AN: Hello everyone! I just want to address a question I've been asked a couple times now in regards to Neal, Gold, and Belle. Neal will not make an appearance in this story. In my opinion, he only went to Storybrooke because of Henry (and Emma), which neither of them are with Gold and Belle as they search for him. Now, as to whether Emma finds out about Neal being Gold's son from a certain someone who didn't get the reboot in my fanfic like they did on the show...well, you'll just have to wait and see!

Update: I know this chapter took a bit to get out, but I recently found out my Dad has cancer. I am also my own beta, so if this seems a little disjointed, please accept my apology for being off my game.

Happy reading :)

Henry stumbled from Emma's grip when they reappeared in the alley beside the hospital before his accusing eyes snapped in his mother's direction.

"How did you do that? You didn't have full control of your magic and now suddenly you do?!"

"I may have borrowed a book from Gold's shop and studied it before I went after Spencer," Emma confessed.

Henry scoffed as he crossed his arms in a very Regina-like manner. "I thought you were better than her."

"Not everything is black and white, kid," Emma lectured as she knelt to his level. "You'll see as you get older that there is a lot of grey. I'm sorry you saw me like that, but you saved me; just like you did your mother."

"Whatever," Henry snapped as he turned away from the sheriff and marched into the hospital.

Emma threw her hands up in frustration before she followed after him.

As soon as the sheriff reached the threshold to Regina's room, the blonde suddenly felt nervous as she crossed over and entered. Henry had beaten her there and was already curled up on Regina's side as she cuddled him against her chest. She could see the pain his body was causing her, but the mayor remained stoic as her need to hold her son outweighed the discomfort. The blonde remained rooted at the foot of the bed as she let them have their moment.

"I missed you so much," Henry whispered as tears trailed down his nose and onto his mother's collarbone.

"I'm back now, sweetie, I'm not going anywhere," she replied, her voice still hoarse from lack of use and the breathing tube that she had in for some time. "Henry, would you please give your mother and I a minute alone?"

The preteen nodded in silent agreement before he gently eased off the bed. He didn't even look up at Emma as he coldly brushed passed her and out the door.

"Looks like you're officially on his villain list now," Regina mused.

"He's mad at me because according to him, I'm no better than the Evil Queen," Emma snorted in a low voice. "It's like breaking a cardinal rule with him or something."

"Oh Emma," Regina started as she held a hand out to her. "You could never be as ruthless as I was."

The sheriff made her way to her wife's side and carefully sat down on the edge of the bed before taking Regina's hand and kissing it.

"I ripped a man's heart out and almost crushed it in front of our son," Emma confessed softly.

The mayor winced at the image that her words produced before she quickly recovered. "You had a momentary lapse in reason because you thought you lost me and our baby. Had the roles been reversed, I wouldn't have hesitated to crush his heart, even if Henry had witnessed it. That's the difference between you and the Evil Queen."

"I'm sorry you had to wake up to this mess," Emma muttered before she reached her free hand over to Regina's swollen belly and rubbed it. "I'm sorry if I disappointed either of you."

The brunette glanced down and smiled. "I must say it was quite a shock to see my body had changed while I was asleep."

"I'm sure," Emma mused before she leaned down and gave her wife a gentle kiss. "Welcome back."

The door suddenly slammed open before an angry preteen stomped to the foot of the bed and placed his hands on his hips. The two women watched with amused expressions as their son fought to keep his temper in check before he pointed an accusing finger at Emma.

"I want you to make a promise to me and my little sister," Henry declared.

"Or brother," Emma added.

"Whatever! We made Mom make this promise a while ago and now you need to make the same one. Promise me that if anything were to happen to any of us, you won't turn into a monster."

Emma remained quiet as she thought about what her son was asking of her. She remembered when he made Regina make that promise after their temporary journey to the Enchanted Forest and now she was the one that Henry worried about turning evil. It seemed backwards and wrong somehow.

"Promise me!" Henry suddenly belted out in anger.

"Henry Daniel Swan-Mills! I raised you better than that," Regina reprimanded before she coughed from the effort.

The kid had a right to look guilty before he looked to Emma with sad eyes.

"Please, promise me and my future sibling that you won't become a monster," he pleaded.

Emma and Regina shared a look before she faced their son.

"I promise," the savior answered.

"You promise what?" Henry pushed.

Emma raised her hand like she was taking an oath. "I promise I will not turn into a monster if anything happens to my family."

"Okay," The boy quipped before he made his way to the other side of his bedridden mother and touched her cast-covered arm. "Ma has been practicing magic with a book she found at Mr. Gold's shop," Henry tattled.

"Why you little weasel," Emma scorned and her son flashed her a devilish grin.

Regina narrowed her eyes at her wife. "What did the book look like?"

"Um, like a pocket edition of the book of shadows. It had a little jeweled heart on the front. Not exactly Gold's taste if you ask me…Regina?"

The heart monitor increased in rhythm as the mayor visibly paled.

"That's my mother's book," Regina whispered out harshly. "You used my mother's book of magic?!"

"I guess, but only to learn a cloaking spell, I promise…but," Emma paused as she looked down in shame. "I sneezed on it and a puff of gold swirled off the page and I might've inhaled it."

"What!"

"Gina, you need to calm down," Emma soothed as she saw the vitals go higher on the monitor. "Please, for the baby…you have to calm down."

The mayor closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before she felt calm enough to glare at her wife.

"When I am released from this hospital and in good health, we are going to have some words, Sheriff Swan-Mills," Regina warned before she turned to watch Dr. Whale enter the room.

"Everything okay in here?" he asked as he checked over Regina's vitals on the monitor.

"Everything's fine," Regina offered with a fake smile. "I am getting tired though."

"It's understandable. Sheriff, perhaps we should let your wife get some rest. She still has some recovering to do."

Emma dumbly nodded as she kissed her wife's forehead and straightened up. Henry mimicked her actions and they both left the room.

"Oh…you are in trouble," Henry sang out before he ducked from his mother's hand and took off down the hall.

"You can't hide from me forever!" Emma yelled after him before she allowed herself a small chuckle. At least it seemed like Henry forgave her in some way for almost turning to the dark side, but she was sure he wasn't done letting her know how bad she had screwed up.

Another week passed by before Regina was well enough to be considered for discharge. The swelling in her brain was completely gone, her ribs and lung had healed up nicely, and her cast was removed in exchange for a splint. Dr. Whale was also happy to report that her blood pressure had remained normal for the past week, which meant she didn't have to follow the low blood pressure restrictions anymore. He signed off on her discharge papers, but informed the mayor that she had to wait for her OB/GYN to give the unborn fetus a clean bill of health before she could leave the hospital.

Dr. Behr was a beautiful young woman with hair as golden as Emma's. She had been wonderful with them since she had started being their doctor and the anxious parents were hoping to learn of the baby's sex before they left the hospital.

Henry was at school so it was just Emma and Regina in the room when Dr. Behr arrived with a wheelchair.

"Hello ladies," she greeted. "Let's get you up to the ultrasound room and check on that baby of yours."

Regina climbed into the wheelchair and they leisurely made their way down the hall to the elevator.

"Have you been feeling any weird sensations in your abdomen this week?" Dr. Behr asked the mayor as they got into the elevator.

"Now that you mention it, yes," Regina answered as she unconsciously placed a hand to her midsection. "I just thought it was indigestion from the hospital food."

Dr. Behr laughed as they reached the third floor and exited the elevator. "It could be, but it's more probable that the cause is the baby. At eighteen weeks, you should be feeling the fetus fluttering around."

Regina's eyes softened as she looked down. "Now I'm anxious for it to happen again."

"Unfortunately for the other mommy, you probably won't feel it for another week or two," Dr. Behr stated as she glanced at Emma while they entered a darkened room.

After assisting Regina up onto the table, the doctor quickly went to work setting up everything for the ultrasound before she poured the jelly onto Regina's exposed abdomen and placed the wand against her. The sound of the baby's heartbeat was immediately heard and the three watched the screen as the doctor moved the wand around to check the development of their growing child.

"The fetus looks healthy," Dr. Behr informed them as she paused the image over the baby's chest. "Active, heart rate's good, average size...it doesn't look like the fetus sustained any lasting damage from the car accident or the cardiac arrest."

"That's a relief," Regina murmured as she took Emma's hand and squeezed it.

"Oh, look at that; she's being cooperative," the doctor mused as she clicked the mouse and snapped a picture. The image printed out and she handed it over to Emma before she tapped at the three visible lines in the picture. "It's a girl."

"Henry was right," Emma indicated as she gazed down at the black and white image. "Wait a second, is this what I think it is?"

Dr. Behr chuckled before she shrugged. "Like I said, it's a girl."

"A little girl," the brunette sobbed as tears streamed down into her hairline. "Our little girl."

"Look at her," the sheriff praised as the doctor got a good facial profile of the baby. "She's beautiful."

"Yes, she is," Regina agreed as she swiped at her eyes.

"Well, everything is great and your baby girl is healthy and strong. I'll hand the release notes to your tending nurse and you'll be free to go home," the doctor stated before she handed a few more printed images to the happy couple. "I'll see you two in a few weeks."

Emma kissed the brunette's brow before she looked at the pictures in Regina's hand.

"This is tangible proof that there is life within me," the mayor indicated as she lightly traced her daughter's profile with her splinted hand. "We created life and no one can take that from me."

Emma gazed down at her wife and murmured, "I'd never let that happen. She will be born healthy and strong with no threats of being taken or ending before her time. I'll make sure of it."

"You can't guarantee that, Emma."

"I promise you, Regina; you will carry her full term and give birth to her. You will hold her in your arms and watch her grow up to be a beautiful child. No matter what the cost, I will make sure that no one ever takes her from you. Do you understand me?"

Fresh tears trickled down Regina's face. She didn't want to argue with her wife and tell her that she couldn't prevent a miscarriage or a stillborn child, or stop an army of angered citizens from rising up once again and stealing the child away in the night. Looking upon the blurred image of her daughter in her hand, she offered Emma a small nod and smile in answer before she exhaled in relief when Emma accepted it as a response.

After getting Regina settled back home and into bed to take a nap, Emma left her wife's side to tidy up the unused house and make it more livable. Henry wordlessly took up a dust rag and helped her as they worked on the living room, but she could sense that her son had a lot on his mind. She watched as his brow would wrinkle for a moment before his jaw would clench and then he'd sigh and relax before it'd start all over again. After the sixth time of witnessing this, Emma stopped dusting and turned to face her son.

"Spit it out," she ordered as her hands perched themselves on her hips. "You've been acting shady around me all week so whatever you want to say to me, just say it. I'll even give you a free pass to speak your mind without the threat of being grounded."

Henry paused as he considered her offer before he threw his dust rag to the floor and glared at his fair-haired mother.

"How could you do it? How could you be so dumb?!" he lashed out as his hands balled up into tight fists. "You could've ruined everything!"

The savior clenched her jaw to keep from reprimanding him on calling her dumb before she explained, "I wish I had a straight answer for you kid, but I don't. I honestly don't know what came over me. Your mother is the love of my life and having to face the reality that she almost died, that I almost lost her and our baby because some moron had a vendetta against my father, I just…I snapped, Henry."

"Why wasn't I enough?" the boy asked in a small voice.

"What?" Emma questioned as she didn't quite understand what her son was trying to say.

"Why was I never enough for you?!" he belted out as angry tears slid down his cheeks. "You didn't want me as a newborn and you forgot all about me when you thought my mother and baby sister were dead."

"Henry, I didn't forget about you," Emma reasoned in a pleading tone.

"Yes you did!" he shouted before he stormed out of the room and ran up the stairs.

She listened as his feet pounded against the second floor until she heard his door slam shut and she dropped to the couch in defeat. Emma didn't want to admit that Henry was right, but when she thought back to those harrowing weeks in the hospital, she realized with sadness that she had barely acknowledged his existence. She stopped taking care of him and he never once complained as Ruby took him home with her every night; and on that fateful day that she almost lost Regina, Henry hadn't even crossed her mind until he showed up at the cabin and saved her from making a grave mistake.

"What kind of mother am I?" she cried out as she dropped her face into her hands.

The sound of movement from upstairs alerted Emma that Regina was awake, most likely woken up by their son's slamming door. She heard her wife enter Henry's room and her timbered voice call out his name before she heard the sobbing wails of the preteen as he cried out for her. The sheriff risked walking to the edge of the foyer before she looked upstairs to Henry's opened doorway.

Her heart broke in two as she heard the earth-shattering cries that poured out from their son as Regina's voice repeated over and over, "Shh, Mommy's got you, Mommy's got you."

Hearing the physical pain she had caused her son broke something inside of her and the blonde felt her body stumble backwards until her back connected with the wall before her legs gave out, causing her to slide to the floor with a solid thump. Pulling her knees up tightly against her chest, she allowed the tears to escape as gut-wrenching sobs tore through her, matching the wails of her son upstairs. After what seemed like hours of crying, her eyes slipped shut of their own accord and she fell fast asleep.

Regina couldn't remember the last time Henry had cried so much. She didn't even think he cried this much when he fell out of the tree in the backyard and broke his wrist. Looking down at her now slumbering son that was half cradled in her arms, the mayor only saw her baby boy and not the preteen that could no longer fit in her embrace. After a few minutes of enjoying his cuddling, she carefully roused him enough to get him to crawl under the covers before she tucked him in.

"Pleasant dreams, my sweet boy," she murmured before she brushed his hair aside and kissed his forehead.

Exiting his room, she carefully closed the door before she ambled down the stairs. As she rounded the landing before descending the final set of steps, the brunette was surprised to see her wife curled up against the wall by the living room sound asleep. Climbing down the remaining steps, she reached the sheriff's side and gently shook her shoulder.

"Emma, wake up."

Swollen eyes blinked open and the savior squinted up to see her pregnant wife hovering over her. She was momentarily confused until she remembered Henry and realized she had cried herself to sleep. Quickly clambering up the wall to get to her feet, she rubbed the dried tear tracks from her face as best she could before she turned to look at her wife.

"How is he?"

"Sleeping," the brunette answered as she narrowed her eyes. "Do you mind informing me on what the hell is going on around here?"

"Do you need anything? Water? Food?" Emma offered as a way of distraction.

"What I need is for you to tell me why my son and my wife are bawling their eyes out in separate rooms!"

The sheriff shrunk back a little before she wordlessly headed into the living room and sat down. Regina huffed as she followed her before she took a tentative seat beside the blonde. Emma could tell from her rigid back that the mayor was anything but relaxed.

"I failed our son," Emma admitted.

"Be more specific," Regina pushed.

"When you were in the hospital, I never left your side. Ruby took care of our son, not me. And then when I thought I lost you and our baby, I hunted down Albert Spencer and almost killed him," the blonde indicated before fresh tears slipped out of her already bloodshot eyes. "I abandoned him, Regina. I abandoned him as a newborn and I did it again when I thought I would lose you. I'm a horrible mother and I don't deserve him or our unborn daughter."

"Oh Emma, you didn't abandon him. You gave him up as a newborn so he had a chance at a better life, and as far as King George is concerned, you were blinded by rage. Henry's just a little broken right now because he never saw you as the villain. It's the first time you have disappointed him, but he'll get over it. Do you have any idea how many times I've disappointed him. To be perfectly honest, I've lost count. Give him time, Emma; he'll come around."

"He might, but I won't," Emma stated before she got to her feet. "Magic always comes with a price and right now, the price I'm paying is my son's loss of faith in me. I need to fix this somehow."

"There's nothing you can do except give it time."

"Can I bind my magic?" Emma suddenly asked.

Regina seemed startled by the question before she thought for a moment and nodded. "Actually yes; are you sure this is something that you want to consider doing?"

"Yes; I have to show Henry that, like misbehaved children, adults need to be grounded sometimes too," she explained before she stated, "We need to do it now."

"Do you still have my mother's spell book?"

Emma nodded before she left the room and retrieved the book. She handed it over to Regina, whom became a little misty-eyed as she stroked the jeweled heart on the cover.

"Try not to sneeze, dear, until I finish the spell," Regina chastised with a half smirk before she flipped the book open and flipped to the page she needed. "Are you absolutely positive about going through with this? Once a set time is put in place and the spell is cast, it cannot be undone."

"I'm positive, Regina. I need to gain Henry's trust back."

"How long do you want your magic to be bound?"

"Until the birth of our daughter," Emma answered without hesitation.

Regina looked upon her distraught wife before she glanced down at the spell and started reading the words from the page. When she finished the chant, she blew a breath of air across the illustrated picture of a ribbon and watched as the magic danced towards Emma's face before the sheriff deeply inhaled it. Releasing her breath, Emma opened her eyes and cocked her head to the side.

"That's it?"

That's it. Try to do magic."

Emma looked around before her eyes landed on a candle in the center of the coffee table. She focused on the wick and wrinkled her forehead in concentration, but the candle never lit. Turning back to Regina she smiled in relief. "It worked."

"Of course it worked," Regina quipped before she closed the book and stood up. "I'm going to go lock this up in my office. I expect you and our son to talk this out sooner rather than later."

"I will," Emma responded. "And Regina?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

She was going to demand to know why she was apologizing to her, but instead she simply responded, "Just make it right."

With her head hung low, Emma made her way up to her son's room and quietly entered. The blotched cheeks and swollen eyes of her sleeping boy made her heart clench in pain before she sat down beside him and roused him from his slumber.

"Henry," she murmured as he blinked his eyes open and looked upon his fair-haired mother. "I'm so sorry, Henry. I never meant to make you feel abandoned, but that's exactly what I did."

The preteen sat up in his bed, but he remained silent as he kept his eyes cast down. Emma swallowed around the lump that was forming in her throat before she continued.

"I had your mother bind my magic," Emma confessed and sharp hazel eyes popped up and glared at her.

"Why would you do that?" Henry questioned in a raspy voice.

"As punishment for hurting you and almost ruining everything," she offered. "I love you, kid. Today was a real wake up call for me and I'm sorry, truly sorry that I ignored you these past couple of weeks."

"You love me?"

"Emma seemed confused by his question until she realized she never initiated the sentiment before. With fresh tears, she nodded before she whispered, "Of course I love you."

Henry launched himself into Emma's arms and she held him tightly against her as she kissed his crown. Little did they know that Regina had been silently observing the exchange between them.

"Well now, that is a promising sight to behold," the mayor murmured as she pushed herself away from her perch against the door frame.

"Is it true that her magic is really bound?" Henry asked his brunette mother as she sat down beside her wife.

"It's true; she has no magic until the birth of your sister," the mayor murmured until she sucked in a sharp breath.

"Regina, what's wrong?"

"I think...she's moving," the brunette realized as her eyes lit up. "I feel her, Emma."

"Cool, can we feel it yet?" Henry asked as he watched his mother hold her lower stomach.

"Not quite yet, dear. I feel it on the inside, but I don't feel anything we're she's making movements on the outside," she explained and the brunette watched the frown start to form on her son's face. "You know what, it doesn't hurt to try anyway, right?"

Henry beamed as his mother guided his hand to her baby bump and he grinned as she held his hand firmly in place. Emma gave a watery smile to her wife and she placed her hand on top of their hands and gave a small squeeze. Henry looked over at his blonde mother and gave her the first genuine smile since before Regina had the car accident. Her heart swelled at having that smile aimed in her direction and fought back tears as they returned their attention to Regina and fawned over the growing baby girl inside of her.