When feeling a bit more awake, Emma dragged her lazy self out of bed and into the bathroom where she grabbed a quick shower and then got dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been forced to wear a sweatshirt and jeans. She already missed wearing sundresses and light tanktops. Why did the weather always suck so much in Maine?
Emma grumbled under her breath as she made her way downstairs. The house was quiet and deserted. Her parents had already gone off to work, but Emma didn't have work until tomorrow. And she was going to take advantage of that. By popping down to Granny's and saying hi to her friends. The conversation with Regina had given her somewhat of a boost of energy. A little one at least. Talking over the phone wasn't quite the same as talking in person, but it was the next best thing and Emma was grateful for at least having that opportunity. Had this been the 1950's, there would have been little opportunity to talk to Regina. No Skype, no texts, no Facetime. Only letters. Which would have taken months and months to arrive. So yes, Emma was grateful. At least that was what she told herself. She told herself that she was happy texting and skyping existed, but deep down she was greedy and wanted more. She wanted to go back to Spain as fast as possible.
Emma held back a sigh as she tied her boots and left the house, pulling the jacket a little closer around herself. Storybrooke looked exactly like itself. Sometimes it felt like time itself had stopped in this quaint little town. As Emma walked down the street, she found herself thinking more and more about what it would be like to walk down a different street. Or what it would be like to wake up to sunshine and crystal blue water. To the sound of waves and seagulls squawking. Emma shook her head slightly. She was picturing a different life in a different place. It was like the urge to 'spread her wings and fly' had only intensified after she returned home. As much as she adored the quaint little town she grew up in, she had to admit that there wasn't much for her here anymore. Well, there was her parents and friends, of course, but California wasn't the end of the world. There were planes. They could come and visit her, and Emma could come and visit them. As often as it was even possible for her. It could work. And apart from coming to visit, there was also skype and cellphones. Emma could be in constant contact with her parents and friends. Of course uprooting herself and moving from a small town in Maine and all the way to California would be a big deal, but Emma was in her late-late twenties, and being a small town photographer wasn't enough. And neither was living in the same small town where she grew up. She had to do more with her life. And she was sure her parents and friends would understand that.
When Emma stepped inside Granny's Diner on this relatively early morn', she wished that she hadn't. Because what she saw immediately made her want to go out and buy the biggest box of bleach and then rinse her poor, poor eyes with it. Ruby was in the diner like she always was, yes indeed, but she wasn't alone. Nope, not even in the slightest. She was with Belle. In the most literal fashion too, unfortunately. Meaning that Belle was sitting on the counter. Her legs were wrapped snugly around Ruby's waist as they made out heatedly. Her fingers were tangled into Ruby's brown/red locks and Ruby had a hand up Belle's skirt. And that was the main reason why Emma wanted to die a little bit. There was no way to turn this thing into something positive. She had just walked in on her friends.
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" Emma barked. The shock clearly made her react like she was an eighty year old woman. Who knows, maybe she'd conjure an umbrella and start to beat her friends with it in a second.
Belle let out a startled yelp, and Ruby cussed as they broke the kiss. Belle had clearly just bitten her lip by accident. They both turned their heads and looked in Emma's direction, and Emma wasn't quite sure whether she was the one who wanted to die the most, or they were. "Well," she said, torn between amusement and horrification. "That's three seconds of my life I'll never get back. But I'm sure I'll have forgotten all about when I'm seventy. Maybe. Hopefully. I'm not completely sure how to pick up the pieces of my life from here, to be honest."
Ruby let out a sheepish little laugh. "Sorry, Em. And welcome home!"
"Yes, welcome home!" Belle chirped in as she swiftly hopped off the desk and smoothened the crease on her dress.
"Please tell me you're going to disinfect that desk," Emma muttered.
"Shut up," Ruby laughed.
"Don't be so rude. I'm traumatized, you guys!" Emma exclaimed. "Like, seriously! My life will never be the same again! Not after seeing you two-"
"Emma!" Belle said, blush rising in her otherwise pale cheeks. "Don't say another word, please! I'm mortified!"
"You're mortified?! I'M mortified!" Emma laughed. "I deserve a free meal after this!"
"You do," Ruby agreed. "Really, you do. Sit down and I'll whip out something for you. Make yourself comfortable."
"And tell us everything about Regina!" Belle added. "We wanna hear everything! All the details about her mother and that idiot Robin!"
Emma groaned. "Believe me, I could write a novel about that guy's stupidity! Just thinking about him pisses me off, to be honest!"
Belle reached out and squeezed Emma's hand. "We've missed you, Em."
"Yeah? It looked like you guys were doing just fine on your-"
"Emma." Ruby warned. "Shut up."
"Nope," Emma laughed. "I'll never let you live this one down. Not ever."
Belle let out a sheepish little giggle, cheeks pinking again. She glanced at Ruby, and Ruby smirked right back at her. Emma felt so utterly tempted to call her friends out on their flirting, and especially when she caught Ruby winking at Belle, but she didn't do it. She didn't have the heart to tease. Ruby and Belle looked so happy. Emma was happy too. It was amazing that her friends had 'found' each other like this, and as expected, they were the perfect couple.
"So, have you heard from Regina today?" Belle asked and interrupted Emma's train of thoughts.
"I have," Emma nodded.
"And, how was she? Okay?"
"Well, actually she was crying," Emma said, only partially feeling that she was ratting on Regina. "About a kitten commercial."
"Oh, bless her," Belle said sympathetically. "Hormones kicking in, huh?"
"Mhmm, definitely," Emma said, trailing off a bit when remembering exactly what Regina's hormones had caused. That delightful dream that had woken her up. Oh man, that had been wonderful.
"And still nothing from her mom?" Ruby asked from the kitchen.
"Nope," Emma said. "Regina thinks that ship sailed long ago. She keeps saying that she doesn't need Cora and maybe she's right, because she has her dad and he's absolutely terrific, but still... I mean, it's her mom. Her dad's great and all, but she doesn't have anyone she can talk to about... pregnancy stuff."
"She can talk to you," Belle gently pointed out.
"Yeah, of course she can," Emma agreed. "But I meant talking to someone who's actually been pregnant. One who knows what this or this symptom mean. She can't exactly ask her dad about that. Even though he's awesome."
"You have a point," Belle nodded.
"Yeah, and I'm literally so pissed at Cora for robbing Regina of that opportunity," Emma sighed. "I mean, who's she supposed to go to now when she has a pregnancy question Google can't answer?"
"What about your mom?" Ruby suggested as she came back from the kitchen with a tray full of breakfast for Emma.
"Maybe, yeah," Emma nodded. That was an idea. Mary Margaret adored Regina. Regina adored Mary Margaret. They were already getting along so nicely, so maybe it wasn't that far-fetched to think that Mary Margaret could become Regina's 'pregnancy-person'.
"And what about the Robin situation?" Belle asked softly. "You didn't tell us much about it. Just that he was 'a massive asshole'."
Emma cracked a smile. "And that's very true. He was. He IS!" she had been too shocked to give her friends a full resume of everything that had went down with Robin. She had been given Regina's blessing to do so, but at the time, Emma hadn't fully been able to wrap her head around the full extend of Robin's...asshole-ness.
"Turns out he's an even worse asshole than first assumed," Emma said dryly.
"How so?" Belle asked confused.
"Is that even possible?" Ruby said dryly. "A guy who lies about his marital status to sleep with a girl doesn't rank very high in my book."
"Yeah, well, I'm afraid he did far worse than that." Emma speared a piece of bacon and stuffed it inside her mouth. Once she had chewed and swallowed, she took a sip of the scorching hot chocolate Ruby had served for her.
"For fuck's sake, Em, what did he do?" Ruby demanded.
Emma swallowed the mouthful of chocolate and let out a long, deep sigh. "He tricked Regina," she said finally. "He said he was wearing a condom when he actually wasn't."
"You're KIDDING me?!" Ruby growled. "He did not!"
"Oh, he did," Emma said, rubbing her face harshly with the back of her hand.
"Are you telling me that he deliberately got Regina pregnant?!" Belle hissed. "Because that's extremely fucked up!"
"Tell me about it," Emma sighed. "I doubt he was trying to get Regina pregnant, though. Prince Charming assumed that she was on birth control."
"Did he actually ASK her?" Ruby sneered.
"Nope. He sure as fuck didn't."
"My god!" Belle said. "Emma, that is..."
"Fucked up," Emma finished the sentence. "Yeah, I know. Regina went totally pale when she found out. I was so afraid she was gonna faint or something. I think it was the idea that he had given her something else apart from the-" Emma gestured to her stomach to indicate pregnancy. "But apparently, lover boy gets tested regularly."
"That so?" Ruby said sarcastically. "He's done it before."
"Yeah, Regina and I reached that conclusion too," Emma said and clenched her jaw. "That guy definitely takes the price for being a douchebag. I thought Neal was bad, but now I actually think Robin is worse. Or at least sharing the first place with him. He even went as far as implying that Regina should have... you know... Taken care of things." Emma didn't fully finish the sentence. But she didn't have to. Belle and Ruby understood what she was getting at.
"God, what an asshole!" Belle said, accent thickening with her anger. "Please tell me you punched him."
"No, I'm afraid I didn't. Regina yelled at him. But he didn't stop here. He went on to suggest that the baby should live with him and Marian..."
Ruby laughed without an ounce of amusement.
Emma couldn't blame her. "Oh yeah, he was clearly under the impression that he was a 'good father'."
"A good father who forgets about his family because he'd rather flirt with another woman?" Belle said flatly. "And besides, what about Marian and her stalking tendencies? Not exactly an ideal environment for a baby, is it?"
"That's exactly what Regina said too," Emma nodded. "And Robin, that dickhead, didn't like that one bit. He lashed out by saying that he probably wasn't even the father. That's when Regina slapped him in the face."
"Atta girl," Ruby praised. "Good for her!"
"Yeah," Emma agreed. "But that's also when things got pretty uncomfortable. Robin started to come towards Regina. He was acting threatening, and I went in between them."
"He didn't do something to her, did he?" Belle asked alarmed. "He couldn't have. Otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here."
"He didn't," Emma said quickly. "I informed him that he was threatening a pregnant woman, and then I threatened HIM about calling the police if he didn't leave. So he did. But I think he really freaked Regina out. She was even holding on to a bottle, ready to whack him over the head!"
"Jesus," Ruby said and shook her head. "That's really intense, Em!"
"Yeah, I know," Emma sighed. "Regina's dad is driving her to and from work at night now, but I'm still so afraid Robin is gonna show up again! He was acting really threatening!"
"He's not stupid enough to do that," Ruby said firmly.
"I agree," Belle added. "Maybe the guy is dumb, but not that dumb. He wouldn't take that risk."
"I hope you're right," Emma sighed and took another sip of her hot chocolate. "I really hope you're right."
"Trust me," Ruby said, reaching out and patting Emma's free hand. "Nothing's gonna happen to Regina. Her dad will look out for her."
Emma smiled a little. "Yeah, of course he will. You're right." Henry would never let anything happen to Regina. He would punch Robin right across his stupid face if he needed to, Emma wasn't doubting that for a moment. He was fiercely protective over his daughter. Cora could have learned something from him, Emma thought to herself. Her strategy had been to dip out and leave Regina to fend for herself. Damn her. Damn Cora!
"But it wasn't all drama while you were in Spain, was it?" Belle asked. "You and Regina had a nice time too, right?"
"We sure did, yeah," Emma said and smiled a bit dopily. There had been some great moments too. It hadn't all been drama and tears. Emma fondly thought back to their mornings in bed. Their co-showers and breakfasts.
"Still the eight wonder of the world then," Ruby joked. "When are you gonna see her again?"
"She's flying in for my birthday. In four weeks. She'll be twenty weeks along by then. And I'll have missed out on so much!" Emma dramatically let her head collide with the desk with a loud thud. Ouch. That sort of hurt actually.
"It's not forever, Em," Belle soothed and patted a blonde head jokingly as though Emma was a dog.
"Feels like it," Emma groaned against the table. "I just... I wanna be with her all the time, god damnit!"
Both Belle and Ruby chuckled at that.
"I mean it!" Emma huffed.
"Maybe that'll be possible at some point," Ruby said.
"I don't want it to be at some point," Emma whined. "I want it to be right now." she was well aware that she sounded spoiled, but right now she didn't care very much. She just missed Regina so fucking much. She was sure that both Belle and Ruby were offering comfort, but the sound was drowned by Emma's cellphone chiming once in her pocket. Someone had sent her a text message. Emma lifted her head from the table, fished the phone out of her pocket and checked the message:
'Did you know that babies actually cry in the womb?! You just can't hear it because of all the fluid surrounding them. I'm pretty sure that's the creepiest thing I've read all day!'
Emma couldn't help but chuckle as she texted back: 'Uhh, no, I definitely did not know that. But now that I do, I'm not really sure where to go from here, to be honest...'
'You and me both then! Now I'll never be able to unthink that Blueberry is sobbing his/hers eyes out inside me, and I just can't hear it!'
As weird as that sounded, Emma chose to laugh about it. She had a feeling that that was what Regina wanted her to do.
"Is that the girlfriend?" Ruby asked with a grin.
Emma briefly looked up from the phone. "Mhmm."
"What's she doing?" Belle asked.
"Spewing weird pregnancy facts," Emma said truthfully. "Did you guys know that babies cry inside the womb and you just can't hear it because of the fluid surrounding them?"
"Uhh..." Ruby made a face. "Nope, I didn't know that. But thanks though. Now I'll never be able to unsee that mental image."
Belle chuckled. "Exactly WHAT is Regina doing? Is she on the Dark Web or something?"
"Good question," Emma half-grinned. "I'll ask her." she turned her attention back to her phone again. 'Belle and Ruby wants to know if you're on the Dark Web. And honestly, with the weird fact you just told me, I wanna know too!'
The reply came almost immediately. 'No, señorita Swan, I am not on the Dark Web. I'm reading a pregnancy magazine.'
'Oh. Now that is an explanation that makes sense. Are you stocking up on pregnancy magazines or something?'
'No, my dad stopped by with it. And a bag of chips.'
Emma grinned. 'Aww, that was nice of him! :D'
'Yeah, but I must admit that I'm not completely sure whether he's trying to help me in the pregnancy department, or in the dating department.'
Naturally, Emma frowned. 'Meaning what?'
It didn't take long before her cellphone made another little bling-bling sound. Regina had sent her a picture. Emma quickly opened it to see what it was. It was a picture of a pregnancy magazine, no doubt. A very glamorous, very pregnant smiling woman on the cover. The magazine promised the reader ten different ways to be more comfortable while sleeping, but what immediately claimed Emma's attention was what was written in a very large font just below the picture of the glamorous woman: 'HOW TO STAY SEXY AND SEDUCTIVE DURING PREGNANCY'. Underneath the picture of the magazine, Regina had written: 'thanks, dad.'.
Emma bursted out laughing. Of course she did. This was fucking hilarious. She laughed so hard she could barely write, and her reply to Regina more than reflected that: 'I'm ssure he means well! But OMG I'm dying!'
'Either he's really progressive, or he didn't actually read the cover. I'm choosing to believe the second possibility.'
'And I'm pretty sure that's the right possibility too! It was sweet of him to buy you a magazine.'
"It was.'
'And just for the record, you don't need any advises on how to stay sexy and seductive '
'Thank you for saying that. Looking at all these glamorous women have made me feel pretty self-conscious.'
'Stop reading the magazine. Right now. You look great! The belly suits you and your cheeks are glowing. Period.'
'I miss you.'
The spontaneous statement immediately made Emma's 'spider-senses' tingle. 'I miss you too. Are you okay?'
'Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I just feel kind of lonely. Which is silly because I'm actually going out tonight.'
'You're going out? Where are you going?'
'Paco Roncero Restaurante. Daddy invited me. Claims it's a father-daughter thing, but really I think he's worried about me.'
'God, I love that man! That sounds really nice '
'He doesn't have to fuss over me. I'm absolutely fine.'
'That doesn't mean he can't fuss about you I'd do the same if I was there!'
'Well, then you're both awful!'
'And you absolutely love us!'
'That's true. I do.'
Emma smiled and couldn't resist to inquire: 'Any news from Blueberry?'
'Since you asked earlier? No, querida. No news.'
'Okay then. But you promise to call me as soon as it happens, right? Even if its in the middle of the night!'
'You have my word. And I can see that Alessandra is calling me. I gotta go. Text later?'
'Obviously. Tell her I said hi!'
There was no response, and Emma figured that Regina had answered the phone. She put her own phone down and turned her attention back to her breakfast once more. Maybe it wasn't churros and melting chocolate, but it was still really, really good! "Everything okay in Spain?" Belle asked.
"Mhmm," Emma said. "But I actually think she was feeling kinda down in the dumps."
"Poor thing," Ruby said sympathetically. "It's a shame you couldn't just steal her back to Storybrooke with you."
"I might do that the next time," Emma joked. Maybe she actually would. She suddenly imagined herself waving a magic wand and turning Regina into a pocket size version. She imagined how she would pick up tiny Regina, store her safely into her pocket and then board the plane. And turn her back into her normal size when they reached Boston. Emma smiled a little. She would have to tell Regina about that silly little fantasy. She would undoubtedly find it to be cute. And what Emma also happened to find cute was her friends. Belle and Ruby were kissing because they thought Emma was still busy with her phone. That was adorable. Like, really, really adorable!
But then the little scenario was crushed when the door to Granny opened and Mr. Gold stepped in. Emma's hands automatically curled into fists. Maybe Mr. Gold wasn't as bad as Neal, but yeah, he was bad enough. And Emma was quite fed up when it came to men behaving like assholes. Gold easily fell into that category. She was almost hoping he would say something to her or look at her, because truthfully, she was just looking for an excuse to yell at him.
But Gold didn't say anything to her. In fact he neither looked left or right as he stepped up to the counter and said: " a latté. To go."
"Coming right up," Ruby said a tad irritated over having been interrupted when kissing her girlfriend, and turned around to walk over to the advanced coffee machine.
Mr. Gold drummed lightly on the desk. He looked straight ahead. Then at Belle. He wasn't exactly leering or gawking at her, just discreetly glancing at her. His forehead was wrinkled, and Emma didn't like it one bit. She could still remember what Belle had told her. That Mr. Gold had been coming into the library to look at her instead of actually loaning any books. Well, guess what, pal, you're not gonna ogle my friend. Not today. Or any day for that matter! Emma cleared her throat loudly and that snapped Mr. Gold out of whatever funk he was in. He looked away from Belle. Stared at the desk instead. Good.
Emma's cellphone beeped again. Another text. Emma quickly checked it. 'The longest pregnancy on record was reportedly 375 days long. Wish me luck!'
Emma let out a snort. 'Throw that damned magazine out! Or find cute facts instead!'
It didn't take long before a new text arrived. 'Your heart grows when you're pregnant.'
Emma grinned. Now that was actually adorable! 'Awww! Got any more? :D'
Regina had. It was quite possible that she was bored. 'The only scientifically proven method for inducing labor is nipple stimulation, known as 'the comfort method'.
Emma's grin turned into a smirk. 'Nipple stimulation, huh? Well, if you go over time, I'll be more than happy to help you with that '
'Why did I just know that you would give that kind of response?'
'Because you already know me that well, babe. What did Alessandra want?'
'Oh, nothing in particular. Just ask how I was doing, I guess. That was nice of her.'
'It really was!'
"One latté to go!" Ruby said with more bite than she normally would, and her movements too were a bit more aggressive as she more or less slammed the coffee down in front of Mr. Gold She clearly hadn't forgotten about the library business either. Emma would hate to be an enemy of Ruby's. Especially considering that Ruby had joked about 'accidentally' pumping Neal's coffee full of chili powder. As tempting as that had sounded, Emma had laughingly told her not to. Maybe she despised Neal, but she wasn't interested in seeing him end up in the hospital with scorch marks on his throat or something like that.
Mr. Gold took the coffee and left the diner without saying thank you. Emma glanced at the door. She found herself to be unnerved by this. She didn't like the way he had been glancing at Belle. Emma vowed to herself to keep an eye on her ex-father-in-law. Just to make sure he kept his eyes and more importantly, his hands to himself. She refused to let any member of the Gold family bother any of her loved ones. The blonde glanced at Ruby. She was kissing Belle again. Neither of them had noticed that Gold had been giving Belle some stares. And maybe that was a good thing. But still, Emma would definitely tell Ruby about it if she caught Gold doing it again. He was not gonna get away with this, damnit! He was not getting away with acting like a creep even though he hadn't actually 'done anything'. To hell with that. He just had to keep his seedy little eyes to himself!
Emma checked her phone to see if Regina had send anymore messages, but she hadn't. Maybe she had gotten lost in the magazine. Or a television series. Emma could almost see it for her inner eye. Regina all comfortable in her old couch with her bag of chips and a good series on the television. Emma hoped that was exactly what Regina was doing right now.
"Do you have any plans for your birthday, Em?" Ruby asked a bit randomly.
"Seeing my girlfriend," Emma said immediately.
"Duh." Ruby rolled her eyes. "I meant apart from that. We're going out, right?"
"I guess..." Emma said, trailing off. She would actually prefer something a bit more quiet, but she damn well knew that wasn't gonna fly with her friends.
"You guess?" Ruby scoffed. "It's your birthday, Em! Twenty nine! That's a big deal! It's not every day you turn twenty nin-"
"Please stop saying twenty nine," Emma grumbled. "I feel so goddamn old!"
"You've never had a problem with your age before," Belle said and raised an eyebrow.
"That was before I started dating a twenty year old," Emma muttered and felt ridiculous. But Regina was so... young. Barely 'in her twenties' really. Only a few months into her first year of twenty if that even made sense. And Emma was getting dangerously close to thirty. Fucking hell, she would be thirty years old next year! And Regina would be... twenty one. Fuck.
"I thought you didn't mind the age difference between you?" Ruby said, interrupting Emma's train of thoughts.
"I don't," Emma said quickly, and she really didn't. "But sometimes I feel so ancient compared to her!"
"That's ridiculous," Ruby said flatly. "You're not old, Emma. Not even a little bit."
Emma puffed out air. "I know that technically, the age difference thing isn't that much, but sometimes I worry that because I am older than her, I want things that are considered to be 'too soon'."
"And what things are that?" Belle asked softly.
"I dunno, live together?" Emma replied. "I'd really like that."
"And you don't think Regina wants that?" Ruby scoffed now. "Honey, she's completely gone for you!"
"I know she is." Emma rolled her eyes. "But I just don't want her to... waste her youth or whatever."
"Dumbest thing I've ever heard," Ruby said bluntly. "Regina is the most mature twenty year old I've ever met. Not to mention completely head over heels for you. AND she loved Storybrooke when she was here. I think the odds are pretty good, Swan."
"Maybe we wouldn't be living in Storybrooke," Emma blurted out and immediately cringed hard. Shit. That was so not how she had planned on announcing her ponderings about potentially moving away from Storybrooke. Oops. That was clumsy of her. She should have announced it to her parents before announcing it to her friends. That was how you did this thing. Not the other way around, damnit!
"What?!" Belle and Ruby asked in unison, and Emma cringed once more.
"Urgh, that was so not how I was planning on telling you guys," she complained.
"Tell us what?" Ruby asked, eyebrows raised, and head tilted to the side like a curious canine.
"Don't freak out," Emma warned.
"Is there something to freak out about?" Belle asked. She too looked rather curious.
"Well, err..." Emma rubbed the back of her neck. Shit, this was hard. "Lately I've sort of been... considering to maybe, uhmm... move away from Storybrooke."
"What?!"
"Are you serious?!"
"I said 'maybe'!" Emma defended. She had to tone it down and make herself sound less sure than she actually was.
"But why?" Ruby asked. "Did something happen? At work? Do I need to track one of your customers down and kick some a-"
"Rubes, no!" Emma interrupted and laughed a little. "It's nothing like that, okay? I like my job. I really do." That wasn't a lie. She loved being a photographer.
"Then what's the problem, Emma?" Belle asked, voice soft and patient. She complimented Ruby's more head-on approach so wonderfully.
"It's not really a 'problem'," Emma wheedled. "At least not a problem-problem. But lately I've sort of been feeling like...Well, like I could... Do more. I'm about to turn twenty nine and I still live in the same town I grew up in. In my parents house. I don't even have my own place. I know that I could just find an apartment here in Storybrooke, and I know that my job as an event photographer is a good and steady job, but I think I want... more. I want to photograph something that isn't weddings. New sceneries. Maybe open a studio somewhere. My own place. And I want to see something that isn't Storybrooke. Maybe it's all the travelling that has made me feel that way, or maybe I've had that feeling for a long time and just suppressed it, I don't know. But... That's how I feel. Like I could do so much more." Emma concluded her ramble by taking a deep breath.
Belle and Ruby looked at one another. Looked at Emma. Then Belle smiled. "I actually think I get what you're saying," the brunette said softly and reached out to touch Emma's hand. "You may not know this, but every time Neal spoke about how you and he would be looking for a house in Storybrooke when you returned from your honeymoon, you looked sort of panicked."
"I... I did?" Emma was honestly surprised. "Really?"
"That's actually true," Ruby backed up her girlfriend. "You talked a lot about the wedding. And the honeymoon. But you didn't talk that much about the big afterwards where you and Neal would settle into your new white-picket-fence-life in Storybrooke."
Now that she heard it, Emma knew that her friends were right. She HAD been talking more about the honeymoon than she had been talking about starting her actual life in Storybrooke with Neal. And she had silently been panicking about it. She knew she had. There had been nights where she had lied awake and thought about suggesting to Neal that they moved away from Storybrooke at some point. But deep down she had known that he never would. He was supposed to take over his father's store. And he would never let that opportunity to go waste. He belonged in Storybrooke, Emma had known that, so she had pushed it away and decided to look forward to the honeymoon instead.
"Are you going to move to Spain?" Ruby asked simply.
Emma spluttered. "Uhh, no, not that far away, Rubes. I was thinking more about California. Maybe. Laguna Beach. Rent one of those beach houses. Get up early every morning to catch some snapshots of the sunrise. An early morning swim."
Belle chuckled. "You know, that sounds like a bit more than just 'maybe', Emma. That sounds like you've made the decision already."
"But I haven't!" Emma protested. "For now it's just... an idea."
"Uh-huh," Ruby said skeptically, but still smilingly. "And does your sweetheart know about this...'idea'?"
"Regina knows, yeah. It sort of... came up."
"Mhmm. And this beach house you maybe-possibly-probably-but-not-certainly is gonna rent... is that gonna be big enough for two?" Ruby teasingly continued. She was surely enjoying this.
"Obviously, the beach house would be big enough for two," Emma admitted. "Or three. Otherwise I couldn't invite you guys to come over, could I?"
Ignoring that, Ruby said: "you know what I think, Swan?"
"No, Ruby. I do not know what you think," Emma grumbled. She was pretty sure her friend was about to say something really annoying.
"I think you want to live in a house on the beach with Regina," Ruby said and thereby summed up Emma's innermost thoughts in one, simple sentence.
Yep, definitely annoying.
"And that's exactly what I was talking about before," Emma said darkly. "Wanting serious things too quickly. We've only known each other for-"
"Four months minus two weeks," Ruby finished the sentence. "And while that might not be a ridiculously long time, it felt like you guys had known each other way longer. Isn't that right, Belle?"
"It is," Belle confirmed. "You and Regina have a special connection, Emma."
"I know we do," Emma said. How could she not? "but as I said, it's just an idea."
"Right..." Ruby rolled her eyes and snorted. "Just an 'idea'."
"Have you talked to your parents about it?" Belle asked softly.
"No..."
"Are you going to?"
"I think I might have to," Emma said quietly.
"It'll be hella tough to see you go, but I understand you," Ruby said. "I really do. I'm just glad you're not moving to Madrid!"
Emma let out a snort of laughter. "Now THAT would definitely be too soon! Jesus Christ, Ruby!" growing serious again she said: "I'll tell my parents. But not right now. I literally just got here. I can't spring all of this on them on my first day home, that would be mean. I'm not interested in devastating them completely."
"They'll understand why you want to leave, Em," Ruby said comfortingly. "David and MM are smart people."
"But might have a wee bit of tunnel vision when it comes to their only child leaving the nest," Emma joked. Then she finally crushed the last piece of bacon between her teeth.
Her phone chimed and Emma checked the message. And laughed her head off while reading it aloud to her friends: 'though not scientifically proved, there are many cases of partners experiencing symptoms of pregnancy. Some get morning sickness, some bloat, and some even feel cramps in their lower abdomen.'
"Watch out, Em," Ruby joked. "You'll end up getting sympathy-symptoms!"
"You know what," Emma said, smiling widely as she texted Regina back. "I think I can handle that!"
To Be Continued...