EPILOGUE

Regina's eyes ran over her form in the mirror, quizzically scrutinising her body; the accentuated waist, the lace curling around her shoulders and collarbones, her pulled-back hair and her blood red lips. She narrowed her eyes and smoothed her hands over her stomach, sweaty palms and quick heartbeat. She wasn't nervous, she was excited, anxious to finally be able to take this final step.

Critical, she watched her chest rise and fall in beat with her breaths, and she stared at herself, willing herself to overlook the abundance of flaws she saw in her own appearance and just focus on the end goal of today. She was marrying Emma. Marrying her. Finally.

After what felt like forever, the day had finally come. They were going to be Mrs. and Mrs. Swan Mills.

A knock broke her out of her thoughts and she turned to find Ruby poking her head into the room through the crack in the door. "Hi Queenie," she greeted, eyes scanning Regina's body, seemingly satisfied with her appearance. She pulled herself through the crack and closed the door. "You ready?"

Regina met her eyes through the mirror. "I don't know. I'm a little anxious. It's not the marrying part, it's the – the standing in front of all these people part."

Ruby laughed. "Well yeah, you guys should've just eloped like me and Lily." She fell onto a chair and tucked her hands behind her head.

"As if Snow would have ever accepted that. She's been having the time of her life corrupting my wedding with pink flowers and trained birds," Regina scoffed, eyes once more falling onto her appearance in the mirror. She suddenly wasn't so sure that she had chosen the right dress. "Is Emma still here?"

Rolling her eyes, Ruby said, "Of course, do you even have to ask." She fidgeted with the flower in her hair and stood up to run her fingers over the small veil adorning Regina's head, "Not even a herd of wild ogres could stop her from marrying you." She paused, eyes meeting Regina's in the mirror once more, chin resting on her shoulder. "You look beautiful by the way."

"Hardly," Regina replied, but it settled her heartbeat just a bit. "Is everyone ready?"

Ruby hummed, stepping backwards again. "Yes. Henry is right outside. Lily's with David, and Alba is giving Snow heaps of trouble. Something about an uncontrollable growth of sunflowers in the hall."

Regina couldn't help the amused smile on her face. Trust her daughter to cause troubles by magicking up flowers or forest animals. She was truly Snow White's grandchild. "Yes well, perhaps Snow should have reconsidered the pink when I told her to. We might have avoided this scenario then."

Moving towards the door, Ruby said, "Yes, we all know. You don't like Snow, except you totally do, and you're marrying her off-spring today." She smiled, lips curling upwards and teeth poking out. "This is good, Regina. It's wonderful even." She placed a hand on the doorknob, pressing it down, "I have to go make sure everyone's ready in their seats before David walks Emma down the aisle. I'll come get you and Henry when it's your turn."

Regina smiled appreciatively at her once more, before she slipped outside, door closing behind her. Regina thought she heard Mulan ordering Henry to fix his bowtie, and Snow yelling at her terror of a granddaughter, and she laughed to herself, leaning forward to brush her fingers over her lips. No stains meant no stains on Emma once they finally kissed each other for the first time as wife and wife.

A loud bang startled her, and she spun around in her high heels, eyes settling on the intruder – her fiancée, because of course – who'd managed to ungracefully land halfway on the couch. Emma had her hands placed tightly over her eyes, and her long blonde locks were curled down her back. Regina stared at her for a second – she looked beautiful in her simple white dress, much more relaxed and comfortable than the one Regina had chosen – and she appreciated the hint of cleavage and the pumps Emma had matched to go with it. Lily had even braided some of her hair back, interwoven with yellow flowers.

"Regina, am I in the right room?" Emma huskily breathed out, "I swear, my eyes are completely closed, but it makes it kinda hard to poof for some reason."

Regina bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. "You're in the right room, Emma."

Emma's shoulders sagged and she slipped onto the floor. "Thank God," she breathed. "Can I look at you? I know you're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding, but I don't care. I need to see you for a sec."

Tittering, Regina quickly crossed the small room and gently guided Emma's hands away from her eyes. "I think we've had all the bad luck we can possibly get," she whispered as her eyes finally locked with Emma's. "Hi."

"Hi," Emma shyly breathed.

Regina ran her hand up Emma's arm, finger trailing and leaving goosebumps behind. "You look beautiful, Emma."

Emma's eyes swept appreciatively over Regina's form; warmth radiating off her features and colouring her pale cheeks a faint pink. "So do you, like," she paused, "wow."

"We're getting married today," Regina casually said, fingers intertwining, settling her anxiety and the nervous flutter in her belly. "Any second thoughts?"

"No," Emma quickly said. "You?"

Regina shook her head, "Not a single one."

"I'm gonna kiss you now," Emma breathed, and she swept her hands behind Regina's neck and pulled their faces together. They kissed slowly, lips meshing and tongues searching each other out. Emma tasted of minty toothpaste and too much coffee, and Regina clutched her closer, not quite able to comprehend that she was marrying Emma today. After three years of living together and being together in Storybrooke, they were finally getting married. Honestly, it felt like they had been married for a long time, they were only just now making it official with a ceremony and everything.

She pulled back, resting her forehead on Emma's. "If you mess up my hair, I'm not marrying you," she vainly threatened.

Emma chuckled. "Yes, you are."

"So sure of yourself," Regina whispered, fingers tangling in the small hairs by the nape of Emma's neck. Emma was right however, but Regina wasn't going to verbally agree with that.

Humming, Emma reached into the small white purse she had around her shoulders, fisted hand coming up to rest between their bodies. "Belle and Mulan brought an early wedding present for us. A secret early wedding present. Especially from my parents and the kids."

Regina stared down at her closed hand, brown eyes settling on her whitening knuckles and the light grey nails. "What is it," she whispered.

Uncurling her hand, Emma showed what was hidden in there, and Regina heard her own gasp of surprise. It was almost invisible against Emma's palm, only the shimmering glitter alerted Regina to its shape and existence.

"Is that-?"

"A bean?" Emma whispered as she lifted her eyes to meet Regina's surprised ones, "Yeah. Belle and Mulan got it from Merida, so I guess it's technically from her as well. She discovered it on one of her journeys." She let the bean slip into Regina's hand instead, and the brunette felt its light weight against her skin, "They thought we might want to use it to – I dunno, travel on our honeymoon?"

Regina's brow furrowed. "But I thought we were going to New York. For old time's sake."

Emma chuckled. "We can go to New York, too. But Belle said that – well, she knows that we've been, you know, talking about expanding our family again." She pressed her hand to her own abdomen, fingers splayed, and eyes hopeful. "She said we might want to see if there's still some magic left at Neverland."

Squeezing her hand around the bean, Regina felt hope surge through her. "You mean, we might be able to-?" She couldn't finished that sentence. They'd talked so much about it, and none of the solutions they'd discussed had felt right for them.

"We might actually get to both be there for the pregnancy and the birth this time around," Emma softly whispered, lips curling upwards. "Third time's the charm, they say. I want that for us. For you."

Regina pressed her forehead back to Emma's and closed her eyes tightly. "So do I," she honestly whispered.

Emma's hands were soft against her arms as she soothingly rubbed them up and down. "Good. Then it's settled."

They stood in silence for a few seconds at that, savouring each other and breathing each other in. Knowing that soon they'd have to get a move on, face their families and get married, and this moment of silence and solitude was exactly what both of them needed. That was, until Henry frantically pushed the door open and broke them apart.

"Mom, Mom, we can't find-" He stopped himself, pausing in the doorway with relieved eyes and a cheeky grin. He huffed and turned back around, hollering, "Gran! Gramps! I found her! She snuck into Mom's room!"

Mary Margaret appeared in the doorway, Alba latched onto her hand, amazingly adorable in her little yellow dress – which Regina was pretty sure had been pink when they had picked it out two months ago, but such were her daughter's ways – and braided hair. "Emma, there you are." She sounded relieved, as if Emma would actually have considered running.

Emma grinned goofily. "Sorry. Couldn't help it. I missed her."

"It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, Moms," Henry sternly said, but he had the most sheepish grin on his face all the same.

Regina grinned up at Emma, love shining through her every pore, and magic reaching out to Emma in such a way that she could hardly tell where she ended and Emma begun on most days. "Not with these brides, it's not," she whispered.

Mary Margaret's eyes were wide with amusement, and the glow on her face along with her six-month pregnancy bump made her look happier than ever. "Are you coming then? Everyone's waiting for you."

Henry held out his arm, motioning for Regina to take it. "Mom?"

"Let's get married?" Emma softly questioned, green eyes sweeping over Regina's features once more before landing on the brunette's gaze.

Regina gave her hand a squeeze and slipped the bean back into her little purse. "Let's get married."

A/N: I want to thank all of you for coming on this journey with me, and for reading and commenting and supporting my writing. It's been amazing, and I've enjoyed reading all of your thoughts and ideas. I won't be gone for too long – I have a new fic in the works, so make sure to be on the look-out for that. If you want to, I can be found on twitter and tumblr as stessafanfic and I love to chat! I also post small updates on my writing on twitter, if that's of any interest to you. Take care!