Regina looked around at the river, starting to sparkle in the fading light. She was alone, and miles from the Blue Palace where her family couldn't find her. She wrapped her arms around herself, waiting impatiently for Morgana to make her appearance. Her former apprentice did so unexpectedly but in a simple way, walking along the bank of the river until she was in front of her former mentor.
"You wanted to talk?" Morgana asked. She conjured a chair and motioned for Regina to sit. "We can talk all you want, but you should sit, rest. A pregnant woman shouldn't be on her feet for so long."
How did she know how long Regina had been waiting? Regina arched an eyebrow and accepted the seat.
"Would you like a foot massage? I bet Elektra hasn't offered to give you one."
"No, I want to know why you needed my blood. Is it seriously to make a child?" Regina demanded.
Morgana sighed. "Well I knew you wouldn't agree to do it the old fashioned way. Yes. I want to have a child with you. It will be our child and I can finally have someone to love me."
"But-"
"Don't worry. You won't have to pay child support or anything." Morgana laughed. "I'll only tell them good things about you."
Regina looked down for a moment. Morgana would no longer be a threat if they let her go. The family would be left in peace and she would have what she wanted, a child, a piece of Regina that would be hers and hers alone. "Would I be able to see this child?" She asked without looking up.
"I think it would be best if you focused on your family. You already have two little ones on the way. Take care of them. I'll take care of ours." Morgana knelt in front of her, gently placing her hands on the Queen's thighs. "I will take care of her. I promise."
"Her?"
"I think it'll be a girl. I'm gonna name her Giana. Or maybe Morgan. What do you think?" The woman was so visibly excited. She was smiling so hard it must've hurt. "You know I don't blame you for trying to kill me, right? You're not who you used to be."
"And even filled with darkness and malice, you still managed to fall in love with me."
"I didn't fall in love with you because of the goodness I saw inside of you, Regina." Morgana said. "I fell in love with you because you're amazing. Plain and simple. You were strong and fearless and you didn't take any bullshit from anyone. You were and still are everything I wanted to be. That love is why I will not hurt you or your family unless you follow me, unless you try to stop me or take the child. It will be ours...but it will be mine. Does that make sense?"
"Yes." Regina stood up. "Is that it?"
Morgana rose to her feet as well. "Indeed it is. I should go before your little apprentice finds you and I lose my temper and try to kill her. I still have a bit of a temper and I still hate her." Morgana bowed and promptly teleported away. One threat had been erased for now. She believed Morgana would keep her promise and leave them alone. Now they needed to focus on finding a way back to Storybrooke and preparing for the births of the twins. She decided to teleport back to the city and walk through it, smiling at how happy the people seemed to be at being home. With Mal's innovations it really wasn't that bad here at all. They didn't have cars, but they had much better appliances, coffee makers and real mattresses, and paved cobblestone streets and communication devices thanks to Mal. The dragon was having a ball creating new things. Regina feared when she would move on to weaponry. The citizens had taken it upon themselves to beautify the city with plants and flowers and some were trading and had set up a market. They were settling into their home well. For once, there was no animosity, no split groups, no divided loyalties. Under Elektra's reign, the people of the kingdom were flourishing. Although there were few that actually came from Regina's own kingdom, all of them bowed and dipped their heads respectfully in her direction. At least it was better than looks of contempt and hatred for the Evil Queen.
As she approached the palace steps, she noticed that Karliah was arranging an escort for Emma, Ruby, and Henry to return to their own kingdom. The redhead was good at what she did, which consisted of fighting and war strategy. Elektra had named her general and captain of the palace guard. Regina could already see the woman possessed a strong and loyal heart. Karliah noticed her approach and bowed respectfully. "All goes well?"
"Yes, your Majesty. We will just escort them to the new border and return before nightfall."
Regina nodded, looking up as Mal, Lily and Lucy flew by in their dragon forms heading north. "Where are they off to?"
"Seeing if there's anything salvageable from Maleficent's workshop." Karliah answered. "She needed new building materials."
"Oh gods. What is she making now?"
The redhead chuckled. "I do not know, but I must go. Have a good day, your Majesty." she dipped her head as a young boy brought over her horse. She quickly mounted up and took the lead as the escort surrounded the heroes. She smirked a little, noticing their shields, painted an electric blue with a golden Greek letter E in the center. She watched them start to depart but Emma called a halt as David walked up to her.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
"I'm gonna stay here for a while." He said. "I think it's better this way for now."
"When are you coming home? You know Mom's gonna ask."
"No time soon."
"What?" Emma quickly dismounted. "Dad. Are you still mad?"
"This isn't just going to go away, Emma. I'm not mad, I'm...disappointed. And I need time away from you both."
"Hasn't Mom suffered enough? It was my idea to steal the egg." The blonde pleaded.
"Maleficent, Lilith and Lucila suffered for 30 years. Because of your idea. Snow assisted. She did nothing to stop it. That's not the woman I married. Go." He turned and walked into the palace, ignoring his daughter calling after him. Regina decided to follow him, finding him standing just inside the doors. "I don't know what I'm doing, Regina."
"It's called distancing." She answered matter of factly. "Snow and Emma hurt you, they betrayed you, and now you don't want to be near them. It's not surprising."
"Will I ever be able to trust them again?"
"You know them better than I do, but I'm sure things will work out." She gave him a pat on the back and continued on her way. Her feet carried her to check on her kids. After the little argument the night before about dating, Elektra had determined that no one was allowed to date until they were 40. That little test had fallen flat considering she'd dated Karliah at 16 and Regina and Mal only a little while after that. Mal hadn't really seen a problem with it, while Regina was afraid that all this would mean that her little girls were growing up. It was all happening too fast for her liking. Outside in the sparring field, Alectra was with her friend, Leah. Both of them were smiling and talking as Leah twirled an axe and Alectra went through the training motions that Regina had taught her. The girl was quite pretty, even though one's eye was almost immediately drawn to the large scar stretching from the corner of her mouth to her ear. Alectra explained how she got it and the queen found it heartbreaking. Not far away, Elektra was training with some new recruits, those that had volunteered to be a soldier in their army and protect the kingdom. Regina didn't really pay much attention to that. Her eyes were on her blushing blonde daughter. So it was true after all. Now if she could only catch Thea in the act. She smirked to herself. That would never happen. However, she did at least want to know who this Jared Blake was and exactly what made him so special.
"Regina." Merlin came to her side now wearing his familiar wizard robes with his hood pulled back. He flashed a bright smile and inclined his head. "Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon. How are you feeling?"
"Much better."
"I thought deception was beneath you." Regina smirked, without turning to look at the man. Her eyes remained firmly on her daughter.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I mean, you could've healed yourself days ago. And yet you want my daughter to wait on you hand and foot."
He laughed. "i could've and believe me, Lucy is more akin to throwing something at me than waiting on me. She knows I'm almost at 100%."
"I'm sure."
"She's much more cunning than she lets on. Knows more as well. Did you know she speaks almost 5 different languages? She's still learning Swedish."
Regina sighed, crossing her arms. "I know very little about my daughters." The truth hurt. Lily, she had talked to, had bonded with. Lucy, she had not. Her daughter was instinctively reclusive and the only one she spoke freely with was Merlin. She had even confided more in Zelena. A revelation that made Regina even angrier at Emma and Snow's actions and more angry at herself for not trying to bond with her eldest blonde daughter. At the same time, she knew Lucy would not willingly share any intimate knowledge about herself with the mothers she hardly knew. "I fear trying to speak with her would be considered probing. She might not want me prying into her life."
"Or she does." Merlin countered. "But doesn't know how to ask. She wants more, Regina."
Regina made it her mission to do so. When the dragons returned, all three carrying great trunks filled with building materials, she asked Lucy if she would talk to them as Lily had, telling her mothers about her life and herself. The blonde seemed surprised but agreed. Regina, Mal and Elektra waited in the study and their daughter soon arrived, nervously rubbing her birthmark. It took her a bit to get over the nervousness but when she did, Regina started to understand a lot of why Lucy was the way she was. She had been adopted by Morgana, who had used Cora's name and most of her appearance to do so, at infancy. As she stated before, life was fine for a while. Then Morgana locked her in the basement for absolutely no reason at all. She brought food and water three times a day, every day but even so, Lucy was severely weakened physically, her eyesight deteriorated and she became malnourished, with only dreams to keep her company. She started experiencing strange visions of people she'd never met and places she'd never seen. Merlin came to her in a dream one night and told her why she was getting these visions. He explained to her everything, who she was, why she was there. In that time, she learned to make fire with some broken wood and became fascinated with it since it was the only light she could find. It was a living hell until Merlin helped her tear a hole in the wall one day to get free.
"After that, I went a little crazy." Lucy admitted. "I did pretty much everything under the sun as i got older. I traveled, took online classes to get an education, worked a bunch of different jobs...not at all them legal. Did not take well to authority, blew up a couple gas stations, set some stuff on fire."
"Exactly why did you blow the gas stations?" Regina asked.
"The first time was accidental. The second time...not so much. I gained a reputation as an arsonist and set a few more things on fire before I got caught and ended up in prison. No one was hurt."
"But that's not enough for solitary confinement as long as you did." Elektra frowned in confusion.
"Again...did not take well to authority. At all."
Regina smiled. "Your mother's child." She gestured to Elektra.
Lucy smirked slightly. "I've, um, done some bad things. I've gotten with bad crowds and joined forces with a lot of bad people. I'm not proud of it."
"You think we're any different?" Regina asked.
"You should be proud." Mal said, pulling her daughter into an embrace. "For making it this far on your own."
"I...don't think I was ever on my own." Lucy said softly, no doubt thinking of Merlin. Regina and Elektra exchanged smiles. "I'm sure it's no secret of how much I love him. But I don't know...how do I tell him that?"
"Just do it." Elektra answered. "Straight up."
"Walk up to him and kiss him." Mal shrugged. "Who has time for waiting around and playing coy nowadays? He adores you anyway. Don't worry."
"Thank you for talking with us about your past, Lucila." Regina said.
"Thanks for listening." Lucy smiled shyly. "It's um, late. I know you probably want to go to sleep."
Regina rolled her eyes. "For the love of the gods. First Morgana and now you, I am not a fragile little-"
"Morgana?" Elektra frowned. "You went to see her? Without protection?"
"So yeah, I'm gonna go…" Lucy quickly made for the door and Regina faced her lovers with an exasperated sigh.
"Alright. Yes, damn it. I asked her what her true intentions were and she is planning to create a child using my blood. The child will be hers and hers alone. She will leave us all in peace as long as we do the same to her. All we did was talk. It didn't even take 10 minutes."
"Regina, she's obviously half crazy." Mal hissed. "Because of something you did to her. Or rather didn't do. You put yourself in danger."
"And our children." Elektra snapped.
"You are right, and I apologize. But it needed to be done."
"Next time something like this is decided, I would like to be told." Maleficent growled, taking the younger queen by the chin. "Do you understand me, Regina?"
Regina swallowed hard. "Yes ma'am. Mal, you know i was only-"
"Doing what you thought was best, I know. But please, for our sakes, do not do it again. I cannot imagine losing you after everything we've been through." The dragon pleaded softly. She leaned down and nuzzled Regina's neck affectionately with her nose, planting a soft kiss on her pressure point.
"I promise, I won't."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next couple weeks after that were pleasant. Maleficent and Regina were starting to feel a bit bored however. It'd been too long since they did anything cruel or evil and they both decided it was time to play with their sadistic tendencies. The fun began as soon as they woke up one morning.
/
Elektra awoke with a smile, instantly noticing that her queens were already up. She hopped up and raced into the bathroom. Both of them were in the bath, washing off the soap. She frowned slightly. Never had her queens bathed together without getting a little freaky. She slipped into the water and wrapped her arms around Regina. The queen quickly responded to her touch, but Mal left the room without even an acknowledgement. "What's wrong with Mal?" Elektra asked. Regina only shrugged. The winged queen magically cleaned herself, dressed herself in a little black dress and followed after the dragon, who by then had gone into the kitchens and was making breakfast with Thea and Alectra. "Mal? You okay, baby?" The dragon... completely ignored her as she continued gathering ingredients for an omelette. "Mal. Mal!" She stepped in front of the dragon but she merely moved around her. Elektra looked at her daughter's. Both of them shrugged. The dragon fixed herself, Alectra and Thea a good hearty breakfast, ate it and left without a word, without a glance in Elektra's direction. The winged queen followed at her heels. "Mal, why are you ignoring me? What did I do, huh?" She grabbed the blonde's arm and was dragged off her feet by the dragon's superior strength as Mal kept walking. Elektra released her and raced around in front of her, jumping up and down to get her attention. She shook her wings in Mal's face, but the dragon looked right past her. "Damn it, Mal. Talk to me!" Mal continued on her way, but paused and Elektra let out a hopeful smile. The blonde merely wiped a probably nonexistent speck off her dress and kept walking. Elektra growled.
/
Alectra and Thea looked up when Regina walked into the kitchen, immaculately dressed in a simple long royal blue dress with her hair neatly held up in a ponytail, a hairstyle that neither had ever seen on their mother. "Morning, Mom." Regina did not reply as she fixed herself some breakfast. Alectra frowned. "Mom, you okay?" Regina again ignored her. She fixed her food and walked out. Alectra and Thea exchanged looks before getting up and following after the queen. "Mom!"
Thea bounced up and down in front of Regina as she walked, but the queen did not once look at them. Thea grabbed her foot and Regina continued forward, with some difficulty. "Mom! No!" She yanked on her foot, nearly tripping Regina, but she caught herself with magic. The queen managed to break free and disappeared around the corner. "That's how she wants to play it?"
A few minutes later, they found Regina sitting beneath an apple tree, relaxing. Alectra climbed the tree as stealthily as possible while Thea moved into Regina's line of sight. "Mom! Look, Alectra is going to jump out of the tree and I promise I will let her fall if you don't answer me." Regina did not answer. Alectra gulped. "Mom!" Thea got directly into Regina's face and screamed. No reply. "Alectra, jump." She commanded, looking up at her older sister. Alectra knew enough to catch herself if necessary anyway. She leaped forward, sailing through open air. Of course, she never hit the ground. A pool was conjured beneath her and she landed but first in it. Thea burst out laughing.
"A pool? Really? A trampoline would've been fine." Alectra growled, crawling out. Regina hadn't even turned her head. What. The. Hell. She picked up an apple and threw it. Of course Regina caught it. The queen took a big bite out of it, got up and started to walk away.
"I got it." Thea whispered. "Fine, Mom." She called. "I guess I'll just go have sex with Jared Blake!" Regina immediately started choking. Both daughters raced to check on her while stifling giggles.
"The hell you will!" Regina roared after coughing up the apple bits.
Alectra and Thea high fived happily. "This was really mean, Mom, by the way."
Regina smirked. "My attention is so important to you that you would blackmail me, threaten me with violence and to sleep with someone?"
"Absolutely." They said in unison, making her smile.
"Come here." She said, giving them big hugs.
"Don't ever do that again." Alectra commanded.
"I promise. I wonder how Mal is faring."
/
Elektra had spent all morning trying to get the dragon to stop giving her the silent treatment. She tried gifts, blackmail, several kinds of violence and finally the decision to withdraw sex for a month. None of it fazed the blonde in the slightest. She was starting to get really pissed. That is, until she remembered Maleficent's biggest possessive crutch. She quickly found the blonde, once more back in her workshop hammering away on something. It took a small amount of magic to conjure an apparition. She made it as sexy as possible, practically what Regina and Mal would look like mixed together. She made sure to wait until the blonde had left the workshop before slipping inside. "It's okay." She whispered loudly, cracking the door so the dragon could hear. Elektra knew she wasn't far away. "Mal's not here and no one comes down here. Look, we can't keep doing this."
"But baby, you promised that you would tell them that Karliah wasn't your only other lover and that you realized that you wanted me." The apparition said, whining prettily as she touched Elektra's arms and kissed her neck. Elektra could feel the dragon spying on her and her wings shook in excitement. Mal was probably too furious to realize all of this was just magic.
"Look, I know we talked about that, but come on, I have Mal and Regina. What more could I want?"
"Another child?"
Elektra's ears twitched when she heard the growl. "A child. You're pregnant?"
"Yes. Another little princess for you, baby. Just like we planned." The apparition giggled and kissed her lips. Elektra wrapped her wings around her and lifted her onto the dragon's worktable, sweeping everything off of it. "Oh my, having sex on the dragon's worktable. You dirty girl."
"She won't even know we were here."
"Is that so?" Maleficent snarled as she burst into the room. "Elektra, back away from that bitch!" She roared.
"You talked to me!" Elektra turned around, revealing that the woman had never been real. That only seemed to piss Mal off even more because she tackled Elektra straight through the table.
"You tricked me!"
"Don't ever ignore me again!" Elektra snapped. Her wings snapped closed around the blonde on top of her. She grinned. "I should spank you for that." Maleficent's eyes flashed between their cerulean blue to their dragon gold.
"Do it." She commanded.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The day of Regina's birth was drawing ever closer. The road had been well paved and easy going so far. The break from curses and evil witches was sorely needed so no one complained. While things were going well for this royal family, another one was tearing apart. David had gone back to Snow and had been with her for the past few months, but at the end of those months, he returned to the Blue Palace, this time as a divorced and dethroned king. Regina almost couldn't believe it that the epitome of True Loves were no more. But it seemed to be so. Despite Snow's attempts to contact him, David remained strong in his resolve. Besides that, things were going well, then that fateful day came in the worst of ways.
Regina had been riding with Alectra when the first contraction nearly made her see stars. Her first instinct was to grab her stomach and attempt to alleviate the pain. It was also a terrible mistake because she leaned forward and lost her balance, falling from her horse's back and hitting the ground hard enough that she thought might've passed out for a few seconds. She hadn't been riding fast thankfully and Mal's protection ward on her stomach repealed most of the damage. Alectra all but jumped off her horse and raced to her mother's aid. The contractions started increasing in pain and coming much quicker.
"Mom, what do I do?" Alectra asked. She looked around and screamed for help, but there was no one near. Regina hissed as more pain started coming. Alectra grabbed her mother's hand and gave it a squeeze. "You can't teleport, can you?" Regina grit her teeth and shook her head. "Um, okay. I'll think of something." She looked around again and moved over top of Regina, sitting in her lap.
"What the hell are you doing?" Regina demanded.
"Well, you can't give birth in the middle of this field, Mom."
Regina closed her eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths. When she opened them after feeling cool wind on her face, she was surprised to find them flying through the air. Alectra's eyes were closed and she was straining to keep them afloat. They put on a burst of speed and burst into the palace and Alectra placed them gently on the bed before nearly collapsing next to her. She managed to pick herself and make her way to the door, screaming for help. Lucy and Merlin were the first to enter. The blonde sent Merlin to get Mal and Elektra and came forward to place pillows behind her mother to prop her up.
"Let me know when the next contraction comes, okay?"
Regina simply nodded. Pain repeatedly rolled through her stomach in waves and she was close to blacking out. She wasn't sure if she could do this. How the hell was she supposed to push an egg out of her vagina? She grabbed Lucy's hand when she felt the next contraction.
"Okay. Let me know again, okay?" Regina obeyed and squeezed her hand on the next contraction. "That was 7 minutes. You're doing great, Mom. Just keep breathing."
Regina couldn't help smiling a little when she was referred to as mom. That happiness was overshadowed by the monumental task of giving birth to to her babies though. Her lovers burst into the room a minute later, quickly coming to her side. Mal took charge effective immediately and Elektra took Alectra out to avoid scarring their child for possibly the rest of her life.
"You can do this, Regina. We're right here." Maleficent looked into her eyes, at the same time giving her hand a comforting squeeze. "Do you trust me?"
"You know I do."
"Good, now let's get these two out of you, huh?"
"Be...my...guest. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Regina screamed at the top of her lungs and squeezed the dragon's hand with all of her might.
"Son of a bitch, Regina!" Mal roared.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
All in all, the birthing was not pretty. It was not fun and probably the hardest thing Regina had ever had to do. But it was a success. She was utterly spent, laying on the bed while Elektra cleaned her up and Mal placed the two rather large eggs in a stone basket and set them on a small trough lit with her fire so she could incubate them until they were ready to hatch. It would take a couple hours until they were ready.
Regina sighed as she felt the sweat and blood wash away, caused by Elektra's magic. It was followed by powerful healing energy as she searched for any wounds on her beloved. "I'm not hurt, E. Just sore and exhausted."
"Get some rest then." Mal walked over to kiss her forehead. "You did well. We'll wake you if they start to match."
"Check on the kids. Especially Alectra and Lucy." Alectra had all but burned herself out trying to get them home as quickly as possible and it would not surprise her if Lucy needed therapy after helping one of her mothers pop out a couple eggs. Her eyes creaked closed a few seconds later, but she didn't stay asleep for very long. She was utterly exhausted, but she was awake again within an hour to find Mal tending to the eggs and Elektra sitting on the floor with Thea in her lap, her wings wrapped around them both, almost hiding them as they catnapped. Alectra was sitting on the bed next to Regina, and Lucy and Merlin were sitting side by side against the wall, waiting as well. David was pacing and Lily, although here in spirit, had returned to Oz a week ago to help Zelena prepare for her own birth. Regina grabbed Alectra, making her yelp and laid back down snuggling against her. After the alarm wore off, Alectra sighed.
"Mom, you could've asked."
Regina smirked. "Thank you for getting me home."
"Anything for the greatest mom in the world."
Regina was soon out again but it seemed like she'd only just closed her eyes before she was being roughly shaken awake again. She groaned and sat up. Mal brought the eggs to the bed. They were shaking and starting to crack. She quickly sat up as the family gathered around. The cracks started to grow bigger and bigger. One egg completely fell apart, revealing the little boy inside. He was tiny, warm, and had a pair of dark, wet wings pressed against his back. Mal picked him up to clean him off and wrap him in a blanket. Regina was the first to hold him. She tried not to cry, but she simply couldn't and ended up almost bawling. "He's beautiful."
"One more." Elektra said excitedly, crouching at the foot of the bed. A tiny fist broke through the second egg and crying could be heard. Mal helped their second child hatch. It was a little girl. She didn't have wings like her new older brother, but she was still perfect. He was clearly a blonde and she already had dark hair on her head. Mal cleaned her and wrapped her up as well to place her in Elektra's arms.
"You guys picked your names for them?" Lucy asked.
"Regina chose them." Maleficent whispered, smiling down at the little girl in Elektra's arms.
"What are they, Gina?" Elektra asked without taking her eyes off her child.
"James and Jacqueline."
Elektra looked up and her lip trembled, overwhelmed by all of the emotions coursing through her at the moment. "Perfect."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Read and Review! Sorry for any mistakes.