Regina shot up in her bed, covers thrown to the side as pain racked through her abdomen. Tears threatened to fall from her closed eyes. She breathed in small gasps. Her hand clutched her stomach wanting relief from the pain she was feeling.

Emma was right there when she yelped. Her hand rubbed small circles in the brunette's back.

"Regina, what is it?" Emma questioned.

The brunette continued to cry. It seemed as though it was harder now.

"Just breathe," cooed Emma softly into her lover's ear.

Regina's breath hitched in her throat. She nodded. Her brown eyes were still closed, but she seemed to have calmed down. Her hand felt a warm, sticky liquid just under her. Gazing down, the tears came once more.

She had miscarried.

Again.

The blonde noticed what Regina was staring at and followed her gaze. Her hand shot up to her mouth. the only thing she could do was sigh.

The red spot on Regina's silky blue pajamas continued to grow as the couple sat in bed. Regina finally rose from the bed, and headed towards the bathroom to wash up.

It seemed routine. Regina rushed to the restroom. Emma changed the covers, throwing the soiled ones into the washer. She then would call the doctor to schedule a curettage. Regina would clean up and lay back in the bed, seemingly unfazed; she was strong like that. But tonight seemed different. Very different.

Emma laid on the newly covered bed. She waited for Regina. She waited. And waited. Waited. And waited. The blonde glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It had been twenty minutes since she had entered the restroom. Regina never stayed in the restroom that long. Emma worried.

The blonde rose from the bed ten minutes later.

Eyebrows furrowed, Emma knocked on the door,"Regina?"

No answer.

"'Gina?"

She tried the door. It was locked. Emma sighed and laid back down. She heard the bathroom door creak open sometime later. Her eyes shifted to the figure moving towards her.

With a long drawn out breath, Regina stiffly flattened herself on the bed. They were so close, so far away.

Regina stared at the ceiling. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't cry. This was the third time. She just wanted to sleep. And forget. Sleep. Forget. Sleep. Forget. Emma's hand ventured around her waist.

"Don't," Regina rasped. She couldn't take the sympathy. Not yet at least.

"but... Regina-"

The brunette squeezed her caramel orbs shut, "I can't, Emma." She turned away from the love of her life. "I can't go through this again."

She wasn't going to fight. She wasn't going to be comforted. She would deal with this in the morning but not now. Not now.

Regina forced her eyes to shut, letting exhaustion take her. Emma didn't sleep a wink.

-

It had been three weeks since the last miscarriage. Emma had tried to console the inconsolable brunette. But Regina closed her out. She wouldn't eat. She wouldn't sleep. The former mayor secluded herself from any and all contact. Emma hadn't seen her in three weeks. The blonde sheriff left to go on duty and when she came home, the door to the bedroom was lock; Regina quietly inside.

Three weeks and Emma hadn't seen her wife. Three weeks without a hug, without a kiss, without laying eyes on her. Three weeks.

Emma had enough. She slid a credit card between the door and the wall. It popped open easily. Emma cursed herself for not thinking of this weeks ago. The door creaked open, the blonde took a deep breath.

There in the center of the king sized bed lie her wife. Her utterly fragile love. Regina's face was free of makeup, lips pale, eyes dull but a deep scarlet red. The brunette was crunched up in fetal position. Emma couldn't even tell if she was breathing.

The blonde Sheriff crept over to the side of the bed, kneading down to face the brunette. The cocoa brown orbs didn't even falter, didn't move. They stayed staring off into space.

"Regina."

No movement. No sound. Nothing.

Emma sighed, " Regina, you can't just cut off from the world."

Only then did the brown eyes shift to look into blue. Tears Regina didn't even know she could still produce fell from her eyes. Emma embraced the woman in her arms, refusing to let her go.

"I can't do it, Emma," Regina's voice rasped out from going unused for so long.

"Do what, my love?"

"Anything." she simply stated.

Emma pulled away from Regina. She was about to offer some words that probably needed to be spoken long ago.

"I can't do anything right. I can't give you the family you deserve. I'm a failure. We wanted this so badly. You wanted this so much. And I-I-"

"Hey, it's not over, Angel," Emma replied softly, "We're down, but we're not out…not by a long shot…"

"How can you be so positive all the time?" Regina sobbed loudly, "How do you keep believing in spite of everything, Emma? How? How do you love me, despite the fact that I can't give you anything you deserve, let alone children?"

" I believe in us, Gina. I believe in you…"

Emma held Regina close as she fought back her own tears, and rocked her gently in her arms as she cried.

-