Poison & Wine
Chapter 46
Henry was playing video games in the living room when he felt a hand on top of his dark hair. The fingers laced through his brown mane. "Someone needs a haircut." His adoptive mother noted, brushing the bangs out of his eyes. "How do you see with this?"
"With my eyes." The boy said with a laugh and leaned forward to get away from her scrutiny.
Regina let him escape her grasp. "Have you finished all your homework?"
He nodded his head. "Yep. Ma checked it already."
"What'd you say about me, kid?" Emma asked, waving a trash bag in the air to open it as she entered the family room. It was trash night and she had several bins to empty out and bring to the curb for pick-up tomorrow.
The blonde glanced momentarily at her girlfriend. The two were currently in the middle of a disagreement, so she was receiving the cold shoulder from the older woman.
"You checked my homework." Henry shrugged, oblivious to anything going on around him that wasn't his game. He was barely able to hold up a conversation with his parents.
"Oh." The savior nodded and looked at her true love. "Yeah, I did."
The mayor accepted the answer and gave Emma a stoic tightlipped look. The blonde let out a bummed sigh. Apparently she was still in the doghouse.
Regina turned towards their son and said. "Bedtime in twenty minutes, young man. Miss Swan, don't forget the recycling bin when you're taking the trash out."
Emma watched her lover's hip sway up the staircase until she was out of sight. She smacked her lips and groaned.
"Back to Miss Swan. Boy are you in trouble." Henry chuckled from his seat.
The sheriff huffed a dry laugh of her own. "Tell me about it." She grumbled and walked away to gather all the trash. She started with entryway trash bin, tying the top of the small trash bag and stuffing it in the large one in her hand.
She was aware that Regina wasn't pleased with her, but the former queen was acting so detached from their relationship. In Emma's opinion, the fight should have been over by then. It was a pointless fight, really. It all started when Emma was leaving the hospital with Killian earlier that day. They ran into Regina on their way out. Turns out, the mayor was there to take care of the paperwork to cremate the Wicked Witch.
Regina revealed in their argument that she wasn't so much pissed about Emma leaving the mansion, but more so the fact that the blonde was planning to keep it from her. The fight probably should have ended after her apology to the older woman, but Emma wasn't that lucky.
Gold was on his way out of hospital as the couple argued. He told his former student that his true love potion was halfway to being complete. The smirk on his smug face created unnerve within the two women. That caused a bigger fight between them.
Emma understood. She did. Gold was known as the Dark One. He'd done unspeakable things and he seemed to have a mischievous look in his eye, but the sheriff didn't see the point in worrying about him until he did something that was actually harmful.
Needless to say, that didn't go over too well with her lover. Regina was distressed about the situation. When the savior told her to relax, the brunette blew up. She yelled for a good solid five minutes until she finally put her hand up and told the younger woman not to speak to her until she was ready to apologize.
Before they went to pick up Henry from school and take him to see David, Emma apologized as sincerely as she could, but Regina didn't say one word to her. The silent treatment continued throughout the afternoon and evening but eventually during dinner the mayor spoke to her. Emma figured that meant things were solid between the two, but obviously that wasn't the case.
With a drained breath she made her way to the guest bathroom. She walked over to the trash bin to look into it. Usually she didn't have to collect this one for a couple of weeks, but it was full so she set the large trash bag down and grabbed the edges of the tiny one. As she was tying the top she spotted through the clear bag several pieces of pink paper torn up.
Curious, she stopped tying the top and instead opened the big trash bag before dumping the items in the smaller bag into that one. It was a weird feeling of intuition. It was the same feeling that made her stay in Storybrooke after meeting Henry. She went to reach for a piece of torn up paper.
"What the hell are you doing?" Regina's voice made her jump out of her skin.
"Jesus, Regina." She griped, raising her hand to her chest. "You scared me."
A dark eyebrow rose as she crossed her arms. Inside her head, the mayor was panicked that Emma might find the evidence of her pregnancy in there. She cursed her own stupidity for the situation. She should have just burned it when she had the chance. But then again, who goes digging in the garage? "Well you're scaring me, Miss Swan. I thought you were taking the trash out, not scrumming through it like some wild animal."
The blonde let out an embarrassed chuckle. Regina was right. She was being ridiculous. "I was." She defended herself. "I just-"
Regina rolled her eyes and cut her girlfriend off. "Just be quick with the trash, Sheriff. I'd like to shower before bed and you'll be joining me." The mayor wasn't stupid. She knew that if she left the savior to her own devices that Emma would take a peek into the bag and fit the small pieces of pink cardboard together. So she decided to use her go-to distraction technic: sex, or at least the view of her naked. The blonde was always sucker for such things.
Green eyes widened in excitement as her ears perked up. Sure, her name was still being omitted from Regina's dialogue, but she'd take angry shower sex any day. "Yeah?" She questioned, just to make sure that her true love was sure.
The brunette nodded. "If you be upstairs in five minutes. Any longer than that and I'm starting without you." She left the room, flashing a haughty and seductive smirk.
Emma had never gathered the trash together so quickly in her life.
Regina shook her head in frustration as the water casted down her naked body. She felt exhausted and emotional. The anger she wrongly pointed at her girlfriend stemmed from the irritation she felt with herself. The woman wasn't even really mad at Emma, but she had to be mad at somebody or she'd completely unravel.
She felt like she hadn't taken a breath since Zelena was killed. And there she was, pregnant with the threat of the Dark One hanging over her head. She moved a protective hand over her flat stomach and looked down. Whoever was inside there, she loved them already but she couldn't shake the small piece of disgruntlement she felt for the timing and she loathed herself for feeling that way.
The thought of having the baby was alarming, that was a given, but it was nothing compared to anxiety she felt when she tried to come up with the best way to tell her currently content girlfriend.
Emma had been joyful and optimistic since taking a bullet and now that Gold had healed the sheriff and deputy, it was even more obvious that the savior was perfectly satisfied with life as it was. She wasn't worried about the Dark One for reasons that the mayor couldn't understand. She wasn't constantly thinking about the growing baby inside her true love's stomach because she didn't know about the pregnant. Emma was blissfully unaware that she was to become a mother again.
In a way, Regina envied her. She found herself wishing that she didn't know about the baby. Maybe if she was ignorant to it then she could walk around the town on cloud nine like the blonde.
A cool breeze hit the mayor's back and she turned her head to see her girlfriend standing apprehensively in front of the shower. The concerned and gentle green eyes gave Regina butterflies. Her stomach was tied in knots as she watched the younger woman take off her bra and slide her underwear down.
Neither of them said a word as Emma stepped in the glass box and shut the door behind her. Regina moved to the side and allowed the other woman to stand under the waterfall showerhead while she grabbed the soap and her washcloth to scrub her skin clean.
The water was hot as it hit the savior's skin. She released an audible groan of pleasure at the slight burn. She turned to look at the older woman and saw her back as Regina washed her body. Emma didn't want to mess anything up, but she couldn't resist. She grabbed the curvy and delicious hips of her lover and brought the brunette under the water. She curled her hands around to the mayor's stomach and hugged her from behind. "I know you're still mad-"
"I'm not mad." Regina confessed quietly, cutting off the blonde. She tangled their fingers together over her abdomen and gazed at the image. 'If only she knew'. She thought. 'If only you tell her'.
Emma let the water wash the soapsuds off a tan shoulder before she kissed the skin tenderly. She adored being so close to Regina. "I am sorry, baby. My intention wasn't to piss you off earlier." She made a mental note to never tell her girlfriend to calm down ever again.
The former queen untangled their fingers and turned around in the sheriff's arms. Their eyes met. "Then what was your intention?" She wondered, tilting her lover's head back and properly dampening blonde hair.
Depending on how she answered, Emma knew their conversation could end one of two ways: make-up shower sex or angry shower sex. She'd take either, really, but she wanted to be on good terms with the former queen again. "I just want you to stressing out about everything."
"I don't stress out about everything, Miss Swan." The older woman disagreed sharply.
The formal name was not a good sign of things getting better. Emma tightened her grip on sturdy hips before she stroked her thumbs over protruding hipbones. "I know. But lately, you have to admit that since Zelena came to town you've been more stressed out and worried than usual."
Regina opened her mouth in protest. "I had a reason to be! She nearly killed you!"
The sheriff nodded. "Yeah, she did. But, baby she's dead now." Emma gently reminded her. "The threat over our impending doom is gone, defeated. We're done with that." She could literally feel the tension in her lover's body. The brunette was high strung with worry and Emma wanted to show her that she didn't need to be. "One of the many, many things I love about you is that you're just as protective as I am." She laughed. "But I do believe that I'm the sheriff of this town. You're the mayor, so do mayor things like budget reports and town repairs. Let me worry about evil witches and true love potions."
"But you're not worrying, Emma. That's the problem." The former queen explained, trying not to raise her voice. "You've been flying high in your little bubble of joy."
"You should join me. It's fun in the joy bubble." Emma said with an amused grin. She was back on a first name basis with the mayor so that was a plus.
Brown eyes rolled, completely un-amused. "Everything is a joke to you." She attempted to get out of the younger woman's grip, but the sheriff had a strong grip.
Emma moved them to the wall away from the showerhead. The lack of water made goose bumps rise on both of the women's skin; their nipples hardened as well. She pinned the brunette against the wall and rested her forearms on tile on either side of her true love's face. She looked into the blown pupils of the woman she wanted to marry.
No matter how crazy Regina drove her, Emma wanted nothing more than to be with her forever. "Listen to me, please." She requested in a quiet but pleading tone. "I need you to stop being in the mind set of the sexy Evil Queen. Nobody is powerful enough to hurt us. Not even Gold. We're raising his grandson for fuck's sake." She pointed out. "Whatever he's planning, don't stress about it. He needs your hair to even make the potion anyways so you really shouldn't be concerned about him."
While the blonde was right, Regina still found herself worried about the Dark One. His gaze at the hospital just seemed smug and if previous encounters with the man were anything to go by, he had something in his arsenal. But aside from that, the savior made a good point. Zelena was dead and Emma was healed completely. Everyone in town was safe and aside from the nuisance librarian going around the town talking about Regina's most recent murder, everything was normal. And while Gold's leering smirk made her uneasy, she did hold the upper hand on that. She would just deny him his deal.
Regina licked her lips and cupped her girlfriend's cheeks with her hands while she studied the emerald green eyes she fell in love with. Thoughts of their pea sized infant rose to the forefront of her mind.
Emma was looking into the dark eyes she often got lost in when she saw a certain glint in them. It was a split second, but it was enough to make blonde eyebrows furrow curiously as she grinned. "What's that look for?" She asked.
The mayor opened her mouth to tell her. The words were on the tip of her tongue. 'I'm pregnant.' She said in her head, but the words didn't transfer into anything verbal. She was yearning to tell the blonde, but she just cleared her throat instead. "I'm freezing, dear." She said evenly.
It wasn't a lie, but the avoided question made Emma wonder what the older woman was thinking about. She secretly hoped it was the same thing that she'd been thinking about for month's now- marriage.
The ring she had bought was burning a hole in her safe. She was itching to propose, but she was waiting for the cliché date of their anniversary to do so. It was just ten days away. She could make it ten days.
A flush was covering the mayor's cheeks as Emma gazed at her. The savior decided she wouldn't push. Instead she smirked and pressed herself harder against the brunette, their erect nipple resting against the others. "Mm. I can tell." Her tone was deep and sultry.
"You seem just as cold, my dear." Regina pointed out with a raised dark eyebrow.
Emma moved one of her hands to cup the back of her lover's head. "Let's fix that." She muttered and gave no warning before she shoved her tongue hotly down the mayor's throat. She took her other hand and cupped Regina's ass before she moved them back to the waterfall showerhead.
The brunette broke the kiss and frowned at her girlfriend. "I do believe you have some making up to do, Miss Swan."
Emma shivered. That no nonsense voice made her wet quicker then anything else. "What can I do to appease you, Madam Mayor?" She played along like a good sport, ecstatic that sex was very much on the table.
Regina's smirk was naughty and seductive. "On your knees, dear. If you're good down there, I might even let you come."
The blonde growled at the thought and quickly sunk down to her knees.
Two days later, having not heard a word from Gold, Regina opened the door to his pawnshop. The bell rang and alerted the auburn brunette behind the counter of someone's arrival.
Belle barely looked at her before she turned back to the inventory book. "I already talked to Emma. There's no need for you to be here, Regina."
"I'm afraid you'll have to be more clear, Miss French." The mayor told her as she removed her gloves and stood in front of the counter. "You spoke to Miss Swan?"
The younger woman nodded her head. "Yes. We had a long talk followed by her threatening to arrest me if I kept harassing the public about what you did to Zelena."
Regina tried to fight her amused smiled from taking over her face. "She has a way words, doesn't she?" She meditated. "And while that subject sounds highly amusing, I'm here on an unrelated matter. Where is that imp you call a boyfriend?"
"Right here, dearie." Gold said as he stepped out from the back room. "Have you come for a purchase, Regina? An engagement ring perhaps? I can't imagine you'd feel comfortable with two bastard children." He smirked.
The former queen glared daggers at the bookkeeper. "You little-"
Gold cut her off and stepped in front of Belle. "You may have changed, dearie, but you're still too quick to trigger. Belle didn't tell me." He informed her. "I told her of course, only to find out that she already knew. No, I found out from a rather chatty group of nurses at the hospital. You'd think they'd gossip somewhere more private then the hallway, but what can you do?" He shrugged. "Are congratulations an order or should I pass them along to Miss Swan instead?"
"You won't breathe a word of this to Emma!" Regina hissed, pointed a threatening finger at the man.
The lengthy haired man shook his head in a berating manner. "You haven't told the savior. What are you waiting for, Regina? Or are you not waiting at all? Did you abort the love child? That would be very Cora of you."
Regina stared at him with anger. "What I do regarding my child is my business."
"Quite selfish of you though. Isn't it?" The man questioned her. "I must say I'm rather impressed by our savior being able to pull off such a thing. She is rather moronic when it comes to all things magic, but to conceive a child without even trying? She's powerful."
"What do you want?" The mayor found herself asking. Worst-case scenario was happening to her. She went in there with a plan to shut the man down of whatever he was stirring up and yet she was willing to do just about anything for him to keep his mouth shut about her pregnancy.
The Dark One smirked. "I'm sure Miss Swan already told you what I'm after. Unlike her true love, she doesn't keep secrets."
Regina clenched her jaw. "What the hell are you planning to do with a true love potion?"
"Nothing bad." Belle told the mayor.
"It could be." Gold disagreed with his lover.
The former queen raised an eyebrow as a smirk took over her face. She was starting to believe that maybe she had been worried for nothing. Belle might be able to keep the Dark One in check with her moral compass. "Now this is amusing. What's more important to you? Your reputation of being the all powerful evil Dark One or vanilla sex with your barely legal little girlfriend?"
"And what's more important to you, dearie? Being the one to tell Miss Swan you're carrying her child or preventing me from making the potion I want?" Gold fired back, glaring at his former student.
David was staring at the instructions in complete disbelief. So many parts and screws that were assigned different letters, the once prince couldn't understand any of it. "This is… the most complicated thing in the world. Who made this?" He complained.
"Let me see." His daughter requested as she sat cross-legged on his living room floor, the unassembled crib parts hoarded around her.
The blonde man happily handed her the large instruction map and moved around the mess to kneel by Emma's side. "All right…" She began as her green eyes skimmed the flimsy paper. "It says take screws E," her hands set the guide down and reached for the proper pieces, "with washer's D, through bar C using wrench F which is-" She stopped herself short for a moment as she read it, "not provided."
Mary Margaret was sitting her in chair miserably pregnant. Her husband daughter had been putting together the crib for fifteen minutes and they hadn't gotten anywhere further than taking it out of the box. "You know, maybe we should just call Marco over here. He does this for a living-"
Both Emma and Charming looked up completely appalled at the mere suggestion. "No!" They said at the same time.
"We're fine." The man insured her.
Snow watched as her daughter played with a tiny screw and washer in her hand. The schoolteacher thought about Emma putting another crib together soon for her own baby.
It had been nearly three days since Gold healed the two blondes and Mary Margaret was starting to become concerned about the state of Regina's pregnancy. She didn't know what the mayor was waiting for. Emma was healed, the witch got cremated yesterday and everything was normal again in Storybrooke.
Snow wanted to ask Regina so badly, but she promised her that she wouldn't talk about it. Surely if the woman were no longer pregnant, she'd tell her.
"So what time is Regina coming to get you?" The pixie haired woman asked.
Emma glanced at her phone for a second as she continued to screw two pieces of wood together. "She should be here any minute."
"Who's idea was this magic lesson anyways?" David questioned his daughter.
The savior tightened the screw inside the wood. "It was mine."
Dark eyebrows furrowed as Snow rubbed her belly as the baby kicked. "Why the sudden interest?"
Emma shrugged. "I don't know. I felt a little useless with the witch that invaded town. I could have defeated her with my magic, but I don't know how to control it. I figure it can't hurt to at least know how to use magic if I need it."
"I just-" Snow began by she was cut off by the loft door opening and the mayor walking in.
Regina let out a deep sigh. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be teaching the blonde magic. Her stomach was feeling a tad uneasy and the smell of apples was making her nauseated. But she promised. "All right. Let's get this over with."
David huffed a laugh as he took his eyes off the crib instructions. "You sound thrilled to teach her."
"Are you sure you're the best person to teach Emma magic?" Mary Margaret asked from her seat.
The former queen raised an eyebrow in challenge. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Snow shook her head. "No, I don't mean it as an insult. It's just that you have dark magic. Emma's magic is light. How would that work?"
"Mom, Regina is teaching me." The sheriff said offhandedly while her true love sat down at the kitchen table. "Just let me finish this and we'll leave, babe."
"I thought you'd be done by now." The former queen complained.
David handed his daughter a piece of the crib. "There was a small snag in construction."
The schoolteacher sighed. "All I'm saying is that you tried to teach Emma magic in Neverland and-"
Emma cut off her mother. "Well I'm ready this time." She said firmly.
The mayor let out an amused. "Okay." She drew out sarcastically. "But if we're going to really do this, we do it my way. This isn't drinking stale coffee at a stake out or playing darts at the station. Lesson number one: you have to fully commit to it."
When Emma looked up to meet dark eyes, the determination was all over face. "Not a problem."
Regina believed her so she stood up and licked her lips. "Meet me in my vault in one hour. Because I am not waiting around for you to finish that." She gestured to the pile of mess and headed for the door. "Call if you get held up."
"Love you, baby." Emma called after the woman just as the door was shutting. Once it was, the sheriff looked at both of her parents. "Okay, no complaining. I know you guys don't like magic, but it's the only way I can make sure that if anybody with magic comes to cause trouble again I can deal with it." She used the couch to help her get up because her skinny jeans were rather tight. "And yes I will be careful." She added to appease her worrisome parents.
"We know." Mary Margaret told her truthfully. She trusted her daughter.
David had moved to sit in a chair. He was holding a long piece of the crib in his hand. "And don't worry, we'll pick up Henry from practice and watch him until you and Regina are done." He offered.
Emma cringed slightly and put her hands on her hips. "Actually… I'm not sure that's the best idea."
Both of her parents looked at her like she was crazy. "What? What is it?" The brunette questioned.
The sheriff quickly tried to come up with an excuse. "Well you guys are tired. You need rest."
"I'm pregnant, not sick with the flu." Snow pointed out.
Emma tilted her head as she bought herself time. "Yeah. I know. It's just… um…" Charming gave her a look that told her to spit it out. "It's… cradle cap. Last time you guys had him you overwhelmed him with baby tips." She raised her hands in a shrugging manner. "He's twelve. He doesn't want to talk about pregnancies. It's not fun."
"Oh, we're fun!" Mary Margaret argued.
"I'm just saying that maybe Henry disagrees." The savior informed her parents. "He loves you guys and he's excited about his new aunt or uncle coming but he doesn't need to know what an episiotomy is. God, I wish I didn't know what that was." She made a face.
"We'll show Henry fun." Charming grumbled as he moved to the unassembled crib in front of him.
Emma felt bad for her son as she went to get water from the fridge. She chugged half the bottle before returning to help her father. "All right. Let's get this done." She thanked God that she wouldn't have to put another one of these together for a long, long time.
Regina got lucky. Emma nearly found out about her pregnancy! Magic lessons are coming up in next chapter. There will be some smut that goes along with that, btw ;). I'll go ahead & confirm that the Charming baby will be born all well. How do you think Emma will react to expecting a baby of her own?
I love you guys! & I have to warn you that the ending is nearing. From the very beginning I wanted to end this story with them getting engaged & I hadn't really thought about a sequel but since Regina is pregnant is would be kind of a bummer if I didn't explore that, right? ;) Let me know if you guys think I should write one or not! But don't worry, we still have plenty of story until then.
Next post will be Wednesday! :*