Thanks for your patience and for sticking with this story, everyone! I don't have excuses for this delinquent chapter other than 1) a PhD is a TON of work and 2) wedding planning is no joke either.
Happy New Year! Sending you all lots of love!
XX
Chapter 35:
The night before Henry's party, Emma drove her brand-new Kia Soul to Regina's manor. The alien green car possessed personality just like the yellow bug, but she missed her clunky old junk heap with its busted leather seats and single working radio station. Still, she had to admit, the Soul was a more family-friendly choice.
Family-friendly. She wanted to scoff at the phrase, but the thought brought a beaming grin to her face.
As she turned off the ignition, her phone vibrated in the cup holder. She jumped at the unexpected noise before plucking up the infernal device.
Killian.
She answered.
"Hey, Ugly Duckling," crackled through the speakers of her car.
"Whoa, the magic of Bluetooth," she exclaimed. "I'm still not used to this thing."
"What thing?"
"New car. I finally managed to total the Bug. So I guess you win that bet."
Laughter filled the dark interior. "Well, I guess that explains why you never returned my call."
"Ah. Right." She chewed on the inside of her cheek, the memories of drinking in The Rabbit Hole with her old friend and being offered the job with his fishing co-op flooding back.
"I have to admit I still haven't made a decision." Her eyes flicked to the Mills' Manor as the front porch lights went on, welcoming her inside.
"I hate to be on your ass about it, Swan, but I'm gonna need an answer soon. The guys and I need someone to keep us in line. You wouldn't believe it out here—the drinking, the money, the women…We're gonna play gigs from the northern coast of Maine down to the Caribbean. It's about time you got back to your music, isn't it?"
Half-listening to what once would have been a dream opportunity, she watched the heavy oak door to the manor open and smiled when a tousled head of hair peeked outside.
"Swan, you listening to me?"
She snapped back to attention. "Sorry, Killian. I'm kind of in the middle of something. I promise I'll have an answer for you soon, okay?"
She hung up on her friend before he could reply and opened the door in time to catch Henry's bear hug.
"Oof, kid, you're getting bigger by the minute," she said as the bundle of little boy turning into teenager snuggled in close.
"Mom wanted to know what was taking you so long," he mumbled into her thick, fluffy coat.
"I just had a phone call to take care of," she told him.
"Then, can we go inside already? We have something for you."
She followed him out into the chilled evening. "Did you even notice that I have a new car, Henry?"
"Of course. Mom told me." he replied without even a glance back at the Soul. "That's why we got you a present."
"It's supposed to be your birthday, so why do I get a present?" she asked, as they kicked off their shoes in the entryway.
She had her foot halfway out of her second sneaker when Regina sauntered out from the kitchen toward the front door.
Tonight, the brunette wore a tight-fitting black jumpsuit that cinched at her ankles and waist, showing off every one of her fabulous curves. The jumpsuit dipped low enough that a whisper of her ample cleavage brought a blush to the blonde's cheeks.
Only Regina would wear something like that to lounge around the house in, she thought, still frozen in her tracks by the jaw-dropping beauty. And, well, maybe Cora Mills.
She banished the thought of the frigid older woman as soon as she came to mind.
"Emma, must you always let in the cold?" Regina chided.
She drew close, her warm body nearly touching the blonde, as she reached past to shut and lock the front door with a definite click.
Emma gulped, as smoldering bourbon eyes met hers.
They'd made a promise to discuss Henry's grades this evening, while Emma was at the dealership—a conversation that could go either way. But perhaps the older woman had other, more sensual plans in mind as well.
Heat rushed to Emma's core, and she tripped over the shoe she'd taken off and sent the one still half-on flying across the room.
She nearly face-planted when Regina caught her.
"Trying to give yourself concussion number two on my watch?" the brunette asked, her slight but strong arms deliciously tight around Emma's body.
She met Regina's eyes once more, and there was something new in them—something fiercely protective, a fire similar to the way that the other woman looked at her son. Suddenly, Emma felt young and small, but unlike her childhood, she felt…safe. She felt home, truly home, in a way she'd only glimpsed or dreamt about before.
"T-thank you for catching me," she stuttered.
A smile curved on the plump, nude lips that Emma had kissed so many times, that she wanted to kiss so many more. "I promise you that I will do my best to always catch you."
Like magnets, they drew nearer.
"Uh." Henry's voice interrupted them. "Can we give Emma her present now, or are you guys going to keep being gross?"
"Oh right. The gift." And just like that, Regina Mills was back to business, releasing Emma and standing once more.
It took the blonde a few seconds longer to struggle back into reality, but she tailed behind the two into the kitchen. There, a gift bag as green as her new car awaited her.
"Go ahead," Henry said, gesturing. "Open it."
She plucked the bag off the island and gave it a shake. "Hope it's not something fragile."
"Emma, it's not," Regina said with a laugh. "I think we know by now that you're a bit of a bull in a china shop."
"Hey," she exclaimed, as she ripped out tissue paper and simultaneously proved her lover's point.
She stuck her hand into the bag and felt around. Something metal. And four wheels? As, the rest of the tissue paper settled by her feet, she peeked inside.
Nestled toward the bottom of the bag was a miniature Volkswagen Beetle. It was the same powder yellow as her own had been. And behind the steering wheel sat a blonde clay figure, wearing a flannel that looked suspiciously familiar.
"It's…" Emma could feel tears welling up in her eyes. "It's perfect."
She glanced up through blurry vision to take in two beaming faces. "Thank you both. So much."
"Do you really like it, dear?" Regina asked.
"Did you see that you're inside of it? We had that done special," Henry boasted.
"It's—it's the best present I've ever received."
They were on her weak-kneed person in an instant, swallowing her in their hug and crushing the gift close to Emma's chest.
She closed her eyes, letting the tears spill and the warmth envelope her. She wished the moment could last forever.
But of course they released her.
"Would you like to take Henry out and hang your present from the rearview mirror?" Regina asked, wiping one of blonde's tears with her thumb. "I'll heat up dinner while you do."
"Come on, kid," Emma said around the lump in her throat.
Arm-in-arm, they headed back into the cold where the perfectly preserved double of her old and faithful car claimed its rightful spot.
This time, Henry exclaimed over the new car, crawled across the back seats, and twisted every single nob on the dash. Just when Emma was convinced she'd never be able to find her favorite radio station again, Regina called them back inside.
They ate a pizza—if a cauliflower crust and cashew cheese counted as pizza—at the island, Henry guzzling his milk, while Regina and Emma shared a bottle of red wine.
"After this, it's homework time, no excuses, even though Emma is here," Regina told him, as she shoveled the last bite of his fifth slice into his mouth.
"But it's Friday," he whined.
The older woman opened her mouth, but it was the blonde who responded.
"All the better to get a bunch of stuff done now, kid, so you can enjoy the rest of the weekend, especially your party."
She could see the wheels turning in his head, looking for a flaw in her logic.
But in the end, he shrugged. "Guess so."
"Dishes in the sink," Regina reminded him.
He complied and scampered off, and the brunette turned to her with raised brows.
"What? Did I do something wrong?"
"Wrong? That was amazing. Friday nights are always the hardest with him, especially if he's spent the night before with my parents."
Emma could sense it coming—the discussion she'd been dreading, since Cora accused her of failing her favorite student.
"Glad I could help."
"You do." From across the marble island, the brunette reached for her hand. "You really do. And about his grade in your class…"
Emma tensed, squeezing her lover's hand without meaning to.
"We're in a difficult spot, aren't we? What, with you being his teacher and me being your principal and your—your girlfriend."
Emma's heart leapt at the term of endearment, said so sweetly and hesitantly from the other woman's lips.
"And when you throw my mother and father into the mix, well, we find ourselves in quite the predicament, don't we?
"Seems we do."
Regina's brows knitted together. "I've been over and over everything in my mind, trying to find a way to please everyone, but it simply isn't possible. So do you want to know what I keep coming up with every time I've thought about this conversation?"
Did she?
Not if it meant being fired and sent away.
When she realized she was squeezing even tighter, she willed herself to breathe deep.
Whatever's coming, you have to accept it.
"Tell me," she said.
"I want you in Henry's life. You're a good teacher—no, a great teacher—my mother's opinions aside. Truly, I get calls from the parents of other students, asking where I found you and if I can't bring on more teachers like you."
"Y-you do?"
"Yes. Not to mention, you've inspired the students who run the literary magazine and brought out a spark in my son that I've never seen in all the years he's played tennis. You showed me how alike he and I really are—and how much like my parents I was becoming."
"You only want the best for him," Emma mumbled around her rising flush.
"And more than anything else, I want you in my life. It's selfish, I know, to want you when I am your principal and when the School Board is set against you."
"It's not—"
The brunette placed a finger over her lips, silencing her.
"It is selfish, and that is the part of this puzzle that I don't know quite how to solve. Perhaps I quit my job and pursue my writing as I always dreamed. I am compensated well and have been lucky enough to save enough money for Henry and I to live—not as well as we do now, but to have our basic needs met and some comforts…"
"You can't do that," Emma interrupted. "That's crazy talk. Regina, I'm just a temporary teacher until Mary Margaret comes back. You're the only one standing between the School Board and your students.
"And I know that you love writing, but you love being principal as well. I mean, I can't imagine what you'd do if you didn't have people to boss around. If you want me to stay in Storybrooke, I will. I'll get another teaching job at another school nearby after my term ends."
The other woman shook her head. "That won't be possible. My mother will do all in her power to ruin any possibility of a teaching career that you could ever have. Perhaps, you would consider letting me take care of you? You could work on your music that way, and—"
"No," Emma said. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't accept that. My pride is on the line, and it's about all I have. If you want me to stay in Storybrooke, then we provide equally in this…relationship."
"Then, it comes down to my mother, and by extension, my father," Regina said, and at once, she looked drawn and pale.
"Maybe we could move?" Emma suggested. "Start over somewhere new?"
This time, it was Regina's turn to squeeze Emma's hand. "No. I cannot continue to run. Then, it would be my pride on the line. I've known deep down that I would have to face them eventually about us, about my sexuality."
"You don't have to do it alone."
"Oh, but I do," Regina murmured, her eyes sad and tender as they drank in the blonde beside her. "This is my war that I dragged you into, and I must be the one to lead us out victorious."
"How?"
"Tomorrow, I will set my parents straight," Regina said. "After the party."
"So…soon."
The brunette leaned forward and placed a brief kiss on Emma's lips. "Maybe for you, but for me, this has been a long time coming. Thank you for being the one to give me the courage to finally do the right thing."