Chapter 2 The Second Month

She found herself leaning over the toilet and throwing up that morning. She's been feeling off lately and Regina could only hope Cora wouldn't hear her. It's been a month since Cora made herself comfortable in the mansion and she still hadn't left. She wasn't planning to leave and it was driving Regina insane. She had even started getting up in the mornings and leaving the mansion as a show that she was ok and moving on. She hoped it would get Cora to leave, but it didn't work and frankly she was getting sick of avoiding her mother in her own house.

"Regina?" Cora's voice sounded from outside the door of her bathroom and Regina closed her eyes in annoyance. The door opened and Cora saw her daughter hunched over the toilet breathing heavily as she tried not to be sick again. Her hands were shaking and white knuckled as she tightly gripped the porcelain. "Darling, are you ok?" she asked, her voice full of concern as she knelt behind her, her hand on Regina's lower back.

Regina's eyes flew open at the contact. The concern in her mother's voice made her sick to her stomach more than she already was. Her eyes flashed with anger and she tore away from Cora, standing on unsteady legs. Cora stood as well, facing her daughter.

"I'm fine," Regina told her, her voice hostile and Cora shook her head in disbelief.

"You are not fine. You've been sick all week."

"That's right, I forgot you care now," Regina muttered, walking past her without making eye contact. She went into her walk in closet and quickly started to change. She was supposed to meet Henry and the rest of the idiots at the diner for breakfast.

Her stomach rolled with nausea at the thought of food right now. She thought about calling Henry and telling him she couldn't make it, but right now she needed to be with him. She needed to get out of the house and away from her overbearing mother.

"Where ever you're going, it can wait. You should stay here and rest," Cora spoke to her from the other side of her closet door. She was sitting on the foot of the bed when Regina walked out dressed and ready to go. She wore a comfortable pair of slacks with a blue silk blouse. She slipped on her heels and coat and walked out of the room as if Cora hadn't even said a word.

Frustration clouded her eyes and she got up with a huff and stormed after her daughter.

"Regina!" she yelled, meeting her downstairs in the foyer. Regina's hand was on the knob and Cora pushed the door close when she had barely managed to pull it open a crack.

"Henry's waiting," Regina snapped impatiently.

"What do you want from me?" she asked. "I'm trying Regina. I'm here for you. What more do you want?"

Regina finally looked at her, studying her face as if looking for the deception. She found none and it made her even angrier, because she had been waiting for this version of Cora her whole life. Now that she had her, Regina couldn't let down the protective walls around her heart. She couldn't let her in.

Her dark brown eyes suddenly went cold and vicious and she sneered at the woman who had caused her the most pain.

"I want you to leave and never come back," her tone low and dark and it was then when it finally hit Cora that there was no hint of the young woman Regina had once been, at least not in her presence. Regina smiled cruelly, knowing her words had hit their mark. She was out the door in a second, not even sparing her mother another glance as she watched her drive away.


Regina was still fuming by the time she got to the diner. She hoped maybe she had driven Cora away for good. When she stepped inside all thoughts of Cora vanished the moment the smell of food harshly hit her senses. The nausea became worse and she had to take a few deep breaths to keep herself from throwing up again.

She was dizzy and maybe she had gotten food poisoning from this place.

She shakily made her way to the booth where Henry was already seated with Emma, David and Snow. She hoped she didn't look as green as she felt.

"Mom?" Henry's voice sounded, silencing the light chatter among his family as Regina heavily sat beside him. "Are you ok?"

"I… I'm fine… I …" She trailed off when she noticed Snow lightly bouncing Neal in her arms.

That was when it finally hit her. It all made sense now.

"No," she whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at that baby. She couldn't breathe and the room was spinning. She needed air.

This couldn't be happening…

Robin wasn't here…

She stood and Emma was up just as quickly, steadying her with a hand on her forearm. She saw Emma's lips moving but she couldn't make out the words. The room was suddenly too warm and stuffy and she needed air. She needed to breathe, but her lungs didn't seem to be working.

David stood too, his lips moving as well, but she couldn't seem to focus on what they were saying. His hands were out in front of him as if he wanted to catch her if she were to fall.

That's exactly what happened. She passed out and the last thing she remembered was Emma and David breaking her fall and lowering her to the floor. Henry's panicked voice was all she remembered before everything went black.


She woke up in the hospital, beeping monitors and machines assaulting her ears and the bright lights hurting her eyes. She could hear a voice saying her name and then Whale's face suddenly came into focus as he shinned his penlight into her eyes.

"Welcome back your majesty," he said, checking her vitals and when he was sure he was ok he turned away and started wheeling over a monitor towards her.

"What's going on?" she asked, her words slurring. "Where's Henry?"

"He's out in the waiting room with everyone else," he said. "I thought you might like to find this out on your own first."

"Find out what…" she started to say before Whale lifted her shirt and squirted cold gel on her stomach. "What on earth do you think you're doing!" she snapped angrily, pushing his hands away.

"You want to see your baby or not?" he asked in frustration and Regina simply stared at him in shock as she remembered the reason why she had passed out in the first place. She had a panic attack and she was carrying Robin's child.

She couldn't answer and with an exasperated huff Whale moved the sensor over her gel covered belly and pointed at the image on the screen.

"See this?" he asked, outlining a small peanut shaped shadow with his finger. "That's your baby and from the looks of it, you're two months along."

"Two months?" Regina asked, trying to figure out how she didn't notice. She was sick in the mornings. She was dizzy and her cycle was… she never got her cycle. She's been so stressed lately that she had completely missed all the symptoms.

Whale smirked at her shell shocked state. Seeing her this thrown off by the news amused him. He loved seeing her squirm. "Now," he said. "How many copies would you like?"

Those words brought her back to the here and now and the shock on her face all but disappeared and was replaced by a stony expression.

"One and I demand a different doctor."


The moment she was released and made plans on switching doctors as well as an appointment, Regina goes into the waiting room where Henry immediately wraps his arms around her. He was terrified and she hated that she had scared him. Now, she was afraid of what he will think of having a little brother or sister.

"Mom, are you ok? What happened?" he asked when he finally pulled away. She looked into his eyes, not knowing how to tell him she was carrying Robin's baby.

"I'm fine, but we need to talk," she said and then she was suddenly aware of Emma and the Charming's presence. They were standing right behind Henry, their faces full of the same concern.

"You passed out," Emma said. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes," she said, her tone clip as she avoided eye contact.

"And you're discharged already?" Snow asked, confused about what in the hell was going on.

"Yes and I'd like to go home," Regina said, walking towards the door.

"And isn't it protocol to leave the hospital in a wheelchair?" David asked as they followed her passed the reception desk and through the exit.

"You really think I'd leave this place in wheelchair?" she scoffed and David nodded, realizing that Regina must have fought against that rule and intimidated the nurses into letting her leave on foot.

"So what did Whale say?" Emma asked, annoyed at the lack of answers they were getting.

"He said I'm fine," Regina said, stopping at the parking lot and realizing her car was still at the diner. Emma frowned at the answer and grabbed Regina's arm, turning her so that she could face them.

"He didn't say that," she stated. "I know he didn't. Now we just watched you lose consciousness and not to mention the fact that you haven't been yourself since… well since Robin left. You don't have to tell us, but don't pretend there is nothing wrong."

Her walls dropped then and she sighed. She couldn't pretend nothing was wrong when there was a tiny life growing inside her this very moment. She couldn't keep this a secret anyway. They were going to find out. Everyone was except for Robin because he wasn't here and her heart broke just a little more at the thought of him never knowing their child.

"I'm pregnant," she said and was gone in a cloud of purple before she could see their reactions. However, there was one person she wasn't planning on telling right away.

And that person was Cora.


Later that night she was sitting on her bed, staring at the ultrasound Whale printed out. She couldn't help but think back to the time when they had been in her vault and they had…

She would never forget how loved she had felt. How gentle his hands were. How safe he made her feel. She missed him and even if sending him out of town with Marian was the right thing to do, she wished for once things would have turned out better for her.

If Robin was here, he'd been sitting beside her staring at the picture of their baby. She wouldn't be sitting here with so much doubt and apprehension. She wouldn't feel like her heart was breaking and she wouldn't be feeling this deep sense of loneliness. She looked down at her stomach and lifted her shirt. She placed her hand on her still flat belly and she instantly felt a connection. Her heart soared with love and she knew she would do anything for this child just like she would do anything for Henry.

"It's just you and me baby, but I promise you I will try my best to be everything you need. I love you already so much and I know your big brother will too. We'll be ok little one."

She sat there for a long time, staring at the ultrasound photo and thinking and when she heard Cora turning the doorknob she quickly hid the photo under her pillow.

"Could we talk?" she asked and when Regina didn't answer, she went in anyway and sat before her on the edge of the bed. She looked at her daughter, noticing how the stony expression didn't match the tear stained cheeks or red rimmed eyes. She's been crying.

"I know I wasn't there for you, Regina. I was cruel and I pushed you and expected so much. I took everything from you and now with my heart beating in my chest, I know I was wrong. Any kind of life would had been enough as long as you were in it. I love you and I would have loved you back then." She reached out, taking Regina's hand and squeezing it. "I'm trying darling, but you have to meet me half way. You need to let me in. You have to trust me."

Regina swallowed the lump in her throat, guilt for her harsh words heavy on her chest. Cora had been trying and the small moment she just had with her unborn baby made her realize Cora deserved a second chance just like she got one with Henry.

"I'm scared… mama," she whispered, sounding so much like the young girl she had once been.

"I know and that's ok."