Regina walked into the school with Henry. She had been called to yet another parent teacher conference. Seeing the outcome of the last one, she was none to eager, but Henry had brought her a letter from the teacher about wanting to place Henry in some gifted classes. She could hardly refuse because she was still trying to get over the aftermath of what had happened with Emma. She had returned to Storybrooke and Emma had showed up a day later. In the week since she hadn't exchanged a single word with the sheriff. The way she saw it, she had no plans to speak to her ever again unless there was an apology first and even then she wasn't so sure she would. She felt more like a fool knowing now that she had been manipulated by Emma. She had grown up in a household where her mother practically controlled her every move and she wasn't about to stand by and let anyone steer her in any direction she didn't want to go.
That was the crux of her issue now - it wasn't like she hadn't wanted to go in that direction once she realized that she had feelings for Emma. But knowing what Emma had done seemed to taint it for her.
Every time she thought about it she got angry. But for every time she thought about it she also thought of their first kiss.
They made it to the classroom but Henry's teacher wasn't there so they took seats. They were waiting for five minutes before Regina began to get annoyed. She took pride in being punctual but apparently that wasn't something everyone did.
"I will go check the teacher's lounge," Henry said getting up and leaving.
Henry had been gone maybe a minute when the door opened.
"What are you doing here?" Regina asked Emma walked in.
"Don't get mad," she said and immediately Regina knew she had been set up. She got to her feet and tried to walk to the door but Emma blocked her.
"Out of my way Miss Swan."
"I will. I will let you go, but I'm asking you to hear me out first."
"I have no interest in any more of your lies," she said trying to move past her but Emma grabbed her arm.
"Please Regina. Please just let me ... I have things I need to say to you and I need you to listen to me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for all of it. Just hear what I have to say and if you still want to leave and never speak to me again I will respect your decision. Please."
Regina turned her head from her, not wanting to look into those eyes because she knew she couldn't keep up this stern facade if she kept looking. "Fine."
"Thank you."
Regina stepped back and crossed her arms.
"Um could you take a seat?"
Regina didn't respond but took the same seat as before. Emma went up to the Smart Board and turned it on, which only confused Regina.
"So um I um grew up in the foster care system so I didn't know anything about being in a family because I was never in one long enough for me to belong to one. Then I met Neal and while we weren't a family we created this life - Henry."
On the board appeared the beginning of a family tree with Henry at the bottom and two branches above him leading to Emma and Neal.
"But I gave up Henry. It was the stupidest thing I ever did. Then one day my son finds me and brings me to this town Storybrooke and it is here that I discover who my parents are."
Snow and Charming appeared above them.
"And all of a sudden I find I am descended from royalty."
More lines fill in above Snow and Charming with names leading back at least five generations.
"So this is what genetics tells me is my family," she said. "But it took me a while to feel like I was a mother and a daughter. It is hard to explain because I was 28. I had given up childish ideas of my long lost parents knocking on my door to claim me and say it was all a mistake. Even though I now had that family and I knew they loved me and I loved them there was still this hole inside of me. It is the place that always held me back from forming attachments. It is a darkness that tells me I am not worth any of this."
She paused and saw Regina was still paying attention.
"When I came to Storybrooke I met Henry's other mother." Regina's name appeared on the screen next to Emma's with a line leading down to Henry.
"She and I didn't get along at all. My first impression was that she was a stuck up bitch with a great ass and even better rack."
"Miss Swan ..."
"What? It's true," Emma smiled. "Anyway she and I were at each other's throats all the time and not in a good way. But after we got through a bunch of stuff we realized we could agree on one thing and that was our son. We came to an agreement on how to do a shared parenting thing. Then things slowly started to change. The next thing I know I was having dinner at her place, I would sit on the floor of her living room helping Henry with homework or at least making an attempt at it. There was one this night when I was watching Henry until she got home and we were playing video games when she came home and I talked her into playing a racing game with me. I think we played like a dozen times because this is a woman who doesn't like losing."
"That was the night I realized that her desire to win all the time was kind of cute because she gets this intense look on her face. Then more realizations came like how her laughter is so full of joy because she doesn't laugh much so when she does it, it feels like she is doing it just for you, like you are special. Then there is how she looks at our son, and I realize it is exactly how I look at him because why you celebrate all the good things about him you get a little sad knowing one day he will grow up and you will no longer be the mom to a little boy."
"I could go on about how smart and refined she is but the point is, as I realized these things I realized I had feelings for her. I wanted to be around her all of the time because why she can't always see it she has a light in her and I just wanted to stay in that light."
"But when you spent part of your life being a thief, a con artist and orphan, you want to stack the odds in your favor because you want life to your way so badly. I fucked up. There is no other way to say it. I did the worst thing in the world, I made her doubt that a choice was really hers all along. She values her freedom because her life hasn't always been that way and what I did, I am sure reminded her of those times."
"What I did was unforgivable but I don't have any choice but ask her for forgiveness because this here," she said drawing a circle around herself, Regina and Henry. "This is my family. It's unconventional, and it is messy sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for anything and if the woman I love would give me a second chance I would make sure she knows that while I am always going to make mistakes, loving her for the rest of my life will never be one."
"Um so yeah, that's what I wanted to say," she said stepping away from the board.
Regina continued to sit there and Emma was beginning to feel like maybe this wasn't the smartest idea either.