She's My Daughter

The Cafe

Selena POV

I walked down the quiet street towards the cafe where I had agreed to meet the mysterious Regina Mills, my eyes darting furiously around the street for a glimpse of her unmistakable figure. Luckily, I managed to slip into the cafe without an awkward meeting beforehand and I immediately spotted her sitting alone at the back of the room, her brown eyes staring down at her red finger nails. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I  manoeuvred between the tables as I headed towards the one where she was sitting, still blissfully unaware of my presence. As soon as I was within a metre of the table, however, she looked up and met my gaze with such a big smile that it was almost foreign to me.
"Selena!" She exclaimed, getting to her feet and hurrying to meet me.
"Miss Mills." I said flatly, walking past her and ignoring her outstretched arms. Was she about to hug me? My heart did a small backflip at this thought and I cursed myself for being too proud to accept it, especially when her arms dropped quickly to her sides and her smile wavered slightly.
"I'm so glad you came." She smiled as she slipped back into her seat, regaining her composure.
"I am too." I said without thinking, my mind still racing through the possibility that I could have been hugged after about three years.
"You are?" Regina said incredulously, her beam broadening once more.
"Huh?"
She smirked. "Nothing, dear."
"Nothing what?"
"What?"
"What did you- oh never mind." I said sighing. Regina just laughed and that immediately made the tension between us relax slightly.
"Selena?"
"Yeah?" I said slowly, slightly frightened that she was going to say something important. Adults always say your first name when they're about to say something big, and I had presumed Miss Mills was no different.
"You don't have to call me Miss Mills, you know. Mo- Regina is fine." She said, but her grin seemed to waver as a light blush blossomed from her cheeks.
"Right. Sorry, Miss- I mean Regina." I said quickly, giving her a quick grin as I looked up from my menu. I liked this woman. She was very...up my street. Maybe this whole fostering thing could work out after all.
"Are you ready to order, ma'am?" The waitress asked Regina, who nodded and ordered a coffee and almond cake.
"And for you?" She asked, turning to me and I immediately rattled off my normal order of a caramel hot chocolate and red velvet slice.
"But no cream, please!" Regina and I called at the same time as the waitress walked away. I stared at her. She didn't like cream either? She was the only person other than myself who I knew didn't like cream. She was staring at me too, a look of mingled sadness and joy sparkling in her eyes. We grinned at each other, but moved on hastily, not wanting to admit what had just happened and how, well for me anyway, it had begun to change my mind about Regina Mills and the possibility of a future with her.

*****

"That's hilarious!" Regina laughed, tears of mirth collecting in her eyes.
"It really wasn't!" I fake growled, but my eyes gave away my laughter. She just snorted and continued re-enacting the "ever so hilarious" scene where I had fallen into a bin on my way to school. It's a long story. Anyway, we had been here for about an hour and we were getting along great. She seemed to be the only person who could break down my walls and, if I wasn't very mistaken, I was sure I had the same effect on her. But I still didn't know much about this woman or what she did or anything, so I began the usual ritual of 20 questions.
"So, where do you live?" I asked her as I took a long sip of my second hot chocolate.
"Storybrooke, Maine." She replied, her eyes flitting to mine quickly, as if to watch my reaction.
"Storybrooke." I mused. "I'm sure I've heard that before..."
"Have you? Really? Where? When? How?" Regina asked quickly, her eyes suddenly alert.
"Woah calm down with the questions, Miss Mills! I mean Regina." I said, laughing at her overreaction but also feeling the gentle nudge of suspicion on my mind.
"Sorry." She mumbled, looked down at her coffee. I smirked.
"So Storybrooke, huh? What do you do there?" I asked in order to change the subject which she seemed only too pleased about.
"I'm mayor." She said matter-of-factly but I could tell she had kept that in for a long time.
"Mayor? Woah. And what does Miss Mayor Mills want with a kid?" I teased.
She smiled. "It gets lonely."
"So you don't have anyone else? No partner or anything?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Well...it's complicated."
"I have time." I stated, causing her to grin.
"Alright, missy. I have a son called Henry whom I adopted, but his birth mother came back into his life about 6 years ago and we've been sharing him ever since."
"What's so complicated about that?" I said indignantly, but a small part of me was glad she had another child. It would mean I could have a friend. I decided to ignore the slightly jealous part of me.
"Well...now are you sure you're ready for this?"
"As long as you're not about to tell me his mother is bloody Cinderella or something then yes, I think I am very ready."
She laughed loudly, causing me to start slightly. I hadn't said anything that funny. She really was mental.
"No no, not Cinderella." She said, still grinning knowingly. I frowned. She was holding a lot back.
"His birth mother's name is Emma Swan and when she first came to town, she was my worst enemy. And I mean my worst enemy. As in, I went to some crazy lengths to ensure she left the town and would never come near me or my son again, but alas, I failed. Now she's my best friend." Regina said calmly. "Oh, and she's the daughter of my step daughter." She added as an afterthought.
I almost choked on my hot chocolate.
"She-what?" I spluttered.
"Hmm...which makes me Henry's step great grandmother, doesn't it? How bizarre." She mused. I stared at her, not knowing whether or not she was joking. Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked at me and gave me a sly grin, which automatically made me realise that if I did agree to live with this woman, my life would be one heck of an adventure. And hey, who doesn't love a bit of fun?