"Emma, I'm busy." Regina balanced the phone between her shoulder and her ear.
"It's getting late."
"I know what time it is."
"What are you doing?"
"Making ballots."
"That doesn't sound like it should take you all day."
"Yeah, well, I'm trying to save time this way. I'm not just making them for the first election, I'm making them for both."
"…Huh?"
"I'm making them for both, meaning I'm making ballots for every possible candidate combination in threes. I can only scale four to a page, and I need about a thousand of each."
"You know you're crazy, right? Trying to cover who the three finalists will possibly be is borderline impossible. That has to be at least twenty combinations and that means over twenty thousand ballots. You know that's a lot of trees you're killing, right?"
"Would you rather I try to get this done in as little days as possible, or do you want me to take a month to get it done?"
"Just be ready before midnight. I'm not going to want to pick you up but I'll be damned if you attempt to walk home."
"I'll wrap up by eleven, promise."
"I'll hold you to that."
"Yes dear." Regina trailed her eyes over the computer screen in front of her. "Can I get back to work now?"
"Fine. I love you."
"Yeah, I love you, too." Regina hung up then and shook her head. "Really, dear, you must find a better hobby other than coddling me," she mumbled under her breath.
So far she'd figured out ten of the possible final candidates combinations:
1.) Belle
Charming
Hopper
2.) Belle
Charming
Ruby
3.) Belle
Charming
Whale
4.) Belle
Hopper
Ruby
5.) Belle
Hopper
Whale
6.) Belle
Ruby
Whale
7.) Charming
Hopper
Ruby
8.) Charming
Hopper
Whale
9.) Charming
Ruby
Whale
10.) Hopper
Ruby
Whale
That would make at least eleven thousand ballots, as the ballots with all five candidates for the first election had already been made and printed out. One may not think clicking the print button over and over was very physically exhausting, but when one did it two hundred fifty times in a row, one's hand ended up in a major cramp. At the point Regina was at now, she'd hit that button a thousand times. First with the first election ballots, then with three of the possible ballots for the second election. But that wasn't all, no; she also had to cut each and every ballot out of its four-on-a-page layout for a thousand pages as well.
It was a daunting task to be done alone. More than once she'd thought of asking Emma to come in and help her, but someone had to keep an eye on Henry. True, Emma had trusted Red with Henry once, but Regina simply didn't like the idea of her being a babysitter when she wasn't absolutely needed. Henry was beginning to protest that he was old enough to stay home alone, and that only increased now that summer had started. Regina was having none of it, though. Perhaps when he was a teenager she would allow it, but he'd only turned twelve two months previous. It crossed her mind that both Emma and Henry could help, but she doubted Henry would be patient enough. She would give him half an hour before he would inevitably become bored. No, it was better that she just muddle through alone.
The amount of manila envelops that were being piled on the desk beside the computer was getting to be ridiculous. On the left side there were ten stacked together, one hundred ballots in each envelope, all for the first election. Each envelope was labeled as such in black sharpie. On the right there were currently twenty-five in three separate piles. The first stack was labeled, Election 2 Possibility #1, the second was labeled, Election 2 Possibility #2, and what was there of the third stack was labeled, Election 2 Possibility #3. Regina was still working on cutting the ballots and counting them out in hundreds. She glanced at the clock on the bottom right of the computer and saw that it read 9:15 PM. With a sigh she decided not to print out any ballots from Possibility #4 and beyond. She would finish cutting and putting the ballots in the envelopes, then she'd call Emma and have her come get her. Her and her forty manila envelopes which she had no idea how she was going to carry. Perhaps Emma would bring Henry and the three of them could take about twelve or thirteen. Even so, that was still a lot.
Regina still hadn't decided when the public speaking event or the elections would be. She would have to figure that out soon as it was already the 23rd of June and the town meeting had been on the 6th. Not only that, but it was clear she was carrying more than one child. She was bigger than she remembered being with Leopold's child at the same time. The next day would mark the fifth week from the day the fertilized eggs had been put back into her body. She remembered being generally flat at five weeks all those years ago, but now her pregnancy was noticeable if you looked hard enough. Her clothes were tighter on her. Thankfully she had some loose shirts, but her skirts and pants were beginning to become a problem. Her size told her that there were at least two babies hanging around inside her. Because of this, she knew she wouldn't want to be able to be on her feet quite as often as she was used to and it would get harder and harder to look nice for public events, and she wanted to look nice when the town picked their temporary Sheriff. She did know that she wanted there to be at least a week between each event, and she wanted the new Sheriff to become active by October at the latest, in case that happened to be the month of the wedding.
Regina saved everything that was on the computer and shut it down, not wanting to see the harsh glare anymore now that all she was doing was cutting and counting the ballots. She was in the middle of counting out the next hundred when she felt a sharp pain in her chest that made her lose count. Her breath hitched in her throat as she waited for the pain to subside. When it finally went away, she relaxed in her chair.
"What did I tell you about being nice to Mommy, hm?" she tapped her stomach. "Especially while I'm working." She could tell the next eight months ahead of her were going to be quite long indeed. The nausea, the breast pain, the moodiness, and the cravings had started already. Some days she just didn't want to get out of bed, and if she were honest, she'd fallen asleep at the computer more than once that day. "If you're torturing me for food, you'll get it later."
Regina carried on with the task at hand, becoming so engrossed in it that she hadn't heard the footsteps that sounded in the room.
"Ready?"
Regina jumped in her seat, letting out a tiny squeal of terror as she was clearly startled. Her wide eyes caught sight of Emma and she relaxed. "Jesus, Emma, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
Emma shook her head. "It's eleven thirty, Regina."
"It… Oh, is it?" Perhaps she shouldn't have shut down the computer. "Well, I just have like five pages of ballots to cut out, then I'll be done."
Emma took in the sight of the desk. "Well, this is interesting. Little miss neat freak has a mess on her desk."
"It's not a mess! These are the ballots." Regina pointed to the stack to the left. "These are for the first election." Her finger moved to the right side. "And these are possibilities for the second election. Three of the possible combinations, to be exact."
"Why…Why so many?"
"You don't think a thousand ballots are going to fit in one envelope, do you? 'Cause they won't. Each envelope has one hundred ballots inside."
"You're planning on taking them home, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Of course you are." Emma sighed. "Never simple, always complicated."
Regina flashed her a smile. "Part of my charm, dear."
Emma chuckled. "Whatever. What's your genius plan in getting them all out to the car?"
"Your help, for one, that should be obvious. And we may have to make two or three trips, but it's hardly a difficult journey from this room to the car."
Emma smirked. "You just assume I'll help you, huh?"
Regina arched an eyebrow. "You force your help on me with everything else; I don't figure this is any different."
"You're lucky you're pretty."
"Oh? I don't think that's the word you're looking for. I've always been pretty, but only recently have I been pregnant. I don't think you'd act as my chauffer if I weren't."
"Okay, Miss Literal. Just finish up so we can get going."
"It's not my fault I keep getting interrupted. These babies are already spoiled brats. I don't give them what they want and they decide to torture me."
"So you're sure there's more than one?"
"I'm bigger than I was with Snow's almost half-sister at five weeks; haven't you noticed how long it takes me to get dressed now? I'm going to need to start shopping for maternity wear, soon."
Emma chuckled. "Can't wait 'til your breasts get bigger."
Regina shook her head. "You have the brain of a fifteen year old boy. Besides, if you're lucky enough that I let you touch them at all during this pregnancy, you'll have to be really careful with them. They're already starting to get sore all the time."
Emma grinned wolfishly. "I can be careful."
Color rose on Regina's cheeks at Emma's expression and she returned to the task of cutting the ballots.
Five minutes later she was finished and all the ballots that had been printed off so far were in their manila envelopes.
"There's forty envelopes, so how about we each take ten, then come back and take ten more. That's only two trips, quick and easy."
Emma nodded. "Alright, sounds fair. And I know you're going to ask, the answer is that he's at home asleep. I locked everything there is to be locked before I left, so he's completely safe."
"Okay." Regina didn't expect Emma to drag Henry with her, not really, not after eleven at night. It technically didn't count as leaving Henry home alone if he wasn't awake to enjoy it, let alone even know he'd been left alone in the first place.
"I was thinking about having Ruby watch him, but I figured we wouldn't be gone long enough for it to really matter," Emma went on as they each grabbed a stack of ten envelopes.
"It's fine, you really don't need to explain."
"I was just making sure I didn't press the crabby button."
"You didn't."
"So, I found your list of names earlier."
"I was going to show that to you eventually. I honestly forgot about it, though."
"I noticed Cora was on it."
"Just as a middle name…"
"That's okay. If we have a girl it can be the first name, if you want."
"Really?" Regina hadn't expected that at all. "I didn't think –"
"Really." They reached the car and Emma unlocked it, opening the back door. They took their turns placing the envelopes on the backseat. "Just because your mother was, well, evil for most of her life, that doesn't mean we can't name our daughter in her memory."
As soon as the back door was closed once more, Emma was tackled into a hug.
"Thank you!" Regina pressed kisses to her shoulder and neck, then went up to her cheek and finally her lips.
"Uh, wow." Emma patted her back. "I didn't know it meant that much to you."
"Me either," Regina whispered.
Emma held her for a few minutes before suggesting they go back inside for the rest of the envelopes.
About twenty minutes later, they arrived back home.
"Where are we going to put all the envelopes?" Emma asked.
"We could put them in the kitchen in an empty cabinet," Regina suggested.
"Okay, I can't really think of anything better, so let's do that."
They exited the car and then took the envelopes inside the house the same way they'd taken them to the car. Into the kitchen they went, and they fit perfectly.
"Not bad," Emma commented. "Not bad at all." She pressed a kiss to Regina's cheek. "I'll go lock the car up. Then all I want to do is lay in bed with you."
"Okay. I need to eat first, though."
"Don't take too long." Then Emma was off, and Regina was alone in the kitchen.
Regina opened the fridge and spotted a jar of pickles. She grabbed it and sat it on the table. Yes, that was definitely something that she wanted, but it just wouldn't do alone. It was missing something. Regina continued to look around for something to go with it, and when she found peanut butter something just clicked. Perfect. She grabbed some paper towels to lie on the table next to the pickle and peanut butter jars. She took three pickles from the pickle jar and laid them out on top of the paper towels. Then she found a knife and proceeded to cover the pickles with it.
Emma came back into the kitchen so she could hang the keys on the key rack and she saw what Regina was doing. She couldn't help but laugh. "You're eating…peanut butter covered pickles?"
Regina had eaten half of one already, but she hadn't put the jars back yet. "It's good!" she insisted.
"You have the strangest cravings I've ever seen. What's next, an egg salad and jelly sandwich?"
Regina's eyes went wide. "I'm going to try that!"
Emma laughed again. "Oh no, I've created a monster." She shook her head. "Eat what you want, just don't expect me or Henry to." She started to leave, then had an afterthought. "And don't even think about kissing me until you've brushed your teeth."
"Aye aye, Captain."
Emma shook her head again. "Do not call me that ever again. Ever." She left before Regina deemed it appropriate to start a food fight.
Emma went up the stairs, changed, and laid in bed. She waited for Regina to join her and tried not to fall asleep in the process. Her eyes widened a bit when Regina practically skipped into the room. Emma tried not to laugh. The pregnancy was certainly taking its liberties. "Is there a reason you're practically frolicking around the room?"
"Mm…" Regina hopped onto the bed. "I missed you."
"How long have you been awake?"
"Maybe twenty hours or so."
"Oh great, you're pregnant and sleep deprived. No wonder you're loopy."
Regina leaned in to kiss her but Emma placed her hands on her shoulders, stopping her.
"Did you brush your teeth?" Emma felt like she was talking to a child, especially when Regina oh so maturely breathed her hot minty breath into her face. "Okay, that's a yes. Now get out of your day clothes."
"Someone just wants to see me naked," Regina purred.
"Actually, I just know you won't be happy in the morning if you wake up and you've ruined a good outfit. I couldn't care less whether or not you stay naked."
Regina pouted. "You don't want me."
Emma sighed and drew her into her arms. "I do, just not right this minute, okay? Right now I'm tired. And you should be too; you're the one that's been awake for twenty hours."
Regina nuzzled her head against Emma's chest, making no attempt to leave the bed.
"Okay, if you're not going to do it yourself I guess I'll have to do it for you." Emma lifted the shirt and eventually pulled it off, casting it aside onto the floor. Her hands moved down to the pants and she soon had those off and cast to the floor as well. "There." She let Regina nestle close to her again. She kissed the top of her head and slid her hand down until it gently rested against her stomach. "They're going to be beautiful," she murmured into her hair. "Just like their mother."
Regina smiled and looked up at her before pressing a kiss to her lips.
Emma stroked the skin beneath her hand with her thumb. "Do you want me to go to work with you tomorrow and help you get more of the ballots done?"
"That would be nice…but what about Henry?"
"We can always have Ruby watch him."
Regina shook her head. "I don't really think of her as babysitting material."
"You don't think she's a good babysitter, yet you're allowing her to be a candidate for Sheriff? In what world does that make sense?"
"The wolf in her could come in handy for the job, but it's also dangerous and can't always be controlled. Each time Henry is near her is another opportunity for him to suffer if something happens out of her control. At least as Sheriff she could lock herself in the cell."
"Okay, well I'm pretty sure Granny won't let anything get too bad. Whether Ruby likes it or not, Granny is basically her babysitter. Two babysitters are better than one, right?"
Regina yawned. "Ask again tomorrow." She snuggled close to Emma and closed her eyes, signaling the end of the conversation.