The Divorce

Chapter 26

"Ma, is everything okay?" Hope looked at her mother, who was eating her food and seemed to be completely elsewhere with her mind.

Emma's mind was full of the conversation she'd had with Ruby earlier that day. She still hadn't told anything about it to Regina and she'd left her former wife on read, when she'd asked how it'd been.

"Do you think we should get rid of the cats?" Emma suddenly questioned. It came out of the blue, though she had briefly considered it the previous week. It had been a stupid purchase and though she'd grown to like them, they were very annoying at times.

"No!" Henry and Hope exclaimed at the same time. "They're officially considered a band now, because we really do think Mrs. Whiskerson would have been a bass player had she been human. Rocinante definitely would have rocked the drums. And wouldn't it be unfair to take "Kitty Tales" away from the world, simply because they're cats? That's discrimination. Their new song will be out soon."

Emma looked in utter confusion at her daughter. She hadn't heard them mention anything about a band called "Kitty Tales" consisting of the five cats before, and she wondered if she'd just come up with it right that moment.

"What she means is that she loves the cats and doesn't want them to go away," Henry explained.

"Quit mansplaining," Hope snarked and looked at her mother, "but yes, that's what I mean. They're fun and I don't know why you'd want them to go away. Plus, you gotta admit that Rocinante would be a kick-ass bass player."

"You just said Mrs. Whiskerson was the bass player," Henry remarked and looked defiantly at his younger sister. Not he nor Hope knew truly what this conversation was about, but they were both convinced they had to keep the cats.

Once Emma was done watching her children in utter confusion, she looked at the ragged couch behind her children. That was the reason. But as she looked at Pongo, purring in the chair next to it, she realized that she'd grown to genuinely like them and she didn't want them to go away.

If she and Regina ever were to get together again and move in together, Regina would have to find a way to live with the cats.

Though, of course, this was a ridiculous thought and Emma scolded herself for even allowing this thought to enter her mind. She and Regina may have started dating again, but thinking of a possible future together was way too soon.

She also had no idea how Regina would respond if she told her about Ruby and the fact that the woman had received money to sleep with her. Though Ruby had explained that she needed money because "the job as a mayor's assistant doesn't pay as well as you think" according to Ruby, Emma still couldn't quite comprehend Ruby's actions.

The waitress should've gone to her first, or at least talk to Regina about it. Although, Ruby had been right about one thing. She did like her less after she'd learned the truth.

"Mom, you look like you're dozing off again," Hope said, snapping Emma out of her train of thoughts. She smiled briefly at her daughter and continued eating dinner.

"Sorry," she lamely apologized.

"What's wrong?" Henry questioned and raised an eyebrow. He and Hope had finished dinner already, but Emma hadn't really been eating a lot. She just couldn't take her mind off the situation with Ruby and Regina and possible ways she could bring the news to Regina.

"Nothing for you to worry about," Emma replied, and though Hope and Henry were desperate to know, they knew they wouldn't get any more information from their mother.

"You can both go. You don't have to wait on me to finish this," Emma said and smiled when her children got up and went upstairs to their rooms.

Emma grabbed her phone and saw that Regina had left several texts, wondering how the conversation went. She turned off her phone without replying and continued eating dinner, alone with her thoughts.