We May Not Have Yesterday, But At Least We Have Tomorrow

Chapter Eleven

She chose a red dress, modest enough to cover her chest, but exposes her arms in a way she hopes will have Emma begging to see more. There's a flare at the bottom, her waist wrapped with a simple gold belt and because it's so chilly outside, she decided on black pantyhose with her black heels that will have her towering over Emma. She needs to feel confident for this, in control, so exceeding her date's height will hopefully do the trick.

However, Emma showed up in a black leather dress with her perfectly sculpted arms exposed as well, the leather fitting her body like a glove and completely throwing Regina off kilter. Now, Regina's never seen Emma in dressy heels before but these were at least five inches, stealing Regina's goal for height. Emma has an inch on her now but truth be told, she doesn't mind as Emma places her hand at the small of her back and escorts her through a dimly lit Italian restaurant.

There's a black cloth draped above the round table with a small candle burning in the middle, setting the mood for intimacy. Emma pulls out her chair, which absolutely doesn't make Regina blush. A bottle of red wine is brought over immediately and poured, along with bread that is still hot and smells delicious.

"I must say, I'm impressed," Regina compliments, scanning her menu that is very much in Italian.

"Well, I can't take all the credit," Emma confesses, sipping her wine while Regina arches a curious eyebrow her way.

"Don't say your mother-"

"No, no," Emma sputters through a deep chuckle, quickly setting down her wine glass. "You. I have to give you the credit because this is where you took me on our first date. I wanted to come here as like a remembrance of that night. I don't necessarily want to recreate it but since you don't remember..." she's rambling, a blushing, nervous mess, so Regina reaches across the table to place her hand on top of hers.

"Thank you, I love it."

"Great," her date breathes out a sigh of relief. "Also, I still don't know what the menu says, so if you can order for me like last time, that would be great."

Regina's stomach warms from how much thought and effort went into planning tonight. Not only to make the evening special for Regina but to also plant those lost memories back into Regina's mind.

"I know just the thing," she confidently states and when the waiter comes back, she orders raviolis for herself and chicken parmesan for Emma.

"So, how was your first day with the kids?" And bless Emma's heart for acknowledging how Regina views her life and situation instead of just blatantly ignoring her feelings considering she is supposedly with the children every day.

"Everything went well. I did have a little hiccup with the girls." Emma nods along like she suspected this even though Regina has seen them on their best behavior the last few days. "Henry helped out though and now I know purple is Hope's color and red is Autumn's."

Emma winces in the middle of sipping her wine. "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, I should have mentioned but I was a little distracted with making you feel comfortable. Was there hair pulling?"

Regina's stunned for a moment before she realizes Emma is just teasing her. "Thankfully not but there was a tug-of-war."

"The girls are very different and want to be seen as two individuals. They love each other and will fight anyone who double-crosses their sister but it kind of bothers them being viewed as twins. Just don't ever mixed up Ellie, who is Hope's elephant and Autumn's giraffe, Pinky."

"Well, I will keep that in mind. Do you think one is more similar to your personality than the other?" She inquires because now that she's accepting that this is her new life now, she wants to know everything about her children.