Hi guys, thanks for your support and I am glad you are enjoying this story. I've had recently a guest review saying I am trying too hard to be angst and I hope that's not what yall are feeling right now, because I want my stories to be "real" and not full of rainbows and smileys and happy times because I can't just make Regina automatically get over this or Emma tell Regina before because we both know that's not how their personalities works.
This story will have a happy ending but don't expect for things to be good all of the sudden since the whole point of this sequel is for them to get together, Regina remembering and Daniel basically bringing them together for their happy ending. – And I want this story to make a little bit more sense and be a less messy than the other one.
So, I hope you guys keep enjoying this fic and here's another chapter, hope you all like it.
Sorry for any errors, English isn't my first language.
Chapter 3: "That's what she would've wanted."
Boston - Emma's Apartment
Regina stepped inside Emma's apartment and just stared around while gripping tightly onto the edges of her jacket, knowing very well if her hands weren't holding something, they'd be shaking like crazy right now. – Emma had a cozy apartment, there wasn't much furniture around, but it felt very homey and it was obvious there was a kid living there because she still could see some legos on the carpet by the couch and some children's books by the coffee table.
Emma stood behind Regina while closing the door and she couldn't take her eyes off the brunette's figure, she couldn't believe this woman was right in front of her after seven years, it felt way too surreal and the worst thing is that the urge to hug her tightly was still there. The urge to just kiss Regina and have her in her arms, was still a big one, so with that urge came big sadness because she knew Regina didn't remember a thing that went between them, or well between her and Regina's older self, all those years ago. "A drink?" Emma asked as she walked towards the kitchen and began to take off some brandy from a top shelf and two glasses.
"No, thank you," Regina was quick to reject the drink since she still had to drive back to Storybrooke.
"Well, I definitely need one," Emma mumbled, too low for the other woman to hear her as she poured the brandy into her glass and when she heard Regina's heels coming up to her in the kitchen, she drank the brandy in one swing. Yup, she was definitely going to need a drink or more for this. – After that, she turned around and noticed that Regina was still standing, grabbing onto her jacket like someone was going to steal it from her. "Have a seat," Emma told her as she pulled a chair for herself by the kitchen island, bringing the brandy bottle and the glass with her.
Regina just did a quick nod and sat down by the kitchen island as well but keeping a safe distance between her and the blonde, because honestly right now she was feeling very different things. She was relieved to see Emma again but at the same time she was having mixed feelings about Emma having another child and perhaps a whole new family that she was never aware of. – The mayor waited for the former sheriff of Storybrooke to start the conversation, but she was just pouring another glass of brandy for herself. "So?"
"Well," Emma started and let out a big sigh as she put the bottle aside and looked down at the glass. "first of all, how come my son was with you?" She said with a bit of a defensive tone before looking up at brown eyes but not for more than two seconds, since it was too hard to look into such familiar but at the same time stranger eyes.
"Oh," Regina blinked twice, "well, honestly, he just showed up by my door at midnight. I don't know how he got there. He just told me he had a ride over?" She said with a bit questioning tone, wondering if that would help Emma.
Emma frowned slightly at those words, "I doubt anyone could give him a ride to Storybrooke, not everyone knows where it is or that it even exists," she said, trying to figure out how the hell Daniel got to Storybrooke, but there was also another thing she wanted to ask, because of Daniel's outburst by the door. "And, hmn…what did he tell you?" She asked, eyes fixed on the liquid of her glass.
Regina let go of her jacket to clasp her hands together and looked down at her fingers with a frown. "He told me that he was my son. That I was his other parent and there was some kind of diary involved? He said it belonged to his mother, sadly it got burnt in my fireplace," she finished her explanation, looking up at Emma, now waiting for some reason for this to be happening.
Emma payed attention to Regina's words and she closed her eyes while mentally cursing the world when she said something about a diary. She knew exactly what Regina was talking about, it was a diary that Emma spent a lot of time writing about this situation, since she always dealt better with the things that hurt her by writing them down. "It's my diary," she said.
"He said that it was written in that diary that he was my son," Regina pointed out, almost sounding demanding.
Emma sighed out and took a swing of her drink before place the empty glass down and look up at the ceiling of her kitchen with almost teary eyes. "There's no easy way to explain this, to be honest and perhaps you won't believe me, but what I am about to tell you is the absolute truth, whether you want to believe it or not," Emma started and put her elbows over the table while interlining her fingers together.
Regina perked up an eyebrow at the other woman's words, wondering what that was supposed to mean and why did it sound like it was something extremely serious and very life challenging. "Okay, I am all years."
Emma kept her eyes locked on the ceiling, refusing to look at Regina. "Seven years ago, I left Storybrooke for a big reason, and it wasn't too long after we sent your past self to the past, remember?"
"Yes, I do remember," she answered, still very confused.
"Well, before she was sent back, she was in my care and we did spend a lot of time together and by spending that time together, some things happened," Emma stopped to clear her throat, she was starting to feel her heart aching.
"What things?" Regina quickly asked and Emma was taking too long to answer, mostly because she was trying to get her shit together and not break down crying. "Emma, what things?" She asked, now definitely demanding an answer.
"We basically…I think we fell in love, in some way," Regina opened her mouth to say something about that, but no word came out, "and I don't know how it happened or why it happened, but Daniel was telling you the truth. He is your son," there she managed to say it and the very moment she finished those words, she dropped her head, forehead against her fingers and eyes closed, preparing herself for whatever painful thing was there to come.
But nothing came, at least not for a few seconds, till Regina's voice broke the silence, "are you serious? This can only be a joke, right?" She asked, with a confused smile on her face, she really couldn't believe what she was hearing right now, "because that just can't be."
"Like I said, believe what you want, but this is the truth and that' why I left Storybrooke, because when I found out about the pregnancy it was already too late to try to do anything about it. Yo-She had already taken the potion to forget everything, so, you'd never remember," Emma explained, still keeping her head down and eyes closed.
"Emma but this just can't be. That's not how it works, I can't have kids, I also had a potion long ago to make me infertile. He can't be mine," Regina said, in a bit of rushed tone as she was trying to connect the dots, but everything just seemed way too confusing for her and nothing was adding up. How come Emma and her past-self had a thing?
"Regina," Emma started, with a sigh, "I didn't have sex with anyone else while she was with me and not after. All of the sudden, I was pregnant, it can only be yours, and I remember her telling me that it was possible for two women have a child together, if there was magic involved…and well, we know Storybrooke," she finished those words by starting to fill her glass with brandy again.
"But there's only two that can happen…" Regina mumbled as she looked down at the table and started to think how she could make that happen and it was by using powerful magic but there would be a very big price to pay back, or…true love. Daniel had shout out true love before, but that just couldn't be. Emma couldn't be her true love.
"Yup, only two," Emma said with a nervous tone before taking a small sip of her brandy. "Look, like I said. You don't have to believe this, you can continue with your life in Storybrooke and pretend this never happened, thank you for bringing Daniel back." Honestly, if Regina didn't believe this and just left, it was an easy way out for Emma, of course she'd be incredible hurt, but maybe it was for the best for things to continue like this.
"But I-"Before Regina could continue her words, somebody knocked on the door rapidly but then quickly opened it and there was a brunette petite woman rushing inside the bathroom.
"Emma! I came as quickly as I could, they weren't letting me off work earlier," the woman said while rushing her steps towards the blonde woman whom had already stood up from her seat and meet her halfway. Both embraced tightly.
"It's fine, Violet. Daniel's fine, he is back now," Emma said in a shaky tone as she patted the petite back before break their hug.
"Oh, thank god, I was so worried when you sent me that text, but where was he?" Violet asked as her eyes finally spotted out Regina who was now also standing up and grabbing onto her own jacket again. "And who is this?" She asked, in a confused tone.
"Oh, huh," Emma looked between the two women and she could see that they were fairly similar, but Violet was very slim compared to Regina's figure. "This is Regina, she is a-a friend. She brought Daniel back, what matters is that he is fine now," Emma wanted to end the explanation right there because she didn't want to explain more stuff to another person right now.
Regina rose her chin as she frowned slightly and looked at the other woman. She couldn't understand why this person was here and she had the apartment's keys? Regina was starting to wonder who Emma's partner was. "Yes, safe and sound," Regina said as she buttoned up her jacket, already preparing herself to leave. She needed a break from this, to try figure out things on her own and she didn't want to be around this other woman much longer, because she was giving her weird looks. "Now I can go," she said, already stepping towards the door and Emma watched her for a little bit, but then something inside her acted stronger and before she knew she was already between Regina and the door, blocking her from leaving.
"Wait, no! I-…" Great, now that her body acted on her own, she had to do something about this situation, "please stay. It's very late and I heard on the news the storm would only stop for a little bit before getting stronger again. It's best if you stay for the night and tomorrow morning, you drive back," it was the only excuse Emma could come up with, because she wanted Regina to stay and she figured they had more things to talk about. Even if part of her still thinks it would be best for the mayor to just leave, another part of her acts stronger and wants the brunette to stay.
Regina stared at Emma with a tight frown, she had very mixed feelings about this and she still hadn't processed the information properly and she didn't want to throw a bitchfit in front of strangers. "Alright," it was all she said before she took a step back and looked down at her feet. Why did she agreed to stay? This was only going to be even more awkward, but there were still some things she wanted to ask Emma.
Emma felt relieved and stepped away from the door. "I have a bedroom for you, so it's fine," she pointed out and then she heard Violet clearing her throat so both women would notice her presence.
"Well, I am glad that everything turned out to be alright, Emma. I am leaving then to rest, it was a very busy night at work," Violet explained as she approached Emma and threw her arms around the blonde's neck to give her another tight hug, but her point was also to make Regina know that this was somewhat her territory? At least that's what Regina was feeling right now.
"Yea sure, thanks for stopping by, Violet," Emma said as she hugged the other woman back for a few seconds and then opened the door for her.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Violet said with a small smile as she walked out of the apartment and looked at the other two women over her shoulder. Something was going on and she didn't know what, but she also didn't want to overstep some boundaries that were set out by Emma long ago.
"See you tomorrow," Emma smiled and waved before close the door.
"And that is?" Regina said, the very moment the door was closed.
"Oh uh, that's Violet. She is Daniel's nanny, basically," Emma opted to go for the safest explanation which was also half of the truth.
"Oh," that was only Regina's reply to that, because Violet gave her some looks and vibes that were odd, so she figured out there was something else going on between them, but she figured it wasn't her place to ask.
And this situation made them have a very awkward silence between them, before Emma deciding to just end the night. "I'll show you the bedroom," she said while already walking through the hallway of her apartment. She was basically going to give her bedroom for Regina to sleep because her apartment only had two bedrooms, which was hers and Daniel's.
When Regina got the bedroom, she stared at it and it didn't take her long to figure out that that bedroom belonged to Emma. "This is your bedroom."
"Yea, but its fine. I will sleep in the couch, its very comfortable, or maybe make some peace with Daniel tonight and sleep with him," Emma explained.
"Maybe, I should just go," Regina said, already turning around and what stopped her from moving further away was Emma's hand on her arm.
"Please don't go. Look, I will answer everything you want to ask tomorrow, but right now I think we all need to rest," she was basically silently begging the other woman to stay.
Regina looked down at Emma's hand and then up at her face and for the first time since she got here, Emma was able to look into her eyes for more than two seconds, and there was something in green eyes that were making Regina want to stay. "Okay, I also need to do some thinking and rest."
"Great," she said, trying not to sound too satisfied. "You have the bathroom right down the hallway," she pointed it out with her index finger, "and you can search for some of my pajamas on those drawers so you can sleep in something more comfortable," she explained while walking into the bedroom and opening the drawer where she usually had her pajamas in and she took that chance to take something for herself.
Regina followed her into the bedroom and opted to sit by the bottom of the bed as she watched Emma for a little bit, still processing things. Was she really her true love? Was Daniel really her son? How was her life going to change from now on? She had given up on the true love thing long ago and now with her divorce going on with Robin, she for sure doesn't want to believe in it anymore.
"I am going to check on Daniel, goodnight, Regina," Emma informed her as she walked away, already with blankets and a pillow under her arm as well.
"Wait, Emma," Regina called out for her before it was too late, she wanted to know something right now. All the other questions could wait for tomorrow.
"Yes?" Emma looked at the other woman over her shoulders.
"Why did you name him Daniel?" The blonde woman wasn't expecting this question at all, it caught her off guard for a bit, but she answered it at ease.
"Because that's what she would've wanted," Emma showed her a sincere smile, before continuing to walk out of the bedroom and close the door behind her, leaving Regina still very confused but touched by that because that was the truth, if she had another son, she would've named him Daniel. That she knew was the truth.
Emma was still grabbing the doorknob of her bedroom as she let out a shaky sigh. She couldn't believe this was happening to her, she had always opted she could spend the rest of her life without having to face this, but of course destiny decided to pull her leg, as always.
"Emma?" Zack called out, in a hushed tone, which slightly startled her because she had completely forgotten that he was handling Daniel.
"Zack, how is he?" Emma asked, approaching him.
"He…he was crying a lot, to be honest, but I managed to calm him down and he is sleeping profoundly now."
"Of course, I can't believe this is happening," Emma pressed her free palm against her face and rubbed her eyes.
"I am sure he will be fine, Emma. He is a kid, they are always fine after a bit," Zack shrugged.
"We will see about that, there's more things involved in this to make things that simple for a kid," Emma said while walking towards her living room to prepare a bed for her on the couch.
"I am sure you will work it out," Zack said a bit awkward because he wasn't the best to deal with feelings and Emma was just her partner at work, they had a very 'bro' bound, most of the time he saw her as a another one of the guys than as a woman. "I am going home now, Emma," he informed her while walking towards the door.
"Oh, sure," Emma dropped the things over the couch as she went up to the door and opened it for him. "Thank you so much for being here, Zack, you were a great help."
"Anytime, fam," he replied as he stepped out of the apartment. "Hey, one thing, is that woman the one you told me about?" He asked, very curious. Of course, he didn't know the entire truth about Regina, but he knew about a woman that got away and Emma never managed to move on properly after that.
"Ah-…yes, she is," Emma tried to smile at him, but failed to do so.
"I wish you luck, then," it was his only reply as he lifted his fist and they both fist-bumped as a goodbye before Emma could close the door and almost slam her forehead against it because everything was just too much.
She would need more than luck.
So, what did you guys thought of this chapter? And what kind of questions do you want to see Regina asking Emma tomorrow morning?
Hope you guys enjoyed it, thank you for your support. Again sorry for any error.