After Henry said he actually wanted Regina present, there became some unspoken rule about their dynamic after that. A dynamic that felt very much like a family, one that she had always hoped and dreamed of and Regina wouldn't trade a single second of it.
She moved into her studio apartment which seemed smaller than her bedroom in Storybrooke, however, it didn't matter. She was really only there when Emma was at work and Henry was at school, otherwise she spent all her time at their apartment. Honestly, she should probably find a real job if she wants to continue this relationship and living full time in New York.
For the past two weeks, she has spent every evening eating dinner with them. Afterwards, she would help Henry with his volcano while Emma sat back, a hand splayed across her tiny bump and a smile that was to die for. Sometimes, she would be the one sitting back with a goofy smile while watching Henry and Emma become entranced with video games. Other times, they would play board games or cards as a family and those were her most precious moments that she locked away in her heart for a rainy day.
She also fell madly in love with her alone time with Emma while working out. These were the more intimate moments that had them spilling their guts about everything and anything they could share with one another. This is where Regina learned that Emma used to work as a bail-bonds person until their move to New York. She knew she couldn't continue such a risky job while pregnant and Regina was thankful for that. This is also where Emma learned that Regina works in politics and is always very vague about her job. She even made a crack that maybe Regina is a hit-woman, maybe even works for the mafia.
Regina finds New York-Emma amusing.
"Absolutely not, Miss Swan."
"Come on," Emma sternly urges, bending her knees and bouncing slightly with her hands up, ready to be pounded into. "Let's go!"
"No," she firmly declines, placing her gloved hands upon her hips. "Fetch a punching bag or something because I will not be punching your hands."
Emerald green eyes roll in annoyance but the tiny smirk at the corner of Emma's mouth reveals that she's slightly amused. "What is the big deal? I trust you. It's not like you're going to slip and accidentally deck me."
"As appealing as that sounds, I will not take that risk while you are pregnant," she demands, earning herself another eye roll. "And I better not find out that you allow your other clients to do this with you."
"I don't," Emma wholeheartedly answers to ease Regina's mind. "But I trust you, nothing is going to happen. Now come on, I didn't tape your hands for nothing."
"I said no, Swan," she growls.
"I'll make you do box-steps," Emma threatens without skipping a beat, her spine ramrod straight and ready for an argument, knowing how much Regina despises those damn boxes.
Yet, despite the blatant threat, there's a rush of giddy glee that ripples through Regina's body and it's quite alarming. She really does have a sick obsession with arguing. She steps right up to the blonde, toe to toe, just like the old days and swoons over the blazing adrenaline that courses through her veins from that fire in Emma's eyes.
"Your move, Swan," she whispers through a hint of a smirk which only persuades those dainty lips to curl into a grin as well.
"Fine, have it your way, 'Gina. Box-step-ups it is," she firmly declares, ripping the boxing gloves right off her hands, but Regina's momentarily stunned by the nickname that just rolled so effortlessly off her trainer's tongue.
Why does that silly nickname cause her heart to thump a little faster?
Regina quickly blinks away her thoughts and begins unraveling her hands from the tape Emma dutifully wrapped her up in while the blonde kicks over some boxes. Emma lifts one foot and Regina is already stepping between the woman and the dreadful box.
"Oh no you don't," Regina sternly declares. "Just tell me what you want me to do, no visual needed," she dryly retorts, yet Emma's cheeks are decorated with a light shade of pink.
"Does that go for the bedroom, too?"
Regina's lips twist and purse as she attempts to control her devious smirk, but by the twinkle in those green eyes, she knows she's failing miserably. She takes an assertive step forward and just like she predicts, Emma doesn't shy away, she holds her ground.
"I don't need guidance in that department," she suggestively husks, her lips just dangling before the ones that have been imprinted over every inch of her skin. She watches in amusement as Emma's eyes dilate and she releases a quivering breath while the little whimper remains lodged in the back of her throat. Regina smirks in triumph, fully proud of herself and gingerly hops onto the box. "However, not one proper date, not one measly kiss? At the rate we are going, you won't experience my expertise until that baby's first birthday."
Emma rolls her eyes and huffs to express her annoyance, but again, there's a smile playing at those thin little lips and that's all the proof Regina needs as confirmation of this woman's adoration for her.
"Twenty jumps, alternating between feet, move Mills." Regina chuckles softly and obediently obeys the command. "Very good, pick up the pace." Regina rolls her eyes because she refuses to be so compliant with this woman but her feet immediately jump into action. "So, I wanted to ask you..." she anxiously trails off, convincing brown eyes to snap to attention and ignore the box beneath her. "Ten more, left to right," Emma suddenly orders, eliciting a small groan before Regina changes up her feet.
"You were going to ask..."
"I have an appointment this Friday...kinda a big one. I'm twenty weeks..."
"Okay," Regina huffs because she's already struggling to catch her breath and her skin is prickling with the first signs of salty sweat.
"I get to find out the gender."
"Oh?" She excitedly breathes out, hopping down from the box and ready to discuss this very enticing news.
"You're not done. Ten vertical jumps, both feet together. Let's go, you got this!" Regina inhales sharply to calm the irritation festering inside but her eyes roll automatically. She grits her teeth and leaps up on to the box. "Great! Keep going! So anyways, I was thinking maybe you could come with?" Regina leaps down and stares at Emma, utterly bewildered that she would invite her. "Hey, keep going-"
"Wait," Regina heaves for her next breath, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "You would like me to come with when you find out the gender of the baby?"
"Umm yeah...was that too much? I'm not good at this but umm...I was trying to get Henry excited for the baby and he saw something online about gender reveal parties...I don't know, they are just becoming a thing and I guess it might be cool. He wants to like bite into a cupcake and the filling be either pink or blue...maybe the doctor could tell you and-"
"Emma, stop rambling, dear," she breathlessly whispers, gently placing her hand upon the woman's cool skin to gather her full attention. "I would love to go with you," she confesses, inspiring her heart to race even faster and she knows it has nothing to do with the workout and everything to do with being there for her baby and it's other mother.
"Really?" And it's so hard not to smile back at those stunning sea-green irises with a swirl of ocean blue because of how hopeful and excited she truly is.
And Regina's falling deeper.
"Of course, although I have an inkling that your son is simply trying to weasel a dessert out of this situation. Gender reveal? Never heard of it," she plainly says and hops right back onto the box to keep her body from hopping right onto this beautiful woman that's carrying her future.
"I know, it's kinda silly, but whatever I gotta do to get this kid excited for his new sibling, right?"
"I agree. So, the doctor will tell me the gender and I will tell the bakery to put either pink or blue in the filling?"
Emma groans, but Regina ignores her, dutifully working on her next set to get these damn step-ups over with.
"I hate the color pink. Why does pink have to refer to girls?" Emma complains. Regina's eyes flick to Emma but the woman is staring aimlessly at the ground, lost in thought.
"Emma, you can pick whatever colors you want and I will tell the bakery," she recommends through a gasp for clean oxygen.
"Yeah, I could," Emma shyly agrees.
Regina leaps off the box, immediately swiping the sticky liquid clinging to her hairline. "How about red if it's a girl?" She's suggests, the color splashing across her mind with a very vivid image of a certain leather jacket, she isn't at all fond of.
Come to think of it, she has yet to see Emma wear the damn thing in the last month that she has known her in New York.
"I would like that. Red is kinda my favorite color, along with yellow."
"You don't say?" Regina slyly says, observing as a faint blush creeps up the woman's porcelain neck. "And for a boy? Would you like to stick with blue or would you like to pick another color?"
"Black?" The expression of disgust that contorts Regina's face so fast, elicits a burst of laughter to spew from Emma's mouth. "Just kidding, how about green? But like a neon green?"
"Better," she mumbles before pressing a water bottle to her lips to extinguish the fire burning in her lungs.
"Alright, then it's a date," Emma cheerfully comments, provoking brown eyes to glide in her direction and narrow. "What?" She nervously blurts out.
"You really are terrible at this, aren't you?"
"I'm a four-months pregnant fitness instructor in somewhat of a relationship with my client, I'm awful at this," Emma deadpans, persuading Regina's lips to stretch far into her cheeks.
"Somewhat of a relationship? Again Miss Swan, not one date, not one kiss," she taunts, stepping right into the woman's personal space, because that's where her body always feels the most content in life.
"I invite you over for dinner every night," Emma husks, stealing another step forward. "Are those not considered date nights?"
Regina smiles softly and takes the last step closer until they are toe to toe again. "Alright, I'll accept those as date nights considering you have a son and are pregnant and it's hard to go on a romantic night out," she states, allowing her words to slowly fade away.
"You still hung up on the whole kissing thing, huh?"
"I have a sneaky suspicion," Regina slowly whispers, her free hand cutting through the tension between them, so the back of her fingers caress Emma's warm cheek, "that you aren't very fond of kissing."
Emma sharply inhales a shaky breath from the contact alone, encouraging Regina's smile to spread even wider. "I told you, I don't let anyone in."
"And you think it's far too intimate?"
"H-how do you know that? Am I really that transparent?" She investigates, barely qualifying as a whisper.
"Well, considering your upbringing and how badly Henry's father burned you, I don't blame you for keeping a safe distance from fire."
Emma clears her throat and after all the ways Regina has known this woman, she watches intently as Emma quickly builds up her walls to protect herself from ever falling too deeply again. She sighs, knowing that Emma is about to squash their moment.
"Hey, is this a therapy session or workout? Come on, we still have a half hour and you're not thoroughly soaked from sweat."
Regina groans, she would much rather be thoroughly soaked in a different way but she keeps that inappropriate thought to herself and drags her heavy feet behind Emma to their next task.
~~~~
Pan is taunting them, but she cannot possibly leave her son and acknowledge that little brat. Luckily, Emma's Savior instincts kick in, persuading her to draw her sword and stand in front of Regina and Henry, protecting them. She hears the confrontation but she is pleading with anyone who will listen to please save her son, bring him back.
She will do anything, give anything to breathe the life back into her son's body. She cannot possibly live one single day on this planet knowing she couldn't save him. She will make any deal, with any demon or the devil himself to save her son. It doesn't matter the cost anymore, his life is too precious.
Pan is soon vanishing from existence and she cannot truly comprehend why Emma didn't run the sword right through his gut? But she is too busy focusing on her son to express her feelings out loud.
With trembling hands, she wiggles her fingers, tracing the length of his body and allowing her magic to flow freely. She casts a spell to keep his body safe and preserved, much like Daniel's, until she can rip her son's heart right out of Pan's chest and place it where it belongs.
"This preservation spell can keep him in this condition a little while longer. Buy us time to get to Pan," she acknowledges.
Emma quickly turns to Neal, asking his opinion on Pan's whereabouts, instantly sparking that jealous match in the pit of Regina's gut again. Rumple's son rambles nonsense about his compound and Regina quite frankly loses it with his stupidity...or maybe it's the green-eyed monster that lashes out.
"Well that's idiotic, we all know that. You think he's stupid enough to go back? You're useless," she scoffs.
"Okay enough," Emma gently attempts to break up a quarrel that's sure to come from the strenuous pressure ready to snap them all in half.
"Don't tell me what's enough! My son is dying," she stresses, her quivering hands resting upon her baby boy.
"Our son," Emma corrects. "So yes, I know how you feel."
"You have no idea what I feel," she bitterly rebuttals because yet again, the Savior is not seeing the bigger picture. "You have your parents, you have this..." ugh, she can't even stomach what Neal means to her, "this person, a pirate that pines for you," she snarks, "you have everything and yet you claim to know what I feel?" And there's those bottled up emotions, trembling in the back of her throat, ready to come pouring out and expose her. "All I have is Henry and I am not about to lose him because he is...every-thing," she cries, her voice finally cracking under the pressure as she peers up so desperately at Emma to understand where she is coming from.
"You're right, I don't know what you feel," Emma concedes, causing Regina's breath to hitch. "So what do you wanna do? You wanna run the show? Run it. How do we save Henry?"
Maybe Emma was listening when Regina poured her heart beneath the stars upon a that magicked mattress? Finally, Emma is sympathetic and putting herself in Regina's shoes and analyzing the situation from her perspective. The Savior is quite literally bowing down and handing over all the power and for once in the Evil Queen's life, she cannot come up with a plan.
"I don't know," she shamefully admits.
~~~~
It doesn't hit Regina until she's in the tiny room with Emma's baby bump on full display and the beautiful heartbeat filling the silence that she's going to be a mother again. Yes, she's acknowledged and yes, she's been planning, but this is the moment where her dream becomes a reality and everything feels so surreal.
And to top it all off, Emma entrusts her with the gender. Regina will be the first to know if they are having a boy or a girl and that's because Emma places the power in her hands willingly. Her heart is instantly filled with a type of unconditional love that was only ever meant for Henry. It's warm and soothing and spills out of her beating heart and heats up her entire soul.
"Emma," she gasps as her eyes soak up every detail of their baby upon the screen.
Green eyes reluctantly tear away from the baby wiggling around on the screen to examine Regina's reaction. "A-are you crying? You're such a softy," Emma chuckles but it's wet and Regina doesn't even have to look at her to know she's crying as well.
"It's just...this is amazing. They are so beautiful," she whispers, memorizing the way their baby lifts their hand to their face as if in search of their thumb or maybe trying to hide away.
"So, I was informed only one of you wants to know the sex?" The woman says as she glides the tool across Emma's stomach.
And now that Emma is not hiding behind baggy hoodies or workout zip-ups, Regina can visibly see the bump keeping their baby protected. She's a lot bigger than she expected and it makes the scenario even more real. And she is dying to reach out and touch, hoping to feel their baby kick against her palm, but it's too soon.
"Yes, I don't want to know yet, but I want Regina to know," Emma explains. "My son wants to do this thing with cupcakes, I don't know," she nervously rambles.
"Ah, gender reveal. That's becoming more popular now. There are so many cute ideas out there," the woman replies. "I will write down the gender and place it in an envelope," she explains, her eyes latching onto Regina's, motivating her to eagerly nod along. "Now, I need to measure your baby and all the parts, this may take a while."
They both happily nod along again because they are entranced with the baby on the big screen in front of them. The woman dutifully explains every body part she is measuring and how big it is and that everything is normal, but Regina doesn't register the words, she is just promising herself to never forget this moment.
She wants to reach out and touch Emma, maybe hold her hand, kiss her temple, thank her for caring her precious baby, but she can't. Emma is still struggling to open up, won't even kiss her and this feels like it might be too much for the little lost girl deep inside.
But for the Queen, it's everything she had always hoped for and this just solidifies her feelings for the Savior.
This is when Regina admits to herself that she's truly in love with Emma.
~~~~~
Regina was convinced her entire heart and soul was still mad at the Savior because of the two scruffy men following her around, but then Emma had curled her fingers around Regina's elbow and stopped her from ripping out a young boy's heart and she let her. Regina allowed Emma to drag her away and swore there had to be another way and sure enough there was.
Emma convinced the lost boys that she would bring them home and they could find peace within those homes again. She swore she would take them back to Storybrooke and they could be happy again, just like when she had found her parents, all in exchange for information regarding Pan's whereabouts. Regina was stunned at first but then again she knew deep down that's all she ever wanted too. A home. Not just an empty house with four walls but a home filled with laughter and love.
That's all she has ever wanted.
Emma firmly delegated what each person should do and where they should go; Neal to stay with Henry and be ready with Pan's shadow, Hook to be on board of the Jolly Roger, ready to leave, her parents to help load the lost boys onto the ship. Which left Regina and Emma alone, however, the princess insisted on coming because she was about to abandon her daughter for the second time to live with David on the island since Rumple was no longer in their possession and trapped inside a box.
However, the evil munchkin conveniently left Pandora's box out and when Snow so carelessly went to snatch it up, thick vines reached out and tied all three of them to a tree. A tree in which Peter Pan abandoned his own son, Rumpelstiltskin, in exchange of forever youth.
He began goading all three of them, taunting Emma and Snow on their own abandonment issues and picking at their old wounds. Regina was quick to derail him, exploiting his own weaknesses. However, he proceeded, listing off their regrets and then using Henry's heart as a ploy to break the Savior even further. Emma reacted without truly thinking, jerking forward only to have them all slammed back against the tree.
Regina reached out, wanting to protect Emma on pure instinct, her hand attempting to make contact but failing miserably. Pan continued though, wanting to tear apart the only one strong enough to be his demise. Regina opened her mouth to defend Emma, but Snow's motherly instincts beat her to the punch. So, he turned on the former princess and Regina allowed him to spew his hatred until she realized his words were effecting Emma just as badly.
She cut him off in an instant and like the child he is, he fell for her trap and turned on her, but he truly hadn't a clue as to who he was dealing with. Her voice was, smooth, confident, and every bit of taunting as she easily recalled all her past mistakes that she should feel remorse for. Pan swallowed thickly, knowing that his childish games where just that, child's play compared to the woman who tortured and murdered hundreds of souls.
And with that, she smirked, vowed that she didn't regret a damn thing because it got her, her son and ripped through the vines as if nothing was ever there at all. She stepped forward, the Queen inside giddy with revenge as she plunged her hand into his chest and gently cradled her son's beating heart. She took back what belonged to her and snatched up Pandora's box, fully proud of herself.
When she finally faced Emma and Snow, of course the princess was in shock but what she saw upon Emma's face was something she was not expecting. Pride. Emma had never looked so damn proud and Regina knows if her mother wasn't there, two hands would be holding her face into place and the most delicious lips would be rubbing furiously against hers as a thank you.
~~~~~
Everything happened in a rush, but Regina will never forget the feeling of kneeling beside her son's lifeless body and pleading for him to come back to life.
She gently cradles his fragile heart and places it upon his chest, terrified she might hurt him. She takes her time, allowing the magic to course through her as she carefully presses his heart further into his chest. Within seconds his body absorbs the beating organ again but he remains motionless, stealing Regina's breath away.
"Are we too late?" Emma anxiously investigates, peeking over at Regina for guidance because she still is clueless when it comes to magic.
"Henry?" Regina gently coos, placing her hand upon his arm and squeezing some life back into his lifeless body. "Honey," she desperately attempts to wake him again, begging to the heavens to bring her baby back.
That's when Henry gasps for air and his body flings forward like a rag doll. Regina and Emma lunge forward, clinging to him and thanking everyone that he's alive.
"I'm sorry," Henry apologizes hysterically, "I wanted to save magic. I wanted to be a hero."
Regina takes her time memorizing every inch of her son, her trembling hands squeezing his arm and shoulder to make sure this is all real and not some horrific nightmare. Emma seems to be doing the same, assuring herself that he is in fact alive and in their arms once again.
Hook even offers his bedroom after everything Henry has been through and Regina doesn't skip a beat.
"Come on, I'll tuck you in," she says and it's damn near impossible to ignore the weight of Emma's gaze upon the side of her face.
Out of her peripheral, she catches Emma's exuberant smile glowing toward her, as if Regina hung the moon and the stars. She did no such thing, but what she accomplished was so much more, she saved their son from some evil villain who attempted to murder him. And Emma cannot stop smiling at her.
Regina doesn't comment though, she focuses on helping her son up and she's sure Emma is going to follow along, but she doesn't. In fact, Emma hangs back and Regina is quite shocked that she wouldn't want to stay by Henry's side and make sure he falls asleep alright. And what shocks her even more, is that Henry doesn't even ask for Emma.
Maybe Emma finally realized everything Regina has been trying to explain to her? Maybe she finally comprehends that she truly isn't Henry's parent, she is just a birth mother? Maybe Emma feels awkward coming to tuck Henry in bed and trying to console him because she wouldn't know the first thing about it, considering Henry has only been staying with Emma a handful of weeks since she returned from the Enchanted Forest?
What it all boils down to, is that Emma never comes to tuck Henry in or kiss him goodnight, she stays up deck and not once does Henry ask for her. He offers Regina a smile that sort of resembles a frown, the spitting image of his birth mother and it expresses all the guilt he feels. She is the only one that tucks him in, just like she has done every night for the past eleven years, no matter how many times he claimed she wasn't his mother and turned his cheek on her. Her index finger lightly tickles his stomach, the exact same way she did when he was a newborn and she would tell him some extravagant story to distract him from crying and he melts under her familiar touch.
Because she is his mother and at the end of the day, his heart searches for her comfort. Nobody else's. At the end of the day, his heart misses her and his soul feels safe and protected with her.
She slowly waves her hand over his heart, producing a vibrant orange glow, causing Henry to wince.
"It stings," he hisses, but he doesn't shy away, nor scold her for using magic. Her heart feels so full. "What's that for?"
"A spell, so no one can ever take your heart," she explains, hovering over his body that isn't so tiny anymore. "Ever. Again."
And then he takes her hand and clenches just as he did when he was an infant and she knows all is forgiven. Not only are her actions forgiven as well, for making him believe he was crazy and for lying about the curse. But she also knows he's sorry and regretful and above all, their slate is wiped clean, ready for a new future. And it's all because they are mother and son and they share a type of bond that nobody could ever understand. Her heart quite literally sags in relief.
She stares deeply into his eyes and smiles softly before she bends down and presses a lingering kiss to his forehead. "We will be home soon," she whispers, "my little prince."
And he smiles at the familiar nickname, it's safe, it's familiar, it's home.
She turns off the light and quietly sneaks away because she has a certain matter to deal with regarding a sudden standoffish Savior.