A/N: Thank you so much for all of the lovely comments on the last chapter, I am so glad that you want to see more!
The soft clicking of Regina's heels filled the Sheriff's station early that next morning. Regina hasn't slept a wink, her night spent tossing and turning trying to get the image of Emma's harsh disappointed eyes burning into her own. She truly didn't mean to cause the savior any trouble, and now that she had, it felt like a reset button had been hit on their relationship, only this time it was Emma that had hatred in her heart and not Regina.
Regina had been waiting for just short of thirty minutes when an extremely tired Sheriff padded into her office, looking slightly confused by Regina's presence. Emma was in the same boat when it came to the amount of sleep she managed to get the previous night, although unlike the former evil queen, the blonde didn't hide it as well. Her night was spent researching adoption and the implications of falsifying applications ending in a national black mark against your name and possible jail time. She was torn between a rock and a hard place, on one hand, she knew how much Regina wanted this, but could she really commit fraud just to make it possible for her?
"I brought these…" Regina nervously held out a takeaway cup from Granny's that was now filled with cold hot chocolate. "Oh, it's cold chocolate I guess now." She tried to lighten the heavy asthenosphere but failed as Emma avoided her outstretched hand and moved to sit at her desk.
Silently, she reached forward and grabbed the bag of what she hoped would be bear claws - they were - and sunk into the uncomfortable seat. "Thanks," She muttered before taking a large, unladylike bite out of the sweet donut. With a wave of her hand, Regina warmed up the cold drink and placed it in front of the blonde, with a small smirk on her face as Emma's eyes lit up slightly when the rich aroma reached her nose.
Regina pulled out the visitor's chair and gracefully sat down, with her hands clasped tightly on the desk. "Emma, about what happened-"
Emma raised her hand as she swallowed the sugary treat. "No. I get to speak Regina." She clarified, receiving a small nod of agreement from the brunette who warmed her cup of coffee and sat back in her chair. Silence fell over the two women as Regina waited anxiously for Emma to speak. She could see the Sheriff's mind was working on overdrive as she fiddled with her empty cup, until she finally spoke, "I'm still in shock, I don't even know where to begin."
"May I then?" The Mayor asked nervously, and Emma weakly shrugged for her to continue. "I never wanted to cause you any trouble, Emma. It's just that, seeing all those smiling couples with their babies, and then finding out that there was no application for a single parent, it crushed me. I was a few drinks away from marrying one of the dwarfs."
Emma snorted and for a split second, Regina swore she saw a smile tug on her lips. "Glad to know I'm on the same level as a small hairy man."
"You aren't." The brunette whispered just loud enough to catch Emma's attention. "I was about to give up, to accept that I wasn't meant to be a mother to another child and then I saw you smiling over me from the fireplace." She wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "Without you, I wouldn't have Henry in my life, I wouldn't be free from my past...I wouldn't have a proper family."
"That still doesn't explain why we're suddenly married, Regina." Emma shot back, slightly softer than before. "You could have reached out to another agency or explained your situation." She suggested.
"I know, but at the time...in the moment the only thought that was going through my head was, how easy I'd be if I could just do it with you all over again."
Emma was dumbfounded, she was still trying to process Regina using her name, but what she was suggesting was something more than. Did she seriously want to raise a child with her? Could they raise a child together? "With me? Are you saying that you actually want me to be involved?"
"No, I mean...no." Regina shook her head, finally seeing herself through Emma's eyes at that moment. Raising another child with Emma wasn't what she'd set out to do, or was it? It had been Emma's picture with her and Henry that had set the ball in motion. Maybe there was some part of her that didn't want to do it on her own again, and she'd already established a system with the blonde, a system that had been working without any issues for over five years now. Regina knew that this situation wasn't the same, this baby wasn't Emma's child that she'd given up, yet once again the blonde was being forced into making a choice, to parent or not to parent.
Regina was angry. At herself mostly, but also at the situation she had caused. Embarrassed by the whole ordeal, she stood abruptly. "I am more than capable of raising a child and the fact that I need to be in a committed relationship is the only factor that's stopping me from loving another child is ridiculous." She snapped and made a move to storm out of the station and lock herself away forever to wallow in the might have been.
"Regina, wait." Just as Regina had the night before, Emma caught Regina's wrist forcing her to stay. She felt Regina's frustration reach its boiling point as small sobs reached her ears. In one swift motion, Emma pulled the brunette into her arms for a rare embrace as the older woman wept. "You gave Henry a better home than I had ever imagined and I never thanked you for that." She soothed the slightly taller woman.
"I know how much this means to you, and I also know how much you could change some kids' life." Emma moved slightly in the embrace so that she could tilt Regina's face towards hers. "God knows I used to wish for someone...anyone to come and whisk me away to a nice, warm home...to somewhere I knew that I'd be loved, unconditionally." The blonde admitted sadly.
"Emma…" It was soft, the softest Emma had ever heard her be. Suddenly her harsh words from the night before stabbed into her heart. The Evil Queen was long gone, and Emma hated that she'd dug up the past in anger. She knew that Regina had changed and that she'd done it for their son. Everything she did was for him so that he could grow into the amazing person he was becoming. Regina had raised her son when she couldn't and continued to raise him with Emma by her side. They were a team - granted an unconventional one - but they worked well together…'maybe we still could' Emma thought as she held the Mayor in her arms, each sob that escaped from her lips a reminder of just how much Regina yearned for another child. 'Maybe it wouldn't be so awful…'
Gently, Emma ran her fingers through Regina's chocolate brown locks forcing the brunette to pull away from her resting place on the savior's shoulder. "The kid turned out alright with the two of us, who's to say this one won't as well," Emma whispered, still unsure in herself or the huge decision she was about to make.
Regina pulled away fully as she wiped away her running makeup, she was convinced that her ears were deceiving her. "Are you saying…" She was afraid to say it out loud, afraid that hearing it and how crazy of an idea it was would put Emma off again. "What are you saying, Emma?" She threw the ball back into Emma's court and held her breath as she waited for the blonde to speak.
"Let's do it." She confirmed with a forced 'Charming Family' smile, before adding, "Not the marriage stuff, I still can't wrap my head around that just yet, but I know it's something we'll have to sort out." She shrugged. The idea of marriage was foreign to her, she'd never been with anyone long enough to even entertain the idea - much to her Mother's annoyance - and she most certainly never thought about being married to Regina, no matter how much Killian liked to compare them to an old married couple when they'd argue. But that was just Killian being an idiot as always. They were co-parents, friends, maybe even best friends. Sure, there were times when swore she saw Regina's eyes flicker to her lips and other times when Emma had caught herself admiring the brunette's cleavage during a council meeting, 'how could you not, in those goddamn blouses!' The blonde defended herself, trying to justify her actions, 'It's just one friend admiring another, nothing more.'
Regina spared the blonde an apologetic smile at the mention of their 'marriage' and decided that it would be best not to mention the recently falsified marriage certificate she had made before their fight. "Emma, are you sure? I will contact the agency and come clean. I don't want you to feel obligated to suddenly come on board with this idea." Regina ordered as she tried to contain her excitement.
"This is your only chance Regina, you come clean now and that's it for you." Emma pointed out, before sighing deeply. "I'm still mad at you, but that'll pass." She added as she went back to sit down and finish her bear claw.
Regina still couldn't contemplate what was happening. How they had gone from shouting at each other to crying and then to this, to Emma agreeing to raise a child with her. Happily, Regina slipped back into her seat and reached over to grab a bear claw of her own. "Are we really doing this?" She asked as she tore the donut in half.
"I guess we are." Emma scratched the back of her head and smiled as Regina offered her the other half of the bear claw. "To the future Swan-Mills baby, and the shitstorm that's still to come." She raised the sugary treat, with Regina mimicking her actions. After bumping the two halves together, Emma practically devoured her in one bite, while Regina broke a small piece off to pop in her mouth.
With half of her pastry eaten, the Mayor cleaned her fingers on a nearby napkin and signaled for the Sheriff to finish off the sweet treat. "Now, onto important business."
"This wasn't important? Starting to rethink your commitment there, Madam Mayor." Normally, Regina would have glared at Emma's joke, but given the current situation, she welcomed the blondes lighthearted attitude and she still couldn't believe that
"So, how much are we going to have to pay for a glowing reference from your parole officer?" Regina asked, making sure there was a playful hint to her tone. She didn't know much about Emma passed, besides the limited information Sydney had dug up for her all those years ago and the small background check that Graham had carried out before hiring her. It was a bizarre feeling, knowing that Emma knew almost everything there was to know about her and her past, yet Regina was practically in the dark about hers. This would definitely be something that the Mayor would want to change as they moved forward in this new and confusing stage of their relationship, she just hoped that Emma would comply.
"Who says I need a paid reference? I was on my best behavior after I got out," Emma shot back smugly, priding herself on what she knew would be a glowing letter.
"I'll be the judge of that, Miss Swan. Have it on my desk by the end of the week, I want to give it the once over before we send it off." The brunette smirked as she stood and rubbed the wrinkles from her purple dress.
"Of course, Your Highness." The savior bowed, earning a short chuckle from the brunette. Being able to laugh with each other after Regina's confession and Emma's explosion, it felt refreshing to the pair.
"And I think it would be best if you reschedule your interview later today, at least until we have our bearings, Friday morning should work. You can come over for dinner on Monday to sort through things." She added, with a wave of her hand, cleaning up the mess made on the Sheriff's desk. Regina spared Emma one last smile as she grabbed her purse and padded towards the door. "Oh and Emma, I prefer, Your Majesty." She threw over her shoulder without turning back to see the smirk on the blonde's face and the way her eyes watched every move that Mayor made.
A/N: I don't have a proofreader at the moment, so If anyone would be interested please let me know!