It was a Saturday morning and Regina sat at the dining table, coffee resting by her elbow, newspaper open in front of her, perusing the headline story. The nuns were organising the yearly Valentine's Day charity event the following weekend and were soliciting donations and volunteers. Henry sat opposite her with his large bowl of cereal and orange juice, eating quickly and glancing at the front door with increasing frequency as he ate.
"Henry you're going to pull a muscle if you turn keep turning your head like that," Regina admonished without looking up from the business section she had now skipped to. "Your mother will be here soon, I'm sure."
Of course, Regina knew exactly why Henry was so excited for his mother to come over. Saturday had been their standard 'family dinner night' for months now and no matter what house Henry was staying at that week, it usually ended up being held at the mansion.
Emma, or Emma and Henry, would pull up in the driveway no later than 5 o'clock, Henry would spend time on his Xbox, or watch a TV show while the two women had a glass of wine and finished off preparing whatever delicious meal Regina had deigned to cook them that night. Aside from Henry, the best thing she had gained from the curse had been the years she had been able to practice and perfect her time in the kitchen. Regina loved it. She found it cathartic and relaxing, exciting and peaceful all at once.
After dinner, they would all clean up together, clearing the table, stacking the dishwasher and washing up any leftover pots or pans before heading to the living room. There they would choose a game to play, Henry and Emma always ending up in arguments about what to play - the disagreement usually settled by Regina picking something completely different – and then to wrap up the night, they would make some popcorn, a hot chocolate and settle down on the couch for a family movie. The movie selection was on a rotation, where they took it in turns each week to choose.
Today, however, was different. Emma had just entered the second trimester, and the two of them had escaped Storybrooke for the better part of a day last week for the 12 week ultrasound, the little photo of Emma's sonogram hidden in the back of the blonde's phone case. Though the photo was only a week old, it was already frayed and bent at the edges with the number of times Henry had asked to look at it. Eventually, Emma had grown sick of pulling it out and asked Regina to duplicate it. There was now a second copy upstairs in Henry's room.
Over the last few weeks, since Emma had told Henry, all three of them, Emma particularly, were glad to notice that the nausea had finally begun to dissipate and Emma was nearly back to eating like her regular self again. Although according to Emma, heartburn had quickly taken the place of the near constant nausea and she wasn't sure which was worse.
Both Emma and Regina were surprised at both their son and Ruby's ability to keep the pregnancy under wraps, but Emma had called Regina during the week and tentatively said she thought she was ready to tell her parents. Although, Regina suspected it may also have to do with the fact that, while she wasn't quite showing yet, according to Henry who had overheard the blonde as he walked past her bedroom, she had begun to struggle closing the buttons on those ridiculously too-tight jeans she insisted on wearing.
If Emma couldn't do up the buttons on her skinny jeans, she was going to have to start wearing slacks and Regina knew the blonde was smart enough to recognise that her mother was observant enough to pick up on any sudden changes Emma may make to her wardrobe. The blonde was surely just trying to get ahead of one of Snow's well-intentioned, yet no less annoying interrogations.
That meant that today, instead of their regular 'Saturday family dinner', the three were heading over to the Charming's for what Regina was sure to be a mediocre meal, so Emma could deliver her news. She had suggested to the blonde that they could invite her parents over to the mansion – then she knew they'd at least have a decent meal – but the blonde had been adamant about going over to her parents' house.
Her excuse had been 'Neal hasn't been sleeping great and it'll be easier to manage him at the loft', a flimsy excuse at best but Regina secretly thought it had more to do with the fact that if they were at the loft, Emma would have an excuse to flee if it didn't go well. Not that it wouldn't, Regina was almost positive that the Charming's would receive the news with enthusiasm and excitement but she knew the blonde's default setting was to assume the worst.
And so, instead of a 'Saturday family dinner', they had compromised on a 'Saturday family lunch'. Emma had said she would aim to come by at 11am and it was barely 9:30. Regina sent Henry off upstairs to tidy his bedroom while she cleared the table and tidied the kitchen.
Regina could hear Henry shuffling around in his room as she tidied and cleaned the entire downstairs, dusting, vacuuming, mopping and a load of laundry before she heard the doorbell ring. Before she even had a chance to answer it, Henry raced down the stairs, wrenched open the door and was talking his mother's ear off at a mile a minute.
"- and then Raptor Blade jumped off the building and landed on top of the mutant crocodile and killed him in one swipe!" Henry paused to take a breath before adding, "I think he might be my new favourite superhero."
"Really? Iron Man has been kicked out of top spot?" Emma asked sceptically. Regina turned to face Henry only to see him scrunch his nose in a look of consternation.
"Okay, maybe he's my favourite non-Marvel superhero," he conceded before launching into a long-winded explanation about the rest of the plot of his latest comic book. Regina watched Emma in awe, continuously surprised by the blonde's seemingly endless patience when it came to listening to Henry prattle on about comics. She also managed to add some – what sounded to her – genuinely insightful comments that would often spark a passionate debate between the two off them.
"Good morning, dear," Regina greeted from the doorway of the laundry where she had been standing, watching the two interact. "I'm just going to make a chicken salad for lunch today, is that alright?"
"That sounds amazing Regina, thanks," Emma replied.
"Would you like to help me in the kitchen or join Henry in the living room?"
Emma, for her many flaws, could not ever be considered lazy. Regina honestly didn't think the blonde had a lazy bone in her body. Whenever she was over at the mansion, she was in the kitchen helping cook, was always the first to start tidying up and cleaning after eating. If the blonde arrived early enough on Saturday or even on one of her other visits during the week, she was always helping with some sort of odd job around the house Regina hadn't gotten around to.
"I noticed that door is squeaking, did you want me to fix it for you?" or "The tap in the kitchen is leaking, want me to have a look at it?", "Henry said the handle on his cupboard door has fallen off, what me to put it back on?"
Regina was sure it stemmed from some childhood trauma, probably where the blonde had had to earn her place in whichever household she was living in at the time.
"I ah, didn't get much sleep last night, do you mind if I sit down for a bit?" Emma asked sheepishly. Now that she mentioned it, Regina took a closer look at the blonde and noticed the dark semi-circles under her eyes and the slight hunch to her body as if even standing was exhausting to her.
"That's fine, dear," Regina assured her. "Go on ahead to the living room, I'm sure Henry will keep you company, and I'll have lunch ready in about 20 minutes."
Regina, watched as the blonde walked over to the living room and just about collapsed onto the couch, before she turned to the kitchen to start on their lunch.
After they had eaten, and while Emma washed the dishes, Regina quickly prepped and loaded into the oven a peach cobbler to take over for dessert. Anything apple related were strictly forbidden in Snow's presence as much as she'd love to show up at their front door with an apple pie in hand, just for the pleasure of seeing the short brunette squirm a little.
The three of them had played five different board games before Emma had stopped being able to muffle her yawns behind her hand and with a quick head tilt towards his flagging mother, Regina strongly suggested to Henry that they move on to the movie. After pulling the cobbler out of the oven and setting it on the kitchen counter to cool, they all ended up on the same couch, Emma sandwiched between the two brunettes, while Henry deliberated between choosing a Marvel movie or watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the 10th time.
It wasn't even half an hour into the film that Regina felt a weight on her side and turned to see the blonde had sagged sideways and was leaning on her, head now resting gently on her shoulder. She was about to make a sarcastic comment but as her lips opened to speak, she realised the younger woman was fast asleep.
"Henry, pass me that blanket over there," she said softly, and draped it over the sleeping woman before returning her attention back to the screen. Or at least, she tried to.
The longer Emma rested on her, her body pressed up against her side, the warmer she began to feel – and it wasn't just the body heat. Their arms had been right next to each other when they first sat down, and now that the blonde had leaned in, Regina could feel the exact spot on her wrist where Emma's fingers brushed her bare skin. She could feel the warmth radiating from the spot, sending sparks through her body before they settled deep in her core.
Regina had noticed this kind of thing happening more and more frequently. Fingers brushing, a gentle hug, a quick kiss to the cheek. All of these very small physical gestures between the two, had elicited a similar reaction in her. Her heart skipping a beat or a swooping feeling in her stomach. She noticed she'd been thinking of Emma more often lately as well. She would be busy at work filling out paperwork, answering emails, at home washing dishing in the sink, dusting the furniture and she would often find her thoughts wandering to the blonde, in her bed at night… she shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts, mindful of Henry sitting on the other side of the couch, still absorbed in the movie.
The longer she thought about it, and the more time that passed since Robin had left, that Regina realised how much she had settled with him. Just a mere brush of skin on skin contact with Robin hadn't elicited nearly the same reaction as it did with the woman sleeping on her shoulder. And if this was how she felt at an innocent brush of skin, she could only imagine how it would feel to have sex with her, hell, even just to kiss her. As much as it pained her though, Regina pushed away these feelings, locked them away tight in a tiny corner of her mind where she could ignore them. Because under no circumstances was she going to risk doing anything to destroy the friendship she now shared with the blonde.
Before she knew it the credits were rolling and the loud music accompanying the credits jolted the blonde awake.
"Good morning, Sunshine," Regina smirked at her, taking in the slightly dishevelled hair and the lines on the side of her face that had pressed into Regina's shirt. Emma's bleary eyes looked at her before widening in alarm.
"Oh God, I think I drooled on you!" she said in horror. Had this been even six months ago, Regina would have had some choice words to say to the blonde but now all she did was chuckle.
"Never mind, this shirt is easily washed."
"I'm so sorry Regina, I can't believe I fell asleep on you," Emma apologised, looking mortified.
"It's no matter dear," Regina waved off unbothered, though slightly alarmed to see that the blonde looked about ready to burst into tears. "Emma, don't worry about it. Henry used to do a lot worse when he was younger, I assure you," Regina said and reached out to squeeze the blonde's hand. Emma nodded and took a few steadying breaths.
A quick glance at the large clock on the wall told Regina it was about time to head over to the Charming's for dinner.
"Henry, go get your shoes and coat please, it's time to go," she said.
As he got up and lumbered out of the room, Regina turned to face Emma, who had scrunched her face up. Regina couldn't help but smile.
"What?"
"Nothing dear. You and Henry pull the exact same face when you don't want to do something," she chuckled.
Emma huffed and flopped back against the couch. "I know I have to tell them, and I know they'll be excited and happy for me, I just don't know if I'm ready for all the emotions and enthusiasm," Emma said, emphasising the last word as though it was a disease.
"If you need help tempering your mother, I'll be pleased to help," Regina said.
Emma lolled her head to the side to look at her as she snorted. "I'm sure you would be. It's enough that you're coming with me tonight," Emma said earnestly.
Regina just smiled and stood up from the couch, extending her arm out to help the younger woman up too.
Henry, who was aware of the purpose of tonight's visit to the Charming's, had taken it upon himself to attempt to alleviate his mother's stress and he was doing this by arming her with some interesting facts he was reading off his phone as he sat in the back seat of the Mercedes.
"Hey Ma guess what?"
"What?"
"Did you know the baby is as big as a lemon?"
"Already?"
"Yeah, and did you know that your uterus is going to expand to over 500 times its normal size?" He piped up.
"Really? That seems like a lot."
"Yeah, and did you know that your placenta will produce more es- estro-"
"Estrogen?"
"Yeah, that. Your placenta will produce more es-tro-gen in a day than a non-pregnant woman would in three years?"
"Wow, seriously?"
"Yep, that's what it says. I don't even know what estro-gen is, but that doesn't sound good," Henry said gravely and the two women shared a barely contained laugh in the front seat.
"Oh, this one's gross," Henry continued, ignoring his mothers. "Babies pee in the uterus and then drink it. And then pee again. Then drink it. Then pee again! Eww!"
"That one is gross actually," Emma agreed with a scrunch of her nose.
"Here's another one – For every 2,000 babies, one is born with a tooth," Henry said.
This apparently horrified Emma, who shrieked as she turned around to face the teenager, the sudden outburst nearly causing the brunette to swerve into the other lane.
"What? A tooth? Why? What on earth does it need a tooth for? Is it going to gnaw its way out?" she objected, clearly revolted by the thought.
"I'm pretty sure you're giving birth to a human, not a beaver, Emma," Regina sighed, slightly exasperated, as her heartbeat returned to normal after the blonde's sudden outburst.
Henry cut in before Emma had a chance to respond. "Oh, this article says 7 Things They Don't Tell You About Giving Birth," Henry said.
"Um, I wouldn't click on that one kid, I don't think you'll like it," Emma interjected fruitlessly, as Henry clicked the link and continued reading.
"Your uterus is stronger than a body builder. During a contraction, the force is equal to 395lb of pressure per square foot!"
"Seriously, bud, I'd stop reading now," Emma warned again.
"Henry, I'd listen to your mother," Regina cautioned, but she too, was ignored.
"A side effect of the pain relief given to labouring mothers causes many to feel nauseous and even vomit during the birthing process." Henry paused as he read ahead silently. Oh, YUCK!" He screeched.
Regina looked into the rear-view mirror to see a very pale and absolutely mortified face looking back at her.
"What the hell is a mucus plug?"
They arrived at the Charming's five minutes later, the rest of the drive over in near silence, only the sounds of Emma's gloating at their son's misfortune "we warned you to stop reading", and Henry's occasional shudders. She noticed Emma's jovial attitude waning with every step they took up the stairs and it was completely replaced by anxiety by the time they reached the front door.
"Emma, breathe," Regina reminded her, and the blonde pulled in a loud stuttering breath in an attempt to calm herself. She watched as Henry reached for his other mother's hand and squeezed it.
"Everything will be okay Ma, you'll see," Henry assured her with a confidence neither of his mother's felt.
Regina watched Emma pause, watched the thought of fleeing down the stairs back to the car flicker through her mind before the blonde took one final steadying breath, squaring her shoulders, and with a determined look on her face, turned and rapped her knuckles on the door. Not two seconds after Emma knocked, the door was pulled open and she was pulled into a tight hug.
"Come in," Snow said after she released Emma and stepped aside to let them enter the loft.
The three of them took off their coats, scarves and boots before turning around to face the Charming's.
"How's work going Emma? Your father said that there's been a string of robberies over the last few weeks," Snow asked, taking the cobbler from Regina and putting it in the kitchen as the rest of the adults all sat down around the wooden table and Henry escaped over to Neal's playpen where he was slobbering over one of his blocks.
"Um, yeah, just a few stores with a broken window and a few things nicked off the shelves. We're pretty sure it's just some bored teenagers," Emma explained. "We're patrolling more regularly and have narrowed down the times of the break-ins to between 11pm and 1am."
The blonde's voice was one of casual nonchalance, but Regina spotted the fidgeting fingers belying her anxiety below the table. As subtly as she could, she reached across to hold the younger woman's fingers still and lend some of her calm. Her heart leapt and she warmed when the blonde immediately relaxed next to her.
The conversation remained relaxed, Snow shared some gossip from the teacher's lounge, David mentioned the influx of 'post-Christmas' pets that the animal shelter had received in the last few weeks, Regina spoke about Albert Spencer's latest ridiculous request. Throughout the conversation, Emma remained uncharacteristically quiet and Regina spotted the concerned look on Snow's face. Just as she was about to speak to draw the brunette's attention away from her daughter, the oven bell dinged and Snow was immediately distracted as she stood and walked over to the kitchen.
"I've just cooked a roast for dinner tonight, I hope that's okay?" Snow said cheerily as she pulled a roast chicken out of the oven.
"Sounds good mom," Emma assured her, as she and Regina helped set the table while David carved the bird and Snow finished stirring a gravy sauce.
Soon, the table was laden with dishes of food, Henry had been sent off to wash his hands and Neal was strapped into his booster chair. To Regina's surprise, the food wasn't bland or overcooked like she had feared and was actually quite tasty. Had it been anyone but Snow, she may have even complimented them.
She watched Emma, who was devouring her food happily and Henry, who was eating, but with a mildly disturbed look still on his face.
After the food was eaten, table cleared and dishes cleaned Snow piped up,
"Coffee or tea anyone?"
"That's a great idea Snow, but you've done all the cooking for us this evening," Regina said. "Henry, would you make us some cups of tea and serve out the cobbler please?" Regina said with a meaningful look at her son as he started to protest.
"Sure," he nodded his understanding and began his task earnestly before either of the Charming's had a chance to argue.
Regina looked at Emma and nodded encouragingly, rolling her eyes at the blonde as she huffed lightly and slumped in her chair.
Looking anywhere but at her parents, Emma mumbled, "So, I, uh, have something to tell you."
Regina kept her eyes on Emma, watching as she fidgeted in her chair before taking a deep breath.
"So, while I was the Dark One," Emma began, and Regina wanted to sigh at what she could see was going to become a long, winding tangent while Emma put off the inevitable. "While we were here in Storybrooke, after we got back from Camelot," Emma had raised her head now, but was very purposely looking towards Neal, settled again in his playpen.
"Hook found out that he was a Dark One. Well, you already knew that," the blonde rambled, "and he was angry, really angry at first, but then, I went over to talk to him, and we did talk I mean, but then I, well we," her gaze was darting all around the room, looking anywhere but her parents. "We kind of, we-"
"Ma's pregnant. She's trying to tell you that she's going to have a baby," Henry called out from the kitchen.
"Henry," Regina admonished as all the adult's eyes snapped to the teenager, who shrunk a little under their gazes.
"What?" He shrugged, "I'm just helping put Ma out of her misery,"
A kind gesture, Regina thought, particularly since Emma had shown him no mercy for his misery in the car earlier.
Both the Charming's turned back to face their daughter, David's face was one of shock, but Snow was just beaming delightedly. Regina's eyes narrowed slightly, and Emma had obviously noted the lack of surprise on Snow's face because the next words out of her mouth were, "You already knew."
"Oh honey, of course I did," Snow said, still smiling and she leaned forward to squeeze her daughter's hand.
"But, how?" Emma spluttered.
"Well, I know you, sweetie, you're my daughter," Snow said, as if that explained everything.
Emma just stared at her and Snow, realising the blonde was not going to let it go, continued, "Well, for starters, you've been feeling ill for months, scrunching up your face every time there's a strong smell around, you stopped ordering bear claws for a while there, I haven't seen you drink a drop of coffee any of the times we've met up for breakfast or lunch, you cried at that commercial on the radio and you haven't been to the Rabbit Hole in months," Snow explained.
"Oh," Emma said, "But why didn't you say anything? Or try to get me to tell you?" Emma asked, and Regina looked towards Snow curious for the answer to that question as well.
"Because I know you, Emma, and I've learnt from my mistakes. If I had pressed, you would have pushed against me or retreated. I knew you'd tell me when you were ready," Snow said softly.
Emma's eyes immediately began to water as she leaned closer to her mother and hugged her tight. As they pulled apart, Emma's face was red and she sat in her chair awkwardly, wiping her tears away.
"Well, it's good to know you can keep some things to yourself, Snow. I'm impressed," Regina said a hint of condescension in her voice and, goal achieved, all eyes now turned to look at her and not the blonde who was trying desperately to collect herself.
Snow blushed before responding, "I'm not a child anymore Regina."
They ate the cobbler, and engaged in light conversation about the pregnancy, Emma showed her parent's the ultrasound photo, both a little misty eyed as they took in the grainy picture. The blonde answered any questions her parents had and it was obvious Snow was doing her best to be gentle and not push Emma too much. David's shock had slowly morphed into happiness, his eyes shining with an understated pride as he looked at his daughter.
Later, as Emma and David sat on the couch with Henry, the two adults playing some sort of game as Henry watched on, Regina helped Snow tidy the kitchen.
"Is Henry alright?" Snow asked, concerned. "He's been very quiet tonight."
"Oh, he's been thoroughly traumatised in the car on the way here. He was reading facts about childbirth," Regina said, flicking a glance towards the teenager who stared absentmindedly at the TV screen.
"Oh dear," Snow exclaimed, shaking her head.
"He was warned to stop reading and chose not to listen to us. I'd say he's learned his lesson," Regina said grimly, a smile trying to break through onto her lips.
"Yes, I'd say so," Snow said, laughing lightly.
20 minutes later they were getting ready to leave and putting their winter clothes back on to brave the near freezing temperatures outside. After Regina pulled her coat on, she helped Emma slip into hers and pulled it closed before placing a scarf around the blonde's neck and tightening it. She looked up to see Snow regarding her quietly, with some kind of knowing twinkle in her eye, but before Regina could snap at her, Emma had opened the front door and was pulling her out into the hallway.
'Thanks for dinner," Emma said as she turned to hug her mother and father before they left.
"You're very welcome," Snow said.
"I'm so happy for you Emma," David said as he hugged her.
"We love you sweetie," Snow added, waving as Regina led the way down the stairs and out to the car.
"I think that went quite well," Henry said.
"Yeah, I think so too," Emma agreed, relief evident in her voice.
"I'm proud of you, Emma," Regina said as she turned the keys and the car rumbled to life.
Three weeks later, and though Snow was able to patiently wait for Emma to tell her about the pregnancy, they had not been entirely surprised to discover that within a week of their dinner, about half the town suddenly knew Emma was pregnant. What did surprise Regina though, was the blonde's apparent lack of irritation over the matter. During one of their lunch dates, Regina had mentioned Snow's inability to keep her mouth shut and instead of agreeing with her and starting on one of her rants about her mother's annoying habits, Emma had just sighed and shrugged her shoulders.
"Yeah, but at least this way, I'm spared having to tell everyone and have the same conversation over and over again. Now, I just have to accept their congratulations and move on," was all she had said. Regina could see the blonde's point. For someone who was so loud and confident, the younger woman really did not like to be the centre of attention. Like she'd said, this way was much quicker and quieter.
Tonight was another night they were straying from tradition. Emma had mentioned feeling exhausted for the last few weeks and so, Regina had suggested having dinner at the blonde's house so she didn't have to drive home and could retire up to bed earlier if she really wasn't feeling well. That was why Regina found herself parking the Mercedes in the blonde's driveway early in the afternoon. She pulled out the bag of food she had prepared and walked up the stairs to the front door. She had just raised her hand to ring the doorbell when she heard a cry from inside the house.
"Emma? Henry?" she called out, immediately concerned. Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed the door handle and felt the burst of magic she released to unlock it, before pushing the door open seamlessly. She walked into the house and glanced into the living room to see it empty before turning towards the kitchen. As she placed the bag on the counter, she noticed a few bags of half emptied groceries, a mess on the floor by the refrigerator and what looked like an upturned cartoon of eggs.
Before she could call out for them again, Regina heard another wail coming from upstairs and, hearing the distress, she moved swiftly taking the steps two at a time. The sobbing got louder as she approached Emma's room and upon reaching the doorway, she was greeted by the sight of Emma lying face down on her bed and her son sitting next to her, rubbing his mother's back soothingly all the while looking slightly alarmed.
"What if I can't do it?" Regina heard Emma wail into her pillow.
"Ma, of course you can," Henry tried to reassure.
"But I don't know the first thing about keeping a baby alive," Emma sobbed.
"Yes, you do," Henry insisted. "I know you're upset Ma, but you need to calm down. It was just some eggs."
This clearly was not the right thing to say because Emma lifted her head up from the pillow and levelled her son with a wet, red-faced glare.
"This time it was just eggs. What if next time I drop the baby, huh? Then what?" Emma spit out, before immediately looking guiltily at her son and flopping back down on the bed, crying harder than before. "And now I'm yelling at the kid I already have," she cried, voice slightly muffled by the pillow.
"Ma, it's fine. I know you're just upset but please stop crying, it's okay."
Henry looked completely flustered, hands hovering over his mother's back, clearly lost for how to help. Regina took pity on him and strode into the room.
"Miss Swan, that's quite enough of that," Regina said crisply. Henry looked up as he noticed her presence, relief etched all over his face at the arrival of another adult.
The blonde's head popped up immediately and her doleful, red rimmed eyes found Regina's as her chest continued to heave with sobs.
"Come on now, sit up," Regina ordered as she carefully grabbed the blonde's wrists and helped pull her into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. "That's it dear," she encouraged, her voice softening as the distressed blonde continued to sniffle loudly, struggling to slow her breathing.
"Henry and I are going to go down and get you some water, and you are going to sit her and keep taking some slow, deep breaths okay," Regina told the blonde, who nodded in compliance. Regina shooed the teenager out of the room and as soon as the two of them were downstairs she asked her son what had happened.
"It really wasn't that big of a deal," Henry began. "We were just putting all the groceries away then Ma accidentally dropped the eggs. She bent down to pick them up and they had all broken and made a mess and then she just burst into tears and ran upstairs. I mean, it's a bit of a mess and kind of annoying cause now we don't have eggs for pancakes tomorrow morning, but it's not that big of a deal. We can just go down to the store and grab some more," Henry said.
"Oh, Henry," Regina started, sighing. "I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, and you're right, it's not, and at any other time your mother would agree with you. The thing is, at the moment, Emma's hormones are all over the place which is a very natural part of pregnancy but they can cause a lot of mood swings and our job is to be supportive and understanding."
"All of this is hormones?" Henry asked.
"Yes dear," Regina confirmed.
"But this isn't even the first time she got upset today," Henry said. "She cried this morning for like 20 minutes when the toaster burnt the bread, and she yelled at the vacuum cleaner and threw it on the floor 'cause it wasn't sucking up the dirt enough and she yelled at her phone when she couldn't find it for 10 minutes and it was in her back pocket."
"Well, the hormones make every emotion your mother feels 10 times stronger and makes every problem feel 10 times bigger," Regina explained.
"Really? And this is going to keep happening?" Henry asked, bewildered. "Hormones suck."
"Well," Regina chuckled. "You're not wrong there."
She filled a glass with water, grabbed the box of tissues on the counter and, after asking Henry to clean up the mess of eggs on the floor, made her way back up the stairs to the blonde.
When she returned to the bedroom, she was relieved to see the younger woman had calmed down considerably and was now curled up on her side, eyes closed. Regina placed the water on the bedside table and turned to leave the room.
"I'm sorry," Emma's dry, cracked voice spoke. Regina turned back to face her as she sat up again.
"There's nothing to be sorry for dear," Regina said. "Except maybe to those eggs," She added slyly. Emma breathed out a wet sounding chuckle.
"Is Henry completely mortified?" She asked. "It's been a pretty rough day today."
"Henry's fine," Regina reassured her. "He was a little worried, but he understands."
"This is so exhausting," Emma huffed out. "I'm sick of getting so upset or angry about the dumbest things and I can't help it! It's like my brain goes into some sort of fog where it feels like it's the end of the world and then when it lifts away, I realise how ridiculous I'm being over something completely dumb!"
"It's okay, Emma."
"Really? Did Henry tell you about the Wii controller?" Emma asked.
"No."
"We were playing Mario Kart and it was the last lap and then Toad, the stupid little fungus, overtook me right before the finish line!" Emma said hotly. "I got so upset I threw the controller across the room."
Regina struggled to stifle a laugh at the mental image of the blonde having a tantrum over the game.
"It's not funny Regina, it's ridiculous! I won! I lost that race but I still won overall! And it's just a stupid game! I know that, so why did I get so upset?" Emma seethed, tears forming in her eyes again at the memory of the morning's great injustice.
"It's normal Emma, it's just all the hormones giving you mood swings," Regina reassured her. Emma, clearly too exhausted to continue arguing, sighed loudly and rested her head on Regina's shoulder.
Regina could feel that same warmth deep in her chest that she felt every time the blonde sought any type of comfort or reassurance from her. That warmth, she was sure, was a profound sense of love and happiness, and she wrapped an arm around the woman, pulling her closer and gently laying a soft kiss to her crown, the same way she would if she were comforting Henry. She felt Emma sink into her even more fully, nestling her body against her own with a small sigh.
Emma was quiet for so long that Regina thought the blonde had fallen asleep, so she was surprised when, just like her son had minutes before, she heard the blonde mutter,
"Hormones suck."