Chapter Ten-Skinny Love-Chapter
And I told you to be fine,
Emma looked down at her cell phone waiting for Regina's name to flash across the screen. She knew that no matter how hard she glared at the device, it wouldn't ring. It hadn't rung at all in fact, Regina had made no attempt to call her but Emma knew that a phone worked two ways. She had just gotten off the phone with Henry and she was absolutely appalled by the way he spoke of Roland. Sure she didn't care much for the kid but she didn't go out of her way to hurt his feelings. She just didn't see where her and Avery fit into Regina's notion of a family with him there. With Roland there will always be Robin close by and she wasn't going to allow her child within five hundred feet of the forest dweller.
"No matter how hard you look at it, it's not going to change." The redheaded woman pointed out, handing Emma a mug of tea.
"I know...I know" Emma took the mug graciously as the woman sat across from her. She had been surprised to see her here in Boston, alive!
"My sister is quite stubborn when she needs to be, and a bit dull. She probably feels that she is respecting you wishes by not calling you. Giving you space." Zelena shrugged.
"She's gonna be pissed when she finds out you're here in Boston. Considering she thinks your dead." Emma informed her, setting the peppermint tea on the coaster that laid on the coffee table.
"Probably. Once I left Storybrooke after my curse didn't work I decided to go out and explore this world. Here I don't have to live by the standards that were given to me. There is no good or evil or set in stone. I met up with Walsh and then Brooke came along and I realized I had to let go of my past to enjoy my future." They both looked towards the one year old little girl playing with wooden building blocks.
"She's beautiful." Emma smiled down at her children cousin. The little girl was chunky with little rolls on her arms and legs, she had a head full of curly red hair and the brightest green eyes that Emma had ever seen.
"That she is. I do hope when you have your little girl, they can grow up with one another." Zelena smiled wistfully at Emma.
"I want her to have all the family she can get. You, Me...Regina...we all grew up alone and we all were damaged by it." Emma nodded.
"Yes but as long as we shower our own children with love and accept them and their decisions, they will be fine."Zelena patted Emma's hand.
"I'm glad you got your happy ending, you and Walsh, you both deserve to be happy." Emma rubbed soothing circles on her stomach. She still hadn't felt her little girl move or kick and she was already well into her fifth month of pregnancy. She had gone into the doctors several times to make sure nothing was wrong with Avery, and she was assured her child was just lazing about.
"You deserve a happy ending most of all Emma. Since before you were born, everyone put this huge weight on your shoulder that you would bring back the happy endings. But where are you now that you've done that? You don't seem very happy to me." Zelena noted, watching the blonde's face crumple slightly.
"Because I'm not...Don't get me wrong I love my kids and I'm happy that I'm getting the chance to raise this one but I never thought I would be alone again. I would rather go through what I did with Neal ten times over before going through this again. She really hurt me. Not the Savior of some curse or the Sheriff of some quacked off town but the little girl who had just got sent back because something else came along, or the teenager who was just left pregnant by her boyfriend because she wasn't enough and somebody told them to do this or that. She hurt me and I don't think she knows or cares how much. She thinks a sorry is going to make everything better and that a couple of therapy sessions are going to change how we interact." Emma shook her head sadly as she rubbed her stomach, trying to sooth herself.
"From what I'm hearing, it sounds like you two need to work on yourselves before you even think about each other. You need to work through the hurt that you received from other people before work on what happened between you and Regina. She needs to work on building herself from everything our mother did to her. I'm not trying to make excuses for her but living with Cora can damage a person beyond being fixable." Zelena said looking sympathetically at the pregnant blonde.
"So what are you suggesting, I go track down every foster parent and let them know how much they screwed me up?" Emma asked sarcastically.
"No, just the ones who hurt you the most. Let them know, even if they aren't alive that what they did to you had a lasting effect. I think you should start with the Swans. They were your first set of parents after the Charming's." Zelena replied.
"I wouldn't even know how to find them." Emma grumbled, turning the idea over in her head.
"We both know that is a lie. You spent nearly ten years finding people, you can do it now to. It's all up to you and whether or not you want to move on from all of this." Zelena peered at the younger woman before sighing.
"You want Avery to know she is loved right? That she has two parents who are going to be there for each other no matter what? I seen what you and Regina arguing did to Henry and I know you don't want to repeat the cycle again." The red head pushed herself up from the couch and gathered up her daughter.
"I'll be back tomorrow for tea and we can talk some more then about kids and what not." Zelena grinned as Emma walked them out.
"I'll see you tomorrow, bye Story-Brooke." Emma cooed at Brooke ignoring Zelena's glare. When they left she noticed immediately how quiet and alone she felt in her town-home. It had the latest modifications and was spacious but it didn't feel like home. She found herself missing Henry and his obnoxious gaming habits or Ruby and the way she would pop bye with no notice.
Deciding she was going to take a walk downtown, she slipped on a pair of Sperry's and and locked the door behind her. Boston had been good to her, she was able to think without feeling surrounded or pressured. When she had first seen Zelena, she had panicked until she seen how the red head interacted with her child. She had found out Zelena had faked her own death to escape until she had a chance meeting with Walsh and the rest was history. That was a little over a week ago and ever since then Zelena had been coming over to check up on her in what she called "Tea Time". Emma was just glad to see a familiar face and she was happen about getting to know little Brooke and the reformed Zelena.
She was deep in thought when she practically walked into another woman carrying a coffee, feeling guilty as the brown colored liquid stained the woman's shirt.
"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!" Emma looked around frantically for something to blot the woman with.
"It's not a problem. We ran into each other." The woman chuckled as Emma finally looked at her. It felt like the air had been sucked out of her lungs as she stared at the familiar face. Sure nearly sixteen years had past but she would remember this woman anywhere.
"Lily?" Emma gasped.
Regina was sitting inside of Granny's watching Roland lick marmalade from out of the small bowl that Ruby had sat on the table to accompany the biscuits. The younger boy ate with gusto everything from his plate and some of the eggs and bacon off of hers and she couldn't help the fond smile that passed across her face.
"Can I have that?" Roland had already stuck his fork into Henry's pancake and was about to stick them into his mouth when the pre-teen snatched the fork and threw it across the diner. Everything seemed to go still for a moment as Regina watched on in shock.
"Mama he threw it!" Roland's pointed to the fork that was lying on the ground.
"She isn't your mother!" Henry hissed at the little boy, who didn't seem to care that Henry was practically throwing a temper tantrum.
"Henry Daniel Mills! You will go retrieve that fork and apologize to Roland this instant!" Regina spoke to her son firmly.
"So let me guess, you aren't going to say anything to him about sticking his fork in my food are you? No I bet you aren't!" Henry replied audaciously but still clambered out of the booth to go grab the fork.
"Roland that was extremely rude of you to take Henry's food like that. If you want something ask me and I shall get it for you." Regina gently chided the boy who looked down at his hands.
"When is my Papa coming back?" The six year old asked.
"I don't know honey." Regina answered honestly, wanting Henry slide back into his seat reluctantly.
"Listen here young man, I have had about enough of your behavior to last through your teens. Since you can't seem to understand common decency or manners I think we are going to have to go down a different route. No more television, games, comics, sports, stables or your grandparents until you can straighten yourself out. As a matter of fact, I am taking your phone as soon as we return home." Regina told Henry who looked crestfallen.
"Y-You can't do that!" the boy protested
"I can and I am! You are expected to respect me as your mother and Roland as our guest. If you can't do that then you don't deserve the extra privileges you have been given so freely." Regina tutted, watching the twelve year old shove his mouth with pancakes to avoid speaking with her. She shrugged thinking, at least he was eating.
"None of this would have ever happened if you hadn't cheated on Mom. He wouldn't be here and Mom wouldn't have left." Henry spat, jabbing his fork in Roland's direction narrowly missing the boy.
"Henry!" Regina snatched the fork from the older boy before she started in on him.
"We have let this go on far enough and frankly I am sick of it! You are a child and you should stay in a child's place! I understand you were affected by the falling out of me and your mother but that is adult business! You are only twelve young man and it is high time you start acting your age. Yes I made a mistake and hurt your mother badly but she made her choice to leave not me! I have been here for you trying to make everything right for you!" Regina was thankful that they were the nearly the only customers in the diner.
"I'm aloud to have an opinion!" Henry retorted.
"Yes you are but you are not aloud to disrespect me! You are not aloud to do things like this to an innocent child!"Regina quickly tried to shoot him down.
"Why is he even here? You're ruining everything! You should have just left him with the merry men. Why did you have to be the one to take him?" Henry asked, his face turning a bright red.
"I- uh...Robin asked for me specially to watch his child. How could I have just left him there?" Regina asked back, the question had completely thrown her off guard. Yes she could have just left him with the merry men or she could have let someone else step up to take care of the boy. Yet she couldn't imagine just leaving Roland alone, in the time she spent with Robin she had grown to care deeply for the child.
"Easy, you could have just said hey I'm not doing it. I need to work on getting my family back. You didn't try to get Emma to stay because your too far up their asses to give a damn!" Henry glared at his mother.
"That is it! Get up we are leaving, now!" Regina threw down two twenty dollar bills before grabbing Roland's hand and Henry's wrist before marching them out the door.
"I'm not a baby! I don't need you to hold my hand!" Henry snatched himself away from her before storming towards the car.
"Well your acting like one!" Regina shot back, holding the door open for Roland and watching the boy strap himself in. The drive to Miflin street was silent and tense, and once they were in the house Regina took Henry phone, TV, game system and comic from his room before telling the boy not to come out until lunch was ready. Regina had sent Roland to his room as she headed to her study to think. Why had she taken the young boy into her care when she knew it would undo any process she had made with Emma? Since when was she so content with putting the blonde on the back burner for everything and everyone else? It was all hitting her slowly, everything that had happened to her was her own undoing. She was the one who decided to turn to dark magic when things got a little tough for her. It was her own fault she didn't go into the tavern forty something years ago. Tears slowly began sliding down her cheeks, no doubt ruining her mascara and her makeup. Picking up her cell phone, she dialed the one person she wanted to apologize to. It rang, and rang, and rang until it picked up the blonde's voice mail.
"Hey its Emma...but you probably already knew that since you called me. I'm obviously doing something way cooler, like saving the world or something so leave your name and number and I'll have my people call you people!" The carefree voice caught her off guard, she hadn't heard the blonde sound so happy in so long that she nearly forgot what a carefree Emma sounded like.
"Emma...I don't know where to start other than I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for hurting you, for making you doubt yourself and me. I'm sorry that I practically pushed you out and you felt the only thing you could do was leave. Nothing I can say will ever make up for how much I hurt you, but you've always been the type of woman that thinks action speak louder then words. So I'm going to let my actions do the talking for me. I'm going to spend everyday for the rest of my life trying to make you smile, to give you the happy ending you deserve. I know it may be to late but I love you Emmalyn Marie Swan." Regina sniffed before hanging up the phone
"Did you mean that? What you said to her?" Henry's voice came from the bottom of the stairs and Regina hurried to dry her face.
"What are you doing out of your room young man?" Regina tried to be firm but her makeup was doubt smudged.
"I came down here to apologize to you. I've been a real live jerk to you and a bad son." Henry said scuffing the bottom of his shoe.
"Henry you can never be a bad son. A handful? No doubt but I know when I signed up to be your mother that you would be a stubborn one. It only took you three months to stop crying." Regina offered her son a small but genuine smile.
"Still I haven't been a very good person. I was rude to Roland because I was angry at Robin." Henry admitted, his face screwed up in a grimace.
"I think that if this is bothering you so much, you should go apologize to Roland." Regina said gently, watching her son nod before he slowly climb the stairs to apologize to the young boy.
"Emma Swan...you look good." Lily's eyes trailed up and down her physique, lingering a moment on her pregnant belly.
"Please I've swollen up like Violet off of Willa Wonka." Emma rolled her eyes.
"You know I've always found you beautiful. Pregnancy looks nice on you, you have this glow." Lily grinned watching the blonde blush slightly. Her eyes narrowed in on Emma's left finger and she felt elated for a moment when she saw no ring. Quickly she dismissed the thought when she realized the woman's wedding ring probably didn't fit in her condition.
"So how have you been?" Emma cleared her throat when she asked the question.
"I've been me, you know. Not doing as well as you, I can see. Where's the Mr or the Mrs?" Lily looked around but stopped when she saw Emma flinch.
"As of right now, there is no significant other." Emma answered before berating herself. Why would she tell Lily that, after she promised she was going to return to Regina? She could feel her phone vibrate in her pocket but she chose to ignore it in favor of watching Lily's face light up before it fell.
"Oh Emma, you always had a knack for getting yourself into sticky situations." Lily teased.
"You never complained before-" Emma countered until she realized what she said before blushing harshly.
"And you won't be hearing one any time soon." Lily smirked. "Are you doing anything right now?" Lily asked looking around.
"No, why?" Emma's eyebrows furrowed.
"I know a little diner up the way. Let me treat you to lunch." Lily offered her a genuine smile as Emma graciously accepted the offer.
Well I think I'm back, and I would love to thank everyone who offered their support. I honestly didn't know so many people cared about this story. It really means a lot to me that you guys are always so positive and I want to thank everyone for their constructive criticism. I really feel like I have some of the best readers out there, and I love all of you guys! Also this WILL be Swan Queen but I want to make Regina work for it. Oh and I finally figured out how to linebreak lol