Emma felt like her legs were going to give way. One second the frail only lady couldn't even hold a cup of tea and the next she is squeezing Emma's wrist with the strength of a wrestler.
"We don't have much time and I'm not waiting any longer. I've been stewing in this geriatric warehouse for far too long as it is. I know the lies you two have told the world about Regina having been working in Europe. We both know what she's been doing and we both know what it will do to your career if it gets out."
"Wha... what do you want?" Emma quietly stutters in shock.
"I want enough money so that I can start anew somewhere. Ten million should do it. I know you can afford it. Ten million, and I will keep your secret. You can continue with your lives and you'll never hear from me again. If you don't… I will ruin you both. I will let the world know what a whore my pathetic excuse for a daughter is. This stays between me and you. I want nothing to do with her and you had better not tell her because I promise you that I will destroy you both." She lets go of Emma's wrist and quickly falls back into her hunched over posture, her face morphs back into its vacant stare when she hears the door to the en suite opening.
Emma stands in shock. The bitch should have an Oscar... also a beating… but definitely also an Oscar.
"Have you cleaned her up?" Regina sweetly asks the blonde. Emma's emotions are written across her face because when she looks over to Regina the brunette can see something isn't quite right. "Emma, what's the matter?"
She wishes she could make time stand still so she could give herself a chance to think. What the hell was she supposed to do with what she had just found out? Pay off the evil wench and save Regina the heartache of her past being exposed and stop her from discovering that her mother wasn't ill but just as evil as ever? As it turns out, she doesn't need time to stop. Her heart knows what to do in an instant. "She... she isn't unwell. She doesn't have dementia," she nervously mumbles as she points to the actress who remains in character in her armchair. She knows her words risk exposing them if Cora does stand by her threat but above all else Emma knows she can't keep a secret from Regina. Their relationship was based around the complete, naked, and painful truth, that they had always shared with each other. Her career was the furthest thing from her mind right now, all she cared about was her family.
"What?" The shocked brunette asks weakly.
"She's faking it. She wants money. She is going to expose us if we don't pay her off."
Regina doesn't doubt Emma for a second, even as Cora remains in character, looking frail and pathetic and unable to do anything more obnoxious than roar from the rear.
It surprises Regina that she doesn't feel scared, no fear at all, just pure anger. Her eyes shoot in the direction of Cora and her hand automatically slips to her stomach as if to protect their child from even being in the same room the old woman. "You... you evil..." Her voice shakes and she has to remind herself that she isn't the same scared child that she once was.
"Do shut up you stupid whore," Cora spits out at Regina through clenched teeth as she gives up her charade, obviously displeased that her plan had so far failed and that Regina had unquestioningly taken Emma's word. "Oh... would you look at that. It appears there is a baby on the horizon," she says with a devious smile when she eyes Regina holding her stomach, "I wonder what the child of a freak and a whore will end up like."
"That's enough," Emma's voice booms around the room. Regina had never heard her raise her voice like that before but she didn't find it scary, it was almost thrilling to hear someone come to her defence. "If you don't think I won't knock your dentures out of your nasty, spiteful mouth just because you are old, you are very much mistaken." She moves closer to Cora and the old woman just stares up at her, a nasty smile still plastered on her face. "You think you have any power here? Well... go ahead. Expose us. Tell the world what happened to your daughter because of what you forced her into," she says as she points her finger at her. "You won't get a dime out of me and I don't care what it costs me but you will pay for what you have done." She can't look at Regina but she feels the brown eyes of her lover staring at her. She knows that none of this is her decision to make but she wasn't going to leave Regina to face this woman on her own. It was a snap decision when she heard how Cora was speaking to Regina. Yes, she was Regina's mother but this was her family and her fiancée that were being threatened and Emma wasn't going to let that continue.
"Emma... let's go," Regina asks pleadingly. This was all too much and she wanted to leave. She needed to get out of there and away from the evil woman.
Emma looks over at her for the first time since Cora spoke and her features soften when she sees the look of pain and anger on the brunettes face. "Okay, let's go" she easily agrees as she walks over to Regina.
"You have one day to decide. If I don't hear from you by tomorrow then I will be selling this golden nugget of a story to the highest bidder," Cora icily informs them from her chair.
Emma takes a step forward but Regina grabs her arm and pulls her back, silently shaking her head, imploring her to let it go for now.
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Emma had expected some tears or maybe a bit of shouting but the stony silence that was encompassing them as they drove back home was quite disconcerting. She was worried that she had overstepped the mark. She had made some decisions that she probably should have spoken to Regina about first. The more she thought about it the more she cursed herself for not quietly taking the information away and either coming up with a plan or revealing the truth to her partner in the sanctuary of their home. She glances over to the stoic brunette every now and then, hoping for a smile or some sort of confirmation that she hadn't just completely screwed everything up but Regina continues to stare straight ahead.
"How much did she want?" Regina pipes up when they are a couple of minutes away from their home.
Emma looks over at her and gulps. "Ten million. It wasn't about the money. I didn't say I wouldn't pay her because of the money. I promise. I'd give every last cent to make sure you were taken care of. I just couldn't bear for her to have any power over us." More silence. "If you want to though, I'll pay her. If that's what you want," she nervously continues when Regina doesn't say anything. Right now she would give Regina ten million just to talk to her.
"No. No. That bitch doesn't get a penny." She turns a little in her seat so she can look at Emma, sensing the woman's discomfort. "I always thought I would be terrified if I ever met her again but I'm not that scared little girl anymore. I have our baby that I have to think about now and I won't let anyone have any say over him or her. I want to do this, I want to fight her but... that would mean our story coming out. I know her, she won't back down and she won't give up. She will keep her threat. You have already sacrificed so much for me and I won't have you sacrificing anything else. I just need to think of another way around this. I don't want her to profit from her blackmail and I don't want to risk your career."
Emma pulls up into their driveway and shuts off the engine. She unbuckles her belt and manoeuvres in her seat so he can face Regina. She smiles sadly when she looks into her lovers eyes. "I don't think there are any other options. You have already said she won't back down. I'm not going to back down either. I won't be bullied. I spent most of my life being bullied and I could handle that when it was just against me but this is against you and our baby. I won't stand for that."
Regina leans over and strokes her cheek before lightly kissing her lips. Let's go inside and figure this out."
Emma helps Regina out of her coat when they enter the foyer of their home and after quickly pulling off her own she takes her hand and leads her to the kitchen to make them both a cup of tea.
"I still think we need to take her down," Emma firmly says as she passes her the cup of soothing peppermint tea.
"At what cost though? I agree that we don't give in to her, but what are our other options? We aren't going to pay her so she will carry out her threat and tell the press everything. We can't stop it getting out," her voice breaks and she's on the verge of tears.
"Hitman," Emma jokes to try and ease some of the tension.
Regina smiles and gives a watery laugh. "We'll call that plan B."
"We need to get to the press before she does. We need to tell our story in our words before she does," Emma replies more seriously.
"And ruin everything you have worked for? No way."
"We don't have any other options."
"What if we get in touch with David and have her arrested? At the very least she is involved with human trafficking." Regina had learnt a bit about the law throughout the trial.
"It wouldn't matter if she was arrested, she can still talk to the press from prison. "Sweetheart," she peels Regina's hands from around the cup of tea so she can interlock their fingers, "we can't shut her up unless we are willing to pay her, but even then there's no guarantee she won't sell the story afterwards."
Regina smiles and sits up straighter as if she has just struck upon a huge secret. "She can't go to the press... not without implicating herself anyway."
It saddens Emma that she has to burst her partners bubble. Regina was so naive when it came to this sort of thing. "She can sell the story to the press and remain anonymous." It hurts her to see the bright smile fade on Regina's face after only blossoming a few seconds ago. "The press is corrupt. They don't care that she had a part to play in criminal activity, they just want whatever story will sell their shitty papers and magazines. I've been through all of this before. We have to get our story out first. I know you don't want to do that but it's our only option."
"And what happens when you get vilified? What if you lose everything and you end up resenting me?"
"As long as I have you I haven't lost a thing." She lovingly smiles as she strokes her thumbs over the back of Regina's hands. "Besides, I don't think this will destroy my career," she really had no idea if that was true but she wanted to reassure Regina, "I don't think the general public are going to think bad of either of us for this. Neither of us are the criminals here. We don't have a choice. If you have any other suggestions I'm all ears."
"But what about Kathryn...and Ruby? This will affect them too, Kathryn is associated with me and Ruby is associated to her."
"This isn't our fault. All we can do is prepare them. You have to see that this is the only way. Just because we don't like it that doesn't mean another better option will just magically appear. Our hand is being forced and we have to act."
"I know you're right but it's just a lot to take in. A week ago I found out that my mother is still alive but mentally vacant and now I find out that she's just as evil as ever and trying to ruin our lives."
"I know, beautiful. I get that this must be a lot to take in but it won't ruin our lives. Whatever happens we will deal with it together, that's all that matters. Trust me, please. I won't ever resent you, no matter what happens. I am confident in my position at the Storybrooke Slayers and I'm confident that we have a lot of people who will support us."
"Since when did you get so sure about everything?"
"Since you arrived in my life," she answers sincerely.
They spend the rest of the late afternoon relaxing in the indoor swimming pool, the brunette wouldn't be entering the Olympics anytime soon but she had become a decent swimmer. Regina had been advised by the doctor to not use the jacuzzi or steam room whilst she was pregnant and Emma made sure that the advice was followed.
"So... Mrs Swan, huh?" Emma tries to subtly bring up the name Regina had given at the nursing home as they both gently swim from one side of the pool to the other.
"I hope you don't mind. I didn't want to give my real name or tell them how I am related to her," Regina shyly admits.
"I can understand that, but telling them we are her nieces?" Emma stops swimming and stands up as they enter the shallower end of the pool. Regina stops too and stands in front of Emma, wrapping her arms around the blondes neck.
" I wrote down that I was Cora's great niece. Polly obviously came to her own conclusion about you."
Emma smiles before her face turns a little more serious. She looks down, avoiding brown eyes as she chews on her lip. "Do you want to be Regina Swan?"
"That's what I have agreed to." She replies as she takes Emma's chin in her hand. "We are getting married. I want to take your name."
"You do? I thought you might want to keep your name or maybe hyphenate our names… because of your dad."
She gives a tight lipped smile. "I keep the memories of my father close to my heart but that's all I want to take from my past and into my future. I don't want myself or our baby to be tarnished by the name 'Mills' because of my mother. I want our family to be Swan."
Emma breaks out into a giant grin. "Come here you," she says and she lifts Regina up. Tanned thighs wrapped around her waist and she presses her lips to Regina's. "I love you so damn much."
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"Hey you three," Kathryn greets when she finds the two women sitting out on the patio, making the most of the warm evening. "Guess who is going to the Caribbean tomorrow? I've only come here to grab a few things, Ruby is looking at a few options for us right now." She beams.
Emma smiles at the greetings inclusiveness of their baby and Regina's even manages a small smile. "Tomorrow? That's wonderful," Emma shares in her excitement.
"What's wrong?" Kathryn's smile falls and she sits down on one of the chairs opposite the couple when she sees the sadness in Regina's eyes despite her smile, all thoughts of her trip leaving her mind.
As if Regina hadn't felt guilty enough about her past now catching up with her and putting Emma's career in jeopardy, she now had to inform her cheery friend of something that could possibly ruin her relationship with Ruby. Her eyes start tearing up and she buries her face into Emma's neck, unable to explain to Kathryn what was happening.
Emma holds her just a little tighter.
"Oh my god...the baby. Is the baby okay?"
"The baby is fine," Emma answers. "Do you want me to tell her?" She then whispers to Regina.
"Tell me what? I'm freaking out over here!"
Regina moves from Emma's side to sit up straight. She wipes away her tears and takes a breath. Emma's hand is now on the small of her back, rubbing calming circles.
"I spoke to David last week and he tracked down Cora. He found out where she was."
"Last week? Why am I only finding this out now?" She was more upset at being kept out of the loop than she was angry.
"Because I wasn't even sure I was going to see her. So much has been going through my head. You've been at Ruby's and I didn't want to drag you into anything until I was certain about what I was going to do," she speaks softly to reassure her friend that wasn't purposely trying to keep anything from her.
"Where is the Queen Cunt?" Kathryn demands, her hackles raised instantly.
Emma could be wrong but she was sure Kathryn was about to snarl.
"She is in a care home on the outskirts of Storybrooke, called Shady Pines," she takes another breath before revealing the next part, "we paid her a visit earlier today."
"You went to see her and you haven't been arrested for murder?" She directs that question to Emma because she knows how protective the blonde is of Regina. "What happened?"
"We were informed that she had dementia." That piece of information did nothing to dampen the hatred in Kathryn's eyes. "But it turns out it has was just a part in an elaborate scheme to get us there so she could blackmail us." Regina finishes with a sigh.
Emma gives a tight lipped smile when Kathryn looks at her slack-jawed. "Yep, she wants ten million dollars or she's going to the media to expose us."
"I hope you told her to fuck off," Kathryn fumes. Emma looks at her in a way that screams 'I wanted to.'
"I didn't say anything. I just wanted to get out of there so I dragged Emma with me. She has given us one day to decide what to do. We wanted to speak to you first because if it comes out about us then it will come out about you as well, and that affects both you and Ruby," the brunette solemnly explains.
"I don't care if it comes out about me. I did nothing wrong," she defends herself. "That shit-head, bitch-face, skip-rat ," she was really starting to lose her temper when she couldn't even curse articulately, "has made enough off your back already. Now she needs to be punished for it."
"That's what I said," Emma agrees.
Another sigh. "What about Ruby? What about the holiday for tomorrow? What if we go ahead with this and she wants to distance herself from you?" Regina asks considerately.
"I like Ruby, a lot actually, and we have a really great time together but if she wants to distance herself from me then she isn't the kind of person I want in my life. I have faith in her though," she says dreamily. "She never treated me any differently when I told her about my past, she actually went to great effort to take care of me. As for the holiday... so what? I can go away anytime and anywhere I want when the compensation comes through. This is more important, Regina. Do you remember all those times when we would fantasise about the lives we would lead if we ever actually had a say in our own lives? Do you remember that? We would have given anything for what we have now."
The brunette gives a small nod and a few tears fall again. She does remember all those times when even in their wildest fantasies they could never imagine they would have the lives they are leading now. "I know and now it's all at risk."
"Nothing is at risk," Emma intercepts seriously and turns her body to face Regina a little better. "I will tell you as many times as you need to hear it; nothing will change between us. Even if the very worst happens and the Slayers drop me and I won't ever professionally play soccer anymore it won't matter. We are set up for life." She cups Regina's face and gently coerces the brunette to look up at her. "Neither of us ever dreamed that we would have this life," Emma was referring more to having each other than to the luxury lifestyles they could afford, "but now we have it and I won't let that woman ruin it for us. I don't want to constantly have to worry that she will one day expose us. I just don't want to live like that. I'm okay with going to the press and so is Kathryn. If Ruby isn't then she has the option to pull away and protect herself. We have to do this. You understand that, yeah?"
Regina nods her head. She knows Emma and Kathryn are right but the guilt of it being her flesh and blood that is causing the problem eats at her. She didn't know how much more Emma could realistically put up with but she has no option but to trust her. She had never let her down before. "Okay, but we need to let Ruby know," she meekly agrees.
Kathryn gets up so she can sit next to her friend. She pulls her into a hug and rubs her back. "It will be okay. We both have more right here on this garden furniture than we ever dreamt of," she whispers so Emma couldn't hear because she was talking about the blonde. Obviously Emma and the baby weren't hers but they were all family, all four of them and that was the most either of them could wish for. She pulls back and takes both Regina's and Emma's hand in a light grasp. "I will go and call Ruby and then we can do whatever needs doing next," with a gentle squeeze of both their hands she gets up to go and make the call she was internally dreading.
"Once she has sorted everything with Ruby I will give Cruella and David a call and then maybe we will need to speak to Mal." Emma was a little nervous of mentioning the last person. They had yet to discuss how this might affect Regina's work.
Regina's eyes widen. "Shit. I had forgotten all about that." She rubs her stomach and reminds herself of her priorities; Emma and their baby. "I suppose it's for the best to let her know before we go to the press."
Emma doesn't say anything because she had no way of knowing how things would turn out with Mal. The woman had built herself an empire and had her reputation to protect. She holds Regina closer and swallows her own worry for the sake of her family. She was going to give her a family a secure future, something she had never experienced until Regina came along, even if that meant causing a few waves in this period of their lives.
Ten minutes later Kathryn walks back outside, her eyes were watery.
"What did she say?" Regina asks, unable to keep the panic out of her voice.
"She's coming over. She wants to be here for all of us." Ruby hadn't taken even a split second to make up her mind when Kathryn explained the situation and offered her a way out of their relationship. She hadn't entertain the option of leaving Kathryn to protect herself, not for a moment.
Regina certainly hadn't expected that. She allowed herself to smile and relax just a little. Their little group was sticking together, it gave her hope that they were doing the right thing and they would get through it.
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After Ruby arrived and she'd had the full story recounted to her she was seething just as much as the rest of them but she was fully behind their plan of going to the press before Cora could.
Between them they all discussed who they needed to call to prepare for this and in what order. David was the first one they would call and then Emma and Ruby would call their agents to prepare them and Regina would get in touch with Mal. The soccer stars also discussed going to Ingrid but that could wait until their agents had decided on how to proceed. Kathryn decided that she would call her father at some point as well, just to give him a heads up.
Once the list had been comprised and scrutinised and they were all happy with the order it was in; Emma got onto the phone to David.
The FBI agent told her that he had been expecting her call ever since he had broken the news to them about Cora still being alive. He explained that they had a good case to have Cora arrested but because of her dementia diagnosis, whether it was genuine or not, he couldn't just go into the nursing home and arrest her. He would have to speak to a judge he was friendly with so he could attain an arrest warrant for her. Given the time frame Cora had allowed them, he promised to get onto it immediately and advised Emma that getting in touch with her agent would be a good idea.
Emma does exactly that and goes to the lounge to call her agent. The phone call with Cruella was extremely short.
"Hi, Cruella. It's Emma. Are you able to get over to mine… as soon as possible, please."
"Jesus, what now? I'm not going to like this am I?"
"Probably not but it's in both of our interest that you get over here as soon as possible."
Cruella hangs up without another word but it doesn't bother Emma, it just means that she is on her way over.
At the same time Ruby calls her agent, Ursula, from the kitchen, Kathryn joins her so she can pour herself a glass of wine. Ursula has no idea of anything other than the fact her client was casually dating someone. Ruby was light on the details but explained the importance of Ursula making her way over to the address she had been given as soon as possible. Ursula was nothing like Cruella, other than she was a great business woman, just like the demented chain smoker. Unlike Cruella though, she was a lot kinder and much more pleasant.
When Emma walks back outside she sees Regina holding her phone in her hand and staring at it like it was a bomb that could go off at any second.
"Do you want me to call Mal for you?" Emma offers, knowing that Regina was trying to build the courage to call her boss.
"No, I have to do it. But, I was thinking… maybe I should wait to see what Cruella and Ursula come up with first and then I should probably tell her face to face. It's the decent thing to do. She's been so kind to me. I can't do this to her over the phone."
"If that's what you want to do then that's what we'll do." Emma says as sincerely as always as she sits back down next to her lover and places her arm around her shoulder as she usually does.
"We should tell Ruby about the baby. It's going to come out anyway and she's been so good to us and Kathryn."
"Okay. Can I do it?" Emma asks with a big smile. This might be a crappy situation but talk of their baby always lightens her heart.
"Of course you can," Regina replies with her own smile. It felt nice that after the week they'd had they still had some good news to share.
"Ursula said she has a couple of things to do but she will be over her within an hour," Ruby declares as she walks out onto the patio with Kathryn, both of them with a glass of wine in hand. "What's put that smile on your face?" She asks her friend and teammate.
"After all of the bad news from today, Regina and I would like to share some good news with you."
Ruby's eyebrows scrunch in confusion, wondering what it could be, and Kathryn looks towards her best friend, who offers her a small smile, confirming what the blonde has already guessed.
"We are pregnant!" She almost shouts in pure joy. The pride and happiness on her face hides the worry that had earlier been rolling off her in waves.
"No way. That's wonderful. I'm so happy for you both." She rushes over to them and hugs them both as Kathryn takes in seat. "Kat, they are pregnant. Isn't that great?" She says over her shoulder, slightly muddled as to why she wasn't congratulating the two women.
"It's amazing… but I already knew," she replies demurely.
"Oh," she replies, feeling a little deflated at being the last to know.
"We have only known for about a month," Emma explains. "I'm sorry we kept it from you but we wanted to keep it quiet until we were a little further into the pregnancy. I hope you can understand."
"Yeah, of course. I get that." She feels a better at knowing there hadn't been a bigger reason for not letting her in on the wonderful news. "So how far along are you?"
"About two months," Regina proudly answers as she rubs her stomach. There wasn't a bump there yet but she could definitely feel a difference when she ran her hand over her stomach, especially when she was naked. She hadn't actually noticed it at first. Emma had been the one to point it out to her, about a week ago, probably because the blonde always had her hands on her stomach in order to be near their baby whenever possible.
"Do you want to see the baby?" Kathryn offers.
"You have an ultrasound picture already? Isn't that a little early?" Ruby asks the other brunette.
Regina bites her lip, trying to stifle her laugh but Kathryn isn't quite as subtle and laughs out loud. "No, it isn't an ultrasound picture. Emma has been collecting the pregnancy tests."
Kathryn can't stop herself from teasing the soccer star about her obsession with the small sticks. Ruby joins in with their laughter.
Emma fake pouts. "Baby, tell her to stop picking on me," she innocently requests.
"So I shouldn't tell them about how you keep trying to make me take a another test so you can 'see' our baby again.' Regina can't resist joining in on the teasing even though she found Emma's request for a another stick confirming their child's life to be rather sweet. It was nice to have a bit of jovial banter after the week they'd had.
"I just want to see our baby again. It's just nice to see it confirmed," she shyly shrugs.
"Awww," Kathryn and Ruby concede at the sweetness of it all.
Regina plants a loving kiss on her cheek. "I'm just teasing you, darling."
"I'm going to get myself a beer to drown my sorrows because of you mean girls. Do you want a smoothie or something to eat?" She offers her fiancée. Regina had barely eaten anything all day and Emma wanted to make sure she was getting the fuel and nutrients she needed to keep herself and their baby healthy.
"One of those peach smoothies would be nice."
"One honey-peach smoothie coming up. And maybe a bagel?" She tries to tempt the brunette with something she usually enjoys.
"Maybe after the smoothie. I'll see how I feel after that." She can see how much effort Emma is making to take care of her but her stomach had barely unknotted itself all day and food was the last thing on her mind. She knows she will probably struggle to get the smoothie down but she was going to try for Emma's sake.
"What about us? We need feeding too." Kathryn moans when Emma walks passed them.
"You two can suck it."
"Hey, what did I do?" Ruby shouts after her friend.
"You laughed," Emma shouts back jokingly.
Emma does end up making a tray of bagels for them all, partly because she wasn't going to deny Kathryn anything but also in the hope that Regina would be enticed to try some. She even brought out the jar of pickles to help tempt her.
They all dug in and gulped down their alcoholic beverages as Regina sipped slowly on her smoothie. The atmosphere had changed since Emma's announcement and even with the dark cloud looming over them, things felt lighter between the four women and there was even a slight air of excitement now surrounding them.
They came crashing back to reality when Cruella arrived. No one acknowledged the agent when she stormed into the backyard, Emma walking behind her after letting her in. Regina and Kathryn still had their one and only meeting with her in mind and they had taken umbrage to that and Ruby just didn't like the woman.
"Oh my god! You have three of them living with you now? Are you trying to make a hareem?" She angrily turns to Emma to question her.
"This is Ruby. She is my teammate."
"Oh…right…" Cruella mumbles as she looks Ruby up and down. She couldn't care less who any of them are, she just doesn't want another headache like the last one Emma had given her. "A gin first and then you are going to tell me what is so important that you needed me to come right over for," she impolitely instructs her client.
Cruella can feel three sets of eye boring into her. With a huff she turns on her heels to follow Emma into the kitchen and get hold of her gin a bit quicker.
Emma tops off the tumbler of gin with a dash of soda, just the way she had learnt Cruella likes it. She didn't care for the woman but she was who they needed right now so she had to continue to play nice.
"It's time to tell me what the hell is going on," Cruella demands as she snatches the tumbler from the blonde and takes a large swig.
Emma grabs herself another beer and they sit down at the table so she can fill her in on everything that had been happening, including the pregnancy.
Cruella pours another glass of gin when Emma finishes recounting the story, this time foregoing even the small dash of gin. "Are you trying to ruin us both? Is that what you are doing?"
Before Emma can answer her intercom beeps.
"Is that another member of your hareem?" Cruella mocks before taking another swig of straight gin.
"I have already told you. I'm engaged to Regina… only Regina," Emma retorts before leaving to answer the intercom.
Cruella scoffs and rolls her eyes, her mind already working on trying to formulate a plan to make her client look innocent in all of this. Her phone starts ringing just before Emma comes back into the kitchen with Ursula in tow. She pays neither of them any mind as she concentrates of shouting at whoever is on the other end of the line.
Emma takes Ursula straight outside so Ruby can speak to her.
"Hey, Ursula," Ruby casually and pleasantly greets her agent.
"Hey, Ruby. Sorry I took so long to get here. I had a few things I needed to do." Ursula politely explains before greeting both Kathryn and Regina.
"Do you want us to leave you both in peace to discuss everything?" Emma offers to Ruby.
"No, it's okay. We are all in this together. I'm sure Ursula won't mind you all staying here." She looks to Ursula for confirmation.
"That's fine with me," she agrees.
Ruby gives the highlighted version of the last few months to Ursula and the other three women chip in with whatever details they consider imperative to the story that Ruby had inadvertently left out.
Ursula looks a bit dazed by the end of it all. "Do you think maybe I could get a glass of wine?"
"Yes, of course. Sorry, I should have offered you sooner," Emma apologetically answers for being a bad hostess.
Cruella is still shouting down her phone at some poor soul when Emma fetches a glass and an unopened bottle of wine from the fridge.
Back outside Ursula reassures them all that they will figure everything out and she lays a gentle hand on Regina's knee and gives it a little squeeze when the brunette looks like she's on the edge of tears. "Congratulations on your baby by the way," she sweetly smiles.
Regina wishes this woman was Emma's agent, she was so kind and she truly seemed to care about her client, unlike Cruella who cared about nothing but money.
"Who are you?" Cruella dismissively questions the newest arrival when she steps out onto the patio after finally finishing her phone call.
"I'm Ursula Morgan. Ruby's agent." She holds out a hand in greeting. She was well aware of who Cruella was, the woman had quite the reputation.
Cruella ignores the hand and looks Ursula up and down, sizing her up as she always does to everyone she meets..
Regina looks towards Kathryn and the blonde mouths the word 'bitch,' which has Regina nodding her head in agreement.
Ursula clears her throat and drops her hand before sitting back down. "So shall we get started on helping these, ladies?"
"We better bloody had before you all ruin me," Cruella bemoans. "I think, seen as we have already been to the press once before," she gives Emma a pointed stare as if to make sure the blonde is aware of all the hassle she has already caused her, "we need to make sure that Emma and urm... the other one," she waves her hand towards Ruby.
"Ruby... her name is Ruby," Kathryn informs her forcefully.
"We need to make sure that Emma and Ruby," she says the last name sharply as she stares unblinkingly at Kathryn, "come out of this looking like they always believed that you two had been working in Europe and had no idea of your actual past. It's the only way to protect their reputations. Then we can throw in the part about the pregnancy and it will make Emma look like a saint for being a family person and sticking with someone with such a checkered past." She smirks, feeling pleased with herself for finding a way to make her client look good in this gigantic mess.
"Nope, no way," Emma interjects sternly. "We are not going to make out that they are liars. If we are going to do this I want to do it properly. No lying."
"Then why the hell am I here?"
"Because you know the best way of feeding this to the press and you can do damage control."
"I agree with Emma. If this is the second time that you have now needed to go to the press then you have to be honest this time so it doesn't come back and bite you on the ass again." Ursula spoke more forcefully than she had since she'd arrived. "We can spin it so that it looks like we had to lie the first time. Like we couldn't come out with the truth until the court case was over with for the sake of legalities. It explains why you had to lie the first time, it will conjure sympathy with the public. This case was huge and the general public were on the side of the victims throughout the entire trial." She doesn't notice how that particular word unsettled Regina and Kathryn. "You two have just had incredible success at the Slayers and the World Cup campaign has been going brilliantly so far. I can't imagine the public turning on you. I'm aware of your past Emma and I think the fact that you are now engaged and having a baby will curry massive favour for you. Ruby you have always kept a low profile but this will be good press for you. There is nothing sordid about any of this. Well, not from the side of you four women anyway." She smiles at them all, ignoring the glare of the snarling rottweiler that is Cruella.
"Fine, if that is what you all think is best I can get in touch with a few people and have this made into public knowledge by tomorrow afternoon," she angrily relents as she gets up to leave. She didn't like the fact she had been overruled and even though she couldn't really argue with Ursula's logic she believed that her idea would have a better outcome for her client, even if it did paint Regina and Kathryn in a bad light.
"I'm waiting to hear back from David but if you can get the ball rolling on your side I will call you when he gives us the green light to go ahead with it." Emma informs her agent as she sees her out of the house.
Ursula is invited to stay with them for a while longer, they all got on with the pleasant woman quite well and enjoyed her company. She has a calming presence about her and that was something they all needed right then.
The sun has long since set and the heat of the day had vanished with it, leaving behind only the slightest tendrils of warmth. Emma turns on the patio heater and refreshes everyone's drinks, making Regina a tea at her request. She was happy to see Regina finally nibbling on a bagel when she returns from the kitchen with the cup of tea in hand.
"Feeling a bit better, sweetheart?"
"Yes. I am," she smiles. "I think this might actually work. Ursula seems pretty convinced that there won't be a backlash against us. I just wish David would get back to us."
"You know David... he's a man of his word. He will contact us as soon as he knows anything. And you know, I totally agree with Ursula. It will all be okay." She kisses Regina's lips chastely and slips her arm around her waist so her hand curls onto her stomach.
It was almost one a.m. by the time David eventually gets back to them. By that point they had all moved into the lounge, including Ursula. No one wanted to leave until his call came through.
"Hey, David," Emma quickly answers. Everyone sits up straighter as they watch Emma. She would normally put the call on speaker phone but she didn't want to just in case he didn't have any good news for them.
"Hey. So... we have her in custody," he breathes out happily.
"You have her in custody?" She interrupts him, clearly excited by this news. The slippery bitch had actually been caught.
"Yes. Once I explained to the judge about Cora's role in Gold's crimes he issues a warrant immediately. When we went to arrest her we played along with her having dementia and I may have accidentally," Emma could hear the joy in his words, "twisted her arm around her back a little too harshly and all of a sudden she could speak." He outright laughed at that. "She used very colourful language. But it was all the proof we needed that it was all an act. One moment she was pretending to be in a world of her own and the next second she had full cognitive abilities. It was a miracle!" He mockingly jokes. "She really is a heinous woman."
"You're telling me. So where does this leave us now?"
"Her lawyer is on his way over, she's lucky I'm even allowing her that, but seen as she has obviously faked her dementia I think she is going to be clamouring for a plea deal. She has been backed into a corner and she has nowhere to go from here. I guess she hadn't counted on guys standing up to her. I have to say... the way you ladies stand up for each other and stand side by side... I've never known loyalty like it," he says almost like a proud father.
"Yeah. What we have is pretty special," she agrees.
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After a quick call to Cruella to give her the go ahead, they decide to call it a night. Ursula takes her leave, promising to get in touch with her people to get ready a press release for Ruby, to go with Emma's the following day, and she had also volunteered to inform Ingrid of the situation. Ursula was an agent to a few of the players at the club so she had a long-standing working relationship and friendship with the manager.
Kathryn and Ruby decide to stay there for the night, their plans for a Caribbean holiday the following day, that had been alive only a few hours ago, was now dead, but only for now. Neither of them were willing to leave Emma and Regina behind in this situation to deal with it alone.
Emma was ready for bed before Regina was. The blonde wasn't in the least bit high maintenance but Regina loved her various lotions and potions and enjoyed her nightly ritual of cleaning herself up with products she had been allowed to choose.
"I have a present for you," Regina gleefully announces when she enters the bedroom from the en suite. Emma was sitting on her side of the bed, the bed sheet covering her legs as she scrolls through her phone, only slightly paranoid that Cora would somehow manage to get to the press before they did. She knows it's silly because David was taking care of that side of things but she couldn't help but worry.
"Oh, yeah? What's that?" She puts her phone down on her nightstand, giving her undivided attention to her beautiful fiancée.
Regina straddles her lap, keeping one hand behind her back. They hadn't slept together since they had been told Cora was still alive and living nearby, which Emma had fully understood. Their intimacy hadn't disappeared but Regina had been dealing with a lot of emotion and hadn't initiated anything between them, she just accepted Emma's arms around her every night and Emma was more than happy to leave it at that. But now, with her lover straddling her lap and offering her a present she couldn't stop the rush of blood to her groin.
"This," she exclaims as she whips her hand from behind her back and offers a new pregnancy test to Emma.
"Our baby!" Emma beams. She got sad the first time she realised the results only showed on the pregnancy test screen for a little while. So to see it again was astonishing to her and it gave her the same rush as the first time she had seen the confirmation of their love on a pregnancy test. "This is even better!"
"Better than what?" Regina innocently asks, unaware of what had been going through the blondes mind.
"Urm... nothing," she answers without looking up from the stick as she squirms under Regina, doing her best to control the blood flow to the bottom half of her body. "This is perfect. Thank you."
"You are welcome, darling. Thank you for standing by me once again."
"Always," Emma promises as she leans up for a kiss.
Regina swipes her tongue along Emma's bottom lip, pleading for permission to deepen their kiss, which of course is granted immediately. She reaches down to take the stick out of Emma's hand, which is holding it tightly. After a moment of resistance she manages to pull it away and reaches over to place it on the nightstand without interrupting their kiss.
With her now free hands Emma gently grabs onto her backside and pulls her a little closer.
"I've missed you," Regina whimpers against her lips when the blonde squeezes her backside. The brunette dips a hand below the waistband of her lovers white boxers and slowly rubs her dick. "I need you," she whispers before her lips are devoured by the blondes in desperate need.
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A big thank you to Loretta Bianca for helping me with some legal questions I had for this chapter. I love how supportive and helpful this community is.
I hope you guys don't mind me finishing that chapter where I did. I'm not teasing, I just don't think that adding porn would fit in with the feel of the chapter that I tried to create.
I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading xxx