The Way We Were

Chapter 4

For all my readers: You are not alone. If you or someone you know is suffering with domestic violence, then get help. Never should you be stuck in a situation like that. You are strong and you can change your situation. Just because I am writing a story about domestic violence DOES NOT mean I condone it.

Domestic violence hotline number for 24/7 service: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

Regina walked in the door, throwing her keys on the table and kicking off her shoes. It was her first day back to work since she had taken time off to recover, and she had a lot of paperwork to catch up on. It wasn't such a bad day though; she enjoyed her work. It was well past the time she normally got home, and the boys were surely asleep.

Laughter from the kitchen caught her attention. She entered the room to see Emma sitting at the counter island, a bottle of straight vodka in her hands. Their friend Ruby was also joining in with a hearty bottle of wine. And unfortunately, both were drunk off their asses.

"Hey, 'Gina! My beautiful wifey how was work?" Emma slurred as she nearly landed flat on her face in her attempt to greet Regina.

"Fine," Regina said in a cold tone.

It had only been a few weeks, and the blonde was already relapsing. In their therapy session, the doctor had suggested that Emma stopped drinking altogether and take an alcohol seminar he was hosting to get rid of the habit. Guess it didn't work so well.

"I presume the boys are sleeping," the raven-haired woman said as she pushed past her intoxicated wife to get a glass of water.

"We gave 'em a couple bourbons. They're lightweights," Ruby giggled.

Regina shot her a look that could kill. She wanted to believe that Emma wouldn't give their sons alcohol, but unfortunately when the woman became drunk every bad idea suddenly seemed fun.

"Don' worry 'Gina I sent them to bed on time alcohol-free," Emma said.

Regina sighed in relief. At least the woman had a bit of sense still left in her brain. She quickly extracted the bottle from Emma's hands and poured the liquor down the sink. Ruby must have brought the drinks, seeing as she had just cleaned out the house of all alcohol earlier that week.

It was a lot more difficult to pry the bottle from Ruby's hands. The woman had an iron grip on the wine and she wasn't letting go. Regina finally ripped it from her hands, the force of it nearly sending the bottle crashing to the floor.

"You are in big trouble, Miss Lucas," Regina said as her jaw clenched. She knew better than to bring Emma alcohol. She was one of the few who knew about their quarrels.

But the threat didn't seem to faze the brunette. "Kinky," she giggled and winked.

Regina whipped out her cell phone to dial for the woman's grandmother. The owner of the small diner in town would not be happy to hear about this. She was a hard-ass, and although Ruby was a grown woman (barely- she just turned 22) she tried to keep her out of trouble for the most part. It seemed Ruby couldn't live without some form of parental supervision. Kind of like Emma.

But before she could dial the number, Ruby wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Please don't call Granny. She'll kill me if she finds out," the young woman pleaded.

"Well, you've made the decision to be here and drink, not to mention you gave it to a recovering alcoholic. Some discipline will do you some good," Regina said as she attempted to escape the woman's clutches.

Ruby abruptly let her go and glared at her, mouth formed into an angry line. "I am a grown woman!"

Regina raised her eyebrows at that, cell phone still cradled in her palm. "Oh really? Because all I see is drunk teen who is throwing a fit because she can't get her way."