And so it goes, life continues to spin viciously around them, forcing Regina and Emma to hold a memorial for their friends at their new house, that still feels so very cold and hollow. They were then forced to move into the home, Emma ending her lease on her apartment and Regina putting her townhouse up for sale.
As the days smeared together, Emma struggled to become familiar with Lennox's sleeping patterns, especially the whole waking up at the ass crack of dawn. During this time, Regina's pride possessed her and she fought with Lennox almost every day, determined to get that little one to eat her special meals. After a week of trying to find a steady routine, Regina proceeded to create an obnoxiously big calendar with color-coded post-it notes to help them with their conflicting schedules and navigate through raising Lennox together while also allowing them each one weekend off a month.
Emma works behind the scenes of broadcasting for Chicago sports teams, guiding cameras and searching for the best angles for the audience at home through their televisions. Which means, ninety percent of the time, she's working in the evening, which is perfect because when Regina comes home from the bakery, she takes Lennox and Emma heads to work. Once and awhile, their schedules conflict, but luckily that underage babysitter from that tragic night, lives two houses down and is always willing to watch Lennox.
Two weeks has skittered by in a blink of an eye and Regina and Emma are still trying to find a normal balance in their lives.
Emma sneaks, actually tiptoes, holding her breath as she attempts to pass Lennox's room undetected at five o'clock in the morning and she feels like she's sneaking out on a one-nightstand again. She's been skipping her daily workouts because of the bugger always waking up early and Regina is at her cafe, so Emma can't really ignore the kid.
She slowly cranes her neck, praying that Lennox is sound asleep, but she deflates when she sees the stinker standing up in her crib, bouncing up and down from Emma's presence alone.
"Really?" She exasperates, her shoulders slouching in defeat as she shuffles into the princess themed bedroom. "Why are you up, you little stinker," she complains, but her voice is teasing and Lennox is grinning wildly behind her pacifier. Emma scoops her up, presses a kiss to her cheek and dangles the baby above her. "Auntie Emma needs to workout, kiddo. I have to maintain this body if I ever want to see a date again," she babbles playfully, practically hanging Lennox upside down as she rests the baby's forehead against her own and her goddaughter giggles hysterically. "It's been two weeks, I need to get back in the game," she chuckles, swiveling the baby against her forehead, inspiring those adorable baby giggles to continue. "Alright, you're gonna help me," she concludes, gently easing Lennox down and plopping her upon her hip as they leave the room.
As they walk down the hallway, she can hear Regina's shower running and she can't help but make a snarky comment, even if it's wasted on someone who can't comprehend.
"Maybe today will be the day she washes away her sour mood?" She muses, but Lennox simply blinks at her, sucking on her pacifier and playing with the chain dangling around Emma's neck. "You know, I'm gonna enjoy our conversations a lot more when you actually start talking."
She receives nothing but silence in return and a blank stare. Great, Regina's rubbing off on the little tyke.
"Great talk," she sarcastically quips, encouraging a tiny baby giggle to squeal behind a lime green paci.
She chuckles softly because god, she really does love this kid and bounces down aggressively on the stairs, knowing that always makes Lennox crack up even harder. When they enter the living room, Emma gently places her goddaughter into her pack and play and begins her morning stretches. The entire time though, there are a set of curious green eyes watching her every move, like Emma's doing something all wrong and this baby is silently judging her.
After she feels loose, she begins with sit-ups, laying down upon the floor while Lennox peers over the side of her little baby jail, observing every move she makes. Emma barely makes it to one hundred before Lennox becomes restless and starts fidgeting. Emma keeps a close eye on her, huffing and puffing as she counts every time her stomach touches her thighs, silently praying that Lennox will hold out because she has only just begun.
However, Lennox starts bouncing again, pleading to be picked up while she whimpers behind her pacifier. Emma ignores her though, remembering all too well the last time she attempted to pick up Lennox when she was crying. Regina was rambling on and on, something about self-soothing, she still doesn't understand the concept, but apparently Regina read an entire book. An entire book on how not to pick up a crying child. Anyways, Regina eventually caved, scooped Lennox right up, even though she yelled at Emma for entire thirty minutes to not do just that.
Except this time, technically, Lennox isn't crying, she's just...restless. Emma closes her eyes and berates herself for being such a sucker and that's when she feels something hard and rubber bounce off her head. Her shocked green eyes fly open to find that little shit giggling behind her paci. She squints at Lennox, but she really can't suppress the smirk sliding into place.
"Brat," she mumbles, her body moving faster to complete her reps.
More baby babbles come incoherently from behind that pacifier while Lennox jumps up and down, urging her weird Aunt to stop flailing around on the floor and pick her up, dammit. Emma groans, caving like the sucker she is, and swoops her goddaughter right up.
"I'm not done," she sternly says, narrowing her eyes but the little green eyes before her are focused on her necklace once again. "Can you please just sit here?" Emma pleads, settling Lennox onto the floor while she kneels beside her and prepares for some push-ups.
It isn't long before Lennox is crawling under her stomach, over her legs, and on top of her damn head.
XXXX
Regina steps out of the guest bedroom, that is now her bedroom, she's still not used to the thought, but anyways, her body moves all on its own toward Lennox's bedroom. It's quite ironic how quickly her mind has become acclimated to having a baby around to take care of. Everything she does now, is for that little girl and there isn't a second that goes by where she isn't worrying about Lennox.
So, she drifts through the hallway, just wanting to check on the princess before she slips away to work. She stops in front of Lennox's room and sighs heavily when she sees that the little girl is missing, yet the hall light is still on. She exhales, annoyed that Emma still cannot grasp the concept of turning off a light when she leaves a room. Everywhere she turns, there is a damn light on and as much as Emma claims that Lennox needs the light on in the hall to sleep at night, Regina knows, she fucking knows it's Emma who is scared of the dark. She groans, slamming the light switch down because if she can't train Emma, they will go broke trying to pay for the electricity in the house.
"Emma!" She hollers, stomping down the stairs, making sure her heels click angrily against each step. "Emma, does your puny-" the words are sucked from her mouth when she turns the corner and stumbles upon the most alluring sight her eyes have ever seen.
And she swears, her heart is skipping a beat because of the way Lennox is perched on top of the woman's back as Emma continues her pushups. Her heart picking up speed suddenly, has nothing to do with the way this perfectly sculpted specimen is easily pushing off the ground; biceps flexing and shimmering from the slick sheen of sweat, that tight little bottom clenched and-
Nope. She loathes this woman.
Regina stomps across the living room and gingerly steals Lennox away. "She could topple over and get hurt, you know?" She reprimands, settling Lennox upon her hip while she presses a kiss to her temple.
Emma chuckles, collapsing to the ground and rolling over to peer up at the two girls. She tucks one arm beneath her head as a pillow, a lazy smile on her face and no, Regina's eyes are not creeping down to admire the way her abdominal muscles are on display to be gawked at.
"She's fine and she loved it," the blonde woman chuckles, dragging her feet to her bottom and forcing those basketball shorts to glide down her thighs toward her hips, exposing those strong legs.
Regina swallows. Now she knows for a fact she hasn't had sex in a very long time if she is finding this sweaty tomboy attractive. She has always admired a woman in a classy dress, with lingerie hidden away beneath and a seductive pair of high heels, but never this. Never a woman in a sports bra, accompanied by a red pair of oversized basketball shorts, and she doesn't even have the decency to match the ensemble.
She's clearly sex deprived, that's all this is.
"You alright there, 'Gina?" Emma questions, breathing a laugh through her nose, forcing Regina's dark eyes away from the rise and fall of those swollen breasts.
"You smell horrendous. Go shower, I'll feed Lennox this morning."
Emma scrambles off the ground, already holding her arms open for the one-year-old. "It's fine, I got her. You don't want to be late for work. Come on, Lenny."
"Lenny?" Regina scoffs in disgust, passing the little one over. "Don't call her that. It's bad enough they named her Lennox."
"You don't like Lennox?" Emma investigates, inspecting every detail of the baby's face like this is her first time ever seeing her. "I think it's adorable."
"It's fine," she immediately waves off what she had just said. "But Lenny? She is not some middle-aged man who is always leering a little too closely at the end of a bar."
"You know what a bar is?" Emma quips, shock projecting from her face as her eyebrows skyrocket in amusement.
Regina rolls her eyes until they land on the way Lennox is propped in front of Emma's glistening abs, facing outward and one of her baby legs hitched over Emma's forearm. "And why do you insist on holding her like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like..." Regina slouches her shoulders and pops her hip and tries to express a certain aloofness. "Like she's a ball in one of your sports!" She snaps, not really sure how to explain what she's getting at, especially when Emma is grinning so wildly back at her.
"Which sport? The one where they have to try and score?"
"Oh, fuck you," she hisses under her breath.
"I know you're dying to, but we don't have time. You're gonna be late for work if you don't put those heels to good use," the blonde easily retorts, and she has the audacity to place her free hand at the small of Regina's back and guide her toward the door.
"Hey," she growls, her heels quickening to place some distance between them and remove the woman's sneaky hand. "If I wanted your hand on any part of my body, I would have stated so in the three years we have known each other."
"And it definitely wouldn't be on your back," Emma fires right back and Regina opens her mouth to argue, but this cocky woman lifts Lennox into the air and practically shoves the baby in Regina's face. "Lenny, say bye-bye to Auntie Regina."
Regina scowls for a brief moment before she softens and places a loving kiss to the baby's pudgy cheek. "Goodbye sweetie, I will see you later." She lingers over Lennox's ear for just a second and whispers, "throw your rattle at Auntie Emma's head the next time she calls you Lenny."
And this sweet baby giggles as Regina slips right out the door.
XXXX
Emma exhales heavily as she enters the front door because of the trying day she had at work. No matter how many times she finds angles and shots that should impress her boss, he continues to treat her like dirt. Thankfully, it's not just her. One of her co-workers today explained in very great detail how he wants to watch their boss suffer...in death.
"Emma? Is that you?" Regina's voice carries from upstairs, forcing Emma to shut her eyes for a moment and find some kind of tranquility before she faces the devil-woman. "Emma?"
"Yeah," she hollers back, her tone clearly expressing her aggravation.
She tosses her keys on the end table while toeing off her sneakers. She quickly removes her jacket and deposits it across the banister as she climbs the stairs two at a time. She heads straight for Lennox's room and that's where she locates the two brunettes.
"Perfect timing," Regina drawls, her tone dripping with far too much pep for Emma's liking.
Green eyes skeptically sweep across the room and it isn't long before her nostrils are assaulted with a stench that makes her eyes water.
"Oh god," she chokes, flinging her arm across her face and burying her nose in the crook of her elbow to hide away from the horrific smell. "Dude, why haven't you changed her?"
Regina smirks, a real evil grin that makes Emma's stomach flip. "I was just about to, but then I heard you coming in and I realized, you have yet to change a diaper. I am not spending the next year and a half doing all the dirty work, Miss Swan," she declares, glaring dangerously at the grimacing blonde.
"I've changed her wet diapers," Emma defends, trying not to accidentally breathe through her mouth and taste the disgusting scent. "Besides, she really hasn't pooped that much."
Regina instantly softens. "I know, I was thinking maybe I should take her in to see the doctor."
"I'm sure she's fine, she's probably still trying to get used to us, I mean she just started eating regularly again."
"True," Regina agrees before she shoves Emma forward, quite aggressively actually. "Now, change her."
"Come on, this one is too nasty for my first one," she's already gagging just thinking about it. "I'll do the next one."
"Absolutely not, Miss Swan, time to woman up."
"What's with the Miss Swan all of a sudden?" She investigates, cautiously taking a step forward to Lennox who is patiently waiting upon her changing table. "I've always been Emma and now we move in together and start raising a child and now you decide on formalities?"
"I have an inkling that the formalities will encourage you to do as your told," Regina smugly replies, inspiring Emma's eyes to roll, but then there is a warm presence leaning into Emma's back and she completely freezes. "And I most certainly wasn't wrong," she husks directly behind the blonde's ear.
Emma shivers and she loathes her traitorous body for being such a damn fool for such a gorgeous woman. The first time she showed up on Regina's doorstep, she was a little speechless from how smoking hot she was. There's no denying that. A blind person can probably tell how hot she is by the trail of seductive smoke she leaves behind in her awake. But she's a stuck-up princess, a snob and Emma certainly doesn't play with that type of fire. So, now she settles for teasing and annoying, her majesty.
Emma smirks, peering over her shoulder and almost bumping her nose into Regina's. "Only during role-play in bed, princess," she mocks, cocky, so damn full of herself and she observes very closely how Regina's pupils dilate and there's the faintest smirk that she's obviously trying to deny.
But fate steps in and forces them to jolt apart from the doorbell. A doorbell that keeps on ringing.
"I should get that," Emma states, but Regina is already dashing toward the door.
"No, Miss Swan, you have a diaper to change," and with that she is out the door.
Emma sighs dramatically, turning her attention back to her favorite little human. "Don't look at me like that you little stinker," she says, gently tickling Lennox's sides because this little girl is gazing up at her like she just caught her two favorite aunts flirting. "Alright, let's do this."
XXXX
Regina flings the door open, still chuckling to herself that she left Emma alone with that awful mess. She's amused, slightly out of breath from running down the stairs, but all of that is washed away when she finds a crowd of people loitering on her front door step.
"Surprise," Mary Margret's shrill voice cheers with far too much enthusiasm for eight o'clock at night.
She opens her mouth to respond, but finds nothing is tumbling out, so she quickly snaps it shut and takes in the familiar faces beaming back at her. Obviously Mary Margret is the ring leader of the mob, with her husband standing behind her, along with Ruby and Belle, and Killian and Milah, all holding some sort of Tupperware. She really doesn't know what to make of the situation and she's not really great with people who aren't customers handing over money, so they all just stand there awkwardly.
"Well, now that you have had some time to settle and adjust we thought we would come by and offer some meals," Mary Margret decides to speak for the group, who are all still grinning like fools. "We understand how difficult this all is and we didn't want to bombard you right after the funeral..." Regina just blinks at her. "We wanted to offer our support and provide some meals to help you two get acclimated to your new lives..."
"Thanks," she slowly says as if she's suspicious of their kindness.
"We got babysitters tonight, so we could come by and drop these off," Ruby adds on, while her wife frantically nods along.
"We wouldn't want to impose or anything," Milah continues, and Regina can just feel the tangible tension buzzing and sparking between them like a bug zapper.
"We want you to know we are all here to help, in any way," David kindly states.
"Ummm, would you like to come in?" Regina finally finds her voice, and before she is even granted the opportunity to step back, the mob shoves their way right in, all spewing their gratitude.
"Ha-ha!" Emma ecstatically cheers as she comes bouncing down the steps, missing a baby upon her hip. "I did it and I didn't even barf," she proudly states. "Oh, hey guys," she awkwardly greets everyone and she can't help but notice how everyone's face is falling slowly. "Uh, what are you guys doing here?"
"Emma-" Regina softly says, but the blonde is quick to cut her off.
"Nope, I don't want to hear any of your condescending remarks," she claims, stopping on the last step. "I did it, without any of your help and I put her in her crib and she's already half asleep," she proudly informs the group who are still blinking at her with the most bewildered expressions. "Okay, what? Why are you guys all staring at me like that?"
"Honey," Mary Margret coos, "you have poop on your face."
"What?" Emma shrieks, her hand instinctively moving to swipe her jaw where she knows she had an itch moments ago.
"Shit, girl," Ruby loudly explains. "You have shit on your face."
Regina covers her mouth and really tries to act like the mature and responsible adult she is. But oh how she fails miserably and she ends up snorting into her hand, persuading everyone to laugh along.
"Ugh," Emma groans, stomping down the last step and striding right up to Regina. "You think you're so funny, don't you?" And she desperately tries to portray some angry victim, but she's kind of smirking.
She leans forward like she's about to wipe her face across Regina's shoulder, but the brunette squeaks and jumps back, firmly holding her hands out in front of her as a protective barrier.
"Don't you dare," she growls, but Emma just laughs and rushes off toward the bathroom to wash her face.
XXXX
"This is delicious," Mary Margret compliments, hazardously waving the empty bottle of wine in front of herself. "Do you have any more?"
"Oh, um, yes," Regina says, backhanding Emma against the chest. "Get more wine, dear."
"Oh...okay," Emma rapidly blinks in confusion, but she obeys the request because she really doesn't want to bicker in front of their new neighbors, especially after they were kind enough to bring home cooked meals for the next week.
"Where were we?" Mary Margret mumbles, tapping her finger against her chin. "Oh, right. Sleep patterns, you must establish a sleeping pattern."
"Oh my god, yes," Ruby exasperates, stealing the bottle of wine straight from Emma's hand before she even takes a seat at the dining room table again. "You don't want her constantly waking up in the middle of the night."
"No," Belle slowly drawls, eyeing her wife carefully as she refills everyone's glasses, knowing their sex life is about to be exposed...yet again. "And you definitely don't want to pick her up every time she cries."
"See," Regina hisses, backhanding Emma across her bicep. "Self-soothing."
"I-you were the-" she stammers, mindlessly rubbing the sting away in her arm while she wonders if Regina is a violent drunk because one glass in and she's already slapping Emma around. "Ugh."
"And babysitters," Killian chimes in, taking a swig from his bottle of beer. "Lots of backup babysitters."
"I mean, we will help you whenever we can," Milah tenderly says, reaching across the table to allow her fingers to dance across Emma's digits, that are tightening around her wine glass. "Anytime you need something you just call me...us."
Emma blinks, her head jerking back in surprise. Is she flirting? Is this woman really flirting with her in front of her husband?
Green eyes flick to the husband, who is beaming at her, utilizing every muscle in his face while his crystal eyes sparkle. "Anytime, Emma," Killian repeats and then winks, he fucking winks.
She doesn't even try to hide her frown as she slowly lifts her glass to remove Milah's wandering fingers from her own.
"Thanks," she awkwardly drawls before slamming back her drink.
Regina squints at the couple, then squints at Emma, assessing the blush that is slowly creeping up the blonde's neck and chest. She's not ignorant, she knows that couple was openly flirting with Emma. So, she crosses one leg over the other and it's not her fault if her body just so happens to lean against Emma's from her new position.
"Oh and preschools," Belle enthusiastically shouts. "I know Kathryn wanted her to attend Golden Years-"
"Oh honey," Mary Margret coos into her glass. "You like needed to sign her up yesterday."
"Such a long waiting list," David grumbles under his breath. "So damn expensive."
"A waiting list? For preschool?" Emma balks.
"Oh yes," Belle immediately answers, perking right up and leaning into the table. "She will need to know all her letters and sight words before kindergarten."
"What's a sight word?" Emma flinches, feeling so damn out of her element. "Aren't they supposed to color and learn to share in preschool?"
"Not anymore," Mary Margret quickly rejects that assumption. "Violet already speaks three languages," she hiccups, her lazy eyes sliding back toward Belle while Regina and Emma's eyes almost spill out of their sockets as they try to keep up.
"Scarlet," Ruby corrects, but Mary Margret just waves her hand, too drunk to follow the colors of the rainbow.
"Isn't your daughter three?" Regina suspiciously inquires.
"Yes, and I swear that little shit swears at me in French all the time," Ruby growls while her wife leans into her side and pecks her cheek.
"Oh babe, where would she learn the bad words?"
"I don't know, but I know she's swearing at me," Ruby defends, but she softens rather quickly when Belle presses further into her side and snuggles her.
"So, this Golden place teaches different languages?" Regina further investigates, hanging on every word and mentally jotting everything down.
"Just Spanish," Ruby corrects, "Belle is the one that teaches our babies French. She's kind of my little bookworm," she proudly compliments, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and holding her wife extra close.
"Don't you think you should be writing this down?" Regina questions, side-eyeing her new partner in crime.
"Me-I-"
"Go grab a pen and paper, Miss Swan, this is vital information that you need," Regina instructs and without another word spoken, Emma is up and across the room, digging through a junk drawer for a piece of paper and a pen.
And the neighbors are not at all judging Emma for how whipped she already appears to be in such a short time of marriage.