"Still no baby, huh, Swan?"

Emma rolled her eyes at her best friend. "Nope."

"And how are you not going mad yet?" Ruby asked as she elegantly flipped another pancake.

Emma rested her elbows on the counter in Granny's Diner and wondered about the same thing. Regina's due date was two days ago, and absolutely nothing had happened yet. It was terribly frustrating. For both of them.

"How is Regina not going mad yet?" Belle added.

"Now that is a good question," Emma replied and cringed.

Regina had without a doubt reached her limit when it came to being pregnant. She was ticked off. Vexed. Crabby. Pissed off. She was uncomfortable all the time. Every movement was a struggle. She was even more out of breath than she was last weeks. Her lower back hurt almost all the time. She couldn't sleep at night.

And inside her, the baby was wiggling around. Like a very big worm, Regina glumly had said to Emma yesterday.

It had come to a point where Emma always thought twice before saying something to Regina. She had started to double check her words and assure that they couldn't be misunderstood and potentially make Regina either upset or angry.

But it wasn't just Emma. Everyone was walking on egg shelves around Regina. She was to be treated very, very delicately.

"Here you go."

Emma blinked at the cup of coffee that had just been sat down in front of her. "I didn't order this."

"No, it's on the house," Ruby said. "Honestly, you look like you could need it."

"Thanks," Emma said, smiled and suffocated a yawn. "Regina was up half the night because of her baaaaaack." She exploded in a yawn and shook her head. "Urgh. Sorry."

Ruby chuckled. "I can't imagine how tense it must be to just go around and wait for it to start."

"Mmm." Emma took a sip of her coffee. "But obviously, it's worse for Regina than it is for me. She's literally the one doing all the lifting right now. I don't think I've ever experienced her being in such a bad mood. Which I get, totally. But it's just… difficult to navigate through. Suddenly, everything is a minefield and it's more common than rare if I do or say something wrong." Yesterday, she had made popcorn for Regina, and they had ended up a little crisp around the edges. The look in Regina's eyes had suggested that this was the worst thing to ever happen to her, and the way she said 'Emma, I was REALLY looking forward to the popcorn', had been positively deadly. She had rolled her eyes and shaken her head and when Emma meekly had offered to make a fresh batch, she had scoffed and said that it probably was best if she made them herself. She had pushed herself up from the couch, waddled into the kitchen whilst complaining that her feet were fucking killing her. Emma had felt like the worst girlfriend ever.

She took another sip of the coffee and reminded herself to keep her eyes open. "How much longer?"

"Around ten minutes," Ruby replied. "Give the cook a chance."

"Sorry, sorry. I just don't wanna be late. I don't want Regina to wait too long for the food." God knows what waiting could do to Regina's Spanish temper.

"What's she up to right now?" Belle asked.

"Well, when I left, she was trying to do some pregnancy yoga she read was supposed to be labor inducing, but honestly I'm not holding my breath." Emma sipped her coffee. "Obviously, I don't know much about it, but I'm not sure yoga is enough to do the trick."

"You don't know that." Ruby pointed at her with a spatula. "She could be in labor when you get home."

"It's not going that fast, Rubes," Emma said patiently. "But it would be great if it could start on its own. Regina is talking about wanting to be induced. She's just so done at this rate."

"I can't blame her. Poor thing," Belle said sympathetically.

"Pregnancy is hard work," Ruby agreed and tossed Belle a sideway grin. "Still feeling tempted, baby?"

Emma suffocated a laugh. Hearing Ruby call Belle 'baby' was so cute.

"Partly, yes," Belle said, completely unbothered by her girlfriend's teasing. "Watching Regina's belly grow and feeling the baby move has really awakened my maternal instinct."

"We've barely lived together for five minutes," Ruby complained.

"Which is why I don't mean now, you dummy," Belle scoffed. "But at some point."

"I can live with 'at some point'," Ruby said, now smiling softly at her girlfriend. "And it's nice to know that you wanna have a baby with me."

"Of course I do. I love you."

"Love you too, beauty."

"Urgh," Emma groaned. "Can't you guys wait with the mushy stuff until after I've left? I'm begging you."

"No, we're inconsiderate people," Ruby deadpanned.

"Of course we're not," Belle scolded. "Sorry, Emma. We'll wait."

"But we're very against it," Ruby added. "I mean, very against it."

Belle sighed deeply and shook her head.

And Emma took another sip of her coffee and wondered if she too was being way too touchy about certain things. Did her tenseness also take away her sense of humor? She hoped not.

"So, where's Granny hiding today?" she asked. It was quite uncommon that Granny wasn't in the diner during the afternoon.

"She went for a walk in the woods with Regina's dad," Ruby grinned. "They had picnic basket and everything. It looked very romantic."

"Aww," Emma cooed. "If that isn't the sweetest thing, I don't know what is!"

"Yeah, Mr. Mills has completely swept my grandmother off her feet." Ruby's eyes sparkled. "And she used to swear that she never would be interested in getting a partner. Ha, I say! She has fallen head over heels for him. Seriously, she's a goner. All I have to do is to mention his name, and she goes completely red and dreamy."

"It's amazing," Belle said softly. "Granny deserves someone like Henry. He's the sweetest man I have ever met."

"Mmm, definitely," Ruby agreed, tossing a lock of red streaked hair over her shoulder. "And guess what?"

"What?" Emma asked and took the opportunity to take another sip of her coffee. It was nice and warm and full of caffeine. Exactly what she needed right now.

"I need to check something on the computer in the backroom, and she had forgotten to close Google. She had looked at plane tickets to California. My grandmother. Who never goes anywhere. And not just that. When I clicked on the search bar, I could see that she also had been searching for places to rent there. Within close range to where Mr. Mills is gonna live!"

"You're kidding me?" this was indeed some news. "Granny is thinking of moving with Henry?"

"Says the woman who's planning on moving in with her girlfriend after only nine months," Ruby cackled.

"Different situation," Emma brushed her off. "Granny and Henry has only known each other for a few weeks. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm definitely not trying to be a downer or anything!"

"If you ask me, I think it's an age thing," Belle said softly.

"Yeah, I agree," Ruby nodded. "You get bolder when you're older."

"Bolder when older," Emma repeated with a grin. "I'll drink to that! Cheers!" she raised her cup of coffee towards her friends and then took a large gulp. It was liquid magic being injected straight into her veins. She hadn't gotten much shut eye the previous night, but she was kinda hoping that she could take a nap later. When Regina was napping. She happened to nap a lot during the day. Was an eager chaser of all the sleep she could possibly get…

Emma arrived back home carrying two brown paper bags. One containing a burger with fries, and the other containing a chocolate muffin. Regina had been in the mood to get dinner from Granny's Diner tonight, and naturally, Emma had immediately gone to Granny's to pick up the food.

"Hey, princess, is that you?" came her father's voice from the living room.

"Yep, only me," Emma called back. Didn't even bother trying to get him to stop calling her 'princess'. That was just his thing. Gotta respect that.

She poked her head inside the living room where she found her dad sitting in the couch. He was watching some kind of baseball match on the television. There was no sign of her mom. Or Regina.

"Smells good," her dad commented, nodding towards the bags and sniffing appreciatingly.

"It's for Regina, old man," Emma chuckled. "She upstairs?"

"Yes, I think she went to take a nap. I don't blame her. It's some tough days, these ones."

"Yeah, it is," Emma agreed.

"Two days past her due date…" her dad shook her head. "Poor thing. I remember your mom not having a swell time either at this stage. As far as I can recall, I really had to watch my step."

"Yeah, I…. I know that feeling," Emma said meekly. She didn't want to be disloyal to Regina, but it was tough. Not that Emma wanted to whine about it or anything. Of course not. She was well aware that Regina was the one dealing with the hardships right now.

"Remember that it's not actually you she's mad at," her dad said kindly. "She's not out to get you, princess. She's just frustrated."

"Yeah… Yeah, I know." Emma cleared her throat and squared her shoulders. She could deal with this. She could handle Regina being a little crabby. She would make an effort to not take the jabs personally and remember that Regina wasn't actually mad at her. She was uncomfortable and frustrated that nothing had happened yet. Emma could handle that.

She lifted the bags slightly. "I better take this upstairs. Wouldn't want the food to get cold or anything."

"You go along then."

Emma went up the stairs, bags in hand and wondered which state Regina would be in this time. Would she be upset that it had taken Emma such a long time? Or would she simply be asleep? It wasn't easy to tell these days.

Having made it up the stairs, Emma listened as she went down the hallway. She couldn't really hear anything. Maybe Regina really was asleep. If that was the case, she obviously didn't want to wake her.

So when she reached the bedroom door, she did not knock. That would only disturb Regina. Emma's plan was to just leave the food on the bedside table for Regina to eat later, and she winced when the door creaked a little. She slipped inside.

Regina was laying on the bed. She was curled into a ball and was wearing nothing but her underwear. Her clothes were laying strewn on the floor. She easily overheated these days, and Emma imagined how her girlfriend frustrated had ripped her clothes off and thrown it on the floor before climbing into bed.

Emma carefully sat the bags of food down and tiptoed backwards towards the door.

"No tienes que estar tan callado. no estaba dormido. I'm just resting."

"Oh. Want some company? Or would you rather just be a ball on your own?"

The silly expression had Regina chuckling tiredly. "Maybe I could be a ball while you're here?"

"Yep, that could definitely be a thing." Emma gingerly sat down on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?" Fuck. She immediately cringed. "Sorry, sorry, that was a stupid question."

"Of course it wasn't a stupid question, querida. But I don't want to bore you with my aches and pains. I'm aware that I have been talking a lot about it recently."

"You could never bore me," Emma said firmly. "And I'm always interested in knowing how you're feeling. So go on. Let me hear."

"Well, I have a bit of a cramp in my right calf and this crazy pelvic pressure. Fun times."

"I'm sorry, beautiful girl. Want me to rub your leg or something?"

"Sure. That sounds nice."

Emma gently grabbed hold of Regina's right leg and rolled her sweatpants up past her knee. She went to work immediately and began rubbing Regina's calf. Not too much pressure, but not too lightly either. Regina was very particular about how she liked her leg massage. But luckily, Emma had practiced and polished the routine.

"Oh, eso se siente bien. Any chance you can do something similar to my pelvis?"

Emma chuckled. "That sounded kinda sexual."

"That was the intention."

"Oh." She grinned again. "Well, I could give it a whirl."

Regina gave a tired smile and reached for one of the paper bags. She managed to get her hands on the French fries and stuck one inside her mouth.

"Good?" Emma asked.

Regina had her mouth full and settled for nodding.

"Awesome." Emma kept rubbing Regina's leg. She frowned when she felt the muscles spasm under her touch. "Does that hurt?"

"No, the cramp is actually subsiding. Wish I could say the same about what's going on in my pelvis. And my lower back." Regina sighed. "I am so tired of being uncomfortable all the time!"

"I know, beautiful girl, I know. And I really hope you'll get some relief soon."

"Plenty of relief. I just have to squeeze out a kid first," Regina said flatly. "Then I can relax. Nice."

"Sorry," Emma said hastily. "I'm sorry." She was reaching the state where she couldn't tell for sure whether she was the one who had said something stupid, or Regina was being touchy. Or whether it was mixture of both.

"No…" Regina sighed. "I'm sorry. I keep snapping at you for no reason, and it's not fair." She blinked, and to Emma's horror, she saw Regina's eyes getting misty.

"Hey, hey, don't cry!" she said and touched Regina's cheek. "It's okay, Regina, really."

"It is not," Regina mumbled.

"It is," Emma insisted. "You're aching almost all the time. You're past your due date. Of course you're frustrated."

"But I shouldn't take it out on you. It's not fair!"

"You're not taking it out on me."

Regina chuckled wetly and blinked. "That's sweet, but it's also untrue. I've been absolutely horrible. Una bruja."

"You are not a bruja," Emma said firmly. "You're a woman sick of being pregnant. That's different."

"No, querida, at this rate, it's the same thing." Regina stopped the French fry eating for a second to rub her belly. "Why doesn't Blueberry wanna come out already?"

"Maybe it's comfortable in there?" Emma goofily suggested. "Warm and snuggly?"

"Muy divertido." She gave a long suffering sigh, air making a stray curl bounce around for a second. "What does the app say today? Does it have any good advises on how to make the labor thing happen? I'm ready to try anything. Even eat raw chili if that's what it takes!"

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"I don't care," Regina groaned. "I'm willing to do anything, Emma. Anything."

"I'll check the app," Emma said hastily. She could hear how desperate Regina sounded, and she could tell that she wasn't playing around.

"Thank you."

Emma found her phone in her pocket and checked the app that had been tracking Regina's entire pregnancy. "Hmm, let's see.."

"What does it say? Read it to me. Please."

"Exercise," Emma read aloud from the app. "Nothing strenuous, obviously, it can be a walk. As long as it gets your heart rate up."

"But I already took one walk today," Regina complained. "I can't keep walking. Maybe I should try some yoga. What else?"

"Sex," Emma said cheerfully and grinned. She cleared her throat in a theater-like fashion and read aloud: "sexual activity, especially having an orgasm-" she flashed Regina a sly smile. "…Can release oxytocin, which may help jumpstart uterine contractions."

"I see," Regina quirked an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose that's doable. If you're not afraid of getting squished, obviously…"

"I am not, and you won't squish me," Emma dismissed. "If you're up for it, I am more than up for it!"

"Thank you, querida." Regina gave her a friendly nudge and treated herself to another French fry. "Perhaps we should try that…"

Emma lifted an eyebrow. "Are you even in the mood for sex?"

"," Regina admitted with a little shrug. "However impossible it sounds. It sure is strange considering that I am not in the mood for much else." She laughed shortly.

"Well…" Emma drawled and looked at Regina as she laid there in only her underwear. "Just say the word, and I'll be happy to offer you my services, Milady.."

"No quiero que sea una tarea," Regina said firmly.

"Having sex with you will never be a chore," Emma assured. "Never." She wiggled closer so she could skim a hand up and down Regina's back. "If my dad wasn't downstairs, I'd definitely do things to you right now…"

"Emma…" Regina groaned. "It's not nice to tease a pregnant woman. You really should know better."

"Sorry," Emma said. But she didn't feel very sorry. She absolutely loved that Regina was still in the mood for sex. Not every woman was in the mood for sex so close to the birth. But as usually, Regina deviated from the rest.

"What else?" Regina asked, firmly trying to change the subject.

Emma glanced at point three on the list and grinned because Regina's attempt at changing the subject hadn't worked at all. They were staying in the gutter. And she was quite pleased about it.

"Nipple stimulation," she happily announced.

Regina snorted and one of her eyebrows went up in that charming way that had swept Emma off her feet right from the get-go. "Are you making this up?"

"I swear, I'm not." Emma turned the screen towards Regina so she could read it herself.

"Huh." Regina squinted slightly and read aloud: "'Stimulating your nipples can cause your uterus to contract and may bring about labor. Nipple stimulations stimulate oxytocin production. Oxytocin is the hormone that causes the uterus to contract and the breast to eject milk. In fact, if you choose to breastfeedyour baby right after delivery- well, yes, that was the idea- this same stimulation is what will help your uterus shrink back to its original size. You or your partner may manually stimulate your nipples, or you can try using a breast pump.'"

"I can help," Emma sweetly offered. "I can definitely help."

"Good to know." Regina nudged her.

"Maybe I should get my dad to run some kind of errand for us," Emma speculated. "You know… So we could get some alone time…"

"All in the name of starting my contractions, querida?"

"But of course," Emma assured. "That's the number one priority. But even if it doesn't work, well…"

"It'll be nice anyways," Regina laughed.

"Exactly. You're very smart, beautiful girl."

"I know." She reached within the brown paper bag and finally grabbed the burger. "Anymore advises?"

"Acupuncture. Acupressure. Castor oil."

"Castor oil?"

"Yep."

"And what am I supposed to do with it? Eat it?"

Emma consulted the app for answer, and once she had gotten it, she said: "yep."

"De ninguna manera!" Regina made a face. "That sounds absolutely revolting!"

"Yeah, I agree. No castor oil."

"Are there anymore advises?"

"One more. Eating dates."

"Do we have any dates?"

"I can run to the store and get some real quickly," Emma offered. "Do you want me to?" the thought of asking her dad to do so, did cross her mind, but she had a feeling that he would hurry there and hurry home. He always sped up things if it could benefit Regina in some way. And they definitely wouldn't have enough time to do… stuff.

Regina bit her lip. "You just went to the diner for me."

"I don't mind." Emma swung her legs out of bed. "Tell you what, I'll go to the store right now. And I'll grab some of that cookie dough ice cream you love."

Regina's eyes started shining. That alone was reason enough for Emma to get her ass in gear…

Emma was cocooned in the duvet. She was happily, blissfully asleep and dreaming something about soft clouds drifting across the sky and herself laying on a giant bed.

But as wonderful as her dream was, she wasn't sleeping very deeply. Any little sound could rouse her these days. So naturally, when she heard a faint creak, she opened her eyes immediately.

Emma blinked in an attempt to get used to the darkness. It didn't take long, and soon she was able to see the silhouette of Regina standing at the foot of the bed.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Emma rasped and rubbed her eyes. "Why are you out of bed, beautiful girl?"

"I feel funny," Regina said softly.

"Funny?" Emma was immediately awake and sat up. "Funny how? Do you think you can describe it a little more in depth?"

"I'm not sure. It's like my stomach is in turmoil. The baby is shuffling around all the time, but I'm not in pain as such. As I said, I just feel sort of… funny. I think I'll go downstairs and watch some television for a little while."

"I'll go with you." Emma said, shoving the covers aside and swinging one leg out of bed.

"You don't have to. You should go back to-"

"I'll go with you," Emma interrupted, repeating herself. "No question about it."

Regina accepted that with a slight shrug.

Emma ended up snatching the duvet and taking it with her as they ventured downstairs. Just in case Regina would get chilly later.

They ended up on the couch. Or, Emma did. Regina rejected sitting down and instead began walking back and forward on the living room floor.

"I have the strangest sensation," she murmured. "I can't quite explain it, but I have the strongest feeling that something is about to happen."

"You mean like… contractions?" Emma asked slowly.

", but I have absolutely no proof. It's just… I don't know, a gut feeling, I suppose?"

"Well, I've learned that you're supposed to trust your gut feeling, beautiful girl." Emma more than bought Regina's theory about something happening soon. She had read that all the senses were heightened in the last stage of pregnancy, so why shouldn't the gut feeling be heightened as well?

"Are you sure you don't want to sit down, honey?" she asked.

"I think I prefer walking for the time being." Regina rubbed her belly. "¿Qué está pasando ahí, pequeño? Is it?"

Yes, Emma thought to herself and felt a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Maybe it is actually time! There was every possibility of that. Regina was three days past her due date now. She could literally pop at any given moment!

They hadn't been downstairs for much more than five minutes before they were joined by Emma's mother who came into the living room with her short snow-white hair sticking up and a bathrobe thrown over her pajamas. "What's going on here?" she asked kindly. "I heard the stairs creak."

"Regina feels funny," Emma explained. "She has a gut feeling that something is going on. Isn't that right, Regina?"

No answer.

"Regina?" Emma turned her head and looked in her girlfriend's direction.

But her girlfriend had stopped her aimless wandering and was now standing motionless in the middle of the living room. She had one hand on her belly.

"What is it?" Emma asked. "Do you feel something?"

". Braxton Hicks. I think…"

Emma and her mom exchanged a look.

"How does the pain feel, Regina, dear?" Emma's mom asked. "Can you tell me if it's focused in one area, or does it feel like the pain radiates anywhere?"

"It might be… radiating a little towards my lower back," Regina answered. "And the pain feels… lower? I think."

Emma's mom walked over to her. "May I have a feel of your belly?"

", of course."

Emma watched as her mom lightly put a hand on Regina's belly.

"Rock hard," she said after a moment. "Hmm."

"What does that mean?" Emma asked. "Contractions?"

"Perhaps. But it could also be Braxton Hicks. Try walking around for a bit, Regina."

Regina obediently started walking around. Up and down the living room floor.

"Is the pain subsiding?" Emma's mother asked.

"No, not really…"

Mary Margaret went 'hmm' again and glanced at her watch. She kept her eyes glued to it as Regina slowly walked up and down the living room floor.

After a short while, Regina stopped and declared: "it's stopped now."

"Fifty seconds," Emma's mom declared.

"That's longer than the Braxton Hicks ones, right?" Emma asked and felt a flutter in her stomach.

"Yes, it is. Braxton Hicks usually takes about thirty seconds."

"So this could be the first contractions, right?"

"It could," her mom agreed. "It very much could. You haven't felt any trickle indicating that your water has broken, have you, Regina?"

"No."

"Alright. Well, then I suppose we have to wait and see what happens, don't we?"…

That was exactly what they did. After having walked around like an unsatisfied cat, Regina sat down. She suggested that Emma and Mary Margaret should go back to bed. She claimed that it was false alarm, but neither Emma nor her mom was going anywhere.

"We're gonna stay here for a bit," Emma's mom said, and thereby gently brushed the suggestion aside.

"Alright, but I think it is silly," Regina said. "Nothing is happening. I feel fine. "Falsa alarma."

"Let's give it a half an hour, dear."

So they waited some more. They watched television. Emma found old episodes of Great British Bake Off on Netflix. Regina watched with enthusiasm. Until they were roughly halfway through the episode.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked when she noticed that Regina was squirming a little on the couch. "Do you feel something again?"

". It's like a nipping sensation," Regina did her best to explain. "And a squeezing sensation too. It feels a bit like period cramps. Just a bit more powerful. It doesn't hurt enormously, but…"

"Can I….?" Emma gestured at Regina's large belly.

", always."

Emma put a hand on her girlfriend's bump. And it didn't take long before she felt exactly what her mom had felt a bit earlier. "Rock hard," she murmured.

"Mm." Emma's mom did not take her eyes off her watch as she asked: "is the baby moving, Regina?"

"No, little one is very quiet. Odd. He's usually full of energy around this time." She squirmed on the couch. "Changing position isn't helping."

"No," Emma's mom said shortly and still without looking away from her watch.

Regina huffed and rubbed her belly in that way she always did when she was experiencing Braxton Hicks, but judging by the look on her face, that wasn't helping either.

Emma was nearly holding her breath until Regina relaxed and said: "it's stopped again."

"Fifty one seconds," Emma's mom reported and now looked up from her watch. She smiled softly at Regina. "Regina, dear, I think you might be experiencing your very first contractions."

Obviously, Emma had already suspected as much, but the breath still caught in her throat.

"Holy shit," she rasped and looked at Regina. "This is happening, huh?"

"Sí, it looks like it, but Mary Margaret… are you really sure?"

"Well, obviously, I am not a doctor. But I have a pretty good gut feeling." She smiled. "There are quite a few signs that this is early contractions and not Braxton Hicks. It's lasting longer, changing positions doesn't easy the mild pain and the baby isn't moving during it. That is all signs."

"Okay," Emma nodded. "And what do we do now?"

"We wait." Her mom patted her arm lightly. "There's no reason to rush to the hospital now. Regina isn't experiencing severe pain and her water hasn't broken either."

"Waiting seems sensible," Regina says. "If the pain comes back again, we'll know for sure that it's contractions and not Braxton Hicks, ?"

"Yes. Exactly," Emma's mom confirmed with a little smile. "That's right."

"I'll call daddy then," Regina decided. "I don't think there's any reason to call him before we know for sure, so I'll just- oh dear."

"What?" Emma asked, nerves already flaring. "That's not pain again, is it?" she knew for sure that that was much too soon.

"No. I need to go to the bathroom," Regina chuckled and pushed herself up from the couch. "I'll be right back."

Emma had to put a firm hand on her own knee to prevent herself from getting up and following Regina into the hallway where the guest bathroom was. Now was definitely not the time to crowd her. Regina could probably need a moment to herself.

So when Regina had disappeared, and she heard the door to the bathroom opening and closing, she instead turned to her mom. "You really think that its contractions?"

"Oh, I'm fairly certain that it is," her mom replied. "It's quite similar to how my own contractions started. With mild uncomfortableness every thirty minutes or so."

"Wow," Emma murmured. She shook her head. "I can't believe that this is happening. It doesn't feel real. I mean, I know she's three days past her due date, but… Wow."

"You have time to wrap your head around it, sweetie. The early stages of labor usually takes between twelve to nineteen hours."

Emma winced. She of course already knew that, but being told again didn't make it sound less crass. It was absolutely cruel that it should take so long. Nuts that Regina was going to be in pain for so many hours.

"Regina is very calm about the whole thing," her mom commented. "I'm impressed."

"I'm more impressed at her gut feeling," said Emma. "It's incredibly that she just had a feeling that something was up."

"Didn't you know? Pregnant women are a bit psychic," her mom joked.

"Very funny. I hope she isn't having a mini freak out in the bathroom or something."

"If she does, it's perfectly okay. And understandable. It's a big thing happening."

"The biggest thing ever!"

"What's the biggest thing ever?" Regina asked as she came strolling into the living room. "I hope you're not talking about my belly, querida…"

"Wha- no! Of course not!" Emma sputtered. "I was just-"

Her mom laughed.

Emma squinted. And realized that Regina was joking.

"Why, you little…" she muttered. "That was not funny!"

"It was actually hilarious," Regina said lightly and exchanged an amused glance with Emma's mom.

Emma had about zero desire to be the butt of the joke, so she hastily changed the subject. "All good?"

"Sí, all good. Absolutely nothing to repor- oh! ¡¿Qué demonios?!"

Emma didn't ask what Regina was wrong, or why was exclaiming. She could see it with her own eyes. The wet puddle by Regina's feet.

"I think my water just broke," Regina whispered….

To Be Continued…