More Than She Wanted

The Dragons Sick Day part II:

Henry and Emma leaves, and Regina and Snow is left alone with the sick Maleficent.

Regina frowns a little.

,,You didn't have to stay, Snow. I can handle it."

,,I wanted to," Snow shrugs. ,,We can't have you running up and down the stairs."

Regina scoffs. ,,I'm not sick, I'm pregnant."

,,Exactly."

Regina gives up and accepts that she's gonna lose this argument. ,,It was very kind of you to stay."

,,Of course. That's what friends are for," Snow beams.

Regina returns the smile and takes her sweater off. Suddenly, she is feeling warm and sweaty again.

,,Do you want some tea?" she offers. ,,Or coffee?"

,,Tea is fine," Snow says. ,,But you don't have to serve it for me. I can get it myself."

,,I insist," Regina quips. ,,I'm not made of glass."

She quickly goes into the kitchen and fetches another cup and the teapot. She returns to the living room where Snow is sitting on the couch. Regina bends down to serve the tea, and notices that Snow is giving her a rather funny look. Almost like she's about to laugh.

The brunette sits down next to Snow and takes a sip of her own tea. She winces when her back protests again.

,,Bad back pain?" Snow questions.

,,Just a little," Regina replies and understates it a bit.

,,I had quite bad back pains when I was pregnant with Neal," Snow nods. ,,I can only imagine how heavy it must be to carry twins."

,,This is definitely the last time I'm getting pregnant," Regina says firmly.

Snow chuckles. ,,Oh, just you wait and see. Once the babies are here, you'll want more immediately."

,,Not very likely to happen."

,,Then let Maleficent carry the next one," Snow suggests innocently, and Regina nearly chokes on her tea.

,,No! Don't feed the madness," the brunette croaks.

,,What madness?"

,,Mal has been rambling on about wanting to carry the next child. Even though I told her I don't want any more children."

Snow chuckles. ,,She wants to take turns, huh?"

,,Nobody is taking turns," Regina says sternly. ,,Because we are not having any more children. Two girls and Henry is quite enough."

,,I bet you'll change your mind in a few years."

,,No I won't. And excuse me for a moment," Regina says and stands up. One of the babies are pressing on her bladder. Again.

Once relieved, Regina washes her hands and checks her appearance in the mirror. Oh.

Suddenly Regina understand the amused look Snow gave her a few minutes ago.

Her neck is covered in about a million little, blue-black bitemarks or hickeys or whatever the hell you call them. Regina sighs heavily. That damned dragon. She has warned her about leaving marks, but apparently, she couldn't resist last night. And Regina doesn't recall protesting at any point. So in the end it was all her fault.

She can't very well return to the living room looking like this, and her magic isn't working properly, so she opens a drawer and finds her powder. Regina quickly dabs the powder over the marks. There. now they're gone. If only she had noticed them sooner. Oh well, at least Snow was too polite no mention them, but Regina is positive that her former stepdaughter is secretly amused.

Regina shakes her head and leaves the bathroom.

Snow is sitting comfortably on the couch sipping her tea when Regina comes back.

,,Do you need help?" she questions when Regina struggles with her weight.

,,To sit down? No, I think I'll manage dear," Regina quips and leans back against the cushions. She wiggles her feet slightly to relieve some of the pressure on her ankles.

Snow puts her tea cup down and rummages in her purse. A second later she finds something that looks like yarn, and Regina chuckles.

,,Are you knitting?" the brunette questions her former stepdaughter.

,,Yes," Snow says and shrugs lightly.

,,What are you knitting?"

,,A blanket. Well, actually I've already knitted one."

,,Who are you knitting blankets for?" Regina asks absentmindedly and rubs her ankle again.

,,Your daughters."

Regina's mouth falls open with a soft pop, and she's positive she looks rather stupid right now, but she can't help it. Snow's little announcement threw her off completely.

,,Are you knitting a blanket for me and Mal's children?" she questions in amazement.

,,Yes," Snow confirms with a huge grin on her face. ,,I figured neither you or Mal would do it."

,,You're quite right," Regina nods. ,,Needlework doesn't really interest Maleficent, and I can't knit so…"

,,You can't knit?" Snow says and raises an eyebrow.

,,No," Regina confesses with a little smile. ,,I think my mother tried to teach me once, but I didn't really have the talent. But I am pretty good at sewing, though."

,,I've never seen you sew," Snow observes and looks down at her needlework.

,,It never was the thing that interested me the most," Regina shrugs. ,,I was far more interested in working on my magic. I was better at that than needlework."

Snow chuckles at that statement.

They sit together and chat comfortably, Snow with her half-done baby blanket, and Regina with a book in her lap. A rather trivial book, that is. It tells everything about giving birth and the first weeks with the baby home, and Regina doesn't really find it useful. In fact, she finds it quite daunting.

,,You know, I have never seen so many things that could potentially go wrong when you give birth," she frowns.

,,Skip that part in the book," Snow suggests. ,,No reason to upset yourself."

,,I am not upset," Regina denies. ,,I am just not very thrilled about the risk of one of the babies getting stuck half way."

,,Good god, stop reading that book already, Regina," Snow says and shakes her head.

,,I think I'll take your advice for once," Regina quips and closes the book. No more reading. Instead she leans back and closes her eyes. Maybe she should take a nap. Just a short one, obviously.

But her dreams about a short nap is crushed when they hear something between a moan and a groan followed by a dry coughing from the bedroom.

Regina's head snaps up at the sound. It sure sounds like Maleficent is awake, and the brunette grabs the edge of the couch to push herself up.

,,Stay here," Snow says firmly and stands up herself. ,,I'll check on her."

,,But.."

,,No buts." And before Regina can protest further, Snow has already gone up the stairs and into the bedroom.

Regina hear the muffled sound of voices coming from the bedroom. Maleficent sounds very upset, and judging by the sound of it, Snow is trying to calm her down. Hopefully she will succeed, Regina thinks to herself as she leans back again. She's absolutely knackered for some reason. Maybe she should take that nap.

But once again her hopes to take a nap is crushed. Snow returns downstairs with a slightly worried expression on her face.

,,What is it?" Regina questions. ,,Is she getting worse?"

,,I think she had some sort nightmare, she rambled a bunch of nonsense I couldn't understand, and then she asked, well demanded to see "Gina"."

,,Oh. Well I guess that's me," Regina says and raises an eyebrow.

Snow gives her a hand and helps her to stand up, and then both women returns upstairs to the bedroom.

,,Does she often call you that?" Snow questions as they walk up the stairs.

,,What?"

,,Gina."

,,No, that was a new one," Regina muses. Maleficent has called her a lot of stuff, but never Gina.

Regina pushes the bedroom door open and finds her wife completely bewildered and confused. And very pink cheeked.

,,Hi. How are you feeling?" Regina asks and sits down at the edge of the bed.

,,Regina! You're here!"

,,Where else would I be? I live here," Regina quips.

,,I thought you left," Maleficent says and looks more relieved than ever.

,,Now why would I do that?" Regina questions and pats Mal's hand.

,,I had a terrible nightmare. The worst nightmare I've ever had. " Maleficent shudders. ,,I dreamt that all of it- you and me- were something I had made up."

,,Well, your brain is pretty screwed up," Regina agrees. ,,But I can assure you, all of it is very real, and I'm not going anywhere."

,,Do you promise?" Maleficent asks wildly and looks at Regina with glassy eyes.

,,Yes of course."

,,And you are still pregnant, right? I didn't make that up too, did I?"

Regina takes her wife's hand and guides it to her stomach. ,,Still very pregnant."

As to stress out her words, the babies kick against Maleficent's hand.

Maleficent's face lights up in a beaming smile when she feels the babies kick. ,,Thank god. I was so worried that…"

,,No more talking nonsense," Regina insists. ,,I'm here, I'm pregnant, and I'm not going anywhere. Expect for downstairs."

,,Can I talk nonsense one last time before you go?" Maleficent asks sleepily with half closed eyes.

,,Yes?"

,,I love you."

That's the second time today she said that spontaneously and Regina smiles softly despite getting a rather tight feeling in her throat.

,,I love you too. Get some sleep."

,,I will," Maleficent says. She's already half asleep.

Regina and Snow leaves the bedroom, and Snow beams at Regina.

,,She's delirious. We should probably just let her sleep," Regina rambles off and tries to get past the tender moment.

,,That's probably best."

They return to the couch. Or, Snow does. Regina decides to light the fireplace now that she's already standing up. It's getting rather cold; the snow falls and the wind is howling in the trees.

,,Well that was very sweet," Snow comments when Regina sits down next to her.

,,What was?" Regina questions a bit irritated.

,,The way you had to assure her that she didn't just imagine your whole relationship."

,,As I said, she is delirious."

,,Apparently losing you is her worst nightmare," Snow observes softly.

,,Stop talking like that," Regina snips.

,,Why?"

,,Because I'm getting emotional, that's why!" the brunette snaps. Damn hormones always getting out of control.

,,Oh." Snow chuckles warmly. ,,Hormones."

,,Indeed."

Regina swallows repeatedly to make the tight feeling in her throat disappear.

,,When did you realize you love Maleficent?" Snow asks, completely out of nowhere, and Regina balks at little at the odd subject.

,,Uh.. I think it just sneaked up on me," the brunette confesses. ,,At first it was just simple attraction, but then it became harder and harder to leave in the morning."

Snow nods. ,,I get it. But it must have been hard to fall in love again after everything you went through."

,,Yes and no," Regina replies. At first I couldn't even imagine it, but once we started seeing each other, my brain just went "of course". It seemed so natural."

,,It was very brave of you not to turn your back on the chance of happiness," Snow says admiringly.

,,I don't know about that," Regina chuckles. ,,I just thought "what the hell, let's give it a shot", I don't think bravery had much to do with it."

,,You could have walked away but you didn't," Snow points out. ,,That's bravery in my book."

,,Well, you and I are rarely on the same page dear," Regina teases.

,,Maybe not. But you and Maleficent are."

,,Yes we are. She turned out to be the perfect match. And there isn't any pressure, and it's not difficult."

,,What do you mean?"

,,I loved Robin. I really did."

,,I know you did."

,,But I also felt a certain pressure because I was "destined" to be with him. I mean, I loved him, but it felt strange to have your entire future planned out for you because of pixie dust. Does that sound strange to you?"

,,Not it doesn't," Snow says with a soft smile. ,,You make your own destiny."

,,Exactly," Regina nods. ,,Robin was picked out for me. And he turned out to be a wonderful, kind, loving man who taught me a lot, but I didn't choose him myself. And I often wondered how things would have turned out if I had run into him like you did with David. Without any prophecies and pixie dust. Just him and me."

Snow gives her hand a little squeeze. ,,I see what you mean. I chose David myself. No fairy turned up and guided me to him."

,,And this doesn't mean that I didn't love Robin," Regina says quickly.

,,Of course not. I know you loved him very, very much."

,,But if I really was destined to be with him, wouldn't he still be here?" Regina wonders. ,,I know that pixie dust doesn't lie, but…"

,,I wouldn't think that much about pixie dust if I were you," Snow says and gives her hand another squeeze. ,,You chose Maleficent. You weren't pushed towards her. You chose to go after her, not because anybody told you to, but because you wanted to. You took control and made your own destiny."

Regina smiles at the younger woman. ,,That I did."

As the sky darkens and the weather gets worse, Regina begins to feel tired. She and Snow had a light dinner together, and Regina fears that the younger woman will have trouble getting home if she waits any longer.

,,You should go home, Snow. I can take it from here."

,,I'll stay," Snow says firmly.

,,But the snow is getting worse; I don't think you'll be able to reach your house if you wait any longer."

,,That's alright," Snow shrugs. ,,Then I'll just sleep on the couch or something like that."

,,I can't ask you to do that."

,,You didn't. I offered."

,,Seriously Snow, just go," Regina says. ,,I think Maleficent will be fast asleep for the rest of the night. I can handle it."

,,I'm not letting you run up and down the stairs on your own all night. What if the light blacks out because of the weather? What you fall and hurt yourself?"

,,But.."

,,Regina. Zip it," Snow says mock firmly.

,,Two hours," Regina says. ,,If she's still asleep in two hours, then you're going home, alright?"

,,Very well," Snow sighs defeated.

Regina is just about to lecture her former stepdaughter, but is interrupted when she receives yet another kick. She chuckles to herself.

,,What is it?" Snow asks.

,,Just the babies kicking," Regina explains. ,,Feel this." She takes Snow's hand and guides it to her stomach.

The younger woman smiles broadly. ,,Is that a foot?"

,,Yes, I think it is." Regina chuckles.

Snow looks out of the window. ,,What a weather. If I didn't know any better, I would say it was Christmas."

,,Christmas," Regina chuckles. ,,It's not even Thanksgiving yet."

Snow White snaps her fingers. ,,That reminds me, do you and Mal want to come and have Thanksgiving dinner with me, David and Emma and Killian in a few weeks?"

,,Sure. That sounds lovely," Regina smiles.

Two hours later, and several trips into the bedroom, Maleficent is still fast asleep, and Regina starts to get sleepy as well. It has been a long day with a quite a lot of backpains, and Snow encourages her to rest for a while if that's what she needs to. It doesn't take long before Regina surrenders, and ends up lying on the couch. And five minutes after she lied down, she is fast asleep.

A good while later, she is awakened by the sound of voices, and Regina is completely disorientated when she wakes up. The lights were on when she fell asleep, but now the living room is dimmed, and somebody has put a blanket over her. Regina glances at her watch. She has been asleep for several hours. Damn it. That really wasn't her intention. She just meant to take a short nap and nothing more.

Regina stretches her aching limbs and rubs her eyes to wake up properly.

,,Good morning, my darling."

Regina cranes her neck and finds Maleficent and Snow sitting in the chairs next to her. Mal is still wearing her pajamas, but the rosy glow in her cheeks has subsided.

,,Uh.. good morning," Regina says tamely and props herself up into a sitting position.

Mal purses her lips. ,,You shouldn't be sleeping on the couch."

,,You shouldn't be up," Regina rebuts and hides a yawn behind her hand.

,,My fever broke. And I got bored just lying around," Maleficent shrugs.

,,How long have you been up?" Regina questions and curses herself for falling asleep.

,,Not very long, but I didn't have the heart to wake you. You looked so adorable."

,,Shut up," Regina mutters and Snow sniggers.

,,You stayed," the brunette observes and looks at her former stepdaughter.

Snow nods. ,,Yes. I figured I would stick around just in case."

,,Thank you. That was very kind," Regina says warmly.

,,Anytime," Snow says lightly. ,,I almost finished the baby blanket while you were asleep."

,,I'm sorry I fell asleep like that," Regina says with a light frown.

Snow scoffs. ,,When I expected Neal, I practically slept through the last few months."

Regina stretches her stiff back once more and sniggers a little when she feels the twins stretching.

,,What?" Maleficent questions.

,,Just the babies waking up when I do," Regina explains and rubs her belly. She is immediately rewarded with a lick kick to the palm.

,,Are they kicking?" Maleficent asks and moves faster than light when she crouches down in front of the sofa.

,,They are," Regina confirms, and Maleficent instantly touches her stomach. Regina on the other hand, touches Mal's forehead. The dragon is still a bit warm.

,,Maybe you should go back to bed," Regina frowns. ,,You are still a little hot."

,,Just a little hot, Regina?" Mal says and feigns being offended by that statement.

,,Warm," Regina sternly corrects herself. ,,You are still a little warm."

,,I think that's my normal temperature."

,,I really don't think it is."

,,Well, I'm not going back to bed."

,,Why not?"

,,Because I missed an entire day with my extremely hot wife."

,,Hi," Snow interjects and waves her hand in Maleficent's face. ,,I'm sitting right here and listening to every word you say."

,,Oh. Oops." Maleficent says. ,,Me and my big mouth."

But Regina just smiles, and Mal's eyes widens.

,,Aren't you gonna scold me, my darling?"

,,No," Regina says and shrugs. ,,The garbage you're letting out right now means that you're feeling better. And I am very pleased about that."

,,You were worried about me?" Maleficent questions and looks rather delighted at that thought.

,,I didn't like your delirious talk. That freaked me out," Regina admits.

Maleficent beams. ,,I like it when you're worried about me."

Regina shoots her a tired look, and then Mal's phone rings. The dragon reaches out to take it, but Regina is faster and answers it.

,,Maleficent's phone, you've reached the mother of dragons. Again."

Lily sniggers in the other end, and Maleficent looks absolutely delighted when Regina introduces herself as the "Mother of Dragons".

Regina hands the phone over to Mal, and once the dragon is finished chatting with her daughter, she looks at Regina.

,,"The Mother of Dragons"?" she questions interested.

,,Just a joke between me and Lily," Regina scoffs.

,,Oh, so you have private jokes now?"

,,Yes. You wouldn't understand it," Regina teases.

Snow chuckles.

Regina's stomach growls softly.

,,Hungry?" Maleficent chuckles.

,,Yes. I better find some food before the babies get unhappy," Regina says and attempts to stand up.

She is promptly stopped by Maleficent who pushes her back into the couch.

,,I'll make you some. You stay put."

,,But you're sick," Regina protests.

,,Not anymore. I feel a lot better. And besides, you've looked after me all day, now it's my turn to look after you."

Regina willingly accepts that and leans back into the cushions. She wouldn't mind a bit of looking after, and she is very happy to see Mal rummage around in the kitchen again.

,,You've shouldn't have slept on the couch," Maleficent yells from the kitchen.

,,The bed was sort of occupied," Regina yells back.

,,I think I owe you a back rub after today."

,,Yes, I do believe you do, dragon."

To Be Continued..