A/N: My apologies for not getting two chapters up this week, but hopefully this longer chapter is worth the wait (plus, if you're reading Moments in Time, you got two updates to that fic for Memorial Day instead of the single update I had planned). We're jumping forward a little more than 3 weeks from the last chapter in this one. Also, I love all the predictions about what impact Paige and her family might have on the women. So far, no one has guessed correctly, but some of you are close-ish ;)

I hope you enjoy this one!

Wednesday, November 7, 7am

Emma walked into the kitchen with her hair sitting in a perfect bun at the crown of her head, shrugging on a zip-up sweatshirt over her leotard as she headed straight for the coffee maker. She quickly grabbed some grounds and started prepping her morning dose of caffeine.

"Sorry I didn't make any this morning," Regina mumbled from where she was sitting at the island, nursing a cup of herbal tea, nibbling on some toast, and massaging her temples.

"You're not drinking it anymore, so while I'm grateful for your thoughtfulness, you don't need to feel obligated to make me coffee in the morning," Emma commented as she waited for the beverage to brew. Things had gone well with Emma's fertility treatment and egg donation, and Dr. Whale had been able to use Killian's sperm donation to create four very promising embryos, and they froze the rest of his donation in case Emma wanted to try artificial insemination herself in the future. About two weeks earlier, Regina had undergone their first attempt at IVF, where Dr. Whale had transferred one embryo into Regina during the procedure and froze the remaining three in case they needed to try IVF again. They had agreed that those four would be their only attempts, as Regina refused to let Emma go through more than one fertility treatment due to Emma's family history of ovarian cancer. The women had an appointment scheduled for the following Monday morning to find out if it the IVF was successful. In the meantime, Regina had cut out coffee immediately after the procedure, just in case. It had been a hard adjustment, but the health of her potential baby and a viable, healthy pregnancy were more important. She still made coffee in the morning for Emma, mostly out of habit, while she brewed a weakened lightly caffeinated tea for herself that Whale had insisted wouldn't be a risk to a possible pregnancy and would help lessen her caffeine withdrawal symptoms.

"I know. But I still like to do it for you. And the smell of coffee helps wake me up, even if I can't drink it," Regina said, smiling half-heartedly at Emma as she toyed with the teabag's paper label hanging over the edge of her mug.

"Hey, are you okay?" Emma asked, concern evident in her voice as she grabbed a ceramic mug for herself and poured herself a cup of coffee. As she moved to sit down next to Regina, her eyes drifted to the teabag label Regina still had in her hands. "That's not your usual," she noted.

"I know. I didn't want the caffeine today because I'm already feeling nervous, so I didn't want the added jitters to make me more nauseous than I already am. I thought this might help," she explained, gesturing to the peppermint ginger tea. "Not having any caffeine this morning is giving me a major headache, though."

Emma reached over to gently massage the base of Regina's neck, hoping that might help with the headache. Then, she raised a brow. "Wait, you're nauseous? Do you think—"

"No," Regina shook her head. "It's too early for this to be that. I'm just anxious about today." It was Regina's first day filming the pilot for her cooking competition show. It had been nearly eight months since she was last on set for a television show, so she had some first-day butterflies in her stomach.

Emma eyed her suspiciously, nonetheless.

"Seriously, Emma, it's just nerves. I felt this way the day before shooting the pilot for Frozen Mirror, too. I didn't eat for a good 24 hours ahead of the first shooting day because I was convinced I would puke if I did. Please don't overthink this. Not yet, anyway," Regina said, her eyes pleading with Emma.

"Okay. You know your body better than I do," Emma conceded.

"Well, I don't know about that," Regina smirked, unable to resist.

"Touché," Emma laughed. "So, aside from being nervous, how are you feeling about going in to film today? Are you guys ready?"

"It's exciting. We found two really interesting contestants and great professionals to be their teammates for the demo episode. We're filming the actual cooking challenge today, and then tomorrow and Friday we'll get the behind-the-scenes interviews and histories on the contestants. Fortunately, they won't need me for very long those days, since the host doesn't need to be on screen for most of it."

"You're going to be amazing, Regina," Emma smiled. "I really hope this works and gets picked up."

"Me too," Regina said, blowing on her tea to help cool it down. "It'll be so different from acting on camera, but it's new and exciting. The schedule would be perfect, and it really sounds like a great opportunity for the contestants, too. Everyone loves cooking shows, so I think it has potential."

"And everyone loves you," Emma reminded her, nudging her shoulder. "Your fans miss you. They'll be excited to see you on screen again."

It was true. Frozen Mirror's ninth season had premiered two weeks earlier to lower ratings than expected, and fans were still posting on social media about how much they missed seeing Regina's "Queen of the Damned" character on their television, as well as the others who had exited the show at the end of last season. Several fans had even started a petition to bring her back. She appreciated the support, but it was futile. Gold would never cave, and truthfully, Regina wasn't sure if she would want to go back, even if she were to be offered a contract without the ridiculous stipulations about her personal life. She was excited about the prospects and creative challenges of her new project, and after being part of the music video filming experience as a result of their contest entry, she really wanted to explore new creative avenues. She had an amazing time helping with the direction of the video, and she had learned so much from the seasoned professional director on set. She was even thinking she might completely take a break from auditioning for a bit, not only to hopefully have a baby, but to really give herself time to think about what was next in her career. The more she thought about it, the less appealing acting felt to her.

"Do you have a busy day today?" Regina asked, changing the subject.

"Not particularly…just our usual company class and rehearsal later this morning and this afternoon, then a short break, and then I'm teaching a private lesson for Paige. I should be home by 5:30 or so."

"Paige is still doing private lessons?" Regina asked, surprised. Emma had told her that the young girl decided against having an abortion and was planning on going through with the pregnancy.

"Yeah, she's still only like 10 weeks along, so she's not showing, and she doesn't have any restrictions yet. She still hasn't told her parents, and she's not sure what she's going to do long-term, but she still has some time to decide. She told me she wants to keep dancing as long as she can though."

Regina considered it. "It makes sense. And she's young, so hopefully she'll be able to bounce back quickly after she has the baby, if she decides she still wants to pursue a dance career after becoming a mother."

"As of now she says she does, but we'll see what ends up happening with that. I just hope that when she does tell her parents, they don't do anything rash."

"Are you still worried they might?"

"Yeah. Paige at least told Lily, too, so she's aware of what's going on. Lily knows Paige's family much better than I do, since she's basically watched her grow up in the studio. Lily's convinced that Paige's mom will kick her out of the house. She's too old to be shipped off to boarding school, but she could easily disappear to a distant relative's house over Christmas, or just get kicked out entirely."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Lily's even trying to prepare to take Paige in if that happens," Emma added. Lily, like Emma, had been a scholarship student at the ballet academy high school they both attended in Minnesota. Emma had lost her mother to cancer when she was in middle school, but Lily had been abandoned as an infant and was shuffled through the foster system throughout her entire childhood. After being put in an after-school program by one of her better foster families, it was discovered that she was somewhat of a dance prodigy. Like Emma, Lily had found a great dance teacher to take her under her wing and ultimately helped her get a scholarship to the prestigious residential ballet academy. Lily and Emma had ended up without parents in very different ways, but they had that shared experience of being 'saved' by their dance teachers. It seemed Lily was preparing to pay it forward if needed.

"Wow," Regina commented. "That's brave. Potentially taking in a 17-year-old pregnant teenager?"

"I know," Emma nodded. "But I hope for Paige's sake it won't come to that. I hope her parents can find it within themselves to be supportive."

*.*.*

"And cut," the director called at 11:30 that morning. "That's good for now. Let's take an hour for lunch and to reset. We'll do it all again once more and then we should be done for the day. We may even get out of here a bit early."

"The idea of taking lunch is a little ironic, isn't it?" Kristoff said to Regina as they got ready to take a break.

She chuckled as she looked over to the young Scandinavian man who had quickly worked his way up to head chef at Robin's second restaurant. The blond chef was playing the role of one of the "professional" chef competitors for the sample episode, as he had an interesting story that would help sell the format of their show to potential distributors. "Well, the crew needs to eat. Not everyone has been tasting the food all morning," Regina pointed out.

"That is true. You were great by the way. They picked the right host for the job," he said with a wink. She couldn't help but laugh. He was well over a decade younger than her and never attempted to hide the fact that he had a huge crush on her, even when she had been married to his boss. She knew he was harmless, though, and it was all in good fun, especially since he had been dating Anna, one of the lead servers, for three years, and according to Robin, Kristoff was in the process of planning the perfect proposal.

She watched as Kristoff walked away, heading toward the office in the back of Locksley Bistro. Robin had graciously closed down his flagship restaurant for the day so they could use his kitchen to film, as it was the largest kitchen they had access to for an extremely low-budget pilot. If the show was picked up, they hoped that they would be able to get their own "Kitchen Stadium"-like set.

"So, you're the professional here. How do you think it's going?" Robin asked her as he came over to where she was grabbing a glass of water from the bar.

"I think it's going well. It looked like the food turned out great. You all seemed to like it, for the most part," she said. They had already filmed an entire episode's worth of competition that morning, from the 60 minutes of actual cooking time to the introduction of the challenge portion, to the judge's taste test and final decision. They were going to reshoot the entire thing that afternoon, using the same ingredients and recipes, to have more options for the final edit when it came to camera angles, commentary, and inter-competitor banter.

"I was impressed. But, Kristoff always does well. As does Jasmine," he said, referring to the other professional chef in the episode. She was a friend of Robin's and owned a very popular South Asian fusion restaurant down the street. She owed him a favor, so she agreed to be part of the demo episode after he promised that she would have a spot on the actual show if it were to be picked up. "Of course, the home chefs are the wildcards. But, they seemed more than competent in that round."

"Mhmm," she nodded, swallowing her water thickly. She closed her eyes as it felt like it got caught in her throat.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Just tired," she recovered.

"I was going to make coffee for folks while we wait to get set up for this afternoon. Want me to bring you one?"

"No thanks," she said, not offering more of an explanation. In the time since she told him about her fertility issues, they hadn't talked any more about her plans to start a family with Emma. She didn't want to tell him about Emma donating her eggs and using Killian's sperm until she knew it would work, because she couldn't stomach the idea of having to tell people it didn't take if the procedure wasn't a success. "I'm actually going to go run a few quick errands during our break. I'll be back in a bit," she said, grabbing her purse from where she had stashed it under the bar and waving him off quickly as she exited the restaurant.

The cool November air felt refreshing as she stepped outside, turning to head toward the CVS on the corner of the street. After being under the bright filming lights and in a hot kitchen all morning, she had been feeling clammy and unsettled. The chilly air was a welcomed break.

She checked her phone messages as she made the short walk to the store, smiling when she saw a message from Emma asking how her first day was going. 'It's going well. We're done with the first run and we're doing one more after lunch,' she texted back.

'I'm glad! I can't wait to hear all about it tonight,' Emma immediately replied. 'Are you feeling better?'

Regina chewed on her bottom lip as she waited for the light to change at the crosswalk. 'A bit. I told you it was just nerves :)' she decided to write.

'I know. And good. I just don't like when you're not feeling well, regardless of the cause.'

Regina couldn't help but smile, quickly texting: 'I love you.'

'I love you, too. See you tonight,' the blonde wrote back quickly.

Regina walked into the drug store and immediately went toward the pharmacy counter near the back, relieved to see that there weren't many people around. "Excuse me," she said, getting the attention of the short man behind the counter. "Mr. Clark," she clarified as she read his nametag.

His eyes grew larger in recognition. "Wow, you're Regina Mills," he loudly whispered.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, though I would appreciate some discretion. I do assume you have to respect patient privacy here, correct?"

"Of course, Miss Mills," he said, blushing after being scolded. "I apologize. What can I do for you?"

She glanced around to make sure there weren't any other customers within earshot. "I'm in need of a pregnancy test," she whispered.

"Oh," he said. "Certainly. They're in Aisle 4."

"I know," she said. "But, I don't really want any customers or cashiers to see me carrying them, as I'm sure you can understand. I was hoping you might have some behind the counter that I could just pay for right here?"

"Oh," he frowned. "Well, we don't have any back here, but if you don't mind waiting I can grab a few and bring them back."

"That would be great, thank you," she said.

He quickly nodded and disappeared through a back door behind the counter, reappearing moments later in the regular part of the store. She watched as he walked toward Aisle 4, vanishing from sight behind the tall shelves.

Regina took a deep breath as she waited, her nervousness rapidly growing. As the morning had worn on, she began to suspect that she was indeed pregnant. Normally, her first-day nerves would have abated once the camera started rolling, but that underlying unease and nausea never fully went away. Her suspicions continued to grow after she stood a little too close to Kristoff and his teammate's mussel dish as it was boiling. The smell of the mollusks nearly knocked her over as she was conversing with them about their preparation method and seasoning choices, and it was all she could do not to lose her breakfast on the kitchen floor. She had never had issues with the smell of seafood previously, but the pilot episode's "modern surf and turf" theme was proving to be an epic challenge for her. She was not looking forward to doing it all over again that afternoon.

Dr. Whale had warned her against taking home pregnancy tests, because they often led to false negatives, and instead he wanted Regina and Emma to come in to his office for an in-person test a little over two weeks after her IVF procedure. They were scheduled for an appointment on Monday morning, but she couldn't wait that long. She knew it would probably be too early to tell with a home pregnancy test, but she couldn't help herself — not with the way she had been feeling all morning.

Mr. Clark quickly returned to his spot behind the pharmacy counter with three different tests. "I wasn't sure which one you would want. One of these is more for early detection, but they're all good. I usually recommend taking at least two, just to reduce the risk of a false answer."

"I'll take all three," she said, sliding her credit card across the counter. "And this," she said, almost forgetting about the bottle of ginger ale she had taken out of one of the coolers near the front of the store.

He gave her a knowing smile as he rang up her purchases, handing the soft drink and her credit card back to her as he packed the pregnancy tests discretely in a plain brown paper bag. "Good luck. I hope you get the results you're hoping for," he said, giving her the bag.

"Thank you," she replied, offering him a polite smile before hightailing it out of the store.

She made it back to the restaurant with plenty of time to spare, but decided against walking in with her purchase. Even with the opaque bag, she was worried someone might see what was inside, and it was too large to hide in her purse. And as much as she wanted to go hide in a stall and take the tests right away, she knew she couldn't do it there. Instead, she detoured to her car and threw the brown bag into her glove compartment before locking it up and heading back inside, trying to squelch the ever-growing optimism inside of her. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but she couldn't help but think that maybe it worked — maybe she was already pregnant with Emma's baby.

*.*.*

Regina walked into their apartment that afternoon a little after 3p.m. They were able to get a second full episode filmed relatively quickly, as things ran even more smoothly the second time through. The pregnancy tests had been burning a metaphorical hole in her pocket all day, though she had managed not to let it distract her during the takes. However, between shots, it was all she could think about.

Now that she was back at home, she had lost her nerve. She took the bag into the master bathroom and set it on the counter, but the weight of what it meant was almost too much for her. She managed to take the three different boxes out and lay them on the counter, but that was as far as she got.

She took a deep breath as she stared at them, briefly considering if she should wait for Emma to come home. On the one hand, if the tests were negative, she would appreciate having Emma there to help her through the inevitable disappointment. But, there was a good chance that she would get a negative result regardless, because it was still early. And if it was negative, she didn't want to ruin the blonde's day. She decided to tell herself that if the test was negative, it would help mentally prepare her for the official test the following week at the doctor's office in case that, too, was negative. Emma wouldn't need to know she ever took a home test in that case.

Okay. You're doing this, she said to herself.

Before she could change her mind, she frantically opened all three boxes, quickly reading the instructions on each. They were more or less that same: pee on it for five seconds or dip it in a cup of urine for 20 seconds, lay it flat, and then wait three minutes, but no more than five.

She wasn't sure she had to pee badly enough to get through all three at once, so she dug around the linen closet until she found the package of Dixie cups buried at the back of a shelf. She took one out and went about her business, collecting a sample and setting it on the counter next to the sink. She dipped each of the three tests in the cup for the required time before placing them on the counter. She then set a timer on her phone and waited.

She didn't want to stare at the tests — after all, a watched pot never boils — so she busied herself with disposing of the soiled cup and then spent the remaining time pacing the floor of the bathroom, fighting the urge to glance over at the tests sitting face up on the counter. She tried not to think about how her life may be forever changed in just three short minutes.

The sound of the alarm beeping cut through the silence in the apartment, and suddenly she dreaded going over to look at the results. She stood still for what felt like hours, but in reality it was only a handful of seconds. She shook herself out of it, knowing that she couldn't wait too long to look at the results. She took a deep breath and walked over to the counter, picking up the first of the three tests. Tears immediately began falling from her eyes as she cried, her arms pressing onto the countertop for support so that she wouldn't collapse under the weight of her sobs.

*.*.*

Emma arrived home from rehearsal much earlier than planned, as Paige had canceled her private lesson due to "the stomach flu again," as the girl's mother described it when she called to notify the studio. But, Emma knew the truth and wondered how long before the woman realized that the stomach flu wasn't supposed to last for nearly three months. She kicked off her shoes and pulled off her coat and sweater as she headed toward the bedroom. Her plan was to take a quick shower to rinse off the sweat from a long day of rehearsal and then surprise Regina with her favorite meal to celebrate the filming of her first episode.

As she walked through the apartment, she started stripping off her dancewear, peeling the sweaty leotard off her shoulders and folding it down at the waist, leaving her topless as she walked into the bathroom. She jumped slightly at the unexpected sight of her girlfriend leaning over the sink with her back to the door. "You're back early," Emma commented as she pulled off her leggings, stepping out of them so she could fully remove her leotard. Before she could get that far, Regina turned around with tears in her eyes. "Oh God, what's wrong?" Emma asked, concerned. It was then she noticed the white plastic stick in her girlfriend's hand and the boxes on the counter. "Oh, Regina…" she said, her heart falling into her stomach as she stepped forward. "I'm so sor—"

Regina shook her head as she lifted the test toward Emma. "It's positive."

"What?" Emma asked, making sure she heard her correctly.

Regina smiled as a few more tears spilled down her cheeks. "It's positive, Emma. It worked. I'm pregnant."

"Oh my God," Emma couldn't suppress the massive grin spreading across her face. She took the proffered pregnancy test from Regina, looking down at it and the clearly displayed plus sign in the indicator window. "You're pregnant," she whispered reverently, her eyes not leaving the stick in her hands.

"We're pregnant," Regina corrected as she reached for one of Emma's hands, causing the blonde to look up, tears shimmering in her own eyes.

The blonde set the test on the sink and pulled Regina to her, wrapping one arm around her waist and bringing her free hand to her cheek as she kissed her girlfriend. "We're having a baby."

"Yeah, we are," Regina smiled. "I mean, assuming these are all accurate," she said as she pulled back from the embrace, gesturing toward the two other pregnancy tests sitting on the counter, both showing their own version of a positive test result. "I know we still need to get confirmation on Monday, but I think this is a good sign."

"It is," Emma smiled. "But you were so convinced it was just nerves this morning…what made you change your mind?"

"I thought it was just first-day anxiety, but then I had a gut feeling later this morning. I just had to know."

"Do you think we can get our appointment with Whale moved up? He wanted to wait for Monday to give it more time, but if you're already getting positive test results with these, maybe he can fit you in before the weekend?"

"I'll call him and ask," Regina nodded. She really did want official confirmation before she let herself get too excited. She wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks as she looked back at Emma. "You look ridiculous right now, by the way," Regina laughed when she finally took note of her girlfriend's appearance. The woman was still standing in the middle of the bathroom completely nude, aside from a black leotard gathered around her waist. Regina moved her hand and grabbed onto one of the thin leotard straps that was hanging from Emma's hips, pulling her closer to her once again.

"Well, you distracted me," Emma rolled her eyes. "I was coming in here to shower so I could freshen up before making you dinner to celebrate your new show. But, it seems like we may have several reasons to celebrate tonight."

Regina pressed her lips softly against the blonde's. "Indeed we do."

A/N: Let me know what you think, and I hope you have a lovely weekend!