Jefferson knew that Regina was going to be prowling about the moment that she heard about the marriage, he just didn't think that it would be this soon. What, she smell a treat and run and scratch at the door like the…well…did he really have to say it?

"Stay here," Jefferson told Emma over his shoulder. He really didn't want to have a target on her. Not just yet. She was eighteen and she had no idea what Regina was capable of. He did. And he was going to protect his wife with everything he had. She was his wife now, his responsibility to even more to keep safe.

Regina took in his pajama bottoms and tight shirt when he opened the door. She raised an eyebrow, "I'd have thought it would've taken you a lot longer to dress after your wedding night."

"I move fast."

Regina smirked, "I'm sure you do. Hope your wife likes that sort of thing."

He scowled, he walked right into that one, "What do you want Regina? Come to wish you were in her place?"

Regina made a disgusted face, "God no."

She held up a basket and took off the blanket. Jefferson stepped back when he saw that it was full of apples. Not the most intimidating thing but…he knew the story. He knew what those things were capable of.

"What?" Regina gave him that vicious grin, "A gift for your wife."

"I'll pass on her behalf, I Heard those thing pack quite the punch."

"She's 21, I'm sure it's legal."

Jefferson smirked, Regina still bought that lie, he was safe, "Some things you're still too young for. I'm very much older and I wouldn't touch them."

Regina scowled a bit and dropped the act, "What good do you think you're going to do for this woman, Jefferson? Trapping her in this town because you're lonely?"

"She was attracted to my shining personality. Begged me to marry her once she saw me working out one day. Well…."

Regina acted like she didn't hear him, "And with a baby in tow. What good will it do for that child here? What good could you do for a baby? We both know what little good you can do for him, you could barely hold onto the last one without abandoning her."

Jefferson lost his temper and started forward. Regina's smirk fell and she backed off, "Careful now Jefferson wouldn't want the little wife to see who you really are. What you're capable of…"

Jefferson stopped.

Regina smirked, "Does she even know about Grace? What sort of future are you going to have with the lovely wife if you keep such secrets from her as your daughter?"

Jefferson leaned forward, "That's not your business."

"Oh, the happiness of my town is always my business."

She meant misery. It must twist that knife inside her so much to believe that Jefferson might have found a happy ending and she was still searching and bored.

He was about to slam the door in her face but Regina was looking past him. He turned as well and he saw his wife standing behind him. He wasn't sure how much she heard but she looked upset. She at least had to have heard about Grace.

"Hello dear, congratulations on your big day," Regina held up the apples, "A gift for you. Jefferson tells me they pack quite the punch. Honeycrisp apples usually do. Did you know the Honeycrisp tree is the most vigorous and hearty of all ap-."

Jefferson slammed the door in her face. He stared at his wife and felt a stirring in her stomach at the hurt in her eyes, "Emma."

She backed away a step, "So…you have a kid you didn't tell me about."

"Emma."

"Those sorts of things you might want to tell someone you marry about," Emma muttered and turned around to go back upstairs.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Emma knew married people lied all the time. Once she had a foster mother who liked to her foster dad to keep Emma from getting in trouble when she misbehaved at school. Claimed it was the other kids fault that Emma came home with bruises and scrapes from fights that he didn't give her.

But to lie about a kid. Knowing full well that he had one when he asked her to marry him. It wasn't the fact that he had a child that Emma was bothered by. She suspected that he might have had one when they talked on the porch that night. It was the fact that he kept it from her. If he lied about a kid, what else was in his past? What got them separated. IT sounded like the mayor was talking in present tense, so she had to be alive. Was she taken away? Emma was never taken away, she was usually shuttled back when she was a problem. So what did that mean Jefferson was capable of?

Would he hurt Alex?

Maybe it was something simple. Maybe he just wasn't allowed custody of Grace because the mother did something, maybe it wasn't…bad.

She was rocking Alex when he finally got the nerve to knock and enter his- their room.

"Emma? Would you like to talk about what you just heard?"

Emma focused on the baby, "I think I'd rather listen to you explain instead of talking."

"Emma-," he sounded so tired.

"I know….that we are not…married for marrying reasons," Emma started, "And maybe because of that, I don't have any right to know that you had a kid sometime in your life but still…you lied to me."

"I never said I wasn't a father before."

"You kept it from me!" Emma snapped, "That's still lying."

Jefferson sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and he pulled up a chair and sat next to her, "I didn't want you to know because there are things in my past that I'm not proud of."

"Well me too, that's sort of how I ended up pregnant and alone."

"I know," he told her, "I know."

"Then why did you lie? Is Alex-?"

Jefferson looked at his hands, "I had a daughter…and her name was- is Grace. And she- she lost her mother when she was very young. I wasn't…stable. Mentally or financially and when there was a job that came up that provided for us, provided by the mayor…and when I fulfilled my end of the bargain, she separated us and…I suffered a mental breakdown. IT took…years to get myself where I am now. But I assure you…Alex is safe. I would never hurt our son."

Emma had heard that a lot from her foster fathers. They would never hurt her until they actually did. But there was something pleading in his voice. Something earnest in his eyes that made her believe him.

"Why did the mayor take Grace away?"

"She and I have a past….that I'm not proud of. I wasn't the best man you could hope for back in the day. Still doubt I am, I lied to you."

And that was all she was going to get. Emma wasn't sure if she liked that or not, "Did you and she ever…."

"No! No, God no!" he shook his head, "Never, never, never."

"Cause…you know, she IS attractive."

"She was taken at the time," he shrugged, "Granted, that wouldn't have stopped me normally…Emma, I'm sorry I lied to you. I didn't tell you because admitting to a mental breakdown after losing my daughter is a hard thing to confess….and I wasn't certain you'd feel safe with Alex here."

Emma looked down. Did she feel safe? She saw the boy and Jefferson's relationship. The way he smiled and coddled him. The way he timed her holding him so that he could. The way he kissed him and hugged him and called him son.

She trusted him with Alex.

But did she trust him around her?

"Anything else you're not telling me about?"

Jefferson tried not to show his worry when she asked that. He knew it was coming. This would be the time for him to come clean. To tell her why she was there and what purpose she would serve. No other opportunity would show itself after this one. It would be too late afterwards.

But if he did tell her…she wouldn't believe him. She'd think he was insane or even worse; that he was mocking her, and she'd take Alex and leave. But maybe he could convince her to stay. He could help her build back up her trust in him if he was honest. After all, who wouldn't blame him for lying, right? It was an unbelievable story.

But if he didn't, she'd feel betrayed and she'd take Alex and leave. But this way, he could have a chance. He could work with her, get her to trust him and then gently break it to her at the right moment. This wasn't the right moment, it couldn't be.

Which one did he do?

He went over both in his mind and then made a decision and looked at Emma. And no matter what he told himself, he knew he'd lose her. "No, there's not."