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“I’m not wearing the Santa hat.”
“Emma, you promised.”
“No.”
“What about the antlers?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Henry’s going to be disappointed, you know.”
“Mary Margaret Blanchard, so help me, I will shove those antlers where the sun don’t shine.”
“Is that really any way to talk to your mother?”
Emma threw a look to Snow that was as cold as her name would suggest.
“Come on,” chimed in David, adding more tinsel to the already thoroughly-covered mantel. “Just pick one and get it over with. It’ll make it less painful for the rest of us.”
Snow looked back at him, an appreciative look on her face. Emma sighed.
“Give me the fucking hat.”
****
Luckily, Emma managed to slip the hat off before the majority of people showed up. The guests began to arrive slowly, and eventually the house was filled with what felt like the whole of Storybrooke. Which, to be fair, wasn’t completely unlikely. The list of blood relatives and in-laws Emma found herself having was quickly and unexpectedly expanding every passing day - for all she knew, the whole town actually was her family. Even if not by relation, it was starting to feel that way, anyhow. So when Mary Margaret decided to have a “Christmas family gathering”, lo and behold it became another town meeting - albeit with more tacky decorations and baked goods and fewer discussions about who is or is not guilty about whatever crisis was currently plaguing the town.
As Emma sipped at her eggnog, she felt the spiced rum warm in her stomach. She remained fairly quiet as she observed the interactions around her - a favourite in particular being the begrudging looks that Leroy was sending to Astrid, which Emma was about ninety percent sure was caused by the incredibly bright and decorated sweater he was wearing. But when she looked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, his facade clearly fell. It was a level of sweet even Emma couldn’t deny finding endearing. She smirked, despite herself, and took another drink from her mug.
The only one who appeared to be absent was Regina. Not that Emma was making a habit of keeping track of the town’s most notorious mayor. She wasn’t worried, but decided to set down her drink to take a short walk around the house - just to check on, you know, things.
“Looking for something, Miss Swan? Or rather, someone?”
Emma whipped around to the interrupter of her thoughts, finding Mr. Gold standing there with a smirk on his face. Her lips flattened into a line of annoyance.
“Don’t you have a diabolical plot to be working on or something?” she asked, avoiding the subject.
Before Gold could retort, there was a knock on the door, saving Emma from the interaction. She raised her eyebrows at him before heading off to let in the arriving guest.
“Regina!” Emma said upon opening the door. “Hi - um, nice hat?”
She gestured to the green santa hat perched atop the mayor’s head. The colour, combined with the bright red lipstick she was wearing, actually made her look quite festive. Regina, however, just gave her a deadpan look.
“I picked it out for her,” chirped Henry, stepping up the stairs and past his adoptive mother. He was carrying a wrapped box in his hands and took no hesitation to entering the house.
“More like made me wear it,” Regina corrected. Henry shrugged as he looked back at his two moms standing awkwardly in the doorway, before a smirk suddenly crossed his face.
“Nice mistletoe, Emma,” he said, quickly followed by a rapid move to join the rest of the party.
Regina and Emma both reactively looked up to see a small bundle of white berries tied underneath the door frame with a cream-coloured ribbon.
“Mary Margaret,” Emma huffed, glancing down to try to maintain strict eye contact with the floor. However, she was surprised by Regina’s quiet giggle, pulling her eyes back up front.
“I think it’s festive,” Regina said, smiling with a hint of something Emma couldn't quite put her finger on.
“You -” Emma was cut off when Regina abruptly leaned forward and pressed their lips together in a kiss that was over before Emma even knew it had started.
“Just through here then?” Regina said as she pulled away, the same content expression on her face.
Emma was frozen in the doorway, her body still processing what had just happened. She took a moment to search Regina’s face for any kind of malice or mischief that might be brewing, but saw nothing but a woman who seemed happy to be celebrating the holidays.
“Uh, yeah,” she managed. “Just that way.”
Regina bumped past her to follow where Henry had gone, leaving Emma alone to close the door behind her. Lean up against it, she huffed out a breath and pressed a palm to her forehead. She looked up to see Gold standing next to the staircase, doing his best to suppress a laugh.
“Not a word,” she said, pointing at him.
This was going to be a long night.