So here we have the baby shower chapter and then after that I'm going to slowly lead up to the birth. And by that I mean there will be a few chapters before the babies make their grand entrance, but the drama will be there all the same.
The current weather that was hitting this particular part of Maine made it impossible for them to have the baby shower anywhere other than the Mayoral mansion. Emma didn't want Regina to go out in the cold and walk (or waddle as the case may be) through the snow. They had managed to keep the roads plowed so they just told everyone that the party would be held at the mansion instead of at Granny's. It was a potluck, mostly because Emma and Snow didn't want to cook for days beforehand and Regina couldn't help them at all. They supplied the standard things: party trays of food and drinks, asking that other people just bring whatever they could. Emma had strong-armed Henry into helping them set up the food before he went to go prepare to spend the day with David. Regina had assured them both that they were welcome at the party, she didn't understand the custom of this land that required men to be absent from these kinds of parties. Both of them opted out of the party, deciding instead to go have a boys day in at the loft where they could play video games with any of the women of their family around to tell them to stop or turn the volume down.
When David and Snow showed up that morning Emma met them at the front door and as they walked in David pointed to the sign she put on the door.
"Why are you having people knock instead of ringing the bell?"
"The doorbell is busted." Emma answered as she hung up their coats.
"It's busted because mom cut the wires." Henry came running down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder and Emma shot him a glare.
"You weren't supposed to rat me out that fast my dear sweet son. I thought we had a deal." Henry rolled his eyes and put on his boots.
"She cut them at like 6 this morning. It was kind of funny to watch." David and Snow looked to Emma for a reason as to why she had dismantled her doorbell.
"Look, the babies keep Regina up like half the night so when she finally falls asleep I like to keep her that way. When Ruby shows up to help decorate that bell would have gone off and then again when people showed up and it's too cold to leave the door open so yeah, I cut the wires. I'm also fairly certain I have no idea how to fix them so we may need a new doorbell when this is all over."
"Why didn't you just make a sign that said, please knock?" Snow suggested it and Henry laughed.
"That's what I asked her two seconds after she cut the wires."
"Well, if you are done judging the woman who gave birth to you, go spend time with you grandpa and leave me to my doorbell wire cutting." Henry shrugged his shoulders and grabbed his bag before calling for Apollo. He called twice and still the dog didn't come and Emma shook her head at her son.
"You know he hasn't left her side for the last few weeks, probably won't till the girls are born. Besides he'll want to 'protect' her at the party no doubt." Henry gave up on calling for the dog and left with David, leaving Emma and Snow to finish setting up the house for guests. It wasn't going to be a huge affair; they were only going to be having a few people other than family attending (which was saying something since they seemed to be related to every in town in one way or another). About an hour before people were set to arrive Emma knew she had to wake Regina up or she wouldn't be able to get dressed and ready in enough time to be ready to meet the masses. When Emma waked into the bedroom downstairs she saw Apollo curled up on her spot on the bed, his head was settled in it's usual spot next to Regina's belly and both of them seemed to still be sleeping soundly. Emma really did hate to wake them up, but Regina would be pissed if she was robbed of her chance to properly prepare for company.
"Gina, baby you gotta get up and start getting ready or you won't have time to shower." Regina swatted Emma's hand away when she shook her shoulder gently and Emma sighed. The closer Regina got to her due date, the more tired she was and the harder it was to wake her up.
"Apollo." The dog perked his head up and tilted it at Emma as though to ask what she wanted from him. "Can you wake her up for me?" The dog yawned and stood up on the bed before turning around and licking Regina's face. There are lots of things you can ignore when you are sleeping, but a dog licking your face is not one of them so eventually Regina gave up and opened her eyes. Apollo stopped licking her face and jumped down from the bed, heading toward the kitchen to find his breakfast. Regina slowly turned around and Emma smiled at her and helped her sit up.
"Sorry baby, but you wanted to shower and all that and that kind of means waking up now." Regina rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock before letting Emma help her up to a standing position.
"Have you and your mother set everything up?"
"Yep, we are good to go. Ruby will be here soon to help finish decorating and then one by one people will show up with the rest of the food and gifts and that kind of thing. So if you shower real quick and get dressed you should be all set. Emma started the shower for Regina and then left the room to let her wife shower while she tended to the impending party. Ruby showed up as promised and help Emma finish everything off and soon enough Regina had emerged from the bedroom with her hair and make up down to her liking, wearing a long dress that hit the top of her feet and did nothing to hide the bump that was now forcing Regina to waddle more than walk. Regina was all too happy to take a seat in "Emma's" chair that had pretty much become her's since she became pregnant. Ruby and Snow finished laying out food and plates and soon the door was being knocked on every few minutes with guests rushing in from the cold. People added food to the table and as they came in greeted Regina and put gifts just off to the side of her chair. All totally there were maybe about a dozen people who actually came to the party itself, which was perfect because Regina didn't have the energy she usually did to entertain a large group so small parties suited her just fine. And it wasn't all women as some baby showers were in other parts of the world, Archie was a good enough sport to be surrounded by a large group of women and Hook even came, which surprised Emma considering that he had been gone for the last six months.
Everyone chatted non-stop as they ate. Everyone asked Regina and Emma all about the pregnancy and how it's gone, mostly interested in all the funny stories surrounding Regina, her cravings and the strange things that came when you are pregnant with magic babies. Just before they opened gifts Regina started patting her belly and Emma knew what they meant; the girls were fighting for room and it was getting intense. The funny thing was when the kicked and moved around their magic glowed bright from inside Regina, so it looked like a lightshow to anyone around Regina. Everyone watched as little bursts of white light popped around Regina's belly. Regina had to laugh and she would have, but it was the most uncomfortable sensation when the girls fought for room, but they soon calmed down and Regina was able to resume her conversations with her guests.
Regina had asked for no baby games, because she simply had no energy to participate in them so after people had eaten and were relaxing Snow suggested they open gifts. Archie had been a god honest lifesaver by buying the expectant mothers a significant amount of diapers in various sizes. Emma could've kissed him because it meant she didn't have to go out into the winter cold again to stock up on diapers until the snow had started to melt a bit more. Tink went over board, as did Ruby when it came to buying baby clothes of varying sizes so that the babies could grow into them. Regina's favorite was the matching onesies that read 'If I'm quiet it means I'm plotting your doom'. Regina unwrapped the packages that Granny had brought and she pulled out two beautiful baby blankets.
"I can add their names, you know if you two ever stop calling them 'the girls'." Emma smiled at the older woman and looked both blankets over. They were the same size, but were different colors so that they could be easily identified as one baby's over the other's.
"We told you all already, their names are something we'll tell you all when they are born. We told you they are girls, we decided to keep at least this much just between us." Emma defended their decision and everyone smiled their understanding. Snow put the remaining gifts in front of Regina and both she and Emma eyed the other woman carefully.
"Snow, do you and David have any money left after you bought all these gifts?" Regina asked as she eyed the massive stack of boxes and bags. Snow smiled sheepishly.
"He took our credit card away from me last month." Everyone laughed as Regina and Emma sorted through more clothes and toys for the babies than either of them thought was going to be used. Once they had cleaned up the wrapping paper Emma got everyone's attention.
"Ok guys, uh, look I've been working on a present for Regina since, well since I found out we were pregnant. I told Regina that since she couldn't be up and around to let my gift be the nursery. I must have caught her on a good day because she agreed and today I am going to ask her to use all of her time that she is allowed out of bed to walk upstairs with me so I can show her that it is in fact done, well ahead of schedule." Emma helped Regina up from her seat and they very slowly made their way up the staircase, with Apollo about two steps ahead of them the whole way up. Emma made Regina pause in front of the room they had chosen for the nursery. She covered Regina's eyes with her hands before sending Snow into the room first to get a reaction picture. Once her mother was in place Emma told Regina to take three steps and then she would pull her hands away. Regina did as she was told with a smile on her face and when she came to a stop Emma did as she was promised and pulled her hands away, revealing to Regina all the hard work she had put into the room. Regina's bright smile dropped into an "O" shape when she caught the first sight of Emma's handy work. The tears sprang to her eyes almost immediately and she threw her hand over her wide-open mouth, trying to silence her crying. They were happy tears, but still Emma carefully fell into place behind Regina and wrapped her arms around her wife, resting her hands on Regina's ever expanding bump.
Regina had every reason to cry; it really was beautiful. Emma had gone with a deep plum purple color for the walls. The cribs had been custom built and were made from cherry wood and stained dark to match the warm tones in the room. There was a changing table and all that in one corner and as promised, the rocking chair that Henry had built for his mother and sisters had been placed in a place of honor in the room. Emma had hung a series of family photos of all of them on the part of the wall that was in between the two cribs. Regina noticed a spot missing in the center of this family photo wall and Emma handed her the photo she thought to hang there.
"This has been downstairs since Christmas, but I think your dad would much rather watch the girls closely from up here." Emma hung the photo she had given Regina on the nail she had previously left bare. With the picture of Henry Sr. in place, Regina didn't know which emotion was hitting her harder and they were all coming out as tears. Emma, for her part, just stood there and rubbed Regina's back and her bump at the same time. She smiled and kissed the side of Regina's face.
"He may not be here Gina, but he loves them. I could feel it that day I took that picture, the love he felt for you; he has it for the girls too." Regina ran her finger along the photo, pausing at her father's face before nodding her head.
"It's beautiful Emma. The whole room, it's…it's more than I ever dreamed."
"I figured if we are going to spend most of our time in here, it might as well be pretty."
"It's so much more than pretty Emma. I feel…at peace in here. You're the only person that has ever been able to give me that."
"Give you what…the nursery?" Regina smiled and shook her head.
"No my love. The peace."
Short-ish and super cheesy…yes, yes it was, but you'll be begging for short and cheesy once the birth gets going because fair warning….I'm gonna bring the angst and the feels.