She was surprised, to say the least, when she got a call from Snow.

Regina frowned, her mind supplying more than enough reasons for Snow to call.

"Let's have lunch," Snow said as a greeting and then took a deep breath. "I really think it would do us some good to spend some time together outside of the office."

For a moment, all she could think was that there was something wrong, but she shook her head and pushed away that thought. Snow had really been trying to become more friendly, and all she could do was reciprocate that. "Alright. Lunch sounds great."

Snow sighed in relief. "Great. I'll come pick you up from the office at noon."

"Oh, I'm not at the office today—I decided to start working from home on Friday's," Regina replied as she leaned back in her office chair.

It wasn't a lie-persay. She actually had just today decided she would want to be home more when the baby came, and she wanted to get used to working from home again. She'd done it more often than not when Henry was still a baby—but things back then were a whole lot easier.

"Since when?" Snow asked incredulously and Regina rolled her eyes.

"Since this morning. I want to be home more when the baby comes, and I did it with Henry," she explained. She then sighed and rubbed her forehead. "But that was all before the curse was broken and you all started needing more from me."

"So what, Storybrooke is just going to be without mayor on Friday's now?"

"Okay, no. Let's talk about this during lunch, which you just invited me to. I have a strong urge to decline now that I still can," Regina murmured the last part.

Snow ignored it. "You're right. This is something we should discuss over lunch. I'll pick you up from home, then."

"I can still get myself to wherever you want to go," Regina snapped, before she sucked in a breath. "Excuse me. I didn't—what I mean to say is, why don't you tell me where you want to go and I'll meet you there. I'll need to do some shopping after, so it'll be easier to take my own car." She gritted her teeth as her jaw cramped from the sweetness of her voice.

"Okay, I was thinking that little Italian place—the only Italian place." Snow was silent for a second and then huffed. "But you don't eat pasta so maybe we could go to Granny's."

"The Italian place sounds great, actually," Regina replied quickly. "I've been craving pasta and it's been four months since I last had some."

Sure, she had made it a couple of times because Emma had wanted more pasta, but Snow didn't have to know that. She also didn't have to know that pasta was one of the cravings she didn't give in to every second she wanted to.

"That's a surprise." Snow hummed and Regina clenched her jaw. It felt like the other woman was just itching for a fight.

"Do you want lunch, or not? Because right now, you are making me wish I didn't have to."

"I'll see you there at noon."

"See you there."

Regina leaned back, her fingers laced together over her stomach and sighed.

Snow really did still know how to get on her nerves, but now that she was seeing Emma, she didn't want to start anything with her.

She hadn't wanted to start anything for a while, and that was regardless of her relationship status. She was very proud of herself.

She stood to her feet and looked down at what she was wearing.

She would never admit it, but because she was working from home, and Emma had left more clothes even though they hadn't talked about their living situations yet, she was wearing a pair of Emma's casual jogging pants. They were more comfortable than anything she owned.

Her hand moved over her belly without conscious thought and she pulled on the waistband of the pants before she sighed. She really wouldn't like it if people saw her dressed like this.

It was already late-she only had about an hour to get ready. She also realized that she was more hungry than she had noticed before Snow had called. She would've had to eat soon anyway, and why not go for the one thing she usually told herself not to eat?

While she was getting dressed, she called Emma, because she didn't want her to come home and find it empty, without knowing where she was. She had kept some of the habits she'd had during her first marriage after all, she realized.

"Hey, Regina. What's up?" Emma greeted, her voice light and airy.

"Your mother invited me for lunch."

"Oh," Emma hummed, and suddenly her voice wasn't as light. "That's cool. Thank you for telling me—I appreciate it."

"Emma," Regina breathed, her chest constricting at the hidden pain that she heard. "I don't know what's going on with her, but I will find out. You'll hear about it later."

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Regina rolled her eyes, because of course Emma wasn't fine. "I can't wait to hear what issues she wants to talk about now."

"Why don't you come along? She was worried about the town when I told her I was working from home more, maybe you could help make her see that it's really not going to change anything."

Emma laughed softly. "I think you can handle that perfectly fine on your own. Regina, don't worry about me so much. I'm fine—I was the one that told them to give me space, I didn't say anything about you."

Regina clenched her jaw and shook her head—it felt like betrayal. She didn't know why she felt so strongly about this, but she wished she'd said no to Snow.

"I can still cancel," she said. "I'm not really in the mood anyway and she was itching for a fight—I don't want to be that person for her anymore."

"She's not going to start a fight just for the heck of it though, so don't worry. Have fun—you work together and you've gotten closer, right?"

Regina knew that Emma was doing her best, but the pain was still very evident in her voice and all she wanted to do was magic herself over and hug her for a quick second.

But she didn't.

"You're right," she sighed. "I don't like it, but you're right and I should do this, even if it's just to keep working on this—work situation."

Emma hummed in agreement. "So anyway, was that why you called?"

Regina narrowed her eyes. "Yes."

"Okay—well, I'm glad I could help, I just have tons of paperwork to do. I don't want to have to come back in tomorrow," Emma said. "Have fun."

Regina knew a brush off, she was very skilled at it. Emma, however, wasn't.

"I'll see you tonight," Regina said, her annoyance suddenly showing its ugly head. She gritted her teeth and then sighed. "You know this isn't my favorite way of spending lunch either, right?"

"Right. See you tonight."

—SQ—

She was still frustrated as she took her seat opposite of Snow. It had been a while since she'd been in the middle of something that wasn't her own doing—she didn't like it one bit.

"I have to be honest, I thought you'd bring Emma with you," Snow said instead of a greeting and then looked down at her menu.

Regina lifted a brow, her face already tight with the fake smile she was forcing. "Of course not, she's at work."

"And so should you be," Snow murmured but then plastered a smile on her face before Regina could reply to that. "So you've decided you want to spend more time at home?"

Regina hummed as she subconsciously rubbed her belly and watched Snow watch her.

"Indeed. I want more time with the baby, and the town practically runs itself most times," she replied neutrally. She kept an eye on Snow for a moment, seeing a lot of emotions cross her face.

"There were times that I had to go into the office during the weekends—stay long days, too," Snow said. She frowned, her eyes sparkling with all her prejudices. "Are you using magic to get everything perfect? Have you been—"

Regina cleared her throat, anger rushing through her veins and her face heating up. The vein on her forehead throbbed angrily.

"Stop right there." She took a deep breath to calm down, and then another. "I promised Henry that I wouldn't use magic unless it was absolutely necessary—you have heard about this. You know I will never break a promise to my son. Never—and still, you have the gall to accuse me of using magic?"

Snow huffed. "It just doesn't seem plausible that you're going to work less, especially because we've had to work together for months to get through all the paperwork."

"I think we should call it a day," Regina gritted out. She moved her chair away from the table. "I don't need your judgement or opinion on this—my mind has been made up."

Snow widened her eyes, and then pursed her lips and shook her head. "No, you're right. Don't—stay, please? You're right, it's not my place."

Regina clenched her hands into fists and counted to ten in her head, and then again, before she was able to look back at Snow and incline her head.

"You'll find that it's perfectly okay for me to work from home one day a week—like I said, the town has a way of running itself and I'm still going to be available for any emergency that may arise."

Snow hummed, but decided wisely to keep it at that and looked over her menu.

Regina on the other hand did her best to calm herself, her heart still thumping hard in her chest. She silently took a glance at the menu.

It didn't take long for a waiter to come and take their orders, and they sat silently as they waited. Regina had a feeling that whatever the reason was that Snow had invited her for, it would only make the situation worse.

So she wasn't in a rush to find out.

It was after their food arrived that Snow seemed to have found the words she wanted to say.

"I don't know how to give Emma what she needs," she said softly and Regina took a quick bite of her spaghetti. "She's been so distant lately and all I'm trying to do is show her we love her."

Regina cleared her throat after she swallowed.

"What you've been doing is smothering her with your special brand of love." She blinked when there was a flash of anger in Snow's eyes, but soon it was replaced by confusion. "I told you before, that you need to let her go in order for her to want to be around you."

"How did you get her to forgive you?"

Regina sucked in a breath, her nostrils flaring. "What?"

"You did horrible things in the past and she forgave you—why can't she forgive us for whatever she thinks we did wrong? Why can't she just let us in like she let you in?" Snow asked and Regina leaned back in her chair.

She was practically seeing red—Snow's red blood—as she let the words sink in and she clenched her hand again, placing one of her fists against her stomach.

"I know you didn't just ask me that," She gritted out. "I know you didn't just rub my past in my face again just to compare your pathetic situation with the relationship I'm building with Emma."

Snow frowned. "That's not what I'm doing—I'm just asking how you got her to forgive you. I mean," she shrugged, and then gestured toward Regina with her fork. "You were the one that separated her from us."

Regina took a shaky breath, and then another before she realized she was hurt, and not angry. She was hurt because she thought that they'd passed the blame game and had gotten over everything that had happened—or at least were working toward it.

"Be quiet," she snapped. "I worked hard to gain forgiveness and I know that it's hard for you to understand, but what you're doing isn't doing anyone any good. I am done being pulled in the middle of your trouble with your kids—and I'm tired of being accused of separating you when you could have kept her with you."

"But—"

Regina shook her head and stood to her feet.

"I'm done, Snow. I have been done fighting for a while now, but I'm done taking your abuse whether you mean it or not." She sighed, her throat tightening on the tears before she pulled a couple of bills out of her wallet and put them on the table. "Emma would want you to understand what she told you last night—she still has a hard time accepting her family."

"You don't have to leave," Snow said.

Regina stood still for a moment, her eyes burning with unshed tears. "Yes I do, because you are well on your way toward ruining everything we've built and I can't—" she shook her head. "I can't let that happen, no matter how much I want to hurt you back right now."

She left before Snow could reply, and wiped at her eyes quickly when a tear escaped.

She really was done with the abuse by the White's.

—SQ—

Regina found herself in her office at home, eying a bottle of whiskey as she rubbed her belly absentmindedly, trying to figure out why that family always seemed to get to her.

Even Emma had her moments.

She sighed, and glanced back at the screen in front of her, her work half done. She knew she needed to finish today, if only to prove Snow that working from home would not change anything.

But it would.

There was a baby on the way and there was nothing she could do to stop everything from changing.

At least, if she was able to carry to term.

She shuddered and pressed her hand harder against her belly for a moment—as if that could keep the baby where it was.

The front door slammed closed and pulled her out of her thoughts, and she glanced at the clock on the screen. Henry should already be back—she could vaguely remember him greeting her.

It didn't take long for Emma to find her, a worried expression on her face. "I thought you were at the office this afternoon—I saw your car."

"I was shopping," Regina replied softly. She didn't know why she felt the way she did—how could she be sad when normally she'd let her anger rule her? "Dinner is as good as ready—all you have to do is heat it up."

"I'll get to that in a minute," Emma said with a frown. She moved closer and Regina watched her as she was being watched. Emma's eyes were dark as they took in every inch of Regina.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened at lunch?"

Regina wet her lips and shrugged with one shoulder. "Nothing of consequence."

"I don't believe that—Mom called Dad home early because she was upset, or something of the sort." Emma huffed. "He asked me to ask you what happened."

Regina looked down at her desk, and swallowed the tears. "We had a discussion—it got out of hand and I left."

Emma was silent for a split second and then laughed dryly. "That's it—that's what upset her to the point my dad had to call me to talk to you?"

Regina blinked hard and then looked up into the confusion on Emma's face. There was no way she was going to let this go.

"She asked me how I got you to forgive me, after everything that I have done—after I've separated you from them." She wanted to disappear, but as Emma narrowed her eyes, she knew something would change today.

She didn't say anything for a moment and Emma rubbed her forehead. "I don't get why they don't understand this."

Regina leaned back in her chair and rubbed her belly. "Wh—what do you mean?"

Emma's eyes were drawn to it for a moment before she blinked and shrugged. "I never needed to forgive you because I never felt betrayed by you, or hurt by you. Sure, you've done some fucked up things back in the old world but all you did here was be a good mother."

"I've hurt people," Regina murmured, her eyes closing. "I've hurt a lot of people and a lot of them your mother loved. She's trying to give that a place."

"It's been years. She can't say she loves you and that you're friends, and then turn around and not trust you or forgive you for the past."

"She actually can and she will."

"Do you still hold her responsible for Daniel's death? For your forced marriage?" Emma asked incredulously.

"No," Regina choked out, more than enough new and old feelings surfacing at the thought of those parts of her past.

"I'll talk to her—she can't just go around hurting the mother of my children because she feels like it. If she has a problem she can come to me," Emma grunted.

Regina blinked again, her heart skipping a beat. "What?"

Emma looked up with a frown on her face and then widened her eyes. "She got to you," she said softly, before she walked around the desk and pulled Regina up in a tight hug. "We are in this together and she can't make me feel bad about that, Regina. You and I, we are a team and we've been one for so long."

Regina shuddered with the force of her relief and shook her head. "I just—" she broke off when her voice broke.

"Oh shit—can you believe I didn't even think about this?" Emma scowled before she pulled Regina even closer, her arms circling her. "I just thought because you've been dealing with that kind of crap for so long that you've—I don't know—you've developed thick skin?"

Regina smiled even through her tears. "I have thick skin—I'm also pregnant," she swallowed as butterflies fluttered in her belly. She hadn't used her pregnancy to prove something before and she knew Emma realized that too.

"Of course," Emma murmured. "I just didn't think. But—Regina, I'm with you."

"I know."

"I know you do but—do you really? You just thought I'd be angry because you upset Snow, when in reality I'm pissed that she upset you."

Regina cleared her throat, and shook her head. "I'm alright."

"Of course you are. You're one of the toughest people I know—and I've been in prison," Emma added with a wink. Regina snorted, and she grinned. "I love you."

Regina hummed as she pulled back enough to lock eyes with Emma. "I love you too. I'm sorry for what happened—I really thought walking away was the best course of action."

"It was." Emma pressed a kiss to Regina's cheek. "I'll talk to her the next time I see her. I don't understand how she thinks this is okay."

"It's been okay for a long time, Emma."

Emma grunted. "No it hasn't. You've worked yourself to the ground making sure this town is still standing. It hasn't been okay for a while now and I think this is the last time that someone hurts you because of your past—I don't care if we're talking about my mother here or someone else."

Regina smiled. "You are my knight in shining armor, darling."

"Damn right I am."