Chapter 22

Regina heard the door open downstairs and began to panick. She froze on the spot breathing deeply. Emma quickly noticed the terrified look on her girlfriend's face.

"I can't.. I can't face them Emma…" Regina stuttered, close to tears. "I can't." It was a simple statement and Emma understood immediately.

"Schh." Emma embraced Regina in a tight hug. "Stay upstairs and try to rest. I'll bring you some breakfast up, okay?" the blonde spoke calmly.

"Are you sure? I mean is it really okay? Won't they be upset with me?"

"No, they won't. I promise that they are happy just knowing you're here, safe with us." Emma smiled and Regina tried to return it. If she managed to evade the family breakfast, it would only be a matter of time before she would have to deal with this. "Stay in here and try to relax a little. I'll be back in a few, okay?" Emma explained with a gentle tone after she placed a kiss on Regina's temple.

Regina decided that she did need more time alone. Time to think about how she would explain this to them. All of them. Should I tell one of them first? Maybe they would give her advice on how to break it to Emma. She knew Ruby had a temper, but ultimately would care more about Emma's feelings. Belle would be a better option, but she felt like the brunette would tell Ruby before she was ready. Granny was the best and most appropriate option. Emma would still be upset if she's not the first to know though.

Maybe I should just sneak into breakfast and break the news to all of them at the same time.

Everyone was waiting on them by the kitchen table. Of course, Ruby was the first one to ask about where Regina was.

"She's still upstairs." Emma shrugged and sat down.

"Is she too fine to dine with us now?" Ruby joked but the words came out wrong, and Emma grabbed her sister's shirt as her eyes went black with fury. Granny had to pull them apart.

"Girls, relax! Ruby, watch your tone and Emma take a deep breath." the old woman commanded to her daughters.

"Is she okay?" Belle asked carefully when she saw that Emma, in fact had calmed down.

"I don't know" Emma shrugged. "She's broken… She's obviously not her normal self, but something seems different with her. Like she's scared, but maybe not of him." Emma explained honestly and everyone nodded.

"Have you guys been to the Sheriff yet?" Ruby asked carefully as she bit her lip, hoping Emma wouldn't freak out at her words this time.

"No, but I won't push her. She's probably traumatized or scared that he won't believe her or he might even take Daniel's side.. Either way, that asshole is gonna get what he deserves." Emma replied and the girls nodded their agreement as she sat and started to eat.

"Well, we have to think this through and not just act on our feelings." Granny stated then gave Emma and Ruby a pointed look "Daniel has a powerful father and we can't forget about Cora either." Granny stated then took a sip of her Coffee.

"It's so fucked up that they can do something like this and hide behind the fact they have money! It doesn't give anyone the right to treat someone like they have all treated Regina! Sure, Daniel is the only one who has beaten her, but Cora and Daniel's father have indirectly allowed it. Right?" Ruby said with a low growl in her voice.

"It's just so fucking horrible. Cora thinks Daniel is better for her daughter than me, just because he has a fucking dick between his legs..." Emma snarled and hoped Granny wouldn't get angry with her bad mouth. The older lady let this one slip. They had more important things to deal with than some swearwords.

Regina laid on Emma's bed with had her hands on her stomach. She still wondered how she would drop the bomb. Emma was already going through so much for Regina's sake, and fighting all her own demons as well. Telling her something like this could possibly scare the blonde away for good. She had run because of smaller things. Regina blinked away her tears and wondered how she herself felt about all of this.

She had always wanted children, but had been told at an early age that the chances for her to ever conceive were very slim to none. She had been so upset about hearing that when she was 14.

She had finally gone to the doctor for her stomach pains, but she knew stress was probably the cause. She didn't remember what her condition was called, but the doctors had told her that women in her situation only carried to term about once out of every 600 cases.

She knew this pregnancy could end abruptly, but Regina had always dreamed about becoming a mother. If she terminated, would she be losing the only chance she would ever have to produce a biological child? She knew for years that she would likely have to adopt when she was older. She just got used to that idea. Now that she had this opportunity, she didn't want to squander it away.

When the pregnancy test told her she was indeed pregnant, at first she had been disgusted and hadn't been surprised because Daniel had raped her daily. Then she remembered what the doctor told her. Was Regina strong enough to deny herself this, maybe her only chance to become a birth mother? It wasn't the baby's fault its father was a monster. Right?

Regina laid on her side and hid under the blanket, wishing she knew what the hell she was gonna do about all of this..

She knew she wanted to be a mother, but it was a little too soon. Maybe if it happened this time, she could get pregnant again? Or maybe Emma would want to carry their children? If Emma even stuck around. I would run if the roles were reversed.

On their walk back to the apartment Ruby and Belle were not talking. Both of them were thinking of Regina and what was gonna happen now. Suddenly, Ruby saw a face she wanted to tear to shreds, and Belle grabbed her girlfriend's hand then gave her a pleading look.

"Rubes. Don't." Belle warned as they stopped. "Don't act on your feelings, remember?"

"Don't worry baby, I'm just gonna talk to him." Ruby replied through gritted teeth but Belle shook her head. She knew Ruby wanted to fight him. She also know the man, though slightly shorter, had a good 80 pounds on her at least.

"No, you're not. I know what you're gonna do." Belle shot back and Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Then follow me over there and make sure I only talk to him then, Hm?"

"Fine!" Belle was annoyed, but couldn't deny that she wanted to have a word with him as well.

"Hey asshole!" Ruby shouted when they reached the fence to Regina's house. Daniel had just parked his car halfway on the driveway and halfway on the grass of the front lawn, then turned around to meet the two girls' judging eyes.

"Yes?" he spoke nonchalant and Ruby felt her blood boil inside. He was acting so snobby. This man was obviously a sociopath!

"Don't you remember us, you fucking piece of shit?" Ruby snarled, then spat in Daniel's face.

"Don't speak to me like I'm an idiot, Miss Lucas! How dare you? What are you even doing here?" he tried to sound intimidating as he wiped the spit from his face, but his voice was shaking.

"You're busted, you stupid fuck!" Belle spoke up and Ruby felt proud of her girlfriend. They made quite the team.

"Yeah! So fucking busted!" Ruby repeated.

"Excuse me?" he tried to seem confused, but knew that Regina probably wasn't inside that house. Which probably meant that everyone knew he was a monster.

"We know you have been hitting Regina this whole time you've been "together" and I recommend you take your fucking BMW and drive as far as you can away from here, before the fucking bomb drops on you!" Ruby growled and was now standing inches from Daniel's face, smelling the stench of alcohol. "Oh wow, you're a drunk on top of that! Classic asshole! After everything Henry did for you! I knew you were a stuck up jerk, but I never thought you would abuse Regina like that!"

"I don't know what you're trying to do right now Miss Lucas, but you're not scaring me." Daniel snapped and raised his clenched fist beside himself as he drunkenly aimed towards Ruby.

Belle reacted so quickly that none of them knew what happened. She pushed her girlfriend to the side, and Daniel's punch landed against Belle's face instead.

Belle, who was smaller then her girlfriend, fell backwards after Daniel's strong punch, then hit her head on a rock. It all seemed to happened in slow motion. Belle could hear Ruby's scream before everything went black.

"Belle?! Belle?!" Ruby screamed and ran to her girlfriend's side in tears. Blood was flowing from her head. Ruby bit her lip hard, trying not to cry. She looked up and met Daniel's gaze.

"You're gonna pay for this Daniel, mark my words! You're ducking dead!" Ruby growled.

Daniel couldn't even say anything. He panicked. He jumped into his drunkenly parked car, then reversed it so fast that dirt from the yard flew everywhere.

Ruby laid Belle's head in her lap and dialed 911 with shaking hands. When she ended the call and knew the ambulance was on its way, Ruby finally allowed herself to break down in tears. She cried more than she ever had in her life.

"Please Belle, don't leave me baby. It's too soon. We have a house to buy, kids to raise, and you know how I always wanted a dog? I can let you name it! Just don't leave me… don't leave me…. Don't…"

Emma felt conflicted. She wanted to be strong for Regina, but at the same time, she hardly had the energy to be strong for herself. She paced back and forth on the floor in the livingroom. Granny had just finished making a tray of breakfast for Regina and frowned when she saw Emma's stressed state.

"Go for a run." Granny suggested and the sudden voice almost made Emma trip over herself.

"Huh?" the blonde asked as she pulled the hair away from her eyes.

"I said go for a run. I see you're anxious Emma, and Regina needs calm energy. So go and blow off some steam. I'll go handle your girl, okay? Just trust me. We need some eggs anyway." Granny smiled and Emma nodded.

"Thanks Granny!" Emma shouted over her shoulder as she headed out.

Granny walked up to Emma's room and knocked carefully on the door.

"Come in." Regina said and Granny opened the door.

"Here's some breakfast. Sorry for the wait." Granny smiled and placed the tray on Emma's nightstand.

"Ehm, thank you Mrs. Lucas." Regina said in a nervous tone. "Where's Emma?"

"Oh, my dear, don't worry." Granny said calmly and sat down on the bed next to Regina. "She went to the store. Ruby ate all the eggs." Granny hated to lie, but thought it was for the best at the moment. Regina was anxious as it was. She didn't need to know that her situation was causing the blonde to be more anxious.

"Yeah, Ruby has always had the appetite of a grown man." Regina chuckled.

"Yes, that's true." Granny replied with a smile. "So, my dear Regina, what has happened to you? I saw that black-eye yesterday, and I guess your hiding more with having Emma's hoodie on, Hm?"

Regina tugged her bottom lip between her teeth and looked down at her hands. She started to shake and almost flinched as she felt Granny lay her arm around her then pull her close.

That move alone made Regina cry. Her mother had never comforted her like this, not even as a child. Not that She could remember anyway. She had always told Regina emotions like that were a sign of weakness, and when Regina actually had cried, Cora had just left her to deal with it alone. Henry on the other hand, had always hugged his daughter, but he had been away for most of Regina's early years. So crying in someone's arms like this felt almost surreal to Regina.

"Schh Regina, take deep breaths. You're safe here. And we're not gonna let you go, okay?"

"But, Mother… " Regina started, but her voice broke and Granny's grip around her only tightened.

"Your mother doesn't scare me Regina, and I'm gonna keep my promise to Henry and look after…" Regina cut her off and looked up to meet Granny's gentle and sweet eyes.

"Did daddy actually ask you to keep an eye on me?"

"Oh, yes he did." Granny chuckled. "He was a sweet man and you remind me so much of him Regina. Henry would have been so proud of you."

"He wouldn't be proud of me now though." Regina shrugged and pulled away. She stood up in front of Granny and removed Emma's hoodie slowly. She kicked off her pants and finally took off her shirt. Granny gasped.

It felt like that night Emma had showed up at Granny's place and took off that ripped shirt in front of her, revealing her bruises and scars. It was as if removing the articles of clothing the revealed the marks somehow made the burden lighter. Sharing your pain is hard, but necessary.

"I haven't even showed Emma this.." Regina almost whispered and met Granny's eyes.

"Why not?" Granny asked. "Emma would be the last person to judge you. She loves you.."

"That's not all… she's seen the marks. That's not what she doesn't know about." Regina breathed and looked down at her feet. She had to tell someone about this. She sat back beside Granny.

"What are you talking about?" Granny frowned and Regina looked up and meet her eyes.

Now or never!

"I'm.. I'm. I'm pregnant"