Thanks again to my beta Abigail Sykes.
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Emma was bubbling with excitement but it had an edge of impatience to it. It felt like she had been waiting forever for this moment. "I wish she would hurry up," Emma tersely demands as she looks at her watch.
"She said she would be back in a few minutes and it's only been about thirty seconds," Regina points out in mirth.
"She's taking forever," Emma replies with an impatient huff as she paces in front of the examination bed Regina is sitting on.
Dr Ruth does return after only a couple of minutes but Emma could have sworn it was more like twenty minutes. "Sorry for the small delay."
Emma feels like she can now relax so she stops pacing and pulls a stool over so she can sit next to Regina. "Not a problem," Emma replies, as if she hadn't just been counting each second she had been gone. Regina looks at the blonde with a smirk and a questioning raise of her eyebrow.
"So, how are you feeling, Regina?" She asks as she begins setting up the machine for the scan.
"Pretty good. The morning sickness seems to have passed for the most part. For the last few mornings, I've had a bit of nausea, but I haven't been sick."
"That's good. Any other symptoms?"
"My breasts are feeling a bit tender."
Emma smirks at that which earns her a a little smack to her hand and a smile from Regina.
"That's completely normal," she smiles kindly. "How about we take a look and see how your baby is doing?"
Emma grips more tightly onto Regina's hand. She had been dreaming about this since they discovered that Regina was pregnant. "Yes, please. We'll be able to hear the heartbeat, right?"
"Yes. If you lay back and lift you top over your stomach, please, Regina."
She does as instructed but she has to lift her top with one hand because Emma isn't letting go of the other one. The blonde moves her stool so she can sit closer to Regina's head.
The doctor squirts a bit of the cool gel on her raised stomach and turns the monitor towards the two women. "Ready?" She asks Emma more than Regina, knowing just how excited the blonde is.
Emma eagerly nods her head. When the doctor picks up the transducer, Emma kisses Regina's cheek, quickly whispering 'I love you' before taking a deep breath and looking towards the screen.
Dr Ruth presses the transducer to her stomach and glides it through the gel. After a couple of seconds, the computer speakers emit a steady thumping, a distinct heartbeat. Almost simultaneously, a small grainy blob appears on the screen.
"There's your baby," Dr Ruth happily announces.
"Wow," Emma whispers, mesmerized by the image on the screen.
"Wow, indeed," Regina agrees, also unable to peel her eyes away.
"There's the head," she points to the screen, "and the torso, arms, legs," she continues to point out each part of the anatomy. "He or she has a very strong heartbeat." She continues to move the transducer as she checks the fetus from every angle to make sure there is nothing to be concerned about.
Regina only turns from the screen when she becomes aware of her shoulder feeling wet. Small droplets fall from Emma's chin above the wet area. The blonde has tear tracks down her cheeks but she's wearing the biggest smile Regina has ever seen. Regina can't stop looking at her, thanking her lucky stars, guardian angel, fate, or whatever you want to call it, for bringing Emma into her life.
"Everything looks good," the doctor cheerily reports once she has concluded her investigation with the transducer. She doesn't remove the wand just yet because Emma's eyes are glued to the screen in wonder. "I'll get a picture printed," she sweetly reminds them after another minute of neither of them breaking their intense gaze: Emma at the screen and Regina at Emma.
That seems to pull Emma out of her reverie. She turns her head to look down at Regina, who is smiling up at her. She kisses her with all of the passion seeing their baby has created, causing the doctor to turn her back and give them a bit of privacy.
"I'm going to need eleven, please," Emma requests when she breaks the kiss.
"Eleven?" Both Regina and Ruth question at the same time.
"Yeah. One for me, you, Ruby, Kat, the car, living room, bedroom, kitchen, home gym, my locker, and the baby scrapbook," Emma reels off as she counts on her fingers as if to prove she said the correct amount. Regina and the doctor share an amused look, which Emma notices. "I just want to always be able to see our baby, no matter where I am."
"That's fine. I can do that," Dr Ruth reassures her with a smile.
"Will we be able to get audio of the heartbeat as well?" Emma asks innocently.
"Sweetheart, I think the pictures are enough," she gives Emma's hand a little squeeze. She doesn't want to dull the younger woman's excitement but this was going a bit too far. Emma gives her her best puppy dog eyes, silently pleading to get her own way no matter how silly it seemed. Regina hopes their baby won't have Emma's eyes because otherwise she will be totally screwed. "Is it possible, doctor?" Regina asks to Emma's delight.
"Not a problem. I'll email you the attachment."
Emma cups her face and gives her another kiss as her tears start up again. Dr Ruth watches them together for a moment as they press their foreheads together, their eyes on each other and big smiles on their faces. She was so happy for them. She had never see two expecting parents as happy as they were. She decides to let them have a few moments together as she goes to get the pictures printed.
"It's kind of a shame that it's definitely not twins," Emma says jokingly.
"Says the person that doesn't have to carry them!"
Emma laughs and grabs some tissues so she can clean up Regina's stomach and pull her top down. "Maybe next time, it will be twins," she says with a wink.
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Later that evening, Emma drives them over to Ruby's, where they had been invited for dinner to celebrate the first scan.
"How did it go?" Kat excitedly asks when she opens the door to them.
"Really good. Everything is normal and healthy," Regina level-headedly replies as they follow her through to the kitchen.
"It wasn't just good, it was incredible. Cocoon is this big," Emma holds her thumb and index finger about two inches apart,"and we got to hear the heartbeat!" Her voice is full of excitement and pride.
"Hey," Ruby greets as she sets the table, receiving smiles in return.
"That's wonderful. I'm glad it went well. Did you bring a picture?"
Regina laughs. "You have no idea."
At the identical looks of confusion on Ruby and Kat's faces, Emma pulls out two envelopes from her jacket pocket and hands them over. "And I have the recording of Cocoon's heartbeat!" Emma beams, ignoring Regina's comment.
"Oh my god! That's your baby," Kat exclaims when she opens the envelope before pulling Regina in for a hug.
"Aww little Coc," Ruby teases Emma when she opens her envelope.
"I'll take it back," Emma threatens as she reaches for the picture in Ruby's hands.
"No way," Ruby argues as she ducks away from Emma to stick it on the fridge. "I didn't even know you could get multiples of the scan pictures."
"You can definitely get at least eleven," Regina murmurs with a smile.
"Did someone go a little overboard?" Kat questions as she looks at Emma.
"I just want to be able to see our baby whenever I want." She blushes as she repeats her words from earlier in the day. "Check this out," she offers as she digs into her pocket for her phone so she can play the audio of their baby's heartbeat. Ruby and Kat's reaction to to hearing the gentle thudding was the same as Emma's and Regina's had been: complete wonderment. Regina was so glad she had given into Emma's request for the audio, even if she had thought it was silly at the time.
Ruby serves up drinks as they wait for the take-out she ordered to be delivered. Regina relays the entire story of their visit to the Doctor's office and how Emma had already framed all the spare scan pictures and put them in nearly ever room of the house.
Another blush creeps over her cheeks at all the "oohing" and "awing" the hosts do. "Guess what the best bit is though..." She answers herself before anyone else can, unable to contain her excitement any longer, "at the next scan we get to know the sex of our baby and it's on my birthday! It will be the best birthday present ever!"
Regina smiles widely at the date of the next scan that Emma had assumed was just a coincidence. The blonde had popped to the bathroom to wash her tear stained face once she had cleaned Regina up, which left the brunette alone with the doctor to make sure that the appointment would fall on the blondes' birthday. She didn't have much in terms of her own money, so she wanted to make sure Emma had the best birthday ever in the only other way she could.
"You can start thinking about names then," Kat suggests.
"What?" Regina suspiciously asks Emma when the blonde blushes and puts her head down.
"I know you didn't want us to get ahead of ourselves but I may have may a small list of a few names that I like. Loads of the baby books say it's always good to be prepared with names," she defends herself as she digs into another pocket of her jacket and pulls out a few pieces of folded up of paper. Regina takes them from her and starts unfolding them as Emma's blush increases. Ruby and Kat lean over the table to get a closer look.
There were four pieces of scruffy A4 paper. Two sheets have a list of girls names on it, covering nearly every square inch of the paper, and the other two were the same but with boys names.
"How long have you been making this for?" Regina asks as she sifts over the names scribbled on the paper.
"Since we found out you were pregnant," she coyly admits.
Regina remains silent as she reads through the names. She only speaks when she turns over one of the sheets of paper. "I'm guessing this is the first name you added to the list," Regina smirks as she pushes the paper to the middle of the table for everyone to see. She taps the very first name on the list which is 'Emma Junior.'
"Ego much, Swan?" Ruby laughs.
"What's that one you've crossed out?" Kat enquires about the scribbled out name she can't quite see from her angle.
Regina picks the paper up to take a closer look. "Tess," she says out loud with a wicked smirk on her face.
"I don't like that name anymore," Emma murmurs, remembering the flirtatious sale assistant.
"Is that the red jacket tramp?" Kat asks her friend, who had called her the day after the incident to tell her all about it.
It was Emma's turn to smirk at Regina, the brunette had obviously felt a bit of jealousy if she had thought it was important enough to talk to Kathryn about. She obviously hadn't been as cool about it as she had pretended to be.
"So, Swanny, what are you hoping for, a boy or girl?"
"Until this morning I was hoping there was a chance of twins so I haven't really thought about it. As long as our baby is healthy I guess."
"You guess?" Regina asks, perturbed by Emma's choice of words.
She turns more to Regina who is sitting besides her. "Of course I want our child to be healthy. It's just..." She stops talking when she becomes aware of all three sets of eyes on her.
"I think we've all gone past having secrets between us," Kat says nicely because she really wants to know what Emma's thinking.
She looks into Regina's eyes and huffs defeated when dark brown orbs plead with her to share what's on her mind. "I guess I just don't want to be told that it's a boy because I'll just be wondering if it's really a boy or just a girl with my problems. I would hate to pass my shitty genetics onto our kid and cursing it to a crappy life like I had."
"Sweetheart, our baby is going to be the most loved and cherished child this world has ever known. We will make sure that they know just how loved and wanted they are. They won't ever have a crappy life like we had. I don't care what the gender is, but I am truly over the moon to have a baby that will have some of your genetics. Some of yours and some of mine." She takes one of Emma's hands and places it on her stomach. It makes Emma smile just as she had anticipated. "All that matters is that we are going to be a family. That's all I need to know."
"Plus this kid is going to have some kick ass aunts," Kat says interrupting their moment.
"Yeah, Swanny. No offense but what's between your legs is the least interesting thing about you. When you first joined the Slayers, you were quiet and a bit antisocial, always keeping to yourself but over these last few months I've really gotten to know you and just how much of an incredible human being you are. So stop worrying and enjoy this time in your life. I want it to be a girl though. Girl power!" She raises her fist in the air and laughs, making everyone else smile.
"I really don't care what the gender is, besides, we can just keep trying until we have at least one boy and one girl," Emma says with a smirk to Regina.
Regina shakes her head and kisses her lightly. She was happy that Emma had said 'at least.' She wants a huge family with the love of her life.
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It was the afternoon of the Slayers fifth game of the season. They were on a winning streak, having won their first four games of the season. They had the home advantage going into this match, but it was against their arch rivals and last seasons runner ups, the Boston Belles, so it wasn't going to be easy.
As it stands, the Slayers are sitting pretty at the top of the league with twelve points, but the Belles are hot on their heels with ten points, having won three of their games and drawn one. If the Belles manage to win this game, they will take the top spot from the Slayers by one point. It is still early days in the league but there is a huge rivalry between the two teams and both of the Clubs pride is at stake.
"How about a hat-trick today?" Regina lightly jokes to Emma before she leaves the VIP box. She had run up there to spend her usual free ten minutes between this weeks press conference and the pre-game training with Regina.
"I'll do my best," she promises before stealing a quick kiss and rushing out of the door to be on time to join her teammates on the pitch.
With all of their faces painted, Regina, Kat and Jacob go to sit out on the terrace to watch the teams warm-up.
The atmosphere inside the stadium was tense. No trophies or medals depended on today's game but it was a matter of pride for both of the teams and their supporters. The rivalry had built even more since the Slayers won the league for the first time. The league that the Boston Belles had always dominated previously.
When all the players are in position and it's time for kick off, the referee blows the whistle and Ruby takes the first kick of the ball to get the game underway. The jeers ring out throughout the stadium when any of the Boston Belles players get the ball, which isn't often in the opening ten minutes.
It's pretty much like any other home game for the Slayers, they attack and the visiting team defends. It was par for the course until the game settled down and the opposition would push to go for goal. It was even completely normal when Tamara, one of the central defenders for the opposition that was marking Emma, made vile comments to her. Emma was used to it, particularly when any player that was marking her couldn't keep up with her. They would get frustrated and try to make it psychological, to try and wind her up in any way that would either put her off her game or get her angry so that she would get carded. It never really worked on Emma though; she had worse things done and said to her in the crappy homes she grew up in.
Tamara was relentless though. Every time Emma was near her, she would pass some shitty comment, making sure no one else could hear it. But Emma kept her focus. The more crap Tamara spouted, the more she knew she was winning this battle.
When the whistle blows for half time the Slayers are all a little bit disappointed to not be leading. They'd had a few good chances but the Belles weren't allowing them any space to play. The kept nearly all eleven players behind the ball at all times.
In the changing room, Ingrid gives some instruction on how she wants all the defenders except Mulan to help keep the pressure at the front. Mulan was to stay further downfield in case the Belles were to break with the ball. Emma wasn't really paying attention; she knew she was doing her job. She had the scan picture from her locker in her hands. She had to do this for her baby. She envisaged talking to Cocoon through Regina's bump when they got home. She wanted to be able to tell their baby that she had won the match for him or her.
Ruby was absorbing everything Ingrid was telling them, but she couldn't help but smile when she noticed Emma cradling the scan picture. She knew that would light a fire under Swan's ass.
The Belles kick off the second half but Ruby quickly intercept it and knocks it back to Mulan, pulling a few of the opposition out of their own half. Mulan cuts it across field to Elsa who then slices it forward to Emma. Emma runs down the wing with the ball at her feet, leaving two players in her dust. Tamara makes it to the box just as Emma does and as she runs at Emma, the blonde dummies her with some fancy footwork and chips it in over the keeper. She couldn't help but make sure Tamara got a look at the smug smile on her face as she celebrated with her teammates. She's won the psychological battle and now she was going to make sure the Slayers won the game.
Tamara turns her attention to the goalkeeper and a couple of her teammates that couldn't keep up with Emma. Even though Emma can't hear what she's shouting, she knows she's laying the blame at their feet and not her own. Emma hopes her frustration and temper will get the better of her as the game wears on.
Only a few minutes later, the crowd are still celebrating the goal over the rivals, Elsa sprints down the wing and tries to pass to Emma but Tamara intercepts it and knocks it out for a corner. Yep... she was definitely unsettled by the early goal in the second half.
Elsa makes her way to the corner flag to take the corner kick. Both sets of players are jostling each other inside the box and Tamara sticks to Emma like glue as the blonde twists and turns to try and give herself some space.
"Come on Swan, get a hattrick for your baby!" Ruby shouts encouragingly from a few feet away where she's tangling with her marker.
The referee blows the whistle and Elsa sends the ball into a dipping curve in front of the goal. Just as Emma breaks from Tamara, she hears the defender shout, "that mini-freak should be aborted."
Emma turns on the spot to face the woman behind her, the need to get to the ball forgotten. Without a second thought, she brings her fist back and sends it shooting forward with all her might, making ferocious contact with Tamara's nose. Emma looms over the bitch who hits the deck like a sack of shit, her face contorted with rage. She feels nothing but the anger surging through her veins. She doesn't hear the referee's whistle, the jeering of the crowd, or Ruby calling her name as her lanky teammate wraps her arms around Emma and tries to drag her away from the scene. She doesn't even register the pain in her hand.
Her Slayer teammates that were close enough to hear what Tamara had said are surrounding the fallen woman as she clutches her blood covered face, screaming at her for her part in what had just transpired. Tamara's teammates quickly join the furore and try to shove the Slayers away from her.
The thing that finally brings Emma back into the moment is the referee waving a red card in front of her face and signalling for her to leave the pitch. She had never received a red card in all of her playing career. It was an automatic three match ban and maybe even more if the Boston Belles wanted to take it further.
"Fuck," Ruby groans. This was not good. She doesn't loosen her grip from around Emma because she doesn't trust the blonde to not go put a boot into Tamara's face. She just keeps holding around her and pulls her towards the side of the pitch.
"What the hell was that, Swan?" Ingrid angrily demands to know, but Emma just walks past her and down the tunnel, a medic and a steward following her down to the changing room.
Ruby quickly turns to Ingrid and tells her exactly what Tamara did. Ingrid's face softens and she huffs out in frustration. This wasn't like Emma at all and she would normally expect better of her players but right now she felt like punching Tamara herself.
Once the medics on the pitch have given Tamara an initial check over they stand her up and walk her off the pitch. Her nose was broken and she would be unable to continue. The home crowd boo her, knowing that she had obviously done something to set off their normally mild mannered Saviour.
As soon as Emma had disappeared down the tunnel, Regina rushed inside from the terrace, holding Jacob in her arms, to put on the TV on in case the commentators had some more information on what was going on.
"What the hell is going on?" Kat asks as she follows her in.
"I have no idea. That's not like Emma. It must have been an accident."
Kat guffaws. "That was no accident. Emma swung for her. But you're right, it's not like Emma, that woman must have done something to deserve it."
They watched intently as the screen replays the incident that led to Emma getting sent off. The commentators could offer no explanation but it was clear to see that Tamara said something before Emma turns and punches her. Once a replacement has been organised for Tamara, the referee blows the whistle for the match to continue, the Slayers with only ten players left on the pitch.
Regina hands Jacob over to Kathryn when her phone starts to ring. "Sweetheart, are you alright? What happened?" She frantically questions when she sees Emma's name on her screen.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, darling, but what happened?" She repeats.
She really didn't want to repeat what had caused her to react the way she did. "I've sent a steward up to get you. I have to go to the hospital to have an x-ray on my hand, will you come with me?"
"Of course I will, but then you are telling me exactly what happened."
Emma sighs heavily, "okay," she mumbles as she fights back tears. Her rage had shifted into a hollow sadness and disappointment.
"I think the steward is here now," Regina informs her when there's a knock on the door, "I'll be right down," she promises before hanging up.
It was the steward at the door so she collects her jacket and purse and quickly says goodbye to Jacob and Kat, asking her friend to get a lift home with Ruby. She follows the steward silently and when she enters the changing room her eyes fall on Emma who is sitting on her own, her shoulders slumped and an ice pack on her hand.
"What happened?" She asks again as she sits down on the wooden bench next to her, throwing an arm over broad shoulders.
"I punched her. I'm sorry."
"I know you punched her, but why?"
"She had been trying to wind me up all throughout the match and then she... she said something and I just saw red."
"What did she say, Emma?" She asks in a way that suggested she doesn't want to ask again.
"She said our baby is a..." she wipes the tears that start falling from her eyes with her good hand, "she said our baby is a mini-freak and it should be aborted." Fat tears fall down her face at saying the words out loud. "I fucked up. I let everyone down."
"I'm sure no one would blame you after what that woman said," she was so angry with Tamara that she couldn't even say her name, "but... violence is never the answer." She's trying to make sure that it doesn't sound like she's having a go at Emma but the thought of violence, especially from someone so close to her, was quite uncomfortable.
It doesn't matter how hard Regina tries to hide her dislike at what Emma had done, her fiancee knows her better than that. "That's the worst thing about it. I let you down. After everything that you have been through, I should have known better than to turn to violence. It's not me though, you know that right?" she looks at Regina, her eyes pleading for confirmation.
"Of course I know that," she pulls Emma further into her side and kisses the crown of her head when the blonde seeks comfort in the crook of her neck. "I know that's not who you are."
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The x-ray revealed that Emma had a boxer's break in her fifth finger and she was going to need a cast on it.
"A cast? No... I don't want a cast. I can't have a cast. How long will I have to have it on for?" Her emotions were already running high and the talk of having a cast sent her into a full blown panic.
"It's only an open cast but it depends how it heals. We'll have you back for a check up in about a month but the average healing time is about eight weeks. After that, we can probably put you in a soft splint," the doctor replies.
"Thank god!" She breathes out a sigh of relief.
"Won't they let you play for the Slayers with it on?" Regina queries, not understanding Emma's relief about the whole cast situation.
" It's not that... I want to be able to hold Cocoon when he or she is born. I couldn't do that with a cast on." She reaches over and places her good hand on Regina's baby bump.
"Oh Sweetheart, Cocoon won't even be here for another six months." Regina places her hand over Emma's and gives her a smile. "You'll be fine by then, won't she?" She directs to the doctor.
"Six months? Absolutely, as long as you follow our instructions and make sure to rest your hand."
"I'll make sure she does."
When they finally get home, Regina goes to call Kathryn in the kitchen so she can get started on dinner at the same time. Emma digs around in her holdall, which is quite difficult with only one hand, until she finds her phone. There are two missed calls from Ingrid and one from Ruby but she really couldn't be bothered dealing with that right now so she drops her phone on the seat beside her and turns on the TV.
About ten minutes later, her phone starts ringing and she can see Ruby's name flash on her screen but she still doesn't answer it. Another few minutes later, Regina comes through and turns down the volume on the TV before holding out her phone to Emma.
"Ruby says you're not picking up and she wants to talk to you."
"I'm not in the mood." She didn't need to hear from her friend how she screwed up; she knows that already. Her team couldn't hold off the Belles for the rest of the game with one player less and it ended one-all. They had dropped their first points of the season and it was all her fault.
"I know you are feeling crappy right now, but you shouldn't block out your friends."
"Not right now, please. Tell her I'll call her back in the morning," Emma pleads as her eyes start glistening with unshed tears.
Regina nods her head and walks out of the room, explaining to Ruby that Emma will call her in the morning. She could see that Emma just needed a bit of time to herself to get her thoughts straight.
She finishes making them dinner, which Emma only half-heartedly picks at. Regina knows her lover must be feeling really bad to not eat her food.
Emma can feel the brunettes gaze on her. "I won't ever do it again," she mumbles as she stares at the uneaten food on her plate.
"I know you won't." Regina moves from sitting opposite to Emma to next to her. "I really do understand why you did it. I'm not sure I would have reacted any differently to be honest. I know what will cheer you up..." She stands up to get her phone off the counter then sits back down. She hits a couple of buttons and the audio file that Emma had sent to her starts playing: their baby's heartbeat.
Despite herself, Emma smiles. "I would do anything for you two."
"I know, sweetheart. I think we should write this off as being a little blip and just move on from it. Ruby told me that no one was mad at you once they found out why you got sent off."
"We dropped two points and now I won't be able to play for at least three games, maybe even more if the Belles want to take it further."
"What's done is done, my darling," she places a kiss to Emma's temple. She had learnt a lot from her sessions with Archie but the main thing she had learnt was that there was no point dwelling on the past. "Why don't you give Ingrid a call. Ruby told me she has tried to call you. It might make you feel better to know what's going on at the club. Go on, I'll clean this up and you give her a call. Put your mind at ease." She gives her a kiss to the cheek and starts collecting the dishes.
Emma goes through to the living room where she left her phone and does just that. She knows she wouldn't be able to sleep until she knows how the club feels about what she had done. Ingrid picks up on the first ring; she had obviously been waiting for this call.
Once she has asked Emma how she is, she explains how the Boston Belles wanted to take things further and get Emma a bigger ban for violent conduct. They know that having Emma out of as many games as possible would give them a better chance of winning the league in the long run.
The Slayers had threatened them with plenty of video evidence of what Tamara had said to push Emma over the edge, so in the end, both teams had decided to leave things as they were and Emma would take the three match ban. The Belles were more than aware of all the positive press Emma had been getting since the press release and if it was revealed what their team captain had said, they would be on the receiving end of some serious public backlash.
"So, it's just the three match ban?" Emma clarifies.
"Yes, that's all, but just to make it clear... I won't tolerate this happening a second time. I understand why you did what you did but you have a responsibility as a role model and I never want a repeat of this. I don't want my son or any other children seeing things like that."
"It won't, I promise." She truly meant it. Not because of any repercussions Ingrid or the club could force on her, but because she couldn't bare to disappoint Regina again.
"Good. Now go spend some time with Regina and make sure she knows that no decent person agrees with what Tamara said. She's a twat. I have it on good authority that her teammates don't even like her that much." She says with a laugh.
"I will. Goodnight Ingrid. Thanks for everything," she says with a small smile before hanging up.
"How did it go?" Regina asks when Emma enters the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel.
"Just a three match ban," she says with a small smile as she approaches the brunette. She slips her hands around her waist and pulls her closer, resting her chin on Regina's shoulder. "I really need a shower. Want to come help me? I only have one good hand."
Regina laughs. "Oh, you are going to milk that for all it's worth, aren't you?"
"Maybe," Emma smiles into her neck. "But don't worry, I have something you can milk in return," she snorts.
Regina scoffs and gives her chest a little shove. "Only if you promise to never say that again. Get your ass upstairs, you smell like stale sweat." Just like that everything felt right again.