After the marriage proposal (part 2) Emma and Regina had been nothing but smiles and a level of affectionate that neither thought themselves capable. Whale was even more confused and was back running even more tests. The women had nothing to do but wait together in Emma's room. Unfortunately, the few hours of discussing their future wedding and the foreign sense of happiness it evoked, only lasted until Whale finally gave his official doctor's orders.

"I assume you'd like to wait until after the baby is born?" Regina asked as she laid next to Emma.

"Definitely. I don't want to be a hippo in a dress." She let her head go back to Regina's shoulder, her body turned slightly into her wife's. Regina looked down and smiled at her.

"A dress, hmm?" She rubbed her thumb over Emma's knuckle, their hands having stayed connected throughout the day, their fingers threaded together.

"Yeah, you know, whatever." She shrugged but Regina was still smiling tenderly as she pressed a kiss to Emma's forehead.

Emma may have not been a "typical" girl by any stretch of the mind, but even she had imagined her wedding day. Did she imagine marrying a woman, who just happened to be a fairy tale queen, and have her kids there and her biological parents? Well, no. But certain aspects that every girl imagined where still there in her mind and she was just maybe hoping that they would happen for her. After all, she was marrying someone she loved more than she had ever thought possible.

There was something else too. It wasn't as if she was taking her parents for granted now, but she was reminded today that having them there would, quite literally, be a dream come true. She didn't care who waited at the alter and who walked down the isle, but having David walk with her, even do a father daughter dance, however lame to her, would be something even she had to admit was special. She hated to admit how appealing the idea was.

"I can't wait." Regina said softly, bringing Emma from her thoughts. She tilted her head up and met Regina's lips in a sweet kiss.

"And you know, if we wait till later, we'll have a little ring bearer or flower girl." She placed the hand not holding Regina's over her stomach and Regina covered it with her other.

"Okay, yes, now I definitely think it's a good idea to wait a bit." Regina admitted. The visual of their little baby a part of the wedding too beautiful to resist. She was leaning in for another kiss when Dr Whale finally reappeared.

"Hey there Doc." Emma still stayed snuggled into Regina as he entered, though the brunette tried to straighten slightly. While she may express her tenderness to her family, she wasn't fond of everyone knowing how soft she really was.

"Hello, Emma, Regina." He greeted, standing at the foot of the bed. Regina moved all the way until she was sitting up, though she adjusted so her arm was around Emma.

"So what did you find out?" Regina asked.

"I'm sorry. I honestly can't say much." He started and now Regina started getting out of bed slowly. Whale lifted his hands. "Look, I've run every test I can think of, but-"

"But you can't figure out what's wrong with my wife." Regina finished as she stood up to him, crossing her arms in front of her. Emma pushed herself up and reached for Regina, though she couldn't quite get her from her position. The motion alone seemed to tire her and she fell back again.

"Hey." She said with her arm still outstretched. Regina glanced back and after giving another glare to Whale, she stepped back to took Emma's hand. "What are we supposed to do?" Emma held onto Regina as she looked to the doctor.

"The truth is, that we don't understand your condition or that of your baby's. My first recommendation would be for you to stay here-"

"No." Emma's reply was instant and the look Whale had suggested he was prepared for that. He simply shrugged it off and continued.

"My next recommendation, and by recommendation, I mean what you need to do for both your safety, and that of your baby's, is unfortunately…" He paused and took a breath. "…bed rest." He finished and Emma just stared. Regina glanced down at her before regarding the doctor again.

"Bed rest? What exactly does that mean?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like. She needs to stay in bed. She can't be up moving around for more than a few minutes a day-"

"Minutes?!" Emma interrupted and Regina moved her hand to her back and rubbed back and forth.

"Yes, it is the safest idea I can come up with. What we know is that the baby is progressing faster than normal. In the now likely chance that the delivery comes before the due date, it will be good to ensure we're increasing blood flow to the baby and helping with his or her birth weight and development." He explained in an even tone.

"And bed rest will do that?" Regina asked, getting an immediate nod from the doctor.

"Yes, it will help. And just as importantly, what we have now confirmed, is that the pregnancy is having an obvious strain on you." He looked pointedly at Emma, who promptly rolled her eyes.

"I passed out once."

"You lost color when you reached out for Regina a moment ago." Whale said flatly. "And I'm thinking it's safe to assume you've had other symptoms you haven't reported." He lifted and eyebrow and Regina's eyes went down to Emma. The blonde seemed to be keeping her gaze away purposefully though, and Regina's eyes narrowed. She sighed and then looked at Whale.

"Well alright then." She said and Emma did look up then.

"Alright?" She asked, incredulously. Regina turned slightly towards her.

"I thought I made it clear, when it pertains to your health, or the health of the baby, there will be no debate. This is about both of you, so you will do exactly as he says. No arguments." She said with finality.

"Regina, I can't just lay in bed for the next four months." Emma looked up at her with wide eyes, but Regina didn't budge. She turned to Dr Whale and straightened her stance.

"When can I take her home?" She asked, ignoring Emma and the blonde threw up her hands in annoyance.

"I figured you wouldn't agree to staying here, so her discharge papers should be ready any minute. If you want to come sign a few things, you can be on your way soon." He turned away and Regina glanced at Emma.

"I'll be back. Don't move." She said seriously, before following the doctor out. Emma just sat there, staring towards the doorway, trying her best to understand the change in her wife's attitude.


The air between them stayed a little tense and Emma was a little unsure what to say. They had been nothing but happy all day, but now Regina just wasn't really saying anything. She still stayed within reach at all times. She had helped immediately when it was time to move to the wheelchair, not wanting to put Emma in another's hands, and then the same when they got her into the car. She still looked concerned when she checked her over to make sure the small amount of movement hadn't affected her. But she still wasn't really communicating.

Emma glanced her way a few times during the car ride, but Regina remained quiet until they reached the school.

"I'll be right back." Regina finally looked her way again as she unbuckled. "Don't-"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Don't move." She dropped her head back with a sigh. Regina pressed her lips together before reaching over to give Emma's thigh a more comforting squeeze before getting out of the car.

Emma just closed her eyes and cleared her mind, trying not to think of just how much the next few months were going to suck. It was easier than she would have thought. She was asleep instantly.


When they got home, Regina turned off the car and looked to her sleeping wife. They had stayed quiet during the drive to give her the extra rest, but now it was necessary to wake her. Regina wanted to just use her magic to send her upstairs, but then was a little nervous about using it on them, considering what was happening.

"I need your help, okay?" Regina glanced back at Henry as she unbuckled her seat belt.

"Alright." He was thrilled when Regina had told him Emma was awake and coming home, but then knowing she was still sick and then seeing her asleep in the car, had made him uneasy. He got out of the car and stood behind Regina as she opened Emma's door.

"Emma." She reached down and squeezed her shoulder. "Emma?" She couldn't help the automatic worry when Emma didn't wake instantly.

"Hmm." Emma turned towards her, her eyes opening a few seconds later and Regina let out a breath.

"Come on, darling. We need to go inside." She spoke gently, rubbing her thumb back and forth over Emma's shoulder as she gained her bearings.

"Oh, okay." She shook her head a bit before turning more fully in her seat.

"Take my hand." Regina reached out and after Emma followed the direction, she used her other hand to reach under Emma's arm and take her weight as she slowly stood from the car. Henry was right there to help at her other side and Emma took a step away from the car. "How do you feel?" Regina checked in right away, seeing that paleness Whale had mentioned earlier.

"I'm fine." Emma's reply was automatic and Regina's eyes narrowed. She didn't comment on the answer though.

"Let's just take it slow." She said and they began to walk.

With Henry's assistance, Regina led Emma inside the house. They paused for a few minutes at the bottom of the steps, allowing Emma to catch her breath and rest. After that, the three began the assent up to their room.

"So you have to stay here until the baby is born?" Henry asked as they helped Emma sit on the bed.

"I hope not-"

"Yes." Regina answered at the same time as Emma, causing a frown to appear on the younger woman's face. "Henry, why don't you go start your homework?"

"Okay." When he turned from the room, Regina sat down on the bed facing Emma, though she didn't make eye contact right away.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Emma started, tilting her head to see Regina's eyes. The brunette did look up then.

"Well, would you like me to tell you the truth, or just keep that hidden from you until it results in something catastrophic?" She said flatly, looking expectantly at Emma.

"Call it my incredible intuition, but I'm sensing I'm in trouble." She gave a small smile, but Regina's eyes narrowed in warning and Emma looked down guiltily. "Regina, look-"

"I asked you repeatedly. I checked in with you and asked how you were feeling and you lied to me-"

"Regina-"

"I saw your face when Dr. Whale said you've been hiding symptoms." She cut her off, not wanting another denial. Emma bowed her head as she took a deep breath before meeting her eyes again.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't think anything was that bad."

"It doesn't matter, Emma. Every time I asked you if something was wrong or you were feeling bad, you should have given me a real answer. What if it had been worse?" She leaned closer and Emma calmed herself when she could see that Regina's anger was only there to draw away from how upset she was.

"But it wasn't-"

"It easily could have been. We have no idea what's happening with you and the baby. We've always known this an unpredictable pregnancy. You should have reported everything to me."

"Regina, I'm sorry-"

"You could have passed out while driving or when you were alone and no one was there to help-"

"Regina-"

"And you could have died-"

"Regina." Emma reached forward and placed a hand on her cheek, brushing her thumb back and forth. "I am sorry." She said sincerely. She slipped her hand to the back of Regina's head and pulled her into a hug. Regina's arms slowly found their way around Emma. "I'm sorry." She repeated again and felt Regina let out a deep breath.

"I can't lose you, Emma." Regina said slowly and quietly. Emma's guilt was in full force now. No matter how well they were getting on here and everything they had been through, she still hadn't completely adapted to this kind of relationship. Though, adapting to a woman like Regina was probably impossible.

"You won't. Everything's going to be okay." She brought up a hand to run her fingers through Regina's hair and she felt the woman rest more fully into her.

"It better be. You don't want to know what would happen if it wasn't." She said with a slight hardening to her tone.

"You almost sounded like the Evil Queen there." Emma gave a small laugh.

"Oh, my dear." Regina started, an incredulous tone in her voice. "If I lost you, the town would wish I was only the Evil Queen."

"Hey, don't say that." Emma pulled back slightly to see her again.

"It's the truth. Consider it incentive not to leave me." She added a small smirk, but Emma was still a bit weary. There was no lie in her words.

"Well I don't plan on going anywhere." She said and Regina relaxed a bit more.

"Good." She leaned in and pressed her lips to Emma's. It was just a simple, soft kiss, but it conveyed all the emotions they had such a hard time expressing vocally.

"How am I going to survive four months in this bed, Regina?" Emma asked as they pulled back. Regina tucked some of Emma's hair behind her ear as she smiled softly.

"I remember a time when you wouldn't have been so opposed to the idea." A smirk appeared and Emma finally cracked a smile.

"Mmm, but we didn't do a lot of resting."

"True." Regina nodded before she reached out and took Emma's hand. "We'll make it work. Keeping you two healthy is what's most important. You're doing this for our child." She reminded her and Emma sighed.

"I know."

"Plus...maybe we can add a TV in here for you." She caught the smile now automatically forming on Emma'a face.

"Well maybe not all of this will suck." She grinned and Regina was relieved to ease a bit of Emma's frustration.

"Alright." Regina placed a hand on Emma's thigh and waited until she had her eyes. "Tell me how you're feeling." She rose an eyebrow and Emma knew it was a test. She sighed again.

"Tired and hungry." She said honestly and Regina smiled sympathetically.

"I'll make you something. Why don't you close your eyes and rest?" She gave her leg another pat before standing and leaning in for one last kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back."

Emma watched her go, a small smile on her face. As frustrated as she was about all this, and even worried, she couldn't help but feel an automatic happiness. She was terrible at being taken care of. She knew that and that's what got her in this mess. But whenever she was reminded of how much Regina worried, of how passionate she was about her well being, Emma was also reminded that she was loved. It was a feeling she was reminding herself not to take for granted.


-1 Month Later-

"No! No no no no no no no." Emma crossed her arms, her jaw set. The brunette lying next to her rolled her eyes.

"Emma-"

"No." She stopped her again.

"Come on, it's not that bad." She insisted.

"Yes, it is."

"It's not nearly as frilly as the last one."

"It's still too much." Emma gave her a look that said she wouldn't be giving in anytime soon.

"Well you have to pick a dress, Emma. What are you going to wear?"

"I'll just end up wearing whatever Regina picks out." She shrugged before taking another bite of her onion ring.

"Em, it's your wedding too. You can make some decisions." Ruby reached over and grabbed for a fry.

"It's not that I don't think I'm allowed to. I just think everything will go a lot smoother if Regina does a majority of the planning." She said simply and went for her milkshake now.

"Whatever. I've got to get back to work, I promised Granny. You enjoy this." She waved her hand over the pile of food and stood. Emma's eyebrows shot up.

"What, no! Stay." Emma grabbed for Ruby's hand, tugging her back down.

"Emma, Granny is already on me for spending so much time here. I was only supposed to drop this off today. I'm already gonna hear it from her."

"Right, so you might as well stay. Come on, I'll share the onion rings." She gave a grin and offered the food up to Ruby. The werewolf shook her head and laughed.

"As incredibly temping as that offer is, I need to go." She wiggled her hand in Emma's but the blonde was relentless.

"I, uh…I don't feel well. You have to stay." She said quickly and Ruby placed her free hand on her hip.

"If you really don't feel well, I have to call Regina or take you to the hospital. So you want to try that again?" She regarded Emma as the blonde pouted immaturely. She sighed and then looked pleadingly at Ruby.

"Please Ruby, I'm so bored! You can't leave me here to suffer!" She continued pouting and Ruby placed her hand on Emma's shoulder, squeezing comfortingly.

"Regina will be home in an hour. You can make it." She encouraged with a smile. "Do you need anything before I go?"

"No." Emma said with a frown, finally dropping Ruby's hand in defeat.

"Are you sure? Need a lap around the bedroom? Road trip to the bathroom?"

"No, I'm fine. The kid's been calm today and I'm tired after it kept me up all night."

"It? Em, you can't call your kid, it." She laughed again and Emma rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry. But I don't want to say him or her all the time."

"That's why you should have found out the sex of the baby. So you could pick one."

"Nah. Regina doesn't want to know and I don't want to know and not be able to tell her." She shrugged.

"Well you still can't call the baby it." She smiled at Emma's concentrated look.

"Baby X." She said confidently and Ruby snorted, already shaking her head.

"You will not call our baby "Baby X"." Regina's voice sounded and the other two women snapped their heads to the doorway. Emma smiled instantly.

"Oh, come on. For the first time, two magical women make a baby." She lifted her hands and Regina crossed her arms.

"No." She said with finality. Ruby grinned and looked at Emma.

"Hey, you remember that one minute when you weren't completely whipped?" She said curiously and Emma's jaw fell open. "Yeah, me neither." She turned on her heel, still smiling happily as she all but skipped from the room.

"I am glad you have her around more." Regina had her own smile as she approached the bed.

"Shut up." Emma muttered, but she still extended her arms and welcomed Regina in a hug the second she was within reach. She wrapped her arms around Regina's neck, holding on for a length of time that would suggest they'd been apart for more than just a few hours. Regina rubbed her back and kissed her cheek a few times until she finally let go.

"How are you feeling?" She asked automatically.

"Better now." Emma smiled and took Regina's hand in hers. "You're home early."

"Yes, my last meeting got cancelled, so I can work from home the rest of the day." That answer got an ever wider smile. Emma was more than okay with the company. "I'm guessing you're not hungry." Regina gave a smirk, seeing all the containers around.

"I'm good. You wanna watch TV with me?" She asked hopefully.

"Maybe later. I'm going to go make some lunch for myself." She moved to stand, but Emma squeezed her hand and pulled it to her own body.

"Just conjure something. Stay here." She hardly even registered the whiny sound in her voice at this point.

"Emma-"

"Please." Her eyes did their normal trick that made disagreeing very difficult for Regina. With a sigh, she stood from the bed, pulling her hand out of Emma's grip, but before the blonde could argue, Regina made her way around the bed and took her usual place. Emma smiled triumphantly and snuggled closer to her.

She was aware of her behavior, and part of her was genuinely disgusted by how unbelievably clingy she was being recently. But then the same hormones that caused that behavior, did a good job at curbing her care about it at all. She was going absolutely stir crazy staying in bed all day, everyday. And then top that with her increased hormones and the random assortment of meds from Dr Whale and Emma could hardly handle her emotions anymore. All she knew was that she did not want to be alone.

She always relaxed much more when Regina was there. Not only her, but the baby too. They just settled in her presence and that was another reason Emma wanted Regina with her all the time. She was safe and comfortable with her in a way that no one else could make her feel.

The worse she got though, the more Regina's patience seemed to grow. Just like anytime Emma had been injured, Regina was there to care for her. She didn't like seeing Emma so uncomfortable, but as always, it was so interesting to be the one someone would cling to. And more than that, to be the one the Savior would cling to. Maybe it was selfish, but she liked to be needed.

Regina had barely started on her newly conjured bowl of soup before she felt Emma's head drop completely onto her shoulder. She bent her neck to see her wife's eyes completely closed and her breathing deep and even. She smiled and placed a kiss on her head before starting her meal and enjoying the Xena rerun on the television.

They had had almost no problems in the last month. Other than Emma's general weakness and a basic ill feeling frequently, nothing major had occurred. The child was definitely active, as Emma felt movement quite often, but no one saw any cause for concern there. In fact, they had been far more relaxed recently and much of the earlier worry had disappeared.

So the second Regina's soup went flying across the room as Emma's body convulsed violently, knocking it from her hands, she was understandably surprised. She was stunned another second as Emma's eyes shot open and the scream erupted from her throat. It was when she doubled over, clutching desperately to her stomach, that Regina reacted, the pair disappearing instantly in a cloud of purple smoke.


You guys remember when I first started this and said I wanted to keep it on the lighter side? Yeah me either... ;)