Lies and Families
by ReginaIsMyMajesty

Disclaimer: OUAT and these characters do not belong to me.

AN1: Contains spoilers for OUAT Season 7, Episode 2 'A Pirate's Life'. Do not read if you do not want to be spoiled.

AN2: Like I said in my other story. This episode gave me ALL the plot bunnies! I have taken liberties with Emma's storyline. Also, "other Hook" does not exist in this story. Hook is acting shady because he has a secret, not because he's not...him.

Unbeta'd. All mistakes are mine.

The door to the cabin opened and Regina looked up from where she was sitting. She was shocked to see the blonde savior stride through the door. "Emma! What are you doing here?" She smiled in spite of herself.

"I just couldn't stay away. You know how it is, Regina. I miss him so much! I couldn't pass up the chance to see him..." she said with her own grin as she settled on the chair that Henry had so recently occupied.

Regina smile turned gentle and she reached across the table to squeeze Emma's hand. "I know," she said softly. She took a deep breath, looking around. "Where are Henry and Hook?"

Emma's expression clouded. "Henry said he was going for a walk. He needed to clear his head. I don't know where Killian went." Her brow furrowed worriedly. "He said he needed to clear his head too and then he walked off. I don't know what I did. That isn't like him..." Her questioning eyes landed on Regina, almost like she was pleading with her for some kind of explanation.

Under the table, Regina's other hand clenched into a fist. That damned pirate. He was always finding small ways to hurt Emma, to make her feel unsure about herself. "I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with you, dear. He's been acting oddly since he got here, and it's only gotten worse since he came back from the docks and trying to find Cinderella." She patted the hand she was still holding and then released it.

"I thought Ashley was Cinderella?" Emma felt a pang when Regina let go of her hand, but she tried to ignore it.

"She is, in our realm. Apparently, this realm's version is named Jacinda, and Jacinda has captured our son's heart and run away with it, leaving only her glass slipper behind," she said with a hint of a smile.

Emma's eyes went wide, her own smile blooming on her face. "Henry's in love?"

"So it seems." Regina took a deep breath and blew it out, her eyes wide, almost not believing that their little boy was so grown up.

"Is that why he needed to clear his head?"

Regina nodded, her expression going solemn. "When Hook came back, he brought a note with him. Supposedly he talked to this girl and she wrote Henry a letter and whatever was in it wasn't good. After he read it, Henry balled it up and threw it into the fire. He was...upset, called this trip a failure, and I knew, by extension, he meant himself. I tried to tell him he wasn't and..." her eyes narrowed, "Hook just said, 'Well...'" she said, imitating him.

"What? Killian would never..."

"Emma, you said yourself that his actions just now weren't like him. Something is off..."

"He left right after I told Henry I'm trying to get pregnant and talked about raising our baby. He...Hook, I mean, seemed...upset. He's been so excited, even pushy, this whole time, I don't know what's changed..."

"I thought you didn't want Henry to know about the new little family you're trying to start," Regina sneered, unable to hold back her bitterness at the thought of the blonde excluding their son from her new family.

"What? Regina, what are you talking about? You know I would never..."

"Well, your husband told our son that you were back in Storybrooke fighting 'tiny, irritating dragons'. And when I asked him about why he lied, he said it was what you wanted. He said you didn't want Henry to come home, you wanted to 'let him get on with his life'." The brunette raised a challenging eyebrow. "He told me I have to respect your wishes."

"That...that's not true..." Emma protested. "I-I told him not to tell Henry if it would distract him and put him in danger... I wanted to tell him myself, but I never told him I didn't want Henry to know..."

"You may want to talk to your pirate about that, then. He seemed to be under a different impression." Regina was getting more and more agitated thinking about Hook's actions. She knew if she stayed, she wouldn't be able to hold in her opinion of him, no matter how good she had gotten at it over the years. But she knew Emma didn't need that right now, so she excused herself. "I better go see if I can find Henry." She quickly stood and strode from the cabin, leaving Emma alone with her thoughts.

Hours later, Hook finally wandered back to the clearing. Regina and Henry had been back for a while and were safely ensconced in the cabin making dinner, but Emma was waiting outside to meet her husband, having stewed over his behavior and Regina's report of their conversation before she arrived.

"What the hell, Killian!"

"What?"

"Well, for one, where the hell have you been?"

"I told you, I needed to clear my head," he growled.

"Because I told *Henry* about trying to have a baby?"

"Emma..." his voice held a warning tone.

"You told Regina that I asked you to lie to him?" At his silence, she continued. "She said you lied to him when he asked you where I was, and then when she asked you why, you told her it was what I wanted. You said I didn't want Henry to know about us trying..."

"I..." He couldn't meet her eyes.

"Tell me the truth, Killian." She pinned him with a hard stare.

"I wanted a new start, alright?! I thought if I told him, he might come back and I... I wanted *us* to be a family. You, me, and our little-one-to-be. I mean, it's bad enough that Regina is always around. If Henry came back, our family would always have to include them and I'm tired of sharing you!"

Throughout his outburst, Emma's eyes got progressively wider, the look on her face one of horror and outrage. "What?!" she finally exclaimed.

"Look, love, that's not what I meant. I just... I just love you so much that I want my own family with you. I know Henry is your son, but...he's not mine. He's a wonderful lad, but...he's not *my* son."

"So you don't want him to be part of your family?" she asked him incredulously. "That's why you wanted me to stay behind? You didn't want me to 'not put my body under stress'! You just didn't want me to be here so I couldn't tell him in case he wanted to come back with us!"

"Don't misunderstand me. I enjoy his company. I do! It's just...*this* child would be *ours*. I want you to be able to focus on *our* baby. You and Regina spend so much time together... I assume you spend it talking about Henry..."

"Sometimes. I mean, of course we do. He's our *son*."

"And that's another thing! You always refer to him as 'ours' meaning yours and hers."

"That's because he is! She's as much his mother as I am, if not more! She raised him!"

"But... It just makes it sound..." he trailed off, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Sound...?" she prompted, when all of a sudden it hit her. "Oh my God! You're jealous! You're jealous of Regina, you're jealous that we share a son! Killian, Henry will *always* be my son, no matter what realm he's in, and Regina will always his other mother!"

"I know that! I know! I just... Why does it have to be her?"

"I don't know. Fate? Destiny? Chance? I don't know." Emma shook her head and shrugged. "But I wouldn't change it for anything. Regina has come so far. I love spending time with her. She makes me happy. And I think I make her happy too."

"Listen to yourself! *I* should be the one making you happy! Not her! She's always been there in the background, lurking, waiting to take you away from me! She needs to find her own happiness-happiness that doesn't involve you!"

"What the hell are you talking about?! She's not trying to take me away from you! She's been supportive, even when she hasn't agreed with my decisions. She's never once tried to change me!" A niggling feeling was beginning in the back of Emma's mind. "She accepts me for who I am. She always has. Even when she tried to kill me, even when she hated me, she never treated me like someone I wasn't..."

"And you're saying I have?" Hook asked quietly.

Emma shrugged. "There have been times when I've felt like all you've wanted to do was change me."

The pirate shook his head. "Then why are you with me?" He looked into her eyes. "Why did you marry me?"

Emma's expression was forlorn as her eyes dropped from his face to stare at something unknown. "I... I was scared," she said quietly, almost to herself. "I was afraid to go after what I really wanted. And I felt guilty... Everyone told me you were my true love. I didn't want to disappoint them..."

He looked crushed. "Did you ever love me?"

"Of course I did. I do care about you, Killian... I love you, but..."

"But you're in love with her..." he finished.

She hung her head in shame, but nodded, tears slipping down her face.

He took a deep breath, pulling himself up to his full height and lifting his chin. "I think I always knew. I-I had hoped that maybe us having a baby would change your mind, would bind you to me the way you're bound to her. But every time we talked about raising our child, you would bring her up, say we should go to her with advice since she's already had experience raising one of your children. You said it like you were joking, but I could see the longing in your eyes, the desire to have a child, to actually raise a child *with* her. I suppose it's a good thing that you haven't gotten pregnant yet..."

"Killian..."

"It's alright, love. I understand. I shouldn't have tried to interfere. It was foolish of me to lie to Regina, and to Henry. You're right, they're your family. But remember, you're the one who's been living a lie for years. It's time to tell the truth, Emma. You should talk to her. I won't stand in your way."

At that moment, the cabin door opened, and Regina peered out from the doorway trying to gauge if she was interrupting something. "Dinner is ready if you two are hungry," she said cautiously.

Hook shifted his attention to her and nodded. He started toward the cabin, but Emma remained with her back to the building and to Regina. He gently gripped her shoulder with his hand as he passed her. "Tell her," he whispered so only she could hear. "She loves you, too."

Regina sent him a questioning gaze as he approached her, her eyes darting to Emma's back.

"I think she has something she needs to say to you," he said as he brushed past her. "Take care of her," he added quietly over his shoulder and shut the door behind him.

She looked back at the door, confused, before turning to face Emma once again. The blonde was still facing away from her and she slowly made her way over, gently resting her hand on Emma's shoulder from behind. "Emma?"

Emma turned, catching Regina's hand in hers and staring deeply into her eyes. "We need to talk."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

AN3: I agonized over whether or not to change it, but ultimately, I decided to change the storyline to them just trying to have a baby because I felt like it would make things way more complicated if Emma was already pregnant.

I have some ideas to continue this, but as of right now, I'm marking it as complete. If my stories aren't totally mapped out, I tend to write myself into a corner and I never finish them.

Let me know what you think!