a/n: hi it's katelyn here. okay so here is chapter 4 i hope you like it xoxo i have incorporated (slash tried) to incorporate stuff from Sunday nights episode...I've used some artistic license and change some of the stuff, but some dialogue is the take it as you will. :) uhm also if you haven't already check out my tumblr and check out kelsey's? she's: youwillnotkeepmysonfromme and i'm shh-the-adults-are-talking. Okay well enjoy this chapter and leave reviews!


"Hold on, hold on, slow down," Emma requested, taken aback by the slew of confessions that had spilled out of Regina's mouth all too quickly.

"I'm sorry," Regina slurred, still sounding a little drunk.

"So, Snow killed your fiance?" Emma asked, trying to understand. Regina shook her head.

"There was a man, named Daniel. He worked in our stable when I was living with my mother and father. We fell in love. It shouldn't have happened, I know, but it did. My mother never would have approved, though," Regina said sadly.

"Why not?" Emma asked.

"She didn't have much herself, growing up. She worked so hard to get the power and status that she has now, and for me to marry down, marry a stable boy- well that would be unacceptable," Regina said shaking her head. "One day, when I was off in a field with my horse, another horse came racing by, and on top was a young girl who was in danger and couldn't stop her horse. I saved her life, before she fell off. Turns out, this was the daughter of the King. This was Snow. His wife had died, and he was looking for a new one, and a new mother to his young daughter. And he was in luck, because mother was looking for a husband for me," Regina said bitterly. "So it was all arranged. I was to marry the king." Regina let out a dark laugh, "He didn't even want a wife... he wanted a nanny! He never truly thought of me as his wife... he was still in love with his dead one." She slurred, shaking her head in misery.

"But what about Daniel?" Emma asked.

"Ah, yes...what about Daniel?" Regina asked, tears forming again. "I went to tell him all that had happened and we decided we would run away together. And Snow, she saw us kissing," Regina said, shuddering, as if she was in that moment again. "I told her I loved Daniel, and what "True Love" really was. Isn't that ironic? I made her swear not to tell my mother that she had seen us. She promised," Regina bit her lip, and repeated more darkly, "She promised."

"What happened?" Emma asked, to prompt Regina to speak again after a moment of silent reflection.

"She told my mother. I know my mother is cunning, and she tricked Snow into telling, and that Snow was very young, but I couldn't forgive her, because of what my mother did, because of Snow's betrayal. She came to the stable and found Daniel and me there. And she tricked us into thinking that she was resigned with our relationship, because I was happy. Then she ripped his heart out! Crushed it into dust. She killed my Daniel." Regina stopped speaking. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Regina wasn't going to say anymore on her own.

It was Emma's turn to speak, but instead, she took a moment of silence in remembrance of Daniel. It was the least she could do. She felt so helpless in this situation, so at least he deserved a moment of remembrance.

Regina sniffled, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes, but Emma stopped her, speaking up for the first time in a few minutes.

"I have to hold this till the bleeding stops," Emma said motioning towards the shirt that was wrapped around the cuts on Regina's arm, "I'll do it," she offered. She pulled her own sleeve down, and wiped Regina's tears from her eyes.

"Is Henry okay?" Regina asked.

"He was just worried about you," Emma said. Regina nodded with a sigh, "Look, I know it seems like Henry is being distant, and pulling away, but he does care about you. He does love you," Emma admitted quietly. "You two have a special relationship that I'll never have with him. You were his mother, and you two have had ten whole years together, that I missed."

"I'm sorry," Regina murmured.

"For what?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow, giving a soft smile.

"For everything. Trying to destroy you, and your relationship with Henry. For all of the things I have caused and ruined," Regina said quietly, not able to meet Emma's intense gaze with her own, so she stared at her lap.

"Why didn't you want him to be with me? Is it because of this whole 'savior' thing?" Emma asked curiously.

Regina sighed, looking up at the ceiling "God, it was so much more than that. Honestly, I didn't even care about the curse...I just couldn't bear the thought of losing Henry. I wanted to get married to Daniel and have a baby with him, but then he died. And once I married the king, he wanted another child. So I was forced to-" She stopped herself, "I put up with this want of his...but I could never get pregnant. And when we went to the healer," Regina paused, "she said I was barren. I couldn't have children. The king pulled even farther away, soon I was locked away. And my downward spiral began... Next thing I knew, I came here and I found Henry." This made Regina smile, thinking back to her first day with Henry.


"Shh, sweetheart, it's okay," Regina murmured, rocking the sweet baby in her arms, as he fussed. The social workers let Regina keep Henry for the night, to see how everything worked out, and Regina was loving every minute of it.

"Are you hungry, baby?" Regina asked, kissing little Henry's forehead, "Yeah? Let's go get you a bottle," she murmured. She tickled Henry as she warmed up the bottle, and her heart leapt as Henry responded with gurgling giggles.

After she had given Henry his bottle and burped him, it was time for bed. She changed him, and she put on her own pajamas and snuggled into bed with him. She took him in her arms and rocked him to sleep, and she whispered a poem to him.

"My darling boy, I'll hold you tight. I won't let go. I'll be with you every night. The angel's will watch over you. They'll guard everything you do. And I'll help, I'll take care too. I'll kiss your forehead. I'll help you fall asleep in bed. No matter if you're near or far. I'll love you from here to the stars; around the moon and back through the sky. I love you always because I'm your mommy and you're my little guy." She finished the poem and smiled when she realized that he was fast asleep.

Although she wasn't officially his mother yet, something just felt so right about holding this tiny human in her arms, and she felt like his mother. She gave him one more kiss on the forehead, and watched as he peacefully slept in her arms, through the night.


"I couldn't lose him. I don't love much, Ms. Swan, but God, I love that little boy. I use up all the love I think I have left on him. I'd do anything for him and I would never hurt him. I think taking him from me would hurt him, Ms. Swan. I truly do. And I'm not saying that to be selfish. But I'm saying it because I think it's true," Regina confessed, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. She was sobering up now.

"I'm sorry Regina. I think what's best is if Henry stays with me. He knows you're trying to change, but he just doesn't trust you anymore," Emma said sadly.

"Please. He's my son," Regina was almost begging.

"I...I don't know what to do. Honestly. I think what's best for him is to let him go where he wants. I'm not saying make him choose...in fact...I think he should see us both. But I don't know how he feels really...except a little unsure with you," Emma asked, "And now I'm not judging. I've definitely been drunk and sad before, but it probably would have helped if you had a sober conversation with him..." Emma said.

"Thanks. Because I needed that," Regina said with a glare.

"Sorry," Emma said sheepishly. Emma stared at Regina for a moment. Her eyes glistened with tears, but she had never looked more beautiful. Emma had never thought of Regina as beautiful, because she was always so frustrated and angry with her. She was obviously an attractive woman, there was no denying that. But Emma had never thought of it as true beauty. But seeing this side of the often cold and cruel mayor, was interesting.
Emma slid closer to Regina.

"We should clean this up," Emma suggested. Regina shook her head.

"I'll do it in the morning. You should get back to Henry. He's probably worried," Regina said.

"Are you sure, Regina? I don't mind helping you," Emma offered.

"It's fine. You should be with Henry. I've probably blown my chance with him now," Regina said, looking around at the mess.

"They're throwing a party tomorrow night, at Granny's...as like a welcome home sort of thing for me and Mary Margaret. I think it's silly, but everyone insisted," Emma said shrugging, "You should come," she added.

"Why? None of them will want to see me," Regina said shaking her head.

"If you hadn't broke the enchantment on the portal, Mary Margaret and I would have died. Henry explained the seriousness of that enchantment to me. You saved us," Emma said. She stood, and then took Regina's hand, and helped her stand up, tip-toeing around the broken glass.

"Thanks," Regina murmured. That's when Emma realized it. She didn't have romantic feelings for Regina, but Regina didn't have to know that. She didn't know how Regina felt towards her, but being in a relationship would allow Henry to see both of them. She knew it was crazy, but it was a totally sober thought. It had to be legit. And so in that instant, Emma made a split second decision, not thinking of possible consequences.
Emma cupped Regina's face with her soft hands, and kissed her mouth gently. It wasn't forceful or hurried. It was sweet and calm and focused.
When Emma broke away, she looked for a reaction on Regina's face. Anything at all that could tell her whether this quickly conceived plan would work at all.

"Ms. Swan! You just-" Regina exclaimed.

"No, no. Don't think, don't talk. Just feel," Emma requested, and so she kissed Regina again, with the same gentle passion that she had the first time.
"How did that feel?" Emma asked.

"Good...a little awkward, but...right. It felt right," Regina said more confidently.

"Good. Okay. That's good. Isn't it?" Emma asked.

"Ms. Swan," Regina began.

"For Chrissake. I just kissed you. You can call me Emma," Emma said rolling her eyes.

"Sorry...Emma. What are you doing? Why did you kiss me?" Regina asked.

"I just...it felt like the thing to do. I'm sorry," Emma said biting her lip. Maybe Regina wasn't open to the idea of playing for the other team. Maybe this plan to give Henry's life some stability had been too rushed and not thought out enough. Maybe Emma had just done something stupid, and had not thought about her needs or Regina's enough, and only about Henry's. Maybe-

"Don't be sorry," Regina said shaking her head, "Just do it again."

"What?" Emma asked surprised.

"Kiss me again. Unless you had no intention of doing this. And it was just something you did in the heat of the moment. And that kiss was just a mistake," Regina said firmly.

"No. No, no, was not a mistake," Emma stammered.

"Good," Regina said. She was waiting.

"Right. Kiss you," Emma reminded herself. She leaned in again, and took Regina's lips with her own. This time, there was a little more fervor than before. Emma wrapped her arms around Regina's neck, as Regina wrapped her arms around Emma's waist, the bloody shirt wrapped around her arm lay on the floor long forgotten. Regina broke away.

"Let me help you to bed," Emma offered, but Regina shook her head.

"I'll be fine," Regina replied quietly, then added, "Thank you, Emma."

"For what?" Emma asked with a smile.

"For coming over here," Regina said. She paused and then added, "for kissing me."

"I'll see you tomorrow at Granny's...7 oclock?" Emma asked.

"Okay," Regina agreed. Regina led Emma to the door in silence, and held the door for her, as she exited quietly. Nothing else was said. Nothing else needed to be.

As Emma drove back to Mary Margaret's, she couldn't help but think about the kiss. She hadn't done it for the reasons that Regina had. It wasn't necessarily the wrong reason- it was for Henry after all, but it wasn't for love. Emma did not love Regina. Regina was cruel, vindictive, cold, and she had tried to kill Emma! But surprisingly enough for Emma, it seemed that Regina had some sort of feelings for her.

"She kissed me back," Emma murmured to herself with a grin. She turned on the radio and drove home, bracing herself for the questions she would receive from Mary Margaret, David and Henry, and the explanation she would have to give, and the information she would have to withhold.

.oOo.

Emma finally reached the apartment and unlocked the door. She was careful to be quiet, so that she wouldn't wake everybody up.

"Emma!" Henry exclaimed in a hissed whisper, as Emma walked into the living room. He jumped off the couch and ran to her.

"Hey...hey why are you still up?" Emma asked, but then shook her head, "Sorry. Dumb question."

"I was worried about you...and her," Henry admitted.

"She's okay. She said she was sorry," Emma murmured.

"I know she is. She was sad...today was her birthday," Henry said.

"Yeah... I invited her to the party at Granny's tomorrow," Emma said with a soft smile, blushing, thinking about the kiss.

"Good. I hope she'll come," Henry murmured. Then he yawned. Then they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. A light from the hallway flipped on.

"You should get to bed before they see you're still awake," Emma suggested.

"Good night, Emma," Henry said, hugging her quickly, before running around the corner to his room.

"Emma," Mary Margaret said, when she saw Emma standing in the center of living room.

"Hey," Emma said looking down. She knew Mary Margaret would disapprove whole heartedly against her being in a relationship with Regina. She made a quick executive decision to not tell her just yet.

"What happened? Henry wouldn't tell us, but he was freaking out," Mary Margaret explained in a hushed whisper. She sounded frustrated and almost angry.

"Regina was sick...she got hurt when she passed out," Emma explained. It wasn't a lie exactly. But it was the truth. More like a half truth.

"She can't take care of herself when her son is with her?" Mary Margaret asked in disgust, "If she wants him so bad-" She began, but Emma cut her off.

"Hey! She wanted to see him. She was SICK. Not much anyone can do about that," Emma replied. Mary Margaret was taken aback by Emma's comment.

"Since when are you defending her?" Mary Margaret asked surprised.

"Since you started attacking her! Just calm down. Everyone's okay," Emma told her.

"You want ME to calm down?" Mary Margaret exclaimed, shocked.

"Yeah. I do," Emma said, growing angry with Mary Margaret's reactions.

"Emma, you can't-" Mary Margaret began, but was cut off once again.

"You're my mother my blood. That's all. You don't have a right to tell me what I can and can't do," Emma said, and with that, she walked away, heading towards Henry's room. She would stay in there for now.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret called, but she was ignored. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Come back to bed," a voice requested. She turned to see David.

"I'm coming," Mary Margaret said with a sigh. David wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her back upstairs.

"Goodnight," he told her, once they were snuggled back into bed.

"Goodnight," she replied. He kissed her on the forehead, and they fell back into distraught sleeps, feeling worried and unsure.

.oOo.

The next morning, Regina woke up with an aching head. She groaned as she sat up. It was going to be a long day. She rolled out of bed slowly, glancing at the clock. It was already one in the afternoon. She had slept far too long. She had to make something for the party. And she had to clean up this mess. She walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, grimacing when she saw how she looked. She would have to make herself presentable before the party as well. Had she looked this way when Emma was here? Suddenly, she felt nervous and self conscious.

"Get a grip, Regina. You're the Evil Queen, dammit. Nothing scares you. You don't get nervous," she said firmly, aloud, giving herself a pep talk. She looked back into the mirror at her messy hair and groaned, "I need a shower." Ridding her mind of the mess that she knew was waiting for her in the kitchen and living room, she got undressed. She inspected the gash on her arm from the shattered glass of the coffee table. It was caked with dry blood, but it didn't look deep. She was sure a bandage would be fine, and she wouldn't need stitches. Of course, she could have just used magic to fix it, but she was trying to be magic free for Henry. Using magic even to mend her wound, would be a step in the wrong direction. After hanging up a towel, she stepped into the shower.

She let the warm water massage her back, and soothe her feelings of stress and fear. Images of the previous night flooded back to her. She felt flashes of anger, and of glass shattering and of Henry's cries in fear, and of pain. And then suddenly she felt Emma's soft lips on hers, and then she was back in the present. Alone.

She was feeling guilty. She shouldn't have opened the wine. She knew Henry was coming over. But once again, she had put her needs above his. She was seriously doubting her abilities as a mother. She just wanted Henry back. She just wanted to know that he loved her. That someone loved her.
Then her thoughts returned to Emma. Her sweet smelling blonde hair, the sparkle in her eyes when she was determined, but then how they melted with empathy and care. She was beautiful. And she had kissed her. But what if it was all a mistake. How could Emma care at all about Regina? All Regina had done was try to get rid of Emma. They were enemies. How could they be anything but that? Now Regina's mind was filled with worry again, and the once soothing water was no longer taming her unease. She rinsed the last bit of shampoo and conditioner out her hair and shut the water off.

She wrapped herself in a towel, and walked into her bedroom and to the closet. She figured she would just wear casual clothes until it was time to go, and then she would dress up a little more nicely.

She would have no visitors today. No one wanted to see the evil queen. So yoga pants and a sweater were absolutely fine. And even if they weren't, at this point Regina was so tired and lonely that she just didn't care. Popping two asprin in her mouth, she walked down the spiral staircase, preparing herself to face the mess she had created. And was it something to face.

Her glass coffee table next to the couch was shattered, pillows her strewn around the living room, she was sure there was blood on the carpet from her arm, and the wine stains on the white carpet made her cringe.

"Great," she muttered sarcastically. She picked up the pillows and shook them out, making sure there were no shards of glass on them. Placing them on one couch, she grabbed the broom and dustpan that Henry had left out last night, and began sweeping up the glass that had shattered everywhere on the floor. Once she had swept and vacuumed the remaining shards of glass, she went to work on the blood stain. She sprayed multiple chemicals and scrubbed with soap and water and in the end, though it was not completely gone, it had faded significantly. That was good enough.

She then made her way to the kitchen. It was not as bad as she thought, besides the empty wine bottles, and pile of dishes, and burnt cupcakes. She made quick work of the dishes, and discarded the bad cupcakes and bottles. Once everything was clean, she started this evening's meal that she would bring- her famous lasagna, because she knew it was Henry's favorite. She put the lasagna in the oven. She had 38 minutes to get dressed before it would be done. So she made her way upstairs to figure out her outfit.

She wanted to look classy, mayor-esque, but not too dressy. Emma would probably wear jeans and a sweater, anyways. But still, she wanted to look nice. Dress to impress, isn't that what her god awful mother used to say?

She opened her closet doors, and immediately her eyes focused in on a dark maroon shirt and black pencil skirt. It was perfect. It was a silky and stitched fabric, with a pretty neckline, and the fitted skirt went down a little above her knees. It was perfect. She put it on, picked out her black leather boots, and made her way to the bathroom to do her hair and makeup.

A quickly blow dry and some hair spray to style her hair nicely, and simple eye liner, eye shadow, but with dark red lipstick, that stood out well against her creamy skin. She was going to look great. If Emma was unsure about the kiss now, she wouldn't be when she saw Regina. She walked down stairs, just in time to grab the food. She looked at the kitchen clock which read 6:58pm.

"Damn," Regina muttered. She would be a few minutes late, but not too bad. She wrapped up the lasagna, grabbed her coat and purse and headed out the door.

.oOo.

Emma check her watch, as she had been every minute for the past 6 minutes. It was ten past seven and Emma was starting to worry. Had Regina decided not to come? Was she okay? The questions that were running through her head, making her sick with worry, ceased as the diner door opened, and Regina walked in.

"Sorry I'm late," she said gently. She looked at the people in the room. Most wore angry or disgusted faces. Leroy picked up a knife.

"What's she doing here?" He asked angrily.

"I invited her," Emma said fiercely. Regina looked down at her feet and placed the lasagna near Henry on the counter, avoiding eye contact with the people gathered in the diner.

"Emma," Mary Margaret hissed in a whisper to Emma, asked Regina greeted Henry with a hug.

"What?" Emma asked.

"You invited her?" Mary Margaret asked back.

"Yeah, I did," Emma said nodding.

"She tried to kill us," Mary Margaret exclaimed.

"Without her, we wouldn't be here right now. Don't forget that," Emma reminded her. David began to protest, but Emma cut him off- she had a knack for doing that sort of thing.

"She's trying to change for Henry's sake and for our sake. Let her show you that she can," Emma said almost pleading.

"Fine," Mary Margaret said reluctantly, though David wasn't convinced.

"Thank you," Emma said with a soft smile, hugging Mary Margaret and giving David a kiss on the cheek. She made her way over to Ruby to thank her and her grandmother for the party. David and Mary Margaret walked over to the 'seven dwarves' to talk to them, and everyone else laughed and mingled together.

"I'm glad you came," Henry told his mother.

"Me too," Regina said with a smile. She hugged Henry again.

"What's that?" Leroy sneered, "Poison apples?"

"Actually it's lasagna," Regina replied, returning the sneer.

"Ooh my favorite!" Henry exclaimed, and Regina turned her attention away from Leroy to serve Henry a piece.

"I know. I made it special just for you," she said with a smile.

"Thank you," Henry said sincerely, hugging his mother for the first time in a while. Emma saw this hug and her heart broke. She had been trying to take that away for all the wrong reasons, and she was feeling the regret already.

Regina watched as everyone, including Henry talked to everyone else in the room, except herself. She got up with defeat, and quietly slipped out of the diner, her eyes feeling the sting of tears. This went unnoticed by everyone besides Emma.

"Excuse me," She said to Archie, and followed Regina out the door.

"Archie made a cake," Emma called awkwardly to Regina, "You don't want to stay for a piece?"

"I'm fine...thank you," Regina said politely.

"Oh...okay," Emma said with a sigh and turned to walk inside.

"Thank you," Regina said, stepping forward.

"You just said that," Emma said confused, turning back around.

"For inviting me," Regina said sincerely.

"Henry wanted it," Emma replied, and Regina's face fell slightly. Not that I didn't want it, she thought to herself, "I'm glad you guys got to spend some time together," she said nodding.

"Me too," Regina said, pain written on her face, "I'd like to see him more," she admitted. "Maybe you'd consider letting him stay over some time? I have his room just waiting for him," Regina said with a small chuckle.

"Oh..." Emma said sadly, "I'm...I'm not sure if that's best," she replied. Regina's face fell- maybe everything yesterday had been a mistake.

"Because you know so much about parenting from the five minutes you've been with him," Regina said, beginning to feel angry, "Talk to David," She continued, "At least he took care of him in the time you were away like I did, in the ten years you were away the first time!" Regina exclaimed, feeling the tears pool in her eyes. Emma was taken aback and speechless.

"Okay," Emma said coldly, "Thanks for coming." She began to turn away again, but stopped at the sound of Regina's voice.

"No wait- I'm sorry," her voice sounded shakey, and her eyes were still watering, but tears had yet to fall. Emma turned around, with an impatient and skeptical look on her face.

"Emma, I am sorry," Regina said again, "For snapping at you. I shouldn't have done that...Will you accept my apology? She asked, now feeling impatient.

"Okay," Emma said after a moment of silence, "You're right...Archie said you were trying to change. You are."

"Dr Hopper said I was trying?" Regina looked angry.

"He said you came to see him," Emma explained, "You're trying not to use magic...you're trying to be a better person. You understand I was hesitant to invite you? I asked him and he thought it was a good idea," Emma said.

"You didn't seem hesitant when you kissed me," Regina said.

"I...because I was sure about that," Emma half lied. She was telling a lot of those lately.

"You know, Emma, I'm starting to have trouble believing you and differentiating between things you truly mean, and things you just say," Regina said angrily. "You invite me, then you tell me you're not sure. You try to take my son away from me, and then admit that you wish you hadn't. And then you tell me that it might not be a good idea to see my son? But you defended me to your parents. And you kissed me. But now you act like it didn't happen-" Regina rattled off, and before she could finish, Emma's lips were on hers again. It was hurried at first, frantic to get her to stop thinking and start feeling, but once Regina had let go, the kiss turned slow and gentle.

"Ok? I mean it," Emma said when they finally broke away.

"I...okay. I should go," Regina said, turning away.

"Do you mean it too?" Emma asked.

"I think so," Regina whispered, still not facing Emma.

"Okay then," Emma said, and she, too turned away. As she walked back up the steps of Granny's, Regina walked to her quickly, and before Emma opened the door, surprised her with one more kiss.

"I'm sure," Regina said nodding once they had broken apart. "Good night, Miss Swan." With that, Regina walked out of the driveway and into her car.

"Good night," Emma said, biting her lip.