Birthday Wish - SQ ficlet
For @you-are-deceptively-complex -- Emma inhales carefully through her nose, slides her eyes shut, then blows out the flickering candle with an easy breath. Her eyes open. These days it's a cake, not a cupcake. She looks up at Regina with a blink and a sudden fluttering smile takes over her face and surprises them both. A homemade cake. Henry pinches her arm lightly and she winces dramatically, pinches him back with a face screwed up in fake annoyance. "Hey!" "What did you wish for?" He prods her expectantly, grinning wild and free. "Not telling," she grins back in a rare, open mouthed smile. "Don't touch the bottom," Regina warns gravely as she hands over the knife, although her soft smile matches their joy. Emma's fingers brush hers as she takes the knife, hefting it in her hand while she eyes the cake as though it were a particularly tough bail jumper. She slides the blade into the fresh, warm, homemade cake and her eyes slide up to meet Regina's. There are things she sees in those eyes now, now that time has gone on and they are all here together. She sees the quiet comfort of family. The solace of a true home. The neverending hope of love. The knife hits the plate beneath the cake with a thunk. Her mouth drops open in shock. Regina laughs. Light and loving and free. Henry giggles, still such a little boy. Emma shrugs. She drops the knife and reaches across the table to tug Regina forward by her shirt. Their lips meet for the hundredth time, melding, melting into one another. Emma tips her face forward, her nose brushing the side of Regina's as her mouth opens and they share a breath. Henry groans. "Can you guys be gross later so that we can eat the cake now?" Emma brushes her thumb along the skin of Regina's neck and looks down at the cake her girlfriend made her for her birthday. Apple and cinnamon. Her two favourite flavours. And boy do they go perfectly together. --
