***Author's Note: ALRIGHT! I'm sorry that this took me so long. All of you that called me out for being torturous-I totally deserve it. I had a study group this morning for an Accounting assignment that took us 3 hours to complete (it was only 4 questions). Anyway, so here I am with the final chapter of this story. Warning: it ends a bit abruptly but that's why there will be an Epilogue to follow, so don't fret too much. A lot more fluff in that one, I promise. Another thing that I want to bring up is that I know that there are a lot of mixed feelings in regards to Regina just throwing cash at her problem and I assure you that I tried to address all the feelings from both of the character's POVs when it comes to that, and I can only hope that I did it some justice for those of you reading. PLEASE leave me your thoughts. I won't bribe you with the next chapter this time because I will probably post it tonight after I do a final run-through. But, I always love hearing from you. Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day if you're celebrating it!.***
Dinner goes by rather quickly and when all the dishes have been taken away and the tables are cleared, Emma sees Deb waving for her to approach the raised platform once again, so they could do their special donation presentation. According to Deb, they received a very special donation this year that they wanted to share with the room and Emma has been looking forward to the big reveal all evening because she is very excited to find out just how much they were able to raise for the hospital. She excuses herself from the table and walks over to where the head nurse is already standing by the microphone stand. She looks down and over at Ruby to see her best friend giving her two thumbs up and she smiles happily.
Deb pulls the microphone off of the stand and taps it a couple of times before she speaks into it. "Hello everyone. I hope that your dinner was enjoyable. We are so very grateful for everyone who could join us tonight. I see so many familiar faces out there that make it a point to come to this event and have supported us for over fifteen years now, and we cannot express enough how grateful we are for it. A few days ago, with the help from a new friend, we received a phone call from someone very special. Before I introduce you to who that is, I would like to first say that our goal this year was to raise enough money for two new Chemotherapy and radiation machines. When I talked to this wonderful lady earlier this week, she told us that her company not only wanted to purchase those two machines for us, but they wanted to give an additional one-hundred thousand dollars to CSCH." Deb pauses for a moment as there are gasps and whispers throughout the room.
Just as surprised as most everyone in the room, Emma's eyes go wide as well. She looks over at Deb who is still staring out into the crowd and then over to Ruby who now has a smug grin on her face. Ruby, you little brat! You knew about this and didn't tell me! She turns her attention back to Deb, anxiously waiting for her to announce who this new benefactor is.
Deb looks briefly at Emma and smiles before turning her attention back to the room full of people. "This incredibly generous donation from the Mavis Financial Group…"
When Emma hears the name of the donor, she freezes, her mind starts racing which causes her to block out the rest of Deb's introduction and speech completely. Wait. What?! She looks at Ruby again and sees that her best friend still has that smirk on her face. No, she didn't… But then her suspicions are confirmed by Deb's next few words.
"And with us tonight is the Chief Executive Officer Regina Mills. Regina, if you could make your way up here please… "
Emma looks out into the large ballroom, and watches as Regina, who is dressed in a simple but elegant black and silver ball gown, gets up and starts walking up towards where they are.
Regina takes a deep breath and makes her way up towards Emma and Deb. She has not seen Emma for almost a month and feels terrible for ambushing her this way, but when Ruby had approached her earlier this week about the charity event, and potentially becoming a donor, she agreed without a moment's hesitation. She knew that she could persuade the company to make their annual charitable donation to the children's hospital with or without the hope of winning Emma over. But, tonight, seeing Emma again, and being able to admire her from across the room all evening, all she can think about is what it would feel like to kiss her again. When she finally makes it up to the platform, she looks up at Emma and they meet eyes for the first time in nearly four weeks. It takes her a few seconds to adjust, but she finally smiles warmly at the blonde.
Emma smiles back casually and it must have been the blood pumping in her ears that somehow caused her to tune everything out, but before she knew it, her and Regina were standing opposite each other with a giant cardboard check and there are flashes of lights from cameras everywhere.
Once the photographers are finished, Deb wedges her way in between the two women and pulls Regina in for a hug. "Thank you so very much, Regina." She says with watery eyes. "You have no idea how much this means to those kids."
"No, Deb, you have no idea how much all of this means to me." Regina says, her voice cracking with emotion as well. "When Ruby called and asked if we would be interested in contributing, it was a no-brainer for me."
So, it was Ruby… Suddenly, Emma feels Deb pushing her towards Regina. She stops herself from plowing into the woman but they are standing barely six inches apart. She quickly reaches out her hand awkwardly in the tiny space between them. "Thank you." She says.
Regina smiles sadly but takes Emma's hand and shakes it. "Mavis is more than glad to help. And on a personal level, this hospital means a lot to me." She nods and then pulls her hand away slowly as Deb leads her off the stage so that Emma can make her closing statement.
Emma watches as Regina and Deb takes their seats again, but she is still in a daze. Her only reason for not wanting to see Regina again so soon is because she knows how much it still hurts. And now that Regina is here, she has no choice but to face her while still trying to sort out her feelings for the woman. Feelings, that she cannot make go away, it seems.
Emma smiles into the mic when the room is ready for her again. "So, wow. Talk about a difficult act to follow." She says and it elicits a few smiles and chuckles from the room. "Thank you all for joining us this year at one of my most favorite events in Seattle. Every year, we gather here to not only celebrate another great year of the friends we've made, or the hard work and incessant dedication of the entire staff here at CSCH, but we also come here to celebrate the real superheroes we all have in our lives." The room erupts in applause and Emma is grateful for it because it gives her a chance to take a deep breath before she continues. She scans the crowd then, and even when she tries not to, her eyes immediately find Regina's. She lingers there for a moment before looking away and over to the tables where all the children and their parents are sitting. "Some of you may know that my grandfather was the Chief of Medicine at this hospital when I was a little girl. He once told me that when he stepped down from that position to work exclusively with Children's Oncology, he would never find a more rewarding job. And my grandfather has always been my hero, but every time I would tell him that when I was younger, he would just laugh, take my hand, and walk me into the Oncology wing. Then, he would introduce me to all of his patients, just to make sure I'd remember who I really should be looking up to. You see, he'd tell me, true heroes are those that teach all of us how to be brave when we don't have enough fight left in us, and how to keep smiling not only when we have the really good days, but the terrible days, too. These amazing kids have shown me how important it is to live without fear and to wake up with purpose. My grandfather has established many traditions within this hospital but one of his most important legacies is this Superheroes' Charity Gala, because one-hundred percent of the money we've raised through all of your contributions and support goes into helping our everyday heroes fight their battles, and there is really nothing in the world more rewarding than that. In closing, I would like to thank you all again for joining us tonight and for your generous contributions." Emma smiles as she slowly turns to find Regina's face in the crowd again. "And again, a very special 'thank you' to Regina Mills and Mavis Financial Group for their extremely generous gifts and donation. On behalf of the children and the entire staff here at CSCH, we are all eternally grateful." Regina's eyes never leaves hers and she suddenly feels as though the ground is falling away beneath her so she forces herself to look away. "For those of you that are not too tired of us yet, please stay for some music and mingling, and even some dancing if you're brave enough for it. Let me just say though, these kids will show you up in that department so let that be your warning. Thank you again, and enjoy the rest of your night."
The music starts almost immediately after she is finished speaking and it helps to block out some of the other noise in her head. She walks back to where Ruby is is sitting and immediately pulls her best friend out of her seat, and drags her into the nearest ladies restroom.
"OW! Em! Geezus." Ruby says once Emma lets go of her arm.
Emma checks all the stalls to make sure there is no one else in there with them. "You called Regina!? Rubes, really?! Why would you do that?"
"Okay, babe. Listen. I haven't told you this because you've been moping and I didn't want to make things worse, but Regina started coming to the bar a few weeks ago. She stopped by after work, at lunch, on weekends, just hoping to run into you. And you know what? I felt bad for her, okay?"
"You felt bad for her? How about me? I'm your best friend. You should be feeling bad for me!" Emma says, really more frustrated than angry.
"My heart is always breaking for you, Ems. That's why I finally just called her. And before you jump to your own conclusions about what happened here, I only called her to see if she would make a small donation in her own name so that it would guarantee her a ticket for the gala. I wanted her to come here so you two could talk. I never planned for her to go all out like this. Deb called me just yesterday, and asked me to stop by the hospital so that she could tell me herself about Mavis, only because Regina had mentioned to her that I was the one that reached out in the first place."
Emma sighs. "If she thinks that throwing money at this will somehow fix our friendship…"
"Ems, before you even go there, it was Deb and I that begged her to come. She told me she wanted to make an anonymous donation without mentioning herself or Mavis because she didn't want you to think that she was using it to win you back. Nor did she want to surprise you in this way. "
Emma laughs bitterly. "Win me back. Ha. Win me back as what? A casual lay? She doesn't want a relationship, remember?"
Ruby sighs. "Ems, really, you should talk to her. The look on her face earlier when you snubbed her with that handshake… if that didn't look like a change of heart to you, you're blind."
Emma considers her friend's comment for a moment, but just as she is about to respond, the door swings open to a group of women coming in to use the restroom. Both her and Ruby smile politely before exiting.
Ruby takes Emma's arm as they walk back into the ballroom and she squeezes it lightly. "Hey, so tell me, are you still in love with her?" Ruby asks.
Emma looks at her friend and just nods slowly. She feels so conflicted. She should be livid at both of them, but all she can think about is what Ruby just said about Regina having a change of heart.
Ruby just smiles at this, but quickens their pace back into the ballroom. Once inside, they notice that the crowd of people has died down. Ruby looks around for Regina and sees that she is standing with Braxton in her arms while chatting with the boy's two fathers. She nudges Emma. "Hey, there's your girl. You should go over there and thank her again."
Emma bites her lower lip and contemplates her move. Before she has decided, Ruby nudges her again in the direction of Regina nearly causing her to trip on her heels. She turns to glare at Ruby but quickly recovers and walks towards where Regina is. "Hey, Brax, isn't it past your bedtime?" Emma says as she approaches the group. She does not make eye contact with Regina and internally, she is berating herself for the awkwardness.
"Emma!" He says and he reaches out for her. Regina turns and releases him into Emma's arms.
"Did you have fun tonight, little guy?" Emma asks the boy.
"Yes! Daddy and Papa have fun tonight, too." Braxton says.
Emma looks over at his parents and smiles. "I'm so glad you guys could make it out tonight. It is so great to see the both of you."
"Of course, Emma. It was a great party. Now, baby…" He says reaching out for Braxton. "Let's go find Nurse Deb and let Emma and Regina talk. Regina, thank you again. You're an angel."
Regina smiles at the man. "I'm honestly very glad that Mavis could help to make a difference. No 'thank yous' necessary."
When everyone has walked away leaving just the two of them, Regina smiles sadly at the ground hoping that Emma would be the first to speak. When she actually does however, it takes her by surprise.
"So, how have you been?" Emma asks.
Regina looks up then and moves one of her own loose strands of hair, nervously tucking it behind her ear. "I have been busy as always. Nothing too different. How have you been? The gala is amazing. Ruby told me that you put it all together on your own. This must have been a lot of work."
"It was a huge pain in my ass, to be completely honestly." Emma says as she laughs which makes Regina chuckle as well. God, I've missed the sound of that. "When I told Deb that I would take this on, I had no idea how time-consuming it was going to be."
"Well, you did a wonderful job. And… you look absolutely beautiful tonight." Regina says, hoping that she sounds as sincere as possible.
Emma smiles. "Ahh. But, as always, I pale in comparison to you. That dress looks incredible on you."
Regina blushes. "Thank you." She says shyly.
They both stand there silently for a moment and that is when Braxton suddenly appears between them again pulling on each of their dresses. "Emma, Gina, come dance with me! Daddy and Papa are dancing, too!"
Emma chuckles and just shrugs at Regina. They let the very eager little boy lead them to the open space at the back of the large room. As soon as they step foot on the dance floor however, Braxton lets out an exaggerated cry.
"Owie, ow, ow!" He says as he sits down and the ground and grabs his foot. He looks over to the corner where Ruby and Deb are standing and nods with a big smile. "Emma, I think I broke my ham-bor-ger string."
Emma laughs loudly. "I think you mean your hamstring, buddy. Even though that's not where your foot is. Are you alright? You want me to take a look at it?"
"NO! It hurts and I can't dance now. You and Regina dance together!" He shouts before getting up and running off.
Emma watches as the boy runs over to where Deb and Ruby are standing, and when Ruby sees her looking in their direction, she winks. Emma laughs and shakes her head. When she turns back to Regina, she knows that Regina can see Ruby and Deb as well.
"I think maybe we've been conned." Regina says, half smiling, while her heart flutters at the thought of having more time alone with Emma.
"That would be the nice way to put it. I mean, this entire night seems to have been a conspiracy against me." Emma says, but when she sees Regina frown deeply at her comment, it makes her want to take it back. "I didn't mean that in a bad way though, I promise. And since we're already over here, may I have this dance?" She asks as she reaches a hand out for Regina to take.
The proposition surprises Regina, but she is awfully glad for the chance to be holding Emma in her arms again, so she takes her hand and lets the blonde pull her in a little closer. They dance slowly for a moment, neither one of them even paying attention to the music, when Regina finds the courage to speak again. "I'm sorry if I overstepped by showing up tonight. The last thing that I wanted is to make you feel uncomfortable."
"I'm going to be honest, Regina, I wasn't ready to see you again. And while I think that I'm still in shock from you showing up here tonight, that donation, and the new machines, that really means the world to these kids…" Emma looks into Regina's eyes as she feels her own get teary. "It means the world to me. When I told Deb I would put this event together, I really just wanted to do something that I knew would make my Gramps proud. I spent so many sleepless nights stressing about how it just wasn't going to happen. The Mavis donation really blew everyone away. It blew me away. And I think that he would be so happy if he were here tonight."
Regina frowns. "Emma, with or without the donation, your grandfather would be extremely proud of you. You are such a beautiful, smart, talented, and caring woman. Everyone in this room is lucky to know you. I hope that you don't believe for a second that the amount of money that you raise tonight is in any way correlated to your worthiness to be loved."
Emma smiles sadly and does not respond. But she does however, think about how everything would be so much easier if Regina did not always say the sweetest things to her. How do I even stay mad at this woman?
"And I do want to reiterate that I am really sorry for just showing up the way that I did. I promise you that the last thing I want is to make you feel like I'm forcing you to talk to me, because I would never do that."
"I know. It's just that I'm not even entirely sure how to mend our friendship after the way we left things the last time I saw you." Emma frowns. "I'm not saying that I don't want to. I just may need more time."
Regina understands exactly what Emma means. When things ended between her and Silas, she never wanted to see him again. She would never expect any different from Emma. But, she does need to tell Emma the truth about how she feels because she deserves at least that. "I flew to New York the day after Valentine's Day." Regina says after another long moment of silence between them, hoping for the chance to tell Emma what she is feeling. She is nervous but makes sure to hold her gaze.
"Oh, yeah?" Emma asks, wondering why Regina is bringing this up now.
"Yes. I was there for almost a week, just doing absolutely nothing but trying to figure out what it is that I want. Being away from you really gave me some time to really think about everything, and it helped me to realize a few things about myself." Regina says.
Emma furrows her brow and frowns expecting a different version of the 'Let's just be friends' speech from Regina all over again. "Like what sort of things?" Emma asks nervously.
"Well, for one, I realized how much you really mean to me." Regina waits, but Emma stays silent, so she continues. "Emma, about what you said to me the last time we saw each other…"
"Regina, I-"
"Emma, I think that I'm in love with you." Regina blurts out before Emma can finish her thought. She looks down between them for a second but meets Emma's eyes again before she continues. "What i mean is, I know that I'm in love with you, but I understand if you no longer feel that way about me. I just really needed to tell you that." When Emma still does not respond, she takes the blonde's silence as her answer. "I uh, should probably go…"
Instinctively, Emma pulls Regina in closer to her, wrapping her arm around her waist tighter than before. She is still at a loss for words but she is not going to let Regina walk away from this. "Do you really believe that I would be completely over you already after just a few weeks?"
Regina tilts her head to the side. "To be honest, after the way I treated you, yes, but I was really hoping that you weren't."
Emma hums and nods at Regina's honesty. Then her expression changes to a concerned one. "So, where does this leave us, exactly?"
"Well, can I be blunt?" Regina asks.
Emma chuckles at Regina's question. "Of course you can. Since when does Regina Mills ask for permission to speak her mind?" Emma says with a smirk.
Regina shakes her head but returns the smile. "I was really hoping to leave here tonight with at least one of two things."
Emma furrows her brow in confusion. "What things?"
"I would really like the recipe for the crabcakes they served us for dinner." Regina requests.
"Okay?" Emma says, even more confused, wondering how that has anything to do with what they are talking about. "I can get that for you if you really want it. I think the caterers are close friends with one of the doctors."
Regina nods. "But, the recipe is really just the consolation item…"
"Oh? So, there is something that you liked more than the crabcakes? The dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, perhaps? I think those may have been store bought and just tossed in the oven." Emma asks playfully as she watches Regina bite down on her lower lip.
Regina chuckles. "This is going to sound awfully forward, but I was really hoping that I would be able to leave here tonight with you as my girlfriend." She manages a smile but is not as confident as she was just a moment ago, and because Emma's expression has not changed, she is not sure how she should feel.
Emma lets go of Regina's hand so that she touch her face. She brushes her thumb lightly over Regina's cheek and smiles widely. "I think that there is a distinct possibility that you may be able to leave here with both of those things tonight."
When Regina hears this, her smile brightens. Then she immediately wraps her arms around Emma's neck and pulls her in for a kiss.
It takes Emma less than a second to register Regina's lips on hers, before she is kissing her back passionately, all of the heartache from the last month slowly melting away.
When they finally break apart again, Regina, with her hand still on the back of Emma's neck, pulls her girlfriend into her. "I love you, Emma." She whispers into Emma's lips as she nuzzles their noses. "But, I'm not very good at this. And I'm so terrified that I'm going to screw it all up."
Emma smiles before capturing Regina's lips again in a quick but sweet kiss. "I'm scared, too. But I can promise you, I will not let you walk away from me again.
Regina smirks. "Well, technically, you were the one that walked away last time."
Emma laughs. "Wow. But, woman, you were the one that waited two weeks to unwrap the birthday gift that I got you. So, how about we call it a draw."
Regina pouts her lips. "I'm still so upset at myself for that, and I really want to make it up to you. Will you let me thank you properly for being so patient with me, and for my gift?"
"Hmm… it depends. What did you have in mind exactly?" Emma asks with a mischievous grin.
Regina hums as well. "Well, do you think that the hospital staff will be willing to let me whisk their hostess away for the rest of the evening? I would really like to bring you home as soon as possible so that I can show you."
Emma smiles brilliantly. "You know what? I think that can definitely be arranged."