Emma took a long drink from her water bottle before she continued. It was their last full day on Sicily and she and Henry had decided to climb a little way up Mount Erice. The sun was blazing hot, sweat dripping steadily down her back as they made their way up the winding, narrow path. Henry had gone on ahead, his limber body tackling the climb with ease. When at last Emma caught him up, he was sitting on a large flat rock near the edge of the path where the trees thinned, affording the hikers a stunning view of the countryside beyond.
"Wow," Emma said as she sat down heavily beside Henry and swung her bag from her shoulder.
"Not bad, right?" Henry said. "Look, I think that's Zelena's villa."
He pointed to the left where a pale orange roof peeked through the tree tops. The sparkling circle of blue beyond and a glint of red jeep told Emma that they were indeed looking down on Regina's cousin's house. She wondered briefly what the two women would be doing, having chosen to opt out of their walk in favour of a more relaxed morning.
"Have you had a nice time this week?" Emma asked Henry as she pulled out two cereal bars and handed him one.
"It's been amazing," he grinned. "Definitely one of the best holidays of my life."
"Me too," Emma nodded.
They fell silent again, looking out over the horizon. Both Swans were lost in their own thoughts and it wasn't until Henry asked the question that Emma realised they were both reliving the same memories.
"Dad would have loved Sicily," Henry murmured. "Do you think he's watching us now?"
"I think he's watching us all the time," Emma nodded. She wasn't religious per se but she did believe that Neal was somewhere, looking out for her and their son.
"What do you think he'd say about you and Regina?" Henry asked.
Emma paused before answering. It had been a question she had asked herself several times over the past few months.
"You dad wanted me to be happy," she said at last. "I don't think he ever imagined me starting a relationship with a woman but he wanted me to move on after he died. I hope he'd be happy because I've found someone whom I love and who loves me."
"I think he'd like Regina," Henry said. "They'd have so much fun talking about the history of the RAF. Do you remember how that was all Dad talked about after he came back from that seminar one summer?"
Emma chuckled. "It took him a week to realise he had bored the two of us stupid with all those facts about World War Two and the bombings. I mean, it's an interesting topic for a couple of hours or so but he just went on and on about it. I found his passion adorable actually, if a little intense after a while."
Henry laughed too. "I still remember some of those statistics he told us. I was only ten I think."
"Maybe you'll be able to shoehorn them into one of your essays for your GCSEs," Emma suggested. "He'd love that."
"That would be tricky since we're not studying World War Two," Henry remarked.
"Never back down from a challenge," Emma said. "You can do anything you set your mind to even if it seems impossible when you first think of it." As she spoke, Emma gazed off towards the ocean, her face thoughtful. Henry noticed, of course.
"Is … is there something you want to talk to me about, Mum?"
Emma turned to Henry and looked into his eyes, so like his father's. She felt her own fill with tears.
"Mum?" Henry asked, alarmed at the glistening sadness before him. "What is it?"
"It's nothing bad, Henry," Emma assured, quickly wiping her eyes before the tears spilled from them.
"Then why are you crying?"
"Emotions," Emma shrugged. "Thinking about your dad and then the future I suppose."
"Your future with Regina?" Henry asked.
"Yes," Emma nodded. "We've had a lot of time to think this holiday and, well, we've decided that we want to raise this child together."
"Like co-parenting?"
"Precisely. This baby will have two mums, essentially."
"Does that mean Regina's moving in with us?" Henry said.
"Not exactly," Emma said. "She's actually asked us to move in with her."
It had happened the previous night. The two women were lying in bed, satiated after a long, slow, passionate love making session when Regina had rolled onto her side and told Emma she wanted them all to live under one roof when they returned.
"I mean, it's just been so nice this past week having the three of us in the same house. I want that back home. I want our baby to have us all together, in a proper family home. I can't imagine raising this child between two houses. I want you and Henry to move into the cottage with me," Regina had said.
"I want that too," Emma assured. "But -,"
"You need to talk to Henry first," Regina finished for her. "I know."
"I haven't even told him about the co-parenting yet," Emma said, pulling Regina's body towards her and kissing her lips softly. "But I will. Tomorrow, before we leave."
And sat halfway up a mountain-side, Emma was now looking at her son, watching as he processed the information he had just been given. Emma knew that her relationship with Regina had caused some monumental changes to Henry's life and she was worried that the latest might prove to be one too many. As she watched, however, his face broke into a wide smile.
"Can I get a dirt bike?"
"What?" Emma asked, frowning at the bizarre question.
"The fields behind Regina's cottage would be perfect for dirt biking. And she has a garage to keep it in and I promise I'd take really good care of it."
"Is that a condition of you agreeing to this?" Emma asked. "Me agreeing to buy you a death trap?"
"What?" Henry said, frowning himself now. "No! I just thought it might make a good sixteenth birthday present."
"So … I'm confused," Emma admitted. "Are you on board with what I've just said to you?"
"If it makes you happy, then of course I am," Henry said with a smile. "I mean, Regina's cottage is way nicer than our house and yes, it's a little bit further from town but it wouldn't take too long on my bike. Plus her spare bedroom has an ensuite. Or is that going to be the baby's?" he asked, faltering.
"No, no. She wants the small room next to the master to be the nursery. You're more than welcome to the ensuite bedroom."
"Sweet!" Henry grinned. "When did you guys think we would move?"
"Are … are you really ok with this, Henry?" Emma said. "I know it's not going to be easy for you. I mean, Regina is your history teacher and then once the baby comes along there's going to be screaming and nappies and crying and breast-feeding."
"Gross," Henry exclaimed.
"Henry," Emma said slowly. "Are you sure you're ok with this?"
"Are you ok with it?" Henry countered.
"What? Of course I am."
"Ok," Henry shrugged. "It just seemed like you were almost trying to put me off so you could get out of what you've said to Regina. If you want to back out of this co-parenting agreement, do it for yourself, not for me."
"I'm not backing out of anything, Henry," Emma assured. "But as your mother I do need to make sure you understand the impact this will have on you. There'll be lots of good things too: help with your history homework, a nicer, bigger house, an ensuite, and a little brother or sister for you to play with. But it will also be hard at times and it will be a big change for all of us."
"I know," Henry said. "And I'm more than happy to move in with Regina if she is what makes you happy. I know you love her, Mum. I love her too. And I'm really glad you found each other. If moving in with Regina and bringing up this baby as a family is what you both want, then I want that too."
Emma blinked back tears as she gazed at her wonderful, compassionate, understanding son.
"When did you get so wise?" she asked as she pulling him into a hug.
Henry didn't answer, he just hugged his mother back. Everything he had said had been true. He did love Regina and he loved how happy she made his mother. The idea of a screaming baby waking him up at night wasn't the rosiest prospect but the knowledge that it would sort of be his brother or sister made him smile. Yes, Henry thought, moving in as a family would suit him quite nicely.
~
"Regina, can I get a dirt bike?" Henry asked as soon as he walked out in the garden three hours later.
The brunette looked up from the book she had been reading on the sun lounger and frowned. "A dirt bike?"
"Yeah," Henry nodded. "Those fields behind your house would be awesome to practice in but Mum said I can't have one."
"So why are you asking me?" Regina frowned, sitting up and adjusting her sunhat so the rays didn't hit her face.
"Because that's what kids do. They ask one parent for something first and when they say no they ask the other."
"The other?" Regina said, her heart beating faster.
"Yeah," Henry nodded. "I mean, if you and Mum are raising this baby together then I think that makes you my mum too."
Regina opened and closed her mouth several times before a garbled sound came out. Henry bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself laughing at the flabbergasted expression before him. As soon as he heard Emma's giggles from behind him however, he couldn't hold back any more. A peel of laughter escaped him, drawing Zelena's attention from where she had ben planting some green beans at the end of the garden. Emma emerged to join her son, the two Swans leaning on each other in fits of laughter. Regina looked no less confused.
"Your face was priceless," Emma gasped.
"That … that was a joke?" Regina asked, her cheeks flushed with anger and panic and a myriad of other emotions.
"Yep," Henry said proudly. It had been his idea after all.
"It wasn't funny," Regina growled.
"Oh come on," Emma said crossing to her girlfriend and sitting down beside her, an arm around her shoulders. "It was quite funny."
"I thought … I believed -,"
"You thought I was going to start calling you Ma?" Henry asked, still chuckling.
Regina blushed. She knew it was stupid to expect a fifteen year old boy to accept a new mother figure in that way. If Henry had been five things would have been different. But he wasn't and he could still remember his father vividly. Not that Regina was trying to replace Neal, of course.
"I … I'm not sure what I thought," Regina admitted, her heart rate slowly returning to normal.
"Regina," Henry said, crossing to the two women and sitting on the lounger next to them. "Mum told me about you asking us to move in with you and I think it's a great idea."
"You do?" Regina asked, now doubting her own ability to detect when people were lying to her.
"I do," Henry nodded. "And no, I'm not about to start calling you Ma but I do think you and Mum are great together. This baby is lucky to have both of you as its mothers just as I'm lucky to be part of this family."
Regina burst into tears. Henry looked alarmed.
"Hormones," Emma muttered as she gathered the sobbing woman into her arms and rocked her gently backwards and forwards.
"Can I do anything to help?" Henry asked.
"Some water?" Emma suggested. "And perhaps no more emotional talk for today."
Henry nodded and stood to get the drink. Before he returned, Zelena appeared, frowning when she saw the tears streaming down Regina's face.
"Gina?" Zelena asked, sitting down next to her cousin at once. "What's wrong?"
"I … I love ….," she hiccupped, "Emma and," hic, "Henry."
"Huh?" the redhead frowned, looking to Emma for an explanation.
"Regina and I have decided to move in together when we get back to England. I told Henry today and he has given his blessing, in a way."
"Ohhh," Zelena said, nodding her head in understanding. "Well, congratulations then little cousin."
"Thank you," Regina sniffed, raising her head and wiping her eyes just as Henry emerged with a glass of water.
"So, about that dirt bike," the teenager grinned.
"No," Emma and Regina replied in unison.
Henry scowled.
~
Dinner that night was filled with laughter and Regina couldn't remember being as happy as she was sat beside Emma, with Zelena and Henry opposite her, and a succulent spread of food on the table. Whatever had happened, whatever was to come, she knew that in that moment she was one of the luckiest people on the world. Emma's arm was draped casually around the back of her chair, fingers brushing absentmindedly across the bare skin of her arm. Henry and Zelena were engaged in an enthusiastic discussion about dinosaurs. The remains of a previously unknown species had recently been uncovered on the island, fossilised in some lava from an eruption of Mount Etna tens of thousands of years ago. Henry was adamant that the new beast would have been no match for a Tyrannosaurus Rex but Zelena thought the smaller but faster dinosaur could have given the short-armed giant a run for his money.
Regina leaned her head against Emma's shoulder as she listened, a serene smile on her face. Soft lips brushed over the top of her head, Emma's arm coming around more securely as she tugged Regina into her side.
"This is perfect," Regina sighed. "I wish we didn't have to leave."
"Me too," Emma murmured. "Plymouth seems so far away right now. I can't imagine how we can possibly be back there this time tomorrow."
"You're going to move into the cottage soon, right?" Regina said. They had never officially discussed what their plans were after Henry had agreed with their idea.
"I thought we'd do it next week," Emma nodded. "Before we go back to school."
"Good," Regina said. "I don't want to spend another night apart from you."
Emma smiled. "You won't have to. Come back to ours tomorrow night."
"You just want me to help you pack, don't you," Regina chuckled.
"I literally only just finished unpacking all the boxes from Northumberland three weeks ago," Emma grumbled. "I don't want to have to put everything back into them on my own again. It's boring."
"You're such a child," Regina teased.
"And you love me for it," Emma said.
"I do," Regina said.
"I like the sound of those words coming from your lips."
Regina didn't answer, the unspoken connotation hanging heavily in the air between them for a moment before Henry turned to his mother and interrupted their silent thoughts.
"Mum, what time do we have to leave tomorrow for our flight?"
"After breakfast," Emma replied. "We're flying at 11:30 so we'll need to leave here by nine, I'm afraid. Why?"
"Zelena was telling me about a little fossil museum in the next town over but I guess we won't have time."
"No, but there's always next year," Emma said. "That is, if Zelena will put up with us again."
"Of course," Zelena smiled. "You're welcome any time. Regina is by far my favourite house guest."
"Even with us two and a baby in tow?" Emma asked.
"Even then," Zelena laughed.
"Great!" Henry said. "Can we come for Easter every year?"
Regina and Emma looked sideways at each other. Yet another implication that their relationship was going to last. They both smiled.
"Yes," Regina said. "We'll keep coming back here for as long as Zelena has this place. I think it's going to become a family tradition."
"We're a pretty weird family," Henry remarked. "But I like us."
"It takes all sorts to make the world go round," Emma said. "Weird families, normal families, whatever makes us happy, right?"
"Right," Henry nodded. "Can I have some more ice cream?"
Emma rolled her eyes. That boy was always thinking about his stomach. "Yes, go ahead."
"Bring me some too," Regina called after him.
Emma turned towards her girlfriend, eyebrows raised.
"What?"
"You don't like ice cream," Emma reminded her. "You always say it's too sweet."
"I do say that," Regina nodded. "But it would seem that someone," her hand drifted to her stomach, "is insisting I eat some."
Emma grinned widely. "Ice cream cravings! Me and this kid are going to get along just fine."
When Regina emerged from the ensuite later that night, Emma was sprawled on her back on the bed, her eyes closed and soft snores filling the room. She smiled at the sight and moved about quietly so as not to wake the sleeping blonde. When the bed dipped beside Emma however, a mumble and some incoherent words tumbled from her pale lips.
"Sorry," Regina whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"S'okay," Emma said, rolling towards her girlfriend. "I didn't want to fall asleep."
"You and Henry walked pretty far today," Regina reminded her.
"Yeah but it's the last night of the holiday and I have some plans for us," Emma said, her eyes wider and more alert now.
"Oh do you?" Regina smirked, leaning back into her pillow and watching as Emma straddled her hips. "And what plans are they, please?"
"They're secret," Emma said, dropping soft kisses along Regina's shoulder, over her collarbone, and up her slender neck. "But I can tell you," she said as she reached the brunette's jaw, "they involve orgasms." The last words were husked into Regina's ear, making her core throb.
Regina actually whimpered when Emma's lips finally met her own. The kiss was languid, their passion conveyed through the slow brush of their tongues, the delicate nibble of teeth, and the occasional suck of a lip. Regina's hands ran up and down Emma's toned back, her cotton pyjama top soon tugged over her head before their mouths reunited once more. Emma's own fingers were toying with the silk slip Regina was wearing, running over the rippling fabric and feeling the heat of Regina's skin beneath it.
"Off," Emma murmured, tugging more insistently at the slip after a few minutes.
Regina raised her body from the bed, helping Emma to remove the one item of clothes she was wearing. As soon as it was tossed aside, Emma stood quickly to shed her sleep shorts so when she resumed her position on top of Regina, their naked cores were pressed hotly together. Regina shuddered in delight as she felt Emma rock against her, the blonde's hard pubic bone rubbing just above her clit.
Emma stayed sitting upright, her fingers drawing circles around Regina's taut nipples before she cupped the globes and squeezed softly. Regina arched into the touch, her hips canting upwards too as the need inside her grew. She had never before felt the way she did with Emma. Every time they were together, Regina felt like she could never get enough of the woman kissing her, touching her, loving her. Although she was always satisfied by their love-making, she also knew she would always be ready for more. She wondered briefly, how Emma felt about her skills in the bedroom. Whilst the blonde had always complimented her and appeared satisfied, Regina knew she wasn't as experienced as her girlfriend and contemplated the thought that she needed to step up her game.
"What are you thinking about?"
The question jolted Regina back to the present where her naked girlfriend was sitting astride her, a concerned look on her face and her hands resting on Regina's breasts.
"Us," Regina admitted.
"In a good way?" Emma asked. "Because you kinda looked troubled."
"Do I please you?"
Emma looked shocked by the questions. "What? Yes, of course you do, Regina. Why are you even asking me that?"
"I just … I don't know," she admitted. "I was just wondering whether I can make you feel as good as you make me feel."
Emma smiled softly. "You make me feel like I am the most important person in your life. You make me feel so special, so loved. I couldn't ask for anything else in a partner, Regina. And as for pleasing me, you've seen how hard I come against your fingers and your mouth. You … you didn't think I was faking did you?"
"No," Regina said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I was just … thinking about how incredible you make me feel and thinking there was no way I could make you feel as good as that."
"Why not?" Emma asked, shifting so she lay fully on top of Regina, her elbows braced on either side of her head and their lips millimetres apart.
"Because … because of what happened to me?" Regina suggested.
Emma kissed the brunette gently before she answered. "Regina, I love you so much it scares me sometimes. I love everything about you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Yes, you've been through some shit but that doesn't define who you are. You are the most passionate, attentive, skilled lover I have ever had and I need you to know that you completely satisfy me. More than that, you complete me."
Regina's eyes filled with tears at the sincere words.
"I love you so much, Emma."
"And I, you," Emma replied.
"Make love to me," Regina murmured.
And she did. Emma lay between Regina's spread legs, eagerly tasting her girlfriend with her tongue and lips. Her mouth worked over her swollen folds, her glistening clit and even dipped inside her tight hole, flickering against the internal walls as fingernails scraped the blonde's scalp. As Regina came, Emma reached up and placed her hand over Regina's stomach, feeling the rise of the pregnancy beneath her fingers. Regina breathed heavily as she recovered but no sooner had she reached down for Emma's hands did the blonde's mouth return to her sensitive sex.
Regina shuddered through her second orgasm, her fingers gripping the sheets so hard she worried she might rip holes in them. Emma was relentless, her tongue dancing around her clit over and over and over again, a single finger pumping slowly in and out of Regina's entrance. Juices slid down her ass, pooling on the bed but neither woman cared as Regina's scream, muffled by a pillow, filled the bedroom.
Emma reluctantly moved away from Regina's core only when her girlfriend's hand on her head told her she was too sensitive for anything else just yet. She crawled back up the bed, placed a wet kiss to Regina's lips, and lay down, her thigh hooked over the brunette's hip.
"You taste particularly delicious today," Emma said, licking the remains of Regina's come from her lips and wiping the rest on her hand.
"I ate a pineapple," Regina said, by way of explanation.
"I thought that was what made men's sperm taste better," Emma frowned.
"Firstly, nothing can make that stuff taste anywhere near good. And secondly, if it works on men why can't it work on us?" Regina reasoned, rolling over slightly and hoisting Emma's leg more firmly over her waist.
"Two excellent points," Emma laughed, kissing the parted lips before her.
Regina kissed her back as her hand crept down between their bodies. As soon as her fingertips brushed Emma's clit, the blonde gasped into the kiss. Emma was extremely turned on after her time between Regina's legs and the brunette knew it. She parted the slick folds quickly and slid first one, then two, fingers into Emma's hot centre.
"Fuck," Emma growled as Regina began to pump in and out, her arms coming around to pull the brunette closer to her. Regina leaned in to kiss Emma's neck, suckling the skin there before she laved it with her tongue. Teeth scraped over the sensitive flesh as a third finger cautiously entered Emma's channel.
"You ok?" Regina asked as she heard Emma hiss as her body stretched wider.
"Yes," she breathed out. "It's good. Keep going."
Regina did. Slow, deliberate pumps which became more and more rhythmic as Emma's essence lubricated her fingers. Soon the pace had picked back up again, Emma groaning every time Regina's knuckles hit her flesh, the feeling of three fingers deep inside making her orgasm rush towards her. She rocked her hips, meeting Regina thrust for thrust until Regina's other hand snaked suddenly down between their bodies and her thumb pressed hot, hard little circles around Emma's clit.
She bit Regina's shoulder to stop herself screaming, her body convulsing against Regina's as the brunette worked her through the pleasure, drawing it out as she continued to pump. When her teeth at last released Regina's skin, she slumped back onto her pillow, eyes closed and a dopey smile on her face.
Closing her eyes was a mistake and her satiated brain didn't register the rustle of Regina moving on the bed. She cried out as a mouth covered her core, an eager tongue lapping up the juices still dribbling from her entrance. Her clit was sucked into the heavenly, wet warmth of Regina's mouth before a hardened tongue pushed where fingers had been mere seconds before. Emma's thighs clamped around Regina's head, her hips rocking upwards, riding the brunette's mouth as the second orgasm hit Emma like a freight train, Regina's name shouted into the warm night air as waves of pleasure crashed over her.
When the thighs around her head relaxed, Regina looked up and smiled at her flushed girlfriend who was panting hard. She placed a kiss to the inside of either thigh and crawled back up to her side of the bed, lying just beside her own wet patch.
"You're amazing," Emma said. "Seriously, fucking amazing."
"We're amazing," Regina replied.
Emma chuckled and reached out, beckoning Regina into her arms. The brunette obliged at once. They lay together, bodies pressed tightly together, tingles of arousal and satisfaction making them feel oddly sleepy but equally awake.
"If someone had told me in September that by April I would be in a committed, loving relationship with a pregnant woman I probably would have laughed in their face," Emma said after a while. "But here I am, beside the most incredible person I have ever met and I cannot imagine a future without you in it now, Regina. You and our baby."
"If someone had told me in September that by April I would be pregnant but no longer with Robin and that instead I was with someone who loved and respected me, I would have told them they were crazy," Regina said. "You saved me, Emma. You, your love, your family. I don't want to think about where I would be without you because all I can imagine is a life with you. Me, you, Henry and this baby. You're my life now."
The kiss that followed was deep, soulful, and downright perfect. The events which led up to Emma and Regina finding each other were awful: neither death nor abuse sound like the start of a great romance. But without those difficult times, Regina and Emma both knew they would not have be together. They had suffered, yes, but they had come out the other side stronger, more confident, and more able and willing to see the good things in life. And their relationship was one of the best.