A/N: We've made it to the second to last chapter! This fic started out as a tiny maybe one shot in my mind of them trying for a baby and here we are almost 300,000 words and a year later. My life has completely changed over the course of this story, leaving me not always able to get out the words for you guys; my wonderful readers. But here we are, close to end of this story; it may not be what I planned and then outlined. But something in the middle and in truth I couldn't prouder. It might be something that would make a pornstar blush, but it's mine and I'm happy with it.
Quick reminder, in this timeline; after Neverland and they got Henry's soul back. Rumple took out Pan and was never heard from again, but there was no Pan curse. Emma and Regina started dating shortly after. Hook was turned away after his attempts to court Emma were soundly dissuaded. And Storybrooke moved towards full integration with society. And this story starts about five years after Henry brought Emma home.
Regina sighed deeply, ran her tongue over her teeth and gave a satiated laugh. "Fuck, you are
so good at that." She let out a groan when a soft kiss was placed against her inner thigh. She was on the edge of the bed, pillows piled around her creating a comfortable throne, fit for a Queen. When the Queen is 39 ½ weeks pregnant and desperately wanted to come in her wife's mouth.
Emma smirked with pride as she nuzzled back into to soft and swollen, warm and wet flesh, lapping lightly at the tender folds. She's been addicted to her wife's taste before, but the stronger; sweeter flavour that almost always waited for her now beckoned to her and she went willingly, happily fluttering her tongue against the softly rippling entrance to her wife's cunt.
A throaty moan released from Regina at the soft attentions being returned to her tender sex and she longed to bury her hands in shaggy blonde hair, not necessarily to hold her in place or force her into position. Just to have that connection, to feel the softly moving head. She settled for stroking over her heavily swollen belly, the obstacle in the way and grounded herself in the pleasure and loving thoughts of what their love had created. She felt her orgasm rising again and Regina moaned as she let her body relax into it, even if she was already rather relaxed against the pillows. She was cresting into her third orgasm of the night, it'd been an hour of rather slow lazy sex. Exactly what Regina had been in the mood for.
Emma groaned as a single trickle of cum predicted the gentle orgasm that gushed from her wife a second later, she worked her throat swallowing down the salty sweet ejaculate, flicking her tongue over the straining clit; encouraging another soft jet of liquid. She brought a hand up to lace with one her wife had pressed to her stomach as her attention turned to soft aftercare, kissing and gentle licks to inner thighs, along swollen wet folds, not focusing on any particular place just softly taking her lover through the gentle aftershocks.
"Hmm I think I'm done, darling," Regina sighed out as her eyes fluttered and she yawned. Emma stood from the floor. Staying between her thighs and leaning over her prone wife and supporting herself on her hands on either side of slim shoulders, she leaned in for a kiss.
Regina accepted the kiss and finally was able to bury her hands in shaggy blonde hair, she did so happily, the kiss was sweet and passionate, loving and tender and when they separated a single strand connected their lips still, stubbornly holding them together until Regina licked her own lips and stroked her lover's face. A groan fell from Emma's lips and that was when Regina noticed her wife's glistening thighs. Her blonde lover was visible very aroused, providing her wife with three orgasms had left her throbbing and swollen.
Emma moaned lowly when a tanned hand was suddenly between her thighs stroking over her clit, brushing against the opening to her cunt, gathering arousal and stroking over her clit again. Fuck, she was already so close.
"That's right, just come for me," Regina encouraged, her free hand still stroking her wife's face as she worked her sex; guiding her towards orgasm. Emma's arms started to shake with the effort to hold herself up, thighs quaking as she locked her knees to remain standing. "So big for me, so hard," Regina husked the words out, "So wet, all for me?" She pinched her wife's clit between two fingers and tugged just enough for Emma to thrust into the movement and grunt her pleasure.
Emma gave an answering groan at her wife's incendiary words and leaned further forward, threading a hand in dark hair and desperatly kissing her lover as the small hand worked faster between her thighs, "So good," she panted out when the kiss ended and she rested her forehead against her wife's. Their eyes locked and it was the shining devotion and love in Regina's eyes that was the final catalyst to send Emma over the edge and she came with a stuttered groan, hips rolling and eyes never wavering from her lover's dark gaze.
Regina cupped the back of her wife's head, hand tangling in shaggy blonde hair, massaging at the tense muscles there, "I love you my handsome, beautiful, darling wife," Regina husked the words out.
"Now and always, babe," Emma shifted onto the bed to be beside her wife, she rested a hand on the fully popped swell of their child and drew her into a soft tender kiss.
It was hours later, they'd fallen into a deep sleep after their love making and a trip to the ensuite for Regina. The brunette shifted in her sleep, brow furrowing as she subconsciously stroked her swollen belly, rubbing over the strong hand resting there.
Her eyes fluttered open and she lay in the quiet darkness, wrapped in her wife's arms and unsure what pulled her from sleep; for once she didn't have the urge to relieve her bladder. Sighing she laced her hand with the one Emma had splayed out on her stomach and settled back into the comfortable embrace. She was close to delivering, just 2 days ago she'd awoken in the morning to the baby having shifted in the night. Dropping into the birth canal in preparation for birth, that had been the last day she worked and had turned the reigns over to Snow and a willing Clive.
The plan was for her to return to work in some capacity after six months, she looked forward to the time spent bonding with their child and strengthening the bond with her wife who was taking three months post birth off. She couldn't wait for baby Swan-Mills to make their appearance, to hold the tiny bundle in her arms. A content sigh and Regina drifted back into slumber.
More time passed and Regina found herself being pulled from sleep again, this time she identified exactly why as she felt the muscles of her lower abdomen contracted beneath her palm and she felt them inside and out. The rippling tightening of muscle wasn't painful, uncomfortable to be sure, but not painful. It took her a few seconds to process the sensations and when she did the soft contraction had faded. A bright smile broke across her face and she stroked lovingly over her abdomen, taking the moment for herself before waking Emma.
The moment she'd desired and looked forward to for most of her life, the moment she'd spent years trying forget that she wanted. The Moment was here. The woman behind her, the love of her life and her true love had given her this; had given them this. Unable to hold it in any longer, Regina slapped at the strong forearm wrapped around her largely expanded waist, "Darling?" Her voice was all gravel and emotion. "Emma, darling?" She tried again after clearing her throat.
Emma jerked awake then, instantly fully alert; a side effect of her job and a wife days from giving birth, "I'm up, I'm up," she was sitting up and running a hand through shaggy messy hair. "Hotdog? Grilled cheese? Sex? Water?" After many months she was used to being woken for her wife's many cravings. Emma rubbed at her eyes, twisting to check the time, 3:47 glared at her and she sighed under her breath, fighting back a deep yawn.
Regina smothered back a smirk at her loving wife, "Well it hasn't broken yet, but soon I would expect," she held in a laugh as she watched Emma slowly lower her hands from her face. The blonde's brow furrowed as her tired brain processed what she'd said. Regina knew the moment it clicked, her wife jumped from the bed; got tangled in the sheet and instantly fell face first to the floor with a muffled grunt. "Emma!?" Nothing, "Emma? Baby?"
A blonde head finally appeared over the edge of the bed, a sheepish grin matching blushing cheeks. "It's time?" Emma asked huskily.
Regina smiled at her wife, "It's time," she nodded and stroked her stomach as she levered herself up into a sitting position against the headboard.
"What can I do?" Emma slid back into bed, their plan was naturally and at home and after her initial panic she was settled back into being the strong; supportive partner her wife needed. She slid an arm around slim shoulders and kissed her lover's temple.
The brunette relaxed into her wife, resting her head on a strong shoulder. "Call Joanne first, text the kids and your parents. Then I'd like to head down to the kitchen." Regina laced her hand with the one Emma placed on her stomach, "We're going to meet our baby today, Emma," the words came out softly; with an almost awed edge.
Emma just smiled and cupped her wife's face with the hand not resting on the solid swell of their child. "We are," she leaned in and kissed her softly; imparting just how much love she felt for the brunette. Always, but especially in this moment. She pulled away after a moment and slipped from the bed, retrieving her phone from her nightstand and calling their mid-wife/OBGYN as she tugged on grey sweatpants and a red tank top.
Joanne answered on the third ring, "Yes?" Her throat cleared softly across the line.
"Regina's in labor," Emma rushed out.
Joanne wasn't surprised, when she'd examined her Queen just the day before; she'd been partially effaced and was on the cusp of beginning dilation, she'd taken penetrative sex off the table and told them to expect labor and soon. "Alright, that's good news!" Joanne sounded excited and Emma could hear her shifting as the woman started to pull herself together for the impending birth. "Let me know when the contractions are ten minutes apart, I can be there in seven minutes. Unless you don't feel comfortable and want me there sooner?"
The plan had been for the women to handle the majority of the labor on their own in the safe, comfortable environment of their home and Joanne to arrive shortly before the actual birth. Emma tucked the phone between shoulder and ear as she helped her wife into the old, thin grey t-shirt that fell mid-thigh on her."I think we're ok, I'm getting the stop watch now." Emma dug the black digital device from her own nightstand drawer and looped it around her neck. The call disconnected and Emma sat next to her wife as she typed out a text to Henry, Sarah and Snow.
The teenagers had headed over to the Charmings yesterday after school, the intent being for them to stay with them until after the birth, giving the women time to just be together leading up to and during. Henry had wanted to stay but after some rather descriptive sharing from Sarah he'd changed his mind and went along with the birth plan. Emma started to get up from the bed but Regina tugged her back down.
"Hold me?" Regina pulled her wife's arms around her and nuzzled into her neck, letting herself sink into the comforting presence of her strong wife.
Emma happily kept her arms wrapped around her beautiful wife, content to have her wrapped in her arms, "You ok, babe?" She kissed the crown of her head where the brunette was nestled into her neck breathing in her natural scent.
Regina nodded into the warm skin, finally pulling away and sliding a hand into blonde hair. "Fine. Excited, nervous, scared...excited," she smiled as she repeated her prevalent emotion. "So happy and in love and excited, but also scared, just a little," the brunette tugged softly and pulled her wife into a tender kiss before nuzzling back into her embrace.
It took another 30 minutes but they made it into the kitchen and Emma settled Regina into a chair at the table and moved to brew tea as her wife had requested. "Do you want some food, babe?" She placed the full teapot on the stove and clicked the burner on before moving to the corner cabinet where the large selection of loose leaf tea was kept.
Stroking her belly in an unconscious motion, Regina contemplated; Joanne had encouraged something small and light during early labor, it could be a long process after all and hunger pains were the last thing she needed on top of it. She finally nodded, "Two scrambled eggs and a slice of plain toast?"
Emma nodded as she moved back to wife and leaned down, placing a hand on the heavy swell of their child and kissing her softly. "Do you want to stay here? Or want me to bring it to the living room?"
Regina leaned into the palm cupping her jaw and brought her hand up to give it a loving squeeze. "Stay here, I don't really feel like being very far from you honestly," she flushed slightly, they enjoyed and preferred being in each others presence. However she didn't often like acknowledging the urge and now it seemed stronger than usual today, though it was easy to attribute the strong urging to the hormones of labor. Her eyes slipped closed and she tightened the grip on her wife's hand as she felt the rippling contraction of her muscles as another struck her.
"It's ok, I'm right here and not going anywhere." Emma soothed as she dropped into a crouch beside her wife and activated the stopwatch as she stroked the taut lower stomach of her wife with her free hand. Husking soothing words of comfort and love to Regina as the brunette breathed through the light contraction. The contraction ended and she reset the stopwatch and started it again. "37 seconds." She informed as she pulled the small notebook from her pocket and recorded the length and time of the contraction. They kissed again and Emma was up just as the kettle started to whistle.
Breakfast consumed, they moved into the living room and Regina set her second cup of tea on the coffee table as Emma moved to the entertainment center. "Requests?" The blonde asked as she set the TV up from xBox to DVD and opened the side cabinet full of DVD's.
Regina smiled as she arranged pillows and blankets on the couch, creating a nest for them. "I Love Lucy?" She chuckled a little to herself. She'd discovered the black and white sitcom during the 28 curse years and at the time it was one of the only things that could bring a smile to the mostly unreformed Queen; for the for first 18 years at least, until Henry.
Thanks to the curse she'd been stuck watching the same six episodes for awhile before she'd finally figured out mail-order. The show was a secret vice right up there with her romance novels. Emma grinned at her wife and pulled the first season boxset out, leaving it opened on the coffee table as she put the first disc in. She'd just pushed the tray when her wife's carried to her. "Another contraction, Emma." Regina sat on the couch and took the hand her wife offered as Emma all but leapt across the room to be at her side. The now familiar feeling was uncomfortable, but hadn't really moved into painful yet. Regina breathed through it and held eye contact with her wife as it passed. She nodded and felt her body relax as it ended and the TV started the music for the menu screen.
"36 seconds long, 48 minutes 37 seconds from the last one." Emma narrated as she wrote in the book. Regina sipped from her tea and settled back into her wife as the blonde slipped behind her and wrapped her arms around her, pulling the blankets around them as she hit play and they relaxed into their love; preparing for the birth of their second child.
It was nearing 9 when Regina paused the show with a restless sigh, they were at 39 minutes apart and the longest contraction had been 47 seconds long. "I want to walk." she announced. Joanne had encouraged her to listen to her body, let it tell her what she needed and to listen to instinct. "Outside."
Emma frowned. "Babe, it's," a glance at her phone. "9am mid March in Maine," she had been counseled to be supportive and go along with whatever her wife wanted and needed. Granted it was unseasonably warm at 40 degrees outside, but still rather chilly for her laboring wife.
"Please?" The plaintive request came as Regina was already levering up out of their warm nest.
Emma sighed. "Of course, beautiful, give me a second?" She could never deny her wife anything, labor or not. Regina nodded and sipped from her recently refreshed tea. Emma slipped out the patio door in the kitchen and looked around the yard, sighing at the steaming frost that was slowly dissipating as the ground warmed in the morning air.
She wasn't sure she had the energy for this, or even if she could pull it off at all. Emma took a moment to take in the privacy fence, small shed in the corner half hidden by trimmed shrubs, the bare space of Regina's summer garden. The towering apple tree taking up its place as sentry in the center of the large yard. With a grin Emma headed for the base of the tree, knowing how she could pull this off.
She placed her hand against the trunk and pushed all of her love and emotion into the physical manifestation of the centerpiece in their family crest. The tree took on an ethereal glow, humming with energy the color of her magic. A deep breath and Emma pushed every bit of protective magic she had into the swirling light blue.
She took a step back and watched as a rippling sheet of magic cascaded up from the treetop and slowly draped over the yard to slide along their side of the fence and completely seal off the yard from the outside. Emma felt winded as the charms settled into place, she shook her hands out for the final part and cast a simple temperature spell; raising the ambient temperature inside the now insulated backyard. She slumped back against the tree for a moment, pretty sure she wouldn't be able to tap into her magic anymore today. She'd pulled it off, however and that was the important thing.
Regina smiled at her wife when Emma stepped back into the kitchen, the brunette had made her way into the room and taken a seat at the table to watch what her wife was up to. She'd been more than impressed with the magic skill the blonde had yielded and wondered if she'd been practicing. "That was impressive, darling." Regina offered as stood and stepped into her wife's arms, kissing the handsome blonde and tucking her arm around a muscled one of her lover's as they stepped outside and into the magically warmed air.
Emma grinned cockily as they started a slow circuit around the back yard along the fenceline. "Had a pretty amazing teacher, even if she did throw me off a bridge." She draped an arm over slim shoulders and placed a hand on their child, kissing the top of dark hair her as her wife laid her head on a strong shoulder; their pace slow and unhurried.
"You did it didn't you?" Regina smirked as she laced their hands together over her stomach. "I would've stepped in if you didn't pull it off." She shrugged. "Though there was a split second I wondered how I was going to tell the Charming's I'd killed the Savior on accident." They were halfway around the yard when Regina stopped and faced her wife, brow furrowed, "Contraction," was all she said as she leaned into her lover and moaned as a stronger than before contraction rippled through her body.
Emma held her wife, ignoring the bruising grip on her bare biceps as Regina rested her forehead against her chest while the blonde counted out the seconds of the contraction. She reached 48 and the contraction released it's grip. "Still 39 minutes apart." Emma offered up as she reset the stopwatch and logged the contraction.
Regina nodded as she continued to lean against her wife. "Keep walking." they readjusted and resumed their slow walking pace in a similar position as before.
Emma cleared her throat. "Where were we?" She kissed dark hair, "Oh… We'd been on two kind of dates at that point, I was pretty sure you weren't actually going to let me die…" She trailed off when Regina playfully slapped at her abdomen. "However the only time you had let me kiss you was the night we arrived back from Neverland and you agreed to a date."
A smile as they passed the house and Regina shifted their direction towards the apple tree, it was still pulsing with light blue energy; creating a soothing atmosphere in the quiet backyard. "I remember," she laughed lightly. "You showed up at the front door at 3 in the morning with a speech about hope and faith, about shaking off the...what was it? "The shackles of fate and embracing what we both wanted, what we both desired." Regina shook her head at the memory.
"You were so confused, half asleep and adorable in your pyjamas and half closed robe." Emma smiled at the memory as they stopped beneath the towering tree and turned to face each other. "Then I told you that I wanted to raise Henry together, really together…" She slipped a hand into dark hair at the base of a tanned neck and laid her other hand against the swell of their second child.
Regina smiled, her eyes misting as their eyes held. "And then you kissed me." She leaned up as Emma leaned down and their lips brushed together.
The tree beside them sparked and it's whirling glow intensified as their lips slid together in a slow and tender kiss. "And then you said yes." Emma whispered as they pulled apart. "Jokes on me though, since fate already had us shackled after all." She nuzzled into dark hair and breathed in the sweet scent of her wife's shampoo.
A laugh and Regina slapped at her chest, "So romantic." They started walking again. "A week later you took me on a picnic at lookout point." Regina laid her head back on a strong shoulder as she stroked her stomach and they strode along.
Emma laughed, "That was after you ruined Hook's flask and he ran away." Her wife just snorted and shook her head at the hapless pirate who no longer darkened their lives. They made it another half lap before Regina stopped their progress for another contraction, this one lanced across her lower abdomen and sent her lower back in spasms as well. She faced the fence, bracing her forearms against the smooth wood and resting her forehead against them as she took deep breaths. Emma moved hands to her back and gently worked the taut muscles there, doing what she could to ease the tightening; she slowly counted out the seconds as the contraction held her wife in it's grip. It was a painful one, and lasted 55 seconds, the longest yet.
The contraction eased and Regina leaned back against her wife's solid body, pulling strong arms around herself. "32 minutes, they're getting closer." Emma whispered into the shell of her ear right before she kissed it.
Regina sighed and closed her eyes. "That is generally how labor works, my love." she smiled then, content in the embrace and even through the worsening pain; thrilled about their future.
Emma laughed and kissed her temple. "I have done this once, 15 plus years ago; but I've done it." another kiss. "Do you want to go inside yet?"
The dark head shook against her chest. "Not yet." Regina straightened and they started their slow walking again in peaceful companionable silence.
"Are we set on names?" They were passing the house again when Emma broke the quiet, they'd managed to stick to not knowing the gender and had picked out a boy's name and a girl's.
Regina nodded. "Yes, Emily Snow or Logan Nathaniel." she smiled and leaned further into her wife. "Still no preference?"
Emma shook her head, sleep tousled; shaggy blonde hair flaring out from her head. "Nope, whole and healthy is all." She truly didn't care, she looked forward either way to being able to raise a child from the beginning. "I have to admit, through all of this… I appreciate my parents desires more than ever." Emma kissed dark hair.
"How do you mean?" Regina asked as she leaned into the pressure of the kiss.
"I always understood their desire to raise a baby from the start, not suddenly be parents to a 28 year old totally independent human. But now? I get wanting to raise a baby, watch them grow up from a tiny helpless human..." Their walking slowed as Regina rubbed her stomach and grimaced. "Contraction?" Emma asked as she glanced at the stopwatch it had only been 27 minutes, things were starting to progress quickly.
Regina nodded and turned into her wife's arms, clasping her forearms just below her elbows as Emma clasped her elbows. "Something's different though." She gave a sharp gasp as the muscles in her stomach tightened. "I think my water just broke, finally." They glanced down and thin rivulets of reddish tinged fluid had leaked down her thighs. She took deep hurried breaths as the pain sharpened more than ever. Regina closed her eyes and forced herself to relax into the safe, strong hold of her wife. Trusting in the quiet, solid strength to support her.
"63 seconds." Emma counted out until the contraction eased. "Inside?" She rubbed soothing circles on her wife's back as the brunette softly panted to catch her breath while she reset the stopwatch for the next contraction.
A nod. "Yes, I'd like to shower and settle into bed? Some cold water sounds nice." She nuzzled into her wife's side as they headed back for the patio. As they entered the house Emma flicked her wrist, lifting the charm from the apple tree and ending the protection canopy over the backyard.
They climbed the stairs after a stop in the kitchen and a detour to adjust the thermostat, Regina requesting a higher temperature. Her clothing felt itchy and like it was chafing and she had no intention of dressing again after a shower. They stepped into the cool shower and Regina turned in her wife's arms leaning back against her wife's chest. "You doing ok, babe?" Emma wrapped her arms around her and kissed her temple.
"Nervous, excited, mostly anxious; but yes I'm ok." Regina groaned then as the next contraction started. Emma held her arms out and the brunette braced her forearms along her wife's and laced their hands together as she bent at the knees a little and took deep meditative breaths. Emma whispering soft, loving encouragements into her ear in between her count of the seconds. The contraction passed at 69 seconds and Regina grimaced as she stepped out of her wife's arms, the need to be clean before what was going to happen in the next few hours was an odd instinct but she wasn't about to fight it.
Emma picked up the soft wash cloth she'd grabbed from the linen closet and lathered it up with one of the fragrant locally homemade bar soaps Regina kept on hand and started to tenderly scrub away the thin layer of sweat from tanned skin. Placing light kisses over clean skin as the soap was washed away. She dropped to her haunches once she'd washed over her wife's expanded belly and placed a tanned foot on her thigh and gently scrubbed away the evidence of her water breaking.
Soft hands came to rest on strong shoulders as the water cascaded around them, washing away reddish, soapy water as Emma was washing over it. She placed that foot back down after a loving kiss to a knee and picked up the opposite so she could repeat the ministrations to the opposite thigh. This time she also softly brushed the cotton cloth across swollen and reddened lips, cleaning her wife's most private places as well. Another kiss to a knee and she stood wringing the cloth out and laying it out over a control knob. Emma wrapped her arms around Regina as the brunette moved into them, "Want you hair washed too?" She asked softly as she kissed damp hair.
"No, it's ok. I think I really want to lay down." Regina pulled away to smile up at her wife, she slipped a hand into blonde hair and pulled her lover down. "I love you." the quiet whisper came before she softly connected their lips in a tender kiss.
Emma rubbed their noses together as they pulled apart, a move that often caused a frown if Regina wasn't in the sappiest of moods. "Now and always." she whispered back, before they kissed softly again.
Another hour passed as did three more more contractions while they lay in bed side by side. Regina remaining naked and Emma in only a pair of loose cotton boxers per her wife's request. The brunette groaned through the very end of a contraction and gripped tightly onto the strong thigh laying next to hers. "74 seconds, 18 minutes apart." Emma reached for the notepad to log it and smiled when she felt manicured nails scratching lightly at the skin that her wife just been squeezing.
"Time is it?" Regina asked dazedly, she was tired and the pain was intensifying with every contraction. It was getting harder to focus on her breathing, but with her wife's support and helpful coaching she was being successful. Focusing each time on the single feather they'd chosen as a focus point and that Emma had hung from the ceiling so it hung over the foot of the bed at an easy angle for her to focus on.
A glance at the bedside clock. "12:11." Emma answered the question as she stroked loving patterns over the taut skin of her swollen stomach. "Do you need anything?"
Regina shook her head, "No, just you. But go ahead and call Joanne." She shifted and leaned against her wife, trying to get comfortable and finding it difficult. "It's a little early but it's going fast." She knew first babies often took longer than future children but they had barely passed the nine hour mark and the contractions were closer together than she'd expected them after only a few hours.
The next contraction was just starting when the quiet knock came at their bedroom door frame and Joanne entered with a soft smile. They'd provided her a spare key last month so when the time came Emma wouldn't have to leave her wife's side to let the midwife in. She quietly set her bag and box of things down, leaving them in peace for the moment as she glanced at her watch. Emma had called her 15 minutes ago and she'd taken her time since there wasn't any real hurry quite yet.
She set up on the short long dresser that Regina used and had cleared away the top of, with a softly padded travel scale and a sterile piece of surgical cloth where she laid out the few tools she'd need or might need. She listened to her Queen's breathing as she went about her tasks, gauging her level of tiredness and also energy. The small woman seemed to be doing just fine, not that Joanne had ever had any doubts. The contraction tapered off just as Emma was reaching 78 in her count of seconds. "Very good Regina, it sounds like baby Swan-Mills is eager to join us out here." She smiled softly as the brunette relaxed back against the support pillows. "Cool wash cloth?" Regina nodded, her eyes closed and her breathing even and relaxed.
"Sorry babe, I should've -" Regina placed a single finger against her wife's lips.
"It's alright, darling." she pulled the finger away and smiled when Emma kissed it. "You are here with me, if I'd wanted a cool cloth before. I would've asked for it." She laced their hands together and kissed her wife's.
Joanne entered from the ensuite then and handed over a cool, damp wash cloth to Emma. "I'm just going to examine you real quick." She moved to her bag pulled a box of latex gloves from it as Emma gently wiped the cool cloth over her wife's face, neck and upper chest. The blonde doctor shifted a knee back and gently probed at swollen flesh as she focused on a point beside the bed as she relied on feeling to gauge her patient's internal progress. Regina buried her face into a strong shoulder as the feeling wasn't entirely comfortable. "Everything looks on track and good." Joanne announced as she stood from the bed and snapped her gloves off, depositing them into the red bio bag she'd removed and opened from the box. "You're fully effaced and at about 8 1/2 cm, it won't be long at the rate you're progressing. I expect you'll be holding your baby before 3." She grabbed the stack of towels from her box and moved to place them in the warmer in the ensuite.
Regina shifted again. "Lay behind me?" She made the request quietly. It was already in their birthing plan, that Regina wanted her wife behind her, offering her quiet strength and support through the active birth.
Emma laid the cloth aside and moved to shift some of the pillows away as she slipped behind her wife and surrounded her in loving, quiet support. Their hands laced together and lay against the heavy swell of their child as Regina relaxed back against her, eyes closed and content in the moment with the peace and quiet. Joanne returned and couldn't help the soft, emotional smile at the image the two made. She'd been present for a lot of births in Storybrooke, but these two really gave other couples something to strive for.
Another hour and a half passed quietly as Joanne left the expectant mothers in peace on the bed, reading a book she'd brought along, pausing to perform another exam and finding her Queen very nearly at 10cm and her contractions coming every 3 minutes, "It won't be much longer, when you feel the urge to push let me know. But don't push until I tell you." She snapped her gloves off, but didn't return to her seat on the chaise lounge. "How do you feel Regina?" She asked once the brunette nodded her understanding. "Tired? Dizzy? Light headed?"
Regina lay back against Emma, stroking over the strong forearms beside her. They'd shifted into a close approximation of the chosen birthing position. She was snuggled back against her wife's pelvis and Emma had strong hands resting on her hips, ready to lay on tanned thighs and give her wife the support to bare down. "Little tired, but otherwise I'm ok, feel a little foggy." she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.
"That's natural, your body is drawing all your focus to the birth, tunneling all your energy and focus on this and tuning out everything else, don't fight it." Joanne coached as she rubbed soothingly at a tanned knee.
Another four contractions passed and on the fifth Regina gave a small cry of pain. "Something's different." she gasped out, clutching tightly to strong forearms. "I want to push!"
A glance down and Joanne was snapping on a clean pair of gloves. "Baby is crowning, we've got blonde hair!" she'd been following the progress and knew this moment had been close. "Just breath through it, I need to make sure everything is clear and on the next contraction you'll need to push." She slipped two fingers inside and confirmed everything was safe and clear for what would be a, hopefully, easy delivery. "All clear my Queen, next contraction I want you to push." She adjusted Regina's legs back, opening her up and helping Emma take hold and have a secure grip.
Regina fell back against her wife panting, it had taken all she had to hold back her body's natural instincts. "We're done right?" She groaned as she asked, felt the pressure of her wife kissing her head. She felt a tight burning sensation stretching her, suddenly realizing exactly what this "ring of fire" thing was she'd been reading about in birthing books and blogs.
Joanne laughed. "Not quite, one little thing left to take care of." She took a few seconds to retrieve a couple of the warmed towels and lay them beside the laboring woman, ready to wrap around the baby ready to emerge.
Emma felt her wife tense and knew the next contraction was starting. "You've got this babe." She encouraged as Regina clamped her jaw shut and breath flared from her nose as she sat forward a little and bore down, focusing on her wife counting out seconds and Joanne encouraging her to push. Long second passed and the contraction eased as she lay back panting, brow furrowed and glistening in a light sheen of sweat from the effort. "Love you." she murmured out as she felt her wife kiss her sweaty temple.
"Love you too, beautiful." Emma husked as she kissed salty skin again, "You're doing so good."
Regina groaned as she gripped tightly to the strong forearms supporting her and took a deep breath as the next contraction started, she leaned forward again, focusing on the feather. Feeling Emma follow, offering her support, long pained seconds passed that felt like forever and then she gasped and released the focused breath she'd been holding as something popped and the intense pressure she'd been feeling lessoned, the contraction still fluttered weakly through her tightened abdomen but she forced herself to relax back at Joanne's coaching.
"Very good, Regina." Joanne used a towel to clear away birth matter from the tiny white head. "Your baby's head is out, should only be one more contraction." She gently held the tiny head and assisted the natural movement as the shoulders prepared to emerge. The next contraction started and she encouraged the brunette to push as she applied light pressure helping ease first one shoulder and then the other out. "That's it my Queen, one more big push!"
Regina groaned loudly as she gasped and drew in another deep breath, the ring of fire had nothing on this new stretch. She dug short nails into strong arms and with a sharp cry she bore down with everything she had, gasping as she felt her baby slip fully from inside her body on an audible gush of fluid.
Joanne laughed as she caught the infant as it suddenly slipped quickly from her Queen, a reaction she often felt during a birth at this moment. The adrenaline of the moment causing her joy every time. She performed the necessary actions as the two parents lay back, both panting.
Emma couldn't help the beaming smile on her face as she released her wife's thighs and wrapped her arms around her. "You did it! Our baby is here!" She placed a lingering, loving kiss to damp hair.
Regina smiled tiredly as her body relaxed more than it had in hours, a sharp cry rang out and her eyes opened as the tiny squirming; naked infant was placed on her distended and swollen belly. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she held the baby close, laughing happily when flailing hands gripped the finger Emma held out. "So beautiful." Regina husked out as she wiped tears away with one hand.
"Do you want to try and nurse?" Joanne interrupted after a minute had passed, their birth plan was to try nursing right away, it tended to help with placental birth and they were waiting to cut the umbilical cord until it had emerged.
Regina nodded and with Emma supporting the baby's head and she her heavy breast, they guided the small; wrinkly baby to her nipple and after a few seconds of trial and error the baby latched on. Regina gasped at the entirely new sensation and her eyes dilated with the flood of maternal hormones. The small infant suckled contentedly, tiny eyes finally slipping open and both women smiled down at dark eyes, they'd change before settling into a color. But the wispy blonde hair and dark eyes hinted at a beautiful mix of the two mothers. Regina grimaced then as a soft contraction moved through her.
"It's alright," Joanne soothed as she examined her Queen, "It's just the placenta, remember not to push, let the contractions naturally expel it. There was no tearing, you did very good with your exercises and the perennial massages. This should be pretty easy." She gently helped the process along, tenderly palpating Regina's lower abdomen until the final birth matter slipped free. Tiny belly full, the baby released from her nipple and gave a tiny mewling cry from milk coated lips.
"Let's cut the cord and then see if we can't get a burp from the little cutie." Joanne smiled at the image of the happy family. She efficiently clamped off the cord in two places about two inches from the infants rounded belly and an inch apart. She offered the the small surgical scissors to Emma who quickly severed the connection before placing a soft kiss to her wife's temple. Joanne secured the hard plastic umbilical clamp between the metal clamp and the baby, they'd already been over the process explanation days before.
Joanne gently used a sterile wipe to clean Regina of fluids, she finished and snapped off her gloves. "May I?" The OBGYN held out her arms after she'd gathered up the bio waste in a towel and deposited it into the red bag. She took the squirming baby to the dresser and laid it gently on the scale, recording the weight as she measured the length with a cloth tape measure. She could feel the watchful eyes behind her following her every movement. "6 pounds, 12 ounces, 21 inches long." She announced as she wiped away the remaining birth matter and swaddled the tiny baby in a warm towel. She raised the baby to her shoulder and lightly rubbed at it's back, it didn't take long for the quiet expelling gas to clear the excess air from a tiny stomach. "Very good, little one." She cooed and smiled at the softly yawning infant as she placed it back on Regina's chest. She shook out a sheet and draped it over the two women and baby.
The blonde doctor pulled the birth certificate form from her bag, leaving the couple to coo and bond with the tiny blonde baby. "Born at 2:33 pm on March 17th, 6 pounds 12 ounces and 21 inches." She looked up and smiled at the happy couple. "Do we have a name?"
Regina smiled, turning her head to look up at her wife who still sat behind her, holding them both. "Emily Snow Swan-Mills." She husked just before kissing her wife in a happy, loving and tender kiss.
Joanne smiled. "Beautiful name," She declared, adding the last bit of information to the form.
"I love you so much, Emma." Regina whispered as their newborn daughter slumbered peacefully in their arms.
Emma smiled back, the feeling of euphoric happiness filling her heart and soul. "Now and always, My Queen." she met her wife for another soft kiss before the brunette settled back against her chest and yawned.