Excuse Me, Miss Mills?

Chapter 34

"I can't believe we're really here," Mom said softly, staring at the buildings of the college as we approached. "I don't want to drop you off."

"I mean we can turn around and go home but that's a solid fifty-thousand you're flushing down the drain if you do," I said.

"Don't remind me," Dad grumbled. He pulled into a parking lot near the dorm I'd be staying in. "So that one's Hillside?"

I looked at the building in front of us and shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine," I said. "We followed the directions right so it should be. And there are other people unpacking cars."

He parked in an empty space, making sure there was a second space directly next to the truck's. Regina's Mercedes pulled in next to the truck and I smiled at her through the window. She had said she didn't want to get in the way of us as a family but I'd asked if she wouldn't mind helping me decorate my dorm room.

I caught Mom glancing over at the Mercedes and tried to figure out if she was happy or not. Their relationship was strained, to put it lightly. Mom still didn't agree with the fact that she and I were dating but she didn't stop us. When Regina came by for dinner Mom was polite and kind, and she actually seemed genuinely interested in getting to know Regina. For her part, Regina took the awkwardness in stride and didn't sass my mother the way she did everyone else. It was a relief that they were both doing their best, and I knew it was all for my benefit, which only made me love them more.

Mom, Dad, and I got out of the truck and I rushed to get to Regina's door and open it for her. She shot me a small smile as I held out a hand and helped her out of the car. She was slowly but surely realizing that at seven months she couldn't really refuse help anymore.

Regina's pregnancy was going pretty much perfectly. Every time she went in for a check up, her doctor said the babies were developing well and that Regina herself seemed healthy as anything. She complained the twins never stopped kicking, but even though it was unpleasant for her I knew she liked the signs that they were in there and that they were still okay.

She heaved herself out of the front seat with my help and tried to straighten out her dress. With the twins growing so rapidly she had outgrown largely all of her clothes and was now forced to wear almost exclusively baggy or stretchy clothes. She had obviously tried to look nice that day—she'd worn a navy blue dress that went down to her knees and showed off a fair amount of cleavage—but for the most part she was in yoga pants and over-sized t-shirts until she went back to work.

"Remember, you're—"

"Not allowed to carry anything heavy," she said, waving her hand to brush me off. "I know, I know. Let's get going."

I smiled and squeezed her hand, then went back to the truck where Mom and Dad were trying to figure out the logistics of how we'd be bringing everything inside. They'd brought a dolly so it would be easier but they'd still had me pack a lot into the back of the truck, and Regina had a few bags of my clothes in her car as well.

We started with unloading and headed up to check in. I stayed close to either my parents or Regina, always hovering near one or the other to make sure everything was all set with my stuff or that Regina didn't need help.

"Hi, welcome to Colby!" a guy at a table in front of the dorm said as we approached. "I'm Billy. Are you in Hillside?"

"Yeah, I am," I said with a smile. "Emma Swan."

"Good to meet you, Emma," he said. He had a pile of envelopes on the table in front of him and shuffled through them for a moment until he found one with my name on it. "Here you go. Your roommate has already checked in, so she'll be in your room already."