Chapter Nineteen

It became an unspoken agreement, Emma would arrive at the mayoral mansion in the evening before sharing a meal with the mother of her children and then they would go to sleep.

There were times when Emma believed this could be enough.

She got a delicious meal and a good night of sleep. As an added bonus, her parents had not once asked where he slept.

It was either a sign of acceptance that EMma was doubtful would come so quickly or they finally realised that the best way to build a relationship with their daughter was to ignore who her True Love was.

With everything that Emma had to figure out, she was quite content with either option.

The issue with their current routine, however, was that Emma couldn't see how it would work when Tamsin came along. Plus, Henry would eventually realise how ridiculous it was to choose to live with his grandparents when the mansion was always available to him.

Their family may be unconventional as it was, but how confusing would it be for them?

Everytime Emma woke up to Regina, it became increasingly difficult to think of reasons as to why she had not kissed her again.

Whenever she got the urge to do so again (usually when Regina smiled) Emma was struck with doubt.
Regina said she should go in for a kiss when she was vulnerable and with the carousel of hormones, it was hard to tell when she wasn't.

She couldn't bear the thought of diving in too early, True Love had never exactly been her style, after all.

She was once again going through the process of weighing up all of the mental evidence she had that she and Regina were compatible (chief among them being the weight of the bump that she was always hyper-aware of) as the clunk of a mug against the counter caught her attention.

Unsurprisingly, she was met with a judgemental gaze from Ruby but it was difficult to care as the delicious scent of her one coffee for the day hit her.

"Thanks, Rubes," she said, dragging the mug to her body as she revelled in the warmth that it provided.

Ruby continued to stare with an eyebrow raised until Emma huffed and asked, "What?"

"Have you asked Regina out yet?"

The coffee didn't smell so good as she was overcome with a wave of nerves,

"We're friends, Ruby. Haven't we been through this?" Emma replied.

Pointed accusingly, the waitress said, "I see you and her here every other meal. What exactly are you waiting for? A third child?"

Emma frowned at the passion but as Ruby's eyes flicked to the booth in the corner, all became clear.

Belle French was tentatively biting into a burger,

It was common knowledge that the bookworm had taken to the wolf in Rumple's absence. Apparently, friendship wasn't all at least one of them wanted?

"You projecting here a little?" Emma asked and Ruby flushed.

Before the waitress could confirm or deny, the bell rang out to announce the arrival of the very person who could make Ema empathise with Ruby's feelings.

Regina came over to the counter with Baron Samdi in tow.

Ruby cleared her throat and asked, "Coffee, madam mayor?"

"Yes please and I'm not the mayor…"

Ruby had already peeled away to fill up two to-go cups.

Regina rolled her eyes but turned her attention to the counter's single occupier.

"Good morning again, Emma."

"Hey," Emma greeted, looking between the pair, "Coffee break?"

Regina inclined her head, smiling warmly, "Excuse me, I'll be right back."

Emma nodded as the other woman approached the restroom and Ruby put down the two cups.

Samdi dropped some bills and leaned onto the counter before Emma.

"So, you're the famous saviour?" Samdi asked.

Emma blinked at the question that seemed odd after the amount of time that she'd spent resenting Regina's 'boyfriend', his question was a reminder that they had never actually met.

"That's what Henry tells me," Emma replied cordially, "And you're the stable…boy? Man?"

Samdi chuckled and said, "Stable hand is fine….So, Regina tells me that you were under the impression that we were together?"

Emma bit the inside of her cheek she had sincerely hoped that wouldn't come up.

She wasn't exactly proud of her previous jealousy so it would have been nice to leave this particular topic in the past.
Awkwardly, Emma said, wholly apologetic, "Yeah…Mary Margaret got into my head but Regina explained the truth."

Samdi hummed pensively and replied, "I hear your mother can be rather good at that?"

WIth an emerging smirk, Emma said, "Maybe not as good as she thinks she is."

Samdi raised an eyebrow in amusement but was interrupted by Regina's return.

He moved back so that Regina could take his place at the saviour's side.

"I hope he hasn't been too irritating?" she asked, plucking up her coffee.

Emma shook her head and Samdi objected, "I'm a delight, boss."

Regina rolled her eyes but caught sight of the time on a wall mounted clock.

Based on what she had learned about her True Love thus far, it wasn't at all shocking that she was a stickler for schedules, even when they were self-imposed.

Absently brushing her hand over the bump (a common action that she knew that Emma appreciated it), Regina said, quietly, "I'll see you later?"

Hoping that the blush wasn't too obvious, Emma swallowed hard and replied, "You will."

Regina took a second to smile at her before a hand ghosted across the saviour's.

Emma not-so-subtly turned to watch the pair retreat to the door, waving in response to Samdi's 'goodbye'.

Emma reluctantly turned back to the counter and at last took a sip of her coffee.

"You should have just torn her clothes off right here and got it over with," Ruby mused, waving a dish towel in front of her face exaggeratedly, "The pheromones were overwhelming."

Emma proceeded to choke on the coffee amid Ruby's laughs, apparently officially cheered up by not being the only one in relationship turmoil.

Once Emma recovered, she grabbed the towel to snap at the waitress who couldn't stop laughing.

S

It took a few hours for Emma to recover from Ruby's teasing and she thankfully hid her cringe well while at the station with her father.

Since he'd proven that he was capable of maintaining boundaries, he was officially her deputy.

In fact, Emma even found herself casually discussing his past in the Enchanted Forest. Perhaps it was because he wasn't always royalty as Snow was, but Emma didn't get the same overwhelming feeling from being a shepherd's daughter.

That was closer to the scenarios that her younger self would come up with before she accepted the orphan moniker.

Snow, on the other hand, tended to remind her that she was a princess, usually unintentionally.

Her shift went blissfully fast even though she was no longer able to carry out her dalmatian chasing duties.

After some paperwork, she picked up Henry from school and did her best to help with his homework before excusing herself just as Snow finished dinner.

The woman scowled but didn't say anything as David covertly squeezed her waist, probably reminding her of some deal they must have made to not complain.

Emma wouldn't have cared if her mother did comment.

She could judge all she wanted as long as she could get a good night's sleep with the added bonus of waking up to a certain someone.

As with every other night, Regina opened the door after a few seconds, smiling radiantly as she invited her inside.

They shared a meal, talking about Tamsin and Henry, skirting around committing to any concrete, no matter how much they both wanted to.
This all culminated in Emma being back in the most comfortable bed she'd ever experienced waiting for Regina to emerge from the ensuite after brushing her teeth and changing.

The brief stint of time alone allowed Emma to really think about everything that had led her to this position, but it stopped at the day with the hat.
There was a question she never received an answer to.

It burst from her mouth as soon as Regina came into the room rubbing moisturiser into her hands.

"Who's Daniel?"

Regina halted partway to the bed, her arms falling limply to her sides.

Suddenly, she appeared younger but it passed as she cleared her throat and finished her journey to her side of the bed, though she did hesitate before getting into it.
Emma saw her desire to evade the difficult question, exactly as she would if anyone was to ask her about Neal.

Ultimately, though, the former Evil Queen replied, "Daniel Coulter, he was the stable boy to my parents' estate."

Emma tilted her head and wondered whether she should take the other woman's hand as she asked her to explain further. Despite literally being in the same bed, Emma decided that might be too much.

Instead, she thought back to the ring that Regina had kissed before allowing Jefferson to destroy it.

"Were the two of you engaged?" Emma asked softly.

Regina let out a small sigh that could almost be considered a laugh and replied, "I'm sure that you would prefer not to hear about this, Emma."

"Well…" she said, shifting thoughtfully, "You said you would tell me if I believe and I definitely do now. I guess I just got…curious…"

Regina nodded and swallowed, "I suppose I did…Daniel is…the reason that I hate your mother."

"So it wasn't the whole 'fairest of them all' thing?" Emma mused, temporarily forgetting that she was talking about real people as she so often did.

Regina remained silent though, not impressed by the statement.

With a sigh, she said, "That was what Snow believed for a long time. I didn't tell her the truth until the day you witnessed in the hat's vortex."

Attempting to recall if there was any mention of a stable boy in that whole whirlwind, she unconsciously shifted her hand to the centre of the bed so that their fingers brushed.

"What happened, Regina?"

Regina dragged her teeth over her bottom lip and then explained while avoiding eye contact, "My mother…she dreamed that I would become queen and found a way to make it happen. Leopold and Snow were travelling through our estate…mother spooked Snow's horse knowing that I would not allow any harm to come to a child…"

"You saved Mary Margaret?" Emma asked slowly, attempting to reconcile that fact with the hatred she'd witnessed between the pair at the hospital.

"She was a frightened child, what else would I have done?" Regina replied.

Emma blinked a couple of times as her fingers laced with Regina's, nothing else felt appropriate for the revelation.

"What does that have to do with Daniel?"

"When Leopold discovered what I had done, he proposed as my mother intended but I was already engaged to Daniel. Your mother discovered that fact and that we were going to run away together. She swore to keep it a secret from my mother."

Emma winced cautiously, "I'm guessing that she didn't?"

Regina shook her head lamentingly, "She told my mother just before we could get away."

"And what? Your mother…"

"Crushed Daniel's heart and accepted Leopold's proposal for me. I became Snow's step-mother while I grieved for him."

Regina deflated back with shining eyes, appearing exhausted by this line of discussion.

Emma pulled herself closer and hesitated before putting her arm around her.

There were so many questions that she could have asked, most specifically about the logistical mechanics of crushing another person's heart.

Emma may not understand how that could be possible but she recognised the result and the awful tangled web it landed Regina in.

One in which she was the True Love of the daughter of the woman she hated so very much.

For the first time, Emma saw just how hard Regina must have been trying since she decided to end her curse that was meant to punish Snow White.

She could have used this situation to hurt her enemy further, putting a wedge between them but she had displayed an impressive amount of restraint.

It was for this reason that she pulled the woman against her, her face slotting naturally into the crook of her neck.

"I'm sorry that happened, Regina…thank you for telling me."

Regina nodded, her nose dragging against Emma's neck as she did and then incited a vibration as she asked, "Thi isn't the position you need to sleep, is it?"

Emma considered her comfort level, laying on her back would usually be a huge no-no but this wasn't so bad.

There was one adjustment though.

She took Regina's hand so that it was splayed across the bump, achieving her goal: Tamsin stopped moving for the night.

"I'm good now," she sighed, her free hand secured against Regina's back to keep her close. She felt Regina smile ast they both closed their eyes for the night.