I Was Never Truly Yours

39

The limo pulled up outside one of the largest mansions in America. Emma could not believe her eyes. She thought Regina's house was huge, let alone this one. The front gate and door both had sighs on them saying Grand Mills House. It was the house that had been passed through the family for years, going to whichever sibling made the most money at the time of the current owners death. Next in line was, currently, Regina's father. At the door, two security guards stood proudly. They both pulled the double doors open for the two women.

"Welcome back to the Grand Mills House, ma'am" the men said in unison, keeping a  neutral face the whole time.

"Whatever" Regina bitterly mumbled, strutting into the mansion.

Emma kept close behind and gave the men a quick thank you as she passed. Upon entrance, a grand staircase stood before them. Floor to ceiling was all perfect details and art pieces. At the top of the stairs was a full family portrait; well, almost full.

"This place is... Whoa. Is that a family portrait up there" Emma asked, stepping a little closer to see that high up.

"Yep. Everyone except me" Regina replied, her voice seeming some what refrained.

"What? Why aren't you there" Emma quickly asked, unable to make out who was who from that distance.

"My grandmother didn't want me in it. She said she doesn't want guests to be welcome by a queer" Regina simply replied, hiding the fact it did hurt her.

"Wait, seriously" Emma questioned, her mouth hanging open.

"Yep, told you she's worse. At least my parents have me in there's" Regina sighed, starting to walk towards the stairs.

Emma couldn't believe what she just heard. To cut a family member out of the family portrait seemed unnecessarily cruel. Emma reached out and held Regina's hand, stopping her from walking up the stairs. As the brunette glanced round, she felt her body being embraced by the other.

"Don't hide your feelings from me" Emma whispered, keeping the woman close to her.

At the sound of those words, Regina felt her shields wanting to lower. This scared and excited her all at the same time. She chose to just pull away and step towards the steps, feeling too unstable to let any emotions out yet.

"Come on, let's get this over with" Regina quickly said, holding her hand towards the blonde.

Emma gave her a reassuring smile as she took it, following up the stairs. Once at the first floor, they took a left. All along the hall held individual portraits of the Mills family. They all held very similar traits as one another, making it easy to spot a relative. One of them stood out, resembling Regina in so many ways.

"She looks just like you" Emma pointed out, taken back by the picture.

"That's Jodie, my sister. People use to think we were twins growing up" Regina replied, glancing over at the portrait. She pulled Emma a little further down, revealing another painting. "That's mine"

"Whoa... You look so beautiful. How old are you" Emma asked, unable to help the smile at the picture.

"19" Regina giggled, hardly even recognizing herself back then.

"Oh my god. Wait, so you are in this one but you aren't in the family one" Emma questioned, appearing confused at the woman.

"These are tradition. The family one isn't" Regina replied, knowing it was obvious to her. "Let's keep going"

The pair made it through all the different halls until they finally made it to a set of double doors. A maid stood outside, ready to open. Whenever someone was due to enter the room, a member of staff would be there to open the door. As they made it there, the maid gave a polite nod and done as she was supposed to. Upon reveal, Regina bared witness to her entire family sitting in the family room. They were all spread out and barely acknowledging each other. As the pair stepped in, Arnold's attention was caught.

"My god" he said, bring all the attention to him. "You actually showed"

"Believe me, I didn't want to" Regina replied, nervously reaching for Emma's hand.

"And you brought her?" Isabella asked, turning her nose up at the sight of the blonde.

Jodie looked confused at Regina and Emma, unsure who the blonde could be. She glanced over at Bella, seeing a similar look given back. She narrowed her brows a little, silently questioning if the other knew. Bella simply shrugged and looked back at Regina. That was the first interaction the sister had experienced in years.

"I thought you sent her away" Arnold asked, bring all the focus back to him.

"Things changed" Regina replied bluntly, glaring at her father.

"Well, I think your little friend should wait in here when we go to see your grandmother. You may give her a heart attack otherwise" Arnold instructed, looking with only judgement at her.

"She's not my little friend, she's my girlfriend" Regina sternly cut in, not even offended by the rest of it.

Each of Regina's siblings froze at those words. The only thing they could move was their eyes, switching between each other to find one that knew this. No one did. Even her aunt and uncle appeared shocked. Not because they didn't know but the fact she showed up with a woman. Arnold, looking as if he'd be sick, turned away from his daughter and sat down.

"I wouldn't say that so proudly, if I was you" Isabella simply said, taking a seat beside her husband.

Despite them being turned away, all the other set of eyes were still on her. She just lowered her head, kept Emma's hand in a tight grip and began walking towards a chair in the corner of the room. She let Emma sir down on it and took a seat on her lap, cuddling at an angle that faced away from the family.

"I knew this was a bad idea" Regina whispered, her anxiety beginning to shake her body.

"Sshh, it's okay. I'm here and I've got you" Emma quickly but quietly said, trying to hold the woman still. "Just focus on your breaths and the sound of my voice"