The Divorce

Chapter 14

Henry was holding on tight to the cards in his hands. He was certain he was going to win this round, though his grandmother and sister had beat him in the previous rounds.

His grandfather was sitting beside him, sometimes subtly giving him tips as he pretended to read the newspaper. Henry took a sip of his tea and looked at the two women across the table.

Hope had Mrs. Whiskerson on her lap. It had become a habit from the little girl. She didn't go anywhere without the cat anymore.

"How do you think mom and ma are doing?" Henry suddenly inquired. The question had been nagging at him for days, but Cora had told both of them not to worry about it, so he hadn't asked it before.

Cora smiled at him and laid a card on the table. "I think they're doing fine. Though last I heard of them was actually three days ago when they messaged me about their arrival."

"Can we video call them?" Hope asked excitedly and had immediately lost interest in the game. She exchanged a look with her brother and smiled broadly. "I really miss them."

Cora exchanged a look with her husband, but nodded curtly. She hoped that Regina and Emma weren't in the middle of a big fight or something else they didn't want to witness.

Henry grabbed his phone and started phone calling Regina. He figured she'd be online more given her job and it wasn't long until they saw their mother's face in the tiny screen.

~~~~

Three minutes prior...

Regina looked at Emma with tears in her eyes. Suddenly, her entire life seemed so unreal. The fact that Emma hadn't truly been comprehending that they were getting divorced when she signed the papers, made it all so much more like they'd gotten divorced over nothing.

But then she remembered Ruby lying beside her in bed, naked. She'd made the worst mistake of her life and she was being punished for it. But the worst thing was, Emma was being punished for it too, though she didn't deserve it.

"Have you bought any carrot cake, yet?" Emma suddenly asked as she wiped her wet cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"You.. want to eat carrot cake now?" Regina asked in disbelief. "I bought a pie yesterday, but how can you eat that now?"

Regina still had a bad association with carrot cake and she swallowed thickly. She hated the food more than anything and the fact that Emma had yelled it once during sex didn't make it better.

"I eat it when I'm either completely sad or happy. Right now, I'm sad," Emma explained and got off the couch.

"You're such a child," Regina muttered when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She grabbed it and saw the incoming video call from Henry.

"Emma, it's Henry calling," Regina said and she quickly wiped away her tears. She dimmed the lights a bit, making it harder for the children to properly see her, because they didn't need to know she'd cried.

She accepted the call and her lips immediately formed a smile when she saw the two children that resembled Emma in so many ways.

"Hi, mom!" Henry beamed and Regina felt her heart flutter. She loved these children so much.

"Hi, sweetie. I miss you so much. How are things over there? Where's your sister?" Regina rambled, happy to see her children.

"I'm right here, mom! Henry, let me see mom!" The phone turned and Regina saw the happy face of her daughter. Her mother was taking a look at the screen as well and squinted her eyes.