This Is Me Trying

Chapter Eighteen

When she's finally finished with her concert, she rushes off stage only to find Jefferson and Cora in a heated argument. Every bone in her body feels weighted from exhaustion, so this is the very last thing she needs right now.

"What's going on?" She hesitantly inquires, her voice raw from singing so much lately combined with all those tears shed.

Jefferson huffs, folding his arms across his chest but Cora is the one that immediately answers. "I came to check on you but your cousin here seems to think I don't have any right to be here and that I'll only agitate you more."

Regina blinks, long and hard.

She's so tired.

"Baby girl, you're clearly upset and have a lot going on at the moment. I think you need to go back to the hotel room and sleep," Jefferson firmly commands but he's not wrong, she would love to catch up on some sleep but it's so hard without Emma's body near.

"Yes, I went through a lot but the last thing I need is you two fighting and adding to my stress."

"I just thought you could use some time alone," Jefferson pleads, his eyes rolling toward his aunt in annoyance.

"I do need time alone," she confesses, brushing right past them toward her dressing room. "I need time to process what happened with my biological father."

"Oh darling, was he still the same rat-bastard?" Cora inquires, hot on Regina's heels for the gossip.

"Yes, mother," she growls in aggravation. "He was awful and doesn't want anything to do with me but is very happy with his replacement family."

Cora's feet stop dead in her tracks. "He-he has a new family?"

Regina peeks over her shoulder, right before she enters her dressing room and in that split second, her heart sinks for the woman who was left behind to take care of a four-year-old by herself.

"I...I'm sorry," she finds herself quietly whispering because she can only imagine how it must feel to love someone and not only have them leave but find someone else to give all their love to instead. The pain of knowing the one you loved resented their own child but easily created a new one with someone else. "I-"

Cora's hand fumbles as she tries to wave off the situation. "It's alright. She's stuck with the miserable asshole, not me," she coldly dismisses but Regina very vividly witnesses the hurt in her mother's eyes.

To be honest, she never thought Cora loved her father and she always assumed she ran him off but after meeting him...maybe she tried but she could never reach him because he didn't want her love and he felt trapped with Regina. Maybe Cora did love him and hoped they could be a family but he never put in the effort?

Unfortunately, she was a baby then and she doesn't have any recollection of them together. The only memory of her parents in the same room is when he walked out that door, never to return.

"Would..." Cora's voice cracks like thin ice, ready to break that hard exterior and expose just a sliver of vulnerability running beneath. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Regina's teeth chatter from the stress or maybe because her chin is wobbling again and she's ready to cry once more. She bites down on the inside of her lip, begging herself not to breakdown again.

"I just want some peace," she sadly whispers.

Cora nods, taking her hand and promising that she will call in the morning. Jefferson is still standing there, steam coming from his ears as he watches her every move.

"Sabine?" She tentatively calls to her makeup artist that is busy packing her supplies.

"Would you mind wiping this mess I made away and covering up my dark circles and puffy eyes before I leave?"