I don't own these characters. Disney does.
2: Plausible Deniability
"You okay?" Emma asked after unknown amount of minutes, cutting through the thick silence that somehow buzzed off the white walls. She held Regina tightly against her as the mayor cried into her hands. They were in the private bathroom in the mayor's office. Regina finally stopped crying, but she had made no motion to move.
"This isn't possible," Regina said, her voice low and scratchy. Her voice seemed to vibrate through the small space, rattling in Emma's bones. Nervous, sorrowful energy pulsed through Emma and she lost focus for a long moment.
"So you keep saying, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Is it because you haven't been with anyone?" Emma inquired. The only person who dared touch Regina had been Robin Hood, but she felt certain that relationship had not been strong enough for Regina to sleep with him. Or, so she hoped anyway. Maybe this is some magic thing I don't get.
Regina sighed. "It's just not possible."
Well, that was not the denial Emma had been hoping for or the magic excuse Emma would have liked. "Okay, all joking aside, we both know how the human body works and everything. If you slept with Robin, did you use protection?"
Regina shoved her away and glared at her as if she had done something wrong. "That's none of your business, Miss Swan!"
Emma winced and her heart clenched in her chest. "Oh, so we're back to that, huh?"
Regina let loose a long breath and massaged her temples. "Emma…"
"It's his, isn't it?" Emma tried to hold it together as it felt like her chest collapsed in and her ribs stabbed every vital organ they were sworn to protect.
Regina shook her head, a scowl on her lips. "This isn't possible."
"So you keep saying. Tell me, how is it impossible? You slept with him, right? It isn't some magic trick, is it?"
"It would be a very poor trick if it was. This isn't possible, though."
"Why?" Emma really needed an explanation. It would be a good excuse to go drink later on. She needed something to stop the pain in her chest.
Regina shook her head. "I took a potion back in the Enchanted Forest. It stopped my ability to carry a child, not that my body seemed willing to do such before the potion. The point is that I shouldn't be able to get pregnant."
"Well, you were trapped in a land without magic for twenty-eight years. Maybe the Curse voided the potion," Emma said. Why the hell does that even sound logical to me? It's not the hope of a crazy person, but something screwy that could actually happen around this place.
"It shouldn't work that way. Even without magic, I was still able to control people with their hearts. The potion should have stood. Beyond that, I was far from a nun during the Curse yet managed to go some twenty-eight years without a pregnancy. How could this happen?"
Emma inhaled sharply. "Maybe some… soul mate magic or something?"
Regina just made a noise deep in her throat. It was another sound that resonated off the walls and cut into Emma's marrow. If soul mates were anything like True Love, then it was powerful magic. It should have been able to break through the potion Regina took, as far as Emma understood magic anyway.
"I think we both know Robin was far from my soul mate at this point," Regina replied. She did not sound bitter or upset over it.
Emma rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, it has to be something. You're pregnant, after all."
"Those tests…" Regina made a sour face. "They're not a doctor."
"No, they're not. You wanna go see Whale?" The news would be all the way around town before they left his office. That bastard has never heard of confidentiality. And even if he had, his staff would not respect that when it came to Regina.
Regina shot her a wide eyed look questioning her sanity, which might be valid. Whatever sanity Emma might have had left felt like it was oozing out of her ear. She might have to watch for a puddle by the time they made it out of the bathroom. Do I even have enough sanity left to cause a puddle?
"Whale? You think I would trust Whale with something like this?" Regina asked.
"Well, is your royal physical around here or something?" Emma asked. There were thousands of people in Storybrooke she had yet to meet. Maybe one of those was Regina's doctor.
"As a matter of fact, yes, I do have a doctor who is not Whale. I'll go to her office and put this nonsense to rest."
Emma nodded. "You want me to come?"
Regina just glared at her, but just underneath that, Emma could see the worry in those russet eyes, could feel the terror radiating from Regina. There was a plea for Emma to be there. Emma would be there every step of the way. So, yeah, I'll be wading through a pool of my sanity by the time I get out of this freaking tomb. She would bury her sanity in the mayor's bathroom. Somehow, it made sense to her.
"You're not alone in this, okay?" Emma reached out and took Regina's hand. She held it tight and stared Regina right in the eye. "I'm here."
"Thank you," Regina whispered. Emma's chest hurt just a little less. How many people had Regina thanked in life?
-8-8-8-8-
Emma returned to work with her mind reeling and her nerves jumping. Regina was pregnant. Regina was going to make an appointment to see her doctor and they would go. They, as in she and Regina. Regina was pregnant with Robin Hood's baby. Robin Hood, who had gone back to his wife Marian, who Emma brought back from the past to keep her from being executed by Regina. There was a headache in the making if she thought too much on the whole matter. Alcohol was so in her immediate future that she wanted to just walk to the nearest bar and make it happen already.
"Where you been?" David asked as Emma made her way to her desk.
"Something came up," Emma replied. I should start keeping whiskey in my desk drawer. People do that, right? She had a feeling the people who did that were not the law of their small town, though. She also suspected those people had drinking problems, which she could also see in her future if she was not careful.
"You and Regina handled it, didn't you?" he asked with a lopsided grin.
Emma flinched, but managed to keep it from being too over the top. "We're that predictable, huh?"
"When she's done with being mayor, she might as well just be your deputy. Of course, then you'll fire me and Mulan, which wouldn't be cool," he replied. Mulan came over in the Second Curse and was only a part-time deputy, but she came in handy when they needed help when Regina felt the threat was beneath her.
Emma laughed. "I'd never fire you, Dad. Regina would."
David snickered. "With actual fire."
"And a demented grin."
"Definitely."
Emma felt a little better and turned her attention to the scattered paperwork on her desk. She worked through the rest of the day and was surprised nothing stranger than what happened at lunch came up. But, then again, Regina being pregnant was pretty epic. What's the plan now? Are we going to leave town to see a doctor? Is there a doctor in town Regina trusts?
Emma thought Whale was the best of the best as far as doctors went in town, but now she figured he was just who everyone was used to going to. And, why would Regina leave Whale as the best doctor in town? Regina hated Whale.
"Emma, you okay over there?" David called from by his desk. He was up with his coat in his hand.
"Yeah, fine. Why?"
He waved his coat her. "It's time for patrol and you're just sort of staring at the wall."
Emma yelped. "Oh, sorry." Damn, I hope we don't run into anything really serious or I might be in trouble. My head is a million miles from here. She grabbed her coat and her hat.
David tilted his head a little as he studied her and gave her a small smile. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, fine. I just have to figure out how to approach a parenting thing with Regina. You know she likes to shoot me down without really hearing me out," Emma said. She winced as the cold air outside hit them and they made their way to the patrol car. She made a beeline for the driver's seat.
David shrugged, but his brow wrinkled as if he knew that did not sound right. Emma and Regina had been doing pretty good at the team parenting since Regina got over the whole "brought Robin's dead wife back from the past" thing. Emma decided against saying anything, hoping silence and work would let the subject drop. It turned out that was the right thing to do. Soon, normal conversation picked up.
"So, I've been trying to talk your mother into going back to work soon," David said.
"She just had a baby," Emma pointed out.
"Okay, not right now soon, but maybe in a year soon. What do you think?"
Emma shook her head. "I think you should revisit that conversation far along down the line. I'm sure she took as to wanting her to go back to work right away."
"I guess. I just don't want her to let Neal become her whole world. We both keep making the same mistakes."
Emma glanced at him, but made sure to keep her attention on the road. "Is this about me?"
David sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I don't want… I just don't want you to feel left out or forgotten ever again."
Emma nodded. She and her parents had spoken about that topic during the quiet few weeks they had when Gold had been banished from town. There were a lot of tears on all of their parts, but she was certain they came out stronger for it. She definitely felt like a little piece of her was repaired, even though she believed she would have doubts and fears for a long time to come.
"I'm fine. Let Mom stay home with the kid while she can. She's happy, right? And there's still two incomes in the house thanks to me and you," Emma pointed out. She and her father could support them for a while.
"Yeah, but you have Henry to think about, too," David countered.
Emma nodded. "Yeah, but he also has Regina, so it should be okay." But, then again, soon Regina is going to be supporting another one. What then?
Eventually, she and David split up patrolling. They liked to do an initial ride together, but then for the rest of the patrol time, they had separate cruisers. David liked to joke it was the only time he ever got to drive while at work.
While Emma was out, Regina texted her to pick up Henry. She had no doubt Regina was still trying to process being pregnant. Emma could not imagine what it had to be like to do something to her body and then have that something totally undone without her knowledge. How the hell did it get undone in the first place? Regina did not even have an answer for that one and Emma knew her imagination would rage and burn if she tried to figure it out. What if someone had used magic against Regina?
She stopped thinking about Regina, knowing she would zone out for the whole day if she allowed the news to plague her mind. She focused on patrolling, which was boring. The most she had to do was chase some Lost Boys, who seemed to think tagging public property was fun.
Eventually, Emma picked Henry up from school and drove him home. He did not question it and filled the ride talking about his day rather than asking questions about his mom. Emma was a little happy about that, not sure what she would tell him, if she should tell him anyway. Regina was already home, sitting on the couch. There was a drink on the coffee table and Emma hoped to hell it was not alcoholic.
"Mom," Henry let out a surprise squeak. His voice was changing and had a mind of its own in terms of pitch.
"Regina, shouldn't you still be at your office?" Emma asked.
Regina shook her head, a small frown marring her face. "I needed a little time to think and lost track of time." She turned to Henry. "Please, go do your homework."
He did not need to be told twice. Emma went over to Regina while Henry disappeared upstairs. She sat down next to Regina.
"Doesn't he usually do his homework down here?" Emma asked.
"I'm sure he knows I just want to talk to you," Regina replied.
Emma nodded. "So, what's up?"
"I made an appointment for tomorrow."
"With a doctor?"
Regina's brow wrinkled. "Yes, with a doctor. Who else would I make an appointment with? It's not as if I need my tires checked."
Emma held up her hands in surrender, knowing she had earned that. "It was obvious. It was obvious. Is your doctor in town?"
"Yes, she is. You said I'm not alone in this."
"I'll be there, Regina."
Regina sat up a little straighter. "Yes, then we can put this nonsense to bed."
Emma tilted her head a little. "You okay with this?" She nodded toward the glass.
"It's apple juice."
Emma breathed a sigh of relief, which earned her an arched eyebrow from Regina. Emma did not bother to address the sound. "I don't mean just that. I mean, if you are, it means something happened here and you have no idea what it was."
Regina shook her head. "I'll study when I get a moment. I'm sure there's an answer in my books somewhere. You know I've been trying to recall the exact potion I took, but it escapes me. It seems like it's important. I should know the exact potion, so I can determine on my own why this could happen, but I can't recall." Her eyes searched the floor, as if it held the answers she sought.
Emma took a deep breath and then reached out, putting her hand on Regina's knee. "It'll be all right."
Regina sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I'm sure this is just a mistake. I can't see how it would be anything more than a mistake." Her eyes told the truth, though. She was worried and maybe even a little frightened. Someone or something had gotten past her and Regina did not know how to handle it beyond pretending it did not bother her.
"It's possible." Anything was possible, after all, especially since there was magic all over the town. "I don't get why you would take that potion, though. I mean, you adopted Henry. Why wouldn't you want to have your own kids?" Emma asked.
Regina gave her a deadpan look. "You've met my mother."
Emma's forehead wrinkled. Okay, so she was trying to protect a kid from her mother, which I guess makes sense. Or does she mean she didn't want to become her mother? Nah. If that was the case, she wouldn't have adopted Henry. "Well, what about after, though? Didn't you think she was dead at a point? You could've reversed it."
Regina shook her head. "By then, I had one goal in life—the complete and utter destruction of Snow White. Nothing else mattered. I thought that would make me happy." Brown eyes drifted to the stairs. "I was so very wrong."
"No need to dwell in the past." Emma knew the past led to madness.
"I know. Anyway, the appointment is at twelve fifteen. I'll pick you up at noon."
Emma nodded. "You're going to go back to work?" Technically, Regina still had two hours of work left, just like Emma.
Regina glanced at the stairs again. "No, I don't think I will, but your shift is not over, Sheriff."
"Says the mayor playing hooky."
Regina snickered a bit, but her eyes looked haunted. Emma gave her knee a little squeeze, hoping it would lift Regina's spirits. It did not seem to do anything, but Emma knew from experience being there for Regina meant plenty. Regina was so used to going it alone and Emma wanted to be there for her because no one should have to do this alone.
-8-8-8-8-
Regina pulled up to the Sheriff's station at twelve noon and marched in like a woman on a mission. Emma had a chocolate frosted donut hanging from her mouth when Regina pinned her with a rigid look. She made sure not to lose the donut and not to choke as she flashed Regina an apology smile. Regina folded her arms across her chest and seemed so tense that she might have been frozen in place.
"I do believe we have some place to be and you should be eating better than that for lunch," Regina reprimanded her.
"Why you don't scold him, too?" Emma motioned to her father, who had half of a donut shoved in his gob. He made a noise in the back of his throat when Regina turned to him. He shot Emma a look and she glanced away, wanting no part of whatever was about to go down between her father and Regina.
Regina sneered at David. "You should be setting a better example for your child and perhaps straighten out your diet, so both of you can live to old age."
David's eyes went wide. Regina turned to leave before he got a chance to respond. Emma chuckled and he glared at her. Emma shrugged and made sure to devour her donut in two bites while grabbing her coat before chasing after Regina. They got into Regina's car and were on their way.
"So, who's your doctor? Are there any more fairy tale or Disney characters I haven't bumped into yet?" Emma scratched her chin as she tried to think of who might be left. "What about Tod from The Fox and The Hound? That movie always makes me sad."
Regina regarded her as if she had three heads. "Do you honestly think I'd allow a cartoon fox to examine me?"
Emma swallowed down a comment about Regina allowing a cartoon fox doing a lot more than examining her. She'd probably throw my ass out of the car if I said that. "No, probably not. Well, what about Pocahontas? Haven't seen her yet."
"Possibly because she was an actual person from this realm."
Emma nodded. "And so was Mulan, but here she is." Regina blinked and glanced at Emma. "You look shocked that I know that."
Regina nodded. "I am a little shocked that you know that."
Snorting, Emma rolled her eyes. "You're hating on my prison GED? Anyway, who's left?"
"You do realize not everyone in the Enchanted Forest was a fairy tale or Disney character, yes? There were a few who got their lives misinterpreted into stories here, but there were thousands of people there and thousands more in surrounding territories and countries," Regina pointed out.
"She's a fairy tale character, isn't she?" Emma smiled a little.
Regina groaned. "Must you be this way with me?"
"I get to let my hair down with you, especially when you're not really upset with me. I'll guess if you want me to, even though that's more Henry's department. Maybe I should just call him and ask him. I mean, it's not like you let Whale be his primary care physician, right?"
Regina looked at her as if she were insane. "Do you honestly think I would let that quack Whale within a mile of our son? Even under the Curse, I would only go to him if I needed someone right away, which was not very often."
"So, is your doctor, like, Meg from Hercules or something?"
Regina gave her a deadpan look. "If you're not going to take this seriously, there's no need for you to come."
"I'll be good. I'm just trying to use humor to loosen you up some." Emma doubted she had ever seen Regina drive like she was strangling the steering wheel.
"It's not helping. I know you're overcompensating."
Emma sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I'm sorry. I just want to calm you down. You seem tense."
Regina just frowned. The rest of the ride, which was not long, was spent in silence. They drove to Regina's neighborhood, the high class end of town, and pulled up to a building Emma knew vaguely in passing. It was clean, brick, with large windows in the front. It never occurred to her that it was a doctor's office. Regina pulled into a parking lot and put the car in a spot at the end, as if she were hiding it.
"I never knew this was a doctor's office," Emma said.
"There are several specialists here, as well as Henry's pediatrician if you truly want to meet him. I honestly can't believe you thought the town only had one doctor." Regina shook her head.
Emma frowned. "He's the only who we go to when something happens."
"No, he's who you and your parents go to. If anyone bothered to consult me, we would employ someone more competent and less likely to betray us at first glance."
"So, it's not Doctor Moreau or Doctor Strange or…?"
Regina sighed. "Please, stop."
Emma held up her hands in surrender. I'll be serious. Silly is not helping at all. On the way in, Emma saw several names on the door. Which one would they be seeing? Which was one was the Mills' family doctor? Regina went to the receptionist desk.
"I'm here to see Doctor Alexander," Regina said.
"Oh, yes, Miss Mills. Please, give the doctor a moment," the receptionist replied with a smile. Emma held in a surprised wince. She was not used to people just being openly polite to Regina most of the time, even now. Many of the townsfolk continued to nurse a grudge over the Curse.
Regina just nodded and went to sit down in the empty waiting area. Emma followed her. The waiting area was nice and comfortable, much better than Storybrooke General. She was about to take in the decor for lack of a better thing to do, but noticed Regina's leg bouncing. She put her hand on Regina's knee and Regina gasped.
"Not cool?" Emma asked.
Regina shook her head, eyes focused straight ahead. "No, it's fine."
"I'm not sure what to say to you." Emma tried to think of what she wanted someone, anyone to tell her when she found she was pregnant. She had already told Regina it would be okay, which was all she really wanted to hear back then.
"Nothing. You don't have to say anything."
Emma nodded. She knew that, but she wanted to say something supportive. The only problem was that she was not sure how Regina felt about the pregnancy. No, she did not seem super thrilled, but she had not immediately gone through a list of options either. Regina had been rather blank beyond insisting it was not possible and it was a mistake. Is she in denial and if she is, why? Thankfully, before Emma let her mouth get the better of her, Regina was called in for the doctor.
Emma went with her, of course, ignoring the stares from the receptionist. Regina walked by the woman like everything was normal, so Emma did the same thing. They entered the small room with Emma closing the door behind them. The doctor, a pale, middle-aged woman with greying hair in a white lab coat, was seated at the table in the room with a chart. The examination table was opposite her, but Regina did not make a move toward it.
"Regina, I'm surprised to see you. You already had your yearly exam," the doctor said without looking up.
"This is for a more… recent concern," Regina said.
The doctor glanced up and her eyes went wide the moment she noticed Emma. "Is this appointment actually for the sheriff? I heard tales she was consorting with pirate."
Emma winced. "Okay, I'm just here for moral support. As for consorting with a pirate, that's over and it never went that far. I've seen enough Pirates of the Caribbean movies, after all." She did not even want to imagine what the hell that region of Hook looked like or what type of itching or infections she would have walked away with if it had gone that far.
Regina smiled a little, but quickly straightened her features. "You mean to tell me you and the good captain never even consummated your so-called relationship?"
"Me and the good captain had a lot of differences of opinion that came out when we had six weeks of nothing happening. Then, he wasn't too happy with how interested I was in making sure you were okay when you were undercover and the icing on the cake was how pissed he was that I shoved the dagger into the Darkness for you. Apparently, I was supposed to just let the mother of my kid and friend die."
Regina grunted; well, if ladies grunted anyway. Emma knew that to mean, "I'm sure that was his attitude if you recall, he was the one who handed me over to two people who tortured me." Regina had it blurted out a couple of weeks at one point when she felt Emma was talking a little too much about Hook. Emma did not really hold that against Hook. After all, who had not wanted to torture Regina a little bit at one point in time, especially before Regina was an ally? But, his carefree attitude about letting Regina, Emma's friend, partner, and the mother of her son, die hit a lot harder.
Emma show the thoughts away. "Anyway, can we get to this? This isn't about me."
Regina arched an eyebrow quickly. "Of course it's not about you." She turned to the doctor. "I would like a blood test done."
"A blood test?" Doctor Alexander echoed. Regina gave her a hard look and she nodded. "Ah, a blood test. I was unaware there was anyone, your Majesty."
"There isn't anyone." Regina's tone was clipped.
Doctor Alexander's brow furrowed and she glanced at Emma again. "So, this is magic?"
"It might as well be."
The doctor squinted a little. "I'm not sure I understand, but I might not have to. Let's do the blood work and go from there." Emma was glad she was not the only one who did not understand what the heck was going on.
"Please."
Emma stood back and quiet the whole time. Regina looked like she might have a nervous breakdown, though. She took her coat off and sat on the examination table. She pressed her hands, which remained in their fashionable leather gloves, together until her arms shook. Doctor Alexander did not say anything about it and just did her job. She drew the blood and then disappeared into an adjacent room. Emma went and put both of her hands over Regina's.
"You're not alone in this," Emma reminded her.
"What if…" Regina's voice was low and shaky. She shook her head. "I still don't understand how this could have happened. It has to be magic. What if Rumple pulled something? Or one of the fairies? The Curse is still fresh in everyone's minds. What if this is revenge?"
Emma made an effort to keep her face passive. She did not want to make any sort of expression to upset Regina. The fairies seemed to be fairly busy making sure nothing else in the Author's Mansion could destroy them and Rumple seemed dead set on getting Belle to forgive him. Both seemed to be working with limited success.
"How would this work if it was revenge? Why would anyone want to force a pregnancy on you of all things?" Emma asked. Who would think of revenge like that?
Regina shook her head again. "I'm grasping at straws, I suppose."
"It'll be all right. Don't worry about it. It will be all right. Do you want to go back to work and wait to hear the results or are you going to go home?"
Regina sighed. "I have to go back to work. I left too much incomplete yesterday. I'll return you to work as well."
Emma nodded. "Will you… I mean, you'll tell me when the doctor calls, right?" The test results were likely to be back that day, the doctor told them.
Regina gave her a look that called her an idiot. Emma threw her hands up. It was not like Regina was always an open book, after all.
"Yes, I will tell you. In fact, I'll call you right after I get the call," Regina stated.
Emma smiled. "Thank you."
-8-8-8-8-
David wanted to know what Emma and Regina had done for lunch. He had not outright asked, but he kept staring at Emma. She did some much needed paperwork, making sure to make a show of it, to avoid talking to him about. She needed to think of a plausible lie to tell David and she did not want to use Henry.
"Regina and I are friends, you know," Emma decided to go with. It was annoying her that he kept looking at her as if she were some kind of freak.
"Hey, I didn't say anything," David replied.
"No, but you keep looking over here. We went out for lunch. Friends do that." Hell, there were times when she brought lunch to Regina.
David nodded. "They do. This is the first time you've done it, though. I mean, the first time you've done it and it's not to keep her from stressing out over our daily impending doom as she tries to help solve the problem."
"That you know of," Emma replied, just to be a smart-ass.
His face lit up with childish glee. "Oh, so you've done it before, but didn't tell anyone? Is that why you broke up with Hook?"
Emma shot him a look. "Really?"
David threw his hands up. "Hey, I'm just trying to figure this out. I know you and Regina are friends and you do stuff together. I just didn't know those things involve lunch now when things are calm and collected."
Emma groaned. "Look, I almost turned into the Dark One for that woman. The least she can do is buy me lunch every now and again." It was true to the point where Emma would have to bring it up when Regina was herself again. Surely almost absorbing pure evil for a person had to be worth at least a lifetime supply grilled cheese and bear claws.
"And maybe not scold us for eating donuts."
Emma grinned. "I think you're asking for too much there."
David chuckled and that was the end of that. He went back to work and she went back to work. They went out on patrol and Emma got a call from Regina. She assumed it would be to pick up Henry again, but then also knew it could be about the other thing.
"What am I going to tell Henry?" Regina's voice broke. Wow, that was fast.
"Don't worry. You're not alone." No, Emma had no idea what they would tell Henry, but they would figure it out together.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: They have to tell Henry and he has to react.