"They're on their way, now!" Tinkerbell uttered. Everyone starts scrambling to put everything in its place and double-checking that everything is good to go. Everyone has gathered in the living room to wait for them to drive up the driveway. Henry has ushered his dads into Riley's playroom. Riley has been clinging to Robin since he walked in and she refuses to leave her daddy's arms. Robin has agreed to keep her near so that she doesn't ruin the surprise. As everyone is mingling in the living room, there is a glare that suddenly appears from the window. Tinkerbell looks out the window, "they're here! Everyone stand by!" Emma and Regina emerge from the car and Tinkerbell can see that they are making their way to the door.
"I swear to God, Emma, you are going to drive me crazy if you keep this up!"
"Is it my fault that Mia is using my bladder as a squeeze toy? Besides, I'm surprised you haven't been peeing every 20 seconds!"
Emma and Regina walk through the door, "SURPRISE!" everyone shouted from the living room startling both Emma and Regina when they gasp, they scan over the living room and see their closest friends and family smiling and approaching them with congratulatory hugs and love. "What is all this?" Regina asked with surprise and shock. Emma is just as stunned, "mom! Did you do all this?" Snow smiled and nodded with pride, "yes, dear. I hope you don't mind." Tinkerbell approaches them, "I'm sorry I sent you to my house but I couldn't think of a diversion quick enough and it was the only thing I could think of," Tink smiled and hugged Regina, "how long have you've been planning this?" Regina asked with a smile and tears in her eyes. "Since the gender reveal party," Tink stated.
Emma also has tears in her eyes as she scans the room. Snow goes up to Emma and grabs her hand and pulls her toward Regina where she grabs her by the hand. "Emma, Regina, I have another surprise for you two. Sit down." As they sit down, Belle puts a blindfold over Emma, and Anna puts one over Regina. Quietly, Snow goes to Riley's playroom to retrieve Killian and Robin with Henry now holding Riley, Snow nudges Killian in front of Emma while Elsa nudges Robin in front of Regina. "Okay, when I count to three I want you to remove your blindfolds," Snow's enthusiasm is evident bringing suspicion to Regina and Emma. "What are you up to, Snow?" Regina asked Snow responded with a "shhh!" She begins the countdown, "okay, 3…2…1!" Emma and Regina remove their blindfolds and they gasp with joy and they both bolt from their chairs, "Robin!" "Killian!" Regina and Emma nearly leap in the arms of their husbands where they are greeted with a kiss and a warm embrace from them.
Killian holds on to Emma in a loving embrace, "I've missed you so much, Emma. Even though it was only three weeks, it felt longer. Looks like our Mia has grown a tad since I left!" They both chuckle and continue their embrace.
"I finished the training early by working overtime and my supervisor gave the go-ahead to depart early," Robin said as he cupped Regina's face. "It was so worth working those extra hours knowing it meant I got to come home early to you my, love," he places a kiss on Regina's lips. She leans her head on his chest and breathes a sigh of relief. "I'm just so glad that you're here!"
The guests are all smiles and filled with warmth when they see the reunion. Snow gathers everyone to start eating and continue celebrating the new lives that will be coming into the world in the next week.
The evening ends with surprises, smiles, love, and content; so much so, that Emma fell asleep on the couch. Killian tries to wake her but Regina stops him before he can attempt to. "Why don't you two just stay here tonight? I'll put the boys in the playroom with the air mattress and you two can sleep on Roland and Henry's beds. She's exhausted and I don't want to wake her."
"Are you sure, Regina?" Killian asked.
"Of course! I'll get Henry and Roland to get their rooms ready."
"Well, it's just that I had Snow work on Mia's nursery and I wanted to show her."
Snow overhears their conversation. "That would buy us more time, we had to put some stuff in the closet because we ran out of time and the gifts she got today, we can put them up for you guys."
"Are you sure, Robin won't mind?" Killian wondered. Overhearing his name Robin enters the conversation, "I wouldn't mind what?" Regina explains, "if Killian and Emma can spend the night. I don't want him waking up Emma. She's had an exhausting day." Robin shakes his head in agreement, "of course! They can have the boys' room. I'll go set the boys up in the playroom."
"Thank you. I'll run to the apartment and grab us some clothes," Killian said.
It's 3 am and everyone in Regina's house is fast asleep. Regina has been tossing and turning and can't seem to fall asleep naturally. She takes the opportunity to check on her family. She gets out of bed and goes to the restroom to wash her face. She grows little nausea but manages to shake it off. She checks on Robin who is fast asleep. She adjusts the covers and kisses him on the forehead. She makes her way down the hall to check on Emma and Killian and Riley. Regina slowly opens the door to the boys' room and sees that Emma and Killian are peacefully sleeping soundly, she smiles and goes across the hall to check on Riley. Riley is fast asleep cuddled with her teddy bear, Regina pulls the blanket up to Riley and tucks her in, she runs her fingers through Riley's hair and places a loving kiss on her cheek.
As Regina makes her way downstairs she feels a sharp cramp on the side of her stomach, "uhh...," she stops to catch her breath before going downstairs to check on the boys. Regina manages to shake it off and head downstairs to check on the boys, she enters the playroom and she can see that Henry and Roland made a fort and made a tent out of blankets and she smiles. She then goes to the kitchen and she feels another cramp coming from the side of her stomach. She grips the counter to let it pass, she hasn't felt this type of pain when she was pregnant with Riley and grows a little concern. Once it passes, she grabs a water bottle from the fridge and tries to shake it off. Regina practices her breathing exercises as she tries to regain her composure.
"Mom?" Regina is startled by the whisper coming from behind her. "Oh, Henry. Hi dear." Regina says breathlessly. "Mom, are you okay?" Regina shakes her head trying to be convincing, "yes dear. Just, your sister is being very active tonight," she continues her breathing, "what are you doing up, Henry? Are you okay?"
"I was going to the bathroom," Henry was distracted by the grimace on Regina's face. "Mom, are you sure you're okay? Let's go sit down." Regina takes Henry's hand and he leads her to the couch. Her other hand is cradled under her baby bump. Another cramp comes too and Regina realizes that they are no longer cramps but contractions. "Henry, I think it's time. Go upstairs and call your dad." Henry leaps into action and runs into the master bedroom to wake up Robin. "Dad! Dad! Wake up!" Henry shakes Robin awake, "Henry? What's the matter?"
"It's mom, she's having contractions."
"But she's not due until a week from now! Where is she?"
"She's downstairs in the living room."
Robin bolts up from the bed and grabs his pants and a shirt from the chair next to the bed. "Okay, go wake up Killian, and tell him what's going on. I'm going to take Regina to the hospital."
"Okay, I'll pack up a bag for mom, don't worry about that," Henry said as he rushed across the hall to wake up Killian, "Dad! Dad!" He shakes Killian awake which also wakes up Emma. "Henry, what's wrong?" Emma asked in a groggy voice, "you alright, Henry?" Killian asked. "My mom, I think she's in labor, my dad is taking her to the hospital." Emma bolts from the bed and rushes downstairs, Regina sees Emma and relief on her face emerges, "Emma! She's coming but it's too early." Emma senses the anxiety coming from Regina, "just breathe, Regina, you're fine. Robin is taking you to the hospital to make sure everything is okay." Regina grabs for Emma's hand, "come with us, please? I want you to come with me." Emma looks at Robin and he shakes his head in agreement. "Okay, I'll go with you. Henry, call Tinkerbell and tell her to come over to help with the kids, Killian, meet us at the hospital as soon as Tink arrives. I'll call my mom and dad and let them know what's going on."
"I'm on it," Henry said. "We will see you in a couple of minutes, love. Good luck, Regina!" Killian said as he helped escort Emma and Regina while Robin started the car. "Just breathe Regina. You're okay," Emma coached. Robin looks from the rearview and sees the anguish in Regina's face. "You're alright, love, just keep breathing." "Dr. Whale said she isn't due until late next week but I guess she has other plans," Emma uttered. As Regina was controlling her breathing, Regina managed to utter, "Dr. Whale…did say that she may come early but he was determined that she would be here by next week," Regina feels another contraction coming, "Oh God, here comes another one," Emma reaches for Regina's hand, "here hold my hand, you're okay, just breathe," Regina grasped Emma's hand as she let out groan through gritted teeth, "Jesus Christ," Emma uttered, as she reacted to Regina's grasp. "Uh…um…Regina, you don't have to be so aggressive," Emma grimaced at the tightening of Regina's grasp. "Shut up, Emma," Regina uttered through gritted teeth fighting off another contraction. "Here, grasp on this while I call the hospital," Emma moved Regina's hand to the back of Robin's driver seat. "uhhhhh!" Regina uttered, Robin tries to ease Regina, "we're just around the corner from the hospital, just breathe Regina,"
"Dr. Whale said to pull up to the side of the emergency room entrance. He will be waiting there with this staff," Emma said to Robin. He rounds the corner and parks in front of the entrance, Dr. Whale and his staff are prepared to receive Regina, Dr. Whale opens the door and Emma emerges and turns around and helps Regina out of the car while Robin pulls up a wheelchair. Robin hands the car keys to the valet and follows Emma and Regina. "I thought you said she wasn't due for another week, Dr. Whale," Emma said, "I know, that's why I'm going to order an ultrasound and see what's going on." Robin grows concerned, "are they going to be alright?" Dr. Whale is silent for a while and then answers, "I'll let you know, Robin. Let's get her checked in and hooked up." Regina gets hooked up to an IV as the sonographer takes an ultrasound, she takes no more than 5 minutes and prints out the sonogram. "Dr. Whale, here is her sonogram." Dr. Whale takes it from the nurse and puts it up to the light. "It looks like her lungs are not quite developed yet and she has fluid in the lungs. She is three weeks early." Dr. Whale said as he studied the sonogram. He heard Regina let out a scream from the contraction that hit her, "we are going to have to induce her, if not, Regina's going to have a difficult delivery, prep her." Dr. Whale ordered the nurse, "yes, Dr. Whale."
Dr. Whale pulls Robin and Emma to the side to explain what is going on. "Robin, it turns out that Regina is an extra week earlier than expected. I don't know how I missed it but I'm going to figure it out. I'm just letting you know that as soon as your baby is born, she may need to be incubated and head straight to NICU. I don't want to scare you but looking at her sonogram, your baby's lungs still have three weeks left to develop but if we don't get the baby out, it will be tougher on the baby and Regina. We are going to induce her which is going to rush the delivery."
"Is that bad? Rushing the delivery?" Robin asked.
"Yes and no. Waiting is more dangerous. If we rush, incubation and ventilation are required, if we wait, Regina could be in labor for well over several hours stressing her and the baby out leading to complications. It's safer if we induce," Dr. Whale explained with confidence. "How fast will she deliver once you induce her?" Emma asked. "It can take between 10 to 15 minutes so I need you two to keep her calm and collected as much as possible," Dr. Whale urged. "Don't mention anything to Regina until after the baby is born. We don't need her stressing out any more than what she is."
Dr. Whale goes up to Regina and explains what is going to happen, "Regina, I need you to continue breathing ok. We are going to induce you; I just need you to stay calm and breathe okay?" Regina starts to grow worried, "what's happening? Robin? Why are they inducing me?" Emma lays a hand on Regina's shoulder. It's okay, Regina. They need to get the baby out to get her ready for you to hold her," Emma said as she held her hand tightly. A nurse places an oxygen mask over Regina's face, she feels another contraction coming stronger than the previous ones. Regina's breathing becomes shallower as the machine indicates that Regina is contracting. "Okay Regina, here comes the baby, I need you to push," Dr. Whale is set up to deliver the baby as he gently coaches her. Emma and Robin help, "Regina, you've been through this before, you know how it works," Robin said lovingly, Regina pushes as she lets out a cry, "you're doing good Regina, keep going," Emma said encouragingly. Regina lets out a final push and the baby emerges into Dr. Whale's arms. At first, there is no cry coming from the baby, Dr. Whale quickly cuts the umbilical cord and rushes the baby to the nurses who take quick action to clear the baby's airway. Robin rushes to where the nurses are leaving Emma with Regina to calm her down.
"Why isn't she crying!" Regina asked with concern. Emma embraces Regina's head and explains, "they are going to get her ready so that you can see her okay?" As Dr. Whale leaves the room with the baby, a faint cry emerges from the baby. They all breathe a sigh of relief and continue to rush the baby to NICU. Emma continues to explain to Regina, "look at me, Regina, the baby is going to be fine. Her lungs didn't fully develop and they are doing everything they can to make sure she gets better, okay. Just breathe." Emma grasps and embraces Regina's head and leans it against her chest comforting her. The nurses come in to stabilize Regina.
It's been three hours since Regina gave birth to her baby girl and she is fast asleep. Emma uses the time to go check on Robin in the NICU waiting room. "Robin. How is she?" Emma sees that Robin was crying and places her hand on Robin's shoulder, "what did they say, Robin?" Emma asked. "Dr. Whale said she has fluid in her lungs that they are going to drain out, they are going to incubate her but they don't know for how long. It depends on how she responds to the medications and environment." Emma lays her head on Robin's shoulder and rubs his arm in a caring way. "Do you want to go to the lobby?" Emma asked Robin shook his head, "no. I want to stay here. Would you mind telling everyone?" Emma smiled, "of course, I'll be right back." Emma makes her way to the lobby where she sees Killian, Henry, Snow, and David while Zelena agreed to watch Roland and Riley. As Emma enters the waiting room, their excitement and smiles quickly disappear when they see Emma's concern on her face.
"Emma? What's wrong?" Snow asked.
"The baby is in NICU because there is fluid in her lungs and she can't breathe on her own. Dr. Whale has the baby on a breathing machine and she's incubated but we don't know for how long."
Everyone grows worried and concern. "How's my mom?" Henry asked worriedly. "Regina is perfectly fine. She's sleeping right now but she doesn't know too much yet. We don't want to stress her out. We are relying on hope right now," Emma said quietly. Everyone tries to comprehend the possibilities of the good and the bad. A nurse approaches them, "is there an Emma Jones out here?" Emma turns around, "that's me." "Mrs. Hood is asking for you, she just woke up from her nap." "Ok, thank you!" Emma turns back to her family, "I'll be back," Emma hurries to Regina's room, she knocks on the door, "Regina? Did you call for me?" Emma walks in and sees her, "Emma!" Regina uttered, "where's my baby, nobody will tell me anything." Regina asked as Emma tried to find the right words to explain. Emma grabs Regina's hand and gently grasps it, "Regina, the baby is in NICU because she can't breathe on her own and she has fluid in her lungs. The nurses are doing everything they can to make her better."
Regina starts crying and Emma grasps Regina's hand tighter, "Regina, she's going to be okay. She has around the clock care and she's in excellent hands! Look at me! She is going to be fine."
"It's my fault isn't it?"
"What? No! Of course not! You didn't do anything, Regina! It's just an unexpected thing that happened and she is going to pull through this. Besides, Mia is excited to play with her new best friend," Emma places Regina's hand on her belly bump and Mia kicks. They both smile and Emma reassures Regina, "see! Now I'm going to go check on Robin. Are you going to be okay?"
"Is everyone here?"
"Yeah, but they are only letting in two at a time. Who do you want me to call in?"
"Snow and David."
"Okay, I'll go get them, and then I'll check on Robin ok?" Emma leaves the room and goes to call for Snow and David, "mom, dad? Regina is asking for you. They are only letting in two at a time so as soon as you two are done, Killian and Henry can go in. I'm going to go check on Robin." Emma makes her way to the elevator to the NICU wing. Robin is pacing frantically and Emma hurries toward him, "Robin, what have you heard?" "Oh, thank God Emma, it's you. The nurse says there is no change in her breathing and they've put breathing tubes in her. They said I can go see her as soon as they finish with her. Emma, I'm scared," Emma embraces Robin to ease his worries, "Robin, I am going to tell you what I told Regina, your baby is going to be okay! If she's anything like you and Regina, she will pull through this with flying colors!"
As Emma eases Robin's worry, a nurse emerges, "are you the father of Baby Girl Hood?" Robin gets up, "yes, how is she?" The nurse smiles, "we stabilized her and she is hooked up to her machine. She's doing good but her stay may be longer than we expected. We are waiting to see if she will respond to the medicines we've administered. Are you ready to see her?" Robin smiles, "of course! Can I go get my wife?" The nurse smiled, "Of course! I'll tell the nurse to go get her and we will wheel her up."
"We don't know how we missed it. The sonogram and ultrasounds gave us the impression that the baby was fully developed when in reality she was three weeks behind. The reason she came early was that she wasn't getting enough oxygen and the baby acted naturally by wanting to come out. We induced because it would have been harder on you, Regina, and the baby, and we didn't want to take any risks. Luckily, she is very healthy and nothing is wrong with her it's just that she needs help breathing until her lungs develop fully which could take weeks well into a month give or take. If we continue doing what we are doing, I see her recovering rather rapidly and very well. But I don't want to be too optimistic. It all depends on her now and how she reacts to the environment around her and the medicines we are administering," Dr. Whale said as he explained what exactly happened. "The best thing we can do, is hope that she gains the strength in a good an amount of time and we can help her by doing what we can do as far as making sure she is recovering well, so from here on out, the ball is in the baby's court."
Regina and Robin breathe a sigh of relief but worry remains in their faces. Dr. Whale escorts Robin who is pushing Regina into the NICU station where their baby girl is. They approach the incubator where their tiny barely 5-pound baby girl is resting. The tiny tubes emerging from her bring tears to Robin and Regina's eyes. "You can touch her but be gentle," the nurse said quietly. Regina puts her hand through one hole to touch her baby's head, Robin puts his hand on the other to gently stroke his baby girl's leg. She moves at the slightest touch and they smile. "Audrey." Regina quietly uttered as tears rolled down her face. "What?" Robin asked. "Audrey. That's her name, I saw it in a baby book and it means 'noble strength.' That's what she is, strong," Regina whispered. "Do you like that name, baby girl?" Regina asked as she continued stroking her daughter's cheek, a smile emerged from the baby and Robin and Regina chuckled. "I think she does. Audrey. I love it, let's hope our Audrey fights this," Robin uttered quietly. "That's it!" Regina perked up, "Hope. Her middle name is Hope." Regina leans her head against Robin's arm. "Audrey Hope," Robin said aloud. "We love you, Audrey Hope, fight this for us, my love." Audrey makes a small whimper and leans towards her parents' loving and soothing voice.