I do not own OUAT or the characters apart from Lauretta!

~3 months later~

Cora woke up suddenly, she quickly got out of bed and hastily walked to the bathroom. She didn't feel well, she hadn't for the past few mornings but she had no idea why. She wasn't prone to getting a common flu. As she sat on the ground in the bathroom, her 3 year old daughter toddled in.

"Mommy? Are you okay?" young Regina asked, concern written all over her innocent face. Cora put on her best smile as she nodded to her daughter.

"I'm fine, sweetheart. I was just feeling a little sick." Cora answered her, not making any attempt to move to comfort the little girl.

Regina stood back and nodded, her dark brown eyes showing her concern for her mother. Cora smiled at her again, only then, as she looked at her daughter did she realise why she had indeed been sick. Her hand flew to her stomach and she quickly got up, leaving the room quickly and walking straight past Regina.

Regina looked confused and she tried to follow Cora, "Mommy? What are you doing?" she squeaked, still scared at her mother's mystery illness and her behaviour. Cora quickly turned around and looked at Regina,

"You stay with your father, I have to do something." She said harshly, her eyes hard and serious as she whirled back around and headed down stairs. She walked to a room and with a wave of her hand the door opened. This room was hers, her daughter and her husband never dared go in there. Cora looked through her books, looking for the same spell that she used to determine whether she was pregnant with Regina. She threw books around the room, finally finding it and letting out a breath of relief. She opened it to the spell and quickly blew on the page. An image appeared in front of her, it formed into a picture of Cora herself and the baby growing inside her. She quickly shut the book and stared straight ahead.

She was in a state of disbelief and denial mashed into one. She hadn't slept with her husband since Regina, she simply refused to do so. She looked down at her stomach and shook her head, she knew there was a spell that could conceal a pregnancy, and it was the perfect time to use it. If her husband found out that she had an affair he would throw her out, well, she doubted he would actually do it. But for Regina's sake she would. She quickly found the spell and let it work on her body, she hadn't realised that she already began to show. She sighed in relief once more before quickly leaving the room, only to run into Henry as she walked out.

"Honey, is there something wrong?" He asked, holding Regina's little hand, both looked at Cora concerned.

She put on her fake smile, "No, darling. Everything is fine." She said confidently and brushed past him to go back upstairs. She sat in her room trying to figure out what to do with the child once it was born. She of course couldn't raise it in her home, Henry would be suspicious and they couldn't be having that.

~Another 5 months later~

Cora paced back and forth, she had magically built a small cottage in the woods just near her home. Where she hired a nurse to look after her child when it came into the world. The reason why she was already set up at the cottage was the fact that she was already starting to have contractions. She sat down and quickly stood back up, she felt sick as she waited for the nurse to arrive at the cottage. She had taken the spell off, revealing her large rounded stomach. The nurse finally arrived and Cora glared at her.

"What took you so long?" She asked her voice accusing and hard.

"Sorry ma'am! I got here as quickly as I could. How are you going?" The nurse asked hurriedly.

"Fine! I'm going fine!" Cora snapped, "Just get this baby out of me please, Henry would be getting worried by now."

"The baby will come when it wants to, ma'am" the nurse said softly, "Now please lay down"

Cora shot her a look before slowly lying down on the bed. The nurse took a moment to examine her and she smiled slightly at Cora, "It shouldn't be too long now!"

Cora just rolled her eyes and took to using her magic to calm herself and get rid of majority of the pain. She only had to wait no more than half an hour before the nurse told her to push. After having Regina she knew what this was like but never did it get easier. The labour took the shorter side of an hour and a beautiful baby girl was born.

"It's a girl, ma'am." The nurse announced after wrapping the baby up in a plain blanket. She carefully handed the child to Cora. "What are you going to name her?"

Cora took a moment to look at the baby in her arms; she felt a small glimmer of happiness, of even love. But not strong enough as a normal mother would. "Lauretta… Lauretta Celeste Mills" Cora said, nodding at the name as the baby squirmed in her arms. Cora sighed before standing painfully and handing the baby back to the nurse.

"You will look after my daughter, until I come for her… She'll be in your care, and yours only. Do you understand?" Cora said sternly, handing the baby back to the nurse who only nodded, "And if anything happens to her, you and everyone you love will pay."

And with that Cora turned from the nurse and left the small cottage. As soon as she was outside she transformed her clothes back into her previous dress and fixing her hair. She quickly reappeared back at her home.

"Cora? Is that you?" Henry called out from the other room, hearing his wife arrive back.

"Yes, dear… I was just running a few errands!" Cora called back, sighing heavily and finding a place to sit.

Henry walked into the room, leaning against the door frame, "What type of errands?" He asked, he never usually questioned his wife but she had been acting strangely recently and he was determined to know why.

"It's nothing to worry about, it was just some simple things for myself." Cora replied tiredly, leaning back against the chair and picking up a book that had been resting beside it.

Henry eyed her for a moment but when she made no attempt to further her statement, he walked up to her and roughly pushed the book away. Her eyes almost immediately snapped up to him, dark and angry, she for one would not stand to be treated like that, especially by such a man as Henry. Without a second thought Cora raised her hand and her magic had Henry flying back and hitting the wall.

"I suggest, you leave this subject alone now, Henry. I have nothing more I wish to say to you." Cora hissed through clenched teeth, her eyes dark of hate for the man.

Just for Henry's luck, Regina came toddling into the room, on seeing her father against the wall her little eyes filled with fear and she turned towards her mother. This was a reoccurring happening in their household and Regina knew it was wrong for her mother to act like that.

"Mommy… Please don't hurt daddy…" she whispered, looking back and forth between her parents. Cora sighed and let Henry down, she wanted her daughter to know about magic, about the power you could hold over anyone with it. But she also didn't want Regina hating her for hurting Henry, or hating her at all.

"I best be going to get some rest. I'm exhausted." Cora stated firmly, standing from her chair and wincing slightly. "Excuse me." She quickly walked out the door, past Henry and Regina and up the stairs.

As soon as she entered the bedroom she fell down exhausted. She thought she could conceal her pain, her pregnancy and definitely the birth of her child a secret and so far she had done exactly that. She wasn't planning on letting her cover be blown, and when a determined and powerful woman is set on one thing, it usually happens.