A/N: Hey all, sorry about the long delay between chapters. I had a really hard time writing this chapter, and then I got hit will a massive case of writer's block. Thank you all for you for the favorites, follows and reviews. It really means a lot to me and I continue to be overwhelmed by the response to this story. I hope you enjoy and please, continue to leave me reviews and let me know what you think.
Chapter 8
Granny's prediction proved to be true and as weeks turned into months, hundreds of refugees filtered across the border into my kingdom. Finding homes and work for them consumed most of the court and Emma and I spent long days in the throne room accepting oaths of allegiance from my new citizens. It was exceedingly tedious, but necessary as everyone wanted a glimpse of the former White Princess and some had gone to great lengths to see Emma. One overly eager farmer had even tried to accost her one morning one the training grounds. She had laughed off the encounter, but it set me on edge and we had finally agreed to allow all the immigrants the courtesy of a brief audience, while tightening the defenses around the castle and grounds for Emma and the baby's safety.
Late one afternoon, while we were listening to yet another refugee pledge their loyalty, Emma suddenly let out a loud gasp. Immediately I turned to her, terrified that something was wrong. My worried gaze was met with a bright beaming smile and I quickly took stock of the happy excitement radiating along my bond with Emma and quickly asked, "What happened?" I was completely baffled.
"I felt the baby move," Emma explained as she reached out and unceremoniously took my hand and pulled it to her expanding belly. In the weeks since her baby bump first appeared, her stomach had rapidly expanded to the point that even though she was only half way through her pregnancy, she could no longer fit into any of her clothes and her pregnancy was impossible to deny.
After a moment, I felt a slight nudge against my palm and I sucked in a sharp breath. Warm happiness filled me and I couldn't have stopped the soft happy smile that spread across my lips even if I had wanted to. "Oh, Emma," I breathed, gently rubbing my thumb along her protruding belly. The movement brought another movement under my hand and a soft delighted chuckle slipped out.
Emma grinned, "Did you feel that? Your baby wanted to say 'hello'."
I returned her grin and leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips. Red cleared her throat from her position on Emma's other side and I stiffened, immediately remembering that we weren't alone. Emma just smiled at me and I quickly composed my features, struggling to diffuse my blush as I turned back to the blacksmith and his family kneeling before my throne. They wore identical looks of awed shock on their faces. I cleared my throat and attempted to force my voice back into some semblance of regality as I said, "My apologies. Please continue."
The soft smile playing on the blacksmith's wife's face told me that I hadn't been very successful, but they continued their oaths and quickly left. We had a brief moment of privacy after they were gone before the next petitioners entered. Red took the opportunity to chuckle as she said, "Your Majesty, you do realize that little display will be the only thing talked about tonight in the refugee camps, don't you?"
My blush deepened and I narrowed my eyes at the wolf, "I'm sure they have more pressing matters to discuss."
Emma snorted, "Not likely."
I let out my best long suffering sigh and said, "Ruined. My reputation is completely ruined." It only made both of them laugh harder and I couldn't help but join in the laughter.
After that day in court, there was a noticeable rise in the number of immigrants crossing our borders each day. As much as I complained about my reputation, I couldn't help but feel vindicated. Lord Jared's network of spies reported back that my infamous moniker was being less frequently used outside of the kingdom, while more and more often, Snow White was being referred to as the Fallen Queen. When I heard that bit of information, I laughed until I cried. After everything I had done and been through, I had finally become the better choice in the eyes of the Enchanted Forest.
Amazingly enough, none of my enemies decided to take advantage of my possible weakness. Jared informed me that it was due to a combination of my treaty with the White Kingdom and the bards he had hired to travel the known kingdoms and spread warnings about how terrible my vengeance would be should something happen to my Consort and child. Apparently the warnings were thinly veiled tales of how True Love had redeemed me from the Evil I had wrought after the loss of my first love. Whatever the reasons, it was a truly strange turn of events when Emma and I began receiving invitations from some of Snow's allies who had previously snubbed my existence as much as possible.
Emma's pregnancy began to pay a heavy toll on her as she grew bigger every day. While I thought she only became more beautiful as the weeks passed, she became increasingly uncomfortable. Fatigued weighed on her, and her joints swelled painfully. I offered her what comfort I could, but I could only do so much to ease her pregnancy. Granny proved to be a godsend as she assured both of us that Emma was just having a difficult pregnancy and the baby was healthy and growing steadily. I was skeptical until Red informed me that Granny had served as midwife for many women over the years.
As Emma began the final months of her pregnancy, the swell of refugees finally began to subside and I was able to focus more of my time on catering to her needs. One evening after dinner, I was rubbing balm into her aching joints when I asked, "Emma, have you given any thoughts to names for the baby?"
She smiled, absently rubbing her swollen belly as she said, "Yeah, I've thought about it. Have you?"
I nodded, not stopping my massage. "Yes, dear. I've given it a lot of thought. I want the baby's name to mean something."
"What do you mean?" she asked, shifting into a more comfortable position.
I waited until she was settled before I scooped up more balm and continued rubbing it into her ankle. "Well, I don't want to dictate who our child will be, but I don't want to give the baby a name that sounds nice but really means 'hopeless' or 'snake' or something equally distasteful."
Emma chuckled and asked, "Are there any names that mean either of those things?"
I smirked, "I have no idea. But do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
"Yeah, I do. And I agree with you. Do you have any names in mind?" she asked.
I bit my lip and focused on my hands as I said, "Yes, I have several."
"Me too. But I don't know what any of them mean," Emma replied.
"What names do you have in mind? I might know some of their meanings," I stated, feeling slightly nervous.
Emma took a deep breath and said, "Well I only have two names in mind for a boy. I don't know what the names signify, but I know that they would have meaning for us, for you."
My breath caught in my throat and I hesitantly asked, "What names?"
She reached down and laid a gentle hand over mine. "Henry and Daniel. I didn't know Daniel, but I think it might be a fitting tribute to his memory to name our child after him. And your father was a great man who loved you, and stayed with you through the darkest moments of your life. So, I think that either name would be fitting if we have a son."
Tears spilled from my eyes and a lump formed in my throat, preventing me from being able to speak. Emma shifted and pulled me into her arms, letting me cry while she tenderly stroked my back. When I was finally able to force words out, I thickly said, "Thank you, Emma."
"Anything for you, my love," she said, pressing a kiss to my temple.
We stayed like that for a long time before I brushed away the tears on my cheeks and said, "I don't think I could call our child 'Daniel'. I still love him, and I think he would be honored, but I don't think I could say his name every day and not wish for the boy I used to know."
Emma cupped my cheek and tilted my face up to hers. She smiled with such compassion that I fell in love with her all over again. "I understand," was her only response before she tenderly kissed me.
"What did I ever do to deserve you, my love?" I asked, sitting back to look into her beautiful green eyes.
She smirked mischievously and stated, "Do you really want me to list your deeds, my Queen? It's quite a long list, starting with kidnapping me as a newborn, then there's—"
I couldn't help but chuckle as I cut her off, "Oh, just stop talking, Consort."
"As you wish, your Majesty," she said with a grin.
I smiled and kissed her cheek before I admitted, "I had actually hoped you wouldn't mind if we named a son 'Henry'. It was the only name I could think of for a boy."
Emma smiled, "Well, I don't mind. So, it's settled, if this baby is a boy, his name will be Henry." She paused and rubbed a loving hand over her extended abdomen. After a moment she looked up to meet my eyes and asked, "What girl names did you have in mind? Do you want to go with Henrietta, if it's a girl?"
"God, no," I answered immediately, making her laugh. "Actually, I've always liked the name Ciara, but I don't want to name our daughter that. So I was thinking something along the lines of Daphne or Avery."
"Why don't you want to use Ciara?" she asked, shifting again on the chaise.
I pursed my lips and said, "Because it means dark and mysterious, and I don't want to burden my daughter with any more darkness than she will already face being the daughter of the Evil Queen."
Emma gave me a sympathetic smile and sighed, "You know you're not her anymore. But I understand what you mean. So, what do Daphne and Avery mean?"
Reaching for the ankle I hadn't yet massaged, I said, "Daphne means 'victory' and Avery comes from a legend about the first Elvin queen."
"I like those names. But I have to admit that I've always loved the name Valorie. I don't know why, or even where I heard it, but it's always stuck in the back of my mind," Emma said, letting out a small moan as the balm soothed some of the strain to her body.
"That's a good name. If I remember correctly, it means 'to be strong and healthy'," I said, sliding my hands up to massage her calf muscle.
"How do you know what all these names mean?" Emma asked through drooping eyelids.
In a tone of forced calm, I said, "My mother wanted to ensure that I wouldn't make a fool out of myself by naming the King's child I was expected to bear, something ridiculous."
Apparently my tone was more bitter than I intended because Emma's eyes flew open and she studied me warily. After only the briefest of pauses she smirked and lightly mocked, "I don't think anything could be more ridiculous than 'Snow'. I mean, seriously, why would you do that?"
It was enough to ease the mood and I gave my consort a wry grin as I replied. "I have no idea."
We both chuckled before Emma let out a contented sigh and said, "I also really like the name Ashley or Brynne."
"Not Ashley," I said immediately.
Emma pouted, "Why not?"
I sighed, "Because while it's beautiful, it has no real meaning. It means someone who live near an ash tree forest."
"Oh," Emma said sheepishly. "Well, what does Brynne mean?"
"That's one I don't actually know. It is pretty though," I replied.
"Hmm, yeah I thought so, too," Emma slurred.
I glanced up and saw that she was starting to fall asleep. I wasn't really surprised. Emma hadn't been getting much sleep over the past few weeks as the baby liked to wake her up in the small hours of the night. So, I smiled and leaned over to lightly kiss the swell of our baby before I said, "Come on, my love. Let's get you into bed while you can still move. We can finish this discussion later."
Emma groaned, "I don't want to move. I'm comfortable here."
I lightly chuckled. "Maybe right now, but you won't be as comfortable in a few hours when our child decides to kick your bladder." She pouted, but let me help her to her feet. I still had reports to look over that night, but in that moment, there was nowhere I'd rather be than curled up in bed with my True Love.
We discussed names again several times over the following weeks, but we couldn't agree on what to name the baby if it was a girl. Emma quickly grew tired of the endless discussions as her level of discomfort grew, seemingly with each passing day. Granny continued to tell us that everything was as it should be, but my Consort was eager for her pregnancy to end. It didn't help her impatience when she began to grow short of breath anytime she wanted to waddle through the castle. Emma quickly decided to spend as much time as possible within the confines of our rooms, leaving Granny and Red to keep her occupied for hours each day while I attended to the matters of the kingdom.
With a month left until her expected due date, I was in a meeting with the kingdom's financial advisors when I felt a peculiar sensation from my bond with Emma. I mentally reached along the bond to ask, "Are you alright, my love?"
I felt frustration radiate along the bond as she grumpily replied. "I'm fine, just more of those false contractions. Granny says they're normal, but they are driving me up the wall."
"I'm sorry, darling. It won't be too much longer before the baby is born," I mentally replied.
I could feel her sigh as she said, "I know. I'll be okay. Just pay attention to your meeting so you can come hold me."
"Alright, I love you, Emma," I thought back.
"I love you too, Regina."
An hour later, I was getting impatient for my meeting to end so I could get back to my Consort's side. That odd feeling had only grown in the meantime, and I was becoming anxious that something wasn't right. Before I knew what was happening, I felt a sharp tug along the bond, and a violet cloud of smoke enveloped me. When the magic dissipated, I was standing in my sitting room staring at Emma who had a startled look on her face.
"I think the baby's coming," she stated in an oddly detached voice before she glanced down. I followed her line of sight and saw liquid trickling down her leg.
