Thanks again to SS-Swanqueen for the beta work and putting up with my random messages at all times of the day about lakes, Kings and magic portals!
Chapter 8
"Jesus, Regina, you are such a snob," Emma exclaimed as the brunette turned her nose up at the third motel the blonde had suggested; for a fairy-tale character with little experience outside of Storybrooke, the Mayor had a quite the opinion on budget hotels.
The women had agreed over their impromptu lunch yesterday, to meet the next day at Granny's – for a second lunch - to discuss a plan of action for their pending trip.
It was pointless, really; Emma knew that the Mayor already had their journey plans tied down, and considering their reason for travel, the blonde completely understood the brunettes desire to control their movements down to very minute detail.
What the sheriff didn't fully understand was the 'song and dance' routine; why Regina was so insistent that the blonde be involved in the decision making process, when ultimately the Mayor would have the final say anyway?
"I am not a snob," the brunette retorted, aghast at the accusation. "It's just," she jabbed an accusatory finger at the printouts the sheriff had provided, that were spread across the table. "Did you actually look at these hotels? Or did you just print off the first ones with vacancies that you found?"
At first, Emma had thought that Regina allowing her to pick hotels might have been her way of being nice, of thanking her for offering to go with her to the clinic – but the brunettes usual standoffish nature soon put that theory to bed. If anything, their back and forth had increased over the past couple of days, and now the sheriff had her suspicions that this was all Regina's way of trying to maintain a level of normalcy between them.
Who am I to deny her that?
"You asked me to look for motels, Regina, not Sandals Resorts." Emma grabbed the printout detailing information for a Motel 6 and held it up in front of the Mayor. "Trust me when I tell you, that you won't find a Four Seasons in Rumford, Maine."
"If you must know," Regina responded haughtily. "I have found us a suitable hotel with a twin room," she slid her cell phone under the blondes nose. "It's only about a 30 minute drive from the clinic, in a neighbouring town."
The Sheriff scowled at the brunette and snatched the phone from the table; it wasn't a Four Seasons, but it appeared Regina had found a hotel on a local golf course more suiting to her queenly standards.
The blondes eyebrows caved to a frown as she eyed the Mayor curiously over the cell phone. "Twin room?"
"Well," Regina scoffed. "When faced with the option of sharing a room with you, or catching impetigo from," she nudged the paperwork on the table, "Happy Moe's Wonder Lodge-"
"Travel lodge,"
"Whatever," the mayor waved her hand dismissively and rested back in the booth. "I chose you."
"Gee thanks," Emma muttered, hunkering down in the booth as she scrolled through the hotel details. "It has a spa?" She asked, trying but failing to keep the interest out of her tone.
"Of course, dear."
Emma's frown deepened as she tried to maintain the façade that sleeping in a motel 6 was preferable to Regina's choice with its heated pool, sauna and hot-tub...
"So?" Regina asked, her eyebrows raised; a smug smile already beginning to tug at her lips.
The jig is up.
"Fine," Emma rolled her eyes and slid the phone back across the table to the Mayor. "But you're paying."
xXx
Regina drew the zip on her Louis Vuitton travel bag closed; the day of the trip seemed to have come around much quicker than expected for the Mayor...as events that she was dreading usually did.
Her stomach churned as she entered her walk-in closet, and the brunette paused for a beat, wondering if she would need to make a dart for the bathroom. Regina breathed slowly through her nose and rubbed her abdomen, until slowly the nausea subsided; the mayor couldn't recall her pregnancy sickness ever being this bad. She was exhausted; her reserves were still incredibly low and any attempt to use magic seemed to result in a fresh wave of nausea that further depleted the little energy she had.
Pulling a black woollen coat from the rack and slipping it over her shoulders, the former queen glimpsed her appearance in the closet mirror. Although she had certainly looked worse that week, there was still a pallor to her skin that no amount of make-up could hide; her lack of sleep was taking it's toll.
It was easier during the day for the mayor to distract herself from her thoughts; meetings were pulled forward at work, lunches were shared with the sheriff (under the guise of planning their trip), and even though it was Emma's week the have their son, Henry had opted to stay with Regina.
It was the nights however, that were the worst; countless hours spent tossing and turning until finally she'd fall into a fitful sleep – her dreams plagued with images of screaming infants and bloodied sheets.
Regina smoothed her hands over her hair and straightened her back.
Tomorrow all of this will be behind me.
For some reason though, this time around, that truth provided her with little comfort.
As much as she tried to deny it, to put it to the back of her mind, this pregnancy was different. This baby wasn't the result of a sordid tryst with a conquest or an empty screw with the Woodsman – this time Regina was carrying the child of somebody she'd loved.
Somebody I've lost.
This time the queen couldn't bottle her up emotions, she couldn't simply shut down all of that pain – because now, she was different too. Regina had love in her life; she had a family, she had friends...she had people around her that made her feel things...
Emma.
The brunette's eyes started to glisten with moisture and she sniffed sharply, looking to the ceiling – blinking back the tears.
Tomorrow all of this will be behind me.
Inhaling deeply, Regina repeated this mantra internally, until eventually it stuck.
Minutes later and with her emotions in check, she strode back into the bedroom.
xXx
The mayor stood on the landing outside of Henry's room and rapped softly on the door.
"Henry?" Her son had been oddly quiet since her revelation; he had seemed preoccupied, more distant than usual. Unfortunately, no amount of coercing on Regina's part had resulted in him relinquishing anything.
If she were honest, despite how proud the brunette was of Henry and how supportive he'd been about her pending abortion - Regina had prepared herself for a little more resistance. She'd had her suspicions that her son might try to find a solution for her pregnancy, that their time together over the past few days would have been filled with him barraging her with questions about what antidotes she'd tried, what magic she'd already used...
The door to Henry's bedroom opened suddenly, shocking the brunette who had drifted deep into thought.
"Henry," she placed a hand over her chest, where her heart pounded from the jolt. "You startled me,"
"Why?" Henry said; the sardonic expression that coated his teenage features had the mayor wondering, not for the first time, whereon earth her happy little boy had gone. "You knocked on my door."
"Well, yes," Regina shook her head softly, but upon noticing what Henry was carrying, she decided to change the subject. "You're taking the story book to your grandparents?" She asked with a frown, adjusting the bag she carried in her hand.
"Looks like it," Henry shrugged as he hugged the bag closer to his chest and moved past his mother to descend the stairs; Regina followed closely behind.
"I've not seen you looking at that book for a while," she voiced cautiously as they reached the foyer. "Not since we got back from the underworld. Are you researching anything in particular?"
"There's just something in it that I want to ask Grandpa about," he explained casually, grabbing a pair of shoes from the rack near the front door and sinking to sit on the stairs. "That's all."
Regina's frown deepened, momentarily signifying that she wasn't in the least bit convinced there wasn't something more going on. She quickly schooled her features however; she knew Henry, and making accusations was not the best way forward.
"Henry," The brunette dropped her bag to the floor and crouched down next to her son. "You know that if there is something bothering you, that you can talk to me about it, don't you?"
"I know, mom." he said, concentrating on pulling on his sneakers with the laces already tied.
The mayor eyed her son suspiciously; it wasn't that she wanted him to question her on the abortion issue, per say – more that it troubled her the expected push-back hadn't come at all.
Henry wanted to save everybody; his silence on the matter was entirely unlike him.
Regina wanted for them to deal with any fallout now, for everything to be out in the open - but for whatever reason, anything Henry was feeling, he was keeping firmly under lock and key.
"Henry," she started, but the door bell sounding interrupted her mid flow; with one last look at her son, Regina sighed and got to her feet.
"Hey," Emma stood on the porch in her trademark red leather jacket and skin tight jeans; an old duffle bag swung over her right shoulder. "You almost ready?"
"Good morning, Emma," the mayor smiled thinly; annoyed that the saviour had chosen today in particular to be uncharacteristically punctual.
"You're dressed like we're going on a business trip," Emma surmised, taking in the brunettes appearance. "Do you ever dress casual?"
"Casually," Regina corrected irritably, stepping aside to let the blonde enter. "And do you ever not?"
"Touché," the saviour muttered as she stepped into the foyer, swinging her bag off of her shoulder and dropping it by her feet. "Hey, kid."
"Hey," Henry smiled weakly as he got to his feet.
"Everything okay?" Emma asked, glancing between the two of them, as if she could sense the tension that hung there.
"Everything's fine," Henry answered swiftly, before turning to Regina. "Can you guys drop me off on the way? I want to take my Xbox with me but it's too much to carry."
"Of course," Regina responded.
"Thanks," he turned to head back into the house. "I'll just go get it."
"Alright," Regina said, closing the door behind the saviour. "But do hurry up, Henry; we're leaving in 5 minutes."
"Everything's fine, huh?" Emma questioned the mayor, once their son was out of earshot.
"Is it that obvious?" The brunette asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Super power," the blonde offered in explanation. "What's up?"
"I'm sure that something's bothering him, but he won't talk to me." Regina looked up the stairs as she heard Henry's bedroom door click shut. "He's been suspiciously quiet and now he's taking that damn story book to the charming's," she frowned and looked to Emma. "He hasn't said anything to you?"
"No," the blonde answered quickly, shifting her stance before continuing. "I mean, he's said that he's sad for you and that he wishes that there was something he could do, but that's it," the saviour glanced up the stairs. "You want me to go talk to him?"
"No," Regina sighed and moved around Emma, taking a pair of black knee-high boots off of the shoe rack. "It's fine; I'm probably just imagining it."
"It's a lot for him to handle," the blonde turned and took a step closer to the mayor. "He's probably just processing, you know?"
"You're probably right," the brunette leant against the wall with her arm for support, as she zipped up one black boot and stepped into the other. "I just don't want this to affect him anymore than it already has," she bent to secure the second zip, before raising to stand. "He's already been through so much because of me-"
Henry bounding down the stairs interrupted their conversation. "I'm ready," he flung his backpack over his shoulder and looked to them both expectantly. "Let's go."
"He's a resilient kid, Regina," Emma said sincerely, as they followed their son out of the house to join him by the Mercedes parked on the drive. "I can have my parents talk to him while we're gone. He might open up to them?"
"Your mother has all the subtlety of a sledge hammer," the mayor huffed as she closed the door to the mansion behind them – but at Emma's serious expression so conceded. What could it hurt? "Very well - but have your father do it, he's at least a little more discerning."
xXx
Regina didn't really talk much whilst she was driving, and she apparently drove like she did everything in life – meticulously; to Emma, it was like watching driving 101.
'Keep both hands on the wheel at all times, positioned at 2 and 10'.
The blonde smirked and the brunette appeared to catch it out of the corner of her eye.
"Something funny?"
"Um, no." Emma flushed and shifted in her seat, facing forwards, feeling like a scalded child.
It was several minutes before the saviour braved another glance in the mayor's direction - her gaze shifting over to where the brunette's hands gripped the steering wheel; her fingers were clenching the leather so tightly that the tips of her knuckles were white.
Regina was wound like a coiled spring. She'd hardly said a word to Emma since they crossed the town line; it was like a switch had been flicked. Any attempt the sheriff made to lighten the mood with conversation was met with a one word answer or a wall of silence; she'd even vetoed the radio.
The mayor cleared her throat and the blonde realised that she was staring again and immediately averted her eyes. Sighing heavily, she looked out of the window at passing trees; because that's pretty much all there was between them and their destination - trees.
Two more hours of this?
She shifted in her seat and felt the tug of her bladder, instantly regretting the hot chocolate she'd grabbed from Granny's before they left Storybrooke.
Emma sighed again and started bouncing her leg on the ball of her foot, hoping the movement would distract her from the building ache in her lower abdomen (and the sheer boredom of the road trip.)
"Must you fidget quite so much?" Regina broke the silence, her gaze still trained on the road ahead.
Unreal.
"I'm sorry, it's just," Emma angled her body towards brunette. "Are we going to stop for a break soon? I could really do with using the bathroom-"
"Already?" The brunette asked, dismayed and this time she did turn her head in the blonde's direction – the glance was fleeting but filled with enough annoyance to hit her point home. "Why didn't you go before we left? It's only been an hour-"
"I know but," Emma squirmed in her seat. "I didn't need to go then."
"Honestly, " Regina scoffed. "It's like travelling with a child."
Emma didn't respond; she really had no argument.
"There's a rest stop in a few miles up the road, according to a sign we just passed," the mayor continued her tirade. "Can you wait that long, or would you like me to pull over at the side of the road, so that you can go in the bushes like a wild animal?"
"God, Regina, what the hell is your problem?" Emma exclaimed, before crossing her arms over her chest and adding. "I can wait."
The mayor's jaw set and they drove the rest of the way in silence, the scowl between both of their eyebrows fixed in place. Regina pulled her Mercedes into a space at the rest stop with a little more swing than necessary, turned off the engine and sat staring straight ahead; silently seething.
Emma looked at her for a few beats, before rolling her eyes and exiting the vehicle. The blonde paused and remembering why they were on the road in the first place, she felt a pang of guilt and ducked to lean back through the open door. "Did you need anything?"
"No, thank you." Regina answered tightly, her gaze still focussed forward.
"Fine," Emma bit, as she slammed the door, and stalked towards the bathrooms.
xXx
Fifteen minutes later, once Emma had taken care of business and calmed herself down, she returned to the car. Opening the door, she paused - one leg in the vehicle and one leg out; she dipped her head to look over at Regina incredulously.
"We've already had a conversation about you apologising with food," she said flatly, referring to the share-bag of peanut M&M's on her seat. She grabbed the confectionary and placed it the centre console, as she sat down.
"They're for us to share," Regina said, taking hold of the bag and opening it. "I got hungry waiting for you to come out of the bathroom." She poured a few colourful treats out into the palm of her hand, before offering the bag to Emma.
"Well, I needed to cool down," the saviour said in explanation, accepting the bag before filling her palm, then her mouth with the candy.
Regina nodded, daintily picking out a red M&M and popping it in her mouth.
Emma stuffed another large handful of candy in her mouth, before placing the bag between them and reaching for her seatbelt; it was only then that she realised that the brunette wasn't doing the same.
"Are we going, or-?" The sheriff looked at Regina, her eyebrows raised, but the mayor simply stared downwards and she thumbed the edges of the candy that she held in her hand.
"Regina?" Emma pressed.
"I'm sorry, Emma," the brunette finally said in a breath, closing her fist around the M&M's. "I'm just," she sighed and looked skywards for a beat, before bringing her gaze down to meet the blondes. "I'm just so exhausted; I've not really slept at all since...well...you know."
"That's...understandable," Emma twisted in her seat to face Regina; noticing for the first time that day, the rather obvious dark circles under the brunette's eyes.
How on earth did I miss them earlier?
"I mean, I was tired before we left Storybrooke," Regina shrugged softly. "But now," she sighed heavily. "All I can think is that without realising, I must have been using magic to keep my energy levels up...as soon as we crossed that line..."
"You lost your energy," Emma surmised, now better understanding the source of the mayor's mood. "Okay," she frowned. "Do you want me to drive?"
"I think," Regina sighed again, clearly frustrated and shook her head in defeat. "I think that would be best,"
"You're gonna let me drive the Merc?" A sideways smile crept across the sheriff's face; she couldn't stop it. "Really?"
The mayor caught Emma's jovial expression and the saviour killed it instantly - but instead of being characteristically hostile, the brunette simply raised an eyebrow, before popping the remaining M&M's into her mouth and opening the car door.
"Don't push it, Miss Swan."
xXx
David sat on a stool in his kitchen, sipping a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
"Ahh," he sighed and relaxed further into the counter.
Yeah, Snow had bought the good stuff this time.
A frustrated groan sounding behind him, interrupted his 'hot beverage moment' and he glanced over his shoulder to the couch in the corner of the room.
Henry slammed the storybook closed on the coffee table and threw himself back on the couch, his arms crossed over his chest in a huff.
David looked away, chewing the inside of his mouth in contemplation.
Before she'd left for her road trip, Emma had asked her father to speak to his grandson. She'd alluded to the fact that something was bothering Henry, and that she herself might have had a hand in upsetting him – but she wasn't particularity specific.
His daughter had also implicitly stated that any interrogating was to be done without Snow being present; a request David knew must have come from Regina.
The prince had waited for an in, and with Snow settling Neil down for a nap, this opportunity was as good as any.
David swiped his coffee mug from the counter and spun on the stool, to face his grandson. "You alright there, slogger?"
"I'm fine," Henry answered sternly, before throwing his head back onto he couch dramatically. "It's just pointless."
"What's pointless?"
"The book," the teenager raised his head and toed the offensive item on the coffee table with a socked foot. "It's got nothing in there to help Mom."
David frowned, contemplating his response, before getting off of the stool and crossing the room – coming to a stop on the opposite side of the table to Henry.
"You mean Regina." He lowered himself to sit on the corner of the table. "And her baby."
"What else?" Henry looked up at his grandpa, with a sad expression on his face.
"You know, Henry, that book just provides a snapshot of our lives," he takes another sip of coffee. "Some things are just too complex; I'm sure your mom has good reason to-"
"I'm not stupid," Henry sat up, his elbows resting on his knees. "I'm not looking for an answer," he slumped back against the couch again. "I just need to clue..."
"A clue to what?" David placed his cup on the table next to him. "Henry, Regina has made her decision."
"But she doesn't want to do it," the teenager exclaimed.
"What do you mean?"
"She has to do it," Henry said with a shrug, as if he were stating the obvious. "Because of the potion she took," he explained.
"The other night?" David asked, his eyes narrowed. "The one she took before she went to hospital?"
"No, the other one," Henry shook his head. "The one she took so she wouldn't have an heir..."
David's frown deepened and as Henry's eyebrows retreated to his hairline in realisation.
"You didn't know about that bit, did you?"
Before David could answer, Snow drifted back into the room.
"What?" Snow asked, looking between her husband and grandson as they stared at her wide-eyed. "Have I got throw-up on me or..." she looked down and checked her sweater.
"Honey," David glanced at his grandson, before bringing his gaze back to his wife. "Remember that potion King George made you drink..."
xXx
They continued their travels onward, this time in a more comfortable silence.
After some cajoling, Regina had even let Emma put on the radio and now the blonde hummed along happily, as they cruised towards their destination.
The sheriff would never admit it out loud, but next to the bug, driving the Mercedes was a dream.
She looked over at Regina; the brunette was leaning into the passenger door, her head resting against the window as she stared through the glass. Sunlight from between the trees that they passed, flashed patterns across her olive skin - the light accentuating the reddish tones in her dark hair.
She had an almost ethereal quality.
Which, considering what must be going through her head right now... Emma frowned. Why is life so damn cruel?
The sheriff knew that Regina saw what was happening to her as comeuppance for her evil ways - as some kind of divine retribution – but regardless of what had transpired in the past, Emma had a hard time believing that.
She too had felt darkness creeping through her veins, she understood it's seductiveness; the temptation of wielding all of that power was so incredibly strong - but where the saviour had been surrounded by family in her darkest hours, Regina had been victim to that pull alone. Yes, she'd let it swallow her whole - but if Emma had been in that situation, who's to say that she wouldn't have done exactly the same?
Who's to say that anybody wouldn't have?
Emma sighed and returned her eyes to the road; a song she liked sounded on the radio and she reached for the dial to turn it up a notch, welcoming the distraction from her thoughts.
I took my love, took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills
'Til the landslide brought me down
She spared another fleeting glance at Regina, whose focus was still trained on the passing scenery; Emma wondered absently, if she might be enjoying the music too.
Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
The whole situation was surreal really; here she was on a road trip trough Maine, accompanying the Evil Queen to an abortion clinic – wondering what music she listened to.
Fuck my life.
"Who sings this song?" Regina asked softly, pulling the saviour from her thoughts.
Emma glanced at the brunette and blinked, wondering if she'd accidently voiced her thoughts - but the mayors gaze was still fixed on her view through the window and she seemed oblivious to the blondes inner musings.
"Stevie Nicks," Emma answered eventually, as she checked her mirror before manoeuvring the car to overtake a vehicle in front. "It's Fleetwood Mac," she looked over at Regina again, her keen interest in the answer to the next question, obvious on her features. "Do you like it?"
Regina hummed contemplatively and rubbed her lips together, before sinking further into her seat and closing her eyes - seemingly giving the saviours question some thought.
Emma hung on eagerly for an answer, her gaze flitting backwards and forwards between the brunette and the road.
Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too
"Yes," Regina answered finally. "I like it very much."
Emma smiled as she focussed back on her driving; oddly pleased with herself for discovering something else new about her travel companion.
The Evil Queen likes music.
Her smile broadened.
And she has taste.
I take my love, take it down
I climb a mountain and turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Will the landslide bring you down?
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Will the landslide bring you down, oh, oh?
The landslide bring you down
"I have the album," Emma said, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, feeling suddenly quite awkward. "If you want, I can do you a copy?"
That's what friends do, right? Share albums?
"Regina?" When the mayor didn't answer, Emma glanced in her direction and realised that the brunette had finally succumbed to sleep.
The saviour reached for the knob on the radio, turned the music down low, and cautioned one last look at her sleeping travel companion; a melancholy smile touching her lips.
The brunette looked so peaceful; her head was lolled to one side, resting on her hand against the window – her expression devoid of any tenseness at all.
It was only when she noticed Regina's hand splayed protectively over her abdomen, that Emma's smile faded.
TBC
Thanks for reading!
In order to get the full impact of the car scene and music playing, I thoroughly recommend listening to Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. It's a beautiful song and when I was listening to it stuck in my car on the M25 the other day, it made me think about Regina's inner struggle with the EQ. I knew then, that I had to write it into the story somehow.
I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter...Emma and Regina having to share a hotel room?! Clichés – fanfiction clichés everywhere!
As always, I'm very interested to hear your thoughts/feelings/predictions!
