Miles To Go

Chapter Eighty

From the very first moment Regina had laid her eyes on Emma Swan in line at that party, she just knew. She knew that Emma was hers, that Emma was her one true love, her soulmate, her everything. She'd known from the very first moment she had laid her eyes on her and maneuvered herself through the drunken crowd to the line, making sure she was right behind the stunning and shy blonde right from the start.

It was no secret now that they had truly been destined for one another, but the path they had taken to get to where they were now was long and weathered, stressful and lonely at the best of times. Regina's own mother had been a factor in their own happiness, interfering in their relationship from the very moment she had discovered it, that very moment of which Regina still wasn't sure when it was exactly, but it had been almost right from the very moment she'd met Emma Swan.

Her very own mother had stood in the way of her very own happy ending and there was no doubt in Regina's mind that if it had been a man, someone her mother approved of, the heartbreak, the depression, the loneliness she'd been through—that they'd both been through—for eleven long years of her life would have never happened. Even after they had reunited, her mother had been nothing but a complication, once again trying to stand in the way of their happiness and love.

She had nearly lost Emma because her own mother had orchestrated a hit on her wife and ultimately had gotten away with being an accessory in Emma's failed assassination. Nothing would ever erase that very moment from her memories, the nightmares coming around once in a while to remind her just how close she'd been to losing the other half of her very heart and soul.

If only you could see me now, Mother. Oh how you would hate to see how happy I am with my wife and children, she mused as she watched her wife being tackled by their two children on the grass in their backyard one warm May afternoon, a day close to the dreaded "anniversary" of the assassination.

They never spoke of that day, but Regina thought of it in small little moments, moments like the one she was having then where all she could think about was how close she'd been to losing Emma, how close Henry had been to losing his mother. Just thinking of all they had been through because of that had her emotions on an edge and she sipped from her glass of red wine, the sound of laughter filling her ears as Emma struggled to get away from the tickle attack from their children.

Even the dogs were in on the game and the sight was absolutely hilarious. She watched as her wife got out of the hold their now almost sixteen year old son had her in and watched as she picked up their daughter, holding her upside down while calling out for surrender. Henry held his hands up, a twinkling glint in his brown eyes as he promised he'd stop and after Emma playfully shook Rachel until she too promised she'd stop with the onslaught of tickles and kisses.

"Thought I'd never get away," Emma said with a short laugh as she sat on the patio chair next to Regina. "Who's brilliant idea was it to start that tickle war anyway?"

"Yours, darling."

Emma smirked before leaning over to kiss Regina softly, their lips lingering just for a moment before Emma pulled away. Emma shook her head, the smile still fixated over her lips as she leaned in to kiss her once more.

When it came to either of them, there was never just one more kiss, one more touch, each one always leading to another and then another. While they kept things subtle in front of their children, there were moments where they both lost that control and gave in to the heady desire that was at a constant between one another. Regina couldn't help it, she was completely, fully, head over heels in love with her beautiful wife.

"Come here," Regina murmured, pulling her wife in for another kiss, one far less chaste than the last.

"Do you think we can slip away without them noticing?" Emma whispered against her lips moments later. Upon Regina's soft shake of her head no, Emma groaned. "Not even for ten minutes?"