Chapter Text
“Are you sure this can work?”
Emma reached across the table to give Regina’s hand a sympathetic pat. The woman’s fingers hadn’t stopped drumming anxiously on the table since she sat down, and quite honestly, Regina’s nervousness was bleeding into Emma’s space. Still, she gave Regina a small smile.
“I’m sure,” she said. “Things have calmed down. Well, magic-wise, anyway. Anything that comes, we can deal with.”
“But—”
“Regina,” Emma cut her friend off, laughing. “We’ve already had this conversation a hundred times. Besides, it’s a little too late, isn’t it? She’s coming in just a few hours.”
Regina sighed and slumped back in her seat. She pulled her hand out from under Emma’s and lifted her steaming coffee mug to her lips, using it as a mask while she attempted to sort through the flurry of emotions dizzying her head.
When the last dregs of her coffee were gone and she had drained even the bitter grounds lingering in her cup in an effort to stall the conversation, Regina finally spoke.
“I’m scared,” she admitted. She raised her gaze to meet Emma’s, whom she was surprised had remained silent long enough for Regina to condense all her thoughts into only a few words.
The corners of Emma’s lips lifted slightly. “Good.”
It was unfair to say Storybrooke was off the beaten path. It would be more accurate, perhaps, to say you had to beat a path to it. Thus, establishing the ability to bring a foster child to the town was no small feat.
Regina didn’t know what, exactly, had compelled her to do such a thing. With Henry off to college, her large mansion now felt exceedingly empty in the way only a child could fill. Yet, between her years naturally accumulated and those tacked on by the curse, she felt too aged to welcome a baby into her home.
The Savior was still tight-lipped about her time in the foster system, but from what she did let slip, Regina could gather it wasn’t a pleasant experience. And Regina saw the longing looks Emma tried to hide when she watched the Charmings interact with her younger siblings.
She decided to open her home as somewhere soft for foster kids like Emma to land, whether it be for weeks, months, or years. Emma had taken every opportunity to make sure Regina understood what she was getting into — These kids will test you to make sure you’re on their side, Regina, because no one ever has been. They won’t make it easy, Regina, but you can’t give up once you’re in it. Regina, really, if you throw in the towel when they slip up, that’s one more person telling them they don’t matter — until she finally relented and admitted she probably would have felt much safer had somebody like Regina taken her in.
Regina nervously clutched at the fabric over her abdomen and glanced at the oven clock — 10:53. The caseworker had sent her a text not long ago informing Regina they were less than five minutes away, so she knew the doorbell would ring at any moment.
She wanted to do something to occupy her nerves, but everything was done already. She had been using productivity as a distraction, and now the result was an immaculate home. There was a fresh pot of coffee and two mugs waiting to be filled, the guest room was transformed into a cozy, gender-neutral oasis, and her apple tarts were cooling on the rack.
Regina had just gotten the call last night. Bill needed someone to take in a child on short notice, and Regina had agreed. She knew only two things about this child: she was a girl, and she was fifteen. Bill had promised to fill her in on the details when he got to Regina’s. Perhaps Regina had been a little quick to jump at the opportunity, but she had a soft spot for children.
She snatched the dishtowel off the drying rack and used it to wipe at a nonexistent patch of water on the granite countertop. Damn it. This town is one street. How can they possibly be lost?
She jumped when the doorbell sounded, her heart giving a little kick in her chest. She threw the towel down and hurried through to the foyer.
She opened the door to find a blonde, thirty-something man shifting from foot to foot. He perked up when he saw Regina.
“Regina?” he greeted.
She gave a little nod, slightly surprised by his arrival. Somehow, with him here, her decision felt more real.
“I’m David,” he said, and she almost let out a little laugh at the name before remembering who was actually meant to be there.
“Where’s Bill?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow at the fidgeting man.
“Uh,” David said, scratching the back of his neck, “one of his cases, well, one of the kids in one of his foster homes OD’ed, so he had to rush to the hospital.”
Regina’s eyebrow dropped.
Regina, these kids have been ripped away from everything they know.
She tried to get a glimpse at the girl standing by David’s beat-up Toyota, but her head was angled to the ground, brown layers curtaining her face.
“That’s terrible,” Regina said, drawing her eyes back to David.
“Yeah, it’s terrible,” David said quickly before forging on. “I take it he told you about Callie?”
“Yes,” she answered simply, not appreciating the way he glossed over such a serious topic but understanding he probably had thirty or so other Callies of his own to attend to.
David shifted the file in his hand to rest under his other arm. It was thick. “Yes, well, it seems she’s been having a few issues with male authority figures, of late. Which is—”
“Why he thought of me,” Regina finished knowingly.
“Right.” David nodded.
Regina sighed. “So, she got into a fight with her foster father?”
“And damaged some of his property, which is how she landed in juvie.”
Regina’s eyes widened. Wait. “Damaged his property?” she asked incredulously and put up one hand. “Uh, wow. David, listen. Bill and I have been talking for quite a while now, but I cannot bring someone violent into my house. I often watch my friend’s daughter. I have to think about her, too.”
“No, this was just a one-time thing,” David assured her, sparing a quick glance behind him. “Listen, it’ll only be just for a few weeks.”
Regina looked again, following David’s gaze to the girl. She looked up at Regina, and Regina’s eyes widened.
“Oh, my goodness.” The words were out before Regina could stop them.
David seemed to know exactly what her reaction was to. He angled himself to recapture Regina’s attention. “When the kids get out, some of the other inmates get jealous and pick fights.”
“What—”
“One second,” he cut her off and ran over to where Callie waited. “Callie, come over and meet Regina.”
Regina couldn’t help but notice the small flinch the girl made when David encroached on her space. To her credit, Callie gathered herself quickly. She watched as David and Callie argued in low tones before David guided the teen over to where Regina waited in the doorway.
He gave a tired smile. “Callie, this is Regina. Regina, Callie.”
Regina smiled awkwardly at Callie and was met by a wary gaze. David looked between the pair.
“I guess I could take her to one of the group homes,” he said, addressing the way neither seemed too eager to interact.
Callie didn’t budge when David said this, but Regina could see the way her body tensed. The teen’s breathing went shallow, and desperation filled her eyes as she held Regina’s gaze. Underneath the bruises and bravado Regina knew the girl layered on like makeup, she looked so young. She was just a child that the rest of the world had forgotten.
Regina, if you do this, you cannot let these kids get lost in the system again.
Regina took a steadying breath. “Well,” she said, “it’s just for a few weeks, right?”