Ultimatum
A/N: Hey guys! So this is my first multi-chapter fic. I hope I don't manage to mess this up too much. As always, constructive critisism is greatly appreciated and reviews will probably result in me doing happy dances all over the place and faster updates (hopefully). So yeah, I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. That delight lies with ABC Studios.
Chapter 1
Emma's breath caught in her throat as she once again caught sight of the new addition to her ring finger as it glittered in the sunshine that streamed through the large and open windows of the apartment. The sight that she had welcomed with blinding happiness and fierce hopes for the future now just seemed to add an uncomfortable, constricting weight to her once unrestrained finger. She had spent most of her adult life believing that she would probably spend her life the way she had always spent it; alone. The novelty that someone would want to spend the rest of their life with her, especially a man who had left her to rot in prison at the wishes of freaking Pinocchio − who had abandoned her once before − and due to the fear of his father finding him, was not entirely lost on her.
Things with Neal would never be the same as they had been when Emma was 17 and whole-heartedly trusted the thief who could get her out of every tight spot and had undeniably stolen her heart, but Emma could not deny that she had never gotten over her feelings for him. Such things were hard to do, especially after guarding oneself so fiercely from the danger of being hurt again.
If Emma's doubts had been enough to call of the engagement within the first few weeks, the happy look on Henry's face was enough for Emma to shove all those thoughts to the back of her mind. Nothing in the world would ever stop the glowing feeling Emma felt inside of her when she saw the cute, boyish smile of her son. And how could she deny him the hope that they could be a real, happy family? It was what she had always dreamt for him, even from the moment she had found out about his existence.
However, there was also an ever present and nagging dream of the happily ever after that everyone assumed should be achieved by the seemingly deserving Saviour. This idea had ingrained itself into the minds of all the members of the Enchanted Forest and had seeped into Emma's subconscious as well. She felt herself yearning for a happily ever after that everyone seemed to expect for her. Truthfully, as long as Henry was happy, that would be enough for her and if that meant acting upon her feelings for Neal, regardless of what had happened between them and the nagging doubts, then she would be prepared to do it. After all, she had learnt that some things in life seemed to be the work of fate and perhaps, this had always been her fate.
Sighing heavily, Emma turned the ring around on her finger; a subconscious, nervous action that she knew she must have picked up from Mary Margaret. As long as Henry was happy, with his family all stitched together and the split custody that her and Regina had finally been able to settle on, then Emma felt she had no reason or right to doubt that the acceptance of Neal's proposal had been the right decision to make.
"Morning Ma." came Henry's sleepy voice from the corner of the room, starling Emma out of her thoughts. The now 12 year-old boy shuffled into the middle of the new apartment that Emma had gotten in order to provide enough space for the new family she had created. It also didn't hurt that she now didn't have to deal with the knowledge that her parents were being sickeningly sweet and disgustingly happy just beneath where her bedroom was situated.
"Hey kid. Cereal?" Emma asked, moving to get out all the things Henry would need for his breakfast. There was still a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that she would never be able to match up to Regina's years of experience when it came to Henry's morning routine. Regardless of Emma's lack of ability to provide an interesting breakfast, Henry gratefully took the bowl of Froot Loops and began happily munching away.
Emma just smiled as she watched her growing son scarf down the food at a speed that Regina would have certainly apprehended, but she could never bring herself to stop her son. As she stood and watched Henry, she felt the presence of someone behind her and instinctively stiffened as she felt breath tickle the back of her neck. It wasn't until a soft kiss was planted on her shoulder that Emma let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding in.
"G'morning beautiful." Neal whispered, spinning her around and kissing her softly, regardless of the mock look of disgust that Henry wore on his face. "What are you doing today? I thought maybe we could go somewhere and have some alone time?" He said, waggling his eyebrows playfully.
"Neal, you know I have to go into the station today. Plus I have a lunch meeting with Regina and if I dare miss that she will probably kill me." Emma groaned, shrugging out of the hold Neal had around her waist. Henry nodded in silent agreement and shrugged at the puppy dog eyes Neal threw his way.
"She's right Neal. Mom's stressed and if you so much as step outside of her schedule…well it's kind of scary!" Henry shrugged. "It's just really best not to anger her right now."
"And the kid has spoken!" Emma said, trying to hide the smile that was threatening to show on her face. "I'll just see you later tonight after girls' night. And no, before you ask I can't blow it off because Ruby has been planning this for weeks."
Realising defeat, Neal simply sighed. He placed another kiss upon Emma's lips again; revelling in the feeling that he had missed for all of the 10 years he had been forced to live with his guilt of leaving her in prison.
"Fine, fine! But we really do need to spend some quality time together, Emma. Anyone would think you were trying to avoid me." Neal said, with an empty chuckle that suggested that even he had begun to think that way.
"I know…" Emma said with a sigh, running a hand through her previously untouched and unmussed blonde hair. "Things are just busy at the moment. But we'll go our for dinner soon, I promise."
Emma smiled sheepishly at Neal, trying to defuse the sadness she could already see on his face. Slowly but surely, her fiancé smiled in return and the slight tension in the air dissipated and both of the adults fell back into the easy routine of fooling themselves into believing that this whole situation seemed right.
Neal begrudgingly bid her goodbye as she leaned up to kiss him chastely on the lips and then grabbed her red leather jacket, which she had been recently neglecting. Emma looked back at the sheer domesticity of the scene in her kitchen, before heading out of the door with a quick reminder for Neal to ensure that Henry isn't late for school or else he would have Regina, Mary Margaret and Emma to answer to. The normalcy of the scene was something that Emma never thought she could get used to.
To Neal, the skittish and distant behaviour that Emma was showcasing wasn't exactly uncharacteristic for the blonde, but he just hoped that the behaviour would not grow any further than just needing some time to herself or getting a slight case of cold-feet. Neal wanted nothing more than to have his 10-year-old dream of having a proper, stable family with Emma. There was nothing he wouldn't do to make up for the years that they lost at being a family and the fact that their happy ending could fall apart in the blink of an eye sent a nervous twinge through his stomach.
The clock ticked obnoxiously with every passing second that it moved past the half hour and with each passing minute, Regina could feel the vein on her forehead become more prominent as agitation itched throughout her entire body. There was no way in hell that she would allow for Emma to get off lightly for being 10 minutes late to their lunch meeting. There was nothing more important, she had stressed to the irritating blonde, than her promptness and organisation for this discussion over the budget of the Sheriff's office and the undignified grumbling of the mayor's stomach had also factored into the request for the lack of tardiness. As usual, Emma's inability to follow the simplest instructions provided a massive thorn in the Regina's side.
Regina wondered what would happen if she worked on a spell that would manage to permanently attach a watch to Emma's wrist. Or maybe several would finally be sufficient to make sure the woman kept time correctly. Knowing Emma, not even that would be enough. While deep in the midst of trying to figure out how many watches would indeed fit on Emma's wrists, Regina's secretary broke her thoughts by finally announcing the Sheriff's eventual arrival.
Choosing to stand up and glower at the door and her new visitor, the stance oozed intimidation and power that commanded the attention of anyone regardless of the expansive size and grandeur of her office. The sight caused a sheepish expression to cover Emma's face once she had crossed the threshold into the mayoral office and grimace at the rage that was bound to be unleashed upon her. Regina continued to glare at her, even when the blonde waved a white flag in the form of two takeout bags from Granny's towards the former Queen.
"Getting lunch took longer than I expected." Emma muttered with a small grin plastered on her face. She placed both bags on the desk and began retrieving Regina's usual chicken salad and a coffee from one bag and a grilled cheese for herself from the other, trying to avoid meeting the murderous gaze of the woman in front of her.
"I don't care if an ogre had decided to take a stroll down Main Street! You should have been here 10 minutes ago, Miss Swan!" came the low and dangerous reply from the older woman.
"Oh come on Regina, I bought you your favourite. You know how much you love Granny's chicken salad! Plus I had to diffuse an argument between Granny and Hook. I don't know why that pirate thinks he can continually make passes at Ruby without facing any repercussions." Emma sighed, rolling her eyes dramatically. "One day that man is going to have an arrow to the crotch from Granny's crossbow and then he might finally get the message that 'no' really does mean no."
Regina tried to hide the smirk that threatened to tug on her lips at the mention of Hook's misfortune, revelling in the enjoyment of the pirate failing at his conquests and being constantly bested by a surly old woman with a crossbow.
"Very well, just make sure it doesn't happen again." Regina said, trying to maintain the stern look on her face. "Take a seat, Sheriff."
Emma flashed Regina a knowing smile and chuckled at the Mayor's continual insistence on playing the professional figure regardless of the amicable relationship the two women had managed to form over the past year. Regina's behaviour was endearing after awhile, regardless of whether she was berating Emma for her constant tardiness. There was something about the bickering that entertained Emma to an extent that she was never got at home with Neal. She would never tell the older woman this, nor would she dare tell Neal or her parents. All of them would thing she was going insane. Although, perhaps Emma was going insane after all.
Working together was certainly a lot easier now that they weren't at each others throats every five seconds. The lunch meeting went by swiftly, which surprised Emma to no end, as she was sure that budget meetings had been created to act as one of the circles of her own personal hell.
"I have to say sheriff, you have gotten much better at this." Regina said as she shuffled her papers back into place, pleased with the ease at which the meeting had actually gone.
"Was that a compliment, Madame Mayor? I should write this moment down and have it framed." Emma laughed, earning a death glare as she gathered her papers and forced them into her bag. The papers crinkled on their forceful entry into the bag, causing Regina to scrunch up her nose in disgust at the poor treatment of the paperwork that had no doubt taken hours to fill out.
"I wouldn't expect a lot of compliments. I must just be having an off day, princess."
"Whatever you say, your majesty." Emma laughed, standing out of her chair and smiling down at Regina, who seemed to be attempting to hide a smirk behind her stoic mayoral mask. "Hey, are you doing anything tonight?"
"No. Why do you ask, Miss Swan? Are you planning on staging an attack on my home while I am out? Is it to do with that vile filth that was thrown on my house during last Halloween?"
"It was toilet paper soaked in eggs. But no I am not staging an attack. You'd make me clean it off of your house, again. Which is not within my job description Regina, which you are fully aware of."
"Yes, but had you been doing your job correctly by keeping that damned moody dwarf under control, my house would not have been attacked, would it Sheriff?"
"Just let it go! It was months ago and Leroy apologised, Regina." Emma sighed, exasperated by the older woman. She ran her hands through her hair, quickly debating whether she should even pose the question that had been flying around in her brain for the past few days. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to come to The Rabbit Hole with the me and the girls later? Henry said you were feeling stressed, so some relaxation might be fun?"
Regina gaped at the blonde in shock, too taken aback to even reprimand Emma for her poor use of grammar. She tilted her head, contemplating as to whether Emma was just asking in order to make a fool of her later when no one else showed up. She scrutinised the way Emma swiftly shoved her hands in her back pockets and began to scuff her feet on the hard marble floor. The blonde saviour looked more awkward at the amount of time that has lapsed in utter silence, more than anything else; there was no hint of any malice. That didn't, however make the invitation any less strange and out of character, even for their improved relationship.
Emma was silently praying that Regina would just accept the offer already. Instead, Regina was staring her down as if she had revealed a sinister plot to murder her, rather than just a simple invitation for drinks. She knew that if Regina decided that she would not go, the only topic of conversation would be that of the upcoming wedding. Mary Margaret would be gushing over wedding dresses and floral plans, while Ruby usually tried to get juicy details about the plans for the honeymoon and what they were going to see, or not see as Ruby liked to add with a wink. Emma would rather jam her fork in her own eye than have an evening full of wedding talk. Regina could provide just the distraction she needed and also some soothing of the still present feud between her mother and Regina couldn't hurt, surely?
"Fine. I will come. But if Snow so much as begins to show herself for the snivelling idiot she truly is, I am leaving. Do you understand?"
"Of course, Regina. I'll pick you up at 8pm! Make sure you aren't late." Emma said, releasing a sigh of relief as an easy smile spread across her face and she winked at Regina, not even bothering to defend her mother. "I'll see you later then!"
The blonde turned and all but bounded outside of the office, leaving Regina to stare after her, dumbstruck by what had just happened. Slowly leaning back further into her chair, she allowed a small smile to grace her lips as she thought about the smile that had been offered to her first by her enemy's daughter. Emma truly seemed happy that Regina had accepted the invitation and regardless of whether it would probably be one of the most irritating nights Regina would have had to deal with in recent memory, Emma would probably make it a little bit more bearable.
Quickly shaking her head of all thoughts of the sheriff, Regina had to remind herself that she was not supposed to look forward to spending time with Emma Swan. She was not supposed to want to do anything to do with Emma that wasn't necessary in maintaining a healthy situation for Henry or for the sanity of the town. No, Regina was merely going in order to get in a few biting comments towards poor Snow White. That was it. Any other suggestion was completely ridiculous. Although, that did not explain why, despite her best efforts, Regina's smile refused to completely fall from her face.