Thanks to AbigailSykes for all her help :)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After another eleven copies of the scan picture had been printed out and yet another audio file of their baby's heartbeat had been emailed over to Emma, they finally leave the doctor's office.
"A baby girl," Emma dreamily murmurs as she buckles herself in the driver's seat.
"I guess you can throw away the list of boy's names now," Regina chuckles, as they take a moment to sit in their SUV in the car park and let it all sink in.
"I'll keep that for future inspiration," Emma replies, as she turns to face Regina. She takes her hand and kisses her knuckles. "But now, we can seriously start to pick out girl's names."
"Okay, but I veto Emma Junior, it's a little bit conceited, darling."
Emma chuckles. "Fair enough." She starts up the car and locks at the digital time display on the dashboard. "Because of your charming ways with the doctor, we have an hour before you have to be in work. Want to pop home quickly?" She asks with a wink.
"I would love to, but home is in the opposite direction of work. By the time we get there, we'll be lucky if we have five minutes before we have to leave again."
"Who are you kidding? Five minutes is all I need," she replies with fake bravado. Regina smiles and shakes her head in amusement. "How about the back seat?" She jokingly tries again, already knowing there is no way in hell there is a chance of that but she's feeling pretty lucky today. It's been one of the best days of her life already and it was still only the morning.
"Or, you could just take me to work early and that way I might be able to finish early and we celebrate your birthday a bit." She runs a hand up Emma's thigh to make sure she understands the implication.
"Fiiiiine," Emma grumbles.
Regina feels bad for doing this to her on her birthday, but it was a means to an end. It would give her a bit of extra time for her to set up her plan. She could really do with the extra time because she was on a very tight schedule. "So, what are you going to do when I'm in work?"
"I might call up Ruby, see if she and Kat want to get some lunch or something." She just wanted someone to talk to so she could bend their ear about her baby princess. "I can tell them the sex, yeah?"
"I want to do it together," another lie. She just needed to keep it a secret for a little longer. "Besides, Kat told me she and Ruby were booked into some spa today," she quickly lies.
"Oh, well I guess I'll go home and have a work out," she says sadly. Despite never previously celebrating her birthday, the few hours she had been awake so far had been amazing and she wanted to continue to enjoy it. Regina's enthusiasm for her birthday so far that day had been catchy and now even she felt like it was a special day after all. When Regina had first had her rota for the month and told the blonde that she had to work on her birthday, Emma hadn't cared. Her birthday really hadn't mattered to her. It was just another day. She was starting to feel like today did matter though and now she was going to be spending the whole day alone, which she really didn't want to do. They had planned to go out for dinner over the weekend, at Regina's insistence, just to celebrate a little. It was the biggest plan she had ever had for her birthday, but after the way the day had been so far, she wanted to celebrate now and for the rest of the day with the love of her life.
Regina almost backs out of her plan just so she doesn't have to see the frown on Emma's face any longer. But she can't do that because if she pulls off what she has been planning for weeks, Emma was sure to love it. So, she tries something that will keep her busy and hopefully happy. "If you have some spare time why don't you pick out a few things for our princess?" Yep... that does the trick.
Emma smiles widely, and her eyes widen. "Do you mind? Are you really okay if I do it without you?" Going shopping and preparing for the arrival of their baby was the only thing that could top celebrating her birthday.
They had done everything together so far when it had come to their baby and that's how they both liked it but just this once, just so Emma wasn't sad on her birthday, Regina thought it was the only thing for it. "Sure, but only a few things," she warns, "I still want it to be the two of us who decorate her room."
"Okay, just a few things," Emma agrees, not believing that was actually the truth, even as she said it. She had already thought of at least a dozen things she was going to buy from the baby boutique store on the outskirts of town, in the last thirty seconds. "Let's get you to work," she smiles enthusiastically, ready and excited to start shopping for their baby.
Regina smiles to herself. Everything was going to work out after all. This had been the part she had been concerned about, leaving Emma on her own on her birthday. She had originally planned for Ruby to hang out with Emma whilst Kat helped her with her secret plan, but after Ruby had almost blurted out the secret one night, when they were all having dinner together, she decided against it. Instead, she gave Ruby a task that would keep her nearby and away from Emma so there was no chance of her accidentally ruining her plan.
When they arrive at Regina's work, the brunette leans over the centre console and cups Emma's face. "Happy birthday, my love. I'm sorry I have to work but I'll phone you when I finish, if you wouldn't mind picking me up? Then we can enjoy what's left of your special day." She closes what little space there is between them and kisses her lovingly.
Emma's eyes flutter open after savouring the tingle on her lips that Regina's kiss had left behind. "Have a good day and I'll see you and my princess later," she smiles, as she strokes Regina's stomach over her coat.
"Hey," she calls out as Regina gets out of the car, "what about Princess as her name?" She has to try not to laugh as she makes the absurd suggestion that Regina would never agree to.
Regina raises one eyebrow and her lips pinch together as if to say 'never in a million years' because she wasn't even going to dignify that ludicrous question with an answer.
"At least think about it," she calls, as the door is slammed closed. She laughs to herself as she watches Regina walk away up the steps to the restaurant. When her lover is out of sight, she makes her way out of the car park and heads down the street in the direction of the baby store.
It's almost four hours later when she finally returns home from her shopping trip and it takes her six treks to and from the car to get the many bags of baby items into the house. To be fair, if she didn't have the injury to her hand it would have only taken half as many treks. She stores everything in the baby's room and adds the newest picture of their baby to the scrapbook, before hitting the gym to work off her breakfast and the Cinnabon she had eaten on the go when she didn't have time to stop for a proper lunch. Well, she did have the time but she was too excited with all the baby shopping to sit down and eat anything.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"It's looking good in here," Regina praises Kat when she enters the function room Mal had let them use for the night, taking a small break from cooking all day.
"It's the artist in me," Kat not so humbly agrees.
She had been put in charge of decorating the room and Regina was more than impressed with how it was all set up. From the gold and white table decorations to the matching banners and balloons, it was perfect. Ruby had offered to hire a professional party planner, but both of the women wanted to do the whole thing themselves; they know it would mean more to Emma that way.
"Where's Ruby?" Regina enquires when she notices that the lanky blabbermouth is nowhere to be seen.
"The printer called a little while ago, so she's gone to pick everything up."
"Emma's going to love it!" She squeals in glee. "I think I'm probably more excited than she will be."
Kat chuckles. "How's the cake coming along?"
"So far so good. I'm going to start decorating it in a bit. I just have a few other things I need to finish making first." Regina had spent hours and hours over the last couple of weeks planning the perfect birthday cake and party food. She even produced a spreadsheet to make sure she got all the timings right because she only had one afternoon to put it all together. The extra hour she had managed to gain earlier in the morning had been a huge relief. "I have all her favourites." She wasn't actually on shift today, she just needed to be there to prepare all the food for the party. Mal had very kindly not only allowed her to have the function room for their party, but also full access the kitchen and all the produce she needed.
"And you're sure she doesn't have a clue?" Kat asks, referring to the surprise party they have organised.
"She has no idea at all. She's too focused on the baby," she says with a pat to the bump.
"She's going spoil that little one rotten." Kathryn had been annoyed when Regina had told her that she wouldn't be divulging the sex of the baby, as she wanted to keep that privilege for Emma, but she knew she wouldn't have to wait long. She could imagine that Emma was absolutely bursting to tell everyone their latest piece of baby news.
"I had better get back to the kitchen. Thanks again for all your help. It really does look fantastic," she says, as she looks around the beautifully decorated room.
"I owe Emma so much. This is the least I could do." When Regina had first come to her with the idea of a surprise party, looking for advice because she wasn't sure it was the right move, Kat had jumped onboard and helped to make it as special as possible.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Regina's phone pings from the shelf above the counter that she's working on. She just needed to finish the buttercream decorations on the third tier of the cake, and she would check to see who was messaging her. She hoped it was Emma and not someone cancelling on the party. She wanted as many people as possible there so Emma could see how many people cared for her.
When she has finished the cake, that also includes a special surprise, she takes a step back to admire it. Happy with what she has created, she tries to lift it but when Pierre sees her he rushes over.
"No, no, no. Put it down. I will do that for you. You are not allowed to lift things," he instructs as he carefully picks it up. Her bump wasn't particularly noticeable under her chef whites, but he knew how far along she was and was always very mindful of it.
Regina shakes her head and smiles as she opens the fridge door for him to put it in. "You are just like Emma. I'm not even that far long."
"It doesn't matter. You need to take it easy," he says with finality. "Do you need any help with anything else?"
"No, I've only got a few more things to do anyway." He had offered her help whenever he'd had a spare few minutes throughout the day, but she kindly rejected each of his offers because she stubbornly wanted to do it all on her own. If she was going to let other people help, then she might as well have had a catering company do it. No, she was going to remain stubborn about this.
He smiles kindly and goes back to his work station to continue with his own job, but not before telling her to not carry anything too heavy and to take plenty of breaks.
She smiles at him kindly before picking up her phone to open the unread message. "Hey beautiful, are you going to be able to finish early? I really miss you."
"Sorry, but it looks like I'm going to be here until seven." She hated lying but it was going to be worth it. If all goes well, everyone will have arrived by then and everything will be set up exactly as she had planned in the sketches Kat had put together. Regina was a stickler for details.
"It's fine. I'm busy anyway." The replying texts reads, below a picture of Emma lying on her back, as she plays with a baby mobile that's hovering above her.
Regina laughs out loud before texting back. "You're an idiot. What are all those bags in the background? I said you could get just a few things." Emma had obviously been on a major shopping trip. She had expected nothing less if she was honest with herself.
"See you at seven. Love you both," comes the quick reply, ending the conversation so she doesn't have to answer Regina's question. She mentally kicks herself for taking the picture with the proof of her indulgent shopping in the background.
She laughs again and puts her phone back on the shelf so she can finish off the last few bits. When everything on her spreadsheet has been ticked off, she goes to the staff locker room so she can change and do her hair. In her locker hangs the lace navy and cream mini-dress that Emma always likes to admire her in. It had gotten a little tighter because of her pregnancy and her baby bump was definitely noticeable in, but that was the main reason for her wearing it. Emma loved when the baby bump was obvious in her clothes. Once she had finished doing her hair and reapplying her makeup, she makes her way to the function room to check on things.
The guests start to arrive at six thirty. Regina had wanted them to all be there before Emma got there for a bigger impact. Everything is set up exactly how she had planned it and she couldn't wait for Emma to arrive. The table that had been assigned for gifts and cards was overflowing, as were the tables of food. She knows which one Emma will be most happy with. The way to her heart was definitely through her stomach.
She keeps her phone in her hand, waiting for Emma's usual text of 'I'm waiting in the car,' which arrives at three minutes to seven.
She quickly text back: "I need help carrying a few things. I'm in the guest function room."
As quickly as she sends the text, she gets one back. "Don't you dare lift a thing! I'm on my way."
She knew that was the best way to get Emma into the building. She almost felt bad for using Emma's overprotectiveness as a ploy. "Okay. Everybody quiet. She's on her way," Regina shouts across the room authoritatively. The room immediately quietens down and she rushes over to switch all the lights off. They all wait in complete silence and darkness until the door finally opens.
"Reg..."
"SURPRISE!" The chorus of several dozen voices shout out.
Emma's automatic reaction is one of shock and confusion. She grabs the door handle so she can close the door and leave as quickly as possible; she'd obviously walked into the wrong room. That is, until her eyes register Regina standing front and centre of the crowd of people. When she starts looking around, she recognises the faces of her teammates and friends, and their families.
"Happy birthday, my love," Regina says to break the silence and bring Emma back from looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"Yeah, happy birthday, Swan," Ruby chimes in. Everyone else in the room follows suit and shout out their congratulations. Emma smiles and her features soften as she surveys the room, now actually able to take in everything with a calmer mind.
Her eyes start to glisten. This was too much for her to take in. It was a complete shock. She sticks her hand up in an awkward semi-wave, just to thank them all and show everyone in the room that she is acknowledging them. Regina walks up to her and everyone else starts talking amongst themselves and helping themselves to food. It is well known that Emma's confidence is something that is generally restricted to the pitch, so they give her space.
"You did all this?" She asks as she takes Regina's hands and pulls her closer. She fights back the tears that threaten to spill. She doesn't want anyone to see her cry.
"I had a little help from Kat and Ruby. I'm sorry I've had to lie to you countless times today and I'm sorry if I made you feel neglected on your birthday, but I wanted to throw you a surprise party so you can see how much you are loved and that you can enjoy your birthday. It's a special day because you are special. I hope you like it."
"I love it. I can't believe this is all for me." She looks around the room again, taking her time now that everyone's attention wasn't on her. There's a bar at the back of the room, that already has a queue forming and tables upon tables of food lining the wall to the right of it, that also had a queue forming. On the left side of the room, there was also a table but there was no one around it because it was all for her. The huge stack of presents that swamp it... all for her. "Cocoon," she murmurs when she notices the three giant canvases hung up on the wall above the table that divert her eyes away from the gifts.
Regina rolls her eyes. "Trust you to notice that first. It was Ruby's idea." Regina informs her. Ruby had done it as a bit of a joke, but they all knew Emma was going to love them.
Emma walks towards the table of gifts so she can get a better view of the three canvases that show the very short evolution of their baby. She ignores all the gifts, because her baby is the greatest gift of all.
"Do you like them, Swan?" Ruby asks from behind them.
"They're amazing," she answers without taking her eyes from, "why didn't I think of doing this? I'm not sure which room they will fit in though."
"We're not taking them home, Emma. They are way too big. They won't fit in any room."
"They're my gift, right, Ruby?" She says as she finally turns her head to look at the brunette.
"Urm… yeah... but I did just get them printed as a joke."
"See," she smugly looks at Regina. "They are my present so get to keep them."
"Damn you, Ruby."
"I'll just go... urm… over there," she says meekly because of the daggers Regina is giving her. She scurries away to the safety of Kat, the only person she knows that would stand up to Regina.
"I've never had a birthday party before," Emma murmurs when they are alone again.
"I know and it's long overdue. Let's get a drink and have something to eat. I've slaved over the food all day, so you'd better enjoy it."
"But I'm not really dressed for this," she says self-consciously as she looks around the room at everyone that is dressed up. "You look incredible though," a hungry smirk replacing the smile on her face.
"I happen to think you look rather dashing in your sexy, new jacket that was probably purchased by someone that loves you very much." She thought back to that morning when she sucked Emma off as she stood in nothing but her vest top and that very jacket. She had to admit that Emma did look just as appealing in her skinny black jeans and tight black tee now though. She slips her hands to broad shoulders and presses herself against the body of her lover. "I just so happen to have a suit in my locker that will fit you perfectly."
"You really thought of everything, didn't you?"
"I hope so. I want this to be prefect for you. Come on, let's go get you changed. I know you; you won't be able to relax otherwise."
Emma smiles dopily because Regina's right. She really does know her, better than anyone had her entire life. She takes Regna's hand and they walk side by side to the locker room so she can get changed into the suit Regina had brought for her. She is in awe of how considerate and incredible her fiancée is.
In the changing room, Emma gently pushes Regina up against the lockers. "I missed you today," she whispers against full lips before pressing her own against them until she feels the tip of Regina's tongue requesting entrance. They kiss like they haven't seen each other in months and not just a few hours. Emma draws back when her twitching cock starts to grow. If they didn't stop, she would either have to take Regina here and now or go back to the party with a hard-on, neither of those options were really acceptable.
Regina licks her lips and clears her throat, wishing she had brought a spare pair of panties with her. When Emma takes a step back from her, she opens her locker and pulls out the suit on a hanger for her lover to change into.
"So, does anyone know the sex of the baby yet?" Emma asks, hoping Regina hadn't caved and told people without her.
"Only Pierre, but I didn't tell him." She helps Emma out of her clothes and puts them on the hanger she had removed the suit from. A quizzical look from the blonde has her continuing, "He may have seen me colour the sponge in the top layer of your cake to indicate the sex of Cocoon. I thought it was easier than actually having to tell everyone the sex."
"Wait... so you made a what? Pink sponge? I thought you didn't believe in certain colours for each gender."
"I don't," she protests as she helps Emma do up the buttons on her shirt, "but if I coloured the sponge green or yellow then no one would get it. For the sake of the gender reveal, I had to stick to the stereotype. Is that okay?" She now realises that this was the only part that she hadn't thought through properly. She assumed that it would be more exciting for Emma to cut her cake and everyone would find out the gender of their baby at the same time, rather than go around and tell people individually, but of course Emma wouldn't be too happy with the stupid colour stereotype thing.
"Of course it's okay. I get it. That's pretty cool. Can I see my cake?"
She took that well. "No, not yet. It's still a surprise. You'll see it soon enough." She smooths out the lapels on Emma's jacket and gives her a small kiss. "Let's get back to the party before they start thinking we've left."
Emma had never celebrated so hard in all her life, not even the few months previously when the Slayers won the league. She did have quite a few neglected birthdays to catch up on after all. Her teammates kept bringing her a constant stream of drinks. If it wasn't for all of Regina's wonderful food in her stomach absorbing the extra alcohol in her system, she would be a lot more drunk. Even so, Regina had never seen her so drunk, but she didn't mind. Emma was happy and relaxed and really enjoying the occasion.
It was just after 9pm and there were a fair few children at the party so Regina decides it is time for the cake and gender reveal, plus, she wasn't sure how much longer Emma would be able to stand up for.
"I would definitely say this party is a success. She is having a great time," Kat says as she comes up behind Regina. They both watch Emma, as she laughs and drinks at a table with a few of her teammates.
"It's nice to see her like this," Regina smiles. "Are you ready to find out the sex of the baby?"
"Hell yes! I have waited long enough," Kat squeals. She looks around the room for Ruby and calls over to her when she spots her at the bar. The lanky brunette makes her way over to them once she had been served her drinks order, two bottles of beer, one for her and one for Emma.
"Hey, babe. Are you having a good time?" Ruby slurs. She was probably the only one in the room that had drank more than Emma.
"I am. Regina is about to get the cake for the gender reveal," she jovially informs the inebriated woman.
"Yay! I can't wait to find out if I am going to be an aunty or an uncle." Both Kat and Regina burst out laughing. "No... wait... that's not how that works is it? I mean... what do I mean, babe?"
Kat shakes her head, as she continues to laugh. Ruby was going to regret this in the morning.
"I'm going to find Pierre to help me with the cake. Don't let Ruby give her that beer until after Emma has cut the cake," Regina informs her friend. A drunk Emma wielding a giant knife wasn't the smartest of ideas.
"On it," Kat promises her friend, as she takes the second bottle of beer from Ruby for herself.
A few minutes later and the crowd goes silent as Regina and Pierre wheel the cake in on a trolley, the giant sparkler on top of it popping coloured flames. Regina signals for Emma to come over, which she does quickly. This was the part of the evening that she was most excited about.
She gasps stares at the cake, taking in each tier and separate element that Regina had lovingly put together for her. The bottom layer was a green buttercream soccer pitch, the second tier was decorated in black and white fondant icing hexagons, made to represent a football, and the third tier was plain white with a gold number seven on the front: Emma's shirt number. On the very top, sat an entirely edible swan with a fondant icing crown. It wasn't exactly elegant, but Regina had executed it very well and it was very Emma.
"This is magnificent!" The happy blonde beams and everyone starts clapping. She whispers to Regina, "this is my first ever birthday cake."
"I know, darling, but it won't be your last."
"Don't make us wait any longer. We want to know the gender," Kat shouts over.
"Let's not keep them waiting," Regina whispers in Emma's ear.
Emma takes the knife and holds it over the bottom tier, ready to slice into the masterpiece. It was almost a shame to do so.
"Come on, help me," she instructs Regina.
"But it's your birthday cake," she protests, wanting Emma to have this moment for herself.
"But it's our baby," she counterargues, "I want us to do this together. Besides, it's good practice for our wedding cake," she adds with a wink.
Regina smiles and places her hand on top of Emma's that's holding the knife. Together, they press down then repeat the action until Emma is able to pull out the big slice of cake and reveal the pink sponge. The room cheers and claps, just as they would have done if it had of been blue sponge.
Kat and Ruby give the biggest cheer as they high five. "Girl power," Ruby shouts out.
A few hours later, the party was starting to wind down, which Regina was glad about because she was tired, her feet were killing, and Emma was very, very drunk. It was time to get her home. She approaches Emma, who is sitting at the bar with Elsa. They are both slurring football tactics at each other as they swig their drinks. Emma was back in her new red jacket; she'd asked Regina for it a little earlier and swapped it for her suit jacket.
"I'm taking you home now," Regina stands behind her and sweetly informs her fiancée, who is slightly swaying on the stool with her eyes are half closed.
"No, I can't go home with you." Emma says without looking behind her. "I have a fian… a fian… a wife soon," she gives up on the word she's struggling to pronounce in her inebriated state. "We already practiced cutting our wedding cake."
Regina has to bite her lip to stifle her laugh. Even Elsa's doing her best not to laugh at Emma who hasn't realised it's Regina standing behind her and talking to her. "Are you sure you don't want to come home with me? I won't tell your fiancée," she teases her lover, even though Emma doesn't understand the joke.
"No. I'm going home with my 'Gina. Only her forever and ever," Emma says with slurred finality.
Oh my god... she didn't think she could love Emma anymore right now. "Okay," she dramatically sighs. Elsa can't hold her laughter in anymore and bursts out laughing but it doesn't even register with Emma, she's that drunk.
"I'll go and get your 'Gina for you," the brunette keeps playing along. She waits a moment before taking a step forward and leaning against the bar at Emma's side. "There you are, Emma. I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Baby! Where have you been?" The blonde asks, completely unaware that she had been standing there the whole time. Regina chuckles. "I was calling a car. It's time for us to go home now."
"Okay," she easily agrees before taking a swig from her already empty bottle. She stands up, stumbling a bit and turns back to Elsa. "Remember... you have to kick the ball into the goal. It's very easy. But you're not allowed to break peoples noses," she informs her teammate, before turning back to Regina, "are you 'Gina?"
"No, you are not."
"But I did, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did."
At this point, Pierre and Kat had come over to help Emma, who could barely stand up on her own.
"Someone has had a good night," Pierre chuckles as he puts an arm around Emma's waist to hold her up.
"There's a car waiting outside for us," Regina informs him, so he knows where to take her. "Do you need any help with Ruby?" They both look over to the brunette passed out in a chair in the corner of the room. She'd hit the booze even harder than Emma and it had caught up to her about an hour ago.
"Urm…".
"Don't worry. Once I have Emma in the car, I will come back up for Ruby."
"Why don't you and Ruby stay at ours tonight. That way we can help each other get them into the house," Regina suggests.
"If you don't mind me sharing your car, I can help you with them before it drops me off," Pierre happily offers.
"Thank you," both Kat and Regina say in unison.
Once Emma is in the car, Regina joins her and Pierre goes back to the function room to get Ruby, who Kat has managed to just about wake. Just as he had with Emma, he takes most of Ruby's weight as he helps her walk to the car. Kat holds around her from the other side and blushes furiously as Ruby blabs a few of her sexual preferences, seemingly unaware of Pierre right beside her.
When the car pulls up to the house, the driver and Pierre help get the two women inside, both of whom had fallen asleep in the car. Kat helps Ruby up to her bedroom and Regina does the same with Emma. Both of the soccer stars fall asleep as their heads hit the pillow.
Once Regina has stripped Emma down to her underwear and got a spare cover from the closet to put over her, because she didn't have the strength to pull the one from underneath her, she goes downstairs.
"They are going to hate themselves in the morning," Kat says to Regina when the brunette enters the kitchen to get a bottle of water for Emma. She was going to need it when she woke up.
Regina laughs. "Big time! Emma really enjoyed herself though. After the initial shock wore off, I don't think she stopped laughing and smiling all night."
"Who can blame her... she had to wait twenty-four years to have a birthday party... twenty-four years for a damn piece of birthday cake. She deserved a night to be just about her." Regina nods her agreement, as she yawns. "You had better go to bed. You've had a long day. I've arranged for all of the presents and the canvases to be dropped off in the morning. She can continue her birthday celebrations once the hangover has worn off."
"Thank you for all your help. I couldn't have done this without you," Regina praises, as she pulls her friend into a hug.
"No problem. Just remember... I get to be bridesmaid and godmother," she says with a wink.
"There's no one else I would choose. Goodnight, Kat."
Back in the bedroom, Regina places the bottle of water on Emma's nightstand before going into the bathroom to grab a couple of Advil, which she places next to the water. The last thing she does before she can get herself ready for is bed, is grab the bag the bin in the bathroom and put in on the floor next to Emma's side of the bed, praying it wouldn't get used. She hoped Emma would just be able to sleep it off.
Once she has finished with her nightly routine, she snuggles up next to Emma who is lying on her stomach and kisses her shoulder. "Happy birthday, my beautiful girl. I love you."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Regina was woken by the sound of Emma throwing up; it was her debt for having such a good night. She's confused for a moment, but when she opens her eyes it all makes sense. Emma wasn't beside her and throwing up into the bin how she'd expected, no, Emma was in the en suite. She must not have realised that the bin had been put there for that exact reason, which Regina was thankful for. The toilet was definitely a bigger target and easier to aim for.
She notices the time on the alarm clock, it was just after nine, much later than she usually gets up. She gets out of bed to go and check on Emma, who is literally hugging the toilet seat as she dry heaves into it, her stomach now empty. She takes a face cloth from the clean pile of them on a shelf and runs it under cold water. She wrings out the excess water and folds the cloth over once. "Here you go, darling," she says quietly, as she kneels behind her and holds the cold cloth to the back of Emma's neck.
The smell is horrendous and it's almost enough to make her want to heave. She is so happy she is out of the morning sickness stage of her pregnancy or she would be fighting Emma for the toilet bowl right about now.
When the heaving stops, Emma reaches up and weakly tries to flush the toilet. "I'll do that. Just sit back, my love," Regina directs her with a gentle nudge to her shoulder. Emma is in no state to argue so she collapses back against the cool tile wall. Regina places the cloth on her forehead before getting up to flush the toilet. Then she takes a few sheets of toilet paper and wipes around Emma's mouth before throwing it into the whirling water of the flushing toilet.
"Sorry," Emma mumbles.
Regina takes the cloth from her forehead so she can run it under the cold tap again. "Don't worry about it. Besides, you have done this for me many times, including the time I got drunk." She sits back down next to Emma and holds the freshly cooled cloth against her forehead again.
"That's nice," she mumbles about the cold cloth.
"Do you think you've finished being sick?"
A small nod.
"Let's get you back to bed then. You can rest properly in there. I've put the bin at the side of the bed if you need it."
"How are you and Princess?"
"That will never be the name of our daughter, Miss Swan." Emma laughs, but then quickly groans and holds her head in pain. "Serves you right. In you get," she instructs, as she holds the cover up for her to crawl into. "Takes these," she holds out the Advil for her and when Emma takes them, she passes her the water to wash them down with. "Get some sleep and I'm sure you'll feel better when you wake up next."
"Thanks for taking care of me."
"Always. Now try to sleep. I'll just freshen up this cloth." When she comes back to the bedroom with the newly cooled cloth, Emma is fast asleep. She places it on her forehead before stroking her cheek. She felt bad for her, but she was never going to stop her from enjoying her birthday last night. At least it was a memorable night, well, if Emma would be able to remember anything. That still remains to be seen.
She can smell the coffee before she even enters the kitchen and it smells like heaven, shame she couldn't have any.
"Morning," she greets her blonde friend who is sipping her coffee at the table.
"Morn..." yawn, "ing," Kat replies.
"How's Ruby?"
"Still fast asleep, thankfully. She's usually pretty good at sleeping off booze. What about Emma?"
"No such luck. I just found her face down in the toilet. She's back in bed now though."
Kat laughs at Emma's predicament. "She did have an amazing birthday. This is just the price she has to pay. At some point, she and Ruby started a little game where they had to take a shot each time someone congratulated her on the baby."
"Idiots," Regina kindly mutters, as she switches the kettle on to make herself a cup of tea.
"All the gifts are in the lounge," Kat informs her friend before she forgets, "a couple of guys from the restaurant dropped them off. I can't believe she didn't open them last night. I wouldn't have been able to wait if it was me."
"Apparently she was having too much fun drinking," Regina chuckles.
It was another few hours until Ruby groggily made her way to the kitchen, Emma not too far behind her, both of them looking the worse for wear.
After a lot of coffee and a little something to eat, Emma was feeling much better and couldn't wait any longer to open her presents.
Regina was happy for her, happy because she was so excited, but at the same time the feeling of shame and guilt was gnawing at her because she knew what she had bought Emma would never compare to what her millionaire teammates could afford. Well, at least none one would be giving her a blow job like she had yesterday morning, at least she's good for one thing, she thinks self-deprecatingly.
"I don't even know where to start," Emma says gleefully from her place on the couch beside her lover, as she eyes up the pile of gifts.
"Open mine first!" Ruby instructs as she takes a small box off the pile and chucks it at Emma. Thankfully with her quick reflexes, she catches it in time before it smacks her in the face.
"Careful," Kat warns, as she nudges her girlfriend.
"You already got me a present," Emma says with a nod to the three giant canvases standing up against the wall.
"They were joke gifts you tit. This is your real present."
She starts peeling back the wrapping paper, with a lot less gusto than she had opened the presents Regina had given her, the brunette notes.
"Nice, cheers Rubes." She pulls the fancy Rolex out of its box and slips it onto her wrist, holding her arm in front of Regina for her to see. It looks really expensive but Emma isn't really the flashy type.
"I'm sure you'll appreciate it more when you learn to tell the time," Ruby teases and gets a middle finger in return.
"Mine now," Kat chimes in, "Just remember, I'm still waiting for the compensation money to come through, so think of this as a gift from the heart," she jokes.
Again, Emma is slower at opening the gift then she had been with the ones Regina had given her, but her reaction when it's opened is one of pure joy. "Oh my god. I love it. It's beautiful!" She turns it a little so Regina can see it better. "It's us, baby." Kat had painted a picture of the two women from a photo she had taken of them from a few weeks ago. They were sitting on the couch they were sat on at that moment and Emma had one arm around Regina's shoulder and one hand on her stomach. The brunette is snuggled into her neck with her hand on top of the larger one on her stomach. "I really love it. Thank you."
It comforted Regina to see the difference between Emma's reaction to the expensive watch and the heartfelt gift Kat had made. It gave her back some confidence in her own gifts. She knows Emma well enough to know that a price tag isn't important to her.
Half an hour and many presents later, the floor is covered in wrapping paper and the pile of unveiled gifts lay to the side of the couch. "This has been the best birthday in the history of birthdays," Emma whispers to Regina.
"Just you wait until we are in bed tonight," Regina seductively whispers into her ear.