*5

Thanks again to everyone who has favourited and followed this story so far! I really hope you are all enjoying it. Updates should be pretty quick from here on in since I have the majority of the rest of the story planned out.

Now, as predicted by nahbois68, a chapter with a little more Snow/Regina interaction.

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Snow stood in the doorway of Emma's room, watching a restless Regina fidget in her sleep. It had been the pained whimpers that had drawn her from her reading in the room below, honoring her promise to her daughter of looking after the former Queen while she was at work. Crossing over to the bed, Snow watched Regina toss and turn, unsure of what to do to help. As far as she knew, the brunette was never as restless when sharing the bed with her daughter. It also hadn't escaped her notice that Emma slept better too, no longer plagued by nightmares she could never remember in the morning with the Evil Queen resting safely beside her.

Relying on instinct, she turned, picking up an oversized, and in her opinion, over-worn, soft knit jumper of Emma's, draping it over the pillow close the Regina's head. She watched as the unconscious woman instinctively nuzzled the soft fabric, one hand reaching to grasp the material. It was as she moved that Snow noticed the worn stuffed toy in her other hand.

She smiled, knowing the story behind the ragged striped cat. Emma had told her one night after a few too many beers, when the pixie haired woman had come back to find Emma clutching the toy to her cheek. It had been bought with the intention to sending it to Henry on his first birthday. In the end, she had never sent it, keeping it for herself as a reminder of what she had given up and why. Some nights, she said, she would talk to the stuffed cat, imagining all the things she would say to her son if he were there. In the end, Snow thought it had become more of a comfort to the blonde than a bad reminder. It gave the woman an outlet to vent to, something familiar. She wondered if Emma had ever told Regina the story behind the raggedy cat that the brunette clutched, or whether it was simply the fact it was Emma's that made the former Queen hold it quite so tightly.

With a sigh, she turned from the bed, frowning at the small desk and chair that had both been moved to rather awkward locations. She was under strict instructions not to move them, however, and so with one final check on the now peacefully sleeping Regina, Snow retreated back downstairs to her book.

"Regina?" Snow stood with the tray of food in her hands, sighing as she failed to rouse her former step-mother once more. "Regina?" Still nothing. Emma barely had to breathe the former queen's name and she would wake. "Regina!" At her louder repetition, the brunette grumbled, slowly waking.

"Snow?"

The pixie haired woman couldn't help but smile at the confused, sleep laden tone directed at her. As Regina's eyelids fluttered open, she couldn't help but be transported back to the last time she had been in this position, when she was keeping an injured queen alive, unaware of who she was beneath her disguise. "I brought you some soup."

Regina groaned at the thought of food. Or rather, at the thought that she might bring it up again. The thought was made even worse by the knowledge that it was only she and Snow in the house, so it would be the pixie haired bane of her existence that was left on clean-up duty.

"It's just vegetable soup. I thought something plain would be best for your stomach. And even if you don't want the soup you can always try and eat some of the bread."

Forcing herself to sit up in the bed, Regina nodded. "Thank you."

Snow startled at the words coming from the former queen.

"Don't look so surprised Snow," sighed Regina. "It's not ideal for either of us, I know, but believe me when I say I don't want to fight you. I don't have it in me right now. I can only be thankful you've been so accommodating."

Setting the tray down across Regina lap, Snow perched on the edge of the small bed, choosing her words carefully. "It's not easy for me. Or for David," she added. "But we both realise that if we don't learn to accept whatever is between you and Emma, we'll lose her again, and neither of us could survive that."

"So instead you have to live with me."

Snow shrugged. "It's not so bad."

Regina frowned. Those were not the words she had expected, nor anywhere near.

Standing, and brushing down her skirt, Snow regarded her former step-mother with a small smile. "Had I been living with the Evil Queen, it would be a whole different story. I almost think you forget I knew you as just Regina once…I'm just glad that's who Emma gets to see."

"How is she?" asked Emma before she was even fully through the door.

Snow chuckled, shaking her head. Ever since getting her daughter to admit just how much she cared, Emma had made no effort to conceal her every concern about the brunette. "She's been fine. Sleeping mostly. I took her some soup around lunch."

"She didn't call you for anything?" asked Emma as she wrestled her boots off.

Frowning, Snow shook her head. "No, why, should she have?"

Emma grinned. "Nope!" She took the stairs to her room two at a time, only slowing when she reached her room. She silently padded over to the bed, smiling when she saw Regina's face buried into her sweater, and Charlie, her stuffed cat clutched in her hand. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she brushed a few hairs out of the brunette's face, her fingertips gently stroking the former Queen's face to rouse her gently from sleep.

Regina woke slowly, smiling at the familiar touch. "Hey," she whispered.

Smiling, Emma leant down to place a kiss on the brunette's forehead. "Hey yourself. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've only been hit by a few trucks."

"Any of them reversing this time?" asked Emma with a smirk.

Regina shook her head. "Not even one."

"A definite improvement then." Emma allowed the brunette to pull her down for a soft kiss to the lips. Pulling back, she shuffled so she could lie beside her Queen. "And Snow said you had soup at lunchtime. I'm guessing from the fact this is the same cover as was on my bed this morning you kept it down this time?"

Regina felt herself flushing with embarrassment. There had been a few occasions when she hadn't been quite prepared for how quickly her stomach wanted to empty itself, resulting in more than one change of bedding. She nodded.

"Good. I know it's not much, but it's still progress," smiled Emma. "I just wish Nova would hurry up with that next batch of fairy dust. I don't suppose you've come up with anything else we could try?" she asked hopefully.

"Sorry dear," sighed Regina. "But thank you for trying."

"I told you, whatever it takes."

"And thank you for re-arranging your furniture." The former queen had almost called Emma to thank her that morning when she woke up to find the chair and desk now strategically placed to allow her to use them for balance on any trips to the bathroom.

"Somehow I didn't think you'd want to call my mother for help," smiled Emma, pleased to receive a kiss for her efforts. "Henry came round to the station today. He asked me if you were up to visitors yet?"

"For him, of course," replied Regina without hesitation.

"You sure?" asked Emma.

"I've been in this bed almost the entire day, so I've hardly been exerting myself!"

Grinning, Emma nodded. "Okay. I'll go grab my phone and you can call him, tell him to come over."

"And then I'll need to borrow something to wear for when I come out of the shower."

Emma raised a questioning eyebrow. "I thought we said no exerting yourself."

"I refuse to have Henry seeing me after having gone days without showering! And you'll need to find something appropriate for me to wear."

Emma could only chuckle, shaking her head. "So high maintenance."