WHO:Emma & Regina WHEN: Early Feb WHERE: Regina's home WHAT: Questions, congrats and some wicked planning. WARNINGS: Nada. STATUS: Complete
Since Emma had a sort of clear cut idea on what was happening wedding planning wise, she and Neal managing to get their ideas at least aligned on things if not fully planned out yet, there was the massive hurdle to tackle on her own.
Wedding dresses.
And while she knew that Regina was more of an interior design guru, there had to be some bleed over when it came to personal design. Like what she was best looking for when it came to a Florida wedding in March. Emma had no plans to be uncomfortable on her wedding day, thank you very much.
There was also the fact that Emma had yet to talk to or congratulate Regina on her engagement to Killian since the New Year, so that had to be fixed too. Emma didn’t have Niko in tow today, the little tubber being with Daddy for the afternoon, which gave Emma the chance to grab a nice big arrangement of flowers and head over to Regina’s place to see the former Queen.
It wasn’t awful timing, no - Gamora had gone home, Killian and his half-twin had taken Meara out for a stroll now that the weather wasn’t the definition of horrendous, and the lack of distractions had given Regina a chance to catch up workwise. Constant calls on her bluetooth device while updating binders, catching up on invoices, reviewing contracts for franchise hotels in the area that were in the process of remodeling and needed a professional touch when it came to tasteful decisions. Business was going well, and she appreciated the mundanity of it.
Definitely beat the headache of sifting through the latest memories from the dreams, split like a cracked mirror, from two different perspectives - the broken hearted woman trying to get on with her life and, of course, the personified essence of the evil queen.
And anything that would make her forget seducing the Dark One with the awful haircut was much, much appreciated. Including the presence of one Miss Swan, with -
“It looks like you’re picking me up for a date, Emma,” Regina smirked, widening the door to allow entrance. “Come in, it’s just the two of us. It’s quiet for once.”
“I probably would’ve gone with roses for a date, although they might be more Belle’s thing.” Instead Emma’d gone for a slightly more colourful arrangement because why not? They were pretty. “They’re actually a congratulations, because I haven’t seen you or your lovely pirate since the news broke.” Besides, Emma thought it was fitting.
“I wanted to come by and say it in person.” And the quiet was a little bit of a surprise, usually there was something going on, and they’d both had such busy homes lately too, but quiet was nice for every once in a while.
Even by Orange County standards, aside from the wild snow storm at the end of the month, things hadn’t been terribly difficult. Henry had been weirdly excited about the less than child-friendly gifts that came alive, but Henry was the adventurous sort at least. “How’re things going?”
If Regina hadn’t been used to the oddness of this place, she would have thought it was a little weird to have Swan come up to her doorstep congratulating her on the engagement with a pirate she did the ‘true love’ thing with. That awkward phase had passed - things were simpler here, all things considered. At least compared to the Storybrooke shenanigans, which…
Let’s not fucking go there right now. She still couldn’t get the taste of Gold out of her mouth sometimes.
Gorgeous flowers, though, and she led Emma to the kitchen so she could fill a vase with water and get it ready for proper display. Her home smelled like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice - things that went well with apples, of course. “They’re lovely, so thank you, and we’ve been fine. Just processing the latest round of Storybrooke drama. Jekyll, Hyde, me split into two with my evil-self hellbent on destroying the happiness of your parents for the millionth goddamn time. You know the drill.”
Emma’s face scrunched up at the mention of yet more dreams, because they never did get a break there did they? “I haven’t dreamt anything since we got back from the Underworld and…” She knew that here it wasn’t the same for Regina, with Robin and all, but it was still a kick to the face that over there the woman was constantly fighting loss. Even if most handling of that situation was just far too mismanaged.
“I’m kinda thankful for it now.” Not just because Niko was finally sleeping for more than four hours at a time, occasionally going through the whole night, even if he did wake up ridiculously early most of the time, it was good to get largely uninterrupted sleep again. Dreams would just complicate that and Emma wasn’t really looking forward to that starting again. “At least I still get a heads up on the crazy that is our choices there.” Because nothing seemed logical. At least they had a Regina and an Evil Queen over there, and not just the one.
“But, better things to talk about, how did Killian propose to you? You heard all about Neal’s, probably as he planned it, so c’mon, I need romantic gossip.”
No need to dig up those bones, Regina knew exactly what Emma was alluding to. Another go at heartbreak, struggling with the innermost darkest parts of her that were born the moment Cora ripped Daniel’s heart out in front of her - but instead of going on a rampage for vengeance, she instead made another stupid decision by splitting herself right down the middle.
But she had dealt with the aftermath of that already, those dreams having hit her a couple months back. Thankfully. It naturally still ached to think about Robin, that same ache she had when she thought about Daniel - echoes of her former self that resonated.
“Romantic gossip,” Regina repeated in amusement, fixing up the flora in a glass vase - making sure it was spread proportionately, and fluffed. “Well, alright, if you insist. It was honestly a nerd’s wet dream - we were dressed up as superheroes for Henry’s thing, it was New Years, and I was a little aggravated by him. Did he tell you he gave me fossilized shit earrings? Actual, literal feces made into jewelry, as a decoy for Christmas.”
Sometimes it was nice to just talk about things like their lives weren’t split between dream and reality, like there wasn’t some constant storm of information from another world battering at their minds. Emma knew there was no avoiding it forever, but putting it on the back burner seemed like a fine thing here and there. Long enough to focus on their actual lives for a while.
Her face screwed up a little at the earrings though, “Really?” Okay, she was surprised that Regina even agree to going out on New Year at all if that had been her Christmas gift. “That seems like a very brave and stupid stunt.” Which, honestly, very true to character.
“I guess the surprise was worth it though, right?”
Very brave, and he also had gifted her with monogramed hand towels - they were cute, at least, but not enough to exactly soften the blow of shit earrings. The idea of telekinetically tossing him down the stairs had crossed her mind, albeit briefly, but then she remembered their daughter needed a father so that urged was squelched.
Shit earrings, though. Regina was suspicious that he was plotting something else but that, ah, little gem did its job at keeping her sufficiently distracted. Or disgusted, really. Besides, New Years was for Henry. Otherwise she would have stayed in and banished Killian onto the couch.
“Worth it, as aggravating as the bastard is,” she chuckled. Dealing with him was a finely honed skill - the love balanced out the need to throttle him on a daily basis, but it definitely made their relationship interesting. “We’re not planning anything massive. I went massive for my first wedding, worst mistake - so we’ll be doing something intimate on the Roger.”
Unless some unforeseen disaster occurred? Regina didn’t have the best luck in the relationship department but Killian had already died. That hurdle had been already jumped over.
Emma could understand wanting to keep things a surprise, and it seemed like Killian had done a good job of throwing Regina off his game, it was sweet really, how they were supposed to be these big bad villains, and they could be utterly devious, and they were ridiculously cute too. Leaning against a counter, Emma just smiled at the way Regina chuckled while recalling her aggravation.
“Small, huh? So, does that mean you’re not in need of going wedding dress shopping?” A small intimate thing made sense, if Regina had done the big wedding and felt like it wasn’t needed, and she couldn’t see Killian, his romantic streak notwithstanding, being too fussed about having a big to-do about it all.
But Emma wasn’t exactly the fancy girlie sort of girl, and really, the idea of trying one a dozen dresses and trying to figure out if they’d be a good idea for Florida in March was hard enough. Apparently it was a group adventure anyway.
If they were doing this female-bonding thing, then she had the perfect thing in the fridge for it - she opened the stainless steel door and pulled out a plate. Chocolate covered strawberries, one of her simple but tasteful culinary projects (she didn’t use apples for everything, mind you). If she wasn’t cooking up something magical downstairs, then the kitchen was her domain now that she had a full house of people to feed, and the constant visits of guests.
Regina didn’t mind. Before it was lonely and quiet. Now there was a ruckus, the toilet seat was up too many goddamn times but she wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“Wedding dress shopping?” Regina scoffed but looked highly amused. It’d come, eventually, but for her time it was much too soon. “I’m not at that stage yet though I assume you are. Is there something you’re trying to ask me, Swan?”
Oh, food. Emma hadn’t gotten much better in the food department, sandwiches and the odd easy thing were as good as she got, so she did not turn down anyone’s food. Ever. Least of all Regina’s. “Okay, so I actually have a few questions.” And she could ask them between every strawberry.
“So, first, these are awesome.” Who didn’t like strawberries and chocolate? “Second, how many bridesmaids is too many?” Because Emma didn’t want to be one of those OTT brides, and she wasn’t about to have an entourage, she was getting married beside a barn after all. “Neal and I decided on March, near his birthday,” because then they’d both remember the date, it was life hack 101, “so I feel like this is stuff I should really start to tackle.” Because she couldn’t really get Neal to help her with all the big decisions.
“And it includes things like my dress, bridesmaids, bridesmaids dresses.” Really, it wasn’t like Emma was planning on too many bridesmaids, she was hoping on two. “I was hoping that you would maybe wanna be one? I’m not doing a maid of honor, because, I can’t figure out how to pick one.” In a strange twist of things from dream world to reality, Regina was possibly one of Emma’s nearest and dearest, and not just because she was Henry’s other mom, the one thing that really kept them together in Storybrooke.
Emma wouldn’t have Henry here if it was for Regina, Neal wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Regina, because of Emma it was hit and miss on Killian being here, and it was thanks to Regina that he was. So, yeah, picking between Regina and Mary Margaret for her maid of honor would’ve been too hard, sticking to hopefully just two bridesmaids would settle that too. “You know, if you could stand the heat in Florida, in March, in a dress?”
Perks of coming over - hospitable treats or drinks. Hades and Neal had been over and were offered alcohol because of the nature of their visit, but the candy-dipped fruit seemed fitting for this guest. Considering this conversation didn’t involve news about death or how Cora and Rumple had a sexual affair here too, ugh.
Regina popped a small one in her mouth. The little foliage on top had been plucked off already for easy eats. “Well, first and foremost I’d be honored to stand by you,” she grinned. Emma was the closest thing she had to a best friend - in both lives. It made the aspect of co-parenting that much more pleasant when they weren’t trying to kill each other. “And of course I’ll help you. I’ll also happily tell you if something’s hideous on you, too, so on my watch you’re not walking down whatever aisle you guys are having looking like a travesty.”
So it took a pretty big weight off that she’d be able to rely on Regina not letting her look like a total disaster in a dress on her big day. Emma was pretty sure that she wouldn’t turn into Bridezilla, she honestly doubted that she’d have the energy to be a Bridezilla more than anything else, but at the same time, she was fairly lowkey and simplistic when it came to style too.
Regina was the one with a better eye for those things, and would likely tell Emma if her colour scheme was going to be garish or not. “Oh that’s so great.” And Emma just chomped her way through some strawberries with relish. “I doubt bridesmaids dresses need to be some horrific affair either.” Emma knew better than to make Regina or Mary Margaret -who she still had to ask but she doubted she’d say no- wear something horrible just for the sake of it.
“We’re hoping it’ll still be mild in March, but the risk is there for hot and humid.” Which meant restrictions on fashion. “My fashion choices range from leather to denim and somewhere in between.”
Never doubt Regina’s resistance against all things gaudy. Ignore all the feathered dresses and loud jewelry she wore during her evil queen reign - that was a phase, don’t hold old sins against her. “I’d let you know if it became a horrific affair, Emma, don’t worry. Picking what you like and what looks good isn’t too difficult, I promise.”
It was good to see her involved in the whole process. They needed the mundanity with what else could come there way, and it was refreshing to have an Emma that wasn’t so obsessed with saving every fairytale character in existence at the price of her own happiness.
There was a brief, contemplative hum before she continued. “I don’t know if you’d want a bridal shower with how shacked up the two of you are unless you’re in dire need for a fancy crockpot, but how opposed would you be to a bachelorette party?” A look crossed her face, utterly devious, apple-red lips curled into a grin a la Evil Queen.
While Emma was fairly certain that a bridal shower would actually involve her doing more than the baby shower did, it wasn’t really like she and Neal were in dire need of anything, and she was contemplating the whole ‘no gifts’ rule for the wedding too because… Well because it was in Tallahassee, and getting there and back was probably enough to ask of their guests, additional gifts just weren’t needed. “I don’t know what you use a crockpot for, so you’d need to ask Neal, but I think our kitchen is good.”
She was pretty sure the crockpot went in the kitchen at least.
“As to a bachelorette party…” Would it hurt at all? It was just a party, right? A bunch of girls, out on the town, drinking some drinks, having some laughs. “Let me check with Neal,” because that would be full reason for a bachelor party, “but I think that should be fine. Yeah, I mean we could do with a fun night out, right?” Even if Regina’s devious plan face was on, it would likely not be any worse than riding a bull to champion claiming with Lina.
“Emma! How do you not know -” Oh, right, the most she could do was probably pour cereal and put together ingredients for a salad. Regina submitted with a sigh, shaking her head. “You’re hopeless, but, yes, it’s indeed something that belongs in the kitchen.” How would she feed herself if it weren’t for Neal?
Arby’s. Probably Arby’s.
She straightened from her lean against the counter and folded her arms. “I’m sure he could use a night out for himself too. To be exhausted by extroversion and not because of parenting is a luxury we’re lacking nowadays.” Perhaps it wouldn’t be anything too wild for them - a lingerie night, gifting the bride-to-be with sex toys to spice up the activities in the bedroom?
She and Killian had a couple. And her pirate did enjoy getting - ahem - wrecked.
“Neal is the one that actually knows how to make things. I can heat things up. Breakfast is my strong point.” Because she lived on pancakes and omelettes and waffles when she moved around the country. Learning to cook would’ve been a good idea if it hadn’t just been cheaper to always by things she just microwaved.
She probably would still be on those constant ready meals.
“Probably, we can coordinate our nights, boys night one week, girls night another week.” It would reduce stress levels for babies when involved. And look at that, Emma had evolved with a whole group of people -no longer part of the single and boozy crowd, not even the loved up and doubled crowd. They were the young babies family crowd. Huh, she hadn’t actually saw that one coming. “Okay, I’m in on the bachelorette party. I think you just like planning things though.” Not that Emma would say no, not really. Regina was scary good at parties.
Regina hadn’t seen the ‘young babies family crowd’ in her future, either - she had expected something more lonely, less loud, but the surprise of what the future held in store was a pleasant once. “I’ve got Storybrooke Mayor on my dream resume, Swan, I’m meant to plan and organize,” she said, taking a bite from a strawberry. “I’ll leave the curses and heart-ripping to a minimum just for you.”
They’d have a good time. Maybe even persuade Mary Margaret to ditch the nun clothes - must that awful choice in wardrobe carry over in this life as well?
“There are worse things you can do than to trust me with this very important, honorable task.” That suggestive wag of her brows was a very questionable sign.
Organisation probably came with running a town for twenty eight years and running it well enough that no one realised it was so ass-backwards because they were all displaced fairytale characters, honestly, she doubted anyone knew how to run things smoother than Regina managed it, even with so much crap going on too. “I appreciate that, heart-ripping tends to sour the mood a little.” Even if Emma couldn’t really comment much on it now, she’d done a little heart-ripping of her own recently.
The suggestive brows gave Emma a little pause with a strawberry halfway to her lips, but… it was just a bachelorette party, so… “I’m going to be mortally embarrassed by the end of the night, aren’t I?” She may not be a prude, not at all, but she wasn’t exactly overtly out there with it either. But there wasn’t too much harm in cutting loose for one night. Especially if there was some alcohol to loosen her up.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Regina wagged her finger from side to side like Emma was a child about to get scolded. “That’s for me to plan, Charming Junior, but I’ll do my utmost to make sure it’ll be a night for you to remember.”
Traumatizing her with a plethora of bedroom items would be done, tastefully. If there was one person who could pull it off, well.
It could probably be Regina. It might not. They’d have to see. If she can plan a successful baby shower than she could plan a successful bachelorette event - they were practically the same thing. Full of strange gadgets.