Somewhere Down The Road

Chapter Fifteen

Every day. Every damn day Emma has popped her perky head around every corner like a puppy begging for scraps. Regina has been strong, resilient but little by little Emma has chipped away at her armor and making it damn near impossible to stay away.

Like for instance now, Emma is being so attentive with Henry, handing him the little snaps that he can throw at the ground while the adults light off fireworks up on the hill. Her son is having the time of his life, giggling hysterically when he tosses a snap at her feet and it crackles and she yelps and jumps like she could possibly be hurt from the damn thing. When in reality, it's just a noise maker, it doesn't even spark.

"Oh, kiddos, look, look!" Emma cheerfully instructs, pointing at the top of the hill where a firework is whistling toward the sky.

She feels the rattle in her chest just as the firework explodes, lighting up the sky with colors of red and blue. Henry and Bae are in awe, mouths hanging open, eyes wide and bright.

"Boom!" Henry chants, jumping in front of Emma in hopes to scare her.

She leaps back, a hand to her chest to play along. "Oh my gosh, you scared me. You're as loud as those fireworks!" Henry starts giggling, tossing more snaps near her feet.

Why is this her life? Why the hell did the universe toss Emma Swan into her life just to be ripped away? She was practically hand picked as Regina's soulmate but forced to live too far away. And then on top of it, once they both realized that distance didn't matter and they would make it work no matter what, life threw another curveball to keep them apart. She planned to raise children with this woman, only to end up pregnant with someone else who abandoned her. And now, Emma is here once again, slipping into that role of parenting. Why couldn't she just have Henry with Emma? Why did fate have to step in and tear their engagement apart?

Her mind is a mess, a tornado of whirling thoughts of what ifs and obsessing over what to do now. She's paralyzed in the moment, her mind mapping out the future and stressing over each detail to truly engage and stay in the moment. There's Emma though, playing with the boys, smiling, genuinely happy. How is she so okay after everything?

Finally, David announces there are no more fireworks left. Wendy and Neal scoop Bae up and say goodnight to everyone. Honestly, she assumed Neal would stay but he follows behind his wife. Davey and Ivy announce their departure too, pushing their sleeping twins in the double stroller they passed out in hours ago. Killian glances at Emma, darts his attention to Regina and then says his goodbye as well.

"Mother? Shall we?"

Cora squints at her, clearly indulging too much this evening.

Emma laughs under her breath. "How about I drive you all back?" She offers, knowing that Cora will struggle climbing that hill.

"I'm fine," Cora claims, staggering to her feet from the chair she was glued to all evening with a sweet tea in hand.

Mary Margaret bursts out laughing from how wobbly Cora is. David rolls his eyes but he's grinning from ear to ear as he helps his wife stand. Emma doesn't even wait for more rebuttals, she just starts up her golf cart and helps Cora into the front. Regina climbs on the back, strapping Henry into the seat belt. She doesn't even have to warn Emma, the woman is already driving at a snail like pace.

Henry leans against her, half asleep by the time they climb the hill back to their house. Emma helps Cora out of the golf cart and to the front door.

"She's so lovely," Cora swoons, patting Emma's cheek a little too aggressively and making Regina wince. "Stop being so mean to her," she suddenly scolds Regina, her eyes like daggers piercing Regina's flesh.