"After having carefully weighed pro's and cons and done a throughout soul-search..." Emma said, teasingly running her fingers up and down Regina's naked and slightly sweaty back. "I've decided that I'm not going home tonight anyway. Instead I'm gonna stay here and beg your boss to hire me..."

Regina chuckled a tad hoarsely. "I seem to recall that you said something similar the last time, querida."

"Yeah, well, this time I'm serious," Emma quipped and threw the covers over Regina's naked body. "Here, I don't want you to get cold."

"Cold?" Regina laughed. "I don't think it's possible to feel warmer than I do right now."

Emma snickered warmly. She felt the same way. She and Regina had just spent a lovely extended morning in bed. Their clothes had ended up on the floor, and Emma really didn't feel like putting it back on right now. She was far too comfortable in this position. Her chest pressed against Regina's naked back, and her crotch pressed against... Well... One of the reasons why Emma really, really didn't feel like moving.

"Mmm," Regina hummed. "Why can't all my mornings start like this?"

Emma snickered. Felt a bit wicked even though she had done something 'unforgiveable' this morning. She had roused a pregnant woman from her sleep. And not even to bring her breakfast in bed. But for sex. Completely scandalous. But Regina had been delighted. First, she had been all adorable and sleepy and asked if something was wrong, but then as Emma had started to unabashedly kiss her neck and then given her panties a suggestive little tug (perhaps not the blonde's best attempt at seduction), Regina had laughed and said 'oh'. Emma had of course asked if Regina felt okay, if she felt up for it. The answer to that had been 'sí and sí, and so their morning in bed had been delightfully extended.

But now it rather seemed like their morning in bed was about to end. Emma pouted when she felt Regina remove herself from her and then shift to sit up in bed. "No, wait!" she moaned dramatically and clumsily reached for Regina. "Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom," Regina chuckled. "That's okay, right?"

"Oh." Emma dropped her hands down. "Yeah, that's more than fine. You're coming back to bed though, right?"

"Sí, that certainly was the plan," Regina snickered. "You did wake me up rather early."

"Yeah, I know," Emma said, only partially feeling sorry for what she'd done. "But I wanted to make the most out of our last morning together."

"And my, how we did," Regina smirked as she stood from the bed and stretched gracefully. She lifted her arms and moaned slightly when her back made a little creaking sound.

"Be careful," Emma half-scolded and tried not to stare too much at Regina's breasts. Damn, that was difficult.

"YOU be careful," Regina teased, and her laughter echoed in the bedroom as she disappeared out in the little hallway, wiggling her ass as she went.

Emma chuckled softly to herself and forced her unwilling body into a sitting position. What a wonderful morning this had been. Their sex life had been amazing right from the very first time, but now... well, it really felt like things were better than ever. Regina was way more sensitive to touch, and her body reacted quicker and stronger now. Seriously, the orgasms she'd had earlier... Emma shook her head at the memory. Those had been un-fucking-believable. Emma puffed out air and sighed. Every time she came to Spain to spend time with Regina, it was with the knowledge that she had to leave sooner or later. And it was killing her. Had since day one, but now that Regina's belly seemed to have swelled a bit more every day, it was harder than ever. Leaving Regina and the little one here was excruciating. Especially after the show-down they'd had with Robin last night. Even though Regina seemed to have 'bounced back' fairly quickly, she had still been unable to fall asleep right away when they went to bed. After a bit of coaxing from Emma, she had admitted to be mulling over some of the things Robin had said to her. How he had accused her of sleeping around. Emma had fought the urge to find Robin and bash in his stupid face, and then they'd talked about. A long time. Until Regina finally felt soothed enough to fall asleep. Emma had held her as she slept, and while she was glad that Regina had fallen asleep, she had also been crazy worried. Afraid that Robin would come back to the bar one of the nights where Regina were closing up on her own. That was a vulnerable position before, but now that she was pregnant, it made it an even more vulnerable position. And Emma sort of hated it. She knew that Regina needed to earn money, and she respected that Regina wanted to support herself, but damn, Emma wished that there had been other options than the late night shifts at the bar.

The floorboard outside the bedroom creaked and revealed that Regina was on her way back, and Emma was quick to snap out of it. She had almost been disappearing into her own mind. And she definitely didn't want that today. This was her last morning/day with Regina, and she didn't want to let that go to waste.

Regina came back to the bedroom with her phone in hand. She was frowning softly. "Anything important?" Emma asked.

"No. I'm just reading up on stuff," Regina chuckled.

"Pregnancy stuff?"

"What other stuff is there?" Regina joked. "I wanna know what my 'symptoms' this week are."

"True that," Emma chuckled and patted the empty space in the bed. "Come and read to me."

Regina crawled up in the bed and got settled in a cross legged position. Her dark hair fell over her face as she bowed her head, and Emma immediately took the opportunity to kiss Regina's naked shoulder.

"Hey," Regina protested with a chuckle. "You better stop that right now."

"Or what?" Emma challenged.

"I can't read to you if you keep doing that," Regina scolded.

Oh. That was a good point actually. Emma always wanted to know about this week's 'pregnancy-stuff'. "Okaaaay," she mock groaned. "I'll stop. Now tell me what your handy-dandy app says."

Regina chuckled and then cleared her throat: "Blueberry has morphed into an avocado this week. The eyes and ears have settled into a normal position. The baby's legs are developing. Blueberry is about 4.5 inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces. Next week, baby will begin a major growth spurt."

"Oh, really?" Emma said, resting her chin lightly against Regina's shoulder. "That's really interesting, honey. I love catching up on blueberry-stuff."

"I know you do," Regina chuckled.

"So that's what happening with kiddo," Emma continued, fingers itching to touch Regina's belly, but maybe not right now. "What about your symptoms?"

"Well, the tender breasts stuff follows me into this week," Regina quipped. "And I might start to become forgetful."

"Really? Oooh, pregnancy brain, right?" Emma grinned.

"Sí." Regina puffed out air. "Then there's brighter skin due to increased blood flow, heartburn, nosebleed, and-" she stopped talking and went: "eww. No, I'm not gonna tell you that, it's disgusting."

"I don't think anything is disgusting. You know that."

Regina ignored her and continued: "I might have to stay off spicy food to avoid heartburn. And-" now she was definitely wrinkling her nose. Even Emma could see that.

"What?" Emma asked. "Tell me?"

"It says here that I should count on gaining between 12 and 15 pounds this trimester!" Regina exclaimed. "Might fluctuate a bit depending on how much I weighed at the beginning, but dios mio!" she shook her head. "I'm gonna be enormous by the time I'm ready to deliver! I'm gonna be massive! Huge! Una maldita casa!"

"You won't be a house," Emma chuckled.

"Yes, I will," Regina said, sounding ever so tragic. "I'll become a whale and then you won't think I'm sexy anymore..."

"Okay, THAT is just the worst bullshit I've ever heard," Emma growled. "And if I ever hear you say that again, I'll spank you."

Regina turned her head quickly, and her mouth fell open as she stared wide-eyed at Emma. And only now Emma realized what she had just said. Oops. She could feel herself flushing, but maybe what she said wasn't such a bad thing. Regina was flushing too. Delightfully so. And biting her lip. Oh my.

"It's not fair to say that kind of stuff to me when you're going home tonight," Regina half-moaned.

"Sorry," Emma said sheepishly. "I wasn't thinking."

Regina chuckled. "Clearly not. But I liked it."

"Keep reading," Emma said hastily. "Tell me more pregnancy-stuff." Otherwise there was a really big chance that she and Regina would end up spending the entire morning between the sheets.

Regina snickered. Then she bowed her head over her phone again. Emma busied herself with scratching lightly up and down Regina's naked back.

"From now on, I could feel Blueberry move," Regina announced.

"That's not fair either," Emma murmured. A bit boldly, she slid her hands down and placed them on Regina's rounded stomach. "Come on, Blueberry. Move," she said playfully, hoping that it would fly well with Regina. That she would take it for what it was. Simple goofing around.

And luckily enough, Regina chuckled warmly. Thank god.

"Come on," Emma continued, feeling a bit more confident now that she was sure she hadn't upset Regina. "Be a good little Blueberry and move." She tapped Regina's belly teasingly.

"I don't think anything is happening, mi amor," Regina laughed. "But I promise you, you'll be the first one to know when it does. You and Alessandra and Sofía of course."

"Of course," Emma echoed.

Regina turned her attention back to her phone and made a noise of disgruntle. "This stupid app is recommending me to 'check out different pregnancy pillows'! What is this madness?"

Emma laughed. "Is that like a body shaped pillow or something?"

"Looks like it from the pictures," Regina sneered. "No way. I'm not swapping you for a pillow!"

Emma laughed again. "Fair enough."

Regina looked back at her phone. Then looked up, turned her head and gave Emma a mischievous smile. "You know what this app tells me, querida? That my orgasms may be more pleasurable..."

"Really?" Emma said with faux surprise. "Tell me more..."

"'Due to increased blood flow to the pelvic area, orgasms will be easier achieved and more pleasurable," Regina quoted with a naughty little chuckle.

"Oddly enough, I already knew that," Emma teased.

"My body also produces even more oxytocin," Regina told her, now giggling.

"That better last all through the second trimester!" Emma groaned. Seriously, it wasn't fair that Regina's symptoms were this lovely when Emma couldn't be around.

"I'm sure they will," Regina soothed. "Don't you worry, querida."

"Oh, they better be, otherwise I'll- wait hang on!" Emma interrupted herself. She had just spotted something very interesting. "Your app can be synchronized with my phone!"

"Sí, it can," Regina nodded. "That's right."

"Wait, you already knew that?" Emma huffed. "Why didn't you tell me?! We totally have to do that!"

"We do?" Regina turned her head and then tilted it adorably. "Really? You want that?"

"Hell yes!" Emma said immediately and read over Regina's shoulder. "'Synchronize with your partner's phone to let them know how you feel'. What does that mean exactly? How does it work?"

"Well, you'd receive updates on your phone. Weekly updates," Regina hesitantly explained.

"What kind of updates?" Emma asked eagerly.

"Uhmm, mostly what's going on with Blueberry, how much he or she has grown, what body parts are developing, but also how I'm doing. You know... symptoms and all that."

"We have to do that!" Emma said excitedly. "That way I can know exactly what's happening with you and Blueberry! That's brilliant!"

"Yeah, but..." Regina bit her lip and her gaze dropped to her lap. "It's mostly an... uhmm, an 'expecting father' kind of thing. At least that's how they recommend it. For the father to be."

"Okay," Emma said softly, excitement simpering down now that Regina looked like that. She gently put a finger under Regina's chin to tilt her face up. "But does it really matter?" she asked gently. "That it's a thing for expecting fathers, I mean? It could be a thing for us too if we want. For when I can't be with you physically. I'd love to receive updates on how you're doing. How Blueberry is doing. That way I could be totally all-knowing when I call you and drop facts like 'your back is hurting today' or 'Blueberry is the size of a banana today'. I think it could be kinda fun, actually. But only if you're comfortable with it."

Regina flashed her a smile. "I'd like that. I don't have that many people to share this with, so it would be nice if you could be totally up to date on everything."

"My point exactly," Emma said. "How long have you known that app could be synchronized to my phone?"

"Since I downloaded it," Regina said sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Honey, I'm not asking you to apologize," Emma chuckled. "I'm just curious as to why you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't want to overwhelm you. Your phone would be flooded with updates every week, and I-"

"Nonsense," Emma interrupted and pecked Regina's pretty lips. "Completely and utterly nonsense. I WANT my phone to overflow with pregnancy updates every damn week, okay? If I could choose, the updates would come in daily, but that's not an option, is it?"

"I don't think so," Regina chuckled.

Emma reached out and grabbed her phone from the bedside table. "Come on. Show me how this synchronization thing works."

"Right now?"

"Right now, beautiful girl."

"Okay then," Regina chuckled. "Give me your phone."

Emma handed Regina her phone, and Regina quickly set things up so the app on her phone now would synchronize with Emma's. It didn't take long before Emma received a notification on her phone. Filled with balloons and 'your partner wants to keep you updated!'

"Tasteful," Regina said flatly and rolled her eyes.

"Very," Emma half-chuckled. "But hey, now I'll get updates every week! That's a good thing."

"Oh yes, now you'll know of every last embarrassing symptom I might have," Regina joked.

"Yup, there's no hiding from me anymore," Emma teased and mock growled. She even went as far as forming her hands as claws.

Regina chuckled, and so did Emma. Especially when she heard another growling sound. One that came from Regina's stomach.

"Tengo hambre," Regina said quite unnecessarily.

"I can hear that," Emma grinned. "Any special requests this morning?"

"Waffles. Do we have that?"

It turned out that they did. And while they were hanging out in the kitchen in their bathrobes and stuffing themselves with waffles, Regina's phone rang.

"That's my dad," Regina said after having glanced at the screen. "I better see what he wants."

"Feel free," Emma chuckled and waved her waffle. "I'm plenty busy."

Regina snickered slightly as she lifted the phone off the table. She swiped a finger over the screen and brought it up to her ear. "Hola papi, do you mind if I speak English? That way everyone can be a part of the conversation."

Emma grinned.

"I'm doing good," Regina said chipperly. "How are you, daddy?"

Emma listened as Regina's father answered in Spanish. She couldn't quite understand that, but she did pick up on Henry saying her name.

"Yes, Emma is still here," Regina replied. "I'm taking her to the airport tonight, but for right now we're having breakfast." she chuckled. "Yes, of course. Yes, I'm getting plenty of rest, don't worry. Sí, I was at work last night. Mhmm. And closing up the place. Yes. No, it wasn't hard work. Not at all. But there was a bit of a nasty surprise. Robin came in."

Emma breathed a sigh of relief. Regina was telling her father. That was good. That was excellent! She knew that Regina had a tendency to sometimes 'censor' things from her father because she didn't want to worry him, so Emma was extremely relieved that she had chosen to tell him this. That was the right decision for sure. She could hear that Regina's father had raised his voice a bit. Clearly not a fan of Robin. "He was... pretty surprised to say the least," Regina said tightly. "Actually, he was pretty horrible. Said some pretty bad things to me, but-"

"¡Lo voy a matar!"

Emma jumped a little when Henry suddenly yelled into the phone.

"Daddy!" Regina scolded with a slight chuckle. "Think about your blood pressure, please." She turned her head and told Emma: "my father wants to kill Robin, apparently."

"Good man," Emma growled. "Tell him I'm right behind him!"

Regina didn't have to do that, though. Emma heard laughter in the other end. Henry had clearly heard what she said.

"No, no, no, I'm fine," Regina assured, grinning sheepishly. "I might have... smacked him. Across the face. Not my greatest hour." She laughed again. "Daddy, this is point where you tell me that violence isn't the answer. You're not supposed to tell me well done and compliment my right hook!"

Emma spluttered. The more she heard, the more she adored Regina's father.

"But, uhmm..." Regina continued and bit her lip, clearly debating whether to continue or not. "I'm not sure I should tell you this or not, because I don't want your blood pressure to skyrocket, but I'm pretty sure Emma will have stuff to say if I don't tell you, so... " she swallowed something. "He- Robin- well, he, uhmm... actually became a bit... intimidating, shall we say. Towards me. Right before he left." She made a face when Henry raised his voice again. "Well, he sort of came a bit close. No-no, he didn't touch me. Not at all. Emma went in between us and threatened to call the police." Regina bit her lip again. Clearly this experience had rattled her more than she had let on last night.

Emma clenched her fists. If she ever saw Robin again, she wouldn't just settle for smacking him across the face. She would grab him by the collar and shake him until his bones rattled!

"Sí, I have a few late night shifts this week," Regina said. "And some next week too, yes. But I've signed up to take the earlier shifts the week after that-" she went quiet and listened as her father spoke. Then she smiled. "¿Seriamente? But aren't you busy? It's a long dri- okay! Okay, there's no reason to shout, daddy!" she laughed. "Thank you. I'd like that very much. But only if it doesn't collide with your own pla- alright! I get it!" more laughter. But then she grew serious once more. "No. No, I have not heard from Mother. Not at all. And I actually think it would be better if you accept that I'm not going to either, daddy."

Emma's mouth twisted at the mention of Regina's mother.

"No!" Regina said sharply. "She absolutely cannot know about this, daddy! Promise me you won't tell her! What's going on with me is officially none of her business any longer, so I would appreciate if you didn't... Thank you." She visibly relaxed at whatever her father had just said, and then she smiled softly once more. "Yes, I'll give my love to Emma. Of course."

"Tell him I said hi!" Emma interjected.

"Emma says hi," Regina chuckled. "Okay. Yes. Yeah, let's talk tomorrow. Love you too, daddy. Bye!" she ended the call and put the phone down.

"How's your dad doing?" Emma asked.

"He's doing fine. Well, he was until I told him about Robin."

"Yeah, I heard him shouting," Emma said half-jokingly. "I love the fact that he complimented your right hook."

"Sí, he wasn't too pleased. Nor was he pleased about my late night shifts," Regina said as she took another bite of her waffle.

"I'm not too pleased about that either, beautiful girl."

"In fact he was so unpleased he offered to come and pick me up every night," Regina continued.

"He did? That's awesome!" Emma said. Seriously, she loved Regina's father!

"Not only that, but he also said that he would be parked outside the bar one hour before my shift ends. To make sure that... Well, that no one comes to see me while I close up alone."

"God, I love that guy!" Emma said earnestly and then frowned: "so, you DO actually feel threatened by Robin, don't you?"

"Not directly," Regina denied. "I didn't like how close he could have gotten last night. But I suppose it was kind of my fault, right? I mean, I did provoke him by slapping-"

"No," Emma said plainly. "You reacted because he was an asshole who said shit to you, and had he been a big boy, he would have ignored it and pissed off instead of coming closer."

"I don't think that he actually would have done anything, though."

"That doesn't matter. He would still have gotten too close."

Regina nodded a bit, thoughtfully. "You know what I think? I think Robin has done it before. Cheated, I mean. Why else would he get tested regularly?" she scoffed.

"I think that's very likely," Emma nodded. She too doubted that it was the first time Robin had cheated. Marian's strong reaction certainly suggested that it wasn't the first time her husband had been unfaithful to her.

"Imbécil," Regina said flatly.

"True that," Emma half-chuckled.

"Well, now I have my dad as my bodyguard." Regina continued and rolled her eyes. "I've involved him and made him concerned even though I swore to myself that I wouldn't."

"You made the right choice, honey," Emma said firmly. "Robin WAS being threatening towards you last night, and your dad has to know that."

"I suppose you're right. He asked me to move in again, bless him."

"And I sort of wish that you would," Emma muttered.

"I know you do, querida," Regina said softly. "But you also know that I want to handle this on my own as much as I can. I want to be as little dependent on my dad as I can. And besides, Robin doesn't know where I live. Nor Marian."

"I know," Emma nodded. "But... if you ever start to feel unsafe here or just the slightest bit creeped out, will you please move into your dad's place then?"

"I promise," Regina said and reached out to pat Emma's hand. "Don't you worry about a thing, mi amor."

Emma snorted. "Yeah right. When it comes to you, I always worry. No matter what."

Regina chuckled warmly. "I wish you wouldn't, but it wouldn't do any good to ask you not to, would it?"

"Nope. It would just make me laugh."

Regina smiled at that and then said thoughtfully: "my dad asked about the baby."

"He did?"

"Mmm. He proudly announced that I'm sixteen weeks along now. I think he's keeping tabs on it."

"Well, now he's not the only one," Emma said lightly and patted the cellphone laying next to her on the table...

The rest of that day went by far too quickly. From breakfast to lunch, to dinner and bam, suddenly they were on their way to the airport. Again. Emma's suitcase was packed and had been stuffed into the trunk of Regina's car. Instead of sundresses or light skirts, Emma was now wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She had her passport in hand, and she was fucking miserable.

"I hate this," she grumbled.

"Me too," Regina sighed. "But I hope I'll be able to come to Storybrooke soon."

"How soon?" it bursted out of Emma before she could stop herself. She grimaced. "Sorry. I wasn't trying to be pushy about it." she knew that money were tight for Regina, and plane tickets weren't exactly cheap.

"Before I reach week twenty. I hope," Regina replied and adjusted her sunglasses slightly. "And you don't have to apologize. I'm eager to see you too."

"Week twenty," Emma repeated and tried not to sigh. That was in four weeks. Which seemed like crazy long time, but maybe... "You could be there for my birthday!" she said excitedly.

"That is sort of what I'm aiming for," Regina smiled. "And I'll try my best."

"It could be awesome if you were there for my birthday," Emma said warmly. "But it won't be the end of the world if you're not, remember that. I don't want you to overwork yourself."

Regina snickered amusedly.

"I MEAN it!" Emma said a tad exasperated. "No stressing yourself!"

"I hear you, señorita Swan," Regina said with faux obedience. "Loud and clear." The she laughed heartedly.

"You think you're so funny..." Emma grumbled.

"Maybe I need my attitude adjusted," Regina said sweetly.

"I'll be sure to do that the next time," Emma said, now she was laughing too.

Regina snorted. "Are you looking forward to going home?"

"No. I'd rather stay here!"

"Be serious, querida. You have to miss your parents and friends, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose I do. Of course," Emma nodded. But she actually hadn't thought much about her friends or parents while in Spain. And now she felt guilty about it. Of course she'd been in touch with Ruby and Belle and her parents. She had texted both Ruby and Belle and her mom last night to give them the latest update. With Regina's blessing, Emma had told them about Robin's 'surprise-visit' to the bar, and the absurdities he'd said to Regina. Belle and Ruby had cussed him out. And Emma's mother had been shocked. And once again she had drilled it into Emma to tell Regina that she was welcome to come to Storybrooke whenever she wanted. Emma found that to be adorable, the way her mom had completely fallen for Regina.

"Do you think you're going to talk to your parents about California when you get home?" Regina asked softly, bringing Emma out of her train of thoughts.

Emma sighed. "I supposed I ought to, don't I?"

"Sí, I think that would be wise."

"They won't be happy about it," Emma said. "It'll be such a huge change for all of us. The years where I studied in Boston were super tough. I was really homesick and basically home every weekend. I know that the distance between Maine and Cali isn't that far by plane, but still... I'd be far away from home. From my parents and my friends and everything I know."

"I understand that," Regina said gently. "You're used to having everyone close by."

"Yeah, exactly." Emma straightened her posture a bit in the car seat. "But I also really wanna do this, you know? Start over in a different place. I've been wanting too for a while on and off. I thought that after Neal and I had gotten married we would move away, but then I realized that he wanted to stay and help his parents with their store, so I kinda put it aside and tried to get used to the idea of living in Storybrooke. White picket fence and close to my parents. And it wasn't that I was unhappy about that, not at all. I actually found it to be kinda romantic and idyllic, but now... Well, I've realized that I sacrificed a dream for him."

"You need to tell your parents that, querida," Regina said softly. "They'll understand why you want to leave. Your parents are wonderful. And you've got so much potential. I've seen your photos. They're wonderful."

Emma reached over and gave Regina's bare knee a little squeeze. "And besides, if I lived in California, I would at least be a little bit closer to you."

"Dios mio, please tell me that's not why you want to leave!" Regina laughed.

"Not the whole reason, mi belleza," Emma assured. "But it's a part of it. Imagine if I bought or rented a little place in Laguna Beach. You did say you liked to swim. Try and picture it. Living on the beach. Waking up to the ocean. Just you and me..."

"That does sound wonderful," Regina said yearningly.

"It could be real," Emma said. It COULD. If that gallerist from New York decided to exhibit her pictures, she would earn a decent sum of money. And one thing often lead to another. Maybe someone could end up buying her pictures. Then she'd end up with another sum of money, and then... Emma smiled. She had plenty of hope for the future.

"Querida?"

"Mm? Yes, baby?"

Regina chuckled. "That was a new one."

"Oh." Emma frowned a bit. "Yeah, I suppose it was. What did you want to say?"

"I was just wondering, what's gonna happen when I get too big to fly?" Regina asked. "I looked it up, and it's recommended not to fly after week 37, so I can't come to see you. Well, unless I deliver before week 37, but I'm not so sure that would be too good either..."

"I'll come to you," Emma said softly, squeezing Regina's knee again. "Don't you worry about that. I was thinking of coming to Spain when you reach week 35 and then just kinda... hang out until the birth."

"Really?" Regina asked. "You're going to do that?"

"Yup. There will be no blueberries delivered without me."

"Berries?!" Regina grimaced. "I'm only giving birth to one kid, Em-ma!"

"It was a figure of speech!" Emma said hastily. "I know there's only one baby in there."

"You better remember it!" Regina snipped, but then chuckled. "Dios, just talking about the birth makes me feel nervous. It is going to hurt so badly!"

Emma settled for giving Regina's knee a soft pat. Because she wasn't about to fill Regina with 'I'm sure it won't be so bad'-nonsense. Labors hurt. Giving birth hurt. Period. There was no way around it. That's just how it was.

"I better start doing some of those pelvic floor exercises," Regina continued. "I've heard it's good to start strengthening things as soon as possible."

"That's probably a good idea," Emma nodded. "But no Lamaze classes without me!"

"Oh, that's not until I'm six or seven months along," Regina said cheerily. "Plenty of time. But are you sure you wanna do that?"

"Hell yeah," Emma grinned. "I'm sure it's gonna be fun."

"Fun?" Regina echoed and snickered dryly. "It's a class teaching me how not to loose my marbles when I'm labor. I doubt there'll be much humor in that. But with you there... Maybe it won't be so bad. Nor the birth."

"That's the spirit," Emma said warmly. "You're going to ace it. All of it. The Lamaze classes, the labors and the delivery."

"We'll see about that," Regina said gravely. "Hopefully I'll learn how to be calm and collected. That's all I'm asking."

Emma squeezed her knee again. "You're going to do wonderful, sweetheart."

Regina smiled a little...

Soon, too soon they reached the airport. Emma had checked in via her phone from home, so she didn't have to go through the trouble of checking in in the airport. Instead she could just walk right up to the security line and onwards to her gate when the time came. "I really fucking hate this," she murmured when she and Regina found themselves sitting on a bench.

"There's still an hour until you have to board," Regina pointed out.

"So there is," Emma acknowledged and unabashedly leaned in and kissed Regina.

"Mmph," Regina said a tad surprised, but definitely not unhappy. She was clearly trying to hold back her amusement as she gently returned the kiss. One of her hands came up to rest against Emma's cheek.

Emma breathed in the scent of apples. She despised this. Well, no, she didn't. She didn't despise kissing Regina. Kissing Regina was always nice no matter what, but the goodbye-kisses. Those were absolutely the worst. As was the knowledge that it would be four weeks or maybe even longer before she got to see Regina again. It was almost unbearable, but Emma tried to remind herself that it could have been worse. They could have been living in a time where the only type of communication was letter form. Or- even worse- Emma could have been married to Neal and on her honeymoon with him when she saw Regina in that bar. God, that would literally have been the worst!

"Mira, se están besando!"

Emma and Regina broke apart at the tiny voice clearly addressing them, and when Emma turned her head, she saw a young boy standing close to the bench where they were sitting. He was maybe four, maybe five years old. Black-haired but with big, green eyes. And he was grinning from ear to ear. "Estabas besándote!" he cheerfully announced.

"Sí, eso es correcto. Nos estabamos besando," Regina told him and chuckled slightly.

"Pero ella no es un chico?" the little boy asked confused and pointed to Emma.

"Bueno, a veces las chicas besan a otras chicas," Regina said, and once again Emma recognized the soft, patience voice she'd heard Regina use in the park when that little girl had gotten lost.

"Ohhh," the little boy said, wide eyed and with mouth slightly open as though Regina had just blown his mind completely. The next minute he was snatched away from them by his stressed father who said something to him in Spanish. Most likely something about him running away in the airport.

"What was that about?" Emma asked curiously. "More lost children you had to help?"

"Not exactly," Regina chuckled. "He pointed out that we were kissing, and when I confirmed his suspicion, he was confused."

"Oh?" Emma tilted her head and snickered slightly. "Why was he confused?"

"Because you're not a "boy". He didn't quite understand how I could kiss you if you weren't a "boy"."

"Oh. Ohhh! And what did you tell him then?"

Regina shrugged. "That girls sometimes kiss other girls."

"Right," Emma grinned. "That explains the mind blown look on his face."

"Nothing like a bit of education in the airport," Regina joked. As she spoke, she opened her purse and thrusted a hand inside it. Frowned slightly and muttered something in Spanish followed by: "I seriously did not forget it at home, did I?"

"What are you looking for?"

Regina didn't answer. Instead she exclaimed a triumphant: "aha!" as she whipped out what appeared to be a regular bun. But Emma knew that this particular bun was puffy and packed with this fluffy chocolate filling. Regina had munched on several of those particular buns last night- after having murdered half a bag of chips.

"Feeling peckerish?" Emma warmly teased.

"Todo el tiempo," Regina replied and frowned a little. "But I'm gonna eat carrots tomorrow. Lots of them."

Emma chuckled a bit at that. "What are you gonna do when you get home?"

"I dunno." Regina's speech was a bit slurred because of the way she was stuffing her face. She paused and carefully chewed and swallowed before continuing: "Watch Netflix, probably."

"I'm jealous," Emma said. "And this week you had a thing with Alessandra and Sofía, right?"

"Sí, they've invited me for dinner at their place," Regina nodded. "That was nice of them."

Yes, Emma supposed it was. But then again, Regina was giving them something so precious, so maybe dinner was to be expected. As soon as the thought was formed in her mind, Emma mentally balked and checked herself. She wasn't so sure she was supposed to think like that. No. Definitely not. It was nice of Alessandra and Sofía to invite Regina over for dinner. Period.

"This is so good," Regina mumbled between bites of the fluffy, chocolate-filled bun. "If I end up whale-sized, I'll only have myself to blame!"

Emma laughed. "You deserve it."

"I haven't done anything to deserve it," Regina scoffed.

"Uhh, the last time I checked, your body was busy creating something pretty mind-boggling, so yeah, you deserve it. For sure," Emma chuckled and wrapped an arm around her girlfriend.

"I deserve it," Regina said happily, looking ever so in love as she gazed at the chocolate bun...

The one hour was up. As much as Emma didn't want it to be, that was the reality of what was happening right now. The one hour was up, and it was time for her to go to the gate.

"Oh, fuck this!" Emma growled when her plane was being announced over the speaker.

"Yeah," Regina said a tad meekly. "I've promised myself that I'm not going to cry this time, though."

"And how am I supposed to not cry?" Emma asked, only half-jokingly as she stood from the bench. "Come here!"

Regina willingly stepped closer, but not quite close enough. Emma was almost yanking her into her arms, and Regina made a very slight 'oomph!' sound.

"Oh god!" Emma said, immediately loosing her grasp around Regina. "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking-"

"Shut up," Regina laughed. "And don't stop hugging me!"

Emma didn't stop. But she did made sure not to squeeze Regina like she had a moment ago. She breathed in the scent of Regina's apple-y shampoo and felt her throat constrict painfully when she thought about how long it would be before she could hug Regina again. And feeling Regina's arms around her, hugging her softly didn't help one bit. Emma tried not to, but a very quiet sniffle still slipped out of her.

"That is not fair!" Regina said strangled. "You can't do that to a pregnant woman, Emma! If you start, I'll blubber as well."

"No blubbering then," Emma said entirely unconvincingly and turned her head so she could unabashedly bury her nose in Regina's hair and prolong the moment for just a little. She was very well aware that she looked like a crazy person, clinging onto Regina like that, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"You'll miss your flight, preciosa," Regina said as she rubbed Emma's back.

"But I don't wanna," Emma said pathetically.

"I know you don't."

"I'm going to miss you so much!"

"I know that too. I'm gonna miss you too."

"I might have left a little souvenir under your pillow," Emma whispered into Regina's hair, and she felt how Regina's body shook with laughter.

"Dios, please don't tell me you've left your panties or something like that?" Regina half-giggled.

"You'll find out," Emma teased. She hadn't left her panties under Regina's pillow. That would have been beyond tacky. She had left one of her t-shirt. The oversized blue one with a ridiculous Sesame Street logo on the chest. Regina had practically been living in that t-shirt every night, so of course Emma had to leave it behind. Of course that t-shirt now belonged to Regina. Keeping it when Regina was so fond of it would be cruel.

"I don't want to leave!" Emma murmured against Regina's hair. "Why can't I just stay here and work in the bar with you?"

"Because you can't," Regina half-chuckled. "We both know that. But we'll see each other again before you know it."

"I think the roles have switched," Emma grinned. "Usually I'm the one encouraging you, not the other way around."

"Maybe excess maturity is something that comes with pregnancy," Regina joked.

"Yeah, maybe," Emma said. She was about to say something more, but then a voice blared through the speakers. Her plane was being announced again.

"You better get going," Regina said and disentangled herself from Emma.

"Ooookayyyy," Emma sighed. But she wasn't going anywhere just yet. She leaned in and bussed Regina on the lips and then let her hands drop to Regina's growing belly. "You promise me to take care of yourself and Blueberry okay?" she shamelessly caressed the growing belly in front of her, quietly panicking over how much it would have grown the next time. How much she would have missed out on.

"Promesa," Regina vowed and moved her hands down too. For a moment they were resting on top of Emma's on the growing belly.

"And let me know if you meet any assholes," Emma continued. "No matter who that asshole might be."

"Promesa," Regina repeated, now chuckling again. "Say hi to your parents and Ruby and Belle. And try not to smack your ex again."

"Can't promise that," Emma laughed. Then she wrapped her arms around Regina and hugged her again. "I love you."

"I love you too," Regina mumbled, and now her voice sounded just a tad wobbly.

"No crying," Emma reminded her and planted a super sneaky kiss on the side of Regina's neck. "Go home and watch some Netflix for me. And eat more chips."

"You know what, that's actually very likely to happen," Regina said, disentangling herself from Emma once more. "Now go! You're the last one to board."

Emma turned her head. Regina was right. She was in fact the last one. "Oh, shit!" she gave Regina another quick kiss on the lips. "I love you. Don't strain yourself. Keep me updated on everything. Skype tomorrow."

"I love you too. I won't and I will. And sí, skype tomorrow. Now GO!"

And so Emma finally stumbled through the door. But not until after she had bussed Regina on the lips three times more. It didn't escape her notice that despite the promise she'd made to herself, Regina's lips felt salty. She wasn't doing a very good job at not-crying. And honestly, neither was Emma. But she didn't feel it until she was sitting in the plane. That's when she realized that her mascara had become messed up and made her resemblance a panda. A very sad panda, that was.

To Be Continued...

Spanish translations=

Una maldita casa!= A damn house!

Tengo hambre= I'm hungry.

Hola papi= Hello, daddy.

¡Lo voy a matar!= I'm going to murder him!

¿Seriamente?= Seriously?

Imbécil= Fool.

Mira, se están besando!= Look, they are kissing!

Sí, eso es correcto. Nos estabamos besando= Yes, that's correct. We were kissing.

Pero ella no es un chico?= But she's not a boy?

Bueno, a veces las chicas besan a otras chicas= Well, sometimes girls kiss other girls.

Todo el tiempo= All the time.