Intrigued

Chapter 17

Regina looked at her girlfriend and suppressed a smile. It was cute to see Emma this nervous. She had no reason to be, though, her parents were clearly loving her and Emma was an amazing person. She couldn't screw this up.

"This is delicious, Mrs. Mills," Emma politely said, though Regina's mother had repeatedly told her that calling her "Cora" was fine. "I.. I mean, Cora. I'm sorry," Emma quickly added and blushed.

"It's fine, dear. I'm glad to hear you like the food," Cora said and eyed Henry with a slight smile. "So, how did this between you exactly happen?"

"I already told you, mom," Regina said and bit her lower lip as she stirred her fork in her spaghetti. She didn't want her parents embarrassing her and though they'd done quite a great job so far, she was afraid they'd mess it up.

"Well, I want to hear Emma's version," she said and focused on Emma. "Is it true Regina annoyed you so much you had to talk to her?"

"Mom!" Regina said, but Emma chuckled softly.

"That actually captures it perfectly. I'm surprised she admitted that herself," Emma said with a sly smile. Regina felt her cheeks burning up. Perhaps Emma wasn't the only one nervous for this encounter. Regina wasn't just scared her parents wouldn't like Emma, she was scared Emma wouldn't like her parents. "Regina really helped me out a lot, in France. I'm really grateful for that. If it hadn't been for her annoying me, I.. I wouldn't be in such a good place now."

Regina could see Emma blushing slightly and she squeezed her thigh underneath the table. "See? I wasn't just annoying," Regina said and smiled. She'd told her mother how she'd annoyed Emma into talking, so Cora really wasn't the one to blame for it to become a topic of conversation.

"I'd expected a lot to happen on this vacation, but I hadn't thought Regina would return with a new girlfriend, after she'd run into her ex and had gotten jealous of some boy with a lack of humor," Regina's father said.

His name was Henry. Regina had found it incredibly interesting that Emma had chosen the same name for her son. Emma had told her it'd been because of a character in a movie she'd once seen and that was the first name that'd come into her mind when she saw the baby, but Regina still considered it quite funny.

"It has been.. a very interesting vacation," Emma said. "But I wouldn't change a single thing about it."

"Apart from the cheating," Cora said softly. "I still don't condone such behavior, Regina."

"I know," Regina said. "And I already said I'm sorry. To Mal as well.. I think. She knows I'm sorry. I am sorry. I just couldn't help it."

Cora smiled and bobbed her head. "I think you should've handled that situation better, but I think I don't have to tell you that anymore. You two look like you're going to last quite some time."

"Well, don't jinx it," Emma said, with a slight smile. "But I got a pretty good feeling about us, too."

~~~~

Emma's smile faded away when she noticed the people starting to surround their table. Regina really hadn't exaggerated when she'd told her that everyone wanted to sit with her during lunch break.

It did seem as though the people consisted mainly of one friend group, with a clear leader. A girl with long, brown hair and straight, white teeth. Her eyes were brown and the way she carried herself implied that she was trying to copy Regina. It was pretty funny to Emma.