carriemarie78: I will try to think of something for her next therapy session. Thanks for the suggestion!
Chapter 29: Dress Fittings
Snow and Emma were already waiting in the dress shop when Cora, Regina and Mandy walked in.
"Good afternoon Snow, Emma." Cora said nodding in their direction.
They both nodded back. "Good afternoon, Cora." Snow replied.
"You didn't start picking out your dresses yet?" Cora asked surprised.
Snow shook her head. "No. We wanted to wait until Miranda picked hers out. She is the guest of honor after all." She smiled.
"So how does this all work?" Mandy asked unsure of what do to first.
"Take a look around and pick out what you like." Regina said motioning towards the racks of dresses.
"Why don't you join her Emma?" Snow suggested.
"Ugh sure. Come on kid." Emma said nodding her head for Mandy to come with her.
"So what color dress were you two thinking about wearing?" Snow asked them.
"Red." They replied in unison. They both looked at each other.
"I'm wearing red , mother. Pick a different color." Regina said firmly.
Cora shook her head. "Oh no Regina! Red looks better on me so you'll be the one picking another color."
"Neither one of us gets to wear that color…agreed?" Regina said gritting her teeth.
"Fine." Cora reluctantly agreed before turning back to Snow. "What color are you thinking about Snow?"
"Maybe a peach color or a silver. I'm not sure yet." She responded.
"You'll look great in either color, dear." Cora reassured her.
"You're in a rather cheerful mood today, Cora." Snow said eyeing the older woman suspiciously.
Regina glared at her. "Yes mother, it's very out of character."
Cora smiled. "I'm just happy is all." She really was happy. She felt better that she apologized to her daughter and granddaughter earlier and things were going great in her world.
"Well the invitations were sent out, so we're all set." Snow said giving them an update.
"Perfect." Cora replied happily.
"Oh Regina, would it be okay if Henry spent the night at your house? He really wants to spend time with you." Snow said remembering Henry had asked earlier.
Regina was surprised." He wants to spend the night?!"
"Yea, would that be okay?" Snow questioned.
"Of course! He is always welcome to stay over whenever he likes." Regina replied with a huge smile on her face. Her son actually wants to spend time with her.
"Do you know what to look for when choosing a ball gown?" Mandy asked Emma as she scanned a rack of dresses.
"Not a clue. I was hoping you would." Emma said as she looked at the same rack from the other side.
"I don't really do dress, so this is all new to me." Mandy admitted.
Emma nodded. "I only wore dresses when I went out on dates, which was few and far between."
Mandy laughed. "So I take it this is your first ball too?"
Emma sifted through dresses as she answered. "Yea. I don't know if I'm excited, nervous or completely dreading it."
"I feel the same way. This will be my first birthday party though; I'm excited for that part." Mandy said with a hint of excitement in her voice.
Emma stopped what she was doing and looked at Mandy. "You never had a birthday party?"
Mandy shook her head as she pulled out a dress to look at it better. "No, my foster family only had them for their real children and time was frozen here, so birthdays didn't really happen."
Emma looked back down at a dress. "I see."
"What about you?" She asked putting the dress back on the rack. "You were in a similar situation…with foster parents and everything. Did you ever have a party?"
Emma thought about it for a moment. "I was turning 10, double digits. The foster family I was with at the time were really great. They went all out. They bought me this huge red velvet cake with my favorite Disney character on it, Belle. I was obsessed with that movie. They even bought me a Belle doll...Now that I know the real Belle, its kinda weird." She laughed nervously. "It was the first time I actually felt loved, like I belonged."
"What happened?" Mandy asked breaking Emma's little flashback.
"The man got laid off and they couldn't afford to keep me and their 2 kids all the while paying the bills and stuff. They wanted to keep me but they couldn't do it financially. It's no big deal." Emma said shaking it off.
"Things have a funny way at working out…" Mandy said as she continued to look at the dresses.
"What do you mean?" Emma asked curiously.
"Well if they kept you, you would already have a family so you wouldn't have come back here and Henry probably wouldn't have been here either." Mandy said logically.
Emma shrugged her shoulders. "I guess you're right." She picked out a light green dress with rhinestones and glitter all over it. "What do you think about this one?"
Mandy scrunched her face. "You actually like that?"
She laughed. "No I just wanted to see your reaction." She hung it back up and kept looking.
"Emma, can I ask you something?" Mandy asked hoping she would say yes.
"Sure kid."
"When one of your foster parents or siblings hit you, what did you do?" Mandy asked in a whisper so no one would hear.
Emma stared at her. She didn't want to talk about her past; she hated talking about herself period. "I…ugh…don't think we should be having this conversation."
Mandy walked closer to her with a sad expression and wide eyes staring up at her. "Emma, you're the only person I can talk to about this. No one else gets it. I don't want to talk to my mom about this, I'm sure you don't like talking to Snow about it either."
"Aren't you going to therapy? Can't you tell Archie?" Emma asked.
"It's humiliating…and he doesn't understand." Mandy complained.
Emma sighed and kneeled behind a rack of dresses pulling Mandy down with her so they were both out of sight. "I'll talk to you but, not here. We can do it in a more private setting, just you and me. Okay?"
Mandy was happy she had someone to talk to, someone who understood her, even if it was just a little bit. "Thank you." She whispered.
"I've got an idea to lighten the mood!" Emma said trying to move on to a new, not so depressing topic.
"Anything to make this dress shopping bearable." Mandy replied.
"Why don't we pick out the most outrageous dresses to try on. All 3 of them would totally freak out." Emma exclaimed.
Mandy gave her a devious smile that reminded her all too much of Regina. "I like the way you think, Ms. Swan." After she said those last two words, Emma knew this was definitely Regina's daughter.
"What are you two doing down there?" Regina said appearing behind Emma with her hands on her hips.
"I was just helping her find her ring." Emma lied.
"Well hurry up. You still need to pick out your dresses." She said frustrated.
Mandy flashed her mom a smile. "Oh, we will."
Mandy was the first to come out of the dressing room. She had on a teal holter dress that had a huge black bow right below her breasts and ruffles flowed all the way down. Snow tried to hide her disapproval, while Regina and Cora let it show on their faces.
"Honey, that bow is way too big!" Regina said shaking her head.
"The dress is eating you." Cora said the disapproval clearly in her voice.
Mandy looked in the full length mirror behind her. "What are you talking about, it fits perfectly! And the bow just adds to the beauty!" She said excitedly as she spun around.
Emma poked her head out of the dressing room when she heard them commenting on Mandy's dress. "Emma, what do you think?" Mandy asked smiling.
"I think you look great in that color!" Emma complimented her.
Cora rolled her eyes. "Emma, you don't have to lie."
Emma shook her head. "I'm not lying. It totally brings out her natural tan. I'm so jealous of you. I only get burnt when I sunbathe."
"Emma, let's see what you're wearing!" Mandy clapped with glee.
Emma shyly stepped out of the dressing room wearing a bright orange dress that was covered in sequins and had a bustle in the back. Regina, Snow and Cora's faces dropped.
Mandy put her hands on her cheeks and exclaimed, "Oh Emma! You look simply radiant. You're like the sun, beaming down from the sky!" She was really getting into this little joke.
Emma winked at her. "Thanks Mandy!" She turned to the other three for their opinions. "Well?"
"Emma, I don't think that's the right dress for you." Snow said trying to let her down gently.
Regina and Cora had no problem telling her what they were thinking. "Your breasts are popping out to say hello." Regina said noticing Emma's overflowing top portion.
"And the dress is so huge; you could probably fit all seven dwarves under it." Cora added noticing how fluffy the dress was.
Emma and Mandy couldn't stop laughing, not at Cora's joke but the fact that they actually thought they liked the dresses they had on.
"Now girls, I know this is your first ball but I would think you both had better taste in dresses then this." Snow said hoping they would get the hint that the dresses they picked out were ugly.
Mandy ran into her dressing room and pulled out another dress. "Like this one?" She held up a brown dress with yellow beading all over it.
"Or this one?" Emma said when she pulled out another ugly dress.
All of their faces dropped when they couldn't believe the dresses they were picking out.
"Miranda Nicole Mills! You're doing this on purpose aren't you?!" Regina said in a serious tone, her eyes narrowed on Miranda.
Miranda wasn't fazed by her mother's scolding. "Why would I do that, mother?" She asked innocently.
"You're both doing it!" Snow realized.
Emma put her hand on her chest. "I'm shocked you would even think that!"
Emma and Mandy couldn't keep it together anymore. They started cracking up and couldn't stop.
"You two are unbelievable, you know that!" Cora yelled putting her hands on her hips.
"You should've seen your faces! They were priceless!" Mandy said and they laughed even harder.
Regina, Snow and Cora were not laughing, They each had a serious face on. Emma noticed and nudged Mandy. "We'll take it seriously form now on."
"Sorry if we hurt your feelings in anyway." Mandy added as she stopped laughing.
"We were just trying to get through this dress shopping thing." Emma said trying to explain themselves.
Mandy nodded in agreement to what Emma had said. "Yea, we're new to it. It's not something we like to do so we tried to have fun with it."
Cora wasn't playing around. "I suggest you both stop talking and go pick out a dress that you actually want to wear before I get even angrier then I already am."
Mandy and Emma both scrambled to get back into their dressing rooms. All three women let out a laugh once they were gone.
"Did you see how scared they looked when Cora threatened them?!" Snow laughed.
Regina laughed and added, "And how they tripped and fumbled back into their dressing rooms."
Emma and Mandy poked their heads out. "Are you making fun of us?" Emma asked.
"Why would you think that?" Snow shot back.
"They're totally making fun of us!" Mandy exclaimed.
Cora smiled. "Gotcha back."
Emma and Mandy's fun was over. They picked out the dresses they wanted and were finally being fitted. They were standing on a platform side by side. They needed help getting into their dresses so there were seamstresses everywhere. They were in a frenzy because it had been so long since they had to dress royals for a grand ball. They were so excited to make elegant dresses again. Regina, Cora and Snow stood in front of both girls on display.
"This is weird…all these people fussing over me." Mandy said watching all the seamstresses take her measurements.
"I feel the same way." Emma agreed.
"Don't worry, you get used to it after a while." Snow reassured them.
"But I can dress myself." Emma argued.
"You might be able to throw on a pair of jeans and a shirt, but try lacing up a corset by yourself." Regina commented.
Emma shook her head. "I won't be wearing a corset."
"The dress you picked out has a corset, Emma." Cora informed her.
"Seriously?!" Emma asked as her face dropped.
"You didn't know that?" Cora scoffed.
The seamstresses quickly undressed Emma and put her in the gown she chose. "Is it supposed to be this tight?" Emma asked making an uncomfortable face.
"How tight is it?" Snow asked noticing her face.
"It's a little hard to breathe." She replied.
"It's perfect then." Cora said smiling.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Why would anyone wear a dress they're not comfortable in?"
"It was the height of fashion in the Enchanted Forest if you must know." Cora said putting her nose in the air.
"I'm starting to think you all lived during the Middle Ages." Emma said remembering that time in history and how the Enchanted Forest and the people from their reminded her of that time.
"The what, dear?" Cora asked unfamiliar with the time period she had referenced.
"Nevermind, ancient history." She said waving off Cora's question. She didn't feel like giving a history lesson right now. "Although, you're pretty ancient yourself. How old are you, Cora?"
Cora was offended. "A lady never reveals her age."
The seamstresses were now fussing over Mandy. When they undressed her, they gasped. "Miss, are you alright?" One seamstress asked noticing Mandy's bruised stomach.
Mandy quickly covered it with her hands. "It's nothing. Can you just put the dress on, please?" She asked as kindly as she could.
Emma saw the bruises before she covered them. "Is that from…"
Mandy nodded, answering Emma's question before she could even finish it. Emma saw the pain on her face as they put her in the dress and laced it up. That's when she realized that she needed to talk to Mandy about the abuse she suffered as a child. She wanted to help Mandy through it and it might help her too. The seamstresses were working super-fast to get Mandy out of the dress as soon as possible.
Regina walked over and stood in front of her daughter and picked up her hands. "They're almost done, can you hold on a little longer? I know it hurts, honey." Regina said looking up into Mandy's big brown eyes.
Mandy just nodded. She didn't want to cry and she knew if she opened her mouth to speak, sobs would escape her. She wanted to hold it together, to be the Princess Cora wanted her to be even though she knew that was impossible.
Regina saw the glisten in her eyes as she desperately tried to to fight back the tears. "Squeeze my hands until it's all over." Mandy did and shut her eyes.
Emma just watched as Regina tried to calm her daughter. She wanted to help and the best way she knew how was to distract her. She stopped the seamstresses who were working on her dress and walked over to stand beside Regina.
"Hey kid." Mandy opened her eyes and stared at Emma. "Henry tells me you're a great sword fighter."
"He did?" She asked her voice trembling.
Emma nodded. "He said you beat Peter in an epic duel. He was so amazed he wouldn't stop talking about it!" She said smiling.
"He learned how to a little bit…Peter taught him before he…well…changed." Mandy said putting her head down.
Regina shot her a look. Emma forgot that Peter would be a swore subject for Mandy. "But he was more impressed with you." She said trying to refocus the conversation. "He also told me you beat Hook!"
Mandy gave her a slight smile. "That old cod fish loved sword fighting with me. I always won though." She said proudly before a seamstress tugged on the dress the wrong way, making Mandy wince in pain as she let out a soft whimper.
"Careful!" Regina snapped to the seamstresses. "She is in a very fragile state."
Emma continued with the conversation. "I don't doubt you beat Hook. I would love to see you two duel some time!"
"I'd be up for a challenge and I know Hook would be too!" Mandy said.
"You are not doing anymore fighting." Regina said reprimanding her daughter.
Mandy pouted but before she could argue with her mother, Emma began speaking again. "You know, I fought Hook back in the Enchanted Forest."
"You did?!" Mandy asked shocked.
"Yea and Snow was battling Cora." Emma added.
Mandy looked up at the two woman behind her. "Why were you two fighting?"
Regina nudged Emma. "Nice going." She whispered annoyed.
Emma thought Mandy knew everything Cora had done in the past but when she realized she didn't, she tried to cover it up. "It was more of a game. Who could get back to Storybrooke first. Snow and I won."
Mandy looked back up at Cora. "Sorry you lost, Cora. If you didn't have Hook on your team, you probably would've won."
Cora sighed. "Yes, I realize that…"
A seamstress tapped Mandy's shoulder. "All done miss, would you like to take it off now?"
"Yes, please!" She practically yelled.
They quickly and gently removed her dress and changed her back into her own clothes.
"Thanks for distracting her." Regina whispered to Emma.
"No problem. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get out of this dress myself." Emma said before getting back on the platform and letting the seamstresses finish.
"Are you three going to pick out your dresses?" Mandy asked stepping down from the platform.
"Oh, we picked ours already." Snow informed her.
"You did?!" Emma asked shocked.
"While you two were sitting on the floor, we picked our dresses and were fitted." Regina answered crossing her arms.
"That quickly?" Mandy asked.
"We know how this sorta thing goes, dear. We don't waste time." Cora replied.
"Well, excuuuuse me." Mandy said sassily placing her hands on her hips.
I liked writing this chapter. I wanted to have a little bit of fun with Emma and Mandy, so I hope you liked it! Let me know:)