The Secrets Her Heart Keeps

Chapter Twenty-Five

To say Regina is torn is the understatement of the century. For the past four days, Emma has been sending pictures of their little family from their California trip. Regina had completely ignored the first message with Emma's cryptic words that pierced at the queen's heart and left a gaping wound in its wake. Emma didn't bother sending anything else that night, most likely too mortified by her bluntness to push for anything more, which Regina was thankful for.

The next day though, another picture appeared on Regina's screen, but that time there were no words to follow and the image was a more neutral one, the first moment they captured together on the train. At least Regina was aware of that photograph compared to the first. She had decided to reply with something vague and most importantly, friendly. "Henry looks so young." Simple. Easy. Not at all insinuating or can be misconstrued in any form.

Later that evening, she received another message, where Emma casually stated, "I miss those days." And Regina chose to leave the conversation at that and not continue to lead the woman on with anything more.

The following day another picture was sent, another one that was easy to suspect as just friends and nothing more. Three smiling faces, squinting against the bright sun with the enormous Hollywood sign behind them. Despite Regina's best efforts, she smiled at the phone for a full twenty-four hours, never responding.

She ignored her former lover once again and this time, Emma didn't offer any other sentimental values. However, karma was livid at Regina's poor behavior and decided it was in its best interest to punish the queen.

Thus, placing the sheriff with her fussy baby and Regina, awkwardly, in the middle of an aisle with nobody else in the store.

"Hey," Emma softly greets, with her fingers methodically combing through Hope's silky strands.

The beautiful baby is sucking rather aggressively on her purple butterfly pacifier with big wide eyes, red rimmed, that express how tired she is. She's sitting in the front of the cart, already in fuzzy neon green footie pajamas and a permanent pout like her mother.

"Hello," Regina politely responds and steps to move around her, but the blonde quickly blurts out her concerns, stilling her feet from officially fleeting.

"Hey, so my mom keeps bugging me, saying Hope needs to eat more and that she's hungry. Whale said I need to wait until six months, but between you and me, I think my mom might be right," Emma whispers, never wanting her secret to leak from their small grocery bubble. Regina raises one eyebrow in questioning, encouraging the woman to proceed. "It's just, Hope isn't sleeping through the night and she's always so mad when she's finished drinking her bottle."

Emma's worried eyes drift back down to her daughter, her fingers still trailing through that dark hair for comfort. Hope faintly smiles up at her mother, but exhaustion is clouding her big brown eyes.

"Okay," is all Regina can mutter because she's not entirely sure if the sheriff is seeking her opinion or is just in need of a friend to vent to.

"So, what do you think?" Emma timidly asks, her eyes still glued to her daughter.

"Don't listen to Whale, do what is best for you and your baby," she firmly states before taking another step to escape the awkward interaction that has her heart pounding dangerously against her chest, threatening to bruise her sternum.

"Okay, but which one should I get? Rice? Oatmeal? Oatmeal with apples? Oatmeal with bananas?" She rambles off the few options on the shelf while Hope scrambles in her seat, reaching in Regina's direction.

Regina glances at the beautiful baby, who has her arms stretched out and those adorable baby noises coming from her pacifier. She purses her lips as her mind screams for her own arms to remain firmly at her sides and not pick that baby up. Hope groans, wiggling in the confines of her seat belt, reluctant to forfeit her idea of escaping. Regina simply narrows her eyes at the fidgety baby, informing her to stay put as Emma scans the shelf.