This is the last official chapter of the story. I didn't plan it that way, but it's what ended up coming out. I'll be publishing a series of bonus feature type chapters as a separate story which will include several pieces of this one that I didn't feel fit in at the time, so if there's something you'd like to see, let me know. I have a few other stories that need my attention before I get around to it, but it's coming. I'd give you the title, but I don't have one yet. I've loved working on this, and thank you so much for reading. You all are the best!

Holiday Spirit

Chapter 37

Regina appeared around the corner of the hallway, slightly out of breath, and David frowned from his desk. "What's wrong?"

Before he could worry too much, she grinned at him. "Nothing. But it's Thursday morning. Henry's in school, Isabella's preschool won't let out for another two hours, the twins are in daycare, and I sent my assistant on a long list of errands." She raised her eyebrow at him and he stood, moving toward her.

"What about Emma?" he asked. "She could come back any minute."

She shook her head. "I called her on my way over here and asked her to complete the safety inspections of the schools and to have the report to me by the end of the day."

"You're a genius," he grinned. "But that's my daughter you're treating this way."

She shrugged. "I'm giving her a good work ethic. And would you rather I hadn't sent her?"

In lieu of an answer, he pulled her to him and kissed her. "So we have…"

"A full hour," she answered, gasping at the end when he moved his kisses up her jawline, grazing the spot under her ear, and she felt one of his hands start to loose her shirt from her trousers.

"Perfect."

-O-O-O-

"That was…" David started.

"Necessary." She finished tucking in her shirt and looked up at her. "Do you realize it had been a full month?"

"Believe me, I'd noticed. I think that's a record for us. A horrible, awful, painful record."

"Let's never top it."

He grinned. "Deal. We're going to have to get creative."

Smirking, she leaned in and gave him a quick, but no less passionate kiss. "I'm up for the challenge."

"Oh, David," Regina called, clacking into the sheriff's office in her sky high heels. "I passed Ms. Swan on my way in."

His eyes wandered over her curve-hugging purple dress and light grey blazer. "You're killing me, Regina. As much as I'd love a repeat of the last time you were in here, Emma's just gone to grab us some coffee. She'll be back in ten minutes."

"While I'm now tempted to prove that ten minutes is enough time," her eyebrow arched, "that's not why I stopped in."

He frowned slightly and sat up in his chair. "What is it?"

"It actually does have to do with the last time I was here," she started, and then her eyes narrowed in thought. "Or the back room at Granny's, or the broom closet at the school, or our one traditional tryst in the bedroom when the kids were finally all asleep at the same time."

He smirked at the list, but shook his head. "I'm not sure what you...oh." His eyes widened as he looked up at her. "OH!" He stood up and rounded the desk to stand in front of her. "Ben?" he asked excitedly.

She nodded, and then screeched when he suddenly moved forward and lifted her off the ground in a hug, swinging her around before setting her back down, peppering her with kisses.

"It seems our deal to never top that record paid off in an entirely different way," she told him through her laughter.

"Perfect."

Regina woke slowly, aware of movement that had woken her and as she finally managed to keep her eyes open, she blinked, adjusting to the light and saw a bright eyed Ellie bouncing on the end of the bed in her purple pajama onesie.

David woke as she leaned down and was pulling Ellie up to snuggle and he pulled the both of them back down, Ellie between the two, giggling. He looked over to Regina, grinning. "Oh, Oliver," he called. "Come on out, we know you're there."

More giggles floated up from underneath the bed and then Oliver was crawling out from his hiding place. David sat up and groaned as he lifted Oliver up onto the bed with them. "We have mischief-makers for children!" he cried, tickling them as they wiggled and screeched with laughter, clambering up Regina to try and escape.

"You guys weren't supposed to wake mommy and daddy!" Isabella scolded, walking into the room, but grinned when she saw all of them laughing.

"Come here my baby girl," Regina said, opening an arm to her oldest daughter, and Isabella hurried into the room, climbing up onto the bed with them.

Henry appeared next with an excited smile, and once he'd taken all of the younger children down to the living room, Regina looked over at David with a grin.

"Full circle," he commented.

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been counting down the days. To today and . . ."

"And to Christmas?" David nodded in understanding. Neither of them could fully relax into happiness until they woke up the day they'd lost it all-and still had it. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to stress you out any more than I know you probably already were, and I guess I also didn't want to make it real. Just in case. We have all of our children, and we're happy but I still had the horrible thought that something could go wrong and that we somehow wouldn't make it to this day. We'd wake up just like we did before and find out that it was all a dream."

He leaned over and kissed her. "It's not a dream, my wonderful wife. We're all still here."

She laughed. "We are." She pulled him back to give him another kiss and was smiling the whole time. "I can't believe it."

David sunk back down into the bed, settling onto his back and taking Regina with him. His hands moved up to grip her hips as she situated her legs so she was straddling him, and she trailed hers up his chest before leaning down to continue their make-out session properly. It was as hands began venturing to more daring places that he forced himself to stop, pulling back and breathing heavily.

"If the kids weren't down there waiting for us..."

"I know," she groaned. She allowed for one last kiss before she sat up. "We should probably get Benjamin before they start missing us."

"Mommy, Daaaddy! Are you coming?"

The pair chuckled at the sound of Isabella's voice and David called, "Be there in a minute!" He looked back to Regina. "I guess that's our cue."

"Honey, are you still feeling okay?"

Isabella rolled her eyes - an adorable look on the six year old, and nodded her head. "I'm fine, Mommy."

"Maybe we should take her temperature again," David commented, and Regina nodded, putting the back of her hand against her daughter's forehead.

"I'm not sick," the girl stressed, loathing the thought of having the thermometer shoved into her mouth again.

"Or take her to Dr. Whale?" Regina wondered, her brow furrowed with worry. "Better safe than sorry."

"But I don't want to go," Isabella pouted. At the continued concern of her parents, Isabella started to grow worried herself. "Is something wrong with me?" She wondered. "I feel okay. Am I okay?"

"You're freaking her out," Henry said, coming into the room. "She's fine."

"Of course you are, sweetheart," Regina told her quickly. "It's just that the flu has been going around and we wanted to make sure you hadn't caught it." She raised her eyebrows at David, hoping that her six year old believed the lie. She felt bad for scaring their daughter, but Isabella had been so sick during the spell and she didn't want to take any risks.

"How come you don't think Oliver and Ellie or Henry have caught it?"

"Yes, Mom," Henry teased. "How come?"

Regina narrowed her eyes at him.

"Circumstances are different this year," Henry told them pointedly.

David put a hand on Regina's back. "How about we go start a pot of decaf while Isabella brushes her teeth and finishes getting ready for bed?" He looked to the little girl who nodded eagerly, immediately promising she'd do a good job - Henry could even make sure she brushed properly.

Regina reluctantly agreed and the couple made their way downstairs.

"She was sick because of stress last time," David said once they were both in the kitchen. "Because of us. That won't happen this time because she's not worried that we're going to divorce."

Regina brightened a little at that. "I know. You're right. But she was so sick last time that I can't help but worry even though I know that the only reason she was ill was because of how worried she was."

Nodding, David tugged on the lapels of her blazer to bring her in closer. "Which means this time around, she's gonna be just fine. Unless there's something I don't know about..." He threw her a playful look and she shook her head.

"Don't even joke." But she couldn't help the small smile at the adoring look on his face.

"I love you Regina Mills."

"I love you, too."

She leaned into him as he slid his arms around her waist and he leaned his head down to kiss her.

"Mommy..."

They broke apart to find Isabella standing timidly in the doorway of the kitchen.

"What is it, baby?" Regina asked.

"If you guys come read me a bedtime story are you gonna keep acting weird?"

"I promise we won't," she told her daughter. "Just a bedtime story."

"Come here, Izzy," David said and when she walked over in her pajamas he reached out and swung her up into his arms. She immediately hooked her legs around his waist, wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against his shoulder.

"Love you, Daddy," she said, words muffled by his shirt.

"Love you, too, Izzybear."

Regina put her hand on her daughter's back as they made their way out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room. She pulled back the Lion King printed comforter and David set her down on the bed. Nimby, the chosen book for the evening was already laid out on the night stand. They settled on either side of her and started the book, holding it in the middle for Isabella to see and taking their turns reading.

Regina woke up slowly, blinking in the dawning light shining through the open bedroom curtains. Christmas morning.

She hoped.

Dread stabbed through that hope when she didn't feel David's arm around her.

It had happened again.

Seven years ago, on this very morning, the spell had reset and she had lost her family. Now to have allowed her years to love them and to believe it would last only to lose them all over again...it was the cruelest sort of magic.

She thought she might cry, but her heart was too empty, too numb.

Instead, she steeled herself to roll over and confront the cold sheets on the other side of her bed.

David was there.

David was asleep on the other side of the bed. He was turned toward her, one arm under his pillow and the other extended out toward her. Regina rolled her lips into her mouth to hold in the sob she suddenly felt building up. Taking several deep breaths to regain some of her control, she moved over, lifting his arm and tucking herself underneath it, bringing it back down around her waist and cradling his hand up against her chest.

"Mmhffss," he muttered.

"What?"

She felt more than heard him yawn before he kissed the top of her head and curled more tightly around her. "Morning."

"Morning." She caught sight of the clock that read half past six. "Merry Christmas," she added softly.

He nuzzled his nose into her hair and stayed silent.

"And it's far too early," she added, ready to lighten the moment. She felt proud when her voice didn't shake. "We were up too late last night putting out all the presents. You'd think with our glimpse of this future, we'd avoid the amount of spoiling we've done."

"And yet..."

She closed her eyes, inhaling and sighing a tired, happy sigh. "How long do you think we have?"

"If the last two Christmases are anything to go by, I'd say anywhere from half an hour to an hour and a half."

"Fingers crossed for an hour and a half," she mumbled, feeling sleep pull at her again.

He chuckled and closed his eyes as well.

-O-O-O-

With all the presents open and the kids playing with their new toys in the living room, David made his way into the kitchen. Regina had disappeared a little while earlier and he'd heard the blender going. They only had a few hours before they'd be heading to Granny's for a get together and he intended to steal a moment with his wife before the holiday madness resumed.

Rounding the doorway, he eyed the mix of fruits and veggies strewn across the counter as Regina poured a freshly blended smoothie into a glass. "Is there something you need to tell me?" he asked, eyebrow raised and a faint smile on his face.

She took a swallow and licked her lips before answering, humming in satisfaction. "What do you mean?"

"You only make those smoothies when you're pregnant."

Regina coughed after the next swallow, eyes wide when she looked over at him. "But then...I would have known during the spell if I was pregnant."

"There was a lot going on and you'd never been pregnant before . . . it might not have occurred to you."

She blinked and looked at her favorite kale and banana smoothie with cayenne as if it had betrayed her. Inconsequential moments from the past several weeks flickered through her mind like images from an old film reel.

The truth hit her and she dropped into the kitchen chair beside David.

"We're pregnant." She absently sipped her smoothie, dazed. "Again. Again."

"We should just aim for our own football team." David smiled and grabbed her hand in his.

"Too many," she said quickly, glaring at him, but she was too overwhelmed to put real feeling behind it.

"You might be right." He smiled. "But I am happy. I've always wanted a big family."

She hummed. "Me, too. But," she held up a finger and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe we should consider stopping at six. We're outnumbered as it is."

He brought her hand to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of it. "Six it is." He raised a thoughtful eyebrow. "Unless it's seven."

"One set of twins is enough, and I'll thank you not to go giving the universe any ideas."

He nodded. "Six. I think that's a nice, even number."

"You realize now that if it's twins, I'll have to kill you."

"And I'd deserve it. I take it all back. One baby. One more wonderful addition to our family."

She smiled. "And I have a feeling it's going to be a girl."

-O-O-O-

"Christmas lunch at Granny's?" Emma questioned, helping Olivia out of her coat as Neal stomped the snow from his boots behind her. "Is this gonna be a thing now?"

"You couldn't have done that outside?" Granny barked. "Everyone else managed."

"I'll clean it up," he promised, raising his hands guiltily.

"Thought it'd be worth it to get the family all together at least once a year where we're not talking about disasters or threats to the town," Granny said, finally managing to pull her scolding frown off of Neal long enough to look around at the rest of them.

Regina raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, giving a quick hum of acknowledgment before returning her attention to feeding Benjamin his botte.

Disasters and threats weren't all that big since Neverland, but it was true they didn't usually all share the space at Granny's unless something was going on.

Family these days included Emma, Neal and Olivia, Belle and Rumple (which still sometimes had Regina shaking her head to dispel the odd feeling calling her former mentor family brought on), Granny and Ruby, and of course, Derek and a very pregnant Snow, who happened to be making her way over at that very moment.

"I just wanted to thank you again for bringing all of Ben's newborn clothes over the other day, and the extra things you had from the twins. We really appreciated it."

"Well we won't be using all of it anymore," Regina said, looking over at David and giving him a sly smile when Snow's attention was briefly caught by something Olivia was doing.

"Still...thank you. It helps us out a lot. I don't know how we ended up saving everything until last minute, but...well, you know how it goes."

Regina let out a small laugh of agreement.

Snow smoothed her hands over her belly and smiled wistfully. "At least with the next baby, we'll have most of what we'll need, so there won't be all this running around to prepare."

Derek nearly spilled his drink as he came to stand next to her.

Regina bit her lip to keep from laughing and excused herself to go sit with Ruby at the table where the woman was putting the finishing touches on wrapping the silverware in cloth napkins.

"Fancy," Regina commented, settling into a chair and adjusting Ben in her arms.

"Granny insisted since it's our first official holiday meal." She placed a band on the last silverware set and leaned in, crossing her arms on the table. "Sooo...when are you going to share the news?"

"What news?"

"Your new news."

Regina's eyes widened. "You can't possibly know-"

"Wolf." Ruby pointed at herself with a shrug. "Granny knows, too."

Regina glanced over to see Granny give her a quick grin and a wink before going back to setting out plates as if nothing had happened.

"Relax, we won't tell anyone. I only said something now that I know you and David both know."

"How…"

"The way he gets all extra lovey dovey and protective around you."

"Dammit, David," Regina cursed under her breath.

"Again, wolf. It's not super obvious to the non-Canis lupus."

Regina blinked at her.

"What? I know big words." Ruby defended. "Hey, Iz! Tell your mom what we did last time we hung out."

Isabella walked over. "We watched the National Geographic channel. Why?"

"Seeee?" Ruby grinned. "Smart people things."

Isabella giggled. "Aunt Ruby, you're so silly."

"And you're such a mini version of your mother," Ruby told her. When Isabella scampered off to play with her siblings, Ruby gave Regina a mock pout. "No one takes me seriously around here."

"Dear, if I didn't take you seriously, I wouldn't let you near my children. Now that you're done with those," she nodded her head at the silverware, "Would you mind taking Benjamin for a minute while I get the twins washed up? You had to give them chocolate chip cookies."

"It's Christmas!"

Regina just shook her head with a smile as she stood and passed Ben to Ruby. "Alright munchkins. Let's get all of that chocolate off your faces."

-O-O-O-

The food was eaten and plates cleared, and people sat around chatting and laughing loudly while the children were huddled around playing at something over next to the front windows. Regina was watching quietly from a booth when David slipped in next to her and reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze. "How's mom doing?" he asked her.

"Tired, but happy." She let go of his hand so she could thread her arm through his and lean her head against his shoulder. "How about you?"

"Mmm. Same. But also hungry."

"We just ate!"

"Yes, well, what can I say?" He shrugged. "I snuck you an extra cookie." He pulled what looked like a folded napkin from his pocket and set it down in front of her.

"I love you."

"I know." He leaned back as she sat up and unwrapped the cookie.

"I'm surprised we haven't seen the goddess of fertility wandering around."

David turned to her in confusion. "Huh?"

"You know - the Mysterious Christmas Meddler," she said dramatically, breaking off a piece of chocolatey goodness and popping it into her mouth.

"Fertility goddess, hmm?"

"It fits the facts." She broke off another piece. "Have you done a headcount of the children under six in this town? There's our four - almost five - Emma and Neal's Olivia, Snow and Derek are about to have one, and that is just in our family. I added a line item to the town budget for the inevitable wing we're going to have to add to the elementary school in a couple of years."

David moved his glass of water over to her as she finished her cookie. "Still. Isn't declaring her a 'fertility goddess' a little extreme? It's not really all her fault."

"You're right, that's not completely on her. I blame you for our portion of it."

He scoffed, but was smiling.

They were interrupted by the sound of sliding chairs and the children skipping around happily.

"Mommy, Daddy! We're gonna go build a snowman!" Isabella waved them over, bouncing on the balls of her feet as everyone started putting on jackets and boots.

David stood and Regina followed. They helped everyone slide into their coats and made sure all little hands were gloved before making their way outside.

Everyone had started on their own snowmen, and as the Mills children worked together, David noticed the glint in Regina's eye just before she tossed the snowball she'd been hiding behind her back at Henry.

Henry looked up in shock as everyone froze. "Oh, it's on," he said, bending to scoop up some snow and encouraging the others to do the same. "This means war."

"Regina…"David laughed and pulled her down behind a bench as the first return snowball went hurtling past. They'd known they were outnumbered against their children before they were armed with snowballs and surrounding them. "What the hell did you do?"

Regina matched his laugh with a wide smile. The last time he'd asked her that, she hadn't deserved the blame or the credit for bewitching the entire town.

Today, she shook her head playfully as she reached down and packed another snowball. Standing quickly, she screeched as one hit her shoulder. David stood up, wrapping his arms around her and using himself as a shield.

"Alright, Family Mills," he laughed. "Winners get to pick dessert."