October Part 2
Regina's distress grew as she checked her watch for the third time in two minutes, then added the last two ingredients into the pot she stirred. "Honestly, I don't know, Mal. Maybe she isn't coming."
The french teacher opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. Mal continued to study every move Regina made as she sipped the dark red liquid. More than once, steely grey orbs fell into troubled caramel.
"Now, I know you two haven't been around each other much this week, but start from the beginning. What happened?"
Regina narrowed her eyes at her old friend. "Fine. I will talk about it, but as soon as the others arrive, until then I won't. Kat doesn't need to be worried about me. You can catch Ursula up on my latest mistake after everyone's left." In an attempt to change the subject, Regina asked, "I meant to ask, did you invite Christie?"
Mal sighed. "Nice try. No, I didn't feel like dealing with Chris. But, back to you. What happened?"
"I'm not sure." The brunette shrugged her shoulders despondently. "I think I happened."
The blonde lifted an eyebrow at her but said nothing. Mal knew that if she stayed quiet long enough, Regina would crack. So, she waited.
Finally, after a few minutes of hearing nothing but the ticking of the clock on the wall, Regina cleared her throat. "I didn't like it that Augie was moving in with her. I know she sees him as a brother, but they are not blood relatives. And, he's a virtual stranger. They haven't been around each other for any length of time for years. And--"
Looking embarrassed and more than a little sad, the brunette brushed a few hairs out of her face and sipped her wine before continuing. "Then, that insipid twit gave me a terrible evaluation. I am a National Board Certified Teacher. Hell, I wrote half of our state standards and most of the exemplar lessons online. I do my job very well, yet that little witch told me I have classroom management issues. Me? How does this make any sense?"
"And, what does this have to do with Emma?" Mal asked.
She downed the rest of her glass in one go and held it out for a refill, then chewed on her lower lip. "I wanted her to come over and console me, but she had a ToTY interview to get to, and then she didn't text me when she got home afterward. She was probably exhausted, or Augie distracted her, which would make her forget, but I needed it. I wanted to have her arms around me, to tell me it was okay, that would get better, but instead, I slept with my phone in my hand--No phone call, no text. Nothing. That was the beginning of all radio silence. She sent me a text later--much later. By that time, I was so mad at her for neglecting me that I lost sight of her. I no longer saw the bagging dark circles under her eyes. When she dropped by Tuesday, she looked like a raccoon. And then I ignored her because I was on the phone. I wanted her to know how it feels to be taken for granted. I sat listening to Christie babble on and on about how awesome Augie is. I know she waited more than 30 minutes, but when I was finally ready to pay attention and to talk, she'd given up and left. She didn't even say goodbye or leave a note." Regina's voice cracked. "I think I threw everything away just because she didn't send me a fucking text."
"So, I guess the only question I have for you is what are you doing here?" Mal's pointed inquiry kickstarted the gears in the brunette's mind again.
"Maybe you are right. I tell you what, after dinner, I will sneak out early to see Emma. Maybe I haven't ruined it." Regina nervously ran her fingers through her hair.
The doorbell sounded. "That has to be Kat; Ursula doesn't knock anymore. I gave her a key."
"What? You loaned me your key to water your plants when you were out of town, and it pained you to do it." The brunette's eyebrows climbed at that statement. "The two of you must be serious."
Mal scoffed, "You had a key to Emma's when you weren't even dating. Besides, we are talking about moving in together. We just have to find a place we both like."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Regina shouted as Mal disappeared into the front of her apartment. Soon baby wails rang through the air. The brunette smiled. She turned the pot off on the stove so she could join the others.
She barely entered the room in time for a little girl to be pressed into her arms. "I have to help, Kat. She's still not allowed to lift much. Fred was only willing to let her come if I drove her over. He will pick her up in two hours when he gets off work. She's not supposed to drive or carry anything heavy yet."
Regina's smile grew larger as she held Grace, cuddling the little girl under her chin. She smelled the little girl's downy curls; she enjoyed the sweet scent from the baby's skin. "She's so beautiful, Kat. I can't help but be amazed at how perfect she is."
"We were so lucky, weren't we?" she asked as they eased her down to a chair.
"Honey, you have stitches all through your lady bits. You aren't lucky; you are on drugs," Ursula said as she squeezed Kathryn's shoulder.
The four women erupted in laughter, each of them thankful that Kathryn's recovery appeared to be going smoothly despite its slow pace. "Our mothers have been great. They take turns which one comes to see me for the day. They help with the baby and my household chores. I think they might become friends before this is over."
"You can't be serious. Your mother hates women in business," Ursula commented.
"True, but Fred's mother sold her business at an incredible profit and is now actively retired. There is nothing to complain about on that front."
Kat's eyes fell on Regina swaying with her daughter while singing quietly. "You are great with her, not as good as Fred, but good." Kat turned and looked around the room. "Where's Emma?"
Slowly Regina placed the little girl back in her mother's arms. Then, she turned her around on them for a moment to collect her thoughts. "I guess she's at home." She swallowed harshly. "We may have had a little misunderstanding this week, and I thought we would settle it here tonight, but I guess things are worse than I thought."
*****
A couple of hours later, Regina sat in her car, looking at Emma's front door.
RM: Are you home?
ES: Yes
RM: Can we talk, or will it interrupt your time with Augie?
ES: 😒 Alone.
RM: May I drop in?
ES: Always
Regina dashed to the door and knocked. A few seconds later, the light above her head turned on, and the door opened. Emma looked fragile, almost like she had in April. She swam in the t-shirt she wore; either it had stretched, or she had lost weight again. And, her sweat pants hung too loosely on her hips. The brunette gaped at her girlfriend. Acting on reflex, she wrapped the blonde in a hug. "Are you okay?"
Emma stepped out of her grip, closed and locked the door. "No, I'm not." The blonde exaggeratedly looked around. "So, did you teleport here or text me from the parking lot?"
Regina crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I would sound like a desperate stalker if I answered that, so I won't."
Emma snorted and then smiled at her girlfriend. "You are way overdressed for cuddling on the couch. Please, raid my stuff and meet me in front of the idiot box."
The brunette paused and then asked, "Aren't you mad at me?"
The blonde's shoulders slumped, "I think I'm a little disappointed, but right now, I'm happy you are here. Can that be enough?"
"It is." Biting her lower lip, Regina nodded. "I'll be right back."
A few minutes later, she reappeared wearing one of Emma's old jerseys and a pair of sleep shorts.
"Is it just me, or did you get sexier in the last few days?"
Regina ignored the compliment and sat down a safe distance from her lover.
"I don't bite." Emma patted the spot next to her. "We can't snuggle if you are over there."
The English teacher's eyebrow arched at her. "You really don't want to fight about this."
Lifting the blanket edge for Regina to slide under, Emma used her arm to pull the woman in as close as possible. "I'm too tired to argue about things that don't matter. We had a bad week. You shut down on me; I gave you space. It wasn't great, but overall I think we'd both rather that than World War 3. I know I hurt your feelings. I forgot to text. I was exhausted, and then Augie had cooked dinner. And, the asshat had left the dishes for me to do. He cooked me this gigantic meal but then didn't clean up--I mean, who does that? By the time I had eaten, scrubbed the kitchen clean, and showered, I laid down and passed out immediately. I honestly didn't think about it until you refused to answer my texts. I'm sorry, but I can't promise I won't make that mistake again. I'd be lying if I did."
Regina's body relaxed in Emma's arms. "It's not entirely your fault. When Augie moved in, I was afraid he'd replace me; he'd take over our evenings at home together. When you forgot, I thought it was because you were spending time with him."
"Regie, jealousy does not look good on you, and no, I'm not going to let that happen. He isn't here very often, but as I said before, he isn't my person. I don't cuddle him. I don't kiss him, and I sure as hell don't make love with him. You have no reason to worry." Emma blew out the breath she'd been holding. "Besides, I may kill him if he doesn't start behaving better. This week, he's trashed the kitchen, woken me up in the middle of the night banging some chick he drug home, and he was almost dumb enough to fuss at me for making too much noise cooking breakfast the next day. He figured it out when he saw the bags under my eyes. He and I were supposed to watch cheesy horror movies and eat pizza tonight, but I came home in time to see him sprinting out the door. I'm assuming he's been called to do work, but who knows? He acts more like a college kid than an adult."
Regina poked Emma in the side. "If you knew you weren't coming to girls' night, why didn't you text me?"
The blonde rolled her eyes. "I didn't think you were reading my texts, so I sent one to Mal."
Moving her mouth like she had something to say, but words failed her, Regina finally managed to stutter out, "You texted Mal. When?"
Emma smirked at her. "She played dumb, didn't she?"
"Uh, huh. She played me." Shaking her head, Regina smiled. "I guess Mal thinks we make a pretty good team. I can tell you that when I was with Dani, she would not have pushed me to come to see you." She noticed the growing far away look in emerald eyes. "I had hoped we could talk it out over there tonight. I knew having an audience would make us behave ourselves. But, then you didn't show. So, I--"
"You took Mal's hint and dropped by my house." The blonde nodded. "I can live with that."
*****
In the early morning hours long before dawn, feminine moans startled Emma awake; it wasn't Regina. She sat up, listening again. Wood smacked against a wall. His pace increased; the pounding neared a crescendo.
"Please tell me this doesn't happen every night," Regina muttered before pulling Emma back down into the sheets.
"No. But, this is the third time. I'm thankful it's the weekend."
The brunette poked her again. "He should be glad it's the weekend. Otherwise, I would throw on your robe and give the two of them a piece of my mind," Regina clarified. Then, her brow furrowed, looking at Emma. "You didn't yell at him about it either time, did you?"
The blonde sighed and rolled to face away from her lover.
"What? Oh. My. God." Regina stared at her girlfriend in disbelief. "I can't believe I didn't see it before--you avoid confrontation. Someone can run at you guns blazing, and you will meet them toe to toe, but you won't actively seek out the person who wronged you. You left my house because you would have had to start the fight." She pressed her breasts into the bare skin of Emma's back. "I don't know how I missed this about you. This explains so much."
"I don't like confrontation," the blonde huffed. "I would much rather wait until I'm calmer." She intertwined their fingers. Then, she kissed the other woman's hand that linked with hers.
Regina hummed into the skin of her neck. "I wish I had realized this Tuesday night. I wouldn't have ignored you." Squeezing the woman in her arms, she kissed a pale shoulder." God, I feel so much better now. I thought I'd hurt your feelings severely, but I hadn't you left for an entirely different reason."
"What?" Emma rolled over, pressing her girlfriend into the mattress. "Why does it matter?"
The brunette ran her hands over the blonde's back. "Because I was afraid. I didn't want to have a fight that ended us."
Emma laughed. "We really suck at communicating."
"I don't know about that." Regina lifted her thigh, pushing her hard muscle into the blonde's core. "I think I am going to have to disagree with you.' Flexing her leg, she began feeling her girlfriend's wetness collecting. "I think we need to work on our verbal skills; our non-verbal, on the other hand, are perfect."
Slowly lowering her lips to Regina's, Emma nodded. "Hmm. I think you might be on to something. Do you think we can be louder than him?"
"I was thinking we could teach him a lesson about stamina and recovery time."
"Mills, I love the way you think."
******
"Here's your coffee." Regina handed the steaming mug to Emma as the blonde poured more batter onto the hot grid.
"Thanks." The blonde hummed while Regina hung her chin over her shoulder, watching her cook the waffles.
"Have I mentioned how much I love your waffles with whipped cream and fresh fruit?"
"Only every single time I make them for you." The blonde kissed the tanned cheek closest to her. "If you will grab the plates, I'm almost finished."
Knowing August and his timing, Emma left the batter next to the still-hot waffle iron. The two ladies sat at the breakfast table, eating quietly. They enjoyed their moments of silence almost as much as they enjoyed their conversations.
"You know we are great together," Regina blushed at how silly that comment sounded.
"We are until one of us overreacts." Emma teased her. "Granted, I" m as likely to be guilty of that as you." She noticed her last sip emptied her mug. "I'm going to grab a refill. Do you need anything?"
"I'm good." The brunette smiled and took another bite. She heard a muffled conversation in the kitchen before Emma returned to the table.
"Augie's cooking their breakfast. I told him to help himself, but I'm not going to cook for him and whoever he chooses to help wreck my sleep." The blonde threw another dark look toward the door.
"And, we may find out who the mystery lady is shortly."
Regina shook her head. "It's probably Christie. She went on about how great he is on the phone." Noticing her girlfriend tensing, she elaborated. "Please remember this is the same woman that talked for an hour about her hairstylist, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything. She's a serial cheater, not a monogamist."
The two women could hear a female's voice in the kitchen, but not enough to recognize it. Neither cared to meet his conquest, so they chose to stay out of it.
Emma shrugged. "Augie's going for the McDonald's 6 Billion served sign, I think. I don't mind as long as he quits waking me up on work nights."
Regina laughed harshly. "Right."
A loud crash in the doorway startled them both.
In sync, their heads turned. Their mouths fell open.
"Dani, what are you doing here?"
Pale legs stuck out of Augie's oversized shirt. Wide-eyed and more than a little embarrassed, she waved. "Hi."
*****
After spending the entire weekend together, Emma decided to stay with Regina for a few more days. She needed sleep or at least more than she received when Augie stayed home. And, it granted the bonus that she did not have to deal with Dani again. Dani made the whole situation awkward.
Parking her car at the venue, Emma looked over at Regina, whose eyes held a faraway look. "Hey, are you okay?"
Her lips twitched in a small smile. "Actually, I am. Dani called." Regina stepped out of the car.
"What?" Emma hurried after her. "What did she want now?"
The blonde tensed, waiting to hear how the woman hurt her lover one more time, but Regina batted her fears away. "She wanted to explain her and Augie. First, she said she met him through Christie. Both say it's causal, but even though Dani refers to herself as an ambisexual, her first question was, why did he live with you. Now, get this. She's worried that she stole him from Christie. She begged me not to hurt Christie with the news, but that cat's already out of the bag. I guess more than anything; I felt relieved to tell her that I didn't care as long as she left us alone and out of her perpetual drama. I'm over it. I'm really and truly over it."
Emma couldn't help it. She grinned and pressed her lips to Regina's right there in the parking lot full of other Teachers of the Year from the other schools in the county. Putting her hands on Regina's waist and bumping their foreheads together, she let her joy bubble up in giggles. "I'm so relieved. I was afraid she'd start you back down that path again."
"Don't you trust me?" Dark chocolate orbs sparkled with flecks of gold.
Emma's mouth twisted in a lopsided grin. "You know, I do. It's her that I don't."
"Umm," Regina thanked her girlfriend with a kiss, a little deeper than the last when they were interrupted by a comment from behind them.
"This is a school district function. Can't the two of you behave like adults? PDA is not welcome here," Mary Margaret Blanchard Nolan huffed loudly.
A few cars down, Eugenia Wolf helped her wife out of the vehicle. They shared a quick kiss before walking into the venue. Without making a comment, Emma and Regina raised their eyebrows pointedly at their principal.
"I uh," flustered and thrown off by the new revelation, Mary Margaret chose to stop talking. She stomped ahead of them in a vain attempt at putting the lesbian couple at a distance.
"Do you think she realizes that she has to sit with us for the duration of this thing?" Emma asked. "I mean, she is my principal, and she is supposed to help celebrate me."
"Speaking of, who did you invite to come? I know you were allowed to invite three faculty members and their spouses."
The blonde nodded. "Well, after I realized we'd be sitting with our dearest and dearest homophobe, I called Mal. She and Ursula will be with us. So, will Thomas and his hubby Chad. And Hopper is bringing his sister with him. So, we will be surrounded by friends, most of which she won't like.
Regina smirked. "I can't wait to see her face when she sees how many of us there are."
"Why do you think Ms. Wolf chose this year to have significant others present? In the past, the district only invited friends and families for the awards ceremony, but the dinner was for the recipients only." Her mouth twisted into a sneer. "Unless, do you think she managed to get our school board member to step out of the closet?"
"Doubt it," Regina's firm answer confused Emma. Rather than continue with their conversation in a room full of strangers, Emma dropped as they entered the beautiful country club ballroom.
"I can't believe they spent so much for this celebration." The blonde openly gawked at their surroundings.
A man cleared his voice behind them. "I don't believe we've met." He stuck his hand out, offering for a shake. "Jackson Johnson, III. I am the Chairman of the Board of Education." Both the ladies remember the imposingly tall man from their July faculty meeting.
"Emma. Emma Swan, I teach at LBHS. And, this is my girlfriend, Regina Mills."
"Nice to meet you, ladies." He grinned. The falseness of him felt off-putting, but Emma couldn't quite pinpoint what about the man felt disingenuous. "How do you like our location? I couldn't help but notice you seem transfixed by the decorations."
Regina placed a comforting hand on the blonde's back. She could feel her lover's nervousness growing. "It's nice. Most country clubs bother me because they feel like they want to be out of the late 1980s, but this has an updated and modern feel. I like it."
"Why, thank you." Came a voice from behind them. Another man with a slighter build; silver-gray hair clung to his temples. He appeared next to the chairman.
"This is my boyfriend of the last fifteen years, Miles Robichaux. He's an interior decorator. The country club is one of his most recent clients."
"You did a lovely job," Regina commented. Soon a chiming bell interrupted the room's conversations.
MIles grinned, "That's our notice that they are ready for us to enter. Name cards should be at every table. It was nice meeting you, ladies. Have a lovely evening."
It took almost fifteen minutes for Emma and Regina to find the LBHS table on the far side of the room; on the far left of the raised dais where the superintendent, her wife, several other assistant superintendents, and school board members sat with their spouses.
Since they were the first to arrive at the table, Emma started moving to put herself on the backside, but Regina stopped her.
"No, dear. You have to sit on this side--otherwise, we will all have to stand whenever it is your turn to be recognized. That will happen at least once tonight, probably twice. If you win, it will be three."
The blonde conceded the point. "Okay, how about we sit right here?"
Almost as soon as they sat down, the rest of their friends appeared. With that group, the dinner remained pleasant and lighthearted. It helped calm the growing tension knot in Emma's stomach. MM joined the table after they'd eaten their dinner, a move that the blonde felt thankful for even though it was a departure from what she expected. No one called MM on her mysterious disappearance from the parking lot or her reappearance after the food.
Emma glanced at her boss, then back to Regina. "Will she be going up there with me at all?"
"Only if you win," Regina's face expressed her question.
Emma leaned over and whispered in her girlfriend's ear, "Is it just me, or is she looking a little disheveled?"
Although the group often speculated about the woman's growing relationship with James Shepherd, both believed no one noticed their eye-sex or the hints of jealousy when he flirted with most of the staff; she shocked the table by being blatantly in afterglow at a county function.
Judith Hopper's sly grin worried Emma. "Boss, is that a hickey on your neck, or did you practice some strange form of yoga that makes your lipstick slide that far?"
The woman's hand smacked over the offending mark just in time for the room to quiet.
"Good evening. I'm proud to begin tonight's festivities." One of the people who tortured Emma in her interview the previous week began the opening statements.
Noticing Emma disappearing into her thoughts, Regina lifted a pale hand to her mouth and pressed a kiss to the back of it. The two exchanged warm smiles. A snort from the other side of the table made Emma look up and see the matching happy grins from all of her friends.
"You know you two really are something," Archie said, poking the blonde with his elbow.
An hour into the program, Emma and the others had already each received a clear plastic and gold plaque with their name on it stating Teacher of the Year 2018 and their school names. Once again, the same woman took to center stage. "Now, for our five finalists, each had extensive interviews, and a crew of their peers created a mini-movie highlighting their school and its ToTY. To make things easier, their principals will be sharing things about them and introducing the videos. We've put this in alphabetical order starting with Principal Allen from Storybrooke Middle."
The blonde gulped and looked around the table. She wondered who had created her video. But, seeing the evil grins and the giddiness in Thomas's face, she knew hers had to be something special.
Although she watched the other four contestants' videos first, she couldn't remember a thing about them. Then, they introduced hers. Mary Margaret Blanchard Nolan moved toward the microphone. "As you know, I came to LBHS after Dr. Swan's nomination. I can assure you she wouldn't have been my first choice for a lot of reasons, but primarily because she's not one of our own. She isn't a Blanchard County native. She doesn't know our background. She doesn't have our morals and values. But, after I watched this video, which was created by a group of teachers, students, and parents, I realize I might have been wrong. I may have misjudged her. I'm hoping time will tell. Without further ramblings, please run the video.
When the film started, Michael, Avery, Kendall, and Raven. "Hi, everyone. My name is Michael Tillman. I doubt any of you know me, but Henry Nolan was my best friend. He was like a brother to me. When he died," the boy paused to force the tears back and the strain from his voice, he sniffed. "Dr. Swan is the person that held me together. She helped me get through the anger and the depression and reclaim my spot at school. I am a senior this year because she wouldn't let me quit."
Then, Avery and Kendall Evans waved at the camera. "Hi. I am Avery, and this is Kendall. One night last school year, Dr. Swan saw me trying to find help. I was bleeding from my hands and terrified my dad would kill my brother. But, as you can see, Kendall is still here. He's a freshman at Tech, but he came home to help make this video because Dr. Swan helped the two of us through so much."
Kendall's sad eyes focused on the camera. "Swan took my sister to the ER but also called 911. If she hadn't, neither of us would be here. She helped us be safe when a lot of people would not have noticed. What my sister failed to tell you is that it was dark. Dr. Swan had to conscientious, actively paying attention to see her at all. Without her, I can't tell you what would happen. She stayed for my sister the whole time she was there. I can't tell you what that means to her or me."
Finally, Raven stepped forward. "Some of you might remember me from when I was younger. My birth name is Quran Peters. Off and on throughout my childhood, DFACS placed me in foster care because of my parents' addiction. But, when I was in 9th grade, I realized something bigger was wrong with my life. I used to think I was a gay male, which in my house was bad enough. But, then one day, I realized that this skin feels wrong. I am a girl. My biology has it all wrong. Dr. Swan is one of the first people I ever told. And her response was better than I hoped. Little girl, whether you see you for how beautiful and amazing you are, I do. Whether you choose to stay identifying as a boy or a girl is your choice. But, I want you to know that you are beautiful either way." Tears streaked down the girl's face making her mascara run. "I am back at the Covenant House with a brand new name. I go by Raven. Dr. Swan still comes and tutors all of us there every Tuesday and Thursday that she can. Most teachers will help you with your schoolwork. Some will spend a lot of time showing school pride. Dr. Swan makes sure all of us know that we are loved, appreciated, and can do great things. Everyone needs someone like her in their life."
A standing ovation startled Emma out of her stupor. The kid's heartfelt words stunned her, yet all her friends looked at her with love and compassion.
"It is with great pleasure that I would like to announce the Leopold Blanchard County Teacher of the Year--Dr. Emma Swan, please come collect your award."
"Oh, My. God." Regina tugged Emma's hand, helping her girlfriend to the front. She pulled out her phone and began filming her receive the award, the handshakes with all the county bigwigs, and the hug from the superintendent.