, then sighing her tensed shoulders relaxing again at the relief she felt from its coolness.
Regina gave a satisfied nod and moved back into the kitchen, filled a glass with water then rummaged in her bag which she had left on the kitchen counter when she had shown Emma around and eventually pulled a bottle of pain killers out from within, banging two into her palm and taking them together with the water to Emma.
Emma accepted them gratefully and drank the whole glass of water, while Regina moved over to the fridge.
"Food first then shopping" she declared laying the leftovers that she had packed out on the kitchen counter.
Emma suddenly realising that she was ravenous moved to join her quickly filling a plate up and though she was still sporting an angry bruise after the cold compression, painkillers and food she really did feel a lot better by the time they were heading out to the store a short while later.
It wasn't a long journey to the store for which Emma felt extremely grateful because the swaying of the car was starting to make her feel a little nauseous all over again, but it didn't take her long to feel okay again once they had stopped.
In the store Regina picked out what they would need for thanksgiving dinner, including a huge turkey that Emma wasn't convinced was even going to fit into the house's oven, but Regina insisted that it would so who was Emma to argue.
"What's that for?" Regina asked when Emma added flour and few other ingredients to the cart that weren't on their list.
"Umm I thought I'd make thanksgiving cupcakes for the boys if that's okay" Emma smiled but paused in her actions of putting something else in the cart to rub her neck awkwardly.
"I don't mind paying for my stuff separately or you know I don't have to do it if you think it's a bad idea" she looked down at her feet and scuffed the toe of her converse against the floor.
"Emma it's fine, I think it's lovely idea and everything will be paid for together, please don't worry about it, I must admit you've intrigued me now and shall look forward to sampling some of your baking for a change."
"Well, I'm not promising they'll be as good as what you cook but I'm pretty good at them if I don't say so myself" Emma smiled finally adding the item in her hand before they moved on.
They were only staying for four days but once Kathryn and her family arrived there would be seven of them, Joanne's family were overseas and they didn't celebrate thanksgiving, so she didn't go home to visit them for that tradition, she always accompanied what had become her US family to the Lakehouse instead.
Seven meant that the shop was considerably larger than any that Emma had ever done for herself.
"Are you sure that we're going to need all of this?" Emma asked and not for the first time as she helped Regina lug the bags into the kitchen.
"For the last time Emma, yes" Regina replied heaving her bags onto the countertop.
"Now you start taking things out of the bags and I'll put it away, pass me the freezer items first, then we'll move on to the fridge and finally the cupboards, after we're done here we'll stop for a coffee before we move on to the boxes in the hallway, I like to get as much of the décor done today as I possible so that I can focus on the food tomorrow, everyone else will arrive early tomorrow afternoon."
Emma nodded handing Regina items as she listened.
"Unless you don't feel up to it of course" Regina added looking at Emma with that concerned look in her again.
"You can sit and rest if you want, I'll be fine by myself."
"No, it's fine" Emma insisted "I wouldn't want to risk falling asleep for a few hours yet anyway, so I'd probably be better off keeping myself busy and besides I love decorating".
"If you're sure" Regina smiled as Emma nodded enthusiastically and this time her head didn't spin afterwards.
Together they set the dining table ready for the following day with Emma fashioning a beautiful centre piece using a variety of different coloured miniature squashes that they had selected from the store placed on a bed of autumn leaves with an intermittent scattering of candles sitting between the squashes and number of other items that they had purchased for the project.
"That's beautiful Emma" Regina smiled as the blonde put the completed product in place and together they moved on to the next decorations.
Regina created a wreath for the door while Emma focused on garlands for the tops of the fireplaces and to weave around the railings upstairs a task which Regina helped her to complete once her wreath was hanging in place.
It was getting late by the time they had finished and both ladies were more than ready for a meal that was more sufficient that what that had already eaten that day.
Regina took a steaming casserole from the oven and Emma's stomach growled loudly as she joined her at the kitchen island ready to help herself to a portion and tuck in.
"Much better" she sighed when she was finished her eyes drooping sleepily, it had been a long day and she was so comfortably full that she could have more than happily crawled into bed right then, but she knew that, that wouldn't be the wisest idea without at least letting her heavy meal go down a bit first.
They did the dishes together and made their way through to one of the reception rooms that had a TV in It and where Regina had the fire roaring and together they settled onto to the couch, slouching back into the comfy cushions side by side, Regina with the remote in her hand flicking through the channels until she settled on a movie that had started about ten minutes earlier.
Emma woke up with a stiff neck and her head throbbing gently again, the fire was low, the TV on standby and wrapped in her arms the soft warmth of a gently slumbering Regina.
She smiled briefly in the dark then reached for her phone and groaned when the numbers glared back at her reading three am apparently they had both been more tired than either of them had realised, she reached for a nearby lamp casting some light into the room then looked back down at the slumbering woman in her arms, loathe to wake her but not seeing any other choice.
Even if she could have trusted herself not to have a dizzy spell on the way up the stairs which she couldn't she worried that Regina might have freaked out if she woke up halfway through being carried to bed and Emma felt she'd be well over the line if she changed the sleeping woman into her pyjamas without her consent so that made that idea out of the question immediately.
"Regina" she spoke softly and gave her a gentle little shake until ever so slowly she began to wake.
"Hmm, what is it" she mumbled, then her eyes shot open, and she sat bolt upright the sudden unexpected movement taking Emma by surprise.
"Shit, the turkey" she said jumping to her feet in a panic, "I have to get it In, it won't be ready on time."
"Regina" Emma spoke softly, stood up without Regina's urgency and reached out for the panicked brunette.
"It's okay, it's only three am, you haven't overslept, we just fell asleep on the couch."
Regina, relief flooding through her, sagged into Emma who firmly held onto her.
"Come let's get up to bed" Emma murmured, and Regina nodded into Emma's chest then moved away to check that the fire was fully out before she took Emma's hand and allowed her to lead her up to their room.
Emma had at first wondered why they had to share on their first night alone together in an otherwise empty house, Regina had reasoned that it would be best all-around that they just stick to the same room for the whole time.
That way they wouldn't make themselves the unnecessary task of having to change bedding in the morning before the others arrived and there would be no risk of Joanne who didn't know that their relationship was fake noticing that a second bed had been disturbed; or one of them walking into the wrong room by mistake having used it for their first night at the house.
It would be their first time spending a few nights in a house with an adult who didn't know of their arrangement and Regina saw it as the ideal practice run and insisted that they should make the most of It and Emma, well Emma was only too happy to play along.