Happy Thanksgiving to all my American followers! - Also know that I hate you; going to a Black Friday has pretty much been my dream since I was 5 years old. So buy lots of stuff for all of us that don't live in the States! :P
To all the people that do not live in USA, sucks to be us, I know - Well, on the bright side the week is almost over. Thank God for fridays!
Also, next chapter - which I don't know when I'll write and update - will be Emma's POV. You'll understand why at the end of the chapter.
Hugs,
M.
To Sam, who's 'OKs' mean a thousand words.
MARY MARGARET'S POV
"M, I was thinking that for dinner we could - " Emma stopped talking when she realized I was not alone. "Oh, you're here," she pointed out, obviously addressing to David, "and you are helping Mary Margaret." My best friend added, now she was staring at me.
I knew she felt a little bit betrayed because we always did our cookings together, and I was hundred percent sure she thought we would cook tonight's dinner together - to be honest, I thought so as well until I ran into David at the market. But the fact that her brother was here didn't mean that she couldn't tag along. Sure, it wouldn't be Em&M against the kitchen, but it was not like I was leaving her hanging.
"Yeah," I tried to explain, "We met at the market, I invited him over for thanksgiving and this was one of his conditions."
"As long as he also cleans the dishes," she replied with a shrug.
David grinned at her and nodded. Emma looked a little bit more comfortable with David being around, when we went to pick up the remaining of her stuff the day after being arrested she had been as stiff as a stick and didn't speak at all, so this was a huge improvement on restoring their relationship. The blonde grabbed the pumpkin, a knife and a spoon and brought them to the table. Emma's pumpkin pie was by far the best pie I've ever tried, we would eat it at least once per month as long as it was pumpkin's season, I think it was one of the reasons why I loved autumn so much.
"So," Emma sat on one of the kitchen's chair and cut the pumpkin, "We're spending thanksgiving like the bizarre family we used to be when we played tea time," she started scooping the seeds out.
I remembered those days, Emma and I were five and David nine. He would play with us just for the sake of not being alone in his room. Emma had a splendid tea table, it looked as if it had belonged to Queen Victoria of England, and the cups were of real porcelain. It had been a present that her parents had sent her for her birthday because they couldn't make it. They were somewhere in Australia closing a deal.
"Yup," I said while I prepared the turkey. "Only that instead of your creepy teddy bears, my parents will join us,"
"And Killian," She replied with a half smile and putting the pumpkin in a glass bowl and placing the bowl inside the microwave.
"Killian?" David asked confused, "What happened with Regina?"
Yes, excellent question. What happened with Regina? The reason you got into a fight with your brother, moved out from your place, moved in with me and did an emancipation party that ended up with us arrested.
"She's busy," my best friend lied with a poker face and walked to her room, completely calmed, without saying anything else.
The microwave was the only thing breaking the silence as we both stared at Emma entering her room and closing the door behind her. It hadn't been the typical Emma-tantrum; but anyone that knew Emma as well as we did, knew that something was not right with her. First of all, Emma never leaves the kitchen while she's cooking; and second, Emma never backs out of a fight - specially if it's with her brother.
"What did I do now?" He asked me worried once we were alone in the kitchen.
"Nothing," I said not giving importance to it, "Just don't talk about Regina,"
"She broke Emma's heart, didn't she?"
"It's a way of putting it," I returned my attention to the stuffing. "Regina told Emma that se had to grow up if she want to be in a relationship with her,"
David peeled his eyes in surprise, as if he wouldn't believe that Regina asked Emma to act as a mature person. "And what did Emma say?"
"That she just wanted to have fun," I replied, not really using Emma's exact words to try and make it sound prettier.
The microwave's TING startled me. I yelled at Emma to let her know that the pumpkin was already warm and she could continue making the pie. My best friend came out of her room with no sign of distress, no puffy red eyes, no sad face, nothing. She walked towards the microwave as if nothing had happened, took the pumpkin and started scooping out the soft part out of the skin and placing it in a plastic bowl. One she was done scooping, she mashed it until it looked like puree.
David and I exchanged looks as we saw her work, concerned and surprised with Emma's behaviour. The girl took the pie crust she had made earlier this morning and started putting the puree and the rest of the final ingredients like sugar and cinnamon. Once the pumpkin pie was completely built up, she placed it in the preheated oven and left it there.
"My job here is done," the blonde said washing her hands, "Emma's out," she added and disappeared into her room once again.
The clock marked eight p.m. when the door bell rang, my parents had arrived punctual as usual. I opened the door and greeted them with a smile. Even since I started college and my parents got retired and decided to spend their saving on trips, we had stopped seeing each other as often as we used to. But they were always back home for my birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I couldn't complain.
"Mom, dad!" I said hugging first my mother and then my father. "It's so nice to see you,"
After their short greetings, my parents became quiet and studied with curiosity something inside my apartment. I turned to see what had caught their attention. Then I understood they were captivated by David, who was taking the turkey out of the stove. He raised his gaze and smiled at my parents, and I swear in that moment my heart melted.
I let them in and closed the door behind me as I spoke, "Mom, dad," they followed me towards the kitchen "I don't know if you remember David, Emma's - "
"Brother," My mother finished my sentence with a smile on her face.
"Mrs. and Mr. Blanchard," he greeted them politely.
"David, please. We've known you since you were in diapers, it's Eva," my mother said opening her arms to get a hug from him. "We didn't know you were back,"
"That's because M wanted him all to herself," Emma said walking out of her room with a huge grin on her smile.
I'd definitely kill her while she slept tonight.
"Emma!" My mother gave a tight hug to the troublemaker.
"Hi, Aunt Eva," Emma hugged her back. "It's so nice to see you again," she then turned to my father, "Uncle Pold! You have almost lost all your hair." Emma patted my father's hairless hair and my father laughed at her antics.
David stared at his sister with a smile on his face, he was amused at the easy going interaction between my parents and Emma, as if he had never seen her so happy and comfortable with older people. I knew that their parents had been absent a great deal of their childhood and teenager years, but sometimes I wondered how much time had they actually spent together as a family. As far as I could remember, the only days that I had seen George and Ruth Nolan they had been busy or talking on their phones. But Emma didn't like talking about her parents' abandonment because it made her feel vulnerable so I had no clue until what extend had she and David been alone.
David and my father walked towards the dinning room, Emma's brother was telling my father about his degree and plans for the future, which seemed to interest my father, who just like David had finished law.
"So, you've kept David for yourself, Marga?" my mother asked with a smile on her face as she watched my father and David talk.
I hated when people called me Marga. My mother was the only person that could do it, and well, it was because she was my mother and I couldn't really tell her what to do. "No, Emma here," I pointed at my friend, "Decided she wanted to live with me and I've finally understood why you say that raising a kid is hard," I replied "I've been so busy keeping her out of trouble,"
"I can imagine," my mother said trying to hide a smile. She knew a great deal about our wild side, she enjoyed our stories and kept them as a secret from my father, who would probably go mad if he knew all the things that his two little girls did. Then the bell rang once more, "Are we expecting someone else?" she asked with a grin.
"Yeah, " Emma let out, "I invited someone,"
Emma took a running start towards the door and slid at the end. To be honest, I was relieved to see her so happy. After today's confession I didn't know if she'd be able to act through the whole night, and showing her sadness to my parents was obviously not an option for Emma because that would end up in a lot of questions that neither she or I wanted to answer.
"You?" I heard Emma said. When I turned around, my jaw almost dropped. It was not Killian who was standing on the door. It was Regina. I was not the only one that was staring at the brunette who had just ran the bell, our three guests were silent and looking at her too.
"I'm sorry," she said from the door. "I didn't think you'd have guests,"
My gaze shifted from Regina, to Emma, to David. The first one looked honestly surprised to see my parents (who she had never met) and her old friend at our apartment. The second one was with her back to mr, but I guessed she was shocked because she didn't even turn to face me. And the third one looked completely confused.
"I'm truly sorry, I thought that - " She stopped talking. "I should better leave,"
"Wait," Emma said as Regina started to turn her back on us. Regina faced the blonde. "Do you want to come in?" she asked, remembering her manners.
Emma must have thought the same I was thinking: Regina was alone for Thanksgiving. It was not secret that she and her mother didn't get along. And since Regina didn't really have anyone and David was with us, she probably didn't have anywhere else to go. I felt bad for her, she probably just wanted company for the holidays, and I was truly grateful that for a moment Emma had forgotten about their disagreement and had invited the brunette in. Regina entered the apartment, our guests were still following her with their gaze.
"I brought apple pie," she pointed out and gave me the dessert, it was still warm.
"Thank you, Regina," I replied placing it on the table.
"Regina?" my mother asked, locking her eyes with Emma's "Is this the Regina?"
Emma blushed and I studied my shoes. It was at moments like this that sharing our secrets with my mother didn't seem such a great idea. Of course my mother knew that Emma was head over heels for Regina, she knew we had read and studied all the books on politics that we found at the Storybrooke's library, and most important she knew that Regina had been our attorney the last time we ended in jail.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Regina," my mother hugged the newcomer, who was taken back by the embrace. "I'm Eva, Marga's mother. Ive heard so much about you,"
"I hope only the good things," she replied digging her eyes on Emma. My best friend stared at me, begging me to stop the awkwardness of the situation.
"Most of them,"
A smirk appeared on Regina's face, as if she was satisfied with my mother's answer. Then the bell rang again. I turned to see Emma, who had just lost all her face's colour. This time, it had to be Killian. He wouldn't mind Regina spending thanksgiving with us, since he didn't know the story behind the woman and my friend. But I was sure as hell that Regina wouldn't be so thrilled to have the guy that didn't lose a chance to kiss Emma eating dinner with us. And for the look on Emma's face, she agreed with me.
"David, will you please get the door?" I asked him, then I turned to the pale girl, "Emma, why don't you put a dish for Regina and help me bring the food to the table?"
The Nolan siblings nodded and did as I had told them. I must admit, I liked it. I could actually get used to boss Emma and David around. Emma followed me into the kitchen and took a clean dish and cutlery from the cupboard.
"This is going to be so awkward," Emma whispered to me, I nodded. "What was I thinking when I invited her over?"
"She doesn't have anyone else, Emma," I replied in a hushed tone. "You did the right thing,"
"Do you girls need help?" Regina's voice gave us a jolt.
"Yes, please take the potatoes out," my friend handled her the mashed potatoes and stayed quiet until we were left alone again, "Regina is going to skin him and me alive,"
"Emma, please," I tried to talk some sense into her, "It's not like you and Regina were daking and Killian is your rebound, or that you cheated on her with him,"
"I just -" she started but was interrupted by David.
"Ok, things are intense between Regina and Killian out there," he said, not helping at all. "You girls better get out,"
"I told you!" Emma pointed out.
"Look," I stared at both Nolans. "We'll pretend as if nothing is happening, and we'll get through the night, ok?"
They both nodded, I breathed out and grabbed the bread and salad, David grabbed the turkey and Emma took Regina's dish and cutlery and the sour sauce. The tension between Killian and Regina could be felt from the moment we stepped into the dinning room. I saw Emma's knuckles become whiter, she was grabbing her dishes with force, trying to relax the rest of her body to pretend she was ok. But it didn't work.
"Emma, why don't you seat between my father and David?" I asked her, "I'm sure they have missed eating with you," it was not like I was lying. Emma hadn't have a meal with my father since last Christmas and David hadn't seen her in more than two weeks.
Regina took a seat between her high school best friend and my mother. I sat between my father an a very disappointed Killian, who gave for granted that he would be sitting next to Emma. For a moment I played with the idea of telling him the truth and begging him to act normal, but I decided to kept quiet to the sake of the evening's peace.
At least dinner was a success. My mother had noticed the tension between the two guests that had arrived last and decided to start an interesting conversation about politics and ideas for Storybrooke's with Regina and David, that had distracted the brunette for a great deal of the night. My father had taken an interest on Killian and his job at the themed park, their conversation was happening around me, but I was not very active on it. I kept on staring at Emma, and my best friend stared back at me, we just wanted the dinner to be over.
When the time for dessert came, my father commented on Emma's pumpkin pie with the same excitement he did every year. He was Emma's number one fan, we all knew no one stood a change against her pumpkin pie. Regina's pie was not bad either, it had actually been a pleasant surprise. Plus, I could hear my mother's thoughts: 'A woman that can think on her ownand took; a perfect catch for you, Emma', Emma could probably hear them too, because after exchanging looks with my mother, her cheeks slightly blushed and she played with the crumbs on her dish.
As the clock hit eleven p.m. my parents decided it was time for them to hit the road and go home, they had to pack because they were leaving in two days to visit China and Japan. They kissed me and Emma on both cheeks and said goodbye to the rest of our guests - my mother also hugged them.
"Well," Killian said when it was just the five of us in our apartment, "I guess we should all leave and let the pretty ladies rest a bit," he added staring at Regina.
It was obvious that now he knew something was happening between Emma and Regina, and he couldn't hide the small sparkle of jealousy in his eyes.
"Actually," David said sliding his arms over Regina's shoulders, "We promised the girls to help them clean before we go home, didn't we?" he asked Regina with a smile that would melt any girl.
"Much to my dismay," she replied, "But if you promised it to your sister, honey boo, we'll have keep that promise," Regina added and gently tapped David's nose with her index finger.
I didn't know who was more sickened by the scene: Emma or I.
Probably Emma.
But I guess their little act payed off, because Killian let out an "I see," convinced that David and Regina were boyfriend and girlfriend, and that the tension between the blonde and the brunette was because, as most of the younger sisters, Emma hated her brother's girlfriend. Thank God he was an outsider and didn't really know anything about Regina and David's relationship. Killian hugged me and tried to kiss Emma on the lips, but she turned her face at the last moment and whispered something to his ears. He nodded, grinned at her and then let himself out of the apartment. I'd make Emma tell me what she had just told to Killian later, after she helped me clean but before I killed her for making her usual Emma comments when my parents arrived.
"Thank you," Emma told David and walked towards the kitchen, completely ignoring Regina.
The brunette stood there, speechless, as she watch Emma cleaning the dishes. I stared at David, we both exchanged worried looks. Emma had built a wall around herself once again, it was something she used to do when she couldn't handle the emotions that she was feeling. I had the feeling that he hated when she did that as much as I did. With our eyes, we agreed that Emma had to talk to Regina. It didn't matter if they started dating or not, but they needed to solve whatever problem they had from the last conversation they two woman had shared.
"Emma," David said taking the dish she was washing from her, "Would you walk Regina home and see that she gets there save and sound?"
The blonde shoot a glare at her brother.
"I'd do it myself, but -" David stared at me, "You know,"
A grin appeared at Emma's face. "Sure," she dried her hands, "I'll take Regina home," she winked at me and put her jacket on, "Common, Regina,"
Regina put her jacket on, hugged me and David and exited the apartment behind Emma.
"Good call," I said laying against the kitchen table, "You should become an actor," I pointed out,
"Who said I was acting?" he asked and grinned at me, "Maybe I did wanted to spend some alone time with you,"
My heartbeat stopped for a second or two, my eyes lost in her blue eyes. David pursed his lips into a smile and continued cleaning the dishes and I had to remember myself to breath in and out. I stared him doing his chores for a while before I decided to join him by drying the clean dishes. Well, maybe this thanksgiving hadn't been so bad after all.