That September, Henry was starting his Senior year of high school, and Regina and Emma were still debating who would or should be the one to carry the baby.

"I could do it," Regina insisted. "I've never been pregnant before, either."

"Which is exactly why I should do it. If you were to lose it, man, your reaction to losing Isabella was scary enough and you weren't even the one who gave birth to her."

"I know." Regina looked down. "Maybe… Perhaps this time we should be equally prepared to lose this one as well as to raise it."

Emma kissed her temple. "Well, we know I've got a 50/50 shot of success. You're just one big question mark," she joked, wanting to lighten the mood.

"Okay, okay." Regina looped her arms around her neck. "You can be the carrier. But next time, it's my turn."

"Next time?" Emma asked, eyebrows flying into her hair.

"Henry's right," Regina admitted. "I do sort of want to be surrounded by kids."

Emma chuckled. "Are we going to turn into crazy grannies that keep having kids even though we're grannies?"

"I'd rather have a bunch of kids running around than a bunch of cats."

Emma laughed. "You are something else. I love you." She pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. Regina was crazy and she loved every bit of it.

That December, they did the same thing as last time. They used one of Regina's eggs and a sperm donor with similar features to Emma's, and once it was fertilized, Emma's womb became its home.

They went into it with some ground rules. They wouldn't get too excited, they wouldn't start thinking of names, and they wouldn't miss a single appointment. Emma also decided, cravings be damned, she wouldn't have anything that was even slightly considered unhealthy for the baby, and she was going to take prenatal vitamins throughout the entire pregnancy. Even though they were going to be far more prepared to lose the baby this time than they had been last time, Emma was planning on doing everything she could to prevent that. Henry wanted a sibling and she would give him one. With any luck, the baby would be born sometime in August or September of 2018, before Henry left for Vienna.

"We're going to be okay, whichever way this goes, right?" Emma asked Regina.

"Yes," Regina answered confidently. She took Emma's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We're more aware. We've already experienced loss. We can handle this."