"Well, well, well. Have you come to tell me I was correct?"
Emma rolled her eyes, dropping into her chair.
"I'm here because I work here."
Zelena hopped down from her perch on Mulan's desk and made her way to Emma's.
"That's of no interest to me. What interests me is the fact that I was correct, and more importantly, you were incorrect."
"You know, for you two not growing up together, you and your sister sure are a lot alike."
"Stop changing the subject. Admit it."
Emma sighed, knowing Zelena would never drop the subject unless she did.
"Yes, alright? You were right."
Zelena squealed.
"When will you propose? You'll not wait until something predictable and cheesy, like proposing on Christmas, will you? I'll turn you down myself."
"I'm asking your sister, not you."
"Oh?"
"I don't need opinions."
"I suppose then you'll be entirely uninterested in hearing the types of rings my sister was looking at when I forced her to look at the jewellery magazine yesterday?"
Zelena grinned at Emma's expression.
"I thought so."
Emma sighed.
"Alright. I'll bite. What kind of rings?"
"Well, perhaps now I've forgotten."
Emma glared.
"What do you want, Zelena?"
"How do you plan on proposing to her? What is your grand idea?"
"I'm not telling you how I'm proposing."
"You haven't a clue, have you?"
Emma stayed quiet.
"You're more pathetic than I thought."
"Zelena," Mulan warned, cradling Robyn close as she slept. "Be nice."
"I am being kind." Zelena looked back at Emma. "Perhaps I could be persuaded to assist you in your quest to claim my sister's hand in marriage."
"I don't need any help."
"Don't you? You still haven't proposed."
"It's been three days, Zelena."
"It's been nearly a bloody year!"
"It's been three days since we talked," Emma clarified. "I need time to think. I never thought she'd want this."
"Yes, well. You are a daft idiot-"
"Oh my God, would you stop calling me that?"
"Well I would but you will not cease being a daft idiot."
Emma shook her head.
"Zelena," Mulan repeated, calmly.
Zelena sighed.
"Very well," she responded, moving from Emma's desk over to the diaper bag. She reached in and pulled out a magazine, walking it back to Emma. "I circled the ones she looked at the most. It appears my sister has a penchant for sapphires."
Zelena dropped the magazine in Emma's lap, leaning back in satisfaction as the woman looked up at her in surprise.
"Shocked?"
"I didn't expect you to do recon for me."
"Well, it appears you are dreadful at this. Someone has got to help you."
"It's like you care, but in a bossy way."
"I am the older sister."
"Are you really the oldest if you didn't actually grow up together?"
"Do shut up."
Emma laughed, looking down at the magazine and turning to the first tabbed page. A sapphire with a delicate, sterling silver ring. It was beautiful, and Emma would admit, not something she'd have pegged for Regina. She was touched Zelena was trying, even if she was kind of a dick about it.
Emma eagerly flipped through the magazine, quickly getting a feel for the types of rings that Regina seemed to favour.
"She was particularly drawn to this one," Zelena observed, pointing to the oval shaped ring. "When she thought I wasn't looking, but of course I was, she would return to this page and stare. The look on her face was sickening."
Emma could see why Regina had paused on this one. The ring was beautiful. The sapphire was oval shaped, encompassed by tiny white diamonds.
"Wow. I don't think I expected her to pick something like this."
Zelena shrugged.
"She likes these rings as they are, in her words, incredibly different from what he forced me to wear. She may end up changing her mind at the jewellery shop, however."
"What do you mean? Change her mind? About getting married?"
Zelena sighed.
"Daft," she muttered under her breath before speaking at regular volume. "No. She may change her mind about the type of ring she likes when you go together to purchase one."
Emma panicked. She looked at the price of this one. She was definitely going to need time to save up.
"What?" Zelena asked, seeing Emma's expression.
"They're expensive. I need time to save."
"You've nothing to save for. My sister will be buying the ring. She's informed me herself."
"What? That's not how it works. I'm proposing, so I buy the ring."
"You most certainly will not," Regina argued, dropping her purse onto Emma's desk and startling the woman.
"Jesus, Regina. When did you get here?"
"Around the time you erroneously stated you'll be buying my engagement ring. You'll be doing no such thing. I'm buying my own ring."
Regina's tone left no room for argument, but Emma was nothing if not stubborn.
"Regina, you can't buy your own ring."
"Why not?"
"I'm the one proposing. I'm the one who is supposed to buy the ring."
"Oh? Says who?"
"Says tradition!"
"There is nothing traditional about us, Emma."
"Still. I should buy it. I'm the one proposing to you."
Regina's expression turned steely. She immediately waved her arm, transporting them to the mansion. She wanted to have this discussion in private.
Emma, only temporarily disoriented, quickly gathered her bearings when Regina began to speak. Her lover was furious, and Emma knew she had to tread carefully.
"As an exchange for me? You will buy the ring, offer it to me, and then I am expected to give you ownership of my person? Is that why you're so insistent on buying the ring? You want to provide an exchange? The ring for me? I thought you assured me you didn't want to own me."
Emma, horrified, recoiled as though she'd been slapped.
"Jesus, of course not. Regina, I don't own you. I would never own you."
"Then explain your insistence on purchasing the ring, Emma, because based on this conversation and your unwillingness to listen to what I want, I am inclined to retract my earlier assurance that I would say yes."
Regina's eyes were blazing. Emma could feel the dread stirring in her belly. This conversation had derailed hard.
"I just wanted you to have a traditional proposal, I guess. I wanted to do it right."
"I will repeat myself: there is nothing traditional about us, Emma. Firstly and most importantly, we are two women. That in and of itself is untraditional, by your standards. Secondly, we have already had sex, out of wedlock, which is also wholly untraditional. We weren't even dating when we had sex. What's more, I got pregnant out of wedlock, still while we weren't even dating. Then, only after we learnt I was pregnant, did we decide to begin a relationship. After that, you moved into our home. And only now, after all of that, are we discussing marriage.
"So let's revisit that: two women. Sex before marriage. Sex before dating. Baby before even dating. Then dating. Then moving in, also before marriage. Only now, after all of that, are we discussing the possibility of marriage. None of what we've done has been the 'proper' way, as you put it. Besides, who said I wanted traditional?"
Emma stayed quiet, so Regina continued.
"I have been proposed to the so-called 'proper' way before, Emma. Those traditions are archaic. They are sexist. They involve a man asking permission of a girl's father for her hand in marriage. Then after receiving permission from her father, that man purchases a ring and proposes to her, offering her the ring in exchange for her hand. Or, as it was in my case, my entire person, as well as my life and my freedom.
"I have done the 'proper' marriage. I have already been exchanged for a piece of jewellery. I have no desire to ever repeat that process again. If we are to do this, we do it my way. I will buy my own ring. You will be asking no one's permission to marry me. I will buy the ring I want, and I'll give it to you. It's my version of granting you permission to ask me to marry you. No one will decide that for me. I will owe you nothing in this exchange, Emma, and it will be entirely of my own free will if I choose to say yes."
Emma, properly chastised, nodded in agreement.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
Regina reached out and cupped her cheek.
"I understand your heart is in the right place, but I will not agree to your terms. You won't be buying my ring. It isn't what I want, Emma. I'm sorry if I was harsh, but none of what you were thinking is what I want."
Emma nodded again, still not looking up. She felt horrendous guilt. She hadn't thought about it the way Regina presented it, and she felt terrible for getting things so wrong. It made her feel as though she didn't even know Regina. She would have completely fucked up had Regina not overheard her conversation with Zelena, who seemed to know Regina better than Emma, since even she knew Regina wouldn't want Emma to buy the ring and propose with it. How could she get this so wrong?
"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you first. I should have."
"Yes, you should have," Regina agreed, but her tone had softened considerably. "Though I understand that you were trying for traditional, and traditionally, you would not have involved me."
"Yeah," Emma said softly. "I should have realised."
"We've never discussed it. This is all new to you. I understand, Emma. You have seen only one way of doing this, of proposing to a woman. And I know you want the best for me. You want me to feel special. I understand that, from your point of view, you were trying to do something that would make me happy."
"And failing spectacularly."
"Look at me, Emma."
Emma did, finally tearing her eyes from the floor and looking up at Regina, who looked at her so lovingly that it made Emma tear up.
"Come here, darling."
Emma swallowed back her guilt, stepping into Regina's offered embrace and burying her face in her neck.
"I'm sorry," Emma breathed, the tears slipping free. "I almost fucked up. I almost royally fucked up."
"Well, you are a princess. Anything you do is done royally, technically."
A bubble of laughter burst in Emma's chest, tumbling involuntarily from her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing in the scent of Regina, calming significantly in her arms.
"Thank you for being patient with me. I'm sorry I didn't clue in right away. I shouldn't have argued with you."
"You're stubborn, Emma Swan. It is one of my favourite qualities of yours, even if occasionally it works against me."
"I'm sorry."
"You've no more need to apologise. I forgive you, Emma, because you listened to me."
"I'll always listen to you." Emma paused. "Eventually."
Regina chuckled, rubbing her back.
"Eventually," she repeated in agreement.
They stood in comfortable silence, holding one another, before Regina finally pulled away to look Emma in the eyes. She wiped at her cheeks, removing the wetness there.
"What you want is also important, Emma. Is it very important to you to purchase the ring?"
Emma shook her head.
"No. It's not super important."
The way she responded, however, made Regina feel as though there were more to that answer.
"However?"
Emma bit her lip.
"Tell me, Emma."
"I like the idea of buying your ring. I wanted it to be for you. From me. Like a gift. No strings, just… something nice to give you. From me."
Regina nodded.
"I understand."
And she did. She understood. So, Regina thought for a moment before responding.
"In the Enchanted Forest, there was no ring other than the proposal ring. Here, I understand there is a second ring given at the ceremony."
"Yeah."
"Perhaps you could buy the wedding ring."
Emma's face lit up.
"Yeah?"
"Yes. Or we could share the cost of both rings."
"You'd be okay with that?"
"Yes. I will, however, choose my own proposal ring," Regina said decisively, looking at Emma.
"Okay. You're the one who's gonna wear it forever. You should definitely make sure you're going to like it."
"I had no say the first time," Regina said carefully. "A ring, not of my choosing, was thrust at me. And it was my mother who accepted the proposal. I was horrified. I need some control this time."
Emma nodded vehemently.
"I know. I get it, Regina. I do. I'm sorry for what I said. I should have talked to you more about what you wanted."
"You made assumptions."
"I did. I just want to give you what you want though. I want to make you happy."
"I know, Emma," Regina said. "You make me very happy. I want you to be happy as well."
"I am. I'm very happy. Even if I don't buy or pick out your ring."
Regina stroked Emma's cheek, a niggling of guilt churning in her belly as she contemplated Emma's words. Was she happy? She could still see the swirls of something in Emma's eyes.
Emma had appeared excited when she'd been looking at the engagement ring magazine, the same one Zelena had brought over yesterday. Regina had been watching quietly from the door, seeing the exchange between her lover and her sister. It was only when Emma insisted she'd be buying the ring that Regina interrupted, her feelings on the subject driving her forward. She'd argued with Emma (but really, as far as arguments went, this was more of a mild discussion) because there was no way in hell Regina would ever agree to be traded for a piece of jewellery ever again.
No. Regina would buy her own ring, had decided as much as soon as the topic had come up. It wasn't even a discussion. She was adamant she'd be buying her own ring. But then Emma had looked so defeated when she'd learnt that. Perhaps Emma's thoughts of a traditional proposal were also for herself. Maybe she wanted to be the one to buy her future wife a ring. Emma had never been married. She'd never gotten to experience tradition. Was she sacrificing her own wants for Regina? Would she feel as though she had missed out?
Regina had done all of this already. And it had been horrific. She had no desire to ever repeat the experience, but was that fair to Emma? Was she being fair to Emma to not even allow her the opportunity to experience getting to go out, buy a ring, propose marriage. Had Emma been thinking about this since she was a child? The way so many young girls had. The way Regina had?
The way things had played out in her first proposal was nothing like what Regina had imagined her proposal would go, and the experience with the King had ruined so many of young Regina's dreams. But Emma had not lived such things. Was she stealing Emma's chance at her own desired experiences?
Emma watched as Regina's face started to fall, her expression growing darker and more sorrowful by the minute.
"Regina? Baby, what is it?"
Regina blinked back tears, her emotions suddenly overwhelming her.
"Nothing," she croaked, entirely unconvincingly.
"Hey," Emma said soothingly, reaching out and pulling her into her arms. "Whatever it is, we'll figure it out together. But I need you to talk to me first."
Regina fought her tears, burying her face in Emma's shoulders.
"What if you regret it?" she asked softly.
"Regret it? Regret marrying you? Regina, there's no way-"
"No," Regina interrupted. "Regret not having the opportunity to go out and buy a ring. Never… never having the experience of a traditional proposal and marriage. What if you always wish and wonder? Perhaps… perhaps you'd be happy with the experience. With someone else. I'm being entirely unfair to you, even though I know I need some control. But is this fair to you?
"I come with baggage, Emma. And you're being affected by it. Is it fair to you to impose my wants on you like this? That I need to be the one to buy my ring in order to feel comfortable accepting this proposal? Am I robbing you of the chance to experience the pleasure of purchasing a ring for your beloved?"
Emma waited until Regina finished, cupping her cheek, pulling back just enough to look her in the eyes.
"You are my beloved, Regina. You are the only woman on this entire planet and in all of the Enchanted Forest, in any and in all universes, that I want. You are the woman I'm meant to be with. I only want you. I don't give a shit about buying a ring. I don't need to ever get married. I don't need to have a wedding. All I need is you. You are the only thing I want, and as long as we're together, the rest doesn't matter. If we never got married, it would be okay. Your safety and your happiness are the only things that matter to me. If getting married again makes you feel sick to your stomach, if it makes you feel like you'd be someone's property, my property, I never ever wanna do it. Because I don't need it. I just need you.
"Yeah, I might wonder what it'd be like to be married, sure, but not enough to force it on you. Never. You always have a choice, Regina. You're trying to meet me halfway by figuring out what you need in order to be okay with marriage because you know it's something I'd really like. With you, and only with you. The least I can do is meet you halfway when it comes to buying the damn ring. In the long run, it's you who's giving more."
"I'm not keeping tabs on who is giving more, Emma."
"I know you aren't, because you're not like that. Not anymore. I'm just saying. You even contemplating getting married again is huge. You actually agreeing to go through with it, well. Honestly, I never expected to ever have this with you. And I was okay with it."
"Were you though?" Regina asked doubtfully.
"Yes," Emma said insistently. "Always yes. All I want is you, Regina. I don't need the piece of paper."
"But you'd like it."
"Of course I'd like it. But I don't need it. What I need is for you to feel safe and happy and whole."
Regina nuzzled closer in Emma's palm.
"It should always have been you the one I married, Emma."
Emma bit her lip, her stomach clenching a little because she knew what she was going to say.
"It should have been Daniel, Regina," she said softly. "Back then, it should have been him."
Regina choked back a sob, Emma immediately enveloping her in her arms again. Regina cried in her shoulder, nodding. She felt overwhelmed with emotion at the mention of his name. She hadn't felt this sadness for Daniel in decades. Why she was suddenly so emotional…
"I'm sorry it wasn't him, baby. I'm so sorry it wasn't him. It should have been him."
Regina squeezed her close, crying softly into her neck. It really should have been Daniel back then. It would have been, if her mother hadn't…
"I'm sorry, sweetheart."
Regina let herself cry in Emma's arms, taking comfort in her embrace, and only when the sobs finally subsided did she pull back. She took the tissues Emma offered, blowing her nose and wiping her eyes, leaning heavily on Emma's side.
"I wish I could go back in time and give him to you. I wish you could have had him. I'd bring him back now, if I could."
Regina looked up at her, eyes still glossy.
"You would, wouldn't you?"
Emma nodded, though her heart ached with the admission.
"Yeah. I just want you to be happy. He made you happy. I wouldn't stand in the way of that. If I could find a way to give that to you, I would. In a second, I would."
Regina felt as though her heart were going to burst in her chest.
"No one has ever loved me the way you do, Emma."
Emma smiled softly, kissing her cheek. They stood quietly together, Regina resting her head on Emma's shoulder.
"I loved Daniel with everything that I was back then. He was my everything. He was so kind and patient and loving. No one had ever treated me with such tenderness. The way he loved me, it was as though he revered me. No one had ever looked at me the way that he did. And I loved him dearly."
To hear Regina describe her love for someone else was bittersweet. Emma was so incredibly grateful to Daniel that he had cared for Regina the way that he had. That he had loved her and nurtured her and made her feel so incredibly safe. Regina deserved to be loved endlessly, and Emma would always be thankful to Daniel for the way he had loved Regina.
However, a small part of Emma hurt, knowing just how much Regina loved and missed him. It touched on her insecurities, on her feelings of never being enough, and so it made a small part of her ache. But even still, despite that feeling, she was filled with gratitude for everything that Daniel was to Regina, for how good he had been to her, and even though it made her ache in a way she could not even begin describe, Emma would step aside in a heartbeat if he ever came back, if there were ever a way to give Regina back the man she had once loved so dearly.
Regina shifted, waiting until Emma met her gaze.
"I loved him, Emma, more fiercely than I had loved anyone up until that point. He opened my eyes to so many new things. And I did not know that I could love so wholly. He was my entire world. But that was then. I have grieved him. I'm no longer the girl I was, the girl he loved. I've changed." Regina reached up and stroked Emma's jaw with her fingertips, kissing her chin when she spotted Emma's teary eyes. "I wouldn't want you to bring him back to me, Emma, for you are the one I want. You are who I need now, and more importantly, who I love so dearly that sometimes my heart aches with it. I would choose you, Emma. As much as I loved Daniel, he isn't who I want now. He isn't who I need anymore. You are. So, I would choose you. Even if he were here now, I would choose you."
Emma, tears streaming down her cheeks, crushed their lips together. Regina had once loved Daniel more than life itself and to hear that Emma would be chosen over him? She couldn't believe it. The significance of those words was overwhelming. They loosened something within her that Emma hadn't even known that she had been holding onto. They created a tsunami of emotions within her and so she sobbed, feeling something let go within her, something within her lifting, Emma's shoulders shaking with the strength of her sobs as she released what had been weighing her down. It was overwhelming. The weight of that confession was all-consuming. But it was also so, incredibly healing.
"I would choose you, Emma. I choose you," Regina mumbled against her lips. "Marry me."
Emma, still crying into their kiss, nodded eagerly. Regina pulled back, their gazes locking instantly.
"Will you marry me, Emma? I want you. I want this, with you. Please marry me. I don't have a ring, and this isn't anywhere near how I expected this to happen, but will you-"
"Yes. Yes! Yes. I'll marry you, Regina. A thousand times, yes."
Regina lurched forward and crushed their lips together again. She held Emma close, her hands roaming up and down her sides, her arms, plunging in her hair as their tongues and lips stroked and caressed one another. Regina's heart fluttered in her chest at the idea that she would one day be married to this beautiful, wonderful, loving woman.
"Marry me," Regina repeated between kisses, cupping Emma's cheeks as she dove her tongue back in her mouth, licking over every inch before pulling back. "I want you, Emma. Marry me. Be my wife."
Emma nodded desperately, and this time, the prospect of marriage made Regina grin from ear to ear.
"When do we tell the kid?"
Regina, head leaning on Emma's shoulder, looked up at her and smiled.
"Whenever you'd like, darling. He'll be incredibly happy."
Emma nodded. When she started to chew her bottom lip, Regina frowned, pulling away to look at her more fully.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just… I didn't really do anything special for you. I didn't propose to you. I thought I'd be getting down on one knee and asking you."
"Are you disappointed?"
"No. Not even a little bit, baby. I think… it was perfect. How it happened. How in the hell could I be disappointed by that? It was amazing. And it just, it felt right, didn't it? In the moment. You proposed to me. You asked me to be with you forever. It… feels really, really nice to have been asked to stay somewhere, to stay with you, forever."
Regina nodded. She hadn't expected to be the one to ask, but she agreed with Emma that it had felt right for it to happen the way that it did. Truthfully, the topic of marriage between them was so recent that she hadn't had much time to think about it either way. But it definitely had felt incredibly right, as Emma put it, for Regina to ask, for it to have happened the way that it did, and Regina was incredibly happy that she had been the one to propose.
"You picked me," Emma said, her voice scratchy with emotion.
"I did. And I would choose you again and again and again, Emma. I… You've no idea what it means to me that you would sacrifice- that you would step aside if he- if Daniel-" Regina swiped at her tears, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat. She took a deep breath before continuing. "You've no idea what those words meant to me. But I mean it, Emma. I would choose you, each and every time."
Emma's eyes filled with tears, her stomach heart clenching as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Regina's. She reached up and cupped her cheek tenderly, pulling back after a moment to look her in the eyes.
"Thank you for saying that."
"I mean it."
"I know. That's why it means so much to me."
She leaned forward and kissed Regina again, pulling back and cuddling her close. They sat in silence for several moments, Emma stroking Regina's arm as she held her.
"I… I hadn't planned on it playing out like this, that you'd be the one proposing to me. But… I liked it," Emma confessed softly. "I liked that you asked me. I like that you offered it to me, to stay with you, to be with you. It's like… I don't know. You're asking me to stay with you, be with you, officially."
"I am."
Regina shifted a little more, turning and pressing herself into Emma, bringing them closer together.
"I want this, with you, Emma. I love you more dearly than I have loved any other. I feel safer with you than I have with anyone else, in my entire life. I trust you unlike any other. I know I am safe with you, Emma. You've no idea what that's like for me, to know that I can trust you with my life, that you will take care of me and keep me safe.
"You always put me first. You are continuously thinking of me and doing things for me, even seemingly insignificant little acts that mean the world to me. Like the fact that you pick out the chocolate pieces from your trail mix bowl and you add them to mine so that I have more chocolate pieces. Yes, I noticed," Regina said with a smile, seeing Emma's surprised expression. "I know you think I don't know that you do that, but I do. Just like I know that you always offer me the bigger piece of dessert. And that you choose the cinnamon bun with the most icing for me. You take the toast that is most burnt for yourself and you offer me the nicer looking one.
"Emma, those little things… no one has ever done that for me. Ever. You think of me, always, and you put me before yourself every single day. You cherish me, and I cannot describe to you how much I love you. This is your home, where we will raise our children, and, if you'll have me, where I will spend the rest of my life treasuring you as dearly as you do me. You are the best part of me, Emma. I want a life, with you, forever. When I proposed to you earlier, that is what I was offering you. All of this, all of me, if you'll have it."
Emma, unable to speak for the knot in her throat, pulled Regina to her and held her tight. She nodded repeatedly, swallowing hard as she tried to respond.
"Shh, darling. It's alright."
"Moms?"
Regina tightened her hold on Emma, cupping the back of her head, keeping her close. She turned to face her son, smiling at him to reassure him. She could hear the worry in his voice, the concern so clearly etched on his face.
"Come here, mijo. Everything is fine." Regina turned, whispering in Emma's ear. "We'll tell him now?"
Emma nodded eagerly.
"Yes," she croaked, pulling back and swiping at her eyes.
"Ma? You okay? Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine, Henry," Regina reassured him, guiding him so that he sat on the coffee table before them. "They're happy tears."
Emma nodded as she wiped her cheeks.
"Very happy."
"Did you find out the sex of the baby?!"
Emma chuckled.
"No, kid. Not that."
He frowned. He'd been trying to convince them for months to let him find out what the baby was, but to no avail.
"Alright, so no brother or sister yet. Then what is it?"
Regina reached for Emma's hand, squeezing it softly.
"I proposed to your mother. She accepted."
Henry's eyes widened in surprise.
"I… can't say I saw that coming. Where's the ring?"
"We haven't chosen one yet."
"You proposed without a ring?"
"Hey, lay off the judgement," Emma teased.
"Not judging, just…" Henry paused, frowning at his ma. "You didn't propose? I thought you would be the one to do it."
"So did I. Didn't happen that way."
"Our relationship has been full of surprises, hasn't it?" Regina mused, smiling affectionately at Emma.
"It kinda has, actually. The fact that it happened at all, considering how much you hated me at first…"
"I hate everyone at first," Regina said casually.
Emma chuckled. That was true.
"So, you're getting married?" Henry asked, interrupting. His mind was still reeling. "I mean, like, I hoped you'd get married but… wow."
"Are you happy?"
Henry beamed, leaning forward and crushing them both into a hug.
"Ecstatic. Can I be the flower boy?"
Regina let out a small laugh into his shoulder. He was far too much like his other mother.
"You can be anything you want, kid."
Henry pulled back, looking at them both.
"You're happy?"
"Happier than we ever imagined, mijo."
"So… when is the wedding?"
"Well, considering I only just proposed… we haven't yet discussed the details."
"Oh, good. I can be the wedding planner too."
Regina rolled her eyes.
"You lost your notebook three times this week, Henry."
"So? I don't need that to plan the wedding."
"You need organisational skills, my little prince."
"Oh, I got skills. I've got so many skills it's intimidating."
Regina looked at Emma.
"This one," she started, rubbing her belly. "Will be nothing like you. It is enough that I must deal with your constant arguing with me. Now, you have trained my son to do the same. This baby will do no such thing. It will be just like me."
"What if it looks just like you, but talks just like me?" Emma asked, grin on her face. "That would be fun."
"You mean like Henry?" Regina replied, raising an eyebrow.
Emma looked over at the boy in question, tilting her head.
"Actually, yeah." Then she grinned. "Gonna train the next one to do the same. And the one after that too. A little army of Emmas."
"You're gonna have more?" Henry asked, surprised, and just a little bit excited.
"Yes, Emma. Please inform me, along with the rest of the class. We're having more? I do not recall agreeing to this."
Emma, hearing the playfulness in Regina's voice, grinned at her.
"Like you can resist me, baby. As soon as the doctor gives the all clear, we're going for baby number three," Emma said, starting to advance on Regina.
"Oh, ma. Gross."
"We should probably practice in case-"
"I'm done. Goodbye, mothers. I'm moving out!"
Henry got up, plugging his ears and running up the steps to his bedroom. Regina, though she was grinning, shook her head at her lover.
"Really, Emma?"
"Had to find some way to get rid of him. You were looking far too kissable."
Emma leaned forward then, kissing her softly on the lips. She pulled back, looking in Regina's eyes and smiling softly at her.
"I can't wait to be your wife," she whispered.
Regina, heart clenching, nodded her agreement.
"And I cannot wait to be yours, darling."