A/N- This chapter was slightly super long so I broke it in two. Also, the next one is likely to be the last so if there's anything you want to see included before this story concludes, let me know :)

Hope you all enjoy!


Autumn and Winter always hit Maine hard, and November brought with it a harsh wind that had residents of Storybrooke hunching nearly in half as they hurried along the road. The wind whipped stray papers from the gutters, making them dance down the road. It invaded every open nook and cranny. The wind forced each shutter closed and each door to be bolted tight.

It was nothing new in the small town, but Regina could feel that this winter would be different.

Up until today, everything had just been crossed fingers, hoping, and dreaming. Quiet prayers muttered in the dark where it wouldn't hurt as much if they didn't come true. It was a long and stressful process, they had nearly given up, yet with each other for strength they kept going. But today, after four grating months, everything finally became real.

It was with that knowledge in mind that Regina went about her preparations for the following day. When Regina bent over the open oven to check on the state of her baking pies, she knew her wife must have arrived home as a cold wind swept through her kitchen, playing with the bottom of her apron, and making the tips of her hair stir against her cheeks.

Sure enough, shortly after the door clicked shut and the wind died out in the house, Emma stomped into the kitchen. Her cheeks were a bright pink from the harsh gusts of wind that had assaulted her on the short walk from her bug to the door, and her hair was a mess beneath her knit wool cap.

She slumped down into a seat in a manner so ungraceful, it had to have taken effort. Dropping her head into her hands, she let out a dramatic sigh. Even the blonde's theatrics couldn't take away from the excitement practically getting ready to burst out of Regina, but she restrained herself.

"How was your day, dear?" Regina asked, leaning on her hands on the edge of the counter to regard the mess of blonde hair that was her wife.

Emma sat up properly, though refusing to remove her ridiculous hat, "It was quite possibly the longest day before a vacation ever." She mumbled, "Snow has been insufferable since she entered the third trimester."

Regina merely nodded in agreement, the teacher was normally just a passing annoyance, but during these final few weeks of her pregnancy, she had been something else entirely.

"She stopped by the station four times today!" Emma threw her hands up in exasperation, standing from her seat and beginning to make her way towards the fridge, "I know she's my mother and I should be supportive and all that, but seriously, four times in one day! God I need a drink. Do you want anything, Gina?"

A small smile crossed the brunette's face as she watched the wool hat slip precariously to the side of Emma's head, "No, thank you."

Emma popped out of the fridge a moment to regard her wife, "I know that you've got this massive Thanksgiving feast planned for tomorrow, but I'm sure one drink won't throw you off schedule." She teased lightly. Regina had taken the day off work to begin her dinner preparations.

"It's not the dinner I'm concerned about."

Emma didn't get is as she rummaged through the fridge some more, throwing over her shoulder, "If this is another one of your anti-beer moods where you lecture me about how you're not drinking that 'crap I dare call alcohol' I can run to your study and get you some cider."

The mayor shook her head though Emma couldn't see it from her position halfway in the fridge, "It's not about beer, Emma."

The blonde chuckled to herself before emerging triumphantly with a beery clutched in one hand, "Then take a break, and have a drink with me. We can cuddle on the couch, I'll only feel you up a little bit." She joked. The laugh fell off her lips, however, as she saw Regina looking at her with a meaningful stare.

"Emma, I can't have a drink with you."

Realization finally seemed to click as the sheriff's eyes widened almost comically, "You can't have a drink."

"There it is."

"Are you sure?"

Regina bit her lip slightly as she nodded in confirmation, "I thought something was different a week ago, but I'm finally sure. It worked."

Emma's reaction was instantaneous, and before she knew what was happening, Regina was engulfed in a tight hug, Emma's arms encircling her protectively. When they pulled back slightly, a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob escaped Emma's lips as tears welled in the corners of her eyes and a wide grin split her face.

"You're pregnant." Emma almost whispered, as if she was afraid saying it aloud would shatter the moment.

"We're pregnant." Regina corrected, cupping Emma's cheeks and using her thumbs to brush away the tears that were escaping down the blonde's face.

They basked in their happiness before the gears turned into high power in Emma's mind, "Should you be on your feet so much like this? You should rest, let's go sit down."

She managed to half drag, half lead Regina all of two feet before the brunette lightly tugged her arm back, causing her wife to halt, "Emma, I'm fine. I just can't do anything too strenuous and should probably avoid doing any more magic for a while."

Emma nodded, smiling at the irony in that statement. It had taken so much magic from the both of them to get to the point where they were now, "Right." She couldn't even attempt to downplay the wide smile that stretched her face. The blonde hugged her wife again, "I love you, so much."

"I love you too." Regina grinned into the sheriff's hair.


Emma trailed Regina into the kitchen, leaning against the door frame to watch with a soft smile as the brunette reached into the oven to remove the tamales. Emma was around the island in a second, standing with her hands out like she should be doing something.

"I should have gotten that." She said with a trademark goofy grin, "You shouldn't be lifting heavy things."

Regina barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "I'm pregnant Emma, not disabled. And I'm hardly more than a few weeks along, I can manage to take a pan out of the oven on my own."

"Right." Emma's grin didn't lessen any as she stepped forwards to trap Regina against the counter. The position was reminiscent of one months ago just before they came clean about their relationship to Mary- Margaret, "I'm just so excited for this." She splayed one hand over Regina's still flat stomach, "We're going to have a baby together."

At that, Regina couldn't contain her little chuckle, "You do remember that we already have a son, right?"

"Henry's more like a pet wolf at this age. He comes home, eats half the fridge, and we see him for an hour before bed if we're lucky."

"Well don't forget to take him for a walk tonight." Regina joked. She pressed a chaste kiss to her wife's lips before slipping out of her hold, "Now help me plate these tamales."

Emma obediently retrieved a platter and a serving spoon, handing them both over to Regina, "When are we going to tell Mary- Margaret?"

The mayor kept her face impassive as she played dumb, "That the tamales are ready? I think she'll be able to figure it out for herself when we walk back in there with them."

Emma harrumphed in playful annoyance before putting on her best puppy dog eyes and rubbing one hand gently over the small of Regina's back, "You know that's not what I was talking about." She watched her wife's face distort in a thinly veiled distaste, "I'm just so happy, I want to tell everyone."

"I know. It's just-" Regina couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. She instead focused her attention on transferring her tamales from the pan to the serving platter.

Emma observed the stiffness in Regina's posture and understood, "You're afraid."

"Can you blame me?" Regina was on the verge of tears when she met Emma's concerned emerald gaze, "What if something happens? It took so long to get to this point, I just get this feeling that I'm going to mess it up somehow. There's so many things that could happen and I can't help but think that the more people that know, the more that can go wrong."

It broke Emma's heart to know that Regina felt that way, but she could understand it, "You're not going to mess anything up, you're going to be amazing. But if that's how you feel, we won't tell anyone until you're ready."

"Thank you." Regina managed to keep her voice from cracking, but couldn't do much more than that.

Emma fondly stroked her wife's cheek, Regina let herself nuzzle into the warm touch, "I love you, so much."

"Love you too."

Regina smiled and they stood for a moment, savoring the warmth of each other and the kitchen. A loud eruption of laughter from the dining room brought them back to the present, and Regina stepped back, grabbing the platter of tamales and bringing it out of the kitchen, Emma trailing dutifully.

She set the plate down, and took her seat. Mary- Margaret was quick to notice the slight redness rimming Regina's eyes, since her pregnancy, she had become far more sensitive to other's emotions as well as her own. Henry was entirely oblivious as he was totally captivated by the food, he smiled at the addition to the table, "Are these your special tamales with three types of peppers?"

"And the special sauce." Regina confirmed.

The boy happily scooped one out onto his plate with a wide smile, "Awesome."

David looked at the dish skeptically, "I wasn't aware tamales were typical Thanksgiving dinner foods."

"They are in this house." Regina shot back.

"They're not even American."

"Neither are you."

Emma watched the exchange with mild amusement, Henry too absorbed in his food to notice.

"I was just saying-"

Regina rolled her eyes, David still hadn't gotten over the whole 'daughter married to the Evil Queen' thing, and he still clashed with the woman at every possible opportunity, "Don't even try and play the patriotic card on me Charming, your native land is a farm in the Enchanted Forest."

"And yours is where exactly? A tiny village on the outskirts of the kingdom?"

Emma, though thoroughly amused by the exchange, was at the end of her rope with their bickering, "Hey it's a holiday, aren't families supposed to drink too much, fight over meaningless politics, and bring up embarrassing memories?"

"Well, dear, in the Enchanted Forest, there were two political parties- the white kingdom and my kingdom so believe me, we are arguing politics. As for embarrassing stories, any recounting of your father's upbringing would make most men blush."

David opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Emma who had to make an effort not to laugh at her wife's statement as she laced their hands together under the table and tried a new approach, "So how's your class this year M&M?"

The brunette shook her head at the nickname, but replied anyway, "Great, the kids made hand turkeys and we hung them on the window yesterday."

A phone ringing in Regina's office drew the brunette up, Emma put a hand on her wife's arm to stop her, "Really, Gina, on the holiday?"

"It might be an emergency, I promise I won't take more than ten minutes."

"Alright."

True to her word, ten minutes later, Regina emerged from her office with a grim look on her face, "I need to run to the office really quickly and deal with something."

She was already walking through the kitchen to the front hall to get her coat and her boots, Emma was right on her heels.

"Do you have to?" Emma's pout was nothing short of adorable, but Regina was immune.

"There's a bad storm coming and I have to get the information on all the backup generators so that the town is prepared just in case."

"But Gina."

"No buts." She felt like she was talking to her son instead of her wife, "I'll be right back."

"I'll come with you." Mary- Margaret said, coming out of the dining room and grabbing her coat as well.

"No way preggers, I don't need you giving birth in my office."

"The baby is being restless and he seems to like car rides."

"Fine, but you had better not throw up in my Benz."


Regina stomped into the elevator, still unhappy that Mary- Margaret had insisted on joining her on the short trip to city hall. She jabbed the button for the proper floor and tapped her foot impatiently as the lift began its ascent.

"Listen, Regina, I-"

"Look Tubbers." The mayor whirled around to fix the younger brunette with a hard glare, "I don't know what your thing is with trapping me in enclosed spaces so you can pour your heart out, but I have no interest in whatever touchy-feely speech your pregnancy addled brain has cooked up." Regina knew she was horribly hypocritical for constantly bashing Mary- Margaret's pregnancy, but her own was distracting her from her usual higher quality of insult.

Mary- Margaret opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off as the elevator shuddered to a harsh stop. The lights flickered briefly before shutting off completely.

"What the hell?" Regina hissed in annoyance, slapping her palm ineffectually against the metal doors of the elevator as if they would spring open at her touch.

"What happened." Mary- Margaret's voice was small and scared from where she was scrunched in the corner.

"It would appear as though the storm knocked out the power." Regina snipped.

"So we're stuck here."

There was the distinct sound of quick breaths and regina swore she could hear the teacher's heart beat speed up, "Don't tell me you're suddenly claustrophobic."

"I'm not claustrophobic!" The young woman defended quickly, "I just don't like tight enclosed spaces."

Regina rolled her eyes though the gesture was lost in the darkness. They were silent a moment before the lift shuddered and dropped a couple of screeching inches. Snow released a small whimper and Regina could hear the younger woman began hyperventilating. She internally groaned in annoyance and began feeling her way along the wall of the elevator until her foot nudged what must be Snow huddled in the corner. Regina slid down the wall to sit beside the heavily pregnant woman and cautiously stroked her arm in reassurance.

"We just have to wait for Emma or David to realize we're missing and they will come and get us out." When the teacher showed no sign of calming down, Regina sighed, "Ok can you just take a deep breath, and we'll make it out of here. It's not that bad."

"Regina, I don't think I can wait for them to realize we're missing."

"What is it now?"

"My water just broke."

Immediately, the mayor was on her feet again, "Seriously?"

"No Regina, I thought it would be funny to fake labor while I'm stuck on an elevator with you with no electricity!"

"There's no need for you to take that tone with me."

Before Snow could fire back, she doubled over in pain as a contraction rolled through her, "Oh my god, I'm going to give birth in a dark elevator, on Thanksgiving with nobody but you to help me through. I need David, we practiced our breathing." Mary- Margaret's words were rushing out quickly, blending together.

"How about this, you keep breathing and everything will be fine."

"I can't do this, I need David."

Regina sighed, and conjured a ball of light in her palm, tossing it up gently so it hovered in the middle of the elevator, "There, now you aren't going to give birth in the dark."

The mayor blinked against the light as she took in Mary- Margaret sitting against the wall of the elevator. Neither said anything for a moment until something flashed in the teacher's eyes, "Wait, you have magic."

"Astute observation."

"You can poof us out of here."

"First of all, I do not poof, I transport." Regina lectured for not the first time, "And second of all, I can't get us out of here."

"Why not." The younger brunette demanded, clenching her fists as another contraction passed.

Regina crossed her arms protectively over her chest, "I could do the light because that's hardly a step above parlor magic, but I can't do anything more."

"You're one of the most powerful magical beings in any realm and you can't get us out of this damn elevator?" Mary Margaret hauled herself to her feet and stood toe to toe with the mayor, practically shouting, her voice reverberated in the small space.

"I can't do that kind of magic right now!"

"Why the hell not?"

Regina was getting flustered, not something she was used to. She couldn't control her slip up, "Because of the baby!"

The younger woman misunderstood, "You can transport us out of here, the baby's not born yet. It's just a few extra pounds!"

At this point, Regina moved past flustered to pissed, "It's not your Charming spawn that I'm concerned with."

"Then what baby-" Mary- Margaret stopped herself as her eyes widened upon recognition, her eyes darting down to Regina's stomach to look for confirmation. The subconscious protective hand that the mayor had pressed to her still flat abdomen was confirmation enough, "You have got to be kidding me."

"Emma wanted to tell you-"

"You have got to be kidding me."

"I know this is probably not what you were expecting-"

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Snow yelled, the vein in her forehead bulged dangerously and for a moment, Regina was afraid that it might burst.

Regina huffed and rubbed her temple, "Are you going to say anything else?"

"What do you want me to say, Regina?" Mary- Margaret asked rhetorically, "I'm in labor, we're trapped, and your pregnant with my grandchild!"

Regina dropped her gaze to the floor, slightly defeated. "Good point." She muttered to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Mary- Margaret grabbed the railing for support as another contraction tensed her body, "Oh, Gods. Regina!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Anything, distract me."


A/N- Thank you all for your warm reviews, keep those coming :).

Also, in response to Leolaws- not to worry, I researched that last chapter before I wrote it (as odd as it sounds that you can research for a sex scene, but I did...) and yes it is possible as the cervix may be located 3-6 inches back from one's opening and when one is not ovulating it is 'lower'. This anatomy lesson was brought to you by wikipedia :).

In other news, I hope you're all having a good weekend. Let me know what you thought of that chapter.