Original prompt: Anonymous asked you: Instead of a sleepy town Regina sent everyone to Storybrooke Men's and Women's correctional facility where she is the warden. But what happens when a 17 year old heavily pregnant Emma Swan is incarcerated. AU: Everyone is either a prisoner or a prison guard.
paigeyfreeman asked you: Kinda want you to finish the matron mills fanfic :')
AN: I think a few others do to, paigeyfreeman… I had promised you guys that I would have this done before my break was over, well, that was when I thought I had less prompts in my ask than I did. So, instead of making you wait three more times—especially since my original goal was to finish this a week and a half ago, and since I conveniently don't have any other prompts for this piece in my ask, I decided that I was going to give it all to you now in hopes that you will forgive me of the delay!
It was 5:30 AM and Emma had woken up fifteen times. She knew before bed that she wasn't going to sleep soundly, but dear God, that many times, she might as well have stayed up the whole night. She sighed as she sat up in her bunk and leaned against the wall. She couldn't get the idea of Regina in that evil queen costume out of her head. And it wasn't because she would look drop dead sexy in it—well it wasn't just because of that.
No, it was because it was the same costume she'd seen in her dream before she found the book, and that freaked her the hell out. It was because she could actually see Mary Margaret and David being Snow White and Prince Charming, she could actually see Ruby being Red, she could see Belle and Gold be Beauty and Beast. She could see all of these things easily, she could believe them easily, and that was crazy.
She heard the door open and a shuffle of feet come through the walkway. She looked up to see Regina holding Henry just as she had the night before. She stood up and after Regina opened her cell, she reached out for the baby and held him close.
"I missed you little man baby." She whispered before kissing his head and nuzzling his peach fuzz hair, smelling his baby scent.
"He missed you too." Regina tried to assure the flustered looking blonde.
Emma stared at her girlfriend. She wanted to open her mouth and tell her that she knew everything. She wanted to forget about the book. She wanted her mind not to run rampant. She wanted Regina not to be evil, but with each passing moment, she felt as though she was looking into despair, like she was looking into a repenting evil being. Finally, the blonde leaned in and kissed her cheek as if willing the brunette to be good, "I missed you too."
Regina smiled as she led the blonde from her cell and down the hall, "And I've missed you."
As they came to the 'T' in the hallway, Emma stopped abruptly. She knew Regina was going to lead her to the left and they were going to go to her office, but she had to get to that book and read it again. She turned to the right, "I have to do something…"
Regina took a step after her, but decided not to reach for her. She could see the blonde was on edge, "I have it in my office…" he words were soft.
Emma turned to her a few steps away and stared at her with a surprised, raised browed, 'Oh!?' face. Regina only tilted her head back toward her office and gestured for the blonde to come with her.
After having a traditional five-star breakfast, Emma sat down on the couch with the book on her knees and the baby to her chest. She mouthed every word she read, needing to be positive that she was taking it all in. During the parts that the Evil Queen appeared, she felt her little man baby grab at her just like he did the night before with Regina, though she didn't know he did that. Of course, these were also the parts she was whispering aloud, but she knew that his grabbing was for good reason.
As she flipped back to the page that had the picture of the evil queen staring at Charming's sword as it came for her, Emma didn't know what to think anymore.
"There something the matter, Emma?" Regina asked as she stood, taking her glasses off then walking to the couch. The blonde shook her head, and Regina sat down and watched her, "Is there something interesting?"
Again, Emma shook her head, "No… I'm just trying to memorize these fairytales for when Henry can understand them…"
"Is that all that's in there? You have a look of deep contemplation…" Regina tried to get the girl's feelings on the book.
"Yeah, that's all." Emma was avoiding eye contact.
Regina had to struggle to look into hazel green that was normally so easy to see. After she had Emma's eyes, she leaned forward and placed a hand on the inmate's orange knee asked, "Are you lying."
Emma tilted her head to the side as she nodded sadly, "…Yes."
Regina looked down at the coveralls she was running her thumb over, "Are you going to tell me the truth?" she dared looking back up.
The blonde swallowed hard and shook her head, "Not now, not tomorrow, probably not the near future. But eventually," She began nodding, "Eventually I will." She looked down to the baby in her arms and kissed his baldness.
Regina scooted forward and leaned in again to trace Henry's cherubic cheek. She smiled at the boy before looking back up to the blonde. A sudden lump formed in her throat, but she spoke anyways, "There is a lot we don't know about each other and a lot we do. With everything you ever learn about me please remember that I have my reasons for my actions and that I…" She paused, catching herself from saying the three words she'd felt since she saw Emma come to her prison, "I will do everything in my vast power to never hurt you."
Emma couldn't help the smile on her face as she leaned in and kissed her.
~0~0~0~0~0~
"I can't believe they're letting you go…" Ruby pouted.
A few months had gone by and Emma had just got word from her girlfriend that she was being released thanks to good behavior.
"You can't? Really?" Mary Margaret asked with narrowed eyes to the brunette.
Kathryn jumped in, "You can't believe that Emma, the girl that spends all her time with the Matron is getting released for a minor felony at the minimal sentence length?"
Ruby looked to her friends, "Shut up."
"Relax…" Emma smiled, "I'll still be here everyday, I just won't be in this tacky, gaudy orange thing." She popped the collar of her jumpsuit causing her group of friends to laugh.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Emma's heart had been pounding in the front seat the whole way home. She looked at the quaint looking cottage as they drove up the gravel drive in Regina's yellow bug—a surprising venture, Regina assured her, but the car spoke to her and she had to have it.
The blonde looked at the large vegetable garden to the side of the house and the flowers and shrubs and greenery that seemed to surround it. She looked at the wooden posts that held the front porch up with hanging plants and ivy surrounding almost all the wood as well. And she saw the front porch swing for two, which only made her smile, "This is so quaint…" As she thought about it, it seemed exactly what her Regina would live in, not what the evil queen would want. "Is there running water, or am I going to have to shower in a creek?"
Regina gave her a playful glare, "I assure you the inside is everything the outside is not. I have an amazing kitchen and a better bathroom than at the prison."
"But that's the best bathroom in the world!" Emma's face was serious, "It's better?"
"The full bath in our—my—your room is, yes. The full bath next to Henry's room that is also the guest bathroom is not as amazing, but it is up to par."
Emma unbuckled and got out of the car. She turned away as she grinned at the woman's stumble. Emma marveled at Regina's kitchen and her bathroom. And the bedroom. The bed looked glorious. They eventually laid Henry down and the blonde felt just how tired she was as well.
"Well, I think I'm going to take a bath then go to bed…" She clicked off the television and looked over to her girlfriend who nodded from her place on the couch. "You said the room was mine…"
"It is." Regina looked up to find Emma shaking her head, "It isn't?"
"You said that I was going to sleep with you when I got out of there. You said that you had a two bedroom cottage, one could be turned into a nursery, the other I could sleep in with you…"
"I-I-I just assumed that you'd want the bed for yourself…"
"I don't. I'm no prissy princess, I can share a bed with a lover before I marry them." She waggled her eyebrows and caught the small freeze in Regina's movements as she said the word 'princess'. She tried not to seem fazed by Regina's reaction and reached her hand out, "Even if I was a prissy princess, I'd share my bed with you so hard, my king and queen parents wouldn't know what to do."
Regina stared at her as she took in the blonde's words. She took her hand and stood, "Even if I were, say, a villain? You'd still share your bed with me?"
"Even if you were the Evil Queen, I'd share my bed with you." Emma smiled and pulled the brunette with her to the bedroom.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Emma hadn't lied to her friends the day before. She was there everyday. And now that Henry could hold his head up, Emma decided it was time for him to be able to meet her friends.
"Are you sure about this?" Regina asked as she took Henry from the blonde and sat him on the desk as she sat in her chair, scooted in and pressed her forehead against his, "Say, 'No, Momma! I don't want to go down there!'"
Emma grinned as she scolded, "Regina." She shook her head and leaned over the brunette, "If you're trying to keep me in here because you want me to try to…further my advances on you from last night, forget it. I couldn't go any further with a baby in the room." She plucked Henry from the desktop and gave her girlfriend a wicked grin.
"Will you make further advances tonight?" Regina asked with a quick raise and lower of her brows.
Emma only smirked before heading for the door, "I'm walking away, and I'm taking Henry to meet everyone. I promised I would after he could hold his head up."
"Alright, darling, go on."
~0~0~0~0~0~
Emma had come back that afternoon with a long tale of how excited all the inmates were and how excited Henry was and how much fun they'd all had. Regina, of course felt a little jealous. Emma knew this and she planned to further her advances a little early.
"How long do you actually have to be here?" When all the blonde got was a raised, brown brow, she walked over and sat on the desk—pulling a Fran Fine at her finest—as she looked into those brown eyes, "I was thinking we could go home, have an early dinner, put Henry to bed and make out… maybe not keep all our clothes on this time…"
That got the brunette in gear. She quickly gathered everything except the sleeping baby in his car seat hooked up to the rocking swing, which she left to the blonde, "Let's go."
~0~0~0~0~0~
They had had a glorious make out session without all their clothes and they fell asleep in each other's arms, where both women were convinced they both should be.
Then Emma had the dream.
It was always the same dream, the dream of evil Regina asking about 'the child', but this dream was from someone's perspective. She supposed it was her own. She realized it was from the baby's right off the bat as she opened her dream eyes to see Snow and Charming telling her they loved her.
She watched David fight with her and put her in the tree. Then there was nothing but darkness. She heard the words 'This is my happy ending' and the next thing she knew she was getting picked up by a ginger kid that took her to the bar on the side of the road she was found on.
She woke up hard, gasping for air. She'd certainly startled Regina awake. The brunette looked at her with such adoration and concern.
Regina had tried to sooth her, and Emma knew that this probably wasn't the greatest idea, but she couldn't help it. She'd asked the one question that would make one or the other or both uncomfortable: "Do you believe in other worlds?"