Hey guys, you are all amazing, lovely people who give great reviews and deserve awards for sticking with me and my angsty story.
Here's chapter 26 with a bit more of the picture...warning for sadness/worry inducing material...nothing my fellow SQ shipmates can't handle :)
Emma heard the sound of pebbles crunching under her tires as she pulled into the driveway. She was a bit surprised to see Regina outside, already tossing a bag into the Mercedes. Blue perked up from his docile position curled up in the seat beside her and began barking happily at the sight of his favorite human.
Emma chuckled and opened the door on his side for him to tumble out. Before she could leash him up, he stumbled and bounded his way through the snow toward Regina. The brunette turned, laughing as she greeted the eager puppy, but quickly turned back to the car. Emma came up behind her and followed her around as she moved things around in the trunk.
"Leaving already?" Emma asked, trying to get her to stop moving long enough for a kiss.
"I'm going to be late for my meeting," she answered, still rearranging items in the car. When she finally turned around to meet Emma's face, it wasn't for a kiss. Instead, her brow was ruffled, much like it was whenever she was annoyed with Emma's incompetence as Sheriff.
Regina pointed to the yellow bug. "Can you move that death trap of yours so I can get out?"
Emma looked a bit stunned by the comment. She finally turned around and walked back to her car. So much for thinking of me every day—she muttered to herself.
After parking the bug on the street, she walked back up the driveway. From the brunette's attitude a moment prior, she half expected her to already be in the driver's seat, ready to pull out. But instead, Regina was leaning against the car door, smiling as she watched the blonde walk up to meet her.
"Sorry if I was crabby," she said, kissing Emma lightly on the cheek, "I just don't want to be late given the weekend traffic."
"It's fine," Emma said, as she opened her door for her. "Just glad you kissed me goodbye."
Regina smiled again as she rolled down the window of her car. "Henry's inside the house doing his homework," she said. "I'll see you Sunday."
Blue let out a low howl of disappointment as she pulled out of her space. Both women cooed over his barking.
"And I'll see you too, Blue," Regina added, receiving happy panting at the mere sound of her voice.
Emma waved as she watched Regina back out of the driveway. She actually apologized for temporary bitchiness—Emma thought to herself—she really is changing.
"Don't let our son eat that garbage you consider food!" Regina called from the end of the driveway. "Cook him an actual meal, or so help me God, Em—"
"Got it!" Emma hollered down from the porch as she waved. She sighed to herself as she saw Regina shake her head, laughing—Some things never change.
Still laughing when she came in the door, Emma tossed her bag to the side of the foyer by the shoe mat. She called up the stairs to Henry, expecting him to be in his room.
"Hey kid!" she shouted. "Just letting you know I'm here!"
She was surprised to hear him answer from the living room. "In here, Ma," he said. When she walked in the room, she saw he had a PlayStation controller in hand and his eyes were glued to the television.
"Your mom said you were doing your homework," Emma said.
"That was just until she left," he managed to say in-between shooting at aliens.
"Henry!" she scolded. She glared at him, trying her best to mimic a proper look of disapproval, like she was sure Regina would give. But he just smiled and picked up his second controller. He turned it on and tapped the x-button.
"I made you a profile if you wanna join in?" he said, handing it to her.
Emma rolled her eyes and took the controller. She sat on the couch beside him and began to help him take on a cluster of aliens. "Only one round," she insisted. "Then homework, understand?"
"Deal."
After a little more than one round, Emma tamed her enthusiasm and looked at the clock. It was getting late. Whether or not she was sleeping with Regina again, she would surely kill her if he didn't get his homework done before she was home. Emma reluctantly grabbed the main controller and turned the game off.
"Hey!" Henry cried.
"Hey, yourself, kid," she answered back. "Go upstairs and do some homework for an hour. I'm going to call your grandparents and have them meet us for dinner, alright?"
"My homework was to write a pretend research report on aliens," Henry tried. "I was doing my homework—researching—duh!"
Emma burst out laughing. "Somehow I doubt Snow even thinks about aliens, let alone incorporates them into her assignments. Now beat it, kid."
As he ran up to his room, she shook her head and looked at Blue.
"Conniving little shit," she said to herself with a grin as she dialed her mother.
Henry and Emma bumped into Snow and Charming right outside the diner at the perfect time. Emma could see from the look on both of their faces that something was up. Her father kissed her head when they hugged. But before she could question it, Snow ushered them inside out of the cold.
"So," Emma said, looking up from her menu, "why are you guys staring at me?"
Snow clasped her mouth, unable to control a fit of giggles. David took her hand to calm her. "We're just on the edge of our seats here, that's all."
Emma shot them a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Snow added in, "we heard—about you and Regina."
"And we can't be happier—it means you're coming home!"
"Whoa, whoa, hang on there," Emma said, throwing her hands up.
Ruby came over at that instant with their drink orders. "So you're not coming home?! My wolf baby's not getting a playmate!?"
Emma's mouth dropped. "First off," Emma said, taking her hot chocolate, "since when did what happens between Regina and I become public knowledge?" She shot an angry glare to Ruby and then Henry, unsure which had spilled the news. "And second—if we do in fact decide to date after this month hiatus we've taken for thinking time, who says that means I'm moving back right away?"
Snow and David exchanged looks, a bit confused and incredibly disappointed. Ruby rolled her eyes and sighed.
"I can answer the first," she said. "Regina called Kathryn the moment you left and told her everything. Kathryn, of course, told me. I told Snow," she said, looking at her longtime friend, "and we all know what happens when you tell Snow something."
Snow shoved Ruby, only making her laugh. "You know you'll be back here," Snow added.
"Yeah," David joined in. "Long distance relationships don't last."
Emma sighed and took a sip of her hot chocolate. "I probably will be back here," she grumbled. "I just don't want the whole town to be pressuring me to move quickly, that's all."
Ruby chuckled a bit. "Don't let Kathryn hear you say that," she said. Before Emma could raise her eyebrows in confusion, Ruby was pushing her head down. "Shit, speaking of my wife. We gotta hide you!"
"Why?!" Emma groaned out, but it was too late.
"Emma fucking Swan," Kathryn said as she approached. Before anyone knew what was happening, Emma was being grabbed by her jacket and pulled up from the booth. As Kathryn dragged her into the kitchen, Emma heard Ruby all out.
"Sorry! Shoulda warned you—she's a little…protective!"
The swinging doors moved back and forth just as Kathryn pushed her up against the wall, causing some of Granny's pots and pans to clang.
"Ouch!" she shouted. "What was that for?!"
"Regina told me that you two might get back together," Kathryn said.
"Yeah," Emma squealed out in pain, as she rubbed her throbbing rib cage. "I thought you were rooting for us?"
"I am!" she cried angrily. Emma could tell that Kathryn's flares were mostly hormonally induced. If she hadn't been pregnant with Ruby's baby, this may have simply been a stern talk. But as she was carrying a werewolf baby, this was a full throw down.
"She's happy, Emma," Kathryn added, "for the first time since you left, she's really happy. And I swear to God if you screw this up, I will sick Ruby on you during her next wolf's time!"
"I'm not gonna screw it up," Emma answered.
"Good," Kathryn smiled, backing off of Emma. "In that case, I can't wait to see you at the holiday party!"
And just like that, she walked away, leaving Emma hopelessly confused and incredibly happy to be returning to her family in one piece.
The next day, Henry and Emma bundled up tightly and trekked out into the sunlight filled, snowy downtown of Storybrooke. A year prior, the nuns had set up a Christmas tree farm with the help of the dwarves, given that their cooperation had worked well for the Miner's Day tradition. The snow crunched under their feet and went between Blue's paws, as they hiked through the open field.
"So kid," Emma said, looking at Henry, "what kind of tree does your mom usually go for? Big and tall? Small and slender?"
Henry simply looked back at her. "You've known Mom for how long now?" he asked. He tilted his chin and gestured toward the enormous evergreens in the distance. "What do you think?"
Emma smirked. "Right. Of course—everything with your mom has to be over the top."
He chuckled. Suddenly, his eyes met Blue's, and seemingly, they made a pact. Henry grabbed his leash and both boys began to bolt ahead through the snow. "Race ya, Ma!" he yelled back as Blue barked in excitement.
"Aw, kid, come on!" she shouted, beginning to pick up her pace. "It's enough I have to cut some massive monstrosity down. Now I have to race you?!"
He only laughed louder from his twenty-foot lead.
"Little shit," she mumbled and chased after them both.
"That one," he said, matter-of-factly.
Emma's eyes slowly moved from the bottom of the trunk to the tip of the green giant that stood twelve feet above the snow. The height alone was enough to intimidate a lumber jack, never mind its colossal girth.
"You're kidding me?"
"Nope," Henry said, "this is the one Mom would have picked."
"Henry," Emma pleaded, "this is ridiculous!"
"Hey," he shot back, "you're lucky—I found it in like two minutes. If Mom were here, she'd post you, me, and Blue at different trees that she liked and would make us wait for hours in the cold."
Emma chuckled. He almost made it sound like they were a happy family again. As painful as the thought of being Regina's human tree marking flag pole sounded, there was something about the image that warmed her heart.
"How exactly does your mother manage to cut down trees this size?" Emma asked, as she grabbed the saw.
Henry grinned. "You shouldn't underestimate her strength, you know," he said as he watched Emma cut away at the tree with a look of agony.
About an hour later, Henry and Emma carefully worked together to bring the tree into the house. Blue barked out sounds of what they took as encouragement, as they struggled to wiggle and move the tree. With many 'move-it-to-the-left's, 'hang-on-a-sec's, and 'BLUE-STOP-BITING-THE-NEEDLES's, they had managed to get the green, pokey beast into its stand.
"Phew," Emma sighed, "we're done."
"Yeah," Henry added as he wiped his sap covered hands on his shirt. "Hot chocolate?"
They moved to the kitchen, preparing to enjoy the best part of the tradition. Henry set up the mugs while Emma filled the kettle with water. Just as the water began to boil, Henry spoke.
"What are your intentions?" he asked.
Emma nearly spilled the hot water on the counter as she poured, confused by his question. "What do you mean, kid?"
"With Mom," he clarified. "What are your intentions with Mom?"
"Still confused, kid."
"Oh come on," he pleaded, "I'm not dumb. You two have were hanging out all week when you were here for the wedding, laughing and having fun." Emma looked at him as he got a glint in his eye. "And I know you're both desperately waiting for the month to be up so you can…cuddle again."
"Henry!" Emma spat back as she blushed with his assertion. She sighed. "Do you have a point? Didn't we discuss all this at the diner last night?"
The boy smiled. "You just dodged the question like always." Emma rolled her eyes at him as he went on. "I know you want to be with her," he said, "and I know she really wants to be with you again."
Emma's cheeks grew even redder hearing her son verify that Regina wanted her again. But he continued.
"But you're with Kate, aren't you?" he asked.
"Well, yeah, right now I am," she answered. "But I plan on breaking up with her as soon as—"
"That's not good enough, Ma," he said, cutting her off.
Emma looked at her son for a moment, and then back to the kettle as she placed in down. "That's not how I meant it, Henry," she said, "I know what you're getting at, and I agree with you, whole heartily," she explained. "But you're mother and I are…complicated. Sure, we're thinking that maybe this whole 'us' thing could work again. And yeah, I like her and want to be with her," she said, looking back at him once more as she dashed some cinnamon on top of their mugs. "But I don't want to hurt her again—and I want to respect whatever she wants, and a little while ago, she made it clear that what she wants didn't include me."
Henry simply leaned his head on his palms as she continued.
Emma looked at him with a loving smile. "You know I'm definitely gonna be on that bench a month from now, and I'll have talked to Kate long before then," she said. "I just—I don't want you to get your hopes up in case it doesn't work. I mean, your mom can be pretty back and forth when it comes to me. And honestly, the last thing I want to do is to hurt her again."
Henry sighed. "She's just protecting herself," he mumbled. "She just wants to be sure that you want her too."
Emma sighed as well. Sometimes it was hard to tell if the kid was onto something or if he was just letting his desire for his moms to be together cloud his vision.
"Ma," he inflected his voice suddenly. "Are you feeling any better? I mean, now that you and Mom decided not to see each other?"
"No," she answered, "of course not."
He smiled. "Then do you think she feels any better?"
"I wouldn't know, Henry."
"Well, I can tell you for sure the answer is no," Henry said, "and if neither of you feel any better, aren't you technically hurting each other by not being together?"
That's when it dawned on her. It took her son using Socratic questioning methods to get her to realize it. But the kid had an excellent point.
"Henry," Emma laughed, "you're gonna make a great shrink one day."
He grinned. "I think I'm leaning more toward politics."
While Henry and Emma were happily enjoying hot chocolate in Storybrooke, Regina was miles away, in the heart of Boston. She sat nervously in the office, waiting for the door to open. Her brown eyes scanned the room slowly, moving from the filled bookcase to the stack of journals waiting to be organized. She lifted her gaze to the window sill, taking comfort in the green bamboo plants that sat in front of the rain droplet stained glass. The white noise of the city below grew lost in the gray skies that clouded the city and burdened her mind.
As the door knob turned, Regina straightened her posture in anticipation.
"Regina," the familiar face said calmly as she walked into the room and extended her hand. "Good to see you again." She moved toward her desk, carrying a larger folder and sat down in the padded chair. "How was that bachelorette party?"
Regina let out a laugh. "It could have gone better," she said, "but things are fine now."
"Well, that's reassuring," the doctor said. As she opened the folder slowly, and began thumbing through the pages, she quickly glanced up at her patient.
"So how are you feeling?" she asked, shifting her eyes back to the paperwork.
"Some better overall, I would say," Regina said. "There are good days and there are bad days. But I'm seeing more of the former."
The doctor nodded, as she ran her thumb over a note. "We got a call a little over a month ago from a Doctor Victor Whale," she said. "He told us you had an episode—?"
The corners of Regina's mouth turned down as she explained. "Yes," she said, "I was rushed to the emergency room after fainting at a party." She raised her hands, quickly dismissing the incident. "I honestly think I just had too much to drink—"
"Well, that may be the case," the doctor interrupted, adjusting her glasses as she read more of the file, "but I looked at the blood work that you had him fax over—it looks like your red blood cells are still down and you've got an elevated white cell count."
"Right," Regina said, unconcerned, "but you said last time that it could just be the anemia."
"I did," the doctor answered, "but that doesn't account for the other symptoms." She looked back down to her notes. "Are you still experiencing the nausea?"
"Some days."
"The chest pain?"
"It comes and goes," she said, but perked up hopefully. "But I switched the type of sports bras I use for my workouts, like you had suggested, and it does happen less frequently—"
The doctor smiled, wanting to reassure the headstrong woman she saw before her. She removed her glasses and looked straight at her. "Regina," she said, "while we have every reason to be optimistic here, that doesn't mean we should go into denial." She put her hands firmly on the desk. "I know we took care of those swollen lymph nodes a few months back with the radiation—but honestly, that doesn't mean the problem—whatever it is—has gone away."
Regina faded in and out as her attention dwindled with every word. All she heard was that nothing was working. It didn't matter how much her doctor sprinkled sentences with words like 'optimistic' and 'hope', or how many times she confirmed that there were still more tests that might help them get to the bottom of this—as if they were on some journey, together. No, she was alone for this hellish ride, and no amount of soothing would mask that fact.
"There's one other thing, Regina," she pointed out. "The labs that we ran a few weeks ago came back as well. Other than the usual suspects, there was something a bit odd." She took a deep breath and continued. "Your BNP levels are now alarmingly high."
Regina just stared at her. "What does that mean?"
The doctor leaned forward more and continued. "BNP—or brain natriuretic peptide—is a hormone produced by your heart," she said. "Normally, our blood has relatively low levels of it. But, when the heart is working harder than it should need to, more BNP is released."
"So my heart is working harder?" Regina asked.
"Yes," the doctor confirmed, "and while we don't jump to conclusions from elevated BNP levels, it is a significant indicator that something may be wrong with your heart."
You mean aside from it being black?—Regina thought to herself—Please, I've lived with that for years!
"Possibly heart disease," she added.
A lump formed in her throat. Regina could only drop her gaze to the floor. She was unable to look at that horrid expression as her doctor departed the notion.
Still averting her eyes, she spoke in a weary voice. "Olivia," she pleaded, as if she had any control, "it can't be—it just can't," she said firmly. "I have a son—he needs me."
"I'm aware, Regina," she answered. "And as I've said before—this is not a death sentence. This just means we need to do more digging to see what's up." Olivia clasped her hands together and sighed. "But as far as your son," she continued, "and anyone else who counts as family—?—Regina, now is the time to tell them."
"Tell them what?!" Regina spat back angrily, standing up from her chair. "Tell them that something mysterious is wrong with me?!" She flailed her hands out as she spoke, "'We tested for this type of cancer and, oh, no—it's not that, guys! And it could be that horrible sounding thing—or this one,'—is that what you want me to say?!"
"Regina," she said in a soothing tone, as the brunette was now in tears. "Talking about it is a start. It doesn't need a name to do that." She handed her a tissue. "Does anyone know aside from Dr. Whale and Dr. Hopper?"
Regina nodded. "My friend, Kathryn."
Olivia remained silent for a moment. "I really think you should start telling your family, Regina. I know we were hopeful with the radiation treatments, but whatever's going on with you is still there. You're going to need support, no matter what."
Regina reluctantly nodded. After taking her paperwork and setting up more appointments for x-rays and other tests she couldn't pronounce, she walked outside. She stood in the rain, still and looking up to the gray sky, relinquishing the joy she'd felt just the other day upon seeing the bright, yellow bug.