December 10th, 2014

Emma's back popped as she sat up slowly. She rubbed at the muscles in her neck as she stretched, a small groan escaping her lips. I have got to stop falling asleep on Regina's couch, she chastised herself. It was the 4th night in less than two weeks she had accidentally slept here, and no matter how well she and Regina had been getting along Emma couldn't imagine her hospitality would hold out forever.

The first time had been the night she joined Operation Mongoose. They had spent more than an hour poring over the empty books in the abandoned mansion before heading back to Regina's where the three of them had sat in the living room discussing what Henry and Regina had discovered so far. Even when Henry had been sent up to his room, long after his official bedtime, his mothers had continued to talk until, apparently, Emma had passed out.

Next came movie night, and how Emma was expected to stay awake through three hours of The Hobbit was beyond her, no matter how cute she secretly found Bilbo's hairy feet. She'd woken the next day to a soft blanket, a home-cooked breakfast, and a very annoyed son. Then came three nights ago when Emma brought Henry home and Regina invited her in for a drink; the baby had screamed all through the night before and Emma didn't even finish her first glass of cider before she was slumped in a chair in Regina's study, probably snoring and making an idiot of herself. The house had been empty when she'd woken up, but there was coffee waiting for her, and despite a twinge of guilt it felt wonderful to have an hour of peace before she headed to work.

Last night, at Henry's demand, they had attempted the second Hobbit movie, and for all the excitement she'd heard over the dragon in it, it was a major snooze-fest. Emma was confident she couldn't fairly be blamed for falling asleep yet again, but however innocent the cause she had once again slept the night at Regina's. It was becoming a habit that Emma needed to break, but as she padded into the kitchen and found coffee waiting for her once again, this time with the sugar bowl distinctly out of place beside a mug that appeared to have been left for her, she found it was hard to care. If it weren't for her stiff muscles and her fear of ruining the tentative peace she'd built with Regina, the sheriff would have been happy to sleep far away from her brother's cries and wake to coffee every morning for the foreseeable future.

Emma sighed with that thought. She really needed to suck it up and get an apartment of her own, but there were issues with that too. She wasn't sure she was ready to leave her parents completely, and Hook kept hinting at living together, which was just... not a thing she was dealing with. Not to mention it was the holidays now, and with Ingrid finally gone and the town freed Snow was adamant about the town celebrating properly. To boost morale, she had said; to help people forget how poorly Snow was handling her new position as mayor, Emma didn't say.

It was bad enough that Snow was insisting half the town participate in a Secret Santa, but did it have to be 9 days long? As far as Emma knew Leroy and two of his brothers were the only Jews in town and none of them seemed to care about the town celebrating Hanukkah, but of course Snow wouldn't dream of excluding anyone… Who thinks Secret Santa is a good Hanukkah celebration anyway? Emma thought grumpily. Couldn't we have just put a menorah up in the town square and passed out dreidels? Ugh.

Sometimes Emma wished her mother weren't quite so gung-ho about things. Especially after waking up sore, the last thing Emma wanted was to go to the name draw at Granny's tonight. All she wanted was to go to work, go home to her own bed, and hopefully sleep through the night without being serenaded by a 3-month-old. Instead, she'd have to go to a stupid town event, and plaster on a bright smile because she's the Sheriff and the Mayor's daughter and the Savior and she was expected to be cheerful and involved and… Ugh. No matter how much she liked Storybrooke and most of its citizens, town functions just weren't her thing.

And what happened if she drew the name of someone she'd never met? Or someone she hated like Dr. Whale? With her own family to worry about getting presents for, a town to protect, and Operation Mongoose to work on, the last thing Emma needed was to spend the next two weeks trying to shop for a stranger.

It was a long and boring day at the sheriff's station filling out form after form about all the damage down by Ingrid and her curse. It felt like Emma had been doing nothing but paperwork for the last ten days. She was almost glad when 6 o'clock rolled around and she was forced to leave her work and head to the diner.

"Welcome everyone!" Snow called out to the gathered crowd, beaming at the masses despite being wedged into a corner from how full Granny's was. Everyone was packed in like sardines, and no one else seemed half as enthusiastic as their new mayor. "As you all know, it's the first holiday season since I became Mayor, so I'd like to do something a little special this year. Now I know there are a few in town who still celebrate the traditions from the Enchanted Forest, but since most of us celebrate this world's holidays I thought it would be a wonderful idea to embrace that as a town. I've placed everyone's names into a bowl so we can all pick someone at random to buy presents for. Now as many of you know, Hanukkah starts on the 16th this year and continues until the 23rd, so I have planned for us all to give a gift for each day of Hanukkah, and then reveal ourselves on Christmas Eve when we gather to exchange our final gifts and decorate the town Christmas tree. Granny has also been kind enough to set up a menorah for us, which Leroy will be lighting in a few moments. Now, I believe Ruby has the bowl ready, if everyone will just be patient I'm sure we'll all get a chance to make our way up to the counter and draw a name."

It was the longest speech Emma had ever heard her mother make, and she zoned out halfway through, but at a nudge from Henry joined in the clapping. Regina, where she stood on Henry's other side, was less than enthusiastic, but Emma was just impressed Henry had convinced her to come at all.

As people began to mill about, Emma noticed Hook heading her way. She really didn't want to deal with he and Regina sending jabs at each other while she and Henry were put in the middle, so she patted Henry on the shoulder and promised to be back in a few as she squeezed her way through the crowd to meet him.

Regina rolled her eyes as Emma walked away and slipped an arm around Henry's shoulder. Emma and Henry had dragged her here, and now Emma was going off with the pirate? Well, that was just fine. She was only here for her son. She didn't see why Snow expected her participate in this charade anyway; who would buy gifts for the Evil Queen? As they had been for the last 13 years, the holidays were about Henry. If he wanted her here she would be here with him. Unlike his other mother, who apparently though her boyfriend was more important than spending time with her family.

Henry seemed to sense his brunette mother's frustration, and at the first opportunity he directed them towards the counter.

Henry eagerly drew a name and was thrilled when the small slip of paper read Emma Swan. Regina couldn't help a small smile, but it faded as she reached her own hand in. Nicholas Zimmer.

"Henry, isn't this one of your friends?" Regina asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, that's Nick!" Henry paused for a moment, looking conflicted. "Mom… Do you think Ma would mind if we traded? I mean," he hastened to justify himself, "it's not like you know Nick or what he likes, and I do, so it wouldn't be bad if we switched, right?"

Regina smiled indulgently, suppressing the slight panic that rose up at the thought of finding 9 gifts for Emma Swan. "Of course sweetheart, I think that's a lovely idea."

A few minutes later, Emma watched Henry and Regina leave, arms around each other's waists, and tried not to feel disappointed that they hadn't even said goodbye. Deciding that she'd definitely been there long enough, Emma extracted herself from Hook and made her way to the counter. Half the crowd had already dissipated, but there was still plenty of chatter as the townsfolk discussed their holiday plans and whose name they'd drawn.

Finally, Emma reached the bowl and pulled out one of the last slips of paper: Ruby Lucas.