A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay. Things are continuing to spiral into constant chaos. But, hopefully this is worth the wait!

21. Emma: Day 98

Christmas day starts off rather uneventful, after they exit Regina's childhood bedroom to head down to breakfast. Although they had talked that morning — well, sort of talked — there's a little less awkward tension between the two women, but a new, different underlying tension in its place. Emma can't help but feel a flitter of butterflies in her stomach as she thinks about continuing what they had started that morning. She hopes Regina doesn't get scared and close herself off again, but the subtle glances the brunette sends her from across the kitchen as she pours a cup of coffee tells her things will be okay.

After breakfast, presents are unwrapped, but it's all for show. Cora has called in her personal campaign photographer for the morning to take pictures of the happy family, despite both Regina and Zelena insisting that it would be better to have candid, iPhone photos taken by the actual family members. At Cora's command, Emma and Regina pose for pictures with Cora, the older woman standing between the couple and lovingly embracing her newly lesbian daughter and her girlfriend, all to capture the votes of the young progressive voters who are still favoring her rival Mal Draco in the polls.

"Well, that was something," Emma comments to Regina when the token gifts are unwrapped — nothing of sentimental value or selected with much thought, but flashy, expensive gold and diamond jewelry and some donations made in their names to various causes voters will care about.

"It always is something with her," Regina confirms, resting her head on the blonde's shoulder as they lean against the back of the sofa. "God, I'm exhausted," she says, closing her eyes.

"Why don't you take a nap?"

"I can't. My mom's brother will be here soon with his family. If I take a nap now, my mother will just accuse me of being lazy."

"Ah, of course," Emma rolls her eyes. "So, am I allowed to go shower or will that interfere with the carefully crafted schedule?"

Regina chuckles, and Emma relaxes at the sound. She hasn't heard her genuinely laugh since their drunken night in New York that changed the dynamic between them. She's missed it. "No, go ahead," she says, pushing herself upright to give Emma the space to get up.

"I'll be back soon," she says, leaning in to give Regina a quick kiss before leaving the room, not even thinking twice about the gesture. It's become second nature during the course of their fake romance, and she's finally not afraid to admit that she enjoys it.

*.*.*

She stands under the cold spray of the water at the end of her shower — a habit she started years ago to give herself a jolt of energy — and can't help but think back to the weirdness of the morning. It's the first Christmas she's spent with anyone in years, so she should enjoy having the company around her and not watching It's A Wonderful Life by herself in her living room like she does every year. But, this was hardly a traditional family Christmas, and she can't help but wonder what it would have been like if she and Regina could have been back in her apartment in Los Angeles, just the two of them. As she attempts to quickly dry her hair, ultimately giving up and throwing it into a long braid, her mind once again drifts to what will happen now that they've both admitted to having some sort of feelings for one another. It's then that she also realizes that there isn't much time left in their PR stunt. What then?

She finds that she really doesn't want to think about that. So, she doesn't. She pushes it out of her mind as she gets dressed and heads back into the family craziness.

"Oh, good, there you are," Cora says, catching Emma at the bottom of the stairs. "Come meet my brother and his new family. They just arrived a few minutes ago."

"Oh, okay," she replies, not as though she has much choice in the matter. She doesn't see Regina and doesn't have time to ask about her fake-girlfriend-slash-maybe-sort-of-actual-girlfriend's whereabouts. It occurs to her that they should probably add "defining our relationship" to the list of things to discuss, and she mentally makes a note of it.

"Emma, meet my brother George," Cora says, lightly pushing Emma into the living room.

"It's nice to meet you," Emma says with a smile she hopes is genuine.

"You as well, Emma. I've heard great things about you from my sister," he says with a forced grin. "This is my darling wife Ava," he says, pointed to the brunette on his left.

"It's lovely to meet you, Emma," she says, much more convincingly than her husband. "Ah, and there's my darling daughter and her husband," she says, her eyes looking behind Emma.

Emma follows Ava's eyes and looks over her shoulder, stunned. "David? Mary-Margaret?"

"Emma," Mary-Margaret sighs with a hopeful smile. "It's really you. I didn't believe it when George told me."

"What are you doing here?" Emma asks, taking a tentative step back, away from the woman who looks like she's about to rush toward her and engulf her in a hug that would not be welcomed.

"My mother married Cora's brother last month."

"Emma?" Regina asks, coming back into the room, concerned when she sees that the blonde has turned unnaturally pale. "Are you okay?"

"I…" Emma starts. "Excuse me," she says, turning to rush out of the room.

"Emma, wait up," Regina says, immediately following the woman back up the stairs and not giving a second glance to the people she left behind in the living room. The blonde heads straight for Regina's bedroom, attempting to slam the door behind her, but Regina catches it before it closes, and instead gently latches it behind her. "Emma," she tries again, watching as she sits down on the bed and stares out the window. "What the hell happened?"

"Did you meet your new cousins?" Emma asks, her voice monotonous.

"They're not my cousins," Regina rolls her eyes. "Not really."

"Did you meet them?" Emma asks again.

"Yes….why?"

"David and Mary-Margaret? Those names don't ring a bell?"

"What are you-" she pauses. "Oh, shit. They're that David and Mary-Margaret? Your foster parents?"

"Yep – the very same. The ones who threatened to kick me out for being a lesbian, and who have only tried to contact me once, right after I won the Olympics."

"Shit, Emma," Regina says, taking a seat next to Emma on the bed.

"Yeah. I was not prepared for that."

"I don't blame you," Regina says, wrapping her arm supportively around Emma's shoulders and pulling the woman closer, placing a kiss on her temple.

"You don't think…" Emma starts.

"What?"

"I mean, your mother orchestrated our relationship for the campaign…you don't think that this is part of that, do you? Ava said they got married last month, so you don't think this could be some ploy to stage a big family reunion to reunite an estranged foster family, do you?"

Regina stiffens, but takes Emma's hand in hers. "Honestly? I wish I could say no. It seems extreme and overly complicated and meddlesome. But, I wouldn't put it past her."

They fall into a comfortable silence, their clasped hands still resting in Regina's lap. Barely a minute passes when they're interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Regina? Emma?" Cora's voice calls as they hear the door open behind them.

They both sigh, and Emma wishes that it was Henry coming to check on them instead. When she catches Regina's apologetic eye, she imagines she's thinking the same thing.

"What, Mother?" Regina answers, not bothering to turn around and face the woman responsible for this intrusion.

"I was wondering where you both ran off to, and more importantly, why you ran off. It's supposed to be a day of family and celebration. That was quite rude."

"Did you know who they were?" Regina spits out, turning around at last.

"Did I know who who were?" Cora asks.

"George's wife and her daughter and son-in-law."

"Ava? And Mary-Margaret and David? What about them?"

"Oh, don't play naïve, Mother. Did you know who they were?"

"Regina, honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"They were my foster parents," Emma speaks up.

"Who was? Ava?"

"No. Mary-Margaret and David," Emma clarifies.

"How is that possible? They're not that old."

"They were really young when they took me in," Emma says.

"So you didn't know?" Regina asks.

"No, of course not," Cora says, before a grin slowly forms on her face. "I wish I did, though. This is even more perfect."

Regina rolls her eyes and turns away from her mother. "Of course you would think so."

"Well, let's head back down then and get you all reacquainted," Cora suggests, though it sounds more like a demand than a recommendation. "They seemed awfully concerned that you ran off."

"I'm sorry, Cora, but I'm really not interested," Emma replies. "We didn't exactly end on great terms, not to mention they're pretty homophobic, so…"

"That's in the past, dear," Cora says. "People can change. And what better day than Christmas to let bygones be bygones?"

"Mother," Regina warns. "Leave it alone. We'll be down later."

"Regina," Cora quickly responds, the scolding tone making it clear it's not up for discussion.

"No, Mother. I get that this is ruining your illusion of a loving happy family holiday for the camera, but you do not get to dictate this. If Emma doesn't want to see them, then she doesn't have to."

"This doesn't concern you, Regina," Cora says.

"Yes, it does. I'm not going to let you push her into something she doesn't want to do. Emma showed up for Christmas. That's all she's contractually obligated to do, and it still makes you look good, so be grateful she and I are even here right now. I'm not going to let you treat her like shit to boost your campaign."

"Regina, it's fine," Emma tries to mediate, not wanting to be the cause of an argument between the mother and daughter pair. She knows Regina and Cora don't always get along, and that the older woman drives Regina crazy more often than not, but she knows Regina loves her mother dearly, and Emma really doesn't want to ruin Christmas for either woman.

"No, Emma," Regina cuts in. "It's not fine. Do you really want to go talk with Mary-Margaret and David?"

Emma doesn't hesitate. "Not even a little bit."

"Then don't let her bully you into it. You're a guest in this house, and if Mommy Dearest doesn't like it, then you and I can spend the rest of our time in Storybrooke at the B&B," Regina says, directing the next portion of her spiel toward her mother, "which I'm sure will look great to your constituents for your daughter and her 'girlfriend' to be seen escaping the mayoral manor and checking into an inn on Christmas — I'm sure that would just scream 'healthy family dynamics'."

"Regina, don't test me," Cora warns.

"No, Mother, don't test me. I've put up with a lot for your campaign, and admittedly a lot of good has come out of it for me, so I can't argue with that fact. But I'm not going to let you push Emma into reopening old wounds that she doesn't want to deal with right now, especially on Christmas."

"Why do you even care, Regina?" Cora scoffs.

"Because, Mother, I love her and—"

"You what?" Cora and Emma both blurt out at the same time.

"What?" Regina asks.

"What did you just say?" Emma asks, pushing herself off the bed and standing up, taking a few steps toward the arguing mother and daughter.

"I…" Regina's face reddens when she realizes what she said. "Oh, shit. That was probably not the best way for that to come out."

Emma's heart falls into her stomach. Of course she didn't mean it like that.

"But it's true," Regina finishes.

"What?" Emma asks again.

"I beg your pardon?" Cora asks.

"Yes, Mother," Regina smirks. "You should be thrilled. You wanted a daughter in a lesbian relationship? Well, you got one."

"Regina Henrietta Mills…" Cora starts.

"No, Mother. I'm done talking to you. Get out of my room."

*.*.*

"Sorry about that," Regina apologizes, closing the door after Cora begrudgingly left the room. She walks over to join Emma, who has moved to sit on the bed once again, leaning back against the headboard.

"It's fine. I've come to expect that from your mom."

"No, not that," Regina says. "I'm so done apologizing for her. I mean I'm sorry for blurting that out like that. Clearly I didn't think that through."

"Oh," Emma says, watching Regina as the brunette moves to join her on top of the duvet. "I definitely was not expecting that."

"Yeah, I bet," Regina says, tentatively reaching for Emma's hand.

"It worked well, though. You definitely shocked her and put an end to the argument," Emma says, forcing a laugh.

"That's not why I did it."

"Oh?" Emma says, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"No. I meant what I said, Emma," Regina says, looking over at her.

"Really?"

"Really."