The plates on the counter start to rattle, and Regina jumps, turning to see Emma walking into the kitchen with a smirk.

"I'm sorry." She throws her hands up in mock surrender. "Old habits and all."

Regina rolls her eyes, and a dish cloth collides with Emma's face.

"Ow - hey!" the blonde protests.

Regina just shakes her head fondly, turning her attention back to the herbs she's grinding.

"The Aunts got you on errands again?" Emma asks, sidling up behind her, and the brunette can't help the smile that creeps onto her face as arms slide around her waist.

"Does it count as an errand if I enjoy doing it?" Regina asks, turning her head to one side to look into the green eyes just inches away from her own.

Emma pretends to think for a moment. "No, yep, I'm pretty sure if you're doing it for someone else it's still an errand - no matter how much you enjoy it."

The brunette sighs, smiling up at the other woman. "What do you want, Emma?"

She leans her head forward, mouth brushing against Regina's ear in a way that makes her shiver. "Come outside."

Regina gives her a suspicious sideways look. "What for?"

"Just come outside, please," and she turns on her very best puppy face - which of course Regina is powerless to resist.

"Oh fine," she concedes, allowing Emma to lace their fingers together and drag her gently through the house. She leads her through the garden, to the pond, where Regina tilts her head to one side at the sight in front of her. There's a bush there she's never noticed before, large and full, covered in bright red roses.

Emma turns excited eyes to her. "Pick one," she says, and Regina reaches forward to pluck one from its thorny branch.

"It's heavy," she remarks, frowning, as she holds it on her palm, looking to Emma for some sort of explanation. The blonde leans forward and blows on it softly - and for a moment, the surface of the rose begins to shimmer. It's still a rose, but at the same time it's a ragged bit of pale gray rock.

Regina's gaze snaps to Emma. "The rose," she breathes, and the other woman grins at her.

"Your rose," the blonde confirms. "It grew."

The brunette looks down to the flower in her hand, marvelling at its unlikeliness. They stand in comfortable silence for a moment, Regina staring at the flowers Emma unintentionally created for her, and Emma staring at Regina.

The blonde eventually breaks the silence with a little cough. "Regina?" she asks, and the brunette looks up at her.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something," her voice is low, and though her words are slow there's an urgency, an intensity, behind them.

Regina tightens her fingers around Emma's, squeezing them in reassurance. "What is it?"

Emma's eyes drift to the shining swan fountain in the middle of the pond, and the nerves on her face start to make Regina anxious. "Emma?"

She turns back to her, and her green eyes are burning. "It's about Henry."

Those three words are enough to make Regina's heart stop for a second. "What about him? He is okay, isn't he? Emma, there's nothing wrong, is there?"

"No, no there's nothing wrong," Emma reassures her, thumb stroking across the back of Regina's hand. "I was just wondering…" she trails off, and then her gaze is catching Regina's, eyes wide, sincere, hopeful. It might just be the most honest, open look Emma has ever given her, and it floors her.

Regina can only look back at her and wait for the end of the sentence.

"I was just wondering," the blonde starts again, "if you might...if you'd like to. Well, I was wondering if you might want to adopt him?"

The brunette's mouth falls open.

"I was wondering if you might want to adopt him," Emma continues, and Regina feels the fingers around her own tighten, "after marrying me?"

The breath leaves Regina's throat and she finds herself speechless, mouth open, just staring at the other woman.

Emma stares back, heart in her eyes, lower lip drawn between her teeth as she waits.

Regina still can't talk though, because she can't quite believe what Emma's just asked her. The pause is verging on the side of awkward though, and she can see the nerves growing on Emma's face. If she can't say something, she needs to do something.

So she does. She surges forward and captures Emma's mouth with her own, freeing her fingers from the other woman's to slide them up to her wrist and pull her closer. Emma's hands move to her waist, holding her there. She pulls back just enough to free her mouth, but keeps their noses touching.

"Is that a -"

"Yes," Regina replies, words finally returning to her. "Yes."

Emma's mouth splits into a wide, radiant smile. Then she moves her mouth back to Regina's. The kiss is gentle, lazy, mouths moving together in a practised, familiar way. They kiss for long minutes, nothing fierce or urgent in it, just enjoying each other's taste, the way their lips feel together. Regina's fingers are clasped gently around Emma's wrist, a rose made of rock cradled between them. It's the kiss they never had, and every kiss they have had since. The kiss is made of the lightness, the happiness that both of them brought to each other.

They break apart for a moment and Emma takes the rose from Regina, keeping it held between them but clenching her fist around it. She closes her eyes, concentration setting in to her features. Then a second later she opens them again - fingers opening at the same time. The rose is gone, and in its place there's a small, glittering diamond.

Regina feels her eyes widening, but Emma's not done. The blonde reaches for her left hand with tentative, careful fingers. Her eyes flick to the metal swan sitting on the water, and with a quick jerk of her head, a tiny, delicate wing feather breaks off and moves to settle itself around Regina's ring finger. By the time the diamond has also nestled itself into the metal, Regina has already moved her mouth back to Emma's.

This time the kiss is harder, tongues and teeth and hands that grab to pull closer. This kiss has them falling into each other, holding tighter, like they never want to let go.

This kiss is a promise.

"Did you ask her did you ask her did you ask her?" Henry barrels into them before they even make it up the porch steps.

Emma laughs. "Yes, Henry, I did."

The little boy stares up at Regina, brown eyes wide and excited. "And?" he asks, "Are you going to? Are you going to be my mom too?"

Regina's smile widens to a grin, reaching forward with the hand not clasped in Emma's to stroke a piece of Henry's hair back into place. "Yes, Henry, I suppose I am."

Henry punches the air. "Yes! I knew it I knew it! And now mom can teach me spells, and you can teach me ings!"

Both women chuckle. "I'm pleased to see your education is at the forefront of your mind, Henry," Regina smiles at him.

"What's forefront mean?" he asks, screwing his nose up at her.

"Let's leave that for another lesson, shall we?" Emma replies. "There's a couple of other people we need to talk to." Her eyes move to the door and back, and Regina's suddenly very nervous about what is waiting for her on the other side.

"Emma?" she asks, as she's lead up the steps, Henry slipping a hand into hers and following behind.

The blonde doesn't say anything though, just smiles a knowing smile as the door swings open.

"She said yes!" Emma calls as they walk inside and then Regina jumps out of her skin as she's descended on by Ruby and the Aunts, all crowing excitedly.

Then she's whisked away to the dining room where lunch seems to have already been prepared, and there's ice cream, and brownies, and Lena's chocolate fudge cake, and much more than anyone could possibly eat in a lifetime.

She meets Emma's eyes across the table, and there's amusement in them as the rest of the family chatter happily about wedding food, and sundae flavors, and something that sounds a suspicious amount like a feast composed entirely of chocolate.

"Does this mean I get to be an official Swan witch now then?" Regina asks and Emma shrugs.

"I don't know. Who says I don't want to be a Mills?"

"Your name's far more magical, dear," the brunette points out, but Emma's got a look in her eye that Regina's come to recognize means she's plotting something.

"What if," Emma asks, "we made a new name?" Regina just frowns in confusion. "How about we become Swan-Mills?"

Regina looks at her for a moment before her face is blossoming into a smile. "Henry?" she calls down the table, and expectant brown eyes turn to her.

"Henry, how would you like to be a Swan-Mills?"

The little boy's eyes light up, and he jumps up and down excitedly in his chair.

Then the tall sundae glass in front of him explodes across the table and there's ice cream everywhere, leaving the assembled women to stare at the boy in shock.

"Witch," Mal corrects, with a little knowing smile on her face. "I think you'll find, my dears, that what each of the three of you are, is a Swan-Mills witch."

~ fin ~

Thanks all for coming on the ride with me, hope you enjoyed it. Extra thanks to everyone for your reviews, never fail to make a poor blocked writer smile.