Emma tried being as quiet as a mouse as she turned another page in the glittery magazine she was reading. The reason for her quietness was simple.
Regina was fast asleep in the seat next to Emma's. Her head was resting on Emma's shoulder. Emma had already squirmed several times because Regina's hair was tickling the side of her neck. But she made sure to do it so softly she wouldn't end up waking Regina. That would be a crime. She looked so peaceful.
They had been in the air for three hours. Meaning that they had four hours left. Regina had fallen asleep almost immediately after takeoff. She had carefully instructed Emma to wake her up if she fell asleep, and even though Emma had nodded, she wasn't going to do that. They had been up at shit o'clock that morning. Regina deserved a nap.
Emma smiled tenderly as Regina made a slight snuffling sound in her sleep. That sounded very cute. Their trip to New York was already shaping up to be a great one. They'd had a ton of fun when they found their seats and it was time to buckle their seatbelts. Regina's seatbelt hadn't quite been able to reach across her large belly, and Emma had to help her extend the length. They had laughed a lot about that, and Regina had called her size 'ridiculous'. Emma agreed. Regina's size was ridiculous. Ridiculously cute. Emma turned her head ever so slightly and looked at her girlfriend. Regina was still fast asleep with her head on Emma's shoulder. One hand hanging limply and the other gently resting on her swelling belly. She was still doing that thing where she unconsciously cradled her belly while sleeping. It almost made Emma's heart melt every time Regina did it. She had a feeling that Regina would become a real Mama Bear to their little boy. Or girl.
What kind of mother would she become? Emma had thought a lot about that since Regina changed her mind about the adoption. Emma had wanted kids for a long time. She could willingly admit that to herself now that she would actually become a mother. She had been devastated when Neal had kept postponing talking about having kids eventually. But she hadn't told him. She had settled for hoping that things would change after they got married. Obviously, there had been no wedding and Emma had been upset for more reason than one. Her dreams of becoming a mother had seem farther away than ever. But then she had travelled to Spain and literally stumbled right into Regina's path. Sometimes it was a bit strange to think about that Regina had been pregnant all the time. But here they were. Regina was pregnant with their baby. Emma would become a mother after all. But what kind? She couldn't imagine herself playing the role of the strict mother. Nah, she would be a real softie. The type of mother who allowed an extra piece of candy and spoiled her kid rotten with a new toy. She hoped that she would be a god mother. A chill, laid back mother who still was ready to walk through fire for her kid. Emma felt a twinge of anxiety. What if she had no clue about motherhood? What if she did all the wrong things? Could she even change a diaper? God. Emma had never changed a diaper in her life. What if she continuously put it on backwards? What if she unintentionally put Blueberry in danger? A billion scary scenarios flashed across her mind, and Emma reminded herself to breathe. The baby wasn't even born yet, and she was already freaking out. Nice. She really shouldn't get this worked up. Of course she and Regina would do this the way they did everything else. Together.
Emma hoped that 'together' soon would mean living together too. She hoped that the place in California Henry had talked about would turn out to be just right for her and Regina. They would have to go and see it. Or perhaps it would only be her. She couldn't keep asking Regina to travel. She did have a broken foot after all, and she had to rest it. Seeing Regina in the wheelchair had reminded Emma of that. Regina would most likely demand to go to California too, but Emma had the perfect solution. Facetime. She could show Regina every room in the house while Regina rested her foot back in Spain. Win-win.
Emma turned another page in the magazine she had picked up when Regina fell asleep. But she wasn't paying much attention to the gossip-stories. She was more interested in listening to Regina's breathing. The sound was very reassuring and relaxing. Regina hadn't talked in her sleep like she sometimes did, and Emma was sort of sad about that. She so loved it when Regina talked in her sleep. But Regina probably wouldn't be all that thrilled about talking in her sleep while on a plane.
Regina's head was starting to feel sort of heavy and her shoulder was aching a little bit. But Emma wouldn't dream of trying to move Regina. Not when she was sleeping this peacefully against her shoulder. She could deal with the achy spot and the way Regina's breath and hair tickled the side of her neck. Emma was awfully ticklish, but she tried her best not to squirm. She abandoned reading the magazine and looked out of the window instead where clouds where fluffy, white clouds danced past the plane. Emma smiled to herself. She had just decided that there had to hang a cloud-mobile above the baby's crib. And quite possibly a unicorn one. She would have to search high and low to find a unicorn-mobile. God, they were going to need so much stuff! Imagine when they were going to decorate the baby's room… Emma dreamed herself away. Which color should they paint the walls? How should they decorate it? There were so many things to think about. But the main thing was of course that the baby's room would be in a beach house in California. A place where they could be together. Emma couldn't imagine (wouldn't imagine!) continuing what they had been doing so far. Happy visits and tearful goodbyes in the airport. It was hard enough as it was. The thought of having to say goodbye to her kid as well as Regina would be unbearable. And there was another important factor apart from the bone-crushing feeling of missing Regina. The danger that the baby wouldn't be able to connect with her because she wasn't there fulltime. That couldn't happen.
Emma refused to be a stranger in her baby's life. She was going to be there all the time. Witness all the big milestones. The first words, first tooth, first time walking, first birthday, all of it.
Regina suddenly mumbled something against her shoulder. Then she lifted her head, and a little sigh of relief when the pressure was taken off her shoulder.
"Ooof," Regina mumbled and looked exactly as confused as someone who had just woken up from an unexpected nap would look.
"Hola," Emma said softly. "Good nap?"
"I'm confused," Regina groaned. "How long have I been asleep for?"
"We've been in the air for three hours."
"Three hours?" Regina's eyes bulged slightly. "I've been asleep for three HOURS? Why didn't you wake me?"
"Couldn't bring myself to do it," Emma said lightly as she closed the magazine. "You looked so cute."
Regina grumbled something inaudible under her breath. She was clearly dissatisfied with Emma's ability to keep her promises.
"Sorry, honey," Emma pecked her temple lightly. "But you looked so exhausted. I figured you needed some rest."
"I did, but that's not the point," Regina huffed. "You promised to wake me if I fell asleep, Emma! You promised!"
"Sorry," Emma said quickly. "I'm sorry. But honestly, you haven't missed out on anything."
Regina glared at her. "I've missed out on time with you."
Emma winced slightly. There was a point there. "Sorry," she said a fourth time. "I'll…" she lowered her voice. "Make it up to you once we get to New York."
"Oh?" one of Regina's carefully sculped eyebrow rose and her eyes gleamed with mischief now. "Well, then I suppose it's okay."
"Good. Glad we could reach an understanding," Emma joked and gave her a little squeeze.
Regina rolled her shoulders back and forward. Then moved her head from side to side, and Emma realized that there was another reason why she should have nudged Regina awake. The magnificently stiff back Regina most likely had from sleeping upright. Shit.
Regina grabbed her crutches and 'oof 'ed' again as she carefully got on her feet.
"Where are you going?" Emma asked stupidly.
"Just popping outside to get some fresh air," Regina joked. She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to the bathroom, querida. You don't mind that, do you?"
"Definitely not. Need any help?"
"With going to the bathroom?"
"With walking to the bathroom, smartass."
Regina chuckled. "No, I'm fine. I can hobble that short distance. See you in a moment." With that she disappeared down the short hallway in the plane.
Emma watched her walk away and wondered if she should have escorted her down the hallway anyway. She knew that she was being a pain in the ass ninety eight percent of the time, but she couldn't help it. She had a mini heart attack every time she saw Regina limp around on her crutches. Once again, she silently cussed Marian and wished that she had been punished for her actions in some way.
But she had to respect Regina's wishes in this case. And Regina's wishes had been the promise that Robin and Marian would leave her and the baby alone in exchange for her silence. She had gotten it her way. Thanks to a bit of extra pressure from her father's lawyer, she was now in possession of two very official pieces of paper. In the first piece of paper, Robin signed off any legal rights he might have had to the baby. The piece of paper bore Robin's signature. The second piece of paper bore both Robin and Marian's signature. It was a restraining order. So far, the restraining order had worked. Neither Robin nor Marian had been bothering Regina ever since the catastrophe in the bar. Emma hoped that it would stay that way. Those two assholes had put Regina through enough hardship. Now it was time for Regina to kick back and enjoy the rest of her pregnancy. Emma shook her head. She still couldn't quite believe that Regina was six months pregnant already. It felt like it was yesterday that Emma walked into the dressing room and found an exhausted Regina asleep with her nose pressed into the table. That had been a scary sight. Emma had been so worried about her. She still was, but not in the same way. Despite Regina's broken ankle, things had calmed down. Everything was going well.
All they needed was for Cora Mills to get her shit together.
Emma turned her head and peered at the little hallway from her seat. Hadn't Regina been in the bathroom for a pretty long time now? Shouldn't she have been back by now? Emma clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes at herself. Calm down, Swan. Obviously, Regina was taking a bit longer because she was using crutches. Emma had to stop being so annoying all the time.
A flight attendant passed by pushing a cart. Emma stopped her and bought a round of fried chicken and baked potatoes for Regina along with a soda. Since Regina had been asleep until now, she hadn't had any lunch. Nor had Emma for that matter. She bought herself the same meal and sniffed appreciatingly. The chicken smelled very good.
A slight clicking sound had Emma looking up just in time to see Regina coming hobbling back towards their seats. Emma smiled at her. "There you are. I ordered us some food."
"I can see that," Regina's eyes lit up at the sight of the food. "Eso se ve deliciosa!"
"Yeah, for airplane food its not that bad," Emma agreed and regarded Regina as she shuffled to sit down. She was tempted to offer her help, but bit it back.
"Oops. There we go," Regina said as she elegantly plopped down in the seat next to Emma's. She stuffed the crutches away under the seat and brushed a hand over her hair which had gone a bit messy. "The man who was before me in the line to the bathroom gave me his spot."
"That was nice of him," Emma smiled. "You hungry?"
"¡Sí!"
Emma grinned as Regina grabbed the plastic cutlery and threw herself into cutting the fried chicken. No nausea this time. At least not anymore. Regina had mumbled vaguely about feeling a bit air-sick when the plane took off, but then she had fallen asleep and now she was seemingly doing much better. She was certainly eating her chicken with vigor.
"You excited about meeting Mrs. Adamson?" Regina asked between bites of chicken.
"More like nervous." Emma winced.
"Why?" Regina scoffed. "Querida, I've already told you. Mrs. Adamson wouldn't have asked you to come all this way if she wasn't interested."
"I know, I know," Emma said quickly. "This is just… It's huge. I mean, I'm just a photographer from a tiny town. I've photographed pets and weddings for as long as I can remember and now I'm suddenly on my way to New York because a gallery is interested in exhibiting my photos. That's a big deal."
"Sí, it is," Regina smiled. Leaned sideways so she could brush her cheek against Emma's shoulders. "And I'm so proud of you, querida. You deserve this so much."
"Hey, half of the credit goes to you," Emma reminded her. "You're the model, after all."
"I just stood there. You created the magic," Regina pointed out.
"You're a natural on camera," Emma said firmly. "You did not just 'stand there'. You posed like you had done it a million times."
"Maybe I've been a model in a past life," Regina joked.
"You know what, I'm totally prepared to believe that, beautiful girl." Emma took another bite of her chicken. She chewed, mm'ed and savored the taste. After having swallowed the bite, she continued the conversation: "are you still cool with your face on display in a gallery?"
"Of course," Regina said lightly. "Nothing wrong with being a little famous." She laughed. Then rubbed her belly tenderly. "I think the baby likes the chicken. He's kicking up a storm in there. But at least he's not squeezing my bladder anymore."
"Nice of him," Emma chuckled. Reached over so she could rub Regina's belly. "No teasing your mom, okay, kid?"
Regina laughed. "Are you gonna use that line on him when he's older?"
"Oh yeah. When it's required, obviously." Emma poked at her baked potato and was just about to dig into it when her past musings popped up in her mind again: "hey, do you think I'm gonna be a good mother?"
"Sí, of course," Regina said immediately. "You're not actually in doubt about that, are you?"
"No," Emma said hastily. "I'm just a bit… nervous." She could say that, right? It was okay to admit to being nervous, wasn't it?
Regina put the cutlery down to give Emma's knee a gentle little squeeze. "Me, too. I'm half-terrified, half-excited." She chuckled. "I think it's normal when you're going to have a baby. It's gonna be a huge change. Especially for us."
"Yeah," Emma nodded, knowing exactly what Regina meant. So many things had changed. Regina had gone from being sure she wanted to give the baby up for adoption to completely embracing the mother-role. That was a huge change.
"But we'll figure it out," Regina continued, popping the lid off her soda. "I mean, there will probably be a few screwups along the way, that's what its like for all new parents. We can't expect to get things right immediately. But we're a great team, you and I." she smiled at Emma. "We'll be great at raising a baby too."
"You know, sometimes you sound like you're thirty five and not twenty," Emma gently teased her wise girlfriend.
Regina snickered. "That so? Well, I'm sure I'll be incredibly smart when I'm thirty five. Oh my god." Her dark eyes suddenly widened. "Imagine how long I will have been a mother when I'm thirty five!"
"Imagine how old I'll be when you're thirty five," Emma shuddered. "I'll be…. Forty four. Oh my god. I'll be forty four, Regina! I'm not sure I can deal with that!"
"I'll deal with it for you then," Regina said. She patted Emma's knee again. Then leaned in. "You know what you'll be?"
"No," Emma said glumly. "What?"
"You'll be a…. MILF."
Emma nearly choked on the piece of potato she had just stuffed inside her mouth. "Oh my god, you did not just say that."
"I might have," Regina smirked. "Not regretting it though."
It was Emma's turn to lean in as she whispered: "if you didn't have those crutches, I would have invited you to join the Mile High Club…"
She had expected Regina to flush and say something about her hormones going crazy, but Regina's only response was to arch an eyebrow and whisper: "and what makes you think that I'm not a member already?"
Emma stared at her girlfriend. "Are you?"
"I don't suppose you'll ever find out…"
"Regina."
"Okay, okay, I'm not," Regina surrendered with a grin. "But I would like to be, though…." She 'innocently' skimmed a hand up and down Emma's thigh. "Are you sure those crutches are such a huge problem?"
"Yes," Emma said through gritted teeth. "And the same goes for the lack of a place to lie or sit down. I would be terrified of you falling over."
The hand skimming up and down her thigh disappeared. "Spoilsport," Regina said plainly and genuinely sounded ticked off.
Leaning in once more, Emma whispered in her ear: "once we get to New York, beautiful girl. I promise."
"Stop talking. You're making me sound greedy."
"You're not greedy," Emma said immediately. "You're just…. Frustrated."
"Hmm." Was all Regina said. Then she dug into her fried chicken again.
Emma's heart went out to her. It truly did. And not solely for perverted reasons. She knew that the sex drive was increased in the second trimester. And she was acutely aware that Regina hadn't had sex in three weeks. That was a long time to be left high and dry. Well. If they weren't too jetlagged when they arrived at the hotel, Emma would have absolutely no issues with relieving Regina of some of the 'pressure'. In fact it would be her absolute pleasure. Even if Regina was too tired to reciprocate.
Regina was still cutting her chicken with fast, almost aggressive movements. So still frustrated.
Emma put a hand on the top of her back and rubbed gently. Winced when she felt the knots. Regina was so tense. Yeah, she definitely needed some relief asap.
"Querida, I'm trying to eat," Regina pointed out. "You are coming between me and the fried chicken."
"Oh. Sorry," Emma chuckled softly as she move her hand away from Regina's back. "Won't happen again."
That had Regina smiling a little. After having consumed another bite of chicken, she turned her head and looked out of the window. She looked less irritated now. There was a twinkle of excitement in her eyes, and Emma was delighted to see it…
"Welcome to New York," Emma smiled when they stood in the J.F.K airport a good while later. They had found their luggage and was getting ready to leave the airport.
"Thank you," Regina said and looked around. "Should we get out of here?"
"Yeah, sure," Emma nodded. She too was looking around. But not after the nearest exit. "But could you do something for me first?"
"Sure. Anything."
Anything. Emma knew that it wasn't completely fair, but she had to trap Regina in her own words. She briskly walked over to the row of wheelchairs, grabbed the nearest one and wheeled it back to Regina. She batted her eyes at her girlfriend. Made herself sound extra cute as she said: "please?"
Regina didn't look overly satisfied. Her mouth was drawn into a thin line, but she sat down in the wheelchair without protesting.
"Thanks, beautiful girl." Emma pressed a quick kiss to the top of Regina's head.
"You're welcome I guess," Regina sighed. "It probably would be easier to rent a wheelchair at this point, but I am not letting you wheel me around all over New York, that's no fun!"
"I don't know about that…" Emma pulled the wheelchair back a little and pretended to pick up speed. "Vroom-vroom!"
"Querida," Regina laughed. "Don't do this again. You almost knocked that little old lady down!"
"I didn't. Your belly did. Almost."
"Hey, don't blame the belly!"
"Always blaming the belly."
"Eres imposible," Regina sighed. "Just… wheel me out. But quietly. I will not be responsible for anymore old ladies nearly falling over!"
"And there you go, sounding like a thirty five year old again," Emma laughed as she wheeled Regina out of the airport.
Their hotel, The Langham (Emma had taken Mrs. Adamson up on her offer and had booked them rooms in a nice hotel) was twenty minutes away from the airport, so they had to find a taxi. Luckily, that was not a problem in New York. All she had to do was raise her arm and one of the many yellow taxis pulled up. Emma helped Regina inside the car. The taxi driver was gallant enough to load their suitcases inside the boot of the taxi, and while he did that, Emma quickly raced back to the airport with the wheelchair. On her way there, she actually nearly knocked someone down. Not an old lady, but a man. Who glared at her.
"Sorry," Emma said and winced.
The man didn't look very forgiving.
Regina had seen the whole thing from the taxi and immediately scolded Emma.
"You're dangerous behind a wheelchair, querida," she said once Emma got inside the taxi.
"Yeah, I guess I am," Emma agreed with her. She slipped an arm around Regina's shoulder and said to the taxi driver: "The Langham, please."
"Yes, ma'am."
Emma grinned as the taxi started moving. Ma'am. That was a long time since she had been called that. Perhaps the taxi driver thought that she and Regina were married. Emma didn't mind that at all.
Regina snuggled into her side and rested her head on Emma's shoulder like she had done when she was sleeping earlier. But she was very much awake this time. Her hand was brushing up and down Emma's leg. From her knee and to the to the middle of her thigh. Not quite high enough to be considered suggestive, but Emma could read between the lines. Regina was in a mood. Again. And honestly, so was Emma. Now that she knew sex wouldn't harm Regina in any way, it was getting increasingly harder to keep her hands to herself. She had missed their sex life just as much as Regina had. Regina wasn't the only one who was left high and dry these days.
"How far away is the hotel?" Regina asked. Totally casual.
"Twenty something minutes," Emma answered. Just as nonchalant.
"Mm," Regina turned her head and looked out of the window. "New York is cold compared to Madrid."
"Yeah, it is. Good thing we packed sensible clothes."
"Sí. It was a long flight. Feels good to be back on land."
"It sure does," Emma agreed with her girlfriend.
"Do you feel very jetlagged?"
Emma could barely keep the shit-eating grin off her face. So that was where the long-winded questions were going. Regina's way of asking her if she was too tired to do 'things' when they got to the hotel was absolutely brilliant. Completely casual and smooth. Nobody would ever take this conversation for more than it was. Casual small talk.
"Nah," Emma said and tried to keep the amusement out of her voice. "I'm not tired." She was just about to add 'at all', but that wouldn't be very smooth. It was bad enough that she could barely keep the grin off her face. Regina was a far better actress than she would ever be.
"Good," Regina said lightly. "It would be a shame to miss out on things the first day."
"Oh, absolutely," Emma said solemnly and reminded herself to compliment Regina's acting skills later.
A tiny smile danced across Regina's lips, but she didn't say anything else. Just sat there. And smirked. That little devil. Emma was so gonna get her for this later. When they were in their hotel room. In their bed. Naked.
Suddenly she couldn't at all remember the actual reason why they were in New York. As far as she knew, this was a romantic getaway for her and Regina. A babymoon. Oh my god, it actually was. A baby-moon. Exactly what Emma had envisioned. A thing to tick off the 'pregnancy-list'. Now there was just 'Lamaze classes' and 'super-secret-baby shower' left on the list. Of course Regina should have a baby shower. Preferably in Storybrooke. At Granny's. Emma could easily imagine Regina walking in and getting surprised by Ruby and Belle and Emma's parents. Of course there would be a banner. A ton of presents. And cake. Lots of cake.
Okay, Emma was planning ahead. But really, Regina absolutely deserved a baby shower. Things hadn't been easy. She had been in doubt and torn and pressured from every direction. She deserved that the last three months of her pregnancy was as cliché-filled and sugary sweet as they should be.
Emma gave her girlfriend a little squeeze. Regina had gone back to running her hand up and down Emma's leg in a gesture that was not-quite-intimate-but-still-intimate-as-hell.
Was Emma making it up, or was the taxi driving really, really slow? So what if there was a queue? Wasn't it the taxi driver's job to know all the shortcuts? She was just about to open her mouth and ask the driver if he could take a different route, but she quickly closed her mouth again. Nobody liked a difficult customer. And she didn't want to be too obvious.
Regina casually leaned back in her seat. She looked very comfortable. She gave Emma's thigh a little squeeze and then rubbed her round belly instead.
"Alien activity?" Emma joked. That was what Regina one night had called the kicking one night at the hospital where she had still been slightly woozy from the concussion. She had said that it felt so strange that there was a tiny person kicking inside her, and then she had proceeded to call it 'alien activity'. Whilst giggling like a madwoman.
"Mhmm, lots of it," Regina said and smiled broadly. "He's all over the place today."
"Think he's excited about being in New York too?" Emma chuckled.
"Por supuesto," Regina said. Then, lowering her voice she continued: "¿Ya llegamos?
"In a moment, miss," the taxi driver said. So he knew Spanish. Oops.
Regina gave an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it, miss," the taxi driver said lightly.
Emma laughed and was rewarded with a not too gentle elbow directly to the ribs. Ouch. That hurt. But it didn't stop her from laughing, though. Perhaps she knocked down people with her mad wheelchair skills, but leave it to Regina to blow their cover.
"Shut up," Regina murmured out of the corner of her mouth.
Emma didn't shut up. She kept laughing. Gave Regina another squeeze and then kissed the top of her head again.
"Honeymoon?" the taxi driver asked and smiled at their obvious affection for one another.
I wish, Emma thought before she could stop herself. She quickly sobered though: "Business trip, actually."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Regina said with a grin. "Between you and me, I'm a bit of an expert in fake honeymoons."
Emma couldn't hold back another laugh. That was definitely the truth. She was immediately transported right back to the first time they had sex. In the bed in the bridal-suite. The suite she was supposed to share with Neal. Good thing that didn't happen. Good thing Neal turned out to be a complete asshole. Emma had resented him for it then, obviously, but now she was only grateful. Thank god she had been free as a bird when she ran into Regina in a bar in Madrid. First, she had turned Emma's miserable solo-honeymoon into something wonderful, and then she had turned out to be the best fucking thing since the invention of grilled cheese.
No, screw that. If the choice was Regina or grilled cheese, Emma would give up grilled cheese in a heartbeat.
Regina interrupted her train of thoughts by reaching inside her purse and finding the chocolate bar she had bought in the airport before leaving. She broke off a piece and stuffed it inside her mouth. "Want some?" she offered.
"Nah, I'm good. But thanks though."
"You're welcome, querida."
As delicious as the chocolate bar looked, Emma wasn't interested. She wasn't hungry. At least not for chocolate. She needed something else to sate her hunger. Something far more…. Delicious. God, she couldn't focus on anything except Regina and all the delicious things she wanted to do to her once they got to the hotel.
"What?" Regina asked, and Emma realized that she was staring at her. "Do I have something on my face or what?"
"No," Emma said hastily. Making sure that the driver was occupied with well, driving, she delicately placed a hand on Regina's thigh. A bit further up than Regina's hand had been on her own a moment ago.
Regina's eyes widened almost comically. Then she gave a tiny little cough.
Emma grinned. They couldn't get to the hotel fast enough!
To Be Continued…..
Spanish translations:
"Eso se ve deliciosa!" =that looks delicious!
"Eres imposible"= you are impossible.
Por supuesto= Of course.
¿Ya llegamos?= Are we there yet?