Authors note: Thank you so much for all your kind reviews! I'm sorry the chapter is a little short, next time it'll be longer. ;)
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Signing the last of the contracts, Regina pushed the papers away and leaned back in her leather office chair. She let out a long sigh as she looked up at the clock and noticed that her day off was almost over and it was almost time to pick Henry up from school.
Time was going so fast. Sometimes almost too fast. Henry was already turning five next month and her daughter would be born within the next three months. Only thinking about the birth had Regina feeling anxious. The first time with Henry had been hard, but then she'd had Peter to help her through the painful labor. Huffing and puffing along with her as Regina was squeezing his hand so hard that she still didn't know how he hadn't broken a bone. But now she was completely alone. Sure, she had Katherine. But the blonde couldn't very well stay with her during the first years, Katherine had her own life.
Regina shook her head. There was no need to think about that just yet, she still had three months to go. She could do this, she was strong.
...
~ One months ago ~
Her pale hands were shaking as she turned her back to the blonde woman who was dressed in a black shirt and black pants. Katherine reached for the small zipper and zipped the black maternitydress up. Regina was still looking at the floor of her bedroom as she stepped into her black pumps.
Today is the funeral.
Only thinking about the fact that she needed to bury her husband today hurt her immensely. She unconsciously reached for her bulging stomach, feeling her little girl kick against the palm of her hand.
"Regina?" She heard Katherine's soft voice behind her and turned around. But then quickly realised she shouldn't have. The bile that had been bothering her the whole morning finally rose. Regina's face went pale and she stormed inside the bathroom, dropping down in front of the toilet before she emptied the contents of her already empty stomach.
"Regina?!" Katherine asked again as she hunched down next to the brunette and held the short brown hair back. "Shhh. It's okay." She whispered as she rubbed soothing circles on the woman's back. "Everything is going to be fine."
After a couple of minutes, her stomach finally seemed to have calmed down and Regina sat back, still keeping her head bowed as she wiped the cold sweat and tears off her cheeks.
"Are you feeling better?" Katherine asked, worry evident in her voice.
Regina shook her head as a sob left her mouth. Nothing was feeling better. And she started to wonder if it ever would be again. She was a pregnant widow with a four year old son.
"Oh darling, come here." Katherine pulled the brunette into her arms and kissed her forehead. "You know I'm here for you, Regina. You can tell me anything."
"I don't know how to do this without Peter." Regina choked out as droplets of salty tears rolled down her cheeks. The moment the words left her mouth she buried her face in Katherine's neck.
There was a thick moment of silence as the words filled the small bathroom. But it was over as soon as it started. "It will be alright, I'll be here for you, just remember that." Katherine whispered as she wrapped her arms tighter around the now sobbing brunette.
"I don't know what to do." Regina whispered as she squeezed her hands into fists. "I just- I miss him so much, I don't know what to do." She pulled back so she could look at the blonde. "And I just can't do this."
Katherine reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Yes you can Regina. You are not alone."
...
She was watching through tear blurred vision as they lowered the black coffin in the ground. There was a cold wind fluttering through the silent graveyard. Her left hand was holding her son's right one in a tight grip. Henry was still too young to fully understand what was happening, but he was still holding his mother's hand just as tight.
The sweet gesture only made Regina's tears fall faster. She could taste the salty liquid on her lips as she tried to cover a sob with a small cough. Regina felt how Katherine's hand softly squeezed her shoulder as a form of silent support.
But not even that gesture could alleviate the pain she was feeling right now.
...
~ Present ~
She snapped out of her thoughts. That particular memory always made a shiver ran through her spine. The sympathetic glances she had gotten right after the funeral were still burned in her mind. She hated sympathy, it had always been too close to pity.
And that was exactly what she had been worried about. The pity that reflected in their eyes everytime she walked down the street, every time she was in the store and every time when she stepped inside Granny's. Those sad eyes that first glanced at her pregnant stomach before meeting her eyes.
She still hated those glances.
...
"Oh I'm terribly sorry." Emma said apologetically as she bent down to grab the items and placed them back in the woman's shopping basket.
"Oh it's alright..." The blonde woman strained, signaling that she wanted to know the strangers's name.
"I'm Emma." She shrugged with a smile.
The woman's face changed immediatly from kind to suspicious. "So you're the one."
Emma furrowed her brows in confusion. "I'm the what?"
Instead of answering the woman narrowed her eyes further. "I'm Katherine, Regina's friend." She smiled when she saw Emma swallow. "She has told me about you. But from what I've gathered she wanted you gone."
"Yes, well." Emma said, starting to get annoyed by the other blonde. "That's a little hard seeing that my car is busted."
Katherine seemed to think about it for a minute before she glanced up with a protective look in her eyes. "Just make sure you stay away from Regina." She quickly brushed past Emma and stalked over to the cash register.
"Will do." Emma muttered to herself before grabbing what she came for.
...
Emma swore to herself that this was an accident. She did not deliberately follow the intimidating brunette as soon as she saw her. And now she was not deliberately standing behind a tree watching how a certain Regina Mills crossed the street and walked up the playground of what seemed to be the school.
The only problem was that she did deliberately follow Regina, and that's she was deliberately standing behind a tree to keep herself out of sight.
The school bell rang through the entire street, causing the blonde to jump a little at the harsh sound. She was still staring when the double doors were pushed open and a sea of little children ran out of the old building. The small boy who she remembered to be Regina's son ran towards the mayor and jumped in her arms. It was a heartwarming sight to see and Emma couldn't help but feel like a creepy stalker, watching what clearly was a special moment between a mother and her son.
But she just couldn't help herself as the small boy planted a kiss on his mother's cheek and Regina lifted him in her arms with what seemed like a little strain. Her green eyes followed as the pair walked in the direction of Regina's car and Emma smiled to herself. It was a torured smile, it was a smile that realized that she had brought that woman - the one who was carrying her son towards the car even though it was probably smarter not to, much more pain than she was already suffering.
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