Different Beliefs

Chapter 7

To Emma's surprise, Regina seemed to actually listen to the teacher this hour. The brunette had stopped bothering her with so many questions and finally seemed to respect her boundaries.

"As we have four hours of English in a week, I don't want to spend all of those hours on Speech and Debate. Today, we're going to talk about literature. You may have less time than you expected to prepare for the debate, so I expect you all to work on it at home as well."

The blonde felt Regina glancing at her, but she kept her eyes fixated on Mr. Glass.

No matter how much she tried to be casual about the debate, she really wanted to get good grades and she knew she'd end up caving and working with Regina.

"You can still come tonight if you're not too tired," Regina whispered.

Emma knew that she'd regret it if she agreed to this for several reasons. First, she always was exhausted after working six hours and second, she could never predict in what mood Regina was.

"Then my brother will be home alone, so I don't think that's such a great idea," Emma said before her mind could register and stiffened.

She was not supposed to say that.

"Your parents are not home?" Regina asked confused.

"Mills, pay attention, this is important for you too," Mr. Glass said and Regina immediately averted her eyes to the English teacher.

She grabbed a piece of paper from her notebook and scribbled something down before she subtly shoved the piece of paper to the girl next to her.

You can bring him along.

Emma briefly stared at Regina before she shrugged. She didn't owe the girl anything, but she knew that it would be important for them to discuss everything once more before the debate.

We'll see, she wrote back and Regina offered her a sincere smile.

~~~~

The rest of the day went by smoothly. Regina didn't bother Emma and left her alone just like she wanted.

Emma ran through the last alley and arrived by her house. She sighed softly before she opened the door and found an empty apartment.

Apparently Ruby already had to leave. She noticed a piece of paper on the table and Emma sighed softly as she read Ruby's apology for having to leave.

Emma had told Ruby that if she ever had to leave early, she could just leave Henry behind if he was asleep.

She didn't know what else she could do.

Suddenly, Henry started crying loudly and Emma quickly walked over to his crib.

"Hi, Henry, did you sleep well?" Emma cooed and tilted him from his crib. She walked over to the tiny kitchen and grabbed a small jar of baby food before she heated it up in the old microwave.

The old wooden floor creaked as Emma walked to get the food. She ate some lettuce herself as she waited for Henry's food to be ready.

Her shift at Granny's started later on Fridays, fortunately. That gave her more time to take care of Henry herself. Someone had to do it.

The bling of the microwave interrupted her thoughts and she put the one year old in a chair before she started feeding him.