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Regina had made it through the fries and was onto the pickles when Gold finally appeared in the doorway at the back of his shop, eyes softening as they settled on the pregnant woman perched at his work bench with a fried pickle currently between two ruby red lips. She lowered it, placing it on the bag that was laying across the table and licked her lips. "How has the shop been today?"
Gold shifted then, moving his weight from one foot to the other before striding in, hands clasped at the front. In all honesty, he couldn't have expected to see anything more beautiful than her sitting back here, jacket open, stomach around three months pregnant as it were and her munching away on something so unhealthy — he could have hurled it out of the backdoor and not have thought twice if it weren't for the fact he knew she had been craving something like that for quite some time. "Slow. And the baby?"
"Powerful." She sighed, giving in to the urge to finish the fried pickle she had laid onto the bag just seconds before. Her eyes rolled back, as she savored the sweet taste and practically hummed before she swallowed it. "I don't know how to keep it a secret from everyone in town. You know, they started rumors about us? As if we're some pair that are sneaking around in the dark of night and frolicking in some evil forest among evil trees. Goodness. I, of course, told the Savior that they were true. Not evil forests, but the ... the us..rumors. It's all true. We haven't hid that, it's out and open and I don't understand why it even took all of them this long to actually have someone approach me about them and of course it had to be the savior. Emma will more than likely tell Henry before I can, which honestly wouldn't surprise me but I wish she would just let me break it to him easily. If he heard it from me, he wouldn't have time to have his head filled with nonsense."
"Regarding the pregnancy, I thought you had a strong stance in regards to anyone challenging it or you for that matter." Gold needed to remind her how powerful and strong she was, needed to keep her from going down a path of lies and deception when it came to the town or Henry, seeing as he knew how protective she had been over the boy and how determined she was and hopefully still is to keep the image of her good in his eyes. "Henry would appreciate honesty. Would he not?"
"Oh, that still stands. I'll flay anyone alive if they try to come toward me and the baby in any type of manner that wasn't civil." She paused for a second, giving a nod in his direction at the Henry question, her mind rolling over all of the issues in the past that she had overcome between her and her son. "Of course. Of course he would, Rumple. I just-" Her brows furrowed as the picture of fearful faces floated to the surface of her mind, that scene in the diner had changed so much inside of her, it had caused cracks to appear in her hopes, which was something that hadn't happened for some time now — the feeling only making her angry at how every time she had tried to be happy, how it had all been ripped from her every single chance fate got to make sure villains wouldn't be allowed to ever have anything of substance. "-I don't want to be her again."
Instantly, Gold picked up on what she was heading towards. The fear in her eyes reminded him of the fear he felt when Bae had ever looked at him in a manner that screamed he had done something to make the child hate who he had become after accepting the dagger. Pain shot through his heart, aching for Regina, knowing the feeling all too well. "You will never be her again. Not in his eyes, Regina." He closed the space between them, a hand coming to her back as she leaned her head against his chest. "The one thing we have always been good at, Regina, is trying to redeem ourselves in the eyes of those we love. And I know you, better than you know yourself; If you don't want to be her again, well, you won't be." He had faith in what he was saying, having seen her battle first hand through the past few years as the residents of Storybrooke did nothing but hurt her and push her into becoming the person they wanted her to be. "Never forget your power, though, Regina. You are not that scared girl stuck in a castle anymore. You're a grown woman and a powerful one at that." He felt her nod and he hoped the words would stick, hoped she was listening.
The thing with their relationship is that they are both broken. Broken by the world in ways that allow moments of doubt to flicker through for the smallest of things, but together — hoped they could weather anything that could be hurled in their direction; Regina thought as she inhaled his scent, fingers coming up to grip at the edges of his jacket before she looked up at him, eyes drinking in the one man who knew her better than anyone in this strange world. "We need to tell Henry. Tomorrow, I'll make dinner, he'll come over and we can close all suspicion or wipe out any notions of anything that could build in his mind that I'm not who I've always been; His loving and caring mother with nothing but his best interests in mind. Will you be there?"
"Of course I will be." His hand stroked along her spine as he bowed slightly, mouth claiming hers as his free hand cupped her cheek and his thumb began caressing the soft skin there. Using his lips to part hers, he slid his tongue into the warmth of her mouth, finding hers quickly. The taste of fried pickles caused him to chuckle, his heated breath enveloping their tongues as they writhed together, lips brushing softly as they moved sensually; deepening the kiss.
The chime over the door to the shop caused the two of them to break apart; Gold growled low in his chest as he straightened up and headed out into the main area, hands coming together at his front as his features relaxed — trying to look as unperturbed by the interruption as possible. His eyes fell upon Belle who was carrying what looked to be another ultrasound photo. He wondered why she would continue to update him if she had been making herself very clear at how she wanted him to have no involvement with their son. "Belle. What can I do for you?" His voice was monotone, devoid of any anger or pain towards the woman who had deprived him of the happiness he thought he had needed. Luckily; He was well aware of the happiness in his life now that Belle had indeed pushed him away. Had she not; he would have never followed the path he knew he had been headed for long ago.
"I-I just wanted to give you this." She lifted her hand, fingers gingerly keeping the photo between them as she waited for her former partner to take the gift. He wanted to laugh, to literally throw the image back at her, but he didn't — instead he accepted the photo and looked down at the growing son. She was much further along now than she had been during their falling out and he knew she would be first to give birth, Regina would follow a good amount after.
"Have you changed your mind?" He asked before pocketing the photo and trying his best not to sound like a man desperate to be able to see his child; even if that were him seeing as he didn't think it fair she should keep him from at least seeing his son once he was born. "About keeping me away from our son." He clarified at the look of confusion written on her features.
She shook her head, eyes falling towards her much larger than it used to be stomach, hands coming up to caress the bump and all he could think about was Regina; how he had seen her do the exact thing many times over. "Not exactly. I am thinking of giving you updates on his health, so you'll know how he is. How he is growing. You know, just...that. I might consider supervised visits once he's born, but other than that — I don't want him to be like...I just want to make sure you're the man I once fell in love with when you see him and not the one couldn't fight against the darkness. So..." As if she couldn't stand to be in the room with him, she turned and left at that. Shaking his head, he flipped the sign to closed and turned around at the time Regina was coming out from the back.
"Let's go home." He held out a hand to her and watched as she buttoned up her coat at the middle and entwined her fingers with his, her free hand coming to wrap along his arm as he escorted her out of the shop and onto the street. "We'll go to your house, I don't feel like going to mine." He walked her around to his car, opened the passengers side door for her, waited as she settled herself in and then closed it. Glancing around the streets, he spotted a few onlookers and doing something completely out of character, flipped them off. Gawking wouldn't get them anywhere; he thought as he got into his car behind the wheel.
Regina, having caught his display of endearment to Storybrooke and it's curious residents, was cackling as he started up the car, a hand on her stomach as laughter bubbled up — very much a welcome after such a serious moment in the back of the pawnshop. "I think it might snow soon." She noted, trying to stave off a second set of giggles at the faces of said onlookers as the car drove past them. "That might be nice tomorrow when Henry's home. I could make some hot cocoa, we could put on a movie afterwards." She knew nothing would go perfectly seeing as Gold had been someone Henry had never really one hundred percent trusted nor would it be easy for him to allow something as mundane as a family night to be normal after first hearing of their coupling and the baby on the way; But she was more than willing to put in the work to make this family as normal as possible despite the current of electricity surging through her every single second of every single day. "Or maybe that could be next weekend and we could just talk or, I think he likes a tree, so we could put the tree up and decorate it. That would be nice."
"Regina..." Gold began, moving his free hand to grasp hers, bringing it up to his lips he pressed a chaste kiss to it before adding calmly "...everything will go well. Don't worry or overthink it. He'll be able to tell if you're nervous and so will the baby." Pressing another kiss to her fingertips, he then began to stroke his thumb along the digits as he pulled into the driveway at her manor, shutting the car off before shifting as much as he could in his seat to look at her. "He's your son and he loves you. He'll love the baby and surely grow to at least think of me as someone who makes his mother happy."
Deep inside she knew he was right, Henry was a good boy and if he could see that she were happy surely he wouldn't give her too hard of a time in at least trying to accept the man in her life. It's not like Gold is some stranger coming into their life, he was Gold, the one person who had been in Henry's life almost as long as she had. Gold had procured the child for her in the first place and not to mention she had brought Henry into his shop on many occasions as the child grew in Regina's care. "You're right. What would I do without you?"
"Burn the city down, I expect." He stated, chuckling just slightly at the small jibe before adding "Then again you wouldn't have a reason to burn it down, would you?" The fact that her life would have been completely different had he not ever visited her that first night in her bedchamber long ago sent a chill down his spine. He couldn't fathom a world where she was anyone different, let alone one where he hadn't ever known her as she was — or watched her grow into who she is today. "Or even have the magic to do so, come to think of it."
"I could have." She sated, leaning towards him now, her free hand sliding onto his thigh, giving it a squeeze. "Just because you taught me everything I know now — doesn't mean someone else couldn't have in your absence." She teased, Her lips were inches from his, the air thick within the vehicle as the heat that had once poured from the vents settled around them as she claimed his mouth, an audible moan leaving her lips at the contact; she could feel the power within her surging as his palms pressed against her cheeks.
