A/N: Sorry this is so short. I just wanted to get something up because it's been so long. Life's been crazy.
The next chapter will probably be the last.
"I liked police training better in Storybrooke," Emma groaned from where she was sprawled on the couch. "All I had to do was find out what kind of donut Graham liked best."
Regina swiveled in her desk chair, smiling fondly at the exhausted blonde. "You know you don't have to go through with this."
"I want to. I'm just so tired." Since the small town wasn't a great place for Emma to go back to her old line of work, she'd decided to stick with law enforcement. She was just a few weeks shy of completing her training.
As for Regina, who had no idea what she wanted to do next, she was keeping busy taking online classes, having hours-long phone sessions with Archie several times a week, and settling them into their new home. She was almost done with that last task, now shifting her attention to the nursery.
"I shouldn't complain about being tired," Emma said after a pause, getting up and walking over to the brunette's desk. "I'm sure you're exhausted."
"I'm okay." Regina tilted her face up to accept the offered kiss. "You don't have to come if you're too tired."
Emma shook her head firmly, taking Regina's arm and helping her up from the chair. "You know I want to see the goober."
"We're going to find out what the gender is today so you can stop calling it that."
"It will always be the goober," Emma teased, touching a hand to Regina's rounded stomach. "I promise you that."
Regina couldn't help but smile. Just as she'd hoped, Emma had come to love this baby just as much as she did. Silly nicknames or not.
Emma gave Regina's hand a squeeze as they waited. Regina glanced down at their intertwined fingers and the glittering diamond Emma had given her at the same spot on the beach a few weeks after they moved. With the stress of moving, getting Henry settled into his new school, figuring out their own futures, and Regina's pregnancy, they'd had no time or energy to consider actually marrying. But neither of them minded. They were getting used to this new life and used to each other, and both were happy to take things slow.
Regina raised her head back towards the screen when she finally heard the baby's heartbeat, watching her child appear through the static. "Looking great," the doctor said before pointing out the baby's features.
"Looking much less like a goober," Emma said in a low voice, and Regina swatted at her.
The doctor adjusted the angle before giving the couple a warm smile. "You're having a girl."
Regina said nothing, just looking at the image of the daughter inside her. She didn't whatever Emma was saying, not until Emma leaned forward and kissed her cheek and drew her attention back to the room around her. "Regina." Her voice was soft, reverent, and when Regina turned she melted at the brilliant smile on the blonde's face. "A little girl."
Not that they cared, not that they really had a preference. But knowing made it so real, and Regina was sure she'd never seen Emma so happy.
It was so real. It was so soon.
Emma woke in the night, and Regina wasn't there.
There was no one outside of Storybrooke who had any reason to hurt them, but the panic was immediate. She couldn't help but think of the last time she couldn't find Regina. She got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom, assuming Regina was there, but the door was wide open and no one was inside. That was when Emma's heart really began to race, when her stomach turned uncomfortably.
She ran down the hall to Henry's room, but nothing was amiss. Their son was safe in bed, and Regina wasn't there. Emma turned to fly down the stairs but stopped short when she saw a silhouette against the window in the unfinished nursery.
"Hey," she said in scarcely more than a whisper as she stepped into the room. The panic ebbed away, replaced by regular worry. Regina hadn't been quite herself ever since the appointment that afternoon. "Can't sleep?"
"What if I made a mistake?" Regina asked, not looking up. They'd assembled the crib a few days before, and Regina was holding onto the rail and staring down into it. "What if I can't do this?"
Emma came forward and pressed a hand against Regina's back. "You can do anything, Regina. I know you can."
"What if she looks like her father?" Regina leaned back slightly into Emma's touch but still didn't look away from the empty crib. "What if I can't love or even look at her?"
"Look at me." Regina forced herself to turn and face Emma. "I look like my father."
Regina looked instantly guilty. "No, Emma. I didn't mean it like that."
But Emma didn't look hurt or angry, just concerned. "Do you love me?"
"Of course I do. But…"
"But nothing. Both of my parents have done horrible things to you, and I look a little like both of them, and you still love me." She stepped forward, as close as she could get given Regina's current girth, and felt Regina's arms go immediately around her. "You, me, Henry, we can do this."
"I hope so."
"I know it." Emma kissed Regina softly. "She will be beautiful because she's yours."
"Ours," Regina corrected as Emma led her back to their room. They curled into bed together, Emma tight behind Regina, and that time Regina slept.