Deputy Swan

Chapter Three

"Mom, how do you feel about the new doctor?" Emma inquires while closing the door behind her parents.

They just arrived at home after a long day at the doctor's office filled with clipboards of endless paperwork needing to be filled out. The grilling questions that were repeated over and over again and by now, she is beyond the point of mentally exhausted.

"He was nice," her mom quietly answers, the most monotone voice she thinks she has ever heard the woman speak before. And she can only assume that after a day like today, her mom has flipped into autopilot.

"Do you want to lie down?" Her dad sweetly asks as he pulls her coat from her shoulders, always the gentleman.

Before her mother has a chance to reply, there is a light knock against the door. Emma pivots on her tiptoes and yanks the door open without a second thought. Except, her mind definitely wasn't expecting her beautiful girlfriend to be on the other end. Her heart pounds furiously in her chest as her mouth falls open. She swears she is trying to formulate some kind of sentence but she's in utter shock.

Regina is standing on her parents' doorstep with a bouquet of assorted flowers.

"Are you going to say hello or did you forget your manners, dear?" Regina sasses with a wicked smirk spreading dangerously across her beautiful face.

Emma's jaw instantly snaps shut, so she can swallow in hopes to replenish her dry mouth.

"W-what are you doing here?" She stammers like a damn fool, all wide-eyed and dumbfounded.

"Emma? Who is at the door?" David investigates from behind her anxious body.

"I'm here to deliver some flowers," Regina announces in a sticky-sweet tone and yeah, Emma's mouth lifts into a giddy grin but no words are being produced.

"Emma," her father tries again, snapping her back to reality.

Mindlessly, she opens the door wider and steps aside to allow Regina to enter.

"Uh...mom, dad...this uh is Regina," she stutters, softly closing the door behind her girlfriend and gesturing toward her parents. "Regina, this is my mom, Mary Margret and my dad, David."

Regina smiles politely, slipping her glove off her free hand to extend toward her father first. David happily accepts the gesture, shaking her hand with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face which instantly has Emma rolling her eyes. Then Regina turns to her mom and sweetly holds out the beautiful bouquet.

A small smirk creeps along Mary Margret's face as she happily accepts the flowers. Emma peeks through her lashes toward David but he's already blinking back at her, just as surprised by the smile on Mary Margret's face.

"Regina, it's so  very nice to meet you. Emma has been telling us so much about you," her mom says while she admires each individual flower. She leans into the assortment of colors and inhales deeply, producing a small hum of satisfaction.

"Has she now?" Regina raises one perfectly sculpted eyebrow as she turns to offer her undivided attention to Emma.

Her cheeks warm instantly from embarrassment. She can't even remember the last time she blushed. So, she offers her girlfriend a shy, awkward smile and shoves her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

"It's all, Regina this and Regina that," David mocks which has Emma groaning in misery. 

"Come on, guys," she whines feeling utterly humiliated by her parents, along with Regina laughing at her expense.

"Regina, would you like some coffee or hot tea?" Mary Margret offers, instantly shutting everyone up.

David and Emma gape at her in awe. Maybe this kind of interaction is something she needs to distract her right now from all the demons in her head?