Another Life
By LockedSoulsAm
A/n: Finals are over. I'm officially a college sophomore! To celebrate I'm going to be updating this story and BEB quite frequently in the next few weeks.
My favorite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. -Steve Jobs
Chapter 3
The children played for what seemed like years. Henry and Annie seemed to be the best of friends. Henry was helpful and gentle when it came to his younger sister. His outgoing personality spoke when hers couldn't. Regina wondered if this was how it would have been if she had more children. Adopting another child was always something she wanted to do when Henry was growing up. When he found out about the curse she dropped the idea. She didn't want another child hating her. Not when she was the cause of it. Being in this world was unsettling for her. For now, she would enjoy it. No matter how uncomfortable she was.
They entertained each other for the three hours they were at the park. Emma and Regina watched quietly from their bench as Henry attempted to show Annie how to climb the monkey bars. Annie would watch her brother with great interest. Declaring that she could do it, Annie lifted onto her tiptoes and reached for the bars. She was still too small but with the help of Henry, she was able to grasp the first bar. After a few tries, Annie gave up. With a pout and a stomp of her foot, both women could see whom she took after. Though she was the spitting image of Emma with her blonde hair and green eyes, Annie had all of Regina's attitude and sass.
"I just wish she would talk more." Emma mused. She didn't know if she was a bad parent by thinking that. Maybe it was too soon to decide whether Annie was too quiet? Was something wrong with her? Could she tell that Emma and Regina weren't her real parents? No, of course not. This reality had no magic. Which meant Annie was none the wiser to what was going on. While Regina was potentially rejecting Maria, Annie seemed to not like her blonde mother. Emma thought she was being irrational and quickly willed those thoughts away. It's only been a few hours.
While it was easy to be parents to three beautiful children, talking to each other about their apparent marriage in this world was harder. Neither woman wanted to address what that meant for either of them. The impending conversation being left for later. Being co-parents was all they knew. Sharing Henry throughout the years had been routine. Long gone were the days where they would fight about whose he was. Henry was their son. So were these children.
When it was time to go home they both heard protests from each child, but with one stern look from Regina their pouts disappeared, and their whines died down. Emma promised them a fun time at home and their sulking was gone. Rarely did they get to spend a full day with either of their parents. Their busy schedules calling for most of their time. As they piled into the car, Regina was the one to drive this time. She missed her Mercedes but figured this world's version of her was the one to pick this car for them. It was safe and family friendly. She started the engine and pulled away from the park.
"Oh no." Emma pulled her phone from her pocket. She checked the caller ID and groaned.
"What's wrong?" Regina glanced at Emma and back to the road.
"My mom is calling." Emma looked down at the phone that kept ringing. This world had many surprises that they had yet to discover. She didn't know if her parents were any different. "I don't want to ignore her in case it's an emergency. But with everything going on it's different here. What if they're suspicious? Oh my god what if they're old? Shouldn't you be old too?"
"They won't be suspicious, Emma." Regina stopped at a red light. Emma's slew of questions reminded her of how much the other woman rambled. She was really Snow's daughter. "Just pretend that you are you. Don't give out any information that you wouldn't normally give. Also, I'm not old."
"How old are you anyway?" Emma attempted to steer the conversation away from her parents. If she answered the phone she would have to answer a bunch of questions. She was not ready for that.
"Emma," Regina warned her. "Answer the phone."
Emma sighed and finally pressed accept.
"Hi, Mary Margaret, what's up?"
"Emma, since when do you call me by my first name?" Mary Margaret questioned. Emma mentally slapped herself and blew air out of her nose. Of course, the switching between their names and titles was common for her. Not in this world.
"I'm sorry, Mom." Emma quickly apologized.
"That's fine honey I just found it weird." Mary Margaret continued. "Listen I know you and Regina haven't had a lot of alone time together with the kids and the new baby and work. David and I were talking and after tomorrow's family dinner the children can have a sleepover with Neal. I know Regina doesn't like them sleeping away on weekdays, but I figured you both needed it."
Regina tried to listen in on the conversation Emma was having. There were a lot of yes and no's. There was barely any speaking on Emma's side of the conversation. She could only wonder what they were talking about. Regina pulled into the driveway and parked the car. She glanced at the backseat where the children were sitting patiently.
"Okay mom, that sounds fine." Emma nodded even though Mary Margaret could not see her. "Bye, tell Dad I love him." Slipping the phone back into her pocket she meets Regina's expectant gaze. "Dinner tomorrow night at six. They're coming over."
"What?" Regina's eyes widened. "Emma, you were supposed to act natural."
"Hey, I did!" Emma raised her hands in surrender. "Apparently, we have dinner every other week. It's our week to host."
"Nana and Pop are coming tomorrow?" Annie asked from the backseat. Until now she tuned her parent's conversation out. They usually talked about boring stuff that didn't make sense to a four-year-old.
"Yes honey, they are." Regina grinned. "Your Mama is going to help me cook a nice dinner for the family."
"The last time you let Mama help she burned the rice." Henry piped up. "Burned rice is disgusting."
Regina laughed and cut the engine of the car. She helped Annie and Henry out of the car to leave Emma with the baby and a bruised ego.
"How do you burn rice?" Emma whispered to herself. Okay, she knew how one could burn rice. It happened multiple times in the past. Putting that behind her, Emma lifted Maria from her seat and carried her into the house. The baby whimpered but never woke. Emma rubbed her back gently and entered the house. They could act natural. Then they would find Destiny.
"Emma, I am not climbing under there." Regina folded her arms. She was standing in front of the mountains of couch cushions and blankets. She had not been too happy about the mess but with promises from both children to clean up, she'd said yes. She didn't want to be the one to ruin their fun.
"It's a fort, Regina." Emma rolled her eyes. She bounced Maria in her lap while looking up at her friend. The kid's' idea of family time was a fort and movies. Emma wasn't complaining one bit. Forts she could do. Regina, on the other hand, took a little more convincing. The former queen was always poised and done up. She needed to let loose and let out her inner child. Having children of their own was just what she needed. Besides, it was about time she got on her knees. Emma's eyes widened, and she coughed. She didn't say that out loud, did she? As her eyes found Regina's she knew that she indeed did. Only she didn't seem angry, Regina's brow was raised, and she looked to be hiding a smirk.
"Mom, come on it's fun." Henry peeked his head out from under the covers. His smile broke her, and she relented. Regina could never resist Henry; no matter what age he was. Emma opened her mouth to apologize when Regina dropped to her knees in front of her. With a smirk, she put her lips directly next to Emma's ear. "Trust me, dear, if I were to get on my knees willingly, it would be for a much more pleasurable experience than this." With a pat on her arm, Regina crawled into the fort.
Emma choked and rubbed her a hand over her face. Damn this woman for being so hot. As her mind flashed to many different scenarios, Killian's face came to the forefront. She was married. To a man no less. She could not be fantasizing about her best friend. These days she was finding it harder to convince herself.
"Mama, come on we're going to watch a movie." Henry pulled Emma into their fort. It was a small space with only room for the four of them to be squished together. Regina was sitting with Annie in her lap while Henry pulled her onto their shared sleeping bag. Regina's iPad was settled against a few pillows. Emma couldn't tell which animated movie this was, but it seemed interesting enough. She just hoped she wouldn't fall asleep in the middle of it.
By the time the movie was over Henry and Regina had both fallen asleep. Regina was curled into a ball on her side with Annie leaning against her. Henry was tucked into his sleeping bag. Emma wished that it was this easy for her to fall asleep. Regina must have been exhausted from all the party planning and then taking care of two children. Emma decided to explore the house a little more and order a pizza for dinner. There was no way she would let Regina cook for them tonight.
Annie was too engrossed in the movie to see her mother crawl from under the tent. With Maria in her arms, Emma started around the home. It was huge and very impressive each time she came here. In both worlds, Regina kept it clean and fresh. No doubt Emma kept her on her toes. For a second Emma let herself think about what it would be like to be married to Regina. Did they argue a lot? Were they affectionate in public? How did they grow to love each other in that way?
None of it made sense to her but rarely did anything in her life.
"Ma!" Maria babbled from her arms. The baby grabbed onto a fistful of Emma's hair and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Ew, no, we don't eat that it's gross." Emma tried to gently pull her hair from Maria's tight grip. She only received a grunt and a harder yank from the baby. Tears welled in her eyes as she had to admit that hurt like hell. Why did babies have such strong grips? Emma walked to the kitchen where she set Maria in her high chair. Her head followed and with a little coaxing, she managed to get Maria to let go. "I guess I should have known to tie my hair back."
Maria shrieked in response and Emma finally got a good look at her. Her hair was long for a baby and the brown locks almost covered one of her eyes. Her lips were plump and pink. Her tiny cheeks were puffed and rosy and only got bigger when she smiled. She looked a lot like Regina much in the way that Annie looked like her. Maria slapped her hands on the highchair and Emma could guess that she was hungry.
"We have kids." Emma shook her head. As crazy as this concept was she didn't think it was too farfetched. Anyone with eyes could see that Regina was beautiful. Having more children with her wasn't something she was against.
She went to the fridge and scanned over each shelf. On the third shelf from the bottom were bottles and food labeled just for Maria. Emma scanned the labels to find applesauce and veggies. She could tell this was homemade baby food. Was there anything Regina couldn't do? With a pace that wasn't quick enough if Maria's shrieks were anything to go by, Emma managed to tie her hair up and pull out a chair so that she could feed the baby.
With a spoonful of baby food in her mouth, Maria opened wide and she shook with excitement. She attempted to grab the spoon from Emma but was stopped. She slapped the table harshly and shrieked again. Emma was moving too slow for her.
"Ma!" Maria kicked her feet. She was hungry, and Emma wasn't helping.
"Alright, I'm moving as fast as I can." Emma laughed. She was so pushy. She scooped more baby food and held it out to Maria. Maria watched her every move and waited patiently.
"Mama?" Annie stepped into the kitchen. In Emma's moment of distraction, Maria grabbed the bowl of baby food and dumped half of its contents onto the floor and the other half onto her chair. She grinned happily and scooped handfuls into her mouth. This was much better.
"Dammit," Emma whispered making sure that neither girl could hear. She wasn't expecting this. Babies were a lot of work. "What's wrong, Annie?"
"Can we have pizza?" She asked.
"Sure, I forgot to order it." Emma stood to grab a towel so that she could clean herself and the baby. This was quite a mess and she wanted to clean it before it became even bigger. Maria did not care as she continued to run her fingers across the spilled food. Wiping the table down and then the floor was the easy part. Wiping Maria's face was a challenge as she clearly didn't like her face being touched. She squirmed and turned her head making Emma's task more difficult. Her cries of protest fell on deaf ears as she tried to push Emma's hands away. With a final loud cry from Maria Emma pulled away.
"See all clean." Emma sighed. Annie flashed the toy she was holding in her hands and Maria's hand instantly reached for it. Annie was fine with sharing and let her little sister hold on to it.
Emma washed the used bowl in silence. The only sounds were from the girls playing together.
"Mama," Annie began. She scrunched her nose in thought and looked over to Emma. When her mother turned to her she looked back to her sister shyly. "I'm happy you're home."
"Really?" Emma had no clue what she was talking about. "Why?"
"Mommy is happy now," Annie answered. "When you're at work Mommy is sad. She cries a lot because sometimes you have to be gone. 'Specially when you got hurt. But Neal says you're saving people, so you have to work."
Emma's heart sunk with Annie's confession. To hear that Regina would cry for her safety made her feel guilty. Being a cop was dangerous sure, but this was Storybrooke. Nothing happened here. Or so she thought.
"I get scared too," Annie confessed. She avoided Emma's eyes. "I don't want you to work anymore, Mama."
Emma kneeled so that she was eye to eye with her daughter. This was the most the girl had said to her all day. There was probably more to the story that she didn't know. Right now, her little girl was telling her how afraid of her job she was. Clearly, Emma's role as sheriff was a cause for concern for the entire family.
"Hey, I'm here and I'm fine." Emma pulled Annie into her arms. "Your mommy is also fine. I am happy to be home and spending this time with you all. I love your Mommy a lot and I love you. Don't forget that okay?"
Annie nodded and played with the ring on Emma's left hand. She didn't like when Emma was away. Sure she was only ten minutes away at best but she worked long hours. Emma couldn't say that she completely understood the situation, but she did know what Annie was feeling. Her feelings were valid. Emma did love Regina and only after six hours she loved their children. It was different but she was being truthful.
"How about we order a pizza and then wake your mom and brother?"
Annie nodded excitedly and asked. "Pepperoni, right? No pineapples."
"No pineapples I promise." Emma smiled. Annie was satisfied this and left the room to wake Regina and Henry. Emma watched her walk away before taking Maria from her booster seat. She immediately grabbed at Emma's ponytail. "Let's get our family fed."
At dinner, the conversation went smoother. Emma knew now that Annie was just quiet in general. She spoke more but Henry continued to do most of the talking. Regina was happy with the pizza; having let go of her strict diet years ago. A little pizza never hurt anyone. Finally, when it was time for bed, they got the kids tucked in with minimal problems and now it was time for them to clean.
"Regina, honestly, can you tell me why you won't hold her." It had been nagging Emma since their earlier conversation. Regina's half-assed apology didn't satisfy her curiosity. "Like I said I know this is hard for the both of us. Taking care of two kids is difficult I get that but she's a baby. Whatever problems you have you have to get over them."
Regina sighed folding a blanket. "Have you noticed how much Annie looks like you?"
"What?" Emma didn't know where she was going with this.
"Annie is your twin you know this. Just as we know in either world you carried Henry." Regina set the blanket on the couch. Her next task was getting the couch in order. "Maria…. I carried her. In this world I carried her."
"Okay?" Emma was looking for further explanation. She handed Regina a pillow and went to toss toys in the toy box.
"I can't have children, Emma." She confessed. "The details are not important. I cannot carry a child and to see that I clearly did Is amazing. Having a child of my own is something I've always wanted. Something that I thought I was never going to get being married to the king. Something I didn't want if it wasn't my choice. "
"Regina, I didn't know." Emma's voice is full of remorse. She was always curious about Henry's adoption but had only been told the cliff notes.
"Every child I've ever had has been taken from me." Regina blinked back tears. Her moment of vulnerability would not involve crying. Emma nodded guiltily. She had been one to take Henry away from her when she first arrived. "I am afraid of that happening again. Maria is beautiful and healthy and everything I have ever dreamed of. I just need time. I'm not leaving you by yourself."
"Regina, I'm sorry." Emma stepped over to her. "I understand." She sat beside her on the couch and scooted closer. "I'm still very happy to be your baby momma either way."
"I hate you, Emma." Regina finally cracked a smile. "How did we ever get married?"
"My money is on the sex." She joked.
"And just like that, the moment is gone." Regina shook her head. "If you can behave yourself we have to sleep in the same bedroom. We don't need Henry and Annie to think that something is wrong."
"I'm innocent." Emma smiled. "Besides I'm in need of a shower."
She followed Regina to their room. Though they had made progress talk of their marriage was still saved for later. Neither of them was ready for that now.
Emma stepped into the shower with a deep sigh. Her muscles ached, and her body was sore. Having children was a new type of exercise she wasn't sure she was prepared for. The constant touching and talking and playing. Why couldn't they just sit and watch tv for hours like she did when she was that age? She closed her eyes in relaxation. Through her trance, Killian filtered through her thoughts. Her husband of two years. How was he going to take the news of them being married in an alternate reality? She wondered if she even had to tell him. He was always so angry when it came to anything to do with Regina.
Regina. Her gorgeous and intelligent best friend. The mother of her children. Why did this wish happen? What did all this mean? Before she knew it ten minutes had passed. She stepped out of the shower to a steam-filled bathroom. She wrapped her towel around herself stepped up to the sink to brush her teeth. This had given her lots of time to think but she couldn't come up with a reason for why they had been sent here.
Meanwhile, in the other room, Regina used the guest bathroom to shower and clear her head. So much had happened today that she couldn't wrap her around. She and Emma are married. Legitimately married. Marriage certificate, rings and wedding photos. She'd let herself fantasize about this in the past but always accepted that it would never happen. Now they were in another world where it all was true.
She dressed in her pajamas and went to her room. Emma was not out of the bathroom which she was thankful for. She was not ready for the awkwardness of sleeping together. Sitting in the chair across from her bed, Regina began to lotion her legs. Just because they were in another world didn't mean she couldn't keep her normal night routine. Her eyes were already on the door when Emma left the room. She could hear the sharp gasp from her friend and Regina smirked to herself. She knew she had this effect on men and women alike but could never get the reaction she wanted out of Emma. The blonde wasn't blind, and she knew Regina was a sight. She just didn't expect to see her so relaxed.
"Which side is yours?" Emma scratched the back of her neck. It wasn't so awkward to share a bed with Regina. They had shared bunks on Hook's ship in Neverland.
"Left," Regina answered. She watched as Emma walked around the bed and slid into it. Her tank top and underwear were nothing Regina hadn't seen before. It was a nice contrast from Regina's silk pajama short set.
"You know our kids are cute." Emma slid under the covers. She looked over to Regina. Regina simply raised a brow in confusion. "I mean, kids are cute in general, but ours are gorgeous. We make a beautiful family."
"That we do." Regina agreed. She set her bottle of lotion on top of her nightstand. She climbed into the bed beside Emma. With a flick of the light switch, they were submerged in darkness. Silence filled the room except for their breathing.
"If this is too awkward I'll sleep on the floor," Emma spoke.
"That's absurd," Regina responded. "I will not have the mother of my children sleeping on the floor."
Emma nodded even though Regina could not see the action. Turning on her side she looked over at her best friend.
"Do you think we met somewhere nice? "Emma asked. Regina shifted, and Emma knew she wasn't asleep. "This world has a lot of differences and I'm curious how we met. Did we start off as friends with benefits? Did we date? Did I play hard to get?"
"We met in college," Regina answered. "I may have looked through a few photo albums while you gave the kids a bath. We met at NYU."
"Cool," Emma said. "So, I went to college in this world."
"So, it seems."
"For what it's worth if I had to be fake married to someone it would be you," Emma told her.
Regina never answered. They both fell asleep with plenty on their minds. Finding Destiny was still at the top of their lists. Their lives in this reality were interesting.
If only they knew why they had been sent here.
A/n: So is there anything you would like to see happen between the women next chapter or in this story?
Leave it in a review.
-LSAM