Waking up to her alarm and hurriedly shutting it off, Regina released a deep sigh. It was, August 29th, Saturday morning but she still wanted to get up early to be productive, at least before the rain came. She got up from the comfort of the warm sheets and went about her morning routine. Walking into the bathroom she grimaced at how wild her hair looked and turned on the sink. Teeth brushed - check, hair brushed - check, quick pee - check.
Today she planned on working in her garden so she'd shower afterwards. Making her way down the grand staircase, she opened the curtains as she went. When she got to the bottom level, she opened all the curtains and as she did she noticed a Large moving van parked out in the middle of the street.
"Hmph... I wonder who's moving in on this street." she waited to see if she saw anyone near the van but eventually her stomach reminded her it needed to be filled with food.
After eating breakfast she made her way back upstairs to change into some proper gardening clothes. Opening the back door and walking outside, she looked up at the sky and saw the grey clouds up above with the sun still shining through a bit.
"Alright, Mother Nature I would really appreciate not being rained on today. I just need to put these roses in and pull some weeds then I'm done."
Across the gate, Emma and two beautiful children were sitting inside the half furnished home, eating some breakfast sandwiches from a diner in town called Granny's.
"These are pretty good, huh?" Emma asked her two hungry kids who were practically devouring the sandwiches. In response she got two enthusiastic "mmhmm!"'s "Granny still knows how to throw down." She joked taking another bite.
She chuckled more, remembering times when she was just a kid running into the diner every weekend. Wiping her mouth with a napping and taking a sip of her water. Looking over at her two year old daughter Harleigh, she could help but laugh again at how many crumbs and the splotches of jelly she had on her face.
Chuckling she called her over, "Come here baby girl, goodness how did you get it in your hair." She smiled at the two year old.
"Is good mama!" Harleigh said not one bit concerned, blonde hair and blue eyes shining bright.
"Are we going to unload everything today, Mom?" Henry asked taking a gulp of water.
Looking over at him, Emma sighed, "I had planned to start today, baby. It just looks like the rain might start earlier than I expected." she glanced out of the window looking up at the clouds.
"Maybe we can just get the easy stuff out first, the most important stuff." Henry suggested.
"That's a good plan, let's finish eating before we do." Giving him a small smile Emma replied.
Looking around the house, for a time Emma honestly thought she would never be living in this home again, at least that was the plan. Growing up she was always a good daughter, it was just her, her parents and her younger brother Adam, whom she is three years older than.
She never gave them any trouble, she bickered with her brother like siblings do. Only rebelled a tiny bit in high school with her friends, but other than that she was a model student. Graduated high school with straight A's, a high GPA, and then went off to college to study Film and Literature.
Where she met Henry's father, they thought they could make things work but it just...you know what we won't go into all those details. Better to just leave that door closed.
Anyway, Emma made a nice living for herself, supporting Henry with what she had with the occasional help from her parents. Years later she met Harleigh father and things just went south very quickly from there. For the last two and half years Emma has been trying hard to get away from the psycho.
Which is why she was so quick to accept her parents offer of taking the house. They moved into a different home closer to the lake here in town. So instead of renting this one out to a stranger or putting it up on Air BNB for tourists, this was the next best thing.
A close knit town, with a great education system put in place, friendly people and beautiful scenery. Emma hit the jackpot, knowing this was the best option for Henry and for Harleigh.
"Mom! Grandpa's here!" Henry shouted from the door.
Emma shook herself out of her daze, hearing a screeching "Papa!" from Harleigh as she did. Chuckling Emma made her way to the door.
"Oh look at you! You've grown!" David gushed over Harleigh and the two year old ate it all right up. "Hey, Princess." He looked up at Emma, taking in her appearance. This was the first time he'd seen her in person in almost an entire year.
"Dad." Emma groaned at the pet name.
"What? You're still my princess no matter how old you get, you know that." David teased.
"Ugh," she cringed again and chuckled "Yeah yeah I know. Hi Dad, I missed you." Emma went in for a hug, squeezing Harleigh in between them both.
"I missed you too, sweetheart. And you too, little darlin'!" David tickled and shook Harleigh a bit making her screech with laughter. "And my handsome grandson, come here boy." David beckoned Henry in a squeeze and squeeze he did.
"Oof, grandpa. Too tight. Can't breathe." Henry strained against David hold.
Chuckling David let him go and placed Harleigh back down gently. "Ready to start unpacking?!" He exclaimed
"Yes! I can't wait to decorate my room! I have to set up my Pop figure wall! Oh no! They're gonna over heat in the van!" Henry went racing out the door.
"Hey kid! Wait for Us!" Emma yelled after him, but he was already racing off.
David laughed and Emma just shook her head. "Come on let's get started before the rain comes." He said walking out.
Setting Harleigh up with some toys and her tablet out on the porch, Emma took a deep breath.
"Yeah, alright. Let's do this."