In Another Life
A/n: I'm back at it. For a while there I became very ashamed of my writing and just took a break because I didn't think it was good enough. I'm hoping to get back into it.
Chapter Six
Her hands were sweating. Profusely. Not the kind of sweat when she'd been out with her horses all day or the kind of sweat that procured when she was tending to her , this was the type of sweat that accompanied nervousness. The kind that left you wondering how your body could produce so much sweat in so little time.
Regina tapped her fingers steadily against the steering wheel as she noticed this tiny detail. Her mind was whirling with thoughts of any and everything as she wiped her hands against her riding pants. With the anticipation of finding answers to why they were in this alternate reality, Regina couldn't sit still. Her seatbelt felt a little bit tighter against her beating heart that felt as though it was outside of her body.
Was Destiny going to tell her they were destined to be together? Was this some kind of cruel joke? Were they set up? Having a successful marriage and kids with Emma wasn't a normal set up. Someone had to be playing some kind of game with her heart to send them to this world.
Avoiding thinking of the worse, Regina continued to focus on her sweating hands. It was the easiest of them all. They were disgustingly sweaty and she wiped them against her pants leg for what felt like the hundredth time. Her left leg bounced nervously against the side panel of the car door as she waited impatiently at the red light. Emma had only called a mere twenty minutes ago to inform her that she found Destiny. Pulling up in front of Granny's she cut the engine and let air flow through her lips.
"I don't see what there is to be confused about." Destiny rolled her eyes at the couple. The more she explained her reasoning the more it seemed like they didn't understand. Their blank expressions revealed more than what they wanted. She tried again. "Everyone has a hand in their own destiny. They play a part in it one way or another. Destiny is almost like fate. Things work out how they're supposed to ninety percent of the time. Humans are born with their own destiny. Their purpose in life." Destiny stopped to make sure that they were both following her.
Regina raised a hand for her to go on while Emma sat back against the booth with her arms crossed. Whatever this chick was saying they weren't too keen on the idea.
She sighed but continued on. "They don't have complete control. That's where we come in. Angels of Destiny. We all sort of have our own charges and we are assigned to help them continue on the path to their purpose. We give them options and it's up to them to take one path and do with it what they will. It doesn't always work out that way. Now, for both of you, we've always given you options. Usually, it's things like picking the right school or the right meal sometimes. When you are aligned with your destiny things seem and feel right."
The noise of the diner only served as background noise as Destiny rambled on and on. She needed them to see her side of things and what she was doing.
"Destiny is what's written in the stars. So for Emma, your destiny was always to be the Savior. Sometimes it's determined before you're even born. But it's not so black and white. It's something that needs for Angels to make sure things don't go wrong. Regina, yours wasn't always your choice. There are a lot of ways you took a hold of your own destiny. As did others."
"Like my mother?" Regina asked. She knew for a fact that there was no way that she was supposed to marry the King. That couldn't have been written into her destiny.
"Yes," Destiny nodded. "When your mother agreed to marry the king for you she changed your destiny. When she killed Daniel she set you onto a path of destruction that changed your life forever. But, destiny can change paths. It changed your way of thinking and in turn the way you made decisions. Cora's choices not only changed her own destiny but others around her."
"Okay, so you're saying we somehow chose to be here right now?"Emma was becoming irritable. All of this talk about destiny was confusing. She heard it a hundred times before and none of it was new. "That it was written in some invisible prophecy of some kind for Regina and I to end up here?"
"Yes and no," Destiny replied. She needed to get to the point and quickly. The way Regina's jaw clicked only told her she was treading on thin ice. "You both made choices throughout your lives that changed your destiny. Emma's path wasn't a straight shot nor was yours, Regina. What was always supposed to happen was that the Savior comes to town and meets the Evil Queen."
Regina shifted in her seat at the mention of her former title. It was one she hadn't hear in a long while.
"That was something that happened. Emma married Hook and Regina found her happy ending or we thought." Destiny wrinkled her nose. "There was a tiny detail that we missed before and I kind of need to fix. Though you have both fulfilled your destiny there is still a lot that doesn't seem right with you both. You both are unhappy."
"Yeah, because normal people aren't always happy." Emma quipped. "It's a part of life."
"That may be true, Goldilocks, but we're in the business of making sure your entire destiny is fulfilled," Destiny said. "You were always destined to meet the Evil Queen. That is the detail we missed."
As if she wasn't speaking cryptically enough, Destiny could see the wheels turning inside of Regina's head. She hoped to the higher beings that Regina understood what she was saying. She couldn't do all of the legwork. Regina looked towards Emma to see if she understood but she was none the wiser. Typical Emma.
"So, until this new or old Destiny is fulfilled, we have to stay here?" Regina questioned.
"Correct."Destiny smiled enthusiastically. At least one of them knew what she was getting at. "I granted Emma's wish because I needed to give you both a hard nudge obviously. I have to go now." Without another word, she stood and left Granny's diner. The rest was up to them.
"I'm still very confused." Emma turned to her friend. "It's like none of that made sense to me. Did she even give us an answer?"
"She did," Regina said. Without any further explaining, she motioned for Emma to move out of the booth so that she could stand. She walked out of the diner much in the same fashion that Destiny did. Her walk was much more fierce and purposeful.
"Wait, Regina!" Emma chased after her. In her riding boots, she was so much faster than normal. "Regina, do you know what she was saying?" Emma finally caught up to her once they reached the car. Regina avoided her gaze. She knew the answer to that question. "You do."
"Yes," Regina whispered. She didn't want to utter the words. She refused to. It would make all of this real.
"Regina, tell me." Emma couldn't see her face. She couldn't see the many emotions wash over her before she turned to her.
"We have to fall in love," Regina whispered. If Emma was standing any further her voice would have been lost with the sound of the wind. But she'd heard it. Regina turned to her to gauge her reaction.
"That's not possible." Emma frowned. She missed the wince that flashed across Regina's face. "I mean, I'm married, and you're not gay and there are so many things that are wrong with that statement. None of it makes sense. She's got this all wrong."
"Unless I got it wrong then she's right." Regina shrugged. She didn't have the patience to tell Emma how many ways she herself was wrong. "I don't think it's as simple as I put it, but we're here for a reason. She sent us to this particular world to make us realize our destiny."
"So it's not to fall in love?" Emma raised her brow. "Is it to make you happy for your birthday? Because that was the wish. Could it be that I'm the one that's supposed to introduce you to your true love? Maybe the Emma and Regina in this world aren't exactly meant to be. Is that it? Could there be someone in this world that we haven't met yet that we don't have in our world? That you're supposed to fall in love with?"
Her denial was apparent. It didn't make any of this less than what it was. Regina exhaled and shook her head.
"Emma, let's just forget about it. Until I think of another way to get us out of here that's all we have to work with." Regina unlocked the car and turned to climb in. "We can continue to act as normal as we can for the children and let it ride. I'll figure something out sooner or later."
Emma wasn't satisfied with that answer. She quickly rounded the car and jumped into the passenger's seat. "So we just keep pretending to be this happily married couple in hopes of falling in love? Regina, don't you see how ridiculous that is? "
Emma's words felt like a knife to the heart. Her grip on the keys in her hand bordered on painful as Regina practically shoved them into the ignition.
"Well, Miss Swan, if it pains you to do so you are more than welcome to sleep on the couch and come up with excuses to the kids yourself."
Emma pictured the sweet little faces of their children and sighed. She knew she was acting irrationally but this was a lot to understand.
"Fine." She relented. "There has to be another way."
"Which we will find. In the meantime, I'm going to be taking our daughter to therapy while you take Henry and Maria to the grocery store to shop for our family dinner with your parents." Regina grinned in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Why do I have to shop for them?" Emma whined. She flailed in her seat like a petulant child that was just told they couldn't have any candy before dinner.
"Because you agreed to it." Regina started the car. She chuckled at Emma's groan. This would be good.
"Okay kid, your Mom wants us to get everything on the list." Emma flashed the crumpled list in her hand over to Henry. He peered at it for a while before releasing Emma's hand. In a Regina like fashion he nodded and walked through the double doors first.
"I can push the cart." Emma watched him pull a cart from a row and pull it back to them. She shifted Maria in her arms and waited for him to bring it their way. Settling Maria inside, they were off on their grocery adventure in no time.
"So what are we having for dinner?"Henry pushed the cart as best he could. Though it was taller than him he liked having a job. Emma could see his struggle and suggested that she take over.
"We are having parmesan and sausage bolognese." It sounded fancy. She couldn't wait to taste Regina's cooking. It felt like days since she'd had it when it had only been a couple hours. She felt Maria's tiny socked feet kick against her stomach. Emma looked down to see that her kicking was out of excitement. She was enraptured by all of the bright colors and shapes that lined the shelves.
"Sounds good to me." Henry tried to keep up with Emma's fast paced walking.
"You ready for an important task?" Emma stopped the cart just short of the pasta aisle. That was going to be what she grabbed first.
"Yep." Henry stopped beside the cart and waited patiently for Emma to read off the first item of the list.
"We are going to need some pasta." Emma squinted at the list. Regina's handwriting was impeccable but her glasses were very much needed. "We are going to need a pound of rigatoni."
"Oh, I can find it." Henry bounced excitedly. He didn't even know how to spell the word rigatoni.
"It starts with an R," Emma called after him as he raced down the aisle. "Slow down kid!"
At that moment Maria shrieked almost as if she was telling her big brother to slow down too.
"Your big brother has a lot of energy." Emma shook her head. Maria began to babble and swing her legs so that her feet made a clunking noise against the cart. It was entertaining for her and Emma found it amusing.
"I found it, Mama." Henry grabbed several boxes of pasta and dumped them all into the cart. "I don't know how much a pound is but this looks like it."
"I don't think we need that much." Emma grabbed a few boxes to put back. "We're not feeding an entire school."
"What's next?" Henry asked. He didn't always get to do things with just his mama. He was soaking up all of the attention he could get. Being the oldest was hard sometimes.
"Spicy Italian sausages," Emma told him. She pointed towards the meat aisle to their left. Henry was off again and just barely missed running into a woman standing next to the meat aisle. She seemed to be lost in thought. Probably trying to decide what to get.
"Sorry!" Henry had the decency to look apologetic.
"Henry, be careful." Emma reminded him. "Sorry, he's just a little excited. Like all the time."
"Oh, he's fine." The woman smiled down at him.
"Okay, the Italian sausage is right here." Emma picked it up and set it down onto the aisle. Shopping with the kids wasn't so bad. That is until she chose to go down the candy aisle.
"Mama, can we get these?" Henry batted his long lashes. He was pointing to a box of fruit snacks. Maria too noticed what he was aiming for and reached out for her own box. Her babbling had turned to a whine now. "See, even Maria wants them."
Emma didn't want to say yes but she also didn't want to say no. They had the word fruit in it. It had to be semi-healthy right? She nodded and hurried them out of this aisle before she got them all in trouble. She found that she quite enjoyed hanging out with little Henry. Her memories of their time in Boston were few and fleeting. Everything was very vague as she'd been cursed at least three more times since then.
Her world's Henry was practically grown and always doing his own thing. It felt good to be needed.
Knowing that Annie dealt with anxiety, Regina and Emma did not try to force her to talk. She spoke to Henry whenever he asked her a question but gave them nothing more. The car ride to Archie's had been filled with Henry and Emma's banter until they drove away. Stepping into Archie's office, Annie sat in her usual seat and took to flipping through a magazine. She liked looking at all of the models and the clothes they would wear. Sometimes there was a page that she could sniff and smell the perfume that was being advertised.
Regina signed them in and sat beside her. She studied the way Annie inspected each page and flipped to the next one. She really did look like a carbon copy of Emma.
"Did you have a good day at school?" She asked. Besides the two of them, the waiting room was empty except for the secretary. Archie had a much bigger office in this world, but the homely vibe didn't change.
"Yeah." Annie nodded. "I mean, yes." Annie corrected herself. SHe never looked up from the magazine.
"It's nice to know some things haven't changed." Regina mused as she thought of this world's version of herself correcting the four-year old's grammar. They sat in silence for what seemed like forever.
"Mommy, I'm hungry." Annie tapped her knee.
"Here." Regina Mills never went anywhere unequipped. Sure it had been years since she packed a bag but she refused to be caught slipping. Grabbing a juice box and graham crackers from her oversized purse she made sure Annie was situated before taking a few crackers for herself.
"I like these." Annie turned the graham cracker over in her hands before stuffing it into her mouth.
"I like them too." Regina tossed the graham cracker into her mouth and nudged for Annie to do the same. Her giggles were just as angelic as the first time she'd heard them. Regina made sure they didn't make a mess as they took turns tossing Graham crackers into each other's mouths. If Emma were here to see it she would probably make some joke about Regina being uptight. Truth was, she quite enjoyed being silly and playing with their children.
Before learning about the curse and her being the Evil Queen, she enjoyed doing many activities with Henry. They would play hide and seek for hours at a time or play with his dinosaurs for as long as he liked. Those days were nonexistent after Snow, then Mary Margaret had given him the book. That book changed everything.
"Hi, Annie, Regina, are you both ready?" Archie escorted his other client out of his office to address them.
Regina looked down to Annie and received a nod in return. Annie stood reluctantly. She took Regina's hand in her own and lead her into Archie's office. She was always nervous coming into Archie's office. Sometimes he was fun and other times he wanted her to talk about things that made her sad. Like her mom being away. She didn't like those times. Their family never felt complete without both her Mama and Mommy.
"How are you doing today?" Archie asked. He closed the door behind them. " Regina." He spoke to her first. Annie always took a little time to warm up. She'd been in his office many times and it always took her a while to speak.
"I'm well." Regina sat. Annie stepped over to the toys lined against a wall and grabbed a pink plush bear. She came back to sit next to Regina and kept her attention on the bear.
"Annie, did you have a good day at school today?" Archie sat across from them. He pushed his pen and pad to the side.
Annie nodded. She looked up to make eye contact with her therapist. Her parents had always told her that it was impolite not to look at grown-ups when they're talking to you.
"Today, we learned about butterflies." She mentioned. Archie was one of her favorite grownups. She didn't even need to be prompted this time. It was an exciting subject at school and she finally had the chance to tell someone without being interrupted by the baby or Henry.
"Oh, what did you learn?" Archie leaned in to listen to her.
"They are baby caterpillars and then they grow into a ball and then for months and months and months they get bigger and come out into a huge butterfly." Annie's description wasn't spot on but it was the best she could do at four years old.
"That sounds like an exciting day." Archie and Regina listened to every single word she had to say. Turns out Annie had a lot to talk about. Her usual quiet demeanor was forgotten for an hour. That was how the rest of the session went. Nothing out of the ordinary was said. Today's appointment was one of those sessions that was simply for Annie to express herself in any way she wanted. Regina could see how bright and intelligent she was. All she wanted was for her parents to be happy and home.
"So, are we ready for dinner to be made?" Emma washed her hands. Using a nearby towel, she wiped them dry and threw it back onto the counter. Bumping hips with Regina, Emma tried to get her to look at her.
"I guess you can make the salad."
"Salad?" Emma frowned. "Come on Regina I can do a little more than that."
"Okay, taste this and then make the salad." Regina took a spoonful of pasta and pressed it gently towards Emma's lips. Emma blew her breath against the spoon hoping it would cool it down before letting the warm liquid and noodles hit her taste buds. Regina waited anxiously for a reaction before grinning with pride. She knew her cooking was good.
"This is amazing." Emma smiled back."I might need you to cook this for me again when we get back to our world."
"Is that so?" Regina cleaned the spoon once more before returning to her position at the stove.
"You know despite everything I had a good day." Emma took the ingredients out of the fridge. She figured if Regina wasn't going to let her help cook she might as well make the salad.
"Me too," Regina responded quietly. She didn't want to discuss any more of what happened today. If all Emma was going to do was deny there was no point in discussing it.
"How was Annie's session?" Emma stopped her preparing to look over at Regina.
"It was pretty good," Regina answered. "Henry, Annie, come and set the table please." Sure enough, the pitter patter of tiny feet against the floor followed.
"Here, Annie, you can do the spoons and forks." Henry handed his younger sister the eating utensils and they both took their time setting the table.
Regina cooked in silence. She wasn't exactly ignoring Emma but she also wasn't in the mood to talk. Everything had been put out onto the table and it was now their choice to make things happen. Falling in love wouldn't be easy. That wasn't something they could just do. They had lives back in their own Storybrooke. Emma had a husband. An annoying pest of a husband.
"Nana and Pop are here!" Annie's voice rang through the house. She raced to the door only stopping just a few feet away from the entrance. She knew better than to answer it. Even if she knew who was on the other side. Emma was hot on her heels. She was just as anxious to see her parents. How different would they be in this world? She took her time fixing her clothes before reaching her hands out to fix the knob.
"Mom, Dad!" Emma greeted them. She was immediately engulfed into two bear hugs. "Neal!"
Emma almost choked on her own saliva. Totally not what she was expecting. Instead of the little boy, she was expecting, Neal was a tall blonde teen that couldn't be much older than fourteen. That shocked her the most. She gave him a fist bump instead of a hug. She could tell the teen phases from a mile away.
"Annie !" David scooped his granddaughter into his arms and planted several kisses along her face. "Did you get taller since the last time I saw you?"
Annie giggled and shook her head. "Hi, Nana." She smiled and leaned over in David's arms to give Mary Margaret a kiss.
"Hi, my princess." Mary Margaret smiled. "Where are your brother and sister?"
"I'm right here!" Henry smiled up at her. "I was finishing making the table all nice for you."
"Henry is quite the helper." Regina stood beside them with Maria now in her arms. Emma noticed that she was trying to interact more with the baby. She doesn't know what changed between now and last night but she wasn't going to question it. "Hello, it's so good to see the both of you."
Regina didn't know what their normal greeting was. In the other Storybrooke, she and Snow had grown to be quite close. She could only imagine the same for this time.
She observed their mannerisms and interactions with Emma and the children. They all talked at once and Regina wondered for a bit if they were always like that. She noticed the graying of their hair and found it odd. She was much older than Snow in reality, but that didn't seem to be the case here. It was unsettling to see them growing old when she looked very much the same.
As they crowded around the dinner table, Regina was preparing plates and setting them down to be served. She almost yelped when Emma pulled her down to sit next to her.
"Come on babe, you should be sitting with us not serving us." Emma kissed her on the cheek. Regina sat upright in her seat with a bewildered look on her face. Why had she done that? Remembering where they were, she sat a little straighter and began to pick up the wine glass to pour herself some.
"Well, I'm sorry if I want to be a good hostess for your parents." Regina recovered and smiled softly.
"Nonsense, Regina, we know just as much as anyone how good of a host you are." David stuffed his face with pasta. They continued dinner with small talk about work and things that were easy enough to follow along. Not much had to be done on their part. Maria slapped her hands against the table impatiently waiting to be fed. She hummed when pasta finally filled her mouth.
"She's getting so big." Mary Margaret commented.
"Yeah, it''s crazy." Emma agreed. Not that she was there to watch Maria grow up in the first place. She helped Annie wipe her face and returned to her own food.
"Emma, did you ever figure out where we were holding that Storybrooke PD party in a couple weeks?" Mary Margaret asked. Emma found it odd that she was talking about this instead of David. She didn't have an answer for that and she hoped that it didn't show.
"Oh, um, I don't know I was thinking of just having it at the station." Emma tried. David and Mary Margaret both shared a look but neither of them questioned her any further.
"Mary Margaret, how's your new job as principal going?" Regina stepped in.
"Oh, it's so fun!" Mary Margaret beamed. Regina had done her research and made sure to keep on top of things that they could talk about. "I do miss teaching quite a bit but it's even more fulfilling being in charge of the school and being able to take care of things that need to be done."
"That's lovely." Regina sipped more of her wine if only to buy herself a little more time.
"That reminds me," Mary Margaret set down her fork. "Are you still going to be offering those classes at the stables for an extracurricular? I know so many students that would just love the idea. There's not much to do in Storybrooke and it seems as if it would be such fun. I'd even love to ride a horse."
"Of course," Regina nodded. "If you call Monday I can set up a meeting and we can figure something out." She couldn't admit that she didn't have a clue about what Mary Margaret was talking about.
"Nana, are we really going to spend the night at your house tonight?" Henry asked.
"Yes, I know you both need to be in bed for school tomorrow." Mary Margaret laughed at the way both of their faces lit up. "So right after dinner, you both can get ready. That's if your moms are still okay with it."
"It's fine." Regina looked to Emma for agreement. She was all for it and she laughed at the way the children were now eating their food as if it were the last meal on earth.
After dinner as they were getting the children ready for their time at their grandparents, Annie pulled Emma and Regina aside for extra hugs.
"We will both be there to pick you up tomorrow," Emma promised. "Be good for your Nana and Pop."
With their final goodbyes of the night, Emma and Regina let out a collective sigh. Emma plopped against the couch with Maria in her arms. Regina sat beside her with a photo album in her hands. She couldn't help but want to know more about their lives in this world.
"We look really happy there." Emma pointed to a picture with what looked like a newborn Henry. He was tiny and red and perfect. That must have been the day he was brought home from the hospital. She tried not to speak too loudly. Maria was already falling asleep against her chest.
"Yeah," Regina offered no further comment as she flipped through the pictures. She flipped through years of pictures. Going from Henry's childhood to them bringing Annie home. There were dozens of more photo albums stacked under the coffee table that she didn't think they would get to them all.
"I know this isn't easy," Emma tried. "I know that I'm not being easy, but I don't know how I'm expected to just forget about my husband and accept my life here."
"It would be selfish of me to ask you for any of that." Regina closed the book. She let these memories that weren't hers weigh heavily in her lap. She wishes she could remember all of the things they felt in those moments. "For all, we know Destiny could be lying. I'll find another way."
Emma nodded. She ran her hand along Maria's back. They both held their breaths as Maria sighed in her sleep and stretched against Emma's torso. Only when she turned to face the other way did they exhale.
Regina wanted to talk about so much. She wanted to tell Emma about how she felt about this marriage, her theories, her feelings, and the things she didn't have the courage to say if they were home. Instead, she stood from the couch and headed for bed. Maybe some other time.