A buzzing from the nightstand woke Regina the next morning, and she flung a hand to the bedside table to reach her phone. She squinted at the screen – a new text message from Robin Locksley. Her mouth curved into a grin and she swiped the screen to retrieve the text.
I don't want to take up time you should be spending with your family – or run the risk of you growing tired of my charm – but I'll be at Granny's in an hour should you wish to have a cup of coffee.
She checked the time. 7:15, way too early to be awake. She groaned and kicked at the covers, cursing the fact that she had yet to sleep in a single morning of her vacation. She pushed herself into a sitting position against the headboard and tapped the back button on his message. 13 texts from Emma were waiting for her – texts she'd pointedly ignored last night each time her phone buzzed – and now was as good a time as any to read them. The first four were dating tips, followed by a reminder that the drugstore in town closed at 10 in case she needed to stop by for condoms, and the remaining messages were photos of Emma and Mary Margaret making various kissy-faces at the camera. The last photo was of Mary Margaret making a hand gesture that even shocked Regina. Who knew the sweet schoolteacher had it in her? No wonder David always looks so happy, Regina mused as she headed down the hallway to take a shower.
She was waiting for Robin when he came through the door at Granny's, a soy latte in her hand and a cup of coffee resting on the counter next to a small pitcher of cream. He broke into a grin at the sight of her and closed the distance between them with three long strides.
"So, you decided to join me. Should I assume that the fact that you didn't bring your father means that I dropped you off past your curfew last night?" he asked, winding an arm around her waist and leaning in for a brief kiss. She chuckled as his lips met hers.
"I think you're in the clear on that," she said, resting a hand on his chest. He reached up his own to cover hers and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. "Besides, he's not playing golf today, so he wouldn't dare to get out of bed this early. Not even for another dose of your charm."
"Well, I'm sorry if I roused you earlier than you'd like, but I'm quite happy to see your smiling face," he said. He gestured to the cup on the counter. "Though I did have plans to have your coffee ready and waiting for you."
She disentangled her hand from his and eased into one of the stools at the counter, ever mindful of Ruby's watchful gaze. And, truthfully, a little bit thrown by his easy display of affection. "It's my turn, isn't it?"
He shrugged as he sat next to her and reached for the pitcher of cream. "Perhaps," he said, "but perhaps I like treating you."
"Perhaps I like doing the same," she said, and he raised his eyebrows at the challenge in her tone.
"Point taken." He poured a liberal dose of cream into his coffee and raised his mug in salute. "Thank you, Regina. Your generosity has made me a happy man indeed, and I look forward to returning the favor."
Her cheeks grew flushed, and she dropped her head to avoid meeting his gaze. "You never quit, do you?" she asked, trying to hide a smile.
He rested his hand lightly on her leg, drumming his fingertips on her knee. "When you smile like that, why would I?"
Regina rolled her eyes at that. "All right, it's too early in the morning for cheesy lines. You can stop now." He laughed, sipped his coffee, and agreed to lay off the charm. His hand, though, never left her knee.
"I was wondering if you'd like to come out and check out the new space," he asked. "We've almost got it finished, and I thought you might like to see the fruits of your labor."
She'd promised Emma that she'd keep an eye on Henry in the afternoon and asked Robin if he would mind if he tagged along. "Not at all," he said. "It might be good for him to get a look at what we do. Kids his age don't always appreciate what they have or how difficult it is for those that aren't so lucky." She agreed, and made plans to stop by with Henry in the afternoon. "I look forward to seeing you later, then," he said, and leaned in for another kiss. This one was slower, sweeter; he gently drew her bottom lip between his teeth as his hand ran the length of her thigh. When he broke the kiss, she was breathing heavily and her heart was racing.
And Ruby was leaning on the counter in front of them with her chin perched in her hand, doing her very best Cheshire Cat impression. "Don't mind me," she grinned. "Carry on."
Robin pulled out his wallet and pushed a fiver across the counter to Ruby. "I will see you tomorrow morning," he said, and then turned to Regina. "And I will see you this afternoon."
Regina fought the urge to watch him walk out and turned to face Ruby instead, who was still grinning like the village idiot. "Stop it," Regina snapped, "and bring me a fruit and yogurt plate."
"Coming right up," Ruby replied and strolled back to the kitchen, humming a cheesy love song the entire way.
Regina was halfway through a slice of pineapple when she was joined by an unexpected, and most definitely unwelcome, guest. "Zelena," she sighed, dropping her fork to the plate with a clatter.
"Good morning, Regina," Zelena replied brightly. "Sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but I just need to grab a couple of coffees. Daniel is waiting for me." Regina caught the unnecessary stress on Daniel's name and rolled her eyes. Zelena was hardly subtle about marking her territory.
"Well, don't let me keep you," she said tightly, pushing the plate away, her appetite suddenly gone. Zelena waved to Ruby, and the dark look she shot the redhead in return was almost enough to bring Regina's good mood back. Almost, but not quite.
"It's a shame your friend couldn't stay for breakfast," Zelena said, and Regina's stomach tightened. Making small talk with her nemesis was bad enough; the thought of discussing her love life was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Well, you know how it is," she said lightly. "He had to get to work."
"Indeed. I hear he's working for the food bank. I'm surprised, Regina," Zelena said, raising an eyebrow. "I always thought you'd wind up with someone…a bit more powerful, I suppose. Someone who works for a nonprofit must seem awfully lowbrow to your mother."
"Well, fortunately, my mother doesn't have veto power on my love life. But I appreciate your concern," Regina snapped.
Zelena's eyes widened, a practiced innocent look that Regina remembered all too well from grade school. "I didn't mean to offend you, Regina. I'm sure he's lovely. I just hope you're as happy with him as I am with Daniel."
"Yes, well, it gives me something to aspire to, certainly," Regina muttered. She reached into her wallet and threw enough cash on the counter to cover her breakfast and coffee. "Always a pleasure, Zelena," she said and strode out of the diner, the last remnants of her earlier good mood in tatters.
Regina had no idea how long she'd been sitting on a bench in front of City Hall, staring blankly at her phone, when her mother's surprised Regina broke through her reverie. "What are you doing here?" Cora asked.
Regina looked up and met her mother's questioning look. She had forgotten it was only Thursday and that her mother would be coming in to her office at 9:00 on the nose. She should have gone to the park to sit and stew, where she would have been unnoticed by all except the ducks. "Nothing, Mother," she answered. "Just…resting a bit."
"Why don't you come upstairs," Cora suggested, holding out a hand to her daughter. "We can have a nice chat, just the two of us." Regina nodded meekly and took her mother's hand. A cozy chat was the last thing she wanted, but nobody said no to Cora Mills, and Regina was in no mood to face her mother's ire.
"You want to tell me what put that sour look on your face?" Cora asked as Regina settled herself on the sofa in her mother's office. Not really, Regina thought, but she nodded anyway.
"Daniel called last night, and then I bumped into Zelena this morning. That's enough to put me in a foul mood all on its own."
Cora's lips pursed at the sound of Daniel's name. "Your father told me he called," she said. "Are you going to talk to him?"
Regina shrugged. "I don't know, Mother. What's there to say after all this time?"
Cora tapped a pen lightly on her desktop. "Given the look on your face, I'd guess there are a lot of things you have to say," she said, deliberately keeping her tone casual.
A hollow laugh escaped from Regina's throat. Her mother, as usual, had a point. "He wants to clear the air between us."
Cora sniffed. "A little late for that, I'd say. He had the chance to 'clear the air,' as you put it, fourteen years ago, and he chose to run off and hide instead."
Regina opened her mouth to defend Daniel – old habits died hard, after all – but the words died on her lips. Why should she defend Daniel? She wasn't going to change Cora's mind about him, and she was sick of trying. She did wonder, though, how much of Daniel's behavior was on him, and how much was on Cora. She'd never asked her mother for details from those days in the hospital; she'd preferred to stick her head in the sand rather than rile her mother with questions about her behavior. And, truthfully, blaming her mother gave her an excuse to not blame Daniel, but after 14 years, her excuses for him were finally starting to wear thin.
"Can I ask you something, Mother?" she said. "What did you say to him when you called him? When he showed up in the hospital that day?"
Cora put the pen down on her desk and folded her hands. Clearly she'd been expecting this question for fourteen years. "I only spoke to him on the phone. I told him that you were in surgery, that you'd lost the baby I didn't even know you were carrying, and that I expected him to be in Storybrooke first thing in the morning. When he got there, your father spoke to him. I didn't see him at all before he left."
Regina shook her head. "I find it hard to believe, Mother, that you didn't jump at the chance to lay into him. You'd been wanting an excuse to do that for years." She expected her mother to jump down her throat at that, but Cora simply leaned back in her chair and studied her daughter over the frames of her reading glasses.
"Do you really think that this was my doing? That I somehow convinced him to drop you while you were in the hospital recovering from a miscarriage? Regina, I may not have been the best mother in the world, but I'm not a monster."
"You never approved of him," Regina muttered.
"No, I didn't," Cora agreed. "You decided when you were a teenager that you were going to marry him and live happily ever after in Storybrooke because he wanted to be the vet at his father's stables. He made his plans for the future, and you adjusted yours to fit. That's not what I wanted for you, Regina, and more to the point, that's not what would have made you happy." She gestured to the view behind her, the window framing the Storybrooke town square. "Is this really all you wanted out of life? To live here, and work for me, and be the next Blanchard to be mayor when I stepped down?"
Cora's outburst left Regina stunned. Truthfully, no, it wasn't what she had wanted, but she'd grown up knowing that it was what was expected. "What about the Blanchard legacy?" she asked.
Her mother shrugged. "You don't have to give up your entire life to satisfy a long line of dead relatives."
"Why not?" Regina asked bluntly. "You did."
"That was my choice," Cora said. "I wanted to be the mayor, and I wanted to stay in Storybrooke, and I wanted to marry your father and have a family. And my father told me that it would be Leo who carried on the family name. I let him decide for me who I was going to be, and it cost me my relationship with my brother. And yes, I wanted you to stay here and be my legacy, but not at the cost of forcing you to live the life I chose for you when you could have been – when you are – so much more."
Regina's chin dropped. "I'm sorry, Mother," she said quietly. Her mother stood and crossed the room, sitting gingerly on the sofa beside Regina.
"Sorry for what?" she asked as she laid a hand gently on her daughter's shoulder.
"Everything, I suppose. I'm sorry for thinking you did something to chase Daniel away. Sorry for thinking that you were disappointed in me for not being more like you. Sorry for never bothering to ask you about any of this."
Cora pulled her daughter close, and Regina rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "You don't need to apologize, Regina. And the only thing that disappoints me is that you keep finding ways of getting in the way of your own happiness. I'm very proud of you, you know. I'm proud of all three of you."
Regina chuckled softly. "Even Emma?" she asked. "Actually, I meant Henry," her mother answered drily, and Regina broke into a full laugh.
"Yes, even Emma, though I still don't want her driving my car," Cora continued. She kissed Regina's forehead. "Now, what are you going to do? Are you going to talk to Daniel?"
"I suppose I should," Regina sighed. "Otherwise I'll just spend even more time thinking about what-ifs and should-haves."
"If that's what you feel you need to do, then do it. But remember, Regina – the 18-year-old boy you fell in love with is long gone, and so is the 20-year-old girl who lost him. It's time to let them both go." She gave her daughter one last squeeze and stood, brushing imaginary lint off her perfectly pressed trousers. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I actually do need to get back to work. Why don't you head home and make sure Emma hasn't burned the house down?"
The house was still standing when Regina got home, and a quick check of the kitchen showed that Emma hadn't gone near any of the major appliances. Regina liberated an apple from the basket on the counter and trudged up the stairs. She could hear laughter coming from Emma's room, so she stuck her head in the doorway. Emma and Henry, still in their pajamas, were tucked in Emma's bed watching Wreck-it Ralph, and the two of them were cackling in unison at a cupcake-encased Ralph charging the king.
"You've seen this movie a hundred times. Is it really still that funny?" she asked, and both heads snapped from the tv to the doorway.
"Well, well, well," Emma said, her green eyes narrowing. "Look who's finally showing her face this morning."
Regina's own eyes widened in response. "I was at the office with Mother," she said innocently.
"Really? All this time?" Emma asked, and Regina nodded. "Nice try, toots," Emma retorted, kicking off the covers and snatching her phone off the nightstand. She held out her phone, and Regina looked down at the display. Dammit, Ruby, she thought, staring at a photo of Robin leaning in to kiss her at the diner.
"So, my little siren, I have to say I was relieved to see you weren't in yesterday's clothes," Emma said. "But getting up early to meet for coffee the next day," and the emphasis on the word more than made clear that Emma didn't think it was the caffeine Regina was after, "that's not like you."
"Don't be ridiculous, Emma. It was just coffee. No big deal."
Emma cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms, staring at Regina in disbelief. "No big deal? Let me remind you how your love life goes," she said, completely ignoring Regina's muttered oh, please don't. "You go on a date and then forget about the guy for a week. You go on a second date and then forget about the guy for another week, maybe two. You go on a third date and you come home and tell me that you're not going to see him again because he chewed with his mouth open or you don't like the way he pronounces certain words."
Regina snorted. "I most certainly do not do that."
"Jefferson," Emma said with a sharp nod, and Regina rolled her eyes.
"He said nucular instead of nuclear. It was annoying."
"How does Robin say it?" Henry piped up from the bed, and Regina shot a frosty glare at Emma. This conversation certainly didn't need to happen in front of Henry, who had an uncomfortable habit of repeating things at the most inopportune moments. She had a vision of Henry asking Robin to pronounce nuclear at the food bank later in the afternoon and groaned.
"I'm going to go do some work," she said. "You two, please stay here." Henry dutifully turned back to the movie, but Emma followed her down the hall, still wanting to know the dirty details.
"Regina, wait. Seriously, tell me. How did it go?"
"It was fine, Emma. It was good. And I don't really want to dissect it, ok?" Emma pulled back at the dismissiveness in Regina's tone and shifted her weight uncomfortably.
"You're still mad at me," she said.
Regina closed her eyes. "I'm not mad," she said softly. "But I just want to…let this be. Can we do that please? Just let it be what it is?" She opened her eyes to see Emma nodding vigorously.
"I'm dropping it. But Regina, you know I ask because I want you to be happy, right?"
"I know," Regina sighed. "And I appreciate it. Now go back to the movie." Her phone buzzed in her hand – a new text message from Mary Margaret. Oh, Christ. She clicked on the text. The same picture from Ruby, followed by the message Explanation, please. She glared up at Emma.
"Yeah. Mary Margaret might want to ask you some questions too," Emma said with a sly smile. Regina threw the apple in her hand at Emma as she ducked back into her bedroom.
Regina typed in a reply. I'll be happy to explain. Your best friend is an asshole. She clicked send on the message, shut off the display on the phone, and set off for her father's stash of cookies in the pantry.
