When Emma stirred the following morning, she slowly opened her eyes and squinted at the bright light pouring in from the large windows. The couple had fallen asleep without drawing the curtains the night before and now sunlight filled every inch of the room. Turning her head, Emma smiled at the sight that met her. Regina was fast asleep, her hair splayed out against the white pillow and her face relaxed and serene. Her arm was extended towards Emma's body, as if they had been snuggled up but drifted apart during the warmth of the night. Rolling onto her side, Emma shuffled across the mattress and slid herself underneath Regina's arm once more.
"Mmmm," her girlfriend mumbled as a lithe body pressed against her.
"Morning," Emma whispered as she laid a soft kiss to Regina's cheek.
"Already?" Regina asked, her forehead creased in confusion.
"It's our first day here. I want to make the most of it," Emma said, brushing some stray hairs out of Regina's eyes as chocolate brown orbs blinked open.
"But we could make the most of it by sleeping," Regina suggested, her body sliding closer to Emma's as she spoke, their naked forms pressed tightly together.
"We could," Emma grinned. "But I really want to go to the beach today and I've already heard Henry thumping down the hallway for breakfast."
There was an unintelligible mumble into Emma's hair and the blonde laughed. Regina had never been much of a morning person.
With a final kiss to the top of Regina's head, Emma wriggled free of her girlfriend's arms and jumped out of bed. Regina cracked an eye open and watched as Emma's naked butt sashayed into the ensuite. Suddenly, an idea hit her and she scrambled to follow the younger woman's retreating form.
~
The couple emerged into the kitchen almost an hour later, cheeks still a little flushed from the intense shower sex. Henry and Zelena were already halfway through their breakfasts, sitting on the veranda at the rear of the villa, looking out at the olive grove which grew on the slopes of the mountain beyond.
"Morning," Regina said as she took a seat and reached for the tea pot. She would have preferred coffee, of course, but she had been determined to follow every doctor's recommendation when it came to the baby's health during her pregnancy.
"Sleep well?" Zelena asked with a knowing smile between the two women.
"Wonderfully," Emma answered as she ruffled Henry's hair and took the seat next to him. It was soaking wet. "Ew!" she exclaimed as she jumped up, the seat of her jeans shorts already saturated.
"Sorry," Henry said, reaching over and picking up a drenched towel which had been masquerading as a cushion.
"How did that even happen?" Emma grumbled, taking a different seat and shifting uncomfortably against the damp denim.
"I went for a swim but then I sort of dropped my towel in the water when I got out," Henry shrugged. "The pool is amazing, Mum. There's a mosaic of a turtle on the bottom and it's really, really deep at the far end. I dived in and didn't even touch the bottom."
"Cool," Emma grinned. "You'll have to show me that dive you've been working on. Mr Nolan said the swimming lessons had been going well."
"Will you come in with me after you've eaten?" Henry asked who had already spied the halter neck strap of Emma's red bikini.
"After I've eaten and given my body about an hour to digest, yes," Emma nodded. "Speaking of which, what's for breakfast?"
"The best fruit salad I've ever had," Henry said just as he finished his bowl of said food.
"Really?" Emma said, surprised. "But I have to force you to eat apples at home."
"Apples are boring," Henry argued. "Zelena had oranges, grapes, strawberries and these super sweet apricots."
"Sounds great!" Emma grinned. "Do they all grow here?" she asked, turning to their hostess who had been sitting and listening to the conversation with a smile on her face.
"Yes," Zelena said, spooning Emma out a large helping of the fruit salad as she spoke. "The apricots are usually a little later but we've had such a warm winter that they're coming into season already. The grapes are just reaching their end now but the oranges and strawberries are flourishing." She pointed to the far end of the large garden as she spoke.
"You grow them here?" Emma asked.
"Indeed," Zelena nodded. "I have a large fruit garden and the olive trees beyond are ours too. We supply a couple of the delis in the town but the rest is for me and whoever is coming to visit. I'll give you the tour later if you like."
The fruit salad was indeed divine and Emma scoffed down two bowlfuls along with a cup of tea as she, Zelena and Regina talked about plans for the week ahead. The general consensus was that there was no plan and they would take each day as it comes. Emma thought that was the best sort of holiday. No obligations. No expectations. No pressures.
As the heat of the day began to heighten, Emma finally decided to check out the pool.
"Are you coming in?" Emma asked as she tugged her tank top over her head and began to unbutton her still-damp denim shorts. Henry was already in the pool and had been calling for his mother to join him for ten minutes.
"Give us a minute?" Regina said, looking appreciatively at the toned body being revealed to her before nodding her head subtly towards Zelena.
Emma nodded her understanding, kissed Regina's cheek and jogged over to the pool before moving seamlessly into a graceful dive and disappeared under the sparkling blue water.
"Impressive," Zelena said. "I can see why you like her."
"I love her," Regina corrected. "And yes, she's a pretty incredible woman."
"I'm glad she had you," the redhead said. "I'm sorry I didn't come over after Robin, you know. I wanted to but I just couldn't leave the farm at that time. I assume Aunt Cora wasn't much support."
"No," Regina said. "I've barely spoken to her, to be honest. Just a few phone calls. She doesn't even know about -,"
"About what?" Zelena asked when it became apparent Regina had stopped talking.
Regina turned in her chair and took her cousin's hands in her own. "I'm pregnant."
There was a long silence: the kind which Regina was growing accustomed to sitting through when she imparted her news.
"Robin's?"
"Yes."
"Does Emma -,"
"Of course she knows," Regina said. "The reason I'm telling you now is because I knew you'd say something as soon as I take off this sun dress and you see my stomach. I'm almost four months along now and I'd rather you knew I was pregnant than you called me fat. Again."
"I never called you fat," Zelena said indignantly.
Regina raised an eyebrow pointedly.
"Ok, I may have sarcastically pointed out that living away from your mother and her strict diets had done wonders for your figure when you first went to uni. But I didn't mean you were actually fat."
Regina laughed. "It's ok, I know I put on weight that year. It was the freedom to shop for myself at last. Pretty sure I did't buy a vegetable for at least the first couple of months. It took me all of second and third year to shift those extra pounds. But all I meant was that now you know why I'm ballooning again."
"I … I can't believe you're pregnant," Zelena said, her eyes darting down to Regina's still covered stomach.
"It took Emma and I time to come to terms with it too," Regina admitted. "We're both seeing a therapist."
"Is it helping?" Zelena asked.
"I think so," Regina nodded. "I'm certainly thinking more about the baby itself rather than its father now. And I think Emma is too."
"What about Henry?"
"He knows," Regina said. "But I don't think he fully understands the implications of how this child was conceived, not yet anyway. He seems to be on board with it though. I'm incredibly lucky he's been so accepting of me actually."
"They're a lovely little family," Zelena said, looking over to the pool where four pale legs were waggling in the air, presumably because of a handstand competition.
"They are," Regina nodded, gazing wistfully over as Emma's dark blonde head reappeared, a carefree laugh carrying back towards them on the breeze as Henry's legs toppled into the water.
"Come on, let's go and join them," Zelena suggested, standing up and pulling off the oversized t-shirt she had been wearing over her swim suit. Regina did the same and together they walked over to the pool.
"Regina, can you dive?" Henry asked who had climbed out of the pool and sitting on the side.
"I can," Regina nodded. "Not quite as elegantly as your mother surprisingly but I'm not bad."
"Wanna watch me do mine?"
"Sure," Regina smiled.
Henry grinned widely and scrambled to his feet. His body, scrawny and long as his teenage hormones surged through his bones but hadn't reached his muscles yet, hunched over the edge of the pool, his fingers waggling in anticipation as he prepared himself.
The resulting splash soaked both Zelena and Regina who laughed as they watched Henry emerge and turn expectantly towards them.
"Very good," Regina smiled. "Try keeping your knees a little straighter and you'll get a smoother entrance into the water."
"Can you show me?" Henry asked. "Or will it hurt the baby?" he added with a frown.
Emma's heart swelled at her son's thoughtfulness. And then she made a mental note to check how his biology grades were doing.
"No, the baby will be fine," Regina assured him before she took a deep breath and dived into the water.
Her eyes opened as soon as she felt the cool splash on her face, squinting against the chlorine and scanning the water for Emma's body. She swam strongly forwards as soon as she spotted the torso and red bikini cups, her arms wrapping around Emma as she came up for air, laughing.
"You're good," Emma said, kissing Regina's lips as she felt Regina's legs twine themselves around her waist. "I assume you told Zelena about -,"
"Yes," Regina said.
"And?"
"She understands the difficult circumstances but I think she's happy for us."
"Us?" Emma asked.
"I think it's fair to say that this baby is pretty much part of us now, yes Emma," Regina replied.
Emma grinned and kissed Regina again, her hands moving to grasp her girlfriend's ass as their bodies bounced slightly in the pool.
"Oh my God, Mum! That's gross!" Henry exclaimed when he turned around and spotted the embrace.
The couple broke apart giggling.
"Sorry, Henry," Regina offered.
Emma said nothing, she just stuck out her tongue and began to swim to the far end of the pool. Henry gave chase at once.
~
After a leisurely morning by the pool, a tour around the grounds, and a lunch of cold meats, fresh bread, and olives, the four of them climbed into Zelena's jeep and headed back down the mountain. Much as Henry enjoyed the pool, he couldn't wait to get to the beach too and looked eagerly out of the window as the car wound its way through the town and out onto the open road leading to the coast.
The beach was quiet, an off-shore wind making the air a little cooler than it had been in the shelter of the villa that morning. Emma and Regina gravitated to each other and their hands clasped as they stepped onto the soft sand. Zelena walked beside them, chatting to Regina about various family members as Henry raced off towards the surf. The waves were modest, crashing quietly onto the sand as the teenager reached the edge and ran straight into the foam. The warm water splashed up his legs, soaking his shorts and he let out a yell of joy. Emma smiled and squeezed Regina's hand.
By the time the adults had found a spot to sit, Henry had already discarded his t-shirt on the sand and was swimming out into the choppier waters farther from the shore. Emma watched as a large wave crashed over his, obscuring his head for a moment before he emerged, gasping for air but grinning broadly.
"He'll be fine," Zelena assured as she noted Emma's concerned face. "The currents are usually very tame here and the sea floor has a gentle decline."
"I know," Emma said. "He's a strong swimmer. I just -,"
"Parents worry," Zelena shrugged. "It's natural."
Regina smiled reassuringly at Emma as she settled beside her on the picnic rug they had bought. Despite lunch only being eaten an hour before, Emma happily accepted an offering of some pitta bread to dip into a pot of hummus Zelena had packed for them.
Regina leaned back on her elbows, scanning the beach and watching the few other families on the sand. She had always loved people-watching. Ever since she had been a kid she had made up stories and scenarios for people she saw to fit into. It was a habit she had never broken. A young, tanned couple was walking along the shoreline, arms looped around each other's waists, the woman's head resting on the man's shoulder. They looked happy, blissful. Regina wondered what she and Emma looked like to outsiders. Would people know? Would they guess what the couple had been through? And what would they think of her pregnancy? A slight frown appeared on her forehead.
"You ok?" Emma asked as she turned towards Regina, a hand coming to rest on the gentle swell of her stomach.
"Fine," Regina nodded. "Just thinking."
"About?"
"About how we might look to people who don't know us," Regina replied. "Do we look like two people who've been through hell and back?"
"We look like to happy people in love with each other," Emma replied, leaning down to kiss Regina. "And that's what we are, right?"
"Right," Regina nodded, reaching up and pulling Emma back towards her lips.
Zelena looked away, smiling at the evident happiness radiating from her cousin. Regina may have been worried about how the outside world might perceive their relationship but it was clear to the redhead that the two women were more loved up and more devoted to each other than she had ever been to all of her ex husbands combined. Perhaps next time she should think about marrying a woman, she mused as she watched Henry jogging towards them.
"Are you swimming?" he asked his mother. "The water's super warm. In fact I think it's warmer in the sea than out of it."
As he spoke, goosebumps erupted on his skin as the sea breeze dried the water droplets clinging to him.
"No thanks," Emma said, throwing Henry a towel which he gratefully wrapped around his body. "I'll wait until it's a little warmer."
"Is there any hummus left?" Henry asked, spying the container besides Emma.
"A little bit, sorry kid," Emma said, offering the remains up to him. "Zelena brought olives down too if you want some."
"I hate olives, you know this," Henry said as he scooped out the dregs of the hummus pot.
"Well we'll pick more hummus up on the way home," Zelena said. "I need to stop off in town anyway and check on one of my orders for next week so you can choose anything you like for a pre-lasagne snack."
It had already been decided that Regina would cook her famous lasagne dish that evening and Henry had even volunteered to help with the prep. He was becoming increasingly interested in cooking and several times over the past month he had asked Regina if she could teach him how to make various dishes. Emma wasn't offended. She knew her own standard of cooking fell far below that of the beautiful brunette.
As the afternoon wore on, a frisbee game started up between Emma and Henry and after the disc had landed next to Regina and Zelena a few too many times, they accepted the hint and joined in. By the time the sun was starting to set, they had spread far out across the sand, the blue circle whizzing between them and being caught (most of the time). Regina and Zelena collapsed in laughter when one of Emma's attempted catches went rather badly wrong, sending her tumbling backwards into the surf. Wet, sandy and grumpy, Emma declared the end to the frisbee game and huffed reluctantly when Regina's arms wrapped around the soaked woman. She sat on a towel in the back of Zelena's jeep on the way home, a chill already beginning thanks to the car's lack of doors.
Before Emma knew it however she was showered and sat in a clean, dry set of clothes reading her book and glancing occasionally out over the valley below. The balcony off the upstairs hallway had become her favourite place in the villa and she had chosen it for her evening reading session. The extra few metres of height afforded even more spectacular views of the scenery surrounding Zelena's property and it was there that Regina found her when she went up to call Emma down for dinner.
"How's the book?" she asked, leaning over the back of Emma's chair and nestling her cheek besides the blonde's face.
"Gripping," Emma said, her tongue stuck between her teeth as she speed-read the end of the paragraph and slid her bookmark into place. "How's dinner?"
"Ready," Regina replied, standing up and walking around the chair and leaning on the white railing.
Emma looked up at the silhouette of Regina, the dusky sky beyond making the brunette's outline look almost black even in such close proximity. Her hair had grown significantly since Emma had first met her and now swung over one shoulder, exposing the slender line of her neck on the other side. Her fingertips drummed lightly on the metal, a relaxed, tuneless movement. One shoeless foot was resting behind the other, her toes braced against the floor and her heel bobbing in the air. Emma stood and moved towards her.
Regina sighed in contentment as she felt Emma's arms snake around her middle, a chin coming to rest on her shoulder and a soft kiss landing on her jawline.
"Today was perfect," Emma murmured, looking out over the view along with Regina.
"It really was," Regina nodded.
"Thank you for bringing us here," Emma said.
"You've already thanked me, Emma. You're my girlfriend, I want to bring you to places like this and I hope we'll have many more holidays together, both here and elsewhere."
"I'm sure we will," Emma said. "Only next time I suspect there'll be four of us."
The fingers resting on Regina's belly stroked slowly backwards and forwards through the thin linen shirt. Regina looked down and watched the movement, her heart pounding.
"Emma," she began.
"Yes," the blonde said, moving to stand beside Regina and turning the brunette so they were face to face. She sensed this conversation was about to become much deeper.
"I know I said when we first spoke about my pregnancy that I wasn't going to ask you to co-parent this baby with me. And I know we told Henry that nothing was going to change because of this child. But I think I want both of those things to be reconsidered," Regina said, looking up through the failing light to Emma's beautiful, pale face.
"Go on," Emma encouraged when Regina stopped talking.
"I … I can't do this without you, Emma. I don't want to do this without you. I know it's a huge thing to ask anyone to do, to co-parent I mean, and I know asking you to help me with this baby, to love Robin's baby, is so far beyond huge I don't think there's even a word to describe it. But that is what I'm asking of you. I want you and me to be this baby's family, Emma. You, me and Henry."
Emma had listened carefully, her grip on Regina's waist tightening slightly when she heard Robin's name. As she looked into the nervous face of her girlfriend, images of a possible future with the brunette flashed before her eyes and she suddenly released a shuddering breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding. Regina blinked as the puff of air hit her face, jolting Emma back to the present.
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes," Emma nodded. "Yes, I'll raise this baby with you. I love you, Regina. I love you with all my heart. And I think I am also growing to love this." Her hand drifted to Regina's stomach once more. "This baby is yours. It's nothing to do with Robin and I know that as soon as he or she is born I will fall hopelessly in love. Because this baby is a part of you, Regina. I love every piece of you and I will love this baby too. I want to be with you every step of the way with this pregnancy and the birth and everything that comes after that. I want you, Regina, with whatever baggage that entails."
"Did you just call our baby baggage?" Regina asked, feigning offence.
"Yes, yes I did. And I can because he or she is ours," Emma said, pulling Regina closer to her and kissing her soundly.
"Ours," Regina said when they broke apart. "I like that."
"I love that," Emma declared, her forehead resting against Regina's. "And I love you."
"I love you too."
"Well I'm glad Henry sent me to find you," came a voice from the top of the stairs. "The kid's smart. He said you'd be canoodling somewhere."
"We weren't canoodling," Regina said, rolling her eyes at her cousin who was standing in the hallway.
"It looked like canoodling to me," Zelena remarked. "Come on, Henry's already eaten half of a garlic bread waiting for you two. I told him it wouldn't matter because you guys wouldn't want to be eating garlic anyway. Which led to him mock vomiting into the sink, by the way."
"Oh I'm so going to take the piss out of him when he finally tells me about him and Ava," Emma said, taking Regina's hand and leading them both after Zelena who was already retreating downstairs.
"Don't you think you want to stay on his good side since you're going to be telling him he's getting a little brother or sister in five months time?" Regina suggested.
"Fair point," Emma said. "But once he's accepting that then I have free reign, right?"
"I'll even help you tease," Regina promised, stealing one final kiss.
"Ganging up on our kids," Emma laughed. "What parenting is all about."