A/N: Hey readers, I apologize for the long wait for this chapter.I haven't had internet for almost a year now and I was using the school's, but school ended so now I just take what I can get. I also understand that some people may not agree with this idea of this love triangle and Jasmine showing up, but I have a good story coming up I promise. Please just hang in there with me and hopefully you will enjoy the rest of this journey.

*Present Day*

Regina gasped and quickly lifted her head as she was awaken by a long beep of a machine on the receptionist desk. It had been a week and Jasmine was still in a coma. Regina held her hand and as she slowly remembered where she was, she squeezed Jasmine's hand a little harder, hoping that if she squeezed tighter, her daughter would wake up. But, she did not move.

Regina kissed her hand and jumped as she was startled by a knock on the door behind her. She turned around to see Victor.

"Is it alright if a few visitors came in?" He asked.

She sniffled and rubbed an eye, still a little tired due to her lack of a comfortable sleep. She lightly nodded.

"Yeah." Her voice was a little hoarse from exhaustion.

She was stunned to see who these guests were. None other than the Charmings themselves...and her son who, to her surprise, ran up to her. She didn't have enough time to react at this as he hugged her from the side, considering she had only turned halfway to see Victor knock on the door.

Regina tried to find the strength to smile, but she couldn't. She hugged her son back as she looked down at him. Suddenly, she had finally realized that Henry was growing. She was able to rest her head on the top of his without leaning over too much. As she did, a stray tear found its way down her cheek and into his hair.

How was she going to tell her son that he had a sister? Even worse, how was she going to tell him that his sister was the girl in the hospital bed? The girl who was close to death?

"Hey, Regina." Mary Margaret said softly. Regina was shocked at the sound of actual concern in her voice.

"We brought flowers." David said as he slowly set them on the stand next to the bed.

She gave him a look that he recognized as a thank you, yet she said nothing.

"How is she?" Emma asked.

"No changes." Regina said as she motioned for them to sit in the other chairs on the opposite side of the bed. She slowly sat down herself, following them.

Henry stayed standing and he moved closer to the bed, staring at the young girl. He had the same look on his face that he had before the curse was broken. The look of wonder. He wondered who she could be and how she fit into their story. Had he seen her in his fairytale book? He couldn't remember.

"I'm sure she will be alright. From what we saw in the forest, she's a fighter." David said as he reached over the bed to put his hand on Regina's.

She looked up at him and gently smiled. Her eyes quickly flicked to Emma, who looked at them suspiciously and she pulled her hand away, only to set it on Henry's.

"Who was she?"

"There it is." Regina thought to herself. Henry's curiosity was back and she was afraid he'd ask and she would have no idea how to explain it to him.

She opened her mouth and no sound came out, causing Henry to ask another question as he turned his body to fully face his adoptive mother.

"Is she from your land?" He asked, almost smiling. Operation Cobra in his tone of voice as he asked it.

"She was." Regina said, almost in a whisper as her voice broke.

"Who was she?"

"I don-" She stopped as she urged herself not to cry. She couldn't lie to him.

She looked down and took a deep breath.

"What's her name?" Henry asked.

When Regina couldn't answer, David did for her.

"It's Jasmine."

"Jasmine? Like, from Aladdin."

Regina let out a short but loud breath as she still looked at the ground. She smiled to keep from sobbing.

"Afraid so." She answered.

"What happened to her?" Henry asked.

"We don't know yet. But we will when she wak-" She looked at the floor once more. "I mean IF she wakes up."

The room grew silent for a moment, then David realized someone was missing in the room.

"Regina...Where's Olivia?"

Emma shot another look of suspicion at her father and back to Regina when she began to answer.

"She's-"

"Um...Regina may I speak with you for a moment?" Victor entered.

Regina turned to look back at David before she left and she nodded as she slowly stood to follow the doctor outside of the room.

"So..." Emma began after Regina left. "Olivia?" Everyone in the room could tell that she was talking to David.

"Victor...did you find anything?" Regina asked when they stepped into the hallway.

"Nothing yet-" He said, and Regina sighed. "...but don't worry. I'm sure we'll find something soon." He tried reassuring her.

"Victor, what if she doesn't wake up?"

"Regina." She turned around. "Reggi." He hugged her from behind, but she tried to step away.

"Victor. We can't. People will see."

"When are we gonna tell them about us?" Victor asked.

"I think David already knows."

Victor opened his mouth to say something when they heard yelling in the room and they quickly ran in.

"David! Tell the truth!" Emma yelled as David tried to shush her and Snow was confused.

"Emma, I don't know what-" David began.

"Oh, come on!"

"Alright! That is enough, Emma!" Mary Margaret scolded.

"No! Not until he admits it!"

"Admits what?!" Victor yelled when he and Regina returned.

"Mama?"

"Jasmine?!" Regina rushed to the side of her bed, shocked that the young girl was awake, even more shocked that she actually called her 'Mama.' It was the first time ever.

"Mama?" Emma, Henry, David, and Snow said at the same time.

"Nurse! Nurse! I need you in here. Now!" Victor yelled. "I'm gonna need the room cleared."

"But-" Regina began.

"Now!"

*3 Months Ago* (The night before Victor and Regina's first date out )

It was a calm night and all that was heard through the mayor's mansion were the sounds of laughter coming from the dining room. Regina had invited Victor to stay for dinner after her check up that afternoon. He was thrilled to see that his plan had worked, but he never intended on falling in love with her.

That night in the hospital when she almost lost the baby, he had decided that his plan would be to personally be her stay-at-home doctor since she'd refused to let anyone else realize that she could be weak at times. They had spent the last few months just casually getting to know eachother. The first couple weeks were just plainly professional, and that's all Victor had intended his visits to be. Soon enough, he began to look at her smile the way he had never seen before, especially when he let her listen to the baby's heartbeat.

"Regina? May I ask you a question?"

"Of course." He loved her voice.

"Who's the real father?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me."

"I'm not sure I did-"

"Don't play games with me, Regina. I know that there's no way Graham is the father."

"And how would you know that?"

"Please! I'm a doctor. Plus, one other thing doesn't check out...The timing. He died way before you could've gotten pregnant."

She bit her lip, fighting back a snarky remark she had placed in her mind, and she looked away from him as she raised one eyebrow in anger. She inhaled deeply and annoyingly.

"Who is it?"

No answer.

"It's David, isn't it?"

She quickly jotted her eyes at him and he noticed the tears welling up in her dark orbs.

"Why on Earth would you think something like that?" She snapped.

"I've seen the way you look at him."

She looked away again as her hand moved to rest on her stomach, as a reflex.

"No one's ever looked at ME like that before." He thought out loud. This got Regina's attention and she looked back at him as he seemed to daydream at the plate on the table in front of him.

He shook his head. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize." She said in a low, understanding voice.

There was a moment of silence. Outside the half open window, they heard the September winds blowing and the leaves on the autumn trees rustled, waitingly.

"Have you ever looked back at your life and wanted to change something?"

"Hm?" Regina asked as she only heard half of what he was saying due to her own thoughts.

"If you could go back in time, what's one thing you would change? I mean, I know you'd do something to save Daniel, but is there anything else? Anything at all?"

"Well..." She thought for a moment. "There may be one thing."

He waited, and his silence burned her ears as she heard rain start to pour, hitting the inside of the window sill.

"My...My-"

"Your what?"

"My daughter."

"You have a daughter?"

"I do."

It took him a while to respond. "Where is she? Is she in Storybrooke?"

"She is."

"Wow..." He tried to process this. "Do I know her?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think anyone does."

"Really?" He asked astonishingly. "You regret having her?"

"No?" She said, almost as if she was trying to convince herself.

"What is it you would change?"

"I wouldn't have let her go."

"What happened to her?"

There was a slight pause and a small jump in her stomach. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." She slowly stood and grabbed the plates.

He watched her walk toward the kitchen, closing the window on the way out of the dining room. Once she was out of his sight, he finally stood and followed her in. He leaned against the counter next to the sink as she turned the nozzle. She flinched at the sound of the water hitting the dishes. He noticed, but she tried to contain herself as she began pouring the dish liquid onto the plates and grabbed the sponge.

"Why don't you let me do that?" He asked as he tried to reach for the sponge that was already pressed against the first plate.

"No. It's fine. I got it." Her hands were shaking and she dropped the plate, jumping at the loud noise it made as it hit the inside of the sink.

She attempted to pick the plate up again...and as she did, she felt Victor's hand grab her shaking fingers and gently take the plate from her left hand. Meanwhile, his right hand slowly took the sponge from her and he began to finish the scrubbing while she slowly stepped aside.

She walked around him and leaned against the counter on his left side.

"It wasn't my fault." She said suddenly as he finished rinsing the last piece of silverware.

"What?" He asked as he dried his hands.

"Jasmine, my daughter. It wasn't my fault."

"What wasn't your fault?" He turned around, crossed his arms and leaned against the sink to listen to her story.

"Losing her. I thought she was dead and I never wanted her. I wasn't in love with her father...I didn't love him at all, I just needed him...to get rid of the king, but I had no idea that I'd end up-" She paused, but he knew what she meant. She wasn't expecting to get pregnant, especially with someone she was just using. "I love her, I do, but...after all these years...I just-"

He gently and slowly put his hand up to her chin, lifting her face to his for a light kiss, but she pulled away before their lips touched when she felt something very strange.

"I'm sorry. I can't-" she began. She was having deja vu. This was exactly how things started with David in Storybrooke. She shook her head.

"What are you afraid of?" He wondered.

"Nothing, it's just-too fast." He took a step back. "And I-"

"You what?"

She put her hand on her stomach and looked away from him.

"Just give me a chance." He said.

She shook her head.

"What if I took you out first? We can get to know each other better? What do you say?"

She shook her head while blinking several times. "I'd have to think about it."

He saw the sadness in her eyes and remembered that he was the one who'd told her to stay free of stress for the baby, so he wanted to quickly cheer her up.

"I've been rejected? By you? Oh no!" He quickly grabbed his chest. "My heart! You Evil Queen! You ripped it right out of my chest! Please! Have mercy!"

At first, she lifted one eyebrow and gave him her famous 'seriously' look due to the fact that he was honestly making a joke about her ripping hearts out, but she began to realize how silly he was being and he fell to his knees on the floor.

"Please? Your Majesty, say yes or just put me out of my misery! You can't leave me like this. Look! I kneel before you."

She looked down at him on her linoleum kitchen floor and she began to laugh.

"Why do you laugh at my pain?" He said, over dramatically.

"You may rise, peasant..." He began to stand but she put a finger out to stop him. "...IF, you kiss my hand first."

He took her hand in one of his and kissed it, still holding his chest with the other.

"Now, My Queen. May I have my heart back?" He looked up at her.

Regina was still trying not to laugh again.

"Alright." She gave in. "Tomorrow night would be fine."

"Oh. Thank you, Your Majesty!" He stood and put his hands on his chest as if he were making sure his heart was truly back. "I can't tell if it's beating. Will you check for me?" He put his hands together as if he were begging for help.

She laughed once more. "Alright." He moved his hands and she was able to put her head to his chest.

"Yes. It's beating." She answered.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Please. No need to be so formal. If you're taking me out, you might as well call me by my name."

"Of course, Reg-" He stopped, wanting to give her a nickname. "Reggi."

She thought about it for a moment. "Fine. If that's what you shall call me for one night on our date, so be it." She said, dramatically majestic, trying not to laugh.

"If I shall have you for a night, then yes...that is what I will call you."

"Yes, you shall have me."

He finally was out of character and back to being Victor when he made the next remark.

"Hmm...so that's all it takes? Huh!"

"Hey!"

She playfully hit him on the arm and they both laughed.

"Hmm...What's going on in here?" They heard a voice coming from the doorway to the kitchen and both turned. They must've laughed so hard that they didn't even hear the front door open.

"Oh, Jasmine." Regina seized her smiling when she felt as if she were caught for some reason. "This is Vic-I mean Dr. Whale." She tried to look professional.

"Oohhh." Jasmine smiled playfully and leaned against the door frame with her arms crossed, as if she had heard stories about him from Regina.

"Dr. Whale, this is Jasmine." She introduced awkwardly.

"Your daughter?" He stepped forward.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Whale." She put her hand out to shake his.

He grabbed her hand, but to her surprise he did not shake it.

"The daughter of a Queen deserves much more than a handshake." He said, back into his 'charming peasant' character. Then he kissed her hand the same way he had just kissed Regina's a second ago. "And please...Call me Victor." They both laughed, causing Regina's smile to return.

"We were just about to have some dessert in front of the fireplace. Care to join us?" Regina offered and Jasmine smiled and nodded.

"I'd love to."

Moments later, they were sitting in front of the couch by the warm fire, laughing and eating some of Regina's delicious homemade apple pie as they talked. In that moment, Regina had no regrets (even after they laughed at Victor's joke about the pie possibly being poisonous).