Emma puffed up her cheeks and then blew the air out roughly. She felt reluctant. Reluctant to move away from this wonderful bed she was currently laying on. But it wasn't just that. She was reluctant in general. Didn't want to move in general. Because tomorrow night she was flying home from Spain. Again. God, she couldn't believe that she actually had to go home! It felt like she had never been more reluctant to go home. Maybe she had thought that every single time, but now it really felt like this was the worst thing ever. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Regina's stomach seemed to grow every day now. Regina was now sixteen weeks along, and all Emma wanted was to hold her stomach. She was pretty sure that she had felt a foot at some point. She never could get enough of touching and tracing Regina's belly. Even kissing it. And Regina didn't mind it. She actually quite liked it. Ever since she had woken Emma up that night, their sex life had been nothing short of amazing. Regina was pretty much in the mood every day. They had gone to bed early every night for the past week, but it had taken hours and hours before either of them actually went to sleep. And as delightful as that was, Emma had been a bit worried that Regina wouldn't get enough rest, but Regina had quickly brushed that concern aside by being extremely upbeat the next morning. Spunky and full of energy. Emma had sweetly teased her. Had said that it didn't took the sunshine to make Regina's cheeks glow. It took sex. And Regina had scrunched up her nose and had said something vaguely insulting in Spanish. But all teasing aside, they've had such an amazing time together. Emma had kept Regina company in the bar on the nights where she was working, and she had helped Regina with closing the bar when her late-night shift ended. Seeing Regina mix and serve drinks was still entertaining. Although Emma could have done without seeing various guys (and sometimes girls) flirt with Regina. She had tried not to let that get to her but had still ended up mumbling that she didn't like it when the shift was done, and she and Regina were alone. Regina had teased and said that she found Emma's jealousy to be "very sexy". One of the nights where Regina hadn't worked, her dad had stopped by the apartment. With takeout. And two photo albums. They've spend a lovely evening together, eating "garbage food" and looking at pictures of Regina's grandmother, Elena. Who Emma found out had been a flamenco dancer. There had been a picture of her in full costume, and it was exactly like if Regina had time travelled. It was like seeing Regina sixty years ago or something like that. She looked exactly like her grandmother. It was actually a bit scary how alike they were.
But food and photo albums wasn't the only thing Henry was bringing. He also brought news about Regina's mother. He had only heard from her once since the showdown at the house, and according to him, Cora was still in Spain. Where and why he didn't know, and Regina hadn't asked. She had just shrugged and gone 'okay'. She had tried so hard to seem disinterested, but Emma had been able to see the hurt in her eyes. What had happened between her and her mother had affected her more than she wanted to show, and Emma had had to bite her tongue not to cuss Cora out after Henry had left.
"Em-ma? Breakfast is ready!"
Emma blinked and snapped out of it. She could smell pancakes. She shook her head a little as she slid out of bed. Pancakes. Regina had literally been spoiling her so much during these two weeks. It would be right back to the treadmill when Emma came home.
Emma padded into the kitchen in her pajamas and with tousled hair. She hadn't showered yet because she and Regina literally just had woken up. And Regina, who was experiencing somewhat of an energy boost, had insisted on making breakfast for them. Emma had tried to protest and suggest that she made it instead, but Regina had been unstoppable. And out of bed even before Emma had had the chance to grab her. Now she was standing in front of the stove wearing an apron over the oversized, grey t-shirt she had been sleeping in last night.
"Good morning," Emma said, leaning casually against the doorframe and tilting her head as she enjoyed the sight of Regina's gloriously long and golden legs peeking out under the apron.
"Good morning, querida," Regina hummed. Her hips were swaying to the music coming out of the little radio she had in the kitchen.
"Someone's in a good mood," Emma smiled.
"Sí-sí," Regina said upbeat and switched off the stove. "Set the table, will you?"
"Sure," Emma said and walked over to the cupboard where Regina kept her plates and cups. All of them were gloriously mismatched, and for whatever reason, Emma found that to be very cute.
Regina hummed along to the song playing in the radio as she wiped the stove. She really was in a very good mood today. All upbeat and happy. It was difficult for Emma to remember that she was going home tomorrow when Regina was in such a great mood.
"You hungry, querida?" Regina asked as Emma finished setting the table.
"I always am," Emma chuckled.
"Me too," Regina joked and popped the lid off the little bottle with prenatal vitamins she always took at breakfast. "I've made coffee for you."
"You're perfect," Emma said warmly.
"Lo sé," Regina snickered.
"And totally bubbly too," Emma observed with a grin.
Regina shrugged lightly as she brought the plate full of newly made pancakes over to the table. "I feel good."
"Yes, you do," Emma said and smiled widely. This definitely had to be that mythical second-trimester-boost-of-energy Emma had read so much about. And however cliché it sounded, Regina was glowing. Quite literally. Her eyes were sparkling Her skin looked absolutely perfect, and it looked as though the glow was coming from within. Her hair seemed both thicker and shinier, and Emma had noticed that her cheeks were starting to get a bit fuller. More rounded. And with that perfect rosy glow. It suited her. Emma wasn't completely sure how she was supposed to go home tomorrow night.
"Let's eat!" Regina said, interrupting Emma's train of thoughts. "Why are you staring at me?"
"I'm not," Emma replied quickly.
"As a matter fact I think you were," Regina half-chuckled as she brought the pot of coffee over to the table along with a carton of orange juice and a plate of fresh fruit. "Sit down, querida."
"As Milady commands," Emma joked. "Aren't you gonna take off that apron?"
"Oh," Regina giggled slightly. "Woops. Maybe I'm just really feelin the whole domestic thing."
"Well, as my fake-fiancée, I think you're more than entitled too," Emma said and laughed at her own very, very funny joke.
"My girlfriend the comedian," Regina said dryly as she reached back to untie the apron.
"Maybe you should keep it on?" Emma suggested amusedly as she watched Regina struggle with the knot. "You look so cute." That wasn't a lie. Regina definitely looked cute with the flower patterned apron tied over her swelling belly. Wonderfully domestic.
"But I don't feel cute," Regina mock-complained and grinned devilishly.
"No, you feel sexy, I know," Emma chuckled. That was also very true. Regina did indeed feel sexy. Every night. Hot and bothered, was what she called it. But Emma found it to be absolutely delightful. "Now sit down and eat, woman!"
"Eres muy mandona!" Regina mock grumbled as she finally won over the tricky knot and pulled the apron over her head.
Emma scoffed as she informed her girlfriend that she was not 'mandona' at all. Regina laughed at her pronunciation, and then she sat down to have breakfast. She took her prenatal vitamin, and Emma praised the pancakes.
"They're just from a box," Regina scoffed. "Had I been less lazy, I would have made them from scratch. My dad would be so disappointed if he knew that I made pancakes from a box." She laughed, and so did Emma. She knew that Regina was joking.
"So, what do you wanna do today?" Regina continued. "We have a bit of time on our hands before my shift tonight."
"How about we just go for a walk or something?" Emma suggested. They had been up fairly late last night, and she didn't want to tire Regina.
"That sounds nice. Looks like it's gonna be another warm day," Regina commented with a glance out of the window.
"Urgh, it's raining in Maine," Emma groaned. "And Spain is about to enter the hottest time a year, isn't that right?"
"Sí," Regina confirmed. "But that's nothing to be jealous about, querida. With the size I'm reaching, I would prefer the weather to be colder."
"Good point," Emma nodded. Being pregnant in very hot weather had to be uncomfortable. But Emma was hoping to "kidnap" Regina and take her to Maine before that could happen.
They continued their breakfast séance. Emma ate pancakes with vigor, and for whatever reason, Regina seemed very enthusiastic about the orange juice. So enthusiastic, she actually ended up spilling a few drops of the beverage onto her t-shirt. "Oops," she said and rolled her dark eyes.
"So clumsy," Emma teased.
"Cállate, señorita Swan." Regina said dully.
But Emma refused to 'cállate'. She was far more interested in teasing Regina. "Did you also spill before putting on that apron?"
"No!" Regina said indignantly. "Why would you assume that?"
"Your shirt is stained," Emma chuckled and nodded towards the stains on Regina's grey t-shirt.
"It is n-" Regina stopped talking when she glanced down at her shirt and saw the stains for herself. "What the hell?"
"Relax, honey, it's just a bit of grease," Emma chuckled and took another bite of a golden pancake.
But Regina rose from her chair and tugged at her shirt, and as she did that, Emma could see that the stains on her chest were growing and turning into larger splotches. "That is not grease," Regina said flatly and looked somewhere between surprise and embarrassment. "That is me leaking..."
"Oh," Emma said slightly surprised. She hadn't actually thought about that. But of course that was a thing too. It made perfect sense.
"God damnit," Regina sighed. "I'll be right back."
She stomped off towards the bathroom, and Emma wondered whether she should offer her help or something. But then she heard Regina curse softly in the bathroom, and she figured that she would prefer to deal with this on her own. And so Emma continued eating pancakes. But she did pour Regina a second glass of orange juice. Orange juice seemed to be the thing today, and obviously, Regina should have as much as she wanted. And she had also shown much interest in the red apples, so Emma sliced up a few more for her. Regina needed all the food she could get.
"Well, now I know what we're going to do today," Regina said sardonically as she came back into the kitchen. "Shopping for nursing pads. That's gonna be fun..."
"We'll find some," Emma soothed and looked at her girlfriend. She had changed out of the stained t-shirt and into a fresh, blue one. Clearly with a bra under.
"I hope so. Because I don't think tissues-in-bra is a lasting solution," Regina half-joked as she sat down heavily on the chair. "Why the hell didn't I think that I would need nursing pads?" she took a bite of the sliced apple, chewed and then quietly continued: "probably because I figured that since I wouldn't be nursing, I wouldn't need..." she trailed off and focused on her apple.
Emma didn't say anything either. She hadn't thought about that colostrum, the first type of milk would come in. As much as she had admired Regina's changing breast size, she hadn't exactly thought about what it all meant. That Regina's body was prepping for breastfeeding. But obviously, it was, and Emma hoped that the thought of that wouldn't make Regina upset.
"Also, we're not having sex anymore," Regina announced.
Emma choked on the sip of coffee she had just taken. "Wha- why?!" she croaked.
Regina shrugged. "I've just read that things have a tendency to leak even more when stimulated in one way or the other, so..."
"But I don't care about that," Emma said immediately.
Regina wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I care. In fact I'd be mortified! So either you'll stop touching me there whenever we have sex, or I'll keep my bra on."
Emma stuck out her bottom lip. "I'm not really a fan of either of those options."
"No, me neither." Regina sighed and rolled those dark eyes of hers. "God, pregnancy is so glamorous, isn't it?"
"You make it look ridiculously glamorous, honey," Emma said firmly. "No one does pregnancy better than you do!"
"Yeah? You really think so?" Regina asked and suddenly looked a bit insecure.
Emma reached across the table and took her girlfriends hand. "You're rocking it, beautiful girl," she assured. "Every single day."
Regina snickered a little. "Thank you, querida." Then she glanced down at her clean t-shirt. "Dios, that was embarrassing."
"No, it was not," Emma said plainly. "It was a pregnancy thing. And those never fall under the 'embarrassing-category'. Not ever."
Once breakfast had been eaten and they both had showered and gotten dressed, they headed out. Their first stop was a store where an almost overly friendly woman helped Regina with finding a pack of nursing pads. Their next stop was a public bathroom where Regina quickly went in and got herself "sorted out". Meaning slipping the nursing pads inside her bra. When she remerged from the bathroom, she looked a bit sheepish and settled for an "uh-huh" when Emma asked if she had gotten things fixed.
Emma took her hand as they walked down the street hand in hand. They didn't really have a plan. Not apart from getting what Regina needed at least. Emma took pictures of the square, because let's be honest, even though she had been here a handful of times already, Puerta Del Sol didn't stop being a beautiful place. Albeit a bit crowded.
"Too crowded," Regina corrected when Emma said it. "Sometimes I wish that I lived in a quieter part of Madrid. Or a quieter part of Spain."
"Yeah?" Emma asked, lowering the camera. "And where would that be?"
"Granada. Where abuela Elena came from. Or maybe Tenerife. Although there wouldn't be particularly quiet. But at least I'd be close to a beach."
Emma tilted her head. "You'd like that? Living close to a beach?"
"Mhmm," Regina smiled. "That wouldn't be so bad."
"No, it wouldn't..." Emma mused out loud. "I wouldn't mind that either..."
"Where would you like to live then?" Regina curiously prompted. "If you could choose whatever you wanted?"
"Laguna Beach!"
Regina tilted her head. "That came out awfully fast, mi amor."
"Yeah, I suppose it did," Emma agreed and chuckled a little. "I've just always wanted to live in a house on the beach. Probably the romantic in me..."
Regina snickered softly and gave Emma's hand a gentle squeezed. "You know what, one day we'll have to drive down to Granada. Would you be interested in that?"
"Absolutely!" Emma said warmly. She had seen pictures of Granada in the photo album Henry had brought with him, and she could easily see that it was a breathtaking place.
"It's a bit of a long car ride, but it's definitely worth it," Regina continued. "We'll have to do that the next time you're here."
"Definitely," Emma agreed. "I'll look forward to that."
"And I'll look forward to seeing you again," Regina murmured. "I can't believe you have to go home tomorrow. Where did these two weeks even go?"
"Shh!" Emma said half-jokingly. "Maybe it'll go away if we ignore it, yeah?"
"Cute, but I don't think so, querida," Regina said and looked like she was trying to quell a sigh.
After having wandered around and window shopped for a while, they eventually ended up on one of those pavement cafes where the chairs always tilts just a little. Emma ordered herself an ice coffee, and Regina ended up choosing a strawberry milkshake.
"Is that a thing now?" Emma asked curiously and wondered if it would be acceptable for her to snap a picture of Regina while she was sipping the milkshake out of a straw.
"I don't know," Regina said with a light shrug. "And I've given up on figuring it out."
Emma chuckled a bit. Her hands wandered to the camera around her neck. She had to take a picture of Regina. She literally had to. Everything just... matched. Regina was wearing a cap-sleeved pink dress. She had attached pink flowers to her hair, and she was sipping a pink milkshake out of a pink straw. Seriously, this was perfect.
Regina had become suspicious over Emma's sudden quietness, and she squinted slightly as she looked up. Her eyes darted from Emma's hands wandering up to her camera and back to the blonde's face. "What are you up to?"
"Picture?" Emma asked sweetly.
Regina released a deep and throaty groan that could have made Emma think of other things. But not today. "Pretty please?" she begged.
"But I'm sweaty!" Regina pointed out.
"No, you're not. You're perfect. The picture is perfect. Everything's pink. Come on. Please?"
Regina chuckled amusedly like she always did whenever Emma slipped into 'photography-mode.' The things I do for love," she said dramatically. "Fine. Should I do something special or should I just...?"
"Keep sipping milkshake and pretend that I'm not here."
"Now that is something I'll never be able to," Regina quipped. "But I'll keep drinking milkshake. Anything else would be pretty barbaric."
Emma got her picture, and when she looked at the finished result, she quickly decided that this would be one of those she framed. Exactly like she had framed her and Regina's first airport-selfie.
"God, this is good!" Regina said and made another groaning sound as she sipped her milkshake. This time it was definitely not a groan of annoyance, and Emma's mind immediately went back to last night. Regina had groaned exactly like that then too. It was a glorious sound. She lowered the camera. Watching Regina enjoy the milkshake was so much more interesting.
After their little outing, they went back to Regina's apartment and stayed in for the remainder of the day. They watched television and had a great time although Regina showed signs of paranoia. She kept checking the front of her dress for signs of stains. "There's nothing there, honey," Emma said gently. "You're fine."
"I know." Regina sighed. "But now it has happened once. It can happen again."
"Maybe, but no one will be able to see the stains," Emma soothed. "Not when you're wearing those pads."
"Maybe not. But I'll be able to feel it happening," Regina said tightly and shifted a bit as she looked down at herself.
Emma grasped her hand. "You're being a bit paranoid now, honey."
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one with leaky boobs."
Before she could stop herself, Emma snorted in amusement.
"That is so not funny!" Regina protested and punched Emma on the arm, but she sounded like she was laughing too.
"Ouch! Stop hitting me, woman!" Emma laughed and couldn't resist to tease: "I thought I was the one who was supposed to smack you."
Regina rolled her eyes. "Not like this," she said simply.
Emma smirked. "Tell me... What's the punishment for hitting your loving and ever so attentive girlfriend?"
As expected, Regina flushed a bit and did that thing where she bit her lip. Which of course prompted Emma to reach for Regina and go 'come here'.
Regina shifted so she was sitting in Emma's lap with her legs wrapped around her waist. Exactly like she had that night where her dream had woken the blonde. Emma made absolutely attempt at 'punishing' her. Instead she lowered her hands to Regina's growing belly.
"Te gusta mi barriga," Regina commented with a little smile dancing on her lips.
"Huh?" Emma frowned. She didn't quite catch that.
"You like my belly," Regina translated with a chuckle.
"Oh. Yeah, I do," Emma openly admitted and proceeded to lovingly cradle the bump on Regina's stomach. "It's very cute. And... sexy."
Regina snorted. "Don't use that word."
"Why not? You do look sexy!" Emma said firmly. "Very, very sexy."
"The baby can hear you," Regina teased.
That made Emma look back at her girlfriend's face. "Seriously?"
"Mhmm. My brilliant little app told me so."
"Wow," Emma said plainly and gave Regina's belly a little rub. "That's pretty amazing."
"Sí, so you better moderate your language. Otherwise he will hear you say bad words," Regina teased and laughed heartedly.
Emma was just about to go along on the joke when she noticed something. "'He'?" she softly echoed.
"Huh?" Regina frowned in confusion.
"It's just..." Emma tried to sound casual when continuing: "you said 'he'' Otherwise 'he' will hear you say bad words'."
"Oh," Regina was clearly trying to be casual too when she continued: "he. Or she. Or whatever. I don't know. It's gonna be something."
"Right," Emma agreed. Still with faux lightness to her voice. She wasn't interested in pushing Regina. But it would appear that she couldn't quite stop her hands from caressing the baby bump. Over the last week, the closer she got to the date where she had to go home to Maine, the baby bump had become a magnet. She wanted to touch and caress it all the time, and she couldn't bear the idea of leaving Regina. She would be all by herself. Well, obviously she had her father, but he couldn't be with her all the time. What if something happened? What if one of the guests at the bar where Regina worked got a little too handsy with her? It was particularly the late nights where Regina closed the bar by herself that Emma detested. She knew that yes, it was a part of Regina's job, and yes, it was something she had done a million times already, but now the mere thought of it left a sick feeling in Emma's gut. Of course she had talked to Regina about it. She had been afraid of coming across as paranoid, but Regina had actually been very understanding. She had suggested that she could call Emma every time she closed up at the bar, and then they could talk while she closed up and until she made it back home. Emma had found that solution to be a good one. But she still didn't like the idea of her pregnant girlfriend being left to close up in a bar alone.
"Are you trying to make Blueberry move prematurely or something?" Regina giggled, and Emma realized that while she had been thinking, she had been sitting and tracing Regina's belly for a while.
"I thought I was here because you wanted to kiss me," Regina pouted. But her eyes sparkled.
"I always wanna kiss you," Emma assured.
"Then do it," Regina ordered, and her voice went low and husky as she continued: "Bésame, señorita Swan."
And obviously, Emma couldn't resist that. She gently grasped Regina's chin and captured those pouty lips in a sweet, slow kiss. One that had Regina mewling and winding her arms around Emma's neck. The series playing on the television was easily forgotten in favor of things of greater importance...
That same evening, Emma was back in the bar. Back at the table near the counter. Back to sipping sangria while 'hanging out' with Regina. Because even though Regina was busy mixing drinks and serving customers, it still felt like they were together. Now and then, Regina looked up and smiled at her. She still looked lovely as ever even though she had changed out of her pink dress and into her "work gear". Dark blue jeans (with extra room!) and a Rick James t-shirt. Pregnant or not, she could still rock such an outfit every day. And she was very popular. Those who didn't order a drink still came up to the counter to chat with 'Roni'. That who Regina was here. That was who she was known as. Roni. Never Regina. There hadn't been a single person calling her Regina when she was working here, and Emma took great pleasure in saying "hi, Roni" whenever Regina passed by her table. It was a fun little game because nobody else knew that Emma was Regina's girlfriend.
Emma took a sip of her sangria and observed as her girlfriend stirred another drink. She still found that to be oddly sexy. There was just something about the way Regina mixed the drinks and stirred them with such professionalism. Often accompanied by that sweet smile of hers. It wasn't at all difficult to understand why Regina was one of the most popular waitresses. One of the reasons why the manager had just shrugged and gone 'okay' when Regina announced her 'condition' to him. As far as he was concerned, Regina could work for as long as it was physically possible for her to do so.
Emma emptied her drink and wiped her lips on the napkin. She was having a great time listening to the loud music in the bar. Not at all bored like Regina had predicted she would be. She liked seeing Regina work. She enjoyed seeing how Regina in some way transformed and became younger when she worked. How some of the responsibility seemed to be lifted off her shoulders. Here she was simply... Roni. And it was obvious that she sometimes needed to be just that. Just Roni minding her job and mixing drinks. No responsibilities.
As summoned by Emma's thoughts, Regina appeared by her table, and her smile was just a tad more kittenish than the smile she send to other customers were. "That drink looks a bit empty, señorita," she purred.
"So it does," Emma said, struggling to keep a straight face. There was no doubt that Regina enjoyed this little "roleplay".
"Would you like a refill?" Regina asked sweetly and leaned in. Whether it was to flirt or relieve some of the growing pressure on her back remained unclear, but either way it was a very sexy little gesture.
"Yes, please," Emma smirked. "A refill would be great."
"Won't be a moment," Regina promised as she snatched the empty glass and sauntered back to the bar.
"You minx," Emma muttered to herself as she watched Regina dance around behind the bar. Her hips never stopped swaying as she poured more sangria into the glass. The music in the bar was loud, and Regina clearly enjoyed that too. Emma knew that she missed dancing flamenco. The pregnancy had forced her to give that up. Spinning around made her feel dizzy, and it would only be a matter of time before she wouldn't fit into her dancing shoes anymore. At least that was what she had jokingly said, but Emma knew that she was genuinely sad about being unable to wear her flamenco dress.
After a little while, Regina came back with another sangria for Emma. "There we are," she briskly announced. "One sangria for the lady."
"Thanks, hon- Roni," Emma hastily corrected and chuckled at her own mistake. "Oops."
"Don't blow my cover," Regina laughed. "I'm not so sure my boss would be happy if he knew that I'm having 'private time' while working."
"My lips are sealed," Emma assured solemnly and glanced around in the bar. "Busy night, huh?"
"Bit of a busy night," Regina nodded. "Lots of thirsty people."
"Including me," Emma grinned and lifted her drink. "Cheers, sweetheart." She took a sip of the sangria and then realized what she had just said. "Oops. Sorry."
"Don't you worry about that," Regina scoffed. "It wouldn't be the first time someone has called me that."
"I bet," Emma said and gritted her teeth. "And I'm pretty sure that guy over here-" she nodded discreetly towards a man sitting near the bar. "-Tried to look down your shirt a moment ago."
"I know. I was there," Regina said flatly. "But then I walked around the counter. He saw my belly and suddenly had no interest whatsoever. Works like magic."
"Sim-sala-bim," Emma joked. "Pretty neat trick, really."
"I know," Regina snickered. "Nothing says back off like a belly like this one." She lightly patted her growing belly, and Emma wished that she could take a picture. Regina looked so cute while doing that.
"Anyway," Regina briskly continued and moved her hand away from her belly. "I better get back to it. Otherwise my boss will be upset."
"Have fun," Emma joked, raising her sangria. "I certainly will."
"Well, we can't all be on vacation, can we," Regina scoffed, and with that she sauntered back behind the bar to mix the next drink.
Emma sipped her sangria and tapped her foot up and down in synch with the music. The tune was catchy, but it wasn't like she was enormously in the mood for dancing. At least she wasn't right now. But perhaps later when the bar was empty, and Regina was supposed to close it down for the night. It wouldn't be the first time she and Regina had done a bit of slow dancing in the bar. Spinning around too quickly made Regina dizzy, but slow dance she could handle. And that was something Emma had taken advantage of for the past week.
Emma treated herself to another little sip of sangria and watched as Regina greeted another costumer who clearly was someone who often came there. He was old, maybe around seventy, and he had that 'delightful grandpa' vibe going on. As far as Emma could tell, he hadn't been there for at least a couple of weeks, because he excitedly gestured towards Regina's belly and then congratulated her. Regina took all of that in strides. She smiled and laughed and said 'gracías, señor Pedro'. Then she served him a very large beer. Emma was slightly impressed over how much one guy could drink. If she tried that, she would probably end up asleep under the table. But the guy was older, so he probably had more practice than her. Or maybe it was a super power seventy year olds gained.
Emma chuckled dryly to herself. She did not want to picture herself as a seventy year old. It was bad enough that she was turning twenty nine in... twenty two days. God, the thought of that was almost unbearable! Twenty nine. That was literally only one year away from thirty. And that was gonna be tough. She glanced up at the bar where Regina now was chitchatting to one of the other waitresses. She knew that she shouldn't hope that Regina would be there for her birthday, because Emma knew that she couldn't. She couldn't afford it. But she had promised to call Emma and sing her a birthday song. And Emma had already decided that they were gonna skype that day. She didn't care what other plans she had that day. She wanted to be with her girlfriend on her birthday. Emma's mouth twisted a little. Once again, the distance and ocean between them gnawed at her. Sometimes she hated that ocean so much it was almost ridiculous. Sometimes she legitimately thought about uprooting her life and relocating to Spain. But of course that was madness. Of course she couldn't do that. It was bad enough that she had plans about leaving Storybrooke. She couldn't relocate to another country. That would crush her poor parents. And her friends.
But as Emma sat there and nursed her drink, she couldn't help but wish for a middle of sorts. A place where they could meet halfway. And preferably be together all the time. A place that was both Spain and Storybrooke. Somewhere perfect. She scoffed a bit into her drink. Did such a place even exist? She doubted it. But still, it wasn't ridiculous to wish that she and Regina could live together at some point, was it?
No, Emma decided. It wasn't. Couples moved in together all the time. There was nothing weird about wishing the same for her and Regina. Nothing weird at all.
Imagine waking up to Regina every single morning. Kissing her goodnight every night. Emma had absolutely no problem with envisioning that...
As the night progressed, Emma saw many people leave and arrive at the bar. Quite a few "characters". A woman wearing an over-the-top gala dress, and a man wearing a tie and swimming trunks. How Regina managed to act like that was just the next customer in line was a bit of a mystery to Emma. She had trouble with keeping a straight face when the man adjusted the tie as though he wanted it to sit perfectly over an invisible shirt. Or when the woman brushed dirt off her dress and said something Emma couldn't understand, but she sounded incredibly snobbish, and after the woman had left, Emma thought to herself that if she had been a writer, she'd had enough material to start a novel. She told Regina that the next time she swung by Emma's table.
Regina chuckled. "Sí, you meet many interesting people here. That woman's name is María. She comes here every weekend in her fanciest dress. She always order one drink and then she leaves. I'm still waiting for her to tell me her life story. I'm sure she has experienced many, many things."
"She looks the type," Emma agreed with a short laugh.
"And how are you doing?" Regina asked and shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "Dreadfully bored?"
"No way, I'm enjoying myself!" Emma huffed. "I like watching people come and go. And I like watching you work."
"Yeah, because I look so sexy when I'm mixing drinks, right?" Regina teased.
"Definitely. And if you're really lucky, I might do something about that later," Emma said boldly. And this had nothing to do with the two sangria's she'd had tonight.
Regina's eyebrows rose as she went "oh?"
"Oh yeah," Emma assured.
Regina flushed and blamed it on hormones. "Well, that sounds very..."
"Interesting?"
"Sí. Interesting."
Emma chuckled wickedly. "Well, I have a feeling that it will be just that."
Regina cleared her throat and seemingly did her best to snap back into custom-mode as she said: "well, apart from prompting you to make lewd suggestions, is there anything else I can get you, señorita Swan?"
"Yeah, I'd like some peanuts actually," Emma said with a grin. The two sangria's had made her hungry after something salty. And any excuse to make Regina come back to her table. Any excuse to see her swagger back to the bar with her hips swaying from side to side...
"Right then. Some peanuts. Coming up," Regina said and flashed Emma an amused look. She probably knew what Emma was doing.
But Emma didn't care about that. All she cared about was keeping a close watch as Regina elegantly sashayed up to the bar and found one of those little bowls, they used to serve peanuts in. One of the waitresses came over and said something to her. Regina answered in Spanish, and while the two of them chitchatted, Emma busied herself with looking at the door again. It was amusing, really. How entertaining it was to observe the people who came and went in the bar. Emma wasn't bored at all. Quite the contrary. And she hoped that the next person walking through the door would be another 'character'. Maybe not a lady in a fancy dress or a guy in swimming trunks and tie, but still a character.
But the guy coming inside the bar looked totally normal. Unfortunately. Average height. Wearing a pair of jeans and a green button down. He had sandy blonde hair, blue eyes and a bit of a scruffy stubble. Just an average guy. Plain and 'boring'. Well, at least he was compared to the guy in the swimming trunks and tie. Emma chuckled a bit to herself and watched as the guy crossed the floor and walked up to the counter. She saw Regina look up to greet the newest customer like she always did. But instead of delivering her usual smile and greeting, Regina paled visibly as she looked at the man coming towards the bar desk. Literally, her face seemed to drain of blood in a matter of seconds. She sat the bowl of peanuts down hard on the edge of the desk. And as Emma watched this strange little scene play out in front of her, it didn't take long before her brain connected the dots. She had never seen this man before. And yet she immediately knew who he was...
To Be Continued...
Spanish translations:
Lo sé= I know.
Eres muy mandona!=You're so bossy!
Cállate, señorita Swan= Shut up, miss Swan.
Bésame, señorita Swan= Kiss me, miss Swan.