I am so so sorry for not updating this story sooner, but I had the worst writer's block I've ever experienced, so I hope I can make it up to you by updating this more regularly until it's finished. Please send feedback, take care of yourself, and I hope you enjoy!
"Can you see it," Mal asked. She was standing in front of the bathroom mirror with her hand on her belly, twisting and turning to see her bump.
"You can barely see it," Regina said. "You look adorable with your bump anyway."
"I do not," Mal protested loudly. Regina snickered and zipped up the side of her black dress. "I do not!"
"You don't what, mommy?" A little voice asked from outside the door. Mal chuckled and left the bathroom, pulling on a denim jacket over her blue halter dress.
"Nothing, Lil. Are you dressed?"
"Yes. Can I come in?"
"Not yet," Regina said hurriedly. She fixed her hair and carefully put in her pair of sparkly diamond earrings Lily adores and loudly proclaimed: "Princess Lilith may now enter the room." Lily giggled and burst through the doors proudly.
"Come here and let me do your hair," Mal said impatiently. Lily bounced over to the bed and knelt down on the carpet to let Mal brush her dark tangles. Tonight, the trio was off to Regina's father's birthday. Mal hadn't met the man until now, but she had no doubts that she wouldn't like him by the way Regina told her all about him and his kind nature. Even if Regina's father was a gem, Regina warned her of Cora, her mother. She was already stepping out of line by dating a woman with a child, so Regina was worrying herself sick at the thought of telling her mom why Mal was pregnant.
"It'll be okay," Mal had whispered each time she silently spun out of control, but even if Regina listened to her, she wouldn't; not really. Cora held power in Regina's life and authority over her actions. Once she found out, all hell would break loose in her fury. Mal didn't want to admit it, but she was scared for Regina. No mother should be that controlling over her daughter, especially at Regina's age now. She didn't have to tell that to Regina, though.
"All done," Mal said to the girl in front of her. Lily leapt up off the floor and huffed impatiently.
"Can we go now?" She asked innocently. Regina ran a hand down the front of her dress and stared at her reflection as she smoothed down her hair over one shoulder, then adjusted it again.
"You look beautiful," Mal said hushed. Regina smiled shyly but it didn't reach her eyes. She was staring at herself until Mal tugged lightly on her hand.
"We should get going," she muttered. "We'll be late." Regina looked down at both their hands and nodded sadly. Mal had a feeling she wouldn't like Cora, but she would fight her if it protected Regina. She's known her for a less than a year, but it feels like she's loved her for longer.
Regina stood up and pulled on her blazer before holding her hand out for Mal to take. They descended the stairs hand in hand, warning Lily not to run down the stairs. She slowed down and pouted slightly, making Regina and Mal laugh.
The drive was a long one, Cora insisted on moving to New York after Regina moved out so she could "experience the big city" without dealing with a child. Lily grew impatient and bored during the drive, so Mal dug put her phone to let her play a game while they talked about what they would tell Cora about the pregnancy.
"What if she doesn't ask," Mal pointed out.
"She will. She definitely will. Just don't let her get under your skin." Mal nodded and put a hand on Regina's knee.
"I'll be fine. It's you I worry about."
"Why do you need to worry about me? I lived with her for eighteen years, I can handle her for two hours."
"I know, but you talk about her like she's a really horrible boss at work."
"She probably sees it like that," Regina mumbled to herself. "Trust me, I can handle her. She's just…difficult. And pointed. Maybe a bit demanding."
"God Regina, are you trying to scare me?"
"No, I'm trying to prepare you. She'll be the one to scare you."
"How about we don't talk about your mother right now," Mal suggested. Regina chuckled dryly.
"How's the headache?"
"It's fine. It should be gone soon anyways."
"I can't believe it. You're giving birth in three and a half months," Regina deadpanned.
"How about we don't talk about that either."
"Are you scared?"
"Of popping another watermelon-sized-person out of my body again? Yeah, a bit."
"Okay, I'll stop. Hey Lily, how are you doing back there?" Lily didn't look up from the screen, just made a sound of satisfaction and swiped across the screen repeatedly. Mal smiled wistfully at her then turned back around to steal glances of Regina humming to the radio and strumming her fingers on the steering wheel. She never fidgets, Mal thought, so Regina's mother may be worse than I thought.
Regina pulled up to the curb beside the tall apartment building Henry directed them too. Lily had to bend backwards to see the top of the building, and Regina tried not to look at it for too long.
"Are you okay," Mal asked. She already knew the answer.
"Fine," Regina dismissed. "Let's go inside." They went inside and were greeted by a strong smell of citrus and flowers and a lavish, black monochrome lobby. A man stood near the hallway leading to the stairs, beside the elevator. The three girls went inside and Regina told Lily to press the "number ten button." Lily eagerly pressed the button and ran back to Mal so she didn't have to stand next to the woman sharing the elevator with them. The elevator stopped at the fourth floor, then continued on to the ninth.
Mal and Lily stepped into the penthouse, while Regina stood in the elevator for a moment, before following the two into the room. It wasn't decorated for a birthday party, but she heard voices coming from the downstairs floor. The walls were a hideously-bright white like a hospital, the floors were polished, and not a speck of dust covered the picture frames or black furniture.
"Regina! Come down here," Cora said at the foot of the stairs. Regina linked her arm with Mal's before descending the stairs and greeting her mother.
"Hello, Mother. How are you?"
"I've been busy with the gallery. You look a little pale. Are you well?"
"I'm fine. Mother, this is Mal, my girlfriend, and Lily, her daughter."
"It's nice to meet you," Cora said with as much faux sweetness as a candy factory. She shook Mal's hand and bent down to shake Lily's.
"Where's father," Regina asked calmly.
"He's on the patio. Be a dear and help me bring out the vegetable trays?" Regina nodded and the four led Mal and Lily to the patio and introduced them to everyone before going back to the kitchen to dig out the trays from inside the fridge.
"You should call more often," Cora said.
"I've just been busy is all," Regina replied coldly.
"It just would've been nice to hear from you."
"I'm not available whenever you want me to be. I have a job and a girlfriend."
"With a kid, and another on the way. Tell me, was she pregnant before she met you?"
"It's complicated, Mother, I'd rather have Mal able to advocate for herself instead of you making assumptions," Regina remarked, before picking up tray of vegetables and heading out to the patio.
"Regina! It's been too long," Henry said fondly. Regina grinned and put the vegetable tray down on the glass table before hugging her father.
"It has. Happy birthday!"
"Thank you." Regina sat down beside Mal on the deck chairs and introduced her to Henry. They talked a lot about Lily and herself, until Cora came back outside a while later and rudely asked Regina and Mal to come inside to discuss the "issue at hand."
"Well, a while ago, I wanted to-"
"That's not a proper way to start a sentence, dear," Cora pointed out. Regina had to stifle the urge to roll her eyes as she started over.
"A while ago, I went to a gynaecologist to see if I could get an IUI, but the doctor said I was infertile. She said if I found a surrogate mother and a donor, I could still have a biological child. I had just met Mal at the time, so five months after we started dating, I asked if she could do this for me. She said yes."
"So that's your baby," Cora clarified.
"Yes, that's right."
"You wouldn't have these problems of you were with a man," Cora said under her breath.
"Actually, I would still have these problems."
"Regina, don't talk to me like that. We have other guests here."
"They're all outside, and they aren't guests, they're you're clients."
"Not just my clients, a few other gallery owners are here as well."
"Did Dad even want to invite them?"
"He would have said so if he disagreed with my choice of guests."
"No, he wouldn't have. He doesn't have the heart to stand up to you."
"Mal, dear, would you leave us for a moment?"
"No. I'm staying right here with her." Cora glared her down, but Mal didn't budge. Cora gave up and gave her attention to Regina again.
"You don't think I should've known about this? I'm your mother."
"Really, because all mother's forget their daughter's birthday, force them to break up with a girl because "I deserve better," and don't even try to keep quiet about their distaste in their sexual preference? You don't care about what I want, so why should I tell you about something when you're set on controlling it."
"Because I know what's best for you."
"I already know what I want and what's best for me. My family is best for me, which is Mal and the baby inside her and Lily. I can't change who I am, so I think you'll find it best to control something else. Like how about the food outside? In the meantime, Mal and I will enjoy the time with father and celebrate his birthday." Cora rolled her eyes, but didn't stop Regina and Mal when they went back outside.
Henry was having a conversation with Lily about dragons when Mal picked her up and sat down in the chair she was previously sitting in, then put Lily onto her lap. Regina held Mal's free hand under the table, while Mal's other hand stroked Lily's frizzy hair.
Other than Cora glaring at the four across the table, they had a pleasant time catching up with Henry, and Lily had a particularly good time with the bowl of blueberries, but asked Cora at one point if she had any chips that regular birthday parties had. Cora chuckled and told her that she didn't eat chips, because they were too unhealthy. Lily had scrunched her nose in distaste but ate the rest of the blueberries on the table.
The sky was growing dimmer when Regina decided that they should drive home. While Mal and Lily were putting on their coats and saying goodbye to Henry, Cora leaned in from behind and whispered into Regina's ear.
"This conversation isn't over."
"As far as I can tell, it is."
"I don't think it is. And I'd rather have it without your loyal puppy by your side."
"At least she's more loyal than the heartless woman behind me," Regina daringly remarked before stomping off to say goodbye to Henry before leaving. She was lucky Cora didn't do something rash during or after their fight, and Regina was even a bit surprised. During the entire dinner, she thought Cora was going to suddenly pounce and berate her, insult her, and shame her for the things she said and did.
Once they left the building, Mal was tearing up and looking at Regina with big eyes like a beaten dog.
"I'm so sorry for her behaviour. I wish I could give you an excuse, but I can't. She is wrong, you are more than I could've ever imagined."
"It's not that, it's just that…how did you live with her?"
"I didn't. I survived by the skin of my teeth. You showed me how to live." Mal grinned and climbed into the car. Her tears didn't stop, they kept flowing down her face.
"What is it? Something else?"
"Pregnancy hormones," she muttered, before digging out a tissue from the glove box and blowing her nose. "Do you want me to drive? You've been through a lot today."
"I'm fine."
"You've said that more times than I could count, now let me drive." Regina didn't put up much of a fight and quickly traded places with Mal. Lily dozed off after a half hour of driving, and Regina quickly followed. In her sleep, she looked distraught, and even a bit torn apart. Mal quickly pecked her cheek and sighed. Regina wasn't kidding when she said Cora was as sharp as broken glass. If she ever met a younger Regina, she would've run away with her from Cora and her abuses. At least she had Henry to love her. Mal's heart cracked slightly.