november 3rd was national housewife's day and it got me thinking. so here's a one shot for you. hope you enjoy.

don't own ouat. all mistakes are mine. etc. etc.

SQSQSQ

"You think my job is so easy? Fine, let's switch."

"I beg your pardon?" A dark brown brow raised in question at the blonde.

"You said when you so rudely awoke me from my nap that, and I quote, 'You literally sit at home all day doing nothing but playing with the children while I'm out working my ass off.' I propose you take over stay at home mommy duties for a week. I'll go to the office and push papers for a week. Seems an even trade since my job is so 'easy' and all."

Regina smirked. This was going to be a piece of cake. She'd convinced Emma after they'd gotten married that staying home to take care of their future kids would be a cheaper, better investment than daycare. It was mostly because no one would give Emma a job after the dark curse was broken. It seems the townspeople were as quick to turn on their savior as they were on the former Evil Queen. As far as she could tell, Emma got to sit at home and play with the girls all day while she slaved at the office. A week with her babies would be a much needed vacation.

"We have a deal, Ms. Swan."

Emma groaned. "Don't Ms. Swan me. I took your name when we got married, and I didn't do anything wrong. Unless you're trying to sleep with me."

The mayor scoffed, but the mirth in her eyes told Emma she was amused.

"Madame Mayor, our children are all very much still awake."

"How do you-" Regina was cut off by Emma's hand over her mouth. Green eyes stared into brown and Regina felt as if Emma was looking into her soul. A few moments of silence and she heard the hushed giggles of their daughters in their bedroom and the heavy footsteps of their son trying to sneak out.

"You go get the girls. I'll go see what Henry thinks he's up to."

Emma poofed herself to the front porch, leaning against the door frame. Henry jumped back as he crashed into her. "Gods, Ma! You, what are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, kid."

"I'm not a kid anymore, Ma. I'm eighteen. I'm an adult. I'm allowed to go out."

"You're still in high school. You know your Mom's rules."

Henry groaned and pouted, trying to play puppy dog eyes on her. Emma usually fell for that. "Ma, I just wanted to go hang out with some friends."

"By friends do you mean Paige?"

A blush crept up Henry's face, and Emma couldn't help but smile. "Fine, kid. You'd better be home before one. Don't make me regret this."

"Thanks, Ma!"

Strong arms wrapped around Emma and squeezed. Emma was glad her son still wanted to hug her. Five years ago she'd broken his heart, but he still somehow managed to forgive her for taking the heart of his crush and forcing her to break his heart. She found it hard to deny him anything.

"Oh, and I'll bring you home some ginger ale." When a blonde brow quirked and Emma tilted her head, he smiled. "I can hear you in the mornings. The walls aren't that thick. I saw we ran out a few days ago, and I know it's all you can drink when you're sick."

"Thank you, Henry. I've just -"

"I know, Ma. I think Mom needs to know just how hard you work."

"Oh, we're swapping jobs for a week. She thinks I play all day while she works her ass off."

Henry's jaw dropped. "She said that? Anything I can do to help this week?"

Emma smiled and shook her head. "Your mom was superwoman when it was just you and her under the curse. She has no idea. I'm betting by Wednesday she'll be begging to go back to the office."

"Should be fun. You should go sleep. I promise I'll be home in a few hours. Thank you."

"Tell Paige I say hello, and that anytime she wants more cooking lessons, stop by once I'm on housewife duty again."

After the curse broke, and no one would let Emma have an actual job, Granny had taken pity on her and had agreed to sell Emma's bakery in her diner. It was less work for her in her old age, and Emma had actual talent in the kitchen. Regina liked to credit herself when she'd given Emma and Henry new memories together, but Emma had always been proficient in the kitchen. She'd just kept her skills hidden, less people have added expectations of her. Now it was one of the things she prided herself on most.

Paige was one of the few people bold enough to seek out Emma and ask for help in learning to cook after Granny revealed to Henry and Regina, who'd been dining with Paige that meal, that Emma was the one who'd made the soup they were raving over. Emma elated in a chance to feel purpose outside her kids, and Henry's crush had come back full force so she tried to facilitate in bringing them together as often as possible.

Emma was still beaming when she trudged back up the stairs to her bedroom.

"What's got you grinning?"

"Henry's going to see Paige."

"What? At this hour? It's a school night."

"Relax, Regina. He is eighteen. We've got to start letting him have more freedom, more responsibility. I trust him to come home before one like I told him. He knows better than to do something stupid."

"You'd better hope he doesn't. There's something I meant to ask you earlier, but I never got the chance."

"Shoot."

Regina rolled her eyes at the carefree response. "When I was trying to wake you up, you told me Quinn was sleeping. Who's Quinn?"

"You mean when you slapped my thigh so hard I fell off the couch? I've no idea who Quinn is. Must have been dreaming. People tend to do that when they're asleep."

"Yes, well, I needed you awake. Sleeping during the day is going to get our daughters hurt."

"They were taking a nap, Regina, and I haven't been feeling well. Sue me for falling asleep. There is a magical barrier on their door that is tied to my magic. If they wake up and leave their room, I'll know. The baby monitor is still set up in their room. They're fine."

"Are you fine, Swan?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You've seemed more exhausted lately. You just said you're not feeling well. I'm concerned."

"I'm surprised you've noticed with the late hours you've been keeping. Did you fix your budget problem?"

Regina sighed and flipped over to straddle Emma's hips. "Yes. Turns out Mr. French was falsifying his reports for months. It's all taken care of, and very boring. I can think of at least a thousand different things entirely more appealing right now."

Emma smirked and thrust her hips up against Regina's. "Whatever could those be, Your Majesty?"

Since Regina's impromptu kiss that had broken the dark curse, they'd wasted no time getting together. Even when Emma was pregnant they'd never gone more than a week without sex. Between the two of them, they could write several of their own Kama Sutras and still have new material.

Waves of nausea woke Emma early the next morning. She didn't want to alert Regina that she was sick, or she'd call off their deal and make her stay home. Emma hated being smothered on by Regina when she was sick.

Henry greeted her in the doorway of the hall bathroom as Emma emerged, wiping the stray drops of mouthwash away with the back of her hand. Without saying a word, he handed her a box of ginger candies before padding back to his room.

There was still an hour before she had to be up, so she let Regina sleep. It was fun rifling through Regina's half of the closet. A minute before the alarm went off, Emma emerged in a pair of black dress pants and a blood red blouse, complete with a pair of black heels.

"Playing dress-up, Emma? Are you sure that you do more than play all day?"

"Time to get up, Regina. You need to be up and have breakfast ready before getting the girls up and dressed. You've to take Henry to school, because his car needs to be taken to Michael. The girls have to be at Ella's class at 9:30am. The rest of the schedule is on the fridge."

"Wait, what?"

Emma tried her best to hide her smirk. "There's no rest for the weary. Up and at it, my queen. There's a million things on the to-do list, and none involve sleeping in."

"You slept." Regina huffed as she rolled into a sitting position.

"Yes, but the kids were sleeping as well. You'll learn. Now, move it."

Regina grumbled all through getting ready and making breakfast while Emma sat at the table and read over the files Regina had gathered for her.

Carli and Nora bounded downstairs, Nora in just her pull-up. Carli was still in her Hello Kitty nightgown. Emma laughed and pulled her two year old into her lap. "Nora, why aren't you dressed?"

Regina came speed walking into the kitchen holding two sets of clothes looking frazzled. Emma chuckled and buried her face in soft brown curls to hide from her wife. "They won't get dressed."

"Why Mommy get us weady?" Carli popped her hands on her hips and tapped her foot, waiting for an answer.

Emma laughed at the seriousness of her four year old. Carli had long blonde curls and dark brown eyes. She acted just like Regina, sometimes so strikingly that it took Emma off guard. "Well, Princess, Mommy is going to stay home all week with you and Nora while I go play mayor."

Little blonde brows furrowed. "We see. Me don't tink so."

"It'll be fun. You two get mommy time all day."

Nora pouted and turned her face into Emma's chest, her little hand curling to anchor a fist to Emma's shirt.

"Babies, don't pout. You get a vacation from Mama. I bet you Mommy will be so much fun all week."

Carli perked up at that. Her mommy didn't know the rules. They could do whatever they wanted and Mommy wouldn't know any better. She smiled impishly at Emma. "Okay, but just a week. Me can't handle it."

Regina shook her head and blinked rapidly, trying to see if this was some hallucination. Her baby was a mini version of herself. When had that happened? When had she grown so big? Maybe she really needed this week to get to know her babies again.

Emma took mercy on Regina and got the girls dressed and seated at the table. She kissed each child on the forehead before grabbing Regina's ass and pulling her flush to her body, lips demanding against her wife's. When Regina moaned, Emma pulled away. "Have a good day. Oh, and remember, no magic."

The words hung heavy in the air as Emma strutted out of the house, hips swaying a bit extra because she knew Regina was staring at her ass. No magic. Regina knew that Emma had tried to stop using magic after the curse broke. She hadn't wanted to feel dependent on it. Regina hadn't realized she didn't use magic day to day to take care of things. This made it a bit harder, but she'd worked for ten years and taken care of Henry before magic came back. She could do this.

Monday

Regina got the girls fed and loaded into the car relatively easy. She didn't expect Kathryn to be waiting on her front porch when she got home.

"Emma told me to come to her house and take Henry's car to Michael's. She said you'd follow me and then drop me off at work."

"It's my house too." Regina huffed, not liking the surprises already being thrown at her.

"You live here, but this is the house Emma made when she became the Dark One. I wish she'd sell it to me, but Emma named a price I can't match. Shall we go?"

"You want to buy it? That's a lot of house for just you and your knight."

Kat absentmindedly put a hand protectively over her stomach. It was a move Emma had made a lot when she was pregnant. Oh gods. "You're pregnant!"

"Yes. Emma offered me the mansion instead. The house I had is too small. I can't accept the deal though without your approval."

"No one has lived in the mansion for five years. If Henry doesn't want it, I don't see why not. When did you make a deal with Emma?"

Kat chuckled as she shook her head. "Regina, I have coffee with her nearly every day before work while the girls are napping. Speaking of, we should go now so you can get them home for Nora's morning nap."

Regina studied her daughters who were chasing each other across the front yard. There was no way they were going down for a nap anytime soon. Sighing, she wrangled the girls back into the car, and got Kathryn to work.

Turns out she was right. Nora refused her nap, throwing herself onto the floor screaming and crying in a fit of hysterics. Regina didn't know what to do, so she let Nora stay up. What harm would missing one nap do?

She took time to study the schedule on the fridge as the girls settled down to watch Sesame Street. Regina hadn't expected an elaborate calendar that was colour coded and completely packed. On the counter, she found a binder complete with a detailed list of things to do each day. She couldn't believe Emma did all this, let alone did it all without magic.

The girls practically dragged their mother to Ella's Mini Movers exercise and music class where they ran around like maniacs. The other parents weren't sitting in the back like Regina had expected. Instead they were all participating in the class, which meant she had to too.

By lunchtime, Regina was exhausted. When had her stamina gotten so low that she couldn't keep up with a four and a two year old? The day didn't seem to be going any better when she presented the grilled cheese sandwiches to the girls.

"Carli, why aren't you eating?"

"Me don't eat dat."

"The lunch menu for today said grilled cheese. That's a grilled cheese."

"You made wrong. Not like Mama."

"It's bread and cheese. How is it wrong?"

"It wrong. Me not eat it." Carli pushed the plate away and huffed, turning her face away from it.

Nora copied her sister, and Regina looked helplessly between the two. Emma ate her grilled cheese. She didn't understand what was wrong with it. What did Emma do that she doesn't?

Carli pushed the plate off the table when Regina kept insisting she eat it. "Caroline Delaney Mills, what do you think you're doing?"

"Me said me not eat dat."

"Fine, will you eat macaroni and cheese?"

Nora looked at Carli and clapped. The four year old nodded. "Fine."

"After lunch you're going in a time out. That's very naughty to waste food like that."

Carli eyed Regina skeptically. Maybe her mommy didn't know after lunchtime was naptime. Mommy obviously didn't know what she was doing. "After lunch we colour and play outside."

The girls slipped out of their chairs after lunch before Regina could wipe their hands and faces. Greasy cheese prints were all over the chairs and table. She felt compelled to clean the kitchen before going after her mini terrors.

Regina found her daughters in the living room with their art supplies, drawing all over the large white wall. Brown eyes widened as she looked at the expanse of the room that they'd managed to draw on. The natural wood coffee tabletop was covered in red marker scribbles. The grey plush couch had black scribbles all over, the uncapped marker resting on one of the cushion. The dark hardwood now had a crayon path from the entrance of the room to the TV. Nora turned to smile at her and had a purple crayon sticking out her nose.

She barely got the girls down for a nap before Neal and Henry rushed into the house, stomping and slamming the door.

"Henry! You know the rules. What's Neal doing here?"

"Ma watches him for an hour or so after school so Grandma can grade papers and do her lesson plans."

"When did this start?"

"When school started. Grandma thought Emma could use the added 'distraction' from not being sheriff anymore."

Emma came home to grumpy girls, an energetic Henry, and a sulky wife. She schooled her smirk before greeting each one. "Tonight's menu was supposed to be pasta primavera and salad. You realize that you've taken away tomorrow night's dinner."

Throwing up her hands, Regina nearly shouted. "They refused to eat their lunch so I had to use the noodles for macaroni and cheese. Sorry if I ruined your meal plan."

"Whoa, hey. I told you this wasn't easy. Taco Tuesday will just have to be next week. You're going shopping Wednesday for food. You'll just have to add it to the grocery list. Just be sure and change the menu then so we actually have enough."

"You saying we don't have enough food? The fridge and pantry are full."

"Yes, but I plan menus so that I know exactly what's for dinner and how to budget my time to fit dinner in around the schedule. There's a science."

"You're putting them to bed. Mommy can't do anything like Mama can."

Emma rolled her eyes at the sarcastic jab. "They don't prefer me to you, you know. They like routine as much as you do, and this, us swapping, just takes some time to get used to. They love you, you know."

Tuesday

"Ma, don't forget about my WOW club meeting this afternoon. You promised to make me those peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies."

Emma finished straightening her borrowed blouse. She'd gone with a purple button up and a black pencil skirt from Regina's closet today. It'd taken a bit to wriggle into it. She could barely breathe. Maybe she was just bloated. She'd laid off the doughnuts, and running after kids all day was plenty of exercise. It had to be bloating. She was enjoying being the mayor. The peace and quiet wasn't something she was used to anymore.

"Tell your mother. She's playing housemom this week."

"But Ma!"

Henry's whine had both his mothers turning to face him, identical expressions on their faces. He suddenly felt ten years old again instead of the adult he was.

"I'd be happy to make something for you and your friends, Henry. When do you need them by?"

"After school. We play every Tuesday and Thursday at someone's house. The cookies have to be molten. Thanks, Mom." He kissed both mothers on the cheek before dashing out the door.

"Molten? What in the world?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Liquid peanut butter center. The ingredients are in the pantry. Use the bigger chocolate chunks. Make two batches. There's also Tyson boneless wings in the freezer. Make the entire bag. They'll be over five minutes after school lets out. They're nuts about their warcraft games. Don't forget today is laundry day as well. The girls have the doctor and the dentist today. Don't be late. Dance is this afternoon too."

Regina's head was spinning by the time Emma finished rattling off all that had to be done today. "Perhaps you can reschedule the doctor and the dentist? That seems a bit much in one day."

"Nope, these appointments are made months in advance. You'll be fine. Simple checkups. Have fun girls. Mama loves you."

Emma had ordinances to go over with business owners back to back today. She felt drained, but at least she hadn't thrown up this morning. That was something. Maybe it had to do with the ginger candies she popped like tic-tacs. She hoped she could get through today and make her wife proud. Regina's day certainly wasn't going to go easy, so she hoped she could at least give her one less thing to worry about.

Neither Carli nor Nora went quietly into the doctor's office. Despite Dr. Hayden being the best pediatrician Storybrooke had to offer, the girls hated the doctor. She tried to bribe Henry into having the morning off school to help her, but he had refused. Ruby was the only one in Regina's frantic phone calls that agreed to help.

"Pups, why you giving your mommy trouble?"

"Mama no here. Mommy don't know what to do."

"I'm here. I'll fight the scaries for you. We will teach Mommy."

Regina stared in confusion as Ruby shifted into her wolf. The girls seemed to calm some. She was wholly unprepared for the wolf to lunge at the poor nurse, who dropped her clipboard and threw a hand over her heart.

"Gods, wolf, I mean no harm. Retreat to the pups." Clearly the nurse was used to this.

Ruby trotted back over to the girls and curled around them. Emma had been right. A simple examination was anything but easy. Carli and Nora fought every step of the way when the nurse wanted to do anything. It took nearly two hours for their appointment that should have taken forty five minutes. The dentist wasn't much easier.

The girls forewent a nap so Regina could grocery shop. There was still so much she needed to get done today, and she was barely halfway through her list. She'd tried to object to the junk food the girls piled into the cart at every turn, but pouty lips and "but Mama lets us" had her caving. She'd deal with Emma later. Right now she was tired of fighting with them on how different she was than Emma.

The girls looked at their mother, who was distracted by all the different boxes of pasta. Smirking at each other, they set off in two different directions. Regina turned around to find the aisle empty. Frantically she abandoned her cart to go find her daughters. Nora was three aisles over trying to climb up the selves.

Regina quickly ran over and scooped up the girl just as her grip on the shelf slipped. Blue eyes blinked up at her owlishly before tears welled. "Nora, we do not climb on shelves. You could get hurt."

Finding Carli took a bit longer, but Regina finally figured out her oldest daughter was using a cloaking spell. She found the four year old on the floor of the candy aisle shoving chocolate into her mouth.

"Ms. Swan." Regina growled under her breath as she went to gather the wayward girl. "Caroline, you know better. No more sweets for a week. Definitely no cookies tonight."

"Mama always give me cookie. Me tell on you."

"You do that, young lady. I doubt your mama would be happy to hear about what you just did."

Carli at least had the decency to look guilty as Regina deposited them both in the cart and quickly checked out.

Regina made them chicken fingers and green beans. She had no more patience to try and follow Emma's plan today. She'd lost so much time today simply trying to corral her terrors that she was ready to rip out her hair, which she was sure now had at least half a dozen gray strays in it.

She decided to start on the cookies after lunch that neither girl ate because "Mama does it different." That phrase was starting to fray her nerves. Henry would appreciate her effort in the cookies. Her challenge was liquid peanut butter. She'd tried microwaving it, but she had no idea how to put it inside the cookies, and it ran all over creating a giant mess. In the end, she gave up and made traditional peanut butter chunk cookies.

Next on the list was laundry. Regina went to check on the girls in the playroom only to find it empty. "Goddammit!" She ran around the entire house before finding them in the laundry room.

Carli was perched on top of the washing machine, feet precariously balancing on the edge. Nora was in front of the washer clapping gleefully. It took Regina a minute to realize the machine was going.

"Girls, what did you do?"

Brown eyes stared at her defiantly. "We help. Mama lets us help wif clothes."

"Yeah, we help." Nora barely glanced at her before turning her attention back to the clothes swirling inside the washer.

Regina reached over and jabbed the off button. Ignoring the cries of protests from both girls, she grimaced as she pulled out the ruined clothes. Sighing, she looked around the room. There was a puddle of soap spilling all over the washing machine, the counter next to it for sorting clothes, and onto the floor from the upturned bottle. Clothes were thrown all over the floor. She was fairly certain by the noise coming from the machine that something had gone in it that wasn't supposed to. How did Emma do this all day?

She made the girls help clean up the laundry room before she tried to use magic to fix the machine. When it failed she realized Emma must have done something to ensure she couldn't use magic this week.

Across town at City Hall, Emma was in her eighth meeting of the day with the different local business owners. Her father was currently sitting across from her representing the animal shelter. He strolled in all smiles and hugged Emma close.

Emma scrunched up her nose as he released her. "Did you bathe in animal pee?"

Charming sniffed his jacket. He didn't smell anything. Shrugging, he plopped down in the chair and started talking a mile a minute about everything she was missing at the loft.

"Dad, that's great, but we need to go over your needs for the shelter." Emma didn't mean to be rude but he really did smell like the inside of an old animal cage, and it started her stomach rolling. She hadn't puked yet, and she didn't want to start now.

Charming droned on and on. Emma tried to take the best notes, but it was beginning to become too much, even with her ginger candy. Charming stopped when he noticed how pale and clammy Emma had gone. He barely had time to pull a trash can in front of her before Emma's breakfast and lunch made their reappearance.

"What's wrong? Do you need to go see Whale?"

"NO! God no. I just haven't been feeling well lately. Bad leftovers."

Charming wasn't convinced, but his phone rang before he could ask anymore questions. "Regina? How can I help you?"

Panic flooded green eyes as Emma shook her head no. She didn't want Regina knowing about this. It was nothing but some bad food like she'd said. No need to bother her wife about it or she'd be babied and smothered for days. Nope.

"The girls broke the washing machine. I'm going to go see if I can fix it. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't tell Regina."

"You want me to lie to her? She smells fear like a bloodhound, Emma."

Emma shook her head no. "I'm fine, really. I just ate some bad leftovers. I'll be fine tomorrow. She's got enough on her plate trying to take care of the girls."

Charming wasn't convinced his daughter was fine, but for now he'd let it go. He hated to be fussed over too, and he knew how overprotective Regina was over her loved ones.

Ruby was next to come through for meetings. She informed Emma of how the girls were at the doctor. Emma felt bad. She knew Regina didn't know the routines. Her poor girls. At least it wasn't a vaccination appointment.

"Emma, you smell different."

"What? Oh, I, uh, got sick right before you came. I haven't taken the trash out yet."

"No, you smell different."

"I took a shower today. What are you talking about?"

Ruby just shrugged, leaving Emma confused. If Emma didn't know yet, Ruby didn't feel it her place to tell. She stopped by Leslie on her way out to scare Regina's secretary into taking it easy on Emma.

Henry came home to the smell of smoke and raced to the kitchen. "What happened in here?"

Regina startled and jumped up from the mixing bowl where the girls were helping her make meatloaf for dinner.

"Mommy burned da cookies."

"So there's no cookies?"

"Henry, I'm sorry. Today has just been -"

"It's okay, Mom. I know. I'll make the chicken wings if you'll bring them down when they're done." Henry quickly popped the chicken onto a tray and put it in the oven that didn't smell like it'd been incinerated. "You might want to air out the kitchen."

When Emma came home, she went straight upstairs for a bath. Her feet and lower back were killing her. The hot water made her feel a little better. She just needed a minute before she dealt with the smell coming from the kitchen.

"Mama, Mama!" Carli threw open the door to the master bathroom. She missed her mama. She wanted her back home and her mommy to work.

"Car-car."

"Me come in too." Before Emma could protest, Carli jumped into the bath sending water and bubbles everywhere.

Sighing, Emma pulled Carli's wet clothes off and hung them on the ledge behind her. "Lovebug, we don't jump. You could hurt yourself."

"Me missed you! Don't leave me 'gain."

"Oh baby, Mommy just wants to spend some time with you. Mama will be back soon."

A few minutes later Nora ran into the room, saw Carli in the bath and went to climb in. "Whoa, munchkin. Take off your clothes first."

Nora struggled out of her clothes for a few minutes before climbing into the bath. "Mama!"

Regina found her girls in the bath with Emma. "There you all are. What is this mess?"

"Just throw some towels on the floor. Carli jumped in. What's wrong?"

"Your daughters took two hours in the doctor's office fighting the nurse. They ran away in the grocery store. Caroline decided to eat two full sized chocolate bars. I had to call your father to come fix the washing machine after they decided to 'help' do the laundry, and I burned the cookies."

Emma leaned over the edge of the tub and pulled Regina down to kiss her. "You want to switch back? I told you it's not easy. Why'd you try to shop today? Grocery shopping is tomorrow."

"It was on the way home from the dentist. I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone, but I didn't account for them being so different from Henry. He was never this wild."

"Regina, Carli and Nora aren't Henry. They aren't normally wild. Rule one of shopping with the grabby twins is to not let them out of the cart. Rule two is no junk food. I'm sure they told you I let them have whatever they want at the store, but this mama doesn't need to try combating sugar rushes all day."

"I wish I had the energy to be mad at them."

"I'll fix the washing machine. It's just one day. You've got to show them you're not someone they can walk all over. You're their mother, Regina. It's Snow's job to give them whatever they want whenever they want it. It's our job to set the rules and make sure they follow them. The calendar, the meal menus, the binder all keep me going. I'd be lost otherwise."

"So they don't help you with laundry?"

"I let them sort the clothes between colours, whites, and delicates. They 'help' me fold. What did these two monkeys do?" Emma tickled Nora's tummy, eliciting squeals of laughter from her youngest.

"They decided to do laundry themselves, threw a whole load in and overfilled the soap container, pouring the detergent all over room. I've never seen clothes ruined like that."

"Girls, what do you say to your mommy? You both know better!"

Carli and Nora both pouted at her. "Mama."

"No, you can't do laundry by yourselves. There's no ice cream before swim lessons tomorrow. You know the rules. Just because Mama isn't here doesn't mean you can break all the rules."

Once the girls apologized, Emma snapped her fingers. "All fixed, and your dinner is on the counter ready and waiting. Help me wash their hair and we can get out."

They got the babies dressed and went downstairs only to find all Henry's friends eating dinner. Regina wanted to cry. The only thing she'd felt accomplished about, and she couldn't even eat it.

"I'll order takeout. Why don't you take the girls to the living room and watch a movie? I'll take care of this."

When Regina left the room with the girls, Emma spun and glared at Henry.

"Ma, it was just sitting here. We didn't know."

"You didn't know two muffin tins worth of meatloaf was for dinner? Henry, come on. You get the boneless wings and cookies every third Tuesday. When have I ever given you meatloaf? I don't feed your friends dinner. Your mom worked hard on this."

One of the boys reached over and popped the last meatloaf into his mouth. Emma's gaze narrowed and his mouth dropped open. He pulled out the remaining bite of meatloaf. "Want it?"

"Get out. All of you, get out." The kids all scrambled for the door. Emma might not be the Dark One anymore, but she was terrifying when she got angry. Henry tried sneaking out with his friends but Emma grabbed his collar. "Not you, kid. You're going to pay for Sebastian's to deliver your mom's favourite meal. You know better, Henry. What were you thinking?"

"We were hungry." Henry shrugged and wished he was anywhere else.

Emma found her girls fighting bedtime, clearly overtired. She wound up falling asleep, cramped and uncomfortable on Carli's single bed until Regina woke her up.

"You were talking in your sleep again, dear. Who is Quinn?"

"I keep telling you I have no idea. I don't know any Quinn. Did the girls nap today?"

"No. I was busy dealing with the washing machine disaster."

"Did they at least go to dance?"

Regina sighed so heavily it was practically a growl. "How do you keep up with all this?"

"I can always take back over if you want to quit."

The words fueled Regina's ire. She'd never quit anything before. Be damned if her own kids would get the best of her. "I can handle this. I once ruled a kingdom after all."

Wednesday

The day started off in tears. Carli and Nora didn't want to let Emma leave for work. Regina had days like this where the girls attached to her legs and sobbed, not wanting to let her go. What she hadn't experienced before was her girls poofing away.

Emma had to keep poofing them back home. Eventually she had to cast a spell to keep her girls in the house. Regina looked devastated.

"They hate me."

"They don't hate you, Regina. They're just not used to having you home all day without me. They just need a nap. Play with them. Just survive the day without any more disasters If you need me, call."

Regina found the girls much more compliant after their naps. She found engaging activities without having huge catastrophes and it skyrocketed her confidence.

Emma was pleasantly surprised when she came home to dinner made and the girls happy. She let Regina read the girls a story while she went to go get ready for bed. Regina had a harder job than she'd anticipated. Dealing with the townspeople was tiring. She intended to just sit down on the bed for a minute, and ended up passing out. Regina was too exhausted to even think. She crawled into bed next to Emma and fell fast asleep.

Thursday

"Do you want me to go into work today? I have the council meeting at eleven."

"I can handle it, Regina. Spend some time with the girls." Emma knew Regina was apprehensive about letting her deal with this, but she really wanted to handle it for her. She wanted to remind her wife she was capable of more than just taking care of the girls.

Regina worried all morning, but Emma was more than competent. She just hoped the townspeople gave Emma a chance.

"Mommy, we make Mama dinner."

"Of course, baby. What should we make her, Carli? It's supposed to be turkey roast tonight."

Carli's little nose scrunched up. "Noooo. Mama gon want fry chicken and mashies."

Well that was new. Regina was certain that Emma's favourite meal was her lasagna. Fried chicken never appeared on the menu. "We can make baked chicken and mashed potatoes."

"Quinn want fry chicken, no bake."

"Who is Quinn?" Regina was starting to get frustrated with all this mention of this Quinn, and yet no one could tell her who that was.

"She wif mama." Nora just stared at Regina like she was supposed to know this.

Was Emma cheating on her? Regina was sure no one in town was even named Quinn. How did her girls know this woman? The mayor played with her girls, worked with them on their alphabet, but her mind was worrying about Emma.

Emma was struggling to hold her own in the meeting. These people were absolutely impossible, arguing over one another about the stupidest shit. All Emma wanted to do was go home and be with her babies. She felt a headache coming on, and it got progressively worse until her head was throbbing by the time the meeting was over. Craving something greasy, she went over to Granny's.

"Hey, Mama. What can I get you?"

"I need some onion rings and a ginger ale."

Ruby eyed Emma skeptically, but went to put in the order. She returned once it was ready and plopped down across from Emma. "Lil Mama, you look exhausted. You feeling okay?"

"Don't call me that, Rubes. I'm fine. Why?"

"Your dad mentioned you threw up during his meeting. You smell weird. You look like you got hit by a semi. You haven't ordered onion rings in over a year. What's going on?"

Sighing, Emma pushed back her chair. She came here to just get some food and relax after a shitty morning. She didn't need this, least of all from her best friend. Emma stood up only to grab her head as the room spun.

Ruby moved quickly and caught Emma before she fell. The diner was staring openly now, and she knew Emma would hate that, so she carried Emma to one of the chairs in the back office. Granny put something under Emma's nose and the blonde came around a few minutes later clutching her head.

"Drink up, child. You're stressing the baby out."

Emma stared in confusion at Granny. "My babies are at home. I'm sure they're fine. Regina's with them." She gulped the water anyways, her mouth suddenly dry.

"Not them. The little one you've got cooking in there." Granny pointed to Emma's stomach, causing Emma's jaw to drop open and Ruby to stifle a chuckle.

"What? We weren't...we didn't… no!"

"Told you you smelled different."

Emma turned to punch Ruby in the shoulder. "Asshole! You knew?"

"Wolf senses. I can hear her heartbeat. Makes me sleepy."

"Shit. Regina's going to kill me. We weren't even trying. Carli and Nora are so little. I'm going to go crazy with three at home."

"Don't worry, Mama. Regina loves you and the kids."

"Ruby, take her to the clinic. I'll expect you to open early tomorrow, and get her up off the floor. That's no place for a pregnant woman."

Once Ruby had Emma on her feet, Granny hugged her. "Congratulations, Emma. I'll start her blanket."

"Quinn, this one is Quinn."

Emma called into Leslie and told her she was taking the rest of the day off and to push Regina's schedule back. Ruby went with her to the clinic. Emma was grateful. She wasn't sure if her nerves could handle this alone.

Regina brought the girls to the office to see Emma. She couldn't take the nagging feeling that something was wrong anymore.

"Sorry, Madame Mayor. Emma just called and said she was taking the rest of the day off. A woman was giggling in the background. I don't know why you trusted her with this. She's clearly not up to your standards."

"You'd do well to not speak about things you know nothing about. I'm sure Emma has her reasons on why she needed the rest of the day."

"Mommy where's Mama?"

"I don't know babies. Let's go to the diner. You can get a milkshake." Regina had no clue what to tell her girls. She couldn't believe Emma would do something like this after all they'd been through. Maybe Ruby had answers.

Carli and Nora ran into the diner and straight behind the counter to hug Granny. "Mommy say we get milkshake!"

Granny helped the girls onto barstools before going to make them each a kiddie chocolate milkshake. She brought out two chicken tenders baskets and a caesar salad for Regina.

"Thank you. Is Ruby here?"

"No, she had something to take care of. Was there something you needed?"

Regina just shook her head and ate in silence, her thoughts about Emma cheating on her festering. Her calls and texts went unanswered. What could her wife possibly be doing? When she went to pay, Granny just shook her head.

"It's on the house. Congrats, Regina. Quinn is a lucky little lady."

The old woman disappeared to cook other orders before Regina could question who the hell Quinn was and how everyone knew about her. She wasn't sure if she could handle anymore mentions of this Quinn, so she took the girls home.

Emma returned home with the blood test results, a bottle of sparkling grape juice, and an orchid. She wanted to soften the news a little, but with Regina at home it wasn't like she could prepare her favourite meal and send the kids away for the night. She didn't expect to find the girls quietly playing in their playroom while Regina sat curled up asleep in the arm chair. The tear tracks were still wet and she was clutching a photo.

"Mommy sad."

"Why's Mommy sad, baby?" Emma set down her stuff and picked up both girls, taking them out of the room.

"Mama fix."

"Okay, Carli. Don't cry. Mama will fix it. Can you go with Auntie Ruby for a little while?"

Emma called Ruby and she was over immediately to take the girls to the diner Once the girls were gone, Emma went back to her wife. She magicked the photo into her hand. She smiled at the memory. Henry had taken it the moment that Regina had hauled Emma quite literally into her full force and kissed her senseless, breaking the curse. Little shit and his author abilities, but this photo was one of her favourites. Why was Regina crying over it?

"Babe?" Regina didn't stir so Emma tried again, this time brushing her wife's cheeks dry. "Regina, my queen, wake up."

Slowly Regina stirred to find concerned green eyes peering at her. "Where are the girls? What are you doing home? I thought you were out? Was your new lover not entertaining enough?"

Emma recoiled and nearly fell backwards. "What are you talking about? I don't have a new lover."

"Where are the girls?"

"Ruby has them for a few hours, and I told Henry to go see a movie. I need to talk to you about something. Why do you think I'd cheat on you?"

"Everyone keeps talking about this Quinn woman, even the girls. Leslie said she heard a woman laughing in the background when you took the rest of the day off. Who were you with if you weren't cheating on me?"

"Regina, I would never. I love you! I'd say sit down, but you already are, so brace yourself."

That certainly didn't ease Regina's concerns. "What did you do, or should I say who?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "The only person in the past seven years that I've slept with is you. Why would you even think I could even look at someone else like that when you're all I've ever wanted? We're a family. I love you, you idiot."

"Then who is Quinn."

Emma took Regina's hand and led her into the kitchen where the orchid and the juice waited. "This wasn't how I wanted to tell you."

"Get on with it, Ms. Swan. You're not appeasing my concern here."

Emma leaned in and kissed Regina. "Calm yourself, my queen. The news isn't bad. At least I hope it won't be." She fidgeted nervously with the hem of her shirt.

"Emma!"

"Right, right. Well, it turns out there was a reason I fell asleep in the armchair. I don't normally. Dr. Whale -"

"You went to see Dr. Whale? Are you sick? What's wrong?" Brown eyes scanned Emma and didn't see and visible injury. She went to wave a hand over Emma to detect anything internal but Emma grabbed her hand, pressing a quick kiss to the palm before placing it on her stomach.

"The whole being sick thing just goes with the territory. You should know the drill by now."

Regina stared at her hand trying to figure out what the hell Emma was talking about. When it finally sank in, brown eyes widened. "You, we, really?"

Emma nodded. "I've known the names of all our babies before they made themselves known. Regina, meet Quinn. I got Eileen to do an ultrasound. Do you want to see the newest duckling?"

Tears started pouring down Regina's face and Emma was nervous that she wasn't happy about the new baby. "I'm sorry. I know she wasn't planned and we've got a lot going on right now. Henry's graduating this year and Nora still needs work on potty training. Oh."

Regina pulled Emma's hands away from her face and wiped the tears that were starting to fall. She forgot that Emma was emotional when pregnant. "Hush, my Swan. I couldn't be happier. Why would you think I wouldn't be ecstatic about her?"

"Why would you think I'd cheat on you?"

"We've been distant lately, and then all anyone is talking about is Quinn. I didn't know she was our baby. I thought you'd finally found someone better."

"There's no one better, Regina. I love you. We understand each other like no one else ever will. Do I smell fried chicken?"

"The girls insisted it was what you'd want for dinner. I fried one piece to quiet them and baked the rest. Did you want some?"

"Can we have stir fry? I'd make it, but today has been hell. I forgot how annoying these people are."

Regina smiled and cupped Emma's cheek. "You definitely have the harder job, my love. I'll handle the townspeople. They're less difficult than a two year old who doesn't want to nap."

Emma laughed and nodded. "That's why I schedule a bunch of exercise before naptimes. It tires the girls out. They know better than to fight me on it. They have been in rare form this week. I'm kinda glad it was you and not me. I appreciated the break, but I'm glad to get back to them."

"What do you say if I take tomorrow off and we spend the whole day together with them?"

"I'd love that. We really miss you during the week."

Regina magicked them two bowls of stir fry and guided Emma into a seat at the table before opening the grape juice and pouring two glasses. She was going to make sure Emma knew she was sorry for ever thinking she could cheat on her.

After dinner, Regina poofed them to their bedroom. She smirked down at her naked wife underneath her. Emma raised an eyebrow at the fact Regina was still clothed. She quickly fixed that with a flick of her wrist. Regina leaned down to kiss her, their tongues dueling before Regina won out.

"We have an hour before Ruby brings the girls home."

"That's nice." Regina trailed open mouth kisses down Emma's neck as the blonde titled her head, giving her wife more access.

"Oh, and Regina" Emma waited until her wife was looking at her. "If you don't figure out some magical birth control, you won't be touching this again until my next life."

Friday

Regina was prepared this morning when Emma woke up and tried to disappear down the hall. She followed and held blonde locks back while her wife got sick. She rubbed Emma's back with her free hand and magicked her a water bottle when Emma was done. Regina loved being able to take care of her wife.

Carli and Nora were excited to have their mama making them breakfast and getting them ready. They weren't prepared for their mommy to stay with them too.

Despite Regina's best efforts to keep Emma off her feet, Emma had other ideas. The girls has other ideas too. It was interesting to see how Emma managed a full day with the girls.

"What do you want for lunch today?"

"Gwill cheese! You do, Mama. Mommy do wrong."

"Lovebug, Mommy does it differently. It's not wrong."

"Please, by all means, Emma. Show me how to make a proper grilled cheese fit for our princesses." Regina really wanted to know what was so damn special about Emma's grilled cheese.

Emma chuckled and pulled out the 12 grain bread, the apple butter, and the gouda. Regina's face scrunched up in disgust. That couldn't possibly taste good. Emma lightly spread the apple butter on the inside of the sandwich before loading it up with cheese before buttering the outsides. One the sandwiches were done, Emma opened two fruit cups and used a crown shaped cookie cutter to cut the crusts off.

"Is this a Ritz Carlton grilled cheese, Emma?"

"Just try it. You'll like it. You are the reason they love apples."

Regina was surprised to find it wasn't bad. Her girls were extremely high maintenance though if this is what they expected from grilled cheese. Henry was never this picky.

After lunch, the girls didn't want to nap. They were too excited their mama was back. Regina was impressed that even though the girls were in tears, Emma was firm in putting them in their room and shutting the door. Every time they came out, she put them right back in.

"Is that how naptime goes?"

"If they're like this, yeah. Normally it just takes a story and they're out."

Emma went around cleaning up the mess before stepping into the laundry room.

"I did laundry this week."

"The three baskets on the floor say otherwise. There's five people in this house, Regina. Our kids go through at least half their closets every week. The washer can't handle all that at once. I'm always doing laundry."

"Henry should be doing his own laundry. That'll help. He wants the responsibilities of an adult. It's time he starts doing more around here. You need to sit down and relax."

"I'm pregnant, not an invalid. I need to redo the meals menu and make sure that the girls have their dance wear for tomorrow. Henry needs his fencing bag ready to go. I need-"

"No! You need to sit down and rest. Stressing out isn't good for the baby. I'm here right now. I will work on being home more. This week made me realize how much I'm missing out on you and the kids. I'll do whatever you tell me to."

Emma gave her wife an impish grin. "Anything?"

"What did you have in mind?" The laundry forgotten, Regina pulled Emma close and wrapped her arms around her wife's waist.

"Moms, I'm home. Do that on your own time."

Both women turned to face Henry. Was school out already? Emma went to step away, back to the laundry but Regina stopped her. "Henry, for sneaking out and drinking with Paige, you can do the laundry for the next three weeks. After that, you're doing your own laundry from now on."

"Yeah, I know. When are we celebrating Quinn being here?"

"Damn author capabilities. We still have to tell your sisters, kid. You really should write in some birth control otherwise we're going to be moving into a shoe."

Regina lightly slapped Emma's arm. "Ms. Swan, that's highly inappropriate to talk to our son about. Besides, she didn't live in a shoe. They made shoes."

"Moms, gross. I'm still here." Henry covered his eyes as his brunette mother leaned in to kiss his blonde mother.

Emma was pleasantly surprised when her kids walked her to the dinner table to find candles lit, eggplant parmesan on a hot pad, and a gift bag at her place. "What's all this?"

Regina walked over with the rest of the meal and their drinks. "Today is National Housewife's Day."

"I do more than just play all day?"

"So much more, now please sit and eat."

Emma leaned in and kissed her wife. "Thank you. I love you!"

"And I love you, my Swan."