"No ... Belle ... Don't ... Belle ... Why? .. Belle ..."
"Rumple?" The Queen still half asleep turned to her husband and hugged him.
"No ... Belle, don't ..." He jerked sharply, freeing herself from her hands.
"Oh, this is bad." the Queen muttered, finally waking up. "Hey, everything is fine." She whispered, holding Gold against her. "You're with me, Rumple, all is well, it's just a dream."
"No ...", he jerked again, "don't do this ..."
"Rumple, wake up!" She shook him lightly on the shoulders. "Everything is fine, you are with me. This is just a dream. It's all right."
"Where is he?" Gold opened his eyes and looked around the room with a muddy look, not really yet waking up.
"At home." The Queen stroked his shoulders. "Gideon is at home with the nanny, waiting for us. Charlotte and us. Everything is fine, you are with me."
"Regina?" He impulsively hugged his wife.
"It's me." She continued gently stroking him, calming him down. "Everything is fine, you are with me."
"Sweetheart ..." He buried his nose in her hair, clinging to her. "I'm sorry ..."
"Everything is fine." she repeated.
"Regina." He settled on her shoulder, continuing to hug her. "Just don't leave."
"I'm here." She kissed his temple. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Just don't leave me." He pressed her harder on him. "Don't leave."
"I will not leave," she soothingly stroked his back. "I will never go anywhere, everything is fine, I am with you, we are all with you. The same nightmare?" She asked after a while.
"Yes." He shook his head, driving away the remnants of the vision. "How long were we sleeping?" He raised himself on his elbow, looking at his daughter sleeping next to the Queen. "Charlotte hasn't woken up yet?"
"She woke up a couple of times" the Queen also turned to the girl, "but we are sleeping in an embrace, so she immediately stuck to me and fell asleep again."
"Well, it's more convenient than bottles." Gold smiled, carefully tracing his daughter's cheek.
"At times.", the Queen agreed.
"Listen, I left my phone in the car, I'll go pick it up." He sat upright, flexing his neck and shoulders. "I'll take a little walk at the same time, get some air."
"Good." She reached out and kissed him. "Do not hang around for a long time."
"Are you afraid that I will be confused and get lost?" Gold grinned.
"Exactly so." She sat behind him and hugged. "These nightmares will end someday."
"I have no doubt." He stood up, gently freeing himself from her hands and headed for the exit. "Do you want me to bring you anything?" He turned around at the door.
"Yourself.", the Queen smiled.
After a couple of minutes, the door opened again.
"Look who I found near the reception in the waiting area." Opening the door, Gold skipped forward Miss Mills.
"Regina?" The Queen was surprised. "How did you end up here?"
"Well, I accompanied Henry, I didn't sleep all night and in the morning I went to you. Your nanny told me that you are here, so I came here."
"How long have you been sitting here?", her sister asked.
"I don't know ... Since morning.", the Mayor answered uncertainly.
"Why didn't you say you were here before?" Regina was surprised.
"You were sleeping, I did not want to wake you up.", she shrugged.
"What time is it now?" The Queen asked, going up to her.
"Almost five p.m." Gold answered her.
"And you sat all day in the hallway?" She hugged her sister.
"It's still better than the hotel." Miss Mills shook her head. "Where David is harassing me."
"On the topic?" the Queen specified.
"On the topic: where did Gold go and when will they go to Storybrooke" The woman sighed. "He's crazy because he cannot reach you and believes that he was deceived. And now, when I left, he calls me constantly. Here he is, calling again." She took out a vibrating phone from her pocket. "What should I tell him? When will you go?"
"Let's go right now." Gold answered cheerfully. "Why shall we wait? Regina will get home on foot, it's not far from here. I'll just borrow Stern's shirt, he probably has a spare, otherwise it's embarrassing to go on such an important trip in a T-shirt."
"I'm serious." Miss Mills smiled.
"And I'm serious." Gold nodded. "I myself can't wait any longer. I almost feel the taste of Granny's burgers ... Can't wait!"
"Hamburgers are worse in New York?" The Mayor decined the call and put the phone back in her pocket.
"My wife doesn't allow me to eat this in New York." Gold glanced at the Queen. "She is, as you know, a tyrant and a despot no less than me."
"Yes, that's right.", she grinned. "No magic means no fast food full of cholesterol. Life is not fair."
"See?" He turned to the Mayor.
"And here he calls again." She patted her pocket. "Maybe you can talk to him yourself?"
"God forbid!" Gold stepped back from her a step. "Tell him we need a little time to recover. So we're planning a trip, well, I don't know, say in two weeks."
The Mayor answered the call, stepping out into the corridor again.
"Shall we?" Gold lifted up a bottle of champagne he had been holding all this time.
"Where did you get it?", his wife became interested.
"Down there, at the reception, it's a gift from the clinic." He handed her a bottle.
"Not bad." She turned the bottle around in her hands, reading the label. "Glasses?"
"Look at the nightstands, there should be something there." Gold nodded. "In an extreme case, there is a cooler at the corridor with plastic cups on it."
"Funny." The Queen peered into the bedside table and did indeed pull out a few glasses from it.
"See, it all ended well." Gold opened the bottle and poured some of its content into three glasses. "Shall we wait for Miss Mills?"
"She will join us later on." Regina took her glass. "Congratulations, Dad!" She smiled at her husband.
"Thank you." He pulled his wife to him and kissed her.
"Oh, I'm sorry." The Mayor, who had just gone back to the room, hastily turned away.
"Well, how did it go?" The Queen faced her sister as she turned away from her husband.
"As usual." Regina shrugged. "David is in panic and hysteria, saying that everyone deceived him. I am afraid to go back to the hotel."
"Don't go back." Her sister handed her a glass. "We have already offered you to move in with us, while you are looking for an apartment."
"I'll think about it." She sipped a little champagne. "By the way, you still haven't shown me my niece."
"Look." The Queen nodded towards the bed. "Get familiar: this is Charlotte."
"Oh my god." The Mayor squatted besides the bed, observing the girl. "What a delight you are, Princess Charlotte. I had already forgotten how small they are. " She turned to the Queen. " Can I hold her? "
"Of course.", she nodded.
"Shsh, don't worry, I'm your aunt." Regina carefully picked up the girl in her arms. "I'm your aunt.", she repeated, shaking the baby gently.
"I still have to go get the phone.", Gold whispered to his wife.
"Go on.", the Queen answered. "Well, what did you think?", she turned to the Mayor, "Will you move in with Charlotte and us?"
"If I can squeeze her and bathe her and take walks with her and read to her from time to time." Regina smiled.
"Deal!" She went close to her sister. "Tell me, how did it go with Henry?"
"Pretty complicated ...", the Mayor hesitated. "Oh, no, no, no, don't cry. Mom is here." She handed the awakened baby over to the Queen.
"What do you mean "pretty complicated"?" The Queen sat down on the bed, putting her daughter to her breast.
"Well ... I had to tell him that we will continue to work on freeing Emma and the others.", Regina replied reluctantly. "In the way he sees it, we have something like a new operation, Cobra."
"Regina." She cautiously looked at her sister. "You are doing exactly what we asked you not to do. You follow his lead and also give him false hope. Now you are not only delaying the inevitable, you are also putting additional blame on yourself for lying to him."
"I just couldn't tell him everything as it is right there." Miss Mills walked around the room. "Not now, when I send him away to a boarding school."
"And then when, Regina?" The Queen sighed.
"I don't know." The Mayor shook her head. "Besides, I still have hopes that you'll listen to me. I still believe that we could discuss again the fate of these three."
"Really?", she asked, trying to suppress her irritation. "My husband is still waking up in cold sweat because he still regularly dreams of losing his second son through the efforts of Miss French. And his therapist still recommends taking a double dose of beta-blockers when it happens. Do you still think you want to talk to me about this? Regina, I want you and me to be fine. I really want that. So I ask you not to circle back to this conversation over and over again."
"Well, I'm not saying anything about Belle.", the Mayor continued, "Or Hook. But Emma… She was just trying to help someone who, in her opinion, needed help. We could try to get her out. And then Henry will calm down and David..."
"And Emma will turn our lives into hell, wanting to get her Hook back and restore justice to Belle.", the Queen interrupted. "No, Regina. Simply no. Accept "no" as an answer and come to terms with it. Or don't and go back to your original plan. What did you want to do there as Mayor of Storybrooke?"
"Stop it.", the Mayor said quietly. "We have already agreed that I will not go against you."
"Then I strongly urge you to stop coming back to this topic over and over again.", her sister said calmly. "And not just with me. Gold can be very patient and he can calmly explain his position to you repeatedly, but that doesn't mean that these conversations cost him nothing."
"I understood you already." she said, raising her hands conciliatorily.
"I hope so.", the Queen nodded. "Because everything I say, I usually say it only once. Now I've repeated it twice already. There will definitely not be a third time."
"Don't you think you're pushing me too much?" The Mayor frowned. "Both of you."
"We are not pushing you." Regina shook her head. "But you are trying to sit on two chairs at once. It won't work out that way. You need to choose one side. Choose us, your nephews, your family, your new life. Or choose them. And return to your former life amongst the heroes of Storybrooke."
"So according to you, you are my only chance for a normal life in general! Seriously?", Miss Mills flared up. "I never had to choose someone who will make my life better! I always have been the mistress of my life myself. I don't think this has changed."
"Nothing has changed.", the Queen smiled. "You are your life's mistress. You are making the decisions. But tell me, what is it you want?"
"For now, I know exactly what I do not want." Regina said sharply. "I do not want to be a poor relative in your house who doesn't have the right to vote, one that you and Gold will reprimand her for not doing exactly what you told her to do. Or allow her to speak out on a forbidden topic. I don't need such a future!"
"But that is not so!" She, too, started to wind up. "You are not a poor relative who does not have the right to vote. But family is a compromise. And I don't ask for much. I have only one condition for you: if possible, don't hurt Rumple. I understand that for a resident of Storybrooke it sounds wild. After all, it has never crossed the mind of anyone in our town that he is also a living person, that he may have feelings. Perhaps you need time to wrap your head around this notion. But it is just so. And yes, we both have advice and tips for you and Henry. You can use them or not. And we can be upset if you ignore them. But there is no neglect of you."
"Everything will be either the way you want it or not at all - that's what I see. After all, you are doing me a great favor. The poor orphan! You let me into your house to warm myself by the fireplace. And if I behave, then you may even pour me a bowl of hot soup."
"What are you talking about?", the Queen sighed.
"That's what it looks like!", the Mayor answered fervently.
"You know this isn't so." She stood up and took her hand. "You are my sister, you are his beloved student. None of us want to offend you. I guess I really was too harsh with you. But this whole story is too painful for our family. You don't know what we experienced when Belle and Emma appeared here. Don't, Regina, do not make us get even deeper in this. Finally, for us it was all over. I know it's hard for you now. You worry about Henry, you are not used to accepting help from someone, you are not used to giving in, you think that our care humiliates you and puts you in a dependent position. But this is not so."
"Of course", the Mayor chuckled, "and if I learn to give in well then you might even let me choose the color of the walls in my New York apartment."
"You take everything so intensely because this is an unusual and very difficult situation for you.", the Queen nodded. "You were always by yourself and, accordingly, you made all the decisions as an individual, without the need for any deliberative vote, you are used to it. But accepting help does not humiliate and we are not bargaining. We are not trying to buy you over. When you calm down, you will see it yourself."
"You know, I need to take a walk!" The Mayor rose to her feet. "I'm going to get some coffee."
She flew out into the corridor, almost colliding with Gold at the door.
"What is the matter with her?" He nodded at her direction, entering the room.
"Don't pay attention.", the Queen dismissed. "It will blow over."
"Are you sure?" Gold crouched on the bed next to her.
"Of course, she's me." The Queen smiled, leaning against his shoulder. "Found your phone?"
"Yes." Gold nodded. "And we are very popular." He showed her the missed calls screen. "In addition to Regina and David, we have eight more missed from Jessica."
"Oh my god." The Queen pressed closer to her husband. "She already knows."
"Yes, everyone already knows.", he sighed. "The front desk is filled with flowers. It looks like our friend, Dr. Stern, has already notified our entire poker club. And Jessica is about to pay us a visit."
"We can leave right now for our house on the lake or fly to the islands.", the Queen whispered to him.
"She will pitch a tent in the garden." Gold smiled. "You know it. Besides, the Trentons are always important to us. And not only them. So get ready in the near future to introduce Charlotte to the public following all the unwritten rules. However, for you it's nothing of a shock, you are a Queen."
"I am a Queen who has fled from my kingdom." Regina sighed. "And I was hoping to get by without the whole procedure required for giving a name."
"Alas." Gold stroked her hair. "The laws of the world of money-magic are not very different from the laws of our world and there you are still the Queen, with all the ensuing responsibilities."
"You can't get away from fate, right?" Regina kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"Something like that." Gold agreed. "We have to explain to everyone why we called our daughter Charlotte and not Judith, Esther or Nimue, as everyone dreamed of.", he grinned. "Oh, and here she is again." He answered the call: "Yes, Jessica, everything is fine, thank you! Oh wait, I'll hand the phone over to Regina." The Queen waved her arms away from him. "Yes, she's just taking the phone from me." Gold handed it to his wife.
"I hate you.", the Queen mouthed at him, bringing the phone to her ear. "Hello!" She said cheerfully into the receiver. "Yes ... So far yes ... Well, I don't know ... When? .. Oh, Jessica, I don't even know ... Ah ... Well, yes ... We are waiting for you ..." She disconnected. "She is coming!" She returned the phone to her husband. "She will be here in 10 minutes."
"Did you have any doubt?" He put the phone in his pocket. "More champagne?"
"Perhaps." the Queen nodded.
"Come on!" The Mayor of Storybrooke angrily kicked the coffee machine at the lobby of the clinic. "Stupid piece of metal!"
"Are you okay?" She heard a voice coming from behind her.
"I'm fine! But this machine isn't!" The Mayor answered without looking back. "It ate my twenty all right and still hasn't poured me a damn coffee!" She kicked again the iron box with force.
"Regina, what's wrong with you?", continued the same, unfamiliar voice.
"How do you know ...", the Mayor began. "Ah, yes ... I'm not Mrs. Gold, I'm her sister." She finally turned to her previously invisible conversationalist and froze as she looked into the big brown eyes of the man standing next to her.
"I didn't know Regina has a sister." The man was a little bewildered. "In any case, it's nice to meet you. David Stern."
"Regina Mills." She automatically held out her hand, not taking her eyes off his face.
"What do you mean?" Stern was even more confused. "Are you a Regina too?"
"Yes.", the Mayor said wearily. "It shocks everyone. But yes, we are both Reginas."
"So everything is all right with you, Regina Mills?" Stern smiled.
"Yes", she nodded, "probably."
"If you want, I can make you coffee. You still won't get it from this machine even when it works, it pours an artificial substitute.
"No", Regina dismissed, "that's okay. You probably have a lot to do."
"My work is finished for today." The man smiled again. "Come on! I have great coffee in my office. And brandy. I see that right now you need both."
Returning to the ward, Miss Mills found Jessica who was already familiar to her.
"Oh, hello Regina!" The woman waved at her, as soon as she entered.
"Jessica." The Mayor smiled, "Nice to see you again."
"Same here. I was hoping we would meet more than once." The woman quickly approached her and hugged her. "My Regina is very worried about the relationship between you two.", she whispered at the Mayor's ear. "She really needs a sister."
"Yes, I understand.", the Mayor answered uncertainly.
"You smell of a very familiar perfume." Jessica sniffed her shamelessly. "I can't remember the name."
"I don't remember it myself either." Miss Mills pulled away from her. "I got sprinkled with it this morning at the store."
"Are you all right? Have you calmed down?" the Queen asked quietly when the Mayor moved away from their guest and approached her.
"Yes." Regina nodded. "All is well."
"Okay, I see you still have family conversations here." Jessica threw a coat over her shoulders. "We are in agreement over everything, right?" She looked at the Queen with a smile.
"Of course." The Queen smiled back.
"Then I'll see you later." She took her purse. "Let me take a picture of you with the baby.", she said, taking out her phone. "I want to show Howard. Rumple, stand next to your wife, I like it when you are all together. Can you do that? Do you mind?"
"Jessica, how can I refuse you?" Gold laughed, hugging the Queen.
"That's true." she smiled, taking their photo. "That's it, now it's definitely goodbye. See you soon! Miss Mills, I hope you too."
"You crouched." The Mayor whispered to the Queen as soon as Jessica disappeared behind the door.
"What?" The Queen did not understand.
"When she photographed you. You made yourself look shorter." the Mayor repeated. "Just like Cora taught you and me. I thought we both hated palace etiquette."
"What does palace etiquette have to do with it?", the Queen asked bewildered. "The photos look better this way."
"And do you think this is normal? To crouch in front of your husband?" The Mayor did not let it go. "And you feel okay when your wife crouches in front of you?" She turned to Gold.
"You crouch? Oh my God! What a nightmare!" Gold portrayed amazement.
"Well, technically, I crouched in front of Jessica." the Queen grinned.
"Yeah, I see, both of you having fun with it!" Regina was boiling again. "And you are not at all humiliated to crouch in front of your husband."
"Listen, am I just as boring?", the Queen asked Gold.
"No, what are you saying." Gold hugged his wife. "You're not at all boring, at all. For sure!"
"So now I'm boring?", Regina snapped.
"Yes." the Queen nodded. "And you smell of Stern's cologne. If you keep being boring, we'll start discussing about that instead."