Chapter Seventeen
Regina Mills was in an exceptionally good mood, even as she shovelled muck out of a stall.
Her day started as well as any other, teaching Henry and then taking him to school, listening to him talk animatedly about the newest issue of Spider-Man.
Even back at work, however, she was unable to keep the smile from her face, was this what hope felt like? It was not something that could be quashed after hearing Emma say 'Tamsin Swan-Mills' the day before.
That was already enough for a few days at least but then she received a text from the saviour inviting her to have lunch again. They may not have discussed anything pressing during their last get-together but seeing how at ease Emma was around her (and getting confirmation that she was healthy) was everything that Regina thought she'd been craving.
Knowing that Emma wanted to see her again so soon after their first real post-curse interaction was so much better. It even had the former queen wondering at what point these could be considered dates.
Surely the pair of them had skipped so many steps that it wouldn't really be necessary at this point, but then again, what did they actually know about each other than their destinies in the plan set out by Rumplestiltskin? The man was still out of town so it wasn't like Regina could ask him whether he'd seen a future between the saviour and Evil Queen even if she thought there was ever a chance that the Dark One would willingly talk to her.
"If only the people could see the fervour with which you muck out stalls, they would truly believe you had changed," came a musing from behind her.
Regina rolled her eyes but no longer scowled at her employee's comments.
Digging her shovel down hard, she turned to find Samdi placing down buckets of feed.
"Should I assume that you would prefer that I be miserable?" Regina replied.
"Of course not, Regina," he replied, spreading his hands as he did, "It's an honour to see you smile. But may I enquire what has brought this on?"
"Is spending the morning with my son not enough?"
"Of course it is but you have done that every day. I can only assume his not returning home with you dampens whatever joy that brings you whenever he leaves. I've never seen you so happy this late in the morning," he explained his theory.
Mildly impressed, Regina said, "Have you considered a career change? I'm sure that the sheriff would benefit from a deputy whose resume does not consist of a three-decade-long coma."
Samdi shook his head, "Or perhaps you should consider returning to the mayoral office with that ability to skirt so masterfully around a simple question?"
Regina released a long breath through her nose and then replied, "If you must know, I had lunch with Emma yesterday and she asked that I also join her today. I have taken that as a sign of good things to come."
Samdi grinned as he set about organising his buckets and other equipment, "Who knew that the Evil Queen could be so love-sick?"
"I could say the same about you, Dr Facilier," she mocked, attempting to renew her efforts to finish mucking out the final stall, cognizant of all of the paperwork waiting for her in her office before she got to make her way to Granny's diner, presumably to choke down another grilled cheese.
Samdi scoffed, kicking one of the buckets in her direction to feed her side of the stable.
Before Regina could mentally add that to her to-do list, a buzzing in her pocket had her remove her glove to pull her phone out of her pocket.
She knit her eyebrows together, seeing an unexpected text message from Emma Swan. Passingly, she worried that it would be some excuse to cancel their lunch. A few hours was long enough for Snow White and Prince Charming to talk their daughter out of seeing her, right?
This thought was promptly banished, however, as the device unlocked to reveal the real text, throwing her into an entirely, more nerve-wracking, mood.
Awkwardly with one hand, she responded that she was on her way and then announced, "I need to go."
Uncharacteristically serious, Samdi held out his hand as she began her retreat, "Is there something wrong, Regina?"
Regina blinked, pulling her other glove off to throw the pair to the side and wipe her hands together.
"I'm not sure, Emma is at the hospital, there may be something wrong with the baby."
S
Emma Swan didn't think that much could faze her but Storybrooke had proven her progressively wrong with each passing day. The day before she experienced something that affected her in a good way for the first time since Regina had woken from her sleeping curse. Watching the former Evil Queen grimace as she ate the greasy goodness she'd been craving to devour for weeks had Emma forget about her reservations against the woman.
She'd heard all of the things she'd done in the Enchanted Forest and had even seen her in some mediaeval garb poisoning her mother over thirty years ago. Despite all of that, the person sitting opposite her in the booth at Granny's could not just be the Evil Queen, she was also the woman who had given up all she held most dear in the world for just a chance for them to have a family together.
She deserved that chance when just her mere presence was enough to lift the saviour spirits out of the depths of appliance-destroying anxiety, right?
It was this that persuaded Emma to text Regina again that morning even amidst questions as to whether the former mayor was dating her employee or not.
Emma couldn't ask that outright, not when she wasn't quite ready to think about the person she really wanted Regina to be with.
Rather than allowing her mother to continue her regime of instilling doubt in her True Love, Emma figured that she could enjoy her company for another hour or so rather than worrying about the future.
Tamsin apparently had other plans, hopefully choosing not to move at all for hours. It was not an issue that she ever had when she was carrying Henry but she vividly remembered the prison doctor insisting that she come and see her should the baby not move for a certain amount of time.
A quick Google search confirmed that it was best to see a doctor to make sure that everything was okay.
Unfortunately, her mother chose that moment to return to the loft to pick up some forgotten papers between classes. Naturally, this meant that she couldn't go to the ER alone, unable to tell Snow that she'd already texted someone to meet her at the hospital.
Her leg bounced in the waiting room and she chewed incessantly at her nail. Things were already complicated enough as it was but what if there really was something going on with Tamsin? She may have spent a decent amount of time wishing that she wasn't pregnant, she had officially crossed the threshold whereby she was preparing to meet her daughter.
Her free hand cupped her bump which remained stubbornly still, so much for the theory that this trip would be proven unnecessary as soon as she sat down in Storybrooke General.
"You know," Snow mused at her side, not noticing that her daughter bit her tongue as she kept bouncing her leg, "In the Enchanted Forest, we didn't have any of this scanning equipment, I had to have faith that you were okay."
Snow touched her own stomach wistfully but Emma did not want to deal with the fact that the woman she'd previously known as her roommate had carried her in the same way that she had with Henry and now Tamsin.
The bizarreness of it, however, was probably the force behind her biting reply, "So, maybe not everything is a curse then?"
Snow's forehead creased but Emma put her nail back into her mouth rather than concern herself with feeling guilty. The older woman was apparently unable to come up with anything to follow up as she deflated back, frowning at the bump.
At least she appeared to be concerned about her granddaughter's well-being.
The reason that she could have doubted this at all chose that moment to round the corner and Emma's leg stilled as her hand fell away from her mouth.
Regina looked straight at the saviour, causing a cloud of calm to come over her. Surely if there was anything wrong, this was the person to fix it?
This spell was promptly broken by Snow asking incredulously, "What is she doing here?"
"I asked her to come, she'd her daughter too," Emma whispered as Regina narrowed her eyes at the princess.
Emma couldn't deal with their shared hatred right now, so instead she stood to put her back to her mother and approach Regina, as Snow huffed.
Before she could consider whether she wanted to touch the other woman (maybe to see if the fading scar on her arm was as rough as it looked?) Dr Brennan called from an opened door, "Sheriff Swan?"
Emma released a long breath and Regina said encouragingly, pointing to a seat that was nowhere near Snow White's position, "I'll wait here…"
"Actually," Emma said unsurely, "Do you think you could…come in with me?"
Disregarding the presence of Snow entirely, "Of course."
Emma was deaf to Snow's follow-up huff as she followed Dr Brennan into the examination room with Regina in tow.
The doctor asked a few questions until agreeing that a quick ultrasound was the best course of action, promising that it was probably nothing but that they had to check.
After some hesitation, Regina stood at the head of the examination table as Dr Brennan lifted the sheriff's shirt to pour gel onto her stomach.
Emma hissed, recognising the shifting behind her to be Regina touching the plastic, coming short of coming into contact with the saviour who couldn't think of a good way to tell her that her hand on her shoulder wouldn't be entirely unwelcome.
Instead, she held her breath, evaluating the doctor's face until the ultrasound began emitting a steady thumping. Emma breathed hard and long, hitting her head against the table, allowing her to see Regina's trepidation-filled smile
This was the first time that she would have heard this sound, right?
"Everything looks good," Dr Brennan said, "Heartbeat is strong, I think she's just having a lazy day."
Regina released a laugh full of a mix of adoration and relief and said, "Sounds like your child."
Emma also laughed but this quickly morphed into a sob as the doctor retracted the wand with raised eyebrows. The saviour covered her face, unable to stem the flow of tears through sheer force of will.
Dr Brennan looked straight at Regina who was just as bewildered by the reaction as she was. The doctor finally settled on giving them some privacy and said, "I'll just…she should move soon but if not you should come back…I think we have a pamphlet, I'll…go and find it."
Emma could only keep crying as Regina rounded the table and sat on the stall to wheel close to the bed. As soon as she touched her arm, Emma pulled her hands down, very much embarrassed as her shining eyes met the former mayor's.
Softly, Regina asked, "You did hear her, dear? Tamsin is okay…"
The reassurance smashed through Emma's thinning resistance and she tugged Regina to press their lips together.
Regina allowed this for maybe an extra second than she should have before she moved back, keeping her hand firmly on the saviour's arm.
Emma's eyes widened as if realising what she had just done and she gasped, "Oh god, you don't want to anymore, I'm…" she rambled, mortified and cognizant that she still didn't really know whether the woman had a boyfriend.
Regina dragged her hands down to look at her as she twined their fingers together, "You're clearly vulnerable, Emma, I don't think that you can know what you really want when you're worried about Tamsin."
It didn't definitely answer the question that she had failed to ask about Regina's relationship status, but this was still not the moment to get the answer that she wasn't convinced she could handle.
She instead went with a surefire way to make herself feel at least a little better and swung her legs around to ask unsurely, "How about a…hug? You know, to celebrate our daughter being healthy?"
Regina nodded easily and Emma forgot all of her questions as they each stood to embrace. Despite her time as a stable woman, Emma could smell spiced apples which shouldn't be as comforting as it should have been.
She cringed though, remembering the substance of her stomach she had failed to wipe away, "I'm getting gel on you…"
Regina pulled her closer and assured her, "That's okay."
Emma sniffed but grinned, prepared to revel in the hug as long as she could, but was naturally cut short by the door opening and not for the doctor.
Emma was the first to let go, finding Snow staring and flushed like they had been doing some incredibly inappropriate act.
Regina cleared her throat and moved back a little but was probably too close for Snow's liking.
"Is everything okay?" she demanded, "Dr Brennan rushed out…"
"Everything is fine, Mary Margaret," Emma replied.
"That's good," Snow sighed, "Perhaps we could have a family dinner to celebrate later?"
"I suppose that would be my queue to leave," Regina said, absently touching the bump as she made to extricate herself. Her hand became trapped, however, as a jolt moved through Emma and she held Regina in place to make sure that the movements continued.
"Oh thank god," Emma breathed, too relieved to fully take in Regina's true smile at the feeling until her palm.
That was until Regina murmured, "Wow," and a forceful cough across the room forced her to remove her hand. Emma openly scowled at her mother, waiting for her to extend a dinner invitation to the most helpful person here, but she of course didn't.
"Please tell me if you need anything?" Regina asked quietly.
"I will," Emma promised, going for a shorter hug, mainly because it was so wrong to part with no contact considering the reason that they were here.
Reluctantly, Regina left staring straight ahead as she went by Snow. Emma swiped up some paper towels, sure that she was about to endure a tirade from the woman who should just be happy that her granddaughter was healthy and loved.
She preempted her mother before she could even open her mouth.
As she wiped her stomach free of gel, Emma said, "You should be trying harder."
"What?" Snow asked incredulously.
Throwing the paper towels away, gaining in confidence, Emma rounded on her, "Regina is your grandchildren's mom. You should try harder to at least be in the same room as her!"
"But she's…"
"Your daughter's True Love. Nothing else matters, right?" she challenged.
Her forehead creased again. Honestly, how could she be so shocked that she felt this way after everything?
"So the two of you are…?"
Emma stared downwards as she replied, "No, not yet."
"Yet?" Snow squeaked as Dr Brenann came back brandishing a folded piece of paper.
"Found the pamphlet!" the doctor announced and Snow crossed her arms but thankfully remained silent as Emma approached the new arrival to give her the good news.