During the following two weeks Regina and Emma's friendship had continued to blossom, as had Emma's baby. She was now 18 weeks pregnant, her bump was becoming more difficult to hide and she had still not told her parents about their new grandchild. She had seen them over the past two weeks and her mother had visited her a few times. She even made the effort to visit them on two occasions. Well, she had been persuaded by Regina.

Regina and Emma had an unspoken agreement that Emma came to the town hall for lunch each day. They ate together, usually Regina would prepare two packed lunches but on the few occasions she had not had time she would text Emma who would call for lunch on the way over. Emma had made a conscious effort to make healthier lunch choices. She made the choices mainly for the baby's sake but she couldn't deny that the look Regina gave her when she noticed the salad Emma had willingly chosen instead of a burger wasn't part of the reasoning behind her choice.

For the first week of lunch breaks Emma had left once Regina had returned to work, however over the past week Emma had not left after lunch. She had just sat on the sofa in Regina's office watching the woman work. Sometimes she read a book, on a few occasions she had helped with paperwork but every day without fail she had fallen asleep around 3pm until Regina would wake her up to take her home.

Sometimes Regina would drop Emma off at her own house but on most occasions Emma came back to the mansion where Regina would cook dinner for them all. Regina would cook while Emma set the table. Henry was happy because his previous task had been taken over by Emma, but unfortunately he hadn't escaped his washing up duties.

Henry was a little confused by his parent's new found closeness. They had become overly touchy and he found that a little weird considering they had denied being in a relationship. He was also pretty sure that he had seen Emma look at his Mom in the unsettling way that he had the misfortune of witnessing his friends look at her. He found it even more nauseating seeing his mother act that way. He had considered asking Emma about it but he was a little concerned that she would cry about it, which she seemed to do a lot these days.

It was a Thursday and Emma had returned home from an evening with Regina and Henry when the call from her father came. She had been expecting the call. He rang to ask when she planned on returning to work. She had appreciated that they had left her alone for so long and he wasn't at all pushy, assuring her that she should take as much time as she needed. She invited him and her mother over the following day for dinner assuring him that they would discuss it further then.

She rang Regina right after and told her she needed to tell her parents about her pregnancy and that she had decided she would be returning to work. She asked Regina if she would be there which she had agreed too straight away offering to help Emma with dinner.

Regina finished work early the following day to help the blonde prepare for her parents impending visit. She was relieved it was Friday and she could spend some quality time with Henry and Emma away from the office. They just needed to get through an evening with the Charming's first.

Emma polished the windows frantically while Regina made the finishing touches to dinner.

When Regina opened the door to her parents and baby brother she greeted them with a tight smile before welcoming them into her home. Her brother was asleep in his buggy so she instructed Snow to put him in the living room where it would be a little quieter but where they would still be able to hear if he woke up. She took their coats before ushering them along into the opened plan kitchen and dining area.

Regina was bent over lifting a casserole dish from the oven when Snow spotted her.

"Regina?" Snow asked clearly surprised by the woman's presence.

"Snow, David" she said with a warm smile as she placed the hot item onto the work top before taking of her oven gloves and placing them next to the dish.

"I wasn't expecting to see you" Snow said matter of factly, not trying to be rude just genuinely surprised by Regina's presence.

"Regina made dinner" Emma said attempting to move conversation along.

"Where's Henry?" David asked from beside his wife.

"He's at a friend's house for dinner" Regina replied with a smile.

"Oh I thought he'd join us for dinner..." David looked disappointed.

"Next time I'm sure he will" Regina replied without thinking.

The group stood around the kitchen areas while they waiting for further instruction.

Regina continued pottering around the kitchen, like it was her own. She was starting to feel a little uncomfortable under Snow's watchful eyes so she continued to move things around to avoid any further conversation with the woman.

Emma was watching her mother watching Regina and decided to just get on with her announcement. "I need to tell you guys something..." she said drawing attention away from Regina and to herself.

Snow could sense that Emma was nervous about something "Emma you can tell us anything" She said, she was intending to move closer to her daughter but she didn't get a chance because Emma had made a conscious effort to move closer to Regina.

"I'm pregnant" Emma said then tried to force a smile.

"Oh. Emma's great news..." her mother said with a big smile "I mean is it great news? Are you happy?"

"I struggled to accept it at first, but I am happy now. Terrified but happy"

"How far along are you?" David asked. His face was still completely neutral and Emma couldn't decipher whether he was happy or not.

"18 weeks and I'm having a girl" Emma responded to her father.

"Oh Emma that's wonderful." Snow said excitedly. The small woman looked as if she may burst with excitement.

"What about Hook?" David asked, which made Snow's smile disappear.

"It's not Hook's baby." Emma answered. As she spoke she felt Regina's hand on her lower back.

"Oh well…oh I didn't know you..." David tried but didn't know what to say.

Emma cut him off before he said anything that would lead to someone's feeling getting hurt "The baby was created through magic. I wasn't unfaithful. I told Hook and he couldn't deal, he left. We haven't figured out the exact how and why yet but she's healthy and I'm going to do the best I can for her"

"Come here" Snow said as she opened her arms for her daughter. "I'm happy for you"

"Thank you. I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you." Emma stated nervously.

"That's ok. I'm sorry you had to deal with everything alone" Snow replied as she held Emma's face in her hands.

"I haven't been alone for the last couple of weeks. Regina's been my rock. I don't know what I would have done without her. So thank you for asking her to check on me." Emma spoke to her mother with a smile on her face.

"You told her?" Snow addressed Regina with a frown.

Emma saw the panicked look on Regina's face and cut in "She only told me after I had a mental breakdown..."

"Was this why you were so upset a few weeks ago?" she asked Regina once more.

Regina just nodded her response.

"I'm here now Emma if you need support in anyway I'll be here for you, whatever you need."

"Thanks." Emma replied unenthusiastically. She was happy having Regina with her and had hoped she would continue to be there with her throughout her pregnancy. She looked up at the brunette to gage her thoughts.

The wave of disappointment at Snow's promise washed over the Regina like a cold bucket of water. Of course Snow would want to take a more active role in the blonde's pregnancy and that would be a great bonding experience for the mother and daughter but she couldn't hide the sadness that she would be less involved. She was distracted from her thoughts when she felt Emma's hand in her own. She looked up to see the blonde looking at her with a concerned look.

"When is your next scan?" Snow asked, distracting the women from their moment.

"Not for a couple of weeks."

"Maybe I could come with you." Snow asked hopefully.

Emma felt like a deer trapped in headlights. Did she want Snow with her at her scan? "Maybe" She muttered as she held Regina's hand tighter. Hoping Regina got the message that Emma wanted her there.

The rest of the dinner went by without any issues they ate happily everyone complimenting Regina on the food.

"What are you planning to do about work?" David asked cautiously.

"I think I'm ready to come back" Emma said assertively.

"You're going to stay working at the sheriff's office?" Snow asked in a high pitched voice, shocked that Emma would be returning to her role as sheriff.

"Yes I am the sheriff where else would I work?"

"Oh did you not want to take a more office based role?" her mother asked tentatively.

"No. I'll be fine" Emma stated simply not wanting to get into an argument with either of her parents.

Regina squeezed Emma's hand again to offer her support. She would supported the blonde's decision and would back her 100 percent but she secretly hoped that the blonde would consider a more office based role. Maybe later in her pregnancy she would.

It was decided that Emma would be starting back to work on Monday on reduced hours and day shifts for a few weeks to get back into the swing of things. Regina hoped that meant that they would still get to spend their lunch times together.

Just as they finished dinner Neal started to cry as if on cue.

"I'll get him. Give you some time to talk?" Regina said looking at Snow for approval, once she got the nod she gave Emma's hand one final squeeze before went over to retrieve the sleepy boy.

"He will want feeding, there's a bottle in the baby bag if you wouldn't mind?" Snow asked.

"Of course not" Regina replied with a smile.

Emma spoke to get parents about her plans for work. How Henry had taken the news and her impending return to work.

What didn't go unnoticed by her parents was the fact that Emma had spent the whole conversation watching Regina feeding and playing with Neal in the background while telling them how amazing she had been at every given opportunity.

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Due to life and work commitments i won't be updating again until sunday.

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