It's Just Casual

Chapter 20

I was rather nervous, standing in front of Regina's door, but I couldn't show it to Henry. He was merely excited to get to spend a whole evening with his best friend, his mom and his dad in one room.

"Do you think dad is already here?" Henry asked excitedly. He wasn't tall enough to ring the doorbell, but it was clear he was trying to reach for it. I helped him and I felt my body shiver as I heard the faint sound of the doorbell ringing through the house.

"His car is not here, yet, so I don't think so," I replied. I hoped he wouldn't come. I hoped they would cancel last minute and this would just be a dinner with Regina, Luke, Henry and I, but Neal rarely canceled plans.

Luke opened the door with a big smile. "Hi, Henry. Hi, Emma," he said. He then pulled Henry away from me and they both ran upstairs. I decided to let myself in and as I closed the front door, Regina appeared from the kitchen.

"Hey," she said softly and wiped her hands on her apron. "I told Luke not to do that, I'm sorry. He really wanted to show Henry a new comic book."

I waved it away and smiled. "Thank you for this," I said.

"Remind me why I'm doing "this", please. I don't see how I need to get involved in your whole exes and new girlfriends situation," Regina said as I followed her to the kitchen.

Of course it was odd that I'd asked Regina to do this, I hadn't even given her a chance, but the thought of dealing with Neal and Tamara alone was just too much. I didn't mind meeting new people, in fact, I rather enjoyed it, but this seemed unnecessary. I didn't even know why I was making it such a big deal, but in my head, it was a big deal and I couldn't change that.

"Because we're friends and friends help each other out when they're forced to meet their ex's girlfriend," I said and Regina turned to me.

"So, now we're friends?" she asked sceptically and quirked an eyebrow. I chuckled softly, but nodded enthusiastically. "Then, as your friend, I'm going to ask you why you have such a hard time meeting your ex's girlfriend. Are there still some unresolved feelings left, here?" she asked sincerely.

It was actually quite sweet that she was showing concern. When I first met her, I thought she was incapable of doing so and now I'd realized Regina had far more empathy than most people I knew. She was incredibly caring, but she didn't always show that.

"No, absolutely not," I replied in all honesty. I was wholly over Neal and I didn't want him back in my life that way. "I just.. I don't know, she wants to meet me. That means it's really serious and what if I don't like her and she becomes Henry's stepmother someday? What if she hates my guts and starts treating Henry badly because of that? What if she's amazing and Henry wants to be with them more often? I mean, that'd be great for him, of course, and I'd fully support that, but I'd have a hard time letting him go," I responded in all honesty. "I love Henry so much and I know he loves me and he deserves all types and all the love in the world, but I'm just worried my opinion on Neal's girlfriend is going to affect him somehow."

Regina looked at me in silent for a moment. She touched my arm and swallowed. "I think this is the most honest you've ever been with me," she said. "And I also think you're worrying about things that don't need any worrying. It'll be fine. Henry will never love any of your or Neal's partners more than he does you. You're his mother and you have a great bond. Tamara won't hate you, I'm sure of that. I don't think anyone hates you. Even I don't hate you and that says a lot. You just have to give her her best chance. Maybe you'll have to work to like one another, maybe it clicks immediately, maybe she's just a temporary girlfriend and is Neal going to dump her tomorrow, we don't know, but we'll find out."

I didn't really know what to say. Regina had never managed to calm me down as much as she had in this moment. She'd made it seem so simple, so easy, like there was nothing to worry about. Maybe there was nothing to worry about.