Author's Note: Written for Swan Queen Week Winter 2015 - Day 2 - Roommates AU. Title taken from The Power of Love by Huey Lewis & The News, which features in Back To The Future, which features in this fic. (see what I did there?) Also there's a scene in here which was stolen from... I mean, inspired by Melissa and Joey. Huge thanks to Lola for the beta and for helping me from going completely off the rails. Enjoy!
"I just don't understand why you continue to live in such squalor with that – that – girl. Especially when you have my grandson to think of now."
The words play over in her head as Regina makes the trek back to the third story walk up apartment that she has shared with Emma Swan for the past fifteen months. She can now think of about a hundred different responses to her mother's pointed – and hurtful – words, the foremost being "perhaps because when you found out I was in a relationship with our stable boy, you disowned me and kicked me out of the house, giving me no choice but to find somewhere to stay", but of course it's too late and of course she'd never actually have the courage to say something like that to her mother.
Emma, on the other hand.
She shakes her head, but still, the words remain and Regina worries her lip between her teeth the rest of the way home.
"Hey hey hey!" Comes the call as Emma enters the apartment later, a cheerful tone to her voice that makes Henry turn his tiny head towards the sound, a gummy smile on his face. "Guess what I just picked up?"
Regina turns, her brow furrowed in thought, only for her eyes to widen as she sees the tickets Emma is waving in front of Henry. He kicks his feet in the bouncy seat, Emma's exuberance transferring easily to him. "Oh, Emma. The movies."
"Yep!" Emma laughs, too excited about the movie and entranced by Henry to notice the look on Regina's face. "You, me, and Marty McFly, Friday night. All three movies, back to back. It's gonna be great. The theatre's even gonna have a real DeLorean there!"
There's silence, but for the rattle of toys hanging from Henry's seat and Emma looks over at Regina with a small frown. "C'mon, Regina, we talked about this. I know it's the first time you're going to be leaving Henry for an extended amount of time, but Kathryn is totally capable and if anything happens, we can always come right home. I just really think –"
"No, Emma, it's not – it's not that. It's just… I forgot about the movies and I made other plans."
Emma blinks. "You did?"
"Yes."
"What plans?"
"Dinner plans. I'm sorry, Emma. Honestly."
"With who?"
It's Regina's turn to blink. "What?"
"Who are the plans with?"
"An old friend." Emma's inner lie detector goes off with those words and she frowns even deeper. Regina doesn't lie to her. They don't lie to each other. Except apparently, now they do. "I truly am sorry."
Emma shakes her head, trying to force away the sinking feeling in her stomach that reminds her all too much of group homes and social workers and broken promises. "Hey, no biggie. I'll just ask Ruby to take your ticket."
"Emma." Regina calls after her as she watches Emma lean down to kiss Henry's forehead before turning and heading for the door.
"Regina, it's fine. Really. I'm just gonna go ask Ruby about the ticket."
Regina frowns as she watches her roommate leave the apartment.
By the time Emma comes back to the apartment, she's her usual self, smiling and cooing over Henry. Regina wants to apologize again – had even considered calling and changing her plans, but those damn words of her mother just wouldn't leave her alone and she hadn't been able to pick up the phone – but she worries about what it will do to Emma's mood. So she says nothing and just watches as Emma flies Henry through the air, making airplane noises and laughing more than the baby.
Emma's wearing a Flux Capacitor shirt when she steps out of the tiny bathroom in the apartment. Regina huffs, pushing past her towards the bathroom.
"It took you that long to put on a t-shirt?"
Emma shrugs, laughing. "Calm down, Regina. What's the rush?"
"The rush is that I need to finish getting ready and drop Henry off to Kathryn and get to the restaurant by seven to meet Robin and you're taking forever in the one tiny bathroom we have." Regina lists off frantically, not realizing her mistake.
"Wait. Robin?" Emma looks at her incredulously. "Your dinner plans are with Robin Locksley? Are you kidding me?"
Regina bristles at Emma's angry tone, not in the mood to fight with her roommate.
"Seriously, Regina, are you kidding?" Emma demands again.
"No, Emma, I'm not kidding."
"You're telling me that you blew off our plans tonight to go to dinner with that –"
"Do not finish that sentence." Regina warns, her temper flaring.
"Your mother put you up to this didn't she? I mean, why in god's name would you ever go to dinner with that guy?"
"Because, Emma, while you may be content to stay in this crummy apartment for the rest of your life, maybe I'm not! Maybe I'm looking for something better for Henry and myself!" Regina spits, the words out of her mouth before she can stop them.
The apartment goes deadly silent. Emma's body just stills, freezes, and although it takes only a split second for her to build her walls back up and have her mask firmly in place, Regina catches the look of utter hurt and devastation that flits across her features. No one else would be able to see it, Regina knows, because no one knows Emma the way she does. And no one else can hurt Emma the way she just did.
"Emma." She gasps, moving out of the bathroom, her date forgotten in the wake of what she's just done.
This place may only be a crummy apartment to her – it isn't, of course it isn't – but to Emma it's the only place she's ever really called home. And all her life, Emma has been tossed aside because she was deemed not good enough. Now Regina has just carelessly, so carelessly, flung all of that back in her face in a moment of anger that she can't even really justify to herself.
"I have to go." Emma says, her voice devoid of emotion as she turns away from Regina. "I don't want to be late for the movies. Have fun on your date."
"Emma!" Regina rushes towards her, but Emma's spent her entire life running away and the door is shut in her face before she can stop her. By the time she pulls it open, Emma is nowhere to be seen on the stairs.
Regina rubs her hands over her face in frustration, not at all surprised when they come away wet.
Regina's sure that she's checked her phone at least thirty times now and she and Robin haven't even been seated yet. She's not sure exactly what she's expecting – a call about Henry from Kathryn, a response from Emma to the five texts that Regina's sent her already – but nothing comes.
"Regina," Robin's hand closes over her own, slipping the cell phone out of it, "I understand that you're nervous, leaving Henry for the first time, but let's just put this away for now."
"I want to be sure that if Kathryn calls –" She starts to explain, but he just smiles at her in a placating way that Regina hates, if she's being honest.
"The phone is turned on. If anyone calls we'll hear it. I promise." He says as he slips her phone into his jacket pocket.
Regina doesn't see him slide the button to silence the phone.
They're halfway through dinner – Regina's fingers are itching to get on her phone, to check if Emma has returned her messages and send a check in text to Kathryn – with Robin blathering on about his work and his wealth when Regina sees a flash of red from the corner of her eye.
She whips her head around and lets out an audible gasp when her eyes land on Ruby Lucas, coming to stand next to their table. "Ruby! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be with Emma."
Ruby throws her a look that is easy enough for Regina to decipher without her ever saying anything. Funny, but I could say the same thing about you.
"I was, until Emma got a call from Kathryn and she had to leave to go pick up Henry. Marty didn't even make it to 1955 before we left."
"What?" Regina frowns, her heart already beginning to pound in fear. "Why would Kathryn call Emma about Henry and not me?"
"Maybe because she did call you, like twenty times, but you didn't answer."
"That can't be. My phone is on and it hasn't rung…" Regina's eyes cut to Robin who is shifting just slightly in his seat, offering her that same damn placating smile from before.
"Where is my phone?" She demands, flinging her hand out for it.
"You gave this douche your phone?" Ruby growls.
"Listen you little –" Robin scoffs but Regina cuts him off.
"Give me my phone, Robin. Now."
He pulls the phone out of his pocket and tosses it towards Regina. She grabs it, her eyes widening at the sheer amount of missed calls and messages she has. "What did you do?"
"Look, I just didn't want you to be distracted, so I turned your phone on to silent. How did you expect us to form any kind of connection if you were staring at your phone all night? It's not a big deal."
Regina's blood boils. "Not a big deal? My son's babysitter has been trying to reach me for over an hour! That is the epitome of a big deal!" She spins to look at Ruby, panic now etched on her face. "What's happening? What's wrong with Henry?"
Ruby puts a soothing hand on her shoulder to keep her calm. "Kath said he started coughing really badly and then crying. She couldn't get him to calm down and the crying was just making his coughing worse. She didn't know what to do and so she tried to get ahold of you but… obviously couldn't, thanks to your date."
Ruby glares at Robin before turning back to Regina. "She ended up calling Emma and like I said, she was out of that theatre and on her way to Henry faster than Doc Brown's DeLorean. She called Dr. Whale on the way to Kathryn's and he said that it sounded like croup. He gave her instructions on what do and she went and got Henry. She tried to call you a bunch too and then started to get worried when you weren't answering, so she sent me to track you down. She's back at the apartment with Henry."
Regina exhaled loudly, her fear subsiding at the thought of Emma being with Henry. She would take care of her baby until Regina could get there.
"There, you see? Not a big deal. The kid's fine. If you'll just excuse us, we'll get back to our date now."
Regina's eyes bore into Robin. "Excuse me?"
"You heard the girl. It's just the croup. Kids get it all the time."
"My son is ill. He needs his mother. And if you think for a second that I'm going to stay here with you on this sham of a dinner date instead of going home to him –"
"Seriously? Emma's there. She's handling it. Why leave without finishing your dinner and drink?"
"I don't have an appetite anymore." Regina stands up, tossing her napkin onto her plate.
"Fine, fine." Robin holds his hands up, rolling his eyes at Regina's dramatics. "Do you want me to go with you to the apartment, then?"
"No." Regina shakes her head, repeating the words he'd just said, their meaning so much more coming from her now. "Emma's there."
She reaches over and picks up her glass of red wine. "I will take care of this though," she smirks before dumping it on his lap.
Ruby high fives her as they walk out of the restaurant, Robin's angry shouts echoing behind them.
"Emma?" She calls out as she enters the apartment. It's the first time she's really thought about it, but as she drops the bag she's carrying to the floor and takes in the little space, she realizes that this is her home. This place, more than the mansion she'd lived in for her entire childhood, this tiny little apartment is her home. It's where she belongs.
"In here." Comes the quiet call and only then does she notice the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.
She kicks off her heels as she heads for the bathroom, surprised by the wall of steam she encounters when she opens the door.
"Don't let all the steam out." Emma says and Regina pulls the door shut quickly, willing her eyes to adjust. When they do, she can make out Emma, sitting on the floor, her back against the bathtub, her knees bent up and resting against the sink counter. She's wearing only a black sports bra and running shorts, her hair pulled up into a messy bun that has loose strands falling all over. Henry is cuddled in her arms, asleep with his cheek resting by her heart.
She's struck by the image, by the reminder of another time when Emma had sat on the bathroom floor holding not Henry, but Regina herself as she'd sobbed over the two lines staring up at her from in between them. Emma had held her, soothed her, assured her over and over that she would be there, that Regina could do this, that it would all be okay. And it had.
It had. Because Emma was there. Just like she'd been there on the day that Regina had been kicked out of the only home she'd ever known, offering up a place to stay without even a thought and going herself to pack up Regina's things because she just couldn't face her mother again. Just like she'd been there only a week later when Regina got the call about Daniel's accident and like she'd been there at the funeral, holding Regina's hand and helping to grieve the boy that she knew she could've loved, if only she'd had more time.
Emma had been there through everything, through the pregnancy and Henry's birth and all the petrifying moments afterwards when she swore she was screwing him up. How could she ever have allowed her mother to make her think she needed anything more? How could she ever have thought there could ever be something better for Henry – or for her – than Emma?
Regina slides down the door as everything gives way inside of her. The anger and the pain and the fear all disappear as she witnesses Emma holding her son, as she realizes exactly what has been in front of her for these last fifteen months, and it all gives way to the biggest rush of love. It's the same power and intensity as the wave of love that had passed over her the first time she saw Henry, after Emma had cut the umbilical cord and placed him in her arms. It's that deep and that sure and that true.
"Emma."
Emma looks over at her and offers her a smile. "Looks like our crummy apartment is good for something, huh? Tiny bathrooms are easy to steam up."
The tears come then and the sobs right along with them. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Hey. Hey." Emma scoots closer, careful not to jostle Henry as she shoves right beside Regina, nudging her with her shoulder. "It's okay."
"No it's not." She says as she lays her head on Emma's shoulder, glad when she isn't pushed away or shrugged off. "I was awful. The things I said." She sits up quickly and moves so that she's facing Emma, looking right at her. "I didn't mean any of that. This place isn't crummy."
Emma lets out a small laugh. "It really kind of is, Regina."
"But it's home. It's our home. And there's nothing out there that could be better for me or for Henry."
"Sure there is."
"Emma!"
"No, look, just…" Emma shifts, leaning forward onto her knees. "Can you shut off the shower? Dr. Whale said to have him in here for twenty to thirty minutes and it's been that long."
Regina wipes at her tears and then stands, turning off the shower and following Emma into the living room. She watches as Emma carefully settles Henry into the basinet that they keep in the living room. "I gave him some children's Motrin to help with the fever, so he should sleep for a while, but Dr. Whale also said it's important to keep him near one of us so we can hear if his breathing changes. And I got the humidifier set up in your room."
Emma straightens up then and is pulled right into Regina's arms. Neither one of them are really huggers, but right now, they both need it, so they hold tight to each other.
"So," Emma says when they pull apart, "as I was saying," she goes into her bedroom and returns a moment later with a folder that she hands to Regina, "better."
Regina opens the folder and looks through it to find various apartment listings. "Emma?"
"I've been looking for a while now. I mean, Henry's almost six months old. The kid deserves his own room. And things have been good at work and I've got some money saved up so… these are some apartments that I think we could swing. Or, uh, that you could swing with someone else if…"
"Emma." Regina's voice is firm. "There is no one else that I can ever imagine myself living with."
"Yeah?" Emma tries to play it off, but Regina can see the little girl beneath the exterior – the foster child afraid of being sent away yet again.
"Yeah." Regina smiles. "And, it just so happens that we should have no trouble swinging one of these apartments."
"And why is that?"
"Because I made a few phone calls on my way back home tonight. The first was to Daddy's lawyer and he confirmed something that I've been suspicious about for a while now. Mother may have kicked me out and 'disowned' me, but she can't keep my inheritance from Daddy from me. I'm of age now, so the money is mine. She has no hold over it, or over me. The second phone call was to her, informing her of that and of the fact that I never want to see her again."
"Hey," Emma grabs Regina's hands, "while you know that I am all about sticking it to Cora, are you sure about this? She's your mom and I just don't want –"
"She hasn't been here for me, Emma. Not since before Daddy died. She only ever hurts me – or makes me hurt the people I love. I'm done. I want to concentrate on the important things – my real family. Henry and you."
"Me?" Emma murmurs and if she caught Regina's confession, she says nothing about it.
"If you'll still have us after everything that's happened today."
"Of course." Emma says emphatically, tears welling in her eyes now, too. "You guys are my family. The only family I've ever had. And I don't – I can't –"
"You won't lose us." Regina assures, resting her palms on Emma's cheeks. "You won't."
She finds herself leaning forward, her lips inches from Emma's when a shiver runs through Emma and she pulls away with a laugh, reaching for the sweatpants and t-shirt that she had chucked earlier.
Regina frowns just slightly, her arms going around her waist in a move that is sheer self-preservation.
"Hey." Emma says, her head popping through the hole in the t-shirt, her hair falling more out of place. "Don't think for even one second that I don't want that. Because I do. Believe me, I do. You can't imagine how many nights I've – just, believe me okay? But you just left a date – with a douchebag, to be sure – but a date nonetheless, you've cut ties with your mom, and you're still in panic mode about Henry."
"I –" Regina tries to deny but Emma shakes her head.
"You are. Believe me, I know. It took me basically until you got home to stop shaking myself, so no judgment from me. It's been a crazy night, is what I'm saying. And I don't want you to make any decisions right now that you'll regret. So just know that I'm in this for the long haul. Even if this is all the further we ever go, I'll still be here. And if you want to go further…" she winks, "I'm totally there. Just not tonight."
Regina lifts her head with a shy smile and catches sight of the Emma's t-shirt. She reaches out and touches it softly. "I really am sorry that you missed the movies. I know how much you were looking forward to seeing them on the big screen."
"Henry's more important than any movies – even my all time favorite movies – ever could be."
Regina smiles widely then, unable to stop herself as she reaches for the bag she'd dropped when she first arrived home. "Well, it might not be the big screen but…" She pulls out a DVD and a pack of microwave popcorn.
"Seriously?" Emma squeals, grabbing the DVD and moving to put it into the player. "You are the best, Regina."
Regina knows that isn't true. But as she snuggles up with Emma on the couch, Henry still sleeping soundly beside them and The Power of Love playing from the television, she also knows that she's got everything she'll ever need right here in this little apartment.