A month or so later, there was another midnight scare. This time, however, it was not dreams that woke the queen, but pain.
"Emma," she whimpered, shaking her lover's shoulder. "Emma!"
The blonde stirred awake, startled, and reached for her wife.
"What is it, honey? What's the matter?"
"It hurts... It feels like... It hurts so badly..."
"What hurts?"
"My stomach. It feels like someone's twisting a knife inside me."
Emma's first thought made her heart sink as she threw back the covers.
"Are you bleeding?!"
Regina shook her head, grateful to be able to give her lover that answer.
"Thank God," Emma breathed, shutting her eyes for only a moment.
After that, she acted quickly and pulled her wife gently out of the bed.
"Come on," Emma said. "We're going to the hospital."
Holding her stomach, Regina nodded as her wife threw a few articles of clothing into a small duffle bag. Once they were in the car, the pregnant mayor leaned back against the seat and slammed her eyes closed until they reached the hospital where Emma escorted her as quickly as possible to the emergency waiting room.
After what seemed like hours, they were finally shown to a doctor, who brought them into a sterile white room, which made Regina nervous. After running a few tests that seemed to take forever to finish, the two found themselves eagerly staring up at the doctor, waiting for the results.
"I'm happy to tell you both that with a little bit of careful medication, you will feel just fine again, and that there's absolutely nothing to worry about. Occasionally, intense pain will be felt, but it's not completely abnormal."
Both let out a sigh of relief before nodding their heads in silence.
"Thank God," Emma finally said, rubbing her temples.
The two left the emergency room feeling nervous but reassured. Back at the house, they checked on their son, then returned to their own bedroom.
In the morning, Regina was still unsettled by the experience, and extremely exhausted, but Emma continued to soothe her fears with encouragement and kisses.
"It's gonna be alright, baby," Emma said softly. "You're alright."
Regina nodded, but still felt the fear inside her and a nervousness that gripped her tightly.
The rest of the pregnancy seemed to fly by, until they finally found themselves at the hospital once more, with their son beside them, due to the queen's rapidly quickening contractions.
After much screaming and excruciating pain, their daughter was born, leaving them both in tears.
"Amelia," they whispered simultaneously as Regina held the baby close and Emma took the tiny girl's hand between her fingers.
"I love you, darling," Emma said softly, kissing her wife's sweating forehead. "I'm so proud of you."
"That was fucking horrible," the queen groaned. "Let's never do that again."
"Okay, baby," Emma laughed, knowing all too well the pain of giving birth, but also knowing just how grateful they were to have such a joy in their lives.
After this, Emma went into the hallway to let their son into the room, allowing him to meet his sister for the first time.
"Wow!" he gasped. "She's so tiny!"
"Mhmm," Emma said with a smile. "She's perfect, huh, buddy?"
"Uh-huh."
Regina grinned tiredly at all three of them, then finally leaned back against the pillows and shut her eyes.
"Your mom's exhausted. We should let her sleep," Emma told Henry. "Let me hold her, honey?"
Regina nodded weakly, unable to protest, and let Emma take the young child in her arms. They let the woman fall asleep, then sat quietly in the seats, one on each side of the bed.
"When do we get to go home?" Henry whispered. "I'm bored!"
"Henry, shh! Let your mother sleep, okay? She just went through an extremely excruciating ordeal and needs her rest."
"How long before the baby starts walking and talking and I get to play with her?"
"Henry, hush! Just play your video games, alright?"
With a heavy, exaggerated sigh, Henry pulled a hand-held gaming console out of his bag and powered it on, nearly waking his sleeping mother with the obnoxious melodic noise that erupted from the tiny speakers.
"Henry!" Emma hissed. "Volume off or headphones in!"
Groaning, the boy complied.
