That One Second

Chapter 17

Regina looked through her closet that somehow felt like her own and felt like someone else's entirely. Fortunately, she still had some pajamas and clothes here, so she could easily spend the night in her old home. Henry and Hope had insisted she'd stay and Regina had to admit she was in no mood to go back to her childhood home again.

Emma had offered her their old bedroom, and she'd gladly taken it. When she'd last slept here, she hadn't known it would've been the last time, but now she did know that there was a slim chance she'd ever sleep there again.

She took off her shirt and unclasped her bra. A soft sigh escaped her lips when she put the shirt neatly folded on a chair, with the bra on top of it.

Just after she'd put on an old pajama shirt, the bedroom door opened. Emma never knocked and as she stood in the doorway, smiling at her, Regina realized she never would. Her wife, her soon-to-be ex wife, was stubborn and that was one of the things she loved about her.

She held the same smile upon her lips as Regina had often seen on Henry and Hope's faces. Emma and she had just tucked them in, after they'd spent an evening playing boardgames and reading stories. Regina had hoped Henry would forget about the talks they'd had about the divorce, but when she'd kissed his forehead after tucking him in, he begged once more for them not to get divorced. "See how much fun we had tonight?" He'd said, and Regina had completely agreed.

"Why did you take our sex toys?"

From all the things Regina had expected Emma to say, she hadn't thought of this. A few years back, they'd decided to introduce some toys to their sex life, two very basic ones, and she'd taken them with her.

She shrugged and took off her pants. She didn't care Emma was in the room. "I wanted to use them," she said and eyed Emma innocently.

"Both? You couldn't have left one for me?"

Regina smirked. "I needed one for myself and the other to spite you," she said. "I don't believe you really had to worry, though, I remember your fingers working perfectly fine."

Emma started picking at her nails again. Regina noticed she'd gotten them painted and refreshed, and frankly, it surprised her, because her wife had never been one to get a manicure.

"You got your nails done?" she inquired and gestured at Emma's nails. Some of the red nail polish was already scratched off and Regina knew that was an indicator of Emma's lack of physical contact.

"Yes, got a manicure yesterday. My nails looked abysmal," Emma said and swallowed. "I keep subconsciously picking my nails."

"I see," Regina said, blankly.

"But that was not the point of this conversation. Can you give me back the vibrator?" Emma said and Regina noticed she was still scratching her nails against the nail polish, causing red flakes to fall down on the floor.

"Hm," Regina said and the longer she listened to the sound of Emma fumbling her fingers, the bigger her desire to hug Emma became. "I don't think so."

Emma raised her eyebrows and folded her arms across her chest, though she still kept using the nail of her middle finger to scratch off the nail polish of her thumb.

"Why not?"

"I feel I get to be the obnoxious ex at least once, and this is that moment," Regina said. Emma sighed and rolled her eyes, which only caused Regina to smile. "It was a joke, don't worry. I'll drop it off next time I'm nearby."

Emma nodded curtly. "Do I need to get you one of Hope's stuffed animals, or will you be alright?" Regina suddenly said, loudly. The nail polish picking was starting to get very annoying, because was a constant reminder of the lack of physical contact she'd suffered herself as well.