Retrospective

Chapter 25

"Here he is." Mary Margaret displayed as she descended down the stairs with her grandson snoozing away on her shoulder.

Emma currently had DJ in her arms and was swinging the baby around by his arms. He was nearing two and looking just like their dark haired mother.

"Sissy!" DJ giggled just as the playing stopped and he got tossed onto the lap of his awaiting father on the couch.

David started tickling the boy. "You gotta be getting ready for bed soon, sir." He smiled.

The sheriff turned to look towards her approaching bundle of joy. "Hey bub."

Charlie opened one eyes before he buried his head in Mary Margaret's neck, avoiding conversation.

Emma's hear warmed at the reaction and grabbed his middle surely. "Come here, babe. You can sleep on the way home." She promised.

Reluctantly the boy allowed the transfer and whined until his face was snugly buried in the crook of the blonde's neck.

"Where's Regina?" Snow questioned her daughter quietly.

Emma kissed Charlie's bedhead blonde hair and held him tight. "She's in the car with Henry and Grace. You know she isn't about to leave them alone." She grinned.

"I don't blame her." The deputy spoke up. "This one never gets to date." He pointed at his son.

The savior laughed. "Good luck with that, dad." She teased.

"You're lucky I didn't supervise your first date with Regina." David joked.

Emma rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Yeah. Part of the reason why I didn't tell you about the date."

Snow leaned forward and kissed the back of her grandson's hair. "Well give Regina my best wishes. Tell her Charlie was excellent and I gave him some orajel at seven."

The blonde nodded. "Thank you for watching him. Whenever you guys need us, we got that b-r-a-t." She grinned.

Her mother smiled and kissed her cheek. "Drive safe. We love you."

"Love you too." Emma replied and grabbed Charlie's diaper bag. "See you tomorrow, dad!"

She got to the Honda pretty quickly. The couple decided before leaving the theatre that they'd leave the bug there and just drive to get it in the morning on their way to work. Her hands were full so she knocked her knuckles on the back passenger seat and waited for Henry to open it.

The quarterback shoved it open. "He sleeping?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah, strap him in for me." She requested before shoving the backpack in the trunk and slipped into the driver seat.

"How was he for your parents?" Regina questioned.

The blonde buckled up and waited for Henry to do the same with his brother. "She said he was good. His teeth bothered him a bit so she gave him some orajel."

Regina pouted slightly and looked in the direction of her sleepy toddler. His car seat was right in the middle, separating her son from his date. Just the way the mayor liked things. "Poor thing."

The sheriff took off down the road once everyone was safely buckled up. Something hit her and she quickly remembered, "Oh, hey, who called you during the movie?"

"It uh-" The mayor cleared her throat. "It was Belle."

Light eyebrows furrowed softly. "What'd she want?"

It wasn't that Regina didn't want to tell her wife about the discovery. She just wanted to process her own feelings about it. In all honesty she was on the fence. Perhaps it was her personal feelings clouding her judgment, but she thought she could trust her old friend not to go on an evil rampage if they resurrected her.

She just wasn't sure how her wife would feel about it, or perhaps she knew exactly what her wife would feel and they'd have yet another magic scheme to adhere to. She liked their life how it was now: filled with scheduled weekly date nights and petty arguments that hindered on emotions. She liked family dinners and morning shower sex.

What she didn't like was magic and risks. And she knew telling her true love would open that door. "Just another border possibility." The older woman waved off.

Emma reached over the console and tangled her fingers with the mayor's. "You'd think being a bookworm that she'd have figured it out by now."

Emma looked to the passenger seat where her wife was looking out the window with binoculars. They were currently waiting for their son to walk Grace to her door and say goodnight as their other son slept peacefully in the back.

It seemed the mayor was having trouble with boundaries. "What's the plan here, Regina? If he kisses her what are you actually going to do about it?"

"I'm telling Jefferson." The brunette stated simply as she watched her nervous son talking to his date. "And then I'm going to give our son a long and descriptive lecture on sexually transmitted diseases."

Scratch that. Her wife had gone insane.

The sheriff tried not to laugh. "Well please allow me to be in the room when that happens."

Regina rolled her eyes and put the binoculars down in her lap. "You know I'd really appreciate it if you stopped acting nonchalant about our son taking an interest in girls."

Emma licked her lips. The mood had changed to serious. "I'm not acting nonchalant." She disagreed. "But he's fourteen! Sex is so far away for him."

"Apparently it's not though. You say it all the time, dear. This world is different from the Enchanted Forest. Majority of kids are having sex by fifteen! I looked it up." The mayor argued.

Emma rubbed her face. "Henry isn't the majority." She pointed out firmly. "This is the same kid who made us feel guilty for having sex before we said the I love you's."

That did admittedly make the former queen relax a little. "He does seem the romantic."

"Yeah, exactly." The savior nodded. "I get your worries, baby. I do, but now is not the time to watch him like a hawk. That time is when he's sixteen and has a steady girlfriend. Then we'll both go on stakeouts to watch his dates."

Regina fiddled with the binoculars in her lap before handing them over to her spouse. "I really expect us to do that." She informed.

The blonde chuckled. "Oh, I know."

Henry entered the car again with a blushing smile on his face. "Okay. We can go."

"Did you get a kiss, big man?" Emma teased.

Regina slapped her arm softly. "Stop."

The savior just chuckled and headed for the mansion.

Belle went to the mayor's office first thing in the morning. She handed Regina the book she found with the spell in it. "Where's Emma?" She wondered.

The mayor sat Charlie down on the ground beside her, urging him to go play in his play area that took up the right side of her office. She was going to drop him off at daycare, but he had a slight fever so she just decided to keep him close. "She's at work. I haven't told her about this yet." She explained.

"Do you think she won't be on board?" The auburn brunette questioned.

Regina shook her head. "No. I'm worried she will be." She revealed and opened the marked page in the book. "Maleficent is powerful when she's not in her dragon form and when she does transform, she's nearly unstoppable."

Belle furrowed her eyebrows. "Didn't Emma slay her though?"

The older woman nodded. "That's exactly the problem." She sighed and crossed her arms, leaning back against her chair. "Mal isn't the most forgiving person. While I think I can convince her to help us, that's awful big gamble to place when my children are at stake."

"So you don't think it would be worth it?" The librarian asked the older woman as Charlie stumbled his way towards her with a dimpled grin.

Regina took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. "I don't know." She leaned forward in her chair and looked at the specifics of the spell. It seemed simple enough. Her and Emma could certainly channel enough power to get the potion to work. Most of the ingredients she had, but one shocked her. "True love potion?" She raised a dark eyebrow.

Belle picked up the toddler when he reached up for her. She balanced him on her hip and spoke to the brunette, "Yeah."

"And you didn't think to mention that to me yesterday?" The mayor asked.

"Well it's complicated." The former maid leaned over the desk and turned the page backwards. "You see it's a two-part spell. The first part required the True Love potion to break the border altogether. It's the second part that needs dragon's blood. You'll need to recreate the border with that."

Regina studied the Elvish spell. "So we're not making the border itself one-sided. We're tearing it down and building a new one altogether."

Belle nodded. "It's the only way to do it." She shrugged.

The former queen reviewed over the book. "It'd be quite a risk to break the border. Anyone could across in at any time."

"If we do it we'll need a good plan, that's for sure." The auburn brunette agreed.

Regina licked her lips. "I suppose this is when we recruit the savior." She reached for her office phone and dialed the station.

"What do you mean we need Maleficent?" Emma asked with furrowed eyebrows as she stood in front of her wife at the older woman's office. The two dark haired women explained the spell to the sheriff. "I watched her turn into dust after I 'slayed' her or whatever. She's dead."

"Technically yes-" Belle began.

The blonde scoffed. "Technically? What the fuck does that even mean?"

"You killed her while she was in her dragon form, but you didn't kill her kill her." Regina explained. "And trust me, there's a difference."

Emma was extremely confused. She ran a hand through her locks and sighed. "So what then? How do we… wake her up?"

The former queen cleared her throat and licked her lips. "I'm not sure that it's worth the risk to even do it."

"I killed her dragon form once. I can do it again if it comes to that." The savior shrugged simply.

Regina groaned. "It's not that simple, honey. And let's face it, you got lucky the first time."

The younger woman huffed, completely offended. "I resent that. I thought I did good! And you're the one who sent me down there in the first place."

Belle watched the couple bicker about trivial things while she held their son. "You guys, we sort of have to make a decision here. The town meeting is in two days and they need to know our decision."

"Let's do it." Emma decided quickly.

Regina creased her eyebrows together. "We both have to be in agreement on this."

The sheriff licked her lips. "Baby, we've been after this one sided boarder bullshit for a year and so far this is the only solid lead we've had. We have to take it."

"It's dangerous and risky." The older woman stated.

"Risk versus reward, sweet cheeks." The blonde winked.

Brown eyes rolled. "Resurrecting Maleficent is one thing, but we'd also be vulnerable by tearing down the border we have now!" The former queen reminded the room. "Before we agree to do this, we have to have a plan- several plans in fact."

"So let's get started." Emma suggested. "We'll start with Maleficent. How do we resurrect her?"

Belle had the answer.

Later that night the mayor was putting an exfoliating mask on her face when her spouse entered the master bathroom to brush her teeth. Regina felt a slight graze against her ass.

Emma was already smirking. "I've never been more attracted to you." She teased and turned the sink on, reaching for her toothbrush in the holder.

The brunette ignored the comment as she completely covered her face with the green product. "Is Charlie asleep?"

"Yep." The savior nodded. "He cried for you." She stated right before stuffing the toothpaste-covered brush in her mouth.

Regina frowned. "Why even tell me that?" She was slowly weaning the toddler off of her breast milk. He was eating mostly solid foods now and really the only time he wanted to feed on her was for comfort anyways. It was time to break it off, but the mayor had to admit she felt awful doing it. "You know I'm having a hard time with it."

Emma spit into the sink. "It's best for him, baby."

"I know, but it's just official now. He's not my little baby anymore."

The pout made the younger woman chuckle. She wiped her mouth and brought the brunette into her body, making sure not to mess up the mask on her face. "I'll knock you up again. No worries."

Regina huffed playfully and pushed her true love away. "Oh shut-up."

The sheriff slapped that firm ass before heading into the bedroom again to lie down. She threaded through her contacts before calling her pirate best friend. She hadn't heard from him all day, but it was his day off so that wasn't unusual.

"Hello?" Hook answered.

Emma kicked her socks off and lounged back as she waited for her wife. "How's the captain doing? What's up, dude? I haven't heard from you all day. You did make it back to Storybrooke, right?"

The pirate laughed through the phone. "Yes, I made it back."

"How'd things go with Becca the other night?" The blonde smirked. "She was hot."

Regina poked her green face out of the master bedroom and looked at her spouse. "Excuse me?" She asked darkly. "Who was hot?"

Emma chuckled. "You, baby! Always you."

"Damn right." The former queen assured her lover before disappearing again.

The sheriff cleared her throat. "So did you fuck?"

"Of course I did, love. A captain doesn't spend the night with a fare maiden and not bang her." Killian told his best friend. "So what'd I miss at work today? Another exciting disappearance of Mrs. Melvin's cat?"

Emma huffed. "I wish! Actually you missed a lot, believe it or not. I'll explain it more tomorrow, but we're resurrecting Maleficent. We need her for the border."

There was a small pause on the line. "You mean the sexy dragon witch that has a thing for your wife?"

"Wh-" The savior had to process that sentence several times. "Why? Why do you say that?"

Killian laughed over the phone. "To be fair I'm not sure if she specifically had a thing for the Evil Queen but she had a notorious reputation or bedding brunettes. Gender be damned."

Emma opened her mouth in disbelief and shook her head. "I heard nothing about this!"

"Oh Swan. Sounds like wifey is keeping her fair share of secrets then." He teased.

The savior felt her blood heat up at the thought of anyone else trying to seduce her wife. "We'll talk tomorrow." She hung up the phone and just looked at the screen picture. It was her and the mayor in bed kissing softly. An image of some skanky witch doing that with her spouse practically made her growl. "Baby, come here."

"Hold on, honey." Was the muffled voice of the older woman. "I'm cleaning my mask off."

As Emma waited, she fumed. Her anger only heightened when she saw her true love walking towards the bed. "Is there anything about Maleficent that you haven't told me?"

Regina crawled under the covered and looked curiously at her spouse. "What do you mean?"

"Did you ever have a thing with her?" The savior asked broadly.

A dark eyebrow rose. "A thing?"

Green eyes flashed with irritation. "A romantic thing. Have you ever had anything romantic with her?" She demanded.

The former queen scoffed. "You're the only woman I've ever been with, Emma. Which is something you can't say."

"I'm not asking if you fucked her. I'm asking if you kissed-"

"No!" Regina cut off her spouse, angry herself. "If there was ever anything between myself and Mal I'd have told you. And I'm offended you think I wouldn't have."

Emma allowed herself to relax a little. "I'm sorry." She felt a little ridiculous for her abrasive outburst. "I just… Killian told me that she had a reputation."

The brunette understood. "Oh. Well he's right." She shrugged. "She did get around."

"With women?" The sheriff wanted to know how much of the reputation Hook told her was exaggerated.

Regina shrugged and got comfortable in her bed, sensing the conversation wasn't hostile anymore. "I suppose there could have been women. I never asked."

The blonde got comfy as well and turned on her side to face her wife. "She's the one who gave you the dark curse. Right?"

"She was." The mayor nodded. "Although I kind of took it."

Emma knew the story. She licked her lips and thought back to the way they were going to bring back the dragon. "If you were friends, what makes you think that she hates you the most? Is it just because you took the dark curse from her?"

Regina shook her head. "I don't think she hates me the most." She revealed.

Light eyebrows creased together. "But the only way to bring her back is through the blood of who she hates the most. You said you could do it."

"I can, but I won't be using my blood."

Emma was interested. "Then who's blood will you be using?"

Cliffhangers! Oh, how I love you! Lol. So this chapter was more of a filler then anything else. Next chapter we'll be meeting the dragon herself. ;) So get ready for that!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes and reviews! You're all amazing.

I enjoy your take on Hook's relationship with Tink. We'll see if they work it out or I hook him up with a different blonde :P

Next post will be Thursday! Until then! :*