Second Chance

46

Regina Mills-

A knock at the door echoes through the mansion at the worst time imaginable. Emma's sleeping in my arms, my fingers are tangled through her hair as I stare down at my lover in the trap of her beauty sleep.

Oh how tempted I am to just ignore the door. Ignore the day. Ignore the world just so I can spend forever with Emma in my clutch... until the door knocks again. I huff audibly but carefully shimmy my arm from under Emma to free myself. She stirs slightly instantly causing my every limb to freeze at the thought of the blonde waking. I intend on coming straight back to bed. Straight back to Emma.

I tiptoe to the bedroom door, hiding my exposed body with my silky black robe to push away whomever seems to be lurking at the door. As my feet heavily plod down the stairs the door knocks again and my frustration is becoming harder to hold back. "Okay okay! I'm coming"

As I get the the front door, I peer through the peep hole and gasp when I see the last person I was expecting. I roll my eyes and yank the door open with a huff.

"Good morning to you too Regina" my mother rolls her eyes but grins sarcastically as she brushes past my shoulder and allows herself into my home. After everything she's done.

"Not now mother, I can't be doing with your..."

"Zelena is in labour. She needs us, if you answered your damn phones touchy device thing you'd know" she exaggerates throwing her hands up in the air. She knows it's just a phone, it's just she's not adapted to this world although it shows she's trying. She's suddenly dropped the corset and finally explored into suited clothes. "Heavens sake, get some clothes on, we need to go"

As much as me and my mother don't see eye to eye and we still have so much to talk about to come even a smidge close enough to forgiveness, Zelena needs me and that's what matters most.

I race upstairs bursting into the bedroom with a bang of the wooden door hitting the wall. "Emma wake up" I urge. She flutters her eyes open and stretches her arms out wide but I can see she's in confusion at my sudden outburst. "Zelena is in labour, and my mothers here"

"I'll come to the hospital with you" Emma leaps out of bed and races down the hall to wake henry up. She tells him to get his shoes on while Emma and I through on some clothes being as it's not ideal for Emma and I to be turning up in literally a robe. She runs back into the bedroom and throws on some jeans and a university jumper. One I hadn't seen since we first met when she left after only one year without her parents knowing. I smile at the memories but quickly put on my grey dress and put a brush through my hair taming my wild curls and being as I barely enough time, I just apply a simple layer of red lipstick.

"Come on, Henry lets go baby" I coo, hearing as he runs up into my arms. I lift him up into my embrace and hold him upon my hip as we descend the stairs.

"Mommy What's going on?" He asks, instantly as we grow to the bottom of the stairs as my mother comes into view and stands shocked at the name Henry just called me. I see the tears growing to the rim as they threaten to fall.

"He... he calls you mommy? Does that mean... you have custody?" She asks.

"No, it means Regina and I are both his mom." Emma chimes in for support as she heads down the stairs snaking her arms around henry and I and kissing us both in the cheeks.

"Oh... that's... that's cool"

"Mom who is this lady?" He asks, looking into my eyes as his hand playing with my hair hanging off my shoulders.

This kills me. Do I rip the bandage off and tell him that this woman is actually my grandmother. Cora. Or do I wait, some day he's going to recognise her from his book.

"Oh... wait I think you're in my book" he corrects himself and that's when i realise that now is the time he will recognise her. "Your... Cora? Who is... my moms mother? Right? So your my grandma?"

"Clever boy. I am, but I don't deserve that title. I forced you away from your mother and I can never be forgiven for that my sweet boy. But I apologise to you henry. I shouldn't have done that, you should have been with your mom all this time, I was wrong" she apologised, wondering closer to us and placing her palm upon his cheek. "I am so very sorry"

"I understand. It was wrong... but I understand. What matters now is that we're a family. Now lets go to aunty Zelena" he breaks the emotional apology and tension as we all kickstart our feet to shuffle to the front door and head into our cars.

As we strap Henry in, Emma takes the backseat with our son as my mother slides into the passenger seat. There's tension and a lot of it. Until finally the silence is broken from my phone. Except I can't answer, I'm driving.

"Mother could you get that?" I ask but she just looks at me as though she's stunned at the device. "Ugh, baby can you answer" I ask Emma instead knowing she has more use with technology.

"Henry can't answer the thing! It could be anyone" my mother gasps. "Stranger danger and all and yet you ask your baby to answer the ringing thing to god knows who"

Emma leans forward in her seat, dangerously close between my mother and I and whispers. "She was talking to me" she winks, taking the phone out of my mothers clutch and answers as I just blush at the name my mother didn't catch onto to start with. Henry is my baby baby, but Emma is my baby, yet it seems we have a baby baby baby on the way, with Zelena and myself.

"GET HERE NOWWWWW! OWWW" I hear my sister screaming down the phone and it's not even on loud speaker.

"We're on our way, just breathe! It will all be worth it I promise"
—-
a/n: soooo Cora is back aghhhh! Good thing? Bad thing? Will Regina forgive her? We shall see...