Hey guys, I hope you're out there still enjoying the story. I've been in and out of this chapter. I had so much I wanted to put in but I've decided to break it up some. Here's the first part. It's short, so sorry for that.
Her eyes blinked, once, twice. She could do this. She would do this. This, she was good at and it would get done. She took a slow approach to the stairs that led up to the door. She paused for a few moments, gathering her composure. She took one, two, three deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling, calming her nerves. Everything was going to be just fine. Knock, knock, her fist rapped the door. She dropped her fist to her side and waited. Waited, waited, and waited some more. Perhaps her knocks weren't heard? She raised her fist to the door and before she could knock again, it swooshed open revealing a rather grumpy woman clad in a robe that desperately needed closing given all it revealed. A heavy sigh reached her ears.
"Mary – Margaret, to what do I owe the surprise of your visit?" Regina grunted out.
"Well, if I may?"
"May you, what?"
"Come in? Can you let me in?"
"Not. Until. You tell me why you're here," Regina clipped.
"Oh, you know, spend some girl time since you've been relegated to the sofa. I thought you could use company." Regina stared hard at Mary – Margaret for a few seconds before pursing her lips and squinting her eyes, weighing the truth in Mary – Margaret's speech.
"Hmmm, I don't believe you, but seeing as I am relegated to the sofa, as you so delicately stated, who am I to stop you from whatever mission you have hidden up your sleeve?" Regina stated as she pulled open the front door so Mary – Margaret could enter. Mary – Margaret shouted a tiny "Yes" to herself as she followed Regina up the stairs, into the foyer and into the den where the sofa bed had been folded up.
"Come on in, make yourself at home!" Regina sat down on the sofa in her previously claimed spot in the corner as indicated by the steaming mug on the side table. She curled her feet underneath her and picked up a thick packet and resumed scanning it, making marks every now and then as she went along. Mary – Margaret situated herself in the recliner to the side, placing her overly stuffed crafting bag beside her. She was nervous. After a few silent minutes and Regina flipping pages back and forth, she paused, taking a sip of her drink and without looking up or missing a beat, she spoke, startling Mary – Margaret.
"Now, I know you didn't come here to stare at me. This isn't one of your scheduled visit times, or day, for that matter. You haven't spoken a word since we've sat down, which tells me only one thing," she stated as she sat her mug down and resumed scanning the packet in front of her.
"Uh, oh?" Mary – Margaret stuttered out.
"Hmmm, yes. You're keeping something from me, something that I won't like," Regina glanced up from her packet and placed it to her side. She sat up straight on the sofa and clasped her hands together. If Mary – Margaret was nervous before she was positively frightened now. She closed her eyes and reminded herself to breathe. This wouldn't be like the gender reveal party she tried to plan. This was a simple baby shower, Regina couldn't refuse that. "So, what could it be that you're so afraid to talk to me about?"
"I wanted to plan your baby shower," Mary – Margaret blurted out. Best to the rip the bandaid off quickly. Regina sat up, her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.
"Wha? Why would you want to do that?"
"Well, you need baby stuff."
"We have baby stuff, you've gone shopping with me when I bought said baby stuff."
"I know, I know, but certainly there are more things you need and everyone would love to help you celebrate. And you kinda owe me this after the gender reveal fiasco."
"Hey, that wasn't my fault."
"Oh come on Regina, you used that to introduce us to your dog."
"No one knew the gender of our new dog that your husband somehow convinced my husband to get without first consulting me."
"Well, look where we are now. You have a cute dog and I have not been able to throw you a baby shower as of yet. So whadya say? Hmm? Robin mentioned how stir crazy you've been since being put on bedrest. It's only day four and you've got ten more days to go!" Mary – Margaret's excitement could not be contained. The woman's smile stretched from ear to ear, made worse by the deepening scowl on Regina's face. The scowl, Mary – Margaret knew was pure bluster.
"Clearly I need to have a talk with my husband about discussing our personal life with David. Neither one of you can keep secrets." Mary – Margaret clapped her hands in delight and pulled the craft bag into her lap.
"Maybe we should do this on the dining room table?"
"Seriously? How much crap do you have in there?"
"Oh, it's not much. I like to spread out though. Come on, it'll be fun! You don't even really have to do much. Just tell me who all you want to invite and we can pick some colors and cake and games!" Regina rolled her eyes and scooted to the edge of the sofa, bracing herself so she could stand. Mary – Margaret watched her struggle for a few moments, not entirely sure the woman would welcome her assistance, but she sat her bag down and offered her arm to Regina. Regina stared at the proffered arm as if it were a two – headed snake before reluctantly taking it and allowing Mary – Margaret to haul her to her feet. Regina picked up her mug and shuffled over to the dining room table with Mary – Margaret in tow.
"So, where is Penelope? We don't see her very much."
"She's in her crate in the kitchen," Regina responded as she sat down unceremoniously in the chair at the head of the table. Mary – Margaret sat in the seat to the left of Regina and started unpacking notebooks and scraps of paper from her crafting bag. Regina's eyebrows lifted high on her forehead. Clearly the woman had been thinking on this for quite some time.
"The crate? Poor puppy."
"Yes, well when poor puppy gets housebroken she shall be free to roam, but while I am at home on bedrest I cannot chase her around the house cleaning up after every mess she makes."
"Oh, I see."
"Mmmm. So what all have you done so far?"
"So far? What makes you think I'd do any planning without you?"
"Really? You haven't thought up of any games or color schemes or already started on a list of people? Picked a venue? Settled on some music? Menu?" Mary – Margaret tried her best to look stoic, appalled even. Regina could see through that façade.
"Alright, alright, I may have jotted down some ideas after a brief discussion with Robin and Emma." Regina sat back.
"Robin knew about this?"
"He may have suggested it could be something for you to work on while you're on bedrest."
"He did, did he? I shall have a talk with him when he gets home."
"Don't be too harsh, he's really concerned you're going stir crazy, but he's so proud of you for sticking to the bedrest and not overdoing things." Regina suddenly became silent, her fire abated somewhat. She cradled her belly and rubbed circles, feeling for kicks. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. Mary – Margaret reached out to still Regina's circling. She'd noticed Regina's nervous habit as soon as the belly popped out of seemingly nowhere. She needed constant reassurance the baby was there, that it was real. "Hey, come on now, no one blames you for anything. The baby's still tucked away comfy in your womb. No worries, okay? Now, let's get to planning!" Regina looked plaintively at Mary – Margaret, debating on whether or not she wanted to go down the road of how she almost delivered the baby early by being stubborn. But it was a road well – traveled in the past couple of days. She travels it every day, dragging Robin down it with her. She knows he's tired of that trip, thanks him for going down the path with her because he knows, somehow he knows she needs it. She needs to be able to go down that path to work through accepting that everything is alright now. So she nods her head at Mary – Margaret and pulls over the notebook she's currently thumbing her way through and Regina finds that all she really has to do is to say yes or no to the things on Mary – Margaret's list. A smile even makes its way onto her tear – streaked face. Regina is loved and accepted and Mary – Margaret is a good friend. If she pauses their discussion to pull her into a tight hug for a few moments, neither of them make mention.
It is later in the evening and although planning out her baby shower had been an unwelcomed, but satisfying distraction, it did nothing to take her mind off the fact she was cooped up in the house, confined to the sofa for ten more days. After Mary – Margaret left she returned to the rough draft of the sixth book for the Forbidden Fruit series. This was the author's fourth attempt and thought Regina was being unreasonable with her edits and making her rework the storyline, but damnit Regina knew what she was doing. The other books in the series all landed on the best seller's list within the week of release and she would be damned if this one didn't make it onto the list as well. Now, however, her eyes were tired of reading. Her hands tired making hand corrections, smeared with red ink. Her body was tired of resting and Squishy, well Squishy wouldn't calm down. Squishy was restless and she was hungry. Robin hadn't texted or called to ask what they should have for dinner. She shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. Squishy's foot, she thinks, had become lodged underneath her ribcage and she was having trouble getting the baby to shift just a little. Letting out a huff she slammed the manuscript down on the sofa.
"Come on babe, please move for mommy. I know, I know, this isn't much fun. I assure you, mommy isn't having fun either," she grumbled as she pressed into her side, shifting the little body inside her belly. It takes a few maneuvers, but she managed to dislodge whatever had lodged into her ribcage. "There, that's much better. Whadya say we call daddy, hmm? Are you hungry? Mommy's hungry. Got any special requests today or shall we be somewhat normal?" Strangely, Squishy decided to settle down and was offering no suggestions on dinner. "Well, thanks for your suggestion! I will be sure to remind you to calm your shit later tonight if you wake me up with heartburn because you declined to offer input into your dinner," Regina let out a sigh, situating herself to raise from the sofa. With some effort, she pulled herself up and set about packing away her work for the evening and straightening up the sofa. She needed some semblance of routine, and cleaning house, well that just helped release frustration and so she settled on straightening the sofa because afterall, she was supposed to be on bed rest.
Please feel free to leave a review! I'm also still open to prompts/ideas for future chapters. Hopefully the rest of this chapter will sort itself out in my head (and on paper) and it won't take long to update.