As many of you have already guessed this story is now coming to an end. I think there will only be one more chapter.

Thanks to Abigail Sykes for editing.

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"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Emma questions as she sits on their bed with Regina sitting in her lap, her knees on either side of the blonde's thighs.

"After two months, I am more than ready," Regina pauses her trail of nips and kisses down a pale neck to say. "As long as I can keep my top on," she adds, before attacking Emma's skin with her lips and teeth again.

Emma's entire body stiffens, no longer pliable to the delicious mouth upon her. She places her hands on Regina's shoulders and gently pushes her away.

"What? What's wrong?"

"You're not ready," Emma states decisively.

"Of course, I am. I've had my check-up. Dr Ruth said I'm all healed. I am soooo ready. You can feel for yourself if you need proof," she says, with a salacious wink, as she goes to take one of Emma's hands off her shoulder and lead it to where she needs it the most, but the hand doesn't budge.

"Your body might be ready, but your mind isn't and that's just as important, if not even more important."

"What do you mean?" She asks deflated, as she sits back on Emma's quads.

"You want to keep your top on. You don't want me to see you."

"Well, what do you expect? My body just isn't the same anymore."

Emma squints her eyes not understanding what Regina is getting at exactly. "Your body started changing as soon as we conceived Lena, but we still made love when you were pregnant, what's different now?" Her baby belly had mostly disappeared and that was the only thing Regina had shown any insecurity about during the pregnancy.

"Well, now I'm not pregnant anymore. That's the difference." She hopes Emma will understand what she is trying to say without her having to actually verbalize her insecurities. When the look of confusion doesn't lift from Emma's face, she sighs knowing she has to continue. "My body changed as it was meant to when I was pregnant, whether I liked it or not, and you always soothed my issues with my self image, but now…" She sighs as she pulls her robe tighter around herself. "I gave birth two months ago and my body has completely changed forever."

"Well, yeah… That's completely natural. Your body housed our little girl and gave her life," she radiates so much love and happiness as she talks about it, as if it was an actual miracle. She slides her hands down to curvy hips, not missing how uncomfortable her touch seems to make Regina. She doesn't remove her hands though. It's not her hands that are the problem; it's the way that Regina sees herself that's the problem. She intently watches the internal struggle that falls over dark features. Sad, brown orbs dart around, doing their best to avoid contact with loving emerald.

"Talk to me," she pleads when the same beautiful eyes begin to glisten with unshed tears.

"It's okay for you with your damn abs and muscles!" She huffs in frustration. "Most of the baby weight may have gone, but no matter what I do, I just can't seem to tone my tummy…. And don't even get me started on my breasts."

Emma's eyes automatically dip to the covered cleavage. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. That is just as true now as it has ever been."

"You can't say that because you haven't even seen my body since I gave birth."

"Yes, I…" she tries to remember an occasion in the last two months where she has seen her lover naked, but she's comes up empty handed. Regina was right, she hasn't seen her naked since she helped her shower in the hospital just a few hours after she had given birth. Regina had gone from having showers to taking bubble baths on her own and dressing in the bathroom. She was even wearing pyjamas each night to bed, even though it was getting closer to summer. "I've seen your boobs when you've breastfed," she settles on, "and let me tell you something, it always takes all of my willpower to not move Lena out of the way," she says with a small laugh. She is the only one laughing. In fact, she is the only one even smiling.

"Shit," Emma sighs. "This is all my fault. How have I not picked up on the fact you've been hiding yourself from me? It's my place to make you feel as gorgeous as you are, and I haven't been doing that."

Regina wipes her eyes. "Don't do that. Don't blame yourself. These are my body issues and there's nothing you could have done about that. This is my fault. You know I've always been particularly insecure when it comes to my body. I guess that's what happens when you've never had anything but your body to offer," she says sourly.

"That's just not true at all. Everyone is more than just their meat suit. You need to take a breath and think about what you're saying. Do you remember what Archie always used to tell you? You are what you believe you are; so, don't pay attention when the negative voice is talking to you in your mind. You can't see yourself clearly right now, but that's okay because I can," she says with meaning, as she takes the brunettes hands in her own. "You truly are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, but you are also so much more than that. You have the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known. You have such a huge capacity for love and that makes you loyal, strong and fierce. You would never allow anyone you care about to speak about themselves in the way you just spoke about yourself. You are the most incredible friend. You are my best friend and the most incredible partner. You have given me more than I could have ever wished for. You've made these four walls into a home for me, for all of us. I don't even know where to begin to describe you as a mother. You have completely blown my mind with how amazing you are with Lena. I always knew you'd be a wonderful mom, but you've exceeded any expectations that I had. You have an indomitable will and an unbreakable soul and when I look at you all I see is love."

Fresh tears streak her cheeks. "Oh Emma," she gushes as she falls forward into the blondes ever welcoming arms.

"And 'dem titties…" She quietly whistles.

Regina snorts, "idiot."

"I want to hear you say it. Tell me how wonderful you are."

"Shut up."

"Do it." Emma lovingly demands, as she holds her fingers against Regina's sides, poised and ready to tickle.

"Don't you dare, Emma," she semi-seriously warns. "We'll wake Lena."

"No, you'll wake her. You know what you have to do."

Regina relents. "I'm a good person," she mumbles.

"You are the absolute best." Emma pushes her fingertips against her in warning. "Say it."

"I'm the best."

"The absolute best, with the best titties."

"Shut up," Regina laughs at Emma's use of the silly word.

"I'm going to need to hear you say it before I can holster up these deadly weapons, future Mrs. Swan," she says, giving her fingers a wiggle.

Regina gives her a big genuine smile. "I love it when you call me that. Say it again."

"I will when you say what I want to hear."

"I am the absolute best and I have the best… titties," she says quickly to get it over with because she knows Emma won't quit until she's done it.

"Yes, you are and yes, you do, future Mrs. Swan." She takes Regina's face between her hands and kisses her in a way that takes her breath away.

"Never ask me to say that word again," Regina says in amusement.

"I'll make you say it every time you say something negative about yourself."

"Blackmail."

"Yep," she cheekily agrees. "Do you think, maybe, you'd benefit from seeing Archie again?"

"Do you think I need to?" She hadn't had a session with Archie since the beginning of her pregnancy. She thought after her last session, after Cora had been jailed, she wouldn't have to see him again.

"I think it's probably a good idea. You've been through a lot and I know you like to deal with things by yourself as much as you can, but it's always good to talk things through with someone that can help."

"Yeah, I guess." She knows Dr Hopper can help her but the negative mind-set she has about herself just makes her feel like she is even more of a failure if she seeks out help again. Especially seeing as Emma no longer has sessions with the therapist herself. "Are you going to have a session?" She enquires almost shyly.

"If you want me to sit in on your sessions with him then I will, but I don't need to have my own sessions with him anymore.

"Why have you outgrown him, but I haven't?" She huffs angrily, frustrated at her own uselessness.

"For two main reasons. Firstly, since I've had your love, I've realised that I am in fact lovable. I was never at fault when the foster families gave me back. I wasn't unlovable. They just didn't know how to love properly. I no longer carry the weight of my past on my shoulders." She slowly runs her hands up and down pyjama-clad thighs.

"What's the second reason?"

"I haven't had the shit storm of the last year that you've had."

"We've had the same year. We've been through the same things," Regina argues. "We dealt with the court case together, we became parents together. You were with me every step of the way."

"Not really. Sure, I was next to you throughout it all, but I was never the one in your shoes. I may have gone to court with you, but I wasn't the one facing the evil people that had made my life hell. That was you. And yes, we had our beautiful little girl," she says looking over to the crib that holds their sleeping baby, "but I didn't go through the pregnancy. I didn't give birth to her. Stop playing down all you have faced, all you have achieved. I had been seeing Archie for ages; you'd only been seeing him for a few months. Stop comparing your progress to mine."

Regina nods but remains quiet. She could appreciate that everything Emma said was logical, but logic didn't mean much when emotions were involved.

"So, what do you say to seeing Archie again? The man is a miracle worker. I'm proof of that."

"Yeah, I think I should."

"Good. I'll call him in the morning. Now, how about we cuddle, and we can revisit this at another time, when you're in a better place." She says referring to Regina's attempt at sex.

"That sounds good seen as you've ruined my libido with all your serious talk," she teases, feeling lighter after their chat.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It might not be the ideal circumstances but it's good to see you again, Regina," the bespectacled man greets. "How's motherhood treating you?"

"It's not without its challenges, but I'm enjoying it. Lena's growing bigger every day and she has the most beautiful smile. It's just like Emma's," she gushes.

"That's brilliant. You seem happy but if that were true, I wouldn't be here," he comments, wasting no time in trying to find out why he was here.

"I am happy, and motherhood truly is wonderful but," she sighs, "I'm struggling with my own insecurities and self-doubts. Maybe it's just hormones or something," she adds derisively.

"Self-doubts and insecurities are very normal in new mothers, but that doesn't mean you should play them down." He gives his client a knowing look. "Tell me what's happened since I last saw you."

It takes almost half of the session for her to recount everything she wanted to tell him, everything that she considered important to share with him. Her main problem being that every time she saw herself naked, she could hear her mother's words of disappointment in her ears or Gold's anger when a client would drop her.

"Well, you've certainly been bottling a lot up," he acknowledges when the brunette stops talking and slouches into the chair. "Have you been sharing your thoughts and feelings with Emma?" He thought it was imperative to ask seeing as her main concerns were to do with her body image.

"I did the other night." Guilt is evident across her face because she hadn't been involving Emma with her issues until the blonde had persuaded her to talk about things. She hadn't even considered them issues because as long as she ignored them, she didn't have to face them.

"Well, that's a start."

"It feels stupid and pointless to be talking about this again. It might be different circumstances, but the topic is still the same." She's getting so frustrated at herself for behaving in a manner she imagines a teenager would behave. She has everything she has ever wanted but the words and actions of her lifelong bullies are louder and clearer in her head than ever.

"The topic isn't the same, not exactly. A lot has changed since we last spoke. I don't think you actually believe that this is purely about body image or you believing that Emma would reject you in any way at all."

Regina's face clouds over in realisation. She must have known in deep down, but hearing the fiery haired man say it out loud really struck a chord with her.

"I think you're scared of taking that ultimate, final step, in closing the door on your past."

"That is absolutely absurd," she reprimands, and she sits taller in her chair. "Why would I not want to close the door on all the shit that happened before I met Emma? Besides, I closed that door when Cora was sentenced."

"You closed a door that day, not THE door."

"What are you talking about?" Her frustration builds alongside her confusion.

"Every single person will have many important events in their lives and each event is like a room in a house. You can leave the door open and revisit the event if it is a good memory, but if it isn't a happy memory, then once it has been dealt with, the door to that memory can be shut for good. Are you with me so far?"

Regina nods. "I think so."

"But with you… you've taken on an entirely new life that is the polar opposite to the life you had before. You worked hard to deal with past traumatic events and lock the doors to them, but now you have to stop walking the hallways that keep you within touching distance of the doors. You have to leave the house of haunted memories and lock up the front door to it. You have literally moved home, but what I mean is, your new life is the equivalent of moving to a new home, in your mind. This new home is full of empty rooms, all of them teeming with new and vast possibilities. To make that happen, you have to accept that your past life is over. You have to forget about it, and I know you have put in all the work to be able to do that."

"Don't you think I want to? I hate that Cora's and Gold's cruelness still wins out over my fiancée's never ending love. I wish it didn't still have a hold over me, but it does. It's too strong."

"That's an excuse." He states matter-of-factly. The look of shock that quickly morphs into anger on Regina's face has him quickly continuing, "You have worked so hard to deal with your past issues and I have seen you conquer them. But now you're just scared to let it all go because if something bad does happen, you're not confident in your ability to deal with it. If you don't have the villains in your past to blame, then all responsibility falls on your shoulders and you don't know how to handle that. You think that if you allow Emma to see your body, which the voices of your past make you feel ashamed of, and she rejects you, then everything they every said must be true. But by doing that, you are missing out on what would happen when she doesn't reject you."

Regina doesn't miss out of the fact there isn't an 'if' in the last sentence. He speaks the words as if they are gospel.

"When she doesn't reject you," he repeats, "you'll know that there is nothing more in this world that can get between you. You will know for sure that even when you are not pleased with what you see in the mirror, Emma's love for you doesn't decrease or dull. You'll have no choice but to let go of past and that is something you are scared to do. It's time to let the Regina you thought you were for the first twenty-eight years of your life go. I know it's scary and uncertain, but you have to do it to be the person you want to be, the person you know you are deep down. The girl, the woman, who had been buried beneath all of that criticism and cruelty for most of her life isn't someone you have to cling onto out of fear."

Regina freely sobs into her hands. The truth of his words is heavy, but also freeing at the same time. It is scary to think about letting go, but also a relief to think that she could let go. If she was honest with herself, she knew she hadn't fully consigned the happenings of her life to the annals of history, she had just done a good job of convincing herself that she had. It had seemed easier to do that when she was rushing in her pursuit of happiness. She had happiness, but she was only holding onto it with one hand. If she truly let go of all the badness that she was still holding onto, then she could fully embrace the happiness she had been luckily enough to find, with both hands.

"You're right. I know Emma would never judge me, no matter what. I'm just scared of accepting myself because I didn't know who I am." The strength building up within Regina was so powerful you could almost physically see it. "Well, now I do. I am the future Mrs. Regina Swan, fiancée to the most incredible woman, mother to my darling daughter and I have the absolute best titties!"

The growing smile Dr Hopper had been wearing suddenly shrinks, "I beg your pardon?" He stammers in confusion.

Ignoring him, she stands up from her chair and marches out of the room to find Emma sitting on the couch in the living room, with Lena sleeping in her arms.

"How did it go?" She asks with a hopeful smile when Regina enters the room.

"I am the absolute best person and I have the absolute best titties," she repeats the words that she had said the other night, but this time she believes them. Hearing Dr. Hopper tell her the truth of what was going on in her head was liberating. She wasn't trapped by her past, she was just holding onto it without realising that she was doing it.

"Hell yes!" Emma giddily agrees. She has no idea what had been discussed in her office between her fiancée and Dr. Hopper, but she deduced that it must have been ground-breaking because Regina's demeanour was completely different to how it had been.

Dr. Hopper enters the room, confused but smiling.

"Thank you so much for your help, Archie. Would you mind seeing yourself out?"

"Of course," he easily agrees. "Call me if you need another appointment." He bids them both farewell and exits the room.

"What's going on?" Emma questions, a smile still on her face.

"Archie made me realise that I have been being an idiot."

"He what?" The smile drops the blondes face, replaced by a protective glare.

"He made me see the error of my ways," she clarifies. "Now get upstairs, we are long overdue for what I have in mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

They both fall back against the mattress, in a sweaty, heaving pile of tangled limbs when their final orgasms subside.

Regina had no idea how many orgasms she had just had, but she was sure it had to be some sort of a record. Two months really had been far too long. What was even worse was that after Emma undressed her and practically drooled over her naked form, she realised that they need not have waited this long. But then again, the concern wasn't simply over Emma possibly judging her, it was about how she felt about herself. She lets out a small laugh when she thinks about how stupid she's been.

"What are you laughing at?" Emma asks as she rolls over onto her side.

"At how stupid I can be at times," she replies with a disbelieving shake of her head. Emma had worshipped her from head to toe over the last few hours.

"You're never stupid. You just got insecure. I just wish you had spoken to me about it." Her hand subconsciously goes to her lover's naked stomach.

"I'm sorry. I should have." She rolls onto her side so she's facing Emma and kisses her softly. "I can't wait for the World Cup." She changes the subject because she wants to talk about something happier.

"Me neither. It's going to be amazing if we win."

"It will be amazing no matter what…and you will win. Don't doubt yourself."

Emma looks at her with a raised eyebrow, "maybe you should take some of your own advice."

"Yeah, yeah… I get it," she sighs with a roll of her eyes, knowing Emma is completely right.

"And we should probably start planning the wedding as well. We were only waiting until Lena was born because we wanted her to be a part of it, so now there's no reason to wait any longer," she says sounding excited.

"You're right. We should at least set a date."

"And a venue."

"I know it's short notice, but do you think it's possible to get married in August?"

"This year? As in three months away? I'd love to but it's kind of short notice," Emma states, as her mind whizzes a million miles a second, trying to think of a way to make it happen. "It depends on the venue, I guess. Most places get booked up a year or more in advance."

"Well, we don't need anything fancy. Would it matter if it were in the garden? The venue doesn't really matter to me."

"Are you sure? We will only be doing this once in our lives and as much as I would love to marry you as soon as possible, I would rather wait if it meant you got the most perfect wedding." She rolls onto her back, pulling Regina on top of her.

"I'm marrying you, it's already perfect," Regina smiles down at her and nibbles on her bottom lip. "What date should we pick?"

Emma cups her bum and gently squeezes the fleshy cheeks. "The earlier the better," she whispers against plump lips. "That way we can fit in a honeymoon before next season starts again."

"So… on the first?"

"August the first," Emma repeats back to her with a huge smile. "We have a wedding date!"

"We have a lot of planning to do."

"Yes, we do, but urm… that can wait until the morning." She gently thrusts her hips up as she moves Regina against her.

"In the morning," Regina agrees, as she claims Emma's mouth with her own and pushes down against the hardening shaft caught between their bodies.