Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays. I was sick pretty much the entire time. Thank you to all the new readers who followed or favored the story. I want to give a special thanks to all of you who reviewed; it is what keeps me going. I love hearing from you guys, your opinions and what you would like to see happen. I sincerely apologize for having kept you all waiting for this update.
Chapter 9
After the long drive the ladies finally pulled up to Emma's childhood home. It was a white-wash brick cottage with a small garden in the front surrounded by a picket fence. The house was something straight out of a fairytale. Emma put the car in park and squeezed Regina's hand getting the older woman's attention.
"Are you ready? Let's leave all the stuff in the car for now. We can come back out later to grab everything." said Emma.
Regina's only response was a long exhale and a quick nod.
Both women exited the car and rounded to meet in front reaching out for the other's hand. Emma leaned in placing a light kiss to Regina's lips. Pulling away she whispered "I'm so happy you're here with me."
Smiling the brunette kissed Emma again and replied "I am too darling."
They made their way to the front door before Emma could knock Mary Margaret came rushing out pulling her daughter into a fierce hug.
"Oh Emma, I have missed you so much!" squealed the excited brunette.
Emma let go of Regina's hand to hug her mother in return "Geez Mom I missed you too but you're making it kind of hard for me to breathe."
Mary Margaret giggled "I'm sorry sweetheart I'm just really excited to see you."
"Really? I can hardly tell." deadpanned Emma who quickly smiled to let her mother know she was joking.
While mother and daughter exchanged their greetings Regina stood silently twisting her hands together nervously. Finally Mary Margaret pulled her attention away from her daughter to welcome the other woman.
Extending her hand to Regina, Mary Margaret cheerily said "Miss Mills it's so nice to see you again."
Regina smiled uneasily "Please Mrs. Nolan, call me Regina. It's very nice to see you again as well."
MM chuckled "OK Regina, as long as you call me Mary Margaret."
Regina's smile warmed as she nodded her approval. Emma took a hold of Regina's hand again trying to quell as much of the woman's nerves as she could.
"So Mom where's Dad?"
"Oh honey you know your father. He is on the couch watching football and drinking a beer." replied MM with a roll of her eyes.
"Well let's go in and say hi then we'll come back out to grab everything." suggested the blonde.
Mary Margaret turned on her heel leading the couple through the house to the living room. David was on the couch yelling things at the TV in between sips of his beer. Once he noticed the three women staring at him all trying to suppress laughs he jumped up to engulf his daughter in a hug lifting her up and spinning her around.
Setting Emma down he said "There's my girl! How's New York treating you?" then glancing to Emma's side he noticed Regina and continued "Pretty well by the looks of it."
Both Emma and Regina's cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment.
"Emma why didn't you tell me your teachers looked like that? I would have gone to all of the parent-teacher conferences!" exclaimed David letting out a huge laugh.
"David!"
"Dad!" shouted Mary Margaret and Emma in exasperation at the same time.
David laughed even harder then shocked the women even further by pulling Regina into a bear hug.
"Welcome to the family Regina!" bellowed David after releasing the stunned woman.
Regina could only manage to croak out a "Thank you."
The other two women could only shake their heads and smile. They loved David for all of his craziness.
Emma wrapped her arm around her girlfriend's waist and pulling her close into her side. She knew the brunette needed a moment to catch her breath from the overzealous welcome.
"How about we go get our things from the car and get settled in?"
Regina looked at Emma appreciatively "Of course dear."
As the couple turned and walked out the door MM turned and slapped David lightly on the arm making them both chuckle "I think you scared the crap out of that poor woman!"
He took his wife in his arms kissing her on the cheek "Oh well I'm sure there will be a lot more scaring happening this week. Just wait until I have the "what are your intentions with my daughter talk" with her later on."
Mary Margaret burst out with a loud guffaw at the shit-eating grin that was plastered on David's face.
Once the women made it outside Emma cupped Regina's face and crashed her lips on to the brunette's. Pulling back with a loud smack she said "I am so sorry about that but I did tell you David would be excited by your smoking hot ass!" she punctuated the last part by grabbing a handful of the brunette's rear.
Regina squealed wrapping her arms tightly around Emma's neck. She moved to whisper in the blonde's ear "Well dear your ass is pretty smoking hot too, especially in your skin tight jeans." The older woman then took Emma's ear into her mouth licking and gently nibbling making the younger woman moan. Forgetting where they were they began a passionate make out session in the front yard that continued for several long minutes until they heard a woman yell "GET A ROOM!"
The flustered women quickly pulled apart wiping at their mouths and looking to see who broke up their love fest. A tall, beautiful brunette ran towards Emma throwing herself at the blonde making them both crash to the ground. Regina was about the pull the woman off of Emma and give her a stern talking to about touching things that don't belong to them when she heard Emma cry out.
"Ruby you ass! You could have killed me!"
Ruby squeezed her friend tight and replied "How so? I think I saved your life. You looked like you were running pretty low on oxygen."
The childhood friends laughed as they stood from the ground wrapping each other again in a tight hug. Once they pulled apart Ruby grinned widely and punched Emma in the chest.
Emma grabbed her left breast "OW Ruby! What the hell was that for?"
"That was for not telling me you have a girlfriend Swan!" trying to keep a stern look on her face but failing miserably with the merriment that was bubbling through.
Emma grimaced. She wasn't sure how her best friend was going to react to the fact she was dating their former high school teacher. The teacher that devastated Emma by leaving causing her to go into a deep, dark depression. Ruby was one of the few people that helped bring her out of the gloomy place even though Emma did everything to shut the girl out.
Taking a deep breath Emma started "Um about that."
Before she could finish Ruby cut her off "Shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses. The damage is done. You have wounded me. Now introduce your best friend to your woman."
Emma rolled her eyes at her friend's dramatics throwing an arm around Rudy's shoulders to turn her to face Regina. The poor older woman looked like she was about to have a heart attack. First she had to deal with Emma's parents and before she even had a chance to settle her nerves and take a deep breath Ruby had literally come barreling through.
"Ruby, I would like you to meet my girlfriend Regina Mills."
Emma bit her lip waiting for Ruby to recognize their former art teacher. When she noticed her friend's eyes widen dramatically Emma knew she was in for it.
"What the actual fuck Emma!?" screamed Ruby anger clearly lacing her voice.
"Ruby!" admonished Emma.
"No Emma! Are you kidding me? You're dating Miss Mills? Do you not remember that she is the woman you trusted more than anyone including me? The same woman who disappeared without a word making you shut out your friends and family for months! Do you also not remember how Belle and I had to drag you out of your room and into the shower after a week of not leaving your bed?"
Regina gasped at Ruby's words. The tears started to pour down her face. Emma had told her that she had fallen into a depression after Regina left Storybrooke but she had never heard any of the details like she was hearing now.
Emma saw the pain on Regina's face and yelled "Ruby stop right now!"
"Why, so we can spare your girlfriend's feelings? She didn't seem to care too much about yours all those years ago!" spat Ruby looking right at Regina.
Emma closed her eyes taking a deep breath trying to calm her rising anger. She knew Ruby had every right to be mad, but her friend also needed to hear the whole story because Emma hadn't been the only one that had been hurt back then.
"Ruby please stop. I know you're angry and I really don't blame you but you haven't heard Regina's side of the story and why she had to leave."
The young brunette saw the pleading way her best friend looked at her and tried to reign in her anger "OK Emma. I'll stop but I'm only doing it for you. Tell me what you want and I'll listen."
Emma nodded giving her friend a small tight lipped smile "Thanks Rubes. Just give us a minute OK?"
Ruby nodded once before Emma turned to comfort Regina. Emma drew her girlfriend to her having Regina swiftly bury her face in blonde locks.
"I'm so sorry Emma. I never wanted to cause you so much pain." whispered the older woman against Emma's neck.
Emma rubbed soothing circles against the other woman's back and pressed a kiss to her temple "It's OK. I've already forgiven you and you know that. The past is in the past and now I'm just looking forward to a future with you."
Regina squeezed the woman she was falling for even tighter and whispered "Thank you. Thank you for coming into my life again. I know I've said it before but I really don't know what I did right to deserve you. I'm just glad I did it."
Emma tilted her head to place a lingering kiss to plump lips pulling back she smiled widely at the older woman "Well I'm glad you did it too. Otherwise you would have missed out on all this awesomeness!"
Regina shook her head trying to hold back a smile "Never mind I take it all back. I have been cursed to have a child as my girlfriend!"
Mock shock covered the blonde's face "You wound me Miss Mills!"
"Oh I'm so sure." replied the brunette laughing at her slightly immature girlfriend.
Emma tightened her hold on the other woman as her face suddenly became serious "Baby can you do me a huge favor?"
Regina looked into Emma's eyes seeing worry and offered her a small smile "Of course dear."
Emma returned the smile "Would you mind telling Ruby why you had to leave? I could tell her but I think it would have a bigger impact if it came from you."
Regina sighed "I agree. She deserves to know and it should come from me."
Emma took a hold of Regina's hand kissing the knuckles in a silent thank you. They silently made their way to the car to grab their luggage and gifts. After they finished unpacking the couple made their way to the living room to grab Ruby so they could finally have their conversation.
The trio sat at the kitchen table with cooling cups of tea set in front of them. Regina had just finished her re-telling of the events that forced her to leave Storybrooke. All three women had drying tear tracks running down their faces. Emma and Regina sat quietly waiting for Ruby's reaction.
True to form Ruby spoke "Mother Superior is a fucking cunt!"
All three women broke out into a round of raucous laughter. Wiping tears from her face Regina replied "That she is dear…that she is."
Ruby frowned slightly and turned to the other brunette "I'm really sorry for the way I acted before. I'm just really protective of Emma. She is like a sister to me and I never want to see her hurt like that again."
Regina took a hold of Ruby's hand giving it a light squeeze "Do not worry dear. If the roles were reversed I would have probably reacted the same way. I promise you that I will never do anything to intentionally hurt Emma. I care very deeply for her and I will never leave her again unless Emma is the one who asks."
Emma and Ruby smiled brightly as the younger dark haired woman replied "Good. That's all I need to hear. Make sure you treat my girl right. I would hate to have to kick the ass of my former teacher."
The blonde chortled at her filter free friend "Thanks for the support Rubes but I have a feeling an ass kicking will not be necessary."
Ruby beamed while Regina hummed her agreement taking a sip of her tea.
Emma continued "By the way if you could do me a solid and inform your wife of everything that happened today it would be greatly appreciated. Belle might be tiny but she is also seriously feisty. We really don't need a smack down during Christmas dinner."
Ruby howled "Yea no problem. I don't want to have to hold her down. She's so little it's hard to contain her! Speaking of the wife I better get going. I told her I was only stopping by to say hello and that was a few hours ago."
Emma replied "Yea get your ass home to your wife. I'm tired of looking at your stupid face!"
"Hardy har har you're so damn funny Emma Swan. I don't even know why I stayed friends with you all these years." deadpanned Ruby.
The three women stood up from the table and Emma hauled her best friend into a tight hug "It's because you love me almost as much as I love you."
Ruby squeezed her friend back "Yeah yeah, you keep thinking that Swan."
They made their way to the front door, Ruby and Regina giving each other a tentative hug.
"Well I guess I'll see you two Thursday for Christmas dinner if we don't run into each other sooner."
The couple bobbed their heads "Yea see you Rubes. Tell Belle I said hi and I can't wait to see her!"
Ruby waved back to them before getting in her car and driving away.
The women made their way back into Emma's old room. The blonde threw herself back onto the bed holding her arms open as an invitation. Regina took off her shoes a climbed in snuggling up to the younger woman laying her head on the blonde's chest and throwing a leg over jean clad ones.
"We've only been here a few hours and I'm already exhausted by your family and friends." mumbled Regina already half asleep.
Emma kissed the brunette's forehead "I know baby but at least we have a few hours to rest before we go to Granny's tonight for dinner."
Regina slid her hand under Emma's shirt splaying fingers out against the warm abdomen "Mmmm okay."
Emma kissed dark hair one last time before both women drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
