This chapter, I am SO SORRY for the long time between updates. I have been trying to write this chapter for weeks and I couldn't because it's sort of an in between chapter, setting up for the next several things that are going to happen. Thank Gunner4Life for my getting it done finally.

Also, I want to address some questions I've received both by PM and review. Yes, Regina loves Emma, very very much. The way she acts with David is the way, imo, someone who has always used sexual behavior to their benefit, would act. It's what she knows, and though she doesn't intend for their relationship to ever turn sexual again, it's how she acts with people, hence the reason it's mentioned that she is the same way with Ruby. And in my opinion, they do act the way best friends do, it just comes across differently because they are male/female instead of f/f or m/m and that's something that is important to me to clarify. As far as the forgiveness, Emma was the first person to see Regina, to *really* forgive her. David was the first of the Charmings, between Snow and David. Regina saying David is her best friend and then turning around and saying Emma is, that's something I found from myself. My husband is my best friend, but I also have a best friend that I'm not married to, and they are two VERY different relationships. It took Regina a bit of therapy to get to that point, because she was so angry at Emma. As far as the baby kicking thing, David was there, and Regina was excited, and still upset with Emma. People do irrational things when they're upset, it is part of the character growth I intended for people to see in her. Anyway... sorry for the long a/n, but I hope that clears things up.

The morning after they got back home, Henry got up for school, and Regina for work, though Emma was up before either of them, getting ready. As Regina cooked breakfast for herself and Henry, Emma headed out to the garage to leave for work. Less than two minutes after the door shut, it reopened and Emma walked back into the kitchen.

"Regina?"

"Yes dear?" Regina asked, turning around to face her wife. Henry was sitting at the island still.

"Do I need to leave? Are you in trouble, mom?"

"No dear, you're fine."

"Regina, what happened to my car?"

"I had David and Michael fix everything while we were gone. And give it a new paint job."

"So it sells for more?"

"No. That would be ridiculous."

"Well… then… why?"

"Because I've decided to give up the Mercedes."

"What?"

"Yeah. I mean… I love it, but it makes more sense anyway. You have a much stronger attachment to the bug than I have. And I wouldn't mind driving an SUV."

"Are we going to sell your car?"

"I was thinking… not."

"So what do you want to do with it?"

Regina's eyes quickly flicked to Henry, and then back to Emma. "I think we should discuss that later."

"You're going to give me the Mercedes?" Henry asked excitedly, having caught his mom's quick look.

"Emma and I will discuss it."

"You guys are the best! I gotta go tell Grace!" Henry jumped up excitedly from his seat and ran upstairs to get his phone.

"Regina… you really did that for me?"

"Of course I did. You've been so amazing at proving you're happy we're working things out, and I didn't know if I was showing you the same quite enough."

"Regina… you not kicking my ass out proved it. You don't have to do special things."

"I know… but I want to. I want to show you how much I love you and treasure you, because this… us… I want this, I love this, so much."

"I really, really want to skip work so I can take you to bed right now."

Chuckling, Regina shook her head and pulled Emma against her. She pressed her forehead to her wife's and kissed her gently. "We will always have time later. And make sure you thank David, and Michael if you stop by there anytime soon. They did a lot of work to get it done this weekend. And David said Michael would only take regular pay and wouldn't let me pay him overtime. You know… you really have a lot of people in this town who care about you."

"We have a lot of people who care about us," Emma corrected, kissing Regina again before saying her goodbye and leaving for work.

Dropping by the station on her way to work, Regina walked in to find only David sitting at his desk, and no Emma anywhere to be found.

"Where is my wife, David?"

"She's out on patrol."

"The cruiser is out front."

"She wanted to drive her car longer, she said something about it driving like she never remembered it driving before and she took it for her patrol."

Rolling her eyes, Regina chuckled with a shake of her head. "Fine then. I forgot to ask her again this morning if she minded having Snow over for dinner this week."

"You know I think it's really great that you're trying to help her mend their relationship."

"Well… Emma was the last piece to my happy ending, I'm just trying to make sure she has everyone she wants in her life for hers."

"Good…I think that's good."

"I just think that both of them will be more upset than they realize if this baby is born without them being on good terms with each other. There are only three more months until I have her, 14 weeks. That's almost not enough time after everything Snow did."

"I know."

"How are things with you two?"

"They're as good as can be, I suppose. We're getting along and obviously you know I have dinner there sometimes, since I'm not at your place."

"Yes. And… romantically?" David blushed at her inquiry, causing Regina to nod knowingly. "Good for you. I'll call Emma instead." She pressed a kiss to the top of his head and headed out of the station, turning at the last minute. "David?"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning in his chair.

"I'm truly happy for you two. Perhaps not mentioning it around Emma would be a good idea though."

"And you'll keep my secret?"

"Not if she asks, but I don't think she will. It's your secret to tell." With that, she left the station, pulling her phone out to call her wife.

"Hey babe," Emma answered.

"Emma, I stopped at the station because I saw the cruiser out front. You weren't there."

"Oh yeah… uh, I'm really enjoying the updates to my car."

"Good." Regina chuckled lightly at her wife. "I wanted to ask you again if you were fine with having your mother over for dinner this week."

"Regina…"

"Emma, I'm not going to push it, but we don't have much longer until this baby is born and your father and I agree that you not having your mother around will be more upsetting than working on things to make them better."

"Fine," Emma sighed. "You're right. Go ahead and invite her."

"Wednesday?"

"Sure sure."

"Anything wrong, darling?" Regina asked as she sat down in her car.

"Nah. Nothing really. I kind of just want our New York bubble back for a couple of days."

"Well, perhaps we can have another getaway soon. Call me later?"

"'Kay babe. Love you." Hanging up the phone, Emma looked around the street she was patrolling and saw the Blue Fairy entering her mom's apartment. With a sigh, she wondered what she could possibly be doing there.

When Wednesday came, Regina made Emma promise to be home by four, just so she could be certain the blonde wouldn't pull anything, like trying to skip dinner. Regina had also invited Ruby, figuring that having another common ally would help keep the dinner amicable. When David and Snow showed up together, Emma let them in, though she didn't acknowledge her mother past more than a 'hello.'

David led Snow to the kitchen, where Regina was cooking and Ruby was sitting on a stool keeping her company. Both women looked up at the guests, Ruby offering a wide smile and Regina nodding.

"David, would you set the table? Everything is over on the counter," Regina asked.

"Sure thing. I'll have Emma help me."

"Snow, how are you?" Regina asked.

"Fine. Thank you for inviting me for dinner."

"Of course. I would like to see you and Emma rebuilding your relationship."

"Perhaps I will go see if I can help with the table instead of David."

"Certainly. Just… do not push her." Snow nodded and walked away. When David reentered the kitchen, Regina pushed him toward the door, following him and standing against it, next to him, so they could hear any discussion that might be going on.

"So…" Snow said, looking up at Emma, setting silverware on the cloth napkins around the table.

"So."

"Um, how are things with you and Regina?"

"They're fine. We're good, great, actually."

"I'm glad."

"Are you?"

"Emma, yes," Snow sighed. "I love you, and I really do just want you to be happy."

"Yeah, ok."

"So… you've grown close with David."

"Yeah, he's here most nights for dinner and most mornings for breakfast, and obviously we work at the station together, so we spend a lot of time together."

"And his relationship with Regina?"

"Still good. They're best friends, y'know?"

"Oh, good. And you're fine with that… after everything?"

"I am. Regina and I… we have a new dynamic to our relationship. We discuss everything on our minds, everything that comes up. We have really changed for and with each other. Snow, they slept together once, a long, long time ago. And, at first they bothered me, how close they got while Regina and I were falling apart and I was worried for a little while. But… now I understand it. They get each other. And just so you know, I think that you need to accept it. They've cooled it with how physical their relationship was, they used to be really touchy, not like… inappropriately, but like… because they are both touchy people. But, that's changed and now they just kind of do lunch and go for walks and whatever."

"I see."

"And I think if you don't accept it, it's probably going to have an effect on your relationship with him. He loves you, and if you can't accept it, the way that I came to accept that I am the one Regina loves, I just don't see your relationship working."

"That's the key? Just being ok with David being best friends with a woman he slept with."

"You're ok with him being friends with Kathryn."

"That's different."

"But it isn't. He was David Nolan in both situations."

"But he didn't tell me about Regina."

"He didn't want to hurt you. Sometimes… sometimes we do stupid things because we want to protect the people we love."

"Ok."

"Ok? Just like that."

"Well, it will be hard, but I love your father, so much. I love you, Henry, this new baby. I even love Regina, somewhere deep, deep down. I always have, since I was a girl and she saved me." Snow shrugged. "And she's… she is trying to help me redeem myself, and that means something. I think that if she really wanted to cause me pain, she would. She would keep you and Henry away from me. She would… I don't know, sleep with David again or, whatever. I can see that she loves you; I can see that so much of what she does is for you. I think maybe I'm a little jealous of that, of your relationship, I mean. I do want to be here for you Emma, I want to be your mother, or your friend, or… whoever you need me to be."

"For now, let's start out as trying to be friends."

Snow nodded, offering a tight smile. "Thank you."

Back in the kitchen, David and Regina moved away from the door, David smiled at her, squeezing her biceps in his hands.

"You did it," he said, happy that Snow and Emma were on the road to mending their relationship.

"No, you did. If you and Snow weren't working on being back together, I don't think she would be so lenient about understanding that Emma trusts you and me as friends. She gets that now, I think."

"Thank you, Regina, for pushing it with Emma," David said with smile. Squeezing her arms once more, he dropped his hands to the side and grabbed some dishes to bring to the dining room.

"What did I just miss?" Ruby asked, when she and Regina were alone.

"Obviously you heard their conversation," Regina stated.

"Yeah."

"Well, not only does it mean Emma is going to mend things with her mother, which was the intention of this dinner, but by telling Snow that she accepts our friendship and that Snow needs to do the same, she finally gave David and me approval, which she hasn't actually done before. I still see him everyday, but we don't joke or tease the way we used to, which isn't necessarily important, but we both always were on our toes around Emma, worried that she would get mad at us at any moment and demand we stop being friends."

"But you and David act the same way you and I act."

"Well, I never slept with you."

"Fair point. And too damn bad, as well."

Chuckling, Regina pushed the plate of meat toward Ruby. "I'm going to get Henry, take that into the dining room."

The dinner went well, everyone getting along for the most part, despite the many awkward silences that Ruby and Henry tried to fill. Still, Regina was proud to consider it a success when Emma and Snow made plans to meet for lunch the following Monday. After their guests were gone, Regina and Emma moved to the kitchen to start the dishes, stopping when their son came in, clearing his throat.

They both turned, looking at him.

"I need to talk to you guys," he said hesitantly.

"What about, dear?" Regina asked, her hand instinctively running circles on her belly.

"Maybe we should sit down."

Nodding, both women followed him into the sitting room and they sat, waiting for him to speak.

Running one hand through his hair nervously, Henry looked between the two most important people in his life. "Mom, ma… I think, um, I think it's time that I let Neal talk to me again." Inhaling sharply, Regina stiffened and Emma put an arm around her shoulders.

"Ok, kid," Emma said. "We told you, when you were ready to see him again, you can. We aren't going to stop you. However, I don't want him picking you up from here. You either meet him somewhere else, or he picks you up from school."

"Ok."

"And… you know, we would never prevent you from having a relationship with anyone you want to see, just… don't let him influence you negatively. You still follow our rules when you're with him."

"Duh, ma," Henry said, rolling his eyes.

"Ok then. Did you have a plan for when you'll see him?"

"No, I… uh I wanted to make sure it was cool with you guys first."

"Henry, we told you before that if you wanted to see him, you're old enough to make that decision."

"Thanks guys."

"Of course, kid."

When Henry left the room, Regina fell apart, falling against Emma and crying. Emma soothed her, pulling her into her, Regina's head falling to rest on Emma's chest.

"Shh, baby, it's ok," Emma cooed, stroking Regina's hair. "It'll be ok. Should… should I have told him no?"

Shaking her head, Regina answered, "Of course not. He has a right to see him. I just… I didn't think it would hurt this much. I'm completely selfish."

"No. No you are not. If you were being selfish, you would have told him no. It's ok to be upset by it. Regina, it's natural. But… just think, him going to Neal's will give us some alone time."

Regina offered a light chuckle. "Of course that's what you think about."

"Well… you should see my wife and continue wondering why."

"I love you."

"I love you too, babe. We'll get through this, just like we get through everything."

"I know we will."