A/N: It's a holiday weekend here in the US, so you know what that means...time to check in to see what these two are up to! It's time for a quick 3-day weekend trip back to Storybrooke to meet baby Robyn for the first time and for Zelena and Walsh's wedding. Pretty much all fluff :)

Have a good and safe Labor Day weekend!

Sunday, September 2: 10:30am

"Are you ever going to let me hold my niece?" Regina asks, not bothering to mask her annoyance.

"You need to finish getting dressed. Matron of Honor and all that," Emma replies, not once looking at her wife. Instead, she beams at the two month old infant in her arms, the strawberry blonde curls starting to make their appearance on the formerly bald head.

"I am dressed."

"Oh," Emma says, looking up briefly, unable to stop herself from licking her lips as she takes in Regina's appearance in the emerald green strapless dress. "Well, in that case you need to keep yourself clean. I'd hate for little Robyn to spit up on you."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Regina says, shuffling closer and holding out her arms to reach for the little girl. She sighs in frustration when Emma turns her back on her, shielding the baby from Regina's grasp.

"I think your sister would disagree. She put me on baby duty, and I take my job very seriously. You know Zelena will freak if anything happens to your dress before photos. You can hold her after the ceremony."

"You suck," Regina huffs, heading over to the credenza to pour herself a mimosa.

*.*.*

Regina bites her lip to stop from crying as she watches Zelena kiss Walsh for the first time as a married couple. She catches Emma's eye in the front row, and the blonde winks at her as she holds Robyn's hands and mimics a clapping motion to join in the audience's applause. Regina can't help but wonder what it would have been like to have a wedding. She's glad they didn't wait and loved eloping in New York City, but a small part of her wonders what it would have been like to get married here, in the large yard of the estate where she grew up. But then she catches Cora's eye, and she remembers exactly why she didn't.

After they walk back down the aisle and cocktail hour officially begins, Regina finally manages to wrestle Robyn out of Emma's greedy hands. "There's my girl," she coos as she snuggles her against her chest. "Ugh. Babies smell so good."

"You deliver babies for a living. I would think you'd be used to it," Emma comments, running her hand through Robyn's fine curls, unable to completely pull herself away from the child.

"They don't smell that great at that point in time. It takes awhile for that new baby smell to appear…amniotic fluid isn't exactly the most appealing scent," Regina laughs. "But regardless, random babies of patients will never compare to my darling precious niece." She kisses Robyn's head to punctuate her point.

"And how would she compare to your own son or daughter?" Emma asks nonchalantly.

Regina turns to look at her. "You really have baby fever, don't you?"

Emma blushes as she breaks eye contact with her wife and nervously reaches for one of Robyn's hands. She gives the baby her index finger, and Robyn reciprocates by grabbing it immediately. "You could say that."

Regina sighs. She had known this was coming. They had discussed their general thoughts about kids when they first got together, which was when Regina had revealed to Emma she was infertile. Emma hadn't minded, as she had always wanted to be pregnant and would be happy to carry their children, if Regina was okay with it. Emma had then brought it up again at Christmas, right around the time they learned Zelena was expecting. She had been quiet for a few months after that, but throughout the summer Emma had continued to drop hints, and her weekly tradition as of late has been stopping by Regina's office for lunch and purposefully asking to go to the sandwich place in the adjoining hospital, which is conveniently down the hall from where all the newborns are kept until they are ready to go home. Emma never fails to stop and point out just how cute they all are. "We can talk about it," Regina concedes.

"Really?" Emma lights up.

"Yes. Just maybe not today, and not here…" Regina comments, cutting her eyes briefly over to their parents who are only a few feet away.

"Okay. Fair enough," she smiles, leaning in to kiss Regina's cheek. "I am going to take this baby-free opportunity to run to the bathroom and get a drink. Can I get you anything?"

"A gin and tonic would be lovely."

"You got it. Be right back."

*.*.*

"You're a natural," Leopold comments as he takes an empty seat next to Emma, who has resumed her duty as Robyn-minder.

"You think so?" Emma asks, unable to hide her smile. She's completely mesmerized with her new niece.

"I do. And I think Regina thinks so, too," he says, nodding toward where Regina stands at the bar getting them another round. The brunette quickly looks away when she realizes she's been caught staring. "Will I be getting more grandchildren anytime soon?" he asks with a brow raise.

"Dad…" she cautions, but there's no bite to her tone.

"You can't blame me for asking."

"We're in the very early stages of discussion…meaning that we've agreed to talk about it. So don't go buying any bassinettes on our account anytime soon."

"Duly noted," he chuckles. "But for what it's worth, I think you'd both be great parents."

"Do you think Cora would agree with you?" Regina asks as she joins them, taking her seat once again on Emma's other side as she sets down the drinks she retrieved from the bar.

"Does it really matter?" he questions.

"Touché," she smiles.

*.*.*

"You're really not going to let her go," Regina chuckles as she threads her fingers through Emma's free hand, resting her head on her shoulder as they walk back toward the main house after the guests have all left.

Emma looks down at the sleeping baby swaddled against her chest and then back to Regina, laughing as she notices that both Robyn and Regina are yawning. "Never. Zelena is going to have to pry her away from my cold dead hands."

"Maybe we should just steal this one, then. I see laboring women every day. It's a lot of work. This one is already ripe for the taking," Regina says, gazing over at her niece.

"We might be able make a run for it. Zelena and Walsh are otherwise occupied this evening…we could make a run North and be in Canada before anyone knows she's missing," she suggests, trying to keep a straight face.

They enter the main house through the back deck, coming into the kitchen where the caterers have already cleaned up. There are a few snacks left out on the table, including the leftover open bottles of wine, which Cora and Mary-Margaret help themselves to immediately upon stepping inside the house.

"I'll take this one and get her ready for bed along with our twins," David says as he approaches his sister-in-law, taking Robyn from a reluctant Emma. "And her crib is in our bedroom, so don't be getting any midnight kidnapping ideas," he playfully glares at the couple who feign guilt.

"I'll join you and read them a story," Leopold says as he finishes some leftover crudités, following David out of the room. "I don't get to put all my grandchildren to bed all at once very often."

"Wine, Regina? Emma?" Mary-Margaret asks, taking the bottle from Cora as she tops off her own glass.

"I'm fine, thanks," Emma says.

"I've already had plenty," Regina agrees. "I'll be lucky if I don't' have a raging hangover tomorrow as it is."

Cora can't hold back a quiet scoff.

"Problem, Mother?" Regina leans forward, resting her hands on the island as she mentally prepares herself for some stupid argument. They've only been in town for a day and a half, and thus far they've managed to avoid any hostile discourse, if only for Zelena's sake. But now that the wedding is done, anything is fair game.

"Of course not. I just would imagine a woman of your age would be a little more mindful of her limits."

"Says the woman guzzling down her third glass of pinot in the last hour," Regina adds.

"So, Regina," Mary-Margaret cuts in, determined to keep things civil. "How's work?"

Regina smiles at the other brunette's attempt at keeping the peace. "It's good. I'm presenting at a conference in Vancouver later this month, so it's been busy preparing for that on top of my patientload, but it's good."

"That's exciting," Mary-Margaret says.

"And what about your job, Emma?" Cora asks.

Regina and Emma share a look, surprised that Cora willingly spoke to either of them. Granted, it looks as though it physically pained her to ask a question, but she nevertheless did it. "Oh, it's going well, thank you," she replies when she moves past her shock. "We have a new exhibit opening in 10 days, so we're getting ready for the artist's reception. It's always a big event and stressful, no matter how many times we host one, but it's always fun in the end."

Regina smiles as Emma explains the event and the featured artist's work. She loves how much pride Emma takes in her work, so she unconsciously shifts a little closer to her wife and rests a hand on her low back. "Don't let Emma fool you," Regina chimes in as Emma concludes her story. "She may act all humble, but these opening receptions are always amazing. Emma has really elevated the quality since she joined the museum."

"How would you know?" Emma teases. "I was already working at the museum when we started dating, so it's not like you had ever been to one of them before I started working there. You have nothing to compare it to."

"True, but I've seen photos of events from before your time…and I've talked to your coworkers. You're extremely talented, dear. The museum is lucky to have you," Regina points out. She grins when she sees Emma blush.

"Do you get to go to all the openings, then?" Mary-Margaret asks, just as David and Leopold rejoin them in the kitchen.

Regina takes a sip of her water and nods. "Most of them. Emma's usually working right up until the start of the event, but then she gets a little bit of downtime to enjoy the party, so I try to go whenever I can, as long as my schedule allows. A few laboring mothers have had other plans or I've had a few travel conflicts, but this one I'm planning to go to. I'm extra excited because I love the artists' work, too. We have one of his originals hanging in our front hallway at home."

"That's great," Mary-Margaret smiles. "Does Emma ever get to go with you when you travel for conferences?"

Regina shrugs. "Sometimes. It depends on her work schedule and how busy I'm going to be at the conference. The ones here are usually only two or three days and jam packed, so it's not usually worth it for her to come out, because we'd barely have any time together. The last international conference was during the wedding," Regina says, referring to Cora and Leopold's wedding the previous year, which she had not been too upset about missing, even though Emma had attended. "So, obviously, Emma couldn't come with me to that one."

"I'm going to Vancouver though," Emma adds in. "She'll be out there for four days, and it's not that long of a flight so it's worth it."

"Yeah. And I'll have a lot of downtime because I'm only presenting, not attending. It's not even my specialty, so I have no reason to hang around the convention center all day."

"That should be fun, then," Leopold says. "Like a little mini-second honeymoon."

Regina smiles as she looks at Emma. "Or a belated first honeymoon. We didn't really take one last year, unless you count the two days we had in New York after we eloped." She can't help but notice her mother's frown at the mention of her marriage.

"Well, in that case this is much deserved. I hope you're able to enjoy it and not work too much," he says. "Do you have any plans for your one-year anniversary? Maybe a more substantial trip?"

"I wish," Emma says. "Both of our schedules don't really allow for that. And our anniversary falls on Thanksgiving weekend this year, so we'll already be at Mary-Margaret and David's for that."

"But…" Regina cuts in, glancing over at Emma who gives her a slight nod and reaches for her hand under the edge of the island, softly squeezing it in support. "Because our anniversary falls over the holiday, and we didn't get our act together in time to do anything this summer, we decided to have an early anniversary party next month. It's not going to be anything big…it's just a small gathering to make up for the fact that we eloped so other than Jefferson and Will, since they were on the trip with us and served as our witnesses, none of our other friends or family were there. If you're able to get to DC that weekend, we'd love to have you. But if not, we totally understand that it's short notice."

"We'll be there," David says without hesitation. "Neither of us work weekends, so we can make the schedule work."

"Good," Emma smiles at her sister before chancing a glance at Cora, who is hiding behind her fourth glass of wine. "You don't have to answer now," Emma adds, looking between her dad and Cora, and then over at Regina who is actively avoiding her mother's gaze. "We're renting out a friend's café for brunch on that Saturday morning, so we don't really need RSVPs since we have the venue regardless. Just let us know closer to the date whether to expect you."

"Well, that sounds lovely," Leopold says non-committally. They all know that he'll be there, but the big question mark is the woman standing next to him, who still hasn't said anything.

"Well, let us know when you know," Regina says, chancing a look at her mother. "We really would like you to be there, but only if you can be truly supportive," she adds, not wanting to ignore the elephant in the room. "Anyway, take some time to think about it. I'm exhausted so I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight, everyone," she says, setting her water glass down next to the sink.

"I'll be right up," Emma says quietly as Regina walks back past her.

*.*.*

When Emma enters the bedroom 10 minutes later – the same room that Regina once called her own as a child, though it has been redecorated into a guest bedroom – Regina is already under the covers and reading her novel. "Hey," she acknowledges as the blonde walks in.

"Hi," she smiles as she quickly strips off her dress and throws on the pajama shorts and tank she brought with her.

"Did anything exciting happen after I left?" Regina asks, taking off her reading glasses and closing her book, resting both on the nightstand next to her.

"Not really. Cora excused herself to go take a shower and Mary-Margaret went to go check on the kids to make sure they're still sleeping, so David, Dad and I just chatted a bit."

"Oh," she says. "Well, that's good I guess."

"Yeah," she says, slipping under the covers and wrapping an arm around Regina.

"Do you think she'll show?" Regina asks after a few moments of silence.

"I don't know," Emma says. "At least she didn't storm out or say anything outright."

"That's true. This has been the most civil weekend we've had with them…but the weekend isn't over yet. We still have to get through brunch tomorrow."

"Fair point. But, I'm choosing to remain optimistic."

"Good, because I'm choosing to remain pragmatic."

"That's why we make a good team."

A/N: I hope you liked this little update! For any readers of A New Exploration, I promise that I am working on the final chapter. It's not abandoned, and I'm like 80% done with the chapter. There's a lot that needs to happen and I want to do it justice, and it hasn't been flowing as easily as the other chapters have for me. But, it will be up within the next few weeks. This fic will be updated too in early October for their anniversary party :)