Chapter 12: Delusional pregnancy.
Regina's visits to the prison were constant now, every visitation day she would be there first thing in the morning and even though her relationship with the blonde had improved, when she looked at the blonde she could still find fear in her eyes that she would suddenly disappear.
They talked about everything in the visitations, from old tales of the enchanted forest to the boring life of her peasants in Storybrooke, Emma would even tell her about her life in the system, but there was a subject the blonde avoided like the plague, the baby, there was no possible method Regina could use to make the blonde discuss her decision about the baby, which to the date she still ignored completely.
However Regina was pleased that now, she could at least connect all the missing pieces she hadn't been able to made out of her "mirror creepy stalking", as the blonde called the brunette's magic mirror spying pastime, the blonde was not wrong about that name though, the brunette had indeed felt like a creep in countless occasions when she would catch the blonde doing things she certainly shouldn't be watching, but still watched somehow as a punishment or so she wanted to convince herself, many of those where in the rear mirror of Emma's car when she was in that unhealthy relationship with that guy named Neal and other few before that when the blonde was some years younger, experimenting her sexuality in whatever filthy gas station bathroom she found with her hookup of the moment. Emma of course didn't know this, nor did she imagine Regina could identify perfectly, about every sexual partner she had ever had, including that girl Regina didn't stand named Lily, who had been probably Emma's first when the blonde as if it was by magic ended up in that fancy looking living room at age sixteen. Emma could never know about this for the simple reason that not only Regina had watched it all, but also because even when she tried to deny it, she had in a weird way enjoyed watching it almost as much as she had hated it, she had always envied Emma's partners in the sickest way she could imagine, she wanted to be in their place, she wanted to be Emma's only source of pleasure and it killed her not being able to be. It was sick and perverted and she had made a deal with herself to make it remain a secret for as long as the blonde wanted to be in her life.
...
Even though Emma's decision was still unknown to her, Regina's hotel room now resembled more to a baby shop than it did to an actual bedroom, baby shopping had become her favorite activity to do in the past seven months, Ryan her taxi driver just looked at her like she was crazy every time she called him for a new ride to the baby store.
"I liked better when our rides ended up in a sexshop," he said one day.
"No kidding," Regina replied with irony.
"Everyone would look at me like I was the lucky guy with the sexy lady, now I'm the father of the delusional seven months pregnant sexy lady."
"Like you had any chance with me at all Ryan," Regina rolled her eyes and pushed her shopping cart through the clothing aisle, "now this is a perfect onesie," Regina squealed taking the little garment in her hands.
"Feed me, you peasants," Ryan read, "your imaginary baby is a prince or what?"
"He or she could very well be royalty," she glared at the man putting the onesie in the cart, "and the baby is not imaginary!"
After hours of shopping Regina went back to the hotel, she had been offered a storage for all the things she had been stacking in her bedroom all this months, but she didn't accepted because she just loved the idea of Emma's baby in the crib that was placed in front of her bed, or the million onesies she had in her wardrobe, dressing the baby's tiny body, she just enjoyed too much of this little fantasies, as to let them take all that away from her and into some filthy storage.
She headed to the bar when her phone started ringing, it was a collect call from Emma's prison.
"Emma what's wrong?" Emma hadn't called her even one single time, since she gave her her number and assured her she could call anytime she wanted, so she was sure something had happened if Emma was calling her.
"The baby is coming," Emma answered through greeted teeth, " Regina they'll have me here until my contractions are more often but I'm scared, please tell me you'll be there, they won't tell me what hospital they'll take me, but I need you," Emma pleaded and Regina's heart just melted.
"I'll be there baby girl, don't worry," she assured.
"Promise."
"I promise Emma, I'll be there," she said before she heard Emma's heavy panting and the grunting of her next contraction, the line died after that.
She run back to her room to pick up everything the baby could need, while having a rapid discussion with Mr. Gold over her phone. When Ryan picked her up in the entrance of the hotel, Gold was already calling her with the information she needed, plus the assurance that she would be allowed to be in the room with Emma, which was rare, if not impossible for prisoners and would cost her a high price when she went back to Storybrooke.
...
The pain was excruciating with every new contraction, the doctor's commands were lost in her foggy mind and the only thing that she could concentrate in was Regina's hand holding her own, the brunette tried to tell her what to do and how to breathe, but she honestly couldn't not make any sense out of anything she was saying, there was only pain, worrying faces and Regina's hand.
She didn't know exactly how she managed to bare the arduous labor but when it was finally over, a feel of relief flooded her chest instantly, although that new found comfort didn't last too long.
"It's a boy Emma," the doctor said holding the little bundle in his arms, "Emma?" He demanded a response she was not prepared to give, so she simply shook her head and looked away from him and away from Regina's also demanding eyes.
She could hear the mumbling voice of the nurse communicating her decision to the doctor, she also felt the exact moment realization hit Regina in her face, as she let go of her hand and asked the doctor with shaky voice, to let her at least hold him one last time.
The indescriptible feel of loss she felt after Regina retreated her warm hand from hers, was the nearly impossible to ignore pull that made her look to the brunette after fighting for some painful seconds to avoid it, but seeing Regina's look of amazement as she held the baby and hearing her making adorable cooing sounds as she rocked on her feet back and forth, was everything she needed to change her mind, Emma looked at the doctor, panic all over her face, afraid that it was to late to change her decision. She opened her mouth, ready to plead if needed.
"Emma, just so you know you can change your mind," the doctor told her as if he could read her mind and Regina finally lifted her hypnotized eyes from her baby, with her face full of expectation waiting for her answer and Emma just understood in that moment, that Regina was back in her life for good and would never abandon her again, unless she asked her to and she had as much resolve to let the brunette slip from her life again, as she had now to let them take her son away from her.
"Yes, please, I want to keep him," Emma breathed out, relieved that she didn't manage to ruin this one thing in her life.
"You do? Emma are we gonna keep him?" Regina asked her with the biggest smile she had seen upon her face.
"Yes I do and as long as you wanna be in our life, we are," Emma smiled back.
"Did you hear that little prince? You're coming home with me and mommy will come home to us soon enough," Regina talked softly to the baby.
"Can I hold him?" Emma asked and before she could even finish that phrase Regina was already placing the baby in her arms.
The nurse came in after some minutes to take the baby to the nursery, since Emma was going to be cuffed to the bed again and the prisoners were rarely allowed to have some time with their babies, she had been told about this, many times by her counselor and since she was resolved to give the baby up she didn't care that much at the moment, but now as the nurse took him from her arms she felt like they were ripping a piece of her heart apart.
"Do you have a name?" The woman asked her while placing a tiny hospital bracelet around his wrist.
"Henry Daniel," Emma replied.
"Emma?" Regina choked out, tears already threatening to fall from her eyes, "Are you naming him after my father?"
"And Daniel, yes, they were kind and fair and they always took well care of you, as I know you will now take good care of him," The blonde explained, "Do you hate it?"
"Of course not Emma, I love it!" The woman said and the tears finally slid down her cheeks, she kissed Emma's forehead trying to express how happy and blessed she felt in that moment, for finally gaining her trust back.
The guard made Regina leave the room after the baby was taken to the nursery and she promised Emma she would take good care of Henry and would go visit her as soon as it was the next visitation day at the prison. However Emma made her promise she wouldn't bring Henry with her because she didn't want him to see her in that situation.
...
Leaving Emma all by her own was heartbreaking, she couldn't express with words, what she would give for some of her magic in that moment, to take Emma and Henry with her, back home where they all belonged, together. She glared at the guard as she shook the woman's grasp from her upper arm and headed to the nursery to make sure Henry was being taken care of.
Henry was a healthy little boy and as soon as he completed two days in the nursery he was discharged, Regina was given instructions on how to feed him with formula since she was not the birth mother and essential baby care information before she was left all by her own with the baby. Emma had been moved to the prison pregnancy ward before that and from there she made sure Regina was registered as Henry's temporary guardian until she was released from prison, so Henry didn't end up in the foster care system for her mistake of not taking the right decision in time.
Back in the hotel everyone greeted Regina with the little boy, she was well known now in the place by many of the workers there and many of them despite of her rather explosive temper, were quite fond of her crazy baby obsessed being from the last months, which made Regina feel awkward, not used to have people demonstrate affection towards her. other than her long deceased and her Daniel, some of them made sure she had everything she needed as they escorted her and Henry up to her room, Roni among them making sassy remarks on how she was not crazy after all with all this baby stuff she had been bringing to her bar for so long now, apart from that one night that they didn't mention anymore, both of them were somehow fond of each other now and used to tease each other with sassy remarks and sarcastic comments.
Regina thanked all of them for their concern and they all left except for Roni who was helping her move the crib closer to the bed, Henry started crying in her arms and she suddenly was hit by the uncertainty of wether she was ready to do this or not, but she had to, she needed to be, for Emma and for Henry.
"How are you planning to heat the bottle for the baby?" Roni asked her and Regina looked around the room with a panic expression, realizing she didn't have a stove in the room, she never needed one before, after all she was most of the time out of the hotel or neglecting her meals as to notice that little detail, how she never gave that a thought, was beyond her knowledge and what she was going to do when the baby started crying at 3:00 am in the morning was a mystery that made her heart beat fast and her breathing go uneven, "Hey, it's okay you can warmth it under the running water, come with me I'll show you," Roni told her and Regina followed her to the bathroom with the crying baby in her arms. The woman turned on the sink and let the hot water run placing one of the bottles she found on the baby bag under it, "see? Everything is gonna be alrite mate."
"Slaying the language as usual, are we?" Regina remarked and Roni gave her a smirk knowing the woman was too proud as to thank her for basically sparing her of what could have very well be a huge new mom panic attack.
"I'm sorry mommy, I've been a bad girl," Roni said mockingly handing the warm bottle to the woman.
"Shut up Roni," Regina rolled her eyes and started feeding Henry, who automatically stopped crying.
"Are you gonna be alright though?" The bartender asked her seriously this time .
"Yes, I think I'm gonna be fine, we are gonna do just fine right Henry?"
"How's Emma?" Roni was the only person she had talked in detail about the blonde with, as far as she could, avoiding all the fairytale details and magic mirrors, of course.
"I don't think she's doing so fine, but she'll get through it, we all will," Regina said sadly remembering how heartbroken Emma sounded when they took Henry from her and then forced Regina to leave her side as well.
"I'm sure of that," Roni smiled, remembering when she met Regina for the first time and how far she had gotten from that alcoholic wreck she was in that moment, to the woman now in front of her holding that baby, it was all thanks to that girl. Regina didn't seem to notice but Roni knew she was utterly in love with that Emma Swan she didn't stop talking about, " I gotta go now, but if you need anything I'm just one dialing away, call me anytime." She offered and left the room.
"It's just you and me for now little Prince," Regina whispered kissing his cheek.
...
