Hey, I am so sorry I haven't updated this story. I was battling myself with this chapter because I'm not terribly fond of this one but it's important to the story line and Emma's development along the way, so I am posting this one.

Also, I've been super busy. I just turned 25 today and I have been up to my neck in plans.

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 10 - Unexpected

Regina sits at her desk, watching the clock as the minutes seemed to drag on like hours. It was pure torture when all she wanted to do was get off and see Emma.

The first two weeks of their relationship had been spent apart. The day after they officially decided to be a couple, Emma and Ruby were asked to go on a short, west coast tour for a band to film a live music video in ten cities. And even though Emma was hesitant due to the newfound relationship, Regina encouraged her and told her she needed to go. Because if there one thing that Emma was passionate about, it was her job.

And Regina wholeheartedly supported her girlfriend, especially when she got to see Emma in action on the first night of the tour. Watching Emma work was something Regina absolutely adored. It taught her a lot of little things about the blonde. And while spending so much time away from her was really shitty, Regina knew Emma was doing what she loved.

She was thankful, though, that she could make it through the two weeks without being around Emma. Emma would call her every day just to check in and ask her how things were going. She would send her silly selfies of herself and sometimes of Ruby in different cities. It really helped Regina power through the days.

But Emma was finally back, having arrived in LA from Seattle a couple hours ago and Regina couldn't wait to get off of work. So much so that she had been counting down the minutes until she could leave, but they seemed to be taking forever.

When it was finally time to go, Regina hastily made her way out of the office and headed straight for Emma's condo. The drive was annoying, traffic backed up on the 405 made her wish she didn't live in such a congested city. She taps her fingers on the steering wheel as she slowly makes her way down the highway, hoping for some of the traffic to dissipate when her phone rings.

She presses the 'answer' button on her steering wheel and hears the grainy echo sound before talking.

"Hello?" She calls out.

'Regina, it's your mother.' Cora Mills voice floods through her car. 'What are you up to?'

"Driving, mom." Regina rolls her eyes. "Did you need something?"

'Yes, actually. I'm coming out to visit you and Zelena in a couple of weeks. Join us for dinner, won't you?'

"Sure." Regina answers immediately, trying to rush the conversation with her mother.

'Perfect!' Cora exclaims happily. 'Oh, bring your girlfriend. I am dying to meet her.'

"How did you-"

'Zelena and Kathryn, dear.'

"Of course." Regina sighs. "I'll ask her, but I'm not making any promises. It's not like we've been together very long. Meeting the parents is usually something you wait for."

'But according to Zelena, you've met her parents!'

"Because I work with her mom. That's completely different." Regina reasons. "I knew her parents before I knew her."

'Potato, po-tah-to. Just bring her, okay?'

"We'll see. I have to go. I'm driving." Regina groans, annoyed. She pulls off the highway and heads for Emma's street.

'Okay, darling. I'll be seeing you soon.'

"Bye, mom." Regina rushes out in annoyance, ending the call as she parks her car in front of Emma's condo.

She gets out of the car and runs into the building, choosing to take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. She makes it to the front door and gently knocks. The door swings open and Ruby is standing in the entrance, smiling.

"Hey Regina!" She exclaims happily as she lets the brunette in. "Emma's in her room. I know she was working on the video for awhile, but haven't heard much from her. She's probably got her headphones on or something, so try not to scare the living shit out of her."

"I'll do my best." Regina chuckles as she makes her way towards Emma's bedroom. She hadn't really seen much of their condo, in fact, she hadn't even been in Emma's room. But she knew where Ruby's was and therefore she knew where Emma's was in contrast.

She knocks loudly, but doesn't a hear a response. She slowly and quietly pushes the door open, expecting to see Emma huddled over her computer, but what she found was even better. Emma was passed out on her stomach, wearing only a sports bra and gym shorts. Her laptop was on the opposite side, her arm outstretched towards it. Regina smiles in adoration as she admires the sight in front of her.

She moves towards the bed and picks up Emma's laptop, gently setting it on the desk before she climbs into the bed next to her sleeping girlfriend. She lays on her side and just stares at Emma for a few moments, soaking in the image of her with tousseled hair and her mouth slightly open. She was absolutely adorable and Regina was practically radiating at that. She brushes a few strands of hair away from Emma's face before pressing a few feather-light kisses on her cheek.

"Emma." Regina whispers as her lips ghost above the blonde's ear. "Wake up."

She feels Emma shift and make cute noises as her eyes flutter open. "Mmm. Hi."

"Hi, sleepyhead." Regina smiles as Emma moves off of her stomach and onto her side.

Emma scoots closer to Regina, wrapping her arm around her waist. "I missed you."

Emma leans forward and captures Regina's lips, lazily kissing her as she tries to wake up. Their tongues dance together slowly as Regina presses her body closer to her girlfriend, feeling Emma's erect member against her thigh.

Regina pulls away and places one last kiss on Emma's lips before smirking. "I can tell."

Emma groans loudly as she looks down, and sure enough, she had 'morning' wood. "Ugh. I didn't even notice. I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Regina asks innocently.

"Because it's embarrassing." Emma flushes red. "And now I'm going to be stuck with it because I don't want to get rid of it while you're here. That'd be awkward."

"Or we could..." Regina pauses, biting her lower lip, her hand trailing up and down the exposed part of Emma's torso. "Like, you know."

"I- uh- oh." Emma stumbles out in nervousness, the implication throwing her off guard. "Like- uhm- wow."

"Are you okay, Emma?" Regina asks in concern.

"Ugh." Emma groans, rolling onto her back and covering her face with her arms. "No."

"What's wrong?" Regina tries getting Emma to look at her.

Emma inhales sharply, holding her breath as she tries to come up with something to say. "It's just- I'm like-"

"Embarrassed?" Regina answers for her and Emma nods her head. She removes her arms and looks at Regina sadly. "Why are you embarrassed?"

"Because like... okay, so- I just..." Emma sighs loudly. "What if I suck?"

"Why would you suck? Wait, are you-"

"No!" Emma interrupts. "I'm just not like well-versed in, you know. I've only slept with two people and I was drunk for one of those."

"Oh." Regina presses her lips together in thought.

"I mean, I waited a year before even sleeping with Lily. And it's not like she actually enjoyed it, you know, since she was getting it on the side." Emma's lips turn into a frown. "I just feel, I don't know... inadequate, I guess?"

"Babe, look at me." Regina says, Emma's eyes tearing away from the ceiling as she turns her head to look at her girlfriend. "First of all, I don't care if you're absolutely terrible in bed. It's not going to make or break our relationship. I like you for you. And secondly, we don't have to do anything you're not quite ready for. If you need more time, then we'll wait. I was just throwing out a suggestion."

"What did I do to deserve you?" Emma asks, just above a whisper. "I'm so damn lucky to have you."

Regina leans forward and kisses Emma's cheek before snuggling into her side. "You didn't have to do anything, Emma. You were yourself and that means more to me than anything."

"You're the best," Emma sighs contently. "But I think I'm going to need a cold shower for the time being."

"So you're saying she offered to have sex with you and YOU DIDN'T GO FOR IT? Are you prude?" Ruby exclaims.

"Ugh." Emma groans. "It's not that I didn't want to, I did. But like- I freaked out. I suddenly felt completely inexperienced and I didn't want it to suck."

"You're not inexperienced." Ariel chimes in, Emma's eyes going wide at the comment. "What? Dude, we may have been plastered when we slept together, but it was still enjoyable."

"I always forget you two got it on." Ruby replies, noticing the growing embarrassment on Emma's face before the blonde shoots daggers at her. "Don't look at me like that, Emma."

"I didn't need the reminder that I slept with one of my best friends when I drunk and sad." Emma huffs out, crossing her arms. In all honesty, she really had pushed that event to the back of her mind. It was right after her breakup with Lily and Ariel was there for her before Ruby came into the picture. It only happened once, and Emma hardly remembers a damn thing from it, but it's not like she needed the reminder.

"Okay, fair. It was kind of awkward because we're like best friends, but you just said that you didn't want the sex to suck and I'm just letting you know, you're not inexperienced at all." Ariel says.

"Thanks, I guess." Emma shrugs. "I just feel really bad that I turned her down."

"You're not ready. It's different when you're in a relationship and not just sleeping with random people. You can totally fuck someone without it meaning anything, but when you're together, it's much more intimate than that." Ariel reasons.

"Exactly! And I want it to be perfect. I know I let my insecurities get the best of me last night, but I don't know." Emma groans loudly. "I just want to wait for the right moment."

"Emma, you're completely enamored with Regina. How is that not perfect already?" Ruby asks in curiosity.

"I don't know. Like I know we like each other A LOT, but..."

"You don't know if she loves you and you're scared of sharing that intimacy without knowing exactly how she feels." Ariel answers for her. "Because you trusted Lily and she left you ultimately because of your condition. You're insecure about it because the one person you thought to be understanding about it turned on you."

"Yes! That is completely spot on." Emma exclaims. "Like, I trust Regina, I do. But sharing that part of me, my condition, it's difficult."

"But you slept with Ariel." Ruby replies in confusion, trying to understand what Ariel and Emma meant.

"Yeah, but Emma trusts me enough to know it wouldn't change anything between us. I mean, while we were super drunk, it didn't change the fact that Emma is my friend and condition or not, I'd care for her anyway. Also, it was definitely a non-emotional fuck. But Emma's concern is that because she has feelings for Regina, sex might change things between them like it did for her and Lily."

"Oh, I totes get it now! Thank you for explaining that." Ruby smiles widely before looking at Emma. "And Emma, I'm sorry for calling you a prude. I didn't realize you felt that way since we don't really talk about things like sex in a serious setting."

"It's okay, dude." Emma smiles back. "I just want our first time to be special, you know? Like I can see the possibility of a future with us and I just want to make sure those same feeling are reciprocated before giving up that piece of me."

"Completely understandable." Ruby agrees but not without noticing Emma's facial expression. It was the one she used many times when contemplating something. "Anything else on your mind?"

"Yeah, uh, Regina told me about this dinner thing in a couple of weeks and I'm debating on whether or not I want to go." Emma shrugs her shoulders.

"Why wouldn't you want to go? Is it because Zelena will be there? I thought you put that behind you?" Ariel questions.

"No, I don't mind the fact that Zelena will be there." Emma replies.

"Then what is making you debate such an occasion?" Ariel asks.

"It's with her mother."

"Are you nervous?" Zelena asks Regina as they sit in the living room of Zelena's house. Zelena notices her sister constantly looking at the door and bouncing her knee as they wait for Emma's arrival.

"Who wouldn't be? It's Cora Mills we're talking about." Regina nods her head towards the kitchen where Cora Mills was. "I don't want her to like pressure Emma into talking about things she doesn't want to talk about."

"Like her condition, I get it. Well, I haven't told mum, you haven't told her. It's neither of our places to." Zelena shrugs. "In all honesty, I'm shocked Emma agreed to come all the way out to San Diego to have dinner with our mother."

"Well, she knows it means a lot to me." Regina replies. "Emma cares, you know? She wants to actually know the little things about me."

"You're lucky." Zelena scoffs. "I couldn't even get Lily to do half of what Emma does for you."

"That's because Lily's a bitch. You and Emma obviously both know that first hand. However, we're not mentioning her at all tonight, okay?" Regina raises an eyebrow at her sister.

Zelena puts her hands up defensively. "I wasn't going to. Tell mum that."

"How about you tell Cora that." Regina rolls her eyes.

"Zelena!" Cora calls from the kitchen. "Come help me figure out this contraption you call an electric stove!"

"Speak of the devil." Zelena groans as she stomps off towards the kitchen, leaving Regina in living room. She can hear her sister and mother bickering in the kitchen, and she shakes her head while lightly chuckling at them.

She glances toward the front door again when she hears the sound of a car door slamming shut. Her nerves start growing as footsteps make their way toward the porch. Emma was about to meet her mother. Her crazy, old fashioned, stuck up mother and Regina was hoping that Cora would play nice and not try and bombard Emma with uncomfortable questions. The doorbell rings and Regina gets up from the couch and opens the door.

"Hey." Emma smiles nervously, holding onto a small bouquet of flowers. "Uh, I got these for you and then I remembered that I wasn't going to your house, so now I feel kind of bad that you can't really take them home without them dying. They've already been out of water for a couple of hours."

Regina's heart melts at the gesture, admiring how sweet and thoughtful her girlfriend was. "It's okay, babe. I'm sure Zelena could use some color in here."

Emma chuckles as she hands over the bouquet and leans in to kiss Regina on the cheek. "Well you can enjoy them until you give them to your sister."

"I most definitely will." Regina smiles as Emma finally steps into the house. She closes the door behind her and watches as Emma lets out a huge breath while shoving her hands in her pocket. "Nervous?"

"I mean- yeah." Emma shrugs, taking her left hand out of her pocket and gently tapping it against her thigh. "It's your mom. What if she hates me?"

"Her opinion about you doesn't matter because I'll still be with you regardless of what she thinks." Regina answers, grabbing Emma's hand and giving it a firm, reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah, but I don't want her to hate me, you know? I don't know how to explain it, but like- I've never done this whole 'meet the parents' thing, and I want her to like me." Emma admits. "Hell, I even wore the most annoying and tightest boxers I had just so she wouldn't know I'm... different."

"Babe." Regina says sweetly. "You didn't have to do that. I can only imagine how uncomfortable that is."

"I know." Emma says coyly. "But like I said, I want her to like me, like the real me. Not what I was born with."

"But it is the real you." Regina replies. "It's the most genuine thing about you."

"To you, maybe. But to other people..." Emma trails off before shuddering at certain past experiences.

Regina shakes her head lightly and turns to face Emma, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Other people can go fuck themselves if they think you're any less of a wonderful person because of your condition."

Emma presses her lips together in a heartfelt smile. "Seriously, I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm glad you're my girlfriend."

"You were yourself. I told you this the other day." Regina mirrors Emma's smile. "I like you, all of you. You didn't try to hide it from me for a prolonged period of time. You were upfront and honest, even though I'm sure it was terrifying. You were brave, and I adore you so much for it."

Emma hugs Regina, holding her like she never wanted to let her go. She was still nervous, it was easy to tell by the trembling in her hand, but with Regina by her side, she felt like she could get through anything.

"Thank you for being amazing." Emma whispers as she pulls away.

"Thank you for being you." Regina says as she nods her head towards the kitchen. "Well, you ready?"

Emma inhales sharply and nods slowly. She lets out a deep breath as Regina leads her through the house to the kitchen, where Zelena and Cora were still arguing over Zelena's stovetop.

"Mum, stop trying to ignite the gas, it's electric!" Zelena groans, stomping her foot on the ground.

"It's the devil! Why can't you have a normal stove!?" Cora whines.

"It IS normal, mother. Your stove is from the freaking 80's!" Zelena huffs out. She notices Regina waving from the corner. "Oh, Gina! Emma! Hey."

"Hi." Emma nervously says, offering a small wave in their direction. "I'm Emma."

Cora gasps excitedly and moves away from the stove, much to Zelena's relief and walks over to the couple.

"I'm Cora Mills! It's so nice to finally put a face to the name." She extends her hand and shakes Emma's. "Regina, she's a looker."

"Mooooom." Regina groans loudly.

"What? I'm just calling it how I see it." Cora smiles before turning her attention back to Emma. "I've heard a lot about you."

"All good, I hope." Emma chuckles. "Do you need help with anything?"

"Oh dear, nonsense. You're a guest and you shall be treated as such." Cora says. "Go and make yourselves at home. Zelena and I got this."

Emma nods and smiles, still slightly anxious as she watches Regina hand over the bouquet of flowers to Zelena and telling her to put them in water. They can hear Cora gushing over how sweet it was that Emma brought flowers as they make their way into the dining room.

"That wasn't so bad." Emma says as they sit at the table.

"Just wait until she starts asking you five million questions about your life." Regina chuckles. "She's nice on first impression, but you'll understand how slightly judgmental and crazy she is in a bit."

"Oh god, do I even want to know?"

"So Emma, tell me where you're from." Cora asks as they all start to dig into their dinner.

"Originally from Phoenix, but my mom opened up a real estate agency out in Los Angeles when I got accepted into UCLA, so we all moved out here." Emma answers.

"Interesting." Cora states in a perplexed manner. "And what do you do for a living?"

"Oh, I'm a professional photographer and videographer."

"A videographer?" Cora questions, raising her eyebrow. "What's that?"

"I- uh- I make short films, I guess? I just finished shooting a music video." Emma shrugs. "But I mostly do photography. Weddings, senior photos, portraits, et cetera."

"You should really see her work, mum. It's beyond amazing. She took this really breathtaking photo of Regina." Zelena chimes in, offering a reassuring smile in Emma's direction.

"You actually got a photo of my daughter without her scowling?" Cora jokes and Regina pouts.

"I do not scowl!" Regina argues.

"Yes, you do." Zelena and Cora say in unison.

"Whatever." Regina mutters as she takes a sip from her wine.

"Aw, Regina. Don't be like that." Emma says, poking her girlfriend's cheek. "You don't scowl that much."

"Thanks, dear." Regina replies sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Emma's joke.

"So, Emma." Cora draws the attention away. "What are your plans for the future? Like do you want kids or anything like that?"

Emma practically chokes on the food she was chewing, regaining her composure after clearing her throat. "Oh, uhm, I've never given it much thought. I mean- like kids would be cool someday, I guess."

"Would you want to have them yourself or...?"

"Uh- I-" Emma stutters out. "Well-"

The doorbell rings and interrupts the conversation, to which Emma was thankful for.

"Are you expecting anyone, Z?" Regina asks as she tries to calm Emma's nerves by lightly stroking her thumb over the blonde's thigh.

"No..." Zelena replies in confusion. "You guys stay here, I'll go figure out who's here."

Zelena gets up from the table and exits the dining room, shutting the door behind her. She walks down the hallway to the front of her house and raises her eyebrow when she sees the automatic porch light turn on.

She unlocks the door and presses down the handle, the door swinging open, gasping as her eyes fall on the unexpected visitor.

"Lily!?"

So if you haven't noticed by now, Emma's totes insecure with herself when it comes to her condition (which is part of her character development). Also, what kind of drama can Lily stir up?
Find out next chapter!