It was becoming one of the weirdest weeks of her life. Finding out she had a half-sister with green skin who wanted her to never be born was one thing, but having to watch the man you were developing feelings for reunite with his used-to-be-dead wife was another. Not even the torturous childhood she had had prepared her for this, although she was expecting a new some form of villain to come around the corner of Storybrooke. Maybe some of her naivety from when she was a teenager still remained and that's why she was expecting to get some days to relax and enjoy her free time with her son and getting to know Robin and Roland in a stress free environment. Her mother had to be laughing in hell.
As Regina walked on to the Charming's apartment with Henry by her side for some lunch, she couldn't help but start wondering about the what ifs. What if her mother had never ripped her heart out, could she have loved her then or at least let her make her own live choices? Maybe if her father had had some backbone and stood up to her mother. But as Henry rambled on about video games and how much he had missed her she had to shove those feelings aside because it was those life experiences that got her where she is right now. She may not have found true love or her soulmate may have gotten his second chance with his first love, but at least she hasn't killed anyone in the last 72 hours and had performed light magic, and the proud smile her son wears is enough for now.
"Mom, I was thinking we could have a mother-son weekend full of movies, pizza and board games to catch up" Henry asked just as they rounded the corner to the Charming's and came face to face with none other than Robin and Marian. Regina looked them in the eye, gave them a short nod in greeting and continued walking with Henry by her side. "I'd love to Honey, we have to tell Emma when we arrive".
Robin looked back at her figure with a small pang of pain in his heart. He really thought this was it, but a small sleeve pull from Marian reminded him of his current situation. He really wished he could talk to Regina and ask for some time to continue with their courting, although he supposed they were well pass that stage, but Marian with her delicate health was having panic attacks every time of the day and he couldn't leave her alone. So with a resigned shrug he continued showing Marian around town and where the shops were, so she could have more independence and could let him go on his own little by little. He just wished he could change how things worked out.
"You okay Mom?" Henry asked.
"You know what Henry, I think for the first time in my life I am in fact okay. What Robing and I had was barely a fling, we had just started to go out, and who knows maybe your mother and Hook did me a favour."
"But mom you don't have to pretend to be strong for me, I know you have changed and I'm proud of you, but you can cry and smash things if you want. As long as it's not my video games or the TV…or Emma's car… or Emma's head, or anything related to Emma" He finished with a chuckle. At that moment Regina realized how grown up her son looked. While waiting for Snow to open the door, she gave Henry a kiss on the cheek and a genuine smile while whispering "We are okay".
To say it was an interesting lunch would be lying. With Emma fidgeting every time she grabbed her knife, Hook trying to catch Emma's attention without David glaring at him and Snow fussing over baby Neal, Regina though she was the most normal out of the lot. By the time dessert rolled around Emma had stormed who-knows-where while Hook followed her like a lost puppy, Snow and David were about to start crying right along with baby Neal, or kill each other, and Henry was engrossed in his book.
"Please baby, stop crying or mommy's going to start crying too" Snow mumbled while her eyes filled with tears.
"Did you feed him? " Regina asked.
"Yes, changed his diaper, he had a nap a while back, I really did everything the book said." Snow cried out. "Please help me" She said while handling the fussing baby to Regina. "Let me see what I can do, it's been a while since I held a baby". With a gentle rocking and rubbing, baby Neal stopped crying and focused on the way everything moved around the room while Regina walked him. She eventually sat back on the table and made sparkles fly from her hand to keep baby Neal occupied while she chatted with Snow.
"Have you been sleeping at all?" she asked.
"When?" Snow mumbled from her place at the table. David was doing the dishes to give his wife a rest. "When he's sleeping I have to clean up this mess, and when I'm falling asleep he wakes up hungry, so I have to get up either way since he's still too little and needs to be breastfeed." She was slowly starting to pull her hair in all directions while Regina chuckled at her distress. "Honestly if I knew this affected you so much I would have cursed you with triplets back in the Enchanted forest instead of following you around". Regina retorted.
"That's hilarious but I had nothing to do with that" David yelled from the kitchen. "And I would have hunted you down to babysit them"
Both women laughed while Neal kept on trying to follow the sparkles with his eyes. While neither women was paying much attention to the now quiet baby, he produced a small spark of bright white magic that had them both looking at him.
"You have another child with pure love magic? I thought it was just the first born who would possess it" Regina whispered.
"This is the first time he has done anything like this. I can't have another son running to fight evil forces because of the magic he has" Snow started hyperventilating.
"Snow calm down, maybe he will not develop anymore. It could be like residual magic from the time portal." Just when she said it baby Neal made another burst of light magic that hit Regina in the chest. "Ouch"
"Mom you okay?" Henry said while dropping his book on the sofa and rushing to her side.
"Yeah, weird. I have this warm feeling in my chest" She said. "I think this little prince just put a protection spell of some sort" At which baby Neal started spitting milk. "And now he has undone it. Snow give me a towel or something"
The rest of the afternoon continued in a similar way. With Regina relieving Snow for a couple of hours of baby duty, and finally with Emma and Hook returning with their faces red and holding hands.
"Mom could we get some ice-cream on our way home?" Henry asked Regina.
"Sure, let's hurry before it closes." She said while putting on her coat. They arrived at the ice-cream parlor in no time but there were five orders before theirs. They took a seat while waiting and arguing about which flavor is the best.
Meanwhile at the back of the parlor, a women with a gentle smile and blonde hair stood looking for the perfect time to strike. Her plan had so far worked accordingly. She had managed to turn the Queen's life upside down. First with the downfall of her mother, then the kidnapping of her son to Neverland leaving the town free for her to explore and arrange her last details. That's when the first problem arose, since according to her predictions the Queen's son was never supposed to get out of Neverland, at least not alive. But it proved to be an advantage, since the year back in the Enchanted Forest allowed her to contact Oz and get her hands on one of the last pieces of her puzzle, the Queen's half-sister. According to her readings she wasn't supposed to come for another 5 years, but the future can change if you add a new thread. Yes, Snow White's baby was not supposed to be conceived yet, that's why her plans were rushing now. Either way, with the Savior's trip to the past she got her last card from the deck: the Queen's soulmate ripped from her.
The runes weren't lying to her. Right now the Evil Queen had lost everything she held dear and should be suffering from a broken heart, one of the deadliest syndromes you could ever encounter. The only thing standing between her and her revenge were the two orders placed before the Queen's. Only a few minutes and tomorrow she would be facing a reality worse than death. She knew that killing the Queen would do nothing to placate her anger, so she made her the most vulnerable to cast her masterpiece of a curse. She was once told that evil is made, and according to her readings the Queen had in fact been made evil through her life. So what better than put her in the most powerful sleeping curse relieving every single moment of her childhood that made her bitter and cold. As she watched the Queen take a bite of the enchanted ice-cream, she smiled. Revenge was definitely better served cold.
Henry woke up the next morning, he knew something was wrong when he couldn't smell pancakes or coffee from downstairs. He got up and rushed downstairs. It was empty and it was almost eleven so something definitely was wrong with his mother. He ran upstairs to his mom's bedroom while yelling "Mom". When he opened her door he fell to the floor out of shock. Slowly he approached her bed while grabbing her cellphone and calling Emma.
"Hey kiddo, what's up?" Emma asked.
"Mom" Henry muttered, still unable to form any other word.
"You okay? You don't sound it. Tell me what's going on".
"My mom…she's…."
"Okay Henry I'm coming over, I'm getting in my car as we speaks. Now what's wrong with Regina? Are you safe?" Emma started the ignition and rushed through the streets of Storybrooke. Thank God it was a small town, she was in Regina's street already.
"My mom… my mom is a toddler, Emma" Henry whispered.
"WHAT?!" Emma screamed just before ramming her car on Regina's mailbox. She got off the car and rushed to Regina's bedroom. Henry was sitting on the bed with a small 5 year old girl who looked remarkably like Regina. As the child's eyes turned to Emma, she held her breath waiting for what was coming next. And then Regina started crying.