Chapter Text
Chapter Eight
Regina was typing away on a memo to the Director of the Parks Department. On a recent family day to the park, Regina had noted with disdain that several benches and trash receptacles were in disrepair. That would not do and the Parks Department was the first contact to get it taken care of. Her intercom buzzed and Camille, her unassuming new assistant spoke before the microphone was ready.
“—orry to bother you Madam Mayor, but Sheriff Swan is here insisting to see you. I told her she needed to make an appointment but—“
“It’s alright, Camille. The Sheriff doesn’t need an appointment. Now or ever. Make a note of it. And send Emma in.” Barbara had been Regina’s assistant since the curse had broken and her cursed assistant had returned to her family and life as a milk maid, but the woman had retired last month and Camille had started. She was sweet and well organized, but she had a lot to learn. Old Regina would never have given her a chance… but this New Regina was a bit more accepting of other’s short comings.
“Hi.” Emma strode confidently into the office and shut the door behind her. “Are you almost finished? Surely you know it is—“ Emma glanced at her phone “—three minutes past five on a Friday.”
Regina smiled at the blonde woman before her. She noted with a growing warmth in her stomach that Emma was wearing a slightly dressier ensemble than usual, especially for a Friday.
The months since they had started working in the vineyard together had done nothing but increase Regina’s affection and interest in their son’s other mother. Try as she might, Regina hadn’t been able to stamp it out. So, she had given up trying. She had resigned herself to the fact that she was attracted to Emma and—though she knew Emma did not return her interest—she would be satisfied to love her from afar.
Love? Regina internally scoffed at the thought. She wasn’t even going to consider the L-word. That was taking her secret fondness too far. Wasn’t it?
“Well, Sheriff, some of us have to work around here to take up the slack for the wastebasket basketball champions to keep up their averages.” Regina gave Emma a flirty wink and was pleased to see it returned.
“I hope you are nearly finished with… whatever it is you are doing now though. Are you?”
“Yes. I am finished. But, what’s the rush? I’ve never known you to be in such a hurry to get to dinner with your parents. Henry called and said he was headed there a bit ago.”
“Well, if we were going to my parents tonight, I suppose you would be correct. I wouldn’t be in a hurry. But since we aren’t… are you almost ready?”
Regina cocked her head to the side and studied the blonde. She was clenching and unclenching her jaw and tugging nervously at the edge of her jacket. “Emma, are you alright? Where are we going?”
Emma laughed and tried to steady her nerves. “Yep. I’m good. And you will know where we are going if you will hurry up and put on your coat. I’m going out here and send Camille home. So… come on.” Green eyes sparkled and Regina’s stomach flip-flopped at the sight. Love. Yes, that is it. No matter how much she wanted to deny it or ignore it—she couldn’t. If only Emma felt something for her in return.
“Alright, alright. I’m coming. Go on ahead and I’ll shut down my computer and lock the door.” Emma hesitated, narrowing her eyes playfully. “Shoo. Get out of here. I’m right behind you.”
Emma grinned then and spun on her heel. She disappeared through the door as Regina clicked her last program closed and stood. She pulled on her coat and took several deep, calming breaths. This was no different than any other dinner with the blonde. She had no reason to feel so… so… alive. She felt more alive somehow and she didn’t really know why. Something in Emma’s smile, in her tone of voice… what was she up to?
After a short drive to Emma’s large house, Regina was no more enlightened than she had been at the office. She still had no idea what Emma had up her sleeve. “Did you forget something?”
“No. This is where we are going. I have something to show you.” Emma got out of the bug and jogged around to help Regina from the car. The intertwining of their fingers wasn’t unheard of by any means but it wasn’t a regular event. But now, on the sidewalk in front of her house, Emma cradled Regina’s hand in her own and led her into the large home she had chosen for herself as the Dark One.
Regina noted that there was no dinner in the kitchen, and the house was mostly dark and quiet. She wanted to ask questions, but the warm tug of Emma’s hand in hers was making it difficult to think of anything else. The two women stepped across the entryway to a small door under the stairs that Regina knew led to Emma’s cellar.
“Emma?” Regina breathed as the blonde opened the door.
“It’s ok. Trust me.”
“I do.” Regina meant those words more than most others she had spoken in her life.
Down the rough-hewn steps they went into the underground part of Emma’s home. Regina followed curiously behind Emma as they went down a dark corridor. Emma held a flashlight in front of them to be sure the brunette saw the way clearly. Curiosity and sheer excitement at the mystery of it all made Regina tremble. She wasn’t a fan of surprises, but she trusted Emma.
In a moment, Emma reached out and opened a large door and stepped aside for Regina to enter. The older woman stepped into the light and gasped. There before her were rows and rows of wine. Not just any wine, but Emma’s wine. The wine they had worked so hard together to bring about. It was finally ready.
“Oh Emma! The wine!” Regina’s smile alone would have lit up the space, but at the end of every row was a wall sconce lighting the place softly.
Emma smiled brightly at her enthusiastic companion. “Yeah. The wine. It is finally ready and I wanted you to be the first to know. Will you have a glass with me?”
Regina’s heart was racing as Emma gestured to the side and brown eyes saw for the first time since entering the cellar a table and two chairs. The table was covered in a crisp white table cloth and a single candle was burning brightly, set in an arrangement of gardenias and orchids. The places were set with linen napkins and silverware and a cloche covered meal at each place. Two empty wine glasses completed the scene. It was beautiful. It was romantic. It was overwhelming.
“Emma?” Regina said for the second time tonight.
“Well, would you like to sit or…” Green eyes suddenly filled with insecurity and Regina realized she hadn’t yet answered Emma’s original question.
“Yes… yes, of course. Let’s sit.” Regina smiled brightly at the other woman.
Joy dawned on Emma’s soft face and Regina felt her own smile grow impossibly wider.
“Ok. Good. Great.”
Emma stepped behind her and helped her out of her coat before pulling out her chair and pushing her up to the table as she sat. Beautiful and chivalrous. The blonde lifted the cloche from each of their places to reveal perfectly prepared filet mignon and asparagus.
“I know you aren’t big on red meat but I figured with the wine…” Emma trailed off as she picked up the already open bottle of their Dark Vintage and poured the beautiful red wine into each glass.
Regina picked up her glass as Emma held hers aloft in a toast. “Tonight, I wish to celebrate not only my first vintage of wine from grapes we grew ourselves… but I also want to celebrate the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known, the one who has brightened every moment of my life over these last few years, the one with whom I hope to drink this wine for the rest of my life. To Dark Vintage and to you, Regina.”
Regina sat stunned for a moment, clutching her glass tightly and staring at green eyes filled with warring emotions of love and fear. Finally she broke through her paralysis and held her glass up to clink against Emma’s. “To Dark Vintage,” she whispered before bringing the glass to her lips.
She swirled the glass slightly and breathed in the aroma before taking a sip. The wine tasted earthy and smooth, rich and dark with notes of berry, mocha and cinnamon as it slid across her tongue and down her throat. It was as incredible and complex as the woman who had made it.
“This is wonderful, Emma.” Regina took another sip before setting aside her glass. She was trying to give an air of calm despite the raging in her chest and mind. What had Emma meant by her toast? Should Regina respond or wait or… she was at a loss so instead of saying anything, she picked up her napkin and placed it in her lap. “Shall we eat?”
Emma nodded as she placed her own napkin in her lap. Was Regina going to say nothing about her toast? It hadn’t been long but she had carefully chosen the words to carry some meaning to the brunette. Had she made a mistake?
The two women ate in silence then, speaking occasionally about the deliciousness of the meal, the incredible state of the wine, anything at all but what they both really wanted to talk about. When the dinner had been eaten and the dishes magicked away, Regina accepted another glass of wine from Emma and waited for the blonde to say something else but Emma remained stoic.
“It really is a wonderful wine, Emma. You should be proud. So much complexity in—“
“Yeah, I get it Regina. It’s complex.” Emma’s voice was sharp and irritated and caught Regina by surprise.
A tiny flame of anger flickered to life inside the brunette. That was an emotion she knew well enough to be at ease with. “Excuse me. What is your problem? I was only trying to pay you a compliment which is a mistake I assure you I will not make again.”
Emma stood and ran her hands through her hair with a frustrated sigh. “Damnit Regina. Didn’t you hear what I said in my toast? Are you not even going to acknowledge that I just admitted I want to spend the rest of my life with you? I did everything but come right out and say I’m in love with you and you keep talking about the damn wine! Don’t you get it? I did all this romantic stuff for you. I thought… I hoped… goddammit. Just forget it.”
“Love… you… you love me? You’re in love with me?” Regina stood and stepped away from the table and toward Emma.
The blonde turned, tears brimming in her eyes and looked at the other woman. “Of course I am. And I couldn’t go another day without telling you. It’s ok if you don’t love me back. I can live with that. But I can’t live with you not even acknowledging my feelings at all. I—“
Emma’s words were cut off suddenly as Regina closed the distance between them and crashed their lips together in a searing kiss. Olive fingers wove through golden curls as the former Queen let go of reason and fear and poured every ounce of her feelings for Emma into this one kiss.
For a moment, the blonde was shocked and didn’t know what was happening. Suddenly, as Regina’s tongue brushed softly against her lips, Emma recovered and kissed her back with abandon. Opening her mouth slightly to permit Regina access she tasted the dark bitterness and sweet cinnamon of the wine on her tongue. Her mind grew fuzzy as she became aware of Regina’s body pressed against her and of fingers tugging gently at her hair.
Emma took a chance and gripped Regina’s waist tightly, pulling the brunette flush against her and impossibly close. Regina moaned into her mouth at the action and the sound made Emma weak enough to collapse if not for the tender, lithe body against her.
After a moment, Regina pulled back and broke the kiss. She needed to catch her breath and calm her racing heart. She’d kissed and been kissed many times in her long life, but no one had ever made her dizzy and giddy and wanton as she felt just then.
Green eyes searched her face, looking for words she was all too ready to give. “I love you too, Emma. So much. And I’d gladly spend the rest of my life drinking this wine with you.”
A smile so bright the sun would have hidden in shame spread over Emma’s face. “Really?”
“Yes, really. I can think of no happier ending than that. Even for a former Evil Queen and Dark One.”
Emma’s gaze turned serious then. “Everyone deserves their happy ending.”
Regina picked up her wine glass and handed Emma’ hers before making a toast of her own. “To happy endings.”
Emma smiled and clinked their glasses together in agreement. “To happy endings.”