Chapter Four
Emma Swan had never been so devastated in her life.
She had, of course, cried a few weeks ago after their disagreement but it hadn't obscured her vision as she drove through the streets of Storybrooke as it was right now.
It hadn't left her feeling so empty and helpless, but then again, it firmly wasn't her fault that they had temporarily split. Regina herself had admitted that she was simply frustrated and that it wasn't actually a reflection of their relationship.
That wasn't true right now.
She had screwed up so completely that there was nothing that she could say to change Regina's mind and that fact actually took her breath away.
As her yellow bug pulled up outside the perfect suburban home she'd lived in her whole life, she dragged her arm over her face and looked out at it.
She could practically see smaller versions of herself and Killian chasing each other across the front yard as Mary Margaret watched lovingly. What she couldn't imagine was her own child doing the same while she watched.
How was it possible that she could be old enough for this? How was her life going to look when she was a mother?
She'd only recently decided what college to go to with a lot of help from Regina. How was she supposed to make monumental decisions without her girlfriend?
The house that currently loomed over her offered the solution to that.
Mary Margaret and David Swan had always been understanding parents, they had always supported everything that she did. What would she do if this proved to be the exception?
Perhaps Killian could convince his parents that his best friend needed a place to stay?
With a groan, she hit her head but jumped back as the horn of her car beeped and she hastily pulled the key out.
Telling Regina was all she could handle today, so she put aside thoughts of having the conversation again and looked into the mirror. Her cheeks were crimson and she was quite clearly heartbroken, but she had no idea what she could do about that.
As if practising, she tried for a smile but it dropped as soon as it came. It felt far too unnatural under the circumstances, so she figured that she would go straight to her room and hide.
They would believe that she didn't feel well again, right?
Grabbing her bag, she reluctantly left the car and walked slowly towards the front door, which she opened before she could change her mind.
Sizzling reached her ears and she halted halfway down the hallway and clutched her stomach as she swayed and tried to stave off nausea.
Ordinarily, she would have been rather excited to smell steak, but recently meat seemed to trigger a response that gave her reason to believe she was creating a vegetarian.
Unfortunately, the closing of the door summoned the chef who stuck his head out from the kitchen.
"Em?" David asked and Emma's eyes flew open in time for her to see her father's face contort in concern, "Is something wrong?"
Emma dropped her hand and put it behind her back and opened her mouth to say that nothing was wrong, but nothing came out. At the same time, Mary Margaret appeared from the living room.
"Emma, is that you sweetheart? I thought you would be having dinner with Regina?" her mother asked.
That name sent a shot through Emma's heart and wiped away any desire to lie to her parents any longer and tears gathered in her eyes so she shot off down the hallway.
She slammed her bedroom door open, not bothering to close it behind her as she dropped onto her bed.
She was certain that her parents were currently sharing a look of shock before they would inevitably follow her.
At the very least, she was far enough away that she no longer felt the need to wretch violently. It wasn't how she wanted them to find out anyway.
She pushed her tear-covered face into her pillow and felt her mattress dip as expected. A hand gripped her leg but she didn't look up until Mary Margaret asked, "What happened?"
Emma glanced between Mary Margaret next to her on the bed and her father standing with his arms crossed in the middle of the floor. He had that look about him that meant that he wanted to know who needed to be taught a lesson for hurting his daughter and Emma swallowed hard because she knew that he was going to be horribly disappointed soon.
"Regina broke up with me," she admitted, her voice cracking and her father's face contorted.
"How could she? I'll…" David started, not at all deterred by the warning exuding from his wife that was presumably meant to remind him that he was talking about a young girl.
Emma effectively put an end to it, however, by saying, "She broke up with me because…I cheated on her."
David dropped his arms and Mary Margaret's demeanour shifted markedly in a way that Emma couldn't read, silence passed between the family as Emma's tears streamed faster.
She knew it! She knew that they would be so disappointed in her and they didn't even know the full story yet. Of course, the couple who had been so deeply in love since high school would be irrevocably ashamed of their daughter doing something so awful to a girl she claimed to be in love with. To a girl she was planning to go to the same college as to make sure they wouldn't have to be apart for four years.
Not that any of that mattered anymore.
An arm snaked around her shoulder at last, however, and Emma slumped into her mother, now openly sobbing.
In between her cries, she asked, brokenly, "Do you think I'm a terrible person?"
"Of course not," Mary Margaret cooed, stroking her hair, "There is nothing that you could do to make us think less of you."
Emma sucked in a breath and replied, "You might be speaking too soon, mom."
"What does that mean?" David asked.
"I…I'm…" Emma choked.
David took a seat on her other side and placed a hand on her knee and said reassuringly, "You know that you can tell us anything?"
Emma dragged her face away from her mother to look straight into her father's eyes and tried to commit the gaze to memory.
Would he ever look at her the same way again after this? Would she still feel like the little princess who was one of the most important things in the world to him?
It was this distressing thought that had her reply, "I really don't think you want to hear this, dad."
"Please tell us, Emma," Mary Margaret urged, her voice now officially tinged with fear.
Emma hung her head to make sure that she wouldn't have to see the reaction of either of them and then replied, "I'm…pregnant."
There was a long moment during which Emma was sure that her parents were once again sharing a look to find out how the other felt. Emma's throat tightened and her mother's grip loosened momentarily, but it really was only for a moment.
Almost as soon as it happened, Mary Margaret pulled her daughter against her and she felt David shift closer to her.
"Who…with who?" David asked, probably not as softly as he intended.
"David, do you really think this is the time for that?" Snow admonished.
"Neal Cassidy," Emma admitted, "I…may have lied when I said I only had one beer at Robin's party, I'm so sorry."
Her shoulders shook under the force of her tears and Mary Margaret brought her other hand around to hug her daughter close to her body.
For a few minutes, Mary Margaret whispered promises to her until she calmed down and once she lay exhausted on her mother, the woman ventured, "Have you…been to see a doctor yet?"
Emma was almost certain that she heard some hope there. Hope that her teenage daughter had taken an unreliable test, but Emma was sure that the amount of money she had spent on tests was worth some level of certainty.
A part of her was grateful that they were not questioning the fact that their 'gay' daughter had been with a boy, a fact that she hadn't thought about much herself because she knew that the only person she wanted to be with right now was female.
It certainly didn't help that she could only remember the odd moment of her very short, drunken escapade with the boy that she hadn't ever felt so much as an attraction towards.
God, how could she have done something so stupid?!
Rather than going into any of that, she shook her head against her mother's chest.
"What do you think about going to see Dr Whale tonight? To make sure that everything is okay?" Snow asked and it was almost enough to make her believe that everything was going to be fine.
Still, she stiffened and sobbed, "I'm so sorry."
"It's going to be okay," Snow said, close to a whisper, "Whatever you want…it's going to be…okay."
A large hand was also placed on her back and Emma was close to believing that she could breathe again. Actual adults were finally aware of her situation, they would know exactly what she needed to do.
She wasn't quite there, however, somehow she still felt so alone in what was ahead of her.
S
It wasn't easy, but eventually, Regina was able to get away from Milfin Street without telling her mother exactly what happened.
It helped as her father chose that moment to return from work. His confusion gave her the space that she needed to slip away while Cora tried to explain to Henry what was going on despite not really understanding herself.
No doubt, she thought that it was just like last time.
That Regina had once again allowed her school schedule to get to her and had taken it out on her girlfriend. She had sworn that it would never happen again after their last short-lived break-up, but she didn't see it being so brief this time around.
Saying any of that out loud to her parents would be too much. She could easily see them going from outraged to sympathetic with that undercurrent of 'I told you so'.
Before Emma's admission, she had thought that her mother's disdain for her then-girlfriend was only born from the fact that she'd seen her cry after their last argument but perhaps she had seen something about the once sweet girl that she hadn't?
Regina simply could not understand how the shy teen that she had spent so much time with could have done something like this, and could have lied to her for so long.
In a haze, she got back to her car and just drove, not at all cognizant of what direction she was going.
As she came up to Main Street, however, she did have to make a decision and instinctively turned left towards Storybrooke University and soon parked outside the large dorm building.
She freed her buzzing phone from her pocket as soon as she came to a stop but declined the call coming from 'mom' without even a thought. Some distant part of her was aware that the woman was only checking on her but she just couldn't at that moment.
This was only compounded as the call screen disappeared to reveal the lock screen image that was perfect just an hour ago.
It was an image of herself grinning from ear to ear with a blonde draped over her shoulders and preparing to give her a kiss. She'd interrupted the selfie at the exact moment to capture their relationship.
Regina couldn't imagine smiling so naturally anymore, especially if she was in the offending girl's presence. How could it be that the person who could cheer her up in a split second was now the source of the tears that were again pricking at her eyes?
Violently, she locked her phone and left the car, her teeth instantly chattering as she realised that she had failed to grab a coat during her great escape from the mayoral mansion. She couldn't allow herself to dwell on this, however, as she instead strode towards the building, ignoring the curious glances from the students two years older than her.
The majority of the student body of course knew who the daughter of the mayor was, so she faced no resistance even as she got into the hallway and headed towards the room that she had been to a few times at this point.
She knocked swiftly and then hugged herself, at last considering what she must look like.
She had gone from shouting at Emma to being smothered in a hug from her mother, before driving as quickly as she could from the suffocation of her room.
At no point had she bothered to wipe her face or worry about the fact that it was painfully obvious that she had been crying?
She didn't have the time to do anything about that as the door was torn open to reveal a tall brunette pulling on a jacket that would do nothing to warm her up considering the lack of material in the rest of her scanty outfit.
"Oh hey, Regina," Ruby greeted, but her bright mood must have been dampened as she took in the teen before her, "Is everything okay?"
Regina sniffed and felt anger swell in her when it occurred to her that there was so obviously something wrong with her. How was it fair that everyone was so aware of how in love she was with Emma Swan?
"Is Zelena here?" she croaked.
"We were actually just heading out…" Ruby replied but stopped as the door was pulled the rest of the way open.
The red-headed occupant of the room was much more covered up than her friend, but her outfit was still more considered and put together than anything she would be wearing for a lazy night in.
Zelena opened her mouth to greet the younger Mills, but no words came out as she instead took a moment to inspect her cold, tear-stained little sister. She released the door and urged Ruby, "You go ahead, I'll catch up."
Ruby nodded, not offering any argument as she plucked up a clutch bag and slipped out of the door, touching the younger girl's shoulder as she passed her, "Hope you're okay Regina," she offered.
Zelena took her place at the threshold, seemingly to get a better view of her sister, which couldn't have done much for her level of concern.
Regina could only continue to hug herself and stare at the ground, not even thinking about complaining about the stickiness of the dorm hallway like she had on every other visit here.
This must have been a big enough red flag for the older Mills, as she reached forward to lead her inside the cleaner-than-average room.
The door closed behind them and Regina sighed in relief as she was pushed to sit on her sister's bed, though she didn't move back onto it, opting instead to perch on the edge as she stared up at her sister.
Zelena sat down beside her and asked, "What's going on, Gina?"
Regina licked her lips, suddenly very aware of just how selfish she was being. Was it this obsession with her own interests that had driven Emma to do something like this?
"You were going out, I should have called first…I'm sorry…" Regina started, but any attempt to stand and leave was thwarted by Zelena pulling her, forcing her further back onto the mattress.
Regina sniffed again as she sank into the pillows, appreciating the way that the material hugged at the chill still running through her.
It only helped the physical coldness, however.
"You don't need to apologise," Zelena assured, huddling up beside her, "Especially when you're upset, please just tell me what happened."
Regina played with her fingers and replied, in close to a whisper, "Emma's pregnant."
Regina waited through a stunned silence until she just had to look up at her frowning sister, "Is there something I should know…"
The younger Mills just had to roll her eyes, even if it was better than the shouts that she pictured coming from her parents in response to the news.
"She slept with a footballer at a party."
"Oh, that makes more sense," Zelena said and Regina threw her face into her hands, shocked to feel herself once again wracked with sobs. How was she not dehydrated by this point?!
Zelena slipped down next to her to pull the shorter girl against her as she continued to cry and she murmured, with clenched teeth, "I'm so sorry, Gina."
It took some time for Regina to feel calm enough to lift her head from her sister's shoulder and she lamented, "She said she loves me, how could she do this?"
"I don't know," Zelena sighed, and Regina had to guess that she was holding back some more choice words from her crying sister, but what she added wasn't exactly soft, "but I'm going to kill her."
"Zelena," Regina admonished, "This is why I didn't tell mom and dad."
"Right," Zelena breathed, hitting her head against the headboard with a huff, "So what…do you want?"
Regina shrugged, "You were meeting your friends, I can just go home."
"They'll live, I'll tell them my sister needs me," Zelena replied, not a hint of the usual sibling ire that they held for each other.
A smile tugged at the corner of Regina's lips and she found her own phone as Zelena grabbed hers, presumably to text Ruby.
"I should tell mom I'm alive," she said but winced as the screen lit up with that damn picture again.
Zelena noticed the violent reaction, but it took only a second to figure out what caused it, so Regina felt her phone being taken from her before she could renew her heartbroken sobs.
She propped herself up to watch her sister unlock her phone and wordlessly navigate to the settings that allowed her to change the picture to a mundane, but comforting image of their family.
She then shot off a text to their mother and abandoned both devices on the bedside table.
"So…what do you need?" Zelena asked.
"Do you have any ice cream?" Regina replied timidly, prepared to be ridiculed for the cliche.
Zelena hopped up though without a hint of sarcasm, "I'm sure I can find some," she replied, "Do you want to watch a movie?"
"No romcoms," Regina warned.
"Of course not, Gina." Zelena laughed.
