Ch.3

The rest of the evening went by uneventful. Emma never saw Regina when she picked up Christian. She had kept herself locked away in her office when Emma arrived. Emma loaded everything in her bug and was surprised when she saw Regina had bought a car seat as well. She installed it and went to her parents' house. Emma had baby questions that only they could answer now that Regina wasn't talking to her for some reason. When she returned home she was not surprised to find Hook passed out on the couch with a bottle of rum on the coffee table. The spare room left practically untouched, only a few boxes moved here and there.

Emma put the baby, who was sleeping in his car-seat, down on the floor in the upstairs hallway and got to work. It only took her a few moments with magic to clean up the small room, but soon it was fit to set up all the baby stuff. Emma used an old small table to set up the changing table, and instead of a crib she used a pack and play Regina had bought. It would work perfectly as they would only be having him for a short time and cribs were so expensive.

Once she got the basics set up Emma played with Christian for a little before it was time for his evening bottle. Thanks to her mother Emma now had an idea of how to get the baby on a schedule with feedings and sleep. To her surprise Emma managed changed the baby and got him settled down for the night all in a short amount of time. It was easy, almost too easy.

Around midnight things took a turn for the worse. Emma was awoken from her sleep by Christian screaming and Hook yelling at her to make him stop. Emma noticed that Hook never came to bed and was still on the couch downstairs. She was too yell at Hook, but Emma still managed to get out of bed and go to Christian's temporary room.

Emma rocked him back and forth for a few minutes which slowly turned into an hour. Christian screaming louder than ever in Emma's ears as she tried everything in her power to get him to calm down. She tried feeding him, but he wouldn't take the bottle. She tried walking around with him, and singing to him, but that only made him scream louder. Suddenly she heard Hook yelling from downstairs again. Her heart jumped and quickened in anger.

"Oh for bloody sakes Swan, get that baby to quiet down!" Hook shouted from below.

"I'm doing my best! How about you come up here and help!" Emma yelled back.

"I didn't agree to take on a child, this is your doing, not mine! So if you can't get that brat to quiet down I will go sleep on my ship." And just like that he slammed the door and left her alone with the screaming infant.

Emma panicked, she was alone and the baby was getting louder and more upset. She didn't know if something was wrong with him or if this was just normal baby stuff. She thought about calling her mom but she didn't want to chance it and wake up Neal. She felt guilty enough having bothered her parents all day with questions about childcare, that she decided she wasn't going to crying to them when things got rough. Emma also thought about calling Regina, maybe she could come over and put him to bed, as he seemed to calm down when she held him. But Emma knew Regina was still upset at her for some reason and most likely wouldn't be receptive to helping in the middle of the night. So Emma did the only thing she could think to do. She sat down on the floor and cried. She was not sad, but overwhelmed, and her tears of frustration streamed down her face as she cried to herself.

Suddenly, Emma was being surrounded by a blue smoke that Emma recognized as Magic. But it was not her own. When Emma used magic it usually came out as white, never blue. Before Emma knew it the smoke cleared and she was no longer in her house. Christian was still crying in her arms. She looked around and realized she was now in Regina's foyer of her house. She instantly began to panic. Regina was sure to wake up with the baby screaming, even though they were far away from Regina's room. The cries seemed to echo through the downstairs. Emma quickly made a grab for the front door but it wouldn't budge. There was a lock, on the handle and a heavy bolt lock above it and Emma couldn't figure out which to undo and by the time she figured it out it was too late. She heard Regina before she saw her.

"Who's down there? Emma?" Regina called sleepily from the top of the stairs. Emma slumped in defeat, it was too late to retreat she was caught.

"Yeah Regina, it's me!" Emma called up.

"What are you doing here at this hour? If you needed help why didn't you call?" Regina said as she walked down the stairs and drew her robe tightly around her.

"Mom is everything okay?" Henry sleepily yelled from his room.

"Yes, go back to sleep!" Regina called.

"I'm sorry Regina, We're leaving now. I honestly have no idea how we got here. One minute Hook was storming out of the house because I couldn't get Christian to stop crying, and the next second I was being poofed here." Emma said.

"You didn't use your magic to get here? Were you upset? Sometimes your emotions can affect your powers." Regina asked.

"Of course I was upset, but I know now how to handle my emotions with my powers. That hasn't happened in years! Besides, this magic was blue, mine is always white, even when I am upset." Emma said. Regina thought about this for a moment and Emma watched her silently. Regina took Christian in her arms and settled him down immediately. They both looked down at him.

"Wait, did he?" Emma asked.

"It's possible." Regina agreed.

"How can he have powers so strong he can transport me and himself all the way across town this accurately? He is only a few months old! It took me forever to learn how to do that!" Emma said.

"I doubt he knew he was doing it, it could be his emotions. Maybe he remembered me calming him down here and so he brought you back to my house because of that?" Regina theorized.

"So emotional memory. Cool. Well at least if he disappears anymore I know where to come looking for him. But how did he get powers?" Emma asked.

"His parents must have powers. Or at least one of them has powers. That's usually how it gets passed down to a child, otherwise you have to train." Regina said.

"Okay, well then maybe we can use this to narrow down who his parents could be? I mean there are not that many magically inclined people in this town. Besides Rumple, you, and me who else has magic?" Emma asked.

"That could work, but you are also forgetting that this child is from a universe where you are still the dark one, which means there very well could be other people in that town who have magic that don't live in this town." Regina said. "It is also possible that the parents have no magic at all."

"So it's not a clue to help us at all." Emma said.

"No, I think you are right, it is definitely a clue, but perhaps in a different way." Regina said with a mysterious smirk on her lips.

"How so?" Emma asked.

"Well, we may not be able to narrow down his parentage just on the fact alone that he has powers. But him having powers is a clue as to why it isn't safe for him to be in his home." Regina said, but Emma just looked at her confused.

"How is that helpful?" Emma asked. Regina rolled her eyes at her.

"People around here are used to magic, it's the dark stuff they fear. So if little Christian here is hiding out because his town fears his powers then maybe it is because his parents are dark." Regina said. Emma's eyes widened.

"Regina, I am the dark one there. Could I, well I mean the other Emma be his mother?" Emma asked looking shocked. Regina simply nodded.

"It would make sense. Why else would the Dark One want to hide and protect him this far away?" Regina asked. "She also came to you, she knew the only person she could trust with her child was herself."

Emma reached out and cupped the child's head n her hand. She could not believe it. Could it really be true that this baby was hers? Or well, a version of hers? She held her gaze on the baby as Regina held him, which made her unaware of the painful look Regina was giving her.

"Do you think Hook is also still the Dark One there too, and this is our child?" Emma asked.

"I'm sure it is possible." Regina said.

Emma groaned. A sickly feeling began to creep through her at the thought of having a child with Hook. Everything she has seen in just the few hours of having Christian told her that Hook would not be a good partner to have a child with. He was consistent in only one area, which is being a disappointment. He always has big promises, with little to no follow through.

"Well we can ponder this theory more tomorrow. It's late, I'm sorry we bothered you, I'll get him back home and make sure he stays." Emma said as she took the baby from Regina's arms.

"Are you sure? You can stay here tonight, it's really no problem." Regina said looking concerned as the baby started crying the moment Emma took him.

"Does that mean you aren't mad at me anymore?" Emma asked hopefully.

"I wasn't mad at you. I was embarrassed. Only Henry has ever heard me sing before. I'm sorry I over reacted." Regina said sincerely. "So will you stay here tonight?"

"Thanks, but I want to sleep in my own bed, your spare room is nice but that mattress killed my back last night." Emma said.

"I don't blame you, my back has been awful all day from sleeping on it last night. Well, call if you need anything." Regina said still concerned.

"Thanks, Night Regina." Emma said as she waved her free hand and magically transported herself and Christian back to her house.

Regina was so exhausted she was able to fall right back to sleep, even though her head was swimming with the thought that baby Christian could be Emma's child in a different world. It felt like she had just closed her eyes when suddenly a crashing noise woke her. Even in the dark she knew who it was without seeing the blonde stumbling around.

"Miss Swan, what are you doing in my room?" Regina asked in the dark.

"Regina? Oh thank god, I had no idea where we landed, I can't see a thing. The baby did it again. He calmed down but he stayed awake and wouldn't sleep. So in frustration I asked him what he wanted and then he poofed us here." Emma said.

Regina reached over to her end table and turned on the light. She then scooted back in the bed and pulled back the covers.

"Come on, we need to get some sleep so you might as well sleep here. My bed is better than the spare room." Regina said as she patted the empty side of the bed for Emma to take.

Emma was shocked, but she was also too tired to question Regina. She quickly went over to the bed and got comfortable. Regina took the baby from her and set him between them as they had done the previous night. They watched as he slowly closed his eyes. Emma turned off the light and soon they were all in a deep slumber.