It hadn't taken Regina and Emma long to locate Hook after they found out that the he hadn't been back to his hotel rooms at Granny's for a few nights. As they approached the dock, sure enough Hook was sitting on a bench facing the water. Next to him was a bottle of rum and empty beer bottles were scattered on the ground next to his feet. As both women quickened their pace to approach him, Emma placed a hand on Regina's arm. "Why don't you hang back here for a bit? I don't want the guy to feel ambushed, especially when the news I'm about to tell him is going to be hard enough for him to comprehend as it is."

A look of insecurity seeped up on Regina's countenance and for a moment as she had a ridiculous vision of Emma and Hook running away together, all the while turning their heads and laughing at Regina. She knew that it was completely irrational, but now that the reality of their odd predicament was setting in outside the safety of their shared little secret, Regina was panicking that everything seemed too good to be true.

Emma noted the look of fear on Regina's face, but being that they were in such an open setting, she had to go with a more subtle approach in order to subdue it. She took both of Regina's hands into her own and gently squeezed them. "I'm not sure what is going on in that head of yours, but I can assure you that we…you and I, are in this together, okay? As soon as I assess exactly just how drunk he is, and ease into the conversation, I will call you over. I promise Regina."

Regina nodded and put her hands in her coat pocket. Emma smiled lovingly at her and gave her a small wink. "Well…here goes nothing," Emma said as she cautiously strolled over to where Hook was sitting. "This seat taken," she asked as she moved the half empty rum bottled out of the way.

Hook whipped his head to the left and stared at the woman sitting next to him. He was beyond intoxicated, but even in such a state, he was conflicted as to whether he should kiss this woman, or shout obscenities at her. "Swwaaaannnn…" he managed to draw out with a slur. "Did ya come to find your pirate and make sorry with me?" He leaned in for a kiss, but Emma quickly pulled back and he fell face forward onto the bench.

Emma gasped at what had happened and quickly helped the man to an upright seated position. The moment she made physical contact with him, he began to weep uncontrollably and his head flopped onto her shoulder. "Swwwannnn…look what you've done to meeeee. I'm messy without you. I mean I'm a mess without you."

"Oh Killian…it looks and smells like you have been on a bender for days. I'm so sorry…I never meant to hurt you like this." Emma looked over her shoulder and shot a look of concern to Regina. There was no way they could tell him the news when he was in such a wasted state. "How about we take you somewhere so that you can sleep this off and then we can have a serious conversation, okay?" Emma motioned with her head that Regina should walk over and join them. Regina rolled her eyes at this ridiculous man who was also the father of her baby, but obeyed and joined the pair seated on the bench.

"You know what the problem is lasssss…you are so beautiful, but soooooo selfish Emma. You only care about people until you need them no more," he said as he pointed his hand in the air for emphasis. Hook reached for the rum bottle, but Regina got to it first and scooped it up out of reach. "Bloody hell…what are you doing here? Last timmme I checked you were not mayor nooo more so bugger off will you?"

"Next time you say something unsavory to Emma I will do a lot more than just lock you up for public drunkenness." She looked at Emma and searched her eyes in hopes of gaining a better understanding of what she wanted her to do in this situation. "However, I seem to be in an altruistic mood this evening so I'm going to give you a pass. You will be sleeping this off whether you want to or not."

Hook unsteadily stood up and tried to lunge at Regina, but practically fell on top of Emma instead. With a flick of her wrist, Regina had him standing upright and restrained him in place. "As I was saying, you will be sleeping this off so that we can have you in a right frame of mind, whatever that usually means for you, in order for Emma and I to conduct a proper conversation with you." Regina raised both of her hands, and before Hook could protest, teleported him back to her mansion and put him in a deep, hydrating sleep in the guest bedroom. A white puff of smoke soon followed as Emma also appeared in the upstairs hallway.

Regina looked at Emma and shook her head. "If he ever acts like that around our child, I swear…"

"I know Regina, I feel the same way. But unfortunately I think some of his behavior has something to do with the fact that I so flippantly tossed him a side." Regina raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to speak, but Emma cut her off before words began to flow. "Before you say anything, I'm not saying that I regret breaking it off with him. I just regret not being a bit more sensitive to the fact that for him, what I was about to do was coming out of the blue. I selfishly rushed through it all because I couldn't wait to come home to you that night for dinner with a clean conscience." Emma placed her arm around Regina's waist and led her to the master bedroom. "It's been a long day for all of us. What do you say we go to bed?"

Regina bit her bottom lip and reluctantly nodded. Both women began to prepare themselves for bed, but did so in silence. The awkward fact that Hook was passed out a few rooms down the hall loomed heavily in the air. They both hoped that by now the big news would have been revealed to him and that they could all be processing it while trying to figure out who had stolen Rumple's dagger. But circumstances got in the way and things had to be delayed for yet another night.

When Emma got back from the bathroom she couldn't help but smile at seeing a tank top and shorts waiting for her on the bed. She looked up at Regina who was clad in her signature silk pajamas and cocked her head to the side. "Did you buy these for me?" Regina nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders, but a small upturn of her lips betrayed the coolness she was trying to convey. "Thank you Regina."

Emma put on her new sleep clothes and got into bed next to Regina. "So how long will he be out for?"

Regina turned over to face Emma and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. "I put him under for about ten hours and have him hydrating while he sleeps. As much as he deserves the hangover he should get, I want him alert and focused when we talk to him tomorrow."

Emma smiled, and turned over so that she could kiss Regina on the mouth. The kiss started out slow, and chaste, but soon it deepened as tongues intermingled and hands roamed each other's body. Regina pulled away and was amazed at how erratic her breathing had become so quickly. A familiar spread of warmth and electricity was flooding her body. Emma was like a powerful drug, and Regina knew she had to stop before things got out of control. "We better halt this for now…I pride myself on my exceptional self-control, but lately, around you, my entire sense of will power goes right out the window. "

"I know what you mean. In the past I was drawn to you as a result of a fight over whatever the pressing matter was at the time, but now I find myself doing anything to be in your presence so that I can touch you or be touched by you. It's going to be torture to just lay here and sleep next to you tonight, but it will be exquisite torture." She placed a brief kiss on Regina's lips, and then snuggled into the other woman's arms and draped an arm and a leg over her body. "Goodnight Regina."

"Goodnight." Regina clung to Emma and lightly played with the blonde's hair until her heavy breathing suggested that she had drifted off to sleep. As much as Regina also wanted to fall into a slumber, her mind was racing with thoughts about how things would play out with Hook tomorrow.

….

Hook was sitting at Regina's kitchen island as he pushed pieces of egg around his plate. He forced himself to take one last bite of the first real food he had in days, and then shoved the plate across the counter. He looked into the eyes of the two women seated across from him and snorted. "What's the point of keeping me here against my will Regina? Emma's made it very clear that she no longer wants to be with me. You enjoying a good gloat at our expense?"

Emma put her orange juice down on the counter and took a deep breath in preparation for what she was about to say. "Hook, Regina brought you here because I need the three of us to talk in a safe and calm environment. I have some surprising but good news to share with you." Emma looked at Regina and the other woman nodded at her with encouragement. "Killian, I'm pregnant."

Hook glared at Emma with a look of shock. Then a huge grin spread across his face as he leapt off of the stool and ran over to Emma. He took her in his arms and spun her around muttering, "Love, love love…this is wonderful. I knew you just broke up with me because you were scared at what was happening between us. It's going to be okay…in fact it's going to be great!" He leaned in for a kiss, but Emma turned her face so that he was instead met with her cheek. He placed her back down on the ground and stood back at arm's length. "Swan it's okay…you don't have to push me away anymore. I'm not going anywhere…I love you and we will raise this baby together."

Regina cleared her throat, and Emma inched her way out of Hook's embrace. "Killian, I wasn't running scared when I broke up with you. I still stand by that decision…I care about you so very deeply, but I can't continue on with what we were doing. It warms my heart that you want to be a part of this child's life, but that doesn't involve us being together."

Hook again moved closer to Emma, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed that Regina had placed a protective hand on Emma's arm. "What…are you Swan's keeper now?" He rubbed the stubble on his chin and began a slow chuckle. "Of course; you told her to break up with me didn't you? You just can't stand to see Emma happy…especially since she took your precious Robin Hood away from you." He turned his head to look Emma directly in the eyes. "Can't you see that she is just playing you Emma? She's pretending to be your friend just so she can ruin your life yet again. She's a villain Swan, or do I need to refresh your memory on how many times she has tried to hurt you. "

"Or how about how many times she has tried to save me? Hook…I know you are talking out of anger, and that is completely understandable. But you need to listen to me, okay. This baby is very special."

"Of course it's special… it's our baby," Hook said as he put his palm on Emma's stomach and raised an eyebrow. "And if memory serves me correctly, it's was a pretty special night as well."

Regina groaned and swatted his hand away from Emma's stomach. "Please, spare me the details." Frustration was wearing away at Regina, and she gave Emma a look to convey that. "Are you going to tell him sometime in this century, or do I have to?"

Emma shuffled her feet and finally said, "Killian…I'm not technically the mother of this baby. I mean, I will be its mother of course, but DNA wise, I'm not biologically the mother."

Killian began to laugh and shake his head in amusement. "Love, I know you are as shocked as I am that we are having a baby, but denial doesn't help things either. I may be no science expert, but I'm pretty damn sure I know how babies are made."

"So did I until a few weeks ago…but when magic is involved, a different set of rules seem to apply. You know how much magic I have been using the past few months…and many times I was performing it even when I didn't know what the hell I was doing. In order to help control it and keep this town safe, Regina had to help me. Our magical streams are more powerful when they join together. You've seen that with your own eyes. But every time Regina and I combine our magic, we leave more and more of an imprint on one another. Magic is made up of our DNA…and the night you and I were together, Regina and I used a lot of magic earlier in the day to defeat the creature the Snow Queen sent after us."

Confusion was written all over Hook's face at the large amount of information that Emma had just thrown at him. "Swan…I have no idea what you are trying to say. What the bloody hell does Regina's magic have to do with any of this? I think hormones are making you talk crazy."

Regina rolled her eyes and blurted out, "Don't be such a daft idiot Hook. What Emma is trying to say is that this baby is yours and mine. My DNA mixed with yours, not Emma's. So it looks like the three of us are having a baby."

Hook stumbled back and practically fell over the stool behind him. He looked between the two women and could see that Emma was in absolute agreement with Regina. He tried to formulate a sentence, but was having difficulty finding the right words. "This is…I mean…come one Emma; you can't honestly believe that is true? She has to be manipulating you in some way for you to even think this is possible."

Emma sighed, walked over to Hook and helped guide him to the stool. "I know this is hard to wrap the mind around…but I assure you it's one hundred percent true. As much as I'm not a fan of Gold, we went to his shop as soon as we found out, because to complicate matters, the baby is also progressing at alarming rate. I'm already at the end of my first trimester. Gold performed a potion reading and yours and Regina DNA is what came out of it. Regina and I also let our magic reach out to this baby and it confirmed what Gold said to be true. Killian, you need to trust that I wouldn't lie to you."

Hook rubbed his forehead and tried to process all that he was hearing. It was ridiculous, but somehow nothing that happened in this town surprised him anymore. He pulled a flask out from his coat pocket and commented, "Before you say anything about the drunken bender I have been on for the past few days, I think I deserve a drink after hearing this news." He put the flask up to his lips, took a long gulp, and then put it back inside his coat. He looked at Emma and a tentative smile crept across his lips. "So it's like, what, three months along already?"

"Yeah, pretty crazy huh," Emma said as she walked over to Regina's purse to retrieve the sonogram picture. "Here…this is from our last sonogram appointment yesterday. Everything looks healthy so far." She handed the picture to him and went back to stand next to Regina.

While Hook was engrossed in looking at the picture, Regina briefly placed a hand on Emma's lower back and gave it a quick rub. Then Regina walked over to the other empty stool and took a seat. "Killian, I know we have a lot more to discuss, and a lot of details to figure out, but there is something else going on that you should know about." Hook looked up from the picture and was met with worry and concern in Regina's eyes. "Belle called Emma to the shop yesterday and informed her that someone had stolen Rumple's dagger. He doesn't even know about it yet. While Emma was there, an intruder was lurking the other room and practically threw an entire display case at Emma as she tried to apprehend him or her. I can't help but think that this timing is suspicious in conjunction with what seems to be a very powerful baby growing inside Emma. And even if it's not related, someone having control of Gold at the same time is dangerous for everyone, our baby included."

Hook quickly shot a glance to Emma. "Someone tried to hurt you yesterday? Are you okay? Why didn't you call me?"

"I had it under control… I was fine. Regina helped heal me. Besides, had I called you yesterday, what help would you have been in such a drunken state?" She looked between Hook and Regina and was overwhelmed by the immense amount of love that both of them seemed to have for her. "There's something else that I didn't mention because I thought it was nothing…and I didn't want to worry you. But in light of recent events…Dammit I really thought I had just misplaced it, but I don't think that's the case. I had left the first sonogram picture in the glove compartment of my car and it seems to be missing."

Regina shook her head. "No, I can't imagine that we left something that important in your car."

Emma raised an eyebrow at Regina and shot her a knowing glance. "Regina…if you will remember back to that day we were in shock by the time we made it back to your house and it ended up being a fairly distracting night. We left the picture in the glove box, I'm sure of it. A few days later I went to look for it so that I could make a copy of it, but it was missing."

"If anyone tries to touch your or that baby, it will be the last thing they do, I swear," shouted Hook. He looked over to Regina and shook his head. "Regina, would you be so kind as to release the spell you have on me so that I can finally leave your home. I'd like to get out there and start nosing around to see who the hell I have to kill for hurting Emma yesterday."

Regina flicked her wrist and released the hold she had on him. "Just don't do anything stupid out there and don't tell anyone about the baby yet, promise? We need to figure it out as a family when and how we should tell people. "

Hook was already walking towards the door, but stopped and turned around. "Fine. But I have a request for you…do you think I can be there the next time the two of you go to a sonogram appointment?"

Regina and Emma practically said in unison, "of course." As they did so, both women looked at one another and smiled. Regina took a few steps so that she was standing between Hook and Emma. She was in shock pertaining to what she was about to say, but couldn't help the words from flowing out of her mouth. "With everything going on…I don't know about the both of you, but I almost forgot that Thursday is Thanksgiving. I was thinking of inviting Mary Margaret, David and Neal over for dinner along with Emma, Henry and I."

Emma quizzically inquired, "You were?" She couldn't imagine a world where Regina would ever have these people over for dinner, let alone on a holiday.

Regina shot an annoyed look at Emma. "Yes, I was. And I was thinking that maybe Killian would also like to be there." She turned her head and looked at the man standing in her entryway. "Would you like to come over for Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday? Maybe that would be a good time, as a family, to fill them in on the baby situation?"

Hook was just as taken aback as Emma was at Regina's request. "As sufficiently awkward and weird as I'm sure that evening will turn out, I think it would be a good idea. Okay, yeah, I'll come by on Thursday. I'll umm…call you later on tonight Swan, if that's okay?

She smiled and nodded. "Sure. Be careful out there."

He smiled and gazed at Emma with an air of a man who was clearly still in love. "Always am Swan, always am." With that he turned and headed out of the mansion.

Regina walked over to Emma, took her hand, and guided her back into the kitchen. "Come on, you need to eat something. You were so nervous this morning that you didn't touch anything on your plate."

Emma, still taking in everything that had just occurred, allowed herself to be led into the next room. "Thanksgiving? Regina, Regina, Regina… you are full of surprises. I can't wait to hear how that phone call with Mom will go."

Regina sat down next to Emma. "You don't think it's a good idea?"

"No, I didn't say that. I mean it's going to be interesting, that's for sure. But it will be good; it's the perfect time to tell everyone within the safe confines of this home. Though I suppose we should tell Henry first; it's not fair for him to find out with everyone else."

"Agreed. I'm equally excited and terrified to do that. But you're right…we owe it to him. Although this morning went better than I expected. Anyway, what can I make you for breakfast being that your eggs are beyond cold at this point?"

"Don't laugh…but I'd really like you to make me something apple based. There's no doubt that this is your baby Regina; I can't stop craving apples and it's driving me nuts."

A huge smile swept across Regina's face and an indescribable feeling of pride flooded her body. "Really? You're craving apples?"

"Yes, so before I change my mind, make me one of your famous apple turnovers, only leave out the sleeping curse this time, will you?"

"Way to ruin a lovely moment Ms. Swan. Fine, apple turnovers it is. But you are going to help. I am determined to teach you to cook…and you know how I can get when I want something." She walked over to the pantry, picked out an apron, and placed it on Emma. As she moved her hands around Emma's waist in order to tie the back of the apron, her lips deliberately grazed Emma's neck.

A blush fell over Emma's cheeks, and she tried to pull Regina into a kiss, but the brunette playfully backed away. "No, no Ms. Swan. No rewards for you until after I deem your cooking skills worthy enough," she said as she slowly sauntered over to the bowl of apples.

Emma shook her head in defeat. "Fine…as you wish. But there better be a hell of a reward at the end of this for making me endure the horror of wearing an apron."