Stolen Darkness

Chapter 26

Disclaimer::: I do not own OUAT or its characters, just my imagination.

I will not be writing more chapters until either Wednesday or Thursday, so bear with me. ;)

It was now the next day and Emma had been discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health. Shifters, especially dragon shifters tended to heal quickly. And Emma was just glad to be out of there. After what happened with Emma, Regina was even more protective of her and the twins. Emma loved her for that and knew she would do whatever it took to assure Regina that it wouldn't happen again. They arrived home finally and Regina opened the door for her. Emma had wondered why Regina didn't simply poof them inside instead of the front porch. Before she could ask Regina, she got the answer to her question when a huge Chorus of SURPRISE! Sounded and she looked at Regina who was grinning at her and had taken her into her arms, kissing her deeply in front of everyone there. "Surprise dear." Her eyes twinkled with merriment.

Emma laughed, she had not expected Regina to pull this off so fast when she had been with her the whole time at the hospital.

Ruby stepped up and hugged her sister in law. "Granny helped. Lily and I wanted to surprise you and your mother helped too."

Lily grinned as she nudged Henry. "This young man here also helped Granny in the kitchen. It helps that he knows all your favorite foods and I did remember some of them from our younger days. Some things just never change."

Maleficent hugged her daughter and kissed her cheek. "He also regaled us with some stories if you two. So we had a lot of fun. It was worth it."

Emma laughed, feeling so loved by her family. Regina never left her side as she moved around, thanking everyone who came. Mulan was also there with Aurora who had begrudgingly come. Emma was amused, but she thanked them for being there.

The doorbell rang and Regina finally moved from Emma's side to answer the door. While Regina was at the door, she moved to talk with Belle and Zelena. She was about to comment on something Zelena was saying to her, when she heard Regina call to her. "Excuse me for a moment." Emma then went to where her wife was. "Hey baby?" She joined her wife and then was surprised to see who was standing on their front porch. Emma was surprised. "Mary Margaret, David? What brings you two here?" She asked.

Regina answered her wife. "I invited them."

Emma was surprised. She wondered what had possessed Regina to invite them. She was confused. "Okay, what's going on?"

Regina smiled, understanding why Emma reacted like that. She had also surprised herself too. Maleficent had asked Regina as a favor and she had obliged. She figured Mal would explain her reason for wanting the Charmings there.

But before she could explain, Maleficent spoke up. "They saw you turn into a dragon yesterday." She had a dark smile on her face. "It was quite a wake-up call for them."

Emma realized what her mother was indicating. "So in other words, that was the evidence they needed… The proof that I am not and was never their daughter." She smiled and nodded.

Regina smiled at the Charmings when it made sense. "Won't you come in?" She stood aside to let them in.

"Thank you." They nodded as they moved inside. The Charmings still felt awkward.

Regina then looked at her wife. "They brought Henry to the hospital last night, and they were actually concerned for you."

Emma was surprised, but now she understood better why they had come. They were not there to plead their case to their "daughter" like they had countless times in the past. They now knew their place and would not cross a line with Emma again. Emma remembered a time when Mary Margaret had been a friend to her before all this happened. Maybe it was her pregnant hormones, maybe not… But she softened at this. She could see how uncomfortable they were to be there after everything that had transpired. Emma smiled at them. "Would you like to see the nursery?" She offered as a way to break the ice between them.

Mary Margaret hesitated and looked at Maleficent who only smiled knowingly.

Maleficent looked at Regina and Emma, "The food will be ready in about an hour." She informed them before she moved back to where the others were waiting.

Henry had smiled when he had seen what was going on. He'd checked on them a few minutes ago. He looked at David. "Come on, let's get you something to drink." He led David to the kitchen.

Mary Margaret smiled, her eyes misty. "I would love to." She followed Emma and Regina upstairs.

Emma then opened the french doors leading to the nursery which was in the adjoining room next to the master bedroom. They moved inside and Mary Margaret was amazed at the room which could easily be altered to fit two growing girls. There were two closets, two cribs, and pretty much two of everything. The room was a lavender color. There were two chairs for Regina and Emma to feed or rock their babies or to read to them. She marvelled at how many books they had ready for them to read. There were toys, clothes, educational tools, some dolls and other unisex toys.

"Wow… This is amazing. This time you will not miss out on your children growing up. You must be very excited." Mary Margaret smiled before a few tears escaped and fell down her cheek. "I'm sorry." She wiped her tears away.

Emma's heart went to her. "I know. There are many things you wished had not happened. I do understand." She didn't want to make her more uncomfortable. "We still need to get a few things straight Mary Margaret."

Regina stood by her wife and watched her former step daughter's reaction.

Mary Margaret nodded. "I know. I had a long talk with your mother. I never meant for any of this to get out of hand. I should have handled it better and tried to see things from your perspective instead of trying to make excuses or to keep things from you. I never should have done what I did to you and your sister and most of all, to your mother. But it all happened. And we need to move forward, not take any steps backwards because that will not take us anywhere. I did love having you as my friend. I loved having you as my daughter even if it was for a short time. But I never knew the Apprentice was going to do what he did when he took your sister. We should have stopped him…"

Emma stopped Mary Margaret from rambling on. She got her point clearly. And after today, she did not want to keep harping on what could have happened and what didn't happen. "We're here now. After everything has been said and done, I have my mother and my sister. I have Regina and our daughters who will be joining our family. We have Henry. There is no need to keep living in the past anymore. It's time to move forward. I accept your apology Mary Margaret." Emma smiled.

Regina chuckled, "And since we are all about starting fresh…" Her eyes twinkled. With a wave of her hand, she had Mary Margaret's heart in her hand. Regina had a mischievous grin on her face. "I don't know if I really should…"

Mary Margaret gave a start. "No please! I want it back!"

Emma and Regina giggled at her.

"I'm just kidding, you can have your old heart back. You need it more than I do." Regina winked as she pushed Mary Margaret's heart back into her chest.

Emma hugged Mary Margaret. "Come on, let's go get something to eat." She chuckled as she joined Regina and they moved back downstairs.