Once Upon a Time 1. Chapter 1

It's a sequel to Born Still, and I'm not sure it can be read independently. It's going to be a three-part story, and despite what it may look like, it's going to be a fluffy one. A thank you and a boop in the nose to meqhanory, for being my incredible beta. I do not own anything

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**CHAPTER ONE**

* * *

The trip home from the hospital was filled with a heavy silence.

Emma had gone to their house to get the Mercedes and in her hurry to get back and take Regina from the living hell her hospital room had become, she forgot to take the baby car seat from the place where it was safely strapped. The soft light green and dark maroon of the fabric didn't exactly blend in with the black leather seat. On the contrary, truly. It shone bright against their lids as a cruel reminder that they didn't have a baby to put on that seat and bring home.

Just as cruel as the unopened bag full of baby clothes and little things that Emma had thrown carelessly on the side, without a second glance to where it landed as she helped Regina in.

Focusing all her attention on the uneventful road, Emma could see her wife from the corner of her eye, and she doubted she was aware she was still clutching to her belly as if there was a child in there, ready to be born into this world. Staring outside of the windows, Regina had her eyes vacant, wandering from a dust particle to a stain on the glass to nowhere in particular as she let herself feel numb.

Nothing from the last few hours felt real. It felt like a miserable and excruciating nightmare they just couldn't wake up from. It barely felt like they were living this horrible dream, but it would never be, all that sorrow that seemed like would never fade.

Because it couldn't be happening to them. They couldn't have lost their child. Even the thought of never seeing their daughter again was unfathomable.

They would simply come back to an empty house. A house that would no longer be filled with 2am cries for food or to be changed, or with a giggle when piggyback riding her brother's back. It would just be silent.

Right then, two streets before reaching their home, Regina freed an anguished sob that was constricting her chest when a single thought filled her mind and crushed all that little resemblance of strength she had managed to keep in.

They would have to bury their baby.

* * *

Emma had once read that mourning was love with nowhere to go.

It hit a little too close to home, she thought as she picked up the toast and masked a smile onto her face when she turned to set the plate in front of Henry, who was way more focused on his drawing than in eating his breakfast and getting ready for school.

Ruffling his hair as she went back to the counter to get her coffee, she couldn't help feeling this was too true to ignore.

She found herself constantly mourning Coraline.

She no longer slept as heavily and without worries as she used to, and would wake up in the early morning, wanting to cuddle a daughter she didn't have, wanting to feed and care for a newborn baby that left them before her time. She wanted to rock her daughter to sleep, but all she could do was soothe herself with unsung lullabies as she tried not to fall back into a restless sleep.

Drinking her coffee and blinking the sleep off her eyes, she turned to Henry, "Want me to drive you to school?"

Tearing his eyes from his half-finished drawing, Henry gave the toast one last big bite and talked through the food, "No, I'm going with Ava. But thanks!". Emma couldn't help the grin creeping on her lips against her will, but she did raise an eyebrow for good measure, as if Henry could have somehow missed the light mockery on her expression.

"Shut up! Her brother is coming too."

"Yeah, sure. You gotta keep him on your good side." Emma laughed as Henry's cheeks turned bright red before shrugging his backpack on and looking away from her. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she put on a somewhat serious expression, "Now, school, go. Don't leave your girlfriend waiting."

"She's not-" Henry began to protest, but gave up with an eye roll, knowing he wouldn't win this early in the morning. "You're the worst", he grunted before running off the kitchen and into the front yard.

"Love you!" Emma shouted through soft giggles. Henry had reached such a fun age. He would no longer hug her that often or want to hang out with her after school, but she could make him feel embarrassed about girls now. It kind of made it up for all of those childish ways leaving him. Regina reminded her more often than not how unhealthy it was, how he should not be embarrassed of growing up and having feelings, and Emma should not make him feel so bad. But it was fun, nonetheless.

Taking notice of the time, Emma busied herself with the dishes from dinner and breakfast. Her shift didn't start before 10am, and Ruby told her she could do the first patrol of the day and would let her know if any incident needed her help.

She made a mental note to let Regina sleep in until sometime around 9am before waking her up and trying to get her to eat something.

Emma would wake up in the wee hours in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep if her life depended on it. Regina was the opposite. She would wander around the house until 2am or maybe later, in bad nights. She made herself busy with paperwork or a book, maybe cider or hard liquor when the memories got too fresh.

Putting the last mug on the drying rack, Emma considered getting more coffee, more to keep busy than awake, and calling the station to check up on Ruby as she heard the shower starting to run. Regina was up. Glancing at the clock, she noticed her wife had barely gotten three hours of sleep.

Last night had been a bad night. Emma woke up shivering, covered in sweat from her latest nightmare - something to do with sirens. As she turned on her side, knowing she wouldn't fall back asleep, she found out she had been alone all night. Regina had never come to bed, her side still somewhat made.

Getting up, Emma found Regina sitting on the hallway, leaning against the wall in front of Coraline's nursery. The door was closed, like usual. They didn't make a habit of entering an unused baby room that would never know the joy of hosting a young girl. Regina had a half empty bottle within her loose grasp, eyes vacant as she stared at the closed door in front of her. She wasn't drunk, no, Emma could tell her vacant stare wasn't due alcohol. It was all sorrow.

"Come to bed," Emma pleaded in a sleepy voice, and Regina looked up. Her eyes were dry, her face as composed as it could be, given it was early in the morning and she hadn't gotten a full night of sleep in ages. It was a crushing reminder that Regina hasn't cried since Coraline's funeral. She bottled it all in, deeming herself unworthy of crying over the loss of someone she hadn't been able to protect from her rotten core.

Regina used Emma's stretched hand as aid when she tried to get on her feet, wobbling a little on her way up. The bottle remained forgotten on the floor as Emma wrapped her arm around Regina, who clung onto her as if the blonde was the only thing keeping her up straight. They both got into bed, Emma pretending to try and fall asleep again as Regina stared at the ceiling above them, barely blinking until tiredness got the best of her and she finally fell into a restless and troubled sleep.

Emma wondered if they'd spend their entire life struggling to fall asleep or to stay quiet long enough for memories of that dreadful night to rise to the surface again. The loss was too great for them to simply move on from it; it was a pain like no other. In therapy, they had learned that time would make it less hard to deal with. Maybe, eventually, they could even talk about it without feeling like their insides were being torn apart.

For all the pain they had gone through in the last few months, Emma prayed for them to be right.

As she put more coffee to brew so Regina could have a fresh cup, Emma noticed Regina had turned off the shower. She'd be down soon. Maybe Emma would even get a smile out of her when she finished making funny shaped pancakes. Even though she was almost sure it would taste like trash and she'd burn them, Emma started to gather the ingredients to make her wife breakfast.

She had just reached for a bowl on the top shelf when a desperate scream pierced through her very soul. It was such a raw scream that it almost muffled the sob that came along.

The bowl left her grip, scattering all over the floor. But she couldn't care about it, not when Regina was crying out so loud she could hear her from down the kitchen.

Running up the stairs two steps at a time, Emma got to their room and into the bathroom to find Regina crouching on the floor, with towel poorly wrapped around her naked form. Her palms covered her face, and she bit the heel of her hand to keep her sobs low. Wet strands of hair fell on her face, half hiding the frantic look she had in her eyes.. The cries rushed through her body, causing her to shiver and choke on them. Emma was lost for a moment, but she leaned down and wrapped her arms around Regina's shaking frame.

Something caught her eye, and she absently reached for it. As soon as she focused on what the scattered numbers on a piece of paper meant, she felt her own legs about to give in under her.

It was a calendar page, October from last year. The 22th had a red circle around it, with the words "due date" written on top of it.

Coraline would've been one year old today.

* * *

"No."

Crossing her arms on her chest and trying to keep a pout out of her face, Emma let the air out of her lungs in an annoyed puff. Regina said the word in a definitive tone that allowed no follow ups. Anyone in their right mind would shut up immediately, but Emma wasn't having any of it.

She had waited too long for this conversation. She had been patient, healing and letting Regina heal, for three years. They were having this conversation today.

"Why?" Narrowing her eyes, Emma held the death glare Regina was giving her. She had seen Regina give her that same glare many times before, it didn't really scare her anymore.

"Emma, I'm warning you. Don't." Regina made a sharp gesture, missing Emma's face by an inch. There was something different about her eyes, but Emma dismissed it, assuming the brunette was just angrier than usual.

"Why?" Part of her knew she shouldn't be pushing Regina this far. The brunette was more distressed than Emma had seen her in months, but she needed a better answer than a simple 'no' before putting the subject away. "Why won't you even consider trying again?"

Regina wrapped her arms around her middle, as if trying to hold herself in place before turning to face Emma. She was hunched, shoulders down, looking almost fragile and her eyes were glistening with tears ready to drop. When she spoke, her voice was small and cracked.

"Because I can't bear to lose another child."

Emma felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. How could she have missed it? Of course, she had suffered an impossible loss when they found out Cora was gone. But Regina had to carry her, had to go through labor. "We can have a healthy baby…"

"We can't" Regina wiped her tears away before they fell, masking her sorrow much too well, "I can't. Why do you think we lost Cora in the first place?"

Emma stretched her hands out, almost reaching for Regina's arms, but never daring to touch her. If anyone knew how Regina reacted when this subject was brought up, it was Emma. "It was preeclampsia, the doctors confirmed it. There was nothing you could've done-"

"No, Emma!" her voice broke yet again, and her entire body was almost visibly shaking. When their eyes met, Regina let all her sorrow, all her guilt; show for a split second before blinking it away, causing her welled up tears to fall, "We lost her because I couldn't keep her safe!"

Tightening the grip on her waist, Regina turned her back to Emma. She couldn't be looking in her eyes when Emma realized why they didn't have a baby girl with them, running around the house and bumping into things.

The silence weighed them down for a long while that seemed to stretch forever. Regina could swear Emma was halfway to Texas by then, so that's why she almost jumped out of her skin when strong arms wrapped around hers and a chin came to rest on her shoulder.

"You can't blame yourself for that." Her whisper was soothing, but Regina still felt like a rock was sitting heavy on her stomach.

"Well, I do." Regina let her head fall back, resting it on Emma's shoulder. "Don't you?"

Emma's embrace tightened around her wife's frame, her body flushed against her back. "No. Never." Emma peppered her neck with tiny kisses before settling her lips on a single spot where neck met shoulder, speaking against her skin, "No one could've taken a better care of her than you. No one could've been a better mother than you were for her. Cora is our daughter. We lost her. But it wasn't your fault."

Between hushed whispers, Emma could feel Regina alternating between relaxing and tightening her muscles, and she knew that it would take more than that to change Regina's heart. She didn't feel like she was good enough, it was engraved on her soul. And the moment they kissed for the first time, Emma knew it would be her duty to reassure Regina that she was enough, she was more than enough. For her, for Henry and for Cora.

"I wanted to have another baby. I wanted to raise a child with you, to give Henry a sibling, to expand our family." Regina looked out of the window and into their backyard, where an ancient swing hung from one of her tree's branches. Emma had built it with a spare tire when Henry was still at an age where he would play with it. "But after what happened… After what we went through," she tried to contain the dry heaves coursing through her body, choking back a sob, knowing Emma was feeling everything, "I can't- I won't get pregnant again. It's just… It's too much pain, Emma."

Rocking them both back and forth without ever letting go of Regina's waist, Emma started humming some long forgotten lullaby. Regina sunk in her touch, closing her eyes and letting hot tears roll down her cheeks. Emma never got to sing all the lullabies she learned. She never had anyone singing them to her and now she only had those soothing moments to sing them.

Regina slowly began to feel more relaxed than she had in a long time, sleep sinking in her bones and she thought she could fall asleep in Emma's arms right then and there, standing up in the middle of her study.

"Adoption." The word came out barely louder than a whisper, but it was enough to drag Regina out of her reverie.

"Wh-what?" Regina choked when trying to talk and for some unknown reason, her heart was hammering against her ribcage so wildly she thought it might break out loose.

"Yeah, you got Henry, you know the works." Emma loosened her grip on the woman's waist so she could turn around. Her eyes were wide and the fear leaked through, "And I know how orphan children feel, how they yearn for a family. We can be someone's family." Reaching out for Regina's face, Emma touched her cheek gently, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before tangling her fingers on the chestnut locks. She leaned in, foreheads touching and breaths mixing. "We have so much love to give to a baby. It's the kind of love we can't give to anyone except a baby. Our baby."

Our baby.

Hearing the words said with such hope felt like the first breath of fresh air after being underwater for too long.

* * *

The paperwork was endless and enough to fill a whole storage room and the interviews seemed to never end, and that put aside the fact they had to come up with more than one excuse for certain things if they didn't want to be deemed insane talking about magic and Neverland. But everything had been worth it as soon as they had laid eyes on Sean.

They were halfway through their umpteenth meeting with the headmaster, talking about daycare and preschool, when a social worker assisting them asked if they'd like to meet their son. Emma started to almost visibly shake, her hands gripping the Regina's so hard her knuckles flashed white. Regina took a steadying breath and nodded, not daring to speak, unsure of how her voice would come out.

Both women had a ridiculously wide grin on their faces, their worries being washed away by the prospect of meeting their little boy. "We're going to meet our son," Emma whispered, feeling like she had to say it aloud in order for it to be true.

"Yes, dear." Regina whispered back, without tearing her eyes from the door, "Yes, we are."

Excusing himself, the headmaster went outside to find more forms they had to fill and sign. It didn't took long before the social worker opened the door, making room for a tiny little kid to slip by.

"Emma, Regina, this is Sean." she nudged him slightly, encouraging him to go on and approach both women, "Sean, go on, say hi."

His hands were hanging by his side, clutching his cargo shorts, and he took a few steps before scanning their faces. He had curly hair falling on his forehead that matched his deep brown eyes, and he couldn't be taller than thirty three inches. His steps were a little wobbly, most likely due nervousness, but he put them one in front of the other until reaching a comfortable distance from the two women.

Emma had all but kneeled on the ground and Regina had bent down to get to his eye level, both women amazed by his curious eyes. He chewed on his thin bottom lip, maybe wondering why those two ladies were smiling so wide.

"Hello, Sean." Regina was the first to find her voice, and it was almost melting in delight. Reaching out for his hand slowly, she wondered if he'd be scared of a stranger wanting to hold him. But as he gripped her thumb and walked closer to them, a heartbreaking thought crossed her mind - he must have met strangers in this situation countless times.

Darting his eyes from woman to woman, he replied in a shy voice, "Hi."

At this point, Emma had sat on her ankles, and looked at him all too hopeful. "Hey, little man." Her voice came out in a rather high pitch, her own body being unable to contain the joy.

Sean focused his gaze on her wide smile and warm gaze and reached out for her, grabbing her cheek with his free hand and digging his tiny nails in her flesh before letting a toothy smile break out.

Regina blinked away happy tears that threatened to fall, and kept caressing his hand while talking, "We've been wanting to meet you for so long."

Letting go of Regina's thumb and Emma's cheek, he dug into his pocket and took three grapes out of it. He was fiercely gripping them – Regina supposed someone had taught him not to let his food drop – and gently shoved one of the grapes on Emma's hand, who said her thanks in a choked voice. Regina's voice wasn't steady either when Sean put a grape on her hand; closing her fingers around it and she had to thank him as well.

Then he sat on the floor, dropping himself on his bottom rather than actually sitting down properly, and grabbed his grape with his two tiny hands and started biting on it. Most of it ended up on his cheeks and chin, but the way his face contorted in joy for the sweet and grimaced when he dug his teeth on a sour part was worth all the mess.

"Gina?" Sean asked in a mumbling voice, his mouth full of grape. It was only logical he had been told about them, but they never really introduced themselves.

"Yes, I'm Regina, dear." Regina said with a smile, getting a handkerchief from her purse and wiping at his face.

Emma popped her grape on her mouth, taking a sit near him on the ground, "And I'm Emma."

He looked at her while grabbing the handkerchief and mostly spreading grape all over his face. After blinking away some moisture he had dragged near his eyes, he patted the floor in front of him and looked at Regina, who took a hint and sat on her heels.

"Sean!" He squealed and threw his hands in the air, letting his tiny body fall towards the women. Regina put a hand on his chest to give him some balance, and Emma had reached out for him too, but decided to go for tickles instead of holding his torso.

"And are you ticklish, Sean?"

His answer was a loud squeal before he started to giggle with abandon. Sean squirmed under Emma's fingers and scooted over to Regina until his back was against her thigh, grabbing her hand that held him in place.

Letting go of him at that first day was harder than both women had anticipated. After that first moment where he couldn't quite figure out who those two ladies were, they started talking to the warmest two year old they had ever known. He was just a toddler and the roughness of the foster system hadn't rubbed off on his yet, and for that, Emma was glad. She couldn't bear the thought of those melting eyes getting hurt and having to build a wall around them like she did from a too young age.

Sean was adorable and rather chatty, even though both women had a little trouble understanding him at first. When they got the hang of his dialect, and followed his grabby hands and pointing fingers, they could talk, learn about him in the best way they could ask for, and get to know their son who had a heart wrenching pout when they said good bye and whispered promises that they'd be back soon.

* * *

Regina glanced at the back seat of her car and back at Emma, "I hope he likes his car seat."

Smiling at her, Emma looked back at the toddler car seat securely strapped on in the middle of the back seat. The fabric was royal blue with detail in white, picked by Regina and Henry while Emma tried to argue with the man pretending to help them at the store as to why a bed was better than a crib. Emma hadn't noticed the car seat before going through check out, she had been otherwise busy in a heated discussion featuring sayings like "My son is two years old, not two months" and "I'm not putting him in a cage!".

"I'm sure he will." Turning her eyes back to the road ahead of her, she tried to ignore that irritating grip around her heart that seemed to be pumping worries into her bloodstream. "Do you think he'll like us?"

Regina snapped her head to Emma and blinked twice, taken aback by her question, before training her eyes back on the road. Emma herself seemed to be surprised by her question, given her eyes had become almost comically wide. The brunette would've been lying if she said the thought hadn't crossed her mind once or twice. She knew Henry loved her, but she also remembered the nights she cried herself to sleep because the child she raised with such love and care announced to whomever wanted to hear that he hated her.

What if their youngest son grew to hate them too?

Shaking her head, she decided Emma didn't need her to share her doubts right now. "We're going to love him and care for him with everything we've got. I know he'll have a better chance of being happy with us than in the foster system."

Emma fought the overwhelming feeling she always got when she thought about what a happy childhood would've been like. She just looked at her wife and smiled, loosely intertwining their fingers and nodding before blinking her eyes dry again.

The drive to Boston's Angels was weirdly familiar at this point. They had been to the adoption agency more times than they cared to count in the last six months, bringing in documents, doing interviews and meeting their future son.

The headmaster had called them to let them know all forms had been filled out, signed and approved a couple of weeks later. Almost as soon as they put down the phone, they kissed Henry goodbye, and drove to Boston's Angels.

Regina had Emma's fingers intertwined with hers, using it as safety blanket so her anxieties wouldn't leak through her almost shaking body. On the other hand, Emma was almost skipping through the hallway to the headmaster's officer, dragging Regina along her as if she was the two year old.

"Can we see Sean?", Regina blurted out before even shaking hands and saying her customary hello to the headmaster.

He smiled, pleased to see eager mothers to be like this instead of that expression of boredom that thought kids as nothing more than a food ticket he so often came across. "I already asked for him. He's just finishing packing, he'll be here any moment."

Both women sat down, trying to focus on the man's instructions as he directed them to yet another stack of papers they had to sign.

Just as they were finishing signing everything, the door opened and light footsteps wobbled fast across the room as Sean came closer to them, almost hitting the table before Regina put a hand out to protect him.

Getting on his tiptoes, he wanted to see what was happening above his sight and started to whine as Regina turned to him and held out her hands as he held up his arms, gladly accepting her help.

"Why don't you come up here?" she put him on her lap, strapping an arm around him as he scooted closer to the table.

"Ma!" Sean squealed as he saw Emma coming near him with grabby hands, as if to tickle him, but she just playfully tapped her fingers on his thighs.

The social worker who had brought him stepped beside them, dropping a bag by the table. It was probably all of his belongings, between clothes and toys. Regina wondered if he would even have any toys of his own, and she felt a sudden wave of gratitude wash past her as she remembered Emma had brought some toys.

Most of all, her relief was that they were taking Sean from there.

Cleaning his throat to sober up the two women, the headmaster resumed talking, "You signed all the legal paperwork and in six months' time you both should return here so we can check up on Sean and you may complete the adoption process." His voice was deep and boring, and Sean just started playing with Regina's sleeve, given that conversation was of zero interest to him. "Now, in these six months, a social worker will go to your house ever so often. Both to see if our little guy is being taken good care of and to know if you still want to keep him. I just want you to know that, if you want to return him at any moment, you can."

Emma jumped to the edge of her seat, frowning upon that statement, and Regina tightened her grip around Sean, bringing him closer to her.

"Return him?" Regina found her voice first, as Emma's jaw had dropped and her fist clenched, "What do you think he is? A good you're selling, or a service you offer? He is a child. Do you really think we'd go through all that endless process to take him out for a trial?" Hearing her distressed voice made Sean turn to see what was going on, and Emma's hand found his. "He's our son. We're not giving him back to the system."

"Yeah, pal, you should know better than saying shit like that." Emma blurted out without thinking.

Before she could go on, Regina looked at her sternly and hissed "Language, Emma".

"Oh, right. Sorry, kid." She squeezed his fingers and turned to the headmaster again, "We're great moms. We're gonna be great for Sean and I know you're gonna check up on us and everything, but we're gonna do everything right. He's not coming back to live here. Ever."

The young boy raised his eyebrows, and asked in a shy, surprised voice, "Ever?"

Both women looked down at him, and Regina kissed his head as she assured him, "Ever."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

* * *

Tugging at the foam covered straps, Sean fiercely tried to free himself from the belts keeping him in place on the car seat. As he started to kick and whine in frustration, his face getting crimson red from the struggle he was going through, Emma and Regina shared a conflicted look.

Maybe Emma should've gone in the back with him, or maybe they should have put on some soothing song in hopes he'd sleep through most of the way back. The drawing pad Regina had given him to play with during the hour long trip had entertained him for a while, but he had tossed it across the back seat when he couldn't draw something. They had given him some fruit snacks to eat before they left Boston's Angels, but maybe he was hungry. Or, most likely, tired - they didn't really know when he was used to nap and he could've been just a bit cranky.

Sean was distressed, that much was clear. Regina wondered for a moment if the straps were too tight or if he was sitting in a weird position. A million thoughts coursed through her mind as the boy started screaming and she couldn't find an answer for most of them.

For a moment, it felt like when she first got Henry. She had tried everything in her power to soothe her three-week-old son and he just wouldn't stop crying. It seemed she would go through the same experience with her two-year-old son.

Her motherly instincts told her to stop on the side of the road and coo Sean in her arms, make sure everything was right with him and rock him to sleep while Emma drove them home. But she couldn't do this, could she? They had gotten the car seat for a reason; it would keep him safer than he'd be if she kept him on her lap.

A lump formed on her throat, and she could feel moisture forming in her eyes in frustration as a feeling of helplessness invaded her. Emma undid her seatbelt and kneeled on her seat with her back to the windshield, turning to face Sean. Before Regina could tell Emma to sit down because they were on the road, the blonde reached out for Sean, brushing the curls off of his forehead.

"Hey, buddy." Emma's voice was soft and she dragged the words in a cheerful tone, capturing Sean's attention, "What's happening there? Are the straps bothering you, is this it?" He stifled a sob and pouted, nodding vigorously. Wiping away a stubborn tear that fell down his cheeks, Emma loosened the straps a bit, giving him more room to move as she put the doodler back next to him. "You gotta keep them on, okay? Just for a little longer. We're almost home. Can you do that for me?"

Sniffing his tears away, Sean mumbled an affirmative answer, grabbing the pen to keep scribbling on the doodler. Pushing his hair back and drying the wet trail his tears had left on his cheek, Emma was happy to see he was already strongly engaged on his drawing. Now that the straps were a bit loose and the leathery material didn't bother him anymore, he was content and focused on the straight line he was drawing, keeping his tongue between his teeth.

Emma wondered if this would be a trademark of him, biting his tongue when he was focused. She couldn't wait to get to know him.

"You must keep yours on as well, dear," Regina reminded Emma, tapping on her thigh to catch her attention so she could snap out of her trance and sit properly on her seat. Keeping her eyes trained on the road, Regina could still catch glimpses of Emma's wide smile by the corner of her eye. A few moments passed, just enough for Emma to put her seatbelt back on and take a deep happy breath, before Regina reached out and took her hand within her own. "You're a great mom, Emma. We'll be fine."

Squeezing Emma's hand lightly, Regina retrieved it to steer the wheel and make a left. They'd be home in a few, and they both couldn't wait to introduce Sean to his big brother and grandparents and all the people who would fall in love with him.

Once they got to the manor and Regina got out the car, Emma scrunched her face in a silly face to Sean before going to get the little boy's few belonging they had put in the trunk.

"Hey, there", Regina opened the back door and reached for the straps, making quick work of them and allowing the boy to move and stretch a bit in his car seat, "Look who's free!" she said cheerfully, watching Sean giggle and reach his arms up in joy. "Come on, let's get you home."

Regina propped him up on her right hip and held him firmly in place, Sean grabbing a handful of her blouse to keep himself steady as she leaned down inside the car to reach over his car seat to grab a few toys they had tossed there on their way to pick him up.

"I help," he babbled as Regina emerged back from inside the car with him still hooked on her hip. She was somehow carrying five plush toys and his doodler. Seeing Emma taking two bags out of the back of the car at once, Sean started shaking his legs to get out of Regina's hold and down onto the pavement.

Putting him down as carefully as she could, giving the boy was frantically kicking, Sean immediately wobbly ran at full speed towards Emma, stopping just before falling over a rather big bag containing most of his belonging. He grabbed the straps and tried to pick it up, stumbling down and losing balance, making Emma reach for his back, steadying him before he found the floor.

Regina bent down to get closer to his height and gently handed him two plush toys, "Would you carry these for me, please? I'll help mama."

"Ma!" he squealed and nodded, taking a few steps away from the two women and dropping himself on the sidewalk once the bright colors of the train and the plane he was holding caught his attention, but not keeping him from babbling, "Mama, mamama."

Emma closed the hood of the car and leaned against it, tearing her gaze from the boy and giving a lopsided smile to Regina, "So… I'm mama, huh?"

Regina opened her mouth just to close it when no words came out, a faint tint coloring her cheeks. They hadn't really discussed how their younger child would call them and make a difference between his two moms. The word came out so naturally she hadn't even thought about it before blurting it out.

"I just figured… Since he called you Ma before and… Well, Henry calls you mama, but if yo-" Regina stopped mid-sentence when Emma's lips collided with hers. Regina indulged the kiss for a moment, her free hand running up Emma's forearm before breaking the kiss and glancing quickly to Sean, who was still very much entertained with the fact he could squish a train.

Emma grabbed her chin, making Regina look back at her. "Then I'm mama." Stealing another quick kiss, Emma handed her a small backpack with several Elmo drawings all over it. Regina took it and slipped her arm through the shoulder strap, using it mostly as a handbag, holding the toys securely next to her torso as Emma picked up the rather heavy bag laying down on the pavement, "Sean! Come on, let's go inside."

The boy propped himself up, almost falling down halfway through it, but catching his balance. Regina looked at him, and almost asked if he wanted her to pick her up, but as she slowed her pace, he walked a bit fast, keeping up with the grownups. Emma had opened the door and placed the bag inside the foyer before looking back to see Regina's worried look.

With one hand out stretched towards the toddler, Regina watched Sean climb the two steps wobbling as much as possible without falling on his face. He seemed confident, though, and that might have been the single reason why Regina didn't rush out to pick him up.

Emma figured it would take her a while to get used to having a toddler almost running into his own death constantly. But, apparently it would take Regina a while too, which made Emma wonder how overprotective of Henry she was when he was younger.

Sean walked into the house and looked up to the stairs, his mouth opening in a surprised smile. It was clear he couldn't wait to climb all those steps. His gaze wandered to the big chandelier above them, curving himself a bit too much and once again, almost falling on his butt and catching himself just in time.

Looking back at Regina who was setting his things down, Sean raised his arms. "Where?" he asked in an excited voice, slightly shaking the plush toys he was still fiercely holding. Regina motioned to the other toys she had put on a corner with his backpack. He walked there and carefully laid the toys near the pile and came back to stand between the two women.

"Welcome home, Sean!" Emma cheered and patted his head as Regina rubbed circles on his back. Throwing his hands up, Sean squealed and giggled, filling the otherwise empty house with the sound, joy reverberating on the walls.

Both women looked down to see his face getting flushed and he bent down, squealing and holding on to Emma's legs for balance. They only noticed they were grinning hard enough to make their cheeks hurt when they looked up and saw each other's face.

Emma raised a hand to cup Regina's cheek and was about to make small circles with her thumb when she heard a small hollow thud. They looked down to see Sean sitting on the floor, still somewhat holding on to Emma, but he was no longer laughing.

Regina bent down and put him back on his feet, brushing him off and tilting his head to look at her, "Are you okay? Did it hurt?"

Shaking his head, he seemed almost surprised. If it were due having falling down while laughing or the worry she showed him for having done so, she wouldn't know. Sounds coming from upstairs made him tear his gaze from Regina and look around, searching for the source of the noise.

As quickly as he appeared on the top of the stairs, Henry began to jump down the steps in a hurry to meet his younger brother. His presence obviously scared Sean, given he had hidden on the back on Emma's legs, his tiny nails digging on her jeans to keep his shaking form securely tucked away from the strange boy, who he didn't even dare to look at.

"Come here, buddy," Emma reached for Sean who wouldn't come out of his hiding place, and picked him up. He immediately buried his face on the crook of her neck, refusing to face Henry. He was nearly sixteen years old and taller than his moms were, with a stubble trying to show itself on his skin. It all combined with his dark clothes he had chosen to wear that day, it was clear why the sight frightened Sean so much. "This is Henry. We talked about him, remember? How he was excited to meet you? He's your big brother."

"Hey, Sean," Henry tickled him lightly to catch his attention. Sean peeked from under Emma's chin, still mostly hiding his face. Henry stretched his hand and waited for Sean to grab it and shake it, which he did, eventually, after side eyeing his hand for a few moments. "I hear you like Elmo. Is it true?" That really caught Sean's attention, his head snapping up at the mention of his favorite character from Sesame Street. "Wanna watch it while moms get dinner ready?"

Giggling, Sean raised his arms towards Henry, demanding to be picked up. The older boy was not expecting that, but caught the squealing bundle easily. Hooking his legs around Henry's hip, Sean grabbed the hair near the back of Henry's neck to secure himself, but he was so excited he pulled on it a bit, causing Henry to wince as the toddler jumped up and down squealing, "Elmo. Elmo. Elmo!"

Henry looked at his mom with a grimace coloring his features, almost as if he feared the younger boy would accidentally blind him with this shaking fist. Emma had her arm around Regina's waist, who was on the brink of crying; the sight was beautiful.

"Go, we'll call you both when dinner is ready," Regina managed to choke out, gripping Emma's arm for emotional support.

Trotting to the TV room, Henry made Sean giggle yet again. Their two sons playing together was a sight the two woman would always wish to see.

* * *

Anyone with eyes could see how much care had been put into organizing that bedroom. It hadn't been their first, sure.

Regina had spent several weeks gathering every bit of baby supplies Henry could possibly need for when he got home at three weeks old. It had been all her, a few dark tones seeping in the decoration, but also a lot of light, and that was mostly Henry who brought in.

Emma, Regina and, well, Henry had put together another bedroom a couple of years ago, painted with cream and crimson tones, and surrounded by toys never played with and baby clothes never worn. They didn't open that door often; it was still like shredding their insides to pieces all over again.

This one had been made especially to attend Sean's wishes. He never demanded anything, no. In fact, he was surprised when he found out he had a room all for himself. But in their visits, Emma and Regina had gotten to know what was his favorite color and what animals he liked the most and little by little, they put together a room that had made Sean squeal and grip their cheeks so hard in excitement he left nail marks on them.

Apart from his Elmo obsession – Regina refused to have a room full of the puppet's face, saying his eyes were too big; but Emma could almost tell Regina didn't want another baby room to be red and white –, they had found out Sean was absolutely enchanted by jungle animals. Whenever they were in the playroom at Boston's Angels, he'd grab colored pencils and scribble all over the paper they had given him while babbling about whatever was in his head. Every time he squealed "All done!" Emma and Regina would ask what he had drawn and he'd usually say it was a lion or a giraffe.

His room was jungle themed, and even Henry had to admit it was the cutest jungle in the world. The floor and one of the walls had been covered in light smooth wood, including the little stage of some sort where they'd keep his toys. The curtains were light orange and green, as well as the sheets on his crib, the fluffy rug in front of it and the rocking chair sitting in the corner. All the furniture was white, but the room was far from boring – there were stuffed animals all over the place. Inside the crib, there was a lion with a big smile that could be used as a pillow. But they opted for getting a thin pillow with sloths drawn all over it. A contraption resembling a ladder was built near the windows and there hung monkeys and birds, with ridiculously big eyes. The stuffed bears had been put on the ground ever since Henry had convinced Sean that bears couldn't hang on trees, and right next to them was a giraffe with a height chart on its neck. His toys would stay inside a box that resembled a treasure box, and he'd put them back every evening, claiming his things had to be safe.

From the very first night, they had almost unconsciously constructed a ritual for bedtime. Emma would bathe him, sometimes in his own baby tub, other times in the big hot tub that made him feel like he was in an ocean full of ships and monsters and flying cars and jungle animals - he wasn't shy about taking his toys to the tub and making a big story of it all. Then he'd get dressed in pajamas, and he was a fan of onesies, especially those with lots and lots of drawings. He had a respectable collection, from outer space themed ones to ones with all the Sesame Street gang drawn all over it. After that, Regina would read him a story in such a soft voice sometimes both Emma and Henry would join and fall asleep before the younger one.

Regina was holding Sean and reading a book called _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_, slowly rocking back and forth on the rocking chair while her baby boy lazily sucked on a bottle of milk.

"And he was a beautiful butterfly," Regina finished, her voice as soothing as ever and a bit lower, a way she had learned with Henry to indicate the story was over and bedtime was near.

Taking the mostly empty bottle from his loose grasp and putting it aside, Regina started to hush him to sleep. Sean grabbed a handful of her robe as he yawned, drooling over a good portion of the silk underneath him. "Butterfly, mommy?"

"Yes, baby boy," Regina tried to keep tears from breaking free and choked back a happy sob rising from her chest. He had been calling Emma "mama", as she had taught him from the very first day. It took Henry a while to call her momma, and she didn't want to keep her from having Sean calling her mama any longer. But he had never before called her mommy. It was always Gina or even mama but directed to her. As she rocked back and forth on the chair, lulling him to sleep, she wondered where that had come from. It was most likely that he had picked it up from Henry calling her mom. Deep down, she didn't care. Her little prince was calling her mommy.

A few minutes later, he was out cold and she carefully put him on his bed, pulling the crib-like side up to keep him from rolling out of bed during the night. Leaning in, she gave him a kiss on the forehead, whispering wishes of sweet dreams as he slowly let go of her hair. It was usual of him, to twist her hair around his little finger until he fell asleep.

On her way out, Regina turned the lights off, leaving only the lamp on the side of his bed that casted a shy glow on his sleeping form.

"He's out already?" Emma asked from her place on the bed, where she had her glasses on and was playing with Henry's old pocket game, as she saw Regina walking in with a big grin on her face.

Nodding, Regina slipped out of her silk robe, hanging it on the back of a chair. She had barely gotten under the covers when she couldn't hold it anymore and blurted out in a whisper, "He called me mommy"

Tossing the game aside, Emma eyes went wide and turned her attention fully to Regina, both having matching grins, "Really? Wh- How did that happen?"

"I was reading to him, as usual, and he just said it." Regina stared at the sheets for a long moment, before turning to Emma. Her eyes were glistening with tears threatening to fall, but she wasn't holding them back, "I can't believe he called me mommy."

Emma took her glasses off, setting them somewhat carelessly on the bedside table, and lunged forward to hug Regina, placing a very happy kiss on her lips. Regina indulged her for a moment, holding Emma's waist and helping her maintain her poor balance. Breaking the kiss, Emma just let herself fall down to Regina's chest, still hugging her very tightly, "That's because you are his mommy."

Brushing blonde curls off away from her face, Regina kissed Emma's forehead, who snuggled under her touch. Falling asleep was easy that night, both the tiredness from a day chasing after a two year old and a teenage boy and the bliss from knowing what they meant to their son easing them into a dreamless sleep.

It was still dark when something woke Regina up. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and reached for the bedside lamp, finally being able to make out Emma very much sleeping form. The blonde was hugging her pillow instead of laying her head on it, her legs in such a weird angle that Regina wondered how she could possibly be comfortable in that position. Soon it was made clear that her wife had not been the reason why she had woken up at - Regina glanced at the clock, the red numbers screaming at her - 1am.

She made herself focus on the environment of the house. No sound was coming from downstairs, and anyway she doubted that a robbery would've been happening at the Sheriff's house. Even the Lost Boys, who pulled a new prank every other day, weren't that dumb. She had checked in on Henry a little after setting Sean in bed, and her older son was already out cold - ever since he had joined the football team, he'd fall asleep as soon as he finished his homework, his body still unused to the amount of exercise he was forcing it into.

Something inside of her shifted in a weird and almost painful way when she thought of Sean. Getting up in a hurry and putting on her robe, she paced fast from her bedroom to his, peeking through the door she had left an inch open. What if she had been so excited he had called her mommy she forgot to properly adjust the side of his crib and he fell unconscious on the floor? Her mind went straight to the worst-case scenario, as it had always done when her sons were even in the slightest risk.

Opening the door to let the hallway lamp cast enough light into the room for her to see where she was going, she headed towards the bed, gladly noticing the side was up and holding her son safe. When she came close enough to see Sean more clearly, she instantly noticed something was wrong. He was agitated, kicking the covers off him, his hands accidentally punching his stomach and the side of the crib, and then fiercely rubbing his eyes.

Sweat had drenched his space themed pajamas and his hair clung to his forehead, wet and sticky. Regina's eyes went wide as she reached for him, brushing his hair off his forehead and noticing how strangely warm he was.

He was running a fever, and Regina didn't have to take his temperature to know it was a high one. Along the years, she had almost perfected her touch in knowing how warm was too warm when it came to kids. Being a single mother always took its toll on Regina, and being over careful with knowing right way if her son needed medical attention was one of them.

Grabbing a light soft baby washcloth and running to the bathroom, Regina soaked the towel in cold water, folded it neatly and sprinted back to Sean's room to put it securely on his forehead. He whined when the cold and soggy material touched his warm skin, but remained asleep somehow, which worried Regina to no end.

Hushing him and touching his flushed cheek, Regina sprinted out of the bedroom and into her own room, sliding the robe out of her shoulders and body, tossing it carelessly on the ground.

"Emma. Emma, wake up!" turning the bright bedside lamp on, she nudged Emma awake. Undressing on her way to the walk in closet, Regina grabbed a dress to change into. As she walked back into the room, halfway through slipping on her dress, she noticed her wife had simply tossed and turned under the covers, snoring lightly on her sleep. "Miss Swan, your son needs you," she punctuated every word in a tone that was anything but light as she tugged at the covers hard enough to strip them bed, leaving Emma with only a tank top and boy shorts to cover herself.

"Son?!" Emma sat upright in bed at how urgent Regina's voice sounded, rubbing the sleep from her still closed eyes, "What Sean? Son?"

"Gods, you're useless in this state," Regina groaned, grabbing a pair of jeans and throwing rather than tossing it to Emma, hitting her in the face, "Get dressed and wake up. We're taking Sean to the hospital, he's running a fever."

Regina marched out of the room after getting a somewhat panicked but affirmative answer from Emma, gladly noticing she was stumbling out of bed and into her skinny jeans. She let a shaky breath out, setting her mind to checking up on Sean first, then letting Henry know they'd be away for a little while. Anyway, she was only half surprised that her legs wouldn't carry her far enough - she was frozen, grabbing the wall in fear.

She had dealt with Henry being sick many times, this wasn't anything new. But she had never seen Sean sick. He had been with them for almost a month now, and he was a healthy child who didn't like to eat his vegetables and had cried his lungs out when he skinned his knee at the park. She didn't know so many things about him mothers of two year olds were supposed to know - was he allergic to some medication or did he have an irrational fear of hospitals, could she calm him somehow or would she not be able to nurse her son back to health?

Rubbing her face, she marched barefoot into the bedroom - she didn't get to have a meltdown now. Regina just had to remind herself that children got sick and a fever could be only a fever, not a deadly threat like she was feeling like it was. At least she had Emma with her, she wasn't alone. And most importantly, Sean wasn't alone, not anymore.

The lights were left on and she had entered the room to find Sean awake, grabbing the now warm towel on his forehead and clutching it as tears began to form on his eyes.

"Hi, sleepyhead," Regina reached for Sean inside the crib as he stretched his arms, waiting to be picked up. She tried to ignore how he now had tears running freely down his cheek, but she couldn't avoid the sharp pain on her stomach as his warm and wet cheek touched her own as she took a good hold of him, "We're going for a ride. How would you like that?"

Sean grabbed the collar of her dress, tugging at it as if he had to call her attention. As she turned to him, she had to take a sharp breath to not meltdown when her son needed her to be strong - he was pouting, eyebrows drawn together, "Sleep hurt, mommy."

Regina opened a few drawers, taking fresh clean clothes and tossing them inside the crib, before reaching to the side of it and sliding it down. She put Sean down on the mattress, and he struggled to stay standing up, "I know it hurts, but the ride will make it all better," Regina calmed him down as she stripped him from the sweat drenched pajamas. Sean was shaking, but he held on to her shoulders to keep his balance as she put on clean pants and sweatshirt, "Mommy promises."

Picking him up again, Regina tried to soothe him for a moment, rubbing his back and humming a lullaby he seemed to be fond of. He rested his head on her shoulder, clutching the collar of her dress again as he wet the shoulder of her dress with his tears.

A soft knock on the door made her turn around to find Emma fully dressed, looking very awake, with some papers in one hand and a pair of flip flops in the other. She dropped the shoes near Regina's feet and raised her hand to caress Sean's cheek, wiping his curls from his forehead, feeling how warm he was.

Emma shoot a worried gaze at Regina, but said in a soft voice, "I got the adoption papers and his medical history, in case we need it. And I told Henry we're leaving. Let's go?"

Slipping her feet in the shoes she had refused to wear before, even when they headed down to the beach one Sunday, Regina held Sean tighter against her chest and followed Emma down the stairs, leaving the lights on because she wouldn't dare to leave her son without any support he could get.

As if in silent agreement that they wouldn't just leave Sean in the baby seat, Emma opened the door to the back seat for Regina. Sliding inside, Regina moved Sean so he would be laying on her lap instead of holding him almost standing up and Emma turned on the car, driving them to the hospital.

A worried silence filled the car during the trip, being broken only by Regina's whispers to Sean, who was almost falling back asleep. Emma parked in front of the hospital, almost daring someone to tell her to move, and opened the door, taking Sean into her arms so Regina could her out without any more trouble than she had to.

"Do you talk to Whale or should I?" Emma muttered to Regina, still not completely comfortable around the doctor since their last encounter. After the doctor had told them that it'd be better for them if they "settled for Henry", Emma was still afraid she would just punch his face if he dared to say any other discrepancy to them.

Regina kissed to top of Sean's head, gladly noticing how he had his grabby hands on Emma's ponytail - he did it all the time when she was holding him, "You take him inside, I'll make sure Whale does his job."

How the woman kept her regal appearance when she was five inches shorter than usual was unclear even to herself. Somehow, even with the flip-flops making an obnoxious noise against the well-waxed floor, she managed to find Whale, who was thankfully on call, and demand that he examined her son.

The doctor barely sighed before earning a raised eyebrow from the woman who ruled that town for almost three decades. Although she had agreed to keep her magic to a minimum, since the outcomes had been catastrophic through the years, he was sure that Regina wouldn't hold herself back if he dared to keep the newest Swan-Mills family member waiting.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, Regina," Whale tried to ease her worries as he grabbed the stethoscope, rushing through the corridors towards the child.

"Wonderful to know you're so sure about your skills it doesn't even require proper examination of my son," her voice was harsh in a shocking contrast against the annoyingly cheerful sound her flip flops made against the floor, "And it's Mrs. Swan-Mills to you."

Sean was lying down on a bed with Emma by his side, both his hands in hers, apparently telling him a story. He was focused on her voice, but tears ran down his cheek and it took everything Regina had to not sprint across the room and wipe it all away.

"Hey, champ. What's happening?" Whale tried to sound cheerful, but the boy kept silently crying. Regina moved to stand beside him, brushing his hair back and trying to comfort him somehow, "Could you lift his shirt, please?"

Neither Emma nor Regina moved away from Sean and Whale didn't dare to ask. He did a routine examination on the boy, checking for signs of the most common diseases at this age - even if the chance of him having anything other than a cold was highly unlikely, he didn't want to leave anything out.

At the end of the half hour Whale had spent on Sean, the boy was annoyed and begging to be taken away from there. Emma scooped Sean near her, keeping him sitting up and resting his back on her legs, shooting death glares towards the man.

"So?" Emma demanded when he put his instruments away. She then took her crying son in her arms, and he instantly reached around her, burying his face on her neck. Regina made her way to her wife and son, until she had one hand resting on each of their backs, her glare demanding the same answer from the doctor who hadn't said much except for order of how to hold him.

"His throat is mildly inflamed. He was already sweating his fever off, he should be fever free in the morning. Keep an eye on him for cough or flu like signs," Whale's eyes darted from Emma to Regina, and he patted on the sleepy boy's bottom, "Just make sure he drinks lots of fluids and he'll be fine in no time."

Emma narrowed her eyes, stepping towards the doctor with a vicious glare, "He better be, you son of a-"

"Thank you," Regina cut her wife's threat before she cursed in front of their sleepy but yet very supple son, "Dr. Whale. Now he doesn't have to take any medication?"

"No, he just needs to rest and he'll recover on his own." Whale assured and stepped back, putting a safe distance between them and bidding them goodbye.

Adjusting Sean on her arms, Emma rolled her eyes as they walked out of the hospital, "He's a two year old, how are we supposed to make sure he rests?" Regina scoffed, holding out her hand for the car keys. Sean looked far too comfortable to make him move. Emma managed to hold Sean, open the door and slip inside before Regina had the chance to do so or argue about how dangerous it was for an infant to ride on the front seat, "Don't give me that look, you'll drive way too slow anyway."

"Someone needs her sleep," Regina retorted, ignoring how careless Emma was acting - she was too relieved their son was okay to bother picking up a fight now, especially since her wife was running on less than an hour of sleep.

Emma groaned a little, adjusting Sean on her lap, "I think we all do." The boy was already half asleep, but he made himself more comfortable, sucking on his thumb while grabbing a handful of Emma's tank top, "How about we all sleep on our bed tonight?"

Regina smiled at the thought, already picturing Emma laying on her stomach with Sean on top of her, like they usually woke up when they slept together, "I think it's a nice idea."

* * *

"No," Emma belted at Henry, her jaw slacking open, "No way!"

"I swear!" Henry laughed, grabbing the package of floor from the cabinet, "Mom really didn't let me have pizza until I was six. She said the cheese would make me sick or something."

Sean giggled from where he was sitting on top of the island table, clapping his hands, almost as if he knew they were doing something without permission.

"It's pizza." making sure she sounded horrified, Emma tossed the missing ingredients inside a bowl, mixing them, "Now I get it why you thought she was the Evil Queen."

Bumping his shoulder on hers, Henry smiled. They had grown to be fond of joking around about their Fairytale selves, although most of the jokes were at Regina's expenses. Grabbing a pan and starting to grease it with cooking spray as Emma was mostly finished with the homemade dough, they both froze when they heard the front door opening, even Sean stopped giggling. They had half expected Regina to be out until they had it all ready so she couldn't say no, but apparently Kathryn's wedding arrangements were easier than they assumed.

Turning on the table until he was facing the source of the sound, Sean bluntly ignored the hushing sounds Emma was making and squealed as soon as Regina set foot inside the kitchen, reaching his arms up to be picked up, "Pizza, mommy!"

Regina put her jacket and purse down on a stool, helping Sean stand up on the kitchen table and dusting flour off of him, "What?" she hissed to Emma, narrowing her eyes at the blonde who looked like she was very tempted to just make a run for it and not stop until she was in Boston.

Henry knew that look too well to know he didn't want to be near when Regina spoke again, "You're in trouble," she whispered to Emma in a singing voice, brushing past her and picking Sean up. "Come on, Sean, let's go pick apples for dessert."

Grabbing a handful of Henry's shirt and tugging at it, Sean pointed to the woman covered in as much flour as he and the dough she had in hands, "I help, I help" He dragged the last word, wiggling his bottom as if he could scoot himself over near Emma.

"Fun part is over for now, we'll help after the dough is cooked, okay?" Henry walked out the kitchen almost manhandling Sean, who was now trying to climb on his big brother's shoulder and escape his grip.

Regina couldn't help but let a smile, even if it was a tight one, make its way to her lips. But again, her sons always make her smile. Henry was such a wonderful big brother, and Sean had grown attached to Henry to the point he wouldn't fall asleep without a hug and a weird handshake from him.

Turning to the issue at hand, she made sure she had a colder façade when she glared at Emma, putting her hands on her waist in a mayoral fashion, "So?" she demanded.

"So… Uhm, hi?" Emma fiddled with the dough, half trying to get it out of her hands, half just playing with it to keep her hands busy.

"Emma," Regina's voice was so firm and pointed when she said her name the blonde could've sworn she had called her Ms. Swan again, "What is this?"

"Uhm, pizza?" Emma took a tiny portion of the dough and shoved it in her mouth, keeping a childlike smile on her face in hopes it'd help her get away with it.

Sighing annoyed, it took Regina everything she had to not roll her eyes at the grown woman in front of her eating raw pizza dough "I've gathered so much, yes. I meant, how do you explain yourself?"

"I'm just-" That caught Emma somewhat out of guard, and she just shrugged lightly, popping another piece of dough inside her mouth, "We're just making pizza. Sean's never had it."

"There's a reason for that, dear," reaching for the bowl, Regina took it out of Emma's grasp, trying to ignore how the entire kitchen island was covered in flour, "He's two years old."

"Come on, Regina!" Emma whined, making her way towards her wife, "It's just bread and tomato and cheese. The kids eat it all the time, we're just putting them all together."

Pushing the bowl away so Emma wouldn't be able to grab it so easily, Regina kept her death glare on, "It's hardly the same thing."

Emma came closer to Regina, having a clear intent of pressing herself against her wife, but Regina caught up on that and took a step back. The blonde just reached past her wife and sprawled herself on the kitchen island, getting flour all over her tank top as she grasped the bowl with her fingertips. Bringing it close enough for her to grab it and hold it, she took another bite sized portion of dough and popped it into her mouth.

"My point is," Emma adjusted her grip on the bowl and looked at Regina, making a face ridiculously similar to the one Henry makes when he wants something he knows he won't get, "please, pretty please, let's make pizza."

Regina tried to glare at Emma, who was covered in flour, trying to make something yummy for their kids and with their kids. But the whole sight was too precious for her to not get soft.

"Emma," Regina managed to keep her voice somewhat stern, which was a great achievement given Emma had flour on her nose and she kept twitching it instead of wiping it clean.

"Come on," Emma dragged the last word, almost shaking in place, trying to convince Regina, "It's all homemade, so no preservatives or all that artificial stuff that will make our boys sick - or whatever. Henry himself made the sauce with fresh tomatoes and, ugh, if you want we can put some tasteless low-fat cheese on top. But then Sean would start hating pizza and kids would make fun of him in school." Shifting from one foot to another, Emma knew she would regret offering to change the cheese from mozzarella to something weird like cottage cheese they always had in the fridge, "It's pretty much all healthy and shit. And everything tastes good, I swear."

"Good?" Regina tried to muffle her scoff, but it came out anyway. She remembered the selection of burnt grilled cheese, oil soaked burgers, over salted popcorns and ruined pop tarts she watched her wife chew with a grimace and swallow hard, refusing to admit she was a failure when she tried to cook, "Are you positive, dear?"

Emma feigned offense and grabbed a piece of dough, roughly shoving it in Regina's mouth, "I followed the recipe!"

Regina couldn't help but laugh around the dough, that didn't taste so wrong as she thought it would. Emma soon let go of her offended façade and smirked at the sound of approval Regina let escape her throat.

Hearing footsteps that unmistakably belonged to a two-year-old boy running at full speed, they turned to the door just as a head poked in, two hands grabbing the door jamb, "Pizza, mommy?"

"Pizza, dear."

Regina was only halfway through her exasperated sigh when she felt a weight colliding with her legs and tiny fingernails digging into her skin. Looking down, and seeing curls nested against her knees, Regina bent down and reached for his armpit, swinging him a little in the air before hooking him on her hips, his hands curling around her neck and hair.

Giggling softly against Regina's cheek, Sean gave her a sloppy wet kiss that made a funny noise, "Pizza!" he said again, pulling at a few strands of hair on his fisted hands.

"You dummy, you don't even know if pizza tastes bad," Henry walks in, putting his phone in his back pocket. He had made a habit out of taking spontaneous pictures of them ever since Sean came into their family. Both women knew he did that to register their smiles that had been all too rare these last couple of years.

"Henry!" Regina shushed her older son in a stern voice, cooing the youngest on her arms. The young boy giggled though, reaching out from under Regina's hair to his brother.

"I say that with love," Henry bumped his fist on Sean's tiny one, "Don't I, buddy?"

"Yep!" Sean giggled as Henry tickled his sides.

Henry picked him up from Regina's arms and put Sean over his shoulder, the toddler instinctively keeping his body stiff and arms open, so he'd feel like he was flying as they walked towards the fridge to get everything they needed. Pretending to be an airplane and piggyback riding were Sean's favorite ways of transportation, being stuck on a baby car seat still being his least wanted one.

Regina had been so mesmerized by the interaction that she missed Emma approaching her, only realizing it when it was too late and the blonde had already thrown a bit of flour on her nose, leaving a trail of white powder on her waist as she cleaned her hand and all but sprinted away. Trying hard to be angry and annoyed, Regina couldn't help but smiling before sneezing softly.

"Bless you," Sean said from across the table as he stood on his tiptoes to put the cheese near the pot of marinara sauce that was too high above for him to reach. Emma helped him hop on the kitchen island again, and he set the block of cheese between his legs.

Reaching out and kissing his forehead, Regina thanked him, briefly wondering where he had picked that habit from. Brushing the thought away, she reached for the sauce as Emma spread the dough in round shape and Henry started to grate the cheese, feeding Sean some every now and then.

Humming in approval, Regina raised her eyebrows to Henry as she tasted more of the sauce, "And where did you learn how to cook like this?"

"Grace taught me," Henry shrugged nonchalantly, hiding a smile when Regina choked with her own saliva at the mention of a girl teaching him how to cook. It had been their plan all along, given Emma high fived him discreetly.

Regina's face was tinted red as she tried to catch her breath, "Who?"

"I'm kidding, mom," Henry said in a low chuckle, winking at her. He had indeed been hanging out a lot with Grace lately, but he didn't see her that way. It was fun to mess with his mom - it was even better knowing that he could, "I looked it up online, found a fancy chef doing it and decided to try. Buddy helped, and I didn't let Ma get near it."

"Hey!" Emma slapped his shoulder playfully, feigning offense, "I did the dough and it's pretty tasty, okay?"

Regina felt a smile spreading on her lips, her heart lightening up again. Sometimes, she felt like she had two teenagers under her roof, sometimes it seemed like there was three two-year-olds in need of her care. And as Sean giggled and clapped his hands in joy, Regina knew she wouldn't have it any other way.

After making the pizza and putting it in the oven for the dough to cook and the cheese to melt, Henry had to make sure Sean wasn't going to burn himself as he watched the cheese starting to bubble and Emma helped Regina set up the table, casually teasing her about how much fun she was having as Regina reminded herself to look angry.

She couldn't - not when she could hear both her sons giggling and feel her wife's arms sneaking around her waist.

Henry took a huge bite as soon as Regina set the slice on his plate, being mimicked by Emma. She put a smaller slice on Sean's place, making sure she had cooled it down enough for him to pick it up. He stared at it for a while, then looked at his brother wiping the corner of his mouth to get the smudge of sauce out.

Regina set a slice on her own plate, picking up the knife and fork to cut it - she agreed on pizza, but she wasn't about to eat her food with her bare hands like some primate. Sean tilted his head to the side, looking near his plate and seeing no utensils and looking back at Regina, in silent question.

The toddler had no idea how to even begin eating a pizza.

Sighing amusedly, Regina looked at him and motioned him to follow her lead. All of a sudden, he was all business like, straightening up on his high chair and no one would say he wasn't Regina's biological son in the moment.

Making sure he was doing the same movements as her, Regina picked the slice with her fingertips, feeling how the cheese weighted it down. Food wasn't supposed to be eaten with her hands - that had been her upbringing. But by the looks of it, Sean didn't want to be proper, he wanted to have as much fun eating as his brother and mama were.

Bringing the tip of the slice to her lips, she bit down on a modest piece of cheese and crust, tumbling it down her mouth without getting sauce anywhere it wasn't intended to. As she set her slice down again, she could feel Emma's and Henry's eyes boring into her, following her actions with an almost sick pleasure.

Then all their attentions turned to Sean.

Holding his slice up with both hands, he followed Regina's movements just as the other members of the family had. Then he focused again on his slice. The cheese at the end of the slice was weighing it down and Sean furrowed his eyebrows. Instead of lifting the slice up, he brought his head down, sticking his tongue out to taste it first and licking the cheese fat gathering up on top of it. Making noises with his tongue, assessing it the taste was good or bad, he decided it was a good taste and he dove in the food, taking a huge bite.

Sauce covered half his cheek and he somehow had managed to drop some on his nose, his eyes going wide as the taste filled his mouth. Chewing excitedly, with his mouth a bit open since the bite had been a bit too much for his tiny mouth, Sean hummed in approval, much like Regina did early.

"Is it good, monkey?" Emma crunched her nose, smiling widely as she reached under the table for Regina's hand.

Sean just nodded furiously, before swallowing and taking another clumsy bite, getting sauce on his chin and dropping cheese on his shirt.

Emma intertwined her fingers with Regina's, squeezing it lightly. If she knew that's how their little man would react to something as simple as pizza, she'd have tried to convince Regina way before.


	3. Chapter 3

After four months without updating this story, I come here with my tail between my legs and offer almost 10k words of cuteness, smut and fun stuff as an apology. It turns out I'm adding a fourth chapter to it, which should be up sooner than next year, I'll actually try my best to update it within a couple of weeks. Cookies and thanks to meqhanory, for everything. I own nothing

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**CHAPTER THREE**

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Packing some fruit and veggie snacks in sealed containers and putting them aside, Regina reached for the juice boxes as she heard a tiny footsteps against hardwood and a giggle filling the air in the foyer. She turned her head just in time to see Sean running at full speedwearing nothing but a soft green cloth diaper, missing an encounter with the wall by a hair.

As she turned in her heels to call for her toddler, Henry showed up, running after his younger brother and sweeping him up, flushed from the effort as Sean giggled and grabbed his lapels for support.

"Mom!" Henry yelled for her as Sean started fussing, probably thinking getting ready was fun as long as he didn't have to put on clothes. Grabbing her dress and lifting it so she didn't step on the hem, Regina walked towards them, having a two-year-old thrusted into her arms as soon as she was within reach, "I can't get him dressed! I tried. I did, I swear. He won't let me! Just… Can't he go in his diapers? It's not the end of the world, just throw a blanket on him or whatever."

As Henry ranted, Regina took in her son's attire. He was taller than her, even though she had high heeled pumps on, and he was proudly displaying a stubble that made him look older than his sixteen years. They had gotten him a well tailored suit for the occasion, in a dark gray color that fit him so well it made Regina's heart warm. His jacket was buttoned and the white shirt was flawlessly pressed, his tie was in a blue-gray color - he had remembered to wear his tie clip and his cuffs were showing just the right amount.

"You look so handsome," Regina said in a soft proud tone, adjusting Sean on her hip. Henry smiled at her, and looked at the boy who was now grabbing at Regina's dress, trying to undo the folds, "Go finish getting ready, I'll try to get Sean into his suit."

Henry was climbing the stairs before she could think twice of it, shouting "Good luck!" as he turned to enter his room. Regina looked down at Sean, who was swinging his legs and had his tongue in between his teeth.

Swinging him to the ground, Regina held his hand and bent down to get to his eye-level, "No more running. We need to get you ready for the wedding. Do you understand me, Sean?" Squeezing her two fingers in his palm, Sean noticed the serious tone his mother directed to him and nodded, smiling as she tapped his nose, "Alright, now go to your room. I'll be there in a moment."

As soon as she let go of his hand, Sean started running. He didn't make it all the way to the foyer before he looked back at her, meeting her hard gaze and going back to a steady calm walk. He was a good boy, and besides a few tantrums that came with the 'terrible two', Sean knew how to behave with a single glance or a few words from his mother.

Regina gave him time to get to his room before following him, taking her time to check her reflection in the mirror on the wall. Her dark royal blue dress contrasted with her creamy skin as it clung to her upper body, the empire waist drawing attention to her cleavage as the fabric fell smoothly against her legs. Putting on her chandelier earrings and checking on her make up, Regina deemed herself ready. Her hair had grown longer than she had had it in years, but she kept it neatly coiffed and almost mayoral.

Lifting her dress just enough to not trip while climbing the stairs, Regina made her way to Sean's room to find him sitting on the jungle themed rug in front of his crib, wearing his slacks and trying to button his shirt up. He was doing a fine job, until he curved too much and lift his belly to do the last two buttons and he lost balance, falling on his back.

She watched him roll over and get up, finding out his pants were only halfway up his bum. Letting out a soft laugh, Regina reached for him, kneeling in front of his crib and waiting for him to come join her. She got his pants up after fixing his cloth diaper, and steadied him as he finished to button his shirt and clipped his bow tie under the collar, before helping him with his jacket.

He dropped to the ground as he put on his socks and she looked for his shoes, "Baby, where're your shoes?"

"Henry room", he babbled, wobbling the two words out of his mouth and almost getting tongue tied in the process, as he twisted the sock on his foot, getting it to the right position.

Regina got up and picked him up with ease, his hand never leaving his foot, "Then let's go to Henry's room. Will you finish getting ready like a big boy?"

Sucking on his free hand's thumb, Sean nodded, dropping his head lazily on his mother's shoulder. As they got to Henry's room, Sean squirmed out of Regina's arms and onto the bed, hurrying to put his shoes on. Henry glanced at them, but soon turned his attention back to the mirror, trying to get his hair to look like he wanted it to.

"Henry, could you comb his hair, please?" Regina asked as she helped Sean lace the shoes they had gotten specially for the wedding. Henry hummed in agreement, and she kissed the top of the youngest's head before heading out, "I'll see if mama is ready."

Smoothing down her dress, Regina made a mental note to get her clutch and put the snacks on the baby bag, but her mind went blank as she entered her room and saw Emma applying lipstick.

Emma had always had an unique clothing style and, even though she did borrow some of her wife's blouses from time to time, Regina had never managed to fully get rid of the leather jackets and skin tight jeans. On occasion, Emma would dress up - in a form fitting dress when they went out for dinner or a pant suit when there was an important meeting at city hall.

But looking at Emma now, getting ready for Hook and Ruby's wedding, Regina could see what _princess Emma _would've been like. The nude A-line dress hugged her torso beautifully, the details in the tulle fabric that the collar and sleeves were made of bringing out her fit form. Her hair was what caught Regina's attention; she had braided it in a half crown, keeping it away from her face as the curls fell on her back. She looked almost as beautiful as she did ont heir wedding day, Regina mused.

"You're staring," Emma stated, putting her hands on her hips and playfully glaring at her wife, "Like what you see?" she added in a flirty voice that made Regina roll her eyes and walk towards her.

"Very much, dear," Regina replied in a low husky voice, causing Emma to visibly shiver. Walking predatorily towards her wife, Regina's eyes grew soft as she leaned in to kiss Emma, careful not to ruin their lipsticks.

"You look fine as fuck, by the way," Emma said casually, grabbing their clutches and lifting her dress.

"Eloquent as always," Regina accepted the clutch Emma was offering her, checking to see if she had everything she needed in it, "Our boys are just about ready. Shall we go?"

Nodding, Emma motioned for Regina to go first, and going to Henry's room as the brunette went to the kitchen. Their older son was just leaving his room, with their younger on his tail, almost bumping into him. Henry held out his hand and Sean took it, putting his free hand on his pocket.

"Look at you two! You are so handsome!" Emma almost squealed in pure joy, "Ugh, that's it, from now on, you two are wearing nothing but suits."

"Deal, as long as you wear long dresses and heels all the time," Henry retorted and Sean giggled as Emma put on a face, mumbling 'party pooper' before heading down the stairs.

They met Regina at the foyer and she handed the baby bag to Henry. He would've normally complained, but they were letting him drive them to the wedding and were letting him borrow the car to his date with Grace the next weekend.

As Henry secured Sean in his baby chair, Emma got to the back seat, cursing at how much dress she had to fish and settle inside the car and Regina took the front seat. She was the worst back seat driver in the world, and while Emma let Henry go over the limit sometimes, Regina made sure he used the turn signal and waited until pedestrians crossed the road before going ahead.

The wedding site was in a meadow that looked precious in the afternoon sunlight. The Swan-Mills family found their seats near Emma's parents. Charming immediately picked up his grandson and put him sitting on his lap, letting Sean play with his kiss as Snow run her fingers through his hair and told him how much they had missed him, even though they saw Sean two days ago.

Henry let them know that he was going to find Grace; apparently Jefferson didn't come to the wedding, which means they had lost Henry for the night. Emma let her gaze wander across the stage they had set up and smiled when she saw the amount of wildflowers that decorated the place.

Regina laced their fingers together, and rested her chin on Emma's shoulders, whispering in her ear, "Remember ours?"

Turning her head slightly towards her wife, and squeezing her fingers, Emma replied in a soft voice, "I'll never forget."

As the ceremony played out, both women kept their hands linked, Emma stroking circles with her thumb on the back of Regina's hand. Every so often, they'd make comments about the groom and bride, or their own wedding, but mostly they'd enjoy the chance to just be near each other. They didn't have much time anymore, if they were to be honest, to just be together.

In the past few years, after Coraline, they had grown apart, finding ways to heal themselves and that meant getting to a point where they'd avoid each other. After going back to being mayor, Regina worked as many hours as possible, locking herself in the study in the weekends. Emma had become obsessed with cooking in her spare time, which wasn't much, given she was also working overtime at the Sheriff's Station.

They still slept in the same bed and Emma still held Regina every time the pain got too much to bear, but they hadn't been together, with their hearts at ease, just enjoying each other in a long time.

And now that their hearts had healed and the scars weren't so sensitive, they had found Sean and nothing drained more energy than a toddler - sometimes Henry joked that Sean's bedtime was actually theirs, and if they were telling the truth, they did sleep right before Sean was out.

During the reception, Henry and Grace took care of Sean, taking him outside to play, feeding him his snacks and even changing his diapers once. Emma laughed as Regina raged against their son's girlfriend; she had a way with Sean and Henry looked at her very fondly, but Regina was all but calling the girl a whore.

"I should've known you'd be the jealous mom," Emma said between laughs and Regina turned around fast, with a dangerous look on her face, "What? You are!"

"You're confusing worry with jealousy. Have you seen how she can't keep her hands off Henry for more than five seconds?" the brunette looked back to see her son whispering something to Grace as she held Sean, "We have to talk to him. I have no plans of becoming a grandmother while I still have a toddler to take care of."

"They're probably not even doing it yet, I mean-"

"Don't." Regina cut Emma mid sentence, causing the blonde to grab her water and take a few sips to keep herself from laughing out loud. She had probably scared Regina for life, but she made a mental note to have a talk to Henry.

Regina had barely calmed herself down when Sean came running towards her and climbed on her lap, reaching for her cheek. "Sleepover grandma Henry too please," the words streamed out of his mouth, and Regina looked puzzled before Snow approached them.

"Sean wants to have a sleepover," Sean nodded as Snow explained, whispering 'Henry too' and turning for his grandmother to pick him up, "If it's okay with you."

His puppy eyes had Emma swooning and Regina sighed, nodding in agreement and smiling to Snow, "Of course. I'll have Henry take us home and bring back a change of clothes for them."

"I- I'll talk to him," Emma hurried to get Henry, knowing he'd get an earful if Regina got to him first. Warning about a future talk, she dragged Henry towards his other mom, "I know you'll sneak out to see Grace later tonight, so drop the puppy eyes. And seriously, kid, if you know what's good for you, you won't be kissing Grace in front of your mother."

This would be the first time Sean spent the night at his grandparents, so Regina was telling him to be a good boy and all the usual talk. He threw himself at her arms, squeezing her middle as hard as he could, and turned to do the same to Emma.

Handing Sean back to Snow and promising they'd be there first thing in the morning to pick them up, the three remaining members of the Swan-Mills family went back to the mansion. Within half an hour, they had gotten a backpack ready for Henry and Sean to spend the night and were saying good-bye to their little prince who already drove himself around town.

"So," Emma dragged out the word, kicking her heels out and leaving them when they fell as Regina locked the front door, "We're alone."

"Yes, we are," Regina sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "Do you think Sean will sleep through the night? I know Henry's there with him, but-"

"He'll be fine, I know it." Emma reassured before Regina went on a rant and decided to take the bug and go after her kids, "Sean loves my parents, and he'll be out like a light as soon as his head hits the pillow. The kid is exhausted."

Regina took off her heels as well, grabbing them between her fingers and putting them carefully on the shoe rack. "I highly doubt your mother will remember my indications, but it is way past his bedtime already." Making a distressed noise, Regina picked up Emma's shoes as well, putting them near her own.

"Is this your way to say I'm right?" Emma reached out for Regina's hand, smiling at how worried her wife was. The brunette let a huff of air come out in exasperation, but didn't deny it, "We can call them later to check up on the kids, if you want."

"Yes, that would be good." Regina took a few deep breaths, knowing she had nothing to worry, but worrying all the same - it had been the same when she had let Henry stay with Charming for the first time all those years ago.

Emma smiled and nodded, but her eyes were a shade darker than usual. She held her hips and backed them up until Regina's back softly hit the wall beside the front door, "What I'm saying is…" Emma said in a low voice, flushing her body against her wife's, staring at plump lips before meeting dark brown eyes again, "_We're alone._"

As the meaning of those words sunk into her brain, Regina raised an eyebrow in question. Her only answer was a smirk and soft lips pressing ever so gently against her own, feeling Emma's hand tracing a path up her body until she could bury it in chestnut locks, every move inciting goose bumps on her skin. Taking Emma's lower lip between her own and nibbling on it, Regina let her hands rest on the small of the other woman's back on their own accord, urging her close.

They haven't done this in what felt like forever. They did kiss ever so often, but the kisses were either light pecks or contained within their bedroom walls. Making out in the foyer happened only when Emma would sneak into the manor in the wee hours of the morning and desperately kiss Regina as soon as they were inside.

Regina felt Emma running the tip of her tongue across her lips, asking for passage that was gladly granted. As the blonde deepened the kiss, a soft moan escaped the brunette's throat, one of her hands leaving her back to grab Emma's cheek, pulling her impossibly close. Between Emma's tongue exploring her mouth like it was the first time and her hand turning into a fist in her hair, Regina could feel the blonde's nails digging into the soft fabric of her dress, right below her waist, threatening to tear it apart if she didn't get it from the way.

Letting out a small gasp of surprise, Regina pulled Emma by the waist as she felt her dress being raked up her legs just enough for the blonde's finger to find the soft skin of Regina's thigh, lazily running her nails against hot flesh. As Emma dragged her nails across her thigh and up the inner part of it, Regina broke the kiss, resting her lips on Emma's jaw and letting a throaty moan out.

Nails digging deeper and fingers coming closer to where Regina wanted them, she lifted a leg and wrapped around Emma's hips, tugging at blonde curls and bringing her other hand to explore the so familiar body. The brunette knew every dip and every curve, and she let her hand wander, running her fingers lightly the stomach and gently cupping a fabric covered breast. Feeling Emma leaning into her touch, Regina tightened her grip slightly as the blonde teasingly switched from her inner thigh to her hips and back again.

Regina couldn't say she wasn't enjoying the teasing, but she couldn't help the urge to just shove her hand down there and guide Emma to the right place. Instead, she decided she wanted to see more of her wife's skin.

Running her hands to the back of Emma's neck and noticing the disappointed huff of air that brushed her skin, Regina unzipped the dress and brought both her hands to help Emma get out of the dress. Taking the hint, Emma shrugged the dress out and kicked it aside, leaving Regina staring at her nude form, only a boy shorts keeping her from being completely naked. Regina's hands were on Emma before the blonde could register it, leaving out a surprised whine as the brunette ran a path with her nails from the waist until the side of her breasts, leaving goosebumps in its awake.

"You're so overdressed," Emma's voice was shaky with arousal as Regina took hold of her breasts again. Regina found herself thankful she had chosen a strapless dress, given it allowed her to lean in and flick her tongue over hard peaks as Emma unzipped her and let the dress fall to the ground. Emma threw her head back and moaned as Regina pinched the wet crest, making Regina smile in victory for a whole lot of two seconds before the blonde's hand desperately ran down her torso, finding the apex of her thighs.

As Emma put pressure on her touch, Regina bit her lip trying and failing to suppress a moan, throwing her head back in abandon. A dull thud echoed through the foyer as Regina's head made contact with the wall and her eyes popped open. Emma's eyebrows shot up and she used her free hand to caress the wounded spot, laughing softly as she asked, "Are you okay?"

The answer came in the form of a healthy bite on the blonde's jaw, as Regina made a trail of kisses until she got to her pulsing point, biting the flesh and then flicking her tongue over the marks she just made. Emma let out a strangled hiss of something between pain and pleasure, bringing both her hands under Regina's behind and lifting her up, pressing the brunette up against the wall.

Wrapping her legs around Emma's waist and her arms around her neck for balance, Regina threw her head back again, more carefully this time, as her center made contact with the blonde's belly, only her panties keeping her from feeling her wife's skin directly against her.

Emma leaned in and sucked on the hollow of her wife's throat, knowing she'd pay for leaving a mark but not finding within her to care when she could feel the vibrations as Regina moaned and laughed, "We do have a bedroom upstairs, dear," her voice hoarse and low.

"Hold tight," grunting as she adjusted her grip and started climbing the stairs. Regina couldn't help the groan the rose in her throat as Emma carried her to their bedroom, holding herself steady with a tight grip on her wife's hair. The groan wasn't solely because of the motion that made her hips meet Emma's stomach with every step - she was a grown woman being carried upstairs, and looking down, she could see the muscles on Emma's arms as she held Regina like she was lighter than a feather.

Emma's arms were definitely her weak spot.

Keeping herself busy by nibbling at the neck she was nuzzled in, Regina felt how Emma's steps faltered as she took her earlobe between her teeth, breathing praises in her ear and smiling in contentment as Emma's nails sunk deeper in her thighs.

When they got into the room, Emma was breathing heavily but somehow it looked like it had nothing to do with physical effort and more to do with arousal coursing through her veins. As if they had practiced it a thousand times before, Regina let go of blonde hair as soon as Emma motioned to toss her in bed, dropping herself softly onto the mattress and scooting up until her head fell on their pillows.

Taking in the hungry look Emma was giving her through hooded eyes, Regina smiled - she would never grow tired of that hunger, the same hunger that had been with them from day one. Knowing her eyes had the same look in them, Regina watched as Emma crawled up the bed slowly, flicking her tongue over hot flesh as she made her way to Regina, nibbling at inner thighs and running her tongue around her navel. Peppering kisses all the way until Regina's breasts, Emma kept her fingers pinching and massaging one breast as her mouth feasted in the other, sinking her teeth around the hard peak as Regina arched her torso to meet the blonde's mouth more fully, grabbing a fistful of the sheets under her.

As Emma let go with a pop of her mouth, Regina laughed softly and brought Emma up the bed to meet her eyes. The blonde flushed her body against her wife's, supporting herself by her forearms, both women moaning breathily as thighs intertwined and warm skin met.

Regina bunched blonde hair in her hand, keeping Emma's face free, and brought her free hand up to caress her cheek, letting her thumb draw circles over soft blushing skin. Her eyes were a darker green than usual and her lips were bruised, and Regina assumed her face had the same telltale signs of their lust.

Leaning in and taking Regina's lips in a soft kiss, Emma sighed into her mouth and Regina took it, sliding her lips against her wife's with such care and emotion she felt like she was going to melt away and into the kiss, that broke in favor of them to just take in each other in.

The path they walked on was never smooth, they were always tripping in their pride and principles, and different ideas and upbringings, but they found a balance between love and lust and white rage and deeply care. Years have passed since that fateful day when Henry brought Emma home, and they've grown to adapt and accept each other's flaws and tastes.

But then again, they found a bump, a mountain, in the road - the lost of their child had been the worst they've ever gone through together, and half the townsfolk whispered about them, throwing around guesses about how long until they split. And they almost did, countless times. It's not something easy to brush away, but they managed to get through it, always together.

And now, when they looked in each other's eyes, basking in one another's wild breathing and flushed skin, they saw everything. They saw how damaged they were, by their past, by their own actions, but they also saw how loved they were.

They were healing.

And as Emma took Regina's lips again and slid her tongue in her mouth, Regina grabbed her cheek more forcefully, realizing how long it's been since they had been together like this.

They never really stop having sex, except a few months when Regina was too physically and emotionally hurt to deal with anyone touching her and Emma locked herself inside her walls again. But their sex had become something to release tension and keep their basic needs sated.

This time felt different somehow - it felt like they were whole again, or as whole as they ever were.

Regina let a cry out of her throat when Emma let go of her lips, trying not to feel too overwhelmed with the painful burst of care and love crawling within every inch of her skin. Emma ran her fingers across the creamy skin of her neck, brushing her hair out of the way, and whispered in a husky voice, "Fuck, I've missed you."

A part of her brain told her to reply that she had always been there, but she knew what Emma meant and she couldn't help but reply in a whisper, "I have missed you too."

Giving another soft kiss on Regina's lips, Emma untangled herself from the brunette, kissing her jaw, flicking her tongue over the hollow of her throat and her collarbone. As she trailed open mouthed kisses down her torso, Regina felt her stomach muscles twitching and responding to every touch.

Regina lifted her hips when Emma hooked her fingers around lacy pants, easing the offending piece off of her legs. Sucking in a breath as Emma sunk her teeth on the soft flesh of her inner thigh, Regina squirmed in anticipation, feeling her belly heavy and hot as she took in the hungry look Emma had as she descended on Regina.

Fire spread through Regina's body and her hips bucked up as Emma's mouth closed around her bundle of nerves, sucking on it lightly and flicking her tongue, letting it go with a soft pop. Resting her head on her wife's inner thigh, Emma let her fingers play in the wet folds as Regina closed her eyes, letting herself simply feel.

Emma had a hand splayed out on her stomach, pinning Regina down as she tried to lift her hips to meet Emma's lips. Opening her eyes to shoot a glare down to Emma, Regina saw her playful smile and it only took another movement of hips for Emma to give Regina what she wanted. Grazing her teeth lightly over the sensitive flesh, causing Regina to shiver and curl her toes, Emma took the bundle of nerves in her mouth again.

The flick of her tongue over Regina made the brunette squirm under Emma's touch and let out a guttural moan, grabbing the sheets in her fist and shooting her other hand to blonde hair, urging her closer.

Taking the swaying hips as a clue, Emma slipped her fingers in. Regina frowned as if she were focusing on something and opened her mouth in a silent groan, lifting her back slightly from the mattress just to meet Emma's movements. Emma's fingers curled within Regina, hitting a spot that made the liquid warm sensation in her belly grow stronger.

Combined with the wonders Emma was working with her mouth, Regina doubted she'd last long.

And she desperately didn't want this to be over yet.

Pulling on Emma's hair, Regina brought her wife up, waiting for Emma to settle on her forearm before pulling her down for a kiss. Her fingers stilled as Regina tasted herself in Emma's mouth, they both moaned into the kiss that grew more and more desperate.

Moving her hips, Regina broke the kiss and gasped as Emma's fingers started moving again and the heel of her hand hit her nub just slightly, enough for the motion to take her breath away.

As she caught her breath, Regina looked at Emma through hooded eyes to find the woman's hips undulating on her thigh, hot breath touching her cheek with every soft pant. Untangling her hand from the sheets and her hair, Regina ran her hands down Emma's back, leaving soft red marks until the waistband of her underwear. Tugging at it and moving her hip once again, Regina felt Emma withdrawing her fingers and contained a whine when Emma's warmth left her as the blonde stepped aside to kick her underwear away.

They were blessfully naked, feeling each other's skin as Emma returned to her position, leaning in to kiss Regina, bruising her lips and breaking the kiss as their breath got too laboured.

Emma was straddling Regina's thigh, making wave like movements that incited soft gasps and groans as the blonde relearned what felt good and how their bodies fit together. Regina could feel her wetness soaking her thigh and as Emma supported herself on her hands for a better balance, Regina traced her body as if it was the first time she's ever seen Emma.

Her fingers traced the hollow of Emma throat and her collarbones, finding her breasts and massaging them, gripping the hard peaks in between her fingers before letting it go, basking in the sight before her - Emma with her eyes closed, head thrown back, golden curls falling around her shoulders as her movements got more frantic.

Running her nails down Emma's stomach, Regina gripped her hips and stilled her swaying. Emma looked down through hooded eyes, dark with desire but tainted with worry, thinking that maybe it was too much for the brunette. But Regina reached for a kiss and pulled Emma's hips up slightly, just enough for her to slide a hand in between them.

Trapping her bottom lip between her lips, Regina bit down teasingly as her fingers lost themselves in Emma's folds, finding her bundle of nerves and massaging it roughly, delighting in the guttural sound Emma made before falling to her forearms.

Regina deepened the kiss, sucking on Emma's tongue as she slid her fingers in, swallowing the blonde's moan and rejoicing with how Emma met her fingers and swayed her hips. Regina was so focused on looking at the subtle changes in her wife's face as she hit one spot or another that she missed when the blonde leaned on a forearm and dragged her hand back to the apex of Regina's thighs.

Keeping up with her movements, Emma entered Regina, feeling her wetness had grown and a sigh left her lips, enjoying the feeling and the knowledge she was the one who had caused it. Taken almost by surprise, Regina let out a gasp, arching her back and moving her hips so her nub was against the heel of Emma's hand.

Biting her lip and throwing her head back, Regina dig her nails on Emma's side as the blonde leaned in and twisted the heel of her hand, drawing a hiss from her wife. As her hips pushed against the hand within her, Regina felt Emma rocking against her hand, meeting the movements of her fingers that curled and uncurled within her, sending sparks of pleasure through her entire body.

Emma leaned in, resting her head on her forearm, her breathing heavy and hot on Regina's ears, and as her movements grew more frantic, she used her thigh against her hand to push harder and deep against Regina. At the added pressure, Regina arched her back again, squirming under Emma's touch and letting out a cry of pleasure.

They were both covered in a thin layer of sweat, their movements growing frantic and their breathing laboured, and as Emma's fingers went deeper and Regina's hand pressed harder, both women felt their scars becoming fainter and fainter.

Feeling Emma twist her hand and curl her fingers without stilling her movements, Regina fell over the edge and cried out Emma's name as she arched her back from the bed, her walls clenching hard around the still moving fingers as she came down from her high.

Watching Regina's face crumbling and falling apart in pure bliss, Emma came undone herself, her movements erratic as she rode her frenzy until she was left spent and unable to keep herself up any longer. Falling on top of Regina, Emma playfully bit the soft skin at the base of the neck she was nuzzled in as the brunette soothed the marks she had made in the fair skin of the other woman's back.

As they both withdraw their hands from each other, Regina giggled softly, running her fingers down Emma's back and to her behind, feeling the blonde squirm on top of her. Emma laughed softly and rolled to the mattress, trapping Regina's legs in between hers. The smile remained on both of their faces as Emma tangled her fingers in brown locks and pulled Regina to a soft and slow kiss, the kind where you pour all the emotions when words fail.

When they broke apart, Regina let an arm fall around Emma's waist as the snuggled in the blonde's arms, wondering if this feeling of absolute trust and awe would last, hoping it would. Pulling Regina closer, Emma drew lazy patterns on her wife's back, feeling as the muscles responded to her touch and Regina moved plump lips to rest on the blonde's collarbone.

"Want to call Henry?" Emma's voice was hoarse and tired as she shifted in bed to grab the phone and wiggle it in front of a mostly asleep Regina.

Untangling herself from her wife, Regina sat up on her ankles, grabbing the phone from Emma and running a hand on her hair as she dialed her son's number and putting it on speaker. After making sure Sean was "out as a light" and that he was watching a movie with his grandparents - "Grace went home" Henry had mentioned in a shaky voice and Emma all but snorted - Regina hung up and tossed the phone to the floor, carelessly in a way she wouldn't normally be.

Crawling on all fours, Regina hovered over Emma, lowering her head to nibble on the blonde's belly, "Would you like something to eat?"

Emma snorted at the phrasing, knowing her wife meant well since her stomach was actually growling, but decided to twist its meaning and position Regina on her knees, one on each side of Emma's head, her hands holding on to the bed as Emma bit down softly on her inner thigh

* * *

Disposing her purse and a stack of paperwork on the foyer table, Regina rubbed her temples, willing her headache to stay at bay.

In days like this, when she had to bring home all the files she hadn't been able to get through during her work day that had already extended until evening, she had to remind herself that she actually took joy in running a town she had created from scratch. Most days, revising budget reports, taking in consideration of all requests from the various departments in town and watching money being well spent made her heart pound with a sense of purpose she hadn't been able to feel before Storybrooke. But she had made plans with Emma and Sean to go get ice cream after daycare, and she had to watch her wife leave with their son in her arms, those big pleading eyes looking at her from under his curls - they had to take him out for a haircut soon - barely fighting back tears when she said she couldn't go with them.

Today she hated being mayor.

Emma and Sean were still out - Emma had sent her a picture with Sean covered in chocolate ice cream, only five minutes ago - and Henry had soccer practice and he usually went to Granny's after with his teammates. She was alone in her manor with a pile of paperwork waiting for her - she could use a drink before tackling the new project she was sent.

Kicking out her heels and settling them neatly near the wall, Regina let her toes stretch and rolled her feet to loosen the muscles, before walking in her stocking into her office. The foyer light cast a soft glow in the path she had to walk until she found her whiskey, so she didn't bother turning the lights on. Gods knew she could use a moment in near darkness, nursing alcohol and enjoying her expensive leather couch.

She was reaching for the tumbler when she heard a noise, almost a squeak, coming from the middle of the room. Forgetting the whiskey for a moment, she tiptoed until she was near the couch, eyes squinting through the darkness. Regina decided a little fire was in need - she could use the light to see the intruder and, if needed, throw a fireball into the bastard's face.

With a fireball hovering her open hand in a split second, Regina had already concocted a very detailed plan to murder whoever dared to invade her home when the fire cast a golden light on a mess of limbs and brown hair she was all too familiar with.

"Henry?" Regina yelped, her voice coming out high and loud. Her manners forgotten due the shock of finding her sixteen-year-old son lying on top of someone on her couch, Regina all but ran towards the two teenagers who scrambled to their feet.

Running a hand through his messy hair - Regina was fuming at the mere thought it was messy because that _girl_ had her hands in it -, Henry tugged at his shirt, finding his voice after a few beats, "Huh, mom?" he eyed the fireball still glowing, and getting bigger as she glared at the girl trying to fix her ruined braid. Regina dropped her hand and curled it in a fist, turning the light on with a flick of her hand, "What are you doing home?"

His indignated voice put her on edge, and she decided he would be grounded until he graduated - with his PhD. Her body was shaking, and Henry reaching out for Grace's hand did nothing to calm her down. She knew that she should be proud of him for the gesture, but it only served to make her angrier.

"I'm the one who should be asking questions here." Regina said through gritted teeth, squinting her eyes as if her glare alone would be enough to set both of them on fire, "Let's start with why was your hand under Grace's shirt?"

Henry's jaw dropped, and he tried to find a reasonable excuse where there was none. His mother had walked into her making out with his girlfriend - that's almost as bad as it can get. "I'm-" he tried to come up with something on the spot, but wasn't able to do much except open and close his mouth like a fish.

Grace took a small step forwards, gesturing vaguely with her free hand, ignoring the way Regina's eyes were still locked in the joined hands, "Mrs. Mills, I am _so_ sorry, we weren't-"

"It's Mrs. Swan-Mills," Regina squinted her eyes, barely believing that girl had the nerve to talk, "And you're lucky I'm not calling your dad, young lady!"

Henry enlaced Grace's waist, almost trying to protect her from his mother's wrath. He shot Regina a disappointed look, but she was too busy trying to keep herself from sending Grace to Wonderland to mind his grimaces.

Before she had time to concoct some devious plan against his son's girlfriend, a tiny body collided against her leg, its weight barely enough to take her eyes from the almost visibly shaking girl in front of her. But she did lower her gaze to find soft curls brushing against her knee, a tiny hand clinging to her skirt.

"Mommy, we missed you!" Sean squealed around a mouthful of ice cream. She felt a smile creeping in her frown when she saw how her son had chocolate ice cream all over his shirt and cheeks, now rubbing against her tights, a cone poorly held in his free hand.

Her momentary peace was short lived when a mess of blonde hair rushed inside to her the toddler on a loose, only to come to a stop right beside Regina, her eyes growing wide.

"_Crap,_ kid," Emma all but grunted, acting almost like she's the one who had been caught. Her hands found her hair and she ducked her head when Henry shot her a Regina like glare.

"Ma!" his tone was accusatory, and Regina heard the exchange with her hand buried in Sean's hair, focusing on how long it had gotten and trying to keep herself grounded, "You said mom wouldn't be home!"

Regina turned her head up and towards Emma so fast one could swear her neck would snap, but Emma barely noticed it as she leaned over Henry - not a mean feat, since he was taller than her -, "And I also told you to be careful," pointing her finger to her oldest son's chest, she lowered her voice to almost a whisper, although fully conscious her wife could hear her, "Tell me how is making out with your girlfriend in _her damn office_ being careful"

"You were a part of this?" finally finding her voice, Regina was fuming. She barely felt Sean letting go of her and dropping himself in a corner nearby to enjoy what was left of his ice cream - smart boy knew when he had just been caught between cross fire, but living with over a hundred other kids will do that to you.

"Regina, _please_." Emma all but dismissed her wife, being too busy scolding their dumb son to notice how her eyes were nearly turning purple with her efforts to keep magic in. The blonde turned to Henry, who was now putting himself in front of Grace in a defensive fashion, "I said you could bring her here, but _kid, under the covers._ Maybe skip soccer practice next time and you two go be alone somewhere your mother doesn't cover over first thing after a long day. Are you even sure you've lived with her for sixte-"

"Why, what are you suggesting, Emma?" Regina cut her mid phrase, her hand waving wildly as she kept her position so regal she looked every bit of the Evil Queen she once was, "That they should have moved it upstairs? Maybe to his bedroom?"

Regina had her lips crushed into a thin line, she was a jealous overprotective mother and she knew it, but that didn't make any of this okay; Emma was somewhat in a trance, having just realized what she had said, in front of whom she had said it. Henry and Grace were pretty much just bracing themselves to whatever Regina had planned for them. Sean was the only one who seemed unaffected by the whole affair, having finished his ice cream cone and licked it all from his fingers, he had gotten to running in a circles around every occupant in the room.

Emma sensed there was nothing she could say to deny the truth behind her words, so she shrugged in a guilty fashion, barely daring to look at her wife, "Well…"

All the calm Regina had managed to feign so far left her, and she turned fully to Emma, her voice loud and stern, "Ms. Swan, may I remind you how fun it is to have a baby in your teens?"

Deep down, Regina knew she was crossing a line. But after finding out her wife had been plotting with their son so he could have sex with his girlfriend, she didn't care. She knew Emma's story and knew she and Neal were in a completely different environment and emotional place than Henry and Grace - that thought didn't keep a shiver from running down her spine at the thought of being a grandmother, of Henry ruining his chances to become all that he had potential to be because of a _baby_ he was not even nearly ready to have.

"_Jesus_, Regina." Emma turned to her wife, reaching out for her arm. Regina allowed the touch, but that didn't do her any good. "They weren't doing anything, just… Calm down."

Taking a deep steadying breath, Regina glared at Emma with a hurt the blonde hadn't seen in a while, "Do _not _tell me to calm down." Leaning down, Regina reached for Sean, who was currently playing with Grace's shoelaces, "Come on, baby, let's get you clean and ready to bed," swooping Sean up and holding him to her hip with one arm, pointing her free hand to Henry, she narrowed her eyes accusatively, "And when I come back, you better be fast asleep in your own bed _by yourself_, or so help me, Henry." Sean had his sticky hands on her hair. but she didn't mind. In that moment, she welcomed the innocence and warmth of her youngest as she strode away from the room, "And we'll talk later, Ms. Swan"

Henry kept his hand linked with Grace's as he reached for Regina, "Mom, it's not even eight-"

"Kid, just don't," Emma swatted his hand away, letting Regina walk away.

Deciding to focus only on the toddler blowing raspberries on her neck as they walked upstairs, she forced herself to let go of this whole situation for now. She was fully aware that Henry was a teenager with hormones overflowing his system and she knew he and Grace did a bit more than talking when they went on dates, but that didn't mean she wouldn't hold on for dear life to the thought that her son was still too young to be doing anything other than reading fairy tale books.

Regina filled the tub as Sean stripped down to his birthday suit, holding his hands in front of his privates. Emma and her had had the bees and birds talk with him a few weeks prior, and that was still fresh on his mind. Regina found it adorable how he'd cover himself, even though he was only now being potty trained. When she deemed the water lukewarm enough for him to get inside, Regina smiled at him and helped him in the water.

His giggles and squeals made her forget for a few moment how her little prince had grown up, and she focused on washing Sean's hair as he went on a long babbled story about his ship that kept going under water and flying for no reason. Regina enjoyed bath time more than Sean himself, but the water had such a calming effect on him he'd be nuzzling on her neck by the time she got him dry, and she had to all but hold him upright as he brushed his teeth. As they walked towards his room, Sean wrapped up in a hooded towel and sucking lazily on his thumb, Regina all wet from playing with him, she secretly wished he'd stay tiny forever.

Changing him into his Elmo pajamas and brushing his hair, Regina let him play with her hair, barely registering it was still sticky from the ice cream he had rubbed on it. As she tucked him in, knowing he'd be out as a light before she could even reach for a book, she whispered against his forehead, "What do you say about a bedtime story?"

"Yes, please," he mumbled, almost forgetting half the letters as he curled up, resting his head on Regina's lap.

Rubbing his back, Regina started telling him a story, her voice soothing, lulling him to sleep, "Once upon a time, there was a Queen who searched the land for a little boy to be her prince. She found him, her little prince, who lightened up her dark, dark days; she also found a Savior to be with her and with their little prince. And they lived happily, their little family grew and grew, they had a princess and a tiny prince, and their home was the one with the happiest of families."

Feeling her breath catch on her throat as she told Sean the same story she had once told a crying Henry, Regina could say she liked the updated version better, even though she'd give everything to have their princess with them.

Shaking the tears away, she kept on going with the story, "But there was still an evil out there lurking - an evil witch cast a spell on him, and the Queen was losing her little prince as the witch took him away from her."

Before she could finish the story - she wasn't sure where she was going with it, anyway -, Sean grabbed her hand and put it on his cheek, "It's okay, mommy," he was sleepy, his voice barely making it all the way to her ears, "The tiny prince will never grow up and will never leave the beautiful Queen."

It took Regina more than a moment to understand Sean's sleepy mumbling, and even longer for her to keep her tears at bay. Even if she was reading too much into it, she took comfort in the fact that, yes, her tiny prince would stay with her for a long, long time before some bewitched creature took him away.

She didn't even get to finish her story, too overwhelmed to keep going and knowing it would be pointless, since Sean's breath had become deep and even, her tiny prince long gone. Waiting a few minutes before getting up to make sure he was out for the night, Regina adjusted his covers around him and kissed his head, pulling the side of his crib up to keep him from falling.

Regina descended the stairs with a lazy smile on, her heart warm with such innocent love she got from Sean. She wasn't used to it, she would never get used to how good it felt being the center of a child's world. In the haze of giggles and Sean's soap scent, Regina forgot for a moment she was supposed to check on Henry, making sure he was asleep, but as she got to the kitchen, her annoyance and anger came back with full force.

Finding her wife with a beer bottle in her hand and pretending she didn't see the other two empty bottles near her, Regina leaned against the counter, crossing her arms on her chest and giving the blonde in front of her a stare down that would reduce most people into insignificant nothings. Emma did nothing but push a tumbler of whiskey towards Regina before taking another sip of her beer.

"We're drinking?" Regina asked, her eyebrow raised.

Emma shrugged and took a swig of her beer to make her point, "You're gonna lecture me anyway, so I might as well have some beer if I can't catch the game."

Sighing deeply in annoyance, Regina felt a vicious feeling creeping in, and she couldn't quite name it. She grabbed the whiskey, tossed it in a slide across the kitchen island, where Emma was now standing, and it stopped near the edge.

"What were you _thinking?_" Regina slapped the counter, almost startling Emma and ignoring her attempts to explain, "You clearly _weren't_ thinking, and correct me if I'm wrong, but our son is sixteen years old. I have no intention of him fathering a child before he's a fully grown adult."

"Jezz," Emma rolled her eyes at how dramatic Regina was being in this whole situation, "They were making out. That's it, it's not like they were doing it on your couch."

"And, please enlighten me, what's is the usual occurrence that follows _making out_?" Regina was livid and she was almost reaching for the whiskey, but she was too focused on screaming at Emma, "What do you _think_ would've have happened if I hadn't come home?"

"You have "the talk" with him every few months," Emma made quotation marks in the air, "And I'm sure the videos you showed him made the kid scared of sex. If that didn't work, I got him condoms, so-"

"You did what?!" Regina all but yelled, getting closer to her wife with the clear intent of scaring her by getting into her personal space, "Ms. Swan, Henry is a _child._"

"Not a child," Emma said nonchalantly and took another gulp from her beer before saying with a smirk, "And you do realize we're married, right? And I changed my name?"

Without waiting a heartbeat, Regina leaned in, vociferating rather than talking to her wife, "He has no business dating, he is too young. He was talking about fairy tales until a few months ago! I have no idea why we even let him date that girl."

Emma was almost enjoying the conversation, seeing that Regina was almost clearly losing it at the mere thought of her baby boy growing up, "What happened to you, woman? Those fairy tales are real, remember, Queen Regina?" Emma bit her cheek to hide a wide grin as Regina narrowed her eyes to her, "And they like each other. It's better that we let him date her and bring her here than having the both of them sneak out."

"But _Emma_, he's a teenager." Regina backed a little and ran her fingers through her hair. She had some experience with raising teenagers, after all, she had been the one to explain all the whys and hows to Snow when she hit a certain age, but that didn't mean she was ready to be the mother of a teenage boy, "His hormones are all over the place-"

"You're kinda making my point."

Regina ignored her wife completely, "- and I'm aware of the changes he's going through but that cannot happen. And how could you allow that? Knowing how hard it was when you found out you were pregnant, how could you do that?" Regina was frantic, her voice high pitched and loud, "And, above all, how could you go behind my back like that?"

As Emma drank her words, Regina realized what that nagging feeling was - she felt betrayed, for the one person who's supposed to be by her side, be her partner in all things.

"Regina..." Emma reached out for her wife's arm, who pressed herself against the counter and out of her reach, "I didn't-"

"You did, Emma, you went behind my back and plotted with our son!" Regina all but screeched at Emma, the hurt suddenly feeling too much. She knew that 'plotted' was a too strong word, given they were talking about Henry's sex life, but that didn't keep the feeling from rotting her insides a little, "Do you have a reason to question how I've been raising Henry for sixteen years? Do you think the way-"

Regina's rant was cut short by Emma's lips pressing against hers. Regina's hand went to her hair, fisting blonde curls tight, almost as if she wanted to rip them out. Feeling her wife's body flush against hers, Regina let out a gasp as Emma's thigh found itself in between her legs.

"You taste like beer," Regina tried to snicker and make her complaint believable, but she more often than not kissed Emma after she drank it, finding the taste almost intoxicating.

Looking at her under hooded eyes, Emma held her in place by settling her hands beside her hips on the counter "I don't see you complaining."

Regina ducked her head to capture Emma's mouth again, and she ran her tongue across plump lips, asking for entrance that was quickly granted. They had been more caring about each other lately, and with that came longer touches and deeper kisses, and the eventual make out session in semi-public places had once again become something they did.

Feeling Emma pressing herself harder against her, Regina twisted her hand in her hair, making Emma gasp in a mix of pain and pleasure. Emma answered in kind, one of her hands trailing down the pressed blouse and all the way to the rim of Regina's pencil skirt.

Emma dropped her mouth to her wife's collarbone, peppering kisses until she made it to her earlobe, trailing the tip of her tongue under it before whispering, "Remind me, what comes after a make out session?"

Regina chuckled against Emma's cheek, her laugh turning into a barely restrained moan as she felt nails raking across her inner thigh, all but ripping her stockings. Regina couldn't care less about her undergarments as Emma reached under her skirt and around her thigh to cup her ass, shamelessly clutching one cheek in her hand.

Reaching with her free hand under Emma's shirt, Regina felt her taut stomach reacting to her touch. Her head was empty, filled with nothing but how good Emma felt against her and she barely realized how she lifted her leg to hook it over Emma's waist.

Kissing Emma's jaw, Regina was about to grab her wife's free hand and guide her to where she wanted it when she heard footsteps. But Emma's ministrations on her neck kept her from thinking about what that could mean, let alone act upon it.

A sound did make them tear apart faster than lightning.

"Ehw," Henry drew the last letter for the longest time, his face twisting in a disgusted expression as both women tried to look like they hadn't been caught in the same position their son had been so scolded for earlier "Nevermind getting milk, where's the bleach?"

Regina composed herself first, hands on her hips as if Henry had never walked in on them, "You're supposed to be asleep."

"I was hungry," Henry said, his slightly disgusted growing to a grimace, as he stuck his tongue out like he was gagging, "Nevermind, I don't need to eat. I'll- I'll go back and- I'm-"

Shivering from head to toe, Henry walked towards his bedroom dragging his sock clad feet, his hands in fists on his pajamas. He was probably as traumatized as Regina had been, but he didn't have the right to claim they were doing anything wrong. As they heard his door lock, Regina let out a sigh and shook her head, feeling Emma's arms wrapping her up in a comforting embrace.

Regina couldn't see Emma's face, as the blonde had buried her head in her wife's neck, but she could swear the other woman was smiling when she whispered against her skin, "Guess we're even."


End file.
