I am once again so sorry that is has taken me so long to get this chapter to you. I have been ill and then hit a bit of writers block which was driving me crazy but I think I have passed it. This story will be wrapping up fairly soon, not sure exactly how many more chapters there will be but shouldn't be too many. Perhaps between two and four. Anyway I shall let you get on with reading. I hope you enjoy!
A few months had passed and things had started to calm down a little in Storybrooke now the curse had been broken and Cora had her heart back. Regina was now five months along in her pregnancy and had a nice neat rounded bump. Robin had moved into the mansion and he and Henry were getting along splendidly. Henry split his time between Regina and Emma wanting to see both of them as much as he could.
Things with Cora, although were better were still awkward. Regina and Zelena were trying their hardest to trust Cora but were finding it hard to trust her completely. If it seemed like Cora was starting to get angry Regina and Zelena would both feel anxious thinking Cora would lash out at them like she used to. They were never sure if Cora was actually feeling love towards them or if she was playing along as some kind of plan to upset their now happier lives.
Cora tried her hardest to try and prove to both her girls that she meant every loving word she now said to them. She was trying as much as she could to make up for all the years she was horrible to them. She knew it would take time but she was still a little impatient with the fact they still didn't trust her.
Zelena and Regina were sat in Grannies. They were meeting Cora for lunch to try and bond a little more but they got their a little earlier so they could talk beforehand.
"This is going to be another awkward lunch I just know it." Zelena sighed as she rested her elbow on the table and then her chin on her hand.
"It may well be but we have to try with her Zee." Regina replied resting back a little and placing her hand on her rounded bump. "It's perhaps not as easy as we thought it may be to trust our mother after everything she has done."
"It definitely isn't. I still find myself watching her closely to see if she is plotting something behind our backs." Zelena said.
Regina nodded. "I know but we need to maybe try a bit harder. Let her in a bit more. I was thinking of inviting her along to baby shopping."
"What? I thought it was just going to be us?" Zelena asked huffing a little at the thought of their mother joining them.
Regina rolled her eyes. "I know but it might be good for her to join us. Another way for us all to try and bond a bit more."
Zelena huffed a little more and pouted. "I hate that you seem to be trusting her so much more than me. Which really is ridiculous as she has screwed your life up more than mine."
"I'm not more trusting I just…I don't know..." Regina shrugged her shoulders. "I just want to keep trying to make this work. I want to have a relationship with mother. I know after everything she has done…to an outsider it may seem weird that I want a relationship with her but I don't want to just give up on her. Everyone deserves a second chance Zee, even mother." Regina explained. "We gave you a second chance."
Zelena rolled her eyes. "You're really pulling that one on me?" Regina smirked and nodded her head and Zelena sighed. "Alright fair enough your right. I just…don't expect me to get into this right away."
Regina was just about to reply when the door to Grannies opened and she saw Cora step inside. She pushed herself up and nodded towards the door. Zelena turned a little and then turned back to look at Regina. "Be nice." Regina whispered.
"I will." Zelena hissed back.
Cora walked over to Regina and Zelena feeling a little nervous. She gave an awkward smiled as Regina looked up and Regina smiled back at her. "Hello mother." Regina said as she pushed herself up and gave her mother a quick cuddle.
"Hello Regina." Cora replied. She looked over towards Zelena who made no movement. "Hello Zelena."
"Hi." Zelena replied quickly and Regina rolled her eyes.
Regina shuffled back into the booth and patted the seat beside her motioning for Cora to sit down. Cora did so and Regina handed her a menu. "Not sure if you know what you're going to have or need to have a look…" Regina said as Cora looked down at the menu in confusion.
"Erm…well…I'm not sure really…I haven't actually ever eaten in here." Cora said as she took the menu from Regina's hands and opened it.
Regina frowned. "Really? After all the years we have been in this town you haven't eaten in Grannies?" Regina asked.
Cora shook her head. "I kind of avoided anywhere like this…where all the people in the town would be."
Regina looked over towards Zelena for confirmation and Zelena nodded her head. Regina then looked back at Cora who was glancing over the menu. "Would you like me to give a few suggestions on what is good?" Regina asked.
Cora looked up and gave Regina a smile. "I would like that."
Regina smiled back. "Okay…" She shuffled a little closer to Cora and leaned in to look at the menu. "Well the chicken salad is nice. I think you would like that…Or the…"
Zelena watched Regina and Cora together and she found it hard to believe how Regina seemed to find it so easy to fall into this kind of relationship with their mother. Yes Regina had said she didn't trust their mother but from any onlooker it looked completely different. Regina seemed to have put everything aside, all the horrible things Cora had done, and moved on and Zelena wondered why she couldn't do such a thing as easily as her little sister.
"Zee? Zee are you okay?" Regina's voice broke through into Zelena's thoughts and Zelena shook her head slightly and looked at Regina who was frowning. "Are you okay?" Regina repeated.
"Yea…sorry. Yea I'm fine. Was just lost in my head there." Zelena replied. "So have you chosen what to eat?" Zelena asked looking at Cora.
Cora nodded her head. "I am going to try the chicken salad. Regina insists I will like it."
"Regina is probably right." Zelena replied. Zelena then motioned for a waitress to come over and they ordered their meals. As soon as the waitress left the table fell into an awkward silence as all three women tried to think what to say next. Zelena tapped her fingers on the table, Cora looked around her and Regina rested back against the chair and rubbed her hand over her bump.
"So…Mother I was wondering…" Regina said breaking through the silence. "Zelena and I were going to do a little shopping after here…for the baby…and I was wondering if you would like to join us?"
"You want me to join you?" Cora asked in surprise. She was surprise enough that they had asked her here never mind to join them on a shopping trip.
"Yes. I mean don't feel like you have to but I thought it might be nice for you to join us and have some input on what I get for the baby." Regina said. "Robin is leaving most of the shopping to me as he says he has no clue what to get the baby…which is the honest truth." Regina said with a little laugh.
"Yea clueless is the word." Zelena replied sarcastically with a smile to tell Regina she was joking.
Regina rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Zelena. "He is not clueless he just…Isn't entirely sure what to get a baby in this land. I have done this once before so I have a slight advantage."
"Are you going to use any of Henry's old things for the baby?" Cora asked.
Regina nodded her head. "Yes. I still have Henry's cot and his pram and car seat. I kept them all in the basement. But I would like to try and get some new stuff. I have a scan in a couple of days to find out whether I am having a boy or a girl so after then I can start buying pink or blue things and I can get Robin to start decorating the nursery."
"Robin is going to do the decorating?" Cora asked.
"Yes he insists he can do it." Regina shrugged her shoulders. They fell into another awkward silence and Regina looked from both Zelena and Cora and rolled her eyes a little. Both of them were as stubborn as each other. "I'm just going to pop to the toilet. I swear this baby thinks my bladder is a pillow of some kind." She said with a small laugh.
Cora shuffled out of the booth and helped Regina out. Regina walked off to the toilet and Cora sat back down in the booth. She bit her lip a little as she and Zelena both sat in silence. Zelena tapped her fingers on the table and looked out the window. "I'm sorry if Regina inviting me on your shopping trip was not what you wanted…" Cora started. She had picked up on Zelena's disinterest in herself joining them for their baby shopping trip.
"Not my choice to invite you." Zelena shrugged. "If Regina wants to invite you then it's her choice."
Cora sighed a little. "You do know that I am sorry for everything I have done to you? Everything I put you through…"
"You may well be but it doesn't take away everything you did. You forced me into a marriage I didn't want just so you could gain what? Power? Royalty? That was your only goal in life mother and congratulations you succeeded but then once you had that and Regina rebelled against you suddenly that wasn't enough was it? You couldn't just be happy with the power you had with me around, no Regina had to be with us as well even though she didn't want to be." Zelena ranted letting out everything she had been bottling up over the years. "You made Regina's life hell and my life hell and you think saying sorry will make it all better?!"
"I don't think that…" Cora sighed.
Regina came out of the toilet and walked over to the edge of the counter where Ruby was standing. "Are they talking now?" Regina asked leaning on the counter, trying to stay back so Zelena and Cora wouldn't see her.
Ruby nodded her head. "Yes Zelena is giving her the what for. Why aren't you?" Ruby asked looking towards Regina.
"I already have." Regina shrugged. "My mother and I sat down and talked not long after we gave her her heart back. I ranted and raved about everything. Got everything out and then we just talked…By all means it didn't fix anything completely but it made it easier for me to try and let her back into my life."
"So your hoping if Zelena does this then it will do the same for her?" Ruby said.
Regina nodded her head. "I hope so. My mother really screwed up Zee's life though. It might be harder for her."
"Really? It always seemed like she screwed up your life more." Ruby said.
"People may think that but none has any idea what went on between my mother and Zelena." Regina sighed. She then looked back over at Zelena and Cora.
"I don't think just saying sorry will fix everything Zelena. If I could I would take everything back but I can't." Cora said.
"Why did you do it?" Zelena asked.
"Do what?"
"Take your heart out…Why did you do that? Why make yourself heartless?" Zelena asked.
"It made things easier…it made it easier for me to do the things I done…and…well believe it or not before I met your father I fell in love." Cora started to explain. "But back then I was angry and selfish so instead of following my heart and being with the man I loved I removed it. Love was weakness. It wasn't going to get me the revenge I wanted."
"And that was what was important to you? To win?"
Cora nodded her head. "At the time yes it was. I was young Zelena. Young and angry and had nothing behind me. I was a millers daughter…I had nothing to leave behind, nothing to lose. I met your father and I married him. It all happened very quickly and it was too late by the time I found out that marrying him would not give me the power I craved so…"
"You had children, Regina and I." Zelena finished.
"Yes. I realised the only way to gain the power I wanted would be through my children. Hence why I set you up with the king." Cora said.
"Wow she really went through all that for power?" Ruby asked turning to Regina.
"What? How can you hear them?" Regina frowned.
"Wolf ears." Ruby smirked. "I can't believe everything your mother done just to gain some power."
Regina sighed. "Yea…she told me everything. She was angry I guess…and sometimes once an anger begins its hard to let it go. Do you think they are finished yet?"
"Give them another five minutes. I think Zelena is slowly starting to come round." Ruby said and Regina nodded.
"You made my life miserable. I hated Regina for years when really all I wanted was to love her and be close to my sister." Zelena snapped.
"I never made you hate your sister. You did that all on your own Zelena. If you remember rightly you were not very happy when she was born. All the attention went to her." Cora said.
"You didn't exactly help to fix us though did you? You played us off against one another. Made it a competition to see who could learn something first or who could do something best. You fuelled our rivalry." Zelena said.
"I will admit I did do that." Cora sighed. "But I want all that to change. I see how close you and Regina have become now. You have both put your differences aside and bonded so well…and I know that it won't happen overnight for us but I want to bond with you too. I want to show you that I am not who I once was Zelena. You and Regina saw to that when you gave me back my heart. I know I will have to do a lot to earn your trust but I hope to one day have it."
Zelena thought over everything Cora had just said. She did want to trust her mother again. She did want to have some form of relationship with her again but she was scared to give her heart to her mother. She didn't want to be hurt again. She sighed knowing she should take this chance. After all Regina had with herself and Cora so why shouldn't she? "It won't happen overnight and damn right you will have a to do a lot to earn my trust but I will try harder."
Cora smiled and she reached forward placing her hand on top of Zelena's. Zelena twitched slightly and went to move her hand but then stopped herself. "Thank you." Zelena just gave her a quick smile and they fell into silence again.
Regina having got the nod from Ruby to go back over had pushed herself off of the counter and slowly walked back over to the booth. She motioned for Cora to shuffle up and then sat down. "We all okay?" Regina asked looking from Zelena to Cora.
"Yes we're fine dear." Cora replied giving Regina a smile. She then leaned forward a little and placed a hand on Regina's bump making Regina smile back at her.