Chapter twenty-one
1986
"Mom?"
Ingrid closed her eyes and smiled at the sound of Emma's voice.
"In here, baby!"
Her daughter showed up on the archway to the living room, dressed in sweatpants, a tight white t-shirt and running shoes. Her lips were cracked into the first smile Ingrid saw in a long time.
"Check this out," she said, dropping her duffel bag recklessly on the floor. She squatted to rummage it, and removed a green jacket with Storybrooke coat of arms and the name SWAN embroidered on the chest. "How do I look?" she asked, putting it on.
Ingrid grinned, clapping her hands. "Oh my God, kid! You look gorgeous!" She looked exactly like James. "You're gonna crush hearts!"
"Because I'm the cutest student in the police academy?" Emma scoffed, plopping down next to her mother on the couch. "You're so biased…"
"I'm not biased!" Ingrid smacked her arm. "You are the cutest!"
"Can't argue with you on that," Ruby said barging in the house, bringing an armful of paper bags from Granny's. "Dinner's here!" she called out, walking towards the kitchen to drop the food and then returning to the living room. "Hey. You got another one," she threw a letter into Emma's lap.
The blonde lowered her eyes and recognized the familiar stamp of the British mail service. She picked it and, when she was about to tear it in two, Ingrid snatched it from her hands and put it away.
"We're hanging at the pier later, if you wanna come," Ruby said tentatively to Emma, who offered a gruff nod in response. Whenever a letter arrived, she would be in a sour mood for days. "Call us if you need," she added to Ingrid and left.
"You can't sulk forever, you know," the older woman said after a moment, waving the letter. She coughed into a handkerchief. "You can give her the benefit of the doubt, at least."
"She didn't give it to me when they accused me of writing those things about her!"
"Kid," Ingrid made a pause to cough again. "She was probably more embarrassed than you… Just… Don't throw them away, okay? If you don't wanna read them, fine, but keep them. You'll thank me one day."
"Yeah, you're leaving me too. How am I supposed to thank you later?" Emma snapped, standing up and leaving to the kitchen.
The smell of burger and fries hit her senses like it always did, but her stomach did not react with the usual happy rumble, making her notice that she didn't feel so hungry after all. Instead, she set to prepare tea and brought the fuming cup to the living room.
"Thanks, kid," Ingrid said quietly accepting the hot beverage, wishing she could sooth her daughter's pain. It wasn't fair that they had so little time left.
"I took the job at the drugstore," Emma mumbled. "I can do afternoon errands and night shifts, and it won't stand in the way of the academy. I'll make more money, and we can see a better doctor in New York-"
"And when do you get to spend time with me, kid?"
"When you're cured and I don't have to worry about how long we still have!"
"Emma, listen, honey-"
"I already know what you're gonna say."
"Look at me."
The blonde girl was reluctant at first, and then she sighed and turned to her mom. Her green eyes were empty and she looked so broken hearted that Ingrid wished she was not adding it to her suffering.
"Maybe I won't be here to see your girl come back to you, or even see you become Sheriff, but right now I'm still here! Let's enjoy while we still can without me looking green and attached to tubes and machines. I don't want you to remember me like that."
Emma was making inhuman effort to keep her crying to herself until she was alone in her bedroom. She held her mother's hand and squeezed it. "Then I'm taking you to MM's bachelorette party this Saturday. We're gonna drink our asses off, and you're not gonna scold me for that."
"Oh, I can do that!"
"Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"After you kick the bucket… you have to promise me you won't try to communicate with me through the TV," she said chuckling, still creeped out about the re-run of Poltergeist they watched last weekend.
Ingrid spat her tea all over her blanket as she was overcome with a fit of laughter.
"If you don't find another way to tell me that you're happy, Emma Swan…" she gasped. "I will call you from the TV in the middle of the night and make sure you shit your pants!"
1996
"Oh my God Oh my God Oh my God!" Ruby squealed as they walked around the display cases on the jewelry shop.
Emma frowned. "If I knew you'd be like that, I would've brought MM."
"You are so boring, and I don't even care!" Ruby spat with a grin. "Look at this! Look at this one!"
"Calm down- Oh!" Emma tilted her head to the side when she came to a halt next to her extremely frantic friend, watching the most beautiful engagement ring she had ever seen in her life. It had a single diamond as the center piece and small blue sapphires circling it, all clasped into a delicate silver band.
"Right?" Ruby beamed.
"It's perfect," Emma said in awe. "Can we see it?" she asked the shop owner, who looked a little suspicious at them.
"Holy shit," Ruby hissed, eyes widening as the blonde held it on her outstretched palm. "I wouldn't say no to that."
"Do you think it'll fit her?"
"Absolutely," the brunette nodded.
"How can you be so sure?" Emma asked with a frown.
"I know women fingers," Ruby said through greeted teeth. "Want me to explain how?"
"God no, thanks," Emma chuckled awkwardly, and then she turned to the stern looking man. "How much for this one?"
"I'll check my book," he said with a brief nod. He returned two minutes later, frowning as he caught Ruby making a pompous impression of him walking away.
He passed Emma a note with the price, apparently expecting her to decline with a scoff.
"I'll take it," the blonde nodded, making him smile for the first time.
"Excellent choice, Sheriff Swan," he said politely, gently taking the jewelry and placing it inside a velvet box. After he put his cold hands on the small roll of bills, he squinted at Emma. "Aren't you the girl who-"
"Yes, she popped the Mayor's cherry," Ruby said with a giant grin, as though it was something to brag about. "Everyone knows about that, dude."
"Ruby!"
"What? It's true!"
"I was going to ask about the fire incident, but I guess this… is noteworthy as well," he said awkwardly. "So, Sheriff… Who's the lucky woman?"
Emma blushed. "The… Um…" she cleared her throat. "The Mayor."
"Very well," he nodded. "Better thirteen years later than never. Here," he passed her the box. "Good luck and I wish you all the best."
The bell chimed when they left the store, and once they were back on the street, Emma swatted Ruby's head.
"What the fuck, Ruby?"
"What's the big deal?" she rubbed the back of her head and combed her hair with her fingers. "You popped mine, too!"
"Ruby!"
"Are you becoming a prude just because you're getting married?" she scoffed.
"I'm not a prude because I don't want to discuss how many… cherries I popped in my life!" Emma snapped, wanting to laugh at the absurd of that sentence. She shook her head. "Just stop bringing that up!"
"Or?"
"Or I'll ask David to be my best man!"
Ruby's eyes went wide. "I'm your best man?"
"Of course you are –oomph!" Emma gasped when Ruby threw herself at the blonde into a bone crushing hug.
"I'm gonna throw you the best bachelorette party of the century-!"
"Ruby-"
"Let's go eat!" she said, pulling Emma by the hand, dragging her to the nearest hot dog cart. "Oh my God, I'm your best fucking man-!"
XXX
"Morning."
David spun on his chair to face Emma as she dropped her things on her desk on the next day after the ring-buying event.
He had a knowing smirk on his face that made Emma roll her eyes. She collected the velvet box from her jacket pocket and smacked it on his desk.
Of course Ruby couldn't keep a secret.
"Wow!" David whispered in awe as he opened it. "Em… it's beautiful!"
"It is, right?" she grinned, feeling giddy, plopping down on her chair and rolling it towards his desk.
"It's fantastic!"
"So. I need your help."
"Okay."
"You're still lame and romantic, right?"
"Hey!"
"Don't be offended! That got you to marry MM!"
"If I remember it right, you played guitar for me while I sang on her front lawn!"
"That was tremendously tacky, but she said yes," Emma patted his shoulder. "Making ends meet, eh?"
"If you need ideas to propose, that's not the way to get into my good graces, Swan."
"Oh, c'mon!" she chuckled. "Mary loved it! I just… I just want to do something incredibly romantic and memorable, you know. That includes being a little cheesy, and there's no one better in the world to help me with cheesy than you."
"You suck at complimenting people, did you know that?" David sighed, but she couldn't hold back his smile. "Okay, do you have any idea where you wanna do it?"
"Hm. We have many special places in town, but I think I need help to decide which one means most, right?"
"So, your bedroom?"
Emma frowned. "No?"
"Wasn't it where you popped her cherry-?"
"David!"
He threw his head back with laughter. "Yeah, Ruby said you'd react like that," he wiped the tear in the corner of his eye as he recovered. "Okay… " He cleared his throat. "Special places-"
Four hours later, they were both pacing in front of their desks, arms folded as they watched the complex diagram David made on the board with the places Emma indicated and the respective events that unrolled in each one.
"Hmm. You guys have a lot of great places."
"I can't think anymore, I'm hungry!" Emma grunted.
"I knew you'd say that," David tapped the blue thumb tack that represented the Storybrooke Movie Theater. "I ordered food, Ruby must be-"
"Here," the tall brunette barged in with a lot of paper bags. "Burgers, fries, and soda. There's also cherry pie for dessert!"
"Oh, real mature, guys-"
As David and Ruby roared with laughter, Emma grabbed her bag and plopped down behind her desk to eat. She ignored them, keeping her eyes trained on the board as she devoured her delicious, extra greasy burger.
"I gowrit!" Emma yelled through a mouthful of fries. "I gor eet!"
David was about to ask her what was it, when the familiar sound of clicking heels approached the glass doors.
"Holy shit," he hissed, throwing the couch's ragged shawl over the board, trying to cover the proposal diagram. When the door burst open, the shawl fell on the floor, displaying all the colorful points and notes.
Ruby let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was Cora and not Regina.
"Shit," she hissed. "I can't believe that I'm gonna say this, but thank God it's you-!"
"Hello," Cora said sternly, eyeing the brunette with an air of disapproval. She spared a quick glance at David and then she turned to Emma and her paper bags. "Sheriff Swan."
Emma stood up, noticing blotches of ketchup on her hands and nowhere to clean them.
" 'ey!" she waved, deciding against smiling – God only knew what she could have between her teeth – and she felt her heart drop to her stomach when she noticed David making a discreet gesture to indicate that she had food on her face.
Cora removed a Kleenex box from her purse and passed it to the blonde without saying a single word.
"Mrs. Mills," Emma said awkwardly, throwing the crumpled papers on the trash bin under her desk as she finished chewing and swallowing. "Have a seat," she pointed the chair in front of Cora.
The woman sat down graciously, but she didn't have a very friendly expression when she faced Emma.
"You would give Pauline a heart attack."
Emma frowned. "W-Who?"
"Regina's etiquette teacher," Cora said, exhaling deeply. "So this is your job. You sit around eating and playing with a board-" she turned around, noticing David and Ruby standing behind her, smirking as they watched her scold Emma. "You all would give Pauline a heart attack. Can I have a moment in private with my... Miss Swan?"
After they left, Emma relaxed a little and she had a small smirk on her lips.
"Is there a problem, Miss Swan?"
"Nope. I'm good. How are you?"
"I am fine, thank you for asking," she said icily.
"Hm… So, what can I do for you?"
Cora adjusted her frame on the chair, making it clear that she considered it very uncomfortable, and she took a deep breath as she held her purse on her lap with both her manicured hands.
"I initially meant to invite you for lunch. Regina said you would like to annoy me with your lack of manners, and I came for this reason, but seeing as you already ate-"
"I can eat again," Emma said promptly, and when Cora frowned, she shrugged. "Well, I have no manners, right? My stomach has no limits, either."
Cora pressed her lips into a smirk. "Where would you like to go, dear?"
XXX
They were sitting on the outside of an old Italian canteen, because it felt like the only place in town that would not disappoint Cora's refined palate. Emma had the smirk back on her lips, making the older woman frown.
"Do you care to share? I don't speak smug!"
Chuckling, the blonde sipped her water.
"You were going to say something else back in the Station."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You can't be serious that I am your Miss Swan," she said. "So… Your what?"
Cora rolled her eyes and sighed. "I was going to refer to you as my daughter-in-law," she spat. "Wrongly, because you're not."
Emma considered it for a moment. They had made progress, and she was Regina's mother…
"Yet," Emma said, placing the small velvet box in the middle of the table.
"When… What-?"
"I was wondering who I should ask permission, first."
The woman blushed, unable to keep her displeased face to Emma. That crazy idiot had a way with the puppy eyes.
"I think we're done with this. I don't control my daughter's life. She can marry you, if she wants to, I suppose. What would you like to order?" she lowered her eyes to the menu for a second and then turned to the waiter. "I'll have the ravioli and a bottle of your best wine."
Emma narrowed her eyes. Cora was bluffing. She cared about tradition. "I'll have what she's having," she said to the man.
"You're sticking to water, Sheriff. My driver will take you to the Station, but still I want you sober when you get there."
The blonde sighed. "Fine. But I want it sparkly, with ice and lemon. And those cocktail umbrellas."
When the waiter was gone, Cora was glaring at her. "You're absolutely a child!"
Emma smiled, ignoring it as she pushed the velvet box further towards Cora.
"Still, I'd like to ask first or whatever."
Cora refrained from scolding the blonde even more for her lazy vocabulary as she picked the box and opened it.
Emma was glad to verify that she finally impressed that woman.
She looked up at the blonde Sheriff, seemingly speechless.
"How did you-?"
"I stole it."
Cora glared at her. "Miss Swan."
The blonde chuckled. "Can't you just call me Emma?"
"No."
"I started saving money after my mom died," Emma said after a beat. "I kept the house, the car and I got a stable job, so… I could save a lot after I paid the hospital bills."
Cora went silent again. She was fumbling with her fingers, nervously even. She had tried so hard to make that girl's life miserable... Emma had fought her way up, working hard and becoming a person that would get into the fire to save other people – even people like herself.
Cora didn't want to cry, because crying was for the weak, but that was exactly the way she felt when she looked at that young woman. She felt weak compared to what seemed a force of nature hiding behind a smug face with ketchup blotches, asking permission to marry her daughter.
She inhaled deeply, swallowing the knot that had formed in her throat.
"Very well, it looks like you have it all figured out," she said slowly. "However, have you heard of the Defense of Marriage Act?"
Emma shrugged, because in fact, she did her research. "I don't care if they don't validate it. It's validated by me and Regina, and everyone else that supports us."
"Regina and I," Cora said in spite of herself, making Emma laugh hard.
When the food arrived, Emma was glad she had already eaten. Being half full permitted her to eat slowly and more carefully; no matter how tempted she was to tease Cora, she was actually enjoying talking to her.
"Thank you for telling me, dear," the woman said after a moment. "This is more than I deserve."
Emma shrugged, visibly embarrassed now that she was being taken so seriously by a woman who considered her as much as a cockroach.
The rest of the meal was held in silence, even after Cora snatched the bill and paid for it. Her driver – the same man that sometimes drove Regina around when they were young – took Emma to the Station, and when she was about to climb out of the vehicle, Cora called her out.
"This is for you," she passed her a blank check after signing it.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Emma asked with a frown, not really sure she was ready for the answer.
"This happens once in a lifetime, Miss Swan. Make sure my daughter has the wedding ceremony of her dreams."
About five minutes after Cora took off with her driver, Emma was still rooted on her spot, thunderstruck.
"Are you okay?" David asked, hurrying to her side as Ruby patted her back gently.
"Did she threaten to give you cement shoes and kick you off the Toll Bridge?" she asked in a hurried whisper.
Emma chuckled, still unable to believe what had just happened. She held out the blank check.
"She's paying for the wedding."
XXX
Emma had thought that the hardest part was over; after all, what could be harder than tell Cora Mills that she wanted to marry her only daughter?
Talking to the daughter, apparently.
Emma felt something incredibly cold going down her stomach when she picked the phone, and her heart skipped several beats when that familiar husky voice sounded on the other side.
"Mayor Mills."
Emma swallowed hard, not sure what to say. A week ago, she had been extremely cocky and sure about proposing. Now, she felt like a bag of nerves whenever she saw the brunette.
Butterflies erupted in her stomach with the perspective of having that gorgeous, wonderful woman as her wife, going to bed and waking up every morning by her side.
The butterflies vomited and had a nervous meltdown with the possibility of Regina saying no.
"Emma, is that you?"
She sounded tired, and Emma knew she was probably worried too, because she noticed, of course, that Emma had been acting bizarrely jumpy all week. Stupid butterflies…
"H-Hi!" Emma gasped, kicking herself in silence for sounding shrill like that, as if she was guilty of something she didn't even do. She cleared her throat. "Are you busy?"
"No."
She could see Regina frowning, the engines in her brain working as she tapped her desk with her manicured fingers. Any normal person would be worried if their girlfriend suddenly started to act like a deer caught in headlights every time they met.
"Huh, I was wondering if I could… If I could pick Henry after school today. I'll drive him back later," she added, hesitantly.
It took Regina a moment to finally sigh and answer. "Yes. You can do that. He's going to be glad, actually." After a long pause – or what seemed like one – Regina spoke again. "Is there anything… wrong?"
Emma chuckled nervously, trying to sound as her cool and flippant self and failing miserably. "Wrong? Absolutely nothing to worry about, Mills," she said with that horrible shrill voice again. "I mean, Madam Mayor!"
"You don't need to call me that over the phone. Have a good day, Sheriff Swan."
Oh snap…
Emma recognized that mix of annoyance and hurt. Shit shit shit…
Now she needed Henry more than ever…
XXX
"I brought you some coffee," Katherine said brightly, entering the Mayor's office with a fuming cup in her hands. Upon noticing the death glare she was receiving from the brunette, she stopped dead on her tracks. "What did I do?"
"You're smiling," Regina grunted.
"Well?"
"Your smile is annoying me."
Katherine refrained from rolling her eyes.
Regina scoffed. She couldn't believe Emma Swan was going to make her feel like she was still in High School – anxious and afraid to lose her date for some more interesting girl.
"Do you think I'm boring?"
Katherine put the cup down in front of the brunette, and took a seat across from her.
"What's wrong, Regina?" she asked softly, already guessing it had something to do with the town's Sheriff.
"I'm not sure I want to… or should discuss this with you."
"You are not boring."
Regina looked at her secretary, remembering that they had been good friends when they were younger.
"Emma's acting weird this week," she said quietly. Emma had said she wanted them, Regina and Henry. She had said she wanted them forever. Why was she avoiding her like that now? Did she change her mind? Was she going to say goodbye to Henry and then run away?
"Emma has always been a little weird, Regina," Katherine chuckled. "You should pay more attention to the way she looks at you and your son and worships the ground you both walk on. Seriously. It's disgustingly sweet, and I still feel bad about being a bitch to her that time. But she beat us all, me, your mother, everyone who didn't give her a chance the first time. Don't be us, Regina. Really. And your coffee is going cold," she added brightly, leaving the office with a smug smirk.
Regina probably wanted to throw the stapler at her head for the arrogance, but sometimes she just didn't care about her old friend's mood swings. She sat down behind the reception desk, remembering the day she was walking downtown and spotted Emma Swan and Ruby Lucas leaving the jewelry store with a shop bag.
And it didn't hurt that she moved a few strings and found out Emma bought one of the most expensive and beautiful engagement rings in the store.
Of course she was flipping. Who wouldn't?
Katherine heard Regina snarl about 'not enough sugar' on her coffee, and she grinned.
XXX
"Emma!" Henry exclaimed, running towards her the second he saw the blonde. He grasped her into a tight embrace around the waist, making her heart flutter like the first time. "I missed you!"
"I'm sorry, kid," she said, ruffling his hair as she took his school bag and placed it on the back seat of the GTI. "I've been busy this week. How are you? I missed you too!"
"Wow, this car is cool," Henry said as he took in all the stickers that covered the vehicle and the inside of the old car. "What happened to the bug?"
"Killian kept it for now. He's going on a road trip next month."
"Cool."
"How was your day?"
"It was okay."
Emma frowned. "Are you sure? You promised you'd tell me if anyone bothered you again-"
He grinned. "The guys who don't like me are terrified of you and my mom. Don't worry about it."
She chuckled, nodding. "Good."
"What are we going to do today?"
"Pizza and movie?"
"Yeah!"
"Good, because I already picked one."
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. Last time she picked, he had been stuck with The Lion King. Henry rummaged the video store bag and his eyes went wide when he read the tittle.
"You're kidding me," he said at the verge of jumping around her neck.
"Nope," Emma chuckled. "You're a brave young man, right? I think you can handle this stupid dog."
Henry's lips cracked open into a huge smile as he stared down at a copy of Cujo.
"Awesome! Thank you!"
She watched him fussing about it all the way towards her house. She felt pretty much as nervous as she felt around his mother, but there was something comforting about his presence. Something that drawn her to him, just like it did when he fell down the mine. He was not her flesh and blood, and yet... From the very beginning, something made her want to shield him from harm. Something made anything that was scary feel easier to face…
Love.
Henry didn't notice how incredibly emotional the blonde felt, and he was even teasing her about Regina scolding her later for letting him watch a rated movie. He only frowned when she dropped the pizza box and soda cans on the coffee table.
They usually ate on the dinner table, and then they would move to the TV room.
"Okay, what is it?"
"What is it what, kid?" she asked absently minded as she shuffled to the right channel on the TV and turned on the VCR.
"Pizza and Cujo? You must have done something really bad."
She turned around, and her heart melted with the look on his face. So Regina's son…
"I didn't do anything wrong!" she said, popping one soda can open and handing it to him.
He lifted one eyebrow as he sipped it, selecting the biggest slice of the pepperoni pizza with a napkin.
"Relax, kid," she said jokingly, feeling her stomach drop to her feet, all the courage she had gathered to talk to him about this going away as she plopped down next to him on the couch.
As the movie progressed, Emma was the only one who looked actually tense. Henry picked the remote between them and paused it. Then he turned to Emma with the most business like face a ten year old can possibly pull for an adult.
"What's the deal, Emma? You're weird, and the movie is not even that scary."
She sighed, resting her head against the wall with her eyes closed.
"Okay, kid… Listen… I love your mom, right?"
"Uh huh."
"I love her very much and… How would you feel… about us becoming, huh, a sort of a… you know, family?"
She cringed at the babbling mess, imagining Cora and Regina frowning at her.
You are lucky Henry is a little more benevolent about your particular lack of ability to enunciate, their voices combined said.
"I mean, I don't want to impose anything to you, right," she went on, avoiding his eyes for a moment and then looking up. His mouth was smeared with pizza grease. "I know you like me, but it's okay if you like me living in a different house-"
Her poor speech was cut short when he threw himself into her arms.
"You're gonna marry her?" he asked with a huge smile. "You're gonna marry my mom?"
"I'll ask her first," Emma shrugged, feeling her hear lighter with his reaction, taking his bangs off his eyes. "You think she'll say yes?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"Do I ever?"
He grinned, standing up on the couch and jumping on the floor to get more pizza from the box. Then he turned to her with a smirk. "Of course she's gonna say yes! Duh!"
Later that night, when she dropped him off at the Mills Mansion, Emma kept craning her neck to see if it was Regina who would get the door. Her hopeful smile disappeared when she saw Cora.
"Good evening, Miss Swan," she said with a knowing smirk. "She's a little indisposed."
"Oh," Emma nodded. "Should I-?"
"You should ask soon," Henry said. "She's losing her shit thinking you don't like her very much anymore."
Emma laughed; not because she liked the idea of Regina being afflicted, but because Henry had sounded just like herself.
"I will," she said, bending over to kiss his head. "Good night, kid. I… "
He smirked. She really sucked with words. "I love you, Emma," he said boldly, and he was taken by surprise when Emma pulled him back to her into the tightest embrace he had ever received.
"I love you," she breathed against his hair.
He grinned as he looked up at her. "You do?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "Duh!" Cora cleared her throat. "Okay, have a good night," she said quickly, standing up and entering the car before anyone could see how her stupid eyes were swollen with tears. "Good bye, Cora."
"Have a good night, Miss Swan."
A/N: Hey! I inserted the flashback moment because I missed Ingrid. Did you?
Thank you for the heartwarming reviews, you guys are the best readers ever. It makes me wanna write forever, you rascals! Ugh, now I miss Regina. We'll see a lot more of Madam Mayor next chapter. I hope you enjoy this one too!
