Her day was long consisting of going for multiple runs, cleaning her apartment, grabbing an early dinner with Ruby, and taking an indulgent shower Emma was relaxing on the balcony. Well, as much as she could relax when she was checking her laptop every few minutes for any activity. She and Regina hadn't set a specific time for their call, knowing that there were different elements at play like dinner, homework, and Henry's shower but waiting was worth it. Regina and Henry were worth it.
Emma had learned so much about the mayor during their texting but it left her eager to learn more about both of the Mills, Henry and his lovely mother. His mother who had endured much but came out of it a caring, wonderful woman with a quick wit and one hell a sense of humor. With a gorgeous smile and intense brown eyes. The blonde was losing herself in thoughts, in Spanish words spoken over a glass of apple cider, and almost missed the first few tones of a Skype call.
She hurried into her apartment; landing on the couch and hitting answer a minute later, pushing her glasses back up as she made the call full screen. Regina was there wearing a blue button down shirt that had a few of the buttons undone and smiling at her before another person came into the frame. Henry. He had brown eyes like his mother, brown hair, and a huge grin on his face.
"Hey kid! It's so great to see you. How was your day?" Emma couldn't believe she was seeing Henry when he started answering, telling her about school and the amazing dinner he had with his mother. Her eyes wandered to Regina who was looking at her son with all the fondness in the world, brushing her fingers through his hair as he excitedly talked about the next time they would be able to take on Overwatch together and all matters regarding their strategy.
Henry got a serious look on his face as he suddenly asked, "Do you want to come visit my mom and I?" Regina's eyes went wide as they met with Emma's through the screen, also caught off guard by the question. It was quite abrupt and it left her floundering for an answer, trying to figure out what would be the best thing to say without giving Henry the wrong idea.
"Henry, that is something Emma and I would have to discuss first. It'd be a big undertaking for her, flying from Boston and getting time off work. There's also the chance she might not-"
"I would love to come meet both of you, Henry. Your mom is right though, it's gonna be a serious operation and we'll have to talk about it for a little while before it's going to be possible. I hope you can be patient?" Emma smiled at the new look of shock on Regina's face and the sheer look of joy on Henry's face as he nodded.
"Alright, my little prince, you still have school in the morning and now I have a trip to discuss with Emma," Regina shot the blonde a look she couldn't decipher before standing up "How about I get you up to bed? Say goodnight to Emma." She squeezed his shoulders before kissing the top of his head, stepping away from the computer and leaving her son to say his goodbyes.
Henry leaned in and smiled "You'd really come see us, right? My mom might act like she's worried but.. I know she'd be so happy to have you here," He turned towards the door before whispering, "I think she really likes you. I gotta go but I'll talk to you soon, have a good night Swansky!" He waved and then disappeared, leaving Emma with a big smile on her face. The kid really wanted her to come and he saw that his mother might too.
Henry had been her friend for a few months but the friendship between herself and Regina was new and there was a chance meeting too early could ruin things. It's why she had told Henry to be patient until Regina was ready for it, no matter what he saw. Looking up as a blue blouse and black pants entered the frame, Emma sighed. "Look, Regina, I know it was presumptuous of me to agree to come visit but I have been Henry's friend for a while now and he means a lot to me. I would like to see him and meet you both but only if it's alright with you. Only if it's something you'd… want."
The raven-haired woman on the other end of the call was looking down at her hands as she listened before bringing her gaze up to meet Emma's. "I think you and I will have to get to know each other a bit better still but, after that, I don't see a reason why you shouldn't come see Henry. But.. Won't your boyfriend miss you if you leave for a visit?"
"I don't have a boyfriend." Emma shook her head with a scoff. "Your husband then?" "Regina, I'm gay. Very single and very gay. So no, I think the only person that would miss me would be my friend Ruby but she's a big girl with plenty to keep her busy when I'm gone." Regina's eyes had widened by a few degrees when she said her sexuality and she was worried now.
"Me being gay isn't… a bad thing to you right? Not something you'd be… upset having Henry around right?" It was a hard thing to think about but maybe Storybrooke wasn't pride friendly and maybe the mayor shared that characteristic. Emma was starting to get more nervous when Regina laughed.
"No, Em-ma, you being gay isn't a bad thing, not to Henry and not to myself. You're his- OUR friend whether you are gay, straight, bisexual or.. Or a flying monkey." Relief flooded through Emma before she laughed as well, a flying monkey? Where was Storybrooke- south of Oz? She relaxed, leaning back on the couch before spotting something on Regina's cabinet in her office. Lavender roses. Her gift had made it to both of Regina's offices today and it made her happy to see them being displayed.
"I want to meet my friends in Storybrooke but you're right, we should get to know each other more. Ask anything you want, Madam Mayor, I'm an open book to you and Henry." The blonde smiled and rolled up her sleeves as she readied herself for anything Regina wanted to know. It gave Regina a chance to see a flash of the tattoo on her wrist, a small black flower just as she'd said.
"What does your tattoo mean? What type of flower is it?" She asked, shifting in her desk chair and tilting her head to the side. Emma looked down at the ink, running her fingers over it with a small smile. It was the only tattoo she had and a watch usually covered it up so no one had ever asked about it.
"It's a scarlet pimpernel, they're poisonous if consumed by humans or animals and they can be found in Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. I got it as a reminder… A flower can bloom and thrive but still has the potential to be trampled underfoot however they are resilient bastards, growing even through cracks in the pavement. Through adversity they flourish," Emma held her wrist up to the computer, letting Regina get a better look at the ink "But what about you? This tattoo you talked about, it's clear it is something you've put some thought into so what does the bird you want represent?"
Regina rubbed the back of her neck where the tattoo would have been placed if she'd ever gone through with it before smiling "It holds a similar meaning, rising through adversity rather than thriving through it. The thunderbird is considered a supernatural being of power and strength. I was also going to get it to represent the strongest person I've ever known- my father. He would have been pleased it was a bird, he was an animal lover just like I am and Henry is too, as well as my flight from my mother I suppose. I haven't seen Cora in years, before Henry was born. She doesn't even know she is a grandmother but I doubt she'd even be a good one, not a motherly bone in that woman." The smile on her face had vanished the minute Cora's name had come up, a cruel witch of a woman and unlike her daughter from what the blonde had seen.
"Fuck her, she doesn't get to be a grandma if she couldn't even handle being a mom," Emma said in earnest before seeing the frown taking over Regina's face, her hand still on the back of her neck "You are so much better than she could ever hope to be. The way you look at Henry, like he's the only thing on the entire planet and what he's told me about you over the last few months is just proof of that. He adores you. Don't even think about Cora just remember that you are your father's daughter and I bet you anything he couldn't be more proud of you." The black haired woman met her gaze as she spoke and her chocolate eyes were shining with unshed tears at her words.
"Thank.. Thank you, Emma, you have no idea what that means to me. I think my father would have liked you as much as Henry does," She smiled and then looked at the time "I don't want to cut our getting to know each other short but you're going to be spending a lot of money at the Storybrooke florist if I don't." It made Emma laugh before giving a half shrug.
"Worth it. I've got a better idea, take me to bed with you," Regina's eyes went wide at her words and she smirked causing Emma to blush before trying to recover "Wait, that came out wrong. I meant call me on the phone. I can get off- HANG UP whenever you're ready to go to bed." Her cheeks were as red as the mayor's apples and her choice of words had Regina laughing, it was full bodied and sounded like the sweetest music in the world yet still rich at least to Emma.
"Quite salacious, Miss Swan, but I suppose I said worse to you in Spanish even though you still don't have any clue what I did say. Maybe I will call you, if and only if you can translate what I'm about to say. It's just one phrase and I believe you can do this… Llámeme." Regina even lifted up her phone as a hint but was pretending to check something and watching as blue green eyes narrowed in concentration.
Emma smiled "I have to tell you that it's unfair when you speak Spanish, Ms. Mills, it's almost like your own form of cheating. I can't focus and I get flustered when you talk like that but I may have figured it out. Did you just tell me to call you?" It was her new favorite way to be asked to call someone but most people couldn't pull it off the way Regina could.
The mayor nodded, beaming with pride "I may have helped you a bit with a physical clue however I'm very proud of you for figuring it out. I think you've earned that phone call but it will have to wait until after I have had a bath. I postponed it so Henry could shower and we could Skype you. Do you think you'll be able to wait for me?"
"I could wait for you for forever Regina," Emma was quick to jump on the mayor's phrasing after being teased for her own "Go enjoy a bath, you deserve it. You made Henry a delicious dinner after being hard at work all day then you even took time to video chat with me and now it's your time to do something for yourself." She stood up, carrying the laptop over to her kitchen counter and grabbing a drink from her fridge.
"Em-ma, I wanted to have a video call with you. This counts as doing something for myself. Henry was just.. My way of covering for having to ask for something for myself. He did ask to talk to you but he assumed we were going to anyways. I think my son might be better at seeing what I need than I am at times. I wanted this just like I want to call you after my bath and I want you to visit us.. in time." Regina was looking at her in a similar way that she looked at Henry, affectionate and in a way no one had before. It made her swallow the lump in her throat and look away.
"It's nice feeling this way, I'm not used to it." "What way is that, Miss. Swan?" "Wanted. I've never had that before and I can't.. I can't tell you what it means to me." Regina's look changed in an instant, the heartbreak over Emma's words and sympathy flooded over the blonde, which just felt like weight on her shoulders until Regina spoke again.
"Oh Emma, you are wanted and you should never have to go another day not knowing what that feels like. Henry and I will make sure of it. Those families have no idea what a kind, sweet, caring, amazing person they missed out on and I need you to understand that it was their loss, their mistake but it's not one we Mills intend to make." Emma brushed her fingers over her cheeks and it was clear that she was feeling emotional but she smiled at the mayor, that was not something she was used to at all and it meant so much to her.
"Regina, thank you. Thank you so much and I am glad to have you and Henry in my life. You might be right but I need you to do something for me. Go take that bath now. You can make me feel all sappy some more when we talk on the phone later but for now go. In fact I'm going to make it impossible to refuse. Enjoy your bath." She hung up and then took a few deep breaths, she didn't like to cry in front of anyone and she hoped that Regina hadn't been able to tell.
Brushing her wet hair back she made her way into her bedroom, tightening her robe around her body before switching the brush to her other hand as she sat on the bed. The mayor had a smile that hadn't left her lips for the better part of the night, her mind jumping between thoughts of Emma and the idea of the blonde visiting her and Henry. It was nerve wracking and thrilling at the same time, thinking about her in Storybrooke with them and showing her what their lives were like. Henry would be ecstatic to show off his school and he'd probably have to introduce Emma to his favorite teacher, the annoying Mary Margaret Blanchard. Regina only had the mayor's office and mansion to show off, there were the Storybrooke Stables but she hadn't set foot there in years. Stables just brought back terrible memories for her despite the love she had for horses, her childhood horse flashing in her mind, Rocinate.
The very steed she'd attempted to escape her mother on many times and the same beautiful creature Cora Mills had ripped away from her. She was getting too deep in her thoughts until a voice cut through all of it. 'Fuck her.' It was Emma's voice and she couldn't help but smile before picking up her phone, her thumb hovering over the little phone icon for a few minutes before pressing down and lifting it to her ear. Regina played with the silk belt wrapped around her waist, biting her bottom lip as it rang and she was about to give up and try calling again when there was an answer.
"City morgue! You stab 'em, we slab 'em!" It made her roll her eyes but still let out a little chuckle, it was her silly sense of humor but it was charming in it's own way. "I hope you had a lovely bathing experience, Madam Mayor. You'll have to tell me what that's like since I've been showering and avoiding the bath portion of my tub for the better part of the last year." She could hear Emma's smile through the phone and it only made her own grow in size.
Regina stood to pull back the blankets on her bed, cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she did "Well, when you use bath salts and bubble bath as I do it can be very relaxing and a great way to rejuvenate after a long day. You should try it sometime Miss Swan, consider it mayor's orders. They are almost as important as a doctors I'll have you know." She tossed a few of the decorative pillows off the bed before undoing her robe and sitting back in her bed again.
Emma chuckled into her ear and there was a rustling sound, she was getting ready for bed, as well it seemed. "Is that so? I kinda like it when you're bossy. Maybe I'll take one tomorrow. If so I will let you know all about its magical rejuvenating powers. I'm not going to keep you up late tonight but if I do maybe I can get some scarlet pimpernels from Game of Thorns? I'll have to see about that."
"You're going to have a long standing tab with Moe French at this rate, Em-ma, and I'll have too many flowers to know what to do with," Regina smiled as she turned off the light on her bedside table and slid further into her covers "You don't have to do all of that for me, dear but I appreciate the sentiment." She laid on her side, the phone between her ear and the pillow as she stretched a bit.
"Can I ask you something, Regina? It might be a bit personal but it's something I've been a little curious about for a while now. I just.. I couldn't bring it up before. It's about Henry's dad," Regina's breath caught in her throat and she became completely still as she listened "It's more than fine if you don't want to answer but… Is he in the picture? If so would he be upset with me visiting you and Henry? I don't want to make anything harder for the two of you by coming there." On the end of the other line Emma was wringing the soft monogrammed blanket she slept with every night, the one she had been found on the side of the road with.
Regina cleared her throat, sitting back up to drink some of the water she had set next to her light on the nightstand, before taking a deep breath. "Henry's father.. Let me tell you a story, Emma, it might make things clearer about my mother and Henry's father in one fell swoop. Get comfortable and try not to fall asleep on me," She settled back into her pillows before continuing, "Once a long time ago I was young and in love with a young man named Daniel Colter. He worked for my family as a stable hand, I was big into horse back riding and competitions when I was a teenager and late into my twenties and my father loved to ride with me so we both owned horses. Daniel stayed on to help care for them when it fell to just me after my father's heart attack and I fell in love with Daniel quite easily, he was kind and caring and we shared a love of horses. It was a few years after losing my father when he proposed to me in those very stables." She smiled at the fond memory before it vanished as the full history was about to be laid out for her friend.
"Eventually my mother found out and she was livid. It wasn't the life she had planned out for me before I was even born and I was not supposed to deviate from what Cora Mills wanted, not for friendship or love or anything that wasn't her writ. One night she had enough and caught Daniel and I in the stables, it was a year after he proposed to me and we were celebrating and found in quite the compromising position. We had been drinking and had just had sex and my mother tore into Daniel and I, screaming and furious. She berated him and forced him into his car, making him leave. He uh.. Daniel had been drinking too much with me and we hadn't planned on him having to drive that night, we were going to stay in the stables, but Cora Mills always gets whatever she wants and that's what she told me after his car accident. After he died. I found out I was pregnant a few days after his funeral and I cut ties with my mother almost the minute after I saw the positive pregnancy test. I decided that if she wanted to strip my baby of their father then she wouldn't be able to see them either."
Regina had kept her tone even as tears rolled down her cheeks, she hadn't spoken about Daniel to anyone except for Henry when he'd asked about his father, but she couldn't choke back the soft sob as she added, "Daniel is Henry's middle name." It was hard to talk about him and even harder to deal with the fact that Henry would never know his father.
Emma's voice was shaking and she was sniffling as she spoke "Oh, Regina, I'm so sorry. I-I shouldn't have asked. I didn't mean to bring up… It was none of my business and.. I'm so sorry, sweetheart," She felt awful for bringing something so painful up and she only wished she could hug the mayor that she could hear trying to cover up her crying "You know what, Regina? I will totally beat your mom up for you if you want me to. Just tell me where to start looking and I'll kick her ass, okay?"
It managed to make Regina laugh in the middle of her crying and she grabbed a tissue to clean herself up a bit. " Emma, somehow that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said about my mother and I would gladly let you commence kicking if I even knew where to find her, which I don't and I'm glad I don't," She took a few deep breaths before laying back down "I haven't talked about Daniel with anyone other than Henry and I feel better telling you more about where my son comes from. So you have a greater understanding of why he's such an amazing person but also so you can understand me a little better as well."
Emma smiled at the win of making Regina laugh despite the pain and she nodded before realizing the mayor couldn't see her nodding and she was an idiot. "I love learning more about you, it was the highlight of my day, and of course I love knowing more about the kid. Henry is a wonderful boy and it's clear to see how he got that way. You're incredible, Regina, the strength you have is just… immeasurable. Even with what life has thrown at you you still do exactly what the tattoo you wanted represents, you rise above. You're a supernatural being that represents strength. You are that bird and you're a rare one indeed."
It was impossible for Emma to get any sweeter or more kind than she was, whether it was sending flowers or just her words, and it reminded her of what she'd been missing for years. Someone that cared. "You might be sweet enough to cause cavities, Swan, but thank you. You're quite something yourself but I guess birds of a feather and if you're a bird then I'm a bird and clichés like that right?"
"Did… did you just quote The Notebook at me? Regina Mills is a romantic? You have to be if you've seen a Nicholas Sparks movie and you play Lovestruck on your phone. Maybe I've met my match? Careful now or I'll go ripping my heart out and just giving it to you," Emma laughed before rolling over in her bed, shuffling the phone to her other ear in the process "How about I tell you one more thing about myself before we call it a night?" She asked, receiving a small hum in response, another one of Regina's ways to say go on.
"When I turned twenty-eight, a few months back, I blew out a candle on this sad little cupcake at my party for one and I made a wish. I never really do things like that, you know? I'm not big into traditions or trying to hope for the impossible but I just did it. I made a wish to not be alone anymore and that same night, after eating my cupcake and getting out of work clothes, I played Overwatch and heard this single voice. A boy, asking if anyone was there and it was the same way I was wishing for anyone to be there. We played a few matches that night and he became my friend, telling me a little about himself and his spectacular mother. I'm starting to think that Henry might have been my wish coming true. Well, that you and Henry might be my way of not being alone anymore and the more I got to know Henry and now the more I get to know you I'm realizing that you are both the greatest birthday gift I could have ever wished for."
Emma was quiet for a little bit while listening to the even breathing on the other line and she couldn't help but smile as she realized that Regina had fallen asleep to her story, not even sure when she'd lulled the mayor into dreamland. She closed her eyes and sighed softly "Thank you, Regina, and thanks to Henry for you both being a dream come true." She waited a little while longer before speaking again "Good night, Madam Mayor, sweet dreams." She was just about to disconnect when she heard a response.
"Mmmemma." It was a mumbled little word but it still made her heart skip a few beats and feel like it was being squeezed in someone's hand, Regina's hand to be specific. Emma made herself end the call and plug in her phone, drifting off to the thoughts of a black haired woman breathing her name in her sleep, speaking Spanish, laughing, and quoting romantic movies.