InsaneJournal

Before she could even process losing Greg, Katherine and Elijah, Regina had lost Henry as well. The loss of Emma around that time hadn’t bothered her at all. No surprise there. They’d managed to master the art of avoidance quite well. She ignored Emma, Emma ignored her; and the only times they communicated it was about Henry. Though, even when it came to henry, Emma allowed him to choose when he wanted to see her. Which worked out best for both of them as it limited the amount of communication they had with one another.

But losing Henry -- at the same time as the rest of her family -- was almost her undoing. The storm she had created was no where near as destructive as it could have been. Her unborn child -- the only son that Gregory House would ever have -- was perhaps the only thing that prevented her from making it so. Other than her remaining friends talking her down, that is. Regina did not want to bring her child into a world that she had destroyed.

And just when Regina was certain that she wouldn’t lose anyone else for quite some time, Jefferson, had disappeared. He could very well have gone off on his own but she just knew that wasn’t the case. The gift basket that he had left for her remained unopened and tucked away in a corner out of sight. The only Valentines Day gift that she had received that year. Had it not been for her aversion to apples his gift would have long been opened. And as if all of her losses hadn’t been enough, Regina, was forced to deal with Emma Swan’s return. Which should have been easier than it was turning out to be. This Emma Swan was from her future. A future where they managed to become friends. A future that she had scoffed at when she’d watched it play out. The idea of them ever being more than enemies seemed impossible.

Regina -- even though she had taken Ana’s words to heart -- remained steadfast in her decision to avoid this new Emma at all costs. It did help that only a few knew where she lived and worked. And that none of them would reveal either address without asking her first. Sooner or later she would run in to her son’s birth mother. It was inevitable. All of the displaced ran into one another eventually. But the longer she could put that off the better off everyone in Lawrence would be. Her patience for anything was quite slim the closer to her due date that she got. Though Rose assured her that these last few weeks would fly by.

Fly by, my ass. At least she can still see her feet, Regina muttered to herself as she slid a tray of fresh blueberry pastries into the display case. She loved Rose. Despite how often she disagreed with her these last couple of weeks, Regina knew that she loved her. The woman had offered her the unconditional love and care that only a mother could. The kind of love and care that Cora had never shown her. The kind that she had never quite known how desperately she had needed until it was given to her freely. But none of that convinced her that these last few weeks would go by quickly. Or without incident. This was the child of one Gregory House. And her son wouldn’t be a House or a Mills if he didn’t cause some trouble.

Regina was just sliding the last tray of fresh pastries into the display case when she heard the door to the bakery open. Assuming that it was their morning shift manager she continued with her task and said, “You should have enough of our daily special and our most popular items to get you through the early morning rush.” As she rose from her crouched position-- albeit much slower than she did a few weeks ago -- Regina was going to add that she would be in the back for the rest of the morning. Only the words were caught in her throat. The person who came through the door hadn’t been her morning shift manager at all. It was in fact, Emma Swan.

“Hello, Miss Swan”