STORYBROOKE, MAINE, 2029.

Strictly speaking, it doesn't take all that much for a small, sleepy town to collectively lose its cool, or casually put, its shit. Sometimes all it needs is one headline about whether two of the dwarves are having an affair or if Granny's famous lasagna is pre-made and frozen. But this time, it isn't small news.

This time, it's something that years ago would have been laughable and unheard of, but now (though predicted for awhile and longed for) is finally happening.

Emma Swan and Regina Mills are getting married.

That's right; a wedding, carefully planned out and gorgeously set up, is about to take place in Storybrooke--in the very backyard of the Mayor's mansion. It seems as though nearly everyone has a job: Snow is in charge of the flowers, David needs to cover the seating area and aisle, the dwarves need to make a pulpit, Granny is providing the food, and Henry holds the impossible task of making sure his mothers don't completely lose their minds with stress and everything that's going on.

Henry's job stretches far and thin, and to just about every category of planning.

"And what about this dress?" Emma demands fretfully, stepping out from behind the screen so Henry can inspect the sixth wedding dress option of the afternoon.

"That one is nice," Henry replies, exactly as unhelpful he had been with the other five. "I gotta say, I'm surprised that you're so stressed about an outfit. I thought that would be Mom's territory."

"God, you're so helpful!" Emma exclaims, putting her hands on her hips as she scrutinizes her reflection in the mirror beside her. "What about you, Ava? What do you think?"

The little girl settled in Henry's seated lap leaps up and races over to Emma as fast as her little three-year-old legs can take her. She reaches up and takes fistfuls of the satiny white fabric of the skirt into her tiny hands. "Pretty!" She squeals gleefully, and Emma shoots Henry a pointed, smug look.

Henry chuckles and stands up. "Okay, Princess, let's not touch Grandma's expensive dress okay? C'mere." Ava releases the fabric and rushes back over to Henry.

"Okay, Daddy," she says, and Henry bends down to pick her up and seat her on his right  forearm.

Henry had not been idle in the five years that had passed--he had gotten himself married- before his mothers -to Grace, his childhood crush right in Storybrooke (which was highly convenient because it meant he didn't have to explain magic and his family to a woman in the outside world) and soon after, the two of them became the parents of the adorable Ava. 

"Good girl," Henry gushes, and leans in to press a kiss onto her soft, pudgy cheek. Emma, though touched by the scene, crosses her arms.

"I told you not to tell her to call me Grandma."

Henry laughs and shakes his head. "What would you rather?"

"I don't know--Emma? I'm way too young to be a grandmother!" She complains with a pout. Henry shoots her an unconvinced glance.

"That's what you think."

"Ugh!" Despite her ensemble, Emma finds a way to stomp across the room to deliver a well-deserved smack to her son. "I'll tell your mother you said that!"

"Oh, what's she gonna do?" Henry mocks playfully, adjusting his daughter to sit more comfortably on his arm. "She'd probably agree with me."

"Except for the fact that she's older than me." Emma steps back, smug, and watches as it sinks in.

"Oh, no. You're right." His eyes widen as the realization kicks in. Ava just lets out a bubbly giggle, enjoying the banter between her father and grandma, but not understanding a word.

"I'll tell her!"

"...you wouldn't!"

Emma backs down first, sighing as she steps back to the full-length mirror. "You're right, I won't--but only because I want you to be actually alive for the ceremony."

"Oh, just for the wedding? Gee, thanks. So is this dress a keeper or no?" He asks impatiently, checking his gold watch on his left wrist. He's supposed to be helping Regina with the seating arrangements in the next half hour.

"I don't know....I'm just not feeling any of these. You know I'm not a fairytale dress sort of girl." She points out, pulling at the skirt and taking an exaggerated breath from the corset crushing her ribs.

"Then don't wear a dress," Henry fixes easily, settling back into his chair, allowing Ava to sit across his knees. She instantly turns around to face him and begins tugging at his dark hair, but he doesn't mind--he just pulls silly faces at her to make her laugh. He loves it when she laughs.

"What?! I can't just not wear a dress on my wedding day--what would Regina say?" She frets, casting another glance into the mirror while attempting to recognize the woman reflected--she really can't remember the last time she'd shoved herself into a dress besides today.

"She would say that she's happy you're comfortable. What do you like to wear for special occasions?" He replies, contorting his face into an unplanned grimace as Ava pulls particularly hard on a chunk of his strands.

"You'll laugh at me," Emma stalls, a light shade of pink brushing across her cheeks.

"I won't. Pinky swear." He holds out his pinky for good measure, but Ava, having lost interest in his hair, instantly latches onto it with her first.

"Okay, okay--I want to wear a tuxedo." She confesses, then crosses her arms right afterwards, as if challenging him to find humor in her statement. "Don't even think about making a lesbian joke right now."

Henry raises his free hand in surrender. "I wasn't about to! If you want to, I think that's great. Also, it's sort of cute. Why don't you find a way out of that ridiculous gown and try on something you really like?"

"That," Emma agrees with a completely genuine smile, "sounds like a great idea."

---

Henry makes it just in time to the mansion--Emma had kept him long enough with various snazzy suits options and Ava had had to be practically dragged out the door--so he's practically gnawing at his nails for fear that Regina will go off on him for being slightly late. He'd like to say that one mother is more level-headed than the other about the whole wedding ordeal, but both seem a bit high-strung. Though perhaps, Regina is maybe leaning towards the higher side of the stress spectrum.

But, he does have his daughter in tow, (Regina is in love with the little girl) so perhaps she can be offered up as a kind of peace offering. Once he's made it to porch--with Ava on his shoulders because apparently her feet no longer work--he knocks a few strong and steady times. He, of course, has a key, but he feels that maybe he should give her a bit more time to collect herself before he waltzes right in.

His thoughtfulness amounts to nothing, though, as she opens the heavy door seconds after he'd signaled their presence. "Henry!" She greets through a smile, "and Ava! How's my favorite little girl?" She coos, and Ava stretches out her arms, longing to be held by her other grandmother.

Henry obliges, reaching up and popping her off his shoulders with little to no effort, handing her off to his mother. He pats down his unruly hair into what he hopes is better condition after Ava's tugging.

"How was dress shopping with Emma?" Regina asks, lifting the girl with some effort to rest against her hip.

"It went well," Henry replies vaguely, biting back a smile when he thinks of how surprised Regina will be to see her bride in a tuxedo.

"Mum's the word, hmm?" She notices with the slightest bit of a pout, as she leads the way into the sitting room where she has papers laid out across the coffee table.

"Hey, what you guys are wearing has to be a total secret to each other, remember? You insisted on that, and it's the rules." He reminds her, making her roll her eyes and comb her hair to her opposite shoulder with her fingers. Over the years it'd grown considerably, just reaching to about her mid-back; something which Emma is publicly overly excited about.

"I suppose you're right. Okay, now to the seating arrangements." She puts her business, no-nonsense tone to work as she sets down Ava and begins picking up a few papers and a black pen. Henry reaches into the bag he'd brought and hands her a couple picture books and a few toys.

"Do you want your princess book or your dinosaur book?" He asks while Regina continues to set things in the neatest possible order.

"I want you to read them to me, Daddy," Ava replies stubbornly, with a hint of a quiver to her bottom lip. Henry shakes his head and gives her hair a quick tussle.

"Well, right now I gotta work with Grandma, so just look at the pictures, okay?"

She pulls out the puppy-dog eyes, something that she'd without a doubt inherited from Henry himself. Since she'd learned them (though had yet to fully master them) Henry has begun to understand how effective they really are. He averts his eyes to stay immune.

"How about an extra bedtime story tonight?" He bargains, though fully aware how much of a pushover he sounds. He wants to think he's strict and has set guidelines, but at times, he can't find it in himself to say no to his little princess. And right now, he mostly feels that he doesn't have the time to manage a full-blown temper tantrum, should she decide to throw one.

Regina looks on at the exchange with a fond smile resting on her lips, but when he turns to her, she raises an eyebrow for show.

"What?" He asks, defensive. He throws another glance towards Ava who is now on the floor, contentedly paging through the dinosaur book saying nonsense words to herself. He smiles.

"Oh, don't be so testy. I was the same with you when you were that age." She takes time away from the demanding work in front of them to reflect on when it had just been the two of them. It feels like it was lifetimes ago, and her heart clenches momentarily with the reoccurring thought that her son is now a father.

Henry colors at the mention of himself so little, and takes a look a the diagram. "Well, I don't think that we should put Leroy and Granny together," he muses, only to change the subject.

Regina, however, isn't quite ready to delve into the work. "By the way, what was it you referred to me as to Ava? It wasn't 'Grandma,' I'm sure." She tests, a wicked smile fighting to spread her cheeks when she sees his nervous reaction. He quickly stammers out an agreement to her sarcastic statement.

"No, nope, it certainly wasn't that."

---

The day of the wedding dawns bright and perfect--not a hint of a cloud traces the sky and it's uncommonly warm for an October day. Emma and Regina had specifically wanted an outside autumn wedding--and had carefully planned the entire ordeal around when the leaves would be the most vibrant and pigmented just before they fell.

Despite the cheery weather conditions, both brides are particularly antsy and stressed. They'd both wanted to follow this world's wedding traditions (as opposed to the ones in the Enchanted Forest) so they'd spent the night completely separate and in different houses. Neither can recall a time less than five years ago when thy hadn't slept in the same bed, and as a result, both had literally and figuratively gotten up on the wrong side of bed that morning. Though, when they remember the cause of their loneliness--they're being wed to each other today for god's sake--a smile slides onto their faces simultaneously.

Regina allows one more second of closed-eyed daydreaming of what it'll be like to become Emma Swan's wife, (she feels like a child, really, but she figures that since it's her wedding day, she's more than a little verified to be giddy.) before she snaps her eyes open and checks the time. She'd overslept. The stress that had melted off of her only seconds before returns tenfold, and she moves to the shower faster than she knew she was capable of after being awake for only minutes.

While lathering her longer hair atop her head, trying desperately to sooth her nerves while massaging her scalp, she runs through a mental checklist of what she must complete this morning in order to be ready on time.

One: shower. Two: breakfast. Three: dress. Four: hair and makeup. Five: practice vows in front of the mirror.

She's not proud of that last one, but she'd be lying if she said she felt completely prepared. She's a highly literate person, with extensive practice with speaking in front of people and to them, but wedding vows are different in and of themselves, let alone vows to Emma. She'd worked many nights on the short speech, but her whole heart resides in the few lines of crumpled notebook paper shoved in a sock drawer where Emma won't find it. After drying off, she glances at the clock in the bathroom; Snow should be here any minute to help her prepare her appearance, and Regina chides herself for being behind schedule. Quickly, she throws on the slip that is designated to be worn underneath her wedding gown, and goes to the kitchen.

Sure enough, Snow arrives bright and early, ringing the doorbell only seconds after Regina had made her way down the stairs. With a held-back eye roll, Regina steps towards the front door and opens it. Snow is standing there, looking entirely too cherry for 8:15 in the morning, arms full with an oddly shaped bag that no doubt holds Regina's wedding dress.

"I'm glad you're here. Sorry, I'm a bit behind," Regina confesses honestly, stepping aside in her scanty attire to let the other woman in.

"Nonsense, Regina, I'm honestly surprised that you've already showered. On my wedding day, I was a total wreck." Snow waves her free hand airily, while looking for a place to let down the expensive dress without creasing it in any way.

"That's likely because you were so worried about me," Regina points out with a shaky laugh. "Worried I might crash the party, I assume."

"Maybe a little, yes," Snow readily agrees, taking Regina's teasing in a sensitive area with a grain of salt. "And you did crash the party. To be fair."

"That I did," Regina muses with a small smile, while pointing to the arm of a hardly-used couch, wordlessly telling Snow to set the garment there. "And a damn good thing I did too, otherwise everyone would still be stuck without Internet, and you and I would be terribly old."

Snow laughs genuinely this time. "That I can agree with!"

A full two and a half hours later, Regina is seated in front of her large vanity inspecting Snow's handiwork under a scrutinizing gaze. Her hair has been teased and worked with to create gorgeous cascading loose curls, with a small portion in the back pulled into an elegant bun atop her head. There are are hidden pins within it to make it seem as though there are jewels dripping off of her hair, and the outside sunshine reflects off of the stones. The makeup, on the other hand, had been a fight. Regina had wanted to hide behind a mask of heavy eyeliner, strong contour, and deep red lips. Granted, the look requested that has graced her face many times compliments her, but Snow had begged the bride-to-be to trust her and try something new. Now, staring at the result in the large, crystal clear glass, Regina finds she doesn't hate her reflection at all.

Adorning her eyelids is a beautiful soft, rose color, complete with rose-gold sparkles swept across her lid up to the crease. Instead of eyeliner, a curled set of black false eyelashes blend with her own, with spaces to show the gorgeous eye makeup. A cool-toned contour carves out her already pronounced features, but a rose-colored blush that compliments the eyeshadow sits alongside it. The lips complete the entire soft look: they're nude with the faintest pink tinge. The scar above her lip stands out especially, but for once, Regina doesn't mind it. She turns to Snow, still in awe of the woman reflected back at her. She hardly recognizes herself, but it reminds her of a young girl before she knew heartbreak. 

"Thank you," she exhales, staring up at her step-daughter. She wants to say more, but doesn't know how to form the words.

Snow knows Regina entirely too well--and recognizes the speechlessness as a very good thing. She gives her a small smile and brushes a curl behind the other woman's ear. "You're very welcome. You look absolutely stunning."

"There you go, compliment your handiwork." Regina snipes with a smirk.

"No; complimenting your natural beauty. That's all I did--enhance them."

A quick rap on the bedroom door interrupts them, and Regina calls out a distracted approval to come in, while adjusting the corset of her gown. Henry steps in, a hand shielding his eyes dramatically. "Everyone decent?"

Snow laughs and gives the affirmative. "What are you even doing here?" She questions after Henry removes his hand.

Henry grins sheepishly and produces a black silk tie. "Am I too old to ask for help with putting on one of these?"

"Entirely." Regina carefully rises from the vanity stool, keeping her skirts about her as she makes her way towards her son. Despite her answer, her heart warms with the thought that Henry still needs her for some things. In moments like these, she's able to believe that he's still her little prince.

Once Henry sees his mother's appearance, his jaw drops. "Oh, my god, Mom! You look perfect," he compliments with a complete sense of sincerity. Regina smiles and blushes the slightest bit, while reaching up high to pop his collar. Sensing how difficult it is for her since she has yet to step into her sparkling heels, he bends down a bit. "Man, Emma is gonna lose her shit when she sees you."

Regina grins and gives him a smack against his bicep that does absolutely nothing to faze him. "Henry!"

"What? It's true. Did Grandma do this?"

Snow nods happily from behind, and Henry gives her a quick thumbs-up. Regina slides the knot up, and pats the tie down against his chest.

"There, you're ready apart from your suit coat. You look very handsome," she gives him a bit of a watery smile and he smirks.

"More than I did on my wedding day?"

"You look handsome to me every day." She replies with a straight face, and no trace of jest in her tone.

Henry ducks his head. "Alright, now you're pushing it. Are you ready?" He asks, as Regina steps into her shoes. Now a full four inches taller, she takes his arm.

"Absolutely."

---

Meanwhile, Emma had had her own stressful morning. Between oversleeping and being woken by her father ringing the doorbell, and a moment of panic when she thought she'd misplaced her tuxedo, (before realizing that her father had it all along to help her into the complicated piece) it's a miracle that she's ready in time. Standing in front of the pulpit now, waving to a couple people in the seats she's facing, she waits for her bride to make her appearance. She's entirely antsy, complete with sweaty palms and a racing heart. She's not sure whether it's nerves, excitement, or a mixture of both, but all she knows is that she feels as though she'll explode if she has to wait another minute to see Regina. The night without her had been harder than she thought it'd be (and apart from that, she'd suffered through too many hours of being without her fiancée thanks to all the planning) and she feels as though all the stress will melt off of her as soon as she sees her bride. She waits.

Before making their way to the backyard wedding, Henry looks down at his mother with a concerned gaze. "Are you okay?" He queries, noticing how pale Regina's gone.

"Yes," Regina answers without hesitation; then swallows a few times to salivate her dry mouth. "I just can't believe this is happening. The last time I was a bride in a wedding, it was to a man I didn't want anything to do with." She doesn't know why she's confiding in her son like this, but for some reason, it feels right.

"You deserve this, Mom." Henry tells her, lifting her chin to stare her in the eye. "You deserve as much happiness as you can get. I'm so proud of you," his voice breaks with the last confession, but he could care less about sounding weak.

"Henry," Regina begins, but can't continue. Her eyes well with tears, and Henry bends to give her a quick squeeze.

"It's okay. I've been meaning to say that for awhile." He gives her a small, genuine smile, then inhales deeply. "So, are you ready to get this wedding on the road?"

Maybe Regina's been spending too much time with Emma, or maybe she's been letting her regal and professional air slip a bit. Maybe both, but whatever the reason, it causes Regina to crack into a grin and push against him with her shoulder. "I was born ready."

Finally, the piano on her side picks up a different tune, and Emma lifts her eyes, casting them down the aisle to gaze on her bride. If she'd thought her heart was pounding before, it was throbbing in her chest now. Air catches in her throat, and she momentarily forgets how to breathe.

Gliding effortlessly down the aisle with their son on her arm, Regina looms into her lover's view. The brunette is in a breathtaking floor-length wedding gown, with a sleeveless, rhinestone-adorned corset that attaches to a sea of white silk skirt. Dressing  her head of shiny waves, a small silver crown digs into her bun, and a beautiful white, sparkling veil trails behind her as she walks.

After what feels like hours of time-slowing reality, the brunette stands next to Emma, merely inches away. Emma doesn't realize she'd been crying until Regina lifts up and gently wipes away the wetness on her pale cheek.

"You're beautiful," Emma whispers, oblivious to the people on all sides who are witnessing this. Reality is cast from her, and in that moment all she can see is her bride; she can't fathom how lucky she is.

"You're in a tuxedo," Regina replies in an equally low tone, her eyes raking up and down the woman in front of her in wonder. While Regina had been convinced down the subtle path, Emma had chosen to contrast her outfit choice with a deep red lipstick tone that Regina can't remember seeing on the other woman before. Her heart pace quickens as her attraction for the blonde grows by the second.

Emma's face falls. "I'm sorry," Emma says hastily, coloring under Regina's gaze. "I just--"

"No, I love it. Honestly, I can't picture you in a dress." Regina amends with a chuckle; the light returns to Emma's eyes.

They share a laugh for a moment and a beat passes. Then: "This is actually happening." Emma whispers.

"It truly is."

Dr. Archie Hopper clears his throat lightly from behind them, and they turn towards him. "Dearly beloved, we are here today to witness the marriage of Regina Mills and Emma Swan..." He begins, straining his naturally soft and quiet voice to project across the yard.

Emma regrettably only pays half a mind to the rest of Archie's speech, being entirely mesmerized by the woman in front of her, but is woken from her trance when she hears her name.

"Emma? Your vows?" Archie repeats patiently and Emma lets out a nervous laugh.

"My vows. Right." She says in a raspy tone, then digs in her pocket for the scrap of paper she'd scribbled it on the week before. She unfurls it, finds it upside down, then turns it the right way around. She hearts a faint laugh in the attendance in front of her, but refrains from sending the accused a glare. "Regina," she reads from the paper, "you are, without a doubt, the most stunning woman I have ever laid my eyes on." After reading the first sentence, she crumples up the paper and sticks it back in her pocket, deciding to speak straight from the heart. "When I first met you, I thought you were a bitch, but you were the sexiest bitch I had ever had the pleasure of butting heads with." After that comment, more than a few laughs erupt from the audience. Regina lets out an adorable giggle and shoots her a faux-glare. "We've obviously encountered a lot of crazy shit since knowing each other, and it took awhile for me to acknowledge that I had a crush on you, but once I did everything else made sense. Then I kissed you, all hell broke loose, but then one way or another, we found our way back to each other. And I suppose we have our son to thank for that," she directs that part to him, and he gives her a wink. "But when I figured out I loved you, I've never looked back. Meeting you was the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I never want to spend another day without you."

The silence rings with that, and Regina wipes away a few stray tears that had escaped while listening to Emma ramble. They squeeze each other's hands.

"And Regina?" Archie prompts.

"Emma Swan." Regina starts, a smile sliding onto her lips after mentioning only the name. "When I first met you, all I wanted was for you to get the hell out of my life so I could be with my son, but I knew it would never be that simple. Upon seeing you, I knew you were a challenge, and I loved it. I've been inexplicably attracted to you ever since you showed up on my porch with my son, and it also took me too many years to realize that I loved you. It scared me, but it was there-- that vacation when we kissed was the best thing to ever happen to us, even though it looked like anything but in the moment. Emma, you are ridiculous, beautiful, and I want nothing more or less than you. You bring sunshine into my life that has been gone for too long. I love you, and I can't wait to start the rest of my life with you by my side."

Emma lets out a watery laugh as she wipes away yet another irritating tear. At Archie's word, they take the rings and slide them onto the other's finger with shaking hands.

"You may now kiss your bride." At long last, the cue comes, and both women move forward at once. However, it's Regina who captures Emma's lips with her own first, and Emma kisses back with such fervently, Regina thinks she might melt on the spot. It's their first kiss as a married couple, and both make damn sure it's a good one.

"Regina Swan-Mills," Emma tests out the name when they break apart. "I like that."

"Mills-Swan." Regina smirks with a quirked brow. "I like that better."

"Mills-Swan it is," Emma agrees with a ridiculously dorky grin on her lips that she can't wipe off. "We're married now," she states the obvious, but wants to say it out loud to make it real.

"Yes, we are, Emma. And I will love you every day for the rest of our lives." Regina declares loud enough for a handful of others to hear, and swoops in for another kiss, declaring their undying love publicly in front of the congregation.

So, while vibrant red and orange leaves fall around them like flower petals, they end their story, but only to make way for the beginning of the rest of their lives together.

The End.

AN: OH MY GOSHH I can't believe I finished it! Thank you all for being so incredibly supportive and inspiring me to keep going. It means much more than you will ever know. ❤️

On a different note, I'd like to apologize for the wait! I had a bit of writer's block with what I would write for the epilogue, when it hit me. I was like, SWANQUEEN WEDDING!! Once that eureka moment came, I set about this immediately. I'd also like to apologize that it's SO LONG!! I just wanted to have a lot of things resolved to really tie the rest of the book together to finish!

Thank you, AGAIN, for being so amazing. I mean it when I say I would have never finished this without you guys, AND I KNOW THAT SOUNDS CHEESY AF BUT ITS TRUE.

Anyways, though this story has finally come to a close, I'm still working on my newer SwanQueen fic, Memorize Me, found on my page, but here's the link: http://my.w.tt/UiNb/h9gXuQ84Yy
So y'all can find me there. Or send me a prompt. Or just DM me! I love you guys and I hope you follow me to my second swanqueen fanfic.

The End, for real. ☺️❤️