Author's Note: Once again, thank you so much for all of your reviews. This chapter is a little lighter than normal. Lots of feelings though.
Also, I need a name for this baby. If you have any ideas, please let me know :)
It was the afternoon, and Regina had been dismissed from the hospital. The doctor had given David clear instructions to make sure that she rested.
The pair drove back to the mansion from the hospital in a tense silence. "At least I have the baby now," Regina thought silently to herself.
Regina and David walked into the house, and David carried the baby, too. It was a task trying to help Regina up the steps to the bedroom, and also carry the baby at the same time. Regina insisted she was fine, but he could tell that despite the medication, she was still in a lot of pain.
Before they entered the bedroom, Regina stopped and stared into the baby's room, which was still untouched and empty. She had never had an opportunity to decorate or shop for the baby, which she had been so excited for. David recognized this unfulfilled wish and tried to cheer her up. "You still have time to decorate the baby's room. I will come over this weekend, and we can decorate the room, together." Still, the tears welled in her eyes from the disappointment. David gave her a quick hug and kissed her on the cheek.
Regina decided not to dwell on that. She was finally back in her own house, with her baby, and with David. She wanted to enjoy the moments while they lasted.
David helped Regina get settled into bed and handed her the baby.
"He looks like you, you know," David commented.
"Really?" Regina asked.
"Yes. He's strong, gorgeous, and has your big, beautiful eyes." That made Regina laugh a little, and she felt slightly embarrassed.
"David, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
Regina didn't know how she wanted to phrase the question. She didn't want it to come off the wrong way. Finally, she took a deep breath and just went for it. "What do I have to do to keep the baby?" David was tired of fighting with her, but her question seemed genuine.
In all honesty, David had not quite thought about it all the way through. He just figured that eventually, it would happen. He knew he should give her some clear goals.
"Let's make it simple. What I want more than anything, is for you to be happy. That's not going to happen though, without an awful lot amount of work. I don't know your whole past, but I have a feeling that it has not been filled with happy experiences. I want you to go to therapy sessions with Archie, and work with him…everyday."
"Everyday? David? You can't be serious." Regina scoffed.
"Regina, this baby deserves its best chance. When Archie thinks that you can handle the baby by yourself, then we'll look at letting you keep the baby….in the meantime, I prefer that Snow take care of the baby when I am away." David was trying to be gentle and considerate.
"Thats not fair. He's my son."
"I know…and I'm sorry." David felt truly guilt about the situation, but not enough to change his mind.
"Than why are you doing it?"
"because I can't lose another baby again."
"So you're punishing me because of what happened with Emma." It was more a statement than a question.
"Regina, I lost her for 28 years. It was some of the worst pain I have ever experienced. I can't risk that again."
Regina's House- Afternoon
As promised, David brought Archie over to start their therapy situations. David hoped that for Regina's sake, she would be more cooperative this time around.
"Good afternoon, Regina" Archie greeted her.
"Good afternoon, Cricket," Regina replied sarcastically. David shot her a disapproving glare, reminding her to be good.
Luckily, Regina's house had a private study that would serve their purposes perfectly, so David had Archie follow him and Regina there.
"I'll leave you two alone," David said.
Regina and Archie sat in the office for a long time, before either said anything. Regina would look at her hands, and then the clock, alternating stares.
"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you, Regina?" Archie asked.
Silence.
"There is nothing wrong with opening yourself up. You were the Evil Queen. As someone who has worked with patients for nearly 28 years, I can tell you that people don't become evil overnight."
There was a silence for a long time, but Regina finally asked a question that she had wondered about for years. "What causes good people to do evil things, in your opinion?"
Archie let out a sigh of relief. He finally had something from Regina that he could work with. He knew just from that statement that she didn't view herself as evil, but she recognized that she had done evil things in the past.
"In my professional opinion, I think that traumatic experiences can shape a person's view of the world."
Regina nodded her head slightly to signal that she had heard him. She didn't know what to say from then on.
After some time, Archie tried to change the subject to something he knew Regina was intensely interested in, keeping the baby. He could tell that she had been thinking about the baby a lot. It had cried once, and Regina had started to tear up. He told her not to worry, that David had it covered.
"Do you want to talk about the baby, Regina?"
"Not particularly," she replied dryly.
"I think that you do want to talk about it. David told me about the arrangement for the time being. I can assume that you are not happy about it."
"You assumed correctly," she replied sarcastically. It was obvious that she wasn't going to be happy about it. No mother would be.
"Why would you be?" he continued. "The ex-wife of your lover and your arch-nemesis is going to be caring for your newborn son." He stated this matter of factly, and he knew it would antagonize her. It wasn't his intention to cause her pain, but to pick off the surface and get to her issues underneath.
"Okay, I think we're done," Regina said and stormed off. She went back upstairs and climbed into bed. The cricket was right. David was just handing her son off to her enemy as if it was no big deal.
"How did it go?" David asked Archie.
"It went okay. She didn't say much this time around, but thats not too unusual."
"What do you think?"
"You know, David, I think there is a lot that we don't know about Regina. As I was telling Regina earlier, trauma causes good people to do bad things…and where Regina is concerned, I think that there is going to be a lot of hidden trauma to uncover."
David felt a pang of intense grief. He knew Regina was a good person. He could only imagine what trauma she had gone through in her life.
"David, if you don't mind me asking…why did you bring me here to talk to Regina, now? I mean, you have known who Regina is for a long time."
"I caught her lying to me. Then, we worked through it, and she lied to me again….along with a bunch of other lies and manipulations."
"…but you still love her?"
"I shouldn't. She nearly ran off with my baby again last night. She is manipulative, and selfish, and impulsive. But, yes, I still love her. It's like I am drawn to her."
"What do you want me to do with her?"
"Are you seriously asking me this? I don't know…fix her."
"In what way, exactly? If I try to erase every dark and bleak moment from her, its possible that she won't be the same person that you remember and love."
David was getting irritated at this conversation already. "Okay, so what can you do?"
"I can help you build trust with each other again. That's really what you want from her, right? To trust you?" David could agree to that.
"Manipulation and lying are defensive mechanisms. She is trying to defend herself, and protect herself against something. It's possible that she doesn't even realize what that it is, yet. However, these are hard to break a person of and it could take years. Regina thinks that if she goes to therapy sessions with me, that this whole situation is going to be resolved in a few weeks. I am here to tell you that that is not going to happen, and its cruel to make her think that."
"What am I supposed to do, then?"
"You both need to make a compromise. Open yourself up to allowing her to help make decisions for the baby."
David laughed. "She will just try to manipulate me again."
"I know. Work with her. Don't let her manipulate you, but allow her some room to feel like she has some control. She feels like she has none right now, and that is only going to make things worse."
Regina's Bedroom
Regina was staring out the window, when David came knocking on the door.
"Can I come in?" David asked.
"Do I have a choice?" Regina moaned sarcastically.
"I'll take that as a yes." Regina could be so difficult sometimes.
David started out tenderly. "I want us to talk."
"I'm tired of talking," she replied wearily. It seemed like all they did was talk in circles, never accomplishing anything.
David sat down on the bed next to her, and put his hand on her shoulder, in an effort to demonstrate peace and tranquility.
"I want the baby to stay with you,' David stated.
That comment took a moment to register with her. She wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly and a confused expression spread across her face. Regina turned around to face David and sat up. She wiped away any traces of tears that had fallen. "Really?"
"Yes. I want us to build our trust with each other again, so that we can be a family." To put an emphasis on the word "family," David handed the baby to her, and she returned his gesture with a smile. She would never get tired of holding their son.
Regina could tell that David was taking a big step towards trying to gain her trust. Maybe there was hope that things would work out. "How do we do that?"
This was it. Archie said to let her have options, so that's what he was going to do. "Don't let me down, Archie" he thought.
"I need to know that the baby will be safe with you, and that I am not going to leave while you fulfill your secret plot to take our baby back to the Enchanted Forest."
Regina rolled her eyes at his suggestion. It sounded ridiculous when he had said it out loud, but she knew that his concerns were valid to an extent. She had lied to him and manipulated him a lot throughout the last few weeks.
"Okay, I see your point. I'm sorry that I lied to you, and I promise that I will try to do better in the future."
David's heart swelled at that moment. "Regina, I know that we have been fighting a lot lately…but, would it be okay if I kissed you?"
Her eyes became damp and sparkled, but this time of happiness. She nodded her head, and he didn't hesitate to place a long, gentle kiss on her lips.
"David, I know that you're trying really hard to make this work, and I want to try hard, too. I also know its going to take a while for you to trust me again. Maybe…" Regina took a deep breath and closed her eyes trying to mentally prepare herself for what was going to propose. "Maybe, Snow can come over here and stay with me, while you're away."
David gasped from shock. That was really the last thing he expected her to agree to, nonetheless propose. He didn't think that Archie had a clue as to what he was talking about. That is, until he saw it work with his own eyes.
"You would really be okay with that?" David asked.
"Sure," she said a little hesitantly. Regina wasn't looking forward to a babysitter, but having Snow around here for part of the day had its perks. Snow could do all the housework, while Regina spent time with the baby. And on top of that, Regina could flaunt both her relationship with David and her new baby in front of Snow all day. She smiled at the thought. "I can be happy," she said to herself.