"Congratulations!" Snow cried out. She hugged her daughter before moving to hug Regina. For a moment Regina stiffened out of habit over her former nemeses hugging her, before she allowed herself to accept the gesture. While they would probably never be great friends, Regina no longer saw Snow as an adversary out to destroy her. And any lingering feelings of resentment she still had buried within her would have to be eradicated, since she was now engaged to marry Snow's daughter.

She better not expect me to call her step-mother, because that is not going to happen, she thought. That would be too weird, especially since I was once her step-mother, even if it was because I was basically a child bride to her father. Not to mention the fact that I'm technically only a few years older than both herself and her daughter. Though if we wanted to point out all the age discrepancies between us, that would be a field day. Like the fact that Emma is basically the same age as her parents. Or that Henry is older than his uncle Neil. Or that the last relationship Emma was in before me was with a pirate hundreds of years older than her. Which was also the same age difference between her and Henry's father. Not to mention-

"So," Snow said, pulling Regina out of her internal tangent as she stepped back and looked at her daughter. "Tell me exactly what happened. How did she propose? Was it romantic? Did she get down on one knee? No wait, maybe we should wait until David gets back so you can tell us both together. But let me see the ring at least."

She smiled as Emma lifted her hand, admiring the diamond ring on her finger. But then she looked on in confusion as Regina also held her hand next to Emma's, showing off an engagement ring on her hand too. "Wait, why does Regina also have a ring? I thought she was the one…who proposed to who?"

"Well…" Regina said as both she and Emma smiled at one another. "It's actually a funny story.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Four Days Earlier

"Come on," Henry yelled as he franticly mashed the buttons on his Xbox controller. "Just a little more, yes!" he cried out as he beat the boss and moved onto the next level. His ears then perked up as he heard a car pull into the driveway. With well-practiced swiftness Henry saved his spot on the game and turned off the console and television before running into the dining room, where his textbooks and assignments were already spread out on the table. He opened a notebook and began taking notes just as the front door opened and Regina walked into the house.

"Henry?"

"In here Mom!"

"Hello there," she said as she entered the room. "I'm glad to see you're doing your homework."

"Yup. Just have a few more math problems and then a take home Chemistry quiz."

"Well can you take a break for a moment?" she asked him. "I have something I need to talk to you about."

"Okay," he said as Regina sat in the chair next to his. "What's up?"

"First off, you know that I love you, and that nothing will ever change that, right?"

"Yeah?" he said hesitantly, not sure where she was going with this.

"And you're glad that me and Emma are together, right?" she asked her son tentatively.

"Yeah, of course. I mean, I'm not thrilled when you both grope each other in front of me."

"I most certainly do not grope," she replied, offended that she was being compared to a horny teenager.

"Oh yeah," Henry challenged. "What about last weekend when I had a date with Violet and you and Mom insisted on chaperoning us to the movies. You guys made out during the whole movie. You got more action then I did," he finished as he shuttered at the unpleasant memory

"First of all Henry," Regina sternly said while trying to keep from blushing over the memory of making out with her girlfriend in a darkened theater. "You shouldn't be getting much of any 'action' at your age. Especially considering Emma was only a few years older than you are now when she had you. And second, besides the two of us getting a bit…affectionate with one another, you're happy Emma is my girlfriend and living here?"

"Of course I'm happy. You two are great together and deserve happiness. Why, did something happen?" he asked.

"No, nothing happened. At least not yet," Regina replied, unable to keep a smile off her face. "The reason I wanted to make sure you're glad we're together is because; I'm going to ask Emma to marry me."

"Really? That's great!" he cried out as he hugged his mom. "You two are practically a married couple already; you might as well make it official.

Regina let out a deep sigh of relief at Henry's words. While she knew he was glad she and his other mother were a couple, hearing him officially support them getting married made her feel much better about her decision.

"Thank you, that means a lot to me," she told him as she broke off their hug.

"So when are you going to propose?" he asked.

"Saturday. We're going out to dinner and afterwards I'm going to take her to the beach where we had our second date, and I'll ask her there."

"Why where you had your second date? Why not where you had your first?" Henry asked.

"It's just a very special place for us," she simply stated as she got up. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go and find the perfect engagement ring for my soon to be fiancée."

"Okay. Take your time so you get the right one," Henry said cheerily, already thinking that this could buy him a chance to try and beat the next level of his game.

"I will. And Henry," she said sternly. "I'm going to check your homework over after dinner. And if it's not completed with everything correct, that game you were playing before I got home will be locked in my vault until I feel your school work has improved."

Henry sat there in shock as Regina walked out of the mansion. "How did she know?" he asked himself, wondering if she had cast some kind of spell that monitored if he did his homework or not.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Two Days Earlier

"Hello?" Emma called out as she walked into the mansion.

"In here Mom," Henry yelled from the dining room.

"Hey kid," she said affectionately as she walked over to him. "How close were you to beating the ninja level before I walked in?"

"I've been sitting right here since I got home. After Mom almost took the Xbox away the other day, I'm getting my homework done before any playing."

"Good thinking," Emma replied, remembering how diligently Regina made the two of them check over Henry's homework the other night. "She might not be the Evil Queen anymore, but I wouldn't try to put one over her."

"Believe me, I know. Are you sure she didn't cast some sort of spell to monitor me?" he asked.

"Nope. Just her natural instinct as a mother. But listen, before she gets home, I want to show you something." Emma reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box, opening it to reveal a diamond ring. The diamond in the center of the silver band was modestly sized, but nevertheless exquisite, and flanked by two smaller green emeralds. "What do you think?"

"That's an engagement ring," he proclaimed in wonder. "You're going to propose to Mom."

"Yeah," Emma said hesitantly, seeing the odd look on her son's face. "Why, you don't think she'll-"

"No, she'll love it!" He exclaimed, not able to keep a smile off his face. "You're going to ask Mom to marry her. When are you going to do it?"

"Saturday, when we go out to dinner. What?" she asked at the huge grin on Henry's face.

"Nothing. I'm just happy you're proposing to her on your date on Saturday. If you need suggestions, how about doing it at the beach. I know Mom loves it there."

"Thanks, but I'm going to do it in the woods. That's where we went for our first date."

"Okay." He waiting until she left the room before saying to himself, "This should be interesting."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

5 Hours Earlier

Regina looked at herself in the mirror as she put the finishing touches on her makeup, pleased with the result. After giving herself a final check over she reached into the top drawer of her dresser and pulled out the ring she had hidden in there. She had to search a few stores to find it, but she had finally gotten the perfect ring for her soon to be fiancé. It was a gold band with a princess cut diamond in the center, and smaller round diamonds running along part of the band. And inside the band she had engraved the words 'My Happy Ending', because that's what Emma was.

As she looked at the ring her eyes moved towards the top of the dresser and rested on a sea shell beside the mirror. Her smile grew even wider as she thought back to when she had received that sea shell, and what it meant to her.

Keeping with the simplicity of their first date Regina had brought them to the beach for their second one. After walking barefoot along the sand they stopped to look out at the water, with Emma wrapping her arms around Regina from behind. Regina smiled in content as she leaned into Emma, knowing she could get used to this. Even if this was still very new to them, she felt a deep comfort and passion developing within her.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You already have, but go ahead," Regina playfully replied.

"When you created this town, did you go out of your way to make it this idyllic? I mean, between the ocean and the forest, we could make a bundle with tourism."

"I think we'd run into the problem with people literally not being able to find this place." She giggled at that thought before focusing on what Emma had asked. "When I cast the curse I wanted this to be as close a place to where I came from as I could. So I made sure it had the ocean and a forest and fields and lots of nature in addition to the town. It made being away from the Enchanted Forest easier. Though having someone to share it all with is an added perk."

Emma smiled at hearing that, pulling Regina even further into her as she kissed her neck. Regina's eyes then wondered downward as she spotted something next to her feet. She bent down and picked up the object, which was a polished rounded seashell.

"It's beautiful," Emma stated.

"Yes it is," Regina replied. She took hold of Emma's hand and placed the shell in her palm. "Here you go."

"Thank you, I love you."

Both women stiffened as they realized what had just actually occurred. While Emma had meant to say 'I love it', the words came out of her mouth without any conscious thought. Regina turned her body so she was facing Emma, still shocked by what she'd just heard. "You love me?"

"I do," Emma answered. "I didn't plan on saying it now and I know it's only our second actual date, but I do." She fidgeted uncomfortably Regina looked at her. "You don't have to say anything if you don't-"

She was cut off as Regina grabbed hold of her and kissed her with as much love and passion as she was capable of expressing. "I love you too."

"Really?"

"Really." Regina held onto Emma as they kissed, their fingers tingling with magic as the love they felt for one another coursed through their bodies.

"Regina! You ready?"

Regina snapped out of her memory as Emma came towards their bedroom. She grabbed her purse and slipped the ring inside just as Emma came in. "Just finishing up now."

"You look beautiful," Emma told her as she leaned her chin on her shoulder and admired them in the mirror.

"Thank you. So do you," Regina replied as she kissed her. "So, shall we?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is everything okay?" Regina asked Emma. "You've been quiet all through dinner."

"I'm fine, just thinking about how much I love you," she replied. Luckily Regina bought her excuse with an affectionate smile. As they continued eating Emma looked over at Regina, thinking back to their first date.

"How much further," Regina asked as she was literally blindly led through the woods.

"It's not that far," Emma replied as she kept a tight grip on Regina's arm.

"If I knew we would be trekking through the woods I would have reconsidered my choice of footwear. If you had just told me where we were going I could have magiced us there."

"That would have ruined the surprise. Quit whining Your Majesty, we're almost there." Emma grinned as Regina scoffed at the use of her former title, knowing she could get away with such a jest. They walked a little further in, with Emma careful to steer Regina away from fallen braches. "Okay, you can stop now."

Regina shook her hair free as Emma removed her blindfold, before smiling at the picnic set up before them. "I know it isn't much," Emma said with some hesitation. "But I thought you'd like someplace a little more secluded for our first-"

She never finished her statement as Regina grabbed hold of her and pulled her into a kiss. "This is great, I love it."

"Really?"

"Really," Regina replied with complete sincerity. Emma grinned as they sat down on the blanket and starting pulling food out of the basket, trying to control her excitement at actually being on a date with Regina Mills. Her excitement quickly turned to apprehension as a loud cry was heard through the forest.

"What was that?" Emma asked.

"Probably some animal," Regina reasoned, though it could have easily belonged to something more dangerous. The two women got up and followed the cry before they came to its origin; a small fox curled against a tree. They cautiously approached the animal, seeing that one of its back paws was jetting out as an odd angle.

"No wait," Emma cautioned as Regina stepped forward. "It could bite."

"Don't worry Emma, I've got this. It's okay," she said in a soothing tone as she inched towards the animal. The fox cried out as she came towards her, but was in too much pain to try and attack her or move away. As Regina's hand moved over its injured foot a wave of magic hovered over the injury. Emma looked on in amazement as the injured paw repaired itself. The fox's stopped crying as it carefully moved its paw, finding it to be in full working order. The animal slowly stood up and looked at both women before bounding away.

"Thank you for the gratitude," Regina said lightly, not noticing Emma looking at her with deep affection. Seeing the woman who had once been bestowed the title of 'Evil' go out of her way to help a defenseless animal made a feeling of warmth form in her chest that was spreading throughout her body. She smiled as she realized what she was feeling. It was love. A deep unadulterated love for the wonderful woman standing next to her.

"What?" Regina asked as she turned around and saw the huge smile on Emma's face.

"Nothing. Let's go back and finish our picnic.

"Damn it."

Emma snapped out of her memory as she saw Regina looking through her purse. "Something wrong?"

"I can't find my phone. I wanted to check in with Henry."

"I think he's old enough to survive being by himself for a few hours," she replied.

"I know that. I just want to make sure he's the only one at the house. Ugh," Regina groaned as she set her purse back down. "I must have left it at home. Can I have yours?"

"Sure." Emma started reaching into her pants pocket before she quickly pulled her hand away as she realized she had the ring in there. "Actually, I don't think I have it."

"Yes you do, I can see it right there," Regina exclaimed, gesturing to the bulge in Emma's pants pocket. "Give it to me."

"No."

"What are you, five. Give me your phone," she angrily replied.

"Okay, hold on a second, let me get it." Emma started reaching towards her side when she 'accidently' knocked over a water glass. Regina yelped and stood up, pawing at her water soaked lap. While she was distracted Emma quickly pulled the ring box out of her pants and transported it to the inside pocket of her jacket before pulling her phone out. "I'm so sorry. My hand slipped."

"It's alright," Regina stiffly replied. With a wave of her hand both her dress and the tablecloth were dry. "There, like it never happened."

"Good. And here you go," Emma said as she handed her phone to Regina.

"Thanks," she said in annoyance, not noticing her girlfriend breathing in relief as she called their son.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright," Regina said as they left the restaurant. "We should probably, what are you doing?" she asked as Emma made her way to the driver's side of her Mercedes.

"I'm driving," she replied as she pulled out her key ring, which included the key to the car Regina had made for her.

"And why is that? I drove us here."

"I just am."

"Well I'm, damn it," she hissed as Emma got into the driver's seat. She huffed in annoyance as she walked over. "Can you please get out of there so I can drive?"

"No," Emma replied.

"Sweetie, it's really important that I drive right now."

"Well I have someplace I have to drive us to."

"Emma, wherever you want to go, trust me, it's not as important as where I'm taking us." She waited a moment before waving her hand and magicly transporting Emma to the passenger seat. She got into the driver's seat when smoke surrounded her and she suddenly found herself in the passenger seat. "Seriously!" she yelled as she saw that their positions were now reversed. "Get out, I'm driving!"

"Regina I'm sorry, but trust me when I say wherever you want to go is not as important as where I want us to go," Emma replied, tightly gripping onto the steering wheel.

"Stop this right now! I'm driving and that's that. So stop being a child and let me-"

"I'm going to propose!"

Regina looked at Emma, shocked over her outburst. "Did you just say-"

"Yes," she said in annoyance, hating that her frustration had ruined the surprise. "I was going to bring you to the woods so I could propose to you." Her eyes widened as Regina started giggling. "Why is this funny?"

"Because that's what I was about to do. I was going to propose to you."

"Really?"

"Really. I was going to bring you to the beach and ask you to marry me.

The two of them giggled before they started hysterically laughing over the ridiculous of what had just transpired. They kept at it for several long moments before they finally managed to calm down. "We really are something," Emma stated as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Why did you want to do it at the beach?"

"Because that's where we first said I love you to one another," Regina replied, shocked that she even had to say it.

"Oh right. You gave me a sea shell and I told you I loved you," Emma said as she remembered.

"You actually forgot-"

"Regina, I swear I didn't forget."

"I should hope not. It's a very important moment for us. It's where we fell in love."

"That's not where I fell in love with you," Emma stated.

"Yes it is."

"No it's not," Emma challenged her girlfriend. "That's when I first told you I loved you. But the exact moment I fell in love with you was on our first date in the woods when you used magic to heal that fox."

"I'd forgotten all about that," Regina confessed.

"Well, it made a huge impression on me. I mean, when we first met you were so…conniving and infuriating. But seeing you help that helpless animal just…it just seemed so simple and kind hearted and, it just made me realize I was in love with you."

"That's why you wanted us to go to the woods? So you could propose there."

"Yes, because it's an important place to me" Emma explained. "Just like you wanted to propose at the beach because it's an important place to you."

Regina nodded her head over that as she contemplated the situation they were now in. "So…what are we going to do. I know I have a ring, and I'm assuming you have a ring.

"I have an idea," Emma said before telling it to Regina. "I know it sounds super cheesy-"

"No, I think it's great," she replied. "But I'm going first."

"Fine, Your Majesty," Emma overemphasized, earning a playful shove from her soon to be fiancé. She took hold of her hand as Regina poofed them to the beach. "You don't actually have to get down on one knee," Emma said as she gestured to Regina's dress.

"Thank you, but I want to do this right. Okay," she said nervously, even though she already knew what Emma's answer was. She gingerly knelt on the sand and looked up into Emma's already tear filled eyes. "Emma Swan. Before I met you I didn't think I'd ever find true happiness. That I was nothing but a black hearted villain who was destined to be alone. But then you came along, and you saw the light in me. You helped me become a better person, and made me realize what true love is. Because of you I became a whole person. And I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love more than anything. Will you marry me?" she finished as she took out the ring.

"Yes!" Emma replied as she dropped to the sand and kissed Regina. "Yes of course I'll marry you." She admired the ring as Regina started putting it on her before stopping her as she noticed the inscription on the band. "What's…" she said before letting out a gasp at reading what it said. "Oh my god, I love it."

"Glad you like it," Regina said as she slid the ring onto Emma's finger. "Now I believe it's your turn."

"Okay." She took hold of Regina's hands as they stood up. "I'm still not as good at transporting as you are." She took a breath before they disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared in the forest. "Yay, we made it in one piece."

"I should hope so." Regina replied.

"Shut up, I knew what I was doing." They walked a little ways before Emma found the spot where Regina had helped the fox. "Alright, here it goes." She got down on one knee and looked up at the woman she loved. "For a long time I never felt like I belonged. I always thought there was something missing in me, and it meant I was never good enough for anyone and was meant to be alone. But then I met you. A strong, amazing, beautiful woman who pushed me to be my best and made me realize the missing part of me wasn't a thing, but a person. Someone who made me whole and happier beyond belief, even during the times you drive me crazy," she couldn't help adding in. Luckily Regina simply scoffed and smiled over that one as Emma pulled out the ring box and opened it up. "I love you, and want us to be together for the rest of our lives. Regina Mills, will you mar-."

"Yes!" Regina cried out, unable to wait any longer. She dropped to her knees and pulled Emma into her as they passionately kissed.

After several blissful moments Emma finally pulled away from Regina. "While I love kissing you, can I put the ring on my fiancé?"

"Of course," Regina said as Emma slipped the ring onto her finger. "It's beautiful."

"Glad you like it," she said. "I know it's nothing compared to what you must have had when you were a queen but-"

"I wouldn't trade it for all the treasures in this or any other world," Regina replied with absolute truth.

They sat on the forest floor, looking at each of their engagement rings in the moonlight, when Emma's cell phone suddenly rang. "It's my Mom," Emma stated as she answered it. "Hello?"

"Emma. Don't worry, everything's fine. Pongo got out and Archie called the station about it. David was there and he went out to get him. But I know sometimes calls to the station go directly to your cell phone, so if you get a call about Pongo, you can ignore it because David is taking care of it."

"Thanks for the heads up," Emma said as she looked at her fiancée. "Actually, is it alright if me and Regina come over? We have something to tell you."

Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are appreciated and very much encouraged.