A/N I'm really appreciating every pageview, favourite, follow and review. As I've said before, this is mainly me writing down what I think makes sense inbetween all of the stuff going on on-screen. This particular road trip has been harder to write than I anticipated, mostly because it's bloody hard to make the transitions believable. And I've had one month off the computer during the holidays. Thanks again to you who actually read this story!

I can breathe again! I love their voices! God, I'm crazy. This trip might work after all! Only six hours to go. You can do this Regina.

She cast a glance in the rear view mirror and observed the scene going on between father and son. The boy was not at all keen on sleeping when they got back in the car, but kept talking animatedly about the ice cream and the car trip and the snail he found the ground by the bench. Emma had helped him pick it up before she took him by the hand, and led him to the grassy patch where they carefully had placed it on a dandelion leaf.

Her was heart was fluttering and her throat was comfortably tight as she listened to Robin gradually taking over the talking and Roland quieting down before being lulled back to sleep by his father's steady voice. She could so get used to this, but she was still apprehensive. Robin had not once given any other hints to how he meant to solve this whole mess than the choked sobs of not being able to do this without her.

The mood had lightened significantly since the little incident on the bench and it had indeed cleared the air like a thunderstorm. To her great relief they were actually able to have civil conversation in the front seat. They both seemed to stay clear of sensitive topics, but still managed to get up to date on the goings on in Storybrooke and New York respectively. She halfway wondered how long Adam possibly could stay in Paradise, but decided to keep enjoying the moment for what it was and not ruin what could prove to be a better trip home than she initially feared. The ringing of her phone interrupted their light chat.

"Hello, Swan. Now what?"
She could feel her irritation rising again, and Robin cast her a quizzical glance with his eyebrows slightly cocked.

"We need to stop again. Preggo in the back seat needs to spend a penny, as she put it, and is probably suffering from motion sickness. Or night sickness or whatever. If we're to survive this trip in this car, we need to tend to her whims." Emma sounded equally parts exasperated and amused.

Regina groaned an "already?" and rolled her eyes at Robin, and he breath out a silent "Oh" and kept looking at her, as if to look for further clues to what the conversation was about.

"Okay. I'll just follow your lead. Everything is calm and okay back here, but I guess we all could need to stretch our legs."

At that, Robin nodded and waited for her to hang up.

"Soo, Zelena in need of a stop?"
He was sounding rather timid as he spoke, as if the mere mention of her name would break their fragile bubble of peace.

"Yeah. She is apparently both sick and needs to buy something. She obviously doesn't get anything for a penny, but I guess she meant a little something to quell the queasiness."

Robin's abrupt laughter made her frown, and she was about to tell him off as he reined himself in and dried a stray tear.

"What's so funny?"

He was still chuckling, and she felt the indignation burn in her cheeks and her follow-up came out rather harsh.

"What!?"

"Did she need to spend a penny?"

His eyes were practically glittering in the dark, and she was starting to get really riled up. How dared he laugh at her?

"Yes...and?"

"Well, she simply needs to have a wee."

"That makes no sense! You are kidding me now!"

"No, I swear to God. 'To spend a penny' is to have a wee."

"We didn't even have pennies in the Enchanted Forest! How did you two even get that idiom in common?" she scoffed.

"Well, I don't know, do I? Maybe the curse did give us something of this world after all, even if this time around it didn't create new characters for everybody. You are the expert in the magical field, you know."

She shrugged.
"Some things are even out of my control. This is apparently one of those things."

Not five minutes later the neon lights of a gas station were brightening up the otherwise black night, and they pulled over. Almost as soon as they stopped, she could see Emma jumping out of the bug and letting a slightly desperate Zelena out. She looked quite pale, and disappeared somewhere in the bushes.

"We take it in turn to sit in the car and watch Roland. I'm going out first."
She was actually quite happy for the unscheduled stop. Her back was starting to act up a bit, and if Zelena really needed to relieve herself this often, she could easily follow her lead without arousing any suspicion.

"Okay." he yawned. "I'm just going to sit here and sleep a bit anyway. Wake me when you return."

She walked up to Emma who was leaning against the bug.

"Zelena is not very happy about the road trip?"

"You could say that again! We need to add a few more pit stops to let Zelena go to the bathroom. That woman must have the smallest bladder in recorded pregnancy history! And I seriously don't know how to drive carefully enough not to trigger her nausea! I would rather not have her throw up in the back seat, and I'm not letting her in the front seat. She can lay down in the back for naps if she wants." She ran her fingers through her hair and yawned before continuing. "God, I knew I had a rough time being pregnant in prison, but I don't think my morning sickness ever got this bad."

Regina just huffed as she tried to stifle a yawn of her own as Emma continued her musings.

"Mind you, nobody ever took me for an 8 hour plus drive, so what do I know."

"Oh well, I'm just glad she hit the bushes rather than the toilet. That way it's quite safe for anybody else to enter after her. I'm next in line! I can't brag about my own capacity at the moment. But I think we all need to bake in some naps into these stops unless we want to risk drowsy drivers."

Emma tried to cover her mouth as a second yawn threatened to dislocate her jaw, and she shook her head and blinked heavily before nodding in agreement.

They decided to get a 15-minute nap before hitting the road again, and scheduled a stop every hour for peeing and napping. This seemed to do the trick, and they arrived at their next big stop, five hours after they left New York, without any more mishaps.

The diner was nice and offered a variety of dishes, and she was almost salivating at the mere thought of a decent meal. Snacks could after all only get you so far.

What to eat? She felt like eating a whole cow, but the thought of a well-done steak was appalling, to say the least, and uncooked, no matter how slightly, was out of the question. To her great surprise, the dish that stood out was the one to the far right in the bottom corner; Fish and chips. She could easily peel away anything too greasy, and the thought of white fish was enticing

All six of them huddled together in a booth and waited for the meals to be served. Lily and Roland were sitting opposite each other closest to the wall, then Emma and Robin, and at the end, Regina and Zelena. Zelena was still a somewhat loose cannon in terms of need of toilet, and Regina was in desperate need of an escape route if things got too heated.

"Ooh, food. Be sure to eat up, Regina. You need the blood sugar." Emma stretched over her to get her own plate before taking Lily's and handing it over to her.

"Not to worry, Miss Swan. There is nothing wrong with my appetite." she said, and tucked in as quickly as possible while remaining graceful enough not to bring shame to her upbringing.

Emma rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath "That has not been the refrain the last nine weeks," before starting her own meal.

Robin eyed the bickering between Emma and Regina with curiosity and looked Regina up and down before pointing his knife at her and not without a certain warmth in his voice uttered

"I think both you and your appetite look healthy, Milady." He winked at her and went happily back to eating, obviously with no further thought of what he said.

She, on the other hand, did not take kindly to the assumption. To the onlookers around the table, it was sort of like witnessing a small explosion, and she slammed her knife and fork to the table for effect.

"Are you implying that I'm fat thief?!"

Her violent outburst made him look up, clearly totally taken aback, and everybody were gawking at her.

"No, I'm not! You look radiant! You look terrific! How did you get "fat" out of what I just said?" He was shrinking back in his seat, yet squared his shoulders to take the full blow of her verbal assault.

"Well, all I can hear is 'fat' coating every syllable pouring out of your mouth!"

"Regina!" Emma was scolding her yet again.

The nerve of her!

She was actually sitting on her hands to keep them from flinging the nearest object right at his face – or Emma's. She really wasn't sure who deserved it most. For a split second, she also considered leaving the table in a flashing manner, but decided against it. Her rage was bubbling, but she could keep it in. She had to! The anger spurred that particular annoying headache that seemed to shoot from the shoulders and forward before piercing through her temples.

The quite loud noise from her stomach made her pick up her cutlery again, and she somehow deflated a bit and directed her attention to the meal in front of her. They all breathed out, and for a few minutes the only sound was cutlery on plates, chewing and swallowing.

Oh God!

She flinched as the first round of stomach-ache hit her like a mallet. Or like somebody chose to tie a knot on her intestines just beside her hip bone.

I should have eaten slower. Chewed properly!

The pain subsided, and she took a couple of sips of water, tuning out. She was too tired to engage in any conversation anyway. The pinches in her stomach started again, but this time the intestine pain teamed up with cramping of virtually all of the muscles in her back and pelvic region. She let out an involuntary groan and kneaded her side with one hand.

"Are you okay, Regina?" His voice was concerned, but she didn't respond at once. Fear, although probably unfounded, was creeping up her spine and she could feel the need to cry building up again.

"Excuse me."

She stood up and flung her napkin at her seat before heading for the toilet. The tears would not be contained much longer, and the cramping was not subsiding.

This is not good. This is terrible! I can't control myself any longer.

She was leaning heavily on the sink, letting her head drop between her arms, and from this angle, she had a perfect skewed view of her body. Honestly, she didn't think she had changed all that much. As she previously that night said to Emma, she felt that most of her growing was in the chest area. Definitely grown a pair, she thought as she observed her boobs. Am I really getting bigger without noticing myself? Does he think I'm fat and revolting? The sensation of being self-conscious about her changing body was totally new to her. She had always cherished the changes the little ones inside brought, and this time had so far been no different. Of all the areas of insecurity she had about herself, her body was the only part that so far never had given her any trouble to speak of. She had always relied on it to do whatever she told it to – apart from keeping children safe, that is. Why this change? How could his words strike so hard? And was this cramping just normal or a sign of everything going down the drain?

She locked herself into one of the cubicles and sat down on the toilet seat. Still no staining, but the fear would not entirely leave her.

Damned big openings around the cubicle door! I hate cubicles! Whichever moron thought this was a good idea? They certainly never needed privacy!

She was trying to collect herself as she heard the door to the toilets open. She closed her eyes and tipped her head backwards as she leaned into the cistern. The condensation water was starting to seep through the material of her dress, and she shivered involuntary by the cold sensation just beneath her shoulder blades. She heard someone enter the cubicle next to her.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

A grunt and five new rips of paper. Somebody had just let her toilet cover fall either to the ground or into the bowl. A sigh. Pee hitting the porcelain, yet dulled by paper where the stream would normally have hit water.

Bowl, not floor, then.

She tried to focus on the sounds, the feeling of cold water on her back, the smell of an air freshener that probably was supposed to smell like fresh linen. Anything but the constant cramping. Currently she felt like her entire pelvic floor was invited to the party, and the constant knot of fear was sending electric pulses throughout her body.

God, is it possible my anus is collapsing?

The toilet next door flushed, and she heard the door open. Tap turned on. One pump of the soap. Washing. Tap off. Three sheets of paper towel, drying hands, toss the paper tin the bin. And silence.

"Peek-a-boo!"

Her stomach and chest constricted, her eyes snapped up, and she shot up in an upright position and directed her gaze at the direction of the sound. A pair of blue eyes, a flurry of red hair and a manic grin was peeking up at her from beneath the cubicle door.

"What the hell?!"

She almost ripped the toilet roll from the wall to fling it at the intruder, but went for the more subtle version of ripping off a healthy sheet, which she balled and sort of covered herself with.

"Those pads don't match your knickers, love."

Her mortification suddenly matched the petrification of the cramping, and it gave her just the right boost to ignite her anger.

"Pads never match" she snapped and pulled her pants up above her knees and simultaneously tried to inconspicuously pull down her dress so that it covered the most essential parts.

Damned tight design!

It just wouldn't cooperate, but ended up in a tight roll just above her pelvis, and unless she wanted to get the skirt between her thighs and the toilet seat (which she didn'twant, thank you very much!) she had nothing to cover her modesty.

"Go away!"

"Nawww! Wittwe Wegina is angwy!"

"Watch yourself, or you won't get your sorry pregnant ass off the floor!"

A new cramp shot through her and she winced and squeezed her thighs together.

"You don't look too chipper, you know."

"GET OUT!" she roared as she shot up from the toilet. In one fluent movement, she had pulled up her underwear and her dress down, before flinging the door to the cubicle wide open. The door hit Zelena square in the face, and caused her to tumble backwards and hit the floor with a surprised cry.

At the same time, Emma came bursting in from outside. They looked like quite the pair; Zelena on the floor with a stray tear on her cheek, wild eyes and left arm clutching her stomach, while trying to push herself off the ground with her right. Regina leaning on the sink trying to straighten her hair and dress and with far more than a few tears streaking her face. She was definitely nailing the panda-look, and Emma was close to mentioning it, but quickly decided against it.

"What are you two doing in here? You are making a racket!"

"She hit me with the door!" snivelled Zelena, finally up on her two feet and embracing herself in a protective manner.

"Serves you right, you nosey witch…" muttered Regina as she turned to the mirror and fixed her running makeup.

"You two are not allowed to be alone together from here on! Out, Zelena. I need to talk to Regina."

Emma was suddenly in sheriff mode, and Regina cocked an eyebrow. This was a first. Zelena dried her tear and glared at Emma before leaving the room.

When she was well out of earshot, Emma turned towards Regina.

"Regina, you need to keep yourself together if you're not going to tell him now. You're ripping at the seams. And not because of boobs or stomach!"

"Brilliantly observed, Swan." she bit off, and continued in a smaller voice that barely covered the slight tremor of constricted crying. "I don't know how to handle the next few hours. I'm teetering on the edge, and I don't know if it's a deep chasm or just black velvet engulfing me when I'm finally dropping. I want to sleep!"

Her bottom lip was trembling slightly, and she bit it and turned around while trying to get her act together.

Emma relaxed a bit and went to wash her hands.

"We both do, I think. But you are in dire need of it. How long has it been since you got a proper sleep?"

"Far too long, that's for sure. Do we trust the others enough to go to sleep both of us? I'm getting slightly cross eyed, and I have no poison to keep me up any more."

Nobody protested when they proposed a 1 hour nap, and not surprisingly, they were all faring far better when they set out for the last part of their road trip. In case they forgot later on, Regina put the magic blocking wristband on Zelena before they left the second gas station, and the sun was climbing high above the wood as they passed the sign that welcomed them back to Storybrooke.

As the two cars pulled up close to the library, she could see the un-Charmings, Guyliner, Henry and Maleficent were striding towards them. She watched Emma get out of the car and give her son, their son, a hug. Her stomach twisted in a fit of jealousy, but she stayed put, just preparing a little speech for Robin in her head.

She decided to stay in the van throughout the whole dragon reunion, and Robin didn't make any moves to get out of the car either. Roland was happily singing to himself in the back seat and had apparently forgotten all about motion sickness and unpleasant memories of cars.

She leaned back in the car seat and carefully banged her head against the head rest a couple of times before speaking.

"I'm taking Zelena to the asylum. There is a perfect padded cell just waiting for her. I don't want any company. And no, I'm not going to harm either her or the meatloaf she is cooking. At least not physically."

"You think that's the best?"
He didn't protest. He hadn't got a clue what to do, that much was clear. God, they had a lot to work with. Nothing had been resolved. She was screaming on the inside.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at anything or even think about anything, her reply almost just a puff of breath.

"Do you want her roaming the streets?"

"No"

"I didn't think so. She'll be perfectly safe there, both from harm and from sneaking up on us."

Maleficent was happily reunited with her daughter, and it seemed like the right time to make a move. She sighed again and stepped out of the car, heading straight to Henry who gave her a hug she craved more than anything else at the moment.

"Welcome home" he mumbled into her hair. She closed her eyes and let herself melt into his embrace. This was all she really needed. Her son wanting to be in her life because he wanted, not because of anything else.

"I heard... I'm so sorry about, you know..." he started, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Thank you, Henry. It's par for the course."

His never failing optimism, no doubt an inheritance from the Charming-clan shone through, and he smiled at her.

"So far. Things can change."

She couldn't get her hope up. It was as if all of fight and hope and anything good was drained from her.

"We'll see."

She hugged him longer than absolutely necessary, and whispered in his ear "I haven't told him about you-know-what yet. Don't spill the beans. Emma figured out on her own somehow." He gave her an extra squeeze and reassured her. "I'm not telling anything until you tell me it's okay." She let him go and smiled at him. "We'll talk later. I need someone sane to talk to in all this mess. I call you when I get home."

He nodded and went off to talk to Robin who was taking Roland out of the car.

Charming was ready to take Zelena to the station, but Regina was not having any of it.

"I'm taking care of her. Family business." With that, she ushered Zelena towards Robin.

He was putting on his annoying apologetic face again, and it rubbed her in all the wrong ways and places.

"Regina," he said, voice matching face, "Things can still work out."

She really wasn't up for this right now, no matter how desperately she wished that what he said was true. And of course that blasted sister couldn't resist butting in.

"Ooh, can they? Wouldn't that be peachy?"

Instead of taking the whole discussion on the sidewalk, she opted for the easy way out and said in an exasperated tone:

"If you think it's that easy, you don't know the story of my life." She shook her head and dragged Zelena with her, leaving him without a second glance.

Please, Robin, find me later when I'm alone and rested and we can talk! Please!