Author's notes: This is the "homecoming" chapter so it's the end of this part of the story. Thank you to all who have followed, faved, and reviewed! I have been asked for a sequel and have begun planning it.

Chapter summary: The family visits at the hospital. Late the next day, Regina drives Henry, Emma, and Vivian home.

Chapter 10: Our Family Starts Here

.

Emma woke up in a haze of darkness, pain, and still feeling an overwhelming pull of exhaustion. But the need was urgent. She reached down to her belly, feeling its softness, and emptiness. She jolted upright, breathing quickly. "Vivian!"

A voice, followed by gentle hands, touched her, centered her, calmed her. "Sh, she's right here. The bassinet's by the bed."

"Regina," Emma breathed in the scent of the other woman as she threw her arms around her. "You're still here."

"I am." The body shifted and Emma felt a strong thigh press against her own. "Would you like some light?" Regina asked.

Inhaling against Regina's neck, Emma caught only the faint remains of a soapy scent. "Did you get a shower?" she asked, vaguely recalling now she had suggested the woman get one before they left for the hospital.

"Light?" Regina stretched away. Emma clung.

Suddenly the fluorescent bar above Emma's hospital bed flickered and illuminated the room.

"I ask you about light, and you ask me if I am clean?" Regina asked again.

Emma smiled.

"You look very tired still," Regina said. Her fingertips brushed what Emma guessed were the signs of exhaustion sagging under her eyes.

"I need to hold her," Emma said.

"Of course." Regina's smile was understanding. "You did it, Emma. I promise. She's perfect. And she's yours. No one took her away."

Emma's throat tightened. She couldn't speak.

"Sit up a bit." Regina pulled away, despite Emma's attempt to keep hold of her hands.

She watched Regina rise and then bend over. She held her breath as Regina straightened and turned around, now holding a tiny bundle.

"Vivian," Regina spoke quietly, but her tone was colored with the same gentle emotions she had always shown with Henry. "Momma wants to talk with you."

Emma extended her arms, fingers twitching. All she could see was the pale green knit cap, a tightly wrapped blanket and one tiny fisted hand swinging slightly in the air.

Regina then brought Vivian down to her, putting her in Emma's hands, supporting the baby's head behind Emma's own hand, transferring her gingerly. She released reluctantly when Vivian was tucked against Emma's body.

The effort to move was painful, but Emma exhaled it out, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Em?"

She looked up to see Regina settling herself again. "I'm okay," she said. "She's okay," she added, looking back down at the scrunched up face.

Regina eased a lock of hair behind Emma's shoulder. "Yes. Yes, you are."

"Is the family ready for visitors?"

Emma looked past Regina to the doorway, finding a nurse in colorful scrubs. "What time is it?"

"It's after six," the nurse replied.

"A.M. or P.M.?" Emma asked.

"P.M. You gave birth about five hours ago."

"No wonder I feel like I'm drugged. I've been sleeping ten to twelve hours the last few weeks."

The nurse smiled at her. "Sleep'll kind of be a luxury for a few months."

"She's sleeping now," Emma said, though she could feel slight movement in the baby's shoulders and legs.

"Birth is hard on everybody," the nurse explained. "We keep talking though and she'll wake up. She doesn't want to miss anything."

Vivian's movements were indeed becoming more defined. She was swaddled, though, and the lack of room began to make her fuss.

"See?" the nurse said. Emma cupped the tiny waving fist in her palm. "I'll bring a bottle. She's bound to be hungry."

"But," Emma hesitated. She felt the distending pressure in her breasts, and a throbbing ache in the tissues. "I can do it."

"I can get you the bottle."

"No, I mean…" Emma looked at Regina. "I want to breastfeed."

"Did they give her a shot?" the nurse asked Regina.

The brunette stood, and shook her head. "I don't think so. We didn't talk about it." She looked at Emma.

"I think I'd remember a shot," Emma said.

"All right, I'll send in the midwife."

Regina looked back down at Emma when they were alone. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I didn't… with Henry." She looked back down at Vivian's scrunched face, feeling the need pulling at her chest. "I want to try."

"Then you'll succeed," Regina said.

The midwife entered with a bag she set aside on the small bed table. "Hello, momma," she greeted Emma.

"I'll be outside," Regina said.

"No, you can stay," Emma said.

"But this is…" Regina trailed off and her hands came up in a helpless sweep. "Private."

"You shared Henry's childhood with me. I want to share Vivian's with you."

"But -"

"I wouldn't have gotten through these months without you, Regina."

"Sounds like you're staying," the midwife said with a smirk.

To Emma's relief, Regina sagged down, settling back into the seat beside the bed. The midwife helped Emma arrange herself and Vivian from the other side. Seeming to sense what was coming, Vivian's fussing became more agitated.

Emma sought out Regina's eyes when Vivian finally latched on, letting the brunette see her every reaction to the sensations.

Sharp arousal throbbed in Emma's groin as she watched Regina's eyes dart back and forth over Vivian and Emma's breast. She imagined Regina's teeth, currently caught on the woman's full bottom lip, teasing at Emma's own skin. Emma squirmed and looked at the midwife in alarm.

"That's normal, honey," the midwife said with a chuckle.

"What?" Regina asked, clearly confused.

"Arousal during nursing. Releases all the best chemicals in momma here." The midwife patted Emma's shoulder. "But you stick to cuddling 'til you heal up," she scolded lightheartedly.

"Uh. Yeah. Right." Emma dropped her gaze feeling her cheeks flame. "Right."

The midwife chuckled again.

When Emma chanced to glance back up at Regina, to see her reaction, she saw that the brunette's throat had also reddened, all the way down to her collarbones.

"Ma! Mom!" Henry's voice reached them first, before he had even entered the room. Behind him followed David, and then Snow. Regina held Vivian while Emma was putting herself back into the bed after a short, but successful trip to the bathroom. Her dinner tray, late though it had been, lay on the bed table now empty and waiting to be collected.

"Hello, Henry," Regina said. "Time to meet your sister."

He huddled on Regina's far right side, and pulled back the little corner of blanket that half-covered Vivian's face. "She's cute."

"I think she's beautiful," Regina breathed.

Henry hugged Regina's shoulder and looked up at Emma. "What's her name?"

"Vivian," Emma said. "Your mom made the suggestion."

"She did?" Snow asked.

"Well, she described her as 'vivid', so that's what I came up with."

"You…" Snow looked at Regina, then David. Then finally to Emma she said, "It's a nice name."

"Thanks, I like it," Emma said. "Doesn't remind me of anyone I know, knew, or any fairytales."

"That was important to you," Snow said

Regina heard the note of revelation in the woman's voice. She shook her head and stood, passing Vivian back over to Emma now that she was resettled.

Emma's hand squeezed hers hidden beneath Vivian's blanket. She looked to up to find Emma giving her a warm smile. She smiled back, dipped her head and took a step back. "I am going to look for Dr. Whale and see when he'll be stopping by."

Henry pulled himself onto the bed next to Emma and reached out to touch his sister once more. Emma wrapped her arm around his back and kissed his forehead. "We'll be here," Emma told her. "Don't take too long. Vivian's going to need a change soon." The blonde punctuated her statement with a wide, dopey smile.

That made Regina feel a bit dopey, too. Shaking her head she stepped outside, hearing both David and Snow, who apparently had been frozen while Regina was present, swarm their daughter and new granddaughter.

David crossed his arms, standing back from Emma though he looked enamored of the entire view. Emma smiled up at him then turned her attention to Snow, who had put her hand on the bed, curled over Emma's calf under the blankets. "So, you came here instead of taking Henry to school?"

"It's not everyday you get a baby sister," Snow said.

"True." Emma settled Vivian across her thighs, on her stomach, rubbing her back as she drifted back to sleep. "I'm feeling pretty good though, so Whale will probably let us go tomorrow."

"We'll wait to hear what he has to say," David said. "I'm just glad you and Vivian are all right."

"I did do this once before," Emma said, looking over at Henry, who rolled his eyes. "I did, but seriously, your mom was great," she told him. "Couldn't have done this without her."

Henry nodded. "So, what are we gonna do now?"

Emma thought about what she wanted to do. Ask Regina to go out with her. But after a look from Henry to her parents she shook her head. "I dunno. But we'll figure it out."

"All right." He kissed her cheek and slid off the bed. "I'm gonna go find Mom."

Not really wanting to be alone with her parents, but recognizing that there would not be any more delaying, Emma nodded at him. "Okay. See you in a few minutes."

After Henry walked out, she looked at her parents. "Regina told me you tried to contact Killian."

"I sent Ariel with a message for him," Snow said.

"He answer it?" Emma grumbled, looking away from Snow.

Snow's dejection was evident when she responded. "No."

"Now, will you leave it alone?"

Snow looked ready to cry, but she nodded.

"Thank you."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to raise my daughter, as I didn't get to raise my son," Emma said softly. "And try to enjoy my family."

David nodded. "When you're ready to return to work, Sheriff's job will be waiting."

"Thanks, David, but I think I'll pull my name out of the next election. You can run. If you want."

"What are you going to do?" Snow asked, and the fear that Emma was pulling up roots to leave was plain in the high-pitched question.

"I'd like to keep working, as a deputy, maybe."

Snow's relief was palpable. "Oh."

Emma heard footsteps and voices in the corridor and pushed herself up, cradling Vivian to her chest. "Sounds like Whale's here."

David and Snow stepped back from the bed just as Whale entered the room with Regina and Henry behind him. "Good morning, Emma. How are you feeling?"

"Ready to go home," she said, catching Regina's eye over the doctor's shoulder.

Regina pulled the Benz to a stop in the space in front of Emma's apartment. Turning she looked back to see Henry already pushing out of the car. Emma was working her seatbelt to get out and… "Let me get Vivian. You're supposed to take it easy. No heavy lifting."

"She's not even eight pounds, Regina."

"Yes, but the car seat adds more."

Emma sighed then pulled herself gingerly from the car. "I could just leave it in here."

Regina felt her heart skip a beat at the implication. "Go up and unlock the door. I'll follow."

"You'll follow?" Emma chuckled. "Whoever thought anyone would ever hear you say that?"

Regina felt her throat heat again. "No one else will ever get to hear it."

Emma apparently took that as admonition. She saluted cheekily. "I won't tell. Our secret."

The blonde wore a beaming smile even as she pulled open the door to the steps and made her way slowly upward. Regina shook her head and leaned into the car, unbuckling and removing Vivian from the complex system of restraints as she blithely kept sleeping.

Regina kissed the smooth forehead as she lifted the baby and settled her against her upper chest with a broad hand, closing the door with the other.

This feels familiar, she thought, looking at the door ahead and remembering bringing Henry home for the first time from Boston. She was reaching for the door when it opened.

"Henry," she said, identifying her son pushing outward.

"I was just coming to get you."

"I had to collect Vivian. Would you get Emma's bag, and Vivian's, from the trunk?" She passed him the key fob. She let him hold the door and then made her way up the stairs carefully.

She paused at the open threshold to Emma's apartment.

"Come on in," Emma said. "You certainly don't need permission."

"Where do you want me to put her down?" Turning her gaze through the open space of the apartment, she finally found Emma leaning on the wall outside the kitchen. "You changed already?"

"I'll take a shower, later, but yeah, I wanted to get out of those pregnancy pants."

"You're not quite back to your usual skinny jeans," Regina said.

"No, but jeans, thank you very much." She modeled the stretch denims with a thumb pulling at the elastic waist.

Regina laughed and handed Vivian to Emma, watching the way the baby curled into her mother's chest. Emma shifted the baby into just one arm, butt in the crook of her elbow and hand across the back of Vivian's head. Puzzled, Regina looked up to find Emma studying her.

"Something you need?" she translated the questioning gaze in green eyes.

"Just…" Emma's free hand caught one of Regina's, the thumb tracing the tendons and knuckles. "Regina, I…" Emma inhaled then blew out the breath. "The last nine months have been amazing."

"Different from Henry?" Regina asked.

"In all the best ways," Emma said. "And that was… it was all you."

Regina looked down at their joined fingers, gaze drifting back up to Vivian sleeping, and then Emma's face. Her throat became tight. "Nine months doesn't seem like a very long time."

"A lot's changed," Emma said. She wasn't looking away.

"Emma, I…" Regina cleared her throat. "I… don't want to go."

"I have no plans to ask you to go."

"You don't?"

"Can we put Vivian down in her bed?"

Emma pulled away; Regina was drawn to follow. "Emma."

Vivian went down in the small bassinet by Emma's bed without ever really waking up from the drive. Regina watched Emma kiss Vivian and wet her own lips as Emma stood.

"Regina?"

"Emma." Regina moved quickly forward, putting her hands on Emma's upper arms. "Please tell me what to do here."

"What do you want to do?"

Regina pulled Emma into a hug, tears gathering in her eyes as her throat clogged. "I'll do anything for you, for Henry. For Vivian," she added, pulling back.

"What if all we - any of us want - is you? Just you."

Regina's legs wouldn't hold her up anymore. Sagging to the edge of the bed, she searched Emma's eyes for the truth of her words. "I love you."

Emma started to straddle Regina's hips, only to wince when her body signaled it wasn't quite ready to stretch that way. So she slid sideways across Regina's thighs, lacing her fingers through the ends of Regina's hair and applying a little pressure under her jaw, lifting her face. "That's what I want," she murmured, just before pressing her lips to Regina's.

In a rush of giddiness and deepening the kiss, Regina wrapped both arms around Emma's body, hands splaying on the lusher curves and then massaging into muscles she had come to know over the last several months. She wanted to learn them more intimately; she nipped at Emma's lips gathering her breath.

"Mom! Ma!"

Regina pulled back from Emma's mouth, but could not bring herself to release Emma's hips. Both women turned to the doorway where Henry leaned, arms crossed, smirking at them.

"Henry?"

"About time," he said.

Emma dropped her head to Regina's shoulder, as she had done so often during movie nights in the last few months, but stroking her thumb under Regina's hair and feeling the woman's body shiver against her own. That was precious and new and a laugh bubbled up against Regina's ear, setting off another shiver. The arousal was back. She shifted then sighed as Regina's hand skimmed her hip and the squeeze made her grimace. A snuggle it would have to be.

"Thanks, kid," she said to Henry. "Now, take your sister out into the living room. Quietly. I need a nap."

Lifting up the bassinet, Henry walked out again. "I'll make my own lunch," he added, pulling the door shut and leaving the two women alone in the room.

Emma left Regina's lap, hands lingering and drifting across the other woman's body as she moved onto the bed and laid down.

"But you're not healed," Regina objected even as she let Emma pull her down.

"I was thinking of just snuggling, but I'm glad to know we both want this to eventually get to the same place," Emma said, chuckling as she put her hands behind Regina's head and pulled the woman's face down for more kisses.

Regina's body settled into alignment alongside hers, a warm palm caressing the softness of her belly, easing the slight tension in the tired muscles there. With a contented sigh, Emma curled into Regina. "You are so good," she murmured against Regina's neck.

"You bring it out in me," Regina replied, whispering against Emma's forehead. "Now, go to sleep. I'll be here."

Emma closed her eyes, listening to Regina's breathing, feeling her heartbeat's steady thrum under her fingers. Both had become sleep inducing over the last few months, whether Regina was beside her on the sofa during a movie, or on the bed with her after a tension-melting massage. Now was no exception. In fact, Emma decided, it was much, much better as Regina's lips pressed softly to her forehead. And stayed there.

##