"You should have told me. I'm your father."

"No, you're not. You're a biological contributor to my existence, but you are not my father."

"Regina, I practically raised you."

"You didn't, but okay."

"You should have told me. And you should have told me about you and Emma."

"Jesus, Dad, are you still on that? Get over it, already."

"I can't believe you kids! Keeping secrets from your father like this! What would your mothers say?"

Regina shrugged. "Probably something along the lines of, 'Good job, honey, now let's take over the world'?"

"You should have told me!" Rumple insisted, pounding his fist on the table. Regina and Neal exchanged an exasperated look, while Belle engrossed herself in a game of Candy Crush on her phone, staying firmly out of the conversation.

Regina rather resented that: after all, it had been Belle's idea to force them all to have breakfast together. Apparently, Rumple had been driving her nuts, complaining about his children shutting him out of their lives; for some reason, she'd thought that talking over breakfast at Granny's would help them straighten out their issues…which would make Rumple stop bitching, thus allowing Belle to enjoy some peace and quiet. Regina had agreed to it, only because she needed to ask Rumple about the sporadic magic flying out of her—or rather, from this baby. Except Rumple was making it rather difficult to do that, because he wouldn't shut up.

"Now be careful," Neal muttered to her. "Pretty soon, he's going to pull out the guilt-bombs and start dropping I love you's."

"I love you two so much," Rumple said desperately. "Neal, you know how much I love you."

"There it is," he said under his breath. "I know, Dad."

"And Regina, even though I didn't know you were my daughter, I always thought of you like that."

"That's nice. So, listen, I have a few ques—"

"And yet, you two insist on shutting me out! I am your father, I only want what's best for you!" Rumple looked between the two of them, as though they were two small children whom he was very disappointed in. "Why would you do this to me?"

"I guess we're just horrible people," Neal said cheerfully.

"Pretty much," Regina shrugged. "Now, about those questions…"

Rumple looked as though he wanted to argue, but Belle cleared her throat meaningfully; he gave a helpless little sigh, and waved his hand. "All right, go on."

"How normal for a woman to lose control of her magic while she's expecting?" Regina asked bluntly. Rumple's eyebrows shot up.

"Like…you're having trouble casting spells?"

"No," Regina said, shaking her head. "It's more like, magic has just been bursting out of me. It almost seems as though the baby's emotions are having an influence over my magic." She watched Rumple carefully as he rubbed his chin, thinking hard.

"I wouldn't say it's normal…" he said thoughtfully. "Not for a woman to lose control over her own magic."

Regina's heart thudded in her throat. "It's not?" she asked, panicked. Did that mean something was wrong? Was there something wrong with her? Or was it the baby? Did her magic hurt the baby? "Oh, my God," she said, fanning herself to get air. "Oh, my God—"

"Now, now, don't panic," Rumple said reassuringly, holding up his hand. "It's not normal for your magic to be affected. It is normal for the child to express her own magic, though."

"Express her own…?" Regina blinked rapidly, her heart thudding for an entirely different reason. "You think it's a girl? W-with magic?"

"I'm quite certain, actually." Rumple smiled at her and for a minute, Regina genuinely believed she was his daughter. "She's going to be a lot like her mother. Very powerful and very temperamental."

Powerful. She'd suspected…but she's been too afraid to get her hopes up; she still was. "H-how do you know?" Regina asked, somewhat breathlessly. "I'm only eight weeks in. How can you already know?"

"I still get glimpses of the future." Rumple chuckled a little. "She's going to be a very talented little sorceress, I can tell you that. And perhaps a Grandaddy's girl…?" he added hopefully, raising his eyebrows at Regina.

"Rumple," Belle said gently. "Don't push."

"No, it's all right," Regina heard herself say. "If nothing else, I'd want you to teach her like you taught me."

"You would?" Rumple looked surprised.

"Yeah…" Regina sat back in her seat, marveling over his words. A very talented little sorceress. "Yeah, I would, actually. If she's going to be as powerful as you say she is, I want her to have a good education."

Rumple's eyes looked dangerously watery; Regina cleared her throat, carefully adjusting her jacket while Neal and Belle suddenly found it necessary to look out the window as Rumple composed himself. Truthfully, Regina needed a minute herself: this was the first time it had ever really hit her, but she was…going to be a mother.

Of course, she was already a mother, but this time was different: she didn't have to share this baby with anyone, this was her little girl. Hers and Robin's. Just theirs; no one else's.

Maybe she'd have Regina's dark hair, or Robin's blue eyes. Robin would teach her to shoot a crossbow; and Regina could help her with magic. She'd toyed with the idea of this baby being magical; indulged in the daydream of a little hand holding a spark in its first attempt to conjure a fireball; but hearing Rumple tell her he'd seen it made it so much more real, so much more tangible. This was actually happening.

"Okay," Rumple said, drawing a finger under his eye. "So, I think I'm going to take off…got to open the shop, you know. Christmastime, people are going to be looking for presents…"

"People really buy stuff from the shop?" Neal said in surprise as Rumple and Belle got up from the table. "I thought it was just where you hoard a bunch of magic stuff that no one uses anymore."

"I've got an antiques section," Rumple shrugged. "Something to give the mother-in-laws. Speaking of—" he flashed Neal a smile—"you want to come by, find something for Snow?"

"I don't know why I'd do that," Neal said, taking a careful sip of coffee. "She's not my mother-in-law."

"Yet," Rumple said wryly. "I do hope you'll invite me to the wedding. Or at least, tell me once it's happened. You know—if you decide to include me in on something like that."

"Rumple," Belle warned as Neal made an exasperated noise. "Let's go."

"We're not done talking about this," Rumple told him as Belle started leading him away. "You hear me? It's not over!"

"Bye, Dad," Neal said loudly. Rumple waved his hand dismissively, allowing Belle to tug him out the door. Instantly, Neal slid out of his seat next to Regina and into the one across from her.

"So—" he drummed his hands on the table. "Looks like I'm going to be the only one in the family without magic now."

Regina smiled faintly. "Well, you could always learn a few card tricks or pull a quarter out of someone's ear, if you feel the need to conform."

"Mmm, that's okay," he shrugged, reaching across the table to pull his cup toward him. "I'm not really into the whole magic thing."

"Right." Regina tapped the table, feeling a little uncomfortable. This was one those things…no matter how well she and Neal got along, this was always going to be one of their fundamental differences: just like it was between Neal and Rumple. Magic was something she depended on: it made her feel strong and fearless; it had made her who she was, every flaw and virtue. She thought of it as a blessing; Neal thought of it as a curse.

Neal must have sensed what she was thinking, because he added, "I don't hate magic, okay? I don't love it, but I'm not anti-magic."

"No?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "You seem pretty uncomfortable with it."

"I am," he admitted. "But it's nothing against you personally. I just don't like it."

"Why?" Regina scoffed. "I can't imagine not using magic."

"Yeah, but it's so risky," Neal insisted. "It's like mixing chemicals, you know? It's okay if you know what you're doing, but one wrong move, and—" he made an explosion sound. "Things get ugly."

"I suppose," Regina said lightly. "But that's why I think it's important to get a good education on it. So you do know what you're doing."

Neal frowned, slightly shaking his head. "If this is about Henry, I already told you, I don't have a problem with him learning magic."

"I know." Regina cleared her throat, avoiding his gaze. "That's why I told Cruella and Ursula I'd let Henry try to bring Maleficent back."

It was something she'd been meaning to tell him, but had conveniently "slipped her mind". Very conveniently, considering his reaction was exactly what she'd been dreading it would be.

"What?"

"Now, Neal, don't get upset—"

"Regina!" Neal stared at her in disbelief. "You're going to let Henry try to resurrect a—and I quote—sexually frustrated dragon lady with anger issues?"

"That was my fault. I shouldn't have described her like that. What I meant, was…" Regina looked at him helplessly. "Okay, yes, she's a crazy bitch. But Neal, I had to."

"No, you didn't!" he sputtered. "It's bad enough you've got him working on bring back your psychopath of a mother! Now you want him to bring back your psychopath of an ex-girlfriend?"

"Who told you that?" Regina frowned. "I don't remember us talking about this."

Neal waved his hand impatiently. "It's a small town, Regina. Word gets out. Point is, you're letting him do this?"

"Yes. I am." Regina folded her arms, staring back at him defiantly. "Henry has a unique ability. I don't know how he brought Graham back, because I tried a million spells to bring back Daniel. None of them worked. Henry does it on his first try."

"He's a smart kid. That doesn't mean you should let him try to resurrect a fucking dragon."

"Neal," Regina said through gritted teeth. "All Cruella and Ursula want to do is reunite Maleficent with her daughter. Emma got to be reunited with her parents; you got to be reunited with your father; and soon, I will be reunited with my mother. Why shouldn't I let Henry try to help Lily do the same?"

Neal frowned. "Lily?"

"Yes, Lily." Regina raised her eyebrows. "Is that a problem?"

"No, it's…" Neal shook his head, muttering to himself. "Lily…"

"What?"

He looked up at her, grimacing. "I don't know. That's the problem."

"Oh, well, that clears things up."

"There's this weird thing between her and Emma, I don't know. She won't tell me, but I get the feeling that they were…" Neal shifted his hands vaguely. "Involved at some point."

Regina's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "At any rate, Lily hates me. Which is okay, because I kinda hate her."

"That's nice."

"It works for us."

"Hey, Regina!"

Regina glanced up as Tink strode into the diner, pushing her sunglasses back. "Hi, Tink," Regina said as Neal dropped his head in his hands, muttering curses. "How are you?"

"Ugh," Tink said, apparently not noticing Neal as she slid into the seat next to him. "Mother Superior woke me up at six in the morning, bitching at me because I haven't been home the last few nights."

"Uh-huh, and where exactly have you been?"

Tink smiled wryly, shrugging. "Around."

"You are such a whore," Regina said, making a face. "God, Tink, are you seriously proud of that?"

"I'm not ashamed of my sexuality," Tink said, inviting herself to Neal's coffee cup. "I have needs, Regina. And wants," she added thoughtfully. "I have many wants."

Neal kept his head in his hands, though Regina could just imagine the pleading look on his face as he begged the universe to make Tink stop talking. Regina added in her own prayers for good measure; she didn't need to hear about Tink's sexuality. God knew, she already heard far too much about it at family gatherings.

"Oh, God." Tink pulled a face, looking at something over Regina's shoulder. "Incoming Hook and Ruby."

"Gah," Regina gagged, shuddering as she imagined the horrors going on behind her back. "How graphic?"

Tink tilted her head considering. "I'd say, we're moving into PG-13 territory right now." She cupped her hands around her mouth, and called out, "Hey, Ruby, when you come up for air, there's an old lady at the counter taking out her dentures who needs a refill!"

She laughed to herself, taking another sip from Neal's coffee. "There's a mood killer," she said cheerfully. "Anyways—" she exhaled loudly, drumming her hands on the table. "You ready to go out and do some Christmas shopping? Paint the town red like a couple of sluts?"

Regina raised her eyebrows dryly. "Hmm. What do you think, Neal? Want to to paint the town red like a couple of sluts with us?"

The blood drained from Tink's face as Neal slowly lifted his head out of his hands. "That's all right," he said, sighing heavily as he got up from the table. "You two paint without me. I'm going to go to the station and pretend to work, or something."

"Bye," Regina said, trying not look at Tink staring up at Neal with wide eyes. "Have fun."

Neal nodded, keeping his eyes firmly away from Tink; she leaned out of her seat, nearly toppling out to watch him go.

"Oh, my God," she breathed. "Is it me, or does he get sexier every day?"

"Brother."

"I don't care," Tink said wildly, turning around. "He's fucking hot."

"Tink," Regina said through gritted teeth. "I don't need to hear these things about my brother. I really don't."

"But he is." Tink sighed longingly. "You know, Hook was supposed to talk to him for me? In exchange for me getting info out of Ruby?" She scoffed, shaking her head. "Little bitch double-crossed me."

"You're going to have to get over it," Regina remarked. "He and Emma seem pretty solid, from what I can tell."

"I know," Tink grimaced. "Belle told me they're going out tomorrow for a fancy-schmancy night. At that little Italian place."

"Oh. That's a nice place."

"Yeah, it is." Tink exhaled frustratedly, leaning her head back. "This isn't fair," she whined. "Emma gets every hot guy in town. And now she's got the hottest one wrapped around her finger."

"Brother," Regina reminded her abruptly. "Please stop telling me—"

"I mean, goddamn, is he hot! I just wanna—"

"Tink!"

"Hey, you make me listen to all your baby crap," Tink retorted. "You think I need to hear about your pregnancy symptoms?"

The cup shattered in Tink's hand, drenching her skirt in coffee. "Shit!" she shrieked, flying out of her seat. "Shit, shit shit!"

Regina looked down at her stomach in surprise. "Was that you?"

It was too early for the baby to give her any sort of sign, but somehow she knew…yes. Yes, it was. She smiled to herself.

A very talented little sorceress indeed.