50 Shades of Swan-Mills

Chapter 19

I heard some coughing and some wicked laughter.
"Oopsie daisie..." I heard Zelena and watched her stagger out of the smoke.
"What in the HELL are you doing?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" I stormed over to her and grabbed her by the arms, shaking her a little as she just kept laughing. "Where is Robyn?!" That seemed to make the woman's laughter stop. It's then that we heard a loud wailing of a child. I left my sister to her own devices and ran to where the sound was coming from.

Clearly the bang was very loud and there was a lot of smoke, yet there wasn't a lot of damage for some strange reason, leaving me to wonder what my sister was up to as I went into the house and retrieved the crying child. No harm had been done other than the child being absolutely shell-shocked. As I went back outside, the screeching of tires could be heard before the distinct sound of gravel being crushed under tires. I smiled as I saw Emma making utter haste to get over to us. I looked down at my sister and glared at her.
"You're going to have some explaining to do."
"Yeah yeah, bla bla..." She waved me off and cleaned herself before taking Robyn from me. "It's ok my little green bean... Mommy's here." I watched her calm her daughter down and sighed a little. Emma came running over as she scrambled out of the car.
"Are you all ok?" She asked and I nodded.
"Other than a little startled, I think everything is ok." I took a quick look around and crossed my arms.
"So, what happened?" The blonde asked and Zelena looked up.
"Well... There may have been a spell involved... and some form of potion... and it kinda blew up in my face."
"Zelena?!" I gave her an indignant look and she shrugged.
"What? I wanted to try out something new and it didn't work..." She said and sighed a little. "No biggy." Emma and I both looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Look, I'm sorry ok... It was nothing harmful. I suppose someone who taps off dark magic can't use light magic..." She pouted a little and I shook my head.
"You know that is not true." I said and looked at her. "I've used light magic, you've seen me use it."
"Yes, thanks for that by the way, that really hurt you know." Zelena said and I waved it off.
"No point in holding grudges." I told her.
"Says the woman who hunted my mother for most of her life and cast a dark curse just to get her way." Emma said and glanced at me sideways. I looked at her and bit my lip, finding it hard to hold back my laughter. Eventually we all cracked up a little and laughed about it.
"Fine, you have a point." I chuckled and looked at Zelena. "What were you trying to do anyway?" I asked her and went over to the smoking cauldron. I peered inside it and crossed my arms.
"Well, I was thinking... This is a farmhouse and all. And I really need something to do around here, so..."
"So... What? You're were going to give farming a go?" Emma asked and I chuckled a little, finding it hard to imagine my sister as a farmer.
"I can tell you're judging me Regina! Don't you even dare..." Zelena said and waved the last of the smoke aside. "I was trying to make the ground fertile as well as turn the entire place into a proper farm in one go, but as you heard, that didn't work out so well. Perhaps in hindsight I should have just done the two separately."

"If you really need a job, you could always just apply for one in town..." Emma suggested and I nodded.
"I'm not sure if anyone is ready for you to turn this place into a farm."
"Why not? I'm sure I can grow some wicked vegetables here... Like cucumbers, broccoli and lettuce."
"Why only the greens?" Emma asked and made a face. I looked at her and she looked at Zelena. "You know what... Since nothing terrible happened here, I'm going back and write an interesting report on how I could probably make better use of my time than thinking about Zelena as a farmer." Emma grabbed me and kissed my cheek before turning around. "First I will have to tell everyone that no one is trying to blow us up... this time."

~*~

After that dramatic explosion my dear sister had caused, I got extremely backed up with even more work. My assistant came in and dropped a whole stack of files on my desk.
"These also need verification and validation." She said and bit her lip nervously as she looked at me. I sighed and eyed the stack.
"Can you cancel all my meetings today?" I asked and straightened up.
"Of course, Madam Mayor." The blonde nodded and fidgeted a little.
"Is something the matter?" I asked and eyed her hands as she was fumbling with the hem of her shirt.
"Uuhm, well... Actually... I was wondering if I could go home early today." The woman was so nervous to ask this of me. I just looked her up and down, making her sweat a little longer before waving her off.
"Go. I won't be very great company anyway." I picked up the first folder and opened it. I could tell the woman was surprised by my reaction and bit her lip.
"Thank you so much, your Majesty..." She turned around quickly and started for the door.
"That's overly formal. I'm only mayor here." I chuckled and looked up. 

"Alyssa isn't it?" I asked and she turned to me slowly, nodding. She had only worked for me for two weeks now since the other assistant decided to quit after finding out she was pregnant, wanting to spend time with her husband and properly raise her child once it's born.
"Yes, Madam Mayor."
"Miss Mills will do. Regina when we're alone." I smiled a little and went back to work.
"Ok, Regina." The woman seemed to visibly relax a bit more and smiled.
"Now, cancel my appointments and go home. I'll be fine."
"Of course! I will get right on it." She turned back to the door and left. I chuckled and shook my head.

I kept on working until I looked at my watch and saw it was past 7. She better be at the parent teacher meeting. I grabbed my phone and texted Emma. I got a text back saying it was already done and that I should stop worrying. I chuckled and smiled a little. Perhaps that crazy Swan was a bit more grown up than I gave her credit for.