A/N: Firstly, I am so, so sorry about the delay to this chapter upload. Blame Fanfiction's website for going down - some sort of power cut apparently. As compensation, it's a little longer than it was when I went to post it yesterday and gets rather fluffy and cute.
Also, please don't be offended by the use of the word bastard in this chapter. I myself was born to unmarried parents and teased about it on numerous occasions as a kid. It never bothered me that my parents didn't have a piece of paper officially declaring their love for one another and I'm only using this term because it is factually accurate and makes sense in the text.
Please follow me on Twitter for updates and sneak peeks of upcoming chapters! SwanQueenUKFF
Anyway, on with the reunion of the two love birds!
"Not that I'm not pleased to see you up and about, but what are you doing here Swanny?" Red asked as she sat down heavily beside her bunkmate in the dining hall. It was early on Wednesday evening and the room was packed and noisy. Snow, Boyd and French were with Emma, all of them discussing the latest details of Boyd's fairytale wedding plan.
"Where else would I be when Athena's fish pie is on the menu?" Emma asked. "It's the best thing she cooks."
"With your girlfriend?" Red replied, eyebrow raised questioningly.
"What?" Emma asked, jumping to her feet. Well, not jumping. Her baby bump needed to be eased out from under the lip of the table as she stood. It was common knowledge in FCI by now that Emma Swan was pregnant with her ex boyfriend's bastard child. The blonde was ignoring the looks and whispers that followed her through the corridors.
"You didn't know?" Red frowned. "I just saw her being wheeled into the infirmary. She was grumbling about being perfectly capable of walking herself so I'm guessing she's doing ok."
Before Red had even finished, Emma was rushing out of the room. She walked as fast as her growing belly would allow and within minutes was pacing down the corridor leading to the infirmary. She didn't even bother to knock, pushing the door open and scanning the room quickly.
"Regina!" she gasped as she spotted the brunette in the far corner, looking grumpy as Fisher and Booth stood beside her bed talking to her. At the sound of her girlfriend's voice however, a brilliant smile spread across her face. The blonde raced across the room and wrapped Regina in a tight hug.
"Ow!" the older woman complained and Emma let go at once.
"Shit! I'm so sorry! I just, I needed to…,"
Regina smiled understandingly, and pulled Emma back to her by the front of her shirt, drawing the pale lips to her own. Booth and Fisher tactfully turned away as Emma let out a whimper at the familiar contact, her hands rising to cup Regina's face as their lips moved slowly over each other.
"I missed you so much," Regina whispered, resting her forehead against Emma's.
"I missed you more," Emma countered, placing another chaste kiss to the plump lips.
"Not possible," Regina insisted, winding her fingers into Emma's hair to pull her mouth downwards again.
After a minute or so, Booth cleared his throat and the couple broke apart. Emma smiled shyly at her counsellor and the man nodded kindly at her.
"I've just got a few more things to go over with you Miss Mills and then we'll get you settled for the night if that's ok?" Fisher asked.
Regina nodded and Emma made to move away.
"Stay," the brunette said, reaching for Emma's hand and pulling her girlfriend back to her side.
Emma smiled down at Regina and placed a light kiss to her temple before leaning against the bed and turning her attention to the doctor.
"So, as I was saying, the doctors at the hospital are confident your infection has cleared up now and all three wounds are healing very well. I'm going to leave the one in your side uncovered from now on but I'll continue to change the dressings on the deeper injuries twice a day until next Monday. You're also on bed rest until that time. The surgery was invasive and we don't want you to cause further trauma by moving around too much."
"Understood Doc," Regina nodded.
"That includes any activities usually performed in a bed too," Fisher added, looking from Emma to Regina and back again. Both women flushed scarlet. "Trust me, it's not worth the risk," the older woman advised.
Emma nodded mutely at the doctor's words and Regina just smirked.
"If all goes well, you can leave on Monday but I will need you back here every few days to check how your wounds are healing."
"Great, thank you," Regina said.
"You're welcome. We'll leave you two to catch up now," she said, smiling at the still blushing blonde before she and Booth turned to walk away. "Oh and Miss Swan, you have your five month ultrasound on Friday. Don't forget."
"In the calendar Doc," Emma nodded before quickly turning back to Regina. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back today?" she asked, indignantly.
"I didn't know," Regina defended. "Like I told you on the phone yesterday, the plan was to move me tomorrow morning but apparently they didn't have a van available or something so it got changed. Why? Are you disappointed?"
"Hardly," Emma scoffed. "But I have something for your return and it's not quite finished yet."
"You're too sweet," Regina said. "I don't need anything except to be back here with you."
"May I?" Emma asked, opening her arms and mimicking a hug.
Regina laughed and shuffled over in her bed, patting the now empty area of mattress.
"You sure?" Emma asked. "I don't want to hurt you again."
"Just get up here and hug me woman!" Regina demanded with a laugh.
Emma grinned broadly and scrambled ungainly onto the bed. Settling herself down, she reached an arm around Regina's shoulders and the brunette rolled into her embrace, her head settled on Emma's swelling breasts.
"You've grown," Regina mumbled as she felt the steady rise and fall of Emma's breathing.
"I know," Emma grumbled. "I'm getting so fat!"
"You're pregnant Emma," Regina stated, moving her hand to cover the bump. "It doesn't count. And do you see me complaining about the increased size of certain things?" she asked as she twisted her head and placed a soft kiss to Emma's breast. Even through her shirt and bra, the action sent a pulse of heat straight to the blonde's core.
"Stop it," she growled.
"Sorry," the brunette relented. She knew there was no way the two of them would have a chance to be alone until she was discharged but it didn't stop her yearning to feel Emma under her fingertips again and to have Emma's lips and hands on her own flesh.
They lay there in silence, both women content to just be with each other, reassured that they were alive after the attack.
"So," Emma said after a long time. "Those complications Fisher mentioned. Will you tell me about them?"
Regina nodded against Emma's chest and leaned her head back so she could look into Emma's eyes. The blonde tightened her hold on the shorter woman, pulling her closer to her side as she gazed down into the chocolate orbs she had missed so much, waiting patiently for Regina to start speaking.
"I was stabbed three times," Regina began.
"I know. I was there, remember?" Emma quipped, the memory flashing unbidden into her mind.
"Sorry," Regina nodded, moving her hand up to stroke Emma's cheek. "So one of the stab wounds was superficial, nothing to worry about. It's uncovered if you want to see?" Emma nodded and Regina pulled up her hospital gown. Emma gulped. Even in papery hospital underwear, the brunette looked delectable. "Here," she said, gesturing to a jagged red line, about two inches long just above her waist, that now marred the previously flawless skin. "They took the stitches out a few days ago and it's healing fine. It doesn't even hurt that much."
Emma reached out tentatively and glanced at Regina. The brunette nodded so her fingers continued, tracing the outline of the scar.
"And the others?" Emma asked, removing her fingers after a few moments and allowing Regina to pull her gown back down.
"One, a piece of chainlink fence, stabbed my liver. The doctors decided to remove the section to avoid infection. It was a tiny piece however and the liver repairs itself quickly. It was also keyhole surgery so the scarring is going to be minimal. The only reason it's still covered was because it got infected. Apparently rusty metal isn't the cleanest."
"You don't say," Emma deadpanned. "And the last one?"
Regina took a deep, steadying breath but it came out in a rush of air as her body began shaking.
"Hey, hey! Babe, what's wrong?" Emma asked, panic flaring up as she saw tears streaming down her girlfriend's face. "Regina, what's happened? Are you going to be ok? You're scaring me."
"I'm sorry," Regina sobbed, burying her face in Emma's breast as sobs wracked her body. The movement pulled at her scar tissue, making it twinge with pain but she couldn't stop. She hadn't spoken to anyone about what had happened, not even Booth.
Emma waited patiently, stroking soothing patterns on Regina's back until her cries quietened and her breathing slowed. Eventually the brunette pulled back. Emma's concerned gaze met red rimmed eyes and the blonde gently wiped the falling tears away.
"The toothbrush, the one you pulled out of me," she began. "It … it lacerated my womb," Regina said, her voice low and shaky.
"When I pulled it out?" Emma asked, panicked. She had worried since the attack whether she had done the right thing by removing the shiv. What if her actions had done more harm than good?"
"No no, not at all honey," Regina assured. "The damage had already been done."
"What damage?" Emma asked, a knot in her stomach hardening. She had a horrible feeling she knew where this was going.
"The doctors tried but they couldn't save it. They had to remove … they removed my womb." Fresh tears streamed down Regina's face and Emma felt her own eyes burn as her mind processed the words.
"Oh Regina, I'm so sorry!" she gasped, pulling the woman back to her and wrapping her arms as tightly as she dared around the trembling frame.
"All I ever wanted was a family," Regina mumbled into Emma's chest. "My own children, my own flesh and blood."
Emma nodded understandably. She had always wanted a family of her own too. People to love her and support her unconditionally. But …
"Regina," Emma said softly, tilting the brunette's chin up with her finger so their eyes connected once more. "Blood doesn't make a family. Love does. My biological parents abandoned me on the side of the road despite me being their own child. Your mother had one of her daughters stab the other daughter. She's the mother to both of you and yet she's never been your mum has she? It doesn't matter who gives birth to you, it matters who loves you, who you can rely on, who will support you through the good times and the bad. Not being able to have your own children is horrible and I'm so, so sorry, but it doesn't mean you won't be a mother some day. It doesn't mean you won't have a loving, caring family in the future. You can have all that, you deserve all that, and I'm sure you will find what you're looking for."
Regina listened carefully to Emma's words and then tried to process them, lying in silence looking up into her girlfriend's face. She thought about the past week, alone in her hospital bed, crying about the loss of her ability to have her own children. It tormented her, it haunted her. And yet now … Now she was in Emma's arms with her heart beating steadily beneath her cheek, it didn't seem like the end of the world. Emma was right. She could still have a family. Blood hadn't made her own mother a good parent so the lack of a blood connection wouldn't stop her from being the best mother she could be.
She smiled weakly. "I think I already have," she murmured. An Emma's confused face, she elaborated. "I've found what I'm looking for." The brunette moved up the blonde's body and placed a kiss to a mouth hanging open slightly in surprise. "You, Emma. You're my family now."
Tears spilled from Emma's eyes as she heard the words. She had never had a family before. Not really. Not one she could remember. And now she lay with a beautiful woman in her arms and a baby growing inside her. She pulled her arms tighter around Regina and pressed their lips firmly together.
"Just the three of us," Emma whispered, guiding Regina's hand down to rest with her own over her abdomen.
The two woman lay entangled in each other's embrace, exchanging soft, loving kisses, until Doctor Fisher emerged from her office two hours later and told Emma she needed to head back to her own bunk for count.
Reluctantly slipping off the bed, Emma turned back to her tired but happy looking girlfriend and bent over to kiss her goodnight.
"I love you," Emma whispered as she pulled away.
"I love you too," Regina replied, sleepily.
Emma flinched. "I forget how cold that gel is every time," she grumbled.
Regina smiled and squeezed her hand as the doctor spread the jelly over the bare, swelling bump. The two women were lying side by side on Regina's hospital bed. Emma had refused point blank to allow the brunette to walk the ten yards or so into the doctor's office but she also insisted Regina be present at the five month scan. They had compromised when Fisher suggested Emma just stay where she had become a permanent feature over the past few days and wheeled the monitor over to the couple.
"Ok, here we go," Fisher said as she switched on the screen.
Instinctively, Emma turned over, focusing on the delicate shell of Regina's ear. The brunette glanced at the screen for a moment, smiled when she saw the baby and then turned her head to face Emma.
"Are you sure you don't want to look?" she murmured, her warm breath tickling Emma's lips.
The blonde didn't reply. Her mind was racing. She had barely four months to decide what was going to happen to her baby. She thought she had decided: she thought she didn't have a choice. But the last few days were making her reconsider. Perhaps she did have a decision to make.
Regina smiled softly as she watched different emotions flicker across the beautiful face of her girlfriend. She didn't want to pressure Emma into looking at her baby if she didn't want to, but she believed deep down that Emma really did want to see her child. Despite everything she said, despite the decision the blonde had made, Regina thought it was still important for her to see the baby.
Emma closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, very slowly, she rolled her head back. Her eyes were still closed as both Regina and the doctor watched the blonde apprehensively. Exhaling, Emma opened her eyes and turned her head slightly towards the screen beside her bed.
The image was fuzzy. Black, white and grey. Flickering and changing rapidly.
The doctor moved the probe slightly and Emma gasped as the distinct shape of a baby appeared.
"Do you want to hear the heartbeat?" Fisher asked softly.
Emma nodded, her eyes glued on the screen, and the doctor twisted a switch. The pounding thud filled the room, reverberating off the walls. Emma could feel the strong, steady rhythm in every fibre of her being.
The image she was still staring at blurred and she realised she was crying. Regina gently wiped her tears away, smiling lovingly at the emotions all over Emma's face.
"Isn't it beautiful," she whispered.
"It's perfect," Emma breathed, hardly able to believe the image on the screen was really the little person growing inside her.
"I'll just take a photo for you to keep and then I'll leave you two alone," Fisher said, fiddling with the machine before stowing the probe away. Emma's face dropped as the image of her baby disappeared and the sound of its heartbeat faded. As soon as the gel was wiped away, she pulled down her shirt and rolled over, burying her face in Regina's neck.
"I can't give them away Regina," Emma sobbed as the brunette's slender arms enveloped her. "I can't do it."
Regina hugged the shaking body closer to her, stroking Emma's hair. She understood her girlfriend's anguish. Being forced to give up a wanted child was one of the worst things the brunette could think of. She had been struggling to fully comprehend her own situation over the past ten days, helped more recently by speaking to both Emma and Booth. The fact that she would never be pregnant had barely sunk in on top of the fact that Emma was pregnant and unable to keep her child, despite clearly wanting to. Regina would do anything to save Emma the pain of being separated from her baby.
The brunette looked at her wrist, resting against Emma's shoulder. The red, blue and yellow friendship bracelet the blonde had presented her with the day before sat perfectly against her olive skin. "It stands for love, commitment, and friendship," her girlfriend had said as she delicately tied the strings together. Regina regarded the bracelet, looking at the intricate ways the colours intertwined, before cupping Emma's cheek and moving her face upwards until tear-filled eyes met her own.
"Maybe there's another way," Regina murmured softly.