Miles To Go

Chapter Twenty-Two

The week after the long weekend was always a busy week and Friday came with a lot of paperwork to be done, budgets to be worked out, and yet Regina couldn't focus on the stack of papers in front of her. Instead she had the ring she'd bought for Emma eleven years ago between her fingers, the red diamond glistening under the bright lights in her office, the platinum band cool between her fingertips. The ring itself was simple, the band twisting into an infinity symbol to where the diamond itself was set. Simple yet gorgeous and when Regina had first seen it many years ago, she knew it was the one she wanted to give to Emma when she asked her to marry her.

And here she was, eleven years later, with the very same ring and thinking those very same thoughts as she had before, only it was different now. So much different. Their relationship had become serious again rather quickly, and despite knowing that she wanted to marry Emma one day, it was simply that. One day.

Regina had spent the last four days trying hard not to dwell on the fact that Emma wasn't there in Storybrooke anymore. She wasn't just a short drive away. She couldn't see her whenever she could, and those lunches that Emma had brought her a few times a week weren't going to be happening anytime soon. She still couldn't look at the stacks of paperwork on her desk without remembering not just the first time but every time that Emma had taken her on her desk, sweeping it clear, papers fluttering to the floor, forgotten about for the time being.

If she was anyone else, even the woman she'd been in the years without Emma, she would've blushed at the amount of sex they'd had throughout the past two months, sex that had definitely not been constricted just to the bedroom. From her office, to her en suite, to the picnic in the meadow, the back seat of Emma's yellow Bug—once and never again—yet the kitchen had been her second favourite place aside from the bedroom.

The first time is one she'd been thinking about a lot and it'd happened shortly after the first time Emma brought her lunch in her office. It was the very same day that her mother just happened moved out of her house and back into her own. Regina invited Emma over for dinner, wanting to take full advantage of her freedom in her own home without her mother hovering around. And yet, it hadn't been her who had taken full advantage that night...

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Regina smiled as she heard Emma enter the kitchen and she smiled again when she turned to look at Emma as she brought in the last of the dishes. She had the sleeves of her white blouse rolled up, the sink slowly filling with warm water and dish soap.

"You're like the only person in existence that live in a mansion and doesn't even own a dishwasher."

"Am I?" Regina chuckled as she turned off the water and began to fill the sink with the dishes they'd used for dinner. "I had one in New York City, but since returning home to Storybrooke, I've learned that doing the dishes is a rather therapeutic chore."

"Seriously?" Emma chuckled as she bumped her hip into Regina's and they both exchanged a smile. "Do you think you can come over to the cottage tomorrow? There's a sink full of dishes waiting to be washed."

"I know," Regina replied, trying not to show the fact that every time she'd been over to the cottage there always seemed to be a sink full of dishes waiting to be washed. She'd been tempted to do them herself many times, but she never did. The cottage wasn't her home and she didn't do anyone else's dirty dishes but her own. "There is a fresh towel in that drawer over there," Regina said as she reached for the cloth. Emma gave her an incredulous look but opened the drawer and took out a tea towel. "I'll wash and you can dry. Just stack the dishes to the side and I'll put them away when I'm done."

Emma chewed on her bottom lip, a habit Regina noticed that hadn't been there the first time they were together. The minutes ticked by slowly as she washed and rinsed and handed the dish or glass to Emma to dry.