Chapter 25 - The Calm Before The Storm
An inferno licking up the right side of her torso wrenched Ruby from the greedy grip of unconsciousness. A scream clawed it's way through her chest, though groggy as she was it came out more of a pathetic whimper reminiscent of a kicked puppy. Some Big Bad Wolf you are, she thought, in a daze of agony cruising atop a yucky feeling of stickiness that proceeds sleeping in for way too long.
An image popped into her mind then, of gleaming eyes fixed malevolently upon her, provoking an irrational compulsion to launch upright to brace for an attack that would never come. A spike of adrenaline accompanying that panic supplied enough energy to struggle against the various wires attached to her hands and chest. Heart racing, she pried her eyes open only to find that her surroundings were too hazy to make out any detail beyond stark whiteness. She clenched them shut again as fear and confusion trampled through her muddled gray matter. Was she still in the Enchanted Forest? If so, where was Emma? Was she even still alive or had Belmordan killed her and she was just emerging from some metaphysical transition into a purgatory where nothing at all made sense save for the pain wickedly lashing at her side. That she understood perfectly. Physical pain was her old friend.
"Lay still, sweetheart. You're safe now," a husky feminine voice said with some anxiety from Ruby's left. The gentle reassurance did little to assuage Ruby's half-delirious thrashing and moaning. "Stop fighting, Ruby. You'll hurt yourself."
A warm hand then pressed to Ruby's forehead and began to soothe away the sweat-dampened hair that was matted upon it. The touch was so soft and so intimately familiar that she immediately relaxed. As if mystical in nature, the tender contact was instilling her with a serenity that assuaged her frantic nerves. She went still as she rested back against the bed. Her ribs were still aflame, though, and she trembled from the agony as she bit down on her lip so hard that she tasted blood.
"Shh, hold on, my darling," the voice cooed.
Though the anxiousness Ruby heard only seconds before was gone, it had been replaced by a deep hurt that pricked at Ruby's conscience. Somehow she was able to instinctually understand that she was the cause of it, and she didn't appreciate how it made her feel one bit. She was supposed to make that voice sound happier, not more muted with sadness than it was some of the time, which was already too often for Ruby's liking.
Immediately thereafter Ruby heard the click of a button. Sweet relief flooded her system within seconds, drowning out the vague guilt building. She dimly realized she'd been given a dose of morphine, a boon with more than one implication. Thank God for modern medicine, she thought as pain-free euphoria set in. And that I'm finally back home.
Now able to tolerate awareness, she chanced cracking her eyes open again. Blinking against the bright, unforgiving fluorescent lighting, her vision began to clear. As she had suspected, she was in the hospital back in Storybrooke. An unfortunately familiar setting.
"Hey, you."
At the greeting, Ruby rolled her stiff neck to the left and smiled at the sight of her wife. Regina was hovering as close to the bed as possible while still gently stroking Ruby's forehead. Weak as the smile was, it unmistakably originated within the depths of her heart. Just seeing Regina's beautiful face made Ruby feel a thousand times better.
"Hi, baby," she said with a sluggish drawl. She winced at the soreness of her throat, which felt more like sandpaper than moist, fleshy tissue.
Regina was unsurprisingly prepared for the occasion, and hastily retrieved a cup of ice chips from the tray table at the foot of the bed. After plucking a piece out with her fingers, she lifted it to Ruby's lips.
"Suck on it slowly."
Ruby nodded gingerly as she opened her mouth to accept the offering. She bit back a dirty joke, not quite feeling up to her cheeky self. That, and she didn't think Regina would appreciate the poor attempt at levity after she'd gone and scared her half to death. In all likelihood, Ruby was about to get a dressing down for the ages, which she was most certainly not looking forward to even if she'd earned it and then some.
The ice melting in her mouth relieved the scratchiness, so she accepted another three chips without argument. Once she was able to talk more freely, though, she broached the topic that was sure to lead to her chastisement. In her estimation, having been through a similar scenario once before, it was best to rip the band-aid off lest Regina stew too long on her having been injured. That, and she suddenly remembered a halo of blonde hair hovering over her just before she passed out and was beset by an irrepressible urge to inquire as to how her best friend fared.
"Emma?" she asked worriedly. Last she saw, Emma was unhurt, but the display of magical prowess she'd put on to break free of Belmordan's bonds and rescue Ruby had to have sapped her strength.
"At home resting," Regina said soothingly. "She's perfectly fine, although she nearly did herself in getting you home. She quite literally carried you through the portal and then refused to leave your side until you were stable. I swear, the woman has lost all innate sense of self-preservation since embracing her destiny. I sent her home after she was allowed to see you once you were in a room. Hook told me this morning she slept for nearly twenty-four hours once she got there."
Ruby winced at the confirmation of what she'd already suspected. Not only had Emma saved her life, but she'd also lugged her sorry, unconscious ass back home having just dangerously expended her magical energy. Ruby knew how risky that was for a sorceress like Emma, whose magic was intrinsic to her essential being. Regina had complained to Ruby before about the Savior's penchant for reckless abuse of her powers, and that should Emma push herself too far, a garden variety of ghastly consequences might await her including but not limited to: chronic physical exhaustion, seizures, debilitating migraines, prolonged loss of consciousness, or even death. Apparently the severity of the associated malady was directly correlated to how near they came to totally emptying their reserves. That Emma slept for an entire day was evidence of how alarmingly close she'd been to the worst possible outcome.
Compounding guilt gnawed irritatingly at Ruby's stomach. Not only had she come far too close to losing her own life, but she'd nearly cost Emma hers as well, not only by dragging her best friend to another world on a quest she had no stake in, but also by being too weak to defeat Belmordan on her own. It had been Ruby's responsibility to clean up the mess she'd made, but Emma stepped in without any regard whatsoever for her own well being – ever and always the Savior willing to sacrifice herself for those she loved. As Regina so aptly surmised, Emma really had seemed to abandon her instinct for self-preservation in the pursuit of living up to her prestigious calling, and her recklessness only became more audacious when loved ones were in danger.
Feeling small and ashamed and humbly repentant, Ruby flitted uncertain eyes up to her wife, who was gazing back with none of the expected aggravation. "I'm sorry for that. I wish I'd been strong enough to protect her. As usual, I failed."
Regina's expression indicated how strongly she disagreed. "Nonsense. Emma doesn't blame you. Why do you insist on bearing responsibility for things out of your control?"
"It's not just that," Ruby said, "it's everything else, too." She squeezed her eyes shut as her chest tightened into a painfully tight knot. All the times she'd lamented her selfishness between Esperanza's humble cabin and the final fateful counter with Belmordan played through her mind, and she fisted her hands feebly into the sheets as the beeping of the heart monitor began to speed up in the background. The ramping electronic pulsation provided an ambient pace to her vaulting anxiety. "I shouldn't ever have left you and the kids just because I couldn't handle some animals dying. But I did. I walked away from my family to go on a stupid quest that nearly made you a widow, all because I'm pathetic and stupid and needy. There has to be something wrong with me. Right? I mean, I keep on making these gigantic mistakes that leave me a broken, bloody mess you keep having to put back together. It's not fair to you, or the kids, or Emma, or anyone else, and I just...I just hate it! I hate myself. You'd be so much better off if Joshua had just finished the job."
Ruby felt Regina's movement at her side before two hands firmly grasped her face. "Hey! I don't ever want to hear you say that again. Not ever!" Ruby whimpered at the harshly barked command laced with palpable pain. That her words had hurt Regina made her hate herself even more, and she withered inward, shoulders drawing into her chest as self-loathing enslaved her rationality.
When will it finally happen, I wonder? The insidious voice inside her brain that said that often made appearances when Ruby was having a moment of weakness. Such as right now. She'd noticed it mostly came around when she'd done something to upset Regina, like the time around the anniversary of her being tortured to death that she'd not slept for more than half an hour over a span of six days due to acute nightmares.
They'd been eating lunch at the diner that day because both had needed a break from stressful office environments. Ruby had escaped from a clown fiesta back at the station. A gaggle of newly arrived munchkins from Oz had picked a fight with Storybrooke's resident drunkard dwarfs over disparaging comments about their height, resulting in both groups being arrested. Ruby hauled one group away in her cruiser as Emma dealt with the other using magic. On the way to the car, Ruby had been kicked in the shins so much they were mottled purple and black for two days after, and during the ride the dwarfs yapped so much her pulsing migraine loosed the reigns on the wolf. When she'd had enough, she actually bared her fangs at them in the mirror as her eyes flashed gold. That shut them up right quick. Or it did until they got back to the station where Leroy – the vertically challenged bastard – immediately picked up where he'd left off with the munchkins Emma was processing, leading to another epic row. Even after both were isolated in cells, the verbal assaults continued unabated. The cacophony of their screeching and screaming was maddening, especially since Ruby hadn't slept a wink the night before.
Meanwhile as they ate, Regina was relating some story about being fed up with one of the council members roadblocking a proposal that Ruby doesn't really remember anything about because she'd been drifting off with a half-eaten fry smooshed between her fingers.
"Oh, for God's sake, Ruby," Regina had said with an exasperated sigh upon noticing Ruby's head slumping toward her plate and the smattering of ketchup that was waiting to plaster her face. Ruby shot alert, blinking rapidly to clear the sudden bout of drowsiness, only to find Regina staring her down with unconcealed disapproval. It was, incidentally, the exact same expression her wife often wore when the kids were tap dancing all over her last nerve. "I wish you'd stop being so stubborn and just take the damn pills tonight so you can get some sleep. I'm sick of seeing you like this."
Ruby had a standing appointment with Archie since the whole Joshua incident which she still maintained. At the time, about four years out, she'd been going through a bit of an emotional relapse featuring self-induced insomnia for fear of sleeping. Every time she nodded off for more than twenty minutes, she was right back in that godforsaken basement being electrocuted or stabbed or whipped all over again. So to fend that off, she opted to guzzle unhealthy amounts of coffee and soda to keep herself awake. When that failed, she resorted to putting herself through a punishing workout in the little gym Regina had installed for them in the basement when it became obvious going to an actual gym wasn't in the cards with two babies to care for who required near constant attention. But even her best efforts to stimulate her brain through lung-searing, muscle-burning exercise stopped being effective after a few days.
Regina, of course, was not silent during all of this. She'd pretty much rode Ruby's ass until Ruby caved to the constant, well-intentioned needling to talk to Archie about what was going on. He'd squeezed her in for an appointment that same day – the day before her public fight with Regina – and had been understandably disconcerted when she reluctantly confessed to having not slept much more than five hours over the course of six days. To rectify the problem with the nightmares, he gave her a prescription for a potent sleep aid designed for the worst insomniacs. Ruby, being her typical mulish self, refused to take them that first night. Of course, she had another nightmare; and of course, she didn't take the pills so she could to go back to sleep again because she was far too irrational at that point to do something so healthy and sensible.
Irritable, exhausted, and within a hair's breadth of a breakdown, Regina's comment in the diner was a poke that had the wolf baring her teeth for the second time that day.
"Is that so?" Ruby had said, tossing her mangled fry down. Her volume rose with each syllable as did the angry flush of her cheeks, and her notice of how increasingly uncomfortable Regina got at the attention she was drawing only spurred her on. "Well, let me tell you something. I'msick of youconstantly nagging at me! And Iwish that youwould stop being a totally controlling, judgmental bitch for just one day!"
She'd nearly shouted the last bit, red-faced with a fury beyond her comprehension just as much as it was out of her control. To her horror, Regina reeled back as if slapped, then went dead still. Her rapidly paling visage turned cold as ice as the lunch crowd all gawked shamelessly at them. Most of the attention was directed at Regina, to be honest. Which is why Ruby realized in mute dismay that Regina was making associations to how people had once looked at her, and that she'd felt as if all eyes were on her rather than on Ruby who had been doing the shouting because they assumed she was to blame for the blowup. Wounded more deeply than Ruby was prepared to realize, Regina had retreated into her old standby persona, the unfeeling woman immune to having her feelings stomped upon by those closest to her because she never let anyone close enough to actually hurt her.
"If you really feel that way, I won't offend you with my presence anymore," Regina had said, tone devoid of emotion, which sent Ruby's heart plummeting straight into her boots. And then she wiped her mouth with all the grace and dignity of royalty, slid out of the booth, left payment for her portion of the meal on the table, and then strode out of the diner without so much as another glance in Ruby's direction.
When the bell over the door jingled in protest at Regina's thunderous exit, Ruby sat dumbly, wide-eyed and in disbelief over what had just happened. Some minutes passed as she played things out in her head over and over, and when it finally sank in how horribly wrong she'd been, how abysmally she'd just treated the most important person in her universe, she broke down in tears. Right there in rush hour traffic at the diner, she sobbed her heart out, uncaring about how people stared piteously in her direction when she'd possibly torpedoed her marriage.
Eventually Granny none-too-gently manhandled her out of the booth and then hauled her from the diner by the scruff of her neck. Once Ruby was stuffed into her Camaro a little too roughly to be accidental, Granny proceeded to drive towards Mifflin Street instead of back to the station where Ruby had asked to be taken.
"Nuh uh," Granny had said as Ruby sat hunched over in the passenger seat protesting being treated like a child. "I don't wanna hear any lip from you right now. You've said quite enough already, I think. So shut your trap and listen to an old woman who's been where you are right now." Ruby did just that, heeding the warning in her grandmother's sharp blue eyes with a fearful nod. "Good girl. Here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna take you home where you can decide how you're gonna to apologize to Regina. And don't half-ass it, either. If you do, I'll find out, and believe you me, you'll be wishing for the days I made you go out and pick the switch I striped your legs with. Whatever it takes to make things right, you'll do it. Apologize profusely. Do the damn laundry every single night. Hell, if you have to grovel on your hands and knees in the middle of Town Square, do that, and damn your pride. That woman has been through enough with you for you to say stupid shit like that to her, and in public no less! She deserves better from you, girl. Hell, I raised you to be better."
The blunt assessment was just what the doctor order to cut through Ruby's self-pity. She choked back another sob as for the second time it hit her just how badly she'd hurt Regina.
"I messed up really bad, Gran," she said around the thick lump of guilt in her throat. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't tell me that," Granny said. But then she reached over to pat Ruby's hand and offered her an encouraging smile. "Tell her, and just like that. Mean it. Prove it. She'll forgive you because she understands what you're going through. And she loves you. More than I ever thought she was capable of. If she didn't, she wouldn't put up with your crap. That's for damn sure."
Ruby couldn't argue with that logic, and in the end, she took Granny's advice. Completely abdicating her pride, she apologized to her wife on bended knee, cooked her dinner for a week, bought her that new clutch she'd been eyeing to match the little amber colored cocktail dress that made her olive skin particularly dazzling, and then went the extra distance by making extravagant baths each night using those expensive oils Regina loved along with a smattering of rose petals and then dutifully ensured her wife's wine glass stayed full as she lazily read the latest book that had caught her fancy. Ruby even went so far as to have flowers delivered to Regina's office every single day for a month, each day a different arrangement with a different meaning to symbolize her regret, her abiding love, and her promise to do better. And most importantly, Ruby started taking the damn pills so she could sleep again. Which she did. Which significantly improved her mood and helped restore her to the right frame of mind to mend the threatening tear in the fabric of her marriage.
Regina milked the attention for all it was worth, but Ruby didn't mind one bit. Not when she'd earned the penance. Granny was right. Regina deserved better from her, both then and now.
When is she finally going to wise up? the voice went on, accompanying the bitter shame of that memory. When will she realize she's better off with someone who deserves her? Ruby whimpered again at the melancholy chord that struck. Once again, she'd been the cause of Regina's pain.
"Look at me, Ruby." This time, Regina's voice was pleading, the edge gone. Ruby peeled her eyes open to find Regina gazing at her with so much love that her eyes welled up with tears. She reached up to grasp at her wife's arm, quivering with fear and wracked with irrational guilt. "You have to stop this right now," Regina then said, wiping at Ruby's tears with her thumb. "Stop beating yourself up. Stop blaming yourself. I'm not angry at you. And I'm not going to leave you. Ever. I love you more than my own life. And no matter what you may think in these low moments, I don't deserve better than you. I deserve you. Want to know why?" When Ruby nodded weakly, Regina ducked in lower to nuzzle their noses, then rested her forehead against Ruby's. Eyes locked, hearts thumping so loud Ruby could hear them both. "Because you make me happy. So, so happy. And you've been doing it for more than a decade now. Three weeks without you and another adventure at Storybrooke General is not going to change that."
A relieved sob tore through Ruby then, and she pulled Regina into a series of careful kisses. Between them, she whispered, "Thank you. Thank you so much! I love you!"
"And I love you, too," Regina said when they parted. And as she released Ruby to fetch a chair which she then pulled up parallel to the bedside, her smile was brighter than the piercing lights of the hospital room. "Now, then," she said once seated, hand right back in Ruby's. "I don't want you to think you're totally off the hook. At the moment, I just want you to focus on resting so you get better. You're healing faster than a normal person would, but you've still a long way to go. There will be time later for you to do penance over scaring the living hell out of me."
"Yeah. Rest sounds good," Ruby said, blushing at mention of the precise word she'd used to describe how she'd made up for her blunder to Regina years before. Penance. Penance was a sacramental rite performed for the sake of a deity to gain absolution for past transgressions. Well, from Ruby's perspective, she was a degenerate sinner and Regina was her stern yet merciful goddess. Which made the noun choice especially apropos. Her wife really did know her so well.
Unaware of Ruby's train of thought, Regina reclined against the backrest of her chair, crossed her legs, and then raised Ruby's hand up to her lips to place a kiss upon her knuckles before holding the hand against her chest. "I'm sure it does," she said. "That Belmordan fellow did quite a number on you."
The name sent a shiver of dread through Ruby. "You know about him?"
Regina hummed her acknowledgement. "Emma gave me the Cliff's Notes version waiting for you to get out of surgery. As did the young woman who tagged along back to Storybrooke with you two."
Esperanza! Ruby thought with some mild panic. How could she have forgotten Esperanza? "You've met Esperanza?" Regina nodded. "Did she tell you who she is?"
Regina smiled gently. "She did. She came to visit you yesterday after getting settled in at the B&B room I arranged for her. We had a nice chat about our tangled family tree while we sat with you."
Ruby gasped at hearing at least a day had passed since she returned. It hadn't really registered when Regina told her Emma convalesced for over twenty-four hours. "Yesterday? How long have I been out?"
"Three days in a medically induced coma."
Ruby groaned, rubbing at her forehead with the back of her hand. "God. That long?"
As if remembering something unpalatable, Regina's face twisted into a grimace. "You were a mess, Ruby. Victor practically had to reassemble the right side of your rib cage it was so mangled. He told me it was like solving the world's most confusing jigsaw puzzle. It took him seven hours to fuse all of the bones back together. If not for you being a werewolf able to heal from virtually any non-silver inflicted wound, you would have died, or at least never healed right. As it is, he had to forego the normal post-op drug regimen to keep you sedated because you were in so much pain that it wasn't working. Loathe as I was to sign off, I agreed with Victor's assessment that putting you into a coma was the only practical option to keep you from undoing all of his hard work in a fit of agony."
That took the wind right out of Ruby's sails. Suddenly loosing so much time seemed a fair trade off for, you know...having a functional rib cage. "Oh. Well, I guess I understand. It's just...hard to wrap my head around missing more days when I've already missed so much already. Do the girls know I'm home?"
"I told them the day you arrived," Regina said, expression strangely reluctant. "But I've not let them visit you yet."
Ruby frowned deeply. Despite having no legitimate reason to, she felt deprived of access to her children. "Why not?"
Regina shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't want them to see you like that. You looked awful, Ruby. You're just now looking like yourself again."
"I've looked awful before."
"Yes, before they were born. And then I had help magically repairing the damage done to you. This time, no one was available for that sort of intensive endeavor. Emma is exhausted, Zelena has Frankie, I'm with the girls when I'm not here, and Rumple? Well, I was desperate last time because what happened to you was...I just couldn't live with leaving you that way. As bad as you looked after surgery this time, Emma insisted that expending too much energy healing you would be a mistake. I believe she's afraid the man you just escaped will come after you in the near future."
"She's right," Ruby said, voice turning scratchy all over again. She swallowed thickly, wincing a bit at the roughness of her throat and the turn of direction in their conversation. "He will. He won't stop for anything, either."
"Emma filled me in earlier, but I want to hear it from you now. Why this unnatural fixation on you?" Regina asked as she fetched Ruby another ice chip.
Ruby answered as she worked the cool object around her mouth. "According to him, he was the first werewolf. And I'm his last direct descendant."
Regina gazed at her carefully. "And you believe him?"
Ruby nodded. "I know it sounds crazy, but I do. At first I didn't, but the wolf seemed to immediately sense his connection to me, which convinced me pretty quickly."
"There's no chance she could be mistaken?"
"Have you ever known her to be?"
Regina sat back with a sigh. "No, I can't say I have. So, did he say anything else? Give you any other indication as to why he came after you so violently at the portal?"
Ruby would have shrugged had she not been scared of inciting her ribs to ignite again. She'd just now gotten them to stop incessantly burning. "I declined his offer to join him in some insane plan of conquest. I was gonna have to let him use me to free his mate from prison, and for some strange reason I just knew I couldn't do that. That she couldn't ever be let out."
"Who?"
"Artemis."
"The Greek goddess?"
"Mmhmm. She's the one who made Belmordan a werewolf. She's also purportedly my ancestress."
"My God," Regina said, somewhere between awestruck and disturbed. "Could the family tree get any more insane? Who else is waiting to jump out of the woodwork? Maybe I'll find out some day I'm related to Morgan Le Fey."
Ruby chuckled gingerly, a dark tint to her humor. "You never know. I mean, I still don't know who my father is. Imagine if he's some psychopath who terrorized children and kicked puppies for fun? Villainy seems to run in the family from what I can tell. Belmordan and Artemis. My mother."
When she mentioned her not knowing who her father was, the color drained out of Regina's face, which had Ruby wanting to press as to why. But something told her that was a topic best addressed at a later date when she more healthy and Regina was in a better headspace. It seemed at the moment like a potential minefield waiting to blow up in their faces, so she let it go aside from filing the information away for a later date.
After licking her lips and clearing her throat, some of the color came back to Regina's cheeks. "Sweetheart," she said with a warning carefulness that made Ruby's decision seem wise, "no matter who your father is, no matter who your great-great-great-to-infinity grandfather and grandmother are, it makes no difference. You are a good person." Ruby huffed her disagreement. "You are, Ruby. Ask anyone in town if you don't believe me."
Not normally one known for being saccharine, Ruby thought Regina sure had a way of showing herself to capable of heart-melting sweetness. Gazing lovingly at her amazing spouse, Ruby said, "All I need is for you to."
Regina gave her hand a squeeze as her expression softened. "You have that without question, darling. I love you unconditionally, which means I will always support you and I will always be on your side."
Ruby nibbled on her lip pensively before whispering, "Promise?"
"With all my heart." Regina placed another kiss upon Ruby's knuckles, this one more reverent than the last, before resting her chin upon their joined hands. "Now, why don't you try to get some more rest. I'll go fetch Victor to check up on you in a minute. And who knows? If you do well, maybe we can get you out of here in a few days."
Ruby grumbled in annoyance. "Tomorrow will work for me." Tired already of being abed, she could hardly imagine managing a few days cooped up in this offensively sanitized room with its awful smells and constant noise and untimely flow of visitors. If she was going to be in world's worth of pain for a while, she'd much prefer to endure it at home surrounded by the three precious people that made her life worth living no matter the circumstances.
Unsurprisingly, though, Regina voiced her doubts as to that timeline for Ruby's discharge. Ruby, again being her stubborn self, set about to prove her wife wrong. Which she did. She was biting back tears due to the pain, but she left the hospital on her own two legs only twenty-three hours later when Victor pronounced her ribs healed enough for her to walk around. And while Regina wasn't too happy with her decision to check herself out against medical advisement, all Ruby cared about was getting home to her girls. She'd been far too long without them.
"MAMA!"
Two screaming children came thundering down the curved staircase into the foyer within moments of Regina placing the keys in the door. She barely had time to help Ruby shuffle over the threshold before their daughters were assaulting their recently absent mother.
"Careful," she said as the girls wrapped themselves around Ruby, one on each side with their arms thrown round her waist squeezing for all they were worth. Concern for Ruby's injured ribs was paramount in her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to tear the children away when Ruby was beaming down at them, hands in their hair, tears of joy streaming down her face, and her eyes sparkling with more lively energy than at any time since she'd woken from her medically induced coma.
Regina felt her own tears pricking at her eyes at the sight. Still, as wonderful as their reunion was, she had to prioritize Ruby's health over hugs, however heartfelt and wonderful they were. After giving the embrace a bit more time, she squatted down on her haunches and pried the girls away.
"Come now," she said as they protested being separated from their mother. "Let Mama go." Though glowering petulantly, the girls obeyed, as they always did for her. They had wisely learned long ago that she was not to be tested when she issued a command. Ruby was the pushover parent who let them get away with things she shouldn't, which got her in trouble a good deal, too.
That damnable pout forming, Ruby turned it on Regina as if wielding a lethal weapon. "Regina, it's okay. They're fine."
She flashed her wife with a stern gaze as she stood back up. "Don't even start with me, Ruby." Ruby ducked her head, suitably admonished. Regina then redirected her attention to the children, who were peppering her with whiny complaints. "Listen, there will be plenty of time for hugs when Mama is all healed," she said. Both girls quirked their heads to the side in the canine way they inherited from Ruby.
"But why? I wanna hug her now!" Sophia's lament had Regina smothering a grin.
"Because she was injured very badly," she said in her best motherly tone. "It might hurt her if you hug her wrong. You don't want to hurt Mama, do you?"
Both girls heaved out a crestfallen, "No..."
"Well, then, you have to be careful not to jostle her ribs for a while."
Amelia perked up at the seriously stated instruction. "Oh! You don't have to worry about that, Mommy. Me and Sophie can't do that yet."
"Can't do what, honey?" Ruby asked, eyes dancing with humor while Regina frowned, apparently not in on the joke.
"We can't jostle like Uncle David does. He can do it with four tennis balls at the same time!"
Ruby barked out a laugh at the admittedly cute misinterpretation that was followed immediately by a groan when her ribs protested the action.
Chuckling herself, Regina shook her head at her raven-haired child as she smoothed her hands down the child's arms. "That's juggle, sweetheart. Jostle means no squeezing, or touching, or bumping into Mama's ribs."
"Oh." Amelia shrugged as if the distinction meant nothing and then gave her a cheeky grin. "Okay, Mommy. We'll just hug her legs then!" And without warning both kids sprang forward with squeals of delight to wrap Ruby's legs up in an even more fervent embrace, all the while Ruby beamed proudly at both their exuberance for her and their cleverness at skirting the stipulations.
Regina sighed against her own amused smile. Those three being so impossibly misbehaved was going to make for a long few weeks, but she wouldn't trade their sometimes – okay, oftentimes – frustrating antics for anything.
Sometimes she marveled at how lax she'd grown since the girls were born. There was a time in her life she wouldn't have tolerated such disobedience from her children, nor would she have abided her spouse to blatantly enable the unacceptable behavior. Henry could attest to that as he'd grown up with that strict, overbearing disciplinarian who more resembled Cora's brand of draconian parenting on a good day. Regina was still loathe to admit just how much she'd become like her mother.
She supposed she could assign some of the positive change to her own decision to redeem herself. Initially, she'd done so entirely for the sake of her son, but in time she came to realize that she actually wanted to be a better person for her own benefit. Destroying Snow and holding on to a Curse that was never going to last forever had come frightfully close to entombing her perception of the things that really mattered in life. Henry played a starring role in that reawakening, which is why she'd gone to such lengths to reform her abrasive attitude and abysmal behavior. There had been a number of hiccups along the way and she'd very nearly fallen headlong off the wagon a time or two, but for the most part she has enjoyed varying degrees of success in her effort to transform herself from an infamous villain into a respected heroine.
But not all of her newfound peace could be explained by that initial impetus to be a better person. Some of it belonged to Ruby alone. Since that fateful day at Granny's when Ruby braved the presence of a wounded animal who'd limped in to lick her wounds and had been as close to lashing out in her grief as she was crumpling beneath it, a subtle shifting began that was still in progress to the present. Quite without trying, Ruby put Regina back in touch with the girl she'd once been, the one ready at a moment's notice to abandon all she knew and leave her life of privilege behind for the love of a poor stable boy.
Perhaps it was Ruby's own parallels with Daniel that had inspired that nearly extinguished ember of Regina's personality to reignite. There was, after all, no denying how many similarities the two shared. For one, both were raised by a grandparent having been abandoned by their mothers. There were two subtle differences in Daniel's case. For one, his father had died in the Seventh Great Ogre War when he was only a baby still, and secondly he'd been reared by his grandfather rather than his grandmother as Ruby was. But the principle of their upbringing remained otherwise strikingly lateral in nature. Their upbringings were clearly defined by the selfless individual who had sacrificed so much to provide a home, shelter, and an affection for them that went above and beyond the call of familial duty. For that reason, both had maintained a respectful devotion toward their beloved grandparent, Daniel until his death and Ruby to the present day.
They also bore physical resemblances that were undeniable. Both were fairly tall for their gender, certainly enough that Regina had to crane her neck to kiss them. Which was just fine with her if only because with both Ruby and Daniel, she felt safe enough to give up leverage and be put in a position of vulnerability with her lover. Height aside, they also shared a nearly identical shade of hair, which was the color of rich earth and was so delightful to the touch that she loved to bury her fingers their tresses and luxuriate in the way the silken strands felt against her skin. Additionally, both had light colored eyes, Ruby's green to Daniel's blue, that truly were the windows to their souls through which she could clearly observe a love for her that was so profound as to be frankly impossible for her to fathom. And, of course, both had beautiful smiles that had an ability, reserved to them, to pierce through Regina's tough outer shell straight into her heart where they created a delicious warmth that she would be content to bathe in should it be possible.
And then there was the fact that both were more comfortable surrounded by nature than confined within the four walls of a house, however grand the creature comforts said home offered. From what exposure Regina had to him, Daniel had lived on the saddle. He'd looked so uncomfortable in the scant few times she'd seen him in the house to discuss business with her father that when they grew closer, she always met him at the stables instead of calling him to her, often under the guise of desiring his advice during an impromptu practice dressage session with Rocinante. They'd spent many hours afield, just the two of them and their beloved steeds under the blue skies.
Ruby was not quite so keen on horses as Daniel, but she loved being outside every bit as much. The yard stayed pristine during the warm months, as did the garden, because Ruby was either mowing, trimming hedges, or plucking weeds of an afternoon. This grated at Regina's nerves at times because ordinarily that would have been her job, but she said nothing because she also felt a little bad about how much of a homebody she became when the weather took a turn around October, and often felt Ruby might be suffocating inside all afternoon and evening just so Regina didn't have to brave the harsh New England winters. Ruby seemed to actually enjoy the work, too, and seeing that was the case, Regina would just pitch in rather than chastise Ruby for taking on too much responsibility around the house. Not that she was complaining, per se, about her yard being the envy of Storybrooke. Beyond outdoor 'chores' Ruby could also be found simply meandering the woods for her own pleasure. On nights when Wolf's Time drew near, she would spend at least an hour each night communing with the segment of their environment nearest home that remained unsullied by human progress. Regina accompanied her quite often, especially when Henry was on break from school, and she found it hard to peel her eyes away from how at ease Ruby was amidst the towering pines and oaks that populated Storybrooke's dense forest. The grace with which Ruby navigated that rough terrain often took Regina's breath away, and served as a sobering reminder that her wife was no ordinary woman, but a creature of magic whose connection to nature ran far deeper than even that of even the most rugged outdoors enthusiast.
Being a gregarious person who had a vicious competitive streak, Ruby also participated in a variety of sports. Volleyball was one such activity she enjoyed, and she took every opportunity she could to rope a few of her friends down to the smooth stretch of sandy beach a few miles south of Storybrooke. She also adored soccer because of all the running involved, though she didn't get to play that much because her age group was so obsessed with the main Americana sports: baseball, basketball, and football. As a pseudo-compromise, Ruby started up and then organized an annual softball tournament every year. It took two years for it to really catch on, but the event had become a staple of summer in Storybrooke. In fact, quite a rivalry had developed up between the team fielded by local law enforcement chapters and the Storybrooke General hospital, mainly due to Ruby and Victor's on-the-field jawing. That, and Ruby's insufferable showboating every time she hit a home run.
There were yet more parallels, though, between Daniel and Ruby, such their deep affinity for animals. While drawing from divergent sources, that passion for wildlife drove them both to defend and care for creatures mostly dismissed as inconsequential or considered at best their property for their owners to abuse at their every whim. It Daniel's love of horses that made him such a gifted groom and so skilled an equestrian. Likewise, it was Ruby's love of wolves that lead her to journey to another world in a desperate bid to save what few of the animals remained in the area.
Perhaps the most obvious link was the relative socioeconomic poverty they were born into, but that was something neither allowed to define them. To do compare them in that way would, Regina felt, be a slight against their characters that she simply couldn't stomach.
That said, Ruby was not Daniel, and had her own strengths that balanced out Regina's in ways Daniel probably never could have. Mainly her ability to comprehend the darkness Regina struggled with. Daniel was the definition of innocence, more so than even Snow White, and could never have sympathized with the urges Regina wrestled with on a daily basis even in her purest state. Ruby understood her on a fundamental level that no one ever had, and not only that, accepted her for who she was rather than who she wanted Regina to be. Free to be herself without oppressive expectations, Regina had flourished as a result of their relationship. The thorny stem of her healthy cynicism and combustible anger kept solemn vigil over the delicate petals of gaiety and kindness which were permitted to blossom under the nourishing sun of Ruby's love.
She was, in effect, as whole as she could possibly be, and that completeness afforded her a tolerance for silliness and obstinance that otherwise could not exist.
"Sorry, sorry!" Zelena sang, wrenching Regina's attention to watch the tall redhead belatedly rushed down the staircase after her responsibilities.
Regina had left her sister in charge of the girls as Zelena had the afternoon off due to being scheduled to work graveyard at the hospital where she doubled, strangely enough, as a nurse and a midwife. It took quite some time for Zelena to earn the townspeople's trust after her brief post-Pan reign of terror, but she'd been successfully plying the trades her own version of the Dark Curse supplied her with long enough that she was hardly ever greeted with the suspicion she'd once garnered from patients. Zelena was rather like Regina in that way, which served as a nice reminder to Regina that she and her sister had more things in common than not.
"They hurried off before I could even turn around," Zelena said once she was mingling with the small crowd in the foyer. "I couldn't leave Frankie alone without ensuring she wasn't about to tear down the Lego palace they spent the morning building. Cheeky little monkey, that one is."
Regina chuckled at the apt description. Francesca was a saucy little thing just like her mum, only her hair was more strawberry blonde than red and her tantrums were far more palatable...and cute. Regina adored her niece nearly as much as she did her own daughters, which is why she allowed them to spend so much time together. That, and she felt it was vital that their relational bond be strengthened as much as possible in their formative years. She didn't want the cousins to be as deprived of family as their mothers were, a sentiment with which Ruby agreed wholeheartedly.
"'Sup Greenie." Ruby greeted Zelena with an audacious grin that was returned in full.
Looking entirely pleased at the sight of Ruby back home where she belonged, Zelena trilled, "Well, hello there my favorite little pup! Caused such a ruckus they kicked you out already, have you?"
Ruby chuckled lightly. "You know me so well."
"Unfortunately so." Zelena giggled when Ruby slapped at her biceps. She then glanced at Regina, who gave her grateful smile, before sinking down to her haunches in front of her nieces. Much like Regina just had with Amelia, she ran her hands down their arms in a soothing gesture meant to encourage compliance. "My lovelies, I know you're both excited Mama's back home, but why don't you go help your cousin clean up for lunch while your Mums and I have a chat, eh?"
As to be expected, both girls protested the suggestion, so Regina did what she does best: play the villain. "Girls. Listen to your Aunt. Go help Frankie wash up for lunch or there will be no apple crisp for dessert."
That did the trick. Both Amelia and Sophia immediately snapped to attention at the mention of apple crisps, and then obeyed without another complaint at the suggestion they might be denied the delectable treat. She watched them scurry away with an indulgent smile. Just like their mother, she thought, always lead about by their stomachs. Regina had learned a long time ago that the old adage about the quickest route to a man's heart was just as true for Ruby.
"So, in all seriousness..." Zelena said once the girls had cleared the vicinity. Her expression took on a more grave note as she stared critically at Ruby. "You're looking well for a woman whose ribs were turned into pulp. Victor let me have a peek at the X-rays. You're lucky you weren't on two legs when you hit that tree."
Ruby ducked her head to stare at her shuffling feet, intent on avoiding Zelena's unyielding gaze for as long as possible. Regina didn't blame her, as it rather reminded her of their mother. She shivered at the effect as her arms pebbled with goosebumps.
"I know," Ruby said, looking apologetic when she glanced back up. "Your sister already read me the riot act on the way home."
"Good on you, Sis!" Zelena said, turning to offer a high five Regina, who smugly completed the gesture.
Ruby glowered at them both. "The disapproval of one Mills woman is bad enough. But two ganging up on me is just totally unfair! In fact, there ought to be a law against it."
"Is that right?" Zelena said, brow arched severely. "Well, you shouldn't have bloody well nearly got yourself killed, then."
Ruby grumbled out her reply. "It's not like I went out looking for some random madman to terrorize me because he thinks I'm family."
"Just the same, I'd appreciate if you were more careful in the future. I've grown rather fond of you, I'm afraid. And besides, I can't have you gallivanting about getting yourself killed when Regina just got you good and housebroken."
Regina laughed under her breath at how cross Ruby got at the canine comparison, and even more when that expression sharpened into mock betrayal at her own follow up. "Well, said, Sis. I've invested far too much time training her to have it all so imprudently wasted. She even fetches on command now. Don't you, dear?"
Eyes narrowed, Ruby let out an exasperated harrumph. "Wow! A dog joke about Ruby. How original! Har har. You are both so hilarious! I should sign the both of you up for comedy night at The Rabbit Hole."
"Now, now, let's not go too far," said Zelena, tittering with amusement. "I'm funny, but I dare say my sense of humor wouldn't be appreciated in such a classy establishment."
"True. Fart jokes don't really fly on the over-five-year-old crowd." Ruby's deadpan delivery was worthy of Regina, which only made it that much more funny.
After a bark of laughter that had her slapping her thighs, Zelena calmed enough to return to the subject at hand with a more serious approach. "Touche! Annoyance at your proclivity for injury aside, I am glad you're okay. When Regina called me, she was all deathly calm and detached. I thought the worst was happening again cause she'd went into shutdown mode."
"I sort of had by that time," Regina said. "I was dealing with worrying myself sick about Ruby in addition to a Savior who refused to go home and rest even though she could barely hold her head up. Honestly, if it hadn't been for Esperanza, I might have torn my hair out. I swear, Emma is just too much to handle at times that I can't fathom how Hook manages with just one."
"Creative usage, I suppose," said Zelena, and with a lewd glint to her eyes that drew a snort of laughter from Regina and a disgusted sound from Ruby.
"I could have done without that mental imagine. Thanks."
Regina seconded the statement, though she gave her sister a sly wink of approval at the unwholesome jest.
"So," Ruby said after rolling her eyes at them both, "did I hear someone mention lunch? 'Cause I have to admit, I'm absolutely starving." As if to punctuate the declaration her stomach growled so loudly that Regina thought she probably could have heard it upstairs.
Zelena's eyes bulged at the volume. "Oh, my! It sounds as if your situation is dire indeed. What say we get some grub in this pup's tummy, Sis?"
"I'd say that's an excellent suggestion," Regina said. She reached out to rub Ruby's back. "If we don't, we might get a front row seat to a living enactment of this world's version of her fairy tale."
"Oh, Ruby," Zelena sang merrily, holding her fingers to her lips in mock fear, "what big teeth you have!"
Ruby decided to play along. Her good humor had evidently returned. "All the better to eat you with, my dear!"
Hands at her hips, Regina played at being enraged. "I should hope not, Missy! Else you'll be sleeping on the couch tonight!"
Regina watched Ruby slink over into her personal space through narrowed eyes that rolled before relaxing as her wife slid into her arms.
"Aw, baby," Ruby crooned once nestled in Regina's embrace, their noses brushing for their proximity, She then clinked her unnaturally pearly white teeth together, eyes glinting and crinkled at the sides. "You know you're the only one I want to devour."
"I better be," Regina said, then ducked in for a lingering kiss. When they parted, she glanced over Ruby's shoulder to see her sister with her index finger in her open mouth as if she was gagging herself.
"You two are impossibly disgusting," Zelena said. "I'm going to the kitchen to get started on lunch before my appetite is gone." And with that she turned and left without another word.
Regina watched her go but never relinquished her hold on Ruby. They stayed there in the foyer, lightly swaying in each others arms, drinking in being together at home again until Zelena's shrill call pierced their happy little bubble.
"Are you lot coming or am I going to do this all by my lonesome?"
Regina chuckled as she drew away from Ruby. Stepping up from the foyer onto the main floor, she offered Ruby her hand. "Come on, let's go help or we won't hear the end of it for days."
"Heaven forbid," Ruby said as she clasped their hands together. And then they headed into the kitchen where Zelena was waiting with a corny joke that had them dissolving into peals of laughter that didn't seem to stop the entire time they were preparing their afternoon meal.
After an uneventful lunch mostly free from puerile antics from children and adults alike, Zelena joined Regina and Ruby in the living room to chat while the kids played for a bit longer. An hour or so later, she wrangled her only offspring to head home so she could get ready for a work later in the evening. Frankie adamantly refused to be pulled from an intense session of Pirates and Princesses where she was playing the part of the heroic and virtuous Regina of Misthaven while Amelia and Sophia hammed it up as the thieving rapscallions Hook and Smee who were plundering Princess Regina's hapless villagers. Once the game ended, though, Zelena put her foot down, and when Frankie began to object, gave her daughter 'the look.' It was yet another subconscious channeling of Cora that Zelena seemed to be able to summon at will, and one that even worked on her from time to time. Against that dreadful weapon, four-year-old Francesca didn't stand a chance.
The door was barely shut behind Zelena before Ruby was beset by a terrific yawn that made her eyes water, the sockets of her jaw pop, and which strained her ribs to the point where she could not conceal her discomfort.
"Alright, you. Come with me," Regina said, then latched onto her wife's hand and dragged her back into the living room. Ruby followed silently, though her brow was raised at the brazen action. Once back at the couch, Regina guided Ruby down and then gingerly pushed her by the shoulders until she was reclined against the cushions. As she stooped down to pick up Ruby's legs by the ankles to swing them up, she noticed a deep frown forming upon her wife's tantalizing lips.
"I'm not tired," Ruby groused once Regina had her legs up on the couch and was fetching one of the throw pillows in the corner.
Regina shot Ruby a warning glance as she tucked the pillow beneath her head. "And I'm not fooled by your attempts to hide how much pain you're in."
For a moment, Ruby looked like she was about to deny the assertion, but then she relented and blew out an exhale that devolved into a petulant raspberry. The hurt in her eyes was no longer muted by her ineffective concealment.
"Fine," she said. "It hurts. Doesn't mean I have to lay around like an invalid."
Regina held her tongue against a bitter retort, knowing Ruby was just railing against having spent so much time cooped up already. "I'm not suggesting you do any such thing. I'd just like for you to rest for a few minutes while I make sure the children aren't destroying their room. Is that asking too much?"
The pout Ruby leveled at her was as humorous as it was adorable. "No..."
"Well, then," Regina said around a smile, "be a good girl and when I get back, I'll get you a pain pill to help you relax..."
Ruby butted in before Regina could finish the thought. "That's not much of an incentive."
"That wasn't the incentive. I was going to say, and then I'll let you curl up in my lap."
Green eyes widened with excitement at the prospect of some quality cuddle time. "Really?"
"Yes, really. Now, are you going to behave while I go upstairs?" Ruby nodded fervently as she hummed her promise to do just that.
Before turning to leave, Regina ran her fingers through Ruby's hair and then carefully bent over at the waist to join their lips together. Her eyes slipped closed at the lovely feeling of having Ruby's prominent lower lip trapped between her own. Sucking with just a slight amount of pressure, she heard a sigh of utter satisfaction rush through Ruby's chest and then escape her nostrils that she echoed with a contented one of her own.
After parting with an audible smack, a sound Regina loved, she straightened back up. Fingers still tangled in the hair at Ruby's temple, she said, "I won't be long."
Ruby nibbled at her lip, cheeks flushing prettily. "I'll be waiting right here."
True to her word, Ruby was waiting exactly where Regina left her when she returned about half an hour later. Regina hadn't intended to be gone longer than five minutes, but when she'd arrived at the bedroom her daughters shared, the girls both had their noses buried in books. Like her, they were avid readers, a habit she had every intention to nurture as they transitioned from adolescence into teenagers and then on into young adulthood. Ruby read as well, but not as frequently as Regina did, and when she did read it was mostly science fiction or fantasy. Although the subjects were ones Regina typically avoided as someone who would rather keep as much distance from her fairy tale past as possible, she didn't begrudge Ruby's preference, especially since she never would have been introduced to Robert Jordan, Frank Herbert, or a handful of other author's whose tomes she'd devoured.
Looking in on the girls only turned into an adventure when they caught her peeking around the doorway, watching their little faces all scrunched up in concentration or caught in wonderment over a passage they'd just read. The books were quickly set aside in lieu of begging their mother to play a game of Go Fish, after which they'd pleaded for her help to complete the Lego palace they'd begun building with their cousin, Francesca. With her aid, it reached prodigious heights that had Sophia and Amelia dancing an impromptu jig that Regina wished she'd caught on video – it would have made a nice addition to her Facebook page.
Eventually, though, she remembered her promise to Ruby and tore herself away from two disappointed children whose pouts almost persuaded to her to give them, "Just five more minutes, Mommy!" In exchange for their acquiescence, she agreed to let them stay up an hour later that night and have their bedtime story read by both their parents, a luxury they weren't often afforded.
By the time Regina got back downstairs, Ruby was asleep on the couch. She would have left her wife alone had it not been for Ruby's unsubtle shifting and wincing every minute or so, indicating how much pain she really was in, as well as her occasional moaning which pointed to a nightmare. Regina left Ruby a second time only long enough to fetch her prescribed pain pills and a glass of water with which to take them.
Waking Ruby up proved easier than normal. Just a whisper of her name had her shooting awake, eyes huge as she panted and cast fearful eyes about.
"It's just me," Regina said reassuringly. "You're at home. Everything is okay."
When Ruby caught her eyes, she instantly deflated. "Oh, thank God. I was back there for a minute, waiting for him to kill me."
To avoid an accident, Regina placed the glass of water and the pills upon the coffee table before easing herself down onto the cushions at Ruby's hips. She then rested her hand on a propped up knee. "You're safe now, my love. Nothing can harm you so long as I'm near."
"My hero," Ruby said with a loving smile. "So ready and willing to protect me."
Regina gave her knee a squeeze. "And I always will be. That said," she fetched the water and pills, "you need to take these." Ruby glowered at the small oblong white objects as if they were a giant offense, but took them just the same. After giving her opioid-phobic wife a due round of praise for her obedience, Regina replaced the glass of water upon the table and then nudged suggestively at Ruby's legs. "Now, what do you say about me making good on the promise I made before I left?"
Ruby grinned enthusiastically and gave a little cheer. "I'd say, 'Yay!'"
Chuckling, Regina said, "Well, scoot down then and give me some room."
When Ruby complied, Regina maneuvered herself into the corner and then gathered up a few throw pillows to wedge between her body and the arm. After fluffing them, she patted her lap for Ruby to climb on. No time was wasted by Ruby in clambering up onto her lap like the big, silly kid she often was. She didn't even need to be told how to arrange herself, as this was a sort of ritual for them. Stretching out longways, Ruby's upper torso was in Regina's lap while the side of her head rested against Regina's chest so that the back of it was supported by the pillows. All snuggled in, Ruby heaved a pleased sigh that Regina echoed. Ruby had only winced in discomfort twice as she laid down.
Almost immediately, Regina's instinct to protect and nurture those she loved reared up in earnest. She began gently rocking to and fro while singing her favorite lullaby as she held Ruby just snugly enough to not aggravate her injuries. It took only until she was halfway through the song for Ruby to fall asleep again, lulled back into the waiting arms of oblivion by the swaying, her gravelly voice, and the seductive pull of the strong painkillers. Even so, Regina kept rocking and singing, as much for her own comfort as anything. Pretty soon, she too started to drift off.
But just as her head lulled slack against Ruby's crown, the sound of the door unlocking startled her away. Her grip on Ruby tightened, but not enough to wake her, and she readied her magic at her fingertips just in case the intruder was someone unwanted, though she couldn't imagine why some undesirable visitor would have a key to her house.
And as the person entered the foyer, stepped up onto the landing, and then approached the living room, Regina tensed for confrontation.