Miles To Go

Chapter Seventy-Three

It became habit for Regina to turn in her seat to look back at the toddler every couple of miles. They'd been on the road for almost three hours and the closer they got to home, the more nervous Regina felt. It seemed ridiculous, she had thought, to feel more nervous now than she had when they first met their daughter, but they were entering a whole new phase in their lives and Regina had no idea what was going to happen next.

Emma had been the very epitome of calm, especially in the toy store where Regina had seen her slip right into the role of being a mother with practiced ease. She had tried to do that as well, holding the toddler's hand as they walked up and down the aisles in the large store. It didn't surprise her that Rachel had taken a stronger liking to Emma and she wondered if it was because they were both from the very same situation they'd taken Rachel out of or because what the old woman had said in line was true, Rachel did look a lot like Emma.

"Hey, she's fine, she's just sleeping," Emma said softly, reaching out for Regina's hand.

"I'm just making sure."

"Regina, are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be okay?"

Emma kept her eyes on the road, the interstate becoming scarce of other vehicles with every mile that passed. "You're still nervous, aren't you?"

"Don't be ridicu—"

"It's okay," Emma chuckled quietly. "I am nervous too. Everything is going to be so very different now. Everything is changing."

"I'm worried about how she's going to adjust being with us," Regina said and she turned to look back at Rachel once again. "They didn't give us much in her bag, just a few changes of clothes and one pair of pajama's that look far too big for her."

"Should we have stopped somewhere in Boston to get her some clothes?"

"We can go shopping tomorrow, what she has now will have to do until then."

"When you're in the system, you never have a lot of personal belongings. It's just the way it is, you know?" Emma said and she wet her lips, keeping her hand in Regina's as she intertwined their fingers. "As soon as you grow out of your clothes, they're handed down to someone younger or smaller than you. Sometimes you're stuck wearing clothes two sizes too small because there's no one older or bigger than you. I never told you this, but the first thing I ever stole was a package of underwear just so I could have something that never belonged to anyone else."

Regina frowned and squeezed her wife's hand gently. There were times where Emma would tell her stories, albeit small ones, of her childhood memories. The good ones were few and far in between, but there had been some, but mostly it was just memories she knew Emma would soon rather forget entirely. She knew going into this adoption that it meant absolutely everything to Emma and that in some ways she was taking back the childhood she dreamt of and would give a child her best chance in life.

"I'm just relieved that she doesn't have to go through any of that," Emma continued after a moment. "She'll never have to spend another Christmas with a care package being the only thing that she gets that year. She'll never have to spend another birthday where it doesn't matter if it is her birthday or not because they never cared enough to take time to buy or make a cake or find some little way to make that day special."

Emma inhaled shakily and Regina brought her hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles lightly. Regina had never judged Emma for her past, there was no reason to because of the amazing woman she had turned out to be. A big part of who she was now was because Granny had taken her in and finally showed her what being a part of a family was truly like.