Notes: Apologies for taking so long to post this! My life abruptly turned itself upside down (I'm unexpectedly moving across an ocean) and it took me some time to get myself back. Things are sorted now though. Thanks for your patience.

This chapter contains magically enhanced sex, which isn't really sober, and minor mentions of blood.

Emma materialised in an empty kitchen, knowing as she emerged that Regina wasn't home - the feeling of her magic was absent, like the loss of the hum of the refrigerator when the power was out. Although in this case, the electricity was actually out too, but metaphors had never been Emma's strong suit so whatever.

Thankfully, the spells they'd put on the freezer and fridge seemed to be holding, and the warm golden spheres of light currently floating up by the ceiling in place of the kitchen lights still made the room bright and welcoming.

Regina might not have been home but Emma heard voices upstairs - Henry, talking to Mal she assumed, because only Mal would leave a faintly smoking, slightly glowing glass bottle of...something on Regina's kitchen counter along with several other ingredients, a wickedly sharp silver knife and several towels.

Inching closer, Emma bent to peer into the corked glass. It was filled with some form of liquid but there shimmering things, scales? Inside, drifting slowly as if in a current. When the light hit them right, they twinkled.

"Don't stir it up any more," Mal warned from behind her, stepping into the kitchen, faint smile on her face.

Emma held up her hands, proving her innocence. "Haven't touched it."

Mal's smile grew a little wider. "Regina's been teaching you well."

The jibe earned her a half-hearted glare but it was a truth Emma could hardly deny. "It's pretty," Emma said, changing the subject.

"It is. It's also very powerful."

Both women were silent for a moment, and Emma reflected that was probably one of her favorite things about Mal - she didn't waste words, didn't try to make conversation to fill a silence.

"Thank you, " she said quietly. At the confused tilt of Mal's head, Emma shrugged. "For helping us- for helping Regina."

"I would do anything for her," Mal replied simply, the truth in her words easy to read even without Emma's superpower. Mal's expression softened slightly. "And so would you." That too was the truth, and though the words felt somehow too big, Emma didn't bother to deny them. Mal surprised her though, speaking again, her voice - for Maleficent anyway - almost hesitant. "It means a great deal to me that you don't try to keep us apart."

Emma couldn't even begin for formulate a reply to that because it was inconceivable. Mal was Regina's. The 'what' part didn't matter, of course she needed Mal in her life and as strange as it was, Emma felt better having her around. It was more than just that Emma trusted Mal to watch out for Regina and Henry. Emma had spent much of her life fighting her own battles. It made her stronger, but the scars of those years still littered her skin. Mal was...Mal was someone she could stand back to back with in a fight. She was someone whose devotion to protect those they cared about was a steadying certainty for Emma. Because of Lily, because of the dragon fire that even now still stirred - mere embers, but it was there - when Mal stepped closer, Mal was family.

"You have a rare heart, Emma Swan. For a human." Her blue eyes twinkled, and Mal bent gently, pressing a soft kiss to Emma's forehead. And whether it was the remnants of the magic they'd shared or just them, the touch didn't feel invasive, Mal's magic a familiar heat steadying her own, calming and energizing all at once.

An instant later there was a shift in the air, both of them turning and smiling as Regina materialized, Lily by her side.

The expression slid from Emma's face though. Regina paled even where she stood, dark eyes closing tightly. Lily's arm around Regina's waist suddenly seemed supportive and not just comforting and Emma moved before purple smoke even finished clearing.

"She was fine and then she just-" Lily shrugged, her shoulders barely moving.

"I'm still fine," Regina replied, but her voice was just a little too tight for Emma to believe her, the way she let Emma pull her gently into a hug, cheek resting on Emma's shoulder said all anyone needed to know about how Regina actually felt.

"Lily, why don't you go see if Henry has finished packing yet? We should do this sooner rather than later," Mal suggested.

"Hey, we're almost through this," Emma whispered when Lily was gone. Mal was busy arranging things on the counter, pretending to ignore them to give them privacy.

Regina merely hmmmd in reply, but Emma could feel her lips curling into a soft smile against her neck and relaxed just a little, stroking a hand up and down Regina's back.

"I'm glad you had lunch with Lily. I think she wants to get to know you."

"She only watched me eat," Regina corrected. "I assume she had enough to eat with you?" she directed the last at Mal who looked up, answering grin terrifying in its sharpness. Emma was suddenly glad that she wasn't a deer. Still it was nice watching Regina and Mal have such a mom conversation about her friend, even if she didn't want to think about how Lily must have fed.

Fortunately , Lily returned a moment later with Henry behind her, his backpack over her shoulder. "We're ready for our sleepover," she joked. Henry rolled his eyes a little, but when Emma searched his face for any sign he didn't want to do this, she found none.

"Mal says I definitely won't want to be around you two," he said, making a ridiculous face of disgust. His eyes crinkled at the corners though, just like Regina when she was secretly amused. Regina held up her hand for him and he squeezed it, letting himself be drawn into a hug with both of them for a long moment before stepping back. "It'll be nice when you feel better, Mom."

"Yeah," Emma agreed, her fingers toying with the ends of Regina's hair. "And, sorry, I know this is pretty weird, kid."

Henry and Lily shared a look, Regina patted her hand, and Mal chuckled, her voice so deep in her throat that it almost sounded like a purr.

"More or less weird than you dating a flying monkey?" Henry asked slyly, making Regina laugh outright and Emma groan in defeat.

"Seriously can we let that one go?"

The "no," came in stereo, Henry and Regina wearing matching expressions of glee while Lily and Mal looked far too interested for Emma's comfort. "I'm disowning you both," she muttered even as she pulled Regina a little closer.

"No, you're not." Henry laughed.

Regina pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of her mouth. "At least your taste has improved considerably," she murmured quietly while Lily and Mal held a quick conference about something and Henry dug through the cupboard, grabbing a couple granola bars and shoving the box (just one box because it was all Regina allowed) of pop tarts into his bag while he thought Regina was distracted. Emma let him have the freebie. Absurdly, it occurred to her in that moment that she'd never date again. She wasn't getting married, wouldn't, because she knew enough about what marriage had been to Regina to ever ask her to relive that, and Emma wasn't really the type, but other people, all other potential romantic partners, weren't just off-limits, they were irrelevant. In all the ways that mattered they were a family, bound by blood and magic and too many life altering experiences that went so far beyond vows and an exchange of jewelry.

Emma nuzzled her cheek. "You're a couple steps up from a flying monkey."

"Only a couple? Watch yourself, Miss Swan." Regina smiled too much for the glare to have any heat.

"I think Henry will find my house suitably interesting," Mal promised, drawing them back to the moment. She tested with razor sharp blade with her finger and nodded when it came away with a line of blood, waving her other hand over the cut till the wound vanished as she looked at Henry. "My library's extensive and should contain a number of volumes that you won't find elsewhere."

"No dark magic though, okay?" Emma teased, nudging his foot with her own.

"I couldn't cast it anyway, Ma." The duh unsaid but not unheard.

"Still-"

"Mal means books about dragons and other magical creatures," he explained, arms folded. "Her books are less biased than the ones written by most authors from the Enchanted Forest."

Emma bit her lip. The moments where he reflected Regina's nerd side were just too adorable to tell either of them, so Emma loved them both quietly. The way Mal practically preened was almost unbearably cute too and Emma thought she saw Regina hide a smile against her shoulder.

Finishing the last of her preparations, Mal straightened, eyes serious once more. "If you're ready, we should do this now so the spell has time to set and you two have time to adapt before anything else goes horrible wrong in this town." Removing her blazer and rolling up her sleeve to expose her pale forearm she gestured at them. "Sit, I'll need your right hands, wrists exposed."

They obeyed, Regina easing onto the stool at the kitchen counter delicately and Emma trying not to hover before dropping into the chair next to her. The sound of chair legs on the floor was loud as she scooted it closer to Regina, earning her a 'must you?' look, but then they were touching, shoulder to shoulder, and Regina's face gentled. While Henry and Lily looked on, both of them rolled up their sleeves. The knife returned to Mal's fingers, glinting in the light and Emma shared a look with Lily, who seemed to be the only one as concerned about the blade as Emma was.

And then Mal spoke, and the knife ceased to be of concern. Deep and gutteral, the words that fell from Mal's tongue weren't words, at least, not as Emma's mind understood them. It wasn't just hearing someone speak a language you didn't understand though, there was power in the sounds, syllables vibrating through her bones, bypassing her ears to hum beneath her skin, speaking only to her heart. Emma didn't hear so much as live and she knew it affected Regina the same way when a tremor passed through her frame.

Then it was over, Mal fell silent. The power lingered, like sparks at the edge of her vision. Emma could taste it like a storm on the back of her tongue, and the fine hairs on her arm tingled, skin tightening with goose bumps as if were cold. The power was warm though, and beneath the charge, Emma tasted Mal, drawing her back to the dragon fire, steadying her when it became almost too much. Beside her, Regina shifted, and a soft touch on her wrist made her look up. The question was clear in Regina's eyes and Emma shook her head. She was okay. She wanted this.

Unheeding (or perhaps just knowing Emma's heart) Mal continued, sliced into the soft skin of her forearm till it dripped blood into one of Regina's good bowls. The familiar metal and sulphur scent of dragon blood filled Emma's nose and the power seemed to grow, straining at the fabric of this world. Uncorking the potion, Mal slipped the blade into the shimmering liquid and let her blood mix in. It glowed red, shimmering brightly then fading to a soft purple, a lighter version of Regina's magic.

Later (much much later) Emma would remember only fragments. She recalled the way the liquid shimmered against Mal's finger and the way it felt, burning like ice on her skin when Mal traced a sigil on their forearms. she remembered Mal saying something - not a spell but an explanation - something about binding and the strength of a dragon's blood.

Emma would remember the flare of icy heat soaking into her skin, like that time she'd chased a bail jumper to a racetrack and after a knock-down dragout in a barn aisle, one of the grooms had looked at her and shook his head, handing her a dirty bottle of something and telling her in Spanish to use it liberally. It had soothed and burned all at once, seeping into the muscle below. This went deeper.

Much deeper.

Later Emma would remember fire, power, the sudden pull of the mating bite Regina had left on her neck, throbbing anew.

Mostly though, what Emma knew about those moments was Regina. As soon as Mal completed the twisting designs on their arms, everything else - everyone else - faded into the background. The connection that had always existed between them in some form, born in a shared destiny, built of anger, of lust, of desperation and fear and trust, of loss and learning and kindness and understanding, the ties between them that had become love, and need and family, Emma could feel it, all of it, the way she was entwined with Regina through Henry, through their magic, through the blood of the child she carried.

"Emma?" Regina's voice, close and worried. About her. That this was too much.

Emma smiled, or thought she did, it was a little hard to tell. "I'm okay," and what she couldn't say with words she tried to tell Regina through that shining thread she could almost see between them. It must have worked because she felt as much as heard a soft gasp, and Mal's low hum of approval.

She said something then, in that harsh, beautiful language that Emma couldn't hear but saw like jagged volcanic cliffs in her mind, and things got a little fuzzy again. She felt Mal guide their hands together, bringing their palms over the sigils, the heat radiating off their skin even though they hadn't touched. The words might have been impossible but the intent was clear.

"Okay?" Emma whispered, her turn now to be sure, to ask one last time if this was what Regina wanted.

Regina answered the same way Emma had earlier, words and emotion pulsing between them. "Yes, Emma," Regina answered, her eyes clear and full of faith and Emma forgot how to breathe. Their hands came together at the same time, palms closing over the bloody sigils and closing the circuit between them.

It wasn't harsh or sudden, nothing slammed into her. It started gradually, tingling like a limb now waking up after being asleep. It warmed, growing quickly into tiny points of flame and as air around them grew hotter, Emma realized she could feel Regina's heartbeat in her own chest. She thought it might sting, or maybe the tingling would rise through her, or run down her spine. Instead it faded and she just felt...Regina.

Regina had claimed her, Regina wasn't going to give her up, she would be kept, would belong.

Always.

She was still Emma, but somehow so fully Regina, that Emma tasted her own lips with Regina's tongue, her head pounding with Regina's headache. Had it hurt this badly all day? Had it only been since lunch? Why was Regina walking around with this kind of headache when she should be-

Warm fingers brushed Emma's cheek, and they were warmer than her flesh, yet she felt her skin, cool and soft.

"I'm sorry."

"Your head hurts," Emma said, or maybe just thought, it didn't matter. Rubbing her head didn't help, and she reached for Regina - maybe if she touched her. Regina was already leaning closer, their foreheads resting against each other and Emma's heartbeat, their heartbeat began to drown out the pain. Time slipped sideways and they breathed. In. Out. There was nothing explosive, for all the power in the air, the way it crackled on their skin and teased at their lips Emma didn't feel trapped. Every breath they took, every beat of their hearts just brought them closer, every slowing, merging, did their blood run through one body, then the other, or was it magic, circling between them both? Did it matter?

As if from a distance, she heard Mal say something - in English this time, so unexpected that it still took her brain a second to catch up.

"Henry, Lily," Mal said, handing them each one end of a long ribbon. "As their loved ones, you finish the bond because no relationship exists alone. We all depend on our nests."

With the solemnity of a true prince, their son wrapped the ribbon around his mothers' wrists and hands, his crooked little smile only making an appearance as he stepped back. It made him look younger, like the boy standing on the other side of a door with eyes the same color as her own. Lily's smile was more careful, tentative, more for Regina than Emma, but her eyes were bright, soft and full of something Emma understood. Disbelief and confusion and somehow, acceptance that this was her family and this time, she'd keep them. They'd keep each other. The ribbon didn't seem magic, maybe it wasn't, but Henry and Lily bound them, wrapping their hands together.

"When you're ready, burn the ribbon," Mal said, then she smirked. "Not until we leave. I assume you'd prefer not to have an audience."

Lily chuckled and Henry winced. Emma blushed, and a similar redness crept up Regina's face. She shared the warmth of blood rushing beneath her skin, Regina's skin, and the heat only grew, pulsing between them.

The pain in her head- Regina's head- faded, slipping beneath the heat of the spell. The rest of the kitchen started to blur, Henry was there, then he wasn't. Lily disappeared in a cloud of smoke with Mal, who laughed.

Maybe Emma laughed or maybe that joy didn't come from her but she felt it as it it were her own, pushing upward against her ribs, bubbling out of her throat. Regina smiled, and Emma's lips followed hers.

They poofed together, magic swirling together in a bright cloud and Emma almost regretted because counters, and her hands under Regina's ass, lifting her easily, laying her back, rumpling her perfect suit until there was nothing between Emma's hands and mouth and Regina's skin. Only the knowledge that Regina would never let her ('we eat here Emma,' 'yeah that was the idea,' 'oh my god you are impossible') kept her from poofing them right back to the kitchen and acting out that particular fantasy where she could kiss up the silky skin of Regina's inner thigh, could lick and taste and suck until Regina came sobbing…

"You can still do that," Regina's hoarse whisper curled inside her, tightening something low in her stomach and Emma groaned.

Any regret she might have had disappeared, like the smoke from their magic, when her knees hit the bed though. Their bed, where they had begun this. Where she'd first burnt off Regina's clothing and gotten to know her skin. Those memories were still hazy, her and not her, but etched deep in her muscles, in her bones. This was different. The room around them was faded, dim, unimportant but Regina was bright and sharp and impossibly real, like an altered photograph. She was color in a black and white world, everything about her magnified, filling Emma's senses. When she brushed her fingertips across Regina's arm, she felt the touch, and she felt being touched. It made them both shiver, Regina's lips parted in a soft gasp and Emma's heart thundering in her ears.

Regina met her gaze, and Emma saw herself: her own green eyes, her pupils widening and her lips parting. Regina leant closer, and Emma knew what it was to want her own lips pressed against Regina's. Fingers brushed against her breast, or was it Regina's because it was sore? She gasped- or Regina did, because it was almost too sore to touch, yet Emma's hand, being touched, made heat creep lower in her belly.

The ribbon burnt, turning to ash around their wrists, as if they'd come to a silent agreement that it was time. Their hands clung to each other for a moment, then when they released, the pattern glimmered in blood before it faded into their skin, becoming part of them.

Theirs.

They backed towards the bed, giving in, slipping down and pushing up, in, parting their legs. They gasped, and hissed. One of them moaned, but the sound came from two throats and their magic surged forward as if finally freed from a cage to meet, rising, merging-

They crashed onto the blankets, the neat bedspread and the meticulously placed pillows. It didn't matter what was beneath them, the fabric was insubstantial compared to skin, lips and tongues. This was only their bodies, wrapped together, skin on skin: the sweat and breath of one being. It fulfilled Emma as much as it scared her- scared them- because the shiver of fear was theirs together. The calm, patience, and acceptance were all theirs as well. The physical sensations connected them, and were less than magic that pounded between them, but touch reflected their magic. Fingers found slick skin and then slicker heat, teasing and touching and caressing until it wasn't enough, they needed more, deeper.

It wasn't the physical sensations that nearly overwhelmed Emma though, it was Regina's eyes, it was almost seeing herself through those eyes, feeling Regina's unrelenting love for her, her trust as if it were her own, knowing what she felt for Regina now beat in the other woman's heart, that brought her to the brink, made her cry out as her release washed through her muscles, burning down the insides of her thighs and bowing her spine. There was no room for doubt, for 'not good enough' and 'not wanted' anymore she was too full, her heart was too full of Regina, of her desire and her strength and -

"Stop thinking, Emma." Regina kissed the order into her skin and Emma obeyed, because she could feel the love underneath the words.

"I'll remind you that you said that one day," she said. Then laughed, shifting Regina under her, careful and tender as she let herself sink into Regina's need, followed the ebb and flow of emotions as she kissed and caressed and didn't fight the magic pulling tighter around them. The spell wasn't finished yet, Emma could feel it, even as she moved down the bed, settling between Regina's parted legs and finally, finally got to kiss that soft, soft skin. The spell thrummed between them, pulsing and humming, singing through blood and bone, taking parts of them both. All magic had a price, Gold had certainly told them often enough but as Emma looked up Regina's body, at dark, dark eyes and parted lips, and complete and utter trust, she knew she was more than willing to pay this one. Emma was easily willing to give up that lonely, terrified part of herself that had long ago accepted she would never belong in order to keep this: to keep Regina and protect their daughter, who needed all of their strength.

When Regina held out her hand, Emma took it, letting herself be pulled up to press their bodies together, fingers seeking and finding and Emma kissed her, then licked the sweat from Regina's neck and held her while orgasm raced through both of them, like fire on the side of a mountain. Together they fell into the tiny death between heartbeats, drifting as one. Their hearts beat together, strong and steady and soft. Regina laughed weakly against her shoulder, kissed her and they were united, safe, together.

Emma faded out for a moment, aftermath of pleasure a promise in her blood, lulling her senses for a while so it took a moment to realize Regina was whispering something, lips against Emma's forehead. "You're with me, you're here."

Emma knew now, with the connection between them, that Regina wasn't just saying this to Emma, that loss after loss made Regina so terrified of holding on -

"I'm here," Emma promised.

Those dark pretty eyes glittered in the low light of their bedroom. "We're here."

Emma breathed Regina in, wrapping arms around her slim shoulders until they were pressed together. "I feel - "

"Everything," Regina sighed, finishing the thought.

"Everything."

It still felt like almost too much, like Emma's skin wasn't enough to contain everything she felt, but Regina's arms tightened around her, "I'm here," breathed against her mouth and Emma clung to it. Everyone needed her to be the savior, the protector, the hero but Regina only needed her. "You're enough, Emma. You're more than enough and I'm keeping you." Regina's little smile warmed her chest. "We're keeping you."

This time when Emma pulled back it was with intent and Regina's eyes sparkled, following her. Emma knew why, knew what Regina had suffered, that she used to look at the ceiling or the wall, anything that wasn't him so she held Regina's gaze even as she dropped soft kisses down her body. "I'm here," she whispered, pressing her lips above Regina's heart. "I'm here."

Waking up with that damn headache blissfully absent for the first time in days almost made Regina groan in relief. The binding spell had set, effects fading, and she was in her own skin once more, her skin that was the same temperature as Emma's, finally not feverish. The sun already gleamed through the curtains and the clock read almost ten and they had absolutely nowhere they needed to be. It was such a rare and delicious luxury, Regina wasn't going to waste it. She cuddled closer to Emma's naked body, not because she needed the warmth of her skin, rather for the sweetness of touching her. Emma slept on, the slow rise and fall of her breasts against Regina's back, her breath warm on Regina's neck, magic slumbering and soft, nudging Regina back toward sleep. Regina fought the temptation though, wanting to savor this feeling of peace. When Regina brushed her hand past her nose, she smelt sex and sweat and parts of her were still deliciously sore from Emma's touch.

Shifting slightly, she slipped her hand beneath Emma's where they rested below her navel, protecting their daughter even in sleep. She'd be safe, and if it was possible for this pregnancy to continue without the pounding headaches and sudden changes in body temperature, Regina was thrilled and relieved. Emma and Henry could stop worrying, Mal wouldn't have to fuss, and maybe she'd be able to handle a cup of coffee - decaf of course, but still coffee - or get through most of her breakfast without being nauseated.

It was knowing Emma and Henry wouldn't worry as much now, that the concern would fade from Mal's eyes. That their daughter would be safe.

"You're thinking too loud," Emma mumbled, voice rough and cracking even as soft lips kissed her shoulder. "Hey, you're not burning up," Significantly more awake now, Emma snuggled closer, relief in her voice. "That's good."

She felt so good, holding Regina gently that the teasing went unanswered, Regina just allowing herself to be held. "Hmm, the headache's gone too."

Emma made a affirmative sound. "Feel that too. I'm glad. That headache was brutal."

"It was fine."

"You wear heels with a sprained ankle, your version of fine is suspect," Emma muttered. Moving carefully, she tugged Regina gently around until they were face to face, arms still around each other. "You look better," Emma whispered, eyes bright in the morning sun and a gentle smile on her face.

"I thought I looked beautiful," Regina teased. She toyed with Emma's soft hair, twisting it into curls in her fingers.

Emma wrinkled her nose. "You're always beautiful, but I like it better when you're not flushed, too pale, or you have those deep dark circles under your eyes."

It probably should have been insulting but there was so much care, so much need to make it better in Emma's expression, in the way she held Regina, that it was impossible to be mad. Emma reached up to trace along the delicate skin beneath Regina's eyes. "They're not as bad. I'm just happy you're okay."

"I was okay before."

"This okay is better," Emma insisted.

"You know that's because of you right?" Emma's smile bloomed, sweet and cautious and hopeful, because even now, after all they shared, Emma still didn't believe she'd done something right. It was a reminder of just how much baggage they both had that couldn't be magicked away by spells. They were bound, together, for themselves and this child but they were still Emma and Regina. Still carrying painful pasts, souls littered with scars, so far from perfect it was laughable.

Regina had never felt anything so right.

"What?" Emma asked but Regina just stroked her cheek.

"I'm just...happy." Regina felt the impact that final word, those two syllables had, felt the way Emma stilled, felt the spark of her magic leaping out to touch Regina's, the wild joy Emma felt present only there, where she absolutely couldn't hide, and in her eyes, where she didn't try.

"Yeah?"

"Yes," Regina promised. She didn't say anything about Operation Mongoose, or about endings - they both knew better than that - but they were both thinking it, could feel it in the still-fading connection between them and the brush of magic. She kissed Emma then, slow and lingering, taking her time, savoring the taste of Emma against her lips.

They kissed again, gentle and lazy, then deep and not so lazy, until a beep interrupted them. Emma groaned, reaching to slap the alarm clock and sighing, rolling onto her back. "We promised brunch."

"Mal will be late," Regina reminded her. "She's always late," she murmured against Emma's neck, nipping gently at the strong tendons there.

A noise of protest answered her, Emma reluctantly moving away and sitting up, shaking out her hair so it fell tangled down her back. "When did I become the responsible one here?" She pouted playfully. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled.

Regina laughed. Not her normal dry, amused chuckle but a deep, easy laugh as she fell back against the pillows. When was the last time she laughed this freely? She couldn't remember but even as she gasped for breath, she held out her hand, and Emma's fingers entwined with her own. Blinking the tears from her eyes she pulled Emma close, shaking her head at the stain of color on pale cheeks.

Emma was smiling though, as bright and big as Regina herself and when Regina kissed her, she could feel that smile against her own lips. "Go take a shower, I'll be there in a moment," she admonished softly, stealing one last kiss before nudging Emma in the direction of the bathroom.

Instead of moving, though, Emma sat close, taking both of Regina's hands and resting them against her thighs. Her thumbs rubbed gently along Regina's knuckles and her smile slide into something careful, gentle and intense in that peculiar way only Emma ever seemed to manage that made Regina's heart trip a little in her chest. It usually foretold one of the rare moments where Emma allowed herself to be vulnerable.

"I know you're okay, and you were going to be okay, and that you'll keep telling me you're okay."

"I am," Regina interrupted, wishing she could do something to soften the knot of worry that was so obviously still in Emma's chest.

"I know, I-" Emma searched for words, "it's just that, now I'm excited. I was happy before, because it's you and you're- well- having a baby with you is perfect, but I hated seeing you sick and now you look so much better and-"

"I love you," Regina said, ending Emma's worried babbling gently. Sitting up, she pulled her hands from Emma's grasp and cupped her warm cheeks. "And I'm alright, we're alright, I promise. "

Emma's smile was watery and grateful. With one last quick kiss she pulled away, slipping toward the shower. Regina didn't even bother not to try and stare at her ass. "I'll be quick, then you can have it."

"There are two showers," Regina reminded her. "Or I could use magic." The sound of the falling water drowned out anything else Emma might have said. Shaking her head, Regina leaned back against the headboard, staring idly at her stomach. There wasn't anything to see, not yet, her clothes still only a little tight. She tried to imagine having to alter her suits, tried to imagine what it would feel like, look like as her body changed.

she was still standing in front of her closet, studying her clothes, when Emma emerged from the shower.

Wet, clean Emma wrapped herself around her from behind and held her close. Emma didn't say anything, but Regina knew what was in her heart, and that was enough.