A/N: Hey Y'all! I cannot express how sorry I am for disappearing on you folks again. AND right after I announced that I was seeing a pattern in my updates. I suppose I jinxed myself on that one huh? Life got in the way as normal and the muse decided to take another vacation. However! I am slowly getting a handle on everything and I will try to update again soon. This chapter is more of a filler if anything but I did want to drop a little something for all of my faithful readers. I did not forget about you guys and will not forget about this story. Although it may take awhile sometimes. *nervous laugh* Welps. Onto the story. Enjoy!
Chapter 16
Regina would be lying if she said that she wasn't impressed with how fast Emma was able to get the girls up. She didn't even suppress the smile that appeared on her face as she observed them come through the living room and into the kitchen one by one, grumbling a 'good morning' to the amused brunette nursing her cup of coffee and tapping away on her phone to catch up with business.
With all of them dressed, they gathered around the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee in front of them but none of them were actually awake. Judging by how Jane was hunched over with arms on the counter and her head buried within them, Ruby had her head in her hand fighting her eyes to stay open, while Belle slouched in her seat sipping on her coffee. Emma walked up last, placing a kiss to a Regina's cheek.
Regina smiled and turned to face her, "I'm surprised you aren't as dead as these guys" she looked over to her friends, letting out a chuckle.
"Yeah, give them a little bit to wake up" Emma responded through a laugh.
"The car should be here any moment. We can head to the diner for breakfast before we head to the park" Regina said as she tapped out a text on her phone.
"We could've walked"
Regina raised a questioning eyebrow "really?" she motioned over to the half asleep group.
True to her word the girls were awake and back to their normal selves after breakfast and they were back in the car heading to the park. Once they arrived, Emma was surprised to see that the park was already set up with rides, booths and even the stage. People were already running about doing what she was sure were important things before the event were to start. Regina led the group to the tent located next to the stage.
The people stationed at the tent practically swarmed around Regina once she stepped under the tent. The girls watched silently in awe as they saw the obvious shift in Regina's demeanor. Signing off on clipboards and quickly directing people around. She turned back to the group who were watching her with wide eyes.
"Wow" Jane said under her breath.
"That's hot" Ruby agreed unabashedly which earned her an elbow from Belle.
"I know" Emma agreed last shooting Regina a predatory grin.
Regina choose to ignore the comments but couldn't help but feel a little smug, "follow me" she directed the group softening a little compared to her power house figure from mere seconds ago. The group followed her without hesitation through the tent.
"We have about an hour and a half before the event starts, everything is practically ready and because you girls are only volunteers I would hate to take you away from enjoying the event itself. So I figured what I could have you guys do is take pictures before, during and after the event that way we can post it to our website and to the social media pages. What do you think?" She finished stepping to the side as she revealed a table with camera laid across.
"Sweet! Cool!" Jane and Ruby exclaimed as they rushed over to the table and each picked up a camera and turned it on. Belle slowly made her way over to join the two. Emma walked over to Regina and stood in front of her and couldn't suppress the smile that appeared on her face.
"It's like their children" Emma commented as she watched her friends play with the cameras.
"You should talk" Regina teased.
"I learned it from them" Emma replied easily.
"I'm sure"
Emma continued to smile dreamily at Regina.
"I'm sorry Ms. Mills but I have a call waiting for you" a dark skinned man interrupted a few away. Regina looked up at him and gave him a quick nod. She turned to Belle.
"Belle, I'm sorry to leave you with these children but I need to take care of a few things before the event starts. You think you can handle watching over them?" Regina asked playfully.
"I'll manage" Belle smiled.
"I'll be back as soon as everything is settled" Regina now directed to Emma.
"Yeah, we'll be fine, take your time" Emma said and it momentarily shocked her that Regina leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek before walking towards the man with the phone.
"Oh! And try not to break anything" Regina threw over her shoulder before taking the phone from her assistant.
The girls took a few minutes to get acquainted with their new toys, getting shots of each other, taking selfies and snapping some shots of their surroundings. Eventually the group made their way out of the tent and started walking around the park, each of them snapping pictures of people prepping the booths, testing the rides, people manning the grills, of people setting up the stage, even the officers and security guards milling about and around the park. Emma couldn't resist herself when she took a few candids of Regina, phone pressed to her ear as she directed her team looking like the leader that she is.
Slowly people started crowding around the entrance waiting for the event to begin. The group started making their way back to the tent next to the stage and found Regina.
"The event is about to start" Regina stated the obvious. "I'm just going to do the opening announcement and then I should be free to join you. Did you get some good pictures?" She asked the group.
"Oh yeah!" Ruby replied happily. "Do you mind if I get a copy of some these?"
"Of course"
The same man from early approached timidly. "Excuse me Ms. Mills. We're ready for you." Regina sent the group an apologetic look before following the man.
The group watched from the tent as Regina walked to the middle of the stage and made her opening speech. They couldn't help but watch her intently through out her speech. She was simply entrancing, the way she worked her words were wonderful and heartfelt. All of them snapping pictures of the brunette through out the speech and the growing crowd in the middle of the field. The brunette finished her speech and the crowd applauded and then dispersed to enjoy the rest of the event.
Regina appeared as if out of nowhere as she took her spot next to Emma.
"That was an amazing speech" Belle spoke up first.
"Thank you dear" she smiled sweetly, "shall we?" she said leading the way through the crowd.
Never forgetting their duties, the group continued to take pictures as they slowly strolled through the park. Stopping by information booths, playing a few games and of course they couldn't forget the food booths. They were all enjoying themselves. Taking a break from all the walking, Regina excused herself to go check on her team while the girls found a spot under a tree to watch one of the bands currently playing on the stage.
The group took more pictures of the band, the crowd, catching candid moments of people laughing, smiling and enjoying the event.
They started to wander around again, making another round through the park. They found themselves in the game area. Emma stepped up to one of the booths, a classic fair game with small balloons lining up the wall and the object of the game were to pop three balloons with three darts to win a stuffed animal.
Emma approached the attendant, a petite girl with honey brown hair and amber eyes. She smiled shyly at Emma.
"Hey, wanna give it a try?" Nikki, the girls badge read, asked.
"Yeah, please" Emma smiled handing Nikki the fare and shifting her shades to the top of her head. "Thanks Nikki" Emma continued as she was handed the darts. Ruby stepped back to get a better picture of Emma easily throwing the darts and popping one balloon after another. The gang, along with Nikki cheered her on as Emma popped the last balloon.
"Wow. You're really good with your hands" Nikki smiled a more than friendly smile.
"Thank you" Emma beamed, oblivious to the implication of the girls comment.
"So, what'll be?" Nikki winked gesturing to the wall of stuffed animals. Emma took a look at her options before making up her mind on the stuffed giraffe.
Nikki approached Emma and handed her the prize and intentionally letting their hands brush before completely letting go.
"Are you guys enjoying the event?" Nikki tried to start a conversation.
Before Emma could respond, she felt a light touch to the small of her back before Regina stepped up next to her. Emma leaned into the touch before turning to face her.
"Hey, I got you this!" Emma said happily handing her the stuffed giraffe. Regina gave her a beaming smile.
"Thank you, dear" accepting the gift before turning to face Nikki, raising a questioning eyebrow at her, having seen their interaction as she walked towards the group.
"Hello, Ms. Mills" Nikki said weakly, having the decency to look a little guilty. Regina gave her a small nod before turning to face the girls again, only after grabbing Emma's hand and intertwining their fingers together.
"Ladies, are you guys hungry?" Regina asked as she started leading the pack towards the food booths. They all agreed that they could eat, looking at one another sharing an amused smile at Regina's slip of the little green monster.
They ended up at a picnic table under a tree talking and laughing while consuming their food. Regina's phones started ringing and she got up from the table to answer.
She returned moments later, excusing herself from the group to take care of some issues that had arisen.
Regina returned an hour later with another blonde in tow. Emma smiling brightly at the pair as they walked up to the table Regina had left them at. All heads turned to the pair, curious to the new comer. Jane was especially interested in the blonde, heartbeat picking up as she looked her over.
The new blonde wore a similar powerhouse suit that Regina donned except hers were a baby blue color and matching high heels that showed off well muscled calves. Jane continued her scan as the pair arrived at the table, making eye contacting with the blondes piercing blue eyes that she got lost in quickly, before giving the woman a charming, shy smile.
"Ladies, I would like to introduce you to my dear friend, Katherine" Regina announced as the blonde stepped up to stand next to Regina. She pointed to all the women in the group and introduced them by name. Jane getting her game face on, threw a wink in Katherine's direction when Regina got to her, which earned her a blush and a smile. Jane bit the corner of her bottom lip and quickly looked down shyly before returning her gaze to the blonde again.
Ruby snickered to herself as she subtly (not subtly) nudged Jane in the foot under the table. Everyone laughed quietly as they all adjusted around the table to give the two women some space to sit down.
A/N: So there you have it! I will try to get the second part of the event out as soon as I can! Wish me luck! Any thoughts or comments of what you wanna see next? I'm always open for ideas! drop a review or just to say Hey! Much Love to all of you out there for sticking with me!
Also I would like to thank everybody for the follows, favorites and reviews. All of you are Awesome!
If you're not already following, you should probably hit that follow button!
Want to get to know me better and see what the F is distracting me all the time?
Insta: jhey_3474
Twitter: jhey3474
Snap: Jenn34744