Miles To Go

Chapter Sixty-Five

Life never seemed to take a standstill for very long, one thing after another, it just kept on coming. Regina had hoped that things would start to slow down just a little, just enough so that she and Emma could enjoy married life in ways they had yet to be able to, and it wasn't just about going on a proper honeymoon either.

Life was full of surprises too, Gina Velasquez being one of them. Regina just laughed as she sat in the study, flipping through old polaroids taken of her and Gina in high school, polaroids she'd hidden from her mother for a very long time. She found it incredible that the woman she'd seen today was the same girl she knew when she was sixteen. She hadn't at first recognized her, not having thought of her for a very long time as it was, but also having forgotten what she looked like until something just clicked inside of her.

The recognition had hit both of them at first while they'd been trading one sarcastic barb after another and soon the laughter followed and the hug and then her jealous wife all but storming into the office, without a doubt having seen the interaction between them. Regina shifted on the couch, sipping from a cup of hot apple cider as she vividly recalled the way Emma had dragged her into the bathroom for the dozenth time since she had arrived back at home.

While she knew her mind should be focused on the letter from the Boston Adoption Bureau, she wanted to wait for Emma to return home before she even allowed it to fully sink in. It was, after all, just an interview and not a guarantee that they'd be able to adopt a child any time soon.

She continued to look through the polaroids, there not being no more than a dozen and when she landed on one of the last ones in the pile, she frowned deeply. She remembered that afternoon only just faintly and it had been Kathryn who had snapped the picture of her and Gina stealing a kiss, a friendly one, but nevertheless a kiss, the light from the sunset behind them partially obscuring their features. It was the last picture they had ever taken together, the rest of them on a camera roll somewhere long lost and forgotten.

Henry's laughter rang out as the front door swung open and Regina quickly gathered up the polaroids and placed them back into the well worn envelope, moving to tuck them back inside the dictionary on one of the bookshelves.

"Mom?" Henry asked as he passed by the study and saw her standing there. "What are you doing home and why is the mail still all over the floor in front of the door?"

"Oh, I must've forgotten to pick it up," Regina said almost absentmindedly. "I decided to take the afternoon off again, dear. I've been working so much lately, it's nice to have a little bit of downtime."

"Is Ma still working?"

"She is, dear."

"Oh," Henry said softly. "Is it okay if Nick and I go and play some Xbox for awhile?"

"Of course," she smiled at him and looked over at Nicholas. "Would you boys like a snack? Something to drink? I can fix something up for you two, if you'd like?"

Both boys nodded and ran off to the den, still laughing as they dropped their backpacks near the stairs in the foyer on the way. Regina just shook her head and wondered how she'd lost track of time so easily.

It wasn't unusual that Henry came home by himself after school, it usually wasn't for more than an hour before herself or Emma came home, but for the most part since school had started, he had been with his friends or with the occasional babysitter she herself or Emma hired in case they were unable to return home early. It was something she hadn't thought twice of in the last week and a half and that guilt started to creep back up. She had to remind herself that even though they were partners and raising together now, Emma had been a single mother for a very long time and she was used to taking care of Henry when she had to work as well.