A/N: continuing right on with our lovely ladies' discussion. The storyline had been working towards this solution the entire time by the way. It's the reason Regina's sentence ends when it does! I wasn't 100% happy with how this chapter worked out but wanted to upload tonight. As compensation, I added a sexy scene for you at the end!
"What other way?" Emma asked, her voice choked with her sobs and tears still rolling down her cheeks.
"Me," Regina murmured, wiping some of the tears away with the pad of her thump.
"You?" Emma asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I want to look after your baby, Emma," Regina explained. "I want to look after him or her until you get out and then … then we can be a family, just like you said."
Emma stared at her girlfriend, rapidly trying to process the information.
"You, you'd do that?" Emma breathed, hardly daring to get her hopes up at the possibility that she might be able to raise her child.
"Nothing would make me happier," Regina smiled. "I know we've only been together a few months, we're young and we're both in prison right now but this, us, it makes me feel better than I've ever felt in my life and it's all because of you, Emma. You make me so unbelievably happy and I want us to be together for a very, very long time."
The blonde released a shuddering breath as she listened to Regina. Her heart pounded in her chest as the realisation of what the older woman was saying slowly sank in.
"Us," she began. "Me, you, and the little shrimp? We'd be a family?"
"I want that more than anything else in the world," Regina replied, placing a tender kiss to Emma's lips.
"Me too," the blonde breathed as they broke apart. Their mouths reconnected, tongues reaching out to stroke one another as the two women felt the heat between them build. Knowing Doctor Fisher was in her office, Regina reluctantly pulled away before nestling closer to Emma and placing her hand on her stomach.
"Shrimp?" the brunette asked after a moment's silence.
Emma snorted with laughter. "I thought he or she looked like a shrimp in the scan image," she admitted. "We can't keep saying it and I don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet."
"So you went for the name of a tiny shellfish?" Regina asked, laughing.
"It wasn't the best but I think it kind of suits them, don't you?"
"I'm so telling them that when they're born," Regina chuckled, rubbing the bump lovingly.
Emma's face fell suddenly. "You won't be here."
Regina tilted her head to look at Emma. "No," she said softly. "I get out July 28th."
"That's two months from tomorrow!" Emma exclaimed, alarmed at the thought of Regina leaving so soon.
"I know," she nodded. "I wish I could be here with you but there's no way in hell Gold will allow that. They've already looked the other way when it comes to our relationship and they're never going to allow a former inmate back into the main prison block to be present at a birth."
"I'll be alone," Emma said, the realisation hitting her at last.
"I wish it could be different, Emma. I would give anything to be here with you but I can't."
"But you'll be able to take temporary custody of Shrimp?" Emma asked.
"I'm not sure what legal hoops we'd have to go through but I'll try my hardest to make sure Shrimp is placed in my arms and no one else's," she promised, kissing Emma's lips once more.
"God, I love it when you use air quotes," Emma said, kissing Regina again. "But seriously," she said as they broke apart, "I need to know you mean this Regina. I can't allow myself to believe you'll take my baby for me and then it doesn't work out and I end up having to give them away. It would destroy me."
"Let's talk to Booth about it on Monday," Regina said. "I'll think about it over the weekend. Not that I'm having any doubts," she assured Emma, "but I want to be sure I'm making the right decision for all of us, not just the one that would make me happy."
Emma nodded her agreement and pulled Regina back to her.
A family. She, Emma Swan, might have her own family, people who love her. The blonde closed her eyes as she stroked Regina's hair, the brunette's head nestled beneath her chin, delicate fingers tracing random patterns on her stomach. Emma would do anything to stay there forever, to be with Regina forever, to have a family to call her own, forever.
"Good morning ladies," Booth smiled as Emma and Regina walked into his office on Monday morning. The brunette was moving slightly stiffly but otherwise seemed to be recovering well. Emma, on the other hand, looked nervous. "I thought I was only meeting Miss Mills this morning. Do you two want a joint session?"
"Not exactly," Emma said as she helped Regina into a seat despite the brunette batting her hand away. "We've come for some advice," she said as she settled in the chair beside her girlfriend.
"Oh yes?" Booth asked, eyebrow raised.
"My baby," Emma began. "I know I can't look after him or her until I get out and I know I said I would be giving it up for adoption but, well Regina's suggested something else." Booth nodded, slowly. He thought he knew where this was going. "She wants to be granted custody until January, until I'm released." Emma said in a rush, Regina's hand clasped tightly in her own.
Booth leaned back in his chair and considered the two women before him. He had spoken to them both at length about the attack and the trauma they had witnessed and experienced. He knew the couple were close, infatuated with one another, and completely in love. But he was also realistic, pragmatic. Booth had a responsibility to the child as well as to his inmates and he knew whichever way the situation resolved itself, it was going to be difficult for everyone involved.
"OK," Booth began. "So Swan, your due date is the end of September correct? And Mills you get out at the end of July?" Both women nodded. "Granting temporary custody of your baby to someone else is not a decision to be taken lightly. Swan, you'll be in prison for another four months after you give birth and you will have no control over what Mills does outside these walls."
"I trust Regina with my life and that of my child," Emma said firmly.
"I'm not saying you don't," Booth assured, "but it is a significant ask and Mills must understand fully what being a mother to someone else's child involves."
"It was my suggestion," Regina said, shortly. She didn't like the man's tone.
"Why?" Booth asked. "Why did you offer to take Swan's baby now, not before the attack? You already knew about the pregnancy did you not?"
"You think this is about what happened to me?" Regina asked. "You think this is some psychological reaction to me not being able to have children of my own?" Booth said nothing, waiting for Regina to continue. "I love Emma. I love Shrimp even if I think the name is ridiculous. I want to look after Emma's baby because I love them, not because they're some replacement for my own non-existent children. And I know it's a huge commitment and we've barely been together three months but this is right. I know it's right. Emma doesn't have to give up her baby if I do this. I want to do this for her and also for me. I'm doing this for us."
Emma smiled at her girlfriend as her speech ended. Booth regarded the couple with a twinge of jealously as he wondered why he had never found love like theirs.
"What if something goes wrong between you?" Booth pressed, knowing he needed to ask the hard questions.
"It won't," Emma said defensively.
"But if it does," Regina continued, "we'll do what is best for the child. It's Emma's baby and I'm not going to run off with Shrimp whilst she's locked up if that's what you're worried about."
"I know you wouldn't do that babe," Emma said.
"I know you know that but Booth seems to think I've got an ulterior motive," Regina said, a little exasperated.
"Not at all," Booth said, quickly. "But this is a life changing decision for the two of you to make, not to mention the process you're about to embark on."
"What process?" the two women said at the same time.
"It's not as simple as you just saying you want Mills to take care of your baby, Swan," Booth explained. "There are procedures, protocol, courts."
"Courts?" Emma frowned. "But I want Regina to have Shrimp. Can't I just write a letter giving her temporary guardianship? I read up on it over the weekend," she added as Booth looked at her in surprise.
"Usually yes," he nodded. "But Mills has a criminal record. The family court will have to decide whether she is fit to be a mother before they sign off on your request. And because Mills doesn't get out until two months before you give birth, we can do very little about your request until then."
Emma slumped back in her seat. "So that's it?" she asked, dejected.
"For now," Booth nodded. "But we can start to prepare for the court appearances and put a good plan in place for Mills to follow when she gets out to make sure she is in the strongest position possible when the hearing is called."
"I already have a plan," Regina declared, smiling sideways at Emma. The two had talked late into the evening the previous day, curled up in the brunette's hospital bed, as they imagined their future family.
"OK," Booth smiled. "Then we have a good start. And I am willing to work with both of you to help this happen."
"Thank you," Emma smiled.
"You're welcome. I do have one more question though. Shrimp?"
Regina folded her arms and looked pointedly at the blonde. Emma smiled sheepishly.
"I saw them for the first time on Friday," she admitted to her counsellor, who raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I don't know the sex yet but I thought they looked a bit like a shrimp so …,"
Booth looked thoughtful for a moment, like he was trying to picture something in his mind, before he reached into the desk drawer and pulled out two small photographs.
"Yes, I suppose you're right. Shrimp does suit them," he said smiling.
Emma's breath hitched. "Are those … do you have … can I see?" she asked.
Booth smiled and handed over the photographs from her first two ultrasounds. A tear rolled down Emma's cheek as she saw her baby once again.
"How come you have these?" she whispered, looking up at Booth with her eyes shining.
"I asked Doctor Fisher to give me a copy. I figured you'd want to see them one day."
"Thank you," Emma said through a watery smile.
"You're most welcome, Swan," Booth said kindly. "Now is there anything else or do you want to begin your session Mills?"
The brunette nodded and Emma stood to leave, placing a gentle kiss to the top of Regina's head and moving towards the door
"So, you left the infirmary a few hours ago, how does it feel to be back in your own bunk again?" Booth began as the lock clicked shut.
Emma grasped the material in her trembling fingers and tugged Regina's shirt over her head. Running her hands through the long brown locks, she leaned down and placed a kiss on open, plump lips. Regina moaned as Emma's tongue swiped her lip before delving inside to taste her fully. Skating her fingertips up the toned stomach beneath her, Emma grazed the lace of Regina's black bra before sliding her hands beneath her girlfriend to release the clasp.
Sitting upright, Emma sat on Regina's hips, her knees either side as she looked down at the topless woman between her thighs. Regina's eyes were dark with lust as she watched Emma's gaze rake over her flesh. Slowly, Emma reached out and traced the outline of the scar just below Regina's left breast. The wound was almost healed but the skin still looked angry and purple. The blonde leaned down and placed a tender kiss on it. Regina's breath hitched at the delicate touch and the feel of Emma's pregnancy bump pressed against her abdomen. Open mouthed kisses traveled downwards towards the scar on Regina's side. Now completely healed, Emma peppered the skin with kisses, reverently worshipping the healing powers of the human body. Her lips left Regina's waist and moved inwards. The brunette's hands shot up and landed on Emma's shoulders, pushing her away.
The blonde sat back at once.
"Are you ok?" she asked, breathing heavily.
"I … I hate that scar," she admitted, covering the largest wound with her hand.
Emma nodded understandingly. "You're still beautiful Regina. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. These scars, they're a sign of strength, a sign that you're a fighter, a survivor. They're a sign of your love and devotion to me and my baby. I don't ever want you to believe you're no longer beautiful or you're somehow marred by what you've been through. Those scars, they would have been on my body were it not for you. And this one," Emma's hand covered Regina's, "I don't want to know what this one would have done to me and Shrimp."
Regina nodded, her eyes glassy as she listened to her girlfriend. Slowly, she removed her hand and gave a slight nod. Emma smiled encouragingly before leaning down and placing one soft kiss just below the brunette's naval and above her scar.
"I've missed your touch so much," Regina moaned, her fingers twisting in blonde locks.
"I've missed touching you," Emma smiled. "We should write French a thank you card for allowing us to use the library and giving us some privacy for tonight."
"Later," Regina said. "Right now, I'd like your fingers doing something other than writing notes."
Emma smirked and wriggled backwards until she stood from the soft chair on which Regina was sat and she had been kneeling. Between them, Regina's pants and panties were tangled on the floor in seconds as Emma knelt in front of the chair and pulled the brunette towards her. With one thigh on either shoulder, the blonde shuffled closer, inhaling deeply as the scent of her girlfriend reached her nose.
"Oh God I've missed you so much," Emma said before she leaned the rest of the way forward and covered Regina's glistening sex with her mouth.
The brunette cried and arched into the sudden touch. Fingers gripped Emma's scalp as a firm, long, slow lick was delivered from her dripping entrance up to the throbbing bud at the apex of her legs. Gathering the moisture on her tongue, Emma slid it back down again before circling Regina's entrance. Dipping inside just for a moment, Emma smirked as Regina bucked forwards into the movement. Bringing her right hand up, Emma wriggled her fingers beneath Regina and pushed two straight into the waiting channel. Regina arched upwards, another cry echoing around the silent library. Emma was glad French had left her the key so they could lock the door. Focusing on her task, the blonde set a steady rhythm, pushing her fingers in as far as possible before curling the tips and sliding them very slowly back out, stroking the spongy inner wall as she did so. Her mouth meanwhile was sucking hard on Regina's clit, her tongue flicking over the tip relentlessly. It didn't take long for Regina to let out a scream, an actual scream, and Emma felt the woman shatter beneath her touch. Regina's tight channel clenched and unclenched around her fingers, copious wetness leaking from it and dripped onto the chair. Her clit twitched and hardened as Emma slowed her tongue and lay the hot, wet muscle flat against it until Regina pushed her away, too sensitive to stand any more.
Emma sat back on her heels, looking proudly at her satiated girlfriend as she licked her fingers clean and waited for Regina to open her eyes again. When she did, she laughed breathlessly at the smug look on the blonde's face.
"You don't have to look so pleased with yourself Emma," Regina teased.
"I promised myself I'd give you an amazing orgasm as an I'm glad you're better present. I think I succeeded."
"I'd say so," Regina agreed. "I can't believe Fisher took a week signing me off bedrest. But now she finally has," she said as she slid off the chair and pushed the still fully clothed blonde to the floor, "it's time for me to give you your Thank you for letting me raise your baby present."
Regina leaned in to kiss Emma but a hand on her shoulder stopped the movement.
"Our baby," the blonde whispered. "Shrimp is our baby, Regina. We're doing this together."
Regina's heart swelled with happiness as she smiled down at the blonde before moving to kiss her, tasting her essence on her lover's lips as she did so.