Regina and Snow exited the car; Snow grabbing her bow and arrows from the back seat before closing the car door. The smell of pines and wood was heavy in the air and she looked around at the trees rising above them. It was a nice day for chasing down ogres in Maine. She slipped the quiver of arrows over her shoulder and looked over the ebony car roof at Regina.

"Which way?"

"Due east of here, towards the old bridge."

"Old bridge, of course. Please tell me you wore appropriate footwear this time, it looks like we need to go down this embankment."

Regina stepped around the car and gestured at her shin high black boots. "Of course I did, I know how to prepare for a walk through the woods."

Snow eyed the boots and confirmed they were not heels, they even looked like they may have treads. "Well, will wonders never cease? Knocking up my daughter and wearing sensible shoes. I could say more but I won't."

"Please don't," she said, brushing past her.

She followed behind the former queen, adjusting the quiver across her back.

"So…how did it happen? I mean, did Emma just pop by one day and ask if you were interested in having a baby with her?" As far as Snow knew there was no romantic relationship between Regina and her daughter but with the pirate now gone, maybe things had changed. It was something that had crossed her mind more than a few times; Emma and Regina got entirely too emotional about each other.

"Actually, that's not too far from the truth."

5 Weeks Earlier

Regina wasn't sure why Emma has invited her to a private dinner at the blonde's apartment. As far as she knew the blonde had never shown any inclination towards entertaining or cooking so why she was choosing Regina to experiment on was a mystery. She arrived at the woman's apartment to find her busy in the kitchen, she waved Regina in hurriedly and rushed back to oven. Her blonde hair was up in a pony tail and a dishrag was tossed over her shoulder. She looked slightly frazzled and was cracking open the oven door to check on whatever was inside.

Regina could smell the chicken and garlic and was surprised that she found herself feeling hungry.

"Emma, I can tell you right now whatever it is—its done." She said, removing her coat and laying it over the arm of the couch.

Emma turned to look at her, her eyes wide. "How can you tell?"

"The smell, it's done. Take it out. Chicken I'm guessing?" She looked around the apartment. It reminded her of a quainter version of the Charming's loft.

"Yes, chicken garlic parmesan. I know you like Italian, I thought I would stick with that." She wrestled the pan out of the oven and turned it off. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Regina was looking through the cupboards, honing in on the plates.

"Hey! Get out of there. I'm making dinner, you go sit down."

"I'm not good at just sitting around, Swan. I'll set the table." Keeping herself busy was a good way not to ponder why Emma had invited her over for dinner…alone. She had found herself feeling a bit nervous about the evening. She had fretted over her clothes for far too long. She had settled on a navy blue silk blouse and black pants.

The chicken and the salad was surprisingly good. Regina had brought the wine and was quite happy with her selection. She was taking another sip when she noticed Emma seemed to be pushing her food around on her plate.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked, doing her best to not sound needling or demanding. Something was clearly on the blonde's mind and she looked burdened by it, she shifted around in her chair and her shoulders looked tensed.

"There's something I need to apologize to you for, something that has bothered me for a while," she said, he eyes staying downcast and fixed on the plate.

"Are you apologizing to me or the chicken?"

Emma looked up and met her gaze. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I wanted to apologize for—when I first got here and everything with Henry. I had no right to question you as a parent, or threaten your right to Henry. It was wrong, and when I think about it, it —it damn near turns my stomach." She looked away, and grabbed her glass of wine.

Regina took a deep breath and looked down at her lap. This wasn't what she was expecting. The memories of that time came rushing back and it's true, there was pain there, but she also knew she had caused some pain as well. Emma had been a bit arrogant at the time in her assertion that she was Henry's mother, despite never having been in his life. But they had worked towards a good co-parenting relationship now, and this thing from the past needed to be put to rest.

"Things were confusing, Emma. Thank you though, I think I needed that."

Emma lips turned up into a smile and nodded. "Thank you for raising such a great son. This sorta brings me to the next thing I wanted to talk to you about. I need to get something first, hold on." She pushed her chair back from the table and disappeared from sight. Regina could hear her rummaging around the living room for something before returning with a very old brown leather spell book in her hands. It was one that looked fairly familiar.

"Is that from my vault?" she asked. "Are you going to confess to stealing from me too?"

"You said I could use what I needed. I came across this and something peculiar happened."

"Uh oh," Regina groaned. "Is this something I have to fix?"

"Just hang on, let me back up a little." Emma had set the book down on the table in front of her and rested her hand on it for a moment. She appeared to be gathering her thoughts before continuing. "You know, this is the most settled I have really ever been in my life. My family is all here, and well…it got me thinking about some things. I don't regret giving up Henry when I did, it was the best option at the time, I was in no way ready or able to be a parent. But now, I'm thinking its something I would like to experience." She cleared her throat and fixed Regina with a serious gaze. "Hear me out, and I'm not looking for an answer tonight. I've been thinking about this for a little while, it's an idea that always sneaks back up on me. Then, one day I was in your vault and knocked this book off the table and well…it fell open to this." She opened the book to a marked page and set it down on the table so Regina could see it.

"That kind of settled it for me. I think we have become damn near the dynamic duo of parenting. What do you think about having another one? Together? Things always go best when we work together."

Regina leaned forward and looked at the script covered page.

"You want a baby?" she asked.

"Yes."

"…with me? You want to make a baby, using magic, with me?"

"Yes."

Regina blinked, looked down at the book, then looked back at Emma. Emma was pretty certain she just stared at her for a solid minute. Emma worried that maybe she had gone into shock for a moment before the brunette carefully closed the book and picked it up. She stood up from the table and tucked the book under her arm.

"I need to take a walk." she stated matter of factly, and with a few quick strides she was out the door.