She didn't say no, Swan. At least there's that.

Emma rose from her seat so she could more easily grab the wine bottle towards the center of the rustic table. She went to pour herself another glass of the red but changed her mind and just took a swig directly from the bottle.

Once again she had to ask herself if this was the right thing, if she truly knew what the hell she was doing. Regina Mills, former queen, the mayor, her son's other mother. She smiled as a memory unbidden came to her of Regina chiding her son to listen to his mother, both of them. They had been through so much, all of them, that she couldn't see any future family unit without the brunette in it. Even when the pirate was still around, the idea of setting up house with him never quite seemed right to her, the thought was like listening to a piano playing out of tune. But when she thought about a child with Regina everything felt right, the vibrations from that imaginary piano seemed perfect and true.

She remembered exactly when the thought had occurred to her. It had been at the summer carnival. It had been a beautiful summer night; she had just gotten off shift from the sheriff's department, and had rushed over to the spot right on the edge of town where everything had been set up. It was the first night and everyone in town was excited about the event. There were even rides, and the effort to pull that off had been long and arduous. She had walked across the fresh grass towards the lights and sounds to find the crowd was much larger than she had been expecting. Luckily the first person she ran into was Belle. Belle was pushing a stroller with a red faced sleeping baby inside. Emma had marveled at the infant's ability to sleep through the commotion all around.

"Oh he sleeps like a rock, " she had smiled. "And always never at the times I want him to. Your family is over at that dart game by the way, I just passed them."

After making her way along the line of carnival games she saw Henry and Regina in front of a booth, launching darts at pink balloons. Her family. She grinned at the sight of them and as she got closer she could hear Henry chiding Regina.

"Mom, you can't fireball the balloons—that would be cheating."

"Cheating? This game is rigged, that gives me the right." She launched another dart at the board and watched it bounce off a balloon. "There! Do you see? Rigged." She turned and caught Emma's gaze and gave her a smile that literally made Emma go weak at the knees. She never understood that saying until just that moment. She had joined them for a few rounds and then Henry wanted to run off and hit the rides with his girlfriend.

"You've got an hour," they both had chorused. They had looked at each other and laughed. Henry had promised to call or find them in an hours' time and had disappeared into the crowd.

They had walked through the carnival together, and even though they didn't touch Emma remembered it felt almost as if they were holding hands; the closeness between them had seemed so strong. They talked with each other and the people they ran into, they saw Belle again with her baby and spent some time with her. It was about at this point Emma had officially contracted a strain of baby fever. Holding Belle's baby and looking over at Regina, her dark hair shimmering in light and a small smile gracing her lips Emma knew without a doubt there was no other choice. She needed a baby with this woman.

Time had only confirmed that theory. Regina was great with kids, they were great with Henry—perfectly simpatico. It all felt like it was just right. This was her chance to settle down and try being a mother again. She didn't want to do it alone though, and with Regina maybe she wouldn't have to. Then she found the spell book and it seemed like everything was coming together like it was meant to be.

And sure…maybe she had a little crush but so what? Who wouldn't? It was no big deal. She took another swig of wine and heard her phone start to chime. She grabbed it off the counter and saw it was Regina.

"Umm…hello?"

"Swan, you're nuts, you know that?" the voice on the other end said sharply.

"Probably."

"Did you read this spell and what it entails?" Regina huffed.

"Kind of, I mean, I couldn't make all of it out. You know I'm still learning that script." Her head shot up as she saw the door open and Regina march back in, gesturing at her with the book.

"I don't even know if this will work, I can't have children. And there are lots of requirements here," she said into the phone. She was standing at the other end of the table now. "One of which requires intimacy. Did you realize that?" She kept the phone against her cheek and her eyes bored into Emma's and seemed to be reflecting every emotion from fear to anger to sadness.

Emma ended the call on her phone and placed it on the table.

"You can't have children?"

Regina shook her head, finally lowering the phone. "I didn't want…My mother…" She tensed her jaw and said nothing more.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

She shrugged and didn't say anything further.

"I'll be the pregnant one though, not you. I think this could still work out. Look, you don't even have to involved if you don't want to be. It's not an issue." She took a step closer to her but felt the sudden electric charge Regina gave off before she even barked at her.

"You think I would turn my back on my own child? Is that why you chose me? Because you hoped I would contribute my…whatever and then just go away?"

Emma shook her head, horrified at where this was going. She touched a nerve and not even realized it before it was too late. "No, of course not. I wanted a child with you because I like raising Henry with you. I think we work well together, I think you're a brave and beautiful person and I could think of no one I would rather have a baby with." She winced a little at her own statement. Too much, she thought.

The stunned look Regina had worn previously returned and she stared at Emma for a few seconds before looking down at the worn brown leather book in her hands. "I need to investigate this spell some more, find out more of the details. I will uh…I'll be in touch. Thanks for dinner," she said quietly before retrieving her coat for the couch and leaving.

Well, that went…oddly. Still not a 'no' in sight though. Emma sat back down and sighed. What had she meant by 'requiring intimacy'?, she wondered.