Henry had just rounded the corner to City Hall when he ran into Lisa, Regina's secretary. She was a young maiden at the castle when Regina was married to the king, and one of the few who stuck with her when she turned into the Evil Queen. She was kind to Regina, and even though Henry didn't know exactly what she knew, or why she was may be the only one who stayed with Regina because she wanted to, and not out of fear. He was still grateful that she was there for his mother when she needed her nonetheless. Although from his grandfather's earlier comment, he suspected that he knew why his mother always seemed to have a soft spot for the young brunette.

"Lisa," he greeted amicably.

"Hi, Henry. What are you doing here?" her chirpy voice was a nice change to the either angry or hurt tones he's been hearing all afternoon, and he smiled at her, a sigh escaping him.

"I'm meeting Mom for dinner at Granny's, she hasn't been feeling well lately, and I don't want her to have to cook," he explained.

"Oh, that's nice," she complimented. "But your Mom left around noon, and she hasn't returned yet," she informed him, and he furrowed his eyebrows in thought, his mother never bailed out on their date before, and he was sure she would've left him a message to tell him of her whereabouts. He took out his phone to check it for any signs of her, and found none. And although there was a time when he would've been hurt and would've probably taken this to mean the wrong thing, he knew that she wouldn't blow him off on purpose, and instead found himself to be extremely worried.

"Did she say anything about where she was going?" he wondered, and she shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not, she just told me to leave when I'm done and not to wait for her," came her response, and once again Henry found the worry bubbling even further inside of him. If it was something big enough that she even forgot to tell Lisa to let him know where she was, then it must be big. He was sure that she didn't forget their date on purpose, if at all, but he knew that whatever it was that she was going after, must be pretty big.

"Thanks, Lisa," he finally said, seeing as the girl had nothing else to offer, he decided to let her leave. "I'll see you around," he said pleasantly, and she nodded her head at him, as she made her way down the street. He quickly dialed his mother's number, and waited for the familiar ring to come. His brows furrowed when it went straight to voicemail, before realization finally dawned on him, and he turned on his heel.

Regina sat on top one of the many chests that littered the floor of the vault. They all contained things that belonged to her mother, and even though she was still reeling from the betrayal of Zelena's existence, she couldn't bring herself to throw them away. She had thought that when she recast the curse they won't be there, since they weren't there when the first curse hit, but it appears the curse restored the town to the last state it was in. So not only did they all find themselves standing at the town line, she found Henry's bed as unmade as it was the morning they left for her vault. And so, since she couldn't bring herself to throw them away, she decided to use them as furniture.

So not only was she sitting on top of one as she looked through a book, the other chests were covered with dozens of books, either waiting for their turn to be looked through, or already discarded. She slammed the book she had in her hand shut, an exasperated frustrated sigh escaping her, as she resisted the urge to scream. She had been a complete mess since her talk with Granny that morning, her brain running at a thousand miles a minute in a futile attempt to process the information that had been thrown at it in the span of minutes.

Not only was she pregnant – which she had given up on a very long time ago – it was Robin's. The last person on earth she wanted to know about the baby, and the only person who should be told, aside from Henry. And not only that, but it appears that Granny and Ruby were both suspicious of his newly resurrected wife. And not just them, from what she gathered, the Merry Men were also wary around her. Hell, even her own son was.

Roland…..she had tried desperately to explain his behavior that morning, but failed miserably. Not only was the kid terrified of Marian, he didn't trust her, and despite how much she was trying to deny it, he was also starting to lose his trust in his own father. Why else would he come to her? The kid was looking for safety, and he ran to her, not his father. And as much as she wished she could keep him safe, she knew that in order for her to win that battle, she had to be smart about it. Granny and Ruby's suspicions just confirmed her own, something was up with Marian, and whatever that woman's plan was, she didn't want Roland caught in the cross-heirs.

And so, not only did she hit the books in search of a spell to hide the pregnancy from prying eyes, she also looked for a protection spell. Kind of like the one she put on Henry's chest to keep his heart where it belongs, but on a larger scale. She knew she had seen it somewhere, but she just couldn't remember where. Luckily for her, after about an hour of rummaging through books, she located it, and had charmed an amulet that she planned on giving Roland. She knew she had to be smart about it, otherwise Marian might just rip it away from him, which sort of defeats the purpose. But she was sure she can figure it out, maybe even ask Henry for help with it.

But try as she might, she couldn't find the spell to disguise her pregnancy. She knew that a simple shape-shifting spell wouldn't do, since that won't just hide the bump, but hide who she was all together. And as tempting as that sounded at the moment, she knew that it wouldn't be fair to Henry. She briefly wondered if she can tweak it a bit, and decided that she can't go out on a limb with a baby on board, and as much as she didn't want to see him, or even tell him about the pregnancy, she figured with his new found sense of morale, he might be willing to help her. But of course, she still needed to talk to Henry first.

She looked around her, her eyes scanning the room till she located the phone sitting on top of the chest under the mirror. She got up and made her way towards it, her stomach grumbling loudly, reminding her that she hadn't quite eaten anything all morning, mostly because she couldn't even keep it down. She picked up her phone, and realized that the battery was dead. She grumbled, as she turned towards the other wall in search of the clock, when she heard the heavy wooden doors on the floor above creek. Before she could overreact and conjure a fireball, thinking that it was Marian once more, Henry's voice floated through the tiles.

"Mom?" he called.

"Down here," she replied, as she made her way up the stairs, meeting him up by the coffin.

She realized with a heavy heart that she hadn't even texted him to let him know of whereabouts, and that if he was here then it must be close to diner time. She happily, and gratefully, welcomed the much needed embrace he offered her, though she felt it was more for his benefit than hers.

"I'm sorry, baby, I lost track of time," she offered apologetically before he can get a chance to ask.

"Yeah, I figured," was the simple answer her mumbled against her shoulders.

She frowned at his tone of voice, as she wound her arms tighter around him. "Are you alright?" she asked softly, and his only response a frustrated sigh.

"Sweetheart, talk to me," she said soothingly, as she pulled away from the embrace, and held his gaze. All of her worries from mere seconds ago forgotten, with the only thing occupying her mind at the moment was the child standing before her. She had left him in good spirit that morning, and now he didn't look so good.

"I went to see Rumpelstiltskin," he finally blurted out, and her worry was slowly being taken over by confusion.

"Okay," she drawled out, not entirely sure what to make of it.

"I heard you tell Robin that you can't regret any of your actions back in the Enchanted Forest, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to save me," he continued, and she nodded at him, still not entirely sure where he was going with this. "But I know that's not true, I know you feel sorry for them. So I went to ask him what you meant by that, but he didn't know, so we talked to Mom and Grandma and they told me what happened at the tree," he rambled, and she was still trying to process his words, that she didn't have time to stop him before he continued. "But Grandpa said that if you really didn't have any regrets the tree wouldn't have had any power against you to begin with, and that you were able to break free, because no matter how strong your regrets are, your love for me is stronger," he finally stopped his rant, as his green eyes searched his mother's soft brown ones. He saw the tears prick at them, as a beaming smile light up her entire face at the last sentence.

"Of course my love for you is stronger, nothing will ever be more important to me than you, I don't care if that tree wanted my soul, I would've gladly given it up it meant saving you," she promised softly, her voice showing every bit of love she held for him, and her heart fluttered when she saw the love and believe in his eyes. Even though he had been firmly on her side for over a month now, she still couldn't get over how quickly all of that can be lost, and she cherished those looks in his eyes. "But what Rumpelstiltskin said was only half true," she confessed, and he looked at her quizzically. "Even though I do regret my actions, and a part of me wishes that I had a different past," she started, her eyes holding his steady. "If not for anything, at least it would be for your sake," she added tearfully. "But they brought me to you, and if I could do it all over again, I would….in a heartbeat, because at the end of that very dark tunnel, was the brightest light I have ever seen," she cooed softly, and he beamed at her.

"I love you Mom," was the simple sentence that was so much more. She mirrored his smile, one hand cupping his face and rubbing her thumb over his cheek lovingly, as she leaned in and kissed his forehead, before wrapping her arms around him once more.

"I love you too baby," she whispered into his hair, though the sentence wasn't solely meant for him.

After a moment or two, they finally pulled apart, and she rubbed her hands up and down his arms. "What do you say we go get that diner?" she wondered, remembering the earlier rumble her stomach gave, and realizing that she had to pay more attention to her nutrition now more than ever. She also wanted to go home, so she can tell Henry. She wanted to go see Rumple the next day, and she didn't think that he should know before Henry does. And almost as if Henry was reading her mind, his grandfather was the person he mentioned next.

"He also said that he needed to talk to you when you're up to it," Henry informed her, and she was officially confused. She hadn't seen Rumple since she stopped him from killing Zelena at the bar, and she knew that he was off on his honeymoon. "Did he say why?" she wondered, and Henry nodded affirmingly. "He said he owes you an apology about many things that happened in the past," he answered, and she quirked an eyebrow at him. "Rumpelstiltskin wants to apologize?" she asked in disbelieve, and he chuckled. "Yeah, he's starting over fresh with Belle, and he said that if someone deserves an apology, it's you," he elaborated, his voice not in the least surprised by his grandfather's actions, which both surprised and warmed her heart. She was truly amazed by her son's ability to believe in the people he loves. A voice momentarily decided to creep up and remind her that he never gave her that benefit of the doubt, but she crushed that voice and decided to stop dwelling on the past.

"Well, that actually makes two of us. I need to talk to him too, but I need to talk to you first," she declared, her eyes leaving his for the first time, and looking at their space between them.

Henry, noticing the change in his mother's demeanor, furrowed his eyebrows at her, and cranes his neck to catch her eyes once more. The nervousness in them was unnerving, but he decided to let her speak before he allowed his mind to wander off.

"Mom, is everything alright?" he asked, and she bit her bottom lip as she wracked her brain for an easy way to break the news. She was terrified of how he would react, of what he might think. After all, that baby was conceived right after the whole Zelena fiasco, when she still believed that Henry will never be hers like before again. So she was worried that he might think that the baby was a replacement or something.

Her silence, however, was absolutely terrifying Henry. His frantic mind coming up with worst case scenarios, and desperately trying to find solutions for them. Noticing the panic in his eyes, Regina decided that the best way was the simple way.

"I'm pregnant!"

So I know that this is short, and doesn't make up for the long wait, but it was one of those chapters that was absolutely refusing to be written! I re-wrote it over a dozen times in a futile attempt to make it better, but I just can't seem to be satisfied with it. It's a bit of a filler, but it is necessary to get the story moving along, and because I didn't want to leave you hanging any longer.

I have no idea when the next chapter will be done, because I am still trying to sort some things out in the plan of the story, so be patient with me, but I do promise that I will do my best to update in less than a month.

Thank you to all who read, followed, reviewed and favorited, you guys are the best, and why I do this.

Let me know what you think of this.