Regina is lying face down across her bed. She's not even in it. She's not even the right way around.

"Regina?" Emma rushes to her side

"Emma?" She looks up with glassy eyes for a moment before speaking "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Uh, Henry said you were like, dying"

It looks like a snappy retort is on Regina's lips but doesn't make it past them. She groans and her face turns back into the plush bedspread.

"Seriously, are you ok?" Emma asks, starting to panic. She knows from various catastrophic magical experiences that Regina's threshold for, and ability to hide pain are particularly robust.

"Yes. Go away" Regina says into her duvet. Emma's hands are on her hips as she watches her curl around onto her side. Regina huffs out a breath. "Emma. All you can do for me is find the painkillers. The bottle is white with a red top-"

Emma's holding it before she finishes her sentence "It's empty"

Regina looks up as she shakes it, not a single rattle. She deflates further "Then I have no use for you"

"For real, Regina, what is up? Henry thinks you're gonna die and to be honest, I'm not convinced he's wrong" Regina's hands move to her stomach and she breathes out slowly through pursed lips. "Are you?...Is this?...Regina are you on your period?"

"Emma you are this close-"

"To what? Getting my ass kicked in a week when you can move again? Why didn't you just say? Is it always like this?"

Regina is quiet for a moment frowning as she tries to find the right words. "Do you remember saving me when we took the darkness back out of you?"

"When you nearly died? Uh yeah, it rings a bell" Emma crosses her arms over her chest

"Well" Regina manages an eye-roll from "I think you fixed more than the damage the darkness did when you healed me"

"What are you saying?"

She isn't going to respond this time. Her frown is one of stubborn irritation, judging by the way her lips settle to a thin line.

"When was the last time you had a period?"

"Before you were born" Emma's mouth falls open and she stares unintentionally. For a moment she contemplates never having to have a period again, and then how awful it would be just to start getting them again. "Miss Swan, give me 5 days and I'll see to it that you're-"

"Yeah fine, destroy my happiness, punish me, whatever." Emma waves. The groan of pain Regina lets out is completely involuntary. "Shit, I'll be back in 20 minutes"

"Please don't bother"

"Maybe 15" Emma says, from the hallway where Henry loiters nervously. "She's gonna be fine, kid. Make her a hot water bottle, I'll be back soon. 10 minutes"

Emma reappears with what looks suspiciously like one of Snow's floral shopping bags filled with supplies.

"Ok" she says, reentering Regina's room. She hasn't moved except to curl around the hot water bottle from Henry.

Emma lists what she has brought and piles everything onto the nightstand "Pain killers, raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil, iron tablets, this weird pillow thing my mom gave me-"

"You told Snow?!" she croaks with indigence

"Regina, what is your problem? Lot's of people get periods. Um, so, do you have...supplies?"

"Oh my god" Regina's face turns into the duvet again.

"Well I bought some and I'm putting them in your bathroom" Emma says, walking around the other side of the bed towards the en suite.

Regina sighs deeply. "What did you buy?"

"Everything"

"I mean, what sanitary supplies did you get?"

"I got everything" Regina's eyebrows raise slowly as she watches her leave the bag on the sink. She runs the tap until the water is cold and fills up a glass. "But right now, take these" she passes the water to Regina once she has struggled to a sitting position. "Henry said you've had breakfast. Any problems with anti inflammatories?" Regina shakes her head "Good, swallow these" she say opening all the bottles of pills and vitamins and dropping one of each into Regina's open hand.

While she's listening to her gulp down medication Emma opens a dresser drawer. It's full of lacy things and the tips of her ears turn pink. She throws it closed and tries the next one down. Pyjamas, bingo.

"It's the middle of the day, Miss Swan, I'm not wearing pyjamas." Regina complains, watching her. There might be a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Yes you are, Ms Mills. Here, put these on, I'm gonna go make tea."

"Have you ever made tea before?"

"There are instructions on the box, Regina"

"Exactly. Have you ever followed instructions?"

Emma smiles sarcastically. "I'll be back soon. PJs, now!" She closes the door.

Emma nudges open Regina's bedroom door to find her sitting in bed, in pyjamas, clutching the hot water bottle. She enters, carrying a tea tray and Henry follows with a bag of snacks.

"What is this?"

"We're hanging out. We're gonna put old movies on and eat junk and get you whatever you need"

Regina looks equal parts angry and touched and like she's having trouble with both. Emma ignores her non-reaction and climbs onto the bed as Henry climbs into it on the other.

Regina drinks the tea without complaint, which doesn't mean it's good, it just means she's not complaining about it. She periodically sucks her breath in sharply and rubs her stomach. Henry rubs her arm sometimes and Emma finds more pillows from a cupboard in the hall.

Henry falls asleep with his arm around Regina's middle during Some Like It Hot. It was Emma's choice of movie, one of her favourites. Her shoulder is touching Regina's and neither of them have rectified it. Regina hasn't gone for any of the snacks, despite being offered everything that Emma and Henry have opened, that is until she reaches for a packet of white chocolate buttons.

"No fucking way" Emma gapes. Regina's only response is to ignore her completely as she opens the packet. "White chocolate buttons, are you for real? I bought that super expensive dark chocolate for you"

"I like that too" Regina says, putting one on her tongue

"I can't. Who even are you? I have to tell someone about this" Emma looks for her phone, lost among creases in bedding and half empty packets.

Regina smiles "No one is ever going to believe you"

She hums exaggerated appreciation, putting another on her tongue and sucking which does weird things to Emma's stomach. She's struck silent by the outrageous smugness on Regina's face.

By the end of the second movie, Henry has gone to do something important like check his facebook. Regina has slipped further and further down the bed, surrounded by pillows so she can still pretend not to be lying down, even though she can only just see the tv.

"How are you feeling?" Emma asks

"Okay"

"Better than before?"

"Yes"

"Still completely awful?"

"Yes. This has been nice, but I need to make dinner for Henry soon"

"Na ah, dinner is already taken care of. I'll go get it ready. Fresh hot water bottle?"

Regina's lips part and her eyes linger on Emma's. It's not quite her argument face, it's softer and uncertain. Emma prepares for it anyway, but Regina says nothing. She relaxes into the pillows a little better as Emma pulls the bottle gently from her. She turns back at the door. Regina is still watching her with the look Emma can't place. She gives her a small smile and is gone.

There's a knock at the front door as she's on her way to the kitchen. She gets it, expecting Mary Margaret to be there with an aromatherapy kit or something else that will have Regina vowing to curse them all to another realm in 5 days time.

"Robin. Hi" she says flatly

"Hi Emma" he nods with a smile that leaves his face quickly.

Things have been pretty awkward since the battle of the dark ones. If pressed to, she would admit that he wasn't entirely useless in the fight. He does have skill with a bow and arrow, and it wasn't like Regina needed him to protect her, but she did need something from him. She needed him to be there. Battered and bleeding, Emma had been the first one to Regina's side when she had been badly hurt and Robin was nowhere to be seen. Emma doesn't know if they have spoken about it, but she hasn't mentioned it, nor has Henry and no one minds that Robin comes around less than he used to.

"Regina's not feeling super great today" she says

"Everything alright?" He asks, seeming genuinely concerned

"Time of the month stuff"

"Oh" he flushes "say no more" he looks away "that's not something I need to know about"

And Emma's been pretty fucking reasonable with him so far. When Regina says drop it, she drops it. When he chose Marian, she didn't say anything. When he treated Regina like a teenager with a crush in New York, she had her own shit going on with Lily. When she's told to keep her nose out, she does, but this one she can't walk away from.

"You don't need to know about it?" She pulls the door closed behind her.

"Well, you know, it's not like I'm ever going to have one" He jokes and she is not amused "It's all, you know, ladies matters"

"So you don't think you have any kind of responsibility to educate yourself on" she air quotes "ladies matters?"

"It's not really relevant, is it?"

"Not relevant? I don't know how anything could be more relevant, Robin. It's literally the creation of life and human nature and you don't think you owe it to the woman who made you, to the mother of your son, to Regina to fucking educate yourself on what that means for us?"

"Well, women take care of that sort of thing in the Enchanted Forest, men don't really-"

She holds up a hand "I am not here for whatever you think men do, Robin. I don't care what you did in the forest, you're not in the forest now, you're in Storybrooke, Maine. I'm not asking you. I am telling you, if you want to be a decent fucking human being, get past your idea that women and vaginas exist for your pleasure only. You need to step the fuck up, or fuck the fuck off!"

Her chest is heaving. His neck is red. She doesn't wait for an answer before she heads back into the house. Henry is standing in the hallway, smile wide and incredulous.

"Oh. Hey" she says

"You want me to get that?"

"What?" she looks down at the hot water bottle she's strangling "Oh yeah, thanks"

She prepares dinner in silence, still stewing over what a jackass Robin is. Henry helps and grins at her periodically. She wonders if she overdid it, but then Robin had left, so maybe she underdid it. Not that she wants him around anyway. Before she realises, pasta with tomato sauce, garlic bread and salad are ready to be served. It's all pretty simple, but she's guessing Regina will want comfort food and this ticks all the boxes. The salad is nominal, of course, more of a gesture, but Regina will appreciate the presence of kale on her dinner table.

"I didn't know you could cook" Regina says, sitting down slowly. She's still in pyjamas, but with a robe over the top.

"Yeah, I just choose not to most of the time. I can make lots of simple stuff"

"You're pretty good at roasting beef" Henry says with a grin

"Really?" Regina asks

"No, Henry's being a smartass" she gives him a pointed look and he laughs

"I'm talking about Robin, mom"

"Oh, that"

"You heard?"

Regina nods and then it goes quiet. Emma stares intently at the single leaf of salad on her plate. Henry's looking between them like he expected more, like he doesn't know what just happened.

"Thank you for the food, Emma, but I'm going to have to be extremely ungracious and excuse myself" Regina says, white faced and struggling to push her chair back from the table.

"You ok?" Emma asks, noticing she hasn't actually touched her food.

Her eyes close and she's hiding the pain she's in again. Emma is up and by her side in a second.

"Upstairs?" She asks, taking Regina's hand. Her eyes open again and they're laced with a vulnerability that's close to fear. She doesn't want Henry to see her like this. They disappear and Regina leans on her when they reappear in her bedroom, swathed in Emma's magic. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, please go back downstairs"

She heads that way, reluctantly "Shout if you need anything"

"I will"

"I mean it"

"Emma"

"I'm going"

She closes the door and heads back downstairs. Henry has stopped eating and looks worried. She slides back into her seat and tears a piece of garlic bread in two.

"She's gonna be ok, kid. People deal with this every day, all over the world."

"Is it always like this?"

"It's different for everyone"

"Is it like this for you?"

"It used to be pretty bad, before I had you, then it chilled out a little. The first day is usually the worst"

Henry nods "That sounds like it sucks a lot. I think what you said to Robin was right. What should I be doing?"

Her heart swells with pride. Regina raised a good boy and he's turning into a good man before both of their eyes.

"Do whatever she needs. She needs tampons, you buy them. She wants Julia Roberts movies, you put them on. She needs a day, or a week in bed, you make sure she knows you're taken care of and so is she. You always come first for her. She tried to come down here to cook for you, you know? Just pay attention and be good to her, that's what she needs from you."

Henry nods "She needs it from you too"

"She's got it from me"

"You know what I mean"

Emma looks back. He's fixed her with a no-bullshit stare that is all Regina. She wonders if he has seen something between them or knows something she doesn't, or if it's just his believer's heart wanting his parents to live happily ever after.

"Yeah I do." she says anyway. There's no point lying to him "Oh another thing, for the love of all that is holy, do not call it 'ladies matters'"

Henry snorts "Or having the painters in?"

"Yeah, it's more like throwing the painters out, and everything the spent they last 3 weeks doing and just fucking trashing the place"

When they are done with dinner, the dishes are washed and the leftovers placed in tupperware. Henry goes to play video games and Emma heads back upstairs. She knocks gently on the door and opens it. It's dark and Regina's in bed again.

"Hey. New hot water bottle?" Emma asks, sitting on the bed. "You can have more painkillers now and there's more raspberry leaf tea brewing downstairs. I don't know if it helps but it can't hurt, right?"

Regina doesn't move and Emma leans down a little. The crack in the door casts as strip of light across the bed. Regina's forehead is shining with a thin layer of sweat, but she's shivering.

"Shit" Emma says quietly. Regina stirs. It seems to take an inordinate amount of effort for her to sit up.

"Not again" She looks absolutely miserable as she shuffles off the bed and wanders stiffly to the bathroom avoiding Emma's eyes.

Emma takes the water bottle and empty cups back downstairs, trying to pretend she can't hear Regina retch in the adjacent room. When she comes back up, the bathroom door is open but Regina's not in bed. She puts the tea down and peeks around the door. Regina is sitting on the bathroom floor, back against the radiator as she brushes her teeth with her eyes closed.

"Hey" Emma says "fresh tea and painkillers"

She holds out a hand and helps Regina to her feet. She remakes the bed and fluffs the pillows while Regina washes her face.

"I think that's it" Regina says, leaning against the doorframe. Emma smiles and gestures for her to come back to bed. "Thank you for doing all this"

She shrugs. Regina sits next to her and starts to apply moisturiser. She looks more like herself than she has all day. Emma checks her watch. It's been 10 hours and finally a break in the clouds. That's a rough day by anyone's standards.

"I mean it" Regina says "I don't know what I would have done without you"

"Henry would have called sooner or later"

Regina watches her, there's something warm but sad in her eyes and Emma can't figure it out. She doesn't know why she can't just accept the compliment. Maybe it's because looking after her is just the decent thing to do and she doesn't feel she deserves kudos for it. Maybe it's because of Robin fucking off like it had nothing to do with him, like it didn't matter that the woman he was supposed to love was in pain. She doesn't deserve a special thank you just because she can't walk away from that.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a distinctive rumbling. Regina's hands fly to her stomach as if to stifle the noise.

"Was that-" Emma begins

"Absolutely not" Regina dismisses

Emma grins widely. "Ok. You think you could handle some food?"

They eat in the kitchen, Regina sitting on the island with her legs crossed and a hot water bottle balanced in her lap. Emma picks at garlic bread and tries her best not to notice that now she's up and functioning again, some of Regina's pyjama buttons have come undone. Not that Emma would know, but her boobs look way bigger than usual. She tries, she really really does but her eyes act of their own accord and she can't always be held responsible for them.

"Miss Swan, this is not the time" Regina says when she catches her looking

"I...uh...I know...I just" she clears her throat "there's cabbage in the fridge if you think that would help"

And she wants to punch herself in the face. Regina is either going to roast her for daring to suggest the indignity of the old cabbage-in-the-bra trick, or for obviously staring at her boobs. She closes her eyes and waits for death.

It never comes. When she opens her eyes Regina is doing that not-smile which isn't in her lips but is in her eyes. Emma only has a moment to be grateful that she's still alive before Regina hops down from the counter. She looks away a second too late and she's going to have to work very hard not to think about that ibounce/i.

"I should probably get going…" she says, looking at the glass cabinet in which she has suddenly become engrossed, when she feels something soft on her cheek. She freezes when she realises it's lips.

"Thank you for today" Regina says and disappears upstairs again.

It isn't until Emma's walking out to her car in a daze that she thinks to ask herself "Does that mean there is a time?"

She looks up at the window that she knows is Regina's. The light is on, but it's way too late to do anything. There's no way she can casually wander back in and ask for clarification on whether there is an appropriate time and place to stare at Regina's boobs.