Alright, I hope you guys are still following along out there! Truth be told, I've been working on this chapter for about two months. I had an idea and then it kinda stalled out on me. Then I was inspired to write some other chapters that go after this chapter – so hopefully I'll be able to post those quicker. Having said that, I was inspired to take this chapter in a different direction and now it has gotten a little out of hand. I'm almost done with it but I decided to break the chapter up into parts. I'm not sure how many yet, depends on the flow. I hope you like it!

She's not going to like this

Oh come Emma, what do you know?

I know she flipped out when she found out we were placing bets on her unborn fetus

Well this is something fun

But you forget, she's not telling

She'll have to tell if we're going to do this

She doesn't like parties

She'll like this one, are you in or not?

I suppose in, if only to see the fallout, cuz it's gonna be big!

Whatevs. I'm gonna go meet Regina for prenatal yoga, wanna join us?

Nope, this body doesn't bend this way and that

Oh? I thought you were quite the gymnast…

Oh don't get me wrong, I can do some poses…but I doubt either one of you want to see that

"Hey Mary – Margaret, you ready to go?" Mary – Margaret looked up to see Regina descending the stairs, yoga mat in hand. She was feeling well enough in her pregnancy to engage in more physical activities other than the evening strolls they'd been taking. Mary – Margaret was still trying to tone her body up after the birth of Neal so naturally Regina had asked if she wanted to join her Saturday morning prenatal yoga class.

"Yep, just waiting on you."

"Great. Robin! Mary – Margaret and I are gonna head, we'll probably grab some lunch and do a little bit of shopping too. You good?" Regina shouted through the house. Robin exited through the swinging doors from the kitchen and approached his wife. He dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"Yeah, me and the boys'll be fine. We might head out to the park in a little bit, maybe go to the library and pick out some books. Will you be back for dinner?"

"Oh of course! Maybe you and David wanna come over for dinner? We haven't hung out in a while. Have some adult time?" Regina asked Mary – Margaret.

"Oh, yeah, that sounds great! I'm sure David won't mind. Maybe you could have him meet you out at the park later? I left him and Neal sprawled out on the bed. He had a late night last night."

"Aye, someone tried to rob the pharmacy, yeah?"

"Yeah, he wasn't too happy about that occurring so close to the end of his shift."

"Alright babe, we better get going if we want to make it our class on time." Regina pecked a kiss on Robin's cheek. "Love you. Tell the boys I love 'em too when they actually wake up."

"Will do, go and enjoy your day."

Regina had Mary – Margaret drive them to the yoga studio. They safely arrived ten minutes before class started so Regina could consult with the instructor. Regina quickly exited the car, grabbing her mat and headed towards the studio without waiting for Mary – Margaret.

"Regina! Are you going to wait for me?"

"Sorry! I forgot to pee before we left the house. Grab us a spot up front, okay? Thanks!" Regina tossed over her shoulder. Mary – Margaret shook her head, mumbling to herself "she usually makes sure everyone else pees before they leave the house, why not her?" Mary – Margaret grabbed her mat and purse and headed inside the studio. It was not a very big studio and class size was usually limited to fifteen participants so the instructor could devote individual time should they need it. As instructed, Mary – Margaret headed towards the front of the class despite her timidness. Regina haphazardly laid her mat somewhere close near the front. Mary – Margaret picked it up and moved it next to her mat.

"Oh, Mary – Margaret, I didn't know you were expecting again! How is Neal doing? Is he excited about getting a baby brother or sister? Have you told him yet?" The instructor was a chatty one.

"Oh, no, I'm not pregnant. I'm here with Regina."

"Regina? She's pregnant?!"

"Yeah, about 5 months, I think."

"Wow, and she's just now coming back to yoga?"

"Well, you know she practices at home and sometimes we do the pre natal yoga DVD from the library. She just wanted to get out of the house today. Have a girl's day. Which is – well, weird for her."

"Yeah, that is strange. Well, I'm so excited you lovelies are here!" The instructor went back to setting everything up around her mat in the front. Regina finally made her way back to the instructional area.

"Hey, good, you found my mat. That was a close call." Mary – Margaret turned to look at Regina and seriously consider her friend. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Regina. Why didn't you go to the bathroom before you left the house? Isn't that something you usually fuss at everyone else about?"

"Wh-, well, I was just really anxious to get out of the house. I was excited about getting back into the studio. Get off my case." Mary – Margaret held up her hands, surrendering to the non – argument about going to the restroom she was having with Regina.

"Alright ladies, I'm so glad you could make it out today. We're sure to have a wonderful class. Is it anyone's first time? Raise your hands, please. Anyone? No? Alright, since we're all seasoned practitioners here I might spice it up a little bit. Now, why don't we all stand at the front of our mat and we'll do modified sun salutations?"

Mary – Margaret and Regina positioned themselves at the front of the mat and proceeded to follow the instructor's directions for modified sun salutations. Mary – Margaret was a little unsteady on her feet and Regina took a little bit longer to position her hips properly but eventually they got into the swing of the sequence. They next moved onto strength poses. The instructor engaged the students in Warrior I and Warrior II, offering the support of chairs for those a bit farther along into their pregnancy, such as Regina. Mary – Margaret had to strongly encourage Regina to use the chair for most of the other poses. Eventually their class was over and Mary – Margaret was surprised how sweaty she and Regina were.

"Regina, do you want to shower off before we head out for lunch and shopping? I'm feeling a bit gross."

"Well I didn't bring my bag for showering. If we go home now I'm not sure I'll feel like heading back out."

"Okay I suppose. So where would you like to go for lunch then? Wanna head out to the mall to make shopping easier?"

"Yeah that sounds great, then we'll have our pick of places to eat."

"Great. So what did we need to go shopping for?" Mary – Margaret asked as they finally made their way to the car. Mary – Margaret started the car as they settled in, turning on the air conditioner to cool them off after their vigorous class.

"Well, baby stuff."

"My goodness, haven't you guys got enough baby stuff? I've seen that room. It looks like Baby's R Us threw up in there." Regina scoffed.

"It does not. I'm still pricing out breast pumps and bottles and cloth diapers versus disposable."

"Oooo, being ambitious, aren't we?"

"What do you mean?"

"Breast feeding? Cloth diapers? With a teenager and a five year old? Did you do all that with Henry?"

"Well, we managed to get through breast feeding for about six months before Henry decided it wasn't for him. The cloth diapers didn't exactly work out. I was too frazzled. I think I'm up for the challenge this time around. Oh, and do you still have your Moby wraps? Did you like them?"

"Um, yeah I have them around somewhere. They were great, but I sure am glad Neal learned how to walk. You thinkin' 'bout baby wearing? This is so great, oh my gosh," Mary – Margaret laughed at the entire situation. She never thought Regina would ever think about carrying her baby around in a wrap or using cloth diapers or breast feeding. Mary – Margaret thought Regina was too refined in that regard. She even thought if Regina and Robin ever decided to have another child they would adopt or ask her to be a surrogate. She hadn't known Regina when she was pregnant with Henry. Henry was about one years old when she began dating David and even then it had taken Regina some time to warm up to the presence of Mary – Margaret in her and Daniel's life. Regina was rather private and kept to herself. It was a wonder she and Daniel even found each other given their drastic personality differences. When she saw them together, however, Daniel definitely did bring out the best in Regina. She was a completely different person around Daniel than when she was around her parents.

"Well, no one asked you for the opinion on the matter, I just needed to know if I might be able to borrow or consult with you on the Moby wraps. If this is how you're going to be I'm not so sure I want you involved in the baby's life."

"What? Oh come on now. I'm just teasing. Of course I'll help you. Ask me anything! Although, you were the one I came to for baby advice."

"I know, I know. It's easier to give advice when you're not in the same situation. I'm sure Robin and I will manage just fine. I just haven't really tried the whole baby wearing thing, so that's probably all I will consult you on."

The ride to the mall finished in relative silence as Regina reclined in the passenger seat and dozed for a little bit. Mary – Margaret parked the car and gently shook Regina. Regina's eyes popped open and she looked around sleepily, as if she forgot momentarily what she was doing for the rest of the day. She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand and stretched a little before opening her door and climbing out of the car. She stretched a little more, twisting this way and that before reaching down to grab her bag.

"Alright, first we feast! Then we shop til we drop!" Mary – Margaret nodded her head in agreement and they made the trek to the food pavilion with relative ease.

"So, what do we feel like eating today? The pizza place? They also have pasta!"

"Ugh, no. Italian isn't really agreeing with me and I miss it so much. I think I'll stick with something light. A chicken salad loaded with veggies and croutons. Maybe sweet tea to drink."

"Okay, you go get that and I'm gonna go to the pizza place. Cuz I'm not pregnant and I can eat the pasta." Mary – Margaret headed for the pizza place while Regina headed over to the Chick fil A to get one of their salads. And if she also happened to order herself a large waffle fry, who could blame her?

The pair regrouped at one of the tables by the water feature ten minutes later with their food.

"So, Regina," Mary – Margaret said with a mouth full of pasta.

Regina looked up at Mary – Margaret, eyeing her. "So, Mary – Margaret, mouth full of food," Regina responded.

"Have you thought about any names for the baby? Or were you going with the gender neutral, 'Squishy'?"

"We have tossed around some names, nothing that's struck our fancy."

"You know what would help? Knowing the sex."

"Not this again."

"Oh come on! You can tell me, I won't tell anyone!"

"Lies and you know it. Besides, we don't know the sex."

"What? You went to your appointment a few weeks ago."

"We did, but the baby is rather private about giving out this information."

"You had an amnio."

"I did, but we decided we don't want to know."

"So how am I supposed to plan a gender reveal party?" Regina almost choked on the waffle fry she was in the middle of chewing.

"Pardon me? Gender reveal party? You mean that ridiculous party you and David threw where we had to come dressed in the color of the sex we thought the baby might be? And then you opened a box in which blue balloons floated to the sky?"

"Yeah! Wasn't it fun?"

"For you, perhaps, but that's really not my style. I think Robin and I really just want to keep this experience to ourselves."

"Alright. But what about a baby shower?"

"Baby shower? This is hardly our first child."

"Yeah, but it's your first child together."

"Hmm, I'll talk it over with Robin."

"Yeah! It'll be fun! I can plan everything!" Regina held up her hand.

"I said I would talk it over with him, I'm not making any promises."

"Come on Regina, he'll agree to anything you want." Regina leaned forward a bit and grinned.

"I know."

This was a bust

What was?

Shopping with Regina

Oh still trying to figure out what they're having?

Yeah, she claims they don't even know, but I think she does

How do you figure that?

She was looking at those frilly dresses she's always complaining that other moms put on their girls

LOL, she does go on rants about those which is why I doubt you could use that as evidence

Em, how are we supposed to plan this without knowing the gender?

Easy, we don't, because she doesn't want it. Do you want an early death? I don't and you know what she'll do if you do this

You know what, I've been going about this the wrong way

Do tell

I'll simply ask Robin. She can't kill him, he's her husband and the father of her child

Mare, I think you don't know Regina as well as you think you do

Watch me

Robin got to lounge around the house for another hour or so before the boys managed to rouse themselves from sleep. Roland actually stayed up to finish both of the movies the night before. Regina, on the other hand fell asleep close to the end of the first move. Henry tried to rouse her a couple of times to watch his movie, but she eventually made her way upstairs so she could get some peaceful sleep. Robin even got to watch the cooking shows he recorded on the Food Network channel. He was tired of his family's gentle teasing about his cooking. One day he was going to cook them the most amazing meal and that would shut them up. Robin could hear the slow approaching steps of a sleep – eyed preteen on the stairs closely followed by the heavy thuds of a five – year old who liked to hop down the stairs when Regina wasn't home.

"Roland, could you not do that right now? I have a headache," Henry complained as he made his way into the kitchen. Henry shoved the door open expecting to see his mother and Robin cooking Saturday breakfast. Roland followed right behind him.

"Aww man, I thought they were down here! They're not in their room."

"I thought so too! They must be around here somewhere, they wouldn't leave us all alone without telling us." Henry went back through the kitchen door and headed towards the den where low rumblings of the television could be heard. Henry motioned with his hands for Roland to be quiet as they snuck behind the sofa Robin was seated on. Henry counted on his fingers, 1, 2, 3, and

"Rawr!" They exclaimed, startling Robin. Robin jumped off the sofa and turned to face the two boys, grabbing for his chest. He gave himself a little shake and fell down onto the floor with dramatic flare. He lay still. Both Henry and Roland looked at each other.

"Robin?" Henry called to the stilled body on the floor. "Robin are you alright?" Roland ran around the sofa and kneeled beside his father, lightly patting his cheeks.

"Daddy? Daddy, wake up! Mama's not here! Henry what do we do?" Roland looked up at Henry, tears threatening to spring forward. Henry approached Robin's body, kneeling, leaned forward to place an ear to his chest. Roland mirrored Henry's motions. Two big strong hands moved ever so delicately behind the boys.

"Rawr!" Robin exclaimed as he clamped his hands down on both boys' backs. Henry and Roland both gave a yelp.

"Robin! That's not funny!"

"Oh, it isn't, is it?" Robin commented as he sat himself up. "Wasn't it funny when you did it to me?"

"Well, yeah."

"Well then it was funny for me to do it to you. However, I strongly caution against you doing this to your mother. She may love you but I wouldn't put it past her to punish you until her dying day."

"Yes sir," Henry responded. Roland nodded his head.

"Alright, your mother's out to yoga and shopping with Mary – Margaret. Whaddya say we call up David and Neal and head to Granny's for breakfast?" Henry and Roland both nodded their heads, grins spreading on their faces. "Alright, go get washed up and put on some clothes and I'll call David." They boys trotted up the stairs. Robin picked up his cell phone and dialed

David's number. It took a couple of rings before a sleep – raddled voice gruffly answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey David, it's Robin."

"Hey man, what's up?"

"I guess not you, ha ha ha"

"Nope, had a late night and Neal's actually letting me sleep in for once. Thanks for interrupting that."

"Sure, no problem!"

"To what do I owe this phone call?"

"Since the wives are out I thought we'd head over to Granny's for breakfast, maybe the park after?"

"Sure, that sounds fine. Let me wake the monster up."

Robin and the boys headed to the park about an hour after Robin got off the phone with David. Robin even put together a cooler filled with bottled water, juice boxes and trail mix. Henry and Roland were playing with Roland's Batman kite out in one of the more open spaces of the park.

"Hey Robin!" a voice called out just as Robin's eyes had drifted shut. He popped them back open.

"Oh, hey David, how's it going?"

"Great, just great. So it seems we got put on babysitting duty, eh?"

"Welcome to parenthood, my man. Maybe we talk the womenfolk into watching the brood so we can have a guys' night out."

"Yeah! We can have a dad bachelor party."

"A dad bachelor party? Like a regular bachelor party, except with dads?"

"Pretty much, one last hoorah before the baby gets here and you're imprisoned for many, many years to come."

"Ha ha ha, I don't think we should sell it that way to Regina. She's pretty reasonable for the most part."

"Yeah, but still, we should have a guys' night out, work's been pretty stressful lately."

"I hear ya, it has been kinda crazy. Perhaps everyone will get their crazy out now and I can properly enjoy paternity leave."

"Oh, so you decided to take it? How long are you gonna take?"

"I'm not sure, Regina and I haven't discussed anything further than, 'Oh no, you're not leaving me home with a squawking baby by myself for 6 weeks and still expect me to take care of the household,' effectively killing the mood for the fourth attempt."

"Aw man, reached that point have ya?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's so easy to get her worked up, have her body singing with such pleasure and soaking, she's soaked through her underwear, if she has any on cuz she seems to prefer commando lately, and then some idea will pop in her head and next thing I know she's shoving me away! We need to promptly discuss whatever it is right then and there. I love her and I love that she's pregnant and I know the end result will be worth it, but my God! This is torture! I'm getting worried what our sex life will be like after the baby." Robin slapped his hand on this thigh before leaning his elbow on it to look at David with such a mournful look in his eye. David slapped his thigh, startling Robin.

"I know!"

"What?"

"Let's get a puppy."

"A puppy?"

"Yeah, who doesn't love a puppy?"

"I'm not sure Regina will want a puppy. Do you know how long it's taken her to get used to the idea of us having a baby?"

"Yes, but she'll be so distracted with the puppy!"

"She doesn't like surprises. You have an extra room in your loft you'd be willing to rent out to me?"

"It'll be fine! We'll get a cute little puppy with puppy dog eyes that will melt her heart!"

"That wife of yours, I see her optimism is rubbing off."

"We're getting a puppy?" a shy voice startled both of the men, interrupting their conversation.

"Oh, uh hey Roland, did you hear all that?"

"Um, just the part where we get a puppy! Can we go get it now? Where do we get the puppy from? Do we have to get the momma dog pregnant first like mommy? How do we get the momma dog pregnant like mommy? How did mommy get pregnant?" Robin leaned forward to pull Roland into his lap while he tried to gather his thoughts.

"Well, um, you see – "

"We're gonna go to the humane society and see what's already there. Puppy breeding is a terrible thing," David chimed in. Robin shot him a death glare.

"What's puppy breeding?" Roland immediately responded. Robin roughly rubbed his hand down his face.

"Well sometimes people make mommy doggies and daddy doggies have lots of babies without asking the mommy doggies and daddy doggies if they want to have babies and then they sell them."

"Oh." Roland's mouth made a perfect oh. Robin wasn't sure if Roland completely understood his succinct explanation or if he confused the five year old even more, but he stopped asking questions as they continued onto their destination.

"No, absolutely not," she said with a shake of her head. Robin, David and the boys had walked into the house half expecting Regina and Mary – Margaret to not have returned from their afternoon. They were wrong. Regina caught them trying to sneak in the puppy.

"Oh come on mom! It's a really sweet dog! We took it by Ursula's and she's even impressed!"

"Well if Ursula's so impressed take the dog back to her." Regina turned on her heel and headed towards the kitchen. Robin motioned for the boys to stay in the living room and followed his wife into the kitchen, fully prepared that she might physically hurt him for this stunt. She stood in front of the sink filling a glass for water. She gulped down half the volume before soundly placing the glass on the counter.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" She shrieked out. "A puppy?"

"It was David's idea." Robin replied. Regina scoffed and lifted the glass to drain the remaining liquid and refilled the glass. She was thirsty.

"And you just listened to him? You didn't think maybe to consult with me?"

"We were just going to look and we fell in love with it; love at first sight. We couldn't just leave it there. It was due to be placed on the kill list," Robin pleaded. Regina paused. Her head tilted up towards the ceiling. She blew out a hot breath, blowing the hair that had fallen into her eyes. Her palms leaned heavily against the counter. Robin felt a flicker of hope rise inside him. It was a trump card, he knew. It was a gamble, it was a dirty trick. Pregnant women were emotional. His wife was pregnant, she was emotional. Sure it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Robin approached Regina from behind, grabbing her on either side of her arms. She stiffened in his touch but didn't pull away. Robin rubbed his hands in a soothing matter up and down her arms. "Come on, Regina. It's perfect. It's a perfect addition to our little family. House, picket fence, mom, dad, three kids and a puppy. It's the American Dream," he finished with a kiss to the side of her neck. Regina turned in his arms and studied her husband's face, trying to read if he really believed the bullshit he was feeding her. She couldn't tell, but she was certain it was bullshit. On the other hand she really couldn't think of a reason to not get a dog. With one last stern look into her husband's eyes she marched back to the den area where everyone waited. She halted in front of them, a stoney look on her face.

"Alright, if we're going to keep the dog, there need to be some rules." Henry and Roland's face brightened as Robin came to stand behind his wife, not knowing himself what crazy rules his wife was going to set. Whatever they were he couldn't argue with them. "Puppies are like babies. They need to be fed, cleaned, trained and they need attention. There is enough going on with this baby on the way," she stated, grasping her pregnant belly for emphasis. "You three," she first pointed at Henry and Roland before pivoting to also point at Robin, "will be responsible for waking up in the morning to take the dog out. You will feed it. You will go with it to obedience training. You will housebreak the dog. When you and Roland return home from school in the afternoon you must take the dog out again. After we've had dinner, take the dog out one last time. Until the dog is housebroken you must be aware of its location at all times. If the dog has an accident somewhere in the house, you will be responsible for cleaning it up. If I find out the dog has had an accident before you have had a chance to clean it up, I promise it will not be fun for you. The dog will be crated at night and during the day when no one is home. After the baby arrives you will still be responsible for handling of the dog and you will also help in being responsible for taking care of the baby. A dog is almost like caring for a child. Perhaps this will be a good lesson for why teen pregnancy is a bad idea." Roland seemed a little lost in her list of rules. Henry stood patiently trying to gage a reaction from his stepfather. Robin simply palmed his chin and tilted his head in the direction of his wife.

"So, if we follow all these rules, we can keep the puppy?" Regina rolled her eyes and pivoted her head towards her husband.

"Yes." Henry and Roland's faces lit up with big grins, both boys jumping up and down, first hugging each other then, hugging Regina. She reluctantly returned the hugs. David, who was standing with Neal on his hip watching the entire exchange, let out a small grin.

"Welp, now that this is all settled, I'm going to get this little guy home. Seeya guys later, okay?" Regina nodded her head and Robin headed to escort David out. Henry stooped to pick up the puppy. Regina reached forward to rub the top of its head. It wriggled in Henry's grip, sniffing and nuzzling her hand.

"So, is it a boy or a girl? Have you guys decided on a name?" Henry looked at his mom.

"Um, no, I don't know." Regina straightened herself. Robin returned.

"You didn't bother to find out the sex of the puppy?"

"We didn't bother to find out the sex of the baby," Robin countered. Regina narrowed her eyes.

"We need to know what the sex of the puppy is so we can get it fixed."

"Fixed? Is the puppy broken?" Roland inquired, bouncing on his toes. Robin looked at Regina. She sighed.

"No, the puppy isn't broken. We just don't want it to have any puppies of its own," Regina answered, bending as far as her waist would allow so she could be eye level with Roland.

"Won't it be sad if it doesn't have puppies?"

"No, it won't be sad."

"How do you know it won't be sad?" Regina straightened herself once more. She couldn't think of a response that might placate the young boy for which sex education was still some years away.

"We just know, son," Robin finally chimed in.

"Alright, we'll take it by the vet later, how does that sound?"

"I should hope so. It will need shots and to be evaluated for worms."

"It came with shots and a 3 month exam at the humane society already."

"But they couldn't tell you the sex?"

"Uh, we didn't ask?" Robin shrugged his shoulders. Robin's phone let out a tone indicating a text message. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and after reading the message he chuckled, piquing Regina's interest.

"What? What's so funny?"

"It's Mary – Margaret. She's asking me the sex of the baby so she can plan a gender reveal party." Regina rolled her eyes.

"Oh god, give me a break. I've told her multiple times we don't know the sex!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. She settled them across her chest, folded, resting on her baby bump. Her face returned to a neutral state before her lips quirked in a grin.

"Regina? What's that look for?"

"Nothing, I know how to get Mary – Margaret off our backs."

"How?"

"Just a moment." Regina reached for her phone and sent a text message.

"Who are you texting?"

"Mary – Margaret."

"What did you text her?"

"Oh nothing, I just told her she could throw us a gender reveal party next Saturday."

"So we are going to find out the sex?"

"Yes, yes we are."

Alright, that was part one. Let me know what you thought. Hopefully I'll be able to complete part two and/or part three once I figure the out chapter.