The Gateway

by IrishBella

They are walking down the passageway, Henry between them. He is clinging to both of their hands so tightly Emma and Regina wonder if he will rip them right off. "There is no need to be frightened, Henry." Regina whispers as she places her free hand on his cheek. "Your mom is right, Kid," Emma says as they stop walking, "we'll be alright, we can do anything."

2. Redamancy

A/N: Here's to Chapter 2! It's a bit longer than the first chapter (nearly double-EEK) but I just couldn't find the right place to cut it off. Anyways, ENJOY! :)

redamancy:

(n.) the act of loving the one who loves you; a love returned in full.

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The park is absolutely breathtaking. Regina has always felt a sense of serenity here; and now with her memories back she knows that the park is set up similarly to her estate back in the Enchanted Forest. Her fondest memories had taken place outside, away from her mother. She remembers running through the grass with her nanny, rolling in the grass while her father looked on: Mija he would say with a shake of his head and a smile. She recalls sitting on a log near their pond as her father would tell her stories; and of course Daniel. Sweet, loving, Daniel. How they would ride through the grass together with their secret smiles and loving glances, their secret picnics, their stolen kisses.
Those memories don't sting as much as they used to. Not when she can look down at her daughters in front of her, at her youngest son running with his other mother as they chase each other through the open park. She smiles It has all lead to this she thinks, and boy was it worth it.
Regina finds her oldest sitting on the swings with Presley.
"Henry" she calls out as she made her way towards them.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" he asks looking at her questioningly.
"What do you know about this?" she asks suspiciously, holding up the ceramic bowl she had showed Emma earlier. She steps off the path towards her son but keeps an eye on the stroller with her daughters inside and always keeps it within reach.
"What is that?" Henry asks with a confused look on his face. "Is that from behind the sink? What's so important about that?" The rapid firing of questions shows Regina that he really has no idea what the bowl is or where it was found.
"It's magic" Presley says nonchalantly.
"And how would you know something like that?" Regina asks with a raised eyebrow.
"The symbols" Presley answers as he gets up from the swings and walks towards her. "They were in the books we looked at. This one means strength," he says pointing to a symbol, "and this one here means protection, and this one partnership, and woman, growth, luck, truth, synchronicity, joy, energy," Presley points to each symbol as he names them off, "and this one means fertility," he stops and looks at Regina.
"Of course it does," she says with an eye roll and a shake of her head. She knew exactly who had given them this gift and oh how she wished she could forget again, "where did you find these books?"
"…." Presley looks at Henry.
"Uhh…." Henry starts, looking all over the park, anywhere but at his mother.
Regina waits for him to look at her and then raises an eyebrow.
"Ummm. We kinda found them in the basement buried under a bunch of stuff-"
"In the basement?" Regina asks, startled by the admission.
"Yeah. We were looking for my other controller for my game and we stumbled onto these old books and they looked really cool so we started reading them and they're soooooo awesome mom. Where'd you get them?"
It was Regina's turn to flounder for a response. Magic books were in the basement? She had never given much thought to anything in their basement before her memories returned. Why were there books about magic? Shouldn't they have stayed in Storybrooke when they left? Were they always there or are they a recent addition to their home? She wonders if these books were left in the same manner as Henry's storybook. Oh no, was the storybook one of these books the boys had found? Would Henry think of her as the Evil Queen again? She doesn't know if she can go through that again. But no, the only reason Henry believed that was because she was distant then; alone, living with a bunch of fairy tale characters in a town that never changed. Now everything is different; she has a wife, 4 children, and not even Snow White at her worst could tear them away from her.
Instead of saying any of these things, she simply shrugs her shoulders and says, "I'm not sure darling. Perhaps they are something left by the previous tenant in our house."
"Maybe." Henry says disbelievingly. His eyes narrow as he tries to figure out if she is lying or if she truly doesn't know.
"Henny push me!" Tommy says as he runs towards them; trying-unsuccessfully-to jump onto the swing.
"Coming Little T" Henry calls as he walks away from his mom and his friend with one last glance back.
Presley looks at Regina with a smug smile.
Regina merely cocks an eyebrow, "something you would like to say?"
"I am curious about something. What does this symbol mean right here?" he asks pointing to the only symbol he did not name on the bowl.
"What makes you think I know what any of those things mean dear?" Regina asks haughtily.
Presley leans in closer to Regina, pretending to get a closer look at the ceramic. "Because I know exactly who you are, Your Majesty."
Regina's eyes grow wide before returning back to their normal size where she dons a look of confusion, but Presley sees the fear behind the façade. "I beg your pardon?"
"Don't be that way. I just want answers."
"Answers to what exactly?" Regina asks before she remembers to add, "and what makes you think I could-or would-help you?"
Presley smiles. "I know you think you're not that person anymore, and here in the real world there's no magic, so you're powerless. I could easily win against you."
"You think too highly of yourself" Regina scoffs while her brain is work overtime. Who is this boy? What exactly does he know? How did he find out who I used to be? What does he want from me? Is he a threat to my family? No. No one would threaten my family and get away with it. This boy here is nothing more than that-a boy. Even without magic I could handle a mere child, Regina thinks to herself.
Presley gives her another smirk. "What is this symbol," he repeats, pointing to the bowl.
Regina glances at the bowl, but instead of answering him she asks a question of her own, "What's so important about this symbol?"
Presley shrugs, "it's the only one I couldn't figure out."
That doesn't seem right, why would he be so adamant about a single symbol? What's so important about this symbol? Regina doesn't let her fear and curiosity show. She simply points to the symbol and says, "This symbol is a doorway," as if it means nothing to her.
"A doorway?" he asks with a frown and narrows his eyes.
"Yes, a doorway," she says with a roll of her eyes.
"Why on earth would someone put a doorway on a gift for your wedding?"
"Well, I suppose you'd have to ask the person who gave it to us. I just assumed it was meant to symbolize our happy ending. Together."
He looks at her incredulously, "and you're sure it means doorway?"
"Doorway. Gateway. Entry. Entrance. Call it what you want, the meaning is the same." She stares at him to see if his face changes at any of these words.
"Gateway," he whispers.
She steps into his personal space and gives him a glare just a shade off of the Evil Queen. If he thinks he knows who I used to be, who am I to deny him a first-hand experience? Regina thinks the smug thought as she asks, "What do you want?"
Presley starts to fidget under her intense gaze but manages to stutter out, "T-the Gateway. Where is it?" he asks, moving backwards away from her.
"The Gateway?" she asks suspiciously.
"Yes. The Gateway." Presley repeats, growing bolder as he points to a symbol on the bowl. "Where is it?"
That's what this was all about? What a naïve little boy, Regina thinks as she states, "I honestly do not know," simply and turns to look at her sons playing on the swings.
"Liar!" Presley yells.
Regina looks at him and raises an eyebrow. Presley's eyes go wide as Henry looks over towards them, confusion written all over his face.
"Hey babe," Emma says running over as she hangs up her phone. She notices everyone frozen in place and asks, "Everything okay over here?"
"Of course darling," Regina replies with a smile. In reality though, Regina was worried. She isn't supposed to remember; those were the rules, no memories, and no contact. Why am I remembering then? But the bigger question is why did she remember and Emma not? Did Henry remember too? She will have to look into that and figure out if they had regained any memories, but after the genes comment earlier, she would bet that their memories are starting to come back. Now, what is she going to do about it?
"Oooookay?" Emma says looking between her wife, her sons, and her son's friend. She shakes her head and declares, "looks like I have to go into work for a little bit, something came up and they need some extra help."
"Is everything alright?" Regina asks taking a step closer to her wife. Emma wasn't one to go into work instead of spending time with her family unless it was serious.
"Yeah. It's fine. Something came up at the station and they just need my expertise," Emma says with a wink.
Regina gives a small smirk, "I'm sure that's it darling." She punctuates her sentence with a signature eye roll. If her wife wanted to downplay this with humor then she'd let her, for now. "Will you be gone long?"
"I'll probably miss bedtime." Emma says quietly, looking down at her shoes.
Regina hooks a finger under her chin and gently guides her up until their eyes meet, "hopefully not my bedtime dear, I believe you have some unfinished business to attend to," she whispers.
"God you're amazing. How do you do that?" Emma asks wrapping her arms around her wife and burying her face in brown locks.
Regina lets out a laugh and rubs her hands up and down her wife's back. "I love you. Be safe and hurry back to us."
Emma kisses her back. "I love you too." She looks down at her daughters in their stroller, "and I love you, sweet peas" kissing their foreheads. "And I love you my little monkey," she says swinging Tommy up into her arms as he giggles.
Regina feels her heart soar as she looks at her wife. Her wife. Now that she has her memories back, her real memories that is, she appreciates where they are and how far they've come from their initial meeting.
"You be good for Mommy, okay?" she asks looking at Tommy.
"Awways" he says with a huge smile.
"Good boy." She sets him down and walks over to Henry. They talk back and forth about something that Regina cannot hear, but she's distracted as Tommy runs over, "Mommy, Mommy, MOMMY!"
"Yes, Thomas?" she asks him with a smile as she leans over to look him in the eye.
He giggles, "You siwwy Mommy."
"I'm silly?" she asks, confusion written all over her face as she kneels in front of him.
"Yes. You da onwy one dat says Thomas," he says as he wrinkles his nose.
"Well that is your name, my dear. And I will deal with your mother and her silly nicknames later. How about we head home and start making dinner?" she asks as she stands up and offers him her hands.
"I can hepp?!" he asks jumping up and down.
"Well of course you can help, Querido," she grins. This is worth everything she has ever gone through. Seeing her son look at her with adoration and love so freely given.
He wraps his little arms around her legs and says, "I wuv you Mommy."
"And I love you, my little prince," she says and she picks him up and wraps her arms around him.
She looks up to see that her wife is already gone and Henry and Presley are having what appears to be a very heated conversation.
Regina shifts Tommy onto her hip as she calls, "Henry, let's go. Presley, will you be joining us for dinner tonight?" She may not trust the boy, but her son's happiness will always come before her own.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Henry says stomping towards her.
Regina raises an eyebrow but does not comment. She simply says, "Goodbye, Presley. Tell your Mother hello."
Presley nods but doesn't say anything as he sulks away.
As soon as Henry has taken Tommy and placed him on his back and Regina is pushing the twins back towards their home she asks, "Is everything all right dear?"
Henry looks towards her. She sees confusion and possibly fear looking back at her in her sons tear-filled eyes and her breath catches in her throat. "No" he whispers looking back at the ground, "but can we wait to talk about it until we're home?"
"Sure dear," she says as she faces forward again. Her heart sinks in her chest and she hopes what he wants to talk about won't tear her apart.

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Dinner had gone smoothly, all things considered, Regina thinks as she helps Tommy out of bathtub, wrapping him in his towel and carrying him to his room.
"What pajamas are we going to have tonight, my little prince?" she asks moving to his dresser where his pajamas are held.
"No Prince. Me be like Momma," he says from his spot in the middle of his floor. She can't help but smile. The towel wrapped around him makes it look like he is drowning in a sea of blue cotton.
Her smile grows as she pulls out his police officer footie pajamas. "These pajamas?" she asks with the megawatt smile still firmly in place as she shows them to her son.
"Yes, Mommy! Now me like Momma and saves peoples," he says as he runs over to her.
Well, at least he tried running, but since the towel is too big, his feet get stuck in the towel and he falls forward, landing right in Regina's lap. "Be careful dear. We can't have you getting hurt before you are able to save people," she says with a wink and she helps him finish drying off and putting all of his clothes on.
He gives his biggest smile and wraps his arms around her neck. "I wuv you Mommy," he mumbles, the words muffled by her neck. Regina wraps her arms around him just a little bit tighter and whispers, "and I love you, my little deputy." She carries him back into the bathroom to hang up his towel and places him on her lap to brush his hair. It is getting a little too long; perhaps I should schedule an appointment to get it cut again. Although he does look really cute with his hair long, maybe just a trim, she thinks. When she is done, she wraps her arms around him and pulls him against her. Henry is downstairs entertaining the twins and Regina is anxious for her younger children to be asleep so she can confirm her fears that her son remembers and hate her all over again. Henry was withdrawn at dinner but it seemed more contemplative than hostile. However, Regina is probably just imagining that for her own sanity. She holds Tommy tighter.
"MOMMY!" Tommy shouts. Jarring her from her thoughts.
"Yes dear?" she asks as she shakes herself back to reality.
"I said," he pauses to sigh dramatically, "Can Henny weed me a stowy NOW?!"
"Well, you will have to ask your brother that, but since your mother is not here tonight and the twins still need a bath, perhaps Henry would have a new story for you," she says with a wink as she pushes his hair out of his eyes. Definitely in need of a trim.
"Moooommy," he whines, "stowy time," he tries to wiggle away from her.
She kisses his cheek and says, "of course, of course. Let's go see if Henry has any new stories for you." She sets him down and he takes off running towards the stairs, "slow down Thomas," she calls after. She can hear the dramatic sigh and then the footsteps slow. She smiles and thinks that he certainly got his attitude from her. With a small shake of her head she follows him.
When she reaches the bottom of the stairs she can just see her youngest son running up to her oldest as he says, "Henny, Henny! Stowy time!" as he climbs onto Henry's lap.
Henry laughs as he helps his little brother onto the couch with him as he says, "What's on your PJs, Little T?"
"I'm a poweece offica, just wike Momma, Henny!"
"Oh! You're a police officer? Wow. That sounds kinda dangerous for such a little boy."
"Nuh-uh, I no wittle boy. I's a super he-o." He says adamantly as he stands on the couch with his hands on his hips.
Regina leans against the doorway and smiles. She doesn't know what she did to deserve all this happiness, but she knows better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she'll soak up all the love while she can.
"A police officer and a super hero. Wow. I have the coolest little brother ever," Henry says as he stares at him in awe.
"Duh." Tommy says as he rolls his eyes and flops to sit on the couch.
Regina actually chuckles at that. She's sure Emma would have something to say about that attitude right now, but all she can do is smile at her sons getting along so well. Henry looks to the doorway then and smiles as he wraps his arm around Tommy's shoulders. "The twins were perfect angels," he sing-songs, as he looks to his little sisters who are propped up on the floor in their Twin-Z pillow. "They enjoyed listening to me tell them about my math homework. They especially enjoyed the tickles they got in between questions. I love that they laugh all the time now," he says smiling down at his sisters.
Regina can't help but smile again and think about just how perfect her family is. "Me too, Henry," she says as she walks over to her daughters.
Henry and Tommy both slide off the couch and move towards the babies. Henry blows raspberries against Evelyn's cheek, only to turn and do the same thing to Charlotte. They both start giggling and Tommy loves it and starts laughing at them as well. Regina's heart soars again and she wishes she could stay in this moment forever, watching her children smile and laugh like this is music to her ears.
"Henny!" Tommy says pulling his brother's attention from his sisters back to him. "Have a new stowy?"
"Do I have a new story?" Henry asks as he rubbed his chin like he was deep in thought. "Hmmmm. Perhaps. Do you think you are ready for a new story?"
"Yes. Yes. YES!" He screams as he launches himself at his brother. Henry falls backwards and winds up on the floor with his three-year old brother sprawled on top of him. Tommy pulls himself up so he was sitting on Henry's chest and started bouncing up and down, "Stowy time. Stowy time. Stowy time!"
"Alright Little T, settle down," Henry groans when his brother jumps on him, "I'll tell you a new story, but let's go up on the couch."
Tommy begrudgingly crawls off his brother and onto the couch. "What stowy, Henny?" he asks in anticipation.
"How about a new story about a queen and her knight?"
"Yeah!" Tommy squeals.
Regina had stayed on the floor by her daughters, but freezes in place at Henry's words. She glances up to see him staring at her with a strange look she can't place. Confusion? Anticipation? Certainly not fear, and that warms her heart more than words can describe.
"I'm going to take Evelyn and Charlotte upstairs for their bath, will you be alright?" she asks.
"Of course, Mom. We'll be fine. I know all about fairytales now. It'll be great," he says with a smile.
She forces a tight smile back as she scoops up her daughters and carries them upstairs to the bathroom.
"I wonder what story is being told right now," Regina wonders out loud to her daughters as they stare up at her from their little tubs. She smirks and says, "I wonder if it's the real story about how the queen met her knight." Evelyn giggles as Regina puts the washcloth on her stomach, "Oh, do you find that funny, Evy?" She does it again and gets the same result. "How about you Lottie?" she asks as she rubs another washcloth on her other daughter's stomach and receives more giggles. She smiles again and leans close over her daughters laying in their tubs and whispers conspiratorially, "and if you think you can tell your mother that I am using those nicknames I will deny it. However," she starts as she leans back, "I can see their charm." Both girls giggle and she rolls her eyes. "Not a word," she says as points a stern finger at her daughters as she finishes their bath.
Once both girls are clean, dry, and into their pajamas she heads back downstairs by her sons. She stops at the bottom of the stairs and hears, "Do da knight and queen wuv each udder Henny?"
"Very much so, Little T, they just don't know it right now in the story."
"Keep goin den," Tommy demands.
Regina can see Henry smile as he says, "I would but you keep interrupting me with your questions."
Regina smiles as her youngest son rolls his eyes and says, "Mommy says it's good to ask questions."
"That's right dear," Regina says walking into the family room.
"Mommy!" Tommy says jumping off the couch to run to his mother. She lays her daughters into their pillow in time to catch her son as he throws himself into her arms.
"Yes, dear?" she asks wrapping her arms around him and kissing his forehead.
"Did you know da queen and da knight awe in wuv?!" he asks excitedly.
"They are?" she asks equally excited as she turns towards Henry and smiles.
"Yeah!" Tommy says looking at her, "but dey don't know yet."
"Well then, I guess Henry will just have to keep telling the story so they can fall in love." She moves herself so she's sitting cross-legged facing Henry.
"Yeah!" Tommy squeals as he turns in Regina's lap to face his brother.
Henry smiles at Tommy's excitement and then glances at his mother, she gives a tentative smile and nods at him to continue. He slides to the floor and leans against the sofa as he continues. "Well, the queen was running her kingdom perfectly until the knight showed up and everything went wild. The queen did not like someone disrupting the harmony of her kingdom and she certainly did not like the fact that the knight was spending so much time with her son, or the fact that her son seemed completely enamored by her and wanted to spend every waking moment with her. So the queen did everything in her power to send the knight away, but the knight was very stubborn and refused to leave. The knight spent all of her time figuring out how to talk to the queen, but every time she got close, she and the queen just fought. Finally, there was a threat to the kingdom and a monster took the queen's son. So, the knight and the queen fought side by side to defeat the threat."
"Queens don't fight, Henny, dey has guawds for dat," Tommy says shaking his head.
"Ah, but this was just any queen," Henry replies.
Regina braces herself for the words to come out. Henry hasn't called her Evil in so long, the only thing she can do is not let her heartbreak show when he did. Those words never came and what did come out instead almost made Regina burst into tears.
"She had magic, and with thoughts only of her son and his safety, she used that magic to save her son. But it wasn't enough," Henry sighs dramatically. "Her magic wasn't strong enough to end the fight and she was losing energy fast."
Tommy gasps on Regina's lap and grabs of her hands, "DA KNIGHT!" he screams, "Da knight has to save dem!" He then takes Regina's hands and wraps them around him as he leans back into her. She rests her chin on his shoulder and she looks up at Henry, who is completely absorbed in his story and unaware of his brother's outburst.
Henry smiles at them and says, "The knight was worried about the queen. Even though they didn't get along, she enjoyed the word battles and verbal sparring they engaged in, and the knight knew that if she didn't step in before the queen lost too much power, there would be nothing left to save the little prince. So, the knight reached way down inside of her self and felt for her magic."
Tommy gasps again and looks back at his mother who smiles lightly. "Da knight has magic?!"
Regina puts a finger to his lips and points back and Henry who is sporting the biggest smile on his face. Tommy nods and looks back to his brother.
"Yes, the knight has magic, but she hadn't used it before and she really only knew she had the magic because someone told her once when she was very young and then she was taught to never use it because it was dangerous. All magic comes with a price, Little T, and it was very dangerous to use because if the wrong person knew about it, you could be killed."
Another gasp from Tommy and Regina pulls him closer to her while giving Henry a stern look not to continue down that line of the story.
"But-umm-that wouldn't have happened to the knight because she's tough and she can take care of herself." At Regina's raised eyebrow, "Anyways," Henry says, shaking his head and moving the story along. He's sitting across from his mother and siblings and he has them all captivated with his story. He is feeling pretty powerful right about now. Even the twins are staring at him with big round eyes. "The knight reached deep down inside and found her magic in time to throw it at the monster hurting the queen. The queen couldn't believe what was happening but she didn't have time to dwell on the fact that this knight had magic because her son was in danger. So, she used the last of her magical reserves and pushed it all towards the monster and when both the queen's magic and the knight's magic hit the monster there was a blinding white light and when it faded, the monster was gone."
"Wow," Tommy whispers.
"Together, the queen and the knight were able to save the kingdom. When everyone was safe and everything was starting to get back to normal there was a celebration to thank the knight for her bravery. Everyone in the kingdom started calling her the Savior." Regina rolls her eyes at this and smiles fondly at her son who smiles back. "The knight didn't like this title, but she couldn't care less what the people called her, she wanted to know why there was a bright light when her magic mixed with the queen's but the queen was doing her best to avoid the knight all together. Even allowing the knight some time with the prince without her presence so they were never in the same room. Finally, the knight cornered the queen in her library pouring over books on magic. The knight stood silently in the doorway and watched the queen stare at the books, flipping the pages and becoming angrier and angrier until finally she slammed the book and threw it across the room. It slammed into a bookshelf and the knight laughed. The queen was startled and whirled around to throw a fireball at the intruder. It's a good thing the knight was so fast because she had a split second to duck away from the fireball before she was burned to a crisp." Tommy laughs at this and snuggles further into his mother's chest while laying his head back against her. Regina kisses his forehead and turns back to Henry. "The knight asked her about what happened during the fight with the monster and the queen told her it was nothing more than their magic combining for the first time. The knight didn't believe her and told her she was lying, because the knight had a super power and she could always tell when someone was lying to her."
"Just like Momma!" Tommy says. He is still excited, but he is starting to get tired and it's showing. Regina wraps her arms tighter around him and starts rocking side to side.
"Yes, just like Momma," Henry says with a smile. "So, since the knight knew the queen was lying, she went and picked up the book the queen had thrown across the room and opened it up to the page that was folded over from where the queen had left off. She quickly read the page and looked back at the queen. 'Is it true?' she asked. The queen looked at the floor and didn't respond. The knight moved closer until she was right in front of the queen and repeated, 'is it true? True Love?' she whispered as she lifted the queen's chin so they were looking into each other's eyes. 'Yes' the queen whispered back. The queen was so worried that the knight wouldn't believe her, or worse, would laugh at her that she spent days after the battle looking for any other explanation and finding none. The queen searched the knight's eyes to see any emotion. Fear? Disappointment? Anger? Disgust? Instead, she found relief, longing, and-even happiness? The queen didn't think that could be right, but before she could move away the knight tightened her grip on the queen's chin and whispered, 'Good.' The queen looked at her and asked what she meant. 'I didn't want this to all be in my head,' the knight said with a shrug. The queen smiled. The knight smiled back and they kissed." Henry pauses here to wait for Tommy's response. Anytime he talks about kissing in his stories, his little brother always makes noises and says, "gross," but it never comes. Henry looks up to see his brother fast asleep in his mother's lap. He smiles, but this smile fades when he looked up to see tears on his mom's face. He moves forward until he is directly in front of her and she smiles and shakes her head as he wipes some tears from her face. "The Evil Queen and The Savior," she says with another shake of her head and a self-depreciating laugh. "It shouldn't work. It shouldn't be like this."
"But it is," Henry whispers as he moves to his mom's side.
Regina smiles and wraps an arm around Henry's shoulders and pulls him close without disrupting Tommy. She kisses Henry's forehead and said, "It is. It really is."
"And you're not Evil, Mom. I know that. We all know that."
"Do we?" she questions. She hates that she sounds so weak in front of her son.
"Of course. You're our Mom, and we love you."
Henry says this with such conviction that new tears roll down her face. She is just so happy. Her son remembers, and he doesn't hate her. She kisses his forehead again and lays her cheek on top of his head trying to regain control of her emotions. "When did you remember?" she whispers looking at her sleeping son and daughters.
"It wasn't all at once. I think it started after we found those books. At first, I thought they were just really weird dreams, but then today it all just made sense. Did you always remember?" he questions as he snuggles closer to his mother.
She shakes her head against his, "No. Today when you and Presley started talking about your project it all just hit me. I remembered everything, but your mother does not."
"She will." Henry says with absolute conviction.
"I hope you're right, I don't like lying to her." Regina gives a sad smile.
"It'll happen Mom, and if it doesn't by itself, we'll help her remember."
"I love you, Henry," Regina says kissing his forehead again.
"I love you too, Mom."
When Henry squeezes his mom tighter, Tommy wakes up and asks sleepily, "Did da knight and queen kiss?"
Henry laughs and says, "Yes they did."
"Ew" Tommy sighs as he snuggles in closer to his mother.
It's Regina's turn to laugh as she leans down and whispers, "and they lived happily ever after," against her son's temple.
"Good," Tommy mumbles as he turns in his mother's arms to lay his head on her shoulder.
Regina smiles and turns to Henry who has moved back to spot in front of the couch. "Will you keep an eye on your sisters while I lay Tommy down?"
"Sure," Henry said. He waits until his mom is to the bottom of the stairs before calling to her, "and I'll also be sure not to mention to Ma that you call him Tommy when she's not around."
"Be sure that she never finds out either, dear," Regina calls back as she climbs the stairs. Henry stares down at his homework with a smile.
After Tommy is tucked into bed and Regina has pressed another kiss to his forehead; she heads back downstairs to find that both her daughters are awake and Henry is shaking a toy in front of them while reading a book out loud.
"Quite the multi-tasker, I see," Regina says with a smirk.
"Yeah. These babies are hungry and this was all that would keep them quiet," he says in a huff.
"While I'm sure that they are enjoying Lord of the Flies, I don't think that is age appropriate."
"Mom," Henry groans, "this book isn't appropriate for any age."
"Then it's a good thing you are reading it for school."
"Ugh," he groans again throwing his head back against the couch.
Evy starts fussing again and he jumps back up to look at his mother. She smiles and says, "Could you entertain them with your riveting rendition of this book before I feed them?"
"Of course," he says as he starts wiggling their toy and starts saying, "'I don't care what they call me,' he said confidentially, 'so long as they don't call me what they used to call me in school.' Ralph was faintly interested. 'What was that?' The fat boy glanced over his shoulder, then leaned toward Ralph. He whispered. 'They used to call me Piggy!'" Evy giggled at her brother's silly voices.
Regina smiled as she set up everything she needed to feed her babies.
When everything was ready, she sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room with the Boppy and Henry brought Evy over. "I'm going to go get ready for bed, is it alright if I take Lottie with me so I can change her afterwards?"
"Of course dear. Thank you," she says with a smile as she situates her daughter on the Boppy so she can unbutton her top. She smiles again realizing how this almost didn't happen.

SQSQSQSQSQSQ

"You want me to what?" Regina asked as she sat next to her wife on their bed.
"I think you should be the one to breastfeed these two," Emma repeated looking over at Regina.
"You're the one who's pregnant, darling. Your body is already preparing to do this," Regina explained as she got up from the bed and heading into their en suite to finish getting ready for bed.
"Well then, I guess we'll just have to get your body ready too."
"Excuse me?" Where was this coming from? Emma was not usually the nervous type and when she was nervous, she hid it behind laughter. She didn't push something off to someone else. She would deal with it herself. "Do you not want to do this? Because, my love, you can do this. You've already done this with Thomas; it is the exact same thing. You're body is changing to be ready for the arrival of our babies. You will do perfect, as always," Regina said with a smile.
Emma shook her head, "it's not that I don't think I can do this. It's that I want you to do this."
"Emma," Regina said with a small shake of her head, "where is this coming from?"
"I just-" Emma started, as she looked down at her lap and her barely visible bump, avoiding her wife's eyes, the same knowing eyes that could always see right through her and into her very soul. "I know how much you want kids and that you can't carry yourself but I want you to be involved as much as possible and I feel like you're doing so much taking care of me and I just want you to experience as much as you can and I was on a website earlier and I found out that anyone can start producing milk naturally, or with the help of medication or some herbs and then they can start breastfeeding and I thought that maybe you'd want to do this and be this person for our babies but now I see that it's just the hormones talking and they're making me ramble more than usual and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. It was stupid. I'm sorry."
Regina hooked a finger under Emma's chin and moved until they were looking into each other's eyes. "It wasn't stupid," she whispered, "this is the sweetest thing I have ever heard. I know you think I am not involved enough but just going through everything with you is more than I ever could have imagined."
"I know, but I want you do this. This isn't some hormone thing that's going to change in an hour. I want this," Emma said wrapping her arms around Regina
"Okay."
"Good. And they say the sooner you start the better chance you have or producing more milk, so I think we should start right away," Emma thought out loud with a grin.
"And how does one prepare their body to produce breast milk?" Regina asked leaning back to look her wife in the eye.
"Well, there's not one specific way, but breast massage, nipple stimulation and suckling are all sited to help the process along."
"Oh, and this has nothing to do with how much you enjoy touching and kissing my breasts?" Regina queried with a smirk of her own.
Emma gasped, "Regina! I cannot believe you! I am only concerned with our babies and I want them to have their best chance. That will only happen if you let me help you."
"Oh of course, my dear. Well then, what are we waiting for?"
Emma rolled her wife on top of her and kissed her slowly. "I love you," she whispered.
"And I you," Regina whispered back. She kissed her way down Emma's neck to her slightly protruding belly and kissed it, "And you," kissed it again, "and you."
Emma brought her back up to kiss her fully and rolled them so she was on straddling Regina's hips. "Now I think it's time we start this process," as she kissed down her wife's neck.

SQSQSQSQSQSQ

Regina is sitting up in bed reading The Handmaid's Tale when Emma walks into their bedroom. As soon as she sees her wife, Regina is out of their bed and in front of her before the book hits the ground. "What happened to you?" she asks in a panic. She's looking all over Emma for injuries.
"It's nothing. I just got into a bit of a tumble while making an arrest," Emma mumbles as she sways on her feet. She tosses her jacket towards the settee but misses terribly. Regina noticed that Emma is covered in cuts and bruises from the moment she walked in, but nothing looks to be life or death, but why is she- "are you drunk?" Regina asks taking a step away.
Emma sways again and Regina is forced grab her again. "I swear Gina, I haven't had anything to drink." She hiccups, "well I had a little something to take the edge off, but I don't know what's wrong with me. It was only one shot, I swear."
"What edge off?" Regina asks as she leads Emma to their en suite so she can start cleaning her up. She eases Emma down onto the toilet lid and immediately reaches for the first aid kit. She gets right to work cleaning Emma's cuts and covering them in Neosporin and Band-Aids.
"Well, I've been kinda seeing things all day," Emma says as she's looking at the wall behind her wife. She's ashamed to be telling her this at all and if she wasn't in this situation she's sure she never would have said anything.
Regina stops cleaning Emma's cuts and looks up, "seeing things?" she asks quietly.
"Yeah. Some weird shit. Like, you being in some crazy-ass costume dress with your boobs on display. I cut down an apple tree with a chain saw. I saved you from a fire, I think? Or maybe I set the fire? Then, there was a curse and I was bringing back happy endings and…" she mock-gasps in outrage and starts laughing immediately as she declares, "and you tried to kill me with a fucking dessert, and then we were in a castle and…and you were teaching me magic and…" she stops and stares at the wall behind Regina again.
Regina gently grabs her chin and moves her until they are looking into each other's eyes. "What are you thinking?" she asks quietly.
"That my head hurts like a bitch but everything that should be absolutely crazy makes sense in my head."
"It should, it all happened," Regina says with a shrug as she gets up to put everything in the first aid kit away.
"What the fuck, Regina?" Emma asks trying to stand. Key word: trying. She ends up falling into the counter and Regina grabs her and helps her back into the bedroom.
Instead of responding to her wife, Regina helps Emma sit on the bed, "I'm sure you have a concussion. That's why that drink is having this effect on you."
"Well thank you for your diagnosis, Doc Gina," Emma mutters.
Regina ignores her and says, "I'm going to get you an ice pack. Will you be okay until I get back?"
"You'll be right back, babe. I think I'll be fine." Emma says with as much snark as she can muster-which isn't a lot considering she's swaying sitting down.
Regina rolls her eyes at the stubbornness she has to deal with. Genetics, I'm sure, she thinks. She leans Emma against the headboard of their bed and pushes her feet up so she can't fall out of the bed as she leaves to go downstairs.
Apparently, her thoughts of 'of course my wife can't fall out of the bed' were entirely wrong. She obviously underestimated Emma's ability to do exactly what Regina tells her not to. Idiot, she thinks, and she's not sure if she's talking about Emma or herself as she runs back into their room with an ice pack to see her wife sprawled out on the floor with her head under their bed.
"Emma? What the hell are you doing?" Regina asks as she pulls her wife out from under the bed.
"I'm hiding," Emma slurs in a conspiratorial whisper as she leans in to Regina's side, "but shhhh don't tell Gina, 'cuz she's gonna be pissed if she finds me out of bed."
Regina rolls her eyes and says, "Your concussion is worse that I thought. You should probably go to the hospital."
"No," Emma whines, "just use your magic and fix it."
Regina stares at her. "I couldn't even if I wanted to Emma, you know there's no magic in this world."
Emma groans and then, in a moment of lucidity, she whispers, "this is so fucked up, babe. Are we really having a conversation about magic right now?"
"Yes dear," she replies impatiently as she stands, "and now you need to get into bed and stay there. I will wake you every hour tonight, understood?"
"Mhmm," Emma mumbles as Regina helps her into bed. Again.

I hope you like it! Please let me know what you think! :)