Chapter Three

Regina faltered slightly, before steeling her resolve and tightening her grip on the phone in her hand. "Who. Are. You. And what the hell are you doing in my house?"

"I'm Emma," the blonde said again.

Regina shook her head. "No. You're not. Emma Swan is dead and I don't believe in ghosts."

"Really? 'Cause it kind of sounds like you might."

Regina clenched her jaw. "So you heard me on the phone, then? And what, thought this was the perfect way to get away with breaking and entering, hmm? Pretend you're my son's dead birth mother?"

Regina didn't wait for an answer, as she suddenly remembered that Henry was downstairs, alone, and this intruder may have an accomplice somewhere in the house. Without a second thought, she turned and darted back down the stairs, where Henry was still sleeping soundly in his playpen in the livingroom.

"You never said my name," Emma said, causing Regina to jump and spin around to where Emma now stood a few feet away from her in the livingroom.

"What?!"

"On the phone. You never said my name? How could I be faking?"

"How could you could you not be faking! Ghosts aren't real."

"Yeah, no shit. I mean, I didn't think so either, but…" Emma paused, and motioned to herself, "here I am."

Regina shook her head again. "No. You're not… I'm calling the police."

Emma let out an exasperated sigh, and took a couple steps towards Regina as the other woman attempted to open her phone again with shaking hands. "It's a waste of time."

"What are you doing?" Regina asked, her voice raising an octave higher than normal as panic started to set in, when she realized the girl was stepping into her personal space.

"Nothing," Emma said, sounding almost dejected. "I can't do anything."

Regina was about to ask what that meant, but stopped herself as she watched the younger woman lift her hand, as though she were about to grab Regina's phone from her. Regina stiffened, and felt a chill down her spine as the other woman made contact with her hand.

Well, contact wasn't the right word. Regina watched in disbelief as Emma's hand moved right through her own. It wasn't a touch, but it was cold as ice, and the chill lingered even as Emma pulled her hand back to herself.

"You believe me now?"

For her part, Regina couldn't seem to find any words to force herself to say. She was aware of how wide her eyes had grown and how her mouth was gaping open, but she couldn't seem to move as her brain attempted to reconcile what had just happened.

"Take a minute," Emma said, gently, stepping back to give the other woman some space.

Regina shook her head quickly, clutching her phone so tightly that her knuckles were turning white, though all thoughts of calling the police were long gone. "No… this… you can't…" Regina stammered.

"Yeah, I know. But I am."

"How… why?"

"Why?" Emma repeated, looking confused. "I mean, I died, so…"

"No," Regina shook her head, finally coming back to her senses a little. "I meant, why are you here? Shouldn't you have… crossed over? Or something?"

Emma shrugged. "No idea. All I know is, one minute I was in the delivery room, and then the next thing I knew, I was standing in a graveyard next to a stone with my name on it. I thought I was dreaming at first but… it went on for so long that I realized it was real. I don't remember what happened, but I mean, it wasn't that hard to piece together."

Regina nodded, absorbing the information. "Right. Yes. You didn't… survive childbirth."

"Yeah, I figured that out later," Emma said, shrugging again, though this time the action wasn't quite so nonchalant.

"So, how did you get from there to here? And why? Why are you haunting Henry?"

"I'm not trying to!" Emma insisted. "I don't really know how I got from one place to the other, honestly. It's kind of hard to control. At first, it was like I was trapped in one spot. I couldn't step off my own grave and it was kind of terrifying, you know? I thought I might be stuck there forever. Then, one day, I was just… here, instead. In Henry's nursery. But I couldn't leave the room and he couldn't see me."

"But he can now," Regina pointed out.

"Yeah. For a little while I was kind of travelling back and forth between the graveyard and here. It was getting old, so I wondered if I could control it, you know? I tried to focus more on Henry and after a while, I was here more than I was there. I haven't found myself back in that graveyard in months now."

"Okay. But that doesn't explain how he can see you. Or how I can."

"Hey, I don't have a clue how any of this works, okay? I just know that one day he just… could. Babies don't have preconceived notions about ghosts and stuff, you know? So maybe that's why? And you never believed in ghosts before, and now you do and… well, here I am."

Regina shook her head again, vehemently. "I didn't believe. I don't… I'm not even sure I do now."

"Seriously? You want me to try and touch you again?"

"No. No, please don't. Just… I need some time to process."

For the first time, Emma gave Regina a knowing smile. "Yeah, I get that. I've been processing for like a year, and it still feels unreal. At least you have someone to talk to about it."

Regina felt a sick feeling in her stomach. Despite how unnerving all of this was, suddenly she tried to imagine what it would be like to be in Emma's shoes, stuck in one place, unable to communicate with anyone and with no idea what was going on. She couldn't imagine how terrifying that must have been, and yet here this girl was, smiling at her and reassuring her.

"You, um, you said you couldn't leave Henry's nursery? But you clearly are able to now."

"Yeah. The more time goes by, the more control I seem to have. I still can't get out of the house, but I can get into all the rooms now at least." Regina opened her mouth to say something, but Emma stopped her with a quick laugh. "Don't worry, I don't go in your bedroom and I don't invade your privacy, alright?"

"Thank you," Regina said, nodding. She had no way of knowing if that was true, so she supposed she'd have to take her word on it for now.

"So… um… your friend you called? They're not going to, like, exorcise me, are they?"

"Mal. And no, she's not. Apparently you can only exorcise demons."

"Oh. Good to know."

"She's still coming here on the weekend. She said you likely have unfinished business and we'll need to help you cross over. I guess what will be much easier now."

"Easier? How?"

"Well, because now we don't need to figure out what it is. You can just tell us."

"Right. Um, I could. If I knew what it was."

Regina raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what your own unfinished business is?"

"No? I mean, I died at seventeen. Isn't, like, my entire life kind of unfinished business? I never accomplished anything, you know."

Regina sighed. "I don't think that's what unfinished business means."

"Well, you know, the thought did cross my mind, once I realized I was dead… so, I have thought about this, and I can't come up with anything. I mean, it seems like it would be Henry, right? But, you've already given Henry a way better life than I ever could have, so how can it be him? It's gotta be something else, but I don't really know how to figure it out."

Regina turned back to Henry as she heard him start to stir in his playpen. Moments later, he was up and beaming, but his eyes weren't on her. "Emma!" he cried. "Emma! Emma!"

Regina smiled as she watched Henry point at Emma. In spite of everything, Emma's presence meant there was nothing wrong with Henry. They had a lot of work to do, but at least her little boy was fine. "I know Henry," Regina said, surprising even herself when her voice cracked a little. "I see her too!"

Henry giggled, and seemed satisfied with Regina's acknowledgement as he sat down to pick up the toys he'd been playing with before he'd fallen asleep earlier.

"You told him to call you Emma?" Regina asked, turning her attention back to the blonde.

Emma shrugged. "I mean, you're his mom, so it seemed appropriate."

"You would have been."

"Yeah. But I'm not. Not anymore, anyway."

"You're still here."

"Kind of. But it would have confused him. And, you know, I don't know how long I'll stay here. What if I just up and vanish one day? It's better if he doesn't know who I really am, right? Maybe he won't even remember any of this."

"Maybe," Regina agreed, though suddenly the thought of Henry not remembering seemed worse than the idea that they had a ghost at all. He deserved to remember that his birth mother actually loved him, didn't he?

"And, I mean, if your friend figures out a way to help me cross over, I could be out of your hair by this weekend, right?"

"Right," Regina said, quietly. It seemed silly to her, considering she'd just met this woman minutes ago, but suddenly Regina wasn't so sure she'd want her gone by the weekend. After all, it wasn't like she was some sort of vengeful spirit, she reasoned, and she kind of liked the way her green eyes lit up when she smiled at Henry, and the way Henry giggled and smiled back just the same.

What harm could come if she just stuck around a little while longer?