A bit of a time hop here, just because. Also, it's kind of a filler.

Read~Review~Enjoy

Chapter 14

"Mama! Mommy! Uncle Preston is home!" Chloe yelled from the window. "Can I go out and see him?"

"Baby it's freezing out there." Emma called as she frosted the cake. "He'll be inside in just a minute. You can't go running out when every guest gets here." She chuckled and looked at Regina who had just popped a candy into her mouth. "Those are for the cake." She scolded, adding the upside-down ice-cream cone on it.

"What kind of cake is this?" Zelena asked, filling balloons with the helium tank.

"A unicorn. It's not done yet, so stop judging." Emma said with a frown. "Gina, does it look bad?" She asked, pouting a bit.

"No baby. It just looks unfinished. Come on Zee, let's go check on the birthday girl and leave the Master Decorator to her work." Regina kissed Emma's cheek and headed to the living room. Preston was spinning Chloe while a very scared looking young lady stood in the doorway. "Preston, bring your friend inside. She looks terrified." Regina said, hugging him as well.

"Right. Sorry, Liz." He said, blushing a little. "Come on in. If you haven't figured it out, this little princess is Chloe." He said with a smile. "This is my sister in law Regina and her sister Zelena. Everyone, this is Liz. She's staying for Chloe's party and then going home for Christmas."

Regina smiled warmly and shook her hand. "Welcome. Don't be nervous."

"Thanks. The way Preston talks, I know the family means a lot to him and I want them to like me."

"Don't worry; they're an amazing family." Zelena said.

"Where's Em?" Preston asked, grabbing the bags by the door and bringing them in.

"She's in the kitchen decorating Chloe's cake. Why don't you take Liz up to your room first and then you can see her? She's in kind of a zone. Your moms should be home soon from last minute shopping. Liz, I hope Preston warned you that it's going to be a bit of a mad house today with guests."

Liz smiled. "He did. It's okay, I feel like there will be less pressure that way." She smiled at Chloe. "Hey, how about you show me where to put my stuff?"

Chloe smiled. "Okay." She took Liz's hand. "Gramma's said you can sleep in Preston's room if you want, but if you don't wanna do that, there's a guest room next to his."

Liz looked to Preston who shrugged. "Honestly, they're cool. You won't be judged either way."

"Which room is the best, Chloe?" Liz asked and Chloe smiled.

"Well, Preston's room smells like a boy even though Mama tried to freshen it up." She repeated what Emma had said earlier. "But, he's got big windows and a really comfy bed."

Preston chuckled as they reached the second floor. Liz grinned. "Then Preston's room it is. This is such a big house."

"Maybe later I can show you more. I wanna get back downstairs before my aunt Izzy comes."

"Okay, sweetheart." Liz said and smiled as Preston high fived the now nine year old. "You're good with her."

"That girl has my heart." Preston said, opening his door and putting their bags down. "She's been through a lot."

"You wouldn't know it looking at her. So who all is coming today?"

"Well, for sure Regina, Zelena, Cora, and moms, I'm guessing also Mal, Ruby, Emma's biological parents and sister. I'm not sure about her brothers. Last year, we didn't do much for Chloe's birthday because of the crazy year it was, so it's nice to celebrate this year."

Emma sat with her tongue between her teeth, putting the finishing touches on the cake. "There. Perfect." She said with a smile as she sat back. She looked around. "And no one is here to see it."

"Talking to yourself?" Ruby asked as she came in the kitchen door.

"No." Emma said. "I was talking to the cake." She grinned. "I did it myself."

Ruby looked at it and smiled. "Emma, it's beautiful. Chloe is going to love it."

"Thanks, Rubes." She hugged her friend. "Hey, how's your mom?"

"Better, thanks. That heart attack really was a surprise for all of us."

"Yeah, I wouldn't have expected it. She did look good when I saw her last week."

"It meant a lot to her that you and Chloe came over. She isn't up for today, so it was nice that she got to see you guys."

"It was nice seeing her again. She's been here for me and Chloe through so much." Emma said, putting the cover over the cake tray so nothing happened to it. "I think my brother and his girlfriend are here; do I scare her or be nice?"

"What's the fun in being nice?" Ruby asked with a grin.

"Be nice, Emma." Regina said, coming in and kissing her wife. "She's a sweet girl."

"Okay fine. I'll be nice." Emma promised. They went out to the living room and Emma hugged her brother. "I've missed you. I'm so glad you could come home for Chloe's birthday and Christmas."

"I've missed you too. Honestly, I'm surprised Liz isn't sick of me talking about you and everyone else." He said and smiled. "Emma, this is Liz. Liz, my sister."

Emma smiled and Liz did the same. "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about Preston's hero."

Emma hugged her and blushed. "I'm no hero."

"Oh, you're his hero. It's really sweet, honestly."

"He's good to you, right? Respectful and all that? If I taught him nothing else, I hope I taught him that."

"He's the perfect gentleman. My friends and family think he sounds too good to be true."

"Hey, I was raised in a house with strong women. I know how to be a good guy." Preston said with a smile.

"Are you going to her family while you're here?"

"Yes. Tomorrow we'll head over and stay there a couple nights. Christmas eve we'll be here, and we'll go back to her place Christmas day. New years will be for her and I."

"Sounds like a solid plan." Ruby said and then smiled. "Hi, I'm Emma's friend Ruby."

"Ah yes, I've heard of you too. Preston used to have a crush on you." Liz said with a chuckle. "Said he'd play games with your brothers but loved when you talked to him."

"Liz!" Preston said with a blush. "I never even told Emma that."

"Because I'd have given you hell for it." Emma said with a laugh.

"Gramma and Nana are home!" Chloe called out.

"Oh look, our whole family is here." Olivia said as she wheeled into the room with Amanda behind her. "Come here, Preston!"

He came over and hugged Olivia and then Amanda. "I've missed you both so much."

"We've missed you." Amanda said, tears in her eyes. "It's nice talking on the phone, but it's not the same."

Olivia put the brakes on her chair and pushed herself to stand. She had been doing more and more standing and walking, but still used the chair when in public. It was a slow recovery, but one she hadn't thought possible at one time.

"Mom, are you okay?" Preston asked, coming behind her and holding her.

"I'm fine. I can't walk far, but I can walk around the house. I have a walker in my room, but I wanted to just go sit on the chair." She sat down and smiled. "You must be Liz. It's nice to meet you in person and not on screen."

"Wait, mom got to video meet her and I didn't?" Emma asked?

"Yes, well they call me more than you do." Preston said, moving Olivia's chair. "Emma, do you need help with anything for the party?"

Emma shook her head. "I was in charge of the cake and that's done. My mom is bringing most of the food and Cora is bringing the rest. Liz, if I forget to introduce you to anyone, I'm sorry. Once they all get here, it's a bit hectic."

"No worries at all. I can introduce myself."

"Okay, well does anyone need drinks?" Preston asked.

"I want juice!" Chloe called from the window.

"Please." Regina corrected her.

"Please, Uncle Preston." She said.

Emma grinned. "There's punch in a pitcher in the fridge. Just please don't mess with the cake."

"Don't worry. Liz, punch or soda or water?"

"You old enough for wine?" Zelena asked, not sure if she was twenty-one yet.

"Not yet, thank you. I'll take a glass of punch please."

"Why don't you just go ahead and bring the pitcher out with the cups?" Amanda asked. "There's a bucket of ice in the freezer also. I'll set up the side table."

"I'll come with and bring out the other beverages." Regina said and went to the kitchen with Preston. "So, she seems nice. Is it serious?" She asked him.

"She's great, but it's still new. We're exclusive, but it's too soon for proposal or anything like that. It's just crazy that out in California, I met a girl from back home. I mean, it's crazy that she grew up an hour away from me."

"That is crazy, but it also seems like a sign. Just do you, Preston, and be happy. No pressure or anything."

"Thanks, sis." Preston said with a grin. "So, Emma was saying you guys started trying for a baby. Don't worry, she told me not to tell anyone else and I haven't. Just curious how that's going."

"Well, we've had one round." Regina said, feeling a bit bad about not telling the full truth. She was twelve weeks pregnant, but they wanted to wait until after Chloe's birthday to announce it. Last year, the little one didn't get much of a party because of what had happened with Jane, so this year, they wanted to make it a big day. "We'll find out soon."

"I hope it all goes well with you guys. Chloe would make an amazing big sister."

"She will. She's such a sweet girl. Even after everything she's been through, she's amazing. So much like her Mama."

"Hopefully though, unlike her Mama, she won't have anymore horrible things happen to her."

"We'll do our best, but it's hard. You can't protect them one hundred percent, no matter how hard you try. It's a scary world."

"Unfortunately, it really is."

They brought the drinks, ice, and cups out as Mary, David, and Izzy came in. "Aunty Izzy!" Chloe yelled and hugged her.

"Grampa's here too you know." David joked and picked up Chloe, spinning her around.

"I know, Gramps." She said and hugged him. "And Grams." She said, hugging Mary. All grandparents had had ideas of what they had wanted to be called when Chloe was a baby, but Chloe had her own names for them. Olivia was Gramma, Amanda was Nana, Mary was Grams and David was Gramps.

"Speaking of people being here, I'm here too you know." Emma said to her parents.

Mary smirked. "Yes, I know. Why aren't you helping bring the food in?" She joked and then went to her daughter to hug her. "I cannot believe it's been nine years since you had Chloe."

"Tell me about it. It feels like it was just yesterday." She said, getting up and hugging her dad and sister. "Okay, let's get the food."

"Are your brothers coming?" Olivia asked Izzy as she came in and sat by Chloe.

"Yes. Jacob is picking up Ryan now and they'll be on their way."

"Just them or any girls this time?" Amanda asked.

"Just them. I think Jacob still has a girlfriend, but he's not bringing her home this year."

"What about you?" Amanda asked her, though more teasingly as she was still young.

"Nah, not yet. I've met some girls I like, but I'm focusing on school and piano. My instructor said if I keep working hard, she can get me an audition at Julliard next year. It's scary but also exciting."

"We're so proud of her." David said, pouring himself a glass of soda. "We've never pushed her; it was just something she was always interested in."

"Well, I can't promise that it's tuned, but in the study over there is a piano that came with the house if you ever wanted to play while you're here."

"Can I check it out? I know how to tune it."

"Go for it."

"Can I come with?" Chloe asked.

"Of course."

The two went into the study and David came and sat down. "How are you doing, Olivia? You look well."

Olivia smiled. "Thanks. I'm doing much better than expected."

"I'm not surprised one bit. I know patients like you and knew you'd be a fighter. Plus, Emma had to get it from somewhere."

"Thank you. I guess I just got to the point where I could either give in and accept what they said or fight back and show them they were wrong."

"The party has arrived!" Mal said, coming in with bags in her arms and Cora behind her. "Where's the birthday girl?"

"She's in the study." Regina said, taking the food and kissing her mom's cheek. "Emma and I will set everything up. You all come in and get comfortable."

Two hours later and Emma lit the candles and brought out the unicorn cake. They all sang, and Chloe happily blew out the candles. Liz got along well with everyone and Emma loved looking around and seeing everyone there. That night, she lay in bed with Regina, her hand caressing her wife's still flat stomach. "Can we tell them tomorrow? I don't want to wait until Christmas even if that's only two days away."

Regina smiled. "Yes, we can tell them tomorrow, but then we have to tell my mom, so she doesn't get jealous."

"What if we have her come here so we can tell them together? My parents aren't heading out until later in the afternoon."

"That sounds good. I can have her come over for brunch."

Emma smirked and put on a fake posh voice with a mock British accent. "Yes, she must brunch with us tomorrow."

Regina rolled her eyes. "You think only people in England have brunch?"

"No, it just sounded like something a rich person would say."

"And rich people have English accents?"

"Oh hush. I was just trying to be funny."

Regina kissed Emma's forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The next morning, Emma woke and found the bed next to her empty. She knew Regina would be down with Mary helping her get things ready. Mary loved to cook, and they'd have a feast for brunch. Emma showered and dressed and checked on Chloe, smiling when she saw she was already out of bed. Downstairs, she said her good mornings and greeted Cora when she came over. As they ate, she looked at Regina and smiled. Regina nodded and they stood.

"I'd like to thank all of you for coming to celebrate Chloe's birthday with us yesterday. Regina and I…well we have other news to share today." She took Regina's hand.

"We've kept this quiet in case it didn't work out, but it appears it did. We had one round and I am now twelve weeks pregnant. We had official medical verification last week. I'm due June 26th." Cheers and congratulations were shared along with hugs.

"Another grandchild." Cora said with tears in her eyes. "Oh, I can't wait."

It touched Emma that Cora never once referred to Chloe as anything but her granddaughter and though this one technically would have none of Regina's blood, everyone saw it as hers and Emma's.

Emma sat back and smiled watching everyone. Their child would be loved, there was no doubt in that.

The holidays were busy but fantastic and of course, Chloe got more than she needed which meant they cleaned out her room and donated unwanted but still good toys and clothes to the charity shop. They also sat down and had a conversation with Amanda and Olivia.

"Now look, we're not saying we want you to move out because we'd want you to live here forever. All we're saying is I'm doing much better than we ever anticipated, and I don't want you two to feel stuck here."

Emma and Regina looked at each other before looking back at Olivia and Amanda. "Moms, I…we love it here. We have our privacy, but we also have family. We have the nursery all planned out and figured that could stay the new one's room until we decide what to do next. But if you want us to go, we can look for a place; it's just so sudden."

"No." Amanda stated. "No, we don't want you to ever go. We just want you to know that if you decide to go, we'll be okay. I know there's only two rooms up on that third floor, and I know you don't want to be a floor apart from Chloe or the new one, but have you thought about that attic room? It's fully insulated and ready to be turned into a room. I bet Chloe would love it."

Emma felt a bit dizzy with the conversation. "First you want us to move out now you're saying to remodel?"

"Emma, we didn't want you to move out." Olivia said and took Emma's hands. "We never want you to, but we never want you to feel trapped. I'm sorry. Maybe we went about this all wrong."

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry. I've got a lot on my mind and I guess I was just confused. I'll take a look at the attic room and talk to Chloe, but I'm not really in a hurry right now." Emma looked at her phone as it buzzed. "I'm sorry, I have to take this." She got up and went out of the room.

Regina sighed. "Sorry about that. There's something going on at her work with one of the youths there and it's got Emma all worked up. Of course, because of confidentiality, she can't talk too much about it. I know she loves her job, but whatever is going on is really affecting her."

"It's okay." Olivia stated. "I just really hope we didn't hurt yours or her feelings. I thought we said things in the right way, but maybe we didn't. We just never want you to feel trapped, Regina, that's the main point of this."

"I fully understand what you're doing and why you're saying it, but I promise you, neither Emma nor I feel trapped. I know it's not traditional, our arrangement we have here, but so long as it works for you guys, it works for us too. I'm excited for the new baby, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. Just knowing that you guys are here makes me feel so much better. Emma's done this before, you know, from birth on. I…well I had college and was gone before the first year was over and well I guess I'm just trying to say that leaving here is the last thing on our minds."

Amanda smiled. "Good, because we really don't want you to leave. We cannot wait for the new baby and being a part of its life. We love having Chloe here and being able to watch her grow. Those few years Emma lived on her own with Chloe were the hardest for us. We missed them so much and even though we were busy with fostering, we missed them."

"Maybe it's not traditional, but it works for us." Olivia stated. "You know, Amanda and I are both retired now so if you need daycare, we've got you covered."

Regina grinned. "Emma and I were going to talk to you two about that actually. We'd want to pay you, and we don't want an argument on that. I get three months maternity leave and Emma technically gets one, but I know she's saving her vacation time to try and get more, but after that, we wouldn't trust our baby to anyone else."

"We don't take money for Chloe and we won't for the new baby." Amana stated.

"You also don't have Chloe all day long. Please, Amanda, let us do this. We'd be paying for daycare otherwise and we can afford it. You and Olivia don't charge nearly enough for rent as it is. Please just give us this one thing so we can feel less like we're taking advantage of you."

Olivia cut in. "Is that how you guys feel? That you're taking advantage of us?"

Regina sighed. "Sometimes. I've been out on my own before and so has Emma, even if David was paying her rent. We know how expensive it is and the little you charge us, makes us feel guilty. That's why we insist on getting the groceries and paying the cable and utility bills, but even then, it seems we're robbing you."

"Here's the thing, and I wish Emma was here to hear this, but Amanda and I got a great deal on this house back when we bought it and it's been paid off for five years. We pay property taxes of course, but the only other cost is utilities that you guys pay for. The little we do charge in rent goes towards a third of the taxes each year as we take care of our third and Preston's third. We thought that was only fair and please believe, we do not feel we're being taken advantage of at all."

Regina listened to her and gave a nod. "That does make me feel better. Although, Preston is away at school, so maybe we should split the total in half."

"He's still got a room here, so that wouldn't be fair to you guys." Olivia stated. "Look, the last thing we want to do is make you two feel guilty in any way. How about this? You guys call around to a few different daycares and see what they'd charge for an infant and then we'll have a discussion on how much we feel is fair." Amanda gave Olivia a look, but Regina didn't see it.

"That sounds fair. Thanks guys. I'll fill Emma in on the rent situation too." She then got up to find her wife.

"Liv, we said we wouldn't charge to watch our own grandchildren." Amanda stated.

"I know that, but they want to do what they think is right. If they want to pay us to feel better, fine, but we'll put the money into a savings for the baby just like we put part of their rent in a savings for Chloe. We'll make sure the amounts are equal. I love David and Mary, but they aren't the only ones who can give money."

Amanda chuckled. "Okay fine, that sounds fair. We still have Emma's and Preston's savings, right?"

"Yes. If Emma does ever decide to move out, she has that money for a down payment or decorating or whatever. I know she has her own savings, but I like knowing we have money for our babies should they need it."

Regina found Emma in their room and kissed her cheek. "How's it going?"

Emma sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, tears in her eyes. "I tried so hard, Regina. I failed him."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Regina asked, sitting next to Emma.

"He showed all the signs, Regina and I tried so hard to get him to talk." She sighed. "This kid, he's fourteen and he came to the center from a referral from his school. He's very introverted and quiet, always wearing a hoodie and head always down, sleeves over his hands. I tried so hard to talk to him, to get him to trust me and I could tell there was more to him. I had a meeting with his mother as his father wasn't in the picture – or so she said." Emma sniffed. "Just got a call that he's in critical care because his dad beat the stuffing out of him after killing his mother."

Regina sighed. "Emma, it's not your fault. You can only do what you can do and like you said, you tried. It sucks and I'm so sorry, but it's not your fault."

"Maybe not, but I feel horrible. If he dies, Regina, it's going to break my heart."

"Of course it would. It would break anyone's heart." Regina said and looked at her phone. "It's Barba. I have to take this."

"It's okay." Emma said, curling her legs up to her chest.

"I have to be honest, Barba, I know some of the story as Emma is the boy's counselor at the youth center. She didn't tell me anything until she got the call today." She was quiet for a bit. "Sure thing. I'll be in right away." Regina hung up and started changing. "I'm on the case. Apparently, his father is saying he blacked out and can't be held accountable. I'm sorry, but I have to go in for a bit."

"It's okay. Regina, nail the bastard."