Guilt

Chapter 20

"Robin said this morning you were to move in your old house soon." Emma said it, but it was clear that there was a giant question mark behind the statement.

"Oh, thank God," Hope exhaled relieved, but her face quickly turned serious. "No offense, though." She looked innocently at her mother and her teacher, before she continued eating.

They were all sitting at the table, enjoying their dinner. Emma smiled at her daughter, though she wasn't amused by her comment. She was just glad Hope was okay.

After worrying a night and day - though some say it was really unnecessary, she was glad to see Hope doing well. Apparently, she and Nicholas had had a heartfelt conversation.

Nicholas had gotten some sense into him over the past few months and he seemed more okay with the fact that Hope was pregnant. He hadn't told his parents that yet, but he now was actually willing to meet the baby when it's born.

Emma fixated her attention on Regina again. She still needed a response to her question, though she actually already knew it.

From the moment Regina knocked on the door to ask if she could stay here for a while, Emma had known it wouldn't be too long before she'd move back. But now that the time was actually there, she realized just how much she'd miss having Regina around.

"As much as I enjoy living here, I can't stay here forever. You two need your space as well, especially with a child on the way," Regina said and she was surprised to see Emma somewhat disappointed.

Hope looked confused at her mother and she raised an eyebrow. Her mother just looked at Regina with a faint smile, but didn't reply. "Mom, you know she's saying reasonable things, right?"

"Yes, yes, that's true. I'm going to miss you around here," Emma said. She was going to miss Regina. Their long, midnight talks, someone next to her in bed, their comfortable hugs.

"Me too," Hope said, overly sarcastic. Regina chuckled and looked at her student.

"I know it couldn't have been fun to have your teacher in the house, but I want to thank you for allowing me to stay here."

Both Hope and Regina had grown accustomed to the other. They liked each other much more than in the beginning, although Regina had never disliked Hope. The girl wasn't going to miss Regina, but she didn't deem it the worst month ever.

~~~~

"Regina?"

It was dark in the room, but Emma had a feeling Regina was still awake. They had skipped their talk before that - which had become a usual part of the routine - and instead they had played board games, with Hope.

Emma looked at the figure next to her and hoped that she'd turn around, so that she could see Regina's face, but the woman didn't move.

They were lying in bed, but Emma just couldn't fall asleep. Too many thoughts were haunting her mind. "Don't you want to talk about what happened today with your mother?"

She still didn't hear anything from Regina, until the woman beside her turned around. Though it was dark, Emma could still see that she had her eyes open.

"Yes. I'm sorry my mother spoke to you like that. She really shouldn't have done that and I hope you don't take anything she said seriously, because she's just trying to manipulate you," Regina said. "I hope you're okay."

Emma shrugged and bit her lip. "I am okay, I'm just worried about you. What she said was awful."

Regina sighed and shrugged as well. "It's not that bad anymore. It's like.. jumping into ice cold water. For a moment, it stings, but then you get used to it and it's okay."