A/N: Moving right along...time to find out what happened after the big coming out, and what's next. This ended up being much longer than I intended, but there's a lot of ground to cover and there was no logical place to divide it in half since it all centers around the same theme, so enjoy a longer-than-average update :)
Sunday, May 6, 7:45pm.
As Regina sat patiently at baggage claim waiting for her luggage to appear on the carousel, she was silently cursing herself. She usually tried to stick with only a carry-on suitcase so she could avoid the wait and the potential for paparazzi (or overzealous fans) that frequently loitered at baggage claim. She had learned her lesson early in the second season of Frozen Mirror, around the time when fans of the show started tracking her comings and goings, that waiting in baggage claim after flying home from filming in Nova Scotia was a bad idea — local fans would see her tweet that she was flying back to Montréal for the weekend, or they would see other fans post airport pictures of her in Halifax, and she would inevitably have a welcoming committee upon arriving to baggage claim in Montréal. Robin used to come meet her when he would pick her up to help get her to the car safely, but they quickly learned that made it worse. People loved seeing them together, so his presence often caused more of a commotion than if she had been by herself. It was better if she just waved, signed a few autographs and took a few selfies, and then hurried her way to the car with an escort from airport security, if needed. But it was even better if she could avoid baggage claim all together, which is why she had taken to buying two sets of clothes, leaving half at her home in Halifax and half at the apartment in Montreal. That way, she could get by with just her laptop, a book, and a few essentials in a small weekender bag. That method usually let her get from the arrival gate to her awaiting car in under 10 minutes, entirely bypassing the hordes of waiting fans and media cameras.
But returning from a 10-day convention tour in Europe meant it wasn't possible to pack quite that lightly, so there she was waiting at baggage claim at nearly eight o'clock that Sunday night after spending the better part of eight hours on a flight from Paris. The jet lag was already killing her, as her body was still on Parisian time where it would have been two in the morning. At least she could go home and go straight to bed. She looked forward to sleeping for the next 10 to 12 hours and prayed that she would readjust quickly. She of course missed Emma terribly, but truth be told, in that moment, she missed sleeping more. Reconnecting physically with Emma could wait until the next day after she had gotten some sleep. She was also grateful that because she was returning from an international flight, she was still in a secured part of the airport, as she still had to go through customs after picking up her checked bags. So, the only people to take photographs of her while she waited were other travelers who were also returning from flights abroad, and most of them seemed more focused on trying to stay awake than on the television star sitting on a bench next to them. And she hoped that at that time of the night, there wouldn't be too many people waiting outside in the public areas for her once she made it through customs and the security checkpoint.
She felt her phone vibrate in her hand and looked down to see who was texting her. She knew it wasn't Emma, as she had called Emma when she landed and the blonde had said she would leave for the airport so she could pick her up. Not enough time had passed for Emma to be texting her to say that she waiting out front. She saw Robin's name and slid her finger across the notification to read the text: Can you please call me when you land? I need a favor. It's urgent.
She felt a moment of panic, hoping that something hadn't happened with Roland or Henry. She quickly called him, her heart beating faster with every ring until she heard his voice say, "Regina?"
"What's going on, Robin?"
"I need a favor, and I'm desperate."
"Okay…"
"Gwen has come down with the Chicken Pox. We think one of her nieces or nephews must have been in the early stages of it when we went to a birthday party earlier this week. Roland and Henry have already had it, so they're not a concern, but…"
"The baby," Regina finished his thought for him.
"Yeah. The doctor said that since Gwen hasn't had it until now, Jessie wouldn't have any antibodies to protect her. If she does get it, it would probably be pretty mild, but she's so young we don't want to take any chances. We need to keep her out of the house until Gwen is no longer contagious."
"Robin…" Regina cautioned, knowing where the conversation was heading.
"I know you haven't seen Emma in a while and these will be your first few days together, but would you please be able to help us out for the next five days or so? Just until she's not contagious. You know I wouldn't ask this of you unless it was an emergency, but there's no one else we trust with her available. Gwen's parents are extremely busy with a major event at their campgrounds, and mine are on vacation in Sussex. Who else better to keep her for a few days than her Godmother?"
"You do realize that neither Emma nor I have ever been around infants for more than a few hours at a time? We don't know what we're doing," Regina pointed out.
"I trust you, Regina. You're a natural mother. And I'll give you everything you need, and if anything happens or you have questions, I'm still around. I just don't want to take the baby and go to a hotel or whatever for five days. This is hitting her hard…she's miserable and can barely get out of bed, so I don't want to leave her alone like this, especially since she's still recovering from everything that happened," he said. Gwen had a rough time during the childbirth process, and it resulted in an unexpected hysterectomy due to some complications. She had only just recovered from the physical trauma a week or two earlier, but was still processing the emotional effects of the procedure.
"Do you need me to take the boys so you don't need to worry about them getting into trouble?"
"If you want to you can, but they should be fine. They still have school so they'll be gone during the day anyway, and they can keep themselves busy at night. And I figured asking you to take my two-month old infant for nearly a week would be more than enough chaos to bring into your life on your first day back from Europe. Welcome home, by the way."
She rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see her. "Yeah, thanks."
"So…?"
Regina sighed. She knew she should run it by Emma, but she also knew that Robin wouldn't ask her if he had any other options. And admittedly, she hadn't had a chance to spend nearly as much time with her Goddaughter as she would have liked. "Okay, we can take her. But, I'll need to find a sitter during Emma's show on Thursday night. I'm not missing her opening night again."
"That's not a problem. I can come over and watch her while you're out for a few hours that night. Hopefully by then Gwen will be feeling substantially better anyway, and if she's not, I can ask Henry to keep an eye on her for me."
Regina saw her suitcase appear on the baggage carousel, so she quickly got up and grabbed it. "Sounds good. I have to go through customs so I gotta run. I'll see you in a bit."
"Thank you, Regina. You're a lifesaver. I owe you one."
"I suppose you do. I'll be sure to remember that."
She cleared customs quickly and saw a text from Emma saying that the blonde was waiting in the loading zone out front. Regina smiled and made her way toward the front of the airport, managing to get through unnoticed.
"Nice car," Regina laughed as she slid into the front seat of her Mercedes after dropping her suitcase in the trunk. She leaned across the center console and quickly kissed Emma.
"Well, I figured my Bug would be a bit obvious," Emma commented when her lips were free again. "I didn't think you'd mind."
"I don't," she laughed, and Emma had a point. After announcing their relationship a few weeks earlier, the blonde had developed a bit of a following throughout Montréal. Her open dance classes were even more highly attended by fans — they knew they wouldn't meet Regina at a class, but they could meet her confirmed girlfriend, and that was the next best thing. The added attention on the blonde also meant that people recognized her bright yellow Volkswagen after seeing her running errands in it around town. Regina's black classic 1980's Mercedes was just as unique, but a little less conspicuous, especially in the dark of night.
"Ready to go home?" Emma asked as she exited the loading zone and pulled out into traffic.
"Yes…but we have a quick detour we have to make on the way."
"Do you want kids?" Regina asked as she played with Jessie on the floor of the living room. It was Wednesday night, three full days into their temporarily adventure into parenting an infant. Aside from a startling 3am screaming fest the first night, which Emma had gratefully handled since Regina was too jetlagged to comprehend what was happening, things had been going surprisingly well.
Emma had just walked into the living room and sat down on the couch with a bowl of reheated macaroni and cheese. She paused with the fork halfway to her mouth as her jaw dropped, not expecting that question to come out of her girlfriend's mouth. She had only returned from her dress rehearsal five minutes earlier, and except for a quick kiss and a "hello," she and Regina hadn't even spoken yet. Emma had made a beeline straight for the refrigerator, focused on getting something to eat after a long day of rehearsing for her performance the following night.
Regina chuckled when she saw the expression on the blonde's face. "Sorry to blurt it out like that," she said. "It just popped into my head."
"No, it's fine," Emma said, putting the fork back in the dish and setting the bowl down to rest in her lap. "To be honest, I haven't really thought much about it. I've never had that burning desire to be pregnant and have a child, and you're my first real relationship, so it hasn't come up before. But, I like kids. I kind of always thought if I decided to have kids I would adopt, or at least wait until I'm done with my performance career if I wanted to get pregnant," she shrugged. When she heard Regina hum in response, she turned the question around. "What about you? Do you want kids, besides Roland and Henry?"
The brunette smiled down at the baby in her lap as the infant let out a little gurgling noise. "I always wanted kids, but I didn't think it would happen for me…I never thought I would get married or have kids, which is why I was so happy to take on that role for Henry and Roland. I gave up on the idea of being pregnant a long time ago. When I was with Robin, I knew it wouldn't happen, because bringing another child into that fucked up world we created would have made things even more complicated. Plus, he had already had a vasectomy, so he clearly wasn't planning on having more kids," Regina chuckled as she looked down at the baby in her lap, evidence that not all vasectomies are 100 percent effective. "Co-parenting older kids was one thing, but raising a baby as just friends who were pretending to be in love seemed like it'd be a bit much. And even if I had wanted to, the timing wasn't right with the show and all the cons I was signed up to do all the time. It's selfish, but I didn't want to give that up back then."
"But…" Emma pressed, knowing Regina had cut herself off mid-thought.
Regina sighed. "But, after seeing Gwen go through it, and Mary-Margaret and David with their brood they've created since Frozen Mirror started…well, I can't say I'm not thinking about it. But, I'm getting older, so if I were going to try to get pregnant I would need to do it soon while I still can…"
Emma nodded, processing the information. "I see."
"I haven't decided anything yet…I'm really just in the beginning phases of thinking about it," Regina continued, sensing Emma's trepidation. "I guess I just wanted to see what your general thoughts were on the subject. We've never really talked about it before, and it would be good to know, you know?"
"You're right. We haven't," Emma said, glancing over at her bowl of pasta that she had desperately been looking forward to throughout her rehearsal all day, but her nerves were getting the best of her and killing her appetite. "We probably should do that."
"We don't have to right now. I didn't mean to spring this on you, and I really don't want you to freak out about it."
"I'm not freaking out," Emma said a little too quickly.
Regina quirked a brow before she continued her train of thought. "…But, it's been on my mind."
"I'm glad you brought it up, then. It's definitely an important conversation to have."
"Yep," Regina agreed, turning her attention back Jessie, picking up a stuffed toy and bopping the baby on the nose with it until she giggled. "And while we're on the topic of serious and potentially life-altering conversations…" Regina continued, shifting her position on the floor to directly face Emma. "There's something else we really do need to talk about now."
"Okay," Emma said, growing even more nervous.
"Well, you know how everything played out with my contract," Regina started.
"Of course," Emma said sympathetically. Despite Regina's insistence that she was feeling good about her decision, Emma knew it still had to be hard for her, even if she wouldn't admit it out loud.
After Regina had released her "coming out" dance film with Emma, she had nine missed calls, texts, and voicemails from Gold in the immediate afterhours of the video going live. None of the messages from him were pleasant, so she knew her fate. A few days later he called Regina and demanded her presence at the Montréal satellite office of the production company the day before she was scheduled to leave for Europe. He was planning to rescind her offer for a renewed contract on the grounds that she violated the terms of the contract, even prior to signing it. But, she had expected him to do something like that when she got called in for a meeting, so she quit on the spot instead. Immediately upon opening the door to the conference room she had said, Fuck off. I'm done, before he even had the chance to withdraw the offer. It wasn't her finest professional moment, but it was cathartic. And that way, she was still able to say that it was her decision to leave, rather than the studio firing her, which could have potentially made it harder for her to get another job in the future. But, she kept a photocopy of the contract with the ridiculous demands about her personal life, just in case she ever needed to make that information public. She didn't want to cause a scandal, especially since she was still friends with the remaining cast and crew and releasing the truth of the contract would jeopardize their livelihoods. But, she needed it in her back pocket, just in case Gold did anything stupid that would impact her own chance of making a living in the industry. Other than the messy way it ended, she was surprisingly okay with saying goodbye to the show. She was still allowed to do the remaining conventions for the year, as she had already signed contracts with the companies, and many were put on by third parties not officially affiliated with the show. Those events would give her the opportunity to have a little farewell tour of her own, since she knew she would no longer be welcome at conventions in upcoming seasons, if Gold had anything to say about it.
Regina quickly continued. "Well, I don't have anything lined up yet, obviously, so it makes sense for me to move back to Montréal. You're here, the kids are here, and I love it here."
Emma smiled. "I figured you would."
"Well," Regina said awkwardly. "Would you be okay with me living here? At least temporarily while I see what's next."
"Duh. Where else would you live?" Emma chuckled. "This is your place."
"Technically, yeah. But you're officially leasing it through October, so it's not really mine at the moment. It's your home right now, and I don't want to encroach on your territory, so it's your call. I didn't want to make the assumption that you'd want to live together full-time for the next five months. We haven't really talked about that, either, and we haven't been together that long, and depending on where we see this going in the future—"
"Regina," Emma cut her off. "I love you, and I love having you here. It would be stupid for you to live anywhere else. We may have had an atypical start to our relationship and haven't been able to see each other consistently, but when we do, we're basically together 24/7. Frankly, it'd be weird to have you living in this city but not with me. I like having you around," she smiled.
"Okay, good," Regina let out a relieved breath. "But seriously, if anything changes, please tell me. I won't be offended, and I don't want our relationship to be put at risk if it turns out we're not as ready for this as we think we are, especially since people will ultimately realize that we're living together, so even more attention will be on you."
"I promise I'll tell you if you start to annoy me," Emma said, rolling her eyes.
Regina felt Killian's hand on her back as he guided her forward. She quietly slipped through the curtains draping the box seats on the side of the theater and sat down. "Thank you," she whispered to him as they got settled in their cozy reserved seats.
"You're welcome," he replied. "Emma wasn't kidding…a crowd really does follow you wherever you go."
Regina frowned slightly, the weight of his words hitting her. She hoped that the intense scrutiny wasn't getting to the blonde. "Yeah," she sighed, half-heartedly thumbing through the program in her hands and thankful that the house lights had dimmed a little in preparation for the start of the performance, hopefully shielding the pair from prying eyes in the seats below. There were still a few minutes to go, but the theater was quickly filling up, and Regina could bet that the audience members sitting in the front rows could hear the dancers warming up on stage behind the heavy black velour curtain that masked them from view. "But at least that means it's a full house tonight."
Now that her relationship with Emma was public knowledge, and knowing that Regina was back in Montréal since she was no longer filming, her fans had correctly assumed that she would be attending Emma's performance. Not surprisingly, upon arriving to the theater Regina and Killian were met with a large crowd of diehard Frozen Mirror fans, both outside the theater (for the fans who couldn't get tickets to the sold-out performance) and inside the lobby. Regina had anticipated that would be the case and was thankful that Emma had been able to secure private seats at the side of the theater, which meant that once inside the auditorium, she could avoid interruptions from the rest of the audience. She had also intentionally arrived only 10 minutes before the performance was scheduled to begin, minimizing the opportunity for fans to flock her.
"True," Killian nodded. "Emma said they sold out every show." Killian had flown in from Maine earlier in the day to come see his best friend's opening night, and he had offered to escort Regina and serve as her ad hoc bodyguard. He had proven himself to be quite valuable, running interference as he whisked Regina straight to their seats, preventing anyone from latching onto her. A few had managed to take photos of her as they walked past, but given the carefully planned time constraints before the start of the show, she had declined requests for selfies, saying maybe after the show, knowing full well that they were planning to sneak out a side exit to avoid the masses.
Regina smiled at Killian as she turned her attention back to the program, attempting to focus on the biographies of the company dancers. She had only met Lily, so she was curious about the other people Emma worked with every day. She finished flipping through the program just as the house lights faded to black and the curtain separating the stage from the audience began to rise.
*.*.*
"Breathtaking," Regina whispered to herself as the last piece ended and the stage lights dimmed. "Absolutely breathtaking," she repeated as she loudly applauded.
Killian smiled at her, noticing the tears running down her cheeks. The final piece had featured Emma's pas-de-trois, which she danced with Lily and one of the men from the company, and Regina had clearly been moved by it. He had only met Regina a few times, but after watching them dance together when they were filming their contest entry the previous month, and observing Regina's reaction to Emma's performance on stage, he could see the love the brunette had for his best friend. He was happy Emma finally had someone like that in her life. "Come on," he whispered to her, lightly grabbing her wrist as she continued to clap. "Let's get out of here."
"They haven't taken their bows yet," Regina protested.
"I know, but as soon as they do, the lights will go back up in here and people will start trying to find you. Let's get to a secluded spot before that happens," he urged her. "When they see that you're no longer in your seat, they'll assume you snuck out early to avoid the crowds. Maybe by the time you're ready to leave, everyone will have cleared out and won't be waiting for you."
Regina hesitated, but quickly grabbed her clutch and followed him out of the box seats and down a side hallway away from the lobby. "Where are we going?"
"Backstage…or as close as we can get," he said, navigating the halls. Fortunately, he knew his way around, as he had danced in that theater several times on tour during his years with the American Ballet Theatre.
He led them to a locked door and paused, causing Regina to frown when she saw the keypad on the door and no theater personnel in sight to open it. "What now, Sherlock?"
"Hang on," he rolled his eyes as he dug in his suit pocket to pull out his phone. "Ah, here we go." He glanced at the screen and then quickly typed in a code. "Voila," he said, pulling open the door. "After you."
"Impressive," she said.
"Not really. Lily texted me the code earlier when I asked. We both figured you might need a hiding spot."
Regina laughed as they walked through the narrow, dimly lit hallways, Killian telling her which way to go from where he trailed behind her. She tried not to trip in her tall heels, which echoed loudly with each step she took on the tile floor.
"Ah, here we are," he said, finding the door to the green room.
"Are we allowed in there?" Regina asked as she heard thunderous applause coming through the monitor on the ceiling. The small device allowed the performers lingering in the area to know what was happening on stage so they wouldn't miss their cues.
"It's fine," he said, opening the door.
The room was empty, aside from a physical therapist who was sitting on her plinth with several bags of ice, waiting for the dancers to return. She barely acknowledged the intrusion, likely recognizing Regina as Emma's girlfriend. She smiled politely at the pair before returning her attention to preparing the dancer's post-show aftercare necessities.
Regina looked around the space, but didn't have too much time to take it in before the dancers returned. Most hurried straight through the green room to get to their designated dressing rooms, which were located off the back of the green room. A few stopped to pick up bags of ice along the way, while one dancer, who Regina recognized as the guy from Emma's pas-de-trois, hopped up on the physical therapist's table and asked politely for some help with his shoulder.
"I see you made it back here okay," Lily said to the pair as she burst into the room, a smile on her face.
"We did, thank you," Killian nodded.
"Congratulations on a beautiful show, Lily," Regina said as she hugged the woman.
"Thanks," she smiled.
Regina continued chatting with her about one of the pieces Lily had choreographed as Emma bounced into the room. The blonde was usually on the introverted side, but performing energized her. "Killian!" she shouted, spotting the tall man first.
"Hey there, Swan. Lovely job as always," he said, running over to her and picking her up, twirling around with her before setting her feet back on the floor.
"Thank you," she chuckled as she found her footing, her eyes seeking out the other brunette she really wanted to see. When she saw her talking to Lily, she quickly walked over, sneaking up behind her and wrapping her arms around her waist. "Hi," she whispered as Regina jumped in surprise. "Thank you for the flowers you sent before the show. They're gorgeous."
"Hi," she said as she turned around, leaning in for a quick kiss. She smiled at the thought that they could now do that in front of Emma's fellow dancers and not have to hide. "And you're welcome. You were amazing, Emma. Truly stunning. The whole show was beautiful."
The blonde blushed as she brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ears. On her walk back from the stage, she had started to take out the bobbypins securing her bun in place, and her hair was quickly coming undone. "Thanks. I'm so glad you were able to be here tonight."
"I wouldn't miss it," Regina replied, trying not to let the guilt of missing Emma's previous opening night several months before eat away at her. She still hated Robert Gold for deliberately messing with her filming schedule so she wouldn't be able to be there.
"Should we all go get a drink?" Killian asked the three women a little while later. He and Regina had continued chatting with Emma, while Lily had excused herself to quickly change out of her costume. She returned a few minutes later dressed in a long black dress, just as the dancers started clearing out of the space to go meet their friends and family in the lobby.
"Ugh, I'd love to, but I have to stick around and schmooze with the board members and donors at the opening night reception," Lily said, adding a mumbled "You know how it is," to Killian and Emma.
The friends both nodded, knowing full well that it was a necessary evil for anyone running a non-profit organization.
"But, I can meet you at the bar later, if you guys are still there?" Lily offered.
"Actually," Regina interjected, "I was kind of hoping I could take you out to dinner," she said, turning to Emma. "And not at one of Robin's restaurants this time, although he'll probably be pissed I'm giving patronage to one of his competitors. A real date…no hiding."
"I'd love that," Emma smiled.
"Well, in that case, Killian, do you want to come join me at the reception? Free food and an open bar, and you might be able to find some donors for your company while we're at it," Lily suggested.
"I'm not one to say no to a free glass of rum. Have a good night, ladies," he winked at Emma and Regina. They watched him offer his arm to Lily and escort her out of the green room, heading back through the theater and toward the lobby.
"Umm….do you think there's something going on there?" Regina asked Emma.
"God, I hope not. That would be super awkward for me," she chuckled.
"So, dinner? I took the liberty of making reservations at St. Clair's," Regina stated.
"Oh, is that the new French-Italian fusion place?"
"It is. I know you like to load up on carbs after performances."
"Yes, please," she smiled, stealing another kiss from Regina. "Just give me a second to get changed," Emma quickly motioned for Regina to follow her into the women's dressing room, which was completely vacant. She finished taking out her bun and finger combed her hair before pulling it into a low ponytail. After staring at her makeup bag for a few seconds, she decided to keep her makeup as it already was, knowing it would take too long to remove the stage makeup and then reapply a lighter look. She quickly removed her costume, changing into the little black dress she had brought with her, just in case Lily demanded that she make an appearance at the reception. She picked up the bouquet of red and yellow tulips that Regina had sent her earlier in the afternoon for good luck. It was the same floral arrangement Regina had surprised her with before her performance back in Portland just a day after they first met. She smiled at the memory. "Okay, ready."
"You're really the master of the quick change," Regina laughed as she took her hand.
"I kind of have to be in this line of work. My record is under 30 seconds for a complete changeover, including tights. At least now I don't have to work around pointe shoes."
Emma led them to the stage door, poking her head out to make sure the coast was clear. She signaled the security guard who nodded his head and quietly spoke into his walkie talkie. Moments later, a valet brought the yellow Volkswagen Beetle to the alley. "Thank you," she said, slipping him an extra tip for bringing her car to the side exit.
*.*.*
Regina looked over from her spot in the driver's seat at her sleeping girlfriend. Despite Emma's protests that she was "just fine," Regina had demanded that she be the one to drive them home after dinner. Emma had only had one glass of wine, but that combined with the mountain of pasta she consumed during dinner, the exhaustion from dancing all week, and the adrenaline rush from opening night inevitably wearing off, Regina didn't trust that the blonde would make it home. "'Just fine' my ass," Regina chuckled under her breath as she drove toward their neighborhood. She frowned as the Bug stalled slightly, but she managed to keep it going as she continued down the road. She wasn't a novice when it came to manual transmission, but Emma's beloved yellow car had seen better days. She couldn't help but wonder if the blonde would let her replace it for her — maybe a yellow Beetle that had been built within the last decade would be a good start. She knew Emma didn't want her paying the way for her, as the blonde already seemed less than comfortable not paying real rent while living at Regina's apartment. But, the reality of their situation was that while Emma could get by on her meager salary from the company, teaching classes, and bartending at Locksley Bistro, even without Regina giving her a nearly free place to stay, Regina did make substantially more money than Emma did. Even though Regina was technically unemployed and had nothing lined up in terms of future roles, she still had three more convention appearances in the coming summer months and made more money in one day at a convention than Emma would expect to make over the course of two or three years. Regina mentally added that to the ever-growing list of awkward conversations they would need to have in the near future. Regina had no problem with Emma making less money than she did, especially since the only way someone would make more than she did is if she dated another actor…even Robin made less than half of what Regina did in a year. She just hoped it wouldn't become an issue for Emma as their relationship progressed.
She quickly shook those thoughts from her mind and focused on the road ahead of her as she turned onto their street. They had enjoyed a quiet dinner at a candlelit table earlier that evening, and both women were happy that they didn't have to hide their affections for each other anymore. They weren't overly affectionate, as neither Emma nor Regina were huge fans of overt PDA, but Regina appreciated that she could hold Emma's hand or kiss her cheek without a hundred people taking out their phones to gossip about it online and speculate what it meant. Instead, they only had a few of the typical curious looks and double takes that she had become accustomed to when people recognized her in public, along with a few eyebrow raises that she expected any same-sex couple might have to deal with anyway.
As she pulled into the detached garage behind the rowhouse that housed her apartment, she once again looked over at Emma, who was still slumbering soundly. She almost felt bad that she needed to disturb her so they could head inside. She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over the center console, gently nudging the blonde's shoulder. "Emma," she said quietly. "Wake up, dear. We're home."
"Mmm," Emma mumbled noncommittally before burrowing her head deeper into the headrest.
"Emma," Regina said a little more forcefully. When that didn't work, she opened the door so that the overhead light would come on. "Wakey, wakey, Swan," said at a loud volume. She was tempted to honk the horrendous horn, but didn't want to disturb all their neighbors, as it was after 11pm on a weeknight.
"What?" Emma was startled awake, blinking open her eyes and squinting at the bright light.
Regina laughed at the confused look on her face. "We're home. Let's go inside and then you can go right back to sleep."
"Mmkay," she said, forcing herself out of the car. She reached into the backseat to pick up the tulip bouquet Regina had given her, wanting to get those into water so they wouldn't die prematurely.
There was a chilly bite in the air as they made their way from the garage to the back door of the building, and it was enough to give Emma a bit of a second wind…at least enough to walk up the flight of stairs to the second-floor apartment. "We're back," Regina announced as she opened the door.
"How was it?" Robin asked from his spot on the couch. He had a beer in his hand and his socked feet resting on the coffee table.
"Amazing," Regina smiled before smirking. "You're making yourself right at home, I see," she teased.
"I've been taking care of a very sick Gwen and Roland has decided that he no longer wants to eat meat, so he's refused to eat almost anything I've cooked. And he accidentally broke Henry's Xbox controller, so they've been fighting. It's been a trying week. Babysitting my own infant tonight was actually a nice, relaxing break from it all."
"Well, we do have a guest room if you want to crash here," Emma offered as she took her flowers into the kitchen to find a vase.
"Thanks for the invitation, but I should be heading home. I'm not sure leaving Henry and Roland with only an ill Gwen to make sure they don't kill each other was the best parenting call anyway," he said, standing from the couch and stretching.
"Is she feeling better, at least?" Regina asked.
"Yeah, a bit. She hasn't had any new pox dots in the past day or so, and her fever is coming down. She's mostly just itchy and still really tired."
"Well, I hope she feels better soon. Do you still think she'll be well enough to take Jessie back on Saturday or do you need us to keep her another day?" Regina inquired. Truth be told, she enjoyed having the baby girl in the house.
"Gwen shouldn't be contagious by then, so I'm still planning on coming by Saturday morning. Gwen misses Jessie like crazy, so I'm sure seeing her will make her feel a hundred times better."
"I'm sure it will," Regina nodded. "But, we're here if you need us."
Robin quickly ducked into the guest bedroom to give his baby daughter a quick kiss goodnight before returning to the foyer to put on his jacket and shoes. "Thank you again, both of you, for watching her this week," he said when Emma re-entered the living room.
"Our pleasure," Regina smiled.
"She's a great kid. We're happy to help," Emma added.
Robin gave them each a quick kiss on the cheek before bidding them goodnight.
After Regina closed the door behind Robin, she turned to face her girlfriend. "I know I already said this, but I can't get over it. You were absolutely stunning tonight, Emma," she said. "You're remarkable to watch. Inspiring."
"Thank you. And thank you for being there tonight. It means the world to me."
"There's no place I'd rather be," Regina replied, slowly approaching her girlfriend and leaning into her. Their lips had barely met when they heard the screaming wails of the infant in the guest room.
They both chuckled at the interruption, and Regina quickly excused herself to handle it. "I'll go check on her."
"Do you want help?"
"No, I've got it. She probably just needs to be changed or threw her stuffed bear across the room again and wants it back. Why don't you go draw yourself a nice bath and relax? You still have three more shows left to do this weekend and I know you're exhausted."
"That sounds heavenly," Emma nodded as she started walking toward the master bedroom. "Will you come join me when you're done with Jessie?"
Regina sent her a smirk. "Oh, absolutely."
A/N: Next up: flash forward a few weeks to June and the ladies head back to New England Comic-Con, which happens to be the one-year anniversary of when they first met...I have the next few chapters fully sketched out (but not completely written), so I'm guessing it'll be about 2 weeks for the next update.