hunnyfresh - Letters from War

"Everything is f–"

"Don't tell me everything is fine, Regina."

"Don't interrupt me, Kathryn," the brunette replied back coldly.

"Then stop pretending that I don't have fourteen years of friendship on you," Kathryn responded just as smartly.

They held each other's gazes, and though Kathryn hadn't quite mastered the death glare Regina was so infamous for, it was under Kathryn's sincere pleading that Regina softened and broke away, running fingers through already immaculate hair. "Emma has been sent back overseas," Regina explained slowly. "I haven't heard from her in a while."

The blonde nodded understandingly and scooted her chair closer to the desk, leaning over to offer her hands for Regina to take. Regina stared at Kathryn's hands as if they were on fire and one touch would burn her, but with great reluctance and much consideration, Regina allowed her old friend to grasp her hands within her own. "She'll be fine," Kathryn said softly, giving Regina a squeeze.

"You said that when my father dropped to the ground and was taken to the hospital," Regina reminded her.

And Kathryn did remember how Regina had avoided her phone calls for days until news spread that Mr. Mills had passed away. When Kathryn had finally gotten a hold of her, Regina had been a mixture of pure fury and unbearable sadness, and as she held her friend that night, mutterings of "you promised" etched within the tears that had stained Kathryn's shirt, the blonde knew there had been a shift within her best friend.

Now over thirteen years later, Kathryn could still see that pessimism and hardness slowly cloud over Regina's eyes as her mind whirled with possible scenarios and outcomes on where her soldier was.

"I know," Kathryn whispered apologetically. Granted she knew she never had a chance to promise Regina such a miracle when her father suddenly passed, but it had stayed with her through the years. "You said it yourself, Emma is a good soldier. You know how slow the post is, and you know how busy she gets." Kathryn squeezed Regina's hand again when the brunette tried to turn away. "Wherever she is she's thinking of you."

That promise Kathryn was sure she could keep.

A week and a half later, the temperatures in their small town dropped below freezing, and though it was cold enough that nearly any exposed skin could be subjected to frostbite, snow had yet to form on the ground. Regardless of the lack of snow, Henry had insisted they travel in his sled as they made a trip to Granny's diner. Granny's special peppermint gingerbread cookies had finally returned to the small restaurant, and Regina had promised her son the treat.

The wooden sled ground harshly against the concrete sidewalk, the rubber and wood under the sled crushing the road salt littered on the ground as Regina pulled Henry along with the boy calling out "On Comet! On Prancer! On Dancer and Rudolph!" The mayor grinned as she listened to Henry. No matter how many times they read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas , the order of his reindeers continued to change or become reinvented.

She turned onto the diner's patio, closed for the winter season, and offered her hand to Henry to help the boy from his spot. He struggled to maneuver his way out of the sled since Regina had dressed him into every layer she could find. After an undershirt, a long sleeve, a tshirt, a sweater, his underwear, thermal underwear, and Levi's, Regina deemed him acceptable to finally put on his snowsuit. The extra clothes limited his mobility, and while dressing Henry had complained about getting hot, but at least Regina knew he was safe from the cold. He wobbled off the sled and waited patiently for Regina to sit it up against the outer wall before helping him inside the diner.

Immediately the smell of turkey dinner, gingerbread, mint, holly, and everything Christmas assaulted their senses as they stepped into the diner. Christmas lights were strung up around the room, and a strategically placed mistletoe was hanging by the back entrance connecting the diner to the B&B while Boney M's Mary's Boy Child played happily from the jukebox in the corner.

"Mommy," Henry groaned, tugging at his scarf that covered half his face.

Regina knelt down and unwrapped him, holding onto his scarf, hat and jacket as he galloped his way over to the table by the window and waved excitedly to Ruby. Regina sat across from him, setting their coats down across the back of her chair.

"Hello, Madam Mayor," Ruby, in a just barely decent Mrs. Clause outfit complete with short skirt and cinched jacket greeted already placing down a mint hot chocolate down in front of Henry and a spiced apple cider in front of Regina. At Regina's questioning eyebrow, Ruby explained. "I could hear your sled from a mile away."

"Thank you," Regina said with a nod as she sipped the hot brew. When Ruby didn't leave the table, Regina looked up and cast her another curious glance.

"How's Emma?" The waitress asked.

"Fine," Regina answered habitually, though truth be told, she was still as nervous as ever. She had sent a follow-up letter, simply writing about how she and Henry were and as always, wishing for Emma's safety. It was useless to think Emma would receive that letter as if by magic, but like Henry who had once thought that covered toys actually disappeared under the blanket and that his nose was actually taken whenever Graham tucked his thumb between his knuckles, Regina felt that since the letter was in the mail it'd be transported immediately to exactly where Emma would be.

Sometimes she'd have a moment of clarity and realize the strenuous nature of Emma's job. No doubt the blonde would keep busy, and even if she had a minute, it would best be spent resting. If Regina could help at all, simply continuing to send letters would lift Emma's spirits even if she couldn't find the time to reply back. But most times, Regina feared for the worst. Suffering such great loss so young in her life and in such quick succession made Regina the type to hold on tighter to any good thing she had. That's why Henry was only watched by a select few and every bump and scrape was treated with the utmost care. He was all she had, and she wouldn't lose him.

"That's good to hear," Ruby smiled and made her way back toward the counter.

"When's it gonna snow, Mommy?" Henry asked when they returned home from the diner, bellies full of gingerbread and cocoa. He was sitting in the foyer on his bum, tugging furiously on his boot, but Regina had triple socked him, and no matter how hard the toddler pulled, his boot wouldn't budge.

"I'll have to ask the weatherman." Regina knelt down to his level after shedding her coat, scarf, and gloves. Taking the toe and heel of his boot, she pulled one off with force before moving to the other.

"You should ask Mother Nature 'cause she controls the entire world," he said as a matter of fact.

"Does she?"

"When she's happy, she makes the sun come out, but when she's sad she cries rain, and when she's sick, she coughs and coughs and makes big, big winds!"

"What happens when it's snowing?"

He put a finger to his chin in thought as Regina lifted him to his feet and removed the straps of his snow overalls. "She's making a cake and the flour gets everywhere," he decided.

Regina giggled with her son. "Maybe we should ask her to bake a cake for us so that we can play in the flour and powdered sugar."

"You call her?" Henry asked squinting one eye hopefully.

"I'll do my very best." Satisfied with her answer, Henry ran off as soon as he was stripped down to one pair of socks and his thermal underwear. Regina was sure he'd pick at his clothes later when he became too hot, but for now she was content to let him play, picking up the layers of clothing she had taken off of him and making her way to the laundry.