The movie wasn't quite over before Ruby suddenly stood and announced that they should bring Emma home before Regina threw a fit. The blonde rolled her eyes at that but didn't argue. It was her last weekend here, and despite spending the last three and a half weeks with the Mills, she was already to miss them. Plus, she was eager to know why she had been kicked out of the house. She liked surprises just as much as Regina did. So by the time the trio got into Ruby's Camaro and headed back toward Mifflin, Emma was looking forward to it. But by the way the two women remained unnervingly quiet, Emma had to wonder what the hell was up and how the hell Regina of all people managed to con their help into taking her out.

Emma was surprised when they pulled up to the mansion and both Ruby and Mary Margaret got out of the car waiting for her.

"It's such a nice day," Mary Margaret said with a beam, pulling her cardigan closer around herself.

"Yeah, if not just a tad bit strange," she muttered the last part to herself.

She walked up the pathway steps, wary of the two trailing behind her but figured asking questions would be moot. Her keys fiddled in her hand before she found the spare key to the mansion and opened the door.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but the empty foyer was sort of anti-climatic after the imaginary build up in her mind. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and it simply looked as if Regina and Henry were out for the day. She was about to turn and question the women behind her, but it was the faint sound of Henry's suppressed giggle that had her raising an eyebrow and following the source of the sound.

She moved quietly, her boots soft against the hardwood flooring as she kept to the walls. The dining room up ahead was as it was, if for a few of Henry's misplaced toys. The parlour to her left was immaculate as always. One more step and she peeked her head into the family room and gasped out loud.

"Surprise!"

Emma froze at the entry way of the living room where thoughtfully decorated streamers were hung about the room. But that wasn't what drew Emma's attention. It was Regina with Henry in her grasp standing front and center in front of a 'Happy Birthday' banner, bright matching smiles adorning their faces. Her mind could just barely process that on the coffee table in front of them was a rather large cake that said both Happy Birthday and We'll Miss You, Archie and Ms. Bell and Graham were standing around the Mills with wide smiles as they clapped her entrance. She looked suddenly when Ruby nudged her with a knowing grin as she and Mary Margaret stepped into the room. She was about to turn back to the Mills when in the corner of the room she saw August, sitting in his wheelchair with a smug smirk hidden behind his scruff.

The room quieted down as they waited for Emma to move, but all she could do was stand there paralyzed, her breathing halted as her eyes welled up. Without another thought she turned and sprinted from the room, needing just a minute to get her bearings. She only realized that she had opened the front door and stepped outside when she placed a palm against a pillar to support herself as a single tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.

"Emma." A warm palm cautiously rested on her shoulder and slid down to her forearm. "Emma, I- I'm sorry, if I've overstepped-"

Emma turned suddenly and engulfed Regina in a tight hug, burying her face into brown hair, inhaling her lavender scent. This was all too much, she was feeling so much, but she didn't care because it was such a good yearning that even though she constantly reminded herself that it wouldn't last, she would always take this option that maybe, just maybe she found a place that feels like home, people to call her family. A place where she could stay and be wanted.

Emma pulled back slowly, tucking Regina's hair back behind her ear when their locks became entangled, but she kept her forehead pressed against the older woman's and closed her eyes, breathing in the moment for as long as it would last.

"You did this for me?" It was phrased as a question, but Emma already knew the answer to it.

Regina nodded against her head. "You've never had a proper birthday party before, and you're leaving next week, so October was out of the question." She tilted her head ever so slightly. "I brought it up with Ms. Bell, and it may have escalated from there."

Emma chuckled lightly and opened her eyes. They drifted closed when Regina removed her hands from around Emma's waist to wipe away the moisture that gathered under the blonde's eyes. She left her hand there, cupping Emma's cheek, and all Emma could do was lean into her palm, step closer into Regina's warmth.

Not for the first time all week, Emma's head tilted forward, willing to break the rule she set for herself just this once and feel the soft red lips that had been tantalizing her since she came to Storybrooke. "Regina, can I-"

"Mommy." Henry's voiced sounded muffled, and though the women didn't spring apart, they turned their heads to see Henry's face pressed up against the glass panel, his teeth barred and his nose scrunched up like a pig. "What you doing?"

Emma chuckled lightly and released Regina, though as if magnetized their hands found each other as they linked their fingers together. She tapped the glass in front of Henry's face, and the boy pulled back, wiping his face from the moisture he created there and helped the women open the door. Before they fully stepped over the threshold, Emma slowed her pace and swiftly kissed Regina's cheek.

Regina gasped and pressed her palm to where Emma's lips had been, but the blonde grinned and squeezed their conjoined hands. "Thank you."

Chapter 8

Chapter Notes

AN: I couldn't reply to all you awesome people in your reviews because I went over my Internet plan, but you will hear a reply from me within a few days. Thank you all so much for your support! Also, you guys should check out this wicked awesome fanvideo inspired by this story created by regal-duckling: regal(dash)duckling(period)tumblr(period)com / post/ 82586794519/ every- night- a- swan- queen- fanvid- inspired- by. A couple instances in this chapter were inspired by King of the Ashers' suggestions, so I hope you like them.

Emma had never had a real birthday party before. It was one of the fun facts she had shared with Regina on their night of Twenty Questions, uncertain feelings, and missed opportunities. Even on base, she rarely divulged intimate information about herself. She was private and she liked to keep it like that, but August had taken it upon himself to give her some sort of dessert with a candle on it for the last three years (last year August had claimed shepherd's pie was still considered a pie and strategically placed corn kernels on top of the mashed potatoes in the form of a candle), and along with Regina's presents which continued to surprise her, it was the closest thing to a party she ever had.

That is until now.

Now there were people surrounding her, people she genuinely liked and for some reason found her amicable as well. In three weeks the friendships she had formed in Storybrooke were more than all the interactions she had ever had in her entire life. It was bittersweet, sitting in the mansion's family room after blowing out her cake, red velvet she had discovered after Henry had shoved cream cheese frosting in both hers and Regina's faces. The comical silence that surrounded the room after that one made Emma want to laugh, and August did since as the new token outsider of Storybrooke he was unaware of the Mayor's generally sour disposition, but then Regina laughed, and even though Emma had heard it hundreds of times before, right then, in that moment as they stood behind her birthday cake with her friends surrounding her, it was the most glorious sound in the world. Melodious yet dark just as the brunette woman herself, Regina laughed and smothered her frosting-creamed face against her son's, the trio matching in their disaster as the rest of the party deemed the situation safe enough to enjoy in the Mayor's unexpected behaviour.

Regina had given Henry's cheek a quick wipe, the boy squirming when his mother dampened the napkin by blotting it with her tongue, and Emma watched amused as Henry reached for her in an attempt to escape his mother's hold, her own napkin wiping at her face. She didn't know what had possessed her, but caring little for the audience before them, Emma reached for Regina's cheek, using the pad of her thumb to wipe away the smallest amount of frosting that Regina had missed on the edge of her lips and thought nothing of it as she sucked the cream into her mouth. She did notice the way Regina breath stagnated and how her pupils dilated, but as clear as it was on her face, Regina had ducked her head and exited the room, Henry still positioned on her hip.

She had left the family room twenty minutes later, taking her time to thank the people who had shown up, rolling her eyes at Ruby's cheeky grin, and sitting down with August, amazed that he was even in Storybrooke. By the time the party had dispersed for refreshments or otherwise, Emma noticed Regina still hadn't returned to the room and ventured off to look for her. She was only a few steps out of the family room and into the hallway of the kitchen when she spotted the woman in question pulling out spinach puffs from the oven and talking quietly with none other than Tina Bell. Henry was nowhere to be seen, so Emma could only assume that the boy had snuck off as he was so prone to do, but under the sound of quiet chattering from the adults in the house, she could hear the soft pitter patter of Henry's gait somewhere in the house. She could hear him, so he wasn't getting into too much trouble.