Regina was at Granny's, staring into nothing. People in the bar were looking at her, probably wondering what she was drinking for. What was happening to the lucky former queen who escaped their grief and even took back her mayor job after everything she'd done in her life? Who even got the love of her life back? Why on earth would she be sad? How dare she feel any sorrow, when she now had everything a woman could want? Well, almost everything. Not that she wasn't thankful; but tonight, she was just depressed.
Her thoughts had led her here, when a hand dropped on her shoulder, and she startled. She rotated in her seat to face Tinker Bell. The green fairy was smiling kindly at her.
"Hello Regina. I was having dinner with Blue earlier and I saw you here alone. Is everything okay?"
The brunette frowned. "What makes you think it isn't?"
"Well, you're looking at this glass like you're gonna either jump in it and drown… or explode it against the wall. Granny just had the wallpaper changed, I think she won't like it if you repaint the room…"
Regina grinned at the fairy's joke, before going back to her glass, deep in contemplation. "Well, maybe you're right."
"What's going on, then?"
She sighed, "It's nothing. I was talking with Robin earlier, and he told me… He told me that he wouldn't force me if I didn't want to. But he'd like us to have children and I don't know how I can tell him that I… That we… That I'm barren. That it can never ever happen."
After a short silence, Tink took the mayor's attention back from admiring her glass again. "So he does want a baby?"
"Yes, that's what I just said." Regina rolled her eyes.
"I know." Tink scoffed. "What I mean is, he wants it… but do you?"
Regina stopped staring at the brown liquid in front of her for a while, and closed her eyes. Visualizing, in her mind young Henry running to meet her after school. Taking his first steps, saying his first words. She was missing that so much... Opening her eyes she looked at the fairy.
"More than anything."
"Then I may have just the solution to your problem."
The brunette looked skeptically at the fairy, but was eager to see what the blonde had planned. She downed the rest of her amber liquid, hoping it would give her courage, for whatever Tink was dragging her into.
A few minutes later, Tink was riding her car outside the town line. The mayor by her side was still resembling a skeptical passenger. "Where is it that you're taking me?
"A place you'll like, trust me. It's called Times Square."
When the fairy finally stopped the car, it was already dark outside.
"And what now?" Regina asked.
"Now we walk."
They walked the street among the thousands of tourists watching, pacing, and talking in every single existing language this world can count. Regina, who never left Storybrooke except to get Robin back, stood amazed by such big skyscrapers, so many lights and sounds. She would have loved to stop for a while to admire the view, but the fairy was walking fast. She ran to catch Tinker Bell, who had stopped in front of a big store reading in big, thick letters 'M&Ms'. Regina frowned.
"I know that. Henry was always asking for some. It's candy, I don't really see how eating chocolate is gonna help me…"
The fairy looked at her like she'd turned crazy. "So you mean you don't see it?
"See w…."
She never finished her sentence. Because, yes, she did see it now. The huge, rainbow-colored store that now stood next to 'M&Ms'. How could she miss it? It was almost twice as large as all the other ones, and so colorful. With its vivid colors it was hard to look at it. The whole building was made of colored glass, permitting people to see through it. Tree branches carried immense fruits, colossal tubes dragged who-knows-what inside, and rivers of what seemed to be chocolate ran at the back of the room.
Above the door hung a sign almost shining in the moonlight, reading 'Bake your Baby'.
Regina frowned. "What kind of joke is that? How can people bake a…
"Come on!"
Without giving her the time to think about it, the fairy took her by the sleeve and dragged her inside. There, Regina forgot about her question. For the first time, she stood speechless. The place was even more impressive on the inside. There was indeed a chocolate cascade, tree branches weighed down by all kinds of exotic and magical fruits. Candies from all around the world about her height tall were alive –alive!
They were working on filling the transparent and apparently never ending tubes with jelly, sugar gum pasta or baby clothes. Baby clothes? She watched more carefully. Viewing, as they added miniature hats, socks and diapers that the big gummi bears were putting in the tube. Unable to talk, the former queen gave her winged friend an astonished look and Tink giggled.
"Oh…I know! Even for someone from a magical world, you didn't expect… that. Did you?"
"How is it…? In the middle of Manhattan… And why is the bear filling the tube with baby clothes? Tink, what the hell are we doing here?"
The fairy grinned
"Isn't it obvious, Regina? We're baking you a baby."
The fairy took her to one of the engines spread around the huge room. Each one was a huge tree whose branches she'd seen through the window. Reluctantly following Tink, Regina panicked and began gazing around, hoping to find a way to get out of the strange factory without vexing her friend. She couldn't find any, feeling trapped as Tinker Bell was about to press the "On" button. The small button laid embedded in the tree's trunk. Regina stopped her, catching her hand to force the fairy to look at her.
"Tink, slow down. What is this place? What are you doing?"
"Okay… right. Perhaps I owe you a few pieces of information. One of my friends, Purple, wasn't happy with the fairy life at the nest. Especially using our powers and pixie dust to only help people one by one. For her, it wasn't enough. We had to do something bigger, something… really magical. She wanted to bring love into this world. So she enrolled a few other fairies and dragged them to open this place in the Enchanted Forest. The shop was transported before the curse by some strange wizard who named himself the Sorcerer's apprentice, sSaying the shop would be needed here one day. And they've been in Times Square ever since. People come here from all other the world. Or, worlds, I should say!"
Regina remained silent, trying to understand what the fairy was saying. The blonde took that as an agreement, and reached out for the button.
"Hey wait! I haven't decided anything yet! And what do you mean, bring love to people? You already helped me to find Robin, I don't need another soulmate."
The fairy's arm dropped back at her sides. "I mean children. Children bring your home joy and love. Children make your life worth fighting for. That's what she was thinking, and probably still thinks today. This place allows people who can't have children to have one."
"Wait. It is selling babies?
"No! The babies you see here are not real children, more like… ideas. They're made of pure magic, if you tried to touch them. You couldn't… your hand would pass through them. "
Regina frowned. "What's the point then? I don't want a baby who's not real, nor one I can't even hold in my arms!"
"You won't don't worry. For now, they're only spirits. But they're here, and they're choosing you. If you talk to them, they'll listen and maybe answer. Well, not with words of course, they're babies but they're still choosing you and then…"
"Tink… stop. It doesn't matter anyway. This was a bad idea. Take me back to Storybrooke.
"Oh come on Regina… please! I always wanted to try this with one of the people I'm helping. Ever since Purple told me about her plans!
"You'll find someone else."
Tinker Bell looked at her in the eyes. "You do remember what happened last time you didn't listen to me, don't you?" Regina sighed. "Come on, Regina, try! Trust me, I swear you'll thank me later. Well, except when the baby will wake you in the middle of the night. But that's all part of the game, isn't it?"
Regina took her time to answer. Looking around and noticing some of the branches working like conveyor belts, bringing children to the people standing in front of it. On the nearest tree was now sitting a healthy little boy, dark skinned, ravened haired and laughing with who appeared to be his new mom, since he looked just like her. The woman was smiling at him with such an amazed expression, the same she once shared when she saw Henry for the first time. She looked so… happy. Regina turned back to her blonde friend, noticing the falsely innocent smile on her lips. She sighed again.
"Fine, let's say I trust you. What do I have to do?
"You just have to press the green button here"
The fairy translated words into actions and two huge blue eyes opened in the middle of the trunk, with a metallic voice coming out. "Welcome to "Bake your baby", we're glad to have you here. I'm Julia, your tree baby maker. I'll help you for this important step you're taking. But first, please let me scan you."
Without providing her any time to answer, a green light shot out of the tree, scanning her hair, eyes, teeth, whole body in only a few seconds.
"Fine. Our scan checked your reports, memories and social situation and says you're qualified for parenting. I also scanned your face for the resemblance." Julia said. "Now I'll ask you to think very hard of the father, so I can scan his face too. It will only take a few seconds." So she did, and the green light appeared again, focusing this time on her head. "Thank you" said again Julia after a while.
The wood in the center of the trunk disappeared, leaving sight of a silhouette about one-year-old. Regina's heart raced faster.
"There is the silhouette of your future child. I already picked a few characteristics according to both of your faces and silhouettes, such as the shape of the chin and cheeks, but feel free to tell me if anything displease you. I sensed you had magic during my scan. Would you mind participating in the making?
"No, of course not."
Her palms radiated and purple magic surrounded the already green-lighted tree.
In it, the baby's silhouette rose on its feet. It was too far for her to be able to see it clearly, but she still felt something strange happening in her chest.
"First step. Boy or girl?
"I don't care, I'll take him the way he is.
"He? Fine, a boy then.
"What? No, but…
"You'd prefer a girl?
"No, no, I don't care. Boy is fine.
"Perfect. A boy then. The eyes, now. I can suggest you blueberry, or caramel. Or, according to yours, I have chocolate of course. Take the one you want and make it come to me."
As she was talking, the ingredients she was talking about were falling from the branches around her. Regina slowly grabbed the blueberry with her magic's invisible hands. It fell like a leaf in autumn on the little silhouette, whose closed eyes opened, their light blue even visible from where she was.
"For the hair, I have chocolate or caramel. Unless you prefer cinnamon? And for the mouth, I suggest strawberry. It's very nice."
For more time than she could count, Regina used her magic combined to the tree's for the child to take form. Finally, her hand dropped back by her sides, while the wooden conveyor belt was bringing the baby closer.
"Oh… I'm sorry. It looks like I have made a mistake. I must have used the wrong command…" Julia's voice said, sounding sorry even through the metallic accents.
Julia had indeed made an error, but it was a beautiful inaccuracy that took the brunette's breath away. In front of Regina, stood the most beautiful baby girl she'd ever seen, looking at her with Robin's big blue eyes. Regina felt a tear rolling down her cheeks, and smiled. "It's fine. She's… She's beautiful." Laughing through her tears, she kept looking at the baby for a while, before frowning and turning to the fairy.
"Wait. I was so excited I didn't even think to ask. I know magic always come with a price. Magic like that one…"
Tinker Bell smiled at her. "You were used to dark magic. This is light magic. The price is always the same. Give her love, give the people around you love and happiness. Keep following the right path the way you're doing, and you won't owe us anything. Now stop worrying, look, she wants you!"
Indeed, the little girl was starting to whine a little. Regina turned back to smile at her and the baby smiled back. She hid her eyes behind her hands. "Who's there?" The baby started laughing as if it was the funniest joke she'd ever heard, and Regina found herself laughing too. Listening to the melody of the baby –her daughter-'s laugh, getting louder and louder, until…
It turned into the annoying buzzing of Robin's phone ringing. She was back in her bed, next to Robin who was still rubbing his eyes. She huffed while he was taking his time to turn it off, and laid back under the blanket. What a strange dream…. She almost believed it. She turned to Robin to tell him about it, but her stomach refused and she ran to the bathroom as fast as she could.
When she was done, she sank against the bathroom's wall, still dizzy. She probably had a cold. She noticed a white box on the sink, and reached for it; even sick, she just couldn't help it. She really hated clutter... She looked at the box she'd just grabbed. A pregnancy test? She was remembering Kathryn buying two in order to be sure, when she'd thought she was pregnant with David. SHe'd come over at Regina's to do it, and left the second test here when the first came back negative. Then she recalled leaving the other where it was and taking her friend back to her home, but she thought she'd thrown it away as soon as she came home, not wanting another reminder that she was barren. So how could it still be here? Did Robin bought another for her? Or…
A few minutes later, not seeing her coming back, Robin walked into the bathroom. "Regina, are you okay?"
He found her sitting against the wall, her face hidden by her hair, her shoulders shaken by strong hiccups. Worried, he came to her, and straightened her head. She was smiling, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks as she couldn't help staring at the little blue cross in her hand.
"Robin, look, I… I'm pregnant."
A huge thanks to AvidVillains95, who Beta-read this OS!