It's complicated for two mothers to share the guardianship of one son. It's even more complicated when both women are secretly attracted to each other. Oh, and one of them is a magical criminal mastermind, and the other is the one destined to bring her down. AU. Regina changed her mind about giving Emma the poisoned apple. Starts at the end of episode 21, season 1.

The doorbell chimed.

Regina looked up, hurriedly untying her apron. It could only be Ms. Swan. Ordinary mortals did not simply walk up and ring the doorbell. She ran her fingers through her short dark hair, tousling it. Presentation was everything.

The now-familiar sight of long blonde hair and that stupid red leather jacket sent a chill of loathing down Regina's spine.

"We need to talk."

One thing Regina was forced to admire: Swan didn't mess around with extra words.

"Yes, I imagine we do. I was just around to call you. Come right in."

Swan stomped across the threshold of Regina's home like she owned the bloody place.

"Do what you're so skilled at and make yourself at home," she said extraneously.

The blonde looked around the chilly, spacious foyer and expensive furnishings with a critical eye. She really had no shame.

"I believe you came to see me," Regina redirected.

"Right, look . . . this isn't easy." She was breathing rather heavily. "I think that this . . . whatever is between us, needs to end."

Regina raised her eyebrows at the odd phrasing choice. It sounded like Swan was trying to break up with her. How . . . Freudian.

"At last, something we can agree on."

"I wanna make a deal with you about Henry."

Regina smirked. "I'm not making any deals with y-"

"I'm leaving town," she cut in.

"What?"

She couldn't.

Physically she could. The 'savior' could come and go as she pleased.

How could she leave Henry, though? It wasn't adding up.

"This . . . what we're doing is a problem." She sighed. "And I'm gonna go, but I have conditions. I still get to see Henry, I get to visit, and spend time, whatever."

Regina folded her arms. "And you get to see him, you're still in his life."

"Look, in any deal both parties are a little unhappy, but let's be honest. We both know the world where I'm not in his life no longer exists and there's no one who can do anything about that."

The oven timer went off. Regina could indeed do something about that. She smirked at Swan. "Would you mind following me for a moment?" she asked innocently, leading the way to her kitchen.

The delicious smell of poison filled the room and she pulled the pastry out of the oven and set it on the counter.

"So, what are you proposing?" Best to keep her talking.

"I don't know." She placed her hand on the counter in a possessive manner that made Regina grit her teeth. "We'll figure it out as we go."

"But he's my son," Regina confirmed.

Swan looked at her for a long moment, deciding something. "Yeah."

Regina smiled. Swan might have given Henry half her genetic code, but Regina had raised him. She had heard his first words and watched his first steps. She had bandaged every scrape and wiped away every tear. He was her son, and she was his mother.

"Oh, Ms. Swan," she called. Swan came back.

Regina hesitated, holding the plastic container. It would be so convenient to just get rid of her. The curse would be fixed and stronger than ever. Oh, people would wonder if she had been the one to bump off the beloved sheriff, but they couldn't do more than wonder.

But.

Henry would know.

He was a sharp kid. As much as Regina wished he had been kept out of all this magic stuff, he knew now. He would put two and two together as easily as adding the last piece of a puzzle, and then he would be . . .

Regina looked into Swan's blank green eyes. Henry loved her. He had formed an inexplicable attachment to his birth mother, and if he knew that Regina had killed her . . .

He would be gone forever.

She couldn't lose Henry.

There had to be another way, some other way to strengthen the curse. She could figure it out later. For now, she needed to keep Swan close. Keep Swan close, keep Henry happy. That was the equation her family life had become.

"What?"

Swan was still standing in the doorway, looking impatiently at Regina. Regina slid the pastry into a plastic container. She could hide it later.

"Maybe - I don't know. You might not have to leave."

"What?" That was a different kind of 'what' from the first time she asked. Her eyes were round with wonderment.

"My first priority is to keep Henry happy," she explained. "You obviously make Henry happy. He would be devastated if you left."

"Look, I really don't think -"

"Come to dinner later, and we can discuss it with him."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you really going to drag Henry into this custody fight?"

Regina shoved the pastry to the back of the cabinet, where Henry wouldn't find it. "I'm a progressive parent, Ms. Swan."