AN: I owe the first game idea and the way all of them play it to Katy Mixon and Jon Favreau in Four Christmases… and the second game idea goes to Just Go With It… enjoy!
Mary Margaret, Ruby, Emma and Regina had formed quite the foursome. They always garnered looks when they would go on double dates mainly because it was so different seeing Regina actually happy… and getting along with the schoolteacher. Tonight though, they decided to stay in and have a game night.
Ruby and Mary Margaret walked inside the mansion just as Henry was getting ready to leave. They found him in the living room with a marker at the dry-erase board, "Oh, hi Miss Blanchard.. Ruby." He smiled then turned back to the board.
"Hi Henry." They both responded in kind.
"You're all packed up, where are you going?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Oh, I'm going to spend the night a Nicolas's. We're going to play Tron: Evolution all night long." They both could hear the smile on his face as his back was turned.
"That sounds like fun." Ruby started, "Hey, what are you doing over there?"
"Oh, I'm just starting the score board… My mom is very competitive, and keeping score during a game night is a must…" He finished what he was writing and capped the marker before setting it down and turning around.
"Oh, well…" Mary Margaret nodded then turned and whispered to Ruby, "I knew tonight was going to suck…"
"Shhh, games are fun, Hon. We'll have fun despite." She put her hand on her girlfriend's back in reassurance.
Henry heard the door and picked up his back pack, "That must be Nicolas…" He started for the door.
"Hey! Wait! Henry!" Ruby called after him as she saw the scoreboard, "What is Swan Queen and Red Snow?"
"Well… that's you guys, Ruby…" He said then turned to the door, "I'm sure Miss Blanchard can explain… if not then I'll bet one of my moms can… I have to go! Bye." Henry said to them then yelled, "MOM! I'm leaving! And Ruby and Miss Blanchard are here!"
A huffy voice—not that Henry noticed—responded, "Alright, Henry! I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."
"'Kay!" Henry walked out the door.
Ruby and Mary Margaret heard giggling…GIGGLING!...from Regina upstairs.
"Gross." Ruby said as she looked at the ceiling then turned back to the board, "Do you know what they mean?"
Mary Margaret smirked, "Well… If it was Henry making the names, then it is Operation: Cobra related… and that means fairytales.. So let's see… He thinks I'm Snow White, so there's the Snow, and you're Red Riding Hood… So, Red…" She bit her lip a moment, "Emma is obviously Swan because that's her last name and she is only in the book as a baby, and Regina is… Well," she spoke softly, "Regina is the evil queen…"
"So we have Swan Queen and Red Snow… as like… what? Combined names?"
"Oh yes…" Regina's voice came into the living room, "Sorry to keep you, we were umm… changing." Emma snorted from behind her.
"Gross." Ruby spoke so only Snow could hear; Snow obviously grinned t her lover.
"Yes, uhh, Henry's decided to combine names based on relationships…" Regina admitted.
"Like Brangelina." Emma gave them both a look, "Thus we have… the team names…" She shrugged, "I like 'em… I think they're clever.."
"You just like that you get to come first on ours." Regina retorted.
"Yes, well… You come first.. so much of the time… I gotta get my chance somewhere…"
Regina flared her nostrils, "You better know that you are deathly close to that line that you sometimes cross that gets you on the couch…"
Emma lowered her head, "I'm sorry, I'm just saying…"
Regina put her hand up to Emma's cheek and smiled, "I know darling… as am I." she smiled a faux smile.
"I'm not already on the couch am I?"
"Not if we win." The smile was still there.
"Alright…" Emma clapped and got her friend's attention, "Who's ready for Taboo?" She asked with a smile.
The four women got some wine and popped a pizza in the oven before actually setting up the game. They made small talk because the pizza wouldn't take too long to heat and Regina didn't want to get started then have to pause.
As they all sat down around the square coffee table, Regina turned to Mary Margaret and Ruby, "So… do you both know how to play?"
"This is the one where you get your partner to guess what it is, but you don't say the word or the words on the card, right?" Ruby asked.
"Yes that's exactly it." Regina smiled, Oh we are so going to crush you..heeheehee.—her laugh was even a little bit evil in her head, "Do you guys want a practice round, or shall we just dive in?" She asked.
Mary Margaret turned to Ruby, "Oh, I think we can handle it… It's only a game, right?" she squeezed her girlfriend's knee.
"Yeah." Ruby nodded, "I'll got first!" She said.
"Here you go." Emma gave Ruby a pile of cards and held the timer in her hand, "Just tell me when you're ready."
Ruby looked at the first card, "Oh..pff! Ready!" She grinned.
Emma flipped it small, plastic hourglass, "Go!"
"What's paused on the ipod right now." Ruby said, getting into game-mode.
"Backstreet Boys."
"Yes." She flipped the card, "Cinnamon."
"Cocoa!"
"Yes!" another flip, "Not Riddler or Two-Face."
"The Joker."
Ruby grinned wide, "Yes, Baby!... Yoda's weapon!" She said excitedly glancing at the timer.
"A lightsaber!" Mary Margaret bounced, also feeling the excitement.
"Uhh… OH OH!" Ruby started singing, "We're having a _, a tropical _. The _'s rising, it isn't surprising, she certainly can… can, can."
Mary Margaret pointed a finger at her girlfriend, "Heatwave!...Why didn't you say temperature?"
"It was one of the words!" Ruby poked the card then flipped it for the next one as she glance at the timer, "Two weeks from now!"
Mary Margaret searched her brain, "Our anniversary! Ahhhhh…"
They both grinned at each other and reached for each other's hands.
"Time…" Emma said, "You guys got six…" She looked to Regina with worry… their best round was six whenever they played this game.
Regina was flaring her nostrils but played nice, "Well, that certainly was quite a round… Darling, would you like to go, or would you like me to go?"
"Uhhh.. You can go first, babe." Emma smiled a closed mouth smile as she handed Ruby the timer.
Regina got the stack of cards and waited to flip it over.
"Ready?" Ruby asked and after getting a nod from the brunette, she flipped the timer, "GO!"
Regina smirked at her first one, "What I made on Monday."
"Uuuuaaaaaplesauce!"
"Good." She gave the blonde a look telling her she better keep it up, "Kathryn and David are…"
"Pregnant!" She covered her mouth with both hands after she said it and looked at Mary Margaret.
"Kathryn and David are pregnant?" The black haired woman asked.
"Yes. Very pregnant, due in two months pregnant." Regina answered curtly, "Moving on." When she saw that her lover was not paying attention, that she was looking at Mary Margaret to see if she was okay with the fact that a married couple was having a baby, she snapped her fingers at her, "Emma!"
"What?"
"You second favorite feature on my face."
"Eyes."
"Good girl, darling." She bit her lip, "The man I had you look into."
"August."
"How you say Kathryn moves."
"Moves? Walks?" Regina touched her nose, "Waddle!"
"Yes." She flipped the card, "what you left lying next to the tub for… reasons."
"Bathrobe!"
"Yes." Regina flipped the card.
"Time." Ruby said.
"Damn it!" Regina threw the card down and counted. She looked up at Emma, "We're tied."
Emma bit her lip and put both scores on the board quickly before sitting back down. Ruby handed the timer to Regina and Mary Margaret sat there looking blankly for a moment at the table.
"Mary Margaret?" Regina looked at the pixie-cut woman.
"Huh?"
"Are you alright, dear?"
Mary Margaret knit her brows, "Kathryn's pregnant?" She asked as she looked at the other woman.
"Is there something wrong with a husband and wife expecting a child?"
"No, I just… pregnant?" She looked back down, "Seven months along?" She looked over to Emma then at Ruby, "I had no idea… It's good… that we both moved on…"
Ruby looked at her, "Is it?" She asked.
"Of course!" Mary Margaret leaned forward and kissed Ruby to show her how truthful she was, "I mean… it's just… new information that I was not expecting… I'm glad I found out before the baby came…" She looked off to the side in a slight joke.
"M&M… the fact that you didn't know is kind of amazing…" Emma said, "I mean… really… most exes keep tabs on each other for a bit even in they are in other relationships… most exes ask about the other to mutual friends… you haven't… you've actually been happy…" Emma said.
Mary Margaret grinned and took Ruby's hand, "I have been happy…"
"So… the game?" Regina said after a moment.
"Oh, right! Of course." The black haired woman grinned, "The ultimate Swan Queen versus Red Snow showdown…" She shook her head with a grin, causing the other women to smile and laugh as she grabbed the cards, "I'm ready whenever." She said.
"And, Go!" Regina flipped the timer.
"Oh, uhh…. He stays on the corner next to the wall in the shower… He cheers us up when we are sad!"
"What the hell?" Emma looked between her friends then gave her lover a look that said, 'This is dirty; I want one…'
Ruby glared at Emma, "A rubber duck."
"Oh, uh huh…" Emma nodded along not believing her, but then Mary Margaret flipped the card.
"What you can never seem to get both socks in so only one gets clean!"
"Hamper!"
"Different word..s!"
"Laundry basket!"
"Yes!... Ursula!"
"Sea witch! Octopus!"
"Yes!... The kind of TV you have in the diner that we watch shows on at night!"
Ruby smirked, "Portable!"
Mary Margaret grinned, "OH! OH! Gilbert Grape's brother! He draws French girls! He goes inside many levels of dreams! The red ninja turtle plus a last name!"
"Leonardo DiCaprio!"
"Yes! BABY!... OOOOHH! No one mourns her but they should! She's green… GAAAAlinda's roommate!"
"Elphaba!" Ruby got out the first two syllables just as Regina called time.
"Damn! Six again!" Emma said as she took the cards from Mary Margaret and counted.
"Emma!" Regina said seriously.
"I'll do my best! Babe!" She whined. She looked to Mary Margaret, who had the timer, "Ready."
"Go!"
"Reefer Madness the Musical!"
"Weed."
"Yes!... Oh, uh.. Every morning I say, 'Well, I'm off to the…'"
"Office."
"Yes!... Your third sometimes second least favorite fruit."
"Strawberry."
"Yes, baby!... 'You stay classy, San Diego.'"
"Ron Burgandy."
"You know who Ron Burgandy is?" Ruby asked in surprise.
"You've seen Anchorman?" Mary Margaret was just as shocked.
"Next, Babe!" Regina gave them a glare.
"Richard Gere! Necklace! Shutting Box! Laughing! Redhead! Prostitute!"
"Pretty Woman!"
"Yes, baby!"
"Oh! Time!" Mary Margaret ended the round.
Emma counted the cards… then she counted again… and once more, "…Six… it's twelve to twelve."
"Tie breaker." Regina said seriously.
"Babe, we don't need to have a—"
"Tie breaker!" She said again.
~0~0~
"Okay… so this is a game called coconut smoochie… At least it was in Just Go With It… but since we're using grapefruits, I guess it's grapefruit smoochie…" Emma said handing Ruby and Mary Margaret a grapefruit.
"Now… basically, we started with the thing on our tummies and we have to work with our partner to move it up our bodies—no hands allowed—and to our mouths so that we can kiss it…"
"Okay, sounds easy enough." Ruby winked at Mary Margaret.
"Ready?" Emma asked them as she and Regina got in position.
"Ready." They both said.
"Go!"
Regina and Emma began moving around making the grape fruit move side to side before making it go up.
Mary Margaret and Ruby did the same.
Regina saw that the other two were in the lead and she leaned into Emma, "Sheriff, I swear to God if you don't win this I will not have sex with you for a month!"
Emma looked up at her with the biggest puppy dog eyes that she knew she'd cave into after a few hours that night if they did lose, but she saw determination behind her eyes. Emma bent her knees a bit to try to move her chest down and moved her arms together a bit to give her chest more pick up room for the grapefruit.
She moved it up to Regina's neck then started kissing it as she moved it around her lover's chin. She looked over to see Ruby and Mary Margaret almost there, but not quite to where they were.
Regina started jumping up and down, "Yes! I knew it!" She wrapped Emma in a hug and had her own little mini celebration.
Mary Margaret and Ruby both laughed at how excited Regina was. She celebrated all through the movie they decided to put on and told them that she was going to go to bed early… then whispered to Emma that she would walk up to a surprise.
Emma showed them the door as they made to leave, "Thank you… for losing…" Emma whispered.
Ruby and Mary Margaret both nodded, "Of course, Emma."
"I mean… I know that you guys could have won."
They both smiled and Ruby leaned in, "But did you see how happy you made your girlfriend?"
"Yeah… that's why I owe the thanks… she just… when we play couples games like this, she thinks that if we lose then we don't know each other as good as we should and she gets depressed and angry that we aren't as 'connected'… which we are, she just doesn't think it's true unless we have a buzzer or a timer…" Emma bit her lip, "so… thank you for keeping me from the dog house." She laughed a little.
"Emma, of course!" Mary Margaret leaned in and hugged her friend, "We know the kind of woman she is! And we know that we aren't that kind of crazy competitive…"
"Yeah, we just like the games…." Ruby shrugged as she pulled Mary Margaret along, "You two have a good night… celebrating your win."
"Thank you! You guys have a good one, too." Emma waved and shut the door.
The blonde climbed her way to the top of the stairs after locking up and opened the bedroom door. She gaped and raised her hand over her heart, "Oh dear God almighty! Are you trying to kill me woman?" Emma threw the bedroom door shut and ran and supermanned it onto the bed, onto Regina, "You mean to tell me that you have been up here, naked with caramel and apples? When did you even bring that up here?" Emma kissed Regina's neck as she giggled and let the attack happen.
"I have my ways, Sheriff." She turned and kissed her lover, "I love you." She said quietly.
"I love you too." Emma replied immediately then realized something, "You know that's the first time you've said that first?" Regina only nodded making Emma grin and kiss her once more.
~0~0~
Ruby and Mary Margaret walked into the closed diner. Mary Margaret went and got the portable TV while Ruby started making sundaes. "You know… I think I'm beginning to like hanging out with them… I mean in that kind of setting, not the date night where we dress up and stuff.."
"Oh yes… Emma can bring Regina out so much more when it's a more intimate setting…" Mary Margaret said.
"I'm glad I don't have to bring you out…" Ruby sighed as she gave her lady a sundae.
The black haired woman laughed, "And I'm glad I don't have to bring you out either… I think Emma likes it though… I mean, she wouldn't be with her if she didn't, but still…"
Ruby didn't reply, instead she stared at her a second then changed the subject, "Are you really okay with David and Kathryn?"
"Yeah! Of course! I think I am jealous…. But not of Kathryn…"
Ruby cocked her head, "Are you trying to tell me that you want Kathryn now?"
"No! I just…. It'd be nice to have a family like that, you know?"
Ruby grinned, "Well… you know there is another way to have kids…"
Mary Margaret turned to Ruby with a wide, shocked face, "Are you saying that you would adopt with me?"
"Yeah… of course… I mean, I can't legally marry you here, but that shouldn't stop us from having a family…"
Mary Margaret only smiled and leaned into her, "I love you."
"I love you." Ruby kissed her before tapping her hand, telling her she wanted ice-cream.
"You know… if we played them for real, they would be dust…" Mary Margaret said after a few more minutes.
"Duh!" Ruby gave her lover a happy look.