Not alone anymore

Chapter 16

I walk up to her and smile. "Regina you look absolutely gorgeous. Here these are for you".  I hand her the roses. She smells them. "Emma these are absolutely beautiful but you already gave me a beautiful vase lilacs and a lilac bush that I will treasure forever. You really didn't have to get me roses my love".  "I know but I wanted to. I love you and I want you to feel special tonight".  She gives me a kiss and a hug.  "Thank you Emma so much. Zelena could you please put these in some water for me? There are vases under the kitchen sink".   "Sure Reggie. Now go on and get out of here and have a wonderful birthday with Emma".  She takes the roses and Regina and I start to walk out the front door. We walk towards the limo and see the driver. When we get to the car he opens the door for us. Regina gets in first and I get in and sit next to her. The door closes and the driver gets in the the car and starts the engine. He drives towards the restaurant where I made the reservations.  Regina and I just snuggle together all the way to the restaurant. When the car comes to a stop and the the back door opens. Regina and I got out and thanked the driver as Regina and I held hands as we walked into the restaurant. We walk up to the hostess and I give her my name. She looks in her book and checks off my name, grabs two menus and shows us to a beautiful table near the fireplace. Our waiter comes over. I had already preordered a bottle of champagne for us. Our waiter opened it and pours Regina's glass first then mine. He says he'll leave up for a few moments then he'll come back to take our order. I thank him and I lift my glass. "Happy birthday Gina. I love you".  "Emma I love you so much. Thank you for everything".  We clink our glasses and we both take a sip of the champagne. It was actually very good. We look over the menu and we make our decisions. Our waiter comes back over and asks if we are ready and we both nod. Regina orders the chicken Marsala and I got a penne and broccoli dinner. It's sautéed with white wine, garlic and a Romano cheese sauce. The waiter turns to go put our order into the computer. "Emma my love. I can't believe you did all this for me. Thank you so much. This is all too much my love. I would have been happy with a simple card, maybe some flowers and we could have even ordered a pizza and watched movies at home, I love you so much for thinking of all this. I definitely feel special".  I smile.  "That's great babe. That's all I wanted. You've had a hard time recently and I really wanted to treat you to a special day".   "Emma you always treat me special no matter what the day is".  We hold hands and she looks lovingly at me. "I love you Gina".  "I love you Emma".  We pick up our champagne glasses and click our glasses again and take another sip. We changed the subject and talked about my work at Granny's and what she plans on doing if she doesn't get her job back at the high school. Our food arrived and both dishes looked delicious. We both took a few bites and we both loved our meals. I offered Regina some of my dinner to try and she liked it a lot. She offered me some of hers but I declined. I hate mushrooms. She tried to talk me into a bite. "No babe, thanks though. I really, really don't like mushrooms. So just enjoy your meal babe. It does look alright except of course for the mushrooms". I say with a laugh. Half way through our dinner my phone pings. I had to put it on the table because it kept falling out of my pocket. I look at it and see it's a new email from the school district. I ignore it and Regina gives me a look. About a minute goes by and she asks me why I didn't answer my message. "Is there something you don't want me to know Emma, is that why your not checking that message?"   "I put my fork down and look at her. "It's not a message Regina, it's an email from the school district. It's probably my finals results".  "Oh Emma please check that email. We should find out my love".  "Gina I don't know if I want to know. I mean I was kinda in a bad place when I took this test. I know I probably didn't pass and I don't want to ruin this night. It's been great so far". I'll check it later ok?"   She gives me a sad smile but agrees with me. "Ok my love. If that's what you want I'm ok with it".  We finish our dinner and decide to get dessert to go. The restaurant already had my credit card number so they just put our meals on that. I signed the tab and Regina and I left the restaurant with our desserts. We also got one for Zelena. I knew she would want something. So we got her a piece of tiramisu. That's also what I got. Regina went with chocolate cannolis. When we got home Regina and I walk into the living room. Zelena is chilling out on the couch. "Back so early?  I hope that doesn't mean you had a bad night".  Regina and I look at each other and smile.  "No Zelena our night was wonderful. Thank you. We had a lovely dinner. The night was beautiful. We got dessert to go and we even got something for you but if you plan of be snarky we won't give it to you".  "Oh calm down Regina. I'm sorry. I'm glad you both had fun. So what did you get me?"   "Emma thought you would like a pice of tiramisu. That's also what Emma got. I got cannolis".  Zelena was happy with what we got her. Regina and I went to change, then we joined Zelena in the living room and ended up watching "My Cousin Vinny".  I really wanted a good comedy. I wasn't in the mood for something serious tonight. Luckily they agreed with me. After the movie we all went to bed. Regina and I showered together and had a lot of fun together in the shower. We teased each other, we made love, then we  washed each other's bodies. It was beautiful. When we ended our shower we dried each other off, changed into something to sleep in then got in bed.  As I was holding Regina in my arms she moves so she can look at me.  "Emma my love. I really want to thank you for tonight. This has to be the best birthday I've ever had". She leans in to kiss me. "I'm glad babe. You deserve it after the rough few weeks you've had".  I kiss her and put my head back on my pillow. "Emma my love. Could you please do one more thing for me?"   "Sure babe. What is it?"  "Can you please look at that email about your test scores?  It's driving me crazy that you haven't looked yet".  I let out a little laugh and start to sit up and she does the same. I grab my phone off the nightstand and open my email. I find the one from the school and press it. I look away quickly. "Emma what is it?"  "I don't know. I'm scared to look. I'm not sure if I want to know".  "Can I have your phone dear so I can see".  I give her my phone. She looks for about a minute and closes and locks my phone. She kisses me and says. "Goodnight my love. Thank you for tonight".  She rolls over and shuts off her light and lays on her pillow. I just about speechless. "Gina what the fuck, your not gonna tell me?"   "You said you didn't want to know. Goodnight sweetheart".   "Oh no way. Fuck that. Tell me Gina. Please".  "I'll tell you tomorrow Emma my love, I'm tired".  "Fucking serious Gina. Come on. Please just tell me. I opened it for you. Please, please tell me".  She rolls over and says. "Ok Emma. I'll tell you". She sits up against the headboard of the bed and looks at me. "Emma my love you passed every subject that you needed to to graduate. There is no need to worry. You will get your high school diploma".  I jump out of bed. "Holy shit Gina. Are you serious?  I passed?  Oh my god. I can't believe it". I'm basically running around the room like an idiot. Regina laughs. "Yes my love. You seriously passed. You will get your diploma. Congratulations sweetheart". We smile at each other and I leap over to kiss her. "Oh Gina thank you. Thank you so much. I can't believe this".   "So what's next my love?  Are you thinking college, or maybe a trade school or something?  I know you like to work with your hands".  I was silent for a few minutes. I got back in bed and sat next to her. "Regina what if I went into the military?  They have a great educational program. I could work on a lot of different things".   "What?  Emma are you really considering a life in the military?  That's so dangerous my love. Especially now. I love you Emma. I don't want anything happening to you".  "I know babe but what else am I cut out for?  I can't really just be anything. No one ever showed me how to live life. At least in the military they will teach me what to do".  "Yes they will but so will other jobs Emma. Any job offers on the job training. Emma please really think about this. The military is so dangerous. What if you went into the police academy?  Storybrooke is always looking for deputies. Please Emma think about this. I know it sounds selfish but I don't want you get hurt. I love you so much. Please don't do this".  I see tears roll down from her eyes and I move closer so I can hold her. "Ok babe. I'm sorry. I thought it would be a short solution to my long and crazy life. Maybe being a deputy wouldn't be bad. Your mom used to be mayor, and you were on the school committee. You know people right? Maybe someone can lead me in the right direction. This is great babe. The military is wrong for me. Plus I don't like being far away from you for to long. I love you to much".  We kiss and then I hold her tight. "I love you babe".  "I love you Emma. Can we please get some sleep now? I'm exhausted?"   "Of course babe".  We kiss once more then we snuggle together, then we drift off to sleep.