A/N: So to make up for ending the last chapter where I did, here's a relatively quick update. I want to just mention here that Regina's issues of infertility [etc] will be mentioned in case you're sensitive to that sort of thing, but it's in the context of coming to terms with something that she had thought to be impossible, rather than her not wanting to have the baby or reliving past trauma. Imo, my mentions aren't any more graphic/explicit than what's in the show [I actually think they're considerably less so], but that isn't a trigger for me, so I wanted to err on the side of caution. Loved reading your thoughts and reactions to the last chapter btw

Disclaimer: still own nothing :( and haven't been pregnant/had kids yet, so please excuse any inaccuracies relating to that


Regina sat in her office, eyes closed and heart still pounding. She couldn't believe it. It shouldn't be possible. It wasn't possible, not at all. Not after what she did to herself, and not after trying with Robin. But these tests were as accurate as it got, weren't they? Still, she had to be sure before she really let herself believe it. So, she took several tests from the drug store. And then went in to the hospital to get tested again, but the results were the same. She was pregnant.

As she was at her desk, completely distracted from being able to do any work, Emma called.

'Hello?' she answered.

'Hey, so I was just calling to see if you got your results back yet?' Emma sounded nervous.

'No! I – not yet.' She added quietly. She didn't really believe it herself, and now she was having to tell other people about it? And not just people. Emma. Her closest friend and, she liked to think, something more than that now.

'Oh, well, I've been thinking about you. About what happened yesterday- well and you too.' Regina heard her laugh over the phone and smiled. Emma. 'And I just wanted to see how you were holding up.'

She wanted Emma to know, to talk to her about it, but was she going to tell her when she didn't know what was going on herself. 'Are you free for lunch?'

'I lied.' She blurted out as soon as Emma came in later that day.

'Huh?'

'About not having the results, I'm sorry, I just couldn't tell you over the phone. Whale called this morning.' Regina continued, not wanting to tell her and not wanting to lie at once.

'What is it?'

'It's - it's not what you think. It's not something bad, not to me. But – ' she took a moment to remember the concern in Emma's expression. She was someone Regina couldn't hide this news from. No matter how terrified and confused she was about this whole thing so far, Emma had always been there for her when she needed it. She might as well just say it. 'I'm pregnant.'

'What?' Emma almost laughed.

'I'm pregnant.' She repeated, less sure of herself after seeing Emma's face go completely slack.

'You're – you're-' Emma looked at her stomach, and Regina had to resist the urge to turn away. 'Really?'

She nodded. 'Whale told me yesterday morning. I went and got tests, then I made an appointment with an OB to test again. I'm going in for my prenatal appointment in a few hours. Or whatever it's called, I'm not quite sure. I'm still…'

'I kinda thought that you, you know, couldn't-'

'I can't. But I am.'

'Wow. You – you're not even showing.' Emma remarked, unable to resist looking at the woman's midriff.

'Not yet.'

'Do you know how far along you are?'

'No idea.'

'Oh. So you had no idea until you went in yesterday? How long have you been uh having symptoms?' Emma wondered, thinking of how long Regina might have been in this condition.

'I didn't even know I was. I've been lightheaded recently,-'

'How recently?'

'A few months.'

'Oh, what about morning sickness?'

'I've been a little nauseous sure, but that's been at all times, and it's more not wanting to eat anything than throwing up.'

'And you've been having cravings.' Emma remarked.

'Why would you think that?' she wondered how Emma could have possibly figured that one out.

'When was the last time you ate almost a pint of chocolate ice cream?' she asked, trying not to smirk.

'You offered it, and we shared it-' she protested it, and Emma didn't fight her on it.

'And morning sickness isn't just in the morning. With Henry I remember it was all the time.' Emma recalled, thinking back to not being able to keep anything down. She had assumed the quality of the prison food was responsible until finding out otherwise.

'I see.'

'You really had no idea?'

'No, I –' Regina was about to say how she was so sure, but something about discussing her sex life, or lack thereof, seemed odd when what she had with Emma was still so new. 'I don't. I've been so emotional, too, lately. It's almost a relief.'

'What do you mean?'

'To know that it isn't for no reason. That there's an explanation.'

'Oh.'

'Yes.'

'Uh- congratulations.' Emma smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Regina wished she knew what to say to the woman. 'Thank you.'

'Thank you for telling me.' Emma added awkwardly to fill the silence.

'You're the first person I've told, actually.' She admitted.

'Really?'

'Yes, and if you don't mind, I'd rather not have anyone else know for a while.'

'Sure, I get that, and don't worry, your secret's safe with me.' She smiled

'Thank you.'

'Is there – I don't know, anything you need, anything I can get for you?'

'Would you come with me?' she blurted out, and she instantly hated how desperate and needy she sounded. It was ridiculous. 'To the appointment? I know it's short notice, but, it would be nice to have someone else there, who has been through this before. I have no idea…' she trailed off and took a deep breath. She could feel her throat tightening, as it had several times already today, when she was feeling overwhelmed. This whole thing has come out of nowhere and she didn't know how to begin to handle it.

'Yeah, of course I'll go with you. It's been a while, but of course I'll go with you.'

'Thank you.'


The doctor's waiting room was nice. Or at least it was as nice as it could be. Regina really looked around when she was there for the second time that day. Earlier, she hadn't noticed much of anything she was so nervous. But now, she was slightly less nervous. There were posters of happy mothers and fathers, with pregnant bellies and smiling babies. Before long, she noticed Emma reading several pamphlets she had selected.

'Find some interesting reading?' Regina asked, having spent a good part of her day doing some reading of her own online.

'Actually, yeah. When I was pregnant with Henry, I had no idea about any of this stuff.'

'Really?'

Emma chuckled. 'I was in prison, after a life in and out of foster care and living in the back of my bug. All I knew about pregnancy was that if you don't wear a condom, nine months later, you might be in a delivery room. Everything else was a delightful surprise.' She said, not even looking up from a brochure about nutrition. 'Did you know you aren't supposed to eat pretty much any wild fish?'

'Mercury.' She shrugged.

'Huh. Not that I was at any risk of eating fresh fish in prison.' She chuckled.

Regina noticed Emma, really looked at how calm she seemed to be. Although the woman absolutely did take after her charming parents, Emma came through when it mattered. And right now, in the waiting room for her first pregnancy appointment that she never thought she would have, it mattered. And Emma was right there by her side.

'Regina Mills?' the nurse called and they both got up. 'Madame Mayor, good to see you again.'

'Please, Regina is fine.' She insisted. She certainly didn't feel like the mayor now.

'And Sheriff.' She said, though she was obviously not expecting the blonde. 'Welcome. Please, take the brochures with you, we encourage all expectant parents to stay as informed as they can be.'

Emma's eyes went wide, and she opened her mouth to say something, but before she could figure out what, the moment was gone and they were escorted to a waiting room.

'If you will make yourself comfortable, Regina, Dr. Cardenas will be in shortly.'

'Hey,' Emma said. 'It'll be ok.'

'You said that yesterday and now I'm pregnant.' She grumbled as she sat in the exam chair.

'And your baby is going to be fine. It is going to be ok.'

'We'll see.' She compromised. There was a part of her that still wasn't sure. That wouldn't be sure until she saw her baby on an ultrasound. And maybe not even then.

The door opened, 'Regina, good to see you again. Sheriff.' The doctor greeted, sounding surprised, 'Today we're going to go over your medical history, as much of it as we have, do an examination, and then do an ultra sound so you can maybe see your baby for the first time, make sure everything's healthy and get an estimate of how old they are. Now how are you feeling today?'

'I don't know. It's been a lot to take in.' she admitted. In one day her life had changed completely.

'And you mentioned this morning that you didn't think you could get pregnant.'

'That's correct. I – took a potion that made me infertile. In the Enchanted Forest, years before the curse. It was effective, until now.'

'I see. And do you know why it stopped working?'

She shook her head.

'That's alright. We'll just make sure that they're healthy.'

As the doctor talked with Regina about her health history, Emma began to think about the whole situation. She tried not to think about it during the appointment, but she couldn't help it, there were so many questions she had. How did she break whatever curse she put on herself? She seemed to be oblivious, how could she not know? Was it True Love's kiss with Robin somehow? If it was, why didn't she get pregnant with him? As these thoughts were swirling around her head, Emma tried to keep focused on why she was there, to support Regina. When the doctor examined her to make sure there was no bleeding or signs of distress from the fall, Emma sat by her and held her hand, though Regina seemed to tense at first. Before she knew it, the doctor told Regina she looked perfectly healthy and wheeled over a machine from the side of the room.

'Alright, if you'll just lean back, we'll do the ultrasound and see if we can get a look at your baby. Don't be worried if we can't find them, or if we can't hear a heartbeat. We can't always find them when they're younger so don't worry if we don't see anything until the next visit.' She said as she set up the machine and slathered the gel on Regina's flat stomach. When it was bare, Emma still couldn't see a bump.

'Oh.' Said when the doctor applied the gel.

'Yes, it's usually cold.' She moved the wand around and looked at the machine. It looked like nothing to Regina and Emma. 'Oh – look what we have here!' she said and centered a little blob on the center of the screen.

'Is that?' Regina asked breathlessly, looking at the little flickering blob. It looked more like a little wiggly bean than anything, but to her it was one of the most beautiful sights she had ever lay her eyes on.

'It is.' The doctor confirmed with a wide smile. 'That's your baby. There's the head right there, and the body, and the arms and legs.' She pointed with her other hand.

'My baby.' Regina said, and when she looked at the screen, it felt real for the first time since she found out the news. It really was there, it wasn't an error in the tests, there was her baby, on the screen.

'And it looks to be about 12-13 weeks along.'

'Three months?'

'Yes.'

'Wow, so in six months, you're going to have a baby?' Emma asked, not able to take her eyes away from the screen.

'Just about.' The doctor confirmed. 'And looks healthy, too, so far. Whatever curse you say you were under, it's gone now.'


Regina had invited herself over to her sister's for dinner that night. She needed to tell her also, but was having trouble finding the words. So she didn't. She was stilted through a delicious dinner, making small talk, but otherwise not hiding how distracted she was very well.

Finally, when they were about to do the dishes, Zelena had enough. 'Alright, now what's going on?' Zelena asked.

'What?'

'You've been too quiet all night after inviting yourself over which you never do the same day, and I know it's something to do with your little blackout, isn't it?'

'You're right, there is something that I need to tell you. When I went to the hospital, the doctor also found out that I was' she took a deep breath, 'that I am pregnant.'

'You're what?'

'I'm pregnant.'

'You're sure?'

'Saw the ultrasound this afternoon.' she took the picture out of her purse and showed it to her sister.

'Fantastic! Congratulations!' she practically screeched after taking a moment for the news to really set in, getting up and giving Regina an enthusiastic hug, holding her a little tighter than her sister would have preferred.

'Thank you.'

'You don't sound too happy about it?' she scoffed. 'The way you've been all night, I thought you were ill or something.'

'It's a lot to get used to. It's something I wanted for so long, but didn't think I could have. And now out of the blue, I bump my head and find out I'm three months pregnant.'

'Three months? You're going to start showing soon.'

'I know.'

'So how did you break the curse?'

'Huh?'

'The one you put on yourself, to keep you from-'

'I didn't.'

'Then how?'

'I have no idea.' She said truthfully, 'I was hoping that you might know something, or help me figure it out.'

'So you weren't trying to-'

'No! I haven't been dating anyone, and even if I was trying to conceive alone, I would have at least mentioned it.'

'So what happened?'

'I just said I don't know how I broke the magic.'

'No, I meant, who's the father?'

'Father.' She repeated. She had been so busy thinking about how impossible it was for her to get pregnant, she hadn't considered the other source of her child's DNA. 'I don't know.' she admitted quietly, sounding defeated.

'Oh-'

'No, not like that, I mean that I haven't done anything that could have got me pregnant since Robin. And certainly not three months ago.' She scoffed.

'Hmm. Well babies don't just come out of thin air.' She remarked.

'No they don't.' Regina agreed.

'You're sure-' she began again.

'Yes.'

'Alright. You haven't even done any magic that would explain-'

'Do you know how much work it takes to conceive a magical baby?'

'No, I don't.' she shrugged.

'It's quite a bit, and isn't anything accidental.' Regina hoped she would take her answer at face value, she really didn't feel like going into her past with a certain dragon who had entertained the notion more seriously than Regina would have liked.

'Not even with the sheriff?' she smirked.

'No.' she said pointedly. 'It's a complete and total surprise.'

'And with no idea who fathered the little bun in your oven?'

'No.'

'Alright, alright.' Zelena said, she knew that it would eventually come out. 'Tell me about your appointment.'

'The doctor was surprisingly helpful, and whatever we asked, she knew the answer.'

'We?'

'We – I meant to say I.' Regina lied, and her sister could see right through it, looking at her with raised eyebrows until she continued. 'I was nervous, and Emma was already in my office and she's been pregnant before, so I asked if she would go with me.'

'Right, because you don't have another family member who was pregnant more recently than 17 years ago and in prison.'

'Emma sped up your pregnancy, you didn't really experience the whole thing.'

'She did.'

'I don't know, I just-'

'Listen you don't have to explain anything to me. I want to be there for you, however you need me to be.'

'I wasn't very supportive of you.'

'It is a little different isn't it? Unless Hades is the father.' She teased.

Regina actually laughed. 'No, that I am sure of. There is something else I should probably tell you.'

'Other than a surprise pregnancy? Should I sit down?'

'It's about Emma.'

'What about your Savior?'

'We kissed. Twice.' Regina couldn't stop herself from smiling a little as she thought about it.

'After your dinner? I knew that dress would work.'

'And at my office the other day.'

'Oh! Finally.' She grinned, but then her face fell. 'Oh, and now you're pregnant.'

'That might put a damper on things.' Regina said. She didn't want to think about it, but it was the truth.

'I'm afraid it might.'

'Well she went with you to the appointment didn't she? That's a good sign.'

'Yes, but-'

'Does she know that there is no possible father?'

'It didn't come up.'

'Maybe you should have a talk about it, and while you're at it have an actual discussion about where you see things going.'

'That's just it – I wasn't sure before, and now with this – I just don't know.'

'I see, that might be a bit overwhelming. You don't have to call her now, just think about it, alright?'

'Alright.'

Zelena smiled. They were interrupted by the sound of chickens clucking. They were running frantically in their enclosure in the front yard. 'Huh, sounds like they're outside. That's not possible, I put them in right before you came over.'

'Well they're not in anymore.'

'Shit, it could be a dog or something.'

They both went out into the yard, the chickens were running around frantically, but there was not a predator in sight.

'I don't see anything.'

'Neither do I, what are they doing?'

'They're dumb animals, what do they know?' Regina said dismissively.

'They are not! They've never done something like this- they're so docile I don't know what would make them-' she stopped when she sensed it. A deep magic all around them surrounding them. 'Do you feel that?'

'Yes.' Regina looked around them to try and find the source, seeing no one.

'What is it?'

'I don't know, but I've felt it before.' Regina said just before winds swept up from around them, from the ground up toward the sky. By the time the women were able to hold their hair back to see there was a dark storm cloud swirling around above them, just them. A few more seconds was all it took for thunder to wrack the sky, lightening to strike a tree, and the heavens to open up above them, soaking them to their skin almost instantly.

About as soon as it happened, Regina apparated both women inside on instinct, forgetting that maybe she shouldn't do as much magic when she was pregnant.

'What the fuck was that?' Zelena asked after she magically dried them and changed them into clean clothes.

'I have no idea.' Regina went to the window and looked out to see that the storm appeared to be just above Zelena's property. 'Look, it's just over you, nothing else it doesn't look like.'

'Fantastic.' Zelena said sarcastically.

'And I should ask you, do you know whether it's safe to do magic when you're pregnant?'

'It's a magic baby Regina, it has to be, I think you're fine.'

'I don't know that's true-'

'I did with Robyn, I looked through all mother's books when I found out and there was nothing about witches suffering ill effects from doing magic while pregnant.'

That did comfort her some, but she wanted to be on the safe side.

'That was some powerful magic.' Zelena remarked

'It was, the same that I've sensed around recently. Do you recognize it?'

'Yes, I do, though I don't know its origin. I encountered it before, I don't remember in what realm, but I'll think about it.'

'Thank you.' Regina said and surveyed the torrential downpour. 'How long do you think it'll last?'

'Not sure, I magicked the chickens into the basement just in case.' Regina made a face, but didn't comment. 'I can clean up with the wave of my hand in the morning.'

'I think I should stay the night with you if you don't mind.'

'You don't think it dangerous, do you?'

'I don't know what to think, except that if something else happens, I'd rather two witches to look after my niece than one, even given my condition.'

'What about Henry?'

'He's at Emma's tonight.'

The sisters stayed up through the storm, drinking hot chocolate, which Regina craved all of the sudden, and talking about Zelena's brief pregnancy, as well as what she knew about it generally. Which ended up being quite a bit. She had pretended to be a midwife when she came to this realm, after all.