"Home sweet home," Emma joked and grabbed her suitcase a little more firmly.

"Sí, something like that," Regina said a bit meekly. She too was holding onto her suitcase.

"Are you feeling any better?" Emma asked worriedly and gave the small of Regina's back a soft touch with her free hand.

"Mhmm," Regina said, and managed to sound so unconvincing, Emma decided that they should take a little break. They had landed about twenty five minutes ago and were now standing in the middle of Madrid Airport. But unfortunately, the landing had made Regina feel dreadfully nauseous. Not nauseous enough to use one of the brown bags each passengers were given, but certainly nauseous enough to sit with her eyes squeezed tightly shut and breathe slowly in through her nose and out through her mouth. Emma had held her hand, stroked the soft spot between her thumb and index finger while talking softly to her all the way down. Once the plane was safely on land again, Regina had opened her eyes and made a meek joke about "Blueberry not being a fan of flying".

"Let's get going," Regina said firmly and interrupted Emma's train of thoughts.

"Are you sure? You don't need another minute?"

"No-no, I'm fine. I just wanna get home and..."

"Lay down?" Emma suggested.

"Sí," Regina said, now smiling more genuinely. "That sounds like a very good plan. It's been a long flight."

"It has," Emma agreed and smiled too as she looked around in the familiar airport. "And it's almost weird arriving together, isn't it?"

"But nice too," Regina said firmly.

"Oh yeah, definitely nice." Emma gave Regina's lower back another little gentle caress. "You sure you're ready to continue?"

"Absolutely. Come on, querida. Let's get out of here."

"Lead the way, beautiful girl."

Regina chuckled as she indeed lead the way. Emma followed her blue suitcase through the airport and thought to herself how nice it was to be back in Spain. She had missed the country. Could already sense how nice and toasty warm it was outside. Not at all like in Maine where it was either raining or just being windy. Emma thought about California. Would it be warm there as well? What would it be like to wake up in a beach house every day... she scoffed. A beach house, really? Now she was just dreaming out loud. How silly of her. She should concentrate on following the blue suitcase before she lost it in the crowd. That could easily happen here.

They made it out on the parking lot and found Regina's faithful little silvery car waiting for them. Emma was quick to grab the suitcases and stuff them into the boot of Regina's car, but when she came back and found Regina behind the wheel, the young brunette looked a bit green. And she was using a hand to fan herself.

"You alright?" Emma asked and frowned in concern as she reached over and put a hand on Regina's shoulder. "You look a bit... green."

"I do feel a bit queasy actually," Regina said and took a deep breath.

Emma opened her purse and conjured a bottle of water for Regina. "Here, try and have a sip of the water. Maybe it'll help."

"Gracias," Regina said, taking the bottle from Emma and uncapping it. Then she took a small sip. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and glanced hopefully at Emma. "Any chance there's any more of those salty crackers left you bought on the plane?"

"Fret not mi amor," Emma said playfully as she dived deeper into her purse and found the little bag of salty crackers. She handed on of the crackers to Regina who eagerly stuffed it inside her mouth.

"I'm fourteen weeks along. The nausea should be gone," Regina said half-jokingly.

"How's the nausea now?" Emma asked softly.

"The cracker helped. I think. But I'm still a bit queasy. I just want to go home," Regina replied as she fiddled with her seatbelt for a second.

"You want me to drive?" Emma offered.

"No-no, it's fine," Regina assured and adjusted a little in the driver's seat. Then she grimaced slightly.

"What's with the face?" Emma asked immediately. She really disliked when Regina winced or grimaced in any way!

"I think my butt might have fallen asleep during the flight," Regina chuckled.

"Oh," Emma shared her amusement.

"But the nausea I could have done without," Regina continued and wrinkled her nose. "I hope it's not a permanent thing occurring whenever I'm on a plane. That would make travels pretty...sucky."

Emma smiled a little at the word. "Let's hope it's something that will subside in the second trimester."

"And let's hope my mother isn't standing in my apartment when I get home, because I am in no way geared to dealing with that right now!" Regina said as she started the engine.

"You think she'd do that?" Emma asked. Now she was the one to grimace.

"Oh, when it comes to my mother, I think she's capable of doing almost anything now," Regina said darkly but made up for her words by switching on the radio. Some Spanish song blasted out, and Emma took that as a clear sign that Regina wasn't particularly interested in talking about her mother.

"It's nice to be back," Emma said with a grin. "I've missed it."

"Which part of it?" Regina chuckled.

"All of it. The heat. The Spanish music. The..." Emma snickered once. "The possibility of hanging out with you without my parents being around all the time. I love 'em, but I have missed just being you and me."

"You are terrible," Regina laughed. "Completely and utterly."

"Maybe, but not as terrible as Ruby and Belle," Emma chuckled. "Did you notice that they were barely upset when we said goodbye to them?"

"They hugged us both twice," Regina pointed out with an eyeroll.

"And Ruby normally hugs me at least three times," Emma laughed. "But this time, she only had time for two hugs. And Belle was looking more at Ruby than at me."

"I noticed," Regina admitted with a grin. "But you gotta admit they're cute."

"Oh, definitely," Emma agreed. "Absolutely. But-"

"-Not as cute as us," Regina finished the sentence with another eyeroll and then chuckled heartedly. "Think you can fish out another cracker for me?"

"Sure," Emma said briskly, thrusting a hand inside the bag and "fishing out" a cracker. Since Regina was driving and had to keep both hands on the wheel, it turned out to somewhat of a farce in which Emma carefully put the cracker inside Regina's open mouth. She couldn't help but laugh. And then point out that she found it to be quite sexy, putting crackers inside Regina's mouth.

"Thanks I guess," Regina laughed after having carefully swallowed the cracker.

"I'm serious, beautiful girl," Emma chuckled. "It was sexy."

"Next time I'll bite your finger," Regina vowed with a smirk.

"Now that would make me melt on the spot! Any chance you want another cracker?"

"No, I'm good," Regina assured and shook her head a little. "You'll have to wait with melting."

"Damn it," Emma joked.

Regina laughed hoarsely and adjusted the rear-view mirror. Opened the window and complained about the heat. But Emma loved the heat. She had missed the heat. Storybrooke had been a freaking freezer for the past two weeks, and Emma had feared that Regina had found it to be a terrible, cold place. Regina hadn't complained. But she had been wearing jeans and long sleeves ninety percent of the time, so Emma gathered that she actually had been freezing. Emma had frozen too. And she was starting to get tired of the coldness of Maine. She wanted warmer weather.

Not too long after, they reached Regina's apartment. And found no Cora Mills lurking there. Instead they found what Regina referred to as "a fucking oven!" she cranked open every single window and then scoffed at what she found on the table. The bottle of prenatal vitamins had been moved just an inch or so from their original spot, and the cap hadn't been properly screwed on.

"A sure sign of my mother's rage," Regina joked half-heartedly. "She usually leaves everything untouched."

"Usually?" Emma echoed and raised an eyebrow. "She's done this before? Been in your apartment when you weren't home?"

Regina shrugged lightly. "Once or twice."

Emma growled and felt tempted to call Cora Mills a very nasty word. But before she could, Regina's cellphone went off.

"If that's her, I swear to god I'm gonna-" Regina stopped talking and smiled when looking at the screen. "Oh. It's not madre. It's Alessandra. She did say she would call me when I landed." Regina kicked off her shoes and plopped down on the old leather couch. "Excuse me, querida. Won't be a moment."

"Go ahead, beautiful," Emma said, kicking off her shoes and dragging her suitcase into Regina's bedroom. Through the open door, she heard Regina cheerfully greet Alessandra in Spanish. All traces of fatigue had mysteriously vanished from her voice now, and Emma thought to herself that Regina one day would make a phenomenal actress. Emma unzipped her suitcase and concentrated on unpacking while Regina was on the phone. She wasn't completely sure how long she was gonna stay in Spain this time, so she had packed for any occasion. Shorts and skirts and pants and dresses. Emma frowned slightly when looking at the tight, pink bodycon dress at the bottom of the suitcase. Why on earth had she brought that? That thing was way too formal for holidaying. This was the kind of dress she would wear if she was photographing at a wedding or something like that. Oh well. Maybe she would find an occasion to wear the dress for, who knows. She chuckled a bit when remembering how she and Regina had been goofing around while finishing packing up their stuff. Maybe that was why she accidentally packed that silly dress. She would have to tell Regina about it when she was done talking to Alessandra. Emma could still hear her cheerfully chirps through the open bedroom door. Emma could hear two voices now, and she figured that Alessandra must have put the phone on speaker so Sofía could participate in the conversation too. And she could also hear how upbeat Regina sounded. Not at all like someone who had been feeling queasy a moment ago. Yes, Regina would indeed make for a fine actress someday. Emma fruitlessly smoothened a hand over the clothes in the suitcase while pretending to do something useful, but really, she was busier listening to Sofía and Alessandra's voices. Sofía had a very soft, mild voice while Alessandra's voice was a bit deeper. Not as rich as Regina's, though. Emma doubted that anyone had a richer voice than Regina. God, Emma loved Regina's voice. It was so dreadfully sexy whether she laughed or spoke or whispered. Or moaned or screamed... Emma completely trailed off with a hand on one of her tanktops. She was slowly but steadily loosing herself to different occasions in which Regina had both screamed and moaned. Oh, what a delicious memory that was! Emma smirked a little to herself. And then reminded herself that she was thinking about sex as literally the first thing when sitting foot in Spain. Emma clicked her tongue in dismay. She wasn't a teenager. Or pregnant. She had absolutely no excuse to let her hormones rule her damn mind. What she needed to do was to pull herself together. And maybe change into something more suitable for the climate. She had been wearing jeans on the plane in order to not get cold, but now the jeans were definitely too warm. Emma thrusted a hand inside the suitcase and found a pair of grey shorts. Way more suitable. Emma quickly unzipped her jeans and changed into the pair of shorts. The windows in Regia's bedroom were very slightly ajar, but definitely not enough, so Emma helped herself and pushed the window open all the way. A very slight breeze immediately hit her skin, and Emma sighed in sheer relief. Ahh. So much better. Regina was right. This place was a bit of an oven, really.

Regina. Emma realized that she couldn't her voice coming from the living room. Nor Sofía's or Alessandra's. In fact she couldn't hear anything. Hmm. Interesting. Emma moved away from the window and poked her head out of the open bedroom door. What she saw made her feel both soft and worried. Regina had fallen asleep with her head tipped back and her lips slightly parted. Her chest was rising and falling steadily. Her fingers were still wrapped loosely around the phone. Poor thing. She was clearly completely beat. Damn fatigue still getting the best of her. Emma quietly walked out of the bedroom and observed Regina for a second as she slept. Should she just let her sleep? That would probably be the most sensible thing to do, but Emma was afraid that Regina would wake up with a massive kink in her neck after having been sleeping with her head tipped that far backwards. Emma should wake her. She should wake her and carry her into the bedroom so she could get a proper nap in the bed instead of risking waking up with a massive kink.

But before Emma could get the chance to gently kiss Regina awake and carry her to bed, the universe woke her. The universe meaning her phone. The damn thing went off in her hand, and Regina jolted awake with a slight yelp and dropped the phone on the floor with a thud. "Dios mio!"

"You alright?" Emma asked slightly alarmed.

"Sí-sí, I'm fine," Regina said, wincing slightly as she rubbed at a sore spot on her neck. She eyed the ringing phone on the floor. "If that's my mother, I'm not gonna pick up."

"Good plan." Emma could only condone that decision. She understood that talking to Cora Mills craved a lot, and Regina did in no way look geared for that right now.

With a slight sigh, Regina picked the phone up from the floor and turned its screen upwards. A little smile of relief spread on her lips. "It's just daddy. Thank god." She swiped a finger over the screen and brought the phone up to her ear: "hola, papi." Smile widening, she continued: "Sí, hace unos veinte minutos. Si, estoy bien. Solo un poco cansado. No claro que no. Sí, el vuelo salió bien." She listened to something her dad said in the other end, and now Emma could see her features darken. Her voice sounded less upbeat when she said: "Oh si. Si. No, no he sabido nada de ella, pero-" she sighed. "Sí. Si. Pero no creo que haya una manera fácil de tener esta conversación. Bien. Mañana a las siete de la noche. Si. Estaremos ahí. Bueno. Le diré eso a Emma. Adiós papi." She ended the call and let out a long sigh. "My dad says hi," she told Emma.

"And he clearly told you something else too," Emma said gently. "You're frowning, beautiful girl."

"We've been invited over to his place for tea. Tomorrow night at seven. My mother is gonna be there," Regina said matter of factly.

"I see," Emma said just as matter of factly. "Well, good thing I brought my battle dress, then."

"Your battle dress?" Regina echoed and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Emma chuckled slightly as she told Regina about the pink bodycon dress she'd brought. The dress that always made her feel a little more swanky than usual. And definitely a little more prepared for battle. There was that opportunity she had been waiting for.

Regina laughed meekly. "As prepared for battle as you might feel in it, querida, I think it would have been better if you had brought a shield with you instead. Or an armor. I guarantee you, this is going to be ugly. I'm not even sure you should come with-"

"Okay, that is something that isn't up for discussion, so don't even try!" Emma said firmly. "I'm going with you. And that's final."

"I'm trying to spare you my mother's nastiness."

"And I'm trying to do what I planned on doing right from the start. Be there every step on the way. You can't do anything to change my mind or prevent me from coming with you. Not unless you tie me to a chair or something..."

"That does sound fun," Regina interjected with a slight grin.

"Okay, Ms. Dirty Mind," Emma chuckled as she extended a hand out towards her girlfriend. "Come here."

"Where are we going?" Regina asked as she willingly took Emma's hand and let her pull her up from the couch.

"To bed."

"Now who has a dirty-"

"To sleep," Emma clarified.

"I'm not tired," Regina argued.

Emma spluttered. "I hate to break it to you, honey, but you just fell asleep sitting on the couch, and as cute as you looked with your mouth open-"

Regina glared at her.

"I think you'd be so much more comfortable in the bed," Emma continued, ignoring Regina's scowl. "Don't you?"

"But I have things to unpack," Regina meekly protested.

"Sure you do," Emma briskly agreed. "Later. Now come on!" before Regina could say anything else, Emma had elegantly swept the younger woman up bridal style and was carrying her towards the bedroom.

"You don't have to carry me over the threshold in my own home," Regina giggled.

"Oh, but I do," Emma laughed. "Nothing wrong with being a little traditional, mi belleza."

"I now pronounce you to be in Spain. You may kiss the pregnant girl," Regina said flatly. "And make it a good one in case her mother decides to murder her tomorrow..."

"No one's gonna get murdered," Emma insisted. "Well, except perhaps your mom. By me." she mock growled and tried to sound as threatening as possible. "Emma Swan, personal bulldog and defender of sassy flamenco dancers who aren't damsels in distress..."

As expected, Regina laughed. Heartedly. And then she tightened her grip around Emma's neck a little. "You do make for a very cute bulldog, querida."

"And a pretty sexy one too, right?"

"Oh god, don't ever say that again!" Regina laughed.

"Noted," Emma said. Bulldogs were NOT sexy. Not even in the slightest. That was a ridiculous thing to say. Even for her. Instead of saying stupid stuff, she concentrated on carrying Regina the rest of the way into the bedroom and then carefully setting her down on the bed.

Regina immediately flopped on the bed with a heartfelt: "ahhh!", and Emma chuckled. Regina sounded like she had just climbed the Mount Everest.

"Pizza later?" Regina said lazily.

"Or I could cook?" Emma suggested.

"And make me feel awful for being a lazy ass?" Regina laughed. "No, we'll order takeout. I am in the mood for a really greasy pizza with lots of cheese..." she trailed off and licked her lips, and Emma immediately took the opportunity to call her sexy. Regina insisted that she wasn't, but Emma brushed that aside and joked that melted cheese made everyone feel at least a little hot and bothered. While Regina laughed at that, Emma climbed into bed to lay next to her. And spoon her.

"It's great to be back in Spain with you," she murmured into Regina's hair.

"It's great to have you back in Spain," Regina said quietly and a tad sleepily. "Even if the occasion is... Well."

"Your dad's gonna be there too," Emma reminded her. "He'll work as a sort of buffer, right?"

"He'll try," Regina sighed. "He always does. But my mother will throttle him. Like she always does."

"Well, I won't let her throttle you!"

"Thanks, querida," Regina laughed and reached back so she could pat Emma's hand. "I'm sure your battle dress will do just the trick." She laughed sleepily.

"You're tired," Emma murmured and pressed a soft kiss to Regina's hair. "Get some sleep."

"One hour," Regina insisted. "Otherwise I'll be awake all night."

"Then I'll be awake with you."

Regina chuckled villainously. "And whatever would we do in the darkness, mi amor?"

"Oh, I'm sure we could think of something," Emma laughed and wondered how it was possible for Regina to sound so seductive when basically half asleep.

Regina spontaneously grabbed Emma's hand and guided it to her belly, and Emma smiled a little. Regina's belly was so cute. All rounded and adorable.

"Imagine when it'll start to wiggle around in there," Regina sleepily mumbled.

"Mmm, that's gonna be real special," Emma hummed.

"I wonder what it'll feel like?" Regina said. "When it starts to kick properly, I mean. Do you think it'll hurt?"

"It better not," Emma said firmly.

Regina snickered humorlessly. "You know, I've read stories online where the baby kicked so hard the ribs-"

"Nope," Emma interrupted. "No horror stories, beautiful girl. It's not good for you."

"Do you know what's good for me?" Regina hummed. "You are."

"Well, I certainly try my best."

"When you're here-" Regina said and turned around, so they were face to face. "I feel like I can do anything. Including talking to my mother."

"You don't give yourself enough credit, honey," Emma said softly. "You are strong all on your own."

"I don't feel very strong."

"But you are. Strongest person I know."

"You really think so?"

"I really think so," Emma said and chuckled warmly when Regina yawned and then looked sheepish. "And right now I also think that you're the sleepiest person I know."

"Wanna sleep with me?" Regina nonchalantly offered.

"Oh yeah," Emma grinned. "Always. And in any way, you want."

"I'll hold you to that," Regina mumbled as she burrowed into Emma and closed her eyes. It didn't take long before she fell asleep with her head on Emma's arm, and even though Emma wasn't nearly as tired as Regina was, she stayed put and busied herself with stroking Regina's hair. Her heart ached for Regina. It felt like the universe just kept throwing shit at her. When would she get a break? Heavens know she had deserved one. Emma imagined whisking Regina off to some beautiful place. A place where Cora Mills or Marian or Neal Cassidy didn't exist. A place where Regina could rest for the remaining of the pregnancy. A faraway beach where no one would find them. A house on the beach where they could hide. Sit under a palm tree and sip cream soda and soak their feet in the ocean whenever they needed to. Eat exotic fruit all day. Bathe in the ocean at sundown and make love all through the night. Was that really too much to ask of the universe? A place where they could be in peace while Regina was pregnant. And maybe afterwards too. Maybe they simply wouldn't come back.

Emma sighed. That really wouldn't be so bad. A safe place where Cora Mills or Marian or whomever didn't have an opportunity to find them. A place where Regina could relax and take care of herself during the pregnancy like she was supposed to instead of having to worry about everything all the time. It wasn't fair that she never could get a moment to breathe and be happy. Her stay in Storybrooke was supposed to make for a nice break, but then it had been ruined. Mainly by Cora, but really, Neal had been the first one to ruin it when he showed up at Granny's. That shithead.

Stroking Regina's hair and listening to the little sounds she made in her sleep made for a very relaxing experience, and Emma ended up falling asleep anyway. And she dreamed. She saw a little white house on the beach. She saw Regina emerge from that house. Belly big and eyes shining. Lips soft as she kissed Emma.

For a moment, everything was real. The sound of the waves. The soft sand under her bare feet. But the realest thing of all, was Regina's lips against her own. Emma's sleep limp hand was still resting on Regina's belly, a complete mirror of what was happening in her dream. In her dream-scenario, she was touching Regina's significantly larger belly and laughing as the baby wiggled around within Regina. Regina took her hand and lead her into the beach house, and as Emma's body burrowed deeper into the mattress, she completely disappeared in the dream. Lost herself in their paradise where there were no such things as meddling mothers or scorned ex-fiancées...

Spanish translations:

hola, papi= hey dad.

Sí, hace unos veinte minutos. Si, estoy bien. Solo un poco cansado. No claro que no. Sí, el vuelo salió bien= Yes, about twenty minutes ago. Yes, I'm OK. Just a little tired. Of course not. Yes the flight went well.

"Oh si. Si. No, no he sabido nada de ella, pero= "Oh yeah. Yes. No, I haven't heard from her, but-

Sí. Si. Pero no creo que haya una manera fácil de tener esta conversación. Bien. Mañana a las siete de la noche. Si. Estaremos ahí. Bueno. Le diré eso a Emma. Adiós papi= Yes Yes. But I don't think there is an easy way to have this conversation. Well. Tomorrow at seven in the evening. Yes. We will be there. Okay. I will tell Emma that. Bye daddy.

Just a little interlude before the big Regina vs. Cora confrontation! :O

To Be Continued...