Andante, Andante

Chapter Nineteen

"Any news from Regina?" Emma casually inquires with her head hanging low while she focuses on cutting up the tomatoes and attempting to sound as nonchalant as possible.

A small exhale from Cora's nostrils breathes out a tiny laugh, but she pretends to sound just as disinterested as Emma did.

"No dear, I haven't heard from Regina since I last spoke to her. I have tried several times to contact her, but she's either avoiding me or extremely busy during this time," she enlightens Emma on her daughter's status, but there's still an eerie, uncomfortable vibe pulsating from the older woman that concerns her.

A wave of nausea wracks her body and she knows it has nothing to do with her baby boy and everything to do with a seductive brunette. She wants to hold this older woman for ransom until someone blurts out the truth about Regina. She hates not knowing, but what she hates more, is this weird, awkward tension the older couple gives off whenever Regina is mentioned.

"Welp, I guess we will find out in two days if she arrives or not," Emma mumbles, shrugging to keep up her appearances of unaffected, even though her palms are beginning to sweat at just the thought of Regina being there again.

"I guess so..." Cora trails off as her knife begins to drum a faster rhythm against the cutting board.

Something horrifying is flashing before the older woman's eyes and Emma wishes she could sneak a peek. Cora abuses the garlic, chopping aggressively as she takes out all her anguish about the situation and Emma stares dumbfounded by the behavior, but she chooses not to comment because that will only further upset the woman since she cannot reveal what's upsetting her.

"So, um..." Emma figures she better distract her before she loses a finger. "I narrowed down my options for baby names," she tosses out the idea and hopes Cora latches on to stop the madness of her knife.

Instantly, the older woman stops chopping and turns to meet her gaze. Her eyes shine brightly with love beating tiny little hearts while her smile stretches across her entire face.

"You have, dear?" Her voice is so light and fluffy that Emma finds herself chuckling in response and nodding enthusiastically.

"So, I was thinking Hunter or Flynn," she proudly states and watches in horror as Cora flinches. She tilts her head to the side as she examines the older woman who is hopelessly trying to mask her distaste in the baby names. "What?"

"Those are...unique..." she offers instead of blatantly rejecting the choices. Cora ignores her questioning look and proceeds with her chopping, in a much calmer manner this time.

"I like unique," she proudly admits and keeps her eyes glued to the side of Cora's face to gauge her reaction.

"Well, that's lovely, dear."

"You hate them," she flatly retorts feeling slightly defeated.

"No, no," Cora gently sets down her knife and takes Emma's hands into hers. "If that's what you like then I think they are wonderful. I am just older, and I'm not quite used to such bold names."

"And let me guess, you like names like my father, David or your husband, Henry," she deadpans as her face morphs into pure boredom.

"Both are very lovely names," Cora smirks and right there, all Emma can see is Regina's infamous evil smirk.

Her blood runs cold and freezes her body into a stupor as she just gapes at Cora. She hates after all this time the simplest gesture can remind her so much of Regina and she's a bumbling mess all over again. She just wishes the brunette would get the hell out of her head and allow her to live in peace.