A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! I wasn't sure how people were going to take that twist, but it seems that most of you are still on board haha. This is a long one (twice the length of my usual chapters) because there are a lot of conversations that need to happen, but there was not a logical reason to cut it in half, so...

Day Eight: August 27, 11am

"Are you nervous?" Emma asked Regina as they ate breakfast. She noticed that Regina had barely touched her food, only managing to take a few bites of her toast.

"I didn't think I would be, but yeah, I am. I don't even know why."

Emma opened her mouth to reply, but then the front door opened. "We're here," she heard Robin's voice announce from the hallway.

"In the kitchen," Regina called back. She watched as her husband shepherded in a gorgeous brunette with light caramel skin and soulful brown eyes, unadorned with any makeup. Her long hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and she wore fitted camo cargo pants, a black tank, and a light denim jacket. Regina smiled, deciding to break through the awkwardness of the moment. "You must be Gwen. It's nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand.

Gwen self-consciously shook it. "You as well," she said, a hesitant lilt in her voice.

"Hi, Emma," Robin said as he gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. "Sorry to crash your time together," he whispered before he stepped back.

"Don't worry about it," she replied, placing a supportive hand on his bicep and gently squeezing. "How are you holding up?"

"It's been a whirlwind," he replied with a chuckle. "Gwen, why don't you and Emma chat a bit and get to know each other while Regina and I talk through some things," Robin suggested. As much as he was dreading everything that was about to occur, he wanted to get it resolved.

"Of course. Take your time," Gwen forced a smile as Emma and Regina shared a look.

Regina walked down the hall toward the den and Robin promptly followed her, closing the door behind him before he joined his wife on the loveseat. He decided to jump right in: "The clinic called this morning on our drive down and confirmed with 99.9% certainty that I am the father."

"Oh, that's good," Regina said, not really knowing what else to say. "Have you come to any conclusions since we talked yesterday morning?"

Robin paused. "Sort of. I have some thoughts, but I don't know where you are, so I'd like to hear what you're thinking. I know I just dropped this bombshell on you."

Regina shrugged. "I mean, realistically, I don't see any way for us to stay together once the baby is born. I'm not going to keep you from your child, Robin. You deserve to be in that baby's life as much as you possibly can. I can't in good conscience make you give up time with the baby in order to keep up this charade with me."

Robin nodded. "Yeah, I was kind of leaning in that direction as well."

Regina sighed, "So, we get a divorce?"

"I think that is probably the logical decision, yes."

"Robin," Regina said, placing a hand on his knee and turning to face him. "Don't think about logical here. What do you want?"

"I want to be there to raise my kid, Regina, and I want to be there for Gwen and see where my relationship goes with her."

Regina smiled half-heartedly. "Good. Then, that's what you should do." She hesitated before continuing: "But, I'll be honest. My biggest concern here is about Gwen. I don't know her from Adam. I trust you and your judgment, but I'm concerned specifically about what she feels for you. I don't want to go through all the shit that we'll have to deal with if we split up and announce it to the press, if it turns out she's only interested in you because of the baby. If this life that we've crafted so carefully over the past five years is going to come crumbling down in ruins, and I'm left to deal with the fallout, I want to make sure it's well thought-out and not a rash decision. If she's not serious about you beyond you being her baby daddy and you're just going to end up seeing the baby every other weekend anyway…"

"I completely understand that, and I agree. But, I don't think that's the case here. I think she feels that same way about me as I feel about her. I know it's fast, since we've only been dating since March, but it feels right, you know? "

"Yeah, I do." Regina smiled, thinking about Emma. Robin was right — she and Emma had only known each other a little over two months, yet she knew they were in this for the long haul. "Okay, then." Regina took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. "What about the boys?"

"What about them?"

"What do we do?" Regina asked, willing the tears forming in her eyes not to fall.

"Regina, we'll work something out. You legally adopted them, and nothing is going to change that. I want you to be a big part of their lives, as long as you want to be."

She sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God."

"Did you really think I would keep them from you? You're their mother now, Regina."

"I didn't think you would, no, but I don't know. You're about to have another kid with Gwen and if that works out it's only logical that she would become a mother to Roland and Henry."

"Yes, but not at your expense. And Gwen will have to understand that. You've been in their lives for five years. Roland has never known anyone other than you in that role, since Marian died when he was so young. You raised him. Nothing will change that."

"Thank you," she said, allowing him to pull her in for a hug.

"Have you thought about what you want to say to the media and to your fans?"

"Emma and I talked a bit about it, but no, I haven't decided anything yet."

"You can blame everything on me. I can admit to my affair to protect you, and that way you're not forced to say anything about your personal life. I can just be another cheating husband," he offered.

"Robin, I don't want people to think you cheated on me. You don't deserve the inevitable hate you would get from my fans online, and I don't want to risk any backlash on your businesses."

"I deserve it, though."

"No, you don't. You didn't do anything that I didn't do. I'm just lucky that in my extramarital relationship pregnancy isn't at all a risk. And anything that affects you will affect the boys. I don't want them hurt by this. And I don't want you hurt by this, either. I still care about you, you know."

He smiled. "I know. So, then, how do you want to handle it?"

"I don't know. We can always just say 'irreconcilable differences' and not elaborate. Isn't that what most celebrity couples do?"

"Regina, people will find out that there's a baby, especially with you staying in Roland and Henry's lives. And, it's not like we won't ever be seen in public together again. You're one of my best friends, and I don't want to lose you as a result of this."

She reached out, taking his hand. "You won't. We just have to figure out how to spin it. All I know is that I can't let the media find out the truth…that our marriage was a strategic play. Even if I said it was because of a safety situation with a stalker, it would still look like it was all a publicity stunt and that I was deceiving my fans. Which I am, and I hate that. But, I can't tell them. I need everything to appear to happen organically, from start to finish."

"Are you thinking you might want to officially come out as bisexual, though? If you decide not to renew your contract with Frozen Mirror, you could confess that this was something the network and producers required you to do…you could expose them for the bigots they are, and I think the public would be pretty forgiving of us for the deception."

"No. I don't want to play the victim here. I could have refused to go along with their plan. I don't want my fans to pity me. Plus, I don't want to throw the network or show under the bus. Even though I hate their policies, they are responsible for me even having a career. And it might jeopardize other studios from wanting to work for me if I look like I'll cause problems… And shit….Oh God…what about immigration? I don't know what kind of legal ramifications there might be. Marriage fraud is a big deal, and even though I would have become a permanent resident eventually from working on the show and that had nothing to do with why we got married, it still will look bad. We have to make this look like it was always a real marriage."

"I didn't even think of that."

"Yeah, it didn't occur to me until just now…but it's too late now to change that. No wonder Gold never mentioned that little aspect when he suggested we get married."

"Okay. Well, we don't have to decide everything today. Maybe after we talk with Gwen and Emma we'll come up with something."

Regina stood up and nodded, extending her hand out to Robin. "Maybe. Should we go find them?"

"Yeah. They're both probably freaking out," Robin said, letting Regina pull him up.

Regina chuckled. "You're probably right."

Robin and Regina walked back down the hall, finding Emma and Gwen sitting at the dining room table. "Everything okay?" Emma asked Regina as she subtly grasped her hand under the table.

Regina squeezed Emma's fingers gently. "It will be."

"Why don't we all go sit down in the living room?" Robin suggested.

"That's a good idea. Gwen, would you mind helping me bring over some tea?" Regina asked.

Gwen paled a bit and Robin kissed her temple. "It'll be fine, Gwen. Truly," he reassured her.

"Yes, of course, Regina. I'm happy to help."

Regina led her into the kitchen and opened the cabinet to grab a few kinds of tea. "I know Robin's answer to this question, but I need to know yours, Gwen. How do you feel about my husband?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you love him? Do you see yourself with him in the long run? Or, are you only with him because of the baby? If you hadn't gotten pregnant, would you still want to pursue a real relationship with him?"

"I've always liked Robin and thought he was a great guy. And yeah, I think I am falling in love with him. Even though I know he wants to 'do the right thing' in regards to the baby, that's not the reason I want to be with him."

Regina nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Thank you, Gwen, for being honest with me. And for what it's worth, yeah Robin is a noble guy and wants to do right by the people in his life, and that's one of the reasons I married him, but that's not the only reason he wants to be there for you," Regina said, handing a confused Gwen the tea packets as she grabbed the electric tea kettle and walked back toward the living room.

Gwen followed Regina into the living room, setting the tea down on the coffee table. Regina sat down next to Robin on the sofa, so Gwen took the empty armchair next to Emma.

Regina spoke first, getting straight to the point. "We have decided to formally separate, and assuming everything goes as it should with the legal process, we will ultimately get divorced. But, we aren't going to announce it publicly just yet. We're still working on what kind of statement we want to make, and how much of the truth we want to reveal," she said, glancing at Emma before looking at Gwen.

"Regina, I just want to say that I'm so sorry for this. Robin said that you were free to see other people during your trial separation, but we should have been more careful," Gwen said.

Regina coughed as she sipped her tea and Emma raised an eyebrow. "I appreciate that Gwen, but you didn't do anything wrong. You don't need to apologize to me."

"I do, though. I should have waited until you officially separated or divorced. I know you know that I've known Robin for a while from his visits to the campgrounds over the years, but I need you to know that nothing ever happened between us until he told me you were separating back in the spring."

Regina nodded, noticing the tan brunette was looking anxious. "Gwen, really, it's fine. I mean, if anyone did anything 'wrong' it would have been Robin, not you. And he's apologized already even though he doesn't really need to." Gwen looked like she was about to apologize again, so Regina continued: "Look, Gwen, there's something you should know…" she started.

"Regina, are you sure?" Robin asked, interrupting Regina's statement.

She looked over at Gwen, who looked extremely confused. "Robin, she needs to know. I appreciate you keeping this secret, but she clearly feels guilty about all of this and she shouldn't. She doesn't need any additional stress right now, especially not feeling like she destroyed our marriage. If you guys are going to have a future together, you need to be honest with her."

"What is she talking about, Robin? What aren't you telling me?" Gwen asked, placing a hand subconsciously on her still-flat abdomen.

"Gwen, while Robin and I are married, it's not a real marriage. Well, other than in legalities and appearances."

"What?" Gwen asked, clearly surprised.

Regina took a deep breath and explained the entire story she had told Emma a few months earlier in her hotel room. She described her situation with the rumors about her previous relationship with her friend Mal and the show's conservative policies and concern over her chemistry with her costar Ingrid, the situation with her stalker, and Robin's restaurants and kids benefiting from Regina's presence in their life. "Aside from the four of us, my therapist, my boss, and my mother, who orchestrated the whole thing, no one else knows."

"Wait, your mother?" Robin asked, feeling out of the loop.

"Oh, yeah, I didn't get to tell you about that yet. She seduced Gold 15 years ago, had a brief affair with him, gave him money to get started on his first TV pilot, and then managed to reverse blackmail him into casting me in his show. Oh, and our marriage was all her idea, and she even hired Sidney Glass to look like he was stalking me. She's the puppeteer in this circus… Gold was just the strings tying my mother's desires to my actions."

"Shit," Robin sighed, placing a friendly hand on Regina's knee.

"Yeah," Emma added. "You missed an exciting dinner party."

"Whoa," Gwen said, leaning back on the couch and trying to process it. "So, you guys never even dated? You were never involved?"

"No, not beyond me bringing Robin to an event now and then for show," Regina explained. "We love each other and we became best friends during the year we 'dated' publicly, but we've never been interested in each other in a romantic way. We tried, thinking that maybe we would learn to fall in love, but there was never that connection. We've never been 'in love' with each other."

"That's kind of insane," Gwen commented candidly.

"Yeah, that was my reaction a few months ago," Emma chuckled.

"Wait, so how do you fit into this?" Gwen asked Emma.

"Oh, right," Regina said. "Well, she's kind of my girlfriend," she grinned, realizing that was the first time she had actually said the words out loud to anyone.

"Kind of?" Emma smirked.

"Okay, she's very much my girlfriend…I recently realized that there was more meaning behind my relationship with Mal than college experimentation, and Emma made me realize that I am apparently interested in women as well, or at least certain women, anyway," she winked at Emma. "The dance trainer thing is just an excuse since my fans like to make crazy speculations and accusations online…though in this case, they're actually pretty spot-on," she laughed. "So Gwen, like I said, you have no reason to feel guilty. You're not breaking up a marriage...not a real one, anyway. You and Robin didn't do anything that Emma and I haven't done," Regina blushed at that note. She shook her head and continued: "I just can't accidentally impregnate Emma. That's literally the only difference here."

"Oh…I see," Gwen replied, still baffled by the entire situation.

Emma gave Gwen a sympathetic look. "Hey Regina, should we get another pot of tea ready?"

"Oh, yeah, good idea," she replied, taking the hint and following Emma into the kitchen, giving Gwen and Robin a moment together to talk. As she walked away, Regina sent Robin a look, and he showed Gwen down the hall to the office so they could talk in complete privacy.

"So now that we're alone, how are you really?" Emma asked, taking one of Regina's hands in hers.

Regina shrugged. "Better than I thought I'd be. I mean, Robin and I are ending our marriage much sooner than I thought we would, and God, I have no idea what to say to the public, to my fans that won't make them hate me for lying all these years," she started to pace. "Robin offered to take the blame and say that he cheated, but I can't unleash the hate he'd get for that on him, especially because it's not his fault. But despite how hard the next few months will be, part of me is also relieved that I won't have to hide behind a fake marriage anymore."

Emma looked up, surprised. "What does that mean?"

"Well, I don't know if I'm ready to throw a big coming out party, especially since I still have all of the network's and Gold's shit to deal with. That aspect hasn't changed. But, at least I won't have to pretend to be utterly in love with Robin and stage photos anymore, or count how many times we've tweeted and Instagrammed each other to make sure we're keeping up appearances."

"Right, but won't that make anytime we're seen together more suspicious if you don't have him to fall back on?"

"Probably. But I also don't want to go to all the trouble to hide you, either," she said, lightly running her hands along Emma's forearms. "I just want to live my life without having to make any grand declarations about my fake marriage ending or the gender of the person I'm having sex with."

"Okay, so who says you have to?"

"What?"

"Who says you have to announce your split with Robin?"

"That's what people do, Emma. I can't go on pretending anymore."

"Have you heard of ghosting?"

"Yes. And if you ever do that to me, I will kill you."

Emma chuckled. "Don't worry, that's not my style, and I have no plans of breaking up with you, so…anyway. You guys could just ghost each other to the public."

Regina looked at Emma as though she grew an extra head. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Stop going out of your way to stage photos and gradually stop playing up your relationship on social media until it gradually fades away from the public. Just live your life. Stop staging things with him and don't craft fake captions and photos of us. Just go back to your regular routine and post whatever the hell you want because it's your life and your account. You guys may be in the public eye, but what goes on between you is no one's business but yours…just like what happens between us is no one's business but ours. You don't owe anyone any explanations."

Regina smiled. "Ugh, that sounds wonderful, but fans will notice. I forgot to put my wedding ring back on after filming one day when the cast went out afterward, and everyone freaked out when pictures showed up of me without it."

"So what? Let them speculate. They're going to talk regardless. They've been talking about you for eight years since the show started, and they're going to continue talking regardless of whether you and Robin formally make an announcement. You don't owe them an explanation of why he's not going to be a constant presence in your life anymore. So, do whatever feels right to you."

Regina sighed. "I don't know what feels right. What would you do?"

"I don't know. It's kind of an impossible situation. I would probably do what I suggested. Or maybe just lay low on social media and only post show-related stuff, or get rid of it all together for a little bit. If you're intent on announcing your split, then maybe just make a post that says you've been separated for a while so that it doesn't look like Robin cheated on you once people find out about he's going to be a dad again, and then say that you're getting divorced. You can say that you still care about each other and are putting your kids first and all the stuff that people typically say, and ask that people respect your privacy. Then leave it at that."

Regina nodded. "And what about us?"

"What about us?"

"Would you announce our relationship, if you were me?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think you're obligated to announce anything, at least not this early on in our relationship, and it kind of opens the door for more scrutiny, especially if you do it right after announcing your break-up. I'm not going to be offended if you don't tell people about us right away. I mean, if we're still together a year or two from now, then yeah I think it'll have to come out because I don't want to feel like we have to spend our entire lives pretending that we're just friends, but I don't need some big declarative statement anytime soon. I'd kind of prefer to keep the media from following me, at least until I get settled here with the new company. If you want to officially come out as soon as you make the announcement, because you feel the time is right for you, then you should…but you can do that without saying that you're in a new relationship, if you want. I'll support you regardless."

Regina sighed. "Maybe I will just take a break from social media…it might not be a bad idea to clear my head from all of it and lay low. But then again, part of me wants to post the photos of Mal and me from college and the video of us from the dance studio or take a selfie of us naked in bed and just be like 'hey guys, I like ladies, too. Peace.' just to put it out there and be done with the rumors."

Emma laughed. "Well, that would be one hell of a way to do it."

The foursome was seated on the second floor of Locksley Bistro later that afternoon. It was still early enough in the day that the upstairs area was not yet open to the public, which gave the two couples the privacy they needed to continue their conversation about next steps in the dissolution of Regina and Robin's marriage.

"Are you going to tell Gold about this?" Emma asked Regina when Gwen had excused herself to use the restroom.

"I don't want to, because I'm still not ready to talk to him after what happened with my mother, but I feel like I need to give him a head's up if there is any chance of keeping the network calm," Regina shrugged, picking at her nicoise salad. "I want to minimize the effect this will have on the cast and crew."

"I am really sorry about this, Regina," Robin said.

She sighed. "Seriously, Robin, please do not apologize to me anymore about this. We knew this would happen sooner or later." She looked up to see both Emma and Robin giving her a questioning look. "Okay, maybe not this exact situation since we assumed you were actually neutered, but eventually were going to split up and I'd have to announce it and brace for the inevitable impact. Your unexpected fertility just accelerated the process."

Gwen approached the table, scooting into the booth next to Robin. He quickly kissed her cheek before turning back to Regina. "So, are you sure you're okay with this? You don't want me to take the fall?"

Regina shook her head. "No. I don't want to risk any fallout on your businesses, or the press badgering Gwen. I think if we say that we split up back in early May but didn't want to publically announce it until it was finalized, that should work. That way, when people inevitably find out about Emma and me it won't look like I cheated on you, and if people find out about Gwen's baby, the timing is fine because she would have gotten pregnant six weeks after we split. We can just say it was mutual, no one cheated, and we hope to remain friends for the sake of our sons."

Robin nodded. "Okay."

"Uh, one problem," Emma interjected.

"What?" Regina and Robin both asked.

"All of the photos you've staged recently… at the Con when Robin came to visit, before he left for the camping trip, etcetera. How do you explain that if you say you decided to separate back in May?"

"Oh," Robin frowned. "I hadn't thought of that."

"Good point," Regina said as she worried her bottom lip. "Okay. Maybe we say we separated a while ago, but have tried to reconcile a few times to no avail and/or maybe we already had events scheduled that we both had to attend?"

"I'd believe that," Emma shrugged.

"Okay," Robin said. "So, we separated in March, maybe? Then we tried to reconcile but realized we are ultimately better as friends and are divorcing amicably?"

"Yes," Regina confirmed.

"Okay. So, when?"

"Well, I can call my lawyer this afternoon, but it should be a pretty quick process. Our prenupt was designed with this in mind, so it should be painless in terms of dividing assets. We just follow the requirements of Quebec, and call it a day," Regina said, eating more of her salad now that her appetite returned. She always liked having a set plan, and she had been anxious all afternoon.

Robin chuckled. "No, not when do get the divorce papers. When do we make the announcement?"

"Oh," Regina said, setting down her fork. "I'd like to do it soon so we don't drag this out anymore, and so you and Gwen can move forward with your lives. Maybe two weeks? I think it's better if I'm back on set at the time of the announcement, so that way I can keep myself busy with that and ignore the initial onslaught of comments that will come in, and so they will leave you alone back here. I also don't want to make it too soon after Emma leaves, because that will raise suspicion. If we wait too much longer though, Emma will be moving to Montreal, and if people do put two and two together, I don't want her getting hounded by the press while she's trying to get settled."

"Wait, you're moving here?" Robin asked, surprised.

"Oh, right, I haven't had a chance to tell you that," Regina smiled sheepishly. "A lot has happened this week."

"Yeah, a friend of mine has a dance company here and offered me a spot. It was too good of an offer to pass up," Emma said.

"Congratulations, Emma, that's wonderful!" Robin cheered as Gwen offered her congratulations as well.

"Thank you. I'm excited."

"When will you be moving?" Robin asked.

"The last week of September. I start rehearsals in early October."

"Oh, that's soon!" Gwen commented.

"Yeah. I have a lot to do before then," Emma said.

"Have you found an apartment yet?" Robin asked.

Emma shook her head. "Not yet. Regina and I looked yesterday for a bit, but didn't have much success."

"Well, if you need somewhere to crash while you're looking, there's plenty of room at our place," Robin volunteered.

Regina raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was easy," she whispered to Emma before turning to Robin. "I had already volunteered you to play host. I just hadn't had a chance to tell you"

"Thank you, Robin," Emma said.

"It is really coming down out there," Gwen commented as she stood by the living room window, watching the sheets of rain pour down on the street below.

"It's a good thing you decided not to make the trip back this afternoon," Regina said, handing her a can of La Croix. Between the time they left Robin's restaurant and arriving back at the condo, the skies had opened up, and it had been pouring and thundering nonstop. Robin and Gwen had decided to stay and wait for the weather to clear before making the three-hour drive back to the campgrounds. They had all already watched one movie and now Emma and Robin were preparing dinner. It appeared they would most likely be staying the night, as the roads were starting to flood and the storm didn't show any signs of lightening up. "We haven't had a storm like this in years."

"Thank you for letting us stay," Gwen said, gratefully taking the water from Regina.

"Of course. It's Robin's house anyway, but you're always welcome here."

"Well, we do apologize for encroaching on your last night together," Robin called from the kitchen. "I'm sure there are things you and Emma would rather be doing than hanging out with us."

"It's fine," Regina said, sitting down at the island next to her girlfriend, who was peeling cloves of garlic. "We couldn't go out in this weather anyway, so it's a Netflix and chill kind of night regardless."

"Do you even know what that means?" Emma asked, raising her brow as she pushed the pile of garlic skin to the side.

"Of course I do. How old do you think I am?" Regina chuckled, nudging Emma with her shoulder. "I barely have five years on you."

Emma wrinkled her nose before quickly pecking Regina's lips. "Actually, it's closer to six, but fine."

"Well, don't let us stop you from any Netflixing and/or chilling," Robin winked as he took the peeled garlic from Emma, leaning closer to her as he lowered his voice. "By the way, Emma, I hear you liked my private movie collection."

"Oh, God," she blushed, burying her head in her hands before looking at Regina. "You seriously told him?"

Regina bit back a laugh. "He's my best friend…and I didn't tell him, I thanked him for leaving his porn so easily accessible," she replied, wrapping her arm around Emma's shoulder and pulling her toward her, placing a kiss on her cheek.

Emma tried to suppress a grin that was forming on her lips. "You both suck."

"Actually, from what I hear—" Robin started before Regina cut him off with a death glare.

"Don't even," she warned.

"Sorry," Robin said as he put his hands up defensively. "But just so I'm clear, my wife has amazing lesbian sex and I don't get to at least make a few jokes about it before the divorce is finalized?"

"Exactly," Regina confirmed. "Unless you want me talking to Gwen about a few things I know…"

"Okay, fair," Robin jumped in.

"Hold on, wait a second," Emma said, interrupting the soon-to-be divorced couple's spat. "Robin, did she actually use the word 'amazing'?"

"Goddammit," Regina said under her breath as she watched Emma smile at her.

"Indeed she did."

"Really," Emma said, looking smug.

"Don't look so surprised. I told you as much yesterday morning…and last night."

"Yeah, but it's different to hear it from someone else. In the moment, it doesn't carry as much weight, but knowing that it was worth mentioning to someone else…"

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't let it go to your head."

*.*.*

After a surprisingly pleasant dinner featuring Robin's homemade pizza, the two couples were sprawled out in the living room. Regina and Emma were lying on the sofa while Robin and Gwen were curled up together in the oversized arm chair, feet resting on the ottoman in front of them. Gwen was still processing all the information she had learned that day, but she seemed to become a little more comfortable as the evening went on and she watched the interaction between Regina and Robin. She was relieved to find that they really were just friends, and there was no spark between them. They all seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company, once the initial awkwardness had passed, which was a good sign considering that they would all still be in each other's lives once the divorce was finalized. Robin had made it clear to everyone at dinner that Regina would still be heavily involved in Roland and Henry's lives, and both Emma and Gwen were supportive of that.

Regina looked over at Robin, who was lightly rubbing the back of Gwen's neck as they watched yet another episode of Friends. Eventually Robin looked up after he felt he was being watched, only to see his wife smiling at him. "What?" he asked innocently.

"Nothing. You just look really happy, and I'm glad you found that. You two seem to fit well together," she commented.

"I could say the same about you two," he smiled back, nodding toward Emma. She was absentmindedly playing with Regina's fingers, which were threaded through her own.

"Indeed," Regina said, bending down to kiss the top of Emma's head.

The blonde was so engrossed in the show that she wasn't paying attention to the conversation happening around her. "Wait, what?" Emma asked, looking up at her girlfriend when she felt she may have missed something important.

"You're pretty," Regina grinned in reply.

They continued to watch television and Regina tried to relax into the moment, but her thoughts were quickly brought back to the other big issue she had still yet to resolve: whether she would officially reveal her bisexuality after announcing her divorce, or if she wanted to stay closeted awhile longer. She still had issues with her contract and the network's politics to worry about. She had decided that she would lay low on social media, planning to only post show-related information and press for the next few months while she took ownership of her personal life out of the public's view. Despite taking a photograph of the four of them at lunch, Regina decided not to post it herself, instead simply "liking" the version Robin posted. They had agreed that he still needed to post it in case he was seen with Gwen before the divorce announcement, or shortly thereafter, but Regina had taken Emma's advice to immediately stop posting staged photographs on her accounts.

After texting her lawyer to draft up the divorce agreement, Regina decided to bite the bullet and contact Gold for the first time since the chaotic dinner party: 'FYI Robin and I have started the divorce process. We just found out that he got his girlfriend pregnant. He wants to be there for her and the baby, and I'm not about to get in the way of that. We're releasing a very short statement in a few weeks to announce our split, but we aren't going into detail about the situation.' She let out a sigh after sending the text, causing Emma to look up at her.

"You okay?" Emma asked quietly, earning a nod from Regina as the brunette handed her the phone so she could read the text she had just sent. "Oh," Emma nodded in understanding, offering a small smile and a supportive hand on her thigh.

Emma gave Regina her phone back just as the one-word reply came from Gold: 'Okay.' His short answer made Regina stiffen.

Emma felt the woman behind her tense, so she sat up on the couch and shuffled their positions, pulling Regina's legs across her lap and lightly massaging her calves and feet. "What is it?"

"Gold seems too fine with it. I'm worried about what he's going to do," Regina confessed.

"Maybe he's just trying to honor your wish to stay out of your life?" Emma suggested. "After all, you did threaten to sue him if he didn't," she smirked.

"Maybe. It's not like there's anything he can do to stop the divorce anyway," Regina conceded. "That feels nice, by the way," Regina replied as she closed her eyes, softly hissing as Emma dug her thumb into the arch of her foot. It was painful, but so needed after the abuse her feet had taken in heels all week. "You're really good at that."

"You learn these things after years of ballet," Emma laughed.

A few minutes later Regina heard her phone vibrate on the cushion next to her, and she sighed when she picked it up. "Here we go," she thought to herself as she read the text from Gold: 'Are you going to disclose your relationship with Miss Swan anytime soon? If so, I need to prepare the studio and network, so I would appreciate some warning.'

She quickly typed back: 'I don't know. Not yet. I'm going to handle one major announcement at a time. I will give you a heads up if/when I do.'

"Nothing will ever top that dinner party as the craziest day ever, but today was a close second," Regina said, pulling back the duvet cover and climbing into bed later that night.

Emma nodded in agreement as she leaned back against her pillow and turned her head toward Regina. "How are you feeling about it all now that you guys have a plan?"

"Relieved. And I can't thank you enough for being so supportive. I know this is crazy in its own way for you, too."

"It is, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed to pursue this," Emma smiled. "You did warn me."

Regina leaned over to kiss her. "I know. But, I appreciate it nonetheless. I didn't expect it to spiral out of control quite this much."

Emma nodded as she took a deep breath. "There is one thing that I want to ask you…something that's been on my mind since you told me about Gwen yesterday, but I don't want you to take it the wrong way," Emma said as she readjusted herself, sitting up a little straighter and turning her body to face Regina.

"Okay…" Regina said, mirroring Emma's actions and sitting up, nervous for what Emma was going to say. When Emma took another deep breath but no words followed, Regina spoke up and grasped one of Emma's hands that was fidgeting in her lap. "Emma, you can ask me anything. If something's bothering you, please tell me."

"Okay…Part of me is wondering what would happen if Gwen wasn't pregnant. I know this was totally unexpected and I agree that you guys are making the right decision because there's a baby involved, but what if there wasn't? What if Gwen was just a random girl he met? Or what if she wasn't in the picture at all? Would you have stayed married to Robin until the show ended? What if the show ran for another five years?" Emma asked, realizing that she was rambling, but unable to stop herself.

"That's a fair question," Regina stated. "I mean, that was the plan when he and I entered into this arrangement, but neither one of us expected to seriously become involved with anyone else, either, because we weren't out looking for that. You and Gwen both caught us by surprise," she paused, choosing her words carefully. "But, plans change. I would want to be with you regardless of Gwen's involvement with Robin, and I would hope that I would have found the strength to make that happen."

"So, do you think that I might have been enough of a reason to end your fake marriage?" Emma asked hesitantly. "I mean obviously not now, but eventually?"

Regina pulled Emma's hand that she was still holding to her chest, keeping it pressed against her heart. She grasped it tightly between both of her own hands, as if she was terrified to let go. She looked Emma in the eyes as she spoke: "The baby forced our hands into making this decision, yes, but if you and I continued to develop our relationship the way we have been thus far, then yes. Honestly, I would not be ready for that quite yet, because this is still so new. But, even before finding out about Gwen and Robin and even before learning the truth about my mother's involvement in planning this charade, I was sick of living like this. I don't like having to hide who I am, or hiding the people I care about, or pretending to be in love with someone I'm not, especially because I don't want to hurt you. I know this can't be easy on you… Robin and I have been so focused on how to protect me from a scandal since you arrived here, so we haven't really talked about how this affects you. And for that, I am sorry."

Emma shrugged. "I've only been here a week, so it hasn't really yet, especially since I haven't even come out to anyone else yet. But it probably would have gotten to me eventually. And then when I saw how quick you were to let Robin go to Gwen, though, it made me wonder..."

"If I would ever walk away from the carefully crafted lie I built for you?"

"Yeah."

Regina bent forward and kissed Emma's forehead, brushing away a tear she could see forming in the corner of her eye. "I'm sorry if you ever felt like you weren't enough of a reason, Emma. Part of the reason I was so quick to let Robin off the hook was because I know that I've been the main beneficiary in this marriage, so it's not fair for me to force Robin to stay if he wants out. But if Robin didn't want to split up, it wouldn't have been fair to you, either, to make you stay in the shadows and ask you to go along with this for the foreseeable future. I would like to think that I would have realized that sooner rather than later. I know it's not the same as a divorce, but I was already starting to think about how to change the terms of my contract at work if I renew at the end of this season, so that they don't own me, and I could start to gain control of my personal life again. I care so deeply for you, Emma, and I hope that I wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything that would push you away. You're not just some fling for me. I've never been someone who finds it easy to jump into a relationship, which is why I was single most of my adult life, and even why I agreed to marry Robin — I honestly never expected to find someone who I would want to be with, so I figured I wouldn't be giving up anything by playing house with him. But then you came along…"

It was Regina's turn to tear up, and Emma leaned into her, placing a feather-like kiss on the corner of her lips. "Thank you, Regina."

A/N: So, I would say that's quite a few giant steps forward, yeah? And Regina and Emma have finally had the conversation that has been the elephant in the room since they realized they were going to be seriously pursuing their relationship. Only one more chapter + an epilogue left!