So glad you guys enjoyed the first chapter, I love pleasing my readers! Reviews are highly appreciated!
"Isn't it a bit late to go to her house? Maybe we should wait till morning." Reagan suggested from the passenger seat of the car.
"Nope." Emma shook her head. "She's not getting off that easy and can you please put on your seat belt." She could feel her head spinning as she tried to take in all the sudden information. Not that it's impossible that she would settle down with a woman in the near future; her sexuality is something she almost never questions. Whoever life brings her to, male or female, that's who she'll end with and the gender shouldn't matter. But Regina Mills, now that's impossible.
Reagan sunk further into her seat yet complied. She started to chew on her lower lip while staring out the window at nothing in particular. "I guess I'm just nervous. I know that past Mom is different from future Mom and not really in a good way."
"Yeah your mother can be a bit of a pain but that's only because things haven't been going all too good for her, you know?" Emma pulled the car to a stop.
"Yeah. I know." Reagan smiled at how there's an understanding between the two. Perhaps she didn't get sent too far back in time.
When they got out the Bug, Emily latched on to her mother's two fingers and swung her arm back and forth as she skipped along the gravel that led to the mansion. "Mommy, will young Mom still love me?"
A twinge in Emma's heart made her wince unintentionally at the question. She helplessly looked over at Reagan to answer in her place.
"She's your daughter. You can talk to her, she'll understand if you just explain it to her." Reagan informed, coming to a stop a few inches away from the front door of Regina's mansion.
"She's like three. She's way to young to understand complex situations like this."
"Four actually and she has an incredible mind. Talk to her." Reagan nodded in the direction of Emily. "It'll come naturally, trust me."
Emma looked down at Emily, still holding on to her fingers, who smiled up at her. Innocence practically radiated from her and suddenly there was this pull, this familiarity that helped Emma feel comfortable enough to bend down so that she's eye level with her. "Okay...you see Emily, your young Mom won't really know who you are. Just like me. You know that right?"
Emily nodded. "Because we jumped inside the purple swirls."
Emma laughed gently. "Right. So because she won't know you, she might not..." She searched for a way to gently put it. "Know the love she has for you. You understand?"
"I think so. So does that mean you don't know the love you has for me?"
Another tug at her heart strings. "I'm afraid not, kid. But I'm sure I will soon."
"Promise?" Emily held out her pinkie.
"Promise." Emma hooked their pinkies together. She was taken aback when Emily suddenly unhooked their joint pinkies so that she could wrap her short arms around her neck, hugging her. For a moment Emma tensed, she kept her hands hovering over the little girl's back before she slowly brought them down to settle on the soft material of Emily's pink fuzzy sweater.
Reagan watched the interaction with a smile on her face. Despite Emma not knowing Emily yet, nothing could weaken the bond between a mother and her child. When Emma stood up and took Emily's hand in hers once more, they all stepped onto the porch.
Emma looked over at Reagan and saw that she's rubbing the back of her head and wincing, something she has been doing the whole car ride. "You okay?"
"Yeah. I think I might have hit my head back in the forest but I'll be fine." That's not entirely the truth. She had a major headache but chose not to put anything more on Emma's plate.
"Alright. You ready?" Seeing Reagan nod, Emma pressed the doorbell. "Now try not to overwhelm her. She's probably already going to be pissed because one: someone's interrupting her night and two: that someone is me."
"Is your relationship really that rocky?"
Emma opened her mouth to answer with something along the lines of "hell yes" but got cut short when the door clicked open revealing a very angry Regina in silver pajamas and a thin gray robe.
"Miss Swan." The amount of emphasis she put on the name revealed the direction this conversation will go.
"Oh here we go." Emma mumbled.
"Now, I'm sure you own a clock and can read time so you're very much aware that it's way too late to knock on anyone's door let alone mine." Regina spoke harshly.
"If this could wait and didn't concern you believe me I wouldn't be here."
Regina's eyes narrowed. "What is it? Is Henry okay?"
"Henry's fine. He's at a sleepover with some friends." Emma quickly reassured.
"Then what else can possibly concern me?"
Reagan felt completely invisible standing beside Emma. Her heart clenched, it didn't know how else to react to being ignored by someone so important. Regina didn't even look at her yet. She could feel the sensation of sadness slowly taking over so she bowed her head and stared at the ground.
Emma placed one hand on Reagan's shoulder and she motioned with the hand the held Emily's hand in Regina's direction. "These two. Can we come in?"
Regina finally looked at the two young girls standing on her porch but failed to recognize who they are. So she forced a fake smile on her face and brought her eyes back to Emma. "Sorry dear, but my babysitting services are between 1 and 4." She said sarcastically, dropping the smile. "Goodnight Miss Swan." She made a move to shut the door but Emma placed her flat palm on the white wood, successfully preventing it from closing. By now Regina's irritation grew and it showed.
"Regina, please." Emma gave her a pleading look, something she rarely did and oddly Regina found herself unable to slam the door in her face.
She let out an exasperated breath. "10 minutes. 20 if what you have to say is actually worth my time."
Regina brought them to the black and white sitting room where she sat in the arm chair across from the couch Emma and Reagan sat on. Emily proved her restlessness by roaming around the room with Regina carefully watching her.
"You don't have to worry," Regina's eyes settled on the teenager smiling at her. "She won't break anything. Our parents taught her better than that."
"Thank you for the information." She kept her eyes on Reagan for a while longer than necessary. Shortly after this feeling in her gut appeared, something like déjà vu. She chose to ignore it and averted her eyes to the blonde sitting across from her. "Now, would you care to tell me what exactly is so urgent that it couldn't wait until a more appropriate time?"
Emma glanced over at Reagan and the teenager mimicked the attention simultaneously. "Regina, this is Reagan. And the little girl over there is Emily. Now bear with us because they have both come a long way to get here. Regina...they're your daughters.
Regina stared at Emma then shifted her eyes to Reagan all the while staying completely silent so Emma continued to speak.
"Something in the future happened and it brought them back here. Back to you." She wanted to replace the word "you" with "us" but refrained from doing so.
Once again Regina stayed silent momentarily before chuckling deeply. "That's rich. Perhaps you shouldn't believe everything children tell you, Miss Swan. I'm sure you're very much aware of their over imaginative minds." She stood up and made a move to let them out.
"Ouch." Reagan commented quietly.
"Regina wait."Emma got up and Regina paused, turning back around sharply.
"No I will not wait. This is a waste of my time. I don't have two more children because I can't-" She caught herself from spilling too much information. "It doesn't matter. I don't have daughters."
"I know what you're thinking." Reagan finally spoke, standing up and gaining the attention of the dark haired woman. "I know." She emphasized softly. "But I can prove your my mother. We have the same magic, watch."
"Hold on," Regina took a few steps toward Reagan. "What do you know about magic?"
"Only what you taught me. Give me a second." Taking a few steps back and allowing her eyes to drift close, Reagan concentrated. Both Emma and Regina watched her jerk both of her hand up but it seemed that she didn't get the reaction she expected judging by the expression on her face. "I can do this. Come on." Reagan tried to encourage herself. She bit down on her lower lip and repeated the action, this time she felt it happen.
Regina's eyebrows arched in surprise when Reagan disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, much like her own, and appeared across the room where Emily stood. She stumbled slightly but managed to keep her balance.
"Woah!" Emily gasped. "That was so cool!"
"And if that's not convincing enough, Mo-Emma has some pictures that might will." Reagan moved back toward the two with Emily trailing behind her.
Emma already had the pictures gathered in her jacket pocket. As she handed them to Regina she made sure to give her pictures that didn't involve everyone in the family. The last thing she needed tonight is for Regina's head to explode.
Regina studied the photographs to determine whether or not they're a forgery created by magic. Being a person with magical abilities, it would be easier to distinguish a real photo from one created with a spell than a person without magic. And it didn't take much to come to the conclusion that the pictures that revealed her with the two girls were in fact real. The evidence is all there, all that's left is for Regina to accept it. She hesitated before looking at Reagan again then at Emily, the feeling in her gut came back
"Your my daughter. Both of you?" A slight smile curved the corners of Regina's mouth.
"Hi." Reagan smiled sheepishly.
Regina still had trouble wrapping her head around the situation. With a close observation, Reagan looks exactly like herself just with a different eye color; brighter, familiar. Emily has her eyes but they're warmer, more welcoming and her hair has the same curly texture which is very much impossible. She must've had twice the luck when adopting them. "You two look a lot like me."
"Well they are your children." Emma said in a tone that made Regina's jaw clench.
"I believe I was speaking to my daughters, not you." She spat.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Relax Regina, I was only trying to help speed up this process."
"Your help is very much unwanted and unneeded. And now I've realized so is your presence. I can handle the rest of this by myself, thank you."
Emma laughed dryly, placing both hands on her hips. "Do you honestly believe that I would leave you alone with them?"
Regina's eyes narrowed to silts and Reagan gulped, watching as Regina invaded Emma's personal space. "Are you insinuating that I would hurt my own children, deputy?"
Emma's demeanor remained calm and unwavering. "Well, your majesty, you've been trying to murder your step child for how many years now? And last time I checked, you tried to kill her twice in only 24 hours. So yeah, I wouldn't put it past you."
"Please stop fighting." Reagan's plea went deaf to both of her mother's ears. From her side she heard Emily make a small whining noise at the arguing so she took her sister's small hand in her own and lightly squeezed it. A silent way of saying "I'm here." Neither of them were used to seeing their parents fight, especially not directly in front of them. Receiving their first experience made them both anxious. Reagan scratched at the backside of her head, she gets itchy when she's uncomfortable, and immediately winced when a shock of pain shot through her skull. She jerked her hand away and saw the dark red blood that coated her fingertips. "Mom..." She called out shakily, not only to one but to both.
"Your mother is a murderer."
"Your mother had nothing more than the intention to destroy this whole town. She had to be stopped."
Reagan tried to keep her breathing steady but the sudden dizziness made it incredibly difficult. She could feel her body swaying dangerously and did her best to keep steady by taking a few steps forward. Everything had gray spots surrounding it and that terrified her. "Can someone please help me!"
The amount of panic in her voice got them to stop fighting and bring their attention from each other to her.
"Reagan what's wrong?" Emma moved closer in unison with Regina.
There was no time to answer, her vision went black and then she felt herself falling. Emma and Regina both rushed to insure that Reagan didn't hurt herself by catching her and gently laying her down on the floor.
"Reagan." Emma gently patted her face in attempt to rouse her.
Regina had her hand beneath her daughter's head as a cushion and what confused her is the wetness she felt. Carefully she slipped her hand out from between the floor and Reagan's head, finding that what's leaking onto her palm is blood.
"Did you know she was hurt?" Regina questioned none to gently, putting her blood stained hand in Emma's view.
Emma mentally scolded herself for not catching on the first time. She should've known that Reagan wasn't being fully honest with her when she asked about her head. "She said she bumped her head in the forest where I found them."
"And how exactly did that happen?" Regina carefully maneuvered Reagan onto her side so that she could locate the injury and use magic to heal it.
"Most likely when she attacked me." Emma said without thinking. Too late to take it back now.
Regina's piercing eyes snapped to her face. "Funny how you say she attacked you but she's the one with an injury and you barely have a scratch."
"I defended myself, Regina. She caught me off guard."
"You put your hands on my daughter."
Emma's surprised that Regina didn't fireball her ass already. "I barely laid a finger on her!" She exclaimed.
"Excuse me for not believing you when her head is practically leaking!"
A soft cry interrupted their argument. Two heads faced the direction of the sound and found Emily watching the entire situation, tears whelming in her brown eyes; she was practically shaking. With everything happening they had forgotten the youngest person in the room.
"Oh, Emily. I'm sorry." Emma sighed, making a move to console her.
"Miss Swan, haven't you done enough?"The accusation in Regina's voice brought Emma to the last of her wits. She couldn't hold it back anymore and right now she'd do anything to get Regina to shut up.
"They're my daughters too, Regina."