*** I do not own OUaT nor its characters. ***

Chapter 1

"Now you know Mommy has to work. We own this place. How does it look with my own daughter not being able to follow rules?" Snow asked her stubborn little toddler knowing what the response would be already.

Emma crossed her arms and turned her face away from her Mom. She had heard all of this before. Still, she was sure she was right and she wasn't going to apologize. Killian had pulled her pigtail and made oinking noises at her. She had every right to defend herself.

Snow sighed as she took in Emma's defensive stance. She squeezed her eyes tight in frustration. It was only 8 am and her daycare center stayed open until 6pm. She pointed to the chair that sat behind her desk. It was her timeout chair. Emma seemed to spend more time in it than anywhere else. "Off you go," Snow told her tiredly.

Emma stomped over to her little seat. She dropped down heavily in the chair and stared angrily at the wall.

Snow shook her head sadly. She loved her baby girl. She had been told that she would never have children. And then she met her Prince Charming, David. His Mother had slipped her a potion that had allowed her womb to open to receive a baby. Emma was a product of true love. And they made sure she was well aware of that everyday.

She was everything a Mother could ever dream of. Healthy, beautiful, loving, and smart. But Emma had her Father's stubborn nature. She was absolutely sure she was always right and compromise wasn't something she understood well if at all.

And she was the center of her parent's world. Which made her a little on the spoiled and selfish side.

Snow had opened the daycare center partly because she loved children. She had her degree in childcare and development and always knew that they would play a central part in her life. And it also allowed her to spend unlimited amounts of time with her daughter. For her it was the best job ever.

By now, Emma had stopped glaring at the wall which was a sign that her temper was cooling off. She would still have to sit in her time-out chair until she apologized. For now Snow used the quiet time to catch up on much neglected paperwork.

MF

"Come along dears. Mother has a lot of important work to do," Cora gently coaxed her girls from the car.

The girls had never been to a daycare center before. They'd had a nanny their entire lives. But their nanny had been called away on a family emergency. Cora had to scramble to come up with adequate childcare for her two little princesses. The daycare center wasn't her first choice. But this was a small town and the only alternative to in-house care.

She'd continue interviewing prospective nannies. But in the meantime she really couldn't take anymore time off of work. As a busy prosecuting attorney she had a demanding career that she loved almost as much as her family.

Zelena was 5 so she would only be in daycare for afterschool care. But her baby Regina was only 3. There were still so many scary things in the world for such a little girl. And with her being naturally introverted and shy that made introducing her to new things stressful on her and her parents.

Cora frowned as Regina stayed put in her seat with her eyes forward. A sure sign that a tantrum wasn't too far off. She looked over at Zelena, "a little help please?" she asked her quietly.

Zelena sighed. Sometimes she hated being the big sister. She never got babied as much as Regina did. But she stepped up anyway, "Come on Gigi. It's not so bad. I'll be there with you too," she reached her hand out for her sister.

Regina stared at the outstretched hand with tear filled eyes. She looked up at her Mother, "I don't want to go."

Cora sighed, "You're going to have so much fun. There's all kinds of toys and a lot of new little kids to play with. Come along poppet," Cora plucked Regina from her carseat and settled her on her hip. She shut the door and grabbed Zelena's hand. "Come along dear."

Cora's first impression of the place was the brightening glare of way too colorful items all around. But it appeared clean and she had seen children laughing and playing from the outside. She guessed it would suffice for now.

She walked up to the front desk to the short-haired brunette woman. "My name is Cora Mills and these are my daughters, Regina and Zelena. I spoke with someone earlier about care for them."

Snow smiled brightly, "that was me. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Mills," Snow held her hand out.

Cora shook it firmly but briefly, "Nice to meet you."

"Well I have the paperwork ready for you to fill out regarding the children," Snow handed her over a pen and a clipboard along with the papers that needed to be filled out. "Of course if you want to take the tour first I don't mind showing you around."

"I'm sure it's adequate. If I had heard of any problems I wouldn't be here now," Cora took the paperwork and began to fill it out. She worked quickly and had everything finished within minutes.

Snow was a little confused by the woman's manner. She herself would've taken the tour before doing any paperwork that involved leaving her children with strangers. She shook it off and smiled down at the two children who stood by her side. "Hello, my name is Ms Snow. What're your names sweeties?"

"I'm Zelena," the redhead with the piercing clear blue eyes answered. She pointed to her little sister, "And this is Regina. We call her Gigi," Regina moved in closer to her Mother and hid her face in her skirts.

Snow's smile grew wider. She could tell already that these kids were going to be special. She had heard of the Mills family as had everyone in town. They were an extremely prominent family in the small town. The parents ran a successful law firm and were one of the wealthiest families in the town. "Well, it's nice to meet you two. I'm sure you're going to get along really well here."

Cora handed the finished paperwork over to the woman. "Is there anything else?"

Snow was a little taken back by the woman's brusque nature. But she kept her professional mask on. She smiled at the woman, "I'll just take a quick look to make sure we're on the same page and then you're free to go."

Something on the paperwork caught Snow's eye, "Oh. Your baby and mine are the exact same age. Seems they have the same birthday. We must've just missed one another at the hospital," Snow laughed.

Cora gave her a small tight smile, "how charming."

Snow turned to Emma who had already snuck out of her time-out chair and was in the middle of trying to reach for the candy that Snow kept hidden in her drawer, "Emma, come over here and meet your new classmate."

Emma's head whipped up with guilt written clear across her face. She slyly saddled backward away from the drawer and walked over to her Mother.

Snow took her hand, "I'll deal with the rest later young lady," she whispered for only Emma to hear. Then she led her out from behind the desk to stand in front of the new clients. "This is my daughter, Emma. She'll be in class with you," she said to Regina who was still half hidden in her Mother's dress skirts. "And Emma, this is Regina. And her big sister Zelena."

Regina was practically behind her Mother. She had her head buried the other way. Zelena however stepped up and shook the younger girl's hand, "I'm Zelena. That's Gigi," she pointed to her baby sister.

Cora looked down at her baby girl whose hands were tightly gripping her skirt. She pulled her from behind her. She stooped down, "Come on now poppet. We talked about this. Mother has to go to work. And you and ZeeZee go to school. That's your job."

Regina shook her head still clutching for dear life at her Mother's dress. Her tears began to spill over and her voice broke as she cried out, "I don't want to go to work. I want to go back home."

"Shh, babygirl," Cora gathered her close and rubbed her back. "Mother's going to be back after work. And ZeeZee's going to be here after school. I'm not leaving you. I promise you we'll be back here before you know it.

Snow's throat caught as she watched the two. She had thought the woman cold but seeing her with her children showed her in a new light. She brought Emma closer. Her little girl wasn't shy about anything and children responded better to other children. She stooped down beside Cora. "We're going to have so much fun here. And look you have a new friend already," Snow pulled Emma around in front of her.

Regina sniffled and peeked through her long curls at the child standing in front of her.

Emma audibly gasped. "You're beautiful," she exclaimed breathlessly with a lopsided toothy grin.

Cora gave Snow a strange look with a small scowl on her face. Snow merely grinned back at her with the same goofy expression on her face that her daughter wore.

Emma stepped up closer to Regina. She grabbed ahold of her hand and began pulling her toward their classroom chattering along the way. "You're my best friend. We're going to do everything together."

Regina allowed herself to be pulled away with no more fuss. She glanced back at her Mother and sister one last time before Emma pulled her into the room.

There was a brief silence before Cora gathered herself. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you later on today then."

Snow nodded before she turned and squatted next to Zelena. "Our bus will pick you up after school. And then you can come and play with the other kids until your Mommy comes back from work." She turned to Cora, "make sure that you let the school know that she's a student here now. They know us well. They'll make sure she gets to the right place for pickup." She put her hand on Cora's arm, "Don't worry. We'll take good care of them here."

Cora nodded, "Thank you. Now come along Zee. I have to get you to school. We're already late."

Zelena turned and followed her Mother. She waved to Snow before the door shut behind her.

Snow went and took a peek into the girls' classroom. She smiled as she watched Emma showing her around the room and the different toy stations. Regina followed along quietly. She was no longer crying which was a good sign. Snow had thought she was going to have to deal with a major case separation anxiety. Hopefully Emma's overt personality would rub off some on the child. It was pretty obvious she'd been sheltered her entire life.

She was actually glad that Emma had been there to help rescue the situation. As much as Emma tended to make her want to pull her hair out in frustration, there were plenty of moments like these that made Snow's heart melt.

MF

Cora hurried to the daycare after work. She had gotten caught up with work and was almost running late. Which was something she hated at anytime. But with it being the girls first day with a new routine she was even more agitated than she would normally be.

When she got there that insipid woman was dithering away at the front desk again. But her Mother had taught her that manners and impressions were important. She nodded politely at the woman when she walked in.

Snow grinned at Cora. She gave her two thumbs up, "Regina was perfect today. She and my Emma have become the best of friends already."

Cora gave her another tight smile, "I'm sure," she said through clenched teeth. She was definitely going to need a drink once she got home.

"Let me show you to their classrooms," Snow led the way to the backrooms that held the kids classrooms. She poked her head in one and found it empty. She glanced at Cora and gave a little laugh, "they must all be outside." She turned and led the way out to the enclosed playgrounds.

Zelena was the first to spot her Mother. She ran over to her immediately. Cora was happy to see a smile on her daughter's face. "Mother, my friends are here."

Snow nodded, "Most of the kids in this town pass through here at one point or another."

Cora pinched her cheek, "I'm so glad dear." She began looking around for her baby. She spotted Regina sitting on the swings at the same time she spotted her. The little blonde was behind her pushing her as best she could. When Regina saw her Mother she turned to the girl obviously asking to be let down. As soon as the swing was slow enough she jumped off and ran into her Mother's arms. Emma followed close behind.

Regina looked up at her Mother, "can I be finished now?"

Cora smiled down at her babygirl, "for today, yes. But you still have to come back tomorrow."

Regina nodded dutifully. She turned to Emma, "I have to go home now."

Emma nodded. She gave Regina a long kiss on the lips and a hug that lasted quite some time for two little girls. Regina accepted it all without fuss.

Cora frowned down at the two girls. She glanced at Snow, "She's friendly."

Snow smiled back, "Yes she is."

Cora rolled her eyes. She took Zelena's hand and held the other out for Regina, "Come along darling. We have to get home to Papi."

Regina reached for her Mother's hand as she turned toward Emma to give her a wave.

Emma sighed happily as Regina left. Snow stared down at her little girl amazed at the change that had come over her. Hopefully some of Regina's manners would rub off onto her little wild child.

Snow stooped down to her daughter's level, "Did you have fun with your new friend?"

Emma's eyes widened as she shook her head, "Regina's not my friend Mommy. She's my true love. We're going to be together always and forever. Just like you and Daddy."

Snow's eyebrows rose as she kept her smile plastered in place. She knew it was just harmless kid stuff. Yet her daughter's face shone with a determination that belied her years. "Well, it would be nice to have a larger family."

Snow went back to work not thinking anything more about the situation.

But Emma could think of nothing else. She knew tomorrow she'd see her true love again. She began to draw Regina a picture of the two of them and a house that they would live in together so that she could give it to her in the morning. The crude little stick figures wore huge smiles on their faces as they linked hands.

She didn't know how to write yet. But she tried her best to express herself in squiggly lines on the top. In her child's mind it quite clearly said Together always and forever.

She stood back to examine her handiwork. She carefully folded the paper and sealed it with a kiss. Now it was just right.