Chapter 6

Regina and Henry returned after an hour. Emma greeted them at the door. She couldn't believe that they had been gone that long. Henry eyed his mother as he entered the small apartment. Regina gave her a smile and was about to leave, when Emma stopped her.

"Wait," Emma said.

"Yes, Miss Swan, is there something else that I can do for you?" Regina asked her.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Henry stopped and turned around. Emma never asked anyone to stay for dinner. He looked between them and then at his mom. Something was going on and he didn't know what it was, but he didn't like it. He watched as Regina thought about the proposition.

"Yes, Madam Mayor, please stay for dinner," he added.

Regina turned back and looked at the teenager. His hazel eyes met hers with some mischief and defiance in them. She knew that he was testing her and something else, but she couldn't tell what yet.

"I wish I could. I have lasagna in the oven that I need to go tend to before it burns. Thank you for the invite, maybe another time, though," Regina answered.

She wasn't sure that she was ready for a "family" dinner with Charmings. She wouldn't mind it so much with just Henry and Emma, but adding Charming and Snow might grate on her nerves a little. She smiled at them both and turned for the door.

"Regina, oh good, you're back," Snow said coming out of the back room and into the kitchen.

Regina turned and looked at her heavily pregnant step-daughter. Snow's smiles were generally infectious now for Regina and today was no different. Snow walked over to Regina and took her hands with both of hers and pulled her back into the apartment.

"Please, come and talk with me. I have some ideas for the festival in a couple weeks," Snow stated, and Regina knew that she was lying. "I don't if I'll be able to make it to the next council meeting."

Emma looked at her mother, questioning the discussion. Snow waved her off towards Henry. Henry just smiled as Regina was pulled into the back bedroom that Snow and David were using, mostly against her will.

"Emma, check on the chicken for me. And, then take Henry with you and deal with Regina's lasagna. We wouldn't want the mayor's house to burn down because of it," Snow suggested.

Regina just looked at Emma. She was trying to get Emma to save her from her mother. When Emma took her mother's instructions and didn't help Regina, she handed her keys over to Emma without any fanfare. Henry just watched the interaction between them and waited for something. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew something was there between them.

"We'll be right back."

"Take your time, Emma. The chicken has another thirty minutes I think. I'll call David and tell him what time dinner will be ready. I am sure that he will want to hear about your leads in the case after dinner."

"I am sure that he will," Emma replied, knowing what her mother was doing.

"Come on, Kid. Let's go save the mayor's house from burning down. And, if you're lucky, will stop by the drug store to see if we can find you any new comics," Emma told him.

She grabbed her coat off the hook by the door and put it on. Henry grabbed his discarded jacket off the couch and put it on. He decided he'd wait until they were at the mayor's house to question his mom.

Once they were gone, Snow sat down in a rocking chair in her room, gingerly. Regina stood there, uncomfortable, rigid and waited for Snow to say something. If Snow knew how uneasy Regina was about being there, alone with her, she made no indication.

"Sit down, Regina. I am not going to hurt you. I am a little pregnant right now. Besides, I haven't notched an arrow at you in over thirty years. I would think that you knew that you would be safe with me by now," Snow told her.

"Old habits and all," Regina stated.

"Look, we both know that we are all searching for the reason why we are back. We are all lost without our memories of last year. Emma is trying to help. She remembers us from before, even though Henry doesn't. I know that must be hurting both of you, but she is doing her best."

"I know that. I can see that. I never doubted that she would be able to handle Henry," Regina said.

"You did, but you had reason to. When it came time to give him his best chance, you did. You gave them happy memories. They have never been in apart in his mind. He doesn't remember Storybrooke, the curse or Neverland. You gave up your happiness for his. I am sure that if he knew that…"

"But, he doesn't. He can't and he won't. I tried to replicate the potion that Hook gave Emma. I couldn't. I failed. So, now, my son doesn't know who I am. I am still missing a year's worth of memories and as usual everyone else is blissfully happy," Regina replied.

"You haven't found a little bit of happiness?"

"What do you mean?"

"Surely, you know."

"I am not sure that I do," Regina answered.

"Regina, Emma and I talked while you were out."

"I know that."

"About your relationship," Snow offered.

Regina stared at the pattern on the blanket on the bed. This was not a conversation that she wanted to be having with Snow. She could have gone all…her life…without having a conversation like this with Snow. She slowly raised her coffee colored eyes to Snow's hazel and held them there for a moment.

"What did she say?" Regina finally asked.

"She told me that she loved you."

Regina almost fell off of the bed. She couldn't believe that Snow has just been so blunt about it. She watched Snow as she rubbed her stomach and just smiled at her.

"You…you…"

"Well, that isn't quite the response I thought I was going to get from you. Normally you are so posed and put together. It is nice to finally see you distracted and nervous. It makes you…human."

"I don't…but…she…What?"

"It's okay, Regina. I am not thrilled with the idea, but I am not one that is going to stop her from finding her happiness. She seems to think that it with you. I know how people are. I remember what it was like when everyone was trying to tear me and Charming apart. I don't want that for her. If she is happy with you, then I want her to be happy with you."

"Well, that is very accepting," Regina replied.

"Listen, I knew you before everyone else. I know how fiercely you love and how epically you hurt. You deserve some happiness. Too much time has been wasted between all of us trying to destroy each other. It is ironically poetic that she would find her happiness with you. Besides, it isn't me that you have to worry about with your relationship. It is Henry," Snow told her.

"Henry? Why Henry?" Regina asked.

"Because he is the man in her life. He doesn't know what is really going on, but he can tell it is more than just some case that Emma is supposedly working on. I am sure that you know that much."

"He might have mentioned something to that affect while we were out, yes."

"He cares for her deeply. He wants her to be happy. He has cemented his happiness in making her happy like most kids do. They want their parents to be happy because it makes them happy."

"I know that," Regina replied, her mind going to darker times with her mother.

"She obviously cares enough for you to come to me about it. I think that she was worried that I would believe that she was under some spell. She isn't in thrall. I know what that looks like. She doesn't have that look in her eyes. She was completely honest and open with me. She loves you," Snow stated.

"I've gathered that much," Regina stated.

"Do you love her?"

"I care for her."

"You care for her? Regina, I know what you look like in love. Have you forgotten that?"

"No, I haven't."

"I am not going to ruin this for you. If you are meant to be, then you are meant to be. I just wish that Henry could see you two together, now. He would think it was awesome," Snow told her.

"And, why is that, Dear?"

"Because, Emma is the savior. He would find it a fitting end to our saga. Emma would have been part of the reason that your heart has been saved. She helped you turn from the darkness and become who you are today. Henry may have had a hand in it, but it wasn't until Emma came around that you actually decided to change for the better. I wished that I had seen it before."

"Seen what before?"

"The look in your eyes when you talk to her. I could see the sadness in them when you cast the curse to stop Pan's, but I just assumed that it was for your loss of Henry. I couldn't see that it was for much more than that. You were losing everything and we just didn't know it."

"But, I don't think that I knew then," Regina replied.

"Sometimes we have to lose something we care about to realize how much we really needed it."

Regina stared at her. The tears in both of their eyes made Snow realize how emotionally stunted that Regina was. She knew the abuse that Cora gave her. Emma had become a target and an easy punching bag for Regina's ire before, but she had become a balm for Regina, since her return.

"I guess we do."

"I am not going to ask what your intentions are with my daughter…yet."

"Why not?"

"Because I know that this is new for the both of you. She is so used to running from everything. It was how she survived. I know that she might not even be planning on staying after we figure out what is going on in town. She is divided on staying here and getting Henry back to the life he knows."

"I understand."

"Do you?"

"Yes, I do. I understand that whatever we have may end sooner than I would like. I understand that due to her upbringing here in this land without magic that Emma will suppress her natural abilities and run back to New York because it will be easier for Henry. I never expected us to be back here. I would have found a way to deal with my grief. I wouldn't have ripped them from their happiness."

"I know that. It is the same way that I knew Emma trusted you about not casting the curse that brought us back. I know it is hard for you to believe, but I've only wanted you to be happy. You saved me. I wanted to be the one that could save you. I guess in a way I did."

"How is that?"

"My daughter is getting through to you in ways that no one else has since Daniel."

"I know that."

"Plus, I have an idea of what you would have done eventually if you had been left alone in the Enchanted Forest without them. I am not stupid, Regina. I know what you are capable of doing. But, I know now, that you are here and that you didn't do it. That tells me more than anyone else could ever tell me about you. Look inside and you know that it is true," Snow told her.

"I would have put myself under a sleeping curse," Regina stated.

"And, you would have had no way of waking. It would have been a hellish mock suicide. You don't know what it is like in there. I do. They wouldn't have wanted that for you."

"I know that," Regina replied.

"So, admit that you love my daughter."

"I do love her."

"Good, now that this behind us. Help me up. You are staying for dinner. No…you are staying for dinner. It is time that we acted like family again. You are going to help with that. Whether you like it or not, you are part of this family. If not because you are my step-mother, then because you are Henry's mother. I'll deal with David. You deal with Emma. We'll be fine and we can have the family that we have always wanted," Snow told her as Regina helped her out of the rocker.

"You're sure."

"Yes, I am sure. Plus, it will be nice for the newest edition to have some extra protection. We don't know what we are fighting against right now and I'll take all the help I can get. We will defeat whatever it is and then we will find a way to return Henry's memories. Then, you'll see, one big happy family."