She thought she’d finally figured the place out. Henry was unhappy at home, sure, but he wasn’t being abused. The Mayor could be a raging bitch but she could also be one of the best examples of a mother Emma had ever had the chance to see.
Emma stood silently at the bottom of the stairs, one foot on the floor and one still resting on the bottom step with her hand curved around the handrail for balance as she took a moment to watch the two at the end of the garden without them knowing.
Henry was dressed for school, his backpack on and his homework folder in the hands he had clasped in front of him as he listened to whatever it was that Regina was telling him. For once, Emma mused, there was no anger or distrust in his dark eyes. He looked very much like the child Emma believed he probably was before his storybook came into the picture. The kind who obeyed his mother’s commands because she’d brought him up with manners, the kind who loved her just as fiercely as she loved him and with complete innocence. She wondered, not for the first time, just how much of Henry’s dismissal of Regina was more for Emma’s benefit than anything else. Looking at them now, in the quiet of the morning, a fresh day not yet ruined by outside forces, she could quite easily see a way back for these two.
Her heart fluttered in her chest - a strange sensation that she tried hard to ignore - when Regina swept a gentle hand through Henry’s hair, brushing it away from his eyes as she continued speaking quietly with him. Her other arm was crossed over her stomach as though she was bracing herself, waiting for the attack that usually came when she tried to offer her son a little motherly tenderness. Thankfully, it didn’t look like that was going to happen.
She watched for a few moments more, really savouring the image she may not get to see again, before she took herself into Regina’s kitchen and out of the line of sight. There was a reason she’d lingered in the bedroom this morning - two really but one of those reasons was just leaving and would remain none the wiser.
She was unsure of herself in all of the worst and most ridiculous ways. Should she stay or should she go?
What had happened last night between herself and Regina was wholly unexpected but, as she’d lain awake a few minutes longer than the prickly mayor, taking in everything that had transpired, it had almost felt inevitable that this was where they were going to end up.
It had started from an argument, full of fire and passion but somewhere in the middle time had seemed to slow. Frantic kisses had become soft and tender. Hair tugs, while absolutely encouraged by both parties, had become fingers threading in silky tresses, cupping the backs of heads to hold one another even closer. Things had shifted between them but Emma was completely unsure of how permanent that change would be.
It was only a few moments more before she heard the front door close and the sound of heels clicking ever closer, echoing the beat of her heart.
There was a slight pause, almost unnoticeable but most certainly a pause, before the kitchen door swung open and Regina breezed in. A pang of sadness resounded in Emma’s chest. The mask was back in place - a calculated smile and eyes that held steady but gave nothing away.
“Thank you for remaining out of Henry’s sight, Miss Swan.” She could feel it, she was about to be dismissed. And sure enough, “But he is happily unaware and on his way to school so no need to linger any longer.”
Regina didn’t even bother to look at her, choosing instead to navigate her way around the kitchen island to the fridge. She began busying herself with pulling what she needed from the shelves as Emma fought for the right response. It was bad enough feeling like she wasn’t good enough in her own head but to be let go so easily only picked at the scabs of very old wounds still not healed. “I, uh…” and had it been any other day and any other person, she probably would have already left without even thinking of saying goodbye but last night had been different with Regina…at least she’d thought so. So much so that she found herself too hurt to even argue with the woman. So she didn’t. “Bye, Regina.”
She gave the brunette one last lingering look, allowed herself one more moment to mourn the ridiculous fantasy she’d obviously cooked up all on her own last night, before she was making her way back through the kitchen door and across the foyer.
It was only as she pulled her own walls back up around her heart, certain that she would never again speak to Regina if Henry were not concerned, that the sound her name being called had her turning to find Regina standing in the kitchen doorway looking torn.
A full bottom lip was pulled between perfectly straight teeth as the mayor’s mask slipped a few inches, revealing an indecision similar to Emma’s own. As if anything could be simple when it came to them. “Would you like to stay for coffee?”
Emma couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at her lips in return as she wasted no time thinking and nodded her response. Glad to see a smile pulling at Regina’s lips that could be mistaken for something close to happy or, at least where they were concerned, as happy as they could be for now. And for now, a little bit of happy was better than none at all.
Taken from the September Prompts list currently on my page. This is number 1. Coffee Smell
If you like the look of any others, feel free to request one with any Regina ship.