Two days later, Regina is seated on the wooden patio chaise on Emma's back porch in the glow of evening sunlight. She and Robin have gathered with Snow and David for a steak dinner prepared courtesy of Captain Killian Jones. She's content to sit and silently wonder at male bravado and the bonding experience that takes place any time more than two of them are within spitting distance of each other, at least until Snow sits down in the empty seat beside hers and quietly offers her a fresh glass of wine before asking, "So, Zelena's pregnant?"

"That, she is."

David breaks into the conversation flourishing his barbecue spatula to get attention. "She's pregnant? Again?"

Regina nods.

"You okay with that?"

Regina squints as she shrugs. "Why wouldn't I be okay with that, David?"

"Well, I seem to recall you weren't too thrilled about it last time."

"David." Regina rolls her eyes. That was because my niece's paternity was in question; in a way that I personally found rather revolting. That's not the case this time."

Grinning ear to ear, Hook teases, "Are we sure?"

"She's married to Lord Death. If any man in this town, any man other than her husband, was dumb enough to bed her, I do not want to know about it."

"Did they intend for it to happen? Was it planned?"

Regina shakes her head. I don't know for certain, but I don't think so. If they had planned on it, I imagine Zelena would've been looking for the signs. I don't think she was. I think the pregnancy kind of snuck up on her. It's different when gods and humans - I don't want to say mate or breed, that just sounds – Regina wrinkles her nose. "It's different when gods and humans come together in that way. Especially if, as in Zelena's case, the woman is the human. Although there have been successful attempts, they're rare. it's dangerous. A human woman's body is not designed to be a vessel for a child that is half-god. Having been through it once, she knows this. The one thing that probably makes it bearable for her is the fact that she's such a powerful witch. If she were not magical, I have my doubts that she would've survived Eliana's birth. If she planned this current pregnancy, I don't think Norah would've had reason to come looking for me two days ago at the cave."

"Hey," Emma joins in, "Speaking of the cave… I've been dying to ask. It wasn't just my imagination, was it? Because I swear I saw your three-year-old daughter let loose a blast of magic strong enough to cause that cave in."

All frivolity momentarily stops as all eyes turn Regina's way. She, in turn, looks to Robin with a silent question burning in her eyes, and he shrugs. Taking a long pull from his beer bottle before he speaks. "We knew we were going to tell them sooner or later."

"That's true. I guess I was just hoping it would be later; and, everyone, I really would appreciate it if we could keep this between ourselves. The fewer people who know about this the better."

Snow nods and reaches for Regina's hand, instantly concerned. "Is Norah alright? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. Norah's fine. She's just more powerful than I thought she would be at this age; a lot more powerful."

To Snow's ears, Regina's sigh is unmistakably heavy with worry, and she's not surprised when Robin picks up where his wife let the conversation lapse.

"The way Regina explained to me, magical infants and toddlers are like young snakes. The younger they are, the more potent their venom/magic. It's the way the universe ensures survival of the species. Small children, especially those in the first years of life, don't often have the higher reasoning capacity, or the self-control necessary to accurately target predators. What they lack in precision they make up for with raw untamed power. I don't know about any other magical toddlers; I only know about Norah, and as of now, she rarely ever makes a conscious choice to use magic. It's almost always a knee-jerk reaction brought on by a heightened emotional state. Regina and I are teaching her control, but like anything else that's learned, it takes time. Regina told me about the cave. Norah had no intention to hurt or endanger anyone…"

Snow shakes her head. "I was there, I saw it happen. If Regina hadn't been there, standing in the middle of that bug-infested cave, I'm quite certain Norah would've run away and hidden. They scared her badly. But I heard her tell the bad bugs to go bye-bye. She didn't want them to eat her mama. She did cause the cave in - well, I'm not sure she did that all by herself. Regina was helping her. So, it may have been the two of them combined. But, she wasn't trying to hurt anyone. The power just got away from her; that's all. She was trying to protect her mom."

Regina steps in again. "It's a bit inconvenient at times and I know it's probably more than a little bit scary thinking about a toddler who possesses enough power to bring down ancient old caves, with the flick of her wrist, but it has to be that way. Our young must be equipped with a way to defend themselves. The number of dark spells that call for the body parts of infants or small children is mind-numbing. The number of the dark spells that call specifically for the body parts of magical children is seven times higher than that of non-magical children. Norah is in danger simply because she was born. It's even worse for Zelena's children. They are even more powerful than Norah. Eliana and the baby my sister is carrying now, they are both demigods. The number of wizards, sorcerer's, witches, warlocks, werewolves, vampires, elves, fairies, and other dark entities who would give their souls to get their filthy hands on our children is innumerable. What she did the other day, Norah did out of fear and love. After it was over, she went home and cried. She tramps through the forest with Robin all the time. She loves bugs. He's teaching her not to hurt other living things; not even tiny little bugs. She was heartbroken thinking that Robin would be angry with her because she hurt the bugs in the cave. Because they often spend time in your company, we probably should have told you sooner, but Robin, Zelena, Hades, and I- we would all appreciate it greatly if you will guard this information carefully. Please do not openly discuss the magical abilities of our children; especially not in public."

Robin smiles with pride. "Unfortunately for us, the one magical ability our daughter does seem to have complete and total control over is her desire to transport magically whenever she decides she wants to be somewhere other than where she is. Until two days ago, she'd never gone anywhere dangerous. But then, she wasn't trying to. She was simply homing in on her mum because Zelena fainted, and she didn't know what else to do. Mostly, she just transports herself into bed with us at night, or downstairs directly into my arms, when she hears me come through the front door in the evening. I'm used to it now, but the first time she did it, I didn't know it was going to happen. I nearly dropped her! One time, we couldn't find her or Roland. She had taken him to the ice cream parlor to buy her an ice cream cone. Since then, we've told her, she's not allowed to leave our house without either myself or Regina to accompany her. So far, it's not a problem."

Snow chuckles. "So, she only goes places that a normal three-year-old wants to go. She hasn't taken off for India?"

"Not yet!" Robin chuckles as he steps close and drops an arm around Regina. "But if she takes a mind to go, I wouldn't put it past her to try. She has quite the determination." Jokingly, he squeezes his wife's shoulders. "I have no idea where she gets that from."

Regina elbows him in the ribs with rough affection. "Fortunately, I don't think she can leave Storybrooke. Not unless there's a magical community living in secret in India."

David nods. "Right; no magic beyond the town line. So, until she gets old enough to have accurate control, if she does turn up missing, you'll know that she isn't far from home… At least, not until she starts realm jumping."

Regina groans; in agony at the thought alone.