A week after the Nolan baby made it's arrival into the world and the very same day as Cora's arrest, Emma paced the floor in her office, avoiding the mounting paperwork that was waiting to be completed on top of her desk.

For the last week she had been at peace of mind once she found out that Cora Mills had been taken to Boston, placed in a cell, and was charged with accessory to the murder of Bridget Sinclair. But not an hour earlier she had gotten the call from Carter explaining to her how the charges didn't stick once they brought her before a judge, the evidence tampered with and they had nothing else to hold her with and had no other choice but to let her go.

That meant in a few short hours, Cora Mills would be back in Storybrooke, maybe even sooner than that since Carter informed her she immediately hired a driver once she was released. This made Emma's already high stress level skyrocket through the roof.

"Em?" Ruby said as she tentatively knocked on her open office door. "It's five."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, so, do you want a ride home or are you walking?"

Emma groaned, almost forgetting that her Bug's engine had died on her this morning and Regina was going to the country club after she left the office to sign some paperwork for the wedding ceremony and reception as well as the rehearsal two nights before that Saturday.

"Yeah, sure."

"What's going on?" Ruby asked as they left the station, passing a sleepy, mumbling Booth as he came in for the night shift. "Em? You've been in your office for the last three hours pacing. Who called you earlier?"

"Carter did."

"And?"

"The charge they had against her didn't stick. The judge threw out the case and they had no other reason to keep her."

"That is ridiculous!" Ruby exclaimed. "So, what? They just let her walk free?"

"They have nothing against her! Nothing but Regina's word and they can't use that as significant evidence to keep her locked up behind bars where she belongs!"

Ruby stopped her just before they reached the red car and she placed both hands on Emma's shoulders. "One way or another, she'll get what is coming to her. The psycho bitch is going to mess up and it'll be all over for her."

Emma took a few deep breaths and sighed as Ruby pulled her into a hug. When they parted, they got into the car and when Ruby turned over the ignition, loud driving rock music filled the silence and neither moved to turn the radio down while Ruby drove Emma home.

The house was empty when Emma let herself in, the sound of the door shutting behind her echoing in the quiet. She kicked off her boots, dropped her keys and badge on the table just inside the dining room, keeping her gun holstered to her belt as she made her way to the kitchen to grab a cold beer out of the fridge.

Emma twisted off the cap and leaned up against the counter by the stove, pulling a long swig of her beer and then another. When would this end, when would she not have to worry about Cora Mills interfering with her life with Regina? Pulling another long swig from the bottle, Emma blew out a frustrated breath before effortlessly downing the rest of her beer.


Regina sat across the small table from Kathryn inside of Storybrooke Country Club, a glass of red wine in front of each of them as they waited for the manager to return with the paperwork needed to book the wedding in just a few short weeks. They hadn't been waiting for long, but the manager had warned her that it may take a short while to get all the necessary paperwork in order.

So they had taken to the sitting room and ordered a glass of wine while they waited and despite their earlier conversation revolving around the wedding, Kathryn had taken to talking about baby Nathan Neal Nolan.

"I went around yesterday to visit, of course I had brought them the cutest onesie I saw the other day while I was shopping with Ruby. Mary Margaret has barely let him leave her arms, but she let me hold him. They've started calling him Neal—"

"Isn't his name Nathan?"

"It is, but I guess they decided Neal suited him?" Kathryn said with a shrug. "Anyway…"

Regina subconsciously tuned her out for a moment, grimacing at the name Neal, a name she hadn't thought of in over a year. If it had been her choice, she would've never known the name of the man who had come between her and Emma if it hadn't been mentioned in one of Emma's letters. Regina raised her glass of wine to her lips, taking a healthy sip before placing it back down on the table in front of her.

"Isn't the whole point of it being a middle name just that?" Regina asked, interrupting Kathryn in her ramble about her nephew.

"What's wrong with the name Neal?"

"It's—"

"David told me why they chose that name. Do you remember his best friend in high school?"

"Vaguely, Kathryn. We're five years older than him."

"Come on, Regina. You remember Cassidy, don't you?"

"The name is not ringing any bells. It has been eighteen years since we graduated."

"They were on the football team together, friends long before that. And god, do not remind me how long it has been since we've been in high school!" Kathryn chuckled with a shake of her head. "The guys on the team, god knows why, called him Baelfire. I didn't know him, not well, just in passing. David told me that giving his son Neal's name was a way of honouring him. He died two and a half years ago. A car crash just a few miles outside of town. I'm sure you remember it. It was a pretty big deal in town. Gold's son dies in a drunk car crash, the drunk driver being him…"

"I remember," Regina said. "Vaguely."

"He was in New York with us, that last year before you moved back home," Kathryn continued. "So was Jefferson even though he wasn't exactly a part of their little jock crowd, they'd all became friends there."

"He was in New York?"

Kathryn nodded, taking a sip from her glass. "He was always at all of Jefferson's parties. Kind of quiet and kept to himself. I never really, you know, talked to him even though he and Jefferson were close with David. But he was in New York with us, don't you remember?"

"Right, no," Regina responded tightly, her mind starting to wander, to remember the name, to remember reading Emma's words in those letters she had sent just over a year ago every day to her front door.

A sinking feeling suddenly hit her and she grasped at her glass of wine, not wanting to hear the thoughts thrumming through her mind in that very moment. She had enough to worry about with the wedding and her mother's most recent arrest, the last thing she needed to think about was the name Neal and how just hearing it reminded her of the man that had inevitably taken Emma from her for eleven years.

"Regina?" Kathryn asked quietly. "Are you all right? You're awfully pale."

"Did you just say that Cassidy was in New York with us? He was friends with Jefferson?"

"He was always at Jefferson's parties," Kathryn repeated. "Kept mostly to himself. Sweet guy really."

Regina shook her head. It was just a coincidence. It wasn't the same Neal, was it? It couldn't be. There couldn't be that much of a coincidence that the Neal that David had been friends with was the same Neal that had been drugged with Emma, the same Neal who was Henry's birth father.

Then again, Emma had never told her Neal's last name and it could've been an entirely different person all together. There was no possible way that it was one and the same.

"After you left and came home, I heard that Neal had left because of…oh no," Kathryn gasped. "Oh no, Regina."

"What?"

Kathryn shook her head, paling as she lifted her wine glass to her lip with a shaky hand. Regina's heart just dropped considerably. Maybe it wasn't such a coincidence after all.

"What is it, Kathryn?"

"I don't know if I should—"

"Tell me," Regina implored, careful to keep her voice down. "Just tell me, Kathryn. Now."

"It's the same Neal," she whispered in a rush. "Oh my god, it's the same guy! It's the same Neal that—I had completely forgotten. It's been so long. It's the same—I didn't even think that—oh Regina—it's the same—"

"Don't even say it," Regina choked, wrapping her fingers around the stem of the glass a little tighter. "I don't want to think about what happened to her that night or the days that followed and the years of—don't."

Kathryn reached out for her and Regina immediately retracted her hand and dropped it into her lap. "Are you going to tell her?"

"Tell her what?" Regina asked, her voice low and gravely. "That one of David's best friends was the one who raped her that night? That the baby is named after that man?"

"Regina—"

"No."

"Ms. Mills?" The manager said as he approached the table with caution. "I have the paperwork ready for you to read over and sign. There has been some changes—"

"That's fine," Regina said tightly, taking the documents and placing them down on the table in front of her. At the first notice of the date, she felt a wave of panic. "This says for the twenty-third of August?"

"The date you requested is booked due to the long weekend it falls upon," the man said sympathetically. "We could move the date into September, if you wish—"

"No, no," Regina said with a shake of her head. "The twenty-third it is then."

With her mind swimming of the information she'd just retained from Kathryn and the stress of the wedding being a whole week sooner as she signed her name, she wasn't sure how much more she could take until she jumped over the edge of the cliff she felt she was standing on in that very moment.

It took her longer than it should've to sign the papers and by the end she was finished her glass of wine and itching for another. She couldn't indulge, however, since she had to drive herself home to Emma and Henry. A wave of panic washed over her as she paid a second security deposit with her credit card, the ballroom and garden booking already paid for months ago. They now had three weeks instead of four to finalize absolutely everything and her emotions were already on edge learning about Neal.

After the manager told her he'd need to confirm the payment went through on her credit card and that it would take just a few moments, Regina waved at the waiter, pointing to her glass in a rush.

Kathryn shook her head no. "Regina, you're driving."

"Half a glass," Regina insisted. "After what I just learned from you about Neal, I'd say I need a bit more wine before I can go home. I'm fine, Kathryn, really."

"I'm worried about you."

"You're always worried about me, dear."

"Is this just about Neal?" Kathryn asked gently. "Or is it the wedding as well?"

"It's everything," Regina said after a moment, motioning to the middle of her glass as the waiter approached with the bottle of wine. "It's Neal, it's the wedding, it's my mother."

"Your mother is behind bars," Kathryn reminded her. "They'll charge her and she won't get away with this."

"No, you don't understand. The reason she is behind bars is because of that Sinclair woman, not because of what happened to Emma. They can't find anything plausible enough to charge her. As far as all the evidence points to, that man is being held responsible, not her in any shape or form as it should be."

"Regina, I'm a firm believer in karma and there is no way your mother is going to get away with murder."

"She has once, whose to say she won't yet again?"

Kathryn sighed heavily, pitching at the bridge of her nose. "How about we just forget about what a psychotic witch your mother is and just focus on the wedding right now?"

"I'm trying to, Kathryn."

Kathryn smiled warmly at her before leaning forward slightly. "Ruby and I were talking and we decided we're going to throw you and Emma a joint bachelorette party the night of the rehearsal dinner, just so you know, you two don't show up hung over to your wedding."

"And where you plan on hosting this party exactly?"

"The Rabbit Hole."

"Wonderful," Regina said with a roll of her eyes. "The rehearsal dinner should run until nine, do you think—"

"We'll have plenty of time for a bachelorette party, Regina. You're only going to get married once, might as well fully enjoy yourself."

"You said it was a joint party, doesn't that mean Emma will be there as well?"

"Yeah well, you two aren't going to get a strip tease and a lap dance together, that's for sure. Tori said we could use her office for that, you know, give you and the exotic dancer a little bit of privacy and everything."

Regina felt her cheeks flush and Kathryn chuckled heartily. "And if I object?"

"Let's just say you don't," Kathryn tittered. "You'll really appreciate Emma after that."

"No strip teases and no lap dances," Regina said firmly. "I mean it, Kathryn."

Kathryn chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine! We can still have fun despite, and you'll have all of that Friday to recover before you marry the love of your life."

"And find my happy ending."

"You will, Regina. Emma is your happy ending. You've come a long way to get here."

"And yet, we still have miles more to go."


Emma paced the kitchen, taking another swig from her third bottle of beer in the last two hours. Henry was still over at Nicholas' and after a phone call, Michael assured her he'd have Henry home by nine as the boys were in the middle of what was explained as a very intense video game session. Emma's two texts to Regina had gone unanswered, but they weren't that important, just wanting to know when she would be coming home and that she needed to talk to her when she did get home.

She placed her bottle down on the counter and headed for the study where she kept the gun safe high on one of the shelves and out of Henry's reach. She removed her gun, entered the combination and placed it inside after double checking that the safety was on despite her emptying the clip as she always did.

After a quick glance at the clock, half past eight, she retreated back to the kitchen and grabbed her bottle of beer before moving to sit on top of the island counter top. A sudden rush of arousal hit her as she remembered the time she'd taken Regina in the kitchen. The first time, the second time, the third and then the last time, which had been just a handful of days ago, had been out of absolutely nowhere and they'd nearly been caught by Henry, who had come home from the day camp he was enrolled in, came home an hour early due to a harrowing rainstorm.

Emma downed the last of her beer and just as she slipped off the counter, she heard the front door open and the unmistakable sound of Regina's heels clicking against the tile as she strolled through the foyer. As happy as she was to see her, her smile faltered as she took in the sight of Regina as she entered the kitchen.

"Hi," Emma smiled at her as she reached out for Regina before she could reach the fridge and she wrapped her arms around her, moving in for a kiss, fully surprised when Regina all but forcefully pushed her away. "Hey, what's wrong, Gina?"

"What's wrong?" Regina asked, her voice on the same edge her body language was showing her to be. "What's wrong?"

"Regina—"

"We sent the invitations out. With the wrong date."

"The wrong date?" Emma was confused. "Did we not get the—"

"It's the long weekend. They have too many functions and we either had a choice of three weeks after that or the week before."

"So," Emma said carefully. "What day did you pick?""

"The week before."

"Is that doable?"

"I am not entirely sure, I'm hoping so of course, but I signed the contract and put down another security deposit," Regina replied. "I have to get in touch with the minister, the caterer and—"

"Shh," Emma whispered, cupping Regina's flushed face between her hands. "It is going to be perfect, okay? Even if we change our mind and elope like in that field you took me to that one day, it'd still be perfect because I am marrying you, one way or another."

"Why didn't we just agree to elope?" Regina asked, backing away from her jerkily.

"Gina, I want this day to be perfect for you, to have the wedding of your dreams. All I care about is marrying you, whether it be a huge, lavish wedding, something small or eloping in that field. You know why? Because it's you."

"Emma, you do not understand, I thought we would have enough time to get this done, but there is just too much to do—"

"Regina—"

"How are we going to inform the guests of the date change if the invitations have already been sent out? Why didn't we just wait to send them out?"

It was clear to Emma that Regina was already on an edge and that she was about to fall over it at any given second. She wasn't sure how to reach out to her, to get her to calm down, because when she was on an edge like that, just about anything would and could set her off in an instant. Yet, despite that, Emma knew she had to tell her the news about her mother, now and not later.

Regina was still going off about the wedding, the planning, the details, the invitations, and the guests. Emma just watched her pace in the kitchen, looking at her as if she were speaking another language completely. Emma ran her fingers through her hair before she stepped in front of Regina and placed her hands on her hips.

"Gina, stop," she urged quietly. "I know this is stressful, I know that there is still a lot to do, but everything is going to work out."

"How can everything possibly work out?"

"You don't have to take care of everything by yourself," Emma insisted and Regina shook her head in disagreement. "You could let Kathryn help you, I know she wants to."

Regina almost relaxed at her words, but then Emma could feel the tension rise in her body once more. "Kathryn and Ruby have been busy planning our bachelorette party."

"I know, Ruby was telling me earlier. Gina, I know now might not be the best time to mention it, but I got a phone call today."

"A phone call? From who?"

"Carter."

Regina stiffened and she backed away from Emma, shoving her hands off of her hips suddenly. "What did he want?"

Emma frowned as she took in the sight of her, she was frazzled and stressed and tense and yet, if she didn't tell her now, the end result would be far worse. "She was let go today. The judge threw out the case," she said softly. "The evidence—it wasn't enough."

"She what?" Regina asked, her voice rising. "She was let go? Just like that? The case thrown out, just like that? When were you going to tell me?"

"I'm telling you now."

"How long have you known?"

"I—"

"Emma," Regina asked angrily. "How long have you know that they let my mother go?"

"Early this afternoon," Emma whispered and she winced at the incredulous growl that slipped past Regina's lips. "You were in meetings all afternoon and you had to deal with the booking at the country club. I was waiting until you—"

"They let her go?" Regina asked again, suddenly focused on the fact that her mother was no longer behind bars. "They let her go?"

"Regina—"

"How long, Emma," Regina demanded. "How long has it been since they let her go?"

"Probably six hours…" Emma trailed off, frowning as Regina growled again and when she tried to reach out for her, Regina pushed her away. "Gina—"

"Don't. Touch. Me."

"Regina, please," Emma trembled as she watched her go through a serious of different emotions all at once, wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around her, to hold her, to soothe away whatever ailed her in that moment. "Don't push me away."

Emma tried again to reach out for her and felt a pang surge through her when Regina slapped away her hands. She watched her body tremble slightly as she backed away from her, shaking her head as she placed her hands up in front of her, putting more and more space between them with every step backwards that she took.

"Regina, talk to me."

"I just—I need—"

She turned suddenly on her heels and stormed out of the kitchen and that told Emma all she needed to hear without another word having to be said. She needed some space. She needed to be alone. She needed to deal with not just the stress from the wedding, but learning that her mother had been let go, the charge against her thrown out like yesterday's garbage.

Emma sighed, slumping up against the counter as she heard the door to the study slam shut, the sound reverberating throughout the house like rolling thunder. She had a feeling that maybe there was more going on than what met the eye, but she had to give Regina her space or else the tension between them would elevate and she really did not want to start fighting with her, not tonight.


Regina paced the floor in the study, a glass of cider firmly held in her right hand, her left running through her short hair with every couple of paces. Her mother was no longer behind bars where she belonged, her mother had been set free and was either on her way or already back in Storybrooke. Regina couldn't deal with that news on top of the stress she was feeling over the wedding.

Then there was the fact that Neal, the very same man that was Henry's…father, was inadvertently connected all this time and nobody had even known all this time. How had Kathryn gone all these years without telling her the truth about Neal, that he wasn't just some random guy at that party that night, that he had been David's friend for years upon years before that night happened that ruined her and Emma's life at the time.

Regina knew she had to tell her, but the emotional stress of everything was weighing her down and her temper was white hot, due to set off at any given moment. She sipped her cider, feeling the burn of it in her throat as she swallowed and she took another sip before she continued to pace, the sound of her Prada heels clicking against the floor almost soothing in itself.

After about a half an hour and two small glasses of cider later, she stopped her pacing when she heard the soft click of the door opening. Emma tentatively walked in, a small smile curling over her lips and Regina, despite the mood she was in, felt her heart melt at the very sight of her.

"Emma, I'm sorry—"

"No, I'm sorry," she said gently as she took the glass out of her hand and placed it on the mantle. "I should've told you earlier when I found out."

"I was in meetings all afternoon."

"I still should've called you, left you a message or something."

Regina's eyes slid shut just for a moment as she all but melted into Emma's warm, loving embrace. She wrapped her arms around Emma and just for a moment she indulged in the feel of her soon to be wife, ever so loving and attentive, ever so caring and ever so worried about her emotional state as always.

Emma leaned in and kissed her softly and surely, as if a single kiss could ail the stress that had wracked her throughout the day. After a moment, she placed a hand on Emma's chest and gently eased her away.

Yet, Emma was insistent, as always, and kissed her again, harder and deeper, her hands firmly splayed on her lower back and hip. Regina slipped into the kiss with ease, losing herself in Emma completely because it was easier to fall away from her, to let the rest of the world just slip away than it was to face it. She moaned as Emma's hand slipped from her hip down to grasp at her ass, pulling her hard, their bodies flush together as they kissed passionately, their bodies swaying slightly as they leaned into one another.

But her mind wasn't just on Emma. She couldn't stop thinking about what Kathryn had told her and the fact that Henry's father, all this time, had been someone that was inadvertently connected to herself through Kathryn and David.

She placed a hand on Emma's chest again, easing them out of their kiss. They were both breathing heavily and Emma, slightly intoxicated from the glaze in her eyes, moved to kiss her once more and Regina allowed herself just to indulge for a moment before she pushed her away again.

"Darling," she started, not wanting to have this conversation, but knew that she needed to before she inevitably heard it from Ruby the next day. "There's something I need to tell you, something I only just learned of this evening."

"What?"

"It's about…Neal. Not the Nolan's baby, but…him."

Emma paled at the name and stepped back from their close embrace. "What—Neal? What about him?"

"Aren't you curious as to why David and Mary Margaret named their son Nathan Neal?"

"Coincidence?"

Regina shook her head. "No, not by coincidence."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked, her voice cracking as she moved to sit down on the sofa. "How is it not a coincidence?"

With a heavy sigh, Regina sat down next to her, her eyes falling into a heavy gaze with curious green ones that were staring hard at her. "I had a rather interesting conversation with Kathryn earlier. She was talking about the baby, how they've started to call him Neal and not Nathan. I made a comment about it and she told me a little story about a friend of David's and how they had chosen that name as a part of the baby's to honour his friend."

Emma's lips were pressed in a tight line and she barely moved a muscle, just watching and waiting for Regina to continue.

"Neal and David were friends for a very long time. He died a few years ago in a car crash just outside of town," she said quietly, Emma not quite making the connection yet, but she would in a matter of minutes. "Kathryn told me that Neal moved down to New York City to go to college," she said, pausing just for a small moment to gather herself, to stay calm and composed as she could manage. "And that he'd left shortly after I did."

"What are you trying to tell me, Regina?"

"It's the same Neal," she whispered shakily. "Henry's…father and David's friend are one and the same."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I wish I were."

Emma shook her head and what Regina wouldn't give to know what was going on inside her mind at that very moment. "How is that even possible?" Emma asked, her voice quiet. "How can it be—there has to be some kind of mistake."

"Kathryn saw you two that night."

"If she saw us, why didn't you know about this before?"

"I'm not certain. Perhaps she felt that if wasn't something important at that time and over the years she had simply forgotten about after he died—"

Emma signed and shook her head again. "He died."

"Yes, a few years ago," Regina replied gently. "How does that make you feel?"

"Nothing. I feel nothing for him. He was nobody to me. He was a mistake and I should've never been at that party that night. I don't care that he's dead. He is nothing to me or to Henry, he never was and he never will be," Emma said coolly and she glanced down at her hands being held by Regina's in her lap. "He's nothing."

"Emma, I know this is hard for either us to talk about, but despite the circumstances, you—we wouldn't have Henry if it weren't for that night or for Neal. He is, unfortunately, Henry's father and we should be grateful that he never knew you were pregnant. God knows what would've happened had he known."

"That man is not Henry's father. He's nothing more than a sperm donor and what happened that night was a mistake. It never should've happened, Regina, ever!" Emma exclaimed, pulling her hands out of Regina's suddenly.

"Yet, it did happen and if it hadn't you would've never had Henry," Regina replied gently, not moving to take ahold of Emma's hands again. "I know you do not regret having Henry despite the circumstances surrounding his conception. What is in the past is in the past. None of that matters now, does it?"

"Henry is one of the best things to ever happen to me despite the fact that he's a bastard child!" Emma said and she clamped a hand over her mouth. "Oh god, no, he's not a bastard, he—"

"He's your son. He's our son, darling, and what is in the past is in the past," she repeated gently. "Nothing will change the fact that he's our son, Emma."

"I've never told him," Emma whispered. "Of all the times he's asked me who his father is, I've managed to avoid telling him the truth," she sighed and hung her head low. "How do you think he'd feel knowing that he would've never been born if I hadn't been at that party that night? If I hadn't been drugged and raped by Neal that night? How do you think he'd feel knowing that if—"

"You were raped?" Henry's small voice echoed through the study. "My dad raped you?"

"Henry," Emma gasped as she turned to look at him. "Henry, it's not—"

"No," he whimpered. Panic washed over him suddenly and he took off running towards the front door.

"Henry!" Emma called out and Regina motioned for her to follow him. "Regina, what if he heard everything?"

"Then he heard everything. Go on, Emma, don't let him run away."

Regina followed Emma out of the study, watching as she ran towards the open front door after a very distraught Henry. Regina worried her bottom lip, her heart breaking for Henry having learned about his father, about his conception, about everything.

Emma's voice echoed through the night and inside the house as she called out his name, over and over again.

"Henry!"