Regina smiled to herself, holding her hand against her enlarged belly. The brunette's eyes scanned the bookshelves of her study, taking in the sight of all the photos of her beloved family. Without warning, she felt two strong arms snake around her midsection and place their hands on top of her own. With a knowing grin, she turned her head and greeted her wife. "Good morning, dear."
The blonde hummed in response, resting her chin on the woman's shoulder, swaying the pair from side to side. "Why, you're certainly in a good mood," added the brunette, taking notice of the blonde's uncharacteristically chipper attitude at such an ungodly hour.
A smile crept up the savior's lips. "Of course! I don't have to go down to the station today," Emma beamed, turning the brunette to face her. "So you get me…all…to…your…self," she husked, planting soft kisses on her wife's face between each word and placing the last one upon her ruby lips. Regina moaned in appreciation.
"Is that so," The brunette questioned playfully, quirking a brow. At the blonde's small nod, she continued, "Well, it would be terrible if we were to let this precious day go to waste, wouldn't it?" Emma repeated her action, this time even more enthusiastically. Stifling a chuckle at the blonde's antics, Regina shook her head at the woman. "Oh, Miss Swan, you have no idea what you have just signed up for."
At the brunette's persistent gaze, the savior gulped to herself, momentarily regretting her request for a day at home with her pregnant wife. Much to the blonde's relief, Regina relaxed her gaze and addressed the woman once more, "Don't worry, dear, you don't have to do anything you do not wish to do."
And with those final words, the brunette left her wife's presence with a wink, sashaying out of the study. Even though they've been together for years, the woman still has the same effect on the blonde since day one.
Later that day, Regina used her power over the blonde to her advantage, dragging the poor woman to the third store to look at baby cribs that day. Emma had been patient with the woman, but enough was enough! They had spent a total of two hours at the previous shop and Regina still planned on bringing the blonde to two more that day. Emma was not having it at all.
"Can't we just go home and finish this all another time," whined the blonde, tugging on her wife's sleeve as if she were a small child. Brushing away the woman's hand, Regina responded sternly, "No, Emma. You've been putting this off long enough and now you're suffering the consequences. We need to make sure we have everything we need for when the baby comes." The savior let out a long, exaggerated growl and Regina flashed the woman a warning expression.
"We're almost done here," informed the brunette, trying to ease the unruly blonde. Regina began to push their cart, once again, and maneuvered it to the shortest check-out line. Flipping through a Home Style magazine, which she had picked up from nearby rack, Regina pursed her lips in contemplation.
Holding out a page to the blonde, which contained a photo of an earthly-styled living room, she questioned, "Do you think we should do something like this? I mean, I'm open to change," she rambled, continuing her action of flipping through the pages. "I know you hate my black and white theme almost as much as I loathe that gaudy yellow deathtrap of yours."
Growing tired of her wife's rambling, Emma chose to ignore the woman and busied herself with placing the cart's contents on the conveyor belt. She recalled in her mind a popular tune that stuck in her head from the ride over to the store. 'Survival of the richest, the city's ours until the fall,' she began to hum to herself. 'They're Monaco and Hamptons bound but we don't feel like outsiders at all.'
Before getting to the refrain of the song 'New Americana', she was cut off by her wife's sharp tone. "Are you even listening to me," Regina accused, her voice leaving no room for argument. Emma's head jolted to the brunette, an apologetic look adorning her features.
"Sorry, babe, I think the house looks great," the woman tried. Due to her wife's unchanging expression, she noted that she had failed in her attempts. Inwardly groaning to herself, Emma used her credit card to pay for their items then they both made their way back to the car in silence. When both women had buckled their seatbelts in Emma's bug, the blonde addressed her now pouting wife.
"Okay, you need to quit it with the moping. I'm here. I'm helping, aren't' I?" Running her hand through her thick, short locks, Regina huffed in frustration.
"But that's it," she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air as much as the confined space would allow her. "You think you are but you're not!" Her confession threw both her and the blonde off guard. Inhaling deeply, she urged herself to continue, "You're here for me physically and I appreciate that…but when you're gone I can't help but feel…alone." Regina diverted her gaze away from her wife, not wanting to see her reaction, and stared out the window.
The blonde furrowed her brows, feeling both guilty for her wife's feelings and confused at the same time. "I…I don't know what to say," she answered truthfully. "I wasn't aware that you are so unhappy." There was no malice or accusation in Emma's tone, she was simply relaying a fact. This time, it was the brunette's turn to feel somewhat guilty.
"It's not that I'm unhappy because I am…extremely," she began, taking the blonde's hand in her own and looking the woman in her eyes. "It's just that we used to have such a strong emotional connection. We were so in sync with one another's feelings, and even your mother confirmed it on several occasions." Shaking her head, she pondered aloud, "What happened?"
There was a brief pause in conversation, each woman mulling over their own thoughts, then the blonde took her turn to speak up. "I think that it's normal in a relationship. There's this moment where everything is amazing and happy and then the real world comes knocking and…pops the bubble."
"The bubble," Regina teased, flashing the blonde an amused look.
"Exactly," exclaimed the blonde, shifting her position more towards the brunette. "In the Wizard of Oz, Glinda floated around in this pink bubble where all her problems were at a distance and she could see the world from a bird's eye view." At the reference, the former queen rolled her eyes, but continued to listen. "Then, eventually, she had to land and then world was so much closer again and the bubble popped."
Starting to understand the meaning behind the blonde's words, Regina nodded. "So, what do we do about…the bubble," she inquired. The blonde's face fell at the statement.
"I'm not sure," she admitted dejectedly. Regina nodded, the new information running through her mind. Then her eyes lit up at an idea. Smiling to herself, the brunette suggests, "How about we go on a date?"
After the initial shock of the idea, having not been on an official date since the night of the insemination, Emma returned her wife's smile. "It's a date," she agreed.