Hey guys, this is the first chapter of the sequel of To Protect Her. Its set seven years after Emma left Storybrooke. Hope you guys will enjoy this.

Sorry for any error, English isn't my first language.

Chapter 1: "I am your son!" – Part I

Boston – Emma's Apartment

"Nana, nana, nana!" A blonde little boy shouted from the living room, startling his grandmother that was in the kitchen, so she just ran to the living room wondering if her grandson was hurt, but instead the sight she got was the blondie showing his dinosaur that he had just created with this legos. "I made a cool velociraptor!"

"Is everything alright, mom?" Emma asked, slightly concerned as she showed up right behind her mother, wondering what all the fuss was about.

"Everything is just fine. It was just Daniel that wanted to show the dinosaur he made with his legos," Snow clarified as she felt like she could breath again. It was amazing how easily kids could give us heart attacks and they didn't even know.

"Look, mommy!" Daniel stretched out his arms again to show his blonde mother the dinosaur he made. He didn't feel like standing up and get close to show them, so he remained seated with legos all scattered around him and he just had a proud big grin on his face.

"Awe, you made a cute t-rex, baby boy," Emma commented as she put her hands on her sides and smiled at her child.

"It's not a t-rex! It's a velociraptor and they are fast, and they have feathers on their arms. Mommy, the dinosaur movie you got me is wrong," Daniel pointed out as he went back to create his dinosaurs.

Emma rose her eyebrows, still amazed how intelligent her son is. He started everything earlier than every other kid, when she put him in the pre-school and he turned 5, they told her to just put him in the first year of elementary school because he already knew everything, they were going to teach the kids.

"That's a more recent study, buddy. The movies ma got you are too old," Henry commented approaching his little brother.

Emma watched her first son walking towards her second one and she couldn't believe how fast time passed. Henry was already a grownup man, just recently turned 21 years old and only become even more mature than he already was before, but he didn't decide to go to college, which Emma still tried to get him to go but he said he just wanted to write his own books, attend online college and just travel around with his notebooks, pens, pencils and laptop in his back and hop on his motorbike and just do his life like that till he could write that major fantasy novel he wants to.

"Henry, play with me," Daniel almost bossed his older brother around whom was a lot bigger than him, but Henry still sat down between all the legos and played a bit with his seven-year-old brother.

"Do you want to have some gin, mom?" Emma asked as she now looked at Snow.

"Hmn, sure, but don't make it too strong for me," Snow agreed as she turned around and both women went back into the kitchen, leaving Henry and Daniel playing.

"So, how is dad?" Emma asked as she began to prepare the gins for them both.

"Oh, you know, still working as a sheriff but he has been trying to find a replacement lately. It might be Mulan, but he still thinks you were the best fit for it," she answered before sit down by the kitchen island.

"Yea, well, I am sure Mulan would become a great sheriff," Emma said, not wanting this conversation to take a big turn and they start to discuss that Emma should get back to Storybrooke because that conversation happens almost every time that her family comes visit her and she didn't want to get into this for the hundredth time.

"Maybe," Snow mumbled as she placed her chin over her palm and watched her making the drinks. "He's sorry he couldn't come visit you with us today but Neal wasn't feeling so good so he opted to stay in Storybrooke to take care of him so I could come see you and Daniel."

"That's alright, I hope Neal feels better, it's probably just some stomach bug going around there," Emma said, "And voila! The gins are done," she said with a smile and placed one glass in front of her mother before sit down by the kitchen island as well and take a sip of her gin.

The two women just carried on with their conversation that would either involve what was happening in Storybrooke or how was Emma's life going in Boston. She couldn't exactly complain, at first it was hard because she had to start off as a waitress but now she is back doing what she always enjoyed to do which was a bounty hunter and she had her neighbor Violet who would look after Daniel when she got home too late and it was also someone she'd occasionally "date".

"Why aren't you official with Violet?" Snow decided to ask, and Emma knew this was a conversation she didn't want to get into but now it's too late.

"Because I don't want to be committed to anybody for now," Emma answered.

"Emma, you've been telling me that for the past seven years. You are turning almost 40, if you aren't going to be committed now, when?"

"Never," Emma said lowly before taking a sip of her gin. There was some sadness in her voice.

Snow sighed out, hoping that whatever struggle her daughter was going through in her love life would be gone by now. She knew it wasn't hard for Emma to find a woman but for some reason it was always hard for her to call someone her girlfriend and Snow knew she was doing this on purpose. She really didn't want any kind of commitment but at the same time a mother can tell when her daughter is sad, and Snow knew Emma wanted a relationship but there were some internal struggles. "Emma, you know, I was with Regina the other day-"

Emma rose her hand, quickly cutting off Snow from finishing her words. "Let's not go there. Let's just change subject."

Snow frowned slightly, refusing to back down, "but Emma, Regina and Robin are going through a process of divorce right now so maybe this is the right moment for you to come back and introduce Daniel to-"

"No, Snow!" Emma got a little bit carried away, rising her voice slightly. "I am sorry, but no. I told you I would never go back to Storybrooke and that's final, and I am not going to involve Daniel into this kind of mess. Plus, there is really not point in this…she will never remember."

Snow got a bit startled by the sudden outburst but then she relaxed when Emma began to talk more calmly. "I understand all that, Emma but they deserve to know. Daniel deserves to know who Is his other parent and Regina deserves to know that she has a child with her blood in this world…I know it was something she always wanted…maybe it'll make her remember, and Daniel's 8th birthday is right around the corner. It would be a good gift."

After hearing this, Emma just drank her gin one go. She was so not ready for this. "Nothing you say can change my mind. I am not going to put Daniel through this, I am not going to go through this," she said with a slightly shaky voice now. Regina would never remember their moments, their feelings together and that they have a child together.

Snow sighed out, knowing her daughter was too stubborn. "But are you willing to come visit Storybrooke for a couple of days? Bring Daniel, you don't have to encounter Regina. I am sure Ruby, and Granny would be delighted to see you."

"You and I know, word travels way too fast in Storybrooke, the very moment I set my foot in there, everybody will know I am there and so will Regina. I don't want to see her anymore."

"Emma, you know, ignoring the problem doesn't mean it'll go away. Pretending the pain doesn't exist, doesn't mean it'll go. Sooner or later you will have to deal with that," Snow pointed out as she took a small sip from her gin, letting her words sink into Emma's brain, hoping it would ever make a change. It hasn't made one in seven years, but you never know.

But little did they know that Daniel was behind the door, listening to everything his mother and grandmother were talking about. He was a very bright child, and already has been asking about his other parent for awhile now but his mother never gave him a proper answer but now he knows that the name of his other parent is Regina and that's a big lead on his case.

"Daniel, don't you want to continue to play?" Henry asked as he looked up from the screen of his laptop to his younger brother. Henry had stopped playing legos with him a bit ago because he remembered something he wanted to write down in his novel, so he got too focused on it which made it easy for Daniel to sneak away.

"Ah, nu. I am too tired, I am going to bed, you can tell mommy I brushed my teeth and everything," Daniel said as he basically ran to his bedroom. Once he got there, he got on his knees to remove a small box from under his bed, "now everything makes sense," he mumbled under his breath as he opened his box and removed an old looking diary from it. "The she mommy always writes about in her diary is Regina," Daniel keeps talking to himself as he scans the diary for probably the hundredth time. He had found out about this diary some months ago from the trash can of the kitchen. He couldn't understand why a book would be in a trash can, so he took it out and curiosity brought out the best of him and he kept it for himself because the first entries of the diary is about him. His mother writes about how she started a new life in Boston with her unborn child and at how she had to move on and forget about "she who gave me this miracle, but I can never share it with her, so I need to forget her."

As he continued to read the diary, connecting the dots, there was a sudden soft knock on his door and he just kicked the box back under the bed and jumped onto the bed, clumsily getting under the blankets and hiding the diary under it as well.

"Daniel?" Emma gently called out for her son as she opened the door and when she looked inside, she saw that her son was already on bed, which was slightly odd but maybe he was very tired from the busy day he had with his grandmother and older brother. – Emma approached her child and sat down by the bed to watch his angel face sleeping. He looked so much like Regina, sure he had her blonde hair, but he had Regina's brown eyes, her full lips and her cheek bones. Before she could start to tear up, she gently kissed her son's forehead and walked out of his bedroom, slowly closing the door to not wake him up.

Even if Emma was so stubborn about this subject it didn't mean that it didn't hurt her. It hurt her deeply, it hurt her to see Daniel growing up without another parent, it hurt her to go through pregnancy and his birth without her loved on and it hurts her seeing her son growing up and starting to look alike more to his other mother…and of course, it completely destroys her knowing that Regina doesn't know anything about this because she'd never remember their moments together, so there was no point in getting high hopes.

"So, was he asleep?" Henry appeared out of nowhere which startled Emma, but she still managed to wipe away her tears because she had her back facing him.

"Y-Yea, he's probably very tired from the busy day he had with you guys," Emma turned around to look at Henry with a big forced smile.

Henry could easily see through his mother, but he always knew what troubled her inside and he always talked about it with her and he came to the conclusion there was nothing he could do but just to be there for her in case she ever wanted to talk about it. "Good that was too much hours at the amusement park, I am glad it paid off," Henry chuckled, hoping to brighten up his mother's mood.

"Emma, sweetheart. I think I should head back now, it's already going to be ten," Snow informed as she put on her jacket.

"Yea, me too, ma. I heard around midnight there was a storm coming, so I went to get the hell out of here before it catches me," Henry said while pointing outside to his bike. It certainly wasn't the best vehicle to be in while a storm was happening.

"Oh yea, sure. You guys get home safe," Emma agreed while walking up to the front door of her apartment.

"I just hope your dad's pickup truck doesn't die on me along the way. He says it doesn't do that, but I've seen it happening many times before."

Emma chuckled at her mother's word as she opened the door for them. "You are going to be fine, mom. If anything happens then you continue the ride with Henry."

"Oh god, no. Henry drives too fast, he gets to Storybrooke fifteen minutes before I do. I'd rather sleep in the truck," Snow waved her hand as if she was dismissing that idea while Henry and Emma just laughed.

"Okay, bye ma," Henry said as he quickly pecked his mother's cheek and hugged her tightly. It was still very weird for Emma to hug Henry because he was just too big. "Bye, kid," but she still wasn't going to stop calling him kid, no matter how big he got.

"Bye sweetheart, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me," Snow said as she hugged her daughter tightly after Henry said his goodbyes. She didn't want to let go but she knew she had to, specially because Emma was now patting her back as to let her know that the hug needs to end.

"Bye guys, drive safe," Emma said while waving and watching them leave her apartment. – Once they were gone, she closed the door and hit her back against at it, letting out a shaky breath. It was always hard for her to watch her family leave and not go with them. Storybrooke became her home and the desire to go back has always been there, but not being able to face Regina ever again was stronger than any other nostalgic emotion. So, she had never given in besides the few times she visited Storybrooke before her belly got too big through her pregnancy, but after that she had just stopped visiting.

After collecting herself for a few seconds she opted to just clean up the kitchen and the living room from Daniel's legos. That took her around twenty minutes, which kept her mind busy for awhile and after that was done, she decided she'd give her son another goodnight kiss and then call it off for the night.

But when Emma stepped in her son's bedroom and approached the bed to give him kiss, she noticed that he wasn't there at all, just some balls and clothes underneath the blankets to pretend as if it was him sleeping. "Daniel?" Emma asked as she quickly began to search around the room, even underneath the bed and in the closet. "Daniel?! Where are you, son? If this is a joke, you can stop now," Emma said, getting irritated but frightened as she continued to search for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Storybrooke – Snow's place

Snow had finally arrived at her house and parked the pickup truck. It had only died once but she managed to bring it back home and she was glad the drive didn't take too long because she could already see the sky was getting too cloudy and the storm was definitely coming. On the day she passed by Henry's temporary home and noticed his bike was parked there, so she was glad that he was also back home safe. – She locked up the truck and went inside to be greeted by her husband and the warmth of her house.

60…61…62…Daniel was counting the seconds in his mind to control whenever it was safer to get out of the back of the pickup truck. Yes, the little devil managed to sneak out of his bedroom from the window since they were only on the first floor and then he hid in his grandmother's pickup truck underneath some heavy blankets and between some tools. He figured it was just his grandfather's equipment. Okay, I can get out, he thought as he carefully got out of the pickup truck but still stumbled a little and fell on his butt because despite being more intelligent than the kids his age, he was the shortest one. Ugh, okay, now time to find my other mom, he thought excitingly as he stood up and began to walk around Storybrooke.

Sure, this was a very dumb idea and he was too young to be doing this, but he knew his mother would never tell him what his other parent was, and he always wanted to visit his family hometown which was also something his mother refused to take him to. So now he was going to kill two birds with one stone. Okay, there's probably some lead in the diary, he thought while flipping through the pages of the small diary and walking, keeping himself in the shadows so nobody would question why there was a little child outside alone, but he found it a bit odd how almost nobody was outside, maybe because it was late and it was a small town.

"I never thought that I'd pass by that mansion before going to Boston, and I still parked my car in front of it, debating if I should go talk to her and tell her what really happened, but when I looked at the window of her second floor and saw her with that damn forest guy, I just drove off."

Okay, Regina lives in a mansion, that's easy, maybe…oh! I saw a mansion on the way! It was as if a lightbulb lit up above Daniel's head as he began to rush his steps towards where he thought the mansion would be. He basically watched the road for as long as he could, so he would know where most of the things were and not be completely lost in this town and luckily for him since its such a small town, it doesn't take him too long to see a mansion. That's probably it! He thought all excited as he hugged the diary close to his chest, feeling butterflies in the pit of his stomach, but his happiness couldn't last long because the storm started right on that moment, the rain began to pour violently, and Daniel just hugged the diary even tighter and ran towards the mansion. He didn't want to ruin the diary and he hoped that would be really the place that his other parent would be.

It almost took him five minutes to run there because of his small legs and when he finally got there, the front gate was locked or it seemed locked, maybe Daniel was just in a hurry that he couldn't open it properly, so he forced his way through the thick bushes, getting scratches all over him, dirt and leaves on his clothes and hair, but he was determined to finish his quest and he was going to. So, when he finally got free on the other side, he carried on running towards the porch and jammed his hand against the doorbell. Feeling completely tired and defeated. Fighting against mother nature was tough.

He waited a few seconds, and nothing was happening, that gave him enough time to get back to his normal breathing but now he was shaking by how cold and wet he was, so he decided to press the doorbell again, this time in a more annoying manner and that got him what he wanted. Please be the one, please be the one…

"What is this fuss all about? It's already midnight, I was sl-" Before Regina could continue her sentence, she got surprised by the sight of a small blonde boy looking up at her with big brown eyes. He was all wet, dirty and with leaves on his hair? And why were his clothes ripped and his adorable big cheeks scratched?

"Hi!" Daniel said a bit too excited, hoping to not freak her out, because he could tell by her glare that this was definitely not what she expected. So, before he could continue his words, he just began to try fix his hair and his sweater, as if he could make himself more presentable. "Are you Regina?"

"Yes, who are you and why are you here alone? Where's your parents?" Regina asked with a perked eyebrow as she began to look around to see if somebody else was going to jump on her or if this child belonged to someone around, but there was nobody outside but this child.

"I am Daniel and I think I am your son," Daniel said with a sheepish smile as he kept hugging tightly the diary, as if he held it tighter what he wanted could become instant truth.

"P-Pardon? What?" Regina was just way too shocked that she couldn't process any kind of information right now.

TBC

So, what did you guys thought? I know lot of you were asking for pregnancy stuff but there's just so much pregnancy fics out there that I didn't want to do another one. I opted for this approach because I don't think I've seen it so far and don't worry about all the pregnancy cuteness, there will be flashbacks throughout the story and if there's something you guys would like to see in this fic just let me know and I might be able to put it in.