20 Years Later

Regina and Henry stared at each other, Regina in shock and horror and Henry in almost eager anticipation, when their attention was drawn to a shock of dark hair hurtling towards them, not even slowing before slamming straight into Regina.
Now still, the two observed the child was a little girl no more than seven years old. She turned her face upwards to look at Regina as she hugged the woman's legs. Regina was confronted by shockingly familiar eyes. Her eyes were dark brown, the exact same shade as her own. "Up, mommy, up, up, up," the child demanded, breaking her grip on Regina's legs and raising her hands imploringly in the air.

Regina remained frozen. She did not recognize the girl yet the girl was calling her mother.

Regina and Henry barely had time to take in the child's appearance before another child appeared. He was approximately the same age as the girl, though he was a bit shorter. His hair and eyes were also dark. Ignoring Henry as well though approaching at a slower pace, the boy stopped in front of Regina as well. "Me too, please," he demanded far more politely than the girl.

When Regina made no move towards the children, the boy mimicked the girl's actions and raised his hands upwards towards her.

Regina crouched down to see the two children. Not knowing how to respond, she simply said, "You're too big to pick up." The mystery with Henry was still looming heavily on her mind, but her attentions shifted to the two children.

"Good morning, mommy," the little boy said enthusiastically and then planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

Regina's first instinct was to demand the children tell her who they were and where their parents were, but since she appeared to be their mother—all due to the strange magic going on, she was certain—Regina simply hugged the two children briefly and bid them good morning as well.

Henry watched Regina with a bemused expression. She did not realize it, but she had shot him a pleading look, as if begging him to distract the children while she made her escape. Henry's mind was turning. He was not dreaming. Somehow, he and Regina were pulled into the future, a future where they appeared to be married, and now there were children as well. Henry appeared to be nonchalant by the sudden shock although it was easier for him because he did not have two children clamoring for his attention.

No sooner than Henry thought that two more girls raced into the room. They both appeared be be older, the elder of the two appeared to be a preteen, and the other girl older than the other two children but younger than the tallest girl. "Dad," the tallest, and Henry suspected oldest, girl said, "Tell Jessica to stay out of my stuff."

The second oldest child, the one Henry assumed to be Jessica, stuck her tongue out at the oldest. "I didn't touch your stuff," Jessica protested, "Isabel is exaggerating."

Henry nodded at Jessica's statement and made a point to remember the oldest girl was Isabel. He looked back at the girl he now knew to be his oldest daughter. Isabel, unlike her three other siblings, had light blonde hair the exact same shade of Emma's. If there was any doubt remaining in Henry's mind that the children belonged to him and Regina, the doubts were quickly dashed. Isabel could only have come from his side of the family. She looked exactly like the Charmings from the color of her hair and the shape of her chin and nose.

He had children. Four children. Henry reeled in shock. Somehow, he'd been thrust into his future only to discover he had children, and four at that, with Regina.

Henry spared a glance at Regina to see how she was faring. She was staring at the two elder girls but Henry could not read her expression. It was probably a good thing. He felt a twinge of some emotion deep in his chest. Never once had he actually thought he would be given the opportunity to forge a life with the woman he loved, but here he was in the future with everything he'd dreamed of seemingly coming true. It was too realistic to be a dream yet too fantastical to be the truth.

Regina, too, noted the names of the two older girls. They might have gone straight to Henry, but she suspected they were her children as well. Her mind was struggling to keep up. Not only did her future self marry her son—assuming she was now living out her future life—she had children with him. Four children. Far too many at that.

As if sensing the need to confirm Regina's thoughts, Isabel turned towards Regina and rolled her eyes. "Well?" Isabel demanded, "Tell Jessica she can't go through my things."

Completely at a loss for what was going on, Regina relied on her instinctive mother habits. Breaking away from the two younger children, she approached Jessica and stopped once she was standing directly in front of her daughter. "Jessica," Regina demanded in a strict tone of voice, "Did you go through Isabel's things?"

"No," Jessica responded defiantly though Regina observed her hands clenched behind her back and Jessica's inability to look her in the eye.

She might not have ever seen the child before but she could easily spot the lie. "Is that the truth?" Regina asked in a tone that told Jessica she already knew the answer.

Jessica mumbled something under her breath but it was too quiet for Regina to catch. "What was that?" she asked.

For the first time since Regina approached her, Jessica looked directly up at her mother's face. Regina noticed the trace of unshed tears newly accumulating in the child's eyes—green eyes that matched Henry's exactly—and saw the girl's guilty look.

"I'm sorry," Jessica said louder and more clearly, "I promise I won't do it again."

Regina nodded understandingly when she was completely out of her depth. She had no idea how her future self would punish the child for her actions. "Don't do it again," Regina decided to say and leave it at that. Jessica did look remorseful so Regina suspected she would not go rifling through her older sister's possessions again in the near future.

With Jessica's scolding done, the two younger children clamored to make their appearance known again. "Hungry," the youngest girl said.

"Me too," the boy agreed.

Henry wanted a moment alone with his mother to discuss things. He'd been the first to suspect what was going on, but even he could not have imagined being greeted by their four kids. Something odd was going on, but he could not discuss it in front of the children.

"Why don't you four go get ready and we'll make breakfast soon," Henry subtly shooed them out of the bedroom, closing the door as the last of the four children left.

Now alone with Regina once more, Henry reluctantly turned to face her, worried about how she was going to react. She was going to be pissed. He braced himself for her anger.

Instead, Regina's eyes were unfocused as she stared into space. Her face turned ashen once the younger children were gone. "No. This isn't real. This can't be real," she repeated to herself. If it were real, the consequences were too horrible for her to think of. She'd worked so hard to be a better person for Henry's sake, and her efforts had not been in vain. It may have been hard, but she became a better person for Henry's sake, even going so far as to turn into the reluctant hero.

Somehow, her future self managed to destroy her years of hard work, for why else would she be married to her son?

"It is real," Henry said.

Regina's attention snapped back to him. Her face was blank, unreadable. "It can't be," she protested again.

Henry approached her cautiously. At least she was not about to throw a fireball at him, which had to count for something.

"But it is. Until we figure out what is going on, we have to assume all this is real."

"You're my son," Regina spat with more venom in her voice than she intended, "This can't be real. I refuse to believe it is real. If this is real, then we're married with children. It's revolting!"

Henry winced at her accusations. He was called revolting. He'd be lying if he said that did not sting, even if he did understand that Regina was simply surprised and emotional at the sudden turn of events.

"Do you think I want this for myself?" Henry questioned. The idea of finally getting the woman he loved and starting a family with her made him feel elated, but the elation was rapidly declining as he faced the reality of the situation. One day, he'd fallen asleep as a seventeen-year old high school student, and now he missed a full two decades of his life and had the responsibility of four children.

"I'm seventeen," Henry continued, "I have no idea how to be a father to those kids, let alone one who can be no more than five years younger than myself. How am I supposed to do this?" And there it was, the reality of their situation. They might have inadvertently ended up in the future, and were it just them, they could let it go. Pretend ignorance so as not to further damage their relationship, but the children changed things, especially the younger children. The children would be devastated if they learned their parents were not their parents and did not remember them.

Regina tried to protest, to tell Henry that they owed the children nothing. They might be the parents biologically speaking, but that did not mean they had to take responsibility of them as well.

Regina's comment pulled Henry out of freak out mode. "Is that what you think?" he asked sadly, "That you can just abandon your children? Your family?"

Regina recoiled at his tone because she realized he was right, as he usually was. She might not desire the children, and she might despise herself, or her future self, but she could not bring herself to abandon them. She'd changed too much. Family was too important to her.

"You're right," she agreed.

The rest of the conversation was interrupted by a scream coming from the other side of the wall.