Rock On

11

At the same time that Regina was in Storybrooke asking Emma's parents, Emma and Belle were going to visit Archie at the studio.

"Do you think this is a good idea? He's getting her album ready…"

"Yeah, me and Archie are like this," Emma said as she crossed her two fingers on top of each other to signify that they were tight.

They walked into the studio and all of Regina's band mates yelled to Emma, who introduced Belle to some of them.

"Where's Archie?"

"In the recording room," the guitarist said as he opened the door for the two ladies.

"Hey, Arch," Emma said happily.

Archie shot up from his seat and nervously said, "Hey, Emma. You know Regina's not here, right?"

"Yeah, New York for a meeting. This is Belle, my best friend," Emma introduced.

Archie was about to say something, but Belle cut in, "Hi, Archie…Nice to meet you. Regina's a great person." She looked into his eyes and this seemed to calm the nervous man down a tad.

"Yes, nice to meet you too. Are you a fan?"

"Not like Emma," Belle joked.

Archie chuckled. "There's nobody like Emma. Speaking of which, why the visit Emma?"

"Well, I was thinking about something. You've known Regina a lot longer than I have, obviously. Has she ever mentioned her mother?"

"Her Mother? Hmmm…"

"Yeah, I kinda wanted to introduce myself and see if I could get a small conversation started between her and her daughter."

Archie really didn't have a lot to go on. "Her name is Cora and she's in, at least when Regina spoke of her, Massachusetts. And at the time Regina left, she said she was…"

Emma seemed to understand what Archie meant, but she asked, "Oh, would she want to talk to her?"

"I don't know, Emma, before you, she was very guarded and didn't speak of her often, almost never. I'd try to gauge her reaction before I'd try to search. Just to be on the safe side, ya know? I mean if Regina wanted to reach out then she would have done so."

"Thanks, Arch! We'll let you get back to work."

Belle waved her hand and they left.

A few blocks away, Emma and Belle found a small restaurant with outside seating.

"Let's sit," Emma pointed to an empty table.

When they did, Emma whipped her phone out and found the number for information.

"What name?"

"Mills, Cora."

"State?"

"Massachusetts…"

"1-339-568-5971"

Emma shakily jotted the number down on a piece of napkin and then turned off the phone.

"Way to wait to gauge her reaction," Belle said sarcastically holding her thumb up in the air. Emma made a face and chuckled.

Belle watched as her best friend deliberately punched each number into her phone. Before Emma connected the call, Belle hurriedly placed her hand on Emma's.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, friend?"

"I just want to hear her voice. It'll probably go to her answering machine. Who picks up unknown numbers these days!"

Emma connected the call.

Cora Mills was sitting outside on her patio enjoying an unseasonal day of sunshine and a cloudless sky. Usually Massachusetts had a lot of rain.

Suddenly her phone rang. She picked it up and discovered that it was an unknown number. She pressed the button and said, "Hello?"

"Uh, hello, is this Mrs. Cora Mills?"

"Yes, it is. Who's calling?"

"How are you today—"

"Fine, but before you continue with your spiel, if you could please take me off your call list, I'd appreciate it. Thank you. Have a nice day," Cora said and immediately hung up the phone.

About ten minutes later, her phone rang again. It was another unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Mills, this isn't a solicitation. I've mustered up enough courage to call again so please don't hang up!"

"Who is this?"

"My name is Emma…"

"Hello, Emma. How may I help you?"

"Is your daughter, Regina…Mills?"

Cora sat up straight in her chair. "Yes she is. Oh, is she alright?" Cora had fear in her voice.

"Oh yes, she's alright. I'm sorry to startle you like that. So my name is Emma."

"You've mentioned that. How may I help you, Emma?"

"I just wanted to say thank you."

Cora chuckled a little harshly. "For what?"

"For bringing the love of my life into the world…"

Cora froze in her char. "Um, you're welcome, I guess. How, uh, is my daughter?"

"She's fine. She's amazing. We just got back from an international tour. She was amazing. London, Paris, Thailand…"

"That's wonderful, dear…are you her girlfriend?"

"Yes, my name is Emma Swan. I was a diehard fan of hers. Thanks to my parents, my life changed when I had the privilege of getting to know your daughter during a tour stop in my hometown of Storybrooke. I love her with all my heart. I will be marrying her when we both feel the time is right. I want to spend the rest of my life loving your daughter."

"Emma," Cora said with tears in her eyes, "Thank you. I have to be honest. I haven't seen or spoken with her for many years. I let her slip away. I regret that everyday."

"I asked about you once and she didn't really say a lot. I hope I'm not overstepping, but if you want to talk to her, I can give you her number."

"Oh, yes, please," said Cora as she pulled out a piece of paper and pen. "Ready." Cora wrote the number down and said, "Emma, I so appreciate your call. I will think about contacting my daughter."

"Just remember, Mrs. Mills, you only get one chance at life. Don't miss out."

Then the phone call ended.

"Regina!" Emma bellowed as she and Belle entered their house later that night.

"Emma, you scared me," Belle said with a small smile.

"Sorry," she said as she ran room to room. "Eh, she's not home yet."

"She will be…Give her some time…"

Just as Belle finished her sentence, the front door swung open and Regina walked in. "Emma, you here?"

Emma ran up to her and picked her up from the ground. Regina was still holding her purse. Belle noticed this and grabbed it from her. Regina then wrapped her arms around her girlfriend tightly.

"I've missed you so much!" Emma spun them around.

"I missed you too, my dear," said Regina right before she captured Emma's lips with her own. They kissed for a few seconds and then they realized they weren't alone.

"I leave tomorrow," Belle said sarcastically and with a bright smile.

They both laughed. Emma placed Regina down and grabbed her hand. "How was the business trip?"

"Productive, very productive," Regina said as she looked over at Belle. Belle saw her wink and took a sigh of relief.

"Great! We had fun sight seeing. No tickets for your car."

"Wonderful. If you need it for anything else let me know," Regina said as she grabbed Emma's hand.

Just before they settled into their bed for the evening, Regina received an unknown number phone call. She picked it up and then put it down.

"Aren't you gonna answer that?"

"It's an unknown number…"

"Pick it up," Emma said hurriedly.

"Why?"

"Might be important?" Emma tried not to let on, but she was nervous.

"Emma, what's going on," Regina asked pointedly.

"You never know," Emma said and retreated back into their en suite bathroom.

Regina lazily picked up the device and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello."

Regina knew that she should remember the voice as it sounded very familiar.

"Hello, who are you trying to reach?"

"You, Regina."

"Okay, why?"

"Because I want to apologize…"

Regina sat up straighter as she recognized the voice. "Mother?"

"Hello, Regina…It's been a long time…"

"How'd you get this number?" Regina saw Emma timidly walk back into the room and come to sit on the bed.

"I received a phone call from—"

"Not my manager…He knows better…"

"Your girlfriend."

Regina's sight landed on Emma, who sat there playing with her fingers awkwardly.

"Emma?"

"Yes, Emma. She seems like a wonderful woman. Perfect for you."

"How do you know that she's perfect for me? I haven't seen you or talked to you in years."

"I know. I should have tried."

"Do you know why I left? Daddy accepted me for exactly who I was, lesbian and all. You didn't. I missed him so, so much and you wouldn't let me speak of him after his death. It was like he never existed. I couldn't even mourn his loss. I just couldn't do that anymore."

Emma reached for Regina's hand, but she pulled it away. Then she got up from the bed and walked over to their window and stared out.

"Regina, I'm—"

"Please don't say you're sorry. I've been in the same place since the day I've left. It took my wonderful girlfriend to get you to reach out to me…why is that?"

Regina placed the call on speaker so that Emma could hear it. She came up behind her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her.

"Precisely this reason…I knew you'd be upset…"

"Upset? No, Mother, disappointed, yes, very much so."

Cora was quiet on the other end. "Regina…I didn't know what to do after his passing,"

Cora began to cry. "I loved your father so very much. I felt as if he had abandoned me."

"HE DIED!" Regina's entire body had begun to shake. Emma tried to massage her back, but Regina wouldn't stand there. "Your husband died. I think I saw you cry once around me. We should've come together to comfort each other. Instead you pretended like the years together didn't mean shit. You know what…my leaving was your fault…" Regina quickly hung up the phone and threw it harshly onto the bed.

"Regina, I –"

"Emma, not right now, okay," Regina asked in a soft tone of voice. Emma watched as the love of her life retreated into the bathroom and Emma heard the lock being used. Emma sat there speechless. She really didn't know what to do or what to say.

Should I talk to Belle? She asked herself. She ultimately decided not to involve her. This was a private matter. One that she put in motion. Emma felt absolutely horrible.

How can I fix this? Can I fix this?

While she was thinking she heard Regina sobbing.

"Regina, are you okay? Take a few deep breaths. Please unlock the door, baby…"

Regina didn't. "I need time, Em. Please give that to me. And I promise later we will talk."

"Okay, I'll be in the living room. I can't stay here and listen to the person I love the most in this life, sob like that."

Emma quietly walked out of the room. Once she had closed the door, she had a hissy fit.

"You're so stupid, Swan…why'd you do that? You should've asked her first. You're a jerk!"

Belle heard the commotion and came running out of the room. "Do I wanna know?"

Emma had tears streaming down her face. "I made a mistake."

Belle slumped down next to her against the side of the wall. "Oh." She patted her best friend's back and just stayed silent.

Getting anxious, Emma abruptly stood up and yanked the door open. This startled Regina as she had came out from the bathroom.

"Whoa!"

"Shit! Sorry to scare you. Are you okay?"

"Do you wanna go to the park? We'll bring flashlights."

"Um, sure, anything you want," Emma said as she tentatively reached out for Regina's hand. She put hers in Emma's, which made her sigh.

Regina walked them to the drawer that held the lights and then wordlessly they left the house.

When they arrived at the park, they flipped the switches to the flashlights and searched for a park bench.

"I should have thought more about this…" Regina looked around timidly and laughed a little.

"No, it's alright…I see a bench under a street lamp…" Emma pulled Regina with her and they sat down.

Usually they'd practically sit on top of each other and cuddle. This time, however, there was some distance between them.

Emma looked down at her hands and scratched a piece of skin nervously. "So, how much do you hate me?"

Regina looked at Emma and said, "I don't hate you, Em. But I do have a question or two?"

"Absolutely," Emma said as her head rose up.

"Why?"

"Why? I wanted to introduce myself to your mother. Regina, you're the love of my life and you know it. You know my parents. I just, I guess, wanted to meet yours."

"I didn't tell you everything about my parents, so I guess that's my fault, but I didn't because she hurt me, more than anyone else ever has. She took away my home. She took away the only remaining family I had. She made me feel like I was weird or more different for being gay."

"Regina, please believe me, I am so truly sorry for what I did. If you don't wanna speak to me for a couple of days, it would be all right with me. I never intended to hurt you, baby. You gotta know that!"

Regina grabbed Emma's cheeks in her hands and kissed her sweetly. "I know and I love you deeply for it, but why would I want to do that, my dear? You are fun to talk to."

Emma smiled and said, "I love you so much and I wanted to just try to connect you with your mother."

"My Mom's different than yours, Emma, like totally different. When it comes right down to it, I made a decision a long time ago and I've come to terms with it. I do, sometimes, see mother/daughter relationships and wish that I could have a little of that. But then I remember who my Mom is and I just can't. You know?"

Emma nodded her head. Regina grabbed and squeezed Emma's hand. She brought it up to her mouth and kissed it.

"Do you ever wanna try with her?"

"Sometimes, I guess, but there's been years that can't be filled in."

"You can try," suggested Emma, "I don't want to tell you what to do. I don't want to overstep any more boundaries. But think about it. Do you think that it would be nice for someone to give you away to me, ya know, on our wedding day?"

"Our wedding day," Regina asked shyly and sighed happily.

"Yes, Regina, we'll be married someday and I'd like it, very much, for you to reconcile with your mother. But that's just me."

"I know," Regina said as she scooted over the distance between her and Emma. She rested her back against her.

They sat there in silence.

"Let's get outta here so we don't get arrested!"

Regina chuckled.