A/N - Thank you for reading! I hope to update this story soon. And any and all feedback is welcome. Thanks!
Chapter 1
Regina had been after her wife for two years to trade the Bug in on something more suitable for their family. Emma finally relented. She has had the Bug for almost 15 years; it became a part of her identity. When she needed shelter or a place to sleep the Bug was there for her. The Bug has been a point of contention between them since before they were even dating. Regina did not want her son, Henry, to ride in the "death trap" as she so lovingly referred to the vehicle. She had even ridden in the Bug once for a stakeout with Emma, which was a not too unpleasant experience but she would have rather been in her Mercedes.
The decision to trade the Bug in on something more suitable for the family finally came when Emma found out that their little family was going to expand. Regina was pregnant. They had been trying for about a year and finally heard the awesome news that Regina was going to have a baby. Emma promised Regina that she would trade the Bug in on a sensible sedan on one condition. The family had to take a trip in the Bug and Henry was allowed to choose where they went. Regina begrudgingly agreed to the terms but added that the trip should be to somewhere that would be educational for Henry. She saw it as a small price to pay in order to have her family safe when the new member arrived.
Henry was excited to take a trip in the Bug and give it one last hurrah. He sat down at the computer and researched educational travel sites that were within driving distance from their little cozy town in Maine. Henry really wanted to visit Charlottesville, Virginia. The home of Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe as well as the beautiful campus of the University of Virginia, where Henry secretly wanted to attend college. But Regina vetoed that trip. It was too far off a drive for a six month pregnant woman to ride in the Bug. His next suggestion was Philadelphia, but again the thought of riding in the Bug for that long made Regina's ankles swell. Lastly, he suggested Boston. Boston was close and they had not explored the city as a family. Regina liked the idea of Boston plus she could make sure that they visited Harvard so that Henry could see the grounds. She secretly hoped he would stay close when he went off to college.
It was set. They would leave for Boston at the end of the month. Regina would be a little over seven months pregnant at that time and they wanted to get the trip in while she could still comfortably walk around since there is so much to see in Boston by walking the streets and following the Freedom Trail. The trip would be a four day weekend trip packed with the educational and fun things Henry had discovered and Regina had approved of. Emma also planned on showing them where she had lived and worked when she lived in Boston before moving to Storybrooke. Each of them was excited and looking forward to the trip. Regina was most excited about shopping for a new car when they returned.
Life continued on as the trip neared. Regina had found out the sex of the baby she was carrying. She hoped to be able to surprise Emma and Henry with a special dessert while they are in Boston. She had arranged to have a small cake presented at the table after their dinner at Del Frisco's and she already made reservations. Regina took a bit too much pleasure in letting Emma and Henry know that she knew the sex of the baby and would be surprising them at dinner on the trip. Emma and Henry stated that they could not wait a few weeks. Regina knew that the next few weeks would be filled with pleading puppy dog eyes from both of them, but her resolve was much stronger than their eyes could plead. She was not going to tell either of them nor anyone else the sex of the baby.
The weeks flew by, filled with Emma pleading to know what the baby was. She tried every tactic she could think of from asking what color Regina would like the room painted to asking if she should purchase a softball or baseball bat. Regina kept her resolve and did not answer the questions to Emma's satisfaction. The nursery was painted green and decorated with nature scenes and animals. Regina wanted the child to have a serene environment. As for Henry, he would plead and say that he had to research how to be a big brother to a brother or sister. Regina informed him that being a big brother to either a brother or sister would not be different depending on the sex of the baby.