AN: Hello everyone! I've finished my other fic so now I can focus fully on WWCI again :) However, I will be very busy with real life for a few weeks. I'm moving in two weeks and haven't started packing yet! And two weeks after that I'm going to Paris and FT4! So excited, and terrified, so I might just need to focus on getting ready for the trip and not have much time to write until I'm home again. In my new home! Just wanted to give you a heads up ;)
In this chapter, Emma learns a little more about Regina's past. A little... :p
A Charity Case
We didn't talk any more about Henry's family situation. When I asked him what he wanted to do for the remaining hour, he asked to see where I lived. Thinking back to how it had looked when I left it in the morning, I hesitated a little.
"You know, that might not be the best idea. I don't think your mom would be too happy about it."
"We don't have to tell her?" he tried, and I couldn't help to chuckle.
"Well, then what are we gonna tell her? I don't think she'll believe that we've been sitting in the park chitchatting all afternoon," I said with a smirk.
Henry giggled a little and I much preferred it to his wet eyes before.
"Why doesn't she like where you live?"
"It's small, and right now very messy. I can't let your mom see it, she might give me a lecture and then never talk to me again."
One would think that my current job would inspire better cleaning routines at home, but truth was that I was so tired of cleaning when I got home that it actually looked worse than before. Well, it wasn't dirty, and the general state of the bathroom and kitchen had improved during the past few weeks, but there were literally things strewn everywhere. Half the floor was visible, at most.
"Maybe she doesn't have to come inside? Or maybe you can clean up before she comes?"
I contemplated this while putting on my seatbelt. It wasn't such a bad idea. There would be time to clean up the worst before the mayor came... Don't go there, I ordered myself. Pure thoughts.
"If you don't mind entertaining yourself for a while, I guess that'd work. There are TV, books, and video games."
"I don't mind!" Henry quickly assured me, smiling excitedly. "Do you have Mario Kart?"
"Yes, kid, I have Mario Kart," I chuckled and started the car, sending up a silent prayer that I wouldn't be in too much trouble when the mayor got to know all the things I had let her son do.
But it wasn't as if I was expected to make him do homework or something, right? I pulled out on the road and drove carefully down Main Street toward my apartment. There was never really much traffic in Storybrooke but as in any other town, weekday afternoons were the busiest. I wouldn't have admitted it even to myself but I was still a bit anxious to drive, and with Henry in the passenger seat there was even more at stake.
After making it to my apartment building I let out a sigh of relief. The danger was over. Then my phone beeped and seeing who it was from, I tensed up again.
Meeting over. Where are you in an hour?
Well... Expecting disapproval I answered truthfully.
We just got to my place so we'll be here, if that's okay with you?
I didn't get an immediate reply but didn't really have any choice but to exit the car and guide Henry toward the stairs and up to my door. I couldn't let the little guy down, he was counting on Mario Kart now.
"So, my apartment is probably the smallest you've ever seen," I warned as I unlocked the door. "And I have too much stuff lying around. Hang on a minute..."
I picked up my phone to read the just received message. It consisted of only two letters.
Ok
"O-kay!" I said out loud, taking my eyes from the screen and swinging the door open. "Welcome to my humble abode!"
It looked even worse than I remembered it and Henry's eyes widened notably.
"Do you live here alone?" he wondered as we entered the small hallway.
"Yep, I made this mess all by myself," I said jokingly and put his backpack and the birdhouse on the chest of drawers to the left.
The piece of furniture was taking up a lot of the space in the narrow passage but I needed to have it somewhere, and it was at least good for dumping stuff on.
I helped Henry to hang his jacket up and made a half-hearted attempt to quickly organize my shoes. Well, I'd deal with that in a moment, but first, kid duty.
"There's the kitchen," I said and pointed through the doorway. "And here's the rest."
"It's like a whole house fit in just one room," Henry commented, summing it up pretty neatly. "Well, three. I guess you do have a bathroom?"
"It's that door," I said and gestured toward the only door – except the one we had entered through – in the apartment. "The lock doesn't work but just close the door and I'll know you're in there."
He frowned but nodded and then turned his attention to the Xbox he just discovered.
"It's the same I have!" he exclaimed and ran up to it. "Can I turn it on?"
"A bit difficult to play otherwise, don't you think?"
He grinned broadly and I had to admit, I enjoyed spending time with him more than I had anticipated. I had never seen myself as the parent type, but this was quite different. Heck, I almost looked forward to clean! The mayor would have exactly nothing to remark on when she arrived, except the size of the apartment. There wasn't really anything I could do about that.
I plopped down next to Henry on the couch with a sigh, just having finished vacuum cleaning. The apartment looked as good as new and one thing that was good with it's small size was that it didn't take forever to clean.
"How's it going, kid?"
"I'm winning," he mumbled, his eyes glued to the TV screen.
I chuckled and was able to watch the ongoing race for three whole seconds before there was a knock on the door, causing my stomach to tighten. Just be cool, you've got this, I assured myself as I made my way to the door. Henry's mother might be the Evil Queen but I had done alright in the office for a month or so, surely I could handle...well, this. But damn, it wasn't nearly the same thing! Margaret's reaction to me watching Henry was proof enough and I also had first-hand information from the mayor herself that she had never let anyone do this before. I felt like I was part of a scientific experiment with a prominent risk of explosion. Squaring my shoulders and pushing aside any kind of insecurities, I opened the door.
There was an entirely too long silence following. A hazy memory was brought to life and I wondered if the mayor was thinking about that particular time, as well.
"Hi!" I greeted then, far too cheerful, and stepped aside so she could enter. "Come in. Henry is, um..."
A triumphant "yes!" suddenly sounded from the TV corner and the mayor raised her brows as she stepped over the threshold.
"I see," she said, and there was a hint of a smile on her face.
Right? Right, there was. There was also very little space in the hallway, especially for two adults of which one absolutely didn't want to touch anything that belonged to the other one. She looked very out of place, standing uncomfortably in my home, and oh my God, she was in my home! I hadn't had any guests since I moved in and the first ones to visit were the freaking mayor and her son. And she hadn't even snapped at me yet. Then, of course, she had arrived mere seconds ago.
I didn't know what to say, even less what to do, and I was sure that my mom, had she been there, would've chided me for my terrible manners. But it wasn't like the mayor would want to stay for tea or anything, she was just picking up her son. Who, by the way, seemed to be turning the game off. I could hear him navigating through the menus.
"It's not as horrible as I remember it," the mayor commented, breaking the silence.
What was this now? Offering almost compliments again? I barely suppressed a smirk.
"Did Henry make this?"
She was touching something! But, of course, it didn't belong to me. It was the birdhouse.
"Yeah," I replied, remembering my promise to him. "He really wants to put it up in your garden, and I offered to help."
She looked surprised for a moment before schooling her features back to an expression of disinterest.
"We won't need any help with that."
"So you will put it up?" I prodded.
"Yes, I will put it up," she replied, a bit annoyed and totally misinterpreting my question. "I'm perfectly able to attach a birdhouse to a tree, mind you. It's not that complicated."
"Ah, no, that's not what I meant," I said, realizing this was the second time today she had just assumed I was having bad intent when I was really not. "Henry said he'd made it for you, but he was worried you wouldn't want to have it in your garden because of your dislike for birds."
The noise from the TV had stopped and I knew Henry was listening intently. The mayor looked dismayed.
"Of course I would! I always put up everything he makes."
With brows furrowed in concern she turned toward the main room.
"Henry?"
"Hi, Mom," Henry said quietly, emerging from the TV corner.
"Did you really think I wouldn't want it?"
I felt an urge to give them a moment alone but the chest of drawers combined with the mayor was effectively hindering me from slipping away to the kitchen. I was going nowhere.
"I know how much you hate birds..." Henry mumbled.
"I love you so much more than I will ever hate birds, Henry. Don't you ever think anything else! Come here."
He obeyed and was engulfed in a hug, and behind his mother's back he smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I returned the smile, if though a bit absent-mindedly, because I was busy trying to figure out how to act around this version of the mayor. The 'loving mother' version, without the sudden mood drop that usually followed. Or maybe it was about to happen.
"Let's go home and put that birdhouse up, shall we?" she said and straightened.
Henry nodded eagerly and squeezed past her and me to put his shoes on. Everything in the hallway was neatly in order now, so he didn't have any trouble finding them. The mayor seemed to finally notice that I was kind of trapped and stepped aside so I could pass her. Or maybe she just realized that she needed to get to the door to be able to leave and didn't want to repeat what her son had just done. There was too little space and she'd have to – God forbid – touch me and my stuff.
As we switched place I couldn't help to feel a bit offended. It didn't surprise me that she wanted to keep her distance to me, expecting anything else would've been foolish, but my stuff in general? Not that I had thought she'd feel instantly at home, that would've been even more weird, but I hadn't thought she'd act as if everything of mine was contaminated, either. And that was exactly what she was doing.
But I didn't comment on it. Instead, I focused on Henry as he stood and tried to reach his jacket.
"So, what else have you been doing today?" the mayor asked casually, lifting her son's jacket off its hook for him with meticulous precision.
"You mean other than mistrusting you, playing Mario Kart, and-" I began jokingly, but stopped myself.
Better not mention my hasty cleaning. Her eyes had already narrowed at the mistrust part. I got it, no joking.
"We went to the park!" Henry said gleefully, effectively keeping the conversation on track. "I told her about that time Mudbud ate the pigeon."
The mayor frowned and made a slightly disgusted face.
"That dog eats anything."
"You don't like dogs either?" I made a fair guess, judging by her facial expression.
"I do, actually, but not all aspects of owning one. Especially not one like Mudbud."
The wheels were turning quickly in my head.
"Wait, he's your dog? I thought..."
"No, I work too much. He'd be unhappy," she explained. "But he was partly my dog until...Robin and I split up."
She struggled with the name of her ex-husband and I expected the snarly mood drop to strike. Why on Earth did I always manage to slide straight to the sensitive topics? It was very unfortunate.
"Henry, why don't you go wait in the car? It's right outside."
Gulp! I put my defenses up and hardened my armour. What was she going to do? Lecture me for something I didn't even do? I was prepared for anything.
"I don't have any cash, unfortunately," the mayor apologized when Henry had said goodbye to me and left with his things. "Having someone to watch Henry wasn't the original plan for today. I think you understand."
Not prepared for anything, apparently. I picked up my slightly dropped jaw and frowned in bafflement.
"Uh...well, yeah."
"Great. You'll have the money in your bank account by tomorrow."
Money? Bank account?
"Whoa, wait, I don't need any money for this," I protested. "It was a favour, right? A one time thing? You don't have to pay me for it."
"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I have to pay you! Or do you work for free now? Perhaps you don't need your salary either?"
"But... This wasn't work. It was kinda fun, actually."
She looked as perplexed as I felt.
"You really don't want any money for this?"
"No," I replied, shaking my head.
I hadn't expected her to pay me anything, but when I thought about it, it seemed fairly legit. It just didn't feel right to accept it. I had enjoyed the afternoon with Henry and it hadn't been any trouble for me. I had even gotten my apartment freshened up. No, I could impossibly accept any money for this.
"Well, that's certainly unexpected," the mayor said with raised brows. "Especially for someone in your financial situation."
For someone in my...? Please. If I had felt offended before it was nothing compared to what I was now.
"Yeah, I'm not that poor, you know. Unless you're planning on firing me again."
Her expression darkened at my sour comment.
"Goodbye, Miss Swan," she said curtly and turned around in her six inch heels to open the door.
"Bye, Madame Mayor," I responded dutifully as she stepped out of the apartment.
I caught a glimpse of dark, hard eyes before the door slammed shut with a loud bang, and cringed as the sound echoed in the stairwell. The apartment building was not soundproofed in the slightest.
"I have neighbours, mind you," I mumbled and locked the door.
As if on cue there was an irritated knock on the hallway wall.
"Sorry, neighbour!" I called, loud enough for them to hear, and continued more quietly. "But if you're that sensitive, maybe you shouldn't live in this kind of building."
The next day, out of curiosity, I signed in to my online bank to check my account balance. To my surprise and outrage the mayor actually had transferred thirty bucks to my account and the short message read 'not arguable'. She got some nerve. Nothing I didn't already know, though. And, well, what to do? I wasn't going to be too obnoxious about it. It covered the ice cream, at least.
When I saw her exit a conference room, however, I couldn't keep quiet.
"Hey, Mayor!"
I caught up to her, which wasn't exactly easy, because she was rather fast despite her footwear and I had the cleaning trolley to handle, as well.
"Swan. What do you want?" she questioned without slowing down.
"Why did you do that?" I demanded.
"I'm sorry. Why did I do what?"
This woman! She was going to drive me mad one day. Of course she'd make me say it.
"The money," I complained. "I'm not some charity case! If you want to give money to charity, why don't you start with the animal shelter? I hear they have lots of expenses."
And she laughed. She freaking laughed, fuelling the anger that was rising within me.
"You think it was charity? Believe it or not, Miss Swan, but I actually think you did a good job, and you are nothing but stupid for not accepting any money for it. Henry won't stop talking about you."
She thought I had done a good job? Henry liked me? Well, I knew that, but hearing his mother acknowledging it... It was something of a victory. My anger dissipated.
"Besides, I founded that animal shelter in the first place, a little over four years ago," the mayor informed me. "Look it up if you must."
Then I had to screech to a halt to avoid running a bunch of people over and lost ground on the mayor, who unhindered strutted onward. Well, screw it, I thought and began to go back. Unable to resist the temptation, though, I pulled up my phone and did as she had suggested. I looked it up.
And she hadn't lied. I found an article in Storybrooke Times Online from August, 2008, with the headline "Mayoral candidate Regina Mills founds Storybrooke's first animal shelter.' I had to say, I was quite impressed. Even if it had been solely for political reasons, it was still a good thing to do.
As I read on, I found the article rather interesting.
"I've always loved animals," says Regina Mills, 28, the leading candidate for the mayoral elections this November. "My mother tried to have me play golf when I was little." She gives a small laugh. "But I only ever had horses in my head, so horse riding it was."
We walk into the stables, which will provide housing for the larger animals, and are greeted with a humming neigh from a tall grey horse. Mills explains that he and his friend, a smaller chestnut colt, has already moved in. Their situation was rather emergent and I understand why as we get closer. I can easily count the ribs on both of them. I'm told that they were seized by the local police after their owner had been charged with animal neglect, but since the police didn't have enough resources to care for them, they were going to be put down instead. Two healthy, albeit thin, horses, of which one is only two years old. It's unacceptable, we both agree.
"When I heard about this, I knew I had to do something," Mills says fervently. "Countless pets get put down each year across our country simply because of lack of resources. Little effort is made to find new homes for stray and abandoned animals. I want Storybrooke to be a safe place, for both two- and four-legged individuals."
There was more, it was a long article, and at the end of it there was a photograph of the mayor – well, mayor to be – standing proudly between a couple of scrawny horses. 'Regina Mills with Major and Rocinante, two horses that will now be given a second chance', the caption read.
I found myself engrossed in research for the rest of the afternoon. She had renovated the school buildings, the library, freshened up the park and the harbour, given more money for education... The list could go on. Well, obviously she hadn't done all this personally, but she had made it happen. I really understood now, why people would vote for her. Why they would put up with her attitude. It was rather enlightening.
But no matter how many articles I read or pictures I saw, the first about the animal shelter was still the one I appreciated the most. She looked true in that photograph with the horses. I wondered what had happened to them.
