Here Comes the Rain Again
It was a drizzly Saturday morning in Storybrooke. This was Regina's weekend with Henry and her plans were to sleep in and make a huge breakfast for them whenever they were ready to start the day. Things didn't go quite as planned.
At around 7AM, an awful sick feeling ripped Regina right out of her sleep. She opened her eyes and immediately got clobbered by a pounding headache, accompanied by an almost debilitating wave of nausea. She tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but that was impossible. Suddenly, Regina had no choice but to spring out of bed and race to the bathroom! She vomited for what felt like an eternity. This was the sickest she'd ever been. Regina thought back to what she had eaten the day before and couldn't think of anything that could be making her so sick. She got the thermometer out of the medicine cabinet and took her temperature, luckily she didn't have a fever. Regina assumed that she had caught a stomach bug and decided to take a shower. The aroma of the apple-scented body wash that she'd been using for years, unexpectedly made her feel queasy, as did the scent of her shampoo. Regina hurried out of the shower and wrapped herself up in a towel. She stood in front of the bathroom mirror appalled by her own pale appearance. Regina couldn't wait to crawl back into her bed. She was able to doze off for about an hour until that same horrible feeling of nausea came over her again. This was not going to be the relaxing Saturday that Regina was hoping for.
As Regina sat on the cold, hard bathroom floor, she remembered that she hadn't had her period in a while. Regina had a terrible habit of not keeping track of her cycles, but she knew that it had been well over a month. Regina began to panic! While she always dreamed of having two or three children, she never imagined that the father of any of those children would be her still married, former nemesis. You could say that Regina wanted the fairytale. Boy and girl meet, fall in love, get married and have babies. This was no fairy tale!
Once she was feeling a little better, Regina decided she had no choice but to go to the pharmacy and buy a pregnancy test. She was completely dreading it! All she could picture was standing in the checkout line and running into Emma or even worse, Snow White!
Regina was able to get in and out of the pharmacy quickly until a familiar voice greeted her as she was walking to her car.
"Good Afternoon, Regina. How have you been"? Asked a pleasant male voice
It was Robin Hood and he was now standing right in front of Regina. She casually tried to keep the bag containing her pregnancy test out of his view.
"I'm a little sick today. I was just buying some aspirin" Regina lied.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I do hope you'll feel better soon" Robin responded caringly.
"I'll be fine" Regina replied quickly.
"While I have you here, I simply must ask you, are the rumors true"? Robin questioned Regina curiously
"What rumors"? Regina replied, trying to play dumb
"Word around Storybrooke is that you and the Dark One are an item" Robin responded.
"We are. Rumple and I are very happy" Regina beamed.
"Quite a strange coupling, but I'm happy for you, Regina. I only want the best for you" Robin said sincerely as he went to embrace Regina. She declined the embrace and said, "I'm sorry to cut you short, but I really have to get going."
"It was great seeing you, Regina. Take care" Robin said as she got into her car.
Regina practically sped home so that she could hurry up and take the test. When she opened the front door, Henry was waiting for her in the kitchen.
"Mom, I'm starving. Where's breakfast"? He asked
"Sorry honey, I woke up not feeling well. I'll cook us a big breakfast tomorrow" Regina promised.
"OK. I'll have cereal" Henry replied.
Regina went upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. She opened the test and read all of the instructions. According to the package, once you take the test, you should get the results in three minutes. Those three minutes were pure torture! Regina kept going back and forth between the two possible outcomes in her mind. A baby would be wonderful and nobody would appreciate a second chance at fatherhood more than Rumpelstiltskin. No baby would also be wonderful at this point in time. Rumpelstiltskin was still married to Belle and still grieving the loss of his son. Waiting another year or so really wasn't such a bad idea. Regina paced back and forth as she waited out the final few seconds. As soon as Regina picked up the white stick, there was no denying the results. Two pink lines in the result window meant that she was pregnant. Regina and Rumpelstiltskin were going to have a baby. Regina walked out of the bathroom and climbed into her bed. She laid there wide-eyed, thinking about what this all meant.
Regina was overjoyed to be blessed with another child. A child that she wouldn't have to share with Emma. Regina was also scared that Rumpelstiltskin wasn't as over Belle as he claimed and that he would leave her if Belle ever wanted him back. Being unlucky in love was all Regina had ever known. The concept of actually being happy was still a little foreign to her. She believed that Rumpelstiltskin loved her, but Regina was still a little doubtful that he loved her as much as he loved Belle. There was no doubt in Regina's mind that Rumpelstiltskin would love and protect his child, but she didn't want that to be the reason why he stayed with her. Regina decided to hold off on telling Rumple for a few days. She needed to get herself together and settle the demons in her head.
When Monday night rolled around, Rumpelstiltskin came over to have dinner and spend some time with Regina. He noticed that something was off with her right away. Regina was relatively quiet and she wouldn't make eye contact with him. When he tried to make love to her, she said that she wasn't in the mood and asked him not to spend the night. He obliged her wishes, but Rumpelstiltskin was smart enough to know that Regina was hiding something. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but he intended to find out!
Two more days had past without Regina telling Rumpelstiltskin that she was carrying his child. She found it impossible to concentrate at work. Between the morning sickness that felt more like all day sickness and the burden of keeping such precious information from Rumple, Regina was about to go crazy. She decided it was finally time to tell him about their baby. Regina left her office early and headed over to Rumpelstiltskin's shop. She felt flutters of excitement as she imagined telling him that he was going to be a father again. Nobody loved their son more than Rumpelstiltskin. True, he had made some dreadful mistakes, but he also learned from them. Regina honestly believed that Rumpelstiltskin would be a fantastic father to their child.
At the same time Regina was parking her car and walking towards Rumple's shop, so was Belle! Regina backtracked and watched Belle go in. Once Belle was inside, Regina moved closer so that she could see what was going on. She became saddened as she watched Rumple's face light up when he saw Belle. They stood together closely as they talked and appeared to even be laughing. Belle handed Rumpelstiltskin something, but Regina couldn't make out what it was. The final dagger in Regina's heart was when she saw Rumple hug Belle. She instantaneously became mentally and physically sick. Regina got in her car and went home. She didn't dare stick around to witness any more of the blissful reunion. Regina cried herself to sleep that night.
For the next week, Regina avoided Rumpelstiltskin in every way possible. She didn't see him or answer any of his phone calls. This should have been one of the happiest times of Regina's life. Instead, it was turning into a nightmare.
Rumpelstiltskin was boiling on the inside. He didn't like being ignored, even worse, he didn't like being lied to! He decided to show up at Regina's office unannounced and force her to speak with him. Rumpelstiltskin burst through the door and promptly shut and locked it.
"What the hell are you doing"? Regina barked
"I should be asking you the very same question" Rumpelstiltskin retorted "Why are you avoiding me"? He asked
"Oh, I don't know. Why are you sneaking around with Belle"? Regina asked angrily
"What"? Rumpelstiltskin asked confusedly "I'm doing no such thing" He insisted.
"Oh really. I saw you last week in your shop. I saw the loving eyes and the hugging. I'm not a fool" Regina snapped.
Rumpelstiltskin explained to Regina that Belle came by to return Bae's shawl. She'd accidentally packed it in with her things and knew how important it was to Rumple. He was also honest with Regina and told her that Belle was finally able to forgive him for all his misdeeds. Belle found herself missing Rumpelstiltskin and offered him another chance. That's what the hug was about. What Regina had missed was Rumple telling Belle that he felt it would be better for both of them if they moved on without each other.
Regina started crying and walked right into Rumpelstiltskin's arms. As soon as their bodies touched, Rumple could sense a force from within Regina!
"Are you pregnant"? Rumpelstiltskin asked with a look of astonishment on his face
"Yes. Yes I am" Regina rejoiced.
"When exactly did you plan on telling me"? Rumpelstiltskin asked furiously
"I was coming by to tell you, but then I saw you with Belle. I figured you two were reconciling, so I left" She explained.
"I told you that I loved you," Rumpelstiltskin said sternly "My future is with you…and now with our baby" He beamed.
"Our baby. Can you believe it"? Regina asked excitedly
Rumpelstiltskin started crying. This was the second chance he'd always dreamed of. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Baelfire had lived to see it.
"I love you so much, Regina. I'm going to do everything in my power to make you the happiest woman alive." Rumpelstiltskin vowed.
"I love you too. This baby is going to be incredible" Regina giggled as she touched her stomach.
"I can already tell he's going to be quite powerful" Rumpelstiltskin smiled.
"He"? Regina asked, "You know it's a boy"? She questioned
Rumpelstiltskin put his hands over Regina's belly, but he couldn't get a vision. All he could sense was the baby's power.
"I can't tell for sure just yet, but I have a hunch" Rumple admitted.
"Well, I hope your hunch is wrong. I want a little girl" Regina joked.
"Thank you, Regina," Rumpelstiltskin said sincerely "I can't tell you what this second chance at fatherhood means to me" He professed as he pulled Regina into a tight embrace.
"I don't know how to break it you, but I'm pretty sure this kid was conceived in the kitchen…or the shower. I'm still doing the math" Regina teased.