Snow slowly made her way down the grand staircase to the entrance hall of the castle. The whole palace was beautifully decorated with garlands and evergreens and ornaments and tinsel and candles everywhere, in celebration of Christmas. Delicious scents of a holiday feast floated down the hallway from the kitchen, where the staff was busy at work preparing for the arrival of the guests. The sounds of chairs scraping across the floor echoed from the open doors of the dining room, where the finishing touches were being put on the place settings. A group of musicians carried their large instruments into the ballroom, setting up for the evening's post-dinner dancing.

Snow smiled as she gazed around her home. Her home. It had been so long since she'd had such a place. While the fact that it was a castle was a nice perk, Snow would have been just as happy in a tiny cottage in the woods, as long as she had Charming and her safety. It had been a rough few years, between hiding from Regina, searching for Charming, and then spending a great deal of time on the move, taking back the kingdom with her new husband, but it was all over now. They had done it, and they had finally settled into their new home, throwing an official wedding ceremony as a housewarming party. Since then, things had been relatively uneventful. Regina's curse still hung in the air, but she had been blissfully quiet and absent for months, and while it still nudged at the edge of Snow's mind, she had vowed to herself that today would be a day absent of Regina. She and her husband were about to celebrate their first Christmas in the palace, surrounded by their dear friends, and then later tonight, she was going to give Charming his Christmas present: the news of her pregnancy.

Resting her hand on her still-flat abdomen, Snow whispered, "No matter what happens, your father and I will always love you, baby girl. I promise we will keep you safe. Regina will never get to you." Though it was too early to feel the baby move, Snow still pressed her hand harder against her abdomen, trying to detect any sign that the baby had heard her and that everything would truly be okay.

Instead of movement within her abdomen, Snow heard footsteps from behind her. "Madam, we've finished setting up the table, if you'd like to come approve it," the housekeeper informed her.

"Mandy, please, like I've told you before, you can just call me Snow," she replied, following the housekeeper down the hall. "There's no need for all that formality."

As she stepped into the dining room, Snow let out a surprised gasp. The table was exquisitely set, with their finest china all neatly arranged in front of each large chair. A long sideboard was laid end-to-end with platters and trays of food, some of which were still empty, and some of which were covered to keep the food warm until the guests arrived. Silver and gold ribbons were interwoven with evergreen garlands and strung along the high ceilings of the room. Along the table, a similar strand of evergreen branches, also laced with a beautiful gold ribbon, wove between tall candles.

"It's absolutely beautiful, Mandy. You all really outdid yourselves. It's even prettier than I could have imagined. Thank you so much."

"It was our pleasure, madam," the housekeeper replied. Upon Snow's look, she immediately corrected herself. "It was our pleasure, Snow."

"Better. Thank you," Snow said with a smile. The housekeeper nodded, then hurried off into the kitchen to help with the final dinner preparations.

With the dining room all set and the feast almost ready, it wouldn't be long before their guests arrived. Of course, her handsome husband had yet to make an appearance. Typical.

Heading back into the hallway, Snow made her way to the staircase. She and Charming had gotten dressed in separate rooms, partly because it was easier that way, to stay out of each other's way, but mostly because they both enjoyed surprising each other with their final looks. However, while Snow had put on a long white gown, with a series of extremely intricate buttons up the back that had taken two maids to do, and done her hair into an elaborate updo, complete with small glistening hair clips that shimmered in the candlelight, Charming still hadn't finished sliding into a nice jacket. She never understood how he always seemed to take twice as long as her to get ready.

"Charming," she shouted as she made her way up the stairs. "Did you get lost on your way down the stairs? Do I have to find you? Again?"

"You say that as if I've never had to find you," Charming teased, stepping out of a doorway down the hall and heading toward her. He looked dashing in a red jacket with silver trim, worn over a white shirt and black pants.

Snow waited for him at the top of the stairs. "You look beautiful, my darling," he said, lifting her hand and placing a kiss just above her knuckles.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she said with a smile, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm as they made their way down the stairs.

"Our guests will be here any minute, and we should be here to greet them," she reminded him as he walked away from the main doors.

"I know. I just want to take a quick look around," he said, leading the way toward the ballroom.

They stepped inside the large doors to the empty ballroom. Again, the décor was beautiful, with large Christmas trees wrapped in gold and silver ribbon positioned around the room. The candelabras weren't yet lit, as the sun was still slightly above the horizon, but Snow could tell that the ribbon and glass balls hung on the trees would catch the light just right and fill the room with a twinkling, shining atmosphere, perfect for Christmas.

Stepping away from Snow, Charming extended his hand. "May I have this dance?" he asked.

Snow laughed. "There's no music."

"Who needs music?" he replied with a grin.

Snow smiled back and stepped into his arms.

"Perhaps I can provide us some music," Charming mused as he waltzed her around the room. "But what to sing? Ah, I know. How does that song go? Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

"Charming," she said, trying to sound exasperated, but she knew she wasn't succeeding in masking her amusement. After all they had been through together, it was nice to have these little moments of silliness, even if it was just a temporary interlude before life once again intervened, in the form of Regina and her curse.

"Don't think about her, Snow," Charming murmured, continuing to lead her in a dance without music. "Not tonight. Tonight is just about us and our friends, celebrating this happy Christmas together."

Snow nodded. "You're right. No thoughts of Regina. Just you and me and…"

Just then, there was a loud knock from the front door. "…our friends, who seem to have arrived," she finished. Charming stopped dancing and again tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, before leading her into the hallway to greet their guests.