Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT

Author's Notes: Warnings for blood, child loss/stillborn situation. In case it gets lost in the text: Mal is 43yo and Regina is 36yo.

The prompt from an anon on tumblr was " tattoos just randomly appeared on our skin at key points in our lives and we had to figure out what they meanT for ourselves"

The Mark of Life

Forty three years old. How in the world did she grow to be this old? The wooden brush flew through her silken locks easily as she inspected them for any sign of grey or, if she were lucky, silver strands. She was unsure at that moment if she would pluck them out, dye them when they became too prominent or let it be. She was an easy going person, but having been told she was beautiful her whole life made her wonder if she would lose that with old age. More importantly, she feared she wouldn't like the way she looked any longer, no matter when her splendid partner continually assuaged her fears and kissed her worries away. She would always be beautiful to the younger woman and is was more than a relief to have that in her life when her younger years were filled with such heartache.

Placing the brush on the vanity table in front of her, moments later a pair of strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and a peck was placed on her neck. "Hello, sweetheart," came the alto voice of her partner.

"Regina..." she sighed and relaxed into the touch, moving her head to the side in order to urge her onwards in peppering her neck with kisses. Knowing the blonde so well, Regina happily obliged, but went about the task languidly, relishing each taste of salt on her tongue, the heavier breathing, and the increased pace of her heart when she nipped at her pulse point. When a moan escaped her partner's lips, Regina felt her head being turned into a hungry kiss, tongue seeking entrance to swirl around her own.

Pulling away slightly as both women panted, the brunette chuckled. "You're always easily riled in the morning, Malanie," she murmured, looking at blue orbs through her thick eyelashes.

"You're the morning chickadee, dear. I prefer the evenings and need the extra boost to be up this early," the older woman explained for the millionth time in their marriage before nipping at Regina's lip, pulling it carefully.

"Mal, stop it. We need to get to work. Busy day, remember?" Regina attempted to articulate despite her bottom lip still between those sinful pearly white teeth. Mal sighed dramatically and released her prize, hoping silently it would swell as the day went on and Regina (and her coworkers) would have something to remind her of the woman she belonged with.

Leaning forward more, Regina plucked her rouge lipstick from the vanity and touched up her makeup from their brief make out session, well aware her chest was pressed against Mal's back firmly. Intentionally.

"Have a good day at work, sweetheart," the brunette told her, kissing her lover's lips once more.

"Don't over do it today, Regina," Mal spoke sternly, leveling her with a matching gaze.

–

While Mal had a mostly mundane job in terms of physical activity as the supreme judge of the adjoining states of their great nation, Regina worked in the Creation Hospital as a geneticist and was constantly on her feet running around and attending to patients as her specialty arose and experimental tests. She knew Mal had a busy day of hearing cases today but she always maintained an air of haughtiness that her job was a more stressful and busy one. Which her wife usually allowed her that leeway with a smug grin and a huff of warm air across her face.

Regina shook her head of the thought, knowing now was not the time to dwell on such...fantastic thoughts. Not when she had just finished her month long project and was setting up another experiment, her mind working at lightning speed as she knew next she was needed in the medical ward. A young couple had attempted natural procreation methods and, though not frowned upon in society, it was an unusual decision by most as many things could go wrong during a pregnancy or the child's early developmental years. It was too risky of a situation that few dared to brave.

Which is why Regina was there. To help out as necessary, if she could. Most of the time couples liked to keep to themselves with no medical interference, but some were smart and came to the Creation Hospital for testing and precautionary procedures. However...today was not one of those days. The woman was due to have her child any day now and Regina had suggested she come in early so they could monitor her situation.

Moments before she was about to pour the first substance into a test tube, she was buzzed and urged to the maternity wing as soon as possible. Gritting her teeth at holding off on the test, she covered the liquid and put it in the lockdown fridge before removing her gloves and near sprinting to the maternity wing. Surely this wasn't anything good. Regina had been working at that hospital long enough to know the cadence of everyone's voices so they could speak normally to not alert patients but she could tell when something was wrong, though more often than not she had no clue exactly what it could be.

Upon reaching the section, she slowed her pace and strode to the door in order to catch her breath and be able to talk to the patient. It was easy to tell which room she was requested in as it was widely ajar and a few nurses rushed back and forth from the station to the bedside. Regina swallowed her nerves and walked in the room, the pungent smell of blood assailing her senses. Her chocolate eyes landed on the bedsheets pulled from the bed and placed on the floor at the end of the bed below the stirrups for the expectant mom.

Regina sidestepped the next harried nurse, cleansed her hands and put on a pair of elbow length gloves before moving to stand between the brunette's legs and peeking in to see a thin steady stream of blood escaping her uterus and dripping down to the sheets. She sighed and glanced up at the mother, wondering where—ahh...there was the father, standing in the corner horrified. They were young. Too young to be procreating. These situations never turned out well and though Regina was as hopeful as they came, she had little belief their child would survive.

Careful of the sheet, she knelt down and investigated the situation more thoroughly. From what she could tell from the inside and what she could feel, the child hadn't grown past...perhaps its fifth or sixth month and something was destabilizing its body. Regina withdrew her arms, fully soaked in blood simply due to the proximity. Her eyes were drawn to her inner left arm. It looked like a serpent, head close to her wrist. It must be the mess screwing with her vision. It surprised her sure, but surely nothing to be considered with. Not right now when—

A piercing scream filled the air and Regina jerked back to reality. "I need you to calm down, miss. Listen to the nurses and breath as they tell you. I'm going to attempt to extract the child and will need you to assist in pushing, but only when I say," she explained swiftly and surely, ducking her head again to check on the child's status. There was no way that child was breathing... Regina bit her lip, wincing immediately at the pain she felt, obviously a residual effect from this morning's entanglement with her wife. Her eyes glanced down at her wrist again, surprised to discover the serpent was still there but this time had sprouted wings and seemed to wiggle back and forth on her arm as though trying to get her attention.

"Wha-?" she muttered to herself in awe, one blinding second later a shout from the nurses as the mother wailed and pushed what remained of the child out of her body, landing in a heap on the sheets. Regina closed her eyes to avoid infecting them, but she knew her thirty six year old reflexes weren't that good and she would have to wash her eyes later. Slowly, she looked down at the mass of blood and wispy skin in the sheet. Her heart went out to the couple and she frowned when her eyes locked with a female nurse. A couple of them had already vacated to empty their stomachs, avoid the stench, or weep in privacy away from the now barren parents.

Regina stood from her position, removed her gloves carefully from her body into the hazardous waste bin. As she dabbed at the skin exposed to the blood with a cleaning pad, she noticed the nurse she caught sight up had warily gathered the remains in the sheet and left the room stealthily. "I am sorry for your loss. The child never grew any larger than his or her fifth, maybe sixth month and wasn't breathing when you went into labor. If you do wish to procreate in the future, I would wait several more years and come to us first. Again...I'm so sorry," Regina informed the couple kindly, unable to allow herself to leave without chastising them for wishing a child this young in their lives. If they were desperate, there was always the occasional orphan.

The brunette doctor made her leave of the crying couple, closing the door softly behind her. She rested against the nearby wall and twisted a strand of loose, sweaty hair in her fingers, eyes shut. When a hand rested on her shoulder, Regina smiled and thanked them before moving off to rest in her office briefly. Oh! And wash her eyes.

Once in the havan that was her cozy office, she flipped the switch for the fireplace and moved to the bathroom, soaking a rag in warm water and holding it above her eyes to drip in and cleanse them. The first droplets made it in her eyes and she blinked several moments, but the second drops missed their target as she spotted the winged serpent on her arm wiggling again. No...she was just imagining its existence. She was nearly blind at the moment with water dripping into her eyes and pushing out the blood.

Regina finished cleaning her eyes with a couple of mediated drops and washed her hands for added measure, then exited the bathroom and sought a cup of coffee before sinking into the couch by her fireplace. She sighed and took a sip of coffee, nearly dropping the damn mug when she spotted that-

"What the fuck?" she exclaimed, frustrated that this...thing hadn't gone away. She set the drink down beside her on a table and rubbed at the drawing on her left arm. It hadn't washed away when she cleaned her hands, and it wasn't coming off now... Suddenly she gasped, eyes wide and mouth parted. Nooo...it couldn't be that! She...she was a scientific woman, not an artsy bohemian like her sister. Regina didn't think that left brained people got this opportunity. She gazed at the tattoo with a new fondness, trying to decipher its meaning. According to her ginger haired sister, these things came at particular points in a person's life, so the timing of its appearance and what they were indicated what they referenced.

For all her mettle and prowess as a scientist, she was absolutely uncertain of what her tattoo could mean. Perhaps it was due time to call up her sister for a visit. Despite the circumstances and the previous sad moment in the maternity ward, Regina found herself smiling. It was exciting to have a tattoo she oft heard raved of by her friends in her youth and it was quite a cute winged serpent if she were honest with herself. "I wonder what Mal will think..."

–

Mal was waiting impatiently for Regina in the foyer of their house, trying to not spin on her heel in trepidation. She felt as giddy as a school girl, had nearly called off all afternoon cases and doubled up the next few days, but what was the point when she would have been waiting much longer for her beautiful brunette to return home. She glanced down at her right hand and grinned widely. When the door creaked open and giving her the opportunity to drop her suitcase, Mal rushed forward, pulled her into a hug and spun them on the spot.

"Regina, dear, you'll never guess what happened to me today at work!" she spoke ecstatically. The younger woman's eyes blinked a few times before she cocked her head.

"What?"

"I got a tattoo!" she proclaimed, happily displaying the top of her right hand for Regina's scrutiny. It was a simple delicate flower surrounding a small crown at the center of the bud. The brunette smiled slowly.

"It's beautiful," she admitted serenely before Mal claimed her lips in a passionate kiss.

"I know what it means too," the blonde informed her. Regina's eyes widened and she held up a finger to pause her speaking. Glancing around a moment she led the way to their living room and curled up on the couch, not settling entirely until Mal was with her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders to draw her close.

"I also got a tattoo today too. It was during an unfortunate stillbirth of two young adults. I haven't figured out what it means yet," Regina told her wife cautiously. She wasn't sure how these things work when they happened in pairs. Did they have to decide what they meant together like a puzzle or was it a separate understanding of the mark?

Mal grit her teeth and pondered Regina's revelation. She had known immediately. The moment she caught that crown bud twinkling at her, she sensed what it meant, what she wanted, what she needed. And it soothed her. Both knowing what was going on and thinking about her future. "I think..." she began quietly. "My tattoo is the meaning. And yours is the why. Your day was turned upside down by that unexpected delivery, whereas mine remained the same. Surely, something happened," Mal suggested softly, hoping to get Regina to come to a conclusion on her own.

As the silence droned on, Mal took the chance to look at her wife's tattoo and smiled as she traced it with her right hand, the flower catching Regina's attention as she studied it the way Mal studied hers currently.

"If mine is in reference to your nickname as Judge Dragon Bitch...then yours, a flower encasing a crown...looks of a protective nature but not quite as fierce as the dragon. A softer, elegant protection of something tiny and defenseless," Regina spoke slowly, articulating her words keenly, not wishing to adjust her speech should her brain to mouth processes mess up in talking too swiftly. "I think...I am meant to protect you, or protect...something. And you..." her brows knit together in contemplation.

"I want a child, Regina," Mal blurted, hand gripping Regina's wrist softly. She couldn't wait for the other woman to wait a decade in determining what her lover's tattoo indicated. Regina has figured out her own mark, so why not reveal her own determination? The blonde was too excited to remain silent any longer. She wanted a child so badly, had felt it in her bones for years, that ache to nurture and protect, teach and admire, but it was always a bad time, or the wrong person. And now...the stars had intervened in their lives to grant them their blessing. Was Regina ready?

Regina's face broke from a shocked expression to a soft smile as she nuzzled against Mal's chest and inhaled her sweet scent. "I do too," she told her. Mal's arms tightened their embrace and she placed a kiss on Regina's lovely brunette head, relief washing over her.

It made so much sense now. The pieces fit together perfectly.

Mal the bearer of their little flower princess. And Regina the steadfast dragon guarding their family.