Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or its characters.

Author Notes: Well folks, here we are again. This chapter was particularly fun to write and I hope it's fun for you to read.

Emma stirred and opened her eyes, blearily looking around the unfamiliar room. She sat up with a start, having a mild moment of panic before she remembered where she was.

Regan's guest room.

The night before, he had insisted she stay the night since it was very late. It was just a ten-minute drive back home, but she accepted anyway, not really wanting to leave.

Of course, there was some kissing involved before they went their separate ways.

The man was a had a talented mouth, she could tell even from the somewhat chaste kisses they shared. He tasted like coffee, cinnamon and apple cider, a weird but highly addicting combination, at least in her humble opinion.

Before things could progress more than they should, they stopped and decided to go to bed. Regan had let her borrow a sleeping shirt, so she didn't have to sleep in her clothes. It was chilly at night.

"I left a brand-new toothbrush in the bathroom for you. There's also clean towels in the closet if you want to shower in the morning" he offered with a smile.

She kissed him, keeping her lips pressed to his for a few seconds before she pulled away "Thanks, Regan. Goodnight".

"Night" he husked before walking to his own bedroom.

Back in the present, she laid back down with a smile and stretched. She looked at the clock and noticed it was already nine am. Thank God it was the weekend.

After taking a nice shower, she changed into her clothes from the night before and went downstairs. Regan was already in the kitchen cooking breakfast and Henry was sitting at the counter, watching his daddy cook. They were wearing their usual matching outfit for riding. They looked adorable.

When he spotted Emma, he beamed "Mommy!" he shouted, launching himself at her. Emma caught him and kissed the top of his mop of hair "Morning, baby. What smells so good?"

"Pancakes! Daddy makes the best pancakes" He boasted, settling on her lap as she sat down "Morning, Mr. Mayor" she greeted with a flirty smile.

"Morning, Deputy" He returned, walking closer and giving her a sweet kiss.

Henry looked back and forth between them, grinning. The night before, his daddy had explained that he was taking his mommy out on a date. That was of course, after explaining what a date was. Needless to say, he was excited that his parents were getting together.

"So, Henry and I usually go to the stables on the weekends. How about you come with us, Emma? We can have lunch at Granny's and then go to the park" he suggested; a bit nervous. They had lunch together before, but family outings were different, especially now that there was something between them.

Emma nodded; happy she was being included in their special time "I'd love to. You're ok with that, baby?" she asked, looking down at her son. He nodded enthusiastically "Yay!".

The adults just chuckled. They had a delicious breakfast courtesy of the man of the house and after cleaning up, they were on their way. They arrived at the stables a short while later. Since Emma was not wearing appropriate footwear, they purchased a pair of riding boots for her.

Emma was a bit nervous, since she had never been around horses. Regan guided her to the stalls and smiled at her "Calm down, Emma. There's nothing to worry about. Just take a deep breath and show your hand to him" he soothed as they stood before the horse she would be riding.

Emma hesitantly did as he said and reached forward, feeling the beast nudge and smell her hand. After a couple of minutes, he licked her hand.

"See? Nothing to fear. Now he will let you pet him" Regan said, amused. Emma ignored his smug smile and gently pet the horse, feeling his strong muscles. He was obviously well taken care off.

Regan showed her how to brush him and feed him sugar cubes. Then he helped her mount, 'accidentally' feeling her up. She gave him a look and he just shrugged innocently. Before she could scold him, he walked away to mount his own horse, a huge beast that looked like it came straight from the apocalypse. Henry was sitting in front of him, holding the reins.

Side by side, they rode, going slowly so Emma could get accustomed to the feeling. She finally relaxed fully, and Regan suggested they went faster. Henry was happy to teach his mother the quirks and tricks of riding, feeling pleased with himself.

All in all, they had a great time. Emma could understand why Regan loved it. It was exhilarating and the breeze gave up this feeling of freedom. After a couple of hours, they stopped and decided to have lunch.

Regan and Henry unmounted first then helped Emma do the same. Then, they took the horses back to the stalls for aftercare. Henry was sad to go, but he was looking forward to lunch and then going to the park.

Since they couldn't have their usual pizza lunch, Regan let their son order a chocolate milkshake with his food. The other patrons were a bit taken aback. It wasn't unusual to see all three of them eating together during the week. But everyone knew weekends, Saturdays especially, were the Mayor's special time with little Henry.

The trio ignored their looks and gossip and enjoyed their meal. The boy and his mother demolished their food like it was their job. Regan just shook his head and finished his at a more sedated pace. It was useless to get them to slow down, so he didn't even try.

They decided to walk to the park and burn some of that unhealthy lunch. Henry went straight to the playground while his parents sat down on a bench so they could keep an eye on him. Emma was leaning against the strong body of the mayor and he had an arm wrapped around her.

Emma broke the silence "What was my grandmother like?" she asked quietly.

Regan was surprised by the question but answered anyway "She was kind and very beautiful. She was young when she married Prince Leopold, your grandfather. He was considerably older than her, but it is said they were very in love. A few years after they took the throne, they had Snow. Eva told me the birth was very difficult and she was told it was very unlikely she would conceive again. Maybe that's why Leopold spoiled Snow so much, to the point it was unhealthy.

She confessed to me that she herself had been very spoiled and arrogant as a child and well into her teens and she was ashamed of some of her actions. She did her best to raise Snow to prevent her from being like that and it worked for the most part. But when Leopold passed away, her responsibilities as Queen prevented from being present in Snow's teenage years. Instead she had nannies that coddled her" He said with a roll of his eyes. That girl would have never survived Cora as a mother. That was a woman than didn't coddle anyone.

"As a Queen, she was fair, though she tended to lean heavily on the advice of her council. She hadn't been trained to truly be involved in the inner workings of ruling but as the remaining monarch she had to learn fast. When we got married, I took that burden from her, which was a good thing because she was getting more tired each day. We could talk about everything; she was smart and insightful. I was truly sad when she died, not only for what it meant to me, but because she didn't deserve to go that fast. She was barely into her forties" He sighed.

Emma looked up at him "Were you guys…" she trailed off, blushing a bit.

"What?" he asked, nudging her playfully.

"Were you guys very intimate?" she blurted out. Regan was taken aback by her question and chuckled.

"No, not that much. Obviously, we had our wedding night and honeymoon, but like I said, her illness took a toll on her. On her good days, we did share a bed. If I had to guess, I would say in the almost three years of our marriage, we spent maybe a month, give or take, being intimate" He mused.

"God this is weird" Emma lamented, covering her face "But I can't help being curious. I guess this is something I'll have to ger used to, uh?" she asked.

Regan laughed and kissed her temple "I'm afraid so, my dear. But then again, being normal is overrated" he joked "Any other bizarre questions?".

"Mm, now that you mention it, whatever happened to Maleficent?" she asked. He had said they were friends, but she hasn't seen her around.

"You know, I've asked myself the same thing. I looked for her, when we first arrived here but I couldn't find her. Maybe she did something to prevent being taken by the curse. She is very powerful so it wouldn't surprise me".

"Can she truly change into a dragon?"

"Oh yeah. She doesn't just change into a dragon; she is a dragon" he clarified.

"There's a difference?"

"Yes. Her dragon is her true nature, the way she was born. But their magic lets them take a human form. Now someone like me or you, can be a shape-shifter and change into whatever form we want to, but never be as powerful as the real thing. It's highly advanced, very difficult magic. Same with Red Riding Hood, I can shape-shift into a wolf, but she would still be stronger than me in that form" he explained.

"Are you a shape-shifter? Could I learn?" she asked like a giddy child.

"I am, I learned from Maleficent. And yes, once we talk to Gold and confirm whether you have magic or not and where it comes from, I can teach you. We will have to, anyway. An untrained magic user can be very dangerous, and should Henry have magic as well, we will teach him together" He promised.

Emma was really looking forward to that.

They left the park a couple of hours later and went back to the mansion. Henry was getting a bit cranky and it was time for his afternoon nap.

Afterwards, Emma and Regan were cuddling on the couch. The blonde was trying to guess the town's people alter egos.

"Ok, ok. let's get real. Some people's real identities are really easy to guess, like Ruby and her Granny, but there a few I don't know" She pouted.

"Oh yeah, who are you having trouble with?" he asked with mirth.

"Dr. Hopper?"

"Really? I thought it was obvious. He's Jiminy Cricket"

"Ok, Mayor Smartass. What about Dr. Whale?"

"Victor Frankenstein"

"Graham?"

"The Huntsman"

"The guys from the Fire Department?"

"My dark knights"

"Michael the mechanic?"

"Hansel and Gretel's father"

"Mrs. Thompson?"

"My former head housekeeper"

She bit her lip as she debated whether to ask her next question of not. She decided to bite the bullet "You mentioned you sent your mother to Wonderland. Do you know what happened to her?" she asked hesitantly.

Regan sighed and nodded "Shortly after arriving, she became the Queen of Hearts. She even visited me a couple of times, once on her own and the other with my father's help, though it wasn't on purpose on his part. It wasn't long until she tried to manipulate everything. She claimed it was all for my sake, and maybe in her twisted mind she truly believed that, but I could never be sure. The last time, I rejected her and banished her again. Unfortunately, she was able to take my father with her just before she was sucked by the portal.

Since I didn't have the means to travel between realms, I hired Jefferson, the Mad Hatter, to take me there so I could rescue my father. Once I found him, we escaped, and I left the Hatter stranded in Wonderland in revenge. Aside from Snow White, he is the other person I separated from his loved ones with the curse" he admitted, though he didn't feel too bad about that.

"Why? I mean, you didn't separate Ruby and Granny and they were Snow friends" Emma asked, perplexed.

"Granny used to work at my family's state when I was a little boy. My mother fired her because she was too kind to me. Out of everyone in Snow's war council, she and Ruby were the ones I left mostly alone" He said "But Jefferson was different. After banishing my mother, shortly after I married Eva, I started to learn magic to find a way to resurrect Danielle. I was obsessed with it and convinced it could be done.

But Rumple needed me at my worst, and he was resourceful. Jefferson visited frequently and we became friends, or so I thought. One day, during our lesson, Jefferson went to see Rumple for some 'business'. I was eavesdropping and I heard him mention a wizard that could bring people back from the death. It's obvious now what they were doing, but at the time, I thought my prayers had been answered.

He introduced me to Victor Frankenstein. He examined Danielle's corpse which was preserved by magic and said she was suitable to be revived. He tried the procedure, using a heart I provided from my mother's own heart vault and it didn't work. I found out later than the whole thing was faked in order to rob me of my remaining hope, and it worked. After that my resolve was destroyed and I fully embraced the darkness. Rumple, Victor and Jefferson where all in on it.

Jefferson's betrayal hurt a lot. Rumple I expected, Victor was a stranger thus didn't care for me. But Jefferson, I considered him a good friend. After I left him in Wonderland, he slowly went mad. That place is a nightmare. Here in Storybrooke, he lives in a mansion on the outskirts of town. He has his real memories, but he also has fake ones, my rather clever ploy to drive him even further insane" He said darkly.

"Who did you separate him from?" Emma asked, disturbed but curious.

"His daughter, Grace. Now before you say anything, I didn't harm her. I placed her with a good adoptive family and she's happy" He was quick to reassure.

"Anyway, after rescuing my father, I didn't see my mother again for a long time. When I decided to cast the curse, I knew I couldn't have any hesitations or weaknesses. And as much as it pained me to admit it, my mother was a weakness for me. Despite all the pain she caused me, I still loved her and as she herself taught me, love is weakness.

I sent an assassin to her, a pirate named Killian Jones, though you might know him as Captain Hook. He succeeded and brought me her body. Like with Danielle, I made an ornate coffin for her. I placed a rose on her chest and left her behind" he finished sadly. His mother had always been a bittersweet subject to him, cursed to both love her and hate her.

To distract him, she shifted the conversation away from his mother "You know you'll have to make amends with Jefferson too, right?"

That snapped him out of his funk "What? No! Why would I do that?" he frowned.

"Think about it. What he did was very shitty, no doubt about that. He made mistakes, but the same thing could be said about you. How would you feel if someone took Henry away from you?" She asked, trying to make him see the logic.

He grumbled but had to admit she was right. He did worse things that Jefferson and yet, he had his family. He sighed "All right, I'll see what I can do. I can't take Grace away from her family, but I could arrange something. I'll also remove the cursed memories".

"Good boy" she cooed with a smirk. He just rolled his eyes and decided they had talked about his past enough for the day. He put in a movie and they enjoyed their afternoon together.

Monday morning saw the Mayor diligently working to find a solution to the Jefferson situation. Then after lunch, He and Emma were going to the hospital to visit David Nolan. He wanted to get a start on making amends as soon as possible.

He read Paige Grace's adoption papers and notes. She had been adopted from Storybrooke's Orphanage when she was a toddler. Her biological mother was deceased, and her biological father was missing.

He could work with that. Before he did anything though, he needed to talk to Jefferson. He texted Emma to let her know.

I might have a solution for Jefferson. On my way to talk to him now. See you at lunch.

He informed Mrs. Thompson to hold his calls and reschedule his appointments for the day. As he was leaving, he got a text from Emma.

Keep me posted and be careful, please. I'll pick up Henry and meet you at Granny's.

He got into his Mercedes and he was on his way. 20 minutes later he arrived at an impressive white mansion, grand enough to rival his own.

He took a deep breath and walked to the door, ringing the doorbell. When the door opened, he came face to face with the Mad Hatter, though these days he was more mad than hatter.

"Hello, Jefferson" He greeted with a smirk. He couldn't resist.

"Well well, if it isn't his Majesty" The madman sneered "What? You ran out of people to harass so you came here?" he spat.

"Believe it or not, I'm here to help you" He rolled his eyes.

"Help me? Don't make me laugh. Nothing you can do can make up for what you did to me! Now leave me the fuck alone!" He screamed, ready to slam the door in the mayor's face.

"Not even if it means you will get Grace back?" He taunted, smirking wider as Jefferson frozen "You're lying!" he wailed madly.

Regan sighed "No, I'm not. I hate you for what you did to me. But someone helped me understand that I went too far in my retaliation. I have a son, you know? And if I lost him, I would die" he admitted, feeling Jefferson's intense stare.

"You actually procreated with someone?" He giggled insanely.

Regan growled "Yes, I did. Now do you want to hear what I have in mind, or not?" He asked briskly.

"Fine, come on in. But if this is a trick, I'll find a way to end you" Jefferson threatened as they entered the living room.

They sat down on opposite couches "Sure. Now shut up and listen carefully" he commanded.

He explained that while he technically couldn't take Grace from her adoptive family, they could create a convincing back story to place him back in the picture. Since his parental rights were never terminated, he could claim visitation rights.

Before that happened, he needed a few strands of his hair to make a modified memory potion that would remove his cursed alter ego and leave the original memories intact. After that, they would visit Dr. Hopper so he could evaluate his state of mind and work on whatever was loose.

"I'll get started on the potion and we can think of a convincing story when I bring it back to you. In the meantime, focus on your original memories and try push back the fake ones. Go outside, meditate. I'll be back soon, and we can get started" Regan said as he stood up to leave.

Jefferson did the same "This doesn't make up for what you did, but it's a start. For what its worth, I'm sorry for my part in what happened. It wasn't until I lost my Alice that I understood your pain" He conceded; the insane look in his eyes dimming for a second.

Regan just nodded and left, driving back to town to have lunch with his family. Things would always be tense between them, but he had to admit he felt a bit lighter after leaving.

They had a fun lunch, indulging their boy as he related everything he had done at Pre-K that day. Afterwards, they left Henry in Granny's care while they ran their errand. Now that the lunch rush was over, she could look after the little cutie.

Regan and Emma drove to the hospital. The blonde was nervous. She was going to see her father for the first time.

When they arrived, he asked for Whale. The nurse paged him, and he was surprised to see the Mayor and the Deputy "Mister Mayor, Deputy Swan, what can I do for you?"

"We are here to see a patient I brought here a few years back. A John Doe I found on the side of the road" he requested, though it was more of a command and Whale knew it. He gestured for them to follow him.

"Yes, I remember. Well, his condition has not improved. He is in physical good health but remains comatose. His vitals and brain activity are normal. There's no medical issue than translates into his reluctance to wake up" He explained as they arrived in the ICU. He guided them to a private room.

Regan nodded. David was severely wounded when the curse hit. He can only assume the magic of the curse healed him but kept him in stasis, like with the sleeping curse, which preserves the body until the person is awoken. His was a mild one, though. In theory, it could be broken the same way most curses are.

True love.

"I understand. Well, the deputy here found a lead about his identity. We believe his name is David Nolan. We'll try to find more details, but it'll take a while. In the meantime, have him moved to a regular room and placed in rotation for the volunteer program. Maybe hearing someone's voice will help" He instructed, aware that the only person to volunteer is Mary Margaret Blanchard.

"Yes, Mister Mayor. Please let me know if you find his medical history. That might help us understand what's wrong" Whale requested before he excused himself.

Regan and Emma were left alone. He gently reached for her hand and tugged her forward, to where the unconscious man was laying.

He was well built, even after all those years. He had short, sandy blonde hair and a handsome face, with a well-defined jaw and a round chin, all cleanly shaved. Emma could tell where most of her own features came from, except for her eyes and butt chin which she inherited from her mother, and she in turn passed to Henry.

She slowly reached for one of his hands, feeling the warm and calloused skin, resulting from working as a farmer in his youth and later in life, sword fighting.

"Dad" she whispered. That feeling that she had worked so hard to extinguish, which was still curious about her birth parents after all these years, finally receded and gave way to relief. She hadn't been abandoned, at least not because she was not wanted.

Emma didn't know why it was easier for her to associate this man as her father and not Mary Margaret as her mother. Perhaps it was the fact that she had never interacted with him and knew in advance who he was. With Mary Margaret there was a relationship already, a friendship that had developed while living together.

"Hang in there, dad. You'll wake up soon" she murmured and kissed his cheek. For a few seconds, there was a spike in his heart rate, but then it settled back down. Still, that was a good sign.

She walked back to the Mayor and took his hand, gesturing for him that she was ready to go. He nodded and they left the hospital, driving back to the mansion so they could discuss their next step.

Once there, Regan served them both a glass of his strongest cider "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Emma sighed "I don't know. All my life, I tried so hard not to think about my birth parents, figuring that if they didn't bother with me, I wouldn't bother with them. I wasn't always successful, but I managed most of time. Now, I'm confronted with both of them and their reasons for sending me away but…" she trailed off, hesitating.

"But?" Regan prompted.

"But I'm still angry at them. I mean, sending their baby to a land they didn't know? Do you know how many things could have gone wrong if I hadn't been found when I did? I mean, I sent Henry away because I couldn't be there, I was giving him his best chance. But they didn't do it for me, they did it for them, for their kingdom. If I had been in their place? I would never had sent Henry through that wardrobe" She spat.

"Me neither" Regan whispered. Call him selfish, but between sending him away to unknown dangers and letting the curse take him knowing he would be ok, he would have chosen the latter. Kingdom be damned, nothing was more important to him than his son.

"Anyway, what's done is done. What's out next move?" she changed the subject.

"Well, I was thinking of visiting my vault tonight. I need to get started on Jefferson's memory potion and do some research about returning the hearts to their respective owners" He said, sensing Emma needed the distraction.

Emma nodded "That sounds good. There's nothing to be done right now though and Granny said she could keep an eye on Henry for the afternoon" she reminded, holding his tie and pulling him closer.

"No need to rush then" he agreed and smirked, meeting her lips with his and pushing her down on the couch.

They indulged themselves for a while, trying to keep things from advancing too fast, though it was hard, no pun intended. At one point, Regan lost his suit jacket and Emma lost her own leather one, not wanting any barriers to hinder their frantic, over the clothes groping.

"God, Emma. I want you so much" He growled, grinding his hips against hers firmly. She shivered at his tone, feeling her nipples get hard under her bra. She was very tempted to let him take her right there on the couch, feeling his warm breath on her neck and the obvious evidence of his arousal pressing deliciously against her.

She tried to list all the reasons why they shouldn't do it and she was coming up blank. Still, she made a valiant effort. She cupped his face and made him face her, noticing his darkening gaze "Babe, we can't. God, I want nothing more than to let you fuck me hard…" she trailed off, making him whimper at her words "but we've only gone on one date" Even to herself, it sounded like a weak excuse, but it was all she got.

He huffed. Whoever thought of that third date rule thing should be dragged to the streets and shot, in his not at all biased opinion. He sighed and nodded "You're right, we shouldn't rush this" he reluctantly agreed, resting his head on her chest.

Emma closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down, running her hands through his thick, luscious hair to help him do the same. Her mind was going a mile a minute, trying to a way to compromise.

They weren't a normal couple, by any standard. They knew about each other's past and had a child together already. After his confession, there wasn't anything left to hide, she already knew his worst. For her part, she had told him stories about her time in the system, something not even Neal was privy to. At this point, dating was merely a formality, a way for them to transition from co-parents to lovers.

As such, a plan was already brewing in her mind. It was her turn to plan the date anyway. Realistically speaking, they wouldn't make it to the third date. So rather than torture them both needlessly, she would plan an awesome second date that, if everything went to plan, would culminate with them putting a bed to good use.

She was brought out of her musings by a snore, chuckling as she realized he had fallen asleep. She closed her eyes and followed his lead, the sudden surge and then loss of endorphins leaving them both drowsy.

Her last thought before succumbing to the sandman was that, a trip to the Victoria's Secret store in Portland was definitely in order.

To be continued.

This are getting hawt with those two. Next chapter should be up in a couple of days and maybe we will have our very first smut scene.

I'm still working on the overall plot, so I don't know if I'll have Maleficent, Cora and Zelena make an appearance later on. What do you think? Let me know in your lovely reviews :P