Chapter Ten - Regina
Henry opens the door for me and pulls me into a hug as soon as I get out. He plants a kiss on both of my cheeks, then throws an arm round my shoulders. I manage not to flinch away from any of the sudden intimacy, partly because I am still stiff with shock. Henry must notice this, because he pushes me into action, using the arm he has round my shoulders to shepherd me towards the house.
As we walk, he tilts his head towards mine and whispers, "I am sorry for springing this on you. I wasn't expecting everyone to get home until tomorrow. I tried to let you know but you didn't read my WhatsApp. Neither did Emma. I really didn't want to catch you by surprise."
Suddenly, he's talking much louder, which ironically catches me by surprise. He calls out, "they're he-eere!" as we approach the window with the huge Christmas tree in it. I see a fluffy of movement through the glass, and then we're approaching the front door and I'm being ushered into the foyer and the flurry of movement has transformed into a crowd of people rushing in to meet us. They all know my name, and they keep saying it, and there is a series of introductions I can't quite catch. Too many new faces smile at me, and Henry keeps his arm clamped round my shoulders, and Emma appears besides Henry with our tote bags, and two small boys run rings around us all. Out of the chaos steps a short wavy-haired woman. She strides towards me, arms open wide.
"Regina!" She pulls me into an embrace the second she reaches me, squeezing both me and Henry. "It is so wonderful to meet you."
She pulls back slightly to link an arm through mine and starts walking me through the foyer and away from Henry, completing a seamless hand-off I hadn't realized was happening.
"I'm the Granny, the family's Granny, by the way, in case that wasn't obvious. Oh, I'm just delighted that you're here. I've heard so much about you."
I manage a weak smile, "All good things, I hope."
She laughs like she's never heard that cheesy line before, the sound tinkling. "Of course. Only good things. Endless good things, since he finally told us about you last week."
She keeps up her light laughter as she leads me onwards: down the long hallway lit on both sides by warm lamps, through the dining room now home to a large table with all its place set, and into the great hall with its roaring, crackling fire. I am whisked through the archway and pulled over to a two-seater sofa opposite the ginormous Christmas tree. Mrs. Nolan sits down, crosses her legs daintily, and gestures for me to make myself comfortable besides her.
"It's truly a joy to meet you," she says as I sit down.
I finally remember my manners, "It's so lovely to meet you, too. You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Nolan."
She beams. I smile back a little wonkily. The two boys come darting into the room, skidding across a patterned rug, and everyone else pours in after them. A neat-looking couple settle into another two-seater; a man with leather jacket takes a seat by the fire with Ruby I believe; and Henry and Emma perch either side of them. Everyone is chattering away happily, and I hear Mrs. Nolan sigh a contented sigh.
Then she jumps right back up on her feet. "Tea!" she trills. "How is everyone taking it? And you'll all have cake, of course. You will allow the boys to have cake, won't you, Belle? It is Christmas, after all. I got three flavors from the bakery. We got carrot cake, chocolate cake and lemon drizzle."
"Cost me a small fortune," Mr. Nolan laughs.
"And it will be worth every penny!" Mrs. Nolan bounces over to a long side table laden with tea, "guests first," turns to me, "Regina, what can I get you? A bit of all three? Go on, just a silver of each."
Before I know it, I'm holding a plate loaded up with three different cakes even I am not hungry at all and not in mood to eat. I didn't want to be rude, so I smile politely and took a small piece of all three cakes.
It's all a bit like Wonderland, my stumbling into the middle of tea party I hadn't realized I was going to attend. I feel disorientated and quite sick. It would be horribly rude of me to leave it untouched, so I carefully eat slowly as possible. Mrs. Nolan and Granny smiles at me expectantly from over by the table, and I force myself to eat.
"Henry? Just a carrot cake? Are you sure you won't try one of the others, too?" Mrs. Nolan hovers her knife over the chocolate cake. "Just a tiny bit, Grandma."
Henry shrugs his acceptance, then turns to flash me a huge smile. I shake my head to let him know it's all right. He looks relived. Mrs. Nolan leans over to pass him a plate identical to mine, with all three flavors of cake piled high.
A quick glance around the room confirms that everybody is being given the same treatment, regardless of what they've asked for. As my gaze slides past Emma's triple-loaded plate, our eyes meet. She puffs out her cheeks at me and widens her eyes, her mind clearly boggling at all the food we have to get through. I purse my lips to keep myself laughing. I think about Emma's laugh, and how it lights up her entire face like she's made of sunshine, then look away.
Mrs. Nolan squeeze herself back on to the sofa next to me and I rush to put another forkful of lemon cake, making a loud mumming noise as I do so. She responds with another happy sigh, then turns her attention to her own plate. The room is mostly quiet now, aside from the gentle clattering of cutlery on China from Grammy. I remind myself that I have studied hard for this moment, that Henry and I are fully prepared for our debut performance as a couple.
I look around at everyone again, this time paying attention to their faces rather than their plates. It isn't hard to work out who's who. There's Mr. Gold and his wife with the boys who are their twins. They own a small shop in town that sells antiques and different rare items, but I learnt that they also sell lost items. I looked back from the time on the bed, I remembered Henry showed me tons of flashcards photos of every single person in the family. Granny loves to bake and the grandmother of Ruby, whose mother passed away when she's just a child. There's Ruby's boyfriend, Dominic which is a new face in the family, so I know Henry doesn't know much about him either. There's Killian Jones, a Sheriff, but Mr. Nolan always invite him over to every event because he doesn't have any family of his own. The father abandons him and remarried, so he has half-brother that Killian Jones never met. He was engaged, but his finance died of heart problems. Last, there's Mr. Nolan, who is the prince and the prom king as well as a collector of rare antique swords.
I looked through the crowd, and noticed something, Emma is the only blonde in the family. She also has the greenest eyes in the room, the rest being more hazel-colored. She got the smoothest and white skin than rest of them. I am not comparing Emma to others, but I am looking at everyone. I am noticing how Henry looks more like grandpa or his father than he's to Emma. Emma has the rounder feature of her mother.
"This cake is delicious," I say, making a show of loading more lemon cake into my mouth.
"Oh. I am so glad you're enjoying it," Mrs. Nolan practically vibrates with pleasure besides me. I gesture around the room, eyeing most people in the room, "it's such an incredible building and you have it kept so beautiful. I especially loved the garden. Has it been in your family for a long time, is that right?"
Mr. Nolan sits up straighter in his armchair with pride. "That's right. It was passed down to my father from his father, and it was his fathers before him. Et cetera, et cetera."
"Well, I'm honored to be staying here. Thank you all so much for having me."
"Of course!" Mrs. Nolan says. "The pleasure is all ours. I've been waiting a very long time for Henry to bring a lovely young lady. And here you are, every bit as beautiful and charming as I knew you would be."
Well, that was easy.
Mrs. Nolan leans closer to me conspiratorially, "you know, Henry visited us the very first time over Christmas. That's a good sign, don't you think? All we need now is for Emma to find a nice woman to settle down with. Maybe next Christmas?"
Emma pauses with a fork halfway up to her mouth when she listens into our conversation. She lowers it back down. "Maybe. Will she still be welcome if I bring her round on Ash Wednesday instead?"
I try not to laugh. Mrs. Nolan and everybody tries to laugh.
"Of course, she should. I'm only teasing, Emma."
I keep watching Emma. Her long hair looks golden thanks to the twinkling lights on the tree beside her. She lifts fork back up and pops it into her mouth. Like me, she has made a beeline for the lemon cake and only picked the rest. I look into her green eyes from across the room, and she looks right back. For a moment, it's like we're back in Storybooke, eating chips and enjoying our evening together.
She suddenly looks away.
"Yes," I say to Mrs. Nolan brightly. I shift my gaze to Henry. I try to look at him the way I just looked at his mom. "That's why I am so happy to be spending this magical season with your wonderful grandson."