CHAPTER TEN – STORYBROOKE REVELATIONS

"I just can't seem to find anything on babies between two women," Belle sighed and closed her book, turning to look at Mary Margaret with an apologetic smile. "I mean, there was one story where it might have been implied – two witches residing in Wonderland – but there's no real account for it."

Mary Margaret furrowed her brow and looked at all the books spread out on the tables in the back of the library. Belle and Mulan – and sometimes Ruby when she wasn't busy at the diner – had taken over at least half of the space, and Belle had notes lying everywhere, comments and reminders scribbled in her neat cursive handwriting. "Maybe it's just our minds telling us something that isn't true," Mary Margaret said with a soft sigh as she took a seat next to Ruby, who was busy slurping her iced coffee. "I mean, perhaps we just want it to be true, so we're making things up?"

"Nope," Ruby shook her head, strands of brown and red sweeping around her, "Nuh-uh, I refuse to believe that. The kid is Regina's, I'm sure of it. The resemblance is too uncanny."

Mulan nodded, "I completely agree. We've just… not found the right explanation yet."

Reaching for a random book on the table, Mary Margaret said, "But perhaps Emma can clear everything up. If they do remember soon. I just don't understand what's taking Regina so long…" She stared at Mulan, eyes beseeching, "Do you know?"

With an awkward shuffle, Mulan closed the book she'd been reading, "I think that… That Regina's been a little reluctant to get the hairs, you know?"

Ruby rested her head in her hand, "Oh really? And why's that?"

"I just think she likes it there," Mulan softly replied, brown eyes turning to look at Belle for a brief second. The other woman was not really listening, buried in an encyclopaedia kind of book about magical places. "It's not… She's lonely, I think, when she's not with them. But she told me that Emma doesn't have a girlfriend and it was all a big misunderstanding. And she says that-"

"She says that what?" Mary Margaret asked, suddenly afraid to hear the answer, because what if something had gone wrong? What if she'd already tried the potions and they hadn't worked? It had been a few days since Regina had last contacted her, too busy hanging out with Henry, she'd said.

Mulan stared at her, eyes shimmering with emotion. "She says that they're happy there. Henry and Emma and Alba. That they have a great life, and that Henry has so many friends. And that maybe she could be happy too," Mulan finished, eyes diving to the table.

Mary Margaret swallowed loudly. "But… she can't do that. Emma's my daughter."

"She knows that," Mulan replied gently, and not for the first time did Mary Margaret wonder what was up with this fierce loyalty that Mulan had suddenly grown towards Regina, "and she'd never not do what we agreed to do, I just think…" she trailed off, eyes coming up once more to look at Mary Margaret, "I just think that she wishes she could be selfish and let Emma fall in love with her despite everything."

Ruby whistled lowly. "The old Regina would've done that."

Mulan said, "She's not the old Regina anymore."

"Neverland!" Belle suddenly quipped, finger pointed excitedly at a page in the book she was reading. Apparently she was at the N's already. "Neverland is a magical place," she continued to say as her eyes looked up from the pages.

Ruby arched an eyebrow, "Uhm yeah? That's kinda how kids don't grow up. And Pan is kinda how we're in this mess to begin with."

Mary Margaret nudged her best friend with her elbow. "What about Neverland, Belle?"

Belle looked back into the book, reciting, "Neverland is a magical realm. It is not known what kind of magic fuels the place-"

"Heart of the truest believer," Ruby interjected.

"-but it is a place where magical things have been known to happen. There's no need for sorceresses, magic beans or pixie dust, the magic grows in the trees and runs in the rivers. Powerful beings have been known to become even more powerful, and the deepest wishes and desires of someone's heart have been known to come true." She finished, looking up at them once more with an excited smile. "Don't you see?"

Mary Margaret cleared her throat. "I'm not sure I'm following your thoughts, Belle."

Belle's smile lit up the entirety of the secluded nook they were currently in as she said, "Neverland is a magical place, yeah? You guys were there. For a while. And both Regina and Emma are magical beings, powerful magical beings." She shook her head to herself, eyes turning back to the page, "…the magic grows in the trees and runs in the rivers, don't you see? It happened at Neverland!"

Still not entirely sure what Belle was referring to, Mary Margaret had to ask, "What happened at Neverland?"

With a sigh, Ruby leaned her head closer to Mary Margaret's ear and said, "You know the, uh… the sex between, uh… Regina and Emma. Between, you know, your once mortal enemy and your daughter."

Freezing, Mary Margaret stared at Ruby with narrowed eyes, and Mulan softly said, "Is she okay?"

"I'm sorry," Ruby cackled, holding on to Mary Margaret's shoulder to shake her, "it's just that while Snow really likes the idea of having another grandchild and for Emma and Regina to have a child together, her brain sort of blows a fuse every time it occurs to her that for that to be true Emma and Regina will have had to have sex."

"Don't talk about that!" Mary Margaret shrieked, and she had to restrain herself from putting her fingers into her ears. "I don't want to think about that," she paused, "What I do wanna think about is my granddaughter."

Mulan bit her lip to hold back a smile, "Belle, please continue."

Belle offered her a soft smile, "Well, there's not much more to say-" she sighed, eyes back in the book, "You guys were at Neverland, and if uh," she paused, eyes flickering, "if Emma and Regina were together there, who knows what could have happened? Like I said, it's a really powerful magical realm, and they are two powerful witches. Perhaps they created a baby by sheer magic?"

Nodding her head, Mary Margaret thought about that for a second or two. It did sound plausible, and she didn't know as much about magic and realms as Belle did, but Neverland had been an odd experience. While they'd tried their hardest to try to find Henry as quickly as possible and not die while doing it, there had been some odd tensions in the group. She'd thought briefly that Hook might have been interested in Emma, but she realised now that that was very unlikely. Perhaps Regina and Emma had had more going on – between the two of them – than Mary Margaret had really noticed? She'd been kind of busy worrying about Henry and everything.

"The book did say that it grants wishes and desires," Ruby mused at that, breaking Mary Margaret's train of thought.

"Huh?" Belle said.

"Yeah," Ruby added, nodding her head and sipping the iced coffee next to her, "you know, your book said that it grants wishes and desires, and I just thought…" She shrugged, taking yet another sip as Mary Margaret held her breath, "What if they you know, did the deed, and uh, one or the two of them were thinking oh dang, I wish I could give Regina another kid or, you know, I really wish I had the power to impregnate Emma, because I want to have a family, and then uh… it happened." Ruby stopped talking, straw perched against her lips as the other three women looked at her in mild shock. "What?"

Mulan was the first to say something. "It's actually not that far of a stretch," she whispered, brown eyes trailing to Mary Margaret, "I mean – Regina wants that with Emma. So bad. I believe she's wanted it for a while. Perhaps she did at Neverland, too."

Belle smiled at that, wrapping an arm around Mulan's shoulders to tug her in for a sideways hug. "Perhaps she's her True Love," she sweetly mused.

Mary Margaret had been about to say something about Regina wanting to have a family with Emma – and she was going to revisit those news soon – but she paused at the words Belle had just said. "True Love's Kiss," she whispered, and suddenly it felt like there was this nervous energy in her body, like maybe that was the solution to everything.

Ruby questioned, "True Love's Kiss?"

Continuing, Mary Margaret was eager to explain herself, because this made sense. "True Love's Kiss," she said once more, as she leaned forward on the table, knuckles turning white, "If they share True Love, shouldn't they be able to break any curse?"

Gaping at Mary Margaret, Belle said, "That's what True Love's Kiss is."

"So if they're True Loves, shouldn't they be able to break this curse with a kiss?" Mary Margaret added, and Belle closed her book with a thud.

"Oh dang," Ruby breathed as she slurped her coffee.

—-

Regina really didn't want to talk to Mary Margaret, but she'd been dodging her calls for three days – only speaking to Mulan because at least she wasn't such an insipid idiot – but she knew she had to take this one. The younger woman had been nothing if not persistent all day, calling every twenty minutes or so, apparently all too eager to speak with Regina.

She'd just been so consumed in thoughts of Emma and Henry and Alba, but mostly Emma because Emma wanted to kiss her. And it was such a silly thing to be so caught up in, and Regina hated herself a little bit for it, but she couldn't help it. Even without her memories, Emma wanted to kiss her; even without alcohol, Emma wanted to kiss her. It had been so hard to resist her that night on the couch, it would have been so easy to just fall into her, like they had before, but Regina simply couldn't do that to her. She knew what it felt like to be forced into something, and even though this was hardly the same, she didn't want Emma to feel lied to or tricked.

She toyed with the idea of asking Emma out on a date though, because the desire was just so big. She could take her out – perhaps just share one kiss, that could hardly make anyone mad – and see what it was like to date Emma in this world, away from Storybrooke and memories. It was self-indulgent and probably not something she should allow herself, but just one date could hardly harm anyone, right? And then she'd give them the potions and they could go back. She knew she couldn't stall it much longer, and not only because Mary Margaret refused to leave her alone.

The phone ran again and Regina took a seat on the small couch, telling herself to get this conversation over with. She pressed the green button and said, "Hello Snow."

"Regina, finally!" Mary Margaret breathed, and she sounded so relieved that Regina felt a tiny bit of guilt sweep over her – but only just a tiny bit, no need to get emotional – and the other woman continued. "We've been trying to reach you all day!"

"We?" Regina sighed, not really sure if she would be able to have this conversation if the other half of the Two Idiots was there as well.

"Hi Regina," Mulan chipped in from the other end of the phone, and she heard Belle's unmistakable accent and Ruby's "Whassup Evil Queen, conquered any realms lately?" as well as David's soft greeting.

Regina bit her cheek, telling herself not to laugh as she flicked a piece of lint off her blazer. "No, not yet today Miss Lucas, but the night is still young, so we shall see."

Ruby laughed, "I like the sound of that!"

With a sigh, Regina continued, "So what is this all about? You've been rather persistent in your attempts to contact me, Snow."

Mary Margaret hummed. "Well, first I'd like to say that I understand that it must be hard for you and that you have reasons for dragging this out-" Regina opened her mouth to object to that, but Mary Margaret was on a roll, "-but Emma is my daughter, and I want her home, and I know it must be tough on you, but we all miss them."

"I know," Regina sighed, and Mary Margaret had probably not expected her to agree so quickly, because she hitched in a gulp of air.

"You do?"

Regina huffed. "Of course I do. I've been stalling because I enjoy seeing Emma and Henry so carefree and unbothered. And yes, I did toy with the idea of not giving them the potions at all and just staying here, but I'd never do that to you, Snow. Despite everything, I thought you knew that."

Mary Margaret softly said, "I do know that. Thank you, Regina."

"You're welcome," Regina stiffly replied.

David said, "So are you going to get the hairs soon or what's the plan?"

Regina stared at the two vials on her kitchen table, one almost see-through and the other a clear blue liquid, and she felt her heart break a little bit, because she knew she had to tell them. "I already have the hairs," she said, her eyes trailing to the two labels on the vials. Emma the see-through one said, and Henry the blue one said. "I retrieved them a while back when I was at Emma's apartment. The potions are ready, I've just…"

"Been stalling," Mulan softly offered, and Regina's heart soared because she was such an understanding person.

"Look Regina, we get it," Mary Margaret said, and Regina was pretty sure that she meant it, even if she could also most definitely tell that the other woman was happy to hear that the potions were ready. "Just promise me that you'll do it soon, OK?"

Regina didn't need to actually say the words, she just nodded into the empty apartment and stared at the two vials. It had been so easy; she'd grabbed a piece of blonde hair from Emma's brush and a piece of brown hair from Henry's brush, and when she got home to her apartment later, she'd put them into each a vial and watched the colours change.

Clearing her throat, Belle's voice broke through the phone. "We've also been doing some research actually," she offered, and Regina had wondered why both Belle and Ruby was present at this conversation, but who could ever tell why with the Charmings. "Research about, uh, Neverland and … True Love?"

"Yes?" Regina questioned. She had no idea why they'd do anything like that, but they must have their reasons. Even if they were probably foolish. She did count on Mulan to keep things sane though, so that was something.

"This is going to be a really awkward question," Belle continued, insecurity lacing her every word, "but uh, Regina, did you and Emma, uh…"

Regina rolled her eyes to the empty apartment, "Spit it out, Miss French!"

Ruby babbled, never one for patience or tact, "Did you and Emma fuck at Neverland?"

There was a silence at that, and Regina had to take a second to really think about the question that Ruby had just asked her. She could practically hear Mary Margaret's head explode over the phone, and if not for the sheer invasion of personal space she would have probably enjoyed that visual a bit more. Perhaps David appeared to gape like a fish out of water, which she would also very much had liked to see. Instead she grumbled, "Excuse me? Why do you think you're allowed to ask me such a question? Oh, the audacity! I am your queen, Ruby Lucas, and I will not stand to be spoken to this way. It is such an invasion of privacy!"

"Just answer the question, Regina," Mulan softly offered, and Regina was pretty sure that there was slight amusement in her voice.

Regina's spare hand fisted itself into the fabric of her shirt. "I am done with this conversation," she said and moved to hang up the phone. However, she was stopped by the next words coming out of Mary Margaret's mouth in a rushed shriek.

"We think Alba might be yours!"

A silence came upon them, and someone was breathing heavily on the other end – probably Mary Margaret, once more about to explode – and Ruby was hissing under her breath. Regina just stared at the phone in her head, not quite sure if she'd heard correctly. They thought Alba might be-? She frowned and raised the phone back to hear ear. "Explain yourself," she demanded, while she tried desperately to get her heart under control. It was beating madly inside of her chest, so strangely wild that she had never felt anything like it. A tingle had overtaken her body and she just sat there, the words running through her mind like a wildfire. We think Alba might be yours. We think Alba might be yours.

"Neverland is a magical realm," Belle begun, and it sounded like she had swallowed an encyclopaedia. "You and Emma are both powerful magical beings. So if you were – uuuuh – together when you were there, Neverland might have blessed you with its magic."

Regina didn't say anything. She just stared into space as she thought about Neverland and whispered truths, Emma's hands on her beneath the starry night and we think Alba might be yours.

"Regina," David gently broke in at that, "we're not going to be mad or angry or anything, we just want to know if it's even possible."

Mulan added, "It's just that… Alba kind of looks a lot like you."

We think Alba might be yours.

"We were," Regina breathed at that, suddenly finding her voice even though her throat was dry as parchment and her hands were shaking. "Emma and I were… together… in Neverland." She paused, the words repeated themselves inside of her mind – We think Alba might be yours – "You really think she's mine?"

Mary Margaret appeared to have finally found her voice again, "We think so Regina. The timing is right, isn't it? And it'd make so much more sense. The curse and your magic wouldn't have known what to do with a child because you didn't know that Emma was pregnant, so it just sort of filled out the holes itself." She paused to breathe, voice still eager, but soft and gentle, "You did say that Emma's memories about the conception were kind of vague, right?"

Swallowing, Regina said, "They're very vague."

"Neverland can do this," Belle determinedly said, "Neverland could have done this for you two."

We think Alba might be yours. Regina bit her lip and thought of that night, of how everything had felt so absolutely right, and mostly she thought about the things that had run through her mind as she'd been with Emma; she'd thought about them getting Henry and going back to Storybrooke and being a family. A family that she wouldn't have minded growing bigger. And she thought of the love she'd felt for Emma, although almost unspoken, it had filled every part of her, and she'd wished. Wished deeply that it wasn't just a moment of weakness in the hot Neverland night but the truth. Oh Goodness, had she created Alba from a deep desire to have Emma and Henry and be a family?

"Regina?" Mary Margaret softly queried, her voice barely audible over the phone.

"Yes?"

"Listen to your heart," Mary Margaret continued, and Regina was pretty sure there were tears in her eyes at this point, because when was there not with her, "look inside of yourself… Is Alba yours?"

Pictures of Alba flew through Regina's mind at that; her smiling face, her brown eyes, her tufts of hair. Her small temperament and the way she hardly looked like Emma or Henry except that cute Swan nose. She tried to recall herself from when she was younger as she thought of Emma's stories about insemination and choosing a donor. She thought of the couple at the restaurant who'd just assumed without any context that Regina was Alba's mother. She swallowed loudly. "Yes," she replied, and never had anything felt as good as it did right then, when she accepted the truth that had been staring her in the face since she arrived in New York.

A sigh of relief was heard on the other end of the phone and Ruby cheered loudly. "That's it," she whooped, "that girl's gonna be a looker!"

"And a troublemaker," David interjected with a fond laugh.

Regina could feel tears trail down her face as her hands trembled. She knew that she was right, she knew that this was the truth, and yet there she was – not quite able to believe it anyway. Alba. Hers? It was too good to be true. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now," she revealed, because there were so many things she wanted to do, but she couldn't very well do any of them.

Mulan said, "You should give them the potions, Regina. As soon as Emma remembers she'll be able to confirm this for you and you can be with them," she paused, "you can really be with them."

"We think you might share True Love," Mary Margaret added, as a matter of fact. "But the potions are a safer bet, so you should go with that."

Regina felt her heart clench. "True Love may be a bit of a stretch," she replied, and she thought of Daniel and how she had felt with him, even though that was such a long time ago. True Love was rare, so she wasn't going to pretend that her and Emma sharing that was even plausible. Even though the idea was very appealing, she did not think that she'd ever be good enough to share that kind of love with Emma Swan.

Mary Margaret tittered, "Who knows."

"Regina!" Ruby broke in at that, her voice strained with laughter and happiness across the phone, "What are you still doing on the phone with us? Don't you have a kid to go see?"

"Yes," Regina said at that, suddenly having a very big desire to take the elevator to the ninth floor and knock on the door to the Swan apartment, "yes, I do. Thank you Ruby."

David said, "Call us later!" just as Regina hung up the phone and grabbed her purse from the table. As she had told Ruby, the night was still young, so the three Swans were probably going to be hanging around after dinner; Henry doing homework or playing a game, Alba in the playpen and Emma on the computer or doing housework. She smacked her apartment door close and reached the elevator, pressing the button impatiently as she tripped on her feet.

Alba was hers. She was sure of it. So many things made sense when she decided to look at it like that; not only the timing and the resemblance, but also the feelings. Those inexplicable all-consuming feelings she had experienced since she had gotten to know the girl. Those feelings that she tried to explain away by saying it was because it was Emma's daughter, they now made more sense. It wasn't because she was Emma's daughter – although that was amazing as well and would surely have been enough – but it was because she was her daughter. Alba was hers. And Regina just wanted to kiss her and hug her close.

She didn't think Emma would mind.

The elevator pinged, and Regina was knocking on the door in two seconds flat. She could hear shuffling on the other side, Emma dragging her feet as she came to see who was there, and Regina was trying really hard to appear calm as the blonde woman opened the door and stared at her in surprise.

"Regina, what's up-?" was all she managed to get out, confusion adorably written across her face as it so often was.

Regina smiled brightly at her, only one goal in mind. "I just need to-" she said, before she brushed past Emma into the apartment. She threw her purse on the table and immediately located Alba in the playpen, just where she had thought she would be. She leaned over, scooping her up and tried not to shake with sobs as she pressed the baby to her chest and buried her nose in her hair.

My daughter. I have a daughter.

She knew she was crying and that her behaviour would seem strange, but she allowed herself this for just a second more. She cradled the girl who was looking up at her happily, big eyes round and curious, and she pressed a kiss to her forehead, savouring the feeling of holding her in her arms. Her child. Her beautiful little Alba. And as Regina lifted her head slightly, awkwardly brushing her cheeks off in her own sleeve as well as possible, she stared down at the girl in her arms in complete wonder.

Her and Emma had made that. They had created this wonderful human being by sharing something so profound and special. We created this, she thought, and that would never not be amazing to her. By magic, by unspoken desire, perhaps by something else entirely, she and Emma had created this wonderful little human in her arms, whom Regina already loved inexplicably and wanted to protect fiercely. Hers.

"I love you," she whispered and pressed a kiss to her cheek, once more breathing in the wonderful scent that was entirely Alba.

She was broken out of her slight trance by a chuckle from the kitchen. She turned to find Emma watching her with an amused, sheepish smile as she moved around, getting out mugs and tea bags. "Not that Alba doesn't like your greeting, because I'm sure she does," she begun as she filled the kettle with water, "and you're always welcome here, but… What brought this on?"

Regina smiled fondly at Emma, not entirely sure how to even approach her. This little human in her arms was the product of both of them, and it was wondrous to Regina, because she was their mix; entirely Regina and Emma, and so blessed with love. And this woman across from her in the kitchen – she was now the reason that Regina had both of her kids. Sure, she might not have them right now, rhetorically, because they didn't know, but they both existed because of Emma, and that just made Regina love her even more. "I just missed her," Regina replied, taking another whiff of her hair.

"That baby-smell is pretty addicting," Emma laughed as she put the kettle on and rested herself against the counter, "Soon they'll grow up and start smelling like gross teenagers, so you better savour it."

Henry groaned, "I heard that, Ma," he said as he looked up from some of his school books. "Hi, Regina. Can you help me with math?"

Regina chuckled, loving this display of familiarity, loving how she fitted so perfectly into it without them even knowing that she truly belonged there. It was domesticity at its finest, exactly what Regina had dreamt of, except it was even better – Alba was in her arms. Sweet, wonderful Alba, babbling away and curling her fingers around Regina's necklace.

"Kid, Regina came to see Alba, not you," Emma continued to tease Henry, sticking her tongue out at him.

He stuck his tongue out right back, erasing something on his paper. "You suck."

Regina moved towards the kitchen, Alba still cradled in her arms, and only when she took a seat next to Henry did she realise that Emma had automatically found three mugs in the cupboard and dumped Regina's favourite tea into one of them. She assumed – because it was the most logical thing to assume – that the third mug wasn't for Alba, and it warmed her heart how Emma figured that she might as well get some tea now that she was there anyway. "I always want to see both you and Alba, Henry," she murmured and ran a hand through his brown hair.

Henry beamed at her, before turning to Emma. "See," he firmly said, before dumping his eraser and grabbing his pencil again.

"What about me," Emma whined childishly as Regina glanced at Henry's homework, Alba wriggling madly in her arms. This girl was going to be crawling all around this apartment before they both knew it, and Regina quickly scanned the area to make sure that Emma was on top of things. But of course she was – everything appeared to be baby-proofed.

"I always wanna see you, too," Regina assured Emma, as the blonde woman started pouring the hot water into the mugs. "You need to check question number nine," she added for Henry's benefit, and he groaned as he moved back to the question.

There was a soft smile on Emma's face as she looked up from the mugs, red tinting her cheeks. "Really?"

"Yes," Regina assured her, and she stared at her once more, as she moved towards the table with the cups, somehow balancing all three of them; her tongue was poking out as she concentrated, and Regina just loved. She loved so much that she could hardly take it. And she wanted, too, wanted so badly, and she hoped that Emma did as well, even when she remembered. She just wanted to be close to her, to feel her and love her, and never let go. Even before the potions, just right now. Yesterday. Forever.

Emma stared at her, a curious smile on her face, as she sat the mugs down. "What," she breathed, eyes shimmering happily.

"Go on a date with me," Reinga whispered as she buried her nose once more in Alba's hair.

A/N: Gah, okay. So I hope you liked that! A bit of info, so you guys know where I'm at. Originally, at chapter ten in my outline, we were supposed to be a bit further ahead than we are now (at least by two or three chapters). Poor planning on my part, I guess, BUT. Sometimes characters just do not do what you want them to. Which is why this revelation with Alba has already happened at this point (in my original outline, it wasn't supposed to), so now I'll need to do some planning before I can write the next chapter up for you guys. Characters just have a mind of their own, I guess, but I'm quite liking where I'm at anyway, so hopefully everything will still continue to run smoothly. Thanks for sticking with me!