"What do you we do?" Emma asked frantically as she circled the nest inside the cave.

Regina licked her lips and she crossed her arms over her chest as if this sort of situation arose every day. "We wait. You can stop pacing. It's not going to make it hatch any faster."

"Hatch?" Emma's chin quivered as a horrified look sprouted on her face. "I can't believe Lily just…just took off!"

"Yes, well…abandoning the young and defenseless is a rather reoccurring theme around here," Regina looked at the dragon egg thoughtfully. "And here I am ready to care for whatever comes out of that egg."

"Okay, if you're going to give me some guilt trip about giving up Henry, you can save it… and this is not karma or fate…destiny, whatever you fairytale people call shitty situations," Emma ranted and continued to circle the rocky next.

The egg was big enough for a human baby and slightly speckled. Regina maintained calm, but Emma was about to lose it. "I'm not going to lecture you about Henry. All I should have done is thank you for giving him up so I had the joy of raising him. This dragon baby, however, I'm not so sure I'm willing to commit to eighteen years of living with an uncontrollable arsonist."

"Are you serious? I'm going to kill Lily! How did she…birth….erm… Lay…or squeeze this giant vagina egg out anyway?" Emma was full of questions; her concerns were interrupted by a distinct cracking sound. "Oh shit, it's coming! Where the hell is grandma?"

"Emma, it's just a baby…" Regina moved closed to the egg and examined the hairline crack. A little moving silhouette was visible inside the egg, and Regina furrowed her eyebrows as she inspected it, "…I think."

"Well, Lily was born human. She only turned all dragony when she got to Storybrooke," Emma swallowed hard as her throat went dry.

"With these dragon babies it's a 50/50 chance of the babe hatching out human or dragon. They can usually change back and forth right away, but don't know they're doing it," Regina explained, having much more familiarity with the dragon species than Emma had.

"Huh…"

"Ssh, come here," Regina waved her over not taking her eyes off of the egg; a look of wonder took over her face as the baby dragon shattered his fragile shell and hatched fully. "It's a dragon! Oh, Emma look at her! She's sooo cute. I can really see Mal in her scales."

"IT's A DRAGON!" Emma shouted and Regina glared at her for the disruption. The baby was blinking in the dim light of the cave and moving around trying to get accustomed to the thing called 'life.'

"Precisely, a baby dragon….whose mother is your best friend, and so you are responsible at least for now," Regina insisted firmly. "I brought some supplies when you called me and relayed the situation, would you mind getting the car seat?"

"Wait, where are we taking it?" Emma was still nervous, but Regina seemed so casual and natural with the monster baby that she couldn't help but be reassured.

"I was under the assumption that you were taking her to your house with your family…really, raising this baby is the least that your parent's could do after everything…"

Before Emma could respond, the dragon baby started crying and with every inhale the exhale shot a little flame, like a gas stove burner igniting. Some brambles of the next caught fire instantly after a particularly strong wail.

"We need to go now, and take her somewhere more comfortable and fireproof. She needs to eat," Regina explained as she carefully picked the baby up and started to rock her gently to soothe her cries. "Emma, I need a blanket and a bottle."

"Do I look like Dragon's R' Us? What are we even going to feed her?" Emma dashed out of the cave in front of Regina as she carried the hefty purple reptilian baby out slowly, singing softly to calm her.

"You said it again: 'we.' This baby is your responsibility, I'm merely helping out for the moment as a kindness," Regina explained to Emma as she swaddled the baby and placed her gently in the car seat.

"Okay, so um, I don't think I can take her to the loft. Neal is there and she might torch him like a charbroiled burger," Emma sighed and looked at Regina pleadingly.

"No..." Regina started to shake her head, but Emma put a hand on her forearm and pleaded with her eyes.

"Please? I obviously don't know what I'm doing."

"That much is clear…" Regina sassed with an eye roll as she contemplated her options. Her eyes shifted down to the baby who was still crying as she lightly rocked the car seat. "She needs to fly… stretch her wings…they are so delicate right now."

"Okay…" Emma was rather puzzled. "I am really going to have to figure out dragon parenting techniques…no wonder Lily ran away."

"We'll take her to my vault for the time being. We can make it somewhat fire proof and I'll call Maleficent to come with food. She won't mind feeding her, and she can teach you how to do it."

Emma didn't like the sound of that part, "Doesn't she drink milk?"

"In human form she might tolerate formula, but she doesn't seem to want to show her human side yet. Baby dragons eat the same way baby birds do. They are mouth fed," Regina got into her car and checked the rearview mirror, giving the baby a motherly smile.

"Mouth fed?" Emma realized in horror what that meant as she pictured chewing up worms, raw meat and bugs and then regurgitating it into the baby's mouth.

"Regina!" She ran up to her car window before she left, "I can't do this!"

Turning that same inherent motherly charm on the disheveled blonde, Regina gave her a warm, encouraging smile. She looked deep into her eyes to make her believe it. "You can do it, I believe in you, Emma, and also, because I'm going to help you…"

"Thank you, Regina!...Wow, so looks like we're co-parenting another child." For the first time Emma began to feel better about the crazy situation.

"Indeed we are…along with Grandma Maleficent," Regina agreed.

"And with the wonderful opinions and advice from Grandma Snow too," Emma mentioned, knowing her mom would be all over a new baby, human or not.

"Hopefully, this one will be better about picking up her socks than our son is," Regina smirked, as happy tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She reached out and took Emma's hand as they both broke out into wide joyous grins.

"Congratulations, it's a dragon!"