Author's Notes: Well, here we've reached the end and I have to say that writing the last few chapters made me rather emotional as I became quite attached to this AU world and the characters I wrote since the middle of last summer. (I may have cried a little writing it and teared up as I post this). Miles To Go is the second story I began writing when I first ventured into this fandom (thanks Caryn for pulling me in and making me obsessed with SQ!) and I never thought that this story would be as well received as it has been and I have every single one of you guys who have left reviews/faved/followed to thank for that!

To all the ones who have reviewed almost/or every update, I am so very grateful for each one of you and I am so happy that you've been along on this ride and shared your thoughts along the way and laughed and cried as you've read what has became a monster of a story. I cannot thank you enough for your support and your reviews!

To the haters/guests, you can't please everyone in life, this I know, but in the future if you don't like the way the story is being written and the direction it is going in, choosing not to continue reading is always your best bet ;)

To the friends I've made while writing this, you guys know who you are, and I adore you all! *mwha*

And to Caryn, who has been my absolute biggest supporter and sounding board throughout the entire process of this story, from the first words, to the struggle of finding the perfect title, to the very last. I honest don't know what I would've done without you especially during those times I got stuck and hit a wall, repeatedly. You pulled me out of some tight spots during this one and in a way, yes, you helped shape the way the story flowed with the ideas and scenes we talked about and fantasized about that crafted the story this became. I am so very grateful for you, for your support as my friend, as a fan of SQ and fan fiction, for your endless dedication on alerting those on twitter of my updates, and you know I love you and we'll be BFFF's til the end :)

Anyway, on to the last chapter, but before we do, I'd be forever grateful if those who haven't checked out my new story, The Weight of Us, to please check it out! Until the next one… - T

From the very first moment Regina had laid her eyes on Emma Swan in line at that party, she just knew. She knew that Emma was hers, that Emma was her one true love, her soulmate, her everything. She'd known from the very first moment she had laid her eyes on her and maneuvered herself through the drunken crowd to the line, making sure she was right behind the stunning and shy blonde right from the start.

It was no secret now that they had truly been destined for one another, but the path they had taken to get to where they were now was long and weathered, stressful and lonely at the best of times. Regina's own mother had been a factor in their own happiness, interfering in their relationship from the very moment she had discovered it, that very moment of which Regina still wasn't sure when it was exactly, but it had been almost right from the very moment she'd met Emma Swan.

Her very own mother had stood in the way of her very own happy ending and there was no doubt in Regina's mind that if it had been a man, someone her mother approved of, the heartbreak, the depression, the loneliness she'd been through—that they'd both been through—for eleven long years of her life would have never happened. Even after they had reunited, her mother had been nothing but a complication, once again trying to stand in the way of their happiness and love.

She had nearly lost Emma because her own mother had orchestrated a hit on her wife and ultimately had gotten away with being an accessory in Emma's failed assassination. Nothing would ever erase that very moment from her memories, the nightmares coming around once in a while to remind her just how close she'd been to losing the other half of her very heart and soul.

If only you could see me now, Mother. Oh how you would hate to see how happy I am with my wife and children, she mused as she watched her wife being tackled by their two children on the grass in their backyard one warm May afternoon, a day close to the dreaded "anniversary" of the assassination.

They never spoke of that day, but Regina thought of it in small little moments, moments like the one she was having then where all she could think about was how close she'd been to losing Emma, how close Henry had been to losing his mother. Just thinking of all they had been through because of that had her emotions on an edge and she sipped from her glass of red wine, the sound of laughter filling her ears as Emma struggled to get away from the tickle attack from their children.

Even the dogs were in on the game and the sight was absolutely hilarious. She watched as her wife got out of the hold their now almost sixteen year old son had her in and watched as she picked up their daughter, holding her upside down while calling out for surrender. Henry held his hands up, a twinkling glint in his brown eyes as he promised he'd stop and after Emma playfully shook Rachel until she too promised she'd stop with the onslaught of tickles and kisses.

"Thought I'd never get away," Emma said with a short laugh as she sat on the patio chair next to Regina. "Who's brilliant idea was it to start that tickle war anyway?"

"Yours, darling."

Emma smirked before leaning over to kiss Regina softly, their lips lingering just for a moment before Emma pulled away. Emma shook her head, the smile still fixated over her lips as she leaned in to kiss her once more.

When it came to either of them, there was never just one more kiss, one more touch, each one always leading to another and then another. While they kept things subtle in front of their children, there were moments where they both lost that control and gave in to the heady desire that was at a constant between one another. Regina couldn't help it, she was completely, fully, head over heels in love with her beautiful wife.

"Come here," Regina murmured, pulling her wife in for another kiss, one far less chaste than the last.

"Do you think we can slip away without them noticing?" Emma whispered against her lips moments later. Upon Regina's soft shake of her head no, Emma groaned. "Not even for ten minutes?"

"Ten minutes is not enough time for a quickie, darling."

"Damn."

Regina kissed away Emma's pout, her lips lingering for a moment before she pulled back and licked over her lips, the look she gave Emma no doubt in her mind told her she wished they could slip away for even just five minutes. But they were expecting guests at any moment and they truly could not slip away just to indulge in one another.

From the very first day, they had been insatiable and that had not changed over the years, save for the time after they had first married and after her mother had died. It was a time she hated thinking of and still to that very day tried to make up for in every little way. Emma had long since forgiven her for that time, she knew that because just days after they'd made love for the first time, they were right back to where they had left off.

The sexual freedom she felt with her wife had been something she had never felt with anyone before. She knew why and that was because of the emotional connection they'd shared right from the very moment they met so many years ago.

Regina swallowed thickly, her emotions once again starting to get to the better of her and unlike before, Emma noticed it this time and she reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers gently before bringing Regina's hand up to her lips where she kissed over her knuckles lightly.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I'm just thinking, my love. Reminiscing."

"Oh?"

"I'm thinking of us," she clarified. "Of when we met and of well, everything that has happened since."

"You are? Why?"

"I'm just feeling rather emotional," Regina whispered. "I'm not sure why."

"I think about the night we met a lot," Emma smiled at her. "I think about how you kissed me in the bathroom, the way you touched me like I was yours. I was you know. I was yours from the very moment we met. I never stopped being yours ever since."

"You will always be mine," Regina said, leaning over to kiss her wife softly. "Just as I will always be yours."

"We're stuck with each other for life, aren't we?"

"Unfortunately," Regina winked and kissed her once more before the sound of their daughter squealing in delight as Ruby and Kathryn walked into the backyard.

"Auntie Kat!" Rachel laughed as Kathryn immediately opened her arms, ready for the flying hug from the ever growing seven year old. "Did you bring me candy?"

"Fresh out of candy, Rach," Kathryn laughed and she let her down on her feet. "But, I'm pretty sure Aunt Ruby has some stashed in her bag."

Regina chuckled with a shake of her head as she watched Rachel run over to where Ruby had just sat down on the other side of the table. She just tiredly held out her bag to Rachel and let her dig through it for the candy one of them always brought over for her as a special treat.

"How are you, Ruby?" Regina asked and Ruby blew out a hard breath.

"Exhausted," she replied as she placed a hand over her ever growing stomach. "This one is one active baby."

"Don't worry, Rubes, they're always more active until the last month when they lose the space to move," Emma said and she laughed when Ruby grabbed her hand and placed it on her stomach. "He's a kicker, that's for sure."

"If it's not outwards, it's my ribs and every single organ it can reach. I am ready for this baby to get the hell out of me!"

"You still have two more months."

"Five weeks."

"Like I said, two more months," Emma chuckled and she shook her head sympathetically at her very pregnant best friend.

After they tried for a year with an anonymous donor with no luck at conceiving, they stopped before picking back up at the beginning of the last summer. On the third try, Ruby finally ended up pregnant and the celebration had been a big one shortly after they officially announced her pregnancy to their family and friends.

Ruby, unfortunately, was nothing but miserable the day the morning sickness started morning, noon and night. Kathryn had spent a few nights in the guest room when Ruby had grown irritated and intolerable and the fights had started, but it had been a few months since she came by last and Regina took that as a good sign. A very good sign.

Despite the trials and tribulations they had gone through to get to where they were now, nobody was more thrilled for the birth of the baby than the two proud and anxious mommies to be. Except for Granny, of course, who announced the news to the entire town just hours after Ruby and Kathryn had made their own announcement of the baby. At the Diner, she proudly displayed each sonogram near the register, beaming with pride and joy over her unborn great-grandchild.

By the time the Nolan's arrived and the barbecue was fired up and David was slinging hamburgers onto the grill, Regina could feel the effects of the wine starting to kick in and she leaned back and took her wife's hand in her own, half-listening to the conversation she was having with the other women seated around the patio table.

Laughter was always something that was constant in her life, laughter and love that was shown on a daily basis. Family was the single most important factor in her life and it was the way it always should've been, but something she had never truly experienced until Emma had come back into her life and swept her off of her feet for the second time.

The letters Emma had sent to her that summer were kept stored in a small box she kept in her desk drawer in the study. Every once in a while, when the house was quiet and Emma was working nights, she'd pull the box out and read through the letters, one by one, always feeling guilty for pushing Emma away that day instead of holding on to her and helping her get through one of the hardest times in her life.

If only she'd known her mother was behind the whole thing. If only she'd known, how different everything would've been. Over and over, she had to remind herself that there was no point and no reason to look back at that time in their lives and wish for things to have been different. Even if it had, it wouldn't change where they were now. Perhaps they would've gotten married sooner, Regina did have the ring and was planning to propose even after just three months of dating Emma. Maybe they would've stayed in New York City, raised Henry there together. Maybe they would've still come to Storybrooke when her father had gotten ill and then passed away. Maybe they wouldn't have and they could've been living and entirely different life somewhere else.

But that wasn't the way their lives played out. It didn't matter what path they'd started on or what path they ended up on, it all led them right back to be where they were now, together, happy, and in love, with a beautiful daughter and handsome son and two dogs that on most days were the bane of her existence when all they did was play, and play, and play until they exhausted each other.

Like most times the family got together for a barbecue, they stayed until it was time for Rachel to go to bed and then as soon as she was tucked in and sound asleep, Regina and Emma retired to their own room together.

And like most times, especially when she'd had a few glasses of wine, Regina was feeling rather frisky, nearly pouncing on her wife the moment she'd shut and locked the bedroom door behind her. With a purr, she pulled her wife to their bed and pushed her down rather roughly, settling the tone for the even as one that was rough. Raw. Dirty. And so very naughty.

Just the way they both liked it sometimes, more often than not. There was always a time for making love, soft and sweet and slow, and there were times like that night, when all Regina wanted to do was completely devour her wife and watch her face contour in multiple different ways as she muffled her screams as much as she could manage. It was a challenge they both daringly took on nearly every night and by now, both their children had become used to the "funny sounds coming from moms' room" at night.

The last time Rachel asked, they just told her they were playing a game and Regina was so grateful that Rachel hadn't seen Henry blatantly roll his eyes at both of them before he stormed out of the kitchen, muttering under his breath, saying words that likely herself or Emma would ground him indefinitely for if they heard him say them loud and clear.

Regina quickly discovered she wasn't the only one in not just a frisky mood, but a very naughty one as well. The instant her fingers trailed over Emma's clenching hole and felt the flat edge of the plug instead of warm, tight flesh, her excitement level rose as quickly as her arousal did.

They were in for a long night and Regina was sure that the pillow would be ripped to shreds like the last time and that Emma would have bite marks on her arms from trying to quiet her screams and moans for hours on an end.

Emma and Regina had discussed for months what they were going to get Henry for his sixteenth birthday. Emma wanted to get him a new game system to put in his room while Regina had already had her eye on a beautiful old truck that was for sale that would be absolutely perfect for his first vehicle. Emma had insisted buying him his first vehicle was just too much and that he'd learn how to value it more if he saved up his money and paid for it himself.

Money, as Regina learned early on, was a touchy subject with her wife and even though she had insisted many times that she didn't need to worry, Emma always did either way. It was why when it came to financial matters, Regina would either handle them quietly on her own or very subtly bring it up with her wife.

In the weeks before Henry's birthday and after their last barbecue with the family, they had come to a decision together to get him the truck for his birthday, Emma coming up with the idea to give him conditions since he still had to get his learner's permit and wouldn't be able to drive without a full licensed adult. Regina wasn't sure if she or Emma were more excited when they picked up the slate grey pick-up just two days before his birthday together. They kept the truck in the garage and hoped that in the two days it'd be kept a secret that Henry wouldn't discover it. It wasn't as if he went into the garage often anyway, at least that had been Regina's argument when Emma suggested they just park it at the station until his birthday.

The morning of Henry's sixteenth birthday, Emma woke up bright and early, her excitement through the roof and one would've thought it was her birthday and not their son's with the way she begged Regina to wake their teenaged son up long before his alarm went off. Regina reasoned with her that because it was Monday, his birthday or not, Henry would be extremely grouchy all day if woken up before his alarm.

That in turn had left Regina to find a way to preoccupy Emma in the hour before Henry's alarm would go off and of course finding a way to do just that was so very easy since they were, as always, insatiable. By the time seven-thirty rolled around, Regina had exhausted her wife back to sleep after her third consecutive orgasm.

After everyone had woken up and gathered in the kitchen for their daily family breakfast, Emma subtly pulled out the keys to the pick-up and placed them into Henry's hand and told him he had a surprise waiting for him just out in the garage.

To say that he absolutely freaked out was an understatement and while she, Emma, and Rachel, along with the two dogs, followed him out to the garage, the silence was so heavy and Henry had turned to them in disbelief, asking him why they were playing such a cruel joke on him and on his birthday of all days.

Once they had convinced him it was not a joke and that the truck was his, he started dancing around in the garage with Rachel following him around in equal excitement. Regina and Emma left them both alone in the garage to get some more much needed coffee before they sat Henry down and told him the conditions they had agreed upon together when it came to him driving his new truck.

By the end of that month and just before they were packing up for the two months they'd spend at their summer cottage, Henry passed his driving test and got his learner's permit. After an hour lesson in his truck with Emma, she stumbled into the kitchen with a look of horror on her face and said that she never, ever wanted to get into a vehicle with Henry while he was so inexperienced at driving.

A whole year later provided a whole different experience however, with Henry loading up the truck, both dogs watching him from where they sat on the edge of the driveway and Henry instructing Rachel to bring him the last of the bags. He was driving to the summer cottage on his own for the very first time, his only companion Valiant and the extensive driving playlist he'd spent hours in choosing the perfect songs. Regina was slightly nervous about him driving out there alone, even if he would be following her and Emma the whole way there.

That summer had been a mix of different memories and a big part of them were so very bittersweet because neither Regina or Emma were certain that Henry would be coming with them the next summer, not when he expressed the fact that he wanted to work full-time to save as much money as possible before he'd head off to college next fall.

College, so close and yet still a whole other year away at that point and Regina had spent the summer wondering how the next year would play out. The next year would be full of college and university applications and then the wait for the acceptation or rejection letters to arrive in the mail. Regina wasn't sure how Emma was keeping so together about the whole thing because even though it was still another year away, she was becoming so very emotional about sending him off, likely to Boston or New York City to college when it had only felt at that point that he was still that ten year old boy who had handed her the letter that ultimately led to her and Emma reconciling their past relationship.

Three weeks into the school year, Henry made the announcement that he had started dating Nicholas' twin sister Ava and the news, while a bit of a shock, was not a surprise to anyone. In the months that had followed that subtle little announcement during breakfast one morning, two pregnancy scares popped up and Emma had caught them more than a handful of times in his bedroom having sex when he thought no one else was home. After the second pregnancy scare, it was Regina who put her foot down and told him that he was not allowed to bring his girlfriend home when she herself or Emma were not there.

Unknown to her wife, after he was barred from having his girlfriend over and definitely not allowed to have her in his bedroom with the door closed, Regina made a move that even surprised herself and purchased a box of condoms and gave them to him one afternoon shortly before he was to attend the winter formal with Ava. She never told Emma about the purchase and as it turned out, Emma had pulled the same move just mere hours after Regina had paid a visit to their son's bedroom.

By that spring, Henry found out he had been accepted into Emerson College, his dream—one he rarely spoke of openly—was to be an author one day and Emerson had attracted him because of their extensive writing and publishing courses. Regina and Emma had been so very proud of him and like any parents, they were fully supportive with the choices he was making for his future.

Henry and Ava broke up shortly before graduation and Regina had watched her son go through several different phases after the mutual break-up. He went from staying in his room, depression sinking in, only leaving to go to school and for dinner and the occasional shower to jumping back into his old self, but spiralling out of control when he started hanging out with some of the boys Regina and Emma both knew as trouble-makers. The first and last time he'd gotten so drunk he passed out on the front lawn, Emma took his truck away from indefinitely until he pulled his act together and got himself back on the track he'd been on before the crushing break-up with his first serious girlfriend.

That summer was the first summer they spent without Henry around, but he did make the drive out to the summer cottage every couple of weeks to spend a few days there with his family before driving back to Storybrooke to continue to work odd shifts at the library and doing various odd jobs around town along with the two shifts a week he worked at Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop.

Even with everything they'd gone through with Henry over that year, Regina found her relationship with Emma stronger than it ever had been before. They had their occasional fights, petty fights over things that truly didn't matter in the long run and they had their sweet, tender little moments.

By the end of that summer, during their last week at the cottage, Ruby, Kathryn and their son Christian came to stay with them, making the cosy cottage feel even smaller, especially when Henry and Nicholas surprised them by coming to stay there for the long weekend. The boys pitched a tent in the yard and slept out there with both dogs and drinking beer Regina knew they thought neither she or Emma knew they'd snuck along with them, more than likely taken from Nicholas' father's fridge before they made the drive out to the summer cottage.

As Regina had done over the years, she found herself spending a lot of time that weekend reminiscing of their time spent as a family, especially looking back to the time where she was still getting to know her son in the beginning and how easy it had been after a short time had passed to fall in love with the then sweet-faced little boy. She laughed when she remembered the times in the beginning when he'd caught them kissing, proclaiming how gross it was and putting up such a fuss when he'd heard them having sex the first time.

He'd come such a long way from being that boy, transforming into a kind hearted young man who never failed to put everyone else before himself. Regina had no doubt in her mind that he would thrive and continue to grow and mature while away at college in Boston and despite knowing that, her emotions continuously got to the better of her and she no longer silently questioned how her wife had remained so calm knowing that in just under a week their son would set off to start the very next chapter of his life.

The weekend had been rather bittersweet, Emma and Regina both spending some time alone with Henry for a few hours on the last day they were there before making the drive home. While Emma had gone out on the trails with Henry, riding the horses for the few hours they spent together and essentially taking Regina's bonding idea away, she and Henry had ended up in the small town just a few miles from the summer cottage, walking along the small boardwalk and eating ice cream while talking about what the future would hold.

Before they'd gone back to the cottage, Henry had promised her that he'd call at least once a week, mostly just so the two of them could just talk about school, what was going on in their lives, and whatever else that would come up. She made a promise to him as well, the same promise she later found out Emma had made him, that she wouldn't cry when he left in just a couple of days to make the trip that would be the start of his journey to college and into adulthood.

She wasn't at all sure she could uphold that promise as she'd already been so very emotional, but she promised him all the same.

Their little boy was all grown up, no longer a little boy, but almost nearly a man. Every time Regina just as much looked at him, she felt her heart and soul beam with pride and joy that she had been given a chance to have him as her son, to love him, to cherish him, to share the little and big milestones he reached in his life in the time she had known him and grown to love him, love that expanded day after day.

Happy endings weren't just about finding the One, happy endings were about sharing a life with a loving family and that she had discovered so early on after she and Emma had reconciled their relationship that summer all those years ago. And happy endings weren't always easy to come by, Regina knew that all too very well because for eleven long years of her life, happiness and her own happy ending seemed so far off and so out of reach she'd stopped looking to find it completely.

Now she was living in her happy ending, day in and day out. She truly couldn't have imagined her life to have turned out any other way.

Henry tossed the last bag into the bed of his pick-up and turned to face his mothers with a smile on his face. Regina held on to Emma's hand tightly, the emotions swirling inside of her as their son approached the sidewalk and came to a stop in front of them.

"Well, that's the last bag," he said with a mild shrug of his shoulder. "I should probably get on the road."

"Yeah," Emma smiled, her voice thick with emotion and she let go of Regina's hand and flung her arms around him. "We're so proud of you, Henry."

"Ma—"

"We're going to miss you so very much."

"I'll be home for Thanksgiving," he gently reminded her, peering over the top of her head to smile at Regina. "I know it's so very far away, but it'll be here before you know it."

Upon his gesture, Regina joined in on the hug and the three of them laughed as eleven year old Rachel threw herself into them, her short arms barely making their way around Henry and Emma. After a long moment, they pulled apart and Regina reached for her wife's hand, smiling as Henry knelt down in front of his little sister.

"Listen here, kid," he said quietly. "Don't tell our moms, but I'm going to miss you the most, okay?"

"Okay."

"And if you miss me too much, you can sleep in my room while I'm gone."

"I can?"

"Sure can, kid."

"I love you, Henry," Rachel whispered, flinging her arms around his neck and he stood up and spun her around, much to her delight.

Regina choked back a sob as she watched the interaction between the two. They had truly come such a long way, especially as brother and sister. The love Henry had for Rachel showed and she knew that what he said was true, that he was going to miss her the most of all. She turned to look at her beautiful wife and leaned over to kiss away the few tears that had fallen.

"He's only going to college, darling," she reminded her gently. "He'll just be four hours away and he'll come home for the holidays and on breaks."

"I know," Emma sighed, her bottom lip trembling. "I can't believe how fast he's grown up. It seems like just yesterday I…I held him for the first time."

"Ma?" Henry said as he let Rachel down on to her feet. "I thought you promised me you wouldn't cry?"

"You know me," Emma laughed. "I try and yet, here I go, breaking that promise."

Henry laughed and wrapped an arm around her and firmly planted a kiss on her forehead. "I love you, Ma. I'll call you when I get to the dorms, okay?"

"Okay."

"Mom," Henry smiled as he looked at Regina. "Take care of her, will ya?"

"You know I always do and I always will, dear."

Henry kissed her forehead firmly and clapped his hands together excitedly. "Well, I'm gonna go. I gotta swing around and pick up Nick."

Emma nodded and gripped on to Regina's hand tighter as Regina reached out for Rachel and placed a hand on her shoulder. The three of them watched Henry as he climbed into the truck and he stuck his head out the open window to look back at them. With a smile, he settled in and drove off slowly while Emma pulled her and Rachel out to stand in the middle of the street to watch him drive off.

Henry stuck a hand out the window when he reached the stop sign and waved back and Rachel waved enthusiastically with both hands. Emma laughed quietly and turned to face Regina with an emotional smile on her face and happy tears in her eyes.

"We've come so far," Emma whispered softly and Regina nodded, reaching up to tuck a stray hair behind Emma's ear. "I can't believe we've come so far, Regina."

"And we still have many more miles to go before the end."

The End