Chapter 30
As the hours flew by Granny, Ruby, Belle and Emma were really starting to feel the alcohol. Even though Regina wasn't drinking she was really enjoying her time with all the inebriated women. Belle was giggly and really touchy with her girlfriend, just as she always was when she was drunk. Ruby just laughed and enjoyed it. She loved drunken Belle.
Granny couldn't help but smile, seeing her girls like this, even though she knew they shouldn't be drinking, was a much needed relief. Every one of them needed this. They needed some family time, to get the chance to relax, to share stories and laugh. Especially Emma and Regina.
"So who's up next?" Belle teased and downed the last of her beer with a small burp.
"Well, I guess I can share something now." Ruby said with a huge grin toward Regina. "I think Regina and I were about 13…"
"Oh no! You wouldn't dare!" Regina gasped and shot Ruby a glare.
"Challenge accepted" Ruby shot back and winked.
"Oh god…" Regina said and buried her face in Emma's hair. "That was not a challenge."
Ruby had the apartment to herself for the evening. Her grandmother was away over night on some trip for the diner. After a lot of convincing, Granny had agreed to let her stay behind. The only thing Ruby had to promise her grandmother, was to behave while she was away. Ruby guessed she could behave, even with alcohol in the picture.
After blasting music on max volume the whole day, Ruby had finally convinced Regina to come over. Belle couldn't come unfortunately.
"Reg, come in!" Ruby grinned when she saw her friend walk into the hall. She gave her a gigantic hug as they sat down on the couch.
"You're up to something Miss Lucas, aren't you?" Regina asked and her friend gave her a grin. Ruby placed a bottle of vodka, along with two shot glasses, on the table.
Regina rolled her eyes when Ruby poured them a shot of vodka each.
"Cheers!" Regina laughed and both of the girls emptied their glasses quickly. Ruby made a face and Regina chuckled at her. Regina routinely snuck shots of her mother's alcohol. So she was used to the harsh taste.
"So, I found this party tonight…. We should totally go!" Ruby smirked and poured them another shot of vodka.
"Nah, I don't know." Regina shrugged and Ruby frowned.
"Why not? It would be so fun! Come on, don't be a party pooper like, Belle!" Ruby urged and swung her arm around her. "Please, Reg, I wanna go! Please go with me!" Regina rolled her eyes and downed her shot with an eye roll.
"Fine. I guess we can go there for a little while. But if we see Daniel, you know the drill, right?"
"Yes, if he shows up, I'm your girlfriend. I know!" Ruby laughed and grabbed Regina's hand. "Let's go pick out something to wear!"
About 5 shots later, both girls were quite drunk. They were on their way to the party, and both of them were looking incredible, and feeling even better.
Ruby's red hair was in a simple ponytail, and she was wearing a black dress that showed off her small curves in a perfect way.
Regina had her beautiful dark hair down and was wearing a simple black dress. Regina was a natural when it came to walking in heels, but Ruby was not. She began to tumble towards the ground. Thankfully, Regina grabbed one of Ruby's hands before the redhead tripped over herself. Apparently, Regina could also handle her alcohol better than the redhead.
When they finally arrived at the party, Ruby and Regina quickly realized they were, by far, the youngest girls there, Which meant most of the guys saw them as a piece of meat. Little did they know, Ruby was the last person to treat like that, because she wasn't afraid of a fight.
So when a guy named August came behind Regina and smacked her ass, Ruby reacted immediately.
"What the fuck are you doing, you prick!" Ruby growled and took a step toward the guy. He gave Ruby a quick glance, before he broke out in laughter. Judging by the look on Ruby's face, she did not find it funny. Ruby was much smaller and had no reason to fight thus far in life. So he had no reason to fear the young teenager.
"This is my party, and I'll do as I wish." He stated threateningly, then smashed his lips against Ruby's. Bad idea you idiot! Ruby thought to herself as she kicked him straight in the crotch. He quickly fell backwards with a whimper.
"Ruby, let's just leave." Regina said and tried to get Ruby's attention, but it was useless. She was already worked up and too angry to listen. She knew that.
Suddenly, someone grabbed Regina's dress,making her spin around. She saw a girl looking at her with black, furious eyes and a red race.
"Who the fuck are you!" the girl growled, and Regina, who usually didn't want to flaunt her name or wealth, decided to do the opposite this time around. She challenged the furious girl by taking a step towards her, smirk on her lips.
"I'm Regina Mills."
The girls red face quickly turned pale, as she realised that she was talking to the mayor's daughter. She didn't dare meet Regina's eyes anymore. She just turned around and walked away.
Regina smirked as she turned her attention back to check and make sure Ruby was ok. Ruby wasn't scared at all, instead she looked like a wolf ready to attack. She was standing over the guy, with one hand gripping his shirt, and the other one clenched into a tight fist.
The teenager looked from the girl that seemed to be ready to strike, to the other girl with the smirk.
"Are… are… are.. You, Regina… Mills?" the guy stuttered and Regina couldn't stop grinning.
"Yes, and I believe my mother is the mayor, and knows your father, August. I don't think it will be good for you if he finds out his son sexually harreses underage girls, Hm?" Regina said with a low growl in her voice. Ruby fought hard to hold back her laughter as she let go of him. He was fast on his feet, and Ruby laid her arm around Regina.
"No, no absolutely not, Miss. Mills. I'm sorry! Please!" He said nervously.
"Get us two drinks, you asshole, and fuck off." Ruby grinned and Regina rolled her eyes at her obnoxious friend.
Granny just shook her head and shot both Ruby and Regina a glare.
"You two… I knew my vodka was gone. You two rascals." Granny chuckled and stood up, rubbing her tired eyes. "Thank you all for a wonderful day my girls, but now this old lady needs some sleep."
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea, Granny. I think Belle doesn't need anymore alcohol." Ruby grinned and helped her drunk girlfriend to stand up. "Goodnight Reg. Goodnight Swan"
"Good night to you too." Regina smiled
When they were alone, Emma let out a big sigh, which made Regina look at her.
"Are you okay, dear?" she asked carefully.
"Mmm, Yeah." Emma nodded.
"I'm really proud you shared a story with us all. That's really big off you." Regina smiled and pressed her lips against the blonde's.
"Yeah, maybe," Emma said and yawned. "but now I want to go inside and cuddle, shall we?"
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Miss Swan, follow me." Regina smiled.
Emma hadn't been inside the big main house before, but as soon as she stepped inside it, she was blown away by how it looked.
She smiled at the warmth she felt in there then she looked at all the pictures of Regina and Henry.
Emma could see their future son running on these wooden floors. The house had a soul, a heart, and it almost made Emma cry. If she reacted like that, she knew this had to be really emotional for Regina.
"How does it feel to be here? " Emma asked carefully and studied her girlfriend. She saw all the signs of a oncoming anxiety attack, and noticed the tears stinging in her girlfriend's eyes.
Unlike Emma, Regina didn't run. Being six month pregnant made it obviously almost impossible to run, so she stayed put, and instead walked up to a big picture of Henry on a big black stallion, and Regina on Rocinante.
She let her fingers brush the picture gently, and took a deep breathe before she started to shake, and when she turned around Emma embraced her and hugged her tight.
"Breathe Regina, breathe. Listen to my voice and breathe with me, okay?" Emma said as she heard Regina break down in tears and breathing oddly fast and shallow. "Deep breaths, my lovely, listen to my breathing. In and out. In and out. That's it. Breath" Regina felt her heartbeat slow down, and how she could breathe a little better, even though the anxiety in her was sky high still.
"I just miss him so much, Emma. I miss him so much, and he's never gonna meet his grandson." Regina said between sobs, and buried her face in Emma's hair, then continued to cry.
Emma's heart broke. Regina had never broken down like this in front of her, and probably never in front of anybody else for that matter.
"I understand you miss him, Regina, but it's ok to do that. It's ok. It's totally okay and understandable to miss him. Even if he will never meet his grandson, our little kid is gonna hear all these stories about him, ok?" Emma almost whispered, and felt how Regina's grip around her tightened.
"I wish he still was here…"
"Regina, Regina look at me, please?" Emma tried and realised this was probably the first time she comforted her girlfriend like this.
Regina had probably never broken down like this in front of anyone before. She was the one who didn't talk about feelings, Emma thought. Now though, she had someone to show feelings like this to. Emma knew how it was to break down, to have anxiety attacks, and feel how her body was shaking so much she couldn't even stand up. She also knew how easy it was to build walls around yourself and shut everyone out. She didn't want Regina to have to do that.
"Regina, look at me." the blonde repeated and cupped her girlfriend's face in her hand. Finally, Regina met Emma's eyes.
"I look like a mess." she groaned and Emma dried her eyes, then pressed her lips against hers, as gentle as she could.
"Regina, listen to me, okay?" Emma started and her girlfriend just nodded. "I know you miss your father, Regina, and that's not weird at all. He was your biggest fan, and he loved you to pieces, and you're really your father's daughter… Well as far as I have understood from your stories, and from what Granny has told me. You're as sweet as him, and I'm so happy for that. I want you to talk about him as much as you want, because I know his death crushed you. The fact that your mother forbade you from mentioning his name is just fucked up. So fuck her! You have every right to talk about him, and I want to hear every little memory of him, okay? When our son is born, I want to hear all the stories again, together with our kid in my lap."
"Are you sure?" Regina stuttered. "I mean you seemed upset before, when I talked about him, so?"
"Yeah, but that is more because I have so much stuff to deal with myself, and I guess your father just touched a sore spot for me. But don't think about it. I'm gonna start fixing that, ad in the meantime I want you to show me every room in this beautiful house, and tell me about how you and Henry decorated it. Sound good?"
"I love you, Emma." Regina smiled and kissed her on her cheek.
"I love you too." the blonde smiled and dried her girlfriend's eyes.
"So," Emma said when Regina had finally stopped crying. "did you and your dad have some kind of tradition when you came here?"
"Yes." Regina replied with a broad smile. "He always lit the fire place, even in the middle of the summer, and played Johnny Cash on his LP player."
"Then let's do that." Emma said with a gentle tone.
"What?" Regina frowned.
"Lets keep his traditions alive." Emma said and grabbed her girlfriend's hand.
"Finally! " Henry chuckled to his daughter as they took of their riding gear and walked inside the cottage. The young Regina ran up to the stereo and pushed play as her Daddy lit the fireplace, before they both sat down on the couch.
"I love you, Daddy"
"And I love you, my beautiful little angel. And I always will."
Regina smiled when she heard Johnny Cash's voice fill the living room, along with the crackling sound of the fireplace. Apparently, the baby in Regina's stomach liked the sound too, and it made her giggle.
She hadn't been to the cottage since her Daddy's death, and it was really emotional for her, but she was so relieved Emma was there with her. She knew Emma had never had a real father or mother before Granny came into the picture, and she was really surprised at Emma's strong support.
Regina didn't believe that she could possibly love Emma more than she already did, but apparently she could. Sitting here, in her father's cottage, and doing the thing they had always done, honoring Henry's memory, made Regina's heart overflow with love for Emma. Oh Emma, I'm never gonna let you go.
They sat in silence for a long time by the fireplace, cuddled close on the sofa. Emma was smiling when she heard Regina's breathing becoming more and more calm as the time passed, and she realised how she actually needed to deal with her past.
Not only for her own sake, but also for Regina and their son.
Their son…
The thought of raising a baby still made Emma so happy. She had never wanted to deal with her past before, and had even said no that time when Granny had begged her to, but now she understood she had to.
She had so many things to fight for now. Regina and the baby were the biggest reason. Oh Regina, I'm never gonna let you go.