Regina Mills
The hustle and bustle of the students gathering their belongings falls dead to my ears once I reach inside my bag to find her name waiting for me across my phone. A stupid, sappy grin blooms across my face, informing me that I might be in deeper with this blonde than I had suspected. Well, that was until I opened my message and read that Robin confronted her about us.
I hoist my heavy bag over my shoulder and lock the classroom door before I leave. My heart thumps wildly in my chest matching the clicking of my heels in a scrambled tempo as I rush to my car. I scroll through my contacts and with a shaky thumb and press Emma's name. Too many thoughts run rampant through my mind of how the conversation between my boyfriend and my former lover could have gone.
"Hello Miss Mills, how was class?" Her flirtatious, playful banter booms happily through the line. I roll my eyes at just how adorable she truly is.
"Fine thank you." I don't waste another minute as I dive right into the purpose of this call. "So, what happened with Robin?" I ask nervously while I unlock my car and slip inside.
"Uh, he asked if I'm in love with you and when I hesitated to answer, he said that meant I do. So, I admitted it." She pauses for a moment but then her words come pouring out to reassure my anxious mind. "I didn't tell him anything else. I promise. He has no idea about this morning...or the other night," she explains to help calm my nerves.
An adorable giggle escapes her mouth pulling at my heart strings and morphing my unconscious frown into a shy smirk.
"Well thank you for not saying anything. I'm on my way to speak with him now," I state just as I pull out of my parking spot and head straight for my destination.
"Can I come by later tonight, when I get off work? There's some things I think we need to discuss."
"Of course, just let me know when you are on your way."
"Perfect. I will see you later."
"Goodbye Miss Swan," I tease before I end the call.
I toss my phone into the cup holder and blow out an uneasy breath, attempting to calm myself down. Robin has always been a reasonable man but then again, we never really had a disagreement about anything. I am fully aware that he's going to want an explanation about my past with my son's birth mother and I will answer all his questions, I'm just dreading this topic.
My tires roll slowly into my boyfriend's driveway. I throw my car into park and kill the engine. I release another breath as I peer up at the two-story home. Now that I'm here, I'm more conscious at just how incredibly difficult this will be.
We have shared our lives together for one year. Our boys have become the best of friends and now I'm responsible for ripping that away from them. I cannot resume this relationship if my heart is just not in it. It's not fair to Robin or I if we stay in a relationship for our children's sake. My heart is set on Emma Swan and it's about time I stop playing games and be with the love of my life.
My finger pokes the doorbell, creating a soft melody while I wait for Robin to answer. I fiddle nervously with my fingers and knuckles, twisting and yanking against the flesh until the front door swings open. The instant my boyfriend discovers it's me waiting on his doorstep, his face falls with disappointment.
"So, I take it Emma talked to you?" He questions with a hint of sarcasm.
"Yes, may I come in? There are some things we need to discuss this."
He nods in despair but opens up the door further, granting me permission to enter his home. I stand nervously in his foyer not knowing where I should start.
"Would you like a drink?" He offers, pointing toward the kitchen.
"No thank you."
"Well I have a feeling I'm going to need one," he deadpans and walks into the kitchen without another glance in my direction.
I follow behind the agitated man and sit down at his kitchen table. I study the way Robin pulls a beer from the refrigerator and takes down half of the alcohol before he even sits down across from me. We both know what's to come, it's inevitable. The tension is rapidly building between us and now I just need to figure out how to navigate through this conversation.
"Well obviously you know why I'm here," I exasperate, not being able to handle the awkward atmosphere that is wrapping around my throat and slowly choking the life out of me.
"I would say so. Emma confessed her love to you?"
A disgusted expression flashes across his face but only for a moment before he quickly regains his composure. He always did his best at masking his emotions.
"Yes, Emma told me how she felt." I take a deep breath and try my best to mentally prepare myself for what's to come. "When we first met, she was with Neal, Henry's father. We were strictly friends at that point. When Neal left, we became closer. We crossed the line of friendship plenty of times, but we still claimed we were only friends. We were both in denial of our true feelings for a very long time. Once Henry was born things changed. The night she left was the first time we both admitted how we truly felt, but it was too late. Now that she's back, it wouldn't be fair to you if I stayed in this relationship. My heart belongs to her."
My abridged version of my relationship with Emma pours out of my mouth as Robin listens intently with a stoic face. I shift uncomfortably from the way his eyes bore into me, silently judging me with hate.
"What makes you think she won't leave you again?" The way he speaks is so monotone it leaves behind an eerie feeling crawling up my spine.
"I can tell she has changed. We have changed. Things are different this time around."
"She's been back a little over three months and you're willing to risk our relationship for her?"
"It's not that I'm risking our relationship. I can't be with you if my heart belongs to her. How can I stay with you when I want someone else? Do you really want to be with me if you know I love someone else? That every time we kiss, I'm picturing her, would that make you happy?"
"Well when you put it like that, no."
"Exactly. That's not fair to you and as selfish as this may sound, that's not fair to me either. Emma and I are soulmates and I know we belong together."
"She's going to hurt you again and this time it won't just be your heart, it will be Henry's too. Then what?" He spits coldly while leaning across the table, forcing my eyes to meet his.
"Like I said, it's different this time. There's really nothing you can say to make me stay. Even if Emma and I decide that we don't want to continue a relationship together, I still would end this between us, because my heart isn't in it anymore," I express trying to make him understand that our relationship really doesn't have to do with Emma.
I want him to realize that just because I am ending our relationship doesn't mean that Emma is all to blame. I need him to comprehend that our relationship wasn't going to continue much longer anyways. I wasn't in love with him, but I didn't want to flat out say that and hurt his feelings. At the end of the day, I still care for the man.
Robin snatches up his beer and lifts the bottle to his mouth. As the cold rim rests against his lips he chuckles to himself and shakes his head. He then proceeds to finish off the rest of the cold beverage before slamming the empty bottle back down onto the table. I wince the slightest bit from the ruckus but I play off the action as if I am straightening my posture. I don't want him to see the wary disposition upon my face.
"Marian always hated you," he growls, peeking through his eyelashes to catch my reaction. "Too bad my ex was right about you."
My blood instantly boils to scolding hot temperatures. I stand abruptly, scraping the chair against the floor and almost knocking the damn thing over. Robin just peers up at me through his cold eyes full of anger. A smug smirk tugs at the corner of his lips knowing he was able to slither his way under my skin. I storm off before he has the opportunity to say another word and slam the door behind me.
XXXXXXXXX
Later that evening after dinner, Emma came over. She helped me put Henry to bed which my son was ecstatic about. The way his face lights up when she's around, melts my heart. The mother-son bond they share is apparent whenever they are around each other, even if it has only been three months. It's as if he knows, as though he can sense the medical makeup that runs freely through this blood, attaching him to the blonde woman he just met.
The bottle of wine gurgled as the white liquid flows in a steady stream into the glass. I tilt the bottle back and proceed to pour another glass. I gently set the wine down upon the coffee table and hand a glass to Emma. She smiles kindly and offers a small thank you in return while I graciously sit down beside her on the couch.
I know what's to come. I know the conversation that needs to finally be freed from being captive for over six years now. I am just terrified of what the end result could lead to.
"So how did everything go with Robin?" Emma questions with her green eyes pointedly inspecting me.
The wine glass barely grazes her thin lips before she pulls the cool liquid into her mouth. The action was hardly a sip, simply a taste to wet her lips because her sole attention is focused on me.
"Just awful. It ended with me storming off and slamming the door behind me," I explain as the feeling of frustration comes rushing back.
Emma leans forward and with her free hand she squeezes my thigh. "At least it's all over now." She offers a sympathetic smile in my direction before her hand glides across my leg in a soothing way. Her loving ministrations force a familiar tug between my legs, almost distracting me from the topic before us.
"So, what did you want to talk about Swan?"
"Us," is all she exposes in a shy manner. Emma sips her wine again, never once breaking eye contact.
"What about us?" I ask with one of my eyebrows raised.
My fingers twist the stem of the wine glass around as I grow anxious. I can't even find the strength to drink my glass of wine. I just need to hear her thoughts about us. I just need to make her mine after all these years.
"Regina, I never want to be apart again." I swallow thickly knowing this is it.
This is where six years of torment finally comes to an end. The clouds from our disheveled, stormy life, were finally breaking away, exposing the tiniest sliver of hope shining down upon us. Emma sets her glass down on the end table and shifts in her seat, granting me her full attention.
"I've lost you both and I never want to go through something like that again. I've seen my life without you two and I never want to relive that depressing life again. I want to be with you. I want us to be a couple. I want all three of us to be a family. We can start off slow if you'd like but I want to be yours and I want you to be mine. No more games," Emma confesses, exposing all her true intentions for me and my son. Our son.
Five years I've waited for this moment. My heart is swelling with love from her words alone. My lips are already leaning forward, being pulled into hers like they were magnetized. My lips connect with her plush lips forcing both our eyes to flutter close. We take our time to memorize the feel of one another's lips as we barely move in this sweet moment.
"Emma, I've wanted this for a very long time. Nothing would make me happier," I whisper faintly against her lips.
I cup her cheeks and rest my forehead against hers. I want to memorize this moment. I inhale sharply taking in that warm vanilla scent that always knows how to relax my body. I listen to the steady rhythm of her breathing while my thumbs skim across her silky skin.
"So, we're doing this?" Emma curls her finger around my wrists and hold on like her life depends on it. "We are together?"
"Damn straight," I smile with confidence as she presses her delectable lips against mine once more.
This heartfelt kiss sends a wave of relief rippling through my body, leaving me not only relaxed but warm, content, like she wrapped me up in a blanket and cuddled into me.
"What do we do about Henry?" There is a sudden break in her voice and I know how difficult this is for her to mention.
"This is a lot for a five-year-old to take in," I start to explain but she is quick to cut me off.
"I agree. Maybe we should just tell him about you and Robin breaking up first."
"Yes, and once you start coming around more, we can explain our relationship to him," I suggest while she nods in agreement.
"Is that when we will tell him about me being his other mother too? Or would you like to hold off more? It's totally up to. Your decision. I don't want to-"
"Emma, stop." She clamps her mouth shut and squeezes her eyes shut to calm herself from the rambling rant.
"We will tell him that you're his mother as well, when we explain we are a couple." Emma's warm smile expresses her relief just before she pecks my lips.
"I really do love you," she whispers.
"I love you too."
That night Emma stayed in the bed we once shared. I wish she didn't have to sneak out before Henry woke but we both agreed to stay friendly around him for right now. Everything was starting to fall into place. When she left, she took a piece of my heart, but now that loving piece is back. Everything for the first time, in a long time, feels normal once again and I can't wait to spend our time together as a family.
She's finally home.