Date #17

Regina walked into the Sheriff's Station to find the good sheriff nowhere in sight; she wasn't in her office and she wasn't throwing darts—good news for everyone. She knit her brows and looked back in the hallway to find nothing then moved to the back in both the interrogation room and the observation room to again find nothing. As she was walking back to the front, she heard boots scuff against the ground in the hallways outside and soon saw the blonde throw the door open and enter.

"Emma—"

"Fuck shit!" Emma jumped throwing her lunch everywhere. "Damn it woman!" She looked down at her lunch and back to the brunette, "You trying to kill me after all?"

Regina's face pained slightly and Emma was quick to see it and walked over to her, hugging her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. You just scared the shit out of me…" She looked down, "Oh!" She pouted as she walked over to her broken to-go box and started scooping up her fries, "And made me lose my lunch… literally."

Regina waved her hands behind the blonde and Emma jumped back and watched the food scoop itself up and put itself in the to-go box and to-go mug. She held her hand up so it floated in air.

Emma whipped her head around, "Is it edible? Like it wasn't just picked off this floor that I haven't mopped since I've been here—and I'm the janitor so I know nothing's happened to it since I've been here kind of not just picked up?"

Regina nodded with a smile and Emma grabbed the food from the air and brought it to her office with a wide grin. She set it down and waited for the heels to click behind her to the office. She turned to the brunette with a smirk and waved her hand like she was telling someone behind the brunette to come over. Regina turned when she heard the door shut.

"Look at you, princess…"

"That is one of the only tricks I'll ever learn." Emma said with finality.

"It's still something." Regina strutted over to the blonde and took one of her perfect curls in her fingers. "So, I was thinking…"

"What were you thinking about?"

"That I might take you on a proper date tonight. Like our first date, but this time I escort you…?"

Emma gave the woman a closed mouth smile and her eyes shined, "You wanna take me on a proper date?" She smirked.

Regina nodded, "I won't make you dress up. I'll dress down for you, alright? Like you dressed up to make me feel comfortable?"

Emma nodded and batted the hand playing with her hair away so she could hug her tight. "I think I might just like that."

"You think you just might?"

"Yeah."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Emma perused the menu of the seafood joint Regina brought her to. Her finger landed on an ad for what she had been praying for since she realized they were going to a seafood restaurant.

"Endless shrimp." She smiled, eyes dancing with delight.

"Hmm?" Regina looked up from her menu.

"Endless shrimp!" She said excitedly.

Regina smirked at how happy those two words made her lover. Before she could comment, the waiter came over to take their drinks.

"And do you have any questions?" He asked after he jotted their drink order down and went through the specials.

"Yeah, if I say… eat an entire entre of every shrimp platter available on the endless shrimp… can I take one of each entre home too?"

"There's eight different kinds of shrimp for the endless shrimp…"

"Yes." Emma nodded in complete understanding.

"And each one is a half a platter… more if the chef can fit it on…"

"Yes."

"And you want to take everything home if you eat everything?"

"Yes."

"Instead of just getting two or three entrees to go?"

"Yes." Emma smirked.

The waiter smiled back, "I will… ask the chef."

Regina turned to Emma from watching the waiter leave, "Darling…"

"What?"

"Your stomach is going to hurt."

"It will be so worth it." Emma grinned, then as an afterthought, "Oh, I also have this super hot girlfriend with magical powers… I bet she could help out with that… or give me something for it…?"

"An antacid." Regina deadpanned.

Emma smirked, "I'm still going to do it."

"I don't doubt that."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Emma licked her lips as she gazed over her first round of her shrimp platter much like a five-year-old would lick their lips at an ice cream sundae with blue ice cream.

"Why have we never come here?"

"I don't know… too much like that restaurant chain, I suppose?"

"Red Lobster? Honey, we don't discriminate when it comes to Emma and endless shrimp. We don't care where it comes from, or if it is even a restaurant chain." Emma shrugged, "Besides, if it is a chain, that usually means business is good and it's good because the food's good, right?"

"Let's hope so…"

Emma took a bite of her food, moaned and fell back in her seat, "I LOVE this place, Babe…"

Regina smiled, "I'll keep that in mind." She said as she cracked a crab leg.

"Seriously… Like after we have kids, every year on 'Mommy's' birthday we're coming here."

Regina blushed and nodded subtly as she looked down. Emma smirked at her girlfriend's reaction to her statement of future children.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Emma felt like she had accomplished something after eating a full helping of very type of shrimp they had available. She licked her lips, but this time it was more like a satisfied cartoon cat that got all the milk it wanted. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and rubbed her stomach.

"I win." The blonde said proudly.

"And at what cost, darling… you're going to have to eat that shrimp in the next few days…"

"Yeah!" Emma grinned, "Lunch and dinner for the next four days!"

The waiter came over with the check; he volleyed between the two in askance before Regina raised her hand to take it.

"I will be right back with your to-go boxes." He stared at the blonde a moment, making sure she wasn't going to fall over.

Once he got back with eight made-special-for-Sheriff-Swan-to-go boxes, Regina gave him the check then waved her hand over the boxes, making them disappear.

"Hey! Where did they go?" Emma asked like her child was just taken from her.

"You're refrigerator."

"We don't have room! We just went grocery shopping today…"

"Your work refrigerator." Regina clarified, "That is where you will be eating these meals, yes? Work? Your job?"

Emma smiled, "Yes, Madam Mayor. I will diligently work through my lunch and dinner hours. You know, I don't mind paying for my ginormous half…"

"No…" Regina sing-songed as she smiled at her girlfriend as their waiter came back with her card. She signed the check, tipped the waiter a fair amount and stood, holding her hand for Emma.

Emma though, stared at it like it was about to be her enemy, "I don't wanna move yet."

The brunette smirked, knowing, "Darling, take my hand. You'll feel better, I promise."

Emma caught the look in her eye and immediately grabbed onto the woman's hand. "I love you." Emma smiled as her stomach immediately began feeling better.

~0~0~0~0~0~

They were walking along the pier, about to move onto a dock when Regina stopped and looked up at the stars. She closed her eyes and let everything sink in. Their past seventeen dates. That Emma was real; that Emma wanted her as much as she wanted Emma. That she found love once again.

Emma tugged on her hand, but stopped when she turned around and saw the serene look on Regina's face. She moved back the couple feet, giving their linked hands slack before deciding Regina was too perfect and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

When Regina pushed into the blonde a bit more and maneuvered so that she was in the blonde's hug, Emma laughed, "I love you too, babe."

"I do love you." Regina looked into Emma's eyes and nodded.

"I know." Emma sucked in a suddenly ragged breath, changing the subject, "I wasn't kidding earlier…"

"I know." Regina started with a hint of humor in her eyes, "I didn't doubt that you were going to eat every possible shrimp you could get your hands on…"

"No, I meant when I talked about us having kids…" Emma tilted her head, "I think about things like that. I like to think about things like that. I've never let myself think about things like that, but I feel like I can with you…"

Regina smiled a teary-eyed smile and leaned in, kissing her cheek to her ear, "I love you, Emma Swan."

Emma nodded, "I know. I love you too, Regina Mills…." She paused a moment as she pulled from the brunette but kept her hand and walked with her out to the edge of the dock, "Do you think about things like that?"

"I do."

Emma sat down, "I figure, we'll have a couple girls and at least another boy… if magical babies can be boys…"

"They can… You know about magical babies?"

"I've looked into a few things while bored at work…" Emma nodded, "But see there's this dilemma with all of that kid stuff…"

"Oh yeah? What is that?"

"Well, there's this whole marriage thing… People like it when you're married with kids… And every kid should have two parents that love each other and love them… I mean don't get me wrong, one parent is good great even, but two that love each other… I mean… No kid should grow up like you or me…"

"You have a point." Regina nodded. "So, how do we solve that issue, dear?"

"Easy. We get married."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." Emma nodded, "But see… we can't get married just like that, yet."

"And why is that?"

"Because we don't even live together… I mean, in this day in age, we gotta live together if we're gonna get married. People who don't live together a while before they get married are just stupid. Living together is when I think a person really realizes how much they love their mate. If they put up with all their crap and still love them… then that's real love, bitches." Emma grinned when she heard the brunette's laugher.

"Are you saying that we have to move in together first?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Regina said nothing. She looked down at the moon shining on the water.

Emma had the guts to suggest the classic U-haul, "You think we're there yet?"

"Darling we've been on 17 dates…."

The blonde didn't let the attempt at rejection sway her, "17 real dates. We've had this connection for over a year, we've had chemistry since we met, we've had countless not real date-dates, and the thing that I've done with you that I'd never done before in my life, is we've made love. Real, honest to God love… I love you and you love me. And I think we're ready. But we don't do anything until you think we're ready."

"It's just that we have a third party to consider, darling. It's not just you or me. We have Henry. And he's been alluding to me lately that he's not my biggest fan. I just, I don't want to start something that will set something off, alright?"

Emma sighed and nodded as she stood up, "Let's go home… I'm cold and I know you are too. And Henry's been alone tonight; I know you're worried even if you just told me that you don't think he likes you anymore…" She stuck her hand out and Regina took it.

~0~0~0~0~0~

They were walking hand in hand; Regina moved to open the front gate for Emma. She walked her up the sidewalk. They stopped at the front door and Emma gave the brunette a look, "I had a good time tonight, Regina."

"Yes, I did as well." Regina nodded as she shared the look Emma gave her and traced the hand on the token red leather jacket of her lover.

Emma took the hand tracing her jacket, "Thanks for paying; I mean, we could have gone halfsies—"

"Nonsense." Regina stopped her from going on about her shrimp and how she should have gone halfsies for her 'ginormous' meal, "I asked you out for tonight, so I paid. You can get it next time. That's the deal"

Emma got in Regina's face playfully, "Alright, I will!" her hand reached up and her finger's trace the brunette's face before wrapping delicately around the back of her neck and pulling her in for one of those kisses that just makes your entire body melt.

"So, I'll see you in the morning? For that budget meeting?" Emma's comment came after a few moments of recovery.

"Oh, yes. The budget meeting. I have to be there." Regina smiled. There was something in that smile that was fake.

Emma took Regina's face in both of hers, "Hey." She tilted her head, "I can tell when people are lying. Even through a smile." Her voice was soft.

"I'm not just a person. I'm a witch." There was a tone in her voice that told her she knew she was getting technical to avoid the next serious topic of conversation.

"Regina." Emma kept her hold on the woman's face after the woman tried to move away, "That smile was the closest thing I've seen to real from you since I got here. But you're eyes were lying. You're scared. What are you scared of?"

"You."

"Me? Why are you scared of me?" Emma dropped her arms and put her hands on her hips.

"Because I feel myself falling," Her next word came out with no sound, "deeper," and through a hiccup, she finished her statement, "in love. And when that happens, something detrimental happens and I lose everything. It's happened every time." She pushed from Emma completely.

"Hey," The blonde was pulling her back in, one hand on her hip and the other on her cheek, "Hey, Regina? Listen to me…" When the brunette stopped moving, the blonde continued, "You're never going to lose me." She looked at the brunette, "I'm never going to leave you. What did we talk about tonight, huh? Family? Babies? You know I don't mess around with that stuff, but I want to with you. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I fall deeper in love with you everyday. Nothing detrimental is going to happen to us. Okay? Fairytales are about love prevailing over everything, right? Well, guess what Baby, this is cursed fairytale land. Our love's gonna prevail…" Emma opened her front door, "Come inside a while, let's talk some more, okay?"

"I—"

"Babe, this is me offering to talk to you. Willingly. Openly. Without shame."

Regina nodded and followed the blonde inside. They went straight for the living room and plopped on the couch together. It was after about two minutes of cuddling that they saw a shadow from the kitchen and heard a soft thumping up the stairs.

They stayed quiet and held onto each other for a long while, "If Henry wasn't in our lives and I still came here and stayed here and fell in love with you… Would you move in with me?"

Regina looked around, "I do like this place. It is home-y, but if we were planning on having our two boys and two girls then we'd need the mansion…"

Emma looked at her, "So you would let me move in with you?"

Regina smiled and cuddled further into the blonde, "Of course, my love."

"Then… we'll make more steps before we make the move…"

"What kind of steps?"

"Well, we include our son on our dates. We take him places get to know him as parents and not his mom Emma and his mom Regina… Let him get used to us. We become a family…"

Regina smiled as she leaned in and kissed her, "A family. I like the sound of that."

"Me too." She smiled, "So, I'll talk to him soon about having dinner with you here?... As a family?"

"Well, I guess if we really want to be a family, we need to start somewhere…"

AN: Thoughts and Feels?